"On fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled." - Spenser



Foreword



Whatever of effort has been given in the pleasant pastime of writing
these rambling and sketchy pages of reminiscences is dedicated to those
who in the hours of trial and tribulation felt with Sir Philip Sidney,
"Honor is the idol of man's mind" and determined to do that which honor
demanded knowing that if they lost their honor they lost their all.

Reading between these lines, it is hoped there will be found some
intimation, some outline, of the character of the men who composed the
directors and stockholders of the California Insurance Company, who
acted well their part, who fought the good fight and held the faith,
whose stern sense of duty and heroic courage led them to lay upon the
altar of their idealism the financial sacrifices which they made.

Theirs is the honor achieved. They neither faltered nor hesitated in
upholding and protecting their own individual good name, the fair name
of the Company nor the integrity of the financial institutions of
California, and they, like Bacon "May leave their name and memory to
man's charitable speeches, to the next age and foreign nations."