THE ARENA.
No. XX.
JULY, 1891.
CONTENTS.
| Oliver Wendell Holmes | George Stewart, D.C.L., LL.D. |
| Plutocracy and Snobbery in New York | Edgar Fawcett |
| Should the Nation Own the Railways? | C. Wood Davis |
| The Unknown (Part II) | Camille Flammarion |
| The Swiss and American Constitutions | W. D. McCrackan |
| The Tyranny of All the People | Rev. Francis Bellamy |
| Revolutionary Measures and Neglected Crimes, (Part 2d) | Prof. Jos. Rodes Buchanan |
| Æonian Punishment | Rev. W. E. Manley, D.D. |
| The Negro Question | Prof. W. S. Scarborough |
| A Prairie Heroine | Hamlin Garland |
| An Epoch-Marking Drama | Editorial |
| The Present Revolution in Theological Thought | Editorial |
| The Conflict Between Ancient and Modern Thought in the Presbyterian Church | Editorial |
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
To the year 1809, the world is very much indebted for a band ofnotable recruits to the ranks of literature and science, statesmanshipand military renown. One need mention only a few names to establishthat fact, and grand names they are, for the list includes Darwin,Gladstone, Erastus Wilson, John Hill Burton, Manteuffel, Count Beust,Lord Houghton, Alfred Tennyson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Each ofthese has played an important part in the world’s history, andimpressed the age with a genius that marks an epoch in the greatdepartment of human activity and progress. The year was pretty welladvanced, and the month of August had reached its 29th day, when thewife of Dr. Abiel Holmes presented the author of “The American Annals”with a son who was destined to take his place in the front line ofpoets, thinkers, and essayists. The babe was born at Cambridge,Massachusetts, in the centre of a Puritan civilization, which couldscarcely have been in touch and harmony with the emphasizedUnitarianism emanating from Harvard. But Abiel Holmes was a genial,generous-hearted man, and despite the severity of his religiousbelief, contrived to live on terms of a most agreeable character withhis ne