Remarks on the Vaudois of Piemont : during an excursion in the summer of 1825

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LIBRARY OFPRlNCaP^^

JAN - T 2003

1

TIIEOLOG!CALSEV!NARI

''"Il""ll"'"'""""'llll"

REMARKS

ON THE

VAUDOIS OF PIEMONT,

DURING AN EXCURSION
In the Summer oflS^5»

REV. J. L. JACKSON, M.A.

LONDON :

PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, STRAND.

1826.

Printed by R. Woodward,
Weymouth.

"And they shall prophesy a thousand two
" hundred and threescore days, clothed in
" sackcloth." Rev. xi. 3.

" Nonnihil etiam ad horum Waldensium
" confirmandam tolerandamque sectam confert,
" quod prceter haec, quae contra fidem reli-
" gionemque nostram assumunt, in reliquis
" ferme puriorem quam caeteri Christian! vi-
" tarn ag-unt. Non enim nisi coacti jurant,
" raroque nomen Dei in vanum proferunt»
" promissaque sua bona fide implent, et in
" paupertate pars maxima degentes Apostoli-
" cam vitam, doctrinamque servare se solos
" protestantur." Claudius Seisellius.

PEIITGETOIT

ADVERTISEMENT.

To the South-West of the City of Turin,
and under that part of the Cottian Alps which
separates Piemont from Dauphin e in France,
are still to be found the descendants of the
ancient Waldenses^ — a people, not only inter-
esting from the length and severity of their
Persecutions, but for the Cause by which they
were brought to endure them : literally may
they be said to have suffered for Conscience^
sake. Mixed as the Vaudois are with seven-
teen or eighteen hundred Romanists, they now
amount to nearly twenty thousand souls, and
are divided into thirteen different Parishes,
a2

IV

which are scattered througheut the Valleys of
Luzerne, Perouse, and >S'^. Martin, Before the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, they were
much more numerous : they, for instance, in-
habited Luzerne, Luzernetta, Fenile, and Cam-
piglione in the Valley of Luzerne ; with seve-
ral towns in the Valley of the Clusone, and
the Prageilato. Of the present extent of their
country, abput fifty square miles, ^ very large
proportion is occupied by mountains, alone
rendered capable of cultivation by the most
patient and laborious efforts of human indus-
try. Often, during" his Excursion among the
Vaudois of Piemont, has the Writer of the fol-
lowing Remarks stood amazed at the little ter-
races, which are formed on the shelves and
crevices of rocks, bearing a scanty crop of
potatoes, or buck-wheat, and which, he was
assured,, had been covered with layers of earth,
brovight by the peasants from the vales be-
neath upon their own backs. A more hard-
working, industrious people he never saw.

Of the three Valleys of Luzerne, Perouse,
and St, Martin, that of Luzm-ne is the most
considerable. Its width is continually vary-
ing; but its length is about fourteen Italian,

or English miles : it comprises the six parishes
of >S'/, Jean^ La Tour, Villar, and £obi, from
East to West, along the course of the Pelice ;
JRora, to the South; and Angrogne to the
North. Jean Leger, in his Histoire generals
des Eglises VaudoiseSy says, that the Valley of
Luzerne has had, for a great length of time,
as its armorial Device, a light and seven stars,
with the motto. Lux lucet in tenebris ; and
that from it, the Valley takes its name. To
this Device Luther appears to refer in his
Preface to the Vaudois Confession of Faith in
the year 1535. " We should" (he declares)
•' give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord
*' Jesus Christ, who, according to the riches
** of his Grace, has willed, that the light of the
" Gospel should shine forth in the midst of
*' darkness to destroy death, and to impart
« life to us."

To the North-East of the Valley of Lu-
zerne, and between it and the Valley of Pe«
rouse, is the parish of Prarustin: it contains
two churches, St.Barthelemi, and Rocheplatte^
a mile and a half distant from each other, but
under the ministry of the same Pastor,
A3

VI

In the Valley of Perouse are the three pa-
rishes of ^S*^. Germain, Pramol, and Pomaret ;
and in the Valley of St, Martin, situated ,to
the South-West of Pomaret, are Villeseche,
Maneille with its annexed church of Macel,
and Prali with Rodoret^

The Valley of Perouse is so caUed from the
town of that name above th« point, where the
Germanesca torrent loses itself in the Clusone :
it is about ten miles in length ; while the Val-
ley of St, Martin cannot be reckoned less
than thirteen. This latter receives its name
from the town of St. Martin. It is likewise
termed the Valley of Balsille, on account of
the fortress, celebrated in the History of the
Vaudois,^ beneath the Col de Pis. **

Thus, the thirteen Parishes in the three dif-
ferent Valleys, with the exception of Rora, are
inclosed by tJie Clusone on the North, and the
Pelice on the South : both these streams fall
ipto the wandering Po.

Of the three Valleys, that of Luzerne is the
most fertile and popul6us; and that of ^S*^.
Martin f which is immediately under the Alps,

Vll

and extremely narrow and mountainous, the
most barren. But compared with the rich
plain of Piemont, the term fertility, when ap-
plied to the Valley of Luzerne itself, is to be
understood in a very low and subordinate
sense. This distinction the Reader is request-
ed to bear constantly in mind, if mention
should be made, in the following- Remarks,
of the Productions in its several Parishes.
The Scenery however in the Valleys is often
perfectly beautiful ; especially at Angrog-ne,
Rora, Prarustin, and Pramol,--to all of which
the access is by mountain-passes, thickly,
clothed with Spanish-chesnut, beech, and
other fine timber trees.

The Reader is now presented with an Ab-
stract of the Population, and Productions of
the thirteen Parishes in the three Valleys of
Luzerne, Perouse, and St. Martin r—

Vlll

PARISHES.

VALLEY OF
LLZERNE.

La Tour, ..
St. Jean, ..
Villar, . . , .

Bobi,

Rora, .. . . ,
Angrog-ne,

PRARUSTIN.

St. Bartlielemi, . .
Kocheplatte, . . . .

VALLEY OF
PEROUSE.

St. Germain,
Pramol, . . . .
Pomaret, ...

VALLEY OF
ST. MARTIN.

1,600
1,900
3,000
2,000
600
2,700

300
70

100
80
60

120

PRODUCTIONS.

Mulberry trees,vine8,vTheat,

chesnuts, and forage.
The same, but in greater

abundance.
Wheat, rye, chesnut*, and

forage : few vines.
Rye, buck-wheat, chesnuts,

and forage.
Wheat, rye, chesnuts, and

forage.
Rye, btick-wbeat, chesnuts,

and forasre.

1,400 50
400 30

900

1.100

950

Ville-seche,

Maneille,andMacel,
Prali, and Rodoret,

TotaS^.,

MulWrry tre«a,vlne»,wWe«t,

and chesnuts.

Mulberry trees,vines,wheat,

and chesnuts.
Wheat, rye, a few vines,

and forage.
Mulberry trees,vines,wheat,

and chesnuts.

1,500 240 Vines, wheat, rye, and

chesnuts.
650 330 Rye, buck-wheat, potatoes,

and forage.
1,250 155 The same, but still more

scantily.

19,850 1,735

ix:

Each of the above places has a Church for
the Protestants, and another for the Romanists;
but that for the accommodation of the former
is, in general, too small, and in some instances,
as at Pomaret, Macel, and Rodoret, in a ruined
and dilapidated condition.

It was during the last Summer, that the
Writer visited all the thirteen Parishes in the
Valleys of Piemont, and formed an acquaint-
ance with each one of their several Pastors.
In the hope of strengthening the Lnpression,
which has already been happily made in be-
half of the poor persecuted Vaudois, he now
ventures to offer the result of his Observations
to the notice of an intelligent and liberal Bri*»
tish Public.

Weymouth, 1st January, 1826.

*'- i

REMARKS, &c.

TURIN.

^d June, 18*25. About six o'clock this
evening, I arrived safely, and, thank God! in
good health at Turin by the Diligence from
Milan, a heavy, lumbering carriage, which
holds nine persons in the inside, on three
benches, three and three. I never wish to
travel by such another. Yet the inconveni-
ence of it is not worth mentioning, except
from the loss of time. The distance from
Milan is only ninety Italian, or English miles,
which I have been nearly two days in accom-
plishing ; though to-day, with my fellow-
travellersj I was routed up at three in the
morning to perform the Journey hither from
Navarro, sixty miles !

12

Navarro is an episcopal city, and has its
Cathedral : it has also its ramparts going en-
tirely round it ; but withal, is shabby, and
ill-built. The situation appears decidedly
unhealthy, with its rice-plantations,, and wa-
ter-meadows. I observed, from the wall of the
ramparts yesterday evening, vapours stream-
ing along the low swampy grounds in all
directions.

Between Milan and Turin the counti'y is fn
general flat, but remarkably well cultivated :
in fact, the whole of the plain of Piemont is
said to produce six times its own seed. I
every-where saw,- in small inclosures, conti-
nued rows of Mulberry-trees, from which men
were gathering the leaves, and actually strip-
ping the branches bare, for the purpose of feed-
ing the silk-won»s.

At Bofalora we crossed the Tecino ; and the
Doira at Chivasso, Civitas Romanoruni, near
which place it falls into the Po ; over the
Doira, there is a very handsome stone bridge
of six arches, the work of Bonaparte,—" with-
" out whom," said one of my fellow-travellers,
a Turinese, " we never should have had it."

13

So muclj has been done by Bonaparte for the
northern part of Italy, that I am not surprised
his memory is, to a degree, respected; parti-
cularly, when the grossness and severity of
the Austrian and Sardinian governments are
taken into account. The latter part of the
road to Turin from Vercelli acquires more in-
terest from the distant view of the Alps, and
their snowy summits. Mount Rosa is clearly
visible, towering over the rest of the chain.

The companions of my expedition from Mi-
lan were four Italians, who slept the greater
part of the way, and were altogether insigni-
ficant men ; a young Greek from the island
of Zante ; a pleasing Frenchwoman, and her
little girl of four years of age, proceeding to
Lyons, but commonly residing near Como ;
and a MiUtaire, I fastened for some time on
the Greek, but could get scarcely any inform-
ation out of him; he seemed quite unedu-
cated. Of the Greek cause, however, I was
glad to hear him speak with confidence : the
Turks he was pleased to call BovoJii; and
declared, that his countrymen, if left to them-
selves, and not restricted in their operations
B

14

by the other powers of Europe, must be suc-
cessful, and ultimately prevail.

I found the Militaire to be indeed a most
extraordinary personage ! He was a Pole by
birth, who, according- to his own account, had
risen to the rank of General of Division in the
French Service under Bonaparte. For some
time, I did not give him the smallest credit
for any one word he uttered ; but only thought
him a bold, impudent adventurer. Yet he
was known by several people on the road,
who called him General, and he certainly
showed us two scars out of the eighteen^
which he said that he had received in various
parts of his body ; one in his breast, and ano-
ther in the neck. He would freely have made
more exhibitions, if I had not requested him
to desist from any further scrutiny. By his
own report, he had begun his military career
in Russia, under the Empress Catharine: he
then joined Koskiusko, and was engaged in
the battle of Praga. Having escaped there, he
•was whisked off, as a delinquent, by Catharine
to Siberia; from Siberia he was sent, on the ac-
cession of the Emperor Paul, with the Russian
army against Persia. At his return from Per-

15

sia, he appears to kave had enough of the Rus-
sian service, and to have entered that of France.
In this last, he accompanied Bonaparte to
E^•ypt ; was subsequently present at the battle
of Marengo ; at those of Austerlitz, Jena, Freid-
land, and many more ; and lastly, at Waterloo.
The most interesting part of his character seem-
ed to be his attachment to Bonaparte, wiiich, I
am inclined to think, was real and sincere :
J say interesting because faithfulness to a be-
nefactor, under any circumstances, is so. When
I asked him, if he was employed by the French
Government, he replied with feeling, "Non,
Monsieur, J'ai perdu mon Maitre." He now
resides principally at Bologna on the property,
which he had purchased par la munificence
de V Entpereur^ But alas ! his conversation
was often full of impiety, which I did my ut-
most to check*

The Frenchwoman gave me the idea of being
a conscientious Romanist : she was lamentably
ignorant, having never read a single chapter of
the Bible ! Her child, a nice young creature,
repeated on the first evening her prayers in the
Diligence, and though she continually crossed
herself, I began to think of my own dear little
B 2

16

Girl, wlio, blessed be God, is brought up in a
purer Faith. How deeply is the system of Po-
pery ingrafted on the members of the Roman
church, old and young ! This child exclaimed
more than once, ^' Giuro per la Santa Polog-na,'^
a Saintess of the Papistical Calendar, and tliQ
Patroness of the village, in which her mother
and she usually reside.

On the immediate entrance from the Porta
Milanese, Turin is mean, and in no respect in-
viting-; but the Diligence, in its passage to the
Office, soon began to roll through handsome
streets, and squares of very large dimensions :
one of these was la Piazza del Palazzo, I am
now settled in the Pension Suisse ; my room
looking into the garden of the Palazzo Carig-
nano, which is formal, and in character with
the grand exterior of the Palace itself.

4th June. Thousfh Turin is far less inter-
esting than Milan, I have yet found some few
'vhihilia. In my morning's walk to-day, I
went again to the great Square, la Piazza
del Palazzo, from which the principal streets,
and the roads to Milan, France, Nice, and Rome
diverge : the Royal Palace forms one side of

17

it. Thence I proceeded to the Strada Nuova,
the Piazza di San Carlo, and afterwards to the
Cathedral, — a low, heavy building, with cir-
cular arches, and vast massive pillars. Its
ereat attraction is commonly considered la
Cappella del Santo Sudario, built of black
marble, also not a little cumbrous, immediately
behind tlie high altar. In its centre, under
the cupola, by the windows of which it is dim-
ly lighted, is an altar, which bears a cryvStal
case, inclosing the Sndario, or Napkin, sup-
posed to have been used by our Lord at the
time of his Crucifixion: this precious relic is
however not exposed to the g-aze of the vulgar,
except when the Pope himself may happen to
be at Turin. And he then displays it. At all
other times, it is kept concealed in three dif-
ferent chests, one within the other ; the w hole
being deposited in the crystal case.

In a side chapel of the Cathedral, a priest
was saying Mass in the usually low, mumbling-
tone, with which the public services in the
Koman church are performed : about eighty
persons were present. I looked at many of
the little books of devotion, w hich they had
in their hands, and found them frequently to
b3

18

differ from each other : of those, M'hfch were
alike, some were reading* at the middle of
them, and some at the end. One poor woman
seemed particularly attentive to the prayers
for the Dead,

On quitting the Cathedral, I called at the
principal Bookseller's shop in the Strada Nuo-
va, and, after making a few trifling purchases,
I asked the man, an intelligent kind of a per-
son, "Whether the people could follow the
" priests in the churches, even when they
" spoke audibly, and were distinct in the per-
" formance of the services V^ His answer was,
" How could they ? since the services were in
" Latin, which so few understood." "This
" then," I added, " is the reason, why one per-
" son in the church uses this book ; and ano-
" ther, that." He replied, "Yes." He after-
wards showed me a variety of small prayer
books, and devotional exercises, in common
use among the Romanists; assuring me, that
he sold very few Missals. There was not a
single copy of the Bible in his shop, not even
the Vulgate, large as his stock of other books
seemed to be !

19

I should, however, remark, that at Milan a
greater degree of liberality is manifested, in
the Exhibition of Relics, tlian at Turin. At
the extremity of the Choir, and suspended
from the vaulted roof of the magnificent Ca-
thedral in the former city, il Dnomo, there is
always burning- a lustre of five branches, near
the case of Rock-Crystal, with its golden ray^-,
which contains the most precious Relic, — a hit
of ticisted iroTif thought to have been part ot"
one of the Nails, that was used also at the
Crucifixion of our Lord. Now, this J^ail re-
mains contimially exposed to the adoration of
the people ! Still it is not unworthy of notice,
that the Cathedral at Milan is not the only
church, which can boast of a similar treasure.
The church at Monza possesses another of
these Nails : the abbey of St. Denys has a
third, which was deposited \\\ it by Charles
the Bald, Otho sent a fourth to Boleslaus,
King of Poland, in the year 1001, which is
y^ visible in the Cathedral at Cracow. A
fifth is to be seen in the Abbey of St. Maxa-
mill at Treves; and a sixth in the church of
Santa Patricia at Naples, with drops of blood
upon it. The Hospital at Sienna, the Abbey
at xludechs ia Bavaria, the churches of the

00

Holy Cross at Rome, at Aix la Cliapelle, at
Carpentra, — all lay claim to like Relics. And
many, many more. — Again : the Emperor Con-
stantine is reported to have enchased in the
pommel of his sword one of the Nails ; and
finally, another is credibly affirmed to have
been put into a lance, now preserved at Nu-
remburg-, by order of Otho the Great. True
it is, that a difference exists among learned
men — and the most learned occasionally differ
— about the number of these Nails. Some as-
sert, that there were three; some, four. Others
again have surmised, that a little Confusion
has arisen on the subject, by mistaking the
true Nails for those which have served, from
time to time, for the martyrdom of Saints.
This opinion seems, on the whole, to be most
credible. But the subject must be worked up
at home, when I shall have rather more leisure,
and be able to consult the valuable Libraries
at Weymouth, and Dorchester ; more especial-
ly, the folios of Liutprandius ; Koehlerus de
impris. sacra lancea, g. 4; Andr,de Saussay;
aiid, above all. Magus de Clavis Dominicis^
cum Gimcrackii Notis, et Variorum^ — Must
now eo to dinner*

The repast at the table d'hote being" con-
cluded, I visited the Library belonging- to the
University at Turin. It consists of four rooms,
one of which is filled with M.S.S. I in(j[uired
after M. S. S. of the Sacred Scriptures.
The oldest was sliown to me, which the Libra-
rian said was of the tenth century ; but I
doubt the accuracy of his information. It
was a Latin Translation of the Bible, which
acquires an interest from having* belonged to
Thomas Aquinas, I saw likewise a M. S.,
Poem by Sedulius on the Passover, from a
Convent at Bobi ; it was of the seventh cen-
tury. The University now contains about two
thousand five hundred students. I asked the
Librarian, if any of the Professors were Je~
suits : he answered significantly, " One ; but
perhaps we shall shortly have more." In fact,
the Jesuits are getting up at Turin, as else-
where. I found them regularly established at
Chamberry in Savoy ; at Friburg, Sion, and
Brigg, in Switzerland ; at Rho, near Milan ;
and now I discover them in Piemont. They
have lately succeeded in forming a College
within the very walls of this City, and have
already ninety students: some of them (I hear)
are from Ireland, Another of their Institu-

22

tions exists at Turin, in which Professors give
lectures to four hundred youths. The popu-
lation of Turin amounts to one hundred thou-
sand souls,

Sunday, 5th June. A blank day ! without
the comfort of a Protestant place of worship !
In the morning, I remained quietly in the Ho-
tel, reading and writing; and trust, that I
breathed out more than one earnest Prayer for
them far away, and those also who were near,.
Towards the evening, 1 went for a few minutes
into a church, and heard part of a Sermon :
the Preacher made use of much bodily exer-
tion, and, as frequently is the case in Italy,
appeared to be acting somewhat al Buffo» I
could not follow him in his discourse, and
therefore left him. Then I took u\y solitary
walk to the Po, where I passed Bonaparte's
handsome stone bridge of five arches, leading
to the Genoa road, — and proceeded to the
Vineyard, a country villa, which belongs to
the Queen of Sardinia, and which commands a
fine view of Turin, and the adjacent country :
it is situated on the hill, near a large Convent
of Capuchins. The villa and gardens are stiff
and formal; but in the latter, the Nightingales

23

were singing in full chorus^ Their peculiarly
clear, tlirillina* notes could not be mistaken.
I never before heard so many of them at once.
However charmed as I was, 1 did not compose
either Ode, or even Sonnet, upoiL them. My
time for Philomelizing is past and gone.

PINEROLO.

6th June, I am now actually at Pinerolo
on my way to La Tour, having come from
Turin this morninsf. Thus, I have delayed
delivering my letters of introduction for Turin
till my return from the Valleys ; when I hope
also to visit the Royal Palace, and see the
Paintingrs in it.

'&'

The drive to Pinerolo, lying fifteen miles to
the S.W. of Turin, is quite delightful, through
a country cultivated in corn, with meadows
under irrigation, and patches of flax, and vine-
yards : the vines are trained, as they are in
Lombardy, on frame-works, which are sup-
ported by poles and poplars. 1 saw none of

24

the Horatlan marriages with the lofty elms.
Mulberry-trees lined the road nearly the whole
way from Turin. But the great delioht of
the drive is the chain of Alps to the North and
West, var3^ing continually in their form, and
covered partially on their summits with snow
and clouds. As we approached Pinerolo, the
M'ind blew cool and fresh from them,---the
weather having been for some days to my
northern temperament oppressively hot.

On my arrival at Pinerolo, I strolled through
the City, which is episcopal, miA took a turn
on the public walk. Pinerolo contains about
six thousand Inhabitants : it has ten churches,
and two convents — one for Capuchins, and
another for females. In the City itself there
is nothing particularly attractive, though ii it
be compared with a town in France of the same
size, it must be considered neat, and well-
built. Its shops, like those of Turin, have ar-
cades before them. The most remarkable edi-
fice in it is a large Barrack, which was raised
by Lewis the fourteenth at the time he obtain-
ed the possession of Pinerolo, and the Valley
of Fenestrelle, from Victor Amadeus the sc~
cond, Duke of Savoy, for the purpose of extir-
pating the Protestants in Picmont.

2-5

After my dinner at tlie Hotel, I entered the
Cathedral,' a heavy buildin-, very tawdrily
fitted up in its interior. The following- are
Extracts from a printed paper, which I saw
pasted against the sides of ten different Con-
fessionals : First, from the Atti di Fede,
" Credo, che nel S. S, Sacramento dell' Altare
*< vi e il Corpo, Sangue, Anima, c Divinita di
« Gesii Christo, sotto le Specie del Pane, e del
*' Vino consecrato." Then came the Atti di
^peranza, di Cciriid, e di Pcntimento,—^\\ of
which were succeeded by a Xotice from il
Papa Benedetto XIII di felice Memoria in
these words; '^ ila concesso Indulgenza Pie-
*'naria a tutti quelJi, che si eserciteranno in
" ciascun giorno per il corso del mese nelk
" practica divota dei siiddetti Atti di Fede,
'" Speranza, Carita, e Pentimento; da conse-
*'guirsi detta Indulgenza per una volta in
*' ciascun Mese, in qual di, che si elegeranno,
*'a loro arbitrio, nel quale contriti di vtro
^ cuore, confessati. e communicati, pregheran-
** no il Sio-nor Iddio secondo la mente del Scm-
*< mo Pontefice." And, lastly, Piu IndiilgeJi--
''za Plenaria nel ariicolo Morte. " Le so-
" pradette Indulgenze sono state cenferniate^
" ed in parte acciesciute, da Papa Benedetto
c

ao

" XIV, suo Succesjsore, con facultii aiiclie di
*' poterle applicare in suflragio delle Aninie
" del Piirgatorio, con ag-giugnere V Indiilgenza
" di sette anni, ed aJtretlante <|uarantene colla
*' medesiina faculta pure di applicarla ai De-
** funti, per ogni volta clie si rinoveranno fra il
*' giorno i delti Alti, come appareda suo Decre-
"todelIi28Gei)ai. 1756."

Hoping' to meet with better things in the
Valleys, 1 called on Mons'- Monastier, a Vaii-
dois, who is the proprietor of a Paper-mill in
the neighbourhood, and delivered to him my
letter of introduction from his brother at
Lausanne: I found him a plain, intelligent
tradesman. He walked with me round Pine-
rolo, and promised to accompany me to Pra-
rustin, and the s/.r parishes in the Valleys of
Perouse, and 8t. Martin, on my return to this
place. From him I learn, that there are only
ten Protestants dwelling at Pinerolo, and they
merely by sufferance : he spoke feelingly, but
mildly, of the haughtiness, and oppressive
disposition of the Priests. The present Bi-
shop has only been raised to the See of Pine-
rolo within a few months : the last, who is now
translated to Chamberry, an Archbishopric,

C7

was very hostile to the Protestants. I am in-
formed that the Bishop's professional income
is 25,000 francs a year, rather more than
£1,000. sterling.

VALLEY OF LUZERNE.

La Tour, 1th June, This morning*, be-
tween four and five, I mounted an hired Ca-
leche — not very smart, but useful — and came
on to this parish, distant from Pinerolo five
miles. The drive was very pleasant; though,
on quitting the Saluzzo road, my way was as
rough and stony, as if 3/c ^^dam had never
lived, and his gage had not been known.
Having passed the river Ciusone, I proceeded
to Briquieras, and thence to *SV. Jea7i, the first
of the Vaudois parishes, in coming from Pine-
rolo; when I descended from my little car-
riage to see the Protestant Church, with no
common interest. It is, as 3Ir. Gilly describes
it, immediately opposite to that of the Roman-
ists, and has the odious Skreen, which had
c 2

I

28

been erected before its door by the jealousy
of tjie Popish Priest. The building-, which is
aitogether respectable, and sufficiently large
in its present state to accommodate seven
hundred persons, was built in the year 1806,
while the Valleys of Piemont were subject to
France.

I had scarcely copied the Inscription over
the door, "A Dieu Seul Soit Gloire Eternelle-
*' ment Par Jesus Christ, Amen." Rom, ch. xvi.
V. 27 ; before a tall, fine-looking man present-
ed himself with the key of the Chu4'ch, which
he had gone to seek, on perceiving- me walk
tow ards his place of worship : he opened the
door, — and I went in. The Church is oval in
its interior, and is fitted up plainly and neat-
ly, with wooden benches for the Women on
the left side, and for the Men on the right.
Immediately before the Pulpit, and the Re-
gent's Desk, placed against the South wall, is
the Communion-table, — around which, are the
sf'ats for the Elders of the Church, and one
bench reserved for Strangers. On the wall,
opposite the door, is the following- summary
of the moral Law in large letters; "i\ime Dicu

29

" J'nn Amour supreme avec Crainte, Respect, et
" Foi; Et ton Prochain comme toi m^^me. C'est
•• le Sommaire de la Loi." I discovered in the
Pulpit Ostervald's French Version of the Bi-
ble, and the Liturgies of the Churches of G'6-
neva, 1754, and Neufchatel, 1713. The Pastor
jMondon uses either of them at his discretion.

Before my visit to the Church was ended,
three of the Elders of St. Jean made their ap-
pearance, on hearing that an Englishman was
in it. They were kind, simple-minded men :
they told me, .that every Sunday there are two
Church-Services in their Parish ; the first be-
ginning at nine in the mornings when a Sermon
is preached; the second, at two in the after-
noon, only for Prayers, the Reading of the
Holy Scriptures, and the Singing of Psalms
and Hymns. I asked them, if their Church
was well filled: they answered, that it was
generally quite full, and that on their Commu-
nions at Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, and
once more in the year, between the last and
first of these festivals, there was not room for
the congregation . They added, that Galleries
were about to be erected for the better accom-
modation of the people..
c3

30

Having' thanked my new Vaiidois acquaitit-
ance for their attention, 1 was in the act of
ascending- my vehicle, when my former friend
came running' after me, and expressed an ear-
nest wish, that I should adjourn with him to
his house, and partake of such refreshment a»
he could give me. I accepted his invitation
very willingly. His h(>use was neat and
clean, — and a bottle from the corner, quadri-'
mum at least, was forthwith uncorked. I drank
the health of my host, and hostess too, for she
8Gon came to greet me; and then entered into
conversation. The man I found* to he quite a
fine fellow,— a soldier, who had risen, under
Bonaparte, to the rank of Serjeant-Major, and
had expected to have been made an Officer.
"However," he gaily said, "those days are
" changed." On inquiry, it seemed that very
few Protestants are now Officers, and those on-
ly who had been appointed as such, while the
Valleys of Piemont formed a part of the French
Empire, and who cannot, from their past ser^
vices, be pjudently set aside.

I then turned the conversation, and asked^
if the House contained a Bible? The Reply
w a!^j " Not a Bible, but a New Testament^"

This was shown me, and proved to be the Ver-
sion of Ostervald : with it, was also produced
a Copy of David's Psahns, with their appro-
priate tunes in Music.

My host, Barthelemi Reveille, most posi-
tively refused to accept any remuneration, or
acknowledgment, from me, though I repeated-*
ly pressed a small trifle upon him.

St. Jean is considered the richest of the Pa-
rishes, belonging to tlie Yaudols of Piemont :
its wheat and its wine are the the best. How-
ever, the principal source of wealth to its in-
habitants arises from the silk-worms, for which
the mulberry-tree is carefully cultivated. I saw
some o-ood meadows under irrigation.

The parish contains one Central Day-School
at the village of St. Jean, and six smaller
Day-Schools in the eight different hamlets,
belonging to it. I may remark, that the for-
mer is kept the whole year round, with the ex-
ception of the two harvest-months, June and
July ; but the last are only open from Novem-
ber to the end of February. Boys and Girls
attend them all indiscriminatelt/.

32

On coming to La Tour, one mile from Sf.
Jean, I passed the T^ngrogne, a brav/ling- tor-
rent, nearly at its junction with the Police.
La Tour appears, like St. Jean, a straggling,
ill-built village, though it is really a kind of
market-town for the whole Valley of Luzerne.
The approach to it is very striking: indeed,
the further I have penetrated into the Valley,
the more am I delighted with its fine moun-
tains on each side, covered as they are with
chesnut-trees. I have now established myself
in the nice little Inn, the Bear ; where I find
greater cleanliness, and appearance of com-
fort, than I have seen in any large Hotel for
many weeks. I may go to bed to night with
perfect confidence; my bed being tidy, and
my room giving me the idea, that ii is, from
time to time, washed and swept : I mean there-
fore to make my present quarters my chief
resting-place, during' my continuance in the
Valley of Luzerne.

La Tour, June Stii, After employing my-
self for three hours this morning in reading,
and preparing my list of Questions for Mr.
Bert, the Pastor of La Tour, and Moderator of
the Chuixhes in the Valleys of Piemont, I

33

walked through the town to the higher end of
it, that I might see the ProtestaKt Church,
and the House, which is designed for the Hos^
pital. Strange to say, the latter was built by
an Englishman, who, having made some mo-
ney in the cooking line at the great City of
London, came and settled in these sequest-
ered Valleys : his wife was a Vaudois woman.
On her death, he quitted his retirement, and
again is gone into the world. If the contribu-
tions, now making in Switzerland, the domin«
ions of the King of Prussia, Holland, the Ne-
therlands, and * England, shall permit, it is
intended to purchase the House, enlarge it^
ancb fit it up for the reception of Patients,
with an attendant Surgeon aud Apothecary.
The estimated sum for establishing the Hospi-
tal is £4,000. It appears to me, that the situ-
ation of the Building is good, being sufficient-
ly raised from the lower part of the Valley.
The House is just above the Church, and con-
sists, at present, of kitchen, cellars, and ten
other rooms about sixteen feet square each of

*Thesiini, collected in Eng-land, bcfoce the first of January,,
ie:G, rather exceeded i'3,090.

34

them. Whether this Hospital, when comple-
ted, could much benefit the Vaudois in the
Talleys of Perouse and St. Martin, remains to
ha proved : from the mountainous nature of
the country, I doubt the fact. There is an ex-
cellent Garden to the House,

The Church at La Tour is in neatness and
size inferior to the new building at St. Jean :
it may however hold seven hundred persons,
since there is a deep Gallery against its North
wall : it is an oblong, iitted up with benches
for the women on the left side of the entrance-
door, and for the men on the right. The Pul-
pit, and the Regent's Desk, with the Seats for
the Elders of the Church, and the Strangers,
are, all of them, similarly placed as at St.
Jean : The Order of the Public Services for
the Sabbath is likewise the same. In the
Pulpit were Ostervald*s Version of the Bible,
and Copies of the two Liturgies, the Geneva
and Neufchatel,of the dates of 1754 and 1713.
A large Folio Ostervald's Bible, and the Neuf-
cliatel Liturgy were in the Regent's Desk.
The Church Services among the Vaudois of
Piemont are in the French language, wkich 1

35

am surprised to find* so generally spoken
even by the poorest persons, with ^vhoni 1
have conversed ; as neither of the two Valleys,
Luzerne and St. Martin, was ever actually in
the possession of the French. The proximity
to France can scarcely account for the fact;
their Piemontese neighbours only making use
of their own corrupt Italian.

This afternoon I called on Mr, Bert, and sat
with him and Madame son Epouse for two
liours. They are a most kind, hospitable couple,
pressing- me heartily to go and take up my abode
at their own house during' my stay at La Tour.
I declined the invitation for fear of occasioning"
trouble ; since they have only one maid-servant,
though he is Moderator of all the Churches.
Mr. Bert appears to me a pleasing, intelligent
man. We soon entered into conversation,
which we kept up incessantly, in despite of
his deafness. The subjects, of course, related
to the Vaudois; but as he promised to give
nie, in writing, answers to my somewhat long^
list of Questions, I will only note one or two

*TIie g'enePMl use of the Fieiu'h language in the Valleys is
afterwards explained by Mr. Beit's sixtieth Answer to my
list of Questions.

36

Circumstances, which he mentioned. When 1
asked him, if the Papists were now troublesome;
he replied, Not directly ; yet that the spirit of
Proselytism loas strony amony them. He spoke
with some indignation of the following* cases.
A dissolute Protestant, who had squandered all
his property, left the parish of La Tour w ithin
the last three months, and turned Papist ; he
abandoned his wife, but, as f ithcr, claimed his
children, and gave them up to the Priests, to
be placed in a school, which is under their
control at Pinerolo. The mother remonstra-
ted, and Mr. Bert, at her request, wrote to the
Bishop of Pinerolo, that the children might be
delivered to her. He shewed mc the episco-
pal answer, which was that of a Jesuit, migh-
ty civil, but defending the father's conduct on
a relio'ious ti'round. From secret information,
which he had received, Mr. Bert had no doubt
whatever but that the Bishop had g'ivcn the
man money at the time of his apostacy. Ano-
ther proof of the spirit of Proselytism he also
particularized. In the neighbouring parish of
AngTOgne, the poor Romanists absolutely com-
plained to Mr.'Goante, the Protestant minis-
ter, that their Priest did not now give them
any thing, but that he reserved ail his alms
pour les noiweaux venus.

37

On speaking to Mr. Bert respecting" the Royal
Bounty from Engl^tnd, and expressing to him
a hope, that it would ere long be restored to
the Vaudois Pastors, he observed, on the sup*
position such should be the case, that the
Synod had come to a resolution of applying
more than one third of it to the following pur-
poses. Instead of consulting their own indi-
vidual worldly advantage^ the Pastors meant
to establish tico new Parishes in the Vklley of
St. Martin, by seperating Macel from Maneille,
and Rodoret from Prali, to which they are at
present annexed. They also intend, by build-
ing an house for the Pastor of Prarustin, now
residing at Rocheplatte, to enable him to fix
his abode at St. Barthelemi, the more populous
of the two villages, which he has under his
care, and where his presence is most needed.
All this, methinks, is rather fine in a body of
men, who, on an average, i^ceive but barely
eleven hundred francs (rather more than forty
pounds sterling) for their yearly professional
income, which, with the larger number of them,
is their sole Property ! The Pastors' Income
is made up of five hundred francs, granted
annually by the Sardinian Government to each
individualj^^an Allowance of the same value

D

38

from the English Society for propagating" the
Gospel, — and a small Pittance from the re-
spective pari.«hes. Mr, Bert receives from
La Tour sixty four francs ; but this sum is a
trifle less than is usually paid. — I am surprised
to hear from Mr. Bert, that the Ordination of the
Vaudois Ministers now takes place at Geneva,
or Lausanne, where their Education has been
received. When presented to a Parish, the
Minister is only introduced to the Congrega-
tion by the Moderator, the Assistant Moderator,
or some other Pastor already established in the
Valleys.

