It was now full day, and we had reached the summit of the pass. Above us were still the snow-clad peaks; but the road does not ascend higher. We now crossed the frontier, and were in Italy. A little rocky plain surrounded by weather-beaten peaks, a deep blue lake, and a sea of bare ridges in front, were all that we saw of Italy. The road now began sensibly to decline, and the diligence quickened its pace. We soon reached the ridges before us, and began to descend over the brow of the Alps, which are steep and perpendicular as a wall almost, on their southern side. You first traverse a region covered with immense lichen-clothed boulders; next come stretches of heath; then stunted firs: by and by fruit and forest trees begin to make their appearance; next comes the lovely acacia; and last of all the vine, tall and luxuriant, veiling the peasant's cot with its shadow. The road is literally a series of hanging stairs, which zig-zag down the face of the mountain. At certain points the rock is perforated; at others it is hewn into terraces; and at others the path rests on vast substructions of masonry. Now an immense rock leans over the road, and now you find yourself on the edge of some frightful precipice, with the gulph running right down many thousands of feet, and a white torrent at the bottom, boiling and struggling, but unable to make itself heard at that height on the mountain. The turns are frequent and sharp; and the heavy, overladen vehicle, in its furious downward career, gives a swing at each, as if it would cut short the passage into Italy, and land the passenger, sooner than he wishes, at the bottom. At length, after four hours' riding, the descent is accomplished. The scene has changed in the twinkling of an eye. The plain is as level as a floor. The warm sun,--the brilliant sky,--the luxuriant vines,--the handsome architecture,--the picturesque costumes,--the dark oval faces, and black fiery eyes of the natives,--all tell you that it is a new world into which you have entered,--that this is ITALY.
RISK AND PROGRESS OF CONSTITUTIONALISM IN PIEDMONT.
First Entrance into Italy--Never can be Repeated--The Cathedral of Turin--The Royal Palace--The Museum--Egyptian Mummies--Reflections--Landmark of the Vaudois Valleys--Piedmontese House of Commons--Piedmontese Constitution--Perils that surrounded it--Providentially shielded from these--Numbers and Wealth of the Priesthood--Want of Public Opinion--Rise of a Free Press--Its Power--The _Gazetta del Popolo_--The Bible quoted by the Journalists--The flourishing State of the Country--The Waldensian Temple and Congregation--Workmen's Clubs--The Capuchin Monastery--A Capuchin Friar--Sunset.