I spent the morning down at the law library in the old civil courthouse in Miami while my cleaning lady was in my place. I took along The Metaphysical Club to read and came to a point where Justice Holmes’s dissent in the Abrams case, 1919, was mentioned. I decided to read the case from the Supreme Court Reporter there. 

Holmes has always fascinated me. I read a bio in grad school, parts of The Common Law, his Memorial Day Address, Buck v Bell, etc. I went from admiring him to detesting him and his philosophy and know his writing fairly well. His opinion in Abrams was so unlike the Holmes that I knew. He wrote modestly, eschewing the one-liners, quietly, as a “reasonable man”; it was very impressive.