| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 9 |
Page 9 |
A Philadelphia visitor to the palace of the Czar in St. Petersburg wrote that he saw several of Dr. Miller’s books on the reading table of the Czarina. She asked him to say to the author that she had read his books and enjoyed them very much. Later she sent a similar message through her secretary.
Gratifying as were these evidences that he was reaching the hearts of the great, the author welcomed even more the words that came to him from those in humble station. When in San Francisco, in 1893, Dr. Miller visited the Chinese Quarter. Going into one of the houses, he was introduced to the owner, who showed the greatest delight on meeting him, and exclaimed, “Why, I know you well; I have read your books! and going to a table near by he held up several of them.
Dr. Miller was particularly attracted by this letter, received from a student at the University of Mississippi:
“Last summer a party of us students were over in South Carolina working during vacation to help get into school again. In the library of my boarding house a little volume in green binding attracted my attention. It was your ‘Week day Religion.’ I not only read the book myself, but read it aloud to my friends. We ordered copies at once, and more than one of us, I suspect, had copies sent to some dark eyed maiden in the old Magnolia state. I have the book on my table now, and in the hurry and grind I take time to read it even though I have read it again and again. Its simple and sweet earnestness goes straight to my soul. You are a busy man in faraway Philadelphia, and I a farmer’s boy and student among the vine clad hills of Mississippi, yet I know that we are drawn close together by that greatest of all ties – the recognition of our duty to Christ.”
Page 9