Letter from Mattie
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Mattie
Subject
Visitors, Foreign; Kidnapping; Letter writing
Description
The is a piece of a letter or journal, most likely written by Martha because of her mention of the other siblings. She talks about a visit to a Chinese family's house, which she found very nice. There was a commotion later when the extended family tried to take a young girl away from her mother, but the Noyes intervened and she is now at the school. Mattie writes that the mail is going out soon.
Creator
Kerr, Martha Noyes
Source
Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection
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Unpublished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_581
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
time to get out of the dilemma.
They left just as we were called to
dinner and passed through the dining
room on their way out Henry hap-
pened to be in the parlor and saw
them lifting up the covers of the dishes
to see what these foreigners ate--
This afternoon Hattie and I went out
to visit a Chinese family who are
very wealthy people. They have been
[illegible] us to come to their house ever
since Christmas The house was
the most comfortable one I have seen
since I came to China and seemed
quite cool. These dwellings receive
all their light from a large window
in the top looks a little like some
of our Artist's room at home in that
respect- the walls of brick and floors
red tiles - You always see a row
of arm chairs or if too poor to afford
those stools answer the purpose
there are arranged in two lines against
the walls and when a person goes in it
is the part of etiquette to take one
quite near the door and then your
hostess will invite you up higher
in true bible fashion Of course
the seat farthest from the entrance
is the seat of honor. This room has
besides 2 large easy chairs a fine
mirror and other articles of comfort
The first wife was a nice looking
lady with very small feet and we saw
three other women . Hattie says she
supposes the man is the father of at
least 20 children. 2 little girls are
in one of Her schools and very pretty
children. We drank tea with them
and left as soon as propriety admitted
After we cane home went out to
inspect the school rooms which is
a regular duty of ours and which is
having a good effect upon the pupils
in encourag[--e--]ing habits of neatness
While o[--t]ut there this Ahungs Mother
came rushing out almost frantic
with excitement - she could hardly
speak and waved her hands about in
the most frantic manner - but
the truth was she and her daughter
had started to come over here and
the daughter had been caught by
her Mother in law who was making
off with her. We came into the house
in a hurry you may imagine and
called to Henry who was dressing
in his room that they had got
Ahung. The way he pulled on his stocking
was not very good for them as he tore the
leg from the foot nearly in his haste
jumped into his coat and was in the treet
in a twinkling. The way he run through
the crowd who had not got far was not
slow {tipped over two or three people in the
operation} but could see nothing of the
girl. He told them he heard the[--y--]re had been
a girl stolen oon the street but they said
no no girl had been taken. After looking
about a little he went into Dr Happers
and fount her safe under their protection
It seems this woman had taken or
[?chuked?] her as they call it almost in front
of their fate and she having both hands
held had hacked up against it and
in that way struck against it at the
same time shouting loudly - for help
The cook's wife opened the gate and with
the assistance of one of their coolies and
Mary she was pulled by man's force
into the house and the door shut.
Dr Happer went out and told them
they could not have her until they
got an order for her from the Amer-
ican Consul. They will not be very
anxious to go to law I imagine for
this proceeding is considered an
outrage by the people themselves that is
the Chinese at large. she is now safe
in our school building and I imag
ine they will not get hold of her very
easily. I never saw as frightened a
person as this Mother was I am
sure I shall never forget how she
looked . Do not think we are in the
least danger the parents of the girl
will not dare to come near us. They
thought the girl and her Mother poor
and helpless and they could do as they
liked with them but when foreigners
interfere it is rather a different matter
I can image how surprised
they must be to lose hold upon her so
suddenly.
