DEATH OF HIS DAUGHTER.--LETTERS.--DONATION TO WILLIAMS
COLLEGE.--BENEFICENCE.--LETTERS.
On the 29th of November, Mr. Lawrence addressed to his son a most
joyous letter, announcing the birth of twin-grand daughters, and the
comfortable health of his daughter, the wife of the Rev. Charles
Mason, Rector of St. Peter's Church, at Salem, Massachusetts. The
letter is filled with the most devout expressions of gratitude at the
event, and cheering anticipations for the future, 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 afterwards, she ceased to live. Mr. Lawrence announced the
death of this cherished and only daughter in the following letter:
"BOSTON, December 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 four-score 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 hardly spoke to
them while living. Such has been the case with our hearts' 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 alarm 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 love to my father, and tell him I hope we
shall meet in heaven,' was her graphic and characteristic
message; and then she 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 three o'clock on
Monday morning, the 2d instant, her pure spirit passed out of its
earthly tenement to its heavenly home, where our Father has
called her to be secured from the trials and pains and exposures
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 reünited, 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
comparison 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, tenderest 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 were 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 eternity so much
cherished in the mind of the believer.
"With sincerest affection, your father,
A. L."
"TREMONT-STREET, 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 distrusting him. I do most sincerely hope that I
may say, from the heart, 'Thy will be done.' Please send me a
thousand dollars 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 earth; but it
is a happy one to think of joining her in heaven.
Yours, ever,
A. L.
"A. & A. LAWRENCE & CO."
On the last day of 1844, a date now to be remembered by his friends as
that on which his own departure 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, near the
end of his 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 had 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 successful, 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 constantly in mind the fact that he
_will_ call, and that speedily, upon each and all of us; and
that, when he calls, the question will be, How have you used
these? not How much have you hoarded?"
With the new year, he 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 Williams College, which he enters
upon his book with the following memorandum:
"I am so well satisfied with the appropriations 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 dollars. In case any new professorship is
established in the college, I should be gratified to have it
called the Hopkins Professorship, entertaining, as I do, the most
entire confidence and respect for its distinguished President."
Nearly every day, at this period, bears some record of his charities;
and among others was a considerable donation to a Baptist college, in
another State, enclosed to a Baptist clergyman in 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. Lawrence's death, an article appeared in an influential
religious publication giving an estimate of the amount of his
charities, and also stating that his pocket-book had written upon it a
text of Scripture, 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?"
After making diligent search, the editor of this volume, rather to
correct the statement in regard to the amount of his charities than
for any other object, contradicted the assertion, 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 graven
on his heart to require the insertion of the text in the manner
described. Some time afterward, an old pocket-book was found, which
had not probably been in use for many years, but which contained 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 performance of
one's duty in this respect.
If the class of politicians alluded to in the following extract 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, politically, 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 with a frowning
face; the whole heaven is veiled, and the horizon dark and
lowering."
"_May 7._--My venerated mother finished her earthly course last
Friday, with the setting sun, which was emblematic of her end.
She was such a woman as I am thankful to have descended from.
Many interesting circumstances connected with her life, before
and after her marriage (in July, 1777), are worth recording. She
was in her ninetieth year."
(TO HIS SON.)
"April 30
"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
insure 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 temperate 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 Athenæum and our
Institution for Savings, by making it the interest of the Savings
Institution to sell their building to the Athenæum, so that a
handsome and convenient building may be erected while we are
about it. To this end, I have offered to supply the beautiful
temple built for the Washington 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 welfare, 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
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 of industrious
_Thomases_ and _Marthas_,[8] as well as to the young mechanics,
or the youngsters who have had little sums deposited for their
education. All these characters appreciate a kind act as fully as
those who move in a different sphere in the world.
"7 P. M.--I have just learned 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 spare
means for something else."
[8] Names of two faithful domestics.
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 declined, 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 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, disinterestedness, 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 course.
Yours ever,
A. L."
To the agent of a manufactory in which he was largely interested he
writes:
"We must make a good thing out of this establishment, unless you
ruin us by working on Sundays. Nothing but works of necessity
should be done in holy time; and I am a firm believer in the
doctrine that a blessing will more surely follow those exertions
which are made with reference to our religious obligations, than
upon those made without such reference. The more you can impress
your people with a sense of religious obligation, the better they
will serve you."