Burbank's Beliefs

Despite his 76 years, Luther Burbank, great naturalist, is constantly busy with botanical researches, experiments and observations, publishing freely his results (TIME Jan. 18, SCIENCE). He has come to be known affectionately as "California's Grand Old Man" for his kindliness, his humanity, his love of children. He has a personal creed of welldoing and a God who is one to love and not to fear. Further, he has a hearty, outspoken, incisive contempt for many religious creeds and dogmas, especially the theory of predestination.

Recently some reporters snapped at this unhidden contempt and made a "newspaper story" of it. And as a result busy, aged Luther Burbank was last week obliged to hire seven additional secretaries to answer with natural courtesy the thousands upon thousands of letters relating to his religious views. A few days later, in a good, substantial California rainstorm, in the face of his wife's restraining pleadings, he motored from his Santa Rosa home, hitting water two feet deep, to San Francisco in order to read an exposition of his views to the congregation of the First Congregational Church. The auditorium was jammed by his admirers.

From the platform beside Dr. James L. Gordon, pastor of the church, and Dr. Frederick W. Clampett, formerly of Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco, Mr. Burbank smiled benignly down at the mass of men and women before him, their warmly sympathetic faces turned towards him. As he commenced to read, his high-bridged nose took on a stern aquilinity; the lines on his forehead and about his lips grew deeper. From time to time he looked up from his manuscript and down among his audience at a person here, a person there. Over such would pass first a qualm at the sincerity and the certainty and the complete integrity of the speaker's conscientiously thought out personal creed. Then would surge up a complete agreement with the views expounded. He carried his audience.

Dr. Clampett, who led the prayer service, prayed: "For the great army of scientists, God, we praise Thee. Forgive their mistakes, sanctify their efforts, crown their conquests. Greater than creed is the pureness, the kindliness, the gentleness, the sweet serenity of his [Burbank's] life and character. For his services to humanity, his great contribution to science, his great love of his fellows and above all his love of little children, we praise Thee." Dr. Gordon with gentle wit, to sympathetic laughter, put his arm about Mr. Burbank, saying: "We would be delighted to receive Luther Burbank into the fellowship of the church. No doubt he would increase in grace under my ministrations."

To top the interest and the buzzing and the clamor some Eastern lyceum bureau offered Mr. Burbank $120,000 for a year's lecturing about his agnostic [sic] views on religion. He almost snarled at the insulting proffer, "I am not in this for the money!"

Besides experimenting with plants, Mr. Burbank has been investigating "will transference." He has a "strong psychic personality," according to Konradi Leitner, Swiss psychologist, who conducted some psychic experiments in Santa Rosa last week with the naturalist, his wife and his eight-year-old niece, Betty Jane Waters. Mr. Burbank believes that, through his sheer will power and at least in one case by laying on of hands, he has forced three dying persons to live. "I don't attempt to explain it," he declared.