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Sierra Club Bulletin 



moods he knew and loved. Loitering through the meadows or 

 scaHng the heights, Muir was here at home and at his best. Not 

 infrequently he was called upon to act as guide, interpreter and 

 host to those who came from afar. For all such he mixed with 

 the independence of a mountaineer a true Highland hospitality. 

 It was delightful to hear him tell of Emerson's visit, all too 

 brief, or the later, longer outing of an intrepid former presi- 

 dent, who insisted on having Muir for his escort and Muir only. 

 Both saw to it that the trivialities of city life were left behind 

 and forgotten. There was no room for artificialities in the 

 friendly mountains. Rather the long day's tramp, the inspiring 

 views, the refreshment of the mountain stream, the growing ap- 

 petite, the simple meal, the quiet mind, the pine-bough bed and 

 restful sleep beside the camp-fire, that, flickering, threw into 

 bolder relief the sentinel Sequoia. 



Muir was the keenest of observers and no mean scientist ; but 

 it was his power of expression and gift of interpretation that 

 made him known among men. He was able to convey to others 

 a full measure of his own enthusiasm, and kindle in them an un- 

 quenchable longing for out-of-door life, and golden, glorious 

 days and nights in Nature's own playground, the mountains. 

 This was Muir's mission and at it he wrought diligently. His 

 influence was not confined to one city or one State. It is indeed 

 a question if this was not greater in distant lands than in the 

 State and section where he dwelt and which he loved so well. 



When a mountain falls and jars the planet's crust, the earth 

 waves spread in all directions with ever widening circles but 

 ever diminishing energy. When a great man passes from the 

 sunlit way, human interest is stirred in many lands, but there is 

 no lessening of appreciation and sympathy with increasing dis- 

 tance. Thus it is with Muir. He stood as a great advocate for 

 the preservation of the wild and the beautiful ; he gave the best 

 that was in him to the service of men ; he strove earnestly to 

 turn their thoughts from the daily routine, with its unrest and 

 turmoil, to the peace and beauty of the hills. 



His eloquent sentences will remain as long as our mother 

 tongue endures ; his pleadings will not lose their force, and his 

 influence can but spread and strengthen as the years pass. 



