Unsigned letter from Harriet to Edward, February 9, 1871

Unsigned letter from Harriet to Edward, February 9, 1871

Home; House construction; Drawing; Architecture; Missionaries

In this incomplete letter to her brother, Edward, Harriet Noyes writes about her new house which is currently under construction. She then discusses the homes of various other missionaries, and how they take pride in their designs. In this section, Hattie bitingly insults the old house of Dr Happer. Although the letter is not finished, the handwriting and formatting clearly attribute it to Harriet Noyes.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1871-02-09

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_047

Canton
My [u]dear Edward[/u] Feby 9th '71
I thought Matts letter would
be the last but I dont feel as if I had
quite "said my say" yet. I wonder if
[--Father--] Henry told Father about our
new home that is to be We have had
a nice time drawing plans I always
enjoyed drawing plans for imaginary
houses immensely + it is all the more
fun to draw one for a real sure
enough house. Tomorrow I am
going to draw a [u]splendid[/u] one for the
workmen to use. Possible I may
favor you with a little one some
day. I have almost concluded that
if I [u]had'nt[/u] been a missionary + [u]could'nt[/u]
have been a stage driver [u]perhaps[/u] I
might have been an architect. I have
heard the remark made + I believe it
it true that while a man will feel no
especial pride in doing well anything
that come naturally in his line of
business if he happens to do well a job that
comes in another mans trade he will
feel the greatest delight. Now building
homes isnt exactly supposed to be
among missionary duties but each one
of the good brothers here who has built

a home feels as proud as a "dog with
two tails" if you will pardon the very
homely comparison. Dr Happer's old
house is a [u]perfect miracle of ugliness +
inconvenience[/u] inside + out upstairs
+ down + yet he has always firmly maintained
that is was about as near perfection as a
house could be in these degenerate days. This
might not be wondered at in the Dr's ease
as it is a way he has of thinking about himself
+ his "apparently as it were," Then Preston +
Folsom built these homes which are pretty
good houses. but one main idea in building
them was to make them showy + other
things were sacrificed to that so that it
is easy for a critic to find plenty of faults
but not for Mr Preston. His house is his darling
+ anything said against cuts him to
the heart. Next Dr Kerr tried + who could
have imagined that in his heart there
was the [u]least particle[/u] of pride in any
form or shape. But there was and when
[u]his[/u] house was done for to be sure that was
the house that was built "[u]right solid [?substantial?]
good material[/u] no fear of typhoons." It is a
very good house indeed built by the medical
[--Missio--] society + cost about twice as much
as the Mission houses, but it was funny
to see Dr Kerr when he felt [u]proud[/u]
My pen persists in wanting to
write [u]more[/u] so I shall have to
take another half sheet.



广州
我亲爱的爱德华
1871 年 2 月 9 日
我以为 Matts 的信会是最后一封，
但我觉得我还没有完全“说出我的意见”。
我想知道亨利是否告诉父亲我们将要建的新家我们度过了愉快的绘制平面图我一直非常喜欢为想象中的房子绘制平面图，
而为真正的房子画一幅更有趣。
明天我要画一幅精彩的画作供工人使用。
可能有一天我会偏爱你一点。
我几乎得出结论，
如果我不是传教士，
也不能成为舞台司机，
也许我可能会成为一名建筑师。
我听说过这种说法，
我相信这是真的，
虽然一个人不会因为做好他的业务中自然而然的任何事情而感到特别自豪，
但如果他碰巧做好了一份来自另一个人的行业的工作，
他会感到最大的喜悦。
现在建造房屋并不完全应该是传教士的职责，
但如果你能原谅这个非常朴素的比较，
这里每一个建造房屋的好兄弟都会感到像“两条尾巴的狗”一样自豪。
哈珀医生的老房子是一个完美的奇迹，
里面和外面的丑陋和不便，
但他始终坚定地认为，
在这些堕落的日子里，
它几乎是一座房子所能达到的完美状态。
医生可能不会对此感到惊讶，
因为这是他思考自己和他“显然是”的一种方式，
然后普雷斯顿和福尔松建造了这些非常好的房子。
但是建造它们的一个主要想法是让它们变得艳丽，
并为此牺牲了其他一些东西，
这样评论家就可以很容易地找到很多缺点，
但普雷斯顿先生却不是这样。
他的房子是他的宝贝，
任何反对的言论都会让他心碎。
接下来科尔医生试了试，
谁能想到，
在他的心中，
任何形式或形状的骄傲都丝毫不减。
但是当他的房子建成时，
可以确定那是一座“坚固、坚固、好材料、不怕台风”的房子。
确实是医学会建的很好的房子，
价格是教会房子的两倍，
但是看到克尔医生感到很自豪我很有趣我的笔坚持要写更多所以我得再拿一个半张。

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