"Sir William Wilde and Speranza." She employed one of the persons bearing a
placard to go about ringing a large hand bell which she, herself, had given to
him for the purpose. She even published doggerel verses in the "Dublin Weekly
Advertiser", and signed them "Speranza," which annoyed Lady Wilde intensely.
One read thus:--

Your progeny is quite a pest
To those who hate such "critters";
Some sport I'll have, or I'm blest
I'll fry the Wilde breed in the West
Then you can call them Fritters.

She wrote letters to "Saunders Newsletter", and even reviewed a book of
Lady Wilde's entitled "The First Temptation," and called it a "blasphemous
production." Moreover, when Lady Wilde was staying at Bray, Miss Travers sent
boys to offer the pamphlet for sale to the servants in her house. In fine
Miss Travers showed a keen feminine ingenuity and pertinacity in persecution
worthy of a nobler motive.

But the defence did not rely on such annoyance as sufficient provocation for
Lady Wilde's libellous letter. The plea went on to state that Miss Travers
had applied to Sir William Wilde for money again and again, and accompanied
these applications with threats of worse pen-pricks if the requests were not
acceded to. It was under these circumstances, according to Lady Wilde, that
she wrote the letter complained of to Dr. Travers and enclosed it in a sealed
envelope. She wished to get Dr. Travers to use his parental influence to
stop Miss Travers from further disgracing herself and insulting and annoying
Sir William and Lady Wilde.

The defence carried the war into the enemy's camp by thus suggesting that Miss