Letter from F. B[ailey] Millard to John Muir, [ca. 1902 Jan ?].

[1][letterhead]Friday.Dear Mr. Muir:I suppose you received the message sent in the Martinez correspondent of the Examiner . To send such a message in such an abrupt business way is as embarrassing as it is to receive it; that I didn\u27t like to use the same old picture of you that has been used so often and which I first printed when I was city editor of the Call, years ago. The Markham review came and028916 2it more than meets my demands upon the po[illegible]t for eloquence . I asked him to be as eloquent as he could and he has used large [illegible]ds of language, dipping his pen into all the colors of the Yellowstone, so vividly described by you in the [illegible]. It is a fine tribute of one forceful, natural [illegible] to [illegible]. So prepare your deepest and most spontaneous blushes for a week from Sunday. Keith\u27s [illegible] of the Merced has just been exposed to public view here in the E[illegible]porium, in rather [3][letterhead]a bad light - too garish for the rather s[illegible]ber subject, as trea[illegible]d by him. But the pure poetry of his mountain peaks is something to rave over. Still you would know best how much [reason?] a person should [lose?] while viewing it. Until you have seen the picture, however, and I have heard from you on the subject, I shall continue to rave. I sent Keith a little cry of delight over the painting to-day, and don\u27t yet feel ashamed of my rhapsody. 028916 4I hope you liked the Markham book. You didn\u27t say that you received it. My best friend, Charles Ferguson, [illegible] of the Religion of Democracy, who preaches the doctrine of out-of-doors, wrote me the other day of the Markham book, saying It will do much to abate the world - nuisance of intellectual cleverness and moral meanness. So good this seemed to me that I quote it for you. In truth it seems to the subscriber that intellectual cleverness, as we see it in print and speech to-day is a very nuisance, needing sorely to be abated. Do you know what I like best in National Parks? Yellowstone [illegible], that fine touch on the sugar pine, the mountain fires and the meeting with Emerson.Yours as ever,F. B. Millard