Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-01-01
ilefense Of New England bT Holmes.
Oliver Wendell Holmes letter in de-
,fense Of New England, is SO characteris-'
tic of the man that we give it entire: :7sii7

nc OF theiman that we give it entire:
sHs19i2L Bqsross, r. Dec. I6, 1862.
Mr., DsAE SIR:. ! regret tEat I cannot
become a pilgrim myself, and set my
foot on that fragment of Pilgrim Rock
which forms the. threshold of the Aztorr
House. eaop q ,-4l. -. pas
1t would be great pleasure TO meet
my brethren who have invaded the terri
tory of my ancestors; for / have anteb
natal recollections OF. New Amsterdam
and its, dependencies, tracing one stain
of my blood to Dutch; ruling elder and
his Dutchess, or female HctIander. 49,. 49,.
I should 60 to listen rather than to
speak I should hardly csre to have my
voice heard in the, company of, those
whose eloquence belongs not to New
England alone, but to all America-rto
all English speaking or reading commu-
nities-to civilization itselE-nay, to al
mankind; for they speak for liberty,
which is the birthright of all earlh's de.
pendent ehiIdren-babes in the wood,
whose uncies are the plotting tyrants ,
who have disinherited them :.
!. There is one. temptation you do not.
promise me. l will 60 q great way TO
see one of those persons who have tried
to make favor With city mobs and bord,r i,
barbarians by abusing New England. =. =.
/ should have looked with intense, Gu
riosity to see what maHner of persons
they were whose culture entitled them to
sneer at herr educational institutions, at
Hazard and Yale, at. Dartmouth, AM
herst, Williams and the-rest; Iwopld- /
thankfully havesbrought a photographer
with me to catch the features of the per; j
son whose learning authorizes him TO
dispise her libraries, whose taste entities
him to scott at her galleries, whose
science can dispense withlher museums,
whose knowledge of the past fits him 10
sit in Judgment on her historians, who
can teach her philosophers how to think
and her poets how to sipg---in short, who
can whistle any tune he chooses better
than that overgroWn. sbagpipe ifoolishly
called the :" Great Organ y can play it.
! should like to take a cast of the
of the man who surveys tie
benevolent agencies of New England,
her hospitals, her city missions, her
schools for every form Of bodily and
mental infrmity, from a platform auf
moral elevation, which entities him to-
treat her as an inferior. a5ft5 -siiil
That persons answering, ito this de |
scription have been running at large is
unquestionable, but Mr.. Barnum has
never exhibited one of them; not oneof,
them is to be found amongthe preserved |
reptile of our Natural History Societies,
on the shelf oil, the blind worm, or among
the eyeless fishes of western caverns, nor
yet among the globe-relling beetles of
the entomologists ] should have liked
a model of the cranial developements in
one Of these persons, for am curious in
phrenology, and should like to know /
whether the shell has. a. mountain. in
place of selfesteem,H or a bottomless
pit in the situation where we look Tor the,
organ concientiousness.9 dl-Ir.f'l saol
III could be sure of seeing one of these
specimens of humaniiysI i should find it
hard to stay away from the meeting of
the New England Society. ~ +, Ar, Ameril
can by berth, a, citizen Of the United
States, who cdnld sit down In cold blood
to abuse New England Mt q; time when
her blood is oozing from her veins like
sweat from the mower s faee-Tat an hour
when national division would be Grafton. /
al death, and loyal union is the, triumph
of liberty, not only for ! America but for
all .mankipd--suIh a being is better
worth studying than the Aztees. .and
Bushmen we look at with SO much cuff.
osity. Even the honocaadutus, the AZ !
rican human being with a eaudal appen-
dage, would interestno less, as specimen
nature aberrant types, for he puts for
ward no pretensions, and could be made
man of by a slight surgical
operation - < 81 x 4GS4 II
~ New England is abused By d half
taught and haifsouled peoples ssimply be-
cause shs has made thought her special
ty and under standssher business. Let
them knock their silly heads against her
as much as they like; they willsfnd their
success chronicled IN afeW, lines written
for another set of simpletons, but which
viii, ft the ease we'll enough
The feeble sea birds, blinded fns stherktorms.fs
On sore tall light house dash thsirIlittIe forms
And 4, the rude granite scsttersfer their pains
Those small deposits that we're meant for brains.
Iet the prond fabric In the NOR ming = sunht
Stands Al. unconscious Of the mischief5doae;
Still the red beacon pours it's evenings rays
For the 1ssf pilst will as fuff 4 blaze
Day shines ali radiance DER the scattered fleet
OF gulls and boobies brainiess at her feet
& Therefore, sas q Sentiment shN "A
Nes0 England and her Defenders
As long as they will find brains she will
furnish granite, and let them find out
which is the hardest
f" Yours, very truly,
4 tssf, ~ -. w 49, IT