The Irish standard., 1894-10-13
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.


Sunday afternoon, Oct. Z, at his Boston
residence, Oliver Wendell Holmes, the
author, physician and scholar passed
through the valley Of death into the life
beyond.
Like Gladstone, people had come to
regard the old doctor, the imam of sun
shine," as he was sometimes styled, as
proof against the infrmitiee of old age
and his death by heart failure was sud-
den and unexpected.
Although he lived beyond the allotted
years of mans life and gave us the full
measure of his genius, yet we cannot
give him up without sigh of regret.
Verify there seems to be no time in the
estimate IF lifa's usefulness in which to
die. Thus it is with DR.. Holmes; no one
can read his works without wishing that
he might have lived to write more.
He was born at Cambridge, Mass,
Aug. 90, 1909, the year which gave to
the world Gladstone, Darwin, Lincoln
and Edgar Allan Poe. His father was a
clergyman and an author of some repu
tation, so that the doctor may be said to
have i1sherited the literary instinct and
to have been born and bred in a literary
atmosphere. He prepared for college at
Phillips academy and entered Harvard,
where he graduated with the honor of
class poet in the year 1929. He then
began the study law which he soon
abandoned for that of medicine. After
taking his degree in medicine he spent
two or three years in studying at the
leading hospitals in Europe, when he at
length returned to engage in the practice
of his profession at Boston. In 1888 he
was elected professor of anatomy in
Dartmouth college and ten years later
was called to the chair of anatomy and
at Harvard, from which he
retired in 1852. 1t is chiefly, however, in
the field of literature that DR.. Holmes
has won distinction. Early in his college |
course he began to write poetry, but he
lid not at that time either in his writing
or scholarship fereshadow the illustrious
career which was before him. His works
lbound in pithy sayings, humorous sug
yestions and reflect the general character
# the man
In 1857 he bagan in the Atlantic
Monthly series of discussions which
AVE become classical the world over
The best known Of these are the auto.
ratio Of the Breakfast Table, 1.-THE Poet
1 the Breakfast Table, and "The New
,ort Folio" As writer Of song, lyrics
nd poems for festive occasions he has
OF q long time occupied unique place.
Whenever the American people have
Wished to celebrate some national event,
he Cambridge poet has generally been
allied upon to furnish an ode appropri-
to to the occasion He was man of
road sympathies, liberal ideas, kind,
enerous and above all philosopher.
Iut his philosophy was not Of the kind
yhich charaoterizes man as sounding
rass and thinking symbol" but rather
lat which recognizes the virtues OF man !;
ind and appreciates the moral attributes
human character. Blessed with one
those aimable dispo sltions. which con-
nually dwell in LIES sunshine and avoid j
8 shadows, he was naturally Of an Opt q
istic turn OF mind. He saw all life re- /
scted in the mirror Of his own cheerful Ia
and he pictured it as bright 8
lheaaw4 il. 9
His death removes rhe last of that dis T
nguuished greap of American writer's To- y
hich, Lowell, hitler and Bryant b b