IN putting forth this
book Mr. John Burroughs will try the patience of many friendly and admiring
readers who have hitherto enjoyed his comradeship in the love of out-of-door
life. Has he entered on a second childhood? Does he really mean this utterance
to be taken seriously? If the latter, there is neither conviction from nor satisfaction
in his rambling arguments and random assertions.
Discarding the faith of his father, and cutting loose from the historic creeds,
Mr. Burroughs here expounds the religion of the new "day" which has
dawned upon him with the "enlightenment" arising from science pure
and simple. He thinks that he has now outgrown any concern for the divine life,
any interest in immortality, any care for the destiny of man, and rests in a
supreme content, his mind at leisure to devote itself to other subjects of greater
moment. What a peaceful frame of mind is his who can write in verse an introduction
which begins this way:
And so on.
These essays were written, it seems, twelve or fifteen years ago, but in their present form, the author endorses them; though the reader who is still at anchor will not fail to discern the notes of doubt and unrest.