Letter from Hattie to Mary, May 2, 1882

Letter from Hattie to Mary, May 2, 1882

Schoolboys; Consuls; Bands; Teachers, Foreign; School children

Harriet writes to her sister Mary about the steamers and hopes that they will all receive letters soon. Their new Consul is on the Belgic since Dr. Carrow left and Mr. Nye does not want to hold the position. The boys at the school are very rowdy and called Harriet a foreign devil woman. She wrote to the Consul about it and wishes that she could have scared them into acting better. She says to tell Mattie that this is the school where Atak is teaching and she has become a very promising teacher at age sixteen. Henry and Cynthia just reached Canton. She also asks Mary how the Mission Band is coming along. One of the scholars had a spasm but is now feeling better, they are all in good health.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1882-05-02

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_284

Canton China
May 2nd 1882
My dear Mary
I wish we could get
the mail which we hope will
come tomorrow before we send
these letters but I suppose we
cannot. I wonder what has
kept the Belgic so long on the
way it usually makes quick
trips. The next mail which
is coming by the Gaelic I
expect will not be far behind.
Our new Consul whoever he
may be I suppose is on the
Belgic Since Dr Carrow left
Mr Nye is acting as Consul
which I doubt not gives him
a great deal of pleasure.
I had to appeal to the Consul
a little while since on account
of one of my schools. The
boys of the neighborhood
set to work as they usually

do at a new school to make
as much disturbance as possible
every time I visited the school
and kept it up with a
perseverance worthy of a
better object. Usually after
a month or so they get tired of
it, but they seemed to get
worse + worse. They pounded
on the door + yelled + threw
little stones & mud, and
shouted foreign devil woman
&c &c &c until I conclude
that forbearance had ceased
to be a virtue and wrote a
note to the Consul about it.
Now I can go to my school
in peace and the little scamps
do not dare to make any
trouble. If I could have
caught some of them and
scared them half to death
I think I should have
enjoyed it and felt that
I was doing good missionary

work. It is the school that
Fung Kim has. Tell Mattie that
ATak makes a very good little
teacher She is nearly as tall
as her mother and she keeps
her school in good order.
She was such a perfect mischief
herself when she was in
school here. It is just
sixteen years to-day. I am
finishing this on the morning of
the 3d since Henry +
Cynthia reached Canton.
He is getting to be quite an
old missionary. I remember
so well when I came I
thought those who had been
here fourteen years were
such old missionaries.
When this reaches you
I hope Sarah will be at
home and that Mattie will
be cured, and out of the
hospital. I do hope you
will have a nice time
this summer. am so glad

that Sarah has kept so well
during this year. I hope
she will now attempt to
teach one of those hard
classes again. How is
your Mission Band coming
on. AYan is a good little
scholar, last Sabbath she
had a kin of spasm I
dont know what was the
matter, but they came in
and called me & when I found
she seemed to have cramp her
hands + feet were stiff + drawn
out of shape but she was getting
over it and could talk. We
rubbed her and got some
hot water and she soon
was all right and I gave her
some medicine and since then
she has seemed well. She learns
about 150 verses in the Testament
in the week besides her other
lessons. The teachers and
scholars all seem wonderfully
well. Yesterday they had a

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
good laugh. While I was away at school one of the servants came over from
the hospital + said
Dr Kerr wanted
Miss Noyes' little
girl to come over.
The servants investigated
both schools to see
if any of the girls
need a Doctor
+ could only find one
little girl who had about
sore on her foot nothing
of any consequence so
they sent her over in
answer to the summons
There was some mistake
about it I have
not seen Dr Kerr +
dont know what it
was but of course he
didnt send for any of
the scholars. It is
satisfaction to know that
everyone is feeling perfectly
well Goodbye for this
time With love Hattie

中国广东
1882年5月2日
我亲爱的 Mary，
我希望明天能在我把信寄回家之前收到邮件，
但我必须先写这篇而不先看到你的。
/
/
我想知道为什么Belgic轮船这次要花这么长时间，
通常更快。
/
下一封邮件应该很快就会通过Gaelic轮船寄来。
/
/
我们的新领事在Belgic轮船上。
/
自从Carrow 医生离开，
他一直担任临时领事，
我相信这让他很高兴。
/
我不得不要求领事馆干预我的一所学校，
邻里男孩正在干扰新学校，
/
截取的男孩做的事
通常会对学校产生影响

/
/
我参观了学校
并且用毅力保持着更好的价值。
/
通常，
他们会在一个月左右后放弃，
但情况越来越糟，
他们敲门，
扔石头和泥巴，
大喊“洋鬼子”，
直到我厌烦了，
才向领事求助。
/
/
/
现在我可以安心地去我的学校了，
那些小地痞现在不敢闹了。
/
如果我能抓住他们中的一些并把他们吓得半死，
我会认为这是很好的传教工作。
/
/
/
/

那个学校是Fung Kim 的。
告诉Mattie A Tak是个好老师，
/
她几乎和她妈妈一样高，
她是一个非常好的学校经理。
/
她学生时代就这么调皮。
/
今天是 5 月 3 日，我今天早上完成，
因为今天 Henry 和 Cynthia 到广东，
他快要成为一名老传教士了。
我今天在中国传教16年，
我记得我第一次来这里的时候，
我以为来这里14年的人都是这么老的传教士。
/
/
/
/
/
当你收到我的信时，
我希望Sarah会在家，
Mattie会康复出院。
/
我希望你们今年夏天过得愉快，
/
/

我很高兴Sarah的健康一整年都很好，
希望她会在教一门课。
/
/
你的传教士乐队进展如何？
/
A Yan是个很好的小学生，
上个安息日她有点痉挛，
他们不知道她怎么了，
所以他们让我来，
当我到达那里时，
她的手脚抽筋，
无法说话，
我们给她按摩并给她拿了一些热水，
然后她就好了。
我给了她一些药，
从那以后她看起来很好。
/
/
/
除了常规课程外，
她每周从新约中学习 150 节经文。
/
/
所有的老师和学生都很好。
/
/

【信件结尾边缘书写】
昨天我们笑得很开心：
一个仆人从医院过来说他们想让我的一个学生来医院，
/
/
/
仆人去了两所学校，
看看有没有女孩需要医生，
最后只发现了一个脚痛的女孩，
但不是很严重。
所以，
最后，
我们意识到没有人找医生，
这都是一个大错误，
/
/
/
/
我没有看过Kerr医生
也不知道它是什么
淡然他也没有告诉给任何一个学生。
/
很高兴知道每个人都非常健康。
/
/
再见，
爱你们，Hattie

Letter