MR. WORLD AND MISS CHURCH-MEMBER
A TWENTIETH CENTURY ALLEGORY
BY
REV. W. S. HARRIS.
to
Edwin L. Bergstreser
WHOSE TESTED FRIENDSHIP I HAVE
ENJOYED FOR NEARLY TEN YEARS AND
WHOSE KINDLY INFLUENCE HELPED
ME TO PERSEVERE IN WRITING
THIS ALLEGORY
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED.
Preface.
After long and careful study we send forth this book to do its work. We offer no apology for adding one more volume to the endless library of modern times, constantly increasing at the rate of over one hundred volumes per week, the great bulk of which is consigned to the debris of the passing years. We pray that this book may find a field of usefulness rather than an early grave.
We need not tell of the pleasures and difficulties we experienced in preparing these twenty-five chapters for the press. Let it be known, however, that we were seconded and assisted by several able critics who, each one independently of the others, kindly reviewed the manuscript. At the suggestions of these critics minor changes were made in the several manuscript editions. These critics deserve much credit especially for the literary finish there may be to this book.
The illustrations were drawn by Paul J. Krafft, of New York. They evince patient study and careful work, and display a creative genius well suited to the field of allegory.
The leading moral truths are developed in the memorable journey of Miss Church-Member upon the Broad Highway in company with the polite and yet fiendish Mr. World. In this lifelike journey the two companions come in contact with many of Satan’s up-to-date schemes, and witness his far-extended operations in many a wicked realm. In the descriptions of all these things we have endeavored to be suggestive rather than exhaustive, for we have withheld the almost infinite details and brought to light only a mere synopsis of the panorama as seen from the lofty summit.