[Letters to Henry Edwards.]
244 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY intensely human appeal. Entirely aside from the pleasure derived from his word pictures of natural phenomena and the vernal fragrancy with which they are phrased, there are > thousands who have gained from his philosophy of life inspiration for renewed endeavor and have...
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Scholarly Commons
1930
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| Summary: | 244 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY intensely human appeal. Entirely aside from the pleasure derived from his word pictures of natural phenomena and the vernal fragrancy with which they are phrased, there are > thousands who have gained from his philosophy of life inspiration for renewed endeavor and have been refreshed and stimulated thereby, so as to be able to take up anew and "carry on" what may be to many of them a daily burden of misfit and drudgery. The first eleven years of Muir's life were spent at Dunbar, Scotland, where he was born on April 21, 1838. His father, being religious in a most offensive manner, was a dour, morose man, having an amazing rigidity of prejudice and an almost unbelievable austerity and lack of common humanity in dealing with his children, with the result that their little lives were rendered unnecessarily harsh and bitter and loveless. The life of a Scottish peasant's child in that bleak climate in a remote country village afforded only the most limited opportunities for early self -improvement; but there is a less gloomy side to the picture, for fortunately there was a bond of affectionate intimacy between the boy and his mother, whom he later in life characterized as a "representative Scotch woman, quiet, conservative, of pious affectionate character, fond of painting and poetry"ΓÇöone who wrote poetry in her girlhood. Then, too, there was a maternal grandfather, David Gilrye, who took long walks into the country with his small grandson and lovingly imparted to him much information on natural phenomena that undoubtedly laid the foundations of his life-long interest therein. Fleeting glimpses of his childhood reveal him as a "vivid, auburn-haired lad, with an uncommonly keen and inquiring pair of eyes." In 1849 the family came to America and located on the frontier in a new settlement near Portage, "Wisconsin, where two large farms in succession wero bought, cleared and brought under cul. tivation. In this work the lad bore a proportionate share, driven on in stem discipline by an inexorable father who could see no possible success in life fot any one apart from the most intenSe manual labor on a farm and in care of live-stock. Muir's book entitled '"]% Story of My Boyhood and Youth" C011, tains some exceedingly vivid, unflatter. ing and effective word pictures of that important formative period of his life and is an indispensable document to all students of the adolescence of genius. It should not be a matter of surprise that, just as many another lad has been driven away from home by a father lacking in sympathy for and understand- ing of him, so young Muir bided his time and in 1860, at first opportunity, made his plunge into the big outside world, In the period between 1860 and 1866, after leaving home, he was engaged in teaching; was for four years a student on a self-supporting basis at the University of Wisconsin; was a wandering free-lance student of botany in various parts of Wisconsin and Iowa, and was making a sojourn in Canada during which he spent some time in Toronto and the sections around Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls and Georgian Bay. In 1866, however, because of loss of his position through a fire in a broom-handle factory where he had been employed, he returned to Wisconsin. In May of that year we find him proceeding alone on foot from Indianapolis, Indiana, on the afterwards famous '' Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf," a detailed account of which he later wrote in his own inimitable way. The temptation is great to quote lavishly from this, but space limitations are impel* tive. One can only emphasize that a] those who have not yet read the boos have ahead of them a distinct literary treat. He proceeded leisurely, stud. HENEY EDWARDS AND JOHN MUIR 245 ΓÇófl0. and collecting botanical and geo- Jrical specimens, through the states of Kentucky. Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida; he had some njqUe experiences in Savannah and he almost perished during an illness at Cedar Keys, Florida, his survival being jue to the care given there by some chance acquaintances, named Hodgson. On recovery he sailed to Havana, later t0 New York, then presently to Panama and soon afterward to California. The year 1869 was a very full one for Jluir, as it was on March 27 that he first reached San Francisco, an event that marked the beginning of a career that was destined to become epochal for both man. and the state, and the contemplation of the far-flung effects of which surely haunt human imagination. There was nothing spectacular about the California beginning, however, for the young naturalist drifted slowly and a bit aimlessly through Oakland, San Jose, the San Joaquin plain and on to Coul- terville in varied occupations, such as the breaking of horses, the running of a ferry-boat, the shearing of sheep. Soon he was herding sheep near Snelling at thirty dollars per month, an occupation from which presently he advanced to that of sheep inspector in the Yosemite country. It was at about this time that he first formed the acquaintance with Professor Carr, of the University of California, and also made his first important excursion into the High Sierras ΓÇöa modest beginning to a brilliant Yosemite career. With faithful note-book always at hand and with unwearied toil he was constantly on the lookout for what [!1'ght be learned; he observed the deposition of the snow upon the rocks and '"ees, studied the individual crystals ,?ith a hand lens, detected the squirrel examining its stores beneath the drift aad became intimate even with wild Sileep that found shelter and protection near his camp. Fortunately passages culled here and there from letters to his various friends1 or from his writings furnish clues to or at times give lively word pictures not only of his activities during this period of his life but also of his trends of thought. A few illustrations must suffice: I expect to be entirely alone in these mountain walks, and notwithstanding