Letter from Hattie to Father, June 10, 1871
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Father, June 10, 1871
Subject
Sick; Labor; Christianity; Missionaries; God; Presbyterian Church
Description
In this letter to her father, Harriet Noyes inquires about his health as she had read from other letters that he is unwell. She also writes about how good a father he is, and by extent, a good Christian, although he does not always reap the fruit of his labors. Harriet focuses on God and his guidance throughout the letter.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1871-06-10
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_053
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
June 10th '71 -
Dearest Father,
Our last letters
from home brought us the news
of your sickness but we hope long
ere this you are well and strong
again. I wish so much that
we could see you & have a talk
with you if it were only for a
little while, but as that is impossible
we shall have to use our pens.
We shall wait anxiously for the next
mail a month seems so long to
wait sometimetimes. I hardly know
just what I want to write to you it
is so different to write from talking
with any one. I am sure you
know and feel that in every trial
you have the [u]deepest fullest[/u] love
and sympathy of all your
children who can never [u]never[/u] forget
how much they owe to your teachings
and example. But better for
there is one Friend who will be ever
near you and give you all
needed grace + strength.
I know how you have longed
and prayed to see more fruit
of your labors and I believe
you will see it sometime + in
some way if not just as you
had hoped , in God's own time
and way which is better than
ours. In our work here we
feel this so much there seems
to be so little of the good seed
that takes root. For nearly thirty
years missionaries have been laboring
here and yet there seems to have
been scarcely any harvest so
different from what it has
been at many other places.
I have often thought with some
comfort of an incident which
I think I heard first from you
of a meeting of Presbytery somewhere
where one minister who spoke +
told of how much encouragement
he had met with + how his labors
had been blessed + was followed
by another who had worked just
as faithfully but had seen no
good result from his labors and
seemed completely disheartened
After they had both finished an
old minister got up and said
that the brother must remember
that the promises were not to
the successful but to the faithful
laborer. I have thought of
this so often since I came
here, at first I thought I would
be so unhappy if I could
not [u]see[/u] that I had accomplished
something. but I feel very
differently now, if I could feel
that I was faithful I should
be satisfied. And at the last
we shall see + understand how
all was wisely ordered and
things which look dark and
mysterious now will all be made
plain and we shall see how
"He hath done all things well", and
doubtless what seem to us here
trials we then shall know
were blessings in disguise ,
perhaps to draw us nearer
to our Heavenly Father,
The night we received our letters
Mr Corbett was here + we told
him about your sickness +
at evening prayers he prayed
so earnestly for you that I
felt that his prayer would be
answered. I am sure you
remember to pray for your
absent children as we do for
our [u]dearly loved[/u] Father,
Your loving daughter
Hattie.
中国广州
1871 年 6 月 10 日 -
最亲爱的父亲，
我们从家里寄来的最后一封信给我们带来了您生病的消息，
但我们希望您在此之前很久就康复了。
我非常希望我们能见到你并和你谈谈，
如果只是一会儿的话，
但因为那是不可能的，
我们将不得不使用我们的笔。
我们将焦急地等待下一封邮件，
有时等待一个月似乎太长了。
我几乎不知道我想给你写什么，
写信与与任何人交谈是如此不同。
我相信您知道并感觉到，
在每一次试炼中，
您对所有孩子都怀有最深切的爱和同情，
他们永远不会忘记他们对您的教诲和榜样的亏欠。
但更好的是，
有一位朋友会一直在你身边，
给你所有需要的恩典和力量。
我知道你是多么渴望和祈祷看到更多你的劳动成果，
我相信你会在某个时候以某种方式看到它，
如果不是像你所希望的那样，
在上帝自己的时间和方式中，
这比我们的更好。
在我们在这里的工作中，
我们感到如此之多，
似乎很少有好种子扎根。
近三十年来，
传教士一直在这里劳作，
但似乎几乎没有任何收获与其他许多地方的收获如此不同。
我常常怀着某种安慰的心情想到一件事情，
我想我首先从你那里听到的一次长老会会议在某个地方，
一位牧师发言并讲述了他得到了多少鼓励，
他的工作如何得到了祝福，
随后是另一个同样忠心的工作，
但没有看到他的工作有什么好结果，
似乎完全灰心了。
他们都完成后，
一位老牧师站起来说，
兄弟一定要记住，
承诺不是给成功的人，
而是给忠心的劳动者.自从来到这里，
我就经常想到这个问题，
起初我以为如果我看不到我已经完成了一些事情，
我会很不高兴。
但我现在的感觉很不一样，
如果我能感觉到我是忠实的，
我应该会感到满足。
最后，
我们将看到并了解一切是如何被明智地安排的，
现在看起来黑暗和神秘的事情都将变得清晰，
我们将看到“他把所有的事情都做得很好”，
毫无疑问，
在我们看来，
我们在这里遇到了什么考验然后就会知道是变相的祝福，
也许是为了让我们更接近我们的天父，
我们收到信件的那天晚上，
科贝特先生在这里，
我们告诉他你的病，
在晚祷时，
他为你恳切祈祷，
我觉得他的祈祷会得到回应。
我相信你记得为你缺席的孩子祈祷，
就像我们为我们深爱的父亲祈祷一样。
你的女儿，
海蒂。
June 10th '71 -
Dearest Father,
Our last letters
from home brought us the news
of your sickness but we hope long
ere this you are well and strong
again. I wish so much that
we could see you & have a talk
with you if it were only for a
little while, but as that is impossible
we shall have to use our pens.
