The Daily Northwestern - Wednesday, April 3, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
LONDON IS INTERESTED.
Oscar Wilde's Sensational Libel Suit
Against the Marquis of Queensbury.
LONDON, April 3. -- The approaches to the central criminal court were crowded this morning in anticipation of sensational developments growing out of the trial of the marquis of Queensberry on the charge of libelling Oscar Wilde, the apostle of aestheticism. Tickets, however had been issued by the clerk of the court for almost the entire seating capacity, a fact which was greeted with hoots and yells when it became known to the besieging throng. The favored ticket holders were about equally divided between the middle classes and the upper ten, hence the court room presented a much more attractive appearance than is usually the case.
London, April 3. – The approaches to the Central criminal court were crowded this morning in anticipation of sensational developments growing out of the trial of the Marquis of Queensberry, on the charge of libelling Oscar Wilde, the apostle of Aestheticism. Tickets, however, had been issued by the clerk of the court for almost the entire seating capacity, a fact which was greeted with hoots and yells when it became known to the besieging throng. The favored ticket holders about equally divided between the "middle classes" and the "upper ten" ; hence the court room presented a much more attractive appearance than is usually the case. The Marquis and his accuser were amongst the earliest on the scene.
The marquis and his accuser with amongst the earliest on the scene. Both sides were represented by a formidable array of counsel, the marquis having as his leading attorney Mr. Carson M. P., queen's counsel. The case against the marquis is, that on the 18th of February last, he gave to the porter of the Albemarle club a card to be delivered to Oscar Wilde on which was written the sentence that constitutes the alleged libel. This card was not read or shown to the press at the preliminary investigation, and its contents are known only to the principals and lawyers in the case. It is in fact doubtful whether the exact language will be made public in court today. The marquis claimed that he wrote the card "To save his son, Lord Alfred W. Douglas, who has been very intimate with Oscar Wilde for several past years past." The peculiar nature of the defence and the language employed suggests the notorious Cleveland street scandal of some years since, and the atrocious practices which at that time were exposed. Lord Queensberry pleads justification in reply to the indictment, asserting that it was necessary to the morality of his son to put a stop to his relations with Wilde. It is said that the names of certain young members of the nobility, including one of exalted birth, may be brought into the case, if the defence be hard pressed. Judge Collins, recently appointed to the criminal court, presides over the trial. In case of conviction the sentence will probably be a heavy fine, although it is within the discretion of the judge to impose a term of imprisonment.
The marquis’s leading attorney is Mr. Carson, M. P., Q. C. The case against the marquis is that on Feb 18th last, he gave to the porter of the Albemarle club a card to be delivered to Oscar Wilde on which was written a sentence that constitutes the alleged libel. This card was not read or shown to the press at the preliminary investigation, and its contents are known only to principals and lawyers in the case. It is in fact doubtful, whether the exact language will be made public in court today. The marquis claims that he wrote the card "to save his son" Lord Alfred W. Douglas who has been very intimate with Oscar Wilde for several years past. The peculiar nature of the defence and the language employed suggests the notorious Cleveland street scandal of some years since, and the atrocious practices which at that time were exposed. Lord Queensberry pleads justification in reply to the indictment asserting that it was necessary to the morality of his son to put a stop to his relations with Wilde. It is said that the names of certain young members of the nobility, including one of exalted birth, may be brought into the case if the defense be hard-pressed. Judge Collins recently appointed to the criminal court, presides over the trial. In case of conviction, the sentence will be a heavy fine, although is is within the discretion of the judge to impose a term of imprisonment.
LONDON, April 3. -- The approaches to the central criminal court were crowded this morning in anticipation of sensational developments growing out of trial of the Marquis of Queensberry on the charge of libelling Oscar Wilde, the apostle of aestheticism. Tickets, however, had been issued by the clerk of the court for almost the entire seating capacity, a fact which was greeted with hoots and yells when it became known to the besieging throng. The favoured ticketholders were about equally divided between "the middle classes" and the "dipper ten;" hence the court room presented a much more attractive presence than is usually the case. The marquis and his accuser were among the earliest on the scene. Both sides were represented by formidable array of counsel, the marquis having as his leading attorney, Mr. Carson, M.P., queen's counsel. The case against the marquis is that on the 18th of February last he gave to the porter of the Albemarle club a card to be delivered to Oscar Wilde on which a sentence that constitutes the alleged libel. This card was not read or shown to the press at the preliminary investigation, and its content are known only to the principals and lawyers in the case. It is in fact doubtful whether the exact language will be made public in court to-day. The Marquis claims that he wrote the card to "save his son," Lord Alfred W. Douglas who has been very intimate with Oscar Wilde for several years past. The peculiar nature of the defense and the language employed suggests the notorious Cleveland street scandal of some years since, and the atrocious practices which at that time were exposed. Lord Queensberry pleads justification in reply to the indictment, asserting that it was necessary to the morality of his son to put a stop to his relations with Wilde. It is said, that the names of certain young members of the nobility, including one of exalted birth, may be brought into the case, if the defense be hard-pressed. Judge Collins, recently appointed to the criminal court, presides over the trial. In case of conviction, the sentence will probably be a heavy fine, although it is within the discretion of the judge, to impose a term of imprisonment.
The case as presented by the solicitor for the marquis of Queensberry set out that Wilde had for some time been in the habit of soliciting male persons to commit indecent offence with him, among them Lord Alfred Douglas son of the marquis of Queensberry, and that certain erotic letters written by Wilde to Lord Alfred were brought to Wilde, who gave the bearer, a man named Wood, twenty pounds to surrender them and go to the United States. Mr. Wilde was then called to the witness box and testified at length touching the matters in hand. He denied any misconduct between himself and Lord Douglas, with Wood, or with a certain newsboy to whom he had given valuable presents. Then reading from Mr. Wilde's book, Dorian Gray, counsel for the defence sought to show that the author upheld sodomy. Wilde answered that in writing the book he did not concern himself with questions of morality or immorality, but mostly with literature, beauty, wit and emotion, and rarely thought whether anything he wrote was true. The cross examination was very severe and was not finished when court adjourned. Wilde seemed ready to faint during the latter part.