anism which he did not escape so completely. I cannot think that he
has wholly escaped that element in Puritanism which may fairly bear the
title of the taboo. For it is a singular fact that although extreme
Protestantism is dying in elaborate and over-refined civilisation, yet
it is the barbaric patches of it that live longest and die last. Of the
creed of John Knox the modern Protestant has abandoned the civilised
part and retained only the savage part. He has given up that great and
systematic philosophy of Calvinism which had much in common with modern
science and strongly resembles ordinary and recurrent determinism. But
he has retained the accidental veto upon cards or comic plays, which
Knox only valued as mere proof of his people's concentration on their
theology. All the awful but sublime affirmations of Puritan theology are
gone. Only savage negations remain; such as that by which in Scotland on
every seventh day the creed of fear lays his finger on all hearts and
makes an evil silence in the streets.

By the middle of the nineteenth century when Shaw was born this dim and
barbaric element in Puritanism, being all that remained of it, had added
another taboo to its philosophy of taboos; there had grown up a mystical
horror of those fermented drinks which are part of the food of civilised
mankind. Doubtless many persons take an extreme line on this matter
solely because of some calculation of social harm; many, but not all and
not even most. Many people think that paper money is a mistake and does
much harm. But they do not shudder or snigger when they see a
cheque-book. They do not whisper with unsavoury slyness that such and
such a man was "seen" going into a bank. I am quite convinced that the
English aristocracy is the curse of England, but I have not noticed
either in myself or others any disposition to ostracise a man simply for
accepting a peerage, as the modern Puritans would certainly ostracise
him (from any of their positions of trust) for accepting a drink. The
sentiment is certainly very largely a mystical one, like the sentiment
about the seventh day. Like the Sabbath, it is defended with
sociological reasons; but those reasons can be simply and sharply
tested. If a Puritan tells you that all humanity should rest once a
week, you have only to propose that they should rest on Wednesday. And
if a Puritan tells you that he does not object to beer but to the
tragedies of excess in beer, simply propose t