Auckland Star - Saturday, May 25, 1895

London, May 24.

Oscar Wilde's case has been adjourned. The charge against him in connection with Shelley has been withdrawn, as there was no corroborative evidence.

The Judge said he was of opinion that Shelley suffered delusions, and that there was nothing unnatural in his friendship with the accused. The evidence, too, he said, did not prove otherwise than that their friendship was perfectly honourable.

In his evidence Wilde denied in toto all the charges made against him.

The Hawke's Bay Herald - Tuesday, May 28, 1895

May 24.

At the trial of Oscar Wilde the Judge said he was of opinion that Shelley suffered from delusions, and that there was nothing unnatural in his friendship with accused. The evidence did not prove otherwise than that the friendship was perfectly honorable. In his evidence Wilde denied in toto all the charges made against him.

May 26.

Wilde after being sentence appeared quite dazed and horror-stricken. In his despair he weakly muttered a request to be permitted to address the Court, but this was unheeded, and the warders hurried him off to his cell. During the trial Wilde, who appeared to be suffering from weakness, was allowed to remain seated in the witness-box while giving evidence on his own behalf. He said he always understood Taylor to be a respectable man, and, referring to his association with him, said the reason for the friendship was because he personally liked praise, and lionising was delightful to him. Sir Edward Clarke, Q.C., counsel for the accused, declared that the witnesses for the prosecution were blackmailers, and that it was impossible to believe them. The jury asked whether it was intended to arrest Lord Alfred Douglas. The Judge replied that he was not aware of the intention of the police, but in any case it did not affect the present trial. The jury thought that if Wilde's letters showed him to be guilty, the guilt applied equally to Lord Alfred Douglas. His Honor concurred in this opinion, but added that the suspicion of the jury that the son of the Marquis of Queensberry was being allowed to escape owing to his connections was both unfounded and impossible.

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