Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-03-20
THE cAsTIeATIoN OF MAX
Mr.. Frank Harris, Mr.. Beerbohm And
the Late Oscar Wilde


the Late Oscar Wilde.
A pretty tempest in a teapot has
been raised by the Indisposition of
Mr.. Max Beerbohm, the clever dram
! attic critic of The Saturday Review, to
think exactly as he ought to think
according to the opinions OF Frank
! Harris, the former editor of the jour-
nal aforementioned. Mr. Harris thinks
| that the late Oscar Wilde was "a great
writer, one of the masters of English
| drama" and il annoys him to find Mr.
Beerbohm writing with less enthusi-
asm than he feels himself about the
! recent revival of one of Wilde's COM
edies, The Importance OF Being
Earnest. Whereupon he prints IN the
weekly with which he is at present
I closely identified, The Candid Friend,
some amusing notes on critics in gen.
eral, and M. Beerbohm in particular
He is all for the Judgment by ones
peers" which he describes as the
only judgment worthy of the name to
be found on earth" and, strong in the
conviction that Mr.. Beerbohm is not
the peer of Oscar Wilde. he indulges
in these candid and interesting re-
| marks:
; Now, let me state at the outset
| that | regard Mr.. Beerbohm as the
ablest dramatic critic to be found in
| English journalism. Az a rule, his
appropriations are Thoughtful and SEN
sible; he tries resolutely to be on the
side of the angels; he would not like
to missee good work: but his vanity
is little uneasy, as of one who is not
| yet assured of his place. and he nour-
| ishes this restless egotism by look.
ing for faults and not for qualities in
| other men. -. When Mr.. Beerbohm
deals with his superiors, | resent the
petty fault-finding, | miss the respect
full approach. the noble revere nce of
merit. witch at one time had hoped he
would develop.
George Bernard Shaw publishes
two volumes of plays, and it was open
to Mr.. Beerbohm to deal with his
predecessor on The Saturday gener-
ously and boldly. Will the Caesar"
of Bernard Shaw live? Is it an orig
inal and delightful comedy. fruitful
parent of others still to be written In
the same vein, or, like Arms and the
Man." the brilliant exercise and essay
of charming, but Intellectual talent?
Mr.. Beerbohm attempted none of
these vital questions he liked the
Caesar as one who should prefer
Perrier-Jouet IA to Flossy's Pale
Dreaming 80; but. again. he fell foul
of Bernard Shaw's style. Shaw's
style" was not this or that q have
not the futile essay before mel
style" style is the only antiseptic
against the ravages of time Now.
all this is. silly. 80. inept: it
is one of those misjudgments which
reveal the man. OF all the high quail
ties of genius, style, If we distinguish
1t from matter. is, surely, the least
and not the most important. Every
critical writer must know this: il is
the A B c of his craft Style is the
thing men can dispute about, but, in
the final judment, 1t is almost neglig-
ible. There are. of course, writers
who may be said to live by virtue of
their style-Lamb, for instance-but
they are never among the greatest
and their unimportance establishes
my contention. | part, of course, in
all kindness from Mr.. Beerbohu; he
is good critic, as journalist. critics
go. and may be trusted, sooner or
later to get better chair in The Tel
egraph or The Times and talk with a
larger sounding board behind him. He
will write excellently about his peers;
but, when he writes of the men of
mark Of his time, he is not to be
trusted; he finds fault with them on
unessentials. and does not see the es-
sential and enduring in clear light.
Pectus est But, after all, he is
young, and may improve, He may,
but | doubt; he was too precocious.
came to maturity too soon Of course,
there is still hope for him; there
would be more hope if his blood were
little richer: his nature more gener-
GUS; if he thought less of the clothes.
| mean of the style. and more of the
man; pectus est quod disertum facit."
ONE OF KIT NAPCOAyc rurr..e