Letter from Hattie to Em, May 21, 1868
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Em, May 21, 1868
Subject
Letters; Missionaries; Weight; Bible--Numerical division
Description
This letter from Harriet to her sister, Emily, details her anxiety about her brother, Henry, and the rest of her family prior to receiving letters from home. She continues to discuss letters and the mail, citing various persons and places, such as New York and Maggie. Hattie also writes about repeating Bible verses in the morning with Henry and her 'fleshy' appearance.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1868-05-21
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_007
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton May 21st /68
My own dear Em
I did not
nearly finish what I wanted
to write you in my letter of
May 4th so I will write an
appendix on this sheet. Last night
our hearts were again gladdened
by news & good news from the
dear ones in Guilford & Jackson.
I am so rejoiced to know that
you are feeling so well
It does us so much good to know
that those we love [u]so dearly[/u] are
well and happy. I do not think
I shall ever forget [--my--] the first
months of my life in China.
I hardly realized what a load
of anxiety I was feeling for Henry
here and the dear ones in America
until your last letters came and
when I knew that you were all
better my heart felt so much lighter.
I trust these dark days may teach
us the lesson of thankfulness that they should
for "We know these days of dreariness are sent us from above
They do not come in anger but in faithfulness & love
They come to teach us lessons that bright ones could not yield
And to leave us [u]blest[/u] and [u]thankful[/u]
when their mission is fulfilled."
The mail last night brought us
letters from Dr Happer Mrs Hamsher
Mrs Newman + Mr Loomis. It seems
to me that I have never seen such
sad letters as Mr Loomis writes.
My heart aches for him he seems
[u]so[/u] lonely. I do think that Board
ought to send another missionary
there he gets so discouraged in
his work but I do think he is one
of the [u]best[/u] missionaries I have met.
I am really afraid Dr Happer
will not come back from the way
he writes but I do hope he will ^[if it would be best all around.]
He says "Mrs Beacom" will take
the two youngest children with
her whens he does to house
keeping the 1st of April 7 miles
from Pittsburg where Mr Beacom
has decided to settle. And dont
you think I hav'nt had a line
from Maggie since I left NY.
I think it is too bad and
she wanted me to promise to
write to her every month. Mrs
Newman is finally settled in
Springfield MO. I have sent
two or three letters to Northfield Iowa
where I supposed she was & as
she says she has not received any
word from me I fear she will never get them.
But I shall fill this sheet if I am not careful & still
not write much of anything. One thing I wanted
to mention is that Henry + I thought we would
adopt the plan of repeating a verse every morning
at Breakfast & thought we would wait till your birthday
to commence but we forgot it in the morning + so
repeated them at noon. Henry's was "So teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom," and mine "The Lord watch
between me and thee when we are absent one from
another."-- Another thing I want to tell
you is what the Chinese say when I show
them our group. They point to Em's and say
[u]"Ho Lai"[/u] Do you want to know the interpretation
thereof. At this distance I think I may venture to
give it without exciting your indignation.
[Note: Written vertically in the margin]
Henry tells me he has given you a
more correct version of our saying our verses
It simply means "very beautiful"
Now you must not blame
me for what they say. You
must tell Mrs Dorsey that a few
days ago I used some of the boiled
cider she sent and it was just
as nice as the day she gave it to us.
I never can feel reconciled to the
thought that I left America without
bidding such a [u]dear good[/u] friend
as Mrs Dorsey good bye but I hope
sometime to see her again and then
it will be all right. I am glad
that you are painting again &
that Sarah is helping you. You
must teach Clara too. I am sure
Sarah can more ^[than] [u]fill[/u] my place for
I dont believe I would weigh as much
as she though perhaps I might as I
have not been weighed recently &
it seems to me I am [u]gaining[/u] in flesh
all the time. The climate here
has the effect of making some people
very fleshy. If I should come home after
a while as large as "Mrs James" would'nt
you be appalled. One of the English
Ladies [?came out?] out a year or two
since makes me think of Mrs
Bingham, but dont think this is
universally the case. I want to write
a great deal more but I think
this must do for this time so
good-bye Your [u]own loving[/u] Hattie
My own dear Em
I did not
nearly finish what I wanted
to write you in my letter of
May 4th so I will write an
appendix on this sheet. Last night
our hearts were again gladdened
by news & good news from the
dear ones in Guilford & Jackson.
I am so rejoiced to know that
you are feeling so well
It does us so much good to know
that those we love [u]so dearly[/u] are
well and happy. I do not think
I shall ever forget [--my--] the first
months of my life in China.
I hardly realized what a load
of anxiety I was feeling for Henry
here and the dear ones in America
until your last letters came and
when I knew that you were all
better my heart felt so much lighter.
I trust these dark days may teach
us the lesson of thankfulness that they should
for "We know these days of dreariness are sent us from above
They do not come in anger but in faithfulness & love
They come to teach us lessons that bright ones could not yield
And to leave us [u]blest[/u] and [u]thankful[/u]
when their mission is fulfilled."
The mail last night brought us
letters from Dr Happer Mrs Hamsher
Mrs Newman + Mr Loomis. It seems
to me that I have never seen such
sad letters as Mr Loomis writes.
My heart aches for him he seems
[u]so[/u] lonely. I do think that Board
ought to send another missionary
there he gets so discouraged in
his work but I do think he is one
of the [u]best[/u] missionaries I have met.
I am really afraid Dr Happer
will not come back from the way
he writes but I do hope he will ^[if it would be best all around.]
He says "Mrs Beacom" will take
the two youngest children with
her whens he does to house
keeping the 1st of April 7 miles
from Pittsburg where Mr Beacom
has decided to settle. And dont
you think I hav'nt had a line
from Maggie since I left NY.
