The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-01-08
Letter from Miss Ronzone.


the care of our Committee of Foreign Missions.
to engage in the work of Evangelization in that
classic land, now opened SO wonderfully to
Christian effort. We are indebted to the South
ern Presbyterian for the following letter addressed
to the Rev. j. Leighton Wilson, d. D., which
mentions her first impressions in reaching that
country.
1t is one of the wonders of Providence that
the Waldenses should have been preserved
through ages of the most cruel, bloody persecu'
tions of the apostate Church of Rome, to be now
the pioneers in the dissemination of pure gos-
pei in benighted Italy.-[CEN. PREs.]
FLORENCE, Oct. 14th, 1867.
Dear Sir: Friday last arrived In this
city, where l was very kindly received
by Mrs. Revel. You threatened once to
send me to the Theological Seminary,
because was reading Calvin's Institutes,
and to theological seminaryI have In
deed got. Having written to DIR. De
Sanchs to get room in some nice
boarding house, bespoke about It to Mrs:
Revel, and she very kindly gave me
room in her house which is in the same
palace with the Theological Seminary.
You can imagine my joy and pride at
being in the Waldensian Theological
Seminary, meeting often with the Wal
densian students at Mrs. Revels table;
and Mrs Revel is so obliging that the
comfort and pleasure meet with here,
quite make up for that sad, lonesome
| Journey had from Turin to Milan.
But now 1 must go back moment,
and tell you that had intended to come
to Florence the week before last; but my
cousin begged me to take to Gorilla a
young lady who had just finished her edu-
cation at the Royal College in Milan,
and was going to her parents in Austria.
The expenses of the journey being all
paid by my cousin, under whose care the
young lady was, accepted the charge,
and took her to her aunt, Baroness Co
delli, in Gorilla. So I had the pleasure
of seeing again my old masters, the Aus
trians; for, you must know, Gorizia is
now the first town on the Austrian boun-
daries on that side of the Venetian State.
I tried my best not to look too indepen-
dent. The Baroness and her daughter
speak English, so we had the pleasure OF
making display of our linguistic talents.
inquired if there was any Protestant
church there, and heard that there is one
with very fine pastor, but 1 could not
find out his name nor the denomination
to which he belongs. On our way, We
stopped some hours in Verona, and saw
! the Wsldensian- church. but only its out:
SIDE, for 1T was doscd, and l could not
wait till six o'clock in the evening, at
which hour they were going to have a
meeting. All this postponed my depart
ure for Florence one week more, but still
[ got here before Dr. Revel. He is ex-
pected the day after tomorrow. Yester-
day, Mrs. Revel took me to their Sunday
School, and found it very interesting.
The scholars (only thirty for the present.
are divided into classes. Each class has
it's own teacher; one of these teaches
singing also. AS soon as the teachers
are through with the regular lesson, the
director asks the scholars some questions
on the passages of the Bible they have
been studying. By the readiness and
sensibleness of the answers, | judged the
children to be well taught and attentive
At eleven we went to the Waldensian
chapel. The service was conducted by
Mr.. Geymonat, the same minister who
was turned out of Pisa in 1848. His
text was: "Then said he unto his disci-
Piles, 1t is impossible but that offences
will come; but woe unto him through
whom they GOMEZ 1t were better for
him, etc." At three clock, Mrs. Revel
took me to the Scotch Presbyterian
Church The preacher was Mr.. Ross.
At seven we went again to the Walden
sian chapel, to hear DR.. De Sanctis who
has been a member of that Church for
about eighteen years. He breaches with
such animation. The church was not
crowded, but the congregation was quite
numerous. thought some of the peo-
pie were somewhat uneasy or afraid, for
at every little noise they would turn their
eyes quickly towards the door; but there
does not seem to be any danger now
Yesterday Mrs. Revel took me also to
see the Institute des Diaconesses. 1t is
Prussian institution; the teachers are
called deaconesses and are all Protest
ants; but they receive Roman Catholic
pupils also, who are allowed to 60 to their
own church, but must submit to the rules
of the institution, where the Bible is
freely used. was told they had about
eighty pupils, one half of them Italians.
This morning Mrs. Revel took me to
the Mission School. think they have
) nearly one hundred scholars, divided into
! three classes, one of small children, boys
and girls, one of girls from about eight
to fourteen years of age, and one of boys
They are rather too noisy, but they seem