HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

XXIV
THE MAN HIMSELF
IN the preceding pages some of the outstanding features
of Hudson Taylor's personality have been either
directly indicated or, at least, suggested. In this chapter
an attempt will be made to outline other important
elements in his character to which little or no reference
has been made.
We are tempted to begin by speaking of his largeness
of heart, for this was one of his prominent characteristics,
but that will perhaps be the better appreciated
if attention first be directed to his great work as
"God's Finger-post"-to use one of his own phrases
-directing men and women to China.
As a young man of twenty, we find Hudson Taylor
writing to his mother: "I feel as if I could not live if
something is not done for China." The evangelization
of China was his burden, the passion of his life, and all
his energies were concentrated to that end. It is said of
Cato, that he closed every speech, no matter what its
subject might be, with the words, "Carthage must be
destroyed"; and, with an infinitely higher aim, Hudson
Taylor could not speak without including an appeal for
the evangelization of China. Few men knew better how
to present the facts, how to press them home, and how
to touch the heart with their significance. Maps, charts,
tables, illustrations, incidents, with their pathetic appeal,
all had their place. "Missionary intelligence is
204