No question has called forth such evidence of the cross
pur- poses between European papers, as that which is now in practice quietly closed — Savoy. The Sardinian Government has em- phatically declared that the annexation will not be accomplished until the people shall have had the opportunity of frankly mani- festing their own sentiments. There seems, however, to be little doubt that the community in Savoy will be content with the arrangements already made between King Victor Emmanuel and the Emperor Napoleon. Meanwhile Switzerland, whose Govern- ment had taken a tone of such loud protestation has very much quieted its alarms and indignations, and seems half content to fall back upon the assurance that its neutrality will be main- tained under the old guarantees, the Emperor Napoleon distinctly pledging himself to renew those guarantees so far as Savoy is concerned, and Austria has formally declared her intention not to interfere, precisely because Savoy has been transferred by the will of the two sovereigns concerned, and not by the arbitrement of universal suffrage. The Western Powers recognize the an- nexation in Italy because it has been affirmed by the vote of the people ; Austria recognizes the annexation with Savoy because it has not been confirmed by the vote of the people. Any plan, therefore, is tolerably sure to please some Power or other ; while the great diversity of judgment certainly encourages little hope that in Congress the Powers would be able to concentrate their agreement upon any important point.
