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    sketched a plan , which I put into action only on the day of the steamer ' s departure , and by which , as above stated , the important document was secured . " There were three persons near the Queen in irresponsible situations , to whom it was probable the spirit ,-if not the letter , of the speech was known , and with all three I was on terms of intimacy and friendship . Beginning , therefore , with the weakest , or least influential , I explained to Mm or her , how much it behoved me to know in what language Donna Maria would speak of her relations with the British cabinet , and that person being in a rabid state of Anglomania , assured me that the whole cabinet was convinced of the prudence of cultivating the best relations with Portugal's ancient and faithful ally , and * in the warmth of argument , repeated to me nearly the words of the paragraph which had been agreed to at a council held the day before .

    " Armed thus with the spirit of the discourse , so far as England , was concerned , I waited on number tvoo in my ascending scale , and , without letting that person know where I had found my information , prevailed on Mm or her to give me the very words to be used by her most glorious Majesty . " This was a great point gained , and , if there my information stopped , the paragraph would have been a valuable cadeau to the ' Times ; ' but when was man content , and was not our own emboldened by such success , still more ardently to pursue his plan for getting possession of the whole speech . I accordingly waited on number one , in whose hands I knew a copy of the document was , and having first led Mm or her to imagine that I had been furnished with all the material paragraphs , by showing the precise words of that relating to Great Britain , contrived to make the individual believe that the interests of Portugal would be materially served by anticipating such satisfactory intelligence , and , above all , that he or site would find such a proof of confidence in me must one day or other be well repaid .

    " This reasoning prevailed , not without a discussion that lasted more than an hour , but at the end of which , I was promised a copy at half-past three in the afternoon . The starting of the steamer was fixed for three ; but though it might be supposed that my friend was acquainted with the fact , and that the hour he or she named was influenced by it , I did not express a word of doubt , but took another mode of making every thing right . . . . " Fortunately , the captain of the mail-steamer had , on one of his previous voyages , received some slight service at my hands , and when I asked him if he could not , if I were en retard yvith . my correspondence , drop down the river slowly , and not put to sea until I came aboardy he replied , with a hearty squeeze of the hand , ' All I want is to get clear of the bar before night-fall , and I can spare you an hour , or even an hour and a half , if necessary / 'In that case / rejoined ' our own , ' ' have paper , pen , and ink , ready in your private cabin , and I will take care you shall be at sea by six o ' clock . '

    " "At half-past three I received a genuine copy of the speech ; at four I overhauled the packet at the Castle of Belem ; by five the document was translated , and fit for the compositors ; and , long before daylight closed , the good ship had cleared the ba £ and Captain N . B . C . D . exchangedbheers with me , as I dropt into a shore float , whilst he , putting on full steam , convinced me that my despatches were in good hands . " The publication of the speech , apparently within forty-eight hours of its being delivered , made a great sensation in London , as all the other papers , though pretending , to consider it as apocryphal , were glad to copy it on the -next morning . But when it came out to Lisbon , on the following Sunday , the steamer having left Southampton on Wednesday afternoon , there was a ferment on the Caes Sodrk , and in the political saloons , that the author of the row had not anticipated . I kept my own counsel , however ; so did my partners in the sin ; and every one was suspected of having betrayed a secret of state , save those who had , undesignedly on their parts , been manoeuvred into doing so . "

    The other is on— THE EEVOLUTION OF MILAN " . " The Governor of Milan received , on the night of the 17 th March , an account of the insurrection at Vienna , and aa such an event could not be long concealed , it became generally known on the following day , and created , as might be expected , a prodigious ferment . A crowd of persons , composed of all classes , rushed to the palace , the nobles demanding concessions of a political nature only , whilst the citizens in general , and the republican party eflpecially , insisted on the establishment of a national guard , and an abundant supply of arms and ammunition . " In their route to the Hotel dc Ville , a patrol was met with , and it is a question on whose part the first act of hostility , which there occurred , took place . Tho people say the soldiers fired on them , but I have good reason to know that it was a young republican desirous of bringing matters to a head , who began the attack .

