the fear of pain. What a pity it is that Mr. Justice Wills did not know
twenty-four hours of it, just twenty-four hours to teach him what
"adequate punishment" for sensual self-indulgence means, and adequate
punishment, too, for inhuman cruelty.
CHAPTER XVIII
On my return to London I saw Sir Ruggles Brise. No one could have shown
me warmer sympathy, or more discriminating comprehension. I made my
report to him and left the matter in his hands with perfect confidence.
I took care to describe Oscar's condition to his friends while assuring
them that his circumstances would soon be bettered. A little later I
heard that the governor of the prison had been changed, that Oscar had
got books and writing materials, and was allowed to have the gas burning
in his cell to a late hour when it was turned down but not out. In fact,
from that time on he was treated with all the kindness possible, and
soon we heard that he was bearing the confinement and discipline better
than could have been expected. Sir Evelyn Ruggles Brise had evidently
settled the difficulty in the most humane spirit.
Later still I was told that Oscar had begun to write "De Profundis" in
prison, and I was very hopeful about that too: no news could have given
me greater pleasure. It seemed to me certain that he would justify
himself to men by turning the punishment into a stepping-stone. And in
this belief when the time came I ventured to call on Sir Ruggles Brise
with another petition.
"Surely," I said, "Oscar will not be imprisoned for the full term;
surely four or five months for good conduct will be remitted?"
Sir Ruggles Brise listened sympathetically, but warned me at once that
any remission was exceptional; however, he would let me know what could
be done, if I would call again in a week. Much to my surprise, he did
not seem certain even about the good conduct.
I returned at the end of the week, and had another long talk with him.
He told me that good conduct meant, in prison parlance, absence of
punishment, and Oscar had been punished pretty often. Of course his
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