The Cambridge Band and Shan-xi
Dearest friends... This account we are sharing with you on this issue is especially dear to our Lord's heart... and revealing of the core essence of what distinguished the United Kingdom, and indeed all Europe amongst other continents, and made her prosperous, none other than the very evident desire you will encounter through the following words, to establish God's covenant of salvation throughout the earth at whatever personal cost or risk, giving all to the Lord and not holding anything back from Him... wanting to be His in entirety, an endearing reciprocation of a love that existed from the foundation of the world, not only for them, but they knew... for the entire human race... a love that was expressed not only in powerful liberating Words... but also in decisive action on the cross, and redeemed us for all eternity... we cannot help but communicate and express this love... friends... read this account and let your heart cry out to God ceaselessly, for a restoration of this Blessedness that no mortal can afford to live without... let the devotion of the Cambridge 7 inspire you to complete and total surrender, to the eternal will of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Whose we are, and for Whom we owe our all... Temisan
Eighteen months have passed since the death of Harold Schofield from typhus fever, far away in inland China. Instead of the early dawning of a long, hot summer day over a Chinese city, we stand in the gloaming of a chill, wet January night in London's busy Strand. Down pours the persistent rain. But crowds of people throng the entrances to Exeter Hall, regardless of weather, and
the great area of the building is filled to its utmost limit, long before the hour fixed for assembly.
Evidently some deep interest and strong enthusiasm move this vast throng. What is it that has brought them thus together? Only a missionary meeting? Surely one of unusual interest! Enter with the multitudes. It is a sight that even Exeter Hall, with its long roll of enthusiastic gatherings, rarely equals. Hundreds of young men throng the vast building, mingling with a representative gathering of all ranks and ages, of all sections of the Church and grades in social life. Upon the platform, amongst others waiting for the speakers, is a deputation of forty undergraduates from Cambridge.
It is not difficult to discover the centre of interest to-night. Across the hall large maps of China are suspended, showing the stations of the Inland Mission. A missionary farewell has summoned this great multitude. Seven young men are upon the eve of starting for work in inland China. Who are they? And how comes it that their going has awakened such enthusiastic interest? The answer is on every lip — "The Cambridge Band sail tomorrow. Tonight is their farewell. Five from the University, and two young officers from crack regiments, have together given themselves to the work of GOD in China; not only relinquishing brilliant prospects and social distinction, to become poor missionaries, but actually joining the China Inland Mission, which means so much! They are going to put on Chinese dress and braided tail; going to bury themselves, nobody knows where, in the heart of that strange land, to live in the people's houses and eat their food, and rough it in long, trying journeys and all sorts of other ways. Strange infatuation! and yet they seem intensely happy about it — count it quite an honour and privilege, and never can be got to say a word as to any sacrifice involved."
Silence steals over the vast assembly. The Chairman enters, and with him the outgoing band. Stanley P. Smith, and his friend, C. T. Studd, from Trinity College, Cambridge, both distinguished in the athletic world; the Rev. W. W. Cassels, of St. John's; Montagu Beauchamp and Arthur Polhill-Turner, from Trinity, and Ridley Hall; D. E. Hoste, late of the Royal Artillery; and Cecil PolhillTurner, of the 2nd Dragoon Guards. Young all of them — in the full strength and vigour of their manhood — embodying all that is noblest and best in the estimation of their fellows, all that most readily stirs admiration, and wins regard. No wonder the heart of Christian England was moved. Consecration to
the work of missions is not, thank GOD, unusual in our day. But when before," wrote one who was present, "were the stroke of a University eight, the captain of a University eleven, an officer of the Royal Artillery, and an officer of the Dragoon Guards seen standing side by side, renouncing the careers in which they had already gained no small distinction, putting aside the splendid prizes of earthly ambition which they might reasonably expect to win, taking leave of the social circles in which they shone with no mean brilliance, and plunging into that warfare whose splendours are seen by faith alone, and whose rewards seem so shadowy to the unopened vision of ordinary men? "It was a sight to stir the heart, and a striking testimony to the power of the uplifted CHRIST to draw to Himself not the weak, the emotional, and the illiterate only, but all that is noblest in strength and finest in culture."
One glance at the faces of these men is enough to assure the most casual observer that they are intensely in earnest, and that they are filled with a peace and joy the world cannot give. As they address the assembled multitudes, not one heart but is convinced of the loftiness of their aims, the depth and devotion of their love to CHRIST, and the grandeur of the cause to which their lives are given.
"We began to understand," wrote one, "how much more noble a sphere of service was offered by CHRIST to young men with great possessions and good abilities, than any the cricket field, or the river, the army, or the bar could afford."
Earnest, loving words of eloquence and power carry home the message so deeply upon their hearts. It is CHRIST alone they preach. The joy of being His; the joy of living to serve and love Him; of leading others into His liberty and light; of following Him even into lives of self-emptying, loneliness, and toil — for the life of the world; and the necessity for absolute selfsurrender and obedience if one would know the rest in Him and peace
the depth indebtedness to those who know not GOD. that
passes
understanding.
And
then,
of
our
"We are all under obligation to spread the knowledge of a good thing," said Mr. Stanley Smith. "It is simply this fact, coupled with our having clearly heard the Master's call, that is sending us out to China. "We do not go to that far field to tell of doctrines merely, but of a
living,
present,
reigning
CHRIST...
We want to come to the Chinaman, buried in theories and prejudices, and bound by chains of lust, and say to him, 'Brother, I bring you an almighty Saviour!' And it is our earnest hope and desire that the outcome of this meeting will be that scores and scores of those whom we now see before us will ere long go forth not to China only, but to every part of the world, to spread the glorious Gospel.
the knowledge of this precious JESUS, who to most of us is everything in the world, is absolutely wanting to thousands and millions of our fellow-men and women today. "What are we going to do? What is the use of great meetings like this if the outcome is not to be something worthy of the name of JESUS? He wants us to take up our Cross and follow Him, — to leave fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, property, and everything we hold dear, to carry the Gospel to the perishing... "Oh, to think that Gordon at Khartoum has but to speak a word, and millions of money go from England .. .and in Egypt our noblest and bravest shed their blood... A greater than Gordon appeals to the Church. From the Cross of Calvary the voice of JESUS still cries ... 'I thirst' "Ah, that Divine thirst! It has not yet been quenched. It has hardly begun to be quenched. "He thirsts for the Chinese, the African, the Hindu, the South American. Are there none here who would fain quench His thirst? Would you pass by that CHRIST? Behold His agony! You could not do so had you seen Him in the flesh. But now He thirsts with a deeper than bodily thirst. With His great soul He thirsts for the millions of this earth. "For years in England we have been debtors... And
"David once thirsted for the waters of Bethlehem ... and three of his followers broke through the ranks of the enemy, and, at the risk of their lives, brought him that water... Shall not this Mightier than David have His thirst quenched tonight? Shall not the Divine LORD have His thirst quenched? Shall not the Man of Sorrows have His great heart rejoiced by men and women offering themselves for the work of spreading the glorious Gospel? CHRIST yearns over this earth. What are we going to do? ... "Does someone ask, 'What is it that is sending you out?' We cannot tell you tonight of visions or dreams; but we can point ... to the great needs of the heathen abroad that prevent us from staying in England. "And now a last word. How can one leave such an audience as this? It seems to me as if CHRIST has come right into our midst, and has looked into each face amongst us — men and women, old and young. To each He comes with tender love ... and, pointing to the wounds in His pierced side, He asks, 'Lovest thou Me?'... "'Yes, LORD, Thou knowest that I love Thee.' "What is the test of love?... 'Keep My commandments.' What is the test of friendship? 'Slake My thirst.' 'Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.' "And what, Master, do you command? 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.'"