Q
Mr. Bert informs me, that the usual manner,

in w^iich the Landlord contracts with his Te-
nant in the Valleys, is, that the latter shall pay
a certain sum for the farm-house, stable, barn,
and meadows; and that he shall then divide
equally the produce of corn, wine, and silk,
with the Proprietor. A labourer in husbandry
earns fifteen sous a day during winter; and
in summer, twenty-five : his average wages
through the year are eighteen. The landed
properties are generally very small, consisting
only of a few acres. Poor rates are quite
unknown.

39

N.B. The flies are swarming around me, and
are, at the present moment, so troublesome,
that 1 wish them all fast asleep: they have
incessantly been buzzing about my hair, ears,
eyes, and nose, for the last hour. Hot as it is,
I am obliged to sit with my travelling cap on
my head.

La Tour, Wth June, For the two past days,
I have not been able to commit a single line to
my Journal, as I was entirely engaged ia
an excursion to Villar and Bobi. Indeed I
felt so much fatigued yesterday evening on
my return to La Tour, that I could only eat my
trout from the torrent of Angrogne, drink my
coffee, and betake myself to my pillow. I have
now slept eight hours consecutively , without
let or intermission, — and am myself again.

At seven o'clock on Thursday morning I
started on a mule, having by the advice of my
good Landlady prepared myself against the
heat, which was often oppressive, by taking an
umbrella. By the bye, I have no particular
affection for the mulish race. However, on an
animal of the most stubborn kiiid I went, as-
cending the Valley of Luzerne, the v/hole way
d2

40

to Bobi\ along the Pelice, which flows benoatfe
through its rocky bed.

The country, near the little town of La Tour^
has vines in small inclosiires, which are lined
with Mulberry-trees : wheat and rye also ap-
pear in the bottom of the Valley towards Villar^
I stopped opposite the crag of Castelluze,
forming' a part of the Vandelin Mountain, on
the right side of the road, to make inquiries
of some peasants, who were at work in an
adjoining field, respecting- a Cavern, cele-
brated, in the History of the Vaudois, for
having concealed a party of the poor perse-
euted Protestants, at the close of the seven-
teenth Century. They knew no tidings of it
themselves; but directed me to an old man,
who was employed in repairing a stone-wall,
near the spot, for information. He (they told
me) was very deep in history. In fact, I found
him much more intelligent. He was altogether
pleased to enter on the subject, and, with con-
siderable animation, gave me to understand,
that many of the Fugitives had taken pos-
session of the Cavern, on the further side of
the Castelluze, and that they had been guard-
ed by the Piemontese troopy, who hoped ta

41

gtarve them into submission ; but that they had
discovered a way of egress in a different direc-
tion from that in which their enemies were
stationed, and that they had effected their es-
cape by it.

At the entrance from Villar, three miles
from La Tour, and two from Bobi, 1 observed
vineyards high up on the mountains, but in
small quantities; they continue, here and
there, to Bobi, where they almost cease. — 1
saw the first Cretin in the Valleys, between
La Tour and Villar,— a sad, wretched looking
man : he was goitreux, and appeared to be a
complete Idiot.

• In Villar there are two Churches. The first,
which met my eye, was that of the Protest-
ants, and, like those at La Tour and St. Jean,
has its modest little tower : the other belongs
to the Romanists, for they possess their church
also in each one of the Vaudois parishes. I
copied the Inscription over the door of the
Protestant Church, " J'entrerai dans ta Maison,
« et de rendrai raes hommages," — and proceed-
ed to the Presbytery of the Pastor Gaij, which
is very near. I found him, his wife, and four
^ d3

42

cTiiIcTreiiy just sitting* down to breakfast : tlie
thvel ling, and furniture are of the most humble
description, and far inferior to the common
farm-houses in England, and their contents.
The breakfast was likewise humble, — Polento,
and goat's milk and water for the children,.
with the addition of coffee for the parents^
Though I carried with me no letter of Intro-
duction, they received me kindly and hospita-
bly. They are a quiet, amiable couple, — he
appearing however of a pensive, and rather me-
lancholy turn of mind. I was asked cordially
to partake of their fare ; and Mrs. Gay went
immediately to the kitchen to get another dark
brown earthern plate and basin for me, before
I could say that I had already breakfasted.
As it was absolutely needful, that I should ei-
tJier eat, or drink in the house, I took a little
coffee.

The family-breakfast being OTer, — and ail
things were neat and clean, — the Pastor Gay.
informed me, that the Parish of Villar is one of
the most populous in. the Valleys of Piemont ;
that it consists of three thousand Protestants,
and that the number of Romanists in it does
nat exceed one hundred ^ that there are sevea

4a

Winter Day-Scliools for boys and girTs, in the^
different hamlets, from the beginning of No~^
vember till the end of February, — and one Cen-
tral Day-School at Villar for ten months iob
the year.

We went to the Church, and found the Re-.
gent standing at his desk, and in the act of
commencing the Service, which he performs
every Thursday morning at ten o'clock : he
had a large Ostervald's Bible before him, with
practical Reflections at the end of each chap-
ter. He read very audibly the fifth chapter
of Ezekiei, with the accompanying Reflections,
and repeated a Prayer for all sorts and condi-
tions of men ; when he gave out the last six
verses of the hundred and ninth Psalm, — and
he, the Pastor, and the ten other persons pre-
sent, all men, joined in the Singing, in full and
sonorous voices. The whole Service was con-
cluded with the Blessing, delivered by the
Regent.

Besides this Thursday's Service, which I am
informed is much better attended in the Au-
tumn, Winter, and Spring months, there are,
both at Villar and Bobi, Morning and Evening

44

Prayers in the Churches every day through-
out the year, with the exception of June, July,
and August ; the people then being, for the
most part, on the mountains, with their cattle
and sheep.

The Church at Villar, which is neat, and
very plainly fitted up, appears to be rather
larger than that at La Tour ; it has Galleries,
and may accommodate eight hundred persons:
the arrangement for the men and women is the
same as 1 had before seen in the two other
buildinors at La Tour and St. Jean. In the
Pulpit were Ostervald's Bible, and the Geneva
and Neufchatel Liturgies. The Regent con-
ducts all the week-day Services.

Having taken leave of the Pastor Gay and
his wife, I advanced towards the head of the
Valley to Bobi, which, like the parish of Prali
in the Valley of St. Martin, borders upon Dau-
phine in France. The Scenery becomes bold-
er and bolder the whole way from La Tour,
and near Bobi is quite impressively grand.
Before entering Bobi, I passed the Subiasco
torrent, which falls into the Police. Nature
here seems scanty of her productions ; except

45

patches of rye, in the immediate vicinity of
Bobi, and, occasionally, on little temices in
the mountains of thin earth and sand, — with
potatoes in the gardens,— I saw no article of
human vegetable food, but what the fine
Spanish chesnut-trees afford. These last are
mostly depended upon by the poor people.

On my arrival at Bobi, I repaired instantly
to the Presbytery of the Pastor Muston, which
is a kind of Swiss cottage, having an outside
Gallery in the front of it. I was again received
most hospitably : indeed, I begin to think, that
the term hospitable will often appear in my
Journal ; at least, I shall not fastidiously be
disposed to vary it, if the treatment of the
Pastors be similar to what I have already ex-
perienced. I was earnestly pressed to take
some refreshment ; when having eaten a crust
of bread, and drunk some wine and water,
Mr. Muston and I fell into full talk. He in-
formed me, that the population of his parish
exceeds two thousand souls, of which number
about eighty are Romanists. "Not" said he
" that these last are all natives of my Parish;
" but as a station for the Douane is placed at
" Bobi, from its nearness to France, the Pie-

46

" montese Government -send iheir soldiers,
" with their wives and children, to me." At
Bobi there are one Central, and six Winter
Day Schools, on the same indiscriminate plan
of Instruction for boys and girls, and during
the same months, as I have before men-
tioned for the Parishes of Villar and St.
Jean, I asked Mr. Muston, whether his poor
people were sufficiently supplied with Copies
of the Holy Scriptures, and whether they were
capable of using them ? He assured me, that
with very few exceptions, all his parishioners,
both old and young, could read. He then pro-
duced a book, giving an account of a pastoral
visit, which he had made two years ago in the
six different Quarters of Bobi, for the purpose
of ascertaining to what extent his flock were in
possession of the Sacred Volume. From this
book, and another paper which he showed me,
I should infer, that nearly every family in his
Parish has a Copy of Ostervald's Version of
the New Testament, and that about one^third
of the families is supplied with the whole Bi-
ble. I am disposed to think, from my con-
versation with the Pastor Gay, that there is a
like provision of the Scriptures for the poor at
Villar*

47

These inquiries being over, Mr. IMuston
showed me his Church, capable of holding from
six to seven hundred persons ; but which I was
sorry to discover in a shabby, and mean con-
dition : windows were dropping in their case-
ments, and paper was substituted for glass in
the squares of them. My friend, the Pastor of
Bobi, is apparently about the same age as Mr.
Gay, between forty and fifty years : he seems
an easy, open hearted man, — of very good na-
tural abilities, and strong mind; but perhaps
a little rusted from his retirement, the absence
of collision in society, and the want of books.
By his Parishioners, he and his nice w ife are
greatly beloved. As in the Protestant Churches
of Switzeriand,the number oi CommunicaJits at
the Lord's Supper appears to me very large at
Bobi, and Yillar ; Bobi having usually five
hundred and fifty, when the Sacrament is ad-
ministered ; and Villar, seven hundred. Both
the Pastors, Muston and Gay, have the charac-
ter, in the Valley of Luzerne, of being attentive
Ministers of the Gospel.

I might mention, yet I am sure with no feel-
ing of disrespect, that on my arrival at Bobi,
Mr. Muston was employed in kneading a large

46

hutch of bread for his family ; and that for our
dinner, because there was no meat in the house,
and even village, his excellent wife, really a most
pleasing woman, made, with her own hands,
three different puddings. We also, strange
to say, ate our repast in the bed-chamber, as
being the best room in the house : a large
bed was placed against one of the walls, and a
double cradle, of sufficient capacity to hold
two children, top and bottom, at each side of it.
Still the room was clean and airy : no monstro-
sities, nor unsightly objects were visible.

On Thursday night I slept at the little Inn
in Bobi,-— in sober truth, a wretched hovel,
which I shall not easily, nor soon forget. O the
bitings, and the blisters !

Yesterday morning*, on the conclusion of a
slender breakfast at my Inn, I strolled through
Bobi, which, no less than Villar, appeared
small and deserted : the fact is, that the popu-
lation of these Parishes is at all times widely
scattered in their several hamlets ; but now
that the sheep and cattle are on the mountains,
men, women, and children are gone there also,
and scarcely twenty people are left in the

49

two villages. During this Migration, which
commonly lasts from two to three months iu
the Summer season, the poor people dwell in
the Chalets, or mountain-hovels.

When I adjourned to the Presbytery, I re-
ceived from Mr. Muston a gentle rebuke for
not having taken my breakfast with his family*
His friendly attack being averted by a few
questions, respecting the History of the Vau-
dois in the time of their severe Persecution by
Lewis the fourteenth, and Victor Aniadeus the
second, he proposed to me a short walk, that I
might myself view part of the track of his
countrymen, on their Return to the Valley of
Luzerne, in the month of August, 1689; when
having left Switzerland, and crossing the lake
of Geneva, they landed in Savoy, and came
under Arnauld, at once their Captain and their
Pastor, to the Balsille ; and thence to the Col
Julien, the Sarcena, and Bobi. It was, as I
understood, to be a walk of about an hour and
a half; but Me were out, ascending and de-
scending, from eleven o'clock in the forenoon
till past six in the evening',^being exposed
the whole time to a burning sun. However,
£

50

thank God ! I have not suffered from the ex-
pedition : my companion had not the most
distant notion of being tired. We first mounted
le Fuijj on which I could not but admire the
noble Chesnut-trees, and many of the fine
winding-s of the mountain-paths : afterwards,
we succeeded in reaching- the Serre-criiel, its
real name; and then descended (o facil is de-
scensus !) by the Sarcena, At this last place,
my companion spoke enthusiastically, but iu
somewhat of a martial and mountainous spirit,
of an attack, which his countrymen, at their
return to the Valley of Luzerne, had made on
their enemies; driving them down the Sarcena,
where they had been posted, and killing-
them to a man. Hating war, as I hope on
principle, I could not (I am afraid) help enter-
ing, to a certain degree, into his feelings ! In
the same temper, he dc? fended the Tirata, a
shooting with rifles at a mark, which is still
kept up, as a national custom of very ancient
date, and which is now practised once every
year, in each separate parish of the Valleys,
on a Sunday afternoon : here, I strongly con-
demned the breach of the Sabbath. In my
aerial expedition, (for on the Serre-'Cruel we

51

were on high ground,) I felt glad to have an
opportunity of visiting the Chalets, in which
the shepherds and herdsmen dwell, with their
families, during the summer months. We en-
tered three of them. 1 never before saw sueh
abodes of human wretchedness, in which men,
women, and children were exposed to so many
privations, and were sunk in so low a state of
poverty. Roofs covered with turves, and stone-
walls loosely put together, without lime, or
mortar of any kind, were their only shelter !
Still they received their Pastor with cheerful
smiles, and a most hearty welcome ; inquiring
affectionately after Mrs. Muston and the chil-
dren, and producing their best, in an instant,
for our refreshment — a thin sour wine, and
black rye bread. I shall long remember one
old woman, in particular, the wife of an Elder
in the parish of Bobi, who went most eagerly
to a small chest, and took from it four apples,
which, it appeared, she had long kept, but
which she presented to us with all her heart
pour nous rafraichtr an voyage. Moreover, we
were followed with her blessings at our de-
parture ! In consequence of these mountain-
ous sojourniugs, Mr. Muston's pastoral visits
£ 2

52

are often very fatiguing ; at least, they would
be so to me. But there is no Sabbath-Service,
nor any other public duty performed by him,
as Pastor, in the Chalets, The men, who are
not very distant, come down to the Village of
Bobi, to attend the Church on a Sunday : the
women, and children are (I fear) without the
public means of Grace during the summers-
months.

After again dining at the frugal board of my
kind host and hostess, I paced my mule back
to La Tour, where I arrived about ten o'clock
last night. The breeze had sprung up, and
the close of this interesting day — " della notte
il bruno " — was quite delightful, in despite of
my stiff and aching bones. — Thought on them
far away !

I find, that I have forgotten to remark, that
mid-way between le Puy and le Serre-cruel,
(crvdelissime!) Mount Viso is clearly seen,
with a part of the Col d'Abriez on the opposite
side of the Valley. From le Serre-cruel a most
extensive prospect of the Plain of Piemont to-
wards Genoa lies open to the view.

53

Tliis evening", I drank coffee with Mr. Bert,
whjom I like the more, the more I see of him :
he appears a man of very respectable attain-
ments; his sincerity of belief I cannot doubt.
In discoursing' with him on the heresies of the
Geneva school, he observed with evident emo-
tion ; " Thank God ! our Congregations in the
" Valleys are not yet infected ! If I knew, that
"any one of our Ministers preached Socinian-
*• ism, I would immediately convene a Synod,
" and denounce the Offender. To deny the
" Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ is to deny
" our Redemption by Ilim. And where then
" would be the hope of us, poor Sinners *?" Mr,.
Bert feels deeply, and conscientiously, his re-
sponsibility as Moderator. He returned me the
list of Questions^ which I had put to him,
relating-, more or less, to the state of the Wal-
densian Church ; but wished to retain the Sug»
gestions I had also ventured to offer, for his
consideration, a few days longer. Both my
Questions in English, and his Answers in
Frenchy are verbatim as follows. I should
observe, that Mr. Bert understands the English
language sufficiently well to read any comiiioii
book,

E 3

54

QUESTIONS.

1. Is it supposed, that
any ancient M.S.S. Re-
cords, or Documents,
now exist, relating- to
the Origin, and early
History of the Wal-
densian Church ?

ANSWERS. I

1. Je n'en connois
point d'anterieurs a
la Rentree des Vau*-
dois dans leur Patrie
sous Arnauld in 1689.

2. Was the Church of
the Waldenses found-
ed by Claudius, Bi-
shop of Turin ?

2. II n'en fut pas le
fondateur, mais les
Vaudois, etant dans
son Diocese, perse-
vererent dans la Doc-
trine Chretienne.

3. If not by Claudius,
by whom was the
Church founded *?

4. What printed His-
tories of the Walden-
sian Church, as to her
Origin, Doctrine, and
Sufferings, are deem-
ed the most authentic ?

3. La tradition, et let
temoignage de leurs
ennemies attribuent sa
fondation aux Apotres.

4. Perrin, Gil les, et
Leger ; et, plus tard,
Arnauld, passent pour
authentiques.

55

5. Where are airy an- 5, Les M. S. S. origi-
cient M. S. S. of " la naiix existent dans ki
Nobla Lei^on" to be BiWiothequede Gene-
seen ? ve, et (ni fallor) a Cam-
bridge.

6. Where are 3Ir. 6. Mes ouvrages sont
Bert's Hymns, his Li- encore inedits : mes
vrede famille, and his occupations trop nom-
Archives, to be pro- breuses, et ma sante,
cured ? ne m'ont permis d'a-

chever ce que j'ai
commence. Le Seign-
eur soit mon aide.

7. What Liturgy, or 7. Celles de Geneve,
Liturgies, are now in de Lausanne, et de
use in the Protestant Neiichatel, pro arbi-
Churches of the Val- trio Pastoris: laLitur-
leys of Piemont ? gie de Geneve, dont on

se sert aux Vallees,
c'est Tancienne.

8. What Creed, and 8. Le Symbole des
Catechisms, are used ? Apotres, et les Cate-

chismes de Pictet, et
d'Ostervald,

66

0. Is tTiere any parti- 9. Non.
ciilar Confession of
Faith used, besides
the Apostles' Creed ?

10. Is the Doctrine, 10. Oiii.
preached by the Pas-
tors of the Valleys, or-
thodox, and scriptu-
ral ?

11. Are the Doctrines 11. Oui.
of the Holy Trinity,

and the Atonement for
sin by Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, en-
forced from the Pul-
pits of the Churches ?

12. Is the State of 12. S'il n'avauce pas,
Religion now advan- au moins nous nous
cing- among the Pas- flattens qu'il n'est pas
tors in the Valleys ? retrograde.

13. Is it advancing
among the people ?

13. Nous Tesperons
de I'heureux effet des
Saintes Ecritures re-
pandues par Ja Soci-

eie Biblique«

57

14. Have not the peo-
ple suffered from their
connection with the
French, and from the
late circumstances of
the Times?

14. La Religion a eu
sa crise, pendant la
guerre, et la revolu-

tion,
venu,

Le bien est re-

15. What is the pow-
er of the Moderator
over the Congreoa-
tions, both over the
Pastors, and over the
people ?

15. Celui de veillera
I'observation des arti-
cles synodiques, de la
discipline ecclesiasti-
que, et sur I'adminis-
tration desdeniers des
pauvres.

16. Can the Modera-
tor convoke Synods ?

16. Non, sans le con-
sentment des Eglises,
et la permission speci-
ale du Roi, qui accorde
son Patente.

17. Can a Pastor be
reproved, or removed
from his Cure of souls
by the Synod, for un-
faithful Preaching, or
a vicious mode of life?

17. Oui.

58

18. How often are the
Synods convened?

19. Is there any Sub-
Synod, or acting coun-
cil?

18, Autrefois, detrois
en trois ans,^ au plus
tard : maintenant, ils
deviennent plus rares.

19. La Table supplee
au Synode, et elle est
permanente d' un Sy-
node a r autre.

20. Of whom is the
Sub-Synod composed,
if it do exist ?

20. De trois Paste urs,
dont r un est le Mode-
rateur ; le second, le
Moderateur-adjoint; le
troisieme, le Secre-
taire: plus, il-y-adeux
Laiqucs.

21. Can a Pastor ex-
communicate any re-
fractory member of his
Church?

21. Oui.

22. What is the mode
of electing- a Pastor to
a vacant Church ?

22. OnzeEglises, fai-
sant laseconde Classe,
ont le choix de leur
Pasteur daus cette

5^

23. Must the election
of a Pastor be confirm-
ed by the Synod, or the
Sub-Synod?

Classe; mais elle« ne
peuvent appeler un
nouveau venu, au pre-
judice des deux Pas-
teurs de Montague, de
la premiere Classe,
Prali et Maneille.

23. Lorsque le ^y-
node confirme, la con-
firmation est authen-
tique : I'Election par
la Table n'est que pro-
visoire en attendant
le Synode.

24. xlre there Services 24. Les Batemes s'
in the Waldensian administrent dans le
Church, for Baptisms, temple, ou in asdibus
Marriages, and Buri- privatis, avec la Li-
als ? turgie : les Marriages

se benissent au tem-
ple. Liturgie, Les en-
terremens sont suivis
d'une Oraison fune-
bre, prononcee sur le
cimetiere par le Pas-
teur, ou le Regent,

60

25. Is Infant-Baptism
in use, in the Walden-
sian Church ?

25. Oui.

26. Are any public 26. Oui, dans quel-
Services performed ques Paroisses.
during Summer in the
Chalets, on the moun-
tains ?

27. What is the Popu-
lation of theProtestants
in the Valleys ?

27. La total it e moy-
enne est de dix^-neuf c\
vingt mille.

28. Are Schools esta- 28,
blished in each of the
Parishes, both for boys
and girls ?

Oui.

29. Are these Schools
kept separately, or do
both the Boys and Girls
attend the same ?

29. Quelques Ecoles
particulieres existent
^aet lapourles jeunes
filles,auxfrais de leurs
parens ; mais en gene-
ral les gar^ons et les
filles sont meles en-
semble.

61

30. Are there any
Sunday-Schools ?

30. Non ; en general.

31. Are the Scliools 31. Lcs Ecoles ge-
kept throughout the nerales,appelees gran-
year, or only during- des, sont pour 1' annee.

the months of Winter ?

S2. Are the Sacred
Scriptures constantly
read in the Schools;
and is the Catechism
taught and explained f

sous deduction de deux
mois de conge pendant
I'ete: les petites Eco-
les de quartier ne se
tiennent(]u' en hiver.

32. Oui, pour la lec-
ture : r explication de-
pend de la capacite des
Regents.

33. Do the Pastors
usually attend the
Schools ?

33, lis les visitent de
terns en terns ; et la
Table vient de pro-
poser des Comites d'
Instruction publique
pour toutes les Vail ees.

34. Are the Regents 34. Oui, en gejieral,
of the Churches, ex des grandes Ecoles.
officio, Schoolmasters

I also ? F

i

m

35. What is the ave- 35. La Salaire des

rage Salary of the Re- Regents varie suivant

g-ents? les Eglises : partoiit,

elle est au-dessous de

leiirs fatisues.

to'

3G. Is prayer used in 36. Oiii.

the Schools ?

37. Is thei-e any 37. Non»
School established in
the Valleys for the
daiiohters of the Pas-

tors f

38. Are the people, 38. Oui, etnon. C'est
for the most part, pro- a dire, que depuis
vided with Bibles '} V etablissement de la

Socitte Biblique beau-
coup de families pos-
sedent la Bible, mais
non encore la plu-
part.

39. IfnotwithBibles, 39. Oui, en general,
are they provided with

the New Testament ?

63

40. At what Univer-
sities are the Ministers
of the Valleys now edu-
cated ?

40. A Lausanne, et a
Geneve.

41. Are the four Stu-
dents now at Lausanne,
and the one Student
now at Geneva, wholly
supported by the Pro-
testant Swiss Cantons,
and by the legacy of
the Dutch Merchant?

grande

par-
Parens

41. En

tie ; mais les

doivent encore aj ou-
ter aux pensions dont

jouissent ces Etudi-
aus.

42. What is the ave-
rage Income of the Pas-
tors fromtheirParishes,
independent of foreign
aid, and their own pri-
vate property ?

43. Are the Stipends
of the Pastors in the
thirteen Parishes, a-

4'2. Outre le fogement,
(en general mauvais,)
un jardin, et, dans
quelques paroisses, un
peu de rural, on pay©
aux Pasteurs une
somme qui varie de
cent a deux cents
francs par an.

43. Oui.

f2

64

mounting to £292 a
year, regularly paid
by the English Soci-
ety for propagating
the Gospel?

44. Is this Sum di-
vided in equal, or un-
equal parts, among the
Pastors?

44. Inegales.

45. When was the
Royal Bounty from
England suspended,
amounting' to £266 a
year ?

45. En 1707.

46. Is there any Dutch
Bounty now paid ?

46. Oui.

47. Is the number of
the Protestant Parishes
supposed to have been
diminished in the Val-
leys?

47. Non, depuis la
Rentreede 1689. Mais,
avant la revocation de
I'Editde Nantes les E-
glises du Val Cluson,
et du Prageilato, fais-
oient corps avee les

65

notres, ainsi que Lu-
zerne, Luzernetta, Fe-
nile, et Campiglione
de la Vallee de Lu-
zerne.

48. Do the Protestants
of the Valleys now
suffer from the Perse-
cutions of the Papists^
and the Oppression of

the Sardinian Govern-
ment ■?

48. Non, pas directe-
ment.

49. Are the Protest-
ants of the Valleys obli-
ged to observe the festi-
vals of the Roman Ca-
lendar?

49. Oui,

50. Are the Protest-
ants then obliged to
abstain from working-
in the fields, and from
following their usual
occupations %

F 3

50. Oui; mais non
dans leurs maisons..

66

51. What is the num-
ber of festivals, which
the Protestants are
obliged to observe?

51. Comme elies ont
varie frequemment, on
ne pent en fixer le
nombre. Cette annee
ci il-y-en a seize par-
ticulieres aux Catho-
liques.

52. Is the liberty of
printing- moral, and re-
lig-ions Publications,
granted by the Sardi-
nian Government to the
Protestants of the Val-
leys?

52. Non.

53. Is the liberty of
printing the Holy
Scriptures granted to
them?

53. Non.

54. What are the usu-
al Translations of the
Holy Scriptures in Cir-
culation among the
Protestants in the Val-
leys?

54. Celles d' Oster-
vaid, et de Martin.

67

55. Are the Protest-
ants of the Valleys pre-
vented from rising to
the rank of Officers in
the Army of the King
of Sardinia ; or from
following' the liberal
professions of Advo-
cates, Physicians, or
Surgeons ?

55 lis sontsoumis a Ta
levee militaire comma
les autres sujets dii
Roi ; mais ils ne peu-
vent esperer d'arriver
au grade d' Officier :
ils lie peuvent etre>
Avocats, ni Medicins;
et pour etre Chirur-
gien, il faut une per-
mission superieure ex-
presse.

56. Are any Restric- 56. Non ; du moins,
tions put upon the Je ne crois pas.
Protestants in the way
of Traded

57. Has the Prussian
Envoy, the Count
Waldburg de Truch-
sess, already given any
part ofthe 12,000 francs
which he received
from the Emperor Al-
exander, for the Hos-
pital at La Tour?

57. II a paye 4,000
fr. pour r Hopital ;
6,000 fr. sont destines
pour le Nouveau Tem-
ple, qu' on souhaite de
batir au Pomaret; et
2,000 fr. sont a la dis-
position de Son Ex-
cellence.

68

58. Will notthisHos- 58. II est pour toutes
pital chiefly benefit the les trois Vallees.
Inhabitants of the Val-
ley of Luzerne ?

59. Is the Hospital to
be visited by Papisti-
cal Physicians, Sur-
geons, and Priests?

60. How comes the
French language to be
so universally spoken
in the Valleys of Pie-
mont even by the poor-
est Protestants, so that
the Church Services
should he in French?

59. Non.

60. Le deficit de
Ministres Vaudois a
necessite le recours
aux Ministres Fran-
cois et Suisses aux
temps des grandes
Persecutions; et des
lors nos Ministres fai-
soient leurs etudes en
pays, ou la langue
Fran9oise est en usage..
II en est resulte parmi
nous 1' etablissement
de ce language*

69

From Mr. Bert's Answers, which he made
with the greatest kindness, to my brief list of
Questions, a person, though not infected with
the rage of book-making, might find ample
materials for an interesting- Publication on the
past and present State of the Waldensian
Church. The subjects would be all ready to
his hand. To mention no other reason, I am
not, on account of my natural indolence, the
man to profit sufiiciently by Mr. Bert's
Answers, should it please God to restore me
once more to the bosom, and peaceful tranquil-
lity of my own dear family in England. But
though I have no ambition to let off a Quarto,
it is my intention, — during my stay in the Val-
leys of Piemont, and while impressions, respect-
ing the History, and religious Character of the
Vaudois, are fresh and strong- upon my mind, —
to despatch to an inquiring friend in England
three, or four letters, on the following particu-
lars,— the Origin, and Antiquity of the Wal-
densian Church ; her Persecutions ; her Doctrine,
public Services, and Discipline, To these let-
ters, I might also add another, should time and
opportunity permit, on the State of Morals
among the the Vaudois, and the best Mode,
as it shall appear to me, of rendering them

70

Assistance under existing circumstances. If
I be enabled to accomplish this lesser plan, I
shall not (I trust) say one single syllable for
effect; but shall abide, so far as my means of
information extend, strictly by the Truth.

La Tour, Sunday, 12th June. In the usu-
ally quiet village of La Tour I was this morn-
ing awakened by the discordant sounds of
drums and fifes. On recovering myself a
little from my surprise, I began to recollect
that it was the Tirata, a jour de fete, at Bobi ;
and getting out of bed, I perceived about a
dozen young men, who, with music, their ri-
fles, and a miserable kind of flag, were proceed-
ing to the field of action, to be in readiness for
the afternoon, with divers other companies, who
should join them on their way. Not allowing
myself to draw any hasty conclusion, I dressed
myself, breakfasted, and went to Church. It
was my first Sabbath in the Valleys of Pie-
mont, — and I had been looking' forward to the
public Services of the day with considerable
interest. Nor was I, on the whole, disappoint-
ed in my expectations, — a convincing' proof,
that I ought to be satisfied ; for when the mind
has been dwelling on any object for a length

71

of time, even on what is least earthly and sen-
sual, complete and entire gratification rarely
j follows. O for that higher state of spiritual
enjoyment in the eternal world, where all shall
1 be certain, fixed, and perfect ! But to proceed.
' The Church was about two-thirds full. Some
I of the men (I fear) were prevented from com-
I ing to it by the feats and firings at Bobi ; and
) not a few women of the Parish were eno-aoed
j in their attendance on the silk-worms ; these,
I i believe, require constant care in changing*
the Mulberry -leaves, and form a very princi-
pal means of subsistence for a people, who, in
^ their temporal circumstances, are all poor in-
deed ! Let me now add, that the Conirreffa-
tion of four hundred persons— so humble an
one in appearance I never before saw collect-
ed—were most orderly and respectful during
[ the whole Service, which lasted an hour and
' ten minutes. They are not, for the most part,
provided with Prayer books, though several
of them had the Psalms of David, with their
I appropriate tunes. Ail these joined the Re-
gent heartily in the public Singing.

The arrangement of the first Service is as
follows : the Regent began it by reading the

72

fifth and sixth chapters of the Gospel by St
Matthew, with the Practical Reflections of
Osteryaki, after each chapter: Mr. Bert then
ascended the Pnlpit, and read, from the old
Geneva Liturg-y, a Confession of sin: next
came the Singing-; when Mr. Bert after saying
a short Collect, and the Lord's Prayer, deli-
vered his Sermon on the snbject of Sanctijica^
tion, from John XVII. 19, "And for their sakes
I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanc-
tified throngh the truth." I liked it, and
thought it faithful and judicious. Mr. Bert's
manner in the Pulpit is, to my feelings, re-
markably good,— warm, affectionate, and, in
every respect, Mell calculated to fix the atten-
tion of his hearers, and to move the heart; yet
free from every thing, which borders on vul-
garity, noise, and gesticulation. The Sermon
was partly repeated from memory ; but the
Application of the subject was extempore.
After the Sermon, Mr. Bert read from the
Geneva Litui^y an excellent Prayer for all
Sorts and Conditions of men ; and repeated the
Lord's Prayer, and the A postle's Creed. Sing-
ing succeeded from the Psalms of David hy the
Regent and the Congregation. And the whole
Service was concluded by the parting Blessing,
which was given by Mr. Bert ;—

73

*'Le Seigneur vous beiiisse, et vous con-
^* serve. Le Seigneur vous regarde trun ceil
^' favorable, et vous soit propice. Le Seign-
*' eur tourne sa face vers vous, et vous main-
" tienne en paix et en prosperite. Amen."

" Allez en paix, et souvenez vous desPauvres,
" et que le Dieu de paix soit avec vous, par
" Jesus Christ, notre Sauveur, Amem"

This double Blesi?ing was pronounced by
tny friend, the Pastor, with peculiar tenderness.
The Exhortation, contained in it, relates to a
Custom in the Congregations of collecting
Alms, before they separate, for the use of the
sick and needy. A box, with an opening in
its top, is constantly placed at the entrance*
door of a Church.

To my great surprise, the second Church
Service at La Tour, during the Summer months,
follows the first in half an hour, for the con-
venience of the distant Parishioners,—many of
Xvhom are now mountaineers, and dwell some
^niles from the village. The whole of it is con-
ducted by the Regent : he began by reading
the two first chapters from St. Paul's Epistk

G

74

to Tittts, with the Reflections from Ostervalil's
Version of the Bible ; he theii sang- one of
David's Psalms ; read the Prayer for all sorts
and conditions of men ; repeated the Lord's
Prayer and the Apostles' Creed ; and ended
by giving" the Blessing. Very few people, as
might be expected, were present at this second
Service.

Besides this first, and second Sab])ath Ser-
vice, there is, throughout the year, a Thursday
Regent's Service at La Tour, as in the other
Parishes in the Valley of Luzerne; but in the
Church there are no daily Prayers.

Thus, it should seem, that the public duty
of a Vaudois Pastor, on the Sabbath, is light.
Nor, in fact, can it be considered heavy, where
there is only one Church, as at La Tour; but
it is to be remembered, that the Sermon, if not
delivered extempore, must be learnt by heart,
as the people will not endure a Discourse to
be read. The text being once given out from
the Bible, the Pastor proceeds to address the
people, without even a Note in writing* before
him, and apparently, at least, from the immedi-
ate impulse of his own mind. I certainly pre-
fer Preaching memoriier to any other mode of

75

delivery from the Pulpit : by it, is avoided both
the stiffness of reading a written Discourse, and
,he general flippancy of exte.uporaneous
harano-ues.TheOldEnglishDivinesweremthe

Labit of m«»daH«</ their Sermons to memory.

