Chapter XXXVII: Correspondence.--Diary

(FROM LADY BUXTON.)

"NORTHRUPP'S HILL, Sept. 8, 1852.

"MY DEAR FRIEND: Again I have to thank you for your kind
remembrance of me in your note and little book on the abuse of
tobacco, and your sympathy with me in my late deep anxiety,
ending in the removal of my most tenderly beloved and valued
daughter Priscilla. It pleased God to take her to himself on June
18, to the inexpressible loss and grief of myself, and her
husband and children. We surely sorrow with hope; for she had
loved and followed the Lord Jesus from her childhood, and had
known and obeyed the Holy Scriptures, which did make her, under
the influence of the blessed Spirit, wise unto salvation. To her,
to live was Christ, and therefore to die, gain; and we are
thankful, and rejoice for her. Her spirit is with the Lord,
beholding and sharing his glory, and reünited to her dearest
father, brothers, and sisters, and many beloved on earth, in joy
unspeakable. Still, we do and are permitted to mourn. * *

"Priscilla traced the foundation of her illness to the great
exertion she used in revising and altering her father's work on
the remedy for the slave-trade. The stress upon her feelings and
mind was too great for her susceptible nature. I believe it might
be traced further back to her very great efforts to assist her
father in his public business; so that I may say, I have had to
part with the two most beloved, and gifted nearly, I have ever
known, for the cause of God. But the comfort is intense that they
cannot lose the abundant recompense of reward given through mercy
and favor, not for any merits of their own, to those who love and
serve the Lord. I must thank you most warmly again for the
valuable gift of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' When it arrived, it was
unknown in this country; now it is universally read, but sold at
such a cheap rate, in such poor print, that this very beautiful
copy is quite sought after. How wonderfully successful a work it
has proved! I hope your little book upon tobacco may be of use
here. I shall send it to my grandsons at Rugby. I fear you have
been suffering much from bodily illness and infirmity, my dear
friend. I trust your interesting circle about you are all well
and prospering, and enjoying the blessing and presence of the
Saviour. With kindest regards and affection, I am yours very
sincerely,

H. BUXTON."

"_September 23, 1852._--By a singular coincidence, at the same
time I received Lady Buxton's letter, I received one from 'Mrs.
Sunny Side,'[18] from her sick chamber, asking the loan of some
of Miss Edgeworth's works; also a note from Mrs. Stowe, giving me
some information respecting the publication of 'Uncle Tom's
Cabin' in England and Germany; also a letter from our minister in
Portugal; and, three or four hours later, 'Uncle Toby' called,
having spent the day in the Mather School, lecturing on tobacco."

[18] Mrs. Phelps, wife of Professor Phelps, of Andover, and daughter
of Professor Stuart, the authoress of "Sunny Side," "Peep at Number
Five," and other popular works.

From a letter written about this time, an extract is made, which is interesting as showing his system of diet.

"My own wants are next to nothing, as I live on the most simple
food,--crusts and coffee for breakfast; crusts and champagne for
dinner, with never more than three ounces of chicken, or two
ounces of tender beef, without any vegetable, together eight
ounces; coarse wheat-meal crusts, and two or three ounces of
meat, in the twenty-four hours,--beginning hungry, and leaving
off more hungry. I have not sat at table with my family for
fifteen years, nor eaten a full meal during that time, and am now
more hale and hearty than during that whole period."

(TO A LADY IN FLORIDA.)

"BOSTON, Oct. 14, 1852.

"DEAR MRS. ----: Your deeply interesting note reached me within
the last half-hour; and I feel that no time should be lost in my
reply. My life has been protracted beyond all my friends'
expectations, and almost beyond my own hopes; yet I enjoy the
days with all the zest of early youth, and feel myself a spare
hand to do such work as the Master lays out before me. This of
aiding you is one of the things for which I am spared; and I
therefore forward one hundred dollars, which, if you are not
willing to accept, you may use for the benefit of some other
person or persons, at your discretion. Your precious brother has
passed on; and, in God's good time, I hope to see him face to
face, and to receive, through the Beloved, the 'Well done'
promised to such as have used their Lord's trusts as he approves.
I enclose you Lieut. ----'s letter on his return from sea. * * *
*

"I had a charming ride yesterday with my nephew Frank Pierce, and
told him I thought he must occupy the White House the next term,
but that I should go for Scott. Pierce is a fine, spirited
fellow, and will do his duty wherever placed; but Scott will be
my choice for President of the United States. God bless you, my
child, and have you in the hollow of his hand, in these days of
trial.