the glorious portion of daily bread which my soul will receive in these fields where only the footprints of God are seen, the gloamin' will be very lonely, but I will cheerfully pay this price of friendship, hunger, and all besides. And: When in the woods, I sit at times for hours, watching birds or squirrels or looking down into "the faces of flowers, without suffering any feeling of haste. Yet I am swept onward in a general current that bears on irresistibly. When, therefore, I shall be allowed to float homeward, I dinna, dinna ken, but I hope. Or: I knew that mountain boulders moved in music, so also do lizards, and their written music, printed by their feet, moving so swiftly as to be invisible, cover the hot sands with beauty wherever they go. Again: The very finest, softest, most ethereal purple hue tinges, permeates, covers, glorifies the mountains and the level. How lovely then, how suggestive of the best heaven, how unlike a desert now! While the little garden, the hurrying moths, the opening flowers and the cool evening wind that now begins to flow and lave down the gray slopes above heighten the peace- fulness and loveliness of the scene. His sensitiveness to the touch of beauty and his felicity of description often are manifested: The grand priest-like pines held their arms above us in blessing. The wind sang songs of welcome. The cool glaciers and the running crystal fountains were in it. I was no longer on but in the mountainsΓÇöhome againΓÇöand my pulses were filled. On and on in white moon- i All previously published passages from Muir's letters are here used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company and taken from Bade's "Life and Letters of John Muir." 246 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY light spangles on the streams, shadows in rock hollows and briery ravines, tree architecture on the sky more divine than ever stars in their spires, leafy mosaic in meadow and bank. Never had the Sierras seemed so inexhaustible ΓÇömile on mile onward in the forest through groves old and young, pine tassels overarching and brushing both cheeks at once. The chirping of crickets only deepened the stillness. Again, he is ever alive to the beauties and novelties of the scene: Meadows grassed and lilied head-high, spangled river reaches, and currentless pools, cascades countless and untamable in form and whiteness, groves that heaven all the Valley! He had a vivid appreciation of the natural phenomena around him, and apparently fatigue never came to mar the values of the day: Here I lay down and thought of the times when the groove in which I rested was being ground away at the bottom of a vast ice-sheet that flowed over all the Sierra like a slow wind ΓÇömy huge campfire glowed like a sunΓÇöa happy brook sang confidingly, and by its side I made my bed of rich, spicy bough, elastic and warm. Upon so luxurious a couch, in such a forest and by such a fire and brook, sleep is gentle and pure. Wild wood sleep is always refreshing; and to those who receive the mountains into their souls, as well as into their sight, living with them is clean and freeΓÇösleep is a beautiful death, from which we arise every dawn into a new-created world, to begin new life in a new body. Here and there a star glinted through the shadowy foliage overhead, and in front I could see a portion of the mighty canyon walls massed in darkness against the sky; making me feel as if at the bottom of the sea. The near soothing hush of the river joined faint broken songs of cascades. I became drowsy and on the incenselike breath of my green pillow, I floated away into sleep. Or occasionally there are aspects that give something of ideal beauty: The night comes on full of change, sounds from birds and insects new to me, but the starry sky was clear and came arching over my lowland nest seemingly as bright and familiar with its glorious constellations as when beheld through the thin crisp atmosphere of the mountain tops. His was a soul of an idealist that could translate the carol of a robin heard in HENRY EDWARDS AND JOHN MUIR 247 a distant mountain of the High Sierra as saying, "Fear not, for only l0ve \ here," and he it was who could say, "a crust by a brookside out on the moun tains with God is more than all." jj expressed his appreciation of God in na ture in language that sometimes reveak extraordinary powers of insight and description, and the style takes on at times a haunting beauty: While we were there, clouds of every texture and size were held above its flowers and moved about as needed, now increasing, now diminish- ing, lighter and deeper shadow and full sun- shine in small and greater species, side by side as each portion of the great garden required A shower, too, was guided over some miles that required watering. The streams and the lakes and the rains and the clouds in the hand of God weighed and measured myriads of plants daily coming into life, every leaf receiving its daily breadΓÇöthe infinite work done in calm effortless omnipotence. A deeper note is sounded in a letter to still another friend when he says: We are back to our handful of hasty years half gone, all of course for the best did we but know all of the Creator's plan concerning us. In our higher state of existence we shall have time and intellect for study. Eternity, with perhaps the whole unlimited field of God as our field, should satisfy us, and make us patient and trustful, while we pray with the Psalmist, "So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." His philosophy of life enabled him to write to his old friend, Mrs. B. S. Carr, concerning certain profound changes that had come into her life: God will teach you as He has taught me that the dear places and dear souls are but tents of a night; we must move on and leave them, though it cost heart breaks. Not those who cling to you, but those who walk apart, yet ever with you, are your true companions. In a somewhat like connection it was Bade who said of him: '' The course of his bark is directed by other stars than theirs, and he must be free to live by the laws of his own life." For, as Muir says: I understand perfectly your criticism in tn6 blind pursuit of every scientific pebble, wasting life in microscopic examinations of every * -n of wheat in a field, but I am not so doing, jjj history of this vast wonderland is scarcely 1 jj known, and no amount of study in other !L https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/1429/thumbnail.jpg |
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