Cracow in view. nounced to France and Great Britain in 1846, "that pression of they had merely presented to the Congress of Vienna, 1846. for registration in the General Instrument termed the Principal Act of the Congress, the Convention which they had concluded with one another, and that the other Powers, who signed the Principal Act of the Congress, or the General Treaty, did no more than receive that combination, as the result of the direct negociations between the Three Courts, without interfering in that territorial arrangement to which they were strangers." France, however, in reply, denied French that the Independent Powers, who signed the Principal Act, merely registered the decisions and acts of the Three Powers who were Parties to the Triple Treaty, and contended that the foundation of the Republic of Cracow was placed in the same rank with the stipulations which formed other States, established Kingdoms, recognised the Free Cities of Germany, created the Germanic Confederation; and that the virtual insertion of the Triple Treaty textually in the General Act was intended to give to the existence of the Republic of Cracow much stronger and more authentic guaranties; and accordingly that all the Powers, which were Parties to the Treaty of Vienna, had an incontestable right to take part in the deliberations and decisions of which the Republic of Cracow might be the object. Great Britain", to the British same effect, asserted, that, with whomsoever might have originated the plan of erecting Cracow and its territory into a Free and Independent State, that 40 Note of M. Guizot addressed to Count Flahaut in reply to the Despatch of Prince Metternich, 4 Dec. 1846. Martens, N. R. Gen. T. X. p. 118. 41 Despatch of Lord Palmerston to Lord Ponsonby, 23 Nov. 1846. Martens, N. R. Gen. T. X. p. 110. view. Cracow and the Ionian plan was carried into effect by stipulations to which all the Powers were equally parties, and consequently it was not competent for three of those Powers by their own separate authority to undo that which was established by the common engagements of the whole. The Three Powers, on the other hand, conceived themselves at liberty to modify or annul the Triple Treaty, and to stipulate other conditions by free and reciprocal agreement. They accordingly agreed, that, as the Protected State had violated the obligation of neutrality imposed upon it as a condition of its existence under the Triple Treaty, they were not merely at liberty, but were bound in self-defence to declare the Triple Treaty to be at an end; and as the Protected State had destroyed by its own act the work which the Protecting Powers had founded, they were not bound to reestablish it, but might allow the state of Possession anterior to 1809 to revive. The Two Western Powers, on the contrary, protested formally against the suppression of the Republic of Cracow as at variance with the letter as well as with the spirit of the General Treaty of Vienna, and as in their opinion not warranted by any adequate necessity. § 33. It is not easy to understand in what peculiar circumstances certain distinguished publicists 42 Islands. have discovered so wide a distinction between the Free and Independent City of Cracow, under the joint Protectorate of the Three Powers, and the Free and Independent State of the United Ionian Islands under the sole and exclusive Protection of Great Britain, as to declare that the former is to be regarded as a completely Sovereign State, whilst the latter has undergone a material abridgement both in 42 Martens, L. I. c. 11. § 20. Wheaton's Elements, Part I. C. II. § 13. As far as its Internal and External Sovereignty. Republic of § 34. The Republic of Poglizza, in Dalmatia, is The extinct cited by Martens, Wheaton, Heffter, and Dr. Phillimore as an existing instance of a Semi-Sovereign State under the protection of Austria. Poglizza, however, ceased to exist as an Independent State in The Repub dorre. 1807, on the occupation of Dalmatia by the French armies. The origin of this Republic, the name of which signified "a small field," dated from a period antecedent to the Ottoman invasion of Europe. It consisted of twelve towns or villages, with a population of about 4000 souls, and a territory of about forty Italian miles in circumference, the capital of which was Gatta, where the Velisbor, or Great Council, was held. Their first rights were granted to them by the Kings of Hungary, and the same were subsequently confirmed to them by the Republic of St. Mark, to which they became tributary and furnished mercenary troops, obtaining from the Venetians certain advantages in return. Upon the suppression of the Venetian State by the Emperor Napoleon, Poglizza passed under the Protection of Austria, and continued in the enjoyment of its Independence, until it was destroyed amidst the conflicts between the Russian forces under Siniavin and the French armies under Marmont 13. 43 §35. Andorre is a small Republic, situated between lic of An- the Pyrenees of Arriège in France and the Pyrenees of Catalonia in Spain. It has been classed by some writers amongst neutral Independent States, but its proper place is amongst protected Independent States. Its independence dates from the reign of the Emperor Louis le Debonnaire, who by a Charter issued in the year 801, and still preserved in the Archives of the Republic, constituted the People of Andorre an Independent State, with liberty to elect a Count as their Protector. They accordingly chose for their Protectors the neighbouring Counts of Foix. The Emperor Charlemagne had, prior to the Charter of 43 Mémoires du Marechal Duc diner Wilkinson's Dalmatia and de Raguse, III. p. 49. Sir Gar- Montenegro, II. p. 195. his son Louis le Debonnaire, granted the tithes of the six parishes, which make up the Republic of Andorre, to the See of Urgel in Catalonia, but he had granted at the same time to their inhabitants a distinct military organization. His grandson, Charles the Bald, disregarding the Charter of Louis le Debonnaire, issued, in the year 860, a Diploma, whereby the Sovereignty over Andorre was assigned to the Bishops of Urgel. This wrongful act gave rise to a war between the Bishops of Urgel and the State of Andorre, which lasted for a period of four hundred years, and in which the Counts of Foix took part as Protectors of the Republic. Hostilities were at length brought to a close by a Treaty, under which the Bishops of Urgel and the Counts of Foix were recognised as joint Suzerains over Andorre. This joint Suzerainty, however, has in course of time become converted into a joint Protectorate, and the Protectorate exercised by the Counts of Foix has devolved to the Imperial Successor of the French branch of the House of Bourbon 44. The Emperor of the French and the Spanish Bishops of Urgel are now therefore joint Protectors of the Republic of Andorre, which is governed by a Domestic Executive, consisting of two Syndics, who are annually elected by a National Legislative Body, consisting of twenty-four Consuls or Delegates elected by the six parishes. The territory of Andorre is about thirty miles in length and twenty in breadth; the population is estimated at about eight thousand; and an armed force of full fifteen hundred men is always prepared to defend the independence of the Country 45. 44 The family of the Counts of Foix became absorbed into the House of Bearn, and the House of Bearn in its turn was absorbed into the House of Bourbon. 45 Historia de la Republica d'Andorra. Barcelona, 1848. The Edinburgh Review, No. 230. |