The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-05-17
A Typical Irish man.

A Typical Irishman.
Perhaps more readers will he At
tracted to An Irish Gentleman, George
Henry Moore. by Col. MAURICE GEORGE
MOORE. c. Il. Oondon, T. Werner
Laurie). by the supplementary an
nouncement on the title page, with a
Preface by George Moore" than by any
other motive. IT is in fact the novelist
who has furnished tho preface to this
memoir of his father, written by his
brother The preface is highly charac-
terlstic. and will escape the fate OF
prefaces In general in that readers will
turn TO II with more curiosity than TO
the pages which follow. Ii Is charac-
terlstic, for example. that this son
should pooh-pooh and disparage his
fathers political activities. and express
Wish that the account OF them might
nave been left out. when in fact. they
constitute the only producible reason
why there should now be published any
biography OF man who died in 1870
having been born in 1910. His sons
we're immature at the time Of his death.
The novel writing son recalls as his
earliest recollection OF his father hear
ing him exclaim at the breakfast table
that "Sebastopol has fallen" Except as
politician George Henry Moore was
indistlnguishable from many another
Irish squire. In fact It IL only his be-
| ing typical that makes him valuable or
available as literary material. His son
quite glories in his aleatory and anna
tory adventures, of which there are two
notable. One Is his falling in love with
some Ineligible girl. or perhaps ineli-
| gible from not being q girl but q mar
| ried woman, when he was only a boy
pretending TO read law in London, and
coming near to breaking his mothers
| heart In consequence. The other Ia OF
his running away To Syria and the East
to be rid either of the passion or of the
maternal reproaches II brought him,
and being pursued by her. IL II was
| the same she, in company with her hus-
band. Tho novelist quite glorles in
these paternal exploits. He even goes
so far as to intimate suspicion that
his father died by his own hand. He
died Killed by his tenants. that is GER
tain; ne died OF broken heart. Ny
brother gives letter which ! should
| like to believe points to suicide, fol
II would please me to think of nv
father dying like an old Roman" But
there is a horror stricken slip inserted
1
more Catholic brother: What the pref
acer writes regarding the mode OF his
fathers death must be taken as eX-
pressing his wishes and not the facts"
Up to middle life George Henry Moore
was. one may say. only the typica,
Irish gentleman" He was singularI,
precocious, there is no question abou
that. There are letters given here from
him. written at sixteen and seventeen
which in fiuency and accuracy of ex.
preston II is certain that not one boy In
thousand Of that age could write
There Is an extensive correspondence,
with his mother about his infatuation
from which she at one time saw no hop,
OF retaining him except by marrying
him to some "amiable Catholic girl
Whereto he reJoins: Not but that
shall be very glad to get one, that IL
one that would please you and not alb
solutely horrify myself. viz, a Catholi,
. and not ugly--a Catholic and not penni
less--a Catholic and not dirty--a Catho
lie and not a fool-that is all 7 bargain
for" To be sure. by this time he hat
reached the ripe age OF twenty-five
and typically wasted his time. At Cam
bridge he had rendered himself so pro
hcient In billiards and otherwise, az b,
exceeding his allowance, shown sucl
evidence of a misspent youth that h.
was hastily recalled. II was after this
Of course. that he pretended to rea,
law in London and fell into his amator
: scrape ana took his tour In the East
These diversions brought him to hi
thirteth year. when his father died an
he and his younger brother. Augustus
2 promptly took to horses, investing a
much OF their patrimony as they coul
. lay hands on therein, to say nothing q
l the risk of their necks. The fond mothe
: was almost as much afraid OF horses a
u OF strange women. She had already los
: one son by riding accident and there
= after had banished saddle horses fror
= the stables at Moore Hall. She was /
e lose another in the same way, for II wa
e while he was riding In the Grand Ma
e tional Steeplechase In 1916 that Angus
y tus Moore, ION Mickey Free" came b
u a fall which killed his horse at once an
u OF which he himself died a few day
n later. But George Henry was not de
10 TERED by these fatalities. He was him
IS self an admirable horseman. insomuc
Il that the tradition OF his riding LINGERIE
Al In Irish and English sporting circle
Is until a few years ago Also
J. was a good Judge OF a racehorse ar
ID bought or bred some excellent and Il
Z, nous animals which he trained and ra
p He had his successes. The Chester Gu
Is and the Cesarewitch were among tier
ar George Moore "lkes to think thPt
lie would have won the Liverpool II Anon!
N nous had not turned a shoe the secor
II time round after clearing the wat
l. jump" The Chester Cup with Coranr