^LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 5 t 5 [SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT.] J UNITED STAT^lo%MElilOA. ; q;*"*'*.'*-'*'*-*'* • *■ "t *■'». EXTRACTS DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE or THE LATE AMOS LAWRENCE: /I WITH A BRIEF ACCOUN'T OF SOME INCIDENTS TN HIS LIFE. Bliitrt in Ijis Son, WILLIAM K. LAWRENCE, M.D. NOT PUBLISHED. BOSTON; PRINTED BY JOHN WIl,SON & SON, 22, School Stueet. 1855. CP-J ^ M 38 Kutvrad^ accoMins to Arl of CongrreSs iu the yMr lSo5, by WILUAM ». LAVTREXCE, 111 tho Oli-rk's OWoe of Ui« WstrKt Ooiirl of the Distik t of Msssschusotts. u 1 s () N I, V s u R V 1 V 1 N (i I! i; or ii v. k AMOS A. LAWllENCE, (J bis lloliimr is ;i(tcclioii;ilcIii SInsdiluii iiv iiiK Kiiirdu. P R E F A C E . Soon after the decease of the late Amos Lawrence, it was announced that some memorial of him would be published, giving a detailed account of his life and character. This announcement was made rather to gratify those friends who thought that such a record would prove useful to young men about entering upon the active duties of life, than from a desire for such a publication on the part of those most interested by the ties of family and aflfection. After a careful examination of Mr. Lawrence's papers, his executors were convinced that a memorial which should do justice to the dead would involve the record of many details of a domestic nature most nearly concerning the living. Mr. Lawrence was a private citizen, who pursued the even tenor of his way, Without taking an active part in public measures or in public life. To the general reader, there could be but little to interest in a career so devoid of incident, and so little connected with the stirring events of the times. Most of his letters are of a strictly private nature, and involve the record of many private details. His domestic tastes, and his affection for his family, often led him to make mention of persons and events in such a way that few letters could be wholly given, without invading the precincts of the family circle. For tlic reasons above stated, it was thought best to abandon the plan of a published memoir, particularly as the discourses of the Rev. Dr. Lothrop and the Rev. Dr. Hopkins seemed to contain all necessary information respecting the life and character of the deceased. Two years had elapsed since Mr. Lawrence's death, when cer- tain facts respecting his wishes in relation to his diary and corre- spondence came to the knowledge of the editor. These writings had been carefully preserved for his grandchildren, but were so scattered through many manuscript volumes as to make them unavailable for those for whose use they were intended. As no one of the immediate family had the necessary leisure to undertake the task, the editor considered it his duty to do that which could not properly be committed to one less nearly connected with the de- ceased, lie has therefore prepared the present volume, in which he has endeavored to furnish such extracts as seemed to him most interesting, and best adapted to illustrate the character of the man ; such as would exhibit his good and valuable traits, without attempt- ing to conceal those imperfections, an exemption from which would elevate him above the common sphere of mortals. It is designed to give a history of his principal charitable efforts, rather tlian to furnish a detailed account of what was otherwise an uneventful career. It has been an object to allow the writer to tell his own story, and to add only what seemed necessary to preserve the thread of the narrative, and to throw light upon the various matters touched upon in the correspondence. In order that these writings may be preserved and made avail- able, a few copies have been printed for distribution among the near relatives of the deceased ; and, should any friend into whose hands this volume may fall have in his possession letters of interest from Mr. Lawrence, the editor would esteem it a favor to be per- mitted to copy them. In mentioning persons and events, more reserve has been used than if the collection had remained in manuscript, particularly where reference is made to persons still living, or to individuals in private life. While there is recorded but little to amuse, much will be found to interest those who can appreciate the spirit, which, in this instance, led to the consecration of a life to the highest duties, and to a rare fidelity in the fulfilment of important trusts. Mr. Lawrence was eminently a religious man ; and a deep sense of accountability may be discovered at the foundation of all those acts of beneficence, which, during his lifetime, may have been attributed by some to less worthy motives. The engraving at the commencement of this volume is from an original portrait by Harding, in the possession of the editor, a copy of which hangs in the Library building of Williams College. It seems fitting also, that, in a private record like the present, the portrait of the subject of this memorial should be accompanied by that of his brother, the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, who was, for forty-three years, so intimately associated with him in all the trials as well as in the triumphs of active business life, and who was still more closely connected by the bonds of fraternal affection and sympathy. A sketch of the " Old Home " is also included, in order to con- vey to the descendants a representation of the spot so dear to their predecessors, and so much connected with the memories and asso- ciations of the past. Boston, Ajiril 23, lS.5o. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. rage. Ancestry. Bimh. Paeents 1 II. Eakly YsAiis. School Days. ArPKENTicESHip 6 III. Akmval in Boston. CLEBKSKir. Commences Business. Habits. 13 IV. Business Habits. His Fathee's Moetoage. Resolutions. Aeei- VAL of Beotbees in Boston 20 V. Visits at Groton. Sickness. Lettee feom De. Shattuck. En- OAOEMENT. Lettee TO Rev. De. Qannett. Maeeiage. ... 26 VI. Beamble News. Domestic Habits. Illness op Wipe 33 VII. Death op Wipe. Joueneys. Letters. Jocenet to New York. . 41 VIII. Maeeiage. Elected to Leoislatuee. Engages in Manupactcrino. Reflections 46 6 X CONTENTS. Page. IX. Reflectioks. Letter. Bunkek-Hill Monument 51 X. JouKNEY TO Canada. Letters. Diary. Habits of Exercise. . 58 XI. Letters. Correspondence with Mr. Webster 64 xn. Testimonial to Mr. Webster. Dangerous Illness. Letters. . . 70 XIU. Journey to New Hampshike. Letters. Resigns Office of Trustee AT Hospital. Letters 77 XIV. Daily Exercise. Regimen. Improving Health. Letters. ... 85 XV. Reflections. Visit to Washington. Visit to Rainsford Island. Reflections. Views of Death. Reflections 94 XVI. Brother's Death. Letters. Gifts. Letters. Diary. Appli- cants for Aid. Reflections. Letter from Rev. Dr. Stone. Diary .104 XVU. Reflections. Letters. Account of Efforts to complete Bunker- Hill Monument 117 xvin. Interest in Mount Auburn. Rev. Dr. Sharp. Letter from Bishop McIlvaine. Letter from Judge Story 126 XLX. Acquaintance with President Hopkins. Letters. Affection for Brattlb-strbet Church. Death of Mrs. Appleion. Letters. 133 CONTENTS. XI XX. Page. Death of Daughter. Letteks. Donation to Williams College. Beneficence. Letters 141 XXI. Letter prom Dr. Sharp. Illness and Death op Son. Letters. Applictions 151 xxu. Repleotions. Expenditures. Letters. Donation for Library at Williams College. Views on Study op Anatomy 160 xxni. Donation to Lawrence Academy. Correspondence with R. G. Parker. Sleigh-rides. Letters. Establishes Children's Hos- pital. Aversion to Notoriety 168 XXIV. Capt. a. S. McKenzie. Diaky. Aid to Ireland. Madame Pres- cott. Sir William Colebrooke 179 XXV. Mr. Lawrence as an Applicant. Letters. Dlary. Prayer and Meditations. Liberality to a Creditor. Letters 188 XXVI. Reflections. Views on holding Office. Letters. Capt. A. Sli- dell McKenzie. Death of Brother and of Hon. J. Mason. . 198 xxvn. System in Accounts. Letter from Prop. Stuart. Letters. Diary. Father Matthew. Dr. Hamilton 207 XXVIII. Codicil to Will. Illness. Gen. Whiting. Letters. Diary. . 214 XXIX. Diary. Reflections. Sickness. Letier prom Dr. Sharp. Cor- respondence 221 XU CONTENTS Paw. XXX. Ajitni 13et. AMor>-r of Donatioss to Williams College. . . . 228 XXXI. Letteks. Dlaet 235 XXXII. Sle T. F. BrxTON. Lettee tkom Lady Buxton. Elliott Cebssos. liSTTEBS 241 XXXIII. Lettees. Ret. De. Scoresby. Wabash College 247 XXXIV. Dlusy. Lettees. Thomas Taebell. Uscle Toby. Rev. De. Lowell. 253 XXXV. COEEESPOXDENCE. DiARY 267 xxx^^. Me. Laweexcb seetes as Feesidektiax Elector. Gex. Feaxklcc FtBSCB. Sudden Death. Funbeal 276 xxxvn. Sketch op Character by Ret. Drs. Lotheoe and Hopkc-s. . . 285 XXX vm. CoxcLrsiox 294 INDEX 303 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. CHAPTEE I. ANCESTRY. — BIRTH. — PARENTS. Amos Lawrence was born in Groton, Mass., on the 22(1 of April, 1786. His ancestor, John Lawrence, was baptized, according to the records, on the 8th of October, 1609, at AVisset, County of Suffolk, England, where the family had resided for a long period, though originally from the County of Lancaster. Butler, in his "History of Groton," has, among other details, the following : — " The first account of the ancestor of the numerous fami- lies of this name in Groton and Pepperell, which can be relied upon as certain, is, that he was an inhabitant of Watertown as eaidy as 1635. He probably came in the company which came with Governor Winthrop in 1630. His given, name was John, and that of his wife was Eliza- beth. Whether they were married in England or not, has not been ascertained. Their eldest cliild was born in Water- town, Jan. 14, 1635. He removed to Groton, with probably 1 2 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. all his family, at an early period of its settlement, as his name is found in the records there in 1663. He was an original proprietor, having a twenty-acre right." Of the parents of the subject of this memoir, the same author writes : — " Samuel Lawrence, the son of Capt. Amos Lawrence, sen., was an officer in the Continental Army, in the former part of the Revolutionary War. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, where a musket-ball passed through his beaver hat. He was also in the battle in Khode Island, where he served as adjutant under Gen. Sullivan. On the 22d day of July, 1777, being at home, on a furlough, for the express pui-pose, he was married to Susanna Parker. . . . Having f;iith- fully served in the cause of his country during the term of his engagement, he returned to his native town, to enjoy the peace and quiet of domestic life on his farm. He was elected by his townsmen to some of the highest offices in their gift : he was a deacon of the church, and a Justice of the Peace quorum unus. He took a deep interest in providing means for the education of youth, particularly in establishing and supporting the Seminai-y in Groton, which now, in gratitude to him and his sons, bears the family name. Of this institu- tion he was a trustee thirty-thi-ee years, and in its benefits and advantages he gave ample opportunities for all his chil- dren to participate. Here their minds undoubtedly received some of those early impressions, the developments and con- sequences of which it will be the work of their biographers hereafter to portray. No deduction, however, should here be made from the importance of parental instruction, to add to the merit of academical education. The correct lessons given by the mother in the nursery are as necessary to give DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 8 the light inclination to the tender mind as are those of the tutor in the highest seminary to prepare it for the business of life and intellectual greatness. In the present case, all the duties incumbent on a mother to teach her offspring to be good, and consequently great, were discharged with fide- lity and success. Both parents lived to see, in the subject of their care, all that they could reasonably hope or desii-e. lie died Nov. 8, 1827, a;t. 73 ; and his venerable widow. May 2, 1845, at. 89." Mr. Lawrence writes, in 1849, to a friend: — " My father belonged to a company of minute men in Gro- ton, at the commencement of the Revolution. On the morn- ing of the 19th of April, 1775, when the news reached town that the British troops were on the road from Boston, Gen. Prescott, who was a neighbor, came towards the house on horseback, at rapid speed, and cried out, 'Samuel, notify your men: the British are coming.' My father mounted the General's horse, rode a distance of seven miles, notified the men of his circuit, and was back again at his father's house in forty minutes. In three hours the company was ready to march, and on the next day (the 20th) reached Cambridge. My father was in the battle of Bunker Hill ; received a bullet through his cap, which cut his hair firom front to rear; received a spent grape-shot upon his arm, without breaking the bone ; and lost a large number of men. His veteran Captain Farwell was shot through the body, was taken up for dead, and was so reported by the man who was directed to carry him off. This report brought back the captain's voice, and he exclaimed, with his utmost power, ' It aint true ; don't let my poor wife hear of this ; I shall live to see my country free.' And so it turned out. This 4 DIARY AND COR!iESPONDENCE. good man, \rlio had served at the capture of Cape Breton in 1745, again in 1755, and now on Bunker Hill in 1775, is connected with every thing interesting in my early days. The bullet was extracted, and remains, as a memento, with his descendants. My father and mother were acquainted from their childhood, and engaged some time in 1775. They kept up a correspondence through 1776, when he was at New York ; but. on a visit to her in 1777 (his mother having advised them to be married, as Susan had better be Sam's widow than his forlorn damsel), they were married ; but, while the ceremony was going forward, the signal was given to call all soldiers to their posts ; and, within the hour, he left his wife, father, mother, and friends, to join his regi- ment then at Cambridge. This was on the 22d day of July, 1777. In consideration of the circumstances, his colonel allowed him to return to his wife, and to join the army at Rhode Island in a brief time (two or three days). He did so, and saw nothing more of home until the last day of that year. The army being in winter quarters, he got a furlough for a short period, and reached home in time to assist at the ordination of the Rev. Daniel Chaplin, of whose church both my parents were then members. His return was a season of great joy to all his family. His stay was brief, and nothing more was seen of him until the autumn of 1778, when he retired from the army, in time to be with his wife at the birth of their first child. From that time he was identified with every thing connected with the good of the town. As we children came forward, we were carefully looked after, but were taught to use the talents entrusted to us ; and every nerve was strained to provide for us the academy which is now doing so much there. We sons are doing less for education for our means than our father for his means." DIARY AN'D CORRESPOXDENCE. Of his mother, Mr. Lawrence always spoke m the strongest terms of veneration and love, and in many of his letters are found messages of affection, such as could have emanated only from a lieart overflowing with filial gratitude. Her form bending over their bed in silent prayer, at the hour of twUight, when she was about leaving them for the night, is stUl amonsj the earliest recollections of her children. CHAPTER II. EARLY YEARS. — SCHOOL DAYS. — APPREXTICESHIP. The first public instruction received by Mr. Law- rence was at the district school kept at a short dis- tance from his father's house. Possessing a feeble constitution, he was often detained at home by sick- ness, where he employed himself industriously with his books and tools, in the use of which he acquired a good degree of skill, as may be seen from a letter to his son at Groton, in 1839 : — " Near the bam used to be an old fort, where the people went to protect themselves from the Indians ; and, long since my remembrance, the old cellar was there, surrounded by flder-bushes and the like. I made use of many a piece of the elder for pop-guns and squirts, in the preparation of which I acquired a strong taste for the use of the penknife and jack-knife. I like the plan of a boy acquiring the taste for tools, and of their taking pains to learn their use ; for they may be so situated as to make a very slight acquaint- ance very valuable to them. And then, another advantage is that they may have exercise of body and mind in some situations where they would suffer without. How do you employ yourself ? Learn as much as you can of farming ; DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. i for the work of your hands in this way may prove the best resource in securing comfort to you. The beautiful images of early life come up in these bright moonlight nights, the like of which I used to enjoy in the fields below our old mansion, where I was sent to watch the cattle. There I studied astronomy to more account than ever afterwards ; for the heavens were impressive teachers of the goodness of that Father who is ever near to each one of his children. May you never lose sight of this truth, and so conduct your- self that at any moment you may be ready to answer when he calls ! " He did not allow himself to be idle, but, frOm his earliest years, exhibited the same spirit of industry which led to success in after-life. With a natural quickness of apprehension and a fondness for books, he made commendable progress in spite of his disad- vantages. His father's social disposition and liospita- ble feelings made the house a favorite resort for both friends and strangers ; and, among the most welcome, were old messmates and fellow-soldiers, to whose mar- vellous adventures and escapes the youthful listener lent a most attentive ear. In after-life, he often al- luded to the intense interest with which he hung upon these accounts of revolutionary scenes, and times which "tried men's souls." The schoolmaster was usually billeted upon the family ; and there are now living individuals high in political and social life who served in that capacity, and who look back with interest to the days passed under that hospitable roof 8 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. At a later period, he seems to have been transferred to another school in the adjoining district, as will be seen by the following extract of a letter written in 1844 to a youth at the Groton Academy: — " More than fifty years ago, your father and I were school children together. I attended then at the old meeting-house, or North Barn, as it was called, by way of derision, where I once remember being in great tribulation at having lost my spelling-book on the way. It was afterwards restored to me by Capt. Richardson, who found it under his pear-tree, where I had 'been, without leave, on my way to school, and with the other children helped myself to his fruit." From the district school, Mr. Lawrence entered the Groton Academy, of which all his brothers and sisters were members at various times. As his strength was not sufficient to make him useful upon the farm, in the autumn of 1799 he was placed in a small store in the neighboring towTi of Dunstable. There he passed but a few months ; and, on account of perhaps greater facilities for acquiring a knowledge of busi- ness, he was transferred to the store of James Brazer, Esq., of Groton, an enterprising and thrifty country merchant, who transacted a large business for these times with his own and surrounding towns. The store was situated on the high road leading from Bos- ton to New Hampshire and Canada, and was, conse- quently, a place of much resort both for travellers and neighbors who took an interest in passing events. DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Several clerks were employed ; and, as Mr. Brazer did not take a very active part in the management of the business, after a year or two nearly the whole respon- sibility of the establishment I'ested upon young Law- rence. The stock consisted of the usual variety kept in the country stores of those days, when neighbors could not, as now, run down to the city thirty or forty miles distant for any little matter of fancy, and return before dinner-time. Puncheons of rum and brandy, bales of cloth, kegs of tobacco, with hardware and hosiery, shared attention in common with silks and thread, and all other articles for female use. Among other duties, the young clerk was obliged to dispense medicines, not only to customers, but to all the physi- cians within twenty miles around, who depended on this store for their supply. The confidence in his good judgment was such that he was often consulted, in preference to the physician, by those who were suffering from minor ails ; and many was the extemporaneous dose which he admi- nistered for the weal or woe of the patient. The skme confidence was extended to him in all other matters ; no one doubted his assertion ; and the cha- racter for probity and fairness which accompanied him through life was here established. The quantity of rum and brandy sold would sur- prise the temperance men of modern days. At eleven o'clock, each forenoon, some stimulating beverage, ac- cording to the taste of the clerk who compounded it, 10 DIARY AND CORRESPOXDENCE. was served out for the benefit of clerks and custom- ers. Mr. Lawrence partook with the others ; but, soon finding that the desire became more pressing at the approach of the hour for indulgence, he resolved to discontinue the habit altogether : — " His mind was soon made up. Understanding perfectly the ridicule he should meet with, and which for a time he did meet with in its fullest measure, he yet took at once the ground of total abstinence. Such a stand, taken at such an age, in such circumstances of temptation, before temperance societies had been heard of, or the investigations had been commenced on which they are based, was a practical instance of that judgment and decision which characterized him through life." * In regard to this resolution, he writes, many years afterward, to a young student in college : — " In the first place, take this for your motto at the com- mencement of your journey, that the difference of going jiut right, or a little wrong, wUl be the difference of finding your- self in good quarters, or in a miserable bog or slough, at the end of it. Of the whole number educated in the Groton stores for some years before and after myself, no one else, to my knowledge, escaped the bog or slough ; and my escape I trace to the simple fact of my having put a restraint upon my appetite. We five boys were in the habit, every fore- noon, of making a drink compounded of rum, raisins, sugar, nutmeg, &c., with biscuit, — all palatable to eat and diink. After being in the store four weeks, I found myself admo- nished by my appetite of the approach of the hour for indul- * President Hopkins's Sermon in commemoration of Amos Lairrence. DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 11 gence. Thinking the habit might make trouble if allowed to grow stronger, without further apology to my seniors I declined partaking with them. My first resolution was to abstain for a week, and, when the week was out, for a month, and then for a yeai\ Finally, I resolved to abstain for the rest of my apprenticeship, which was for five years longer. During that whole period, I never drank a spoonful, though I mixed gallons daily for my old master and his customers. I decided not to be a slave to tobacco in any form, though I loved the odor of it then, and even now have in my drawer a superior Havanna cigar given me, not long since, by a friend, but only to smell of I have never in my life smoked a cigar, never chewed but one quid, and that was before I was fifteen, and never took an ounce of snuff, though the scented rappee of forty years ago had great charms for me. Now, I say, to this simple fact of starting just right am I indebted, with God's blessing on my labors, for my present position, as well as that of the numerous connections sprung up around me. I have many details that now appear as plain to me as the sun at noonday, by which events are connected together, and have led to results which call on me to bless the Lord for all his benefits, and to use the opportunities thus permitted to me in cheering on the generation of young men who have claims upon my sympathies as relations, fellow-townsmen, or brethren on a more enlarged scale." Of this period he writes elsewhere, as follows : — " When I look back, I can trace the small events which happened at your age as having an influence upon all the after-things. My academy lessons, little academy balls, and eight-cent expenses for music and gingerbread, the agreeable partners in the hall, and pleasant companions in the stroll, all helped to make me feel that I had a character even then ; 12 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. and, after leaving school and going into the store, there was not a month passed before I became impressed with the opi- nion that restraint upon appetite was necessary to prevent the slavery I saw destroying numbers around me. Many and many of the farmers, mechanics, and apprentices of that day have filled drunkards' graves, and have left destitute families and friends. " The knowledge of every-day affairs which I acquired in my business apprenticeship in Groton has been a source of pleasure and profit even in my last ten years' discipline." The responsibility thrown upon the young clerk was very great ; and he seems cheerfully to have accepted it, and to have given himself up entirely to the per- formance of his business duties. His time, from early dawn till evening, was fully taken up ; and, although lining in the family of his employer, and within a mile of his father's house, a whole week would sometimes pass, without his having leisure to pay even a flying visit. But few details of his apprenticeship can now be gathered from either his contemporaries or from any allusions in his own writings. He was disabled for a time by an accident which came near being fatal. In attempting to unload a gun for some one who called at the store, by some means the charge ex- ploded, and passed directly through the middle of his hand, making a round hole like that of a bullet. Sixty-three shot were picked out of the floor after the accident, and it seemed almost a miracle that he ever again had the use of his hand. 13 CHAPTER III. ARRIVAL IN BOSTON. — CLERKSHIP. — COMMENCES BUSINESS. — HABITS. On the 22d of April, 1807, Mr. Lawrence became of age ; and his apprenticeship, which had lasted seven years, was terminated. On the 29th of the same month, he took his father's horse and chaise, and engaged a neighbor to drive him to Boston, with, as he says many years after- wards, — " Twenty dollars in my pocket, but feeling richer than I had ever felt before, or have felt since. So rich that I gave the man who came with me two dollars to save him from any expense, and ensure him against loss by his spend- ing two days on the journey here and back (for which he was glad of an excuse)." His object was to make acquaintances, and to establish a credit which would enable him to com- mence business in Groton on his own account, in company with a fellow-clerk, whose apprenticeship had not quite expired. 14 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. A few days after his arrival in Boston, he received the oifer of a clerkship from a respectable house ; and, wishing to familiarize himself with the modes of trans- acting business in the metropolis, and with the desire of extending his acquaintance with business men, he accepted the offer. His employers Avere so well satisfied with the capacity of their new clerk, that, in the course of a few months, they made a proposition to admit him into partnership. Without any very definite knowledge of their affairs, he, much to their sui'prise, declined the offer. He did not consider the principles on which the business was conducted as the true ones. The result showed his sagacity ; for, in the course of a few months, the firm failed in busi- ness, and he was appointed by the creditors to settle their affairs. This he did to their satisfaction ; and, having no further occupation, decided upon commenc- ing business upon his own account. He accordingly hired a small store in what was then called Cornhill, and furnished it by means of the credit Avhich he had been able to obtain through the confidence with which ne had inspired those whose acquaintance he had made during his brief sojourn in Boston. On the 17th of December, 1807, he commenced business, after having engaged as his clerk, Henry Whiting, in after years well and honorably known as Brigadier-General Whiting of the U. S. Army. Mr. Lawrence writes to General Whiting in 1849, as follows : — DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 15 " I have just looked into my first sales-book, and there see the entries made by you more than forty-one years ago. Ever since, you have been going up from the Cornet of Dra- goons to the present station. Abbott, who took your place, is now the representative of his country at the Court of St. James." In a memorandum in one of his account-books, he thus alludes to his condition at that time : — " I was then, in the matter of property, not worth a dol- lar. My father was comfortably off as a farmer, somewhat in debt ; worth perhaps four thousand dollars. My brother Luther was in the practice of law, getting forward, but not worth two thousand dollars ; William worth nothing ; Ab- bott, a lad just fifteen years old, at school ; and Samuel, a child seven years old." Of the manner in which he occupied himself when not engaged about his business, he writes to his son in 1832: — " When I fijst came to this city, I took lodgings in the family of a widow who had commenced keeping boarders for a living. I was one of her first, and perhaps had been in the city two months when I went to this place ; and she of course, while I remained, was inclined to adopt any rules for the boarders that I prescribed. The only one I ever made was, that, after supper, all the boarders who remained in the public room should remain quiet at least for one hour, to give those who chose to study or read an opportunity of doing so without disturbance. The consequence was, that we had the most quiet and improving set of young men in the town. The few who did not wish to comply with the 16 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. regulation went abroad after tea, sometimes to the theatre, sometimes to other places, but, to a man, became bankrupt in after-life, not only in fortune but in reputation ; while a majority of the other class sustained good characters, and some are now living who are ornaments to society, and fill important stations. The influence of this small measure will perhaps be felt throughout generations. It was not less favorable on myself than on others." Mr. Lawrence was remarkable through life for the most punctilious exactness in all matters relating to business. Ever prompt himself in all that he under- took, he submitted Avith little grace to the want of the same good trait in others. He writes to a friend : — "And now having delivered the message, having the power at the present moment, and not having the assurance that I shall be able to do it the next hour, I will state that I practised upon the maxim, 'Business before friends,' from the commencement of my course. During the first seven years of my business in this city, I never allowed a bill against me to stand unsettled over the sabbath. If the pur- chase of goods was made at auction on Saturday, and deli- vered to me, I always examined and settled the bill by note or by crediting it, and having it clear, so that, in case I was not on duty on Monday, there would be no trouble for my boys ; thus keeping the business before me, instead of allow- ing it to drive me." Absence from his home seemed only to strengthen the feelings of attachment with which he regarded its inmates : — DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 17 " My interest in home, and my desire to have something to tell my sisters to instruct and improve them, as well as to hear their comments upon whatever I communicated, was a powerful motive for me to spend a portion of each evening in my boarding-house, the first year I came to Boston, in reading and study." During the same month in which he commenced his business, he opened a correspondence with one of his sisters by the following letter : — " Boston, December, 1807. " Dear E. — Although the youngest, you are no less dear to me than the other sisters. To you, therefore, I ought to be as liberal in affording pleasure ^if you can find any in reading my letters) as to S. and M. ; and, if there is any benefit resulting from them, you have a claim to it as well as they. From these considerations, and with the hope that you wUl write to me whenever you can do so with conve- nience, I have begun a correspondence which I hope will end only with Ufe. To be able to write a handsome letter is certainly a very great accomplishment, and can best be at- tained by practice ; and, if you now begin, I have no hesita- tion in saying, that, by the time you are sixteen, you will be mistress of a handsome style, and thrice the quantity of ideas you would otherwise possess, by omitting this paii of educa- tion. At present, you can write about any subject that will afford you an opportunity of putting together a sentence, and I shall read it with pleasure. I mention this, that you need not fear writing on subjects not particularly interesting to me ; the manner at present being of as much consequence as the matter. For our mutual pleasure and benefit, dear E., I hope you will not fail to gratify your affectionate brother Amos." 3 18 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. To show the nature of the correspondence between the parties, extracts are given below from a letter dated within a few days of the preceding, and ad- di-essed to another sister : — " From you, my dear sister, the injunction not to forget the duties of religion comes with peculiar grace. You beg I will pardon you for presuming to offer good advice. Does a good act require pardon ? Not having committed an offence, I can grant you no pardon ; but my thanks I can give, which you will accept, with an injunction never to withhold any caution or advice which you may think necessary or beneficial on account of fewer years having passed over your head " Many, when speaking of perfection, say it is not attain- able, or hitherto unattainable, and it is therefore vain to try or hope for it. To such, I would observe, that, from mo- tives of duty to our Creator, and ambition in oiu'selves, we ought to strive for it, at least so far as not to be distanced by those wjio have preceded us. MoraUty is strict justice between man and man ; therefore, a man being moral does not imply he is a Christian, but being a Christian implies he is a moral man " We ought to use our utmost endeavors to conquer our passions and evil propensities, to conform our lives to the strict rules of morality and the best practice of Christianity. I cannot go further, without introducing the subject of evil speaking, which you will perhaps think I have ex- hausted " I do not, my dear M., set myself up as a reformer of human nature, or to find fault with it ; but these observa- tions (which have occurred to me as I am writing) may serve to show how apt we are to do things which afford us no plea- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 19 sure, and which oftentimes are attended with the most dis- agreeable consequences. If you receive any improvement from the sentiments, or pleasure from the perusal, of this let- ter, the time in writing will be considered as well spent by your affectionate brother Amos." 