THE VAUDOIS OF PIEDMONT. 

[Illustration: MAP OF THE VALLEYS OF PIEDMONT

_STANFORD'S GEOGL. ESTABT. LONDON. _]

 THE

 VAUDOIS OF PIEDMONT:

 A Visit to their Valleys, WITH A SKETCH OF THEIR REMARKABLE HISTORY AS A CHURCH AND PEOPLE

 TO THE PRESENT DATE. 

 With Map of the Valleys. 

 BY

 REV. J. N. WORSFOLD, M. A. , _Vicar of Christ Church, Somers Town, London. _

 _"TRITUNTUR MALLEI REMANET INCUS. "_

 LONDON:

 J. F. SHAW & CO. , 48, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

 1873. 

 PREFACE. 

An eminent living scholar, Dr. Tischendorf, has remarked, that in thesedays there is need of "little books on great subjects. " It was something ofthat feeling which led me to the idea of supplementing the large andlearned works of Muston, Monastier, Gilly, and others, by a pocket volume, so small that the tourist might not feel it an incumbrance, and yet socomprehensive, that those who have not the leisure for larger works, mightobtain useful knowledge of the Waldenses. 

Whether I shall have succeeded in this aim the public must judge. 

I may, however, add that the absorbing nature of my parochial work hasprevented my doing justice to the subject, from a literary point of view, and, therefore, I must ask my readers to kindly think of it merely as anearnest desire to diminish somewhat of the lack of information which I havediscovered even among educated and benevolent persons, with regard to thehistory and ecclesiastical character of the Vaudois. 

And, secondly, to evoke help towards their work generally, but especiallyto call out contributions, by means of which a MEMORIAL CHURCH may beerected near the site of the ancient college of the Vaudois, at Pra delTor, Val Angrogna, and so still further illustrate the accuracy of theancient motto of the Vaudois, "The hammers are broken, the anvil remains. "

 "TRITUNTUR MALLEI REMANET INCUS. "

_13, Oakley Square, N. W. , July, 1873. _

 CONTENTS. 

 CHAPTER I. PageTHE JOURNEY AND ITS MOTIVE 1-5

 CHAPTER II. 

THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE VALLEYS, AND TOPOGRAPHICALFEATURES 6-8

 CHAPTER III. 

ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE WALDENSES AS A DISTINCTCOMMUNITY 9-13

 CHAPTER IV. 

CREED AND ORGANIZATION OF THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH 14-22

 CHAPTER V. 

THE BEGINNING OF PAPAL PERSECUTIONS 23-27

 CHAPTER VI. 

THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE WALDENSES FROM THERISE OF THE ROMAN INQUISITION TO THAT OF THE PROTESTANTREFORMATION 28-37

 CHAPTER VII. 

PEACE BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN INITIATES THE SECONDGREAT PERSECUTION OF THE VAUDOIS. --THEIR LOYALTYAND THEIR CONDITION DOWN TO A. D. 1655 38-44

 CHAPTER VIII. 

"THE BLOODY PASCHA"--LOYALTY EVEN BEYOND THE POWEROF PERFIDY AND PERSECUTION TO QUENCH. --REVOCATIONOF THE EDICT OF NANTES. --THE CRIMES OFLOUIS XIV. INVOLVES THE VALLEYS IN TROUBLE, EVENGREATER THAN BEFORE. --TREACHERY OF GABRIEL OFSAVOY. --EXILE 45-51

 CHAPTER IX. 

RORA AND JANAVELLO 52-62

 CHAPTER X. 

THE VALLEYS REGAINED UNDER HENRI ARNAUD 63-89

 CHAPTER XI. 

THE VAUDOIS FROM THEIR RETURN TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND THE RESTORATION OF THE HOUSE OF SAVOYTO THEIR DOMINIONS 90-95

 CHAPTER XII. 

THE VAUDOIS FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE EDICT OFEMANCIPATION 96-103

 CHAPTER XIII. 

THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH, FROM THE GENERAL PEACE TOTHE DATE OF VISITS FROM DR. GILLY AND GENERALBECKWITH 104-113

 CHAPTER XIV. 

WALDENSIAN CHURCH PROGRESS IN ITS OWN VALLEYS, FROM1827 TO 1848 114-119

 CHAPTER XV. 

THE CHURCH OF THE VALLEYS AS THE EVANGELIST OFITALY. --ITS HOME CLAIMS AND NEEDS 120-130

 THE VAUDOIS OF PIEDMONT. 

 CHAPTER I. 

Early on the morning of Easter Monday, 1871, in company with a devotedItalian pastor, I left my temporary home in the comfortable "Grand Hotel, "in the little town of Pallanza, to gratify a long-felt desire of visitingthat part of Europe made sacred by ages of heroic suffering and courageousendurance for faith and fatherland--the valleys of Piedmont. As we steamedup the lake Maggiore the thin mist of early morn cleared off, and by thetime we had passed the far-famed Borromean Islands the eye was ravishedwith the scenes of beauty on every side. Trees and flowers bloomed forth inthe lovely vesture of an Italian spring, and the hills, villas, and gardenson the shores of the lake were imaged forth as in a mirror on its own fairbosom. 

In this reverie of delight our boat landed us at Arona, where wedisembarked and entered the train for Turin. We reached the latter city inabout three hours, and after a short delay at the refreshment-room, calledupon the Vaudois pastor, the Rev. J. P. Meille, who received us mostkindly, and showed us over the stately temple belonging to his church, situated in one of the best streets (the Corso del Re), and which, by itsimposing character, as compared with the general simplicity of the Vaudoisecclesiastical buildings, fitly illustrates their altered circumstances asa Church and a community--no longer persecuted, plundered, proscribed, anddown-trodden!

The erection of this building was indeed the first public and palpableevidence that the era of political and religious liberty for the Waldenses, inaugurated by the edict of emancipation, dated February 17th, 1848, wasreally to be enjoyed by them. Its foundations were laid on the 29thOctober, 1851, by a solemn ceremonial. Delegates from the table of theVaudois Church, the consistory of Turin, and all the representatives ofProtestant states, together with a numerous concourse of sympathizers andlookers-on, were present. This great innovation upon the long reign ofintolerance was not accomplished without considerable effort. In the firstplace, it was necessary to obtain the authorization of the government, andthis was the more difficult from the circumstance that liberty ofconscience and public worship were not _formally_ inscribed on the"_Statuto_, " so that the government might have refused the authorization, and yet not have violated the strict letter of the law. Happily, however, the president of the council of ministers at that time was the CountCavour, whose influence procured the necessary permission. Many attempts, however, were made to undo this concession, and even when the royalsanction had been obtained these efforts were so numerous and influentialthat nothing but the proverbial justice of the sovereign, and theconstancy of his minister, availed to secure success. The last piece ofopposition to the desire of the Vaudois and their friends was made by a manwhose name remained as the living incarnation of the former régime, theCount Solaro Margherita, who, during the long years under the reign ofCharles Albert, had held the helm of the state, and was completely inbondage to the Jesuits. Though infirm in body, he betook himself to thepresence of the successor of his ancient master, and falling on his knees, said to him, "Sire, do not refuse one of the most faithful servants of yourdynasty the last favour that he will ask of you before he quits this earth, viz. , that you do not allow the good and loyal city of Turin to have thegrief and shame of seeing erected within its walls an edifice set apart forthe preaching of heresy. " (See MEILLE'S _Life of Gen. Beckwith_. ) The kingreferred the suppliant to his ministers, who never dreamt of recallingtheir decision, and the good work proceeded. So that within a little overtwo years from its commencement the dedication of the temple took place, onthe 15th of December, 1853. There was a great gathering of all ranks ofsociety, including the greater portion of the diplomatique body resident inTurin, the senators, the deputies, a delegation from the national guard ofthe city with their officers at their head. This last circumstance seems tohave given special umbrage to the more bigoted Romanists, inasmuch as theirorgan, _L'Armonia_, wrote as follows:--"The 15th of December will bewritten among the most disgraceful in the annals of Piedmont--_the EighthAnniversary of the Immaculate Conception_, and the Valdesi have appointedit as the day for the solemn opening of the Protestant temple. " And itgoes on to say, those who have ordered the national guard to take part inthe ceremony "have attempted to dishonour the city militia. "

But gratifying as it was to me to contemplate this sacred edifice, yet wewere anxious not to lose time in reaching the valleys, so we left by theafternoon train for Pinerolo, a town of ominous memories as regards itspast connection with its Protestant neighbours. Missionaries, monks, andsoldiers have often started forth from this point to molest or destroythose whose virtues they should rather have endeavoured to imitate. Thelast enterprise of this kind was brought about by the instigation ofArchbishop Charvaz of Pinerolo, during the years 1840-1844. 

From the railway station at Pinerolo we changed our conveyance, and took aseat on the outside of the diligence for La Torre. On our way we passed thesmall towns of San Secondo, celebrated as the place where a Christianmartyr suffered in the third century, Bricherasio, where deeds of violencewere perpetrated against those whose forefathers owned the soil from whichtheir children have been long excluded. Although the shades of evening wereclosing over us ere we finished our journey, yet we could not fail to beimpressed with the nature of the territory to which we were drawing nigh. Monte Viso reared its snow-crested cone with a seeming sense of itsmajesty. It has been beautifully described as looking like a pyramidstarting out of a sea of mountain ridges, and from certain points of viewto surpass even Mont Blanc in grandeur, inasmuch as it stands out in largerspace, and so makes a more powerful impression on the senses. Although but12, 000 feet high, no one has been able to scale the summit of its giganticrocks. "Free from the tread of human foot, it is the Jungfrau of the South, the powerful spirit which watches over our valleys; for in the shade of itsgranite sides the torch of the gospel found refuge for its light. " Full ofgrand emotions as we neared the spot, our diligence brought us to thelittle capital, La Torre Pelice, where, under the hospitable roof of theBear Hotel, we rest for the night. 

 CHAPTER II. 

Before narrating my personal adventures in the valleys, I fancy I mayconsult the profit of my readers if I give a brief topographical outline ofthe district of which La Torre is the chief town. It lies about thirtymiles south-west of Turin, having Mont Viso and the French province ofDauphiny for its south-western border. Mont Genevre is the extreme point inthe north-westerly direction, and from its sides the boundary of the upperportions of the valleys turns in a north-easterly direction along thatridge of the Alps which separates Savoy from Piedmont by the Col deSestrieres, Fenestrelle, Perousa, down to the plains, including the valleysof Pragela, San Martino, Perousa, Angrogna, and Pelice, or Lucerna, andterminating with the parish of San Giovanni as its most easterly point;though formerly the Vaudois territories extended to the entire valley ofthe Clusone, and they had several churches in the neighbourhood of Susa, aswell as in the principality of Saluzzo to the south-east. However, persecution and confiscation have now reduced them to a tract which isabout twenty-two miles in its greatest length by a little over sixteen inits extreme width. Its area may be about three hundred square miles, and asso large a space is covered with mountains, it imposes considerabledifficulties in the way of productive cultivation. Its population is abouttwenty thousand persons, which at one time were almost exclusivelyProtestant, but the disabilities imposed on the Vaudois (of which we shallspeak in another chapter) have compelled many of them to leave their nativevalleys for France, Germany, America, and other countries, in order toobtain a livelihood. As regards scenery, it is difficult to describe itssurpassing loveliness, and certainly no exaggeration to say that thetraveller in this district is often favoured by a combination mostdelightful, viz. , the soft luxuriance of Italy in the lower slopes andbroader valleys, joined with the wildness and grandeur of Switzerland inthe narrower glens and loftier mountain ranges. And this apart from thewealth of its historic glories. In reference to climate, the valleys ofPelice, Angrogna, with Perousa, are warm and productive, those of Martinoand Pragela cold and barren. The soil in the mountain parishes yields thesame kind of vegetables and corn as are to be found in our North of Englandparishes; the mountain slopes yield pasturage for cattle, and the higherridges are covered with the pine, elm, and ash trees. In the lower valleys, particularly in the parishes of San Giovanni, Lucerna, La Torre, you willobserve the chestnut, mulberry, and the vine. As to roads and means ofcommunication, there is nothing to complain of, particularly from the monthof June to September; though I found it so hot in the month of April as tobe obliged to stay in-doors from noon to about four o'clock in theafternoon. As to accommodation for travellers, I can speak well of the BearHotel at La Torre; and I have read a good account of the Sun at Perousa, aslikewise the Red Rose at Fenestrelle, for passing travellers. Having giventhe above with a view of answering questions often asked, especially byintending tourists, I return to the story of my own observations in LaTorre. The place is not unlike other small towns in the Swiss cantons. There are a fair sprinkling of shops, with post-office, town-hall, andmarket-place. In the centre of the latter I observed a prominent sun-dial, with the following very appropriate motto, _Vita fugit sicut umbra_. 

 CHAPTER III. 

 THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE WALDENSES. 

After enquiring as to the geographical position of the Waldensian valleys, the next most frequent questions which arise are: Who are the Waldenses?how long have they been in the valleys of Piedmont? what circumstances ledto their taking up their abode there? and what has given to their historythat peculiar characteristic which makes every detail both of their pastand present so intensely interesting to all the lovers of piety andpatriotism wherever the story of their high-souled courage or theirlong-enduring faith has reached? It is to answer these questions, asbriefly and yet as accurately as possible, that we address ourselves inthis chapter. 

And, first of all, we would state very distinctly that there is no groundfor believing that their name of Waldenses is taken from that of PeterWaldo, the celebrated merchant of Lyons. Not only because they date theirorigin centuries before his time, but also because the names they bear ofWaldenses, Vaudois, and Valdesi all refer to the place of their abode, andnot to that of any individual whose opinions they had embraced, or whoseleadership they had followed. It may further be observed, in opposition tothe opinion of the Waldenses being named after Peter Waldo, that hissecond name does not appear as applied to him prior to his condemnation asan heretic; and, moreover, the various ways in which it is written, _e. G. _, sometimes Valdo, sometimes Valdus, at other times Valdesius or Valdensis, shows that the word was not a proper name, but a mere appellative. So withregard to the idea that Vaudois comes from Vaudes, a sorcerer, it would bemore correct to say that the term sorcerer was one applied by theinhabitants of the plains to those who were Vaudois, or hill-men, under thenotion that the inhabitants of such localities practised sorcery. Hence weare compelled to assume that the name is purely geographical, and appliedfrom time immemorial to the persons living in those valleys of Piedmontwhich have ever formed part of the Italian territory, and are not to beconfounded with the Swiss Canton de Vaud, bearing a name so like because ofthe similarity of geographical conformation. 

In answer to the next question, How long have the Waldenses lived in thelocality from which they derive their name? _Da ogni tempo, da tempoimmemoriale_--from all time, from time immemorial--is the claim set up bythem in their earliest documents, and repeated over and over again in theirpetitions to the House of Savoy for liberty of conscience. [A] Nor is thereany attempt to refute this claim of antiquity on the part of their princesor their persecutors. 

To this statement of the Waldenses themselves we will add corroborativetestimony from others. 

Their enemies. We begin with Reinerius the Inquisitor, A. D. 1250. He refersto the Waldenses under the term of Leonists, and says that this sect hasbeen of longer continuance (than the others to which he refers), havinglasted, some say, from the time of Pope Sylvester (314), and others fromthe time of the apostles. 

Pilichdorf, a writer of the same date, expressly asserts that the Waldensesclaimed to have existed from the time of Pope Sylvester, and ClaudeSeyssel, Archbishop of Turin from the close of the fifteenth century to thebeginning of the sixteenth, and whose diocese extended to the valleys ofPiedmont, says that the Waldenses took their origin from Leo, a person inthe time of ye Emperor Constantine, who, hating the avarice of PopeSylvester and the immoderate endowment of the Church of Rome, seceded fromher communion, and "_drew after him all who entertained right sentimentsabout the Christian religion_. "

Next in order we may take the testimony of Rorenco, Grand Prior of St. Rochin Turin, and one of the lords of the valley of Luserne. He wascommissioned to investigate the history of the "men of the valleys, " andpublished the result of his labours in the year 1632. He says "that theWaldenses were no new sect, but had been in those valleys for more thanfive or six centuries, " and in proof of this remarks further, that "noedict of any prince who gave permission for the introduction of thisreligion into these parts can be found. Princes only give permission totheir subjects to continue in the religion of their ancestors. " Cassini, anItalian priest, declares that the tradition handed down was, that "theWaldenses were as ancient as the Christian Church. "

Another writer, Henri de Corvie, describes them as men descended from "anancient race, inhabiting the Alps, and have been always attached to ancientcustoms. " Voltaire, an impartial witness, speaks of the Waldenses as "theremains of the first Christians of Gaul. " If it be asked for documentaryproof, in the possession of the Waldensians themselves, it should beremembered that Leger, the historian, collected together all that he couldfind, and that these were taken from him when he was imprisoned in Turin, A. D. 1655. Still, documents of great value and antiquity have beenpreserved, and among these must be enumerated "The Noble Lesson, " adidactic poem of about five hundred lines. Three MSS. Of this poem arepreserved in the libraries of the Universities of Cambridge, Geneva, andDublin, and the date assigned is _early_ in the twelfth century. Thedialect in which it is written is also considered by some as anunquestionable proof of the high antiquity of the document. For example, the eminent philologist, M. Renouard, writing as a philologist, and not asan historian, remarks that "_the dialect of the Vaudois is an idiomintermediate between the decomposition of the language of the Romans andthe establishment of a new grammatical system_. " This philologicalcircumstance shows the extreme earliness of the period at which theWaldenses must have betaken themselves to the Cottian Alps, inasmuch as itproves that they left the Italian plains before the establishment of thenew grammatical system referred to by M. Renouard. This is the opinion ofMr. Faber, who contends that "the primevally Latin Vaudois must haveretired from the lowlands of Italy to the valleys of Piedmont in the verydays of primitive Christianity, and _before_ the breaking up of the Romanempire by the incursions of the Teutonic nations. " And this leads toanother question. Why did these people leave their homes in the fertileplains and betake themselves to the less temperate climate and the ruggedsoil of a mountainous region? Plainly there must have been some very urgentcause, and that cause may be readily perceived in the record of thepersecutions against the Christians under the Pagan emperors during thesecond, third, and fourth centuries. 

FOOTNOTES:

[A] E. G. --In a memorial to Philibert Emmanuel, A. D. 1559, they say, "Thisreligion which we profess is not only ours ... But it was the religion ofour fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and other yet more ancientpredecessors of ours, and of the blessed martyrs, confessors, prophets, andapostles; _and if any can prove the contrary, we are ready to subscribe andyield thereunto_. "

 CHAPTER IV. 

We come now to the creed and organization of the Waldensian Church. First, as regards the rule of faith, it expresses its belief in the supremacy ofthe Word of God in terms precisely identical with the Sixth Article of theChurch of England. And, in a document previously referred to, declares, "Wedo protest before the Almighty and All-just God, before whose tribunal wemust all one day appear, that we intend to live and die in the holy faith, piety, and religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that we do abhor allheresies that have been and are condemned by the Word of God. 

"We do embrace the most holy doctrine of the prophets and apostles, aslikewise of the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. We subscribe to the fourcouncils, and to all the ancient fathers, in all such things as are notrepugnant to the analogy of faith. " They protest against the assumptionsand the encroachments of the papacy much in the same way as do theThirty-nine Articles of the Church of England; they also accept theopinions of evangelical Christendom in relation to the fall ofman--justification by faith alone; redemption through the merits of thelord Jesus Christ; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; fruitfulness in goodworks as the necessary result of a living faith; the character of worshipacceptable to God; the obligations and privileges of the Lord's day, andof the two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, as appointed by theLord Jesus Christ, and binding upon the grateful observance of Hisbelieving people. It is not true, as has sometimes been asserted, that theyhave ever rejected the practice of infant baptism. They have prepared andenjoined the use of a very sound and full catechism, in which the childrenof the Waldenses are carefully instructed previous to their admission tothe Lord's table. 

So far we have sketched the leading points in the creed of the WaldensianChurch. We now come to its organization. There seem to have been threeepochs, so to speak, in reference to this feature of its history. For someeleven hundred years it remained as a portion of the universal andprimitive church, rejecting the encroachments of the papal power, and thecorruptions of Christian doctrine which that power imposed, not byauthoritative enactments so much as by irregular influences, upon thegreater part of the Western Church. During this time the church in thevalleys of Piedmont retained that system of church government and worshipwhich had been accepted by most, if not all, sections of the ChristianChurch in the third and fourth centuries. It was, therefore, during thisperiod that the Waldensian Church enjoyed the privilege of that episcopacywhich she never rejected as a matter of principle, but became deprived ofby circumstances which gave her no choice. In proof of this I refer to thatpassage in the letter of Jerome to Riparius respecting Vigilantius, whosezealous and persevering opposition to the worship of saints, images, andrelics, &c. , had greatly provoked the irascible monk of Bethlehem. "I saw(says Jerome) a short time ago that monster Vigilantius. I would fain havebound this madman by passages of Holy Writ, as Hippocrates advises toconfine maniacs with bonds; but he has departed, he has withdrawn, he hashurried away, he has escaped, and from the space between the Alps, _whereCottius reigned_, [B] and the waves of the Adriatic, his cries have reachedme. Oh, infamous! he has found _even among the bishops_ accomplices of hiswickedness. "

Here then we learn that in the country inhabited by the Waldenses therewere bishops opposing the corruption and contending for the priests of theChristian faith. Nor was this confined even to Northern Italy; for we learnthat two centuries later Gregory the Great, who was pope from A. D. 590 to604, censures Seremius, bishop of Marseilles, for not only forbidding theadoration of images (which Gregory says he would have commended), but foractually destroying the images themselves. Towards the middle of the eighthcentury the prelates of the Gallican Church especially distinguishedthemselves by their determined opposition to such doctrines as the worshipof images and relics, masses for the dead, purgatory, celibacy of thepriests, supremacy of the popes, &c. , errors inculcated, it would seem, bythe English monk Boniface, who has been called the apostle of Germany. 

