13 MARCH 1959, Page 32

SIR,—I once asked Shaw why Wilde refused to leave England

on the eve of his trial. In a letter written on August 20, 1950, G. B. S. replied :

'I don't know. My guess is that Wilde as an Irish gentleman would not run away. Possibly [he added] he may have preferred the six months' sentence he expected to confinement in a ship with F. H.'—Yours faithfully, 187 Cathedral Road, Cardift DEREK PARKER