'ZO CHAPTER IV BUSINESS HABITS. — ms FATIIER'S MORTGAGE. — RESOLV TIOXS. — AKIUVAL OF BROTHERS IX BOSTON. Mr. Lawrfnc e had early formed, in the management of his business, certain principles, to Avhich he rigidly adhered till the close of life. He writes : — " I adopted tlie plan of keeping an accurate account of mercliandise bought and sold each day, •with the profit as far as practic;ible. This plan was pursued for a number of yeais ; and I never found my merchandise fall short in taking an account of stock, •which I did as often at least as once in each year. I •was thus enabled to fonn an opinion of my actual state as a business man. I adopted also tlie rule always to have property, after my second year's business, to represent forty per cent at least more than I owed ; that is, never to be in debt more th;m two and a half times my capital. This caution saved me from ever getting emb:u-r;issed. If it were more genenilly adopted, we should see fewer flulures in business. Excessive credit is tlie rock on which so m;uiy business men are broken. " When I commenced, the embaigo had just been laid, and with such restrictions on trade that miuiy were induced DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 21 to leave it. But I felt great confidence, that, by industry, economy, and integrity, I could get a living ; and the experi- ment showed that I was right. IMost of the young men who commenced at that period failed by spending too much money, and using credit too freely. " I made about fifteen hundred dollai-s the first year, and more than four thousand the second. Probably, had I made four thousand the first year, I should have failed the second or third year. I practised a system of rigid economy, and never allowed myself to spend a fourpence for unnecessary objects until I had acquired it." It is known to many of Mr. Lawrence's friends, that his father mortgaged his farm, and loaned the proceeds to his son ; thereby enabling him, as some suppose, to do what he could not have done by his own unaided efforts. To show how far this supposi- tion is correct, the follomng extract is given. It is copied from the back of the original mortgage deed, now lying before the wi-iter, and bearing date of September 1, 1807. The extract is dated March, 1847: — " The re\new of this transaction always calls up the deep feelings of my heart. My honored father brought to me the one thousand dollars, and asked me to give liim my note for it. I told him he did wrong to place himself In a situation to be made unhappy, if I lost the money. He told me he guessed I wouldn't lose it, and I gave him my note. The first thing I did was to take four per cent premium on my Boston bills (the difference then between passable and Bos- ton money), and sending a thousand dollars in bills of the •SX DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Hillsborough Bank to Amherst, New Hampshire, by my fa- ther, to my brother Luther to cai'ry to the bank and get specie, as he was going there to attend court that week. My brother succeeded in getting specie, principally in silver change, for the bills, and returned it to me in a few days. In the mean- time, or shortly after, the bank had been sued, the bills dis- credited, and, in the end, proved nearly worthless. I determined not to use the money, except in the safest way ; and therefore loaned it to Messrs. Parkman, in whom I had entire confidence. After I had been in business, and had made more than a thousand dollars, I felt that I could repay the money, come what would of it ; being insured against fire, and trusting nobody for goods. I used it in my business, but took care to pay oflF the mortgage as soon as it would be received. The whole transaction is deeply interesting, and calls forth humble and devout thanksgiving to that merciful Father who has been to us better than our most sanguine hopes." In alluding to this transaction in another place, he " This incident shows how dangerous it is to the inde- pendence and comfort of families, for parents to take pecu- niary responsibilities for their sons in trade, beyond theii" power of meeting them without embarrassment. Had my Hillsborough Bank notes not been paid as they were, nearly the whole amount would have been lost, and myself and family might probably have been ruined. The incident was so striking, that I have uniformly discouraged young men who have appUed to me for credit, offering their fathers as bonds- men ; and, by doing so, I have, I believe, saved some respect- able families from ruin. My advice, however, has been sometimes rejected with anger. A young man who cannot DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 2S get along without such aid will not be likely to get along with it. On the first day of January, 1808, I had been but a few days in business ; and the profits on all my sales to that day were $175.18. The expenses were to come out, and the balance was my capital. At the end of six years, I had made sixty thousand dollars ; at the end of six years more, $112,000; at the end of six more, $280,000; and, at the end of six more (or in 1832), $427,000. In 1842, the sum had increased to such an amount as I thought would be good for my descendants ; and, from that time, I have been my own executor, and since that time, that is during a period of seven years, have expended more than four hundred thou- sand dollars. How shall I show my sense of responsibility ? Surely by active deeds more than by unmeaning words. God grant me to be true and faithful in his work." Having become fairly established in Boston, Mr. Lawrence concluded to take his brother Abbott, then fifteen years of age, as an apprentice. On the 8th of October, 1808, Abbott accordingly joined his brother, who says of him : — " In 1808, he came to me as my apprentice, bringing his bundle under his arm, with less than three dollars in his pocket (and this was his fortune) ; a first-rate business lad he was, but, like other bright lads, needed the careful eye of a senior to guard him from the pitfalls that he was ex- posed to." In his diary of February 10, 1847, he writes: — " In the autumn of 1809, I boarded at Granger's Coflfee House, opposite Brattle-street Church ; and, in the same house, Mr. Charles White took up his quarters, to prepare 24 DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. his then new play, called the ' Clergyman's Daughter.' He spent some months in preparing it to secure a run for the winter ; and used to have Tennett, Canfield, Robert Treat Paine, and a host of others, to sup with him very often. I not unfrequently left the party at the dinner table, and found them there when I returned to tea. Among the boarders was a fair proportion of respectable young men, of different pursuits ; and, having got somewhat interested for White, we all agreed to go, and help bring out his ' Cler- gyman's Daughter.' Mrs. Darley was the lady to per- sonate her, and a more beautiful creature could not be found. She and her husband (who sung his songs better than any man I had ever heard then) had all the spirit of parties in interest. We filled the boxes, and encored, and all promised a great run. After three nights, we found few beside the friends, and it was laid aside a failure. In looking back, the picture comes fresh before me ; and, among all, I do not recollect one who was the better, and most were ruined. The theatre is no better now." In 1-849, he resumes : — " About this time, my brother William made me a Httle visit to recruit his health, wliich he had impaired by hard "work on the farm, and by a generous attention to the joyous meetings of the young folks of both sexes, from six miles ai-ound, which meetings he never allowed to break in upon his work. He continued his visit through the winter, and became so much interested in my business that I agreed to famish the store next my own for his benefit. Soon after that, I was taken sick ; and he bought goods for himself to start with, and pushed on without fear. From that time, he was successful as a business man. He used his property DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 25 faithfully, and I trust acceptably to the Master, who has called him to account for his talents. Our father's advice to us was, — " ' Do not fall out by the way, for a threefold cord is not quickly broken.' " CHAPTER V. VISITS AT GROTON. — SICKNESS. — LETTER FROM DR. SHAT- TUCK. — ENGAGEMENT. — LETTER TO REV. DR. GANNETT. — MARRIAGE. During these years, Mr. Lawrence was in the habit of making occasional \'isits to his parents in Groton, thirty-five miles distant. His custom was to drive himself, leaving Boston after business hours on Satur- day afternoon, and often, as he says, encroaching upon the sabbath before reaching home. After midnight, on Sunday, he would leave on his return ; and thus was enabled to reach Boston about daybreak on Monday morning, without losing a moment's time in his business. , In 1810, Mr. Lawrence was seized with an alarm- ing illness, through which he enjoyed the care and skill of his friend and physician, the late Dr. G. C. Shattuck, who, shortly before his own death, trans- mitted the following account of this illness to the edi- tor of these pagfes, who also had the rare privilege of enjojing a friendship so much prized by his father : — DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 27 "Feb. 28, 1853. "More than forty years ago. New England was visited with a pestilence. The people were stricken with panic. The first victims were taken off unawares. In many towns in the interior of the Commonwealth, the people assembled in town meeting, and voted to pay, from the town treasury, physicians to be in readiness to attend on any one assailed with the premonitory symptoms of disease. The distemjier was variously named, cold plague, spotted fever, and malignant remittent fever. After a day of un- usual exercise, your father was suddenly taken ill. The worthy family in which he boarded were prompt in their sympathy. A physician was called : neighbors and friends volunteered their aid. Remedies were diligently employed. Prayers in the church were offered up for the sick one. A pious father left his home, on the banks of the Nashua, to be with his son. To the physician in attendance, he gave a convulsive grasp of the hand, and, with eyes brimful of tears, and choked utterance, articulated, ' Doctor, if Amos has not money enough, I have ! ' To the anxious father, his acres seemed like dust in the balance contrasted with the life of his son. He was a sensible man, acting on the principle that the stimulus of reward is a salutary adjunct to the promptings of humanity. God rebuked the disorder, though the convalescence was slow. A constitution with an origi- nally susceptible nervous temperament had received a shock which rendered him a long time feeble. An apprentice, with a discretion beyond his years, maintained a healthy acti- vity in his mercantile operations, to the quiet of his mind. He did not need great strength; for sagacity and decision supplied every other lack. Supply and demand were as famiHar to him as the alphabet. He knew the wants of the country, and sources of supply. Accumulation followed his operations, and religious principle regulated the distribution S50 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. of the cumbrous surplus. A sensible and pious father, aided by a prudent mother, had trained the child to become the future man. You will excuse my now addressing you, when you recur to the tradition that I had pai'ticipated in the joy of the house when you first opened your eyes to the light. That God's promises to the seed of the righteous may extend to you and yours is the prayer of your early acquaintance, "George C. Shattuck." But few details of Mr. Lawrence's business from this date until 1815 are now found. Suffice it to say, that, through the difficult and troubled times in which the United States were engaged in the war with Eng- land, his efforts were crowned with success. Dark clouds sometimes arose in the horizon, and various causes of discouragement from time to time cast a gloom over the mercantile world; but despondency formed no part of his character, while cool sagacity and unceasing watchfulness and perseverance enabled him to weather many a storm which made shipwreck of others around him. Amidst the engrossing cares of business, however, Mr. Lawrence found time to indulge in more genial pursuits, as will be seen from the following lines, addressed to his sister : — "Boston, March 17, 1811. " My ' not having written to you since youi- return, my dear M., has proceeded fiom my having other numerous avocations, and partly from a carelessness in such affairs reprehensible in me. You will perhaps be surprised to learn the extent and importance of my avocations ; for, in addition to my usual routine of mercantile affairs, I have lately been DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 29 engaged in a negotiation of the first importance, and which I have accomplished very much to my own satisfaction. It is no other than having offered myself as a husband to your very good friend Sarali Richards, which offer she has agreed to accept. So, next fall, you must set your mind on a wed- ding. Sarah I have long known and esteemed: there is such a reciprocity of feelings, sentiments, and principles, that I have long thought her the most suitable person I had seen for me to be united with. Much of my time, as you may well suppose, is spent in her society ; and here I cannot but observe the infinite advantage of good sense and good principles over the merely elegant accomplishments of fash- ionable education. By the latter, we may be fascinated for a time ; but they will afford no satisfaction on retrospection. The former you are compelled to respect and to love. Such qualities are possessed by Sarah ; and, were I to say any thing further in her favor, it would be that she is beloved by you. Adieu, my dear sister, A. L." As this volume is intended only for the perusal of the family and friends of the late Amos Lawrence, no apology need be made for introducing such incidents of his life, of a domestic nature, as may be thought interestmg, and which it might not seem advisable to introduce under other circumstances. Of this nature are some details connected with this engagement. The young lady here alluded to, whose solid qualities he thus, at the age of twenty-five and in the first flush of a successful courtship, so calmly discusses, in addition to these, possessed personal charms sufficient to captivate the fancy of even a more philosophical admirer than himself Her father, Giles Richards, 30 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. was a man of great ingenuity, who resided in Boston at the close of the Revolutionary War. He owned an establishment for the manufactory of cards for preparing wool. A large number of men were em- ployed ; and, at that time, it was considered one of the objects worthy of notice by strangers. As such, it was visited by Gen. Washington on his northern tour ; and may be found described, in the early edi- tions of Morse's Geography, among the industrial establishments of Boston. As in the case of many more noted men of inventive genius, his plans were more vast than the means of accomplishment ; and the result was loss of a handsome competency, and embarrassment in business, from which he retired with unsullied reputation, and passed his latter years in the vicinity of Boston. Here the evening of his life was cheered by the constant and watchful care of his wife, whose cheerful and happy temperament shed a radiance around his path, which, from a naturally desponding character, might othei-wise have terminated in gloom. She ha'd been the constant companion of her husband in all his journejdngs and residences in nearly every State in the Union, where his business had called him ; and, after forty years, returned to die in the house where she was bom, — the parsonage once occupied by her father, the Rev. Amos Adams, of Roxbury, who, at the time of the Revolution, was minister of the church now under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Putnam. DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 31 Sarah had been placed in the family of the Rev. Dr. Chaplin, minister of the church at Groton, and was a member of the academy when Mr. Lawrence first made her acquaintance. " The academy balls, the agreeable partners in the hall, the pleasant com- panions in the stroll," remembered with so much pleasure in after-life, were not improbably associated with this acquaintance, who had become a visitor and friend to his own sisters. After a separation of four years, the acquaintance was accidentally renewed in the year 1807. Sarah was on a visit at Cambridge to the family of Caleb Gannett, Esq., then and for many years afterwards Steward of Harvard University. In a letter to Rev. Dr. Gannett, dated Feb. 15, 1845, Mr. Lawrence thus alludes to this interview : — " My first interview with you, thirty-eight years ago, when you were led by the hand into the store where I then was, in Cornhill, by that friend (who was afterwards my wife), unconscious of my being within thirty miles, after a four years' separation, connects you in my thoughts with her, her children and grandchildren, in a way that no one can appreciate who has not had the experience." Enclosed in this letter was a faded paper, on which were written several verses of poetry, with the fol- lowing explanation : — " Only think of your sainted mother writing this Mttle scrap thirty-eight years ago, when on her deathbed, for her young friend, then on a visit to her, to teach to you, who could not read ; and this scrap, written upon a blank term- 32 DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. bill without premeditation, being preserved by that friend while she lived, and, after her death, by her daughter while she lived, and, after her death, being restored to me as the rightful disposer of it ; and my happening, within four days after, to meet you under such circumstances as made it proper to show it to you." MRS. GANNETTS HYMN FOR HER LITTLE BOY IN 1807. How can a child forgetful prove Of all that wakes the heart to love, And from the path of duty stray, To spend his time in sport and play ; Neglectful of the blessing given, Which marks the path to peace and heaven 1 Oh ! how can I, who daily share A mother's kind, assiduous care. Be idle, and ungrateful too ; Forsake the good, the bad pursue ; Neglectful of the blessings given, Which mark the path to peace and heaven 1 Oh ! how can I such folly show. When faults indulged to vices grow, — ' Who know that idle days ne'er make Men that are useful, good, or great ? Dear mother, still be thou my guide. Nor suffer me my faults to hide ; And oh may God his grace impart To fix my feeble, foolish heart. That I may wait the blessing given, Which marks the path to peace and heaven ! Mem. — Mrs. Gannett died soon after writing this on a blank term-bill of Harvard CoUege, in 1807. A. L., 1847. The marriage of Mr. Lawrence took place in Boston during the month of Jime, 1811, three months after announcing to his sister his engagement. 33 CHAPTEE VI. BRAMBLE NEWS. — DOMESTIC HABITS. — ILLNESS OF WIFE. In 1849, Mr. Lawrence writes as follows : — " On the 1st of Januaiy, 1814, I took my brother Abbott into partnership on equal shares, putting fifty thousand dollars that I had then earned into the concern. Thi-ee days afterwards, the ' Bramble News ' came, by which the excessive high price of goods was knocked down. Our stock was then large, and had cost a high price. He was in great anguish, considering himself a bankrupt for at least five thousand dollars. I cheered him by offering to cancel our copartnership indentures, give him up his note, and, at the end of the year, pay him five thousand dollars. He declined the ofiier, saying I should lose that, and more beside, and, as he had enlisted, would do the best he could. This was in character, and it was well for us both. He was called off to do duty as a soldier, through most of the year. I took care of the business, and prepared to retreat with my family into the country whenever the town seemed liable to fall into the hands of the British, who were very threatening in their demonstrations. We still continue mercantile busi- ness under the first set of indentures, and under the same firm, merely adding '& Co.,' as new partners have been admitted." 5 34 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. In March, 1815, the junior partner was despatched to England upon the business of the firm ; this being the first of several voyages subsequently taken for the same purpose. To his wife at Groton, Mr. Lawrence writes, under date of June 4, 1815 : — " The ' Milo ' got in yesterday, and brought letters from Abbott, dated 4th April. He was then in Manchester, and enjoyed the best health. He wi'ote to our father, which letter, I hope, will arrive at Groton by to-morrow's mail. I received from him merchandise, which I hope to get out of the ship and sell this week. I suspect there are few instances of a young man leaving this town, sending out goods, and having them sold within ninety days from the time of his departure. It is eighty-four days this morning since he left home." In searching for records of the business at that period, the first copied letters are found in a volume commencing with the date of March 10, 1815 ; since which period, the correspondence, contained in many volumes, is complete. On the first page of this volume is a letter from the senior partner somewhat characteristic. It relates to a bUl of exchange for two thousand rupees, which he knew was a doubtful one, but which he had taken to relieve the pressing ne- cessities of a young Englishwoman from Calcutta, with a worthless husband. He writes to his friends : — " "We have been so particular as to send a clerk to her with the money, that we might be sure of her receiving it. Previous to her receiving the money from us, we were told DIARY AND COEEESPONDENCE. 35 her children were ragged, bai'efooted, and hungry ; after- wai-ds we knew they were kept completely clad." In tracing the course of business as revealed by the perusal of the correspondence, it is evident that Mr. Lawrence's time and attention must have been engrossed by the increasing importance and the mag- nitude of the mercantile operations of his firm. The cares and perplexities of business did not, however, unfit him for the quiet enjoyments of domestic life ; and, however great and urgent were the calls upon his time and his thoughts from abroad, home, with its endearments, occupied the first place in his afiec- tions. So much did its interests transcend all others in his feelings, that he speaks in after-life of having " watched night and day vdthout leaving, for a fort- night," a sick child ; and then being rewarded for his care by having it restored to him after the diligent applications of remedies, when the physician and friends had given up all hope of recovery. With such affections and sources of happiness, connected with prosperity in business, it may well be supposed that the current of life flowed smoothly on. His evenings were passed at home ; and urgent must have been the call which could draw him from his fireside, where the social chat or friendly book banished the cares of the day. A gentleman, now a prominent merchant in New York, who was a clerk with Mr. Lawrence at this time, says of him : — do DIARY AND COKKESPONDENCE. " When the business season was over, he would sit down with me, and converse freely and familiarly, and would have something interesting and useful to say. I used to enjoy these sittings ; and, while I always feared to do any thing, or leave any thing undone, which would displease him, I at the same time had a very high regard, and I may say love, for him, such as I never felt for any other man beside my own father. He had a remarkable faculty of bringing the sterling money into our currency, with any advance, by a calculation in his mind, and would give the result with great accuracy in one quarter the time which it took me to do it by figures. I used to try hard to acquire this faculty, but could not, and never saw any other person who possessed it to the degree he did. His mind was remarkably vigorous and accurate ; and consequently his business was transacted in a prompt and correct manner. Nothing was left undone until to- morrow which could be done to-day. He was master of and controlled his business, instead of allowing his business to master and control liim. When I took charge of the books, they were kept by single entry ; and Mr. Lawrence daily examined every entry to detect errors. He was dis- satisfied with this loose way of keeping the books ; and, at his request, I studied book-keeping by double entry with Mr. Gershom Cobb, who had just introduced the new and shorter method of double entry. I then transferred the accounts into a new set of books on this plan, and well remember his anxiety during the process, and his expression of delight when the work was completed, and I had suc- ceeded in making the first trial-balance come out right. This was the first set of books opened in Boston on the new system. While Mr. Lawrence required all to fulfil their engagements fully and promptly, so long as they were able to do so, he was lenient to those who were unfortunate, and always ready to compromise demands against such. No DIARY AND COERESPONDENCE. 37 case occurred while I was with him, in which I thought he deah harshly with a debtor who had failed in business." The year 1818 openqji with cheering prospects ; but a cloud was gathering which was destined to cast a shadow over all these pleasant hopes. During the spring, Mrs. Lawrence was troubled with a cold and cough, which became so obstinate at the beginning of the summer, that she was persuaded to remain at Groton for a short period, in order to try the benefit of country air. Mr. Lawrence writes to her, July 16 : — " I am forcibly reminded of the blessings of wife, chil- dren, and friends, by the privation of wife and children ; and, when at home, I really feel homesick and lonesome. Here I am, in two great rooms, almost alone ; so you must prepare at a minute's notice to follow your husband." She remained in the country for several weeks, and was summoned suddenly home by the alarming illness of her husband ; the result of which, for a time, seemed very doubtful. After a season of intense anxiety and unremitted watchings at his bedside, Mrs. Lawrence was seized during the night with a hemor- rhage from the lungs. This symptom, which so much alarmed her friends, was hailed by herself with joy, as she now had no wish to outlive her husband, whose life she had despaired of. Mr. Lawrence's recovery was slow; and, as soon as it was deemed prudent, he was sent to Groton to recruit his strength. He writes, under date of Nov. 5, 1818 : — 38 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. " Dearest Sarah, — We have heard of the fire on Tues- day evening, and hope the alarm has not impaired your health. I enjoy myself here as much as it is possible for any one to do under like circumstances. The idea of leaving the objects most dear to me, a wife and child sick, is too great a drawback upon my happiness to allow me as much quiet as is desirable. Yet I have great reason for thankful- ness that I am at this time able to enjoy the society of friends, and that you are so comfortable as to give good reason to hope that the next season will restore to you a tolerable share of health." Mrs. Lawrence writes, in reply to his letter : — " I have just received yours, and feel better to hear that you are so well. I hope that you will leave no means unimproved to regain health. Do not allow unreasonable fears on my account. I am as well as I was the week past ; but we are uneasy mortals, and I do not improve as I could wish. You know me : therefore make all allowances. It is a cloudy day." It soon became evident to all, that the disease under which Mrs. Lawrence labored was a settled consump- tion, and that there could be little hope of recovery. To her mother Mr. Lawrence writes, Dec. 7 : — " Since I last wrote to you, there has been no material change in Sarah's situation. She suffers less pain, and has more cheerful spirits, than when you were here. She is very well apprised of her situation, and complains that those who are admitted to see her look so sorrowful, that it has a painful effect upon her feelings. She is desirous of being kept cheerful and happy ; and, as far as I am capable of DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 39 making her so, I do it. Yet I am a poor hand to attempt doing with my feeble health what is so foreign to my feelings. Although she is much more comfortable than she was, I cannot flatter myself that she is any better. She still retains a faint hope that she may be so ; yet it is but a faint one. It takes much from my distress to see her so calm, and so resigned to the will of the Almighty. Although her attachments to Kfe are as strong and as numerous as are the attachments of most, I believe the principle of resignation is stronger. She is a genuine disciple of Christ ; and, if my childi-en walk in her steps, they will all be gathered among the blest, and sing the song of the redeemed. Should it be the will of God that we be separated for a season, there is an animation in the hope that we shall meet again, purified from the grossness of the flesh, and never to be parted. ' God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.' I shall have, therefore, no more put upon me than I am able to bear ; yet I know not how to bring my mind to part with so excellent a friend, and so good a counsellor." On Jan. 13, 1819, he writes : — " Sarah has continued to sink since you left, and is now apparently veiy easy, and very near the termination of her earthly career. She may continue two or three days ; but the prospect is, that she will not open her eyes upon another morning. She suffers nothing, and it is therefore no trial to our feelings, compared with what it would be did she suffer. Her mind is a little clouded at times, but, in the maiu, quite clear. We shall give you early information of the event which blasts our dearest earthly hopes. But God reigns : let us rejoice." A few hours before her death, she called for a pen- 40 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. cil and paper (uow in possession of the writer), and traced, in a trembling hand, some directions respecting small memorials to friends, and then added : — " Feeling that I must soon depart from this, I trust, to a better world, I resign very dear friends to God, who has done so much for me. I am in ecstacies of love. How can I praise him enough ? To my friends I give these tokens of remembrance." 41 CHAPTEE YII. DEATH OF WIFE. — JOUENEYS. — LETTERS. — JOUEKEY TO NEW YORK. On the lith of January, 1819, Mr. Lawrence closed the eyes of the most beloved of all his earthly objects, and immediately relapsed into a state of melancholy and gloom, which was no doubt greatly promoted by the peculiar state of health and physical debUity under which he had labored since his last illness. This state of depression was so great, that he was advised to try a change of scene; and accordingly, after ha%ing placed his three children with kind rela- tives in the country, he left Boston, on a tour, which lasted some weeks, through the Middle States and Virginia. He wrote many letters during this time, describing the scenes which he daUy witnessed, and particularly the pleasure which he experienced in Virginia from the unbounded hospitality with which he was welcomed by those with whom he had become acquainted. He also visited Washington, and listened to some important debates on the admis- sion of Missouri into the Union, which produced a 42 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. strong and lasting influence upon his mind respect- ing the great questions then discussed. On March 30, he writes to his sister, after his return to Boston : — " I am once more neai" the remains of her who was lately more dear to me than any other earthly object, after an absence of two months ; my health much improved, — I may say restored ; my heart filled with gratitude to the Author of all good for so many and rich blessings, so rapidly succeed- ing such severe privations and trials." On April 6, he writes to a friend in England : — " Since I last wrote, family misfortunes, of which you have fi-om time to time been apprised, have pressed heavily upon me. I am now in tolerable health, and hope soon to see it entirely confirmed." After a visit to his parents at Groton, he writes on April 9; — " I arrived at home last Saturday night, at eleven o'clock, after rather an uncomfortable ride. However, I had the satisfaction on Monday of exercising my right of suffrage, which, had I not done, I should have felt unpleasantly. I wrote to M., on Tuesday, under a depression of spirits alto- gether greater than I have before felt. The effect of hope upon my feelings, before I saw the little ones, was very ani- mating ; since (although I found them all I could desii-e) that time, the stimulus is gone, and I have been very wretched. The principles I cherish will now have their proper effect, although nature must first find its level. Do not imagine I feel severely depressed all the time : although I certainly DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 43 have much less of animal spuits than I had before my return, I do not feel positively unhappy. Under all the circum- stances, it is thought best for me to journey. Hitherto, I have experienced the kind protection of an almighty Friend : it will not hereafter be withheld. Commending all dear friends and myself to him, I remain your truly affectionate brother, A. L." To another sister, he writes five days afterwards, before commencing a second journey : — " In a few moments I am off. I gladly seize the leisure they furnish me, to tell you I feel well, and have no doubt of having such a flow of spirits as will make my journey pleasant. At any rate, I start with this determination. You know not, dear E., the delight I feel in contemplating the situation of my little ones : this (if no higher principle) should be sufficient to do away all repining and vain regrets for the loss of an object so dear as was their mother. In short, her own wishes should operate very strongly against these regrets. I hope to be forgiven the offence, if such it be ; and to make such improvement of it as will subserve the purposes of my heavenly Father, who doth not willingly afflict the children of men, but for their improvement. My prayer to God is, that the affliction may not be lost upon me ; but that it may have the effect of making me estimate more justly the value of all temporal objects, and, by thus soften- ing the heart, open it to the kind influences of our holy reli- gion, and produce that love and charity well pleasing to our Father. I have no object in view farther south than Balti- more ; from thence I shall go across the Alleghanies, or journey through the interior to the northern border of this country. At Baltimore, I remain a few days ; my business there is as delegate from Brattle-street Church, in the settle- 44 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. ment of a minister, a young gentleman named Sparks, from Connecticut." From Lancastex", Penn, April 29, he writes to the same : — " My feelings are usually buoyant, except occasionally when imagination wanders back to departed days ; then comes over me a shadow, which, by its frequency, I am now enabled to dispel without violence, and even to dwell upon without injury." On his return, it seems to have heen his object to interest himself as much as possible in business, and thus endeavor to divert his mind from these painful associations, which, in spite of all his efforts, would obtain the mastery. In the meantime, he had given up his house, and resided in the family of his brother Abbott ; where he was welcomed as an inmate, and treated with so much sympathy and considerate kind- ness, that his mind, after a time, recovered its tone : his health was restored, and he was enabled to give his full powers to the growing interests of his firm. For the few succeeding years, he was engaged in the usual routine of mercantile