    " From that instant all idea of a transaction ceased ; the people flow to arms , and in half an hour barricades were erected , and the tocsin began to sound . Tho first barricade was constructed with the carriages of the viceroy , amidst the cheers and derision of tlie mob . With tho speed of thought others were raised , and the centre of tho town was cleared against tho circulation of Austrian troops ; women and children set to work , the pavement wits taken up , and stones carried to every window from whence they could be hurled , and pots and pans , and every oironaive domestic weapon , wore brought to tho point most favourablo for attack . « Detachments of AuHtrinna attempted to check this movement , by taking possession of the roof of tho Duomo , and of other public buildings ; but oh tho barricades began to thicken , they were gradually withdrawn , their retreat being a signal for a hurricane of tho missiles above alluded to . The vengennco of tho people Was principally directed iigainst tho Croats , of which tho main force of tho garrison was composed , and it is said that tho officers and men of that nation committed crucltios the most revolting , by way of compensation , in all tho houses whero they entered . ; __ "

    " Tho incessant clanging of tho church bells , I am told , produced a wonderful effect , on tho ignorant Croat * . They felt w if hoavon and earth were coming together , and that tho tocsin whs a thunderbolt to bo launched from ouch steeple after it had rung their death-knell . So fur did this superstitions dread of tho tocBin ailbct their imagination , that in tho subsequent retreat orders were issued in every villngo to inuiilo tho bells , nnd nwmruncos given , that wherever they were rung the place would bo abandoned to tho men for p lunder , or burnt to tho ground . "I know not if tho charges miulo against tho troops in Milan woro true , but it was gonorally said that in tho pocket of one of them , who was shot at tho baations , there was found tho hund of a lady , tho finge rs of which woro ornamented with severul valuable rings , and ono of my frionda assured mo that all tho momboru of

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    a family of his acquaintance were placed on ; their knees hi the > centreof theirown drawing-room , the Croats standing in a circle round with loaded muskets , pointed at their heads , while the officer sat down to the piano , declaring that whea he came to the allegro of the piecehe played , the volley should be fired . " Alt these cases should be taken cum grano , , though' I have jio doubt , where popular fury had full sway , that the soldiers' vengeance in its tarn followed . " On the second day of the revolution the circle of barricades was enlarged and the troops excluded from the chief part of all the principal streets . To form these barriers , the owners of the adjoining houses sacrificed their carriages * chairs sofas , tables , and many articles of ornamental furniture . The popular feeling could not be trifled with , and even the most retrograde - among the nobility devoted everything suitable to that use , which tlieir palaces contained . -

    " These barricades were not such as I have seen in other towns . Thev were immense in size , nearly a yard in thickness , and eight or ten feet in height . ! By the rapidity with which they were erected , detached parties of the soldi ers wer e cut off , and several of the public authorities intercepted in their retreat to the citadel , or castle , where Radetzky had established his head-quarters . " On the third day the city might be said to be evacuated , and $ he whole attention of the Austrians was givento the bastioiis which ^^ surrounded it , and to the several gates leading to the country . A struggle of another kind now commenced , the people directing all their force to the destruction of those gates , with the hope of cutting the Austrian lines , and , at the same time , opening a communication with their friends outside .

    " Radetzky , still uncertain as to the resolve of Charles Albert , the first propositions of the regal agent having been annulled by the influence of the republican party , now sought to temporize , and he sent in more than one message asking for an armistice , first of a month , then of a fortnight , and lastly of four days . He also gained tinie by a visit of the foreign consuls , who demanded permission for their nationals to retire ; but all this manoeuvring failed , as the leading men of the revolt were determined to carry on their operations with the same vigour with which the y had commenced . " The nobility and chiefs of the corporation were willing to treat , but one of the council of war having exclaimed , ' In revolution there is no middle turn ; we must either conquer or be shot as rebels / the cry was taken up by the people , and the messenger sent back to the castle with a peremptory refusal . The enthusiasm of the crowd was excited "by their unexpected success , and as their barricades were now pushed close to the bastions on every side , it became evident that the fate of Milan must be decided either one way or the other , before tho termination of