The correspondence between Pope Zachary and Boniface further reveals theexistence of a Christian community in Germany, holding a faith moreevangelical, and observing a ritual more scriptural, than that which Romewas seeking to impose; _e. G. _, Zachary says in his tenth letter: "As forthe priests, whom your fraternity report to have found (who are morenumerous than the Catholics (_sic_) wandering about disguised under thename of bishops or priests, not ordained by Catholic (_i. E. _, Romish)bishops, who deceive the people) ... They are false vagabonds, " &c. 

But the most interesting proof of the existence of evangelical resistanceto popish corruption is that afforded by the conduct of Claude, bishop ofthe metropolitical see of Turin, and in such close proximity to thosevalleys whose history we are considering. 

Claude, bishop of Turin, was a native of Spain, and so incidentally bringsto mind the remembrance of the fact that Spain, too, had upon her soil indays gone by those who loved "to worship God in sincerity and truth. " Hewas chosen by Louis the Meek for the bishopric of Turin, on the ground ofhis scriptural piety and evangelical eloquence. Being attacked by Jonas, bishop of Orleans, and others, he defended himself with great ability; andin reply to the charge that he was seeking to establish a new sect, heanswers, "I, who remain in the unity of the Church, and proclaim the truth, aim at forming no new sect; but, as far as lies in my power, _I represssects_, schisms, superstitions, and heresies; I have combated, overthrown, and crushed them, and, by God's assistance, I shall not cease to do so tothe utmost. " These words of Claude, "I repress sects, " seem clearly toimply that in the diocese of Turin disaffection to Romish innovation had arecognized existence, and definite, though not of necessity anindependent, organization; and that Claude, standing firm upon the platform"of the faith once delivered to the saints" as the true centre of unity, was attaching to himself all those whose principles were analogous to theancient church of the valleys. And I think we may fairly assume that thefifteen years' episcopate of so distinguished a prelate must have given agreat assistance to that portion of his people who sought "to stand in theold ways. " Indeed the Marquis de Beauregard, in his _Historic Memoirs_, expressly states that this bishop had a great number of adherents, thatthey were anathematized by the pope, persecuted by the lay princes, chasedfrom the open country, and _so forced to take refuge in the mountains_, where they have kept their ground from that time, always checked, butalways endeavouring to extend themselves. (Vol. Ii. P. 50. )

After the time of Claude, however, the connection of the church in thevalleys with that to which it originally belonged became probably less andless distinct, owing to the more decided growth of corruption and theextension of papal influence, so that, as regards the greater portion ofEurope, primitive faith and practice was submerged by papal superstitionand tyranny. Therefore about this time, as appears from the Waldensian bookentitled _Antichrist_, the church of the valleys entered on what we callits second epoch, and became isolated as regards organization, though notas regards doctrine, from the earlier church. This epoch may be regarded asreaching down to about the seventeenth century. I fix upon this datebecause of the remarkable providence which befell the Vaudois Church in1630. 

This was none other than a pestilential visitation brought into the valleysby the French troops, who were at this time occupying the valleys. By thisterrible plague some ten thousand of the Vaudois perished, including twelvepastors. Only three pastors being now left, application was made to Genevafor assistance, and pastors being sent from thence introduced a politywhich was Presbyterian rather than Episcopalian. Still the marked deferenceto authority, the succession of the ministers elected by their predecessorsfrom time to time, the orderly administration of the sacraments, the use ofthe creeds and of a liturgy, the entire absence of any protest against theorders of the ministry customary in the early church, while so much is sopointedly said respecting corruptions of doctrine, clearly sustain theinference that the Waldensian Church adapted herself to the form oforganization adopted by the reformed churches of the continent not fromchoice, but from such a concurrence of circumstances as completelyvindicates her from any wilful departure from the traditions of her earlierhistory. 

It was at this time also, and from the circumstance that the pastorssupplied from Geneva could only officiate in the French tongue, that theFrench language was used in worship. 

This brings me to notice the organization of the Waldensian Church as itnow exists, and has existed for the last two hundred years. The full andformal confession of faith is that which was agreed upon by the synod of1655, and confirmed in the years 1839 and 1855. 

The Evangelical Waldensian Church, in its widest sense, embraces all thosechurches whom God in His mercy has condescended to preserve from timeimmemorial, and subject to numberless persecutions in the valleys of theItalian Alps. It also includes those churches which have been more recentlyadded. As regards organization, the Waldensian is subdivided into parishes, and is governed by means of a general assembly of the parish, a consistory, synod, and table. 

The general assembly of the parish is composed of all the members of thechurch, being men who are twenty-five years of age. To this assemblybelongs (_a_) the nomination of the pastors; (_b_) the deputies to synod;(_c_) the elders and deacons; (_d_) the initiative of any proposal foraltering the constitution of the church. 

It is always presided over by the pastor, or, in his unavoidable absence, by a member of the consistory chosen for the purpose. 

The Consistory is composed of the pastor, who presides, the elders, and thedeacons, the last of whom have only a deliberative vote. Its functions areto provide for the spiritual wants of the parish, and also the poor andsick; to assist in the distribution of the elements at the administrationof the Holy Communion; to nominate the teachers and superintend theschools, either wholly or in association with the communal council; also toadminister church discipline; distribute parochial charities and funds forreligious purposes. On this behalf each consistory appoints its owntreasurer. 

The Synod is the representative assembly of the Vaudois Church, andconsists of all recognized pastors and certain laymen chosen by theparishes. It takes cognizance of every matter affecting the welfare andduties of the church; it alters, adds, or abolishes all rules andregulations connected with its administration or discipline; it directs thecourse of theological study and admission to the ministry; it nominates themembers of the table or any special bodies of commissioners for particularoccasions; it superintends all evangelic work, whether in the valleys orits numerous mission stations in other places. It now meets yearly, but informer times its meetings were seldom, and were attended by arepresentative of the civil power. 

THE TABLE is the executive of the Vaudois Church, and consists of fivemembers, the moderator, assistant moderator, and secretary being pastors, with two laymen. The table is appointed by the synod from year to year, andresponsible to that body in respect of its operations. 

The officers of the Vaudois Church are pastors, evangelists, elders, anddeacons. To exercise the office of pastor a person must be set apart by thelaying on of hands, previous to which he must ([alpha]) have attainedthe age of twenty-three, ([beta]) have the requisite gifts for the workof the ministry, ([gamma]) be of irreproachable character, ([delta])receive a certificate from his university or other place of education, ([epsilon]) profess convictions in harmony with the doctrines anddiscipline of the Vaudois Church. These points are decided by the table, inconcert with the whole body of the pastors of the church. Furthermore, apastor is not allowed to have the sole care of a parish before he hasreached the age of twenty-five years. 

It is not necessary to speak of the functions of the evangelists, as thename itself is explicit, and the office one common to all evangelicalchurches, although denominated by a different title, _e. G. _ catechist, reader, lay missionary. 

The elders are lay members of the church of well-known religious character, residing in the parish, and not receiving any benefit from the funds theymay be called upon to administer. At an election of an elder for the firsttime he is required before installation to undergo an examination by acommission from the consistory of his own parish, assisted by a pastor fromthe nearest adjoining parish. The elder is chosen for life, unless hevoluntarily resigns, or falls into a breach of church discipline, orbecomes incapacitated by failing health; in the latter case, however, heretains the title of honorary elder. 

_The deacons_ must have much the same qualifications as the elders. Theyare elected for five years, and their special work is the care of the sickand needy. In addition to a zealous observance of the Lord's-day, theWaldensian Church pays a religious regard to Christmas-day, New-year's-day, Ascension-day, and Good Friday, which last it keeps with great solemnity asa fast-day common to the whole Church of Christ. 

FOOTNOTES:

[B] The Cottian Alps are to the north of Mount Viso, and among them are thevalleys of the Waldenses. 

 CHAPTER V. 

 THE BEGINNING OF PAPAL PERSECUTIONS. 

 "We kept Thy faith 'gainst kings of might, And potentates infernal; We kept Thy faith in Rome's despite, By help of grace supernal. The foe was fierce, the war was long; But oh! our helper was more strong, Our lover was eternal. "

During the struggles of the papacy for temporal aggrandizement andpolitical usurpation, which marked its character from the seventh to thetwelfth centuries, anything so religious as even the attempt to convertheretics by fire and sword seems little attended to. But in the twelfthcentury arose the epoch in which men were to be thrown into a burning fieryfurnace who would not bow down to the tyranny of him who sat enthroned inthe city of the seven hills. Otho IV. , Emperor of Germany by favour of thepope, first gave his sanction to the persecution of the Waldenses, at theinstigation of James, bishop of Turin, about the end of the 12thcentury. [C] But the first _systematic_ persecution began under the regencyexercised by Yolande, widow of Amadeus IX. , Duke of Savoy, A. D. 1475. Theexpression (in her directions to the governors of Pinerolo, Cavour, and themagistrate at Lucerna), "It is our pleasure that the inhabitants of thevalley of Lucerna especially may be able _to enter_ into the bosom of theholy mother church, " would seem to recognize the fact that the Vaudois werea community independent of Rome, otherwise we should expect the wordreturn, which is so generally used in reference to heretics, as the Churchof Rome delights to stigmatize all who reject her sway. This edict ofYolande led to the martyrdom of Vaudois pastors, some by fire, some byhanging, some in ways more revolting and excruciating, at Turin and otherplaces. But the destruction of a few victims would not satisfy themalignant spirit of the papal antichrist, therefore the work of persecutionmust be organized on a larger scale. Innocent VIII. Selected Albert deCapitaneis, Archdeacon of Cremona, as his agent for the accomplishment ofthis pious design. 

 "One of the saintly murderous brood, To carnage and the crosier given, Who think through unbelievers' blood Lies their directest path to heaven. "

 (MOORE, slightly altered. )

The papal bull initiating this work of shame promised to all who shouldengage in it "plenary indulgence, with remission of their sins once and atthe hour of death. " It also gave permission to appropriate the lands andgoods of the heretics. All along the valley of the Po, and over the regionsof the Cottian Alps, the bull of Innocent was talked of. Charles VIII. OfFrance and Charles II. Of Savoy sanctioned its design. The year 1488 marksan era of suffering for the Vaudois and of infamy to Rome. 

Some 18, 000 soldiers responded to the call of De Capitaneis. He forms theminto two bodies. One proceeds to devastate Dauphine and the district nearfrom the west, while the other division, attacking from Piedmont, is toravage the east; and as the two bodies approach each other they aim toenclose their victims, and so to prevent their escape. These victims wereall unprepared for the vengeance which impended. Engaged in peacefultillage, they had no means of defence, but fled to the rocks and caves, where their persecutors followed them, and being unable to reach them intheir retreats, they piled up fuel at the mouths of the caverns, and socompelled the Vaudois to choose between death by suffocation or the sword. 

By such conduct some 3000 persons, including 400 young children, perishedin the vale of Loyse. The Val Pragela also suffered much. But in theClusone, after the first feelings of surprise had passed away, theinhabitants successfully repulsed their invaders. In the valley of Lucerna, San Giovanni, La Torre, Villaro Bobbio, and their hamlets, fell into thehands of the enemy. Still their career was sometimes checked by successfulresistance, and deserved retribution. An example of this occurred to adetachment numbering some 700 Piedmontese troops, who were attempting tosurprise the valley of San Martino by way of the Col Juliano. This body ofsoldiers, on reaching Pommiers, was attacked with such vigour anddetermination by the inhabitants of Prali, that only one of their numberescaped destruction. This was an ensign, who concealed himself under amass of snow, which had been excavated by the summer heat. Cold and hungereventually compelled him to descend and ask mercy from those whom he hadcome to destroy. His petition was granted, and he was allowed to departwith the news of the defeat and destruction of his companions. 

After this humiliating repulse, the invaders sought to attack the vale ofAngrogna, as being the heart and centre of the valleys, and the place ofrefuge and defence to their threatened inhabitants. 

Indeed, the Vaudois, unable to contend with the enemy's troops in theplains, had betaken themselves (as many as could) to that natural fortress, the Pra del Torre, which God had provided in the upper part of the ValAngrogna. I shall have much to say about this sacred and glorious spot--themore than a Thermopylæ to these Christian heroes, ennobled by a braveryequal to that of the Spartan, but radiant with brighter memories. But hereI only digress to add that the invaders' attempt to get possession of thisvalley from the heights of Roccamanente were happily frustrated. TheVaudois had to endure a severe contest, for which they prepared themselvesby prayer. Their enemies, with their leader, seeing them on their knees, ridiculed their piety and threatened their destruction. But Le Noir ofMondovi, himself having raised his visor on account of the heat, and toshow his contempt for his adversaries, was mortally wounded between hiseyes by an arrow. His companions were so terrified that they retreated withgreat loss. The enemy, however, irritated and ashamed, renewed the attackfrom another position on the side of Rocciaglia. They sought to enter thePra del Torre by a narrow defile. At this moment a _thick fog_ so confusedthem that they were afraid to move lest they should run into danger. TheAngrognians, emboldened by this interposition of Providence, issued forthfrom their retreats, and by means of their knowledge of the locality cutoff the escape of their enemies, and forced them over the precipitous rocksinto the foaming torrent, where large numbers perished, including a man ofgigantic size named Saquet, whose eventful death has caused the pool inwhich he fell to be called Tompi Saquet. 

After similar attempts in other parts of the valleys, during which timemuch blood was shed, this first of the great persecutions, which had lasteda year, ended in 1489, by Charles II. , Prince of Piedmont and Duke ofSavoy, who felt ashamed of the cruelties which were inflicted. 

FOOTNOTES:

[C] Monastier gives some very interesting information on the persecution ofthe Vaudois out of Piedmont (chap. Xiv. ), which lies beyond the scope ofthis volume. 

 CHAPTER VI. 

Although the story of the long-continued and heroically endured sufferingsof the Vaudois may have been the most prominent thought in the minds ofthose who recall their history, yet it is at least to the Christian asimportant to remember their works of faith and labours of love in the causeof Christ. Indeed were it not for the latter we should never have known theformer. It would seem as if the missionary zeal of the Waldenses was one ofthe chief causes (or at least occasions) of the persecutions which theyendured. Hence Bernard de Foucald (_Monastier History_), a writer of thetwelfth century, says, "These Waldenses, although condemned by Pope LuciusII. , continued to pour forth, with daring effrontery, far and wide all overthe world, the poison of their perfidy. "

Indeed a church whose motto was a burning torch, and whose directory thatsacred word which counsels the followers of Christ to "let their lightshine before men, " was not likely to be content with possessing the truthmerely for itself. So we learn that in the distribution of the fundscontributed by the church a portion was assigned to the purpose ofmaintaining a body of pastors for the foreign work. These pastors beingtrained and set apart by the barbes for the work of the ministry were namedby the synod for their special sphere of labour. The work of preparationfor the ministry involved the learning by heart of the first and fourthgospels, the whole of the canonical epistles, and a large portion of theOld Testament. The missionaries to foreign churches generally remainedabroad for two years. Although this work was one of danger, no reluctanceto undertake it was evinced. This shows the power of the gospel in theirhearts, as well as the deference shown by the younger pastors to theirseniors in the ministry of the Word and sacraments. As a rule it would seemthat the synod despatched their missionaries two and two. Thus, followingthe example of the great Head of the Church, and providing for thenecessities of the times, one of the two was selected as more or lessacquainted with the character of the places and persons they were about tovisit. 

The mode in which the Waldensian missionaries laboured illustrated at timesthe wisdom of the serpent as well as the harmlessness of the dove; _e. G. _, they obtained access to the higher classes in the character of pedlars. Having displayed their goods, chiefly of an ornamental kind, and a purchasehad been concluded, if the pedlar were asked, "Have you anything else forsale?" he would reply, "I have jewels far more precious than these, and ifyou will not betray me to the clergy I will make you a present of them. "Being answered satisfactorily on this point, he would proceed to say, "Ihave a pearl so brilliant that by means of it one may learn to know God; Ihave another so splendid that it kindles the love of God in the heart ofhim who possesses it. " And then he would proceed to quote various portionsof Scripture. 

The following verses from a modern poet happily describes one of theseincidents--

 "'O, lady fair! I have yet a gem, Which a purer lustre flings Than the diamond flash of the jewelled crown On the lofty brow of kings; A wonderful pearl of exceeding price, Whose virtue shall not decay; Whose light shall be as a spell to thee, And a blessing on thy way. '

 "The lady glanced at the mirroring steel, Where her youthful form was seen, Where her eyes shone clear, and her dark locks waved Their clasping pearls between; 'Bring forth thy pearl of exceeding worth, Thou traveller grey and old; And name the price of thy precious gem, And my pages shall count thy gold. '

 "The cloud went off from the pilgrim's brow, As a small and meagre book, Unchased with gold or diamond gem, From his folding robe he took: 'Here, lady fair, is the pearl of price; May it prove as such to thee! Nay, keep thy gold--I ask it not-- FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS FREE. '

 "The hoary traveller went his way, But the gift he left behind Hath had its pure and perfect work On that high-born maiden's mind; And she hath turned from her pride of sin To the lowliness of truth, And given her human heart to God In its beautiful hour of youth. 

 "And she hath left the old grey walls, Where an evil faith hath power, The courtly knights of her father's train, And the maidens of her bower; And she hath gone to the Vaudois Vale, By lordly feet untrod, Where the poor and needy of earth are rich In the perfect love of God!"

But another mode of spreading the gospel in distant parts was bycolonizing. This measure was forced upon the Waldenses by the cruelties towhich they were exposed in the South of France. Their earliest colonies(A. D. 1340) were at Apulia and Calabria, and in Liguria. The lords of thesoil in Southern Italy permitted them to settle on favourable terms. Theybuilt several towns, such as Oltromontani, grew in temporal prosperity, andlived in peace for many years. As regards ecclesiastical matters, theymaintained direct communion with their brethren in the valleys, whosupplied them with pastors. These pastors, in their journeys backwards andforwards, visited their faithful brethren scattered throughout Italy. Thebarbes, indeed, possessed a house in each of the cities of Florence, Genoa, and Venice. As regards numbers, it is not unlikely that the Waldenses inItaly, France, and Germany at this time (the close of the fourteenthcentury) were about eight hundred thousand. Venice alone contained sixthousand Vaudois, it is said, at this time. But this state of externalpeacefulness continued only for a time. The very superiority of the Vaudoisto their neighbours attracted attention to their religious peculiarities. The Romish clergy complained "that they did not live like other people inmatters of religion; that they made none of their children priests or nuns;that they did not concern themselves about chants, wax tapers, lights, bells, or even masses for the dead; that they had no images in theirtemples, " &c. All this criticism was intensified by the news of that greatreformation of the sixteenth century, which awakened alike the fears andthe rage of Rome, and sent forth her legionaries everywhere likeblood-hounds keenly on the scent for the tracks of heresy. 

They were not long before they met with the evidences of a purer faith thanthat of the pope's in the sunny regions south of the Tiber. The Waldensesin Calabria had heard of the revived faith and growing zeal of theirbrethren in Piedmont. They determined, like them, to lay aside allconcealment of their religious profession, and openly to proclaim theirheart-deep convictions as to the vital principles of the gospel of Christ. As a means of a higher and truer confession of Christ, they sought acolleague for their pastor, Etienne Négrin (who was from the valleys), fromGeneva. A young Piedmontese, Jean Louis Pascal, was just then finishing hisstudies at Lausanne. Brought up as a papist and a soldier, he renounced hisformer creed and profession for that of the gospel of Christ. Nor was itwithout cost of another kind he undertook the perilous work of the ministryin Calabria. He was engaged in marriage to Camilla Guerina, and in settingout for Italy (though unconsciously to themselves, perhaps) they parted forever as regards this world. 

His ministry was greatly blessed in Calabria. The light so often placedunder a bushel was elevated conspicuously by the candlestick of hislabours. But while believers rejoiced, superstitious bigots raved. TheMarquis Spinello, chief proprietor in the Vaudois colony, alarmed for hiscredit with the clergy, and contrary to his former kindness, sends for theprincipal offenders, including the pastor and his friend, Marco Uscegli. The two latter were cast into prison, and the former dismissed withthreatenings. This happened about 1558 or 1559, and was followed by moredetermined measures of the bishop of the diocese and the pope. The latterdeputed Cardinal Alexandrin, inquisitor general, to extirpate heresy in thekingdom of Naples. All attempts failing to induce attendance at mass, theywere pursued by soldiers, and obliged to make an armed resistance, whichled to the flight of their assailants. After a few days the Vaudois, whohad fled to the woods, were hunted by dogs. Nearly all were captured orkilled on the spot. Those captured were tortured in the most horrible wayto extort confessions of misdeeds which their enemies had fabricated. OneBernard Conte, who had thrown away a crucifix forced into his hands, wasdaubed with pitch, and then set on fire. Their sufferings are too many andrevolting to recount. Let it suffice to add that the bodies of the victimswere so numerous as to line the roads for a distance of thirty-six miles, being placed on stakes for that purpose from Montalto to Chateau-Vilar. Thepastor, Etienne Négrin, was either tortured or starved to death. But Pascalwas reserved for a more public immolation. On the 9th of September, 1560, an immense crowd assembled in the courtyard of the castle of St. Angelo. Ascaffold had been erected close by with a pile of faggots. A stage withseats furnished suitably for the use of the pope, Pius IV. , his cardinals, and ecclesiastics of all ranks, was placed near. When the martyr reachedthe scaffold he declared to the people that he was put to death for nocrime but that of confessing with boldness his Master and Saviour JesusChrist. "As to those who hold the pope to be God upon earth and vicar ofJesus Christ, " he said, "they are strangely mistaken, seeing that ineverything he shows himself to be a mortal enemy of Christ's doctrine andservice. " He was then put to death, but not before he had "made the popeand his cardinals gnash their teeth. " In this way the Waldenses were drivenout of Calabria, at a time, let it be remembered, when in the graciousprovidence of God the Reformation was being firmly established in England. 

