Waldensian Researchers
Waldensian Researchers
Waldensian Researchers
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WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES
DURING A
SECOND VISIT
TO THE
VAUDOIS OF PIEMONT.
WITH AN
WALDENSIAN CHURCH,
AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE COMPACTS WITH THE ANCIENT PRINCES OF PIEMONT,
AND THE TREATIES BETWEEN THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT AND THE
HOUSE OF SAVOY, IN VIRTUE OF WHICH THIS SOLE RELIC OF
THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH IN ITALY HAS CONTINUED
TO ASSERT ITS RELIGIOUS INDEPENDENCE.
BY
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR C. J. G. 8: F. RIVINGTON,
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD,
183L
DATE
:
BX
LONDON
GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,
ST. John's square.
ADVERTISEMENT.
become
a 2
IV ADVERTISEMENT.
College, Durham,
Feb. 14, 18^1.
—
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY
PAGE
Enquiry into the Antiquity and Turity of the Waldensian
Church 1
SECTION I.
SECTION II.
SECTION 111.
SECTION IV.
CHAPTER I.
— Amiens— Paris—
Objects of my Journey. Route by Calais Jiu-a
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
The Office of Pasteur-Chapelain to the Protestant Ambassadors
at Turin. Silk- worms. Tirata. San Giovanni. Angrogna 24/
CHAPTER V.
Excursion to Tagliaretta, and an attempt to explore the Cavern
of Castelluzzo 281
CHAPTER VI.
The Hospital. The Grammar School 306
CHAPTER VII.
Villar and its hamlets. Hamlet Readers. Gunpowder plot at
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE
CHAPTER IX.
The new Church of :San Giovanni. Restraints imposed at the
CHAPTER X.
Deliberations on the Restoration of some of the ancient Insti-
CHAPTER XI.
Excursion to the Upper Valleys. The Col Julien. Alps and
Alpine Productions. Tlie Germanasca. Prali. Anecdote.
Rodoretto. Massel. The Balsi. Maneglia. Perero. Villa-
CHAPTER Xn.
Proposals to the Vaudois Pastors and Officers of the Table for
42.')
the establishment of a College in the Valleys
CHAPTER XHI.
Traits of Character. Pra del Tor, and the ancient College of
the Vaudois 43.'>
CHAPTER XIV.
Journey to Val Queiras, and Val Frassyniere. Felix Neff. The
passes of the Col de la Croix. The Bergerie du Pra. The
Chamois Hunter. Preaching on the IMountains. San Veran.
Arvieux. Dormilleuse 446
CHAPTER XV.
Return to Piemont by Briancon and the Pass of Mont Genevre.
Cesane. The Valley of Pragela. The Perfidy of Louis XIV.
and Victor Amadee in the extermination of the Waldenses of
Val Pragela. The Col Albergian. Fenestrelle. M. Coucourde.
Bartholomew Coucourde, and anecdotes of the late Moderator
Peyrani 4/1
Vlll CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XVI.
Fenestrelle. Perosa. Pomaretto. The Grave and Epitaph of
Peyrani. Second Visit to the Valley of San Martino. Pont de
la Tour, and an attempt there at assassination. San Germano.
Memorials of English buried there. Roccapiatta. Prarus-
tino. Return to la Torre. Reflections upon the present and
past condition of the Waldensian Church in France and Italy 490
CHAPTER XVII.
Second attempt to explore the Cavern of Castelluzzo 508
CHAFFER XVIII.
Departure from the Valleys. Appointment of the Suffragan
Pastors of Massel and Rodoret. Influence of the Polignac
Administration felt in the Valleys. Vaudois tribute to their
English benefactors during the French domination. General
observations as to the Religious Spirit which prevails among
the Vaudois. Establishment of the Vaudois College 517
CHAPTER XIX.
The Treaties by which Personal and Religious Rights ought to
ERRATA.
- —
Page 155, line 15
16G,
240,
24,
and
1 9, /or Nadsmith read Nasmith.
2 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
*
Apostolical, in Tertullian's sense of the word. " Nascentes
ex matricibus apostolicis cleputantur ut soboles apostolicarum
ecclesiarum." Tertul. de Prf3es.
K 2
4 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
'
Claude Seyssel.
6 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
less than " Men of the valleys ;" and as the val-
^ The Jesuit Gretser, for example, has taken this liberty with
Waldenses. " With the dawn of History,'' says he, " we dis-
cover some simple Christians in the valleys of the Alps, where
they still exist under the ancient name of Vaudois, who, by the
light of the New Testament saw the extraordinary contrast be-
tween the purity of primitive times, and the vices of the gorgeous
and imperial hierarchy which surrounded them. They were not
so much distinguished from others by opinions, as by the pursuit
of a more innocent and severe life." History of England, by
the Right Hon. Sir J. Mackintosh, in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclo-
^ " As for the Waldenses, give me leave to call them the very
seed of the Primitive and pure Christian Church, being those
who have been so upheld by the wonderful providence of God,
that neither those numberless storms and tempests, whereby the
^'
Soon after the bishops of Rome had secured
the obedience of the Italian clergy, (writes Dr.
p. 28. *'
Fixed their abode!" The Albigenses were natives, I
origin from the Gauls, who were first converted in that region.
The Albigenses did not come to reform the Romanists, but the
Romanists intruded upon the Alb'genses. Again :
" In con-
Some Vaudois might then have crossed the frontiers, but was
not the reluctance which the Spaniards displayed in receiving
the Roman Liturgy,' when, as Dr. M'Crie observes, " the inno-
vation was warmly opposed by the clergy, nobility, and people
at large," (p. 24.) proof enough that this hostility to Rome was
of native growth in Spain ? Dr. M^Crie is too well read in
the more to be regretted, that he did not connect the links of the
primitive and reformed opinions. So divided are authors upon
subjects of this kind, that Mariana has recorded, that a man of
great note in his day maintained, that the Albigenses did not
go into Spain from France, but from Spain into France. See
Mariana Fref. in Lucam Tudensem. Apud Bib. Patr. tom. 4.
velled for information, and who had studied divinity under the
province.
