The Sun.
London, England, 1821-02-27 00:00:00

THE AUSTRIAN DECLARATION.

After-a tong series of political storms the king-
'', aom-Of.Naples Was, in the year 1815, restored,
by the assistance of the Austrian arms, to the
• paternal... Government of its legitimate KING ;
the two portions of, the Sicilian Monarchy which
7.had been so long separated were again united,
• and the wishes of all well-disposed persons were
gratified by the happy
.prospect Of durable re-
pose. The later period 611'.111e Foreign Govern-
- tnent had, however, revived an internal enemy,
.moise thingerous than any other to the repose of
the Italian peninsula. There existed in the
kingdom of Naples, as well as in other States of
Italy, a sect, working in darkness, whose secret
chiefs continued to meditate the overthrow of all
tte
,Italian Governments, as' the first step to-
. Wank the execution of the extravagant plans in
•‘ which they were engaged.
At the moment when MunAT, in order to sup-
port his'l.tkitering throne, conceived the desperate
project of Anquerit2-, Italy, despair inspired him
with the idea of calling to his aid those same
Carhonari whom he had more than once corn-
. hated, and whose criminal intrigues acquired
from that time an influence, which, without the
assistanee• of this unlooked-for alliance, they
would perhaps never have obtained..•.
'Y he of the Royal GoNTernment, the
zeal With which it employed itself in promoting
essential improvements in all the branches of
the Administration, the general affection borne
• to the Sovereign, whose paternal goodness had
. gained to him the hearts of his subjects, rendered
. abortive all the enterprizes of this sect during the
first years which,folOwed the Restoration ; and
perhaps, like so many other secret associations,
it would have insensibly become powerless
and have fallen into oblivion if the events which
took place in the kingdom of Spain, at the com-
mencement of- the' year 1820, had not given to it
a fresh impulse. It;rom this moment its audacity,
redoubled, and assisted by the contagious fanati-
cism which it excited, it soon increased so much
in numbers_and in influence, that the laws and
the authority of the executive were no longer suf-
fiiently powerful to.suppress it. I tdisseminated
with indefatigable industry, amidst all classes of
the people, till then .tranquil and moderate in
their desires, a spirit of discontent and bitterness,
dispositions -hostile to their Government, and a
passionate desire for political innovation. It
succeeded at length in corrupting a portion of the
army ; and assisted by this most criminal of all
its measures, this Sect caused the revolution to
br,:ak out in the first days of the month of July.
It is impossible to give a more exact or more
authentic account of this explosion, than that
which is contained in the circular dispatch, ad-
by the new Minister for Foreign Affairs,
on the day on which he entered upon his functions,
to the Diplomatic Agents of Naples at Foreign
Courts.

" On the nights of the Ist and 2d (it is stated
in this Dispatch) the greatest part of the Royal
Regiment of Cavalr-ra Bourbon quitted its guar-
ters ,at Nola, and raised a tri-colour standard,
with the inscription,—‘ Long live the Constitution!'
The colours were those of the Sect of the Carbo-
Clari, which, for sonic time past, had kept* a fer-
mentation in tl.w Kingdom,and had deincoled.with
parnectncos a constitutional form of Government.
This Sect had made so many proselytes in, the
army of the KING, that the troops sent to re-
dnce to submission those who had deserted at
Nola, made common cause with them. The de-
sertion of these troops, and of some regiments of
the garrison of Naples, some simultaneous move-
ments in the Provinces, and lastly, the insubor-
dination of some Chiefs of districts, proved to
Aircs-r y -that the wish of the people was to
obtain a Constitutional Government. In conse-
quence whereof the KING published a Proclama-
tion, announcing, that in eight days he would
make public the basis of a Constitution."
This first advantage was only the prelude of a
more decisive attack. On the next day the
Chiefs of the Revolt forced the KING to pro-
claim the Spanish Constitution ; and without any
other preparatory measure, they caused his MA-
JEsry, his Ministers, and Functionaries, and his
troops, to take a solemn oath to that Constitu-
tion, which, in the midst of disorders and terror,
they declared to be the fundamental law of the
kingdom. ,

in signing his first promise, the KING had
made a great sacrifice to the agitation which pre-
vailed ; and although his MAJESTY could not
hut be aware how inconsiderate and inexcusable
was the projv.q.of forming. a Constitution in eight
days, there remained to him at least, the hope,
that.more.ealm and„,wiser resolutions would sue,
ceed to the etiC-3/444cettce the momeot. But
every appearance. changed, when, after this first
concession, a. Constitutional Act was offered for
the immediate acceptance of the KING, drawn up
eight sears before in -a foreign country, under
anspiees particularly difficult and disastrous. An
,actof which neither the KING nor his Ministers,
-nor any Neapolitan; With the.eXceptionof a few
conspirators; had any knowledge, except by ex-
tracts from newspapers, and of which, at the mo-
ment of its proc:arna.tion, there did not exist even
a translation at Naples.
This step bore too clearly the marks of *its
origin, and of the criminal means which could
alone insure its success, for the least doubt to
remain as to the position of the Monarch or of
the State. -SOO a concession, committing equally
the dignity of the Sovereign, and the destinies of
the-country, could not be wrung from his MA-
JZSTY by otlrer means than. those-of violence and
menace. The desire of avoiding greater evils,
and of preventing the commission of dreadful
crimes, could alone induce the ItiNo to consent
at the moment to so fatal a measure. This ex-
planation of an event, inexplicable in any other
ssense,:would carry with it its own confirmation,
even were it not otherwise established by•irre-
fragable proofs. .
• The great blow being thus given, and the
Royal Authority entirely destroyed, the -chiefs
-of the sect of their principal associates in the
-first scenes of the revolt, immediately-took upon
tliernselvea 3xclusive dominion. The resistance
which
,the kingdom. of- ,Sicily opposed to their',

arbitrary, enterprises, was crushed in blood land
in ruins. In order to give to their usurpation a
colour of legality, they soon created, under the
title of a National Parliament-, an instrument by
means of which, in the space of a few months,
they overturned all existing rights, and all the
bases of public.. order; and through which, with,
out any other power but their arbitrary
they substitUted, in the room of the ancient civil
and political laws of the two Kingdoms, institu-
tions perfectly unknown, sanctioned by no ex-
perience, and which were no less in contradic-
tion to the character than to the wants of the
nation.

