XX
John Burroughs at Home: The Hut on the Hill Top
WHEN I visited the hill-top retreat of John Burroughs, the distinguished writer upon nature, at West Park, New York, it was with the feeling that all success is not material; that mere dollars are nothing, and that the influential man is the successful man, whether he be rich or poor. John Burroughs is unquestionably both influential and poor. Relatively poor: being an owner of some real estate, and having a modest income from copyrights. He is content: knowing when he has enough. On the wooden porch of his little bark-covered cabin I waited, one June afternoon, until he should come back from the woods and fields, where he had gone for a ramble. It was so still that the sound of my rocker moving to and fro on the rough boards of the little porch seemed to shock the perfect quiet. From afar off came the plaintive cry of a wood-dove, and then all was still again. Presently the interpreter of out-door life appeared in the distance, and, seeing a stranger at his door, hurried homeward. He was without coat or vest and looked cool in his white outing shirt and large straw hat. After some formalities of introduction we reached the subject which I had called to discuss, and he said:—
“It is not customary to interview men of my vocation concerning success.”
“Any one who has made a lasting impression on the minds of his contemporaries,” I began, “and influenced men and women—”
“Do you refer to me?” he interrupted, naïvely.
I nodded and he laughed. “I have not endowed a university nor made a fortune, nor conquered an enemy in battle,” he said.
“And those who have done such things have not written ‘Locusts and Wild Honey’ and ‘Wake-Robin.’”
“I recognize,” he said quietly, “that success is not always where people think it is. There are many ways of being successful; and I do not approve of the mistake which causes many to consider that a great fortune acquired means a great success achieved. On the contrary, our greatest men need very little money to accomplish the greatest work.”