The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-23 00:00:00

PIEDMONT AND LOMBARDY.

The Parliament of Turin was opened on the 16th
instant. A letter from Turin of the 17th thus de-
scribes the effects produced in the North of Italy by
the recent intelligence from Vienna :
" The old members of the Provisional Government of
Milan, MM. Casati, Durini, Borromeo, &c., have just
been to the King. They have pointed out to him that
it was impossible that the counter blow of Vienna should
not be felt at Milan, that all Lombardy was ready to rise
again; that they and their friends had done all, up to
the present time, that was humanly possible to retard
the explosion, in the interest of that unfortunate country,
exposed to the terrible vengeance and the pittiless repri-
sals of Radetzky, whose anger the last events at Vienna
must have excited to ferocity—to madness; but that
they had no longer any hopes that their voice could
be heard, the moment appearing propitious to
this tortured people to make a last effort to free
themselves from a domination as stupid as it was
ferocious. In fact, all the small detachments
of Hungarians quartered in the villages have deserted;
fifteen Croation battalions have received orders to
fall back on Vienna, whilst others have set out in dis-
order, to join the colours of Jellachich. Demoralisation,
discord, and insubordination, appear again breaking up
that formidable army. If the Piedmontese do not
speedily pass the Tessino, Lombardy will rise under
another flag. The King, it is said, replied to these re-
monstrances, that his greatest desire was to resume the
campaign; that he was in opposition to part of his Mi-
nistry; that, besides, the Piedmontese Chambers were to
meet the next day, and that ho would await their deci-

sion to regulate hia conduct, but as for himself, his most

ardent wish was to be carried off by a cannon-ball, if the
Italian cause was to succumb. The President of
the Ministers, the Marquis Alfieri do Sostegno, who
passed for the most moderate, would not wait for the
opening of the Chambers. Like a prudent man, he
withdrew before the storm burst. The other Minis-
ters hold good, and, from being exceedingly
pacific, are beginning to assume an atti-
tude not only warlike, but provocative. You will see
that it will be necessary to moderate their ardour. I dare
not, after that, speak to you of the labours of our Fede-
ral Congress. They would advance sufficiently if we
had not the honour of possessing amongst us the Prince
de Canino. The Prince constitutes the whole of the op-
position, and it is not the less formidable, however, on that
account. An eminent naturalist, an intrepid traveller,
the Prince has already had occasion to exercise his in-
exhaustible talk in all the scientific congresses, of which
he has been the glory and the despair. lie is a man of
from 44 to 45 years of age; of vigorous health; of good
stature, and furnished with a long beard which
would render a Capuchin friar vain. The first day
he wore the uniform of a National Guard of the
Republic of St. Marino, and before sitting down
he protested against the whole project, because his
dear little Republic was not enumerated in the list of
Italian states. It was stated to him that an article of
the draft expressly guaranteed the existence of that mi-
niature republic, and that if it were not set down in
the division of charges and in the national representa-
tion, it was because, according to the bases fixed by the
Confederation, the Republic of San Marino could have
furnished for its share but halt a deputy and the third of
a soldier. But the Prince did not look on himself as
beaten ; he returned to the charge with ten or twelve
incidental propositions. He is the man of all I ever saw
who best understands how to prolong and embarrass a
discussion. Repulsed on one point, he comes back on
another. He clings to every phrase, every word, every
comma, and, after having perorated, and disputed, and
replied, and demanded explanations, and presented
amendments and sub-amendments for hours together,
he listens with the most impassable calm and the
most contented air in the world to the eternal chorus
of passed unanimously, minus the Prince de Canino.'
I ought, however, to add that the other evening, when
the matter was to vote an addresss to Charles Al-
bert, praying him to resume hostilities against the
Austrians, the secretary announced, in a triumphant
voice, Passed unanimously—plus the Prince de Ca-
nino.'—P.S. You may, perhaps, have read in some Ita-
lian journals that General Oudinot has arrived at Turin,
and that he put up at the Hotel Feder. It is an amus-
ing mistake. The person who was meant was the Duke
do Dino, nephew of Talleyrand, who is really here, and
who serves in the Piedmonteso army, to do all he can, as
ho wittingly expresses it, to undo the treaties of Vienna
made his uncle."