"The secret of the whole matter was, that we had formed the habit of promptly acting, thus taking the top of the tide; while the habit of some others was to delay until about half-tide, thus getting on the flats; while we were all the time prepared for action, and ready to put into any port that promised well. I wish, by all these remarks, to impress upon you the necessity of qualifying yourself to support yourself. The best education that I can secure shall be yours, and such facilities for usefulness as may be in my power shall be rendered; but no food to pamper idleness or wickedness will I ever supply willingly to any connection, however near. I trust I have none who will ever misuse so basely anything that may come to them as a blessing. This letter, you may think, has an undue proportion of advice. 'Line upon line, precept upon precept,' is recommended by one wiser than I am."
(TO HIS DAUGHTER.)
"Sunday morn.
"My dear Daughter: In the quiet of this morning, my mind naturally rests on those objects nearest and dearest to me; and you, my child, are among the first.
"The family are all at church, but the weather is not such as to permit my going; and the season by them employed in the service of the sanctuary will by me be employed in communicating with you.
"You have now arrived at an age when the mind and heart are most susceptible of impressions for weal or woe; and the direction which may be given to them is what no parent can view with indifference, or pass over without incurring the guilt of being unfaithful in his duties. My earnest desire for you is, that you may fully appreciate your opportunities and responsibilities, and so use them that you may acquire a reasonable hope that you may secure the object for which we are placed here. The probation is short, but long enough to do all that is required of us, if faithfully used; the consequences are never-ending.
"These simple views are such as any child of your age can comprehend, and should be made as familiar to your mind as the every-day duties of life. If the mind, from early days, be thus accustomed to look upon life as a school of preparation for higher services, then the changes and adversities to which we are all liable can only be viewed as necessary discipline to fit us for those higher services, and as such be considered as applied for our good, however painful they may seem at first. There is no truth better settled than this: that all the discipline of our heavenly Parent, if rightly used, will eventuate in our good. How, then, can we murmur and repine at his dealings with us? This conduct only shows our weakness and folly, and illustrates the better care of us than we should take of ourselves.
"We are in the condition of the sick man, who sometimes craves that which, if given him by his friend, would cause his certain death; but he is not aware at the time that it is withheld for his good. The importance, then, of cultivating a right understanding of the things of which our duties and our happiness are composed, is second to no object which can employ the mind; for, with this knowledge, we must suppose that no one can be so lost to his own interest as not to feel that in the performance of these duties is to result the possession of those riches which are promised to the faithful by our Father in heaven, through the Son of his love. In the preparation which awaits you, do not stop at the things which are seen, but look to those which are unseen. These views, perhaps, may be profitably pondered long after I have been gathered to my fathers.
"The tenure of my life seems very frail; still it may continue longer than the lives of my children; but, whenever it shall please God to call me hence, I hope to feel resigned to his will, and to leave behind me such an influence as shall help forward the timid and faint-hearted in the path of duty; and particularly on you, my child, do I urge these views. They debar you from no real or reasonable pleasure; they speak to you, in strong language, to enjoy all those blessings which a bountiful Parent has scattered in your path with unsparing plenty, and admonish you that to enjoy is not to abuse them; when abused, they cease to be enjoyed."
[CHAPTER XVI.]
DAILY EXERCISE.—REGIMEN.—IMPROVING HEALTH.—LETTERS.
During the summer and autumn of 1832, Mr. Lawrence's health and strength were so much improved, that he was enabled to take exercise on horseback; and almost daily he took long rides, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, about the environs of the city. This habit he was enabled to continue, with some intermissions, for two or three years, through summer and winter. The effect of the exercise amidst the beautiful scenery of the environs of Boston, of which he was an enthusiastic admirer, was most beneficial to his health, and, it is believed, was a great means of prolonging his life. Whenever he could do so, he secured the company of a friend, and kept a horse expressly for the purpose. As the ride was taken in the morning, when his business acquaintances were occupied, his most usual companion was some one of the city clergy, whom he secured for the occasion, or one of his sons. No denominational distinctions seemed to regulate his choice on these occasions. His own beloved pastor and friend, the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, Rev. Drs. Stone and Greenwood, and Father Taylor, the seamen's chaplain, were often his companions. Occasionally a stray merchant or lawyer was engaged; and, as was sometimes the case where they had not been much accustomed to the exercise, a long trot of many miles in the sun, or in the face of a keen winter north-wester, would severely tax their own strength, while they wondered how so frail a figure as that of Mr. Lawrence could possess so much endurance. With all this apparent energy and strength, he was extremely liable to illness, which would come when least expected, and confine him for days to his house. An item of bad news, some annoying incident, a little anxiety, or a slight cold, would, as it were, paralyze his digestive functions, and reduce his strength to the lowest point. It was this extreme sensitiveness which unfitted him to engage in the general current of business, and which compelled him to keep aloof from participation in commercial affairs, and to adopt that peculiar system in diet and living which he adhered to for the remainder of his life. This system limited him to the use of certain kinds of food, which, from time to time, was slightly modified, as was thought expedient. This food was of the most simple kind, and was taken in small quantities, after being weighed in a balance, which always stood before him upon his writing-table. To secure perfect quiet during his meals, and also that he might not be tempted to overstep the bounds of prudence, a certain amount was sent to him in his chamber, from which he took what was allowed. The amount of liquid was also weighed; and so rigid was he in this system of diet, that, for the last sixteen years of his life, he sat down at no meal with his family. The amount of food taken varied, of course, with his strength and condition. In a letter to his friend, President Hopkins, of Williams College, he says:
"If your young folks want to know the meaning of epicureanism, tell them to take some, bits of coarse bread (one ounce and a little more), soak them in three gills of coarse-meal gruel, and make their dinner of them and nothing else; beginning very hungry, and leaving off more hungry. The food is delicious, and such as no modern epicureanism can equal."
For a considerable period, he kept a regular diet-table, in which he noted down the quantity of solid and liquid food taken during the twenty-four hours. One of his memorandum-books, labelled "Record of Diet and Discipline for 1839 and 1840," contains accurate records of this sort.
In October, 1832, in writing to his son in the country, he alludes to this improvement in his health and strength: