God's Providence Favors the Vaudois by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 11, 1883

God's Providence Favors the Vaudois.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

Francis I., king of France, made a demand upon the duke of Savoy, Charles III., to march his army through his territories. He was refused; but being determined to have a road into Italy, he seized upon Piedmont and held possession of it, with the Waldensian Valleys, for twenty-three years. Although he hated Lutheranism, the straitened circumstances in which he was placed compelled him often to court the favor of the Lutherans. So while he was burning heretics in Paris, he spared those in the valleys. But April 3, 1559, Piedmont was restored to the rulers of the house of Savoy, excepting Turin; and Charles III. was succeeded in 1553 by Emmanuel Philibert. The Vaudois cherished the hope that now they would be permitted to live in peace, and to worship as their fathers had done. What gave them this hope was that Philibert married a sister of the king of France, Henry II., who had been carefully instructed in the Protestant faith by Margaret, queen of Navarre, and Renee of France, daughter of Louis XII. But this treaty which restored him to the throne of his ancestors, also bound him and those connected with him, to extinguish heresy.

This simply sent him back to his subjects with a dagger in his hand. He was not himself; and thus he issued an edict forbidding his subjects to hear Protestant preachers, under a fine of one hundred dollars for the first offense, and the galleys for life, for the second. This edict was especially designed to take effect on the plain of Piedmont. Then there followed in a short time a severer edict, commanding attendance at mass under pain of death. Individuals of cruel dispositions were to take charge of the inquisition, and to see that these edicts were carried out. A terrible burst of the tempest fell on Carignano. This was about twenty miles southwest of Turin. The wealthiest were selected and dragged to the burning-pile, in order to strike terror into the rest. Many fled into France, frightened by the tempest in front, and many sought refuge in the doctrines which they had left. They could not enter the conflict and pay the cost of exile and death. "Rumors of the confiscations, arrests, cruel tortures, and horrible deaths which had fallen the churches at the foot of their mountains, had preceded the appearance of the crusaders at the entrance of the valleys."

As this cloud was rising, the pastors and leading laymen of the Waldenses assembled to deliberate on what steps should be taken. They fasted and humbled themselves before God, and sought by earnest prayer, the direction of his Holy Spirit. Here they drew up an appeal, which they presented their real condition, their faith, and how they had continued during these 1,500 years to walk in the faith of their fathers, and the belief of the gospel. In this they presented an integrity of soul, and a simplicity which is seldom seen in any petitions that have ever been presented before the princes of this world. Says the historian in speaking of this petition: "Never was a more solemn or a more just, or a more respectful remonstrance presented to any throne. The wrong about to be done them was enormous, yet not an angry word, nor a single accusatory sentence, do the Vaudois permit themselves to utter."

But it was impossible to put themselves in the right, and to humbly state their faith in God, without putting the church of Rome in the wrong. A copy of this was presented to the queen, and one to the council. They were received with a degree of favor, but no answer was returned. For three months there came neither letter nor edict from the court. But those who would have been favorable to the Waldenses felt that they were compelled, under the circumstances in which they were placed, to carry forward the persecution, and to rid the valleys of that people who feared God; so finally a proclamation was posted throughout the valley calling upon the inhabitants to return within the Roman pale, under penalty of extermination by fire and sword. The papal army appeared at the entrance of the Waldensian Valleys with a large number of infantry and horse, determined to bring an end to the much-vexed question that had troubled them so long.

What we have spoken of the sufferings of the Waldenses in a general way now commenced anew. At one time they offered to withdraw their army, and leave them to practice their religion if they would pay the sum of twenty thousand crowns. A portion of this money was raised. The Waldenses did not realize that this and other propositions were made only to deceive them and bring distress upon them. They did everything in their power to conform to anything that might be right to effect a reconciliation, but it was of no use; they were obliged to leave their houses, and again flee to the mountains and the caves. Their houses were pillaged, and the few remaining inhabitants in the valley suffered the terrible outrages of the ruffians.

Many instances are mentioned of old men and helpless girls that suffered at the hands of their persecutors. From time to time they received letters of sympathy and promises of help from their fellow Protestants of Geneva and France. This gave them some courage. They met together with the representative men when they found that nothing but the stake was before them, and solemnly gave themselves to God, determined to die by the faith of their fathers. They then prepared, as they had done before in times of great persecution, to fight before they would give themselves into the hands of the enemy. From time to time the Lord wrought for them, and preserved at least a seed which is seen throughout Europe.

Touching incidents are related of family ties being severed, to go in search of homes in some other part of the country. But it would seem that no effort that could be forth by this chosen people would prosper for any great length of time. The dungeons at Naples and Rome received prisoners from the Waldenses, even those who had quietly retired to some remote, secluded spot where they could worship the God of their fathers as they had done years before in the Waldensian Valleys. But God did not leave them without evidences of his love and tender care.

To repeat the deliverances which God at times gave them, when brought in strait places, especially when their enemies would deride them because they would seek God for his blessing before and, after battle, one would be reminded of the victories given to the people of God during the days of Moses and the judges. If we can credit the historian, many deliverances were as marked as those recorded in the sacred volume; and at times their persecutions were as great, and bore every feature of that referred to by the apostle Paul in Heb. 11 : 36-38. When their lamp was about to go out, God would raise up men of faith and courage to lead them forward, not only to battle with their visible foe, but was to them a no less spiritual guide to the fountains of living waters. Dr. Wylie so beautifully describes their devotion during the time of war and persecution, that we close this article with a quotation from him:—

"Nothing was more admirable than the spirit of devotion which the Vaudois exhibited all through these terrible conflicts. Their valleys resounded not less with the voice of prayer and praise than with the din of arms. Their opponents came from carousing, from blaspheming, from murdering, to engage in battle; the Waldenses rose from their knees to unsheath the sword, and wield it in a cause which they firmly believed to be that of him to whom they had bent in supplication. When their little army went a-field, their barbes always accompanied it, to inspirit the soldiers by suitable exhortations before joining battle, and to moderate in the hour of victory, a vengeance which, however excusable, would yet have tarnished the glory of the triumph. When the fighting-men hastened to the bastion or to the defile, the pastors betook themselves to the mountain's slope, or to its summit, and there, with uplifted hands, supplicated help from the 'Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.' When the battle had ceased, and the enemy were in flight, and the victors had returned from chasing their invaders from their valleys, the gray-haired pastor, the lion-hearted man of battle, the matron, the maiden, the stripling, and the little child would assemble in the Pra del Tor, and while the setting sun was kindling into glory the mountain-tops of their once more ransomed land, they would raise their voices together, and sing the old war-song of Judah in strains so heroic that the great rocks around them would send back the thunder of their praises in louder echoes than those of the battle whose triumphant issue they were celebrating."

S. N. HASKELL.