Compare Documents

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.

LONDON, April 5. -- The action for libel brought by Oscar Wilde against the Marquis of Queensberry came to a sudden end today, when Wilde withdrew his suit, thereby practically admitting his guilt of the charges made by Queensberry. A short time after the court proceedings closed Wilde was arrested at the Cadagan Hotel. He is spending tonight in a cell in the Bow Street Police Station.

The name of Oscar Wilde has been withdrawn from the playbills and advertisements of the two theaters, the St. James and the Haymarket, where two of his plays are running.

Before 10 o'clock today every available foot of space in the courtroom in the Old Bailey was filled with spectators, who were ready to spend the day in court. The Marquis at 10:20 a.m. entered 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.

Mr. Carson Resumes His Speech.

Mr. Edward M. 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 the wonder is 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. 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. Counsel said that he did this more especially in view of the ex- tracts 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.

The Jury Is Instructed.

Justice Collins said that if the jury should consent to the course suggested and should 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.

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.

A warrant for the arrest of Oscar Wilde was promptly applied for. Copies of all the witnesses' statements and shorthand notes of the trial had been furnished to the public prosecutor.

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 Oscar Wilde's arrest. Upon the occasion of their last visit, after a short consultation between the treasury officials and Sir John Bridge, the magistrate issued the warrant.

Caught at the Cadogan Hotel.

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.

Few persons witnessed Wilde's arrival there, and those who did maintained silence. At 8:10 p.m. Wilde was arraigned at the Bow Street Police Court. He was placed in the dock in the police station. Here he stood with his hands in his pockets while the charge against him was being taken. A police inspector 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 apparently indifferent and made no reply. 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.

Bail Is Denied Him.

Later Lord Alfred Douglas 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 to be as comfortable as the police regulations allowed.

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

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

It was not possible 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.

The Leader publishes an interview with Lord Douglas, of Hawick, in relation to the Wilde scandal Lord Douglas says:

"I and every member of the family except father disbelieve absolutely and entirely all the charges. We think them simply part of the persecution father has carried on against us as long as I can remember, and that Mr. Wilde and his counsel are to blame for not showing, as they could have done, that that was the fact."

Took the Yellow Book to Jail with Him.

LONDON, April 6. -- The Morning says that Wilde received the notification of his arrest with languid nonchalance, plaintively asking whether he would be allowed to furnish bail when accompanying the detective who made the arrest he took under his arm a copy of the Yellow Book. When he arrived at Scotland Yard he asked whether he would be allowed a private cell and whether he would be allowed to smoke. When the charge was read to him he smiled.

The Chronicle says editorially:

It suffices us to know, as some return for the undamming of the putrid stream, that the way is cleared for increased wholesomeness in life. We seem for some unhappy hours to have been shuddering witnesses of a revival of society under the late Roman empire, or against the dark background of the Italian renaissance.