Holmes, the fame of whose wit ripened early--
even before the days of the "Autocrat." It came about quite naturally,
therefore, that they should gladly respond to any call which gave them
the opportunity to listen to his conversation; and the eight-o'clock
breakfast hour was chosen as being the only time the busy guests and
host could readily call their own. Occasionally these breakfasts would
take place as frequently as two or three times a week. The light of
memory has a wondrous gift of heightening most of the pleasures of
this life, but the conversation of those early hours was far more
stimulating and inspiring than any memory of it can ever be. There
were few men, except Poe, famous in American or English literature of
that era who did not appear once at least. The unexpectedness of the
company was a great charm; for a brief period Boston enjoyed a sense
of cosmopolitanism, and found it possible, as it is really possible
only in London, to bring together busy guests with full and eager
brains who are not too familiar with one another's thought to make
conversation an excitement and a source of development.
Of Dr. Holmes's talk on these occasions it is impossible to give any
satisfactory record. The simple conditions of his surroundings gave
him a sense of perfect ease, and he spoke with the freedom which
marked his nature. It was one of the charms by which he drew men to
himself that he not only wore a holiday air of finding life full and
interesting, but that he believed in freedom of speech for himself,
and therefore wished to find it in others.
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