We pass on then to consider what was the condition of the Vaudois in theirown valleys after the termination of their sufferings narrated in the fifthchapter. We have glanced at the revival of true religion in the valleys andVaudois colonies. Suffice it, then, to add that the sympathy shown by Farel(present at the Synod of Angrogna, 1532), Ecomlapadius, Bucer, and others, all served to encourage the reviving zeal of that church which had so longheld aloft the standard of God's truth, though at times it may be somewhatweary with the strife and burden involved in that high distinction ofwitnessing for Christ in a world that either forgot or denied Him. One ofthe signs of the earnestness which characterized the Vaudois Church at thistime was the translation of the Holy Scriptures into French (for thebenefit of the reformed churches) out of the Romaunce dialect, in which theVaudois had possessed the word of God from time immemorial. A further proofof piety was shown in the erection of buildings for public worship, A. D. 1535. The first temple was at St. Lorenzo, near Chamforans, the site ofthe Angrogna Synod; and a second was built at Serre, in the same valley. This latter temple was standing at the time of our visit, though needingrepair. It would seem that the evangelical spirit was so decided at thisperiod that the few priests who continued hovering about the valleys in thehope of effecting perversions retired in despair. The process of churchbuilding went on, so that in 1556 several temples existed in the ValLucerna and San Martino. But such a state of things was not permitted tocontinue without fresh opposition. In the year 1556 the Pope and Henry II. Of France give orders to the parliament of Turin to repress these hereticalmovements. They send out two of their body, who visit the valley of SanMartino, and publish an edict threatening all who refuse obedience to itscommands. They summoned before them a labourer, and asked him why he hadtaken his child for baptism to the temple at Angrogna? He replied, "Becausebaptism was there administered according to the institution of JesusChrist. " The same man, on being commanded to have his child re-baptized, asked for permission to pray before he gave his answer. Having done this, he asked the magistrate to give him a paper assuming the responsibility andthe sin of the transaction. This demand so embarrassed his persecutor thathe was discharged without further molestation. A noble representative, however, of the class of pedlars of which we have spoken before did not soeasily escape his persecutors. This devoted Christian, Barthélemi Hector, of Poictiers, visited from place to place with copies of the word of God, which he read to the people at their work, and sold to those who couldbuy. On this errand of mercy he betook himself to the slopes of thatmountain (La Vachere) which overlook the Pra del Tor. The eagle of theRomish inquisitors tracked him on his rounds, and carried him to Turin thathe might answer for so foul a crime! His judges addressed him in thefollowing strain: "You have been surprised in the act of selling hereticalbooks. " He responded with the courage of one who knew in whom he believed. "If the Bible contains heresies for you, it is _truth for me_!" But, replied the judges, "You use the Bible to keep men from going to mass. " "Ifthe Bible keeps men from the mass it proves that God condemns it asidolatry, " he replied; and when further called upon to retract, he asked, with holy dignity, "Can I change truth as if it were a garment?" Suchcourage and skill in defending his position impressed his judges, and theyhoped, by long delay and promises of pardon, to shake his firmness. But hewas upheld by the grace so richly vouchsafed, and he died exclaiming, "Glory to God that He judges me worthy of death for Him. " This martyrdomwas followed, about two years later, by two other remarkable cases. Thefirst was a young student educated by the republic of Berne, named NicolasSartoire. He was returning for a few weeks' holiday to his native land, andhad scarcely crossed the frontier of Piedmont when, resisting alltemptations to deny his faith, he was burnt at Aosta, on the 4th of May, 1557. 

The second, Geoffrey Varaille, was a man of fifty, _the son of one of thosewho had taken part in the persecution of 1488_. 

While following his duties as a monk, he was convinced of the errors ofpopery, and after a period of study received ordination, and became pastorof San Giovanni in 1557. He was waylaid while on a visit to Busca, hisnative place, and carried to Turin, where he made a noble confession of hisfaith amidst the flames on the 29th of March, 1558. Other victims wouldhave been sacrificed had not the Protestant princes of Germany and theevangelical cantons of Switzerland intervened, and so for a little longerthe church in the valleys had a measure of rest prior to the outburst ofanother fierce attack. 

 CHAPTER VII. 

The death of Mary Queen of England put out the fires of persecution in ourown beloved land; but, alas! served to rekindle them in the devoted valleysof the Alps. By the treaty of Cambresis, 1559, the kings of France andSpain bound themselves anew to the extirpation of heresy. Moreover, theyagreed that the conquests made by each country during the preceding eightyears should be restored. Thus all the gains of Francis I. And Henry II. OfFrance were given up, and Philibert Emmanuel of Savoy was transposed by ascratch of the pen from the condition of a landless mercenary into that ofa sovereign prince. Would that he had been free to rule as his owndisposition and that of his evangelical consort, Margaret of Navarre, wouldhave prompted! But the provisions of the treaty bound him to persecuterather than protect his loyal subjects in the valleys. Too soon theevidences of this appeared. First came edicts forbidding any one to attendnon-Catholic preaching. Then commands to hear mass. After that were kindledthe fires in which many bravely endured the worst rather than abjure thefaith. These proceedings were, however, preliminary to an attack on thevalleys. So the Vaudois betake themselves to united prayer for guidance. After deliberation it was resolved to address the duke, the duchess, andthe council of the state. In these addresses they set forth the antiquityof their religion, the conformity of their belief with the creeds and fourfirst councils of the church, and the writings of the early fathers, andvindicate themselves from the calumnies of their enemies, also protestingtheir loyalty to their prince. After much difficulty these documentsreached the parties addressed, but owing to the interference of the popenothing satisfactory was gained. The monks of Pinerolo signalizedthemselves by the ardour with which they harassed the Vaudois. Theyemployed large numbers of vile characters as mercenaries to make incursionsinto the valleys. On one occasion they secured possession of a pastor bytreachery. Having alarmed his parishioners, they attempted his rescue. Someof these were slain at once by the ruffians from the abbey, others werecaptured, and by a refinement of cruelty (such as the Church of Romesurpasses all her competitors in) were made, especially the women, to carrythe faggots for the fire which was to burn their beloved minister. Occasionally these frocked and sandalled ruffians met with deservedretribution at the hands of those whose homes they desolated. But thesethings were but the distant rumbling of the tempest, which ere long wouldburst upon the faithful Christians of the Alps. Their leaders foresaw whatwas coming, and before the army of persecution actually invaded their soil, they strengthened themselves by praise and prayer, by the word of God, andthe ordinance of the Lord's Supper. 

Thus "strengthening each other's hand in God, " they waited the progress ofthe soldiers. These numbered over four thousand, commanded by the Count dela Trinité. Twelve hundred of them first attacked the heights of Angrogna, and although the defenders numbered but one in six of their assailants, yetthey are repulsed with a loss of sixty dead, while the Vaudois only lostthree. Other attacks were equally unsuccessful, and so La Trinité persuadesthe Angrognians to a truce by which they are powerless to resist, althoughhe still continues his own plans of devastation, plunder, and confiscation. Those cruelties drive the people of La Torre to caves and rocks, althoughit is winter. An instance of cruelty may be narrated in the case of a managed a hundred and three, who was found by the soldiers hidden in a caveunder the guardianship of his granddaughter, a maiden of seventeen. Aftertaking the life of the venerable man, they seek to dishonour the girl, who, preferring death, leaped over the precipice into the stream below. As shedid so, tradition says she sang one of their hymns, and that its melodyeven now floats in the air of those mountain regions, and is heard by theshepherd as he pastures his flock on the slopes of the Vandalin by "theMaiden's Rock. " La Trinité continued his persecutions during a period offifteen months. The Vaudois organized themselves successfully, and werefavoured with remarkable deliverances, which we shall refer to moreappropriately in a later chapter, as they were chiefly connected with thePra del Tor. We may, however, state here that some of the most decisivetriumphs against the enemy were obtained by means of a troop of one hundredpicked marksmen, called "the flying company, " because their services wereavailable in all places according to the varying emergencies of theirsituation. A treaty of peace so nearly approximating to justice as to bedenounced by the pope as "a pernicious example, " and by a "liberal" RomanCatholic historian[D] as "a blameable weakness, " was concluded at Cavour onthe 5th of June, 1561, and honourably fulfilled by Philibert Emmanuel tothe end of his days, although the Vaudois were still to bear the cross oftheir Master. The first hardship coming upon them was that of hunger, thirst, and homelessness. Their joy at the departure of the men of war wassadly diminished by the sight of their ruined homes and devastatedvineyards and fields. Alas! for them no fig tree could bloom, no vine yieldits fruit. The flock had been cut off from the fold, and the herd drivenfrom the stall. The fields could yield no meat, and the time for sowing waspast. To add to those disasters, their poor brethren, flying from Calabrianaked and destitute, were seeking shelter and nourishment at their hands. Mercifully, however, sympathizing hearts in Germany and Switzerland, noblyled by the Elector Palatine, the Duke of Wurtemburg, the Marquis of Baden, the energy of Calvin, and seconded by the churches of Strasbourg andProvence, supplied their great distress. 

Persecution was renewed by indirect means. Castrocaro, forgetful of thekindness showed him during the late war, when he was taken prisoner by theVaudois while fighting against them, undertook the task of harassing thevalleys. He occupied the castle at La Torre. He ill-treated many of thepastors, especially Gilles. He built the fort at Miraboc, tried to preventthe meetings of the synods, &c. Large numbers had again to choose betweenthe idolatrous mass or the dungeon unless they betook themselves toflight. 

It was at this time that the Elector Palatine wrote a remonstrance whichdeserves to be perpetuated out of regard both to its own merits and thoseof the noble writer. Addressing the Duke of Savoy, he said, "Let yourhighness know that there is a God in heaven ... From whom nothing is hid. Let your highness take care not voluntarily to make war upon God, and notto persecute Christ in the person of His members; for if He permit this fora time in order to exercise the patience of His people, He willnevertheless at last chastise the persecutors by horrible punishments. Letnot your highness be misled by the seducing discourses of the papists, who, perhaps, will promise you the kingdom of heaven and eternal life, provided... You exterminate these Huguenots, as they now call good Christians; forassuredly no one can enter the kingdom of heaven by cruelty, inhumanity, and calumny. " He also points to the folly of persecution by reminding himthat "the ashes of the martyrs are the seed of the Church;" and further, "that the Christian religion was established by persuasion and not byviolence, ... That it is nothing else than a firm and enlightenedpersuasion of God, and of His will, as revealed in His Word and engraven inthe hearts of believers by the Holy Spirit; it cannot when once rooted betorn away by tortures, " &c. 

It is probable that the effect of so plain and forcible a remonstrancehelped to protect the Vaudois of Piedmont from the horrible cruelties whichbefell their brethren in France during the infamous massacre of St. Bartholomew. On the 19th of October, 1574, died the good Duchess of Savoy, Margaret of France, who had been the courageous and faithful friend of herhusband's Protestant subjects. Shortly after her death Castrocaro, likeanother zealous persecutor of the Waldenses under La Trinité, CharlesTruchet, perished ignominiously; the former by his own sword, taken fromhim by his adversaries; the latter in prison, deserted by those whosewilling tool he had been in deeds of blood! Philibert Emmanuel wassucceeded by his son Charles Emmanuel in 1580. An invasion of the French in1592 was attempted as the means of prejudicing the new king against hisfaithful subjects in the valleys, but happily in vain, and he assured themof his gracious disposition in an interview at Villaro. However, theWaldenses were annoyed by the visits of popish missionaries, headed by theArchbishop of Turin. Unable to succeed in open discussions, the monks hadrecourse to bribing persons of bad character. They also laid claim totithes, closed the schools, and pursued other forms of oppression. In 1624they were commanded to destroy the temples in their six communes. Andduring these years the inquisition ever and anon laid hold of some freshvictim for the dungeon and the stake. A merchant of La Torre, named Coupin, Sebastian Basan, and Louis Malherbe, were added to the noble army ofVaudois martyrs, besides scores who languished and died by secret violencebetween the years 1601-1626. 

The monks renewed their old game of kidnapping the children of the Vaudois. An effort was made to establish convents all through the valleys byRorenco, prior of Lucerna. The only place they could succeed in was that ofLa Torre, where evangelical worship was forbidden. After the invasion ofthe French came the terrible plague in 1630. A brief interval of peace andhope beamed upon the valleys with its smile; but, alas! it was but brief. The restlessness of papal hostility soon awoke to new deeds of cruelty. 

Two monks, in the month of May, 1636, appeared in the market-place at LaTorre with crucifix in hand, and by their abusive language tried toexasperate the people. And even the noble fidelity of the Vaudois to theiryoung prince, Amadeus II. (only five years of age), at the death of hisfather, against the attempt of his two uncles, supported by Spain, nor thesufferings they endured at this time from the armies of the uncles, nor thepatriotic successes they achieved, seem to have obtained for them anythingbeyond the most temporary respite. Their temples were again closed. AntonieLeger, pastor of San Giovanni, was obliged to flee for his life. He settledin Geneva as professor of theology and Oriental languages, having lived inthe service of the Dutch ambassador at Constantinople many years. And, indeed, things were being put in train for that most furious, perhaps, ofall the tempests which the irrepressible pride and cruelty of Rome made tolash its strong rage upon the heads and homes of those whose only faultwas--

 "They would not leave that precious faith For Rome's religion, false, impure; No! no! they rather would endure To lose their all, yea, even death. "

FOOTNOTES:

[D] BOTTA, vol. Ii. _Storia d'Italia_. 

 CHAPTER VIII. 

The event to which allusion is made in the close of the foregoing chapterrecalls my thoughts and observation, as I stood in the streets of La Torreon what was, as regards the ecclesiastical season, the very anniversaryperiod of that frightful tragedy perpetrated some 214 years before, andremembered still as the "Bloody Pascha. " The coincidence seemed to bringhome the remembrance of the awful event with a more realizing emphasis. Andit was in this train of thought that I cast my eyes upward to theoverhanging crag of Castelluzzo. The murderous designs of the edictproclaimed by Gastaldo on the 25th January, 1655; viz. , "That all and everyone of the heads of families of the pretended reformed religion, ofwhatever rank or condition, without any exception, both proprietors andinhabitants of the territories of Lucerna, Lucernetta, San Giovanni, LaTorre, Bibbiana, Fenile, Campiglione, Bricheariso, and San Secondo, shouldremove from the aforesaid places within three days to the places allowed byhis highness, the names of which places are Bobbio, Villaro, Angrogna, andRora. Persons contravening the above will incur the penalty of death andconfiscation of all their goods, unless within twenty days they declarethemselves before us (Gastaldo) to have become Catholics, " received itsfulfilment by a signal given from this spot on the 24th of April, 1655. The Vaudois had made every submission short of going to mass; but all wasin vain, as their extirpation had been determined on by a branch of theinquisition established at Turin in the year 1650. This council waspresided over by the Archbishop of Turin, as regards one committee. TheMarchioness Pianezza filled the same office over another whose members wereladies! She seems to have breathed the same spirit of ferocity and cunningas that which characterized the conduct of her husband, who commanded thefifteen thousand troops whose gentle entreaties were to win the Vaudois tothe orthodoxy of Rome! This army fitly included three regiments of Frenchsoldiers, red-handed from the slaughter of the Huguenots; twelve hundredIrish, exiled for their crimes in Ulster; and a number of Piedmontesebandits, attracted by the love of plunder and the promised benedictions ofthe Church in return for their meritorious labours in extirpating heretics. Two monks led this band of miscreants. One of them, seated on a waggon, brandishing a flaming torch in his left hand and a sword in his right, exhorted the troops to burn and slay. His companion, an aged friar, carrieda crucifix before him, exclaiming, "Whoever is a son of the holy churchdoes not pardon heretics; they are the murderers of Christ!" The soldiers, inflamed by these appeals to their fanaticism, went forward with the cry, "Viva la S. Chiesa. " They found La Torre deserted; for the people hadbetaken themselves to the mountains, from whence they could descry thesoldiers pillaging their homes. However, they knew that their enemies wouldnot be satisfied with anything less than their lives, and these theyresolved to sell as dearly as possible. Pianezza's troops attacked them onthe 19th and 20th of April; but the Vaudois on each occasion drove backtheir assailants with great loss. It was the bravery of the Vaudois at thistime that led the Duke of Savoy to say that the skin of a Vaudois costfifteen or twenty of his best Catholics. Indeed, during this siege fifty ofthe Piedmontese soldiers were slain by the Vaudois, with only a loss of twoby the defenders. The perfidious marquis then resolved to seek by fraudwhat he was unable to obtain by force. 

He invited the deputies--among whom were Leger, the historian and pastor;also the brave Joshua Janavello--to meet him at the convent of La Torreearly on Wednesday morning. He represented that he was only in pursuit ofthose obstinate persons who had resisted the orders of Gastaldo; that theothers had nothing to fear, provided they would consent to receive aregiment of infantry and two companies of horse soldiers, _as a mark ofobedience and fidelity to their prince_, for two or three days. He thenentertained them sumptuously, and sent them back to their communes topersuade their brethren of his sincerity and kindness. Leger and Janavellosaw through the trick, but, alas! the others fell into the snare. Accordingly the Vaudois consented to receive the soldiers into their housesand to entertain them as friends. They allowed them to occupy theirhiding-places and strongholds, from whence no fair fight had ever driventhem. The very eagerness of the soldiers to penetrate into these recesses, and their brutality on their way to the Pra del Tor, opened the eyes of theVaudois to their miserable condition. It is remarkable that the deputiesfrom Angrogna were the readiest to believe in Pianezza's promises, andalso the first to fall victims to his murderous soldiery. On Thursday andFriday Pianezza was occupied with three things--first, in keeping those ofthe Vaudois on the French frontier from escaping to that country; secondly, in persuading the inhabitants of the valleys of his "good intentions;" andthirdly, resting his soldiers in readiness for the day of slaughter. OnGood Friday the Vaudois observed the day according to the usage of theirchurch, by fasting and humiliation. They could not meet in their churches;but in their caverns and mountain dells they cried to the Lord fordeliverance from their great distress, and for strength to remain faithfulunder persecution. The Lord heard their cry; but the church of the valleyswas destined to pass through such a sea of suffering, inflicted in the nameof the holy Catholic church, as would have made many a pagan persecutorblush with shame. At four o'clock in the morning of Easter-eve, on a signalgiven from the top of Castelluzzo, Pianezza's troops rose to slaughter thepersons under whose roofs they had slept, and of whose food they hadpartaken the night before. Surely a religion which thus degrades men intomonsters should have few apologists in our day. The mind recoils from theenumeration of the horrors of that "bloody Easter. " Human depravity, goadedon by every motive which spiritual wickedness could suggest, celebratedsuch a carnival as must have staggered even a Nero. Men, women, andchildren were torn limb from limb, after suffering every possible outrageand indecency. Some were rolled from their native rocks to afford merrimentto their butchers. Others were impaled on the trees by the wayside. Neither age nor sex hindered this work of brutality; and it is even saidthat not only did the wretches burn the living bodies of their victims, butalso regaled themselves with their flesh, yea, in the presence of theirsuffering fellows! When these pious soldiers of holy church could no longerslay the Vaudois they burnt their houses and farm buildings, and destroyedtheir vineyards, with the fruit-trees and other products of the soil. 

Nor was Pianezza content with these horrible proceedings at La Torre andits immediate vicinity. On the evening of the same day, Saturday, April24th, Rora was attacked by five hundred men, the day after by a largerbody, the next day by more soldiers still--all in vain. A fourth attack, like the others, was successfully repelled by their noble captain, Janavello, who, with a very small body of helpers, inflicted terrible lossupon the troops, even causing the death of their leader, Mario. Thesecontinuous defeats so enraged Pianezza, that he sent them a message toattend mass within twenty-four hours on pain of death. They replied, "Weprefer death to the mass a hundred thousand times. " On this he assembled aforce of ten thousand to attack their village. Janavello fought like alion, but was overpowered by numbers. His wife and three daughters, withsome others, were taken captive. One hundred and twenty-six persons wereput to death, and the scenes of the former week were renewed in all theirhorrible atrocity. The news of this frightful massacre sent a thrill ofhorror through all that portion of Europe whose sensibilities had not beendrugged by the poisonous teaching of the Church of Rome, viz. , thatheretics are malefactors, and as such may be lawfully exterminated likewild beasts. The representatives of England, Holland, and Switzerlandprotested against these doings. Cromwell set an example to all rulers, whether kings or presidents. His envoy, Sir Samuel Morland, read a despatchin the presence of Carlo, Emmanuel II. , Duke of Savoy, and of his mother, who, under the instigation of the Romish priests, had caused the massacre, which contained the following passage:--"If all the tyrants of all timesand ages were alive again, certainly they would be ashamed when they shouldfind that they had contrived nothing in comparison with these things thatmight be reputed barbarous and inhuman. " The poetical fervour of Miltongave forth the following noble invocation:--

 "Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold!

 * * * * *

 Forget not; in Thy book record their groans Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold, Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that rolled Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans The vales redoubled to the hills, and they to heaven. "

The result of these circumstances was the delusive treaty of Pinerolo, agreed to in the month of August, 1655. This treaty was hurried on in spiteof the request of the plenipotentiaries from England and Holland for adelay, in order that they might secure better terms for the inhabitants ofthe valleys. While freedom of worship was promised, it was restricted bymany irksome conditions; _e. G. _, preaching was forbidden in the commune ofS. Giovanni and the town of La Torre, and, moreover, the castle of thelatter place was rebuilt and garrisoned, a grievance which the Vaudois hadespecially protested against. The grievances which grew out of the treatyof Pinerolo, and the events which preceded that ill-conditioned arrangementin the interval between the week of massacre and the date of its signature, are so closely connected with the exploits and history of Janavello, that Ifeel it better to let my account of La Torre rest here, and proceed tonarrate my visit to Rora, the residence of that patriotic soldier and piouschieftain. 

 CHAPTER IX. 

 RORA AND JANAVELLO. 

