The Sun.
London, England, 1827-08-24 00:00:00

PRICE 7D.

LISBON, AUGUST 11.

COUNT VILLA FLOR-THE LATE ARRESTS-
' ANTICIPATED ARRIVAL OF THE EMPEROR

DON PEDRO IV:

The Conde de Villa' nor has in a great

measure recovered the good opinion of a portion
of his fellow-citizens, which he had lost in con-

sequence of his applying insulting expressions to
their assemblage,. or
.acting with unnecessary
rigour for their dispersion, during the late fer-
ment. The gallant Count (the only nobleman
who eminently distinguished himself in crushing
the rebellious spirit of the north, and to whom,
in consequence, the Constitutionalists owe a
debt of gratitude, which, like our Radicals with
our national debt, they too hastily proposed to
repay by the application of a sponge) was in-
trusted with the command of the garrison of Lis-
bon at a moment when vigour was supposed to he
necessary, and when it was imagined that Count
Sampayo, the Governor-General of the province,
had cdmpromised the public safety by a mistaken
forbearance. The extraordinary precipitation
with which his new commission was made out

and pressed upon him, taught hiM to believe that
danger was to be apprehended from the mob ;
and the unreasoning habits of obedience which
distinguish his profession, made him think that
the least delay in obeying his orders was a spe-
cies of resistance to 'his authority. He, there-
fore, betrayed for a moment the impetuosity of
_the soldier, but soon returned to the moderation

of the citizen, when he saw that no seditious
opposition was offered to• his troops. He even
expressed his regret to some of his friends that
he had been so hasty, and stated his conviction
that there never was any serious design formed to
commit acts of sedition or violence. The arrests

which have since been ordered by the Intendant
of Police have, consequently,- met with his dis-
approbation, and it is reported by his friends
that in an interview with the Princess Regent
he has recently remonstrated with her against
them.

" It is the general circulation of thislast ru-
mour which has chiefly reconciled him to the
Constitutional party. The following is the
manner in which the story is given out :—When
the Princess arrived at Cintra on Tuesday, the
Count waited upon her to pay her his homage,
to give her an account of the late transactions,
and to intercede with her for the unfortunate
persons with whom the police bad crowded the
dungeons. Her Royal Highness expressed a
desire to put an end to the arrests as 80011 as
possible, and to order the investigation to be
conducted with all convenient speed, that the in-
nocent might be liberated and the guilty pu-
nished. She;, however, added, that her advisers
were not yet informed of the full extent of the
conspiracy, and that some time must necessarily
elapse before they could trace all its -ramifica-
tions. The Count expressed some. surprise at

hearing of a conspiracy,'—a conspiracy formed
by an indiscriminate assemblage of shopkeepers
and citizens in the public streets and squares,—
a conspiracy which appealed openly to the autho-

rities for their intercession in favour of its mis-
taken object,—a conspiracy which had exploded
in no further mischief than shouting innocent
vivas in the theatres, and given the Juiz do
Povo a trip to Caldas. He had been among the
mob, and heard all their cries, but had heard no-

thing which indicated any plot against the per.
son or the Government of her Royal Highness
If the citizens had conspired, the troops were
likewise in the plot, for they had at first joined in
the shouts, and had generally approved,ot the con-
duct of the people. The Princess, upon this, asked
him whether a part of the mob had not shouted
'Long live the Republic,' and went on to state that
she had been assured this cry was no means unfrc-
q• uent Evidence, she continued, had since
been obtained, that the conspirators did not con-
fine their seditious proceedings to street acclama-
tions. They had a printing press at their com-
mand ; they had printed many thousand copies
of a treasonablo proclamation for the establish-
ment of a republic, of which Saldanha was to be
President ; and in a street, of which she had
forgotten the name, a shop was found in which
tri-coloured cockades had been prepared, and tri-
coloured flags were embroidering for the Jaco-
bins. This was all new to Count Villa Flor ;
but he immediately saw the source whence it
proceeded. The Intendant of Police, in order
to give a colour of justice• to his revengeful and
arbitrary proceedings, had, by the assistance of
his spies, hatched a fictitious story about repub-
lican cries and revolutionary rihands, which he
had palmed upon the Princess as a good set
plot to overturn her authority. Her Royal
Highness, surrounded only by persons in the in-
terest of the intendant, and besides unable to
conceive how Saldanha could have innocently
acquired so dangerous a popularity, was easily
led to believe that in the clubs, of which she
hadbe en heard
ne
drso
of
whichllll l
thetTe a SI
aotneatbul e
n,
ute ss n
weres h t
ha de
c e i ve
her,premature
hyexplosion.
assuring Theher
thatC ou
the
e p tried
er
stoon
su
vdheo-
formed the imprudent assemblages of which so
much had been spoken were actuated by no se-
ditious intentions whatever—that they formed no
conspiracy, and knew of no plot, and that if the
arrests took place on that ground, the prisoners
should be immediately liberated. Such is the
representation which this respectable nobleman
is said to have made to the chief of the Govern-
ment in behalf of the victims of the Intendant's
revenge, and of their own folly : and such is the
view communicated to her of the late transac-
tions by servants less honest and courageous.
" The Judges, in their examinations of the
prisoners previously• to their final trial, seem to
proceed entirely on the information which has
bee•n communicated to the Princess. The first
question asked by some of them is, Pray, who
is the chief of the republic ?' The apprentices,
waiters, shopkeepers, and shopkeepers' clerks,
whom the Intendant has got crammed into the
hLeianirdoeoirfot,haessafir
alildeagbel(ei o
trepi
it) el
ires,,
anr
ee v
ase r havingunable
to comprehend what is meant by the question, as
if they were to be asked—' Pray, who was to be
President of the Utopia, or who is meant by the
beast with the seven heads and ten horns,
in the
Book of Revelations?'• If the Princess has finall)
deserted the popular, course—which I sincerer
hope is not the case—knaves will try to gain het
favour,
by pretending to interpose theraselve
between her and her dangerous subjects, or, b\
Working on her timidity,to gain their sejfish ends,