Letter from Harriet to Father, August 31, 1883
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Harriet to Father, August 31, 1883
Subject
Mail service; Presbyterian church buildings; School buildings; Inebriates; Firearms; Death; Foreigners; Heathenism; Children of missionaries
Description
Hattie clarifies that her father will receive this letter in October. She complains about how slow the Chinese men are when it comes to the chapel construction. Consequently, the chapel opening had to be postponed by one week. They are going to enlarge the school's chapel so that 50 more people can fit in. Harriet refers to the letter she wrote to her father on July 18, 1883, briefly telling him about some drunk men shooting Chinese people. Harriet refers to the Chinese as "drunken" and "immoral". People in Luin Chow do not want foreigners to come, including missionaries. Henry is still in Hong Kong, Dr. Kerr is feeling better, and the Thomson's seem to be wrapped up in their baby.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1883-08-31
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_334
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
Aug 31st 1883
My dear Father,
It is almost time
to send our letters, but I will
add a few lines to you.
This letter will not reach
you until sometime in October
so you will think of the dedication
of the chapel after all on the
wrong day. The Chinese
workmen are always so slow
with their work that it was
found impossible to get it
finished and so it has been
put off for one week. I wish
you could see what a nice
building it is. For a chapel
in China it is very nice indeed
and a very handsome
building. It is the same
color on the outside as the
school-building and has
green venetians. It is
nearly as high as the
school building so it no
longer seems to over top
everything. We are having
the chapel of the school
building lengthened a little
so that it will seat about
fifty more. Tell Martha that
I think she would be better
pleased with the entrance now.
The pillar which stood half
in front of the entrance has been
taken out of the way.
I wrote to you last time
I think of the sad affair
which had occurred a few
days before. Three men in
the Customs service on Sabbath
morning had been drinking
fifteen bottles of something I
do not know what kind
of liquor and were intoxicated
and were annoyed by the
Chinese gathering around them
and one went into his
home and got a revolver
and fired into the crowd
killing instantly one young
boy about 12 years old and
wounding a man and
woman. The Chinese
men of course very indignant
about it. The men are now
in custody and I suppose
will be tried. It will no doubt
be settled for some money.
I do not wonder the Chinese
are a bad set of people So
many of them are drunken
and immoral to the last
degree. One of the reasons
the people in Lien [?Chew?] give
as their objections to foreigners
coming there is that they do
not want them to come there
with their wicked and immoral
lives corrupting the people.
Of course they cannot be
expected to distinguish between
the missionaries and the
other foreigners and many
of the latter are bad enough
far worse than the heathens
in some respects.
You will no doubt hear from
Henry directly as he is in Hong Kong
still I expect the month
there has done him a great
deal of good. They are
coming back next week.
Dr Kerr we hope is really
getting better. The last time he
was up we found him quite
obstructive with reference to
some of our ideas about the
chapel so we told him
we knew that he was better.
He seems so energetic just as
soon as he gets a little strength
and so efficient. There could
not possibly be a greater contrast
between two men than there
is between him and Dr Thomson
(the father of [u] George [/u] [u] [?Dorian?] [/u]) in
every way. It does seem most
remarkable that Dr & Mrs Thomson
can be so entirely wrapped up in
one little baby but he seems to
be the [u] world [/u] for them. With
much love for all.
Ever your loving daughter
Harriet
Aug 31st 1883
My dear Father,
It is almost time
to send our letters, but I will
add a few lines to you.
This letter will not reach
you until sometime in October
so you will think of the dedication
of the chapel after all on the
wrong day. The Chinese
workmen are always so slow
with their work that it was
found impossible to get it
finished and so it has been
put off for one week. I wish
you could see what a nice
building it is. For a chapel
in China it is very nice indeed
and a very handsome
building. It is the same
color on the outside as the
school-building and has
green venetians. It is
nearly as high as the
school building so it no
longer seems to over top
everything. We are having
the chapel of the school
building lengthened a little
so that it will seat about
fifty more. Tell Martha that
I think she would be better
pleased with the entrance now.
The pillar which stood half
in front of the entrance has been
taken out of the way.
