118 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



[Nov 



tacked, and wounded by several 

 ruffians. They consulted among 

 themselves whether they should put 

 him to death, or carry him off, 

 but in the mean time they kept 

 him in custody. At half an hour 

 after sunset, when Lucien's fa- 

 mily were about to sit down to 

 dinner, Monseignor Cuneo was 

 missing, and servants with lighted 

 torches were sent in search of him . 

 They went towards Tusculum, 

 and called loudly his name. In 

 the meantime the robbers rushed 

 towards the house, and seized 

 Lucien's Secretary, M. Chatillon, 

 together with two servants (mis- 

 taking probably the Secretary for 

 the master), and carried him off. 

 ]\Ionseignor Cuneo had the good 

 fortune to make his escape during 

 the tumult. A report has spread 

 this morning, that the noted rob- 

 ber liarbone, of Velletri, perpe- 

 trated this violence with twenty- 

 seven of his banditti ; but from 

 the declarations of some of Lucien's 

 people, there were only si.\ men 

 engaged in it, who were dressed 

 in the garb of boors, without shoes, 

 and wearing only a species of 

 sandal tied on their feet, (called 

 ciovie,) like the poorest of the 

 people. 



Horrid Murders at Godalming. — 

 Early on Tuesday morning the 

 11th, a man who had ordered 

 some shoes to be made at Mr. 

 Channel's, shoemaker, at Godal- 

 ming, called for the purpose of 

 ascertaining if they were done. 

 On opening the door, the first ob- 

 ject that caught his eye, was the 

 body of Mr. Channel's house- 

 keeper stretched on the floor, with 

 her throat cut in a shocking man- 

 ner. He was terrified at the 

 sight, and called in some of the 

 neighbours ; they found the floor 



covered with blood, and the old 

 woman quite dead and cold. They 

 proceeded up stairs, and were 

 horror-struck at the sight of Mr. 

 Channel lying on the ground, with 

 his head nearly severed from the 

 body. His body was bruised in 

 various parts, as if very recently 

 done, from which it may be in- 

 ferred that he must have had a 

 severe stjuggle with the mur- 

 derers : he was quite cold, which 

 circumstance led the parties to 

 suppose that the diabolical attack 

 and inhuman murders were com- 

 mitted on the preceding night. 

 Upon a further examination of the 

 body of the housekeeper, it was 

 found that her skull was fractured ; 

 a hammer that was found on the 

 ground, which Mr. Channel used 

 in his business, appeared to have 

 been the instrument with which 

 the blow was given, as the face 

 of it exactly corresponded with the 

 mark upon the skull. Immediate 

 information was given to the Ma- 

 gistrates in the neighbourhood of 

 the dreadful transaction, and they 

 with great promptness caused an 

 immediate investigation for the 

 purpose of discovering the per- 

 petrator or perpetrators of the 

 murders. Lord Middleton, who 

 is a Magistrate for the county, was 

 indefatigable in his exertions to 

 acquire information. He sum- 

 moned every person whose evi- 

 dence could afford the least clue to 

 the discovery of the offenders. The 

 son of Mr. Channel, who is mar- 

 ried and lived at some distance 

 from his father, was apprehended 

 on suspicion of being concerned, 

 and underwent an examination ; 

 when it appeared by the evidence, 

 that on Mond.ay night he was 

 drinking at a public-house a short 

 distance from his father's, and 



that 



