He then pointed out that he could not give a colourless summing up, which was "of no use to anybody." His intelligence can be judged from one crucial point: he fastened on the fact that Oscar had burnt the letters which he bought from Wood, which he said were of no importance, except that they concerned third parties.

The Judge had persuaded himself that the letters were indescribably bad, forgetting apparently that Wood or his associates had selected and retained the very worst of them for purposes of blackmail and that this Judge himself, after reading it, couldn't attribute any weight to it; still he insisted that burning the letters was an act of madness; whereas it seemed to everyone of the slightest imagination the most natural thing in the world for an innocent man to do.

At the time Oscar burnt the letters he had no idea that he would ever be on trial.

His letters had been misunderstood and the worst of them was being used against him, and when he got the others he naturally threw them into the fire.

The Judge held that it was madness, and built upon this inference a pyramid of guilt.