LETTER OF
The GOSPEL TRUTH CHARLES G. FINNEY
1864
To Edwin Lamson
6 April 1864
[MS in Finney Papers, 2/2/1]
Oberlin 6th April 1864
My Dear Br. Lamson.
Yours of the 3d ult. is before me,
for which I thank you. In this you
say that Mary will reply in a few
days to my entreaty that she would come
with the children & spend the summer
with us. Julia just said I do wish
Mrs Lamson would come & visit us
this summer. As I have not heard
from her yet I suppose she may
not be quite settled in regard to
coming. I write at present to urge
her to decide in our favor. Do come
if the Lord will let you Mary. We
do so long to see you. & the children.
I recd a day or two since, the congreg[a]tionalist
you sent me. That article was pouring
cold water upon the union effort.
That enterprise may have been unwisely
begun. But when begun why do not
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the ministers & churches give it the
right direction & support. Should an
enterprise of such infinite moment
be suffered to fail because it was
commenced without due consulta
tion & deliberation. This seems to be
the only objection to it. But now it
can be wisely directed by the ministers
& churches. Why should it not be. &
efficiently sustained. But I know
too little of it to ju[d]ge what is wise.
I earnestly hope that no unworthy
motive may influence any one in
sustaining or not sustaining it.
Br. Lamson, it seems sometimes that I
must see you. There are so many things
I want to talk over in regard to the
state of Zion & of our country.
I wonder if you & Mary realize how
much I feel the departure of my
Dear Wife. I was ever of a transparent
turn of mind & revealed to my wife
all my thoughts, trials, joys & sorrows.
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She was intelligent, affectionate
sympathetic & we read each other
through & through. She is gone & I
have no one before or to whom I can
think aloud. I am shut up to
myself where I have until now
I had one with whom to converse with
out restraint on all subjects. Of course
I can not say to my children not to any
one what I would say to my wife.
My children are to me all that children
can be; but no body on earth is like
such a wife as I has & as you have
I now pray more earnestly than ever
that God will spare Mary, for your
sake. Charles is still in the army.
Ange is in Brooklyn. She has been
with Charles since early in February.
Dont know when she will be at home.
babe
The babbe ^ is with us & a very sunbeam
in our home. Norton is 1st Asst. Engineer
on the Pacific R.R. He is in Nebraska.
A letter will reach him at Omaha.
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I hope you will write him as he
is so far from home. His wife &
children are at her Father's in Oberlin.
Gen. Cox is in Tennessee with General
Scofield. He is at present Chief of Scofields
staff & has the charge of the Army in
the field under Scofield. He keeps
up courage & good Spirits, likes Scofield
as a man, & as an officer. I find there
is so much political opposition to some of
our Generals & so much political favoritism
to others, that I can not know what to think
from what is said in the papers.
I see there are powerful revivals in many
places. Bless the Lord for this. Such a
war and such revivals together. What a
wonder! Julia sends much love.
We shall wait intensely for a reply
from Mary. Were not the circumstances
so peculiar, circumstances that can never
exist but once, I would not urge Mary
to come so far from home. Nor you to
consent to it. As it is I will not be selfish
but we do want to see you all & hope
it may be the will of God to send you.
Very soon after I wrote you last I found it
necessary to part with your check. You have
probably recd it. Again I thank you for it. It was
in good time. God bless you all.
C. G. Finney.
Footnote:
Cox had, moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, in December 1863 to take command of the 23rd Army Corps. But when John M. Schofield took over command of the Army of the Ohio, Cox became his Chief of Staff. On April 3rd, he was put in charge of the 3rd Division of the 23rd Corps, taking over command of the Corps when Schofield was absent. With their headquarters at Bull's Gap, they spent the spring preparing for the Atlanta campaign. See Schmiel, "The Career of Jacob Dolson Cox", pp. 108-13.