THE SECOND ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE EMPEKOR OF GERMANY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3213, 25 July 1878, Page 3

THE SECOND ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE EMPEKOR OF GERMANY.

The brightening prospects of the present week have been overclouded by the news which reaches \ia from Germany. The Congress is about to assemble at Berlin, but even that event has been dwarfed by the new contingencies which have arisen. A second attempt has been made upon the life of the Emperor Frederick William, and that under circumstances which indicate a social peril so great as to have alarmed all classes. It is but three weeks ago since the assassin Hoedel fired upon him. The Emperor then escaped unhurt, but now he lies prostrate covered with wounds. The gallant old man was driving down the Tlnter den Linden on Sunday afternoon last, in an open carriage, when he was fired upon twice from the second floor window of a house within a few paces of the spot where the former attempt was made. The charges of shot struck him as he was in the act of returning the salutations of the people, with his hand raised to his helmet. The Emperor was alone in his carriage ; he rose slightly, and then fell back, his helmet dropping off. A chasseur in attendance jumped down from the box and raised him in his arms ; an agitated crowd surged round, but aa quickly as possible the carriage turned and was driven back to the palace. As the horror-stricken spectators spread the alarm, all Berlin poured into the streets in a frenzy of excitement. The Emperor was conveyed to bed, and the doctors at once commenced their examination. He had lost much, blood, but did not lose consciousness for a single moment, and, notwithstanding severe pain, bore up with characteristic self-possession. It was found that small shot had been used in the two discharges. A bullet had grazed his leg, and more than 30 pellets lodged in the cheek, arms, head, and back. The wounds in themselves were not such as threatened immediate danger, but the gravest apprehensions were entertained by the populace lest the shock should prove too great for the aged monarch, who is now 81 years of age. When some 30 grains of small shot had been extracted, the operation was interrupted from the wounds causing the skin and muscles to swell. We are told that the Emperor, who was very calm and composed throughout, at this momentary interruption sent a message to the Shah of Persia — who had recently arrived in Berlin from St. Petersburg — regretting his inability to dine with him that day, as previously arranged. He has shown the same equable spirit on every occasion. His Majesty ordinarily sleeps on a small iron bedstead in a very unpretending back room, but has now been removed to a larger pallet-bed, placed in a front room facing the Linden street. A letter from Berlin states that on being told measures had been taken to shut out the noise, he would not allow the passage of carriages to be prohibited on the opposite si le of the Linden and in the Opera square. It is estimated that on the night of the attack there were a hundred thousand people circulating in the streets around the palace, and the most absolute silence was preserved by the vast multitude. Among those who came to inquire about .his Majesty's condition was the Shah of Persia, on foot. A member of the German diplomatic service was coming down from the palace, and was stopped for a moment by the impassable crowd. Just then somebody whispered in his ear in broken French, " Monsieur, can you give me any news about the Emperor ? Je suis le Shah de Perse!" The assassin proved to be one Carl Nobiling, a cultivated man and doctor of philosophy, young and well connected, various members of his family having served in the army or in high official positions. The gun he used was found to be a double-barrelled fowling-piece of the best make, but he had also a revolver and other weapons in reserve. A a innkeeper was the first to break into the room, and a shot from this revolver carried away his chin. An infantry officer pressing in, struck down Nobiling with his sword, whereupon the -wretched man turned the pistol upon himself and put a shot into his own head. The people bursting into the house would have thrown the assassin out of the window to the crowd below, who were clamouring for ' his blood, but a captain of hussars held them at bay with drawn sword till the police had arrived. Then occurred another painful scene. The driver of the police van, in order the better to secure Ids prisoner, drove into the court-yard of the houso ; the arch was low, and ho stooped to pass, but not quite enough. Striking his head at tliis angle, the blow snapped the spinal column and killed him. An officer mounted the vacant box, and a soldier followed to take the veins. A strong escort of mounted police barely succeeded in protecting the assassin from instant death. Nobiling's father iva9 a major in the army — an eccentric man, who shot himself without apparent motive. One of his sisters died insane. There is some reason, therefore, to hope that his crime may be traceable to an insane impulse ; but his antecedents show him to hiive been in full possession of his mind. His Socialistic views were ao openly I expressed while he was a. student at Halle • and Leipsic that he -was nicknamed " PetroI leur." The fact; however; which has occa- : sioned most uneasiness is. his declaration that j he was choson the instruemctit of a coni spiracy. His life now hangs in the balance, 1 and he has been for some day unconscious. But on the afternoon of his nrreut he was atill able to answer a few questions when

