Creator
[John Muir]
Recipient
Dan[iel H. Muir]
Transcription
[1]
Ranch in the foothills two miles from La Grange Merced Co Cal'a. Apr 17th 69
Dear brother Dan
Your letter of Feb 22' reached me a few days ago over on Dry Creek where I was engaged in the wooly work of sheepshearing I am glad to hear that unto David a son is born, & that you have discovered a profession & a girl, that you can cordially make you own. I have always [maintain?] ed that the Scotch are the salt of the earth, the French are more off[illegible] & [illegible]. The [illegible] more lively & graceful & the Germans more [dreamy?] & imaginative, but for real kindness of heart - depth of intellect & all of the graver-higher attributes of humanity the sons of Coladonia are unequalled
[in margin: I mean to go to South America next winter, then to Europe. Then however the plains & mountains of Cala are glorious again with innumerable flowers. It is raining today. The peaks of the Sierras are covered in clouds. My [illegible] is [illegible]. Covered address Hopeton's as before.]
[2]
As a [illegible] first then I rejoice at the birth of every Scot in general, & every Muir in particular, & I am glad to hear that there is [illegible] [illegible] of your soon engaging in the good work & furnishing [illegible] of precious scotch element to the grand human mass of the earth As for myself I am lost absorbed - Captivated with the divine & in fathomable loneliness & grandeur of Nature. Somehow I feel separated from the mass of mankind, & I do not know whether I can return to the or- dinary modes of feeling & thinking or not, I work hard for the means of traveling, & find myself able to make what is called a fortune in a great variety of ways, but bread & sunshine birds & flowers & open sky are enough for the comfort & delight of my existence
[3]
David attends to the feeding & clothing of people. Your are going to feel the pocket & the pulse, & for varietys sake I ought to “way my head in a [poopit”?]. I think I might preach Nature like an apostle, but if I should enter an ordinary ecclesestical pulpit, I fear I should be found preaching much that was unsanctified & unorthodox. There are three of us, & we should have adopted the three professions, David, ought to have been a Lawyer. You a preacher, & I a doctor, for David is the most cunning You the most p[illegible], & I the most [illegible] I hope that you will push your courtship & profession to a successful issue, of the first I will say nothing as doubtless you understand the matter better than I do, but allow me to write a line or two [illegible] the profession of your choice
[4]
to not seek to prepare yourself in too short a time, or at too small an expense of money or app[illegible] [illegible]. I suppose that after studying a while with a doctor that you could go through the requ[illegible] course [illegible] in two years, but you should be willing to devote a year or two to latin & general science. If you are ready for the practice of your profession in [illegible] in six years. You will be doing well enough. Set your mark high a Doctor ought to know a great many things, the [illegible] ignorant mercenary, back woods e[illegible]ians are as little worthy the name as any numbers of the [illegible] [illegible]- in the world. All that is required is knowledge, common sense, & manliness In regard to money you can always count on what I happen to have about me. I am not done with my travels yet. I may see you in one or two yrs
Location
… two miles from La Grange Merced Co. Cala
Date Original
1869 Apr 17
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from [John Muir] to Dan[iel H. Muir], 1869 Apr 17." (1869). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1299.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1299
Resource Identifier
muir02_0075-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0075
Copyright Status
Copyrighted
Copyright Statement
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html
Owning Institution
The Huntington Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Pages
4 pages
