EUROPEAN NEWS.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 284, 10 July 1860, Page 3

EUROPEAN NEWS.

(From the English Mail.) Public interest, during the month under review, has again centred mainly in continental politics. In February, the desire of France for the acquisition of Savoy and Nice was rumored; in March, it was avowed ; in April, it has been carried into execution. Savoy and Nice are now added to the number of French departments. The steps— sometimes stealthy, sometimes bold—by which Napoleon has accomplished this object of his ambition will be found sketched in our French, Italian, Swiss, and Home Political Intelligence. They form an instructive study. The Governments of Europe, when appealed to by the British Cabinet to say whether this deed ought to be done —whether a beginning ought to be made in the dangerous direction of the removal of landmarks fixed by solemn treaties to which. all were alike parties—have shrunk from supporting the British protest. The despotic Courts have even intimated that, provided no such dangerous principles as those of " natural" territorial boundaries, affinities of race, or the rights of universal suffrage be invoked, they see nothing calculated to excite any strong objection in the spectacle of one monarch transferring his rights over a territory to another. In their Royal estimation, the wishes of the people of course count for little. England, however, has done her duty: she has remonstrated earnestly and repeatedly against the proposed extension of the French territory, and has pointed out to the Emperor, with equal friendliness and fruitlessness, the pernicious effects of his present policy. And on the 26th of March, when it was proved that private remonstrance availed nothing, the English Foreign Secretary intimated publicly in his place in the House of Commons that France can never again be regarded by_ his country as the faithful, trusty ally we have hitherto tutored ourselves to think her, and that the policy of England must henceforward gravitate more stl-ongly towards that of free, constitutional Prussia. This bold declaration electrified Europe, and elicited hearty adherence from Englishmen of all shades of opinion. Napoleon, however, had doubtless laid his account for impediments of this character, and knew well at what point the opposition of England would cease, in default of the support of the other States of Europe. His standard is different from ours, He seeks obviously to enlist the applause of the multitude, to increase the prestige of his government as the virtual arbiter of the world, and to lacerate, at every safe opportunity, those treaties which were imposed upon France by the old combination allied against her. .He hopes, doubtless j to consolidate his position at home by territorial aggrandisement. It is an unsafe and treacherous policy, which may ultimately lodge him in a quicksand. Another Power has likewise done her duty in this-matter, and that is brave little Switzerland. Switzerland is immediately interested in tbi»

wise: The territory of Savoy includes certain districts popularly known as those of Chablais and Faucigny, which, though.hitherto subject to the rule of Victor Emmanuel, were " neutralised " by treaties. In other words, these districts,-by way of protection trt Switzerland, were invested, by old treaties to which all the great Powers are parties, with the privileges and rights of neutrality, as enjoyed by Switzerland herself. When the project for the annexation of Savoy first transpired, the Swiss representatives are understood to have received a virtual assurance from the French Government that the neutralised districts should preserve all their rights intact, but. the value of these assurances has since become highly problematical. It is not to be wondered.at that this state of things has excited alarm in Switzerland and a sensation throughout Europe. The territory of Savoy and Nice has been formally transferred by treaty from Sardinia to France; French troops have actually taken possession; but nothing is said respecting the reservation of the treatyfsecured rights of the neutralised districts. Switzerland has hereupon lodged her solemn protest at every court in Europe. Nor has she limited herself to protesting; for the old Switzer spirit is roused; the forces of the Confederation are even now watching the movements of the French troops; and the representatives of Switzerland have declared without circumlocution, that any attempt of the French to take military possession of the neutralised districts will be repelled, if possible, by force of arms. It is as the Times observes, David defying Goliath. Theenergeticattitude taken up by this small State has induced an utterance from some other European powers in favor of treaty-rights, and in support of the representations urged by England ; and the result is an offer on the part of the French Emperor to refer this portion of the arrangement to the opinion of the Powers. Perhaps he imagines that any interference on their part will serve his purpose, by putting the seal of Europe to the territorial re-distribution considered as a whole. The Ballot.—House of Lords.—Lord Teynham, in a speech of some length, moved to resolve, that it is expedient, in the election of members to serve in Parliament, that the votes of the electors be taken by secret voting—He was briefly replied to by the Duke of Newcastle, and their Lordships divided; the numbers being—For the motion 4, against it, 39.

We copy the following telegrams, giving the latest foreign intelligence, from the second edition of the Times, of the 18th of April. FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND. Berne, Tuesday, April 17. There appears some probability that the Conference will take place. England proposes Brussels as the place whero it should be held, while France insists upon Paris, in which she is supported by Russia. Paris, Tuesday, April 17. M. Thouvenel has informed the representatives of the Powers who signed the final act of Vienna of the nature of the reception France will give to the circular note of the Swiss Federal Council of the sth April respecting the convocation of an European Conference. It was not until the King of Sardinia had formally taken possession of Lombardy and the treaties of Zurich had been signed and ratified, that France and Austria addressed an invitation to the Powers who had signed the treaties of Vienna to assemble in a Conference, in order to make known to them the territorial arrangements which had resulted from the cession of Lombardy to Piedmont, which cession was freely consented to by Austria. No Power having then objected, France will now follow the same course. When, therefore, the cession of Savoy and Nice, freely consented to by Piedmont, shall have been sanctioned and ratified by universal suffrage of the inhabitants and by the vote of the Sardinian Parliament, France will take possession of those provinces. Immediately afterwards she will consent to the assembling of a conference for the purpose of receiving communication of the treaty concluded on the 24th of March last, between Napoleon 111. and King Victor Emmanuel. France will likewise be willing that the said Conference shall examine the following question : —In what manner are the rights of France, irrevocably acquired through the cession of Savoy and Nice by the King of Sardinia, to be reconciled with the guarantees stipulated by the treaties in favor of Switzerland ? It being well understood that the conference shall leave the treaty of the 24th March intact. Paris, Tuesday evening, April 17. The Constitutionnel denies the existence of direct negotiations between France and Switzerland on the question of the neutralized district of Savoy, and adds.that the negotiations are only between the Powers who signed the treaties of Vienna. Geneva, Tuesday, April 17. General Canrobert, accompanied by several officers of engineers, lias visited the fort of Rousses, on the frontier of Switzerland. The Canton Vaude has been supplied with war material. The English Government has given encouraging assurance to the Federal Council.