INTRODUCTION. THE biographies of great and good men who have lived for principle and have been as true as steel to their convictions of right, regardless of consequences, are the rich heritage of the present and the future. The very best legacy a man can leave to posterity is the heritage of a pure life, a good name and duty well and faithfully done, and it is our duty to see that such names and such men are not forgotten. To forget our leaders in thought and action is to lose one of the strongest assets of Church or State. A great man of the State has said: "When people cast aside sentiments of patriotism and ideals of loyalty they become sordid, and sordidness marches hand in hand with vice." So when the Church casts aside sentiments of love and reverence, forgetting her good men of the past, she grows indifferent and indifference begets disintegration and loss of unity. We need to be taught to revere the memories of those who have faithfully fought the fight of faith and have stood unflinchingly for the right as God gave them to see the right. Our land is dotted with monuments in recognition of the services of the heroes of war and peace, who have unselfishly given their lives to the services of their country, and our libraries are teeming with biographies, volume crowding volume, setting forth heroic deeds and virtues. If it is needful that the State, in this way, has occasion to teach patience and loyalty, why should not the Church also teach sentiments of loyalty to Christ in the same way? The memories of our faithful leaders, their self-sacrifice, their devotion to principle and their example of faithfulness, will be a great help to us who are left to fight the battles in our own days. We have not hasted to give recognition to the good qualities of the fathers, for only in recent years has biography become a recognized fact in our church literature. And so we gladly welcome the biography of one of our great leaders of the Church, a man who left a deep impress upon her work during the last half of the nineteenth century, a man who had the courage of his convictions, a man faithful to Christ and the Church. a man of strong mentality, a leader among men, a wise counsellor, the logician and debater, a mighty man of God who fell in harness doing valiant battle for the truth, Elder Robert H. Miller. The author has done his work well and those who read his book will appreciate the labor of love that has preserved to us, in endurable form, the life and labor of one of our great men. In every home in our Brotherhood this book should find a hearty welcome. It will be read with deep and abiding interest and the reading will be helpful. Added value is given to the book because the author has wisely included short biographical sketches of a number of Brother Miller's colaborers. He has also rescued from oblivion a number of the best sermons, editorials and speeches coming from the active brain of Brother Robert, as he was called by his colaborers and by those who knew him best and loved him most. No word of the writer of this introduction can add value to the biography of our beloved brother. The author has done his part with conscientious fidelity and with a high motive. He has written and written well. May God bless the work thus performed and make it a blessing to the Church and to humanity. D. L. MILLER. |