"I am busy these days, but have no very important duties, except riding with the ministers and the young ladies."
Again, a few days later:
"I am completely on one side, while I appear to be quite busy in putting in an oar now and then."
To his daughter, on her eighteenth birth-day, he writes:
"Boston, May 23, 1835.
"My dear S.: You have been much in my mind to-day, and now that I am sitting alone this evening, I place myself at your writing-desk to communicate with you, and thus impart some portion of those feelings of interest and affection which a return of this day brings more strongly into play. Eighteen years of your life are now passed, and the events of this period have been deeply interesting to me, and have made such impressions on you, and have left such marks of progress, I hope, in the divine life, as will insure your onward and upward course, until you shall join that dear one whose home has been in heaven for nearly the whole period of your life. When I look upon you, or think of your appearance, the image of your mother is before me, and then I feel that deep solicitude that your mind and heart may be imbued with those heavenly influences that gave a grace and charm to all she did.
"There is no substitute for those traits, and you may feel entire confidence that a practical use of them in prosperity will prove the best security against the changes which adversity brings about. If I were to select for you the richest portion which a fond father could choose, it would be that you might have a mind and a heart to perform all those duties which your station and condition in life require, upon the true Christian principle of using your one or more talents, and thus, at the day of account, receive the cheering sound of the Master's voice.
"What treasure will compare with this? The charms of life are captivating to the imagination, but there are none more calculated to add to our joys here than elevated Christian principles, however they may be branded by the mere worldling as 'cold, unsocial,' and the like. You see how important it is to form a just estimate of the value of these different objects. When a mistake is made here, the consequences may be never-ending. Our danger is in cheating ourselves, by leaving undone those things our conscience tells us we ought to do, and doing others that it tells us we ought not to do.
"I have thought, for some time past, my dear child, that your mind was laboring under the influence of religious truth, and I have been made most comfortable in this belief. "Cultivate those feelings, and study to make your example good to others, as well as safe for yourself. Our time here is short, but it is long enough to accomplish the work we are sent to perform, and the consequences will be on our own heads if we omit or neglect to do it."
(TO THE SAME.)
"Groton, August 9, 1835.
"Dear S.: I have been talking with your grandmother, for the last hour, upon the events of her early days, and I feel (as I always do when I contrast our present condition with the past) that we, as a whole people, and as individuals, have more reasons for gratitude and obedience to our heavenly Father than have ever before been placed before any people; and it seems to me we are more likely to disregard them than any other people I have any knowledge of. The fact is, we are so prosperous that we seem to forget the source of our prosperity, and take it as a matter of course that the character and conduct of a people cannot influence their condition. We are ready to say of an individual when he has been reckless and extravagant, that he has brought destruction on himself. Why, then, may not a whole people be judged by the same standard? Our great danger arises from false principles. We never act above the standard we adopt; and if our standard be so low as to authorize the gratification of the basest passions, how natural that our tastes become conformed to this standard!
"These reflections arose in my mind by hearing from my mother the stories of the 'times that tried men's souls;' how she was separated from her husband immediately after her marriage, when he joined the army in Rhode Island; how, after a battle, his mother said to her 'she did not know but Sam was killed;' how she fell instantly upon the floor, and how, within a day or two, after a separation of eight months, she was rejoiced to see her husband safe and sound (although at the time alluded to he had been in great peril, having been saved from captivity by the desperate efforts of a company of blacks, and by the fleetness and force of his fine charger); and how, by confidence in the justness of the cause and the aid of the Almighty, they trusted they should get through the contest, and be permitted to enjoy the fruits of their own labor in their own way. And now, what proportion of the people do you suppose refer to the aid of the Almighty, or to his justice or judgment as a motive to their actions, or how far does his fear or his love influence their conduct? These questions are more easily asked than answered; but they fill the mind with mournful forebodings of the necessary consequences to any people of forgetting God and departing from his love. You and I, and every individual, have it in our power to keep off in some degree this fatal consummation. Let us, therefore, examine well ourselves, and strive to be numbered among those faithful stewards who, at their Master's coming, shall be placed among the happy company who enter the joy of their Lord.
"This morning is one of those delightful quiet Sabbaths that seem to be like the rest of the saints above. We are all soon to be on our way to public worship. * * * *
(TO HIS MOTHER.)
"Aug. 16, 1835.
"My dear and honored Mother: My mind turns back to you almost as frequently as its powers are brought into separate action, and always with an interest that animates and quickens my pulse; for, under God, it is by your good influence and teachings that I am prepared to enjoy those blessings which he has so richly scattered in my path in all my onward progress in life. How could it be otherwise than that your image should be with me, unless I should prove wholly unworthy of you? Your journey is so much of it performed, that those objects which interested you greatly in its early stages have lost their charms; and well it is that they have; for they now would prove clogs in the way and it is to your children, to your Saviour, and your God, that your mind and heart now turn as the natural sources of pleasure. Each of these, I trust, in their proper place and degree, supply all your wants. The cheering promise that has encouraged you when your powers were the highest, will not fail you when the weight of years and infirmities have made it more necessary to your comfort to get over the few remaining spans of the journey. To God I commend you; and pray him to make the path light, and your way confiding and joyful, until you shall reach that home prepared for the faithful."
In a letter to his sister, dated Oct. 25, he further alludes to his mother, as follows
"My thoughts this morning have been much engaged with my early home. I conclude it best to embody them in part, and send them forward to add (if they may) a token of gratitude and thankfulness to that dear one who is left to us, for her care of our early days, and her Christian instruction and example to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; each generation of whom, I trust, will be made better in some of its members by her. It is more natural, when in our weakness and want, to turn our thoughts to those whom they have been accustomed to look to for assistance; and thus to me the impression of the blessing I enjoy in having such a home as mine is, and the blessing I early enjoyed of having such a home as mine was under my father's roof, say to my heart: 'All these increase thy responsibilities, and for their use thou must account.' I have had one of my slight ill turns within the last two days, that has brought back all these feelings with increased force; and I look upon these as gentle monitors, calculated to make me estimate more fully my blessings and my duties. Frequently as I am admonished of the frail tenure by which I hold my life, I am negligent and careless in the performance of those high and every-day duties which I should never lose sight of for an hour. I have also such buoyancy of spirits, that life seems to me a very, very great blessing, and I do at times strive to make it useful to those around me."