Belfast News-Letter - Monday, May 27, 1895

At the Central Criminal Court, London, on Saturday last, before Mr. Justice Wills, the trial was resumed of Oscar Wilde, 40, author, on an indictment charging him with certain misdemeanours. This was the sixth day of the trials of Wilde and Taylor. The Marquis of Queensberry was again in attendance. The Solicitor-General Sir Frank Lockwood, Q.C.), Mr C. F. Gill, and Mr. Horace Avory prosecuted ; Sir Edward Clarke, Q.C.. Mr. Charles Mathews, and Mr Travers Humphreys defended.

The learned Solicitor-General, resuming his speech in reply on behalf of the Crown, dealt in detail with the arguments laid before the jury by Sir Edward Clarke in defence of Mr Wilde, and he commented in strong terms on observations that were made respecting the lofty situation of Mr. Wilde in connection with his literary accomplishments for the purpose of unduly influencing the judgment of the jury in considering the issue before them, and said that the jury ought to discard absolutely any such appeal, to apply their common sense to the testimony, and to form a conclusion on the evidence, which he submitted fully established the charges. He was commenting on another branch of the case when Sir Edward Clarke interposed on the ground that the learned Solicitor-General was alluding to incidents connected with another trial. The learned Solicitor-General maintained that he was strictly within his rights. The judge held that the learned Solicitor-General was entitled to make the comments he was making. An observation from the Solicitor-General bearing on the interruption of Sir Edward Clarke evoked laughter in court. The judge said that this sort of thing was most offensive to him. It was painful enough to have to try such a case as the present and keep the scales of justice evenly balanced, and when the Court was pestered with applause and other expressions of the feelings of senseless people, who had no business with the case, but came only to satisfy the cravings of a morbid curiosity, it was intolerable. If it were repeated he would have the court cleared. The learned Solicitor-General criticised the answers given by Mr. Wilde to the charges, which explanations, he submitted, were not worthy of belief. The jury could not fail to put the interpretation on the the conduct of the accused that he was a guilty man, and they ought to say so by their verdict.

The Judge, in summing-up, referred to the difficulties of the case in some of its features. He regretted that, if the conspiracy counts were unnecessary, or could not be established, they should have been placed in the indictment. The jury must not surrender their own independent judgment in dealing with the facts, and ought to discard everything which was not relevant to the issue before them, or did not assist their judgment. He did not desire to comment any more than he could help about Lord Alfred Douglas or the Marquis of Queensberry, but the whole of this lamentable inquiry arose through the defendant's association with Lord Alfred Douglas. He did not think that the action of the Marquis of Queensberry, in leaving the card at the defendant's club, whatever motives he had, was that of a gentleman. The jury were entitled to consider that these alleged acts happened some years ago. They ought to be the best judges as to whether the testimony of the witnesses was worthy or not of belief. The letters written by the accused to Lord Alfred Douglas were undoubtedly open to suspicion, and they had an important bearing on Wood's evidence. There was no corroboration of Wood as to the visit to Tito Street, and if his story had been true he thought that some corroboration might have been obtained. Wood belonged to the vilest class of persons that society was pestered with, and the jury ought not to believe his story unless satisfactorily corroborated. Their decision must turn on the character of the first introduction of Wilde to Wood. Did they believe that Wilde was actuated by charitable motives or by improper motives?

The Foreman of the Jury, interposing, asked whether a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Lord Alfred Douglas, and, if not, whether it was contemplated that a warrant be issued.

The Judge said he could not tell, but he thought not. It was a matter that they could not discuss at that stage. The granting of a warrant depended not upon the inference to be drawn from the letters referred to in the case, but on the production of evidence of specific acts. There was a disadvantage of speculating on this question. They must deal with the evidence before them and with that alone.

The Foreman—But if we are to deduce guilt from the letters it applies equally to Lord Alfred Douglas as to the defendant.

The Judge—In regard to the question as to the absence of Lord Alfred Douglas, he warned the jury not to be influenced by any consideration of this kind. All that they knew was that Lord Alfred Douglas went to Paris shortly before the last trial, and had remained there since. He felt sure that if the circumstances justified it the necessary proceedings would be taken. His Lordship dealt with each of the charges, and the evidence in support of them, and he then, after thanking the jury for the patient manner in which they had attended to the case, left the matter in their hands.

The jury retired to consider their verdict at half-past three o'clock, and returned a verdict of guilty.

Wilde and Taylor were each sentenced to two years' imprisonment, with hard labour.

