Ferdinando DAL POZZO Signed autograph letter, Piedmont, Verona

  

He held various political and administrative positions, especially during the French domination of Piedmont. In 1821, he was appointed Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of Sardinia by Carlo Alberto. Autograph letter signed to Amédée Girod de l’Ain, Minister of Public Instruction. Small tears along the folds, a few stains. Fine letter requesting an appointment as Councillor of State in extraordinary service.

The day you gave me such a kind welcome, sir, and I had the honor of speaking with you about the circumstances that led me to settle in France and to request letters of declaration of naturalization, I also expressed the wish I had to be in some way attached to the Council of State by an appointment as Councillor of State in extraordinary service. The idea was first suggested to me by a friend and colleague, Mr. Baron de Gérando, who spoke of it spontaneously and warmly to the Keeper of the Seals.

I confess that this appointment would please me and would satisfy not my ambition, which is now entirely absent, but my attachment to France, and the keen desire I have to prove to my former compatriots in Piedmont that France does not forget her former servants and supporters, and that she considers worthy of her interest those who, far from the restoration of the House of Savoy in Piedmont, were neglected and trampled upon to an extent that is hard to imagine. My attachment to France and my admiration for its laws kept me from serving my government, which had the barbaric folly, and in several respects the atrocious effect, of overturning in one stroke everything connected to the French system at the time when Piedmont was separated.