HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

222 THE MAN WHO BELIEVED GOD
during these last days of his active ministry, addresses
given at the New York conference, and on other public
occasions. They are the deliberate testimony of a man
of God, given at the close of a life brim-full of crucial
experiences, and as such are his matured convictions.
When he had sailed for China in r853 there were only
three hundred Chinese Christians in the whole of the
Chinese Empire; when he spoke the words that follow
there were roo ,ooo communicants in connection with the
Protestant Churches, and no fewer than 25,000 Chinese
had been baptized by the Mission God had used him to
found. When he had first reached China a missionary
might never be absent from a treaty port for more than
twenty-four hours, under pain of deportation; but now
the land was open from end to end for travel and residence.
In his sayings there is a body of wisdom on
practical matters pertaining to the spiritual life not
easily equalled. Reference here can only be made to one
or two. And first, in regard to the power of self-emptying
and unresisting suffering, he said:
"We have tried to do, many of us, as much good as we
felt we could easily do, or conveniently do, but there is a
wonderful power when the love of God in the heart raises us
to this point that we are ready to suffer, and with Paul we
desire to know Him in the power of His resurrection (which
implies the death of self), and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable unto His death. It is ever true that
what costs little is worth little ....
"It is a serious and difficult problem very frequently, to
know how far we should look to and accept the protection
of our Governments, or their vindication, in case of riot and
difficulty. I have seen both plans tried. I have never seen the
plan in the long run successful, of demanding help and vindication
from man. Wherever I have traced the result, in the
long run there has been more harm done than good, and I