Letter from Hattie to Father, January 10, 1871

Letter from Hattie to Father, January 10, 1871

Letters; Friends and associates; Missionaries; Health; Rain and rainfall; Clothing

In this overdue letter to her father, Harriet Noyes writes about the letters she has received and about her dear friends, many of which are Doctors of Divinity. Harriet also discusses the health of various missionaries, as well as her own health. She concludes the letter by telling her father that she has enclosed a bit of silk from a dress she was given by her brother, Henry, on New Year's.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1

Unpublished

1871-01-10

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_046

Canton China.
JanY 10th '71
My [u]dear[/u] Father
It has been such a
long time since I have written
to you and one reason is that I
have kept putting it off thinking that
the next month I would take time
and write you a long letter but
I will not do so this time for I feel
sure you would rather have a
little hastily written that nothing
at all We were so disappointed this
month not to get the home letters but
we feel sure that they were written.
I wish we might have heard from
Frank it seems [u]so long[/u] to wait
another month. I expected a
letter from Sarah but was disappointed
in that too, had a nice letter from
Mr Loomis though which was
unexpected + so a pleasant surprise.

I wish you could see him + get acquainted
with him he is almost if not quite as
nice as Dr Lowrie + in my opinion that
is about as high a compliment as any
one could have. I have found some
such dear good friends since I left
home among the latest + best Dr
Adams + Dr Dean. They both made
me think a little of you perhaps that was
one reason I liked them so much.
Mrs Dean + Mrs House of Bankok
and Mrs Happer of Canton are three
nice old ladies I put in there names
so that you may see I am not
especially partial to Doctors of Divinity.
Perhaps I wrote in my last of
Mrs Happers poor health. She is
much better now and we hope
has got acclimated + may enjoy
better health hereafter, Of all
the missionaries now new and old that
came to Canton a year ago

we think that Mrs Happer is No 1.
The Doctor was certainly a fortunate
man when he persuaded her to
come to China. Mr + Mrs Marcellus
will probably go home before long
Neither of them have good health + the
Board at first refused to send them
out but they insisted + the Board yielded
to their wishes unfortunately. I never
knew any one in my life I think that
was more poorly filled for a missionary
than Mrs Marcellus, seems to be.
I tell Henry that I dont believe
I could ever look forward to the
coming of new missionaries again
with the enthusiasm I felt a
year ago. The excitement +
anti Foreign feeling here in
China has very much abated.
Canton has just been
favored by a visit from

Hon Wm Seward ---
You asked me once if I
ever have a cold in my head
out here as I used to at home.
I have one now in [u]full operation[/u]
shall I say? making me feel most
thoroughly uncomfortable. I feel
sure of your sympathy.
It has been quite rainy +
damp the past two weeks but
we hope it is not the beginning
of the rainy season so early
as the 1st of January.
I would like to write to some
of the rest but cannot this time
Give them all my warmest
love. we shall look for a
good lot of letters next month.
I enclose a little bit of my [u]black[/u]
silk dress Henry gave me as a New Year
present. 14 yards for $19. 50 I am
[Note: Letter concludes vertically]
going to try + make a short skirt to wear with a white waist
beside the dress. It is too bad to write about clothes in your
letter + I am sure I would be glad if I never needed to
think about them but missionary ladies are obliged to.
Your aff daughter Hattie



中国广州。
1871 年 1 月 10 日，
亲爱的父亲，
我已经很久没有给您写信了，
一个原因是我一直拖延，
以为下个月我会花时间给您写一封长信，
但我不会这次这样做是因为我确信您宁愿草草写一点，
什么都没有。
这个月我们很失望没有收到家庭信件，
但我们确信它们是写好的。
我希望我们能听到弗兰克的消息，
再等一个月似乎太长了。
我期待着莎拉的来信，
但也对此感到失望，
收到了卢米斯先生的一封很好的信，
虽然这是出乎意料的，
所以是一个惊喜。
我希望你能见到他并认识他，
他几乎没有 Lowrie 医生那么好，
而且在我看来，
这几乎是任何人所能得到的最高评价。
自从我离开家后，
在最新最好的亚当斯医生和迪恩医生中间，
我找到了一些如此亲密的好朋友。
他们都让我想起了你们，
也许这就是我如此喜欢他们的原因之一。
盲谷的 Dean 夫人、House 夫人和广州的 Happer 夫人是三位好老太太，
我把名字写在那里，
这样你就可以看出我并不是特别偏爱神学医生。
也许我在我的最后一篇哈珀斯夫人身体不好的文章中写道。
她现在好多了，
我们希望她已经适应了环境，
以后可以享受更好的健康，
在一年前来到广州的所有新老传教士中，
我们认为哈珀夫人是第一。
医生当然是一个幸运的人，
当他说服她来中国。
Marcellus 夫妇可能很快就会回家，
他们俩的身体都不好，
董事会起初拒绝将他们送出去，
但他们坚持了，
但不幸的是，
董事会屈服了他们的意愿。
在我的生活中，
我从来不知道有谁比马塞勒斯夫人的传教士更差，
似乎是。
我告诉亨利，
我不相信我能以一年前的热情再次期待新传教士的到来。
在中国这里的兴奋和排外情绪已大大减弱。
坎顿刚刚受到尊敬的威廉·西沃德（William Seward）的访问——你曾经问过我，
我是否像以前在家里一样在外面感冒了。
我应该说现在有一个正在全面运行吗？让我感到非常不舒服。
我确信你的同情。
过去两周一直下雨潮湿，
但我们希望这不是雨季的开始，
早在 1 月 1 日。
我想给其余的一些人写信，
但这次不能给他们我最热烈的爱。
下个月我们要找很多信。
我附上了亨利送给我的一点黑色丝绸连衣裙作为新年礼物。
14 码，
19 美元。
50 我是
【注：字母竖着结束】
打算试着做一条短裙穿在裙子旁边，
白色的腰身。
在你的信中写关于衣服的事情太糟糕了，
如果我不需要考虑它们，
我相信我会很高兴，
但传教士女士们有义务这样做。
你的女儿，
海蒂

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