The Press Association says—On last Saturday evening, immediately following the passing of the sentence on Wilde and Taylor, the prisoners were removed to the cells in Newgate Prison, adjoining the Central Criminal Court, pending the preparation of the legal warrants authorising their detention for two years. Both were suffering from nervousness, and betrayed their mental anxiety. From the first they were separated, but travelled in the same prison van to Pentonville Prison, where they will serve the preliminary portion of the sentence, a period to be eventually decided by the officials of the jail. When handed over to the governor of Pentonville the prisoners were taken separately to the reception ward, and each had to give details of his identity, religion, and submit to medical examination, after which they passed through the hands of the prison bathroom attendants and barber, and exchanged their own clothes for the prison garb, being afterwards handed over to the care of the chaplain. Yesterday they attended the prison chapel with the other occupants of the jail, and, with the exception of exercise time, they were confined to their cells, where they will in future be kept, unless their health becomes such as to entitle them to infirmary treatment, in which event the prison doctor will decide the nature of the work they must perform. By the terms of their sentence they will be isolated from their friends, except upon four occasions each year, and even this privilege may be forfeited by indifferent conduct.

The Cincinnati Enquirer - Sunday, May 26, 1895

LONDON, May 25. — Oscar Wilde's trial having reached its final stage, the old Bailey Courtroom was filled with interested spectators almost as soon as the doors were opened to-day. Sir Frank Lockwood, the Solicitor General, resumed his address to the jury, which he had just begun when Court adjourned yesterday. The prisoner's intimacy with Lord Alfred Douglas, and the exhibition of the younger man by the elder one at hotels and public places in and about London, was severely commented upon by counsel.

Referring to the much-commented upon letters which Wilde wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas, counsel said that the jury had been told they were too low to appreciate such poetry, and he thanked God it was so, as it showed they were above the level of beasts. (Applause, which the Judge promptly suppressed.)

Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel for Wilde, here interposed objections to such appeals as the one just made by Sir Frank Lockwood, which, counsel claimed, should not be allowed.

When Sir Frank Lockwood continued his speech, he warned the jury to render a verdict which would prevent "such a detestable and abominable vice to rear its head unblushingly in this country."

Justice Willis 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.

PRONOUNCE HIM GUILTY.

The jury returned to Court at 5:30 p. m., after having been absent two hours, and returned a verdict of guilty against the defendant. Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at hard labor.

Alfred Taylor, Wilde's associate, was also sentenced to two years' imprisonment at hard labor.

During the address of Justice Wills to the jury the foreman of the jury asked whether, in view of the intimacy between Lord Alfred Douglas and Alfred Wood, one of men whose name 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 foreman then asked if it had ever been contemplated to issue a warrant for the arrest of Lord Alfred Douglas. To this the Judge replied that he could not say, and the Court adjourned for lunch.

When Court reassembled for business the Judge said that the suspicion that Lord Alfred Douglas woudl 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 the whether the man in the dock was guilty of immoral practice with certain persons.

The jury found Wilde guilty of all the counts of the indictment, including the charge with reference to persons unknown, who were also pronounced to be 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 at Kettner's restaurant. The announcement of the verdict

CAUSED A GREAT SENSATION

In Court, as it was the general impression that Wilde would escape conviction.

After a short interval the Judge called Wilde and Taylor, who was convicted of immoral practices last week, to the bar and they were each sentenced as already cabled 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 signed 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 always fascinated me, because youth has naturally that temperament to which the artists try to attain. All works of art are work 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, the external accidents of comity life. But any one, plowboy, fisherman or street arab has an interest for me. More 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. "OSCAR WILDE."

The document from which the above statement is cabled to the Associated Press is written throughout in Wilde's own writing, which is extremely graceful and firm, on a sheet of foolscap paper, and is signed with a flourish.

When the foreman of the jury delivered the verdict wilde, who had entered the prisoners' dock a moment before, rose from the chair upon 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 a shocking case as this to deal with. Two men, such as you are, by the very 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 reputed 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 pensity allowed by law, and I only regret that it is not more severe. You are both sentenced to hard labor for the term of two years."

Wilde did not look at the Judge while the sentence was being pronounced. His eyes roved around the courtroom, his face never changed color 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 prepared to go to the prisoners' room the crowd present cried "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 upon the verdict Lord Douglas of Hawick strolled out of the courtroom and into the courtyard, where he walked about nervously, smoking a cigarette. His face still shows traces of his recent encounter with his father, his left eye being much discolored. During the final stages of Wilde's trial to-day 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.

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