[Illustration: MR. R. COBDEN, M.P. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,' JULY 2, 1842.] An event now occurred which afforded the first important opportunity of illustrating the news of the hour. This was the attempt on the life of the Queen, who was fired at as she was driving up Constitution Hill by a young man named Francis. The public excitement on this occasion was very great, and it is a little surprising that the _Illustrated London News_ did not make more of it. In No. 4 there are two illustrations in connexion with this event, one representing the attempted assassination, the other the examination of the prisoner before the Privy Council. The engravings are not very imposing, but large blocks had not then come into use; and as the event occurred on a Monday there was not too much time, with the limited means then at command, to produce them on a large scale. In No. 6 there is a small cut entitled 'The Queen's first trip by Railway,' which illustrates an account of her Majesty's first journey by railway from Windsor to London. With the exception of the drawings by Gilbert most of the illustrations in these first six numbers are of an inferior character, and show that the conductors of the paper had not yet obtained the best artistic help. Indeed it was a long time before the higher class of artists and engravers would believe that an illustrated newspaper was worthy of their professional attention. Illustrations of the Police Reports continued to be scattered through the early numbers, mingled with such subjects as a ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre, a public dinner, a launch, a horserace, and sketches of the Chartist riots at Preston. The Queen's first visit to Scotland was very copiously illustrated, and a series of 'Popular Portraits' was begun which included most of the prominent politicians of the day. In No. 11 the fatal accident to the Duke of Orleans is illustrated; and further on the hand of Gilbert is visible in the drawings representing the funeral of the Duke of Sussex, the Lord Mayor's Show, and the grand Polish Ball at Guildhall. With No. 19 the office was removed to 198 Strand, where it has remained ever since. The first Cattle Show illustrations occur in No. 31, and it is evident that the artists by whom they were executed had not made that kind of art their special study. The approach of Christmas is heralded by the introduction of various laughable sketches; the Pantomimes are illustrated by Alfred Crowquill, and Christmas himself is welcomed in a 'Song of the Wassail Bowl.' Kenny Meadows finishes the volume with a party of Cupids carrying the _Illustrated London News_ through the air, while a literary and artistic Cupid, cap in hand, makes his bow to the reader.