The KING unable to consider a state of things
so unnatural, as likely to be of long duration, per-
suaded at the same time that untimely opposition
would only draw down new perils upon his per-
son, his family, and his country, supported with
resignation this cruel lot, which he had in no wise
merited. All the enlightened inhabitants of the
country, the greatest part 'too of those who, se-
duced by the vain hope of a more fortunate ter-
mination, had at first favoured the Revolution,
but who had subsequently become convinced of
the pernicious effects of kt system, which the
ruling party had established as most suited to
their particular interests alone, without reference
to the interests of the country—all these were
condemned to silence. The mass of the people
soon recovered from their ephemeral enthusiasm,
and grieved to see their hopes deceived; and dis-
couraged by vague foreboding,S•of the calamities
which menaced them,,they awaited in silent•un-
' easiness the final issue of the ..crisis. Thus is to
be explained that apparent. tranquillity under
cover of which the Parliamenti powerless in itself
and subject- to the control of a small number of
despots ready to attempt every thing, conducted
the kingdom towards its inevitable dissolution;
a tranquillity which did not prevent the most
unbridled anarchy from swallowing up the last
remains of public prosperity, and the true cha-
racter of which could not be misunderstood by
any Foreign Government.
The events at Naples had produced a strong,
sensation throughout the whole of Italy. 'A Re-
volution, plotted by obscure fanatics, antLcom-
pleted by perjured soldiers, Who in a few/days
deprived a KING of his power and of his liberty,
and plunged two Kingdoms in the abyss of dis-
order, necessarily inspired, whatever its ulterior
development might be, the most serious appre-
hensions in all the neighbouring Governments.
The maxims loudly proclaimed by the authors of
this Revolution ; the facility with which these
maxims were circulated, by words and by writ-
ings, in all parts of Italy ; the daily conversa-
tions of their foreign accomplicei; all these
things tended to augment the pressure of these
apprehensions. No Italian Sovereign could con-.
ceal from himself that the internal peace and
prosperity of his States were menaced equally
by the example and the results of an overthrow
which attacked the social edifice in its deepest
foundations.
The EMPEROR was aware from the first mo-
ment, that there would be an end of order and
tranquillity in Italy for a length 'of time, if the
chiefs and fomenters of a revoh, Which nothing
could
._justify and nothing could excuse, were per-
mitted with impunity to sacrifiCe: the Monarchy
of the Two Sicilies to their insane projects. His
IMPERIAL MAJESTY, penetrated with a sense of
what he owed to the preservation and security of
his own Empire, to the protection of his faithful
and happy people, to his amicable relations with
the Princes of Italy, and to his position in the
general political system of Europe, hastened to
take measures for stopping the further progress of
these disorders, and to make manifest at the same
time, Without .feserve, the line which he had de-
cided to follow with respect to the Revolution of
Naples. However painful it was to his IsteERIAL
MAJESTY to impose an unexpected and conside-
rable charge upon his finances, at a moment
when he had hoped to hive been enabled to turn
his whole attention to interior amelioration, and
when the continued execution of the plans formed
by the Administration promised the most benefi-
cial results,—all secondary considerations gave
way to the execution of the most sacred of his
duties.

In the situation in which affairs were, the as-
sembly of a "corps d'armee" in the Italian pro-
vinces was a measure of the highest necessity ; it
was acknowledged as such by every well thinking
man in Austria and in Europe. The salutary effect
which this measure has had in tranquillising the
neighbouring States—that which it has produced
even at Naples in encouraging the friends, and
disconcerting the enemies of order, is now unani-
mously felt in the whole extent of the Italian
peninsula.
His MAJESTY at the same moment repaired to
Troppau, to deliberate in person with his august
Allies, upon a question of the greatest import-
ance, pot only to Italy—not to the Austrian'
Monarchy alone, but to the common safety of
Europe. These deliberations did not- happily
leave any doubt as to the manner in which the
Allied Courts regarded the origin and character
of the Revolution of Naples, and the dangers
with which it, menaced other States.

With respect to the re3olutions which such a
state of things called for, if particular and weighty
considerations induce the British Government not
to take part in those of the other Courts, and
caused the Cabinet of France to accede to them
only under certain restrictions, the EMPEROR had
the satisfaction to find himself perfectly in unison
on every question with the SOVEREIGNS of RUSSIA
and of PRUSSIA ; and to convince himself at the
same time that differences of position and action
_between the Powers of Europe would not give
rise to any difference as to the basis of their alli-
ance, and as to the general unifoimity of princi-
ple's and views.
The Sovereigns assembled at Troppau, though
decided not to acknowledge the changes which
force and revolt hatroperated at Naples, and to put
an end by a common effort to the results of these
changes, were nevertheless sincerely animated
with the ardent desire of obtaining these objects
by pacific means, and with all the indulgence due
to a Country alre9.dy distracted by so many con-
vulsions and calamities. It was in. this spirit
that they invited his SICILIAN MAJESTY to meet.