accusation being brought by Whistler himself and his various disciples.
It should be noted that all the works by which Wilde is known throughout
Europe were written _after_ the two friends quarrelled. That Wilde
derived a great deal from the older man goes without saying, just as he
derived much in a greater degree from Pater, Ruskin, Arnold and Burne-
Jones. Yet the tedious attempt to recognise in every jest of his some
original by Whistler induces the criticism that it seems a pity the great
painter did not get them off on the public before he was forestalled.
Reluctance from an appeal to publicity was never a weakness in either of
the men. Some of Wilde's more frequently quoted sayings were made at the
Old Bailey (though their provenance is often forgotten) or on his death-
bed.

As a matter of fact, the genius of the two men was entirely different.
Wilde was a humourist and a humanist before everything; and his wittiest
jests have neither the relentlessness nor the keenness characterising
those of the clever American artist. Again, Whistler could no more have
obtained the Berkeley Gold Medal for Greek, nor have written The
Importance of Being Earnest, nor The Soul of Man, than Wilde, even if
equipped as a painter, could ever have evinced that superb restraint
distinguishing the portraits of 'Miss Alexander,' 'Carlyle,' and other
masterpieces. Wilde, though it is not generally known, was something of
a draughtsman in his youth. I possess several of his drawings.

A complete bibliography including all the foreign translations and
American piracies would make a book of itself much larger than the
present one. In order that Wilde collectors (and there are many, I
believe) may know the authorised editions and authentic writings from the
spurious, Mr. Stuart Mason, whose work on this edition I have already
acknowledged, has supplied a list which contains every _genuine_ and