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There was again an indecent scramble for admission Bow-street Police-court, when Oscar Wilde and Taylor were brought before Sir John Bridge, for the second time on the terrible charges made against them last week. They were brought from Holloway Prison in a Black Maria, which was received by the rowdy crowd in Bow St. with a hoarse shout, which might have been either a cheer or a jeer. Driven rapidly into the station yard, the gates clashed to behind it, and that was all the general public saw of the day's proceedings. Sir Edward Clarke and Mr. T. Humphreys represented the defendant Wilde, and it was supposed that they would continue last week's policy of reserving the cross-examination. Mr. Arthur Newton, however, who defends Taylor, intimated his intention of cross-examining, and this will have the effect of prolonging the police-court stage of the prosecution, which is not likely to be concluded today. Sir Edward Clarke arrived rather late by way of the public staircase wearing a summery grey frockcoat, and a general air of Easter vacation. It was a

WELL-DRESSED MOB

which packed the Extradition Court, in which the case was heard, and almost "all were there, the old familiar faces" which were seen at the Old Bailey throughout the nauseous stages of last week's proceedings. So dense was the crowd that the police had difficulty about clearing a passage for the entrance of the prisoners. Before Wilde appeared he could be heard asking, "Is Sir Edward Clarke here?" "Yes," replied the Sergeant-Gaoler, and Wilde strode heavily into the dock, with a slight bow towards the bench. He looked paler and less plethoric than last week, the change in his appearance being markedly for the better. He still wore the dark grey great coat with a velvet collar and cuffs, and as soon as possible sat down in the extreme corner of the dock, his elbow on the iron rail and his head on his hand. Taylor had more than ever the appearance of a valet. Clean-shaven and pink-shirted, he folded his arms and surveyed the court with a smile that was rather simpering.

Sir Edward Clarke, in announcing his intention not to cross-examine, said cross-examination would probably not influence the result so far as that court was concerned--the prisoner must be committed--and it was desirable on every ground to shorten the proceedings as much as possible.

Mr. Newton pointed out that his client, who is

ONLY CHARGED WITH CONSPIRING

with Wilde, stood on a rather different ground, which made it desirable to cross-examine some of the witnesses in his behalf.

The lad Charles Parker was first recalled. He was respectably dressed, in apparently new clothes. He denied that he was introduced to Taylor by a man named Harrington, and adhered to his statement that Taylor first accosted him in a restaurant. He recognised, he said, the peril of prosecution in which he himself stood, but he denied with an air very like that of honest indignation that he had been guilty of improprieties before he met Wilde. He declared that he knew nothing of its being Taylor's birthday on the occasion when he was first taken to dine with Wilde. He knew the man Atkins who was mentioned at the Old Bailey in connection with the blackmailing letters, but he knew him only as a comedian, and not as a notorious blackmailer who lived by accusations against gentlemen. He left his own employment as valet because the gentleman could not afford to keep him. He was afterwards accused of stealing the master's clothes. He was arrested in the Fitzroy-square raid last year, but he declared he only knew one other man concerned in that little adventure. That was Taylor. Then Mr. Newton touched a more serious point.

"Just before that did you get £30, in conjunction with two other persons, by threatening to accuse a gentleman of a crime?"

"I didn't. The others gave it to me."

They had

EXTORTED IT FROM A GENTLEMAN?

--I think that is right.

They extorted more than the £30? - I think so.

That was your share? - Yes.

Had you been guilty of impropriety with that gentleman? - Yes.

Then it was hush money? - I don't know that.

Sir John Bridge: Isn't that substantially what it was? - I don't know what they gave it to me for. They only told me who it came from.

The other witnesses who were called last week were not now present, and therefore could not be cross-examined. Mr. Gill therefore passed on to

Frederick Atkins, a pale-eyed, pimply-faced lad of 20, in a green cord waistcoat with pale blue spots, a blue oxford shirt and a jacket of rough brown tweed, was the next witness. He deposed that he first knew the prisoner Taylor and the establishment at Little College-street. Taylor introduced him to Wilde in November, 1893, when all three, and another man--one of the Nameless Men of the Old Bailey proceedings--dined together at the Florence Hotel in Soho. Wilde asked witness if he would like to go to Paris with him as his

PRIVATE SECRETARY.

