a country of Italy, having formerly the title of a principality, is bounded on the north by Savoy and Italy; on the west by France; on the south by the Mediterranean and the republic of Genoa; and on the east by the duchies of Montferrat and Milan; extending about 150 miles from north to south, but much less from east to west. It is called Piedmont, and in Latin Piedmontium, from its situation at the foot of the mountains, or Alps, which separate France from Italy. This country is in some parts mountainous, but is everywhere very fruitful. The plains produce fine corn, and Montferrat and the Milanese yield great quantities of Turkey wheat, which commonly serves for bread, and with which the people of the middle rank mix rye; the pods are used for fuel, and the stalks being thick serve to mend the roads. The hills produce plenty of wine, which, like the Italian wines, is very luscious when new, especially the white. There is also a tartish red wine called vino brusco, said to be very wholesome for fat people, and, on the other hand, the sweet wine is recommended as a stomachic. The neighbourhood of Turin is famous for its fine fruits, and many long walks of chestnut and mulberry trees, which produce both pleasure and profit. Marons, or large chestnuts, are a favourite dainty among the common people. These are put into an oven, and, when thoroughly hot, and cooled in red wine, are dried a second time in the oven, and afterwards eaten cold. Truffles grow here in such abundance, that Piedmont has obtained the name of the truffle country. Some are black, others white marbled with red. Their price is rated according to their size. Sometimes they are found of 12 or 14 pounds weight; and many country people earn from 60 to 70 dollars a-year merely by digging for them. The trade in cattle is said to bring into Piedmont no less than three millions of livres per annum. The cultivation of silk is also a profitable article, the Piedmontese silk being, on account of its fineness and strength, esteemed the best in Italy. The Piedmontese gentry breed vast numbers of silk-worms under the care of their tenants, who have the eggs and mulberry leaves delivered to them, and in return they give half the silk to their masters. This principality comprehends eleven small provinces: Piedmont proper, the valleys between France and Italy, the valley of Saluzzo, the county of Nice, the marquisate of Susa, the duchy of Aost, the Canavese, the lordship of Vettisal, Piedmont, the county of Ast, and the Langes. It was formerly a part of Lombardy, but now belongs to the king of Sardinia, and lies at the foot of the Alps, which separate France from Italy. It contains many high mountains, among which there are rich and fruitful valleys, as pleasant and populous as any part of Italy. In the mountains are mines of several kinds, and the forests afford a great deal of curious game, among which the tumor is an useful animal. "The moles (says Mr Watkins) are very fine in this country; but the inhabitants have other beasts, or rather monsters, which they find very serviceable, though vicious and obstinate. These are produced by a cow and an ass, or mare and bull, and called jumarres or ginerri (A). I cannot say that I have ever seen any of them, but I am told they are very common."

The Piedmontese are said to be more intelligent than the Savoyards, but less sincere. Some authors represent them as lively, artful, and witty, the inhabitants of the mountain of Aosta excepted, who are farther distinguished by large woe, as even their horses, dogs, and other animals. Mr Baretti, however, in his Account of Italy, vol. ii. p. 116, gives the following account of them. "One of the chief qualities (says he), which distinguish the Piedmontese from all other Italians, is their want of cheerfulness. Piedmont never produced a single good poet, as far as the records of the country can go, whereas there is no other province of Italy but what can boast of some poet ancient or modern; and yet the Piedmontese are not deficient in several branches of learning, and some of them have succeeded tolerably well in civil law, physic, and the mathematics. It is likewise observed of this people, that none of them ever attained to any degree of excellence in the polite arts, and it is but lately that they can boast of a painter, Cavaliere Bomente; a statuary, Signor Lodetto; and some architects, Coste Alferi, Signor Borra, and others, who yet, to say the truth, are far inferior to numberless artists produced by the other provinces of Italy. They have, on the other hand, greatly advanced when considered as soldiers; though their troops have never been very numerous, every body conversant in history knows the brave stand they made for some centuries past against the French, Spaniards, and Germans, whenever they have been invaded by these nations. The skill of the Piedmontese in fortification is likewise very great, and their Benlas and Pintos have shown as much genius as the Vaubans and Cohorns, in rendering impregnable several places which inferior engineers would only have made secure."

The chief trade of this principality consists in hemp and silk. Indeed, so great is their trade in raw silk, that the English alone have purchased to the value of 200,000 lib. in a year. The silk worm thrives so well, that many peasants make above (B) 100 lib. of silk annually; and it is not only abundant, but universally Piedmont, known to be stronger and finer than any in Italy. The Piedmontese workmen, however, are said to want expertness, though they finish their work equally well with those of other nations. The high duty and land carriage on mules likewise tend to lessen the value of this trade. They have besides corn, rice, wine, fruits, flax, and cattle.

In the valleys of Lucerne, Peyrouse, and St Martin, which have always belonged to Piedmont, live the celebrated Waldenses or Vaudois, a name which signifies people of the valleys. These have rendered themselves famous in history for their dissent from the Romish church long before the time of Luther and Calvin, and for the persecutions they have suffered on that account; but since the year 1730 they have not been openly molested for their religion, but, in order to suppress them by degrees, a popish church has been built in every parish. They are heavily taxed, and labour under great oppressions. The number of people in these valleys scarce at present exceeds 10,000, of which 1000 are Catholics. The chief river of Piedmont is the Po, which flows out of Mount Viso. The river Sesia, the Doria, Baltea, the ancient Druria, the Tenaro, and several others, run into it. The Var, anciently called the Varus, rises in the county of Nice, and after watering it empties itself into the Mediterranean. The language of the Piedmontese is a mixture of French and Italian. In this country are about 50 earldoms, 15 marquisates, a multitude of lordships, and 20 abbeys. Though the country be entirely popish, except some valleys inhabited by the Waldenses, the king reserves to himself the greatest part of the power in church affairs, which in many other places is given up to the pope, and the constitution unigenitus is here universally opposed. Towards the end of the 17th century, the French king persuaded the duke of Savoy to drive them out of the country; in consequence of which 200,000 of them retired to Germany, England, and Holland, and yet they are not all extirpated, though, as we have observed, they are obliged to have a Roman Catholic church in every parish.

Turin, formerly the residence of the king of Sardinia, to whom this principality belonged, is the chief city. Sec Turin. The number of inhabitants, Mr Watkins says, in Piedmont and Savoy, amount to 2,695,727 souls, of which Turin contains about 77,000. Piedmont was long subject to France, but was restored to the king of Sardinia with the rest of his continental dominions in 1814.