The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1874-11-05
A Society Of Assassins.


From 1868 to 1871 in Ravenna, Italy,
thirteen persons belonging to all ranks OF
society, from the Magistrate down to the
common police agent, were stabbed or
| shotln succession by individuals who dur
| ing all these six years succeeded in escap-
| ing detection. Several of these murders.
or attempts at murder, were perpetrated
in broad daylight, on the public square of
the town, in front OF the guard house. Ar
rests were made and suspected persons
We're kept for months in prison. 1t was
impossible to catch OF discover the Grim
lnals. Neither the numerous witnesses of
these bloody scenes, nor the friends and
relations OF the victims, nor even those OF
victims who survived, could or would de
nounce the culprits. A like impenetrablc
mystery enshrouded the motive OF the
asSassns
Inc hrSt victim was the Cheyalier
Monghini, an Ex-Director of the National
BANK, who, While returning home Mt night,
was slapped with knife, the object being
to punish him for the difficulties and obsta-
cles which his refusal to discount bills had
caused to small tradesmen, and which had
toryears given him the nickname of '.Ex-
ecutloner," etc. Fusconi Sebastiano, A
surgeon, was condemned and murdered
1or not less general reasons. He was
charged with having SAID at time when
grain was dear that the owners could dis
pose OF it as adyantagcOusly as possible
for themselves, and that the people must
suffer hunger to such a point as to be re-
duced to eat horses litter Others, like
the Procuratore CeSare Capper, were as
sasslnated with view of avenging the
imprisonment an long detention of sew
eral members of the band others, like the
brothers Iassuari, who We're members OF
the Society, as Il warning against the in
dlScretiOns t. which their habitual drunk
enness might lead
Last year, when all hope OF detecting
the assassin had been abandoned man
named Giovanni Resta waited on the
Juge d@nstruction at Pistols, and divulged
their names and organization, including
the smallest details OF their procedure dur
ing and subsequently to each assassina-
ton. He was the brother Of one Of the
criminals, and the confidant Of most OF
them, and he remained to the last on the
best terms with the tWenty-three person.
he denounced, the reason he assigned f1l
his disclosure being that he wished to dis
Slpate the suspicion that his only son might
have had a murderer tor his father
1t appears from his statement and the
investigation which followed tina. nine
years ago a society was formed, originally
numbering no more than twelve member.
which after formal consultation, passed
sentences of death, which were ut tlr-t
executed timidly, but atterward with
boldness, derived from sense Of impuuty
Pistols and guns We're sometimes used
but usually knives which We're deposited
IN chest IN the room where they met.
and were spoken OF by members as pra.
When the Bianconi had To convene t.-
band to decide on the tate Of a proposed
victim the expression they used wa
that they We're going to summon tia
masters
Some, at least, of these assassins wcry
tar from being the most degraded OF men.
They We're not deYoid Of patriotism, and
went through the campaign OF 1866 in the
Tyrol with credit, or like CavalcoH Clio
yanni responded in 1867 to Garbaldi's ap-
peal, and fell brayely at the capture ut
Monte Rotondo Another characteristic
trait was the kind of publicity they gave
to their acts. Not satisfied with executing
their victims by daylight in the presence
OF numerous witnesses, they apprised
them OF their sentence bv ANONYMOUS
letters, or placarded their doom with suclt
inscriptions as "A furnished room to let
Many persons, including some OF thosr
whose lives were attempted, recognized
the assasins repeatedly but whenever any
OF the latter happened to be among thosr
taken into custody by the police, nobody
ventured to give evidence against them
and complaisant persons We're found t.
establish an aljbi, such was the terror ot
completely they produced