Letter from Harriet to Father, July 1, 1882

noyes_c_cor_421.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Harriet to Father, July 1, 1882

Subject

Birthdays; Moon--Miscellanea; Preaching; Anniversaries

Description

Hattie writes a birthday letter to her father, wishing him a pleasant day and telling him about the moonlight she can see off the veranda. She gives updates on where people are traveling to and from. Harriet complains that their new missionary Dr. Thomson is not a good preacher, and mentions that he recently had his first child. Lastly, she reflects on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the school.

Creator

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Source

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #4

Publisher

Unpublished

Date

1882-07-01

Contributor

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

Format

PDF

Language

eng (English)

Type

Text

Identifier

noyes_c_cor_421

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

Canton China
July 1st 1882
My dear Father,
I have been
thinking all day that
this is your birthday and
wishing all good wishes for
the coming year. It
is getting later in the
evening now so with you
it is near the middle of
the day. I hope you are
having a pleasant happy day
It is a perfect night here
such charming moonlight
and the house and grounds
here are so beautiful in
the moonlight. I have
just been out to the back
verandah to look at the

school building I always
love to look at it in the
moonlight and indeed at all
times. I cannot tell you
how much pleasure I have
taken in just [u] looking [/u] at it,
and thinking of the blessing
that I hope it will be to
Southern China in the years
that are to come.
Henry and Mr Henry
are both away in the
country now. They will
have a pleasant trip if
they can keep cool
during the days. These
moonlight nights are very
pleasant in the country.
We have had a very
comfortable summer thus
far and now we are
getting near the middle

of it. We are talking about a
trip in the country this fall.
I do not know whether we
will go or not. Mrs Happer
is very anxious to go and
I think Dr & Mrs Graves
would go. Mr Colville
the minister in Hong Kong
is going away for several
weeks and some of the
missionaries here are going
down to preach for him.
Henry is going to take two
Sabbaths so that will give
them a change of two weeks.
Mr Henry is going down
for one Sabbath only.
The people down there
will get a little more
orthodox doctrine from the
missionaries than they
are accustomed to hearing.

Mr Colville's predecessor Mr
Lamont was a Presbyterian
of the bluest strictest sort. Mr
Colville is an Independent Congregationalist
and like the rest of them
has a very short creed.
Our new missionary Dr Thomson
is not much of a preacher.
We heard when he came that
he was a very good Doctor
and a very poor preacher.
He is a good little man if he
cannot preach very well. I
always feel so sorry for him
when it comes his turn for it is
evidently very hard for him.
I should think his wife could
write excellent sermons. They
have a third member in their
family now George Dornin Thomson.
We have not seen the young
gentleman yet. It is just
ten years since the Boarding
School was opened, and so I
think I will close it this year

[Continued vertically on the first page]
on the 16th of August which will be ten years from
the day that
it was opened
& perhaps we
can make
it a kind of
anniversary.
And now
must say
good bye for
this time with
every good wish
and much love
from Your aff daughter
Harriet.



中国广东 1882 年 7 月 1 日
我亲爱的父亲,
我整天想着今天是您的生日,
并祝愿您来年万事如意。
现在已经很晚了,
所以对你来说已经接近中午了。
我希望你有一个愉快的快乐的一天 这是一个完美的夜晚,
如此迷人的月光,
这里的房子和场地在月光下如此美丽。
我刚到后阳台看学校大楼,
我总是喜欢在月光下看它,
而且确实一直在看。
我无法告诉你我有多么高兴,
只是看着它,
想到未来几年我希望它对中国南方的祝福。
亨利和亨利先生现在都在乡下。
如果他们能在白天保持凉爽,
他们将有一个愉快的旅行。
这些月光之夜在这个国家非常愉快。
到目前为止,
我们度过了一个非常舒适的夏天,
现在我们已经接近它的中间了。
我们正在谈论今年秋天在该国旅行。
我不知道我们会不会去。
Happer 夫人很想去,
我想Graves医生和夫人会去的。
香港的传教士科尔维尔先生要离开几个星期,
这里的一些传教士正在下山为他传教。
亨利打算休两个安息日,
这样他们就有两周的变化。
亨利先生只下一个安息日。
那里的人会从传教士那里得到比他们习惯听到的更多的正统教义。
科尔维尔先生的前任拉蒙特先生是最严厉的长老会派。
科尔维尔先生是一名独立的公理会主义者,
和他们其他人一样,
信条很短。
我们的新传教士汤姆森医生并不是一个传教士。
当他来的时候,
我们听说他是一个非常好的医生和一个非常差的传教士。
如果他不能很好地讲道,
他是一个很好的小人。
当轮到他时,
我总是为他感到难过,
因为这对他来说显然很难。
我应该认为他的妻子可以写出出色的布道。
他们现在有第三个家庭成员乔治·多宁·汤姆森。
我们还没有见到这位年轻的绅士。
寄宿学校开办才十年,
所以我想我今年会在 8 月 16 日关闭它[第一页垂直续],
这将是它开办之日起的十年,
也许我们可以使它成为一种周年纪念日。
现在必须带着你的女儿哈丽特的每一个美好​​祝愿和深情向这一次说再见。

Original Format

Letter

Citation

Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Harriet to Father, July 1, 1882,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 28, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/480.

Output Formats