Testo originale da Mack Smith, p. 255:
Vincenzo Salvagnoli to the Emperor Louis Napoleon, November 28, 1858
«Any settlement of Italy must offer solid and durable advantages both to the Napoleonic dynasty and that of Savoy. This could be obtained by dividing Italy into four. The Pope would keep Rome and its neighborhood, with a strip to his port at Civitavecchia, and financial support from the other Italian states. Upper Italy, ruled by the Savoy dynasty, would include Piedmont (but less Nice, Savoy and Sardinia); and also Lombardy, Venetia, and the Italian parts of Friuli and the Dalmatian coast. But it will not take in the south side of the Po except at Piacenza. The third part, i.e., (without Piacenza), Modena, the papal Legations and the Marches, Tuscany, Corsica and Sardinia, all this will be given to a French prince, for example Prince Napoleon, son of the ex-king Jérôme Bonaparte. The fourth part will be the existing Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. This would go to a ruler suggested by England, on condition that all Austrian or Bourbon princes were excluded. Such a division would ensure Italian independence, because her states would be strong enough to defend themselves by sea and land. France would also gain the solid advantage of having three Italian allies; she would win a barrier against Germany, and a route by which if need be she could enter the Danube basin against Russia … Best of all France, this solution would close for ever the prospect of war and revolution. France would be insulated from nearby unrest by a settled Italy. Nor would any other Power attack France if her Italian alliances let her dominate the whole Mediterranean basin. At last Napoleon's phrase about the Mediterranean being a French lake could come true. Losing Corsica would be a secondary matter in comparison, especially as France would gain a better frontier by incorporating Savoy and Nice … This method of securing Italian independence would be of the greatest benefit to Napoleon, without in any way offending the national sentiment of Italians, and it would create an indissoluble alliance between France and Italy.» (EN) Denis Mack Smith, Plombieres and negotiations with France, in The Making of Italy, 1796–1866, Springer, 1988 [1968], ISBN9781349191895.
Versione originale in inglese da Mack Smith, p. 251: Cavour to Marquis of Villamarina, ambassador at Paris, November 25, 1858: «I must make clear, even if you accuse me of indiscretion, that I cannot agree to Salvagnoli's plan for dividing Italy. I have no more idea of loosing the island of Sardinia than of asking France for Corsica. I am similarly sure that it would be a serious mistake to separate the Po Valley into two parts, especially at the local population would never agree to it. Piedmont must be given everything up to and including Ancona. It is a lot, but not too much, even if we have to throw in our last man and our last penny. If anyone talks to you either seriously or jokingly about the reconstitution of Italy, you must be bold and maintain that this can be solidly established only if Piedmont rests her head on the Alps and her feet on Ancona. This is what I told Salvagnoli; and yet that scoundrel prefers to enlarge his own Tuscany, even though the Tuscans would never know how to govern a population with Bologna, Bologna would be the dominant partner and take the rank of capital. The cis-Appenine race, and any treaties in that sense would be torn up by the force of events.» (carteggio Cavour-Nigra, vol. I, p. 214). (EN) Denis Mack Smith, Plombieres and negotiations with France, in The Making of Italy, 1796–1866, Springer, 1988 [1968], ISBN9781349191895.
