Letter from Hattie to Mattie, July 23, 1872

Letter from Hattie to Mattie, July 23, 1872

Pirates; Death; Birth; Widows

Harriet is writing home to her family in America and is excited to see Martha soon in China. She references the death of their friend Mr. McChesney, and how traveling in the country is safer than it has been in the past, but there is always a little danger. She talks about the incident and that a few days later Mrs. McChesney gave birth to their son. Unfortunately, he only lived a few days and was buried with Mr. McChesney.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1872-07-23

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

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eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_085

Canton China,
July 23th 72
My dear Mattie
I know there are
some of the "dear ones at home
that I have not written to for
an [u]age[/u] but as I can only write
a few lines to-night I think
I must send them to you
for we are hoping [u]oh so much[/u]
that we shall not have to
write many more letters to send
to you in America before we
shall see you face in China.
Henry dreamed the other night
that you had come and
I think I would dream it Every
[--thru--] night but for the fact
that I sleep so soundly that
I never dream of anything.
Henry is away in the country
now has been away four days
and Expects to be gone six
days more. You must
not feel anxious about him

on account of the sad news
which we sent home by the
last mail, that was Entirely
an accident such as might
occur anywhere, and we
do ^[not] any of us feel that there
is any more danger than
before, indeed travelling in
the country is probably much
safer now than it was two
or three years ago. There is
always a little danger of
robbers but they never care to
take life unless resistance
is made which missionaries
would not attempt, and as
Henry now travels in one own
little boat no one thinks it would
be in much if any danger of
being attacked. The pirates
usually attack the large passage
boats which travel at night.
and sometimes carry large
sums of money and always
large cargoes. Several have
said to me that they should think

it would make me shudder to think how narrow
was Henry's escape as the ball that killed Mr
McChesney passed within a few inches of his head
but I do not feel so at all, for it [u]seems[/u] to me that
he was just as safe there as he could have been at
home. It is a great [u]comfort[/u] I think [u]always[/u] to believe
that [u]Everything[/u] Even to the minutest details of our
lives is "[u]fore ordained[/u]." And until the appointed
time for our death arrives we are perfectly safe Even
in the midst of dangers So many little things seem
to show so clearly that Mr McChesney's death was to be
just as it was. If Mrs McChesney had said as she
felt like doing that she would rather he would not
to this time, or if they had started Monday morning
as they first intended or [u]Early[/u] Tuesday morning as
they next thought of doing or if the men had rowed
as fast as usual or they had [u]anchored[/u] for the night
on the other side of the river as they thought of doing
[--or if--] they would not have been at that place at all or

if they had kept inside the boat during the firing,Mr
McChesney had just come to the door a minute or
two before. it seems as though all would have been
different then for no other shot struck the boat. If
such circumstances should ever occur again of which I
suppose there is almost [u]no probability[/u] any one who was
in the boat could get down on the floor between the seat
[u]and be below the water line[/u] and Entirely safe from
stray shots. The past two weeks have seemed so long so
sad I think we have written of Mr + Mrs McChesney so
that you will know that they are among our dearest friends
here . I do not know whether Mrs McChesney will go home
or not she feels as though she can hardly decide. Mr McChesney
was buried on Wednesday and on Friday their second son
was born. She named him William Edgar for his father
but although he seemed a very healthy child at first he
only lived a few days [u]Dr Kerr[/u] said his [?nerves?] had
received such a shock that he could not live
The baby was buried in his father's grave and his is
beside Cynthia's Henry + I both feel so glad that it is so.
then there are no graves in the other side of hers, all the others
[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page four]
of our Mission are in another row a few
feet farther up the hill I have filled
my paper so I must close
Your loving sister
Hattie



中国广州，
7 月 23 日 72
亲爱的玛蒂，
我知道家里有一些“亲爱的”我已经很久没有写信了，
但由于今晚我只能写几行，
我想我必须把它们寄给你因为我们非常希望哦，
在我们在中国看到你之前，
我们不必再写很多信寄给你在美国。
亨利那天晚上梦见你来了，
我想我每天晚上都会做梦要不是因为我睡得很香，
我什么都做梦也没有。
亨利现在在乡下已经离开了四天，
预计还要离开六天。
你千万不要因为这个悲伤的消息而担心他我们用最后一封邮件寄回家了，
那完全是一场意外，
任何地方都可能发生，
我们没有人觉得比以前更危险，
确实，
现在在乡下旅行可能比以前安全得多两三年前，
劫匪总有一点危险，
但他们从不在乎除非有传教士不会尝试的抵抗，
否则会夺走生命，
而且亨利现在乘坐自己的小船旅行，
没有人认为它会有很大的被攻击的危险。
海盗通常袭击夜间航行的大型通道船。
有时携带大量金钱，
总是携带大量货物。
有几个人对我说，
他们应该认为，
当杀死麦克切斯尼先生的球在离他头顶几英寸的范围内经过时，
一想到亨利的逃跑有多窄就会让我不寒而栗，
但我根本不这么认为，
因为在我看来他在那里和在家里一样安全。
我一直认为，
即使是我们生活中最细微的细节，
一切都是“预先注定的”，
这是一种极大的安慰。
直到我们死亡的指定时间到来之前，
即使在危险之中，
我们也绝对安全。
许多小事似乎如此清楚地表明，
麦克切斯尼先生的死应该是一样的。
如果麦克切斯尼夫人说她愿意这样做，
她宁愿他这次不要这样做，
或者如果他们按照他们最初的计划从星期一早上开始，
或者如果他们按照他们接下来想到的那样在星期二早上开始，
或者如果男人们划得一样快像往常一样，
或者他们按照他们的想法在河的另一边停泊了一夜，
他们根本就不会在那个地方，
或者如果他们在开火期间留在船内，
麦克切斯尼先生刚刚来到门前一两分钟。
似乎一切都会有所不同，
因为没有其他枪击中船。
如果这种情况再次发生，
我认为船上的任何人几乎不可能跌倒在座位之间的地板上并低于吃水线，
并且完全不会被误击。
过去的两周似乎如此漫长，
如此悲伤，
我想我们已经写了麦克切斯尼夫妇，
这样你就会知道他们是我们这里最亲密的朋友。
我不知道麦克切斯尼夫人是否会回家，
她觉得自己几乎无法决定。
麦克切斯尼先生于周三下葬，
周五他们的第二个儿子出生。
她为他的父亲取名为威廉·埃德加（William Edgar），
但虽然他起初看起来是一个非常健康的孩子，
但他只活了几天，
克尔医生说他的神经受到了如此严重的打击，
以至于他无法活下去。
婴儿被埋在他父亲的坟墓里，
他的在辛西娅的亨利身边，
我和我都觉得很高兴。
那么她的另一边就没有坟墓了，
所有其他的[注：信在第四页横向结束]我们的使命在另一排，
离山更远几英尺我已经填满了我的论文，
所以我必须关闭你的爱姐姐，
海蒂

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