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London, April 8

The trial of the Marquis of Queensberry for criminally libelling Mr Oscar Wilde, the well-known dramatist, has begun. The alleged libel was contained on a post-card which the Marquis left with the hall porter at Mr. Wilde's club. The defence is justification the Marquis declaring that the letter was written with the object of saving his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, from immoral influences exerted over him by Mr Wilde. The defence is based on revelations contained in certain letters from Mr Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas. For some of these letters Mr Wilde has had, it is alleged, to pay heavy blackmail. The letters, which were of a very gushing character, were found in some old clothes which Lord Alfred Douglas had given away.

Yesterday the plaintiff Mr Wilde, was subjected to a very severe cross-examination, with a view to showing that his novel Dorian Grey and articles in the Chameleon, a magazine with which he is connected, were intended to inspire criminal practices. Mr Wilde insisted that they were merely the expression of his artistic faculty. His letters to Lord Alfred Douglas were, he said, prose poems, extraordinary perhaps, but not justifying an immoral interpretation. he admitted that he gave one of his alleged blackmailers £21, and lunched with him afterwards in a private room. He admitted also that he as on terms of intimacy with two lads who were not his social equals. He had given them money and expensive presents, but that was because he liked them.

Mr Wilde's epigrams, paradoxes, and extravagant statements while in the witness box caused much amusement. The case was adjourned, the Marquis of Queensbury being admitted to bail. The case is attracting a very large amount of interest, and the Court in which the trail is taking place is crowded at each sitting. - Australian Papers.

Immense crowds attended the trial of the Marquis of Queensberry on a charge of libelling Oscar Wilde. The evidence adduced to-day showed that Wilde had paid heavy blackmail for his gushing letters to Lord Alfred Douglas (the Marquis's son), which were found in the pockets of his old clothes when given away. THe defence is based on the revelations in these letters.

Oscar Wilde was subjected to a stringent cross-examination with a view to showing that "Dorian Grey" and some articles in the magazine Chameleon with which he is connected, are of an immoral tendency. Wilde insisted they are merely expressions of artistic faculty. His letters to Lord Douglas he said were prose poems, extraordinary perhaps, but not justifying an immoral interpretation. He admitted he gave one of his alleged black-mailers £21, and lunched with him in a private room afterwards. The case is adjourned. Defendant was admitted to bail.