The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-14 00:00:00

iUtiC.INY.

The ('ustiticionalcOifloeCnCC states that, in con-
scspunce of the new postal regulatiuns stipulated
with France, Tuscany will henceforth receive letters
from Paris in live days instead of eight.
FLORENCE, Ocr. G.
Tuscany is just now a political stepping-stone from
the constitutional liberties of I'icdmont to the des-
potic atrocities of Rome and Naples; the principles of
government which sway it occupy, like its g
phial position, a middle place between thosetOrit
more powerful neighbours, although, unfortunately,
not such a one as might be termed aft's& milieu,
fur it stems to be every day declining towards the
retrograde barbarisms of the south, rather than
aspiring to the enlightened liberality of the north.
edo not, certainly, observe in the actions of the
grand ducal government that reckless spirit of fero-
city which prompts the King of Naples to chain his
prime ministers below the level of the sea, or urges
meek ecclesiastics to guillotine, shoot, and condemn
to the galleys the most talented men of their domi-
nions. The Tuscan uatine, "tolerably mild," does
not admit of such excesses us these, but, on the other
hand, it must be confessed that a thousand under-
hand, lkttifogginfr, vexatious modes of promotion
arc adopted to drive the partisans of constitutional
Frio, iplis into despair or exile, and to crash in the
bPle*i1111" of the moderates all those reasonable hopes
which they have hitherto entertained, from the eon-
seimsoies.s of their own attachment to the sovereign,
and the recollection of the risks and sacrifices they
went through to effect his restoration. Such men as
the %Noises Ilartolomei, ltidolfi, and Gino Cappelli
—in fact, all the leaders of the constitutional party—
are, directly or indirectly, attacked by the reactionary
government; and if such a system continues, the re-
sult will inevitably be here, as in the Papal States,
that the members of the most moderate and reason-

able line of policy will be driven beyond the bounds
of endurance, and either sink into political nonentity
or pass over to swell the ranks of the republicans,
and become the determined enemies of monarchy in

anv Amin.
It has now become evident to every one that the
constitution of Tuscany, which, although at present
a mere dead letter, ha; not yet been formally also-
Balled, must finally sink or swim with that of Aus-
tria; and it is expected that the return of the Grand
Luke, who will probably have received orders on the
subject from the chivalrous young Emperor (to follow
the favourite appellation of the government papers),
will prove the signal for an official renunciation of
the institutions of national guards, personal liberty,
parliamentary representation, ministerial responsi-
bility, and the ninny other ills (in the opinion of
despots) which a constitutional form of government is
heir to. It may be easily imagined that such a pro-
ceeding, although not unforeseen, w ill be extremely
unpopular, and productive of the profoundest fet lings
of disgust amongst the thin 'sing classes. Well may
Lord Palmerston congratulate his electors on the
peaceable superiority of British liberty over the armed
caution of continental tyranny. His lordship's speech
has been enthusiastically received in Piedmont, and
has made so much noise abroad generally that even
here the public journals have reproduced it, pru-
dently castrating, however, such passages as might
otfeal jesuitical sensitiveness; for instance, that part
in which the religious intolerance of Tuscany, Home,
and Naples, is openly reproved. The editors of go-
'remittent papers in despotic countries never sully
their columns with remarks to the disadvantage. of
their superiors ; they breathe forth only expressions
of admiration unmingled with reproof, and, like the
poet's courteous preacher,
Never mention hell to ears polite."
Religious intolerance is again predominant here,
and the growing. spirit of protestantism is combated
by inquisitorial rigour on the part of the government.
The Swiss protestant minister has been definitively
prohibited from preaching in Italian. Count
Gniceiardini was recently convicted of having
put forth protestant doctrines to about a
dozen of his friends who met together for the par-
pow, in consequence of which heinous offence he and
his auditors are now languishing in confinement in
the prisons of Volterra, with the exception of those
who preferred banishment, and had interest enough
to obtain that commutation of their sentence. An
English gentleman, Mr. Walker, was arrested about
six weeks ago on a similar charge, that of protestant
Prollagandism, and although his period of detention
was but short, owing to the immediate and spirited
remonstrances of the Hon. Mr. Scarlett, British
chargC d'affaires, the unfortunate members of the
family with whom the offending conversation took
place (a conversation which Mr. Walker affirmed to
have been utterly uupremetlitated) are still in gaol
and likely to remain there. These arrests and con-
demnations are by no means according to the tenon
of the law, as laid down by the constitution, but are
carried out by arbitrary police resolutions, termed
promise) economc°, a sort of economy which gene-
rally proves fatal to the interests of the prisoners.
This specks of abuse of power was abolished by
insolence the
slots,, but has been lately resumed by the reaction-
ary government, and the of the police has
greatly increased in consequence, to the pmjudice, in
several instances, of British subjects. there was,
indeed, such a simultaneous burst of complaint from
British subjects, about six weeks ago, that it ap-
u if an intentional and systematic attack had
tcel4,7dmade upon them by the government agents.
There was the case of Mr. Walker, to which I have
just alluded; that of Mr. Newton, the architect, who,
was collared by the police in the town of Volterra,
whilst he was looking about him and making some
inquiries, and then imprisoned for having made a
Iniviete remonstrance against the gendarmes' con-
duct; and that of Captain Hare, his brother, and the
Honourable Alfred Stourton, who were roughly
handled by the police in the streets of Lucca, and
subsequently dragged off to prison, and grossly in-
sulted there, for having ridden their horses too
fast over some tabooed portion of roud. These ag-
gressions have given rise to complaints of uu-
juet imprisonment on the part of Mr. &nrlett,
who has been promised by the government that
a strict examination shall be made into the