examined by the prosecutor and judge of inquiry, in presence of his mother, who had been fetched to identify him. He stated that he had accomplices, and that though he had no reason to spare them, he would not then divulge their names. According to his assertion lots were drawn, and the office of shooting the Emperor had fallen upon him. He declared that he was influenced by political motives, and believed that society would gain by the removal of its Imperial head. The Times correspondent mentions an incident which harmonises with this confession. " A few days after Hoedel's attempt Nobiling said to the maidservant of his landlady that the Emperor was sure to be shot some day by a practised hand. Upon the girl remarking on the uselessness of assassinating the Emperor, even from the Socialist point of view, Nobiling replied, 'No doubt the Crown Prince will succeed ; but if he is killed too, and the next 10 that may succeed him are promptly disposed of in like manner, we shall have the Republic in no time.' The girl looked upon these remarks as a bad joke." The bare possibility of such a conspiracy is alarming, but as yet there is no sure evidence of its existence. The Crown Prince and Princess were in England — the centre at that moment of a distinguished party at Lord Salisbury's country seat— when they received intimation of what had happened. They instantly started to return to Berlin, and travelled in the same train which bore Count Schouvaloff once more back to St. Petersburg. One unpleasant incident had occurred during their visit to this country. A number of Germans resident in London had proposed to present the Prince with an address of welcome. This proj ect was violently opposed by a party of Socialists. The address was, however, presented, and kindly received by both the Prince and Princess, but the deputation to whom it had been entrusted were met, on coming out into the street from the German embassy, by a disappointed band of their opponents, who yelled and hooted, and were aided by some Frenchmen, who sang the "Marseillaise." The disturbance was soon quelled, but not before it had given rise to the report that an attempt had been made on the life of the Crown Prince. Among the letters found in the possession of Nobiling was one giving a full account of this transaction. The Emperor soon after his disablement, while preserving full presence of mind, had expressed a wish that the Crown Prince might be at once appointed Regent, or at least invested with partial powers, so that no inconvenience might arise to the Government. This wish was immediately communicated in cipher to the Prince. He objects to a regency , but is to be "substitute" or "representative" of the Emperor, a distinction which follows the precedent of 1857. An Imperial decree has since been issued to this end. Cabinet Councils have been held to consider what practical steps shall be taken to meet the present danger. The difficulty of grappling with so subtle a foe is great. The measures proposed after Hoedel's attempt did not find favour wjth the public, and were rejected by the German Parliament as imposing too severe a restraint on individual freedom. — Argus correspondent. AT THE ALTAR. <t (Concluded.) We arrived in New York without further mishap; and having banked by money, I hurried off to Saybrook. It had been now full four years since I heard from my wife. How should I find her? Should I find her at all ? Words which she had once spoken came back to me, ns they had come a thousand times before, with the weight of a -dreadful warning. I had shown her the name, you remember, of my new ship, and had told her that thus would we save her old name ; and she had answered me — " Tes, Jack, and while you save it so beautifully^ I shall be the happiest of the happy /" Those words came back to me like a flash, when I first knew that my ship was lost, and that the golden name was gone for ever ! You know how superstitions will sometimes seize upon a man, and hold his fancy against every effort of reason to banish the incubus. It was so with me. However, I reached Saybrook, and found Aunt Abby Poole living alone, and very poor. Her husband had been dead two years. My appearance frightened her, and it was a long time before she could be brought to believe that she really saw Jack Lumley, alive and in the flesh. When I