The Nevada journal., 1860-05-18
where and What are ss~ey and Me.

AS the question OF the annexation to
France of the Sandman possessions, Savoy
and Nice, naturally draws the attention of
the American reader to that portion of
Northern Italy, we give below very inter
esting account of the country ffom the New
York Journal of Commerce.:
The Duchy of Savoy borders upon France
and Switzerland, and is about the size of
Connecticut. 1t abounds in the most mag
nificent mountain scenery of Europe, and
the earth is so completely wrinkled up, that
we wonder that man can there find foothcld
Mount Blanc, so often placed by the popular
mind in Switzerland, is the eliminating
point of Savoy. 1t is country rich in min
eral ore ; and its fertile slopes afford abund-
ant pasturage TO herds, and some of its val
leys contain luxuriant vineyards. The
uchy of Savoy contains more than six
hundred thousand inhabitants, nearly all of
whom speak bastard French and Italian,
besides jaw-breaking patois of their own.
Chambery, the capital is we'll built city,
in a most picturesque situation. 1t was
here that Joseph de Maistre, the celebrated
diplomatist, and Xavier dc Maistre, the
equally celebrated author (of A Journey
Around Ny Chamber" ect., were born. 1t
was in Chambery Also that our own coun-
tryman, Joel Barlow, wrote his famous lines
on Hasty Pudding" The Savoyards have
been noted, in times past, for their bigotry,
| ignorance, and a certain nuipete and simpl-
city of character. Since the constitution
of Carlo Albert, Savoy and the Savoyards
are much changed. Railways are pushing
through the Alps; the telegraph wires
stretch over once inaccessible mountain
passes; the press free, unless in times OF
war, has had wider influence, because ten
years of a better system of education has
prepared the way for its ameliorating mis-
| sion.
The country of Nice is a very small por-
tion of the kingdom of Sardinia, compre-
hended between the maritime Alps and the
Mediterranean. and between the rivers Val
and Andora. 1t is but little larger than
the State of Rhode Island, and has 250, ,O0C
inhabitants.
Sheltered as it is by the maritime Alps or
the north and east, it enjoys climate al.
mate almost like that of Naples. Its chic
city, Nizza, or Nice, is the great resort o
wealthy Englishmen, Russians, American!
and Germans, who go thither in winter tt
seek refuge from the cold blasts of tn,
north. There are vast hotels and boarding
houses, containing more comfort and ele
gance than similar establishments in othe
parts of Italy and there are gardens wher'
the rose and myrtle bloom by the side of tn,
lemon and orange.
The river VAR the present limit between
Nice and France, is neither a new boundary
nor was it decided upon since the Christian
Era. The river Var was fixed in the frs
time of the Roman Emperor, Augustus, a
the boundary of Italy on the northwest
As We mentioned in former article, Mic
and Savoy have both been parts of tn
French empire, and when the French re
public was proclaimed in ls4s, there wa
an immediate overture made for the anne x
alton of this portion of the ancient Hous
of Savoy but Charles Albert rejected wit
promptitude the suggestions of the poeti
statesman, Lamartine.