The bitter field of Antietam seems far removed from a generation to which Chateau Thierry is already history. The presentation yesterday of the portrait of Oliver Wendell Holmes to the Law School pays a just tribute to a man who has filled the years between these milestones with quiet judgment. Graduated from Harvard with the class of 1861, the present Justice of the Supreme Court left academic Boston, to be wounded three times in the Civil War. Closing his service on the staff of General Wright, he began a law practice through which he acquired a reputation that finally placed him on the highest judiciary body of the land. As a great jurist, his knowledge of the law never has subordinated the human equation, never has quenched the kindly gleam of tolerance in the profound seriousness of the sage.

The laws of nations are founded on the heritage of their great men. It is on the bulwark of past experience that intelligent society can best build and interpret the solutions of present problems. The Law School galleries bear witness to men of Harvard who in the past history of the United States have contributed to this cause. It is fitting that Justice Holmes should already find a place of honor among them.