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Mr. Edward Carson, Q C, and Mr. Oscar Wilde, were undergraduates together in Trinity College, Dublin, upwards of twenty years ago, and were, indeed, members of the same class. Oscar Wilde was a scholar of Trinity, and one of the best classics of his year. Mr. Carson’s Academic career was, comparatively speaking, undistinguished.

Mr Carson was the centre of sympathy in the Lobby on Friday evening. His labours in connection with the Oscar Wilde case have imposed a terrible strain on his physical resources; and when he arrived at St Stephen’s, about five o’clock, he seemed on the verge of exhaustion. His features, always pallid, were drawn and haggard to a painful extent; his eyes were dull and glazed; and his general demeanour was that of a man fatigued in every limb.

Yet withal he was cheerful. He was conscious of having come triumphantly through a severe ordeal, and he chatted to his friends about the sensation of the hour with marvellous animation.

The moment he set foot in the Lobby he was the recipient of congratulations. Men like Sir Frank Lockwood and Mr Darling hastened to compliment their co-worker upon his success, and a few minutes later the Attorney-General took Mr. Carson behind the Chair for the same purpose.

The Marquis of Queensberry spent the earlier years of his life in the navy. Whilst still a cadet in the "Britannia" as Lord Douglas, his father died, and he succeeded to the title. He was always distinguished as an athlete and was one of the best hands with the gloves in the navy. His rival [...] reputation was Captain Grenfell, now commanding the guardianship at Greenock.

Mr Carson, Q C, is the hero of the hour. His brilliant cross-examination of Wilde has placed him in the foremost rank of English lawyers. When he appeared in the House of Commons on Friday his features, always pallid, were drawn and haggard to a painful extent ; his eyes were dull and glazed, and his general demeanour was that of a man fatigued in every limb. The moment he set foot in the lobby he was the recipient of congratulation. Men like Sir Frank Lockwood and Mr Darling hastened to compliment their co-worker upon his success, and a few minutes later the Attorney-General took Mr Carson behind the chair for the same purpose.

Mr Carson, says a Parliamentary reporter, far from joining in the general chorus of approval which has greeted his masterly display of cross-examination, says that he never had a much easier case; and with the generous instinct of a successful man rising rapidly to the top of the ladder, he declares that Sir Edward Clarke’s statement in the opening part of the case was, under the circumstances, and in face of the tremendous difficulties under which he laboured, a real masterpiece. "I have never heard anything to equal it in all my life," was the way in which he worded his tribute to his learned friend.

"Carson is the coming Russell of his day so far as cross-examination is concerned," remarked one member. It was curious, and at the same time rather pleasant, to observe bitter political opponents patting Mr Carson on the shoulders, and saying, "Well done!" You might have seen Mr Tim Healy and Mr Swift MacNeill acting so, and you would have admitted that it did them honour. Mr Carson was never an infant prodigy, nor did his star shine very brightly at college. On the contrary, he was little known there. Mr Ross, another Irish Q C, who entered the House at the same time, was a far more distinguished member of Trinity College, Dublin. He was easily before Mr Carson in every scholastic competition, took the gold medal for oratory, and came out as the finest Classic of his year.

Irishmen were pretty much on evidence in this remarkable case. Mr Wilde and Mr Carson are Dublin men. Mr Gill, who appeared for the Crown in the criminal charge on Saturday, is also an Irishman. So is Mr Justice Henn Collins. He is a graduate of both Dublin and Cambridge. Mr Wilde’s father, the late Sir William Wilde, was the leading oculist here, and Mr Justice Henn Collins’s father, the late Mr Collins, Q C, was one of the leaders of the Irish Bar.

Mr Edward Carson and Mr Oscar Wilde were undergraduates together in Trinity College, upwards of twenty years ago, and were, indeed, members of the same class. Oscar Wilde was a scholar of Trinity, and one of the best classics of his year. Mr Carson’s Academic career was, comparatively speaking, undistinguished. It is worth mentioning perhaps also that in those early days there was a marked antipathy between the two men.