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London, May 24.--The interest in the Wilde trial is now altogether centered upon speculations as to what the verdict will be. Yesterday's proceedings at the Old Bailey were distinctly in favor of the prisoner.

William Parker and some servants from the Savoy Hotel having given evidence, the case for the prosecution closed.

Sir Edward Clarke at once submitted that there was no corroboration of the charges against Wilde of impropriety with unknown persons at the Savoy Hotel. His lordship, however, left this point to be decided by the jury. Sir Edward then made a similar claim in regard to the charges so far as concerned the office boy Shelley. Here he was successful, for Mr. Justice Wills agreed that Shelley's story needed confirmation, and he withdrew that count from the jury.

To-day the addresses of the counsel will commence on the opening of the Court, and unless they are of abnormal length the case should conclude in the afternoon.

A CHARACTERISTIC LETTER.

Lord Alfred Douglas has written to the Temps for the purpose of the fight between the Marquis of Queensberry and his son. With the exception of the HERALD, which was the only paper to give an accurate account of the fracas, the press in general, both English and French, stated that it was Lord Alfred Douglas, instead of Lord Douglas of Hawick, who was the other combatant.

Lord Alfred, after pointing out this misstatement, adds that the cause of the quarrel was that the Marquis of Queensberry, for the past two months, has written letters of an inconceivable grossness to the wife of Lord Douglas of Hawick. The letters continues:--

"Yet another somewhat serious error in your statement is to speak of my mother, the Marchioness of Queensberry, as the divorced wife of my father. Allow me to inform you, sir, that it is the marquis who is the divorced husband of that lady, divorced on account of cruelty and adultery extending over a period of eight years."

Lord Alfred Douglas has also sent a telegram to the Figaro as follows:--

"I demand an apology for the falsehood that you have written about me in your journal, apropos of the affair with my father the Marquis of Queensberry. "I have been in Paris for the last fifteen days, and I regret very much that it was not I but my eldest brother, Lord Douglas of Hawick, who corrected the Marquis of Queensberry."

THE Queensbery family are well in evidence over the Wilde affair. Lord Alfred Douglas has written to the Paris Figaro demanding an apology for an incorrect reference to him apropos of "the affair with my father, the Marquis of Queensbery," and adding this delightful bit of regret—"I have been in France for the last fifteen days, and I regret very much that it was not I but my eldest brother, Lord Douglas of Hawick, who corrected the Marquis of Queensbery."

OSCAR WILDE was found guilty on Saturday, and he and Taylor were sentenced to the full term of imprisonment allowed by law in such cases, namely—two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. The verdict seems to have been somewhat of a surprise, as a disagreement appears to have been expected even by the prosecuting counsel. The evidence, of course, was strong, but the difficulty was that it came from tainted sources. However, it will be pretty generally agreed that there was quite sufficient corroboration outside the informers’ evidence, and that the verdict was a just one.

AN extraordinary suggestion has been made by a London Newspaper to the effect that the first jury were not wholly free from the taint of corruption. This is a very serious statement, of which more is perhaps likely to be heard in court.