In a meadow, has just been entirely renovated; but as with some
English churches, the more closely a piece of old work is copied
the more palpably does the modern spirit show through it, so here
the opposite occurs, for the old-worldliness of the place has not
been impaired by much renovation, though the intention has been to
make everything as modern as possible.
I know few things more touching in their way than the porch of
Rossura church. It is dated early in the last century, and is
absolutely without ornament; the flight of steps inside it lead up
to the level of the floor of the church. One lovely summer Sunday
morning, passing the church betimes, I saw the people kneeling upon
these steps, the church within being crammed. In the darker light
of the porch, they told out against the sky that showed through the
open arch beyond them; far away the eye rested on the mountains -
deep blue save where the snow still lingered. I never saw anything
more beautiful - and these forsooth are the people whom so many of
us think to better by distributing tracts about Protestantism among
them!
While I was looking, there came a sound of music through the open
door - the people lifting up their voices and singing, as near as I
can remember, something which on the piano would come thus:-
[At this point in the book a music score is given]
I liked the porch almost best under an aspect which it no longer
presents. One summer an opening was made in the west wall, which
was afterwards closed because the wind blew through it too much and
made the church too cold. While it was open, one could sit on the
church steps and look down through it on to the bottom of the
Ticino valley; and through the windows one could see the slopes
about Dalpe and Cornone. Between the two windows there is a
picture of austere old S. Carlo Borromeo with his hands joined in
prayer.
It was at Rossura that I made the acquaintance of a word which I
have since found very largely used throughout North Italy. It is
pronounced "chow" pure and simple, but is written, if written at
all, "ciau," or "ciao," the "a" being kept very broad. I believe
the word is derived from "schiavo," a slave, which, became
corrupted into "schiao," and "ciao." It is used with two meanings,
both of which, however, are deducible from the word slave. In its
first and more common use it is simply a salute, either on greeting
or taking leave, and means, "I am your very obedient servant."
Thus, if one has been talking to a small child, its mother will
tell it to say "chow" before it goes away, and will then nod her
head and say "chow" herself.