What 1 felt most to want, during the Services
of the day, was the unrivalled Liturgy of that
Church, to which 1 have the privilege to belong.
I well recollect hearing it, after an absence ot
some weeks, at the English Chapel of Geneva,
and being altogether delighted and comforted

by it.

As in these slight Remarks on the Vaudois
of Piemont, 1 am desirous of noting the
circumstances, which strike me,-neither ex-
tenuating facts, nor trying to exaggerate them
in any respect,-! must just mention, that m
going to the Morning Service of the Church
to-day, 1 passed a large number of young men,
,vho were playing at their favourite game of
bowls in the principal Street at La Tour. This,
though it be considered no violation of the
Sabbath in Italy, France, or even Switzerland,
would happily be still thftught a disgrace, and^
a scandal in my dear native country England.'
g3

76

Oil retiring to my Inn, I have continued
within doors for the rest of the day. My
travelling' companion, the small Greek Test-
ament oi Robert Stephens' Edition, M.D.XLIX,
was lying" on my table, as I entered my room ;
and my attention being- drawn, from the Ser-
mon of the morning, particularly to the last
continued Discourse of the Saviour, during his
earthly ministry, to his disciples, I read the
Jourteenth,Jifteenthy sind sixteenth chapters of
the Gospel by St. John ; together with the
divine Prayer, in chapter the seventeenth. The
Consolation, which I have experienced from
this most affecting portion of Holy Scripture,
is amply sufficient to compensate, not only for
the want of many outward comforts, to which
I have been long accustomed, but of those
religious exercises, which have usually, in
England, been numbered among my most pleas-
ing occupations on the Sabbath. Without
family Prayer, or any direct means of improv-
ing my children and servants; without the im-
mediate power of leading them onwards in the
way of Christian principles, piety, and godli-
ness ; — as a stranger, and a pilgrim, in a foreign
land, I was inwardly filled with peace and joy.
Often, and tiften, under apparently the most

77

favourable circumstances and in possession of
all the outward means of Grace, has my sluo-
gish heart been bowed down to the very earth ;
but, blessed be God ! it has risen freely, and
unencumbered this evening to the throne of
Mercy. And many, and many have been the
Supplications, which I have been enabled to
pour forth, that all they, who are nearest and
dearest to me, may be kept from the Evd One ;
and may finally, yea, in time and for eternity, be
in God, the Father— and in Christ, his beloved
Soil ! Even so come, Lord Jesu ! in the hearts^
of us all.

La Tour, ISth June. This morning, I went
out to see somewhat more of La Tour, and St.
Jean. My first visit was j>aid to a Manufactory
of coarse cloth, which, as it is the only similar
establishment, in these Valleys, belonging to
the Protestants, is thought by them a concern
of great importance : it has been at work for
the last seven years, and happily provides botli
employment and the means of subsistence, for
eiohty persons of both sexes. I counted nine-
teen small looms. The several processes of
cleansing, carding, spinning, and weaving, are
performed within the walls of the Manufactoiy ;
g3

I

78

erery thing, in fact, except the dying", whioli is
done at Turin : the carding is executed by
machinery, which is worked by water from the
torrent of Angrogue; but as I am not gnostic
in such contrivances, and the utmost extent of
my knowledge is just sufficient to distinguish
an over-shot wheel from a wheel which is under-
shot, I did not remain long at the Manufactory,
Moreover, the whole interior of the Building
stunk more intolerably, from the heat of the
weather, than cloth-mills commonly do. A good
weaver earns thirty sous a day ; women and
boys, from twelve to fifteen.

At La Tour is founded a Grammar School,
which is open for the reception of Boys from alf
the three Valleys, and in which those young
persons, who are designed for the Christian
Ministry, usually receive their Education, I
before they repair to the Swiss Universities of
Geneva and Lausanne. While I was at the
latter place^ I heard much of the state of back-
wardness, and deficiency in preparation, with
M hich the Vaudois Students enter the Univer-
sity,— and consequently I was not led to augur
favourably of this School. It is indeed in great
Cunl'usion. There is only one Master, and hev

70

with an annual pittance of eiglit lunniivd frano^,
amounting only to £33. sterling, is obliged to
attend, on an average, to forty boys, from six
to fifteen years of age, who are meant to fill
different callings in future life ! Of course, no
proper classification of the Pupils can be at-
tempted; nor, whatever be the abilities and
zeal of the Master, can any individual attention
be given to youths of a rising and promising^
character. These Evils demand the consider-
ation of the friends to the Yaudois.

Besides this Grammar School, La Tour has
one Central School in the Village, w hich is
open ten months in the year ; and eight Winter
Schools, from November to the end of February,
in its different hamlets. The population of the
Avhole Parish amounts to sixteen hundred Pro-
testants, and three hundred Romanists.

In St. Jean I called at the houses of Mr.
Mondon, the present Pastor of the Parish, and
Mr, Meille, who has within the last nine
months resigned its ministerial duties, after
having performed them faithfully for forty
years. Indeed my chief object in going to St,
Jean was to see the latter, of whom I had heard

80

from every person, who spoke of him, a most
interesting character. Mr. Mondon, to whoni
I first went, has attained his seventieth year,
and is yet a strong, hale man ; non prima, at
recta senectus. About six months since he
actually crossed the mountains by Bobi, and
Prali, on foot, — and walked over the Balsille
and the Alps into Dauphine. I certainly felt
desirous of having an interview with him, as
I had by some means entertained no very pleas-
ing impression respecting the soundness of his
religious principles ; nor is this impression,
I must confess, now removed. Buring our
conversation, which lasted two hours, he ex-
pressed himself far more warmly against
Cfpsar Malan, and his associates, than against
la Compagnie des Pasteurs de PEglise de
Geneve, who issued the prohibitory Reglement
of 1817 : he would not allow the Ministers, and
Professors at Geneva to be infected with the
Socinian heresy ; but yet granted, that they
w^ere, for the most part, Arians, I pressed him
on the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, —
on the Divinity of Christ, original Sin, the
Atonement, the JVeed of a Sjnritual Renova-
tion oj' heart, and Justification by Faith alone;
but he did not admit them fully, nor cordially.

81

Respecting the historical Evidences of Christ*
ianity he however spoke with considerable
fluency and power. On the M'hole, I am less
satisfied with Mr. Mondon, as a Minister of the
Gospel, than either with Mr. Bert, Mr. Gay, or
Mr. Muston. Mr. Mondon received his Edu-
1 cation at Geneva.
I

How different were the feelings, with which
I parted from 3ir. iJeille ! He appeared to me
a true Representative of a Vaudois Pastor, such
as I had pictured to myself, — and such, in fact,
as a Minister of the lowly andhumbling doctrine
of the Cross ought to be, sufficiently informed,
I pious, mild, and full of Love to God and man !
He has lost within a few months an only Sou,
who was drowned in the Po at Turin. The loss
has been most keenly felt, and tends to make
him more interesting. He resides in a plea-
sant comfortable house, in the midst of a vine-
yard, forming part of a small family estate.
It was the wish of Mr. Bert, and some of the
other Vaudois Pastors, that Mr. Meille should
have been selected as the person to visit Swit-
zerland, France, Berlin, the Netherlands, and
England, for the purpose of making the Col-
lections, to establish the Hospital at La Tour ;

82

but his extreme modesty, and diffidence of
himself, prevented him from embarking in the
world even for such an imdertaking. His
manner is peculiarly attractive : he spoke with
much affection of his late parish; and seemed
most anxious, that some plans, under the Di-
vine blessing-, might be adopted to improre;
the whole system of Education for the inhabit-
ants of the Valleys of Piemont, both male and
female. Two objects he has more especially
at heart; the 7ierv modelling, and Improve^
merit of the Grammar "School at La Toitr^ —
and the Establishment of an Institvtion for
the training of Regents, Ai parting', Mr.
Meille pressed my hand with great tenderness,
and gave me his blessing. He is about sixty-
five years of age. O that I more resembled i
this excellent Christian 1

The Church Services at St. Jean, on Sun-
days and Thursdays, are the srane as at La
Tour: the population of the Parish amounts to^
eighteen hundred Protestants, and seventy Ro-
manists.

I may here remark, that the Vaudois Pastors
take great pains with the young people oi

83

their Parishes, from sixteen to eighteen years
of age, in preparing them for their first Com-
munion of the Lord's Supper.

La Tour. Uth June. After an early dmner
t-o-day at half-past twelve, I proceeded to Rora
from La Tour; Rora lying- almost due South,
and being five miles distant. It is situated
upon the mountains; where, unlike as I be-
lieve it to be to the rebellious Edom, it ap-
; pears to have made "its nest as high as the
eagle." Jerem. xlix. 16.

Soon after quitting La Tour, I crossed the
Pelice, and leaving the town of Luzerne on my
kft, began my ascent, which continued the
Avhole way to Rora. The road is even grander
than that between Villar and Bobi; it is a
kind of lesser Simplon, of which it reminded
me particularly on the Savoy side, with its
bold mountains on the one hand, and its deep
yawning valleys on the other. But it is better
wooded, principally with chesnut-trees and
! beech. The torrent Luzerne roars beneath in
its narrow rocky bed; sometimes nearly
choked in its coui-se; and in one part, about
tM o-thirds upwards, presenting a fine water-

84

fall : the road itsfelf is often winding, sleep,
and as bad as a road can be.

I again attempted Mule-ridings but got so
wretched an animal, that I soon abandoned him
to my guide, and performed the whole expedi-
tion on foot. Not all the bacular arguments of
my companion, nor my own coaxings and gentler
persuasions, could induce him oftentimes to stir :
he obtained a complete victory over both of us»

On arriving at Rora, a poor little village, 1
found to my disappointment, that the Pastor
Peirot was not at home, but that he had him*
self gone to La Tour. I however went and
tailed upon his wife at the Presbytery : she
seems a nervous, dissatisfied woman ; and gave
me soon to understand, that till her marriage
she had lived at Geneva; that she liked (how-
ever she was unfitted for it) the busy hum of
men, and did not much fancy her mountainous
retreat. As I could obtain little, or no inform-
ation from her, I soon repaired to the Church \
where I was immediately joined by one of the
Elders of the Parish. Shortly afterwards
came a tall manly looking figure, without stock-
ings, like the peasants in general^ and dressed

85

miicli as in their poor manner: lie proved to
be the Syndic, a civil mag^istrate holding- an
office similar to that of a Mayor in an English
borough town, though very different in his
trim and appearance to such a Gentleman.
They had both heard, that an Englishman was
in the Church, and came to greet me.

T learnt that the Parish of Rora contains six
hundred Protestants, and sixty Romanists; and
that it has one Central School in the Village
for ten months in the year, and three Winter?
or Hamlet Schools. The Church Services are
the same as at Villar and Bobi : on Sunday
morning, the Reading- from the Holy Scriptures,
Prayers, and a Sermon ; in the afternoon, Read-
ino' from the Scriptures, and Pravers : on
Thursday morning-, Reading from the Scrip-
tures, and Prayers ; — with daily Prayers
throughout the year, the three Sununer months
being alone excepted. Singing from the Psalms
of David forms a part of all the public Services.

In the Regent's Desk I found Ostervald's
large Folio Bible, Avith the Practical Reflect-
ions,— theNeufchatel Liturgy, — and the Psalms
H

86

of David, with their appropriate tunes : in the
Pulpit were Ostervald's Bible, and the Geneva
Liturgy. The Church itself is in decent order,
arranged like the others, which 1 have seen in
the Valleys, — and is capable of holding from
three to four hundred persons.

When I had finished my visit to the Church,
I entered a cottage, and began to make inqui-
ries about Bibles and New Testaments. The
owner of the dwelling having produced both of
them, I asked a nice looking boy, who appeared
to be twelve, or thirteen years of age, if he
could read. He instantly took up the New
Testament, and, turning to the eighteenth chap-
ter of the Gospel by St. Matthew, went through
it very perfectly. — I then proceeded to the
hovel of two very poor people, and was told,
that they did not possess any portion of the
Holy Scriptures ; and that neither husband,
nor wife, was able to read. The case, I was
assured by the Syndic and Elder, was singu-
lar: they affirmed, that not only was there
almost in every house a Copy of the New Tes-
tament, and in some houses a Bible ; but that
the Protestants of the Parish, old and young,
could generally make use of them. They
mentioned a strong instance of the jealousy of

87

the Papish Priests, and of the narrow spirit of
the Sardinian Government : Mr. Peirot, no less
than Mr. Bert, had introduced into his Central,
or Village School, the system of Dr. Bell, /'/«-
struction mutuelle ; but each of them was for-
bidden,/rom high authority, to pursue it, and
was reduced to the necessity of following the
old method of teaching the children.

These primary visits and inquiries being
made I proposed to the Syndic and Elder to
accompany me to the summit of the mountain
above Rora, which, I had been informed, over-
looked the whole Valley of Luzerne : they very
cheerfully accepted the proposal. The View
was nearly opposite to that which I had enjoyed
on Friday last from the Serre-Cruel, and the
Sarcena : it was delightful. I saw Bobi, Villar,
and Angrogne, from West to East: to the
South-East was the rich plain of Piemont,
stretching towards Genoa. As at the Serre^
Cruel, I perceived, that after a certain height,
the Chesnut-trees altogether cease upon the
mountains, when the beech suddenly begin : on
some of the highest, there are pines, but I did
not fall in with any of them, either last week,

or to-day.

h2

88

Before I parted from the Syndic and tlie
Elder, I adjourned to the house of the former,
and drank some Avine and water, — one object
of my visit, with which he would, on no ac-
count, dispense. Both my new acquaintances
showed, in their conversation something- of a
religious character, — or at least not an unfa-
vourable disposition on the subject of religion:
but when I began to speak to them of their
ancestors, and the efforts, which by them were
made against the Persecution ofLeivis thejoiii"
tee?itk, and the Duke of Savoy ^ Victor Amadeus
the secondy they became vastly more animated,
and talked of the feats of olden times with all
their heart. They likevv ise defentled the Tirata?
w hich had been celebrated at Rora last Sunday
week ; saying that their fathers were much
better marksmen than themselves, and that,
in their days, most persons could from a Ri-
fle hit a stick, which was thrown up into the
air at a distance of fifty yards. Towards the
English nation they expressed themselves
gratefully ; and declared, in the most unaffect-
ed terms, the pleasure, which they felt, in
showing me all the attention, and respect, in
their power.

89

La Tour, \^th June, The Pastor Peirot,
who had heard of my expedition to Rora yes-
terday afternoon, paid me a visit this morning
shortly after breakfast In his manner, he seems
anxious for the welfare of his Parish, and
spoke pleasing-ly, and with great affection,
respecting the kindly intercourse, which sub-
sists between his flock and himself. He is a
quick, sensible man, apparently thirty-five
years of age. His Opinion of the Orirjin, and
high Antiquity of the Waldensian Church, is
the same which is entertained by the other
Pastors, with whom I have conversed ; namely,
that it is of a very early date, long before the
time of Claudius, Bishop of Turin, and, in
fact, of the age of the Apostles themselves, or
their immediate Successors. The tradition (it
seems) is universally current in these Valleys,
that the Gospel was, at the infancy of the
Christian Church, introduced into them;
where, from their locality and seclusion, it has
been preserved to the present day. On ob-
serving to Mr. Pierot, "Alas ! what you say
** rests only on tradition ; can you now produce
<* any M.S.S. Records, or Documents, throwing
" light upon the Antiquity of your Church>
h3

90

" and proving directly her Apostolic Origml"
He admitted that these were destroyed in the
Persecutions of the Vaiidois ; but however
with reason added, That as the Origin of
their Church cannot be satisfactorily traced
to some particular and definite Epoch: and
that as all authentic Ecclesiastical History
is silent in regard to her Reformation from
the Errors and Abuses oj* Popery, — at leasts
their early Profession of the pure princi^
pies of the Gospel must fairly be conceded.
" You," (he said) "in England, by the lead-
*' ings of God's Providence, have to ascribe
" your Reformation to the Instrumentality
"of Cranmer, and other Servants of the
" Lord, in the sixteenth Century of the Christ-
" ian sera : shortly before their time, arose
" the venerable Luther and Melancthon
" for the enlightening of the Church in
" Germany; Calvin, for that of Geneva; and
*' Zuingie, Bucer, and (Ecolampadius, for those
" of Switzerland: but who are the founders of
" our Church, and our Protestantism? Who
" indeed, but Jesus Christ's own Disciples, or
"their immediate Followers?" Mr. Pierot
then dwelt on La Nobla Leigon, to prove*

91

if nothing' more could be inferred from it, tliat
the Waldenses were the first of the Reformed
Churches; since it contains the Doctrine, and
religious Profession of Protestants, — and can,
from internal evidence alone, be traced to the
year of our Lord, eleven hundred.

At Mr. Pierot's departure, I called on Mr.
Bert, and had rather a long- conversation with
him on the very interesting- subject of the
Origin, and remote Antiquity of the Walden^
sian Church, His Opinion quite coincides
with that of Mr. Pierot. Makino- use of these
strong expressions, he observed ; " I firmly be-
*' lieve, that the Doctrine of our Church would
*• have been the same, if Claudius, Bishop of
"Turin, had never existed. We are derived
" from the Apostles. Claudius adopted our
" sentiments; we did not adopt his." Ail this,
it must be confessed, does not amount to a
proof of ^Ae Apostolic Origin of the Walden-
sian Church, nor can such Proof he obtained,
unless the M.S. S. in the Libraries, not only at
Geneva, and Trinity College, Cambridge, but
also at Turin,aiid the Vatican at Rome, could
be carefully collated : at the two latter, the
hope appears, for the present, impracticable;

92

thoug^li it is by no means unlikely, tliat one,
if not both of them, might possess M.S. S.
capable of affording much information on the
subject.

Towards noon, I started for Angrogne, situ-
ated N. N, E. of La Tour, and distant three
miles from it. The parish of Angrogne is par-
ticularly celebrated, in the History of the Vau-
dois, for their conflicts with their Persecutors,
and contains, within its limits, the Pre du Tour,
— now a ruin, but formerly a strong fortress,
and the retreat of this suffering People. What
is certainly not less interesting, it was the scite
of the ancient Colleg'e for the Education of the
Waldensian Pastors, from which religious In-
struction went forth, in the dark ages, to the
nations of Europe, while they remained plun-
ged in Ignorance and Superstition,

Angrogne, like Rora, her sister Parish, is in
the mountains. I began ascending shortly
after I left La Tour, and did not cease climb-
ing till I arrived at the little village itself.
The heat of the weather was so great, that I
again ventured to hire a Mule ; but happily,
this time, I procured a tractable, and not an

93

unwilling' beast, for that race of animals : it
had, moreover, a saddle, covered with crimson
velvet. So I travelled, in a kind of undue
pomp and magnificence, to the humble, thatched
Presbytery of the Pastor Goante, The Scenery
I should have thought very striking, if I had
not before visited Bobi, and Rora : it is how-
ever more beautiful than either of them ;
the road winds up the right side of the fine
Valley of Angrogne, and is often sheltered
by the foliage of the Chesnut-trees, which
grow most luxuriantly in all directions about
it. The ton*ent, which gives its name to the
Parish, foams and sparkles beneath.

Mr. and Mrs, Goante received me in the
true Taudois hospitable manner, end pressed
me to dine with them : I accepted their invita-
tion most willingly, and thoroughly enjoyed
the day with them. She is an excellent
woman, possessed of great feeling, and most
unaffected piety; she had formerly resided
in Holland , for ten years, in the condi-
tion of Governess to the daughters of a Dutch
merchant. Now, in her retirement at Angrogne,
she is altogether devoted to her Parish. From
the Pastor Goante, a plain, and very mild man^

94

about sixty years of age, I learnt, that the
population of Angrogne consists of two thou-
sand eight hundred persons, of whom rather
more than one hundred are Romanists ; that in
the Village itself there is a Central School ;
and also a Day-School, during the four winter-
months, at each one of the nine hamlets. But
again I was informed of the indiscriminate
mixture of Boys and Girls in the Schools.

Just before I quitted the house, to accom-
pany Mr. and Mrs. Goante in a visit to part
of their Parish, (for its hamlets, as in La Tour,
Villar, and Bobi, are scattered over the moun-
tains to the extent of some miles,) my attention
was attracted to a small Portrait of Arnauld,
drawn in Indian ink, with this inscription
around it, " Venerandus ac Strenuus Henricus
" Arnauld, Valdensium Pedemontanorum Pas-
"tor, necnon Militum Prsefectus; ann.Dom.
" 1691, oet. 65." The countenance struck me
as being somewhat fierce, and altogether in
character with the follow ing' lines beneath the
Portrait, which are not improbably of his owa
composition : —

95

" Je preche, je combats, j'ai double Mission,
" Etdeces deux Emploismoname est occupee :
** II s'agit aujourdhui de rebatir Sion:
•* II faut la Treille, et 1' Epee."

To have found the Portrait of this deterinined
Soldier of the Church militant here on earth
hanging- in thesitting-roomof thePastorGoante,
and placed in a conspicuous part of it by one
of the mildest creatures of God's heritage, is
to me a proof, not only of the Veneration, \\\
which the memory of Henry Arnauld is held
by his countrymen, — but of the keen Recol-
lection of their former bitter and cruel Suffer-
ings! The judgments of the Lord God of
Hosts have however gone forth against the ene-
mies of the Witnesses, who were to prophesy
a thousand two hundred and three-score days,
clothed in sackcloth. Rev. xi. 3. " And the
" third angel poured out his vial uponihe rivers
" and fountains of waters ; and they became
" blood. And I heard the angel of the waters
" say, Thoui^rt righteous, O Lord, which art,
" and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast
"judged thus. Foi' they have shed the blood
" of saints and prophets, and thou hast given
" them blood to drink : for they are wor-
" thy. And I heard another out of the altar

96

" say, Eren so. Lord God Almiglity, true
" and rig'hteoiis are tliy judgments." Rev,
XVI. 4 — 7. Already may it likewise be said,
that the fourth and the ffth Viah have
been poured, out on the idolatrous Roman
Church, The Effusions of the sixth and
seventh are yet future. They shall be mark-
ed by still more signal manifestations of
the Divi'ie Providence; when, in the in-
flictions of God's wrath, the arm of Jehovah
sliall be made immediately bare. For th(*;e
awful days — and the time, be it remembered,
mny be at hand, even at the door — is reserv-
e^l the Downfal, and utter Destruction of
the two Powers, the Beast and the False Pro-
phet, who, for the punishment of follen, sinful
man, vv^ere established on earth at tlie same
sera, who shall, according to the true Word of
Prophecy, exist in one unvaried principle of
Opposition to the pure Doctrine of the Gospel,
for the Period alloted to their reign ; and who
shall alike be gathered for the battle of the
great day, and perish in the undistinguisliiHg
slaughter at the mountain of Megiddo,

My attention had b^t^n much drawn to the
Prophecies of Daniel j^wd St, John in the Book

97

vfRevelalion, before I quitted England ; more
i^articularly by reading the Exposition of the
latter by the Rev, Henry Gauntlett : I had also,
not without Prayer for the enlightening of God's
Holy Spirit, humbly endeavoured, by comparing
Scripture with Scripture, to make the revealed
Will of God its own Interpreter, Now, to my
own full and entire Conviction, I have seen the
prophecy of Rev, xi. 3. *partly fulfilled in the
Waldenses, and their descendants. I verily
believe them to be a component part of God's
true Church Jiis Holy Catholic Church, clothed
in sackcloth as they have been, and still con-'
tinuing to dicell in the wilderness. Rev. xii,
13^-17. Hence do I look forward, with tremb*-
ling hope and expectation, to the further ac-
complishment of Dan, VII. 25. xii, 7, 11, 12.
Luke XXI. 24. Rom, xi. 12, 25 — 27. Rev, xiii.
5. XVI. 12—21.

But to return from this Digression, interest*,
ing as the subjects of it are ; for in the sure
Word of Prophecy is to be traced the hand of
God from age to age, and to the consummation
of all things, in the One unbroken plan and
Harmony of his Divine Purposes.

* It is very properly observed by Bp. Newton, that the
TWO Witnesses (Rev. xi. 3.) denote a successon of .men,

A.NO A SUCCESSION' OF CHURCHES, in which SUCCESSION, THE

Waldenses and tbeir descendants have always held a

DISTINGCiSHED RANK. I

m

1 was delighted with my walk, no less than
with my companions, the Pastor Goante and
his wife. We did not mount so high as I had
gone on Friday last with Mr. Miiston, but yet
to a sufficient elevation, to command a great
part of the Valley of Angrogne. The view,
which is seen from the smaller of Mr. Goantc's
two Churches, at le Serre, down the Valley
tov»'ards the town of Luzerne, is one of the
loveliest I ever beheld : the distance may be
about five miles, over hill and dale, and moun-
tain and rock, and a thick luxuriant foliage,
There is no view, which I saw in Switzerland,
superior to it for beauty and richness ; I do not
mean richness of soil, but in prospect. Per-
haps the noble Chesnut-trees give it a decided
advantage. I observed to-day, as in my per-
ambulations of the last week, the laborious
industry of these poor Vaudois: many little
terraces of earth, brought on the backs of the
peasants from the valleys beneath, appeared
on the sides of the mountains, containing patches
of potatoes, and buck-wheat. This last, called
bleSarracin, is a most miserable kind of food :
the seed is small, black and triangular ; yet,
this buck-wheat, (which is sown, I believe, in
England only for pheasants near their preserves,

99

and which has been introduced into the Valleys
within the last thirty years,) forms, together
with potatoes, chesniits, and rye, the principal
food of the poor. And nearly all are poor
indeed! I remarked also in my ascent, what
had before struck me in the other Parishes, that
some of the tops and summits of the mountains
are cultivated ; I saw rye, barley, and oats, in
small quantities, far above the village of An-
grogne : part of the land was standing for hay.
But I did not discover any wheat. Mr. Goante
told me that none was grown. His excellent
wife declared, with tears in her eyes, that she
has often, during the winter-season, beheld
women and children sinking down at her
kit chc»:i -door with hunger and faintness : she
added, that if the poor had a supply of rye-
bread the whole year round, which did not often
happen, they reckoned them.selves very well
provided. There are few, if any Vineyards in
the Parish of x4ngrogne. Cattle, of which
Booi has comparatively a supply, here nearly
fail.

After enjoying the View from the door of the
little Church of h Serre, for at least a quarter
of an hour, we entered the building to make
i2

100

an inspection of its interior. It is very plain*
]y fitted up for three hundred persons, and
is divided for the men and women^ with seats
for the Elders and Strangers, in the same man-
ner as the other Churches^ which I had seen in
the Valley of Luzerne; but not an atom of
glass is in it. The sashes of the windows
are covered with white paper, which apparently
had been oiled. Ostervald's Version of the
Bible, and the old Geneva Liturgy were in th&
Pulpit and Regent's Desk. Mr. Goante spoke
with horror of the new School at Geneva.

On quitting the Church, we repaired to the
house of Pierre Oddin, one of the Elders, an
active old man, eighty five years of age, still
full of fire and vivacity : he drew a jug of
wine ; and, having' invited us heartily to par-
take of it, and of his black rye-bread, he began,
as a matter of course, to dwell on the times
that were past and gone, — how his Grandfather
had joined the band under the command of
Henry Arnauld, and had shared in its bold,
adventurous deeds. I turned the conversation,
and found, to my satisfaction, that he had read
his Bible, and was acquainted with its contents :
he showed me his Copy of the Sacred Volume,

101

and assured me, tliat he even now frequrntly
studies six and seven chapters a day. Besides
the Bible, he possesses Ostervald's Noiirri"
ture de VAme, and Pictefs Praijers—hoth of
which works I have found in several of the Cot-
tages. With evident delight he gave me to ur-
de^'rstand, that one of his family, the Oddins,
had, from father to son, filled the office of an
Elder in the Church of Angrogne, for the last
Jive hundred years.

Having taken a friendly leave of Pierrp, we
descended to Mr, Goante's principaL Church,
near his Presbytery. It is also of the plain-
est description, with paper in the sashes of the
windows, but capable of holding d(mble the
number of people to that of le Serre, six hun-
dred instead of three. Ostervald's Version of
the Bible, and the old Geneva Liturgy were
again in the Pulpit, and Regent's Desk. The
Church-Services, on the Sunday and Thurs-
dav, are the same as at La Tour : there are no
public daily Prayers. Mr. Goante informs mo,
that the Regent's Salary, for the discharge of
his double office of Regent, and Schoolmaster,
is, on an average, in the Parishes of the Yal-
I 3

102

leys of Piemont, not more than one hundred
and fifty francs a year, rather more tlian six
pounds sterling,

T parted from my host and hostesss, after
drinking a cup of coffee^ with feelings (as I
hope) of mutual kindness, — and pursued my
way back to La Tour, much gratified at the
day, which I had passed.

La Tour, I6th June, As I have no^^ visit-
ed all the Parishes in the Valley of Luzerne,,
and made an acquaintance with their diflfereiit
Pastors, I remained quietly at my Inn during
this morning and forenoon ; till I went, by in-
vitation, to dine with the Moderator, Mr. Bert*
He does not reside in the Presbytery at La
Tour, but in a dwelling, which belongs to a
small landed property of his wife. His means
being rather more ample than those of his bro-
ther Pastors, his influence is, of course, more felt
in the exercise of Charity, and the acts of be-
nevolence which he is enabled to perform. It
is really gratifying to hear his Parishioners
speak of him. My Landlady, Madame Brez^
who lost her husband within the last six

103

weeks, and has been left a widow, with seven
children, has indeed found him a very pre-
sent help in the time of her trouble.

Mr. Bert lives frugally, but in comparative
comfort. Our dinner was excellent for the
Valleys of Piemont : the furniture of the house,
though plain, is good ; and all things, in fact,
are in order, and in their proper places.

In the course of conversation, Mr. Bert men-
tioned, that it is a part of his Duty, as Mode-
rator, to make a Visitation of all the Churches
in the three several Valleys, every two years,
for the purpose of inspecting the State both of
the Pastors and their people, according to
*his Answer to my fifteenth Question : he then
preaches at each separate Church. From the
Articles of the last Synod in 1822, which he
kindly showed me, 1 observed, that it is re-
commended to the Pastors to speak French as
much as possible with their people, in order to
render them more familiar to the Church Ser-
vices in that language. 1 copied the follow-
ing Article relating to the Catechumens, who,

*Page 57.

104

as I remarked after my visit fo Mr. Meille,
form especial objects of attention to the Vau-
clois Pastors ; " Tout Pastenr doit tenir un
" registre des Cateclmmenes qii' il recoit a la
" Sainte Cene, et s'ils ne sont pas en Etat de
" rendre raison de leiir Foi, du moins pour les
" articles les plus simples, on ne doit pas les
" inscrire, ni par consequent les admettre a
<* la ratification du Voeu du Bapteme."

Two circumstances were mentioned by
Mr. Bert with much satisfaction. The first re-
ferred to the willingness, with which the poor
destitute Protestants in the Valleys of Pie-
mont — People as well as Pastors — came for-
ward in the year 1823, for the relief of the
sufferers in Holland : they had heard of the
Inundation, which then occurred in that coun-
try, and, at the representation of his Excel-
lency the Count Waldburg de Truchsess,
the Prussian Envoy at the Court of Turin,
they immediately began to raise Collec-
tions in their Churches. These Collections
from the three Valleys amounted to no less a
sum than 45801 francs, which they sent off to
their Benefactors ; the poor offering their mite ;
Bone, properly speaking, of their abundance, —

105

hut all, according to their several ahilitij.
The Dutch, it is to be remembered, have great-
ly assisted the Protestants in these Valleys.
At the present moment, they support the Latin
School at La Tour, and (with a trifling addi-
tion from the respective Communes) the differ-
ent Village, and Hamlet Schools, in all the
thirteen Parishes : they likewise contribute
to the Pensions, which are granted to the su-
perannuated Pastors, and the Widows of Mi-
nisters. To the Recteur of the Latin School at
La Tour they assign eight hundred francs
a year,— an inadequate Stipend, in truth, for
his labors, but yet all which he does receive.
I most sincerely hope, that ere long some effec-
tual pecuniary Assistance may be given to the
Vaudois of Pieniont from England, particular-
ly for their Schools I

The other circumstance, related by Mr.
Bert, was more important, but perhaps less
touching. It was the Distribution of 1,270
Bibles, besides a much larger number of New
Testaments, among the Protestant families in
the Valleys, by the British and Foreign Bible
Society, and the kindred Institutions of Lau-
sanne, Basle, and Geneva, " Thus,'' said the

106

Christian Moderator, " is our necessity, in
"some degree, supplied: perhaps, one^iliirdY
" of our families, with the Copies which they
" before possessed, are now provided with the
" Old Testament, and nearly every J'amily with l
" the New."

If it shall please God, that I shall return to
England, I must endeavour, through my re-
spected friend, the Rev, Andreio Brandram,}
to make an application for more Bibles* to the
London Committee in Earl Street : the Vau-
dois of Piemont, who cannot, with propriety,
be called to purchase, should be gratuitously \
supplied. Nor have I the smallest doubt of
Biblical Liberality in England. May God, in
his mercy, impart the Teaching of his blessed
Spirit to the Reading of his own inspired Word
in every land, and among every people, where-
cver, by human Agency, it shall be his Will to
send it. Amen, Amen.

*I have new the g^ratefiil dr.ty of acknowledging-, not only
a FREE Gift of ?hven hundred Bibles for the Vnndois of
Piemont from the London Comroittee of the Biitisli and Foreig-u
Bible Sofietj', but also of three hundred Copiks from the
Bible Society at Paris. It is more especially incumbent U[io«
me to state, that the latter grant was most checrfiiily made, at
ihe instance of a foreigner, and an utter stranger.

107

:. Towards the Evening, I adjourned with Mr.
Bert into his Study, and found in it a very fair
Collection of Books : to me many of them bore
a peculiar interest, as they related to the
Church of the Vaudois, both in her past and
present State. I have now brought a ie^Y of
them with me to the Inn, and hope to enjoy a
quiet day to-morrow in looking' into their con-
tents, and extracting the pith out of some of
them.

Pinerolo, Saturday Night, 18f/i June, I re=-
niained so long at La Tour to-day, that I but
just secured day -light for arriving at this place.
Y^esterday, for some hours, I was busily em-
ployed in making Extracts from the Books,
which Mr. Bert had lent me, and in sketching'
the plan of my letters from the Valleys of Pie-
mont. The first of these, on the Origin and
Antiquity of the Waldensian Church, I how-
ever began towards the evening. This afternoon
[ finished it, and shall now send it off to En-
gland. What I felt more immediately anxious
to obtain were Authorities, from Roman and
Protestant Writers, for the Facts, which I
should state, relating to the History and Doc-
trine of the Church of the Vaudois. In ac-

108

€omp[isliiug this Object, which 1 might not he
able elsewere to effect, I was much assisted bj
Mr. Bert. He has added to the many othei
obligations, which I owe him, by offering tt
come to PiiKroJo, and see me, on my retun
from the Valleys of Peroiise, and St. Martin.

My road hither was the same as I had before*
gone to La Tour, through St. Jean, and Bri4
quieras. In traversing the former village, I]
gave a lingering look from my Caleche at the
Vineyard of Mr. Meille, but did not see him ir
it. Here then I am, in readiness for to-morroiv
morning's Service at the Protestant Church ol
St. Germain, the first of the Vaudois Parishes!
in the Valley of Perouse, on quitting Pinerolo.)

