DONATION TO LAWRENCE ACADEMY.—CORRESPONDENCE WITH R. G. PARKER.—SLEIGH-RIDES.—LETTERS.—AVERSION TO NOTORIETY.—CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.
Mr. Lawrence had always taken a deep interest in the academy at Groton, of which he, with all his brothers and sisters, had been members. The residence of his former master, James Brazer, Esq., with whom he lived when an apprentice, bordered on the academy grounds. It was a large, square, old-fashioned house, and easily convertible to some useful purpose, whenever the growing prosperity of the institution should require it. He accordingly purchased the estate; and, in July, 1846, presented it to the Board of Trustees by a deed, with the following preamble:
"To all persons to whom these presents shall come, I, Amos Lawrence, of the City of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Esquire, send greeting:
"Born and educated in Groton, in the County of Middlesex, in said Commonwealth, and deeply interested in the welfare of that town, and especially of the Lawrence Academy, established in it by my honored father, Samuel Lawrence, and his worthy associates, and grateful for the benefits which his and their descendants have derived from that institution, I am desirous to promote its future prosperity; trusting that those charged with the care and superintendence of it will ever strive zealously and faithfully to maintain it as a nursery of piety and sound learning."
This had been preceded by a donation of two thousand dollars, with smaller gifts, at various dates, of valuable books, a telescope, etc., besides the foundation of several free scholarships. The present prosperity of the academy is, however, mainly due to his brother, William Lawrence, who has been by far its greatest benefactor; having, in 1844, made a donation of ten thousand dollars, followed by another, in 1846, of five thousand, and, finally, by will, bequeathed to it the sum of twenty thousand. The following memoranda are copied from Mr. Lawrence's donation-book:
"August 20, 1847.—I have felt a deep interest in Groton Academy for a long time; and while brother L. was living, and its president, he had it in charge to do what should be best to secure its greatest usefulness, and, while perfecting these plans, he was suddenly taken from this world. Since then, I have kept on doing for it; which makes my outlay for the school about twenty thousand dollars. I had prepared ten thousand dollars more, which brother William has assumed, and has taken the school upon himself, to give it such facilities as will make it a very desirable place for young men to enter to get a good preparation for business or college life."
In an address[10] delivered at the jubilee celebration of the Lawrence Academy, held in Groton, July 12, 1854, the Rev. James Means, a former preceptor of the Institution, thus speaks of the benefactions of the two brothers:
"It was my good fortune, after becoming the preceptor, in 1845, to have frequent intercourse with them in this particular regard,—the interests of the school. I shall never forget the impression made upon my mind by the depth of their feeling, and the strength of their attachment. They were both of them men of business; had been trained to business habits, and would not foolishly throw away the funds which God had intrusted to them as stewards. But it seemed to me then, as the event has proved, that they were willing to go as far as they could see their way clear before them to establish this school on a foundation that never should be shaken.
"There was a singular difference in the character of these two brothers, and there is a similar difference in the results of their benefactions. I have reason personally to know that they conferred frequently and earnestly respecting the parts which they should severally perform in upbuilding this school. There was an emulation; but there was no selfishness, there was no difference of opinion. Both loved the academy, both wished to bless it and make it a blessing; each desired to accommodate the feelings of the other, each was unwilling to interfere with the other, each was ready to do what the other declined. Out of more than forty-five thousand dollars provided for the academy by Mr. William Lawrence, forty thousand still remain in the hands of the trustees for purposes of instruction. Of the library Mr. Amos Lawrence says, in one of his letters: 'I trust it will be second to no other in the country except that of Cambridge, and that the place will become a favorite resort of students of all ages before another fifty years have passed away. When he presented a cabinet of medals, he writes, 'I present them to the Institution in the name of my grandsons, F. W. and A. L., in the hope and expectation of implanting among their early objects of regard this school, so dear to us brothers of the old race, and which was more dear to our honored father, who labored with his hands, and gave from his scanty means, in the beginning, much more in proportion than we are required to do, if we place it at the head of this class of institutions, by furnishing all it can want.'"
At the same celebration, the Hon. John P. Bigelow, president of the day, in his opening address, said:
"Charles Sprague, so loved and so honored as a man and a poet, was an intimate friend of the lamented William and Amos Lawrence. I invited him hither to-day. He cannot come, but sends a minstrel's tribute to their memory, from a harp, which, till now, has been silent for many years.
'These, these no marble columns need:
Their monument is in the deed;
A moral pyramid, to stand
As long as wisdom lights the land.
The granite pillar shall decay,
The chisel's beauty pass away;
But this shall last, in strength sublime,
Unshaken through the storms of time.'"
