§ MR. BIGGARasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether there is any truth in the report on page 3 of The Standard of the 10th instant, that an outrage was committed on Saturday evening, as follows, at Windsor Castle:—
It appears that the sentry on duty at the north-east point of the Castle was patrolling his beat as usual when suddenly two men appeared and fired at him, fortunately without doing any harm. The men immediately made off down the slopes on the Royal demesne. The household police and others hearing the shots hurried to the spot, and would have fired at the runaways had they not been prevented by the authorities of the Castle present from doing so, which naturally facilitated the escape of the men, who have not yet been arrested. Owing to the interference experienced by the police on this occasion, differences it is stated have arisen between the Castle and the military authorities. The would-be outrage is now generally believed to be a hoax, got up by the Palace authorities to increase the vigilance of the police and the military authorities in case of any emergency;and, whether the Royal servants did as suggested in the report perpetrate a hoax, with a view of alarming the military?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTI have inquired into this matter. As far as I can discover the only hoax attempted was by the author of the newspaper paragraph, and I am sorry to find he has partly succeeded.