As Tiberius said of Mucianus: "_Omnium quae dixerat feceratque, arte quadam ostentator_" (He had a knack of showing off and advertising whatever he said or did).
But no personal qualities, however eminent, no gifts, no graces of heart or head or soul could have brought a young man to Oscar Wilde's social position and popularity in a few years.
Another cause was at work lifting him steadily.

From the time he left Oxford he was acclaimed and backed by a small minority of passionate admirers whom I have called his fuglemen.

These admirers formed the constant factor in his progress from social height to height.

For the most part they were persons usually called "sexual inverts," who looked to the brilliancy of his intellect to gild their esoteric indulgence.

This class in England is almost wholly recruited from the aristocracy and the upper middle-class that apes the "smart set." It is an inevitable product of the English boarding school and University system; indeed one of the most characteristic products.