The sun., 1903-05-17


that an inversion has taken place In MS
feelings. Swift's hatred Of mankind was
speces OF inverted lyriosm; 30 was riau-
bert y; 40 may be Shaw's Fancy o. b. ~
sccretly weeping over Jane Eyre. or hold
ing a baby in his lap, or--rohest OF all fanc,es
occasionally eating sausage and drinking
| beer I met him. once upon time IN
! Bayreuth He spoke then In unmeasureo
| terms of the beer guzzlers. and addeo'
without the ghost of smile. that brewer'es
ought to be converted into insane asylums.
But he never alluded to the emotion gluttons
| who crowded the little Bavarian town IN
search of a feast at the Wagner Hof-brdh!
Whether we take him seriously or not,
he is delightful, an entertaining "ri'er'
His facile use, with the aid OF the various
mo uthpieces he assumes at will. OF the
ideas of Nietzsche. Wagner, 1bsen and
Strindberg he knows Strindberg well
and calls him "the only living, genuine
Shakespearian dramatist fairly dazzles
He despises wit at bottom using its forms as
! medium for the communication OF his theo-
Iics Art for arts sake is contradiction
to this writer He must have sense OF
beauty, but he never boasts Of 1t; rather
does he seem to consider it something
naked, almost shameful-something to be
hidden away. So his men are always
deriding art. though working at it like devils
on high pay This puritanical vein has grown
with the years, as it has with Tolstoy. only
Shaw never wasted his youth in riotous
living as did Tolstoy
He had no money, no opportunities no
taste. A fierce ascetic and, until he married.
misogynst, he will have no regrets al
three score and ten; no sweet memories
of headaches-he is teetotaller; no heart
aches-he was too busy with his books;
and o bitter after taste for having wronged
fellow being Behold George Bernard
Shaw is good man, has led the life OF
saint, worked like a hero against terrible
odds, and-this is whispered in your ear
| is the kindest hearted man In London.
Now we have reached another mask-the
mask Of altruism. Nearly all his earnings
| went to the needy: his was, and ia, prac-
| tical socialism He never let his right hand
| know the extent Of his charities, and mark
| this-no one else knew Of It, Yet good
| deeds, like murder. will out His associates
| ceased deriding the queer clothes, the flannel
shirt and the absence OF evening dress;
! the money was spent on others. so, TOO.
| his sawdust menu. his carrots, cabbage
and brown bread--it did not cost much,
his eating. for his money was needed by
poorer folk. So you see what humhug
is this dear old Diogenes, who growls
cynically at the human race, abhors ser,ti-
ment ngers--didnt t he once put Clement
Scott in play--and despises conventional
government, art, religion and philosophy
He is an arch-sentimentalist, underneath
whose frown are concealed tears OF pity.
Another mask torn away: George Shaw,
phlanthropist!
He tells us in the preface to "Cashel Byron's
Profession which sounds like the title
of a Charles Lever novel-that he had
narrow escape from being novelist at
the age of 49, He still shudders over
it He wrote FIVE novels. three Of which we
know TO wit: -Cashel Byrons Profession;
An Unsocal Socialist" 'Love Among
the Artists'-hideous and misleading title.
Robert Louis Stevenson took great fancy
to Cashel Byron and its stunning eulogies
of pugilism. 1t was even dramatized in
this country. With Hazlitt and George
Meredith (oh! unforgettable prizeAght
in .The Amazing MarriageO. Mr.. Shaw
praised the noble art Of sluaaerei. The
.Unsocial Socialist" contains at least one act
of a glorious farce comedy. G. b. s. Is
Early British in his comedic writing. 1t is
none the less capital fun.
This book or .cact--it is hardly q novel
contains among other extraordinary things
a eulogy of photography that would de-
light the soul of Stechen. Shaw places
1t far above painting because OF its veri-
similitude! 1t 'also introduces lot OF
socialistic talk which is very unconvinc-
ing: the sycho-physiologist would really
pronounce the author a perfect specimen
in full Towering of the sanity anarch
There is role played by a character
Shaw?-whioh recalls Leonard Chdrteri'
in a later play, THE Philanderer.' All oi
his males are modelled OF the same block
They are a curious combination Of black
guard, philosopher, bounder, artist ane
comedian. His women! Remember Ste.
venson's dismayed exclamation at thu
Shaw women! They are creatures wht
J have read Ibsen; are, one is sure, dowdy
but they interest. While you wonder at th'
strength Of their souls you do not miss th'
size Of their feet. Mr.. Shaw refuses to so
woman as a heroine. She is sometimes
5 breeder Of sinners, always a chronicler O
! the smallest kind of small beer, and TO
fear this sounds like an 1ago estimate. h
} dowers her with an astounding intellectual
} eouipment and then lets the curious com
pound work out It's own salvation. Some
) | times it does not.
r He is much more successful with hi
servants; witness Bdshpille in "Cashe
t Bvron's Profession, most original Of lackey
y and the irresstibly funny old waiter in 'Yo
Never Can TELL" roaring farce we
d sprinkled with the Attic salt Of irony
Otherwise Mr.. Shaw has spent his tim
o fitting at fagellation, at capital punish
!; ment, at the abuse Of punctuation, at tn
cannibalistio habit of eating the flesh c
harmless animals at Christmas. at goin
to church, extolling Czolgosz-heavenl
= the list is league long. His novels as
whole are disappointing, though Georg
T.. Meredith has assured us In the first chapte
~ of Diana" that brainstuff in fiction Is nc
- lean stuff. But there are some concet
- sions to be made to the Great God Beauty
- and these Mr.. Shaw has not seen ft t
!. make. Episodes Of brilliancy, force, q,
:, daoity there are; but episodes only. tn
- psychology Of a musician is admirably 81
~ forth in Love Among the Artists an
o the story, in addition, contains one Of tt
~ most lifelike portraits of Polish pidnis
~ that has ever been painted. John Sargel
=" could have done no better in laying bal