up to resist her corruptions . While , under the pressure of long-continued persecution , some compromised their faith , little by little yielding its distinctive principles , others held fast the truth . Through ages of darkness and apostasy there were Waldenses who denied the supremacy of Rome , who rejected image worship as idolatry , and who kept the true Sabbath . Under the fiercest tempests of opposition they maintained their faith . Though gashed by the Savoyard spear , and scorched by the Romish fagot , they stood unflinchingly for God ' s word and His honor .
Behind the lofty bulwarks of the mountains--in all ages the refuge of the persecuted and oppressed-the Waldenses found a hiding place . Here the light of truth was kept burning amid the darkness of the Middle Ages . Here , for a thousand years , witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith . God had provided for His people a sanctuary of awful grandeur , befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust . To those faithful exiles the mountains were an emblem of the immutable righteousness of Jehovah . They pointed their children to the heights towering above them in unchanging majesty , and spoke to them of Him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning , whose word is as enduring as the everlasting hills . God had set fast the mountains and girded them with strength ; no arm but that of Infinite Power could move them out of their place . In like manner He had established His law , the foundation of His government in heaven and upon earth . The arm of man might reach his fellow men and destroy their lives ; but that arm could as readily uproot the mountains from their foundations , and hurl them into the sea , as it could change one precept of the law of Jehovah , or blot out one of His promises to those who do His will . In their fidelity to His law , God ' s servants should be as firm as the unchanging hills .
The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were a constant witness to God ' s creative power , and a never-failing assurance of His protecting care . Those pilgrims learned to love the silent symbols of Jehovah ' s presence . They indulged no repining because of the hardships of their lot ; they were never lonely amid the mountain solitudes . They thanked God that He had provided for them an asylum from the wrath and cruelty of men . They rejoiced in their freedom to worship before Him . Often when pursued by their enemies , the strength of the hills proved a sure defense . From many a lofty cliff they chanted the praise of God , and the armies of Rome could not silence their songs of thanksgiving .
Pure , simple , and fervent was the piety of these followers of Christ . The principles of truth they valued above houses and lands , friends , kindred , even life itself . These principles they earnestly sought to impress upon the hearts of the young . From earliest childhood the youth were instructed in the Scriptures and taught to regard sacredly the claims of the law of
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