ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

Dunstan Times, Issue 309, 27 March 1868, Page 2

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

Intelligence was received in Dunedin . on Saturday night, via Wellington, j that, on the 12tli inst.. a telegram was received in Melbourne to the effect that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh had been shot by supposed Fenians, while at a pic-nic, ■ j in the neighborhood of Sydney. '.l he news is partiallj corroborated, i but not confirmed. There is considerable excitement. ;\"o telegraphic news had been received of* the English mail. DraEnix. Tuesday, 24th. The English Jlail arrived yesterday : morning. The news brought, confirms yester- ' days Telegram. The Duke of Fdiuburgh was shot , : while at a Pic-nic f>n the 12th inst. I I by a man named O'Farrell. i j The would be assassin was immedii j ately arrested, and lodged in gaol. ; j Two shots were fired, one, hitting a ' | man, named Throm. • | The Duke bled profusely, and was i ! very weak. 1 It is generally believed that exten- - sivo Feniauism exists. i The Government have received so- ; cret information of the extent of the , Fenian organization. The Governor of New South Wales was also fired at. A reward of £IOOO has been offer- - ed by the Government for infor- - maton. In Melbourne, both houses of Paris liament framed addresses, expressing , deep sorrow, and indignation, at the | outrage committed on the Duke. - ! A largo public meeting passed an 1 j address. l ; Public meetings have been held r everywhere. The Groat Britain left Hobsons

Bay for England, with seventy!" thousand ounces of gold. " r Wellington, Saturday. * Telegrams have been passing all , day between the General Government y and the Provincial authorities at 1 Nelson respecting the reported as- B sassination of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. The latest telegram states that' His c Royal Highness was shot through the t lungs with three slugs.

LATENT PARTICULARS. ! A portion of the Following appeared as " Extraordinaries " on Monday . and Tuesday last. j We extract the following for the f " Daily Times" Melbourne eorrespon- 1 dent's letter, dated the 16th inst. : 1 On Thursday evening last this city ( was thrown into the greatest conster- t nation by the receipt of telegrams i from Sydney, with the horrifying intelligence that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh had been dangerously wounded by a shot from the hand of a would-be assassing. The particulars of the dreadful occurrence, so far as they are known in Victoria up to the present time, are as followr : OnThursday afternoon the Duke, in company with a party from Government House and a large miscellaneous assemblage, attended the Sailors' Home pic-nic, at one of those pretty spots which are so nmneroue on the shores of the Sydney Harbor, when, while walking between the Countess of Belmore and !*ir William Manning, a man approached him from behind, drew a revolver, and shot His Royal : Highness in the back. The woui ded | Prince fell, exclaiming '• My back is broken." The assassin tired a second shot, evidently with the intention of murdering Sir W. Manning, whom, it is suppose I ha m istook for the Cuvernor. Sir Wil iam, however, before the miscreant had time to carry out his design, threw himself on the ' ground, and thus escaped unhurt ; bur. the ball hit a gentleman namedThorne in the heel, and inflicted a dangerous '■ wound. As the man was about to I fire a third shot he was seized by a I by-stander, amidst cries of, " Lynch ! him! Lynch him!'' Indeed, had it not been for the immediate interference of the. police, the fellow would, no doubt, have been lorn limb from ! limb, so intense was the feeling exi cited by the crime. As it was, his clothes were torn from his back, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the police at length succeeded in con- ■ veying him to gaol. In the meantime His Loyal Higness was carried on board the steamer .Morpeth, and conveyed with all speed to the landingplace at Sydney. On his arrival there no time was lost in procuring the best medical assistance available in the city, in addition to which the surgeons of the Galatea and the Challenger 1 were soon afterwards in attendance. I His Royal Highness's wound was said not to be mortal ; but then we were j told that the ball had entered his j back, only two inches from the spine, ; | and had passed round into or near the I abdomen, and had not been extracted. I : The patient, however, gradually tmproved in strength, until, on Saturday ; morning it was decided that an attempt i ' should be made to find the bullet. That delicate operation was, to the I , unspeakable gratification of the pub- j lie, successfully performed by the surgeons of Her MajestCs ships Galatea and Challenger, and every succes sive telegram now tells us that the Prince is rapidly recovering from the effects of the wound. The name of the man by whom the Prince was struck down is If. J. j O' Farrell, and there seems very little reason to doubt that he is mad. He is an Irishman and a Catho'ic, and the only words he uttered when seized after the commission of the attack on ' the Prii.ee, were ''l am a Dublin man." I may add that both here and at Sydney, espeeia ly at the latter city, there has been a great deal of talk about "Fenianism" in connexion with this frightful and attroeious outrage. The Government of New South Wales has even gone so far as to endorse the popu.ar belief in that respect by offering a reward of .£I,OOO for the arrest and conviction of each of the persons belonging to a supposed Fenian ' plot to slay the Prince. But many persons here, and myself among the I number confidently, believe that <)'Parrell's act was, like many previous attempts upon the lives of the great, the effect of mere lunacy ; and, ■ although Fenianism, in its development in Great Britain, seems mad enough in all conscience, I do hope that the " movement,'' as it is called, 5 has not jet arrived at such a pitch of 3 insanity as to encourage its adherents to take away the life of an amiable ! and innocent young man, whose only fault is that he happens to be the son . of the most excellent Queen who ever sat upon the British throne. It is stated that a number of arrests 3- made, and it is added :

Fenianism,' it it ■ existed liere,*hatf eceived a solemn Warning that no inns will be held with, jt. A preminary examination of O'Farrell ook place to-day, at the gaol. He us been remanded till Tuesday next, 'he Government intend to issue a pecial Commission for his trial. VFarrell states that, twenty peisons .•ere in the conspiracy. The number ais afterwards reduced fo ten who irew lots as to who should a'ssassine he Prince." The "Argus', of the 10th inst conaiiio Sydney telegrams up to 10.30 i.m. on Sunday, the 15th. They give he following information":— The ball was extracted on Saturday norning, by Drs Young and Watson. Hie Prince bore the operation galantly, an«l lias since been progressing avorably- He is free froin pain. ( lear from a private source that the >all entered the Prince's- back .ahonjQf wo inches to the right of the spine at he lower part of the back, tfftd glan•ed round the Upper part of the thigh, md under the skin.' There itfveason o believe that there is no injury. :of he internal organs.- • ■■■■■■'.