Letter from Henry to Edward, February 5, 1880

noyes_c_cor_668.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Henry to Edward, February 5, 1880

Subject

Diseases; Chinese New Year; Chinese language

Description

Henry thanks Edward for his letter, which he gave to Mattie along with one from Cousin Lou. He recalls Edward's machine, which he seems to have trouble selling. He and Hattie have had chills, which he and Dr. Kerr attribute to the rainy weather. He mentions the closing of schools and businesses on Chinese New Year. Will is learning Chinese, and Henry says he is a peaceful child unless he is tired.

Creator

Noyes, Henry Varnum

Source

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3

Publisher

Unpublished

Date

1880-02-05

Contributor

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

Format

PDF

Language

eng (English)

Type

Text

Identifier

noyes_c_cor_668

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

Canton Feb 5th 1880
My Dear Bro Edward
Your letter came in good
time and I was glad to get it. Mattie
came in just after it came and
I let her take it with her as well
as the letter from Cousin Lou which
we were also very glad to see. I
have not your letter here now but
I think when you wrote you were
laid up with a lame back which
I presume is well long before this
time. You speak of your machine.
I wish some of those extensive
manufactures would take it up and
give you a good royalty on it.
We have all been pretty well
since last mail was sent. I have
had some trouble recently from my
old enemy chills + fever but I hope
I shall not be troubled seriously
with them. Hattie, for a wonder, has
also had a chill but it broken up

without having a second. It has
been, I presume, of late bad weather
for people who have any tendency to
fever damp rainy and cold. In
fact Dr Kerr says that there has
been much more than usual
fever among the Chinese. The
Chinese New Year is now drawing
near. The Mission Schools have all
closed and we are having vacation
the chapel preaching goes on as
usual but it is not a very
favorable time for every body's
mind now is intent upon
getting ready for New Year's. It
is the holiday of all the year for
Chinese and they make a great
deal of it. They are all scraping
together all the money they can
get. All debts must be paid and
they all want money too to buy
good things to eat and have a
good time. Their New Year festivities
are not limited to one day but
go on for sometimes. Government

offices are closed for two weeks
and shops that can afford it
usually close for the same
length of time. those who are
not so well off began to do
business after a few days.
I have copied on Chinese
paper the last sermon that I
[?drenched?] here on the closing
Sabbath of the week of prayer not
because I think the good folks
^[u]at the Home on the hill[/u] need preaching too, but because
I think may be they might like
to see it and at any rate
it helps to fill up my letter.
We have made on country
trip since I wrote ast.
Will Enjoyed it as usual
His hair which has been very light
is now getting a brownish shade
down close to his head. I presume
it will eventually be dark. He
is beginning now to say some
English words as well as Chinese.

Occasionally he puts and English
word into the middle of a
Chinese sentence but not often.
He always wants to be busy about
something from morning unti;
night and then he is ready for a
good long sleep. Bella wants me
to ask mother if when I was
a little more than two years old
I was a great fat sturdy looking
boy like Willie. I remember mother
used to say I used to cry most
every night before going to sleep
Willie is generally pretty pleasant
but is very likely to be cross when
he feels sleepy. He does'nt [--seem--]
or rather [u]did'nt[/u] use to seem to
know what was the matter with
him. He does'nt cry at bed time
now nearly as often as he used
to. I have a little curiosity to
know how long I kept it up.
Now I must say good bye for it
is about tea time and my
paper is full Love from us
all Your Aff [u]Bro[/u]
Henry --



广州 1880 年 2 月 5 日
我亲爱的爱德华兄弟
你的来信很好
时间,我很高兴得到它。马蒂
刚来就进来了
我也让她随身携带
就像楼表哥的来信
我们也很高兴看到。我
你的信现在没有在这里,但是
我想你写的时候是
躺在跛脚的背上
我想在此之前很久
时间。你说你的机器。
我希望其中一些广泛
制造商会接受它并
给你一个好的版税就可以了。
我们都过得很好
自上次发送邮件以来。我有
我最近遇到了一些麻烦
老敌人发冷发烧,但我希望
我不会被严重困扰
跟他们。海蒂,奇迹般地,
也有寒意,但它分手了

没有一秒钟。它有
我想是最近的坏天气
对于有任何倾向的人
发烧潮湿多雨和寒冷。在
事实上,克尔医生说有
比平时多得多
中国人发烧。这
中国新年现在画
靠近。宣教学校都有
关门了,我们正在休假
教堂讲道继续进行
通常,但它不是一个非常
适合每个人的时间
现在的心意
为新年做准备。它
是一年中的假期
中国人,他们做得很棒
处理它。他们都在刮
把所有的钱都凑在一起
得到。必须偿还所有债务并
他们也都想要钱买
好吃的东西,有一个
美好时光。他们的新年庆祝活动
不限于一天,而是
有时继续。政府

办公室关闭两周
和买得起的商店
通常关闭相同
时间长度。那些是
不那么富裕开始做
几天后的生意。
我复制了中文
纸上我最后的布道
结束时湿透了这里
祈祷周的安息日不
因为我认为好人
在山上的家也需要讲道,但因为
我想他们可能会喜欢
看到它,无论如何
它有助于填写我的信。
我们已经在国家
自从我写助手以来的旅行
会像往常一样享受它
他的头发一直很轻
现在变成褐色
靠近他的头。我相信
它最终会变黑。他
现在开始说一些
英文单词也有中文。

偶尔他会说英语
单词放在 a 的中间
中文句子但不经常。
他总是想忙
从早上到
晚上,然后他准备好了
好长的睡眠。贝拉想要我
问妈妈我是不是
两岁多一点
我看起来很胖很结实
像威利这样的男孩。我记得妈妈
曾经说我曾经哭得最多
每晚临睡前
威利通常很愉快
但很可能会在
他觉得困了。他没有
或者更确切地说,似乎没有使用
知道怎么回事
他。他睡觉时不哭
现在几乎和他以前一样频繁
至。我有点好奇
知道我坚持了多久。
现在我必须说再见了
是关于下午茶时间和我的
纸上满是我们的爱
你所有的兄弟
亨利——

Original Format

Letter

Citation

Noyes, Henry Varnum, “Letter from Henry to Edward, February 5, 1880,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed October 4, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/735.

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