As to churches, there are one hundred and ten, with about five thousand priests, monks, &c. Almost all the churches we visited were filled with people, and two priests officiating at separate altars. At the Jesuit's church, I inquired if there were any of that order now at Turin; the guide replied, yes; that they were beginning again, and were arranging their affairs! Thus the zeal and activity of the Roman Catholic church still remain unabated. In some things it deserves to be imitated by Protestant countries. Its ample provision of churches and ecclesiastical ministers its watchfulness over the people within its jurisdiction-its care in visiting the sick-its diligence in catechizing, &c. are examples to the reformed communities. A pure and spiritual religion ought to be the motive to similar, and even greater exertions; only abating every thing approaching to intolerance and dominion over the conscience. For in the Church of Rome, what is good in itself, is so corrupted, as to leave a melancholy impression on the mind. Still, with regard to churches, is it not

painful to reflect that in Catholic countries accommodation is provided for the entire population; whilst in many parts of England, one in ten-twelve-fifteen is all that the churches will contain. Thank God this disproportion is now by degrees lessening!

At the Church of St. Mary of the Consolation, we were solemnly assured of the miracles which the Virgin had wrought. The walls indeed were covered with the votive offerings of those who imagined they had received miraculous benefits. But this was not more extraordinary than the Chapel of the Holy Napkin, in the Cathedral; in which chapel is preserved the very napkin in which our Saviour was enfolded after his crucifixion, with the marks of his sacred blood! The servant who told me this, did it not only with gravity, but with an awe in his voice and manner quite unique. He assured me that the Pope had seen it in passing through the city-this was an irresistible proof!

What would the noble Claudius, Bishop of Turin in the ninth century, have said to these superstitions? You remember, perhaps, the name. He may be called, truly, the first Reformer from Popery. From the year 817 to 839 he continued to protest against the errors of the See of Rome, and kept them from being introduced into his diocese, in spite of the violent opposition which was raised against him. In the remains of his writings which are extant, he declares Jesus Christ to be the only Head of the Church-he condemns the doctrine of human merits, and the placing. traditions on the same level with the Scriptures— he maintains that we are saved by faith onlyhe holds the fallibility of the church exposes the futility of praying for the dead, and the sinfulness of the idolatrous practices then supported by the Roman See. The valleys of Piedmont, inhabited now by the Waldenses, or Vaudois, of whom I hope to tell you something more particularly, were in his diocese; and it is probable those churches

were much increased and confirmed by his labours.*

But to return to Turin. At the University we saw many undoubted antiquities of Roman fame-busts of Cicero-altars-household gods-tripods, and a head-dress like what I described as now worn at Milan,-all exceedingly curious. The University contains two thousand five hundred students. There are one hundred and twenty thousand volumes in the library. I asked if they had any manuscripts of the Scriptures; the librarian stared, and then showed me a Latin Bible of Thomas Aquinas! But at Vercelli they profess to have the autograph of St. Mark's gospel-the sacred original of the Evangelist-in Latin; mistaking, I suppose, the celebrated Codex Vercellensis of Eusebius for it; or else confounding Vercelli with Venice.t

*See Milner, Cent. IX.

+ Jean André Irico published at Milan, in 1743, the Book of the Gospels found among the MSS. of the Church of Vercelli. It is supposed to be in the very hand-writing of

The royal palace forms one side of an immense square, in the midst of which is a fortified tower, surrounded with a moat, erected by the Duke of Savoy. I think it is the very largest square I have seen on the Continent. I was pleased to see in the palace a portrait of our Charles I.; and, which is singular, of Calvin. The small library of the private chapel contained a Bible, Austin's Confessions and Letters, and Nicole's Essays; all excellent books. This leads one to hope, that the same judgment and piety which formed such a selection, might possibly govern the habits and conduct of some of the royal personages for whom it was made. It was the first time I had seen a Bible in a private Catholic library.

The arsenal had thirty thousand muskets of English manufacture. We observed in the

Eusebius, of Vercelli, who lived in the fourth century, and was a friend of Athanasius. The MS. is deposited amongst the relics, which are preserved with superstitious reverence in the author's church at Vercelli. There is a pretended autograph of St. Mark's Gospel at Venice; but it is merely a copy of the Latin version.