http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/2254945

The life of James McCosh; a record chiefly autobiographical

"To have seen a century rise and wane; to have spent threescore years of active, influential life in its very noon; to have moulded in some degree the thought of two generations in three lands; to have shared in Scotland's latest struggle for religious liberty; to have wrought in the great enterprise of Ireland's intellectual emancipation; to have led a powerful educational movement in America, and to have regenerated one of her most ancient universities, -these are the titles of James McCosh to public distinction. He was a philosopher, but no dreamer; a scholar, but no recluse; a preacher, but no ideologue; a teacher, but no martinet; he was a thinker, a public leader, and a practical man of affairs. For these sufficient reasons those who were closely associated with him during the last three years of his life determined to secure, if possible, a memorial of his many activities. He was induced to set down from time to time such reminiscences as appeared to him instructive or entertaining, and these were intrusted for keeping to his son and a family friend as materials for his biographer, when the time should come for a critical estimate of his life and work. That time is, of course, still distant, but in the meanwhile such has been the desire of his co-workers and pupils, and of many in the general public, for some permanent record of the facts and dates of his life, that it was thought best to arrange the available material, and to publish it as early as possible for the gratification of those concerned. What is set down in the following pages as fact has been submitted to his family and scrutinized in the light of authentic records; what has been taken verbatim from Dr. McCosh's letters or reminiscences is so marked. For the opinions expressed, the writer alone is responsible, but in forming them he has had valuable assistance from many quarters. In particular, he is under great obligations to Professors Ormond and Scott, and to the Rev. J . H. Dulles, all three of whom were students in Princeton within the period of Dr. McCosh's administration. He asks the reader's indulgence for the repetitions and somewhat irregular chronology incident to the plan of the book"--Book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

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