Letter from Hattie to Mother, August 9, 1873
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Mother, August 9, 1873
Subject
Birthdays; Anniversaries; Boarding schools; Education--China; Aging
Description
In this letter to her mother, Harriet wishes her a happy birthday and anniversary and thanks them for their letters. She remarks that teaching has been hard but she does it because she feels God called her to. Their other sister Clara recently read a sermon at church and Harriet asks when she will read her own work. Harriet feels like an old woman at thirty-three. She thanks them for sending music and for her father's long letter.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1873-08-09
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_100
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
August 9th 1873.
My dear Mother,
I did not forget that
you birth-day came on the 6th of
August but I put off writing during
the first part of the day and
then we had company to dinner
and went out to spend the Evening
and so that day passed and I
did not get a letter written.
The last letters received from home
were written on the anniversary
of your marriage It was very
nice for you and Father both
to write to us on that day and
we appreciated it. I doubt not
the forty years that have passed
between that time and this
do not look very long to you as
you look back over them .
It sometimes seems a very long
time since I was with you
all, The past year has been
a very long one. The charge
of a Boarding School involves
an infinite amount of care
and anxiety and you know
teaching school is not my "forte".
It is the last department of the
work I would have chosen, but I
have learned long since that our
paths often differ widely from what
we thought they would be and
it is pleasant to feel [u]always[/u]
that they are marked out for
us by the hand of One who
never makes mistakes and very
likely we shall find sometime
that much that we called [u]failure[/u]
here was really very different for
I believe the world is only a
Training School and God
gives us Every one the discipline
we need and that is best for
us. But I am "sermonizing" I
am afraid. Tell Clara I was
quite surprised to hear of her
[u]reading a sermon[/u] at a public
meeting and ask her if the next
time she reads it will not be her
own "[u]discourse[/u]". I should think
Calvin Elliot must have his hands
more than full looking after the
spirited interests of the Guilford
church and the temporal interests
of his [?Milton?] farms. It dsnt seem
as though it is hardly right
when I suppose he has plenty to
live on comfortably but then
every one must be his own judge
of duty. I have had two or
three more letters from Bella
[?Ruteen?] lately. She is the sec y [secretary]
of a Missionary Society in Shelby O
who have undertaken to support
a Bible woman here, She says
of the photo I sent her a short
time since when Henry & I are
taken together that he looks just
the same and I look as though
I were "verging a [u]little more into
womanhood[/u]" I think if she
could see me she would say
verging into old age. I suppose she
thinks of me still as a little girl
instead of an old maid almost
thirty.
Tell whoever sent "Mr & Mrs Brown"
to us that we are much obliged,
for their thoughtfulness I think we
will sing it at our next social meeting.
I wonder if Edward remembers the
last time we sung it together when
one side of my face was about the
size of a half-bushel. Perhaps you
will wonder what sober missionaries
want of such music, but we like to
have something to laugh at once
in a while ,and as a matter of
fact we dont "laugh and grow fat"
to any alarming Extent. Our social
evenings promise to be a success
Last time Henry + Miss Whilden
were the Editors and managed
the thing and it went off very
nicely. Next time Mr Preston
+ Miss Shaw will have the paper.
We hear to-night that Mrs Happer
is not so well again. It dsnt
seem as though she can
live long if she dsnt get better
soon. Give my love to all
and thank Father for his nice
long letter which I would like to
answer if I had time and material.
Your aff daughter Hattie.
August 9th 1873.
My dear Mother,
I did not forget that
you birth-day came on the 6th of
August but I put off writing during
the first part of the day and
then we had company to dinner
and went out to spend the Evening
and so that day passed and I
did not get a letter written.
The last letters received from home
were written on the anniversary
of your marriage It was very
nice for you and Father both
to write to us on that day and
we appreciated it. I doubt not
the forty years that have passed
between that time and this
do not look very long to you as
you look back over them .
It sometimes seems a very long
time since I was with you
all, The past year has been
a very long one. The charge
of a Boarding School involves
an infinite amount of care
and anxiety and you know
teaching school is not my "forte".
