cause, or the undaunted valour, the pure patriotism,
and the lofty faith, in which the Vaudois maintained it, that can be
compared with their glorious struggle. This is an age of hero-worship.
Let us go to the mountains of the Waldenses: there we will find heroes
"unsung by poet, by senators unpraised," yet of such gigantic stature,
that the proudest champions of ancient Rome are dwarfed in their
presence. It was no transient flash of patriotism and valour that broke
forth on the soil of the Vaudois: that country saw sixteen generations
of heroes, and five centuries of heroic deeds. Men came from pruning
their vines or tending their flocks, to do feats of arms which Greece
never equalled, and which throw into the shade the proudest exploits of
Rome. The Jews maintained the worship of the true God in their country
for many ages, and often gained glorious victories; but the Jews were a
nation; they possessed an ample territory, rich in resources; they were
trained to war, moreover, and marshalled and led on by skilful and
courageous chiefs. But the Waldenses were a primitive and simple people;
they had neither king nor leader; their only sovereign was Jehovah;
their only guides were their _Barbes_. The struggle under the Maccabees
was a noble one; but it attained not the grandeur of that of the
Vaudois. It was short in comparison; nor do its single exploits, brave
as they were, rise to the same surpassing pitch of heroism. When read
after the story of the Vaudois, the annals of Greece and Rome even,
fruitful though they be in deeds of heroism, appear cold and tame. In
short, we know of no other instance in the world in which a great and
sacred object has been prosecuted from father to son for such a length
of time, with a patriotism so pure, a courage so unshrinking, a
devotion so entire, and amidst such a multitude of sacrifices,
sufferings, and woes, as in the case of the Vaudois. The incentives to
courage which have stimulated others to brave death were wanting in
their case. If they triumphed, they had no admiring circus to welcome
them with shouts, and crown them with laurel; and if they fell, they
knew that there awaited their ashes no marble tomb, and that no lay of
poet would ever embalm their memory. They looked to a greater Judge for
their reward. This was the source of that patriotism, the purest the
world has ever seen, and of that valour, the noblest of which the annals
of mankind make mention.

Innocent III