Letter from Henry to Father and Mother, April 27, 1882
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Henry to Father and Mother, April 27, 1882
Subject
Birthdays; Aging; Baptism; Children of missionaries; Married people in missionary work; Children--Writing; Travel
Description
Henry turned 46 recently, so he reflects on aging. Willie is learning how to write. Tomorrow they are leaving for the country, where they are going to be for about two weeks. Henry recalls his last trip to Chik Hom when one man and two women were baptized. Last Sabbath, at the Communion, one person was baptized.
Creator
Noyes, Henry Varnum
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1882-04-27
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_766
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton April 27th 1882
Dear Father & Mother
I thought of writing
to you on my birthday but
somehow it slipped by without
my getting it done. I send how-
ever by the first mail. I am
getting quite well along in life
although it is hard to realize
that I am drawing near to
fifty years, 46 last Monday. I
am a long way past the middle
boundary am not much gray
yet though there is quite a
thick sprinkling of such hairs
under my mouth and they
being to appear here and there
on my head. I also notice that
I instinctively put a book a
little [u] farther [/u] from my eyes than
I used to. These are the signals to
remind me that life is passing
on and that what is called
middle life will be over before
a great while. I remember well
when Father was 40 and Mother
only 34 and then 40 seemed to
me old [--by--] but now it seems
quite young. I have just been
writing a letter for Willie. The pen
was in his hand and I guided
it. He seemed quite pleased
with the idea of writing to Grandpa
and when I asked him to whom
I should write after that he
said Grandma so I let him
write to both in one letter. Of
course he was helped more or
less. When we first asked
him he said "the picture" "the
picture", then when the doves
were suggested he could hardly
wait till the account of the pic-
ture was finished, to tell about
the doves. Then he was pleased
with the idea of writing the verses
but before he was through began
to get quite anxious lest the
[u] cats [/u] should be forgotten. He
repeated all the verses before I
wrote them down. By the time
he got through he began to get
very sleepy, as it was evening,
and when he had finished he
went off to bed and was di-
rectly sound asleep. The picture
looks very much like him
except that he closed his mouth
a little too tightly. He had held
it open when he tried before and
so he was making sure of
having it shut he overdid it just
a little bit. It gives you however
a very good idea of him. Bella had
intended that I should not
know it until my birthday but
I happened to get home from my
country trip a little earlier than
I had expected and on the day
the pictures were taken. Willie
was so full of the matter that
the first thing that he said
when I came in was, "I
have had my picture taken" "I
have had my picture taken."
We expect to start to-
morrow morning for a country
trip of about two weeks probably.
The Simmons and Mrs Happer
are going also. I expect we
may have hot weather and
some rain, but it is generally
a tolerably pleasant time of the
year to travel in May. On my
last trip to Chik Hom one man
and two women were baptized. At
the Communion at Sz Pai Lau last Sabbath
one was baptized. Now I must close
Bella sends love as does Your aff Son Henry.
广州 1882 年 4 月 27 日
亲爱的爸爸妈妈
我想写
在我生日那天给你，但是
不知何故，它溜走了
我把它完成了。但是，我通过第一封邮件发送。
我的生活过得很好
虽然很难意识到
我正在接近
五十年，上周一 46 岁。我
距离中间还有很长的路要走
边界不太灰
然而，虽然有相当多的
厚厚地洒下这样的头发
在我的嘴下，他们
出现在这里和那里
我头上。我也注意到
我本能地把一本书
离我的眼睛稍微远一点
我曾经。这些是信号
提醒我生命正在流逝
开，这就是所谓的
中年会在之前结束
好一阵子。我记得很清楚
当父亲 40 岁和母亲
只有 34 和 40 似乎
我老了，但现在看来
很年轻。我刚去过
给威利写信。笔
在他的手中，我引导
它。他似乎很高兴
想给爷爷写信
当我问他对谁
我应该在那之后写他
奶奶说，所以我让他
用一封信写给双方。的
当然，他得到了更多的帮助或
较少的。当我们第一次问
他说“图片”“
图片”，然后当鸽子
有人建议他几乎不能
等到图片说明完再说
鸽子。然后他很高兴
带着写诗的想法
但在他完成之前
变得非常焦虑，以免
猫应该被遗忘。他
重复我之前的所有诗句
把它们写下来。到......的时候
他通过了，他开始了
非常困，因为是晚上，
当他完成后，他
上床睡觉，直接睡着了。
照片看起来很像他
除了他闭上了嘴
有点太紧了。他曾举行
它在他之前尝试过时打开并且
