Letter from Martha to Clara
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Martha to Clara
Subject
Death; Heart failure; Grief; Physicians
Description
Martha writes to Clara about Edward and hopes that he will get better soon. She thinks about her father's death, the memorial, and his heart condition. She talks about Henry and Olivia and where they may end up staying.
Creator
Kerr, Martha Noyes
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #5
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
Unknown
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_527
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
My dear Clara,
The home letters
came this morning and ours
must go tomorrow morning
The mail before the last
you wrote that you had no
letters. They must have
missed the steamer in Hong
Kong for we have never
failed to write. I am [u] so [/u]
[u] anxious [/u] about Edward. Oh
I do hope the medicine he
got from Dr Bigham has
helped him. Do not think
he has been out of my
mind a moment since
the letters came. Oh how
could we spare him our
precious brother. May our
loving Father spare us that
trial. I almost dread to get
letters lest they contain bad
news. And yet it is better to
know, an intense relief to be
assured you will write the
truth. I do not feel anxious
to see Miss --- Would rather
dread the judgement that would
be passed upon her by the
Canton Mission. Yet it would
seem rather unnatural for
her to reach her field without
getting a glimpse her.
Pride of family and place
are not dead yet in this indi
vidual and I would not wish
to have unpleasant com
ments passed upon ---
well you will know all I
mean. The lines that our
dear Father wrote do seem a
little sad but he did have
such a strong love of life and
he loved us all so much it was
not strange these verses were
written thus. Just think he wrote
them the year after I first came
to China and lived 15 years longer
His going home will always
seem beautiful to me. The Dr
says that fluid in his heart
had been accumulating for
years and if he had not had the
quiet even temperament that
he possessed he would have
died long ago. I do not suppose
he had pleurisy at all, it was
nature giving way under this
condition. The Memorial will
be a great comfort to us. You
did not have Mr Ellots remarks
put in did you? There is a
reaching out for more. If some
of the older ministers had been
there they could have given
more items in regard to his work
and influence among his brethren
in the ministry. But in any
case no one could do him justice
There is not power enough in the
English language to do that
Only God himself could fully
understand such a character as
his. And to think he gave us such
a father. Is it not delightful to
realize it. How he has blessed
us in our relatives. Henry is
one of the best of ministers, and
we each one have had a good
work to do. Then Dr Kerr is so
good and I love Olivia so
much. Everyone almost is
hinting or openly inquiring
why she and Henry do not
remain here. Dr Wales was
down here yesterday and he
told Olivia that Dr Swan
could never take charge of the
hospital and said Why dont
you stay here with your father
But it seems now as if it will
be better for us to remember
the verse "It is your strength
to sit still" If it is Gods
plan they should come he
will make it plain. There
is one thing about it, his coming
would throw the hospital into
the hands of one family and
[Continued vertically on the first page]
Envelope by the morning mail lest you should not
get it [--this--] [--afternoon--] if we waited until afternoon
How I wish I
could see you
all Do take
the best of care
of yourself, and
each one remem
ber that we are
loving for each
other as well as
ourselves.
With much love
Sister Martha
The Dr always
send his love
亲爱的克拉拉，
家里的信今天早上来了，
我们明天早上必须去。
你写的最后一封信之前的邮件说你没有信。
他们一定错过了香港的轮船，
因为我们从来没有写过。
我很担心爱德华。
哦，
我真希望他从比格姆医生那里得到的药对他有所帮助。
不要以为自从来信后他就已经不在我的脑海里了。
哦，
我们怎么能饶过他我们宝贵的兄弟。
愿我们慈爱的天父免除我们的考验。
我几乎害怕收到信件，
以免它们包含坏消息。
然而，
最好知道，
确保你会写下真相，
这是一种强烈的解脱。
我不急于见到小姐—— 宁愿害怕广州使团对她作出的判决。
然而，
她不看一眼就到达她的领域似乎很不自然。
在这个人身上，
家庭和地方的骄傲还没有消亡，
我不希望有不愉快的评论传递——好吧，
你会明白我的意思的。
我们亲爱的父亲写的台词确实有点悲伤，
但他确实对生命有如此强烈的热爱，
他如此爱我们所有人，
所以这些诗句写成这样并不奇怪。
想想他是在我第一次来中国后的那一年写的，
他又活了 15 年。
他回家对我来说总是美好的。
医生说他的心脏积液多年，
如果不是他拥有的相当平和的性情，
他早就死了。
我不认为他有胸膜炎，
这是自然在这种情况下让位。
纪念馆会给我们很大的安慰。
你没有把Ellots先生的话放进去吧？有更多的接触。
如果有一些年长的传道人在场，
他们本可以提供更多关于他的工作和在传道弟兄中的影响力的项目。
但无论如何，
没有人可以为他伸张正义。
英语中没有足够的力量来做到这一点，
只有上帝自己才能完全理解他这样的性格。
想想他给了我们这样一个父亲。
意识到它是不是很愉快。
他如何在我们的亲戚中祝福我们。
亨利是最优秀的部长之一，
我们每个人都有出色的工作要做。
然后克尔医生太好了，
我非常爱奥利维亚。
每个人几乎都在暗示或公开询问她和亨利为什么不留在这里。
威尔士医生昨天在这里，
他告诉奥利维亚斯旺医生永远不能负责医院，
并说你为什么不和你父亲待在这里但是现在似乎我们最好记住这句诗“这是你的力量静坐”如果这是上帝的计划，
他们应该来，
他会说清楚的。
有一件事，
他的到来会将医院交给一个家庭，
[第一页垂直续] 早上邮寄的信封，
以免我们等到下午才收到，
我多么希望我能看到你们都一定要好好照顾自己，
每个人都记得我们彼此相爱，
也爱自己。
充满爱 玛莎修女
医生总是送他的爱
The home letters
came this morning and ours
must go tomorrow morning
The mail before the last
you wrote that you had no
letters. They must have
missed the steamer in Hong
Kong for we have never
failed to write. I am [u] so [/u]
[u] anxious [/u] about Edward. Oh
I do hope the medicine he
got from Dr Bigham has
helped him. Do not think
he has been out of my
mind a moment since
the letters came. Oh how
could we spare him our
precious brother. May our
loving Father spare us that
trial. I almost dread to get
letters lest they contain bad
news. And yet it is better to
know, an intense relief to be
assured you will write the
truth. I do not feel anxious
to see Miss --- Would rather
dread the judgement that would
be passed upon her by the
Canton Mission. Yet it would
seem rather unnatural for
her to reach her field without
getting a glimpse her.
