Year: 1879

Desiring to visit the valley of Angrogna,
the great retreat during the invasions of the
land, and the scene of the most terrible bat
ties, I was commended to the pastor of the
village, who has the care Of the scattered pop
ulation Of the large parish. It was long,
hard walk up the valley, and hot one. A
very plain little Protestant "temple" and q
few poor houses constitute the village of An
grogna, which is dominated by larger Cath
ole church, whose priest does his worst to
counteract the cherished heresy here in its
ancient stronghold. A child directed me to
the pastors door,-a great solid wooden door
in fortress-like stone-wal Entering, WAS
pleasantly greeted by the cheerful mother of
the house, who ushered me into q scantily
furnished parlor, clean and sunny Present
ly the pastor appeared, who received me
with the greatest cordiality, and lent himself
at once to my desire for guidance and infor-
nation. have rarely been more impressed
in any interview. He told me with the great
est frankness Of the difficulties with which he
has to contend in ekng out a support for his
large family in parish where all are poor,
and where many can give nothing to the sup
port of the church beyond cordial good wish
es and the scantiest contributions of food.
little money is given him by the General Syn
cd, but it is very little, and this mans inces-
SAINT pastoral duties make it impossible for
him to amelorate his condition by any form
of profitable work 1t is to crafty no curl
osty that repeat what he told me of his cir
cumstances, but rather to illustrate by strik-
ing and extreme example the life in these
valleys generally. l was regaled in the most
hospitable manner with the best that the
house aiTorded,-a thin, simple wine, bread,
a hard sort of cheese, and boiled chestnuts,
of which l was urged to take my fill, as /
would find no other opportunity to eat dur
ing the days journey What was given me
is the best of their diet, and, except for pota-
toes and salad, it covers the limit of its vari-
ETY. for all the secular days of the week. On
Sundays they usually, but not always. have
meat. There was no suggestion that the diet
was not sufficient and satisfactory and the
family seemed to be in robust and hearty
health The physical labor of the pastor
himself must be very severe His parish
reaches for miles back on the mountains, and
far up into steep and rugged valleys He
has three separate churches and schools un-
der his charge, and his sick and poor are
scattered far and wide on every hand. Foot
paths and bridle-paths offer the only means
of communication, and lie is liable, day and
night, winter and summer, in good weather
and in bad, to be summoned forth for a long,
hard tramp to the house of sick or dying
parishioner. All this he described as merely
incidental to Il life of necessary and useful
service, in which he is content and happy.
A friend had recently presented him with
young donkey, which is already able to give
him short lift on his journeys and which,
as it natures, and as he grows old, will carry
him 10 Pra del Tor and back He was happy
over this acquisition, but anxious as to his
ability to nourish the beast Regarded in a
certain light there is nothing remarkable
about this tale of robust mans life and cir
o,,y, lpt NFi.Nua1 with rafa tp fba
stock to which he belongs, and to the history
of the wonderful struggle of his race, it
seems to me not far removed from heroism.
The world is full of we'll paid positions, seek
ing for the education, intelligence, executive
ability and fortitude which mark the charac-
ter of this cheerful and jealous pastor of An
grogna but the old call of the Spirit still
rings in his ears and stirs his blood as il stir
red that of the martyrs of old, and he stays
and finds his happiness and his delight in an
swering its behests. - Gee. Z. WdriHS. jr.,
in N0re5,Ger AtGIRtfc