The results of that evening's meeting in blessing to the world, eternity alone will reveal.
But why recall a scene so familiar to most of us? To link it with another, that may be more deeply connected with it than we think. Only eighteen months before, in the summer of 1883, a solitary figure knelt in the little study on the
inner courtyard of a Chinese dwelling in distant SHAN-SI. Harold Schofield's prayers that GOD would send out to China — send to that very spot— men of culture, education, and distinguished gifts, intellectual as well as spiritual, were silent now. His work seemed to have ended with an early death and lonely grave upon the eastern hills above the city. But was it done? Had those prayers no connection with the sailing of this group? "About the end of 1883," said Stanley Smith — first of the Cambridge Band to give himself to GOD for missionary work —"About the end of 1883 I wrote to Mr. Taylor telling him I wanted to come out to China."
Not long, that, between the prayer and answer! Had Dr. Schofield but known it, he might have echoed the prophet's words, "Whiles I was speaking in prayer." ... For at the beginning of his prayer the commandment went forth, and at the very time he was pleading with GOD, this young heart was being prepared for the call and consecration that were to bring the answer. Stanley Smith volunteered before the year closed. And two years later he and four of his companions from Cambridge were working on the T'ai-yuen plain, in the very towns and cities that had so heavily burdened Dr. Schofield's heart.
Nor was this all... Part of the missionary's plea had been that GOD would pour out a great blessing upon the Universities at home; that large numbers of college men might be converted, and consecrate their lives to foreign work. One of the most remarkable features of the out-going of the Cambridge Band in 1885
During that year the University of Edinburgh experienced a wonderful revival — the first wave of an incoming tide of unparalleled spiritual life and power. was the way in which their departure was used to bring this about.
In February 1885 Dr. Moxey wrote:— "The event that has precipitated the shower of blessing that has fallen in our midst is the recent visit of the two young Christian athletes from Cambridge who are now on their way to preach CHRIST to the Chinese. "Students, like other young men, are apt to regard professedly religious men of their own age as wanting in manliness, unfit for the river or cricket-field, and only good for psalm-singing and pulling a long face. But the big, muscular hands and long arms of the ex-captain of the Cambridge eight, stretched out in entreaty, while he eloquently told the
old story of Redeeming love, capsized their theory. And when Mr. C. T. Studd, whose name is to them familiar as a household word as perhaps the greatest gentleman bowler in England, supplemented his brother athlete's words by quiet but intense and burning utterances of personal testimony to the love and power of a personal Saviour, opposition and criticism were alike disarmed, and professors and students together were seen in tears, to be followed in the after meeting by the glorious sight of professors dealing with students and students with one another."
One of the promoters of this movement speaks of it as perhaps the most wonderful that ever took place in the history of university students.
"I
have," he says, "to tell you how our great Edinburgh University and the allied medical schools, with between three and four thousand students, have been shaken to their very depths; how the blessing has spread to all the other universities of Scotland; and how already, as the students have scattered far and wide, the work is extending in its depth and reality throughout the whole country — I might almost say, throughout the world."
Oxford and Cambridge also were visited by the departing missionaries, with rich results in blessing. A deputation of men from Cambridge who had known and esteemed them during their college course came to bid them farewell at the Exeter Hall meeting, as we have mentioned.
"We come," said the spokesman, "to wish these dear friends, whom we have known and respected for years past, every blessing ... Since I have been in this hall it has been said to me— "'What a pity that such men should be going abroad! We want them here at home. Those who have distinguished themselves as they have could win young men to CHRIST, and do a work that others, less known, cannot accomplish.' And he went on to add, 'I hope it will be for the best.' "Now, sirs, I do not hope it. I thank GOD that I know it is for the best. I know what their going out has done for me. I know what it has done for Cambridge. For years past Cambridge has not been behind other universities in missionary interest. Perhaps it has been before them. We have had missionary meetings,
and missionaries have addressed us from time to time. But when men whom everybody had heard of and many personally knew, came up and said, 'We are going,' it seemed to bring us face to face, in a new way, with the needs of the heathen world ... We had meetings in room after room, night by night, at Cambridge, and at one over forty men stood up and gave themselves to missionary work.
not only has their going stirred up missionary interest; it has also taught us what it is to give ourselves wholly to CHRIST. ... It has shown us that we must take up our cross and follow Him; that there is to be no compromise, however small; that we must be all for our Master, with nothing between our souls and Him. "But
"Now could these men hope to do a greater work by stopping at home? While they were here we loved and respected them, but they were never used of GOD as they are now."
The story of this remarkable movement is to be found in Mr. Broomhall's valuable book, The Evangelisation of the World. One quotation further may be given, as expressing a thought that naturally occurs in this connection. A correspondent writes to the Record, of the farewell meeting that took place at Cambridge when many hundreds of gownsmen were present:— "As I sat last evening among the audience at the great 'China Inland' meeting in our Guildhall, a meeting of surpassing interest, and not least to an earnest Evangelical Churchman, I could not but ponder what the main reasons were for the might of a movement which has drawn to it man after man of a very noble type, and of just the qualities most influential in the young Cambridge world.
"My main reasons, after all, reduced themselves to one — the uncompromising spirituality and unworldliness of the programme of the Mission, responded to by hearts which have truly laid all at the LORD'S feet, and whose delight is the most open confession of His Name and its power upon themselves.
"I venture to pronounce it inconceivable, impossible, that such a meeting should have been held in connection with any mission enterprise of mixed aims, or in which such great truths as personal conversion, present peace and joy in believing, the present sanctifying
power of the SPIRIT, the necessity among the heathen of faith in CHRIST for salvation, and the loss of the soul as the alternative, were ignored, or treated with hesitation. Nor could such a profound interest possibly be called out did the work not demand of the workers very real and manifest self-sacrifice, and acts of faith."
That a mission so little known — poor, unsupported by any great denomination, and with methods so distasteful to the natural mind -should have attracted these men, was indeed no small part of the surprise evoked by the whole movement; but to those who remember Harold Schofield's life, consecration, prayers, and early death, and the promise, "If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit," there may appear less wonder in the harvest reaped from buried seed.
On Thursday morning, February 5th, 1885, Mr. Stanley Smith and his companions started for China. Seldom has any departure excited wider interest, or called forth more prayer. "Thoughtful minds," wrote Dr. Wilder, of Princeton, "will be waiting to see how the glow of their piety endures the tug and toil of learning the Chinese language, and their close contact, daily, with masses of ignorant and superstitious idolaters, no bracing influences around them from cultured Christian society."
How deadening such contact is, and how trying the sudden transition from crowded meetings and all the active service of life at home, to the isolation of an inland city, the difficulties of an unknown language, the restraints of Chinese custom and prejudice, and the burdens, big and little, that daily press upon the soul, face to face with heathenism, none but a missionary can fully know.
