Letter from Harriet to Father, November 28, 1884

noyes_c_cor_357.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Harriet to Father, November 28, 1884

Subject

Travel; Steamboats; Building--Planning; Second Advent; France--Foreign relations--China; China--Foreign relations--France; Baptists

Description

Hattie tells her father that she has been drawing the plan of their house in Macau. She describes the house and says that the views of the sunset remind her of signs highlighted in H. Grattan Guinness's book "The Approaching End of the Age". She really likes this book and wants her father to read it so she will try to send a copy. According to this book, the second coming of the Lord should be expected 75 years from 1844, the year Harriet was born. Therefore, Harriet believes that she might live to see it. The steamer they are on has the American flag. It used to be Chinese but they feared the French so they sold it to Russell & Co., along with other steamers.

Creator

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Source

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

Publisher

Unpublished

Date

1884-11-28

Contributor

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

Format

PDF

Language

eng (English)

Type

Text

Identifier

noyes_c_cor_357

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

Nov 28th 1884
[?Str Kiang Peny?]
My dear Father,
I have just been
drawing the plan of our house
in Macau to send you. I
think I have written to you that
it is one third of what used to
be a very fine residence in Macau's
better days. I have drawn a
double line around the part
which we have so you will see
we have quite a garden and
beside this we overlook the other
gardens so it is just as well as
though we had them all
Formerly the grounds were all
in one and beautifully kept
but are now overrun with weeds
and bushes but stil are very
pretty and green. From every
part of the house we have
beautiful views glimpses of

both the inner and outer harbor
and the hills and mountains
beyond. We often go for a walk
to the corner marked Pema
Hill when we can have a
delightful scramble over
the rocky hills with the sea
on all sides but one. The
house does not stand North &
South. As nearly as I could
make out the corner is toward
the South, and from all
our windows we had delightful
views of the sunsets which have
been brillant lately as they
were last year. I wonder
sometimes as I look at them
if they are not some of the
signs of the "Approaching End
of the Age." I do so much
want you to read that book.
I have a copy now which
Miss Butler gave me

Dr and Mrs Graves have read
it and liked it very much
Miss Lewis is reading it now and
is much interested in it. I have
the promise of a copy from
Shanghai and if I can
get it I will send it to you.
The writer H. Grattan Guinness
is over in America. I see
that he is to lecture on his mission
in Africa. It had been sustained
by students from his university
in England but is now to be turned
over to the Baptists I believe
Henry read his book and thinks
that it seems very convincing.
At any rate we are commanded
to be watching and I am determined
to watch. According to the careful
calculations made by Guinness
the second coming of the
Lord however it may be
whether in person or a

spiritual coming in the hearts
of his people may be expected
at any time within a period
of seventy five years commencing
with 1844 the year in which
I was born so if he is right and
I should live to be old I may
still be living. But I have
wandered away from Macau
in thought as well as in reality.
We are nearing Canton already I
can see a pagoda which is in
sight from Canton. There are
a few gentlemen on board one
of them has been playing on
the organ and the others are
out on deck singing in a careless
way murdering Nelly Gray
just now. Their voices sound
very well but they are only
singing for fun and not
exerting themselves to do
it well. The strain has
changed to Yankee Doodle

[Continued vertically on the first page]
I wonder if
they are
Americans. This
little steamer
sails under the
American flag
formerly it was
owned and
run by the
Chinese but they
feared the
French might
take her and
so sold her
to Russell & Co.
with a lot of
other steamers.
With much love
Harriet.



1884 年 11 月 28 日
Str Kiang Peny
我亲爱的父亲,
我刚刚画好了我们在澳门的房子的平面图,
要寄给你。
我想我已经写信给你,
它是澳门过去非常好的住宅的三分之一。
我在我们拥有的部分周围画了一条双线,
所以你会看到我们有一个漂亮的花园,
在这个花园旁边,
我们可以俯瞰其他花园,
所以就像我们拥有它们一样好保留,
但现在杂草和灌木丛泛滥,
但仍然非常漂亮和绿色。
从房子的每个部分,
我们都可以看到内港和外港以及远处的丘陵和山脉的美丽景色。
我们经常去标有 Pema Hill 的拐角处散步,
这时我们可以愉快地爬过岩石山丘,
四面都是大海,
但只有一个。
房子不分南北。
据我所知,
拐角处朝南,
从我们所有的窗户都可以看到令人愉快的日落景色,
这些景色最近和去年一样灿烂。
当我看着它们时,
我有时想知道它们是否不是“即将结束的时代”的一些迹象。
我非常希望你读那本书。
我现在有一本巴特勒小姐给我的,
格雷夫斯博士和夫人读过,
非常喜欢,
刘易斯小姐现在正在读,
对它很感兴趣。
我有一份上海寄来的承诺,
如果我能拿到,
我会寄给你。
作家 H. Grattan Guinness 在美国结束了。
我看到他要讲授他在非洲的使命。
它由他在英国的大学的学生支持,
但现在要交给浸信会,
我相信亨利读过他的书,
认为这似乎很有说服力。
无论如何,
我们被命令观看,
我决心观看。
根据吉尼斯的仔细计算,
从 1844 年开始,
在 75 年内的任何时候,
主的第二次降临都可能会在他的人民心中出现,
无论是亲自降临还是灵性降临。
我出生了,
所以如果他是对的,
我应该活到老,
我可能还活着。
但我在思想上和现实上都离开了澳门。
我们已经快到广州了,
我可以看到从广州望去的一座宝塔。
船上有几位绅士,
其中一位一直在吹管风琴,
其他人则在甲板上唱着粗心的歌声,
刚刚谋杀了耐莉·格雷。
他们的声音听起来很好,
但他们只是为了好玩而唱歌,
并没有努力做好。
应变已更改为 Yankee Doodle [在第一页垂直续] 我想知道他们是不是美国人。
这艘挂着美国国旗的小轮船以前是由中国人拥有和经营的,
但他们担心法国人可能会把她带走,
所以把她和许多其他轮船一起卖给了罗素公司。
非常爱哈丽特。

Original Format

Letter

Citation

Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Harriet to Father, November 28, 1884,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed March 28, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/413.

Output Formats