The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-23 00:00:00

FRANCE AND SAVOY.

The Moniteur of yesterday publishes the follow-
ing account of the reception by the Emperor of
the deputation of the provincial councillors of the
principal towns charged to present to his Majesty
the addresses of-their fellow-citizens on the subject
of the annexation of Savoy :

The Empress and the Prince Imperial were pre-
sent at the reception.
The President of the deputation, Count Grefie
de Bellecombe, read the following address to his
Majesty
:
"Sire,—ln approaching your Majesty a first
sentiment dominates us all; it is that of our profound
admiration for the Sovereign who, after having
been elected by the whole of France, has known
how to increase still more her glory and her

prosperity.
" Sire,—So many natural bonds, so many glorious
reminiscences unite Savoy to France, that she
trembled with happiness when the august word of
your Majesty gave the hope to our country that
she was about to be called to make part of the
great French family with the assent of its legiti-
mate Sovereign.
" One single anxiety has alone hitherto impeded
the impulse—the tear of seeing dismembered in
favour of Switzerland a nationality compact by
affection and by so many links of every descrip-
tion.

" The provisional councillors who represent Savoy
have charged us, Sire, to place at the feet of your
Majesty the earnest prayer to shield our country
from such a misfortune, mid the municipal coun-
cillors of the principal towns have wished to join
their deputations to ours.

" Sire,—Your Majesty will appreciate the reserve
imposed upon constituted bodies, upon men who
have always been faithful subjects of their King, as
they will be of your Majesty. But after the acts
of the Government of tho King we may doubtless be
allowed to address to your Majesty the expression
of the sentiments we entertain for France, Dear
which Savoy will find not only grandeur and glory,
but also the sympathy and safeguard of all her
moral and material interests.
" From the shores of Lake Leman to the valleys
of Mont Cenis those who have been honoured with
the votes of their fellow-citizens have hastened to
your Majesty to express the joy that Savoy will
feel when she m. shall b 3 fully reunited (reue) to
France, and when she may always have with that
great and noble nation but one cry, that of 'Vive
l'Empereur !" Vive la France !'"
The Emperor replied as follows :
" Gentlemen,—l thank you for the sentiments
you,have just expressed towards me, and I receive
you with pleasure. The King of Sardinia having
agreed to the principle of the reunion of Savoy and
of the county of Nice to France, I may, without
dereliction of any international duty, express to
you my sympathy, and welcome the expression of
your wishes. The circumstances under which this
rectification of frontiers takes place are so excep-
tional that at the same time that they respond to

legitimate interests they do not jar upon any prin-
ciple, and consequently do not establish any dan
gerous precedent.

" In fact, it is neither by conquest nor by insur-
rection that Savoy and Nice will be reunited to
France, but by the free consent of the legitimate
Sovereign supported by the popalar adhesion.
Thus everything which in Europe does not cede to
a spirit of antagonism of another period looks upon
this adjunction of territory as natural and just._
The reception given to the communications ad-
dressed by my Government to the Powers repre-
sented at the Congress of Vienna authorises for the
majority of them the founded hope of a favourable
examination.*
"My friendship for Switzerland made me look
upon it as possible to detach in favour of the Con-
federation some portions of the territory of Savoy;
but, in face of the repulsion shown among you at
the idea of seeing a country
dismembered which
has known how to create for itself through cen-
turies a glorious individuality, and thus give itself
a national history, it is natural to declare that I
will not constrain the wishes of the populations to
the profit of others. As regards the political and
commercial interests which unite certain portions
.of Sacoy to Switzerland, it will be easy, I think,
to satisfy them by special arrangements.
" I hope, then, gentlemen, that I may consider
you as members of the great French family. I

* Autorise pour la plupart d'entre elles la juste esperance
d'un examen favorable.