He said "Yes," and they went two days later, by the Club Train from Victoria. Arrived in Paris, they went to 29, Boulevards des Capucines, a private hotel, where Wilde had a bed-sitting room and witness a bedroom. The two rooms communicated. Next day they lunched at the Cafe Julien, and in the afternoon went to the Grand Hotel to have their hair out. Wilde spoke in French to the barber, who began to curl witness' hair. It will be remembered that Wilde's version of this incident is that the lad wanted to have his hair curled, and he forbade him. They dined together, "the best dinner I ever had in my life," said the witness, and afterwards Wilde gave him a louis and permission to go out and amuse himself.

"To go to the Moulin Rouge?" suggested Mr. Gill.

"No," said the witness. "He told me not to go there. But I went." He got back at half-past two a.m.; and declares he found a third person, whose name he gave as Schwabe with Wilde. At half-past nine next morning Wilde came and sat on the edge of witness's bed, and talked to him about women, warning him that they were the ruin of young men. "He told me not to have anything to do with them." The witness gave no evidence of impropriety. Wilde gave him the usual

SILVER CIGARETTE CASE

and £3 when they got back to Victoria. Mr. Gill reverted to the dinner at the Florence, and the witness mentioned as parts of Wilde's table manners that he kissed the waiter, and put his arms round the necks of witness and Lord Alfred Douglas.

Mr. Newton had not much to ask this witness in cross-examination. "Don't mention any name, " he said, "but were you not introduced to Taylor by the gentleman who was in Paris?" - Yes.

Did not that gentleman also introduce you to Mr. Wilde? - No.

The witness denied that he had been living for years past with a man named Burton, and extorting money from gentlemen. He is--and was when he first met Wilde--a comedian and bookmaker's clerk.

Sir John Bridge: Did you do any secretarial work for Wilde in Paris?

Witness: Yes; I wrote something about the "Woman of No Importance."

Among the few people of some importance who were among the crowd in court during the morning were Sir Augustus Harris and Mr. Jerome J. Jerome.

The next witness was a tall, heavy-framed young fellow, with a square jaw and a distinctly

"INTELLECTUAL FACE,"

as Wilde said of him at the Old Bailey. This was Edward Shelley, the young clerk who was employed by Elkin Mathews and Co. at the Bodley Head, where he made Wilde's acquaintance. In spite of the stifling closeness of the court he wore a heavy double-breasted reefer overcoat, tightly buttoned. It was over the retail book counter that he first saw Wilde, who was at the Bodley Head about the publication of one of his books, and the acquaintance was encouraged by presents of Wilde's works and an invitation to dinner at the Albermarle, where the witness took so much wine that he became excited. After dinner, in a private sitting room, they had more to drink, and afterwards Wilde said, "Will you come into my room?" "I didn't know what the man was," the witness said. "I only thought he was going to put me up for the night. I admired his works, and he always professed to be fond of me, and flattered me. He said I was clever."

All this Wilde heard with an inscrutable countenance, the inevitable suede gloves hanging from the fingers which supported his large fleshy face, and his eyes blankly fixed on the wall behind the magistrate.

Shelley went on to

DESCRIBE VISITS

to Kettner's, the Cafe Royal, the Independent Theatre, and other places in the company of Wilde. He had destroyed all the letters he had received from Wilde, he said, and had torn out the inscribed title-pages from the books which were given to him. But he had kept the books. Wilde asked him to go to Paris with him, but he was not able to get off.

"Taylor is a stranger to you?" was Mr. Newton's only question. "Quite a stranger," Shelley replied, and left the witness box with his highly polished silk hat and rattan cane.

