Letter from Hattie to Em, October 15, 1869

noyes_c_cor_032.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Hattie to Em, October 15, 1869

Subject

Afternoon teas; Patriotism; Prisoners of war; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons

Description

Harriet writes this letter to her sister, Em. She describes her travel, social, and meal plans for the day. During a visit to Dr Kerr's, Harriet met Colonel Golding, an American who served in the army during the Civil War and was imprisoned by the rebels in Libby Prison. Harriet concludes with a brief mention of home news. This paper has the impress of a small flower in the top left corner.

Creator

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Source

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1 

Publisher

Unpublished

Date

1869-10-15

Contributor

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

Format

PDF

Language

eng (English)

Type

Text

Identifier

noyes_c_cor_032

Coverage

The United States Civil War, 1861-65

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

Canton China.
October 15th /69.
My [u]dear Em[/u],
I was so late about waking up
this morning that I have only a few minutes
before going down to prayer at 1/2 past seven
but I will improve them in commencing a
letter to you! To-day we go to Nganpin shall
have a warm day but we usually have a nice
breeze on the river. This evening we are invited
to spend at Mr Parkes. Last evening we spent
at Mr Whiteheads & the evening before at Dr Kerrs
so you see we have some visiting to do even here.
The missionaries all have their tea in the evening
between 7 & 8 and as most of them are busy
through the day we take the evenings for visiting.
Since we came down here we take our meals
breakfast at eight & dinner at four, usually only
take the hot meals unless we have some
one spending the evening with us & then we
take tea anywhere from 7 to 9. But I was
going to tell you that at Dr Kerrs we had the
pleasure of meeting Col Golding the new
Hongkong Consul just out by the last steamer
from [u]America[/u]. He is from [u]Ohio[/u] & all through
[u]the war[/u] in the [u]army[/u] & a [u]genuine true American[/u]
I enjoyed the evening so much it is so refreshing
to meet [u]pure Americanism[/u] out here. Some of the
sons of the U S A seem to lay it aside or get it so much
adulterated by contact with the English that it is
hardly recognizable. Col Golding says if he
thought he would lose his [u]American[/u] feeling, he would
go right back in the steamer he came out in.
But I am sure he will not. Mr Preston always says
that people grow more cosmopolitan & to think
more of other nations & less of their own as they see
more of the world. It may be true of [u]some[/u] but it
is [u]not true[/u] of all. Col Golding was taken prisoner
by the rebels in 1862 and told us a little of
his life in "Libby." The man who captured
him a Rebel Captain was an [u]Englishman[/u]

and he dont have a very warm side for the
mother country. He says he must try & keep his
opinions of England in the back-ground in Hongkong
as that is thoroughly English. You know perhaps
that Hongkong is built on a little island which
belongs to England. I hope Col Golding will find
it pleasant there but Americanism is below par
there & I do believe there is the most "[u]snobbism[/u]"
there of any place in the world. But I always
think that as things are moving now Americans can
afford to wait for as surely as America is advancing
England is retrograding & if the superiority has
been on the side of the latter in the past it will
[u]not[/u] be in the future. When Col Golding was taken
prisoner [u]everything[/u] was taken from him [u]excepting[/u]
his pantaloons & he was made to march thus
under a burning August sun 117 miles an
old negro gave him a worn out jacket which he
tore up & tied around his feet. Then in Libby
as he was the first officer taken after the issuing of
an order by Gen Pope which excited the indignation
of the rebels & they wreaked their vengence on him
would not treat him as a prisoner of war but put
him in irons. It was horrible, sometimes when I think
about the war it all seems like a dreadful night mare
far worse than it did at the time. If there is
anything that I feel thankful for in the past
it is that I was privileged to do a little for our
soldiers. Our Consul Col Chenowith was also
in the army so I am sure I shall like him for
that at least. I begun this a day or two since
and [u]now[/u] it is late Saturday night so I
have torn off half of the sheet and will
"make a finish" here as a Chinaman would
say. I wonder where you are now you
must try & take good care of yourself and
not get cold when the winter weather
comes on. Our church at Guilford does
finely in giving for foreign Missions, so
much better than any other in our Presbytery.
I am glad that "the Careys have come" to
fill up some of the vacant seats in our dear
little church. - good-night from your loving
Hattie

中国广州 1869年10月15日 我亲爱的Em, 我今天早上起得太晚了 以至于去7:30祈祷会之前只有一点点时间 / 但是我会开始给你写信的。 今天,我们去南平,那里很热, 但是,河边有清凉的风。 今天晚上我们被邀请去Parkes先生家。 昨天晚上,我们很Whiteheads先生在一起度过的, 然后之前的晚上是和Kerr医生度过的, 因此你可以看出,我们要拜访一些人。 所有传教士要在7点到8点的时候喝茶, 然后因为他们白天一整天都很忙, 我们就会在晚上拜访。 我们来到这以后, 早上八点吃早饭,下午四点吃晚饭, 通常吃热食, 除非我们晚上有人和我们一起, 然后我们就会7点到9点的时候喝茶。 但是我要告诉你, 我们很高兴在Kerr医生家见到Golding上校, 他是新的领事,刚搭乘上一艘轮船从美国来到这。 他来自俄亥俄州, 他在整个战争期间都在军队中,是个真美国人。 这天晚上很快乐, 我很高兴可以在这遇到纯美国化的东西。 有些美国的儿子看起来全变了, 当他们花太多时间在英国人身边时,他们就会改变 Golding上校说, 如果他觉得他要失去美国的感觉, 他会直接回去。 但是我确定他不会。 Preston先生总是说他会变得更全球化, 会多想一想其他国家,少一点自己国家,因为他们要多看看时间。 可能有时是真的,但并非总是如此。 Golding上校在1862年带领囚犯起义, 也告诉我们了一些他“自由的生活”。 捕获他的人是一个反动的英国人 / 而且他没有对他的母国有多少温存。 因为香港是英国的殖民地, 他必须小心翼翼地将自己对英国的负面看法保密。 / 也许你知道香港是在一座属于英格兰的小岛上,。 我希望Golding上校可以在那里很快乐, 但是美国是在一个低一点的水平, 我相信那里是全世界最势利的地方。 但是我总是在想 因为所有事情都不稳定 美国人可以等, 等到确定超过英格兰以后, 英国是过去, 美国是未来, 当他是一名囚犯是, 他除了内衣意外,他的所有东西都被抢走了, 因此,在炎热的八月步行了117英里, 一个老黑人给了他一件破夹克衫 他撕碎了用来裹脚。 然后,他到Libby时, 他是Pope将军发布激怒叛军的命令后第一个被捕的军官, 因此他的叛军俘虏对他很不利, 不会像战犯一样对他,而是把他放在烙铁上。 非常残忍, 有时候我想起战争的时候, 就像是一场最可怕的噩梦。 如果问我有什么让我值得感激的事, 那就是我可以为我们的士兵们做一点事。 我们的领事Chenowith上校也在军队, 因此我确定我会喜欢他。 我一两天前开始了这个, 现在是星期六的夜晚, 所以我撕掉半页纸 然后在这里写完中国人怎么说的。 我好奇你现在在哪,你一定要努力, 并且照顾好你自己, 冬天来了你一定不要感冒。 我们Guilford的教堂让外国的组织很好, / 比我们长老会的好。 我很高兴Careys来了 他们让我们的教堂多了一些人。 晚安 爱你的姐姐 Hattie

Original Format

Letter

Citation

Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Em, October 15, 1869,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed March 28, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/32.

Output Formats