"  Piedmontese  Easter"  commemorates  the  terrible  massacre  by  the  Roman  soldiers
and  volunteers,  whose  horrors  excited  the  sympathy  and  awakened  the  execrations
of  universal  Christendom.  After  the  Edict  of  Nantes  and  the  French  Dragon-
nades  the  Waldenses  were  visited  by  another  persecution,  which  swept  their  val-
leys with  fire  and  sword,  and  scattered  many  thousands  of  them  among  various
nations,  principally  Switzerland  and  Germany.  This  event  is  commemorated  in
the  sentence,  "  Expulsion,  Exile,  16S6 — 7."  Bene.v.h  this  ii  a  device  commemor-
ating "  The  Glorious  Return  " — La  Glorieuse  Rentre — of  the  exiled  Vaudois  to
their  native  Alpine  homes  under  Arnaud,  one  of  their  pastors.  In  the  centre  of
the  tablet  is  a  white  shield  with  two  young  pine  trees  wreathed  along  the  margins,
and  within  the  wreath  the  inscriptions,  "Henry  Arnaud,"  "La  Balsille,  A.D.,
1689."  This  glorious  return  is  another  of  the  noteworthy  military  achievements
of  this  people.  It  repeated  the  exploits  of  the  War  of  the  Outlaws  under  Janavel,
and  is  indeed  even  more  famous  than  they.  The  venerable  chief,  Janavel,  who
was  too  feeble  to  accompany  the  expedition,  prepared  the  plan  of  operations,  and
gave  written  instructions.  Escaping  through  the  Swiss  lines,  and  crossing  Lake
Geneva,  a  band  of  several  hundred  men  mounted  the  Alps,  penetrated  the  ranks
of  opposing  troops,  and  won  and  held  for  themselves  a  home  amid  their  native
valleys  in  the  face  of  great  armies  of  disciplined  troops,  the  united  forces  of  Louis
XIV.,  of  France,  and  Victor  Amadeus  II.,  of  Savoy,  commanded  by  the  best  gen-
erals of  the  age.  These  troops  were  .again  and  again  defeated  by  Arnaud  and  his
men.  "La  B.alsille"  was  one  of  the  Alpine  passes  or  strongholds  at  which  a
famous  victory  was  gained.  The  Duke  of  Savoy  at  last  found  it  to  his  interest  to
seek  peace,  and  a.sk  the  military  aid  of  his  Vaudois  subjects;  this  they  cheerfully
gave,  and  sent  a  regiment  to  the  field.
