Beschreibung:

Anglo-Savoyard Alliance. An important manuscript letter from Victor-Amedee Seyssel d'Aix, Marquis de Sommariva (1679-1754), Ambassador to London for the King of Sardinia, to Victor Amadeus II of Piedmont-Savoy, King of Sardinia (1675-1730), dated Londres Ce 21 Juillet 1727, a lengthy report in French of the Ambassador's meeting with the newly elected King George II, the Queen and Secretary of State Lord Townshend, on 6 folio leaves of laid paper, watermarked with Strasburg lily with shield and letters L V G (Van Gerrevink), containing 9 pages of handwritten text in French in brown ink, plus 3 integral blank pages, with final page docketed 'Copie d'une' Lettre du Marquis D'Aix au Roy de Sardaigne', signed 'Seyssel D'Aix' at end, minor marginal soiling to first page, and lightly creased where previously folded, folio (32.5 x 21.3 cm) (Qty: 1) A significant manuscript copy letter written by the Savoyard ambassador to London, in which he describes his meeting with King George II, Queen Caroline, and the foreign secretary Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674-1738). Seyssel d'Aix informs the King of Sardinia of the assurances he has received from the English King regarding the continued good relations and political alliance between the two powers. The ambassador states on behalf of the King of Sardinia that their troops were in a state of readiness to assist His Britannic Majesty in case of war, underpinned by the Quadruple Alliance. The last 4 pages give an account of the audience between the Savoyard ambassador and the foreign secretary Lord Townshend, the latter expressing his surprise that the King had not taken advantage of the current political situation to annex the Austrian-held town of Vigevano, south-west of Milan, since France, England and Holland were all in agreement on the matter, to which Seyssel d'Aix replies that this would only have been considered in time of war, and that such a move might easily result in war breaking out. Townshend points out that given the campaign lately undertaken in France, to which the 'Sieur Armstrong' had assisted, it would have been possible to occupy some parts of the Austrian empire with 150,000 men, against which the Viennese court would only have been able, he claims, to assemble an army of 50,000 men. As for the Congress of Vienna, Townshend states that nothing firm had been decided. He also raises once more the issue of the edict of the King of Sardinia touching English woollen goods. Viscount Townshend directed British foreign policy between 1721 and 1730 in collaboration with his brother-in-law, the Prime Minister Robert Walpole, but relations between the two ministers gradually deterioriated, especially regarding the policy to be adopted towards Austria - Townshend being opposed to any rapprochement with the Austrian power. He was out-manoeuvred by Walpole, and in consequence retired in 1730, thus removing the last obstacle to the sealing of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance, ratified by the Treaty of Vienna signed on 16th March 1731, which became the centrepiece of George II's foreign policy. The kingdom of Sardinia at this time included a large swathe of south-eastern France and north-western Italy, including Savoy, Piedmont and Nice. Vigevano was later ceded to Sardinia by the Treaty of Worms in 1743.