He was beset with beggars of all kinds, many of whom he was compelled to
refuse. In his diary, he wrote on the 11th of April, 1849, "Applications
come in from all quarters, for all objects. The reputation of giving
freely is a very bad reputation, so far as my personal comfort is
concerned."
It pained him to have his charities made public, and he frequently
requested the recipients to say nothing about them. He once made a
present of some books to the Johnson school for girls, and the gift
being acknowledged through the columns of a newspaper, he wrote to the
principal of the school: "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 any thing to say about me that will not hurt my children and
grandchildren, say on," To another party he wrote: "I must request that
my name be not thrust forward, as though I was to be a by-word for my
vanity. I want to do good, but am sorry to be published, as in the
recent case."
As a merchant, Mr. Lawrence was upright, prudent, far-seeing, sagacious,
and courageous; as a citizen, he was patriotic, public-spirited, and
devoted; and as a man, he was a sincere, earnest, Christian husband,
father, and friend.
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