A WOULD-BE WIT AND CANT-BE GENTLEMAN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 181, 15 September 1876, Page 12

A WOULD-BE WIT AND CANT-BE GENTLEMAN.

In a, recent number of the ' Musical World/ a London publication, a ? L- w-, U - al "22? ? Good *>an published a pretended reminiscence of bir William Wilde, which, while affecting a sort of regard for the memory of that eminent Irishman, represented him as°havinaconducted himself in a very ridiculous and vulgar sort of way on c ™, referred to by the writer. Goodban says he met Dr. WJde at Chamoumx. on his way to make an ascent of Mont Blanc. When the guide asked the party if they would have mules to aid them m their ascent of the mountain. "Wilde replied in his strong- Irish brogue, and a humorous twinkle in his eyes, ' D'ye mane to insult a man that has walked to the top of the Pake o* Tenenffe ? Get out o' that, sir, and bring me an Alpine stick, an' if I can t poke myself along with that, may I never taste buttermilk and whiskey again. 5 " After the party had got some distance up the mountain, Goodban tells us " Wilde began to puff and blow and show signs of fatigue. He exclaimed, ' Bedad, sir, I'm thinking my legs are not quite in the condition they were when I walked to the top of the Pake o' Teneriffe." Goodban offered him a mount on his mule. This, he says, Wilde refused; but he took hold of the animal s tail, and so was pulled to the top of the mountain, ihis absurd and offensive story bears all the marks of its Cockney paternity. Our distinguished countryman, Sir R. P. Stewart, administered a well-deserved reproof to the writer in a succeeding number of the publication above-named. After some remarks deprecatory of the introduction of the stage Irishman into the paces ot the 'Musical World/ Sir Robert says : "In conclusion, I deliberately assert, with the full concurrence of his family and friends, that not one who knew the late Sir William Wilde, as I had the privilege to do, would recognise in your correspondent's description anything but a somewhat vulgar, pointless, and altogether misleading caricature — a caricature which would, unlike most caricatures, recall neither the memory nor the manner of an eminent and dignified professional gentleman, such as Sir William really was?" That is a fillip for Goodban which he will be likely to recollect for some time. — ' Nation.'