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Special Cable to the Inquirer, Copyright, 1895

LONDON, May 25. — The verdict of guilty returned against Oscar Wilde seems to have caused surprise, public feeling having somewhat reacted in his favor during the trial.

Sir Frank Lockwood, the Solicitor-General, who prosecuted Wilde, said when asked his opinion at the House of Commons, on Friday night: "He will be acquitted, I am sorry to say."

An Inquirer representative saw the defendant in court. A more abject, pitiable spectacle than Wilde presented could not be imagined. His face was haggard, his eyes sunken and bloodshot, his hair unkempt and coarse. He appeared absolutely dazed. Occasionally his body swayed to and fro as if he was suffering intense mental agony.

He sat in a corner of the dock with his face turned steadfastly towards the witness stand and the jury, avoiding, with nervous terror, looking in the direction of the public galleries, where many men who had known him were sitting.

Colonel Stanley Clark, equerry to the Prince of Wales, was present almost throughout the trial. Lord Queensberry and his son, Lord Douglas of Wawick, were also present. Wilde's appearance yesterday had still further changed for the worse. As the crucial moment of the proceedings approached his suffering obviously increased to a painful extent. He had a bottle of smelling salts, with which he occasionally refreshed himself. He sometimes sought relief in absently drawing lines on a sheet of foolscap with a quill pen. His trembling hand got splotched all over with ink, and great drops got on his cuffs. He looked like one in a dream, unconscious of what he was doing. The spectacle of human abasement was shocking. Those who saw this wreck of manhood must have thought he had already atoned, as far as suffering could atone, for his crime.

The punishment he is sentenced to undergo is the severest known to the law. It practically means a continuous period of solitary confinement for the two years' term of his sentence. Regular "jail birds" always prefer five years of penal servitude to two years imprisonment, owing to the easier conditions of the former.

Wilde will not be permitted to see any visitors for three months, but by exceptionally good conduct he can secure a slight reduction of his sentence.

Lord Alfred Douglas said that if Wilde were convicted he would take a house near the prison until Wilde's release.. but it is now clear that if Lord Alfred returns to England he will be arrested on the same charge as Wilde.

Lord Douglas, of Hawick, learning that an interview with his father, the Marquis of Queensberry, had been cabled to the Inquirer, called on your correspondent last night and made the following written statement in reply:

"I am obliged by your invitation to cable what I may have to say, but I do not see my way clear to say one single word which may in any way aggravate the strained relations existing between myself and my father. My only object in addressing him the other day was to try and induce him to refrain from writing me letters, causing both my wife and myself great sorry and worry. No one regrets more than myself the fact that so innocent a step should have led to such a display of anger."

Lord Douglas is an undersized young fellow, with very simple manners, and really seems much affected by the trouble between himself and his father. His right eye was still black and blue from his father's blow in Piccadilly.

The verdict of guilty returned against Oscar Wilde seemed to have caused some surprise, public feeling having somewhat reacted in his favor during the trial.

Sir Frank Lockwood, the Solicitor-General, who prosecuted the case, said when asked his opinion at the House of Commons on Friday night: "He will be acquitted, I am sorry to say."

The World representative saw the defendant in court. A more abject, pitiable spectacle than Wilde presented could not be imagined. His face was haggard, his eyes sunken and bloodshot, his hair unkempt and tossed. He appeared absolutely dazed. Occasionally his body swayed to and fro as if he were suffering from intense mental agony. He sat in one corner of the dock, with his face turned steadfastly towards the witness-stand and the jury, avoiding, with nervous terror, looking in the direction of the public galleries, where many men who had known him were sitting.

Colonel Stanley Clark, Equerry to the Prince of Wales, was present almost throughout the trial. Lord Queensberry and his son, Lord Douglas of Hawick, were also present.

WILDE’S APPEARANCE IS SHOCKING.

Wilde’s appearance yesterday had still further changed for the worse. As the critical moment of the proceedings approached his suffering obviously increased to a painful extent. He had a bottle of smelling salts, with which he occasionally refreshed himself.

