France be consummated, it is certain and obvious that this declaration and agreement will have been set at nought. But even if we were disposed to concede to the King of Sardinia the right of bartering away his subjects, with or without their consent, he unquestionably has no right to set at nought the conditions under which this territory was restored to him conditions of essential importance to the security of a third party, namely, Switzerland-conditions which are expressly recognised by his own Treaties with Switzerland-and which are essential to the maintenance of a principle solemnly established by the unanimous will of Europe. We hold, therefore, that in assenting to this transfer, which has been made in open defiance of the most positive assurances-without and against the will of the inhabitants of Savoy and Nice, without and against the consent of the other Powers of Europe-the Court of Turin has committed a flagrant violation of public law; and this reproach attaches even more strongly to the Sardinian Government than to the Emperor of the French, because France does not lie under quite the same obligations as Sardinia in this matter both to Switzerland and to Europe, inasmuch as all the general provisions above referred to were formally acceded to by the Crown of Sardinia, and were, further confirmed by special treaties between that Crown and the Helvetic Confederation. The validity of these arrangements has also been repeatedly acknowledged by France. It is established beyond all doubt by the Protest of the Federal Government, that the Cabinet of the Tuileries had lulled their apprehensions by assuring the Swiss agent in Paris that the cession of Savoy to France was not on the tapis, but that in such a contingency Chablais and Faucigny should be ceded to Switzerland. These assurances were repeated orally by the French French Chargé d'Affaires in Berne; and in a despatch communicated to the British Government, M. Thouvenel not only promised to respect the rights of Switzerland, but gave it as the desire of France that these contiguous districts should be added to the Confederation. On the 8th February M. de Cavour repeated to the Swiss agent at Turin that Sardinia is not disposed to 'sell, cede, or exchange Savoy to France;' but Sir J. Hudson reported that the Swiss agent did not fail to remark that a 'certain pressure is exercised by France upon Sardinia with regard to that cession.' Did Sardinia really resist that pressure? Did she appeal to this country to assist her in repelling an unjust demand? Did she even attempt to protect the rights of third parties, which she was bound by treaty and by good faith to recognise? We can find no evidence whatever of this VOL. CXI. NO. CCXXVI. 00 nature in the papers laid before Parliament, and we think it impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than that the French and Sardinian Cabinets had agreed upon this cession, for their own political purposes, without reference to the wishes of the people of Savoy, the rights of Switzerland, or the consent of Europe. But can it be contended that France in assuming the government of these provinces, takes them with the peculiar liabilities attached to them, in favour of the neutrality of Switzerland? The argument appears to us utterly untenable. The pamphlet before us says: 'The treaties of 1815 included the neutralised portion of Savoy, a fact which cannot be reconciled with the annexation of the country to France. Neither the law of France, which is uniformity, nor her dignity as a great military Power, could allow her to submit to conditions of this nature [such as the engagement not to place troops in the district in time of war, but to allow it to be occupied by the Swiss Confederation]. We smile at the idea of maintaining the neutrality of Savoy, after Savoy is become France. If then, in case the annexation be accomplished, it is the will of Europe to cause treaties to be respected, to guarantee the independence of Switzerland, and to keep the passes of the Simplon closed, there seems to us to be no other mode of effecting this object but by uniting to Switzerland the basins of the Dranse and the Arve, with the Salève, Sion, and Vuache mountains, so as to include them within the Helvetic Confederation.' We know not what may be the course these events will have taken when these pages are before the public: but if the Emperor of the French be really disposed to give to Europe an assurance of his respect for public law and for peace-if he has not forgotten his personal obligations to that country which was once his asylum, and which is an invaluable barrier and ally to France he will, at least, enter into such engagements as the safety and neutral character of Switzerland require. If he adopt and adhere to the opposite policy, his own declarations and his own promises stamp that policy with condemnation. He may think that the interest of Europe in this small territory is not sufficiently strong and direct to justify measures of hostility, and that the seizure may probably be effected with temporary impunity. But that impunity will be but temporary. A blow struck, however successfully, at a great principle of international law, equally beneficial to the whole family of nations, is a blow struck at the fundamental conditions of peace. The value of these guarantees is not so much that they entitle foreign Powers to take up arms in defence of them, as that they are intended to avert the necessity of having recourse to arms. They are designed to substitute the humane provisions of public law and mutual faith, for the brutal operations of military force. Every act, therefore, which weakens the sanctity of these engagements, increases the melancholy probability that the fate of territories and of nations will again be determined, not by law, but by might. The guarantees which have been subsequently given to Belgium and to the Ottoman Empire rest upon the same principle and upon no other; and in exactly the proportion in which one is weakened the others suffer. Whatever, therefore, may be the termination of this affair, it is one of evil augury for the future. Europe has seen, with surprise, the most frivolous pretexts put forth to justify a territorial aggrandisement, and the most solemn assurances dealt with as lightly as these frivolous pretexts. Both in money and in territory, the King of Sardinia has paid the price of the assistance he asked for and obtained from France. Well will it be for him if, even now, the account be closed! Well will it be for Europe, and for no other State in Europe more than for France, if this be the last of these attempts to undermine the territorial distribution of the Continent! But the end is not yet. There never was an age in human history when the civilised nations of the earth might enjoy greater prosperity and repose, if they will respect the rights of their neighbours and cultivate their own resources. The Commercial Treaty, to which we have devoted the first pages of this Number, was conceived in that spirit, and it was nobly and wisely done if it was done with sincerity. But between that spirit of enlightened improvement and the restless designs of political change and territorial aggrandisement, backed by military force, there is eternal hostility; and with both courses before him, we trust, that for the happiness of his country, the duration of his own power, and the welfare of mankind, it is to the former of these schemes of policy, and not to the latter, that the Ruler of France will direct his power. But if it be otherwise, the annexation of Savoy will prove a warning and a lesson not to be forgotten by Europe; and Lord John Russell has already expressed in Parliament, with great dignity, moderation, and firmness, the effect it cannot fail to produce on the policy of Great Britain. No. CCXXVII. will be published in July. INDEX. - A Acclimatisation of Animals, 161-Continental establishments, 162–— Agassiz, M., his Contributions to the Natural History of the United Alison, Sir A., his History of Europe, from the Fall of Napoleon in Amé, M., Étude Économique sur Tarifs des Douanes, reviewed, 277. B British Taxation, three fallacies in regard to, 236- - Broglie, Prince Albert, his L'Eglise et l'Empire Romain au IV me C Campbell, Dr., Note on his Visit to England in 1775, 276. 6 China, Lord Elgin's mission to, 96 — situation of our countrymen in - - - the Civil Correspondence and Memoranda of the Duke of Wellington, - Collier, J. P., his Reply to Mr. Hamilton's Enquiry reviewed, 452. D Darwin, Charles, his work on the Origin of Species, reviewed, 487 E Eardley-Wilmot, Sir J., his work on Lord Brougham's Acts and of the Augustan era, 361-6-Saxon element, 368-local names, |