One of two very opposite effects is usually the result. Either the Divine life suffers and declines, or else, by prayer in the SPIRIT, and daily faithful study of the Word of GOD, the inward man is strengthened "to run and not be weary," to "walk and not faint." But the missionary must carry his own atmosphere with him, only possible through the constant "renewing of the HOLY GHOST." Fully realising this, the journey out to China was made a time of special waiting upon GOD. In spite of much opposition and scorn, a bright testimony to CHRIST was maintained on board the ship, and souls were saved. The Cambridge men travelling second class, as missionaries, were a source of much wonder and
amusement to their fellow-passengers, until they began to find out the power of those Christ-filled lives.
"Everything was ordered by our gracious God," wrote Mr. Stanley Smith, "to bring us to the shores of China in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of
just seeing that all we have to do is to recognise that we are nothing, CHRIST is all, and trusting in Him to enter into the rest that remains for the people of GOD — the rest of faith. For surely God is strong enough to fight our battles. And surely GOD is rich enough to supply our needs. And surely GOD is wise enough to teach us and direct our paths." CHRIST;
The blessing which had so remarkably attended the meetings held in England and upon the voyage was repeated in Shanghai, Peking, and elsewhere, upon the travellers' arrival. Meetings were held for English-speaking residents, and missionaries. Many young men and others were converted, and a remarkable outpouring of the SPIRIT OF GOD took place amongst the missionaries, especially at Peking.
Landing on March 18th, the young men were met by Mr. Hudson Taylor, who had preceded them by a fortnight to make all arrangements for their going inland at once. Chinese dress was put on, a long farewell said to foreign life and surroundings, and at Shanghai they parted; C. T. Studd and the Polhill-Turners going westward to Hankow, and thence by the Han to SHAN-SI; while Messrs. Stanley Smith, Hoste, and Cassels, and subsequently Mr. Beauchamp, went northward, via Peking, to SHAN-SI.
In the lovely month of May, full of the hope and promise of spring, they reached T'ai-yuen, the capital of the province, and Dr. Harold Schofield's old home. Almost two years before, he had been called away from earthly service, and now they stood where his work had been laid down, the living answer to his many prayers.
Vast, needy, populous SHAN-SI, the sphere of their labours, was everywhere wonderfully open to the Gospel. The people, won by the kindness of the foreigners during the awful famine, were on all hands accessible, and favourably disposed. Dr. Schofield's medical skill had done much to deepen friendly feeling, and in many places Christian teachers had only to go, to be welcome. Larger than the whole of England, or the States of New York and Massachusetts put together, and with a population of nine millions, SHAN-SI had as yet only three mission stations. Over one hundred important walled cities, centres of government and influence, dotted her wide plains and mountainous uplands; and over one hundred were still without a missionary. At T'ai-yuen and P'ing-yang Fu little churches were now gathered; and at T'ai-kuh, about forty miles south of the capital, representatives of the American Board had recently settled. But that was all. Still there were more than a hundred cities, with towns and villages innumerable; still there were thousands and thousands of homesteads, millions upon millions of souls, untouched by the Light of Life. Such was SHAN-SI as the newly arrived Cambridge men found it, in May 1885.
That it was a fruitful and promising field there could be no doubt; for especially in the south of the province there were remarkable signs of blessing. The one station in that region, P'ing-yang Fu, had been opened by the Rev. David Hill, of the English Wesleyan Mission, during the time of the famine. Admirably situated in a populous district, this beautiful and important city became a centre from which the Gospel spread far and wide. Mr. Hill's Christ-like spirit made itself deeply felt. His life was a blessing, and the people loved him.
In 1879 he was joined by Mr. J. J. Turner, of our Mission, who remained on after Mr. Hill was obliged to return to his important work in Hankow. One of the most notable results of Mr. Hill's residence at P'ing-yang was the conversion of Pastor Hsi, at that time a proud Confucianist, and strongly opposed to foreigners. A man of remarkable gifts and good family, Mr. Hsi was a scholar by training, and by heredity a doctor! He owned a small farm in a village near P'ing-yang, and was well known in the neighbourhood as a person of influence and standing. Hard times during the famine had made him poor, like everybody else, and thus it was he came under the influence of the foreigner. In 1880 Mr. David Hill offered a prize to the scholars of the city for the best essay upon Christian doctrines, supplying them with books. Mr. Hsi's essay gained the prize. He was introduced to Mr. Hill, and from the first greatly respected and loved him. The conversion that followed was gradual but decided. Mr. Hsi became an earnest spiritually-minded Christian, and continues a mighty power in the church to this day.
In 1882 Mr. Turner went home on furlough, and Mr. S. B. Drake, who had been helping him at P'ing-yang, took up the work, and began to organise the rapidly growing church with much wisdom. Recognising the remarkable gifts of Mr. Hsi, he appointed him an elder, and the Christians speedily came to look upon him as their head.
For about three years Mr. and Mrs. Drake worked on at P'ing-yang, most of the time singled-handed; and during that period the blessing of GOD rested upon their labours to a remarkable degree. In the spring of 1884, just a year before the arrival of the Cambridge Band, there were about fifty baptised members in the church; all of them tried believers well known to the missionaries, who watched over them with constant care. The rule of the church was clear and decided — to receive no one by baptism until their earnestness and consistency had been fully proved by at least a year of Christian life. Besides the members, there were large numbers of interested inquirers, who had put away their idols, and were meeting to worship GOD, in more than twenty villages round about the city. Services were held at eight village out-stations, and those who gathered regularly were fully three hundred persons.
Not a little persecution had attended the work, but the Christians only clung together the more firmly. Elder Hsi, full of life and fire, devoted his time voluntarily to travelling through the district, helping the believers in every possible way. Himself a saved opium smoker, he felt the deepest sympathy for others enthralled by the vice, and a large part of his efforts was on behalf of such. He commenced Opium Refuges in many places, and sold pills of his own making, as well as preaching the Gospel of a full salvation.
In the spring of 1885, Mr. and Mrs. Drake were obliged to leave for needed rest and change. And for a few months the Christians were left without missionary supervision. To this interesting district four of the Cambridge Band were designated. Perhaps no more promising sphere could have been found in China. It was a great field, ripe for harvest, and very eagerly the young missionaries anticipated the privilege of labouring there. Leaving T'ai-yuen in the middle of June, they went southward across the great and populous plain, journeying through crowded towns and cities and countless villages among the cornfields, where the wheat was turning golden, and the maize was green and young, or amid acres of glowing opium poppy, brightening the landscape, but saddening the heart. The fine mountain ranges to east and west of them gradually approached, until at last the road ascended their lower slopes, the valleys narrowing so that only the river could find its way below. Fertile and well-
wooded, some of the hillsides were lovely, and reminded the travellers of home. But no mission-station was passed on that long ten days' journey.
At last, however, signs of blessing indicated the neighbourhood of P'ing-yang.
"One day before reaching this city," wrote Mr. Cassels, "Stanley Smith was on in front ... when a Chinaman came up and shook him warmly by the hand. Surprised at this, (for the Chinese mode of salutation is a deep bow, with clasped hands, raised to the forehead) Stanley at once thought the man must be a Christian, and said inquiringly, — "'Ye-su-tih men tu?' — 'A disciple of JESUS?' "The man signed that it was so; and then came and shook hands with me. He forthwith made us take some refreshment at a little place by the roadside ... and invited us to his house, hard by, for our midday meal. As we went, he said
he had known
we were coming.
