§2

We have noted that it was du Maurier's peculiar genius to respond to
"attainment" in life, even as the Greeks did, rather than to life's
pathetic and romantic struggle. Du Maurier, we believe, was of opinion
that if circumstances--he probably meant Editorial ones--had determined
that he should apply his art to the lower classes he would have
succeeded as well there as he did with Society. We prefer to believe
that the Editorial instinct in the direction it gave to his work knew
better. Many opportunities were afforded him for being as democratic in
spirit as he liked, but he left such opportunities alone. His
cab-runners run about in rain-shrunken suits that were obviously made in
Savile Row; everyone of them, they are broken-down gentlemen. Coachmen,
gardeners, footmen, pages, housekeepers, cooks, ladies' maids, and all
those who move in the domestic circle of the upper classes he could
draw, but his taste in life is a marked one, and that means it is a
limited one. It is as marked as Meredith's, and it is much of the same
kind; like that writer's great lady, Mrs. Mountstuart Jenkinson, he
preferred persons "that shone in the sun." This had nothing whatever to
do with qualities of the heart; it was all an æsthetic predilection. The
moment his pencil touched the theme of life lived upon as gentle a plane
as possible, then something was kindled at its point which betrayed the
presence of genuine inspiration. The inspiration was of the same nature
as Watteau's, the grace of a certain aspect of life making an æsthetic
appeal. Let this attraction to what is gracious in appearance, however,
be kept distinct from the effect made by the spectacle of wealth upon
the snob. Those who show us the beauty in the world, enrich the world
with that much of beauty.