Monday- We found out Saturday
the mail goes to day do I can add
nothing more this time Hattie has
not time to give her contribution
this time will save it for another
time. I am glad to be able to help
her a little in the letter writing
It is one of our new steamers this
time and she must be making a
quick trip as it is more than a week
earlier than the mail usually
leaves - Is getting very warm
To morrow thew Whiteheads and Miss
Bow go to Hong Kong for a vacation
of a Month. Our letters come this
afternoon I wish we might have
had them on Saturday - Last night
[Note: Writing concludes sideways on 'page one']
after I went to bed heard one of the [illegible] on shawmin
and before I went to sleep listened to [u]America[/u] I lay with
closed eyes fancying it was Edward or Em or Clara at our
our instrument in the dear old parlor and in through I
was there Good morning Henry is waiting for this
是时候摆脱困境了。
他们在我们被叫去吃饭的时候离开了，
在他们出去的路上经过了餐厅，
亨利碰巧在客厅里，
看到他们掀起了盘子的盖子
看看这些外国人吃什么——
今天下午，
海蒂和我出去拜访了一个非常富有的中国家庭。
自圣诞节以来，他们一直 [无法辨认] 我们来他们家。
这房子是我来中国以来见过的最舒服的房子，
看起来很酷。
这些住宅的所有光线都来自顶部的一扇大窗户，
在这方面看起来有点像我们艺术家在家中的一些房间——砖墙和地板红瓦——你总是看到一排扶手椅，
或者如果太穷，
无法买得起这些凳子，
回答目的，
靠墙排列成两排，
当一个人进去时，
礼仪的一部分是在门附近拿一个，
然后你的女主人会以真正的圣经方式邀请你到更高的地方当然是离入口最远的座位是荣誉座位。
这间客房除了 2 张大安乐椅外，
还有精美的镜子和其他舒适物品。
第一任妻子是一位漂亮的女士，
脚很小，
我们看到了另外三个女人。
海蒂说，
她认为这名男子是至少 20 个孩子的父亲。
2 个小女孩就读于她的一所学校和非常漂亮的孩子。
我们和他们喝了茶，一有礼节就离开了。
回家后，
我们出去检查学校的房间，
这是我们的日常职责，
这对鼓励学生养成整洁的习惯起到了很好的作用
就在外面，
这个阿洪的母亲激动得几乎发疯似的冲了出来——她几乎说不出话来，
以最疯狂的方式挥舞着她的手——但是
事实上，
她和她的女儿已经开始来这里了，
女儿被她的婆婆抓住了，
她的婆婆和她一起走。
我们很匆忙地进了屋子，
你可以想象，
打电话给正在他房间里穿衣服的亨利，
他们找到了阿洪。
他穿长袜的方式对他们来说不是很好，
因为他几乎匆忙地把腿从脚上撕了下来
跳进他的外套，
在街上
转眼间。
他穿过的方式
没有走远的人群不是
慢{向两三个人倾斜} 但什么也看不到
女孩。他告诉他们他听说有
一个女孩在街上被偷，
但他们说
没有没有女孩被带走。
看了之后
过了一会儿，他走进了哈珀斯医生
并发现她在他们的保护下安全
看来这个女人已经采取或
几乎在前面扔了她，
就像他们所说的那样
他们的命运，她有双手
举行了反对它，并且
以这种方式在
同时大声喊叫——求救
厨师的妻子打开门，
他们的一名苦力的帮助和
玛丽，她被男人的力量拉着
进屋，关上门。
哈珀医生出去告诉他们
他们不能拥有她，直到他们
从美国领事那里得到了她的命令。他们不会很
急于去法律，我想
该程序被视为
人民自己的愤慨
广大华人。
她现在安全了
在我们的教学楼里，
我想他们不会很容易抓住她。
我从未见过像这位母亲那样害怕的人
当然我永远不会忘记她是如何
看着。不要以为我们有最小的危险，
女孩的父母不敢靠近我们。他们认为女孩和她的母亲贫穷无助，他们可以为所欲为
很喜欢他们，
但是当外国人干涉时，
情况就完全不同了，
我可以想象他们突然失去对她的控制是多么惊讶。
星期一-我们发现星期六
邮件到今天我可以添加吗
这次海蒂没有什么了
没有时间给她贡献
这一次将它保存到另一个
时间。我很高兴能够提供帮助
她在信中写了一点
这是我们的新蒸笼之一
时间，她一定在做一个
一个多星期的快速旅行
通常比邮件早
叶子 - 变得非常温暖
明天怀特黑德和小姐
低头去香港度假
一个月。我们的信来了
下午我希望我们有
周六吃过 - 昨晚
[注：写作在“第一页”结束]
在我上床睡觉后听到沙面岛上的[无法辨认]之一，
在我入睡前听了美国的声音，
我闭着眼睛躺着，
想象那是爱德华或艾姆或克拉拉在我们亲爱的老客厅里的乐器前，
然后通过我早上好，
亨利在等这个
They left just as we were called to
dinner and passed through the dining
room on their way out Henry hap-
pened to be in the parlor and saw
them lifting up the covers of the dishes
to see what these foreigners ate--
This afternoon Hattie and I went out
to visit a Chinese family who are
very wealthy people. They have been
[illegible] us to come to their house ever
since Christmas The house was
the most comfortable one I have seen
since I came to China and seemed
quite cool. These dwellings receive
all their light from a large window
in the top looks a little like some
of our Artist's room at home in that
respect- the walls of brick and floors
red tiles - You always see a row
