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The sudden close of the action brought by Mr. Oscar Wilde against the Marquis of Queensberry for criminal libel has created a profound sensation. The alleged libel was contained on a post-card which the Marquis left with the hall porter at Mr. Wilde's club. The defence was justification, the Marquis declaring that the letter was written with the object of saving his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, from immoral influences exerted over him by Mr. Wilde. The defence was based on revelations contained in certain letters from Mr. Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas. For some of these letters Mr. Wilde had had, it was alleged, to pay heavy blackmail. The letters, which were of a very gushing character, were found in some old clothes which Lord Alfred Douglas had given away.

Mr. Wilde was observed to hurriedly leave the Court while his counsel was explaining that the literature and the letters put in by the defence justified, in his opinion, the plea that his client should be posted as an immoral person. Under these circumstances, and in the face of the appalling evidence secured by the defence, he (the learned counsel) felt it to be his duty to withdraw from the case. The announcement was received with loud cheers, which were, however, by order of the judge, quickly suppressed.

No application has yet been made for a warrant for the arrest of Oscar Wilde, but Mr. Russell, solicitor for the Marquis of Queensberry, has sent to the Public Prosecutor the statements of the witnesses for the defence, and the notes of the evidence, with the object, as he asserts, of preventing any miscarriage of justice.

Later.

Oscar Wilde has published a letter in which he states that he abandoned the case against the Marquis of Queensberry, so as to avoid calling Lord Alfred Douglas as a witness.

A warrant has been issued for Wilde's arrest, and the police have detained three witnesses whose evidence is regarded as essential in the event of a criminal prosecution.

Lord Alfred Douglas and two other men remained in conference with Oscar Wilde for several hours after the abrupt ending of the trial of the Marquis of Queensberry. They lunched in a private room at the Holborn Viaduct Hotel and then drove to a bank from which Wilde drew a large sum of money. They were afterwards lost sight of until the evening, when Wilde was arrested at a hotel in Sloane-street. Lord Alfred Douglas was much distressed because he was unable to bail Wilde.

After the trial the Marquis of Queensberry sent a message to Wilde declaring that he would shoot him if he took Lord Alfred Douglas abroad.

Taylor, who is alleged to be a participator with Wilde, was arrested to-day. He and Wilde will be charged at the Bow Street Police Court. It is stated that the police have several witnesses who can prove the case against the accused up to the hilt. It is stated also that the offence with which Wilde will be charged was committed on many occasions at hotels in rooms engaged by Taylor, who acted as Wilde's intermediary.

Wilde's name has been removed from the playbills at the London and American theatres where his plays An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being in Earnest are being performed.

[Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1856, and is the son of Sir William R. Wills Wilde, M.D., Surgeon-Oculist to Her Majesty, Antiquarian, Statistican, and man of letters; and of Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde, known as a poetess, and woman of letters. Oscar Wilde was educated at Portora Royal School, Enneskillen; proceeded to Trinity College Dublin, of which he was Scholar; and, on having obtained the Berkley Gold Medal for Greek, went to Oxford in 1874. He obtained first Denyship at Magdalan College; a First Class in Moderations, 1876; and a First Class in Greats; and Newdigate Prize for English poetry, 1878. He came to London, 1879, and was the originator of the Æsthetic movement. He published a volume of poems in 1880; proceeded to America in 1881, where he delivered over 200 lectures on Art. His drama of "Vera" was produced in New York in 1882; "The Happy Prince and other Fairy Tales" was published in 1888. He was also a contributor of critical articles to many of the leading magazines, including Blackwood's, in which appeared a curious new theory about Shakespeare's Sonnets. He also wrote "Dorian Gray," a novel of modern life, which appeared in Lippincott's Magazine. He had traveled a great deal in Greece and Italy. Mr. Oscar Wilde married, in 1884, Constance, daughter of Horace Lloyd, Q.C. His children are Cyril, born 1885, and Vivian born 1886. He has written several successful plays.

