Letter from Harriet to Dear Ones at Home, April 19

Letter from Harriet to Dear Ones at Home, April 19

Hymns; Sermons; Sunday; Language transfer (Language learning); Missionaries

This is a letter from early in Harriet's time in China. She remarks on the people they have lost in their family, Cynthia and Hannah. Although she knows they are well and in heaven, she misses them dearly. She also misses the family at home, especially her father. Because it is Sunday, she sang a bit at the service, but people look at her oddly. She does not know Chinese yet, and cannot sing to her scholars in Chinese. She spent some time with women in the village Henry took her to, but they had a hard time understanding each other. She is currently in charge of a little boy names Alfred Turner and a young kitten and both are turning out to be a lot of work.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #5

Unpublished

????-04-19

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English); chi (b) (Chinese)

Text

noyes_c_cor_478

[Note: Mifsion is transcribed as mission]
Canton April 19th
[u]Dear ones at Home[/u]
It is nearly twelve
-o-clock Sabbath night but I feel like
writing a few lines . Now while I am writing
I can feel almost [u]sure[/u] that you are seated
in one dear church at home listening to
Father or perhaps singing one of the dear
old tunes we used to sing. How I would
love again to unite my voice with yours it
is always so pleasant to think of our choir.
[u]how much[/u] I have enjoyed singing with
them in days whose [u]memory[/u] is [u]so precious[/u].
After we came home from our meeting this eve
we have been talking for hours of the
past and of our [u]darling ones[/u] in heaven.
It is pleasant to think of them as forever at
rest one sleeping so peacefully here beside
missionary associates in the heathen land
for whose salvation her [u]life[/u] was so freely
given and what missionary laborer has [u]Ever[/u]
done [u]more[/u]. the other laid to rest in our
own quiet cemetery at home. They are [u]so
happy[/u] + yet [u]how much[/u] we miss them, and
in our weakness sometimes it seems as though
the [u]yearning[/u] to see them once more [u]could
not be repressed[/u]. Although I never saw
our [u]darling Cynthia[/u] her I miss her [u]every
where[/u], and Hannah [u]dear precious Hannah[/u]
how much we loved them but God has
taken them and we are left to labor on
but we can look up from our darkened
path-way and think that in heaven
our angel sisters are waiting for us. If
we can only live so that we may hope
that at last we may all "Gather at the River"
where "God shall wipe away all the tears from
[u]death[/u]" and the pangs of separation will
never more be felt. It has been a lovely
Sabbath day this morning seemed so balmy
and everything looked so bright I told
Henry it seemed almost like a Sabbath
morning at [u]home[/u]. I often think of the lines
If [u]so much liveliness is sent[/u].
To grace our earthly home
How [u]beautiful how beautiful[/u]
Must be the world to come"
To-day I spent some time singing with
my little chinese scholars sung "There
is a happy land", "Happy Day" etc Of
course I cannot sing them in Chinese so

so I sing the English words while they sing
the Chinese . Doubtless our music would
sound very strangely to you but I always
think when we are singing together +
it is such a pleasant thought that if
we only sing from the heart it is just as
acceptable to [--him--] our heavenly Father for with him there is no
"unknown tongue." Every Sabbath afternoon
there is a service at the rear of the house in
the chapel conducted by the native
assistants + usually not very well attended
+ Henry thought if we would go down +
sing + play on the melodeon perhaps more
would come in . we did so this PM for
the first time + were very successful.
Of course the first thing is to get an audience
and I would be so glad if we could
always have a good success but I fear
it is the charm of novelty that will soon
be gone . We sung first, "My heavenly
home is bright + fair ." I shall [u]never[/u] sing
that under any circumstances at any
time or place without thinking of my [u]dear
Father[/u]. They seemed to be quite curious
and gather quite close around the
instrument. One man planted himself
close to me + leaning on his hands stared
at me just as we would scrutinize a picture
or piece of furniture . At first when I saw
him I could hardly keep from smiling
but when I turned a little and saw the
crowd of dusky faces gathered around
me + realized their sad [u]sad[/u] condition
my eyes filled with tears for it seems so
hopeless to think that many of this generation
will find the way of life . During the
service a Chinaman walked up to the
front seat on which I was sitting + standing
so near that I could easily have touched
him with my hand stared at me most
intensl[--e--]y for about ten minutes + then
deliberately turned + walked away. At
first I had a mind to look at him + try
to make him understand that I did not
like to have him do so but finally took
no notice of it + let him draw what
conclusions he pleased from his
observations . They seemed to pay very
good attention however + we will hope
+ pray that some of the good seed sown
may spring up and bring forth fruit
though to our weak faith the time seems
far very far distant when "this people shall

