Letter from Hattie to Clara, February 12, 1876
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Clara, February 12, 1876
Subject
Horses; Gardens; Fashion; Bands
Description
Harriet is telling her sister Clara how she wished Canton was as beautiful as Singapore, but she also knows that she would never trade her experience in Canton for anything else. The weather has been wonderful and yesterday she and an acquaintance went to the public gardens to here Her Majesty's 10th Regiment play. There were so many finely dressed people along with horses from Australia and nice carriages. She talks about how strange it will be to see Clara and Mary practically all grown up.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1876-02-12
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_168
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Singapore
Feby 12th 1876.
My dear Clara
It is almost sundown
and as I write the "light
of evening time" comes through
the open door and falls
across my paper and when
I look up I see through
the trees the beautiful
sunset light . I cannot
help wishing that we had
a little if even only a little
of the beauty of Singapore
for Canton . But it matters
not perhaps we appreciate
nature's beauty all the more
that we have seen so little
of it during the years that
are past and taking Canton
with its advantages for Mission
work I would not think
for a moment of changing it
for any other place however
beautiful it might be
I had often heard that
Singapore was a beautiful
place and it is all that
my fancy could have
pictured it. The [illegible]
about here are beautiful
Day before yesterday a
friend of Bella's took us
out in her carriage for a
drive to the Public gardens
where we heard the Band
of Her Majesty's 10th Reg t play.
There were a large number
of players and they played
very well. It seemed
very home like to see so
many nicely dressed ladies
and so many fine horses
and carriages . The horses
are brought here from Australia
and are very good looking
animals quite different from
the little native ponies of which
there are a few in Canton.
I wonder if I shall enjoy
riding and driving when
I get home or whether I
am too old and sedate.
You must not any of
you feel [u]disappointed[/u] in
me whatever I am like -
I have outgrown or learned
to put down my "enthusiasm"
and take a practical
matter of fact view of
many things somewhat
different perhaps from
what I used to do -
Poor Mattie I imagine
was somewhat disappointed
surprised at least but she
has learned already to
take the same view of
many things. I can hardly
imagine you and Mary
as [u]grown up[/u]- expect it will
take a minute or two to get
acquainted not very long I
imagine - The sun is just
disappearing and when the sun
leaves us it is very soon dark
for there is scarcely any twilight
here. So I must close
and get up and change
my dress for evening. We
have [u]dinner[/u] here at seven
o-clock in the evening a
very common dinner hour
out here when breakfast often
comes at 12 . Here we have a
cup of tea some bread + fruit in our
rooms in the morning breakfast between
nine + ten lunch at one and a cup of
tea + bread at four and dinner
at seven - Good bye Your aff
Hattie -
新加坡
1876 年 2 月 12 日。
我亲爱的克拉拉 快日落了，
当我写下“黄昏的光”从敞开的门射进来，
落在我的纸上，
当我抬头看时，
我透过树木看到了美丽的日落光。
我情不自禁地希望我们对广州能有一点，
哪怕只是一点点新加坡的美景。
但这并不重要，
也许我们更加欣赏大自然的美丽，
因为我们在过去的几年里很少看到它，
并带着广州在传教工作中的优势，
我不会考虑将它改变到任何其他地方但是美丽可能是我经常听说新加坡是一个美丽的地方，
这是我想象中的一切。
这里的[难以辨认] 很美 前天，
Bella 的一位朋友带我们到她的马车里开车去公共花园，
在那里我们听到了女王陛下第 10 届乐队的演奏。
有很多球员，
他们打得很好。
看到这么多衣冠楚楚的女士和这么多精美的马车，
似乎很像家。
这些马是从澳大利亚带到这里的，
是非常漂亮的动物，
与广州的一些本地小马完全不同。
我想知道我回家后是否会喜欢骑车和开车，
或者我是否太老太沉静了。
无论我是什么样的人，
你们都不能对我感到失望——我已经长大或学会了放下我的“热情”，
对许多可能与我过去所做的有些不同的事情采取实际的事实观点——可怜的玛蒂我想至少感到有些失望和惊讶，
但她已经学会了对许多事情持相同的看法。
我几乎无法想象你和玛丽长大了——预计需要一两分钟才能熟悉我想我不会很长时间——太阳刚刚消失，
当太阳离开我们时，
很快就黑了，
因为几乎没有黄昏这里。
所以我必须关门起床换晚礼服。
我们晚上七点在这里吃晚餐，
这是一个非常常见的晚餐时间，
早餐通常是 12 点。
早上，
我们在房间里喝杯茶，
吃些面包和水果，
早上九点到十点吃午饭，
四点喝茶和面包，
七点吃晚饭——再见，
海蒂——
Feby 12th 1876.
