Dublin Evening Telegraph - Monday, May 27, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
[...] The result of the prosecution of Oscar Wilde undoubtedly occasioned profound surprise among the public, as it did among those in court, including the prosecuting counsel. Not that there was a shadow of doubt as to his guilt, but somehow the feeling spread abroad that in view of all the circumstances there would certainly be another disagreement, probably even an acquittal. The scene of excitement in the West End when the newsboys rushed along with the papers at about half-past six was something to remember. They could not sell them fast enough to the fashionable crowd thronging out of the Row at Hyde Park corner, in fact so frenzied was the demand that enterprising paper boys succeeded in disposing of all their unsold copies of the earlier editions for double the ordinary price, which, of course, did not contain the verdict.
[...]The result of the prosecution of Oscar Wilde undoubtedly occasioned profound surprise among the public, as it did among those in court, including the prosecuting counsel. Not that there was a shadow of doubt as to his guilt, but somehow the feeling spread abroad that in view of all the circumstances there would certainly be another disagreement, probably even an acquittal. The scene of excitement in the West End when the newsboys rushed along with the papers at about half-past six was something to remember. They could not sell them fast enough to the fashionable crowd thronging out of the Row at Hyde Park corner, in fact so frenzied was the demand that enterprising paper boys succeeded in disposing of all their unsold copies of the earlier editions for double the ordinary price, which, of course, did not contain the verdict.
As to the horrid character of Wilde’s crime it is quite superfluous to add anything to what Judge Wills, who held the scales of justice with scrupulous fairness, said in passing sentence. The remarkable thing is to discover now that the fact that Oscar Wilde was a centre of festering corruption seems to have been perfectly well known in the artistic and theatrical circles in which he moved. But it is satisfactory anyway to feel that even the most brazen effrontery in the pursuit of such abomination does not bring immunity from punishment—a lesson that may be taken to heart perhaps with advantage by the other more or less known individuals who are now also freely spoken of as being of the same loathing coterie. It is even said that the police could lay their hands on fifty men well known in society who are equally guilty with him, and whose connection with this odious scandal has been notorious for years.
As to the horrid character of Wilde's crime it is quite superfluous to add anything to what Judge Wills, who held the scales of justice with scrupulous fairness, said in passing sentence. The remarkable thing is to discover now that the fact that Oscar wilde was a centre of festering corruption seems to have been perfectly well known in the artistic and theatrical circles in which he moved. But it is satisfactory anyway to feel that even the most brazen effrontery in the pursuit of such abominations does not bring immunity from punishment—a lesson that may be taken to heart perhaps with advantage by the other more or less known individuals who are now also freely spoken of as being of the same loathsome coterie. It is even said that the police could lay their hands on fifty men well known in society who are equally guilty with him, and whose connection with this odious scandal has been notorious for years.