Page:Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow monochrome.djvu/152

 of which was filled with seats for the congregation, while the center was left for visitors and those approaching the altar. Here we sat, and while the unmeaning sounds of the preacher fell upon our ears, our minds were absorbed in contemplation of the beauty and richness of art the power of unity, and the darkness of human understanding, as the monuments of each were around, before and above us.

On the first of July, Elders Stenhouse and Toronto left Genoa, according to my appointment, to visit the Protestant valleys of Piedmont. On the twenty third of the same month I left Genoa, passing through the city of Turin, the capital of the Sardinian States, and arrived at LaTour, in the valley of Luzerne.

This country bears a striking resemblance to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Piedmont is situated at the foot of the Alps, the highest mountains in Europe. The scenes of this land embrace all the varieties of a region where the heavens and the earth seem to meet. The clouds often enwrap these mighty eminences, and hide their frowning grandeurs from our view. At other times they are covered with snow, while at their feet the vine and fig tree are ripening their fruit. A poet has said of this identical locality in which we are placed:

"There is a scene would well repay                        The toil of many a weary day,                         And every form of nature there—                         Wood, rock and stream, and sunset rare—                         All seem to bid the traveler rest;                         For ne'er from tower or mountain crest,                         In emerald vale or sunny plain,                         Shall he behold such scenes again."

The Protestant inhabitants are called Vaudois or Waldenses. They number about twenty-one thousand; there aro also about five thousand Catholics. The fertile portions of