“God,” says Leger, “turned the heart of their prince toward this poor people.” He sent a prelate to their Valleys, to assure them of his good-will, and to intimate his wish to receive their deputies. They sent twelve of their more venerable men to Turin, who being admitted into the duke’s presence, gave him such an account of their faith, that he candidly confessed that he had been misled in what he had done against them, and would not again suffer such wrongs to be inflicted upon them. He several times said that he “had not so virtuous, so faithful, and so obedient subjects as the Vaudois.”[31] He caused the deputies a little surprise by expressing a wish to see some of the Vaudois children. Twelve infants, with their mothers, were straightway sent for from the valley of Angrogna, and presented before the prince. He examined them narrowly. He found them well formed, and testified his admiration of their healthy faces, clear eyes and lively prattle. He had been told, he said, that “the Vaudois children were monsters, with only one eye placed in the middle of the forehead, four rows of black teeth, and other similar deformities.”[32] The prince, Charles II., a youth of only twenty years, but humane and wise, confirmed the privileges and immunities of the Vaudois, and dismissed them with his promise that they should be unmolested in the future.[33] The Churches of the Valleys now enjoyed a short respite from persecution. CHAPTER VI. SYNOD IN THE WALDENSIAN VALLEYS. The Old Vine seems Dying--New Life--The Reformation--Tidings Reach the Waldenses--They Send Deputies into Germany and Switzerland to Inquire--Joy of Œcolampadius--His Admonitory Letter--Waldensian Deputies at Strasburg--The Two Churches a Wonder to each other--Martyrdom of One of the Deputies, Resolution to Call a Synod in the Valleys--Its Catholic Character--Spot where it Met--Confession of Faith framed--The Spirit of the Vaudois Revives--They Rebuild their Churches, &c.--Journey of Farel and Saunier to the Synod.