PREFACE This collection has been made by the kindness of a friend, Mr. Harold J. Laski, and I owe him thanks for gathering these little fragments of my fleece that I have left upon the hedges of life. They are printed as they appeared and I have been unable to do more than run my eye over them, but I am glad to see them put together in a book, as they offer some views of law and life that I have not expressed elsewhere so fully. The place of original publication is given at the head of each paper, and I thank the several publishers for their assent to the reprint. A later generation has carried on the work that I began nearly half a century ago, and it is a great pleasure to an old warrior who cannot expect to bear arms much longer, that the brilliant young soldiers still give him a place in their councils of war. June 15, 1920 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 337837 |