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The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort Author:Theodore Martin Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER XCIX. Letter to Prince Consort by Prince Regent of Prussia—Alarm ereated by Cession of Savoy and Nice—Reform Bill introduced by Lord John Russell—Indi... more »fference of Country on the Subject. On the llth and 12th of March, a vote by ballot and universal suffrage took place in Tuscany and the ./Emilia on the question, whether these were to be erected into a separate kingdom, or to be incorporated with Sardinia. By an overwhelming majority the latter alternative was adopted, and the homage of these States was forthwith presented at Turin by Signer Farini on behalf of the Emilia, and by Baron Ricasoli on behalf of Tuscany, and accepted by King Victor Emmanuel. It only now remained to carry out the counterpart of the arrangement. When the intended annexation of Savoy to France first became known, Switzerland became alarmed, and claimed that the districts of Chablais and Faucigny, which had been handed over in 1815 to Sardinia under a guarantee for their neutrality, should be transferred to Switzerland, as a measure of protection to their frontier. The Swiss Government were for a time induced by M. Thouvenel to believe that their claim would be entertained. Count Cavour, on the other hand, had frankly told them from the first to expect no concession, and that France would take her stand upon the ground that her obligations to Europe were satisfied by her agreeing to accept the transfer of Savoy, subject to the conditions as to maintaining the neutralitv of Chablais and Faucigny imposed on Sardinia by the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. So soon as the annexation of Savoy was assured, this attitude was definitively taken up by France. M. Thouvenel addressed to the representatives of the Great Powers (13th March) a long and laboured justification of the annexation of Savoy and Nic...« less