LETTER THE FIRST.

La Tour, IStJi June, 1825.-

My dear Friend,

I well recollect the promise, which I
made you before I quitted England, and am
now preparing to fulfil it, so far as my inform-
ation goes respecting the Origin and Anti»»

109

fjuitp of the Waldensian Church, The subject,
you are fully aware, is involved in some diffi-
culty by the contradictory Accounts of Histori-
ans, both among- Protestants and Romanists.
Mosheim, with many otlier compilers, has as-
serted that Peter Waldus of Lyons was the
Founder of this Church, and that it received
its name directly from him. Of course, I have
not the work of Mosheim now with me to con-
sult ; but I read that part of it over very care-
fully, before my departure from England,
which treated of the Waldenses, and feel nearly
confident, that he has fallen into this error.

Other Protestant Writers have attempted
to trace the Waldenses to the besinninp' of the
ninth Century, and to the time of Claudius^
Bishop of Turin ; while some few have, with
greater probability, ascribed their Origin to
the Apostolic age itself'.

The same degree of uncertainty exists among
authors of the Roman Church. And though
these last would, for the most part, cause their
Readers to infer, that the religious tenets
of the Waldenses are both new and strange,
they have yet left many striking and favour-

K

110

able Testimonies, not only to the Antiquity of
their Origin, but to the Soundness of their
Principles themselves. A careful examination
of facts, as they are established in the authentic
records of Ecclesiastical History, may suffice
to convince you, my dear friend, that the Doc-
trine of the Waldensian Church is such as may
at least have proceeded from the teaching' of
the immediate Successors of the Apostles, and
that their name of Waldenses was taken from
those Valleys, which they still continue to in-
habit. Such an inquiry is doubtless one of
considerable interest : it may prove, that the
Waldenses have at no time of their History
admitted the corruptions of the Romanists, and
that they are not themselv^es, strictly speaking,
a Reformed Church, Thus may it tend to
confirm the Faith of the Believer, that God
has not left himself %'^#/^o^/^ Witnesses^ clothed^
though they have often been, in sackcloth;
but that he has been constant to the Saviour's
parting Promise to his own people, " Lo, I am
" with you alway, eveji ucto the end of the
" world." Matt, xxviii. 20.

In considering the high Antiquity of the
Waldensian Church, it may be satisfactory for

Ill

US, my dear friend, shortly to review the argu-
ments, which have been alleged, for suppos-
ing Peter Waldus, and Claudius Bishop of
Turin, to have been respectively the Founder,
ov the Reformer oi it. That the claim of the
former, in particular, to the first of these titles
rests on a very slight hypothesis, is evident
from the following brief sketch of his Life and
Ministry.

Towards the year 1170, Peter Waldus, a
rich inhabitant of Lyons, disgusted by the gToss
corruptions, which had been introduced, from
time to time, in the Church of that city, and
shocked, no less, at the licentious habits of the
Clergy, appears to have been called of God io
oppose them. The immediate cause of his own
Conversion is related by my travelling com-
panion Lampe in his judicious Synopsis His^
toricR Sacrce^ lib, ii. c. 10, and by Jean Leger,
in his Histoire Generale des Vaudois, lie, i. c.2.
Being, on a certain evening, with a large num-
ber of worldly, dissipated associates, one of
them, after supper, m the midst of their gaiety
and mirth, swore profanely by the naiae of
God, aiul iastan^lv fell down on the Hour of
K 3

113

the room, and died. This event, at once so
fatal and unexpected, operated to such a degree
on the mind of Peter Waldus, that he resolved
to detach himself from all his former pursuits
and disorderly acquaintance : he was, by the
Grace of God, enabled to fix his thoughts and
affections on heaven, and heavenly things, —
and to live the rest of his days^ on earth, as a
faithful servant of Christ, his Divine Master.
He trod in the steps of the Apostles ; he was
much in Prayer, and applied himself diligently
to the Study of the Holy Scriptures.

Nor was he satisfied with his own personal
Improvement. No long period elapsed, before
he began to experience a desire of extending-
the benefit of religious Knowledge among his
fellow-citizens : he caused the Scriptures to be
translated into the vernacular tongue of the
Lyonese ; or, as some Writers have affirmed, he
translated himself many of the principal Books,
joining to them the Testimonies of the ancient
Fathers of the Church of Christ. The people
resorted to him in companies, both to listen to
his instructions, and to receive from him tem-
poral aid in their distresses.

113

As his views of Scriptural Truth became
clear, Peter Waldus disowned the authority cf
the Roman Pontiff, and openly avowed, that,
on the subject of Religion, it was right to obey
God, and not man. He further exposed the
scandalous vices of the Plonks, and attacked
the Abuses of the whole Papal System, the
Prayers and Masses for the dead^ human In^
diligences, Purgatory , Image-tcor ship, the In"
vocation of Saints, and Transnhstantiation,
This bold and determined conduct drew down
upon him (as might be expected) the indigna-
tion of a profligate Clergy, and, in particular,
that of the Court of Rome. He was command-
ed by Jean de Belles-Maisons, Archbishop
and Governor of the City of Lyons, to desist
from promulgating his opinions ; but in defiance
of such interdiction, Waldus persisted in his
work of Reformation, preaching' and exhorting
every-where, within his reach and influence.
The consequences were, that he v»'as excommu-
nicated, and anathematized by the reigning
Pope, Alexander the third : he, and his fol-
lowers were under the necessity of abandoning
their native City, and of dispersing themselves
in various parts of Europe. Waldus retired
into Dauphine, or Lombard v; while his fol-
K 3

114

lowers took refuge in France, the low Coun-
tries, and even in Bohemia.

Hence, it has been supposed, that the Do^*-
trine, professed by the Waldenses, being sub-
stantially the same as that which Peter Waklus
promulgated, he was the Founder of their
Church, and has given to it his name. This
supposition, it must be confessed, has a certain
semblance of truth : the similarity of the names,
the conformity of Waldus' principles with
those of the inhabitants of the Piemontese Val-
leys, and his probable retirement into Lom-
bardy, on which Piemont in his time depend-
ed, all impart a degree of colouring to it. But
if we proceed to Proofs, a very slight inquiry
may suflice to show, that their Church was not
founded by him. Waldus flourished about the
year of our Lord 1 170 : the earliest date, which
has been ascribed to his ministerial labors, is
1160. Yet several authentic Works, contain-
ing the Doctrine of the Waldensian Church,
are anterior to his time, and should reference
be made to these, there will be found in them
the strongest abhorrence of the whole Papal
Superstition. The title of one of them is An^
ti^Christy which is to be found in the History

115

of Joan Leg-er, (1. i. 74, 75,) who assigns to it
the date of 1120: tliis is an Extract from it;
" Now the second deed of Anti-Christ consists
" in despoiling- the Saviour of his Righteous-
" ness, with all the Sufficiency of Grace, Justi-
" fication, Regeneration, Remission of sins,
" Sanctification, religious Growth and Ad-
" vancement,. together with spiritual Nouri-
" ture ; it imputes and ascribes the Righteous-
" ness of Christ to his [Anti-Christ's] own as-
** sumed authority and works, to the Saints
" and their Intercession, and to the fire of Pur-
" gatory ; it separates the people from Christ,
" and conducts them to the abuses above-
" mentioned, so that they seek not the things
" of Christ, nor by Christ : intent solely
" on the works of their own hands, they pos-
" sess not a living Faith in God, nor in Jesus
" Christ, nor in the Holy Ghost ; but they trust
" in the will-worship of Anti-Christ, inasmuch
" as he proclaims, that Salvation entirely de-
" pends on his works and performances." The
title of this singular Testimony to the early pu-
rity of the Waldensian Faith is — "En ayma lo
" fum vay derant lo fuoc, la battailla derant la
" victoria, en ayma la tentacion de TAnte-Christ
" derant la gloria;" As the smoke precedes the

116

fvp,^ and the battle precedes the victory, even
so are the temptations of Anti-Christ thefore"
runners of final ayid eternal glory.

In another ancient Writing of the Walden-
ses, the celebrated Poem called La Nohla Let-
gon, the name of Vaudois, an inhabitant of the
Valleys of Piemont, is used in a sense synoni-
moiis with that of a Christian ;

" Que sel se troba alcun bon que vollia amar

" Dio, e tcrner Jeshu Xrist ;

" Que non vollia maudire, ni jurar, ni mentir,

" Ni avoutrar, ni aucire, ni penre de 1' autruy,

" Ni venjar se de li sio enemie,

" Illi dison quel es Vaudes e degne de murir ;"

"If" it declares " there be found some holy
" man, who would love God, and fear the Lord
" Jesus Christ; who will neither slander, nor
" swear, nor lie, nor commit adultery, nor kill,
" nor steal, nor be avenged of his enemies, —
" it is immediately said, that he is a Vaudois,
" and should be put to death." This interest-
ing document, la JS^obla Le'icon, exists in two
very old Vellum M.S. S. v/hich are still pre-
served iu the Libraries of GenevUy and Triniitf

117

'College, Cambridge, That at Geneva I saw,
md have lately examined : it is written in the
ang-uage of tlie Waldenses, — the old Romanzo,
Provenzale, and the langiie d'Oc, As may be
seen by the few specimens in this Letter, it is
neither Latin, Italian, nor French; but con-
sists, more or less, of them all three. Of the
Romanzo, Crescimbeni thus speaks in his Com^
mentaries on the History of Italian Poetry;
" La pill cerla e rag ione vole opinione si e,
" ch^ la sua etimologia sia presa dalla voce
*' Rci-na, e significhi quel volgare idioma, che
" colle colonic de' Romani passo in Provenza
" ed altrove, e fuavuto in pregio anchedabar-
" bari che quei regni occuparono, e Romano e
" Romc^r'"^ il chiamavano."

The Genevese M. S. is very clear and well
preserved, and seemed to me quite perfect.
But what bears immediately on our subject is,
that at the opening of La J^obla Le'lgon there
appears direct internal evidence of its compo-
sition in the year 1100: in the sixth and se-
venth lines are these words ;

j " Benha mil et cent an compli entierement
" Que fo scripta lora; que sen al derier temp;

118

" Now are eleven hundred years accomplished,
" since it was written, We are in the last time '*
— the last dispensation. It may therefore be
inferred, that the Waldenses did not derive
their name from Waldus; or that he can he
properly termed the Founder of their Church ;
since *the Vaudois of Piemont had been previ-
ously known and described as a separate and
distinct People, holding similar opinions to
those, which he aftericards entertained.

Many Testimonies, both among* the Eoman
ists and Protestants, might be added to show,
that the Waldenses were not so called from
Waldus ; but I shall now content myself with
calling to your attention the words of Beza, in
his Portraits of illustrious men, p. 085;
" Some persons " he says " have supposed,
*' that the Vaudois had for the Founder of
'* their Church a merchant of Lyons, surnamed
" Waldus ; but in this notion they are mista- I
" ken, because Waldus was, on the contrary,

*See Appendix, No. 1, for a List of the M.S.S. in the pub-
lic Library at Geneva, relating- to the VValdbksian CutacH.

119

so called, from having become one of the
* distinguished members of their community."
in the same page, Beta also affirms, that the
Vaudois icere thus denominated from the Val-
leys, which they inhabited. This opinion, in-
deed, is the most probable, and resolves every
difficulty ; for the Valleys, in the language of
the country, were denominated Vaux, and their
iiHiabitants, to distinguish them from the
neighbouring people who dwelt in the plain,
Vaudois, The names, Valdese, in Italian, and
Valdensis in Latin, have (it is needless to re-
mark) the same origin, and are derived from
Val, Valie, and Vallis.

Though I am far from pretending to deter-
mine the precise Epoch, in which the Gospel
[Was introduced into the Valleys of Piemont, it
is, I think, by no means improbable, that the
Vaudois received it from the earliest Christians,
jand that it has been preserved among- them,
'■ from age to age, to the present time.

We learn from Ecclesiastical History, that
the number of Christians increased rapidly at
Rome under the first Emperors ; when being
accused of divers crimes and offences, they

120

were, without a shadow of pretence, most
severely persecuted by Nero and Domitian, and
forced to flee from their barbarous oppressors.
Now, some of the fugitives might have sought
an asylum in the Valleys of Piemont, and have
communicated, in those fastnesses, the know-
1 edge of the blessed Gospel to the people, with
whom they had taken refuge from the storm
around them.

Granting this however to be only a conjecture,
you, my dear friend, may not be disinclined to
admit, that, under the Emperor Constantine,
and his nearest Successors, the whole of Italy
was brought to embrace Christianity ; and that
at that period the profession of the Gospel was
scarcely disfigured by any mixture of human
traditions. It must also be conceded by you,
that so long* as Christians preserved their pri-
mitive Faith, it would be idle to require from
the Vaudois distinct proofs of their purity of
Doctrine, since it was that which was held by
the prevailing Church. It cannot be thought,
that during such a Period, they had any peculiar
name. True it is, that in latter times both their
friends and enemies have concurred in affixinof
to them the appellatives, Waldenses and Van*

121

tlv]s ; but the title of CliristJans is in itself too
beautiful, and considered by them too dear, that
they should themselves have been anxious to
assume any other.

For the first six hundred years, the funda*

mental principles of the Gospel were generally

maintained in the Redeemer's Church, however

it may be lamented, that some outward and un*

meaning- ceremonies had latterly been creeping

into it. But from the time o( Gregory the Great

in the seventh Century, the reign of error, and

* the system of papistical delusions may be said

to have commenced. And though the power

i of the Court of Rome was at first restricted, she

i can, from tliat eera, be easily traced, as being

ilesirous of imposing- on the world her danger*

ous and revolting superstitions*

It was at the close of the eighth Century^
"when the spirit of papal Rome began more
decidedly to show itself, that Claudms, Bishop
of Turin, arose in the Church of Christ; his
diocess not only comprehending- the Valleys
of Piemont, but the whole of Provence and
Dauphine. This venerable servant of God
opposed, with holy boldness, the tyrannical

L

122

innovations of Popery. The account given of
him by Illyricus is this : " Claudius, Bishop
" of Turin, became eminent in the age of Charle*
*^ ma one, and of Lewis the Pious; he was a friend
'* of the former, before he attained to the
" episcopacy. Claudius inveighed, both by
*' word of mouth, and by his Writings, against
" the worship of Images, the Cross, and Relics ;
" against the Invocation of Saints, Pilgrimages,
** the Supremacy of the Pope, and many other
*' like Abuses : he treated the Pontiff himself
" with the utmost freedom ; so that the latter
"was greatly irritated, because Claudius
" scrupled not openly to condemn his sordid
" traffic with the poor devotees, whom he was
" attracting toKome." Catalog, test.VeritatJ.9,

This firm Opposition by Claudius to the
delusions of Popery necessarily brought down
upon him the indignation of his enemies; yet
History, confirmed by the testimony of his
fiercest adversary, John, Bishop oj' Orleans,
declares, that he was strengthened to persist in
his course ; and was faithful to the dictates of
his conscience, and to the secret teaching- of
God's Spirit, even unto the end of his life.

123

A question then doubtless now presents it-
self, " Was not Claudius the Reformer of the
Waldensian Ciwirch ? " But the answer, which
j I would give, is short : He teas not to this end
used by the Divine Providence; nor has he
any stronger claim to the title, than Peter
Waldus had to that of its Founder, who lived
three Centuries and half subsequently to him.
Though the inhabitants of the Valleys were in
his Diocess, the experience of mankind war-
rants us to conclude, unless there he direct
historical Evidence to the contrary, that if the
Waldenses had, before the time of Claudiuf?,
adhered to the Abuses which he combatted,
they would not easily have abjured them; for
it is the very character of a people to love ex-
ternal rites, and to cling- to former prejudices,
which they do not abandon without many se-
cret strugg-les, and after a long- course of years.
On the contrary, as Claudius was only in his
Diocess comparatively a short time, if we sup-
pose him to have been the Reformer of the
Waldensian Church, we must be prepared to
allow his attack on the Abuses and Abomina-
tions of Popery, and the immediate adoption of
his opinions by the inhabitants of the Valleys
of Piemont,

L 2

124

But in Older not to omit any Evidence,
which can be deemed worthy of remark, that
the Waldenses were enabled, by the superin-
tending Providence of God, to preserve the
pure doctrine of the Gospel till the time of
Claudius, I shall now, my dear friend, request
your attention to tico different kinds of Testi-
mony ; one drawn from the Writings of the
Vaudois and other Protestants ; the second^
from those of the Romanists themselves.

The Poem, intitled La JV^obla Le'icon of the
year 1100, proves the Vaudois to have con-
stantly rejected the traditions of the Court of
Rome, and not to have received any other doc-
trine than that which is coatained in the in-
spired Word itself: the treatise on the reign of
Anti-Christy and those against the Invocation
of Saint Sy and against Purgatory^ are equally
conclusive, and are all of the date 1120. In
these several Works, the Waldenses protest,
that they never have believed the dogmas
which they combat, and that they hope never
to embrace them. If their different Confessions
of Faith be examined, and the nearly one huU'-
dred Petitions^ (both of which may be found
in Legefs History,) it will be found, that

125

they speak invariably of their Doctrine, as de-
scending from father to son, and from the age
of the Apostles : they, all of them, maintain
the same language. Such expressions as these
are continually recurring j "Sempre, da ogni
'' tempo, al solito, da tempo immemoriale," &c.
Hence, if their declarations had not been cor-
rect, their enemies (we may be assured) would
not have been unwilling to expose their impos-
ture ; but inasmuch as they have not been de-
tected in any false statement, it may be safely
taken for granted, that they said no more than
they were fully warranted to advance*

Theodore Beza again, in his Portraits of
illustrious men, declares "the Vaudois to have
" always maintained a true religious Faith.''
He describes them, as desceiidants of the pri^
mitive Christians ; and adds, " that in despite
"of the many dreadful Persecutions, which
" they have undergone, it is not possible to as-
"sociate them, at any period of their History,
" with the Roman Communion."

Sleidan expressly says of the Vaudois, " that
" they have been always opposed to the Roman

l3

126

** pontiffs, and that they have from age to age
" professed the Gospel in its purest form.'*
History of Charles thejifth, I, xvi. p» 534.

But though it might not be difficult to select
a larger number of Protestant Testimonies,
you, my dear friend, may perhaps be satisfied
with those, which I have already mentioned,^
in favour of the high Antiquity of the Wal-
densian Church. Let us therefore turn to
their Adversaries, whose opinions, wrung from
them involuntarily as they have been, cannot
but be considered free from all suspicion*
Some few of these I shall now proceed to lay
before you.

Reinerus Sacco, Mho acted as Inquisitor
against the Vaudois for twenty years in the com-
mencement of the thirteenth Century, expresses
himself to the following effect, de Sectis anti^
quorum hmreticorum: " Of all the Sects, which
" either have existed, or do now exist, the most
«' pernicious to the Church is that of the Leon-
« ists," — the Vaudois^ — " and that for three es-
" pecial reasons ; because it is the most an-
" cient, — some persons making it ascend to the

127

" time of Pope Sylvester, and otliers a^-ain eren
** to the age of the Apostles; because ithasex-
^' tended itself in every direction, — there being-
*« scarcely a country, into wliich it has not
" more or less penetrated ; and because, as
" other Sects inspire a degree of horror by the
" frightful blasphemies, which they ^ omit, the
" Vaudois, in truth, seduce the world by an
" appearance of extraordinary devotion, by
" purity and holiness of living; they profess
" only to believe what is immediately taught
" of God in the Scriptures ; and they do not
" reject any of the Articles of the Apostles'
" Creed. In this alone they directly err, that,
" speaking slanderously of the Church of
" Rome, they seduce many poor people to
" adopt their views and opinions." BihL
Pair. Tom. xxv. p, 264.

Claudius Seisselle, who had been raised to
the Archbishopric of Turin by Francis the
first, explains, why the name of Leonists had
been given to the Vaudois, in a publication
against them, which was printed in the year,
1547 : he says, that they derived their Origin
from a certain Leon, a very holy man, who

128

lived under Constantine the Great, the first
Christian Emperor; that Leon preferred a
state of poverty, in simplicity of Faith, to the
dpfilement of a rich benefice from the hands
of the avaricious Sylvester ; and that all, who
duly valued their Christian profession, joined
themselves with Leon,

It may suffice to add one more Testimony,
which is that of Samuel Cassini, an Italian
prior of the order of St. Francis, who, writing
in condemnation of the Vaudois, explicitly as-
serts, in the beginning" of his publication, Vit^
toria triumphale, Conl, 1510, " that their error
" consisted in denying the Church of Rome to
** be the Holy Mother Church, and in resolute-
" ly declining to submit to her traditions ; in
" other respects " (he acknowledges) " they
" belong to the Church of Christ ; and, for his
" part, he could not deny, but that they had
" always been, and were still members of it/*

Now then, my dear friend, as your patience
is doubtless exhausted, I will come to the end
of my long letter, — in very deed, verhosa et
yrandis Epistola^ Yet before I conclude, let me

1-29

put tho question fairly to you, by way of deduc-
tion to all which I have said ; " Do not the above
'^ Testimonies" — and many others equally con-
vincing might also be specified — ^'•from the
" Vaudois themselves, their Protestant Bre-
'* thren, and the Romanists, their Opponents*
*' all seem to prove, that the Waldensiaii
*' Church is altogether independent not only of
«' Peter Waldiis^ but of Claudius, Bishop of
"Turin?''

I would further ask, " If this Church had
** at any period of time whatever admitted the
" abuses and corruptions of the Romanists,
" and been subsequently reformed, should
" we not undoubtedly knov/, both by whom
" sucli a Reformation had been introduced,
" and also when, and at what epoch it had, under
" the Providence of God, been effected '?" His-
torians of various aeras, and distinct and differ-
ent characters. Enemies as well as friends,
would scarcely hare observed a strict silence
on so remarkable an event. Since there does
not howev er exist any historical Record of an
authentic character, which speaks of a Reform-
ation in the religious principles of the inha-
bitants of the Valleys; and as the Testimonies

130

of the Writers above-mentioned cannot, with
fairness, be controverted, we seem fully autho-
rized to make this Inference, thai the Wal~
denses did receive their Profession of the
Gospel from a very early, if not the Aposio^
lie age itself of the Christian cera. Blessed
be God ! they have also remained stedfastly
in the bosom of the Universal Church of the
Redeemer- — his Holy Catholic Church — in
true simplicity of Faith.

Your's, my dear friend,

Truly and affectionately,

J. L. J.

131

Pineroio, Sunday, I9th June, Early this
morning I called on Mr. Monastier, tbe Manu-
facturer of Paper. Alas ! his wife was ill, and
he was therefore prevented from accompanying
me in my Expedition to the Valleys of Pt rouse
knd St. Martin, ss he had purposed on my re-
urn to Pinerolo ; but he offered immediately
to go w itli me to St. Germain for the Morning

fler\ ice in the Church at that Parish ; and
iirther told me, that he had engaged his
ephcAY, Mr. Monastier, the Pastor of Maneille
find Mace], to supply his place for the rest of
he week. We therefore departed ; walking'
o St. Germain, and back again to Pinerolo.
^fter keeping the high road to Fenestrelle for
[boat two miles, we passed through the small
illage of Abadia, with the Clusone to our left;
vhcn crossing' tlie stream, we began mounting*
jy a gradual ascent to St. Germain. At the
^i!^tallce of a mile and half from the bridge, we
irrived at the village, and repaired forthwith
o the Presbytery of the Pastor Motinet. Break-
"ast being on the table, we were invited cordially
o partake of it. And though the house, and
11 things in it, were plainer, and more homely,
han I had even before seen, as belonoino- to
he Ministers in the Valley of Luzerne, 1 soon

132

became much pleased witli my host. He ex-
pressed himself respecting his Parishioners
with great simplicity and considerable earnest-
ness of manner ; his view of Scriptural truth
seemed to me sound and correct. This indeed
was made further manifest in the Sermon, which
he delivered. Towards nine o'clock, the people
began assembling, and we entered the Church
with them, Ov^er the door of Entrance, are two
Inscriptions ; one from Epiies, iv. 5, " Unus
*' Dominus,una fides, unum baptisma," — and the
other from Gen, xxviii. 16, " Que ce lieu ci
*' est venerable ! C'est la Maison de Dieu, c'est
" ici la Porte des Cieux." The Church itself,
which is neat and in good order, had been re-
built in 1813, and is capable of holding nearly
seven hundred persons ; it has a deep Gallery
on its North side. Before the Service com-
menced, I discovered from a large and some-
what heavy monument, that two English chil-
dren, by the nmne of Badham, had been buried
in the Church seven years before : their bodies
had been brought from Nice, where they died.

The Order of the Prayers, Reading of the
Scriptures, and Singing, was precisely the
same as I had heard on Sunday last in the

133

Dhiirch of La Tour. The Pastor Moiinet
oreached a plain, faitlifiil Sermon to bis poor
Deople from Luke xii. 8, 9 : his Application of
he Subject to the immediatf circumstances of
lis congTegation, and his concluding Address
to them, that they should pray earnestly for
he Faith once delivered to the Saints, and not
deny the Saviour before men, were really afFect-
ng. O that his Hearers may be strengthened
to iight the good fight of faith, and to lay hold
on eternal life, whereunto they are called, and
iiave as yet professed a good profession before
many witnesses. Thus, may they become the
jcrown of rejoicing to their spiritual Guide and
Teacher, before the Judge of quick and dead,
at the last great day.-^Ostervald's Version of
the Bible, with the Neufchatel Liturgy, wei-e
in the Pulpit, and the Regent's Desk.

I was informed by Mr. Monnet, that the
Population of his Parish consists of nearly one
thousand Inhabitants,-^about seventy of whom
lare Romanists : it has a Central School in the
ivillage of St. Germain, and five other Day-
1 Schools, during the four Winter-months, in its
'live several hamlets. Mr. Monnet is apparently
! sixty five years of age : on taking leave of him,

M

134

he said, that it was really a gratification to him
to have had an Englishman under his roof.

On my return to Pinerolo, and while il Lo~
candiere of my small hotel was laying the cloth,
and setting' in order my slight dinner, he re-
marked that I was somewhat fatigued by my
walk, and asked me, " Where I had been?" no
common question from a landlord at an Inn in
Engitind, though by no means considered other-
wise than civil, and quite in the regular course
of familiarity, on the continent, between a travel-
ler and mine host. " To the Protestant Church
*' at St. Germain," was my answer,— which
drew forth the following rejoinder, on his
part; " In England, Signore, areall the people
" Protestants ? are there not some Christians ?"
*' Yes," I observed, "I hope, there are many;
" for Protestants are Christians," " Protestants,
*' Christians ! impossible ; they are not Catho-
•' lies. J^on sono Cattolici,'* "Yes; they are
" both Catholics, and Christians." This short
dialogue led to some further animadversions, in
which, I fear, all the different parts of a regu-
lar oration were employed, — and as is not un-
frequently the case with speeches, orationes
magncBy et oratiunculce, — to but little end and

135

I purpose : exordium, expositio, cofifirmafio, et

peroratio, were one and all ineffectual. Ao

Catholic, or, in the poor man's slender theolo-

i gy, No Papist, no Christian ! He went away,

; thoroughly convinced in his own mind, that J

I was a Protestant, an Heretic, an Unbeliever !

I

! I cannot but recollect a similar instance of

I

i hesitation, which had occurred, respecting my
I religious character and profession, full twenty
years before in Spain. Then I was travelling \i\
the country between Cordova and Granada, to
see the celebrated .^//tam6r«. Hence, 1 had join-
ed a cortege ot Arrieros, (Muleteers,) and had
stopt, for my night's lodging, at a wretched Ven-
ta, the name of which I now forget, on the se-
cond evening of my Journey. While the olla was
preparing, and the eggs were frying- in oil, red
pepper, and not a few heads of garlick, I sat
down in the dark chimney-corner with a do-
zen or fifteen muleteers, contrabandistieros,
and other characters equally respectable : our
only light was from a small lamp, suspended
from the low ceiling of the room ; for that of
the fire was entirely hidden by the volumes of
pungent smoke, which issued from the logs of
olive-wood not sufficiently dried. Converse-

136

tion went on quietly for some quarter of an
hour, in discussing the probable gains from
certain rolls of tobacco, which were about to
be introduced with much cleverness into the
walls of Granada, in despite of the Police, and
the whole posse of revenue officers ; — when
lo! the din of war, at least of Controversy be-
gan : it was then discussed with considerable
heat, Whether the English tvere Christians^
and whether /, as an heretic^ could be saved ?
I was not, I must confess, altogether pleased
in thus becoming the immediate subject of de-
bate, in a lone house, and amidst so many
fierce and lawless characters ; since Ignorance,
Superstition, and Cruelty are very closely
united. Nor did it altogether tend to tran-
quillize my apprehensions, when the hostess
of the Venta, a tall Sibylline figure, arose from
her cork-stool, and, extending her arm, and
assuming a tone of prodigious authority, ex-
claimed at the utmost stretch of her voice, ne-
ver very mellifluent, " See bien, see bien, los
" Ingleses non sono mas Christianos que los
" Moros." I might probably have shared the
fate of some unhappy Moor in former times,
and been made forthwith the subject of an ex-
hilarating Atto di Fe on the Olive-logs be-

137

fore me, if happily I had not obtained a few of
ithe Controversialists on my side : these (T thank
them) maintained, with steadiness and firm-
ness, that though the Englisli were not Catho-
lics, and, they feared, not Christians, 1 indi-
vidually was not so bad as a Moor.

Pramol, 2lst June, Behold, the changes of
ithis travelling life! Yesterday morning Iquit-
ited the plain of Pinerolo, with the sun shining
bright and clear around me, and now I am
iperched high upon the mountainous Pra?wo/,
amidst clouds and mist: the rain is descending
in such torrents, that from this spot, which in fine
; weather commands a view so extensive as to
jreach the Appenines.I cannot now distinguish
I any object at the distance often yards. But I am
I under the hospitable roof of the Pastor Vin^
con, and every person is kind and attentive
! about me ; moreover, I have an opportunity of
Ueeing rather more in detail the interior of a
iVaudois^ Presbytery. Thus all is well, and ex-
actly as it should be.

Young Mr. Monastier, the Pastor of Maneille
and its annexed Parish Macel, met me yester-
day morning at St. Germain, v. liere we dined
M 3

138

with Mr. Monnet. In the afternoon, we walk-
ed to Pramol, and arrived here about six
o'clock in the Evening ; mounting up the Val-
ley of Perouse, and continuing on the ascent
the whole way to our present abode. This Val-
ley has also its torrent : the Rousillard brawl-
ed beneath the windings of the road, which, in
many of its parts is extremely bold and steep.
Again, the fine chesnut-trees added to the in-
terest of the Scenery. The distance from St,
Germain to Pramol is four miles.

On entering Pramol, the two Churches, be-
longing to the Protestants and Romanists,
which are situated near to each other, appear
to great advantage; they are both of them
white, neat little buildings in their exterior.
At the door of the former, his proper place,
the Pastor Vinson, who had heard of our in-
tended visit, was standing ready to greet us on
our arrival, and to lead the way to his presby-
tery. He is a very friendly man, and, in some
conversations which I have now had with him,
he strikes me as a truly conscientious Minister
of the Gospel. I have been really much gra-
tified with the earnestness of his manner. In
the Church, which I was not long in visiting,

139

he expressed himself with coiisi<h ra])If^ Heel-
ing on the importance of the Pastoral Office,
and his anxiety for the spiritual welfare of his
people. The Church itself is much older than
that at St. Germain, and not in such good re-
pair; it may accommodate five hundrecoand
fifty people. I found Ostervald's Version of

i the Bible, and the Neufchatel Liturgy in the
Pulpit, and the Regent's Desk. Mr. Vinson
informed me, that in the Parish of Pramol
there are eleven hundred Protestants, and six-
ty Romanists ; it has one Central School in the
village, and seven other Day-Schools in its

I hamlets: two of these last Mr. Vinc^on has

t been enabled to establish within the preceding

; year.

M^hen the Pastor and I left the Church, we

saw sixjy, or seventy men separating from the

national festival, the Tirata: they had been

keeping up the sport for more than three

hours, and were going off to their several

homes, in the most perfect order, and good

humour. Mr. Vinson assured me, that he had

I been among- them for the greater part of the

I time, and had not heard a single oath. Hap-

1 pily, Drunkenness, the cause of so much gross-

140

ness of character, and of vice, with onr English
poor, is ahnost unknown in the Valleys of
Piemont.

The inspection of the Church at Pramol
bei*^ g" concluded, I adjourned, a second time,
to the Presbytery ; when Madame Vinson
made her appearance : she is a^ pretty, pleasing
woman, about twenty seven years of age, and
is a native of Lausanne; where her husband,
rather older, received his ministerial educa-
tion. To my delight she speaks English !
for great is the delight of a man to hear his
own native tongue in a strange land. Madame
Vinson had been- Governess in a School, kept
by a Miss Powis in Sloane Street. What a
change from Sloane Street, and its long conti-
nued row of brick houses, with its wide flat
pavement, and its iron-railed areas, to the poor
scattered village of mud-built cottages on the
lofty Pramol ! She has already two little chil-
dren,— and the excellent Pastor contrives at
present to live on the pittance, which he ob-
tains for the discharge of his ministerial du-
ties, just forty pounds a year. Of private
property Mr. Vincon is possessed of a mere
trifle.

141

After supper, Mr. Vinson read the fiftieth,
and fifty-first Psalm, — and then added, in an
impressive tone," Que chacun fasse ses Dtvo-
" ticns an Seigneur dans sa chambre." 1 fol-
lowed his advice, and, having- ended my
Petitions for myself, my family, and them who
were far away in England, I oiferod up to the
throne of Mercy a Supplication for a Blessing
on the Vaudois Pastors, and their people.

My bed and accommodation were indeed
lowly ; but I slept well and soundly for seven
successive hours. This morning however, and
yesterday evening before the rain, 1 experienced
a sensible alteration in the climate, — Pramcl
being, from its high and mountainous situation,
really cold and chilling. Last week I was
obliged, on account of the heat, to doff my
under waistcoat; and, during my excursions
to the Parishes in the Valley of Luzerne, to
change my cloth coat for my grey nankeen
jacket: in this trim, I came hither, — and in it,
from the absence of my w aidrobe, I must re-
main for some days, though I could now w^ell
bear to be cased in flannel. In fact, I have
just been sitting by the kitchen-fire, where I
assisted, or at least attempted to do so, in pre-

142

paring the Coffee for breakfast. In the Valleys
of Piemont finery must be laid aside. The
Pastor Vinson informs me, tliat he makes the
bread, and performs many other useful offices,
for his family. All this I must not fail to re-
late to some of my clerical brethren, a little
magnificent, in England. What will the good
souls say, — what will not be their wonderment,
aye, and of their Lady-consorts too, when I let
them into the secret, that the Wife of the
31oderator — the Episcopos himself — laid the
cloth, and set the plates, knives, forks, spoons,
and dishes, on the table, for the dinner at
La Tour ?

