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London, Friday.

The trial of Oscar Wilde was resumed at the Old Bailey to-day. The prisoner, who betrayed tokens of the keenest anxiety, had a consultation with his counsel, and afterwards talked with Lord Douglas of Hawick before entering the dock

The Solicitor-General again raised the question of the withdrawal of the case as regarded Shelly, and contended that Mr Justice Collins laid it down in 1894, that evidence, even of an accomplice, could not be withdrawn from the jury

The Judge adhered to his decision.

Sir Edward Clarke, on behalf of the prisoner, said he had to deal with the remnants of the case. He animadverted upon the conduct of the case by counsel for the Crown, and said he should call Wilde to face, for the third time the cross-examination to which he might be subjected. He submitted that Wilde's conduct throughout had been that of an innocent man, and on the evidence he urged that the jury could only return a verdict of not guilty.

The prisoner then entered the witness-box and denied that there was any truth whatever in the charges made against him.

He was then cross-examined.

Witness admitted having met young men at Taylor's rooms. He went there because of his vanity and love of admiration. Charles Parker had visited him seven or eight times at 10 St James's place. Parker had lunched and dined with him alone. A man named Scarfe had also visited him there. He had taken a young man named Conway to Brighton, and had dined with Wood at the Cafe Royal in a private room. He had been to give Wood assistance. He ultimately gave Wood £15 because he wanted to go to America. He did not give him the money for the letters which Wood gave him. He had those letters. The evidence of the masseur and the chambermaid at the Savoy Hotel was wholly untrue.

This concluded the cross-examination and the court adjourned for lunch.

On resuming, the prisoner was re-examined by Sir Edward Clarke—He said until these trials he had no reason to believe Taylor was disreputable or immoral. With regard to the letters he obtained from Wood, he read the letters and found them of no importance.

There was nothing in them he objected to being published. There was no pretence for saying he gave Wood fifteen pounds for them.

Sir Edward then addressed the jury for the defence.

The Court adjourned.

London, Friday.

The trial of Oscar Wilde was resumed today at the Old Bailey, before Mr Justice Wills. In view of the possibility of the case being concluded today, the public gallery was again packed with a crowd of spectators eager to witness the final scene. The Solicitor-General and Mr C F Gill were early in court. The prisoner, who arrived shortly after ten, stood in the well of the Court and had a long consultation with Mr Travers Humphreys. He looked extremely unwell, and his whole appearance and demeanor betokened the keenest anxiety. Shortly before half-past ten Sir Edward Clarke, Q C, entered the court, and joined in the conversation.

The prisoner afterwards proceeded to the foot of the jury box, and talked for some time with the Rev Stewart Headlam and Lord Douglas of Hawick. As soon as his lordship has taken his seat, the prisoner resumed his seat in the dock.

The Solicitor-General again raised the question of the withdrawal of the case as regarded the witness Shelly. He pointed out that in 1894 Mr Justice Collins laid it down that there was no law by which a case could be withdrawn from the jury on the ground that the evidence of an accomplice was uncorroborated.

His lordship said he preferred to adhere to the course which he had taken as the result of very deliberate consideration. One strong reason he had for doing so was that it was contrary to the practice of the law for the judge to allow the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice to go to a jury. He did not see any use in that if the jury were to have the liberty of deliberately disregarding that direction. When an opportunity arose he should be glad to have the question settled authoritatively.

Sir Edward Clarke then rose to address the jury on behalf of the prisoner. He said he had to deal with that demand of this case, but he should not detain them long now, and he did not think it needful for him to address them at any great length hereafter. The case before them was now very limited, and the witnesses upon who they were asked to rely were few in number. He was painfully conscious of the manner, he had almost said the unjustifiable manner, in which the case had been conducted on the part of the Crown. He should call Mr Wilde into the witness-box again to state for the third time in that court that there was no truth whatever in these accusations which were made against him, and to face for the third time, and now with a new assailant the cross-examination might be administered to him with regard to these accusations. As counsel for the defence, he (Sir Edward) might do something to sustain the traditions of public prosecutions and induce his learned friend to remember that which he feared that for a moment yesterday he seemed to forget that he was there not to try and get a verdict of guilty by any means he could, but to lay before the jury for their consideration and judgment the facts upon which they were asked to give a very serious determination. The jury must give their decision, not on suspicion and innuendo, but upon the evidence of the facts. Broken as Mr Wilde was with the anxiety of these successive trials, he might well be spared the indignity of again going into the witness box. But he would be into the witness box, because otherwise, he (counsel) knew what the Solicitor-General would say, and he Sir Edward would have no opportunity of reply. He contended that Mr Wilde’s conduct throughout had been that of an innocent man. He had courted every inquiry and had surrendered to meet these charges confident in the hope that as examination and examination went on these accusations would break down, as they had been breaking down there five weeks, and that at last he would get his vindication from the judgement of the jury upon the facts of the evidence before them. In conclusion, he submitted that on the evidence the jury could only return a verdict of not guilty. He then called upon Wilde.

