The New York herald., 1921-03-30
Every Ones John Burroughs.

Every Ones John Burroughs.
JOHN BURRoUaHs Is dead and every
one has lost a friend. Defeating a
book TO him a few years ago. THEo
DoRE ROOSEVELT wrote 1T is good
thing for our people that you have
lived, and surely no man can wish to
have more said OF HIM" He would
have wished nothing more and nothing
different.
JOHN BURROUGHS great love was
for nature and he was reserved IL not
shy with men-at least with stran-
gers. But he loved mankind so well
that he made 1t his life's task TO share
| the treasure of interest and beauty
that he found In every living thing
from the leaf to the bird. from the
bee to the flower. from the woods and
hills TO their wild Inhabitants SO he
became through his writings the In
spiration of children, the companion
/ and guide of the mature, the consola-
tion of the aged.
What was JOHN BURRvUGHs Or,
rather. what was he mc2f Was he
scientist, poet or philosopher? He was
all three in soul and in his gift to his
age the three qualities are wonder
fully commingled. As scientist he
was a naturalist, not biologist. He
was follower of GILBERT WHITE,
the ma atural historian Of Selborne, and
his supreme mastery lay in distin-
gushing and recording the phenomena
Of life which every one else saw but
| failed to take note of. AS a philoso-
| phep be had an instructive sense of
the mystery underlying the maryels
| that nature cast before his senses
with such boundless prodigality. He
had conviction, half emotional. half
rea soned, Of the meaning OF the world
and of human existence. He saw the
hope that it implied.
Through his spirit of poetry he re-
cast his observations. his reflections,
| the teeming wealth of his unfagging
mind into word images and word
| paintings which appealed with the
sureness of the sunlight he revelled
in to the perceptions, the intellects,
| the ina gination of thousands craving
for help In the liberation of their spir-
its. He became first the awakener
then the friend in thought and sympa-
thy Of every one who came under the
spell Of his pen.
His power of observation was q
natural faculty which grew uncon-
sciously in the early years Of his life
on his fathers farm. He could not
help detecting minutia in animal or
plant. He said himself that when he
first came to write about the uirds
all he had to do was recall what he
had seen. He never did anything with
I the purpose of writing about il. He
never made notes. His brain was q
heaven made laboratory of nature
study and nature lore.
AS for his writing. his early fights
were hampered by imperfect training
! and a false ideal. He tried to model
his style on DR.. JoHNsoN's and was
fluence of EMERSON. who taught him
the magic OF simplicity and direct
ness. BY cultivation of these quail
ties he attained in his later and more
finished work a charm of manner
which was in harmony with the
beauty Of his material and his
thought.
| It.is odd that q man of twenty-five
should have written such a poem as
waiting:
Serene l fold my hands and wait.
| Nor care for wind. nor tide. nor sea
! j rave no more gainst time or fate.
For 10! my own shall come to me-"
1t reads like the resignation Of one
well on in years. But it expressed Sc
renity and acquiescence, not renuncia-
| ton or Indifference. BURROUGHS was
altogether the product Of his own
genius and he felt ia himself the
power of making his life rich and
fine by use Of the material placed at
his command by Providence. This was
his lesson. that he conveyed to young
and old-to use their own faculties
and through them to possess and to
enjoy all the splendor OF the universe.
He lived, through his serenity, to a
great age. so that his life linked the
present generation with names and
memories grown legendary, the great
men and deeds If the civil war time.
In n peculiar snd special way he has
no successor. There is no one to replace
him as Dean Emeritus Of American
letters, still less as the writer beloved
of all. But in his books he has left
legacy inexhaustible in many years
TO the disciples in the school OF the
great outdoor world.
Debt Adjustment Courtesies.