It is the last department of the
work I would have chosen, but I
have learned long since that our
paths often differ widely from what
we thought they would be and
it is pleasant to feel [u]always[/u]
that they are marked out for
us by the hand of One who
never makes mistakes and very
likely we shall find sometime
that much that we called [u]failure[/u]
here was really very different for
I believe the world is only a
Training School and God
gives us Every one the discipline
we need and that is best for
us. But I am "sermonizing" I
am afraid. Tell Clara I was
quite surprised to hear of her
[u]reading a sermon[/u] at a public
meeting and ask her if the next
time she reads it will not be her
own "[u]discourse[/u]". I should think
Calvin Elliot must have his hands
more than full looking after the
spirited interests of the Guilford
church and the temporal interests
of his [?Milton?] farms. It dsnt seem
as though it is hardly right
when I suppose he has plenty to
live on comfortably but then
every one must be his own judge
of duty. I have had two or
three more letters from Bella
[?Ruteen?] lately. She is the sec y [secretary]
of a Missionary Society in Shelby O
who have undertaken to support
a Bible woman here, She says
of the photo I sent her a short
time since when Henry & I are
taken together that he looks just
the same and I look as though
I were "verging a [u]little more into
womanhood[/u]" I think if she
could see me she would say
verging into old age. I suppose she
thinks of me still as a little girl
instead of an old maid almost
thirty.
Tell whoever sent "Mr & Mrs Brown"
to us that we are much obliged,
for their thoughtfulness I think we
will sing it at our next social meeting.
I wonder if Edward remembers the
last time we sung it together when
one side of my face was about the
size of a half-bushel. Perhaps you
will wonder what sober missionaries
want of such music, but we like to
have something to laugh at once
in a while ,and as a matter of
fact we dont "laugh and grow fat"
to any alarming Extent. Our social
evenings promise to be a success
Last time Henry + Miss Whilden
were the Editors and managed
the thing and it went off very
nicely. Next time Mr Preston
+ Miss Shaw will have the paper.
We hear to-night that Mrs Happer
is not so well again. It dsnt
seem as though she can
live long if she dsnt get better
soon. Give my love to all
and thank Father for his nice
long letter which I would like to
answer if I had time and material.
Your aff daughter Hattie.
中国广东 1873年8月9日 我亲爱的母亲， 我没有忘记 你八月六日的生日， 但是我拖着写这封信到最后， / 然后我们出去吃晚饭了， / 所以我们这一天过得很快 然后我没有写信。 之前收到的家信 写的是您的结婚纪念日。 我们很高兴您和父亲在这一天都给我写信。 / / 毫无疑问， 40年时间过去了 / 而且这些年回头看看， 感觉过得很快。 有时候好像我和你们在一起的时间很长。 / 过去的一年很慢。 / 管理寄宿学校包括无尽的照料和忧虑， 所以让我很累 而且你知道教学不是我的强项。 / 我选的最后一个工作， / 但是我学了很久， 因为现实总会打败幻想， 我们认为他们会在这 而且总是感觉很高兴 因为他们为我们手动标记出来 / 但是都是上帝安排的， 而且有时好像我们会找到 我们成为失败 这里就会非常不同 因为我相信世界只是职业学校 还有上帝给我们所有人的准则 / 我们都要遵守。 但是我可能是在说教。 告诉Clara，我相当惊喜 听说她在公开大会上说教 / 而且问她如果下一次读 还会不会是她自己的问题。 我想Calvin Elliot一定有一手 / 而是完全看到Guilford教堂的灵魂 / 而且世俗的农场。 几乎看不出来是不是对的 / 当我认为他有大量的舒适生活 但是 后来所有人必须负责。 我有两三封来自Bella晚期的信。 / 她在Shelby，是个传教组织的秘书 / 他们被这里教圣经的女人赞助。 / 她说我之前寄给她的照片 就是我和Henry一起拍的那个 她说Henry没变样 / 我没有小时候的样子。 我认为如果她能看到我 她会说我更接近于老年。 我认为她印象里的我还说个小女孩 / 而不是快30岁的女人。 / 请告诉任何发Mr &Mrs Brown的人 我们太感激这些歌了， 因为他们的用心， 我想我们要唱出来。 我想知道Edward是否还记得 我们上一次一起唱歌 我的脸肿得很厉害。 也许您想知道 是什么让朴素的传教士们 想要这样的音乐， 但是我们喜欢时不时有些事情让我们开心一下， 因为有些原因 我们不会因为闹钟高兴。 我们的社交活动 一定成功 而且Whilden小姐是编者 / 而且把事情做的都很好。 下一次Preston先生和 Shaw小姐有论文。 我们听说今晚 Happer太太又不舒服了。 看起来她如果不快点好就活不长了 / 把我的爱传递给父亲 感谢他的长信 如果我有时间我一定回复。 / 您的女儿Hattie
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Mother, August 9, 1873,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 29, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/155.