14 WALDENSTAN RESEARCHES.
*
Additions a I'Histoire Generale, r2mo. pp. 57. 71.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 15
have had to encounter in sifting truth from error, and the diffi-
held in 1 1 19 ; more than forty years before Waldo was heard of.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 17
'
It would be going out of my present course to trace the
Albigenses to the aera of the first conversion of Gaul, but I shall
C
:
18 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
* Mr. Sharon Turner has thus summed up his observations on the massacre
of St. Bartholomew (Reign of Elizabeth, p. 333. chap. 30.) — " From the pre-
ceding facts, it appears that the chief authors of the first part of these mas-
sacres were the Duke D'Anjou, afterwards Henry III. and the Duke de
Guise." The very scarce volume from which I transcribe the lines above, was
dedicated to Henry de Valois, Duke D'Anjou in 1568, four years before the
massacre ; and in the Epistle Dedicatory, its reverend author strongly recom-
mends the Prince to imitate the religious zeal of St. Dominic and his disciples,
beast, " to whom it was given to make war with the saints and
c 2
—
20 WALDENSTAN RESEARCHES.
are called Vaudois, and have often been confounded with the
Protestant natives of the Vaux, Valle, or Valleys of Piemont,
in Italy, also called Vaudois.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 21
'
Gibbon, Vol. V. p. 520.
22 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
bius.
—
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 23
^
Du Plessis quotes Matthew Paris in a very different sense,
and speaks of the Albigensian and French Reformers making
proselytes of the Bulgarians. " Matthew Paris saith further,
page 219,
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 25
2
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 27
that '^
about the year 1027, this wild heresy was
brought into Gaul by a certain woman who came
out of Italy \" Nothing can be more vague than
this kind of evidence, but taking the period here
assigned for the arrival of the Paulician Reformers,
between 1000 and 1027, we will set against it the
'
Ibid. p. 83.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 29
^
History of England during the Middle Ages, Vol. V. book 7.
chap. 3. 3d edition.
80 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
1 Ibid. p. 118.
^ For proof that Europe did not want Arabian instruction to
rouse her against Romish pride, see Leger's Account of the Pro-
test of ItaUan Bishops against the Tyranny of Rome, 9th Century,
p. 137.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 31
'
It is a singular proof of carelessness in Mosheim that he
has spoken of the Waldenses as a new sect that arose in the
12th century, in his notice of the origin of the Waldenses, vol. 3.
p. 120.
D
84 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
p. 866—895.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 35
'
History of England during the Middle Ages, vol. 5. p. 123.
- Ibid. p. 126.
1)2
36 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
'
History of England during the Middle Ages, p. 127. in a
^
History of En'^land during the Middle Ages, p. 134.
2 Ibid. p. 137.
38 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 39
SECTION I.
^
More of this valuable record hereafter. See page 132.
D 4
40 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
of time.
Robert Olivetan, a native of the valleys, who
translated the Bible into French in 1535, ad-
dressed his book to the Vaudois Church in these
terms. " It is to thee I present and dedicate this
precious treasure, in the name of friends and
brethren, who ever since they were blessed and
enriched therewith by the apostles and ambassa-
dors of Christ, have still enjoyed and possessed
the same." Morland, p. 17.
A petition presented to Philibert Emanuel,
duke of Savoy, and prince of Piemont, by the
Waldenses, in 1559, contained the following as-
sertion ^
:
''
We likewise beseech your royal high-
ness to consider, that this religion we profess,
'
Morland, p. 228.
;
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 43
^
Bib. Patr. torn. 13. p. 299.
^ It is singular that the very term "jam dudum," which a
pope in 1487 applied to the prevalence of non-conformity with
Rome, in Piemont, had been previously applied to the existence
of a similar heresy in France by pope Alexander the 3d., so long
back as 1167, in the council of Tours, " damnanda haeresis
^ Leger, d. pp. 149. 169. ' Ibid. pp. 15. 144. 173.
^ Ibid. pp. 15. 171. ' Ibid. p. 15.
' Ibid. pp. 15. 171.
—
VVALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 47
SECTION II.
*
Travellers from Milan would pursue their route through
Turin, and the valleys of Perosa and Pragela, and over Mount
Genevre. Those from Rome would take the same course, or
that of the Maritime Alps. The latter would conduct them
through Provence and Dauphine, where a branch of the Walden-
sian Church flourished till the reicrn of Louis XIV.
E
.
50 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 51
E 2
;
52 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
in the early times to refer to nothing more than the rank or sta-
tion of dignity, not the power of jurisdiction, which was assumed
upon different occasions ; and this depended upon the rank of
episcopal cities in the scale of nations and provinces. Hence,
when it was referred to the Council of Turin in 397, to decide
upon the primacy between the Bishops of Aries and Vienne, the
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 53
resolution ran thus. Let him take the rank whose city is the
metropolis of the province. " Qui ex eis adprobaverit suam
civitatem esse metropolim, is totius provincioe honorem primatus
obtineat." See Sismondi Gallise Concilia, tom. i. p. 28.
The primacy of the Bishop of Rome arose from his connexion
with the capital of the empire, and it was willingly and quietly
conceded. When the seat of empire was transferred to Con-
stantinople, the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople were de-
clared to be equal ; and soon afterwards began the controversies
as to priority in rank, which ended in that assumption of supreme
jurisdiction, which has divided Christendom.
54 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^
Fleury, Liv. 18.
^ See Sismondi Galliae Concilia, torn. i. p. 27.
^ Ammian. Marcel, lib. xv.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 55
'
There was another and a nearer road from Lyons to Milan
over the Graian Alps, or Little St. Bernard, and by the Val
d'Aoste; but, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, this does not
seem to have been so generally used, at the period under discus-
sion, as that over the Cottian Alps. — '' Media, compendiaria,
magisque Celebris," is the observation of that author, lib. xv.
56 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
into dilapidation on the Italian side, and it has there become in-
convenient for carriages, but persons on horseback would find it
a much nearer and more picturesque route from Lyons and Gre-
WALUENSIAN RESEARCHES. 57
the kings of Arragon should suffer any but monks of the monas-
tery of St. John to be elected bishops of Arragon ! ! ! Concil. Lab,
9. p. 1174.
Labbseus says, that Hugo, the pope's legate, succeeded in ob-
taining a repeal of the ancient laws of Catalonia, in 1064 ; but
could not prevail upon the Catalans to abolish the use of the
Gothic Liturgy. Concil. 9. p. 1180. Mariana, on the contrary,
Hist. lib. 9. relates that this legate was more fortunate in the
year 1068, and that the Gothic service was then superseded by
the Romish rites.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 61
c. 19. 31.)
embraced.
