THE ATTACK ON QUEEN VICTORIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 6542, 5 April 1882, Page 3

THE ATTACK ON QUEEN VICTORIA.

DETAILS OP THE SCENE. • , (UNITED EEESS ASSOCIATION) London, March 11. A miserable-looking creature named Roderick McLean, a native of London, where he was employed as a grocer’s assistant, deliberately fired a pistol at the Queen while she was about entering her carriage at Windsor. The culprit, on being seized, said that hunger actuated him to commit the crime. When the train bearing Her Majesty arrived at Windsor, at about 5.25 p.m., : .there, was a large crowd assembled at the station, anxious to get a view of her. As she" left the car the Queen walked across the platform of ’ the railway station to the carriage which was . Waiting to take her to the' Castle, ■-John ■ Brown had - already ascended, to the seat ■ behind the carriage, when a man standing at the entrance to the station yard among the spectators, pointed his pistol at the, carriage and fired. Judging by the report,, the weapon was not heavily loaded, And the Queen was not aware of what had happened till she heard of the occurrence from her ex- j cited ladies-in-waiting. She was immediately!; driven to the Castle, but before she had passed the man had been.seized by the Superintendent of the Borough Police, who was standing by. He was also seized by the crowd, but re-cned when three: or four officers came to the Superintendent’s assistance, and conveyed him to the police station in a cab. The pistol was found by one of the crowd. It is described as a small German weapon, with six chambers, two of which contained empty cartridges, and two loaded ones. One account says it was a six-chamtered American Colt’s revolver. M'Lean intended evidently to deliver a second shot when the pistol was knocked out of his hands. The crowd were very much excited, and a number of Eton boys were prominent in an attempt ,to inflict summary justice.on the prisoner. London was in a ferment over ithe affair, and resolutions, were passed, both there and in the provinces, expressive of horror at the dastardly attempt, A few minutes after the shooting the Queen telegraphed to the Prince of Wales as follows;—“ In case exaggerated reports should reach yon, I telegraph to say that as I drove from the station to the Castle a man shot at the carriage, but fortunately hurt no one. He was instantly seized. lam none the worse.” The Prince, accompanied' by a' numerous suite, witnessed the performance of the “Manager” at the Court Theatre the same evening. On Mr Clayton reading to the audience the news of the attack on the Queen, and of Her Majesty’s safety, the whole audience en masse, and remained standing until the Prince had bowed his acknowledgments, and the “ National Anthem” was played amidst the loudest demonstrations of approval. The Czar, the Emperor William, and the Empress of Austria telegraphed expressions of sympathy. No political significance was attached in any quarter to the outrage.

McLean is 27 years of age. The doctors pronounce him sane in spite of the general opinion that his act was the re ult of lunacy. Upon his person were found a purse containing a penny and three farthings, and a pocketbook with the following entries : “ Forthpatb,” novel by Maclean and Keynolds. “This newspaper—name not mentioned—gives as correct an idea of the wide difference that divides the people of England as any newspaper in the world." “I venerate free and outspoken principles and an unbiassed thinker.” At his examination at the Town Hall, Windsor, two letters written by the prisoner were read. In the first, indited just before the shooting, he said he wrs compelled to commit the crime against the “ bloated aristocracy " because of the insufficiency of the relief offered him. In the second letter, written after his arrest, he said his only object wa“ to arouse public alarm and get his seeming grievances redressed ; that he did not mean to hurt the Queen, but only fired at the wheels of her carriage. The police evidence, which the prisoner tried to shake by cross-examination, went to prove that be fired straight at the carriage and not at the wheels, as he a’leged. After a long search, a small ballet was . found embedded in the ground of the yard at the railway station. It weighed about one-third of an ounce, and corresponded exactly with others found. The ball had glanced off a railway truck. A solicitor has been retained by McLean’s friends to defend him at the approaching trial. Mr Harris, lessee of the Drury Lane Theatre, is bis brother-in-law. It is reported that McLean bears himself cheerfully, and sings. The Queen’s demeanor since the attack is said to be admirable. Although she is understood to he always somewhat apprehensive of assassination, she attaches comparatively slight importance to this outrage.