The trial of the Marquis of Queensberry, on a charge of having criminally libelled Oscar Wilde, the dramatist and poet, was commenced to-day. An immense crowd assembled in the court and its vicinity. The defendant pleaded justification, and that the words of the alleged libel were written for the public good.

Evidence was given to the effect that Oscar Wilde paid heavy blackmail for his gushing letters to Lord Alfred Douglas, son of the Marquis of Queensberry, and that these letters were found in some of his old clothes when they were given away.

The prosecutor was stringently cross-examined with the view of showing that his novel, "Dorian Grey," a story of an artist and his model, which appeared in Lippincott's Magazine, his articles in other magazines, and the Chameleon, with which he is connected, inspired to criminal practices. Oscar Wilde insisted that the articles were merely the expression of an artistic faculty. The letters to Lord Alfred Douglas were "prose poems," "extraordinary perhaps, but not justifying an immoral interpretation." He admitted that he gave one of the alleged blackmailers £21, and afterwards entertained him at luncheon in a private room. Wilde also admitted having been on terms of intimacy with two lads not his social equals, and that he gave them considerable sums of money and expensive presents. He did this because he "liked them."

He was acquainted with three men named Taylor, Parker, and Atkins. Taylor introduced five young men to him on separate occasions, and Wilde had given them money. He was not aware that any of them were gentlemen's servants. He said that he took pleasure in being in the company of bright and happy people. He had visited Taylor's rooms frequently. He was aware that Taylor and Parker had once been arrested, but he had, notwithstanding this fact, continued his friendship with them. He once took Atkins to Paris. Taylor introduced to him a youth named Scarp, who afterwards became acquainted with Lord Alfred Douglas, while on the voyage to Australia. He (Wilde) had made presents to Scarp and another young man named Mabor, because he liked them.

Certain letters were read in court from some of the youths already named, showing that the writers were poverty-stricken, and implored assistance from Wilde in obtaining employment.

Oscar Wilde admitted close intimacy with young men who had been introduced to him by Taylor. He had entertained them at dinner at fashionable cafés. Several had spent the night as his guests at his hotels, but nothing improper occurred. He was regardless of the social inferiority of his guests if they were amusing.

Letters written by Lord Alfred Douglas were read, in which he threatened to shoot his father if he attempted to thrash him.

Mr. E.H. Carson, Q.C., M.P., in opening the case for the defence, declared that Wilde's protégés were among the most immoral men in London. He commented strongly on the fact that the prosecutor had not called Taylor as a witness. Wilde's intimacies were absolutely irreconcilable with his claim as an exponent of culture, and his literature alone justified the action of the Marquis. Mr. Carson said that among other witnesses he would call Wood, the chief blackmailer, and would prove his case up to the hilt.

APRIL, 5.

Counsel for the prosecutor has withdrawn from the case.

The jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and considered that the charges made by the Marquis of Queensberry were for the public benefit. The verdict was received in court with loud cheers.

Oscar Wilde hurriedly left the court while counsel for the Marquis of Queensberry was explaining that the prosecutor's literature and letters justified the plea that Wilde posed as an immoral person. Wilde withdrew in order to avoid the appalling evidence that he feared would be brought against him by the witnesses for the defence.

After the trial Oscar Wilde published a letter in which he stated that his reason for abandoning the case was to avoid calling Lord Alfred Douglas as a witness.

Oscar Wilde and the man Taylor have been arrested.

The Marquis of Queensberry sent Oscar Wilde a message after the trial stating that he would shoot him if he attempted to take Lord Alfred Douglas abroad.

Both Oscar Wilde and Taylor were brought up at Bow-street Police Court to-day. Several witnesses gave evidence which went to show that the charge now preferred against Wilde can be proved up to the hilt. It was also shown that Taylor acted as an intermediary for Wilde. Wilde was remanded.

Oscar Wilde's name has been withdrawn from the playbills at the London and American theatres, where Wilde's dramas, "An Ideal Husband" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" are being played.

APRIL 7.

Paris is petrified in consequence of the exposures in the Oscar Wilde case.

APRIL 9.

Several free libraries in the United States have destroyed Oscar Wilde's works.