Letter from Hattie to Em, July 4, 1870
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Em, July 4, 1870
Subject
Fourth of July; Patriotism; Picnics; Postal service
Description
Harriet writes this letter to her sister, Emily, about the celebrations of the Fourth of July. She praises the United States and its ideals. To celebrate the holiday in Canton, she went on a picnic in the country with some of the other missionaries. After the picnic, they returned for a concert, but more importantly, they were happy to receive mail from home.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1870-07-04
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_040
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
Fourth of July '70.
My darling Em,
It is nearly mid-
night of the "Glorious Fourth" but I
want to write just a few lines
before I go to bed. It is just about
noon with you so if Seville is
as patriotic as of yore the celebration
is in full blast. Some one wrote
last year that Fourth of July celebrations
were rather of a humbug. Perhaps
so but whether you celebrate the Fourth
or not dont forget to be thankful
every day you live that you belong
to USA, where "all men are
created free and equal and have
a right to life liberty and the
pursuit of happiness". But I took
up my pen to tell you how [u]we[/u]
have spent the day. We have been
saying for some time that we must
celebrate the Fourth in some way
so we procured a large boat & this
morning about seven o clock started
off on a sort of picnic excursion
with Messrs Marcellus McChesney
and their wives. We went about
[Note: Written vertically across the second and third pages]
ten or twelve miles into the country & went on shore where
there were some [u]hills[/u] and [u]trees[/u], and enjoyed it very much
although it was very [u]very[/u] hot. Fourth of July comes in
a very warm time of the year here as I remember it
used to sometimes at home. We returned home in the
evening a few minutes before seven having barely time
to get our faces washed before meeting Monthly Concert
which is held in our house. But the best of all the
brightest feature of the day was that it was [u]mail[/u]
day. We hardly dared to hope that it would come
to-day for fear of being disappointed but when we
got back Dr Kerr called to us from his verandah to
give three cheers for the American mail. We could
not tell at first whether he was teasing us or not but finally
prevailed upon him to tell us clearly the facts in the case,
& then were we not glad to find that our letters were
really here and a nice lot there were. But only think
we had to wait until after meeting more than an hour
before we could even break the seals but then what a
feast we had. I am so glad that your eyes seems to
be improving hope that when you get this you will
not only be able to read but answer it it does seem
so long since we have had a letter from you. But dont
try to use your eyes until they are strong enough.
Miss Shaw said to-night in speaking of her letters
that she had'nt been away long enough yet for
her friends to get used to it and forget her but I
told her that did not make any difference for I had
been away from home nearly three years and I know
that you did not forget me & I thought when I came
to read my letters that if she should
see them she would know that I
had sufficient proof to [u]know[/u] that
"We are remembered in our [u]home[/u]".
It was about 1/2 past 11 when we
got through the letters & had glanced
hastily over Cosmos' letters, so do
you not think we have "put in
a day" this time for I was up
this morning at five. I so often
vainly wish that I could get along
with four or five hours sleep in the
24 but it really seems as if if I should
spend 22 hours in sleep. I should
be "very sleepy" the remaining two. I
have plenty of company now however
for the "new missionaries" are just as
