Letter from Harriet to Father, April 16, 1884

Letter from Harriet to Father, April 16, 1884

Mail service; Travel; Health; Eye--Diseases; Prayer--Christianity; Married people in missionary work; Sino-French War, 1884-1885; Schools; War reparations; Visitors, Foreign

Hattie is replying to her father's letter from February 21st. She explains that the sailing of the Oceanic has been delayed. Harriet mentions that Mrs. Ashmore's health is poor while Dr. Ashmore's eyes are better. Mr. Simmons went on a trip and said that now people are more welcoming of foreigners; missionaries can walk on the street without hearing "kill the foreign devils". Harriet believes that the war might end soon as the Chinese seem to be willing to peacefully settle things with France. Harriet believes that it should not be fair that the Chinese pay reparations to the French. Harriet thinks that once the war ends the schools will do better. Regarding Mary Happer's engagement to Frank, Harriet thinks that there are great intellectual differences between those two.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1884-04-16

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_345

Sino-French War, 1884-1885

Canton China
April 16th 1884
My dear Father,
Your letter of Feb 21st
came by the last mail
We have just come back from
prayer meeting but I will
write a little to send in
the morning. We have heard
that the sailing of the Oceanic
will be delayed a day and
if so perhaps I can write
more although I shall be very
busy this week. Dr & Mrs Ashmore
with Miss Norwood are in Hong Kong
and will come up to stay with
us awhile after the Oceanic
leaves. I hear that Mrs Ashmore's
health is very poor now. Dr A's
eyes are quite well now I
think. The prayer meeting
tonight was at Mr Fulton's.
Mr White is away in the
country with Dr Graves and

Henry has gone down to
San Ui. The country seems
very quiet now. Mr Simmons
has just returned from a
trip and says that the people
seem very friendly. We can
walk the streets without hearing
any one call out "kill the foreign
devils" which shows quite a
change. The war question seems
to be in a fair way to be
settled soon, as the Chinese
appear to be very desirous to
settle the trouble peacably
and it is to be hoped that
France will not make any
exorbitant demands for [u] indemnity [/u]
for the expense incurred. It
seems rather hard for the
Chinese to be called upon to
pay for the expense of the
war but I suppose they will
have to do it. We shall
be glad when the rumors of
war have died out and

peace reigns again. Our
Boarding School is tolerably
well filled up fifty girls and
a dozen women, but many
of the day schools are very
small. I have four schools
in the country however which
are doing very well, and
if peace is really declared
I presume that all would
soon fill up. The American
minister to China Mr Young
is coming down from Peking
soon. I suppose to assist in
spreading oil upon the
troubled waters. We are
enjoying the visit of Dr & Mrs
Damon from the Sandwich
Islands. He is a dear old
gentleman he preached for us
last Sabbath. Miss Butler
says he is so very much
like her Father. He has been
in the Sandwich Islands
forty-two years. He was first

appointed by the American
Board as a missionary to
India & then they wished him
to go to Honolulu as seaman's
chaplain I think. They
are evidently delighted with
their son Frank's success
in winning Mary. We all think
that Mary had rather the best
of the bargain. There is a
great difference in their intellectual
abilities. Dr Happer at last
has a son-in-law who suits him
perfectly. They are to be
married on the 1st of May
and spend the summer
traveling in North China
then come back here in
the Autumn and take their
departure to the Sandwich
Islands. The climate there
must be most delightful. I
do not imagine that Mary will
ever wish to bring Mr Damon
back here to live and he has
a grand work to do there
She will be a great help to him I
am sure.

[Continued vertically on the first page]
With much
love for
all from
Your aff
daughter
Harriet.

中国广东
1884年4月16日
我亲爱的父亲，
你在 2 月 21 日写的信终于和最后一封邮件一起寄到了。
/
我们刚从一个祷告会回来，
我现在写一点，
早上把这封信寄给你。
我们听说下一艘名为 Oceanic 的轮船将推迟，
如果是真的，
/
我将能够写更多，
即使，
这周我会很忙。
Ashmore 夫妇，
他们会在轮船离开后从香港来和我们在一起。
听说Ashmore太太身体不好，
但是，
Ashmore 医生的眼睛已经恢复了。
/
我们在Fulton先生家举行了祷告会。
/
White先生不在，
Graves医生和Henry，

他们去了San Ui
农村现在似乎很安静。
Simmons 先生，
他刚从乡下旅行回来，他说那里的人看起来很友好。
现在我们可以走在街上，
而不会听到任何人大喊“杀洋鬼子”，
这与以前大不相同。
/
/
战争应该很快得到解决，
中国似乎渴望达成和平协议，
只要法国不要求过高的赔偿，
就应该和平解决。
/
/
/
/
中国人支付法国的战争费用似乎不合理，
但似乎没有其他选择。
/
/
/
当谣言结束和平统治时会很好。
/
/

我们的寄宿学校有 50 名女孩和 12 名妇女，
但许多走读学校的学生很少。
/
/
/
我在农村有四所成功的学校，
如果宣布和平，
他们肯定会招来更多的学生。
/
/
美国大使馆 John Russell Young
他即将从北京来广东访问，
/
他可能正试图缓和紧张局势。
/
Damon夫妇是从桑威奇群岛访问广东。
Damon一生他是一位亲爱的老先生，
上周日他在教堂传教.
/
/
Butler 小姐说他很像她的父亲。
/
他在桑威奇群岛当了四十二年的传教士，
/
/

起初，
美国传教组织派往印度，
然后派往檀香山。
/
他们很高兴他们的儿子会娶了Mary，【Happer医生的女儿】
但我们认为她得到了更好的交易，
他们的智力有很大的不同。
/
/
/
/
终于Happer 医生有了和他绝配的女婿。
/
他们计划5月1日结婚，
暑假去华北旅游，
秋天回到广州
然后前往桑威奇群岛。
/
/
/
那里的天气一定很好。
我怀疑Mary会不会把Frank带回广东，
因为他在那里有很多工作要做，
我相信她会对他有很大的帮助。
/
/
/
/

【纵向书写】
非常多的爱，
/
/
您亲爱的女儿，
Harriet

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