Letter from Hattie to Em, August 7, 1904

Letter from Hattie to Em, August 7, 1904

Death; Grief; Burial; Cemeteries; Second Advent; Heaven

In this letter to her sister Emily, Harriet is thinking a lot about death and burial after Richard. She believes there is sentimental value in where someone is buried, but ultimately the Lord will come back and raise everyone up from their graves anyway. She can't decide if she would rather be buried in Canton or Ohio but says she will leave it up to God to decide. Before Richard died, she was saving money to give him for his trip home. Instead, she gave the money to Henry and Bella and they are putting it toward the school.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1904-08-07

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

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eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_468

Yeung Kong
Aug 7th 1904.
My dear Em -
It is a lovely Sabbath
morning here with you it is still
the eve[--n--]ning of Aug 6th. I have
just been reading over the letter
you wrote in the evening of Nov 18
Clara was practicing and Mary
looking at the photo of our "[u]home[/u]"
in the cemetery. Yes as you say
that will be our [u]home[/u] until the
resurrection. and then how gladly
we shall rise again. Since Richard
was laid to rest here it seems as though
we have two such homes and I
can hardly tell which place I
would rather be laid . I am quite
ready to leave it to the Lord to
decide for me and He will do so.
The last ^resting place of our bodies seems
very dear and sacred to me. but
I imagine when [u]we[/u] are together
in heaven China and America will
not seem very far apart. As I have
written wherever I may find my
last resting place I wish very
much to have a marker like
Edward's in Mound Hill Cemetery.

I am [u]so very glad[/u] that you
had the picture taken from
the side that you did so that
we are looking towards [u]home[/u]
I can imagine the dear old
home behind the trees. I do not know
whether I ever answered your
thanksgiving letter. there were
only three in the home I am
glad that you could write,
that although you were lonely
you were not unhappy. I think
we ought [u]never[/u] to be [u]unhappy[/u]
we have so much to make us happy
so [u]much more[/u] than many have
and the [u]very best[/u]. so much [?treasures?]
laid up in heaven [u]safe[/u] forever -
in our other home. It does
seem very [u]real[/u] our other [u]home[/u]
with so many of the family circle
already there. It seems as natural
to think of going there as of going
back to America and more
certain. and in God's own good
time we are [u]sure[/u] of a metting
there with all whom we love best
here . Is not this a thought
"To brighten cloudy days." ?

The [u]home on the hill[/u] is the
only place in the world that
will ever seem like [u]home[/u]
to me and the cemetery there
different from any other place.
It seems so quiet and restful
there. When the time comes and
we are "caught up together
with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air",
no place will seem far away.
As Dr [illegible] said the
barren hillside here is just as
near to heaven as America.
But he felt very unreconciled
to being laid here. I am so
glad Richard did not feel
so. It does not seem as barren
and dreary there now and
when it is enclosed I hope
it will seem pleasant. the
country around is beautiful
in summer waving feathery
bamboos growing all about
on the hillsides and a
little way off the White
Cloud Hills to the North

and the Pearl River South
To the West the city and
East the rolling country.
Martha wrote once that she
feared Dr Kerr's monument was
too heavy and might settle
but I do not think it ever can
such a good foundation
was made .I was going
to give Richard a hundred dollars
in silver $30.00 when he went home
and for months had been picking
out bright new twenty cent pieces
until I had five hundred all
new pieces .I almost wish I
had given them to him but I
thought I would wait until
he was ready to go home. After
he was good I wanted still to feel
that they were given to him so I
carried them over and gave
them to Henry + Bella. I said
if they felt like putting it into the monument
I would like it but if not to use it for
something they thought he would like
and Henry said they would get
something for the school. I never
had an opportunity to do much
for the boys, as the rest of you had.
with love Hattie --



Yeung Kong
1904 年 8 月 7 日。
我亲爱的 Em - 这是一个可爱的安息日早晨，
和你在一起仍然是 8 月 6 日的晚上。
我刚刚阅读了你在 11 月 18 日晚上写的那封信，
克拉拉正在练习，
而玛丽正在墓地里看着我们“家”的照片。
是的，
正如你所说，
那将是我们的家，
直到复活。
然后我们会多么高兴地再次站起来。
自从理查德被安葬在这里以来，
我们似乎有两个这样的家，
我很难说我宁愿被安葬在哪个地方。
我已经准备好让主为我做决定，
他会这样做。
我们身体的最后安息之地对我来说似乎非常珍贵和神圣。
但我想当我们在天堂在一起时，
中国和美国似乎不会相距甚远。
正如我所写的，
无论我在哪里可以找到我最后的安息之所，
我都非常希望在芒德山公墓有一个像爱德华一样的标记。
我很高兴你从侧面拍了这张照片，
这样我们就朝着家的方向望去，
我可以想象树后那座可爱的老房子。
我不知道我有没有回过你的感恩信。
家里只有三个我很高兴你能写，
虽然你很孤独，
但你并不不快乐。
我认为我们永远不应该不快乐，
我们拥有比许多人和最好的人更多的东西让我们快乐。
这么多[？宝藏？]永远安全地存放在天堂——在我们的另一个家。
我们的另一个家似乎很真实，
那里已经有很多家庭圈子。
想到去那里就像回到美国一样自然，
而且更加确定。
在上帝的美好时光里，
我们肯定会在这里与我们最爱的人会面。
这不就是一个“照亮阴天”的想法吗？ ?山上的家是世界上唯一一个对我来说就像家的地方，
那里的墓地与其他任何地方都不同。
那里显得如此安静和安宁。
到时候，
我们“与他们一同被提到云端，
在空中与主相遇”，
任何地方都不会显得遥不可及。
正如[无法辨认的]医生所说，
这里荒芜的山坡就像美国一样接近天堂。
但他对被放在这里感到很不甘心。
我很高兴理查德没有这么想。
它现在看起来并不那么贫瘠和沉闷，
当它被封闭时，
我希望它看起来很愉快。
周围的乡村在夏天是美丽的，
在山坡上生长着羽毛状的竹子，
北边是白云山，
南边是珠江，
西边是城市，
东边是连绵起伏的乡村。
玛莎曾经写道，
她担心克尔医生的纪念碑太重，
可能会安定下来，
但我认为它永远不会打下这么好的基础。
当他回家时，
我打算给理查德一百美元的银币 30.00 美元，
几个月来一直没有一直在挑选崭新的 20 美分硬币，
直到我有 500 枚全新的硬币。
我几乎希望我把它们给他，
但我想我会等到他准备好回家。
在他好起来之后，
我仍然想感觉到它们是给他的，
所以我把它们拿过来给了亨利和贝拉。
我说如果他们想把它放进纪念碑我会喜欢它，
但如果不把它用于他们认为他会喜欢的东西，
亨利说他们会为学校买点东西。
我从来没有机会像你们其他人那样为男孩们做很多事情。
带着爱的海蒂——

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