LETTER OF
The GOSPEL TRUTH CHARLES G. FINNEY
1864
To Edwin and Mary Lamson
4 June 1864
[MS in Finney Papers 2/2/1]
Oberlin 4th . June 1864.
My Dear Br. & Sister Lamson.
I returned yesterday from my visit
to my relatives in New York, & found,
of course, sundry letters waiting for me.
I reply to yours first. I am afraid to
urge Mary to come out here lest something
might happen to her on the way that
would kill you, & me, & the children.
For if she came to oblige me it would
kill me to have you & the children
lose her. Again, I am afraid to urge
it because we are not worth taking
so much trouble for. We should be great
gainers, & rejoice exceedingly to see her,
but for her it would not pay. It would
be making a sacrifice of time, & strength,
& money, that I dare not urge upon her.
There are no persons on earth that I should
so rejoice to see as you & your Dear Mary.
For the reason that I so long to see you I [am]
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afraid to urge your coming lest I should
be selfish. I have stood my journey much
better than I expected. Whether I shall ever visit
Boston again I can not say. O if Mary could
have come out here as she thought of doing
what a blessing it would have been to us.
If the Lord will send her, or you, or both
of you, we will praise him for it.
I dare not urge her to come, yet, I may
ask him, if he can wisely do it, to send
her. My general health is as good as usual.
My brain can not endure the excitement
it
that ^ formerly could. The religious anivers
aries in Boston are are [sic] great weariness to
the Christian Ladies who provide for the
attendents on them. Such are our com
mencements. Our exercises commence on
monday & close on wednesday evening at
10. or 11. oClock. But the friends from abroad
are generally here for many days before & after
these exercises. Tuesday & Wednesday the crowd
is great. Your acco[u]nt of the successes & discour
agements of the Meionaon enterprise was what
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I should expect. The pieces you sent me
in opposition to that enterprise & to evange
lists I regard as weak. I wonder some
on[e] does not reply to them. Were it not
that I desire & think it duty, as far as I can,
to spare my brain & let it recover itself,
which appears to be doing, I should reply
to them myself. My mind acts, so far as I
can see, as readily & rigerously as ever,
but strong excitement, for a length of time,
wearies the brain & causes a very unpleas
ant sensation. My spine strongly sympathizes
with it, of course. Ange & Julia are well
& the babe is well. Charles is in the army
of the Potomac, Norton in the far off west.
Dolson Cox with Sherman.
Dear Mary I thank you for your
note. But are you not overdoing again?
I fear you are. You can not long endure
this pressure which is revealed in this
& in your former note. My Dear Daughter
be careful what, & how much you
do. Love & kisses to the lit[t]le ones
God bless you C. G. Finney.
Footnote:
Cox was in Georgia in command of the 3rd Division of the Army of the Ohio, participating in Sherman's grand march to Atlanta.