Letter from Hattie to Father, January 28, 1868
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Father, January 28, 1868
Subject
Missionaries; Sick; Fluency (Language learning); Clothing; Homesickness; Home; Physician and patient
Description
In a letter to her father, Harriet Noyes describes how she misses home and how she is in awe of how far she is away from home. Harriet reports on the health of her brother, Henry, citing things like 'neuralgiac pain' and 'ague'. Additionally, she details some aspects of her being in China as a missionary, such as Chinese New Year and having to learn Chinese.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1868-01-28
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_003
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton
Jan'y 28th /68
My [u]own Dear Father[/u],
I can hardly realize
that I am really on the other side of the
world sitting down to write a letter that
must traverse so many thousand miles
of sea + land before your eyes will rest
upon it. How much I wish that I might
know just how you all are this afternoon,
for a moment I forgot the difference in time
and was thinking of you as sitting by your
study fire but instead of that it is in the
night with you and so I will hope that
you are all quietly sleeping. I know that
you will want to know first about Henry's
health. He is getting better gradually and
we hope that he will soon recover his strength
and enjoy as good health as formerly.
I wrote so hastily the last time that I do not
remember as I told you much about his
sickness. He had been troubled for some time
with pain in his back but did not give up
to it until about the 1st of December when
it became so much worse that he was
obliged to go to bed + send for Dr Wong a
chinaman who doctored the missionaries
during Dr Kerr's absence. Dr Wong is a very
skillful doctor having received his medical
education in Edinburgh but he was very
much puzzled to determine what was the
matter. The pain seemed to be seated
in the spine and for 20 days Henry lay
on his back which was covered with blisters.
At last the soreness all left the spine + he has
felt no more pain there but instead a
sort of neuralgiac pain sometimes in one
side and sometimes in the other. I suppose
he had something like fever + ague with it
for a time. They told me at Mr
Fulsoms when I first came what Henry
did not then know that the Dr had been
afraid of softening of the spine in which case
he would never have been able to walk
again. I cannot tell you how I felt as
Henry + I came up the day after I came from
Mr Fulsoms to this house my future home.
It seemed to me that I felt almost sure
that it was some permanent affection of
the spine & my heart was filled with a
sickening dread of what the future might
bring. But the next day Dr Kerr made a
careful examination and you can imagine
what a load was lifted from my heart
when he told me there was no ground
for such apprehensions and he could see
nothing in the way of his regaining
his usual health. I suppose his system
is a good deal worn down + it may take
some time for him to get as strong as
he used to be, but I hope that we may soon
be able to write to you that he is as well
as I am which I am sure would be all
that could be desired. I have not been
weighed since I came here but I know
that I gained considerable on the voyage.
I remember Sarah said she never wanted
to see me as fleshy as when I came from
the army but I feel [u]tolerably sure[/u] that she
could not object to seeing me now, but
then I am not as fleshy as I was [u]then[/u],
I presume she would say if she were here
I wish I could tell you just exactly how we
are situated and how many things we
have as we would at home Although Dr
Happer + Dr + Mrs Kerr had told me over +
over again how much there was here like
[u]America[/u] (only among the Americans + English
population however) still I could not
appreciate it + was surprised to find that
things could be so comfortable on this side of the
world. This house that we live in is built very
much in the Chinese fashion but Mr
Preston & Mr Folsom have just finished a
large double house for both families which
differs but very little from our houses at
home, the furniture + everything being
similar. Over in Shameen which is just
across the canal about as far as from our
house to the barn all the houses are just
such as we see in cities at home fine
residences owned by wealthy English +
American merchants. But among the
natives + in all the rest of this great city
it is very very different. Clara must not
think that it seems like [u]home[/u] no other place
can ever seem like the home of childhood,
and no other country can ever be [u]dear[/u] as is
America. I only wish that you could
see just how we are for I know I cannot
give you any good idea in writing. We
are in a very noisy place. great numbers
of boats are anchored in this canal just in
front of us and all day + late in the
night we hear the ceaseless noise of
hundreds of Chinese chickens & pigs &c &c
For a few days it has been unusually
noisy as it has been the time of the
festivities attending the Chinese New Year
which came last Saturday. All the shops
are closed on that day and the more
wealthy shopkeepers keep them closed for
nearly a week. Every one dresses up those
not having good clothes borrow or hire them
and so on one day in the year Canton
hides its dirt + rags + puts on a "gay + festive"
appearance. I have not been out in the
streets but once or twice as Henry can not
walk much + my desire for sightseeing has
already been pretty fully satisfied.
Tomorrow Dr Kerr insists on my putting off
my chinese lesson + going out with him.
I have had no teacher this week as it
is a general holiday with all the Chinese.
