National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1870-07-22
job Printing
The Tdttey Of the TdudOis.

The ten ritorv of the VaudOis en-
braces scarcely sixteen square miles.
The three valleys can never haye
contained IL population of more than
twenty thousand. In every age the
manners of the people have been
the same. They are tall, graceful,
vigorous a mountain Iacc accus--
toned to labor or to hunt the chal-
mos III his native crags. The w5.
men are fair and Spotless; their IA.
tive refinement sOttens the apparent
harshness of their frugal lives..-
Over the whole population of the
NaudolS valley, has ever rested tho
charm OF spotless purity. Their
fair and tranquil countenances SPEAK
only frankness and simplicity; their
lives are passed in deeds of charity,
III honest labors, and in unvaryiug
selfrespect. The vices and the
crime that have swept over Europe
never invaded the happy valleys,
unless carried thither by the papal
troops No pride, no avarice, no
fierce resentment distuvbs the peace.
full Naudois; no profanity, no crime
is heard of in this singular commu.
nlty. 10 wait upon the sick, to aid
the stranger, are eagerly eontended
Tor as privilege compassion, even
toI Their enemies. is the crowning
excellence of the generous race
When their prosecutor, Victor ANA
deus H., was driven from Turin by
the French, he took refuge in the
valleys he had desolated, in the cot.
tage OF Naudois peasant. Here
he lived IN perfect security. The
peasant might have filed his house
with gold by betraying his guest
he refused the duke escaped, and
rewarded his preServer with charac.
terlstlc parSimony. In the French
wars OF the last century, when Su-
;, warrOW was victorious among the
Alps, three hundred wounded
Erenchmon took shelter in the wills
lage of Bobbio. The Naudoi cared
| tor their former prosecutors 9s long
, as their Scanty means allowed, and
then, taking the wounded soldiers
on their shoulders, carried them over
| The steep alpine passes and brought
, them safely to their native France.
We may accept, for we cannot re-
tate the narrative of their early his.
/ tory given by the NaudoiS them.
: selves. Soon after the dawn of
Christianity, they assert, their an
-, ccStcrS embraced the faith of ST.
o Paul, and practiced the simple rites
: and uSages described by Justin or
Iertulllan. Ihe Scriptures became
:. their only guide the same belief,
y the same sacramentS they maintain
to day, they held in the age Of Con
stantlne and Sylvester. They relate
that, as the romiSh church grew in
power and pride, their ancestors re-
f sisted It's assumption and refused to
/ submit to its authority; that when,
III the ninth century, the use of i'm.
ages was enforced by superstitious
popeS, they, at least, never consent.
= ed to become idolators; that they
never worshipped the Virgin. nor
bowed at an ldoIatrous mass. When
i'll the eleventh century Rome as
serted It's supremacy over kings and
, princes, the Naudois were its bitter
! est foes. The three valleys formed
:, the theological school of Europe
, The NaudOlS missionaries travelled
I into Hungary and Bohemia, France,
England, even Scotland, and arous-
4, ed the people to sense of the fear.
/ iul corruption of the church. They
:, pointed at Rome as the antlchrist,
the centre of every abonination.-
i They taught, i'll the place of tho
= RomlSh innovations, the pure faith
/ Of the apostolic age. Lollard, who
p 'ed the way to the reforms Of Wy
clliic, was Il preacher from the val
- leYs; the Albigenscs of Provence,
i, III the twelfth century, were the
i, fruits of the Naudois missions -
- Germany and Bohemia were re
IL. formed by the teachers of Piedmont;
- lluSs and jerome did little more
, than proclaim the Naudois faith -
- and Luther and Calvin were only
the necessary offspring of the apos-
tolic churches Of the Alps.- liar-
c per's Magazine.