During our conversation of this morning after
breakfast, Mr. Vinson lamented, that, notwith-
standing the liberality of the British and Swiss
Bihle Societies to the Vaudois of Piemont, his
poor people were still inadequately supplied
with Copies of the Old Testament. I therefore
took the liberty of suggesting- to him the pro-
priety of forming* among his Parishioners a Bi-
ble Association, and began to detail to him the
benefits, which had arisen in England, within
my own knowledge, from such establishments :
I even went so far as to offer to prepare the

143

sketch of a plan fdr bis use. But alas ! I was at
once stopt from even taking" a pen in hand by
the assurance of Mr. Vinson, that it was utterly
impossible for his poor to make the pin*chase
of the whole Bible. " Lately," he said, " I had
" one hundred New Testaments sent to me from
Lausanne, to circulate in my Parish at a Very
" low price : I offered them to my people at
"eighteen sous each: many could not buy
** them, and of those who did buy, some, to my
" certain knowledge, spared for several suc-
** cessive weeks the very salt — les grains de
*' sel quails avoient pour leur potageT This
was quite sufficient: I felt convinced, that the
poor destitute people of Pramol should not be
asked to purchase even the Bible.

Mane'ille^ ^\st June, 10 o^clock at night.
About noon to-day, the weather suddenly
clearing up, I left Pramol, after dining with
my kind friends, the Pastor Vinson and his
wife: the former proposed accompanying Mr.
Monastier and myself as far as Prali. With a
steep walk of an hour and a half we gained
the summit of a mountain, to the North-West
of Pramol, which commands a view of the two
Valleys of Perouse and St, Martin, That of

144

Si. Martin is wild and narrow. Ville^Sechej
the first of its Protestant Parishes, was directly
before us ; and Maneille is seen to the West of
Ville-seche. On oiir descent from this moun-
tain, and after crossing the Germanesca tor-
rent, which was considerably swoln from
the late rain, we entered Ville-seche ; having*
first passed its two very small annexed Churches
of Riclaret and Fa€t» Like all the other
Protestant Parishes, the village itself is mean
and insignificant, as the far greater part of its
population is scattered at considerable distances
on the mountains. In proceeding to the Pres-
bytery of the Pastor Rostaing^ and at the
entrance of Ville-seche, the cottage of a descen-
dant of Jean Leger^ the Historian, and also
of the same celebrated name, was pointed oiit
to me ; but this descendant, poor felloAv! is
miserably destitute, and almost an idiot. Mr»
Rostaing was standing at the door of his hum-
ble dwelling at our arrival, -^aiid though
Jloder at eur -adjoint, the second Dignitary of
the Vaudois Church, he received us, as a matter
of course, in his kitchen. Wine and water were
immediately produced, and conversation began.
Mr. Rostaing is about sixty years of age, re-
markably well looking, quick, lively, fluent,

145

ftud sensible: lie seemed tlioroiiglily acquainted
with the plan of Salvation; yet, I must own,
he did not altogether gain my confidence.
There is something, I scarcely know what,
■which always excites my suspicion in a very
easy, forward manner. And that of Mr. Ros-
taing is decidedly such. In this prepossession
of mine I feel that I am wrong' : it has arisen,
perhaps, from early and severe disappoint-
ments, w hich have been inflicted upon me by
similar characters. I must endeavour to struggle
against it,— and the more am I in duty bound
to do so ; since if there be any one subject more
than another, which, in the leadings of Divine
Providence, ought to raise deep and lasting-
thankfulness within me, it is this, — that evevy
high thought, and lofty imagination, which
once raged fiercely, and uncontrolled, have
now been brought low, and levelled to the
dust, by the failure of all my earthly schemes
of temporal advancement. Adored be the
merciful chastisements of the Lord God of hosts
towards me ! O may I be enabled to hold on
my way rejoicbic/, in simplicity and godly
sincerity, for the remainder of my Pilgrimage
here below in the present life !
N

146

Mr. Rostaiiig informed me, that his Parish
contains fifteen hundred Protestants, and two
hundred and forty Romanists ; and that it has
one Central School at Ville-seche, and ten other
Winter Day-Schools in its adjoining hamlets.
The Church, to which we repaired about two
hours after our arrival, is in good order, and
sufficiently large to accommodate six hundred
persons. Mr. Rostaing assured me, that it was
in general quite fu\],—plei7ie comme un cevf,
I found Ostervald's Version of the Bible, and
the Neufchatel Liturgy, both in the Pulpit, and
the Regent's Desk. The Church is too small
for the population of the Parish.

At Ville-seche there are Vines extending
high upon the mountains towards Pomaret, but
few of them are seen Westward in the way to
Maneille. Wheat, in small quantities, is grown
in the Parish, and a few Chesnut-trees appear
low down in the Valley on the Germanesca
torrent. There are no Mulberry trees.

In coming forwards to Maneille, we tra-
versed the little town of St. Martin^ which
gives its name to the Valley, wherein the Pro-
testant Parishes of Ville^secke, 3Ianeille, and

147

Prali are situated. The view of the Chnrch
of St. Martin, now alas ! Romany is pretty, on
its .western side, towards Maneille. At this
latter place we arrived at half-past eight, after
a walk of ten miles from Pramol. The road,
for the greater part of it, is rough and uneven ;
particularly, on the descents of the mountains.
In truth, the approach to Maneille is not invit-
ing; the Scenery is often bold and awful, but
all is black, barren, and stony, — a kind of Ara-
bia Petrcea. There is very little wheat grown
in the parish of Maneille : and no Vines, Mul-
berry or Chesnut-trees, make their appearance
to enliven the view, or to gladden the heart.
Mr. Monastier, the Pastor, gives me to under-
stand, that at Maneille the population does
not exceed four hundred persons, and that it is
nearly equally divided between the Protestants
and Romanists. It has one Central, and two
Hamlet Day-Schools.

Though I have again roughed it, having
supped in the kitchen of the Presbytery on no
very luxurious fare, I now go to bed, well
pleased with my companions, the Pastors
Vinson and Monastier. The latter has only
quitted the University of Lausanne within the
n2

14S

last year, and certainly talks rather too much in
the College style altogether to suit my taste;
yet he is intelligent, and speaks, with feeling
and earnestness, respecting the discharge of
his pastoral duties: I can entertain no doubt
whatever of his sincerity, and the soundness of
his religious principles. It has been my en-
deavour, to confirm some of his opinions, — and
my own I have delivered plainly, and, I trust
faithfully.

Now it is diav/ing towards twelve, the witch-
ing hour of the night. But I may just remark
that Mr. Ilostaing, who accompanied our party
half-way fromVille-seche to Maneille, express-
ed himself pointedly, and with much animatioUy
against the oppressive, and proselytizing spirit
of the Popish Priest, who is Cuyq of the
church of the Romanists in his parish. He
added, that this man was under t\\^- special
protection of the late Bishop of Pinerolo. Yet
are these things precisely what might be ex-
pected. A conscientious Romanist must, of
necessity, be intolerant of all other religion:^
modes of Faith, and be incessantly on the
watch to make converts to his own, from tl^e
simple and avowed Principle of his Church,

149

that ivithin her pale salvation is only attain--
able. May tlio Legislature of my own native
Land, while it sliall grant to every man the
free exercise of his Religion, be induced wise-
ly to withhold, on a principle of just self-de-
fence, all political Vow er from the Romanists!
Sure I am, that the Oppressions which the
persecuted Vaudois of Piemont have continued
to endure through a long course of ages, no
less than the general and current History of
the Church of Christ, most amply and pain-
fully testify the abuse of such Power, when-
ever Papists have been in the passession of
it. The theme is one, which I could continue
to discuss for some time longer, but prudence
warns me to retire to rest. So, good night,
my little Journal !

Prali, 22d June, On rising this morning-,
I was gratified in finding a very nice Col-
lection of Books, principally on Theology and
Ecclesiastical Histor;/, in my bed-room : I had
seen a number of volumes last night, but I was
busied in writing my Journal, and did not
stay to examine them. Mr. Monastier has told
me, that he possesses ahnost five hundred dif-
ferent works, which he purchased at Lausanne
n3

150

during' his residence of seven year.% in the Uni-
versity, and that they are now a great source
of comfort to him in his retirement. I could
join heartily with him in the liope, that they
might prove also the means of Christian In-
struction to the little flock, which is commit-
ted to his guidance.

My two companions and I started at nine
o'clock, after a breakfast at the Presbytery of
Maneille on rye-bread and coffee, — going im-
mediately to the Church in the village: it is a
small, shabby building for a place of worship,
and can scarcely contain one hundred and fifty
persons. I discovered Ostervald's Version of
the Bible, and the Neufchatel Liturgy, in the
Pulpit, and the Regent's Desk.

Thence, we proceeded to Macel, the annex-
ed parish to Maneille, which is likewise under
the care of the Pastor Monastier. In Macel,
(here are four hundred and fifty Protestants,
and one hundred and thirty Romanists : it has
one Central School in the village, and six other
TViiiter Day-Schools in its several hamlets.

I was much struck this morning with the

151

fleop gorg'ps of the mountain-scenery, and tlie
roaring impetnons Gcrmanesca, on the way to
Macel. Some fields of rye were visible, and a
few meadows were standing- for Iiay. i\Jr.
3Ionastier informed me, that there are about
fifteen hundred sheep belonging to the parish
of Macel, which are all now upon the moun-
tains.

Our conversation turning on Sheep of ano-
ther kind, I learnt that the Regent's Thurs-
day-Service is used in the Ciiurches of the
Valley of Perouse, but not in those of St. Mar-
tin ; though in some of the School-rooms of
the latter Valley there is a daily Prayer-meet-
ing every Evening of the week. At Prali, a
boy goes through the village, crying A la
Priere, and inviting the people to assemble.
Both the Pastors, Vinson and 31onastier, as-
sured me, that in the Winter-months it is a
common custom in the Valleys of Perouse and
St. Martin, for the families to sit together in the
Cow-stables after dark for the sake of warmth ;
when some man, in the course of the Evening,
reads portions of the Holy Scriptures, Pictet's
Prayers, and Qstervald's Nourriture de TAme.

152

The Sabbatli-Servicrs in the Churches; of tliese
Valleys are the same as tliose in the Valley of
Luzerne.

While we were staiiding" at the door of the
Chdrch at Macel, my companions, like true
Vaudois, directed my attention to the mountain,
on which had been the fortress of Balsille,
celebrated in the history of their countrymen,
and by which the Exiles, under the command
of the intrepid and adventurous Arnauld, re-
turned to their native Valleys in the year 1689:
it was situated nearly due West of our station ;
the Col de Pis rose still further from us. My
two friends, the Pastors, became quite animated
with the view of the ancient site of the Balsille,
and entered deeply and warmly into the bloody
Annals of their Persecutions.

The Church at Macel is still darker, and
more shabby than that of Maneille ; with
paper in the Casements of the Windows, instead
of Glass. It may hold about two hundred and
fifty persons. Ostervald's Version of the Bi-
ble, and the Lausanne Liturgy were in the
Pulpit, and the Regent's Desk.

153

After our visit to the Church, 31r, Monastier,
to my gieat surprise, but not less, at the moment,
to my entire satisfaction, proposed an adjourn-
ment to the house of the Cure, the Popish
Priest, who lived very near; assuring me, that
he was alio^-ether different from his brethren
in general, and was an open-hearted, sociable
kind of man Accordingly, we went to the
abode of his Reverence, which I found to be
a good substantial dwellir.g', vastly superior
in its furniture, and accommodation, to any
Presbytery of a Vaudois Pastor I hav^e yet seen.
On our approach, he was lolling out of a window
to kill time, and seemed quite delighted with
the interruption. A most lively, merry per-
sonage he proved to be ! He declared often
and often, that he was far above all common,
narrow prejudices; he laughed obstreperously
at every third word he uttered ; and was de-
termined to make us welcome. The little fat
rosy-cheeked old man produced his wine, and,
understanding me to be an Englishman, roundly
affirmed, that I should have my portion properly
medicated : he therefore drew from a Corner-
cupboard a bottle of right good Cogniac, and
(horresco referens) half filling a tumbler with
the strong, and half with the weak, iusi?jted

154

upon my drinking up the whole dose. This
he wished to repeat for me, but I declined the
repetition. Happily, the said tumbler was not
of large dimensions.

Warmed by our potations, which, though
not deep, were strong, we continued chatting
for half an hour, and then took our leave, with
many thanks our host for his reception of us.

After quitting Macel,and justas we crossed
the Germanesca torrent, Mr. Vinson pointed
out to me an Eagle, soaring directly over the
Salze mountain, which we were about to as-
cend in our way to Rodoret. This said moun-
tain of Salze is tremendously long and steep ;
so much so, in fact, that I was almost knocked
up with the exertion of climbing it, — particu-
larly, as the Sun was high, and shining full
upon us. However, on its summit we dined,
and recruited our strength ; our eatables being
a tough hard sausage, and some rye-bread,
which my late host, Mr. Monastier, had with
much foresight brought with him: we sat
down at the edge of a rippling spring', than
which the JFojts Bcaidnsicp^hetier shaded though
it might be, was not more refreshing, nor did

155

it scud forth clearer and sweeter water. Mov^*
over, the spot Me had chosen was enlivened
by many tufts of Rhododendra, which, as is
not unfreqiiently the case on these Alpine
heights, were growing in wild and native lux-
uriance around us. The pretty little Forrjet^
jne~not, with its pale blue flower, also appear-
ed in every direction : I picked several of them,
and put them into my pocket-book. And al-
beit they have now begun to fade and wither, I
shall often recur with pleasure to my dinner on
the Salze mountain, and to my friendly com-
panions, the two Vaudois Pastors.

Preftinesses and Sentimentalities apart, in
which, I trust, I am not very often disposed to
indulge, I succeeded, by the help of a short
nap, a Siesta of half an hour, upon the bare
grass, in reaching Rodoret, and afterwards
Prali; yet towards the conclusion of the day's
Journey, I must confess that I dragged heavily*

The viHage of Rodoret appears more than
commonly wretched even for the Valleys of Pie-
mont; and it is so unhappily situated, as to be
continually subject to the Avalanches of snow
from the mountains, by which it is surrounded.

156

Last winter two Louses were completely bu-
ried. Its Church is the worst, which 1 have
yet seen, — more like a bad stable than the
house of Goil ! I observed Martin's Version
of the Bible, and the Lausanne Liturgy, in the
Pulpit; and Martin's Bible, and Ostervald's
Nourriture de I'Ame, in the Regent's Desk.
Rodoret contains four hundred Protestants,
and one hundred and fifty Romanists: it has
one Central School in the village, and five
other Vr inter Day-Schools in its hamlets.

In Rodoret and Prali, annexed Parishes,
and botl) under the ministry of the Pasior
Peyran, the productions are much the same as
in Maneille, and Macel, — rye, potatoes, and
biK'k-wlieat; but no vines, mulberry and ches-
iiut-trees. Some few scanty meadows were
standing for hay in the latter part of my walk
this evening. But let me not fail to add, that
great as the poverty of the people is, — and in
Jlacel, Rodoret, and Prali, it exceeds any
state of destitution, which I could have con-
ceived, before I witnessed it myself, w ith my
own eyes, — 1 found the peasants cheerful,
and apparently happy. Many, and many a
tiiiic, were we hailed by them, in the course of

157

tlie day, and invited to enter their cabaus; for
such lam compelled to call them: and where-,
ever we did enter, we were immediately fur-
nished with tlie little all, which they pos-
aessed— black bread, and a thin acid iclne.

At Iength,after again mounting fromRodoret,
and again descending by a most rugged path,
amidsl rocks and precipices, which cut my feet
sadly, we crossed the Germanesca toiTent, and
arrived at Prali, It is indeed a most doleful
village, placed in the bottom of the Valley,
amidlt sand and barrenness. The Al ps, which
are still capped with snow, frown forbiddingly
around it. Glad was I to reach tlie Presbytery
of the Pastor Peijran, and to repose myself by
liis kitchen fire'; since I had to-day walked
not less than ten hours, climbing upwards, and
frequently struggling and slippingdownwards.
Mr. Peyran received 'us very hospitably,— as
Vaudois Pastors, and Laymen usually receive
their guests. He is a singular man, possessed
of very good natural abilities; perfectly ori-
ginal ; simple in his manners, often abstracted,
and occasionally dry, caustic, and full of
humour. Though he manifests little of a de-
o

158

votional spirit, 1 have good reason to think him,
from his Observations, a sincere Christian.

My Supper, the Conversation of my host,
and the Elasticity of this monntain-air have
all now assisted in reviving me to such a de-
gree, that tired and jaded as I was, when I
first arrived at Prali, I have been enabled to
continue my Journal, till, on looking at my
watch, I discover it to be very near midnight.
To bed, to bed!

Prali, 2SdJune. At breakfast this morning,
Mr. Peyran read a Reply of his Uncle, the late
J, Rhodophe Peyran, Moderator of the Pro-
testant Churches in the Valleys of Piemont,
to the Bishop of Pinerolo,who, in his Pastoral
Addresses to the Romish Clergy of his Diocess,
had let off some absurd tirades against the re-
ligious tenets of the Vaudois. The Reply was
quite a treat! very able, and full of point antl
learning; for a work of Controversy, it was
also admirable in its temper and moderation !
His Lordship never answered it. I begged
hard for a Copy ; but as it was too long to be
easily transcribed, and Mr. Peyran had only
one, I could not, in common propriety, press

159

my petition to the utmost : he tells me how-
ever that the Rev» Thomas Sims of Clifton^
is in possession of the Work in M. S. So I
may again see it, and, I trust, in print,

Mr. Peyran has not only informed me, that
Jean Leger, the Historian, entered upon his
Ministry, as a Vaudois Pastor, in the annexed.
Parishes of Prali and Rodoret ; but has kind-
ly pointed out to me two Passages from the
Ahrege of his Life, which, as they bear imme-
diately on his past labors, — the place in which
I am, — and the very walk, which I took yes-
terday evening-, — 1 feel not unwilling to intro-
duce among my own Remarks. The climate
even now at Prali, towards the latter end of
June, and at noon-day, the time that I am wri-»
ting, is piercingly cold.

" Me voila done par la grace de Dieu sain
" et sauf dans les Vallees, ou je fus re9u Pasteur
" au Synode de S. Germain !e 27me. de Sep-
" tembre, en la memo annee 1639, et donne li
'TEgiise de Prals et Rodoret, seule vacante,
** pour lors la plus haute et plus froide de toutes
f* les Vall(^es, et d' ordinaire couverte de neiges
o 2

160

" luiict on neiif mois tie V an, avec ordre de
" faire quatre preches par semaine."

" En Fev. 1641, partant tout seiil des Prals
" un Dimanche an point du jour pour aller
*' faire le I'*, preche au Rodoret, a une lieue
"d' Allemagne de la, comme je traversois la
** Colline cju' on appelle la Tracenea, je fus
*' accueilli d'un si farieus tourbillon de vent que
"j'en fus long-temps roule parnii les iieiges,
" ou je perdis mon chapeau : niais arrive que
" je fus au Village nomme la Ville, \\\\ Barbe
" David Guigou Ancien, m'en ayant prete un
" autre, je passai outre : Cependant comme ma
" tQie avoit este detrempee parmi les neiges,
" el!e ne trada gueres dese trouver garnied'un
*' bonnet de glace, avec lequel je ne laissay
" pas de poursuivre mon cliemin : arrive que
" je fus au Rodoret, je degelay bien un peu
"ma pauvre tcic *aupres du feu, mais cela n'
" empecha pas que quelqucs semaines apres je

*This was wrong-. The Aposleme, avid its satl consequences,
mig-lit li-ave been avoided j but Leger, though an excellent
Historian, was not deeply versed in physics. Instead of ex-
posing' liiniseif suddenly to the heat of a fire, he should have
caused one of his parisiiioners at Rodoret to chafe his Pauvre
Tete with snow-water. — Vide Captain Parry's Nariiativs
OF uis Voyages to the Arctic Ocdan, passim.

161

<* ne fus alitte tout a plat, et si rudement travaille
** cr line Aposteme que tous les Medicins qu'
" on put consulter ne me coiitassent eiUre les
" morts; mes oreilles etoient si fort enilees qa'
*' elles avoieiit V epaisseur de plus de deux
*' doig'ts : mes Machoires etoient si feraiees
" qu' il n'estoit pas possible de m'ouvrir les dent?^
" pour me pouvoir mettie quelque cueiiierio
" de boiiillon dans la bouche : si bien que pour
" le faire avec une canule d arg-ent, le Sieur
<* Laurens mon Oncie trouva bon de me rompre
** une dent macheliere."

The Pastor Peyran has happily not been vi-
sited by so fierce a tourbillon as his Predeces-
sor, in traversing* the mountains between Prali
and Rodoret; bat he assures me, that, for seve-
ral months in the year, he is, on the return of
every Sabbath, under the necessity of wading-
up to his knees in snow, in getting- to the latter
village at four miles' distance, for the dis-
charge of his pastoral duties. Most sincerely
do T hope, that li I receive no other benefit
from my Excursion to the Valleys of Picmont,
I may at least derive this practical lesson,
which shall never be erased from my mind, —
Not to he discomposed at the minor difficulties
o3

162

of life. Having witnessed the patience and
cheerfulness of these excellent men, the Vau^
dots Pastors^ amidst their poverty and many
severe privations, I mnst not, if my ov/n days
be prolonged, cease to remember, that in Eng-
land the lines are fallen unto me i-n pleasant
places; yea, I have comparatively a goodly
heritage. And who hath made me to differ?
and what have I, that I have not received, un-
worthy as 1 am, from the free, sovereign Grace,
and Mercy of God alone? I might, had such
been the Will of my heavenly Father, have
been fixed in these Valleys at the worst of
times, exposed to Persecution, Insult, and Con-
tumely, destitute, afflicted, tormented! Laus
Deo.

These reflections raising* my mind (as I
humbly trust) in thankfulness to God for the
Privileges, and numberless Blessings, which
I myself enjoy, I shall now prepare my second
Letter for England on the Persecutions of the
Vandois Cktrrch. For this task I have the rest
of the day, and to-morrow morning before me,
sii^ce Mr. Peyran has most kindly urged me
net to think of leaving him for the next twenty
four hours. Setting aside bodily fatigue and
stiffncjfe, which 1 still feel very sensibly, as the

163

effects of my exeitioiis for the Ir.st three days,
I am by no means disinclined to spend a little
more time with my present Associates, even at
Prali, the most forlorn, in outward circum-
stances, of all human abodes !

LETTER THE SECOND.

Prali, 23dJu7ie, 1825.

My dear Friend,

I am now actually at Prali, and at the
Presbytery of the Pastor Peyran, An I am
invited by the kindness of my host to remain
quietly beneath his roof till to-morrow after-
noon, I shall employ myself in giving- you, ac-
cording to my promise, and the plan of ray
letters, a slight Sketch of the Persecutions^
which have been endured by the Church of
the Vaudois. The shortness of my time how-
ever compels me to go immediately to my Sub-
ject,— at once, in mcdias res.

Though occasionally disturbed on account
of their religious Faith for more than one hun-
dred years, the Persecutions of the Vaudois
may be said properly to have begun towards

164

the end of the fifteenth Century : in 1477 was
published the infamous Bull of Pope Innocent
VIII, from which may be dated tlie Commence-
ment of their cruel Sufferings. This Bull may
be seen in Jean Leger^s History, (2d Part,
ell. IT,) and is, I believe, still preserved in
M. S. at the Library of Trinity College, Cam"
bridge. The haughty Pontiff complains in it,
that the Vaudois both say and do many things,
at once offensive in the eyes of God, and per-
nicious to the souls of men ; and he therefore
commands all Bishops, Archbishops, Vicars-
general, and other Priests of the Holy Roman
Church, to obey the Inquisitor, whom he
should send, and to co-operate with him, to
the utmost of their power, for the extinction of
what he is pleased to term heresy.

In the year 1535, theVaudois of Provence, and
Piemont, underwent an open Persecution, which
was directed by Bressour, and which terminated
in a rupture between the Duke of Savoy, and
Francis the first. The Valleys then passed
under the dominion of France, to which they
were subjected about the space of twenty
three years. During the grealer part of this
time, the Vaudois were not directly molested

165

for their religious principles ; some indivitluals
only being- made the victims of Inquisitors.

But in 1556, Commissaries were sent to declare
inthename of //e/iri/ the 5eco??c?, that the inhabit-
ants of the Valleys of Piemont were to attend
Mass on pain of death. Far from submitting to
such an alternative, these faithful people only
replied ; " That they were ready to change
" their religious Profession, if it could be proved
" to them from the Holy Scriptures, that they
" were in error." Monks were therefore em-
ployed to convert them; but their preaching,
and exhortations had not the desired effect.
Recourse was then made to flatteries, promises,
and threats. All however were unavailino-. At
length, their Persecutors endeavoured to obtain
by force from the Vaudois what they had
voluntarily refused to concede. The Pastors
of the Valleys, with twelve of the principal
laymen, were cited to appear at Turin : the
Syndics, or Mayors of the different Communes^
were ordered to receive the Preachers, whom
the Bishop of the diocess should send them. On
this trying occasion, the Vaudois entreated the
King to alloxo them to live peaceably in the
possession of that Creed, which they, in their

166

consciences, believed to have been tavght by
Jesus Christ, and his Apostles, Such an
answer only tended to irritate the enemies of
the Vaudois, who shortly afterwards came to
issue with them.

In 1559, the Pope, the King of Spain, and
some of the Powers of Italy, induced Emma-
nuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, to proclaim a
new Edict against the Vaudois. The Perse-
cution, which followed, was long, violent, and
deeply marked with cruelty. But on account
of the successes of the Vaudois themselves;
the intercession of Margaret, the Dutchess;
the sickness of le Comte de la Tririite, the
Commander; and the desertion of his sol-
diery,— the Duke was not unwilling to termi-
nate the war by a Proclamation of the fifth of
June, 1561, in which he not only left to the
inhabitants of the Valleys the free exercise of
their religion, but granted them the privilege
of earning their livelihood in any part of his
dominion^.

The occurences, which followed till the mid-
dle of the seventeenth Century, are, in the
eventful History of the Vaudois, scarcely of

167

sufficient interest to arrest our attention. From
the foreign wars, in which the Dukes of Sa-
voy were engaged, the Vaudois were only
obliged to endure some slight vexations.

But I novr hasten to the most afflictive Pe-
riod of their History. The storm, which had
been lowering for some time over the Valleys of
Piemont, suddenly burst upon them : the zeal
of the Propag-andists of Rome, and their con-
ceit, that, in point of doctrine, all men are
obliged to submit to the dictates of the Pope,
were the immediate causes of a frightful Mas-
sacre in the year 1655. An Order was is.sued
from the Auditor Gastaldo, who had been de-
legated from the Court of Turin as Commissary
general for the extirpation of heresy, in which
he enjoined the inhabitants of the least moun-
tainous parts of the Valleys to quit their dwell-
ings in three days, and abandon their proper-
ty, unless they would consent to attend Mass :
all, whether old or young, male or female,
sick or in health, were to traverse, in the very
depth of winter, mountains covered with snoAv,
But, observes J^e«« Ler/er, " c'est une chose ad-
" mirable que de tout un si grand peuple il ne
" se soit rencontre une seule personne, qui n*

168

" ait pliitot dioisi une si funeste condition,
" inille fois plus amere que la mort, a cause de
" lalangucur et longueur desmiseres, on ils se
" jettoient, Cjue de demeurer a leur aise dans
" leurs niaisons et biens, et de jouir de plusieurs
*' grands avantages, a condition d'aller a la
" Messe."

The Vaudois sent several deputations to
Ga>i;taldo, and to the Court of Turin ; but these
were without effect. On the seventeenth of
April, 1655, the JIarchese di Pianezza en-
tered the Valleys with an army of fifteen thousand
men. In his two first attacks on the Vaudois,
he was repulsed with considerable loss: when
he had recourse to a most infamous stratagem.
He summoned the deputies of the Vaudois
before him, and succeeded in pursuading them,
tliatthey should have no caut^e of alarm, if they
would only, in testimony of their submission
to the Duke of Savoy, receive for three days,
in each of their Parishes, a regiment of infantry,
and two troops of cavalry. The Vaudois ac-
cepted the proposal ; but scarcely had the
military entered the villages, then they took
possession of the passes, and proved too late to
the wretched inhabitants, that they were be-

169

Irayed, On the fatal twenty-fourth of April,
the signal was given ; and forthwith, every
Vaudois, whom the assassins could seize, was
murthered with all the barbarity, which the
most ingenious maKce could devise. If History
had not made us unhappily familiar with the ex*-
cesses of Papal bigotry, well might we doubt the
x;ruelties, which are said to have been committed
at that awful time. Children, snatched from
their mothers' arms, were butchei*ed in their
^ight. The sick, the eld of both sex^s, were
burnt in their houses ; or were tied together,
and precipitated from the summits of rocks.
Virgins, and married wom«n were vroiat^d,
and afterwards actually impaled alive. Men
had their nails torn from their hands, and their
eyes from their sockets : the arms, and legs of
some were cut off, and, in this state, the Suffer*
ers were left to expire in the most lingering*
deaths. At the bare recital of such horrors
*the heart sickens; but more especially at th'e

* It was on the occasion of this nefarious Matssacre, that
Milton wrote his sonnet,

*'Aveng-e, O Lord, thy slaughtered saintis, whose bones '1—

"Vengeance rs mine; I will repay, said) the Lord." Bt
1 it remembered, that although the mystic City now again reai^
her head for a little space, her doom is fixed, and the time of
lier end may be drawing near.

Cioiely connected with th^ pouring- out cf tub scvcNTfi

170

thoiig-lit, that men could have been found to
experience a savage delig-ht in torturing their
fellow-creatures, who should have been united
to them by one common bond of brotherhood,
as Servants, and Followers of the same mild
and merciful Saviour.

Such was the result of this dreadful act of
treachery by the * Marchese di Pianezza, a
name handed down to infamy, and general
Execration. The Massacres continued several

,ViAL is tlie total aiid entire Destruction of BabVLon tite
Great. Rev. xvi. 17 — ^l comp. xviii. 1 — 8, Independent
of lier other plagues, wliicb sliall come upon lier in one daj- —
DEATH, AND MOUUNiN o, AN D FAMiKE — "she shall be utterly
*' burned with fire: for strong' is the Lord God who judgeth
*' her." NoW) it is well known to those persons who have vi-
sited Rome, that she is built on subterraneous fires j for the
whole country in her vicinity appears to be covered with ex-
tinct Volcanos, of which the forms are still clearly marked.
Sulphur impregiiTitcs the soil. At a distance of fourteen miles
from Rome o« the plain towards Tivoli, there is a strong- sul-
phureous lake, witli a stream issuing- from it, which infects the
air forseveral miles. Either the same, or another stre^im cross-
es the road from R«me to Alhano, ten miles from the former
place, producing the like sensible efiects.

Here then are the materials prepared, as they were formerly,
•\\hen the Lord God caused fire to rain out of heaven on the
proud cities of the plain-, sending- liis lig-htnings abroad, and
igniting- the bitumen and naptha of the soil around Sodom and
Gomorrah '.

*Denina Tittempts to palliate the atrocities of this Com-
mander, though he cannot but allow, '* che il Marchese di Vk\.
*' nezza fosse anche animato da zelo excessivo nel consig-liare e
" nel condur quella guerra." IsTORiA DULLA Italia Occi-

DENTALE,

II

171

days, — and the land was inundated with blood.
At length the Court of Turin yielded to the
many earnest representations, which were made
by the different Protestant powers, but more
especially by the Reformed Cantons of Sivit"
zerland, and by Oliver Cromwell: she pub-
lished a truce, which was followed by a treaty
of Peace, concluded at Pinerolo, the eighteenth
of August, 1655. This Treaty, in confirming-
the Privileges, which were formerly granted to
the Vaudois, permitted such, as had fled the
country, to re-enter it, on condition, that they
should not inhabit any other places than they
before possessed.

At this epoch, the Protestants of Switzerland,
Holland, and England, commiserating the evils
which the Vaudois had suffered, and the degree
of wretchedness, to which they were reduced,
came forward liberally and nobly, for their
relief. Switzerland raised Pensions for edu-
cating the young Ministers in her Universities;
Holland provided for the support of the Schools;
and England, at the instigation of Cromwell,
collected no less a sum, from a general lu'
gathering among her religious Congregations
than £38/241. 10s. 6d.,—of which amount
p2

17^

^21,908. Os. 3d, were appropriated in the sub-
sequent two years and half, in money, and a
supply of the common necessaries of life. Witk
the money the Vaudois were enabled to re«
Luild some of their houses, and Churches^
which had been burnt, or otherwise demolished
ill the impious and cruel war of Extermination*

After the Peace concluded in 1655, the
Vaudois, under the immediate protection of the
Protestant Powers of Europe, enjoyed a degree
of tranquillity till the Revocation of the Edict
of Nantes in 1685. Lewis XIV, having then
formed the idle and wicked project of abolish-
ing^ Protestantism in France, pressed the Duke
of Savoy, Victor Amadcus the second, to imitate
his example in Piemont, and to fore© the Vau-^
dois to embrace Popery. The Duke appears
to have resisted for a time, but at length yielded
to the influence, which the haughty French Mo-
narch exercised in a large part of Europe, and
accepted his offer of fourteen thousand Auxil-
iary troops. These poured into the Valleys,
with the atrocious Catinat at their head. The
Vaudois, being now attacked by so formidable
an army ; and worn out, and exhausted by their
former Persecutions^ foresaw ^.that^ by persisting

173

in the contest, they sliould be utterly over-
whelmed. Hence, thoy offered to surrender,
provided they might be allowed to quit the
territory of the Duke. Their proposal was
accepted ; but instead of being permitted to
depart, all, who would not abjure their Faith,
were perfidiously seized, — and seventeen thou-
sand unhappy victims were cast into prisons^
where many of them perished miserably by
cold, and hunger; or in the midst of torments.
While in their dungeons, they were often
assailed by Priests, who tried to effect their
Conversion. No means were neglected to ac-
complish this purpose. The offer of temporal
Riches; the threat, and exhibition of the most
afflictive Punishments, were all, by tnrn, pre-
sented : but, by the Grace of God, some few
individuals were alone found sufficiently weak
to abjure their religious principles. Thus, the
Duke perceiving, that he could not succeed in
his object, and that the Prisoners were entailing
upon him a heavy expence, condemned the
three thousand survivors to go into exile : their
property was divided among the Convents, and
the small number of Apostates.

Destitute, and nearly heart-broken, the
r3

174

wrefclied Vaiidois cast a lingering look upon
their native Valleys, and departed, in the midst
of winter, scarcely knowing- whither they should
direct their steps. But Switzerland was still
open to receive them. After many difficuitie.«,
they arrive at Geneva, and are there received
with hospitality and kindness. Each citizen
wished to admit one of the unhappy Vaudois
into his house: their wounds are dressed; and
the rags, with which they were covered, are ex-
changed for warm and decent clothing. Some
of the destitute Vaudois reached Berne in 1687,
and are there sheltered with like tokens of af-
fectionate and Christian regard.

Restless however, and disquieted, the Exiles
sigh after their own Valleys, endeared to them
even by their Sufierings, — and soon do they
form the hazardous design of regaining, by
force of arms, those abodes, v/hich they had
quitted. Having first sent emissaries to trace
their line of march, they made every prepara-
tion within their povver; and after surmount-
intr some obstructions, attendant on their de-
part are from Switzerland, they finally set ofi'
froJii Nyon on the memorable night of the six-
teenth of August, 1689.