I wrote to you last time
I think of the sad affair
which had occurred a few
days before. Three men in
the Customs service on Sabbath
morning had been drinking
fifteen bottles of something I
do not know what kind
of liquor and were intoxicated
and were annoyed by the
Chinese gathering around them
and one went into his
home and got a revolver
and fired into the crowd
killing instantly one young
boy about 12 years old and
wounding a man and
woman. The Chinese
men of course very indignant
about it. The men are now
in custody and I suppose
will be tried. It will no doubt
be settled for some money.
I do not wonder the Chinese
are a bad set of people So
many of them are drunken
and immoral to the last
degree. One of the reasons
the people in Lien [?Chew?] give
as their objections to foreigners
coming there is that they do
not want them to come there
with their wicked and immoral
lives corrupting the people.
Of course they cannot be
expected to distinguish between
the missionaries and the
other foreigners and many
of the latter are bad enough
far worse than the heathens
in some respects.
You will no doubt hear from
Henry directly as he is in Hong Kong
still I expect the month
there has done him a great
deal of good. They are
coming back next week.
Dr Kerr we hope is really
getting better. The last time he
was up we found him quite
obstructive with reference to
some of our ideas about the
chapel so we told him
we knew that he was better.
He seems so energetic just as
soon as he gets a little strength
and so efficient. There could
not possibly be a greater contrast
between two men than there
is between him and Dr Thomson
(the father of [u] George [/u] [u] [?Dorian?] [/u]) in
every way. It does seem most
remarkable that Dr & Mrs Thomson
can be so entirely wrapped up in
one little baby but he seems to
be the [u] world [/u] for them. With
much love for all.
Ever your loving daughter
Harriet
中国广东
1883年8月31日
我亲爱的父亲，
快到寄信时，
我给您写几行
因为这封信要到十月才会到，
您不会意识到我们的教堂建筑
已经推迟了一周。
/
/
工人们总是那么慢以至于
不可能按时完成，
所以
我们需要推迟一周的建堂仪式。
/
这是一座非常漂亮的教堂，
我希望您能看到它。
与其他中国教堂相比，
这是非常好看的，
外面和校舍颜色一样
百叶窗都是深绿色，
教堂似乎跟学校一样高。
/
/
/
/
/
学校里面还有一个小教堂，
我们正在加长它以容纳 50 多人，
/
/
告诉 Martha 她现在会喜欢这个入口，
我知道她不喜欢以前的入口，
但她现在肯定会喜欢，
我们拆除了分隔入口的柱子。
/
/
上次我写信给您说发生了一件可怜的事情，
三位外国海关员
在星期天早上喝了15瓶
我不知道什么样的酒。
他们喝醉了吵闹，
一群中国人围着他们看热闹，
但是海关人员生气了，
其中一个抓住了他的枪
他向人群开枪打死了一名 12 岁男孩
并打伤了一个男人和一个女人。
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
中国人自然对此事件非常愤慨。
/
那些海关官员在监狱里，
将接受审判，
我相信法案会以金钱解决。
/
我觉得很多中国人都是不道德的酒鬼，
/
/
/
连州人不喜欢外国人的原因之一是
他们不希要外国人教他们不道德的方式，
/
/
/
/
/
但他们无法区分传教士和其他外国人
（但有很多不道德的传教士，
他们可能比异教徒更糟糕！）
/
/
/
/
我相信您会收到 Henry 的来信，
他来香港一个月了，
他在那里做了很多好事，
/
/
他下周回来。
Kerr 医生终于开始恢复，
因为他对我们对教堂的想法很固执，
所以我们知道他的健康状况正在好转。
/
/
/
/
当他感觉更强壮时，
他非常有活力和效率。
Kerr 医生
和 Thomson 医生
他们是完全不一样的男人，
（Thomson 医生是 George 和 Dorian 的父亲）
/
Thomson 医生和他的妻子
对他们的新宝贝非常兴奋，
他们的宝贝就是他们的整个世界。
/
爱你们大家。
/
您亲爱的女儿，
Harriet
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Harriet to Father, August 31, 1883,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 25, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/390.