The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-05-26

London, May 25.-Oscar Wilde's trial
having reached its final stage, the old
Bailey court room was filed with in
terested spectators today.
Sir Frank Lockwood, solicitor gen.
eral, concluded his address to the jury.
The prisoners intimacy with Lord AL
fred Douglass and the exhibition of
the younger man by the elder one at
hotels and public places in and about
London were severely commented
upon. Referring to the letters Wilde
wrote Lord Alfred Douglass, counsel
said the jury had been told they were
too low to appreciate such poetry, and
he thanked God it was SO, as it show
ed they were above the level of
beasts. applause which the judge
promptly suppressed.)
Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel
for Wilde, here interposed objections
to such appeals.
Lockwood asked the jury to render
verdict which would prevent such
detesta bic and abominable vice rear
ing its head unblushingly in this coun-
try
Justice Wills began summing ND at
1:SO p. m. The general tenor of his
address was favorable to Wilde. The
jury retired at $3.50 D. m. jury re-
turned at $50 having been absent
from the court room two hours. and
returned a verdict of guilty A SEN
tence of two years Imprisonment at
hard labor was imposed. The same
sentence was passed on Alfred Tay-
lor.
WiIde's Statement.
While the jury was out, at the re-
quest of representative of the Asso-
ciated Press, Wilde's counsel procured
the following signed statement from
Wilde:
'7The charges alleged against me are
entirely untrue. Youth in every form
always fascinated me, because youth
has naturally that temperament which
the artists try to attain. All works
of art are the works produced in a
moment of youth. 1 have no sense at
all of social grades. I love society and
the rich and well born on account of
their luxury, culture, the grace of
their lives, and external accidents of
comely life. But any one, plough
boy, fisherman or street Arab, has in
terest for me. Mere humanity is so
wonderful. 1 do not ask of the youth
W maj lAACy III, QO1 care VIII luSy
are. Their ignorance has its mode of
wisdom; their lack of culture leaves
them open to fresh and vivid impress
sion. OSCAR WILDE"
As to Douglass.
During the address of Justice Wills
to the jury, the foreman asked whe-
Their, in view of the intimacy between
Lord Alfred Douglass and Alfred
Wood, one of the men whose name has
been brought prominently into the
case, a warrant for Lord AlfredS ar
rest had ever been issued.
The judge replied that he thought
not.
The foreman then asked if It had
ever been thought of.
To this the judge replied that he
could not say. He added that the
suspicion that Lord Alfred Douglass
would be spared, if guilty, simply be-
cause he was Lord Alfred Douglass,
was a wild idea and a matter which
they could not discuss. The present
inquiry was as TO whether the man
in the dock was guilty Of immoral
practices with certain men.
The jury found Wilde guilty on all
the counts of the Indictment includ-
Ing the charge with reference TO per-
sons unknown, who were also pro-
nounced guilty. This probably refers
to the Savoy hotel evidence to which
place Wilde was accused of taking
Charles Parker, a gentleman's servant,
after treating the latter to a choice
dinner in Kittner's restaurant. The
announcement of the verdict caused
great sensation in the court as it
was the general impression that
Wilde would be acquitted.
The Judge Severe.
When the foreman of the jury de-
livered the verdict Wilde, who had
entered the prisoners dock a moment
before, rose from the chair on which
he had been seated throughout the
trial, and stood with his arms on the
rail of the dock. The silence which
prevailed throughout the court room
was really painful as Justice Wills
ordered that Alfred Taylor should also
be summoned before him. Then in a
voice trembling with emotion the JUS
tice said:
81 never before had such shocking
case as this to deal with. Two men
such as, you are, by the nature Of your
crime, lost of all sense of remorse for
what you have done. To think that
you, Taylor. should be the keeper of
a male brothel, and that you Wilde, a
man of culture, should be such per-
verter of young men. There IS no
doubt but that the verdict is a just
one, and I shall give you the full PEN
atty allowed by law, and 7 only re-
gret that it is not more severe. You
are both sentenced to hard labor for
the term of two years."
Wilde did not look at the judge |
while the sentence was being pro-
nounced. His eyes roved around the |
room and his face never changed color
and he looked like a man who had
made up his mind to make the best
of a bad situation. Taylor smiled
when sentence was pronounced. As
Wilde turned in the dock and started
to go back to the prisoners room, the
crowd yelled SHAME" shame This
shouting caused Justice Wills 10 Use
and exclaim in a loud and determined
voice, silence, silence"
Where Papa Hit Him.
During the time the jury were de-
I, ~ ~, tho x-ardiof -ar1 nornIo