Letter from Hattie to Em, October 28, 1889

Letter from Hattie to Em, October 28, 1889

Death; Heaven; Women in missionary work; North Pacific Ocean; Transportation--Fares; Steamboats

Previous to writing this letter to Emily, Harriet had been writing to their younger cousins Harriet and Addie. She reflects on her Uncle Augustus's death and how her parents must be waiting in heaven for "the children" to join them. Harriet remembers the conversation she had with Em before leaving for the first time and how she thought she would never come home. She says that Mr. Simmons paid only $100 for their tickets to San Francisco and thinks it is cheaper to go by the Northern Pacific route. She will be returning to Canton soon.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1889-10-28

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_443

Macao China
Oct 28th 1889
My dear Em -
I have just been
writing to Cousins Harriet
and Addie. I begun
writing to them Sept 16th -
the day that Uncle Augustus
died but have never finished
the letters until now. I
also commenced a letter
to you on that day but
did not get much written.
A whole year has passed
since dear Uncle went
home and made their
family circle complete
in heaven . It always
seems as though they
must be having such a
nice time together there .
I am so glad we
had that visit together

there . It hardly seems
possible that two years
have passed since then.
I wish we could have had
those weeks at home and
had our visit too .I am
glad we went while Father
was living . I am sure
if he told Mother about it
she would be pleased
that you could go. It
seems so different to me
about Mother since Father
too went to heaven , It seems
as though it is all right now
and that they are waiting
together "blessedly content."
until "the children" come.
My mind goes back
today twenty two years to
the first time I left
home to come to China.
Do you remember that

morning after you had
helped me to get everything
ready you came into the
North bedroom and said
"Dont you think you will
ever come home?-" and
I said "I dont suppose I
ever shall" so I made
it as hard for us both as
it possibly could be . But
I really thought so I remember
that I thought then if there
was any period of time
twenty or even thirty years
that I could look forward
to and think that when
the end came I would
go home it would seem
so much easier to come
away . And now twenty-two
years have passed and
I have been home
twice . and now it seems

so different so much easier
to go home . Mr Simmons
paid only $100.00 each
for their steamer tickets
to San Francisco and I
think by the Northern Pacific
route it is still cheaper .
And perhaps it may in
time be still less so that
now it is quite possible for
us to save enough to pay
expenses home and when
I first came out it would
have seemed almost
impossible . How I wish
you could all be here for
a little while . We have
only one day more and
then we must go back
to busy Canton . This is
Tuesday and school reopens
next Friday . With ever
so much love for you all -
Ever your loving Hattie



中国澳门
1889 年 10 月 28 日
我亲爱的 Em -
我刚刚写信给表兄弟 Harriet 和 Addie。
我从 9 月 16 日开始给他们写信——奥古斯都叔叔去世的那天，
但直到现在才写完信。
那天我也开始写信给你，
但没有写多少。
自从亲爱的叔叔回家，
在天堂里完成了他们的家庭圈子，
已经整整一年了。
似乎他们在那里在一起度过了如此美好的时光。
我很高兴我们在那里一起参观。
从那时起，
两年过去了似乎不太可能。
我希望我们能在家里度过那几个星期，
也能去拜访一下。
我很高兴我们在父亲活着的时候去了。
我敢肯定，
如果他把这件事告诉妈妈，
她会很高兴你能去的。
自从父亲也去了天堂以来，
我对母亲的看法似乎如此不同，
现在似乎一切都好，
他们正在“幸福地满足”在一起等待。
直到“孩子们”来了。
我的思绪回到了二十二年后的今天，
我第一次离家来到中国。
你还记得那天早上你帮我准备好一切后，
你走进北卧室说“你不认为你会回家吗？-”我说“我不认为我会”所以我做了对我们俩来说都很难。
但我真的是这么想的，
所以我记得当时我想，
如果有二十年甚至三十年的时间我可以期待，
并且认为当结束时我会回家，
离开似乎会容易得多。
而现在二十二年过去了，
我已经两次回家了。
而现在，
回家似乎变得如此不同了。
Simmons 先生每人只付了 100.00 美元就买了他们去旧金山的轮船票，
我认为北太平洋航线仍然更便宜。
也许 时间可能会更少 ，
所以现在我们很有可能存够足够的钱来支付家里的开支，
而当我刚出道时，
这似乎几乎是不可能的。
我多么希望你们能在这里待一会儿。
我们只剩下一天了，
然后我们必须回到繁忙的广州。
这是星期二，
下星期五学校重新开学。
永远爱你们所有人——永远爱你的海蒂

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