affairs, and has left but few memorials or letters except those relating to his business. In the winter of 1820, he made a visit to New York, which he describes in his diary under date of February 15, 1846: — " Yesterday was one of the most lovely winter days. To- day the snow drives into all the cracks and corners, it being DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 45 a boisterous easterly snow-storm, which recalls to my mind a similar one, which I shall never forget, in February, 1820. " I went to New York during that month, for the New England Bank, with about one hundred thousand dollars in foreign gold, the value of which by law at the mint was soon to be reduced from eighty-seven to eighty-five cents per pennyweight, or about that. I also had orders to buy bills with it, at the best rate I could. Accordingly I invested it, and had to analyze the standing of many who ofiered bills, as drawers or endorsers. " Some of the bills were protested for non-acceptance, and were returned at once, and damages claimed. This was new law in New York, and resisted ; but the merchants were convinced by suits, and paid the twenty per cent damages. The law of damage was altered soon after. " On my return, I took a packet for Providence, and came at the rate of ten knots an hour for the first seven hours of the night. I was alarmed by a crash, which seemed to me to be breaking in the side of the ship, within a few inches of my head. I ran upon deck, and it was a scene to be remem- bered. Beside the crew, on board were the officers of a wrecked vessel from Portsmouth, N.H., and some other old ship-masters, aU. at work, and giving directions to a coaster, which had run foul of us, and had lost its way. By favor and labor, we were saved from being wrecked; but were obliged to land at some fifteen miles from Providence, and get there as we could through the snow. I arrived there almost dead with headache and sickness. Madame Dexter and her daughter left the day before, and reached home in perfect safety before the storm. Such are the scenes of human life ! Here am I enjojring my own fireside, while all who were then active with me in the scenes thus recalled are called to their account, excepting Philip Hone, M. Van Schaick, N. Goddard, Chancellor Kent, and his son-in-law, Isaac Hone." 46 CHAPTER VIII. MARRIAGE. — ELECTED TO LEGISLATURE. — ENGAGES IN MANUFACTURING. — REPLECTIONS. In April, 1821, Mr. Lawrence was married to Mrs. Nancy Ellis, widow of the late Judge Ellis, of Clare- mont, N.H., and daughter of Robert Means, Esq., of Amherst, in the same State. His children, who had been placed with his parents and sisters at Groton, were brought home ; and he was now permitted again to unite his family under his own roof, and to enjoy once more those domestic comforts so congenial to his taste, and which each revolving year seemed to increase until the close of his life. Mr. Lawrence was elected a representative from Boston to the Legislature for the session of 1821 and 22 ; and this was the only occasion on which he ever served in a public legislative body. Although deeply engaged in his own commercial pursuits, he was a constant attendant at the House of Representatives ; and attended faithfully, although with much sacrifice to his own personal interests, to the duties of his ofiice. Very little is found among his memoranda relating to DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 47 this new experience. As a member of a Committee of the Legislature having in charge the subject of the erection of wooden buildings in Boston, he seems to have had a correspondence with the late Hon. John Lowell, who took strong ground before the Committee against the multiplication of buildings of this mate- rial, and backed his argmnents with some very cha- racteristic statements and observations. On one of these letters, Mr. Lawrence made a memorandum, dated March, 1845, as follows : — " The Boston Rebel was a true man, such as we need more of in these latter days. The open-mouthed lovers of the dear people are self-seekers in most instances. Beware of such." For several successive years, Mr. Lawrence was deeply engaged in business ; and the firm of which he was the senior partner became interested in do- mestic manufactures, which afterwards, with the aid of other capitalists, grew into so much importance, untU now it has become one of the great interests of the country. Apart from all selfish motives, he early became one of the strongest advocates for the protec- tion of American industry, believing that the first duty of a government is to advance the interests of its own citizens, when it can be accomplished with jus- tice to others ; and in opposition to the system of free trade, which, however plausible in theory, he consi- dered prejudicial to the true interests of our own 48 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. people. He was conscientious in these opinions ; and, in their support, corresponded largely with some of the leading statesmen at "Washington, as well as with leading opponents at the South, who combatted his opinions while they respected the motives by which he was actuated. He tested his sincerity, by embarking a large proportion of his property in these enterprises; and, to the last, entertained the belief, that the climate, the soil, and the habits of the people, rendered domestic manufactures one of the peimanent and abiding interests of New England. During sea- sons of high political excitement and sectional strife, he wrote to leading minds at the South, urging them to discard all local prejudices, and to enter with the North into manly competition in all those branches of domestic industry which would tend, not only to enrich, but also to improve, the moral and intellectual character of then- people. He watched, with increas- ing interest, the progress of Lowell and other manu- facturing districts, and was ever ready to lend a helping hand to any scheme which tended to advance their welfare. Churches, hospitals, libraries, in these growing communities, had in him a warm and earnest advocate ; and it was always with honest pride that he pointed out to the intelligent foreigner the moral condition of the operative here, when compared with that of the same class in other countries. On the 1st of January, in each year, Mr. Lawrence was in the habit of noting down, in a small memo- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 49 randum-book, an accurate account of all his property, in order that he might have a clear view of his own aflFairs, and also as a guide to his executors in the set- tlement of his estate, in case of his death. This annual statement commences in 1814, and, with the exception of 1819, when he was in great affliction on account of the death of his wife, is continued every year until that of his own death in 1852. In this lit- tle volume, the following memorandum occurs, dated Jan. 1, 1826 : — " I have been extensively engaged in business during the last two years, and have added much to my worldly posses- sions ; but have come to the same conclusions in regai'd to them that I did in 1818. I feel distressed in mind that the resolutions then made have not been more effectual in keep- ing me from this overengagedness in business. I now find myself so engrossed with its cares, as to occupy my thoughts, waking or sleeping, to a degree entirely disproportloned to its importance. The quiet and comfort of home are broken in upon by the anxiety arising from the losses and mischances of a business so extensive as ours ; and, above all, that com- munion which ought ever to be kept free between man and his ~ Maker is interrupted by the incessant calls of the multi- farious pursuits of our estabhshment." After noting down several rules for curtailing his affairs, he says : — "Property acquired at such sacrifices as I have been obliged to make the past year costs more than it's worth ; and the anxiety in protecting it is the extreme of folly." 7 50 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCB. 1st of January, 1827. — "The principles of business laid down a year ago have been very nearly practised upon. Our responsibiUties and anxieties have greatly diminished, as also have the accustomed profits of business ; but there is suiS- cient remaining for the reward of our labor to impose on us increased responsibilities and duties, as agents who must at last render an account. God grant that mine be found correct ! " 51 CHAPTER IX. REFLECTIONS. — LETTERS. — BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 1st of January, 1828. — After an account of his affairs, he remarks : — " The amount of property is great for a young man under forty-two years of age, who came to this town when he was twenty-one years old with no other possessions than a com- mon country education, a sincere love for his own family, and habits of industry, economy, and sobriety. Under God, it is to these same self-denying habits, and a desire I always had to please, so far as I could without sinful compliance, that I can now look back upon and see as the true ground of my success. I have many things to reproach myself with ; but, among them, are not idling away my time, or spending money for such things as ai'e improper. My property im- poses upon me many duties, which can only be known to my Maker. May a sense of these duties be constantly impressed upon my mind ; and, by a constant discharge of them, God grant me the happiness at last of hearing the joy- ful sound, ' Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord ! ' Amen. Amen." 52 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Previous to this date, but few private letters written by Mr. Lawrence were preserved. From that time, however, many volumes have been collected, a greater part of them addressed to his children. Out of a very large correspondence with them and with friends, such letters will be selected as are thought most interesting, and most worthy to be preseiTed by his family and their descendants. The nature of this correspondence is such, involving many personal mat- ters of transient interest, that often scraps of letters can only be given ; and, although it wUl be the aim of the editor to give an outline of the life of the author of these letters, it will be his object to allow him to speak for himself, and to reveal his own sentiments and character, rather than to follow out, from year to year, the details of his personal history. This correspondence commences by a series of letters extending through several years, and addressed to his oldest son, who was, during that time, at school in France and Spain. " Boston, Not. 11, 1828. '" I trust that you will have had favoring gales and a pleasant passage, and will be safely landed at Havre within twenty days after sailing. You will see things so different from what you have been accustomed to, that you may think the French are far before or behind us in the arts of life, , and formation of society. But you must remember that what is best for one people may be the worst for another ; and that it is true wisdom to study the character of the people among whom you aie, before adopting their manners. DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 53 habits, or feelings, and carrying them to another people. I wish to see you, as long as you live, a -well-bred, upright Yankee. Brother Jonathan should never forget his self- respect, nor should he be impertinent in claiming more for his country or himself than is due ; but on no account should he speak ungraciously of his country or its friends abroad, ■whatever may be said by others. Lafayette in France is not what he is here ; and, whatever may be said of him there, he is an ardent friend of the United States ; and I will venture to say, if you introduce yourself to him as a grandson of one of his old Yankee officers, he will treat you with the kindness of a father. You must visit La Grange, and G. will go with you. He will not recollect your grand- father, or any of us. But tell him that your father and three uncles were introduced to him here in the State House ; that they are much engaged in forwarding the Bunker Hill Monument ; and, if ever he return to this country, it will be the pride of your father to lead him to the top of it." Among Mr. Lawrence's papers, this is the first allusion to the Bunker Hill Monument, in the erec- tion of which he afterwards took so prominent a part, and to which he most liberally contributed both time and money. From early associations, perhaps from the accounts received from his father, who was present during the battle, his mind became strongly interested in the project of erecting a monument, and particularly in that of reserving the whole battle- ground for the use of the public for ever. He had been chosen one of the Building Committee of the Board of Directors in October, 1825, in company with Dr. John C. Warren, Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, George 54 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Blake, and William Sullivan, From this time until the completion of the monument, the object occupied a prominent place in his thoughts ; and allusion to his efforts in its behalf during the succeeding years will, from time to time, be introduced. On Dec. 13, 1828, he thus alludes to the death of an invalid daughter six years of age : — " She was taken with lung-fever on the 4th, and died, after much suffering and distress, on the 8th. Nothing seemed to relieve her at all ; and I was thankful when the dear child ceased to suffer, and was taken to the bosom of her Saviour, where sickness and suffering will no more reach her, and the imperfections of her eartlily tenement will be corrected, and her mind and spirit will be allowed to expand and grow to their full stature in Christ. In his hands I most joyfully leave her, hoping that I may rejoin her with the other children which it has pleased God to give me." To HIS Son. " Dec. 29. " My thoughts are often led to contemplate the situation of my children in every variety of situation, more especially in sickness, since the death of dear M. Although I do not allow myself to indulge in melancholy or fearful forebodings, I cannot but feel the deepest solicitude that their minds and principles should be so strengthened and stayed upon their God and Saviour as to give them all needed support in a time of such trial and suffering. You are so situated as perhaps not to recall so frequently to your miiid as may be necessary the principles in which you have been educated. But let me, in the absence of these objects, remind you that God is ever present, and sees the inmost thoughts ; and. DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 55 while he allows eveiy one to act freely, he gives to such as earnestly and honestly desire to do right all needed strength and encouragement to do it. Therefore, my dear son, do not cheat yourself by doing what you suspect may be wrong. You are as much accountable to your Maker for an enlight- ened exercise of your conscience, as you would be to me to use due diligence in taking care of a bag of money which I might send by you to Mr. W. If you were to throw it upon deck, or into the bottom of the coach, you would certainly be culpable ; but, if you packed it carefully in your trunk, and placed the trunk in the usual situation, it would be using common care. So in the exercise of your conscience : if you refuse to examine whether an action is right or wrong, you voluntarily defraud yourself of the guide pro- vided by the Almighty. If you do wrong, you have no better excuse than he who had done so willingly and wil- fully. It is the sincere desire that will be accepted." Tp tis son, then at school in Andover, he wiites : — " I received your note yesterday, and was prepared to hear your cash fell short, as a dollar-bill was found in your chamber on the morning you left home. You now see the benefit of keeping accounts, as you would not have been sure about this loss without having added up your account. Get the habit firmly fixed of putting down every cent you receive and every cent you expend. In this way, you will acc[uire some knowledge of the relative value of things, and a habit of judging and of care which will be of use to you during all your life. Among the numerous people who have failed in business within my knowledge, a prominent cause has been a want of system in their business, by which to know when their expenses and losses exceeded their profits. This habit is as necessary for a professional man as for a 56 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. merchant ; because, in their business, there are numerous ways to make little savings, if they find their income too small, which they would not adopt without looking into the detail of all their expenses. It is the habit of consideration I wish you to acquire ; and the habit of being accurate will have an influence upon your whole character in life." To HIS Son in Fkance. " AprU 28, 1829. " I beseech you to consider well the advantages you enjoy, and to avail yourself of your opportunities to give your manners a little more ease and polish ; for, you may depend upon it, manners are highly important in your intercourse with the world. Good principle, good temper, and good manners, will carry a man through the world much better than he can get along with the absence of either. The most important is good principles. Without these, the best manners, although, for a time, very acceptable, cannot sus- tain a person in trying situations. " If you live to attain the age of thirty, the interim will appear but a span ; and yet, at that time, you will be in the full force of manhood. To look forward to that period, it seems very long ; and it is long enough to make great improvement. Do not omit the opportunity to acquire a character and habits that will continue to improve during the remainder of life. At its close, the reflection that you have thus done will be a support and stay worth more than any sacrifice you may ever feel called on to make in acquiring these habits." To THE Same. " June 7, 1829. " I was forcibly reminded, on entering our tomb last evening, of the inroads which death has made in our family since 1811, at the period when I purchased it. How soon DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 57 any of us who survive may mingle our dust with theirs, is only known to Omniscience ; but, at longest, it can be in his view but a moment, a mere point of time. How important, then, to us who can use this mere point for om- everlasting good, that we should do it, and not squander it as a thing without value ! Think upon this, my son ; and do not merely admit the thought into your mind and drive it out by vain imaginations, but give it an abiding and practical use. To set a just value upon time, and to make a just use of it, deprives no one of any rational pleasure : on the contrary, it encourages temperance in the enjoyment of all the good things which a good Providence has placed within our reach, and thankfulness for all opportunities of bestowing happiness on our fellow-beings. Thus you have an oppor- tunity of making me and your other friends happy, by diligence in your studies, temperance, truth, integrity, and purity of life and conversation. I may not write to you again for a number of weeks, as I shall commence a journey to Canada in a few days. You will get an accovxnt of the joxu'ney fi'om some of the party." 58 CHAPTEE X. JOURNEY TO CANADA. — LETTERS. — DIARY. — HABITS OF EXERCISE. Mr. Lawrence, with a large party, left Boston on the 13th of June, and passed through Vermont, across the Green Mountains, to Montreal and Quebec. Compared with these days of railroad facilities, the journey was slow. It was perfoimed very leisurely in hired private vehicles, and seems to have been much enjoyed. He gives a glowing account of the beauty of the scenery through which he passed, as well as his impressions of the condition of the popu- lation. In alluding to Quebec, he writes : — " The air and appearance of the city indicate that the military etiquette prevails. There is more appearance of nobility or royalty and poverty than I have been accustomed to see. The few appear splendidly, the many most meanly ; and I bless God for casting my lot in a good land, where all have the means of education, and a fair chance to acquire the honors and distinctions that stimulate to high and noble deeds." DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. 59 From Quebec the party proceeded to Niagara Falls, and returned through the St^e of New York to Boston, " greatly improved in health and spirits." This was the only occasion on which Mr. Lawrence ever left the territory of the United States ; for, though sometimes tempted, in after-years, to visit the Old World, his occupations and long-continued feeble health prevented his doing so. To HIS Son. " July 27. " If, in an endeavor to do right, we fall short, we shall still be in the way of duty ; and that is first to be looked at. We must keep in mind that we are to render an account of the use of those talents which are committed to us ; and we are to be judged by unerring "Wisdom, which can distinguish all the motives of action as well as weigh the actions. As our stewardship has been faithful or otherwise will be the sentence pronounced upon us. Give this your best thoughts, for it is a consideration of vast importance." "Aug. 27. " Bring home no foreign fancies which are inapplicable to our state of society. It is very common for our young men to come home, and appear quite ridiculous in attempting to introduce their foreign fashions. It should be always kept in mind, that the state of society is widely different here from that in Europe ; and our comfort and character require it should long remain so. Those who strive to introduce many of the European habits and fashions, by displacing our own, do a serious injury to the republic, and deserve censure. An idle person, with good powers of mind, becomes torpid and inactive after a few years of indulgence, and is incapable of making any high effort : highly important it is, then, to 60 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. avoid this enemy of meatal and moral improvement. I have no wish that you pursue trade. I would rather see you on a farm, or studying any profession." "Oct. 16. " It should always be your aim to so conduct yourself, that those whom you value most in the world would approve your conduct, if all your actions were laid bare to their inspection ; and thus you will be pretty sui-e that He who sees the motive of all our actions will accept the good designed, though it fall short in its accomplishment. You are young, and are placed in a situation of great peril, and are perhaps sometimes tempted to do things which you would not do if you knew yourself under the eye of yoiu- guardian. The blandishments of a beautiful city may lead you to forget that you are always surrounded, supported, and seen by that best Guardian." "Dec. 27. " I suppose Christmas is observed with great pomp in France. It is a day which our Puritan forefathers, in their separation from the Church of England, endeavored to blot out from the days of religious festivals ; and this because it was observed with so much pomp by the Romish Church. In this, as well as in many other things, they were as unrea- sonable as though they had said they would not eat bread because the Roman Catholics do. I hope and trust the time is not far distant, when Christmas will be observed by the descendants of the Puritans with all suitable respect, as the first and highest holiday of Christians ; combining all the feel- ings and views of New England Thanksgiving, with all the other feelings appropriate to it." "Jan. 31. " You have seen, perhaps, that the Directors of the Bun- ker Hill Monument Association have applied to the Legisla- DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. 61 turc for a lottery. I am extremely sorry for it. I opposed the measure in all its stages, amd feel mortified they have done so. They cannot get it, and I desire that General La- fayette may understand this ; and, if he will write us a few lines during the coming year, it will help us in getting for- ward a subscription. When our citizens shall have had one year of successful business, they will be ready to give to finish the monument. My feelings are deeply interested in it, believing it liighly valuable as a nucleus for the affections of the people in after-time ; and, if my life be spared and my success continue, I will never cease my efforts until it be completed." Further details will be given in this volume to show how nobly Mr. Lawrence persevered in the reso- lution thus deliberately formed ; and, though he was destined to witness many fruitless efforts, he had the satisfaction at last of seeing the completion of the monument, and, from its summit, of pointing out the details of the battle to the son of one of the Bri- tish generals in command * on that eventful day. On the same page with the estimate of his property for the year 1830, he writes : — " With a view to know the amount of my expenditures for objects other than the support of my family, I have, for the year 1829, kept a particular account of such other expenses as come under the denomination of charities, and appropriations for the benefit of others not of my own house- hold, for many of whom I feel under the same obligation as for my own family." * Lord Prudoe, now Duke of Northumberland. 63' DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. This memorandum was commenced on the 1st of January, 1829, and is continued until December 30, 1852, the last day of his life. This volume contains a complete statement of his charities during that whole period, including not only what he contributed in money, but also all other donations in the shape of clothing materials, books, provisions, &c. His cus- tom was to note down at cost the value of the dona- tion, after it had been dispatched ; whether in the shape of a book, a turkey, or one of his immense bundles of varieties to some poor country minister's family, as large, as he says in addressing one, " as a small haycock." Two rooms ia his house, and some- times three, were used principally for the reception of useful articles for distribution. There, when stormy weather or ill health prevented him from taking his usual drive, he was in the habit of passing hours in selecting and packing up articles which he considered suitable to the wants of those whom he wished to aid. On such days, his coachman's services were put in requisition to pack and tie up " the small haycocks ; " and many an illness was the result of over-exertion and fatigue in suppljing the wants of his poorer brethren. These packages were selected according to the wants of the recipients, and a memorandum made of the contents. In one case, he notifies Professor , of College, that he has sent by railroad " a barrel and a bundle of books, with broadcloth and pantaloon stuffs, with odds and ends for poor students DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 63 when they go out to keep school in the winter." Another, for the president of a college at the West, one piece silk and worsted, for three dresses ; one piece of plaid, for " M. and mamma ; " a lot of pretty books ; a piece of lignum-vitse from the Navy Yard, as a text for the support of the navy ; and various items for the children : value, ^25. To a professor in a college in a remote region, he sends a package containing " dressing-gown, vest, hat, slippers, jack-knife, scissors, pins, neck-handker- chiefs, pantaloons, cloth for coat, ' History of Groton,' lot of pamphlets," &c. Most of the packages forwarded contained substan- tial articles for domestic use, and were often accom- panied by a note containing from five to fifty dollars in money. 64 CHAPTEE XL LETTERS. — CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. WEBSTER. To HIS Son. "Feb. 5, 1830. " Be sure and visit La Grange before you return : say to General Lafayette that the Bunker Hill Monument will cer- tainly be finished, and that the foolish project of a lottery has been abandoned. If, in the course of Providence, I should be taken away, I hope my children will feel it a duty to continue the efforts that are made in this work, which I have had so much at heart, and have labored so much for." To his son, then at school at Versailles, he writes* on Feb. 26, 1830 : — " After hearing from you again, I can judge better what to advise respecting your going into Spain. At all events, let no hope of going or seeing, or doing any thing else, pre- vent your using the present time for improving yourself in whatever you find to do. My greatest fear is, that you may form a wrong judgment of what constitutes your true respect- ability, happiness, and usefulness. To a youth just entering on the scenes of life, the roses on the wayside appear without thorns j but, in the eagerness to snatch them, many find, to their sorrow, that all which appeal's so fair is not in posses- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 65 sion what it was in prospect, and that beneath the rose there is a thorn that sometimes wounds like a serpent's bite. Let not appearances deceive you ; for, when once you have strayed, the second temptation is more likely to be fallen into than the first." "March 6, 1830. " We are all in New England deeply interested by Mr. Webster's late grand speech in the Senate, vindicating New England men and New England measures from reproach heaped upon them by the South : it was his most powerful effort, and you will see the American papers are full of it. You should read the whole debate between him and INIr. Hayne of South Carolina : you will find much to instruct and interest you, and much of what you ought to know. Mr. Webster never stood so high in this country as at this moment ; and I doubt if there be any man, either in Europe or America, his superior. The doctrines upon the Constitu- tion in this speech should be read as a text-book by all our youth." After reading the great speech of Mr. Webster, Mr. Lawrence addressed to that gentleman a letter, ex- pressing his admiration of the manner in which New ^England had been vindicated, and also his own per- sonal feelings of gratitude for the proud stand thus taken. Mr. Webster replied as follows : — "WASKiNaTON, March 8, 1830. " Dear Sir, — I thank you very sincerely for your very kind and friendly letter. The sacrifices made in being here, and the mortifications sometimes experienced, are amply compensated by the consciousness that my friends at home 66 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCB. feel that I have done some little service to our New England. I pray you to remember me with very true regai'd to Mrs. Lawrence, and believe me " Very faithfully and gratefully yours, " Daniel Webster. "To Amos Lawkence, Esq." ExTR-vCTS OF Letters to his Son. "AprU 13, 1830. " You may feel very sure that any study which keeps your mind engaged will be likely to strengthen it ; and that, if you leave your mind inactive, it will run to waste. Your arm is strengthened by wielding a broadsword, or even a foil. Your legs by various gymnastic exercises, and the organs of sight and hearing by careful and systematic use, are greatly improved ; even the finger is trained, by the absence of sight, to perform almost the service of the eye. All this shows how natural it is for all the powers to grow stronger by use. You needed not these examples to convince you ; but my desire to have you estimate your advantages properly induces mp to write upon them very often. Every American youth owes liis country his best talents and sei'vices, and should devote them to the country's welfare. In doing that, you will promote not only your own welfare, but your high- est enjoyment. "The duty of an American citizen, at this period of the world, is that of a responsible agent ; and he should endeavor to transmit to the next age the institutions of oiu- country uninjured and improved. We hope, in your next letter, to hear something more of General Lafayette. The old gentleman is most warm in his aifection for Americans. May he live long to encoui-age and bless by his example the good of all countries ! In contemplating a life like his, who can say that compensation even here is not fully made for DIARY AND COHRESPONDENCE. 67 all the anguish and suffering he has formerly endured ? Long life does not consist in many years ; but in the period being filled with good services to our fellow-beings. He whose life ends at thirty may have done much, while he who has reached the age of one hundred may have done little. With the Almighty, a thousand years are a moment ; and he will therefore give no credit to any talents not used to his glory j which use is the same thing as promoting, by all means in our power, the welfare and happiness of the beings among whom we are placed." "May 7, 1830. " I have been pretty steady at my business, without work- ing hard, or having anxious feelings about it. It is well to have an agreeable pursuit to employ th& mind and body. I think that I can work for the next six years with as good a relish as ever I did ; but I make labor a pleasure. I have just passed into my forty-fifth year, you know. At my age, I hope you will feel as vigorous and youthful as I now do. A temperate use of the good things of life, and a freedom from anxious cares, tend, as much as any thing, to keep off old age." "June 17, 1830. " To-day completes fifty-five years since the glorious bat- tle of Bunker Hill, and five years since the nation's guest assisted at the laying of the corner-stone of the monument which is to commemorate to all future times the events which followed that battle. If it should please God to remove me before this structure is completed, I hope to remember it in my will, and that my sons will live to see it finished. But what I deem of more consequence is to retain for posterity the battle-field, now in the possession of the Bunker Hill Monument Association. The Association is in debt, and a 68 DIARY AND CORRESPOKUE^'CE. part of the land may pass out of its possession ; but I hope, if it do, there will be spii-it enough among individuals to purchase it and restore it again ; for I would rather the whole work should not be resumed for twenty years, than resume it by parting with the land. I name this to you now, that you may have a distinct intimation of my wishes to keep the land open for our children's cliildren to the end of time." "July 17, 1830. " Temptation, if successfully resisted, strengthens the cha- racter ; but it should always be avoided. ' Lead us not into temptation ' are words of deep meaning, and should always carry with them corresponding desires of obedience. At a large meeting of merchants and others held ten days ago, it was resolved to make an effort to prevent the licensing of such numbers of soda-shops, retailers of spirits, and the like, which have, in my opinion, done more than any thing else to debase and ruin the youth of our city. It is a gross per- version of our privileges to waste and destroy ourselves in this way. God has given us a good land and many bless- ings. We misuse them, and make them minister to our vices. We shall be called to a strict account. Every good citizen owes it to his God and his country to stop, as far as he can, this moral desolation. Let me see you, on your return, an advocate of good order and good morals. Our oli neighbor the sea-serpent was more than usually accom- modating the day after we left Portsmouth. He exhibited himself to a great number of people who were at Hampton Beach last Saturday. They had a full view of his snakeship from the shore. He was so civil as to raise his head about four feet, and look into a boat, where were three men, who thought it the wisest way to retreat to their cabin. His length is supposed to be about one himdred feet, his head the size of a ten-gallon cask, and his body, in the largest DIARY AND COKRESPONDENCE. 