Letter from Hattie to Em, May 4, 1870

noyes_c_cor_038.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Hattie to Em, May 4, 1870

Subject

Birthdays; Mail steamers; Eye--Diseases

Description

In this letter, Harriet writes to her sister, Emily, on the day of her birthday. As her brother, Henry, is away, she talks about feeling alone but also being included at mealtime by her fellow missionaries. She discusses recent problems with the steamships, including the wrecks of the Gold City and the Oneida. Harriet is also concerned about her sister's eye health and tells her about what treatments she has heard of that were helpful. There is a small embossed seal in the top left corner.

Creator

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Source

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1 

Publisher

Unpublished

Date

1870-05-04

Contributor

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

Format

PDF

Language

eng (English)

Type

Text

Identifier

noyes_c_cor_038

Coverage

Sinking of the USS Oneida, 1870

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

[Note: embossed seal in the top left corner]
Canton May 4th '70.
My darling Em -
It is your
birth-day and we are expecting
the [u]American[/u] mail two things
that I thought of as soon as I
wakened this morning. Then
Henry has been away at Fatshan
four days and he is coming home
to-day so that altogether I hope
it will be a [u]bright[/u] day although there
is little prospect that it will be a
sunshiny one. We have had
very little rainy weather this spring
not at all as if usually is in the
spring. It is rather lonely when
Henry is away & would be more
so if there was more time to think
about it. The worst however is
eating all alone & fortunately for me
the McChesneys have been so kind
as to insist that I should take my
meals with them. So much for
May 4th and now I will be as honest
as Edward and confess that the
rest of this is not to be written on
your birthday. Well the mail did
not come on Wednesday (the 4th) nor Thursday
We supposed it was the China & she has
always been very prompt. Friday Dr
Happer said that he thought it must be
the Great Republic was to blame in

some way & I told him I did hope
people were not going to begin to
blame the Great Republic for the
China's tardiness. But sure enough
when Saturday brought the mail
I found that it was the Great Republic
alone & only that was to blame for
she was the steamer that came.
Did I tell you in my last what you
have doubtless read in the papers of
the wreck of the "Golden City." I was
so sorry to know that she met such
a fate. Nearly all the [u]pleasant[/u]
recollections of my voyage out were
of the three weeks spent on board of
her. The loss of the Oneida it seems
has caused a great excitement at
home. I am sure it is a "righteous
indignation." I felt afraid that
it was so far away that the nation
would not feel it as it seemed
as though it ought. I see it is to
be taken up in the English
Parliament & I am glad to know
that the feeling of indignation at
Captain Eyre's heartlessness that
is felt & expressed in England is
only second to that of Americans.
Of course it is not a question of
nationality but of [u]humanity[/u].

Well the Great Republic brought
us the March letters, & I will ask
you to thank them all for remembering
& writing to me on the 5th of March.
Tell Edward I feel as great an
admiration for his conscientious
regard for truth, as did the
grandfather of our country for his
illustrious son's & would respond
in the words which history has
rendered immortal "Come to my
arms my dearest boy," were it
not that the miles of sea & land
which intervene, would seem to
make them inappropriate.
We shall be interested in hearing
from "Cosmos." I am so sorry
that your eyes do not get well
faster. Mrs Happer told me
a while ago about a friend of
hers whose eyes must I think
have been affected much like
yours. I could not remember
what it was that she said
cured her eyes & so I wrote to
her this morning asking her &
she wrote back that it was-
"Lindsays Blood Searcher" which
I presume is of the same nature
as what you are using.

But it seems to me as if it was some-
thing else she told me about before.
She says her friend was treated by
the best occulists in America & they
all agreed that sunlight (not too
strong) & pure air were both requisite
to the strength & healing of the eyes.
I am sure it must be very trying
to you, to be so long partially
deprived of the use of your eyes,
but I hope they are well again
before this. It seems such a long
time since I have had a letter
from you but you must not
try writing until your eyes are
quite strong again. Tell
Sarah I rejoice with her in
being out of school again.
I know she & Matt will have a
nice time at Columbus.
How much I would like to see
Cousin Mary. I wish they would
send us photographs. I suppose
Gilbert is very busy. If this letter
was going to reach you a [u]few months
sooner[/u] I would want to send my
Love to Mrs Westervelt Mrs Barrett + Mrs
Ely (Miss Darling formerly) I hope when
Sarah & Matt write about their visit
they will tell me something about
them if they are still there
And now must say good-bye Your own loving
Hattie.



