The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1895-06-11
REGENTS PRIzE EssAY.
The Place In Literature Of OIL
iver Iende Holmes.
by j. 4. M'DONALD,

permanent place in American Litera-
ture Of eminent writers one Of the first
definite problems is presented BY Oil
yer Wendell Holmes. And tits one of
the most obscure Of such problems, be-
cause more than almost any writer Of
our age be has his own accustomed
nook at every fireside, he is 4 familiar
friend, a welcome guest whom we have
all loved, enjoyed and laughed over;
/ man whose genial humor has appeal.
4 ed to larger circle Of friends than per
haps any other American author and
one who has interested a generation
that is no longer young. We do not
criticise one whom we love nor do we
suffer others to dose, and there is per-
haps a wider sympathy with DR..
Holmes as a person, than any other
writer -four time.
This is neither the time nor the
place TO trace the career of DR. Holmes,
for that needs a larger canvass and
more abundant material But tits
not too soon to notice for a moment
the work he did and the place he filed
] in the world Of letters and to express
our gratitude for both.
Born in 1909 of good I old stock
parentage on both sides reared amidst
surroundings of culture and refine
ment, educated at classic Harvard, he
has always belonged to the aristocrats
Of New England. He had iii all ways
singularly happy and successful life j:
literary fame came early and remain
ed until old age, ever growing and
broadening and at the end he saw it
as fresh and fiourishing as in the
beginning with the promise Of long
endurance.
sold Ironsides. made him famous
at twenty one, and ever afterwards
before his literary reputation Sc emed
to need refreshing the refresher had
been forth coming and anticipated the,
need. z t.3 -----.--.
he came az good. time; he saw
the first Of our Rep1blico Of letters and
the formati IF that New England
school which may be called its Senate.
Hn fca l, - r,., h i, 49,; n ys;S n I,ie A II.
tocrat as certificate of election with
Emerson, Longfellow, Whittier,
Hawthorne and Lowell, and those en-
PERTAINING sages Prescott and Motley.
He lived to see them all pass away
and in his passing the golden age of
/ New England literature passes also
Before his birth Franklin's essays
Hamilton's State papers and Edwards
Theological treatises were the only
works which had found a permanent
place in our literature, and all these
Il were specialists rather than distinct
4 literary men SO it was left to the
nineteenth century to- show that
America could make al distinct and
characteristic contribution to the
great literature Of the English speak
ing people. and for this reason
alone the authorship which, includes
Emerson, Whittier, Lowell and
! Holmes had an Inspiration and hope
fulness quite apart from any judg-
ment which might be pronounced up
u on1its intrinsic literary qualities. 1t
quite as much as any thing In our own
literature, formed the youth of the
last generation and gave itmuch of
the spiritual impulse and intellectual
strenuousness it possessed.
OF this group of distinguished writ
ers, DR.. Holmes, although he will not
hold the highest place, was the most
varied in performance, the most
versatile in faculty, and certainly the
wittiest and most cherry in spirit. He
has talked to a generation Of En-
/ glish reading people in both hemis-
pheres, taken them by the hand as it
were and whispered or pleaded in their
ears for hours together. To have
I, stirred this pure and natural human
ity, this force Of sympathy in such
countless millions is a great triumph;
perhaps Vt is the chief jewell in the
crown that rests on the head Of Dr..
Holmes as an author.
I'm all this luminous circle there
was no heart more true and tender
than the heart Of the autocrat, no
spiritso bright as that which has now
passed into the darkness and silence,
where only the eyes Of love and hope
can follow Without any sugg estion
Of comparison it is now easy to see
that DR.. Holmes rightfully belongs
among the remarkable literary men Of
his day for when he died words were
spoken about. him In lands and lam
guages not his own, which testified
how large q place he had filled III this
hurried and crowded world.
His versatility was such that one
hesitates whether to speak first Of the