"'How so?' asked Mr. Key. "'Because,' he answered, 'I have been praying that missionaries might soon be sent to us.' ... "Pointing up a valley, he continued, 'All the people living there are giving up their idols.' "You can imagine how we were cheered by this, and how delightful it was to meet five or six other Christians at his house, and to join in prayer and praise, although we could not understand."
It was a happy party that occupied the roomy mission-premises at P'ing-yang that summer of 1885:— "The four of us," wrote Mr. Cassels, "Beauchamp, Stanley Smith, Hoste, and I, occupy three sides of one little courtyard, each having a room to ourselves. On the fourth side is the room used as a chapel. In another court Mr. Baller and Mr. Key put up, and our dining-room and kitchen are there. And in still another the evangelist lives ... "We are very happy; enjoying our work, enjoying our walks on the city
wall with views of the not distant mountains — wonderfully lighted at times by the setting sun, and enjoying, above all, our little gatherings for prayer and praise and study of God's Word." Here at last were the reinforcements so long needed. They were warmly welcomed by the Christians.
Rapid progress was made with the language; work came thick and threefold; and the friends could not long remain together. In eight months four new stations were opened -- so that in May '86 Mr. Studd, who had come over from Han-chung to join them, was at K'uh-wu, an important city about forty miles south of P'ing-yang; Mr. Beauchamp at Sih-chau, three days' journey to the north-west; Mr. Cassels still farther on, at Ta-ning, among the mountains; Mr. Stanley Smith at the busy town of Hung-t'ung, twenty miles to the north-east; while Mr. Hoste was alone at P'ing-yang Fu.
July 1886 witnessed a happy reunion, when Mr. Hudson Taylor was at last able to pay a long-promised visit to SHAN-SI, and all the missionaries gathered at the capital to meet him. Days of blessing followed (Days of Blessing, compiled by Mr. Montagu Beauchamp, tells the story of this visit, and the Conferences, both native and foreign) as in that inland city they waited on the LORD, and found refreshment in mutual fellowship and communion. After the Conference in T'aiyuen Mr. Taylor went south to meet the native Christians in the P'ing-yang district, and hold similar meetings there. Hung-t'ung, Mr. Stanley Smith's new station, was the first visited. Over a hundred church members assembled, for two days; the inner courtyard of the mission-house being set apart for the women, and the outer for the men. The meetings were full of life and power. As many as three hundred listeners gathered on Sunday morning, August 1st, and wonderful testimonies were given to the saving CHRIST. On the second day of the Conference a deeply impressive service was held, at which a number of the native Christians were set apart as elders and deacons. Mr. Hsi, up to that time an elder at P'ing-yang, was ordained Superintending Pastor of the whole district, and another devoted native brother was appointed to P'ing-yang.
A few days later a similar Conference was held in that city, when about fifty Christians gathered, and there also men were set apart for the work. None of these helpers received regular salaries, many of them, on the contrary, giving largely of their substance to the LORD. Mr. Taylor, who had never before been so far inland, felt it a great privilege to be able thus to visit SHAN-SI. For the first time he found himself in one of the nine formerly unevangelised provinces for which he had so long laboured and prayed. The parting came all too soon. He was going on south-west, three or four hundred miles overland, to Han-chung;
and those who were remaining went out to bid him a long farewell. It was the middle of August, and overpoweringly hot, so the start was made at night.
"The first stage was by moonlight," wrote Mr. Stanley Smith, "and we accompanied them some way. A few last words of helpful counsel, a few last words of mutual love, a few last words in solemn stillness, as with hands locked in his we each received his parting blessing, and the visit to SHAN-SI — so long expected, so long deferred, but now so blessed in its outcome, so treasured in our hearts— was over. From that time the development of the work all over southern SHAN-SI was rapid and wonderful. Earnest spirituality and devotion on the part of the missionaries was met with equal consecration and enthusiasm
All had but one aim — to spread the knowledge of the love of JESUS; and the women were not behind amongst the native helpers.
the men, as the following incident will attest:— "Some time before the Conferences, the city of Hoh-chau, on the main road to the capital, was much on the heart of Pastor Hsi. Day by day, at family prayers, he pleaded for that place and neighbourhood, deeply feeling its spiritual destitution. At last his wife said to him— "You are always praying for Hoh-chau. Why do you not go and commence an Opium Refuge there, as you have done in so many other places?" "I have spent all," he replied, "that I can use in this way; unless the LORD supply the means, no more can be attempted." "Why," she responded, "what do you think it would cost?" "Twenty to thirty thousand cash," he answered gravely. (About five pounds sterling.) When the wife heard that, she went away and said no more. But she could not forget it. There was a city needing the Gospel. Here were ready, willing workers, longing to enter it. But means were lacking. What could she do? Next morning the good Pastor pleaded, as usual, the need and darkness of Hoh-chau. What was his surprise, as he rose from his knees, to see his wife standing beside him with all her jewellery, including many much-prized possessions, which she handed to him, saying— "I can do without these. Sell them, and let Hoh-chau have the Gospel."
Christian sisters, how many of us have ever done as much? In how many a jewel case, in how many a wardrobe, "costly array" is treasured, while hundreds of similar cities are to-day un-entered, and missions on all hands lack funds?
Might we not echo that Chinese woman's words—
"I can do without these. Let Hoh-chau have the Gospel."
An Opium Refuge was soon opened in that city, and a good work commenced. But there, as in all the neighbouring stations, there was no one to go to the women. Lady-workers were badly wanted, and this need led to much prayer, until in the winter of 1886 a new house was taken in Hoh-chau, specially for work amongst the women. Two Norwegian ladies, Misses Reuter and Jakobsen, came down. Their lives of singular Christ-likeness and devotion were exceedingly blessed in that station, and thus began a woman's work in southern SHAN-SI, much on the lines of that commenced a few months earlier along the Kwang-sin River.
The year that followed was one of remarkable ingathering. Pastor Hsi and his wife came to live with Mr. Stanley Smith and Mr. Hoste at Hung-t'ung; but, though their hands were thus strengthened, they had more than they could do to overtake the work. Hundreds of villages surrounded them in the populous mountain valleys, and the Christians, widely scattered, had to be visited in their own homes. In scores of houses the idols had been destroyed, and Christian worship was conducted daily, it being quite a common thing to see texts put up outside the doors, instead of idolatrous papers, for good luck.
During April and May, two hundred and fifty persons were baptised in this part of the province, two hundred and sixteen of whom were at Hung-t'ung. Very memorable was the day on which fifty-two women and one hundred and fiftyeight men thus confessed CHRIST at one station. It was Saturday, April 23rd, 1887, in the midst of a three days' Conference, at which three hundred Christians and inquirers were assembled. The enthusiasm of the meetings it would be impossible to describe. Pastor Hsi spoke with wonderful power, and the testimonies from the Christians were deeply impressive. So large an ingathering was the cause of great rejoicing when the tidings were received in England but many in China could not but question the wisdom of baptising two hundred and sixteen people at one station in one day.
The incident calls up a wide and important question in missionary policy — whether persons should be baptised upon profession, merely, of their faith in CHRIST, or whether sufficient time should be required for them to give full and satisfactory evidence of a change of heart and life.
