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Letters to the young from the Old World

Chapter 2: INTRODUCTION.
By Mrs. D. L. Miller
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Travel Writing

About This Book

A series of letters addressed to young readers recounts a transatlantic voyage and travels through northern and central Europe, Mediterranean ports, and the biblical lands. Anecdotal, descriptive passages depict shipboard life, landscapes such as fjords and glaciers, urban sights, and local customs, alongside visits to scriptural sites. Practical observations about food, lodging, travel hardships, and encounters with children and families are woven with moral reflections and friendly explanations, aiming to make unfamiliar places and historical landmarks accessible and engaging for a youthful audience.

INTRODUCTION.

Two years ago the author of this charming little volume happened in my office. I requested her to be seated, as I wanted to talk to her. I then told her that she had traveled much in this world, having visited Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and the Bible Lands; that she had seen and heard much that would be interesting for others to read about, and I wanted her to write a series of articles for the Young Disciple, giving in the simplest way possible the information gathered during her travels.

“No, indeed,” she quickly and positively replied. “I cannot do that.” I told her I felt confident that she could prepare a number of articles, or letters, that would prove exceedingly interesting and profitable reading, and that the people were anxious to read what a woman had to say about the Bible Lands, the people and their customs. Repeating what she had said, she added that during all her travels she had not made one note, that she would have to depend entirely upon memory, and felt sure that she could not do justice to the undertaking. I urged her to give it a trial.

After a few weeks she handed me two letters. I examined them, and told her they were just what was desired, and that we would take as many more as she felt disposed to write. More than fifteen thousand readers of the Young Disciple know the result. For months they were delighted with these letters, and even before they were completed in the paper the author received many communications urging her to bring them out in book form. Many mothers wrote her and urged that the book should be published, that it was greatly needed, and would be the means of accomplishing much good among the children and young people. Even the children write sister Miller and insist upon her publishing her letters in a book. These requests became so urgent that the author finally decided to carefully revise the letters, write more fully on some points, and give the result of her labors in this neat little volume. We bespeak for it an extensive circulation, a careful reading and a wide field of usefulness.

J. H. Moore.

Mt. Morris, Ill., Sept. 25, 1894.