![\"Oscar](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/a7\/Oscar_Wilde_Sarony.jpg\/640px-Oscar_Wilde_Sarony.jpg\")
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\u00a0Oscar Wilde<\/a>\u00a0in 1882, before<\/strong> he was sentenced to two years prison for \u201cgross indecency\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n As a general rule it pays to remember our past history.\u00a0 That\u2019s good advice even when \u2013 and\u00a0maybe\u00a0especially<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0when \u2013 that history isn\u2019t all that glorious.\u00a0 As Harry Truman once said, \u201cThe only thing new in the world is the history you don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 (See\u00a0Harry Truman and his History Lessons<\/a>.)<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Which brings up\u00a0Roy Moore<\/a>\u00a0– and\u00a0Oscar Wilde<\/a>.<\/p>\n But let’s focus on his weighing legal action against his accusers.\u00a0 And<\/em><\/strong> the fact that “Those who cannot remember the past are [often] condemned to repeat it<\/a>.”<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n In 1895,\u00a0Oscar Wilde<\/a>\u00a0was at the height of his fame.*\u00a0 But that all came crashing down when he got into a dispute with the\u00a0Marquess of Queensberry<\/a>.\u00a0 (The same guy who lent his “name to the ‘Queensberry Rules<\/a>‘\u00a0that form the basis of modern\u00a0boxing<\/a>.”)\u00a0 <\/em>It started like this:<\/p>\n On 18 February 1895, the Marquess left his calling card at Wilde’s club, the\u00a0Albemarle<\/a>, inscribed: “For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite” [sic<\/a><\/i>].\u00a0 Wilde … against the advice of his friends<\/strong>, initiated a\u00a0private prosecution<\/a>\u00a0against Queensberry for\u00a0libel<\/a>, since the note amounted to a public accusation that Wilde had committed the crime of\u00a0sodomy<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0It seems the\u00a0Marquess of Queensberry<\/a>\u00a0was the father of Wilde’s lover – one<\/em><\/strong> of them anyway –\u00a0Lord Alfred Douglas<\/a>.\u00a0 And after Wilde filed the lawsuit, the Marquess was arrested and\u00a0charged with\u00a0criminal libel<\/a>.\u00a0 So he and his lawyers went to work:<\/p>\n Queensberry could avoid conviction for libel only by demonstrating that his accusation was in fact true…\u00a0 Queensberry’s lawyers thus hired private detectives to find [supporting] evidence…\u00a0 They decided on a strategy of portraying Wilde as a depraved older man who habitually enticed na\u00efve youths…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As noted, Wilde filed the lawsuit against the advice of friends, one of whom\u00a0advised him to “flee to France.”\u00a0 But he proceeded on, to a trial that “became a\u00a0cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre<\/a><\/i>\u00a0as salacious details” began to emerge in the press.\u00a0 The trial itself began “amid scenes of near hysteria.”<\/p>\n Queensberry was found not guilty, as the court declared that his accusation that Wilde was “posing as a Somdomite” [sic<\/a><\/i>] was justified, “true in substance and in fact.”\u00a0 Under the\u00a0Libel Act 1843<\/a>, Queensberry’s acquittal rendered Wilde legally liable for the considerable expenses Queensberry had incurred in his defence, which left Wilde bankrupt.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But wait, there was more!!!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Even as Wilde was leaving court, an arrest warrant was applied for, against him.<\/em>\u00a0 Again friends advised him to take a fast boat to France, but it was too late.\u00a0 Or as\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0put it:\u00a0\u00a0The libel trial unearthed evidence that led to Wilde’s “own<\/em><\/strong> arrest and trial for\u00a0gross indecency<\/a>.”<\/p>\n To make a long story short,\u00a0Wilde was sentenced to two years hard labor.\u00a0 And when he tried to speak, his voice was drowned out by cries of \u201c\u2018Shame\u2019 in the courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilde was imprisoned first in\u00a0Pentonville Prison<\/a>\u00a0and then\u00a0Wandsworth Prison<\/a>\u00a0in London.\u00a0 Inmates followed a regimen of \u201chard labour, hard fare and a hard bed,\u201d which wore very harshly on Wilde\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 His health declined sharply, and in November he collapsed during chapel from illness and hunger\u2026 \u00a0\u00a0 He spent two months in the infirmary\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Richard B. Haldane<\/a>, the Liberal MP and reformer, visited him and had him transferred in November to\u00a0Reading Prison<\/a>\u2026\u00a0 The transfer itself was the lowest point of his incarceration, as a crowd jeered and spat at him on the railway platform.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When\u00a0Wilde was released from prison – in May 1897 – he sailed immediately to France and never returned to England.\u00a0 He\u00a0spent his last three years “in impoverished exile.”\u00a0 Despite that,\u00a0and though his “health had suffered greatly from the harshness and diet of prison, he had a feeling of spiritual renewal.”