The Sun. — 1844-10-25 (London, England)

THE KING OF SAXONY AND THE JEW JEWELLER.  THE DESPERATE OUTRAGE AND BURGLARY 'AT MANCETTER. (FURTHER PARTICULARS.) On Saturday night last, between the hours of twelve and one o'clock, the dwelling-house of Mr. Thomas Worthington, at Mancetter, near Atherstone, Warwickshire, was broken into by a gang of ruffians, wearing black masks, and their persons otherwise disguised by black linen, which they wore over their clothes. The house is in a very lonely spot, and a considerable distance from any other dwelling. It seems the burglars commenced their operations by cutting a hole in the front door, the noise of which disturbed Miss Worthington, who opened a window and inquired what they wanted, on which the burglars said the cows had escaped from the close ; but Mr. Worthington, who had now joined his niece, seeing the desperate looking gang of five or six fellows he had to deal with, ordered them to be off about their business, or he would shoot them. Of this the burglars took no notice, but continued their operations against the door, and at last succeeded in making an opening. The inmates, consisting of Mr. Worthington, a niece, a grandniece, and a servant lad and maid, were by this time fully prepared, and Mr. Worthington, who is in his 89th year, placed himself at the door, and with a drawn sword cut and stabbed at the fellows through the hole they had made, and kept them at bay for a considerable time. Finding they could not obtain admittance this way, the burglars battered the door to pieces; but while they were doing so, Miss Worthington brought her uncle his fowling-piece, which was loaded with swan shot, and desired him to shoot the villians, and seeing that his aged hands shook so that he could not take an aim, this heroic lady actually pointed and held the gun, while her uncle fired. This did not deter the burglers, but, finding the inmates so resolved, they, all the while uttering the most horrid oaths and imprecations, next tore up the stones with which tho front of the house was paved, and threw them at the old gentleman and his neice, who still kept their places in the hall, defending the entrance of the house from the robbers ; when, at length, after half an hour's fighting, and no assistance appearing, and Mr. Worthington being wounded in the temple and in various parts of the body, his niece, who stood firmly by his side during the conflict, parleyed with the robbers, and asked whether they wanted their lives, when one of them, who acted as spokesman, said, all they wanted was money, and they did not want to hurt them. The lady then said, if they would promise not to hurt her uncle, no further resistance should be made, which the robbers promised; but the old gentleman still continued resolute, wad stood at the door with his sword, threatening to cut down the first who approached, the blood all the while pouring down from the wound in the temple he had received, when the niece, fearing he would bleed to death, three herself upon him, and took away his sword, which was, covered with the blood of the burglars, on which four of them made their way into the house, and after making the servant lad give up all his money, they next took from Miss Eliza Worthington, a grandniece of Mr. Worthington, a young lady about fifteenyears old, all the money qs luiei eta d They attiewniiinfgorctoed l.itahneg hnieecreif she t,showd7ti them mot keep where fire-arms ; an the money wasd kaef tpetr, which took, tothoek,i SI I"aetes,aisf stre; wroobubldercyomoer atgoaoilnc asnoymestnepigshtto, didiscovern ythneo soeh he s, about t 1 theie y and burn the house and murder all the inmates, they took their departure, and as yet, we regret to say, no traces have been obtained of them. We are happy to say that neither Mr. Worthington nor any of his family are seriously injured, and trust that justice will not be long in overtaking the ruffians, for whose apprehension a reward of 1004 has been offered.  —TheAllgemeine Zeitung contains a contradiction of the report which has been circulated in various German as well as English newspapers, relative to a deception said to have been practised upon the King of Saxony, by a jeweller of whom he made extensive purchases, upon his Majesty's visit to this country. It is stated that the paragraph in question was originated by a tradesman who entertained feelings of jealousy towards the person of whom his Majesty obtained the jewels. The contradiction has been published under the authority of the Master of the Household to the King of Saxony.