IN HISTORY few things are of greater interest than biography and in biography few things are of greater interest than travel. A good strong man who has covered much of the surface of the earth, with his eyes and ears open, and tells of it intelligently and charmingly to others is a real benefactor to his friends.
Every acquaintance of the author of this volume will be grateful for what he has written herein. He needs no introduction and it is almost wholly formal even to call his name. Who in Alabama does not know him, and among us all, whose life has not been touched to some extent by the influence of his? The observant reader will recognize at once the well known style, the vein of seriousness and the vein of pleasantry running side by side, and the high, distinctive purpose. The author has theories, as any one can see, elevated and generous theories, but here above all else is the practical man, the man of affairs, taking life as it comes, with its ups and downs, entering into its very currents, becoming of it a part, laying his hand upon it and utilizing it for the glory of God and the good of his fellow-men.
In these letters the youthful reader will find interest and entertainment as he looks through anticipation at the real problems of life; the person in middle years will discover confirmation for his strength and hope as he actually struggles with these problems, while many sentiments will minister comfort and peace to him who is in the afternoon of life and ere long expects to look out into the winter of age.
CHARLES A. STAKELY.
Montgomery, Ala.
[Preface to Letters of the Second Trip]
It has been a number of years since these letters appeared in the Alabama Baptist. As I have traveled, many have been the kind words said to me about them. Parents have expressed the wish that I put them in book form so that their children could read them. Some old people and the "shut-ins," who by reason of their age or affliction can never hope to travel, have expressed the same wish. In the hope that its reading may entertain, instruct and encourage, I send the little booklet out.—
W. B. C.