Butte record., 1855-02-24
From Beu;on's .'Thiry Years View
ATTEMP TED ASSASSINATION OF
GENERAL JACKSON.

GEHGRAL JaCASS4s.
On Friday, the 3nth of January, The
President, with some members of Iii
Cabinet. attended the funeral ceremo-
nies of Warren H. Davis, Esq, in the
ball of the House of representatives,
of which body Mr.. Davis had been
member from the State OF South Caro-
Ina. The procession had moved ou'
with the body, and its front had reached
the foot of the broad steps of the east
ern portico, when the President, with
Mr. Woodbury., Secretary Of the Treas
ury, and Mr.. Mahlon Dickcrsou, Secre
tary of the Navy, were issuing from the
door Of the gre rotunda which opens
upon the portico. At the instant per-
son stepped from the crowd into the lit
tie open space in front of the President
levelied pistol al him, at the distance
of about eight feet, and attempted to
fire. 1t was percussion lock, and the
cap exploded without firing the powder
in the barrel. The explosion of the cap
was 50 loud that many persons thought
the pistol had fired. I heard it at the
foot of the steps, far from the place, and
a great crowd between. Inst nily the
person dropped the pistol which had
missed fire, took another which he had
ready cooked in the left hand, concealed
BY cloak, levelled it and pulled the
trigger. II was also percussion lock,
and the cap exploded without firing the
powder in the barrel. The President
inttantly rushed upon him with his up
lifted cane, and the man shrank back !;
Mr. Woodbury. aimed blow at him;
Lieut.. Gedney, Of the navy, knocked
him down; he was secured by the by
staders, who delivered him to the officers
of justice, for judicial examination.
The Examination took place before the
Chief Justice of the District, Mr. Clanch,
by whom he was committed, in default
of bail. His name was ascertained to
be Richard Lawrence, an Englishman
by birth, and house painter by trade, at
present out Of employment, melancholy
and irraecible. The pistols. we're ex-
amined and found to be we'll loaded
and fired, afterwards, without fail, car
rying their bullets true, and driving
them through inch boards at thirty feet
distance; nor could any reason be found
for the two fa lures at the doors Of the
rotunda. On bis examination the priso-
ner seemed TO be at his ease, as if IN
conscious Of having done anything wrong,
refusing to cross-examine the witnesses
who testified against bin, or to give any
explanation of his condnct The idea
of an unsound mind strongly impressing
itself upon public opinion, the Marshal
of the District invited two of the most
respectable physicians of the city, Or.
Caussid and Dir. Thomas Sewcll, TO visit
him and examine into his mental condi-
ton. They did SO, and the following is
the report made upon the case
q The undersigned, having been re
quested by the Marshal of The District
of Columbia to visit Richard Lawrence,
now confined in jail of tie county of
Washington, for an attempt to assassi
nate the President of the Unit9d States,
with view to ascertain as far as prac-
ticable, the present condition of his
bodily health and state Of mind, and be-
lieviag that detail of the examination
will be more satisfactory than an abstract
opinitn on the subject, we therefore give
the following statement: On entering
his room We engaged in free CONVEX
sation with him, in which he participa.
ted, apparently, in the most artless and
unreserEed manner. The first interrog
atory We propounded was his age, which
question alone he sportively declined an
swering. We then inquired into the
condition of his health for several years
past, to which he replied that it had
been uniformly good, and that he had
never labored under any mental derange-
ment; nor did be admit the existence of
any OF those symptoms Of physical de
rangement which usually attend mental
alienation. He satd he was born in
England and came to this country when
, twelve or thirteen years of age, and that
his father died in the District about six
or eight years since that his father was
a Protestant and his mother Metho-
dist; and that he was not professor of
any religion, but sometimes read the BIZ
bic, and occasionally attended church.