Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 5, 1879

Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 5, 1879

Boarding schools; Sabbath schools; Debt; Travel

Harriet expresses how much she enjoys writing letters. Alongside this letter to Edward, she sends him some bookmarks that the girls in the boarding school did. She thinks that maybe the girls in his Sabbath school will enjoy them. She writes about the Board's debt and how unfair it is for some people to have money and not use it wisely. It has been a week since Mattie left Hong Kong so she should be in Swatow by now.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2

Unpublished

1879-09-05

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_203

Canton China
Sept 5th 1879
My dear Edward,
I do not think I have
a letter from you to answer,
but I will not stand on
ceremony, but send you
one of my vacation letters.
This will make forty-nine I
am so glad to be creeping
slowly up the scale. If I
could feel contented to write
short letters of only a sheet
it would not be such a
difficult matter but when
I have not written to a person
for a year or more it seems
as though I must write
two or three sheets. We
bought a lot of postals
some time since and

I have never yet been able
to make up my mind to
send a single one. I felt just
so at home but when I did
get in the way of it I liked
to [illegible] them very much. When
I get my letters all written up
this time I think I shall
take to using them.
I know they would be a
wonderful saving of time,
and expense as well perhaps.
Still I never begrudge a cent
spent in postage. I am
so glad to get letters written
that I rather enjoy using
money to send them with
the more the better. I send
you by this mail a lot of little
book-marks which our scholars
in the Boarding School have
made. We thought perhaps
[u]your[/u] scholars in the Sabbath
School might like them.

They are very simple in
"material and construction"
but perhaps other considerations
may give them a value to
their recipients. If you
have realized a million
dollars on your planters now
is the time to lend a helping
hand to the Board. I was
reminded of you the other
day when Dr Graves spoke
of a remark of Sydney Smiths
that it was "easy to see
what a low estimate the Lord
has of money by the hands
he gives it into", I think I
never heard anything in my
life that seems more to the
point. We so often see those
who have money are not
at all those who would
make the best use of it and
it would be just as easy
for the Lord to give it into other

hands if he saw fit. Mr
Selby one of the missionaries
here preached a sermon after I
went home from the text,
"Because thou hadst it in thine
heart to build the Lord's home"
or something like that. I do not
suppose I have quoted it correctly
but Father will know what it is.
I have heard the sermon spoken
of & would like much to see it
sometime. I feel so fully that
it is in the Lord's Sight just
the same if we wish to do
anything for Him that we
cannot do, as though He gave
us the means & ability to do it
and then we accomplished it.
As Whittier writes "For Good
but willed with Him is done"
I have heard from Mattie
since she reached Swatow
think I shall surely have
a letter to-night, as it is a week
since she left Hongkong.

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
And now
it is almost
Breakfast
time & my sheet
is full. I am
so [u]glad[/u] you
have Prince
& Scott. Hope
I shall see
them some
day. By that
time they will
have sewn their
[u]wild[/u] oats and be
steady enough for an
[u]old[/u] missionary
Ever your loving
[u]Hattie[/u]



中国广州
1879 年 9 月 5 日
亲爱的爱德华，
我想我没有你的来信要回复，
但我不会客气，
而是寄给你一封我的假期信。
这将使 49 我很高兴能慢慢爬升。
如果我能满足于只写一页的短信，
那并不是一件难事，
但是当我一年或一年以上没有给一个人写信时，
似乎我必须写两三页。
从那以后，
我们买了很多邮政，
但我还没有下定决心寄一封。
我感觉就像在家里一样，
但当我妨碍它时，
我非常喜欢[难以辨认]它们。
当我这次把我的信全部写完时，
我想我会开始使用它们。
我知道他们会很好地节省时间，
也许也能节省开支。
尽管如此，
我从不吝惜花在邮资上的一分钱。
我很高兴收到写信，
我更喜欢用钱寄信，
越多越好。
我通过这封邮件寄给你很多我们寄宿学校的学者制作的小书签。
我们想也许你们在安息日学的学者可能会喜欢他们。
它们在“材料和构造”方面非常简单，
但也许其他考虑因素可能会给接收者带来价值。
如果您已经在您的种植园主上实现了一百万美元，
那么现在是向董事会伸出援助之手的时候了。
前几天，
当格雷夫斯博士谈到悉尼史密斯学院的一句话时，
我想起了你，
“很容易看出上帝对金钱的估量有多低”，
我想我从来没有听说过我的生活似乎更重要。
我们经常看到那些有钱的人根本不会善加利用它，
如果主认为合适，
也很容易将它交给其他人。
塞尔比先生，
在我读完课文回家后，
这里的一位传教士讲道，
“因为你心中有建造主的家”或类似的话。
我想我没有正确引用它，
但父亲会知道它是什么。
我听说过讲道，
很想在某个时候看到它。
我完全觉得，
如果我们想为他做任何我们不能做的事情，
在主的眼中也是一样的，
就好像他给了我们去做这件事的手段和能力，
然后我们就完成了。
正如 Whittier 所写的“为善，
但愿与他同在”，
自从 Mattie 到达汕头后，
我就收到了她的来信，
我想我今晚肯定会收到一封信，
因为她离开香港已经一周了。
[注意：信件在第一页垂直结束] 现在快到早餐时间了，
我的床单已经满了。
我很高兴你有普林斯和斯科特。
希望有一天我能见到他们。
到那个时候，
他们的野燕麦就已经缝好了，
对一个老传教士来说已经足够稳定了。
你的，
海蒂

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