The San Francisco Call - Saturday, April 6, 1895

LONDON, ENG., April 5. -- The jury in the case of Oscar Wilde against the Marquis of Queensberry found that the plea of justification submitted by Queensberry was proved, and the Marquis was discharged from custody. The verdict was received with loud applause from the spectators, which the Judge did not check.

A warrant for the arrest of Wilde was promptly applied for, copies of all the witnesses' statements and the shorthand notes of the trial having been furnished the public prosecution.

Early in the afternoon Lord Alfred drove to the bank, cashed a check and returned to the hotel. Soon after both Wilde and Alfred drove away. Wilde was arrested at the Cadogan Hotel. He was taken in a cab by two detectives to Scotland Yard.

Wilde was very pale but cool when he arrived at Scotland Yard. At 8:10 p.m. Wilde was arraigned. The prisoner remained silent throughout the proceedings. He was then taken to Bow street and placed in the docket in the police station. Here he stood with his hands in his pockets while the charge against him was being taken. A police inspector then read the charge aloud and asked Wilde if he had anything to say, adding the usual warning that anything he said might be used against him. The prisoner remained silent and apparently indifferent.

He was then searched, after which he was locked in a cell. Shortly after he had been locked up one of his friends arrived in a carriage at the station with a Gladstone bag containing a change of clothing and other necessaries, but the police refused to permit him to leave it. Later Lord Alfred Douglass went to the police station and inquired whether Wilde could be admitted to bail. The police inspector explained that Wilde had been arrested for a criminal offense, which did not allow of bail being accepted until he had been arraigned in court.

Lord Alfred was greatly distressed by this information. He was told by the inspector that Wilde had a blanket and all requisites in his cell to be as comfortable as the regulations allowed. The prisoner would be allowed to receive food from a hotel until to-morrow, when he will be arraigned on a charge regarding the penal offense.

The Cincinnati Enquirer - Saturday, April 6, 1895

London, April 5. -- The suit of Oscar Wilde against the Marquis of Queensberry came to a sudden and unexpected termination today shortly after the third day's proceedings were begun in the Old Bailey before Justice Collins.

Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel for the plaintiff, asked permission on behalf of his client to withdraw the suit and submit to a verdict of not guilty in regard to the words written by the Marquis of Queensberry on the card left by the Marquis at the Albemarle Club, for Wilde, February 18, and which card formed the outward basis of the suit. The jury, under instructions from Justice Collins, returned a verdict of not guilty, coupled with the statement that the justification set up as a defense by the Marquis of Queensberry was true in substance and in fact, and that the statement complained of was published for the public good.

The verdict was received with loud applause, which was not checked by the presiding Justice, and the Marquis of Queensberry was discharged from custody, and left the Court triumphant, smiling and surrounded by his friends. Shortly afterward it was announced that a warrant for the arrest of Oscar Wilde was to be applied for, all the papers in the case having been submitted to the Public Prosecutor.

A GREAT AUDIENCE.

Before 10'clock this morning every available foot of space in the courtroom was filled with spectators, who were armed with newspapers and packages of sandwiches, and who were otherwise ready to spend the day in Court in the happiest and most comfortable manner possible.

The Marquis of Queensberry at 10:20 a. m. entered the Court, looking calm and confident of the result. Promptly at 10:30 a. m. Justice Collins entered and the Court was opened. Oscar Wilde, however, was absent.

Sir Edward Carson, Q. C., leading counsel for the defense, resumed his speech, which was not concluded yesterday when the Court adjourned.

Mr. Carson said that he hoped he had demonstrated that the Marquis was justified in bringing to a climax, in the way he did, the connection between his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, and Wilde. Continuing counsel said that he now approached a more painful duty. It would be his task to call the several young men who would tell their own tales and who would show that the man Taylor, frequently referred to during the proceedings, was Wilde's procurer.

It was no wonder that the Marquis of Queensberry protested against the intimacy between his son and Wilde. The wonder is, counsel said, that this man has been so long tolerated in London society.

Mr. Carson was continuing his terrible denunciation of Oscar Wilde when Sir Edward Clarke and others of Wilde's counsel left the courtroom for consultation. They soon returned, and Sir Edward asked for permission to interrupt the proceedings. Then, amid a most impressive silence, the leading counsel for the plaintiff announced

THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE CASE

On behalf of his client. The chief concern of Sir Edward Clarke seemed to be his desire to justify himself in undertaking the case for Wilde.

