Letter from Mattie to Edward, October 13, 1875

Letter from Mattie to Edward, October 13, 1875

Home; Patent laws and legislation; Imperialism

Mattie writes to her brother Edward to wish him a happy birthday and remark how quickly the years have passed since she left home. The years are passing quickly, and although Henry and Hattie are going home in 9 months, Mattie feels like it is too soon to return for her. She congratulates him on his patent and hopes it becomes very successful. Mattie also talks about worried that the English will come to Canton and whether or not they would have to leave. She assures him she is safe and she isn't too concerned about it.

Kerr, Martha Noyes

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

Unpublished

1875-10-13

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_492

Canton China
Oct 13th /75
My dear Edward
This I must say at
the commencement is in-
tended for a birthday letter
although it does not bear date
of Sept 30th I did begin one
the eve after but was feel-
ing rather tired and Hattie
took it upon herself to advise
me to go to bed which I did
in a spirit of dutiful obe-
dience and the result is the
letter reamins in its un-
finished state until this
present time so I have con-
cluded it is best to begin
another hoping that late is
better than never. You see

are like George Washington can
not tell a lie but I did think
of you ever so much on
your birthday and hope this
year may be one of great
usefulness and blessing to my
dear brother. The years seem
to fly so fast on this side of
the world we hardly take note
of them but by their departure
It is almost two years since
I bid you good bye at Cleveland
and I have often said to Hattie
if I were going home with
her it would seem as though
I had hardly been away. But
sometimes I long to see the
dear ones if it could be done
have been at home in spirit
this week almost constantly as
every event of this time two years
ago stands out as clearly in
memory as if it had been yester-
day. They speak in almost

every letter of your machine
and I am so glad it is now
ready for the pattent. Should
think you would feel as if you
had lost something when it
is fairly finished. Every account
speaks of it as likely to prove a
success and I feel so rejoiced
that you could keep at it until
it was completed, sometimes
felt afraid you might be temp-
ted to give it up for I know it
has been a great deal of work
We only count 9 months now
until Henry and Hattie leave
and I feel a little as Father did
before I left America I am rea-
dy to say good bye when the time
comes / I have begun taking
lessons in taking accounts
and think I can make it go
though I do not advise the
business as Hattie does. Our
thoughts lately have been filled

up with the state of affairs be-
tween England and China and
we did not know but we would
be driven out of Canton to take
refuge in Hong Kong or Japan
in case war was declared but
things have come to a sort of
settlement for the present though
as yet it is but a compromize
The Chinese will do nothing
until pushed into it though in
this case it seems as though Eng-
land courted war rather than
attempted to avoid it. There has
been considerable excitement
in the winds of the Chinese
but it is hard for them to get
hold of real facts as their papers
are not extensively circulated
In this matter it is well it is
so. I can not bear to think of
such a nation as England bring
her armies over to fight with
this poor heathen people. What

[Continued vertically on the first page]
ever you may read in the papers about it do not feel
concerned about us as we would be safe. I do not im-
agine there is immediate danger of trouble at any rate.
I hope you were
able to get your
Sabbath School li-
brary changed so
the children can
have new books
It was nice you
had a visit from
cousin George
and Cordelia
I suppose Cous-
in Maria did
not stop in
Ohio this year
Well I must
say good night
May my dear
brother have
many happy
useful years added
added to his life is the wish of his loving sister
Mattie



中国广州
1875年10月13日
我亲爱的爱德华 我必须在毕业典礼上说这是一封生日信，
虽然它没有注明日期为 9 月 30 日，
但我确实在之后的前夜开始了一封，
但感觉很累，
海蒂接受了她自己建议我上床睡觉，
我本着尽职尽责的精神这样做，
结果这封信一直处于未完成的状态，
直到现在，
所以我得出结论最好开始另一个，
希望迟到总比绝不。
你看就像乔治华盛顿不能说谎，
但我确实在你生日那天想起了你，
希望今年对我亲爱的兄弟有很大的用处和祝福。
在世界的这一边，
岁月似乎过得如此之快，
我们几乎没有注意到他们，
但他们离开了。
自从我在克利夫兰向你告别已经快两年了，
我经常对海蒂说，
如果我要和她一起回家好像我几乎没有离开过。
但有时我渴望见到亲爱的人们，
如果可以做到的话，
这周几乎一直都在家里，
因为两年前这个时候的每一件事都像昨天一样清晰地在记忆中突出。
他们几乎在你机器的每一个字母中都说话，
我很高兴它现在已经准备好申请专利了。
应该认为当它完成时你会觉得好像你失去了一些东西。
每个帐户都说它很可能证明是成功的，
我很高兴你可以一直坚持到它完成，
有时害怕你可能会想放弃它，
因为我知道这是很多工作 我们现在只算 9 个月，
直到亨利和海蒂离开，
我感觉有点像父亲在我离开美国之前所做的那样我准备好在时机成熟时说再见/我已经开始学习会计课程并认为我可以做到尽管我不像海蒂那样为企业提供建议。
最近我们的思绪被英国和中国之间的事态填满，
我们不知道，
但我们会被赶出广州避难到香港或日本，
以防宣战，
但事情已经发展到了虽然目前还只是一种妥协，
但中国人不会采取任何行动，
除非被推入其中，
尽管在这种情况下，
英国似乎在寻求战争而不是试图避免战争。
中国人的风里有相当大的兴奋，
但他们很难掌握真实的事实，
因为他们的论文没有广泛传播。
在这件事上，
它是这样的。
我不忍心想到英国这样的国家带着她的军队来与这些可怜的异教徒作战。
你可能在报纸上读到的[在第一页垂直续]的内容并不担心我们，
因为我们会很安全。
无论如何，
我不认为会有直接的麻烦危险。
我希望你能改变你的安息日学图书馆，
这样孩子们就可以有新书了 很高兴你有乔治和科迪莉亚表弟的来访 我想玛丽亚表妹今年没有在俄亥俄州停留 好吧，
我必须说晚安，
愿我的亲爱的兄弟有许多快乐有用的岁月为他的生活增添了许多快乐的妹妹Mattie的愿望

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