HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

FOR MY NAME'S SAKE 55
for America, but happily the third, Dr. Medhurst, of the
London Missionary Society, was still in Shanghai.
Not without some difficulty he found his way to the
London Missionary Society's compound, which was more
than a mile distant. But though Dr. and Mrs. Medhurst
had left for the British Consulate, as their premises were
contiguous to the fighting, he was warmly welcomed by
Mr. Edkin, Dr. Lockhart, and Mr. Alexander Wylie.
To the new arrival and to the older workers alike the
situation was delicate and trying. It was quite impossible
then to find premises, or even lodgings, in the foreign
settlement, and daily fighting was taking place outside.
It seemed altogether inopportune that the pioneer of a
new and unproved organization should arrive upon the
scenes just then, and Hudson Taylor must have felt it
so. But Dr. Lockhart most kindly took him in, as a paying
guest, and introduced him to Mr. and Mrs. Muirhead,
of the London Missionary Society, and to Mr. and Mrs.
Burdon, of the Church Missionary Society. These were
all mighty men, as their subsequent record proves, and
in welcoming this young and unknown stranger they
were entertaining one of God's angels unawares.
But to Hudson Taylor his condition of impotence and
dependence was a painful discipline. Unable to speak to
the people, he was yet a dumb witness of their misery.
The guns could be heard all night, fighting could be seen
from his window, while the horrors of a siege, and the
wild licence of the soldiery, were all too much in evidence.
All his efforts to secure rooms in the Chinese part
of the settlement hopelessly failed, so that the only
thing he could do was to pray, and give himself to the
study of the language.
The outlook was dark indeed. No one could say when
the situation would improve, while the cost of living was