II

175

Never was an Enterprise more boldly planned
nor attended with more complete success. From
eight to nine hundred Vaudois, all armed, and
determined to re-enter victoriously into their
own dwellings, or to perish in the attempt, em-
bark on the lake of Geneva, pass into Savoy
and traverse that mountainous and wild coun-
try. Neither the badness of the roads, the steep-
ness of the passes, the rain, nor the prospect of
the enem}^ deters them from pursuing- their
course : the love of their native Valleys, and
their devoted confidence in God, strengthen
them to bear up against every obstacle in
their way.

Yet it is worthy of remark, that they do not
hasten forwards, as men who are prompted by
revenge, or who had allowed their passions to
subvert their reason : they pay for the provisions
which are furnished them : thev take hostaoes
from the people, wherever they go ; and con-
duct themselves mildly and peaceably to all,
who occasion them no impediment: they do
not seek out their Foes; but if such oppose
them, the Vaudois prove what men are capable
of doing, when they act on a fixed and truly
patriotic Principle. Being arrived at the Val-

176

ley of Oiilx, between Suza and Briancon, they
find themselves surrounded by an hosttle foree
of two thousand five luindred soldiers, and a
body^of armed peasants. Then are they obliged
to come to an engagement, in order to force the
passage of a bridge, near the village of Sala-
bertrans, which the French troops, so much
superior in number, had barricadoed, and at
that time defend. The Vaudois rush upon
them, sword in hand, pierce their ranks, and,
after a most obstinate eno-aoement of two
liovirs, become masters of the bridge. Worn
out with hunger and fatigue, they continue
their march ; and at length gain the fortress
of the Bahille, whence they discover the
Valley of St. Martin. At the sight, their
hearts overflow with joy ; but amidst the
conflict of feelings, which crowd upon them,
one sentiment of Gratitude prevailed: they
unite with their Leader and their Pastor, the
victorious Henry Arnauld, in Prayer to God ;
they render Thanks and Praises for past Mer-
cies, which had carried them victoriously
through so many difiiculties and dangers.
In this spirit of holy courage, they, on the next
day, pursue their march ; when one division
enters the Valley oiSt, Martin by this village

177

oiPraliy — and another passes over the Col Ju-^
lietif and the Sarcena, to Bobi in the Valley of
Luzerne. Most deservedly is the 3lemory of
Henri/ Arnauld cherished by the Vaudois of
Pieniont !

But though successful in regaining Xha Val-
leys of Piemont, they find their habitations laid
waste, or given to the Romanists. Victor
Aniadeus, being' informed of their arrival, sent
troops against them: yet harrassed by fatigue,
and destitute of other resources, their unshaken
confidence in God, their courage, and their
arms remain to them ; and they resolve not to
quit their country a second time. They take
refuge in the mountains for nine months ; till
their little band was so much lessened by ac-
cumulated Sufierings, that they were under
the necessity of retiring to the Pre du Tour, —
a fortress of considerable strength, situated in
the parish of AngTogne. Scarcely are they
arrived at this retreat, than deputies from Turin
come with terms of accommodation, and solicit
them to accept the Treaty, which they offer
them. The real cause of these pacific senti-
ments is soon apparent : it was a rupture^

178

which had occurred, in the month of June,
1690, between the Courts of France and Savoy.

In this manner, may be said to have termi-
nated the long series of active Persecutions, to
which^ the Vaudois of Piemont had been ex-
posed for the Sincerity of their Belief. But it
is not the least interesting trait of the Sufferers'
Character, that Jeaii Leger, and their other
Historians, with Henry Arnauld himself, admit
most reluctantly the part, which their legiti-
mate Sovereigns, the Dukes of Savoy, had in
their afflictions. They seem all anxious to as-
cribe them to the cruel emissaries of the Court
of Rome, and the Kings of France, — two for-
midable Powers, whom their own Princes were
vmable to resist. The Inquisitors, and the
Priests were, in fact, the chief authors of these
Persecutions : aware that their preaching, and
exhortations had been useless, they thought
that force might be a surer, and a shorter mode
of Conversion. And to this end, they did their
utmost to exercise it, in the very gall oj' hitter^
nessy and in the bond of' iniquity.

From the Treaty in the year 1690, the

179

Pj-inces of Piemont engaged in different wars,
which required the services of the Vaudois.
Nor is it too much to say, that these proved
themselves, on every occasion, faithful and de-
voted Subjects,

But for the degree of tranquillity, which
they were permitted to enjoy, the Vaudois
were indebted, humanly speaking, to political
circumstances, and to the active and continued
protection of the Protestant Powers of Europe.
Holland, and above ad, to lier credit, be it
spoken, England interested herself in their be-
half. William the third, (who had just been
the Instrument, under God's Providence, in
effecting the glorious Revolution of 1688, and
had thus established the civil and religious li-
berties of England,) sent a Regiment of Infan-
try for the defence of the Vaudois, and, by the
acquiescence of Victor Amadeus the second^ Le
conferred the rank of Colonel of it upon Ilen^
ry Arnauld, the Pastor, The original docu-
ment, which gives a company in this Regi-
ment to Daniel Arnauld, his brother, is still
preserved by Mr. Paul Appia of La Tour; it
bears date the fourteenth of May, 1601, from

IBO

f//e llcigue; is signed " Guillaume,'* and couti*
tersigned " Nottingham*''

Queen Mary, wife of William the thirds had
^already taken into consideration the destitute
icircumstances of the Vaudois Pastors, who, by
*a profligate Robbery of Charles the second, re*
ceived no further aid from the Balance, which
remained due to them of tJie hi-gathermg
under Oliver Cromwell. She, therefore, by her
influence with the English Parliament, obtained
for their maintenance and support, an annual
grant of two hundred and sixty-stx pounds,
which received the appellation of the Royal
Bounty, Nor while England thus proved her
liberality, and affection for Protestantism, was
Holland inattentive to the wants of the Vaudois
of Piemont : it raised diflPerent Collections, of
Avhichthe Interest was applied to the assistance
of superannuated Ministers of the Gospel, and
the widows of Pastors; to the maintenance of
the Master of the Grammar School ; to the
support of Village, and Hamlet-Schools, in the
three Valleys; and to the relief of the Poor in
general.

*Tliis Robbery is more fully explained in the fourth Letter.

181

Yet though possessed of comparative tran*;
qiiiility, aad not directly exposed to any severe
trials of their Faith, the Vaudois were still a
suffering persecuted People, The House of
Savoy ceased not to shackle their industry, and
to put many restraints on the free exercise of
tlieir Religion. As proofs of the temper in the
Government towards them, it may suffice to
advert to ihe two following Proclamations from
the Court of Turin? by the one, dated 1717, it
Was forbidden them to allow any person, not
professing the Protestant Creed to enter their
Churches; by the other, the Edict of 1663 was
renewed in the year 1746, which limited the
number of their Notaries to six, who M^ere
likewise restricted from executing any legal
business, where one of the parties might be a
Romanist.

iThe History of the V^audois however Ceases
to excite any particular interest till the close of
the eigbteenth Century • for, unhappily, the
chief Interest, which the History of any People
does excite, arises from its Sufferings and its
Sorrows. On the breaking out of the French
Revolution, they, with every other part of the
Q

182

CoiitineiitofEurope,experiencedsomecliaiigts.
But it is only a debt of Justice to add, that
when the Valleys of Piemont were united to
the French teiTitory, as the Department of the
Po, the temporal condition of the Vaudois
was greatly ameliorated: they enjoyed, under
their new Government, those Privileges, of
which they had been, Century after Century,
deprived, and they were placed on the same
footing, in every inspect, with the rest of their
fellow-countrymen. The income of the Pastors
was also increased, though Mr. Pitt in 1797
withdreAv fix)m them the EngUsh Royal Bounty
o/'£2(i6, a year, on the consideration, that they
had theti become the subjects of France. To
each of the thirteen Pastoi*s were assigned one
thousand francs^ arising from the produce of
certain lands, which were made over to Messrs.
Veriu and Brcz, in trust, for the yearly pay-
ments. Thus, with the addition oi the National
Bounty from England, (the Interest of a Col-
lection, made in her different Churches in 1770,
and which has ever since been regularly re-
mitted to the amount of £292. a year by the
Society for ■propagating the Goftpelin Foreign
Parts,) together with the small Payments from
the respective Parishes, the annual Income of

183

a Pastor cannot have been estimated at less

than fifteen hundred francs, or about £63.

Sterling,
t.

In 1814 the ancient dynasty of Savoy re-
mounted the throne of Piemont. But on the
Restoration of the King of Sardinia, the Yau-
dois, to very little purpose, deputed Mr, Paul
Appia, at that time a Magistrate at La Tour, and
Jlr, Frederic Peyran, Pastor of Pramol, to en-
treat his Majesty, Victor Emmanuel, to continue
;to them the same civil and religious rights, pri-
vvileges, and immunities, which were enjoyed
by the rest of his Subjects; making however
this Exception, that they were, in no wise,
desirous of being admitted to any Exercise of
political Power in the State, and Government
» of their Country, They addressed themselves
also to Lord William Bentinch, Commander
in chief of the British Forces in the Mediterra-
nean, who was then stationed at Genoa, with the
request, that he would use his influence with
the King in their behalf. What measures his
Lordship adopted are not exactly ascertained;
but it is generally supposed, that he was far
i from using the manly and vigorous tone,
. which had been adopted, a Century and half
Q2

184

before, by CromtcelVs Envoy at the Court of
Turin, Sir George Morlcmd, Cromwell and
his i^gents however were in earnest ; they
were men not easily to be resisted, nor turned
aside from their purpose. Now, in this our
day, we have become more polite, supple, and
compromising-, even in matters of Religion,
and of the highest moment. Certain it is, that
the King of Sardinia recovered his thronp
principally through the arms and mediation of
England; and that these were employed, with
little success, for the benefit of the VaU'>
dois of Piemont, Victor Emmanuel was in-
deed so far attentive to their condition, that in
1816 he published a Proclamation, by which
he assigned an annual stipend of five hundred
francs to each of the thirteen Pastors; bu
which is raised on the landed property of the
Protestant owners. Nor had Victor Emma-
nuel cause to complain of the fidelity of his
Vaudois Subjects; for in 1821, not o?ie indi^
vidtial of them was discovered to have been an
accomplice in the Revolution, which led to his
Abdication of the crown.

Victor Emmanuel, while he did sit on the
throne, was not prevented, by any considera-

1

185

tioii, from enforcing", in their full vigor, seve-
ral of the intolerant enactments, which his
Predecessors had declared against the Vaudois.
It may suffice to mention, as an instance of the
spirit of his Government, the following fact.
The Protestants in the parish of St. Jean had
profited by the liberty, which they enjoyed,
under the French Administration, to erect a
Church in the middle of their Village; but
one of the first acts of the King's Government
, was to issue Letters-patent of the thirtieth of
September, 1814, directing it to be closed, on
the frivolous and absurd pretext, that it had
not been built w^ithin the prescribed limits.
It is now re-opened, — ^yet with a large wooden
Skreen before its door, to spare the feelings of
the tender-hearted Romanists, who might other
wise actually see their Protestant neiahbcurs
flocking to the House of God !

The Vaudois are, in fact, still greatly op-
pressed. On the Restoration of Victor Em-
manuel to the throne of Sardinia, seven years
before his Abdication, the Vaudois were imme-
diately deprived of all the Offices which ihey
had occupied under the French Government;
Q 3

186

siidi as of Receivers of taxes, and Prefectsf.
In the reign of his present Majesty, Charles
Felix, they are exposed equally to harrassing
vexations. Their Soldiers had served with
credit in the French armies, and had, in some
instances, risen to the rank of Officers, by
their courage and military talents; several of
them of them returned to their Valleys with
the decorations of the Legion of Honor. Now,
no Protestant Soldier rises higher than Ser-
jeant.— In the liberal Professions, a Vaudois
cannot become either an Advocate, or a P%-
sician; because, on taking the Laitrea at the
University of Turin, to practise in Law, or
Medicine, an Oath, declarative of the Pope's
Supremacy, is deemed indispensable : this the
conscientious Protestant cannot digest. Even
to act as Surgeon, a Protestant must obtain an
express permission Jrom the Minister of the
Interior at Turin, To the same personage
must application also be made to effect any
trifling alteration by the Protestants in the
Churches, and their Church Property! No
Burying-ground can be inclosed in the Val-
leys ! no Tower can be added to a Church \
no Gallery raised ! no Presbytery rebuilt, nor

187

enlarg^Gfl, without his consent I This vile TVor-
casserie is not unfrequently increased by ob-
stacles, which are occasioned througli the
perverseness of the Roman Priests, and the
Bisliop of Pinerolo, in whose Diocess the Val-
leys are situated.

If it were not for the liberality of the Bible
Societies, and of private friends, a virtual Pro-
hibition would be made to the Supply of the
Holy Scriptures, and of Books of Devotion,
for the use of the Protestants of the Valleys;
since they are not alloiced to print them; and
the duties amount to thirty-fixye per cent, ad
valorejn, which it would be utterly impossible
for the Vaudois to pay, from their own re-
sources.

The Vaudois are further politically op-
pressed, in being' interdicted from making any
new Purchases of landed property.

Another severe grievance to i\\G Vaudois
proceeds yVom the Necessity of observing the
Festivals of the Roman Calendar, This
year, there are not fewer than seventeen, and a

188

case of some hardship occurred. The Agents
of the Police discovered two Protestants, on a
mountain, watering a meadow at a particular
Festival, and accordingly imposed a Fine,
Nor was it considered any excuse, that the
supposed offenders had never heard of the
name oi the Saint, or of the Saintess,

What the Vaudois now require is only *rea-
sonable, — an Admission to equal Rights and
Privileges, civil and religious, political Poic-
er alone excepted, with the Romanists, ivho
are Subjects of his Sardinian Majesty ; in
other words, thcg wish to he considered in the
same State, as under the French Government,

I have endeavoured, my dear friend, in this
Letter, merely to state facts, which can be sub-
stantiated by authentic Documents, and the
History of the still suffering Vaudois of Pie-
mont. But hating Tyranny with a perfect ha-
tred, it is, I must confess, with difficulty, that
I have refrained from occasionally yielding to

♦The Petition, remitted to the Count Bubna, and, tliroiivh
hiiH, to the Government of the King- of Saidinia, iii the year
1814, is inserted in thcAfFENDix, No. 2.

189

sonio little ebullitions of anger and resentment,
in the progress of my narrative; whether the
Oppressors of the Vaiidois have been of the
House of Savoy ^ the Court of France ^ or the
Inquisitors and Agents of PAPAL R03IE.
Those last, even they have shed the blood of
Saints and Prophets!

Your's, my dear friend,

Truly and affectionately,

J. L. J.

190

Pomaret, 2ith June, This morning before
1 took my departure from Prali, I repaired
with the Pastor Peyran to his Church in that
villag-e. It has paper, instead of glass, in the
Casements of the Windows, but compared with
the Churches at Rodoret, and Macel, it is other-
wise neat, and in good order; it can accom-
modate nearly four hundred people. In the
Pulpit were Martin's Version of the Bible,
which Mr. Peyran prefers, on the whole, to
any other, and the old Geneva Liturgy ; in
the Regent's Desk were Martin's Bible, and
Ostervald's Nourriture de TAnie. Mr. Peyran
informed me, that in his Parish of Prali there
are eight hundred and fifty Protestants, and
only one family of Romanists, consisting of
five individuals. Yet a regular Papistical
Service is performed for them every day in
their own church by a Priest, who is constantly
resident at Prali ; though his attempts at mak-
ing Proselytes among the Protestant inhabit-
ants have hitherto been altogether unsuccessful.
At Prali, there are ten Day Schools, — one
Central in the Village, and nine others, for the
Winter months, in its hamlets.

From the Church we strolled to a neighbour-

191

itig- Waterfiill of some considerable heiglit, ami
of three different bounds ; but as it issues from
a bare naked rock, and, (like the Pisse-Vache,
between St. Maurice and Martigny, in the
Yallais of Switzerland,) wants the accompa-
niment of trees and foliage, it forms no very
pleasing object*

in despite of my mtilish aversion, I was not
son*y to obtain an animal of that mixed breed,
and be conveyed by it to Pomaret, this place
of my destination, which is computed at twelve
miles' distance fromPrali along the Germanesca
torrent. My feet were cut and much swoln
from my late rough, and flinty perambulations,
—and I really dreaded the repetition of another
day's trudge. Otherwise, I was quite well,
and in excellent health and spirits. These last
(thank God !) have never, for an instant, flag-ged,
during" the whole of my Excursion in the Val-
leys of Piemont,

Being provided with my quadruped, we
accordingly departed ; I riding on my mule, —
and my friends, the three Vaudois Pastors,
Vingon, Monastier, and Peyran walking; for
the latter had proposed joining our party some

192

few miles. We kept along the course of the
Germaiiesca, crossing it three different times in
our way to Perera ; thence we again passed
it twice, and, about six o'clock this evening
Mr. Vinson and I arrived safe and well at Po-
maret. The Scenery on the Germanesca,
filways bold and wild, is in one of the passes,
at the entrance of the Valley of Perouse, par-
ticularly grand amidst the confragosa, pr(P~
ruptaque ; the torrent is nearly choked by
the high perpendicular rocks, which rise, on
each side, immediately from the water. It falls
into the Clusone a little to the Eastward of
Pomaret,

1 should not fail to add, that \re dined at
Perera w ith a Vaudois Surgeon and Apothe-
cary,— a connection of Mr. Monastier, who
there took leave of me for the present, but htis
kindly offered to come and see me at Pine-
rolo, before I leave it for Turin. From my
new medical acquaintance, (whose house, fur^
niture, and manner of living are certainly
much superior to those of the Vaudois Pastors,)
1 learnt, that, in the Valley of St. Martin, two
or three heterogeneous animals exist, such as
Leger describes in his History, a copufatione

193

Tciuri cum Asina, There is no other ^scula-
pius, but this individual, for the Valleys of
Perouse, and St. Martin. He had qualified to
;act as Surgeon in the time of Bonaparte, and
iad been for some years attached to a Pie-
montese regiment in Spain, during the penin-
sular V/ar. Nor is his present mode of life
very easy and tranquil. His ridings and walk-
ings over these mountains, would be sufficient
to frighten the most operative practitioner m
Dorsetshire, or any other thinly-inhabited
county in England, where the Journeys are
both wide and wearisome.

On our arrival at Poniaret, Mr. Vinson and
I went as a matter of course, uninvited and
unexpected, to the Presbytery of the Pastoi*
J alia » 1 was instantly requested to sup, and
sleep at the house ; to breakfast the next
morning, and to stay with him as long as I
possibly was able, — the longer, the better.
Shortly after these preliminary arrangements
were settled, I proposed a walk to the Church,
and about the A^illaoe of Pomaret. The Church
may be capable of holding- five hundred and
fifty persons, but is in a most wretched dilapi-
dated condition, open to all the winds of hea-
R

194

veil. Mr. Jalla rejoiced me by tbe intelligence,
that it was very shortly to be taken down and
rebuilt. At present no books can be kept in
it, from tho flights of birds, which nestle with-
in its walls, and from its excessive dampness.
The Pastor however informs me, that he makes
use of Martin's Version of the Bible, and the
old Liturgy of Geneva.

At quitting the Church, we repaired to the
Burying-ground, an open strip of land, like
most of the Receptacles of the dead in the
Valleys of Piemont. Here I stood for some
minutes at the grave of the late Moderator
J, Rodolphe Peyran. The following simple
Inscription appears on a very small upright
stone, not more than two feet high above the
sod, which covers his mortal remains ; —

J. R. PEYRAN,

Pasteur et Moderateur :
ne le lime. Dece, 1752;

mort le 26^^ Avril, 182a

195

From all wliicli I am able to learn of ./T/r. /.
llodolphe Peyran, I suppose him to Lave been
a man of considerable learning, and of an un-
commonly acute, reasoning mind. Under a
more fatherly government than that of the
King of Sardinia, he might have risen to the
highest eminence of character and fame. He
has left behind him two Sons, and one Daugh-
ter. The former are in low, and even distress-
ed circumstances; the latter is respectably
married to a Protestant at Fenestrelle, where
she resides.

Mr. Jalla tells me, that his Parish of Poma-
ret contains nine hundred and fifty Protest-
ants, and seventy Romanists ; and that it has
ons Central School in the village, and seven
other Day-schools for the Winter-months in
its different hamlets, — Coming from the stony
Valley of St. Martin, Pomaret strikes me as a
kind of Arabia Felix : it produces wheat and
vines, with chesnut, almond, and mulberry-
trees* though the last are net seen in such
ahr.iidarice as at St. Jean, and La Tour, m
tLe VaUey of Luzerr.e.

' My host, the Pastor Jalla (about sixty )'('ars
K 2

196

of age) is a plain, simple-minded, humble
man. In his ministerial character, he is uni-
versally esteemed.

When our visit to the Church, the Cime-
tiere, and Village, had been made, we retired
to Mr. Jalla's house ; where supper had been
getting ready for us by the help of his two
daughters : it was the very best, which could
be procured in the place and neighbourhoods

Pineroloy 2oth June, But supper being over,.
in due time I betook myself to my bed, which
had been prepared for me in the corner of the
room, in which we had eaten, and spent the
evening. Yet I was very far from betaking
myself to rest. I had just fallen asleep, whea
I was roused by loud barkings of the canine
race, — and then I heard, what I dreaded much
more, the mewing- of a cat very near me. Un-
happily, 1 have a kind of dread of cats, espe-
cially in a bed-room. It was therefore abso-
lutely needful, that 1 should by some means
expel the enemy. For this purpose, I got up
much sooner than I could have wished 5
groped to the door in the dark, — no very easy
iViatter in a strange room)— and, having sue-.

197

creeled in opening' it, began the nsual alterna-
tives of scolding first, and then coaxing-. 3fy
eflbrts Vt'ere all in vain. Puss remained stea-
dily in her position under the bed, and I, fear-
ful of a personal encounter with her claw*.,
did not venture to pull her from the fastness
in which she had lodged herself. Poor 3Ir,
Jalla was now alarmed by the fray, and came
kindly to my aid. On relating to him my dif-
ficulty, he, with great simplicity, observed,
that as there were divers holes in the wain-
scoat and floor, he was really afraid Puss
could not be kept out of the room ; but th^t he
would do his utmost to prevent a repetition of
her troublesome visit. He accordingly pro-
ceeded, without delay, to stuff the wainscoat
with cloths, and to lay blocks of wood on the
openings of the floor. These arrangements
being made, again I laid myself down in bed,
but not to sleep. Quite the contrary ! the nu-
merous flies and fleas, and my other teasing-
and noxious companions, kept me fully on the
alert for the greater part of the night. Still
the recollection of all my disasters soon va-
nished in the society of 3Ir. Jalla, and my
excellent friend, the Pastor Vinson. Wo
breakfasted gaily ; partaking of some delicious
r3

198

honey, wbicli was not surpassed by that which
I had formerly eaten at Cliamonix ; nor even
at Narbonne itself, avec son petit gout de
JRomarin,

But what is always painful under similar
circumstances, the hour of separation m as at
hand ! Mr. Vinson however accompanied me
through the town of Perouse, from which the
Valley receives its name, to St. Germain ;^
where I felt desirous of calling ag-ain upon his
Uncle, the Pastor Monnet, The good old
man seemed highly pleased (I might say,
gratijied) with my visit. I stayed with him an
hour, — and then taking an affectionate leave
of Mr. Vincon, whom I cannot but esteem for
the Earnestness of his manner, and tlie Scrip-
tural soundness of his principles, I came on to
Pinerolo ; thankful to a God of mercies for
having thus far brought me on my way in
health and safety !

The ride from St. Germain, by the Western
bank of the Clusone, to this city, is very pleas-
ing. An evident improvement, in the soil and
its productions, appeared, as I advanced to-
wards Pinerolo, which continues progressively

199

to the rich plain of Piemont. These, unhappily,
are Papistical ! The small Parishes of St,
Germain^ Pramol^ and Pomaret, are all m Ijich
now remain Protestant in the Valley of Pe-
roiise. Pomaret is twelve miles from Pinerolo.

Pinerolo, Sunday, 26th June, I had been
very desirous of attending Divine Service this
morning" in the Church of St. Barthelemi, for
the two-fold purpose of hearing the young
Pastor Bostainr/, Son of the Modtrateur-
adjoint, preach, — and of seeing the state of his
Congregation, who were reported to me as
being so much interested about him. Conse-
quently last night, I engaged 3Ir. Monastier,,
the proprietor of the paper-mili, to accompany
me to the Parish of Prarusiin, which contains
the two Churches of St. Barthelemi andRoche-
platte, and is situated between the Valleys of
Perouse and Luzerne : it lies South-West of
Pinerolo. We started at seven o'clock after an
early breakfast, and first went to St. Barthele-
mi, which is distant four good miles from Pine-
rolo; having crossed the Chisone, and passing
through San Secondo, a pretty village. The
whole of our walk was beautiful ; and the view
from the hill,onAvhich the Church of St. Bar-

200

flu'Irmi is built, in the direction of Turisi!, ap-
pears particularly rich. On the opposite side of
the same hill is another delightful vale, but of
far smaller exterit^ in which the Protestant
Church of Rocheplatte, forms the principal
object, at a mile and a half from St.Barthelemi.

Prarustin is one of the most fertile of the Vau-
dois Parishe?!, producing* wheat and vines, with
chosnut, mulberry, and many other fruit-trees.

I was quite pleased with my expedition of
the day, — more especially, with what 1 heard
and saw in the Church of St. Barlhelemi. It
was cro^wled ; indeed many of the people
were standing without the door for want of
room in the interior. A more fixed and atten-
tive ConaTcoation 1 never beheld, — six hun-
dred plain country men, women, and children !
The Service was conducted precisely in the
same Order as at La Tour, and St. Germain, —
the Order, which is customary in all the
Churches of the Valleys of Piemont. Young
Mr. Rostaing preached a faithful, and, I may
truly add, an able Sermon from Proverbs ir,
6, — in which, while he ascribed all Wisdom,
and the Knowledcfe of all sjiiritual things, in

201

man, to the free, sovereign Will of God, he,
practically, and >vith much effect, inculcated
upon his Hearers, that the Father of Mercies is
inclined, for the sake of his beloved Son, Jesus
Christ, and by the sanctifying influences of
the Holy Ghost, to impart this Wisdom^ and
this Knoio ledge, in answer to Prayer, to all and
every one, who shall diligently seek them, by the
Use of his appointed Means of Grace. The Ser-
mon was, at once, humbling to the Pride of (be
human heart, but full of Encouragement to the
Believer. I felt the better from hearing it.
Nor shoiild I omit to observe, that it was deli-
vered by my youthful Teacher ^vith consider-
able effect, — as if he experimentally felt the
force of what he said, and the Power of Divine
Truth. O what an awful responsibility does
that man take upon himself, who ventures to
ascend a Pulpit! He should (as good old
Richard Baxter expresses it) preach, like a
dyijig man to dying men^

Mr. Rostaing makes use of the Neufchatel
Liturgy, and Martin's Version of the Bible.
The Regent read the fiftieth, and fifty-first
chapters of the Prophet Isaiah, from that of
Ostervald, with the accompanying reflections.

203

On the Conclusion of the Moniing-'s Service,
I had rather a long conversation with three of
of the Elders of St. Barthelemi, who mani-
fested much seriousness of character ; and then
I adjourned, for an hour, to the Pastor's lodg-
ing', which he has taken, for the present, in
one of the peasant's cottages, that he may re-
side in the more populous part of his Parish,
because Rocheplatte contains little more than
one-fourth of the number of inhabitants,
Avho are in St. Barthelemi. I mean to visit
young Mr. Rostaing again, before I quit the
neighbourhood of these Valleys,

At my return to Pinerolo, I have been well
satisfied to remain quietly in my Hotel for the
afternoon, and the rest of the day. Very dif-
ferent from the weather in the Valley of St.
Martin, the heat has been excessive; the Sun
shining bright and clear, bringing out the
beauties of the Scenery, which I witnessed in
the morning, but somewhat too powerful for
my feelings. I have now enjoyed a few peace-
ful hours in what I wish always directly to
form my Reading on the Sabbath, — the Gospel
and Epistles of St, John^ and the Prophecies
of Isaiah* The fortieth chapter of the last

203

iiispired Writer I have just read, ajiplying,
as 1 went along, some of its parts to the
actual state of the Vaudois Church; and never
do I think, have I before been so strongly im-
fpressed with the cheering and precious
Promises which it breathes. God, in his in-
finite JMercy, grant, that the Pastors, and
Servants of the Lord, in every land, and every
iclime, may go on and comj'ort his helievmg
people ; may they speak comfortahly to the
^fpirkual Israel, O let one and all of them be
uliy assured, that they icho icait vpon the
ord shall renew their strength : they shall
loinit rip icith wings as eagles; they shall
tin, and not be weary ; and they shall icaHc,
and not faints

Pinerolo, ^9th June, For the last three days
i have been fully occupied in drawing up two
Dther Letters, which I purpose to take with me,
md put into the Post at Turin, for England :
the first is on the Doctrine, public Services,
ind Government of the Vaudois Church; the
iecond, on the State of Morals among the VaU'
dois, and the best mode of aiding them under
existing circumstances, I would fain hav«
treated the Subjects, which are themselves of

204

great Interest, in a more satisfactory maniiev ;
yet I have worked hard, and done my best*
The Letters are as follows ;-^—

LETTER THE THIRD.

Pinerolo, 2Sth June, 1825.

My dear Friend*

I now resume my Correspondence for
the purpose of giving you the best information,
which I have been able to collect, respecting
the Doctrine of the Waldensian Church ; to-*
gether with some slight account of her present
public Services, and her ecclesiastical Govern-*
ment. Nor is it, I am convinced, needful for
me to suggest, that my present Subjects heat
with them a peculiar interest.

Tiie enemies of the Waldenses, in order to
??xcuse the titles of Heretics and Schismatics^
which they have lavished upon them, endeas*
voured, at a very early period, to prove their
Doctrine erroneous. To this end, they com-
posed various works, in which the Waldenses
are branded with the most opprobrious names,

205

as being Manichceans, Arians, and the fol^
loicers of many other spurious Sects, There
is, in fiict, scarcely an Error, however gross,
with which the Waldensian Church has not
been charged. But are such accusations (I
would ask) well founded ? and are the authors
:of them to be credited on the bare word of
itheir own assertions ? Let us rather, my dear
(friend, seek in the Writings of the Waldenses
fthemselves, what their Doctrine has really been.

On pursuing this Inquiry, we shall find,
that these Writings are not only numerous, but
that they have been composed at different
epochs; some premoushj^ and others suhse^
unienthj to the times, in which the religious
Principles of the Waldensian Church were
impugned. The Writings also differ in their
Subjects : they are either Instructions for
youth, as la Nobla Lei^on in the year of our
lord 1100, and a Catechism of the same date;
^s Expositions of the Lord's Prayer, the Apos-
les' Creed, and the ten Commandments : or,
hey are Treatises against the papistical notions
L)f Purgatory, and the Invocation of Saints ;
gainst human Traditions, and the power of
^nti-Christ : or, they are Confessions of Faith y
s

206

which were presented by them, on a variety of
occasions, to their temporal Rulers, to Inqui-
sitors, and to some of the Protestant Reformers.
Besides these authentic Documents, there ex-
ist likewise a few Sermo)is, which had been
delivered by the Barbes, or Waldensian Pas-
tors, in their several Parishes. The Originals
of these Works, as I observed in my Letter on
the Origin and Antiquity of* the Waldensian
Church, may be found in the public Library
at Geneva, and at Trinity College, Cambridge;
but you, my dear friend, may see Copies of
many of them in the first Part of Jean Leger^s
general History. They are composed in the
Vaudois idiom, and in Latin, Italian, or French,
according; to the circumstances under which
they were written. Nor is it any exaggeratioti
to say, that in them all the same line of Doc-
trine is expressed with simplicity and clearness;
it is the Doctrine of Christ crucified.

The following- are Extracts from three dif-
ferent Waldensian Publications; namely their
ancient Catechism, and V Almanac Spiritual,
both of the very early part of the twelfth Cen-
tury; and a Confession of Faith, presented
to the Cardinal Sandolet, and the Bishop o

207

Castiglione and Carpentras,— but which was
afterwards publicly read before Francis the
first, King of France, by the Chamberlain
Anagnoston; when his Majesty, who had been
attentively listening to it, was compelled to
exclaim, " He-quoy ! quel mal y-a-t'il? trouve
** t'on a redire a cette Confession, dont on fait
" tantde bruit?" And then, alas ! every person
at court was silent, though many before had
been most vehement in their invectives; and not
one single individual was found, who had
the courage to ofifer the least objection to its
contents.

CATECHISM.

PASTOR. SCHOLAR.

Q. In what are all A. In two great

these Commandments Commandments, T^.o?*

[the Decalogue] com- shalt love God above

prehended? all things, and th^

JVeighbour as thyself',

Q. Who is the Foun- A. The Lord Jesus
datioa of these Com- Christ, of whom the

s2

208

mandments, by whom
thou mayest enter into
Life eternal, and with-
out whom no man can
keep the Command-
ments ?

Apostle hath said, —
" Other foundation can
•* no man lay than that
" is laid, which is Jesus
"Christ."! Cor. III. 11.

Q. How canst thou
build upon this Foun-
dation ?

A. By Faitlu It is
contained in the Scrip-
tures, *' Behold, I lay
" in Sion a chief cor-
" ner-stone, elect, pre-
"cious: and he that
" belie veth on him
" shall not be con-
"founded." And the
Lord\i2ith. said, " Who-
" soever believeth, hath
" eternal life."

Q. How canst thou
attain imto the chief
Christian Graces; to
Fait/i,Hope,dind Cha^
rity.

A. By the gifts of the
Holy Ghost.

Q. Dost thou believe
in the Holy Ghost?

A. I do believe in
Him, For the Holy

209

Ghost proceedeth from
the Father, and the
Son : he is one Person
of the Blessed Trinity,
and, touching the God-
head, he is equal unto
the Father, and the Son .

Q. Thou believp^^t
God the Father, God
the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost, to be three
Persons ; hast thou then
three Gods ?

A. No ; I have not
three.

Q. And yet thou
hast named three.

A. It is in respect to
the distinction of Per-
sons, that I have named
them; but not in re-
spect to the Godhead
itself. For, although
there be three Persons,
the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost,
they are but one God.

S3

V ALMANAC SPIRITUAL.

" A Sacrament, according' to St. Augustine
" in his book on the City of God, is the repre-
" sentation of an inward grace by a visible
" sign.

" There are iico Sacraments ; one of Water,
" and the other of Bread and Wine,

" The first is called Baptism, that is Washing
" by Water, either from a river, or spring ; and
" must be administered in the name of the Fa-
" ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

*' Now this Baptism is visible and material,
*' which does not of itself necessarily make the
" person either good or bad, as we learn in
" Scripture concerning Simon Magus, and St.
*' Paul. But, inasmuch as Baptism is admi-
" nistered in the Congregation of the faithful,
** it is to the end, that he, who is thus received
" in it, be deemed a Brother and a Christian ;
" and that ail pray for him to become such
" inwardly in heart. And it is for this cause,
" Children are presented for Baptism, — a Prac-
*' tice, which they, whom Children most con-
'* cern, should invariably follow, as Parents,
*' and all those to whom God has given a like
" degree of Love."