Pride of family and place
are not dead yet in this indi
vidual and I would not wish
to have unpleasant com
ments passed upon ---
well you will know all I
mean. The lines that our
dear Father wrote do seem a
little sad but he did have
such a strong love of life and
he loved us all so much it was
not strange these verses were
written thus. Just think he wrote
them the year after I first came
to China and lived 15 years longer
His going home will always
seem beautiful to me. The Dr
says that fluid in his heart
had been accumulating for
years and if he had not had the
quiet even temperament that
he possessed he would have
died long ago. I do not suppose
he had pleurisy at all, it was
nature giving way under this
condition. The Memorial will
be a great comfort to us. You
did not have Mr Ellots remarks
put in did you? There is a
reaching out for more. If some
of the older ministers had been
there they could have given
more items in regard to his work
and influence among his brethren
in the ministry. But in any
case no one could do him justice
There is not power enough in the
English language to do that
Only God himself could fully
understand such a character as
his. And to think he gave us such
a father. Is it not delightful to
realize it. How he has blessed
us in our relatives. Henry is
one of the best of ministers, and
we each one have had a good
work to do. Then Dr Kerr is so
good and I love Olivia so
much. Everyone almost is
hinting or openly inquiring
why she and Henry do not
remain here. Dr Wales was
down here yesterday and he
told Olivia that Dr Swan
could never take charge of the
hospital and said Why dont
you stay here with your father
But it seems now as if it will
be better for us to remember
the verse "It is your strength
to sit still" If it is Gods
plan they should come he
will make it plain. There
is one thing about it, his coming
would throw the hospital into
the hands of one family and
[Continued vertically on the first page]
Envelope by the morning mail lest you should not
get it [--this--] [--afternoon--] if we waited until afternoon
How I wish I
could see you
all Do take
the best of care
of yourself, and
each one remem
ber that we are
loving for each
other as well as
ourselves.
With much love
Sister Martha
The Dr always
send his love
亲爱的克拉拉，
家里的信今天早上来了，
我们明天早上必须去。
你写的最后一封信之前的邮件说你没有信。
他们一定错过了香港的轮船，
因为我们从来没有写过。
我很担心爱德华。
哦，
我真希望他从比格姆医生那里得到的药对他有所帮助。
不要以为自从来信后他就已经不在我的脑海里了。
哦，
我们怎么能饶过他我们宝贵的兄弟。
愿我们慈爱的天父免除我们的考验。
我几乎害怕收到信件，
以免它们包含坏消息。
然而，
最好知道，
确保你会写下真相，
这是一种强烈的解脱。
我不急于见到小姐—— 宁愿害怕广州使团对她作出的判决。
然而，
她不看一眼就到达她的领域似乎很不自然。
在这个人身上，
家庭和地方的骄傲还没有消亡，
我不希望有不愉快的评论传递——好吧，
你会明白我的意思的。
我们亲爱的父亲写的台词确实有点悲伤，
但他确实对生命有如此强烈的热爱，
他如此爱我们所有人，
所以这些诗句写成这样并不奇怪。
想想他是在我第一次来中国后的那一年写的，
他又活了 15 年。
他回家对我来说总是美好的。
医生说他的心脏积液多年，
如果不是他拥有的相当平和的性情，
他早就死了。
我不认为他有胸膜炎，
这是自然在这种情况下让位。
纪念馆会给我们很大的安慰。
你没有把Ellots先生的话放进去吧？有更多的接触。
如果有一些年长的传道人在场，
他们本可以提供更多关于他的工作和在传道弟兄中的影响力的项目。
但无论如何，
没有人可以为他伸张正义。
英语中没有足够的力量来做到这一点，
只有上帝自己才能完全理解他这样的性格。
想想他给了我们这样一个父亲。
意识到它是不是很愉快。
他如何在我们的亲戚中祝福我们。
亨利是最优秀的部长之一，
我们每个人都有出色的工作要做。
然后克尔医生太好了，
我非常爱奥利维亚。
每个人几乎都在暗示或公开询问她和亨利为什么不留在这里。
威尔士医生昨天在这里，
他告诉奥利维亚斯旺医生永远不能负责医院，
并说你为什么不和你父亲待在这里但是现在似乎我们最好记住这句诗“这是你的力量静坐”如果这是上帝的计划，
他们应该来，
他会说清楚的。
有一件事，
他的到来会将医院交给一个家庭，
[第一页垂直续] 早上邮寄的信封，
以免我们等到下午才收到，
我多么希望我能看到你们都一定要好好照顾自己，
每个人都记得我们彼此相爱，
也爱自己。
充满爱 玛莎修女
医生总是送他的爱
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Kerr, Martha Noyes, “Letter from Martha to Clara,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 18, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/584.