The prisoner then entered the witness box, and was allowed to be seated while giving his evidence. He said that his was the third time he had gone into the witness box. He described the nature of his acquaintance with the Queensberry family and Lord Alfred Douglas, and stated that after Lord Queensberry left a card with an offensive inscription, he at once instituted proceedings. In the course of his evidence in the Queensberry libel case, he was asked certain questions with regard to Parker and Wood, in answer to which he made certain statements.

Sir E Clarke — Are all these statements absolutely true? Entirely.

Have you any qualification or alteration to make in regarde to those statements? No; I have no observation to make.

Is there any truth whatever in the accusations made against you in this indictment? None whatever.

Cross-examined by the Solicitor-General — He said he first made the acquaintance of Lord Alfred Douglas in 1893, and when Lord Queensberry objected to the intimacy between Lord Alfred Douglas and himself, he was quite ready to cease the acquaintance. Lord Alfred, however, desired the acquaintance to be continued. Lord Alfred Douglas was now in Paris, where he went at witness’s desire. Witness had been in communication with him.

Do you frequently correspond with Lord Alfred Douglas? Yes.

Are the two letters that have been read samples of the styles in which you addressed him? I do no think I should say they were samples. The letter written from Torquay was a prose poem in answer to his poem.

"My own boy." Is that the way in which you usually address him? I do not sat usually, but often. He was much younger than I was.

"Your sonnet is quite lovely. It is a marvel that those red rose leaf lips of yours should be made no less for the music of song than for the madness of kissing." Now I ask you this, Mr Wilde, do you consider that was a decent was of addressing a youth? It is like a sonnet of Shakespeare. It was a fantastic, extravagant way of writing to a young man.

Was it decent? Of course it was decent; it is a beautiful way for an artist to write to a young man who has culture, charm, and distinction — decency does not come into the question.

Do you understand the meaning of the word, sir? Yes.

Then I ask you whether you consider it a decent mode of addressing a young man? I can only give you the same answer. It was a literary mode of writing to another intended to be a prose poem.

Do you consider it to be decent phraseology? Oh, yes.

In regard to other portions of the letter, witness said he referred in it to Hyacinthus, who was madly loved in Greek days. The letter was signed "Always with undying love, yours, Oscar." Witness was devoted to Lord Alfred Douglas. He had a refined and intellectual love for him. The other letter was not a prose poem. It was written after there had been a quarrel about something. The letter contained the following: — "Your letter was delightful—red and yellow wine to me; but I am sad and out of sorts. You must not make scenes with me. They kill me. They wreck the loveliness of him. I cannot listen to your curved lips saying hideous things to me. Do not do it, you break my heart. The letter continued — You are the diving thing I wanted thing of grace and genius, but I do not know how to do it. Shall I come to Salisbury."

Witness said an artist in literature, a man of letters always looks for literary expression, and that leads one to certain expressions. Lord Alfred Douglas had stated with hi three times at the Savoy Hotel. Their bedrooms adjoined, and the approach to witness’s room was though Lord Alfred Douglas’s room. After the committal of the Marquis of Queensberry witness and Lord Alfred Douglas left the country together.

You two alone? Yes. Witness further admitted that he had visited Taylor at Little College street, and had met a number of young men there. He could not remember their names. He had never met Parker there.

Did Taylor strike you as being a pleasant companion? Yes; I thought him very bright.

Pleasant? Yes.

Did you know what his occupation was? I understood he had none.

Had any of these persons you met any occupation? I did not ask them.

The Solicitor-General next proceeded to cross-examine witness as to his relations with a man Scarfe.

