AMIN BEY.—AMOUNT OF DONATIONS TO WILLIAMS COLLEGE.

In November, 1850, Amin Bey, Envoy from the Sultan of Turkey to the United States, visited Boston. Among other attentions, Mr. Lawrence accompanied him on a visit to the Female Orphan Asylum, then containing about one hundred inmates; and the pleasant intercourse was continued by a visit of the minister at Mr. Lawrence's house.

The following note accompanied a number of volumes relating to Boston and its vicinity:

(TO HIS EXCELLENCY AMIN BEY.)

"My Brother: The manifest pleasure you felt in visiting our Female Orphan Asylum yesterday has left a sunbeam on my path, that will illumine my journey to our Father's house. When we meet there, may the joy of that reünion you hope for with the loved ones in your own country be yours and mine, and all the good of all the world be our companions for all time! With the highest respect, believe me your friend,

A. L."

(TO PRESIDENT HOPKINS.)

"Boston, November 11, 1850.

"My dear Friend: My brief letter of introduction by my young friend S., and your answer to it, which I mislaid or lost soon after it came, has made me feel a wish to write every day since the first week after I received yours. S. made me out better than I was when he saw me. I could walk across the rooms, get down and up stairs without much aid, and bear my weight on each foot; having strength in my ankle-bones that enabled me to enter the temple walking, not leaping, but praising God. If ever I am able to walk so far as around the Common, what gratitude to God should I feel to take your arm as my support! I am frequently admonished by faint turns that I am merely a 'minute-man,' liable to be called for at any moment. Only a few days since, I had a charming call from Amin Bey and suite, whom I received in my parlors below, where were some friends to meet him. All seemed interested, and Amin as much so as a Turk ever does. When he left us, I went with him to the door, saw him out and in his carriage, turned to open the inner entry-door, became faint just as M. was leaving the party, and leaned on her to get into the parlor. I was laid on the sofa, insensible for a short time, but, by labor, abstinence, and great care, for two or three days, have got upon my high horse again, and rode with N. to make calls upon the good people of Cambridge. After dinner, when I awoke, I tried to go about my work, but was called off again, and, from that time to this, have been up a little, and then down a little; thus asking me, with angels' voices, Why are you left here? The answer is plain: You have more work to do. Pray, my dear friend, for me to be faithful while my powers are left with me. The reports of and from your college make me feel that my labors in helping it to get on its legs have been repaid four-fold. I am its debtor, and 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 what progress is making. When I leave off writing, I shall ride to the office in Court-square, and deposit my Whig vote for Governor 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 will settle the question by starting it, our great men to the contrary notwithstanding."

In the above letter Mr. Lawrence speaks of the gratification 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 sermon commemorative of the donor, delivered at the request of the students, on February 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 dollars. This sum was given by Mr. Lawrence, who was applied to by a friend of the college; and this, it is believed, 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 from 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 father 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, embarrassed 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 hardly 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 dollars. This put the college out of debt, and added two or three thousand dollars 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 character, 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, and was a beginning in what it had long been felt must, sooner or later, be undertaken,—the securing of an available 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 anything. Nothing occurred to me at the time, and I replied 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 hundred 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 subsequently 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 first 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 library with costly books, of the expense of which I know nothing. Almost everything we have in the form of art was given by him. In December, 1845, I received a letter from him, dated the 22d, or 'Forefathers' Day,' which 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 memorial 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 source 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 unsolicited, and that he—and, I may add, his family—should have continued to find in it so much 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."


[CHAPTER XXXIII.]