Sabbath before last I attended the Chinese
service in Mr Preston's chapel. He has
been here 13 years + speaks the language
very well indeed. He preaches every day
to a large audience + seems to be doing
a great deal of good. He + his wife are
such pleasant people I like them very
much indeed. Sabbath evenings we
have a meeting of the missionaries of all
the different societies which is very pleasant
There are two meetings one at each end
none of the other missionaries of our
board come this way excepting the
Fulsoms. There is an Episcopal service
over on Shamin twice on the Sabbath
for English + American residents but
it is very poorly attended. But I
see that I must close for want of
room, Goodbye with a kiss from
Your [u]own[/u] loving Hattie
Jan'y 28th /68
My [u]own Dear Father[/u],
I can hardly realize
that I am really on the other side of the
world sitting down to write a letter that
must traverse so many thousand miles
of sea + land before your eyes will rest
upon it. How much I wish that I might
know just how you all are this afternoon,
for a moment I forgot the difference in time
and was thinking of you as sitting by your
study fire but instead of that it is in the
night with you and so I will hope that
you are all quietly sleeping. I know that
you will want to know first about Henry's
health. He is getting better gradually and
we hope that he will soon recover his strength
and enjoy as good health as formerly.
I wrote so hastily the last time that I do not
remember as I told you much about his
sickness. He had been troubled for some time
with pain in his back but did not give up
to it until about the 1st of December when
it became so much worse that he was
obliged to go to bed + send for Dr Wong a
chinaman who doctored the missionaries
during Dr Kerr's absence. Dr Wong is a very
skillful doctor having received his medical
education in Edinburgh but he was very
much puzzled to determine what was the
matter. The pain seemed to be seated
in the spine and for 20 days Henry lay
on his back which was covered with blisters.
At last the soreness all left the spine + he has
felt no more pain there but instead a
sort of neuralgiac pain sometimes in one
side and sometimes in the other. I suppose
he had something like fever + ague with it
for a time. They told me at Mr
Fulsoms when I first came what Henry
did not then know that the Dr had been
afraid of softening of the spine in which case
he would never have been able to walk
again. I cannot tell you how I felt as
Henry + I came up the day after I came from
Mr Fulsoms to this house my future home.
It seemed to me that I felt almost sure
that it was some permanent affection of
the spine & my heart was filled with a
sickening dread of what the future might
bring. But the next day Dr Kerr made a
careful examination and you can imagine
what a load was lifted from my heart
when he told me there was no ground
for such apprehensions and he could see
nothing in the way of his regaining
his usual health. I suppose his system
is a good deal worn down + it may take
some time for him to get as strong as
he used to be, but I hope that we may soon
be able to write to you that he is as well
as I am which I am sure would be all
that could be desired. I have not been
weighed since I came here but I know
that I gained considerable on the voyage.
I remember Sarah said she never wanted
to see me as fleshy as when I came from
the army but I feel [u]tolerably sure[/u] that she
could not object to seeing me now, but
then I am not as fleshy as I was [u]then[/u],
I presume she would say if she were here
I wish I could tell you just exactly how we
are situated and how many things we
have as we would at home Although Dr
Happer + Dr + Mrs Kerr had told me over +
over again how much there was here like
[u]America[/u] (only among the Americans + English
population however) still I could not
appreciate it + was surprised to find that
things could be so comfortable on this side of the
world. This house that we live in is built very
much in the Chinese fashion but Mr
Preston & Mr Folsom have just finished a
large double house for both families which
differs but very little from our houses at
home, the furniture + everything being
similar. Over in Shameen which is just
across the canal about as far as from our
house to the barn all the houses are just
such as we see in cities at home fine
residences owned by wealthy English +
American merchants. But among the
natives + in all the rest of this great city
it is very very different. Clara must not
think that it seems like [u]home[/u] no other place
can ever seem like the home of childhood,
and no other country can ever be [u]dear[/u] as is
America. I only wish that you could
see just how we are for I know I cannot
give you any good idea in writing. We
are in a very noisy place. great numbers
of boats are anchored in this canal just in
front of us and all day + late in the
night we hear the ceaseless noise of
hundreds of Chinese chickens & pigs &c &c
For a few days it has been unusually
noisy as it has been the time of the
festivities attending the Chinese New Year
which came last Saturday. All the shops
are closed on that day and the more
wealthy shopkeepers keep them closed for
nearly a week. Every one dresses up those
not having good clothes borrow or hire them
and so on one day in the year Canton
hides its dirt + rags + puts on a "gay + festive"
appearance. I have not been out in the
streets but once or twice as Henry can not
walk much + my desire for sightseeing has
already been pretty fully satisfied.
Tomorrow Dr Kerr insists on my putting off
my chinese lesson + going out with him.
I have had no teacher this week as it
is a general holiday with all the Chinese.
