Section of Unsigned Letter
Dublin Core
Title
Section of Unsigned Letter
Subject
Women missionaries; Single women--Religious life
Description
In this section of a letter, the author (most likely Mattie), discusses how she is happy being one of the few single lady missionaries in Canton but hopes that a couple more come soon. Most of the other women staying in Canton are married and leave the missionary work to their husbands, choosing not to be involved. She also talks about Siam and the women who work there.
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Unpublished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_598
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
more editions of Mrs Happer it
would be a blessing to the women
and girls of China in general &
Canton in particular. Of the
11 married ladies here only [u] one [/u]
Mrs Happer is doing Mission
work, nor is there any prospect
that any of the others will ever
take it up. Two of the others
have not the health to do it,
the others do not seem to feel
the spirit. I am glad I am a
[u] single [/u] [u] lady [/u]. Certainly for no
man living would I stay here
just to make him comfortable
especially when nearly every
thing about the house is done
by servants, and never do any
thing for these Chinese who
have no one to teach them.
There is very little hope for
them unless there is a staff of
single workers, which in some
places are not a popular class
The growth of the Canton
churches has been very largely
since Hattie came in fact
the first real interest seen here
was in 1872. Then Siam is
another illustration of the fruits
of earnest whole hearted work
by single ladies. They are inde
fatagable and have really kept
the [?Pechaburn?] station going
amid the numerous changes
of missionaries during the past
six years. The germ seemed to
be a female prayer meeting
started by Miss Coffman, work
in visiting the outgrowth of
which was the foundation of
schools, which have given an
encouraging number into the
churches. [u] Men [/u] cannot reach the
home here, their wives in south
China do not, and so the single
ladies must. There has been
a more steady satisfactory work
in Canton and [?Pechaburn?] in
this respect than elsewhere
It cannot be accomplished by
those who are on the vive vie
to get married at the first op-
portunity. Things as seen on
the field look rather differently
from reports read from the
Missionary periodicals. Of
course married people can not
do what single people can in
this respect but it does seem
as if they could as a rule do
something. Or else it would
be only fair that matters should
be understood at home but
we do not chip about this
matter, nor does it trouble us
now for I am sure it will
all be right in the end. But
when the prominent officers
look their surprize that single
ladies should want to come
home in 8 years even though
the married ones are expected
to stay 10 we sometimes think
if they could see how it all was
they would feel differently. Well
I ought not to write this ought
I but the fact is I am grown
so fully to feel I like to have
people if they can know just
how things are. I hope we
shall have a single lady
for we need one. If a good
strong one were here we would
like it very much. We shall miss
Dr & Mrs Graves very
much indeed they left on the
17th. Said they would go and
see "our father and Mother" if
they went all the way on pur
pose. They are good earnest
people and you can feel that
all they [u] say [/u] is bourne out in
their earnest lives. The subject
of "single ladies" is not one to
discuss with [u] any [/u] of [u] our [/u] [u] mar [/u]
[u] ried [/u] [u] friends [/u] however I hope
you are both entirely free from
those troublesome colds and
Edward as well. It will be so
哈珀夫人的更多版本，
这将是对整个中国尤其是广州的妇女和女孩的祝福。
在这里的 11 位已婚女士中，
只有一位哈珀夫人在做传教工作，
其他任何人也没有任何机会从事这项工作。
其他两个人没有健康去做，
其他人似乎没有精神。
我很高兴我是一个单身女士。
当然，
对于活着的人来说，
我会留在这里只是为了让他舒服，
尤其是当房子里的几乎所有事情都是由仆人完成的时候，
并且永远不会为这些没有人教他们的中国人做任何事情。
除非有一群单身工人，
否则他们几乎没有希望，
这在某些地方不是一个受欢迎的阶层。
广州教会的发展在很大程度上是自从哈蒂来到这里以来，
实际上第一个真正的兴趣是在 1872 年。
暹罗是单身女士全心全意工作成果的又一例证。
在过去六年传教士的无数变化中，
他们不知疲倦，
真正使Pechaburn站继续运转。
细菌似乎是由考夫曼小姐发起的一次女性祈祷会，
她的工作是参观作为学校基础的其产物，
这些学校为教会提供了令人鼓舞的人数。
男人进不了家，
华南的老婆进不了，
单身的女人也进不了。
在这方面，
Canton 和 Pechaburn 的工作比其他地方更稳定，
令人满意。
那些急于一有机会就结婚的人是做不到的。
在现场看到的事情与从传教士期刊上读到的报告完全不同。
当然，
已婚人士在这方面做不到单身人士能做的事，
但似乎他们通常可以做某事。
否则，
事情应该在家里理解是公平的，
但我们不会在这件事上插手，
现在也不会给我们带来麻烦，
因为我相信最终一切都会好起来的。
但是，
当显赫的官员惊讶地发现单身女士应该在 8 年后回家，
即使已婚女士预计会留在 10 岁时，
我们有时会想，
如果她们能看到这一切，
她们会有不同的感受。
好吧，
我不应该写这个，
但事实是我已经长大了，
觉得我喜欢有人，
如果他们能知道事情的真相。
我希望我们会有一位单身女士，
因为我们需要一位。
如果这里有一个强壮的人，
我们会非常喜欢它。
我们将非常想念格雷夫斯医生和夫人，
他们确实是在 17 日离开的。
说如果他们特意一路走，
他们会去看“我们的父亲和母亲”。
他们是非常认真的人，
你可以感觉到他们所说的一切都是在他们认真的生活中产生的。
“单身女士”这个话题不是和我们任何已婚朋友讨论的话题，
但我希望你们俩都完全摆脱那些麻烦的感冒和爱德华。
会是这样
would be a blessing to the women
and girls of China in general &
Canton in particular. Of the
11 married ladies here only [u] one [/u]
Mrs Happer is doing Mission
work, nor is there any prospect
that any of the others will ever
take it up. Two of the others
have not the health to do it,
the others do not seem to feel
the spirit. I am glad I am a
[u] single [/u] [u] lady [/u]. Certainly for no
man living would I stay here
just to make him comfortable
especially when nearly every
thing about the house is done
by servants, and never do any
thing for these Chinese who
have no one to teach them.
