Letter from Harriet to Father, January 2, 1883

Letter from Harriet to Father, January 2, 1883

New Year; Preaching; Missionaries; Death; Tuberculosis

Hattie writes to her father her first letter of 1883 and tells him that she spent the New Year sitting up with the Canton family. They had a service and concert yesterday that was well attended, and Mr. Thorne gave a talk. He came from working with a neighboring province that has not had much success yet. There have been three deaths close to Harriet recently, and she thinks very highly of the people she has lost. A man named Lau Hing died of consumption. He was a very good preacher and made Harriet think of the disciple John.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1883-01-02

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_303

Canton China
Jan 2d 1883.
My dear Father
This will be my very
first letter in 1883. I had
hardly become accustomed
to writing 1882 and now that
year has gone. Only a few
days since I dated I note
before I thought 1881. I wanted
to write to you all on the last
evening of the old year but
did not as it came on Sabbath
evening. We listened to a
sermon that evening from Mr
Tope a new Wesleyan Missionary
on the text "The love of Christ
constraineth us," a very good
sermon but not equal to one
I heard Mr Henry preach
from the same text. Mr Henry
preached an excellent sermon
not long since from the text
"No one regarded the poor nice

man" or something like that
you will know what and where
it is doubtless. His idea was that
we were not to do our good deeds
for the sake of praise or reward.
Our [u]Henry[/u] preached a very good sermon
not long since from the text "They
that be for us are more than they
that be against us. Sabbath eve
we sat together around the fire
until nearly midnight. Then I
started to go into the school chapel
but on the way saw that there
was a fire at some distance
and so went out to look at
that and estimate the possibilities
of its reaching us It was not
very near however so I went
back to the chapel and waited
until the New Year came in.
Yesterday we had about the
usual numbers of callers Chinese
+ foreigners and in the evening
the Monthly Concert. We were
afraid some would feel
too tired to come but nearly
every one was present and
we had a very nice meeting.
It really seems most encouraging
to compare the state of things
at present with what it has been

Mr Thorne who led the meeting
is an agent of the Bible Society.
He has just returned from a
long trip into a neighboring province
where there has been much opposition
but he was very kindly treated.
He was at the same place where
Mr Simmons + Henry were rather
rudely treated but he said the
reason of that was because they
had their families with them.
and the people were afraid
they were coming there to live.
Mr Simmons too went to the
magistrate about the people having
torn down some time previous
a place that their mission had
in the city for preaching. and
no doubt that was another
reason. Mr White and Dr
Thomson are living in Lin Chau
and are looking soon to get
houses so that their families can
go there. One of our very best
native assistants died last week.
His name was Lau Hing.
Martha knows him very well
he was one of the very best men
that ever lived. He has had
consumption for seven years

It has been a great sorrow to him
that he has not been able to preach
as he so much wished to do. He
was the very best of all the native preachers
and I believe the very best and
most universally beloved by all who
knew him both in and out of the
church of any one of the native
Christians. Two of the preachers
in Dr Graves' mission have just
died one a very superior man +
highly educated. A little less than
a year ago he preached in our church
an excellent sermon. He looked
then the picture of perfect health.
The other one was an elderly man
Just before he died he rose up +
got out of bed and standing on
the floor pointing upward and said
I am going to heaven now. I am
all ready. He did not speak again.
Lau Hing was not able to speak
aloud for many weeks before he died
but he was conscious to the last
and although his bodily suffering
were very great his mind was
at peace. He was buried on
Christmas day. He died on
Saturday and the intervening Sabbath
was our communion We hope
he would live until after that
but he was with Jesus which
was far better --

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
He was almost
like a son to
Mr Preston.
and has always
been Mr Henrys
right hand man
We shall all
miss him
very much
I wish we
were all more
like him He
always seemed
to me like the
disciple John
in spirt and
I am sure he
must have been a
"beloved disciple"--
With warmest love and all
good wishes for the New Year from your aff
daughter Harriet



中国广州 1883 年 1 月 2 日。
我亲爱的父亲 这将是我在 1883 年的第一封信。
我几乎不习惯写 1882 年，
现在那一年已经过去了。
自从我约会后才几天，
我注意到我想到了 1881 年。
我想在去年的最后一个晚上给大家写信，
但没有在安息日晚上写信给你们。
那天晚上，
我们聆听了一位新卫斯理会传教士托普先生的讲道，
题目是“基督的爱约束我们”，
这是一篇非常好的讲道，
但不及我从同一文本中听到亨利先生讲道的讲道。
不久之后，
亨利先生宣讲了一场精彩的布道，
从“没有人认为可怜的好人”或类似的话你会知道它是什么以及它在哪里。
他的想法是，
我们不应该为了表扬或奖励而行善。
不久之后，
我们的亨利宣讲了一篇非常好的布道：“支持我们的人比反对我们的人更多。
安息日前夕，
我们一起围坐在火炉旁，
直到接近午夜。
然后我开始走进学校的教堂，
但是在路上看到远处有火，
所以出去看看，
估计它到达我们的可能性它不是很近，
所以我回到小教堂等到新年到来。
昨天我们大约有中外来电，
晚上还有每月的音乐会。
我们担心有些人会觉得太累而不能来，
但几乎每个人都在场，
我们有一个非常愉快的会议。
看起来真的很鼓舞人心比较一下目前的情况 主持会议的索恩先生是圣经公会的代理人。
他刚从附近的一个省份长途旅行回来，
那里有很多反对意见，
但他受到了很好的对待.他在同一个地方，
西蒙斯先生和亨利受到了相当粗鲁的对待，
但他说原因是因为他们有家人陪伴。
人们害怕他们来那里生活。
西蒙斯先生也向地方法官询问，
人们在一段时间之前拆除了他们的使命在城市中用于布道的地方。
毫无疑问，
这是另一个原因。
怀特先生和汤姆森医生住在莲洲，
他们正在寻找房子，
以便他们的家人可以去那里。
上周，
我们最优秀的本地助手之一去世了。
他叫刘兴。
玛莎非常了解他，
他是有史以来最优秀的人之一。
他已经病了七年 不能像他所希望的那样传道，
这对他来说是一个巨大的悲痛。
他是所有本土传教士中最优秀的，
我相信他是最优秀和最普遍的，
在任何一个本土基督徒的教会内外都认识他。
格雷夫斯医生传教中的两位传教士刚刚去世，
一位是一位非常优秀且受过高等教育的人。
不到一年前，
他在我们的教会里讲了一场精彩的布道。
那时他看到了完美健康的画面。
另一个是一位老人，
他临死前起身和下床，
站在地板上指着上方说我现在要去天堂了。
我都准备好了。
他没有再说话。
刘庆死前好几个星期都不能大声说话，
但他一直清醒到最后，
虽然身体受了很大的痛苦，
但他的心却很平静。
他在圣诞节被埋葬。
他在星期六去世，
中间的安息日是我们的共融我们希望他能活到那之后，
但他和耶稣在一起要好得多——[注：信在第一页垂直结束]他几乎就像普雷斯顿先生的儿子。
并且一直是亨利先生的得力助手我们都会非常想念他我希望我们都更像他他在我看来总是精神上的门徒约翰，
我相信他一定是一个“心爱的门徒”
——带着你最深情的女儿哈丽特最热烈的爱和新年的美好祝愿

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