The morning journal-courier. (New Haven, Conn.) 1907-1913, 1908-04-04

Of Art was only journalism, " tenn
porarily rises to defense of Journal
ism, Let others cultivate what they
call literature, he says, but journal-
ism for me-"
journalism Is the highest form Of
literature; for all the highest litora-
ture Is journalism, The writer who
aims at producing the platitudcs
which are mot for an age, but for
all time" has his reward In being UNI
readable in all ages; whilst Plato and
Arlstophanes, trying to knock some
scnse into the Athens of their day,
Shakespeare poopling that same Attn
ems with Ellaabethan mechanics and
WarWickshire hunts, bison photo
graphing tho local doctors and tes-
trymcn of Il Norwegian parish, car
pacco painting the life Of Sc, Ursula
exactly as II she were a lady living
In the next street to him, are still
alive and at home everywhere among
the dust and ashes Of thousands Of
academic, punctilious, archaeological
~ correct mon of letters and art who
spent their lives haughtlly avoiding
the journalists vulgar possession with
the cphemeral. The man who
writes about himself and his own
time Is the only man who writes about
all people and about all time. The
other sort of man, who believes that
/ he and his period are SO distinct from
all other men and periods that 1t
would be inmodest and irrelevant to
alludc to them or assume that they
could interest any one but himself
and his contemporaries. Is the most
| infatuated of all the egoists and con-
scquently the most unrcadablc and
negligible of all the authors.
1 Having said which Mr. Shaw RAM
blcs ON very entcrtainingly with a
characteristic pyrotcchnic literary
display interfering paragraph of
apology which says that one or two
expressions in his original essay
which now shock its writer as uncivIl
and hardly fair to Nordau, have been
eliminated Mir. Shaw proceeds Ia
narratc for our entertainment the cir
cumstances that brought about his
writing Of the essay.
I'm 1879" he tells Ills, Max Nor
dau, one of those remarkable cos
mopolltan Jews who go forth against
modern civilization as David went
against the phlllstlncs, or Charles
Martel against the Saraccns, shifting
IL hip and thigh without any sense
of common humanity with II, trump
cd up an indictment OF its men OF
genius as depravcd lunatics. and
pied II Gin Germany before the ban
OF Europe under the title 'Entaltung.
II was soon translated for England
and America as Degeneration. LIKE
all vigorous and thorough going sal
lies of special pleading, It has its val
ne for the way TO get at the merits
OF a case IL not to listen To the foo
who lmaglnes himself impartial, bu
to get II argued with reckless bid
for and against II. TO understand
saint. you must hear the devils advo
cate: and the same Is true OF tn
artIst. Nordau had bricfed himscl
ms devils advocate against the grca
artistic regulations OF the .ninctccntl
century: and he did his duty as wei
as II could be done at the price. In
cidentally saying many more tru
and important things than most o
the counsel on the other side wcr
capable Of.
The reproduction of THE Sanity o
Art was worth while If only for tn
new hit of Shaw work which scric
the introduction and to cnlighten an
entertain the Now corp of readers VIII
have come on the stage since Nor
daus book and the Shaw essay frs
appeared.