I think it is too bad and
she wanted me to promise to
write to her every month. Mrs
Newman is finally settled in
Springfield MO. I have sent
two or three letters to Northfield Iowa
where I supposed she was & as
she says she has not received any
word from me I fear she will never get them.
But I shall fill this sheet if I am not careful & still
not write much of anything. One thing I wanted
to mention is that Henry + I thought we would
adopt the plan of repeating a verse every morning
at Breakfast & thought we would wait till your birthday
to commence but we forgot it in the morning + so
repeated them at noon. Henry's was "So teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom," and mine "The Lord watch
between me and thee when we are absent one from
another."-- Another thing I want to tell
you is what the Chinese say when I show
them our group. They point to Em's and say
[u]"Ho Lai"[/u] Do you want to know the interpretation
thereof. At this distance I think I may venture to
give it without exciting your indignation.
[Note: Written vertically in the margin]
Henry tells me he has given you a
more correct version of our saying our verses
It simply means "very beautiful"
Now you must not blame
me for what they say. You
must tell Mrs Dorsey that a few
days ago I used some of the boiled
cider she sent and it was just
as nice as the day she gave it to us.
I never can feel reconciled to the
thought that I left America without
bidding such a [u]dear good[/u] friend
as Mrs Dorsey good bye but I hope
sometime to see her again and then
it will be all right. I am glad
that you are painting again &
that Sarah is helping you. You
must teach Clara too. I am sure
Sarah can more ^[than] [u]fill[/u] my place for
I dont believe I would weigh as much
as she though perhaps I might as I
have not been weighed recently &
it seems to me I am [u]gaining[/u] in flesh
all the time. The climate here
has the effect of making some people
very fleshy. If I should come home after
a while as large as "Mrs James" would'nt
you be appalled. One of the English
Ladies [?came out?] out a year or two
since makes me think of Mrs
Bingham, but dont think this is
universally the case. I want to write
a great deal more but I think
this must do for this time so
good-bye Your [u]own loving[/u] Hattie
广东 1868年5月21日
我亲爱的Emily
我几乎不能
在5月4号的信里完成
我真正想写的
所以我会
在这张纸上写一个附录。昨晚我们又一次
被Guilford和Jackson的消息和好消息取悦了。
我为知道你感觉不错而高兴
这对我们来说意义重大
我们爱的非常好也很开心。
我认为我永远不会忘记
我在中国生活的几个月。
我几乎意识不到忧虑不安
我感觉Henry还在这
而且你们在美国
直到你上一封信寄来
然后当我知道你们更好的消息时
我就更是心花怒放了。
我相信这些黑暗的日子可以给我们上一课
让我们学会感恩
他们应该说“我们知道这些苦闷的日子是可以让我提升的
他们不会进入生气的状态而是忠诚和爱的模样
他们来给我们上一课，教会我们阳光的人不会屈服
然后离开我们【译者注：留下】庆幸和感恩
他们便完成了使命。”
这个邮件昨晚把我们的信
从Happer医生和Hamsher太太
Newman太太和Loomis先生那里带来。
我从没有看见过
Loomis先生写如此伤心的信。
我心疼他
他看起来很孤独。
我认为在组织上应该给另一个传教士
在那里他非常气馁地在工作，
但是我认为他是我见过最好的传教士之一。
我很害怕Happer医生会回不来
他写作的方法但是我希望他会
他说Beacom太太
会带走两个最年轻的孩子
当他在4月1号
去距离匹茨堡7英里的房子打扫卫生
Beacom先生想要在那里安顿下来。
而且你不觉得
我自从离开了纽约
就没有和Maggie联系了吗？
我认为这太坏了，
而且她想让我保证
每月给她写一封信。
Newman太太最后安顿在了
Springfield MO。我给她送去了
三封信到爱荷华州的Northfield
我认为他在那
因为他说她还是没有收到我的消息
我怕她收不到。
但是如果我不小心并且不再多写
我会写满这张纸而已。一件事我要提
Henry和我想
我们采取重复的计划每天早上吃早饭
我们认为我们会等到你的生日开始
但是我们忘了它在早上所以中午重复它们。
Henry教了我们
很多天以至于我们
变得有智慧，而且宝贵
“当我们缺席在彼此之间，神看着我和你”
另一件事我想说
你是···中文里说当我给他们展示我们组
他们指向Em并且说
“Ho Lai”你想过了解其中的解释。
这个距离，我认为我可能有点冒险
去解释而不是激起你的愤怒。
Henry告诉我他给你了一个
更准确的诗体
它只是意味着“非常漂亮”
现在你绝不能谴责我
无论他们说什么。
你一定要告诉Dorsey太太
几天前我用了她的一些煮开的苹果醋
她送的而且那些苹果醋
就像她那天给我们的那样好。
我从未觉得甘心
一想到我离开美国
没有等待如Dorsey太太这样好的朋友说再见
我希望
什么时候可以再见她一面
然后就好好很多。
我很高兴你又画画了
而且Sarah也在帮助你。
你一定也教Clara。
Sarah可以更好的替代我的位置
我不相信我能比她更重
也许我可能
最近没有量体重
而且看起来我在长肉
一直在长。这里的气候
让人很容易长肉。
如果过一阵我回家
想James太太一样胖的时候
请不要震惊。英国女人之一，
出柜一到两年
自从让我想到Bingham太太，
但是不觉得这是个普遍的案例。
我想写更多
但是我觉得
这一定是要做
所以，再见。 爱你的Hattie
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Em, May 21, 1868,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 19, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/7.