sleepy as I am. The paper
cuffs you sent came so nicely I
expect it will encourage me to send
for some more. We can't wear them
in warm weather but I have wanted
them very much the past two winters
The gloves will last me a long time
for I hardly ever have occasion to put
gloves on now that we have the meetings
all in our house. Well this sheet is
filled but as Mr Loomis said of his
last I think it is about as near nothing
as possible. Your [u]own loving[/u] Hattie
中国广州
1870 年 7 月 4 日。
我亲爱的 Em，
现在已经是“光荣第四”的午夜了，
但我想在睡觉前写几行。
你现在正值中午，
所以如果塞维利亚像往日一样爱国，
那么庆祝活动就会如火如荼。
去年有人写道，
7 月 4 日的庆祝活动简直就是骗人的。
也许是这样，
但无论你是否庆祝第四届，
不要忘记感谢你生活的每一天，
因为你属于美国，
“人人生而自由平等，
有权自由生活和追求幸福”。
但是我拿起笔来告诉你我们是如何度过这一天的。
一段时间以来，
我们一直在说我们必须以某种方式庆祝第四次，
所以我们买了一艘大船，
今天早上七点左右开始与马塞勒斯·麦克切斯尼先生和他们的妻子进行一次野餐旅行。
我们走了[注：垂直写在第二页和第三页] 到乡下十到十二英里，
然后在有一些山丘和树木的海岸上行驶，
虽然天气非常炎热，
但非常享受它。
七月四日来到这里是一年中非常温暖的时候，
我记得有时在家里。
晚上七点前几分钟，
我们回到家，
几乎没有时间洗脸，
然后去见在我们家举行的每月音乐会。
但这一天最亮眼的特点是它是邮件日。
我们几乎不敢希望它会在今天到来，
因为害怕失望，
但是当我们回来时，
科尔医生从他的阳台上打电话给我们，
为美国邮件欢呼三声。
起初我们不知道他是不是在逗我们，
但最后说服他把案情告诉我们清楚，
然后我们不高兴地发现我们的信真的在这里，
而且很多。
但想想我们必须等到开会一个多小时后才能打破封印，
但那真是一场盛宴。
我很高兴你的眼睛似乎在改善希望当你得到这个时你不仅能够阅读而且能够回答它似乎很久没有收到你的来信了。
但是，
在它们足够强大之前，
不要尝试使用你的眼睛。
肖小姐今晚在谈到她的信件时说，
她离开的时间还不够长，
她的朋友们还没有习惯并忘记她，
但我告诉她这并没有什么不同，
因为我几乎不在家三年了，
我知道你没有忘记我，
当我来读我的信时，
我想如果她看到这些信，
她就会知道我有足够的证据知道“我们在家里被铭记”。
大约 11 点 1/2 时，
我们看完了这些信件，
匆匆浏览了 Cosmos 的信件，
所以你认为这次我们没有“投入一天”，
因为我今天早上五点就起床了。
我经常徒劳地希望我能在 24 小时内睡四五个小时，
但似乎我真的应该花 22 小时在睡眠中。
我应该“很困”剩下的两个。
我现在有很多陪伴，
但是“新传教士”和我一样困倦。
你送来的纸袖口真好，
我希望它会鼓励我再送一些。
我们不能在温暖的天气里戴它们，
但我在过去的两个冬天非常想要它们。
手套可以用很长时间，
因为现在我们家里都开会了，
我几乎没有机会戴手套。
好吧，
这张纸已经填满了，
但正如卢米斯先生所说的他的最后一张，
我认为它几乎没有。
你的，
海蒂
Fourth of July '70.
My darling Em,
It is nearly mid-
night of the "Glorious Fourth" but I
want to write just a few lines
before I go to bed. It is just about
noon with you so if Seville is
as patriotic as of yore the celebration
is in full blast. Some one wrote
last year that Fourth of July celebrations
were rather of a humbug. Perhaps
so but whether you celebrate the Fourth
or not dont forget to be thankful
every day you live that you belong
to USA, where "all men are
created free and equal and have
a right to life liberty and the
pursuit of happiness". But I took
up my pen to tell you how [u]we[/u]
have spent the day. We have been
saying for some time that we must
celebrate the Fourth in some way
so we procured a large boat & this
morning about seven o clock started
off on a sort of picnic excursion
with Messrs Marcellus McChesney
and their wives. We went about
[Note: Written vertically across the second and third pages]
ten or twelve miles into the country & went on shore where
there were some [u]hills[/u] and [u]trees[/u], and enjoyed it very much
although it was very [u]very[/u] hot. Fourth of July comes in
a very warm time of the year here as I remember it
used to sometimes at home. We returned home in the
evening a few minutes before seven having barely time
to get our faces washed before meeting Monthly Concert
which is held in our house. But the best of all the
brightest feature of the day was that it was [u]mail[/u]
day. We hardly dared to hope that it would come
to-day for fear of being disappointed but when we
got back Dr Kerr called to us from his verandah to
give three cheers for the American mail. We could
not tell at first whether he was teasing us or not but finally
prevailed upon him to tell us clearly the facts in the case,
& then were we not glad to find that our letters were
really here and a nice lot there were. But only think
we had to wait until after meeting more than an hour
before we could even break the seals but then what a
feast we had. I am so glad that your eyes seems to
be improving hope that when you get this you will
not only be able to read but answer it it does seem
so long since we have had a letter from you. But dont
try to use your eyes until they are strong enough.