In order to reach this spot, my companion and I left the town of La Torreby a street bounded on one side by Trinity College. We then crossed thePelice by a somewhat rustic bridge, and found ourselves very quicklyimmersed in woods on the mountain side with numberless bye-paths. Thesepaths were very circuitous, and we had occasion often to ask our way fromsome friendly woodman or inhabitant of a wayside chalêt. Every now and thenwe came to a kind of table-land, where we could indulge in a panoramicsurvey. The steepness of the ascent, and the occasional ruggedness of ourpath, served to intensify our realization of the interest of the locality, as the scene of so many heroic deeds by Janavello and his little but braveband of patriots against the assailants of their hearths, faith, and homes. About an hour and a half from the time we had left La Torre we came to thePlas Janavel, which constitutes a magnificent amphitheatre, planted withvines, and corn, and chestnut trees. From this locality we bore away in asouth-westerly direction, over a rocky eminence crowned with wood, anddescended through gardens and orchards to a kind of ravine or narrowvalley, on the sloping side of which stands Janavello's house. We found anold, but obliging, Roman Catholic in possession of the premises, once sobravely defended by their patriotic owner. However, overwhelmed by numbers, he was compelled to retreat after performing prodigies of valour, hissister, with babe at her breast, being shot by his side. We were shown theentrance to the subterranean outlet by which Janavello made his escape. Theinitials G. G. , with the date of the year, we also read, cut in the stoneabove. 

So soon, however, as Janavello had placed his little son, only eight yearsof age, in the care of friends in Dauphiny, he returned to his nativevalleys, and became the David of his people against the bands ofPhilistines who were yet in the land. The skill and bravery alreadydisplayed by Janavello in so successfully resisting the troops of Pianezza, led the latter at first to attempt to win over the patriot warrior byoffering him a pardon for himself and the safe return of his wife and threedaughters (who had been captured at Rora) if he would renounce his"heresy, " but threatening him if he refused with the severest treatment. Tothis Janavello nobly replied, "That there were no torments so cruel, nordeath so barbarous, which he would not prefer to abjuration; that if themarquis made his wife and daughters to pass through the fire, the flamescould only consume their bodies; that as for their souls, he commended themto God, trusting them in His hands equally with his own, in case it shouldplease Him to permit his falling into the hands of the executioners. "

Janavello's troop, led by himself and his lieutenant, Jahier, had manysuccessful contests with the enemy during the months of May, June, andJuly. They captured the town of Secondo, occupied by their enemies, andwhile putting to death large numbers of the Irish soldiers who had beenguilty of such enormities, they yet spared the sick, aged, and children, unlike the treatment accorded to themselves. One of their chief services, however, was to keep in check the garrison which had been placed in thefort at La Torre. A splendid victory on the heights of Angrogna was sadlyclouded by a wound received by Janavello. For a time it was thought to bemortal. However, Janavello, being removed to a distance, graduallyrecovered; but a yet worse thing happened later in the day. Jahier, to whomthe command had been entrusted by Janavello, with the request to cease theconflict for that evening, was induced by a traitor to disregard thatinstruction, and fell, with fifty of his men, into an ambush of the enemy. Jahier, his son, and all his companions but one, fell, covered with wounds, and fighting with the courage of heroes. Leger speaks of Jahier as aperfect captain, had it not have been for his imprudent boldness. 

However, Janavello mercifully recovered from his wound, and when theVaudois, wearied beyond endurance by the cruelties inflicted upon them bythe successive governors of that fort at La Torre which had been mostunjustly restored in 1655 after its destruction by the French in 1593, could no longer submit, the hero of Rora (notwithstanding a price was setupon his head) assembled some two or three hundred patriots to resist theplundering bands of De Bagnol and Paolo de Berges. Such was the terrorcaused by these wretches that the people of Giovanni, La Torre, Rora, andLucerna, fled to the mountains on the French territory. Then, as ifdisappointed of his prey, De Bagnol issued an edict commanding them withinthree days to return and present themselves at the fort. No exception wasto be allowed for age, sex, or condition. The majority were wise enough todisobey this order, but some, thinking they might be allowed to cultivatetheir lands again, ventured to return, but, alas! they had occasion tobitterly lament the result. Whilst the commandant of the fortress of LaTorre ordered the fugitives to return, Janavello exerted his influence tokeep them back. Before the final date, June 25th, 1662, had arrived, anarmy, commanded by the Marquises of Fleury and Angrogna, appeared at theentrance of the Val Pelice, so that the Vaudois could no longer doubt theintentions of their enemies. But at this stage happened one of thoseremarkable displays of loyalty to their prince on the part of the Vaudoiswhich was only equalled by their fidelity to God. The troops of the dukewere prevented by the armed population of the valleys from crossing the endso as to reach the fort of Mirabouc beyond Bobbio, which was then destituteof provisions, and which it was desired to reinforce. Under thesecircumstances the commanders of the Piedmontese troops requested the chiefpersons of the commune to give a proof of submission and good-will to theirsovereign by escorting a convoy which was on its way to the fortress. Theywere assured that if they would do this that peace would be promptlyrestored. The devoted Vaudois, more willing to risk their own safety thanappear to distrust their prince, complied with this request; yea, even morethan once, though a war of extermination was being urged against them; fortheir enemies, unable to discover any marks of merit in those theystigmatized as heretics, were seeking to occupy the heights of La Vachereand obtain possession of their citadel, the Pra del Torre. On the 6th ofJuly, 1663, the enemy ascended the mountains from four different points. The two first divisions, numbering four thousand men, were fortifyingthemselves on the hill of Plans before attempting to force through thenarrow pass called the gate of Angrogna, occupied by a detachment ofVaudois placed there by Janavello. In the meantime the two other divisionsof the enemy's force, approaching from the side of Giovanni and La Torre, repulsed the six or seven hundred mountaineers who had been hastilygathered at that point; but when they reached the rocks and ruins ofRoccamanetto, the scene of many a victory won by the patriot bands, andwhich, said Janavello on this occasion, is "our Tabor, " the Vaudois stayedthe course of their assailants and finally compelled them to retreat withconsiderable slaughter. Janavello then gave thanks to God, and afterleaving a guard led his troops down the valley, exclaiming, "Let us sweepthese cowards from the hills!"

After a determined charge in flank, and the renewed efforts of the Vaudoisalready posted at the gate of Angrogna, the Piedmontese fled, leavingbehind them over six hundred dead, besides many wounded. As the results ofthese discomfitures, a new general was appointed for the Piedmontesetroops, Count Damian; and although other successes followed the arms of thepatriots, yet they suffered a reverse at St. Germano, and frightfulcruelties were perpetrated by their enemies; _e. G. _, at Roccapiatta theyburnt to death a woman nearly one hundred years of age, and bedridden. AtSt. Germano a young woman is treated with every possible indecency, andthen left to die, after having her flesh cut from her bones. Otheratrocities also were wrought upon persons falling into the hands of thesoldiers, which it is impossible to recite. The Duke of Savoy now began tofeel disappointed at the results of this persecution of his subjects; andthe deputies of the Swiss cantons tried to obtain honourable conditions forthe Vaudois. Therefore a kind of amnesty was published Feb. 14th, 1664, which, although professing to confirm the articles of the treaty ofPinerolo, really abridged many of the privileges formerly enjoyed by theVaudois. It also imposed a fine of two million francs. Janavello wasrefused any share in the benefits of this treaty, and consequently retiredto Geneva, where his valuable counsel stood Arnaud in good stead at a laterperiod. In the war between Charles Emmanuel of Savoy and the Genoese, in1672, the Vaudois rendered such cheerful and valuable help that theirsovereign was constrained to make a public acknowledgment of theirservices. A brighter day now seemed dawning upon these faithful valley men. To be the object of their ruler's confidence and affection was a pleasureas sweet to their taste as rare in their experience. But, alas! thispleasant change is but a break in the dark clouds which have so longovershadowed their troubled life, and but the precursor of a storm ofbitterness and cruelty unsurpassed even in their annals of woe and sadness. Charles Emmanuel died on the 3rd of June, 1678. For a few years, under theregency of his widow and the reign of his son, Victor Amadeus VII. , therewas peace. But just at the time when their services against the bandittiof Mondovi might seem to have added to their claims and expectation, newdangers appear. 

It was in this wise. Louis XIV. Of France thought to atone for the misdeedsof a life of sensuality by the forced conversion of his subjects to popery, and so, after a series of preliminary brutalities, to which he had beenstimulated by his confessor and others, he revokes the edict of Nantes, andgives to the prosperity of his country a blow from which it has neverrecovered. But the grand monarque of France was not content to tread thisroyal road to heaven alone. He wished his neighbour of Savoy to share inthe benedictions of the pretended successor of St. Peter. However, theyoung duke shrank from imitating such conduct, until he was politelyreminded by the French ambassador that his master would drive away theheretics with fourteen thousand men, but that he would also retain theirvalleys for himself. In consequence of this Amadeus engages to join withthe king of France in shedding the blood of the saints. A painfulforeboding of suffering filled the minds of the Vaudois as soon as theyheard of the revocation of the edict of Nantes; but they were not preparedfor the actual severity of the edict of January 30th, 1686, which forbade, under pain of death, all religious services except the Romish, and orderedthe destruction of their temples, the banishment of their ministers andschoolmasters, and the baptism and education of their children henceforthin the false creed of Rome. This was indeed the bitterest drop in their cupof overflowing grief. Staggered by the enormity of the evil, they first ofall sought the ear of their own prince. Disappointed, they began to makepreparations to defend themselves against the troops which were gatheringon their frontiers. On the 22nd of April the popish army began its march, the Piedmontese led by Gabriel of Savoy, uncle of the duke, the Frenchcommanded by Catinat. The latter began operations in the valley of Clusone. They attacked the Vaudois entrenchments at Pramol, but were so obstinatelyresisted, although they outnumbered the defenders as six to one, that afterten hours' fighting they fell back, followed by the Vaudois as far as thetemple of St. Germain, when the night closed the encounter; and on the nextday they were protected by reinforcements from Pinerolo. The five hundredFrenchmen killed and wounded on this occasion furnished the pretext forhorrible cruelties practised by that portion of the troops which werecommanded by Catinat himself in the defenceless valley of Martino. 

In the meantime Gabriel of Savoy was attacking the valley of Angrogna. TheVaudois, although weakened by divisions, and lacking such leaders asJanavello and Leger, yet fortified the heights of La Vachere, and for awhole day successfully resisted their assailants. But, unfortunately, theywere induced to believe the promise made to them in a note signed byGabriel of Savoy, in the name of his nephew, that "if they laid down theirarms they should not be injured, either in their own persons or in those oftheir wives and children. " This promise, and similar ones made to othergroups of the Vaudois at Pra del Torre, Permian, near Pramol, and otherretired spots in the neighbourhood of La Torre, were all shamefullydisregarded. The people of Bobbio were the last to give way, after a braveresistance, which they continued on the rocks of the Vandalin. Frightfuldeeds of shame and cruelty now prevailed all through the valleys. Twoexamples may suffice, although by no means the worst in some respects. Awoman takes refuge in a cave, with her little babe and a goat, whichfurnished the means of their subsistence. Unfortunately the poor animal washeard to bleat by some of the soldiers who happened to be near. Thesewretches seized the child and, in the presence of its mother, threw it overthe precipice, and then led the mother herself to a jutting crag that shemight die there in the greatest agony. A second case is that of the pastorof Guigot, near Prali. He had secreted himself under a rock, and believingthe enemy to be at a distance, was consoling himself by singing a psalm. For this offence, after months of suffering in prison, he was condemned todeath. He died with the Saviour's words on his lips--"Father, into thyhands I commend my spirit. " The cruelties inflicted on the Vaudois at thistime were even greater than those resulting from the massacres of 1655;but, in addition to all that took place within the valleys themselves, there remain the wrongs perpetrated upon those who were dragged from theirloved, though desolated, homes. Some fourteen thousand persons weredistributed in thirteen or fourteen prison fortresses. Husbands wereseparated from their wives, parents from their children, some two thousandchildren being placed among papists for the purposes of perversion. Thesewere chiefly sent to the district of Vercelli, in Piedmont. And thus thechurch of Rome won a triumph even more complete than her sanguinary laboursin the low countries. She had now silenced the gospel in Italy. That pureflame in the valleys of Piedmont no longer shone amidst the darkness. Those pious mountaineers no longer sang their psalms by hill-side, noroffered the worship of a free heart in their lowly dells. The pure moralsof those shepherds and vine-dressers no longer rebuked the foullicentiousness which flourished amid the benedictions of Santa Chiesa, provided heretics were exterminated. That gospel which apostles taught, andRome once received, was no longer heard from the lips of pastors whodisdain the polluting touch of hands more able to confer the gifts of SimonMagus than those of Simon Peter. 

But yet these children of a pure faith are not conquered. They leave theirhomes in the months of November, December, and February. Hundreds perish bythe way. How could it be otherwise? At that season of the year, and afterthe treatment they had received in the dungeons in which they had groaned, even strong men would have shrank from crossing the Alps, to say nothing ofthe aged women and young children. Alas! O Rome, thy tender mercies arecruel! The Swiss Protestants did nobly to soften the horrors of thetreatment awarded to their suffering co-religionists. They not onlyremonstrated at the Court of Turin, but provided clothing and food toassist the sufferers; they kept a solemn fast-day; they made collections;they stationed themselves, by the consent of the Piedmontese authorities(let it be said), at various places along the route. So by the end ofFebruary, 1687, some two thousand six hundred Vaudois, men, women, andchildren, were received within the hospitable walls of the city of Geneva. Afterwards their numbers reached three thousand, and these were all thatremained out of a population of about sixteen thousand, dragged or drivenfrom the valleys. Nine pastors had been imprisoned in the citadel of Turinwith their families, and although their liberation was earnestly asked forby the Swiss commissioners, it does not appear that they were ever allowedto join their exiled brethren in Switzerland. However, the Vaudois, thoughdeeply touched with the kindness shown them by their friends in Switzerlandand Germany, yet sighed after their own dear valleys. Although Janavellocould not lend them active aid by his no longer stalwart arm and heroicpresence, yet he took a deep interest in the preparations for their return, and praised God that He had provided them a captain. Who this captain was, and the nature of the deliverance wrought by his instrumentality, must beleft for another chapter. 

 CHAPTER X. 

Henri Arnaud was born at Die, in Dauphiny, in 1641. He was educated for theChristian ministry, but, owing to the troubles of the period, betookhimself to a military life for a time. He entered the service of WilliamPrince of Orange, afterwards King William III. Of England, who was regardedat that time as the hereditary champion of Protestant interests in Europe, and the determined opponent, as he afterwards proved, of the restlessambition and persecuting tyranny of Louis XIV. Of France. The Prince ofOrange thought highly of the military talents and the personal character ofHenri Arnaud, and promoted him to the rank of captain in his army. Heseems, however, to have reverted to the intention of his early life, aboutthe year 1684, inasmuch as we find him occupying the important post ofpastor at La Torre during the eventful year 1686, the year of therevocation of the edict of Nantes. Amadeus II. , goaded on by thethreatenings and entreaties of the French king, renewed the persecution ofhis faithful Vaudois, by the publication of a severe edict in January, andby the invasion of their territory in the April following. The Vaudoisdefended themselves with such courage and success that, after ten hours'fighting, the invaders were compelled to retreat as far as the temple atGermano. The close of the day gave a respite to the enemy, and enabledthem to obtain reinforcements from Pinerolo. In this successful repulse ofthe French and Piedmontese troops, and which resulted in the death orwounding of 500 Frenchmen, Henri Arnaud played a conspicuous part. But whensubsequently the Vaudois were ready to confide in the faithless butplausible proposals of Gabriel of Savoy, Henri Arnaud refused to trusthimself to the enemies of his country, and as his warnings were disregardedhe escaped to Switzerland. Here he was providentially preserved andprotected for a yet greater opportunity of service to the land and churchof his adoption. The promise of Gabriel of Savoy to the Vaudois, that ifthey laid down their arms they should not be injured, either in their ownpersons or in those of their wives and children, was shamefullydisregarded; therefore, after terrible sufferings in the summer and autumn, several thousands quit their much-loved valleys, and cross the Alps in theworst season of the year rather than abjure the faith of their fathers. About two thousand six hundred of these exiles reach the hospitable city ofGeneva by the end of February, 1687. Later on some hundreds more were addedto their numbers. Beside Henry Arnaud, there was already at Geneva theheroic Janavello. Deeply touched as were the exiles with the Christiansympathy shown to them by friends in Switzerland and Germany, gratefullyimpressed as they were with the efforts making for their settlement inthese hospitable countries, yet their thoughts would often revert to theirnative valleys. They not only sighed over the remembrance of the pastureswhere they had fed their flocks, but they also groaned for the temples ofGod which had been broken down. For the voice of truth which was nowsilenced in the land of martyrs and confessors, and simultaneously grew upthe hope and the desire of returning to the place which had been for solong the home of their fathers. When Henri Arnaud found that this projecthad the approval of the veteran Janavello, he repaired to Holland, to laythe design before the Prince of Orange, who warmly entered into the design, and promised substantial assistance towards its realization. After twopremature attempts and many difficulties, Arnaud, who was residing at thistime with his family at Neufchâtel, made his arrangements so well that manyhundreds of the Vaudois succeeded in assembling in the forest of Prangins, near the little town of Nyon on the shore of the lake Leman. 

Between nine and ten o'clock in the evening of the 16th of August, 1689, Arnaud gave the signal for embarkation by falling on his knees by the sideof the lake, and imploring in a loud voice the almighty and all-graciousBeing, who had been their helper in the past, to prosper their attempt toregain their native valleys, and re-erect the standard of evangelical truthon their own beloved fatherland. The patriot band set out in fifteen boats, and having landed, the first detachment returned for those left behind. Only three of the boats, however, made the second journey in safety, and sosome were not brought from the Swiss side of the lake. When Arnaud reviewedhis forces he found there were some 900 men who had safely crossed thelake. A small band indeed for so great an enterprise; a very inadequateforce to contend with thousands of disciplined troops, and to overcome theobstacles which would be raised by hostile populations through whoseterritories they must pass; to encounter the fatigue of forced marches overcraggy precipices, along deep and dangerous defiles--in addition, to do allthis with but slender equipments of food and other necessaries. Still, noone draws back. They have counted the cost. They deem the prize at whichthey aim worthy of the risk they run. They are sustained by therecollections of past deliverance. "Our fathers trusted in Thee, and Thoudidst deliver them; they cried unto Thee, and were delivered; they trustedin Thee, and were not confounded, " was the sentiment which sped them onwardin their arduous march. Nor did Arnaud neglect any suitable means of anordinary kind for ensuring success. He divided his 900 men into twentycompanies, organized with reference to their native communes; _e. G. _, Angrogna had three companies, with their captains; San Giovanni two, &c. They were arranged to march in regular military order, having a vanguard, centre, and rear, observing the strictest discipline. Beside Arnaud, therewere two other pastors with the little army, Chyon of Pont à Royans, inDauphiny, and Montoux of the Val Pragela. The first, however, was soon lostto the expedition; for, having incautiously entered the first village theyreached in order to obtain a guide, he was taken prisoner, and detained atChambéry until the peace. As soon as the army was ready to march, thepatriot band again sought the blessing of the God of their fathers. Theythen set out in a southerly direction, passing through the little town ofYvoire, and compelled Savoyard gentlemen and priests to accompany them ashostages and guides. The alarm felt at first by the people through whosevillages they passed subsided when their orderly conduct became known, sothat after a time the peasants, with their ministers, were seen approachingand watching the troops as they filed off, and even crying after them, "MayGod be with you!" In some cases refreshments were also supplied, andremuneration refused. However, a different experience awaited them as theyset out by a mountain path for Boëge, a little town on the river Menoge, inthe province of Faucigny. Here the gentry made a great show of resistance, and although they made them prisoners, together with 200 armed peasantsunder the command of a quartermaster, yet the circumstance convinced Arnaudthat he must take precautions, otherwise the expedition would be greatlyhindered. Therefore one of the gentry of Boëge was instructed to write aletter informing the people of the next town that they were not to bealarmed at the approach of the Vaudois, but to give them a free passage, and supply them with provisions, for which they always paid. So they passedon without very remarkable events, except privations and exposure to wetand cold day by day, until, crossing the Arve, they reached Sallenches, atthe foot of the mighty monarch of European mountains, Mont Blanc. The sightof the mountain seems to have severely tested the resolution of some ofArnaud's followers, and it required all his skill and energy to inspirethem with courage to make the passage through the defile of the Bonhomme. Indeed, the descent of the column was more hazardous than the ascent. Toaccomplish this in many cases they were compelled to assume a sittingposture, and slide down the face of the rocks. On the evening of thefourth day the patriots reached the town of Sey, on the Isère, and met witha good supply of provisions. On the evening of the fifth day Arnaud and hiscolleague, Montoux, for the first time since they had started, lodged, supped, and rested for three hours in peace. The next day they ascendedMont Iseran, and resting at Maurienne in the evening, they ascended theMont Cenis the day after, and seized all the post-horses, to prevent thenews of their arrival being so easily communicated. From this point theybranched off in the direction of the little Mont Cenis, as being a lessfrequented road, and spent the night very uncomfortably in the woods. 

On the eighth day they left the valley of Jaillon, and would have proceededby way of Susa, crossing the Dora Riparia, but having unsuccessfullyattempted to dislodge a body of troops and peasants who commanded a portionof that road, Arnaud decided on regaining the heights. This they did, butnot without much suffering and a loss of forty men, including two captainsand two surgeons. After this the Vaudois proceeded through the pass ofTouille, to the west, coming out by Oulx, still in the valley of the Dora, but several leagues distant from Susa, and in the line now traversed by themasterpiece of modern engineering, viz. , the Mont Cenis Tunnel. Arnaud'sdesign was to cross the river by the bridge of Salabertrand, between Oulxand Exilles, but learning from a peasant, of whom they had asked for food, that an excellent supper was preparing for them, they understood it wasdangerous to remain. After taking refreshment, therefore, Arnaud renewedthe march, and discovered some thirty-six camp fires, and shortly afterthe vanguard encountered the enemy's outposts. 

