Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

his readers. He wrote:
If, however, I can by lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out one wrinkle from the brow of
care, or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sadness. If I can, now and then, penetrate
the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make my
reader more in good humor with his fellow beings and himself—surely I shall not have written
entirely in vain. (Curtis, 96).
This motivation reflects Irving’s general care for his fellow men. One commentator called him, “the
patriarchal embodiment of good-will towards men.” (Hellman, 154). This deep care for others animated
his writing and his treatment of humanity in his writings.
Of the emotional forces, that drove Irving, his love of the past and sense of time’s transience,
incited a deep traditionalism in his writings all of which contain a yearning for the past. His childhood
reading of adventure stories and travelogues nourished his lively imagination and begot in him a love of the
past which eventually blossomed into a strong conservatism. His words on his childhood home reflect this
outlook. He wrote,
To me the Hudson is full of storied associations, connected to some of the happiest
portions of my life each striking feature brings to mind some early adventure or enjoyment
some favorite companion who shared it with me; some fair object, perchance of youthful
admiration, who like a star, may have beamed her allotted time and passed away. (Pierre
Irving, 43).
In many ways these words reflect the manner in which Irving saw the world. Behind every event he saw a
rich tradition. In his writing he sought to relive the past — its traditions, myths, and adventures, and to
preserve them in the imagination. Irving said that he longed to “wander over the scenes of renowned
achievement—to read as it were in the footsteps of antiquity—to loiter about the ruined castle—to
meditate in the falling tower.” (Anonymous, 201). He did so in his writing, or at least that was another
proclaimed goal. One author states, “Irving’s picturesque feeling for ruins came close to being a concept,
the one intellectual frame he had to put around his picture of the world.” (Hedges, 42). This affection for
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