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most frequently preached , during this trying time , when their churches had all been destroyed except one little one on the mountains , which escaped from its remoteness . He observed , that they were always obliged to keep watch while engaged in the service of God , that they might not be surprised and put , not to the sword merely , but to the most horrid tortures imaginable , by their enemies . But he observed , " they were much favoured by the good God , for that the clouds or fogs were so ordered by Providence , that the enemy never could see Arnaud and his flock during the time they were thus
engaged , a cloud always concealing them , while the rest of the country remained clear . " The spot he pointed out to me was on the side of a mountain , and ( as I bad many opportunities of observing in Switzerland ) it often happens in Alpine regions , that a mountain-side is begirt with a thick line of fog , while the foot , the summit , and perhaps the rest of the country , are clear ; so that the security which Arnaud and his hearers enjoyed may be easily accounted for without having recourse to a miracle . The old man expressed his concern at the decay of discipline in the Valleys , which was
formerly very strictly enforced , so that whoever had been guilty of any offence was obliged to appear three times in the face of the whole church , in front of the pulpit , and ask pardon of God and man before he could be admitted to fellowship again . It was given up because they were afraid the offender would turn Catholic sooner than submit to do penance among the Vaudois . " Aye , " exclaimed the worthy old man , "in former times , when our mothers were liable to have their children stolen from their arms and put in a convent to be brought up to hate their parents as heretics , or perhaps
snatched up in an instant and dashed against the rocks , our religion appeared to us the greatest concern , and dearer than life ; but now that we enjoy peace , our church discipline is much fallen off . However , " said he , " there is no falling off in our pastors . If we all did as well as they , it would be well for us . " " Are their sermons chiefly practical , " I inquired , " or do they preach much on doctrinal points ? " " No , no , " replied he , " they never perplex our heads with doctrinal disputes , but tell us to love one another , or else we are no Christians ; and if any one is in want of meat , or bread , or chesnuts , to give him part while we have any ourselves . "
While we were thus conversing , one of those worthy men of whom we had been speaking met us . He was respectably dressed , and very far from that appearance of neglect and squalid poverty which Gilly describes in poor old Peyrani , the late Moderator . He stopped my companion to inquire who I was , and being told a Protestant minister , he said , " I take the freedom , I always do , of welcoming an English stranger to the Valleys . My name is Muston , pastor of Bobio , a village at the other extremity of the valley of Lucerna . " I dismounted , and he walked a little way back with me . I informed him [ Was a Dissenter from the Church of England , and differed considerably in
sentiment from those persons who were accustomed to visit them from England . He said he knew there were many sects in England , but that all sects had the fundamentals of Christianity , and that was all they concerned themselves about in the Valleys . He informed me , the Protestant population amounted to about 25 , 000 in the three valleys of Lucerna , La Peyrousa , and San Martino , without counting other families who were scattered about within a few leagues' distance , in small numbers . I was surprised to hear that there was no one village entirely Protestant , there being a minority of a few hundred Catholics in each rrotestant commune . He favoured me with the names of the thirteen Vaudois pastors , as follows :
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1827, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1797/page/20/
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