# The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont/Chapter 12

​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/212 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/213 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/214 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/215 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/216 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/217 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/218 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/219 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/220 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/221 ​nature took place on the heights above Bobbio. Here, after putting to flight two hundred of the guards of Savoy at the pass of Giulian, and taking possession of the village below, the little army rested a while—and having listened attentively to the exhortations of the pastor, Moutoux, and the further deliberations of a national council, they bound them selves by an oath of union, known by the title of “The Oath of Sibaoud.”
The anniversary of this memorable bond, as well as of the “glorieuse rentrée,” was kept in September, 1853, on this
THE BALSILLE, OR BALSIGLIA, VAL SAN MARTINO.
the flower which, trodden into the earth by the foot of the traveller, lifts again its elastic stem, or, buried beneath the snows of winter, shoots up at the first ray of spring, the moment the oppressor s foot is removed, and the storms of adversity pass over, the Vaudois Church springs into fragrance and beauty.
But the gleams of sunshine were brief and capricious. The wretched despot of France had but to raise his finger, and Victor Amadeus was ready to do his bidding.
Savoy and France were again allies, and in 1696 the duke signed a treaty, in which he engaged to banish from the Protestant valleys all the subjects of the aged despot, who had taken refuge therein from his persecutions. This blow was particularly aimed at Arnaud and seven of their most respected pastors, who were born in the dominions of France on the other side of the Alps, and who were now forcibly expelled from the homes for which they had so nobly struggled.
Protestant Europe opened their arms to the fugitives, and William of England and Prince Eugene offered high military preferment to the warrior-priest; but he wished to consecrate the remainder of his days to humbler duties; and having obtained from the Duke of Wurtemburg permission for himself and his companions in exile to settle in his dominions, he passed the rest of his life in the unobtrusive but active labours of his ministry, and the superintendence of the growing colonies.
In the midst of these colonies (which have been already noticed), at the retired village of Schônberg, of which he was the pastor, Henri Arnaud died on the 8th of September 1721, ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/236 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/237 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/239 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/240 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/241 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/242 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/243 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/244 ​Page:The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont.djvu/245
* ↑ See Appendix A, p. 310.
* ↑ See Appendix B, p. 311.