At length, however, many circumstances combined to lead the Vaudois to believe that the hand of the Lord was opening the way for their return. Their place of appointed rendezvous was a large forest, in the Pays du Vaud, near the town of Neon, on the northern shore of the Leman. When all was ready, their chief offered up prayer to God in the midst of his devoted followers, and committed the expedition to Him. They embarked between ten and eleven o'clock, August 16th, 1689, and crossed the lake by starlight. When all had arrived on the southern shore of the lake, they numbered between eight and nine hundred. M. Arnaud-a man spoken of in the highest terms for his piety, patriotism, courage, and skill in military tactics-divided the whole into three bodies—advance-guard, rear-guard, and center, according to the system of regular troops, which the Vaudois always pursued. Thus they commenced their march back to their native valleys, supposed by some historians to be one of the most wonderful exploits ever performed by any people. Besides the natural difficulties of the way, such as the height of the mountains, the depth of the snow, the treachery of the glaciers, and the heavy rain, the roads were covered, and the passes guarded by the duke's soldiers, aided by the French; so that every inch of the way was disputed, and they had to fight their way right through to the valleys.
The feelings which sprung up in their hearts, when their native mountains first burst upon their sight, will be more easily imagined than described. Some could, no doubt, individualize the very peaks under whose shadow they had spent their infancy and youth, with a thousand other tender recollections, and for the recovery of which they had exposed themselves these thirty-one days to every danger, hardship, and privation, which could afflict the body or depress the mind.
"But now with that blest landscape in their view No fears could daunt them, and no foes subdue. A voice still whispered in their ear-Advance! So heaven restores you your inheritance!
Beneath your mountains, where the sun goes down, Your sires have bled, and martyrs won their crown; But henceforth, at their hearths, and on their tombs, Peace shall preside-the olive branch shall bloom; And they who now lay watch to shed their blood, Shall own at last one cause-one brotherhood!"
The march of the Vaudois from the borders of the Lake of Geneva to their native valleys, not only was signalized by incidents unsurpassed in the history of events, but was crowned with success. As the Lord would have it, a quarrel arose about this time between the king of France and Victor Amadeus, which induced the latter to take this heroic band into favor. "Hitherto," said he, to the scattered remnant of his Piedmontese subjects, "we have been enemies; but from henceforth we must be friends; others are to blame more than myself for the evils you have suffered." This happy turn in their affairs was followed by treaties between the English and the Piedmontese governments, in the reigns of William III. and queen Anne. From that period to the present Great Britain has been empowered, by virtue of these solemn compacts, to interpose for their protection, and their churches ought to have had rest. But again and again, under false pretenses, these oppressed people have had to contend against petty injuries and harassing grievances.
During the French empire of Napoleon, when the iron crown of Italy was placed upon the head of "the Corsican," the Waldenses enjoyed equal rights and privileges in common with the rest of their countrymen. But, at the restoration of the House of Savoy to the kingdom of Sardinia, they were replaced under their former disabilities. This was the effect of evil counsel, for the restored prince acknowledged, on more occasions than one, "the constant and distinguished proof which the Waldenses had ever given to his predecessors of attachment and fidelity. I know," he added, "that I have faithful subjects in the Waldenses; and that they will never dishonor their character." But evil counselors prevailed, and the yoke was again placed upon their necks.
The chief difficulty with which the Waldenses have now to contend is poverty, which need excite no surprise. But the Protestants of England have not been inattentive to the condition of their brethren in the valleys of Piedmont. Public collections have on several occasions been made throughout the kingdom; and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts is the trustee of considerable funds raised on their behalf.
Thus the Lord has watched over, preserved, and maintained a witness and a testimony for Himself in these valleys from time immemorial. And still the oil of His grace flows, and the lamp of His truth burns, while the thrones of their oppressors have been cast to the ground, and their dynasties extinguished forever. Even the gates of Rome have been thrown open, so that we leave the Waldensian church, through the wonderful providence of God, in a wide and open field, for the exercise of their christian zeal and missionary labors.
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