Mrs. Lucy Rumsby, a stout old lady in a plush mantle and a crape bonnet, is landlady at 50, Park-walk, Chelsea, and for a fortnight Charles Parker occupied a small room in her house. At the end of that time she gave him notice in consequence of a complaint made by another lodger. Mrs. Margery Bancroft, who lives in the house, added that Taylor, who at the time lived at No. 3, Chapel-street--which is just round the corner--sometimes called for Parker. On one occasion, late at night, a cab drew up at the door, and she saw Parker and Oscar Wilde alight.

Both prisoners were ordered to stand up, and Mrs. Bancroft stated positively that she

RECOGNISED THEM BOTH.

Taylor smiled a sickly smile. Wilde was impassive and superior.

Mrs. Bancroft added that she had her suspicions, and it was on her complaint that Parker was sent away. Park-walk was ten minutes' walk from Tite-st. But Wilde came in a cab.

Mrs. Gray, the landlady of 3, Chapel-st, gave similar evidence. She let two rooms to Taylor, from August to the end of 1893, and had seen both Parker and Wilde there. Parker had stayed all night. When Taylor went away he left behind a box of papers, which the witness had handed over to Mr. Russell, Lord Queensberry's solicitor. Taylor never seemed to have any occupation, and had not many callers. Perhaps two or three young men had called at different times. She knew nothing about the Little College-street establishment.

"You are not in the habit of asking questions about your lodgers' business?" asked Mr. Newton. "Oh, no; I knew he was a man of respectable family. He always

ACTED AS A GENTLEMAN

in my place."

Mr. Gill: You never saw any ladies there?

Witness: Oh, no, sir.

The Court adjourned for a few minutes for lunch.

Wilde Has Been Ill.

The Exchange Telegraph Company says Oscar Wilde has been very ill in Holloway Gaol, and yesterday was seen by the prison doctor several times.

Another Remand Probable.

It is stated the case will last all day, and that the Treasury will ask for another remand to-day.

To-day, Sir John Bridge again sat in the Extradition Court, at Bow Street, to hear further evidence in the charges preferred against Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wilde, poet aud dramatist. With him was Alfred Taylor, who, it will be remembered, was arrested during the progress of the case on Saturday last. This morning two stalwart police-constables guarded the gates at the foot of the staircase leading to the Extradition Court, and a few minutes before eleven, when, at a signal given by the Chief Usher, the bolts were drawn, there was a rush for places, but owing to the very limited accommodation, the majority of those who were admitted were obliged to stand. Sir Edward Clarke, Q.C., M.P., whose offer to conduct the defence of Wilde had been thankfully accepted, sat in the seats reserved for counsel, accompanied by Mr. Travers Humphreys, barrister, his junior. Mr. Arthur Newton, freshly instructed, sat at the solicitors' table holding in his hand a brief for the prisoner Taylor. Mr. C.F. Gill, who, instructed by Mr. Angus Lewis, conducts the case for the prosecution, arrived later. The Hon. H. Cuffe, of the Treasury, also attended. The charge against Taylor is that of conspiring with Wilde. Sir John took his seat at five minutes past 11 o'clock.

Wilde's face has undergone a distinct change since his appearance on Saturday. He is paler and thinner. He entered with a languid and wearisome air, and having seated himself at one end of the dock, leant heavily upon his right elbow. Taylor bad lost the jaunty and rather contemptuous bearing with which be surveyed his surroundings on the last occasion.

Sir Edward Clarke at once rose and said: I appear in this case with my friend Mr. Travers Humphreys for the defence of Mr. Oscar Wilde. I have had the opportunity of reading the depositions which were taken last Saturday, and I am much obliged for the permission to postpone the cross-examination of those witnesses; but upon considering the matter I have decided not to ask for those witnesses to be called for cross-examination, as probably no cross-examination could affect the result so far as this court is concerned and so far as your action in the matter is concerned. Of course it is desirable on all grounds that the investigation shall be taken in as short a time as possible, and with as few occasions of hearing in this court as possible, and having said that with regard to the witnesses who have been called, I shall probably take the same course with regard to other witnesses with a view to shorten the proceedings before you.