If the cross was planted among our Subalpines in
either of the four first centuries, here, if any where,
as it was originally set up, so it was likely to re-
main. To the refinements of the great capitals,
in the eastern and western empire, and to the in-
clination of the carnal mind for the gorgeous and
attractive ceremonies of pagan worship, to the
philosophy of the Greeks, to the subtle disqui-
sitions of the schoolmen, and the angry conflicts
own lordships, and not always there, it is easy to infer that epis-
copacy in Piemont wa,s not materially injurious to the liberties
F
66 WAU)ENSIAN RESEARCHES.
*
All authors agree in opinion, that Julius Csesar, in his inva-
sion of Gaul, crossed the Alps between Mount Cenis and Mount
Viso. May not the Col St. Julien of the Vaudois have taken
its name from the Roman general ?
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 67
glens.
Every mountain country of the same descrip-
tion is equally formidable to pursuers, and fa-
vourable to the pursued. There is a branch of the
Waldensian Church yet existing on the French
side of the Alps in Val Frassini6re, which baffled
all the attempts of the government under Louis
XIV. and Louis XV. to reduce it to conformity.
In the few months, which are not winter, the royal
troops ravaged the main village and hamlets, and
chased the natives to the rocks and glaciers, with-
out being able to exterminate them. The return
of snow and cold obliged the assailants to return,
the inhabitants re-took possession of their soil, re-
*
The Protestant cause is indebted to the Rev. Thomas Sims,
one of the most disinterested, well-judging, and consistent friends
the Vaudois ever had, for collecting and publishing the letters of
Peyran, late Moderator of the Vaudois, in a volume, entitled
** Historical Defence of the Vaudois or Waldenses, by Jean Ro-
dolphe Peyran." The arguments and chain of historical evidence
contained in this work are a very tower of strength. I gladly
72 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^'
Non e stato pero possibile di sradicarla affatto,
massime nelle valli del nostro Dominio, dove siamo
stati astretti tolerarli^."
' See " Raccolta de gl* editti et altre provisioni dell' Altezze
Realj delli Serenissimi Duchi di Sauoia, di tempo in tempo
promulgate sopra gl' occorrenti delle valli di Lucerna, Perosa e
*
Muratori torn. xi. Praefat. in Chron. Ast. and torn, xxiii.
*
A work published in 1682, under the title, " Theatrum
Statuum Regiae Celsitudinis Sabaudise Ducis," states that treaties
400 years old, secured personal and religious freedom to the
Vaudois.
!
76 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
'
Raccolta degP Editti. p. 18. 2 n^itj. p, sO.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. W
From these inferential arguments in support of
the antiquity of the Waldenses, I proceed to notice
the direct testimony of History in favour of my
hypothesis.
SECTION III.
^
Leger, Histoire des Eglises Vaudoises. Liv. i. cap. 4.
2
80 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^
4 -v^
5 N
31
FaJ ^ -^
^1
I"
^ !^ =^
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 81
G
82 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^
While Claude was lifting up his voice in his diocese of Tuiin
against image- worship, Agobardus was doing the same in his
Baluzio. The primitive Churches east and west of the Alps must
have been under one or other of these Bishops.
G 2
—
84 WALDENSTAN RESEARCHES.
*
Mr. Sharon Turner has given a faithful account of this abo-
minable festival in his History of England during the Middle
Ages, vol. V. book vii. ch. ii. He cites as his authority Du
Cange, Gloss, ii. 402 ; and Millin's account of it from the
Missal, composed by an Archbishop of Sens, who died in 1222,
The enlarged Paris edition of Du Gauge's Glossary, 1733, re-
lates, at some length, that after the mass, which w^s celebrated
at this festival, the priest, instead of exclaiming, " Ite, missa est,"
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 85
86 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^
Spicilegium Dacherii, vol. viii. p. 1 10, 1 li.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 87
*
See Oper. Dam. p. 5QQ,
^ Spicilegium Dacherii, vol. vii. p. 455. ^ Ibid. p. 493
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 89
was Rome.
at The passage to which I allude
contains some obscurities ; and it may be thought
a little too bold to assert positively, that the
country, of which Rodolphe made mention, was
that of the Vaudois of Piemont, but the ad-
vocates of the Papal system are welcome to the
objections which may arise out of this difficulty.
^
The whole of the passage, which is exceedingly ambiguous,
except as to the one fact of a whole region in Italy being polluted
by inveterate heresy, lies within the compass of a few lines: —
**
Cumque vigilans nocte aliquando jaceret, et die in Ecclesiis
2
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 91
92 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
is this. ''
There is a sect which calls itself after
^
Bernard, Sernio suj). Cant. (yQ.
—
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 93
^
Although the public authorities were thus sparing in the
terms which they applied to the Vaudois, in the acts and ordi-
nances of the principality, yet Romish writers and controver-
sialists have not refrained from loading them with every appel-
lation from the vocabulary of heresy. I consider this to be ano-
tores."
'
Concil. Lab. torn. 10. p. 1737.
* Bib. Patr. torn. 13. p. 230.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 97
•
See Con. Lam. torn. 10. p. 1410.
H
98 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
veral parts of the world V' "to devise the best means
of putting it down ^ ?" In the present age, with all
^
Bib. patr. torn. 4. Parisiis, 1624. p. 575, 581.
2 Ibid. p. 693. ' Ibid. p. 694.
* Ibid. p. 703.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 103
* The heads of the three first chapters stand thus. I. " Con-
tra hoc quod dicunt non esse obediendum summo Pontifici aliisve
has not one syllable about the Paulicians of Mosheim and Gib-
bon. ^ Ibid. p. 1168.
106 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
which monkish writers are put to make out their case, and to
blacken the reputation of all such as refuse " the mark of the
beast." **
Waldenses" is synonymous with Gretser for the vilest
tends that they were so called, not from their country, but by
way of presage and foreknowledge of their obstinate unbelief,
" they obtained their appellation, and were called Vallenses by
Haereticos :" such is the title of the book by its editor, Gretser.
'*
Opusculum de Haereticis," was the original title. Bib. Patr.
torn. xiii. p. 298.
108 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
and hypocrisy.
But the mighty power of truth prevailed, in de-
fiance of Reiner's prejudices ; and in the inci-
dental relations which stole from him, we find tes-
€C
I, the friar Reiner, formerly an haeresiarch,
but now, by the grace of God, an unworthy priest
of the order of preachers ^ compiled this tract."
It is divided into ten chapters.
*
Bib. Patr. torn. 299. * Ibid. 300.
xiii. p. p.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. Ill
*
Bib. Patr. torn. xiii. p. ii. p. 728.
