Ricasoli, 315 



were in the greatest excitement, fearing that those 

 rulers so obnoxious to them might by this treaty be 

 again forced upon them ; and it required the firm 

 hand of Ricasoli to calm the people, and induce the 

 King to accept the annexation which had been voted 

 without one dissentient voice. 



Baron Ricasoli had naturally many enemies 

 amongst the Codini, or retrograde party. Hand- 

 grenades were thrown against the door of his house, 

 as also at those of other ministers, but without doing 

 harm. One evening my daughters were dressing to 

 go to a ball that was to take place at the Palazzo 

 delle Crocelle, close to us, in a street parallel to 

 ours, when we were startled by a loud explosion. 

 An attempt had been made to throw a shell into the 

 ball-room, which had happily failed. The streets 

 were immediately lined with soldiers, and the ball, 

 which was given by the Ministers, as far as I recol- 

 lect, took place. 



When the war broke out, a large body of French 

 troops, commanded by Prince Jerome Napoleon, 

 came to Florence, and were bivouacked in the 

 Cascine. The people in the streets welcomed them 

 as deliverers from the Austrians, whose occupation 

 of Tuscany, when first we came to reside in Florence, 

 was such a bitter mortification to them, and one of 

 the causes of the unpopularity of the Grand Duke, 