of arm chairs or if too poor to afford
those stools answer the purpose
there are arranged in two lines against
the walls and when a person goes in it
is the part of etiquette to take one
quite near the door and then your
hostess will invite you up higher
in true bible fashion Of course
the seat farthest from the entrance
is the seat of honor. This room has
besides 2 large easy chairs a fine
mirror and other articles of comfort
The first wife was a nice looking
lady with very small feet and we saw
three other women . Hattie says she
supposes the man is the father of at
least 20 children. 2 little girls are
in one of Her schools and very pretty
children. We drank tea with them
and left as soon as propriety admitted
After we cane home went out to
inspect the school rooms which is
a regular duty of ours and which is
having a good effect upon the pupils
in encourag[--e--]ing habits of neatness
While o[--t]ut there this Ahungs Mother
came rushing out almost frantic
with excitement - she could hardly
speak and waved her hands about in
the most frantic manner - but
the truth was she and her daughter
had started to come over here and
the daughter had been caught by
her Mother in law who was making
off with her. We came into the house
in a hurry you may imagine and
called to Henry who was dressing
in his room that they had got
Ahung. The way he pulled on his stocking
was not very good for them as he tore the
leg from the foot nearly in his haste
jumped into his coat and was in the treet
in a twinkling. The way he run through
the crowd who had not got far was not
slow {tipped over two or three people in the
operation} but could see nothing of the
girl. He told them he heard the[--y--]re had been
a girl stolen oon the street but they said
no no girl had been taken. After looking
about a little he went into Dr Happers
and fount her safe under their protection
It seems this woman had taken or
[?chuked?] her as they call it almost in front
of their fate and she having both hands
held had hacked up against it and
in that way struck against it at the
same time shouting loudly - for help
The cook's wife opened the gate and with
the assistance of one of their coolies and
Mary she was pulled by man's force
into the house and the door shut.
Dr Happer went out and told them
they could not have her until they
got an order for her from the Amer-
ican Consul. They will not be very
anxious to go to law I imagine for
this proceeding is considered an
outrage by the people themselves that is
the Chinese at large. she is now safe
in our school building and I imag
ine they will not get hold of her very
easily. I never saw as frightened a
person as this Mother was I am
sure I shall never forget how she
looked . Do not think we are in the
least danger the parents of the girl
will not dare to come near us. They
thought the girl and her Mother poor
and helpless and they could do as they
liked with them but when foreigners
interfere it is rather a different matter
I can image how surprised
they must be to lose hold upon her so
suddenly.