conduct of the gendarmes, and that their
di-missal shall ensue as soon as their culpability
prosed; but the Tuscan authorities are its slippery
ss eels, and it requires great firmness and patience
on the part of the British charge d'affaires to hold
them to their bargain. The Lucca affair is now
before the regular tribunals, and an excellent ads°.

cate has been retained by the three English gentle-
men. Many witnesses, amongst whom is an Austrian
ofliccr, attest the brutal and uncalled-for violence of

the gendarmes; but I shrewdly suspect that they
knew pretty well how far they would be hacked by
their superiors, and only acted in compliance with
their wishes. The case of Lord Aldborough's sons at
Leghorn is still wrapped in mystery. Their trial
was brought to a conclusion on the 13th of last
month, and the papers were forwarded to Marshal
Itadetsky fur inspection. Hitherto no answer has
been returned; probably the Emperor's visit to Lom-
bardy has so much occupied the time of the all-
powerful marshal, that he has not had leisure to
enter into the merits of the affair. Whatever sent-
ence the Austrian eourt.martial at Leghorn may
have passed will remain secret until it has received
the approbation of the superior military authorities,
so that the future destine of the Messrs. Stratford
depends in reality upon the fiat of the veteran Ra-
detsky.
From the time of their arrest up to the date just
mentioned, the prisoners had not been confronted
with each other; the three brothers being separately
confined in cells adapted for eight, so that each has
seven companions. On the 13th they met together
for the first time since their arrest. Their health is
tolerably good, but they rather complain of the
meagreness of prison diet. Their ultimate fate does
not inspire their friends with much uneasiness, as it
is supposed that the Austrian authorities are not
desirous of implicating themselves with the British
government, nor is it thought that the revelations
brought out during the trial are such as to warrant
extremely severe measures, even if the competence
of an Austrian court-martial to pass judgment on
British subjects, in countries not belonging to Aus-
tria, were to be recognised. Meanwhile the Dragon
British war steamer, is still at Leghorn, watching
the progress of events. One thing is certain, that
is, that the unfortunate Tuscans compromised in
the affair will be visited with the utmost
rigour of the law, the government being very
glad to have an opportunity. of laying its
hands on so many of its enemies "at one fell
swoop." It is worth mentioning that the person
suspected of having played the spy, in the case of '
Lord Aldborough's sons, has just been rewarded by
being appointed to a government situation at Porto
Ferrajo, in the island of Elba. On the 27th of last
month the Austrian military tribunal at Leghorn
condemned five men to be hung, and one to be sent
to the galleys, for murder and robbery ; but, in con-
sequence of no hangman being forthcoming, the sen-
tence was commuted into shooting fur two, and im-
prisonment for the other four. The two culprits
were accordingly shot through the back on the morn-
ing of the 3eith, by a platoon of Austrian soldiers, in
the presence of-ten thousand spectators. The garrison
of I.e.,;horn is about to march to Florence, and will be
replaced by a regiment of Iluthenes, who will not
hold much treasonable communication with the
inhabitants, as they. speak neither French, Italian,
nor German, indulging in no accents but their own
native Sclavonian. The garrison of Florence is to
march northwards, much to the regret of the officers,
who will have to burst the silken bonds in which
they have hitherto been held by the ladies of the
foreign' society, for the Florentine fair 011C8 consider it
unpatriotic to indulge in any such pcnchans. On
Saturday, the 4th inst., the Austrian troops attended
mass and paraded the streets of Florence with vic-
torious oak-leaves in their shakes, in honour of their
Emperor, it being St. Francis's day.
The citizens of Florence are just now occupied, or,
