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A PEEP INTO THE PAST

A PEEP INTO THE PAST

PRIVATELY PRINTED 1923

INTRODUCTION

The essay itself is one of the deftest and cleverest pieces of writing which Max Beerbohm has ever achieved. In it one can see how from the very beginning of his career Beerbohm was destined to be the satirist of the period with which he is associated, although he never displayed any of the qualities--or defects--of the Decadents. No cartoon of his is more devastating and illuminating than this solemn buffoonery of Wilde in terms of a domesticity as preposterous as Wilde's own pose of diabolism. At the same time Wilde had no more devoted admirer or faithful friend. It is characteristic of the good nature of Max's satire that it does not necessarily imply disapproval. It is just his fun.

A PEEP INTO THE PAST

Oscar Wilde! I wonder to how many of my readers the jingle of this name suggests anything at all? Yet, at one time, it was familiar to many and if we search back among the old volumes of Punch, we shall find many a quip and crank out at its owner's expense. But time is a quick mover and many of us are fated to outlive our reputations and thus, though at one time Mr. Wilde, the old gentleman, of whom we are going to give our readers a brief account, was in his way quite a celebrity; today his star is set, his name obscured in this busy, changeful city.

After early dinner, the time is passed pleasantly in reading Ruskin to his two youngsters; after that more literary work, a light supper, a glass of grog and bed-time. But not always rest! Often, his good lady tells me, has she woken at three or four in the morning to find her husband still sitting up in bed or pacing up and down the bedroom in parturition of that same joke of which he sketched for her the outline as they were retiring to rest. Yes, and it is in this indomitable perseverance, this infinite capacity for taking pains, this "grit," as they call it in the North, that lies Mr. Wilde's secret. True that the whole body of his signed works is very small--a book of parodies upon Rossetti, a few fairy-tales in the manner of Hans Anderson, an experimental novel in the style of Poe, a volume of essays, which Mr. Pater is often obliged blushingly to repudiate, a French play written in collaboration with Mr. Lou?s and one or two English ones in collaboration with Mr. G. R. Sims. But surely we must judge an artist, not so much by his achievement as by his methods of procedure and though such a story as the The Theory of Mr. W. S. occupied only the extreme middle of no more than forty pages, the author has given me his word that it took him six months hard unremitting labour to complete.

After all, it is not so much as a literary man that Posterity will forget Mr. Wilde, as in his old capacity of journalist. The visit to America, that is still so fresh in the old gentleman's memory, doubtless influenced his style in no small degree and many an old pressman can testify to the great vivacity and humour of their colleague, though they may envy the indomitable vitality which enables one so far past his meridian to continue "producing." Perhaps the most startling feature of his career was the manner in which, putting his broad shoulder to the wheel, he was able so late in life to strike out into dramatic writing--a branch that he had never till then attempted. When Mr. Sydney Cooper contributed to the last Academy but one a picture of a hunt scene, everyone was surprised, but that Oscar Wilde should have written a four act play and got it produced by a London manager, fairly beat all records of senile enterprises. We critics were really touched and--who will blame us for it?--agreed to withhold those criticisms which we should otherwise have been forced to make upon the production. It was a pretty occasion and anyone who was present, as I was at the first night, will look back with affection at its memory. The play itself a chapter of reminiscences--the audience good natured and respectful--the hearty calls of "Author"--and finally his appearance before the curtain, bowing with old fashioned grace to the Public, whom he has served so faithfully. Those of us who had known him in the old days, observed that he seemed for the moment dazed and noted with feelings of pity that in his great excitement he had forgotten to extinguish his cigarette, an oversight that the Public was quick to pardon in the old gentleman.

MAX BEERBOHM.

Transcriber's Notes:

--A facsimile of author's manuscript precedes the text content.

--Text in italics is enclosed by underscores .

--Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.

--Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.

--Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.

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