Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 30, 1870

noyes_c_cor_042.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 30, 1870

Subject

Travel; Steamboat lines; Choirs (Music); Travel with horses

Description

Harriet writes this letter to her brother, Edward, from Hong Kong, where she is visiting some of her friends. As she discusses making her way back to Canton, she comments on the steamboat system. Some of her friends were going to visit her in Canton, but they were too afraid of the rumours they heard about the city. Harriet also describes a choir meeting that she attended, and mentions Wooster University and its early administrators.

Creator

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Source

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

Publisher

Unpublished

Date

1870-09-30

Contributor

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

Format

PDF

Language

eng (English)

Type

Text

Identifier

noyes_c_cor_042

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

Hongkong
Sept 30th '70
My dear Edward
You see by the
dating of this that we are again in
Hongkong. Mrs Collins has been
urging us for some time to come
down & make them a visit so we
celebrated [u]your[/u] birthday by a trip
on the steamer from Canton to
Hongkong & so here we are and
expect to remain for a few days.
They have a very nice comfortable
house and I expect to enjoy my
visit very much. It is the first time
I have ever visited Hongkong except
in the rainy season and I am
glad to have an opportunity of seeing
how it looks when the sun shines over
it. Thus far on the 30th Sept
it is now Oct 10th. We expected ere this to
have been back in Canton but are staying
a few days longer to see the China, go out
"homeward bound". I was quite disappointed
that the "Japan" did not come as we
expected for I have already met the China
& I was anxious to have an introduction
to the Japan as that is the only one now in
the line with which I am not acquainted.
They all seem like friends to me.
I wonder when we are going to have two

steamers in a month. I wrote to
some of you a while since about
our expecting a visit from Dr Adams
and the girls. We were sadly disappointed
when they finally wrote us that
they would not come. They heard
so many rumors about Canton
that they did not dare to risk themselves
there. It was very hard for us to give
it up after we had been anticipating
it so long but doubtless it was best as
Dr Adams is very nervous and if
he had not felt quite safe would
not have enjoyed his visit at all I
presume. We have seen them down
here spent a day on board their ship
most delightfully. We agreed with
Capt Adams that if we should ever
go home if such a think as possible
we would go in his ship. He does not
like the sea much was studying to be
a minister but his health failed &
he was obliged to give it up but still
cherishes the hope that if his health should
be entirely restored he may yet be
able to preach. He always speaks
to his sailors on Sabbath day, and
when in harbor invites the crews of other
vessels to attend. Last Saturday eve
we had the pleasure of attending a
choir meeting for practicing the tunes

for the service on Sabbath. I wish you
might have been there it was
certainly the [u]funniest[/u] thing of the sort
I ever heard or saw. Every one endeavored
to put on the appearance of [u]knowing
all about it[/u] while it seemed a real
marvel that [u]any one could[/u] know so
little as they did all put together.
I had to bite my lips once in a while
to keep from laughing at some of
their [u]sage observations[/u] & wondered what
you would have thought if you had been
in my place. They sing Old Hundred
so fast that ^[neither] Henry nor I could possibly
get the words in but had to leave out about
half of them. Altogether it was a very
funny performance and the beauty
of it was they all seemed so supremely
self satisfied and they are people
that [u]claim[/u] to belong to the upper class
of humanity & understand how to
do a thing in the most approved
style with taste &c &c.
I left this last night at this stage
and will now make an effort to
reach the other end of the sheet. It
seems a long time since we have
had a letter from you but I
suppose you are very busy now.

Cyrus has'nt written to me for years,
are you as good friends as ever.
It seems strange that I am beginning
to count my stay in China by
[u]years[/u]. Starin was right We [u]are[/u]
all growing older every day.
I wonder if Matt & Sarah had
as good a time when they went to
Cleveland as Em & I did.
Ask Em if she remembers how Dr
Happer propped my back with his
arm all the way to Cleveland town.
I expect he would let it get tired
now if it wanted to. Poor old Ned
I wonder if he could trot off to Cleveland
now as he did that day. Whenever
I am in Hongkong or Macao I
wish that we could have some
of Fathers are plenty of them here for
hire but it is an expensive luxury.
The ^[best] hotel here (just the building) rents
for $35,000 thirty-five thousand a year,
& of course the charges correspond.
Tell us something about Wooster University
Dr Happer thinks it a great mistake electing
Dr Lord as President. I wonder that Mr
Marshall would leave his nice church in
Columbus to be Financial Agent.
[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page four]
With very much love from Your aff sister [u]Hattie[/u]