We shall wait anxiously for the next
mail a month seems so long to
wait sometimetimes. I hardly know
just what I want to write to you it
is so different to write from talking
with any one. I am sure you
know and feel that in every trial
you have the [u]deepest fullest[/u] love
and sympathy of all your
children who can never [u]never[/u] forget
how much they owe to your teachings
and example. But better for
there is one Friend who will be ever
near you and give you all
needed grace + strength.
I know how you have longed
and prayed to see more fruit
of your labors and I believe
you will see it sometime + in
some way if not just as you
had hoped , in God's own time
and way which is better than
ours. In our work here we
feel this so much there seems
to be so little of the good seed
that takes root. For nearly thirty
years missionaries have been laboring
here and yet there seems to have
been scarcely any harvest so
different from what it has
been at many other places.
I have often thought with some
comfort of an incident which
I think I heard first from you
of a meeting of Presbytery somewhere
where one minister who spoke +
told of how much encouragement
he had met with + how his labors
had been blessed + was followed
by another who had worked just
as faithfully but had seen no
good result from his labors and
seemed completely disheartened
After they had both finished an
old minister got up and said
that the brother must remember
that the promises were not to
the successful but to the faithful
laborer. I have thought of
this so often since I came
here, at first I thought I would
be so unhappy if I could
not [u]see[/u] that I had accomplished
something. but I feel very
differently now, if I could feel
that I was faithful I should
be satisfied. And at the last
we shall see + understand how
all was wisely ordered and
things which look dark and
mysterious now will all be made
plain and we shall see how
"He hath done all things well", and
doubtless what seem to us here
trials we then shall know
were blessings in disguise ,
perhaps to draw us nearer
to our Heavenly Father,
The night we received our letters
Mr Corbett was here + we told
him about your sickness +
at evening prayers he prayed
so earnestly for you that I
felt that his prayer would be
answered. I am sure you
remember to pray for your
absent children as we do for
our [u]dearly loved[/u] Father,
Your loving daughter
Hattie.
中国广州
1871 年 6 月 10 日 -
最亲爱的父亲，
我们从家里寄来的最后一封信给我们带来了您生病的消息，
但我们希望您在此之前很久就康复了。
我非常希望我们能见到你并和你谈谈，
如果只是一会儿的话，
但因为那是不可能的，
我们将不得不使用我们的笔。
我们将焦急地等待下一封邮件，
有时等待一个月似乎太长了。
我几乎不知道我想给你写什么，
写信与与任何人交谈是如此不同。
我相信您知道并感觉到，
在每一次试炼中，
您对所有孩子都怀有最深切的爱和同情，
他们永远不会忘记他们对您的教诲和榜样的亏欠。
但更好的是，
有一位朋友会一直在你身边，
给你所有需要的恩典和力量。
我知道你是多么渴望和祈祷看到更多你的劳动成果，
我相信你会在某个时候以某种方式看到它，
如果不是像你所希望的那样，
在上帝自己的时间和方式中，
这比我们的更好。
在我们在这里的工作中，
我们感到如此之多，
似乎很少有好种子扎根。
近三十年来，
传教士一直在这里劳作，
但似乎几乎没有任何收获与其他许多地方的收获如此不同。
我常常怀着某种安慰的心情想到一件事情，
我想我首先从你那里听到的一次长老会会议在某个地方，
一位牧师发言并讲述了他得到了多少鼓励，
他的工作如何得到了祝福，
随后是另一个同样忠心的工作，
但没有看到他的工作有什么好结果，
似乎完全灰心了。
他们都完成后，
一位老牧师站起来说，
兄弟一定要记住，
承诺不是给成功的人，
而是给忠心的劳动者.自从来到这里，
我就经常想到这个问题，
起初我以为如果我看不到我已经完成了一些事情，
我会很不高兴。
但我现在的感觉很不一样，
如果我能感觉到我是忠实的，
我应该会感到满足。
最后，
我们将看到并了解一切是如何被明智地安排的，
现在看起来黑暗和神秘的事情都将变得清晰，
我们将看到“他把所有的事情都做得很好”，
毫无疑问，
在我们看来，
我们在这里遇到了什么考验然后就会知道是变相的祝福，
也许是为了让我们更接近我们的天父，
我们收到信件的那天晚上，
科贝特先生在这里，
我们告诉他你的病，
在晚祷时，
他为你恳切祈祷，
我觉得他的祈祷会得到回应。
我相信你记得为你缺席的孩子祈祷，
就像我们为我们深爱的父亲祈祷一样。
你的女儿，
海蒂。
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Father, June 10, 1871,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed May 5, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/101.