SKETCH OF CHARACTER BY REV. DRS. LOTHROP AND HOPKINS.
The correspondence in the preceding pages will, perhaps, give a
clearer view of the character of Mr. Lawrence than anything which can
be adduced by others. It may not be amiss, however, to quote what has
been written by two of his most intimate friends, who had the most
ample means of forming a just estimate of the man, and of the motives
by which he was actuated. Dr. Lothrop, in his sermon preached on the
Sunday after the funeral, says:
"I have intimated that Mr. Lawrence was intellectually great. I
think he was so. By this, I do not mean he was a scholar or
learned man, with a mind developed and disciplined by severe
training, and enlarged and enriched by varied culture in the
various departments of human thought and study. This, we know, he
was not; although he was a man of considerable reading, who loved
and appreciated the best books in English literature. But I mean
that he was a man of great native vigor of intellect, whose mind
was clear, strong, comprehensive in its grasp, penetrating,
far-reaching in its observation, discerning and discriminating in
its judgments, sagacious in its conclusions; a mind, which, if
enriched by the requisite culture, and directed to such objects,
would have made him eminent in any of the walks of literary or
professional life, as, without that culture, it did make him
eminent in those walks of practical, commercial life to which he
did direct it. I mention this, not to dwell upon it, but simply
because some who have known him little, and that only since
disease had somewhat sapped his strength, may not do him justice
in this respect. Those who remember his early manhood; who saw
the strong, bold, and vigorous tread with which he walked forward
to his rightful place among the merchants of the city; those who
remember the sagacity of his enterprises, his quick and accurate
discernment of character, and the commanding influence he
exercised over others; the ease and rapidity with which he
managed the concerns of a large commercial establishment, and
decided and despatched the most important commercial
negotiation,--these will be ready to admit that he was
intellectually a strong man. To the last this vigor of intellect
showed itself; if not always in his conversation, yet always in
his letters, many of which will be found to have a force of
thought, a fulness of wisdom and sound judgment, a terse,
epigrammatic comprehensiveness of expression, of which no man,
however distinguished by his learning and scholarship, would have
need to be ashamed. The merchants of this city have ever been
distinguished, I believe, for their integrity and benevolence.
Nowhere is wealth acquired by a more honest and healthy activity;
nowhere is a larger portion of it devoted to all the objects
which a wise philanthropy, an extended patriotism, and a tender
Christian sympathy, would foster and promote. Mr. Lawrence was
conspicuous for these qualities. His integrity, I may venture to
say, stands absolutely unimpeached, without spot or blemish. His
history, as a merchant, from first to last, will bear the
strictest scrutiny. Its minutest incidents, which have faded from
the memory of those concerned; its most secret acts, those of
which no human eye could take knowledge,--might all be brought
into the light before us; and like those, I trust, of many of his
fraternity, they would seem only to illustrate the purity and
integrity of his principles, the conscientious regard to truth
and right and justice with which he conducted all the
negotiations of business, and all the affairs of his life. He
seemed ever to me to have a reverence for right, unalloyed,
unfaltering, supreme; a moral perception and a moral sensibility,
which kept him from deviating a hair's breadth from what he saw
and felt to be his duty. It was this that constituted the
strength of his character, and was one of the great secrets of
his success. It was this that secured him, when a young man, the
entire confidence, and an almost unlimited use of capital, of
some of the wealthiest and best men of that day. * * * * *
"The prominent feature in Mr. Lawrence's life and character, 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 promised Messiah
and Saviour of the world; and therefore found peace and strength
to his soul, amid all the perils, duties, and sorrows of life. *
* * * *
"There was nothing narrow or sectarian about Mr. Lawrence's
religious opinions or feelings. He had a large, catholic spirit,
which embraced within the arms of its love, and of its pecuniary
bounty also when needed, all denominations of Christians; and it
is to be hoped that the influence of his example and character
has done something, and will continue to do more, to rebuke that
bigotry which 'makes its own light the measure of another's
illumination.' He took no pleasure in religious disputes or
discussions. The practical in Christianity was what interested
him. His great aim was to illustrate his faith by his daily
walk, and authenticate his creed by a life of practical
usefulness, constant benevolence, and cheerful piety. This aim he
successfully accomplished, to the conviction of persons of all
creeds and of every name. These will all give him a name in the
church universal; will all admit that he was a noble specimen of
a true Christian,--a loving and believing disciple, who had the
very spirit of his Master. That spirit pervaded his daily life,
and formed the moral atmosphere in which he lived and breathed.