As was the invariable custom, an interval of prayer preceded their furtheradvance, made under cover of the night. Approaching the bridge, they areasked, "Who's there?" and answer, "Friends;" to which the enemy reply, "Kill! kill!" emphasized by a tremendous fire for a quarter of an hour. Arnaud, however, saved his men by commanding them to lie on the ground atthe first shot. Still they were in great danger, for a portion of the enemyhad got to the rear of the Vaudois, and so they were exposed from bothsides. Realizing their desperate position, a cry was raised--"Courage! thebridge is won!" At those words Arnaud's men rushed headlong, sword in hand, and with bayonets fixed forced the entrenchments of the enemy. Thus, by thefavour of God, 800 men, unaccustomed to war, and exhausted by fatigue, wona victory over a body numbering some 2, 500 troops, exclusive of those whohad attacked them in the rear, and the peasants who assisted in the fray. The defeated lost six hundred of their men, besides twelve captains andother officers; the victors, only fifteen killed and twelve wounded. Theirhostages, however, took advantage of the battle and escaped, with theexception of six of the oldest. Apart from the successful repulse of thetroops intended to obstruct their journey, this splendid victory at thebridge of Salabertrand gave to the conquerors military stores and otherbooty. Arnaud's men would have been glad to have rested, but prudence bidthem not to linger. So, having destroyed so much of the spoil as they wereunable to appropriate, they set forward. The explosion of the enemy'spowder, set on fire by the Vaudois, mingled with their own shouts oftriumph and the notes of their trumpets, as with exulting hearts theyrenewed their march, exclaiming, "Thanks be to the Lord of hosts, who hathgiven us the victory over all our enemies. " However great as was their joy, so great had been their labours that twenty-four of their number were sooverpowered by fatigue that they fell asleep on their moonlight marchthrough the valley of the Dora, and were captured by the enemy, so thatthese twenty-four added to the forty previously lost in the passage of theJaillon, diminished the full measure of their satisfaction. Still theypress forward, and as the light of another day dawns upon them (the ninthof their journey and the Lord's Day) they had climbed the summit of MontSci, and from it looked with beating hearts upon the peaks of their ownloved mountains. Indeed it was only the valley of Pragela (a districtclosely associated with their own in faith and worship until his so-calledChristian majesty banished the profession of the gospel from itsboundaries) that interposed between them and the object of their march. Onthis Pisgah top Arnaud gathers his men around him, and beneath the roof ofheaven and amidst the walls of surrounding mountain slopes, glistening withthe brightness of the rising sun, pours out the psalm of glad thanksgiving, and offers the prayer of the contrite heart. 

On Tuesday, August 27th, 1689, the brave Vaudois, who had crossed the lakeof Geneva only eleven days before, now set foot in the first village oftheir own territory, viz. , Balsille, at the north-west extremity of thevalley of San Martino. This was indeed a solemn moment, recalling thesuccessful labours of the past and suggesting the difficulties andanxieties of the future. Arnaud would doubtless examine minutely into thecondition and number of his men, and as he did so painfully consider thelosses he had sustained, reducing the patriot band to about seven hundredmen. This review is necessary in order to explain the otherwise sanguinarycharacter of the determination to refuse all quarter to the troops whichattacked them in their endeavours to regain possession of their nativevalleys. Hence the Vaudois put to death the guard on the Alps of the Pis, and at Balsille; this was the greatest number they did so treat. FromBalsille Arnaud led his men into the valley of Prali, and subdivided hisarmy into two divisions. On reaching the hamlet of Guigot, they rejoiced tofind their temple still standing, and purging it of the superstitiousornaments introduced by the Papists, these seven hundred patriot warriorslaid down their arms and sang the 74th Psalm--

 "Hast Thou cast us off for ever? Will Thine anger no more cease? Shall Thy people never, never Dwell again, O Lord, in peace? Oh, behold the desolation! See Thy holy place defiled! Scattered is Thy congregation, And Thy sanctuary spoiled. 

 "Rise, O Lord, in might victorious, Rise and give Thy people aid; Come, O come in triumph glorious, Overwhelm Thy foes dismayed. Circled with a thousand wonders, Girt with all Thy power and strength, Mid ten thousand thousand thunders Save, redeem Thy own, at length!"

They also sung the 129th Psalm, and then Arnaud, taking his text from someverses of the latter psalm, spoke to them, and exhorted them to endurehardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. The memories of the place as thescene of the martyrdom of the pastor Leydet, who was barbarously put todeath near this spot by Papists who overheard him singing psalms, wouldtend to deepen their emotion and fill their souls with firmer resolves todare and die for faith and fatherland. 

Their courage soon found employment in dislodging a body of 200 troops whowere entrenched at the ports of San Guliano. These men contemptuously daredthem to the fight, shouting, "Come on, varlets of the devil, we occupy allthe passes, and there are three thousand of us!" The Vaudois accepted thechallenge, and at a single charge drove them from their trenches andcaptured all their stores, a very valuable acquisition to the conquerors. Moreover they slew thirty-one of the fugitives, and lost but one of theirown number. Following up their successes, they besieged Bobbio, and droveaway those who had dispersed its rightful and former occupants. After thisthey hold a solemn conclave for devotional and deliberative purposes. M. Montoux, Arnaud's colleague in the pastoral office, addressed them, andthen Arnaud himself read the following oath, which was solemnly agreed to, viz. , "God, by His divine grace, having happily reconducted us to theinheritance of our fathers, there to establish the pure service of ourholy religion, ... We, pastors, captains, and other officers, swear andpromise before the face of the living God, ... Neither to separate nordisunite while God grants us life, even should we have the misfortune to bereduced to three or four.... And to the intent that union, which is thesoul of our affairs, should remain inviolable among us, the officers shallswear fidelity to the soldiers, and the soldiers to the officers, promisingtogether to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to deliver, if possible, ourbrethren from the cruel woman of Babylon, and with them to re-establish andmaintain his kingdom till death, and observe all our lives with good faiththis present ordinance. " As I stood upon this consecrated platform(Sibaud), April 11th, 1871, I not only felt richly rewarded for the steepclimb, from which the good pastor of Bobbio sought to dissuade me, but Igained an enlarged view of the wonderful power of the gospel of Christ inennobling and constraining the souls of these valley men to such deeds ofdaring and suffering. If, as I firmly believe, the gospel teaches thatwillingness to do and suffer for Christ is the evidence of our belonging toHim, how luminous and abundant are the title-deeds of the Vaudois to bereckoned "not least among the churches of God. " May the spirit of the oathstill survive, and the day come when every one of those who inhabit thelocality shall be as true to the gospel of the grace of God as Arnaud andhis brave troops!

After this solemn convocation, and sundry additions to their militaryorganization, an attempt was made by Arnaud to rescue Villaro from thePapists as Bobbio was rescued. At the first the enemy fled, some across thePelice, and others to the convent. While the Vaudois were closely pressingthem in this last-named retreat, their own position was turned by thearrival of a large body of troops. These troops, 12, 000 in number, droveback the Vaudois to Bobbio, and threatened to exterminate them all. Eightymade good their escape over the Vandalin by scattering themselves in alldirections, and afterwards rejoining the main body. Montoux, the assistantpastor, being thus separated from his friends, was captured by the enemy, and detained a prisoner at Turin until the peace. Arnaud three times gavehimself up for lost. Three times, with six of his men, he betook himself toprayer; and three times the Lord sent him deliverance. At last he escapedto the same mountain ridge where the eighty previously dispersed awaitedhis arrival. 

The check received at Villaro led Arnaud to retire from the inhabited partsof the valley of Lucerna to the mountain heights, from which they couldattack detachments of troops at favourable intervals, and to which theycould betake themselves for safety in spots difficult of access, and easilydefended by a small number against large bodies of troops. These mountainrecesses, indeed, play an important part in the history of the Vaudoisgenerally, as well as in the exploits of Janavello and Arnaud inparticular. One of our sweetest English poets has beautifully apostrophizedthe feelings of the brave valley men in the following exquisite lines:--

 "For the strength of the hills we bless Thee, Our God, our fathers' God! Thou hast made Thy children mighty By the touch of the mountain sod, Thou hast fixed our ark of refuge Where the spoiler's foot ne'er trod; For the strength of the hills we bless Thee, Our God, our fathers' God. 

 "The banner of the chieftain Far, far below us waves, The war-horse of the spearman Cannot reach our lofty caves. Thy dark clouds wrap the threshold Of freedom's last abode; For the strength of the hills we thank Thee, Our God, our fathers' God. 

 "For the shadow of Thy presence, Round our camp of rock outspread; For the stern defiles of battle, Bearing record of our dead; For the snows and for the torrents, For the free heart's burial sod; For the strength of the hills we bless Thee, Our God, our fathers' God. "

It was chiefly on the heights above Sibaud, the slopes of the Vandalin, LaVachera, and Mont Cervin, that they carried on their predatory andguerrilla warfare. At one time they attacked 600 men, killed one hundred, and lost only four. But they suffered almost incredible privations. Theirfood oftentimes consisting of only wild fruits, raw cabbages, and othervegetables uncooked. Occasionally they met with better fare; _e. G. _, beingat Prali for two days they cut down all the corn in the neighbourhood, andground it at the mills in the place. Nor did they forget their duties asChristians in the midst of all these hardships. Arnaud administered theholy communion to the troops who were with him, as well as to those inretreat above Bobbio. The retreat of the Piedmontese troops under thecommand of the Marquis de Parelle, enabled the Vaudois to keep inpossession of the valley of San Martino, and to lay up a stock of corn, grapes, chestnuts, apples, and walnuts. The flying camp also were able tocapture some convoys of provision, so that they could look forward to thewinter (this was now Sept. 16th) without much fear as to supplies. TheVaudois were now in three divisions; the larger part in the valley of SanMartino, another body next in number who were scouring the valley ofAngrogna, and the third and smaller division at Serre de Cruel over Bobbio. This last detachment destroyed the convent of Villaro lest it should beturned into a fortress. They pulled down the popish church at Rora, reducedthe village to ashes, and brought away much spoil. However, as soon as thePiedmontese soldiers were able to cover the mountains with troops theyretaliated by setting on fire the Vaudois asylum at Serre de Cruel. TheVaudois resisted, and did much execution; but at last, terrified by thenumbers of their adversaries, they forsook their new fortifications atPausettes and Aiguille, leaving behind them all their winter stores. Theywere pursued from rock to rock, obliged to hide in the most loathsomecaverns, and to subsist almost without food, which was procured only at theperil of their lives. Nothing but a special Providence kept them fromentire destruction, and enabled them to rejoin the main body of theirfriends in the valley of San Martino. The French troops engaged in thushunting the Vaudois in the month of October were commanded by M. Del'Ombraille, and, with the Piedmontese under Parelle, covered all thevillages and passes excepting a few small hamlets and byways. Hence theposition of the patriots was one of great danger. Some deserted, andperished miserably by the enemy. A council was held at Rodoret. Divisionsof opinion arose, and ruin seemed at hand. At this critical moment Arnaudsummoned them to prayer. After this he exhorted his companions to sacrificetheir own views for the common good, and advised a retreat upon Balsille. This they happily consented to, and the same night they were on their wayto the spot. The dangers of the road may be supposed from the circumstancethat much of it had to be passed on their hands and knees, and from thefact that when the Vaudois afterwards saw the places by daylight they werefilled with horror. 

We shall not be able to realize the good Providence which befriended themat this time unless we consider for a moment the exact position of theirnew retreat. The chief group of houses in the village of Balsille is closeto a torrent at the foot of the mountains in the extreme north-west of theVal Martino. A stone bridge, close to which is a mill, unites the two partsof the village lying eastward, at the foot of the steep rocks ofGuignivert, which rises towards the west, and is thickly wooded at itsbase. [E]

From this natural wall a rock projects against the river and over thedwellings, forming quite a natural fortress. It was supplied with water bythree fountains. On this rock, then, the Vaudois determined to await theenemy, instead of fleeing from mountain to mountain as they had previouslydone. To this end they excavated, threw up entrenchments, made coveredways, and executed a series of defences in harmony with what might havebeen the suggestions of a skilful military engineer. They had three linesof defence within the fortifications on the lower rock, and then, on aneminence yet higher, they constructed a little fort, with tripleentrenchment, and lastly, overlooking all, they posted a watch to givenotice of the least movement of the enemy. In addition to this theyrepaired the mill at the foot of their fortifications. During this Arnaudpreached twice a week and conducted daily prayer. The Vaudois had only beena few days at their work, when the French battalions, unable to meet withthem at Rodoret, followed them down the valley, having already surprisedtheir outposts at Passet, though without inflicting loss. On the 29th ofOctober the enemy surrounded them with troops from Friday to Sunday. Theyalso tried to force the bridge, but were compelled to retreat, leavingsixty men killed and as many wounded, while the Vaudois had not lost a man. In the month of November the French captured one of Arnaud's men, who hadgone to nurse a sick friend, and in spite of the entreaties of the judgeat Pérousé, a Roman Catholic, the commandant, De l'Ombraille, insisted onhis execution. They made no further assault upon the castle, but havingburnt all the houses, farm buildings, corn stacks, &c. , they retired, telling the Vaudois "to have patience, and they would return after Easter. "They were now comparatively free in their movements, and felt intenselythankful to that gracious Father who had preserved them through so manydangers, and given them, to retain possession of, the land they had come toreclaim. They were about 400 strong, exclusive of that division which hadfixed itself on the mountains of Angrogna, and the two little bands whichstill found a refuge in the wilds of the glen Guichard, or among the rocksoverhanging Bobbio. 

The question of food made them anxious. But that God who had so wonderfullyprovided for them in the past, had made as remarkable provision for thisnecessity. A fall of snow had covered the corn which had ripened inSeptember, but was left standing in the fields by this circumstance. Thushidden from the enemy, a sudden thaw revealed the treasure thus mercifullylaid up for these patriot warriors. In addition to the corn, strongdetachments made requisitions on the valleys of Pragela and Queyras, and soobtained supplies of butter, salt, wine, and other provisions. A sadincident of the winter arose from the condition of one of those littleparties, whom the chances of war or some imprudence separated from the mainbody. A band of twelve, concealed in a cave behind L'Essart, near Bobbio, were obliged by hunger to come out for provisions. On returning, theythought they had been tracked in the snow, and so decided to betakethemselves to a new place of refuge in La Biava. Scarcely had they set out, however, than they discovered 125 peasants in pursuit of them. They threwdown their baggage, and having reached a commanding height, poured downsuch an effective volley that their assailants sought a truce, andacknowledged twelve dead and thirteen wounded, though not one of theVaudois was the least hurt. Their victory did not, however, relieve themfor long. Although their refuge was secure, the extreme cold made ituntenable, and they were compelled to seek a milder climate. Saddened bysuffering, and resolved to protect themselves, they met on their way anarmed band. Assuming that they were enemies, they fired and killed one ofthe party, when, to their great grief, blended with unutterable joy, theydiscovered that they were brethren. With tears in their eyes they embracedeach other, and found the safety and succour they had almost despaired ofin the castle at Balsille. 

During the winter months messages were sent to induce the Vaudois towithdraw from their native land. To this Arnaud sent suitable replies, andalso strengthened the fortifications in the only part which had been leftopen by the river side. 

On the 1st of May, 12, 000 Piedmontese troops and 10, 000 French, making atotal of 22, 000 troops, under the command of Catinat, surrounded Arnaud'sretreat. A body of horse soldiers concealed themselves in the neighbouringwoods, but were received with so effective a discharge of shot as toinflict great loss. The main body of the assailants drew up to the foot ofthe rock, but had to make a rapid retreat, with severe loss both in deadand wounded. After this an engineer, having surveyed the approaches to thecastle through a glass, ordered a picked corps of 500 men to advance inthat direction, supported by some 700 peasants of Pragela and Queyras, forthe purpose of destroying the fence of trees and palisades constructed byArnaud. Their attack was covered by the fire of 700 men, drawn up in lineof battle. But all was in vain; the fortifications were impregnable, andthe Vaudois, taking advantage of their confusion, poured down upon themwith such vigour that only ten or twelve men escaped. The commander and twosergeants who remained by his side were taken prisoners, but not a singleVaudois was injured. The enemy retreated in great confusion, and Arnaud, assembling his men for thanksgiving and prayer, spoke so powerfully thatboth pastor and people, officers and men, were affected to tears. Onsearching the bodies of the slain, a number of popish charms were found, vainly used as preservatives against the attacks of men who were supposedto be in league with the evil one. 

Catinat, like the Marquis de Larcy, in the affair of the bridge atSalabertrand, was so mortified at his want of success, that he declined tohead another assault against the Vaudois, therefore he entrusts the commandto the Marquis de Fequières. This new attack, on the 10th of May, deprivedArnaud and his men of the privilege of the Holy Communion, which they haddesired to partake of on Whit Monday. The day following that on which theenemy's vanguard was observed, de Fequières formed his men into fivedivisions, and completely invested the Vaudois stronghold. Finding thedischarge of musketry useless, he planted a cannon, loaded with ballsweighing eight pounds, on the Mont Guignivert, exactly opposite to LaBalsille. He then hoisted a white flag, and afterwards a red, signifyingthat unless the besieged asked for peace that no quarter would be granted. They had previously refused to surrender, on the ground "that they lookedto the aid of God to protect them in the heritage of their fathers, butthat if it were otherwise, they would not yield while life lasted. "

The day following a breach was made, and an assault directed to threedifferent points. The attacking columns were covered by a furiouscannonade, and yet, wonderful to relate, none of the defenders were struck. However, the lower entrenchments had to be abandoned, and M. De Parat, theFrench prisoner, put to death, he acknowledging the necessity of thesentence. Indeed, a crisis had come. Balsille could not be defended muchlonger. The watch on the summit had been driven away by the enemycommanding the opposite rocks. Happily the darkness was coming on, and byits aid one means of safety was looked for, viz. , flight. But when theVaudois looked out upon the glare of the enemy's camp fires their heartsalmost sank within them. And the French, on their part, were joyfullyanticipating their speedy destruction. But He who had so often fought forIsrael only permitted them to be reduced to such straits that they mightlearn afresh how completely He was on their side. The camp fires, having bytheir light revealed a possibility of escape through a frightful ravine, were extinguished, so far as service to the enemy was concerned, _by meansof a thick fog_! So under cover of this shield of the Almighty the devotedband, led by Captain Poulat, a native of Balsille, let themselves down byan opening in the rocks. The journey was one of great difficulty. Branchesof trees and projecting ledges of rocks were used to assist the descent, which was chiefly made in a sitting or sliding posture. Nor could thefugitives altogether escape the neighbourhood of the French patrols, soclosely were they posted to the castle. One of the Vaudois, using his handsto save himself from falling, let drop a kettle he was carrying, which byits rolling down excited the notice of the sentinel, who at once gave thechallenge, "Who goes there?" But as the kettle made no reply, the menpassed on, Arnaud humorously relates. After descending the precipitoussides of Mont Guignivert, the Vaudois directed their steps southwardtowards Salse. It was now two hours after the break of day, and they werecutting steps for themselves in the snow. A portion of the enemy's watchdiscovered that they had escaped, and gave the alarm. Very quickly theenemy pursued them in their journey, first of all for rest at Salse, thenon to Rodoret. Finding this, the Vaudois betook themselves to the summit ofGalmon, where they halted, and Arnaud reviewed his men. The sick andwounded were sent to a declivity to be tended by the surgeon of M. Parat, under a strong guard. The main body passed the night in the wood ofSerrelémi. A fog fortunately rising, enabled them to advance to a hamletcalled La Majère, where a shower of rain gave them a much-needed supply ofwater. On the 17th of May, 1690 they had a sharp skirmish in the villageand churchyard of Pramol. They killed fifty-seven, and captured thecommandant, from whom Arnaud learnt that in three days Victor Amadeus wouldhave to decide as to the question of continuing his alliance with France, or of uniting with England and other European states against Louis XIV. Arnaud, who by his former intimacy with the Prince of Orange, now WilliamIII. Of England, was well acquainted with European politics, at once sawhow important was this news, and awaited the result with correspondinganxiety. 

The day after (Sunday), whilst Arnaud and his men were on the heights ofAngrogna, two messengers, sent by General Palavicini, announced thedecision of Victor Amadeus, and offered terms of peace in his name. Thesudden pleasure of such a communication, after nine months of hardship, toil, and fighting, might have been too much for these poor persecutedones, had it not been tempered with doubts as to its truthfulness. Butgradually events confirmed their hopes, and scattered their fears. Provisions were sent to Arnaud's men. The ministers, Montoux and Bastie, with others who had been confined at Turin, now hastened to meet theirbrethren. Everywhere they seemed treated with confidence; and, inconjunction with the Duke's troops, they made several successful attacksupon the French. 

One of Arnaud's men having captured a courier carrying despatches for theKing of France, Palavicini, commander-in-chief of the troops of Piedmont, was ordered to bring Arnaud with him into the presence of Amadeus. Thelatter received the Vaudois deputation most graciously, and expressed hisdesire that they should be henceforth friends, assuring them "that if theyhazarded their lives in his service, he also would hazard his for them. "In proof of this cordial reconciliation, Amadeus conferred the rank ofcolonel on the brave Arnaud, the chieftain of the Vaudois. He also grantedpermission for the families of the banished ones to return to theirvalleys, and decreed the restoration of their ancient possessions. Early inJuly Arnaud hastened to Milan to meet the refugees from Switzerland andGermany, who with wives and children set out for their native valleys, aided even by the kind help of those who, like the Elector of Brandenburg, had given them shelter at some expense in his dominions, but who now madefresh sacrifices to gratify the longing of their hearts. 

Victor Amadeus was faithful to his promise, and not only allowed the exilesto return to home and faith, but he also consented that some who under theseverity of trial had abjured their faith should be allowed the privilegeof returning to their first and purer creed. In return for this kindness, as well as in strict conformity with their own patriotic and piousprinciples, the Vaudois greatly assisted the Duke of Savoy in his war withFrance, is the testimony of Botta in his _Storia d'Italia_. The Count ofSaluzzo also testifies "that they hastened to join the Marquis de Perelle, _who had not long before attacked them_, and that their skirmishes cost theenemy, whom they drove from Lucerna, more than a thousand men. " Beauregard, in his "_Historical Memories of the House of Savoy_, " says, that "_thebarbets_, by their bravery, made themselves formidable to the French;" andwith regard to the siege of Coni, mentions with special praise the servicesof a troop of "eight hundred Vaudois, under the command of a chiefcelebrated among them. " This chief, no doubt, was Arnaud; but whilst he wasanxious that they should render to their prince every possible help in amilitary point of view, the latter sought to carry out his intention ofrestoring the Vaudois to their property; but there were great difficultiesin the way. 

