Letter from Hattie to Mother, March 16, 1869
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Mother, March 16, 1869
Subject
Travel; Steamboats; Friendly visiting; Wedding costume; Marriage customs and rites
Description
Harriet writes this letter to her Mother from Canton. She recounts the movements of a number of their fellow missionaries, both arriving and leaving China. Then, Harriet describes the wedding of a Chinese assistant, and how she helped with the celebration. The third page is written vertically on the page.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1869-03-16
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_026
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
March 16th /69.
My own dear Mother,
After looking for
the mail nearly a week it came to
hand yesterday bringing us as usual
nice letters from home & Jackson & a
good long one from Mattie. I was very
happy too in receiving a letter [u]at last[/u]
from Maggie and being assured that
I was not forgotten but only neglected.
I am afraid I shall not get much
written for this mail as we have only
tomorrow & I expect will have company.
The past week we have entertained the
Misses Woolston two Methodist ladies from
Foochow. They have been in the field [u]ten
years[/u] and are [u]going home[/u] to America
by this steamer. Dr McCartee & wife
of our mission at Ningpo also go in
the Japan. Since I commenced
this Henry has come home from
seeing the Misses Woulstons of on
the steamer and says that the
steamer that comes up this afternoon
will bring Mr & Mrs Davis to stay
with us a few days. They are new
missionaries just coming out to Amoy
with Mr. Rapalje who has been
home on a visit. Mr R will go to
Mr Preston's to stay. I was almost
hoping he would come here not
simply because he is a [u]bachelor[/u] but
it seemed as though it would take
less time to entertain him. It is
very pleasant to have company &
get acquainted with nice people but
it does break in upon our time sadly.
What with Aho's marriage & Chinese
holidays &c &c it seems as though
I have not studied to amount to
anything for nearly two months
and it makes me feel very badly.
I feel in a hurry to get down
into the other house for I do not
want to hire another teacher
until after we move & get settled
again but I fear it will be
several weeks. As Dr Kerr's house
does not seem to "make a finish"
as the Chinese would say. I must
not forget to tell you that our
mission has recently been reinforced
or perhaps I had better say increased by the addition
of another member a young lady daughter of Dr Kerr's
two weeks old. They propose to give her my name
but have not decided yet. Dr Kerr said they would if I
would promise to give her half my fortune and I told
him I would promise to feel a kindly interest in her
and be a bridesmaid for her when she grew up if I am
not too gray. This leads me to Aho's wedding
They were married in the Hospital Chapel, & in the
presence of a large assembly of Chinese. Henry & I stood
up with them so you see I have had the honor
of being bridesmaid to a Chinese lady. There were
no [u]foreigners[/u] present besides our own mission excepting
Messrs Whitehead & Selby. After the ceremony the
party adjourned to the school-room, where a feast
was prepared of Chinese cakes which Mrs Preston
& I distributed & thus I filled the offices of organist
bridesmaid & waiter all in the school day.
I wish I could described the bride's
appearance but I have not time
to write much about it now.
Their bridal robe is scarlet & all
hung over with little brass bells.
It was [u]so[/u] strange & odd and
on her head she wore a high cap
of brass & beads weighing about four
pounds. I could not help thinking
of the mitre of the Jewish high priest
and his robe with a bell and a
pomegranite, a bell & a pomegranite.
I am afraid it was wrong but it
did seem so strange to see
"Aho" dressed so I could'nt bear
to have her fixed up in such
a way but I suppose they could
not have felt satisfied with any
thing else. To-morrow another of the
assistants is to be married, Agun
who lives in the lower part of our
house and the wedding is to be
in the chapel at the rear of this
house. He marries a heathen wife
It seems very sad but perhaps he may
be the means of leading her into
the light. He seems like a good faithful
laborer although not very talented.
[Note: Letter concludes vertically on first page]
I am writing
so hastily
that I cant
think of any
thing I want
to say.
I hope
that the sore
on your chin
is all gone
before this
With much
love from
Your aff dau
[u]Hattie[/u].
March 16th /69.
My own dear Mother,
After looking for
the mail nearly a week it came to
hand yesterday bringing us as usual
nice letters from home & Jackson & a
good long one from Mattie. I was very
happy too in receiving a letter [u]at last[/u]
from Maggie and being assured that
I was not forgotten but only neglected.
I am afraid I shall not get much
written for this mail as we have only
tomorrow & I expect will have company.
The past week we have entertained the
Misses Woolston two Methodist ladies from
Foochow. They have been in the field [u]ten
years[/u] and are [u]going home[/u] to America
by this steamer. Dr McCartee & wife
of our mission at Ningpo also go in
the Japan. Since I commenced
this Henry has come home from
seeing the Misses Woulstons of on
the steamer and says that the
steamer that comes up this afternoon
will bring Mr & Mrs Davis to stay
with us a few days. They are new
missionaries just coming out to Amoy
with Mr. Rapalje who has been
home on a visit. Mr R will go to
Mr Preston's to stay. I was almost
hoping he would come here not
simply because he is a [u]bachelor[/u] but
it seemed as though it would take
less time to entertain him. It is
very pleasant to have company &
get acquainted with nice people but
it does break in upon our time sadly.
What with Aho's marriage & Chinese
holidays &c &c it seems as though
I have not studied to amount to
anything for nearly two months
and it makes me feel very badly.