There is very little hope for
them unless there is a staff of
single workers, which in some
places are not a popular class
The growth of the Canton
churches has been very largely
since Hattie came in fact
the first real interest seen here
was in 1872. Then Siam is
another illustration of the fruits
of earnest whole hearted work
by single ladies. They are inde
fatagable and have really kept
the [?Pechaburn?] station going
amid the numerous changes
of missionaries during the past
six years. The germ seemed to
be a female prayer meeting
started by Miss Coffman, work
in visiting the outgrowth of
which was the foundation of
schools, which have given an
encouraging number into the
churches. [u] Men [/u] cannot reach the
home here, their wives in south
China do not, and so the single
ladies must. There has been
a more steady satisfactory work
in Canton and [?Pechaburn?] in
this respect than elsewhere
It cannot be accomplished by
those who are on the vive vie
to get married at the first op-
portunity. Things as seen on
the field look rather differently
from reports read from the
Missionary periodicals. Of
course married people can not
do what single people can in
this respect but it does seem
as if they could as a rule do
something. Or else it would
be only fair that matters should
be understood at home but
we do not chip about this
matter, nor does it trouble us
now for I am sure it will
all be right in the end. But
when the prominent officers
look their surprize that single
ladies should want to come
home in 8 years even though
the married ones are expected
to stay 10 we sometimes think
if they could see how it all was
they would feel differently. Well
I ought not to write this ought
I but the fact is I am grown
so fully to feel I like to have
people if they can know just
how things are. I hope we
shall have a single lady
for we need one. If a good
strong one were here we would
like it very much. We shall miss
Dr & Mrs Graves very
much indeed they left on the
17th. Said they would go and
see "our father and Mother" if
they went all the way on pur
pose. They are good earnest
people and you can feel that
all they [u] say [/u] is bourne out in
their earnest lives. The subject
of "single ladies" is not one to
discuss with [u] any [/u] of [u] our [/u] [u] mar [/u]
[u] ried [/u] [u] friends [/u] however I hope
you are both entirely free from
those troublesome colds and
Edward as well. It will be so
哈珀夫人的更多版本，
这将是对整个中国尤其是广州的妇女和女孩的祝福。
在这里的 11 位已婚女士中，
只有一位哈珀夫人在做传教工作，
其他任何人也没有任何机会从事这项工作。
其他两个人没有健康去做，
其他人似乎没有精神。
我很高兴我是一个单身女士。
当然，
对于活着的人来说，
我会留在这里只是为了让他舒服，
尤其是当房子里的几乎所有事情都是由仆人完成的时候，
并且永远不会为这些没有人教他们的中国人做任何事情。
除非有一群单身工人，
否则他们几乎没有希望，
这在某些地方不是一个受欢迎的阶层。
广州教会的发展在很大程度上是自从哈蒂来到这里以来，
实际上第一个真正的兴趣是在 1872 年。
暹罗是单身女士全心全意工作成果的又一例证。
在过去六年传教士的无数变化中，
他们不知疲倦，
真正使Pechaburn站继续运转。
细菌似乎是由考夫曼小姐发起的一次女性祈祷会，
她的工作是参观作为学校基础的其产物，
这些学校为教会提供了令人鼓舞的人数。
男人进不了家，
华南的老婆进不了，
单身的女人也进不了。
在这方面，
Canton 和 Pechaburn 的工作比其他地方更稳定，
令人满意。
那些急于一有机会就结婚的人是做不到的。
在现场看到的事情与从传教士期刊上读到的报告完全不同。
当然，
已婚人士在这方面做不到单身人士能做的事，
但似乎他们通常可以做某事。
否则，
事情应该在家里理解是公平的，
但我们不会在这件事上插手，
现在也不会给我们带来麻烦，
因为我相信最终一切都会好起来的。
但是，
当显赫的官员惊讶地发现单身女士应该在 8 年后回家，
即使已婚女士预计会留在 10 岁时，
我们有时会想，
如果她们能看到这一切，
她们会有不同的感受。
好吧，
我不应该写这个，
但事实是我已经长大了，
觉得我喜欢有人，
如果他们能知道事情的真相。
我希望我们会有一位单身女士，
因为我们需要一位。
如果这里有一个强壮的人，
我们会非常喜欢它。
我们将非常想念格雷夫斯医生和夫人，
他们确实是在 17 日离开的。
说如果他们特意一路走，
他们会去看“我们的父亲和母亲”。
他们是非常认真的人，
你可以感觉到他们所说的一切都是在他们认真的生活中产生的。
“单身女士”这个话题不是和我们任何已婚朋友讨论的话题，
但我希望你们俩都完全摆脱那些麻烦的感冒和爱德华。
会是这样
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Kerr, Martha Noyes, “Section of Unsigned Letter,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 26, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/655.