Star.
London, England, 1821-04-24 00:00:00

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENC,6%

FLORENCE, APRIL 7.

When I gave v nu, in a letter from Pisa, an account
of the little band. of Piedrriontese fugitives who had
escaped from Genoa and taken refuge in the States
of the Duke of Modena, 1 was not aware that I could
add to their number that celebrated Constitutionalist,
Charles Emmanuel Albert, Duke of Carignano and
Prince Regent pf Sardinia. This young Prince, who
probably displayed in the course of a few days as
much weakness, folly, and inconsistency as would
have set ved a person of ordinary pretensions to those
qualities for a whole life, arrived at Florente on Sa-
turday List, in the disguise of a gendarme. lie had,
in this uniform, attended by five or siz more gen-
darmes, escaped from Piedmont, crossed the fron-
tiers, passed through Lucca, and entered Tuscany.
knowing that he must be despised by all parties—
by the Legitimates, for having yielded to the wishes
of the Constitutionalists, as well as by the People,

for having deserted their cause after having com-
proznised their safety—he seemed willing to hide his
disgrace in strict incognito till he reached this city.
Erm here, instead of proceeding immediately to the
Palace of his father• in-law—he having married, about
three years ago, the daughter of the Grand Duke—
he took up his quarters at Sneider's Hotel, where he
remained till Monday, when he was sent for to Court.
Daring the first days of his stay at Court he was
treated with the most marked coldness, if not disre-
spect. At dinner, oa Monday, the Grand Duke did
Lot address to him a dozen words, and the rest of the
party paid him no particular attention. When he
has expiated the error of yielding to the popular
voice, he may again be restored to the good graces
of his family, though he can never recover the cha-
racter which he has lost in the opinion of the world.
His wife, the Archduchess, after the flight of her
husband, proceeded first to Nice, with the design of
sailing for Sardinia; and subsequently, as I have
heard, to Marseilles, whence she is expected in a
few days at Leghorn. The Prince, it is said, will
set out today or to-morrow to receive her on her.
debarkation. Though the Archduke is himself a
popular character in Tuscany, and his Government
is in general mild, this part of Italy has not been
entirely exempt from that dissatisfaction with arbi-
trary power, and that desire of Constitutional secu-
rities against oppression, which have been evinced
with more or less energy over nearly the whole ex-
tent of the Peninsula. After the breaking out of the
ltevolution in Piedmont, a plot was said to have been
discovered here for effecting a similar change. It
embraced, however, only a few individuals of no
great consequence in the State. Some Officers in
the army, none of them above the rank of Captain,
were, on account of being engaged in it, at first put
under arrest, then dismissed the army, and subse-
quently ordered to quit the country. One of them,
a Captain Baldini, when under arrest in his own
house, threw himself out of the window, and was
killed on the spot. Several other persons were ac-
cused of being Carbonari, or engaged in the confe-
deracy. Among the rest, a Priest, a man of consi-
derable talent and eloquence, who always attracted
crowds when he lectured in one of the churches of
the city (Santa Croce) was involved. The execution
of the plot was said to have been fixed for the 25th
ult. the festival of the Annunciation ;'but, whatever
may have been the poliCcal opinions of the persons
charged with such a conspiracy, the existence of any
design on their part at that moment to effect a Revo-
lution in the State, must be considered an absurdity.
Be it remembered, that at that time the Austrians
had dispersed the Neapolitan army in the Abruzzi,
and the Austrian Ambassador, Bombelles, had taken

care to announce the successive advantages and ad-
vances of his countrymen, by official Bulletins issued
. •

here with as much authority, as if Florence had been
the capital of an Austrian Province, A Revolution,
it is true, had broken out in Piedmont; but especial ,
precaution had been taken that the real state of that
country should not be known in this. In the Isle of
Elba, twenty-four soldiers, and five or six Officers,
had raised the cry of the Constitution, and had en-
deavoured to seize upon a battery of cannon ; but
their attempt had been faustrated, and they them-
selves had been arrested. It is more than probable,
therefoie, that the alleged plot for a Revolution at
Florence, on the 25th ult. was a mere plot of the
Police, invented or charged against the individuals
who have been punished for it, for the purpose of
getting rid of those whose political opinions excited
the disapprobation of the ruling Powers, or did not
exactly square with the perpetual domination of
Austria in Italy.
Though the Police in this country has been ex-
tremely active during the recent troubles; though it
has resorted to, and even now resorts to, the employ-
ment of spies, who are seen offensively to mix them-
selves in every considerable party ; and though it has
shewn no backwardness to gratify Austria in her zeal
for the tranquillity of Italy, by keeping under sur-
veillance all who are thought Carbonari, still the
imperial agents have not been satisfied, and the firm-
ness of the Grand Duke alone has prevented more
rigorous measures or. a more extensive interference
with the freedom of opinion and the peace of fami-
lies. Thrice has the Austrian Minister demanded
that the Police should be placed on-the footing on
which it was maintained in the time of Bonaparte,
and the direction of it given to the Austrian Minis-
ter; and thrice has the demand been resisted or
evaded by the Grand Duke. It was once made by
Fi7tielmont, the late Minister here, who is now sent
to arrange the affairs of Naples, and twice by Born-
belles, the present Ambassador. The Grand Duke
is said invai iably to have declared that he placed the
'most pei feet reliance on the fidelity of his subjects
and the vigilance of his Officers, and that his brother
the Emperor might as soon require him to abdicate
his Throne as to give up the internal administration
of his Government. The same answer, it is said,
was returned on the demand of Austria to place gar-
risons in the towns of Tuscany. The report of the
(hand Duke's conduct in these cases has been gene-
rally circulated, and has increased the respect for-
merly entertained for his personal character and civil
admini-mition. But, although these insolent de-
mands have been resisted, because they would have
amounted to a complete and formal surrender of in-
dependent power, Austrian authority is here so strong,
that it •amounts nearly to sovereignty. A British
zurtchant has been ordered from Leghorn, merely