Letter from Henry to Father, July 1, 1881
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Henry to Father, July 1, 1881
Subject
Clergy conferences; Birthdays; Boaters (Persons); Conversion
Description
Henry writes to his father to wish him a happy birthday. He is on his way to San-Ui and tells his father about his day so far. While he sold books in Kam Chuk, the boatmen had difficulty tying up the boat and there was much commotion. Henry goes on to discuss the communion at San-Ui and a young man who's interested in entering the training school.
Creator
Noyes, Henry Varnum
Source
Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1881-07-01
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_625
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Kam Chuk July 1st 1881
My dear Father
I am writing this to-night for a
birth-day letter. Every year I question whether
it is July 1st or July 3rd. I do not know why
I am always confused as to which day it
is. At any rate I send my best wishes. It
is Friday and I am on my way to San-Ui
to attend the Communion there next Sabbath. I
left home yesterday morning and expect to
be gone about three weeks. It has been
very hot weather for the past week. Willie
was quite unwell for two or three days but
he was much better before I left. Richard
Varnum has been teething and so does not
seem very strong. I expect he will be better
when his teeth are through. I wonder if you
would like to know what I have been doing
to-day. I got up quite early and had
a good long time to read before breakfast
about seven-o-clock. After breakfast we
came to a large town where I got off and
sold books for two hours and a half
Got back to the boat, a little before noon
and then we went on to Kam Chuk. I
sold books awhile and then came back
to the boat. Found the boatmen struggling
in vain to get the boat over some
rapids. I added my strength to the rest
but it was still of no use. I went and
sold books for another half-hour and came
back to find the boat tied to the shore in
the midst of the rapids. By going some ten
miles around we could get to the other
side of the rapids. There were plenty of the
villagers but they wanted 1500 cash to [--drag--]
draw us over. I told the captain I would
give them 200. He talked with them a little
while and then said they wanted 700. I
promised him 300 and he went out and
made a bargain with them for 400 cash and we
were soon over. We went a little farther and
then anchored. Since then the villagers here asked
me to go up and talk to them which I did for
half an hour or more and then came back
and have scribbled these lines. I think of all
the family who are in the USA as [--vely--] very
likely at home to day. How glad you will all be to
see Mattie and how glad she will be to see you. I will
[Written vertically]
leave the rest of the sheet to tell you about the communion at San Ui in
the 3d. So good night.
July 3d I very seldom write letters on Sunday but I
have finished my days duties and have just come
back to the boat at 10 PM and under the cir-
cumstances feel like having a short talk with you
as though I was in the "home on the hill." I reached
San-Ui yesterday at 2-o-clock and had a tolerably
good meeting at 3-o-clock and another in the
evening. This morning I met the Christians at
11-o-clock for a Bible lesson. We went over
the first half of the 9th chapter of Matthew. At
twelve-o-clock I preached. I finished out
the sermon that I commenced yesterday
afternoon on the text "As the mountains are
round about Jerusalem so the Lord is
round about them that fear him from
henceforth ever forever" I find that when
I preach the substance of an English sermon
in Chinese I make two of it. I seem to
need to explain more. The sermon was
followed by a baptism. We received upon
examination yesterday a young man about 20 years
old. He has an intelligent knowledge of
the truth and I was much pleased with
him. His father was a man of high literary
rank but his parents both died when he was
small and he has lived with an uncle in
a large family. He says that he has never
worshipped idols. His nurse worshipped them
and the women in the house. He says that
he worshipped at the ancestral tombs
until this spring when finding out that it
was not right he did not do it. He thinks
of going up to Canton and entering the
training school as does another young
man who was baptized last year. There is
also a young man who [--pm--] was baptized
at the Chung Lau station and is a very
promising man who [--things--] thinks of entering the
training school. After the baptism was the com
munion. There were 25 to partake of the ordinance
5 of whom were from the Weslayan Church here.
