PIEDMONTESE REVOLUTION PIERRE. 



557 



gent. All the ministers received their dismission. 

 The state- prisoners were set at liberty, and the Car- 

 bonaria triumphed in all places, with the exception 

 of Nizza, whither Victor Emmanuel repaired, and of 

 Savoy. On the evening of the 13th, the regent 

 found himself compelled, at the demand of the de- 

 puties of Turin, to proclaim the adoption of the 

 Spanish constitution, on condition, however, of the 

 royal consent. He swore to it on the 14th, but 

 with a reservation of the former order of succession, 

 and of toleration towards all religions, besides the 

 changes to be made by a national parliament and the 

 king. He appointed, at the same time, a new min- 

 istry, and, on the 16th, a supreme junta. Savoy 

 was comparatively little affected by the revolution. 

 It excited, however, much interest in Lombardy, 

 and some young men from Milan and Pavia hasten- 

 ed to Alessandria and Turin. Meanwhile, the em- 

 peror of Austria at Laybach had ordered, on the 

 14th, that an army should advance to the frontiers 

 of Piedmont, and Alexander caused 90,000 Russians 

 to march from Volhynia to Italy ; but, the insurrec- 

 tion being speedily quieted, they halted in Galicia. 

 The duke of Genevois proclaimed at Modena, on 

 the 16th, all that had been done since the abdica- 

 tion of his brother, null and void, and placed the 

 count Salieri della Torre, governor of Novarra, at 

 the head of the royal troops, to put down the insur- 

 gents. This proclamation deprived the junta of 

 courage and energy. In Turin, however, the in- 

 surgents maintained their influence ; the Austrian 

 ambassador was obliged to depart ; an army was as- 

 sembled to occupy Lombardy, and, on the 21st, the 

 regent, the prince of Carignano, appointed the count 

 of Santa Rosa minister of war. But that same night 

 the prince fled to Novara, whence he repaired to 

 the Austrian head-quarters, then to Modena, and 

 thence (as the duke of Genevois forbade him the 

 court) to Florence. He remained in retirement till 

 1823, when he fought as a volunteer in the French 

 army against Spain, after which he returned to Turin. 

 He had formally renounced the regency on the 23d. 

 The minister of war ventured on the most daring 

 steps. In the orders issued March 23, he declared 

 that the king was to be regarded as a prisoner of 

 Austria ; and all the Piedmontese were called to 

 arms ; the Lombards, he said, would join them, and 

 France would not refuse its assistance. In Genoa, 

 where the governor, count Desgeneix attempted, on 

 the 21st, to restore the old order of things, a part 

 of the people and troops, on the 23d, maintained by 

 force the Spanish constitution. But the news of 

 the destruction of the Neapolitan army in the Abruz- 

 zi quelled the courage of the insurgents. Under 

 these circumstances (according to Santa Rosa's ac- 

 count), the Russian minister at Turin, count of Mo- 

 cenigo, suggested an amicable mediation : " no 

 Austrian was to enter Piedmont ; full amnesty might 

 be hoped for, and even a constitution." The junta 

 accepted the proposition, but it was rejected by the 

 conspirators in Alessandria. Meanwhile, at the re- 

 quest of the duke of Genevois, an Austrian corps 

 under count Bubna had approached the frontiers. 

 April 8, Bubna formed a junction with the royal 

 army at Novara. A battle took place, and the in- 

 surgents, after a brave resistance of seven hours, 

 were wholly dispersed on the bridge over the Agona. 

 The victors advanced, without opposition, towards 

 Turin. The junta, therefore, separated on the 9th. 

