LATE LONDON SCANDAL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 10323, 3 June 1895, Page 2

LATE LONDON SCANDAL.

THE LAST ABOUT OSCAR WILDE A London correspondent of one of our contemporaries writes :—": — " lam not going to touch upon the details ot" tho Oscar Wilde case, which has oimply poisoned the moral atmosphere of London during the last fortnight. But it is impossible to help reflecting on the extraordinary — the dramatic — change in a man's fortunes which the case reveals. It was my for tune to be present a short time ago at a first niaht of one of his most successful playß, and I had a chance also of observing for a few moments how he behaved in the dock at Bow-street. No dramatist has ever imagined a greater or more tragic change. In the one case he stood there triumphant, looking condescendingly at the crowded and applauding audience, especially at the well-dressed people in the stalls and boxes, with a lighted cigarette between his fingers and a smile which seemed to say, " It is kind of you, my good people, to applaud me in this way, but I quite know my own deserts. You can hardly expect me to excite myself." And in the other case, there he was, an abject prisoner, trying hard to keep up an air of nonchalance, rather roughly treated by tho police, and spoken of as " Wilde " and " this man Wilde " by magistrate and prosecuting cou jsol. A haggard, unhappy creature he seemed, with dark rims under his eye 3, and lines which told of a sleepless night in the police cell, which must have contrasted sj strongly with the luxurious abodes to which he was accustomed. People have wondered much how he ever had the audacity to bring --his libel action against Lord Queensberry, more especially as these scandals have been socially current | i or years. Bat something must be allowed for the over--weeuing conceit of the man. There is no doubt that he entered the box fully convinced in his own mind that his wits would be more than a match for the counsel engaged to confront him. He did make a very pretty display of wit. But ha had mistaken the man h« had to deal with ia the old class-fellow of hia Trinity College (Dublin) days, whom he probably remembered as a rather dull fellow. Mr Carson may be rather deficient in finesse and mental agility, but for dogged, merciless, insistent cross-examination we we have few lawyers now who can equal tho " evicting" Irish Q.C. who has recently turned his attention to the English Bar. The truth is that Oscar Widlo has proved to be somewhat of a lath painted to look like iron, and his sangfroid, which served up to a cci tain point, has been a poor support in a real emergency. I Buppose soiiip people think that we have loafc an ornament to literature and the drama ; but I confess to ne\ er having been able to &cc his importance to either, in spite of the flippant wit which nobody can deny to him."