This evening we had a bible lesson and
then a somewhat lengthy talk about various
matters, some little difficulties which I hope
were satisfactorily settled. One interesting feature
about our service to-day was that a woman
came to the service sitting in a side room
I hope this is the beginning of better things in the
future in this respect. This woman wishes to go to
Canton and study. She is not a church member
[Written vertically]
but I hope she may be a useful woman here yet if she is
instructed and converted. Now good night & good bye Much love to all and
[Continued vertically on the first page]
from the other members of the family as well as myself although they are not
here
your aff Son Henry.
Kam Chuk 1881 年 7 月 1 日
我亲爱的父亲，
我今晚写这封生日信。
每年我都会质疑是 7 月 1 日还是 7 月 3 日。
我不知道为什么我总是对今天是哪一天感到困惑。
无论如何，
我致以最良好的祝愿。
现在是星期五，
我正在去 San-Ui 的路上参加下一个安息日的圣餐。
我昨天早上离开家，
预计会离开大约三周。
过去一周天气非常炎热。
威利有两三天很不舒服，
但在我离开之前他好多了。
理查德瓦纳姆一直在出牙，
所以看起来不是很强壮。
我希望他的牙齿长出来后会更好。
我想知道你是否想知道我今天在做什么。
我起得很早，
大约七点钟左右在早餐前阅读了很长时间。
早餐后，
我们来到一个大城镇，
在那里我下车卖了两个半小时的书。
中午前一点回到船上，
然后我们继续前往金竹。
我卖了一会儿书，
然后回到船上。
发现船夫徒劳地挣扎着让船越过一些急流。
我把我的力量加到其余部分，
但它仍然没有用。
我又去卖了半个小时的书，
回来发现那条小船系在急流中的岸边。
绕行大约十英里，
我们可以到达急流的另一边。
有很多村民，
但他们想要1500现金来吸引我们。
我告诉船长我会给他们200。
他和他们聊了一会儿，
然后说他们要700。
我答应他300，
他出去和他们讨价还价400现金，
我们很快就结束了。
我们走得更远一点，
然后停住了。
从那以后，
这里的村民让我上去和他们说话，
我做了半个小时或更长时间，
然后回来写下这些文字。
我认为今天在美国的所有家庭都很可能在家。
你们会多么高兴见到玛蒂，
她会多么高兴见到你。
我将[垂直书写] 留下纸的其余部分，
告诉你关于 3d 中 San Ui 的圣餐。
那么晚安。
7月3日周日我很少写信，
但我已经完成了一天的工作，
晚上10点刚回到船上，
在这种情况下，
我就像在“山上的家”一样与您进行简短的交谈。
”我昨天 2 点到达 San-Ui，
在 3 点和晚上举行了一次相当不错的会议。
今天早上我在 11 点与基督徒见面，
上了一堂圣经课。
我们回顾了马太福音第 9 章的前半部分。
十二点我讲道。
我完成了昨天下午开始的讲道，
题目是“山环绕着耶路撒冷，
所以主也环绕着敬畏他的人，
从今以后永远”我发现当我用中文讲英文讲道的内容时我做了两个。
我似乎需要解释更多。
布道之后是洗礼。
我们昨天检查时收到了一个大约20岁的年轻人。
他对真理有智慧的认识，
我对他很满意。
他的父亲是一个文人墨客，
但他的父母在他很小的时候双亡，
他和一个叔叔一起生活在一个大家庭。
他说他从未崇拜过偶像。
他的护士崇拜他们和屋子里的女人。
他说，
他在祖坟前拜了拜，
直到今年春天才发现不对，
他没有这样做。
他想和去年受洗的另一个年轻人一样，
去广州进培训学校。
还有一个年轻人在中楼站受洗，
是一个很有前途的人，
想进培训学校。
洗礼后是圣餐。
有 25 人参加教仪，
其中 5 人来自这里的卫斯理教会。
今天晚上我们上了一堂圣经课，
然后就各种问题进行了冗长的讨论，
一些小困难我希望能得到圆满解决。
今天我们服务的一个有趣特点是，
一位女士坐在旁边的房间里参加服务，
我希望这是未来在这方面更好的事情的开始。
这个女人想去广州学习。
她不是教会成员[竖着写]，
但如果她得到指导和转变，
我希望她可能在这里成为一个有用的女人。
现在晚安，
再见 来自家庭的其他成员和我自己的所有爱和[在第一页上垂直继续]，
尽管他们不在这里，
你的爱人儿子亨利。
My dear Father
I am writing this to-night for a
birth-day letter. Every year I question whether
it is July 1st or July 3rd. I do not know why
I am always confused as to which day it
is. At any rate I send my best wishes. It
is Friday and I am on my way to San-Ui
to attend the Communion there next Sabbath. I
left home yesterday morning and expect to
be gone about three weeks. It has been
very hot weather for the past week. Willie
was quite unwell for two or three days but
he was much better before I left. Richard
Varnum has been teething and so does not
seem very strong. I expect he will be better
when his teeth are through. I wonder if you
would like to know what I have been doing
to-day. I got up quite early and had
a good long time to read before breakfast
about seven-o-clock. After breakfast we
came to a large town where I got off and
sold books for two hours and a half
Got back to the boat, a little before noon
and then we went on to Kam Chuk. I
sold books awhile and then came back
to the boat. Found the boatmen struggling
in vain to get the boat over some
rapids. I added my strength to the rest
but it was still of no use. I went and
sold books for another half-hour and came
back to find the boat tied to the shore in
