Editing 3 Apr 1895 - The Echo (London) (section)

==<center>SIR E. CLARKE'S OPENING SPEECH</center>==
In opening the case for the prosecution Sir Edward Clarke pointed out the enormous gravity of the accusation levelled agaisnt Mr. Wilde by the Marquis of Queensberry. But the defendant's plea raised a much graver issue, for in the that plea it was alleged that the complainant had solicited various persons to commit an offence. It was for those who had put those allegations in the plea to prove them to the satisfaction of the jury. The learned counsel then briefly traced the career of Mr. Wilde, who was, he said, a son of Sir William Wilde, and had had a brilliant University career both at Dublin and at Oxford. In 1882 he published a volume of poems, laughted at by some but appreciated by many, and, at all events, representing the thoughts of a man of high culture. In 1891 he was introduced to Lord Alfred Douglas, a son of the defendant, and from that time he had been the friend, not only of Lord Alfred, but of Lord Douglas of Hawick, and of the mother of those gentlemen. Up to 1892 Mr. Wilde did not know the defendant, with the excedption of a meeting about 1881.