that he is
without a quiet power and exercise of satire,--not that follies which
strike his attention do not get a thrust from his fine rapier; but they
are such follies, for the most part, as everybody condemns. By reason of
this quality in him, he avoids strongly controverted points in history;
or, if his course lies over them, he gives a fairly adjusted average of
opinion; he is not in mood for trenchant assertions of this or that
belief. This same quality, again, makes him shun political life. He has
a horror of its wordy wars, its flood of objurgation. Not that he is
without opinions, calmly formed, and firmly held; but the entertainment
of kindred belief he does not make the measure of his friendships. His
character counted on the side of all charity, of forbearance, against
harsh judgments; it was largely and Christianly catholic, as well in
things political as literary. He never made haste to condemn.

There is a rashness in criminating this retirement from every-day
political conflicts which is, to say the least, very short-sighted.
Extreme radicalism spurns the comparative inactivity, and says, "Lo, a
sluggard!" Extreme conservatism spurns it, and says, "Lo, a coward!" It
is only too true that cowards and sluggards both may take shelter under
a shield of indifference; but it is equally true that any reasonably
acute mind, if only charitably disposed, can readily distinguish between
an inactivity which springs from craven or sluggish propensity, and that
other which belongs to constitutional temperament, and which, while
passing calm and dispassionate judgment upon excesses of opinion of
either party, contributes insensibly to moderate the violence of both.

But whatever may have been Mr. Irving's reluctance to ally himself
intimately with political affairs, and to assume advocacy of special
measures, it is certain that he never failed in open-hearted, outspoken
utterance for the cause of virtue, of human liberty, and of his country.
There were vulgar assailants, indeed, who alleged at one time that he
had thoroughly denationalized himself by his long absences. The charge
he always regarded as an affront, and met with scorn. There are those so
grossly constituted as to measure a man's love of his own country by the
sneers he flings at the country of others. It was not in Mr. Irving's
nature to sneer at even an enemy; it was not his way of making conquest.
He recognized fully the advantages of a foreign life (a