Creator
Daniel Muir
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
[1]
Town of Buffalo 24 Feby 1866
Dear John I have been longer of answering your letter about the Discription of Canady & the account of your Contract for rake making then I thought I would. I wished to see that god had led me to the best place when he brought to Wisconsin I suppose you will be well through with your rake concern by this time what are you going to do nixt, are you going to continue at that kind of business or what. And how is your Soul thriving in so much confusion, see that it is not like the wheat amongst the thorns for if so, there will be nothing but straw when the harvest comes, you know religion ought to be the first thing in home for if it is not, your worldly things will be without a blessing & profitless, for what will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world if he lose his own soul & what can a man give in exchange for his soul. Gods words are all true & therefore cannot fail. If the kingdom of heaven is the first thing as reguards importance why should you not think most about the things above & I fear you do not. It appears to me that you think more on the things of this world, now if you knew just how long you were going to live in this world you might divide your time so as to give the two worlds what portion you might judge best, that is if your judgement would answer, But when you know that man cannot will nor do, So as to pleas god of himself, it is consequently best to do at all times according to gods judgement, & let him work in us the will & to do, at all times, accordin to his good pleasure, for I hope you have learned before this that man naturally is productive of nothing but evil, & is in darkness & knows not his distance from god is not convinced of their awefull po[illegible] in the Sight of god, and dose not know that it is of the mercy of god that they are not in hell, nor do the know the judgement of god reguarding them & think not that the axe is laid at the trees root that in case it doth not bring forth fruit after another years grace, the executioner may be
[2]
commanded to cut it down why comb[illegible] the ground, But I fear that very many who do profess to be inlightened respecting Spiritual matters are in greater darkness than they imagion , at least they do not seem to be affected much with it if any for they seemingly keep at too great a distance from god as if conviction [and?] all that they had attained to that their [illegible] with Christ was only formal, as if they had no certainty whether they had received pardon or not, or whether they were in his kingdom or Satans. whether they are governed by the Spirit of god, or the flesh whether they are under the law or under grace, whether they are justified by Jesus Christs good works or their own good works, allways in bondage except when their freedom is imaginary and you know that would not profit them anything on a dieing bed, nor in life either. It appears then that both the unenlightened man and the hypocrite have got their eyes shut up, & also their easy, & their understanding takein from them, by the god of this world, & if god has not mercy upon them they never will be in a better state. Now my Son as I do not know for certain your present state of mind in relation to its safety, as their may be great changes by grace, wrought upon both you, & me since I & you spoke last on that a[illegible], So that untill we get better informed, I shall only Speak of my own State, and advise you as my gracious god & Saviour may inable me, for our mutual profit. As reguards my own State in the Sight of god, & as he has revealed myself to my self I think their never was a more fitting creature, as I have been, on the face of the earth. I there for have been one of the Chiefest of Siners, the thorns that crowned my blessed Saviour the nails that pearced his holy hands & feet, & the spear that pearced his innocent side, was formed of my most filthy sins, yet I believe that the blood that flowed thireby, hath perfectly washed away that awefull filth of sin, when self rightiousness nor northing else could have done it. & the glory & the praise be unto god the Father, who hath made Christ Jesus unto me Wisdom, Rightio usness , Santification, & Redemption, & who hath sent down his Holy Spirit into my heart, to lead me into all truth & rightiousness, & produce in me
[3]
love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, & temperance against which there is no law, and I believe though I can do nothing more of myself in the future, then I have done in the past, to please god yet I have his precious promises to enable me to do what I could not do before. My grace shall be sufficient for you therefore I can like Paul take pleasure in infirmaties, [illegible], reproaches, persucuti -ons, & Distresses for when I am weak then am I strong, and my god has given me to believe that he will finish what he has began for the work is all his from begining to end all I can do is to love & praise & follow him in the faith & that not of myself it is the gift of god. That my son is a better portrait of myself, for it is of gods making, then any creature could have drawn for you, of my vile old man. So you need not wonder at my scruples about having portraits taken of myself, there is no image like gods, & I hope he will give me more & more of that everyday for Jesus sake Amen. Now my son suffer a word of councell from your father / Examin yourself whether you are in the faith prove your own self pray to you heavenly father that he would for Christs sake, lead you to see the vileness of your natural state as he has drawn the picture of it in his word this he will do by his Holy Spirit, that he would give you faith to rest upon his word of truth according to the Scriptures & that everything that is opposed to his every word, is lies, whether it comes from the Devil, your own heart, or the world, & by this you will know how you stand befor god. Pray also that he would be pleased to reveal his Son in you see John 6:37. 44.45. Receive Jesus Christ according to the the gospel as the gift of god freely offered to you, See John 6:29; 1 John 3:23. & John 1:12. The following passages will show you what you have to leave for Jesus in order that you may be his disciple Luke 14:26. Matt 19:29. Mark 10:29.30.
[4]
fall
Luke 14:21-23.24 Acts 4:34, Luke 9:23.24.25. You ought to be thank to god for the gospel that it has reached you Matt 24:14; & 28:19; Rom 10:18. Also for a knoledge of the rightiouness which is of faith Rom 10:4.17. The that seeketh the Lord with all his heart shall find him yea he is to be sought as for hid treasure. he says look unto me all ye ends of the earth and be saved for I am god & there is none else Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden with sin & I will give you rest never rest until you can with certinty say that the Lord is yours by faith, and all with him for short of that there is no peace nor joy. write soon & let me know how you prosper in this way, Your folks hereabouts are all well for ought I know
I remain your ever affectionat Father
Daniel Muir
00366
Location
Buffalo, [Wisc]
Date Original
1866 Feb 24
Source
Original letter dimensions: 25.0 x 40.0 cm
Recommended Citation
Muir, Daniel, "Letter from Daniel Muir to John Muir, 1866 Feb 24" (1866). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1183.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1183
Resource Identifier
muir01_0776-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 01, Image 0776
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
Copyright Status
Copyright status unknown
Copyright Statement
Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Owning Institution
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Pages
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