* Ibid. p. 300. Reiner, and after him other Romanists, have
insinuated that the Waldenses objected to Sylvester, because it
was under him that the Church was united to the State, and
obtained her temporalities. The real objection consisted in
Sylvester being the first bishop who insisted, as points of
necessity, upon needless adjuncts, corporals, palls, unctions,
&c. &c. &c.
^ Paradin, in his Annals of Burgundy, 1566, says, that in the
several ancient histories which he had consulted, the Waldenses
are acquitted of all crime.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 113
'
See Muratori, Dissertation 60.
- Reinerus, Bib. Patr. torn. xiii. p. 299. 304.
^ 1 have assumed 1250 as a medium date, and have not taken
2
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 115
''
The Catholic teachers are not as zealous in
the diffusion of their true doctrine, as the perfidi-
ous Leonists are in spreading their false tenets '."
" Divided as they are against themselves, they
are united together against the church, like Sam-
son's foxes, whose tails were tied together while
"."
their faces looked different ways
" In all the states of Lombardy and Provence,
(the Waldenses lay between the two) and in other
i2
116 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^^
They reject whatsoever is taught, if it is not
demonstrable by a text in the New Testament ^"
" The aforesaid orders are constituted by a
Bishop, or by licence from a Bishop ^."
p. 694. 714.
2 13. p. 299.
'•'
was impossible to prevent it, that the popular voice favoured it,
1. " They speak evil of the 1. " During the whole time
and say that the Pope is the from the beginning of it until
cause of all the errors in the now, our predecessors and our-
to be attributed to Pontifical
Dach. V. 2. p. 231.
" How profligate is the whole
body of shorn priests." — Ibid,
p. 218.
" The Clergy maintained that
secute,
conflict or persecuted."
Nobla Ley9on.
124 WALDENSIAN RESP:ARCHES.
3. " They say of the sacra- 3. " Do not reckon upon ob-
ment of penance, that none can taining any absolution during
be absolved by a bad priest. They your mortal career, for whoso-
contend that heavy penances ever should profess to have the
ought not to be imposed, and power of extending it to you
urge the example of Christ, would be deceiving you. Since
who said, *
go and sin no you have sinned against God,
more.' from him only you are to look
for pardon." Ambrose, Bishop
of Milan in the fourth century.
See Ad. Virg. lap. cap. 8.
3. **
And thus he buyeth of his 3. ''
It is perverse doctrine
priest absolution. to attribute efficacy to man, or
And the priest pardons them to his words, or to his authority,
4. **
Marriage is good, holy, 4. The Waldensian clergy of
5. •'
They assert that any 5. The liturgy of the church
doctrine which is preached, and of Milan, called Ambrosian,
cannot be proved by Scripture, had the psalms and other scrip-
should be held as fabulous. tural passages rendered into the
** They say that the Holy Italic language. See Allix,
Gregory VII. Urban, and Paschal. The practice which required these suc-
cessive prohibitions was evidently of long standing, and a matter of ancient and
resolute contention.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 127
zations, and the vigils of saints, the Church or wisdom, hid the
" They despise images, and consecrated images, because
relics, and call the holy cross the Church does not acknow-
nothing but a piece of wood." ledge vain imaginations, or the
vain representations of images."
Ambrose of Milan, de fug. ssec.
lib. 5.
6, " He forbade service unto 6. " That those who are al-
use.
130 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
about saying mass for him and Christ : that is to say, in relics
Antichrist.
*'
They pretend that every
faithful man ought to help the
only to foreswear.
The new saith, swear not at all.
And let thy speech be yea and
nay." Nobla Ley^on.
K 2
132 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
SECTION IV.
citation, ''
We are in the last times," is taken
from 1 John ii. 18. and therefore the eleven
hundred years must be reckoned not from the
birth of Christ, but from the age of the Epistle,
which cannot have been written earlier than 68
A.D. If there be any thing in this sort of objec-
tion, we may argue, that the citation, not being
literal, is as likely to be from Acts ii. 17. 2 Tim.
iii. 1. Hebrews i. 2. 1 Pet. i. 5. 20. 2 Pet. iii. 3.
^
See Churches of Picmont, p. 184.
138 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^
Histoire des Eglises Vaudoises, Liv. 1. p. 26.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 139
NOBLA LEY9ON.
O frayres entede una nobla lenzon
Sovet deve velhar erstar eu ozon
C nos veye aq'st mot esr p~s del chavo
Mot curios d'oria essr d' boas obas far
'
Churches of Piemont, p. 181.
140 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
morals, &c.
5. Of the sins of the Israelites, and the judgments of God.
6. Of David, and other good kings and prophets.
7. Of the captivity in Babylon.
8. Of the return from Babylon.
9. Of the advent of Jesus Christ, and a parallel between the
Law and the Gospel.
10. Of the mission of the apostles, the descent of the Holy
Ghost, and primitive Church,
11 Of the gross erorrs of the papacy, the simony of the priest-
^
Leger, Liv. i. p, 30.
i
WALDENSTAN RESEARCHES. 141
The Trinity . .
''
The honor of God the Father should be his
first moving principle.
posterity.
overshadow thee.
His birth. . . . Thou shalt bear a son, whom thou shalt call
Jesus.
142 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
" Among other privileges which God hath given to his ser-
tution.
*
Leger, Liv. 1, p. 106.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 145
Deuteronomy.
5. We yield obedience to our superiors placed over us by
L
146 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
according to his own mind, and the motions of his own spirit.
nothing.
12. That baptism is not at all necessary.
RECAPITULATION.
In the preceding pages, I have endeavoured to
shew the ground, upon which the Waldenses rest
^
See Peyran's Defence of the Waldenses, edited by Mr. Sims,
p. 15.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 151
there —
but from some circumstance or other they
may never have arrived, for there is no mention
or memorandum of them in any catalogue that
can be found, although several catalogues do
make mention of the 14 volumes which remain.
It is also contended at Cambridge, that the obser-
vations of Allix do not go the length of asserting
that he himself had consulted the MSS.^ but con-
tain nothing more than a loose remark, hazarded
upon the credit which he attached to Morland's
own statement of their being to be seen in the
university library.
The other ground which is taken up at Cam-
bridge, is this. If the lost MSS. ever did arrive
at their destination, they very soon disappeared :
—
and in 1753 and no light was thrown at either
of these periods upon the manner in which they
had been removed, I fear all trace must now be
considered as entirely gone, and nothing but
accident will clear up the mystery which hangs
about them.
ni
lilllli-
^_ - - «>»^i<rjw<ijiiiii,.
p
tl
tl
a;
k
b
si
h
tl
1(
a
o
h
c
a
a
-iCttraifXio
•ShCONI
CHAPTER I.