Sir John Bridge: It is absolutely incumbent upon all of us to get the matter over as quickly and speedily as possible.

Mr. Newton asked to be allowed to put a few questions to some of the witnesses examined on Saturday.

Charles Parker was then recalled, and in answer to Mr. Newton said he was born in 1874. He was in employment at the present time, and had been in it for nearly eight months.

Were you not arrested in Fitzroy Square in August last?—Yes.

Were you a friend of many of the men who were arrested there?—No, I only knew one.

Mr. Newton then questioned witness with regard to a conversation he had with Taylor when the latter, as witness alleged, spoke to him at St. James's Restaurant in 1893. Witness said that was the first time he saw Taylor, and the latter was not introduced to him by a man named Harrington. He made a statement as to the conversation which then look place to Mr. Charles Russell, the solicitor.

Mr. Newton: Were you afraid when you made that statement that you would be brought into a libel case?—Not at all.

You knew that you had committed illegal acts over and over again and might be prosecuted?—I was not aware of it.

With regard to the dinner at which four of them were present witness did not know that it was Taylor's birthday.

Am I right in saying nothing was said by Mr. Wilde to you about going to the Savoy in Taylor's presence?—He asked me in Taylor's presence, but I do not know whether Taylor heard it.

Cross-examination continued: On the second occasion when witness went to the Savoy Taylor had nothing to do with it. He knew a young man named Atkins.

Is he a notorious blackmailer?—I don't know.

Is he a man who extorts money by making accusations against gentlemen?—I don't know.

How long have you known him?—About three years.

What is his occupation?—A comedian.

Mr Gill: I do not know for what purpose this mode af cross-examination is being indulged in. If it is for the purpose of preventing the man coming here as a witness it will not succeed. If it is pursued I shall go into other cases against Taylor.

Mr Newton: I am entitled to test this evidence and to show that this man Parker is the associate of the most notorious and depraved characters in London.

Sir J. Bridge: Go on, Mr. Newton. (To witness): You say you do not know what Atkins is?—No.

Why did you leave the service in which you were engaged as a valet?—The gentleman could not afford to keep me.

Did he not say you had stolen some of his clothes, and discharged you as a thief?—No; it was after I left that he said I had stolen the clothes.

Did you not get from two men £30, which they had extracted from a gentleman on the ground of an accusation of crime?—Yes.

Mr. Newton: They had extorted from the gentleman a large sum—more than £30?—Yes.

Then it was hush money to prevent your saying anything about it?—Yes. They did not tell me it was to keep my mouth shut.

But they did tell you where it had come from?—Yes.

Mr. Newton said he desired to ask some questions of William Parker and the landlady of 13, Little College Street, but he did not propose to ask anything of Wood or Mabor.

Mr. Gill said the witnesses mentioned were not present, no notice having been given, but he would secure their attendance.

Frederick Atkins, examined by Mr. Gill, said he was now 20 years of age. He knew the prisoner Taylor when he occupied rooms at 13, Little College Street, Westminster. In November, 1892, he was asked to dine the Florence Hotel. He went. Wilde and Taylor and two other gentlemen were present. This was the first time he had seen Wilde, and prisoner asked him to go to Paris with him as his private secretary. He consented. Witness and Wilde lunched at a café, and then went to a hairdresser's to get their hair cut. Witness's hair was curled by the attendant after something said to him in French by Wilde. (Laughter.) Wilde afterwards took him to dinner—the best dinner he ever had in his life. (Renewed laughter.) After dinner Wilde gave him a louis and told him not to go to the Moulin Rouge, but he did go. (Laughter.)

Mr. Newton, in cross-examination: Do not mention any name, but were you introduced to Taylor by the gentleman who was in Paris?—Yes.

And did not that gentleman also introduce you to Mr. Wilde?—No.

Did some other gentleman introduce you to Mr. Wilde?—Yes.

Sir John Bridge: Did you do any secretarial work for Wilde in Paris?—Yes, I wrote something about a Woman of No Importance.