The dear workers at Hung-t'ung now act upon the latter principle, having fully come to see that nothing short of clear evidence of a turning from sin to GOD is sufficient to warrant baptism and outward membership in the flock of CHRIST. But in 1887 some of the brethren in that station did not fully realise the importance of this course. Of the two hundred and sixteen baptised in the spring of that year many subsequently gave cause for sorrow; but on the whole, they were a band of sincere believers. For when, after the lapse of six years, Mr. Hoste carefully examined the Church roll at Hung-t'ung to see what had become of the two hundred and sixteen baptised in April 1887, one hundred and thirtyfive were found to be still in regular fellowship with the Church. Seven had been transferred; four had been removed by death; twenty had been lost sight of; and fifty were known to be backsliders, the majority of whom had returned to opium smoking. Very few had relapsed into idolatry. That one hundred and thirty-five should have stood the test of six years certainly speaks well for the work.
Time fails to follow further the details of recent developments in SHAN-SI. Suffice it to say, that in the four years from 1886 to 1890 over six hundred baptisms had taken place. Eight new stations were opened during the same time in various parts of the province, three of them occupied by ladies only.
At the time of Dr. Schofield's death two little bands of workers, with fifty or sixty converts, in two widely separated stations, had been the only Christians among nine millions of heathen. In 1890, seven years later, there were more than forty missionaries of the C.I.M. working in the same sphere, at ten stations, with thirty native helpers, and between seven and eight hundred native Christians. And since that time the work has gone on growing, until now, in 1893, more than seventy missionaries are labouring in seventeen stations in SHAN-SI. How little, even so, in a region as large as England and Wales put together!
Mr. Hoste and Pastor Hsi are still labouring at Hung-t'ung, Mr. Studd, no longer connected with the Inland Mission, holds the fort in a neighbouring city, while the other members of the Cambridge Band are all occupying important C.I.M. stations in western China.
GOD has used them, and taught them many lessons, fitting them for wider
Does one of them regret, now, the consecration that led them to China? Would one of them return and choose an easier pathway? No, a thousand times no! Every word, every appeal of theirs they would re-echo to-day with tenfold earnestness. What they have given they would give again, and more if it were possible; counting it an honour to follow in His footprints who yielded Himself "for the life of the world." service in days to come.
Copied by Stephen Ross for WholesomeWords.org from chapter XXIX of The Story of the China Inland Mission by M. Geraldine Guinness. 2nd ed. 2 vols. London: Morgan & Scott, 1894.
Ongoing Report on "The Cambridge Seven" by Anthony B. Wong
The Cambridge Seven C.T. Studd, M. Beauchamp, S.P. Smith, A.T. Polhill-Turner, D.E. Hoste, C.H. Polhill-Turner, W.W. Cassels (In no way does this report come close to how God used The Cambridge Seven in his world redemptive work. Any understanding of how these men were brought together and their own joy in God can be gotten from the book and their own testimonies. I only hope that I have captured a little of the impact of The Cambridge Seven in their generation and hope that God finds this report accurate and testifies to His grace. May God raise up another Cambridge Seven from amongst our own universities and may we participate in their spirit and devotion to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ -- Anthony B. Wong.) "And He [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15
The seven young men who came to be known as "The Cambridge Seven" were all Englishmen, but the story of how God used this handful of students really begins in China, with a medical missionary named Dr. Harold Schofield. Dr. Schofield was a member of the China Inland Mission, the first Protestant mission allowed to penetrate into the interior of China and it was the mission pioneered by Hudson Taylor in 1866. Dr. Schofield had been a brilliant young doctor at Oxford who gave his life to Jesus and at the age of 29, God sent him to China as a missionary.
There was nothing glamorous about missionary life in the interior of China. The stench of dung, mingled with the stench of unwashed bodies was everywhere. Disease was common, especially among the poor, peasant class, and in fact, Dr. Schofield would later die from typhus, contracted in his mission field. At the time, few in England were interested in China mission. Fewer still had even heard of Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission and the handful who did go to China were not university men, "trained in mind and body for leadership." Students in the universities were not interested in foreign missions and actually, there were not many students who were deeply interested in Jesus. Of the university students who had answered God's call to be missionaries, they wanted to follow the paths blazed by Dr. David Livingstone in Africa or the footsteps of William Carey in India. As Dr. Schofield surveyed the province (Shansi) in which he lived, with its nine million unsaved heathen Chinese and only five or six missionaries total, combined with the sleeping church back in England, he should have packed up his bags and went home in utter defeat. However, Dr. Schofield was a man of prayer and so night after night, "leaving behind food and leisure," he got on his knees and prayed that God would raise up Bible teachers and shepherds, especially from the universities and send them to China as missionaries. When Dr. Schofield died, he did not physically see much answer to his prayer. But God was working in such a way as not only to answer one man's faith and prayer but to awaken an entire nation from its spiritual slumber.
First, consecration and dedication of seven young men. In 1873, Dwight L. Moody and his co-worker, Ira Sankey, began a three year evangelical mission of the British Isles. He was already a famous and respected evangelist in the United States but when he went to England, he was, at first, looked upon as a curiosity and the press especially did not like them. Many people ridiculed Moody, who did not speak well and Sankey, who was, at best, only an average musician. But strangely, many people went to their meetings, with the meeting halls often overflowing with people.
One of these attendants was a thirteen year old boy named Stanley P. Smith. He came from a Christian family and his father was a successful London surgeon. When Stanley Smith listened to Moody's message, the Holy Spirit opened Smith's heart to see his own sins and to see how Jesus "Christ had died on the cross, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." In Stanley Smith's own words, "I was by grace enabled to receive Christ."
We cannot deny the reality of Smith's conversion and the power of the Holy Spirit. Two years later, as a student at Repton, one of the premier prep. schools in England, Smith joined a prayer meeting/Bible study formed by his friend Granville Waldegrave. But he was young, only fifteen years old, and he was often sick so his faith depended on how he was feeling. His diary is full of entries of his own un-Christ like behavior. He wanted to become an Anglican minister but his faith soon degenerated into habit. Outwardly, he looked okay. He was popular and seemed happy. He worked hard at school and devoted his time to playing sports, even though he was often in pain. Smith was known for his good sense of humour. But he knew that he was not right with God. By 1880, the same life he had given to God when he accepted Jesus six years previous, Smith had taken it all back for himself.
In 1879, Stanley Smith entered Cambridge University (University of Cambridge). Rowing was Smith's passion and in spite of his health, he joined the Cambridge rowing team and was placed in the lowest boat. His best friend from prep school, Montague Beauchamp, a tall, athletic type, was also a Cambridge student and member of the rowing team and the two were inseparable. Beauchamp also came from a Christian family, and his parents and uncle had been original sponsors of Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission. Together, Smith and Beauchamp occasionally attended the Daily Prayer Meeting, weekly Sunday meetings of the Inter-Collegiate Christian Union and even taught Sunday school. But the two of them had not yielded their lives to Christ and soon, rowing became more important to Smith than any relationship with God, even a nominal one.
In April 1880, Granville Waldegrave, Smith and Beauchamp met for chapel service and then breakfast. Waldegrave was also a Cambridge student and had been praying for his friend Stanley Smith, for three and a half years. God was working and the conversation soon changed to a deep, spiritual conversation. Beauchamp was not ready yet, but Smith was. Smith confessed his own sin that he no longer had any joy from his salvation and was hardly a Christian at all.
making small, token pledges to God were useless and that he had to give himself fully to God, even as God in Christ had wholly given himself for us. Only then can we know the joys and unsearchable riches of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. When Smith Waldegrave showed Smith that
gave his life to God that night, he was changed forever. Smith would later say, "I decided by God's grace to live by and for Him." God had raised the first member of "The Cambridge Seven."
