[War. Sardinia and Austria.] We trust in GoD and in our concord; in the valour of the soldiers of Italy, and in the alliance of the noble French nation,* and we trust in the justice of public opinion. My only ambition is to be the first soldier of Italian Independence. Turin, 29th April, 1859. C. CAVOUR. Viva l'Italia! VICTOR EMANUEL. See French Proclamation of 3rd May, 1859. [War. France and Austria.] No. 295.-COMMUNICATION made by the Emperor of the French to the Chambers, announcing War with Austria. 3rd May, 1859. GENTLEMEN, (Translation as laid before Parliament.*) I HAVE had the honour to present to the Senate (to the Legislative Body) the statement of the negotiations followed by the Powers up to the moment when Austria, separating her course of action from that of the other Cabinets, decided to address to Sardinia an Ultimatum, proclaiming, if it was not complied with, her intention to have recourse to arms. The Government of the Emperor did not wish to allow the Court of Austria to remain in ignorance of the light in which it viewed this eventuality, and the Chargé d'Affaires of His Majesty at Vienna, warned the Austrian Government, since the 26th of last month, that if its troops crossed the frontier of Piedmont, France would be obliged to consider this invasion of an allied country as a Declaration of War. The Court of Austria, having persisted in employing force, and its troops having entered, on the 29th, the Sardinian territory, the Emperor has commanded me to bring this fact to the knowledge of the Legislative Corps, which constitutes Austria in a state of War with France. For French version, see State Papers," vol. Ivii, p. 237. [War. France and Austria.] No. 296.-PROCLAMATION of War by France against Austria. Paris, 3rd May, 1859. FRENCHMEN! (Translation as laid before Parliament.*) The Emperor to the French People. AUSTRIA, in causing her Army to enter the territory of the King of Sardinia, our Ally, declares War against us. She thus violates Treaties and justice, and menaces our Frontiers. All the Great Powers have protested against this aggression.† Piedmont having accepted the conditions which should have insured peace, one asks, what can be the reason of this sudden Invasion? It is that Austria has brought matters to this extremity, that her dominion must either extend to the Alps, or Italy must be free to the Adriatic; for in this country every corner of territory which remains independent endangers her power. Hitherto moderation has been the rule of my conduct; now energy becomes my first duty. Let France arm, and say resolutely to Europe, "I desire no conquest, but I desire firmly to maintain my national and traditional policy. I observe the Treaties on condition that no one shall violate them against me. I respect the Territory and Rights of Neutral Powers, but I boldly avow my sympathy for a people whose history is mingled with our own, and who groan beneath foreign oppression.” France has shown her hatred against anarchy; she has been pleased to give me a power strong enough to reduce to helplessness the abettors of disorder and the incorrigible members of those old factions whom one perpetually sees plotting with our enemies but she has not, therefore, abdicated her task of civilization. Her natural allies have always been those who desire the improvement of the human race, and when she draws the sword it is not in order to dominate, but to liberate. The object of this War, then, is to restore Italy to herself, not to make her change masters, and we shall then have next our For French version, see "State Papers," vol. lvii, p. 237. [War. France and Austria.] frontiers a friendly people, who will owe to us their Independence. We are not going into Italy to foment disorder or to shake the Power of the Holy Father, whom we have replaced upon his throne, but to free him from this foreign pressure, which weighs upon the whole Peninsula, and to help to establish there order upon legitimate satisfied interests. We are going, in fine, to seek upon this classic ground, illustrated by so many victories, the footsteps of our fathers. God grant that we may be worthy of them! I am going soon to place myself at the head of the army. I leave in France the Empress and my son. Seconded by the experience and the enlightenment of the last surviving brother of the Emperor, she will understand how to show herself equal to the grandeur of her mission. I confide them to the valour of the army which remains in France to watch over our frontiers as well as to protect our homes; I confide them to the loyalty of the National Guard; I confide them, in a word, to the whole people, who will encircle them with that affection and devotion of which I daily receive so many proofs. Courage, then, and Union! Our country is going once more to show the world that she has not degenerated. Providence will bless our efforts, for the cause which rests on justice, humanity, love of country, and independence, is holy in the eyes of GOD. Paris, 3rd May, 1859. NAPOLEON. [War. France and Sardinia and Austria.] No. 297.-CIRCULAR of the British Government to Her Majesty's Ministers abroad, relative to the War between France and Sardinia and Austria. London, 4th May, 1859. SIR, Foreign Office, 4th May, 1859. THE apprehensions which, as I stated to you at the close of my despatch of the 7th ultimo, Her Majesty's Government at that time entertained lest all their efforts to prevent Peace from being interrupted should prove unavailing, have unfortunately been realised. It is, therefore, unnecessary for me to enter into a detailed account of the various transactions which intervened between the date of my last despatch and the breaking out of War between France and Sardinia, on the one side, and Austria, on the other, although it is right that you should have a general idea of what has occurred in that interval. The negotiations turned generally on two points, the one relating to Disarmament, the other to the admission of the Italian States, in some form or other, to the proposed Congress. The Cabinet of Vienna insisted, at first, as an indispensable condition to its entry into the Congress, that Sardinia should, in the first instance, disarm and disband the free corps which she had enrolled; but it finally acquiesced, with some modification, in a proposal made by Her Majesty's Government, and declared it would be contented if a general disarmament were carried out by Austria, France, and Sardinia, previously to the meeting of the Congress. The Government of France was prevailed upon to admit, for itself, the principle of a General Disarmament; but it hesitated for a long time before it consented to press the acceptance of it on Sardinia, and at length only agreed to do so on condition that the Italian States should be admitted to send Representatives to the Congress, not simply as Advocates, but as Plenipotentiaries, having an equal position and voice with the Plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers in the deliberations that might ensue. On reviewing the state of the negotiation, His Majesty's Government conceived that there was still a chance of affecting |