IX. The Antiquity of the Waldenses further attested by the On this subject M. Renouard, author of an elaborate work on the Provençal language and literature, and who discusses this question not as an ecclesiastical historian, but simply as a philologist, says that 'the dialect of the Vaudois (the Waldenses) is an idiom intermediate between the decomposition of the language of the Romans and the establishment of a new grammatical system; a circumstance which attests the high antiquity of this dialect in the country which this people inhabit.' , 26 In speaking of the Noble Lesson, the oldest work which the Waldenses have, and which was, as is conceded on all hands, written in the twelfth century, and consequently more ancient than the greater part of the songs and other writings of the Troubadours, this author says: The language seems to me to be of an epoch already far separated from its original formation; inasmuch as we may remark the suppression of some final consonants; a peculiarity which announces, that the words of the long-spoken dialect had already lost some portion of their primitive terminations.' The philological fact, here stated, proves the high antiquity of the Waldenses; for they must have retired to those valleys at a remote period, if they left the plains of Italy before the establishment of the new grammatical system, of which M. Renouard speaks. Hence,' remarks Mr. Faber, the primevally Latin Vaudois must have retired from the lowlands of Italy to the valleys of Piedmont, in the very days of primitive Christianity, and before the breaking up of the 26 Monumens de la Langue Romane, (Choix des Poesies Originales des Troubadours,) tom. ii. p. 137. Roman empire by the persevering incursions of the Teutonic nations. But it is scarcely probable, that men would leave their homes in the fair, and warm, and fertile country of Italy, for the wildness of desolate mountains, and for the squalidity of neglected valleys — valleys, which would require all the severe labor of assiduous cultivation; and mountains, which no labor could make productive, unless some very paramount and overbearing cause had constrained them to undertake such an emigration. Now a cause, precisely of this description, we have in the persecutions, which, during the second, third, and fourth centuries, occurred under the emperors Marcus Aurelius, and Maximin, and Decius, and Valerian, and Diocletian.' 27 Having said what is sufficient respecting the origin and antiquity of the Waldenses, we shall proceed to give an outline of their history, after having first taken some notice of the country which they inhabit. 27 An Inquiry into the History and Theology of the Ancient Vallenses and Albigenses, book iii. pp. 285, 286. CHAPTER II. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY INHABITED BY THE WALDENSES. To enable the reader to understand well the sketch of the history of the Waldenses, and the notice of their present condition, which are to follow, it is necessary that he should have some idea of the position and character of the country in which they dwell. To this subject we purpose to devote the present chapter. I. A general Notice of their Territory. We begin, then, by remarking, that the country inhabited by this martyr-people is in that portion of the States of Sardinia 28 which is called Piedmont; a large and fertile country lying east of France and Savoy, and south of the western Cantons of Switzerland. This country derives its name from its geographical position, as lying at the foot of the mountains, called the Alps. The word 'Piedmont' is, however, strictly speaking, applicable only to the partly level, partly undulating and hilly country, which lies immediately east and south of the great mountain range just named. But usage applies it to large divisions of the kingdom of Sardinia, though much of it lies in the Alps, and not at their foot. The district of Piedmont in which the Waldenses live 28 Commonly called the kingdom of Sardinia, which embraces Piedmont, Savoy, the territories of Nice and Genoa, and the Island of Sardinia, whence the kingdom derives its name. lies in the Alps, and is situated nearly due southwest from Turin, at the distance of about thirty miles from that city. Commencing just at the base of the Alps, it reaches up to the dividing ridge which separates Piedmont from France and Savoy, of which the highest point, called Mont Viso, is on the southwestern corner of the Waldensian territory; and Mont Genèvre, a peak of less elevation, stands on its northwestern border. Mont Viso exceeds twelve thousand feet in height, and is covered, as to its summit, with perpetual snow. It has been rightly called the Jungfrau of the South, because of its resemblance to the pure and beautiful mountain of that name, which is in Switzerland. No one, it is said, has ever ascended to its summit, though not so high as Mont Blanc. This is owing to the steepness, which it derives from its conical form. 29 We have stated, that the territory of the Waldenses lies wholly in the Alps, and this is true. Apparently, however, the parish of St. Jean, which forms a portion of the most eastern frontier of their country, lies in the plain below, instead of being within the mountain range. But, in reality, that parish lies in the wide gorge, if we may so term it, or opening, between two projecting spurs of the Alps, one on the north and the other on the south. It is within the valley of the river Pelice, just above the issuing of that river from the region of the Alps into the plain country below. As that part of the valley is wide, the parish of St. Jean appears to be lying in the lowlands, instead of being within the embrace of the mountains. This parish contains the best land appertaining to the Waldenses. It is undulating, rather than level, is finely cultivated, and densely settled. Besides St. Jean, which is its chief village, it has a number of places, which are either villages or hamlets. In like manner, the parish of Prarustin 29 The Virgin. is a finely undulating one, and resembles the lowlands which border the Alps on their eastern side; but it is, properly speaking, within the valley of the river Clusone. The parishes of St. Jean and Prarustin are, in fact, the frontier of the country on the east, and far exceed, in extent of tillable and fertile land, any of the interior and more mountainous parishes. These parishes, one being the lowest in the valley of Luserne, and the other the lowest in that of Clusone, shall be our points of departure, when we set out to explore the interior of the Waldensian country. The former of these parishes lies north of the Pelice, and the latter south of the Clusone, which rivers form, at the foot of the Alps, the southern and northern boundaries of the land of the Waldenses. By an inspection of the accompanying map, the reader will perceive, that their country is but a few miles wide on its eastern border, and that the parishes above named are like advanced outposts, or rather they are the gateways, through which one must enter it from the east. A lofty mountain projects eastward between them, from the summit of which there is one of the finest views in the world. As the spectator, standing on that spot some fine day in midsummer, looks to the south, he has the beautiful parish of St. Jean at his feet, covered with vineyards and fruitful fields, verdant meadows, and dotted over with little villages and hamlets. If he extend his view further in the same direction, it will rest on the extended valley of Luserne, and take in the village of that name, La Tour, and many others. Beyond this lovely valley, he will see the lofty Envers rearing up its head; in the southwest, he will behold, at a great distance, the snow-clad peak of Mont Viso, out-topping the intervening high and hoary ranges of the Alps. If he turn to the east, the vast valley of the Po spreads out before him, with all its richness and beauty. To the northeast lies the great plain, in |