Monday- We found out Saturday
the mail goes to day do I can add
nothing more this time Hattie has
not time to give her contribution
this time will save it for another
time. I am glad to be able to help
her a little in the letter writing
It is one of our new steamers this
time and she must be making a
quick trip as it is more than a week
earlier than the mail usually
leaves - Is getting very warm
To morrow thew Whiteheads and Miss
Bow go to Hong Kong for a vacation
of a Month. Our letters come this
afternoon I wish we might have
had them on Saturday - Last night
[Note: Writing concludes sideways on 'page one']
after I went to bed heard one of the [illegible] on shawmin
and before I went to sleep listened to [u]America[/u] I lay with
closed eyes fancying it was Edward or Em or Clara at our
our instrument in the dear old parlor and in through I
was there Good morning Henry is waiting for this
是时候摆脱困境了。
他们在我们被叫去吃饭的时候离开了，
在他们出去的路上经过了餐厅，
亨利碰巧在客厅里，
看到他们掀起了盘子的盖子
看看这些外国人吃什么——
今天下午，
海蒂和我出去拜访了一个非常富有的中国家庭。
自圣诞节以来，他们一直 [无法辨认] 我们来他们家。
这房子是我来中国以来见过的最舒服的房子，
看起来很酷。
这些住宅的所有光线都来自顶部的一扇大窗户，
在这方面看起来有点像我们艺术家在家中的一些房间——砖墙和地板红瓦——你总是看到一排扶手椅，
或者如果太穷，
无法买得起这些凳子，
回答目的，
靠墙排列成两排，
当一个人进去时，
礼仪的一部分是在门附近拿一个，
然后你的女主人会以真正的圣经方式邀请你到更高的地方当然是离入口最远的座位是荣誉座位。
这间客房除了 2 张大安乐椅外，
还有精美的镜子和其他舒适物品。
第一任妻子是一位漂亮的女士，
脚很小，
我们看到了另外三个女人。
海蒂说，
她认为这名男子是至少 20 个孩子的父亲。
2 个小女孩就读于她的一所学校和非常漂亮的孩子。
我们和他们喝了茶，一有礼节就离开了。
回家后，
我们出去检查学校的房间，
这是我们的日常职责，
这对鼓励学生养成整洁的习惯起到了很好的作用
就在外面，
这个阿洪的母亲激动得几乎发疯似的冲了出来——她几乎说不出话来，
以最疯狂的方式挥舞着她的手——但是
事实上，
她和她的女儿已经开始来这里了，
女儿被她的婆婆抓住了，
她的婆婆和她一起走。
我们很匆忙地进了屋子，
你可以想象，
打电话给正在他房间里穿衣服的亨利，
他们找到了阿洪。
他穿长袜的方式对他们来说不是很好，
因为他几乎匆忙地把腿从脚上撕了下来
跳进他的外套，
在街上
转眼间。
他穿过的方式
没有走远的人群不是
慢{向两三个人倾斜} 但什么也看不到
女孩。他告诉他们他听说有
一个女孩在街上被偷，
但他们说
没有没有女孩被带走。
看了之后
过了一会儿，他走进了哈珀斯医生
并发现她在他们的保护下安全
看来这个女人已经采取或
几乎在前面扔了她，
就像他们所说的那样
他们的命运，她有双手
举行了反对它，并且
以这种方式在
同时大声喊叫——求救
厨师的妻子打开门，
他们的一名苦力的帮助和
玛丽，她被男人的力量拉着
进屋，关上门。
哈珀医生出去告诉他们
他们不能拥有她，直到他们
从美国领事那里得到了她的命令。他们不会很
急于去法律，我想
该程序被视为
人民自己的愤慨
广大华人。
她现在安全了
在我们的教学楼里，
我想他们不会很容易抓住她。
我从未见过像这位母亲那样害怕的人
当然我永远不会忘记她是如何
看着。不要以为我们有最小的危险，
女孩的父母不敢靠近我们。他们认为女孩和她的母亲贫穷无助，他们可以为所欲为
很喜欢他们，
但是当外国人干涉时，
情况就完全不同了，
我可以想象他们突然失去对她的控制是多么惊讶。
星期一-我们发现星期六
邮件到今天我可以添加吗
这次海蒂没有什么了
没有时间给她贡献
这一次将它保存到另一个
时间。我很高兴能够提供帮助
她在信中写了一点
这是我们的新蒸笼之一
时间，她一定在做一个
一个多星期的快速旅行
通常比邮件早
叶子 - 变得非常温暖
明天怀特黑德和小姐
低头去香港度假
一个月。我们的信来了
下午我希望我们有
周六吃过 - 昨晚
[注：写作在“第一页”结束]
在我上床睡觉后听到沙面岛上的[无法辨认]之一，
在我入睡前听了美国的声音，
我闭着眼睛躺着，
想象那是爱德华或艾姆或克拉拉在我们亲爱的老客厅里的乐器前，
然后通过我早上好，
亨利在等这个
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Kerr, Martha Noyes, “Letter from Mattie,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 24, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/642.