The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-16 00:00:00

ITALY.

We read in the Risorgimento of Turin the following
letter, addressed by the members of the Municipal
Council of Florence to Sig. Peruzzi, who has been
dismissed from his post of Gonfaloniere, on account
of his having proposed the address we mentioned a few
days ago, praying for the re-establishment of the Con-
stitution .

" Florence, Oct. 1, 1850.
" Very illustrious Sir,—On the occasion of your
resigning the office of Gonfaloniere, we wish to
express to you, Sir, the sorrow with which the
decree which deprives you of your post has
filled our hearts and those of our fellow-citizens.
Whatever may have been the opinion entertained by
others, it appeared to us in the municipal sitting, of
the 27th September last, and it appears to us still,
that the respectful petition you were directed by the
Council to present to his Highness, far from being an
illegal act, was, on the one hand the fulfilment of our
duty towards our constituents, and on the other a proof
of our confidence in the benevolent intentions of our
Sovereign. To repel the accusations which had been
made upon the country was a sacred duty of the Mu-
nicipality, as well as a right of every conscientious
citizen. Our praying for the re-establishment of the
Statute, in the respectful form in which it was done,
was a proof of the confidence we feel in the intentions
which the Gavernment has always declared, and the
Sovereign recently confirmed. The Florentine Mu-
nicipality, which had assumed so great a responsi-
bility, iu the restoration of the 12th of April, could
not, and ought not, to have been silent on so serious
and solemn an occasion. We have the honour to de-
clare ourselves,

" Your friends and colleagues, &e."

Among the signatures to this letter we find the
names of Ca pponi, Ridolfi, Don Neri Corsini, and
other eminent men of Tuscany.

THE L ATE QUEEN of the BELGIANS.
The Lndependance of Brussels has the following
under date of Ostend, the 12th :—" The mortal re-
mains of the Queen were deposited last night in the
Chambre Ardente. The cure of the church of Ostend,
the Countess de Merode, L idy of Honour, the Coun-
tess Vilain XIV., and the Countess Hnlst, Lady of
Honour to Queen Merits Amelie, passed the night in
priyer near the royal remains. At, seven o'clock in the
morning a mass was said in the chapel, at which Queen
Amelie and the Princesses were present. At nice o'clock
the whole of the Royal Family again assembled round
the body. At this mass, which was performed by the
cure of Ostend, the King of the Belgians, the Duke
de Brabant, the Count de Flandre, and the Princess
Charlotte; Queen Marie Amelie, the Duchess of
Orleans, the Princess Clementine, Prince de Join-
ville, and the Duke d'Aumale were present. The
Duke de Nemoure was not able to be pre-
sent. In addition to his previous indisposition, he
met with an accident while hastening to be pre-
sent at the last moments of his deceased sister.
The streets being so badly lighted, he struck his
knee against the side of a flight of steps which pro-
jected across the foot pavement. Tha blow was
very violent, but in the agitation of the moment he
paid no attention to it ; a violent inflammation has
since come on, and the knee is much swollen. The
body of the Queen will not be removed to Brussels
until Tuesday, and it is not yet known when the
King and his family will leave Ostend. It is now
said that the Orleans family will accompany his Ma-
jesty to Lacken. The Duke de Nemours will per-
haps ba prevented from doing so by the indisposition,
which now compels him to keep his bed. The
Duchess of Orleans will proceed to England." An-
other letter says :—" The Clispel Ardente, which had
been hastily prepared in the Palace, is extremely
simple. A saloon adjoining the bedroom in which
the Queen expired was hung with black, on which
the royal initials were embroidered in silver. A
state bed was placed in the middle of the room,
on which the body was laid ; opposite it was an
altar covered with black. Yellow wax-lights
were placed round the room and round the funeral
couch. The Queen was dressed as in the last days
of her illness. Her calm and mild physiognomy
evidenced the serenity of her mind, and her eyes
were open as though she still lived ; her hinds were
clasped on her breast in the attitude of prayer. An
artist of Ostend, M. Van Cuyck, has this morning
drawn the portrait of our beloved Queen.
Queen Marie Amelie, • accompanied by the
Princess Clementine, went again this morning
to the hotel Fontaine to visit the Duke de
Nemours. The countenance of the august widow of
Louis Philippe bears the marks of profound grief, but
in her walk and attitude she displays the greatest
courage and resignation. The Princess Clementine is
pale and careworn : the Prince de Joinville can
scarely see ; the grief he has lately experienced has
added ten years to the age of the gallant young
Admiral. The Princes display the greatest affability.
They stipulated as a condition of their remaining at
the hotel that they should be treated as private
individuals. The King came on foot some time after
the Q teen Amelie to visit the Duke de Nemours.
It is impossible to depict the impression which is left
on his countenance by the terrible event which
has just fallen on his tenderest affections. The
Countess Mollien, who made part of the suite of
Queen Amalie, left at one o'clock for Paris. There
now remains with the Queen the Duchess Martnier
and the Countess d'Hulst. If the weather is favour-
able, the Duchess of Orleans will leave to-morrow at
high water for Dover. It is now fixed that the
mortal remains of her Majesty will leaye (Mend on
Monday."
_

Two national subscriptions have been opened at
Brussels and in other parts of Belgium for the erec-

tion of a monument in memory of the late Queen,
and the other for founding a charitable institution to
bear her name.