2 .
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 159
ls» 4c?.) which has been raised in the British dominions, through
the exertions of the London Committee, for the several purposes
therein expressed, in aid of the Hospital, and of General and
Ministerial Education.
No. I.
THE HOSPITAL.
" This Institution, comprising the Establishment in chief at
round numbers :
Francs.
Purchase of an estate at La Tour, consisting of
about 5Q journaux or acres, with farm-house and
buildings, and yielding an annual rent of 2000
francs 56,000
Purchase of a building and vineyard at La Tour,
which has since been converted into a house and
garden for the hospital — in addition to an an-
nuity to the proprietor of 460 francs 4,000
Furniture and outfitting of the hospital • • 5,000
160 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
Francs.
Purchase of a house at Pomaret, to serve for a dis-
Total.... 105,000
Total 12,320
No. II.
£.216
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 161
2. ANNUAL PAYMENTS.
£. s. d.
the Ministry - 20
For the Support of Four Girls' Schools of Industry 40
Annuity to M. Combe 4
£. 214
£.7302 7 4
M
162 waldEnstan researches.
scribers 23 3 10
209 16 6
Disbursements ( cordinued. J £. s. d.
at Pomaret 30 1 11
70 13 2
4. Balance in the hands of the Treasurer, De-
cember 31st, 1829 ; of which a part has been
reserved for Special Purposes, by order of the
Committee; and 100/.
M 2
3 per Cent. Consols
Fund .
=
.
£.7302
212 19
7
9
4
104 WALDF,NSIAN RESEARCHES.
I
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 175
description.
San Margarita continued to be our head-quarters
for two months, and from we made our
this spot
importance.
But whether it is that extravagant notions have
same time."
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 191
1 Grammar School,
15 Great Schools,
126 Small Schools*,
o
194 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
o 2
196 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
*
The appropriation of the 9600 francs, was
Francs.
Total 9600
WALDKNSIAN RESEARCHES. 197
*'
Who is your Saviour ?
Jesus Christ.
Who is Jesus Christ ?
^'
Are there many Gods ?
No ; there is but one God.
Is there only one person in the Godhead ?
Gods?
No.
Wherefore ?
Jesus Christ.
C'est qu'elle nous est imputee par la grace que nous croions
en lui.
II y en a quatre principaux.
Quel est le premier ?
C'est de nous assurer, que puis que nous avons tout notre
recours a lui, Dieu nous fera grace.
eternel.
I
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 209
and the law not only prohibits his making any pur-
chase of land on the other side of the limits, but
even imposes a penalty (in violation of the 16th
article of the edict of 1561, which permits the Vau-
dois " to stay, go, and come, to buy, sell, and traffic,
9. A psalm sung.
10. A benedictory address, and exhortation to
almsgiving.
11. The final benediction.
and reprints ?
*' Mais ce qui distingue surtout son livre de ceux de Luc, Marc
et Matthieu, c'est le caractere nouveau dont il revet les enseigne-
mens du Sauveur. Ce n'est plus un docteur, ce n'est plus
un prophete (^ui parle aux hommes en leur langue, c'est le Fils
r2
244 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
But how, it is often said, how is the whole length of the day to
be consumed in religious exercises ? Is it to be spent in the ab-
straction from all enjoyment, from all recreation, from all plea-
per mesure."
In readins: the metrical lines of the Psalms of
David, the Vaudois almost always sounded the
final mutes, especially if it helped the rhythm ; as
Chaucer meant the word yarde to be pronounced
in the second of those beautifully descriptive
lines
had in contemplation.
BOMBYX.
Fine sub Aprilis bombyx excluditur ovo,
Reptilis exiguo corpore vermiculus.
s 2
260 WALDENSTAN RESEARCHES.
i
waldimNsian research i:s. 261
that more may yet fall and crush him the preci- ;
congregated together.
I should have liked to have seen that festival,
leys ";
and to try again the extent of their forbear-
]
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 275
mahilse ©e s
mmED^m urn ttisie
ICCo.
PruOcd. byZngeljrhazm.
.>^»?z.g bvi i: XichcUon
CHAPTER V.
of Ca&telluzzo.
1
WAl.DENSIAN RESEARCHES. 293
Cahier de Visite.
Visite du mois an 18
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312 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
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314 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^'
You will perceive by this expos6, that it is im-
possible for us to subsidize the Latin school at
Pomaretto any longer ; we are seriously afflicted
by our inability to contribute further towards it, be-
cause we well know the necessity of that establish-
ment and our
; regret would be greater, if we had
not reason to hope, that our brethren in England
will be able and willing to supply the deficiency."
Their hope has been fulfilled. Since my return
from the valleys, a representation has been made
to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, by the London Vaudois Com-
mittee ; and that venerable body has appropriated
the sum of 28/. or 30/. a-year towards the re-estab-
lishment of the Latin School at Pomaretto. To this,
use.
The hours of attendance are from seven to ten,
and from two to four in the summer ; and from
eight to eleven, and from two to four in winter.
It must be remembered that all the scholars, ex-
cept two or three who board with M. Monastier,
come daily from some distance, from the village
y2
CHAPTER VII.
I
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 331
'
See Narrative of an Excursion to the Vaudois, Chap. V.
332 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^^
situe," as it was truly described to me, " dans
une vaste prairie, bordee au midi de magnifiques
chataigniers," —and the romantic abode of the old
soldier Giraudin, on the banks of the Liossa tor-
divers lieux des bains aussi pures et aussi clairs que le cristal
etoit environnee."
Po, and who was marvellously saved from drowning by the inter-
vention of " the mother of God" herself, in the year 1644. On
the spot near the banks of the river, where the Virgin was seen
interposing her services on that occasion, a church was built,
* " Not that any change of times or circumstances can vary the
essential sacredness of ministerial obligation, nor heighten the
motives, which are implied in that emphatic charge of the chief
shepherd, * feed my sheep.' Yet a diversity of places or seasons
receiving education.
The number of Roman Catholics is between 70
and 80. Half of these are strangers, custom-house
officers, soldiers, charcoal burners in the forests,
and their famihes.
these. ^*^
The parson in his circuit," is one of the
views which George Herbert directs us to con-
template, when we would form our estimate of the
pastoral character. No man can render such an
account of his congregation, as that which I have
just exhibited, from the Speculum Gregis of Bobi,
without being very frequently and diligently on
his circuit.
rehgious discussion."