I feel in a hurry to get down
into the other house for I do not
want to hire another teacher
until after we move & get settled
again but I fear it will be
several weeks. As Dr Kerr's house
does not seem to "make a finish"
as the Chinese would say. I must
not forget to tell you that our
mission has recently been reinforced
or perhaps I had better say increased by the addition
of another member a young lady daughter of Dr Kerr's
two weeks old. They propose to give her my name
but have not decided yet. Dr Kerr said they would if I
would promise to give her half my fortune and I told
him I would promise to feel a kindly interest in her
and be a bridesmaid for her when she grew up if I am
not too gray. This leads me to Aho's wedding
They were married in the Hospital Chapel, & in the
presence of a large assembly of Chinese. Henry & I stood
up with them so you see I have had the honor
of being bridesmaid to a Chinese lady. There were
no [u]foreigners[/u] present besides our own mission excepting
Messrs Whitehead & Selby. After the ceremony the
party adjourned to the school-room, where a feast
was prepared of Chinese cakes which Mrs Preston
& I distributed & thus I filled the offices of organist
bridesmaid & waiter all in the school day.
I wish I could described the bride's
appearance but I have not time
to write much about it now.
Their bridal robe is scarlet & all
hung over with little brass bells.
It was [u]so[/u] strange & odd and
on her head she wore a high cap
of brass & beads weighing about four
pounds. I could not help thinking
of the mitre of the Jewish high priest
and his robe with a bell and a
pomegranite, a bell & a pomegranite.
I am afraid it was wrong but it
did seem so strange to see
"Aho" dressed so I could'nt bear
to have her fixed up in such
a way but I suppose they could
not have felt satisfied with any
thing else. To-morrow another of the
assistants is to be married, Agun
who lives in the lower part of our
house and the wedding is to be
in the chapel at the rear of this
house. He marries a heathen wife
It seems very sad but perhaps he may
be the means of leading her into
the light. He seems like a good faithful
laborer although not very talented.
[Note: Letter concludes vertically on first page]
I am writing
so hastily
that I cant
think of any
thing I want
to say.
I hope
that the sore
on your chin
is all gone
before this
With much
love from
Your aff dau
[u]Hattie[/u].
中国广东
1869年3月16日
我亲爱的母亲
找信的以后
邮包拖了一周才到我们手里
给我们带来了往常一样令我们高兴的信
有家里来的，Jackson的，还有一个很长很棒的就是Mattie的。
我很高兴最后收到一封Maggie的信
而且很确定我没有被忘记
只是被忽视。
我担心我没有很多东西可以写在这封信里
我能写的只有明天我需要陪客人。
上周，我们和Woolston家两个女孩
两个从福州过来的姐妹一起玩了。
我们在这有10年了
准备乘轮船回美国。
我们传教团的McCartee医生和爱人
在宁波也准备去日本了。
自从我开始写信
Henry在从Woulstons小姐那里回家的轮船上
说这个下午来的轮船会带上Davis夫妇
去和我们待上几天。
有新的传教士刚刚和在去访问后回家的Rapalje去厦门。
Rapalje先生待在Preston家。
我希望他来这
不仅是因为他是个单身
而且看起来不用花太久和他玩。
有人陪伴并且认识很好的人让我很高兴
但是很悲伤，它破坏了我们的计划。
Aho的婚姻和假期
看起来
这两个月发生的任何事情，
我都不知道多少
让我很遗憾的没有时间学中文。
我要着急的去其它房子
因为我没有雇佣其她老师
直到我们搬过去，并且再次稳定下来
但是恐怕那又有花几周的时间。
因为Kerr医生的房子
中国人认为
看起来不像完成了的。
我绝对不能忘记告诉您
教会最近增加了个人
或者可能……两周前，我最好说被其他的成员，
一个Kerr医生的年轻女儿生了
他们提出把我的名字给她
但是还没有定。Kerr医生说他们会的
如果我保证给她一半我的钱
还告诉他我要保证对她有兴趣
她长大以后，如果我的头发没有那么白，做她的伴娘
这让我想起来Aho的婚礼。
他们在一个医院教堂，
很多人参加了婚礼。
Henry和我陪他们一起站着，所以你知道
我很荣幸成为一个中国女人的伴娘。
没有外国人，另外，传教组织除了Messrs Whitehead和Selby，我们是唯二的外国人。
典礼之后，
聚会在学校教室休息
是吃筵席的地方，准备了Preston太太和我分的中式蛋糕
因此我这一天里，我兼职管风琴家、伴娘和服务员。
我奢望我能给你描述一下新娘的样子
但是我现在没有时间写那么多。
新娘的礼服是鲜红色的
而且挂着一些小铃铛。
那在她的头上很奇怪
她带了一顶高帽
珠子大约4磅重。
我忍不住想到
犹太最高长老的主教冠
他的长袍有个铃铛和石榴石。
我怕它不对
当我还是看到Aho这身打扮觉得奇怪
所以我不能忍
不得不去按照我想的改一下
但是我觉得他们不会对任何事觉得满意。
明天另一个助理要结婚
住在我们房子底层的Agun
然后婚礼办在小教堂
这些房子的后面。
他和一个异教徒老婆结婚，
也许看起来很悲伤
但是也许对他来说是带她改变宗教观。
他虽然不是很有才，但是他看起来是个很有信心的劳动人。
【纵向书写】
我急匆匆写下这封信
以至于
我想不到任何我想说的事。
我希望
您的下颌痛在您收到信之前
可以好起来
送去
您女儿Hattie
满满的爱
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Mother, March 16, 1869,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 20, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/28.