By the edict of May 23rd, 1694, the ancient rights of the Vaudois areacknowledged, and the persecuting decrees of January and April, 1686, revoked. The pope, Innocent XII. , tried to invalidate the decree, but theSenate of Turin confirmed the edict of their sovereign, and prohibited thebull of the pope. 

So, all the prospect seemed fair, and the Vaudois, so long and cruellypersecuted, might hope for an era of prosperity; for the time and means notonly to cultivate their desolated vineyards, to lead their flocks again topasture on their mountain slopes, and rebuild their thatched homesteads, but also to restore the pure worship of their own and their fathers' God. But, alas! "put not your trust in princes" was a sentiment which might havebeen graven deeply on the memory of the all-confiding, all-enduringVaudois. 

Victor Amadeus was persuaded by the crafty Louis XIV. To forsake his alliesin the war against France, and become again a vassal of the proud andperfidious French king. And therefore, while he remains true to theengagement to protect the ancient inhabitants of the valleys against theirinveterate persecutor, he makes a secret treaty (1696) by which, firstly, intercourse between the professors of the reformed faith in France andSavoy is prohibited; secondly, French soldiers enlisted in the Vaudois armyare no longer allowed to remain in the service of the duke; thirdly, refugees from France were to be expelled the valleys. 

This crafty device of the mean and cowardly French king resulted in thebanishment of seven of the most valuable Vaudois pastors, viz. , Montoux, the companion of Arnaud, five of their colleagues, natives of Pragela orDauphine, and _Arnaud himself_! It was indeed with a heavy heart that thebrave and trusted leader, the tried and sagacious counsellor, the devotedand accomplished pastor of the Vaudois, left for ever those churches inwhose service he had wrought such exploits, and on whose behalf he haddared death in a thousand shapes and suffered almost incredible privations. His only consolation, and without it, hero as he was, Arnaud might havedied from grief, lay in the mighty fact, that he had been privileged toaccomplish a work inferior to none in the annals of history. With a motiveinfinitely higher than that of Zenophon, his exploits as a soldier areequal in skill, endurance, and bravery to his; while, as regards results, the contrast is still more favourable to Henri Arnaud's work. 

The Greeks, it is true, were brought back to their country, but remainedmercenaries to the last, while the Vaudois both regained their homes, andsucceeded in replanting the standard of their faith so firmly under thefavour of Almighty God that never since has it been in such danger ofextinction as Arnaud delivered it from. 

 "Since then 'abide the chosen race Within their ancient dwelling place, ' Since then 'upon each Alpine height Truth sits enthroned in Rome's despite. '"

Some 3, 000 French Protestants withdrew with Henri Arnaud from the valleys. Their first resting-place was Geneva, which twelve years before had socharitably welcomed the persecuted Vaudois. Arnaud reached Geneva August30th, 1698, and speedily sought a place of habitation for his brethren. TheDuke of Wurtemberg provided a home for these victims of the cruelty ofLouis XIV. In a place to the west and north of Stuttgardt. On this occasionthe exiles had no hope of returning, and they settled down in their newabode and called their rising settlements by the names of their formervillages in the valleys of Perosa and Pragela. The Duke of Wurtembergtreated these people with every kindness. As regards church matters andeducation they carried out their own home arrangements, assisted by fundsfrom England. In a colony, Schoenberg, near Dürrmenz, Arnaud passed theremainder of his life. He declined the pressing offer of our King WilliamIII. To take the command of a regiment in the English army. Having led theVaudois once back to their native soil, and established them in theirearthly Goshen, his only desire now was to lead the flock entrusted to hiscare amid the green pastures of the gospel upward to the heavenly Canaan. 

He died on the 8th of September, 1721, having reached the goodly age offour score years. He was twice married, and left behind him three sons andtwo daughters. 

Within the humble precincts of a temple built with walls of clay, and abell, whose sound was never heard beyond the cherry-trees of the village, gratitude and respect have assigned a place of honour to the mortal remainsof this truly great man. The ashes of Henri Arnaud lie beneath thecommunion table. An engraving suspended below the pulpit gives the featuresof the hero of San Germano of Salabertrand and the Balsille. 

While on his tombstone is the following Latin inscription:--

 "Beneath this Tomb lies

 HENRI ARNAUD, PASTOR AND ALSO MILITARY COMMANDER OF THE PIEDMONTESE VAUDOIS. "

In the centre of the monument--

 "Thou seest here the ashes of Arnaud, but his achievements, labours, and undaunted courage none can depict. The son of Jesse combats alone thousands of foreigners; alone he terrifies their camp and leader. He died September 8th, 1721, aged lxxx. "

FOOTNOTES:

[E] A modern traveller thus graphically describes the place as he saw it in1854:--"And now came in view the glorious Balsille, springing from the bedof the Germanasca, and its successive wooded aiguilles rising likepinnacles up the steep roof of a Gothic cathedral.... Around it gapefearful ravines, each with its headlong torrent, separating it from thegrand heights of the d'Albergian on the north, and the mount Guignivert onthe south; whilst it is attached to the summit of the Col du Pis on thewest. The peaks of Balsille are fringed with pines, but the rocksthemselves are so pointed and broken that they resemble tops of pines on aTitan scale. There are four principal peaks, and so the mountain has beennamed Quatre Dents. " The term château, or castle, used in this narrativewas applied to a kind of grassy platform at the top. 

 CHAPTER XI. 

Although the Vaudois were not wholly despoiled of the fruit of their heroicefforts in fighting their way back to their native valleys, yet the cruelbanishment of the French Protestants, and the removal of so many of theirgifted and devoted leaders, was a very heavy calamity. It placed almostinsuperable difficulties in the way of their reorganization. Furthermore, they were greatly harassed by the imposition of taxes far beyond theirmeans, and most unjustly levied _only_ on the Protestants. Verydishonourable attempts were also made to seduce their children from theprofession of evangelical principles. They were not allowed to repair theirshattered temples, and were deprived of a proper number of pastors; so thataltogether they were in an evil case. Their proverbial and long-triedloyalty to their prince, however, flourished in spite of thesediscouragements. Victor Amadeus, having joined England and Holland againstFrance, was besieged in Turin by the latter power in 1706. He was so hardlypressed by the French troops as to be obliged to take refuge among hisfaithful subjects of the valleys. A family named Durand had the honour ofgiving shelter to their fugitive prince; and when by the forced marches ofPrince Eugene deliverance was at hand, King Amadeus conferred the right ofburying in their own garden on the family which sheltered him, as well asbequeathed his own silver spoons and drinking-cup to the family. I had thepleasure of seeing one of these spoons, preserved in the museum at LaTorre, on the occasion of my visit in 1871. Eugene and the Duke of Savoyascended the heights of the Superga (a hill about six miles from Turin)together. The prince, detecting some mistakes in the movements of theFrench troops, exclaimed, "It seems to me that these people are alreadyhalf beaten;" whereupon the duke vowed, if Turin were delivered from theFrench, that he would erect a monument on that spot to the Virgin. He kepthis vow, and the present imposing structure, used as a mausoleum for theHouse of Savoy, was begun in 1717, and finished fourteen years after. Buthe was not equally mindful of his obligations to his devoted Vaudois, who, in addition to protecting their prince at the risk of their own safety, also inflicted great injury upon the French troops when obliged to raisethe siege of Turin. Indeed the vexations to which the Vaudois weresubjected by the interference of the French court as the ready instrumentof papal cruelty and intolerance provoked the kindly interposition ofFrederick I. Of Prussia on their behalf. However, Amadeus would not protectthe converts from Catholicism, although he was firm in maintaining therights of the Vaudois within the narrow limits which had been conceded. Still these faithful subjects of the House of Savoy had to bear manygrievous acts of injustice, from which they were exempted by the expresswords of the royal edicts. However, they endured all these irritations frompapal lawlessness without being led away by the seductive promises and theillusory hopes of freedom and happiness which so largely unsettled thecontinent of Europe by the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Indeed so sensitive were they of anything which might bring their loyaltyinto question that they actually suspended one of their pastors from hisfunctions for six months because he had inadvertently alluded torevolutionary principles from his pulpit! I may add that the same principleof wise abstention from all political discussions still characterize theVaudois pastors, both in the valleys and the mission-field of the Italianpeninsula. 

In the wars between France and Savoy at this time the Vaudois had theguardianship of the frontiers entrusted to them. In 1793 the French triedhard to move the Vaudois from their fidelity by the most attractivepromises of civil and religious liberty. Although they refused to listen tothese promises, yet the ready tongue of calumny took advantage ofcircumstances connected with the surrender of the fort of Mirabocco toasperse their integrity. Investigation showed that if Musset (the onlyVaudois officer present at the time) had been in command, the place wouldhave been defended to the last. Still such was the spirit engendered bypopish fanaticism, that a most frightful conspiracy to murder thedefenceless Vaudois women and children of San Giovanni and La Torre, whiletheir fathers and brothers were all away guarding the frontiers, wasconcocted. Happily for the credit of Christianity and humanity it wasdiscovered and revealed in time by two members of the Romish faith, whowere too honourable to sanction such a scheme. These gentlemen, Brianza, priest of Lucerna, and Captain Odetti, gave notice to the Vaudois. Messengers were at once despatched to the mountains. General Gaudin atfirst refused to let them go to the defence of their homes, disbelievingthe existence of the conspiracy until he was shown the names of sevenhundred of those engaged in it. Then he hesitated to weaken his forcesagainst the French; but a stratagem happily relieved him of hisembarrassment, though eventually he lost his command for his humanity, _while none of the conspirators were punished_! Instead of this a Vaudoiscaptain, Davit, was executed, and others placed under arrest upon unjustsuspicions. By these proceedings a feeling of disquietude was provoked, which only the appointment of General Zimmerman, a native of Lucerna, wasable to calm. 

An armistice taking place in the spring of 1796, and Charles Emmanuel IV. Coming to the Sardinian crown, the British ambassador sought moreconsiderate treatment of the Vaudois. In reply to this appeal they wereallowed to repair and enlarge their temples, and even to remove them tomore commodious sites. In 1798 Charles Emmanuel IV. Was only allowed theisland of Sardinia by the all-conquering French, who took possession ofPiedmont, and annexed it as a province to France. This event gave to theVaudois in a moment every social right, every political privilege, and, above all, the religious freedom they had for centuries fought, and bled, and suffered in vain to procure, at least in its entirety!

However, the position of the Vaudois was one of difficulty. Under the ruleof their _de facto_ government they took part in repressing the uprising ofthe Piedmontese against the French at Carmagnola. And when three hundredwounded soldiers, fleeing from the Austrian army, who pursued them to theVaudois frontiers, reached Bobbio in a state of appalling destitution, M. Rostaing, the pastor, and his people, fed them out of their scanty stores, dressed their wounds, and carried them on their shoulders over frightfulprecipices, and along snow-covered defiles impassable to ordinary traffic. This act of humanity (gratefully acknowledged by the French commander, Suchet) would have drawn upon them a fresh outpouring of oppression, hadnot the Russian general taken a truer estimate of their position. Heallowed them to retain their arms on the condition that they used them onlyin self-defence. Napoleon's victory at Marengo, on the 14th June, 1800, consolidated the French rule over Piedmont. But the Vaudois experienceddreadful privations at this time, owing to the ravages of the soldiers ofthe two armies, French and Austrian, and a period of scarcity. The stipendsof the pastors were also in great part wanting. The French government madea provision out of appropriations formerly given to the Romish priests andmonks. Indeed, after a conversation which Napoleon held in a most agreeablemanner with M. Peyrani, moderator of the Vaudois Church, he assignedstipends of one thousand francs yearly to the pastors of parishes, togetherwith an extra allowance of two hundred francs for work as secretaries ofthe communes. On this occasion Napoleon referred in a spirit of admirationto the exploits of Arnaud and other brave leaders of the Vaudois, and alsodrew from M. Peyrani the statement that his church had an independentexistence from about the year 820. At this time the Vaudois rebuilt theirtemple at Giovanni, closed since the year 1658. However, it was barelyfinished when it suffered much damage from an earthquake, the shocks ofwhich were felt for a period of four months in the neighbourhood ofPinerolo, and in other parts, both of Italy and France. Although theprevalence of this earthquake inflicted great suffering on the Vaudois bythe cessation of all industrial pursuits, the necessity of living in tents, and the general terror and alarm which it inspired, yet the actual loss oflife did not extend to more than three cases. There were many remarkabledeliverances. Notwithstanding this visitation of Providence, it does notappear that religious life existed to the degree of former times. Thespirit of atheism stirred up in France; the prevalence of a coldmaterialistic philosophy in those seminaries where the students for theWaldensian ministry had to seek instruction; the absorption of the thoughtsby the reports of military expeditions; the bewitchery attached to the nameand achievements of Bonaparte, not only made the young men of the valleyswilling to enrol beneath his standard, but also had a tendency to restrictthe simplicity and the piety so characteristic of their forefathers tothose who from sex or age were left outside of that turbid wave which sweptothers into the current of its power. In 1815 came the downfall of theproud empire erected by the military prowess and boundless ambition of thefirst Napoleon. How this affected the Vaudois we will consider in our nextchapter. 

 CHAPTER XII. 

On the return of Victor Emmanuel I. To the throne of his fathers, withaugmented dominions, the Waldenses had such favourable expectations fromhis knowledge of them that out of respect to his feelings they abstainedfrom certain efforts which they might have used at the congress of Viennafor the preservation of their rights. Unhappily, these hopes were notrealized. The king passed an edict restricting the Vaudois to theconcessions enjoyed before the French occupation; and in place of thestipend of one thousand francs for their pastors he assigned them only halfthe amount. The Romish priests, not content with the restoration of theinfamous hospital for abducting Protestant children at Pinerolo, and othergrants made by the French, actually set up a claim for income which hadaccrued during the period of their dispossession. This, however, CountCrotti, superintendent of the province, refused, on the ground that theVaudois administered not only lawfully, but in such a way as to enhancerather than diminish the value of the property. The temple of Giovanni wasalso closed again, but only for one year, though the use of it wasaccompanied by an injunction to place a screen before the entrance, so asto mollify the opposition of the priest of the Romish chapel exactlyopposite in the same village. The king further allowed the Vaudois toretain property outside the valleys acquired during the French occupation;also to follow, besides ordinary trades, the professions of surgeon, apothecary, and architect. 

As the old machinery of fire and sword was no longer available, the enemiesof the Vaudois sought to win them from their principles by the issue ofpastoral letters from the bishops of Pinerolo. Messrs. Bigez, Rey, andCharvaz engaged in these attempts, but without success, the pastorsrefuting their epistles, especially MM. Geymet, Rodolph, Peyran, andMondon. Victor Emmanuel having abdicated in 1821, was succeeded by CarloFelice, a bigoted Romanist. He published a decree for restricting theliberties of the Vaudois according to the terms of the edict of 1622. Healso allowed a bull of Pope Gregory, which forbids "to those of thepretended reformed religion" the right of trading among the Romanists. Bymeans, however, of protests from the representatives of England and Prussiathis last act of tyranny was not persevered in. Still, when the Waldensesasked to see their king, he denied them audience in the following terms:"Tell them they only want one thing; that is, to be Catholics. " Theirloyalty, indeed, was conspicuous; for they stood almost alone in 1821, whenthe rest of Piedmont was wavering in its fidelity to the house of Savoy. In1831 Carlo Alberto ascended the throne. Although greatly under theinfluence of the Church of Rome, he yet showed a spirit of justice towardshis Vaudois subjects. For instance, he not only removed the disability bywhich they were denied an officer's commission in the Sardinian army, buton the occasion of the death of Major Bonnet, a Vaudois in his service, whohad been buried without the honours due to his rank, he commanded that thebody should be exhumed and removed to La Torre at his expense, and there beinterred with all the respect due to the aged soldier. He further settledan annuity upon the major's children. Something of this same alternationbetween subjection to Rome and the aspirations of justice showed itself inanother transaction of his reign, namely, that of the erection of a churchand priory for the accommodation of eight missionary fathers of the orderof St. Maurice and Lazarus at La Torre. These buildings stand at the veryentrance of the town as you approach from Giovanni. I confess theirpresence suggested disagreeable thoughts to my mind. They seemed so out ofharmony with the spirit of the new era of justice and freedom, and toawaken so many memories of past oppressions. But these thoughts were asnothing to the gloomy apprehensions which actually filled the minds of theVaudois at the date of their erection. They were not a little perplexed, beside, as to the way in which they should act on the occasion of the visitof their king to attend the ceremonial of this church consecration. However, a gracious Providence interposed on their behalf, and showed thecharacter of their sovereign in an assuring light. First of all he sentback the troops of the line which were proposed as his escort. Instead ofthese he consented to be received by the militia of the valleys, stating, in reply to those who urged a guard of regular troops, "I require no guardin the midst of the Vaudois. " The king was most cordially welcomed, and, being deeply touched by his reception, ordered each company of the militiato pass before him according to their communes, and with their respectivecolours. He also gave an audience to the Vaudois Table, left money to bedistributed among the poor, in which the Protestants shared; and toperpetuate the memory of this visit of September 24th, 1844, caused afountain to be erected close by with the inscription, "Il re CaroloAlberto, al popolo che l'accoglieva con tanto affetto. " "The king CharlesAlbert to the people who welcomed him with so much affection. "

This pleasing episode in the history of the Vaudois forms a fitting preludeto the advent of a yet more substantial token of good-will on the part oftheir sovereign. I mean that edict of emancipation which, while it didjustice to the people of the valleys, also, by the circumstances of theirinclusion, made the kingdom of Sardinia a true pattern of constitutionalmonarchy; kept her true amidst the perfidy and violence by which thesovereigns of other states withdrew on the morrow the boon of theyesterday, and in consequence reaped a harvest of anarchy and disorder;while brave Piedmont has not only remained firm as a rock, but has beengathering to itself, one by one, the minute subdivisions of the Italianpeninsula, until at length we see its true and faithful sovereign, "il Regalantuomo, " the monarch of all that stretches from the Tyrol on the northto Sicily on the south. "His sceptre rules and banner waves" from the shoreof the Adriatic to the valleys of the Alps. And throughout the length andbreadth of that land, whilst neighbouring countries, notably those mostservile to the papacy, Spain and France, have been convulsed by terrors andparalysed by intestine and foreign wars, the tricoloured flag of theItalian kingdom floats triumphantly above the walls of ancient Rome, andsuch an era of peaceful contentment and commercial enterprise has begun asits proud cities and luxuriant plains have long been strangers to. Just aswith regard to God's Israel of the East, so does it seem to have been withthis modern Israel of the West. The nations who persecuted and despoiledthe sons of Abraham have been despoiled themselves. The nations whobefriended the Jews have risen to power and influence. Likewise thepersecutors of God's faithful ones in the valleys of the Po, notably thepriest-king and France, have been scourged; whilst the countries whichbefriended them in their long series of trials, the Protestant states ofGermany, Holland, and our own land, have been distinguished by a constantlyaugmenting prosperity. Oh, that men were wise! Oh, that politicians wouldremember that it is righteousness which exalteth a nation. The thought thatPiedmont became the Zoar of the living Church of God, when its members fledfrom the Sodom of pagan and papal persecution and corruption, is not one ofthe least of the grounds of hope, that not only shall its politicalexpansion continue, but that with it shall also be united that nobler giftof the gospel of Christ, in its purity and power conveying the gloriousliberty of the children of God to the millions who have so long groanedbeneath the bondage of Antichrist. 

But these thoughts remind us that the precious boon of emancipation for theVaudois did not descend upon them without an intervening period of doubtand struggle. 

The political changes first announced in October, 1847, did not include theVaudois within their range. Hence they had to ask for a special act bywhich their freedom should be conceded. All the liberals supported thisdemand. At a banquet at Pinerolo, Audifredi, an advocate, said, "Twentythousand of our brothers stand, so to speak, enclosed and isolated betweentwo torrents in our delightful valleys. They are honourable, laborious, strong in mind and body, equal to other Italians. With enlighteneddispositions and by severe sacrifices they have educated their children, but oppressed by burdens they do not enjoy the rights of other citizens. Tous it belongs, as their nearest brethren, to vote that by an universalbrotherhood there shall no longer be the embankment of these torrents, thatthe country should be their mother and not their stepmother, and that asthey are judged suitable to defend their country by the arm, so it shouldbe allowed that they can enlighten and elevate it by the mind. _Evviva laemancipazione dei Valdesi. _"[F]

An immense petition was drawn up, headed by the names of Marquis Robertod'Azeglio, Count Cavour, Cesare Balbo, and, strange to say, the Bishop ofPinerolo. The attorney-general, Count Sclopis, supported the memorial, because, said he, by careful examination of the criminal records of thegovernment, "no other population of the country could be compared with theVaudois in morality and virtue. " At length the _statuto_ was published inthe _Official Gazette_ on the 25th of February, 1848 (though dated the 17thof that month). On the evening of that day the residences of the Englishand Prussian ambassadors were brilliantly illuminated, as likewise thehouses of nearly all the Protestants in Turin. Moreover, the news of thishappy event soon spread itself over the valleys. At nightfall somehundreds of bonfires were kindled on the hills, and even upon the tops, yetcrowned with snow, and thus the joyous demonstrations of the Protestants ofthe capital were united in by their brethren on the hill sides. 

But two days after this there was a yet greater demonstration of gladness. Deputations from all parts of the kingdom met in Turin to express theirunited thanks to their monarch for the constitution bestowed upon hispeople. The Vaudois assembled in large numbers, and, with the Protestantsinhabiting the city, formed a column of more than six hundred persons, headed by ten pastors, and bearing aloft a magnificent banner of thecolours of Savoy, on which was written, embroidered in large silverletters, these simple but expressive words--

 "A RE CARLO ALBERTO I. , VALDESI RICONOSCENTI. "

(The grateful Waldenses to Charles Albert. )[G] While the large processionwas waiting to start, a deputation was sent to the Vaudois, begging thatthey would take the place of honour. "Vaudois, " they said, "until now youhave been the last; to-day justice must be done you, and you shall walk atour head!" And so it was. The Vaudois column, preceded by its banner, andsurrounded by twelve children, dressed in the Italian costume of thesixteenth century, opened the march; and then a spectacle unknown in theannals of Piedmont was displayed in the capital, and by it to the kingdom. In every street wherever the procession traversed, wherever appeared theflag of the persecuted Church, hands clapped, handkerchiefs waved, hats(even that of a priest) rose in the air, "Evviva ái Valdesi! Evvival'emancipazione!" burst from thousands of mouths, and many of thespectators, leaving the ranks, came and hung upon the neck of some memberof the column, accompanying the act (sufficiently expressive in itself) bywords of a most affecting and brotherly character. The enthusiasm wasindescribable. What a contrast between the acclamations of that day and thecries of "Death to the heretic!" which in other times these same streets sooften heard at the passing of some confessor of the gospel to a crueldeath![H]

What these festive proceedings foreshadowed as to the extension anddeepening of the piety and power of the church of the valleys must bereserved for our next chapter. 

