Adapted from a Foreword by Charles E. Miller:
November 1, 1920: We send forth The Angel's Lily with a sincere prayer, and with an enthusiastic hope that in print it will go on doing the great work for humanity to which its public delivery has been so faithfully dedicated.
From the author, Rev. Dr. Russell H. Conwell:
The title of this lecture, like others I have used, is founded on a parable, in which language they often talk in the Eastern countries: in Mesopotamia, in Palestine, and in the lower valley of the Euphrates River. The Saviour's parables are but the common language of the people there. They converse in figures and symbols, in stories and parables, and one of the most beautiful truth-carriers that I ever heard is that of the "Angel's Lily."
We were traveling down from Bagdad, with the same guide who composed the "Acres of Diamonds," and the English people connected with the English consulate rode out from the city to see us start down the river. They waved their hands after us and shouted: "Stop at the Angel's Lily! Stop at the Angel's Lily!" I had never heard of the parable before, and I asked the old guide what it meant. He said that he would tell us when we went into camp that night, and so, as we gathered around the camp-fire, after our humble meal, on the shore of that ancient river, the old guide, ancient patriarch that he was, told the story with intense interest, as though it was something of vast importance to him and as heartily as though he had never mentioned it before. I cannot repeat it as he did. The tears started in the corner of his eye. I have not the power to bring your imagination out so as to get a full vision, nevertheless its fascination remains with me. I wish you had heard him tell it! The lesson would be far more useful to you. But the old guide told us that the best wish one could give to any person one loved was to wish that they would "Stop at the Angel's Lily"; hence it was a very common form at parting to say, "Stop at the Angel's Lily!" And especially would a patriarch father, when parting with his children, wish them to "Stop at the Angel's Lily!"