Compare Documents

New York, April 10.

Several free libraries in the United States are destroying the works of Oscar Wilde.

The hearing of the charges against Oscar Wilde and Taylor has been resumed.

The trial of the Marquis of Queensberry, on a charge of having criminally libelled Oscar Wilde, the dramatist and poet, was commenced to-day. An immense crowd assembled in the court and its vicinity. The defendant pleaded justification, and that the words of the alleged libel were written for the public good.

Evidence was given to the effect that Oscar Wilde paid heavy blackmail for his gushing letters to Lord Alfred Douglas, son of the Marquis of Queensberry, and that these letters were found in some of his old clothes when they were given away.

The prosecutor was stringently cross-examined with the view of showing that his novel, "Dorian Grey," a story of an artist and his model, which appeared in Lippincott's Magazine, his articles in other magazines, and the Chameleon, with which he is connected, inspired to criminal practices. Oscar Wilde insisted that the articles were merely the expression of an artistic faculty. The letters to Lord Alfred Douglas were "prose poems," "extraordinary perhaps, but not justifying an immoral interpretation." He admitted that he gave one of the alleged blackmailers £21, and afterwards entertained him at luncheon in a private room. Wilde also admitted having been on terms of intimacy with two lads not his social equals, and that he gave them considerable sums of money and expensive presents. He did this because he "liked them."

He was acquainted with three men named Taylor, Parker, and Atkins. Taylor introduced five young men to him on separate occasions, and Wilde had given them money. He was not aware that any of them were gentlemen's servants. He said that he took pleasure in being in the company of bright and happy people. He had visited Taylor's rooms frequently. He was aware that Taylor and Parker had once been arrested, but he had, notwithstanding this fact, continued his friendship with them. He once took Atkins to Paris. Taylor introduced to him a youth named Scarp, who afterwards became acquainted with Lord Alfred Douglas, while on the voyage to Australia. He (Wilde) had made presents to Scarp and another young man named Mabor, because he liked them.

Certain letters were read in court from some of the youths already named, showing that the writers were poverty-stricken, and implored assistance from Wilde in obtaining employment.

Oscar Wilde admitted close intimacy with young men who had been introduced to him by Taylor. He had entertained them at dinner at fashionable cafés. Several had spent the night as his guests at his hotels, but nothing improper occurred. He was regardless of the social inferiority of his guests if they were amusing.

Letters written by Lord Alfred Douglas were read, in which he threatened to shoot his father if he attempted to thrash him.

Mr. E.H. Carson, Q.C., M.P., in opening the case for the defence, declared that Wilde's protégés were among the most immoral men in London. He commented strongly on the fact that the prosecutor had not called Taylor as a witness. Wilde's intimacies were absolutely irreconcilable with his claim as an exponent of culture, and his literature alone justified the action of the Marquis. Mr. Carson said that among other witnesses he would call Wood, the chief blackmailer, and would prove his case up to the hilt.

APRIL, 5.

Counsel for the prosecutor has withdrawn from the case.

The jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and considered that the charges made by the Marquis of Queensberry were for the public benefit. The verdict was received in court with loud cheers.

Oscar Wilde hurriedly left the court while counsel for the Marquis of Queensberry was explaining that the prosecutor's literature and letters justified the plea that Wilde posed as an immoral person. Wilde withdrew in order to avoid the appalling evidence that he feared would be brought against him by the witnesses for the defence.

After the trial Oscar Wilde published a letter in which he stated that his reason for abandoning the case was to avoid calling Lord Alfred Douglas as a witness.

Oscar Wilde and the man Taylor have been arrested.

The Marquis of Queensberry sent Oscar Wilde a message after the trial stating that he would shoot him if he attempted to take Lord Alfred Douglas abroad.

Both Oscar Wilde and Taylor were brought up at Bow-street Police Court to-day. Several witnesses gave evidence which went to show that the charge now preferred against Wilde can be proved up to the hilt. It was also shown that Taylor acted as an intermediary for Wilde. Wilde was remanded.

Oscar Wilde's name has been withdrawn from the playbills at the London and American theatres, where Wilde's dramas, "An Ideal Husband" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" are being played.

APRIL 7.

Paris is petrified in consequence of the exposures in the Oscar Wilde case.

APRIL 9.

Several free libraries in the United States have destroyed Oscar Wilde's works.