Page:A Memorial of John Boyle O'Reilly from the City of Boston.djvu/51

Rh But there are some qualities which need no perspective,—the quality of friendship, that subtile grace which binds kindred souls together, which betrays itself in the grasp of the hand, the glance of the eye, the intonations of the voice, and those unselfish deeds which friendship prompts. We cannot be too near that to appreciate it; the true friendship may grow firm in the memory, and become more sacred with time. And it is one of those things that the nearer we are to it the more we feel it is a living power. And no man in this present time has had more of these qualities which bind men together, which draw faith and impetus of those who are kindred minds, than he.

There are other qualities which can be immediately appreciated; for example, patriotism, that subtile sentiment which leads a man to feel that the spot on which he was born is the most precious spot of earth that is, which induces him to forget everything, and to give all that he has, even life itself, for the defence of kindred and home.

This quality our friend had, and it was his devotion to his native land that made him first famous throughout the world and secured for him a memorial, if it had done nothing else; and what is most striking and rare, the patriotism he had for Ireland, he also gave to the land that furnished him an asylum.