del suffragio universale dei popoli dell'Emilia. La Maestà Vostra che ne senti pietosamente le grida di dolore, ne accolga benignamente il pegno di gratitudine e di fede. Appagati dei legittimi voti, quei popoli, O Sire, non avranno altro desiderio che quello di benemeritare della Maestà Vostra e dell'Italia, emulando nelle civili e nelle militari virtù gli altri popoli della vostra Monarchia costituzionale."

Ultimata la lettura, piegava di nuovo la carta del discorso, e la rimetteva, insieme col fascio delle altre carte che contenevano i documenti legali del suffragio dei popoli dell' Emilia, nelle mani del Re, che, dopo averli ricevuti, leggeva con voce ferma e gagliarda questo discorso:

"Accetto il solenne il loro voto, e da quindi innanzi mi glorierò di chiamarli miei popoli.

"Aggregando alla Monarchia costituzionale di Sardegna e pareggiando alle altre sue provincie non solo gli Stati modenesi e parmensi, ma eziandio le Romagne, che già si erano da sè medesime separate dalla signoria pontificia, io non intendo di venir meno a quella devozione verso il capo venerabile della Chiesa che fu e sarà sempre viva nell'animo mio.

"Come principe cattolico e come principe italiano, io sono pronto a difendere quella indipendenza necessaria al supremo di lui ministero, a contribuire allo splendore della sua

documents regarding the universal suffrage of the people of Emilia. May Your Majesty, who pitifully felt their cry of sorrow, accept benignly this proof of gratitude and trust. Satisfied with these legal votes, these people, oh Sire, will have no other wish than that of deserving well of Your Majesty and of Italy and of emulating in civil and military virtue the other peoples of your Constitutional Monarchy."

His speech finished, he folded up the document of the discourse and gave it, together with a package of other papers which contained the legal documents of the suffrage of the people of Emilia, into the hands of the King, who after having received them, read, with a firm strong voice, this discourse:

"I accept their solemn vote, and henceforth I will glory in calling them my people.

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By uniting them to the Constitutional Monarchy of Sardinia, and putting on an equal footing with the other provinces not only the states of Modena and Parma, but also Romagna, which already had separated by its own accord from the pontifical dominion, I do not mean to give less devotion to the Venerable Head of the Church which was and always will be alive in my mind.

"As a catholic prince and as an Italian prince, I am ready to defend that independence necessary to his supreme ministry, to contribute to the splendor of his Court, and to pay

elle inspirait à l'Angeleterre, à la Prusse, et à la Russie, des démarches dont l'ensemble atteste clairement, de la part des Grandes Puissances, le désir d'arriver à la conciliation de tous les intérêts. Pour seconder ces dispositions, il importait à la France de présenter la combinaison dont l'adoption avait le plus de chance d'être accepté par l'Europe. Garantissant par

mon armée l'Italie contre l'intervention étrangère, j'avais le droit de marquer les limites de cette garantie. Aussi n'ai-je pas hésité à déclarer au Roi de Sardaigne que, tout en lui laissant l'entière liberté de ses actes, je ne pourrais pas le suivre dans une politique qui avait le torte de paraître, aux yeux de l'Europe, vouloir absorber tous les Etats de l'Italie, et qui menaçait de nouvelles conflagrations. Je lui ai conseillé de répondre favorablement aux vœux des provinces qui s'offraient à lui, mais de maintenir. l'autonomie de la Toscane, et de respecter en principe les droits du Saint Siège. Si cet arrangement ne satisfait pas tout le monde, il a l'avantage de réserver les principes, de calmer les appréhensions, et il fait du Piémont un Royaume de plus de 9,000,000 d'âmes.

En présence de cette transformation de l'Italie du Nord, qui donne à un Etat puissant tous les passages des Alpes, il était de mon devoir, pour la sûreté de nos frontières, de réclamer les versants Français des montagnes. Cette revendication d'un territoire de peu d'étendue n'a rien qui doive

ernment and that of Austria, it sug gested to England, to Prussia, to Russia, measures the whole of which clearly prove on the part of the Great Powers their desire to obtain a reconciliation of all the interests.

To second these dispositions, it was necessary for France to present that combination the adoption of which would have the greatest chance of being accepted by Europe. Guaranteeing Italy by my army against foreign intervention, I had the right to assign the limits of that guarantee. Therefore I did not hesitate to declare to the King of Sardinia that, while leaving him full liberty of action, I could not follow him in a policy which had the fault of appearing in the eyes of Europe a desire to absorb all the States of Italy, and which threatened new conflagrations. I counselled him to reply favourably to the wishes of the provinces which should offer themselves to him, but to maintain the independence of Tuscany, and to respect in principle the rights of the Holy See. If this arrangement does not satisfy everybody, it has the advantage of reserving principles, of calming apprehensions, and makes Piedmont a kingdom of more than 9,000,000 souls.

Looking to this transformation of Northern Italy, which gives to a powerful State all the passes of the Alps, it was my duty, for the security of our frontiers, to claim the French slopes of the mountains. This reassertion of a claim to a territory of small extent has nothing in