A PUGILISTIC RENCUNTRE
WITH THE DUKE OF ATHOLL.
The Scottish Press says—" The arrival of the sea-
son at which travellers return southwards from their
Highland rambles, brings us some curious stories
about the Duke of Atholl. We intimated a few
weeks ago that his Grace, though condescending to
grant occasional passports to travellers desirous of
proceeding through Glen Tilt, seemed determined to
dispute the proper application of the recent legal de-
cision in the Court of Session, and we regret to say
that we have since heard of one instance, at least, in
which he has actually taken the law into his own
hands, or, we should rather say, has attempted to
administer club law on the subject. It appears, from
facts which have come to our knowledge within the
last day or two, that Glen Tilt, already famous as
the occasion of a most interesting and important law
process, has recently acquired an additional renown
from the circumstance of a fierce fisty-cuff battle
having being fought in it between the Duke of Atholl
himself and two young' gentlemen from England, who
had the hardihood to penetrate into these wilds, tra-
versed by few without a pass. The full details of this
singular and very discreditable affair have not yet
reached us, but the leading facts, which are as fol-
low, may be confidently relied on :
It appears that a few weeks ago two young gentle-
men, students of Cambridge University, feeling de-
sirous of proceeding through Glen Tilt, in order at
once to obtain a view of the scenery and to shorten
the way to their destination, had proceeded so far on
their dangerous journey without molestation, when
they were suddenly brought into the immediate neigh-
bourhood of a party of ladies and gentlemen, whom
they, no doubt, expected to pass with a becoming sa-
lute, and no more about it. How they managed to
obtain admission to the glen at all we have not beard,
but we at least know that they were not, like Pro-
fessor Balfour, interrupted by his Grace, for he hap-
pened to be one of the party alluded to, and no sooner
espied the daring pedestriansithan he approached,
challenged them to stop, and at once ordered them to
turn and go back—an order which was accompanied,
we understand, by such menaces as the head of Clan
Atholl and the rightful lord of Glen Tilt might con-
sider himself entitled to use.
The intruders, as may easily be imagined by any
one who has been so stopped in the• middle of his
journey, were not disposed to yield an immediate
compliance to this rather rough, but by no means
uncharacteristic, demand. A short altercation en-
sued—every short one, we understand ; for who would
ever suppose that a Duke, the Duke of Atholl es-
pecially, would stop to bandy words with two rambling
Cambridge students ? The young gentlemen ex-
pressed their determination to proceed, under the im-
pression that they had a perfect right to do so, while
his Grace as determinedly insisted upon their return-
ing; and in order to show them how to do so, we
suppose, proceeded to collar one of them, and drag
him backwards. Resistance was made, and the fight
began. We are not aware on which side the greatest
amount of science was shown ; but the mill, if we
may borrow a phrase from the ring, which has now
been honoured by the practice of the Duke, must have
been a pretty stiff one. Blows were exchanged freely.
Think of a Duke making such an exchange with an
obtrusive commoner, and both parties seemed to have
considered themselves victorious ! His Grace of
Athol], at least, carried his colours from the field, for
we are credibly informed that two at least of the
tres primativce colores were brought out in his coun-
tenance.
During their "battle sair and tough," the Duke's
piety were looking on, whether in wonder or ad-
miration we are unable to say, but the result was that
the two young gentlemen were committed to the care
of the attendants, while his Grace withdrew to show
his scars, perhaps to wash his face, very discreetly
took them out of the way a little, and then, with men
more good sense than their master, allowed them to
prcceed on their journey.
Such are the bare facts of this singular affair, in
which Scottish nobility certainly does not make a
very creditable figure. Now, we should like to know,
and this battle renders the inquiry very apposite,
whether all travellers in future are expected to fight
their way through Glen Tilt ?—whether, in the event
of passports not :having been obtained, the Duke of
Atholl proposes, like Major Galbraith, as the only
alternative, that all pretty men should draw, or at least
show itght ? If such is to be really the case, there
need rot be so much apprehension about venturing
through the forbidden glen in future. The decision
is a much shorter one than can be obtained through a
Court of Session process, and the honour of fighting a
Duke is given to the bargain—an honour which might
even compensate, in fact, for being eventually forced
to turn back. But, seriously, what shall we think or
say about this conduct on the part of a nobleman ?
Very little can be said, because the unhappy persis-
tency which his Grace has shown in having his name
made notorious in connexion with Glen Tilt, has
never before led him so far—and the bare facts of this
disgraceful proceeding require no comment.