Letter from Hattie to Mother, December 11, 1884

Letter from Hattie to Mother, December 11, 1884

China--Foreign relations--France; Missions--Study and teaching; Sino-French War, 1884-1885

Harriet writes to her mother about how she is back in Canton alone, but not quite alone since many of her students and other Chinese that she knows to come over for lengthy visits. She has been to one of the day schools in Honam. This school is the only one they have left in the city. She says that the excitement has died down, but that the French have been proposing to occupy Canton. She mentions that the Kerrs are living in Maryville (location of the city is not verified) and that Josie's health is improving.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1884-12-11

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

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eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_358

Sino-French War, 1884-1885

Canton
Dec 11th 1884
My dear Mother,
Your letter of Oct 22nd
came by the last mail. It came
the very day that I came up
from Macau as perhaps I
wrote to you. I have been alone
in my domicil for the past
two weeks, not alone however much
of the time in the daytime for
the Chinese all come and think
as the Boarding School is not
yet opened they can made
good long visits. The days
go one after another and I seem
to accomplish very little. I
have been to one of my day schools
today the one across the river
on Honam. It is as large
as it was before the excitement
None of the other schools that
any of us have had recovered

so well. This is the only one that
I have left in the city. I had
five and three we were obliged
to give up the houses. One besides
the one on Honam has not had
any trouble but many of the
scholars have moved away to the
country. I think I am in a
fair way to get a building for
one of the other teachers in a
few days. The excitement seems
to have died out and we go
about the streets again as formerly.
It is so near the end of the
year now that I hardly think
we will open the Boarding School
until after New Years. I do
not think hardly any of the
scholars would come back until
the New Year begins. What a
dreadful blot I have made
I think my ink must be too thin.
I have set my heart on going

down to Macau to spend Christmas
and New Years. I wonder if
Martha is on her way back to
China. If the French do not
conclude to come to Canton I
presume by the time she gets here
we will be going on with the
work as usual. You no doubt
have seen something in the papers
about the French proposing to
occupy Canton. It does not
seem very probable that they
will attempt it they certainly
cannot unless they send out a
very large force and are ready
to spend a great deal of money.
In such an event we would
of course know as soon as the
troops left France and have
plenty of time to make arrangements
accordingly. The country seems
quiet now. Only one of my
country schools has been broken

up although another is suspended
on account of the death of the
teacher. Henry and Mr
Fulton are going out this week
to Shek Lung to install a pastor
there. They went out two weeks
since but there was some
misunderstanding about the time
and the man who was to be
installed was [u] absent [/u]. He is
one of the three men who
were ordained last winter.
Do you ever hear from Dr
Kerr? They seem to be getting
on very nicely at Maryville
and write hopefully of coming
back. From what they write
Josie seems to have improved.
I do hope it is so. They have
two nieces and a nephew with
them, all studying. They
seem to be having a very pleasant
time. With love from
Your aff daughter Hattie

广东
1884年12月11日
我亲爱的母亲，
你 10 月 22 日的信
连同最后一封邮件一起寄到，
它在我从澳门回来的同一天到达。
/
我一个人在家待了两个星期，
但我并不孤单，
因为在白天，
而且寄宿学校还没有开学，
所以我整天接待了很多中国游客。
/
/
这些日子一天天过去，
而我的成就却微乎其微。
今天我去参观了我在海珠区的一所走读学校。
/
/
中法战争前是一所大学校。
/
这所学校的恢复速度比我们其他任何一所学校都要快。
/

这是我们唯一仍然留在城市的学校，
之前我们有五所学校，
但我们不得不放弃其中三座校舍。
除了海珠区的那所学校，
剩下的一所学校的教学楼没有受到影响，
但很多学生搬走了。
/
我想我应该很快就能得到一栋新校舍。
/
/
现在，
人们不像以前那么兴奋了。
/
现在快年底了，
但我认为我们要等到新年之后才能开办寄宿学校，
我认为任何学生不会在新年前回来。
/
/
/
天哪!
我的笔刚刚漏到了纸上，
我的墨水一定太稀了
/

我决定在澳门过圣诞节。
我想知道
Martha 是不是
已经在回中国的路上了。
如果法国避开广东，
她回来后我们就能照常工作。
/
你肯定在报纸上看到过，
法国提议占领广东。
/
对我来说
法国入侵广东不是个好主意，
没有大量的士兵和大量的金钱是不可能的，
所以我觉得不值得。
/
/
如果法国决定入侵，
我们会在士兵离开法国后立即知道，
我们将有时间做好准备。
/
农村现在似乎很安静，
我的农村学校只有两所受到不利影响:
一个被毁坏了

还有一个因为老师去世而被停学。
/
Henry 和 Fulton 先生
准备去石龙镇
任命一位牧师。
他们两周前去过那里，
但牧师记错了时间，
他不在那里。
/
牧师是去年冬天被按立的三个人之一。
/
/
你有没有收到 Kerr 医生的来信？
他们一定在 Maryville 玩得很开心，
他们希望能回到中国。
/
根据他们的来信，
Josie身体健康状况有所改善，
我希望这是真的。
他们有一个侄女和一个侄子，
他们在学习期间和他们住在一起，
看起来他们都过得很愉快。
你亲爱的女儿，
Hattie

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