69 part, about the size of a barrel. I have never had any more doubt respecting the existence of this animal, since he was seen here eleven years ago, than I have had of the existence of Bonaparte. The evidence was as strong to my mind of the one as of the other! I had never seen either ; but I was as well satisfied of the existence of both, as I should have been had I seen both. And yet the idea of the sea-serpent's existence has been scouted and ridiculed." "Sept. 25. " The events of the late French Revolution have reached us up to the 17th August. The consideration of them is animating, and speaks in almost more than human language. We are poor, frail, and mortal beings ; but there is some- thing elevating in the thought of a whole people acting as with the mind and the aim of one man, a part which allies man to a higher order of beings. I confess it makes me feel a sort of veneration for them ; and I trust that no extrava- gance will occur to mar the glory and the dignity of this enterprise. Our beloved old hero, too, acting as the guiding and presiding genius of this wonderful event. May God prosper them, and make it to the French people what it is capable of being, if they make a right use of it ! I hope that you have been careful to see and learn every thing, and that you will preserve the information you obtain in such a form as to recall the events to your mind a long time hence. We are all very well and very busy, and in fine spirits here in the old town of Boston. Those who fell behind last year have some of them placed themselves in the rear rank, and are again on duty. Others are laid up, unfit for duty ; and the places of all are supplied with fresh troops. We now present as happy and as busy a community as you would desire to see." 70 CHAPTER XII. TESTIMONIAL TO MR. WEBSTER. — DANGEROUS ILLNESS. LETTERS. During the autvimn of 1830, in order to testify in, a more marked manner his appreciation of Mr. Webster's distinguished services in the Senate of the United States, Mr. Lawrence presented to that gentle- man a service of silver plate, accompanied by the following note : — " Hon. Daniel Webster. " Boston, Oct. 23, 1830. " Dear Sir, — Permit me to .request your acceptance of the accompanying small service of plate, as a testimony of m.y gratitude for your services to the country in your late efforts in the Senate ; especially for your vindication of the character of Massachusetts and of New England. " From your friend and fellow-citizen, "Amos Lawkence. " P. S. — If by any emblem or inscription on any piece of ' this service, referring to the circumstances of which this is a memorial, the whole will be made more acceptable, I shall be glad to have you designate what it shall be, and permit me the opportunity of adding it." DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 71 To which Mr. Webster replied, on the same evening, as follows : — " Summer Stseet, Oct. 23, 1830. " My dear Sir, — I cannot well express my sense of your kindness, manifested in the present of plate, which I have received this evening. I know that, from you, this token of respect is sincere ; and I shall ever value it, and be happy in leaving it to my children, as a most gratifying evidence of your friendship. The only thing that can add to its value is- your permission that it may be made to bear an inscription expressive of the donation. " I am, dear sir, with unfeigned esteem, " Your friend and obedient servant, " Daniel Webster. " Amos Lawrence, Esa." To HIS Son. " Boston, Jan. 16, 1831. " Our local affairs are very delightful in this state and city. We have no violent political animosities ; and the prosperity of the people is very great. In our city in particular, the people have not had greater prosperity for twenty years. There is a general industry and talent in our population, that is calculated to produce striking results upon their character. In your reflections upon your course, you may settle it as a principle, that no man can attain any valuable influence or character among us, who does not labor with whatever talents he has to increase the sum of human improvement and happiness. An idler, who feels that he has no responsibilities, but is contriving to get rid of time without being useful to any one, whatever be his fortune, can find no comfort in staying here. We have not enough such to make up a society. We are literally all working- 72 DIARY ANU CORRESPONDENCE. men ; and the attempt to get up a ' "Woikiug-men's partj' ' is a libel upon the wliole population, as it implies that there are among us liu'ge numbers who ai'e not working-men He is a working-man whose mind is employed, whether in making researches into the meaning of hieroglyphics or in demonstrating any invention in the arts, just as much as he who cuts down the forest, or holds the plough, or swings the sledge-hammer. Therefore let it bo the sentiment of your heart to use all the talents and powers you may possess in the advancement of the moral and political influence of New England. New England, I say ; for here is to be the stronghold of liberty, and the seat of influence to the vast multitude of millions who are to people this republic." At the period when the preceding letter was writ- ten, the manufacturing interest had become of vast importance in this community ; and the house of which Mr. Lawrence was the senior partner had identified itself with the progress of many of the great manufacturing corporations already created, or then in progress. "With siicli pecuniary, interests at stake, and with a sense of responsibility for the success of these enterprises, which had been projected on a scale and plan hitherto unknown, it may be supposed that his mind and energies were fully taxed, and that he could be fairly ranked among the working-men alluded to. ^Miile in the full tide of active life, and, as it were, at the crowning point of a successful 'career, the hand of Providence was laid upon him to remove him, for the rest of his days, from this sphere of honor and acti^dty to the chamber of the invalid, DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 73 and the comparatively tame and obscure walks of domestic life. Ever after this, his life hung upon a thread ; and its very uncertainty, far from causing him to despond and rest from future effort, seemed only to excite the desire to work while the day lasted. The discipline thus acquired, instead of consigning him to the inglorious obscurity of a sick chamber, was the means of his entering upon that career of active philanthropy which is now the great source of whatever distinction there may be attached to his memory. His business life was ended ; and, though he was enabled to advise with others, and give sometimes a direction to the course of affairs, he assumed no responsibility, and had virtually retired from the field. On the 1st of June, 1831, the weather being very warm, Mr. Lawrence, while engaged in the business of his counting-room, drank moderately of cold water, and, soon after, was seized with a violent and alarm- ing illness. The functions of the stomach seemed to have been destroyed ; and, for many days, there 'remained but small hope of his recovery. Much sympathy was expressed by his friends and the public, and in such a manner as to afford gratification to his family, as well as surprise to himself when sufficiently recovered to be informed of it. He had not yet learned the place which he had earned, in the esti- mation of those around him, as a merchant and a citizen ; and it was not unlikely a stimulus to merit, 74 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. by his future course, the high encomiums which were then laAished upon him. Mr. Lawrence anuouuccd his sickness to his son, then in Spain, in the following letter, dated — " Boston-, June 27, 1831. " I desire to bless God for being again permitted to address you in this way. On the 1st day of tliis month, I was seized with a violent illness, which caused both myself and my friends almost to despair of my life. But, by the blessing of Grod, the remedies proved efficacious ; and I am still in the land of the living, with a comfortable prospect of acquiring my usual health, although, thus far. not allowed to leave my cliamber. In that diead hour when I thought that the next perhaps would be my last on eaith, — my thoughts resting upon my God and Saviour, then upon the past scenes of my life, then upon my dear children, — the belief that their minds are well directed, and that they will prove blessings to society, and fulfil, in some good degree, the design of Providence in placing them here, was a balm to ,my spu'its that proved more favorable to my recovery than any of the other remedies. May you never forget that every man is individually responsible for his actions, and must be held accountable for his opportunities ! Thus he who has ten talents will receive a proportionate reward, if he makes a right use of them ; and he who receives one will be punished, if he hides it in a napkin." "June 29, 1831. " My deal- and ever-honored Mother, — Through the , divine goodness, I am once more enabled to address you by letter, after having passed through an alarming sickness to my friends, although to myself a comparatively quiet one. I cannot in words express my grateful sense of God's good- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 75 ness in thus carrying me, as it were, in his hand, and lighting the way by the brightness of his countenance. During tliat period in which I considered my recovery as hardly probable, my mind was calm ; and while, in review of the past, I found many things to lament, and, in contemplation of the future, much to fear, but more to hope, I could find no other words in which to express my thoughts than the words of the publican, — ' God be merciful to me a sinner ! ' All the small distinctions of sects and forms dwindled into air, thin air, and seemed to me even more worthless than ever. The cares and anxieties of the world did not disturb me, believing it to be of small moment whether I should be taken now or spared a few yeai-s longer. With returning health and strength, different prospects open, and different feelings take the place of those which were then so appropriate ; and the social feelings and sympathies have their full share in their hold upon me " From your ever-loving and dutiful son, A. L." " July 14. " I have been constantly gaining since my last to you, and, with constant care, hope to acquire my usual health. I am, however, admonished by the two attacks I have expe- rienced within a month, that the continuance of my life for ■ any considerable period will be very likely to depend upon a rigid prudence in my labor and living. The recovery from this last sickness is almost like being restored to life ; and I hope the span that may be allowed me may be employed in better service than any period of my past life. We are placed here to be disciplined for another and higher state ; and whatever happens to us makes a part of this discipline. In this view, we ought never to murmur, but to consider, when ills befall us, how we can make them subserve our 76 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. highest good. What I am more desirous than any thing else for you is, that you may feel that you are accountable for all your talents, and that you may so use them as to have an approving conscience, and the final recompense of a faithful servant, at last. The period of trial is short ; but the consequences are never-ending. How important to each individual, then, — to you and to me, — that we use aright the period assigned us ! " 77 CHAPTER XIII. JOURNEY TO NEW HAMPSHIRE. — LETTERS. — RESIGNS OF- FICE OF TRUSTEE AT HOSPITAL. — LETTERS. A FEW days after the date of the preceding letter, a change was thought desirable for the improvement of Mr. Lawrence's health ; and he accordingly, with Mrs. Lawrence, went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and remained a week with his friend and brother-in-law, the late Hon. Jeremiah Mason. From thence he proceeded to visit friends in Amherst, New Hamp- shire, where he was attacked by a severe rheumatic fever, which confined him for several weeks ; and it was with great difiiculty that he succeeded in reaching home about the 20th of September, after an absence of nearly two months. On the 27th of September, he writes to his son : — " It is only within a few days that I have been able to be removed to my own house. I am now able to walk my chamber, and sit up half the day ; and, by the best care in the world, I have a fair hope of again enjoying so much health as to feel that I may yet be of some use in the world. My bodily sufferings have been great during this last sick- lb DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. ness ; but my mind in general has been quiet. I seem to want nothing which this world can give to make me an enviably happy man, but your presence and a return of my health ; but these last are wisely withheld. We are apt, in the abundance of the gift, to lose the recollection whence it came, and feel by our own power we can go forward. Happy for us that we are thus made to feel that all we have is from God : this recurrence to the Source of all our blessings makes us better men. I do not expect to be able to leave the house before the next spring ; and, in the meantime, must be subject to the casualties incident to a person in my situation." On October 29, Mr. Lawrence, in a letter to the same son, expresses his gratitude for the enjoyment of life, " even in a sick chamber, as mine must be termed." " I receive my friends here, and once only have walked abroad for a few minutes. I di-ive in a carriage every plea- sant day, and I can truly say that my days pass in the full enjoyment of more than the average of comfort. My mind is as easy as it ever is, and as active as is safe for the body. I employed myself yesterday in looking over your letters since you left home three years ago, and was reminded by them that the fourth year of your absence has just com- menced. Although a brief space since it is passed, an equal time, if we look forward, appears to be far distant. The question you will naturally ask yourself is. How has the time been spent? and, from the answer, you may gather much instruction for the futiure. If you have made the best use of this period, happy is it for you, as the habit of the useful application of your time will make its continuance more UIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 79 natural and easy. If you have misused and abused your opportunities, there is not a moment to be lost in retracing your steps, and making good, by future eflFort, what has been lost by want of it. In short, we can none of us know that a future will be allowed us to amend and to correct our pre- vious misdoings and omissions ; and it is not less the part of wisdom than of duty to be always up and doing, that, when- ever our Master comes, we may be ready. I never was made so sensible before of the power of the mind over the body. It is a matter of surprise to some of my friends, who have known my constant habits of business for a quarter of a century, that I can find so much comfort and quiet in the confinement of my house, when I feel so well, and there are so many calls for my labors abroad. I hope to pursue such a discreet course as shall allow me to come forth in the spring with my poor frame so far renovated and restored as to enable me to take my place among the active laborers of the day, and do what little I may for the advancement and well- being of my generation. If, however, I should, by any acci- dent or exposure, be again brought to a bed of pain and sufiering, may God grant me a patient and submissive temper to bear whatever may be put upon me, with a full conviction that such chastisements will tend to my good, if I make a right use of them ! " The first of Januarj% 1832, found Mr. Lawrence confined to his sick-room, and unable, from bodily weakness, to drive out in the open air, as he had hitherto done. He writes to his son : — " 1 am reminded, by the new year, that another portion of time has passed, by which we are accustomed to measure in prospect the space that is allotted us here ; and the reflec- 80 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. tions at the close of the old and the commencement of the new year are calculated, if we do not cheat ourselves, to make us better than we otherwise should be. I am enjoying my- self highly under the close confinement of two parlor cham- bers, from which I have only travelled into the entry since November. I have lived pretty much as other prisoners of a difierent character live, as regards food ; viz., on bread and water, or bread and coffee or cocoa. I have come to the conclusion that the man who lives on bread and water, if he have enough, is the genuine epicure, according to the origi- nal and true meaning. I am favored with the visits of more pretty and interesting ladies than any layman in the city, I believe. My rooms ai'e quite a resort ; and, old fellow as I am, I have the vanity to suppose I render myself quite agreeable to them." To THE Same. "Sunday Morning, Feb. 5, 1832. " I have seated myself at my writing-desk, notwithstand- ing it is holy time, in the hope and belief that I am in the way of duty. This consecration of one day in seven to the duties of religion, — comprising, as these do, every duty, — and if they be well performed to self-examination, is a glo- rious renovation of the world. Who that has witnessed the effects of this rest upon the moral and physical condition of a people can doubt the wisdom of the appointment ? Wher- ever we turn om- eyes or our thoughts, if we only will be as honest and candid in our estimate of the value of the provi- sion made for us as we ordinarily are in our estimate of the character and conduct of our fellow-men, we must be struck with admiration and gratitude to that merciful Father who has seen our wants, and provided for our comfort to an extent to which the care and provision of the best earthly parents for their children hardly gives the name of resemblance." DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. bl In speaking of some application for aid which he had received from a charitable institution, he writes to his son : — " Our people are liberally disposed, and contribute to most objects which present a fair claim to their aid. I think you will find great advantage in doing this part of your duty upon a system which you can adopt ; thus, for instance, divide your expenses into ten parts, nine of which may be termed for what is considered necessary, making a liberal calculation for such as your situation would render proper, and one part applied for the promotion of objects not directly or legally claiming your support, but such as every good citizen would desire to have succeed. This, I think, you will find the most agreeable part of your expense ; and, if you should be favored with an abundance of means later in life, you may enlarge your appropriations of this sort, so as to be equal to one-tenth of your income. Neither yourself nor those who depend upon you will ever feel the poorer. I assume that you have plenty, in thus fixing the proportion. I believe the rule might be profitably adopted by many who have small means ; for they would save more by method than they would be required to pay. To-morrow completes a hundred years since the birth of Washington. The day will be celebrated from one end of the country to the other, with suitable demonstrations of respect, by processions, orations, and religious ceremonies, according to the feelings of the people who join in it. I think the spec- tacle will be a grand one, of a whole people brought together to commemorate the birth of one of their fellow-mortals, who, by his virtues and his talents, has made his memory immortal ; and whose precepts and example are calculated to secure happiness to the countless millions of his fellow-beings who are to people this vast empire through all future time. It is 82 DIARY AND COKKESPOXDKSCE. permitted to few to have open to them such a field as W ash- ington had ; but no one since the Christian era has filled his sphere so gloriously. We are jogging along in political, theological, and commercial affairs veiy much as usual." During tlie mouth of January. Mi*. Lawrence, on accoimt of ill health, resigned his seat in the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in which he had served for several years. This duty had always been one of immingled pleasure to him ; and, by means of his \-isits there, and at the McLean Asylum for the Insane, under the management of the same Board, he became conversant with a class of sufferers which had excited a great interest in his mind, and whom he often visited, during the remain- der of his life, to cheer and convey to them such little tokens of kindness as assured them of his inte- rest and sympathy. Tn a letter to his son at Andover, he writes, April -21 : — " You will be glad to hear I have got along very well through the wet, cold weather of the week, and am looking forward with cheerful hope to the sunny days to come. If it wore not for my faculty of turning present disappointments to future pleasiu'es in prospect, I should run down in spirits. I have always indulged myself in castle-building ; but have generally taken care so to build as to be in no danger of their falling on my head, so that when I have gone as far with one as was safe, if it does not promise well, I transfer my labor to another, and thus am always supplied with objects. The last one finished was commenced List May, and it is one I DIAKY AND COKKESl'OXDF.XCE. 8S delight to think of. It was then I determined to get your Uncle Mason* here. N. thought it a castle without founda- tion, hut the result shows otherwise. " I send some of W.'s late letters, by which you per- ceive he is not idle : the thought of the dear fellow makes the tears start. God in mercy grant him a safe return, fully impressed with his obligations as a man and a Christian ! That I ;im now living in the enjoyment of so much health, surrounded by so many blessings, is over- powering to my feelings. "What shall I render unto God for all these benefits ? I feel my unworthiness, and devoutly pray him that I may never lose sight of the great end of my being ; and that, whenever it shall please him to call me hence, I may be found in the company of the redeemed through the merits and mediation of the Son of his love. If there is any one thing I would impress on your mind more strongly than another, it is to give good heed to the religious impressions with which you may be imbued ; and, at a future day, these may prove a foundation that will support you when all other supports would fail. The youthful ima- gination frequently magnifies objects at a distance : expe- rience is an able teacher, and detects, too late perhaps, the fraud upon youth. Be wise in time, and avoid this fi-aud." A few days later, he writes to the same son, ou the suhject of systematic charity : — " It is one of my privileges, not less than one of my duties, to be able thus to administer to the comfort of a circle of very dear friends. I hope you will one day have the delightful consciousness of using a portion of yo\u- means in a way to give you as much pleasure as I now expe- rience. Your wants may be brought within a very moderate * Hon. J. Mason, of Portsmoath, nho passed the rest of his life in Boston. 84 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. compass ; and I hope you will never feel yourself at liberty to waste on yourself such means, as, by system and right principles, may be beneficially applied to the good of those around you. Providence has given us unerring principles to guide us in our duties of this sort. Our first duty is to those of our own household, then extending to kindi'ed, friends, neighbors (and the term ' neighbor ' may, in its broadest sense, take in the whole human family), citizens of our state, then of our country, then of the other countries of the world." In another letter, written soon after the preceding, he speaks of certain principles of business which governed him in early life, and adds : — " The secret of the whole matter was, that we had formed the habit of promptly acting, thus taking the top of the tide ; while the habit of some others was to delay until about half- tide, thus getting on the flats ; while we were all the time prepared for action, and ready to put into any port that promised well. I wish, by all these remarks, to impress upon you the necessity of qualifying, yourself to support yourself. The best education that I can secure shall be yours, and such facilities for usefulness as may be in my power shall be rendered ; but no food to pamper idleness or wickedness will I ever supply willingly to any connection, however near. I trust I have none who will ever misuse so basely any thing that may come to them as a blessing. This letter, you may think, has an undue proportion of advice. * Line upon line, precept upon precept,' is recommended by I one wiser than I am." 85 CHAPTER XIV. DAILY EXERCISE. — REGIMEN. — IMPROVING HEALTH. — LETTERS. During the summer and autumn of this year, Mr. Lawrence's health and strength were so much im- proved, that he was enabled to take horseback exer- cise ; and almost daily took long rides, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, about the environs of the city. This habit he was enabled to continue, with some intermissions, for two or three years, through summer and winter. The effect of the exercise amidst the beautiful scenery of the environs of Boston, of which he was a most enthusiastic admirer, was most beneficial to his health and strength, and, it is be- lieved, was a great means of prolonging his life. Whenever he could do so, he secured the company of a friend, and kept a horse expressly for the pui-pose. As the ride was taken in the morning, when his business acquaintances were occupied, his most usual companion was some one of the city clergy, whom he secured for the occasion, or one of his sons. No denominational distinctions seemed to regulate his 86 DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. choice of companion on these occasions. His OAvn beloved pastor and friend, the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, Eev. Drs. Stone and Greenwood, and Father Taylor, the seamen's chaplain, were often his companions. Often a stray merchant or lawyer was engaged ; and, as was sometimes the case where they had not been much accustomed to the exercise, a long canter of many miles in the sun, or in the face of a keen winter north-wester, somewhat taxed their own strength, while they wondered how so fraU a figure as that of Mr. Lawrence could possess so much endurance. With all this apparent energy and strength, he was extremely liable to illness, which would come when least expected, and confine him for days to his house. An item of bad news, some annoying incident, a little anxiety, or a slight cold, would, as it were, paralyze his digestive functions, and reduce his strength to the lowest point. It was this extreme sensitiveness which unfitted him to engage in the general current of business, and which compelled him to keep aloof from participation in commercial afiairs, and to adopt that peculiar system in diet and living which he ad- hered to for the remainder of his life. This system limited him to the use of certain kinds of food, which, from time to time, was slightly modified, as was thought expedient. This food was of the most "simple kind, and was taken in small quantities, after being weighed in a balance, which always stood before him upon his writing-table. To secure perfect quiet DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 87 during his meals, and also that he might not be tempted to overstep the bounds of prudence, a cer- tain amount was sent to him in his chamber, from which he took what was allowed. The amount of liquid was also weighed ; and so rigid was he in this system of diet, that, for the last twenty years of his life, he sat down at no meal with his family. The amount of food taken varied, of course, with his strength and condition. In a letter to his friend. President Hopkins, of Williams College, he says : — " If your young folks want to know the meaning of epicureanism, tell them to take some bits of coarse bread (one ounce and a little more), soak them in three gills of coarse-meal gruel, and make their dinner of them and nothing else ; beginning very hungry, and leaving off more hungry. The food is delicious, and such as no modern epicureanism can equal." For a considerable period, he kept a regular diet- table, in which he noted down the quantity of solid and liquid food or drink taken during the twenty- four hours. One of his memorandum-books, labelled " Record of Diet and Discipline for 1839 and 184:0," contains accurate records of this sort. In October, 1832, in writing to his son in the country, he alludes to this improvement in his health and strength : — " We are all doing as well as usual here, myself among them doing better than usual. My little ' Doctor ' * does * The name of his horse. 88 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. wonders for me. I ride so much, and so advantageously, that I do not know but I shall be bold enough, by and by, to ride to B and back in a day, but shall hai-dly dai-e do so until I have practised a little more in this neighborhood. " I want you to analyze more closely the tendency of principles, associations, and conduct, and strive to adopt such as will make it easier for you to go right than go wrong. The moral taste, like the natural, is vitiated by abuse. Gluttony, tobacco, and intoxicating drink, ai-e not less dan- gerous to the latter, than loose principles, bad associations, and profligate conduct, ai'e to the former. Look well to all these things." The year 1833 opened with bright and cheering prospects ; for, with Mr. Lawrence's increasing strength and improved health, there seemed a strong ground of hope that he might j'et recover all his powers, and once more take his place among his former business associates. He writes at this time to his son at Andover : — " I am as light as a feather this morning, and feel as if I could mount upon a zephyr, and ride upon its back to A ; but I am admonished to be careful when my spirits are thus buoyant, lest I come down to the torpor of the insect, which is shut up by the frost. Extremes ai-e apt to follow, unless I take great care. Last sabbath, I kept my bed, most of the day, with a poor turn. Brother A. said, on Saturday, he knew I was going to have one, for I talked right on." In March, he writes : — " The season is coming forward now so as to allow me the use of the roads around Roxbury and Dorchester. My DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 89 ' Doctor ' looks so altered by a two hours' canter, that his own mother would hardly know him at first sight. We continue excellent friends ; and I think he has never used me better than during the last few days. We both ' feel our oats ' and our youth. I feel like sweet twenty-five ; and he, I judge, like vigorous seven." On April 28, he writes to a young friend : — " When you get married, do not expect a higher degree of perfection than is consistent with mortality in your wife. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be careful, and do not choose upon a theory either. I dislike much of the nonsense and quackery that is dignified with the name of intellectual among people. Old-fashioned common sense is a deal better. " There was a part of Boston which used to be visited by young men out of curiosity when I first came here, into which I never set foot for the whole time I remained a single man. I avoided it, because I not only wished to keep clear of the temptations common in that part, but to avoid the appearance of evil. I never regretted it j and I would advise all young men to strengthen their good resolutions by reflection, and to plant deep and strong the principles of right, and to avoid temptation, as time gives them strength to stand against it." On December 23, he writes to his wife, who had been summoned to the bedside of a dying relative : — " Your absence makes a great blank in the family ; and I feel that I must be very careful lest any little accident should make me feel of a deep blue while you are away. Confidence is a great matter, not only in curing, but in preventing dis- ease, whether of the body or the mind ; and I have somehow 12 90 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. got the notion that I am more safe when you* ai'c looking after me than when you are not, and that any trouble is sooner cured when you are present than when you are not. This is, I suppose, the true charm which some people have faith in to keep oiF their ills. I have been forcibly reminded of the passage of time, by reviewing the scenes of the last three years, and am deeply sensible of the mercies that have been extended to me. What little I do is a poor return : may a better spirit prompt and guide my future services ! What few I have rendered ai-e estimated by my brethren beyond their value, and of course tend to flatter my self-love. This should not be ; and I ought to see myself as I am seen by that eye that never sleeps. The situation I occupy is one that I would not- exchange, if I had the power, with any man living : it is full of agreeable incidents, and free from the toils and anxieties frequently attendant on a high state of prosperity ; and is, beside, free fr'om that jealousy, or from any other cause of uneasiness, so common among the ardent and successful in this world's race." On February 8, 1835, he writes to a young friend : — " Take care that fancy does not beguile you of your under- standing in making your choice : a mere picture is not all that is needful in the up and down hills of life. The arrangements of the household and the sick-room have more in them to fasten upon the hcait than all the beauties and honors of the mere gala days, however successfully shown * The editor, in justioe to his own feelings, will hero remark, that he believes the continuation of Mr. Lawrence's life, after he became a confirmed invalid, was, under Providence, in a great measure due to the care and faithful attentions of his wife. For more than twenty years, and during his frequent seasons of languor and sickness, she submitted to many sacrifices, and bestowed a degree of care and watchfulness such as affeotion alone could have enabled her to render. DIARY AND COREESPONDENCE. 