It quickened in him all holy, devout, and pious affections; gave
him a profound reverence, a cheerful submission, a bright and
glorious hope,--a hope that crowned every hour with gladness,
robbed death of all terrors, and, in _his_ soul, brought heaven
down to earth."
The following extracts are taken from the sermon, by President
Hopkins, before the students of Williams College,--a sermon from which
extracts have been already made:
"Having thus spoken of the use of his property by Mr. Lawrence, I
observe that it was distinguished by the three characteristics
which seem to me essential to the most perfect accomplishment of
the ends of benevolence, and that in two of these he was
preëminent.
"The first of these is, that he gave the money in his life-time.
No man, I presume, has lived on this continent who has
approximated him in the amount thus given; and in this course
there are principles involved which deserve the careful attention
of those who would act conscientiously, and with the highest
wisdom. There may doubtless be good reasons why property destined
for benevolent uses should be retained till death, and he is
justly honored who then gives it a wise direction; but giving
thus cannot furnish either the same test or discipline of
character, or the same enjoyment, nor can it always accomplish
the same ends. By his course, Mr. Lawrence put his money to its
true work long before it could have done anything on the
principle of accumulation; and to a work, too, to which it never
could have been put in any other way. He made it sure, also, that
that work should be done; and had the pleasure of seeing its
results, and of knowing that through it he became the object of
gratitude and affection. So doing, he showed that he stood
completely above that tendency to accumulate which seems to form
the chief end of most successful business men; and which, unless
strongly counteracted, narrows itself into avarice, as old age
comes on, almost with the certainty of a natural law. He did
stand completely above this. No one could know him, without
perceiving, that, in his giving, there was no remnant of grudging
or reluctance; that he gave, not only freely, but with gladness,
as if it were the appropriate action of a vital energy. And in so
doing, and in witnessing the results, and in the atmosphere of
sympathy and love thus created, there was a test and a discipline
and an enjoyment, as well as a benefit to others, that could have
been reached in no other way.
"The second peculiarity in the bounty of Mr. Lawrence, and in
which he was preëminent, was the personal attention and sympathy
which he bestowed with it. He had in his house a room where he
kept stores of useful articles for distribution. _He_ made up the
bundle; _he_ directed the package. No detail was overlooked. He
remembered the children, and designated for each the toy, the
book, the elegant gift. He thought of every want, and was
ingenious and happy in devising appropriate gifts. In this
attention to the minutest token of regard, while, at the same
time, he could give away thousands like a prince, I have known no
one like him. And, if the gift was appropriate, the manner of
giving was not less so. There was in this the nicest appreciation
of the feelings of others, and an intuitive perception of
delicacy and propriety. These were the characteristics that gave
him a hold upon the hearts of many, and made his death really
felt as that of few other men in Boston could have been. In this,
we find not a little of the utility, and much of the beauty, of
charity. Even in his human life, man does not live by bread
alone, but by sympathy and the play of reciprocal affection, and
is often more touched by the kindness than by the relief. Only
this sympathy it is that can establish the right relation between
the rich and the poor; and the necessity for this can be
superseded by no legal provision. This only can neutralize the
repellent and aggressive tendencies of individuals and of
classes, and make society a brotherhood, where the various
inequalities shall work out moral good, and where acts of mutual
kindness and helpfulness may pass and repass, as upon a golden
chain, during a brief pilgrimage and scene of probation. It is a
great and a good thing for a rich man to set the stream of
charity in motion, to employ an agent, to send a check, to found
an asylum, to endow a professorship, to open a fountain that
shall flow for ages; but it is as different from sympathy with
present suffering, and the relief of immediate want, as the
building of a dam to turn a factory by one great sluiceway is
from the irrigation of the fields. By Mr. Lawrence both were
done.
"The third characteristic referred to of the bounty of Mr.
