832 



FRANCE. 



tier. The Prussian Government declared any 

 such rectification to be inadmissible. The em- 

 peror, in reply, stated to Count von Goltz that 

 it was in order to satisfy public opinion in 

 France that he had expressed that wish to the 

 Prussian Government. He had considered such 

 a wish just, but acknowledged the fairness of 

 the arguments brought forward by the Prus- 

 sian Cabinet, and added that the good relations 

 between Prussia and France should in no case 

 be disturbed. In conclusion, the emperor ex- 

 pressed a hope that Prussia would not overstep 

 the line of the Main. 



During the peace negotiations between Aus- 

 tria and Italy, the emperor accepted the nom- 

 inal transfer of Venetia to France, in order to 

 hand it over to Italy subject to the result of a 

 plebiscite. The Moniteur, of September 1st, 

 gives the following official account of these 

 transactions : 



The emperor, in accepting the cession of Venetia, 

 was guided by the desire of contributing to remove 

 one of the principal causes of the late war, and to 

 hasten the suppression of hostilities. As soon as 

 the conclusion of an armistice was decided upon in 

 Italy, the Government of his majesty employed its 

 efforts to prepare the way for the conclusion oif peace 

 between the Cabinets of Vienna and Florence. It 

 was 



made to 



A treaty to this effect was signed 

 month between France and Austria, and the ratifica- 

 tions were exchanged to-day (August 31) at Vienna. 

 In virtue of this act, the transfer of the fortresses and 

 territories of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom will 

 be made by an Austrian commissioner to the French 

 commissioner who is now in Venetia. The delegate 

 of France will then arrange with the Venetian au- 

 thorities to transfer to them the rights of possession 

 which he will have received, and the populations 

 will be called upon to make their decision on the 

 future destiny of their country. With this reserva- 

 tion his majesty has not hesitated to declare, since 

 the 29th July, that he consented to the union of the 



froviuces ceded by Austria with the kingdom of 

 talv. The emperor has made known his intentions 

 to H. M. King Victor Emmanuel in the following 

 letter : " MY BROTHER I have learned with pleasure 

 that your majesty has adhered to the armistice, and 

 the preliminaries of peace signed by the King of 

 Prussia and the Emperor of Austria. It is therefore 

 probable that a new era of tranquillity is about to 

 open for Europe. Your majesty knows that I have 

 accepted the offer of Venetia in order to preserve 

 her from any devastation and prevent useless blood- 

 shed. My intention has always been to restore her 

 to herself, in order that Italy might be free from the 

 Alps to the Adriatic. Mistress of her destinies, 

 Veuetia will soon be able to express her wishes by 

 universal suffrage. Your majesty will recognize 

 that in this circumstance the action of France has 

 again been exercised in favor of humanity and the 

 independence of the people. I renew the assurance 

 of the sentiments of high esteem and sincere friend- 

 ship with which I am your majesty's good brother, 



" NAPOLEON. 

 "Sr. CLOUD, August 11, I860." 



On September 2d, the emperor accepted the 

 resignation of M. Drouyn de Lhuys as Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs, and appointed as his suc- 

 cessor the Marquis de Moustier, French am- 

 bassador at Constantinople. Until the arrival 

 of the latter, the Marquis de Lavalette was 



charged with the provisional administration of 

 the department. On September 16th, the Mar- 

 quis de Lavalette issued the following important 

 circular to the diplomatic agents of France, 

 which was regarded as an entire abandonment 

 of a warlike policy in the political questions of 

 continental Europe : 



SIR : The emperor's government cannot any 

 longer defer the expression of its views concerning 

 the events which have just been accomplished in 

 Germany. M. de Moustier being necessarily absent 

 for some time longer, his majesty has directed me to 

 explain to his diplomatic agents the motives which 

 actuate his policy. The war which broke out in 

 Central and Southern Europe has destroyed the 

 Germanic Confederation, and has definitely estab- 

 lished Italian nationality. Prussia, whose limits 

 have been extended by victory, is predominant on 

 the right bank of the Main. Austria has lost Ve- 

 netia, and she is separated from Germany. In pres- 

 ence of these considerable changes all States must 

 be alive to a feeling of responsibility; they ask 

 themselves what is the effect of the recently con* 

 eluded peace what will be its influence upon Eu 

 ropean order, and upon the international position of 

 each power V 



Public opinion in France has been excited. It 

 wavers doubtfully between the joy of seeing the trea- 

 ties of 1815 destroyed, and a fear lest the power of 

 Prussia should assume excessive proportions be- 

 tween a desire for the preservation of peace, and the 

 hope of obtaining by war a territorial extension. It 

 rejoices at the complete enfranchisement of Italy, 

 but wishes to be reassured in respect of dangers 

 which might menace the Holy Father. The perplex- 

 ities that disturb men's minds, and which also have 

 their effects abroad, impose upon the Government 

 the duty of stating clearly the light in which it re- 

 gards the subject. 



France ought never to have an equivocal policy. 

 If she be affected in her interests or in her strength 

 by the important changes which are taking place in 

 Germany, she ought to declare it frankly, and should 

 take the measures which may be necessary for in- 

 suring her security. If she loses nothing by the 

 pending transformations, she ought to state the fact 

 sincerely, and to resist exaggerated apprehensions 

 and ardent views which, by provoking international 

 jealousies, might divert her from the course which 

 she should pursue. In order to dissipate uncertain- 

 ties and to establish facts it is necessary to look at 

 what has happened and what is likely to happen in 

 all their bearings. What do we find in the past ? 

 After 1815 the Holy. Alliance united against France 

 all the peoples from the Ural to the Rhine. The 

 Germanic Confederation comprised, with Prussia 

 and Austria, eighty millions of people ; it extended 

 from Luxemburg to Trieste, from the Baltic to 

 Trent, and surrounded us with an iron girdle sup- 

 ported by five Federal fortresses ; our strategical 

 position was restricted by the most skilful territorial 

 combinations. The slightest difficulty that might 

 occur between us and Holland or with Prussia on 

 the Moselle, with Germany on the Rhine, with Aus- 

 tria in the Tyrol or the Friuli, brought against us 

 the combined forces of the entire Confederation. 

 Austrian Germany, invincible upon the Adige, could 

 advance at a fitting moment to the Alps. Prussian 

 Germany had an advanced guard upon the Rhine in 

 the minor States, incessantly agitated by desires for 

 political transformations, and disposed to regard 

 France as the enemy of their existence and of their 

 aspirations. 



If we except Spain, we had no possibility of form- 

 ing an alliance on the continent. Italy was parcelled 

 out and impotent ; she was not to be counted as a 

 a nation. Prussia was neither sufficiently compact 

 nor sufficiently independent to detach herself from 



