scar's death, and then I started the
subject. He was present at Oscar's operation, and attended to him
personally every morning. He paid himself for luxuries and necessities
ordered by the doctor or by Oscar out of his own pocket. I hope that
---- or ---- will at any rate pay him the money still owing. Dr. Tucker
is also owed a large sum of money. He was most kind and attentive,
although I think he entirely misunderstood Oscar's case.

Reggie Turner had the worst time of all in many ways--he experienced all
the horrible uncertainty and the appalling responsibility of which he
did not know the extent. It will always be a source of satisfaction to
those who were fond of Oscar, that he had someone like Reggie near him
during his last days while he was articulate and sensible of kindness
and attention....

ROBERT ROSS.

CRITICISMS

BY ROBERT ROSS

Vol. I. Page 80 Line 3. I demur very much to your statement in this
paragraph. Wilde was too much of a student of Greek to have learned
anything about controversy from Whistler. No doubt Whistler was more
nimble and more naturally gifted with the power of repartee, but when
Wilde indulged in controversy with his critics, whether he got the best
of it or not, he never borrowed the Whistlerian method. Cf. his
controversy with Henley over Dorian Gray.

Then whatever you may think of Ruskin, Wilde learnt a great deal about
the History and Philosophy of Art from him. He learned more from Pater
and he was the friend and intimate of Burne-Jones long before he knew
Whistler. I quite agree with your remark that he had "no joy in
conflict" and no doubt he had little or no knowledge of the technique of
Art in the modern expert's sense.

[There never was a greater master of controversy than Whistler, and I
believe Wilde borrowed his method of making fun of the adversary. Robert
Ross's second point is rather controversial. Shaw agrees with me that
Wilde never knew anything really of music or of painting and neither the
history nor the so-called philosophy of art makes one a connoisseur of
contemporary masters. F.H.]

Page 94. Last line. For "happy candle" read "Happy Lamp." It was at the
period when oil lamps were put in the middle of the dinner table just
before the general introduction of electric light; by putting "candle"
you lose the period. Cf. Du Maurier's pictures of dinner parties in
_Punch_.

Page 115. I venture to think that you should state that Wilde at the end
of h