[注:左上角的浮雕印章]
广州
1870 年 5 月 4 日。
我亲爱的 Em -
今天是你的生日,
我们期待着美国邮件,
这是我今天早上一醒来就想到的两件事。
然后亨利在法特山已经四天了,
他今天要回家,
所以我希望这将是一个光明的一天,
尽管不太可能是阳光明媚的一天。
今年春天我们几乎没有下雨,
不像往常那样在春天。
亨利不在的时候会很寂寞,
如果有更多的时间考虑的话会更寂寞。
然而,
最糟糕的是一个人吃饭,
幸运的是,
McChesneys 一直坚持要我和他们一起吃饭。
5 月 4 日就这么多,
现在我会像爱德华一样诚实,
并承认剩下的内容不是在你生日那天写的。
嗯,周三(4 号)和周四都没有收到邮件,
我们以为是中国的,
她一直都很及时。
星期五,
哈珀医生说他认为这一定是大共和国在某种程度上应该受到指责,
我告诉他我确实希望人们不会开始因为中国的迟到而开始指责大共和国。
但果然,
当星期六带来邮件时,
我发现只有伟大的共和国,
只有这才是她来的轮船的罪魁祸首。
我上次有没有告诉过你,
你在“金城”沉船的报纸上读到了什么?
知道她遇到了这样的命运,
我很难过。
我出航的所有愉快回忆几乎都是在她船上度过的三个星期。
失去奥奈达似乎在家里引起了极大的兴奋。
我确信这是一种“义愤填膺”。
我担心它是如此遥远,
以至于整个国家都不会像它应该的那样感受到它。
我看到它将在英国议会中讨论,
我很高兴知道在英格兰感受到和表达的对艾尔船长无情的愤慨仅次于美国人。
当然,这不是国籍问题,
而是人性问题。
好吧,伟大的共和国给我们带来了 3 月的信件,
我会请你们感谢他们在 3 月 5 日记得并写信给我。
告诉爱德华,
我非常钦佩他对真理的认真尊重,
就像我们国家的祖父对他杰出儿子的钦佩一样,
如果不是干预的海洋和陆地英里数似乎使它们不合适。
我们将有兴趣听到“Cosmos”的消息。
我很抱歉你的眼睛没有恢复得更快。
哈珀夫人不久前告诉我她的一个朋友的眼睛,
我想她的眼睛一定和你的一样受到了影响。
我不记得她说什么治愈了她的眼睛,
所以今天早上我写信给她问她,
她回信说这是-“Lindsays Blood Searcher”,
我认为它与您使用的性质相同。
但在我看来,
这似乎是她之前告诉我的另一件事。
她说她的朋友接受了美国最好的神秘学家的治疗,
他们都同意阳光(不太强烈)和纯净的空气都是眼睛的力量和愈合所必需的。
我相信你一定很痛苦,
你的眼睛被剥夺了这么长时间,
但我希望在此之前他们会好起来。
好像很久没有收到你的来信了,
但你一定要等到你的眼睛恢复足够强壮的时候再试着写。
告诉莎拉,
我很高兴她再次失学。
我知道她和马特会在哥伦布度过愉快的时光。
我多么想见表妹玛丽。
我希望他们能给我们发照片。
我想吉尔伯特很忙。
如果这封信能提前几个月送达您,
我想把我的爱送给韦斯特维尔特夫人
巴雷特夫人和伊利夫人(以前的达林小姐)
我希望当莎拉和马特写下他们的访问时,
如果他们还在那里 现在必须说再见了。
来自,
海蒂。

Original Format

Letter

Citation

Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Em, May 4, 1870,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed March 29, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/38.

Output Formats