802 Mary Somerville. 



of the Po and Dora, deeply covered with snow, and 

 sparkling in bright sunshine. Another day the 

 Baron took us to a church, from the cupola of which 

 a very long pendulum was swinging, that we might 

 see the rotation of the earth visibly proved by its 

 action on the pendulum, according to M. Foucault's 

 experiment. He devoted his time to get us esta- 

 blished, and we found a handsome apartment in 

 Casa Cavour, and became acquainted with both 

 the brothers to whom it belonged. Count Camillo 



O 



Cavour, then Minister of the Interior, was the 

 only great statesman Italy ever produced in modern 

 times. His premature death is deplorably felt 

 at the present day. He was a real genius, and 

 the most masterly act of his administration was 

 that of sending an army to act in concert with the 

 French and English in the Crimean war. By it 

 he at once gave Italy the rank of an independent 

 European power, which was the first step towards 

 Italian unity. He was delightful and cheerful in 

 society, and extremely beloved by his family and 



friends. 



* * * 



In spring we hired a villa on the Colline 

 above Turin. The house was in a garden, with 

 a terrace, whence the ground sank rapidly to 

 the plain ; low hills, clothed with chestnut 



