"The operations of the Holy Spirit, like all the acts of Deity, are regulated by infinite wisdom and sovereignty. They sometimes "wait not for men, nor tarry for the sons of men." And it often happens that, while the servants of God are cast down, and ready to faint, through the want of success, he is then secretly working in the hearts of some persons whom they least expected to feel, and in places where the greatest blindness and obstinacy may have been manifested."
— William Milne
Source: A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China (1820), Appendix
Suffering, disease, truth
Views: 404
"In regard to useful objects, it does not seem necessary to wait till a large collection of materials be made before they be begun. The conviction of their utility being once firmly fixed in the mind, let them be attempted in dependence on divine providence, and on the co-operation of those men to whom they approve themselves. If they be essentially connected with the improvement and happiness of but a small portion of mankind, they will ultimately prosper, however unpromising in their first stages."
— William Milne
Source: A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China (1820), Section XIV
Condition: Darkness
Views: 402
"He who sowed the seed, may indeed, first learn about the success in eternity; but other men will "enter into his labors," and fare the better for his having gone before them. Of their predecessor they may be ignorant; but if they find "the fields white for the harvest" and "a people prepared for the Lord," their progress will be speedier, and the triumphs of the Gospel more glorious."
— William Milne
Source: A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China (1820), Appendix
Bible, translation, truth, reward
Views: 394
"Michel Benoist (1715–1774), a French Jesuit, studied mathematics, astronomy and hydraulics in Paris under members of the French Academy of Sciences before reaching Beijing in 1744, where he served the Qianlong court for some thirty years. He used his hydraulics to design fountains for the European-style palaces of the Yuanmingyuan, above all the zodiac water clock before the Haiyantang, whose twelve animal heads spouted water in turn, each for one of the twelve Chinese hours. He also made a world map for the emperor and introduced Copernican cosmology to China. He died in Beijing in 1774."
— Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia, "Michel Benoist" (citing Mark Elliott, Nathan Sivin, Louis Pfister et al.)
Laws, Order
Views: 400
"The Italian Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) was a Jesuit lay brother who was never ordained a priest. Arriving in Beijing in 1715, he was first set to work as an artisan in the palace enamelling workshop, and went on to serve three emperors, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, as a court painter, blending European technique with Chinese subjects. Under Yongzheng, when Christianity was suppressed and missionaries not working for the emperor were expelled, he remained painting at court; later he was in charge of designing the Western-style palaces of the Old Summer Palace. He died in Beijing in 1766; the Qianlong Emperor personally wrote his obituary, and he was buried in the Zhalan Cemetery."
"By holding up one or two in such a prominent light before the public, an insidious comparison is implied, which cannot but be observed by those especially who, however worthy, do not chance to be the idols of public delight, and mutual jealousies in course arise in little bands of Missionaries formerly laboring in perfect harmony and peace. It excites undue expectations in the public mind, from men who, however meritorious, are yet but "men of like passions with others," and compassed about by like infirmities."
— William Milne
Source: A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China (1820), Appendix