Unsigned letter from Harriet to Mattie, February 9, 1871
Dublin Core
Title
Unsigned letter from Harriet to Mattie, February 9, 1871
Subject
Chinese language--Study and teaching; Fluency (Language learning); Letters; Best friends; Missionaries; Visitors, Foreign; Tianjin Massacre, Tianjin, China, 1870; Xenophobia
Description
In this letter to her sister Martha, Harriet writes about her difficulty learning Chinese and her belief that unless she lives to be very old she will probably never be fluent. Like many other letters Harriet writes, she also discusses her fellow missionaries, specifically Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead. Harriet concludes the letter by writing about the negative sentiments towards foreigners in China, including the Tianjin Massacre. Interestingly, Harriet seems to sympathize with the Chinese and their rebellion against French rule. She makes note that the excitement which drove the massacre has subsided.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1871-02-09
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_049
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton,
Feb'y 9th '71-
My [u]dear Mattie[/u],
Your letter comes last so
I am afraid it will not be good for
much for I have been writing all day.
The teacher sent word this morning
that he had'nt time to teach to-day +
I was --- [u]delighted[/u] for I wanted the
time to write but if he had come would
have felt that I must study 3 or 4 hours
Doubtless you think it funny that after
I have been here three years I still have
to study at the language but that is
because you are not acquainted with
the [u]Chinese[/u] language. I have no
reason to think that my progress has
not been as good as that of people
in general but I feel that it is still
[u]before[/u] me. Doubtless the worst is over though.
Henry + I comfort ourselves with thinking
that [u]if[/u] we should live to be 114 yrs old.
like an old old man Dr Dean told about
we may perhaps by that time acquire
some fluency in the Chinese tongue.
Miss Shaw says that she can forget
in three hours all she has learned
in five. Now about the letters which
we were delighted to get this month because
we missed them last. The Nov package
come all right + a nice good full one,
it was too, but the Dec package which ought
to have come also is [?minus?] + we shall
have to "wait a little longer," Perhaps
they were a little late in starting or
else were snowed in in the Rocky Mts
probably the latter as enough of the
Canton letters are missing to make us
all conclude that some of the trains
were behind time. Sarah sent a
letter Dec 15th which came all right
+ the Mission letter Dec 17th also.
I hope you will catch up for if not the
letters are three months old when they
get here. I expect we should miss
every once in a while but we know
the [u]very d[/u]ay that we [u]must[/u] send or
we cannot write for another month.
They keep talking about steamers every
2 weeks + then it would'nt make so
much difference . I am glad you
like Mr + Mrs Whiteheads photos + thanks
for sending the group which will come
all in good time I expect. You may
think of them as our very best friends
in Canton + I think they consider us
theirs. You speak of anxiety felt for
Chinese missionaries. The excitement has
subsided + fear is no longer felt of an outbreak
so we look back upon it as a thing past.
I suppose the feeling against foreigners was
quite as intense at Canton as any place
but they probably have rather more
fear of them having seen more of
their power. We know perfectly well
that there was a large class of the
people that would like nothing better than
to rise + drive out the foreigners but the
authorities + better classes ^[were] endeavoring to
keep the peace. At the time of the
outbreak at Tienstin there were three
places designated Canton Nganking +
Tienstin + the latter was by some
considered the least likely to be the
scene of the outbreak. In each place the
French had given the Chinese great provocation
+ it was in great part prompted by a
natural desire for revenge. Our teacher
who is not at all unfriendly to foreigners
in general says that when the Chinese
here get strong enough they will certainly
take back the land the French have
unjustly taken from them even if
they have to wait 100 years and
Henry told him he thought it
would be right for them to do so.
The stories that were circulated at the
North were also reported here. two or three
times it was said the day was appointed
for the murder of the foreigners + that rewards
were offered to any who would kill foreigners.
Feb'y 9th '71-
My [u]dear Mattie[/u],
Your letter comes last so
I am afraid it will not be good for
much for I have been writing all day.
The teacher sent word this morning
that he had'nt time to teach to-day +
I was --- [u]delighted[/u] for I wanted the
time to write but if he had come would
have felt that I must study 3 or 4 hours
Doubtless you think it funny that after
I have been here three years I still have
to study at the language but that is
because you are not acquainted with
the [u]Chinese[/u] language. I have no
reason to think that my progress has
not been as good as that of people
in general but I feel that it is still
[u]before[/u] me. Doubtless the worst is over though.
Henry + I comfort ourselves with thinking
that [u]if[/u] we should live to be 114 yrs old.
like an old old man Dr Dean told about
we may perhaps by that time acquire
some fluency in the Chinese tongue.