[--people--] shall bow to the scepter of King
Immanuel." This has been a very happy
day to me. I always think so much about
you all in the Sabbath and this is the
first Sabbath since I landed in China
that I could think of you without [u]so
much anxiety[/u]. I feel as though such
a load had been lifted from my
heart since your last letters came +
I trust that I am truly thankful to the
"Giver of every good + perfect gift" - our
heavenly Father "who careth for us."
April. 27th
When I commenced this
sheet I thought I would try and write
a little every day, but more than a
week has passed since I laid down my
pen and nothing has been written.
Yesterday was a lovely Sabbath day
I always think of you nearly all day
Sunday more than any other day
and if you think of me Saturday
night when it is Sabbath morning ^here you
may feel [u]perfectly sure[/u] that I am
thinking of you. Last Monday I
went with Henry out to one of the
villages where there is a school. I did
not get out of the boat but a large crowd
of women + children gathered on the
shore and tried to talk with me.
The next day we went again and
an hour or two we kept up a pretty lively
conversation although I fear very little
was [u]understood[/u] on either side.
I managed to tell them that I came
from America where I had a Father + Mother
2 brothers + five sisters. They would tell me
the Chinese names of things + I would
think "very funny." They wanted to take
my rings but I told them no "pung you
pa kwo ugo," friends gave them me. I
would not have felt very safe in trusting
them in their hands. I let them

take my hat however which after
examining they pronounced "ho"(good)
They do not wear any hats except some
times very large ones 2 feet or so in diameter
to keep sun or rain off. It looks veyr
strange to see them in the streets with
their heads bare the men's being so very
bare as they are shared all over except
a place on the back three or four inches
in diameter . It seems very funny
to see them start off to go to Hongkong
or Macao 100 miles away [u]bare headed[/u].
This PM we are going up to the same
village again. How much I wish
that I could talk with them as I
would like to. Little Alfred Turner
I believe I mentioned him in my last
is still with us has been here almost
a month and has been an "[u]immense[/u]"
charge. The first week he took [u]all[/u] my
time nearly but since then I have
let Amah take care of him some of
the time. One day last week he was
quite sick and I was quite alarmed lest he
was going to have an attack of dysentery +
we sent for the Doctor but before he came
he had a vomiting spell and was
so much better that the Dr did not think
it necessary to give him any medicine.
We are very glad to take care of him a
while but I shall be [u]delighted[/u] when his
folks want him to come home. Mrs Anderson
gave us a little kitten a day or two ago
and it is so frightened or homesick or
something ^Else that it cries incessantly day
+ night Henry laughs at me a good
deal and think two such charges at
once are almost too much. I got up
before five this morning + labored in rain
for a long time to persuade the kitten to
take some nourishment as it had not
tasted food since it came and I began
to fear it would die of starvation before

广东4月19日
亲爱的家人，
尽管周日快午夜了，
我还是想给你写信。
在我写这封信，
我猜你们都在教堂里，
听爸爸传教，
或者唱一首很熟悉的赞美歌。
/
我很想再次和你一起唱歌，
我想念我们的小合唱团。
我有在我们的小合唱团唱歌留下的珍贵回忆。
/
今晚我们开完会回家后，
我们一直在谈论过去
和我们亲爱的逝去的亲人。
每当我想到
那些在这里死去并埋葬
在这片异国他乡的传教士，
我很高兴，
因为他们现在正在天堂安息。
我也在想我们亲爱的，
他葬在我们家的墓地。
我知道他们在天堂很幸福，
但我们非常想念他们，
不得不渴望再次见到他们。
尽管我没见过亲爱的Cynthia，
我仍然非常想念她，
我也很想念Hannah嫂子。
我们爱他们，
但现在他们与上帝同在，
我们必须继续前进，
当我们难过时，
我们要记得我们的姐妹们在天堂等着我们。
我们兴奋地等待
我们终于"在河边相聚“，
“神要擦去他们一切眼泪”
我们再也不会
感受到分离的悲伤。
这个安息日的早晨好亮，
天气温和，
我告诉Henry感觉就像在家的安息日早晨。
我经常想起这句话：
如果这个世界如此有爱，
想象一下天堂会多有爱。
今天我跟
中国小学生【女孩们】
一起唱
《有一片幸福的土地》
和《快乐的一天》。
因为我当然不会用中文唱，

