The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-11-16
noGmss AZ AesosrIc.


and hE@ grave Ea1 Teen uesroileG OF its
flowers and leaves By sho1is. v no proba-
bly, preferred 70 show their admiration of
the man IN any other say than by read
ing his poetry. In Camden Walt Whit
man . tomb had been subjected TO similar
indignities. Stopping over AZ Boston the
writer called by permission on Oliver Wen
deli Holmes, and vas gracioasly received
by him.
Indeed. the very gracioasness Of the
reception seemed 70 carry IN unmean.
rsbuke in IL Did this genial gentleman
really care TO welcome an unknown ad-
mirer or vas he merely following the In
ssincfs of his kindly natures
"Ah.n were his first words after the
greeting. II am sorry to hear what Jon
say about VI hittier's grave. Too bad. too
bad. His ashes deserve better treatment.
He vss one OF the gentlest. sweetest poets
We ever had. His heart was full Of mel
ody. that elled out spontaneously. That
is the word-he was q spon taneous poet.
Sang because he must he was an en-
tirsly seif-educated man. product Of the
American sosl, q wild flower very much
better for its very wlIdn.ss than q mere
dollhouse exotic would have been"
OF Whitman. Holmes did not seem to
think 90 highly. Indeed, he passed him
over with . mere mention Of his name.
The next moment his face lighted mp a.
he alluded to Lowell, whom he character
ICED ~ probably the most accomplished
man Of letters se ever had.
Isn't that what people think Of him 2"
he asked.
The writer said be believed ths. this
was the rank usually accorded to Lowell
Lowell" continued Holmes, had two
great friends who were almost ~ accom-
plishsd and equally delicate In their refine
menf These were George William Curtis
ID
trio for you, Three poets. though only
one Of them Was known IS writer OF
verse They used 10 go OF together on
long tramps. Regular European In their
culture al. three. yet Boston through and
through Especially Norton. He's upper
sensitive. perhaps. afraid of the
touch Of vulgariiy- seems 20 with
draw within himself and send out
lackey to Clean OF thu steps 10 the pa ace
Of BIS soul. But what palace 10 Isl He's
very Italian. Lived in Italy long time.
and ~ filed with the soul OF Italian
culture Many Of our Boston men teei
yearning towards Italy. There was Haw-
thorns. for instance. ! Was surprised to
see how well he succeeded with The
Marble Fawnp some people think it's
his greatest work. don't they7 No. don't
think 90. Always liked The Scare. Letter
the best. Hawthorne was Puritan back
OF everything. I never thought he could
do anything with Italian surroundings.
and, as say, vas greatly surprised az his
success"
This was all very well. Bat was anxi-
Gus TO get from the Doctor some express
sion about his own work. So mentioned
the fact that had JUS. been looking over
some old reviews and in a Southern maya
zine had met with fierce onslaught by
Presbyterian elder on the orthodoxy of
"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table"
DIR. Holmes smiled benignly. Yes" he
said. 81 know the .AutocraP has been
called an infdeI book. That was in the
past. l don't think anybody would be
shocked by IL today. Indeed, what right
has Protestant to call any other man
an infidelf Protestants are all infidels--
infideles-in the sense that they are I'M
believers in the church and unfaithful
TO 1T, like Luther. But | notice that You
do not use the term infdel in these days.
Agnossic is the word, and good one, too.
Why should any one object to being called
an agnosticf There 10 nothing derogatory
in the word. Il don't know that's all il
means. Who does know? For myself /
| must echo Miss Martineau's words when
asked what she thought about the world
| Il am content Same thing, isn't it7
| That's agnosiicism.
Then, as to character, there is no one
so charitable ~ the evolutionist. The man
who holds that every human being around
him is the inevitable result of the condi-
tons that surround him and those who
preeede his birth. who believes that what
are called crimes ard errors are simply q
species of mental disease or mental lini-
tatious for which tho individual is no
more responsible than he is for bodily
disease or physical iimitations-such a
man Is liable TO be far more kindly and
charitable TO his neiehbor than one VINO
looks upon him as willing slave of
Satan, q wicked rebel who has rightfully
incurred the divine wrath, and who
should be made TO feel the scorn and con-
tempt of his feilow-creatures. Our gain in
positive knowledge Is considerable during
the past few years, but what we should
chiefly congratulate ourselves upon is the
freedom OF discussion now allowed on
subjects that we're formerly tahooed. Very
few people will be found today TO echo
that famous statement of Mrs. Plozzi,
which / have often quoted in my books:
Let me hope that you will not pursue
geology till IL leads you into doubts de-
struetve Of all comfort in this world and
all happiness IN the next
THAT WAS indeed trying time for the
dogmatists--the time when geology first
began TO tell from the fossils that il had
dug mp strange truths about the length OF
time that animal life and human life had
existed upon this earth. All and what
sad subterfnges people resorted to in order
TO get rid of this evidenced Thank good
ness we are wiser TODAY. Why, at the
time when / wrote the 'Autocrat,' | re-
member people would put their fingers TO
their lips and say Hush 7 you attempted
to NEEDLE with any question that
was supposed to cast reflections upon
the genuineness OF the revelations in the
Hebrew Scriptures. Even the men who
did not accept them in their entirety
thought 1t was wrong and wicked 10 dis
turb the faith of the bates and sucklings
Today all these questions are considered
proper subjects of conversation. not. in
deed, in the nursery, but in all places
whore thinking men and women con-
srevate They are discussed In the
pulpits, and the Clergyman need have no
lear that his pensioners will riss In
rebellion against him; they are iectured
about from the platform without any
danger Of riot; they are written about in
magazines and editors are calmly obliyious
20 any possible protest from angry sub
seribsrs or Withdrawals OF subscriptions.
such IS would have happened a quarter OF
q century ago. Why, / have heard a
cergyman's wife gaylY discussing the
question of the gorilla who grlns az
the bottom Of al our ancestral trees.
aud even refer lghtsomsiy 20 the
acephalous molln.k. whose documentary
spine vas the first prophetic hint az
/ humanity, without apparently beEnv
sware thai what she taxes to be only a
matter of curious speculation real V in
wolves the entire question OF the genesis
Of man and OF his fnai destination. To Us
old fogies this seems like sn astonishing
change. But no one can we.eo1ns the
change more srdsntly than do"
but. said the writer ''isa't the change
from the old belief to modern Agn0sticisms
likely. during The InssrrsgDum OF faith. 10
bring on an interregnun Of morals?"
Possibly among the weaklinE. who
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