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."