Section of Letter to Clara, May 21, 1918

Section of Letter to Clara, May 21, 1918

World War, 1914-1918; Anniversaries; Missionaries; Dinners and dining

Harriet writes to Clara saying that she cannot be happy until the cruel war is over; yet, she is hopeful for the future. There was a banquet thrown by the Presbyterian Mission to celebrate Harriet's fifty years as a missionary in China. In her speech, she remarked that although she has met many friends, she is the only one who can say she can look back over fifty years in China. She spoke of changes and the hope she has. Their Mission increased from six to seventy in the past fifty years and she hopes that it continues to grow.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection

Unpublished

1918-05-21

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_900

World War, 1914-1918

Canton China
May 21st 1918
My dear Clara
The twenty first of May has come again.
I hope it finds the trio well and happy in the Home
on the Hill. It seems as though we can never be [u]very[/u]
happy again until this cruel [u]most cruel[/u] war is over,
and when will that me. Well we still have much to be
thankful for in the past and present, and [u]hope[/u] for the
future, for in the end [u]right[/u] must win.
I have been wishing to write about ever so many things
but there has seemed to be no time. [?many?] others have wished
to tell you a little more about the banquet of the Presbyterian
Mission when I was [u]"fifty"[/u] As Miss Butler has described the
feast was spread on the tales arranged HN I mask my
place at table James Henry master of ceremonies on my right and
Miss Butler a the left. Martha sat opposite. Electa had
made an immense cake which had fifty candles on it and
these were all lighted, and then all cheered and clapped
their hands, and it was borne in upon me that a speech
was expected from me so I rose to the occasion and said
a few words. I will not inflict them upon you in detail. I
commenced I remember by saying that although surrounded
by friends I felt in one sense alone for I was the only one
among them all who could look back over fifty years in
China, that I had thought for some time I would like to have
fifty years, but when I thought how old I should be I would
think probably not but now I had arrived at the time, and
was not tired of living yet. This they all cheered. Then I gave
them some [?reminiscences?] and spoke of the changes and
finally expressed the hope that they might each and all
have fifty years in China, and the way to accomplish it was
just to keep on living, and here were ever so many good doctors
who were [u]more[/u] than willing to help them there were twelve doctors precent
I said that our Mission had increased from six to seventy in
the past fifty years, so fifty years hence at the same rate of increase
there would be more than a thousand together around
Miss Wrights hospitable board. The banquet was in the room
which used to be Dr Kerr's parlor where our Sabbath evening
services were held so long. Dr + Mrs Wright live there now it



中国广东
1918 年 5 月 21 日
我亲爱的克拉拉
五月二十一日又来了。
我希望它在家里找到三人组幸福快乐
在山上。似乎我们永远不可能非常
再次快乐，直到这场残酷最残酷的战争结束，
我什么时候会。好吧，我们还有很多事情要做
感谢过去和现在，并希望
未来，因为最终权利必须获胜。
我一直想写很多东西
但似乎没有时间了。许多其他人希望
告诉你更多关于长老会的宴会
我“五十岁”时的使命正如巴特勒小姐所描述的
盛宴散布在故事安排上 HN 我掩饰我的
坐在我右边的詹姆斯亨利司仪桌旁，
巴特勒小姐是左边。玛莎坐在对面。 Electa 有
做了一个巨大的蛋糕，上面有五十支蜡烛，
这些都被点亮了，然后大家欢呼鼓掌
他们的手，我突然想到了一个演讲
是我的期望，所以我站起来说
几句话。我不会详细地把它们强加给你。我
一开始我记得我说过虽然被包围了
通过朋友们，我在某种意义上感到孤独，因为我是唯一的一个
在他们当中，所有能够回顾五十多年的人
中国，我想了一段时间我想拥有
五十岁，但当我想到自己应该几岁时，我会
想可能不会，但现在我当时已经到了，而且
还没有厌倦生活。这让他们都欢呼起来。然后我给了
他们回忆了一些事情并谈到了变化和
最后表示希望他们能各得其所
在中国有五十年，实现它的方法是
只是为了继续生活，这里有这么多好医生
他们非常愿意帮助他们，有十二位医生在场
我说我们的使命从六年增加到七十
过去的五十年，所以五十年后以同样的速度增长
周围会有一千多个
赖特小姐好客的董事会。宴会在房间里
这曾经是克尔博士的客厅，我们的安息日晚上在那里
服务举行了这么长时间。赖特博士和夫人现在住在那里