the carriage, which, however,
went on its way. The man then looked back, to see whether any person was
standing near enough to prevent him, and drew another pistol, which he
discharged at the carriage. Prince Albert ordered the postillions to
drive on, and they went as far as Hyde Park Corner, and thence to the
Duchess of Kent's mansion in Belgrave Square, and, after staying there
some little time, drove to Buckingham Palace, where the Queen was
received by crowds of her subjects, cheering vociferously. To say that
she was not affected by the incident would not be true, but she soon
recovered from its effects.

The person who shot at her was a little undersized boy (5ft. 4in.), about
18, named Edward Oxford, a publican's barman, out of work, and as "Satan
finds work for idle hands to do," this boy must needs buy two pistols,
bullets, powder and caps, and begin practising shooting. Whatever made
it enter into his wicked little head to shoot at the Queen, no one knew,
but he did, and was speedily in the hands of the police. He was examined
and re-examined, and finally tried at the Central Criminal Court on 9
July, the trial lasting two days. The defence was the plea of insanity,
and, as no bullets could be found, the jury brought in a verdict of
"Guilty, he being, at the time, insane"; and, in accordance with such
verdict, the judge sentenced him to be imprisoned during Her Majesty's
pleasure.

On the day after being shot at, the Queen and Prince Albert took their
wonted drive in the Park, amidst the shouts of crowded thousands, and the
next day, she, in State, received the congratulations of the Houses of
Lords and Commons, the latter having the first audience. At two o'clock,
the state carriage of the Speaker entered the court, followed by 109
carriages filled with members of the House of Commons; never before, it
was said, was the Speaker followed by so numerous a _cortege_, on the
occasion of presenting an address. As soon as the carriages of the
Commons had left the court, the procession of the Lords began to enter,
the barons first, then the other peers, rising in rank to the royal
dukes. They wore all their stars and garters, and made a brave show.

We get a glimpse of Oxford in prison in a paragraph of the _Times_, 28
Feb., 1843, copied from a Sunday paper.

"As numberless strange and conflicting rumours have been propagated,
relative to the treatment experienced by Edward Oxford, in his place