Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Louie [Strentzel Muir]
Transcription
Hotel Metropole,
London, August 8, 1893,
Dear Louie:
Wanda has so often mentioned some trouble about your eyes and Grandma's that I feel distressed about it. At first I thought it was only some cold, but the cause seems to be in something more serious, since it lasts so long. Do try to take better care of your health. Above all, don't worry about things. I feel lonesome whenever I set out on a new journey like this one to London or Switzerland, but I soon gain friends and feel better as soon as I can talk to people. Even after riding only an hour or two in a car the people I have spoken to shake hands with me at parting, saying "I'm glad, sir, I have met you. I'm truly obliged to you for your information, and I wish you a safe and happy journey." On the trip of twelve days to Norway-almost everybody on the ship thanked me for what I told them about the scenery, the shaping of the mountains, etc., and there was a grand hearty shaking of hands and invitations to their homes when we were parting. Although the Scotch and English are so reserved and slow to make new friends, I do believe I could spend all the balance of my life in visits at the homes of these same conservative people.
I learned much in my own special studies in Norway. It was all like a language that with painstaking industry I had learned elsewhere This alone was well worth the time and cost of the summer's trip. The trips in Scotland were also telling in a glacial way, and I find myself able to get hold of the general main facts in the history of a11 the lands I have seen in a very short time.
The trip to the English Lake district was perfectly delightful in every way. Such lovely glacier lakes - the shores curving in and out, fringed with charming woods, green islands here and there, and. mountains and hills all green and bosky all around, flowers from lilies to heather in glorious abundance and beautiful cottages and mansions all steeped in fine associations. The hotels even are picturesque and 'harming, and I never before saw a place where I was so erxious to have you with me to enjoy it. Surely after spending so much of your life worried with drouth and weeds and hired men you should get one good look at the world and the best it can show. This I look forward to hen the babies grow big. Hero are some leaves I picked for you from the branches leaning over Wordsworth's grave.
With love to Grandma and everybody, I am,
Ever yours,
JOHN MUIR
Location
London, [England]
Date Original
1893 Aug 8
Source
Original letter dimensions: 33 x 21.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Louie [Strentzel Muir], 1893 Aug 8." (1893). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 972.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/972
Resource Identifier
muir07_1260-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 07, Image 1260
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
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, click here to view the Holt-Atherton Special Collections policies.
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.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Pages
1 page
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
