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    THE SAVOY DYNASTY.

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    Untitled Article

    rpHE cession of Savoy by Piedmont , in return for the States of X Central Italy , in a political point of view , is a mere bagatelle , taken apart from the question of principle and policy involved in the extension of the French boundaries . As a matter of sentiment , however , Victor Eiimanitel must naturally shrink from giving- up the little mountain nest in which his family found shelter from storin and blast generation after generation , as the following sketch will show . . ¦' . ' . '¦¦¦¦ , Among- the new kingdoms which sprung up at the disrnemberment of the vast empire ot Charlemagne , were those of Upper arid Lower Bun'uiidy . the former created by Bosone , Duke of Provence ,, in 879 : the latter nine years later , by Rodolph , who , under tne

    title of MarqiuV , assuuied the mastery over the Burundians , the Swiss and the Savoyards , and was crowned in the ancient monastery of S . Maurice , in the Vallese . This kingdom absorbed that of Lower Buro-undy in 9 ? .: 5 , and . extended fi-oni Basle to the rnouths ot the lllione . But at tlie deatli of Kodolph III ., without children , in 1032 , all real power was in the hands of the Barons and ttie -ctergy , and the crovVn descended to Ms cousin , the German emperor , Conead II . A near relative of the king , an Italian by birth , named Hubert , who had abstained from making common cause with the Burgundiau barons , but was ever faithful to his sovereign ,, after his death protected the widowed queen . This . prince it was ivho laid the foundation of the monarchy of Savoy , m the v ear 1003 . tlie mai

    In 10-iS Turin and Piedmont were united . to Savoy by ; nagcs , of Odo , son of Titr ^ iBEET , with Adelaide of Turin . Left a widow ; she governed the State with much wisdom for many years with tho aid of her sons Pietko and Amadeus , and this through a period of great disquietude , owing- to the long and bitter disputes between the saeerdocy and the empire . In this early period of its existence the Savoyard principality was little more than a great barony pier eminent over the lay and clerical barons , by whose , counsel i < j governed and administered justice . Attempts , more or less successful , were constantly made to reduce the power of tlie Intro ns by the help of the communes—with whom Humbert II . . united—and whose franchises and privileges Amadeus III . thought it better to extend to some vassal provinces , lest they should rise and throw oft '

    their dependence altog-ether . On the death oi Adelaide , in 1091 , a grand crisis . ensued . Tlie heir was a child ; the dominions were dismembered by covetous neMibours , and l > y tlie communes , which were at that time dcfinitfyely constituted ; and the . rapacious Frjedebic Bakbauossa and his sou He > by made a descent upon tjie country , and took find destroyed several cities . In JL 188 , Thomas I . succeeded , a prune fully equal-to the task of restoring order and conferring prosperity upon the State . Ho not only made peace with tlie German Enmerbr , but was so useful to him that Cjesab nominated linn hi « vicur in Italy . Thomas , however , novur forgot that he was the true sovereign of Savoy , and that the homage ho puul tun distant prince was a legal fiction and nothing more . At that period submission to imperial authority and Italian independence were not ; thought incompatible the one with the other . The Itiumns oonrriauswho

    sidorod themselves as the legitimate descendants of the Ro ' , had conquered the wholo world , " and folt that theh < tnUmt mid valour still made them worthy to take their pluco above all other * ; but they clearly saw that they could realize their desires only by ranging ., themselves beneath a singlo banner , and recounting u sing-lo head . This head muBjb receive its crown in ituly ; tho crown must bo conferred by the hands of the Pontift ; bin ) under tho presidentship of this crown republics and seignories , cities and municipalities wore all preserved free and independent . Emperor and popo thus shone with a mutually reflected light , and eujoyort mutual power ; while Italy enjoyed the benefits of that light , and wns dofoudod , without being crushed , by the power . Thus tlio princes of Savoy served a noble causo , and in their quality of Imperial vicars guarded the liberties of thoir own country . After the important increase of torrifcory gained by Odo of Savoy on his marriage with Ax >* xati > e , the lossesi ot the Stutq were for most

    s 6 ino time greater than its acquisitions Hub Tkcomas was suc (! 03 « f «»'» wot only 'in restoring the glory of his country , but in making- largo additions to it , Ho effected the first confederation ot Savoy and Lombardy , by moans pf a league with the Milnnese and Vevcolloso against tlie Murquiaea of Monpeukat ana bAivazo . This prinoo received lite ( spontaneous submission of Piucrolo , and posBOBsed himself of CWignano . On his doatli , in 1333 , his State

