rces and springs of his outward actions. It is in these, in our
judgment, that the true beauty, the abiding lesson, and the great
success of his life consist. And this he has enabled us to do. In a
private, not an official, letter to the Rev. R. Wardlaw Thompson, the
Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society, he indicates his
actions and the motives that were impelling him so to act, during the
summer of 1886. Differences of opinion arose with his fellow
missionaries as to the wisdom of his methods and the soundness of his
judgment. Those who differed most strongly from him knew little or
nothing by personal observation and experience of the conditions of work
either on the Plain or at Ch'ao Yang. But no question ever did or ever
could arise as to the absolute consecration of his heart and life to the
work of winning souls. The truth of the words in one of his official
reports was manifest to all: 'Man, the fire of God is upon me to go and
preach.'

'The past four and a half months has been a time of no small trial
and spiritual tension. Since April 22 I have had no tidings of the
outer world. An agent of the Bible Society, who was selling books
in the district, was with me for a month, but he had gone out
before me, so that when we met he had no news for me, but wanted
news from me.

'Some men, who gave promise of believing in Jesus, have fallen
away, and I have a haunting suspicion that it was one such man who,
on the morning of Sunday, June 6, stole my beautiful copy of the
revised Bible, leaving me till now with only a New Testament in
English. I had much difficulty in procuring that Bible, and wasn't
it heartless of a Chinaman to steal it for the leather binding, for
which even he could have hardly any use? I said not a single word
to anyone in the town about it, as I feared that making trouble
over it would hinder me in future, by making innkeepers afraid to
receive me, lest they should be held responsible for such losses. I
can hardly say though, that, at first at least, I took joyfully the
spoiling of my goods. Secret tears testified to my sense of the
loss, but falling back on the faith that all things work together
for my good, I was comforted, and gave the more earnest heed to the
New Testament.

'Then the Chinese would ask, "How many people have believed and
entered the religion sinc