nce were fascinated by the charm of manner which he could
always exert when he chose, and were confirmed in their hopes by his
evident susceptibility to the magnetism of new ideas and fatalistic
ambitions. What they did not perceive was, that in his nature lay
that ingrained tendency to drift before the wind, which is the most
dangerous thing in politics. In the mid-sea of events he might
change his course without conscious insincerity, but with the
self-abandonment of a mind which, under pressure, loses the sense of
personal responsibility.

In Piedmont, Carbonarism had made great way among the upper classes
and among the younger officers; the flower of the country was enrolled
in its ranks, and the impatience to take some action towards procuring
free institutions for themselves, and doing something for their
Lombard brothers, had reached fever heat in the spring of 1821, when
the affairs of Naples were creating much excitement. The principal
conspirators, noble young men, full of unselfish ardour, were the
chosen friends and companions of the Prince of Carignano. It was
formerly the opinion that they made him the confidant of their plans
from the first, that he was one of them, in short--a Carbonaro bound
by all the oaths and obligations of the society. The judgment of his
conduct afterwards is, of course, much affected by this point; were
the assumption correct, the invectives launched against him, not by
any means only by republican writers, would hardly seem excessive. But
by the light of documents issued in recent times, it appears more just
as well as more charitable to suppose that Charles Albert's complicity
was of a much less precise character. A little encouragement from a
prince goes a long way.

According to his own account, he was taken by surprise when, on the
and or 3rd of March, his friends Carail, Collegno, Santa Rosa and
Lisio came to tell him in secret that they belonged to societies
which had been long working for the independence of Italy, and that
they reckoned on him, knowing well his affection for his country, to
aid them in obtaining from the King some few first concessions, which
would be the prelude of a glorious future. It is clear that he ought
either to have broken with them altogether from that moment or to have
cast his lot with them for good or evil. He tried a middle course. He
induced the conspirators to put off the revolution by which they
intended to enforce their demands, and he