The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-03 00:00:00

THE SUN.
LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 1880.

Some " further correspondence relating to the
affairs of Italy," but in reality touching the affairs
of Switzerland, have been presented to Parliament
by Lord J. RUSSELL, a copy of which we have been
favoured with. This correspondence contains the
" expected" answer to the despatch of M. THOU-
VENEL relative to the annexation of Savoy and Nice
to France ; and we must confess that, as Lord J.
RUSSELL stated in the Hone of Commons, the
Foreign Secretary of England has no reason to be
ashamed of that State•document. It is manly and
independent, yet conciliatory withal. It puts
the idle attempts of the French Government
to justify their nefarious conduct most completely
out of court. " Out of their own mouths " do
they stand condemned. Never was presumption
more quietly put down. The cogency of Lord
JOHN'S argument is unanswerable. Indeed, so
much so that the French Minister consoles himself
under the plea that, however much he regrets ths
tendency of Lord JOHN'S argument, still he is
happy that it is not a protest In other words,
France has taken Savoy, and would take the neu-
tral provinces also, but defers doing so until the
opinion of the Great Powers be first given.
That is, France has secured the greater
part of the robbery, and for an appearance
of moderation allows the remainder to
lie over till she be prepared to act
the Lion's part in the fable if the beasts—l have
taken the other parts by virtue of my power—and
who dare dispute this portion will do so at his peril !
Such, in effect, is the annexation of Savoy, by the
disinterested Emperor who went to war only for
"an idea ! "

After exposing the flippancy of M. THOUVENEL
as to the assumed danger to France from the increase
to Sardinia, of her population of 4,000,000 to that of
12,000,000,as against 36,000,000 in FranceLordJoint
says that Sardinia, so augmented, will become a
respectable State, capable of attaining a great de-
degree of internal prosperity, and sufficiently strong
to defend herself against any other Italian Power ;
but that the French Empire, the first military
Power of the Continent, with a vast, compact ter-
ritory, full of natural resources, and with a popula-
tion characteristically warlike, should be in danger
of being attacked by her far weaker neighbour, is
not in the nature of things. There are, besides,
many political considerations which go to show that
the tendency of Sardinia must always be towards
maintaining the most friendly relations with
France.

His lordship enters into the question very fully,
and insists that the arguments put forward by
France for the cession of Savoy and Nice cannot
fail to give rise to the most serious reflections.
Indeed, he says that Great Britain has no direct
interest of her own in this matter, and that it is
from no unfriendly feeling towards France that her
remonstrances have proceeded. Bat he continues :
" Her MAJESTY'S Government, indeed, are deeply
impressed with the conviction that any territorial
advantage which France might gain by the pro-
posed annexation would be far more than counter-
balanced by the distract with which it would
inspire the other States and Powers of ui T • 4.ope.
The calamities which overspread by turns almost
every part of the continent of Europe during the
closing years of the last and the early years of the
present century are still fresh in the memory of
mankind ; their renewal would, indeed, be a deplor-
able misfortune, and it cannot be surprising that
the attention of nations and of their rulers should
be directed, with anxious solicitude, to events
which have a bearing both on the interests of the
present and on the destinies of the future."

The King of SARDINIA yesterday opened his
Parliament, and made a speech of which the least
said the better under all the painful circumstances
of the case. However much his MAJESTY
is exalted by , the accession of States,
still the • humiliation of constraint under
which he is placed must be a bitter source
of reflection. He may feel himself a greater
monarch, but, after all, he is not so independent
nor so happy as he was in his own snug little
kingdom. He must feel that he has aban-
doned the home of his forefathers, and taken
up with the stranger for better for worse.
He concludes by saying—" In entering upon the
new order of things, and without regarding the old
political parties in any other way than remember-
ing the services rendered to the common cause,
we call for a noble cooperation and the expression
of every sincere opinion, in order to obtain our prin-
cipal object,—the welfare of the people and the
greatness of the country, which is no longer the
Italy of the Romans nor that of the Middle Ages.
It must no more be left a field open to foreign am-
bition, but it must, on the contrary, be the Italy of
the Italians."

Something at any rate has been done
at last
this session worth recording—thanks to the
assiduous labours and prompt decision of the Select
Committee appointed to consider the best means of
effectually cleansing the Serpentine. Their report
has now been presented to Parliament. It will be
found given in extenso elsewhere in our impression
of this evening. It is in the highest degree satis-
factory. And, while it may be said truly to con-
stitute a succinct record of the rise, and we can't