Edward Shelly was the next witness. He said Wilde invited him to dinner, and they dined in a public room. They had plenty of wine at dinner, and witness had sufficient to excite him.

Mr. Gill: While you were in the room did he kiss you?—Yes.

Was he a man for whom you had a great admiration for his talent?—Yes, and he always professed to be fond of me and flattered me. Wilde wrote letters to his place of business, but witness had destroyed everything given him by Wilde except books, which included a large edition of "Dorian Grey." He tore out the title pages containing the inscriptions sometime in 1893. He wrote a letter to Wilde regarding the conduct shown towards him, and expressing his wish not to see the prisoner again.

Mr. Newton: Taylor is a stranger to you?—Witness: Yes, quite a stranger.

Mrs. Lucy Ramsby, 50, Park Walk, Chelsea. Mrs. Margery Bancroft, and Mrs. Sophia Gray gave evidence. The last-named, cross-examined by Mr. Newton, said she knew Taylor was well connected, and always treated him as a gentleman. He acted as a gentleman in her presence.

Mr. Gill: You never saw any ladies there?—Oh, no, sir. (Laughter.)

The court adjourned for luncheon.

On resuming at two o'clock Police-Inspector Charles Richards said on the 5th inst. he went with Sergeant Allan to the Cadogan Hotel, Sloane Street, and saw the prisoner Wilde there. Witness said to Mr. Wilde "We are police-officers. A warrant has been issued for your apprehension. He said, "Yes. Where shall I be taken?" Witness said, "You will have to go to Scotland Yard with me now, and then to Bow Street." He said, "Can I have bail?" Witness replied, "I don't think you can."

Inspector Brockwell said that at five o'clock on April 5th he received a warrant for the arrest of Wilde. While witness was at Scotland Yard Wilde was brought in. The warrant was read to him, and he asked "What are the dates mentioned?" Some letters, memoranda, and three writs were found upo him also also an envelope addressed "Sidney Mayor, Esq, with a pencil note enclosed in the following words:—

"Dear Sir,—Could not wait any longer. Come on at once and see Oscar. He is at Tite Street, Chelsea.—I am truly yours, Alfred Taylor." Witness also found a letter addressed "Oscar Wilde Esq." The letter ran an follows:—"Dear Oscar,—When left here yesterday I left a note, as I told you, for Sidney Mavor, if he called. Littlechild, the detective, called shortly after I left, and, as I was out, asked to write a note, so was shown into my room, where the letter for Sidney was. When I returned last night I found the enclosed letter for me, and the letter I had written to Sidney had been opened.—Yours ALFRED TAYLOR."—Witness added that he also found upon Wilde the following letter from Littlechild to Taylor:—"April 2—Dear sir,—I wanted to see you, but to-morrow morning will do. I will be on the look-out for you at the Old Bailey at ten.—Yours truly, J.J. Littlechild." There was also a letter and two writs by jewellers for jewellery and cigarette cases. When the warrant was read Taylor said; "Is that the only charge?"

Sergeant Harris deposed to watching Taylor's house and arresting the prisoner, who said, "Very well. I expected you last night. What are you going to do?"

Mr. Gill said he did not propose to go further to-day. He would ask for a further remand, and having regard to the course adopted by Sir E. Clarke, he did not think it would be necessary for him to occupy the Court very long.

Sir John Bridge then remanded the prisoner until 12 o'clock on Friday week, and again refused to accede to applications for bail.

SICK AND IN PRISON.

It was made known at Bow Street this morning that since his incarceration in Holloway the prisoner Wilde, who has suffered severely from depression, had been seized with a somewhat severe illness. His condition yesterday necessitated several visits from the prison doctor.

THE PRISONER'S PRAYER.

The following lines are taken from a religious poem composed by Oscar Wilde:—

Come down, O Christ, and help me reach Thy hand,For I am drowning in a stormier seaThan Simon on the Lake of Galilee.The wine of life is spilt upon the sand.My heart is as some famine-murdered landWhence all good things have perished utterly;And well I know my soul in Hell must lie. If I this night before God's throne shall stand.