The semi-weekly miner., 1882-06-03
~wHR W11sDRL 8o6aeA

nlvHR w11aD0L 1oGanA
IN be Genial, hut ao has q DE-
taaorial Manner, when D.
stroy 1llus1ons.
,.t week I cav the singular stste.
1T made by nexspap corr spos.d-
.hat Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes +
H."rhat over the medium IN heieht.
The truth Of the matter b that ~.
..r il quite un.ieI middle heieht:
coufesseily short; and never ~
e,i,.t am mt reminded OF vnaf
.v smith once said when sueakin~
800 .s,.ll.sizesl men. "Why, these;e
49, wl,O will hCarrested come dav
-,,dpcrnt exposure; his body n not
s enough to cs'ver his intellect. y
=, t the vr1A nalII,4s Of the man rrn-
's hin, mere attractive in bis brisk
W. If getting about. Here one minute
Va; ,h..re the next, there 10 nm at,s0lete
~ ;n.iirm ain'ut Pr0feseOr HOlmcs.
fs lii H.. So several times rrxrptte() tl,.t
;u moi a - student In the Harvard Med.
~ school. where, .ss Professor of Anst-
ra' .. the doctor lectures four times a
W. such rici, stories a. sO,,,e OF
% w.. ln,ys have l,rO',ght over to me.
. ,o,,n. lu,lv who sat next me at din
as;I,r o!lcr day asked in u kind of
r..t,uck tone. ~ though she had sus-
ss :;...s 9, :..r id'.lized statue being after
l lr '",,, w,,a, frul'y and irregular, rs
a '',,,,. that Dr. Holmes il i,ruxslue aud
VI. rh 70 ,nu.le whom he meets?" Aud
I'I IpI Ler no: I lid not 'hink Il was ex-
"I .'x tr,,c. The pt'et has, Of course, q
rrIl-wiie reputa. Ion. and. unlike
whittier and L"ngfellOw, who are as
,".d.-t "dt and gifted. Holmes shows self
aa...ric,,>ness that Is distreasing. We
c ~sIxays willing to bow before geniue.
=, -, we d. not want to have the talent
'"l W" n. accom- plisI,ments thrust IN our
:n.. Holmes .an be genial and full of
.s.l ~. hun,or ut times. and harsh-per-
s.s dictat"rial- that has made
n.np ".r than one gentle woman say to me:
=, xi.h had never seem Holmes, for
-, illusion isdestrOyed.' "What a,si-
~. have young scribblers to send me
,sr;r verses and ask my opinion Of the
.,na.' he asked "ne day. ''They have
- more right to ask me that than they
s.,r to stOp me O0 the street, run out
,s.;r tongues, IN ak what ia the mat
;, With their stoma hs and what they
.S,ii take as q remedy" And then
min. on another day, he made the re-
ark: "Everybody that writes book
must needs send me copy. It's very
rmi Of them, Ot cs,llrse, but they're not
N successful attempts ut INok making,
,na most Of them are relocated to my
Msuital for sick hr'Oks up STAIR"
Once 4 Young writer IT from Cali
hfuia a >anlpleOf his poetry. and asked
Holmes If il was worth while for him to
ken On writing. The doctor wa struck
k something decidedly original IL the
.yla o. the writer. and write hack that
he should keep on, by all means. A long
yh;le atterw .rtl gentleman called at
the home If Professor Holmes, in Bns-
tan. and asked his host it he remember
q the incident Holmes replied, II do,
pdetd." "WeIl," said his visitor, II
.m the man." and It was Bret Harte.
The autwrat, as Holmes is generally
eslIed in Boston, waa somewhat remark
.iay favored in the way of school and
eaiese companions-R. H. Dana, the
,utho: Of Two Years Before the Mast, |"
and who recently died In Rome, was
NE Of the school nlxtes-and Margaret
Fuller, too. was . companion. and
Holmes told me Of her, In those days,
altho,yh she was tall and very awk-
vanl in her app arance, Margaret Full
ks even then was girl of prec0cious in
tlisence. In college, Judge B. r.
Curtis, Chief Justice Bige)ow, Professor
B+njamin Pierce, Rev. James Freeman
ChFk and other men Of note were men,
bem of bis class.
What mine Of recollecti0ns the poet
must have had at his command. 1t
&ems to me that II he has kept . diary
vemay expect rich treat one Of these
dys And this reminds me that once
MD to . acelebrated actress, who is to say
he least. not young and girlish enough
hmake an acceptable Jwliet, and Is
quite troubled with emtonpotnt to- be
haeer graceful impersOnatOr-! said to
thtactre<s: "How delightful It must
kiof you to look hack over your past
seoesses, and think Of fhow many au'si:
eaces you have entertained" "Yes," "
"o Suc IcIUys ~ WIZ sUs -,
yareached the point where 1t will be
'naenary to look hack" And saw
he fauxpas that had committed. Bnt
Holmes Is already looking back. he
shows it now in his poems that carry .
dhye Of satlnese-the sadness Of old 'xe.
And yet he Is ~ lively ~ ever; gets over
he same ground, and about - rapaoly
she use.i to do. Whittier said to me
'see: "No. cannot 81 out to dinners
nd receptions now. Longfell9w ana
Emerson do not, either, but Holmes
Oh, Holmes will never Ike an old man
De couldn't II he tried, hut WILL On
yeang ny long as he lives!" Yet the po
amys:
*O6 age, eraybearil, we'll indees1 know n:!n ~,
Srunk. lettering, bent, OF aches ANA 'I's ~
Inaermon, story, fable. picture. poem: !.
On have met him from my earnest o~J'
Kate Sprague has been to Cincinnat.
10 the invitation Of citizens, to arfeng'
er the transportation Of the body OF ne
aeher, the late Chief Justice Cnase
nom Washington to Spring Grove cel''
eery.