The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont/Chapter 12
CHAPTER XII.
The Returning Church.
The glorious return of the Vaudois into their country.
ON the 16th of August, 1689, the forest of Pranging, near Nyon, situated on the borders of the Lake of Geneva, presented a singularly interesting scene. It was the place of meeting assigned for the exiled and returning Vaudois; and here, during the whole of that memorable day, was found an anxious and silent host, augmented from hour to hour by arrivals from different quarters; not, however, in sufficient numbers to quiet the apprehension of those who knew how to compute the expected complement. But the sun stayed not on his course, although some of the most efficient had not arrived. The stars one by one glanced through the wood; and Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/213 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/214 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/215 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/216 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/217 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/218 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/219 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/220 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/221 nature took place on the heights above Bobbio. Here, after putting to flight two hundred of the guards of Savoy at the pass of Giulian, and taking possession of the village below, the little army rested a while—and having listened attentively to the exhortations of the pastor, Moutoux, and the further deliberations of a national council, they bound them selves by an oath of union, known by the title of “The Oath of Sibaoud.”[1]
The anniversary of this memorable bond, as well as of the “glorieuse rentrée,” was kept in September, 1853, on this
very spot, when upwards of two thousand of the now emancipated Church in the Wilderness congregated to listen to the exhortations of their pastors and elders, to thank God for all His loving-kindnesses, to sing His praises, and to spend a day of holy joy and loving union on one of the most beautiful spots of this creation. “I wish,” wrote one of the Vaudois pastors, “I could give you any idea of the sight, altogether so novel, of above two thousand persons united beneath the chestnut trees of Sibaoud, collected without the shadow of an invitation from the pastors, from all parts of the country. The impression, never to be forgotten, of their united voices, which reached my ear before they came in sight the astonishing perseverance with which they remained listening for two hours before noon, and two during the afternoon (standing the whole time), to the reading of the Word of God, singing, prayer, and the most serious exhortations—the manner in which some of our people spoke, recommending the regular reading of the Bible,—all this would have enchanted you, if you could have been present. And then the magical picture which this multitude presented, when at noon they divided into fifty groups of Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/223 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/224 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/225 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/226 
THE BALSILLE, OR BALSIGLIA, VAL SAN MARTINO.
the flower which, trodden into the earth by the foot of the traveller, lifts again its elastic stem, or, buried beneath the snows of winter, shoots up at the first ray of spring, the moment the oppressor s foot is removed, and the storms of adversity pass over, the Vaudois Church springs into fragrance and beauty.
But the gleams of sunshine were brief and capricious. The wretched despot of France had but to raise his finger, and Victor Amadeus was ready to do his bidding.
Savoy and France were again allies, and in 1696 the duke signed a treaty, in which he engaged to banish from the Protestant valleys all the subjects of the aged despot, who had taken refuge therein from his persecutions. This blow was particularly aimed at Arnaud and seven of their most respected pastors, who were born in the dominions of France on the other side of the Alps, and who were now forcibly expelled from the homes for which they had so nobly struggled.
Protestant Europe opened their arms to the fugitives, and William of England and Prince Eugene offered high military preferment to the warrior-priest; but he wished to consecrate the remainder of his days to humbler duties; and having obtained from the Duke of Wurtemburg permission for himself and his companions in exile to settle in his dominions, he passed the rest of his life in the unobtrusive but active labours of his ministry, and the superintendence of the growing colonies.
In the midst of these colonies[2] (which have been already noticed), at the retired village of Schônberg, of which he was the pastor, Henri Arnaud died on the 8th of September 1721, Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/236 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/237 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/239 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/240 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/241 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/242 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/243 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/244 Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/245