Nanaimo Free Press - Monday, May 27, 1895

London, May 25 — There was the usual crowd of interested spectators in the court room of the Old Bailey this morning all anxious to witness the trial of Oscar Wilde. When the court adjourned yesterday, Sir F. Lockwood, solicitor-general, had just commenced his address to the jury on behalf of the prosecution, and it was expected he would denounce Wilde in strong language when be resumed his argument today. Wilde took his seat in the prisoners' dock, facing the jury, and looking extremely anxious. As expected, when Sir Frank Lockwood resumed his speech, he dealt very severely with Wilde in his reference to the prisoner's intimacy with Lord Alfred Douglass. Referring to the much commented upon letters which Wilde wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas, counsel said the jury had been told they were too low to appreciate such poetry, and he (Sir Lockwood) thanked God it was so, as be hoped they were above the level of beasts. (Applause.) Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel for Wilde, here interposed objections to such appeals as has just been made by Sir Frank, which counsel claimed should not be allowed. Sir Frank Lockwood continued his speech. He warned the jury to render a verdict which would prevent such "a detestable and abominable practice to rear its head unblushingly in the country."

Mr Justice Wills began summing up at 1:30 p.m. The general tenor of his address to the jury was favorable to Wilde. The Jury retired at 3:30 p.m., and after a brief absence found him guilty on all the counts of the indictment, including the charge with reference to persons unknown who were also pronounced to be guilty.

Alter a short interval the judge called Wilde and Taylor to the bar and they were each sentenced to two years' imprisonment at hard labor.

While the jury was out, at the request of the representative of the Associated Press, Wilde's counsel procured the following statement from Wilde who was waiting in the prisoners' room below the dock: "The charges alleged against me are entirely untrue. Youth in every form has fascinated me, because youth has naturally that temperament to which the artist has to try to attain. All works of art are works produced in a moment of youth, and I have a sense of all the serial grades. I love society, the rich and well-born, on account of their luxury, culture and the graces of their lives, and the external accidents of comely life. But anyone, plough boy, fisherman, or street arab, has an interest for me. Mere humanity is so wonderful, I do not ask of the young what they do, I do not care who they are, their ignorance has its mode of wisdom, their lack of culture leaves them open to fresh and vivid impressions. (Signed) Oscar Wilde."

The document of the above statement is written in Wilde's own writing.

While the jury was absent from the court room there was such a babel of voices that counsel engaged in the case went into the lobby in order to discuss events. Everybody expected the jury to disagree, as upon the previous trial, and as the jurymen fled back into their box, every person present rose in suppressed excitement and the court room became still as a death chamber. The jurymen answered to their names in firm and decided tones and seemed to be immensely relieved when the ordeal was over. A stifled ejaculation of surprise went round the court when the foreman announced that the jury found the prisoner guilty.

Immediately after the verdict was rendered, Mr. C J Gill, the counsel for the prosecution, said to the Associated Press reporter: I am somewhat surprised at the verdict myself. I thought that surely one member of the jury would stand out.

When Mr. Gill was asked if there was any chance of a new trial, he replied; "No indeed, it is now disposed of for ever, thank Heaven."

Mr. Travers Humphreys, of counsel for Wilde, also told the reporter of the Associated Press, that the verdict was a surprise to him. He added: "The sentence is for two years on all the counts of the indictment, and on each count separately. Now that they have hit their man, I am certain his health will break down and possibly the authorities will favorably entertain the idea of a pardon.

Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel for Wilde, applied to Mr. Justice Wills to postpone passing sentence upon his client until the next session of the Central Criminal Court, but the judge refused to do so.

Oscar Wilde and Alfred Taylor were, after the conclusion of the trial, taken without delay to the Newgate jail, where they waited until warrants were signed for their detention. Both men were then conveyed in the prison van to Pentonville where they will serve out their sentences unless a petition should be granted or they should be transferred to another prison before the expiration of the term of their imprisonment.

The punishment which Oscar Wilde is sentenced to undergo is the severest known to the law. It practically means a continuous period of solitary confinement for the two years term of his sentence. Regular "jail birds" always prefer five years of penal servitude to two years imprisonment, owing to the easier conditions of the former. Wilde will not be permitted to see any visitor for three months, but by exceptionally good conduct he can secure a slight reduction of his sentence. Lord Alfred Douglass said that if Wilde were convicted he would take a house near the prison until his release, but it is now clear that if Lord Alfred returns to England be will be arrested on the same charge Wilde is.

San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, May 26, 1895

NEW YORK, May 25. - A cable special to the Sun from London says: "An Old Bailey jury, cautiously impaneled and, as it seemed, carefully coached by the Hudge of the High Court, has declared Oscar Wilde guilty of the abominable offences charged against him. Public opinion, which is often on the side of the accused and almost invariably sympathetic in regard to any prisoner standing a second trial for the same crime, had from the first pronounced with nearly absolute unanimity that he was guilty of everything set forth in the indictment and of much more. The country judged him out of his own mouth, and so did the jury, to a large extent. Any other result would have been a disgrace to the intelligence of English jurymen and a crying shame upon British justice.

It is impossible, however, to conceal the fact that from the first the common people believed that Wilde never would be convicted. Instinctively, they felt that the influence behind this shameless friend of princes and nobles would prove too powerful for ordinary judicial procedure. The police had placed the Government in possession of the names of men of rank, wealth and fashion, who undoubtedly shared in some of Wilde’s orgies, and had collected evidence amply sufficient to place them in the criminal dock, with the hearty approval of all clean men. But the Secretary of State took no step against them to vindicate outraged morals or avenge flouted justice.

