JOURNEY TO CANADA.—LETTERS.—DIARY.—CHARITIES.
Mr. Lawrence, with a large party, left Boston on the 13th of June, and passed through Vermont, across the Green Mountains, to Montreal and Quebec. Compared with these days of railroad facilities, the journey was slow. It was performed very leisurely in hired private vehicles, and seems to have been much enjoyed. He gives a glowing account of the beauty of the country through which he passed, as well as his impressions of the condition of the population.
From Quebec the party proceeded to Niagara Falls, and returned through the State of New York to Boston, "greatly improved in health and spirits." This, with one other visit to Canada several years before, was the only occasion on which Mr. Lawrence ever left the territory of the United States; for, though sometimes tempted, in after years, to visit the Old World, his occupations and long-continued feeble health prevented his doing so.
(TO HIS SON.)
"July 27.
"If, in an endeavor to do right, we fall short, we shall still be in the way of duty; and that is first to be looked at. We must keep in mind that we are to render an account of the use of those talents which are committed to us; and we are to be judged by unerring Wisdom, which can distinguish all the motives of action, as well as weigh the actions. As our stewardship has been faithful or otherwise, will be the sentence pronounced upon us. Give this your best thoughts, for it is a consideration of vast importance."
"August 27.
"Bring home no foreign fancies which are inapplicable to our state of society. It is very common for our young men to come home and appear quite ridiculous in attempting to introduce their foreign fashions. It should be always kept in mind that the state of society is widely different here from that in Europe; and our comfort and character require it should long remain so. Those who strive to introduce many of the European habits and fashions, by displacing our own, do a serious injury to the republic, and deserve censure. An idle person, with good powers of mind, becomes torpid and inactive after a few years of indulgence, and is incapable of making any high effort; highly important it is, then, to avoid this enemy of mental and moral improvement. I have no wish that you pursue trade. I would rather see you on a farm, or studying any profession."
"October 16.
"It should always be your aim so to conduct yourself that those whom you value most in the world would approve your conduct, if all your actions were laid bare to their inspection; and thus you will be pretty sure that He who sees the motive of all our actions will accept the good designed, though it fall short in its accomplishment. You are young, and are placed in a situation of great peril, and are perhaps sometimes tempted to do things which you would not do if you knew yourself under the eye of your guardian. The blandishments of a beautiful city may lead you to forget that you are always surrounded, supported, and seen, by that best Guardian."
"December 27.
"I suppose Christmas is observed with great pomp in France. It is a day which our Puritan forefathers, in their separation from the Church of England, endeavored to blot out from the days of religious festivals; and this because it was observed with so much pomp by the Romish Church. In this, as well as in many other things, they were as unreasonable as though they had said they would not eat bread because the Roman Catholics do. I hope and trust the time is not far distant when Christmas will be observed by the descendants of the Puritans with all suitable respect, as the first and highest holiday of Christians; combining all the feelings and views of New England Thanksgiving with all the other feelings appropriate to it."
"January 31, 1830.
"You have seen, perhaps, that the Directors of the Bunker Hill Monument Association have applied to the Legislature for a lottery. I am extremely sorry for it. I opposed the measure in all its stages, and feel mortified that they have done so. They cannot get it, and I desire that General Lafayette may understand this; and, if he will write us a few lines during the coming year, it will help us in getting forward a subscription. When our citizens shall have had one year of successful business, they will be ready to give the means to finish the monument. My feelings are deeply interested in it, believing it highly valuable as a nucleus for the affections of the people in after time; and, if my life be spared and my success continue, I will never cease my efforts until it be completed."
Further details will be given in this volume to show now nobly Mr. Lawrence persevered in the resolution thus deliberately formed; and, though he was destined to witness many fruitless efforts, he had the satisfaction at last of seeing the completion of the monument, and from its summit of pointing out the details of the battle to the son of one of the British generals in command[2] on that eventful day.
On the same page with the estimate of his property for the year 1830, he writes:
"With a view to know the amount of my expenditures for objects other than the support of my family, I have, for the year 1829, kept a particular account of such other expenses as come under the denomination of charities, and appropriations for the benefit of others not of my own household, for many of whom I feel under the same obligation as for my own family."
This memorandum was commenced on the 1st of January, 1829, and is continued until December 30, 1852, the last day of his life. It contains a complete statement of his charities during that whole period, including not only what he contributed in money, but also all other donations, in the shape of clothing materials, books, provisions, &c. His custom was to note down at cost the value of the donation, after it had been despatched; whether in the shape of a book, a turkey, or one of his immense bundles of varieties to some poor country minister's family, as large, as he says in addressing one, "as a small haycock." Two rooms in his house, and sometimes three, were used principally for the reception of useful articles for distribution. There, when stormy weather or ill health prevented him from taking his usual drive, he was in the habit of passing hours in selecting and packing up articles which he considered suitable to the wants of those whom he wished to aid. On such days, his coachman's services were put in requisition to pack and tie up "the small haycocks;" and many an illness was the result of over-exertion and fatigue in supplying the wants of his poorer brethren. These packages were selected according to the wants of the recipients, and a memorandum made of the contents. In one case, he notifies Professor ——, of —— College, that he has sent by railroad "a barrel and a bundle of books, with broadcloth and pantaloon stuffs, with odds and ends for poor students when they go out to keep school in the winter." Another, for the president of a college at the West, one piece of silk and worsted, for three dresses; one piece of plaid, for "M. and mamma;" a lot of pretty books; a piece of lignum-vitæ from the Navy Yard, as a text for the support of the navy; and various items for the children: value, twenty-five dollars.
To a professor in a college in a remote region he sends a package containing "dressing-gown, vest, hat, slippers, jack-knife, scissors, pins, neck-handkerchiefs, pantaloons, cloth for coat, 'History of Groton,' lot of pamphlets," &c.
Most of the packages forwarded contained substantial articles for domestic use, and were often accompanied by a note containing from five to fifty dollars in money.
The distribution of books was another mode of usefulness to which Mr. Lawrence attached much importance.
In his daily drives, his carriage was well stored with useful volumes, which he scattered among persons of all classes and ages as he had opportunity.
These books were generally of a religious character, while others of a miscellaneous nature were purchased in large numbers, and sent to institutions, or individuals in remote parts of the country.
He purchased largely the very useful as well as tasteful volumes of the American Tract Society and the Sunday-School Union. An agent of the latter society writes: "I had almost felt intimately acquainted with him, as nearly every pleasant day he visited the depository to fill the front seat of his coach with books for distribution."
Old and young, rich and poor, shared equally in these distributions; and he rarely allowed an occasion to pass unimproved when he thought an influence could be exerted by the gift of an appropriate volume.
While waiting one day in his carriage with a friend, in one of the principal thoroughfares of the city, he beckoned to a genteelly-dressed young man who was passing, and handed him a book. Upon being asked whether the young man was an acquaintance, he replied:
"No, he is not; but you remember where it is written, 'Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.'"
"A barrel of books" is no uncommon item found in his record of articles almost daily forwarded to one and another of his distant beneficiaries.