One of Smith's good friends from the rowing team was William Hoste, a Christian. Hoste had a younger brother named Dixon Hoste, a disinterested, callous and quiet young man, who although only twenty-one years old, was already a commissioned officer in the British army (a gunner subaltern), right below the rank of captain. Dixon Hoste was living a life "entirely indifferent to the claims of God," as he would later say. He had been raised in a Christian family but he himself had no spiritual desire. He felt that his life was in the army and in fact, he had a bright future in it.
During the winter of 1882, Dixon was on leave and William, home for Christmas break, tried to persuade Dixon to attend a meeting of Moody, who was in the midst of his second great evangelical mission of Great Britain. For three nights, Dixon refused to attend. On the fourth night, William's persistence triumphed and Dixon went to the meeting, in spite of himself. When Dixon listened to God's word, his heart was opened. He saw his own ugly sins. His pride crumbled. Dixon's deep dissatisfaction with his life overwhelmed him and he saw how much his dissatisfaction contrasted with the joyful life of his brother who knew Jesus. Dixon had heard the same message too many times already, but this time, he had to repent and give his life to the Only One who could save him, Jesus Christ. But Dixon Hoste felt it too costly, giving up his easy-going desires, incurring the ridicule of worldly people and the bad effect this might have on his promising military career. Dixon's brother William prayed for him and the Holy Spirit worked so that on the last night of the mission, Dixon knelt down and gave his life to Jesus. Then peace and joy welled up in his soul, like he had never known before. At that moment, Dixon realized that there was nothing better than to know, adore and serve his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. When Dixon returned to his post, he became a faithful witness of Christ. But with each passing day, he grew more and more sure that God was calling him to leave his commission and go out as a missionary. In due time, Dixon would answer His call.
Montague Beauchamp had been childhood friends with the Studd family and at Cambridge, Beauchamp introduced Stanley Smith to Kynaston Studd, a member of the Cambridge cricket team. In fact, Kynaston was a rather famous cricket player (as were his younger brothers) but he was first and foremost, a Christian and he had a strong sense of mission to serve others in Jesus. One day in early February of 1881, Smith, Beauchamp and Studd were hanging pictures in Studd's room when Beauchamp felt ill and left early for bed. When the pictures had all been hung, Smith and Studd prayed together for their friend, Monty Beauchamp, who was really only a nominal Christian even though he came from a missionary family. Afterwards, Studd suggested
that they get together every day to pray for Beauchamp and Smith wholeheartedly agreed. So each day, Smith and Studd met and prayed fifteen minutes for their friend to give his life to Jesus. God accepted the prayer of these two friends and opened Beauchamp's heart. In early October of 1881, Montague Beauchamp "yielded all to Christ" and the three friends rejoiced together. Beauchamp was changed so much so that everyone could see how much Christ had done for him. Interestingly, Beauchamp and his family were friends with Hudson Taylor and were very familiar with China Mission. Beauchamp, saved by grace and owing a debt of love to his two friends and especially to God, would become the instrument in guiding the direction of "The Cambridge Seven."
William Cassels was an acquaintance of Smith's from the rowing team. They were different personality wise. Smith was out going while Cassels was a gentle and quiet young man. Furthermore, Cassels was three years older than Stanley Smith. Cassels was a Christian and was studying to be a minister. Cassels was not distinguished in any way, but he was a faithful man, serving in a slum-parish and considering going to Africa as a missionary. After Smith gave his life to Christ, suddenly Cassels and Smith became very close friends. They attended the same Bible study and prayer meeting and prayed together for campus students, especially for the boat club of which Smith was the captain and therefore, a man of great influence throughout the whole college. Later, Cassels would become an instrumental figure in the formation of "The Cambridge Seven."
Cecil Polhill-Turner and his younger brother Arthur were classmates and friends of Kynaston Studd and his two younger brothers at Eton, another premier prep school in England. Both Cecil and Arthur were exceptional athletes, excelling at cricket and football. According to tradition, Cecil, as the second son, would enter the military and Arthur would become a minister. But neither brother had much spiritual desire, even though their nanny had prayed for them from the time they were babies and told them wonderful Bible stories throughout their childhood. At Eton, Cecil and Arthur respected the athletic prowess of the Studd brothers who conducted a Bible study but the Polhill-Turners were not interested. Arthur even thought it was indecent to openly talk about Jesus.
In October of 1882, Arthur Polhill-Turner entered his second year at Cambridge. D.L. Moody and Ira Sankey were to appear at Cambridge as part of their evangelical Mission and each undergraduate at the university received a personal invitation to the meeting, signed by Kynaston Studd. Arthur, like many
of his friends, thought it was ridiculous that these uneducated Americans were coming to one of the world's best universities to preach to them. He went, curious to see what would happen. At the meeting, God's Word spoke to his heart and Arthur could not help going back again the next night. He went night after night and when Moody spoke on the Prodigal Son, Arthur's pride and sin were exposed. He had planned on using his position as a minister to earn an easy and comfortable living but he realized how much this grieved God. Arthur realized God's grace and love for him, sending His One and Only Son to die for his sins. He saw how God had been calling both him and his brother Cecil, first through his nanny, then his sister and now, through Moody's preaching. One word of God pierced Arthur's heart and took away his fear. That one word was Isaiah 12:2, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation." On the last night of the Mission, Arthur offered himself to Jesus, just as he was, and Jesus accepted him just as he was. Arthur Polhill-Turner never looked back.
Cecil Polhill-Turner, like Dixon Hoste, had also become a commissioned officer in the British army (subaltern). During the winter of 1882-83, Cecil was on leave and he went home. Arthur immediately began to talk to his older brother about his new faith in Jesus and forced Cecil to promise to read a verse or two from the Bible each morning. Arthur also took Cecil to Moody's meetings in London and Cecil was impressed. But Cecil had his own ideas about Christianity, thinking that Christians were sad because they were always thinking about their sins. Furthermore, he felt that he could not give up his promising military career, which he felt he would have to do if he accepted Christ. God was working though and by the winter of 1884, he was praying everyday, his thoughts were occupied with the Word of God and Christ, who was calling him to repent and accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. Finally, his year-long spiritual struggle ended in victory for Jesus. In Cecil's own words, "I had yielded to and trusted in Jesus Christ as my Saviour, Lord and Master."
Kynaston Studd, a friend of Stanley Smith, Monty Beauchamp and the PolhillTurner brothers, had two younger brothers himself, George and Charles Thomas or C.T. [Studd]. Their father, Edward Studd, had made a fortune in India and the Studd family lived in complete luxury. Edward Studd had become a Christian in 1877, when his friend, Mr. Vincent, took him to one of Moody's meetings. After Edward Studd accepted Jesus, he devoted the remaining two years of his life to bring the Gospel to anybody and everybody. He opened his home for weekly Christian meetings and invited Christian speakers to speak and all of his friends
and neighbors to listen. He took his servants to listen to Moody. He worked doubly hard to convert his three sons. Charles Studd would later say of his father, "I was not altogether pleased with him. He used to come into my room at night and ask if I was converted. After a time I used to sham sleep when I saw the door open and in the day, I crept around to the other side of the house when I saw him coming." Through one Godly man whom Edward Studd knew, Charles accepted Jesus as his Saviour and the Bible meant everything to him, when he was only seventeen. But unlike his brother Kynaston, Charles's zeal for Jesus would slowly fade with time.
