Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Olde Cambridge

If it is to be admitted, as it generally is, that “The Chambered Nautilus” is the highwater mark of Holmes's poetry,--and this not merely from the perfect beauty of its structure, but from the elevation of its theme, -it is worth while to notice that remarkable bit of prose statement left behind by him in a letter written impromptu to Mr. John Lindley on the subject of personal immortality. It is justly designated by Mr. J. T. Morse, who edits it, as “very striking” and he adds, “It stands by itself solitary, so far as I know, amid all that he has publicly or privately written.” An exquisitely truthful and delicate statement of