211

CONFESSION OF FAITH.

<*We believe, that the Holy Sacrament of
«' our Lord Jesus Christ's Table is a sacred
*« Memorial, and an act of Thanksgiving, for
'* the Benefits, which we have received by the
*' death of Jesus Christ ; and that it ought to
" be celebrated in the Assembly of the Saints,
" in Faith and Charity, and by an inward Ex-
" perience of Christ's Merits. It is thus, by
" partaking of the Bread and Wine, we have
" Communion with the Body and Blood of
" Christ, as we read in the Holy Scriptures."

From these Extracts, and other Writings of
the Waldenses, it might not be difficult to
prove, that they clearly took the Holy Scrip-
tures for the ground-work of their belief.
Faithful to their Principle of admitting only
what is contained in the inspired Word of God,
they were enabled to endure a great fight of af-
flictions, rather than embrace any of the nume-
rous perversions, which the ages of ignorance
and superstition had engendered. The notions,
which they did refuse to admit, were the wor-
ship of Images, the invocation of Saints, Purga-
tory, the authority and supremacy of the Roman

212

bishops, Transubstantiation, the Sacrifice of
the Mass, and other palpable errors and
tlelusions of Popery : these they were firmly
convinced, had not been received till the
seventh Century of the Christian sera. Of the
violent measures, which attended their intro-
duction into the Church, it is needless, my
dear friend, for me to remind you : alas ! the
partisans of papal Rome were necessitated ta
employ, in their defence, bulls, excommunica-
tions, anathemas, and temporal arms. This
we indeed know, that the Apostles, and their
immediate Successors, had no occasion to recur
to such unworthy means : they, in the temper
af their Divine Master, and in the spirit of the
Gospel, went forth to preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ. And the beauty, simplicity,
and excellence of then: Doctrine, were, under
God, of sufficient power to draw even the
hearts of Pagan Idolaters to the reception of
the Truth.

But I will now briefly notice a few of the
different Testimonies, which may be brought
forward in favour of the orthodox character of
the Waldensian Church, iit the first burst
of the Reformation, in the early part of the

213

sixteenlh Century, the Vaudois sent deputies
to some of the distinguished Protestant leaders:
these deputies are described by George Morel,
one of their number, to have conferred with
Zuing'le, *CEcolampadius, Melancthon, and Bu-
cer, — and to have come back into their Val-
leys with a Testimony, which, on the whole, was
highly satisfactory. It went to show, that the
illustrious Reformers commended the unsha-
ken firmness, with which the Vaudois had pre-
served, from father to son, the Doctrine and
Worship of the primitive Christians : it ap-
proved of all the Articles in their Confession
, of Faith ; but, at the same time, it freely cen-
sured a few particular weaknesses into which
they had fallen by their intercourse with the
Romanists. The Vaudois had, for instance, suf-

*Dknina, the Historiaa of Western Italy, g-ives an account
of the Conference of certain Vaudois with CEcolampadius ;
«' Or sia che i Bernesi ed altri Svizzeri mandassero primiera-
** mente a visitare queste valli per aver inteso che quivi si
<* professava da lunjfo tempo una religione confornie a quella
<' ch'essi novellauiente aveano abiacciata, ovvero che i niinistri
** Valdesi, coaosciiiti gia col nome di Barba e Barbetti, inteso
**quello che accadeva tia gli Svizzeri, andassero di proprio
<'iBOTimeato a far coaoscenza coi nuovi dottori Tedeschi, il
**€aso voile che alcuni di questi Valdesi s'incoutrassero e s'
** intrattencssero con (Ecolampadio, che allor si trovava iu
«BasiIea." Lib. vai, c, 11,

314

fered their children to be occasionally baptized
in the churches of their Persecutors.

Luther himself, who for some time regarded
tlie Church of the Waldenses with suspicion,
afterwards wrote his Preface to their Confes-
sion of Faith in 1535, in which he acknow-
ledg-es, on becoming more intimately acquainted
with them, not only that it was unjust to con-
demn them as heretics, but that he could not
be prevented from admiring their courage in
renouncing all human systems, and abiding
stedfasthj by the revealed will of God.

The learned Theodore Beza gives it, as his
deliberate opinion, that it was principally, by
means of the Vaudois, the knowledge of the
Gospel had been extended through a large
part of Europe ; and he expressly says, in his
Portraits of illustrious men, that the Vaudois
Lad continually preserved the true Faith of the
Gospel, without being tempted to renounce
their Principles by any worldly inducement,
or temporal afHiction whatever.

It would not be difEcuIt to multiply TestJ-
jjioBies from other Reformers, in confirmation

ai5

t)f the Faithfulness of the Waldensian Church ;
but since they could only be a repetition of what
has already been advanced, vre may now pass to
its Adversaries themselves. Their Testimonies,
you will allow, cannot be suspec ted, and are,
in fact, unanswerable. Though they do not
directly praise the Vaudois, and their expres-
sions are often vague, and savour more of
censure than approbation, much that is .satis-
factory may be extracted from their writings,
and even from their reproaches and their
calumnies,

I may here advert to a circumstance, at once
singular and not unworthy of remark, that with
the exception of some discreditable persons,
who accuse the Vaudois of errors, no where to
be traced in their writings, all their other Ad-
versaries do not attack them on the Articles of
Faith, which they believe; but only on certain
points, which they refuse to admit. They say,
** You are heretics, not because you adopt a
" particular tenet; but because you reject this,
" or that opinion." Let the Adversaries how-
ever speak for themselves.

The first of them, who presents himself to

216

our view, is titat very Reinerus Sacco, who
was appointed by the Court of Rome Inqui-
sitor against the Vaudois in the thirteenth
Century. In his book, which I (juoted in my
first Letter, he enumerates the principal causes
of their pretended heresy ; he affirms, " that
*' both men and women, young and old, th^
" labourer and the scholar, omit not, by day or
" night, to instruct themselves, and diligently
" to teach such as know less of divine truth ;
" that they learn by heart large portions of the
*' Old and New Testament, which have even been
" translated into the vulgar tongue ; that the
" scandalous lives of particular persons inspire
" them with horror, so that when they see an
" individual to be vicious in his morals, they
" say to him, the Apostles did not thus conduct
" themselves ; that, moreover, they regard as
*' fabulous whatever a teacher may assert, un-
" less he be able to adduce, in its confirmation,
** the authority of Scripture." Reinerus then
goes on to explain, why the Vaudois are pe-
culiarly dangerous to the Roman Church;
" Because they are of all sects the most ancient,
"and the most widely dispersed; because in
" fact, while others inspire horror by the fright-
** ful blasphemies which they vomit against

217

« God, these maintuiii a great appearance of
"piety: they lead regular and correct live*;;
*' they have just ideas of the Deity, and believe
" all the Articles of the Apostles' Creed. Only"
(he adds) " they censure the Romua Church,
^' and her Clergy."

This Testimony of an Inquisitor might
suffice to prove the purity of the Waldensian
Church ; but to it alone we are not, my dear
friend, reduced. Many more of their Adversa-
ries concur to furnish us with Evidence equally
satisfactory. But I will select that only of
jEneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who was made
Pope in 1458 by the title of Pius the second.
In reviling the Vaudois of Bohemia, (whom,
in his History of Hungary, c. xxxv, he
rightly traces, though under the Catalogue of
heretics, to the ancient inhabitants of the
Piemontese Valleys,) he says; "They bark
^' against the Priesthood, and being separated
" from the Catholic Church, they belong to the
*' impious sect of the Vaudois, — that pestilen-
" tial Sect, so long time under condemnation,
*' whose dogmas are these." And he then pro-
ceeds to enumerate their dangerous Errors, —
dangerous, no doubt, they are to the Roman
Apostacy ! t

518

*' The bikliop of Rome is only equal to other
" bishops !

" Whenjthe Soul quits the body, its only
" state is either t^at of eternal punishment, or
" happiness !

" There is no fire of Purgatory !

" Prayers for the dead are vain, and have
" only been introduced by the covetousness of
" Priest* !

" The Images of the Saviour, and of Saints,
" should be removed !

" Holy Water, palm-branches, and all simi-
" lar benedictions are idle mockeries !

" Confirmation, as used by the Popes, with
" chrism; and extreme Unction are notcompri-
** sed amono* the Sacraments of the Church !

" Baptism is to be administered *with pure

* " SuBSTANTiALE [Baptisml] omnium consensu est aqTia,
" ut ex Matlh. iii. 6. Act. x. 47, atque aliis locisest videre,
*' ac proinde piano superstitiosa sunt, quee a Pontificiis huic
" uiateriBeadjungiintur,qualia sunt sal et oleum 3 item sputum.

219

« water, without any mixture of holy oil, or
" any other ingiedient !

" Recourse to the Intercession of Saints, who
"reign with Christ in heaven, is vain and
« useless!'' &c. &c. &c.

True it is, that the Waldenses did not admit
the Efficacy of invoking Saints; that they
rejected the supreme Authority of the Church
of Rome, and the Despotism of the Papal
Power? that they held altogether as vanity,
yea, less than vanity and nothing, Purgatory,
Auricular Confession, the Merit of human
works and works of Supererogation, Indul-
gences, Prayers for the dead, Transubstanti-
ation, and the Sacrifice of the Mass. And
these, the descendants of the ancient Waldensian
Church do still reject, and refuse to hold. But
blessed be a God of all Grace and Mercy, they
continue to profess their Belief in the Union of
the Sacred Three, the Father, the Son, and the

«« cerei et s^milia : qua vel a Christi miracubs, vel a pnmi-
« tivs'EcclesifE ritu in crypt is aut noctu convemre solitae mu-
" tuo simiuta sunt. Quum Dei mandatis nee addendum quic-
" qua.n, nee adimendum sit, Deut. xn. 32, et frustra colatur
« Lndatis hominum. Matt. xv. 9." Synopsis Pcrioris
TiiEOLoei^, Disp.xLiv, de Sacramento Baptismi.
T 2

220

Holy Ghost, in the One undivided, everlasting
Godhead; they believe the Holy Catholic
Church ; they believe, that the Blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth from all sin; that the Christian
is bound to confess liis offences unto God; to
do works of holiness; to obey the Pastors of
the flock of Christ, who preach the glad
tidings of sal vation ; to respect the civil Magis-
trate, and pay him tribute.

On the present Character of the Vaudois
Church, I am happy, my dear friend, in being
able to assure you, that it is still sound and
scriptural. It was, as you well know, one of
t\ie chief objects of my Excursion to these
Valleys, that I might ascertain the continued
Orthodoxy of this ancient Christian people;
nor am I (may 1 be permitted io say M) dis-
posed to rest content wiih slight and incon-
clusive Evidence. I certainly have experienced
thereat comfort of hearing the main,and leading
Truths of the everlasting Gospel admitted,
both in the Pastors' exhortations from the
Pulpit, and in my social and confidential
intercourse with them; and I do not scruple
to affirm, that they maintain, with one sin^fe
exception, the Doctriues of the ever^blessjd

221

Xf-ir^ity^^the Incarnation of its second Per*
so%-^ Justification to sinful man hij Faith
alone in the blood and Righteousness of
Christ,— the Corruption and Depravity of
human nature,— and an absolute Need of the ^
regenerating and sanctifying Influences of
the Holy Ghost, both in preparing man to
believe the Gospel, and subsequently to walk
in the icay of its Commandments,

. I shall now endeavour to give you some
""rittle insight into the manner, in which the

Church-Services are performed among the
, Vaudois,

The principal Service is on the Morning of
the Sabbath throughout the Valleys of Pic-
mont; it is hegun hy the Regent, or Clerk,
who reads generally two chapters of the Bihle
from the French Version of Ostervald, with the
accompanying Reflections. When these are
finished, the Pastor ascends the Pulpit, and
reads, from one of the Liturgies of the Re-
formed Swiss Churches, a Confession of sin.
"Singing follows from portions of David's
Psalms, in which, tlie RegentJeads at this m-'

T 3

222

teresting part of public Worship, and many
of the Congregation join audibly and heart- I
ily wi(h him. The Pastor then offers up a
short Collect ; says the Lord's Prayer ; and ^
delivers his Sermon, either memoriter, or \
extempore, but never by reading' it. At the
conclusion of his Sermon, he repeats, from a
Swiss Liturgy, a Prayer for all sorts and con-
ditions of men, the Lord's Prayer, and the
Apostles' Creed. And the whole Service is
finished by singing a few verses from a Psalm,
with the parting Blessing from the Pastor. I
would observe, that the only difference in the
Arrangement of the first, or Morning Sabbath
Service, is, that the Pastors, according to their
discretion, make use either of Martin's, or
Ostervald's Version of the Bible, and of the
Neufchatel, Lausanne, or the old Geneva
Liturgy.

I mvist add, that the very appearance of the
plain Congregations, among this simple-minded
|.eople, has been to me not only striking, but
well calculated, in every respect, to can*y me
back in imagination to the primitive Worship
iii Christians, in the first age of the Redeemer's
Church. Here, are no images, tapestry, can*

2-23

delabras, crosses, incense, nor relics in vases of
silver, gold, or crystal! No Processions, and
constant movings to and fro, as in the gorgeous
Ceremonials of the Romanists, which I have
lately witnessed! The women and children
place themselves quietly on long wooden
benches on the left side of the entrance in the
Church, where they remain from the beginnings
to the end of the Service ; and the men, in like
manner, at the right. Immediately before the
Pulpit, and the Regent's Desk, situated against
the south wall, is the Communion-table, aroimd
which are the Elders' Seats, and one form re-
served for Strangers. In this last, I, as a wan-
derer and a pilgrim, have lately been used to
take my place, and, I may add, have felt my-
self, for three successive Sabbaths, comforted
by the affectionate, scriptural Addresses of my
spiritual Teachers, and the order and pious at-
tention of their devoted flocks !

Let me here remark, that the Services of the
Vaudois Church are all now in the French
language, and have continued to be so from
the time of the great Persecution, towards the
close of the seventeenth Century; when from
want of Pastors, the people were under the ne*

224

cessity of inviting to their Pulpits Ministers
from France and Switzerland. Hence, have
resulted the use of the French language, and
the introduction of the Swiss Liturgies, in the
Church. An article in the last Synod of 1822
strongly enforced upon the Pastors the pro-
priety of speaking French, as much as possi-
ble, with their people, in order that the latter
might be familiarized to it.

In the Churches is also a seco7id Sabbath
Service, which is conducted entirely by the
Regent: he begins by reading two chapters
from Ostervald's Version of the Bible, with
the Reflections; then sings one of David's
Psalms; says the Prayer for all sorts and con-
ditions of men; repeats the Lord's Prayer, and
the Apostles' Creed ; and concludes by pro-
nouncing the Blessing.— There is also in most
of the Churches in the Valleys a Wednesday,
or Thursday Morning Service, similar to the
Regent's second Service on the Sabbath.

I cannot refrain from mentioning^ that a very
interesting- part of the Pastor's duty among^
the Vaudois, and deemed by them of the great-
est importance, consists in preparing the youn^

225

people of their respective Parishes, from six-
teen to eighteen years of age, for their first
Communion of the Lord's Supper. The course
of Instruction generally takes in the three
Winter months of two successive years from
December to March; during which periods,
the Pastors, for an hour in three evenings of
every week, hear the youth, intrusted to their
spiritual guidance, read portions of the Scrip-
tures, and repeat the CatechisnTof Ostervald.
It may not be too much to say, that this salu-
tary Practice not only accovmts for the large
number of Communicants in a Parish, often
one-fifth, and sometimes one-fourth of its po-
pulation; but tends inaterially to strengthen
the friendly and endearing intercourse, which
so commonly subsists between the Vaudois
Pastor and his flock.

My letter, already somewhat lengthened,
shall now be brought to a close by a few gene-
ral Remarks on the Ecclesiastical GovernmeiH^
and ConstitutiGtij of the Vaudois Church,
The Government is directed by a Synod, con-
sisting of the thirteen Pastors, from whose
body are chosen the Moderator, an Assistant-
Moderator, and a Secretary. A current opi-

226

I'

nion prevails in these Valleys, that the Modera
tor was originally styled * Bishop ^ and wagjss
addressed as such ; though, from the extreme
poverty of the persons holding" the episcopal
office, the title has now, for many years, been
dropped. The Moderator still presides in the I
convocations of the Synod, which should take
place every third year. In consequence how-
ever of the expence, amounting to nearly £50.
sterling of our money, attendant on procuring
a patent, and the jealousy of the Sardinian
government, which contrives to throw every
possible impediment in the way, four or five
years sometimes intervene between one convo-
cation and the next. This summer is the re-
gular time for assembling in council ; but, to
my great disappointment, the Synod is not
likely to meet.

* It appejirs from David Cranz' History of the United
Brethren, translated by BenjaininLATROBE, that they received
tbtir episcopal Consecration first from the Vaudois Bishops :
he says, "that as the Waldenses trace the succession of thefr
" bishops from tjje apostolic times, they" (the Un. Br. in Bo-
heTTjia, A.D. 1467. com p. Part iv. §. 46) " despatched three of
*' their priests, already ordained, (amongst whom Michael of
*' Zanjberg- is mentioned,) into Austria, to Stephen, bishop of
*' the Waldenses •, who, rejoiced at the report of the Brethren's
♦' eniigration and regulations, laid before them, in presence of the
*' elders, the rise and progress, the various vicissitudes, and the
" episcopal succession of the Waldenses, and consecrated theia,
"with the assistance of hisco-bisho]) and the rest of the clergy,
" bishops of the Brethren's church." Part ii. ^ , 12.

227

Another most unpleasant circumstance (to
![say the least of it) attends the convocation of
the Synod. The Sard inian Government always
sends the Intendant of the Province, with his
Secretary, to be present, who are, of course,
regarded as spies, and tend materially to check
all freedom of discussion. It is likewise need-
ful previously to submit, to the Minister of the
Ulterior at Turin, the subjects to be brought
forward for deliberation in the Synod ; and to
these subjects alone, ichen ajjproved, the
Pastors must confine themselves.

But besides the Synod, there is in the Vau-
dois Church a Sub-Synod, or, as it is usually
termed, the Table, composed of the Moderator,
the Assistant-Moderator, and the Secretary,
with two lay-members, who meet, from time to
time, for the despatch of business, relating to
the interests, both of the Pastors and the People.
These lay-members have only been introduced
within a very few years, and the Innovation
is considered objectionable by many of the
Vaudois. '' ,

■ ' ■:. ^ -

Out of the Synods, the Moderator has no
power, and even in them he is only primus

228 I

inter pares ; he does but preside, and, with
the assistance of the other members of the
Table, prepare subjects for discussion. No
salary is attached to his Office. You, my dear
friend, may form some idea, of the present ex-
cellent Moderator's primitive state of poverty,
by bearing in mind, that in his episcopal Visit-
ations, which occur every second year, he per-
forms his journeys on foot to all the thirteen Pa-
rishes of the three Valleys. His circumstances
do not enable him to keep either horse or mule.

In addition.to the above general Government^
or, as it might more appropriately be termed*
the Polity f of the Vaudois Church, there ex-
ists, in each separate Congregation, a Consis-
tory, for the management of its internal affairs,
temporal and spiritual. Thus a Parish is
divided into Quarters^ varying in number,
according to its size and population ; and every
Quarter sends an Elder, who, with the Pastor,
form the Consistory, One of these Elders is
termed the Deacon^ to whom is intrusted, under
the Direction of the Pastor, the special Office
of distributing to the poor and needy such alms
as are collected at the Communions, and from
other charitable Offerings in the Church. The

a-29

Consistory elect the Regent, wlio is commonly
the principal Schoolmaster in the Parish.

On the Constitution of the Vaudois Church,
I would remark, that the thirteen Parishes are
divided into two Classes ; Prali and Maneille
forming- the first; and the other eleven, the
second of them. Accord in o- to an established
Reg-nlation of the Synod, the Minister, last
ordained, is appointed, on a vacancy being
declared in any Parish of the second Class, to
one of the distant cures, Prali or Maneille ; and
the Pastor of Prali, or Maneille, succeeds, if
it be his wish, to the vacant Parish A, or B.
But from this Regulation (I would remark) a
difficulty has arisen during my stay in the Val-
leys, which gives the excellent Moderator
much uneasiness. A vacancy had occurred
six months before in the Parish of Prarustin,
and the last ordained Minister had been ap-
pointed, ad interim, to perform the pastoral
functions of it : with him however the people
are so well pleased, that they refuse to part with
him, and receive, in his place, a Pastor of the
primary Class. As the power of the Moderator
and the Synod is not coercive, much Prudence
and Christian temper are doubtless requisite

230

to enforce Ibe Regulation upon tbe Parish, It
must therefore be admitted, that, in this in-
stance, the Ecclesiastical Government of the
Vaudois Church is weak, and clearly defective.
Yet it is much easier to discover such weakness,
than to pronounce authoritatively in whose
bands the Patronage of a Church ought to be
vested; since Holy Scripture, the sole infalli-
ble Guide, has left the subject undetennined.
This agitated question however I conceive to
be perfectly distinct from that of Ordination,
which I can only think valid, according to
Apostolic appointment, in the laying on of
hands by a person, or persons, holding the
episcopal Office, Jlcts viii. 17, 18, 1 Tim.
IV. 14. V. 22. 2 Tim. i. 6. Heh, vi. 2.

A School is established, for the most part,
in each distinct Hamlet of the Valleys. But
on the very interesting subject of Schools, you
shall hear a little more from me in the accom-
panying Letter.

Your's, my dear friend,

Truly and affectionately,
\ J. JL« J«

231
LETTEU THE FOURTH.

Pinerolo, 29th June, 1825.

My dear Friend,

In my former Letters, I have endeavoured
to give you a slight Sketch of the Origin and
Antiquity of the Waldensian Church, of
its Persecutions, and its Doctrine, 1 shall now
therefore proceed, according to my design, to
lay before you, so far as my information extends,
the State of Morals among the Vaudois, and
thefttest Means of rendering them Assistance.
May you, mv dear friend, be the means of ex-
citinoan interest in their behalf, and of inducnig
many persons in England to come forward
and open their hand wide for the relief of
our poor Christian brethren in the Valleys of
Piemont.

I have no hesitation in saying, that I think
them, even in their present circumstances, the
most moral people iu Europe. From this
qualification, you may infer, that a degeneracy,
and falling away have, to a certain degree, un-
happily taken place among them. But you shall
iudo-e for yourself, when 1 have described them

Q32

siicli as they have been, and such as they now
show themselves to be. The Comparison can
alone enable you to form a just Estimate of
their real character.

Tacit uSy who saw deeply into the mazes, and
corruption of the heart, has truly said, Pro~
prium humani generis odisse quem Icnseris*
Thus, the Persecutors of the sutlering Vaudois
have never ceased to calumniate their moral
character, and to express their hatred towards
them ; but of their aspersions it may be at
once affirmed, that they are utterly false and
wicked. We may go still further, and declare
with the respectable Jean Leger, that the Vau-
dois, before the eighteenth Century, have not
been excelled by any other people whatever
in zeal for the pure Word of God, and in cor-
responding holiness of life. Their Morals,
strictly speaking', were patriarchal. Dwelling*
in the seclusion of their native Valleys, and
being far removed from the contagion of popu-
lous towns, they appear to have been ignorant
of many vices, which reign in the world at
large. Of course, it is not, for an instant, to be
supposed, that they were not liable to sin and
error, like every individual, without exception,

233

of tho fallen race of man ; yet in vain shall wo
search their Annals to discover a single instance
of Crime, which made them amenable to the
Laws of their country. Thy anus, the Histo-
rian, in speaking of the State of Morals among
the Vaudois in the vale of Angrogne, assures
us, that the first lawsuit, on record, occurred
j in the sixteenth Century, and arose from the
following trivial circumstance. A peasant,
somewhat richer than his neighbours, was
desirous that his son should study the law,
I and, for this purpose, sent him t6 the Uni-
versity of Turin; when, being returned home,
the young coxcomb cited his neighbour into a
! court of justice, with the hope of obtaining
* compensation for a few cabbages, which a flock
of goats had been inadvertently allowed to
^at in his father's garden. In fact, the little
j differences, which existed among the Vaudois,
I were settled by friendly arbitration. The
« gi-eatest Harmony prevailed among them. In-
I cessantly persecuted as the Vaudois were,
j and accustomed, from their infancy, to sacri-
fices, and the severest privations, they felt
anxious not to bring* the smallest scandal upon
their body. To cultivate their barren fields in
peace, where the Providence of God had placed
v3

234

tliem, and to eat their breatl without molesta-
tion in the sweat of their brow, was the highest
degree of happiness to which they aspired.
Though they successively passed under tlie
dominion of the Dukes of Milan, the House of
Savoy, and the Court of France, at no time did
they show themselves disobedient to their earth-
ly Sovereigns; except when allegiance to an
higher Master, and their Christian consistency
of Principles were in question. Then indeed
Submission would have been sinful, and Re-
sistance became with them a paramount Duty.

But here, my dear friend, you will retort
upon me, and exclaim, "Is not this Picture
" overcharged ? you are surely drawn away
" by some enthusiastic feeling." Let then the
Testimony of Romanists, no less than of a Pro-
testant, who have written on the State of Mo-
rals among the Vaudois, be consulted. They
afford alike the best answer to the calumnies,
which have been uttered.

Viffneaiix, a Frenchman, who discharged
the office of Barbe, or Minister of the Gospel
in the Valleys of Piemont, during forty years,
towards the close of the fifteenth, and the

285

beginning of the sixteenth Century, bears an
unequivocal Testimony in favour of tlie Vau-
dois : he describes them, in his Memoires sur
la vie, les mceurs, et la religion des Vaudois
" as a faithful people, who lived an irreproach-
*' able life, and were the enemies of sin." And,
in speaking" directly of the Vaudois of his own
time, he adds, " We dwell peaceably in the
" Valleys of Piemont, in mutual harmony one
*' with another. Our moral condition, and
" habits are so far pleasing- to the members of
" the Roman church, that many of their great
" and rich families prefer taking men-servants,
** and women-servants, from our people, than
** their own ; they come from far to seek among
** us nurses for their children, declaring that
" they find them less unworthy of their con-
" fidence." Certain it is, that when the troops
of the Comte de la Trinite were encamped at
La Tour in 1560, the Romanists of that town
gent their wives and daughters, for security
against the violence of a brutal soldiery, to
the Vaudois, who had taken refuge on the
mountains.

c' A barbarous order emanated in the year
1572 from the Court of France, by which

236

Biragues, Governor of the Marqiiisate of
Saluzzo, was about to inflict summary ven-
g-ence on all the Vaudois under his jurisdiction;
when, on previously communicating" his inten-
tion to the principal laymen, and Ecclesiastics
of his council, the Archdeacon himself honestly,
and courageously, opposed the execution of it,
affirming, " That the King of France had re-
" ceived wrong" information ; since the poor
" inhabitants of the Valleys commanded respect
" for their virtues, and were faithful to their
** allegiance; that they lived peaceably with
" their neig-hbours, and that, in truth, there
" was no other reproach to make them, but
" that they did not belong to the church of
" Rome."

Girard, moreover, in the tenth book of Ms
History of France, asserts, " that no reason
** whatever had so forcibly operated to excite
*' the hatred of the Popes, and of several reign-
" ing Princes, ag'ainst the Vaudois, as the
" freedom, with which they had reproved their
" vices; more especially the dissolute conduct
" of the Priesthood. This" (he says) " is the
" real cause of the abhorrence, in which they

237

^* are held and for which they have been so
" mortally persecuted."

And William Paradin, in the second book
of his Annals of Burgundy, scruples not to
declare, " that the errors and vices, of which
" the Vaudois have been accused, are only
" malicious fictions ; they having committed
" no other fault than that of freely censuring-
" the vices of the Prelates."

If indeed we examine the Causes, which,
under the Providence of God, tended above all
others, to favour an extraordinary purity of
Morals among- the Vaudois, it may not be difli-
cult to trace them to their inviolable attach^
ment to the Gospel; to their strictnesst of
Ecclesiastical Discipline ; and to the freque?}t
PersecutionSy which they were called to endure.

• ,As, in point oi Doctrine y they only admitted
Trhat is clearly enforced in the Word of Goil
itself, so they endeavoured to practise, in their
moral Conduct and Deportment, the several
Duties, which it teaches both towards God, and
towards man.

,238

,f

So great was the Severity of their Disei^
pline, that the smallest outrages against decency
of behaviour brought down on the offender
a public Censure of reproof. It is recorded of
the wife of a certain Pastor, that, having been
present at a ball, which was given by some
Romanists, her neighbours, she was obliged to
submit in the open Church to an admonition i
of the Minister in the adjoining Parish. i

Nor is it to be doubted, but that tlie Perse->
crtiions, to which the Vaudoi« were, for many
ages, immediately exposed, tended materially
to Promote their Purity of Morals; since, in
order to prevent the evils, which threatened
them, they made every effort to appear exempt
even from the semblance of evil, in the eyes
of their jealous, and malignant Adversaries.

Such is represented to have been tJie State
of Morals among* the Vaudois before the
eighteenth Century, And highly satisfactory
would it be, my dear friend, for me to add,
that this is their State at present. But Truth
obliges me to own, that the resemblance un-
happily does not exist. Glacowo Brezzi^ in
his Histoire des Vavdois par tin Vaudois, had

239

bccasion, in the last Century, to deplore the
legeneracy of his countrymen. And there
low, perhaps, exists a still greater reason for
amentation. The Vaudois, it must be con-
ceded, do not possess, to so great a degree, the
virtues, which were cherished by their ances-
tors, and which eminently distinguished them
for the peculiar people of God. Their Religion,
and the profession of it are the same ; but their
attachment to the Gospel is less ardent : they
have not the same dread of giving offence.
Lawsuits, for instance, have multiplied at La
Tour, and in some Parishes of the Valley of
Luzerne,

But after every abatement, which a strict
regard to Truth compels me to make, I would,
on no account, be thought to underrate the
present moral character of the Vaudois, If
the Vaudois have degenerated, it is (I should
say) in reference to their own virtuous Ances-
tors ; for compared with other people, it might
be seen, that they are still equal, if they
do not surpass them. Not inferior to the Swiss
in the Protestant Cantons, they are certainly
more moral than our agricultural poor in Eng^
land, to whom they should be likened, \i they

240

be brought into comparison at all >vith any
class of our countrymen.

During" my residence in the Valleys of Pie-
mont, I can take upon myself to declare, that I
saw no instance of Drunkenness; nor was 1
offended by hearing- a single oath of Swearing
und Blasphemy. Having but lately quitted
France the absence of this last sin, in particular,
has been quite a relief to me. A Frenchman
swears, as if his impiety issued from the very
bottom of his heart, or the heart's core itself j
and his execrations come slowly grating along
his throat, and through his closed teeth, as if
lie deeply regretted getting rid of them. A
strong contrast this to his usually voluble, and
rapid mode of utterance !

I have reason also to believe, that from the
Ecclesiastical Discipline, which still remains in
the Church of the Vaudois, the sin of Unclean^
ness is much less common than among any
other European people. The very respecta-
ble Pastor of Pramol mentioned to me a case,
proving the extent to which he is even now
enabled to enforce the Censure of the Church
in his own Congregation. A woman about

241

thirty years of age, had inveigled a man
' younger than herself to form an illicit connec-
tion with her. But on the knowledge of the
circumstance coming to the Pastor's ears, he
summoned both the parties before him; and
having ascertained from the man, that it was
his intention to marry her, the marriage im-
mediately took place,— when both male and
female were excommunicated till after her con-
finement. They then were obliged to submit
to a public Confession of their sin, and were
restored to Church Communion.

And while I would bear this unfeigned
Testimony of respect to the Vaudois population
in general, I cannot properly withhold it from
my friends, the Pastors, It has certainly not
been my lot, at any time, to be acquainted with
men, more creditable in their habits of living,
and who are more correct in discharging the
important duties of the Christian Ministry.
Yet subdued as they are by oppression, and
crampt, in their exertions, by poverty ; with
scanty means, for the most part, of purchasing
books, and not having the privilege of resorting
to public Libraries; destitute of religious Insti-
tutions, and far removed from the collision and
w

242

excitement of them, — it is not to be supposed,
that any great degree of zeal, or any bright
exception to mediocrity of talent, among so
small a body of men, should be likely to exist.
Still however, for ability and learning, such
an Exception did appear in the late Moderator,
J, Rodolpht Peyran,

The subject of admiration is, that, as a body,
the Vaudois Pastors are what they are. Pro-
videntially, the hand of their God and Father
has been upon them. They have fought a
good fight ; they have kept the Faith ; the
excellency of the Power being not of man, but
of God.

M^hen we come maturely to weigh the con-
dition of the Vaudois, as a People^ it is to be
expected, that they should be less moral than
their forefathers. It is indeed sufficient to
know, that their Communication with fo-
reigners has been increased. A principal
cause of their degeneracy has doubtless ari-
sen from their Intercourse with the late Em-
pire of France. They, with every other tri-
butary State under Bonaparte, were liable to
the Conscription, and many of their young

243

men were incorporated among his troops. In
any circumstances, the dissoluteness of a mili-
tary life is the deadliest Evil of war; but the
moral danger in the French armies was pecu-
liarly fatal. It may not be too much to say,
that a very large proportion of the Officers
were professed Infidels. Hence, a young man,
who was seen reading his Bible, and who, in
the sobriety and moderation of his habits of
life, exhibited any traits of the Christian cha-
racter, immediately became a subject of ridi-
cule; and unless he actually proved to be
converted in heart and soul, he was soon forced
down to the level of ordinary licentiousness.
Now, it happens, that some of these soldiers of
Bonaparte have returned to their native Val-
leys, and have brought with them much con-
tagion. Others again (I rejoice to hear from
their Pastors) do not appear to have suffered
in their Morals, but are following the common
agricultural pursuits of the country in a quiet,
and even exemplary manner.

Yet though it be admitted, the inhabitants

of the Valleys of Piemont have, to a certain

extent, been lately demoralized, I may with

truth add, that the Evil has hitherto not made

w2

244

many ravag-es, and shall, by the Divine Bless-
ing', be materially lessened, if fit and suitable
remedies be applied.

But to tbis end, it is in vain to deny, that
the Vaudois are now in a condition to require
effectual assistance, A prudent direction should
be given to the kindly feeling", which this
small and interesting remnant of the ancient
Waldensian Church appears to have excited
among a large class of Protestants in various
countries of Europe. Many benevolent per-
sons are coming forward by their Subscrip-
tions in Switzerland, Germany, the Neth-
erlands, Holland, France, and England, to
found an Hospital at La Tour for the benefit
of the Vaudois in the three Valleys of Luzerne,
Perouse, and St. Martin ; nor does there seem
much doubt but that sufficient funds will be
raised for the Establishment.