On July 15, Mr. Lawrence made a considerable donation of books to the Johnson School for girls, accompanied by a note to R. G. Parker, Esq., the Principal, from which the following extract is taken:
"The sleigh-ride comes to me as though daguerreotyped, and I can hardly realize that I am here to enjoy still further the comfort that I then enjoyed. If the pupils of your school at that time were gratified, I was more than satisfied, and feel myself a debtor to your school of this day; and, in asking you to accept, for the use of the five hundred dear girls who attend upon your instruction, such of the books accompanying as you think proper for them, I only pay a debt which I feel to be justly due. The Johnson School is in my own district; and many a time, as I have passed it in my rides, have I enjoyed the appropriate animation and glee they have manifested in their gambols and sports during their intermission, and have felt as though I would gladly be among them to encourage them. Say to them, although personally unknown, I have looked on, and felt as though I wanted to put my hand upon their heads, and give them a word of counsel, encouragement, and my blessing. This is what I am left here for; and, when the Master calls, if I am only well enough prepared to pass examination, and receive the 'Well done' promised to such as are faithful, then I may feel that all things here are less than nothing in comparison to the riches of the future."
The allusion to the sleigh-ride was called forth by a note received from Mr. Parker a day or two before, in which that gentleman writes:
"As you have not the credit of a very good memory, so far as your own good actions are concerned, it will be proper that I should remind you that the occasion to which I refer was the time that the pupils of the Franklin School were about enjoying a sleigh-ride, from which pleasure a large number were excluded. On that occasion, as you were riding by, you were induced to inquire the reason of the exclusion of so many sad little faces; and, on learning that their inability to contribute to the expense of the excursion would cause them to be left behind, you very generously directed that all should be furnished with seats, and a draft made upon you for the additional expense."
To a fondness for children, there seemed to be united in Mr. Lawrence a constant desire to exert an influence upon the youthful mind; and rarely was the opportunity passed over, when, by a word of advice or encouragement, or the gift of an appropriate book, he thought he could effect his object. His person was well known to the boys and girls who passed him in the streets; and, in the winter season, his large, open sleigh might often be seen filled with his youthful friends, whom he had allowed to crowd in to the utmost capacity of his vehicle.
The acquaintances thus made would often, by his invitation, call to see him at his residence, and there would receive a kind notice, joined with such words of encouragement and advice as could not sometimes fail to have a lasting and beneficial influence.
"August 2.—'Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward.'—Luke 16:2.
"How ought this to be sounded in our ears! and how ought we to be influenced by the words! Surely there can be no double meaning here. The words are emphatic, clear, and of vast concern to every man. Let us profit by them while it is day, lest the night overtake us, when we can no longer do the work of the day."
On the 22d of August, Mr. Lawrence sent a cane to Governor Briggs, at Pittsfield, with the following inscription graven upon it:
FROM THE "OLD OAK" OF MOUNT AUBURN:
A Memento of Loved Ones gone before.
A M O S L A W R E N C E T O G E O R G E N. B R I G G S.
1846.
The cane was accompanied by the following note:
"My dear Friend: Your letter of Monday last came, as all your letters do, just right as a comforter through a feeble week; for I have been confined to the house, and unable to speak above a whisper, most of the time, and am still not allowed to talk or work much. The corresponding week of the last year, when our precious R. was your guest, comes over my mind and heart, at all hours of the night and the day, in a manner I need not attempt to describe to you; and it is only distressing when I see the suffering of his dear mother. But we feel that he is now the guest of the Supreme Governor, whose care and kindness takes from him all that can interrupt his perfect happiness through all time; and this surely ought to satisfy us. The good opinion of good men you know how to value, and can therefore judge how much I prize yours. Acting upon the public mind for good as you do, the memorial from the old oak will not be without its use in your instruction and advice to the young, whose special improvement and safety you have so much at heart. The cane is a part of the same branch as that sent to President H., and came to me since noon to-day. Accept it with assurances of continued and increased affection and respect.
Most sincerely yours,
"A. L.""August 28.—Called at —— shop, Washington-street, and there saw a nice-looking boy seventeen or eighteen years old, named T. S., to whom I gave a word of good counsel and encouragement. Shall look after him a little, as I like his manners."
"August 29.—A woman writes a figuring letter, calling herself S. M.; says she is sixty years old; has lost her sons, and wants help; came from New Hampshire. Also, N. T. wants aid to study, or something else. Also, a Mr. F., with a great share of hair on his face, gold ring, and chains, wants to travel for his health; has a wife and child. Those three cases within twenty-four hours are very forbidding."
