HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

XIX
THE ETERNAL SPRINGS OF GOD
THAT Hudson Taylor was no stranger to Him who is the
"hidden Source of calm repose", our "Light in Satan's
darkest hour", has already been abundantly apparent.
But we must now go back a few months, and dwell upon
that rich spiritual experience into which he had entered
nearly a year before the death of his wife.
From the beginning of 1869 he had been deeply dissatisfied
with his spiritual condition. He was oppressed
by a sense of failure, and of living below his privileged
inheritance. There was probably more than one reason
for this. It is instructive to note that in England the
subject of personal holiness had been taking a prominent
place in the minds of God's people. All through the
summer and autumn of 1868 many articles on this topic
had appeared in the columns of The Revival, now known
as The Christian. These papers would come into Hudson
Taylor's hands toward the latter part of the year.
There was also a little booklet entitled How to live on
Christ, by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, which had so
deeply moved Hudson Taylor as to cause him to send
a copy of it to every member of the Mission. How far his
sense of failure was independent of, or related to, his
reading it is perhaps impossible now to say. But there
is no question that he was reading a good deal on this
subject at this time, for another book in his library, entitled
Christ is All, was not only blessed to one of his
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