meaning, as Chesterton does, it is so much the worse for Shaw and so
much the better for Chesterton. If Chesterton is a dangerous Romantic
who likes Fairyland, at least Shaw is a dangerous eugenist who wants a
super-man, and I am not sure that the fairies of Chesterton are not more
useful than the ethics of Shaw; there is no doubt that they are less
grown up. If Shaw is a philosopher, he is not one of this Universe; he
is of another that shall be entirely sub-Shavian. If Chesterton is a
philosopher, it is because he can see this universe better upside down
than Shaw understands it the right way up.
In fact, the difference between Shaw and Chesterton may, I think, be
something like this. They are, as I have said, both reformers, but
Chesterton wishes to keep man as he is essentially, and gradually make
him something better. Shaw wants to have done with man and produce a
super-man. In this way Shaw admits the failure of man to rise above his
environment. Chesterton not only thinks he is able to, but tries to
prove it in his writings. Thus, if a man is an atheist he can show that
he is in time capable of becoming a good theist, but Shaw if he allows
some of his characters to be in hell, gets them out of it by attempting
to make them strive for the super-man. For Chesterton, Man is the
Super-Man; for Shaw, the Super-Man is not Man at all.
In fact, this no doubt is the reason that Shaw is really a pessimist and
Chesterton an optimist.
There is, I think, little doubt that Chesterton is a far more important
man than Shaw. He has the facility for getting hold of the things that
matter; he is never ill-natured; he does not make fun of other people.
Much as the writer admires the wit and brilliancy of Shaw, he cannot
help feeling that Shaw is a rather cynical personality; Shaw loves to
laugh at people, he is inclined to make fun of the martyrs. They were
possibly quite mistaken in their enthusiasm, but at least they were
consistent. I do not feel convinced that Shaw would stand in the middle
of Piccadilly Circus and keep his ideals if he knew that it would
involve being eaten by lions that came up Regent Street, as the martyrs
faced them centuries ago in Rome, but I have little doubt that
Chesterton would remain in Piccadilly Circus if he knew that he would be
eaten unless he denied that marriage was a Divine institution.
In a word, Shaw bases his Philosophy and Plays on a contempt for all
existing institutions. Chesterton bases his Writings and Philosophy on
genial good nature and a respect for the things that are important.
Therefore I think that Shaw has not made such a permanent contribution
to thought as Chesterton certainly has; even if it is only in showing
that the Christian religion is reasonable.
_Chapter Fourteen_
CONCLUSION
There was a time in history when the ancient world searched in vain for
the truth. It produced men of the type of Aristotle, Plato, and
Socrates; they were great philosophers who looked at the world in which
they lived and asked what it meant. Was it material? Was it spiritual?
Was it temporary? Was it eternal? Men were dissatisfied. And about that
time a greater Philosopher came in the wake of a star, and men called
Him Christ.
It is the twentieth century, and the Man the ancient world called Christ
founded the religion which His followers were to take to the ends of the
earth. Yet men are still dissatisfied; philosophers look out of their
high-walled windows and watch the modern world, which goes on; men die
and are forgotten; creeds spring up for a day and pass; writers produce
books, and in their turn pass away.
Of this century Chesterton is one of the great thinkers. It is, I think,
a mistake not to take him seriously. If he is phantastic, there is a
meaning behind his phantasy; if he laughs, the world need not think that
he is frivolous. He is a prophet, and he has honour in his own country.
Chesterton is still a young man; he is young in soul and body. Like
Peter Pan he does not grow up, yet he is a famous man; he has written
great books, he has written fine poems, he has written brilliant essays,
but he has never written a book with an appeal to an unthinking public
that reads to kill thought. I wonder whether Chesterton would write a
'Philosophy for the Unthinking Man'? I think he is the one man of the
day who could do it, and I think it might be his greatest book.
I have attempted in this book to draw a picture of the works of
Chesterton. They are not easy to deal with; they may mean many things. I
have not attempted to forecast the future of Chesterton, strong as the
temptation has been, but I have endeavoured to place before those who
know Chesterton what it is they admire in him; and for those who only
know him as a name, I hope that this book may induce them to read the
most arresting writer of the day, who is known in every country as the
Master of Paradox, which is to say that he is the Master of the Temple
of Understanding.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note:
The following typographical errors have been corrected:
Page 16: A period was added after "period." (keen survey of the
Dickens period.)
Page 25: "cricle" changed to "circle." (but mentioned in a small
circle)
Page 36: ' added after "task." (Thackeray's 'most difficult task.')
Page 42: "Dicken's" changed to "Dickens'." (Had Dickens' life been
uneventful,)
Page 50: ' deleted after "temperament." (French temperament.)
Page 64: ' deleted after "victors." (astonished the victors.)
Page 69: " changed to ' after "king." (To be an English king.')
Page 72: !' added after "charge." ('Spears at the charge!')
Page 111: "supercillious" changed to "supercilious" (be either
condescending or supercilious;)
All other language, spelling, and punctuation has been retained.