The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-10-14


Oliver wss1eii Holmes Nas bora fn 1879
the yea. Of hsrsA for Abraham I<ncoi1.
Alfred Tsnny.o.. Chsrses z Darvia and
WaEsa-n z. Gladstone he vss the con-
Temporary an6 neigAsor Of Hawthorne.
asongseliow. Emerson ss1 Lowell; he en-
joyed the friendship of IRVING. Whittier
saS Brysn. Hs vas poet. q phfiosopAer.
ksen ye. geEf1e sstsriss. sasn luminous
wIfh bunsor aaa radiant .iia kiasiiness.
and yes be was great deal rnors than 81
this: he was 9 urea: high-so1Eed citizsu Of
the world, the iineai descendant 10. Of the
hard. snsters Paritans. bot Of the Pilgrim
STOCK that ns6s The Plymouth colony to-
ersnt whsa the coso1y q Massachusetts
bar was hanging witches and Qasksrs and
banisainx 81 dlssenser.-
Like Emerson he cane Of clerical stock,
and like Emerson he rejected jonathan
E3wsr6s for the sveetsr spirit sad larger
wisdom Of Robinson. Bradford, Carver
and Winston.
Holmes bsgan his career in 1890; be was
an Acknowledged Enan Of poetic poser be-
fore his seniors. LongfelioE, Whittier,
Emerson OF Hawthorne had made any
deep mark in the world Of letters His
early poetry. like bis late. is utterly dis
tanct from that Of Longfellov, Whittier or
Lowell. IL Is the work Of man who had
fed in his youth On Byron and Campbell,
whose infi1ence IL seen in bis war lyrics
and patriotic poetry. In his poems
OF sentiment and IN his soelesy
verses be recalls the grace and ten
dsrness Of Moore and the lively fancy
Of Praed. bat in his best work he Is sai
semeris. he recalls nobody. "old Iron
sides" The Last Leaf" Tho Steam
boat" "Tbe yoseeless. Brother yons-
than TO Sister Caroline. Under the yio-
lets, are the echo Of nobody across the
sess
Go much for Holmes song: Ii MAS hss
Dan fresh beautiful note: sometimes be
sang like a wood thrush: sometimes,
though rarely. like a nightingale; some
times he was Is frogicsoms as the tunefui
cat bird AS 3 pure. delightful. versatile
singer Holmes bad no teacher in America,
and not only 10 superior, bat no peer.
Bat there vas vast deal more TO
Holmes than his beautiful gift Of
pensively rnelodious or mirihfal song:
be vas 3 true sni sound social phiIoso-
pher. and be had two good teachers, who
served 20 make nina q great citizen of
the world In the breadth, generosity and
sanity Of his humane sympathies; one OF
his teachers was his profession. whose
daily experience 10 man Of genins tears
the mask from deal Of daily cant and
hypocrisy and hnmbug. and the other was
Emerson. who, like Holmes, vas = natural
born. healthy optirnist. Both we're poets,
Emerson was also a philosopher, and
Holmes. feeding on Emerson, became q
philosopher. too, and ultimately, IN our
judgment. a most effective evangelist in
the world Of liberal religions thought
Emerson began 20 preach his philosophy
about Is3s aud from ths. date IL Is notice
able that Holmes is evidently disciple Of
the Emsrsonian philosophy. Ii does not
appear in his poetry often, but as early as
1906 We End in the MORAL Bully" q
most powerful dsnunciailon Of the old
time palpitser who eisimed The right
aTo stick as With Ria eui-throet terms
AID bait his homiiies with his brother worms. /"
In 1857. when Holmes began to write the
"Antocrst Of the Breakfast Table" for the
Atlantic. be showed the effect OF his feed
ing on the oareies of Emerson; be satirixed
in the nest incisive yet captivating way
religious Insolerance. the doctrine Of eternal
punishment. which he declared was moth
ing bui the deflement OF Christianity with
the old heather Greek idea Of Tartarus: II
vas the alloy that was MIXED with
early Christianity 20 make IL popular and
acceptable 80 the heather.
With the appearance Of the "Autocrss
OF the Breakfast Table" Holmes became a
target for denuneiatlon by the theological
B0arbons. bat he was hard man to put
down. lie had for quarter of a century
been in the first rank Of American litera.
ture; he vas child Of Harvard college
be Was . MEMBER of the medical faculty o.
that institution: he Vas socially a mem.
Der Of the highest circle of Boston brains
and culture. and, worse than all, be was Q
hard man 10 reach because he was not 8
formal iogieian. but an airy. wiry sAtiriss
he tiekled the ribs al the public to laugh.
ter. and he was as difficult 10 answer as II
would be 10 dIsslpaie the glory Of rain
bon or display Of "ths northern lights
by firing al them from Quaker guns.
F.F.. II Ill.
literal and humane religion in lSs7 was =,
important an event ss the joining Of tax
osrrisonian aholitionlsts IN 1857 BY Holmes
cousin, the peerless orator Of his day
Wendell Phillips. Phillips stood for Har
ward college caltuFe. Boston "b!ae blood
ana all that sors Of rubbish. out Holms.
in Iss7 brought over 10 the Size Of literal
religious thought far stronger literary and
social force than Phillips brought 10 Tia
antl-slaverv cause IN 1851.
II Is an interesting fast that Wendell
Phillips Was 3 devogt religious man ia
college; and TO the day Of his death ma,
orthodox CongFes ationaliss. while Holmes.
the son OF an eminent clergyman, rose
above the faith Of his fathers, as Did
Emerson. The mood Of Ho.mes' mind Al
this time began to show itself in HI.
poetry. In Robinson Of Leydsn" Holmes
tolerant humane spiris speaks in ,hess
lines:
saYst tatnk not wnto thesa wxs iens
AL i!gaE Tor tae eernazg days.
Ana HssweB's eternal vision sr&nt
N rsaxtag sErzssAt tee a2c.sat vsys.
TAa living foantsln osef6o~s