New-York tribune., 1922-12-31
His Masters Voice

torious, fact In 30 far as Dublin differs
from any other literary center and IL has ia
proportion Of imbeeiles no less than London
Paris or New lorkit Is in the absence Of
hero worshipping in literary circles. have
seen roomful Of people, all Of whom read
ana admired Yeats. pay no more attention
10 MN when he entered than to the hum.
blest "third-rate mind" present. So far
from adulation being the constant portion
OF AZ, he has been more treacherouslv de.
nouneed and more ruthlessly exploited in
Ireland than any one else. His ideas are
taken without acknowledgement and his fail
IRE to surrender 20 any party has made him
suspect to the patriotic Of all kinds Mr..
Ervine has had only the slightest experience
OF the Dublin he 50 glibly distorts. Its de-
feets were FAR more accurately summed up
BY Shaw, who also fails to secure there the
respectful attention to W. h London aecus-
toms Rim, when he bitterly denounced the
Sterile, destructive moekery Of Dublin" 1
should never recommend it as a center Of
adulatiOn, except to politieiansl
MR. ERVlNE'S unfortunate experiences in
Dublin have developed in him an obses-
sion about ireland, which finds relief in
trades closely modelled on certain passages in
John Bulls Other Island" He admits that
"Synge, Padraic Colum, Lennox Robinson,
Daniel Cookery, James Joyce-all these have
shown Us an Irish people completely De
to the worlds common belief about them"
Yet he writes constantly as II nobody but
the author Of Changing winds" had any
realization Of the facts Of Irish life. when
every single writer Of the slightest note has
helped to explode the Dion Boueicault legion
Of Ireland, it is clearly either disingenuous
or ignorant OF Mr.. Ervine to attribute to in
telligent Irishmen the gabbe Of tenth-rate
politicians and journalists and to contrast
these people with exceptional types else
where.
He says, in an attempt at Shavian pyro-
terstics and have the same illusions about
greedy mean and treaeherous people, who
have humbugged the rest Of the world into
the belief that they are faithful, genervys.
high-minded, kindly, noble and tolerant race"
So far as this has any meaning, IL is that
the Irish share the same charming charac-
teristics, and have the same illusions about
themselves as every nation since the begin
ming Of history. So far as il has the mean
ing Mr.. Ervine intends, it is just hysterical
Belfast anti Catholicism.
So long as his subject has any relation to
ireland Mr.. Irvine is haunted by his obses-
sions. He has apparently never heard Of
the way in which one or two gunmen can
hold up a New York restaurant or attack a
bank messenger in a crowded. street. lie
cites as an example Of Ireland's craven pu-
sillanimity the case Of an English official
who was assassinated in Dublin while
streetcar full OF unarmed people failed TO
rescue the victim But the gunmen were
Sinn Feners! Hence the obligation upon
peaeeable citizens to defy desperadoes
armed with revolyers. He does not believe
any one ever saw George Aoores poems. In
proof Of this rash assertion he merely SHOWS
that he has never looked at even the title
page Of Flowers Of Passion" The chapters
on Bennett, Chesterton, Galsworthy, Wells
and Shaw add nothing TO what everybody
who has seen or read these authors might
have written. Charaeteristieally, be pokes
fun at Galsworthy's humanitarianisni, but
takes very seriously the social theories OF
Wells and Shaw. Chesterton arouses his
anti Catholic, anti-peasant prejudiees, but as
he is not an Irishman he is not denounced
as n degraded idiot. Finally, Mr.. Ervine Ia
roents the absence Of criticism in Ireland and
the prevalence of abuse. His own pook
proves beyond a doubt that he, at least, IS
not destined to remedy either of these de-
fects.
~ AIA