Compare Paragraphs
This page compares two reports at the paragraph level. The column on the left shows the first report in its entirety, and the column in the middle identifies paragraphs from the second report with significant matching content. The column on the right highlights any differences between the two matching paragraphs: pink shows differences in the first report and purple in the second report. The Match percentage underneath each comparison row in this column shows the percentage of similarity between the two paragraphs.
Original paragraph in
The Australian Star - Friday, May 3, 1895
The Australian Star - Friday, May 3, 1895
Most similar paragraph from
The Leader - Saturday, May 4, 1895
The Leader - Saturday, May 4, 1895
Difference
The trial of Oscar Wilde and his alleged accomplice, Taylor, on charges of conspiracy and immorality was concluded to-day.
The trial of Oscar Wilde on charges of criminal immorality was concluded to-day.
The judge commenced his summing up this morning, and occupied three hours in reviewing the evidence and placing the case before the jury.
He told them they must consider their verdict apart from anything Wilde had written, and must not confound him in any way with the characters which had
been depicted in his books. The evidence of certain of the witnesses, he pointed out, would be absolutely useless and unreliable unless there was
corroboration, because those witnesses were accomplices in the practices alleged against the accused. But although some of the witnesses might have been
the vilest of characters legally the necessary corroboration existed, and the jury would have to take their evidence into consideration at what it was
worth. They would remember that Wilde was a man possessed of great and unusual intellectual gifts, but if they found that the practices alleged had really
existed they must declare fearlessly a verdict of guilty in order that innocent men and society might be protected.
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and after an absence of four hours returned into court with a verdict of not guilty on the
counts charging conspiracy (which had been withdrawn), attempted procuration, and the specific charges of gross indecency with the men Wood, Atkins and
Mavor. As to the rest of the indictment they were unable to agree. The jury were thereupon discharged, and Wilde and Taylor were remanded ror retrial to
the next sitting of the Criminal Sessions.
An application for bail on behalf of the accused was refused.