\u00a0 Among other works, in exile he wrote and partially published\u00a0De Profundis<\/a>, <\/i>a letter “from the depths” based on\u00a0Psalm 130<\/a>.\u00a0 (Of which more in the Notes.)<\/em><\/p>\n So maybe there’s some hope for Roy Moore yet…<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The point is that in a few short years Oscar Wilde went from the highest acclaim to cries of \u201cshame<\/em><\/strong>\u201d in the courtroom.\u00a0 And it all came about based on an ill-advised lawsuit that should never have been filed.\u00a0 (And of which Roy Moore may want to take notice.)\u00a0<\/em> Further, when Wilde was transferred to “Reading Gaol<\/a>,” a crowd gathered to jeer and spit at him.<\/p>\n (Which leads to the question:\u00a0 Will the same happen to\u00a0Gadsden<\/a>,\u00a0Alabama<\/a>, Roy Moore’s birthplace?)<\/em><\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Oscar Wilde\u00a0\u2013 Wikipedia<\/a>, with the caption: \u00a0\u201cPhotograph taken in 1882 by\u00a0Napoleon Sarony<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNote\u201d also that an asterisk in the main text indicates a statement supported by a reference detailed further in this \u201cnotes\u201d section. \u00a0Thus, as to Wilde “at the height of his fame:”\u00a0\u00a0Throughout the 1880\u2019s Wilde was a popular London playwright.\u00a0 He was noted for his epigrams \u2013 his \u201cwitty, ingenious or pointed sayings\u201d \u2013 and a novel\u00a0The Picture of Dorian Gray<\/a>.\u00a0 Then there were the plays, including a \u201cmasterpiece,\u201d\u00a0The Importance of Being Earnest<\/a>.\u00a0 Also:<\/em><\/p>\n He wrote\u00a0Salome<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(1891) in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to the absolute prohibition of Biblical subjects on the English stage.\u00a0 Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London<\/strong>\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The “media circus” image is courtesy of\u00a0Media Circus<\/a>davejay.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>: \u201cStatue of Oscar Wilde in\u00a0Merrion Square<\/a>, Dublin.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n A final note:\u00a0 This post borrowed extensively from a post in my other blog,\u00a0On Oscar Wilde and Psalm 130<\/a>.\u00a0 The following is a summary of the highlights of that post:<\/em><\/p>\n Between January and March 1897, near the end of his prison term, Wilde wrote a letter.<\/em><\/p>\n The letter was sent from \u201cReading Gaol<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Lord Alfred Douglas<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 The title of the letter was\u00a0De Profundus<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Psalm 130<\/a>\u00a0is one of the \u201cPenitential psalms<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 In English it begins:\u00a0 \u201cOut of the depths I cry to you, O\u00a0Lord<\/span>!\u201d\u00a0 The Latin for \u201cout of the depths\u201d is\u00a0De Profundus, and that\u2019s where the title comes from.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>See\u00a0De Profundis\u00a0(letter) \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n In other words, [Wilde] \u201clost everything dear to him,\u201d but didn\u2019t<\/strong> blame external forces.\u00a0 [Take note,\u00a0Roy<\/a>.]\u00a0 The letter quoted\u00a0Isaiah 53:3\u00a0 He was despised and rejected by mankind<\/a>, and [Wilde] came to see \u201cChrist as a Romantic artist.\u201d\u00a0 In a word, instead of blaming other people, Wilde \u201crather absorb[ed] his hardships through the artistic process into a spiritual experience.\u201d\u00a0 See\u00a0Oscar Wilde<\/a>,\u00a0De Profundis<\/a>, and also\u00a0Voices from Solitary: Oscar Wilde\u2019s Cry from the Depths<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Incidentally, Wilde had to publish his last work, \u201cReading Gaol<\/a>,\u201d under an assumed name:<\/em><\/p>\n<\/h1>\n
![\"Judge](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/58\/Judge_Roy_Moore.jpg\/220px-Judge_Roy_Moore.jpg\")
One interesting aspect of Moore’s saga involves his\u00a0weighing legal action against women accusing him of harassment<\/a>.\u00a0 (Other interesting aspects include his being “compared to Jesus<\/a>.”\u00a0 Or – in the alternative – to Joseph, who “courted”\u00a0Mary when she was 14 years old<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/davejay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2015\/11\/media-circus-logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
What happened next was a public scandal, and a\u00a0media circus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c2\/Oscarwildetrial.jpg\")
Later, as the defense produced evidence to support the accusations,\u00a0Wilde decided to drop the prosecution:<\/p>\n\n
And now he brings tourists to Dublin, the city of his birth\u2026<\/em><\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/75\/Merrion_Square_-_Oscar_Wilde_04.jpg\/1280px-Merrion_Square_-_Oscar_Wilde_04.jpg\")
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