Eliza (MacKenzie) Thomson

Excerpt from a hand written copy of Eliza's Thomson's manuscript:

My dear children,

Amid the chances and changes of existence I am anxious to place in your possession some memorial of your maternal grandfather, trusting that whatever station in life you may be called upon to fill, you will prove yourselves worthy of him in every respect by emulating his disposition and acquirements. I may not live long enough to transmit to you (orally) his lessons as they were received by me or to point out for your example his varied excellencies. In every relation of life he was most admirable, a-good patriot, a good husband, a good father—kind, generous and beneficent—whether the human race in general or any individual in particular was the object of his lavish care.

But lest it might appear that partial affection led me to exaggerate I have endeavored to let your grandfather draw his own portrait with his own pen, following the free movement of his thought, depict his mind more fully than I could do.

We must all lament that he stopped short in his intended memoirs as the part already written in necessarily the most formal and offer no transcript of the writers mind such as his autobiography would have done, when he came speak of events in which he had played a prominent and active part.

I trust that by the time when I shall deem it proper (should I live) to place this manuscript in your hands you will be able to appreciate the fond anxiety, the playful kindness and the true parental affection which characterize the letters. They are, almost without exception addressed to me and while I mean this book as a gift, or legacy to my eldest boy, I wish my daughter, Eliza to possess the originals, so that each may be enabled leisurely to study and thoroughly to know the worth of him whose name the partly bear. They will also render them familiar with some of the earlier events of their mother's life.

My own letters occasionally introduced are intended to show yet more fully the delightful terms in which the correspondence was maintained and I trust (such as they are) they will not be without interest for my dear children.

Lastly are added some miscellaneous matters and the public notices of my father's death. While I am convinced that the voice of popular praise is often indiscriminating, frequently caught by flash and trickery and bestowed largely on those whose services have been as a feather in the balance while it has been as jealously withheld from or stintedly awarded to those who (on the contrary) have thrown interest, wealth and talent into the scale yet, I am proud to show the esteem in which this true patriot was held by his fellow men knowing him only through his public actions and uninfluenced by the charm of his domestic association.

No tribute that I can offer would do justice to my father. No praise that I can utter would convey the slightest impress of his worth, while he lived; I loved and esteemed him—but though I fondly cherish his memory it is only in the deep and unutterable devotion of my heart that I am enabled to be duly grateful. My pen cannot trace, words cannot express the depth and intensity of what I feel.

My childhood and youth were blessed and I pray that I may be spared as the guide and guardian of my children that I may humbly attempt to follow my father's footsteps so that at length my wishes may be fulfilled by their becoming "the greatest ornaments" of the anxious and affectionate mother. -Eliza Thomson