Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-06
JUSTICE HOLMES
TO Be Sc TUESDAY
This Year Also Marks 25th
Anniversary of Service on
Supreme Court.

man decides that he Is not God.
'If I did come out of II 1.-THE uni
verse;, or rather If ! am in 1t, l see
no wonder that can't swallow 1t. III
Il fixed my bounds. as 1t gives me my
powers | have nothing TO say aboul
its possibilities or characteristics ex-
cept that it is the kind of thing lusing
this phra seology skeptically and IN
der protest.. that has me in It's peIiy
and so is bigger than /.
at seems to me that my only
promising activity is to make my uni
verse coherent and livable, not 10
babble about the universe.
The above lines. contained In let
ter to William James in 1901. sum mp
the philosophy Of one VI the most
profound thinkers who ever has dig
nlfied the American bench. ACCORDING
to a close friend Of Associate Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes of the unlteo
States Supreme Court.
Reaches S6 on Tuesday.
The dean and philosopher Of the
highest tribunal of justice in America
will be Sc years old on Tuesday He
completed recently his twenty-hfth
wear on the Supreme Bench.
Oliver Wendell Holmes was born In
Boston during the years Of New Eng
lands cultural dominance. His IA
Their was one Of the most notable liter.
AIRY mon of his day. To the home of
his boyhood came great leaders of the
New England renaissance. including
Emerson rated by many as the
greatest of American thinkers. he
was reared in an atmosphere OF schol-
arshin which probably could not be
DUPLICATED in the world today-an at
mosphere of cultured. comfortable,
often inspired living. This period IN
the future jurist's life continued un-
til the outbreak of the Civil war
shortly after his graduation from
Harvard. He received a commission
in the Goth Massachusetts Volunteers
and in a few weeks was plunged into
the great conflict. The goth Massachu-
setts got it's first crucial test at the
battle of Balls Bluff. Holmes was
wounded in the shoulder. He was
taken from the battlefield and TO safe-
ty across the Potomac presumably dy
ing. He tells of conversation with
himself as he became conscious OF
the approach of Succor
IF / were Sir Phillip Sidney, said
the undecided youth. II would say
Take my comrade flrst-he is more
sorely wounded than l.. But | think
] shall just just let events take their
course"
Rejoined His Regiment.
He recovered. rejoined his regiment,
was twice wounded again. and was
brevet colonel at the end of the war.
Then he returned to Massachusetts,.
He had no path to blaze unless he
chose" wrcte an old acquaintance re-
Gently. THE natural Puritan aris-
tocracy from which he sprang await
ed him with it's pleasant securities
Id
as there burns in the Holmes of to-
day, a sense of the valuable brevity
of existence. Life was a rich but
responsible adventure.
I'm his twenties this profession of
the law which he elected seemed bar
rem enough Did he choose 1t. by
ouirk common to New Englanders,
for that very reason? Because 1t was
hard, male, undesired? The law en-
forced more than thought-an activ-
ity in the world of men, a reality
which the soldier felt bound TO
espouse, If only that it was so alien
to his intuitive bent for inward,
broodng thought.
1T cost me some years of doubt
and unhappiness," Justice Holmes is
quoted as having said, before I could
say to myself, The law is part of the
universe--if the universe can be
thought about. one part must reveal
II as much as another to one who can
see that part. 1t Is only a question
IL you have the eyes
Studies As Philosopher.
Holmes pursued the study of law in
the light of philosophy. He approach
ed his profession in the light of philo-
sophie and scientific inquiry rather
than as a means of livelihood. He had
NnnRffnainpr iTfoP0Sf in yaro 0fina hut
he had the hope of some intellectual
achievement in the field.
lis 1t possible for a lawyer to be
man OF intelligence" he once asked
Charles Francis Adams.
One of his closest friends in those
days was William James, then medi-
cal student, who was later to become
the outstanding American philosopher
of his generation. For years he kept
up a correspondence with James, with
whose school of thought he disagreed
rather markedly at times.
Holmes continued in the study
rather than in the actual practice Of
law, although he was a member of a
Boston law firm until 1882. In that
year, following the publication of his
book, Common Law, which remains
among the classics OF law literature,
he was appointed to a professorship
at Harvard. In the same year he re-
ceived an appointment to the Massa.
chusetts Supreme Bench, where he
spent 20 years. He remained an as.
eociate justice until 1899. when he
was elevated to the seat of Chief Jus
tice. From there. in 1902, he came to
Washington as an associate justice
Of the United States Supreme Court
upon an appointment by President
Roosevelt.
New Secretary Annually.
In Washington Justice Holmes
lives in an old house at 1929
street, which he leaves at II o'clock
every morning when court liz sitting,
and to which he returns at 4:30 pm.
There are both his home and study.
Among his customs is to hire a new
secretary every year--a young man
from the Harvard law school. with
whom he discusses his philosophy and
INDUCES In legal disputation.
Next June Justice and Mrs. Holmes
will celebrate the ffty-fifth anniver
sary Of their wedding. Mrs. Holmes
was Miss Fanny Dingwell of Cam
bridge. Mass.