120 MISSOURL BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
per—and you are right. Let us go into the next room 
and take a glass of wine together. And will you be kind 
enough to ask Mr. C (the offending party) to dine 
with me next Sunday?’ ”’ 
Montaigne—as everybody who has read him knows—was 
the very prince of egotists, and had, so to speak, reduced 
egotism to a most delightful science. Mr. Shaw was no 
egotist, and, if he had a grain of egotism in his composition, 
concealed its presence perfectly. In conversation he was 
reticent rather than the reverse; talked little about himself, 
and less about what he had done or proposed doing for the 
public; manifested no anxiety for the appreciative praise 
he had so justly earned, and when it was given received it 
with modest dignity, and seldom made any reply beyond a 
bow and a word of thanks. In manners he was a fair 
reproduction of 
“A fine old English gentleman, 
One of the olden time”— 
Only, perhaps, somewhat less effusive and more dignified 
than that traditional personage is represented to have been. 
He was always polite to all, and for ladies especially, had 
not merely scrupulous politeness, but that stately yet grace- 
ful courtesy which belonged to the ancient regime. And 
beneath it all there was a kind heart. To some one who 
inquired why he employed so many Bohemians, he replied: 
“‘The Bohemians do not seem to be very popular with us, 
and I think I ought to help them all I ean.’’ Walking one 
day in the Garden with a young lad who was visiting him, 
he met a lame workman engaged in sweeping up leaves, and 
greeted him with a ‘‘Good morning, Henry.’’ A moment 
later, noticing that the boy had said nothing: ‘‘Charles, 
you did not speak to Henry. Go back and say ‘Good morn- 
ing’ to him.”’ Evidently the fine cynicism of Montaigne 
had never touched the heart of his admirer. 
Mr. Shaw, though he had no knowledge of music, was 
very fond of it, and moreover, was a strong believer in its 
elevating and refining influence upon the popular mind. 
The Sunday afternoon concerts in the Park during the sum- 
mer months are due to his love for and belief in music. 