Sabbath before last I attended the Chinese
service in Mr Preston's chapel. He has
been here 13 years + speaks the language
very well indeed. He preaches every day
to a large audience + seems to be doing
a great deal of good. He + his wife are
such pleasant people I like them very
much indeed. Sabbath evenings we
have a meeting of the missionaries of all
the different societies which is very pleasant
There are two meetings one at each end
none of the other missionaries of our
board come this way excepting the
Fulsoms. There is an Episcopal service
over on Shamin twice on the Sabbath
for English + American residents but
it is very poorly attended. But I
see that I must close for want of
room, Goodbye with a kiss from
Your [u]own[/u] loving Hattie
广东
1868年1月28日
我敬爱的父亲
我真的几乎不能意识到
我在世界的另一边
坐着给您写这封信
它必须要通过几千英里的海和陆地，
直到你的眼睛停在它上面。
我多么希望我能知道
你们今天下午的情况
现在我忘了时差
并且在想您坐在火炉旁
但是事实不是这样
您的时间在夜里然后我希望
您在安详地睡着。
我知道，您最想知道的事Henry的健康。
他的身体慢慢地恢复了
而且我们希望他快点恢复强壮
也好好享受一下健康。
我仓促地写着最后一次
我记不得他的病情了。
他有时候处于麻烦中
因为他的背痛但是他没有放弃
直到12月1号
当疼痛变得更严重
他不得不躺在床上然后给王医生发邮件
王医生是个瓷娃娃接替Kerr医生
的传教士。王医生是一个非常
熟练的医生，他的医学教育
在爱丁堡大学完成的但是
他很含糊的定义说明病情。
疼痛好像发生在
脊柱，Henry躺了20天了
他的背上起满了水泡。
最后疼痛全消失了，
他感觉不到任何痛苦，取而代之的是
一种间歇性神经痛，有时在一侧
有事到另一侧。我认为
他有时候像是发烧然后和有时我争论。
他们在Fulsoms先生家告诉我
当我第一次来的时候，
Henry不知道医生
并且有些害怕的直不起腰
那个情况他绝不会走路了。
我不能告诉您我的感觉像Henry
而且我从Fulsoms先生家走了以后第二天去了
我这个未来的家。
他看起来像去见我，我非常确定
那是个永久的影响
对于脊柱而且我的心里冲满了
病态的害怕对与之后会发生什么。
但是第二天Kerr医生做了一个
很谨慎的测试，而且你可以想象
我心踏实了
当他告诉我没有毛病
需要担心而且他看不到
任何问题反复
我认为他的系统陈旧
变强壮也
需要一定的时间想他过去一样
但是我希望我们可以
早点儿给您写信告诉您他
会变得像我们希望的那样好，我确定。
我还没有量过体重
自从我来到这但是我知道
我明显在这个旅行中涨了体重。
我记得Sarah说过她从不想
见到我像我服完兵役回来时那么胖
我觉得我相当确定
她现在不能真正看到我
但是之后我不会想我一起一样胖
我猜如果她在这她会这么说
我希望我可以只告诉您我们真实的情况
和我们在家要做的多少事
即使Happer博士
Kerr博士和Kerr太太一遍又一遍告诉我
那里，这里向美国
（只有美国人和英国人）
我仍然不能感谢
而且惊喜的发现
事情可以在这边变得好
这个我们住的房子
很有中国的风格
但是Preston先生和Folsom先生刚刚完成了
一个大双人房子给两个不同的家庭
但是很少的来自我们的房子
家具和一切
都很类似。在Shameen只是通过运河
大约在我们房子
到仓库所有的房子只是
像我们在大城市看到的那样在家
居民被富足的英语
和美国富商们雇佣。但是在大多数
土著和在剩余的全部在大城市的人
非常不一样。 Clara一定不
认为这看起来像个家
没有别的地方像童年的房子，
而且没有别的存在可以像美国一样亲切。
我只希望您可以
看到我们这没有因为我知道我不能
给你更好的点写在这。
我们在一个吵闹的地方，很多船
抛锚停泊在这个我们前面点运河
一停就是一整天，而且晚上
我们听得到不停的吵闹声
数以百计的中国的鸡 猪 &c&c
有几天是不一般的吵闹
那会是
中国新年的庆祝活动。
上周六到了。所有的商店
在这一天都关门了而且更有钱的
店主会把店关闭将近一周。
所有人都开始打扮
那些没有好衣服的人去借或者雇佣他们
等等，在广东的一天
藏有它的尘土、碎布还有一副欢乐的景象。
我还没有出街
但是一次或两次因为Henry无法走太多
而且我想要看到的
已经很美丽让我很满意了。
明天Kerr医生坚持认为我该推迟中文课
并且和他出去。
我这周没有老师
因为是所有中国人的假期。
我最后一次去中文礼拜的安息日之前
在Preston先生的教堂。他在这
有13年，而且说的一样
非常好。他每天传教
面对很多观众，而且看起来
他做的很好。他和他的爱人
都是很快乐的人，我很喜欢他们。
安息日的晚上我们
和传教士有一个会面
对所有不同的非常令人愉悦的社会
有两个会面在两边
没有其他传教士从我们
的船上来
有一个主教团礼拜
在Shamin安息日两次
给英国人和美国人居民
但是非常少有人来。但是我知道
我必须关闭想要的房间，
再见热吻
爱你的Hattie
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Father, January 28, 1868,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 21, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/3.