The passionate shout which went up from the nation when Wilde’s impudent action, designed to stop the mouths of his accusers, ignobly collapsed, compelled the Government to take action against him and his foul accomplice, Taylor. But Lord Alfred Douglas and other men whose evidence would have made the case against Wilde and others even more complete and irrefutable, were allowed to leave the country. They are still abroad, but doubtless they will return to this country in a short time, secure against punishment. Possibly it is well, for Wilde’s conviction can scarcely fail to prove an effectual deterrent for years to come, and it will be to the public interest to let this awful scandal become forgotten.

Honest men have from the first displayed unusual, perhaps unchristian eagerness, for conviction in this case. During the last two or three days fierce and universal resentment has been spoken and shown at what appeared to superficial observers almost collusion on the part of the Judge and the lawyers in order to save Wilde. But Justice Wills’ summing up, which unexpectedly proved to be a strictly judicial piece of work, together with the Solicitor-General's masterly speech and the common sense of a jury of plain citizens, finally prevailed.

Wilde was full of confidence to the last, so that the result was a staggering blow to him. He strove to utter something, but his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he sank back in his chair a mental and physical wreck. The final scene was truly, perhaps fittingly, dramatic.

THE SCENE IN COURT. Verdict of the Jury Declared to Be Just by the Judge.

Oscar Wilde's trial having reached the final stage, the Old Bailey courtroom was filled with interested spectators to-day. Sir Frank Lockwood, Solicitor-General, concluded his address to the jury. The prisoners intimacy with Lord Alfred Douglas and the conduct of the defendant at hotels and public places in and about London were severely commented upon.

Referring to the letters Wilde wrote Lord Alfred Douglas, counsel said the jury had been told that they were too low to appreciate such poetry, and he thanked God it was so, for it showed that they were above the level of beasts.

This outburst was followed by applause, which the Judge promptly suppressed.

Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel for Wilde, here interposed objections to such appeals.

Lockwood asked the jury to return a verdict which would prevent "such detestable and abominable vice to rear its head unblushingly in this country."

Justice Wills began summing up at 1:30 P.M. The general tenor of his address was favorable to Wilde. During the delivery of the address the foreman asked whether, in view of the intimacy between Lord Alfred Douglas and Alfred Wood, one of the men whose names had been brought prominently into the case, a warrant for Lord Alfred’s arrest had ever been issued.

The Judge replied that he thought not. The forman than asked if it had ever been thought of. To this the Judge replied that he could not say. He added that the suspicion that Lord Alfred Douglas would be spared, if guilty, simply because he was Lord Alfred Douglas, was a wild idea and a matter which they could not discuss. The present inquiry was as to whether the man in the dock was guilty of immoral practices with certain men.

The jury returned at 5:30 o'clock, having been absent from court for hours, and returned a verdict of guilty. Wild ewas found guilty on all the counts of the indictment, including the charge with reference to persons unknown, who were also pronounced guilty. This probably refers to the Savoy Hotel evidence, to which place Wilde was accused of taking Charles Parker, a gentleman's servant, after treating the latter to a choice dinner in Kittner's restaurant.

The announcement of the verdict caused a great sensation in the court, as it was the general impression that Wilde would be acquitted. When the foreman of the jury delivered the verdict Wilde, who had entered the prisoners dock a moment before, rose from the chair on which he had been seated throughout the trial and stood with his arms on the rail of the dock. The silence which prevailed throughout the courtroom was really painful as Justice Wills ordered that Alfred Taylor should also be summoned before him. Then in a voice trembling with emotion the Justice said: "I never before had such his case as this to deal with. Two men such as you are, by the nature of your crime, lost to all sense of remorse for what you have done. To think that you, Taylor should be the keeper of a male brothel, and that you, Wilde, a man of culture, should be such a perverter of young men. There is no doubt but that the verdict is a just one, and I shall give you the full penalty allowed by law, and I only regret that it is not more severe. You are both sentenced to hard labor for a term of two years."

Wilde did not look at the Judge while the sentence was being pronounced. His eyes roved around the room and his face never changed colour, and he looked like a man who had made up his mind to make the best of a bad situation. Taylor smiled when sentence was pronounced.

As Wilde turned in the dock and started to go back to the prisoners’ room the crowd yelled: "Shame! Shame!" This shouting caused Justice Wills to rise and exclaim in a loud and determined voice: "Silence, silence!"

During the time the jury was debating on the verdict Lord Douglas of Hawick strolled out of the courtroom and into the courtyard, where he walked about nervously smoking a cigarette. His eyes still shows the effects of his encounter with the Marquis of Queensberry, being very much discolored.

During the final stages of the trial there was an immense crowd in front of the Old Bailey, and the windows of all the neighboring houses were filled with highly interested spectators.

Oscar Wilde and Taylor were, after the conclusion of the trial, conveyed without delay to the Newgate Jail, where they waited until warrants were signed for their sentence. Both men were then conveyed in the prison van to Pentonville, where they will serve out their sentences, unless a pardon should be granted or they should be transferred to another prison before the expiration of their sentences.

WILDE MAKES A STATEMENT. He Asserts His Innocence, but Says He Is Fascinated by Youth.

LONDON, May 25. - While the jury was out Wilde’s counsel procured the following statements from Wilde:

The charges against me are entirely untrue. Youth in every form always fascinated me because youth has naturally that temperament to which the artists try to attain. All works of art are produced in the moment of youth. I have no sense at all of social grades. I love society and the rich and well born on account of their luxury, culture, the grace of their lives and the external accidents of comely life. But anyone, a plowboy, fisherman or street arab, has an interest for me. Mere humanity is so wonderful. I do not ask of the young what they do. I don't care who they are. Their ignorance has its mode of wisdom. Their lack of culture leaves them open to fresh and vivid impressions. OSCAR WILDE.

Highlighted DifferencesNot significantly similar