Holmes, Oliver Wendell, the eminent American poet and man of letters, was the son of Rev. Abiel Holmes, D.D., a Congregational minister, and was born in Cambridge, Mass., August 29, 1809. He was graduated at Harvard in 1829, then made a thorough study of medicine at home and abroad, was elected Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Dartmouth in 1838, and in 1847 was elected to the same chair at Harvard, which position he filled until 1882, when he became emeritus professor. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-five and continued to do literary work almost to the end. He died October 7, 1894. He published many volumes during his life, and is one of the most widely known of American authors. His writings abound in pathos and humor. He was a Unitarian in faith. Dr. Holmes wrote only a few hymns, some half a dozen of which are found in modern hymnals, the three here found being perhaps his best.