He said that after consulting with his client, who, by the way, was in the room to which his counsel adjourned, and who left the building hurriedly when Sir Edward Clarke began his statement, he asked to withdraw the suit, and on Wilde's behalf to submit to a verdict for the Marquis of not guilty in regard to the words on the card. Counsel said that he did this more especially in view of the extracts which had been read in Court from Wilde's novel of modern social life, "Dorian Gray," and from the magazine, The Chameleon. Mr. Carson here interposed, saying that if there was to be a verdict of not guilty it also involves a verdict of justification, as the case of his client must succeed upon that plea.

Justice Collins said, as to the jury putting any limit on their verdict, that the words on the card were either justified or not justified, if the jury consented to the course suggested and were to return a verdict of not guilty, they were also to find that the justification set up by the defense was true in substance and in fact, and that the words complained of were published for the public benefit.

The jurymen consulted together for a moment and then, without leaving their seats, they returned a verdict as directed by Justice Collins, namely that the Marquis of Queensberry was not guilty of libel, and that the words he had written on the card which formed the basis of the suit were published in the interests of the public.

RECEIVED WITH APPLAUSE.

The verdict was received with loud applause in Court, and Justice Collins made no attempt to check it.

The Marquis of Queensberry was then discharged from custody and left the Court triumphant, smiling and surrounded by his friends.

The defense, it appears, had a long array of witnesses on hand, including waiters employed in hotels of Paris, London and other cities which Wilde had frequented.

At the close of the proceedings it became known that a warrant for the arrest of Oscar Wilde was to be issued. Counsel for the Marquis of Queensberry have written to the Public Prosecutor, inclosing copies of the statements made by all the witnesses for the defense, and also inclosing the shorthand notes taken at the trial, in order that there may be no miscarriage of justice.

Oscar Wilde has written a letter to the newspapers, in which he says:

"It was impossible to prove my case without putting Lord Alfred Douglas in the witness box against his father. Lord Alfred was extremely anxious to go into the box, but I would not allow it. Rather than put him in such a painful position I determined to retire from the case and bear upon my own shoulders whatever shame and ignominy might result from not prosecuting the Marquis of Queensberry."

A WARRANT FOR WILDE.

Later in the day application was made at the Bow Street Police Court before Sir John Bridge, the Presiding Magistrate, for a warrant for the arrest of Oscar Wilde, and the Magistrate granted the application.

Officials of the Treasury Department, under which branch of the Government public prosecutions are directed, visited Bow Street Police Court several times this afternoon, previous to the granting of the warrant for Wilde's arrest. Upon the occasion of their last visit they were accompanied by a detective and by two boys. After a short consultation between the Treasury officials and Sir John Bridge, during which several questions were addressed to the detectives and to the boys, the Magistrate issued the warrant.

Wilde spent several hours in company with Lord Alfred Douglas at a hotel in Holborn. His brougham was waiting in front of the hotel. Early in the afternoon Lord Alfred drove to a bank, cashed a check and returned to the hotel. Soon afterward both Wilde and Lord Alfred drove away.

Wilde was arrested at the Cadogan Hotel, Sloan street, and taken in a cab by two detectives to Scotland Yard.

LOCKED HIM UP.

He was then searched, after which he was locked in a cell. Shortly after he had been locked up one of his friends arrived in a carriage at the station with a small Gladstone bag containing a change of clothing and other necessaries, but the police refused to permit him to leave it. Later in the day Lord Alfred Douglass went to the police station and inquired whether Wilde could be admitted to bail. The Police Inspector explained that Wilde had been arrested for a criminal offense, which did not allow of bail being accepted until he had been arraigned in court.

Lord Alfred was greatly distressed by this information. He was told by the Inspector that Wilde had a blanket and other requisites in his cell, and was as comfortable as the police regulations allowed.

The prisoner will be allowed to receive food from a hotel until to-morrow when he will be arraigned in court on a charge involving a penal offense.

Beerbohm Tree's Regret.

Baltimore, April 5. -- Beerbohm Tree, the English actor, whose name was mentioned in yesterday's proceedings of the Queensberry-Wilde case, at London, refuses to comment upon the subject further than to say that his only connection with the case was the handing over to Wilde of an anonymous communication which he received concerning the latter. Mr. Tree expressed keen regret that his name had been linked even remotely with so scandalous an affair.

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