The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-08 00:00:00

Report of .the Late Italian Ministry.

The following is the full text of the report ad-
dressed to King Victor Emmanuel by the late
ministry, a summary of which has already been for-
warded by telegraph :

Turin, Sept. 19.

Sire,—When your Majesty entrusted to us the adminis-
tration of the State, circumstances were such that it would
have been little worthy and of slight utility to recommence
the negotiations relative to the Roman question. Your Ma-
jesty's Government, however, while principally devoting its
cares to the interior organisation of the kingdom, did not
lose sight of this great question, and awaited the opportu-
nity to take it again in hand. Thus when the changes which
took place in general politics, and in the relations Of the
powers, appeared to us to present this opportunity, we has-
tended to embrace it.

Two fundamental principles result from the discussions
and deliberations of Parliament upon the question of Rome,
which appear to us to govern the entire question, and to
mark out the rule of conduct by which your Majesty's Go-
vernmeht should be guided. The first is that the Roman
question must be settled by moral, not material means, for
violence in such a case would not solve any difficulty. The
second is, that it was requisite to come to an agreement
with France upon the application of the principle of non-
intervention to the affairs of Rome.

The Emperor of the French has always desired to be able
to withdraw his troops from Rome, not only because the re-
solution to discontinue the occupation was conformable to
the principles of public law, by virtue of which he reigns,
and his policy and arms are supported in Europe, but also
because the reconstitution of Italy, in which the French
nation has powerfully co-operated, will be one of the prin-
cipal glories of his reign,
But the Emperor did not think himself able, by abruptly
withdrawing his assistance, to abandon a power to which he
had accorded the protection of his arms for 15 years. In
order to obtain the evacuation of the Pontifical territory, it
was necessary to reassure the French, to show them and to
show Europe that they can quit Rome without doing vio-
lence to their own feelings towards the Papacy. What
could the Government do in this sense ?

It could only promise nct to attack the territory which
the French troops had occupied, and to prevent armed bands
issuing from the kingdom invading that same territory.
Such a promise loyally made and firmly adhered to, in
our opinion, neither destroys nor diminishes the right and
the aspirations of the nation, and simply upholds the prin-
ciple of the application of purely meral force, the employ-
ment of all the means which modern civilisation furnishes
for the triumph of the ideas of liberty and nationality.
We have, therefore, frankly advised your 111,,j3sty to
accept such an engagement as a corrective cf the departure
of the French troops from Italy, and we aro ready to take
the responsibility of our advice before Parliament and the
nation.

Upon the one hand, there is nothing in this engagement
in contradiction with our principles; upon the other, it will
have the effect of putting an end to that unquiet expecta-
tion, that anxiety which agitates men's minds, and of
establishing an interval between the present situation and
that which must have reconciliation between the Church
and Italy as its final result.
We are convinced that the Italians, who have given so
many proofs of sagacity and wisdom in recent years, will
understand the suitability of this agreement, and appre-
ciating the extreme importance of the result obtained—the
cessation of the French intervention at Rome—will approve
a policy which must be prudent as well as strong.
It is equally of great importance thus to suppress a per-
manent cause of divergence between Italy and France, and
not to allow the ties which at present and in future must
unite the two nations, to be loosened under the influence ct
a state of things which, indefinitely prolonged, might com-
promise the dignity of the nation as well as its natural
alliances. _ _

Your Majesty's Government, however, in occupying itself
with the question of Rome, did not forget that of Venice.
Austria is encamped in Venetia in one of the strongest
positions constructed by nature and military skill, and her
army rivals in number, in valour, and in materiel the most
redoubtable of Europe. If she does not threaten the king-
dom of Italy at this moment, such alliances may be formed,
such eventualities may arise, against the dangers of which
it is urgent and indispensable to be prepared. _

Italy was scarcely reunited under the sceptre of the
dynasty of Savoy before your Majesty occupied yourself
above all with the organisation of a general system of de-
fence for the new kingdom. Your Majesty was rightly of
opinion that, without a well combined defensive system,
our political independence, could not be secured,
It was evident that the defensive system of the old Sar-
dinian States could not be that of Italy. The position of
Austria, the approach of the French frontier in consequence
of the reunion of Savoy with France, required that the seat
of Government, which is of such great importance in mo-
dern wars, and of still greater moment to Italy in her pre-
sent peculiar position, should be transferred from Turin to
a city in that respect more advantageously situated.
Among the principal cities of the existing territory of the
kingdom, it was incontestible that Florence offered the best
conditions, on account of her topographical position and the
lines of the Po and the Appenines by which she is protected.
The superior officers of the land and naval forces consulted
by your Majesty have been of his opinion, and it became
indispensable to base upon these data the organisation of
the defence of the kingdom which your Majesty had at;heart.
This determination further, although caused essentially
by reasons of interior policy, is closely connected with the
treaty, the conclusion of which it has rendered possible. To
the world without indeed, and especially in the eyes of
France, it presents itself as a proof, a guarantee of the firm-
ness of our resolution to abstain from employing violence
against the-Papacy. Another result will be that the effi-
caciousness of the moral means by which Italy will avail
herself will have all the better effect at Rome, as the seat of
the Government will be more contiguous, communication
will be more frequent, and the community of interests and
customs older and more intimate.
It is certainly lamentable to be forced to leave this ancient
and noble city of Turin, so capable of presiding at the foun-
dation of the new State, so fit to favour the development of
representative institutions. It is lamentable also to trouble
the interests, to disconcert the arrangements, which your
Majesty's Government entertains the firm intention of con
ciliating by employing suitable means. We feel it, but we
do not hesitate to reckon upon the generosity of the people
in whose bosom has been born and flourished the liberty of
Italy, which has lavished the blood of its sons and its trea-
sure for the welfare of the common country, and which his
never recoiled from any sacrifice to secure the unity of Italy.
It will thus acquire one great title the more to the devotion
and gratitude of the other Italian provinces.
It is you, Sire, who have always given the example of
every abnegation, that this people takes as its model, and
it will not hesitate, seeing its King sparo neither life nor
crown, and devote themselves above all and in every cir-
cumstance to Italy.
Permit us, Sire, with hearts profoundly moved, to express
to you at this moment the sentiments of the whole nation,
which reveres and loves you, and which feels that its des-
tiny is indissolubly bound up with your own and that of
your dynasty,
The convention with France, in so far as no pecuniary
obligation will result as its effective consequence, is by the

constitution an object of royal prerogative, and does not
require the sanction of parliament. As for the transfer of
the seat of government to Florence, that measure, in addi-
tion to its intrinsic gravity, entails expense, and we must
propose to insert a special credit into the budget of 1865 to
enable it to be met. Both Chaaibera will oertaiuly think fit