or PRÉMONT, a principality and principal province of the continental states of the Sardinian monarchy, forming the north-western portion of Italy. It was separated from Sardinia by the French in the year 1798, and in 1802 incorporated with France. On the fall of Napoleon in 1814 it was restored to the king of Sardinia, and the duchies of Milan and Montferrat have been annexed to it. It is now divided into twenty-six districts. Piedmont, in a narrower sense, borders on the Valais and Savoy to the north, on France to the west, on Nice and Genoa to the south, and on the Sardinian Milanese and Montferrat to the east. These limits comprise an area of 6575 square miles, and contain a population of 1,400,000 souls. If we include the Sardinian Milanese and Montferrat, its superficial extent is above 12,000 square miles.

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1 According to Camden, this conversion happened about the year 630, in the southern Pictish provinces; whilst the northern, which were separated by mountains, were converted by St Columba.

2 We are told by some authors that St Columba taught the Picts to celebrate Easter always on a Sunday between the 14th and 20th of March, and to observe a different method of tonsure from the Romans, leaving an imperfect appearance of a crown. This occasioned much dispute, till Naitan at length brought his subjects to the Catholic rule. In that age many of the Picts went on a pilgrimage to Rome, according to the custom of the times; and amongst the rest we find two persons mentioned in the Antiquities of St Peter's Church, Matirius, count of the Picts, and Syra, with some of his countrymen, performed their vow. and the inhabitants amount to 2,329,000. It forms a continuation of the plain of Lombardy, somewhat narrowed, and more closely bounded by the mightiest ranges of the Alps and Apennines; the former on the north and west; the latter on the south. The principal river is the Po, which runs through its centre, dividing it into two nearly equal parts; and it receives here nearly all its early tributaries, which, from being in the vicinity of their mountain sources, are liable to sudden and destructive inundations. The climate, of course, varies according to the elevation of the surface. In the mountainous regions, in the north and west the snow and ice remain during a great portion of the year. In the plains the climate is temperate during winter, and the excessive heats of summer are tempered by the vicinity of the Alps. The soil generally is very fertile; the plains traversed by the Po being particularly prolific, and in a high state of cultivation. They yield in abundance corn, wine, oil, fruits, rice, and hemp. But the staple product is silk, the breeding of the silk-worm being nowhere in Italy carried to the same extent; and the produce is also reckoned the finest in quality. It produces yearly 22,000,000 lire worth of silk, most of which is exported in the raw state. Another important branch of industry is the breeding of cattle, the pastures being both extensive and rich. The hills are in general covered with vineyards, the produce of which is very abundant, but generally of inferior quality. Olives, almonds, chestnuts, and in smaller quantities figs, oranges, and lemons, are raised here. The northern, western, and southern districts supply the central region with wood. The Piedmontese are industrious and frugal; and are all Catholics, with the exception of about 20,000 Waldenses and a few Jews. They have some silk, linen, and woollen manufacturers, and thousands of them are seen travelling about Italy, France, and Germany as pedlars. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. This province derives its name from its situation at the foot of the mountains.

a town of Italy, in the province Terra di Lavoro, and the kingdom of Naples. It is situated at the foot of the mountain Matese, and has wide streets, well-built houses, seven churches, a hospital, and 4640 inhabitants, who make woollen clothes, paper, and iron ware.