the midst of the rapids. By going some ten
miles around we could get to the other
side of the rapids. There were plenty of the
villagers but they wanted 1500 cash to [--drag--]
draw us over. I told the captain I would
give them 200. He talked with them a little
while and then said they wanted 700. I
promised him 300 and he went out and
made a bargain with them for 400 cash and we
were soon over. We went a little farther and
then anchored. Since then the villagers here asked
me to go up and talk to them which I did for
half an hour or more and then came back
and have scribbled these lines. I think of all
the family who are in the USA as [--vely--] very
likely at home to day. How glad you will all be to
see Mattie and how glad she will be to see you. I will
[Written vertically]
leave the rest of the sheet to tell you about the communion at San Ui in
the 3d. So good night.
July 3d I very seldom write letters on Sunday but I
have finished my days duties and have just come
back to the boat at 10 PM and under the cir-
cumstances feel like having a short talk with you
as though I was in the "home on the hill." I reached
San-Ui yesterday at 2-o-clock and had a tolerably
good meeting at 3-o-clock and another in the
evening. This morning I met the Christians at
11-o-clock for a Bible lesson. We went over
the first half of the 9th chapter of Matthew. At
twelve-o-clock I preached. I finished out
the sermon that I commenced yesterday
afternoon on the text "As the mountains are
round about Jerusalem so the Lord is
round about them that fear him from
henceforth ever forever" I find that when
I preach the substance of an English sermon
in Chinese I make two of it. I seem to
need to explain more. The sermon was
followed by a baptism. We received upon
examination yesterday a young man about 20 years
old. He has an intelligent knowledge of
the truth and I was much pleased with
him. His father was a man of high literary
rank but his parents both died when he was
small and he has lived with an uncle in
a large family. He says that he has never
worshipped idols. His nurse worshipped them
and the women in the house. He says that
he worshipped at the ancestral tombs
until this spring when finding out that it
was not right he did not do it. He thinks
of going up to Canton and entering the
training school as does another young
man who was baptized last year. There is
also a young man who [--pm--] was baptized
at the Chung Lau station and is a very
promising man who [--things--] thinks of entering the
training school. After the baptism was the com
munion. There were 25 to partake of the ordinance
5 of whom were from the Weslayan Church here.
This evening we had a bible lesson and
then a somewhat lengthy talk about various
matters, some little difficulties which I hope
were satisfactorily settled. One interesting feature
about our service to-day was that a woman
came to the service sitting in a side room
I hope this is the beginning of better things in the
future in this respect. This woman wishes to go to
Canton and study. She is not a church member
[Written vertically]
but I hope she may be a useful woman here yet if she is
instructed and converted. Now good night & good bye Much love to all and
[Continued vertically on the first page]
from the other members of the family as well as myself although they are not
here
your aff Son Henry.