Charles Studd liked playing sports and he had a particular passion for cricket, the most popular sport in England at the time. He was not athletically gifted but he worked hard at his sport and was determined to become the best cricket player. He spent hours in front of a mirror, perfecting his swing and refusing to smoke or even be in the same room with smokers for fear it would hurt his eyes. As he played and practiced and watched other players, his own game improved to the point where he had mastered every facet of cricket. He became captain of the Eton cricket team and his popularity grew and grew. In 1879, Studd entered Trinity College of Cambridge University (University of Cambridge) and from there his name no longer remained only in cricket circles. Rather, C.T. Studd became a household name throughout Great Britain. By 1883 Charles Studd was the captain of the Cambridge cricket team and he was the idol of undergraduates and school boys and admired by elders. Studd had become the Michael Jordan of cricket. Studd was recognized as the greatest player to have ever played the game, and years later, he was still recognized as the greatest cricket player since.
Yet all the while, his faith in Jesus grew cold. At Eton, Studd and his brothers Kynaston and George, had formed a group Bible study. While at Cambridge, his older brother Kynaston still devoted his heart to serving Jesus but Charles and George were lukewarm. Charles went to the occasional Daily Prayer Meeting and identified himself as a Christian, which, combined with his talents and good nature, gave him a good reputation amongst his peers and throughout the university. But he was not living for Jesus. Studd would later say, "Instead of going and talking of the love of Christ I was selfish and kept the knowledge all to myself. The result was that gradually my love began to grow cold, and the love of the world came in." In short, he was only a nominal Christian.
In November of 1883, Charles' younger brother George was dying. Charles loved his brother dearly and he was stricken with grief. But God used this event to change his life. When Charles looked at his dying brother, who was also a popular cricket player in his own right, he could only conclude, "Now what is all the popularity of the world to George? What is all the fame and flattering? What is it worth to possess the riches of the world, when a man comes to face Eternity?" As George lay dying, his only concern was for the Bible and for the only one who could save him, Jesus Christ. Charles' concern became the same. Miraculously, God restored George's health and at the first opportunity, Charles went to hear Moody. While listening to God's word, Charles's heart was opened. Cricket did not matter; only a relationship with his Saviour and Lord Jesus mattered. Charles T. Studd said, "There the Lord met me again and restored to me the joy of His salvation. Still further, and what was better than all, He set me to work for Him, and I began to try and persuade my friends to read the Gospel, and to speak to them immediately about their souls."
Charles gave himself to God and God accepted him. God set him to work and God would use C.T. Studd, in a way greater than the cricket player could have ever imagined.
Second, the power of Christian fellowship. When these seven young men yielded their lives to Jesus, they didn't runaway to a cave and become monks. They didn't shut their mouths and become quietly self-righteous. Instead, they continued to struggle and grow in love for Jesus and for others. They made the most of their situations for the sake of telling others about their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, even though their individual positions meant nothing to them because of the joy and meaning they had in Jesus. Stanley Smith was the captain of the rowing team and his friend Montague Beauchamp was also a member and together, they formed a group Bible study for the rowing team and prayed for their teammates to all become Christians. Stanley Smith had wanted to go out as a missionary but God had given him Ezekiel 3:5, "For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and an hard language, but to the house of Israel--" and so at every opportunity he witnessed to others about Jesus. Dixon Hoste wanted to resign his commission and also become a missionary but at the urging of his parents, he stayed in the army and told everyone about his new faith in Christ. William Cassels, with deep evangelical zeal, was pastoring a church located in the slums of South Lambeth. Arthur Polhill-Turner, the seminary student, co-working with his sister, went around
telling people about his experience with Jesus and at Cambridge, he engaged in Christian activities with zeal. Cecil Polhill-Turner decided to do everything the best he could for Christ, like the Old Testament Joseph, so that while some soldiers wanted to ridicule his faith, they couldn't because he was such a good soldier. Both Cecil and Arthur also worked together at a Children's mission. Charles Studd, of great cricket fame, had only one desire; to win souls for Christ. He took several of his teammates to hear Moody preach and they were converted. Studd joined the Moody Mission and spoke at the subsidiary meetings, along with his brother Kynaston.
These men were being used precisely where they were. But God had a greater plan for them and brought them all together for one common goal. Monty Beauchamp became a seminary student and was good friends with Arthur Polhill-Turner, who, through Beauchamp, was the first to hear God's call for China. In 1883, Stanley Smith was invited to speak at the seminary and there he met Arthur Polhill-Turner for the first time. It was also during this time that Smith received one word of God, Isaiah 49:6, "...I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Smith now had no doubt that God was going to send him out somewhere as a missionary.
Dixon Hoste was the second to hear God's call to go to China. Through his brother William and probably Montague Beauchamp, Dixon had received a booklet written by Hudson Taylor called, "China's Spiritual Need and Claims." The content was very simple. There were 385 million Chinese in the interior of China who were living in complete darkness. At the same time, Jesus commanded in Mark 16:15, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Dixon was overwhelmed with the spiritual need of the Chinese people and resolved to see Hudson Taylor who had just returned from China, to apply through the China Inland Mission to go as a missionary.
The Christian Union, of which Beauchamp and Arthur Polhill-Turner were members, had long been interested in Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission. Stanley Smith, through the good influence of Beauchamp, also became interested in China and after much prayer and personal talks with Hudson Taylor, applied in January of 1884 to go as a missionary through the C.I.M. Smith also went to see his good friend, William Cassels, who had been thinking about going to Africa as a missionary through the Church Missionary Society. But after several, heart-to-heart talks and prayer, Cassels' interests shifted to China.
By September of 1884, God had opened Cassels' heart for China and he also applied to go to China as a missionary through the C.I.M. The applications of Smith, Hoste and Cassels were accepted. After a brief farewell tour to awaken university students to the needs of China, the three were to leave for China by December of 1884. But God was not yet finished. God had a different plan.
Studd had been struggling about what God wanted to do with his life. He only knew that he wanted to devote his life in bringing Jesus to lost souls. Studd said, "I have tasted most of the pleasures that the world can give. I do not suppose there was one that I had not experienced; but I can tell you that these pleasures were as nothing compared to the joy that the saving of that one soul gave me." Still, he became anxious about his future. Then God worked mightily in Charles' heart once again and C.T. Studd, by faith, gave himself newly to Jesus. "I realized that my life was to be one of simple, childlike faith.... I was to trust in Him that He was my loving Father and that He would guide me and keep me, and moreover that He was well able to do it."
Stanley Smith and Charles Studd had been friends for quite some time. In November of 1884, Smith invited Studd to a meeting at the C.I.M headquarters where John McCarthy, a returning missionary from China, would be speaking. Studd accepted the invitation and when McCarthy spoke of "thousands of [Chinese] souls perishing every day and night without even knowledge of the Lord Jesus," C.T. Studd was convinced that God was calling him to China. At first, he was hesitant because of his widowed mother. Even his older brother, a faithful Christian, tried to persuade him not to go. C.T. prayed and prayed until God gave him one word, "...a man's enemies are the men of his own house." (Micah 7:6) Charles Thomas Studd was going to China as a missionary.
