Excerpt from Forty Years of Pioneer Life: Memoir of John Mason Peck, D. D., Edited From His Journals and Correspondence His personal privations and endurances in all these years do not stand forth in any marked degree of prominence. At the time of their severest experience he measurably overlooked them, so com pletely were his thoughts and heart absorbed in contemplation of the great benefits which were to result from them; and when they were passed he would make no effort to recall them, his motto ever being to forget the things behind and press forward for new and higher, worthier attainments. Yet the reader of these pages will catch many a glimpse Of hardship and Of actual peril and suffering - physical, intellectual, and spiritual-just enough, it is hoped, to win the full tide of generous sympathy, without such overshadow ing excess as would tinge the review with discouragement and gloom. The hopeful ever largely predominated in the subject of this memoir, and if it shall awaken in those perusing it, either at the East or West, a Spirit of cheerful self-sacrifice for the public good, akin to that which it records, it will not be read in vain. Self-denial in other and bloodier fields is now winning its meed of fair renown to an extent formerly unprecedented. Let it be known also that peace has its demands for large sacrifices and generous Offerings as well as war; that their product on this field is to say the least equally beneficial with the other. 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.