ot left
long in doubt.

Mr. Carson continued his statement for the defence. He had
sufficiently demonstrated to the jury, he thought, that, so far as
Lord Queensberry was concerned, he was absolutely justified in
bringing to a climax in the way he had, the connection between Mr.
Oscar Wilde and his son. A dramatic pause.

A moment later the clever advocate resumed: unfortunately he had a
more painful part of the case to approach. It would be his painful
duty to bring before them one after the other the young men he had
examined Mr. Wilde about and allow them to tell their tales. In no one
of these cases were these young men on an equality in any way with
Mr. Wilde. Mr. Wilde had told them that there was something beautiful
and charming about youth which led him to make these acquaintances.
That was a travesty of the facts. Mr. Wilde preferred to know nothing
of these young men and their antecedents. He knew nothing about Wood;
he knew nothing about Parker; he knew nothing about Scarfe, nothing
about Conway, and not much about Taylor. The truth was Taylor was the
procurer for Mr. Wilde and the jury would hear from this young man
Parker, who would have to tell his unfortunate story to them, that he
was poor, out of a place, had no money, and unfortunately fell a
victim to Mr. Wilde. (Sir Edward Clarke here left the court.)

On the first evening they met, Mr. Wilde called Parker "Charlie" and
Parker called Mr. Wilde "Oscar." It may be a very noble instinct in
some people to wish to break down social barriers, but Mr. Wilde's
conduct was not ordered by generous instincts. Luxurious dinners and
champagne were not the way to assist a poor man. Parker would tell
them that, after this first dinner, Mr. Wilde invited him to drive
with him to the Savoy Hotel. Mr. Wilde had not told them why he had
that suite of rooms at the Savoy Hotel. Parker would tell them what
happened on arriving there. This was the scandal Lord Queensberry had
referred to in his letter as far back as June or July last year. The
jury would wonder not at the reports having reached Lord Queensberry's
ears, but that Oscar Wilde had been tolerated in London society as
long as he had been. Parker had since enlisted in the Army, and bore a
good character. Mr. Wilde himself had said that Parker was
respectable. Parker would reluctantly present himself to tell his
story to the jury.

All this time the court was hushed with awe and wonder; everyone was
asking w