Letter from Hattie to Mattie, April 11, 1882

Letter from Hattie to Mattie, April 11, 1882

Marriage--China; Christian education of girls; Women missionaries

In this letter to her sister Martha, Harriet updates her on the going-ons of the girls and teachers in Canton. Mattie is back in the US and will be having visits with some of their friends. One of the young women from their school has been married to one of Dr. Kerr's students and they moved. There are many small schools in villages that Harriet runs with the help of Chinese women teachers. Some of the women missionaries who traveled home have told Harriet it took a while to recover. Harriet and the rest of their church in China hope Mattie will recover soon.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3

Unpublished

1882-04-11

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_271

Canton China
April 11th 1882
My dear Mattie
I wrote you a few
lines this afternoon to send with
your ring which I gave to Mrs
Coffman to take over and
mail to you when she reaches
home. She will have a nice
visit I hope she certainly deserves
it. It seems almost strange
that after all these years it
happens that you and she
and Lucy Leaman will all
be in USA at the same time.
I wonder if you will meet Miss
Gouldy. I have never answered
the letter she wrote back from
Rome. If you go on a lecturing
tour in [u]Eastern New York[/u] you
might perhaps meet her.
Mrs Perkins writes to me
that the ladies who have

her husband is now in the
Sandwich Islands. The woman
who came up from the London
Mission in HongKong to study such
a nice woman has been obliged
to give it up for the present at
least as she has a little baby
to look after. You remember
Sui Yung do you not? the
daughter of that woman who
spoke English She is now in
HongKong and has been learning
to write English I send you a
letter just received from her.
I[?Tai's?] daughter AKwai the
girl you and Lucy redeemed
for eighty dollars was married
a short since to one of
Dr Kerr's medical graduates
He has gone to open a dispensary
at Sai Nam in the country
and she has quite a
flourishing school at 2nd It
outside of the West Gate.
I have encamped at the

gates of the city this year have
one school [u]Ayan's[/u] near the Little
North Gate Ayan's at the East gate
{USznai with ATak} near the South Gate
and AKwai at the West Gate.
ATak is nearly as tall as her
Mother and makes quite a
demure little teacher. I
think they will get on very well.
I have a school in a village
out North of White Cloud Hills
but I only expect to visit that
once a month. It costs a dollar
and a half to get a chair to go.
I am afraid my chair line will
be considerable this year but
Mr Henry says I am not to
mind that and my schools are
too far away to walk the
distance. I suppose Miss Whilden
is by this time half way home
I wonder if Mrs Jackson formerly
Radcliffe will not find out
where you are and go to see
you. I had a letter by last

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
mail from Miss Davis who was formerly in Amoy. She said she was
going to see you soon
She was in the
same hospital
for five months
after she
went home
from China.
I hope you
will get stronger
soon. The
Chinese all
[illegible] +
want me to tell
you that they
are praying
for your
recovery.
Yours affly
Hattie.

[Note: Fourth page, seems to be separate.]
She says Over and over again
we heard that "she was the most
interesting missionary we ever had
address us" "she told us just the
things we wanted to know" "she
interested our ladies exceedingly" +c +c
I wonder how all at home will be
pleased with Miss Butler's studying
medicine. I think if they are
not please they will be most
inconsistent. We have two new
medical students this year both
young one a woman whom you
do not know quite promising I
think energetic and [u]large[/u] footed.
The other is that AKwai that was
in the woman's school while the
school-building was going up. If
you remember we thought she
improved so much while in school
She was out of school for a long
time but has now come back
learns easily and I imagine
will do very well. Fortunately
for the pursuit of her students

中国广州
1882年4月11日
我亲爱的Mattie，
我正在给你写一封信来配戴你的戒指。
这两个都给Coffman太太，
她回美国后会把戒指和信寄给你。
/
/
她将在美国有一次愉快的访问。
他应得的。
过了这么久，
你和Lucy Leaman会在同一个国家，
这似乎很奇怪
/
/
不知道你会不会遇到Gouldy小姐。
我从未回复她从罗马寄给我的信。
/
如果你去纽约东部巡回演讲，
也许你会遇到她。
/
Perkins太太给我写信，
她和她的丈夫现在在南乔治亚群岛。

/
那个从伦敦传教组织来香港读书的女人是一个很好的女人，
/
但因为她有一个小宝宝，
她不得不休息一下。
/
/
你记得Sui Yung吗？
她是会说英文的女人的女儿。
/
现在她在香港学习英语。
我要给你寄一封我从她那里收到的信。
/
/
I Tai 的女儿A Kwai，
你给了80美元的那个女孩，
她最近嫁给了Kerr医生的一名医学毕业生。
/
/
那个毕业生计划在溪南村开一家药房。
/
她在西门外有一所欣欣向荣的学校。
/
/
在城门口，

我设立了四所学校，
A Yan在小北门附近，和东门附近
/
师奶和A Tak的在南门附近，
和A Kwai的在西门附近。
A Tak似乎跟她母亲一样高，
她是一位娴静的小老师。
我想他们会相处得很好。
/
我在白云山以北的一个村庄有一所学校，
/
我希望每个月去一次。
雇一辆人力车去那里要花1.5美元。
/
我的人力车费很高，
但Henry先生说不要介意，
因为学校太远不能走路。
/
/
我想Whilden小姐现在已经回家一半了。
/
不知道Jackson太太 (Radcliffe小姐）会不会去看你。
/
/


/
我收到了住在厦门的Davis小姐的来信，
/
她说她很快就会见到你。
从中国回来后，
/
她在同一家医院住了5个月。
/
/
我希望你很快就会变得更强。
/
中国人都希望我告诉你，
/
/
/
他们正在为你的康复祈祷。
/
/
爱你，
Hattie.


【第 4 页上的单独注释】
她一遍又一遍地说，
/
她是有史以来最有趣的传教士，
/
她告诉我们我们想知道的一切，
/
这让女士们非常感兴趣。
不知道国内的人会怎么看待Butler小姐学医。
/
如果他们不高兴，
他们就会虚伪。
我们有两个新的医学生，
两人都很年轻，
一个是你不太了解的女人。
她很有前途，精力充沛，脚大。
另外是在女孩学业学习的A Kwai。
/
如果你还记得她，
她在学校进步很大，
/
她离开了学校，
但现在她回来了，
她学习起来很轻松。
这对她的学生来说是非常幸运的。
/

Letter