Letter from Harriet to Father, April 30, 1885

Letter from Harriet to Father, April 30, 1885

Birthdays; Presidents--Election; Temperance; Women--Suffrage; Conversion--Christianity; Idols and images; Sino-French War 1884-1885; Russia--Foreign relations--Great Britain; Great Britain--Foreign relations--Russia

Hattie thinks that it is strange to have a Democrat president (Cleveland) after so many years of Republican rule. She believes that had it been General Hancock the one elected, there would have been less dissatisfaction. Harriet believes that it will be a long time before a president is elected due to his alignment with temperance. This would be the case if women were allowed to vote. The Sino-French War seems to be almost over, but there is an imminent war between Russia and England. According to some statistics, 28,000 people were converted to Christianity in one week in the United States. Along with this letter, Harriet sends two paintings of Chinese boats. It is a Chinese tradition to paint eyes on boats and to put idols that are supposed to protect the passengers. One of the paintings is a slipper boat, which, according to Harriet, is uncomfortable.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1885-04-30

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_369

April 30th 1885
Canton China
My dear Father
The letter that you
wrote to me on my birthday
came by the last mail.
You had just been reading
the account of Cleveland's
inauguration. It does seem
strange after so many
years of Republican rule
that we have a Democrat
for a President. If it had
been General Hancock
instead of Cleveland I do
not suppose there would have
been much dissatisfaction
felt by any one. I wrote to
Dr Kerr and asked him
what he was doing at home
that he did not see that
Blaine and in his reply he
denounces Blaine in the
strongest terms. He is very
strong on the Temperance

question but I fear. it will
be a long time before a
President can be elected
[u]because[/u] he is a temperance
man. No doubt it might be
if the women should all vote.
Perhaps Cleveland will
surprise every one by doing
better than they expect asked
President Arthur did. I
am very glad he came
out so well. It must have
been very gratifying to him
to get such a strong vote
in Chicago after all the
unpleasant things that were
said about him when he
"came to the throne"-- We
hope that our war is over
now and the political sky
is clearing off but clouds
are coming up in another
quarter, and the papers
are predicting war between
Russia and England.

I wonder how soon the time
is coming when swords shall
be beaten into plough shares
and the nations will not
learn war anymore. Do you
not think there are enough
"wars and rumors of wars"
now for the [u]end[/u] to be near/
I certainly [u]hope[/u] so --
In our last prayer meeting
the statement was made that
some one had taken pains
to collect statistics and found
that in the United States
alone in one week twenty eight
thousands persons were
converted. The is more
than the three thousand
on the day of Pentecost.
Henry preached an
excellent sermon a week
or two since from Paul's words,
"According to the grace of God
which is given unto me as a
wise master builder. I have

laid the foundation and another
buildeth thereon. But let every
man take heed how he buildeth
I tried to give it to the Chinese
in our Tuesday prayer meeting.
I send you by this mail two
little paintings of Chinese boats,
the large one is one of their sea
junks. They look must unwieldy
but they go out to see and
make the voyage all the way up
to Tientsin in North China. They
always paint eyes on them as
they say "no can see how can
walker." In deference to the
Chinese ideas the steamers that
run between here + HongKong
have great eyes painted on
them and what is far worse
they have a [u]little idol[/u] put up
at the front of the ship so that
the Chinese will be more ready
to travel on the steamers feeling
that they are under the
protection of their idols. It
seems so wicked for the company
to do such a thing --
[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
The little boat is
what we call a
ma lau teng en
slipper boat.
It is the kind
Henry + I
always used
to take when
we went out to
visit our country
schools is a
fast boat.
We counted
up that we
had travelled
over two thousand
miles in such
boats. They
are not very
comfortable the
rowing jerks them
so much. Many people
get seasick in them.
With much love from
Your aff daughter Harriet -

1885年4月30日
中国广东
我亲爱的父亲，
我刚收到
您在我生日那天寄给我的信。
/
您刚刚在阅读 Cleveland 总统的就职典礼，
/
经过这么多年的共和党总统，
民主总统似乎很奇怪。
/
/
如果 Hancock 当选总统，
而不是 Cleveland，
我觉得很多人不会失望
/
/
我写信给 Kerr 医生，
问他在家做什么，
他写了关于他多么讨厌参议员 Blaine
【James G. Blaine: 1884年总统选举候选人
他在总统竞选期间被指控腐败】
/
Kerr 医生是禁酒运动的坚定支持者。
/

需要很长时间才能选出支持禁酒运动的总统，
/
/
/
如果妇女被允许投票，
也许支持禁酒运动的总统
可以早点选出。
也许 Cleveland 总统
会像 Arthur 总统一样，
比预期的要好，
让所有人大吃一惊。
【Chester A. Arthur：1881–1885，失去了对 Blaine 的提名】
我很高兴 Arthur 在芝加哥得到了如此多的支持，
即使在他担任总统期间关于他的坏话都说了。
/
/
/
/
我希望我能忘记政治，
但即使这种情况越来越好，
另一种情况却越来越糟：
报纸预测俄罗斯和英国之间会发生战争。
/
/
/

我想知道要多久才能不再有战争，
那时，
人们将不再使用枪支，
而只会使用工具。
现在有这么多战争和战争的谣言
我希望快点结束。
/
/
/
在我们最后一次祷告会期间
有人说在美国有 28000 人改信基督教。
/
/
/
/
/
仅在五旬节，
就有三千多人信奉基督教。
/
那一周，
Henry 讲了一篇精彩的布道，
他引用了哥林多前书：
“我照 神所给我的恩、
好像一个聪明的工头、
立好了根基、

/
有别人在上面建造。
只是各人要谨慎怎样在上面建造。”
我在星期二的会议上试着用中文阅读。
/
我寄给您两幅中国船的小画，
大的是一艘帆船。
/
虽然它们看起来不易操控，
但它们可以一直沿着海岸航行到中国北方的天津。
/
中国人在他们的船上画眼睛
因为正如他们所说，
“如果它看不到，
它怎么知道去哪里？”
按照这个习俗，
连轮船都画上眼睛，
不仅如此，
船头还有一个小神像
让中国人不害怕坐船
因为他们会得到解脱。
/
/
/
对我来说
轮船公司这样做是错误的，
这表明他们更关心金钱而不是基督教。
【纵向书写】
我们称小船为拖鞋船。
/
/
/
我和 Henry
去农村学校就坐这种船。
/
/
/
/
这是一种快速的船。
我们总共乘坐那种船行驶了 2000 多英里。
/
/
/
/
/
他们不是很舒服的船，
每次划船时，
船都会摇晃。
很多人乘坐这种船会晕船。
/
/
我爱您，
您亲爱的女儿 Harriet

Letter