FOOTNOTES TO VOLUME II
[1] Some years ago The Daily Chronicle proved that though the general standard of living is lower in Germany and in France than in England; yet the prison food in France and especially in Germany is far better than in England and the treatment of the prisoners far more humane.
[2] He was referring, I suppose, to the solitary confinement in a dark cell, which English ingenuity has invented and according to all accounts is as terrible as any of the tortures of the past. For those tortures were all physical, whereas the modern Englishman addresses himself to the brain and nerves, and finds the fear of madness more terrifying than the fear of pain. What a pity it is that Mr. Justice Wills did not know twenty-four hours of it, just twenty-four hours to teach him what "adequate punishment" for sensual self-indulgence means, and adequate punishment, too, for inhuman cruelty.
[3] Cfr. [Appendix]: ["Criticisms by Robert Ross."]
[4] I give Oscar's view of the trial just to show how his romantic imagination turned disagreeable facts into pleasant fiction. Oscar could only have heard of the trial, and perhaps his mother was his informant—which adds to the interest of the story.
[5] Permission to visit a dying mother is accorded in France, even to murderers. The English pretend to be more religious than the French; but are assuredly less humane.
[6] "De Profundis." What Oscar called "the terrible part" of the book—the indictment of Lord Alfred Douglas—has since been read out in Court and will be found in the [Appendix] to this volume.
[7] Reproduced in the [Appendix].
[8] Fac-simile copies of some of the notes Oscar wrote to Warder Martin about these children are reproduced in the [Appendix]. The notes were written on scraps of paper and pushed under his cell-door; they are among the most convincing evidences of Oscar's essential humanity and kindness of heart.
[9] The Home Secretary, Sir Matthew White Ridley, when questioned by Mr. Michael Davitt in the House of Commons, May 25, 1897, declared that this dismissal of a warder for feeding a little hungry child at his own expense was "fully justified" and a "proper step." This same Home Secretary appointed his utterly incompetent brother to be a judge of the High Court.
[10] The correspondent to whom Wilde writes and the other friend referred to are Roman Catholics.
[11] This refers to a story which Wilde was much interested in at the time.
[12] The proprietor of the hotel.
[13] The Sphinx is a nickname for Mrs. Leverson, author of "The Eleventh Hour," and other witty novels.
[14] Ernest was her husband.
[15] The silver spoon is a proposed line for a play given by Ross to Turner (Reggie).
[16] Wilde's solicitor in Regina v. Wilde.
[17] A reference to the "Vailima Letters" of Stevenson which Wilde read when he was in prison.
[18] An architect who sent Wilde books on his release from prison.
[19] His letter to The Daily Chronicle about Warder Martin and the little children.
[20] The Ballad was finished in Naples and Alfred Douglas has since declared that he helped Oscar Wilde to write it. I have no wish to dispute this: Alfred Douglas' poetic gift was extraordinary, far greater than Oscar Wilde's. The poem was conceived in prison and a good deal of it was printed before Oscar went near Alfred Douglas and some of the best stanzas in it are to be found in this earlier portion: no part of the credit of it, in my opinion, belongs to Alfred Douglas. See [Appendix] for Ross's opinion.
[21] Hanging in chains was called keeping sheep by moonlight.
[22] This was the sum promised by the whole Queensberry family and by Lord Alfred Douglas in particular to Oscar to defray the costs of that first action for libel which they persuaded him to bring against Lord Queensberry. Ross has since stated in court that it was never paid. The history of the monies promised and supplied to Oscar at that time is so extraordinary and so characteristic of the age that it might well furnish a chapter to itself. Here it is enough just to say that those who ought to have supplied him with money evaded the obligation, while others upon whom he had no claim, helped him liberally; but even large sums slipped through his careless fingers like water.
[23] Cfr. [Appendix]: ["Criticisms by Robert Ross."]
[24] One of the prettiest daughters of the game to be found in Paris at the time.
[25] Cfr. [Appendix].
[26] See [Appendix].
[27] He lived till November, 1910.
[28] Cfr. [Appendix]: ["Criticisms by Robert Ross."]
[29] The incident is worth recording for the honour of human nature. At the moment of Oscar's trial Charles Wyndham had let his theatre, the Criterion, to Lewis Waller and H.H. Morell to produce in it "An Ideal Husband" which had been running for over 100 nights at the Haymarket. When Alexander took Oscar's name off the bill, Wyndham wrote to the young Managers, saying that, if under the altered circumstances they wished to cancel their agreement, he would allow them to do so. But if they "put on" a play of Mr. Wilde's, the author's name must be on all the bills and placards as usual. He could not allow his theatre to be used to insult a man who was on his trial.