91 off. Be careful, ■when you pick, to get a heart, a soul, and a body ; not a show of a body that has mere vitality. All this comes in by the ears ; but it is in, — I will not blot it out." March 16, he writes to his sister : — " I have had so much call for my sympathy, assistance, and advice, among my brethren in trade, that I have little inclination or spirit to write social or family letters since my last ; but, in all this turmoil and trouble (and it really is as disastrous as a siege or a famine to the country), I have kept up a good heart, and have been able to view the work of destruction with as much composure as the nature of the case will allow. Whatever effects it shall produce on my property, I shall submit to, as the inevitable destruction that comes without any fault of my own, of course without any self-reproaches ; but, for the authors, I feel a just indigna- tion. As regards the pecuniary distress among us, it is sub- siding : there have been fewer failures than were anticipated ; but there have been numbers on the brink, who have been saved by the help of friends. A few persons have done great service in helping those who could not help themselves ; and the consequences will be felt here for years to come in the credit and standing of many worthy people, who must otherwise have been broken down. Brother A. has had a load of cai'e and responsibility much too severe for him, and has now agreed to throw off a part of the business as soon as the present pressure is past." April 29, he writes : — " I am busy these days, but have no very important duties, except riding with the ministers and the young ladies." DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Again, on May 30 : — " I am completely on one side, while I appear to be quite busy in putting in an oar now and then." To HIS Mother. "Aug. 16. " My dear and honored Mother, — My mind turns back to you almost as frequently as its powers are brought into separate action, and always with an interest that animates and quickens my pulse ; for, under God, it is to your good influence and teachings that I am prepared to enjoy those blessings which he has so richly scattered in my path in all my onward progress in life. How could it be otherwise than that your image should be with me, unless I should prove wholly unworthy of you ? Your journey is so much of it performed, that those objects which interested you greatly in its early stages have lost their charms, and well it is that they have ; for they now would prove clogs in the way ; and it is to your children, to your Savioiu-, and yom- God, that your mind and heart now turn as the natural sources of pleasure. Each of these, I trust, in their proper place and degree, supply all your wants. The cheering pro- mise that has encouraged you when your powers were the highest will not fail you when the weight of years and infirmities have made it more necessary to your comfort to get over the few remaining spans of the journey. To God I commend you ; and pray him to make the path light, and your way confiding and joyful, until you shall reach that home prepared for the faithful." In a letter to his sister, dated Oct. 25, he further alludes to his mother, as follows : — DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 93 " My thoughts this morning have been much engaged with my early home. I conclude it best to embody them in part, and send them forward to add (if they may) a token of gratitude and thankfulness to that dear one who is left to us, for her care of our early days, and her Christian instruction and example to her children, grand-children, and great- grand-children ; each generation of whom, I trust, will be made better in some of its members by her. It is more natural, when in om' weakness and want, to turn our thoughts to those whom they have been accustomed to look to for assistance ; and thus to me the impression of the blessing I enjoy in having such a home as mine is, and the blessing I early enjoyed of having such a home as mine was under my father's roof, say to my heart : All these increase thy responsibilities, and for their use you must account. I have had one of my slight ill turns within the two last days, that has brought back all these feelings with increased force ; and I look upon these as gentle monitors, calculated to make me estimate more fully my blessings and my duties. Fre- quently, as I am admonished by the frail teniire by which I hold my life, I am negligent and careless in the performance of those high and every-day duties which I should never lose sight of for an hour. I have also such buoyancy of spi- rits, that life seems to me a very, very great blessing, and I do at times strive to make it useful to those around me." 94 CHAPTER. XV REFLECTIONS. — YISIT TO WASHIXGTOX. — VISIT TO K-VIXS- FOKD ISLAND. — EEFLECTIONS. — VIEWS OF DEATH. — REFLECTIOXS. From memoraiidiini-book of property, December 31, 1835: — " My expenses have been thousand dollars this year ; of which about one-half went for persons and objects that make me feel that it has been well expended, and is better used than to remain in my possession. God grant that I may have the disposition to use these talents in such man- ner as to receive at last the joyful sound of ' Well done ! ' " On March 29, lS3(i, Mr. Lawrence writes : — "My anxiety for a day or two about little things kept me from the enjoyment of those bright scenes that are so com- mon to me when not oppressed by any of these may be events. My nerves are in such a shattered state, that I am quite unfit to encounter the responsibilities incident to my station, and I am ashamed of myself thus to expose my weak- . ness." During the spring, Mr. Lawrence's health was so feeble, and his nervous system so shattered, that a DIARY AND CORRESrONDENCE. 95 journey was recommended ; and in the month of May, in company with his friend and pastor, the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, he paid a visit to his brother Abbott, at Washington, then the Representative in Congress for Boston. During this journey, he experienced a severe illness, and was shortly joined by Mrs. Lawrence. The Aasit to Washington extended through several weeks ; and, although his health remained feeble and tlie weather unfavorable, he seems to have been alive to objects around him, and interested in what was gomg forward in the halls of Congress as well as in the society of the capital. He speaks of visits to the houses of Congress, and pleasant rides on horseback, " with hosts of agreeable companions ready to sally forth when the weather shall permit." He also takes a survey of the general state of society in Washington, Avith an occasional allusion to some particular person- age. He writes : — " It used to be said that Washington and the Springs were the places for matrimonial speculations. I feel a natiu'al dislike to a lady being brought out as an extraordinary affair, having all perfections, and having refused forty-nine offers, and still being on the carpet. It shows that she is either very silly herself, or has very silly friends, or both. Good strong common sense is worth more than forty-nine offers, with any quantity of slaves or bank-notes or lands, with- out it. "I have passed two hours in the Representatives' Hall and Senate Chamber to-day. I heaid the usual spai'ring, and confess myself greatly interested in it. I could leai'u uotliiug 96 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. of the merits of any of the questions ; but I had a preference, such as one feels In seeing two dogs fight, that one should beat. It was very agreeable to me to see and hear those Yarious distinguished characters, and goes to demonstrate the common saying, that some objects appear- smaller by our get- ting nearer to them." During this absence, one of his family remaining at home had experienced a light attack of varioloid ; and, according to the law then in force, was obliged to be transported to the hospital on Rainsford Island, situated in Boston Harbor. Soon after Mi\ Law- rence's return from the South, he paid a ^isit to Rains- foixi Island, on the invitation of Dr. J. V. C. Smith, then Quarantine Physician, and there passed some weeks very pleasantly, riding about the island on his horse, and watching, from the shores, the sea-^iews, which, with the passing ships, here afford an endless variety. In August, he returned to his own house in Bos- ton; and, on the '21st, writes to his sister as fol- lows : — " The scenery, in fi-ont, side, and rear, and all within, is umivalled, except by the charms of the dear old home of my mother and sister ; in short, it seems to me that no iwo spots combine so many charms as my early and present homes ; and they impress me more fully now by my being so well as to enjoy, not only natm-al scenery, but the social intercourse with loved ones, that more than compensates for any thing I may have lost by sickness and suffering. I yesterday was on horseback nearlv three hours, but did not ride more than DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 97 ten miles ; and, in that distance, I went over some scenes that I felt unwilling to leave, especially some of the old works on and near Dorchester Heights ; for they appcai-ed more interesting than ever before, from the. circumstance of your showing me that mass of original letters fi'om Wasliing- ton, Hancock, Samuel Adams, and various other revolution- ary characters, to General Wai'd j some of them touching the occupation of these heights sixty years ago, and some of them alluding to scenes which have scarcely been noticed in the published histories of those days. All go to show, how- ever, the whole souls of those men to have been engaged in their work ; and, further, how vain it is for us of this day, who are ambitious of distinction, to found it on any other basis than uprightness of character, purity of life, and the active performance of all those duties included in ' the doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly.' How few of us remember this ! 1 5iardly know when I have been more forcibly impressed with a plain truth than I was yesterday, while sitting alone on horseback, on the top of the redoubt on Dorchester Heights, and the considerations of the past, the present, and the future, were the subject of my thoughts, connecting the men of those days with the present, and the men of these days with the future. The evidence is irre- sistible, that there is a downhill tendency in the chai-acter of the people, which, in sixty years more, will make us more corrupt than any other enlightened nation so young as ours, unless we are checked by adversity and suffering. — But this is not what I intended to write about, so I will go to some- thing else. The old revolutionary documents, memorials of our father, never appeared to me so interesting as now ; and those I now return to you will be carefully preserved, and such others as you may find, added to them. I would give a great sum of money, if by it I could get all the documents I used to see when I was a child, and which we thought of 13 98 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. SO little value that we did not preserve them with that care which should have been used in a famUy which cherishes such deep feeling of respect and affection for parents." The year 1837 will be remembered as one of great pecuniary embarrassment and distress in the commer- cial world. Mr. Lawrence alludes to it as follows, on May 13 : — "The violent pecuniary revulsion that has been antici- pated for more than a year has at length overtaken this coun- try, and is more severe than our worst fears. In addition to the failure of people to pay their debts, in all sections of the countiy, for the last two months, the banks, from Baltimore to Boston, and probably throughout the Union, as fast as the intelUgence spreads, have suspended specie payment, and will not probably resume again very Soon." On December 17 of the same year, he writes to his mother as follows : — " This day completes thirty years since my commencing business, with the hope of acquiriag no very definite amount of property, or having in my mind any anticipation of ever enjoying a tithe of that consideration my friends and the public are disposed to award me at this time. In looking back to that period, and reviewing the events as they come along, I can see the good hand of God in all my experience ; and acknowledge, with deep humiliation, my want of grati- tude and proper retui-n for all his mercies. May each day I > live impress me more deeply with a sense of duty, and find me better prepared to answer his call, and account for my stewardship ! The changes in our family have been perhaps no greater than usual in other families in that period, except- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 99 ing in the matter of the eminent success that has attended our efforts of a worldly nature. This worldly success is the great cause of our danger in its uses, and may prove a snare, unless we strive to keep constantly in mind, that to whom much is given, of him will much be required. I feel my own deficiencies, and lament them ; but am encouraged and rewarded by the enjoyment, in a high degree, of all my well- meant efforts for the good of those around me. In short, I feel as though I can still do a little to advance the cause of human happiness while I remain here. My maxim is, that I ought to ' work while the day lasts ; for the night of death will soon overtake me, when I can no more work.' I con- tinue to mend in strength, and feel at times the buoyancy of early days. It is now raining in torrents, keeping us all within doors. I have been at work with gimblet, saw, fore- plane, and hammer, thus securing a good share of exercise withou.t leaving my chamber." " Jan. 1, 1838. — Bless the Lord, my soul ! and forget not all his benefits ; for he has restored my life twice during the past year, when I was apparently dead, and has permitted me to live, and see and enjoy much, and has surrounded me with blessings that call for thankfulness. The possession of my mind, the intercourse with beloved friends, the opportu- nity of performing some labor as his steward (although im- perfectly done), all call upon me for thanksgiving and praise. The violent revulsion in the business of the country during the past year has been ruinous to many ; but, so far as my own interests are concerned, has been less than I anticipated. My property remains much as it was a year ago. Something beyond my income has been disposed of; and I have no debts against me, either as a partner in the firm or indivi- dually. Every thing is in a better form for settlement than at any former period, and I hope to feel ready to depart 100 DIARY AND CORRESl'ONDENCK. whenever called. The amount appropriated to other objects than my family expenses, since January, 1829, when I com- menced keeping an account, say for nine years, has been $ . This pai't of my investment gives me more real comfort, at this time, than any other I have made." In transmitting to his sister a letter received from Baltimore, fi-om a mutual friend, he writes, on March 12, in a postscript : — " This morning seems almost like a foretaste of heaven. The sun shines bright, the air is soft : I am comfortable, and expect a pleasant drive in the neighborhood. It is indeed brilliant, beautiful, and interesting to me, beyond any former experience of my life. I am the happiest man alive, and yet would wilKngly exchange worlds this day, if it be the good pleasure of our best Friend and Father in heaven." The extract quoted above will give an idea of that state of mind in vi^hich Mr. Lawrence was often foimd by his fripnds, and which he imceasingly strove to cultivate. He could not always exult in the same buoyant and almost rapturous feelings here expressed ; for, with his feeble frame and extreme susceptibility to' outward influences, to believe such was' the case wovdd be to suppose him more than mortal. The willingness to exchange worlds was, however, a con- stant frame of mind ; and the daily probability of such an event he always kept in view. The work of each day was performed with the feeling that it might be his last ; and there is, tlu-oughout his cor- respondence and diary, frequent allusion to the DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 101 uncertain tenure by which he held life, and his deter- mination to work while the day lasted. If a matter was to be attended to, of great or little import^ ance, whether the founding a professorship, signing a will, or paying a household bill, all was attended to at the earliest moment, with the habitual remark, " I may not be^ere to-morrow to do it." In the same cheerful spirit, he writes to his son a few days after his marriage, and then on a journey to Virginia ; — " The whole scene here on Thursday last was so delight- ful that I hardly knew whether I was on the earth, of floating between earth and heaven. I have been exalted ever since, and the group of happy friends will be a sunny spot in yours no less than in their remembrance." To his sister he writes, Dec. 22 : — " It is thirty-one years this week since I commenced business on my own account, and the prospects were as gloomy at that period for its successful pursuit as at any time since ; but I never had any doubt or misgivings as to my success, for I then had no more wants than my means would justify. The habits then formed, and since confirmed and strengthened by use, have been the foundation of my good name, good fortune, and present happy condition. At that time (when you know I used to visit you as often as I could, by riding in the night until I sometimes encroached upon the earliest hour of the sabbath before reaching my beloved home, to be at my business at the dawn of day on Monday morning), my gains were more than my expenses ; thus strengthening and encouraging me in the steady pursuit of 102 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. those objects I had in view as a beginner. From that time to this, I am not aware of ever desiring or acquiring any great amount by a single operation, or of taking any part of the property of any other man and mingling with my own, where I had the legal right to do so. I have had such uni- form success as to make my fidelity a matter of deep concern to myseK; and my prayer to God is, that I may be found to hare acted a uniform part, and receive the joyfuk' TN'ell done,' which is substantial wealth, that no man can take away. If my experience could be made available by my successors, I sometimes feel that it would be a guaranty that they would keep in the best path ; but, as they are to be fitted by disci- pline for the journey, it is perhaps a vain thing for me to allow any doubts to rest upon my mind that that discipline is not for their highest good. The pleasxires of memory have never been more highly enjoyed than during the period of my last sickness. They have solaced my pains, and sup- ported me through numerous fainting fits, growing out of the surgical treatment I have passed. I would ask you, my dear sister, if a merciful Parent has not stretched forth his hand almost visibly to support me through this trying scene, by scattering in my path these flowers and fruits so freely as almost to make me forget bodily pains ; and bless him for what is past, and trust that what is future will be the means of making me a better man." " Dec. 31, 1838. — The business of the year now brought to a close has been unexpectedly productive, and the prospects of continued success are very flattering. At the commence- ment of the year, my life seemed a flickering light, with ' small hope of its continuance through the winter ; but a merciful Providence has permitted a brighter view, and my happiness through the year has been superior to any year of my life." DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 103 After enumerating some domestic events which had contributed to this result, he adds : — " My own health is so far restored as to allow me the enjoyment of every thing around me in perfection. May God in mercy keep me mindful of my duties, and prepared to surrender my account at any moment he may call me hence ! " 104 CHAPTER XVI. BROTHER'S DEATH. — LETTERS. — GIFTS. — LETTERS. — DLA.RY. — APPLICANTS FOR AID. — REFLECTIONS. — LET- TER FROM REV. DR. STONE. — DIARY. If, at the close of the last year, "Mr. Lawrence could say that " his happiness had been superior to that of any j'ear of his life," it could not be said that its successor was one of unmingled brightness. The unbroken band of brothers who had marched thus far hand in hand, united by a common bond of sympathy and affection, sustaining each other in all trials, and rejoicing together in their common prosperity, was about to be sundered. Since their earliest days, they had had but one interest, and, residing near each other after leaving their early home, had been in the habit of most constant and intimate intercourse. Many of the family wUl well remember seeing four, and sometimes five, of them, on Sunday evening, after sernce, walking together abreast, arm in arm ; and have been tempted to exclaim, " Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! " They had more than obeyed DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 105 their father's injunction " not to fall out by the way, for a threefold cord is not quickly broken." With them, it had been a fivefold cord ; and, amidst all the perplexities of business, the management of momen- tous interests, and the various vicissitudes of domestic life, no strand had parted until severed by the ruth- less hand of death. The eldest brother, Luther, had been educated at Harvard College ; had studied law with the Hon. Timothy Bigelow, then of Groton, afterwards of Medford, whose sister he subsequently married ; and commenced the practice of his profes- sion in his native town. There he met with good success, and, for many years, represented the town in the House of Representatives, of which he was chosen Speaker for the session of 1821 and 1822. He was induced by his brothers, who had become largely interested in the new town of Lowell, to remove thither ; and he accordingly took up his residence there in 1831, having accepted the presidency of the bank which had been lately established. In 1838, he had been elected Mayor of the city, and had given himself up to the pressing duties incident to the office in a new and growing community. While holding this office, he, on the 17th of April, 1839, accompa- nied an old friend and connection, who was on a visit at Lowell, to inspect the works of the Middlesex Manufacturing Company, recently erected by his brothers. In passing rapidly through one of the rooms, he made a misstep, and was precipitated 106 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. many feet into a wheel-pit, causing almost instant death. This sad event was deeply felt by Mr. Law- rence, as well as by all who knew and appreciated the character of the deceased. In a letter to his sisters, dated April 22, he says : — " I should have addressed a word of comfort to you before this. That he should be taken, and I left, is beyond my ken, and is a mystery ■wlilch will be cleared up hereafter. I do, however, know now that all is right, and better ordered than we could have done it. "We must submit, and should be resigned. Brother Luther's death may, perhaps, be more efficient in instructing us in the path of duty than would have been his life ; and the whole community around is admonished by this event in a way that I have rarely seen so marked. The homage to his character is a legacy to liis children of more value than all the gold of the mint. Shall we, then, repine at his separation from us ? Surely not. He has fulfilled his mission, and is taken home, with all his powers fresh and perfect, and with the character of having used these powers for the best and highest good of all around him. We shall all soon be called away, and should make his departure the signal to be also ready. This is the anniversary of my birth, and has been marked by many circumstances of pecuUar interest." On the same date, he writes to a connection, who was about to take possession of his house on that day , for the first time after his marriage : — " I intended speaking a word in your ear before your leaving us for your own fireside and home, but have con- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 107 eluded to take this mode of doing it ; and it is to say, that you possess a jewel in your wife, above price, which should be worn in such an atmosphere as will increase its purity and value the longer you possess it ; and that is around the family altar. That you intend to establish it, I have no doubt ; but, as to the precise time, you may not be fixed. What time so good as the present time, when the first evening of possession of this paradise on earth (a house and home of your own with such a wife), to make that offering to the Father of mercies which ascends to his throne as sweet incense from his children ? It is the nutriment and efiicient producing power of the best principles and the best fruits of our nature. Be wise in time, and strive to secure these, that you may go on from one degree to another, until you shall have reached our Father's house, and shall hear the cheering ' "Well done ! ' promised to such as have used their talents without abusing them. My blessing attend you ! " On June 4, in a letter to his sisters, he writes : — " R. leaves us this morning, on his way to the old home- stead, which, to my mind's eye, has all the charms of the most lovely associations of early days, with all the real beauty of those splendid descriptions given by the prophets of the holy city. I would earnestly impress all my children with a deep sense of the beauty and benefit of cherishing and cultivating a respect and affection for this dear spot, and for those more dear objects that have served to make it what it really is to all us children." In a letter to his son, vphose visit is alluded to ahove, he says : — " The beautiful scenery from Gibbet Hill in Groton, and from the road from our old mansion south for a mile, towards 108 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. the Wachusett and the Monadnock ^lountains, come next, in point of beauty, to my taste, to these views ai-ound the Boston Common. Be careful to do all things as you will wish you had done, that you may look back upon this visit with pleasure, and forward to another visit with increased relish. Remember that in the best performance of all your duties lies the highest enjoyment of all your pleasures. Those pleasui-es that flow from plans and doings that your conscience condemns are to be shunned as the net of the wicked one. ^^Haen once entangled, the desire and eflTort to be released grow weaker, till, at length, conscience is put asleep, and the sleep of death comes over the soul. Be careful, therefore, to avoid evil, and not only so, but to avoid all appeai'ance of evil. In this way, you will grow up with principles and habits fixed, that will secure you against the ills of life, and supply a foretaste of the enjoy- ments of a better life to come." Mr. Lawrence always took great delight in sending to friends and relatives, little and great, mementoes of his affectioH ; and a great deal of time was spent in penning and reading the letters and notes which such transactions called forth. He had a rare faculty of adapting his gift to the peculiar necessities or taste of the recipient ; and, whether the matter treated of was a check for thousands or a bouquet of flowers, equal pleasure seemed to be given and received. Ac- companying a gift of the fonner description, he notices fhe commencement of the year 1840 as follows : — "Jan. 1. " Dear S., — W. will prize the enclosed more highly from your hand ; for he will have proof that a good wife brings ,.ll fl In the scenes of Eng- and Scotland, than I have set .:,., . I- n later dat/>. ^'^ '■"•' lias not ^ DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 109 many blessings, that he never would know the value of but for you. May you experience many returns of the ' new year,' and each more happy than the past ! " In a letter to his second son, then on a visit to Europe, he writes, under date of March 5, 1840 : — " We are all curious to know what impressions your visit to France and Italy produce, and still more what impressions a careful overlooking of our fatherland makes upon you. There is much food for reflection, and abundant material for the exercise of your powers of observation, in every league of the ' /as^-anchored isle,' especially in the scenes so beautifully portrayed in many of the books we have access to. In fact, I have an extensive collection of materials to renew your travels and observations, and shall value them more highly when you point out this or that seat or castle or abbey which has arrested your notice. But the best scenes will be those in which the living souls of the present day are engaged. The habits and tastes of the people of Eng- land have doubtless much changed since the ' Spectator ' days ; but, in many important particulars, I should hope they had not. Some tliirty years ago, I had a good specimen of the feelings and principles of a great variety of people, embracing almost all classes, from the year 1774 to 1776, in a multitude of letters that had accumulated in the post-ofSce in this town, under old Mr. Tuttle Hubbai-d. After his death, his house was pulled down ; and, among the strange things found in it, were bushels of letters, of which I was permitted to take what I pleased. These letters showed a deeper religious feeling in the writers of those days, from England, Ireland, and Scotland, than I have seen in any miscellaneous collections of a later date. If that deep-toned piety which pervaded them has not been extinguished by lid DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. the Jacobinism and freethinking of later days, happy for the people and the government ! But I fear it has, in some great measure, been blotted out or obscured, as there seems to be a spirit of reckless adventure in politics and religion not contemplated seventy years ago. How far our experi- ence in self-government in this country is going to advance the cause of good government, and the ultimate happiness of man, is yet a problem. Our principles are of the most elevating character ; our practices under them of the most debasing ; and, if we continue in this way another genera- tion, there will not be virtue enough in active use to save the forms of our government. "We may hope that a better heart may be given us." On the anniversary of his commencing his business, Dec. 17, Mr. Lawrence, as usual, reviews his past life and mercies, and adds : — " My daily aspirations are for wisdom and integrity to do what is required of me ; but the intimation of excuses for omissions, and the hidden promptings of pride or selfishness in the sins of commission, take away all confidence that all is done as it should be. I am in the enjoyment of as much as belongs to our condition here. Wife, children, and friends, those thi'ee little blessings that were spared to us atter the fall, impart enjoyments that make my home as near a heaven on earth as is allowed to mortals. " Dec. 23. — This morning has been clear and beautiful, and I have enjoyed it highly. Have been sleigh-riding with Chancellor Kent. Went over to Bunker Hill ^lonument, «and around by the river-side to Charlestown Neck, and had a regular old-fasliioned talk with him. He gave me an account of the scenes which occurred where he was studying, in Connecticut, when the news came of the Lexington fight. DIARY AND CORKESrONDENCE. Ill As we pai'ted, ho promised to come again in the spring, take another ride, and resume the conversation. He leayes for New York at three o'clock, and is as bright and lively as a boy, though eighty-five yeai's old. The old gentleman attends to all his own afl'airs, had walked around the city this morning some miles, been to the Providence Raiboad Depot for his ticket, overlooked divers bookstores, and so forth. He is very interesting, and lias all the simplicity of a child." About tliis time also, Mr. Lawrence seems to have had pl^asaut intercourse with the Chevalier Hules- mann, the Austrian Minister, so well known by his correspondence with Mr. Webster when the latter was Secretary of State. The Minister was on a visit to Boston, and, from the correspondence which en- sued, seems to have conceived a high regard for Mr. Lawrence, expressed in very kind and courteous terms ; and this regard seems to have been fully reciprocated. " April 1, 1841. — S. N., of T., an apprentice on board the United States ship ' Columbus,' in this hai-bor, thirteen years old, whom I picked up intoxicated in Beacon Street a month ago, and to whom I gave some books, with request to call and see me when on shore, came to-day, and appeal's very well. Gave him a Testament and some good counsel. " June 6. — G. M. called to sell a lot of sermons called the , wliich he said he caused to be published to do good : he repeated it so often that I doubted him. He seems to me a wooden-nutmeg fellow, although he has the Rev. Mr. 's certificate." 112 DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. The preceding entry is given here merely as a sam- ple of many such which are scattered over Mr. Law- rence's diary. Few who have not had the like experience can estimate the annoyance to which his reputation for benevolence and well-doing subjected him, in the shape of applications for aid in every ima- ginable form. His perceptions were naturally acute ; and a long experience and intercourse with men enabled him to form, at a single glance, a pretty fair estimate of the merits of the applicant. He may sometimes have judged precipitately, and perhaps harshly ; but, when he discovered that he had done so, no one could have been more ready to confess his fault and make reparation. A few years after this time, the annoyance became so serious, from the number and character of the applicants, that he felt obliged, on account of ill-health, to deny himself to all, unless personally known to him, or accredited by some one in whose statement he had confidence. Further than this, he was confirmed in his decision by actual abuse which had occasionally been administered to him by disappointed candidates for charitable aid. He kept upon his table a small memorandum-book, in which he recorded the names of those who sought aid, with their business, and often their age, the age and number of theii- children, sometimes facts in their "past history, and any other information which could enable him to fonn an opinion of their claim upon him for assistance. He sometimes indulges also in DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 113 somewhat quaint remarks respecting those who apply, or the manner in which they have presented their application. To the Rev. Robert Turnbull, a Baptist clergyman then settled in Boston, and who had sent to Mr. Law- rence a copy of his work entitled " Christ in History," he writes under date of Nov. 2 : — " Rev. and dear Sir, — I thank you for the little volume so kindly presented, and deem it the duty of all the friends of the Saviour to do what they can to stop the flood of infi- delity and atheism that threatens such waste and devastation among us. However we may seem to be, I trust many may be found, in the ranks of my Unitarian friends, who admit the " claims of Jesus " in their most elevated character, and who repudiate the doctrine of those who sink him to the level of a mere human teacher, as subversive of his authority and as nullifying his teachings. We take the record, and what is clearly declared ; we do not go behind, even though we do not clearly comprehend it. It gives me pleasure to learn you are so well recovered from the injury you received from the overturn of your carriage near my house. " With great respect, believe me truly yours, A. L." " January, 1842. — This yeai' opens with renewed calls upon me to bless God for his mercies throughout its course. My family circle has not been broken by the death of any one of our whole number, and my own health has been bet- ter for the last half-year than for five years before. , I have not had occasion to call a physician through the year. My brothers A. and W. have been dangerously sick, but are hap- pily recovered ; and both feel, I believe, that their hold on life Is not as firm as they have felt it to be in former yearg. 