WE are now arrived at the beginning of the thirteenth century. It is a dark moment in our story. Faithful Peter Waldo is no more: persecuted, and hunted like a partridge on the mountains, we have seen him die an exile in a foreign land; and his followers, in like manner, scattered hither nd thither as chaff before the wind. Has the enemy of the truth then triumphed? Is the movement which began so full of promise thus to end? Must the light that has already partially illumined the darkness be extinguished? These are the questions that arise if we look only at the sad effects of this persecution. But in this conflict of light with darkness, of truth against error and superstition, we may rest assured that the cause of truth, which is the cause of the living God, will prevail.
It is well to remember, however, God's ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts. If the enemy had for the moment triumphed, it was only that his fall might be the greater, his final overthrow the more complete; and if God's suffering people were left awhile in doubt as to His designs, it was but to test their confidence in His faithfulness and word. Thus was it with God's ancient people Israel when, on that memorable night, they were encamped upon the shores of the Red Sea. The sound of the Egyptians' chariots thundered in their rear; the angry waves rolled wrathfully at their feet; lofty mountains enclosed them on either side. Destruction seemed imminent. Then at the supreme moment did Jehovah, with an outstretched arm, and with mighty signs and wonders, work a complete deliverance for His people. And He who thus stood by Israel in their hour of peril, was now watching over His suffering Church, in due time to prove that He was still their shield and exceeding great reward.
Meanwhile, the Word of God-that precious legacy Waldo had left to the people-was doing its own blessed work. If the awakening voice of the preacher was no longer heard, this silent messenger was gaining an entrance into every land; and, what was still better, into many poor dark hearts, telling them of a Savior's love, and of peace and pardon without money and without price. Translated into their own tongue, the Bible came like another revelation from God; so dark and ignorant were the nations of Europe at this time. Carried from country to country by missionaries, merchants, and troubadours (especially the latter, who at this early period roamed over every country of Europe) the Bible was at once the main instrument used of God to hasten on the great Reformation, which in due time was to be accomplished.
By none was it so gladly welcomed as by the Waldenses It came as a fresh token of the continued faithfulness of God to His people; and with delight they hailed its advent as the sure harbinger of that day-dawn which was now so soon to break on the long dark night of Christendom. Diligently they multiplied copies: and not narrowing its sphere to their own valleys, sent forth missionaries to every country beyond. Thus the Word went everywhere, and was blessed.
But the evil eye of Rome, which had discovered and dealt with the source, was not slow to detect the channel by which this stream of divine blessing was flowing. The diligent circulation of the Scriptures by the Waldenses now awoke the thunders of the Vatican against them.
Secluded within their valleys, and surrounded on every side by laity mountains, the Waldenses had hitherto escaped many persecutions, which, but for this isolated and inaccessible position, must have been their portion. It would almost seem as if God had raised those mighty hills expressly as a barrier of defense, behind which his poor suffering people could retire and find shelter from the angry storm of persecution which often raged beyond. But now it pleased God that they should suffer for His sake. From this time onward the tide of persecution continued to rise yet higher and higher, until not even the rampart of mountains, by which they were surrounded, was able to defend them from its force. The history of the Vaudois from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century is, alas! but one long story of continued suffering and woe, bloodshed and misery, only terminating in the expulsion of the people from their valleys.
But before we darken our page with these sad records, let us turn aside and visit the valleys; dwelling on some of the places o interest, and seeing something of Waldensian life and labor in this secluded retreat.
Glancing over the map of Europe we shall find on the Italian side of the Cottian Alps, and amongst its lower ranges, the dwelling place of the " men of the valleys." We cannot here describe the mingled grandeur and beauty of its scenery; its lofty mountains whose summits are crowned with eternal snows; its great chestnut forests; its rich pasturages; its lovely verdant valleys; its quiet shady brooks; and, what is so remarkable, the natural fortress-like position of the valleys one to the other, rendering them completely impregnable against assault, and affording every facility for defense. Well might their historian, Leger, exclaim with native ardor, " The Eternal, our God, who has destined it as the theater of His wonders, and the asylum of His ark, has astonishingly and naturally fortified it." As revealing how intensely the Vaudois appreciated the loving care of God in thus surrounding them with this natural bulwark of defense, we may cite a verse or two of a beautiful poem by Mrs. Hemans, called, "Hymn of the Vaudois Mountaineers ":
"For the strength of the hills we bless Thee, Our God, our father's God!
