HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

A GOD WHO RAISETH THE DEAD 45
assistance in going downstairs. After all, what was the
use of going? Was not this an empty impulse, he asked
himself, the mere clutching at a straw, or some mental
process of his own, as a last resort, and not God's guidance?
But no, he felt the impulse was God-given, and so
he set out, to quote his own words, "Not to attempt to
walk, but to walk to Cheapside".
This incident reveals not only the strength of Hudson
Taylor's convictions and his dogged determination, but,
what is more, his own sense of humour. This comes out
in his account of this grim walk.
"Although undoubtedly strengthened by faith," he
wrote, "I never took so much interest in shop windows as
I did upon that journey! At every second or third step, I
was glad to lean a little against the plate glass, and take
time to examine the contents of the windows before passing
on!"
It was a long two miles to the city, especially as there
was then no Holborn Viaduct to save the dip down into,
and the slow climb up from, Farringdon Street; and
when at length he did reach his destination he was
obliged to rest outside on the doorstep, despite the curious
gaze of City men, ere he mounted the stairs to the
office. But faith and endurance were rewarded. The
money previously withheld, and more since due, was
actually waiting for him, for it had been discovered that
the man who had deserted was not the officer in question,
but an able-bodied seaman of the same name. And '
thus he obtained not only what was sufficient for his
journey home, but the balance for remitting to the
officer's wife in Hull.
The mere recital of these experiences to the doctor
who had attended him, who was a sceptic, called forth
the following remark, uttered with tears in his eyes, "I