Letter from Hattie to Father, January 9, 1874
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Father, January 9, 1874
Subject
Prayer; Prayer groups; Missionaries; Boarding schools; Letters
Description
In this letter to her father, Harriet talks about how their mission is growing in number and everyone is very happy with it. Mattie is also having a good transition and the church group is growing. Some of the newest members are from a country school that Henry and Harriet used to run. She wishes they could send more gifts but the family should be receiving many letters soon.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1874-01-09
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_108
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
Jan y 9th 1874.
My dear Father,
Mattie has written
to you and I presume Henry
will do the same but nevertheless
I must have my say even
if I write over what some
one else has written. This is
Friday Eve of the week of prayer
We have had meetings Every
morning at Eleven-o-clock
and they have been very
interesting. We have such
a large number of missionaries
now thirty five. I think there are
few mission stations where
they are so highly favored.
The Presbyterian Mission
considers itself very fortunate
in the reinforcements that
have been sent us . Mattie
and Lucy seem very
happy, and I have no doubt
they will continue on as they
have begun. Mattie is looking
very well I never saw her
seem better, so we conclude that
Life in China is going to suit
her first rate, and I have no
doubt she will enjoy the work
here very much. I presume
that they will get on with the
language faster than Henry
and I did. We try to impress
upon them the thought that
they have "such Excellent
advantages" so that if they
get on faster than we did
we can fall back upon
that as "the reason thereof," -
Day after tomorrow is our
communion in the Chinese
church. We hope there will
be 12 added to the church
and if so it will make
forty seven that have been
added I think since the
beginning of 1873. We are so
much in need of a new
chapel and we do not give
up hope yet of getting it soon,
for the funds for building
can be procured here. If it is
a pleasant day on Sabbath I
do not know what we will
do with the women and girls
we have such a time to get
them seated on such occasions
and Every time there are
more come than the time
preceding. Of course they many
of them come from curiosity
but it is a great deal to
have them come out and
hear and see all that
they do and they will be
pretty sure to remember
some of it. Four of the
applications for baptism
come from the village of Nganpin
which perhaps you will
remember as the one where
Henry and I used to have
schools. Since I have had the
Boarding School I have been
obliged to give up the country
schools. The schools here are
going on nicely now quite an
improvement on last year
when I had so much
trouble with teachers.
I think I wrote to you last mail
but I do not think I sent my
thanks for the nice book you
sent to Henry and I. You
were all very kind to
remember us, I wish it were
Easier for us to send things to
you there are so many things
we would like to send if we
had any convenient way of
doing so. You will all get such
a quantity of letters by this mail
I hope you will not get tired reading
them. We shall not have an
opportunity of sending again for a
[Note: Written sideways in left margin]
month. Ever your loving daughter Hattie
Jan y 9th 1874.
My dear Father,
Mattie has written
to you and I presume Henry
will do the same but nevertheless
I must have my say even
if I write over what some
one else has written. This is
Friday Eve of the week of prayer
We have had meetings Every
morning at Eleven-o-clock
and they have been very
interesting. We have such
a large number of missionaries
now thirty five. I think there are
few mission stations where
they are so highly favored.
The Presbyterian Mission
considers itself very fortunate
in the reinforcements that
have been sent us . Mattie
and Lucy seem very
happy, and I have no doubt
they will continue on as they
have begun. Mattie is looking
very well I never saw her
seem better, so we conclude that
Life in China is going to suit
her first rate, and I have no
doubt she will enjoy the work
here very much. I presume
that they will get on with the
language faster than Henry
and I did. We try to impress
upon them the thought that
they have "such Excellent
advantages" so that if they
get on faster than we did
we can fall back upon
that as "the reason thereof," -
Day after tomorrow is our
communion in the Chinese
church. We hope there will
be 12 added to the church
and if so it will make
forty seven that have been
added I think since the
beginning of 1873. We are so
much in need of a new
chapel and we do not give
up hope yet of getting it soon,
for the funds for building
can be procured here. If it is
a pleasant day on Sabbath I
do not know what we will
do with the women and girls
we have such a time to get
them seated on such occasions
and Every time there are
more come than the time
preceding. Of course they many
of them come from curiosity
but it is a great deal to
have them come out and
hear and see all that
they do and they will be
pretty sure to remember
some of it. Four of the
applications for baptism
come from the village of Nganpin
which perhaps you will
remember as the one where
Henry and I used to have
schools. Since I have had the
Boarding School I have been
obliged to give up the country
schools. The schools here are
going on nicely now quite an
improvement on last year
when I had so much
trouble with teachers.
I think I wrote to you last mail
but I do not think I sent my
thanks for the nice book you
sent to Henry and I. You
were all very kind to
remember us, I wish it were
Easier for us to send things to
you there are so many things
we would like to send if we
had any convenient way of
doing so. You will all get such
a quantity of letters by this mail
I hope you will not get tired reading
them. We shall not have an
opportunity of sending again for a
[Note: Written sideways in left margin]
month. Ever your loving daughter Hattie
中国广东
1874年1月9日
亲爱的父亲
Mattie写了给您写了一封信
我认为Henry也会这么做
但是
我一定要说，
即使
我写一些其它东西。
这周五是属于祈祷者的。
我们每天早上10点开会
并且他们会议非常有趣。
我们有很多传教士
现在都有35个了。
我认为
没有多少高度受欢迎的
传教站点。
长老会认为
在帮我们加固这一方面
/
他们很幸运。
/
Mattie和Lucy看起来很高兴
而且我确定
她们会在开始以后坚持。
Mattie看起来非常好
我从没见过她比这更好的状态。
所以我们总结
生活在中国会让她变得非常好，
而且我肯定
她很喜欢这里的工作。
我猜测，
她们会
比我和Henry更快适应语言环境。
我们努力
让她们认为自己有很大的优势
以至于他们如果她们学的比我们快
的时候
我们可以稍稍退后
因为这个原因
/
后天是我们在中国教堂的交流会。
/
如果是这样的话
我想
从1873年开始，已经有47个加入了。
我们特别需要新加入的小教堂
/
而且我们不会放弃希望
而是认为会很快到来，
因为建设资金会从这里产出。
如果
这个安息日很愉快
我不知道
我们有些困难去给妇女儿童找地方坐
会花费我们很长时间
让她们坐在这样的场合，
而且每一次
来的人会比安排的人多。
当然了，
很多人来因为她们的好奇心
但是
让他们出来
并且听一听、看一看她们做的事
而且她们很确定地记得一部分。
/
4个关于洗礼的申请
/
都来自您可能记得的Nganpin村
因为
那是一个
Henry和我上学的地方。
因为我上寄宿学校，
我被迫地
放弃乡村学校。
这里这个学校
现在比去年提高很大
/
当我和老师们有很大麻烦的时候。
/
我认为我在上一封信里写过
但是我认为我向您寄去了我的感恩
因为您给我和Henry寄了那么好的书。
/
你们真好，还记得我们，
我希望我们可以
很容易地给你们寄东西的时候
如果方便的话
有很多东西我们想要寄给您。
/
在这次邮寄里
您会收到很多信，
我希望您不要厌倦读信。
下个月，
我们没有机会向您再次寄信。
永远爱您的女儿Hattie
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Father, January 9, 1874,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 21, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/162.