The vote of Central Italy has been taken—it is an
emphatic " Yes " to the direct question—" Will you have Victor Emma- nuel to reign over yon ?" The minority, even in Tuscany, where the partisans of municipalism were supposed to be so strong, is positively insignificant ; while, in the Romagna, burn- ing with recollections of Papal rule ; in Modena, still feeling the wounds inflicted by the paltry tyranny of a D'Este ; and in Parma, mindful of Bourbon lust and Bourbon cruelty, the mi- nority almost sinks below zero. The Central Italians have been invited by the English Government to give a free expression of their convictions ; they have been invited by the French Go- vernment to express them through universal suffrage. Ricasoli and Farini have taken measures to effect this, and the result is what we see. Tuscany abandons municipalism, although that passion was appealed to by an Emperor ; in the other provinces, the baneful old pasaion had been obliterated by the events of 1848. 'And now, although France severs herself from his policy, Victor Emmanuel is pledged to accept the result, and take formal posseasion of his new dominions. The triumph is a. pure Italian triumph,, one which has been achieved by themselves alone, with no other aid than that derived from the unfailing sympathy and sound advice of the British Government and the British nation.
' The question of the annexation of Savoy is again involved in -obscurity. M. Thouven'el has objected to an appeal to universal suffrage. It is said he has remarked that the case of Savoy dif- fers from the case of Tuscany. The King of Sardinia may concede Savoy, but Tuscany is guaranteed by European Treaties to the House of Lorraine. But surely Tuscany is no more guaranteed than Savoy, and universal suffrage breaking a treaty stipulation in Savoy, would be no more invalid than universal suffrage breaking a treaty stipulation in regard to Tuscany. The latest and strangest rumour is that Savoy will be ceded to France by treaty—ceded entire and without regard to the neutrality of Switzerland, and that, after the transaction is complete, the French and Sardinian Governments will notify it to Europe with expla- nationa. We doubted the story, because it did not agree with the explicit statement of Count Cavour and the equally explicit statements of Lord Palmerston. The Sardinian statesman has said that his Government would not cede or exchange Savoy, but, in deference to France, would submit the question to the vote. The English Prime Minister has said that the Emperor would not annex Savoy without the consent of Victor Emmanuel and his Savoyard subjects, and without consulting the Great Powers. Yet the statements of Lord John Russell last night seemed al- most to warrant some belief in this extrordinary rumour. But if the report of the simple cession be true, what becomes of the declarations of Count Cavour and the promises said to have been given by the Emperor of the French ?
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