Kam Chuk 1881 年 7 月 1 日
我亲爱的父亲，
我今晚写这封生日信。
每年我都会质疑是 7 月 1 日还是 7 月 3 日。
我不知道为什么我总是对今天是哪一天感到困惑。
无论如何，
我致以最良好的祝愿。
现在是星期五，
我正在去 San-Ui 的路上参加下一个安息日的圣餐。
我昨天早上离开家，
预计会离开大约三周。
过去一周天气非常炎热。
威利有两三天很不舒服，
但在我离开之前他好多了。
理查德瓦纳姆一直在出牙，
所以看起来不是很强壮。
我希望他的牙齿长出来后会更好。
我想知道你是否想知道我今天在做什么。
我起得很早，
大约七点钟左右在早餐前阅读了很长时间。
早餐后，
我们来到一个大城镇，
在那里我下车卖了两个半小时的书。
中午前一点回到船上，
然后我们继续前往金竹。
我卖了一会儿书，
然后回到船上。
发现船夫徒劳地挣扎着让船越过一些急流。
我把我的力量加到其余部分，
但它仍然没有用。
我又去卖了半个小时的书，
回来发现那条小船系在急流中的岸边。
绕行大约十英里，
我们可以到达急流的另一边。
有很多村民，
但他们想要1500现金来吸引我们。
我告诉船长我会给他们200。
他和他们聊了一会儿，
然后说他们要700。
我答应他300，
他出去和他们讨价还价400现金，
我们很快就结束了。
我们走得更远一点，
然后停住了。
从那以后，
这里的村民让我上去和他们说话，
我做了半个小时或更长时间，
然后回来写下这些文字。
我认为今天在美国的所有家庭都很可能在家。
你们会多么高兴见到玛蒂，
她会多么高兴见到你。
我将[垂直书写] 留下纸的其余部分，
告诉你关于 3d 中 San Ui 的圣餐。
那么晚安。
7月3日周日我很少写信，
但我已经完成了一天的工作，
晚上10点刚回到船上，
在这种情况下，
我就像在“山上的家”一样与您进行简短的交谈。
”我昨天 2 点到达 San-Ui，
在 3 点和晚上举行了一次相当不错的会议。
今天早上我在 11 点与基督徒见面，
上了一堂圣经课。
我们回顾了马太福音第 9 章的前半部分。
十二点我讲道。
我完成了昨天下午开始的讲道，
题目是“山环绕着耶路撒冷，
所以主也环绕着敬畏他的人，
从今以后永远”我发现当我用中文讲英文讲道的内容时我做了两个。
我似乎需要解释更多。
布道之后是洗礼。
我们昨天检查时收到了一个大约20岁的年轻人。
他对真理有智慧的认识，
我对他很满意。
他的父亲是一个文人墨客，
但他的父母在他很小的时候双亡，
他和一个叔叔一起生活在一个大家庭。
他说他从未崇拜过偶像。
他的护士崇拜他们和屋子里的女人。
他说，
他在祖坟前拜了拜，
直到今年春天才发现不对，
他没有这样做。
他想和去年受洗的另一个年轻人一样，
去广州进培训学校。
还有一个年轻人在中楼站受洗，
是一个很有前途的人，
想进培训学校。
洗礼后是圣餐。
有 25 人参加教仪，
其中 5 人来自这里的卫斯理教会。
今天晚上我们上了一堂圣经课，
然后就各种问题进行了冗长的讨论，
一些小困难我希望能得到圆满解决。
今天我们服务的一个有趣特点是，
一位女士坐在旁边的房间里参加服务，
我希望这是未来在这方面更好的事情的开始。
这个女人想去广州学习。
她不是教会成员[竖着写]，
但如果她得到指导和转变，
我希望她可能在这里成为一个有用的女人。
现在晚安，
再见 来自家庭的其他成员和我自己的所有爱和[在第一页上垂直继续]，
尽管他们不在这里，
你的爱人儿子亨利。
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Henry Varnum, “Letter from Henry to Father, July 1, 1881,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 26, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/682.