    Untitled Article

    • iectile a line of trajectory so-strongly curved , as to render missmgan object comparatively easy , and materially to diminish its utility at a loO £ T l"ilU * G « ¦ '¦ . ' ¦¦ ; ' ¦ . . ¦ The problem to be applied to ariillery was how to obtiiin on a large . senI . e . a repetition of the results of the best rifle practice . If , for example , Jacob , with a gun weighing less than ten pounds and projectiles of from one oz . to one and a-Half oz ., could do execution with tolerable certainty at from a thousand to two thousand yards , ¦ ' liow much more ought to be accomplished with cannon weighing many hundred-weight , or even tons , and balls of proportionate size P Tlie two most successful experimenters were Sir William Ar : msteong and Mr . Whitwortii . Both got over the . -difficulty of making an iron projectile fit as accurately as the leaden rifle ball , and , though in different ways , both accomplished the breech loading in a very serviceable manner . But there was an . important difference in the two schemes . Sir TV . AizMST-RQxa adhered to . the older pattern rifles , with a great number of grooves and a moderate twist ;' Mr . WniTWOUTii followed the Swiss and GeneralJACOB , m having few grooves and a very high twist . It may be said that the Whitwoktii . guns are not grooved at all , being six-sided polygons , each side descending in a spiral or screw form ;¦ but . the angles of the polygons correspond very closely with the grooving in other systems . ' . . . It may not be fair yet to assume a complete superiority in the Whitwoeth over the Akmstkojjg cannon , hut from present appearances the former has the advantage in long ; . range ar id accuracy , and confirms the principle of a considerable twist and a , moderate number of grooves . The extreme range of the WiiiTWOKTH gun is yet unknown , as in recent experiments his eighty pounder was only fired at a small elevation frorri a temporary carriage-, but the operation of the different sizes employed was beyond any reasonable anticipation , and inevitably led to the conviction that very great changes must take place in the art of war . T ? he twelve pound gun— . that is , a gun vWhose round shot would be of that weight , but whose elongated projectiles are much heavier—with an elevation of seven' degrees and If pound of ppwder , had a range of a little over three thousand yards , and in four trials the average , deviation of the ball from the liiie of fire was only twenty-one inches . Twice out of the four , the ball fell on the line , and its greatest deviation was If yard . Even when , from the _ strength of the wind , and Other causes , the deviation was greater , it was still insufficient for the safety of n small body of men l ' l- mile off . With an elevation of ten degrees , the twelve pounder gamed a . range of from 3 , 042 yards to 4 , 059 , or from . 3 ^ to nearly 2 £ miles- and tlfe greatest deviation was only sixteen yards , the average of five shots being twelve yards . It should be remembered that the guii was Worked by Mr . WiiiTWOBTii ' smen , who have had very little practice , and that greater accuracy would certainly follow sufficient experience in making allowances for strength of wind and other disturbing circumstances . The eighty pound guri with twelve pounds of powder and five degrees elevation ranged from 2 , 541 to 2 , G 04 yards , with deviations of live and seven yards ; at ten degrees elevation , its range was 4 , 670 and 4 , 730 yards ,, with deviations of five and six yards . The range obtained with ten degrees elevation exceeded that of the AaMSTftONG seventy pounder by seven hundred yards ; but _ the latter , at thirty-five degrees elevation , made its first graze at eight thousand yards , and we wait with curiosity to Icnow what the WuitwoiJth will do when elevated to the same extent . It was , however , with the three nounder that the most wonderful performance was made . This miniature piece of artillery , which a . London porter would think nothing of carrying , as it only weighs two hundred and eight pounds , with 1 & inch bpre , obtained with thirty-five degrees elevation a range of more thuri 5-Jj miles , tlie difference of deviation between the shot which fell iuenreat and that which fell widest being wty fifty-seven yards . With twenty degrees elevation the first shot went more than ( our milcs ( 7 , O 73 yards ) , only doviating four yards ; the second reaqhed 6 , 985 yards , with deviation of 4 £ yards ; the third 6 , 960 yards , deviating- < t& yards ; and the fourth 6 , 823 yards , with deviation of , twenty -seven yards , all the deviations * bemg to tb . e right . The deviation in the last ^ hot waa aaoribed to an- accidental shifting of the gun . Thiis it is shown tliat we have a small weapon with which death could be unerringly carried among a foody of cavalry or infantry at a distance of several miles ; and the chief obstacle to the use of this , marvellous artillery will be tho difi ) culty , ; , oven with good telescopes , of Beeing the pbjecta at which tho guns ought to bo aimed . One of the first things which strikes us nftor reading" tho narrative of those trials , is tho folly of wasting money upon coast fortifications , as id is evident that movable gunp , well placed and protected by earth works or sand-baga would prove sufficient fop tho defence of almost any position ; and hence that regular forts should only be constructed wlioro there ia an unusual amount of valuable material to protect , and a strong probability of a formidable uncl sustained attack . Mr . WwmvoKTrt » a preparing for an assault xipon iron-cased , sliipa , and expects , by strong , Hat-headed shot to ponctratq with enso the thioU plates upon whioh . mnny have placed too credulous a reliance . ! Lnst yenr'Mr . WniTWOiHTn : easily , aont his bulls through tlifi plates than made , but . those now need are stronger , and have resisted tlio seventy pound Ahmstbpwg gun . Looking 1 at tho effect these improvements in artillery will : have Bpon European ftflairs , wo cannot doubt that tlioir main tendency will bo pacific . Tho miflconduot of Austria , nnd . tho ambition of BuHsia and FrnndQ may cause now wars to iwUq , bi ? t tlioy will be of short duration , nnd wot dangerous in oUimiotor , « o long 1

    as they do not involve the collision of tlie two greatest maritime powers and the most daring soldier among our nearest neighbours mu'st see the folly of provoking a contest with a nation possessed of unrivalled facilities for constructing all the costly apparatus of naval war and whose new inventions have in all probability rendered useless ' the bulk of the armaments upon which other maritime powers i-elv It may be annoying to us to . feel that our expensive and proud-looking three deckers may be Wortli little more thatvfimwood , and that floating batteries and strain rams ^ will have to be valued as old iron , but calculations like these exhibit a practical disarmarneiitsnch as no treaty could accomplish ; iind if much , existing mechanism for hostility has to be written oft the European balance sheet as . old-fashioned and good for nothing , other coiuitries , it envious of England ' s power to produce new navies as tliey are required , will have the satisfaction pf knowing that her Aemsteongs and WhitWokius are not the agents of aggression , but coexpounders with our merchants and manufacturers of the advantages of peace . . -

    Untitled Article

    906 ' The Leader anctSattirday Analt / st . [ March 3 , 3 860 ;

    The Savoy Dynasty.

    TUU SAVOY DYNASTY .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 3, 1860, page 206, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2336/page/10/