The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-13 00:00:00

Sesseyl, and d'Arcines. The Marquis Costa de
Beauregard was designated as an emissary at
Paris of the annexionist party, and one of its most
red-hot partisans." M. de Beauregard has ad-
dressed to the Courier des Alper a letter, in which,
after declaring that imputation to be an insult to
him, he adds, " I shall remain faithful to the flag
of legitimacy, to my dynastic affections, to the here-
ditary traditions I have received in my family. Such
is the programme of honour, from which I shall
never deviate. As for my political faith on the
vital question so profoundly exciting Savoy, I shall
loudly proclaim it. In no case can I join any in-
ternal movement tending to provoke separatist
manifestations, since, in my opinion, such manifes-
tations would become yet more culpable and less
worthy, if any intrigue or foreign pressure could be
mixed up with them."
In fact and in law the question of Savoy is not
so simple and so advanced as it pleases the semi-
official journals to say. Perhaps on both sides the
importance of it is much exaggerated. When
Fiance shall possess Savoy, says a letter from
Chambery in the Unions, she must, in order to hold
the key of the Alps, take also Mount Cenis. In
that case, it will be understood, remarks the letter,
that Turin can no longer be the capital of Italy ; for
a capital ought to be safe from an invasion, and who
can defend Turin when France, encamped on Mount
Cenis, may desire to invade Italy ? With Austria
in her formidable Lombardo-Venetian boulevard,
and with France on the Alps—that France which,
though a friend to-day, may be an enemy to-mor-
row—what, asks the letter, would become of Italian
independence ? As regards France, we say that the
day on which, for the misfortune of all, she should be
led or condemned to fight against Italy, we do not be-
lieve that whether she starts from the foot or summit
of the Alps, Piedmont can (we say it without meaning
offence) seriously flatter herself to be able to stop
the road. It has always been alleged that Piedmont
held the keys of Italy ; but we seek in vain for the
epoch at which she has prevented either the opening
or the forcing of the gates. As for Austria, the
case is different; so long as she shall occupy an inch
of ground in Italy, the Italians will act wisely in
keeping up all their resources, and in not weaken-
ing themselves on any point. But, after all, the
question is still under consideration, and it has only
been raised in certain journals as a straw thrown
in the air to see the direction of the wind. The
Emperor of the French, en entering Italy, said that
he entertained no -p'roject of conquest or aggran-
disement, and the lifenitew• subsequently added that
France was the only power which made war for
an idea.' Nothing as yet has occurred to prove that
on this point!the 'French Government has changed
its opinion.
Nothing proVes that on this point the French
Government has changed its opinion. Before the
war the annexation was the subject of interpella-
Lions, but Lord Granville has informed us that it
was subordinate to the realisation of the programme
of May 3. The programme has remained incom-
plete, the Austrians are still in Venetia, and M. de
Cavour has officially declared that Piedmont meant
neither to sell, nor cede, nor exchange Savoy.
Thereupon, consequently, the last word has been
spoken, and until some new arrangement the Savoy
question remains in the state of an abortive combi-
nation.
If this affair anxiously engages the mind of
Europe, makes England impatient, stirs up Italy,
and makes the Savoyards furious, it is because the
treaty of Zurich, which put an end to the war, has
not solved the great question for which the war
was undertaken.