I should rather say, unoccupied, with the municipal
elections, for the electors met together in such scanty
numbers on the first experiment, a few days ago, that
the proceedings could not be carried on, the erections
got being legal except one-third of the electors
vote, whereas hardly one-tenth of them presented
themselves. This must not be entirely attributed
to political indifference, although the Florentine bur-
gesses arc not quite free from such a reproach—many
abstained from voting because they are disgusted at
the trifling liberty of action granted by the govern-
ment to the municipality. The ministers at present
in power are jealous of every institution which has
anything resembling a popular origin, and they
therefore do their utmost to thwart every measure
calculated to reflect credit on the municipality. All
decisions of importance arc caucelled by the Prefect
of Florence, so reducing the sphere of municipal
action to the narrowest possible limits. Nut long
ago the municipal council decreed a reward of six
zee:chins to one of the city guards, who had saved a
man from drowning in the Arno. In stepped the
Prefect, however, and blackballed the decree, on the
ground that the council had no right to dispose of
the city funds without the authority of government.
Again, when, in imitation of the Piedmontese govern-
ment, that of Tuscany resolved to send a body of
Tuscan workmen to the Great Exhibition,"the munici-
pality of Florence voted a sum of 1,000 lire to-
wards their expenses, but all in vain—its zeal was
again checked by the government veto. No wonder,
then, if the electors are indifferent in coming to the
hustings. If after three trials a sufficient number of
electors are not forthcoming, the nominations will be
made by the government.
It is a singular feature in the present state or
Tuscany that, whilst the strictest censorship is exer-
cised over daily journals and periodical publications,
the press is free as far us regards books. Guerrazzi's
apology was published on the day before yesterday,
and such was the public curiosity touching the view
he would take of bygone events, when writing from
a prison, that almost all the copies of a large
edition were bespoken. The work does not appear to
have met with the approbation of the constitutionalists
as vet, for many members of their body are severely
lashed by Guerrazzi's lawless pen. Indeed, it is
apprehended that, had it been otherwise, the author
would have met with more opposition from the pri-
son authorities than he has done in the publicatfon
of so important a book. Oualtieri's new work on
the recent "Sconrotoiicriti d'halia" is a noble pro-
duction of a very. different stamp, and likely to form
a valuable addition to the history of these times.
Another singular feature in this country is the par-
tial state of everything, the comparative liberty en-
joyed by some districts, whilst others arc still in a
state of siege. I was surprised, on
.passing through
Pisa and paying my accustomed visit to the Campo
Santo, to find a new monument in it, near the spot
where the massive chains of the port are hung 111
trophy front the wall. It is very difficult now far
any one to obtain permission to erect a monument or to
get a resting place for his bones in the hallowed quad-
rangle of the Campo Santo, and I should have thought
that such an inscription as the following would have
been rigorously excluded in the present reactionary
times. On a marble slab a vigorous arm is scalp-
hired, grasping the banner of Italy, beneath which
is engraved " Albert Acconci, Alexander Ceecherini,
Peter di Lupo Perm, Francis Lotti, Titus Matteoli,
Professor Leopold Villa, ltanicri Poggesi, and Joseph
I Solimeno, went from Pisa to the war, and died for
Italy ; 1848." Underneath is a cross and a wreath—
e touching and simple memorial, but one which
would never have been allowed to meet the public
eve in the dominion* of the Pope or the King of
Naples.
There arc strange rumours current with respect he.
the abdication of the Grand Duke, the details et
which I will send you in my next.