, 1872-10-27
MRS. MILER'S HUSBAND.

MRS. MILLER'S HUSBAND.
It used to be that poets were born and not
I made. That was in Horace's time. Even later
and more progressive men, who have felt the
divine atlatus, have been content to work at it
during life, and look to future genera
tons for their reward. We have changed
all that. Advertising is an element
not to be ignored in the process Of making poets,
and, if Mr. Joaquin Miller is not one Of those
mysterious and ethereal beings it is not because
he has failed to recognize the value Of the new
Ingredient in their composition. The adEertis-
ing is not the less valuable, Perhaps because it
is gratuitcus. Whether or not Mr. Joaquin
been confused With " Joe Miller" for short-has
entered into compact With Mrs. Joaquin Miller
for advertising for mutual benefit, it is
hard to determine. It has been limited moro
than once that A1r. Charles Reade has come
down handsomely in order to have some of his
moro me1etricious publications duly denounced
into notoriety. It is certain that New York
theatrical managers, who have indnlged in
British blondes and short-skirted spectacles,
have been willing enough to pay by the line for
proper newspaper denunciation- So it may be
that the later s'Joe Miller" may hsra conceived
the rather brilliant, though not altogether novel,
idea Of having his wife abuse him, that he might
come back to the charge, and thus contribute
several columns Of MISUNDERSTANDING read
ing for the public and exceedingly
good advertising for himself. This much
has been done at any rate, whether or not Mr.
Miller is entitled to any credit for the enter
prise.
We have all read Mrs. fIiller's account Of tho
life and career Of The Poet Of the Sierras, as
cleaned from her matrimonial experiences. Now
comes Ar. Miller from the other side Of the
continent, and, through the universal charity Of
the modern reporter, he is enabled to present
his construction Of HRS. Miller's utterancea.
Mr. Miller begins very decorously by declaring
that he would say nothing against the woman
who had been his wife, and then proceeds to
deny pretty much everything that his e3-
wife's gentle satire had prompted her
to tell about him. This seems
to be case Of the "lie inferential.' 11r. Joa-
quin Miller probably regards it simply as a bit
OF poetic license. The extent and value Of the
incidental advertising, it will be observed, re-
main about the same as it there had been a gen.
eral admission instead Of q general denial. In
fact, the opportunity is the better improved, for
Mr. Miller's denial adds another column and O
half 10 the latter-day process of poet~making.
There are some points IN 1tr, MiIler's general
demurrer that are well taken, but Shich would
be difficult, perhaps, to sustain. kar in
stance, be says that, while "there may
be such bools ss rhyming dictionaries"
he never saw one. This assertion is what he
might call, in some of his TRANSACTIONS Of West
ern DIALECT, "too attcnuated." # Walt Whit
man had said &c, it would have found ready Gre
dence, because Walt Whitman has that supreme
contempt fcr harmonious sounds that would
hiz yernacu1ar, if the option OF language had
been lett to him. But it is higaly improbable,
poetic iceaze 10 the contrary notwithstanding,
that so modern sl>I progressive poet as Mr.
Miller should have pegiested to avail himself Of
so eonzsptept a manual as the t..e rhyming die
honary. He#oz.a searely beat h1s head adngf;s?stthe
rocks of his mountsiss5Ez district, NOR fret ana
fnme over the hot stove Of his pseEe workshop,
in seAsea Of a convenient rhythm fos tho word
"oyer" whnt4 - could turn to page and find
:f<clpver," or for "esar" when he could turn to
anetaae%r and discover ,:toleyez." Life is too
short for one ;aan to go over another E-en's Ia
Dor unnecessarily, ezq if Mr. Miller has neg
3asted to employ the rhy1Ai1gg dictionary up to /
this tigae, he will probably not isnezc his .wifes
hint st what Ae might have done, and nike a
better pse Of it herssafter.
The Poet Of the SierEsss is a modest man
withal. He admits that lie hpy Eeyer written
&C Chi1do Harold" Or a"' 'pon Juan" Ha goes
further. He says t1lst he is lame not because
Byron was lame, but mainly because Of stray
bullet or tvo, ,end of dreldfully u1romantic but
terribly rheumatic affections. In other words, /
Mr., miller confesses that thero is nothing of the !
Byronio shout him. This is probably true.