Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 30, 1881

Letter from Hattie to Edward, September 30, 1881

Birthdays; Travel; Women missionaries; Presidents--United States--Assassination; Death; Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901; Servants

Harriet wishes Edward a happy birthday. Currently, she is on a trip "up the North River." There are four boats filled with missionaries and their families. Harriet says that there is not much difference between the boats but hers is the best one taking into account the way in which the mission commonly treats its single women. She tells Edward that she stayed up all night when she found out about President Garfield's death. The Queen put on mourning for a week, which had never been done before. President Garfield was buried in Cleveland. She believes that it would have been good for the United States if he would have lived another couple of years. She stops writing because Akwai is getting the table ready for dinner.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1881-09-30

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_260

Canton China
Sept 30th 1881.
My dear Edward -
I must first explain
that I am writing this on the
1st of Oct and that I am
not in Canton but several
days journey up the North River.
I intended to write to you
yesterday but did not get it
done. I can hardly plead in
excuse that I was [u]too busy[/u] The
time did seem to be filled up
however and I thought I
would write in the evening but
the others came in and we
spent the evening in singing.
It is still the 30th of Sept with
you however so I consider
myself quite in time to present
birthday salutations and all
the good wishes appropriate
to the occassion. We shall
have to go without letters from

[Note: Top right corner of the page ripped]
home for some weeks but
when we get back we
a nice lot of good news
that "patient waiting is
I have brought a box of [u]let[/u]
hoping to get some of these
answered but I confess I do
not expect to get much done.
We are having a [u]perfectly lovely[/u]
time, left Canton last Tuesday
got off about eleven. We have
four boats Dr + Mrs Kerr + Hattie
in one Mr Henry + family another
the third conveys our new
missionaries Mr White + wife + Mr
Fulton and ours "Liberty Barge"
as Mrs White has christened it
has as passengers Mrs Happer
Miss Whilden and myself.
They have given us the best
boat in accordance with the
way in which our mission
always treats its single ladies.
There is not much difference
between the boats but what there

[Note: Top left corner of the page ripped]
our favor. I have
an organ which is very
have and our boat is
[?yed?] so that it looks very
easant with sitting room dining
room and bed-room. I wrote
to you that the night before we
left the 26th of Sept I sat up
all night. A telegram came that
evening telling where President
Garfield would be buried .I so hope
that some of you could
go to the funeral. It seemed
that night just as though there
had been a death in the home
it seemed almost strange to me
that draping the room in black
and having a memorial service
could make me realize it so fully.
I think Mrs Kerr felt sorry
afterwards that she spoke as
she did. I suppose she saw how
I felt. After it was over she
said two or three times that
she thought it was a very nice

[Note: Top right corner of the page ripped]
meeting and that every
seemed so suitable. Dr
led the meeting very well I th
always does anything like tha
We do not usually have very good
but I thought the singing seemed ver
nice I liked the tunes and all seeme
to sing very feelingly and Mr Henry's
closing prayer was very appropriate.
Mr Simmons in his prayer alluded at
some length to the beautiful sympathy
which has been shown by other nations.
We did not hear until the next day that
the Queen and her court had put on
mourning for a week. They have never
done it before for a President and it is
expressly stated that this is considered
a special occasion and it is not to be
regarded as a precedent. I am so glad
he is buried in Cleveland sometime I
hope I may see his grave. Perhaps his
death will have a wider influence for
good than added years of life could
have had but it seems as though it
would have been well for our country
if he could have held the helm for a
few years --

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
I have
filled my
sheet and
AKwai is
just putting
the things
on the table
for dinner
so I will
say goodbye
with all good
wishes and
warmest
love Ever your
Aff sister
[u]Hattie[/u]



中国广州
1881 年 9 月 30 日。
亲爱的爱德华 -
我必须首先说明我是在 10 月 1 日写这篇文章的，
而且我不在广州，
而是在北河上行驶了几天。
我昨天打算给你写信，
但没有写完。
我很难辩解说我太忙了。
然而，
时间似乎确实被填满了，
我想我会在晚上写，
但其他人进来了，
我们整晚都在唱歌。
与你在一起仍然是 9 月 30 日，
所以我认为自己很及时地表达了生日问候和所有适合这一场合的美好祝愿。
我们将不得不离开 [注意：页面右上角被撕掉] 回家几个星期，
但是当我们回来时，
我们有很多好消息，
“耐心等待是我带来了一盒让希望得到其中一些回答了，
但我承认我不希望完成很多工作。
我们度过了一段非常愉快的时光，
上周二十一点左右离开坎顿。
我们有四艘船Kerr医生和夫人 和 Hattie 在一艘亨利先生和家人另一艘第三个传达了我们的新传教士怀特先生和妻子以及富尔顿先生和我们的“自由驳船”，
正如怀特夫人将其命名为乘客哈珀夫人怀尔登小姐和我一样。
他们根据我们的方式为我们提供了最好的船任务总是对待单身女士。
船之间没有太大区别，
但那里[注：页面左上角撕掉]我们的青睐。
我有一个非常有的器官，
我们的船看起来很舒服带客厅餐厅和卧室。
9 月 26 日我们离开的前一天晚上，
我对你说，
我整晚都坐着。
那天晚上来了一封电报，
告诉加菲尔德总统将被埋葬在哪里。
我非常希望你们中的一些人可以去参加葬礼。
那天晚上，
就好像家里有人死了一样，
我觉得把房间披成黑色并举行追悼会可以让我如此充分地意识到这一点，
这几乎让我感到奇怪。
我想克尔夫人事后对她说话的方式感到抱歉。
我想她看到了我的感受。
结束后，
她说了两三遍，
她认为这是一个非常好的[注：页面右上角被撕掉]的会议，
每个会议都看起来很合适。
医生很好地领导了会议 我总是做这样的事情 我们通常没有很好的但我觉得歌声看起来非常好 我喜欢这些曲调而且所有的人似乎都唱得很有感情 亨利先生的闭幕式祈祷非常合适。
西蒙斯先生在他的祈祷中详细地提到了其他国家所表现出的美好同情。
直到第二天，
我们才听说女王和她的宫廷已经哀悼了一个星期。
他们以前从未为总统这样做过，
并明确表示这是一个特殊的场合，
不应被视为先例。
我很高兴他被埋葬在克利夫兰，
我希望我能看到他的坟墓。
也许他的死会产生比生命增加几年更广泛的影响，
但如果他能掌舵几年似乎对我们的国家来说会很好——[注：信的结尾是垂直的在第一页] 我已经填满了我的床单，
AKwai 只是把晚餐的东西放在桌子上，
所以我会带着所有美好的祝愿和最温暖的爱说再见 永远你深情的妹妹，
海蒂。

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