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under him； leaves him； comes back again； tweaks out a black feather；
shoots away once more； never losing sight of him； and finally reaches the
crow's perch at the same time the crow does；' but the comparison goes on
after this at needless length； with explanations。 Again： 'That blessed
clairvoyance which sees into things without opening them： that glorious
licence which； having shut the door and driven the reporter from the
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keyhole； calls upon Truth； majestic Virgin！ to get off from her pedestal and
drop her academic POSES。' And this； of the Landlady： 'She told me
her story once； it was as if a grain that had been ground and bolted had
tried to individualise itself by a special narrative。' 'The riotous tumult of
a laugh； which； I take it； is the mob…law of the features。' 'Think of the
Old Worldthat part of it which is the seat of ancient civilisation！ 。 。 。 A
man cannot help marching in step with his kind in the rear of such a
procession。' 'Young folk look on a face as a unit； children who go to
school with any given little John Smith see in his name a distinctive
appellation。' And that exquisitely sensitive passage on the nervous
outward movement and the inward tranquillity of the woods。 Such things
are the best this good author gives us； whether they go gay with metaphor；
or be bare thoughts shapely with their own truth。
Part of the charm of Dr。 Holmes's comment on life； and of the phrase
wherein he secures it； arises from his singular vigilance。 He has
unpreoccupied and alert eyes。 Strangely enough； by the way； this
watchfulness is for once as much at fault as would be the slovenly
observation of an ordinary man； in the description of a horse's gallop；
'skimming along within a yard of the ground。' Who shall trust a man's
nimble eyes after this； when habit and credulity have taught him？ Not an
inch nearer the ground goes the horse of fact at a gallop than at a walk。
But Dr。 Holmes's vigilance helps him to somewhat squalid purpose in his
studies of New England inland life。 Much careful literature besides has
been spent； after the example of Elsie Venner and the Autocrat； upon the
cottage worldliness； the routine of abundant and common comforts
achieved by a distressing household industry； the shrillness； the unrest； the
best…parlour emulation； the ungraceful vanity； of Americans of the
country…side and the country…town； upon their affections made vulgar by
undemonstrativeness； and their consciences made vulgar by
demonstrativenesstheir kindness by reticence； and their religion by
candour。
As for the question of heredity and of individual responsibility which
Dr。 Oliver Wendell Holmes proposes in Elsie Venner； it is strange that a
man whom it had sincerely disquieted should present itnot in its own
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insolubility butin caricature。 As though the secrets of the inherited
body and soul needed to be heightened by a bit of burlesque physiology！
It is in spite of our protest against the invention of Elsie's horrible plighta
conception and invention which Dr。 Oliver Wendell Holmes should feel to
be essentially frivolousthat the serpent…maiden moves us deeply by her
last 'Good night；' and by the gentle phrase that tells us 'Elsie wept。' But
now； if Dr。 Holmes shall succeed in proposing the question of separate
responsibility so as to convince every civilised mind of his doubts； there
will be curiously little change wrought thereby in the discipline of the
world。 For Dr。 Holmes incidentally lets us know that he cherishes and
values the instinct of intolerance and destructiveness in presence of the
cruel； the self…loving； and the false。 Negation of separate moral
responsibility； when that negation is tempered by a working instinct of
intolerance and destructiveness； will deal with the felon； after all； very
much in the manner achieved by the present prevalent judicialness；
unscientific though it may be。 And to say this is to confess that Dr。
Oliver Wendell Holmes has worked； through a number of books； to futile
purpose。 His books are justified by something quite apart from his
purpose。
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JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
The United States have produced authors not a few； among some
names not the most famous； perhaps； on the popular tongue； are two or
three names of their poets； but they have hardly given to the world more
than one man of lettersjudicious； judicial； disinterested； patient； happy；
temperate； delighted。 The colonial days； with the 'painful' divines who
brought the parish into the wilderness； the experimental period of ambition
and attempts at a literature that should be young as the soil and much
younger than the race； the civil…war years； with a literature that matched
the self…conscious and inexpert heroism of the army；none of these
periods of the national life could fitly be represented by a man of letters。
And though James Russell Lowell was the contemporary of the
'transcendentalists；' and a man of middle age when the South seceded； and
though indeed his fame as a Yankee humourist is to be discerned through
the smoke and the dust； through the gravity and the burlesque； of the war；
clear upon the other side； yet he was virtually the child of national leisure；
of moderation and education； an American of the seventies and onwards。
He represented the little…recognised fact that in ripeness； not in rawness；
consists the excellence of Americans …an excellence they must be content
to share with contemporary nations； however muc