Madame Muston is lineally descended from the
heroic Jahier, and with all her extreme simplicity
and gentleness of manner, she was evidently
pleased when I alluded to this true nobility of her
extraction. Jahier was the companion in arms of
Janavel, or Gianavello, whom, in the language of
one of those who has piously recorded his feats in
1655, " God raised up in those days, as a choice
instrument of his own, for the preservation of the
poor scattered remnant of his people." Jahier's
346 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
*
The historian Leger, mentions in his autobiography, that
his father's family was noble, and that by his mother's side,
''
Malise," might not " speed forward with the
fiery cross," and reach any other part in twelve
hours, and perhaps in less.
The shortest way from La Torre to Rora, is to
cross over to L*Envers, and to climb the steeps at
once but wishing to see Luserna,
: I took the lower
and more circuitous road by that town. It did for-
appearance.
'
Aristotl«'s Hist. Ani. Lib. iv. cap. 1.
son. The first comer takes his seat, the tradesman and his
employer, the servant, the workman, and his master, the peasant
and the gentry of the neighbourhood, sit by each other as ac-
cident may dispose of them, and no where is there a more
numerous congregation in proportion to its size.
368 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
^
Art. XVI. '*The high contracting powers, desirous of bury-
^ " Monsieur,
" S. E. le Corate Vidua, Regent pour S. M., le Secretaire
de rinterieur, par sa lettre du trois Oct. dernier, en me trans-
temples par les memes batis hors de limites fixees par les Edits,
" Crotti.
" Pignerol le 25 Nov. 1814.
**
P.S. —Je pense, qu'il suffit de ne plus ouvrir le temple bati
liors les limites, d'aviser aux moyens de vous reimir ailleurs, et
B b
370 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
facilement."
M. Mondon takes much delight in the girls'
school which has been established in his parish,
and pays great attention to it.
Bb 2
372 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
" It was thought that the girls' school in this village would be
convenient for such as might choose to attend from Bobi, and
the western hamlets of La Tour and Rora. A girls' school is,
Villar only —about 2000. The greatest number on the list has
been 36.
**
The foregoing statement will shew that Rora is the only
village in the valley of Lucerne, which has not the advantage of
a girls* school ; and it is earnestly to be wished that one could
*'
This was meant to extend its usefulness to the other hamlets
spot, it is the best that could be found for the district for which
it was intended ; but the hamlets in this region are so scattered,
so distant from each other, and so difficult of access at certain
*
Those who complain most of the degeneracy of the Vau-
dois, guard their observations, by adding, that it is in comparison
382 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
with the old Waldenses, and not with other Christians, that
the present Vaudois sink in estimation. " These blots," said
Brezzi, **
are inevitable to human weakness. Perhaps we are
falling into the common error of supposing that our ancestors
sent his son to the university of Turin. The young man, upon
his return to the valleys, persuaded his father to prosecute a
neighbour for the recovery of the amount of some damage done
to his land by the man's cattle.
2
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 383
(C
to put in force some articles of our ancient dis-
* " Many certainly wish for a fixed liturgy of their own, and
disapprove of many little irregularities which have crept in."
c c
386 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
you think that by being here, you can expedite a work, in which
the honour of your own Church, and the edification of foreign
Secca — Pramol.
^
I very much regret that Mr. Brockedon has not yet ilhis-
trated any part of this fine country, in the same style in which
he has brought other Alpine regions into notice. The fidelity
maps at the end of each number, render liis work one of great
utility to those who have occasion to consult it.
394 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
*
See Narmlive of an Excursion, &c. p. 3. 4th Edit.
406 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
I
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 417
E e
418 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
at home.
July 16. Paramolo, or Pramol. Never did I
1
CHAPTER XII.
appointed.
Sir,
" The authorities of the Vaudois communes feel the necessity
2600
For rent of a house 400
3000 francs.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 429
*
1. This Commission to be composed of Vaudois pastors.
2. The liturgy not to be introduced into the churches, until
*'
With lively gratitude^ and on the conditions
to which I have put my name,
" J. V1N90N,
^^
Pastor, and Secretary to the Table."
Ff
434 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
Liv. 1.
Gilles describes the Pra del Tor, as being " a
track of grass land, in the upper part of the valley
of Angrogna, and separated from the lower district
by stupendous rocks, which fortify it on all sides,
1
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 441
them occasionally."
The Latin poet who commemorated the enjoy-
ments and innocency of the golden age, imagined
that the noblest virtues might be spontaneously
cherished, without laws or restraints. It is for the
Christian historian to record, that in an iron age
of persecution, and in a climate where there are
no kindly and spontaneous productions, there an
afflicted race,
*'
Sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumqiie colebat."
^ **
The work of a preacher in the Alps resembles that of a
ignorant, that tlfl?y did not know there were other countries."
at San Veran.
The picturesque, the romantic, the pastoral, and
the classical, united to make this day's excursion
I
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 457
^
This question is very ably discussed in a recent publication,
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 461
here.
I am led to suppose, that of all diversions the
pursuit of the chamois is by far the most alluring.
of Cambridge,"
462 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
than other people. How, indeed, can the vast and sublime
^
Sinileri V^al. deserip. p. 185.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 467
^
See page 73.
'
See page 5^.
472 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
Office.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 483
^
This extract is from a translation of Perrin, in a book called
" Luther's Fore-runners ;" and I gladly take this opportunity of
thanking the unknown friend, who sent it ine, with the following
note :
— " An individual, unknown to Mr. Oilly, who has lately
read his visit to the Waldenses, sends him a very scarce historical
li 2
484 W ALDKNSIAN RESEARCHES.
:
A traveller from the valleys has spoken of
Bartholomew Coucourde, as one of the most in-
teresting persons he had long met with \ To me
he was the same, and his anecdotes and reminis-
cences of that extraordinary man, his grandfather
Peyrani, were deeply moving, and, I may add,
heart-rending. M. Peyrani was scarcely ever free
from pain. His headaches were acute, and of fre-
^
Biacebrldge's Authentic Details of the Valdenses, p. 41.
488 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
'
There are several state prisoners in this fortress. One is a
colonel who was implicated in the political movements, of 1821.
