Letter from Mattie to her "Precious Sister," June 7, 1879

Letter from Mattie to her "Precious Sister," June 7, 1879

Birthdays; Christian converts; Baptism; Schools; Travel

Martha wishes Sarah a happy birthday, even though it was on June 2nd. Then, she writes about girls and women applying for baptism. Some of the girls' parents were against them joining the church. Mr. Culbertson will come to Canton and Mattie says that they will "not have the pleasure of entertaining him" since he is a single man.

Kerr, Noyes Martha

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

Unpublished

1879-06-07

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_716

Canton China
June 7th /79

My dear precious sister
This is not the
2nd of June but it is a birth
day letter never-theless -
so please consider it thus.
Your birthday this year
came on Sabbath [u]our
communion[/u] in the native
church - and three from the
girls school - and one of the
women applied for bap-
tism. They were examin-
ed on my birth day - entered
the church on [u]yours[/u]. It did
seem very nice indeed
Now all our first class -
7 we hope are christians

five are church members two
hindered from joining by
the opposition of their parents
Sau Ying's mother says they
will turn her out of doors
if she believes in "this doctrine
but is it not a blessing they
can not help her believing
although they do forbid her
confessing Christ. One of the
girls belonging to the third
class with whom however no
agreement had been written
became deeply interest
and her Mother hearing of
it came and took her home
saying she would bring her
back in a day or two but
she has never returned and
now we feel sure she is
to be kept at home lest
she should become a
Christian. Hattie has

decided to keep up the term
until the middle of July
and I hope I can remain
in Canton until then
although it is somewhat
later than I had thought of
doing - school closed - then
away for Chefoo. I know
you will be at home if all
is well - very soon now -
not sorry for a rest after
such an anxious year. We
have thought a great deal
about you all. Poor Gilbert &
Mary - what a shame to keep
them in such a state of anx
iety. I do know that Miss
Fitch quite well - should
think in many respects she
would make a good woman
for the place but was rather
surprized that she desired it.
You speak of not making
calls .I can sympathize

with you there - cannot bear
to get into that business. As
for letter writing I am totally
dis-couraged - shall never get
to the end of my list - but it is
a good way to lose correspon-
dents - to neglect them. Perhaps
I can do something in that
line during vacation. Miss
Rowe from Hong Kong came
up yesterday leaves in the
morning. We have an Amer-
ican vessel in harbor just
now. Two of the officiers Mr
[u]Grimes[/u] and Brown have
called upon us and yesterday
Mr Grimes who is from [?Peoria?]
Ill. yesterday came in to
visit the school and seemed
very much pleased. A very
pleasant gentleman he is.
I received a letter from Miss
Kooser of Bankok yesterday
and she says Mr Culbertson
is coming up to Canton for a
change - as he is a [u]single[/u]
gentleman I presume we shall
not have the pleasure of en-
tertaining him. Dr Happer is
in Hong Kong - to-day - gone to

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
feel glad it is so near the last. Not much of a birthday
letter this but I can not tell you how much I wish for
you in the year to
come - blessings [u]phys-
ical[/u]-mental and
[u]spiritual[/u] As Hattie
says we shall all live
our time out and
then be at rest. What
a word that is [u]rest,
perfect rest[/u]. The girls
will be so glad to have
you at home again
Would it not be nice
if there was no ex-
pense in getting
home from China
If there was not
you would see me
there instead of lying
by in Chefoo during
vacation. Your loving
sister Mattie



中国广东
6月7日/79

我亲爱的宝贝妹妹
这不是
6 月 2 日，但这是一个生日
天信不过——
所以请考虑一下。
你今年的生日
安息日来到我们的
当地人的交流
教堂 - 和三个来自
女子学校 - 和其中之一
女性申请 bap-
主义。他们在检查——
在我生日那天编辑 - 进入
你的教堂。它做了
看起来确实很好
现在我们所有的第一堂课——
7 我们希望是基督徒

五是教会成员二
阻碍加入
父母的反对
秀英的妈妈说他们
会把她拒之门外
如果她相信“这个学说
但这不是他们的福气吗
不禁让她相信
尽管他们确实禁止她
承认基督。中的一个
属于第三者的女孩
但是没有的班级
协议已经写好了
引起了浓厚的兴趣
和她的母亲听说
它来了，把她带回家了
说她会带她
一两天后回来，但是
她再也没有回来
现在我们确信她是
待在家里，以免
她应该成为
基督教。海蒂有

决定保住任期
直到七月中旬
我希望我能留下来
在那之前在广州
虽然有点
比我想象的晚
做 - 学校关闭 - 然后
离开柴富。我知道
如果大家都在家，你会在家
很好——现在很快——
不后悔休息后
这么着急的一年。我们
想了很多
关于你们。可怜的吉尔伯特&
玛丽——留着真可惜
他们处于这种焦虑状态
忠诚。我知道小姐
非常适合 - 应该
在很多方面认为她
会成为一个好女人
对于这个地方，但相当
惊讶于她想要它。
你说不做
打电话。我可以同情

和你在一起——无法忍受
进入那个行业。作为
对于写信，我完全
气馁 - 永远不会得到
到我名单的最后——但它是
失去通讯员的好方法——忽视他们。也许
我可以在那做点什么
假期期间排队。错过
来自香港的罗来了
昨天起来叶在
早晨。我们刚刚在港口有一艘美国船只
现在。两名军官先生
格莱姆斯和布朗有
召唤我们和昨天
来自皮奥里亚的格莱姆斯先生
生病了昨天进来
参观学校，似乎
非常高兴。一个很
他是个令人愉快的绅士。
我收到了小姐的来信
昨天 Bankok 的 Kooser
她说卡尔伯森先生
即将到广州参加
改变 - 因为他是单身
先生，我想我们会的
没有乐趣招待他。哈珀博士是
在香港 - 今天 - 去了

[注：信在第一页结束]
很高兴它是如此接近最后一个。没有太多的生日
给这封信，但我不能告诉你我有多想要
你在这一年
来——祝福身心和
像海蒂一样精神
说我们都会活下去
我们的时间和
然后休息。什么
一个词是休息，
完美的休息。那些姑娘们
会很高兴有
你又在家
会不会很好
如果没有费用得到
从中国回家
如果没有
你会看到我
在那里而不是说谎
通过在 Chefoo 期间
假期。你的爱
妹妹玛蒂

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