Lawrence was, that he gave as a Christian man,--from a sense of
religious obligation. Not that all his gifts had a religious
aspect: he gave gifts of friendship and of affection. There was a
large enclosure, where the affections walked foremost, and where,
though they asked leave of Duty, they yet received no prompting
from her. Whether he always drew this line rightly; whether, in
the measure and direction of his charities, he was always right;
whether so much of diffusion and individuality was wise,--it is
not for me to say. Certain it is, that this form of charity holds
a place in the church now less prominent relatively than it did
in the early ages; and it may be that the proportions of
Christian character, in portions of the church, need to be
remodelled and recast in this respect. These are questions for
each individual. It is sufficient to know that Mr. Lawrence
looked the great doctrine of stewardship full in the face, and
prayed earnestly over it, and responded to it practically, as few
have done. * * * *
"Undoubtedly, he was a man of great original powers. On this
point, I have had but one opinion since knowing him. His mind was
not speculative, discursive, metaphysical: but, in the high moral
qualities; in decision and energy; in intuitive perception, and
sound, practical judgment; in the sensibility and affections, and
in the imagination,--he was great. Like all remarkable men who
are not one-sided, he had large faculties, which found their
harmony in their conflict, or rather in their balance. He was
quick and tender in his feelings, yet firm; ardent in his
affections, yet judicious; large in his gifts, yet
discriminating; he was a keen observer, yet kind in his feelings;
he had a fertile and shaping imagination: he built air-castles,
and they vanished, and then he built others; but, when he decided
to build anything on the ground, it was well-planned and promptly
finished. His tastes were natural and simple, his habits plain,
and his feelings always fresh, genuine, and youthful. Not even
the smell of the fire of prosperity had passed on him. He shunned
notoriety. He had a strong repugnance to all affectation and
pretence and misplaced finery. A young man with rings on his
fingers had small chance of favor or employment from him. He was
impatient of talk when action was called for, and of all
attempts to substitute talk for action. His command over the
English language, especially in writing, indicated his power.
Style is no mechanical product, that can be formed by rules, but
is the outgrowth and image of the mind; and his had often great
felicity and strength. When he wrote under the impulse of his
feelings, he seemed to impregnate the very paper, and make it
redolent of them. He loved nature; and, instead of becoming
insensible to it as years came on, it seemed rather to open upon
him like a new revelation. It was full of life and of teaching,
and the charms of natural beauty were heightened by those
associations which his quick imagination connected with its
objects and scenes. After the death of two of his children, he
says: 'Dear S. and R. speak in words without sound through every
breeze, and in every flower, and in the fragrance of every
perfume from the fields or the trees.' Years ago, after a long
confinement, with little hope of recovery, he visited, when first
able to get out, the Panorama of Jerusalem, then on exhibition in
Boston, and remained there till the scene took full possession of
his mind. Shortly after, on a fine day, he rode out to Brookline;
and, as returning health threw over those hills a mantle of
beauty that he had never seen before, they were immediately
associated in his mind with the Panorama of Jerusalem, and then
with the glories of the Jerusalem above. This association was
indissoluble, and he would take his friends out to see his 'Mount
Zion.' In 1850, he says, 'It really seems to me like the sides of
Mount Zion, and that I can cling to them as I view them.' * * * *
*
"He was a deeply religious man. His trust in God, and his hope of
salvation through Christ, were the basis of his character. He
believed in the providence of God as concerned in all events, and
as discriminating and retributive in this world. He felt that he
could trust God in his providence, where he could not see. 'The
events of my life,' he writes, 'have been so far ordered in a way
to make me feel that I know nothing at the time, except that a
Father rules; and his discipline, however severe, is never more
so than is required.' He believed in the Bible, and saw rightly
its relation to all our blessings. 'What,' he writes again,
'should we do, if the Bible were not the foundation of our
self-government? and what will become of us, when we wilfully and
wickedly past it behind us?' He read the Bible morning and
evening in his family, and prayed with them; and it may aid those
who are acquainted with the prayers of Thornton, in forming a
conception of his religious character, to know that he used them.
Family religion he esteemed as above all price; and, when he
first learned that a beloved relative had established family
worship, he wept for joy. He distributed religious books very
extensively, chiefly those of the American Tract Society, and of
the American Sunday School Union. * * * * Of creeds held in the
understanding, but not influencing the life, he thought little;
and the tendency of his mind was to practical rather than
doctrinal views. He believed in our Lord Jesus Christ as a
Saviour, and trusted in him for salvation. He was a man of
habitual prayer. The last time I visited him, he said to me, that
he had been restless during the night, and that the only way in
which he could 'get quieted was by getting near to God,' and that
he went to sleep repeating a prayer. During the same visit, he
spoke strongly of his readiness, and even of his desire, to
depart. He viewed death with tranquillity and hope and
preparation, for it was habitual with him. What need I say more?
At midnight the summons came, and his work was done."