16 114 DIARY AXD CORRESPONUENCE. My dear children are growing up around me to bless and comfort me ; and all I need is a right understanding of my duties, and a sincere purpose to fulfil them. The whole amount of appropriations for objects other than for my own family, for thii-teen years, ending with the year 1841, is something more than one hundred and fourteen thousand dollars. I hope to have the will and the means to continue them in as faithful a manner as heretofore, to say the least." Among the traits in Mr. Lawrence's character was that enlarged spirit of Christian feeling which enabled him to appreciate goodness in others, without refer- ence to sect or denomination. This spirit of universal brotherhood was not in him a matter of mere theory, but was carried out in the practice of daily life, and was the means of cementing many and lasting friend- ships, especially among the clergy of various denomi- nations around him. It may not be uninteresting in future years, for those now in childhood, for whom this volume has been prepared, to be reminded of the strong feeling of sympathy and affection which their grandfather entertained for the Rev. John S. Stone, D.D., once the Eector of St. Paul's Church, in Boston, and now the Eector of St. John's, in Brookline, Mass. The following is an extract from a letter written by that gentleman fi-om Brooklyn, N.Y., during the year 1842, with a memorandum endorsed by Mr. Lawrence, dated October, 1 847, in which he says : — " This letter was very interesting to me when received. I kept it in my pocket-book with one from Judge Story, which DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 115 he had requested me to keep for my children. While son W. was in Europe, I did not expect to live but a short time, and sent him the two letters, as the proper person to keep them for the use of his children." The letter commences by strong expressions of affection and regard, over which Mr. Lawrence's modesty had induced him to paste a slip of paper, endorsed as follows : " Personal matters between the writer and myself, covered up here, and not to be read by any of the friends to whom I may show this letter." The letter continues as follows : — " Shall I ever forget the happy moments, hours, days, I may say weeks, which I have spent in riding with you, and chatting, as we rode, of all things as we passed them, till I seemed to myself to be living in the by-gone days of Boston and its neighborhood ; and all its old families, houses, names, and anecdotes became as familiar to my mind as the stories of my boyhood ? Can I forget it all ? I trow not. These things are all blended in with the beautiful scenery through which we used to ride, and associated with those graver lessons and reflections which you used to give me ; insomuch that the picture which my memory retains of nature, society, history, and feeling, truth, friendship, and religion, and in which Boston and the living friends there are comprehended, has become imperishable. It never can fade out of my mind. It is a picture in which man has done much, friendship more, religion most, and God all ; for religion is his, and friend- ship is from him, and man is his creature, and the green earth and glorious heavens are his homes. There are many, very many objects in this picture which I contemplate with special delight, and few which give me pain, or which I would 116 DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. not have had there, had the whole ordering of its composition been left to me. Indeed, had this whole ordering been left to me, it may well be doubted, whether, as a whole, it would have contained half of the beautiful and blessed things which it now contains. Taking it as it is, therefore, I am well con- tent to receive it, hang it up in the choicest apartment of my memory, and keep it clean and in good order for use." . . . As an illustration of the pleasant intercourse al- luded to above, among Mr. Lawrence's papers is found another most friendly letter from the Rev. Henry "Ware, jun., dated a few days afterwards, with the following endorsement : — " I went on Friday to Mr. Ware's house, and had a free, full, and deeply interesting conversation upon the appoint- ment of his successor, and was delighted to find him with the same views I have upon the necessity of removing the theological department from Cambridge." Dec. 2, Mr. Lawrence alludes to the probability of his own death taking place in the manner in which it actually occurred ten years afterwards, as follows : — " Yesterday I was very well, and have been so for some time past. Experienced a severe ill turn this morning at five o'clock, more so than for years. This check brings me back to the reflection, that, when I feel the best, I am most likely to experience one of my ill turns ; some one of which will probably end my journey in this life. God grant me due preparation for the next ! " 117 CHAPTEK XVII. REFLECTIONS. — LETTERS. — ACCOUNT OF EFFORTS TO COM- PLETE BUNKER-HILL MONUMENT. In the memorandum-book of property for 1843 is found the usual estimate and list of expenditures ; after which he writes as follows : — " My outlay for other objects than my own family, for the last fourteen years, has been rather more than one hun- di'ed and twenty-three thousand dollars, which sum I esteem better invested than if in bond and mortgage in the city j and I have reason to believe many have been comforted and assisted by it, and its influence will be good on those who follow me. God grant me grace to be faithful to my trust ! " ,To Hon. R C. Winthrop, M. C, Washington, en- closing a letter from a young colored man : — " Boston, Feb. 15, 1843. " Dear Sir, — This young man, as you will observe by his style, is well educated ; and the circumstances he states, I have no doubt, are true. He applied to me, about two years since, for employment in writing or other business, to obtain means for further education ; and I interested myself 118 DIARY AXD CORBESPOXDEXCE. to secure to him what ■was required. A few months since, he started from here to go to Jamaica, to commence the practice of law, and was supplied by those who had taken an interest in him with a library suited to his wants. He received his early education in Indiana ; and his parents were once slaves. He is a handsome colored fellow, better- mannered, better-looking, and more to be respected, than many young gentlemen who move in the higher walks of life, either in Carolina or Massachusetts. Now, 1 should like to know, if he should be admitted as an attorney to practice in our courts, and should take passage for Jamaica, and put into Charleston, would he be imprisoned, as is now the practice in regard to our black sailors ? I feel a much stronger desire to see your report upon this subject of imprisoning our colored people, after the unfair course taken by the majority of your house to smother it ; and I hope still to see it in print before the adjournment. I would fuither remai-k, that N. T. is a member of Grace Church in this city I believe, under the care of Rev. T. M. Clarke ; and would, doubtless, bear affliction, if it should ever be his fortune to be afflicted by being imprisoned because his skin is dark, with a spirit becoming his profes- sion. With great respect and esteem, believe me very truly yours, Amos La'w'rence." To HIS SiSTEE. " Boston, April 19, 1S13. " Dear Sister M., — When I heard a gun this morning, I was immediately transported back in imagination to the 19th of April, '75, when our grandmother retreated from her house on the roadside in Concord, with her family, to keep out of the way of the ' regulars ; ' and that day and its scenes, as described, came back upon me with a force which kept me awake in considering whether the gun was DIARY AND CORKESPONDEXCE. 119 fired to recall the tacts to the people of this day ; and, if recalled, whether we can profit by the events which followed. I found, however, on receiving my newspapers, that the gun ■was not for commemoration of Lexington and Concord, but to announce the arrival of the British steamer from Liver- pool. The news by this steamer is of no more than common interest ; and the intercourse is now so easy and rapid, that the interest felt to learn what is passing in Europe is not much greater than we used to feel on Call's stage-coach arriving at Groton from Boston once a week, fifty years ago. The changes within my own recollection are such as almost to make me distrust my own senses ; and many of the changes are at the cost of much good. The down-hill tendency in the standard of character is a bad sign, and threatens the prostration of our political fabric. Built as it is on the virtue and intelligence of the people, every waste of these endangers the stability of the whole structure." " April 24. — I resume, though not in the same train of thought, which is slept off. My birthday has passed since then ; and I am now in my fifty-eighth year. This is the birthday of oui- fother, who would have been eighty-nine if living ; and this week on Saturday will also complete thirty- six years since I left home to spend a few months in this city, preparatory to my commencing business in Groton. Here I have continued ; and the consequences to our family seem to have stamped upon us such marks as make us objects of influence, for good or evil, to a much greater extent than if I had returned to commence my business career in my native town. I ■\'iew in this a Hand pointing upward, — ' Seek me, and ye shall find,' — and a caution to us to use without abusing the good things entrusted to us. How hard it is for those in prosperity to bring home to their feelings their dependence, theii- abuse of their privileges, their desires for objects wholly disproportionate to their 120 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. value, their anxiety about trifles while they are so utterly careless and indifierent about those of the highest moment ! How we strive unceasingly to secure objects that can, at best, give us but a slight reward, and in many cases, if attained to the full extent of our hopes, only serve to sharpen our appetite for more ; thus demonstrating the bene- volence of our heavenly Father in removing these obstacles to our progress in the ways and works of godliness ! How important, then, for us to see a Father's hand in the disap- pointments, not less than in the success, of our plans ! I now speak practically of those anxieties which I feel and condemn myself for, in looking forward to the condition of my family. This is all wrong ; and I pray God to pardon me the want of faith this feeling implies. " I have thought much of your account of Mrs. N. going out, on the sabbath after her husband's death, with her nine children. I remember her, and many others of my youthful schoolmates, with interest and regard. Please say so to her. And now, dear M., as the clouds seem thinner, I may hope to secure a little run, and shall take the post-ofEce in my way; so musj; bid you adieu." To General . " May 5, 1843. " My dear old General, — Our anticipated drive to-day is not to be : the weather settles it that I must keep house ; and, to indemnify myself for the disappointment, will you allow me to feel that I have not gone too far in requesting you to receive the enclosed check ? I am spared here for some object, and do not feel that to hoard money is that object. While I am in the receipt of an Income so ample, I find it sometimes troublesome to invest exactly to my mind. In the present case, the hope that you may, by using this, add something to your enjoyment, makes me feel that it is DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 121 one of my best investments ; and for the reason that your proverbial good-will cannot refuse me such a boon, I have made this request. My heart yearns strongly toward the old-fashioned John Jay school in politics and morals ; and, when I have an opportunity to minister in any way to one of the early members, it is a pleasure that sweetens my days as they pass." On the letter written in reply to the above, Mr. Lawrence has endorsed : — *' This letter from old General , now eighty-eight years old, and blind, is an acknowledgment of some little kindnesses I was enabled to render thi"ough the hand of Judge Story. It has afforded me more pleasure than it could have done either the Judge or the General. I am sure the good old man's feelings were gratified ; and I am thank- ful that I could comfort him." On the 17th of June, 1843, took place the celebra- tion in honor of the completion of the Bunker-Hill Monument; an event which was regarded with no ordinary emotions by Mr. Lawrence, after so many years of effort and expectation. His only regret was, that the whole battle-field could not have been pre- served, and have remained, to use his own words, " a field-preacher for posterity." Eleven years before this, he had written to his son in Europe : — " If we be true to ourselves, our city is destined to be the Athens of America, and the hallowed spots in our neighbor- hood to be the objects of interest throughout all future time. In this view, I would never permit a foot of the battle-field 16 122 DTARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. of Bunker Hill to be alienated ; but keep it for your great- great-grand-children, as a legacy of patriotism wortli more than their portion of it, if covered with gold by measure. Until you are older, I do not expect you to feel as I do on this subject." This would seem to be the proper place to mention a few facts in regard to Mr. Lawrence's agency in securing the completion of the monument. It has already been mentioned that he was one of the earliest friends of the project to erect a monument, and, in 1825, had been placed upon the Standing Committee of Directors, with full powers to manage the affairs of the Association. In September, 1831, in a letter to his friend, Dr. J. C. Warren, who himself had been one of the warmest and most efficient advocates of the measure, he proposed to subscribe ^5,000, on condi- tion that ^50,000 should be raised within one year. The following passage occurs in that letter : — " I think it inexpedient to allude to the sale of the land on Bunker Hill, as a resource for paying the debt, except in case of extreme necessity ; and, at this time, I should person- ally sooner vote to sell ten acres of the Common, in front of my house, to pay the city debt (of Boston), than vote to sell the ten acres on Bunker Hill, until it shall appear that our citizens "will not contribute the means of sa\'ing it." The proposition thus made was not responded to by 'the public* As early as December, 1830, he had * For a history of the Bunker-Hill Monument, see an article in collections of " Maine Historical Society," vol. iii., b; Professor Packard, of Bowdoin College. DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 123 made provision by his will, in case of his own death, to secure the battle-field, liquidate the debts of the corporation, and complete the monument. These provisions were superseded by another will, executed April 1, 1833, after his health had failed, so as to for- bid active participation in affairs. An extract from this document will show tl^e views of the testator : — " I am of opinion that the land owned by the Bunker- Hill Monument Association, in Charlestown, will be of great value to posterity, if left as public ground. The spot is the most interesting in the country ; and it seems to me it is cal- culated to impress the feelings of those who come after us with gratitude to the people of this generation, if we preserve it to them. The whole field contains about fifteen acres ; and, in the hope of preserving it entire, either as the property of the State, of this city, or of any other competent body, and with the further view of ensuring the completion of the monument, which now stands as a reproach to us, I have set apart a larger share of my property than would be necessary, had not the subject been presented to the public in such a manner as to discourage future attempts at raising the neces- sary funds by voluntary contribution." The amount thus devised for the monument, in case that amount should not be raised in other ways, was ^50,000. In June, 1832, before the annual meeting of the Bunker-Hill Monument Association, the same offer of ^5,000, as first named, was renewed, with an urgent appeal for the preservation of the land, and completion of the monument. A movement followed this appeal, but was not successful. In April, 1833, 184 DIARY AND CORRESPOXDEXCE. Mr. Lawrence proposed to the Massachusetts Chari- table Mechanic Association to attempt the raising of ^50,000, to be secured within three months, for com- pleting the monument and preser^■ing the field; accompanying the proposition was an ofier of $5,000, or ten per cent on any less sum that might be raised, as a donation to the Association. A public meeting was held in Faneuil Hall in response to this proposi- tion, at which Hon. Edwaid Everett made a most powerful appeal, which produced so great an eftect upon his auditors that the object was considered as accomplished. . The efibrt was again unsuccessful. Early in 1839, Mr. Lawrence addi-essed a letter to George Darracott, Esq., President of the Mechanic Association, in which, after expressing regret that his feeble and precarious health would not permit him to make personal application to the citizens of Boston, he adds : — " The next best thing I can do is to give money. The Monument Association owes a debt. To discharge the debt, finish the monument, surround it with a handsome iron fence, and otherwise ornament the grouud as it deserves, will require $40,000 more than it now has. If the Association will collect $.30,000 the present year, and pay oft' the debt, I will give to the Chai-itable Mechanic Association $10,000 to enable it to complete the work in a maimer which our fathers would have done, had they been here to direct it." A further donation of $10,000 was made by Judah Touro, Esq., of Xew Orleans ; $5,000 were received DIARY AND CORRESrONDEXCE. 125 from other sources ; and this, with ^30,000 received at the great fair hehl in Quincy Hall, September, 1840, afforded the means of completing the monument according to the origin;!! design. Thus was consum- mated a work which had been very near to Mr. Lawrence's heart, and which had cost him many a sleepless night, as well as days of toil and perplexity. To his associates in this work, too much credit can- not be awarded ; discouraged, as they often were, by indifference and even censure. Their names will be handed do\Mi for centuries, in connection \Aith a monument, which, while it commemorates a nation's freedom, teaches also a practical lesson of the perse- verance and energy of man. The following is an extract from a newspaper pub- lished about the time the monument was completed, gi^^ng an account of a festival held in commemoration of the event : — " The Tresidcnt remarked, that, among the benefactors to \rhom the Association had been particularly indebted for means of completing the monument, two, whose names were written on a scroll at the other end of the hall, were Amos Lawrence and Judali Touro, each of whom had made a dona- tion of ten thousand dollai's. He thought it proper they should be remembered at the festive boai'd, and gave the fol- lowing : — " Amos and JucUili ! venerated names ! Patriarch and prophet press their equal claims ; Like generous coursers, running neck and neck. Each aids the work by giving it a clicck. Christian and Jew, tliey carry out a plan ; For, though of diifcrent faith, each is in heart a man." 126 CHAPTEE XYIII. INTEREST IX MOUNT AITBURN. — REV. DR. SHARP. — LET- TER FROM BISHOP McILVAINE. — LETTER FROM JTDGE STORY. After the establishment of the cemetery at Mount Auburn, Mr. Lawrence had taken a deep interest in its progress, as well as in every plan for its gradual improvement and embellishment. In connection with his brothers, he had purchased a large space, which had been enclosed by a permanent granite wall and iron railing.^ To this spot he habitually resorted, containing, as it did, the remains of some of the dear- est earthly objects of his affection, and destined as it was to be the final resting-place of not only himself, but ' of the various branches of his famil}\ "When this enclosure had been finished, it became an object with him to gather around him in death those whom he had loved and honored in life. In this way, he had been instrumental in causing to be removed to a lot adjoining his own, the remains of the Rev. J. S. Buckminster, the former minister of Brattle-street Church; and had also presented another lot to his DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 127 friend and pastor, the Eev. Dr. Lothrop. Another friend, whose grave he wished to have near his own, was the Rev. Daniel Sharp, D.D., minister of the West Baptist Church in Boston. There were few in Boston who were not familiar with the appearance of this venerable clergyman, as he daily appeared in the streets, and fewer still who had not learned to appre- ciate the truly catholic and Christian spirit which animated him in his intercourse with men of all sects and parties. Mr. Lawrence had early entertained a great esteem for his character ; and this esteem had become mutual, and had ripened into the closest inti- macy and friendship. On receiving a deed of a lot at Mount Auburn, Dr. Sharp writes as follows : — " Boston, Aug. 23, 1843. " My dear Sir, — I cannot find words ■with which to ex- press my sense of your unexpected and considerate kindness, in providing so beautiful a resting-place in Mount Auburn for me and my loved ones. It is soothing to me to antici- pate that my grave will be so near your own. May the Almighty, in his infinite mercy, grant, that, when the trum- pet shall sound, and the dead shall awake, we may both rise together, to be for ever with the Lord ! If the proximity of my last place of repose to ministers of another denomination shall teach candor, charity, and peace, I enjoy the sweet con- sciousness that this will be in harmony with the object of my life. Yours, gratefully, "Daniel Sharp. " Amos Lawkence, Esa." The enlarged Christian spirit which formed so pro- minent a trait in Mr. Lawrence's character, and which 128 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. enabled him to appreciate goodness wherever it could be found, without reference to nation, sect, or color, may be further illustrated by the following note of acknowledgment, received about the same time with the preceding, from Bishop Mcllvaine, of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church in Ohio, who was then on a \isit to Boston to procure funds in aid of Kenyon College : — " Wednesday evening. " My dear Sir, — I have just received your very kind and grateful letter, with its cheering enclosure of a hundred dol- lars towards an qbject which engrosses me much just now. Thank you, dear sir, most truly, for your kindness, and the first fruits of Boston, for I came only to-day. I trust the ingathering will not dispossess the first ripe sheaf. Coming from one not of my own church, it is the more kind and grateful. O sir ! if God shall so bless my present efibrt as to send me home with the sum 1 seek, I shall know a free- dom of mind from care and anxiety such as I have not expe- rienced for many years, during which our present crisis has been anticipated. I shall have great pleasure in riding with you, according to your note to Sir. R. To-morrow will pro- bably be a day of more leisure to me than any other while I shall be in Boston. " Yours, very truly and respectfully, " Charles P. McIlvaine." To ONE OF HIS Paktners. , "Dec. 18, 1843. "Dear Mr. Parker, — I am puffed vp (with ague), but not in a manner to gratify my pride, as I am housed, and denied the sight of most of those who call, but not the pri- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 129 vilege of reading their papers, and spending money. In short, I have more use for money when in the house than when able to be abroad. If you will tell Brother Sharp* his beautiful bills find an exceedingly ready use, I shall be glad of one hundred in ones and twos, two hundred in fives, and three hundred in tens and twenties ; say six hundred dol- lars, just to keep me along till the end of the month. The calls are frequent and striking. ' Do with thy might what thy hand findeth to do ; for the night cometh, when no man can work.' God grant me the blessing of being ready to answer the call, whether it be at noon or at midnight ! " Twelve days after, he writes to the same gentleman for another supply; the sum already received not having been sufficient apparently to carry him through the year : — "Dec. 30, 1843. " ' The good there is in riches lieth altogether in their use, like the woman's box of ointment ; if it be not broken and poured out for the refreshment of Jesus Christ, in his distressed members, they lose their wealth ; the covetous man may therefore truly write upon his rusting heaps, " These are good for nothing." He is not rich who lays up much, but he who lays out much ; for it is all one not to have, as not to use. I will therefore be the richer by a charitable laying out, while the worldling will be poorer by his cove- tous hoarding up.' Here is the embodiment of a volume, and whoever wrote it deserves the thanks of good men. I would fain be rich, according as he defines riches ; but pos- session, possession, is the devil, as the old Frenchman at said to George Cabot. This devil I would try to cast out ; you will therefore please send me twelve hundred dollars, * For more than fort; years, Teller in Massacbusetta Bank. 17 130 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. which may do something for the comfort of those who have seen better days. Your friend, A. L. "To C. H. Pakker, Esa." The following letter from Judge Story was received at about the time the preceding letter was written ; but no memorandum is found by which to ascertain the occasion which called it forth. It may be that he had been made the channel, as was the case a few months before, of some donation to a third person ; a mode which Mr. Lawrence often adopted when he felt a delicacy in proffering direct aid to some one whose sensitiveness might be wounded in receiving aid from a comparative stranger : — " Cambridge, Saturday noon. " My dear Sir, — I have this moment finished reading your letter and its enclosures, which did not reach me until this noon, and I can scarcely describe to you how deeply I have been affected by them. I almost feel that you are too much oppressed by the constant calls for charitable purposes, and that your liberal and conscientious spirit is tasked to its utmost extent. ' The poor have ye always with you ' is a Christian truth ; and I know not, in the whole circle of my fi'iends, any one who realizes it so fully, and acts upon it so nobly, as yourself. God, my dear sir, will reward you for all your goodness : man never can. And yet the gratitude of the many whom you relieve, their prayers for your happiness, their consciousness of your expanded benevolence, is of itself a treasure of inestimable value. It is a source of con- solation, which you would not exchange for any earthly boon of equal value. Wealth is to you an enlightened trust, for the benefit of your race. You administer it WARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 131 SO gracefully, as well as so justly, that I can only regret that your means are not ten times as great. Gracious Heavens ! What a contrast is your life to that of some wealthy men, who have lived many years, and have yet to learn how to give, or, as you beautifully expressed it the other day, who have yet to learn to be their own executors ! My heart is so full of you, and of the whole matter, that I would fain pour out my thoughts at large to you ; for you under- stand me, and I can sympathize with you. But just now I am full of all sorts of business, and without a moment to spare, having many judicial opinions to prepare in the few remaining days before I go to Washington ; and, withal, having Mrs. S. very ill, in respect to whom I feel a deep anxiety. But, wherever I am, I pray you to believe that you are always in my thoughts, with the warmest affec- tion and dearest remembrance. And, if this hasty scrawl is not too slight for such a matter, pray preserve it among your papers, that your children may know what I thought of their father, when you and I shall be both in our graves. " I am most truly and faithfully your obliged friend, " Joseph Story. "Amos Lawrence, Esq." " P. S. — I have sent the letter and its accompaniments to Mr. . Think of . Think of those rich men in — ; — , who have never dreamed of the duties of charity. Cast a view to their own posterity. How striking a memento is the very case of , presented in his own letters, of the instability of human fortune ! " Mr. Lawrence closes the year 1843 by a review of his temporal affairs, and by fresh resolutions of fide- lity to his trusts. He then gives an estimate of his 132 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. income and expenditures, showing a somewhat large excess of the latter, though, as he says, from the state of the times, not to the detriment of his property. To THE Mechanic Apprentices' Libeary Association. " My young Friends, — It cheers and comforts me to learn of your well-doing, and encourages me to offer a word of counsel, as prosperity is often more dangerous in its time than adversity. Now is your seed-time. See to it that it is good ; for ' whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' The integrity, intelligence, and elevated bearing of the Bos- ton mechanics has been and is a property for each citizen of great value ; inasmuch as the good name of our beloved city is a common property, that every citizen has an interest in, and should help to preserve. At your time of life, habits are formed that grow with your years. Avoid rum and tobacco, in all forms, unless prescribed as a medicine ; and I will promise you better contracts, heavier purses, happier families, and a. more youthful and vigorous old age, by thus avoiding the beginning of evil. God speed you, my young friends, in all your good works ! With the enclosed, I pray you to accept the felicitations of the season. " Amos Lawrence." 133 CHAPTER XIX. ACQUAINTANCE WITH PRESIDENT HOPKINS. — LETTERS. — AFFECTION FOR BRATTLE-STREET CHURCH. — DEATH OF MRS. APPLETON. — LETTERS. At the commencement of the year 1844, President Hopkins, of Williams College, delivered a course of lectures on the " Evidences of Christianity," before the Lowell Institute in Boston. Mr. Lawrence had previously seen him, and had thought that he de- tected, in some features of his face, a resemblance to the family of his first wife. In allusion to this acquaintance, he writes to his son about this pe- riod : — " President H. has the family look of your mother enough to, belong to them ; and it was in consequence of that resem- blance, when I was first introduced to him many years ago, that I inquired his origin, and found him to be of the same stock." The acquaintance was renewed, and an intimacy ensued, which was not only the cause of much happi- ness to Mr. Lawrence through the remainder of his 184 DIARY AXD CORRESPOXUEN'CE. life, but was also the means of directing his attention to the wants of "Williams College, of which he even- tually became the greatest benefactor. An active and constant correspondence followed this acquaintance, and was so much prized by Mr. Lawrence that he had most of the letters copied, thereby filling several volumes, from which extracts will from time to time be made. In one of his first letters to that gentle- man, dated May 11, he says: — " If, by the consecration, of my earthly possessions to some extent, I can make the Christian chai-acter practically more lovely, and illustrate, in my own case, that the higher enjoyments here are promoted by the free use of the good things entrusted to me, what so good use can I make of them ? I feel that my stewardship is a very imperfect one, and that the use of these good things might be extended pro- fitably to myself; and, since I have known how much good the little donation did your college, I feel ashamed of myself it had not been larger, at any rate sufficient to have cleared the debt." To the same gentleman who had informed Mr. Lawrence that an accident had befallen a plaster bust of himself, he writes, under date of May 16: — " Dear President, — You know the phrase * Such a man's head is full of notions ' has a meaning that we all understand to be not to his credit for discretion, whatever else may be said of him. As I propose throwing in a caveat against this general meaning, I proceed to state my case. And, firstly. President H. is made debtor to the Western Railroad Corpo- ration for the transportation of a barrel to Pittsfield. The DIARY AND CORRKSPONDENCE. 