was effected, a general amnesty was proclaimed, the exiles and their families were invited to return home, and an order published, that their lands and houses should be immediately restored, and their churches reopened for Protestant worship.

The quaint style in which Boyer's translator relates the termination of the war, and his reflections upon the subject, will not be considered uninteresting. "The Duke of Savoy being forced to break with France, by reason of the hardships that were imposed upon him, this rupture was the cause of the liberty and deliverance of the Vaudois: for having understood that the king of France did solicit them to embrace his part, with offers of re-establishing them in the valleys, and giving them liberty of conscience, with free and public exercise of their religion, which would have been very prejudicial to his interest; for instead of one enemy, he would have had two upon his back, and would have been deprived of the succours that the Protestant princes promised the Vaudois, and of the considerable service that they might do him, in keeping the passes, and in hindering the communication of the troops that were in the Delphinate, with the army, commanded by Monsieur Catinat; this prince resolved to draw them to his own party. And, to this effect, he set at liberty all the Vaudois that were in prison, as well ministers as others: he sent an act of oblivion to all those that were in arms in the valleys; and gave to those that were in foreign countries, leave to come home, with necessary passports, with orders to all to turn their arms against the French, whom they must look upon as their true persecutors, and the cause of all their miseries f.

"He made be brought before him all those that were

e

Boyer's and Arnaud's accounts were published soon after the events took place and were never contradicted.

f See page 56.

BOYER'S NARRATIVE.

189

prisoners at Turin, and told them, that he was touched with a deep sense of their miseries; and commanded them in his presence, to be clothed, and to be furnished with all things necessary. He excused himself that he had handled them so roughly; and cast all upon the King of France, as the true author of all that had befallen them: and because the number of the Vaudois was so much diminished, that there were scarce two thousand left, after the last persecution, the Duke of Savoy made proclamation, that all those Protestants that were fled out of France, that would come, and dwell in the valleys, and join themselves with the Vaudois, might do it, and be safe under his protection, and have necessary passports. He ordered likewise that at their entrance into Savoy, both the Vaudois and the French should be furnished with arms, and all things necessary for to pass into the valleys, which was punctually put into execution.

"The return of the Vaudois into their country, their entrance into their valleys, and their subsisting there for eight months, are so many wonders and miracles. Is it not a miracle, that eight or nine hundred should undertake to cross an enemy's country of fourteen or fifteen days journey, where they must climb up high mountains, force divers strait passes, where an hundred might not only stop, but beat three thousand? And, that which is most astonishing is, that these passes were guarded with great numbers, and more expert soldiers than the Vaudois : they notwithstanding forced all those passes with their swords in their hands, and routed them that guarded them, killing a great number in gaining them, with very little loss on their side.

"It is likewise another miracle, that they got into the valleys, the entrances being so difficult, being peopled with Roman Catholics, who might have hindered their entrance, being more innumber than they; or at least they might have possessed themselves of the most advantageous posts,

which were in the mountains, and defend themselves easily, till the succours from France and Savoy, which were in readiness, could come and second them; but a dreadful fright from God fell upon them, so that they had no courage nor conduct to defend themselves against the Vaudois, who, without any trouble or resistance, chased them out of the valleys.

"Is it not likewise a great miracle, that a handful of people, without any commanders experienced in warlike affairs, should subsist eight months in the valleys, and fight nine or ten battles against the army of France and Savoy, who were sometimes twenty, but oftener thirty against one, without being able to drive them out of their fastnesses, having killed more than two thousand of their enemies? So many happy successes make it clear the God of battles inspired them with the generous courage of returning into their own country, to kindle again the candle of his word, that the emissaries of Satan had extinguished there, that he marched before them, and fought for them, without which it had been impossible to have forced so many difficult passes, and gained such signal victories.

"The conduct of God in the re-establishment of the Vaudois is admirable, and makes it evident that his divine Providence has judgment and ways incomprehensible, surpassing all human understanding. The King of France in the year 1686, pushed on the Duke of Savoy to compel the Vaudois to forsake their religion, and to take the same measures he had taken against the Protestants of France: they joined their arms together to force them, and to compass their design, they violated not only the treaty made with the predecessors of the duke, but also treaties, oaths, and promises made by their generals, took them prisoners, killed and massacred them, violated their wives and daughters, killed their little children, and made use of all sorts of cruelty against these innocent people, after they had laid down their arms: and in the year 1690 God sent

BOYER'S NARRATIVE.

191.

a spirit of division between the King of France and the Duke of Savoy, insomuch that they strove who should first gain the Vaudois to their party, and by this division the Duke of Savoy was forced to re-establish the Vaudois in their rights and privileges, and to set all at liberty that had been imprisoned, and to recal all those that were dispersed in foreign countries. And so the king of France, who had been the principal cause of their ruin, became, against his will, the cause of their re-establishment, by forcing the Duke of Savoy to join with the allies: this shews that God mocks and derides the designs and councils of princes when they are levelled against Jesus Christ and his church 5."

See Boyer's History of the Vaudois, p. 226.

CHAPTER IX.

Rora-Its secluded situation-Retrospect-Gratitude of Victor Amadeus II.-Exploits of Gianavello-Treachery of the Marquess di Pianezza-Heroic defence of Rora-Massacre at Rora —Last achievements of Gianavello—Sufferings of Giovanni Pallias, Paoli Clementi, and Gianavello's sister-Affecting taleTraits of character-Juvenile disinterestedness-Comparative mendicity in Protestant and Catholic countries—Blasphemy unknown among the Vaudois-Temperate and manly remonstrance.

It was our intention to have crossed the Pelice from Bobbio, and to have found our way over the mountains to Rora, or Rorata, but we were assured that it was quite impracticable in consequence of the late fall of snow. The parish, or communautè of Rora, is the smallest of the Protestant parishes; its population is about seven hundred. It is also situated farther to the south than any of the rest, and may be said to stand almost entirely separated from the other villages of the Vaudois. The craggy tops of the lofty Sea Bianca seem to rise just above it, and Mount Viso itself is distinguished among the towering summits, at the basements of which the little village is built. Mount Friolant separates it from the valley of the Po, and its hamlets are picturesquely suspended over the torrent of Luzerna, which takes its rise from that mountain. Locked up, as it is, in a very narrow valley, its soil is for the most part rocky and unproductive: but in the intervals between the rocks it is fertile, and, like the other districts of the Vaudois, extremely well cultivated. Prodigious chesnut-trees decorate the slopes of the mountains, and for eight or ten weeks in the summer time, the rich pasturages of the higher regions