[30] Cfr. end of [Appendix]:—[A Last Word].
[31] Cfr. end of [Appendix]:—[A Last Word].
[32] This was written years before a Home Secretary, Mr. Reginald MacKenna, tortured women and girls in prison in England by forcible feeding, because they tried to present petitions in favour of Woman's Suffrage. He afterwards defended himself in Parliament by declaring that "'forcible feeding' was not unpleasant." The torturers of the Inquisition also befouled cruelty with hypocritical falsehood: they would burn their victims; but would not shed blood.
[33] The rest of this story concerns me chiefly and I have therefore relegated it to the [Appendix] for those who care to read it.
[34] Oscar was already getting £300 a year from his wife and Robert Ross, to say nothing of the hundreds given to him from time to time by other friends.
[35] The truth about this I have already stated.
[36] Though I have reported this conversation as faithfully as I can and have indeed softened the impression Lord Alfred Douglas made upon me at the time; still I am conscious that I may be doing him some injustice. I have never really been in sympathy with him and it may well be that in reporting him here faithfully I am showing him at his worst. I am aware that the incident does not reveal him at his best. He has proved since in his writings and notably in some superb sonnets that he had a real affection and admiration for Oscar Wilde. If I have been in any degree unfair to him I can best correct it, I think, by reproducing here the noble sonnet he wrote on Oscar after his death: in sheer beauty and sincerity of feeling it ranks with Shelley's lament for Keats:
The Dead Poet[37]
I dreamed of him last night, I saw his face
All radiant and unshadowed of distress,
And as of old, in music measureless,
I heard his golden voice and marked him trace
Under the common thing the hidden grace,
And conjure wonder out of emptiness,
Till mean things put on beauty like a dress
And all the world was an enchanted place.
[37] In the [Appendix] I have published the first sketch of this fine sonnet: lovers of poetry will like to compare them.
[38] See [Appendix]: p. [589] and especially p. [592].
[39] Oscar told me this story; but as it only concerns Lord Alfred Douglas, and throws no new light on Oscar's character, I don't use it.
[40] This is extravagant condemnation of Lord Alfred Douglas' want of education; for he certainly knew a great deal about the poetic art even then and he has since acquired a very considerable knowledge of "Elizabethan Song."
[41] Whoever wishes to understand this bitter allusion should read his father's letter to Lord Alfred Douglas transcribed in the first volume. The Marquis of Queensberry doesn't hesitate to hint why his son was "sent down" from Oxford.
[42] Cfr. [Appendix]: ["Criticisms by Robert Ross."]
[43] Oscar is not flattering his friend in this: Lord Alfred Douglas has written two or three sonnets which rank among the best in the language.
[44] This statement—more than half true—is Oscar Wilde's Apologia and justification.
[45] This is, I believe, true and the explanation that follows is probably true also.
[46] Baccarat is not played in the Casino: roulette and trente et quarante are the games: roulette was Lord Alfred Douglas' favourite.
[47] This is a confession almost as much as an accusation.
[48] Oscar here crosses the t's and dots the i's of his charge.
[49] The previous accusation repeated, with bitterest sarcasm.
[50] Lord Alfred Douglas is well above the middle height: he holds himself badly but is fully five feet nine inches in height.
[51] The old accusation.
[52] Mr. Beerbohm Tree.
[53] The very truth, it seems to me.
[54] Proving another guilty would not have exculpated Oscar. Readers of my book will remember that I urged Oscar to tell the truth and how he answered me.
[55] As will be seen from a letter of Oscar Wilde which I reproduce later, I supplied the clothes.
[56] His letter was merely an acknowledgment that he had received the clothes and cheque and was grateful. I saw nothing in it to answer as he had not even mentioned the driving tour.
[57] I felt hurt that he dropped the idea without giving me any reason or even letting me know his change of purpose.
[58] I think this was true; though it had never struck me till I read this letter. Later, in order to excuse himself for not working, he magnified the effect on his health of prison life. A year after his release I think he had as large a reserve of nervous energy as ever.
[59] Fifty pounds was all Oscar asked me: the whole sum agreed upon. As a matter of fact I gave him fifty pounds more before leaving Paris. I didn't then know that he had ever told the scenario to anyone else, much less sold it; though I ought perhaps to have guessed it.—F.H.
[60] I (Frank Harris) noticed at Reading that his hair was getting grey in front and at the sides; but when we met later the grey had disappeared. I thought he used some dye. I only mention this to show how two good witnesses can differ on a plain matter of fact.
[61] Ross found afterwards that they amounted to £620.
[MEMORIES OF OSCAR WILDE]
BY G. BERNARD SHAW
Copyright, 1918,
By Bernard Shaw