香港
1870 年 9 月 30 日
我亲爱的爱德华
你看我们又在香港了。
一段时间以来,
柯林斯夫人一直在敦促我们下来拜访他们,
所以我们乘坐从广州到香港的汽船来庆祝您的生日,
所以我们在这里并希望在这里停留几天。
他们有一个非常舒适的房子,
我希望非常享受我的访问。
这是我第一次访问香港,
除了雨季,
我很高兴有机会看到阳光照在它上面时的样子。
到目前为止,
9 月 30 日是 10 月 10 日。
我们之前预计会回到广州,
但要多呆几天看看中国,
“回家”。
我很失望“日本”没有像我们预期的那样来,
因为我已经遇到了中国,
我急于介绍日本,
因为这是我现在唯一不熟悉的日本。
在我看来,
他们都像是朋友。
我想知道我们什么时候才能在一个月内有两个蒸笼。
自从我们期待亚当斯医生和女孩们的访问以来,
我给你们中的一些人写了一段时间。
当他们最终写信告诉我们他们不会来时,
我们感到非常失望。
他们听到太多关于广州的谣言,
不敢在那里冒险。
在我们期待了这么久之后,
我们很难放弃它,
但毫无疑问这是最好的,
因为亚当斯医生非常紧张,
如果他觉得不太安全,
我想他根本不会享受他的访问。
我们看到他们在这里度过了愉快的一天。
我们同意亚当斯船长的意见,
如果我们应该回家,
如果有这样的想法,
我们会乘坐他的船。
他不太喜欢大海,
正在学习成为一名牧师,
但他的健康状况不佳,
他不得不放弃它,
但仍然怀有希望,
如果他的健康应该完全恢复,
他可能仍然能够传教。
他总是在安息日与他的水手交谈,
在港口时邀请其他船只的船员参加。
上周六前夕,
我们有幸参加了一个唱诗班会议,
为安息日的礼拜练习曲调。
我希望你可能去过那里,
这肯定是我听过或看过的最有趣的事情。
每个人都努力装出一副对它一无所知的样子,
而任何人都知道的如此之少,
这似乎是一个真正的奇迹。
我不得不不时咬住嘴唇,
以免嘲笑他们的一些圣人观察,
并想知道如果您在我的位置上会怎么想。
他们把老一百唱得太快了,
亨利和我都听不懂,
只好漏掉了一半。
总而言之,
这是一个非常有趣的表演,
它的美妙之处在于他们似乎都非常自我满足,
他们是自称属于人类上层阶级的人,
并且知道如何以最受认可的风格和品味等方式做事。
我昨晚在这个阶段离开了这个,
现在将努力到达工作表的另一端。
好像很久没有收到你的来信了,
但我想你现在很忙。
赛勒斯已经很多年没有给我写信了,
你们还是一如既往的好朋友吗?我开始计算我在中国的停留时间,
这似乎很奇怪。
Starin 是对的 我们每天都在变老。
我想知道马特和莎拉去克利夫兰的时候是否和我和艾姆一样好。
问 Em 她是否还记得 Happer 医生是如何用他的手臂支撑着我的背一直到克利夫兰镇的。
如果他愿意,
我希望他现在会让它变得疲倦。
可怜的老内德,
我不知道他现在能不能像那天一样小跑到克利夫兰去。
每当我在香港或澳门时,
我希望我们能有一些父亲在这里出租,
但这是一种昂贵的奢侈品。
这里的最好酒店(仅建筑物)每年租金为 35,000 美元,
35000 美元,
当然费用也相应。
告诉我们一些关于伍斯特大学的事情 Happer 医生认为选举 Lord 医生为校长是一个很大的错误。
我想知道马歇尔先生会离开他在哥伦布的漂亮教堂担任财务代理人。
[注:信在第四页垂直结束] 非常爱你的妹妹海蒂

Original Format

Letter

Citation

Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 30, 1870,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed March 28, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/46.

Output Formats