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LONDON, April 6.––Although Oscar Wilde is languishing in jail as a criminal without bail on a heinous charge, he still has a number of influential friends who are zealous in his defense, notwithstanding that number of influential friends who are zealous in his defence, notwithstanding that they are intimate enough with him to know most of the secrets of his private life.

Lord Douglas of Hawick, second and eldest living son of the Marquis of Queensberry, is one of these. He is altogether the manliest looking of these. Before the death of his elder brother, Viscount Drumlanrig, he was well and favorably known as plain Percy Douglas. He has an unsmirched reputation and entirely differs in every respect from his effeminate next younger brother, Lord Alfred Douglas. Since his return from Australia last fall Lord Douglas of Hawick has been an almost constant associate of Oscar Wilde. In an interview this afternoon he said that every one in his family, excepting his father, has refused to believe the accusations against Wilde. He himself he said, was willing at any time to go upon the witness stand in Wilde’s behalf, and he was vehement in his denunciation of Wilde's Counsel for having withdrawn the suit.

No matter what may be the outcome of the case, whether Wilde goes free or is sent to prison, the death knell of Wildeism has been rung and the corpse is prepared for burial. The prurient plays of Wilde and the cognate productions, "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray," and "The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith," which are now called "Dinerotic," are doomed, and there is a strong reaction towards a healthier treatment of stage representations, while the current decadent literature will also get a setback.

Archibald Edward Douglas, brother of the Marquis of Queensberry, has written a letter repudiating the statement made to-day in the course of an interview by Lord Douglas of Hawick, eldest living son of the Marquis, to the effect that no member of the family except his father believes the charges against Wilde. In refutation of this statement the writer of the letter says:

"My mother, my sister and myself believe the allegations made against Oscar Wilde."

The charge against Wilde is meantime being prosecuted under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which classes his offense as a misdemeanor, the maximum penalty for which is two years imprisonment for each conviction.

Manager Frohman announces that Oscar Wilde’s play, "An Ideal Husband," will be withdrawn from the Lyceum Theatre after this week.