My dear Clara
It is almost sundown
and as I write the "light
of evening time" comes through
the open door and falls
across my paper and when
I look up I see through
the trees the beautiful
sunset light . I cannot
help wishing that we had
a little if even only a little
of the beauty of Singapore
for Canton . But it matters
not perhaps we appreciate
nature's beauty all the more
that we have seen so little
of it during the years that
are past and taking Canton
with its advantages for Mission
work I would not think
for a moment of changing it
for any other place however
beautiful it might be
I had often heard that
Singapore was a beautiful
place and it is all that
my fancy could have
pictured it. The [illegible]
about here are beautiful
Day before yesterday a
friend of Bella's took us
out in her carriage for a
drive to the Public gardens
where we heard the Band
of Her Majesty's 10th Reg t play.
There were a large number
of players and they played
very well. It seemed
very home like to see so
many nicely dressed ladies
and so many fine horses
and carriages . The horses
are brought here from Australia
and are very good looking
animals quite different from
the little native ponies of which
there are a few in Canton.
I wonder if I shall enjoy
riding and driving when
I get home or whether I
am too old and sedate.
You must not any of
you feel [u]disappointed[/u] in
me whatever I am like -
I have outgrown or learned
to put down my "enthusiasm"
and take a practical
matter of fact view of
many things somewhat
different perhaps from
what I used to do -
Poor Mattie I imagine
was somewhat disappointed
surprised at least but she
has learned already to
take the same view of
many things. I can hardly
imagine you and Mary
as [u]grown up[/u]- expect it will
take a minute or two to get
acquainted not very long I
imagine - The sun is just
disappearing and when the sun
leaves us it is very soon dark
for there is scarcely any twilight
here. So I must close
and get up and change
my dress for evening. We
have [u]dinner[/u] here at seven
o-clock in the evening a
very common dinner hour
out here when breakfast often
comes at 12 . Here we have a
cup of tea some bread + fruit in our
rooms in the morning breakfast between
nine + ten lunch at one and a cup of
tea + bread at four and dinner
at seven - Good bye Your aff
Hattie -
新加坡
1876 年 2 月 12 日。
我亲爱的克拉拉 快日落了，
当我写下“黄昏的光”从敞开的门射进来，
落在我的纸上，
当我抬头看时，
我透过树木看到了美丽的日落光。
我情不自禁地希望我们对广州能有一点，
哪怕只是一点点新加坡的美景。
但这并不重要，
也许我们更加欣赏大自然的美丽，
因为我们在过去的几年里很少看到它，
并带着广州在传教工作中的优势，
我不会考虑将它改变到任何其他地方但是美丽可能是我经常听说新加坡是一个美丽的地方，
这是我想象中的一切。
这里的[难以辨认] 很美 前天，
Bella 的一位朋友带我们到她的马车里开车去公共花园，
在那里我们听到了女王陛下第 10 届乐队的演奏。
有很多球员，
他们打得很好。
看到这么多衣冠楚楚的女士和这么多精美的马车，
似乎很像家。
这些马是从澳大利亚带到这里的，
是非常漂亮的动物，
与广州的一些本地小马完全不同。
我想知道我回家后是否会喜欢骑车和开车，
或者我是否太老太沉静了。
无论我是什么样的人，
你们都不能对我感到失望——我已经长大或学会了放下我的“热情”，
对许多可能与我过去所做的有些不同的事情采取实际的事实观点——可怜的玛蒂我想至少感到有些失望和惊讶，
但她已经学会了对许多事情持相同的看法。
我几乎无法想象你和玛丽长大了——预计需要一两分钟才能熟悉我想我不会很长时间——太阳刚刚消失，
当太阳离开我们时，
很快就黑了，
因为几乎没有黄昏这里。
所以我必须关门起床换晚礼服。
我们晚上七点在这里吃晚餐，
这是一个非常常见的晚餐时间，
早餐通常是 12 点。
早上，
我们在房间里喝杯茶，
吃些面包和水果，
早上九点到十点吃午饭，
四点喝茶和面包，
七点吃晚饭——再见，
海蒂——
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Clara, February 12, 1876,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 21, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/224.