所以他要确定
把它关上，他做得过火了
一点点。然而它给了你
对他很有好感。贝拉有
打算我不应该
直到我生日才知道，但是
我碰巧从我的家
乡村旅行比
我曾预料到那天
照片是拍的。威利
充满了这件事
他说的第一件事
当我进来时，“我
我拍了照片” “我
已经拍了我的照片。”
我们希望开始-
一个国家的明天早上
大概两周左右的行程。
西蒙斯和哈珀夫人
也要去。我希望我们
可能有炎热的天气和
有些雨，但一般
一段相当愉快的时光
一年五月去旅游。在我的
上次去竹磡一个人
有两个女人受了洗。在
最后一个安息日在四排楼的圣餐
一个受了洗。现在我必须关闭
贝拉和你的儿子亨利一样传递爱。
Dear Father & Mother
I thought of writing
to you on my birthday but
somehow it slipped by without
my getting it done. I send how-
ever by the first mail. I am
getting quite well along in life
although it is hard to realize
that I am drawing near to
fifty years, 46 last Monday. I
am a long way past the middle
boundary am not much gray
yet though there is quite a
thick sprinkling of such hairs
under my mouth and they
being to appear here and there
on my head. I also notice that
I instinctively put a book a
little [u] farther [/u] from my eyes than
I used to. These are the signals to
remind me that life is passing
on and that what is called
middle life will be over before
a great while. I remember well
when Father was 40 and Mother
only 34 and then 40 seemed to
me old [--by--] but now it seems
quite young. I have just been
writing a letter for Willie. The pen
was in his hand and I guided
it. He seemed quite pleased
with the idea of writing to Grandpa
and when I asked him to whom
I should write after that he
said Grandma so I let him
write to both in one letter. Of
course he was helped more or
less. When we first asked
him he said "the picture" "the
picture", then when the doves
were suggested he could hardly
wait till the account of the pic-
ture was finished, to tell about
the doves. Then he was pleased
with the idea of writing the verses
but before he was through began
to get quite anxious lest the
[u] cats [/u] should be forgotten. He
repeated all the verses before I
wrote them down. By the time
he got through he began to get
very sleepy, as it was evening,
and when he had finished he
went off to bed and was di-
rectly sound asleep. The picture
looks very much like him
except that he closed his mouth
a little too tightly. He had held
it open when he tried before and
so he was making sure of
having it shut he overdid it just
a little bit. It gives you however
a very good idea of him. Bella had
intended that I should not
know it until my birthday but
I happened to get home from my
country trip a little earlier than
I had expected and on the day
the pictures were taken. Willie
was so full of the matter that
the first thing that he said
when I came in was, "I
have had my picture taken" "I
have had my picture taken."
We expect to start to-
morrow morning for a country
trip of about two weeks probably.
The Simmons and Mrs Happer
are going also. I expect we
may have hot weather and
some rain, but it is generally
a tolerably pleasant time of the
year to travel in May. On my
last trip to Chik Hom one man
and two women were baptized. At
the Communion at Sz Pai Lau last Sabbath
one was baptized. Now I must close
Bella sends love as does Your aff Son Henry.
广州 1882 年 4 月 27 日
亲爱的爸爸妈妈
我想写
在我生日那天给你，但是
不知何故，它溜走了
我把它完成了。但是，我通过第一封邮件发送。
我的生活过得很好
虽然很难意识到
我正在接近
五十年，上周一 46 岁。我
距离中间还有很长的路要走
边界不太灰
然而，虽然有相当多的
厚厚地洒下这样的头发
在我的嘴下，他们
出现在这里和那里
我头上。我也注意到
我本能地把一本书
离我的眼睛稍微远一点
我曾经。这些是信号
提醒我生命正在流逝
开，这就是所谓的
中年会在之前结束
好一阵子。我记得很清楚
当父亲 40 岁和母亲
只有 34 和 40 似乎
我老了，但现在看来
很年轻。我刚去过
给威利写信。笔
在他的手中，我引导
它。他似乎很高兴
想给爷爷写信
当我问他对谁
我应该在那之后写他
奶奶说，所以我让他
用一封信写给双方。的
当然，他得到了更多的帮助或
较少的。当我们第一次问
他说“图片”“
图片”，然后当鸽子
有人建议他几乎不能
等到图片说明完再说
鸽子。然后他很高兴
带着写诗的想法
但在他完成之前
变得非常焦虑，以免
猫应该被遗忘。他
重复我之前的所有诗句
把它们写下来。到......的时候
他通过了，他开始了
非常困，因为是晚上，
当他完成后，他
上床睡觉，直接睡着了。
照片看起来很像他
除了他闭上了嘴
有点太紧了。他曾举行
它在他之前尝试过时打开并且
所以他要确定
把它关上，他做得过火了
一点点。然而它给了你
对他很有好感。贝拉有
打算我不应该
直到我生日才知道，但是
我碰巧从我的家
乡村旅行比
我曾预料到那天
照片是拍的。威利
充满了这件事
他说的第一件事
当我进来时，“我
我拍了照片” “我
已经拍了我的照片。”
我们希望开始-
一个国家的明天早上
大概两周左右的行程。
西蒙斯和哈珀夫人
也要去。我希望我们
可能有炎热的天气和
有些雨，但一般
一段相当愉快的时光
一年五月去旅游。在我的
上次去竹磡一个人
有两个女人受了洗。在
最后一个安息日在四排楼的圣餐
一个受了洗。现在我必须关闭
贝拉和你的儿子亨利一样传递爱。
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Henry Varnum, “Letter from Henry to Father and Mother, April 27, 1882,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 20, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/839.