The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-06 00:00:00

TTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF
THE DUKE OF NORMANDY.

Great sensation was exCited on Monday in Fulham, in
consequence of a diabolical attempt on the previous night
to murder Charles Louis de Bourbon, commonly known
as the Duke of Normandy, who is at present residing at
Mulgrave House, King's-road, Fulham.
The " Duke" professes to be the son of Louis XVI.
and Marie. Antoinette, and consequently the legitimate
heir to the throne of Franee. His life has been twice
previously attempted; once before leaving France, and
on the 10th of November, 1838, in the garden of the
house he then occupied on Camberwell-green. On that
occasion two pistols were discharged at him, and three
balls entered his person.
The following authentic particulars have been col-
lected

An order had been recently received for the manufac-
ture of some machbaery of a peculiar character, and the
Duke of Normandy superintended the getting of it. up,
and worked at it himself. During the last fortne4h.„
be heal been wooking night and day in the shop in,
which, the engineer's lathes are fixed, and th Jug's
gener.ally attended by some of his i
pupils, he
ow
e sionally alone, as was the case in this ns' p,se,
T's,e shop is at some distance from the house, arV, easily
'approachable at night from almost any par's of the
grounds without the persons engaged being Irmare of the
fact. It is chiefly constructed of wood, ar.d has a sky-
light and a casement with two sashes. The panes of
this window were whitoned to prefer', persons from the
outside observing what, was going r:a in the shop, there-
fore a person from '.he garden could not distinguish the
features of the pent's!, who might happen to be at work,
although there we,uld be a reflection of the individual's
figure. Opposite to this workshop is another, in an un-
finished state- where there is every convenience for a
,
on to ocroceal himself in event of a sudden surprise.
The VW. P, between the buildings is narrow, and a man
-presentr.ng a gun at the window of the workshop would,
to okain a steady aim, have to fire from the roof of the
unfinished building.
It, appears that on Thursday evening, about half-p!ist
*e'en o'clock, the Duke was at work at the lathe, which
faces the window, and was in the act of polishing a
piece of brass, when he was suddenly alarmed at a loud
explosion, and the place being momentarily in flamte%
He at first thought that some of the students tad in-
cautiously left some combustible matter, which had
exploded ; but a momentary sight of the 'oroken window
convinced the Duke of the true nature of the explosion,
and he instantly blew out the candle and stooped down
beneath the lathe to avoid another shot. The report
instantly brought Mr. Tucker, the manager, and some
of 'the students, to the spot, where they found the Duke
in the state described. From a hasty examination it
wins ascertained that a bullet had been fired through the
window, from either a blunderbuss or a large cavalry
pistol, that it had passed within an inch or two of the
Duke's head, and made its way through the boarding nt
the back of the garden. From the size of the aperture in
the boarding, and the violence of the report and coneus-
toion attendant upon it, two panes of glass were shat-
tered, besides the one through which the ball passed. It
is evident that the bullet must have weighed nearly two
ounces. The premises were instantly searched tho-
Toughly, but the darkness of the night favoured the es-
cape of the assassin, and the only trae: that could be dis-
covered was the mark of a maxi's footsteps coming up
and descending the banks of she river close to the ferry
which separates Mulgeave douse grounds from Sir Fre.
derick Roe's premi:ses. The embankment is here no;
more than Parer, feet in height, and it is easy for an in-
dividual seareaching the place by means of a boat to
obtain Paxcess to the grounds. Information was instantly
sent to the station-house of the V division, in Milman's-
Tors, Chelsea, and Inspector Sheppard, with Sergeant
Aunt, No. 4 V, immediately proceeded to the premise..
which they also examined most minutely, but without
success.
The Duke informed the police that he believed that
the attack was to be assigned to political motives ; that
he had recently abjured the Roman Catholic creed, and
consequently the Roman Catholics were inveterate
itsrainst him. He had received a letter from a French
priest three weeks previously, informing him that there
Was a plot to take his life, and he had also received tw3
communications from the Barron de Berryer, informing
Aim that two Frenchmen bad endeavoured to enlist him
in a conspiracy to destroy him.
Inspector Sheppard asked the Duke if it was not pos-
'Bible that the attempt might have been made from mo-
tives of private revenge alone ?
The Duke said there was no one that he knew of
laving injured, or that had threatened him. He had dis-
charged a gardener named Eccles, on the previous week,
because there was nothing for him to do, and the man
said he would mark the Duke.
The police have made inquiries after this man, and
ascertained that he quitted his lodgings in Fulham on
Monday night last.
On Friday morning Mr. Bucknell, the superintendent
of the V division, visited the Duke of Normandy, and
made a strict inquiry into all the circumstances of the
case, 'and also made a careful inspection of the premises.
Police-constables Milne, 70 V, and Langton, 35 V, were
employed during the whole day searching for the bullet,
but the fact of its being expended in the kitchen-garden
made their search a fruitless task. The general opinion
is, that the offence was committed by an individual well
acquainted not only with the premises, but with the
Duke's habtts.
fter TEE DIME'S OWN STATEMENT.
A 'an interview with the Duke of Normandy
the Plan ce gave the following account of the trans-
action. The Prince said :—" I was standing at the
trans-
lathe polishing a piece of brass, part of some ma-
ebinf iry which has been ordered by a friendly
Par'..y (at which I have been working night and day,
ll?'..netimes by myself, and occasionally attended by cne
Omy officers), when I heard my dog, which was fa,-
' tened to the kennel outside the shop, barking furiously.
I went out any,, released him, when he bounded down the
garden, biking all the while. I returned to the lathe,
and laticl not been at it five minutes when I heard an ex-
Plosion, and saw my workshop all in flames. I thought
IA first that one of my officers had left some combustible
:4ri the sh op which had ignited ; but directly I saw the
wiudore broken, I knew then that my political enemies
had wait some one to shoot me. To save my life I put,
out the light and stooped down behind the lathe. I
kneov it is a plot of my political enemies ; they thought
i
to shoot me, and believing the shop was full of my n-
', entions, they thought it would be set fire to, and I
should be utterly destroyed."
The Duke of Normandy, in the course of the after-
noon, had a private interview with Mr. Clive, at Ham-
mersmith Po lice-court.