 Count Santa Rosa evacuated the citadel, and on the 

 10th, Della Torre, the royal commander, entered 

 Turin. On the llth and following days, the Austri- 

 ans took possession, without resistance, of the cita- 

 dels of Alessandria, Voghera, Tortona, Casale, Ver- 

 celli, Stradella and Valenza. In consequence of the 



treaty of Novara, of July 14, 1-82 J, the Sardinian 

 government paid 300,000 francs monthly, for 12,000 

 men, besides furnishing their provision. The number 

 of the foreign garrison troops was subsequently dim- 

 inished to 5000 men ; and after the treaty of Verona, 

 of Dec. 14, 1822, the last evacuation that of Ales- 

 sandria took, place. Oct. 31, 1823. The restoration 

 of the absolute authority of the king ensued, April 

 10. The duke of Genevois, however, did not as- 

 sume the regal dignity till his brother, by the de- 

 claration of Nizza, of April 18, persisted in his abdi- 

 cation. The insurgents fled, some through Switzer- 

 land to France, some embarked in Genoa for Spain. 

 The property of sixty-five persons who had fled was 

 confiscated, and July 19, Aug. 10 and 23, 1821, 

 twenty-one were condemned to be hanged for high 

 treason, and their property to be confiscated. The 

 rest, likewise twenty-one, were sentenced to the 

 galleys. Of the whole, however, but thirteen were 

 arrested, among whom were two of those condemn- 

 ed to be hanged. Of these, one was executed at 

 Genoa, and the other banished, because he had, on 

 his flight, been driven to Monaco by a tempest. 

 At the same time, the king issued from Piacenza 

 rigorous prohibitions of secret societies, and two de- 

 crees of amnesty, with many exceptions. Oct. 17, 

 1821, ha made his entry into Turin. 



Concerning the revolution of Piedmont, see the 

 Trente Jours de Revolution en Pitmont, by an eye- 

 witness (Lyons, 1821); Precis Histor. surles Revol- 

 ut. des Roy. de Naples et de Piemont, en 1 820 et 

 1821, par M. le Comte D. The Hist, de la RevoM. 

 de Piem.f by Alphonso de Beauchamp (Paris, 1821), 

 contains much that is false. The Simple Recit des 

 Evfnemens arrives en Picm, dans le Mois de Mars 

 et d'Avril. 1824, par un Officier Piemontais, is not 

 impartial. Count Santorre de santa Rosa, one of 

 the opponents of the government, wrote, in France, 

 De la Revolution Piemontaise (3me edit. , augmentee 

 de Notes et de I' Analyse de la Constitut. Sicilienne, 

 Paris, 1822). 



PIENO (Italian, full) ; a word often used for 

 tutti, grande, orgrossi ; and sometimes with choro,as, 

 pieno choro (a full chorus) ; sometimes employed in 

 a vehement or energetic sense. 



PIEPOWDER COURT. See Courts of England. 



PIERIAN ; an epithet given to the muses, from 

 mount Pierus, in Thessaly, which was sacred to them, 

 or from their victory over the nine daughters of the 

 Macedonian king Pierus, who were changed into 

 magpies for having dared to engage in a contest 

 with them. 



Pierides was also one of their designations, for 

 the same reasons. 



PIERRE, JACQUES BERNARDJN HENRI DE SAINT, 

 one of the most ingenious and feeling philosophical 

 French writers, born at Havre, in 1737, was, in his 

 twelfth year, so disgusted with the restraints of 

 school, that he sailed with his uncle to Martinico. 

 After his return, which was hastened by home-sick- 

 ness, he entered the engineer school at Paris, and 

 went to Malta, in the capacity of an officer. A duel 

 obliged him to flee, and he received the place of sub- 

 lieutenant of engineers in the service of Catharine 

 II., which he resigned after eighteen months. He 

 next served with the French party in Poland, was 

 made prisoner by the Russians, released, and, after 

 residing in Warsaw, Dresden, Berlin and Vienna, 

 returned to Paris. He obtained a commission in the 

 engineer corps, stationed in the Isle de France, but 

 iu two years threw up his commission, on account of 

 some disputes in which he became involved, and 

 returned to France. Here begins his literary life. 

 He divided his small pension with his mother, and, 

 in 1773, published his f'oyage d I' Iste.de France. 



