Excerpt from James Stokes Dickerson: Memories of His Life Macaulay, in one of his brilliant essays, declares that men are prone to extol the virtues and forget the faults of the honored ones who have passed away: that they transform into idols those who were never idolized in life; and often speak of them in such a way that those who knew them best would fail to recognize them. The general truth of the statement may be beyond question; yet I willingly leave it to the readers of the following memorial to decide whether it is without exception. I feel assured that while, even to many who knew him, this record of the life of one of God's choicest servants will reveal much hitherto unsuspected by them, his inner circle of friends will rise from its perusal with the conviction that the portraiture is one of substantial truth, and yet that scarcely the half has been unfolded. I do not undertake this work in the belief that my late husband was one of the great men of his time; but in the conviction that there are comparatively few who, in this world of sin and selfishness, live a life so pure, so beautiful, and so noble as his; few who bring to all who come into contact with them so much of joy and sunshine; few who themselves labor from higher motives, or are a source to others of lof'tier inspiration, few who in a long career have kept themselves so nearly unspotted from the world, or illustrated so beautifully the entire round of the Christian graces. Shall not such be deemed great in that order of things that brings to greatness its preper standard? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.