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Show d 00 111(5 riT"f shore-"ch shore-"ch th fowl a. tbey (Ck together WhereUtothelxaiaLhrt iT!!; h!8h floalin sloop unladen. Leu. the loose water waft bun aa iTwiU raames and plunges, busy, busy wUl. After a while Dr. Holmes drifted in hts conversation to other than personal topes, talking of various people and Uiings. He ceased to be the reserved man of letters submitting to an interview, inter-view, and became the delightful conversationalist conver-sationalist and the attentive listener, vi 'hen I rose to go, after a pleasant period peri-od of this sort of conversation, he reminded re-minded me that I ought to look ont of his window and see tho river and the new bridge. The window was a place mil of suggestions. Across the river lay Cambridge, the home of Longfellow Lowell and tho Autocrat himself, where stands the famous "Washington Elm," nnder which Washington took command of the . American army, aud where is situated the first college founded in this country, Harvard nnivewity. Nearer flowed the stream celebrated in song and prose, of which Longfellow wrote: Elvcrl that in silence aimtest Through the meadows bright and free, Till at length thy rest thou undent In the bosom of the soa! Four long years of mingled feeling, Half in rest and half In strife, I have seen thy waters stealing Onward like the stream of life. Dr. Holmes has been said to have "an entire want of reverence for everything which is not naturally and rationally worthy of reverence." And it has been added, "This tendency sometimes makes him 6trike too heavy blows at tho narrow nar-row creeds of men." His esact position is best defined by words from his own lips: "I may speak slightingly of creeds, but no one ever heard me speak lightlv of the Master." You have heard of the three doctors who aro the best physicians "Dr. Diet and Dr. Quiet and Dr, Jderryman." The last must mean the cheery little man who is the subject of this sketch. His aim has been to make life less hard for mankind by administering the best of all stimulants aud revivants a good hearty laugh. He is a doctor to the mind as well as the body, and may be regarded as our national physician. His pleasant doses may not avail in the cure of dyspepsia or cancer, but let any one take a good spoonful of his famous medicine med-icine for melancholia, heartache, homesickness home-sickness or hypochondria, and he will thereafter testify to the efficacy of this treatment. Annie Isabfx Willis. 1 VISIT T0J)R. HOLMES Annie Isabel Willis Interviews the Celebrated Cele-brated Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. THE OPENING OF A PIANO. He Is Not in Love With the Autograph Hunter "Dr. Merriman" in the Ileeh. Special Correspondence. Boston, Jua ' Armed with a letter let-ter of introdnction to the "Autocrat of tho Breakfast Table," I went one sunny afternoon to his home on Beacon street. The letter was given to him as he sat at lunch, and soon a maid came into the reception room, where two men were doing do-ing some decorating and arranging, to request them to leave the room for a few niinutes, "because the doctor's coming in here," she said, and her tone implied that he could not on any account be looked at by them. The men withdrew, and in a moment a little white haired, pleasant faced man entered, and bowing bow-ing said with a smile, "Will you come up to my study?" Pleased at the prospect of seeing this famous workshop of brains I followed Dr. Holmes up one flight of stairs and through folding doors into a spacious room, whose entire side opposite the door seemed filled by a large bay window. win-dow. It was a charming study. Dr. Howies was in an after luncheon mood, and ho talked pleasantly to me not much, but humorously and epigram-mutically. epigram-mutically. In reply to questions about Ms poems he said but little. When asked if the incident recorded in "The Opening of the Piano" were true he laughed and said: "Wo all lie sometimes, some-times, but that was so. The piano was a 'Cleinenti' selected by Dr. G. K. Jackson, Jack-son, a famous musician of the day. The incident of the little girl, Catherine, was true." And he added: "I remember the smell of the mastic varnish to this day. The memory of smells, you know, never dies." He had alluded to it in the poem speaking of: When tbe wondrous box was opened that had come from over sea, With its smell of mastic tarnish and Its flash of ivory keys. The story is a pretty one. The "Clemen "Clem-en ti" piano had just arrived and been unboxed, un-boxed, and The children all grew fretful in the restlessness of joy when their mother asked her daughter to play, and soon Floating front lip aud flngor arose the "Vesper hymn." A neighbor's child heard the musio and crept up to the open door. Just as the "Jubilate" in threaded whisper dies "Open itl open it, lady!" tie little maiden cries (For she thought 'twas a singing creature caged in a box she heard); "Open itl open it, ladyl and let ine see tbe bird:" Dr. Holmes thinks that "Grandmothers "Grandmoth-ers Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill" is one of the best of his descriptive pieces. "The Aviary," too, he regards as a pretty good thing in the way of description. de-scription. Then, lest he should be thought praising his own works, he added, "Nobody understands a poeina its author, and nobody cares for it half B8 much. So when a father says he likes his baby he doesn't mean that it is the finest baby that ever was." Dr. Holmes is an honorary member of the class of '87, Wellesley college, and visited the college several times. He spoke warmly of the institution, saying that it was "a delightful occasion to see so many young women grow up to the full stature of womanhood." He was especially struck with the botanical and chemical departments and their completeness com-pleteness of apparatus, as well as with the library prospects. But the sight which most interested him was what he termed the "village of trunks" npstaira. The hundreds of trunks belonging to faculty fac-ulty and students in the main college building are stored during term time in long lofta on its fifth floor. The boards of the roof slope down on either side and tho trunks are placed in rows according to the numbers of tho owners' rooms, leaving pathways between. Of his present work Dr. Holmes said: "I am particularly lazy just now, but I hope to do a little more. I like to write after breakfast for about two or three hours before noon." His days are spent in reading, writing and taking ezercise, both walking and driving. He does not drive except iu summer, but patronizes street cars in winter. That Dr. Holmes has a great dislike of autograph hunters is evident in his conversation. con-versation. He spoke wrathfully of a wan who had just sent a request, inclosing inclos-ing a stamped envelope and two cards .for autographs. "I wrote on one," said he, "becauee the man had made everything every-thing ready and convenient, but I would not write on the other, and I hope it will be a lesson to him." ' Dr. Holmes save that in his poem called "Contentment" there is a curious resemblance resem-blance to a piece entitled "My Wants, by John Quincy Adams, who also quoted the lines at the beginning of the piece. "To the best of my knowledge," said he, "I did not think of that poem while I waa writing mine. Its mood is entirely different." dif-ferent." It begins: Little I ask; my want are few; 1 only wish a hut of Btone, . . - ' A very plain brownstone will do, That I may call my own; And close at hand is such a one. In yonder atreet that f roata the sun. The Holmes residence is a brownstone front, on Beacon street, Boston. The rear windows look out upon the Charles river, and for this reason the poet s study is at the back of the house, quite apart from city sights and sounds. I imagine it is quite as much from a kindly dears to satisfy the curiosity of strangers wto want to get a glimpse of his bouse as to save wear and tear on his doorbell that he has had his name inscribed on the silver sil-ver rim which encircles it The house is artistically furnished. ThevesUbule and hall are much the same as those in other well ordered homes of the same sort, ana the reception room differs from al kind only in having a small carved desk between the windows. The study is the heart of the hotse,. and its great bay window is the most ui-teresting ui-teresting part of the room. Fromitt-ne can seeth, new bridge which wnecta Boston and Cambridge and the latter citv itself. Dr. Holmes birthplace., ne ; lias 9n from this window many ngw in the charming old place, -chic-cy nr, . he savs, of which there have 1xn many f tincehe lived opjiosire. He ha deicntxd j hi window as follows: - |