The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-07-31

open sky.
81 love the old traditions of the
woods and mountains, " he said, abrupt
ruptly, with a sweep Of his hand about
the room, and my glance took in the
saddle in the corner, the rugs upon the
floor and the tent like roof.
There was pathos as well as poetry
IN his description of his life. He told
me his doors were never locked and
sheldon shut, and the proof of it was
In his attempt to close the door in my
behalf. It was warped so strongly to
an open position that it refused OBJ
stlnately to shut out the air which
seized upon ne with disturbing vigor.
He glowed with delight as he de-
scribed the owls which came at night
to perch On a pole he has placed for
them before his open door.
There they sit, " he said, land perch
and peer and marvel at the man
stretched on his bed within. Isuppose
they wonder why I should 20 to bed
IN the finest part of the day"
He talked of high things. He i'm
pressed me as a man of great natural
refinement as well as a man who had
done a great deal of original thinking.
His ideas of life seemed very high and
noble and his latest book is lofty ethical
significance. It concerns itself with
the progress of humanity, with the
laws of God to man and the laws of
nature to man.
1t vas a wonderful thing to me to
find this man high on the Oakland hills
feeling the same wonderful upwelling
spirit of human brotherhood which has
produced a Progress and Poverty"
"News from Nowhere" and ga Hazard
of New Fortunes" which has sent
Father Huntington and Father Nc
Glynn out among the miners and into
the slums, and has put Tolstoi behind
the pillow.
The elemental character of Miller
could not fail to feel the same uplifting
and advancing wave of human sym
pathy, and so I found him also utter
ing the old word with a new meaning,
Justice"
AS the lights of the city bloomed out
of the vague masses which lay below
us we stood in the little cathedral like
door of his hut and looked down at the
splendid green garden of sapphire lights
looked silently. 1t vas too beautiful
for words, and yet under this veil of
mist, beneath this starry sparkle of
lights, we knew darkness and human
wretchedness and sin and vice lay
both felt this and were silent.
We went down the hill together.
Watch dogs barked at us as we passed,
but they only threw into more impress
sive relief the peace and beauty and
spring-like silence of the night.
Miller talked on with an undercur-
rent of deep feeling, telling me how
much he wished to get people of sin
cerity and fraternal feeling to come and
live with him here on this hillside slope,
building a city of simple, natural,
peaceful souls.
His belief is that if Christ we're to re-
turn to this earth he would not live in
a great house in the roar of a city, at
tended by servants-it would be impos,
sible for Him. He would live near to
nature, would serve Himself or be
served by those who loved Him. He
would live simply, without greed or
envy, or reproach, Miller went on, and
His action, if takenfor example, would
reform our whole society.
Miller believes that the one positive
law of God to man is this: Gin the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread; ;"
all other laws are negative merely. He
believes that if this law were absolutely
carried out all inequality, all grinding
toll, all the hurry and bitterness and
insecurity of life here on earth would
vanish. I can only recall the main
idea, I cannot recall the lofty diction,
nor expires the almost solemn earnest
ness of his manner.
This is somewhat in the way of the
philosophy of Tolstoi; it is in fact the
Christ idea as expressed in his every
day life. And Miller teaches with great
clearness and with the majesty of
simple truth, that it is time to consider
the daily life of Him who plucked the
standing wheat for his noon day meal,
1t is time to make action conform to
creed. Christ was not a money changer.
He believed in justice, He was a com
mOner.
1t is this Transforming idea which
lies at the bottom of Miller's later
AaaMa cd Eo.nnn tho hnnic Of hin nnm