Letter from Hattie to Mother, July 10, 1875

Letter from Hattie to Mother, July 10, 1875

Travel; Books; Preaching; Foreigners; Xenophobia; Civilization

Harriet tells her mother that they have reached their final destination of their vacation, so now they are heading back to Canton. Henry took some books to Linchau and preached. Hattie thinks that it would not be a good idea to go to the city because they might be the first foreign ladies that have ever been up the river. She says locals are more friendly than what they expected them to be, but they still feel some hostility. Henry tells Harriet that he saw "evidence of the advanced of civilization" when he went to preach.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2

Unpublished

1875-07-10

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_150

Lin-chau China
July 10th 1875
My own dear Mother -
I am improving the spare
time while we are out on this boat
trip in writing up my letters have
just finished the nineteenth so
yours shall be the twentieth.
The letter I have juts finished
was to Mrs McChesney. this is
the third anniversary of her
husband's death. You will
see by the date of this that we
have reached Lin chau city
the terminus of our trip so now
we must turn our faces Canton-ward
which I must confess we do
reluctantly. WE shall go down
the river with this strong current
so fast that when we get started
we shall feel that our trip
is nearly over and we have
enjoyed it so much and
anticipated it so long that
we do not like to think that
it will so sure be a thing of the

past. We reached here last
night and we anchored by the
Linchau Pagoda which is about
two miles below the city.
Henry has taken some books and
tracts and gone to Linchau
this morning to distribute them
and preach. Mattie is reading
Don Quixote from which she
seems to extract considerable
amusement while Lucy and
I are concocting letters for "home
consumption." We can feel
pretty sure that these are tha
first foreign letters that have
ever been written in Lin-chau.
I do not expect that we shall
go up to the city at all, as we
are the first foreign ladies that
have ever come up the river
it would perhaps not be
best. Towards Evening we intend
to climb up the hill to the
Pagoda. It is built on a
rugged rocky height several
hundred feet high so I expect
from its summit we shall
enjoy a view that will reward

us for the exhaustion of climbing up
to it. Henry has just come back
and reports that he had a
very good time quite a number
listened to him. The people
seem more friendly than we
expected but they Evidently do
not very much enjoy the
idea of foreigners coming away
up here. Henry says he
saw two Evidences of the advance
of civilization up here one was
foreign matches exposed for sale
and the other was Chinese
pictures with a [u]steamer[/u] painted
on them. WE have thought
often as we have been Enjoying
the beautiful scenery on
the way up how nice it
would be if some of the dear
home friends were here to
enjoy it with us. We had
the best wine last - the finest
scenery of all we saw yesterday
we came through a
mountain pass which we
all agreed to call the
"Ne plus ultra." It would be of

no use to attempt to describe
it but I wish it were possible
for you all to see it for
yourselves. When I go home
I would like to see the Hudson
River scenery. I do not believe
it can compare with that of
this mountain stream.
WE have grown so sun-burnt
since we left Canton that
I do not know what our
friends there will think of us
when we get back. Our hands
are nearly black and have been
burned so that the skin is
coming off. But the trip has
done us all a great deal of good
we have had Excellent appetites
and have made long nights
getting plenty of sleep. I am
getting quite fat I always show
it in my face if I gain a
single ounce in weight.
I wonder if Mattie has Ever
told you how much I remind
her of you in looks and
actions - says I am more like you
in Every way than anyone else in the family

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
Our boy is getting dinner on the table so I will "put a finis"
to my letter.
We have
concluded
to spend
tomorrow the
Sabbath here
and go up
the Pagoda
Monday
morning before
we start
back to Canton
Ever
your aff
daughter
Hattie

中国连州
1875年7月10日
我亲爱的母亲
我们在这艘船上的时候，
我的空闲时间越来越多，
我已经写了19封信了，
正要写您的第20封。
/
我上一封信刚刚给McChesney太太写完，
/
今年已经是她丈夫去世的第三年。
/
您可以从期看出来，
我们的连州旅行已经快结束了，
/
所以我们现在必须回广州，
不得不说我们挺舍不得的。
我们会顺流回去，
现在水流很急，
我们开始的时候，
就觉得快要结束了，
/
我们很享受这次旅行
都不觉得已经过去了。
/
/

我们昨天晚上到了这里，
在距离城市2英里的连州佛塔停下来。
/
/
Henry带了几本书和小册子，
今天早上去了连州分发给他们并且传教。
/
/
Mattie在读唐吉柯德，
那是她的娱乐活动，
那个时候，
我和Lucy在写信。
/
我们很确定，
我们在连州写了最初的国际信。
/
我们不希望我们会到城市，
/
因为我们是第一批来到这里的外国女人。
/
也许那不是最好的。
晚上，我们要去爬山看佛像。
/

它被建在凹凸不平、巨石嶙峋几百码高的地方，
/
所以我想，
当我们到达顶点一览众山小的时候，

我们的疲惫也是值得的。
Henry刚刚回来，
他告诉我们他很高兴，
很多人都听他讲话。
/
人们比我们预期的更友善，
但是很明显，
他们没有欣然接受我们外国人的意见。
/
/
Henry说他看见两个先进文明的例子，
/
一个是在卖外国火柴，
另一个是中国画上画了轮船。
/
我们经常在想，
因为我们很喜欢这旅途中美丽的景色，
/
/
如果有家人和朋友们一起来的话，
那会是多么美好。
/
我们昨天喝了最好的红酒，
看了最美的景色，
经过一座山，
我们都觉得它
“无法被超越”。
/

很难通过描述让你们知道，
但是我希望给你们一点线索想一想，
让你们身历其境。
当我回家的时候，
我希望去看看哈德逊河。
我认为，
它无法和这座山相比。
/
自从我们离开广州以后，
我们就被晒伤得很厉害，
我不知道我们回去以后，
朋友们会怎么想我们。
/
我们的手接近黑色，
皮肤也被晒的脱皮。
但是这趟旅行还是很好的，
/
我们胃口很好，
睡得也很好。
/
我都长胖了，
特别是在脸上，
哪怕只重了一点点，也会很明显。
我不知道Mattie有没有说过，
我的表情和动作让她想起了您。
/
这么说来，
我比家里的任何人都像您。

【边缘书写】
服务员正在上菜
所以我要结束写信。
我们明天度过这里的安息日以后结束旅程，
/
/
/
/
然后星期一早上回广州之前去佛塔。
/
/
/
/
/
/
爱您的女儿
/
Hattie

Letter