The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-09 00:00:00

ITALY.

ATTACK UPON THREE ENGLISHMEN BY
ITALIAN BRIGANDS NEAR ROVIGO.
The following is an extract of a letter just received
from Florence, written to a friend by Albert Smith,
Esq., Lecturer on Chemistry, &c., residing at Chertsey :
" In consequence of there being no vacant places in
the diligence, we left Venice at two o'clock on Saturday,
August 29, and, on landing from our gondola at Fu-
sine, immediately hired a carriage and horses for
the next stage, the party consisting of Mr. De-
castro, Mr. Hallett, and myself. About seven a
violent thunder storm came on, which lasted the whole
way from Padua to Mont Celice ; but on arriving at
the latter place, it cleared up, and a brilliant moonlight
succeeded. The clock struck ten es we left Mont Celice,
and my fellow-travellers soon composed themselves
to sledp in the corner of the carriage, leaving me
awake. We had gone on for about half an hour,
when I felt the horses stop suddenly, so as to throw me
forward with the check, and the next instant I saw,
through the front glasses, six or seven figures ranged
across the road in a semicircle, pointing their guns at
the postilion and closing round the carriage.
" I awoke my companions directly, and then, recol-
lecting I had eight sovereigns loose in my waistcoat
pocket, I contrived to put seven in my mouth between my
cheeks and teeth, and to slip the other into my shoe.
I had . barely finished this operation when we bad
the muzzles of half-a-dozen guns thrust into the
carriage at once against our heads, breasts, &c., ac-
companied by the most horrid oaths and or-
ders to descend. My friend immediately got down
on the near side of the voiture, but I was less fortunate;
for the Italian phblic carriages are not very well ap-
pointed, and the door on my side was nailed up aitoge-
thee. having been formerly broken. In consequence of
this I could not get out when commanded, but that
appeared of little moment, as the chief of the party, a
six-&ated ruffian, seized me by the collar, and dragging
ine over the door, threw me down violently upon the
gr.und, as if I had been a doll, not without some trifling
Alin to m:,self. A general pillage now began. Our
knapsacks and their contents, together with all our
German friend's trunks and portmanteaus, were soon
pulled out of the carriage, and then they commenced
r i1:7,7 our persons. I had the side pocket of my blouse
ii;,al with zcsanzigcrs (Austrian coins worth about
,-,..;:!eenpence) to pay the post, which was directly.
::mptied. Haliett's gold watch and appendages fof-
o:eed ; then our knives, pencil-cases, in fact everything
dawn to our braces, with which they appeared highly
delighted. Tuey tore our trousers in all directions to
make sure no money was concealed in them, and finally
eiscovered the leathern belt which I always wore, and
in which I had placed the circular notes we had oh-
taiued from Ilerries. To show their rapacity I may
here mention that I bad a couple of pins and a gold
chain in my scarf, which was tied in a sailor's knot, and
these I had secured with some thread to prevent their
working out in travelling. The brigand who was rang
me, finding he could not remove the pins, very delibe-
rately took his knife and cut the scarf from say necc,
`taking it away altogether.
" I was extremely anxious respecting a small ;ph?
ring I bad cn my finger, since it could not be removed
and I knew it way their common practice to hack off
finger and all when this was the case. By good luck
they never perceived it, as I contrived to turn the clasped
hands, which formed the signet, towards the inside of
iny palm.
" When they had finished they Made us re-enter our
carriage, still keeping their guns pointed to our heads,
and the postilion, who had descended, resumed his seat,
we proceeded on our route, heartily glad to esca:)e with
our lives, which for the last ten minutes had been worth
but little. Our first care, on arriving at Rovigo, ,was
to call out the gend'armerie, and some ten or twelve
cerbineers departed in search of the robbers, but with
little success, as we subsequently found.
" We passed a wretched night, as you may cone lee,
our bedroom being filled with officers of police, le ws-
paper reporters, &c., until morning, taking down all
sorts of, depositions, and asking innumerable quest.-rls.
The next morning, on the arrival of the diligent , a
young Prussian nobleman, Baron de Hartmann (wl, ;:n
we had met at our hotel in Venice, and who had follow ed
us on our route), entered our room, where we were ac-
tually lying in bed for the want of clothes to get up in,
and insisted on our sharing with him a rouleau of Napo-
leons, which he threw on the bed, pressing us to take
as many as our present wants required. To this gene-
rous and uncalled-for liberality on the part of a foreigner,
and to us almost a perfect stranger, we were indebted
for the means of arriving at Florence, where we again
met him and repaid our debt, having, with our passports,
fortunately preserved our letters of credit.
" The only things that we saved were a pocket tele-
scope, some small silver gondolas for brooches purchased
at Venice, and my straw boating hat, which I still hope
to see again on the Abbey river. Now it is all over,
the affair does to talk and laugh about as ' an adven-
ture,' but, I can assure you, at the time it was anything
but pleasant.—Believe me yours, &c.
" ALBERT SMITH."

