INTRODUCTION.

No one, I am sure, who was privileged to witness the peculiarly close and tender relationship subsisting between Edward A. Lawrence and his mother can read these pages without thankful recognition of the fitness of the hand that was chosen, in the providence of God, to record the earthly life of his beloved servant. The graciousness, the chivalry, the protecting gentleness of this strong man's affection for her to whom he owed his being, and, on the other side, the tender pride, the trustful dependence, the utter loyalty of mother-love, were a constant joy and benediction to all who knew Mrs. Lawrence and her son-an object lesson in the ideal parental and filial love. And now that, in God's inscrutable wisdom, the son has been called away from earth, it is no small compensation to their wide circle of friends that his venerable mother has been enabled to prepare this Memorial.

None other could have been more truly commissioned for the work; none other could have performed it with such loving fidelity, or enriched it with a personal enthusiasm so abounding and so winning.

This book, then, besides being a faithful and vivid record of a peculiarly noble and fruitful life, is a mother's sacred tribute to her son. It is a record full of interest not only to the hundreds who were personally acquainted with Dr. Lawrence, but to all who appreciate the charm of vital biography. I confidently believe that this book is destined to take its place among the enduring books in its class the biographies of men and women who have abounded in life and helpfulness; and I unhesitatingly commend it to the general reader as a book rich in interest and stimulus.

From his boyhood, Edward Lawrence was an embodiment of defined purpose, of consecrated energy, and an eager desire for serviceableness. How he grew and blossomed and ripened into the fruit of his strong, earnest manhood, is simply and lovingly told in the following chapters. The story ought to be an inspiration to every young man and woman. It is the record of that rare and yet

ever possible thing in human nature, the full and utmost use of opportunity. Here was a cup of life brimful in every way-brimful of developed native power; of earnest, consecrated purpose; of evident appreciation of and joy in all the good of existence, of all manner of affection and truth and sincerity and graciousness. In a word, Edward Lawrence was one of the few Christlike men; and the lesson of his life, as I read it, is the beauty of that rounded, all-embracing and all-appropriating life that was in our Master. It has been said of some men that whatever they touched became beautiful. Of Mr. Lawrence, I think, it might be even more pertinently said that whatever touched him became beautified. He had a wonderful power of taking all sorts and conditions of men and things into that great, brotherly, appreciative heart of his, and so transforming them that one might behold their divine pattern or ideal,-the good that is at the heart of everything God has made. This was Christ's way of redeeming the world-by revealing to it its own innate but obscured goodness and beauty. Those who knew Dr. Lawrence in his pastoral relation will recognize, in retrospect, how like his Master he was in his conception of humanity, and his method of seeking its redemption.

Along with this broad humanity, this catholicity of sympathy and taste, Mr. Lawrence had a most joyous love of nature, and a keen zest in life itself, physical as well as mental and spiritual. His breadth of interest and appreciation goes far to prove that the profoundest love of man and the sincerest love of nature not only may co-exist but ought to co-exist. What vigor he brought to his human ministrations out of that abounding nature-love, out of his communion with the woods and the hills and the streams, out of his strength-giving and brain-clearing tramps, out of his Adirondack vacations, which were such a lease of joy and inspiration! And how he loved nature in its lowliest forms!-just as he loved children and sin-weakened men and women. Some of his thoughts about nature are almost mystical in their depth of sympathy, their insight, their emotional tenderness.

And yet with all his broad humanity, with all his virile zest in life and abounding love of nature, this most catholic man was distinctively a scholar. He came of a race of scholars on both sides of the family, a race of famous theologians, preachers and teachers. His maternal grandfather, Leonard Woods, of Andover, was one of the most distinguished of the older school of American theologians. His uncle, also Leonard Woods, was a learned president of Bowdoin College. His father was a theological professor and a preacher of

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great power and sweetness. His mother has taken high rank among American writers and reformers, being the author of such wellknown books as The Broken Bud, Light on the Dark River, Marion Graham, and The Tobacco Problem. She was the originator, and, in conjunction with the Rev. Washington Gladden and others, the writer of Parish Problems, and has also contributed widely to the press. These literary and scholarly gifts naturally descended to Dr. Lawrence; while his philosophical and linguistic attainments, and his remarkable powers as a public speaker, have been remarked by many. He was considered a student of rare promise while studying theology in Germany. The distinguished Tholuck conceived warm personal friendship for him, and prophesied a career of brilliant achievement for the young American. Everywhere, even as a young man, he was the acknowledged peer and fit associate of scholars. His information, his culture, his philosophical depth and keenness, were a constant source of pride and delight to his friends and companions. The carefully arranged and labelled contents of his sermon-case, now at "Linden Home," show the wideness and thoroughness of his investigations and the richness of his working material.

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The personal tributes scattered through this Memorial evince how intimately and broadly Dr. Lawrence appealed to all classes and all ages. He was verily "all things to all men"— not in the negative, conforming sense, but positively and formatively. He appealed to the best in every one, and with such effectiveness that rarely did he fail to elicit that response which leads to the quickening and upbuilding of character. There was in him a moral and spiritual magnetism that both attracted others and imbued them with its own vital quality. How unanimously those with whom he came in contact, even for the briefest periods of time, testify that his personality was an inspiration and help to them! He had some large gift of inward life for all, from childhood to age. To be near him was to share his strength and the courage and hope of his splendid manhood.

With all these rare qualities and brilliant gifts, Edward Lawrence conceived that his mission in life lay chiefly among the neglected "other half;" and during his later years he more and more gave his time and his rich resources of mind and heart to the practical solution of the problem of the poor in our large cities. His tenementhouse work in Baltimore was just reaching the point where his heart could be cheered by the prospect of practical success when he was called away, leaving his plans to be matured by others. One

cannot help feeling that the science of Sociology has suffered a great loss by his removal. And that he is sincerely missed and mourned by the poor of more than one American city, is proved by many expressions of sympathy received by his mother after his call to the higher life.

Perhaps, to the general reader, the tributes with which this Memorial is crowded may seem overdrawn, and the compiler may be accused of selecting only those whose tone is distinctly laudatory. But the writer of this Introduction wishes to assume responsibility for the insertion of every tribute; and he can assure the reader that it would have been difficult to find any less eulogistic in character. It was by the writer's solicitation, also, that Mrs. Lawrence was prevailed upon to admit the references to herself either in her son's correspondence, or in letters from others, which have seemed necessary to the completeness of this Memorial. And further, for all personal references that might involve a feeling of delicacy on the part of the relatives or intimate friends of Mr. Lawrence, I desire to be held responsible.

By urgent request of friends, and those who have assisted in preparing this Memorial, Mrs. Lawrence has consented to the use of the photograph in which she appears with her son,-a fitting testimony, it would seem, to her close and vital relation both with her son's life and his biography.

In conclusion, I wish to express my own feeling of unworthiness -though coupled with a grateful desire to serve in any possible way one whom I have so loved-for the task of introducing this Memorial of my friend, Edward Lawrence. Among so many eminent and devoted men and women, who admired and loved him, surely some hand fitter than mine might have been found to perform this last high service of friendship. But since the commission has fallen upon me, I can only add to my tribute of affection and admiration the hope that its insufficiency may be pardoned for the sake of the love I bear, and would fain make serviceable, to one whose friendship and whose memory have so greatly enriched my life.

JAMES BUCKHAM.