135 bill is receipted, so that you can have the barrel to-morrow by sending for it ; which barrel contains neither biscuit nor flour, but the clay image of your friend. In the head are divers notions that my hand fell upon as I was preparing it for the jaunt ; and, when the head Avas filled Avith things new and old, I was careful to secure the region under the shoulders, especially on the left side, and near the heart, by placing that part of a lady's dress which designated a government that we men arc unwilling openly to acknow- ledge, but is, withal, very conservative. Within its folds I wrapped up very securely ' Pilgrim's Progress,' and stuffed the empty space between my shoulders, and near my heart, brim fall. I hope my young friend will find a motive and a moral in the image and in tlie book, to cheer him on in his pilgrimage of life." " July 22, 1844. — Sixty-seven yeai's ago this day, my mother, now living, was married ; and, while standing up for the ceremony, the alarm-bell rang, calling all soldiers to their posts. My flither left her within the hour, and repaired to Cambridge ; but the colonel, in consideration of the circumstances, allowed him to return to Groton to his wife, and to join his regiment within three days at Rhode Island. This he did, spending but a few hours with his wife ; and she saw nothing more of him until the last day of the year, when he made her a visit. I have ordered a thousand dollars paid to the Massachusetts General Hospital, to aid in enlarging its wings, and to commemorate this event. The girls of this day know nothing of the privations and trials of their grandmothers." On the same clay with the above entry in his diary occurs another, in which he alludes to assistance afforded to some young persons in Brattle-street 136 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Church, — " sons of Brattle Street, and, as such, assisted by me." Mr. La-\vrence's early religious associations were connected with this church, where, it is believed, he attended from the first Sunday after his coming to Boston. With such associations, and connected as they were with the most endeared recol- lections of those who had worshipped there with him in early days, all that pertained to this venerable church possessed a strong and abiding interest. In this connection is quoted the beautiful testimony of his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, furnished in the funeral sermon delivered by him, where he speaks of Mr. Lawrence's love for the church, as well as of his religious character : — " The prominent feature in INIr. Lawrence's life and cha- racter, its inspiration and its guide, was religion, — religious faith, affection, and hope. He loved God, and therefore he loved all God's creatures. He believed in Christ as the Messiah and Saviour of the world, and therefore found peace and strength in his soul, amid all the perils, duties, and sorrows of life. His religious opinions lay distinct and clear in his own mind. They were the result of careful reading and of serious reflection, and were marked by a profound reverence for the Sacred Scriptures, and the divine authority of Jesus Christ. A constant worshipper here during the forty-six years of his residence in this city, for more than forty years of this period a communicant, and for more than ten a deacon of this church, — resigning the office, at length, because of his invalid state of health, — he had strong attachments to this house of God. ' Our venerable church,' he says, in one of his notes to me, * has DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 187 in it deeply impressive, improving, instructive, and inter- esting associations, going back to the early days of my worshipping there ; and the prayers of my friends and fellow-worshippers of three generations, in part now be- longing there, come in aid of my weakness in time of need ; and no other spot, but that home where I was first taught my prayers, and this my domestic fireside, where my chil- dren have been taught theirs, has the same interest as our own old Brattle-square Church.' " Sept. 23, Mr. Lawrence receives from an old debtor, once a clerk in his establishment, a check for five hundred dollars, which a sense of justice had induced him to send, though the debt of some thousands had been long since legally discharged. On receiving it, he writes, in a memorandum at the bottom of the letter received, to his brother and partner : — " Dear Abbott, — I have the money. was always a person of truth. I take the statement as true ; but I had no recollection of the thing till recalled by his statement. What say you to putting this money into the life oSice, in trust for his sister ? Your affectionate brother, "Amos." " Memorandum. Nov. 23. — Done, and policy sent to the sister." There are but few men, distinguished in public or private life, who are burdened with an undue amount of praise from their cotemporaries ; and yet this was the case with Mr. Lawrence, who was often cha- grined, after some deed of charity, or some written 138 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. expression of sympathy, to see it emblazoned, with superadded colors, in the public prints. Some one had enclosed to him a newspaper from another city, which contained a most labored and flattering notice of the kind referred to, to which he writes the following reply : — " Sept. 1, 1844. " Dear , — I received the paper last evening, and have read and re-read it with deep interest and attention. However true it may be, it is not calculated to promote the ultimate good of any of us ; for we are all inclined to think full well enough of ourselves ; and such puffs should be left for our obituaries. Truth is not always to be pushed forward ; and its advocates may sometimes retai-d it by injudicious urging. Such is the danger in the present case. The writer appears to be a young man who has received favors, and is laboring to repay them or secure more. He has told the truth ; but, as I before said, neither you nor I, nor any one of oui- families, are improved or benefited in any degree by it. God grant us to be humble, diligent, aud faithful -to the end of our journey, that we may then receive his approval, and be placed anlong the good of all nations and times ! " On the 29th of October, Mrs. Appleton, his sister- in-law, and ^vidow of the Rev. Jesse Appleton, D. D., fonnerly President of Bowdoin College, died at his house, after a lingering illness. In a letter to his son, after describing her character and peaceful death, he ' says : — "With such a life and such hopes, who can view the change as any other than putting away the fugitive and DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 139 restless pleasures of an hour for the quiet and fixed enjoy- ments of eternity ? Let us, then, my dear cliildren, not look upon the separation of a few short years as a calamity to be dreaded, should we not meet here again in any other way than as we now meet. While I am here, every joy and enjoyment you experience, and give us an account of, is not less so to us than if we were with you to partake, as we have done of all such heretofore ; and, in this source of enjoy- ment, few people have such ample stores. Three families of children and grandchildren within my daily walk, — is not this enough for any man ? And here I would impress upon my grandsons the importance of looking carefully to their steps. The difference between going just right and a little wrong in the commencement of the journey of life is the difference between their finding a happy home or a miserable slough at the end of the journey. Teach them to avoid tobacco and intoxicating drink, and all temptations that can lead them into evil, as it is easier to prevent than to remedy a fault. ' An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' I was going on to say, that, according to my estimate of men and things, I would not change conditions with Louis Philippe if I could by a wish, rich as he is in the matter of good children. I have a great liking for him, and a sincere respect for his family, as they are reported to me ; but I trust that mine will not be tried by the tempta- tions of great worldly grandeur, but that they will be found faithful stewards of the talents entrusted to them. Bring up your boys to do their work first, and enjoy their play after- wards. Begin early to teach them habits of order, a proper economy, and exact accountability, in their affairs. This simple rule of making a child, after he is twelve years old, keep an exact account of all that he wears, uses, or expends, in any and every way, would save more suffering to families than can fairly be estimated by those who have not observed 140 DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. its operations. And now, to change the subject," he writes Nov. 15, " we have got through the elections, and are humbled as Americans. The questions affecting our local labor, produce, and pecuniary interest, are of small moment, compared with that of annexing Texas to this Union. I wrote a brief note yesterday to our friend Chapman, late Mayor of the city, and a member of the Whig Committee, which speaks the language of my heart. It was as fol- lows : — " ' My dear Sir, — The result of the election in Massa- chusetts is matter of devout and grateful feelings to every good citizen, and, so far as pride is allowable, is a subject of pride to every citizen, whatever his politics ; for, wherever he goes, and carries the evidence of belonging to the old Bay State, he may be sure of the respect of all parties. This glorious result has not been wrought "without works ;" and for it we, the people, are greatly indebted to your com- mittee. So far as may be needed, I trust you will find no backwardness on our part in putting matters right. I bless God for sparing my life to this time ; and I humbly beseech him to crown your labors with success in future. If Texas can be kept off, there will be hope for our government. All other questions are insignificant in comparison with this. The damning sin of adding it to this nation to extend slavery will be as certain to destroy us as death is to overtake us. The false step, once taken, cannot be retraced, and will be to the people who occupy what rum is to the toper. It eats up and uproots the very foundation on which Christian nations are based, and will make us the scorn of all Chris- tendom. Let us work, then, in a Christian spirit, as we ■would for our individual salvation, to prevent this sad calamity befalling us.' " Ul CHAPTER XX. DEATH OF DAUGHTER. — LETTERS. — DONATION TO WIL- LIAMS COLLEGE. — BENEFICENCE. — LETTERS. On the 29tli of November, Mr. Lawrence addressed to his son a most joyous letter, announcing the birth of twin-granddaughters, and the comfortable health of his daughter, the wife of the Rev. Charles Mason, Rector of St. Peter's Church at Salem. The letter is filled with the most devout expressions of gratitude at the event, and cheering anticipations for the fu- ture, and yet with some feelings of uneasiness lest the strength of his daughter should not be sufficient to sustain her in these trying circumstances. He adds : — " Why, then, should I worry myself about what I cannot help, and practically distrust that goodness that sustains and cheers and enlivens my days ? " The fears expressed were too soon and sadly realized : the powers of her constitution had been too severely taxed, nature gave way, and, four days after- wards, she ceased to live. Mr. Lawrence announced 142 DIARY AND COREESPONDENCE. the death of this cherished and only daughter in the following letter : — "BosTO>f, Dec. 14, 1844. "My dear Son, — The joyous event I mentioned of S.'s twins has in it sad memorials of the uncertainty of all joys, excepting those arising from the happiness of friends whose journey is ended, and whose joys are commencing. Long life does not consist in many years, but in the use of the years allowed us ; so that many a man who has seen his fourscore has, for all the purposes of life, not lived at all. And, again, others, who have impressed distinct marks, and have been called away before twenty-eight years have passed over them, may have lived long lives, and have been objects of grateful interest to multitudes who hai'dly spake to them while living. Such has been the case with our heart's love and desire, Susan Mason. The giving birth to those two babes, either of whom would have been her pride and delight, ■was more than she could recruit from. The exhaustion and faintness at the time were great, but not alarming ; and the joy of our hearts for a season seemed unmixed. After three days, the alai-m for her safety had taken stronger hold of her other friends than of myself; and, at the time I wrote you last, I felt strong confidence in her recovery. On Sunday evening, at seven o'clock, a great change came over her, that precluded all hope, and she was told by C. how it was. She seemed prepared for it, was clear in her mind, and, with what little strength she had, sent messages of love. ' Give my love to father, and tell him I hope we shall meet in hea- ven,' was her graphic and characteristic message ; and then desired C. to lead and guide her thoughts in prayer, which he continued to do for as many as six times, until within the last half-hour of her life. At tln-ee o'clock, on Monday morning, the 2d instant, her pure spirit passed out of its DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 143 earthly tenement to its heavenly home, where our Father has called her to be secured from the trials and pains and expo- sures to which she was here liable. It is a merciful Father, who knows better than we do what is for our good. "What is now mysterious will be made plain at the right time, for ' He doeth all things well.' Shall we then, my dear children, doubt him in this ? Surely not. S. was ripe for heaven, and, as' a good scholar, has passed on in advance of her beloved ones ; but beckons us on, to be reunited, and become joint heirs with her of those treasures provided for those who are found worthy. We are now to think of her as on the other side of Jordan, before the same altar that we worship at, without any of the alloy that mixes in ours ; she praising, and we praying, and all hoping an interest in the Beloved that shall make all things seem less than nothing in compari- son with this. We have had the sympathy of friends ; and the circumstances have brought to light new friends, that make us feel our work here is not done. I feel called two ways at once, — S. beckoning me to come up ; the little ones appealing to the inmost recesses of my heart to stay, and lead them, with an old grandfather's fondest, strongest, ten- derest emotions as the embodiment of my child. Her remains are placed at the head of her mother's ; and those two young mothers, thus placed, will speak to their kindred with an eloquence that words cannot. I try to say, in these renewed tokens of a Father's discipline, ' Thy will be done,' and to look more carefully after my tendency to have some idol growing upon me that is inconsistent with that first place he requires ; and I further try to keep in mind, that, if I loved S. much, he loved her more, and has provided against the changes she was exposed to under the best care I could render. Let us praise God for her long life in a few years, and profit by the example she has left. The people of her own church are deeply afflicted, and not until her death i^ere 144 DIARY AND COREESPONDENCE. any of us aware of the strong hold she had upon them. Some touching incidents have occurred, which are a better monument to her memory than any marble that can be reared " This morning opens most splendidly, and beautifully illustrates, in the appearance of the sky, that glorious eter- nity so much cherished in the mind of the believer. " With sincerest affection, your father, A. L." " Tremont Steeet, Tuesday morning. " Dear Partners, — The weather is such as to keep me housed to-day, and it is important to me to have something to think of beside myself The sense of loss will press upon me more than I desire it, without the other side of the account. All is ordered in wisdom and in mercy ; and we pay a poor tribute to our Father and best Friend in distrust- ing him. I do most sincerely hope that I may say from the heart, 'Thy will be done.' Please send me a thousand dol- lars by G., in small bills, thus enabling me to fill up the time to some practical purpose. It is a painful thought to me that I shall see my beloved daughter no more on eai'th ; but it is a happy one to think of joining her in heaven. Yours, ever, A. L. " A. A. La WHENCE & Co." On the last day of 1844, a date now to be remem- bered by his friends as that on which his own depar- ture took place, eight years later, he writes to his children in France : — " This last day of the year seems to have in it such tokens and emblems as are calculated to comfort and encourage the youthful pilgrim, just in his vigor, not less than the old one, DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 145 near the end of liis journey ; for the sun in the heavens, the hills in the west, and the ocean on the east, all speak, in tones not to be mistaken, ' Be of good courage,' ' Work while it is day,' and receive, without murmuring, the discipline a Father applies ; for he knows what is best for his children. "Whether he plants thorns in the path, or afflicts them in any way, he does all for their good. Thus, my dear children, are we to view the removal of our beloved S. This year has been one of unusual prosperity and enjoyment, from the first day to the present month ; and all seemed so lovely here that there was danger of our feeling too much reliance on these temporals. The gem in the centre has been removed, to show us the tenure by which we held the others." At the opening of the year 1845, Mr. Lawrence, after noting in his property-book the usual annual details, makes the following reflections : — " The business of the past year has been eminently suc- cessful, and the increased value of many of the investments large. In view of these trusts, how shall we appear when the Master calls ? I would earnestly strive to keep con- stantly in mind the fact that he will call, and that speedily, upon each and all of us ; and that, when he calls, the ques- tion will be. How have you used these ? not How much have you hoarded ? " With the new year, Mr. Lawrence set himself at work with renewed zeal to carry into effect his good resolutions. One of the first results was a donation of ten thousand dollars to WiUiams College, which he enters upon his book with the following memo- randum : — 146 DIARY AND CORBESPOXDENCE. " I am so well satisfied with the investments heretofore made for the advancement and improvement of Williams College that I desire to make further investment in the same, to the amount of ten thousand doUai's. In case any new professorship is established in the college, I should be grati- fied to have it called the Hopkins Professorship, entertfdning, as I do, the most entire confidence and respect for its dis- tinguished President." Nearly every day, at this period, bears some record of his charities ; and among others was a consider- able donation to a Baptist college, in another State, enclosed to a Baptist clergy-man ia Boston, with a check of fifty dollars for himself, to enable him to take a journey for recruiting his health and strength, of which he was much in need. Soon after Mr. Law- rence's death, it was stated in some public print, that his pocket-book had written upon it a text of Scrip- ture, calculated to remind him of his duties in the distribution of his wealth. The text was said to be, "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul 1 " After making dili- gept search, the editor of this volume denied the statement, and also expressed the opinion that Mr. Lawrence needed no such memorial as this to remind him of his duties ; for the law of charity was too deeply gmven on his heart to requii-e the insertion of ihe text in the manner described. Some time after- ward, an old pocket-book was foimd, which had not probably been in use for many years, but which con- DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. 147 taincd the text alluded to, inscribed in ink, though faded from the lapse of time and constant use. It may have been useful to him in early years, before he engaged systematically in the work of charity; but, during the latter years of his life, if we can judge from his writings, as well as from his daily actions, his sense of accountability was extreme, if there can be an extreme in the zealous perfonnance of one's duty in this respect. To A FuiEND. "Feb. 25. " To-day is one of those holy spring days ■which make us feel, that, with right principles and conduct, we may enjoy a foretaste of that beautiful home we all long for. I have been over the Roxbury and Dorchester hills, which are a transcript of the beautiful scenery around Jerusalem. Mount Zion seemed before me ; and, by stretching my arms, I could almost fly upon its sides." .... If the class of politicians alluded to in the follow- ing extract of the same letter could have foreseen the course of events with the same sagacity, it might have saved them from much uncertainty, and have been of service in their career : — " We are in a poor way pohtically in this country. This practice of taking up demagogues for high office is no way to perpetuate liberty. The new party of Native Americans is likely to go forward, and will break up the Whig party, and where it will stop is to be learned." " March 1. — Spring opens upon us this morning vith a 148 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. frowning face ; the whole heaven is veiled, and the horizon dai-k and lowering." " April 17. — My venerated mother finished her earthly course last Friday, with the setting sun, which was emblema- tic of her end. She was such a woman as I am thankful to have descended from. Many interesting circumstances con- nected with her life, before and after her marriage (in July, 1777), are worth recording. She was in her ninetieth year." " I began a record yesterday morning, referring to my position and duties thirty-eight years ago, when I left my father's house (one week after I was free), with less than twenty dollars in my possession. I came an unknown and unfriended young man, but feeling richer the morning after I came than I have ever felt since ; so that I gave the man who came with me, in my father's chaise, a couple of dollars to save him from any expense, and ensure him against loss, by his spending two days on the journey, for which he was glad of an excuse. Had he been as industrious and tem- perate and frugal, he would have left his wife and children independent, instead of leaving them poor and dependent. These contrasts, and the duties they impose, have pressed heaVily upon my strength for a few days past ; and, in endeavoring to place in a clear view my hopes and wishes, I became pressed down, and, since yesterday, have been upon my abstinence remedy. My wish has been to do a good work for our Athenaeum and our Institution for Savings, by ipaking it the interest of the Savings' Institution to sell their building to the Athenieum, so that a handsome and conve- nient building may be erected while we are about it. To this end, I have oifered to supply the beautiful temple built DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 149 for the Wasliington Bank, rent free, for one year, or a longer period to the end of time, while used as a Savings' Bank ; intending, by this, to express to those "who deposit their money there, that I feel deeply interested in their welfai-e, and would earnestly impress upon them the importance of saving, and, when they become rich, of spending for the good of their fellow-mortals the surplus which a bountiful Father in heaven usually allows them to acquire. This surplus with me, at the present time, will be sufficient to allow me to speak with earnestness, sincerity, and power to the tens of thousands industrious Thomases and Marthas, as well as the young mechanics, or the youngsters who have had little sums deposited for their education. All these characters appre- ciate a kind act as fully as those who move in a different sphere in the world. "7 P.M. — I have just learnea that there is some difficulty not easily overcome in this removal of the Bank ; and, after all, nothing may come out of my offer. If not, I shall have more spai'e means for something else." The value of the building thus offered was about twenty thousand dollars. Owing to the difficulties alluded to in the preceding letter, the offer was de- clined, though the motive for the act was fully appreciated. To A Friend. " My dear Friend, — I have this moment learned the death of your dear boy J. L., and am with you in spirit in this trying scene. Our Father adapts his discipline to our needs ; and in this (although to our weak perception it may seem harsh discipline) he has a Father's love and care of and for you ; and the time will come when all will be made clear 150 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. to you. In this trust and confidence, I hope both your dear wife and self will be able to say from the heart, ' Thy will be done.' Our business in this world is to prepare for another ; and, if we act wisely, we shall view aright the calls upon us to make this world our great object, by attaining its honors, its houses, its lands, its praises for generosity, disin- terestedness, and divers other things that pass well among men. Where we hope to be welcomed, temptations are not needed. We pray, therefore, to be accepted, through the Beloved, and so make all things work together to help us safely through our coiu-se. " Yours ever, A. L." ISl CHAPTER XXL LETTER FROM DR. SHARP. — ILLNESS AND DEATH OF SON. — LETTERS. — AFFLICTIONS. The Rev. Dr. Sharp, of the Baptist denomination, who has been previously alhided to as a valued friend of Mr. Lawrence, had made a visit to England, the land of his birth, after an absence of forty years, and thus addresses him from Leeds, July 1 : — " I esteem it one of the happy events of my life, that I have been made personally acquainted with you. Not cer- tainly because of your kind benefactions to me and mine, but because I have enjoyed your conversation, and have been delighted with those manifestations of principle and conduct, which, let them grow under what Christian culture they may, I know how to honor, to acknowledge, and to love." The same gentleman writes shortly afterwards : — " I thank you for the kind manner in which you express yourself in regard to my occasional sermons. I never had any taste for controversy, nor for theological speculation ; although, as a Christian watchman, I have kept myself informed of the religious opinions that have been, and that are. I thank you, as does my dear wife, for your thoughtful 152 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. concern of the sacred spot so dear both to my recollections and hopes. There, when life's journey is ended, I hope to rest by the side of those whose company and unfailing affection have gladdened so many of my years ; and it has given me a subdued pleasure, when I have thought that my own bed of death would be so near that of the kind and gentle-heai'ted friend who provided me with mine. May all who shall repose near that interesting spot be imbued with a pure and loving Christian spirit, that, when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall arise, we may all rise together in glorious forms, to be for ever with the Lord ! " " To OxB OP HIS Partners. " Sept. 30, 1845. " Dear ilr. Parker, — I am buoyant and afloat again, and able to enjoy the good things you are so liberal in providing. The widow's box of ointment was broken before its value was learned. The sermon is significant and practical. I would be thankful to improve under its teaching. Will you send me two thousand dollars this morning in Mr. Sharpe's clean money ? thus allowing me the opportunity of express- ing my gratitude to a merciful Father above, that he still permits me to administer the good things he has entrusted to me. Dear K. had a quiet night, although he did not sleep much during the first part. This experience is, indeed, the most trying ; but I hope to be able to say truly, ' Thy will be done.' " Your friend, A. L. " C. H. Parker, Esq^." ' The trying experience alluded to was the serious illness of his youngest son Robert, then a member of Harvard College. He had for some time been trou- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 153 bled by a cough, which had now become alarming, and excited the worst apprehensions of his friends. In relation to this sickness, he writes several letters to his son, from which the following extracts are made : — • " Oct. 15. " We are in great anguish of spirit on account of dear 11. We are getting to feel reconciled to parting with the de;u' child, and that he has done for us what any parents might feel thankful for, by living a good life, and in nineteen years giving us no cause to wish any one of them blotted out. If now called away, he will have lived a long life in a few years, and will be spared the trials and sufferings that flesh is heir to, and will be gathered like early fi-uit, before the blight or frost or mildew has marked it." " Oct. 29. " R. remains gradually failing with consumption, but without much suffering, and perfectly aware of his situation. He never appeared so lovely as he has on his sick-bed ; so that his happy spirit and resignation, without a complaint or a wish that any thing had been done differently, keeps us as happy as we can be under such a weight of apprehension that we may so soon part with him. He asked me yesterday what I should write to you about him. I told him I should say that he was very sick, and might never be any better ; but that he might also be better if the great Physician saw best, as it is only for him to speak, and the disease would be cured. If he were taken before me, I told him, it would be, I hoped, to welcome me to the company of the loved ones of our kindred and friends who have gone before, and to the society of angels and just men made perfect, who compose the great congregation that are gathered there from 154 DIARY AND CORKESPONDENCE. all the world, that God's love, through Christ, has redeemed. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son to redeem it from sin ; and his teachings should not be lost on us, while we have power to profit by them. In this spirit, we talked of the good men whose writings have an influence in helping on this good work ; and especially we talked of Dr. Doddridge, and his ' Kise and Progress.' • " P. M. — I have been with M. to Brookline since writing the above. The falling leaves teach a beautiful lesson. The green leaf, the rose, the cypress, now enclosed to you, and all from your grounds, are instructive. These were cut within the last two hours." "Nov. 1. " Dear R. had a trying day yesterday, and we thought might not continue through the night. He is still alive, and may continue some time ; was conscious and clear in his mind after he revived yesterday j feels ready and willing and hoping to be with his Saviour." " Nov. 14. " We toil for treasui-e through our years of active labor, and, when acquii-ed, are anxious to have it well secured against the time when we or our children may have need of it ; and we feel entire confidence in this secui-ity. We allow the common flurries of the world to pass by without dis- turbing our quiet or comfort essentially. What treasure of a temporal character is comparable with a child who is every thing a Christian parent could desire, and who is just coming into mature life universally respected and beloved, and who is taken before any cloud or spot has touched him, and who has left bright and clear marks upon those who have come within his sphere of influence ? Such was R. The green earth of Mount Auburn covers his mortal remains ; the DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 155 heavens above have his immortal ; and, as a ripe child of God, 1 feel that blessed assurance of entire security which adds another charm to that blessed company to which I hope, through mercy, to be admitted in our Father's own good time. This early death of our beloved youngest comes upon us as an additional lesson, necessary, without doubt, to prepare us for our last summons ; and the I'easons which now seem mysterious will be fully understood, and will show us that our good required^ this safe keeping of this treasure, so liable to be made our idol. R. had passed the dangerous period of his college life without blemish, and was only absent from prayers three times (which were for good cause), and had a settled purpose, from the beginning of his college life, so to conduct in all respects as to give his parents no cause for anxiety ; and, for the last year, I have felt perfectly easy in regard to him. "We have visited his grave to-day. The teachings there are such as speak to the heart with an eloquence that language cannot. Dear S. and R. ! She the only daughter, he the only son of his mother ! and both placed there since you left ! " " Nov. 22. " President H., in a letter a few days before I wrote to you, had this sentiment : ' The old oak, shorn of its green branches, is more liable to decay.' Applying this to the old oak fronting the graves of those loved ones who have passed on, the outspread branches of which make the spot more lovely, I was more deeply impressed than mere words could have impressed me. A few months after the death of S., a violent storm tore off a main limb of the old oak, about midway between the ground and the top, in such way as to mar its beauty, and endanger its Kfe. The limb fell upon the graves, but avoided the injury to the monuments which might have been expected. Since then, I noticed that 156 niAKY AND CDKKESrOXDENCE. some of the lo'vrer limbs cast a sort of blight or mildew upon the pure white of vour mother's monument, and they required tiressing. I desired the ' master ' to do this, and also to come luid heal the wound occasioned by the loss of this main limb on that side of the tree. The trimming out was done at once ; the other was left undone until the request was renewed. On my visit there last week, I dis- covered, for the first time, that the wound had been healed, and the body of the tree appeared smootli, and of its natural color, and its health such as to give good hope that its other bi"anchcs will spread out their shade more copiously than before. What a lesson was here ! The appeal was to the heart ; and, in my whole life, I remember none more elo- quent. To-day, I have been to Mount Auburn again ; and the spot seems to be ' none other than the gate of heaven.' " •• Dec 22. " Twenty-five years ago this morning. I came home firom Plymouth, where I had spent the night previous, and heaid Webster's great address. He has never done any thing to surpass it j and it now is a model and a text for the youth of oitr country. The people who then were present are principally taken hence ; and the consideration of how the time allowed has been spent, and how it now fares witii us, is of deep interest. God in mercy gi-aut us to act our pait so as to meet his approval, when called to answer for the trust in our hands ! I have thought of the emblem of the * old oak,' till it has assumed a beauty almost beyond any thing in nature ; and, if I live to see the fresh leaves of spring spreading their covering over the head of the stranger pr the friend who may stop under its shade, I will have a sketch of the spot painted, if the right person can be found. There is in the spot and scene a toucliing eloquence that language can scarcely communicate. The dear child's ex- PIAKY .\N1> rOKKKSrOMlENCK. 157 pressive look, and motion of his finger, when he said, ' I am going up,' will abide with me while I live. The dealings of a Father with me have been marked, but ofl- tiraes mysterious for a season. Now many things are clear ; and all others will be, I trust, when I am fitted to know them." To HIS Grandsos. " Boston, Dec. 30, 1845. " My dear F., — Your charming letter of i28th November reached me by last steamer, and showed, in a practic;U way, how important the lessons of childhood are to the proper performance of the duties of manhood. It carried me back to the time when my own mother taught me, and, from that period, forward through the Ciuly lessons inculcated upon your father, and especially to the time when he began to write me letters, which I always encouraged him in, and thus formed a habit which has been the best security for our home affections that can be devised when separated from those most dear to us. If the prayers and labors of your ancestors are .answered by your good progress and good conduct in the use of the privileges you enjoy, you will come forth a better and more useful man than any of the generations preceding ; for you enjoy advantages that none of us have enjoyed. My heart beats quicker and stronger whenever I think of you ; and my prayers ascend for you at all hours, and through every scene connecting us. Last Saturday, I had the first sleigh-ride of the season. The day was beautiful ; and there was just snow enough to make the sleigh run smoothly. I visited Blount Auburn ; and the day and place, the ' old oak ' standing in front of our graves leafless and apparently almost lifeless, spoke to me a lan- guage as intelligible as if utterance had been given in sounds. I thought of you, dear F., as my eldest grandson, and in a 158 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. manner the representative of the family to future times, and asked myself whether I was doing all I ought to make you feel the force of your trusts. There lie the mortal parts of your dear aunt and uncle, both placed there since you left home ; and the spirits of both, I trust, are now rejoicing with the multitude of the beloved ones, whose work here is well done, and whom the Saviour has bid to ' come unto him,' and through whom they hoped to be accepted. Dear B.. seems to call to us to ' come up ; ' and, whether I ever see you again or not, I pray you never to forget that he was such an uncle as you might well feel anxious to copy in your conduct to your parents ; for he had a settled principle to do nothing to cause his parents anxiety. So, if you see your young companions indulging in any evil practices which may lead to bad habits, avoid them ; for prevention is better than remedy. "When you stand near the ' old oak,' whether its branches are green with shady leaves, or dry from natural decay, let it speak to your conscience, ' Come up,' and receive the reward promised to the faithful. " Ever your affectionate grandfather, "A. L." The year 1 845 closed with many sad recollections ; and nearly every letter written at this period dwells upoij the mournful events which had marked its course. In one letter, he says, " Death has cut right and left in my family." In a little more than twelve months, ten of his own immediate family and near connections were removed, and most of them when least expected. Although bowed down, and pene- trated with grief at each successive blow, there was a deep-seated principle in Mr. Lawrence's heart, wljich DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 159 made him rise above them all, and receive each call in that spirit of submission which the Christian faith alone can give. His own sorrows seemed only to augment his sympathy for the woes of others, and to excite him to renewed efforts in the great cause of charity and truth, to which he had consecrated every talent he possessed. In this spirit he makes an entry in his memorandum-book on the first day of the opening year. 160 CHAPTEE XXII. KEFLECTIOXS. — EXPEXDIXTRES. — LETTERS. — DOXATIOX FOR LIBRARY AT "WILLIAMS COLLEGE. — VIEWS OX STUDY OF AXATOMY. " J.