The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-20
Old John Burroughs.

The poet ana the scientist IN the
dual personality Of JOHN BuRRouoHs
debate, in n volume called The Breath
Of Lite CHoughton Miffin). the super
natural and materialistic aspects OF the
nature and origin Of life. As a natural
list Mr.. Burroughs Is charming, but
when he leaves the field for the lab
oratory or the study he sheds some
of the charm. Correspondence from
the battlefelds Of nature has made a
special department OF American let
tiers. and the genial hermit of Slab
sides has turned in some excellent
stun. full OF keen observation and
drawn In n pleasing style. But. for
the sake OF a deservedly honorable
reputation. his best friends ought TO
get him to stop writing OF TO write
in another vein. the one that has
made for him so many friends. There
are some problems that do not reduce
to ink. and Mr.. Burroughs Is not we'll
guided when he takes them for an
answer to the question. What shall
/ write about next?"
Physics and chemistry do not clear
up the mystery: 1T is hard for me
to reduce the life impulse 10 a level
! I'I'NS tldt
shape and control the world OF inert
matter. and II is equally hard for me
To reconcile my reason to the intro
duction Of a new principle. or to see
anything in natural processes that
savors Of the ali extra" II is hard.
and II is Improbable. One page out
Of Wake Robin" "Locusts and Wild
Honey Fresh Fields" or any OF Mr..
Burroughs's earlier papers has more
sense and is more useful than the
whole 2sa pages OF this labor OF grace
ful futility. But here and there amid
the speculations from mechanistic to
s~piritualistic, the critical references
to a host Of modern professional
philosophers and scientists-how far
beyond old Lucretius does II all really
go?-here and there n fine phrase
stands out. the effort after light
produces some grateful warmth. The
book is best when II Is most "liter-
ary'' and least scientific:
The least ~ living things holds a NOR.
profound mystery than all our astronomy
and our geology hold.
The inorganic seems dreaming OF the
organic.
1t takes some Of the cold iron out Of
the mechanlstlc theory or lie " We divest
II OF all our associations with the machine
mad and machine ridden world The
mechanical. the automatic. IL the antithe-
sis OF the spontaneous and the poetic.
. We are so made that the artificial
systems please us far less than the natural
systems. A sailing ship takes us more
than a steamship. lin sentiment; not
when there Is an ocean to he crossed
In our religious culture we have beg
CARED matter that w might exalt spirit;
we have bankrupted earth that we might
enrich heaven: we have debased the body
that we might giorify the soul. But
science has changed all this. Mankind
can never again rest in the old crude
dualism. The devil has had his day.
and the terrible Hebrew Jehovah has had
his day; the diviniaes Of this world are
now having their day.
There are so many who can DO
this sort OF thing better than Mr..
Burroughs does II. and he a do so
much better than almost any other
American writer the pleasanter thing
that Fahre in France does superla-
lively we'll. reporting nature obtec-
lively. that II IL too bad he has ira s
ferred his allegiance. Mr.. Burroughs
Is beginning to show his age.