and also as much of French as will enable them to
read the Bible and to sing psalms; nor would you easily find a boy
among them who, if he were questioned as to the religious opinions
which they hold in common with the Waldenses, would not be able to
give from memory a reasonable account of them."[104]

[Footnote 104: De Thou's History, book xxvii.]

After the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes, the Vaudois enjoyed a
brief respite from their sufferings. They then erected temples,
appointed ministers, and worshipped openly. This, however, only lasted
for a short time, and when the Edict was revoked, and persecution
began again, in the reign of Louis XIV., their worship was suppressed
wherever practicable. But though the Vaudois temples were pulled down
and their ministers banished, the Roman Catholics failed to obtain a
footing in the valley. Some of the pastors continued to brave the fury
of the persecutors, and wandered about from place to place among the
scattered flocks, ministering to them at the peril of their lives.
Rewards were offered for their apprehension, and a sort of "Hue and
Cry" was issued by the police, describing their age, and height, and
features, as if they had been veritable criminals. And when they were
apprehended they were invariably hanged. As late as 1767 the
parliament of Grenoble condemned their pastor Berenger to death for
continuing to preach to congregations in the "Desert."

This religious destitution of the Vaudois continued to exist until a
comparatively recent period. The people were without either pastors or
teachers, and religion had become a tradition with them rather than an
active living faith. Still, though poor and destitute, they held to
their traditional belief, and refused to conform to the dominant
religion. And so they continued until within the last forty years,
when the fact of the existence of these remnants of the ancient
Vaudois in the valleys of the High Alps came to the knowledge of Felix
Neff, and he determined to go to their help and devote himself to
their service.

* * * * *

One would scarcely expect to find the apostle of the High Alps in the
person of a young Swiss soldier of artillery. Yet so it was. In his
boyhood, Neff read Plutarch, which filled his mind with admiration of
the deeds of the great men of old. While passing through the soldier
phase of his career the "Memoirs of Oberlin" accidentally came under
h