Miss Shaw said to-night in speaking of her letters
that she had'nt been away long enough yet for
her friends to get used to it and forget her but I
told her that did not make any difference for I had
been away from home nearly three years and I know
that you did not forget me & I thought when I came
to read my letters that if she should
see them she would know that I
had sufficient proof to [u]know[/u] that
"We are remembered in our [u]home[/u]".
It was about 1/2 past 11 when we
got through the letters & had glanced
hastily over Cosmos' letters, so do
you not think we have "put in
a day" this time for I was up
this morning at five. I so often
vainly wish that I could get along
with four or five hours sleep in the
24 but it really seems as if if I should
spend 22 hours in sleep. I should
be "very sleepy" the remaining two. I
have plenty of company now however
for the "new missionaries" are just as
sleepy as I am. The paper
cuffs you sent came so nicely I
expect it will encourage me to send
for some more. We can't wear them
in warm weather but I have wanted
them very much the past two winters
The gloves will last me a long time
for I hardly ever have occasion to put
gloves on now that we have the meetings
all in our house. Well this sheet is
filled but as Mr Loomis said of his
last I think it is about as near nothing
as possible. Your [u]own loving[/u] Hattie
中国广州
1870 年 7 月 4 日。
我亲爱的 Em，
现在已经是“光荣第四”的午夜了，
但我想在睡觉前写几行。
你现在正值中午，
所以如果塞维利亚像往日一样爱国，
那么庆祝活动就会如火如荼。
去年有人写道，
7 月 4 日的庆祝活动简直就是骗人的。
也许是这样，
但无论你是否庆祝第四届，
不要忘记感谢你生活的每一天，
因为你属于美国，
“人人生而自由平等，
有权自由生活和追求幸福”。
但是我拿起笔来告诉你我们是如何度过这一天的。
一段时间以来，
我们一直在说我们必须以某种方式庆祝第四次，
所以我们买了一艘大船，
今天早上七点左右开始与马塞勒斯·麦克切斯尼先生和他们的妻子进行一次野餐旅行。
我们走了[注：垂直写在第二页和第三页] 到乡下十到十二英里，
然后在有一些山丘和树木的海岸上行驶，
虽然天气非常炎热，
但非常享受它。
七月四日来到这里是一年中非常温暖的时候，
我记得有时在家里。
晚上七点前几分钟，
我们回到家，
几乎没有时间洗脸，
然后去见在我们家举行的每月音乐会。
但这一天最亮眼的特点是它是邮件日。
我们几乎不敢希望它会在今天到来，
因为害怕失望，
但是当我们回来时，
科尔医生从他的阳台上打电话给我们，
为美国邮件欢呼三声。
起初我们不知道他是不是在逗我们，
但最后说服他把案情告诉我们清楚，
然后我们不高兴地发现我们的信真的在这里，
而且很多。
但想想我们必须等到开会一个多小时后才能打破封印，
但那真是一场盛宴。
我很高兴你的眼睛似乎在改善希望当你得到这个时你不仅能够阅读而且能够回答它似乎很久没有收到你的来信了。
但是，
在它们足够强大之前，
不要尝试使用你的眼睛。
肖小姐今晚在谈到她的信件时说，
她离开的时间还不够长，
她的朋友们还没有习惯并忘记她，
但我告诉她这并没有什么不同，
因为我几乎不在家三年了，
我知道你没有忘记我，
当我来读我的信时，
我想如果她看到这些信，
她就会知道我有足够的证据知道“我们在家里被铭记”。
大约 11 点 1/2 时，
我们看完了这些信件，
匆匆浏览了 Cosmos 的信件，
所以你认为这次我们没有“投入一天”，
因为我今天早上五点就起床了。
我经常徒劳地希望我能在 24 小时内睡四五个小时，
但似乎我真的应该花 22 小时在睡眠中。
我应该“很困”剩下的两个。
我现在有很多陪伴，
但是“新传教士”和我一样困倦。
你送来的纸袖口真好，
我希望它会鼓励我再送一些。
我们不能在温暖的天气里戴它们，
但我在过去的两个冬天非常想要它们。
手套可以用很长时间，
因为现在我们家里都开会了，
我几乎没有机会戴手套。
好吧，
这张纸已经填满了，
但正如卢米斯先生所说的他的最后一张，
我认为它几乎没有。
你的，
海蒂
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Em, July 4, 1870,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 16, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/53.