Trying To Change A Sovereign.

common police courts for this illustrious detenu . No , he is worthy of interrogation by no less potential a tongue than that of the Prime Minister himself . The Frankenstein who has created the monster that " run him in , " the Power in a white waistcoat , shall sit upon him . " Why is Sir Robert Peel like a counterfeit shilling ? " " Because he ' s a bad Bob ! " was the conundrum and answer Republican Witless had often propounded ancl replied to over the bar

of the " Hog in the Pound , " anent the great Tory statesman . The hero of Waterloo , too , would probably be there ; but Witless mentally referred to him as ¦ " Old Nosey , " and , perhaps—perhaps—but no—Majest y and Majesty ' s husband would be too timid to face again so redoubtable a would-be tyrannicide , so resolute a successor of Brutus .

But it does not appear that Witless found the Privy Council assembled in any very great numbers to do him honour . There w as a peer , it is true—Lord Normanby—that was something ; ancl an Under Secretary of State , Mr . Fox Maule—but that was nothing ; and Mr . Mark Phillips ancl Mr . Hall , of Bow Street—less than nothing . " The Attorney-General , the Lord Chamberlain , and the Controller of the Household , were also present . " Here is a grand opportunity for jjosing , ancl the " drawer" cannot resist indulging . The

witnesses have simply told that he had , the evening before , placed himself with his back to the fence dividing the Green Park from Constitution Hill—that , when her Majesty ' s carriage approached—the Queen , contrary to her usual custom , on this occasion sitting on the left-hand side of her husband , and therefore nearest the garden-wall and farthest from the prisoner—that , when the Queen appearedhe drew a pistol from his breast-pocketpresented it and

, , fired—that the young ancl fair monarch crouched ( I should think she did)—that Prince Albert stood up—that Oxford , distinctly exclaiming " I have got another " then drew another pistol with his other hand , aimed and fired again —that then "Her Majesty arose in the carriage ancl looked round , with no fear on , her countenance neither . " * The traditional courage of her noble race is exemplified here . Then came the scrimmage I have attempted to describe .-f- One

of the witnesses seems to have been mistaken for the culprit . Clayton , a cabinetmaker , wrenches a pistol from Albert Rowe , the nephew of an onlooking spectacle-maker , which Albert had just snatched from the prisoner . Says Clayton to Rowe— " ' You confounded rascal , how dare you shoot at our Queen ? ' I spoke in a loud voice . The prisoner said— ' I give myself up ; I will go quietly . ' I took hold of his coat ; the mob rushed in and seized me ,

and knocked the pistol out of my hand on the ground . The police took me to the station-house , where I was locked up in a cell and searched . " ( Pleasant for the innocent Clayton . ) "When I was brought from the cell I saw the prisoner in the inspector ' s office . He turned round and said , ' Is the Queen hurt ? ' I said to him , ' What did yon put in the barrels ? ' He said , ' I have answered a dozen questions ; there have been a dozen persons asking me questions , and I shall answer no more . '" Then came the opportunity for Witless to pose ancl cackle a la Sim Tappertit , and thus he delivered

himself" A great many witnesses against me . Some say I shot with my left , others with my right . They vary as to the distance . After I fired the first pistol Prince Albert got up , as if he would jump out of the coach , ancl sat down again as if he thought better of it . " ( A touch of sardonic humour here . ) " Then I fired the second pistol . That is all I shall say at present . " Being asked to sign this statement when it is written down , he subscribes the record cheerfully , and then , secretly hoping for the dignity of the Tower , but finding that , in licensed victualling vernacular , his case will onl y " run to " the insignificance of plebeian Newgate , lie resigns himself to his fate ancl a hackney