He sometimes sought relief in absently drawing lines on a sheet of foolscap paper with a quill pen. His trembling hand got splashed all over with ink, and great blots got on his cuffs. He looked like one in a dream, unconscious of what he was doing. The spectacle of human abasement was shocking. Those who saw this wreck of manhood must have thought he had already atoned, as far as suffering could atone, for his crimes.

The punishment he is sentenced to undergo is the severest known to law. It practically means a continuous period of solitary confinement for two years, the term of his sentence. The regular "jail-birds" always prefer five years of penal servitude to two years’ imprisonment, owing to the easier conditions of the former.

Wilde will not be permitted to see any visitor for three months, but by exceptionally good conduct he he can secure a slight reduction of his sentence.

LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS IN DANGER.

Lord Alfred Douglas said that if Wilde were convicted he would take a house near the prison until Wilde’s release, but it is now clear that if Lord Alfred returns to England he will be arrested on the same charge as was Wilde.

Lord Douglas of Hawick, learning that an interview with his father, the Marquis of Queensberry, had been cabled to the World, called on the World correspondent last night and made the following written statement in reply:

"I am obliged by your invitation to cable what I may have to say, but I do not see my way clear to say one single word which may in any way aggravate the strained relations existing between myself and my father.

"My only object in addressing him the other day was to try and induce him to refrain from writing me letters causing both my wife and myself great sorrow and worry. No one regrets more than myself the fact that so innocent a step should have led to such a display of anger."

Lord Douglas of Hawick is an undersized young fellow, with very simple manners, and really seemed much affected by the trouble between himself and father. His right eye was still black and blue from his father's blow in Piccadilly.

SENTENCE OF THE COURT. The Judge Regrets That It Cannot Be More Severe.

LONDON, May 25. - Oscar Wilde's trial having reached the final stage, the Old Bailey courtroom was filled with interested spectators to-day. Sir Frank Lockwood, the Solicitor-General, concluded his address to the jury.

The prisoner's intimacy with Lord Alfred Douglas, and the exhibiton of the younger man by the elder at the hotels and public places in and about London were severely commented upon. Refering to the letters Wilde wrote Lord Alfred Douglas counsel said the jury had been told they were too low to appreciate such poetry, and he thanked God it was so, for it showed they were above the level of the beasts.

Sir Edward Clarke, the leading counsel for Wilde, here interposed objections to such appeals. Lockwood asked the jury to return a verdict which would prevent such detestable and abominable vice from rearing its head unblushingly in this country.

Justice Wills then summed up the case. During his address of to the jury the foreman asked whether, in view of the intimacy between Lord Alfred Douglas and Alfred Wood, one of the men whose name has 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 thought of. To this the Judge replied he could not say. He added that the suspicion that Lord Alfred Douglas would 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 to whether the man in the dock was guilty.

The jury was out two hours and found Wilde guilty on all the counts of the indictment, including the charge with reference to persons unknown, who were also pronounced 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 in Kittner's restaurant.

The announcement of the verdict caused a great sensation in the court, as it was the general impression that Wilde would be acquitted. When the foreman of the jury delivered the verdict, Wilde, who had entered the prisoners' dock a moment before, rose from the chair on 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 be also summoned before him. Then in a voice trembling with emotion the Justice said: "I never before had such a case as this to deal with. Two men such as you are, by the 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 culture, should be such a perverter of young men. There is no doubt that the verdict is a just one, and I shall give you the full penalty 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, and Taylor smiled. As Wilde turned in the dock and started to go back to the prisoners' room the crowd yelled: "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 on 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 showed 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.

While the jury was out, at the request of a representative of the press, Wilde's counsel procured the following signed statement from Wilde:

The charges alleged against me are entirely untrue. Youth in every form always fascinated me, because youth has naturally that temperament to which the artist try to attain. All works of art are works produced in a 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 comely life. But any one, plowboy, fisherman or street arab has an interest for me. Mere humanity is so wonderful. 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 impression. OSCAR WILDE.

Oscar Wilde and Taylor were after the conclusion of the trial conveyed without delay to Newgate Jail, where they waited until warrants were signed for their sentence. Both men were then conveyed in the prison van to Pentonville, where they will serve out their sentences unless a pardon should be granted, or unless they should be transferred to another prison before the expiration of the sentence.