Another is a French priest, who finds an asylum rather than a
prison here, after having violated and murdered a young girl be-
itr
we entered the village, we made a pil-
Before
grimage to the new church and church-yard but ;
'
Measures have been taken to erect a marble tablet within the
S. M.
JOHANNIS RODULPHI LUDOVICI SAMUELIS PEYRANI,
Qui, post vitam aliorum non sui omnino studiosam,
rSalutis 1823,
nKnfcnmn
Ubut anno < jc*. *• nn
1 jEtatis suae 72,
Aiienigena.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 493
I
.. . ./ '
-wjU HI
'
1 {' >
« Skfirh hj
On. SU'fLc uy r .\u.k<ji--^'-n 'ruu.ui i'u .'i!Liif.l?na.riM
ki'c
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 495
features.
The scenery in Val Martino changes, frequently
and rapidly, from the most harsh and rugged
aspect to that of the most attractive beauty. Stu-
pendous cliffs and terrific precipices^ give place
to verdant and flowery spots, and a turn of the
mountain path, by the torrent side, would bring
us out of a deep cleft of rock, where our feet were
bruised by the stones, to a bank of lavender, or
a green plateau of herby grass, soft as a carpet
or to a sunny nook, where the little property of
corn land is cultivated, like the patriarchal inhe-
*
The pony which carried Mrs. Gilly, would always press
so near the edge of these precipices, as to render it not a little
animal enjoyed the current of air that came from the gulf below.
* In the course of our journey this day, and particularly near
Perero, we were tormented by a large fly, which had all the
same sort of spot, the groves and dry banks of the Germanasca *.
The flanks and neck of the pony were absolutely bathed in blood
under its bite.
Kk
498 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
* Leger, Liv. 1. 5.
'aV, taW in. (t>^ ji, ^^ ]r A ^ ^ (OjW it IE IE (S S m M iiM A S € A.
NEAR THE PONT DE LA TOUB.
^I'fi nyEvcftlmajin yCo Frvrt a. SietcA H; . W" IV (<Uu
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 499
^
I have omitted to state in chap. iii. p. 219, that the Ten
Commandments are always recited in the churches of the valleys
*'
Ille terrarum mihi prseter omnes
Angulus ridet."
^
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 509
'
See p. 507 ' See Chapter V.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 511
to be.
We found the cavern, so called, to be an irre-
^ Liv. i, p. 9. .
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 515
'
See p. 163, 164.
520 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
which have produced them, and the uneasiness which they have
caused, in the little corner where they prevail, than to give them
a formal place in my narrative, and so to lead some readers to
been raised, and I entertain great esteem for his zeal and piety
but I had reason to think that he was not always guided by the
best judgment. The individual, too, of whose conduct and senti-
^
See Section iv p. 132, &c.
526 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
" My Lord,
" I most respectfully beg leave to submit the cause of the
*' Vaudois to your lordship's consideration; which his majesty's
" government, under the administration of the late Earl of
*'
Liverpool, honoured with its attention and protection. It is
**
the recollection of the encouragement which I then received
" to bring the subject under notice, which now persuades me to
" hope for the same indulgence.
" But should any other apology be deemed necessary, may I
" itself with the duty of managing certain funds raised for the
" relief of the Vaudois, and which has the honour of naming
" upon its list. His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
" several distinguished members of both houses of Parliament.
*'
I do not, however, profess to address your lordship under the
*'
sanction of that body, but I can confidently refer your lord-
*'
ship to the Archbishop of Canterbury, or to any other member
" of the committee, in testimony of the strong interest which
" has been excited in this country in favour of the Vaudois.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 535
" ing every village and hamlet, and have thus had opportunities
" of gathering information, which could only be obtained by
" being upon the spot, and by observing how the system of
" oppression works, and in what manner it threatens to com-
" plete the destruction of a Church, which is the origin of every
** Reformed Church in Europe.
" The accompanying Memorial will explain to your lordship
" the present afflicting condition of these Protestant subjects of
'*
the king of Sardinia, who, known under the name of Vaudois
" or Waldenses, inhabit three Piemontese valleys on the Italian
" side of the Alps. Although they have constantly suffered
" under intolerable grievances, they have just claims to especial
**
immunities and privileges ; first, upon the faith of concessions
" was to preserve this most ancient stock from ruin (which has
" very truly been considered the connecting link between the
" Primitive and Reformed Churches), that the Vaudois have
" been mvited, at different periods of history, to appeal to the
" Protestant states of Europe, when they have had any com-
" plaints to make, and that every Protestant state ^ has inter-
•'
posed to protect them in some shape or other. * It is hard,'
1 Seep. 73.
2 The Prince Elector Palatine interposed in 1566 : and
The Protestant Cantons of Switzerland, the Protector of England, the States
General of the United Provinces, the King of France, the King of Sweden,,
the Landgrave of Hesse, and the King of Denmark, in 1655 : and
King William III., and the States General of ihe United Provinces, in 1690.
The interpositions in 1655, and in 1690, saved the Vaudois from exter-
mination.
536 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
gion ^' The concern manifested for the Vaudois has been
so strong, that their own government has admitted their right
the Vaudois, that his presence amongst them, and his oppor-
testant subjects.
" It was about the same time that the head of the existing
English government, not only invited the sovereigns of every
Protestant kingdom to take part with him in espousing the
cause of the Waldenses, upon the principle of community of
religious interests, but he also appealed to the French monarch,
and insisted that France was bound by treaties to see justice
^ Morland, p. 605.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 537
" ence.
" Your lordship will take some interest in reading the account,
" which an historian of that day gives of the decisive conduct
" of the English envoy, who managed the affair. '
The duke of
" Savoy granted a very full edict in favour of the Vaudois,
" restoring their former liberties and privileges to them, which
" the lord Galway took care to have put in the most emphatical
" words, and passed with all the formalities of law, to make it as
" effectual as laws and promises can be : yet every step, that
" was made in that affair, v/ent against the grain, and was ex-
" torted from him by the intercession of the king, and the States,
" and by the lord Galway 's zeal '.'
' Burnet's History of his Own Times, vol. ii. p. 176. Fol. edit, of 1734.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 539
" that there are ample grounds and precedents for interposition
" by virtue of
treaties,) derives strength from the language and
1727.
" It is important to explain to your lordship, that during
the progress of these negociations, the king of Sardinia rested
' that there was no objection against the free profession and
1815^
" * The invariable object of the British government, and that
of its allies, has always been to preserve, and upon every
convenient occasion to maintain, the principles of toleration
m matters of religion, with full liberty of conscience, and in
its last correspondence with the court of France, it has put
forward these principles as the foundation of its policy.'