But yielding all possible credit to the pro-
moters of such a plan for the benevolence of
their intention, I must at once declare, that I
greatly doubt, whether the Establishment of
this Hospital be the best means of affording
Assistance to the poor Vaudois under their pe-

245

culiar circumstances. Without taking' into ac-
count its Expence, which is estimated at
£4,000. Sterling, tlie locality of the Valleys
cannot, of itself, make the Hospital at La Tour
generally useful : it may aid the inhabitants of
Luzerne, but not those of Perouse, and St.
Martin. To put one, or two cases. How could
a patient suffering under a fever, or by a bro-
ken limb, be transported from the Parishes of
the two latter Valleys, over mountains, and the
roughest possible paths, at a distance, varying
from eight to nearly thirty miles ? If it be de-
termined to give medical aid to the Vaudois,
perhaps it might be more judicious to fix a
Dispensarif in some central part of each of the
three Valleys, which could be supported in
private houses at a trifling yearly charge, and
could administer relief where it should be re-
quired ; at La Tour, for instance, in the Val-
ley of Luzerne ; at St. Germain, for Prarustin,
and the Valley of Perouse ; and at JIacel, for
the Valley of St. Martin.

But should we not, I would ask, rather at-
tempt to strengthen the things, which remain
to the Vaudois oj' moral and spiritual growth?
should not our attention, at first, be directed
>v 3

216

more to their Souls than to their bodies ? Per-
mit me to say, that our Attention oiig-ht to be
directed principally to the following Objects;
namely, to ameliorate the Condition of the
Pastors, and to provide the Means for edu-^
eating the ichole Protestant Population of the
Valleys,

To effect the first of these desirable Objects,
representations should be made to our own
Government to restore, for the benefit of the
Vaudois Pastors, the Royal Bounty from
England, which was suspended by Mr. Pitt
in 1797, but which, till that time, had been
regularly voted in their behalf, as an annual
grant by Parliament, from the year 1690. It
is, I may add, only a small part of the Debt^
which is justly due to the Vaudois of Piemont.

I conceive it to be, in some measure, at the
option of a Nation, as of an Individual, to im-
part a benefit ; but once a gift is declared by the
donor to be applied to a particular purpose,
it becomes the property of the person or com-
munity, for whom it w as designed. Thus, under
the Protectorate of Cromwell, the Patron of
the Vaudois, it appears from the Statement iu

247

Sir George Morland'a History, that a general
Iv.gathering^ or Congregational Collection,
throughout all England and Wales, was made
I for the Protestants in the Valleys of Piemont,
I amounting to £38,241. 10s. 6d.,— the Pro-
lector himself subscribing £2000. : of this Sum,
£21.908. Os. 3d. were given in money, corn,
bedding, clothes, and other necessaries, between
June, 1655, and January, 1658; and a Balance
of £16,333. 10s. 3d. remained in the Treasurer's
hands, to be put out at interest on the death of
Cromwell. But of this Balance neither princi-
pal, nor interest, ever found its way into the
Valleys of Piemont. It was seized by Charles
the Second, on his Accession to the throne,
and lavished with his usual profligacy on his
own selfish and sensual debaucheries : he might
probably have poured it into the lap of the
Dutchess of Portsmouth. For this Balance —
not to mention the compound and accumulated
Interest — I cannot but think, that our own
Government are strictly responsible to the
Vaudois ; since good faith is, in no instance
whatever, to be broken, on a plea of detestable
Expediency, publicly or privately. Yet, if by-
some process of arithmetic, which, I confess,
my ordinary notions of a debtor's and creditor's

248

account are not able to compreliend, this Ba~
lance is at once to be wiped out by the politi-
cal sponge, surely it would be no very great act
of Liberality, on the part of our Government?
to restore to the Vaudois Pastors the Royal
Bounty, — a paltry sum of £266., which was
originally granted through the intercedence of
Queen Mary in 1690, and had been continued
for 107 years; when it Avas withholden in 1797,
because, from the events of the great revo-
lutionary war, the Valleys of Piemont had be-
come subject to France. Now, they are again
dependent on the throne of Sardinia.

Should the Royal Bounty be restored, — and
and it is highly probable, that a well authenti-
cated Memorial, addressed to our Secretary of
State for the Home Department, the Right
Hon^i^. Robert Peel, the steady and consistent
Friend of Protestants, might effect the mea-
sure,— the Pastors of the Valleys, in that case,
would become more easy in their circum-
stances; and their charities, and influence,
which are, at present, limited from necessity,
would be much extended among- their poor
neighbours. Nor are the above the only bene-
ficial Consequences likely to ensue. It is
meant by these virtuous men to establish, from

24^

tich an accession of funds, two neio Parishes:
ley would sepnYRte Maneille from its annexed
/hurch of Macel, and Prali from Rodoret ;
nd would fix a stated Minister of the Gospel
it all the four Villages. This (I can take upon
iiyself to say) is the arrangement, which has
een prospectively settled in the Vaudois Sy-
od. The sum of £100. a year will be disin-
erestediy relinquished by the thirteen Pastors
or the maintenance of their two ncAvIy-ap-
3ointed brethren at Macel and Rodoret; while
he remaining £166. shall be only appropriated
o the increase of their own slender annual sti-
pends, now amounting individually, on an
iverage, to £42. Yet with the yearly addition
bf £12. or £13. to each of their Incomes, the
thirteen Pastors will consider themselves in
comparative Affluence. May the hearts of our
Rulers be open to their Necessities, and their
Claims.

To proceed to the Consideration of the fit-
test Means for providing a suitable Education
for the w hole Vaudois Population.

The friends of the Vaudois should begin
wiih the Grammar School, already existing at

250

La Tour, from which the young Candidates fo;
the Pastoral Office are chosen to go to thei
Swiss Universities. For this School there is?
now but one Master, who has commonly undetj
his tuition forty boys of different ages, and de-l
grees of forwardness. So very inadequately is
he paid for his incessant labors, that he seldom
retains his situation more than a few years, —
his Salary, which is wholly derived from Hol-
land, not exceeding £33. per annum. Nor is
any house found him. It would be highly
advisable, in order to fix him in his Office, to
add £20. to his yearly Salary. By appoint-
ing an Usher, or Assistant, at an annual Salary
of £40., who should undertake the lower
Classes, the Head-Master might then be ena-
bled to devote his whole time and attention to
the older Boys. Here, would be a charge of
£6*0, a year.

To provide ge?ierally for the Education of
the Protestants in the Valleys, it might not be
required to form any new Schools for the Boys ;
as, in addition to the Jifteen primary, or CeU"
tral Day~Schools in the Villages, (kept the
whole year round, with the exception of Sun-
days, and the two Harvest-months, June and

251

ily,) there are already ninety-fonr other Day-
chools in the different Hamlets, open from
lie beginning- of November till the end of Fe-
riiary : the number of these last is thus large
1 consequence of the Population being very
•idely scattered over a mountainous, and
ug'ged country. In fact, many of the ham-
iets are surrounded, during the four months
»f AVinter, by deep «now ; so that the passage
rom one to another, amidst precipices and
avines, is not only attended with considerable
langer, but rendered nearly impracticable.
The Teachers of all the Schools, both in the
V illages and the Hamlets, are however wretch-
edly paid ; though to the Credit of the Dutch
Protestants^ be it remembered, the Incum-
brance falls at present entirely upon them. A
man receives for the care of a Central School
£0. a year ; and for that of a Winter, or Hamlet
School, only, on an average, a gold Napoleon, —
between sixteen and seventeen shillings of our
money ! Now, \i the sum of £4. a year were
added to the Salaries of the Masters of the
Jifteen Central Schools, and £2. to those of the
' Teachers of the ninety-four Winter Schools in
the Hamlets, the whole yearly charge would
I not exceed £248. Yet with such an Increase

252

of Salaries, all the Schools, both in the ViU
lages and Hamlets, might then he converted
into Sunday Schools throughout the whole year;
and the Masters, still thinking- themselves suf-
ficiently paid, would enter cheerfully on their
respective works of Instruction !

But highly desirable would it be to attach
to the Central School at La Tour, or at some
other principal place in one of the three Val-
leys, another most important Establishment;
I mean an Institution for the training of Re-"
gents and Schoolmasters, similar, though on a
smaller scale, to that of Beuggen, near Basle
in Switzerland ; or, rather to that at *Glay, in
the Department of the Doubs in France. At
Beug'gen, and at Glay, young men are not only
taught Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, but,
having learnt some useful trade, or handicraft,
are enabled to work as shoe-makers, tailors,
weavers, and carpenters. If it be borne in
mind, that the Regents, in the Valleys of Pie-
mont, perform part of the Church-Services, and
act also as Masters in the Primary, or Central
Schools of the Villages, it is scarcely needful

*See Appendix, No, 3.

253

to observe, that it is of the utmost moment they
should be qualified to diejcharge their important
I Duties creditably to themselves, and to the
benefit of those, with whom they are connected.
By knowing- a Trade themselves, they might
likewise be able better to support their Fami-
lies. The expence of Outfit for establishing"
the Regent's Institution I am not prepared, at
present, to state ; but that being- once incurred,
Ishould reckon the annual charge for its support
at £80. — on the supposition, that there be in
training, one year with another, ten Candidate!?,
for the Offices of Regents and Schoolmasters
in the different Villages and Hamlets of the
: Valleys; and that the Expence, as it is at
j Glai/f of each Candidate might be £8. Of
course, the Regents should be chosen from the
most promising young men.

Still howevei '^oes the Education of the
Vaudois Females remain unnoticed! And
favourable indeed are the results of moral and
religious Culture in Females to the well-being,
temporal and eternal, of a people! In point
of fact, very few Girls' Schools are now to be
found in the Valleys of Piemont, earnestly as
they are desired by the Pastors, who are them-
X

254

selves too poor to maintain them. By esta-
blishing in the\i\\ages^teen Central Schools,
for ten months of the year, at the rate of £7.
each ; and ninety-four smaller Schools, to
be open during* the four Winter-months in
the Hamlets, each at £2. lOs., the whole ex-
pence of them would but amount to £340. an-
nually. From the information, which I have
received from the Pastors, I can have no doubt
of competent Mistresses for these Schools being-
found in the Valleys, who could teach the
Children to read, and instruct them in needle-
work, knitting, and spinning. Now, if the
Girls do go to Schoool, they are mixed indis-
criminately with the Boys, and learn none of
those Works peculiar to their Sex. The Girls'
School should also be kept on Sundays through-
out the year.

Thus, my dear friend, for less than seven
hundred and thirty'pounds a year, might a
suitable Provision be made for educating the
Protestant Population of the Valleys of Pie-
mont, amounting to nearly twenty thousand
souls, divided, and widely separated as that
Population is! And yet how trifling is this
sum, when compared with the Importance of

255

the Object! May God incline the hearts of
my countrymen to come forward liberally, and
Tender their Brethren this most effectual Aid.
" He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth
*' unto the Lord : and look, what he layeth out,
** it shall be paid him again."

I have forborne to enter into particular De-
tails, as they are only dull subjects for a let-
ter, and maybe discussed in a more satisfactory
manner, if we shall again meet in England •
1 have also purposely refrained from mention-
ing any specific Plans of Education, either for
the Regent's Institution, or the Schools for
the Vaudois Population in general. These, I
think, should be left to the direction of the Ta^
hie, or Sub-Synod, — under whose control dl
the public Establishments, for moral and reli-
gious Culture, should be placed, and to whom
a Committee of our English Friends, appointed
to receive Subscriptions, might forward their
remittances. What these Friends should at-
tempt is simply — to open a Fund for the Edu^
cation of the Vaudois of Piemont, and to use
their best endeavours towards its Support,
The Pastors of the Valleys are intimately ac-
quainted, not only with the religious wants of
X 2

<156

their own people, but with the peculiar diffi-
culties, which may arise from the narrow spi-
rit of the Sardinian Government, and the con-
tinued interference of the Popish Priesthood.
Against these last they must be upon their
guard, and take such measures as Experience,
and Discretion may suggest. At the same time
I can have no hesitation in saying, that they
will not be unmindful of their Benefactors in
England, nor disinclined to carry into effect
every practicable Recommendation from them.
It is needless to observe, that Christian In^
struction, or a Knowledge of the Holy Scrip^
tures, ought to form the leading Object of
Education for any people whativer.

Believe me,

My dear friend.

Truly and affectionately your's,

J. L. J.

257

Pinerolo, SOth Jnue. Being tired of my se-
flentary employment of the last tbvee days,
I ao-ain departed this afternoon for Prarustin,
yv'nh the hope of seeing young Mr. Rostaing,
and having some further conversation with
him. Nor have I been disappointed. In my
way to Prarustin, and in one of the environs of
this city, I visited a Manufactory of Silk,—
the chief source of its w^ealth to Piemont.
The Manufactory is a large concern, employ-
ing, throughout the year, about forty men,
and one hundred women, besides double the
number of children. From their deplorable
appearance,! should fear, that no little mischief
is o-oing on among the two latter classes : hap-
pily, the winders make such a continual noise
and turmoil, they cannot, while they are at
work, by any possibility, hear each other speak.
Every thread (1 find) is spun twice; and when
two of them are twisted together, the silk is in a
fit state for bleaching and dying. Some of the silk
is however almost white, on coming immediate-
ly from the cod of the worm. About two-thirds
of the winders, or forty out oi^ sioctij, are turn-
ed, though imperfectly, by Steam. The men
x3

25S

earn twenty sous a day ; the women fifteen ;
and the children from ten to twelve.

On my arrival at Prarustin, Mr. Rostaing-
was out, visiting some of his sick parishioners,
but came back to his lodging in less than an
hour. Our conversation lasted from five till
seven o'clock in the evening, and referred, du-
ring the greater part of the time to the duties^
and responsibility of the ministerial Office.
He has undoubtedly read his Bible with at-
tention, and gives me clearly the idea of being
blessed with a devotional frame of mind. I
consider him quite sound in his opinions, hold-
ing the Truth, as it is in Christ Jesus.

St, Barthelemi contains fourteen hundred
Protestants, and Rocheplatte only four hun-
dred: in the former, are fifty Romanists; and
in the latter, thirty. There is a Central School
in the village of St. Barthelemi ; and four Win-
ter Schools in four of the hamlets of Prarus-
tin. A Regent's Thursday Service is held at
both of the Churches, which are plain, neat
buildings. That at Rocheplatte contains about
three hundred persons.

259

The Burying-ground at St. Barthelemi is
like many others in the Protestant Parislies, —
an open strip of Ground, To have it walled in,
Application must, of necessity, be made to the
Government at Turin; when the Minister of
the Interior would consult the Bishop of Pine-

i rolo, — and the Bishop of Pinerolo would ask the
opinion of the Popish Priest at St. Barthelemi, —
and then,?ind then, if neither of these last person-

I ages should see any just cause, or impediment
against the said Wall, or Walls, the Inclosure
might actually take place ! Such is the fa-
therly kindness and protection of a Papistical
Government to its Protestant Subjects! I re-
joice to find, that the Prussian Envoy, the

I Count Waldburg de Truchsess^ is the steady
friend of the Vaudois, and assists them, to the
utmost of his power, in all their difficulties
with the Government at Turin. May the new
British Envoy, Mr, Forster, feel e<jually in-
terested in their behalf. To the last Gentle-
man, who resided eight years at Turin in that
capacity, the poor Vaudois of Piemont had no
thanks to give ; whereas, they never speak of
the Count Waldburg de Truchsess, but m
terms of the highest respect and gratitude !

260

Tho Account, which Mr. Rostamg; made of
the Supply of the Holy Scriptures for his
Parishioners, would lead me again to conclude,
that though nearly all the Vaudois families
are now furnished with Copies of the New
Testament, certainly not more than one-third
of them can be said to possess the Bible.

Let me here observe, that it is to me a real
disappointment to have found the Schools dis-
persed at this season of the year, in which I
have paid my visit to the Valleys of Piemont;
since I had much wished to have made a per-
sonal Examination of them, and to have in-
spected their management. One palpable
Evil, (which 1 have before frequently remarked,
arising from a deficiency of funds to accomplish
a Separation, so much desired by the Pastors,)
is the indiscriminate Mixtv re in the Schools, of
Boys and Girls, Thus, to mention no other Ob-
jection to the present want of System and due
Arrangement, it is sufficient to know, that the
latter cannot be taught any works, appropriate
to their Sex. which contribute so materially to
the future comfort of families; as sewing*
knitting, spitining, &c.

261

I have however endeavoured to meet my
disappointment by getting knots of children
together, from time to time, in the Villages,
and hearing them read portions of the Holy
Scriptures : I did so to day at St. Barthelemi,
while I was waiting for the Pastor Rostaing;
and, according to my usual custom, questioned
my young scholars as to the meaning of parti-
cular passages. I may therefore be allowed to
say in those cases, which have fallen under my
own observation, that the progress of the Boys
and Girls in the knowledge of Divine Truth
is certainly inferior to that which is acquired
in those Day-Schools of English towns, where
the National System of Education has been
embraced ; and not quite equal to that in the
Sunday Village Schools of England when the
plan of the Rev. Dr. Bell is really followed.

Before I quitted St. Barthelemi, Mr. Rostaing
conducted me to a farm-house, in which was a
room, about fourteen feet square, filled with
thousands and thousands of Silk-worms, now
in the act of spinning. The room was divided,
on each of its four sides, regularly into small
compartments, a foot and half deep, and a foot
high, formed of broom, — against the twigs of

262

which the little animals fasten themselves,
spinning, and weaving the silk so completely
round their bodies as to be entirely envelopped
by it. This visit brought to my mind the
Hymn, which Mr. Bert had kindly given me,
and which is written by himself:—

HYMNE

pour la Recolte des Cocons, sur le
Chant du Pseaume viii.

Qu'il f st adroit cet Insecte admirable f
Dont le travail tonjours inimitable
Vient nous fournir un tissu precieux,
Fait pour flatter et les doigts et les yieux^

Le Tisserand meme le plus habile,
La Fileuse meme la plus agile,
Sont toujours, chacun dans son metier,
Fort au dessous de ce vers ouvrier.

Sans atelier, et sans secours externe,
Uniquement de sa substance interne
11 sait tirer, et conduire a sa fin,
Le vetement le plus beau, le plus fin.

Mais, 6 prodige, en croirons nous la chose?
L' Insecte meurt, et se metamorphose :

263,

Li ressuscite, et perce son tombeau
ill etre aile, pour vivre de nouveau.

^pprends, Chretien, par cet exemple insigne,
^ mediter sur iin siijet plus digne:
^e Dieu, qui fit 1' Insecte industrieux,
\ttend de toi ton hommage, et tes voeux.

Le Ver a soie, est encore un image
Du sort heureux, qui sera ton partage;
Car en tombeau tu ne resteras pas :
Christ a brise l' aigaillon des trepas.

Un jour aussi, tout rayonnant de gloire,
!Et sur la mort reraportant la victoire,
Tu revivras en Jesus, ton Sauveur:
Espere en Lui ; sois son Imitateur.

TRANSLATION.
ON THE SILK-WORM.

This little Insect how adroit!

Whose toil inimitable
Affords us, flattering touch and sight

A tissue beautiful.

264

E'en she who boasts to spin so fast,
E'en he who weaves so firm,

Each, in their trade, has ne'er surpast
This small laborious worm.

Without a w heel, and outward aid,

But from itself alone
It quickly spun, it quickly made

Clothing, the finest known.

But ah ! at last it meets its doom ;

Is changed ; in air it flew :
It rose again, it pierced the tomb,

A Moth to live anew.

Then, Christian, let the little worm
Teach better thoughts to thee ;

For he, who pleased this worm to form,
Expects Utility.

'Tis too the image of thy lot,
When thou resign'st thy breath ;

Thou shalt not rest beneath to rot.
For Jesus vanquished death.

The Day draws near ! with Glory clad.
Hell overcome, in heaven

265

Thou, in thy Saviour's presence glac],
Shalt live, thy sins forgiven !

Pinerolo, Xat Juhj. This morning I took a
lonff walk round Pinerolo and its immediate
neighbourhood. The country is itself remark-
ably pleasant and cheerful ; but the people,
for the most part, seem a listless, lounging,
idle race of beings. A manifest superiority
in intelligence exists, in favour of the Protest-
ants in the Valleys, above these unhappy Ro-
manists ! I am informed, that but few of the
latter are able to read, and that, with a small
number of exceptioi^is, the sum total of their

religious Knowledi , amourils to a formal re-

?. 'lid

petition of the d^d^, and Pater Noster,

/Another circumstance has been decidedly in-
jurious to them. Till the time of the French
Revolution, a large proportion of the Piemon-
tese, in the lower rank of life, depended prin-
cipally for their subsistence, not on their own
exertions, but, as was usual among the Papists,
on the alms and donations of the Convents,
Tliese Institutions have now been, nearly all of
them, suppressed ; yet much time is required,

266

under any Government, to form a people to
active, useful habits. But that of Piemont is
doing its utmost to encourage ignorance, and
seems to dread the idea of promoting indus-

try.

At one o'clock, I had a party, and gave a
very good dinner to such of the Vaudois Pas-
tors, as I was abJe to collect for the occasion.
Mr. Bert, the Moderator, had come in from La
Tour, to bid me farewell, — and 1 had before
invited Mr. Vin<^on, Mr. Monnet, Mr. Monastier
of Maneille, and Mr. Rostaing' Junior. Mr.
Monnet brought his Son. Thus we sat down
together, and seemed to enjoy ourselves great-
ly, T was delighted to show my friends this
little mark of regard and .|ttention ; though I
endeavoured, in the cou ^ of the afternoon,
to turn our meeting to some future advantage
of the Vaudois Church.

Mr. Bert continued with me some time
longer than his Brother Pastors, and then re-
turned the Paper, containing the Suggestions
which I had ventured to give him at La Tour,
together with his OAvn Remarks in writing-
upon them : he had consulted Mr. Meille ou

267

their purport. The Suggestions referred prin-
cipally to a better system of Education for
the Protestants of the Valleys in general, and
were offered, on the presumption, that the
Christian Instrucrion of the Vaudois, however
favourable under existing circumstances, is
still capable of much improvement. But as
the Substance of them is contained in my last
Letter to England, it would be needless for
me to enlarge upon their contents. I may tru-
ly say, that they received the cordial appro-
bation of my much respected friend, the Mo-
derator of the Vaudois Church.

Let me add, that the Pastor Vinson, when
he came to Pinerolo to-day, brought with him
his Copy of Jean Leger's History, and in-
sisted that I should keep it, as a token of his
regard. Dear man ! I should often think of
him, without such a Remembrance, highly as
I value it; but shall I live to reach England,
it is my intention to have the Folio well
bound, gilt, and lettered,— and to place it in a
prime part upon one of my own foriiU, God
bless him, and all the Vaudois of Piemont,
both the Pastors, and the People !
X 2

268

Turin, 2d July » A Contrast to my late mode
of living, and pursuits in the Valleys ! 1 quitted
Pinerolo this morning- at five o'clock, (for my
Exmirsion among the Yaudois is now, alas!
ended,) and, shortly after my arrival at Turin,
went to see the laqueata tecta of the King of
Sardinia's Palace. Beneath its vaulted and
gilded ceilings are splendid and costly furni-
ture, tapestry, marble columns, and Paintings!
The most valuable of these last appendages
had been put away in some of the upper
chambers of the Palace, during the first irrup-
tion of the French into Piemont after the com-
mencement of their Revolution ; and having
lain for several years c|uite neglected, all co-
vered with dust and cobwebs, were lately
brought again to light, and added to the other
pictures, which had been left, by way of show,
to ornament the Palace. At least, this is the
Mstoriette, which an attendant of the Court of
Turin, was pleased to tell me.

Of the Collection, I was most struck with
three Portraits by Vandyke; one, of Croni"
well; a second, of Charles the first of Eng-
land, a full-length figure, the perfect gentle-
man, and quite a contrast to the bold, hardy

1

269

Protector; and a thirti, of Victor Amadeus
tlio second, the Diike of Savoy. The last is
the finest, — a proud, haiiglity man, on a rear-
ino-, white war-liorse, witJi a flowino' mane and
tail ! If 1 am not mistaken, there is a similar
Portrait of Charles the first by Vandyke, in
the royal Collection of Paintings in England,
which was exhibited some four or five years
ago in the British Gallery at Pall-mall.

In passing- through the suite of show-rooms,
my conductor pointed out to me the closet of
the present King, Charles Felix, in which he
performs his private devotions. It is beauti-
fully fitted up. A small highly-wrought ivory
Crucifix is suspemled over the table ! I gently
closed the door, and, *' spite of the image and the
silver shrine," knelt down ; when, I trust, with
no idolatrous feeling in my mind, I offered up
to the throne of Mercy a short, but sincere
Prayer, for the poor, persecuted Vaudois ! that
God, for the sake of his beloved Son, Christ
Jesus, would graciously touch the hearts of
their Rulers, and make them their nursinr/
J at hers !

This Evening, I have been to the Ca^)uchin
Y 3

270

Convent, at the opposite side of the Po to
Turin, which is situated on the hill, near the
Queen's villa, where I listened to the Night-
ingales last Sunday three weeks. It was the
hour of Vespers when I arrived ; and the Friars,
about fifty of them in number, were all in the
chapel.

In the course of the morning, I had entered
a church for a few minutes, and had again be-
held that grossest and most appalling- of all
the delusions of the Romanists, Transubsfan-
tiation itself not excepted ; when on the ting-
ling of a small silver bell, at the elevation of
the host by the priest above the altar, the Sa^
crijice of the Mass is supposed to take place,
— a Sacrifice, perhaps repeated not less than
one hundred times every day in the City of
Turin alone ! TJie letter killeth, but the spirit
€jiveth life. In the present instance however,
both the letter and the spirit of Holy Scrip-
ture are most decidedly against the Roman-
ists, John III. 14 — 16. comp. Heh, i. 3. vii.
27, IX, 12, 26.

As I paced, this evening, through the stone
cloisters of the Convent with the lay-brother.

271

ukI Iieard tho rlmunting of the clioir; hut
more especially, when I turned aside the cur-
tain at the entrance of the chapel, and saw the
devotees, their contortions, their incessant
bendings, and their risings, my mind reverted,
as it were, for relief, to the simple Christian
Services of the poor Vaudois. I have now,
thank God! become personally acquainted
with the descendants of those holy Men, who
Avere the very first Heralds to proclaim the
church of Rome to be the apocalyptic BABY-
LON, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMLNATIONS OF THE EARTH.

GOD LS A SPIRIT : AND THEY THAT
WORSHIP HIM, MUST WORSHIP HLM
IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

272
PRAYER.

lie o-lorifiedjOGod the Father of our Lortl
Jesus Christ, be thou glorified on all the earth.
Cast out errors and corruptions from the
Church; heal divisions; and restrain the spirit
of pride, and persecution, among the Kings
and Potentates of this world.

Vouchsafe to look with an eye of pity on a
World, that Jieth in wickedness; and grant
that the throne of Christ may be established,
where Satan now reigneth. Convert idol-shep-
herds, and change them into Pastors after thine
own heart. Sanctify the labors of all, even the
lowest of thy worshippers, who, in any way, are
attempting' to recover sinners to the knowledge
of Christ's blessed Gospel. Assist and guide
thy ministering' servants, and make them wise
to win souls. Add to their number continually.
O send out thy Light and thy Truth ; and sub-
due all people, and nations, and languages, to
the Obedience of Faith.

Build up, O God and heavenly Father, thy
Church, thy Holy Catholic Church, and cause
it to flourish exceedingly. Let not the gates

273

of hell prevail against it, nor permit the rod of
the wicked to rest upon the lot of the rig-Iite-
ous. O let thy Word run and he glorified
nnto the ends of the Earth, from the North unto
the South, and from the East unto the West.

Comfort such as are afflicted in mind, body,
or estate. Especially be pleased to strength-
en the still suffering Vaudois, the Witnesses
clothed in sackcloth, under their several trials.
And should their earthly rulers not prove kind,
and nursing fathers to them, graciously dispose
the hearts of the British nation, and the hearts
of thine own People in every land, freely to
communicate to tiieir relief and consolation,
according to the ability, and the means, which
thou, in mercy, hast bestowed upon them.

Hear, O Lord God, these weak and imper-
fect petitions, through the merits of thine
Only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; to whom,
with Thee, O Father, and Thee, O Holy
Ghost, — unto the Sacred Three in the One un-
divided, everlasting Godhead, be all honor
and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

274
APPENDIX.

No. 1.

The following is a List of the M. S. S. in the
public Library at Geneva, relating* to the
History and Doctrine of the Waldensian
Church, as they are numbered, and marked,
in the Cataloyne raisonne of Mr, Jean
Senebier : —

207. La Nob fa Le'igon ; an Octavo Volume
in Vellum. Mr. Senebier says, "On donne ce
" nom a ce Volume, paroequ' il renferme 1'
" ouvrage, qui porta ce titre.'* In the Volume
are found —

^71 E deposition of Solomon's Sony,
The Poems, intitled —
La Barca.
Le JSTovvel Sermon,
lua J^obla Leigon,
Lo Paire Eternel,
Le JS^onvel Consort,
Li Dispersi del Mondo ei delta
Morte, et de li quatre semens de Penitenza,

572

Besides the works, above mentioned, there
are bound up in the same Volume two short
Treatises; one is, An Abridgment of the His-
tori/ of the Church till the Coming of Jesus
Christ ; the other, An Antidote to the Per-
versions oj* the church of Rome,

All these M. S. S. written in the ancient
Vaudois Dialect, are very clean, and well pre-
served: they appeared to me (juite perfect.
Respecting- La Xohla Lelgon, it is observed
by Mr. Senebier, *' Je crois ce M. S. du xii"'^.
^Siecle; 1' ecriture et le langage confirment
" cette opinion."

208. Coniroverses Vaudoises avec V Eglise
Itomaine ; an Octavo Volume on Paper, con-
taining Treatises on the following Subjects ;
iiamely —

The Articles of Belief

The Seven Sacraments,

The Commandments,

Purgatory,

The Invocation of Saints^

False Penitence,

The Apostacy,

276

" Ce M. S. est du xtv'"p. Siecle, et en patois
Vaudois." Jean Senebier,

209. Les Conseils des Barhets, 8yo. on
Paper.

" Ce M.S. incomplet renferme divers mor-
*' ceaiix de Tlieologie, et de Morale, en patois
*' Yaudois." Joan Senebier, He (J. S.) is of
opinion, tliat the M. S. was written in tbe fif-
teenth Century.

In addition to these M. S. S. wliich I exam-
ined, there is another Work, mentioned in the
Cataloffue raismme, but which 1 did not see,
—No. 88, "Memoires sur les affaires du Pie-
*' mont de 1551 a 15G0, folio ;" with still two
more, not specified in the printed Catalog-ue,
but on a leaf, in writing*, affixed to it, — nnme-
ly. Memoirs of the noble J'awily of Saluzzo,
and a short Liturr/y in the Vaudois Dialect :
this last is a small Octavo, on Vellum, bound
in crimson Velvet* I saw it, and thought it
<|uiie complete.

277
APPENDIX.

No. II.

PETITION ET GRIEFS DES VAUDOIS.

Art. I. Qu'il leur soit accorde une entiere
iiberte pour la celebration de leur culte, et que
ies lois leur garantissent la meuie protection
qu'aux autres sujets du roi.

Art. II. Que leur religion ne soit plus un
empechement a ce qu'ils occupent des places
dans Tadministration civile et dans I'armee, et
a ce qu'ils puissent obtenir de ravancement
comme Ies autres sujets du roi.

Art. III. Qu'il leur soit permis de garder
Ies terres qu'ils ont acquises au-dela des limites
fixees par Ies edits, et que la faculte d'acquerir
iibrement leur soit accordee.

Art. IV. Qa'il leur soit pt^rmis des' etab ir
dans Ies etats du roi, partout ou il leur plaira
de se fixer.

Art. V. Que I'existence des pasteurs soit
z

278

garantie par la continuation de» traitemens dont
ils jouissaient sous I'ancien gouvernmcnt, qui
leur avaitalloue un traitement annuel d'environ
mille francs.

Art. VI. Qu'il leur soit permis d'utiliser
leur eglise de St-Jean,batieau-deIa des limites,
d'en construire de nouvelles, ainsi que des
ecoles, partout oii besoin sera ; et qu'il soit
perrais au pasteur de resider dans la paroisse
de St.-Jean.

Art. VII. Qu'il leur soit permis de se pro-
curer les livres qui sont necessaires pour le
service de leurs eglises, soit en les faisant im-
primer dans les etats du roi, soit en les faisant
renir de I'etranger.

Art. VIII. Qu'il soit permis aux jeunes
gens vaudois, de la religion reforniee,de pren-
dre I'etat de medecin, de pharmacien, de chi-
rurgicn, d'avocat et de notaire.

Art. IX. Que dans la formation des conseils
municipauXjOn ait egard dans chaque commune
a la proportion des habitans catboliques et
refonnes, et que des etrangers ou des catboli-

279

que* ne soient plus places dans les villages
protestans et aux frais des protestans.

Art. X. Qu'il leur soit permis d'entourer
leurs cimetieres de murs^ de reparer ou de batir
des edifices soit pour le culte, soit pour Tiii-
struction scolaire.

Art. XI. Que les en fans au-dessous de
quinze ans ne puissent plus etre contraints,
sous quelque pretexte que ce soit, de changer
de religion.

Art. XII. Qu'ils ne soient plus obliges de
celebrer toutes les fetes marquees dans I'al-
manach catbolique.

Art. XIII. ET DERNIER. Qu'il leur soit ac-
corde de jouir en tout des menies droits et pri-
vileges que les sujets catholiques de sa ma-
jestie le roi de Sardaigne, ainsi qu'ils en
jouissaient avant que sa inajeste le roi de Sar-
daigne n'eut ete retabli sur le trone de ses
peres. lis demandent enfin le statu quo du
mois de Janvier 1813.

z2

280
APPENDIX.

No. II r.

EXTRACT FROM THE FIRST REPORT

de r Institut etabli a Glay, Dept. du DouhSy
destine a former des Regens pour des Pa^
Toisses paiwres, et a elever des Enfons
panares,

II sera peut-etre interessant pour nos amis,
que nous entiions dans quelques details, con-
cernant les eleves regens et les enfans de V
Institut, et que nous leur fassions connoitre
le soccupations et les metiers introduits jusqu'-
ici dans la maison.

La journee commence et finit par une heure
d'^dification, dans laquelle on fait la lecture et
une explication familiere de la bible. On se
sert de Tabr^ge de Risler pour I'explication
de Tancien testament. Les eleves regens sont
occupes toute la matinee a recevoir des le9ons
et I'apres-midi a travailler de leurs metiers,
Les enfans re^oivent leurs le9ons I'apres-midi,
et sont occupes le matin a des ouvrages en
paille, comme nattes, cliapeaux &c. Deux de

281

BOS eleres regens sont de la paroisse de Glay,
I'uu tisserand et Tautre apprenti cordonnier>
deux autres de la paroisse de Blamont, voisine
de celle de Glay, Tun menuisier et I'autre sa-
botier; un cinquieme, des environs de Mou-
tiers, Canton de Benie, apprenti menuisier?
un sixieme, apprenti tisserand, est du Canton
de Neuchatel, et a ete envoye par une danie
bienfaisante de cette ville, qui paye pour lui
la contribution annuelle de fr. 200 — fix^e dans
notre prospectus; un septieme, tailleur, est du
Canton de Vaud, et un huiteme, apprenti me-
nuisier, des Valines du Piemont. Ce dernier
nous a et^ envoy^ de ces Valines avec un jeune
gar9on qui est entre dans classe des enfans.

FLNIS.

Richard Woodward, Printer, Weymouth.

13694YB 16J

12-12-02 321B0 MS

Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries

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