    the week . " Radetzky was gradually diminishing his outposts , and withdrawing from the bastions touching the Porta Tosa , but no indications of a retreat had yet been made , and to attack him in the citadel , which had been strengthened by several outworks , even the most ardent of the citizens could not recommend . Up to this period , the four persons , namely , Jules Zerzaghi , Georges Clerico , Charles Cattaneo , and Henri Cernuschi , who composed the Council of war , and so ably directed the energies of the people , and who likewise had turned a deaf ear to all the blandishments of Charles Albert ' s agents , now began to find that the nobility were intriguing against them , and that a regular bargain had been concluded between the municipality and the emissaries alluded to .

    "Indignant at such proceedings , and unwilling that after having achieved its liber ty , their country should become a mere province of Piedmont , they resigned , and a provisional government was formed , of which Casati , the podesta or mayor , was the president , by whom the bargain with the King was ratified , and by whom the affairs of Lombaidy , in the ensuing campaign , were most unworthily conducted . " Immediate notice of this change in the direction of affairs was sent to Turin , and the King hesitated no longer to throw oft' the flimsy mask he had hitherto worn , or perform the last act of treachery to his ally . These circumstances could not be concealed from the vigilant observation of Radetzky , and no sooner did ho become aware of the result of the last mission , than he determined to retire and gain as many days' march as ho could on the Piedmontese army .

    " He at once despatched couriers to Verona and Mantua , instructing tho governors of both fortresses of the real state of affairs , and cautioning them against allowing tho people to overpower the garrisons , or possess themselves of tho principal posts . Ho then ordered the troops , quartered in all tho towns of Loinbardy , to march towards tho Mincio , and effect a juncture with him at a given point . Affecting next to invest tho city inoro closely , and ordering his artillery to keep up an incessant fire , ho drew off his troops in tho silence and darknoss of tho night of the 22 nd , and long before day broke , a \\ traces of him were lost . "

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    THE FOKTEJGSS OF KOMAEOM . The Fortress ofKomdrom { Comorn ) during the War of Independence in Jlting ^!/ , J » 1848-1840 . 33 y Colonel Sigiamund Thaly , lato Director of Fortifications in Komarom . Translated by William Itushton , M . A ., of University College , London , James Madden-Comorn is well lenown in tho history of tho War of Independence in Hungary , and its importance , as a national fortress , as well as tue bravery and patriotism of tho inhabitants of tho town and county from which it derives its name , well entitle it to a separate history . VVil . JJ the great fortresses of Hungary woro falling , ono after another , into wio hands of tho Austrians , in 18 < 18 , owing to the weakness of tho Hungary i

    executive , and tho treachery of the imperial power , Comorn was savc" " * the courage and watchfulness of its citizens . Every scheme of the Austrian commander was frustrated , and , before tho breaking of the Jl 0 U 0 . truco between Ferdinand and tho Hungarian Ministry , Comorn was iu tho possession of tho latter . In the plots and counter plots by which t »» ovent was brought about , 'Colonel Thaly , then a cantain in the ^ } 1 National Guards , occupied a prominent place . With rare modcsiy , blended with a manly self-respect , Colonel Thaly has narrated Jus <>» " share in tho transactions connocted with the Siogcs of Comorn , tho n » intention of tho present volume ; and ho has kept that personal 9 l \ ttF 0 ' , " was fit he should , as far in the background as was consistont witu w truth . Malting all tho allowances noodful in such a case , wo "ro clispo ^ u to give groat praise to Colonel Thaly , for tho mannor in wlucli « ° ' " ^ doiio this . JSTofc a single instance occurs in which an ill-natured woi ^ sot down against a personal opponent . In fact , tho men wita wao *~ had differences , sometimes vital differences , are precisely those wno tcuj the greatest justice at his hands ; and when his hostility , as m tno eaew

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    614 T ^^ ^ - ^ pl ^^^ ra ^ ii ^; . - ^ - ¦ - \ -

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1852, page 614, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1941/page/18/