The New York Herald (European Edition) - Sunday, May 26, 1895

OSCAR WILDE'S FATE SEALED.
THE WHILOM AESTHETE SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS' IMPRISONMENT WITH HARD LABOR.
COLLAPSED AT THE DOCK
IN PASSING JUDGMENT HIS LORDSHIP CALLED THE MAXIMUM PENALTY INADEQUATE.
[BY THE HERALD'S SPECIAL WIRE.]

LONDON, May 26.-To many people the greatest surprise in the Wilde case, which has throughout been a case of surprises, was the ending thereof. After a day of peculiarly personal bickering between two of the most prominent members of the English Bar, after a summing up which in many points has no precedent among similar judicial efforts, after an absence of the jury so prolonged that the general feeling in court was that a disagreement was certain, the jury returned to deliver a verdict of guilty, and immediately after one of the most brilliant men of English letters was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labor.

Something of the direfully dramatic nature which characterized the trial for criminal libel of Lord Queensberry, but which was curiously absent from the first trial of Wilde, seemed to me to creep by degrees into the later stages of that which terminated yesterday. This was in a great measure due to the attitude of the Solicitor-General, who has from the beginning proved himself terribly in ernest. Hs frequent encounters with Sir Edward Clarke, which reached the maximum point yesterday have created no little comment, especially among the public, by whom the strained personal relations which have long existed between the two counsel have been imperfectly apprehended.

LEGAL BICKERINGS

For instance, yesterday, Sir F. Lockwood had barely resumed his address when his reference to Taylor as the intimate associate and the friend of Oscar Wilde called up Sir Edward Clarke with bitter denial, while, almost immediately after, he protested with an agitation which was clearly not assumed against the Solicitor-General's statement that the false glamor of art had been thrown over Wilde. So the bickering went on throughout the entire speech. At one point, indeed, it reached such a pitch that the court could not refrain from laughter, only to be severely rebuked by the judge, who was throughout evidently distressed at the frequent exhibitions of personal feeling.

At half-past twelve Mr. Justice Wills began his summing up, and I may say at once that by everyone in the Court it was received with something like a shock. The apparent leaning of Mr. Justice Wills upon the side of the prisoner has been one of the features of this second trial, and when it became apparent that he was in effect, though preserving his judicial attitude, charging directly against the prisoner the surprise of his hearers was manifest. Apart from this main fact other interesting points were developed. Such, for instance, was his assertion that while it would be a bad day for the administration of justice in England when juries ceased to take the direction of the judge upon points in his special province, equally bad would it be when they surrendered to any judge in the land their own independent judgment on the facts before them. He said this, he added, because he could not give a colorless summing up which was of no help to anybody. He should probably express opinions, but he expected the jury to criticise and see if they could overturn such opinions rather than to accept them with superstitious reverence.

NOT TO THE MARQUIS'S LIKING

His characterization of the action taken by Lord Queensberry of leaving the famous card at Wilde's club as a method of interference which he thought no gentleman should have taken was found by Lord Queensberry to be so little to his taste that he left the Court. A reference to Lord Alfred Douglas and the "red rose leaf lips" letter brought forth a query from the foreman of the jury as to whether a warrant was ever issued for the apprehension of Lord Alfred Douglas. His Lordship replied: "I think not."

"Was it ever contemplated?" asked the foreman, and the judge in many words said that he did not know, to which the foreman replied that it seemed to them that if they were to adduce any guilt from these letters it applied as much to Lord Alfred Douglas as to the prisoner.

When his lordship returned to the subject he said that there was a natural disposition to ask why should this man stand in the dock and not Lord Alfred Douglas, but he declared the supposition that the latter would be in any way spared because he was Lord Alfred Douglas to be utterly and hopelessly impossible. This incident seemed to shake Wilde out of his affectation of indifference. He sat upright and watched the judge keenly and appeared relieved at the way the matter terminated. The rest of the summing up was, as I have said, directly against the prisoner. The jury retired at twenty-five minutes to four to consider about their verdict.

GUILTY ON ALL BUT ONE COUNT

They returned after an absence of early two hours and a half with a verdict of guilty on every count in the indictment with the exception of that with Shelley, and of their own volition, added one more as to Wilde's conduct at St. James'-place.

Taylor, who had been brought from Holloway during the day, was at once called up from the cells, and after a fruitless attempt upon the part of Sir Edward Clarke to have the sentence postponed until next sessions, Mr. Justice Wills addressed the prisoners. He characterised the case as one of the worst he had ever dealt with, but he could not entertain a shadow of a doubt that the jury had arrived at a correct verdict. People who could do such things, he said, must be dead to every sense of shame and it would be a waste of words to address them at length. He could do nothing but pass the extreme sentence which the law, in his judgment, most inadequately allowed, namely, two years' imprisonment with hard labor.

As he passed sentence the cry of "shame" arose from some parts of the court, and Wilde, who since the delivery of the verdict appeared in a dazed condition, immediately collapsed, physically as well as mentally. His lips moved as though in speech, but no words issued from them, and after a moment's painful pause he staggered partly round, was quickly caught by two stalwart warders, and assisted, almost fainting, from the deck to the cells below.

Taylor, who appeared much less concerned, followed him.