Sir E Clarke objected on the grounds that it was not relevant.

The Solicitor-General said he had a right to treat the witness as any other witness for the purpose of discrediting them.

His Lordship overruled the objection, but said that if the bounds of fair play were overstepped the consequence would recoil on those who overstepped them.

Witness said Scarfe had visited him at 10 St James’s street, and had lived with him alone in a private room at an hotel. Witness also said that he med a boy named Conway on the beach at Worthing, and took hi moo Brighton for six weeks. He had also met a man named Herrington. With regard to Alfred Wood, he met him at the Cafe Royal. He had been asked to give Wood assistance.

Why did you not give it to him? I did.

Why prolong the interview? If you mean taking him to supper, I wished to be kind to him.

Did you take him to dinner alone in a private room? Yes. Witness added that he afterwards met Wood at the Cafe Royal. He was asked to interest himself in Wood. He was asked to interest himself in Wood. It was after that second meeting he learned that Wood was known to Taylor. He was afterwards told that Wood was minded to extort money from him on account of some letters which witness had written to Lord Alfred Douglas having come into his possession. Witness afterwards met Woods, and the latter gave him the letter.

What did you give him? Ultimately I gave him £15.

What for? Because he wished to go to America.

Do you mean to state that your payment of that money had no relation to the delivery of those letters? None whatsoever.

You paid your money and you got the letters? Yes.

Where are the letters? I tore them up.

You had gone to buy? No, to bargain.

To bargain for what? For these letters.

And you took money for this purpose? Yes.

You paid the money? Yes.

And you got the letters? Yes.

When did you destroy the letters? I tore them up two or three days afterwards. Witness added that on the next day he gave Wood a lunch at the Florence and an additional sum of £5. Wood afterwards went to America.

This concluded the cross-examination, and the Court adjourned for lunch.

On the Court resuming the prisoner, who had entered the dock, was again called into the witness box. In re-examination by Sir Edward Clarke, he said Lord Alfred Douglas was in London during the Police Court proceedings. Until the proceedings in these trials he certainly had no reason to believe that Taylor was a disreputable or immoral person. At the tea parties at Taylor’s rooms the conversation was about the stage, music, and other things of that kind. Witness was perfectly well known at Kettner’s and the other hotels that had been mentioned. The first money he gave Wood was not from himself, but from Lord Alfred Douglas.

With regard the letters you obtained from Wood, did you read them and find that they were of no importance? None whatever.

Is there any presence for saying that you gave £15 as the purchase money for these letters? None whatever.

Was there anything in the letters which you objected to being published? Nothing whatever except perhaps they were a little flippant and trivial.

The prisoner, who during his examinations, had stood in the box with one foot on the seat of the chair and his arms resting on his knees, then again stepped into the dock.

Sir Edward Clarke the had addressed the jury on behalf of the defence. He laid great stress upon the fact that Wilde had three times submitted himself to a searching and formidable cross-examination, and submitted that that fact alone was a strong assertion of innocence. He claimed that in all the pages of evidence given by Mr Wilde in the Queensberry case there was not one statement — except auto the alleged visit to Park walk, which an independent witness had contradicted. He asked the jury to compare the manner in which Mr Wilde had given his evidence and the way in which Wood gave his testimony. And to say that they believed that Mr Wilde was honestly telling them what was in his mind. The duty of the jury was a simple and clear one. A man who was assailed by tainted evidence and gave to them clear, coherent, and lucid account of the transactions in respect of which guilt was alleged against him, was entitled to be believed by the jury, and have his word accepted against a words of blackmailers. If the word of these blackmailers was to be accepted against the defendant, then the profession of the blackmailer might become a more deadly mischief and danger than it ever had been before. He urged that the fact that neither Wood nor Parker ever made a charge against the defendant until the Queensberry was heard and had never tried to get money out of him, was powerful evidence in Wilde’s favor.

Having claimed a verdict of acquittal Sir Edward resumed his seat amid the outburst of applause, which was quickly subdued.

The Solicitor-General then commenced his reply for the prosecution, and had not included when the court adjourned until tomorrow.

(CENTRAL NEWS TELEGRAM.)

Paris, Friday. The Figaro publishes a telegram from Lord Alfred Douglas demanding an apology for statements in that paper, but regretting that it was not he who had corrected his father.