asked for Mollie— for my wife — she staggered back as though she had been struck, and would have sunk to the floor had I not supported her. By-and-by she was able to tell me the story. Had she told me that my Mollie was dead, I could have borne it. But — Heaven have mercy ! — the thing she was forced to tell very nearly killed me ; and it now came her turn to support me. Storm and tempest, with death howling in my ears, had been upon me many times, but never anything like this. News had come to Saybrook that my ship had been lost, and that all on board had perished ; and in time the tidings were confirmed fiom the owners and underwriters. Our child had died. For a full year Mollie lay between life and death, utterly prostrated by the blow. While she lay thus her uncle died, and she and her aunt were reduced to poverty— to a poverty so absolute that they came at length to suffer for the common necessaries of life. In this condition Lemuel Atherton found my darling, and offered his hand. He had been an old suitor, and was rich, — or he was in good business. Mollie first repulsed him with a shudder, but he was persistent. For a whole year he urged his suit at every opportunity. " He was very kind to us," said Aunt Abby in conclusion, " and at length, at my earnest entreaty, Mollie gave in. We were very, very poor, and might have starved but for Atherton. That her husband could be alive Mollie had ceased to hope. He had been gone almost four years. She married with Lemuel Atherton a month ago. " Here — in your house ?" I asked, feeling a deathly sickness in the thought. But she told me no. Mr Atherton had taken Mollie to his home in Harwich, and the ceremony had been performed there. " Only a month ! Had I found the ship ready to Bail on my first arrival at Melbourne, this great calamity might have been averted. What was now my wealth to me ? Oh, my poor heart ! I rushed out into the night, and until dawn of day wandered up and down distracted. I had no thought of blame for Mollie. When I becaree calm I resolved to go to Harwich and look upon her loved face once more. She should not see me. I would gaze upon her just once, and then fly from the country. No act of mine should bring further trouble upon her. I reached Harwich at two o'clock in the afternoon. As I sat by the window of the inn I could see the village church not far dis- | tank, on the opposite side of the way, and I saw people going in. Two men stood directly under my window, one of whom asked the other what was going on in the church " A wedding," was the answer. " Lem. Atherton and Mollie Lnmley — she that was Mollie Starbird." " But I thought they were married four weeks ago," said the first speaker. "So they were to have been," replied tho other, " but the lady was taken sick, and has been very low ever since. They wouldn't be married now, I think, only that Atherton wants to take her- to Florida for her health." I can hardly tell you how I got to the church, but I found myself crouching away in a rear pew just as the old clergyman was beginning the ceremony. I saw my Mollie once again. She was pale as death, and very weak ; but, oh ! she was a 9 beautiful as ercr. At the words, "If any one knows of | just cause," and co on, I tried to start up, but I was powerlosß, and my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth. By-and-by tho minister asked Mollie, "Do you take tlu\ man to be your lawfully wedded husband ?" He was going on to ask her if she would be true to him, and serve him, when she gave a great start and a cry, and threw her hands out a? though ulie was clutching at something in the air. '' No ! no ! no !" she cried, in tones that startled everybody. *'I cannot! I cannot! Ol», Jack! Jack! will you never, (never come back?" My fioulJ I tell jou, I had strength

enough then. I called my darling's nainft with a glad shout, and in a moment mow she was in my arms. "Oh, Jack!" she cried, clinging to oft with a glad strength. "I saw you last night You came to me from the sea.", She had seen me in a dreatn. j but we didn't stop to explain matters there. Mr Atherton was a gentleman, and he insisted upon my going to his house. And there, when we had gained breath, I told my etory. The oldL clergyman had come to hear it and hededeelared it wonderful ; and Lemuel Atherton* when he knew what I had suffered, had better grace to give up the prize he had come sd near winning. " I shouldn't have been a prize to him,**. Mollie said to me afterwards. " I never should have lived to be his wife. At the very altar your spirit came between him and me." And so my gold came to be of use after aIL My Mollies cheeks filled out again-; the colour came back to her face, and the old light came back to her eyes. And, gentlemen, look at her now. There's a pair of little rascals up-stairs that call her grandma; and there's silver in her hair j but I'll leave it to you"Hush, dear old Jack. You've talked enough about me fo- to-night." "But you are still my darling, Mollie ?" " Always, Jack — bless you ! "