ied, as usual, in collecting subscriptions for the poor
Vaudois of the High Alps. Now that the good "merchant missionary" has
rested from his labours, they will indeed feel the loss of their
friend. Who is to assume his mantle?

CHAPTER VII

THE GLORIOUS RETURN:

AN EPISODE IN THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN VAUDOIS.

What is known as The Glorious Return, or re-entry of the exiled
Vaudois in 1689 to resume possession of the valleys from which they
had been banished, will always stand out as one of the most remarkable
events in history.

If ever a people fairly established their right to live in their own
country, and to worship God after their own methods, the Vaudois had
surely done so. They had held conscientiously and consistently to
their religion for nearly five hundred years, during which they
laboured under many disabilities and suffered much persecution. But
the successive Dukes of Savoy were no better satisfied with them as
subjects than before. They could not brook that any part of their
people should be of a different form of religion from that professed
by themselves; and they continued, at the instance of successive
popes, to let slip the dogs of war upon the valleys, in the hopes of
eventually compelling the Vaudois to "come in" and make their peace
with the Church.

The result of these invasions was almost uniform. At the first sudden
inroad of the troops, the people, taken by surprise, usually took to
flight; on which their dwellings were burnt and their fields laid
waste. But when they had time to rally and collect their forces, the
almost invariable result was that the Piedmontese were driven out of
the valleys again with ignominy and loss. The Duke's invasion of 1655
was, however, attended with greater success than usual. His armies
occupied the greater part of the valleys, though the Vaudois still
held out, and made occasional successful sallies from their mountain
fastnesses. At length, the Protestants of the Swiss Confederation,
taking compassion on their co-religionists in Piedmont, sent
ambassadors to the Duke of Savoy at Turin to intercede for their
relief; and the result was the amnesty granted to them in that year
under the title of the "Patents of Grace." The terms were very hard,
but they were agreed to. The Vaudois were to be permitted to re-occupy
their valleys, conditional on their rebuilding all the Catholic
churches which had been destroyed, paying to the Duke an indemnity of