Produced by Free Elf, University of Hong Kong Library, audreyii, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE FULFILMENT OF A DREAM OF PASTOR HSI'S [Illustration: MRS. HSI. _Frontispiece._] THE FULFILMENT OF A DREAM OF PASTOR HSI'S THE STORY OF THE WORK IN HWOCHOW BY A. MILDRED CABLE _Of the China Inland Mission_ "Is it a dream? Nay, but the lack of it, a dream. And failing it, life's love and wealth a dream, And all the world a dream." WALT WHITMAN LONDON: MORGAN & SCOTT LTD. 12, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C. CHINA INLAND MISSION NEWINGTON GREEN, N. MCMXVII TO DR. G. CAMPBELL MORGAN THE "APOLLOS" WHO BY PRAYER AND SYMPATHY HAS "WATERED" THIS WORK THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED INTRODUCTION TWENTY-ONE years ago, on 19th February 1896, Pastor Hsi, to quote the words of his biographer, "was translated to higher service." Those who read the fascinating and wonderful story of his life by Mrs. Howard Taylor will at once be interested in _The Fulfilment of a Dream_, which is the story of the work in Hwochow, and gives the account of the carrying on of the spiritual labour of that remarkable man, and of the fulfilment of his dream. I think it is equally true that those who have not read Pastor Hsi's life will desire to do so after reading this book. It is a commonplace observation, but none the less true, that the story commenced in the Acts of the Apostles could not be finished by Luke, because the great activity, the commencement of which he recorded, is still going forward. Every tale of missionary endeavour moving forward "toward the uttermost part of the earth" is an added chapter. It has been given to Mildred Cable and her fellow workers, to labour in the apostolic succession; and then to Mildred Cable, to write this wonderful chapter. From my own standpoint the book is full of charm. While by no means its supreme value, the first impression made upon the mind is that of the naturalness of the story. The reader is made the friend of the writer, and listens to an artless and charming account of places and of peoples. My first reading of the book at one sitting (as all such books should be read), left me with a sense of the atmosphere of the missionary's life and surroundings. I was admitted into the actuality of everyday things, and was made familiar with the pathos and tragedy and humour of life in a land and among a people largely unknown to me.