Compare Documents

At Bow-street Police Court yesterday, before Mr. Vaughan, Mr. Travers Humphreys made an application in regard to this case. He said Mr. Oscar Wilde was tried at the last Sessions of the Central Criminal Court on an indictment containing several counts charging him with misdemeanor. The Jury, while acquitting Mr. Wilde on some of the counts, were unable to come to any verdict on the rest. Under these circumstances an application was made to Mr. Baron Pollock, the Judge in Chambers, on Friday last, to admit Mr. Wilde to bail. The Judge, having read the depositions, fixed the amount of the bail at Mr. Wilde's own recognisances of £2,500 and two sureties of £1,250 each. He (the learned counsel) had now to present two gentlemen who desired to become bail for Mr. Wilde. Mr. Angus Lewis was present to represent the Treasury, and the police had made the necessary inquiries.

Mr. Vaughan—Who are the gentlemen?

Mr. Humphreys—Lord Douglas of Hawick and the Rev. Stewart Headlam.

Mr. Vaughan—Is there any objection to this bail on behalf of the Treasury.

Mr. A. Lewis—No, sir; no objection.

The Rev. S. D. Headlam then went into the witness-box. Answering Mr. Humphreys, he said he lived at 31, Upper Bedford-place, and was worth £1,250 when all his debts were paid. He was willing to give bail for the appearance of Mr. Oscar Wilde at the next Sessions of the Central Criminal Court.

Lord Douglas of Hawick, who said his present address was Chalk House, Long Ditton, gave a similar assurance.

Mr. Vaughan—Have you any other name?

Witness—Yes, Percy Sholto Douglas.

Mr. Vaughan—Let these gentlemen go into the office and enter into their recognisances. Some officer must go with my order to the gaol, so that the defendant might be brought here in a cab at once.

Later in the day Mr. Wilde was brought from Holloway to Bow-street in the custody of Sergeant White, the chief gaoler at Bow-street, and Sergeant Brockwell, and taken into the clerk's office, where he was joined by his sureties. The formal proceedings of signing the bonds and the bail books here took place, and Mr.. Wilde, with his friends, then left the building by the magistrate's private door.

Yesterday morning Mr. Travers Humphreys attended at Bow-street Police-court, before Mr. Vaughan, prepared with the necessary bail for the release of Oscar Wilde. He briefly stated the circumstances under which Wilde was committed, and produced the order of Baron Pollock to the effect that he should be released on entering into his own recognisances of £2,500 and two sureties of £1,250 each.

Mr. Vaughan: Who are the proposed sureties?

Mr. Humphreys: Lord Douglas of Hawick and the Rev. Stewart Headlam.

Mr. Vaughan: Is there any objection to this bail on the part of the Treasury?

Mr. Angus Lewis: No, sir, there is no objection.

The Rev. Stewart Headlam, of 31, Upper Bedford-place, W.C., was then sworn, and in answer to Mr. Humphreys said when all his just debts were paid he was worth £1,250, and he was willing to become bail for the appearance of Oscar Wilde at the next sessions of the Central Criminal Court.

Percy Sholto Douglas, commonly called Lord Douglas of Hawick, went through a similar examination, and the two sureties were formally bound over.

Mr. Vaughan then ordered that the prisoner Oscar Wilde should be sent for from Holloway Prison, in order that his own recognisances might be taken.

MR. HEADLAM INTERVIEWED.

The Rev. Stewart Headlam, interviewed at the close of the proceedings as to the reasons which induced him to become surety for Wilde, made the following statement: "I have undertaken this responsibility on public grounds. I felt that the public mind had been prejudiced before the case began, and I was anxious to give Mr. Wilde any help I could to enable him to stand his trial in good health and spirits."

At the close of the case Lord Douglas of Hawick and the Rev. Stewart Headlam, accompanied by one of Messrs. Humphreys’s clerks, entered a cab and drove to Holloway Gaol.

Oscar Wilde was released from Holloway Gaol at 1.55 in the afternoon.

A FREE MAN.

Wilde arrived at Bow-street at 2.25 in the custody of Sergeant White, chief gaoler at Bow-street, and Sergeant Brockwell. Immediately on his arrival he was escorted from the cab into the court, and at once joined his friends in the clerk’s office, where the formal document was signed, after which the three left the court in company.

WILDE’S MOVEMENTS.

On leaving Bow-street a free man Oscar Wilde, with Lord Douglas of Hawick and the Rev. Stewart Headlam, entered a cab, which was driven at a rapid pace to the Midland Hotel at St. Paneras, which was reached about three o’clock. Here rooms were engaged by his lordship. Apparently a consultation was held between Wilde and his sureties, for it was not until four o’clock that the Rev. Stewart Headlam left the hotel by the main entrance. Later on in the afternoon Wilde was visited by an old personal friend, and he was also busily engaged for a considerable time with two of Messrs. Humphreys and Sons’ clerks over his private affairs, and the pending new trial. He was stated to be suffering from extreme prostration and weakness, and quite unable to undergo the fatigue of an interview. It is expected that he will leave London in the course of to-day though up to the time of writing he himself had not arrived at any decision as to his destination. Wilde’s solicitors, at their client’s own request, have intimated to the authorities that they are perfectly prepared to keep them fully informed as to his movements and precise whereabouts between now and the 20th inst., when Wilde will in due course give himself up to the police.