Your friend,

A. L."

(TO THE HON. JONATHAN PHILLIPS.)

"BOSTON, Oct. 25, 1852.

"TO MY RESPECTED AND HONORED FRIEND: The changing scenes of life
sometimes recall with peculiar freshness the events and feelings
of years long past; and such is the case with me, growing out of
the death of our great New England statesman, who has, for a long
period of years, been looked up to as preaching and teaching the
highest duties of American citizens with a power rarely equalled,
never surpassed. He is now suddenly called to the bar of that
Judge who sees not as man sees, and where mercy, not merit, will
render the cheering 'Well done' to all who have used their trusts
as faithful stewards of their Lord,--the richest prize to be
thought of. Our great man had great virtues, and, doubtless, some
defects; and I pray God that the former may be written in the
hearts of his countrymen, the latter in the sea. Here I begin the
story that comes over my thoughts.

"About forty years ago, walking past your father's house, with my
wife and some of our family friends, on a bright, moonlight
night, we were led to discuss the character of the owner (your
honored father); some of the party wishing they might possess a
small part of the property which would make them happy, others
something else, when my own wish was expressed. It was, that I
might use whatever Providence might allow me to possess as
faithfully as your father used his possessions, and that I should
esteem such a reputation as his a better inheritance for my
children than the highest political honors the country could
bestow. A few years later, I was visiting Stafford Springs with
my wife, and there met you and Mrs. P., and first made your
acquaintance. Still a few years later, I became personally
acquainted with your father by being chosen a Director of the
Massachusetts Bank, he being President. Still later, I became
more intimate with yourself by being a member of the Legislature
with you, when the seceders from Williams College petitioned to
be chartered as Amherst College, which you opposed by the best
speech that was made; and we voted against the separation, and, I
believe, acted together on all the subjects brought up during
that session. Since then, which is about thirty years, I have
been a successful business man, although, for the last twenty
years, I have been a broken machine, that, by all common
experience, should have been cast aside. But I am still moving;
and no period of my life has had more to charm, or has had more
flowers by the wayside, than my every-day life, with all my
privations. The great secret of the enjoyment is, that I am able
to do some further work, as your father's example taught me, when
the question was discussed near forty years ago. Can you wonder,
then, my friend, that I wish our names associated in one of the
best literary institutions in this country; viz., Williams
College? My interest in it seemed to be accidental, but must have
been providential; for we cannot tell, till we reach a better
world, what influence your speech had in directing my especial
attention to the noble head of the college, when I first met him
in a private circle in this city; and, since then, my respect for
his character, my love for him as a man and a brother, has caused
me to feel an interest in his college that I never should have
felt without this personal intercourse. The two hundred young men
there need more teachers; and the college, in view of its wants
has appealed to the public for fifty thousand dollars, to place
it upon an independent footing. * * * * *

"There is money enough for all these good objects; and, if our
worthy citizens can only be made to see that it will be returned
to them four-fold, in the enjoyment of life in the way that never
clogs, it will not be thought presumptuous in me to advise to
such investments. From long observation, I am satisfied that we
do better by being our own executors, than by hoarding large sums
for our descendants. Pardon me for thus writing to you; but
knowing, as I do, that the college has commenced its appeal for
aid, I am sure you will excuse me, whether you contribute to its
aid or not. With great respect, I am, as I have always been,

"Your friend,

AMOS LAWRENCE.

"P. S.--If you wish to talk with me, I shall be rejoiced to say
what I know about the college."

In his diary of the same date, Mr. Lawrence writes:

"6 P. M.--My good old friend has called to see and talk with me,
and a most agreeable conversation we have had. He expressed good
wishes for the college, and will subscribe a thousand dollars at
once, which is a cheering beginning in this city. The interest in
the college will grow here, when people know more about it."

"BOSTON, _Saturday morning, Nov. 13, 1852_.--The circumstances
which have brought me the following letter from my valued friend,
'Honest John Davis,' are these: Many years ago, I learned, from
undoubted sources, that his pecuniary losses, through the agency
of others, had so straitened him as to decide him to take his two
sons from Williams College, which seemed to me a pity; and I
therefore enclosed to him five hundred dollars, with a request
that he would keep his boys in college, and, when his affairs
became right again, that he might pay the same to the college for
some future needy pupils. Two or three years afterwards, he said
he was intending to hand over to the college the five hundred
dollars, which I advised not to do until it was perfectly
convenient for him. The circumstances which now call him out are
very interesting; and, to me, the money seems worth ten times the
amount received in the common business of life. Within ten
minutes after Mr. Davis's letter was read to me, Dr. Peters, the
agent of the college to collect funds for its necessities, called
in to report progress in his work. I immediately handed over the
five hundred dollars from John Davis, with a request that he
would acknowledge its reception to my friend at once."

