| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 12 |
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In Paris he was invited to speak by Charles Wagner. After the service an American came to him and said:
“I came to hear Mr. Wagner, and I was disappointed when you go up to speak. But I shall always be glad I heard you. I remember only one thing you said, but this I shall never forger. I refer to your definition of religion; you said, ‘to me religion means just one thing: Jesus and I are friends.’”
The days in Paris were thoroughly enjoyed, but it was not until Geneva was reached that Dr. Miller felt at home. The knowledge that he was in the city where John Calvin lived and wrought, and where he was buried, stimulated him.
“I took and early opportunity to visit the Cathedral where the great theologian used to preach. It is a plain, thirteenth century building showing many marks of age and decay. Close by is the house in which Calvin lived. In the plain Palais Cemetery is his grave, although it is unidentified, as Calvin’s express instruction was that no mark of any kind should be put upon his tomb to tell where his body rested. His grave needs no stone, no monument, for he is not dead. He lives wherever the reformed faith is held and the doctrines which bear his name are taught.”
From Geneva the journey was continued by way of Pisa to Rome. It was not the season ordinarily considered favourable for a visit to the city by the Tiber, but Dr. Miller longed to see the scenes made forever memorable by the presence of St. Paul and the persecution of the early Christians. A Sunday was spent in the city, and the travelers joined a little company of twenty five people who gathered at the American Protestant Episcopal Church for the only English service held in the city that day.
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