Letter from Harriet to Father, September 26, 1883

Letter from Harriet to Father, September 26, 1883

Dengue; Foreign visitors; Trials (Murder); Beheading; Riots; Viceroys; Indemnity; Schools; Sino-French War, 1884-1885; China--Foreign relations--France

Harriet tells her father that Miss Butler has dengue fever. Hattie writes that there has been a lot of hostility towards foreigners lately because the murderer of a Chinese man, who was a foreigner, might be acquitted. The viceroy ordered the arrest of rioters. There are rumors of war against France, which make the locals even more hostile to foreigners. The Chinese feel like the viceroy yields to the foreigners' demands. Even though the schools go on, as usual, the missionaries are currently not attending them because of the Chinese hostility.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1883-09-26

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_391

Sino-French War, 1884-1885

Canton China
Sept 26th 1883 -
My dear Father -
It is almost time
for me to go out to school
so I can only write a few
lines. I intended to write
letters last evening but for some
reason or other Miss Butler
and I felt exceedingly tired
so we concluded to go to bed
and let the letters go. I felt
sure I would have your
approval in so doing. Miss
Niles and I are excellent
sleepers I wish I could
say the same for Miss Butler.
She has rather a bad time
about sleeping and having the
dengue fever and colds.
but I hope if she is careful
she may get along. We do
not hear yet from Miss
Lewis perhaps when they
hear of the unsettled state

of things here she may think
best to wait a little . There
is a great deal of hostility felt
towards foreigners in consequence
of all that has occurred during
the past few weeks and the
excitement will not be allayed
until the settlement .The man
who killed the Chinaman is now
on his trial for wilful murder.
If he is convicted and sentenced
to be executed the Chinese will
doubtless feel satisfied. otherwise
probably the will be very much
exasperated. The wife of the
foreigner who has charge of the
prosecution said to Miss Niles
the other day that in all probability
the man will be acquitted.
Two of the highest officials have
been degraded by the Viceroy
and will not be restored
until they have found 300
of the rioters Over 100 have
already been arrested.
Many of them will probably
be beheaded. This of course
excited the people. Then

the rumors of war with France
keep coming and that added
to the rest. makes things still
more unsettled. The feeling of
the people now is indignation
towards the viceroy for yielding
to the foreigners demands.
Some of the foreigners at first
very foolishly talked about
claiming an indemnity ,
of about 8 million dollars.
The loss cannot be justly
estimated many think at
over quarter of a million and
the demand will not probably
exceed that and doubtless
the viceroy + people will be
willing to pay that amount.
Our scholars have mostly
come back and school is
going on as usual We
are not going out to the
day schools not that we
are afraid of any trouble
but the Chinese are not

feeling very friendly just now
and it seems best to avoid
exciting them in any way.
I wished to write a lot of
letters this time there was
so much to write about but
it is time to go into school
now and I must wait
and send bu the next mail.
The dedication was on the
20th and well attended
and a very happy day for
us all. The nice box from
home which Mrs Leaman
brought came some days
since. I will write about
it soon. Mr Henry has gone
to the country to-day to be
away for two weeks. He had
letters to tell him that all was
quiet in that direction. We
do not like to think of their
going home so soon.
With much love for all
from Your aff daughter
Harriet.
[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
I have not
filled my
letters with
all about the
"riot" because
we think of
nothing else
but because
I was so
[u]hurried[/u] I
did not want
to write about
the dedication
+c You
must not feel
anxious about
us no use anticipating
a repeat of
the 10th ---

中国广东
1883年9月26日
我亲爱的父亲
快到去学校的时间，
所以
我只有时间给您写几行。
我昨天打算
写几封信
但是Butler小姐和我
都很困
所以我们放弃了写信
然后睡觉。
我知道您不介意，
Niles小姐和我
特别能睡觉
但是Butler小姐
一直睡的不太好。
她得了很多病，
并且一直患有登革热，
这让她睡不好觉。
我希望如果她小心注意自己的健康，
她会好起来的。
我们还没有收到Lewis小姐的消息，
也许他们在等他们更稳定后再写信
/

/
因为最近的事件，
对外国人有敌意。
/
/
在案件判决之前，
这可能不会得到解决。 
杀害中国人的外国人因故意杀人罪受审。
/
/
如果他被定罪，
他将被处决，
中国人会感到满意。
如果他没有被定罪，
麻烦可能会变得更糟。
她认识律师的妻子，
Niles小姐说他可能会被无罪释放。
/
/
两广总督降职了两名高官，
在所有 300 名暴徒被捕之前，
他们不会恢复。
已有100多名暴徒被捕。
/
/
许多暴徒可能会被斩首。
这当然让人们非常骚动。
/

现在有与法国开战的传闻，
这增加了骚动。
/
人民现在对总督屈服于外国压力感到不安。
/
/
/
一些外国人愚蠢地想要800万美元的赔偿，
/
/
/
损失不超过 250,000 美元
所以赔偿不应超过这个数额，
除非总督和人民愿意支付。
/
/
/
/
我们的学生大多已经返校，
一切又恢复正常。
我们没有去过任何走读学校。 
我们并不太担心，
但我们不希望任何人看到我们这些外国人而感到不安。
/
/

/
/
/
我想写很多信，
但现在要去学校了，
所以我必须等待，
/
下次我会寄更多的信。
/
我们在20日举行了开幕式，
许多人参加
每个人都玩得很开心。
我们收到了Leaman太太的一个盒子，
/
/
我很快就会告诉您所有关于这个盒子的事情。
Henry去了乡下，
他将离开两周。
显然，
他要去的地方很安静，
所以他不会有危险，
我讨厌想到他们会这么快回家。
/
给你们许多的爱，
您爱您的女儿，
Harriet

我写了太多关于骚乱而不是开幕式，
下次我会写更多。
/
/
/
/
我很着急
/
我不想这么写
/
/
您也一定很着急，
/
因为我们没有怎么准备，

Letter