Letter from Hattie to Frank, May 31, 1871
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Frank, May 31, 1871
Subject
Missionaries; Hospitality; Tuberculosis; Consumption (Disease); Health; Travel; Rural clergy
Description
In this birthday letter to her brother Francis, Harriet Noyes writes about two missionaries who are visiting, Mr. and Mrs. Corbett. She discusses their lives, including Mr. Corbett's background as a missionary, and the fact that Mrs. Corbett has 'consumption.' Harriet concludes the letter with an update about her brother, Henry, who is doing missionary work in the rural areas of China.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1871-05-31
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_052
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
May 31st '71
My dear Frank,
If "memory serves
me right" the 31st of May 1871
makes my brother Frank
thirty three years old. Henry
is away on a trip into the country
so I dont know whether he will
get a letter written to you or not.
He is fortunate this time in
having good company Mr Prestons
and Mr Selby of the Wesleyan
Mission. I am fortunate
too in having good company during
his absence. Mr + Mrs Corbett of
our mission at Chefoo have come
down to Canton in search of
health + have been staying with
me the past week. Mrs Corbett
is consumptive nearly all her
friends have died with that disease.
She is much better now than when
she felt Chefoo as them she was
not able to walk at all. Dr Kerr
examined her lungs last night
and found them not so bad
as he expected so we all feel
much encouraged about her.
They expect to be in Canton
about a week longer they made
the trip principally for the
benefit to be derived from the
sea voyage The physician
ordered her home but they did
not feel willing to leave their
work and felt more over that
the climate at Chefoo is more
favorable for her than that
of Pennsylvania her native
state. We like them very much
they are [u]good missionaries[/u].
Mr Corbett seems to be very
much in looks & actions like
what I imagine Father was
at his age. He is just Henry's age but I think looks
older. The first five years he was in China he
has very poor health but he would not give up +
go home and now he is quite well. They have
been very greatly blessed in their work at the
north. Mr Corbett was the first missionary [--there--]
to Chefoo eight years since he came out +
now they have there a church of sixty members +
in the surrounding villages some two or three hundred
more so different from poor Canton where missions
have been at work for nearly thirty years. It seems
as though in many respects this is a very discouraging field
of labor but I supposed Pekin is still more so.
Our missionaries there have all given up ^[the work there] and
Dr Martin has taken charge of the Chinese college.
Mr Morrison died + his wife has
gone to Ningpo and the others
have gone to new places. There
are two missionaries however of the
American Board recent arrivals who
were NS Presbyterian & have joined
our Board so that we still have
a mission there. I have received
a note from Henry since he went
away. He is much pleased
with the appearance of the people
I am so glad to have him get
to work in the country although
it will leave me alone perhaps
half the time. The experience
at all the ports has been the
same that success follows
more readily work in the
country than in the city Canton
has I suppose the strongest
missionary force of any place in
China + yet there has been very
little work done in the country as yet
Your loving sister [u]Hattie[/u].
中国广州
1871 年 5 月 31 日
我亲爱的弗兰克，
如果“我没有记错”的话，
1871 年 5 月 31 日，
我的弟弟弗兰克已经 33 岁了。
亨利要去乡下旅行，
所以我不知道他是否会收到一封写给你的信。
这次他很幸运能与卫斯理传道会的 Prestons 先生和 Selby 先生相伴。
我也很幸运，
在他不在的时候有很好的陪伴。
我们在 Chefoo 的使命的 Corbett 先生和夫人已经来到广州寻求健康，
并在过去一周一直和我在一起。
Corbett 夫人患有虚弱，
几乎她所有的朋友都死于这种疾病。
她现在比她觉得 Chefoo 和他们完全不能走路时好多了。
克尔医生昨晚检查了她的肺部，
发现它们并没有他预期的那么糟糕，
所以我们都为她感到鼓舞。
他们预计会在广州多呆一周 他们这次旅行主要是为了从海上航行中获得好处 医生命令她回家，
但他们不愿意离开工作，
并且对 Chefoo 的气候感到更多比她的家乡宾夕法尼亚州对她更有利。
我们非常喜欢他们，
他们是很好的传教士。
Corbett 先生的外表和行为似乎非常像我想象的父亲在他这个年纪时的样子。
他只是亨利的年龄，
但我认为看起来更老。
在中国的前五年，
他的健康状况很差，
但他不会放弃回家，
现在他已经很好了。
他们在北方的工作中得到了极大的祝福。
Corbett 先生是他出道 8 年后第一个到 Chefoo 的传教士，
现在他们在那里有一个有 60 名成员的教会，
在周围的村庄里还有大约两三百人，
这与已经工作了近 30 年的贫穷广州大不相同.似乎在许多方面这是一个非常令人沮丧的劳动领域，
但我认为北京更是如此。
我们那里的传教士都放弃了那里的工作，
马丁医生负责了中文学院。
莫里森先生去世了，
他的妻子去了宁波，
其他人也去了新的地方。
然而，
美国委员会最近有两名传教士是长老会并加入了我们的委员会，
因此我们仍然在那里有使命。
自从亨利离开后，
我收到了一张便条。
他对人们的出现感到非常满意，
我很高兴让他去乡下工作，
尽管这可能会让我有一半的时间独自一人。
所有口岸的经验都是一样的，
在国内工作比在城市更容易取得成功你的妹妹，
海蒂。
May 31st '71
My dear Frank,
If "memory serves
me right" the 31st of May 1871
makes my brother Frank
thirty three years old. Henry
is away on a trip into the country
so I dont know whether he will
get a letter written to you or not.
