Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-14
THE WILDEIDIOT IN NEW YORK
Decked Ia SymphOniOus COlOFs He
Lectures on The Beautiful In Art.
NetC York Sun, 10th.

At the side of this stage, at $50 or there
abOuts, door nOiselessly opened and man
and vision appeared. The vision, which
was round-shouldered, glided half way
across the stage and sank into one of the
fifteenth century chairs. A noise filed the
house that was half applause and half
laughter. The man advanced to the desk,
pronounced few unheard words of intro
duc'iOD, bowed and quilted the stage The
vision arose and stood behind the desk, and
Oscar Wilde and his first New York audi
ence made the acquaintance of each other
The poet was tail, but modified his height
to due measure by rounding his shoulders.
His hair, brown, waving and fluffy, was
parted in the middle, aud fell, like that IN
The picture OF Charles II , to his should iers
HIS face looked forth as between a set Of
soft window curtains, white, beardless.
smiling and mild. The features were of
lrish, much toned down, prominent but not
strong The brOw-the little triaus uar
area to be seen of it, that is-was wholly
placid and unmarked, and the eyebrows
were neat, delicate and arched, of the sort
coveted by woman. He wore a swallow
tailed coat of the ordinary pattern, a white
wastcOat, low cut and double buttOned, a
pair of black knee breeches black silk
stockings, and low counter shoes. His
broad expanse of shirt front was punctured
in the exact centre by a diamond stud, and
a
in between IL and his WaistcOat. A ribbon
and seal dangled below the latter garment
HIS collar turned down, not very wide aud
uOt cut very low, and white silk tie was
evenly knotted beneath 1t. His upper and
lower parts, to sum up, were picturesque,
and his middle section mathematical and
commonplace.
The first greeting accorded to the poet as
be advanced to the slender pulpit and bent
laO Vui1 n ell In 70,
put foot upon the base of It, was an un-
mistakable and rude giggle. His face re
tained its placid expression as he laid the
manuscript of his lee ure upon the desk and
bowed. He began Immediately to read, and
the giggling quickly subsidized. Eyes which
had exchanged uumistakable opinions wi
other eyes fixed themselves intere stedly
enough upon him, and the audience as
sumed the appearance Of an audieUce In
ordinary. His delivery was monotone not
once interrupted. His emissions of humor
even were delivered in the regular intona-
ton, and they gathered piquancy doubtless
from the fact. After ten minutes, save
when a joke dropped in, the cadence
alone asserted itself, and Mr.. Wilde
sounded like a school boy scanning Horatios
first ode. He had his lecture pretty well
committed, and he read with his head
thrown back and his large eyes rowing softly
back and forth between the galleries.
Two OF his utterances which provoked
mrth were these "Satire is the homage
which Ignorance pays to genius" 'To dis
agree with three-fOurths of all England on all
points is one of the first elements of sanity"
An idea of his manner of intOnstiou may be
conveyed in this sentence: "KedtS-Was
pIre-and superior artist"
It was not long after the beginning of the
lecture that the audience began to exhibit
symptoms of WEAKNESS. Opera glasses were
levelled toward all points, and people more
and more showed an interest In one another.
Gray headed and bald men. though plainly
they tried hard, could not avoid looking
sheepish. A whispering rose In the back
seats and crept gradually through the centre
auditorium. At the end of an hour men
who were alone took to fumbling their
facial features and smiled vaguely. But the
young poet kept on. his brow serene and
the smile still with him, and all he did for
his own relief was twice to elevate mis- right
foot In place of his left foot and once to
elevate his left foot in place of his right foot.
1t was after ten O'Clock when his cadence
ceased and be bowed. The audience rose at
once, and he had passed through the little
door before they remembered to applaud
him. They applauded then, and he came
back and once more bowed. Audience and
poet then separated for the night.