HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL. 



355 



of those who have known me under another name in 

 those far-off' days separated from these by the red sea 

 of the great national conflict. When you first heard 

 the tinkle of the teaspoons, as the table was being 

 made ready for its guests, you trembled for me in the 

 kindness of your heart. I do not wonder that you 

 did; I trembled for myself. But I remembered the 

 story of Sir Cloudsley Shovel, who was seen all of a 

 tremor just as he was going into action. "How is 

 this?" sard a brother officer to him. "Surely you 

 are not afraid ? " " No," he answered, " but my flesh 

 trembles at the thought of the dangers into which 

 my intrepid spirit will carry me." 



In this genial spirit, with a skill and taste 

 that were as unfailing as the flow of thought, the 

 " Autocrat," the " Professor," and the " Poet " 

 said their last words over the modern tea table. 



The work that Dr. Holmes did as a patriot 

 during the country's struggle for existence in 

 1861-'65 should be matter of special comment. 

 His pen seldom rested after the first lyric, which 

 he entitled " A Voice of the Loyal North " : 



We sing our country's song to-night 



With saddened voice and eye ; 

 Her banner droops in clouded light 



Beneath the wintry sky. 

 We'll pledge her once in golden wine 



Before her stars have set. 

 Though dim one glimmering orb may shine, 



We have a country yet. 



'Twere vain to sigh o'er errors past, 



The fault of sires or sons ; 

 Our soldier heard the threatening blast, 



And spiked his useless guns ; 

 He saw the star- wreathed ensign fall, 



By mad invaders torn, 

 But saw it from the bastioned wall 



That laughed their rage to scorn. 



What though their angry cry is flung 



Across the howling wave? 

 They smite the air with idle tongue 



The gathering storm who brave. 

 Enough of speech ! the trumpet rings; 



Be silent, patient, calm 

 God help them if the tempest swings 



The pine against the palm ! 



The Lord have mercy on the weak, 



And calm their frenzied ire, 

 And save our brothers ere they shriek, 



" We played with Northern "fire ! " 

 The eagle hold his mountain height, 



The tiger pace his den ! 

 Give all their country, each his right ! 



God keep us all ! Amen ! 



Another lyric contained the lines : 



Caroline, Caroline, child of the sun, 

 There are battles with Fate that can never be won ! 

 The star-flowering banner must never be furled, 

 For its blossoms of light are the hope of the world. 



Verse was not the only medium through which 

 Dr. Holmes expressed his loyalty. The most 

 notable of his prose utterances on the subject was 

 an oration delivered before the city authorities 

 of Boston on July 4, 1863. It was 'called "The 

 Inevitable Trial," and is a grand review of causes 

 and tendencies and a stirring appeal to the 

 largest hope and patriotism. In his own clear 

 and simple way he thus sets forth the purpose 

 of his oration : 



In periods of disturbance like the present many 

 Jrsons who sincerely love their country and mean 

 o do their duty to her disappoint the hopes and ex- 



pectations of those who are actively working in her 

 cause. They seem to have lost whatever moral force 

 they may have once possessed, and to go drifting 

 about from one profitless discontent to another at a 

 time when every citizen is called upon for cheerful, 

 ready service. It is because their minds are bewil- 

 dered, and they are no longer truly themselves. 

 Show them the path of duty, inspire them with hope 

 for the future, lead them upward from the turbid 

 stream of events to the bright, translucent springs of 

 eternal principles, strengthen their trust in humanity 

 and their faith in God, and you may yet restore them 

 to their manhood and their country. 



At all times, and especially on this anniversary of 

 glorious recollections and kindly enthusiasms, we 



DR. HOLMES'S LAST RESIDENCE. 



should try to judge the weak and wavering souls of 

 pur brothers fairly and generously. The conditions 

 in which our vast community of peace-loving citizens 

 find themselves are new and unprovided for. Our 

 quiet burghers and farmers are in the position of 

 river boats blown from their moorings out upon a 

 vast ocean, where such a typhoon is raging as no 

 mariner who sails its waters ever before looked upon. 

 ... In times like these the faith is the man; and 

 they to whom it is given in larger measure owe a 

 special duty to those who for want of it are faint at 

 heart, uncertain in speech, feeble in effort, and pur- 

 in aim. . . . 



