dialectic was in
matter, has gradually introduced mitigating elements into the atmosphere
of opinion. Partly, no doubt, the singular tolerance of free discussion
which now prevails in England--I do not mean that it is at all
perfect--arises from the prevalent scepticism, from indifference, and
from the influence of some of the more high-minded of the clergy. But
Mr. Mill's steadfast abstinence from drawing wholesale indictments
against persons or classes whose opinions he controverted, his generous
candour, his scrupulous respect for any germ of good in whatever company
it was found, and his large allowances, contributed positive elements to
what might otherwise have been the negative tolerance that comes of
moral stagnation. Tolerance of distasteful notions in others became
associated in his person at once with the widest enlightenment, and the
strongest conviction of the truth of our own notions.

* * * * *

His career, beside all else, was a protest of the simplest and loftiest
kind against some of the most degrading features of our society. No one
is more alive than he was to the worth of all that adds grace and
dignity to human life; but the sincerity of this feeling filled him with
aversion for the make-believe dignity of a luxurious and artificial
community. Without either arrogance or bitterness, he stood aloof from
that conventional intercourse which is misnamed social duty. Without
either discourtesy or cynicism, he refused to play a part in that dance
of mimes which passes for life among the upper classes. In him, to
extraordinary intellectual attainments was added the gift of a firm and
steadfast self-respect, which unfortunately does not always go with
them. He felt the reality of things, and it was easier for a workman
than for a princess to obtain access to him. It is not always the men
who talk most affectingly about our being all of one flesh and blood,
who are proof against those mysterious charms of superior rank, which do
so much to foster unworthy conceptions of life in English society; and
there are many people capable of accepting Mr. Mill's social
principles, and the theoretical corollaries they contain, who yet would
condemn his manly plainness and austere consistency in acting on them.
The too common tendency in us all to moral slovenliness, and a lazy
contentment with a little flaccid protest against evil, finds a constant
rebuke in his career. The indomitable p