Miss Shaw says that she can forget
in three hours all she has learned
in five. Now about the letters which
we were delighted to get this month because
we missed them last. The Nov package
come all right + a nice good full one,
it was too, but the Dec package which ought
to have come also is [?minus?] + we shall
have to "wait a little longer," Perhaps
they were a little late in starting or
else were snowed in in the Rocky Mts
probably the latter as enough of the
Canton letters are missing to make us
all conclude that some of the trains
were behind time. Sarah sent a
letter Dec 15th which came all right
+ the Mission letter Dec 17th also.
I hope you will catch up for if not the
letters are three months old when they
get here. I expect we should miss
every once in a while but we know
the [u]very d[/u]ay that we [u]must[/u] send or
we cannot write for another month.
They keep talking about steamers every
2 weeks + then it would'nt make so
much difference . I am glad you
like Mr + Mrs Whiteheads photos + thanks
for sending the group which will come
all in good time I expect. You may
think of them as our very best friends
in Canton + I think they consider us
theirs. You speak of anxiety felt for
Chinese missionaries. The excitement has
subsided + fear is no longer felt of an outbreak
so we look back upon it as a thing past.
I suppose the feeling against foreigners was
quite as intense at Canton as any place
but they probably have rather more
fear of them having seen more of
their power. We know perfectly well
that there was a large class of the
people that would like nothing better than
to rise + drive out the foreigners but the
authorities + better classes ^[were] endeavoring to
keep the peace. At the time of the
outbreak at Tienstin there were three
places designated Canton Nganking +
Tienstin + the latter was by some
considered the least likely to be the
scene of the outbreak. In each place the
French had given the Chinese great provocation
+ it was in great part prompted by a
natural desire for revenge. Our teacher
who is not at all unfriendly to foreigners
in general says that when the Chinese
here get strong enough they will certainly
take back the land the French have
unjustly taken from them even if
they have to wait 100 years and
Henry told him he thought it
would be right for them to do so.
The stories that were circulated at the
North were also reported here. two or three
times it was said the day was appointed
for the murder of the foreigners + that rewards
were offered to any who would kill foreigners.
广东，
1871年2月9日
亲爱的Mattie，
我最后写了你的信
所以我不知道我之前花了一天时间给你写的信
还合不合适了。
老师今天给我们留言说
他今天来不及教课
我很高兴我想要一些时间去写信
但是如果他来了
他会觉得我必须要学3-4个小时
毫无疑问，你认为这很有趣
因为我在这里都三年了
我还在学习语言
但是这是因为你没有被正式通知要用中文。
/
我没有原因去想我的进展
没有大多数那么好
但是我觉得它还是在我的前面。
毫无疑问，我是最差的。
Henry和我通过想我们应该在这里住到114岁
安慰我们自己
想一个老人Dean医生说的那样
这个时候，我们也许需要时间
让我们的中文流利一些。
Shaw小姐说
她会三小时内忘记她五小时学的东西。
现在是关于这个
我们很高兴收到的，因为上个月我们错过他们到来的信。
11月的包裹刚刚来了
而且是个很好很满的，
它也是，但是12月的包裹应该很快到达
而且我们会
不得不等待更长时间，
也许它们开始有点晚
或者是在落基山脉下雪了
也许广东晚一点
错过广东的信
让我们总结了一些晚一点到火车。
Sarah12月15日寄了一封信
它准时到达了
而且组织的信12月17日也到了。
我希望你可以赶上
如果信到了已经3个月。
我觉得
我们会想你彼此一阵字
但是我们知道
我们一定要每天写一些下个月的内容。
他们每两周都会谈到轮船
而且也没有什么区别。
我很高兴
你喜欢Whiteheads夫妇
也谢谢你发来的照片
它们在我期盼的时间送来。
你可能认为他们是广东最好的朋友
而且我认为他们认为我们是他们的。
你说的对呀中国传教士的忧虑。
兴奋减退
恐惧也不再爆发
所以我们认为事情过去了。
我认为排除外国人的感觉
在广东很剧烈
因为任何地方都是但是他们很可能比别的地方的人更害怕
他们看到更多势力。
我们知道
很多人
希望外国人离开中国
但是官方除外。
爆发的时候
有三个指定地点
广东、南京、天津还有晚一点的
被认为最不回爆发的。
在每一个地方
法国人挑衅了中国人
很大一部分助长了
报复的决心。
我们对外国人很友好的老师
也说：当中国变得足够强大，
人民一定会
把土地从法国抢回来
即使他们需要等100年
他们还会把土地抢回来
然后Henry告诉他
他认为这是对的。
这个在北方相传的故事
也被在此报导了两到三次
说这一天也是被任命
谋杀外国人对日子
这一生对于杀外国人的人的奖励。
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Unsigned letter from Harriet to Mattie, February 9, 1871,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 21, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/97.