DEATH OF A IVlisEtt.—Wednesday afternoon
considerable sensation was created in Vie neighbourhood of
Drury-lane, by the sudden discovery of the death of a
female named Blackett, aged 69, residing in Crown-court,
and whose penurious habits, in conjunction with other cha-
racteristic peculiarities, had for some years excited the ob-
servation of her neighbours. It appeared that deceased
rented a house in Crown-court, letting it out in lodgings,
and appearing to have not only no other means of sub-
sistence, but also to find the profits extremely scanty.
She invariably pleaded poverty when called upon to
pay her rates, dressed in the most ragged apparel,
wag never guilty of indulging in such luxuries as
milk, sugar, or butter, and, though not absolutely
feeding on "rats and mice, and such small deer,"
seldom partook of any other food than scraps of rancid
bacon. She went to bed early to save expense, and got
up early to prolong her life; but on the morning in ques-
tion she was not visible at her usual hour of rising, and
the afternoon having arrived, one of her lodgers had the
curiosity to go down to the kitchen where the deceased
slept, and endeavoured to arouse her. The door, how-
ever, was fastened inside, and every effort having proved
ineffectual, an entrance was at last forcibly effected, when
deceased was found in her bed lifeless, a circumstance
which did not create much surprise, as she was very in-
firm, End had been ailing in health for some time past,
so much so that, only a day or two previously, she had
written to her sister in the country to come up and attend
her. Upon her sitter's arrival, a few hours after de-
ceased's death, the person of the latter was searched, when
a leather pocket, containing an old double sovereign and
some silver was found, curiously secreted about her r erson.
In. cupboards, and other places about the kitchen, were
dit;covered heaps of old rags and bones, but from an old
chest, that deceased had placed under her bed, were pro-
duced a costly silver waiter, formerly the property of her
husband, a number of receipts and books of account for
Money hoarded up in various savings banks, amounting al
together to several hundred pounds, and a will, bequeath-
iix►g all deceased's property to her only sister, a somewhat
si'derly maiden, who already possesses a handsome compe-
te nee of her own. A surgeon in the neighbourhood, who
Oa d known deceased many years, was called in, and de,
cla.-ed her death to be solely attributable to the decay of
nature.

To GET RID OF A VISITOR.—A late writer
uays, " I once had a constant and troublesome visitor
whom I tried many ways to get rid of. First, I essayed
n noke, which he bore like a badger; then I tried fire,
Pl. lien he eadured like a salamander ; at last I lent him
- dollars, and I have never seen him since l"—American
P aper.

The old Bethnal-green workhouse, which is si-
tut ited in a very confined and unhealthy spot, will be
•alu )rtly taken down, a
co urse of erection for tliehew bniiclin
being now in the
fib(7,:ii'lflisiti
jng tlhteassabmcecopadriissroh.nn'
dismantled
portion. of the old
riArP"se, in Bishop Bonner's
EA,fa'rn Counties Railwlyth,
‘ttie Cotnpany allows the
, whichfcr the progress of the
moist" 2C/. per week ior'ly
beenaccommodation of these
ono, removed. In these
;.tur.,rs who have necessapriorti
_B..:tohoopeebr_,uilding ktr ten
this haying
1 ielvi-..; tbo:e still remains a
sb
set
.t one
(pmaelitcoe
fofhitahoeoholnot(r)diyaßeahtsb.op
b.
ii
ch
occupy a
apace
of
many
acre;,
i übeießanner's ficl,ls,
recommended
by a Select Coramitfce of the House of Commons,
for or rive years since, as being ~n, cf ,
toe in''o°stns' • about
gout; ;at th 0,6 e eest end of the tnetropolis for 1 ,eligible
- nt, out a
~übl is walk or park.