FOOTNOTES:

[F] _Gli Evangelici Valdesi_, per PAOLO GEYMONAT, Professore di Teologia inFirenze. 

[G] This banner was afterwards presented to the king, and most graciouslyreceived by him. 

[H] _Le General Beckwith, sa vie a ses travaux. _ By J. P. MEILLE, Pasteur. 

 CHAPTER XIII. 

We concluded our last amidst the gladness of heart which filled the soulsof myriads to whom social progress, political freedom, and evangelicaltruth were precious. Our object now is to recount the fruits of thatenlargement accorded to the Vaudois; and in order to do this we must take aretrospect of their religious condition for some few years before thearrival of that grand epoch. At that period the state of things in thevalleys was far from satisfactory. Not to recount, as among the causes, those political disabilities to which reference has been previously made, Iwill refer to some additional circumstances of a vexatious and depressingcharacter. One was the hindrances to the obtaining the most indispensablereligious books, such as Bibles, catechisms, hymn-books. With each parcelof Bibles and New Testaments, the moderator was obliged to sign a formalundertaking that not a single copy should be sold, nor even lent to a RomanCatholic. Again, in all the communes of the valleys, where nearly all theproprietors were Protestants, and scarcely a Roman Catholic could be foundwho was not either living on alms or employed as a daily labourer, the lawrequired that the _majority_ of the members of the communal council shouldbe always and necessarily composed of Romanists. 

As regards primary education, the valleys were more favourablycircumstanced than other parts of the kingdom. Out of a population of sometwenty thousand, nearly four thousand attended school, at least during thewinter months. However, it will be seen that the real work of education wasnot in so satisfactory a condition as the above statement, in a superficialpoint of view, might imply. To show this we will descend to details as tothe schools, their kind, structure, fittings, and teachers. 

First, then, we take the HAMLET SCHOOLS, about one hundred and twenty innumber. They were carried on generally in a _stable_, and the place wasneither remarkable for space nor cleanliness; so that on one side, in anarrow division, would be thirty or forty children, separated from thesheep or the goats by so slender a space that not infrequently the heads ofthe children and the animals would combine in a way more grotesque thaneffective for educational purposes. 

The amount of didactic efficiency to be expected in the teacher may besurmised from the circumstance of his salary being sometimes less than themunificent sum of threepence-halfpenny per day! With such machinery we mayfeel it was an achievement to be grateful for, if by the end of thewinter's session the children had learnt to read, write, and ciphermoderately, and could repeat by heart a prayer for morning and evening, theLord's Prayer, the Decalogue, and the Apostles' Creed. 

Second. There were also the PARISH SCHOOLS, open ten months in the year, and attended during the winter by a large number of children, the majorityof whom had to leave on the advent of spring to work in the fields. Thosenot so required remained in the district or hamlet schools. The buildingsin which the parish schools were conducted were not exactly stables, butyet entirely destitute of the light, air, fittings, and furniture requisitefor school-work. The only reading-books were a French Bible and Italianacts of parliament. So much, then, for the primary schools. The conditionof the _secondary or grammar schools_ was not much more encouraging. Theinstitution was migratory, and aimed to teach fifteen or twenty pupils, divided into five classes, under one teacher, not always very competent, and badly paid, as much Latin and Greek as would secure their admission asstudents in the academies of Strasbourg, Lausanne, or Geneva. But we passfrom schools to things religious and ecclesiastical. Morals werecomparatively pure; there was a respect for religion; a frequent attendanceon public worship; a deep attachment to their ancestral faith; adisposition to endure everything rather than deny it; and affection andesteem for their pastors. As regards the pastors, they were, almost withoutexception, faithful to the ancient evangelical orthodoxy. 

But there was that which both pastors and flocks were very imperfectlyacquainted with, viz. , on one side the aim and mission of the church, andon the other the true nature of the fruits intended to be produced by thepreaching of the gospel. In a word, there was a lack of true spiritualenergy, a realization of the need and preciousness of salvation. There wasthe outward shell of orthodoxy, but the living soul of godliness waswanting. Jesus Christ was present in name, but absent in reality. 

In the administration of the church there were many serious defects. Themeeting of the synods was very difficult, partly because of the suspicionsof the government, and partly from the unwillingness of the communes tobear the expense connected therewith. Again, the synods themselves answeredbut imperfectly to the design of their institution, and their influence onthe spiritual state of the church very small. The Table, in its turn, forgetting that its duties were essentially religious, sunk insensibly intoa kind of higher tribunal for secular affairs. The same tendency showeditself in the bosom of the consistories. 

However, amidst these deep shades some gleams of light, the heralds ofbetter things, began to show themselves. The first of these hopeful signswas due to the liberality, as regards its beginning, of Madame Geymet, whoin the year 1826 laid the foundation of a hospital for the poor Waldensiansat La Torre. Madame Geymet was encouraged warmly by Pastor La Bert, thethen moderator of the Waldensian Church, and Pastor Cellerier, of Geneva, who made a collection in aid of the object. The Count Waldburg Truchsesse, Prussian ambassador at Turin, obtained help from Prussia; Dr. Gilly, bymeans of the committee in London, sent large help from this country. Holland, France, and Russia also joined in the effort; so that at lengththe brave projector had the satisfaction of seeing _two_ hospitals grow outof her once ridiculed scheme. The second hospital was erected at Pomaret, for the especial benefit of the valleys of San Martino and Pragela. 

Another means of awakening at this time arose from the arrival of someyoung ministers, who had just left the foreign academies, especially thatof Lausanne, where the influence of a spiritual revival had beenparticularly felt. A visit paid to the different parishes of the valleys in1826 by Felix Neff and Pastor Blanc, of Mens, resulted in much spiritualfruit. 

These were but streaks of morning light, however. Long years had to pass, and many painful struggles to be engaged in, before the Sun ofRighteousness shone clearly with His beneficent rays on the thick woods andthe shady corners of these lovely valleys. Among those who have been themeans of promoting the revival of true religion in the Waldensian Churchstand out conspicuously the names of Dr. Gilly and General Beckwith. Theformer paid his first visit to the valleys in 1823. As that visit becamethe germ of so much blessing to the Vaudois, it is not unimportant torecall the providential circumstance which led to that visit. Referring tothe doctor's own narrative, [I] he says, "I happened to attend a meeting ofthe Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge on a day when a veryaffecting letter was read to the board, signed Ferdinand Peyrani, ministerof Pramol, 'and requested that some aid might be sent, in books or money, to the ancient Protestant congregation in the mountains of Piedmont, whowere struggling hard against poverty and oppression. '" The society votedforty pounds' worth of books, including those mentioned as specially neededfor use in their churches. But from the date of this incident Dr. Gillysought after fuller information respecting the Vaudois, and determined onvisiting their valleys. This purpose he carried into effect early in theyear 1823, and on his return home the next year he published an account ofhis journey, his object being to excite an _immediate_ interest on behalfof these people. How largely he succeeded, so as to entitle him to bereckoned among their chiefest benefactors, we shall have occasion to remarklater on. But, apart from the formation of a large and influentialcommittee in London, by which considerable sums of money were raised "toassist the Vaudois in maintaining their ministers, churches, schools, andpoor, " he was the means of invoking the sympathy and aid of one whoconsecrated his life, strength, and means in one almost unbroken series ofefforts for their amelioration--I mean General Beckwith. This distinguishedphilanthropist was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 2nd, 1789. He wasbaptized by the names of John Charles, and entered the 95th Regiment in theyear 1803. His first years as a soldier were spent in Hanover, Denmark, andSweden. In 1809 he was engaged in the Peninsular War, being present at thedisastrous retreat from Corunna and the sieges of Salamanca and Toulouse. For his services at the last place he received a gold medal and the rank ofmajor, March 3rd, 1814. During these campaigns he was never wounded, although exposed to great danger. One morning, among others, his oldservant had scarcely reached the skirts of a forest in which the enemy hadan ambuscade than his master's horse was killed by a ball, and the rideroverthrown. The servant thought it was all over with his master, but thesad thought had hardly entered his mind when Beckwith sprang up and criedout, "All right, John, " and by a quick movement escaped beyond reach ofthe enemy's fire. 

On the return of Napoleon from Elba, Beckwith rejoined the standard ofWellington, and took a prominent part in the battle of Waterloo. On thisday he had four horses killed under him, but received no personal injuryuntil he was struck by a cannon ball in the left leg from the retreatingfire of the French. After three months' unsuccessful treatment amputationwas declared necessary. This random shot, like the bow drawn at a venturein an ancient battle, was pregnant with mighty consequences, not only toBeckwith personally, but to that interesting people to whom as yet he hadnever given a thought. 

Beckwith, though only twenty-six years of age, was made alieutenant-colonel on the field of battle, and received the silver medalstruck to commemorate the victory. Had he not lost his leg he wouldprobably have risen to the highest distinction as a soldier. But if so hemight never have become the instrument of such extensive blessings to theVaudois as was destined in the providence of God. 

The first foundation stone, so to speak, on which was to be erected thespacious superstructure of his after benevolence began at the time of hisretirement to the château of Mont St. Jean, during the period of weaknessresulting from his wound at Waterloo. The owner of the mansion had a littlegirl, six years of age, who was a most attentive nurse to him. She hardlyever left his bedside, and by her childish prattling, innocentpleasantries, and tender sympathy, won his regard, and spread a charm overa time of pain and depression; so much so, indeed, that when the time ofseparation came it greatly distressed him, and in after life he never spokeof her without evident emotion. 

But it was in this way God led him first to that benevolent interest in theyoung which afterwards became so marked a feature of his character. 

But up to this time, whilst Beckwith was not a sceptic, yet his faith wasnot of an operative kind, he was taken up with those pursuits whichbelonged solely to time. The means employed by God to awaken him to aknowledge of the real aim of life was a copy of His own Word. This treasurehad lain unused at the bottom of his portmanteau until he lay wounded at alittle village near Courtray, in Belgium. Then he began to read with aninterest not previously felt, and it became to him the word of life. Whenhe was questioned about the circumstances of his conversion, he used toreply, in his graphic way: "The good God said, 'Stop here, you rascal!' andHe has cut off my leg, and I think I shall be the more happy without it. "

Of Beckwith's character as a soldier one of his former companions writesthus: "I always regarded Beckwith as an officer of very brilliant promise, for he embodied all the requisites of a great commander: remarkablequickness in conception, imperturbable coolness in the time of action, admirable power of organization, with indomitable courage. When he wasmajor he always left a position of safety to mix in the thick of the fight, and I remember meeting him in the breach of Ciudad Rodrigo at the head ofan attacking column when he might have been in the rear. " The same personalso testifies to Beckwith's care of his men, extending even to minuteparticulars about clothing. Also, that he was a great favourite with hisbrother officers on account of his intelligence and amiability. Afterrecovering somewhat from his wound he returned to England, and visitedAmerica during this time. Shortly after his arrival in England from thelatter place he sought out his old companions in the army, and among othershe called on the Duke of Wellington. 

It was while calling at Apsley House on one of these occasions he was showninto the library, and whilst waiting a short time for the duke his eye fellupon a number of new books, including _Dr. Gilly's Visit to the Vaudois_. On leaving he obtained a copy of the book. The result was that hedetermined to visit the valleys himself, which event happened in the autumnof 1827. 

Owing to the weather he stayed only a few days, but returned the followingyear, and continued his visits to the valleys year after year, until, in1833, a severe illness obliged him to remain in England. In the autumn of1835 he returned, and lived in the valleys with Pastor Bonjour, at St. John's, for the next five years. Again, after an interval of two years, hereturned to the valleys, living at the ancient castle of La Torre. In 1836the Vaudois Table had his portrait painted, and engravings distributedthrough the valleys. In 1844 the synod presented him with a cup of honour, also Dr. Gilly and the Count Waldburg Truchsesse. In 1846 he was promotedto the rank of major-general in the English army, and also received thedignity of a Knight of St. Maurice and Lazarus from the king of Sardinia. In 1850 he married a Vaudoise. In 1862 he dies among the people he had solong loved and served, and is buried at La Torre, amid the profoundestgrief and deepest veneration of the whole population. 

FOOTNOTES:

[I] _Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piedmont in the year1823. _ By WILLIAM STEPHEN GILLY. 2nd Ed. C. And J. Rivington. 

 CHAPTER XIV. 

Our last chapter closed with a brief sketch of the life of Beckwith, sothat in the present I might be free to speak of the work done, withoutinterpolations as to the personal movements of him who was in severalrespects the chief worker. To those who desire to read the full particularsof General Beckwith's life, I very earnestly commend the deeply interestingwork of Pastor J. P. Meille, to whose pages I am greatly indebted. 

Beckwith was early impressed with the conviction that God hadprovidentially preserved the Vaudois, that they might be the agents ofevangelizing Italy, through the political changes which were being wroughtin that country by means of the kingdom of Sardinia. He was the first torecognize this important truth, and he never lost sight of it, either inthe motive which it supplied for his own efforts, or in the influence hesought to bring to bear upon others. This belief in the mission of theVaudois quickened all his sympathies and guided all his plans. To turn tothese plans, one of the earliest was the improvement and extension ofprimary education. Beckwith saw at once the value of the Quartier schools, and he began to erect a better class of buildings for this purpose. Firstof all he bore the whole expense, excepting the site; afterwards he paidthe cost of labour in erecting the buildings, but required the inhabitantsto supply material as well as site. He also oftentimes contributed largelyto augment the salary of the underpaid teachers. Some one hundred andtwenty buildings, commodious and well-situated, were the result of theseefforts. 

But the improvement in the hamlet schools brought out more distinctly thesad condition of the parish schools. To overcome difficulties, Beckwithwould say to the parish authorities, You need a better school and residencefor your teacher; if you will raise a thousand francs (about a fourth orfifth, according to circumstances), I will supply the rest. 

If this offer was accepted, the colonel generally made the contract, andoverlooked the erection of the building. 

In this way, a little by little, some this year and others the next, innearly every commune of the valleys there rose up commodious edifices, dulyfurnished with all the requisites of teaching. The change was immense fromthe narrow, confined, ill-ventilated, badly lighted, and unfurnishedbuildings which had previously existed. 

The reformation, however, in the buildings and their fittings was not theonly thing requisite for a good school. Good teachers were also needed, andto procure these it was necessary to augment the scale of stipend. At thetime under review the highest salary was from three to four hundred francs(£12 or £16) per annum. Beckwith set about this task, and being ablysupported by the moderator of the church, M. Bonjour, he had thesatisfaction of seeing an arrangement made by which the salaries of theteachers were raised one-third. This augmentation began on the 1st ofJanuary, 1837. But the good effected by this movement was not simply theincreased pay of the teacher; it raised the work in public estimation, andgave to the teacher's position a degree of security which enabled him todevote himself more entirely to teaching as a distinct profession. 

Another means for advancing education was that of increasing the personalefficiency of the teachers themselves. To accomplish this, the teachers ofall the parish schools in the valleys were sent for a course of instructionat the normal college at Lausanne. The expense of this important measurewas borne entirely by Beckwith. And, moreover, to secure permanently theabove results, a rule was adopted by the synod in 1839, that henceforthevery teacher in the Vaudois parish schools must produce a certificate ofdidactic power, as well as moral fitness for the office. 

Beckwith's next movement was the establishment of a boarding-school forgirls. I had the pleasure of visiting this very interesting and importantinstitution in 1871, and was struck by the efficiency and excellence of itscharacter. But it is time to refer to his exertions in connection withSECONDARY instruction. Although Dr. Gilly very deservedly has the chiefcredit in reference to the erection of that noble college of the HolyTrinity at La Torre, which forms so imposing and interesting an object tothe Christian tourist, and which constituted so marked an epoch in therestoration of piety and sound learning among the pastors and generalpopulation of the valleys, yet it must be acknowledged that the manydifficulties associated with this grand enterprise would hardly have beensurmounted, had it not have been for the presence on the spot of so true afriend to the Vaudois, and so able an ally of the noble projector of thecollege, as his military colleague. 

Not only did he provide a building for the grammar school whose locationhad been one of the difficulties connected with the establishment of thecollege, but he also superintended the erection of the buildings, and gavea sum of ten thousand francs towards the cost. Dr. Gilly acknowledges thesethings in a letter to the moderator under date of April 28th, 1835. He alsowas instrumental, with Dr. Gilly, in founding a grammar school at Pomaret. This school was subsequently enlarged by the efforts of the Rev. Dr. Stewart, of Leghorn, another warm-hearted friend of the Waldensian Church. 

In 1847 Beckwith erected a group of houses, just above the college, for theresidence of the professors. But important as were the reformations soughtand obtained in the educational machinery of the valleys, yet it was almostas needful to improve the character of the ecclesiastical edifices used bythe Vaudois. Few were such as fitted the purposes to which they were setapart. There is nothing surprising in this when we consider thecircumstances of the Vaudois through so many centuries. But, easy as it isto account for the lack of edifices appropriate to the decent and reverentworship of Almighty God at the period referred to, the thing itself wasnevertheless a misfortune. Hence in 1843 Beckwith offered to restore thetemple at Rodoret, which was in a most deplorable state. The temple was notalone in its need; the parsonage-house, a very crazy building, wasdestroyed by an avalanche on the 16th of January, 1845, burying beneath itsruins the pastor, his wife, their little child, aged five months, andservant, the only living creature escaping being the pastor's dog! The newtemple being finished in March, Beckwith commenced operations for theerection of a suitable presbytery. The total cost of the new building wasthirteen thousand francs, contributed chiefly by Beckwith, but with thehelp of the commune, Dr. Stewart, of Leghorn, and friends in Dublin andAmerica. 

His next work was the restoration of the church at Rora. This matter wasaccompanied by a pleasing incident. He was speaking of the affair at thehouse of a friend in England. A little girl of the family overheard theconversation, and, approaching the general, offered him a penny, saying shewould like to assist in building the church. He was much touched by thisaction of the child, and taking her on his knees, said, "Yes, my friend;with that which you have given me I will build the church; and your penny, placed in the corner stone, will tell all the world that you have been thefounder. " The new building was consecrated in January, 1846. Other templesand presbyteries were restored, including that of Prali. The churches ofCoppier and Angrogna were restored in 1847 by Mrs. General MolyneuxWilliams. But a greater work was accomplished in 1852, when Beckwitherected a church for the parish of La Torre, which, under the influence ofoppressive edicts, had been deprived of its temple for hundreds of years. This edifice is, both as regards dimensions and architecture, suited to theposition it holds as the parish church of the capital of the valleys; thosevalleys no longer dreading the approach of sanguinary bands to pillage anddestroy, its people no longer crushed beneath a bondage which refused themthe opportunities of worship in their own parochial boundaries accordingto the creed and ritual of their sainted and heroic forefathers. This grandwork was the last preliminary to that church extension and missionaryrevival which the era of emancipation made possible to the Vaudois Church, and which Beckwith had so long eagerly and clearly anticipated. 

 CHAPTER XV. 

The first exercise of evangelical liberty accorded to the Vaudois Churchwas shown in the attempt to preach the gospel and establish a place ofProtestant worship, at what, in point of geographical nearness, was theneighbouring city, but not in the past the _neighbourly_ city of Pinerolo. The work was, however, accomplished chiefly by the munificence of AmericanProtestants. Then came the opening of the edifice, which so worthilyrepresents the Vaudois cause in Turin. Beckwith took a very energetic partin this important work. But the actual modern mission work of the VaudoisChurch may be said to have begun in May, 1849, when Professor Malanpreached in the temple at St. Giovanni (for the first time for centuriespast) the gospel in the Italian language. 

The Count Guiccardini and some other persons of social position at Florenceand its neighbourhood joined the Vaudois Church in 1850. The same year aVaudois missionary was appointed to Turin, chiefly by the liberality of twoEnglish gentlemen, Messrs. Brewin and Milsom. In 1851 a great manyrefugees, for conscience' sake, from Florence (the result of evangelisticlabours there), fled to Turin and swelled the numbers of the Vaudoiscongregation. 

Also on the evening of the day on which was laid the foundation of the newtemple, Mazzarella, a Neapolitan advocate, deputy of parliament, and judgeof the court of appeal at Genoa, was one of ten catechumens received intothe membership of the Vaudois Church. 

At the same time the gospel was finding its way into Genoa, a city devotedto Mariolatry. On the very day on which the Table decided to send M. Geymonat from Turin to work in Genoa, they received an application byletter from Genoa to admit to their communion and ministry a verydistinguished ex-priest of Rome. This was no other than Dr. De Sanctis, rector of the Magdalen and professor of theology, &c. , at Rome. Exceptingduring a short period, to which I need not refer, the connection thus begunbetween Dr. De Sanctis and the Vaudois continued until his lamented deathon the last day of December, 1869. But there are two points I will alludeto. First, the incidental means of his conversion. This was by a littletreatise put into his hands at a time when he was preparing a series oflectures in defence of the decrees of the Council of Trent as compared withthe word of God. 