\x. 1, 184:6. — The business of the past year has been very prosperous in our country ; and my own duties seem more clearly pointed out than ever before. What am I left here for, and the young branches taken home ? Is it not to teach me the danger of being unfaithful to my trusts ? Dear R. taken ! the delight of my eyes, a treasure secured ! which explains better than in any other way what my Father sees me in need of. I hope to be faithful in apph"ing some of my trusts to the uses God manifestly explains to me by his dealings. I repe.it, ' Thy will be done.' " That his trusts, so far as the use of his property was concerned, were faithfully performed, may be judged from the fact, that in July, or at the termina- tion of the half-year, iu making up his estimate of income and expenditures, he remarks that the latter are nearly twenty thousand dollars in advance of the former. Mr. Lawrence was often much disturbed by the publicity which attended his benevolent opera- DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 161 tions. There are, perhaps, thousands of the recipients of his favors now living, who alone are conscious of his bounty towards themselves ; but, when a public institution became the subject of his liberality, the name of the donor could not so easily be concealed. The following letter will illustrate the mode which he sometimes was obliged to adopt to avoid that pub- licity ; and it was his custom not unfrequently to contribute liberally to objects of charity through some person on whom he wished the credit of the donation to fall. To President Hopkins. " Boston, Jan. 26, 1846. " My dear Friend, — Since Saturday, I have thought much of the best mode of helping your college to a library building without getting into the newspapers, and have concluded that you had better assume the responsibility of building it ; and, if anybody objects that you can't afford it, you may say you have friends whom you hope to have aid from ; and I will be responsible to you for the cost, to an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars ; so that you may feel at liberty to prepare such a building as you will be satisfied with, and which will do credit to your taste and judgment fifty years hence. If I am taken before this is finished, which must be this year, my estate will be answer- able, as I have made an entry in my book, stating the case. I had written a longer story, after you left me, on Saturday evening, but have laid it aside to hand you this, with best wishes, and that all may be done ' decently and in order.' I will pay a thousand or two dollars whenever it is wanted for the work. Your friend, "A. L." 21 162 DIARY AND CORBESPONDENCE. Mr. Lawrence had read in the newspapers the memorial to Congress of Mrs. Martha Gray, widow of Capt. Robert Gray, the well-known navigator, who discovered, first entered, and gave its present name to, the Columbia River. Capt. Gray had been in the naval service of his country ; and his widow, who had suridved him for forty years, amidst many diffi- culties and struggles for support, petitioned for a pension in consideration of the important discovery, and for the services rendered by her husband. Mr. Lawrence sent to Mrs. Gray a memorial of his regard, with the following note : — " As a token of respect to the widow of one whose name and fame make a part of the property of every American who has a true heart, will Mrs. Gray accept the accompany- ing trifle from one, who, though personally unknown, felt her memorial to Congress through every nerve, and will hope to be allowed the pleasiu'e of paying his respects in person wh^n his health permits ? " About the same date, he says to President Hop- kins : — " I am happily employed, these days, in administering upon my own earnings, and have hope of hearing soon from you and your good work. I am still on my good behavior, hut have been able to chat a little with Mr. D., and administer to His Excellency Governor Briggs, who has had a severe trial of fever and ague. On Saturday, he rode an hour with me, and shortened his face considerably." DIARY AND COKRESPONDENCE. 163 After receiving the proposed plan of the library which he had authorized to be built at Williams College, Mr. Lawrence writes to the same, on May 15: — " I left off, after a brief note to you, three hours since, furnishing you a text on epicureanism to preach from, which I trust will find favor and use. " What think you ? Why, that I am interfering in your business. When I awoke this morning, thinks I to myself. My friend won't have elbow-room in the centre of his octagon ; and, as there is plenty of land to build upon, he may as well make his outside to outside fifty feet as forty- four feet, and thus give himself more space in the centre. The alcoves appear to me to be very nice ; and, in the matter of expense, my young friend A. L. H. will see to that, to the tune of one or two thousand dollars. So you may feel yourself his representative in acting in this matter." " April 22. — My birthday ! Threescore years old ! My life hanging by a thread for years, and apparently, at times, within a few hours of its close, still continued, while so many around in the prime of life and vigor have been called away ! " To A FaiEND. " Tkemont Steeet, April, 1846. " My Friend , — I have arisen after my siesta, and, as the Quakers say, am moved by the spirit to speak. So you will give what I have to say the value you consider it worth J and, in the first place, I will say, that this period of the year is so full of deeply interesting memories of the past, that I hardly know where to begin. From my earliest itJI iiiAiiv AMit run II lyifiiN II rcN I It. tliiyn, (III! filciiy "I lli'' iiili'llifj;i'n( o irncliiiif/ ( inilmi iil lin ii'i'liM'K of till' IDlli A|iiil. '"II), lliiil llir Itlilinli wi'in luiniiif/, wait II liiiinl iiilninliiifr iilii'. My liillin liKiiiiilcil ( icii. I'rciKrolt.'n liiiinr, iiliil inilc, ill ii (i|ici'il wliirli yciiiiifj; iticli rviMi III' llir |ii'rnniil. iliiy wiiiilil liiiiik iiipiil, Ici llui piiiiitJi mil III' I ho liiwii, liy Siiiiily I'liiiil, mill iinliru'il dm iniiiiili< iiinii U> iinnniiililo iil IIim rmilri' iif (iir (own rmlliwllli. liti iiiiidn n. I'lMif/n III ninnii niilrn, rnlliiifi; nil nil liin mkmi, mill WiiN liiii'li III liitt I'lillinr'n liininn ill I'liily iiiiiiiili'H. At cmc n'rlcx^k, I'. l\!,, tlin riiiii|iiiiiy \Yiin in riv tlicm I'liiniiig ovci' llir liill rtiiiii liiiicnlii, hIkiiiI. I^vll inilnrt iVom tlii< rtiiilio ol' ('oiiodVil ; tlin miii jiint. liiiinfi ; mid tlio iimI rniilfi, fililli'i iiif.' iiiiiMlicIri, mid roiiiTiil miiiy, tin i'il|illViillilf{ In MM III iiriirr liiiii'M, ii|)|iinii iiif.; In lici im lllO illip,rl nl' ili'rill lirlinll, In l>n iniillli'd mid llilli'd. Silo I lioiofoi'tl III) lioi liiMiiio willi lior clliidloil (llio linllrio Wliri Htmillillf( uilliiii llio l:iii| Ihiity yi'illH, iilld iiiiiv I"' iinw, iioiir llio tlllll (n' mi llii'niij^li llodrnrd, liiiH" a milo nr mniii tluH dido nl' ('niionrd mooliiig liniino). mid woiil llii'niif.;li tlio liidilN, iiild nv.'l III.' Iiillr.. In ii nnlo |.liiio nl' rollout. 'I'lio llliliidi, you iit'O invmo, nil llioii ii'lioiil, liiid ii limd liino nl il. TIlOV worn rdinl dn>vii liKo wild ^111110, mid loll liy itio >viiyNido to llio nl llO IllllOII ll|l III! il iiii|.;lil liii|ipoil. 'I'lllOO lIlllM lolV wllliiit f from lidnl.oti wit.li ii strong liody of I.KKipM In ]niiti:ri<;o, wiit rliuiply int.firrint^rl in nil f.liut roliilfid to hin ffillior ; luid I fri':t. Iiii/i in llir; lilirnry nt, f 'nmliridj/o, wlinrn ho wiw vnry rilmfirvimt of l.lio ordor nnd itrriui^mnnrit, nnd nfipncially fif ttin curiouN old dociurifinlK and liookn^o niwly nrrftiiKml, t.oiuihiri^ Uin niirly liistory of i)iti provint^o, Aftr.r Ifidvinx dimtiridj^fi, lio wmit to Mr. (/'unliirif/'n und Mr, J'riift'd lit. Wiit.«irt,*iWfi, iirid wim rnii'th irit.firfiiitnd in nil t.diit wn in t.liin cit.y urn proiifl of. I liiwl not ulrnn^tli to lift dnvotod to liirn morn timn »,ri li/jiir or two ut n tirnn, hiivin|( thnn nomo otiinr utriin^nrs under my cdrn, linlon^in^ to (itrv. (/olflbrookn'd fiirnily, f^Jy f/olnlirookn l/ninf^ » ni«w;e of Mftjor Andr^; ; so tlint f liwl frrily «omo linlf-flo/nri intwrviewn with him, fill of wlii'-h wnrn inntrii'-tivn iinrl inlflrnntinf/." 'I'll*! (Wnnf.cX'um <»f ImrrKiri liorli*"? I»y rnf!flif:{il «t,u- rhtrifM li-'iH always Ii««ti a Riilijrrt, of i\ii-^friini^i] prr- tarif, and al<-Kiliit/ly cnntmlhil l»r;iiKli of instruction an? not n*!arly aM fin-.td m tli»;y Hliould \ii:, nor hii(:]i as an; afford'td in tli*; b^IiooIm hi' otli<:r f;oiintrif;«, WhoTi th<;i»fi rJiffl(;ijlti"D CORRESPONDENCE. ■will allow the money out of the next year's Income to be used for a telescope, if you deem it best. I have made no further inquiry for the one in progress here, but will ask "W. to look and see Trhat progress is making. When I leave off "writing, I shall ride to the office in Court Square, and deposit my Whig vote for Gov. Briggs and the others. We are so mixed up here as hardly to know -who are supporters of the regular ticket, and who not. This fugitive slave business will keep our people excited till the law is blotted out. In some of our best circles, the law is pronounced unconstitutional ; and my belief is, that Franklin Dexter's argument on that point wiU settle the question by starting it, our great men to the contrary notwithstanding." In the above, Mr. Lawrence speaks of the gratifi- cation which he had derived from the results of his efforts in behalf of Williams College ; and, as there may be no more fitting place to give an account of these efforts, the following record is here introduced from the pen of President Hopkins. It is found in his seimon commemorative of the donor, delivered at the request of the students, on Feb. 21, 1853. " In October, 1841, the building known as the East College was burned. Needy as the institution was before, this rendered necessary an application to the Legislature for funds, and, when this failed, to the public at large. Owing to a panic in the money market, this application was but slightly responded to, except in this town. In Boston, ' the sum raised was less than two thousand dollars ; and the largest sum given by any individual was one hundred dol- lars. This sum was given by Mr. Lawrence, who was applied to by a friend of the college ; and this, it is believed. niARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 281 was the only application ever made to him on our behalf. This directed his attention to the wants of the college ; but nothing more was heard fi-om him till January, 1844. At that time, I was delivering a course of the Lowell Lectures in Boston, when his son, Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, called and informed me that his ftither had five thousand dollars which he wished to place at the disposal of the college. As I was previously but slightly acquainted with Mr. Lawrence, and had had no conversation with him on the subject, this was to me an entire surprise ; and, embaiTassed as the institution then was by its debt for the new buildings, the relief and encouragement which it brought to my own mind, and to the minds of others, friends of the college, can h;u-dly be expressed. Still, this did not wholly remove the debt. On hearing this casually mentioned, he said, if he had known how we were situated, he thought he should have given us more ; and the following July, without another word on the subject, he sent me a check for five thousand dollar-s. This put the college out of debt, and added two or three thousand doUai-s to its available funds. In January, 1846, he wrote, saying he wished to see me ; and, on meeting him, he said his object was to consult me about the disposition of ten thousand dollars, which he proposed to give the college. He wished to know how I thought it would do the most good. I replied at once, By being placed at the disposal of the trustees, to be used at their discretion. He said, ' Very well ; ' and that was all that passed on that point. So I thought ; and, knowing his simplicity of chai'acter, and singleness of purpose, I felt no embarrassment in making that reply. Here was a beautiful exemplification of the precept of the apostle, ' He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.' Such a man had a right to have, for one of his mottoes, * Deeds, not words.' This was just what was needed ; but it gave us some breadth and enlargement, 232 DIAKY AND CORRESPONDENCE. and was a beginning in what, it had long been felt, must, sooner or later, be undertaken, — the securing of an aTailable fund suitable as a basis for such an institution. His next large gift was the library. This came from his asking me, as I was riding with him the following winter, if we wanted any thing. Nothing occurred to me at the time, and I repUed in the negative ; but, the next day, I remembered that the trustees had voted to build a library, provided the treasurer should find it could be done for twenty-five hun- dred dollars. This I mentioned to him. He inquired what I supposed it would cost. I replied, ' Five thousand dollars.' He said at once, ' I will give it.' With his approbation, the plan of a building was svibsequently adopted that would cost seven thousand dollars ; and he paid that sum. A year or two subsequently, he inquired of me the price of tuition here, saying he should like to connect Groton Academy with "Williams College ; and he paid two thousand dollars to establish four scholarships for any one who might come from that institution. His next gift was the telescope, which cost about fifteen hundred dollars. The history of this would involve some details which I have not now time to give. In 1851, accompanied by Mrs. Lawrence, he made a visit here. This was the fii-st time either of them had seen the place. In walking over the grounds, he said they had great capabilities, but that we needed more land ; and authorized the purchase of an adjoining piece of four acres. This purchase was made for one thousand dollars ; and, if the college can have the means of laying it out, and adorning it suitably, it will, besides furnishing scope for exercise, be a fit addition of the charms of culture to great beauty of natural scenery. In addition to these gifts, he has, at different times, enriched the Kbrary with costly books, of the expense of which I know nothing. Almost every thing we have in the form of art was given by him. In December, DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 233 1845, I received a letter from him, dated the 22d, or ' Fore- fathers' Day,' ■svhich enclosed one hundred dollars, to be used for the aid of needy students in those emergencies which often arise. This was entirely at his own suggestion ; and nothing could have been more timely or appropriate in an institution like this, where so many young men are struggling to make their own way. Since that time, he has furnished me with at least one hundred dollars annually for that purpose ; and he regarded the expenditure with much interest. Thus, in different ways, Mr. Lawrence had given to the college between thirty and forty thousand dollars ; and he had expressed the purpose, if he should live, of aiding it still further. Understanding as he did the position and wants of this college, he sympathized fully with the trustees in their purpose to raise the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and, at the time of his death, was exerting a most warm hearted and powerful influence for its accomplishment. In reference to this great effort, we feel that a strong helper is taken away. The aid which Mr. Lawrence thus gave to the college was great and indispensable ; and probably no memo- rial of him will be more enduring than what he has done here. By this, being dead, he yet speaks, and will continue to speak in all coming time. From him will flow down enjoyment and instruction to those who shall walk these grounds, and look at the heavens through this telescope, and read the books gathered in this library, and hear instruction from teachers sustained, wholly or in part, by his bounty. Probably he could not have spent this money more usefully ; and there is reason to believe, that he could have spent it in no way to bring to himself more enjoyment. The prosperity of the college was a soiirce of great gratification to him ; and he said more than once, that he had been many times repaid for what he had done here. That he should have thus done what he did xmsolicited, and that he — and, I may add, his 30 234 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. family — should have continued to find in it so mucli of satisfaction, is most grateful to my own feelings, and must be so to every friend of the college. In doing it, he seemed to place himself in the relation, not so much of a patron of the college, as of a sympathizer and helper in a great and good work." 235 CHAPTER XXXI. LETTERS. — DIAKY. At the beginning of the year 1851, Mr. Lawrence writes to President Hopkins : — " The closing of the old year was like our western horizon after sunset, bright and beautiful ; the opening of the new radiant with life, light, and hope, and crowned with such a costume of love as few old fathers, grandfathers, and uncles can muster ; in short, my old sleigh is the pet of the season, and rarely appears without being well filled, outside and inside. It is a teacher to the school-children, no less than to my grandchildren ; for they all understand, that, if they are well-behaved, they can ride with me when I make the sig- nal ; and I have a strong persuasion, that this attention to them, with a present of a book and a kind word now and then, makes the little fellows think more of theh- conduct and behavior. At any rate, it does me good to hear them call out, ' How do you do, Mr. Lawrence ? ' as I am driving along the streets and by-ways of the city " My manner of life you have known ; and our intercourse has been of such a character as to allow you to be my father confessor : so here I begin. Many years ago, I remember telling you what I had said to my sons respecting my pro- perty ; that, if I died then, I should leave them as much as was good for them, if they made good use of it, and more 236 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. than was good for them if they made bad use, and that I would be my own executor of my future profits. Acting on this platform, I have expended, in the last nine years (end- ing with the year 1850), for necessaries and luxuries, five hundred and seventy-nine thousand dollars ; or sixty-four thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars per year, on an average, or somewhat more than twelve hundred dollars a week. More than five-sixths has been on the luxuries of this world, of which you have been a ministering angel for some small part, and for which I thank God and bless you. As the steward and trustee of his blessings, pray for me to be faithful ; and I have full liutli that your prayers will be of use." To an aged clergyman in the country, who was blind and in indigent circumstances, he writes : — "Jan. 14. " Your letter of last week reached me on Saturday, and was indeed a sunbeam, which quickened me to do what I had intended for a * happy new-year,' before receiving yours. I trust you will have received a parcel sent by railroad, on Monday, directed to you, and containing such things as I deemed to be useful in your family ; and I shall be more than paid, if they add one tint to the ' purple light ' you speak of, that opens upon your further hopes of visiting us the coming season. For many months, I was unable to walk ; but my feet and ankle-bones have now received strength. I feel that the prayers of friends have been answered by my renewed power to do more work. How, then, can I enjoy life better than by distributing the good things entrusted to me among those who are comforted by receiving them ? So you need not feel, my Iriend, that you are any more obliged than I am. The enclosed bank-bills DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 237 may serve to fit up the materials for use ; at any rate, will not be out of place in your pocket. I trust to see you again in this world, which has to me so many interesting connect- ing links between the first and only time I have ever seen you (thirty-five or more years ago, in Dr. Huntington's pul- pit. Old South Church) and the present." Faoji Rev. James Hamiltox, D.D. "42, GowER Stkeet, London, Feb. 15, 1851. " My dear Sir, — No letter which authorship has brought to me ever gave me such pleasure as I received from yours of July, 1849, enclosing one which Governor Briggs had written to you. That strangers so distinguished should take such interest in my writings, and should express yourselves so kindly towards myself, overwhelmed me with a pleasing surprise, and with thankfulness to God who had given me such favor. I confess, too, it helped to make me love more the country which has always been to me the dearest next to my own. In conjunction with some much-prized friendships which I have formed among your ministers, it would almost tempt me to cross the Atlantic. But I am so bad a sailor, that I fear I must postpone personal intercourse with those American friends who do not come to England, until we reach the land where there is no more sea. However feebly expressed, please accept my heartfelt thanks for all the cost and trouble you have incurred in circulating my publications. It is pleasant to me to think that your motive in distributing them, in the first instance, could not be friendship for the author ; and, to both of us, it will be the most welcome result, if they promote the cause of practical Christianity. Owing to weakness in the throat and chest, I cannot preach so much as many of my neighbors, and therefore I feel the more anxious that my tracts should do something for the honor of the Saviour and the welfare of mankind. You 238 DIARY AND CORRESPOXDEXCE. were kind enough to reprint my last lectm-e to young men. I could scarcely wish the same distinction bestowed on its successor, because it is a fragment. I have some thoughts of extending it into a short exposition of Ecclesiastes, which is a book well suited to the times, and but little under- stood Yours most truly, James Hamilton." In reply to the above letter, Mr. Lawrence writes, AprU 8 : — " I will not attempt to express to you in words my plea- sure in recei^-ing your letter of Feb. 15, with its accompani- ments. The lecture delivered to the young men on the 4th of February, although designated by you as a fragment, I sent to my friend, with a copy of your letter, asking him whether he would advise its publication, and whether he would scatter it with its predecessor ; and, if so, I would pay the expense. His answer you have here, and I have the pleasure of saying, that the ' Fragment ' will be ready to cir- culate by thousands the present week ; and, when you shall have added your further comments upon Solomon and his works, our American Tract Society will be ready to publish the whole by hundieds of thousands I trust, thus enabling you to preach through our whole country. The memoir of Lady Colquhon is a precious jewel, which I shall keep among my treasures to leave my descendants. I had pre- viously purchased a number of copies of the American edi- tion, and scattered them among my friends, so that there is great interest to see your copy sent me. The part of your letter which touched my heait most was that in which you speak of my brother Abbott, and say of him, that * no foreign minister is such a favorite with the British public' It brought him before me like a daguerreotype likeness, through every period of his life for fifty years. First, as the vith which his heart was filled toward them and theirs. As a citizen, his views were comprehensive, and were bounded by no lines of sectional or party feeling. He was most deeply interested in all that concerned the honor and prosperity of his country, and keenly sensitive to the injury infiicted by such measures as tended to depreciate her standing in the estimation of other nations, or of good men among 298 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. her own citizens. He was a true patriot, and had adopted the views and aims of the best men of the republic in former days, whUe he viewed with distrust many of the popular movements of more modem times. From his father he had inherited the most profound veneration for Gen. Washington, and faith in his public policy; while the political principles of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay were those alone by which he thought the permanent happiness and prosperity of the country could be secui'ed. As a Christian, he endeavored to walk in the foot- steps of his Master. He had no taste for the discus- sion of those minor points of doctrine upon which good men so often diifer, but embraced with all his heart the revealed truths of the gospel, which the great body of Christians can unite in upholding. He sought those fields of labor where all can meet, rather than those which are hedged in by the dividing lines of sect and party. He reverenced the Bible, and, from the first chapter of the Old Testament to the last chapter of the New, received it as the inspu-ed Word of God. This was his sheet-anchor ; and to doubt was, in his view, to leave a safe and peaceful haven, to embark upon an unknown ocean of danger and uncertainty. Religion was for him a practical thing for every- ' day use, consisting not so much in frames and emotions as in the steady and persevering perform- ance of the daUy duties of life. His view of duty DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 299 did not limit him to the common obligations of mo- rality, but included the highest sense of duty towards God ; or, as he has expressed it in one of his early letters, " to be a moral man merely, is not to be a Christian." He was an active helper in all that tended to promote the cause of Christianity among nations, as well as to promote spiritual progress among individuals. The Christian banner, ia his view, covered many denominations ; and, with this belief, his charities were du'ected to the buUdiag up of institutions under the influence of the various sects differing from that under which he himself was classed. What has been said of John Thornton might be applied to him : — " He was a merchant renowned in his generation for a munificence more than princely. He was one of those rare men in whom the desii-e to relieve distress assumes the form of a master-passion. Conscious of no aims but such as may invite the scrutiny of God and man, he pursued them after his own fearless fashion, yielding to every honest impulse, choosing his associates in scorn of mere worldly precepts, and worshipping with any fellow-Christian whose heart beat in unison with his own, however inharmonious might be some of the articles of their respective creeds. His benevo- lence was as imsectarian as his general habits ; and he stood ready to assist a beneficent design in every party, but would be the creature of none. He not only gave largely, but he gave wisely. He kept a regular account (not for ostentation, or the gratification of vanity, but for method) of every 300 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. pound he gave. With him, his givings were made a matter of business, as Cowper says, in an ' Elegy ' he wrote upon him, — ' Thou hadst an industry in doing good, Restless as his who toils and sweats for food.' " Of Mr. Lawrence's religious opinions respecting those doctrinal points upon which Christians are divided, the writer will not speak ; though, from repeated conversations with his father on the subject, in the houi's of health as well as of sickness, he might consistently do so. Rather than make asser- tions which might lead to discussion, it is more grateful to his feelings to leave the subject to the unbiassed judgment of those who shall read the preceding correspondence. Let it rather be the aim of all who loved and honored him in life to imitate his example, now that he is dead. They may rejoice that they were per- mitted to claim as a relative, and to have daily intercourse with one who has exhibited, in such an abundant degree, those fruits which are the truest and best evidence of a genuine faith. In completing this volume, the editor feels that he has fulfilled a sacred trust ; and his great regret is, that the work could not have been undertaken by some one more fitted, by his qualifications and past 'experience, to do justice to the subject. For reasons given in the Preface, this could not be ; and it is, therefore, with great diffidence that this volume is DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 301 submitted as a memorial of one whose life and cha- racter deserve more than a passing record. If, however, what has been done shall be the means of directing the attention of those for whom the volume has been prepared to the consideration of the precepts here recorded; and, above all, if those precepts shall be the means of influencmg them for good in their future course in life, — the effort will not have been in vain. INDEX. Abstinence, 10. Accident, 12. Academy, Groton, 168, 169. Do- nations by Brother William, 170, 190, 202, 209. Americans, Native, 147. Ancestry, 1. Andre, Major, 165. Apprenticeship, 8, 258. Advice, Father's, 25. Advice, 84. Anxiety, 94. Amin Bey, 228. Anatomy, Study of, 165. Applicants, Annoyance from, 111, 173, 201, 203. Abuse by, 185. Applicant, Mr. Lawrence as an, 188. Appropriations for 1842, 114. Afflictions, 158. Appleton, Mrs., Death of, 138. Appletons, 275. Apprentice, Drunken, 111. Astronomy, Study of, 7. Aspirations, 110, 180. Attack of Sickness, 222. Asylum, Lunatic, 251. Awakening, Religious, 198, 254. Baldwin, 280. Banks, 98. Banner, Christian, 213. Barn, North, 8. Battle of Bunker HiU, 244. Birth, 1. Birthday, 119, 163. Banner, Christian, 213. Bequests, 215. Bell, Dr., 251. Bible, Commentary on, 167. Bible, The, 200. Bigelow, Timothy, 105. Blagden, Rev. Dr., Letter from, 255. Boat-Song, Canadian, 204. Book, Memorandum, 48. Bowdoin College, Donation by Mrs. Lawrence, 190. Boston, coraes to, 13. Brazer Estate, 168. Brazer, James, 8. Bridgman, Laura, 180, 244. Brother Abbott, 23, 24, 53, 199, 202, 210, 212, 238. Brother Luther, 53. Death of, 105, 169. Brother WiUiam, 24, 53, 169, 170. 196, 204. 304 Brother Samuel, 15, 180. Brothers, Sympathy between, 104. Brattle-street Church, 136, 209. Briggs, Gov., 162. Cane and Letter to, 172, 224, 251. Bramble News, 33. Brooks, P. C, 207. Buaker-HiU Monument, 53, 61, 67, 121. Business commences, 14. Princi- ples of, 85. Buxton, Lady, 241, 243, 267. Pris- cilla, 267. Butler, Dr., 261. Cabot, George, 129. Call's Stage-coach, 119. Castle-Building, 82. Caswell, Oliver, 180. CarroU, Charles, 219. Citizen, Duty of an American, 66. Charities, 62, 63. Christmas, 60. Charity, System in, 81, 83. Chancellor Kent, 100. Chevalier HulesiAann, 111. Children, Love of, 171. Children's luiirmary, 175. Church, Application to build, 190. Cholera Morbus, Attack of, 215. Charities, Amount during Life, 253. Christ, Cross of, 269. Christ, Jesus, 299. Clerkship, 14. Clerk, Letter from old, 36. Clergyman, Letter to blind, 236. Clergyman, Letter to, 223. Clergyman, Scotch, 266, 258. , Codman, Rev. Dr., 196. Codicil to Will, 214. College, Bowdoin, 169, 190. College, Wabash, 252. Colebrooke, Sir Wm., 186, 247. Colebrooke, Lady, 165. Creeds, 203. Cresson, Elliott, 242. Gushing, J. P., 165. D. Darracott, George, 124. Daughter, Death of, 64, 142. Death, Manner of, alluded to, 116. Davis, Honest John, 272. Debtors, Treatment of, 137, 194. Depression, 43. Dearborn, Gen., 280. Death, Contemplation of, 74. Death, Thoughts on sudden, 196. Dexter, Frauklin, 230. Diet, 86, 87, 269. Dives, a, 211. Doctor, 19. Donations, Mode of Making, 161. Donations, 236. Dmght, Rev. L., 167, 251. Dwight, Edmund, 275. E. Elector, Presidential, serves as, 276. Ellis, Judge, 46. Emigration, Thoughts on, 201. Engagement, 29. England, 109. Enjoyments, 103. Encouragement, 145. Everett, E., 124, 280. Exercise, Habits of, 85, 88. Exactness, 16, 133. Expenses, 61, 94, 117, 160, 181, 207, 221, 253. Evil, avoids the Appearance of, 89. F. Father's Property, 15. Father, 53, 245. 305 Farwell, Capt., 3. Federalist, 261. Ferdinand and Isabella, Author of, 183. FideUty to Trusts, 221. Foreign Children, 220. Friends, Recognition of, in Heaven, 210. Fry, Mrs., 242. G. Gannett, Rev. Dr., 31. Gannett, Lines by Mrs., 32. Gen. , Letter to, 120. Gifts, 108. Grandchildren, Birth of, 141. Grandson, Letter to, 157. Gray, Mrs. Martha, Letter to, 162. Green, W. L., 195. Greenough, H., 280. Greenwood, Rev. Dr., 86. Groton, Visits to, 26. Gurney, Hannah, 242. H. Haddock, Hon. C. B., Letter to, 248. Hallock, Rev. W.,222. Hamilton, Rev. Dr., Letters to, 212, 223, 240. Letter from, 237. Happiness, 100. Harvard College, Donation to, by Brother A., 190. Haycock, small, 250. Heaven, Foretaste of, 100. Hofl6uan, Rev. Mr., 242. Home, Love of, 17, 93, 96, 203, 265. Hopkins, President, first Acquaint- ance with, 133, 284. Hospital, resigns as Trustee, 82. Howe, Dr. S. G., 180. Hubbard, Judge, 196. Elness, 26, 37, 73. Letters an- nouncing, 74, 77. Comfort in, 79, 80. Impressions, early religious, S3. Income, Fluctuations of, 181. Ireland, Relief to, 182. J. Jesus, Claims of, 113. Journey to South, 41, 43. To Cana- da, 58. To New York, 44. To New Hampshire, 77. To Wash- ington, 95. Kirk, Scotch, Doctrines of, 259. Lafayette, Gen., 53. Lameness, 224. Lawrence, R. M., 152, 153, 154, 155. Lawrence, Luther, Death of, 105, 106. Lawrence, Samuel, Gift to, 180. Lawrence, Major Arthur, 180. Lawrence Association, 182. Lawrence, Mrs. Abbott, 223. Lawrence, Amos A., 231. Lazarus, a, 211. Letter, early business, 34. Liberia, 242. Library at Williams College, Dona- tion of, 161, 163. Lothrop, Rev. Dr., 86, 284, 286. Lowell, Hon. John, 47. LoweU, Rev. Dr. C, 95, 136, 264. 306 M. Manufactures, engages in, 47. Marriage, 32, 46. Advice regard- ing, 89, 90. Mason, Rev. C, 141. Mason, S., 142. Mason, J., Death of, 205. Matthew, Father, 213. McDvaine, Bishop, Letter from, 128. McKenzie, Capt., Letter to, 179. Cane from, 203. Death of, 204. Means, Robert, 46. Mechanic Apprentices' Association, Letter to, 132. Mortgage, Father's, 21. Mother, Letters to, 38, 92. Death of, 198. Mount Auburn, 128, 180. N. Nahant, Little, Letter from, 226, 227. New England, Industry of, 71, 72. New Year, 79. Note, Cancels, 243. Notoriety, Dislike of, 174. O. Occupations, 67. Old Home, 93, 96, 107, 263. Old Oak, 155, 157. Packard, Professor, Letters to, 189, 191, 280. I Parents, 2 — 6. Parker, R. G., Letter to, 170, 174. Partnership, 23. Partners, Letters to, 112, 128, 130, 144, 162. Perkins, Col., 280. Philippe, Louis, 139. Phillips, J., Letter to, 270. Physician, Note to a, 197. Pierce, Franklin, 261, 269, 277. Pitcairn, Major, 245. Pocket-book, Text in, 146. Pond, Rev. Dr., 252. Praise, Dishke of, 138. Pratt, W., 165. Prayer, 193. In Family, 106. Prediction as to Native Americans, 147. Presbyterianism, Scotch, 259. Prescott, Gen., 3. Prescott, Judge W., 183. Prescott, Madam, Letter to, 184 ; from, 184. Profits, early, 21. Property, Increase of, 23. Prudoe, Lo»d, 61, 165. R. Rainsford Island, Visit to, 96. Reflections, 61, 97, 99, 193, 198. Reminiscences, 101, 118, 164. Representative, elected, 46. Resolutions in regard to Business, 49, 50, 91. Revolution, French, 69. RciTilsions in Business, 91, 98. Rhett, R. B., Letter to, 217. Richards, Giles, 30. Sarah, 30. Richardson, Capt., 8. Roberts, Gov., 242. Rules, Business, 20. Sabbath, Thoughts on, 80. Savings' Bank, Donation to, 148. Saviour, our, 259. School, 6, 8. Mather, 219. John- son, 170. 307 School, Scientific, 190. Scoresby, Rev. Dr., Letter to, 249. Scott, Gen., 270, 276. Seaver, Hon. Benjamin, 263. Self-consecration, 134. Serpent, Sea, 68. Sharp, Rev. Dr., Letters from, 127, 151, 225, 284. Sharp, Brother, 129, 152. Shattuck, Dr., Letter from, 27. Shaw, R. G., 275, 276. Silly FeUow, 193. Sister K., 2. Sisters, Letters to, 17, 18, 42, 50, 57, 59, 60. Sleigh-ride, 171, 235. Smith, Dr. J. V. C, 96. Son, Advice to, 64, 55. Illness of, 152. Death of, 154. South Carolina, Letter to a Friend in, 260. Spirits, 44, 88. Stearns, J. A., 182. Stone, Rev. Dr., Letter from, 115. Story, Judge, Letter from, 130. Maxim of, 209. Stowe, Sirs., 268. Strachan, Sir John, 183. Stuart, Prof., Letter from, 208. Study, early Habits of, 15. Subscription Paper, 211. Sullivan, Gen., 2. Sunny Side, Mrs., 268. Sympathy, Letter of. 195, Tarbell, Thomas, 263. Tastes, domestic, 35. Taylor, Father, 85. Taylor, Gen., 199, 201. Theatre, 24. Ticknor, George, 280. Tobacco, 252, 262. Toby, XJncle, 261, 268. Tom, Uncle, 268. Tools, Use of, 6. Touro, J., 124, 125. Turnbull, Rev. R., Letter to, 113. Unitarianism, Thoughts on, 83, 211. Unworthiness, 83. V. Vinton, Rev. A. H., D.D., 283. W. Ware, Rev. H., 116. Warren, J. C, Dr., 166. Warren, J. M., Dr., 166. Washington, Gen., 81. Washington, Journey to, 95. Webster, Daniel, Correspondence \vith, 65, 70, 71. Whig Committee, Letter to, 140. White, Rev. C, 252. Wliiting, Gen., 14, 216, 219. Wife, niness of, 37. Letter from, 38. Letters to, 38, 90. Last Writing, 40. Death of, 41. Williams College, Donation to, 145, 230. Scholarships, 191. Winthrop, Gov., 1. Winthrop, Hon. R. C, Letter to, 117.