Stanley Smith rejoiced at Studd's decision. Studd's decision also had a remarkable effect on Monty Beauchamp. Beauchamp had introduced the C.I.M to Smith, Hoste and Arthur Polhill-Turner but he himself had no desire to go to China. Studd's decision to go to China influenced Beauchamp to reconsider. Beauchamp had a serious talk with Stanley Smith and he also met and spoke with Studd. On Nov. 4, 1884, Beauchamp studied his Bible and prayed for God's
leading. Afterwards, he was convinced that not only should he go to China as a missionary, he should induce others to do the same.
Meanwhile, Stanley Smith's farewell tour was continuing and the departure date for China was postponed because of Studd's decision. A week long mission was scheduled at Cambridge and Smith, Studd, Beauchamp, Cassels and Hoste were speakers and Hudson Taylor was also there. The Cambridge students were greatly moved because these five were not simply missionaries, but their own friends and classmates, people whom everyone knew and respected, especially C.T. Studd. On the last day of the mission, students who had decided that they would also go out as missionaries were asked to come forward and pray. Arthur Polhill-Turner was one of them.
Arthur Polhill-Turner had long been thinking about China but was not one to make rash decisions. Instead, he waited on God. He had several long talks with Studd and Smith and received much grace. Arthur also prayed and prayed until the Holy Spirit worked in his heart and convinced him that he was to join his friends in going to China as a missionary.
Cecil Polhill-Turner was still in the military but God had been working in his heart as well. Cecil had encouraged Studd to go to China but Cecil also had a personal calling from God. He went to a China missionary meeting, independent of his brother Arthur, and then personally visited Hudson Taylor in London for advice. Hudson Taylor said to him, "Let us have some prayer about it." By January of 1885, both Polhill-Turner brothers were conscious of God's pulling them to go to China. Together, they went to Hudson Taylor in London and "offered [themselves] for China." Hudson Taylor accepted them as missionaries, believing that it was surely God's providence to raise the number to seven. The seven were then scheduled to leave in early Feb. 1885. The seven continued the farewell tour and someone dubbed them "The Cambridge Seven." The name stuck. God had forged together"The Cambridge Seven:" Stanley P. Smith, Dixon Hoste, William Cassels, Montague Beauchamp, Cecil PolhillTurner, Arthur Polhill-Turner and Charles T. Studd.
For the next month, these seven young men toured the campuses of England and Scotland, holding meetings for the students. God used these students to bring revival throughout Great Britain. Everywhere they went, the meeting place was always filled with people. Many
people, hundreds, even a thousand were converted each night through the simple but heart-moving testimony messages, which told simply the grace of God in their lives and why they were going to China. Those who were converted at these meetings, went out and witnessed to their friends and brought them to Christ. Every night, it was the same messages and with the exception of Smith, none were talented speakers, but people kept coming and coming. The Queen of England was pleased to receive a booklet containing "The Cambridge Seven" testimonies. God had used "The Cambridge Seven" to shake the foundations of a sleeping church in England and awaken her newly to the Gospel of Salvation and World Mission. The influence of "The Cambridge Seven" even came across the Atlantic to the United States and led to the formation of Robert Wilder's Student Volunteer Movement, an organization which toured college campuses, encouraging students to volunteer as missionaries. Fittingly enough, the last farewell meeting was held at Exeter Hall and ended with an address from C.T. Studd:
"Are you living for the day or are you living for life eternal? Are you going to care for the opinion of men here, or for the opinion of God? The opinion of men won't avail us much when we get before the judgment throne. But the opinion of God will. Had we not, then, better take His word and implicitly obey it?"
Third, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. "The Cambridge Seven" obeyed the great commission command and after six weeks, arrived in Shanghai on March 18, 1885.
William Cassels worked hard in the mission field to bring souls to Christ. After ten years, he returned to England in 1895 where he was consecrated as the new Bishop of a new diocese in Western China. He returned to his mission field, Western China and brought the Gospel of Jesus to dying souls. He lived in Western China until his death 1925.
Stanley Smith was sent to North China. God enabled him to master the Chinese language until he became as fluent a preacher in Chinese as he was in English.
His life in China was very difficult but he worked hard until the end, preaching and teaching until he also died in China on January 31, 1931. [He had been forced to resign from C.I.M. after 20 years over a doctrinal teaching].
C.T. Studd, the best known of "The Cambridge Seven," was sent home because of ill health in 1894. But God recovered his health and he spent six years in India as a missionary and a brief period in Britain and America. Then, in 1910, he set off for the greatest challenge of his life, to pioneer the tropics of Africa. He had a strong, absolute attitude before God's Word and some people did not like him. He had to endure poverty and much suffering for the sake of evangelizing the native African people. But he loved Jesus and the native African people and laboured to the end, as a Bible teacher and shepherd. When he died in the Belgian Congo in 1931, over one thousand native Africans saw him to his grave.
Arthur Polhill-Turner was a faithful Gospel worker. He was ordained as a minister in 1888 and moved to the densely populated countryside to reach as many people as he could with the Gospel message. He was in China throughout the uprisings against foreigners at the turn of the century and did not leave until 1928, when he retired and returned to England. He died in 1935.
Cecil Polhill-Turner, stayed in the same province with the others for awhile before moving steadily northwest, in the direction of Tibet. During a violent riot, Polhill-Turner and his wife were nearly killed in 1892 but after God restored his health, he returned to the border near Tibet to bring the Gospel to the lost souls there. In 1900, his health failed again, he was sent home to England and he was forbidden to return to China. But his heart was still in China and throughout the rest of his life, he made seven prolonged missionary visits. He died in England in 1938.
Montague Beauchamp loved the hard evangelistic journeys. Once, accompanied by Hudson Taylor, he went "about a thousand miles in intense heat, walking through market towns and villages, living in Chinese inns and preaching the gospel to crowds day by day." He also co-worked with Cassels and was a source of blessing to the native Chinese people. In 1900, he was evacuated because of the uprisings but returned again to China in 1902. He returned to England in 1911 and served as a chaplain with the British Army. His son became a secondgeneration missionary in China and in 1935, although he was much older than
his Cambridge days, he went back to China as physically strong and untiring as ever. He died at his son's mission station in 1939.
Dixon Hoste lived the longest of "The Cambridge Seven." Hoste was a faithful man of prayer and in 1903, he succeeded Hudson Taylor as the Director of the China Inland Mission. For thirty years, he led the Mission, which made great advances, reaching many with the Gospel until he retired in 1935. But he remained in China until 1945, when he was interned by the Japanese. He died in London, in May 1946, the last of "The Cambridge Seven" to die.
"The Cambridge Seven" revealed God's power through their lives of fellowship, lives of prayer, and lives of devotion to their first love Jesus Christ. Their beautiful lives were a blessing to the whole world. May God raise up men such as these from the campuses of America in our generation. This report is based on these books: The Cambridge Seven by J.C. Pollock; A Cambridge Movement by J.C. Pollock; C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer by Norman Grubb; Student Volunteer Movement (notes) by Charles Mott.
“...You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the worldlike a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father...” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:13 – 16) New Living Translation