"WORCESTER, Nov. 12, 1852.

"MY DEAR SIR: I have been in Boston but once since my return from
Washington, and then failed to see you. Nevertheless, you are
seldom absent from our thoughts; you do so much which reminds us
of the duties of life, and fixes in our minds sentiments of
cherished regard and unalterable affection. No one can desire a
more enviable distinction, a more emphatic name, than he whom all
tongues proclaim to be the good man; the man who comprehends his
mission, and, with unvarying steadiness of purpose, fulfils it.
There is such a thing as mental superiority, as elevated station,
as commanding influence, as glory, as honor; and these are
sometimes all centered in the same individual; but, if that
individual has no heart; if humanity is not mixed in his nature;
if he has no ear for the infirmities, the weaknesses, and
sufferings of his fellow-beings,--he is like the massive, coarse
walls of a lofty fortress, having strength, greatness, and power;
but, as a man, he is unfinished. He may have much to excite
surprise or to overawe, but nothing to awaken the finer
sensibilities of our nature, or to win our love. The divine
efflatus has never softened the soul of such a man. The heavenly
attributes of mercy, brotherly love, and charity, have never
touched his heart with sympathy for his race. He forgets that a
fellow-being, however humble, is the work of the same God who
made him, and that the work of the Almighty has a purpose. He
forgets the great command to love our neighbor. He forgets that
all who are stricken down with disease, poverty, affliction, or
suffering, are our neighbors; and that he who ministers to such,
be he Jew or Samaritan, is, in the lofty, scriptural sense, a
neighbor. Neither the hereditary descent of the Levite, nor the
purple of the priest, makes a neighbor; but it is he who binds up
the bleeding wound. This is the act upon which Heaven places its
seal of approval, as pleasing in the sight of him that is
perfect. Where there is an absence of purity of heart or generous
sympathy, the man lacks the most ornate embellishment of
character, that lustrous brightness which is the type of heaven.
To minister to the necessities of the humble and lowly is the
work of God's angels; and the man who follows their example
cannot be far from his Maker. You have the means of doing good;
but have what is greater, and a more marked distinction, the
disposition to do it when and where it is needed. Your heart is
always alive, and your hand untiring. * * * * *

"Some years ago, you did that for me and mine which will command
my gratitude while I live. I needed aid to educate my children;
and you, in a spirit of marked generosity, came unasked to my
relief. I need not say how deeply, how sincerely thankful I was,
that one, upon whom I had no claim, should manifest so generous a
spirit. After a while, times changed somewhat for the better;
and, feeling that I was able to do it, I asked permission to
restore the sum advanced, that you, to whom it belonged, might
have the disposition of it, since it had performed with me the
good that was intended. You kindly gave me leave to hand it over
to the college, but advised me to take my own time, and suit my
convenience. That time has now come; and, as you are again
extending to the college your sustaining arm, and may wish to
take this matter into the account, I herewith enclose a check for
five hundred dollars, with the renewed thanks of myself and my
wife for the great and generous service which you have done us.
We shall, in all respects, have profited greatly by it; and have
no wish to cancel our obligations by this act, but to recognize
them in their fullest extent. I am, most truly and faithfully,

"Your friend and obedient servant,

"JOHN DAVIS."

Some inquiries having been made of Mr. Lawrence respecting the early history of the Bunker Hill Monument, he writes, on the 12th of November, in a short note:

DEAR SON: You may be glad to copy the twelfth section of my will,
executed in 1833. This information is not before the world, but
may be interesting to your children. I could have finished the
monument, sick as I was, at any time before Edmund Dwight's
death, by enlisting with him, who made me the offer, to join a
small number of friends (three Appletons, Robert G. Shaw, and us
three Lawrences), without saying, 'by your leave,' to the
public."

* * * * *

"Surety-ship is a dangerous craft to embark in. Avoid it as you
would a sail-boat with no other fastenings than mere wooden pegs
and cobweb sails."