Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1865-05-03

Now that the assassin has deprived the
nation of It's Chief Magistrate. the follow
ing account OF an attempt upon the life of
General Jackson, during his second term,
will be found interesting we extract il
from the first volume of Colone! Benton's
Thirty Years View"
On Friday, the 30th OF January. 1885.
the President, with some members of his
Cabinet, attended the funeral ceremonies
Warren X. Davis, Esq, in the hall of the
House of Representatives,, of which body
Mr.. Davis had been a member from the
State of South Carolina. The procession
had moved out with the body, and its
front had reached the foot of The broad
steps of the eastern porlico, when the
President. with Mr.. Woodbury., Secretary
OF The Treasury, and Mr.. Mahlon Dick
crson, Secretary OF the Navy. we're issuing
! from the door OF the great roiuud;l, which
! opens upon the portico. At that instant
| :. person stepped from the crowd into the
little open space IN front of the President.
Ieveied pistol at him at tie distance "t
about eight feet, and attempted to fire Ii
was a percussion lock, and the cap exp,o-
ded, wiihout firing the powder in the bar
| rel. The explosion of the zap WAS 80
| loud that many thought the pistol was
! fired. L heard Ii at The foot of tie stc,,s,
far from the place, and great crowd be-
tween. Instantly the erson dropped the
pistol which had missed fire. took another
which lie held ready cooked in tine left
hand concealed by cloak, leveled il. and
pulled the trigger. Ii was also pcrCu-
sion lock, and the cap exploded without
firing the powder III the barrel The
President instantly rushed upon him with
his up!itted cane: tie man shrank back,
Mr.. Woodbury. aimed q blow at him;
Lieutenant Gedncy of The Navy knocked,
! him down; he was secured by the by
ISLANDERS, WHO delivered him to the officers
at Justice for Judicial examination. The
examination took place before the Chief
Justice OF the District, Mr. Cranch hy
whom he WAS committed in default ot
bail.
His name was ascertainCd to be Rich
ard Lawrence, an EuglI-hman by birth,
and house painter by trade, at present oui
of employment, melancholy and irascihie
The pistols were examined and found
Ia be we'll loaded, and fir,d afterward
without fail, carrying their bullets trur,
and driving them through inch boards :t
IEiyiy feet distance, nor could any reason
be found for the two failures at the door
OF the rotunda. On his examination the
prisoner seemed to he at his ease, as if
unconscious of having done anything
wrong-rctueing TO cross examine the Wit
ncsses who testified against him, or 10 give
any explanation of his conduct. The
idea of AN unsound mind strongly i'm
pressed itself upon public opinion, the
Marshal of the District invited two of tie
most respectable physicians of the city
(Dr. Thomas SeweIl) to visit him and ex-
anime into his mental condition. They
dd SO, and the following is the report
which they made upon the case:
We omit the report of the physicians,
which ls TO The effect that Lawrence was
of morbid, melancholy disposition, who
had been induced 20 believe that the tinan-
cial condition of the country was owing
to General Jackson's veto of the bank and
his war ON currency that if he was once
out Of the way, no matter who might b
his successor, business would improve, and
money become plenty.
Ii is clearly 10 be seen, from this medi-
cal examination of the man, that this at
tempted assassination of The President was
one of those cases of which history pre-
! scn:s many ins;ances-a diseased mind
acted upon by general outcry against a
| public man. Lawrence WAS in the par
| ticuar condition To be acted upon 10y what
| he heard against General Jackson-a
workman out of empio, ment, needy, idle,
mentally morbid, and with reason enough
! Ia argue regularly from false premises
| lie heard the President accused of break
! ing UP the the labor of the country, and
believed it--of making money scarce, and
he believed it-of producing distress and
! believed it-of b,in- a tvrant! and be-
lieved i,-uf being an obstacle TO all relief
and believed 1t. Aud coming TO "a rcgular
conclusion from all these beliefs, he at
tempted 10 do what he believed The STATE
Of things required him TO du-;ake ;hC
life ot the man whom he considered tb,
whole cause Of his own and the grner;,
c:.lamitv-and fhe sr,c obstacle 10 his owl
and the general happiness. HalucinatioT
OF mind was evident: and the wretche'
victim of dreadful delusion was after
ward treated as insane, and never brough
10 trial. But the circumstances made :
deep impression upon the public feeling