The Cork Examiner - Monday, April 8, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
LONDON CORRESPONDENCE | THE NEW AMERICAN MAIL
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT).
London, Sunday Night. The issue of further warrants in the Oscar Wilde affair has given another fillip to public excitement. Everybody is speculating as to the identity of the person "B" who has been referred to throughout the trial, although judge, counsel, and all concerned have allowed "B's" name to be suppressed. Considerable surpriso has been expressed that the prosecution of Wilde has been taken out under a section of the Criminal Law Amendment Act which reduces the offence charged from a felony to a misdemeanour with a maximum sentence of two years for each offence to run concurrently or not at the discretion of the judge. There is no truth in the statemont that Sir Edward Clarke has written to his client offering to defend him without a fee.
A London correspondent telegraphs—The issue of further warrants in the Oscar Wilde affair has given another fillip to public excitement. Everybody is speculating as to the identity of the person "B" who has been referred to throughout the trial, although judge, counsel, and all concerned have allowed "B’s" name to be suppressed. Considerable surprise has been expressed that the prosecution of Wilde has been taken out under a section of the Criminal Law Amendment Act which reduces the offence charged from a felony to a misdemeanour with a maximum sentence of two years for each offence to run concurrently or not at the discretion of the judge.
I hear that the jury at the Old Bailey were prepared to return a verdict acquitting Lord Queensberry as soon as the case for the prosecution was closed. An intimation to this effect was, it is believed, conveyed to the judge, and may not improbably have reached Sir Edward Clark's ears.
It is said that the jury at the Old Bailey were prepared to return a verdict acquitting Lord Queensberry soon as the case for the prosecution was closed. An intimation to this effect was, it is believed, conveyed to the judge, and may not improbably have reached Sir Edward Clarke's ears. Whether this had anything to do with the abrupt termination of the case we cannot say.
It is somewhat remarkable that Mr Oscar Wilde, Mr Carson and Mr Gill, the leading counsel against him, and Mr Justice Henn Collins who tried the case are all Irishmen and are all graduates of Dublin University. Mr Edward Carson and Mr Oscar Wilde were undergraduates together upwards of twenty years ago, and were indeed members of the same class. Oscar Wilde was a scholar of Trinity and one of the best classics of his year. Mr Carson's academic career was, comparatively speaking, undistinguished.
It is somewhat remarkable that Oscar Wilde, Mr. Carson, and Mr. Gill, the leading counsel against him, and Mr. Justice Henn Collins, who tried the case, are all Irishmen, and are all graduates of Dublin University. Mr. Wilde is a graduate of both Dublin and Oxford. Mr. Edward Carson and Oscar Wilde were undergraduates together in Trinity College, Dublin, upwards of 20 years ago, and were, indeed, members of the same class. Oscar Wilde was a scholar of Trinity, and one of the best classics of his year. Mr. Carson's Academic career was, comparatively speaking, undistinguished.