Secondly, the ground on which he sought admission into the Vaudois Church. In the letter addressed to the Table, dated August 17th, 1852, he statesthat he had abandoned the Church of Rome for nearly five years, and fromthe moment of his separation until then his thoughts "always turned to theChurch of the Valleys, _because he recognized it as the true, primitive, apostolic Italian Church_. " "During these five years, " he adds, "I havelived among Christians who have proposed to me many times, with a view tomy temporal advantage, that I should join some church; but I have alwaysrefused, thinking that _an Italian, sincerely seeking the good of hiscompatriots, should not belong to any other church than the ancientItalian Church_. " I have transcribed these words, because I feel stronglytheir importance as coming from one so well able to estimate the value ofthe Vaudois in its past history and its adaptation to the necessities andopportunities of evangelizing that country so much needing the gospel ofChrist--the Italy of to-day. It seems to me that it is for this verypurpose that the little community confined within so narrow a space, apartfrom the more populous and frequented parts of Europe, has been preserved, in spite of so many attempts at extermination. What the seven thousand whodid not bow the knee to Baal were to the rest of Israel, so it would seemthat the faithful few in the valleys of Piedmont are intended to be inreference to that new kingdom of Italy, of which they form one of the mostancient provinces. And the whole attitude and character of the Church ofthe Valleys confirms this feeling. They can appeal to their brotherItalians as no foreigners can. Their very sufferings give them a rightwhich cannot be ignored. Mazzarella eloquently acknowledged this when hevisited La Torre. Again, by the removal of their college to Florence; theirliterary enterprise in such publications as the _Amico di Casa_, _Amico DeiFanculli_, _La Rivista Christiana_; the talent, zeal, and organizing powerof their missionary agency, they show themselves fully alive to theprivileged responsibilities of their position in Italy, and fully entitledto the hearty confidence and liberal support of all who desire thesupremacy of evangelic truth in that land which has been so long the headquarters of the papacy!

The following statement of agencies will confirm my assertion:--

-----------+-------------------+------------------+----+----+----+----+----DISTRICT. | STATION. | AGENTS. Pastors. | | | Evangelists. | | | | Communicants. | | | | | Day Scholars. | | | | | | Sunday | | | | | | Scholars. | | | | | | |-----------+-------------------+------------------+----+----+----+----+----PIEDMONT |Susa |Sig. A. Castioni | .. | 1 | 14 | 0 | .. | | | | | | |, |Courmayeur |Sig. F. Costabel | .. | 1 | 17 | 15 | .. | | | | | | |, |Aosta and Vallata |Sig. S. Girardone | .. | 1 | 19 | 11 | 9 | | | | | | |, |Ivrea and } | | | | | | | neighbourhood } |Rev. Daniel Revel | 1 | .. | 70 | .. | 15, |Castelrosso- } | | | | | | | Verolengo } | | | | | | | | | | | | |, |Pietra Marazzi |Sig. T. Pugno | .. | 1 | 24 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | |, |Monte Castello } |Sig. Rüggle | .. | 1 | 22 | 26 | 18, |Pecetto } | | | | | | | | | | | | |, |Torino |Rev. Benjamin Pons| 1 | .. |108 |230 |190 | | | | | | |, |Pinerolo |Rev. Philip Cardon| 1 | .. |110 | 49 | 35 | | | | | | |LIGURIA |Genoa |Rev. Mattheo | 1 | .. |150 | 50 | 75 | | Prochet | | | | | | | | | | | |, |San Pier d'Arena |Rev. A. B. Tron | 1 | .. | 22 | 25 | 10 | | | | | | |, |Favale |Sig. Stefano | .. | 1 | 27 | 19 | 13 | | Cereghino | | | | | | | | | | | |LOMBARDY |Milan |Rev. Jn. David | 1 | .. |125 | 20 | 65 | | Turin | | | | | | | | | | | |, |Como and } |Rev. Daniel Gay | 1 | .. | 42 | 17 | 13, | Val d'Intelvi } | | .. | .. | 28 | .. | .. | | | | | | |, |Brescia and } | }| 1 | .. | 42 | .. | 17, | Castiglione } |Rev. John Pons(1)}| .. | | 16 | .. | 6 | delle Stiviere} | }| | | | | | | | | | | |, |Guidizzolo |Sig. P. Forneron | .. | 1 | 13 | 18 | 24 | | | | | | |VENETIA |Venice |Rev. John B. | 1 | .. |225 |103 | 96 | | Pons(2) | | | | | | | | | | | |, |Verona |Rev. John Pons | 1 | .. | 40 | 12 | 18 | | | | | | |EMILIA |Guastalla |Rev. B. Gardiol | 1 | | 51 | 28 | 26 | | | | | | |THE MARCHES|Ancona |Sigs. Calvino & | .. | 2 | 30 | .. | .. | | Vittorini | | | | | | | | | | | |COMARCA |Rome |{Rev. John Ribetti| 1 | .. | 68 | 76 | 45 | |{Rev. Henry Meille| 1 | .. | | | | | | | | | |NEAPOLITAN |Naples |{Rev. M. Devita | 1 | .. |150 |129 | 40 TERRITORY | |{Sig. Henry Tron | .. | 1 | | |, |Fragneto |{ | .. | .. | 8 | .. | .. | | | | | | |, |San Bartolommeo |Sig. Falletti | .. | 1 | 14 | .. | .. | | | | | | |SICILY |Catania |{Rev. Emilio Long}| 1 | 1 | 50 | 30 | 40 | |{Sig. A. Bellecci}| | | | | | | | | | | | | |{Rev. Augustus }| | | | |, |Messina |{ Malan }| 1 | 1 | 93 | 20 | 34 | |{Sig. G. G. Trom }| | | | | | | | | | | |, |Palermo |{Rev. John S. Kay}| 1 | 1 | 67 | 78 |36 | |{Sig. E. Bosio }| | | | | | | | | | | |, |Trabia |Sig. S. Trapani | .. | 1 | 7 | 44 | 24 | | | | | | |, |Trapani |Sig. G. Fasulo | .. | 1 | 2 | .. | 15 | | | | | | |, |Riesi |{Rev. E. Long, }| 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | |{ temporarily }| | | | | | | | | | | | | |{Rev. Auguste }| | | | | | |{ Meille, Rev. }| | | | |TUSCANY |Florence |{ Professors }| 4 | .. | 52 |120 | 38 | |{ Geymonat, A. }| | | | | | |{ Revel, and E. }| | | | | | |{ Comba }| | | | | | | | | | | |, |Pisa |Rev. P. Weitzecker| 1 | .. | 60 | 26 | 20 | | | | | | | | |{Supplied from }| | | | |, |Lucca |{ Florence }| | .. | 38 | 22 | 8 | |{ temporarily }| | | | | | | | | | | |, |Leghorn |Rev. P. Rostagno | 1 | .. | 78 |236 |130 | | | | | | |, |Rio Marina, Elba |Rev. S. Bonnetto | 1 | .. | 70 |158 | 22-----------+-------------------+------------------+----+----+----+----+---- |40 Stations. | | 24 | 16 |1952|1568|1086-----------+-------------------+------------------+----+----+----+----+----

From this it will be seen that the Waldensian Church has at this momentforty stations and forty missionaries labouring in Italy and Sicily, ofwhom twenty-four are ordained ministers who have attended the collegecurriculum of nine years required by the Waldensian Church, four areprobationers who have also attended their whole college course, and onlywait till their year of probation as missionaries has expired to be alsoordained, and the other twelve are lay evangelists, or schoolmasterevangelists, who have given satisfactory proof of their piety and abilityto teach. The number of day schools instituted in connection with thesemission stations is fifty-eight, taught by fifty-nine teachers, andattended by 1, 568 pupils, according to the return made to the Synod inAugust, though I am inclined to think that there has been an increase inthe number since then. There are thirty-eight Sabbath schools, at whichthere has been an attendance of 1, 086 scholars, the greater number of whomare children of parents still professing Catholicism. The congregationsbegin to recognise the obligation of doing something to support divineordinances among themselves, and this year they have contributed to thefunds of the Evangelization Commission the sum of 21, 217, 84 lires, about£848 sterling, being upwards of £400 sterling more than last year. Thenumber of communicants up to the middle of August was 1, 952, and that ofcatechumens 214, while the number of hearers was then stated at Sabbathworship at a maximum of 3, 220. This is a brief account of the mission-workof the Waldensian Church in Italy, apart altogether from the pastoral andeducational work carried on in the fifteen parishes of the valleys, and inthe college of La Tour, which I have not time to enlarge on at present. 

But whilst I desire to evoke the sympathy of English-speaking Christianseverywhere on behalf of the Italian mission-work of the Waldensian Church, my chief object in sending out this little volume has been to callattention to some wants of the Vaudois in their own home-field. It isdelightful to an English visitor to those valleys to recount the long linesof deserved connection between his own country and this Goshen of theAlps--a line reaching from the days of our first Charles, strengtheningvisibly during the time of Cromwell, revived under William and Mary, andAnn, continuing still through the time of the Georges; though suspended forawhile by the interference of European warfare, yet again rekindled by theenergy and eloquence of Gilly, expanded and deepened by the devotedness ofBeckwith, and other benefactors following in his train too numerous for usto register, but not one of them ignored or forgotten by the gratefulvalley-men benefitted by their Christian kindness. Apart from theinstitutions to which I have already adverted, there is another which meetsthe eye of the visitor at La Torre, as he turns up the Val Angrogna. Thisis the Vaudois Orphan Asylum and Industrial School, established by theBritish Ladies' Association, the secretary of which is Miss Hathaway, Cheltenham. As the title indicates, the orphans are taught usefulindustries, such as straw-hat plaiting, lace and needle-work. Articles thusmade are disposed of for the benefit of the institution, which provides ahome for sixty children. Very great was the need of such a place in thevalleys, and deeply encouraging have been the fruits of this work of faithand labour of love. Not to extend my little book too far beyond itsoriginal design, viz. , that of a "handy-book on the valleys brought down todate, " I can only add that it seems to me that the chief wants of thechurch in her own valleys are--first, a better sustenance for her pastors;the very circumstance that those pastors are now expected to take theirplaces side by side with the foremost men of other churches in theContinent of Europe for the defence and spread of God's truth justifiesthis plea, if it were otherwise weak, which it is not. 

Secondly, help in the restoration of her ancient sanctuaries, and one ortwo additional ones. One thing that struck me as a painful void was, theabsence of any public monument of the past events of the wonderful historyof the Vaudois. It is true, in one sense, that the whole place is a museumof relics; that every rock has some thrilling tale, every mountain slopeand hill-side graven upon it the memory of saints and martyrs. Yet Iconfess that those who do remember what has passed, and that those who wishthat generations yet to come may know the history of these valleys, maywell desire that some external tokens stood out to impress the passer-bywith suitable emotion. I had this feeling most strongly as I reached theShiloh of the valleys--the Pra del Tor. 

Our route lay through the luxuriant and lovely Val Angrogna, which nowrejoiced in the fascinating charms of springtide. Everywhere the eye restedon scenes of softness and beauty, the turf not unlike that which gives sucha charm to an English landscape, while the undulating slopes were coveredwith an unutterable profusion of flowers. As we advanced higher up thevalley we were strongly reminded of the words of a French writer:"Sometimes in leaving a gorge our attention was absorbed by a beautifulmeadow. A strange intermixture of wild and cultivated nature met our eyeeverywhere, betraying the hand of man where one would have thought itimpossible for him to penetrate. By the side of a cavern we find houses;branches of the vine where we only looked for brambles; vineyards in desertplaces, and fields amidst the overhanging rocks. " All this is true beyondexaggeration, especially after you leave the village of Angrogna, with itsparsonage-house in the most picturesque situation of any we encountered. About half an hour from this spot the scenery becomes wildly grand, especially as you draw nigh to the torrent. On one side is the loftyVandalin, and on the other precipitous rocks; while in the narrow valleythe stream rushes down with its roar and foam, forming beautiful cascades, and reminding you of some of the grandest scenery in Switzerland. But, greatly as I was delighted with the topographical interest of my journey, yet I would not forget that it was the people and their fathers' deeds andsufferings that had led me to undertake this rather fatiguing enterprise;and long before I reached the Barricata, or Pra del Torno, I had a greatenjoyment in being taken by a Vaudois mechanic, who left his work atAngrogna, and would have no acknowledgment but my thanks, in order to showme one of those wonderful hiding-places in the very heart of the mountains, where the God of the hill and of the Vaudois so effectively succoured hispeople. The particular cavern I was shown was most difficult of access, not only by its seclusion, but also on other grounds; the entrance wouldonly admit one or two persons at a time; but once within there seemed spaceenough for about a hundred persons. Here I understood large numbers of thepersecuted Vaudois had found a refuge and a sanctuary in its holiest andhappiest sense. The words, "He shall dwell on high: his place of defenceshall be the munitions of rocks, " came to my thoughts with a freshness andfulness of meaning not previously realized. But the testimony of thisvalley is everywhere, "The Lord fought for Israel. " The next point ofremarkable interest shows this, viz. , the Barricata, which is a kind ofentrance to the enclosure known as Pra del Torno. At this spot the rocks oneither side come down close to the mountain, so that only a mere ledge ofrock remains as a path. Consequently, a small number of men could at thispoint drive back a host; and here, during the persecutions of thefifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, the contemptuous foes ofthe Vaudois met with humiliating and disastrous repulses, while the Vaudoisthemselves escaped comparatively unhurt. This circumstance led the enemy, during the persecution of 1560, under the Count de la Trinita, to place hismen on the heights above Roccamanente; but his one thousand two hundred menwere successfully driven back by less than one-twentieth of that number ofthe Vaudois; and when he renewed the attack with scornful assurance ofvictory, a few days later, the Vaudois, who were engaged in prayer at thetime, having despatched six of their number, who were slingers, to acommanding point above the assailants, obtained a still more triumphantvictory, without loss on their own side, but with terrible slaughter tothe enemy, including eight of his chief officers. 

Time fails to recount all that might be said of these celebrated regions. Imust, however, make passing mention of the beautiful mountain peak a littlehigher up on the right hand as you approach Pra del Torno, _i. E. _, LaVachera. On the 11th of June, 1655, after the Piedmontese troops wereunable to force the Barricata, though they tried from 5 a. M. To 3 p. M. , they advanced towards La Vachera. The Vaudois went up higher. Thinking thisto be a retreat, the Piedmontese soldiers exclaimed, "Advance, wreck ofJanavello!" The Vaudois responded, "Advance, wreck of San Segonzo!"accompanied by such a shower of stones that the soldiers fled in greatestconfusion, leaving behind them two hundred dead, and carrying away morethan twice that number of wounded. Indeed, this defeat was so decisive thatthe persecutors were constrained to acknowledge "God was with the Barbets, "and that whereas "formerly the wolves eat the dogs (_i. E. _, barbetti), nowthe dogs (barbetti) eat the wolves. "

But we now come to the goal of our journey to-day, Pra del Torno, a verysanctuary, embosomed amidst the everlasting hills, the site of the ancientcollege of the Vaudois clergy, from whence they went forth to preach thedoctrines of a pure faith even before Wickliffe rose as the morning star ofthe Reformation in our own land. Nature is still there in all its grandeur;but I must confess to a feeling of sadness as I beheld a church under thepatronage of the Virgin Mary in these valleys, where so much noble bloodhad been shed for the maintenance of the truth as it is in Jesus, but noplace of worship for the descendants of the men who were ready to die, butnot ready to dishonour God by participating in a worship contrary to Hisblessed Word. And my regret was not lessened when I learnt that theevangelical Vaudois has to make an eight hours' journey to his nearesttemple, and that his pastor would have a journey of similar character tomake to the sick and aged members of his flock in this secluded spot. Ifound a schoolroom, erected by General Beckwith, in a dilapidated state, and the poor old schoolmaster very infirm from sickness and age. My desire, therefore, is to raise funds either to greatly improve the schoolroom, or, better still, to erect a neat temple in this consecrated spot, so as atonce to commemorate the piety and heroism of the dead, and to provide forthe wants of the living. The pastor of the parish, the Rev. J. DurandCanton, has informed me how great a boon such a place would be. The Tablehave also assured me of their hearty co-operation. Several subscriptionshave been kindly promised. F. A. Bevan, Esq. , of the firm of Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, and Co. , 54, Lombard Street, has kindly consented toreceive donations for the object: they may also be sent to me. Let eachreader of this volume join in the work, and so, by the divine blessing, itshall be accomplished; and another object also, viz. , that which makes thechurch of the valleys a holy bond of union between Christian brethren inboth hemispheres; and between those whose church polity may differ, butwhose creed is one in all essential points, and who proclaim as the onething needful a living faith in a living Saviour, the one Mediator betweenGod and men, the man CHRIST JESUS. 

 INDEX OF PLACES AND PERSONS. 

Amadeus II. , 44, 84-91. 

Angrogna, Vale of, 125. 

Arnaud, Henri-- His birth and early life, 63. Exploits at Germano, Salabertrand, Villaro, 69, 73. Privation of himself and troops, 75, 76. Banishment, 87. Latter days and death, 88, 89. 

Azeglio, Marquis, 101. 

Balsille-- Description of, 70, 78. Siege of, 80, 81. Escape from, 82, 83. 

Beckwith, General, 109-112. 

Barthélemi, martyr, 35. 

Brandenburg, Elector of, 85. 

Bricherasio, 4. 

Bucer, 34. 

Calabria, Persecutions in, 33. 

Castelluzzo, Crag of, 45. 

Castrocaro, Signal death of, 43. 

Catinat, Marshal, 80, 81. 

Cavour, Count, 101. 

Charles Felix, Bigotry of, 97. 

Charles Albert, Justice of, 98, 99. 

Children kidnapped, 43, 90. 

Claude, Bishop of Turin, 17. 

Colonies of the Vaudois, 31. 

Cromwell espouses the cause of the Vaudois, 50. 

Cutti, Count of, as a ruler, 96. 

De la Trinité, Count, 39. 

Ecomlapadius, 34. 

Edicts of 1686, 58. 

Elector Palatine, Noble letter of, 42. 

Emancipation, 101. 

Emmanuel, Philibert, 10, 38, 43. 

Exile of the Vaudois, 61. 

Earthquake, Severe, 95. 

Farel, 34. 

Fequières, Marquis of, plants a cannon on Mont Guignivert, 82. 

Fog, Providential, 27, 82, 83. 

Gastaldo, Edict of, 45. 

Geneva-- City of, kindness of to the exiles, 61. Lake of, 65. 

Gilly, Rev. Dr. , 107, 108. 

Jahier, 54. 

Janavello, 54. Bravery of, 56. Banished, 57, 64. 

Jerome, 15, 16. 

Juliano, Colonel of, rout of soldiers, 25, 72. 

La Torre, Pelice, 44, 52. 

Leger, 44, 46. 

Leidet, Pastor of Guigot, martyred, 60. 

Louis XIV. Of France, an inveterate persecutor of the Vaudois, 86. 

Maggiore, Lago, 1. 

Maiden's Rock, The, 40. 

Margaret of Navarre, 42. 

Milton's Sonnet, 50. 

Monks of Pinerolo, 39. 

Marengo, Battle of, 94. 

Mont Blanc, 67. 

Mont Cenis, 68. 

Nantes, Edict of, revoked, 58. 

Noir of Mondovi, Remarkable death of, 26. 

Otho, Emperor of Germany, 23. 

Outburst of Romish intolerance at the opening of Vaudois Temple in Turin, 3. 

Pascal, Jean Louis, 33, 34. 

Persecution of 1686, 46, 60. 

Poulat, Captain, 83. 

Pra del Torre, 26, 127. 

Prali, 71. 

Popes-- Silvester, 11. Zachary, 16. Innocent VIII. 24. Innocent XII. 86. Lucius, 28. Pius IV. , presiding at a martyrdom, 34. Gregory, 16, 97. 

Re-baptism of a child prevented, 35. 

Rodoret Temple, 118. Avalanche at, 117. 

Return glorious, first Sunday at home, 70. 

Refugees met at Milan, 85. 

Remarkable supply of food, 79. 

Salabertrand, Capture of bridge, 69. 

San Secondo, 4. 

Sartoire, Nicolas, martyred, 36. 

Seyssel, Claude, 11. 

Sibaud, Oath of, 73. 

Solaro, Count of, 3. 

St. Germano, Cruelties at, 56, 57. 

Synods-- Remarkable, 19. Angrogna, 35. 

Turin-- Opening of the Vaudois Temple at, 3. Proclamation of _Statuto_, 101-103. 

Truchet, a persecutor, his death, 43. 

Temples built, 34. 

Vaudois Church-- Its antiquity, 9, 13, 24, 94. Creed, 14. Organization, 15, 22. Missions, 29, 31, 122. 

Victor Emmanuel I. , 97. 

Viso, Monte, 4. 

Vigilantius, 15, 16. 

Varaille, Geoffrey, martyr, 36. 

Waldensian loyalty to House of Savoy, 1. 

Waldensian Pedlars, 29-31. 

Wurtemburg, Duke of, 88. 

William III. , 63. 

Zeal of Seremius, Bishop of Marseilles, against images, 16. 

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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+| TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES || || General: corrections to punctuation and format not individually || noted || || Page 4: enterprize standardised to enterprise || || Page 10: No quotes in original around How long have ... Their name? || etc. Replicated in this version as it is believed to be intentional || || Page 14: docrine corrected to doctrine || || Page 21: [alpha]-[epsilon] are the Greek letters in the original || || Page 33: Chateau not standardised as it is part of a place-name || || Page 34: characterised standardised to characterized || || Page 36: Vacherè standardised to Vachere || || Page 39: attemped corrected to attempted || || Pages 41, 55 Miraboc, Mirabouc not standardised as it is not clear || if they refer to the same place || || Page 51: garisoned corrected to garrisoned || || Page 52: chalêt as in original || || Page 76: l'Ombraile standardised to l'Ombraille || || Page 84: Palavacini standardised to Palavicini || || Page 87: Zenophon as in original || || Page 94: assignd corrected to assigned || || Page 115: No quotes in original around You need ... The rest. || Replicated in this version as it is believed to be intentional || || Page 116: Amount of 21, 217, 84 lires as in original || || Page 131: Brandenburgh standardised to Brandenburg; Barthelemei || standardised to Barthélemi || || Page 132: Claude, Seyssell re-indexed as Seyssel, Claude, for || consistency with other index entries and the text; index entry for || Cutti, Count of refers to page for Count Crotti in original; || Guignevert standardised to Guignivert || || Page 133: Lago, Maggiore re-indexed as Maggiore, Lago || || Footnote A: Phillibert standardised to Philibert || || Footnote E: chateau standardised to château; aigulles corrected to || aiguilles |+----------------------------------------------------------------------+