THE SUSPECTED MURDER AT
SALT-HILL.

SLOCGLI, FRIDAY EVENING. - This extraordinary
affair, wtich is wrapped in the greatest mystery, still
continr.es to excite the most intense interest throughout
this extensive neighbourhood. A great number of per-
sons, anxious to have a view of the interior of the house,
and e speciadly the room in which the supposed murder
took place, and now containing the body of the deceased
(uP' in which an inquest was held yesterday), visited the
ho' ales during to-day ; but the constable, with whom is
di posited the key of the house, has received strict in -
tranctions from the Coroner, before whom the adjourned
'proceedings will be resumed to-morrow morning, not to
suffer any one to enter the premises, and these orders
have been strictly attended to.
The deceased had two children living with her at the
time of her death—Frederick, the eldest, aged five
years, and Sarah, an interesting little girl, one year
younger. They had been put to bed by their mother
about half an hour before the discovery of the murder
of their unfortunate parent. Mrs. Ashlee, who gave
evidence before the coroner and jury at the inquest yes-
terday afternoon, was the first person who entered the
loute, after the prisoner, John Tawell, had left. Both
the children, who were then asleep, were immediately
tat:en by Mrs. Ashlee to her own house, which was ad-
jr,ining. The boy was -afterwards asked by Mrs.
.Ashlee if the gentleman lad given his mother any
money before he was put to bed. The child said he
saw no money ; but he heard his mother say to the old
gentleman, " You are a very naughty man, and ve y
cruel," when the gentleman remarked that he should never
come to see his mother again. It may be observed, as a
somewhat remarkable circumstance, that the boy of tip-
.deceased bears a close resemblance to the prisoner, John
Tawell. During the proceedings yesterday before the
eioroner, the boy was taken into an adjoining room,
-where the prisoner was in custody, and instantly recog-
-niaed him as the person who was with his mother on the
preceding afternoon. As soon as the prisoner saw the
child he turned his head away in apparently considerable
agitation.
The room in which the deceased met her death is not
more than about ten feet square. Her head, when her
body, was discovered by Mrs. Ashlee, was lying near the
door, and her feet towards the fireplace. It was stated
at the inquest yesterday that her clothes were in great
diaorder,,laer cap off her head, and one of her stockings
uned •aown and torn. Her shoes were also off her
feet, and lying in another part of the room. From the
general appearance of the bo d•• ande the state of the
clothes of the deceased, it was evident that she had
bee's. engaged in a desperate
struggle. sytrry ,ug le Her eyes were
opien when Mrs. Ashlee entered her" a. artment, and she
breathed her last within about ten minutes afterwards.
'and just as Mr. Champnes, the surgeon arrived. The
deceased, who was about 40 years
.of age, was considered
by her friends and neighbours to be a very quiet and
respectable person.
A pest mortem examination of the body of the deceased
took place yesterday in the presence of Mr. Champnes
and Mr. Norblad,
surgeons or Slough, and likewise s
surgeon from town. The whole of the contents
of beingtheontentsefofa
stomach were taken away for the purpose
full analysed, there being strong reasons for suppocsainrea:
in the absence of any external marks of violence, that
the deceased's death was occasioned from the effects of
some potent poison. The contents of the stomach were
taken to London this morning by Mr. Norbald, followed
by Mr. Champnes. A phial, partly filled with some
light-coloured liquid, was found this morning thrown
over the rails of Mr. Botham's garden, at Salt-hill, ad-
joining the high road, along which the prisoner passed
on Wednesday evening after leaving Bath-place to pro-
ceed to the Slough station. The contents of this phial,
and also the remainder of the porter found in the tumbler
and bottle on the table at the time the deceased was dis-
covered in the agonies of death, have likewise been
taken to London to be analysed.
It will be remembered that when Mrs. Ashlee entered
the room, the deceased was lying on the floor on her
back, foaming at the mouth.We have since been informed
that a quantity of froth, the same in appearance to that I
which issued from the mouth, was on that part of the
table near which the unfortunate woman generally sat.
At the adjourned inquest, which will commence to-
morrow
morning at ten o'clock, some important evidence
is expected to be brought forward.
The prisoner, John Tawell, who is in the custody o f
Mr. Perkins, the superintendent o f the Eton police, is
extremely taciturn, maintaining a sullen silence on the