HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

A MAN SENT FROM GOD
Spartan, certain relaxations and lighter studies were encouraged.
It was thus that Hudson began that early love
of flowers, of birds, and butterflies, which continued
with him through life. There was nothing he loved better
than to go with his sister Amelia, or when possible with
his father, into the neighbouring-woods to study Nature
at first-hand, and to bring specimens home. This devotion
to the beautiful was a constant refreshment to him
throughout his strenuous career, and his letters home
from China had many a reference to the flora and fauna
of that land. And it was to the care of a few chosen plants
and flowers that he frequently turned for relief of mind
when burdened with urgent and pressing duties.
But, to return to his youthful days in Barnsley, some
of the first definite spiritual experiences in his life were
connected with the Methodist Centenary celebrations in
1839, when he was only seven years old. At that time a
religious revival visited parts of Yorkshire, and he used
to accompany his father into the country to be present
at the meetings. Though but a lad he entered heartily
into the spirit of the movement, and often his young face
glowed with delight when men were blessed and saved.
Methodists everywhere sought to celebrate that Centenary
by undertaking new missionary adventures in
various parts of the world. But nothing was planned for
China, and this deeply pained James Taylor. "Why do
we not send missionaries there?" he would frequently
exclaim.
It is a significant fact that, in that same year, what
was probably the first Protestant Missionary Atlas of
the World was published in London. Aad in that atlas
there was no map of China! The sad fact was that there
was no need for a map of China in a missionary Atlas of
the World in 1839, for the one and only missionary
u