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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A Peep into the Past - -Author: Max Beerbohm - -Release Date: March 10, 2022 [eBook #67604] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Donald Cummings from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PEEP INTO THE PAST *** - - - - - - A PEEP INTO THE PAST - - - - -_This Edition is limited to 300 copies printed from type on Japan -Vellum, and the type distributed._ - - - - - [Illustration] - - - - - A PEEP INTO THE PAST - - By - MAX BEERBOHM - - - PRIVATELY PRINTED - 1923 - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - -This hitherto unpublished essay was written by Max Beerbohm for the -first number of _The Yellow Book_, but it was held over to make way -for his famous _Defence of Cosmetics_, which duly appeared in April, -1894. Whether this change was made because of the impending Wilde -scandal it is, of course impossible to say with certainty, but the -probabilities favour this explanation. The Wilde case did not come -to the ears of the general public until the spring of 1895, just one -year after the founding of _The Yellow Book_, but literary London was -aware of what was happening long before that date, and already in -1894 Wilde’s friends were very anxious about the recklessness of his -behaviour. It is significant that Oscar Wilde, the archetype of the -Decadent Nineties, did not contribute either to _The Yellow Book_ or -_The Savoy_, which were the literary organs of that whole movement. It -is difficult not to see some connection between the remarkable absence -of Wilde’s name from these periodicals and the fact that this brilliant -essay on him was never published. - -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. - - - - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - - - - - 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. - -Once a welcome guest in many of our Bohemian haunts, he lives now a -life of quiet retirement in his little house in Tite Street with his -wife and his two sons, his prop and mainstay, solacing himself with -many a reminiscence of the friends of his youth, whilst he leaves -his better-known brother, William, to perpetuate the social name of -the family. Always noted for his tenacious memory, it is one of the -old gentleman’s keenest pleasures to regale a visitor from the outer -world with stories of the late Mr. Frank Niles, Mr. Godwin, the -architect, Mr. Robert Browning or the Earl of Lytton, who was not the -only member of the upper ten thousand to honour Mr. Wilde with his -personal friendship. “All, all are gone, the old familiar faces” and -with the quiet resignation of one who knows that he is the survivor of -a bygone day, Mr. Wilde tends more and more to exist in its memory or -to solace himself with the old classics of which he was ever so earnest -a student, with his Keats and his Shakespeare, his Joseph Miller and -the literal translations of the Greek Dramatists. Not that he is a mere -_laudator temporis acti_, a bibliophile and nothing more. He still -keeps up his writing, is still the glutton for work that he always -was. He has not yet abandoned his old intention of dramatising Salome -and the amount of journalistic matter that he quietly produces and -contributes anonymously to various periodicals is surprising. Only last -year an undergraduate journal called the _Spirit Lamp_ accepted a poem -of his in which there were evidences that he has lost little of his old -talent for versification. - -Mr. Wilde is an early riser. Every morning, winter and summer at 4:30 -A. M. his portly form――(he is in appearance not unlike Sir William -Harcourt and still stands six foot three in his slippers)――may be seen -bending over the little spirit-kettle, at which he boils himself his -cup of hot cocoa. Donning his work-a-day clothes, he proceeds at once -to his study and commences work, continuing steadily to breakfast, -which he takes in company with his wife and sons. Himself most regular -in his habits, he is something of a martinet about punctuality in his -household and perhaps this accounts for the constant succession of -page-boys, which so startles the neighbourhood. Breakfast over, the -master of the house enjoys his modest cigarette――no costly cigar nor -precious meerschaum ever passes his lips――he is a strict believer in -simplicity of life as the handmaiden of hard work. He never nowadays -even looks at the morning papers, so wholly has he cut himself off from -society, though he still goes on taking in the Athenaeum, in the hopes -that it may even now do the same to him. So without dawdling over the -perusal of news, he immediately resumes work and does not desist until -the stroke of twelve, when punctually he folds up his papers, wipes -his pen, puts away his books of references and starts for an hour’s -walk up and down the King’s Road, Chelsea. With his tall, bowed figure, -carefully brushed silk hat and frockcoat which though old-fashioned -was evidently cut by a good tailor, old Mr. Wilde is well-known to all -frequenters of the thoroughfare. The trades people, too, know him well -and often waylay him as he attempts to pass on. - -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. Louÿs 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. (I came across -a copy of it lately at an old book-stall in Vigo Street) 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. - -Not long ago, wishing to verify one or two facts for an article I was -writing upon the life of the Early Victorian Era and knowing that Mr. -Sala was out [of] town, I paid a visit to the little house in Tite -Street. I found everything there neat and clean and, though, of course, -very simple and unpretentious, bearing witness to womanly care and -taste. As I was ushered into the little study, I fancied that I heard -the quickly receding _frou-frou_ of tweed trousers, but my host I -found reclining, hale and hearty, though a little dishevelled upon the -sofa. With one hand, readjusting the nut-brown Georgian wig that he -is accustomed to wear, he motioned me with a courteous gesture of the -other to an armchair. - -The old gentleman was unaffectedly pleased to receive a visit from -the outer world, for, though he is in most things “a praiser of past -times,” yet he is always interested to hear oral news of the present, -and many young poets can testify to the friendly interest in their -future taken by a man who is himself contented to figure in their past. -As it was, when I had enriched myself from the storehouse of his still -unclouded memory, we fell to talking about things in general, and I -was struck by the quaint humour which still pervades his talk as well -as by the delightfully old-fashioned way in which he rolls out his -well-rounded periods. Many a modern conversationalist, I thought, might -do worse than take a hint or two from his style. Nor has he lost any -of that old Irish readiness for which he was once famed. It is said -that a dinner given once at which many were present, Mr. Whistler, then -quite a young boy, perpetrated some daring epigram and Wilde, beaming -kindly across the table, said, to encourage him, “How I wish I had said -that!” Young impudence cried, “You will, Sir, you will.” “No. I won’t,” -returned the elder man, quick as thought and young impudence relapsed -into silence abashed. Since then, the old journalist has contracted -a strange habit of chuckling to himself inordinately at whatever he -says and to such a degree has this habit grown upon him that at the -last dinner-party he ever attended it was decided that he had the rare -faculty of keeping a whole table perfectly serious, whilst he himself -was convulsed with laughter. I think, however, it is only one of the -mannerisms of age and certainly I found him as amusing as ever he was -and as prone to utter those bulls which are an Irishman’s privilege -and are known in England by the rather pretentious name of paradox. -One instance will suffice. After we had chatted together for a while -somebody entered to say that an old lady had called for the character -of her new page-boy and as my host with his passion for literary work -seemed anxious to write it, I felt I had better take my leave. Just -as I was leaving the room I observed that the weather had become very -sultry and I feared we should have a storm. “Ah, yes,” was the reply, -“I expect we shall soon _see_ the thunder and _hear_ the lightning!” -How delightful a perversion of words! I left the old gentleman -chuckling immoderately at his little joke. - - - MAX BEERBOHM. - - - * * * * * - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - ――A facsimile of author’s manuscript precedes the text content. - - ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - ――Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. - - ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PEEP INTO THE PAST *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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