The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31

hIos tudIpAOI6t tOEC0u W 0NHhos Au3 bCeuo
with which THE Philsnderer" opens. the at
mosphere in which Il proceeds. and the
marriage with which II ends, are. for the
intellectually and artlstically conscious mem-
bers OF modern society. typical; and no
one Will deny that they are unplens-
ant. In Mrs. Warren's Profession" the
author goes straight at the fact that, 40
Mrs. Boyle herself puts II, the only way for .
woman to.provide for herself decently IL for her
TO be GOOD to some man that can AFFORD to be
good TO her." This subject was selected for the
following reason: II believe that any society
which desires 10 found itself ON q high standard
OF integrity OF character in it's units should or
ganiEe itself In such q fashion as TO make u
possible for all men and all women to maintain
themselves in reasonable comfort by their Inc
dustry without selling their affections and their
convictions. At present We not only condemn
women to attach themselvest to bread winnerA.'
llcitly or ~illieitly, on pain OF heavy privation and
disadvantage; but we have great prostitute
classes Of mon. for instance. the dramatists
and the Journalists. to whom l myself belong.
not to mention tho legions OF lawyers. doOs
tors and platform politicians who are
daily using their highest faculties to belle
their real sentiments; . sin compared to which
that Of a woman who sells tho use OF hor person
for q few hours Ii too venial to he worth mon-
tioninR, for rich men without conviction are
more dangerous In modern society than Door
women without chastity. Hardly q pleasant
subject thisl' Mr.. Shaw. at the same time.
warns his readers that his attacks are
directed against themselves. not against HE
own stage figures. He would mako his readers
thoroughly understand that the guilt Of defeo.
tive social organization does not lie nlone on
the people who actually work the comm rcial
makeshifts which the defects render inevitable.
and who often display valuable Executive cas-
p~acities, and even high moral qualities. IN theiR
administrator. but on tho whole BODY Of citi.
Eens whose public opinion. public actions and
public contributions a. taxpayers alone can re-
place slums with decent dwellings. the Inc
trlgues Of philanderers with reasonable mar
rage contracts and Mrs. Warren's namelcsS
profession with honorable industry, guarded By
o humane industrial code.
Tho four plays In the second volumo-A Arms
and the Man." "Candida, ""The Nan Of Des.
tiny" and You Never Can Terl"deal less
with the crimes Of society and more with its ro-
mantle follies and with the struggles Of indi-
viduals against those follies: they are. there
fore, by contrast, denominRted pleasant"
The little scene called THE Man Of Destiny " 10
Acknowledged by the author himselft to be hard
Ignore than . bravura piece intendedt to display
the clevorness Of the two principal performers.
Nevertheless, It Is we'll worth reading for the
bbNOhiAh1 v SuEVWb Oh OhO CnoEuCOOE Va C0pOe
leon B~onapArte. Tame himself would applaud
the verisimilitude Of the speeches put in Napo-
Icons mouth. For example, the man Of des.
tiny fs made to say: There are three sorts Of
people In the world-the low people. the middle
people and the high people. The low peopleand
the high people are alike in one thing: they
have no scruples. no morality. The low are
beneath morality. the high above IL. I am not
afraid Of either OF them; for the low are un-
scrupulouS without knowledge. 80 that they
make an idol Of me; while the high are un.
serupulouS without purpose. so that they go
down before my will. Look you. I shall go
over all the mobs and all the courts Of Europe
40 Q plough goes over o field. It is tho middle
people who are dangerous: they have both
knowledge and purpose. But they. too. have
their weak points. They are full Of scruples;
chained hand and foot By their morality and
respectability." His interlocutor draws the
inference that he 10 certain to beat the English
because they are Q nation Of shopkeepers, and
shopkeeperS are middle people. Napoleon docs
not agree with him: mo. because the Eng.
llsh are q race apart. No Englishman is too
low to have scruples. no EnRlishman 10 high
enough to be free from their tyranny. But evcry
Englishman 10 born with o certain miraculous
" that makes him master Of the world.
When he wants a thing he never tells himself
that he wants 1t. He waits patiently until
there comes into his mind. no one knows how,
a burning conviction that It is his moral aud
religious duty to conquer those who have got
the thing he wants. Then he becomes ire
sistible. Like the aristocrat. he docs what
pleases him and grabs what he covets like the
shopkeeper. he pursues his purpose with tie
industry and steadfastness that come from
strong religious conviction and deep sense OF
moral responsibility. He is never at a losS Cor
an effective moral attitude. AS the great cham.
pion Of freedom and national Independence. lie
conquers and anneXes half the world md calls
it colonization. When he wants n now marlot
for hts adulterated Manchester goods he sends
a missionary to teach the natives the Goapel IL
Peace. The natives kill tho missionary: tho
EnGlishman flies to arms in defence Of Chris
tianity. fights for it. conQuers for II. and takes
the market as a reward from heaven. HIS
watchword is always Duty, and he never for
gets that the nation which lets its duty get on
the opposite side to its interest Is lost"
You Never Can Toll" was an attempt to
comply with requests for II play in which the
much-yaunted "brilliancy" OF Arms AID
the Man" should be tempered by some con-
sideration for the require n rents OF managers in
search Of fashionable comedy. Mr.. Shaw 49,
sures us that. far from taking an unsymrit-
thetic Wow of the popular preference for luL,
fashionable dresses. a little music, and even an
exhibition Of eating and drinking by people
with an expensive air. attended by n comic
waiter. he was more than willing to show n 1t
the drama could humanize these things rs
easily as in undramatic hnnds they can do.
humanize the drama. 1t seems. however. that
he overdid 1t; for the test OF rehearsals proved
that in making his play acceptable he had made
It, for the moment at least. inprlcticable. As
for Candida" which holds Christian So
cialism up to ridicule. the author III
forms us that MT. Richard Mansfield wert
before he, would confess himself beaten by tho
physical dliiculties OF the part he had intended
year that Candida" saw the footiiEhts. when
the s%o-called Independent Theatre made =
innes. Touching Arms and. tho Man. NJ.
SHAW has a good deal TO say in the preface 10
criticisms levelIed at that piece. He is quiIs
AWARE. ne says. that the lnuch-discussed Swiss
Gm nee vino IS ne principal figure IN that p "