Memoir of Charles Follen Folsom, Vol. 44 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Memoir of Charles Follen Folsom, Vol. 44 When the news of the death of Dr. Charles Follen Folsom was telegraphed from New York to Boston, on August 20, 1907, a large circle of persons - social acquaintances, patients, and professional colleagues - felt that they had lost the support of a faithful adviser, the companionship of a dear friend. It is a fortunate asset of the physician's life that he enters into intimate personal relationships with many of the individuals who turn to him for advice, and has an unusual chance to cultivate his powers of sympathy. But there have been few physicians of this neighborhood and generation in whom these fires of personal sympathy have burned so warmly as they did in Dr. Folsom, or who have been able to inspire with reciprocal emotions so many of their patients and their friends. The growth of these attachments was genuine and unforced, for they were based on well-grounded affection and respect. Dr. Folsom had settled in Boston, with a record of two years' faithful service for the freedmen, but without influential connections and with no instinct for advertisement of himself. He showed, however, marked ability as a practitioner, marked willingness to labor for results worth having, a high standard of thoroughness and obligation, and the highest possible standard of friendship, and it was not long before these qualities made him a real figure among real men and women in our community. Some extracts from a letter to his intimate friend, Rev. William C. Gannett, written about 1881, will recall some of his characteristic traits. He says: "... I do not agree with you as to not making friends, even if it does hurt to tear up the roots. Go as deep, say I, into as many human hearts as you can. Never lose a single chance for knowing one person, even, well. In fact, it is the only thing in the world that pays. You do other things because you must, or it is your duty to do so, but that does not pay. You do not get back anything, and the volcano inside of one only rumbles and growls to itself instead of letting its smoke and brimstone out in the world, whereas in knowing people well you get more than you give." 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.