In a letter of advice to a young gentleman who was a stranger to him, but who through a mutual friend had asked his opinion on a matter of business, he writes, on Sept. 19th:
"Your letter of the 17th is a flattering token of confidence and respect, that I wish were better merited. Such as I am, I am at your service; but there is nothing of me. I have been stricken down within a few days, and am hardly able to stand up. A kind Father keeps me vigilant by striking without notice, and when least expected; and on some one of these occasions I am to close the account of my stewardship, and no matter when, if the accounts are right. I cannot advise you except in one particular: Do with your might what your hands find to do; spend no man's money but your own, and look carefully after little items that tempt you."
The notoriety attendant upon acts of beneficence which Mr. Lawrence instinctively shrunk from, and which so often deters the sensitive from the good acts which, without this penalty, they would gladly perform, was, as has before been stated, a subject of serious annoyance. This is illustrated by the following note, written to Mr. Parker, the Principal of the Johnson School for girls:
"October 2, 1846.
"I hope to send a few volumes to help forward the young guides of the mind and heart of the sons of New England, wherever they may be; for it is the mothers who act upon their sons more than all others. I hope to be felt as long as I am able, to work, and am quite as vain as I ought to be of my name and fame, but am really afraid I shall wear out my welcome if my little paragraphs are printed so frequently in the newspapers. I gave some books last Monday, and saw them acknowledged yesterday in the newspaper, and since have received the letter from the children. Now, my dear sir, I merely want to say, that I hope you will not put me in the newspaper at present; and, when my work is done here, if you have anything to say about me that will not hurt my children and grandchildren, say on."
A few days afterwards, Mr. Lawrence received a letter from the parties to whom the books above alluded to had been sent, inquiring if he could suggest the name of some benevolent individual, to whom application might be made for aid in furthering the objects of the Association. He writes:
"In reply to yours of to-day, I know of no one, but must request that my name be not thrust forward, as though I was to be a byword for my vanity. I want to do good, but am sorry to be published, as in the recent case."
During the autumn of this year, Mr. Lawrence purchased the large building in Mason-street, which had, for many years, been used as the Medical School of Harvard College, with the intention of founding a charitable hospital for children. He had heard of the manner in which such institutions were conducted in France, and believed that a great benefit would be conferred on the poorer classes by caring for their sick children when their own poverty or occupations prevented their giving them that attention which could be secured in an institution of this kind. The great object was to secure the confidence of that class, and to overcome their repugnance to giving up their children to the care of others. The plan had not been tried in this country; though in France, where there exists a much larger and more needy population, the system was completely successful. Although but an experiment, Mr. Lawrence considered the results which might be obtained of sufficient magnitude to warrant the large outlays required. He viewed it not only as a mode of relieving sickness and suffering, but as a means of exercising a humanizing effect upon those who should come directly under its influence, as well as upon that class of persons generally for whose benefit it was designed. His heart was ever open to the cry of suffering; and he was equally ready to relieve it, whether it came from native or foreigner, bond or free. The building which had been purchased for the object, from its internal arrangement, and from its too confined position, was found less suitable than another, in the southerly part of the city, where an open view and ample grounds were more appropriate for the purpose; while there was no cause for that prejudice which, it was found, existed toward the project in the situation first thought of. With characteristic liberality, Mr. Lawrence offered the Medical College, now not required, to the Boston Society of Natural History at the cost, with a subscription from himself of five thousand dollars. The offer was accepted. An effort was made by the Society to raise by subscription the necessary funds; and the result was their possession of the beautiful building since occupied by their various collections in the different departments of natural history. The large house on Washington-street was soon put in complete repair, suitably furnished, provided with physicians and nurses, and opened as the Children's Infirmary, with accommodations for thirty patients. The following spring was marked by a great degree of mortality and suffering among the emigrant passengers, and consequently the beds were soon occupied by whole families of children, who arrived in the greatest state of destitution and misery. Many cases of ship-fever were admitted; so that several of the attendants were attacked by it, and the service became one of considerable danger. Many now living in comfort attribute the preservation of their life to the timely succor then furnished; and, had no other benefits followed, the good bestowed during the few weeks of spring would have compensated for the labor and cost. This institution continued in operation for about eighteen months, during which time some hundreds of patients were provided for. The prejudices of parents, which had been foreseen, were found to exist, but disappeared with the benefits received; and the whole experiment proved conclusively that such an institution may be sustained in this community with vast benefit to a large class of the suffering; and it is hoped that it may one day lead to an establishment of the kind on a larger scale, and with a more extensive organization and means of usefulness. In this experiment, it was found, from the limited number of beds, that the cost of each patient was much greater than if four times the number had been provided for, and so large that Mr. Lawrence decided that the same amount of money could be made to afford relief to much larger numbers of the same class of sufferers applied in some other way. He was a constant visitor at the Infirmary, and took a deep interest in many of the patients, whose varied history had been recited to him; and in after years, as he passed through the streets, many an eye would brighten as it caught a glimpse of the kind friend who had whispered words of consolation and hope in the lonely hours of sickness.