所以我用英文唱歌，
而女孩们同时用中文唱。
当然,
我们的声音很奇怪，
但我们如此热情地唱歌，
这一定是取悦上帝的，
因为对他来说所有的语言不是相同的。
每个安息日下午
家里的小教堂有礼拜。
中国基督徒主持礼拜
但是没有很多人去礼拜。
Henry推荐我去礼拜
边唱歌边拉手风琴
所以会有更多的人来。
今天是我们第一次尝试，他的计划成功了。
也许人们来是因为手风琴是新事物。
我希望他们以后不会对此感到无聊。
我们先唱
《我天上的家明亮而美丽》。
那首赞美歌
总让我想起
我亲爱的父亲。
/
观众对我的手风琴很好奇，
他们聚集在我身边。
一个男人坐在我旁边，
非常仔细地打量着我。
起初我忍不住对围在我身边的人群微笑
但后来我看着坐在小教堂里的所有人
和他们黝黑的脸庞，
我心疼他们和他们悲伤的状况，
我的眼里充满了泪水
因为我想到
这一代中少有
会成为基督徒。
在礼拜期间，
一位中国人走到我面前，
站得离我很近，
他仔细打量了我将近十分钟，
然后转身走开了。
一开始，
我想告诉他，
我不喜欢他盯着我看，
但后来我决定不理他，
允许他继续观察。
/
/
看起来上观众非常注意礼拜仪式，
我们希望
以后新人能更经常地
参加我们的礼拜，
并最终信仰基督教。
当中国人都信仰基督教时，就会如圣经所说：


“耶稣来到，万民都必归顺”。
这一天过得很开心。
每个安息日
都很想你门，
自从来到中国，
我从没有过一个安息日而不想念你门。
自从你的上一些信到了，
我就放心了。
我希望
你门会感谢上帝
给我们这么多的祝福
和照顾我们
4月27日
开始写这封信的时候，
本来打算每天写一点的，
但是现在，
一周过去了，
我什么都没写。
昨天过了美好的安息日。
安息日我比任何一天都想念你。
/
如果你们在星期六晚上想我，
你可以肯定我会在星期天早上想你们。
/
上周一
我陪Henry去看
小镇的学校，
虽然我没有下船，
但许多妇女和儿童聚集在岸边，
试图和我说话。
第二天，我们又去了，
我们与人交谈了很长时间，
但我认为他们不了解我们，
我们也不了解他们。
我艰难地告诉他们我来自美国，
我有父亲，母亲，
两个兄弟，和五个姐妹。
他们告诉我
事物的中文名称。
他们想拿着我的戒指，
可是我用中文告诉他们，
“不给，这是朋友给的”。
然而，我确实允许他们

拿着我的帽子，
他们发音为“好”。
中国人不习惯戴帽子，
但是下雨天或者天很亮的时候，
他们戴的帽子很宽，叫做斗笠。
我仍然不习惯在街上看到男人光着头，
尤其是
男人的头除了后面的辫子前面都是光的。
/
我很不习惯
看到男人长途跋涉不戴帽子。
/
今天下午我们会再次去小镇。
我真希望我能和他们
流利地交谈。
我相信我在上一封信中提到了
Alfred Turner小男孩
他和我们住在一起快一个月了，
照顾他需要很多时间。
第一周，
我把所有的时间都花在照顾他上，
从那以后我让保姆照顾他一些时间。
上周，他的胃非常不舒服，
我很担心他会得痢疾
所以我请医生来，
但是，
在医生到来之前
Alfie就吐了，
感觉好多了，
所以医生觉得没必要给他吃药。
虽然我们不介意在他父母不在的时候照顾他，
但当他们回来接他时我们会很高兴。
前几天Anderson太太
给了我们一只小猫咪，
不知道猫是害怕了还是想家了，
但它却哭了一天一夜。
Henry经常笑我，
因为这两件小事我管不了。
今天早上5点起床，
我试着让小猫咪吃饭，
真怕它饿死。
/
/

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