HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

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THE MAN WHO BELIEVED GOD
to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts
are perfect toward Him". And so, like the old Breton
fishermen, when they launched their slender craft upon
the mighty Atlantic, he could pray in confidence: "O
my God, succour me, my bark is so small, and Thy sea is
so great." It was indeed a great sea out into which that
little company launched, and to anyone who will pause
to consider the possibilities of disaster the audacity of
faith becomes an awe-inspiring fact.
And the perils were not all external. It needs but a
little acquaintance with human nature to know that the
dangers of dissolution come more frequently from within
than from without. The Lammermuir party was composed
of men and women drawn from all classes, and
endowed with divergent natures. Some came from refined
homes, others from less cultured circles, and for
such a company to be shut up within the limits of a
small ship, for four months at sea, away from their normal
avocations, made demands on grace, and on the
wisdom of their leader, of a highly practical nature. The
spiritual usefulness of the little Mission could have been
stifled at its birth had Hudson Taylor been other than
he was. That he was able, from the first, to imbue all
the.se varied elements with his own devotion, to inspire
them by his example, to maintain their passion for
souls, to overcome friction when it arose, and to create,
by his own loving headship, a family feeling among persons
of such varied temperaments is one of the greatest
tributes to his God-given powers. Before Shanghai was
reached more than twenty out of a crew of thirty-four
had confessed their faith in Christ, a fact which bears
its own witness to the life of the missionary band on
board. "Crossing the sea never made a missionary" was
an oft repeated phrase of Hudson Taylor's, for he had