The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-04

SAID ne was In distress, ana Mr. Wide gave
him ego with which to pay his passage to
America. Another letter was handed to Mr..
Beerbohm Tree, the actor, who gave 1t TO
facts already known in the case, showing
that Mr.. Wilde. who had recently re-
the bem dram c Aser at aboSt to
on Feb. q; and. on entering the club. he
was handed an envelope by. the hall porter,
of Queensberry had desired him TO hand it
to Mr.. Wilde. The exact words were:
Lord Queensberry desired me. sir, to hand
this to you when you came into the club"
Inside the envelope plaintiff found card,
on the back Of which was the date, "4:30-
lS-2-95. and on this card was written
certain foul epithets, which formed the ba-
sis for the suit.
OSCAR WILDE'S TESTIMONY.
Oscar Wilde was then called, and he Ian
guidly arose from the solicitors table, at
which he had been seated, and entered the
witness box. The plaintiff was faultless-
ly dressed in a long black frock coat and
carried his gloves lin his hands. showing
his fingers to be covered. with rings. He
was very pale, but was seemingly COM
posed. Wilde spoke with his customary
drawl, leaning his upon the rail- of
the witness box and replying distinctly to
the questions addressed to him. The jury,
which composed of very intelligent
men of elderly appearance, mostly pros
porous tradesnien, eyed him with curiosity.
Counsel for the plaintiff then asked the
witness about the man TO whom he had
given EGO with which to pay his passage 10
America. Witness said: 1.-THE man told
me he had been offered EGO for the let
ter, and / advised him to Immediately ac-
cept it. But finally | gave him the money
IN order to relieve his distress and he
srrsa me re yne br % eor a 5e
was handed to Justice Collins. The let
ter referred to the "rose-red lips of Lord
Alfred Douglas, and the writer addressed
him as My own boy and asked. why
are you alone in London?" The letter was
sci. in explaining s this letter, said that it
might seem extravagant to those who
letters, but, he added, it was .'mere po-
etry."
Interest in the case was heightened when
rect examination of his client, turned the
latter over to Mr.. E. FL. Carson, Q. c.,
berry for cross-examinatIon. Mr. Carson
began the presentation of the case for the
Marquis by reading "a from Dera1
modern life, to show that the author up
held the practice of which he is accused.
of the book and laughing at Mr. Carson's
insinuation. Mr.. Carson, addressing the
DO you think that the description of
Dorian Gray given on page is moral
.sYes," replied Wilde "Just what an
artist would notice in beautiful person.
atty
in Dorian Gray, any person of the male
younger than yourself?" was Mr.. Car
II took the idea from Shakespeare Som
nets replied Wilde
MR. WILDES MALE LOVES.
During this portion Of the proceedings
the Marquis of Queensberry followed his
counsel with a copy of Dorian Gray in
his hands, with seeming enjoyment
Wilde testified to the fact that the man
to whom he gave EGO on receipt of the letter
n - H. L
lips of Lord Alfred Douglas, which amount
was used to pay his passage to America.
was named Wood. Replying to other oues-
tions by Mr.. Carson Wilde said that the
letter to Lord Alfred was merely poetical,''
and he added that he had ''undying love for
Lord Alfred. who, he claimed, was his best
friend. the witness denied having miscon-
Quoted himself with Wood The latter he
added, was introduced to him by Lord AL
fred Douglas who asked him to befriend
shown by the cross-examination, addressed.
each other by their Christian names. It
animation OF, wilde that in writing he did
not concern himself to produce morality
or immortality. He had no purpose in the
matter and was concerned merely with lit
erature, beauty, wit and emotion. He rare
ly thought If anything he wrote was true;
indeed, he might say, never, in regard to
Dorian Gray
Sir Edward Clarke objected to Mr.. Car
sons cross-examlnation of his client on
that novel, as it appeared in Lippincott's
Magazine not as 1t was published in Eng
land Wilde thereupon descended from the
his counsel, after wncn Sir Edward Clarke
withdrew his objection.
The cross examination was very severe
and brought out the great differences in the
ages of Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas;
in 1870; how the two had visited various
towns together, stopped at the Savoy Hotel
togethsr and how ", Lord Alfred visited
the plaintiff maintains in addition to his
house at No. 1e lite street, S. w. Mr.. Car
son then drew out Wildes opinions regard
ing literature in general. to which line of
DISCRIMINATION the plaintiff made many
smart responses in the same line as in his
1.-THE Interpretation of my works does
not concern me- said Wilde Il do not
care tuppence for what the Phillistines
think about me-
Mr.. Carson severely repressed the levity
of the witness and began the more serious
phase of the mination BY, question
ing Wilde about his intimacy with a news
4Ss and aa the Fact that
Wilde took the boy to Brighton.
why did you seek the boys society,"
Mr. Carson asked. WAS it for intel
lectual treatg'
ION. he was a bright. careless, amusing
creature replied the witness.
Mr.. Carson here produced a silver cigar
cite case. a handsome Silver-molnted cane
and book which Wilde admitted he had
The cross-examination then touched on
Wiide's relations with various boys and
men, ana the Qu6Sl1CilS put 10 The Wlt1eSS
were SO pointed as to be unprintabe. wilde,
however. emphatically denied that he had
done anything improper; but he was
troubled and confused under the severe
discrimination to which he sub,
jected and frequently drank water. In
fact, he seemed ready to faint; and chair
was placed inside the witness stand for his
use Through the questioning the Marquis
of Queensberry stood facing him and did
not take his eyes or the man once. The
cross-examination was not finished when
the court adjourned for the day.
A large crowd of people assembled about
the Old Bailey in order to see Wilde leave