lows:--"The 15th of December will be
written among the most disgraceful in the annals of Piedmont--_the Eighth
Anniversary of the Immaculate Conception_, and the Valdesi have appointed
it as the day for the solemn opening of the Protestant temple." And it
goes on to say, those who have ordered the national guard to take part in
the ceremony "have attempted to dishonour the city militia."

But gratifying as it was to me to contemplate this sacred edifice, yet we
were anxious not to lose time in reaching the valleys, so we left by the
afternoon train for Pinerolo, a town of ominous memories as regards its
past connection with its Protestant neighbours. Missionaries, monks, and
soldiers have often started forth from this point to molest or destroy
those whose virtues they should rather have endeavoured to imitate. The
last enterprise of this kind was brought about by the instigation of
Archbishop Charvaz of Pinerolo, during the years 1840-1844.

From the railway station at Pinerolo we changed our conveyance, and took a
seat on the outside of the diligence for La Torre. On our way we passed the
small towns of San Secondo, celebrated as the place where a Christian
martyr suffered in the third century, Bricherasio, where deeds of violence
were perpetrated against those whose forefathers owned the soil from which
their children have been long excluded. Although the shades of evening were
closing over us ere we finished our journey, yet we could not fail to be
impressed with the nature of the territory to which we were drawing nigh.
Monte Viso reared its snow-crested cone with a seeming sense of its
majesty. It has been beautifully described as looking like a pyramid
starting out of a sea of mountain ridges, and from certain points of view
to surpass even Mont Blanc in grandeur, inasmuch as it stands out in larger
space, and so makes a more powerful impression on the senses. Although but
12,000 feet high, no one has been able to scale the summit of its gigantic
rocks. "Free from the tread of human foot, it is the Jungfrau of the South,
the powerful spirit which watches over our valleys; for in the shade of its
granite sides the torch of the gospel found refuge for its light." Full of
grand emotions as we neared the spot, our diligence brought us to the
little capital, La Torre Pelice, where, under the hospitable roof of the
Bear Hotel, we rest for the night.

CHAPTER II.

Before narrating my p