" Throughout the whole of this letter, 1 have been more anx-
ious to set authorities before your lordship, and to guard my
view of the subject by the sanction of opinions, that are
likely to have weight with your lordship, than to obtrude my
own reasoning. Therefore, in conclusion, I beg leave to
transcribe from the reports of the proceedings of the House of
'*
The Memorial, to which Inow most respectfully solicit your
" lordship's attention, will shew how greatly the Vaudois and
" their clergy stand in need of your intercession.
** SlIEWETH,
'*
That the Vaudois, composing an organized Church, and being
" the most ancient of all Protestant communities, are at this
" time suffering oppression, such as no other body of Protestants,
" and no other body of separatists from an established Church,
" under any government in the civilized world, are exposed to.
**
That such oppression grows out of ancient edicts^ or of
" present acts of authority, which prevent the free exercise of
" their religion^
—prohibit the acquirement of property beyond
" The Vaudois have had no other charge alleged against them
" in justification of the enactments enforced to their prejudice^,
" but their adherence to the Protestant religion, whose professors
**
having nothing in the tenets of their creed to shake their
1 See p. 73.
2 Even in times when the rights of subjects were much less understood than
they are now, the Vaudois prayed for relief as an act of justice and not of
grace. " We cannot be justly deprived of that which nature, the law of na-
tions, and the possession of many ages, give to us."
— *' Touching these rights,
we have neither received them from the dukes of Savoy, nor from any other
prince in the world, but we have them from God, and we have enjoyed them
as our birth-right from father to son, before ever the dukes of Savoy possessed
Piemont: and the truth is, we cannot find that any one of them did ever
make a grant for the first introduction thereof, or that the tenor of the most
ancient sanctions were any other, than to leave to our forefathers the enjoyment
of the exercise of that religion which they had received of their ancestors."
servitude ? How could a mere change of sovereignty, the duty of which high
office is to protect all existing private rights, have produced so monstrous a me-
tamorphosis ? By what fatality has the restoration of the King of Sardinia
subjects, while no similar effect was produced by the restoration of the Bour-
bons to France, nor by that of the other sovereigns to countries also formerly
Pamphlet, p. 23.
WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES. 5i5
" the case of the Vaudois is not one wherein the actual admi-
' When the king of Sardinia was restored to his throne in 1814, principally
by the influence of England, he issued an edict, by which he revived all the
barbarous and perfidious enactments which had been put in force by his prede-
cessors, from the year 1476. — See page 369.
N n
546 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
" nistration of the law, softens the rigorous letter of the law, by
" its lenity, forbearance, and indulgence ; but, on the contrary,
" it is a case, wherein the practical enforcement of severe edicts
" extends even beyond the wording and meaning of them. It
" is at this juncture, and under the existing order of things, such
" as to realize the threat, '
and now, whereas my father did lade
" you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke \'
" Time which has softened other evils, has rendered the hard
" fate of the Vaudois still harder, and many of the edicts, which
" are referred to in the subjoined statement, have been enforced
" in a manner which the original promulgators never intended."
with all their goods, and threatening all with the confiscation of
* " That species of novel and puny persecution which inflicts molestation,
any pretext \
The preamble spoke of the " equal desire to terminate the long agitations
dissensions which have agitated Europe, declare and promise, that no individual,
of whatever rank or condition he may be, in the countries restored and ceded
by the present treaty, shall be persecuted, disturbed, or molested in his person or
property under any pretext whatsoever, either on account of his conduct or poli-
tical opinions, his attachment either to any of the contracting parties, or to any
government, which has ceased to exist, or for any other reason, except for
debts contracted towards individuals, or acts posterior to the date of the present
treaty."
" Art. 27. National domains acquired for valuable considerations by French
\ N n 2
548 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
subjects in the late departments of Belgium, and of the left bank of the
Rhine, and the Alps, beyond the ancient limits of France, and which now
cease to belong to her, shall be guaranteed to the purchasers.
'*
Le Prince de Benevente.
(Signed) " Castlereagh,
Aberdeen,
Cathcart,
Charles Stewart, Lieut.-Gen."
enjoy the benefit of the 16th article of the treaty of Paris of 30th May, 1814.
" All acquisitions made by individuals in virtue of a title acknowledged as
legal by the existing laws, are to be considered as good."
Upon the same principle, the Vaudois, who returned under the government
of the king of Sardinia, should enjoy the benefit of the same article.
repeal this edict. The answer informed the Vaudois, that they were at liberty
which did not require the laurea, or degree at the university ; that is to say,
IV. The Vaudois are compelled, " chomer les fetes particuliers,"
for the most part in the indefinite and ill- understood nature of
the exactions : if they were regulated by law, they might be
borne more easily, but the local petty authorities, and the cures,
are allowed to decide pro arhitrio upon these matters. For ex-
ample, — 1. Very recently a young man was imprisoned three
months for putting on his hat after the host had passed him in
VI. The Vaudois are forbidden to print any books within any of
the king's dominions.
' Until the Bible Society made some very handsome grants to the Vaudois,
they had very few Bibles. In several places, when I asked if they were well
supplied with the Scriptures, the answers were nearly the same — " Yes, thanks
to the British and Foreign Bible Society." But they are still lamentably des-
titute of books of devotion.
552 WALDENSIAN RESEARCHES.
twelve, and the females ten years of age, and to the more recent
Edict of 1794 :
— " We renew our orders to prevent the taking
was withdraw^n, but not revoked, and the woman's fears and
anxiety continue, while she remains exposed to the same severity.
Such being the grievances ^ of which the Vaudois have justly
1 (( WTg (Jo permit the fiee exercise of their rehgion." This is the language
of the Sardinian government. But how can people be said to have the free
exercise of their religion, who are debarred from obtaining books of devotion, and
from having schools, where mutual instruction is introduced; who are forbidden
to resist proselytism, who are exposed to the interruption of cures, and subject
to laws commanding them to do reverence to objects which they regard with
aversion ?
WALDEiNSIAN RESEARCHES. 553
condition —
may be taken into consideration, and that his Sardinian
majesty may be urged to repeal all edicts^ which are contrary to
those principles of toleration, which it has been the invariable
object of the British government and of its allies, to preserve as
DUNGLAS.
to explain.
Shortly after I received the communication from
the Foreign Office, I had the satisfaction of hearing
^
I have now in my possession the copy of an edict of Victor
''
In dette tre valli non gli sara data molestia." I
THE END.
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