Evening star., 1932-02-07


lawyers are on such friendly terms with
the classics and the moderns. But pres
emily he abandoned the hope that he
might express this feeling with compe
tence in anything but words.
Such etchings as he produced were
disappointment because he thought them
of no merit whatsoever. But he never
embraced the illusion, somewhat widely
held, that mere proficiency makes an ar
tiSt. That thing at the END of the
mantel there" he once said, lis
Whistler Now, fellow who is proficient
may come along and study that for
while and say to himself, This fellow
has got new wrinkle; why can do
that' and he goes away and does it, to
his own satisfaction; but it lacks the
final Wiggle, which is genius"
\ lot the personal acquaintance with
Emerson, but the Civil War was "the
greatest moral experience" in the life Of
Holmes. There was job to be done, and
sometimes it was diSconcerting to the
son of a patrician family to find that
some fellow from the woods around Cam
bridge, of whom no one had ever heard,
could do it better than he could. 1t had
a chastening effect, and in later years
he was wont to acknowledge the value
of this debating moral discipline. But
even more the dangers, the toll and the
tragedy Of that conflict burned them
selves into the consciousness and spirit
of this sensitive young man. Five times
hit and thrice badly wounded, returning
each time indomitably to the battlefield,
the experience set the pattern of his at
titude toward life. In little collection
of his speeches, privately printed, may
be found repeated evidence of the i'm
portance of this period, and of how gen
erouS a foe this New EngIander was.
There is space here for but one such
passage, which Is but little known:
War, when you are at it, is horrible
and dull. It is only when time has
passed that you see that its message was
divine. hope it may be long before We
are called again to sit at that masters
feet. But some teacher of the kind we
all need. In this SNUG, overSafe corner
of the world we need it that we may
realize that our comfortable routine is
no eternal necessity Of things, but mere
ly little space of calm in the midst
of the tempestuous, untamed streaming
of the world, and in order that we may
be ready for danger. We need it in this
time of in6ividualist negationS, with it's
literature of French and American
humor, revolving at discipline, loving
fesh-pots and denying that anything is
worthy of reverence-in order that we
may remember all that buffoons forget.
We need it everywhere and at all times
For high and dangerous action teaches
US to believe as right beyond dispute,
things for which our doubling minds are
slow to find words of proof. Out of
heroism grows faith in the worth of
heroism. The proof comes later, and
even may never come. Therefore, re-
joice at every dangerous sport which I
see pursued. The students at Heidelberg,
with their sword-slashed faces, inspire
me with sincere respect. 7 gaze with
delight upon our polo players If once
in a while in our rough riding a neck is
broken I regard it not as a waste, but
as a price we'll paid for the breeding of
a race fit for leadership and command
However divine" the message of war,
Mr.. Justice Holmes has been the eloquent
champion on the Supreme bench of
pacifsts and newspapers suppressed be-
cause their loyalty was questioned. He
does not hold that his views are compul-
sorry on his fellows; to the contrary, he
is heartily committed to freedom of opin-