Lungs of Steel, Eyes of Eagles, Memories of Angels
William Milne's Passion for Learning Chinese (and Reaching China)
The quote that headlines this post also featured in the podcast I recorded today (Feb 8, 2025).
William Milne was a gifted translator and dedicated missionary during the ten years he served in southern China, Macau, and Malacca (modern-day Malaysia). He quickly picked up the language(s) wherever it was necessary.
However, the Chinese language is never easy. Milne once said matter-of-factly that Chinese is… “a work for men with bodies of brass, lungs of steel, heads of oak, hands of spring-steel, eyes of eagles, hearts of apostles, memories of angels, and lives of Methuselah!”
Hyperbole to be sure, especially for him. He learned quickly and dove into translating the scriptures, writing tracts and commentaries, and publishing a Chinese-language periodical that was sent in ships from Malacca all over Asia. Here is a sample from one of his journals, showing that he was not content to merely translate and write in his study. He loved to be out among the people and see them read God’s Word for themselves:
“Finished [translating] Judges. In the intermediate space, circulated a number of tracts and pamphlets in the Island of Macao, by binding them up in very small bundles of 3, 4, 6, etc. tracts in each—fastened in Chinese rough paper, with a reed of grass; put them into my coat-pocket— dropped them in the streets and villages in the evenings, near people’s doors, shops, on the high roads, and in fishermen’s empty huts, etc. Often seen people take them up and walk on reading — very few lost. On the 31st (Dec, 1817), forty-four bundles of this kind had been given away.”
William Milne, who often worked at his desk fourteen hours a day (not including other responsibilities) was typically hard on himself and felt he should be doing even more. In one of his year-end journal entries, he confessed ironically:
“I have every year fallen so exceedingly short in effecting what I proposed, and resolved upon, that I shall not now do more than remark that the Commentary on the New Testament; the completion of the... Ecclesiastical History; the Chinese Magazine; the Gleaner; the Preaching; the duties of the College; and family duties-ought all to be diligently carried on, in as far as I may be enabled.”
If only we were all as “lazy” as Missionary Milne!
Tragedy struck Milne’s family on March 20, 1819, when his wife Rachel passed away a little more than a month after giving birth to their sixth child (only four surviving).
In the aftermath of her death he lamented his loss, but later admonished himself with the following words:
But shall I murmur? Can Infinite Wisdom err? Is not God able to make up these wants, and to guard me from evil? Should I not rejoice at Rachel's gain?
Rachel either had a premonition of what was to come or a good sense of humor, because at one point before she died, she remarked to her husband that he wouldn’t be far behind her.
As his health declined, Milne later wrote:
Let the kingdom of Christ, through the year, engross my thoughts, time, and strength. Considering the debilitated state of my body, and the [lung] disorder under which I am suffering, a great and painful uncertainty hangs over me; but I wish to look above. O God, beside Thee, I have no resource!
Then, on March 20th, 1822:
This is the 3rd anniversary of my dear Rachel's death. I have done but little in my work since last anniversary, and now it seems doubtful whether I will be spared to labor more. It seems my duty on this occasion, and daily, to pray [that God may “spare me”]...
1. Until my own soul is better prepared (sanctified) for the heavenly world. . .
2. Until I complete [more] Chinese works for the benefit of the [Chinese Church].
3. Until my children are made better acquainted with the Holy Scriptures. . .
Take note of Number Two!
But understand that at the time he was working so hard to compose Christian materials in the Chinese language, there was no church in China!
Milne himself baptized the first known Chinese believer there in Malacca, and that man (Liang Fa) later became an evangelist in his homeland. Thus the church in China began to grow in the generation after Milne poured out his life in the service of Christ.
Robert Morrison, Milne’s close friend and co-worker, and the one who first compiled and published his memoirs, later wrote:
Alas! My Brother! He never wrote again in his journal. He had yet but a few days more to linger.
On his arrival at [his] Anglo-Chinese College, he was in a shockingly emaciated and weak state. From the 24th of May, the day on which he returned from Penang, it was evident to all who saw him, that his useful and laborious life was drawing near a close. But the good man having begun several works which promised to be very useful both to the heathen and future Missionaries, was desirous, if it was the Lord's will, that he might be spared to finish them.
But alas! for the cause, He who knows best, was pleased to call him away in the midst of his days; and we are bound to say, good is the will of the Lord.
William Milne died on June 2, 1822, just 37 yrs old, leaving behind four young children.
(I highly recommend The Memoirs of William Milne if you’d like to learn more about this amazing life, the will he left for his children, and the legacy he left for the Chinese church.)
The Memoirs of William Milne (200th Anniversary Edition)
More on the life and legacy of William Milne:
https://www.bdcconline.net/en/stories/milne-william
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/02/milne-scottish-missionary-china-press-journalism/
https://www.reachingchineseworldwide.org/blog/2016/12/14/learning-from-the-pioneers
https://fieldpartner.org/resources/articles/william-milne-five-keys-for-a-pioneer-missionary/