Letter from Hattie to Father, July 15, 1879

Letter from Hattie to Father, July 15, 1879

Letter writing; Boarding schools; Employees; Schools; Happer, A. P. (Andrew Patton), 1818-1894; Health

Harriet writes her father about the Last Communion Season and talks about how twenty eight people were received into the church, as well as about how many helpers she has at the school in comparison to the Boarding School in Ningpo (Ningbo). She also contrasts the wealth of trained and training women to the men at Dr. Happer's school, remarking that it doesn't seem that Dr. Happer's school can claim to be a theological one given that nearly all of his students are lazy and turn out badly.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1879-07-15

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_188

Canton China.
July 15th 1879
My dear Father -
We have just seen
Miss Rowe off on the steamer for
Hongkong and now we will
have a good part of the day for
writing letters for the mail which
leaves tomorrow morning and
I will begin with a letter to you.
Our letters for the last mail
if I remember rightly were
written very hurriedly and
were brief in consequence --
I hope Mattie wrote to you
more fully than I did of
our Last Communion Season.
It was to us all a very
interesting day. There were
twenty eight received into
the church - sixteen by examination
and twelve by letter among

the latter M & I. There
were six from the Boarding
School four girls and
two women. These two women
and two of the girls are very
promising. I am so thankful
that our women + girls seem
ready and anxious to go to
work as fast as they are prepared.
In a letter received from Lucy
yesterday she speaks of the
difference between this school
and the Boarding School at
Ningpo .That school has
been in existence for twenty
years and yet they have
only three helpers from it while
our school is only seven years
old now and we already have
employed sixteen women
and two of the girls. Three
more of the girls are hoping to
have schools of their own soon

and another will we hope be
employed as an assistant in
the Boarding School after this
term - and five more women in
the Training School [u]six[/u] probably
will soon be ready to begin
work. which will make twenty
eight-- We have one very nice
woman in the school who is
being trained to work as a
Bible women in Fatshan in
connection with the London
Mission __ If Dr Happer's
school could only be as successful
in producing efficient workers it
seems as though it would be
just what we need. but after
more than thirty years. There
are very few indeed who have
become helpers from among
his scholars. It seems as
though he gets {is only about to get} a
very miserable class of inefficient

young men who are too lazy
to work for a living and go then
for the sake of being supported --
It certainly does not seem as though
it ought to be called a Theological
school. for after all these years there
is not a single ordained native minister
in connection with our Mission and we
begin to feel the need of them very much.
now that the time for forming new churches
seems to be at hand. When Henry was
looking out for a teachier for his Boys school
I asked our teacher who was formerly a
member of Dr H's school if he did not
know of some of his old scholars who would
do for the place & he said he did not
know of one said they nearly all turned
out very badly . I feel very sorry for
Dr Happer it must be very unsatisfactory
for him and I suppose he tries to do
what he thinks is best + right. I think
if the management should ever come into
Henry's hands he would make
some changes __

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
Dr Happers
health is miserable
his eyes are troubling
him & his nervous
system is very much
run down. No
doubt Andrews
decision is a great
disappointment
to him. I
hope Andrew
will be happy
he is a good
conscientious man
+ I know will
try to do what
he thinks
right wherever
he may be .
Your loving daughter
-Hattie.

中国广东
1879年7月15日
我亲爱的父亲，
我刚和Rowe小姐说再见，
她要坐轮船去香港，
现在我会花大部分时间写信，
因为明天会寄邮件。
/
/
我先给您写一封信。
上次给您写信很匆忙，
所以内容不是很有趣。
我希望Mattie给您写一份关于最后一次圣餐的详细的情况，
/
/
/
/
那一天很有意思。
那个圣餐有28名新教会成员，
16名参加了入教堂考试，
12人根据其他教友的支持信录取，
/

Mattie和我属于后者。
寄宿学校的四名女孩和两名妇女成为教会成员，
其中，
两个女人和两个女孩非常有前途。
/
我很高兴我们的妇女和女孩如此渴望工作。
/
/
/
昨天，
我收到Lucy的来信，
她谈到了我们学校和宁波寄宿学校的区别，
虽然那所学校已经开办了20年，
但他们只有3个帮手，
另一方面，
我们的学校只开放了 7 年，
我们已经雇佣了 16 名女性和两名女孩。
/
/
/
三个女孩想开办自己的学校，
另一个将成为寄宿学校的助理
/

/
/
/
还有5名女性刚进入培训学校，
培训学校的6名女性准备开始工作，
培训学校现在共有28名学生。
/
我们正在培训一位女性成为一名圣经读者，
她将在佛山与伦敦传教士一起工作。
/
/
/
如果Happer 医生的学校能培养出高效的工人就好了，
然而，
三十年过去了，
他学校的毕业生，
能成为好帮手的却寥寥无几。
/
/
/
好像只招懒得打工的年轻人，
他们去他的学校只是为了施舍。
/

/
/
/
它似乎不应该被称为神学院，
这三年，
没有人从哪里毕业并成为一名牧师，
真的很可惜，
真的很遗憾，因为我们现在在尝试建立本土教会时需要本土牧师
/
/
当Henry为他的新男校找老师时，
我建议他从Happer 医生的学校毕业，
但他说从那里毕业的每个人都很不起眼。
/
/
/
/
我为Happer 医生感到难过，
因为他试图做他认为最好的事情，
但是他一定很失望。
如果Henry管理学校，
他会做出一些重大改变.
/
/

【纵向书写】
可怜的Happer 医生，
他的健康状况很糟糕，
他的眼睛不好，
他的神经系统很弱，
/
/
/
/
/
我敢肯定Andrew的决定让他非常失望。
Andrew是个好人，
也是个有良心的人。 
我希望他会幸福，
我知道他走到哪里都会做好事。
/
/
/
/
/
您亲爱的女儿，
Hattie

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