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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.

Mr. Carson, Q C, has been very much lionised over his remorseless cross-examination of Mr. Oscar Wilde. He has been successful, undoubtedly, in turning that notorious person from the position of a plaintiff in a court of justice to that of a prisoner in the dock, and denouements of that kind are most entertaining to the John Bull fraternity. We have little interest in Mr. Carson’s success, and we cannot admire very much the methods by which he has grown into prominence as a lawyer. He was one of the most offensive and intolerant of the gang of unscrupulous law-hacks who did the odious work of Mr. Balfour in the days of his coercion, and he is one of the bitterest enemies to legislation in favour of Ireland of any that sit on the benches in the House of Commons. But, perhaps, this is all with an eye to business, and it may be in reality he is a friend of Ireland in disguise. The opinion gains confirmation from the fact that when he returned to the House of Commons, after turning the tables on the great genius Oscar, among the first to congratulate him on his triumph were Mr. Tim Healy and Mr. Swift M’Neill, and surely they would not pour felicitations upon him if he were not Irish of the Irish. Strange that the Evening Telegraph, in giving the account of the reception accorded to Mr. Carson that appeared in other papers, left out all mention of Mr. M’Neill and Mr. Healy.

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. One member remarked that "Carson is the coming Russell of his day so far as cross-examination is concerned."

Irishmen were pretty much en evidence in this remarkable case. Mr. Wilde and Mr. Carson are Dublin men. Mr. Gill, who appeared for the Crown on the criminal charge, 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 of Dublin, and Mr. Justice Henn Collins 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.

The only thing of any importance that can be said of the Marquis of Queensberry, who was defendant in this remarkable trial, is, that he is a genuine Home Ruler, but that covers a multitude of sins.