The question of sending out a deputation to China had long been considered by the committee of the Baptist Missionary Society, and our missionaries in China had been long asking that a deputation should be sent. ‘Our work,’ they said, ‘has been criticized by those who have never seen it, and who have known little or nothing of the circumstances in which and the conditions under which that work is being carried on. Our work has never been described but by ourselves, and there are many who think, and some who say, that we are not the fittest people to estimate the value of our own work. Send out, then, two men in whom you have confidence, and in whom we shall have confidence. Let them visit our stations and see our work with their own eyes, and on their return give a faithful, unbiassed report of what they have seen and heard. With that report, whatever may be its character, we shall be satisfied, and we trust you will be satisfied.’

The request was felt to be reasonable, but it was one which could not be easily complied with. In 1890, however, the committee felt that a deputation ought to be sent out without further delay, and Dr. Glover and myself were asked to undertake the work.