Sentença pronunciada a 25 de maio de 1895 |
IT
IS NO USE FOR ME TO ADDRESS YOU. PEOPLE WHO CAN DO THESE THINGS MUST BE DEAD TO ALL SENSE
OF SHAME, AND ONE CANNOT HOPE TO PRODUCE ANY EFFECT UPON THEM. IT IS THE WORST CASE THAT I
HAVE EVER TRIED...THAT YOU, WILDE, HAVE BEEN THE CENTRE OF A CIRCLE OF EXTENSIVE
CORRPUTION OF THE MOST HIDEOUS KIND AMONG YOUNG MEN, IT IS EQUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DOUBT. I
SHALL, UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, BE EXPECTED TO PASS THE SEVEREST SENTENCE THAT THE LAW
ALLOWS. IN MY JUDGEMENT IT IS TOTALLY INADEQUATE FOR SUCH A CASE AS THIS.
THE SENTENCE OF THE COURT IS THAT YOU BE IMPRISIONED AND KEPT TO HARD LABOR FOR TWO YEARS. |
O que disseram os jornais da época |
The Wilde case
is over, and at last the curtain has fallen on the most horrible scandal which has
disturbed social life in London for many years. The cries of "Shame!" with which
the sentence pronounced by Mr. Justice Wills was received, indicate that a certain section
of the public in court regarded the verdict with disfavour, and that feeling will very
possibly be shared by a section of the public outside. But it is well to remember, that
the jury are in a position to form the best and honest opinion. They have heard all the
evidence and seen the witneses in the box, while outsiders have only newspaper
reports--necessarily containing the barest suggestion of the gruesome facts--to guide
them. Yet even those who have read the reports and have taken the trouble to understand
what lies between the lines, cannot help but feel that Wilde and his associate...have got
off lightly. Society is well rid of these ghouls and their hideous practices. Wilde
practically confessed his guilt at the outset, and the unclean creatures with whom he
chose to herd specifically owned that the charges were true. It is at a terrible cost that
society has purged itself of these loathsome importers of exotic vice, but the gain is
worth the price, and it is refreshing to feel that for once, at least, justice has been
done.
News of the World,
London, 26 May 1895
This ends a scandalous affair. One
may be permitted a certain regret that others will not endure the same fate and that it
has not been possible to carry out the big wash of dirty linen that this case has shown to
be necessary. It is difficult, however, not to feel deep sympathy for the wife and
children of Wilde, who is ending his literary career in such a wretched fashion.
Le Figaro,
Paris, 26 May 1895
Beyond an
expression of deep regret that a brilliant career should have come to so terrible an end,
we have two, and only two, comments to make upon the Wilde case. The first is that if this
trial had not resulted in a conviction the rightful law relating to such offenses might as
well has been erased from the Statute-book. Judge and jury alike are to be congratulated
upon the unflinching discharge of a grave responsibility. Our second comment is that the
lesson of the trial ought not to be lost upon the headmasters, and all others who are
responsible for the morals, of public schools. It rests with them, more probably than with
anybody else, to exorcise this pestilence.
The Star
London, 27 May 1895 |
|
