Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-12-03
city 0mcial journal.

She had expected her hero to plunge
into the waves and save her from drown
ing, but after several years experience
with him, and especially after reading
Kit Csrson's Ride" and other poems
OF his, she had grave doubts whether he
would have saved her or left her to take
her chances. At any rate she was re.
conclled now to having been saved by
the waves.
Joaquin Miller was true son Of the
gods. He was the most poetic man she
had ever seen, or heard, or read Of. 1t
was the essence of poetry which per.
vaded his life, that had made him the
marvellous mixture of good and bad that
he is. There was nothing on the face Of
the earth which accords with his notions
Of poetry that he would not do .if he
could, and nothing devoid of poetry that
he would willingly do. 1t was very late
in life before he studied religion. His
father was devout Christian, and when
! Joaquin heard him repeating the Lord 4
/ Prayer he loved it for its poetry. He
paid little attention to creeds religions
judging all by the elements Of the poeti
cal that'entered into them He regarded
the Bible as one of the greatest Of lite
rary Notwithstanding more ner less.
He recognized Christ as one Of the great
est men that, ever lived, and admired
him for his poetical career and tragic
death. He liked the forms and cere.
monies of the Catholic church simply
because they were mysterious and beau
tiful. 1t would be found on examina.
ton that be never did anything, nor
entertained an opinion, except in the
light of poetry. In this way his religion
was formed. he took all the poetry out
of the Christian, Jewish. Mohammedan,
and Pagan religions, and out Of this
made up something which he called his
religion. There was mr,ch in the Indian
character and worship which he admired.
He said the sun WIS light and heat,
therefore it was God. and the children of
the sun were not entirely wrong.
He wanted the children to be pale and
puny, because, he said, children of lite
rary parents were almost always delicate
and pale. He was annoyed because
Maud was strong and fat, and had per.
fectly healthy organization, and often
took comfort in the thought that Brick
Wuo Wchh anu puuS. AC uhu al iuch
that illegitimate children were more
precocious and better adapted to literary
pursuits than those born in wedlock, and
he often said to her of their children:
II don't care for these children; they
are legitimate. He was always cor
templating death, and made his will
about once a month. 1t got to be anu
sing to see what varied dispositions he
made of his effects at times. He never
willed anything to her except his love-
letters. He always wanted to be burned
after death. He liked nearly everything
which did not meet the approval of the
world at large Everything wild and
romantic was his delight. He took par
ticular pleasure in contemplating the
lives and deeds of criminals. Outlaws
and desperadoes were his especial pets,
and he was fond Of every criminal frorn
Joaquin Murieta to Victoria Woodruff.
The only speech he ever made as law
yer was in defence of horse thief.
She was not prepared to give any in
formation in regard to his connection
with the Indians He used,to talk to
her about young woman Of his ac-
quaintsnce who used to wear tar on he I
face and quilts on her nose. He oftf N
said to her that thls woman never IN.
noyed him by wanting to take her nit
ting and 90 visiting when he wanted her
to stay at home. He always Unlisted
that every man should be absolut 3 mas
ter OF his own house, and as 81 ie was
brought up to the same belief she yielded
everything to his will, and SO acc ,ustomed
did she become to it that er friends
often said to her, You make a god of
him" and for time it was true. s1s
The lecturess then passed t., crit cal
dissection Of Joaquin's Poetry. She
said he was graceful in his flow of
rhyme. graphic in his descriptions, and
vigorous in style. He lacked something
Of the noble nature, and did not seem to
have those hne emotions which charac-
terize many of the poets. But he had
many of the qualities and all the genius
of q true poet, and the world, she pre-
dicted, had not yet heard the prelude of
the grand songs he would sing. But he
was unstable, and never knew his own
mind. One day he believed one thing,
and the next day he didn't believe it.
In proof of this, she referred to his in
terview with reporter of the New York
Sun, recently, in which he said in one
place that no was very poor, and in an
other place he said his publishers send
him large sums Of money for everything
he writes. She said that perhaps she did
not know him. Perhaps there were
others who knew him better than she
did. If SO. let them come forward and
speak. She would welcome them, and
they would mingle their tears together.
Referring to the interview again, she
said: FFe NTn &ha GOV
" Here q ohambermaid entered. Mr..
Miller said, Excuse me, and she LEFT,
with a smile.
THE Poet-Poor creaturesl poor
creaturesl These poor ehambermaids
come to me and tell their stories, the
history Of their lives This poor girl
only gets nine dollars month. l know
them all. They all come TO me, and
tell me Of their sufferings. Poor crea-
lures sadly. This civilization is
monster" .--
Yes, said she, they tell him Of their
SORROWS, these poor chambermaids.
What can be more touching and poeti-
cal than this sympathy for chamber
maids2" 49,.
Mrs. Miller closed with few words in
defence Of her own course. She said
she came from the Wild woods Of Ore
goa, without any experience in the lee
ture field. and with no friend to assist
her. Her children were living with her
mother, who was keeping a lodging
house in Portland TO support them. She
had started out to make something with
which to provide for them, aud the few
souls who knew and trusted her would
yet see her succeed. She again thankefl
the newspapers for their favorable no
tices Of her lecture, aud assured them
that her aged mother and the little habes