Thou halt 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 father's God!
We are watchers of a beacon
Whose light must never die;
We are guardians of an altar
'Midst the silence of the sky;
The rooks yield founts of courage
Struck forth as by Thy rod;
For the strength of the hills we bless Thee,
Our God, our father's 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 bless Thee,
Our God, our father's God!"
But a deeper interest is attached to this region than can be derived either from its great natural strength or the surpassing beauty of its scenery. Once within the valleys, there is not a spot that does not awaken sad memories of the past, " not a rock that is not a monument, not a meadow that has not seen an execution, not a village that does not register its martyrs.
Even at the entrance to the valleys, we are reminded by the Castelluzzo, a huge monolith which rises nearly to the clouds, of the evil days of persecution, happily now of the past, when from the summit of this mound the confessor was hurled sheer down its awful steep, and dashed on the rocks at its foot Here lay, in one ghastly heap, the mangled remains of pastor and peasant, mother and child! It was the tragedies connected with this mountain, mainly, that called forth the noble sonnet of
"Avenge, O Lord. thy slaughtered saints whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains mid.
... 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."
Yet there are spots in the valleys, with associations of a far different and happier nature. One of the most interesting is in the Pra-del Tor, situated in the very heart of the mountains. It was here that the barbes, or pastors, met in annual synod. Sometimes as many as a hundred and fifty would assemble. " We can imagine them seated-it may be on the grassy slopes of the valley-a venerable company of humble, learned, earnest men, presided over by a simple moderator (for higher office and authority was unknown amongst them), and intermitting their deliberations respecting the affairs of their churches, and the condition of their flocks, only to offer their prayers and praises to the Eternal, while the majestic snow-clad peaks looked down upon them from the silent firmament."
Here, too, was their college where their youth were trained to be sent forth as missionaries to sow the good seed in other lands. Leaving their native valleys, two and two, like the first disciples, they would go forth guised as pedlars to escape suspicion of their real mission. Thus they were admitted into places where, had their real object been known, they would have been spurned with contempt. A curious account has come down to us of the ingenious manner by which they gradually insinuated their real mission to a buyer of their wares; and receives additional interest from being written by one of the Inquisition, that terrible institution which we need hardly inform our readers were the bitterest enemies of the Waldenses. " They offer for sale (it is the inquisitor who speaks) to people of quality, ornamental articles, such as rings and veils. After a purchase has been made, if the pedler is asked, Have you anything else to sell?' he answers, ' I have jewels more precious than these things; I would make you a present of them if you would promise not to betray me to the clergy.' Having been assured on this point, he says, have a pearl so brilliant that a man by it may learn to know God; I have another so splendid that it kindles the love of God in the heart of him who possesses it,' and so on. He speaks of pearls metaphorically; then he repeats some portion of Scripture, with which he is familiar, such as that of St. Luke, 'The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth.' " Thus having gained by this circuitous means the attention of his hearer, he would go on to repeat whole passages of Scripture, seldom assuming to expound or set forth his own opinions, but depending on the simple searching words of Scripture to tell their own tale to the heart and conscience. The day only will declare how many were brought by these means out of darkness into His marvelous light; how many of whom it would be true that faith came by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Where he was permitted the Vaudois missionary would leave a copy of the gospels, or some other portion of Scripture.
A period of two years was about the time allowed for these missionary labors; after which they might return again to the repose and security of their valleys. Many, alas 1 who had gone forth never returned. Some were betrayed by their enemies, seized and cast into prison, where they pined away and died. Others suffered martyrdom. We can imagine with what rejoicing and thanksgiving those who did return, were welcomed by the dwellers in the valleys. Though worn and weary by reason of his wanderings, the well known voice and familiar form of a father or a son would be recognized; and gladly the family and the people would gather around to hear the story of his wanderings, of his trials and joys, and how God had prospered him in the way.