He is fortunate this time in
having good company Mr Prestons
and Mr Selby of the Wesleyan
Mission. I am fortunate
too in having good company during
his absence. Mr + Mrs Corbett of
our mission at Chefoo have come
down to Canton in search of
health + have been staying with
me the past week. Mrs Corbett
is consumptive nearly all her
friends have died with that disease.
She is much better now than when
she felt Chefoo as them she was
not able to walk at all. Dr Kerr
examined her lungs last night
and found them not so bad
as he expected so we all feel
much encouraged about her.
They expect to be in Canton
about a week longer they made
the trip principally for the
benefit to be derived from the
sea voyage The physician
ordered her home but they did
not feel willing to leave their
work and felt more over that
the climate at Chefoo is more
favorable for her than that
of Pennsylvania her native
state. We like them very much
they are [u]good missionaries[/u].
Mr Corbett seems to be very
much in looks & actions like
what I imagine Father was
at his age. He is just Henry's age but I think looks
older. The first five years he was in China he
has very poor health but he would not give up +
go home and now he is quite well. They have
been very greatly blessed in their work at the
north. Mr Corbett was the first missionary [--there--]
to Chefoo eight years since he came out +
now they have there a church of sixty members +
in the surrounding villages some two or three hundred
more so different from poor Canton where missions
have been at work for nearly thirty years. It seems
as though in many respects this is a very discouraging field
of labor but I supposed Pekin is still more so.
Our missionaries there have all given up ^[the work there] and
Dr Martin has taken charge of the Chinese college.
Mr Morrison died + his wife has
gone to Ningpo and the others
have gone to new places. There
are two missionaries however of the
American Board recent arrivals who
were NS Presbyterian & have joined
our Board so that we still have
a mission there. I have received
a note from Henry since he went
away. He is much pleased
with the appearance of the people
I am so glad to have him get
to work in the country although
it will leave me alone perhaps
half the time. The experience
at all the ports has been the
same that success follows
more readily work in the
country than in the city Canton
has I suppose the strongest
missionary force of any place in
China + yet there has been very
little work done in the country as yet
Your loving sister [u]Hattie[/u].
中国广州
1871 年 5 月 31 日
我亲爱的弗兰克，
如果“我没有记错”的话，
1871 年 5 月 31 日，
我的弟弟弗兰克已经 33 岁了。
亨利要去乡下旅行，
所以我不知道他是否会收到一封写给你的信。
这次他很幸运能与卫斯理传道会的 Prestons 先生和 Selby 先生相伴。
我也很幸运，
在他不在的时候有很好的陪伴。
我们在 Chefoo 的使命的 Corbett 先生和夫人已经来到广州寻求健康，
并在过去一周一直和我在一起。
Corbett 夫人患有虚弱，
几乎她所有的朋友都死于这种疾病。
她现在比她觉得 Chefoo 和他们完全不能走路时好多了。
克尔医生昨晚检查了她的肺部，
发现它们并没有他预期的那么糟糕，
所以我们都为她感到鼓舞。
他们预计会在广州多呆一周 他们这次旅行主要是为了从海上航行中获得好处 医生命令她回家，
但他们不愿意离开工作，
并且对 Chefoo 的气候感到更多比她的家乡宾夕法尼亚州对她更有利。
我们非常喜欢他们，
他们是很好的传教士。
Corbett 先生的外表和行为似乎非常像我想象的父亲在他这个年纪时的样子。
他只是亨利的年龄，
但我认为看起来更老。
在中国的前五年，
他的健康状况很差，
但他不会放弃回家，
现在他已经很好了。
他们在北方的工作中得到了极大的祝福。
Corbett 先生是他出道 8 年后第一个到 Chefoo 的传教士，
现在他们在那里有一个有 60 名成员的教会，
在周围的村庄里还有大约两三百人，
这与已经工作了近 30 年的贫穷广州大不相同.似乎在许多方面这是一个非常令人沮丧的劳动领域，
但我认为北京更是如此。
我们那里的传教士都放弃了那里的工作，
马丁医生负责了中文学院。
莫里森先生去世了，
他的妻子去了宁波，
其他人也去了新的地方。
然而，
美国委员会最近有两名传教士是长老会并加入了我们的委员会，
因此我们仍然在那里有使命。
自从亨利离开后，
我收到了一张便条。
他对人们的出现感到非常满意，
我很高兴让他去乡下工作，
尽管这可能会让我有一半的时间独自一人。
所有口岸的经验都是一样的，
在国内工作比在城市更容易取得成功你的妹妹，
海蒂。
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Frank, May 31, 1871,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 29, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/100.