Tu T :b :r j^ Ti ^5r 
 
 ©hcological ^cminavy. 
 
 PRINCETOX, y. J. 
 The Stephen Collins Dunatiun. 
 
 BR 252 .J36 1847 
 
 Janney, Samuel Macpherson, 
 
 1801-1880. 
 An historical sketch of the 
 
 Christian church during the 
 
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 DURING THE 
 
 MIDDLE AGES 
 
 6Y SAMUEL M. JANNEY. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 John Richards, Printer, No. 299 Market Streef. 
 
 1847. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 On the Corruptions of Christianity. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 History of the Novatians, Paulicians, and Albi- 
 genses. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 History of the Waldenses before the Reformation. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 History of the Waldenses after the Reformation. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following work was begun with a view to give a 
 brief History of the VValdenses, and was afterwards ex- 
 tended by introducing sketches of the history and doctrines 
 of oilier dissenters from the Greek and Roman Churches, 
 who appeared previous to the Reformation. 
 
 The writer does not profess to give a regular Ecclesias- 
 tical History, but merely sketches of some events which 
 had an important bearing upon the progress or declension 
 of Christian principles. 
 
 Jt will be perceived that the Church of Christ is here 
 viewed in a very ditferent light from that in which it has 
 been presented by some historians; — its vitality depends, not 
 upon the form of its organization, the creed it has adopted, 
 or the ceremonies it employs; but rather upon the indwell- 
 ing qf the Spirit of Christ, and the manifestation of that 
 Spirit: by works of charity and love. The highest evidence 
 we can give of our love to God, is by loving our fellow-men 
 and laboring or suffering for their good. 
 
 The progress of Christianity has been seldom promoted, 
 but often retarded, by the disputations of learned theolo- 
 gians, — while its simple and sublime principles, expressed 
 in the lives of the humble followers of the Lamb, have had 
 power to subdue the hearts and convince the understand- 
 ings of men. The reader of ecclesiastical liistory cannot 
 fail to observe, that a large proportion of the disputes, and 
 much of the bloodshed that have taken place among the 
 professions of Christianity, have originated in attempting 
 to establish or refute speculative opinions that were in 
 themselves of no importance whatever. The learned and 
 subtle disputants, while contending for shadows, suffered 
 the substance to escape them. They built upon a system 
 of doctrines, embracing nice metaphysical dictinctions, 
 while the only essential part of Christianity — its regenera- 
 ting power, derived from the Spirit of Christ— was little 
 understood or experienced. 
 
It is the purpose of this treatise to illustrate the effects 
 of this Divine power upon the heart and life, by reference 
 to the self-denying example of some, who, though consider- 
 ed and treated as heretics in their day, were so fully im- 
 bued with the Christian spirit, that even their persecutors 
 bore witness to the meekness and purity of their lives. 
 
 It has been customary among all Protestants, and more 
 especially of late, to laud the character and doctrines of the 
 Waldenses, but I apprehend that the views and practice of 
 that ancient ciiurch have not been fully understood; for 
 they were, before the Reformation, widely different, in 
 many respects, from most of the Protestant churches who 
 have claimed affinity with them. Their simple worship 
 and unpaid ministry, — their testimonies against war and 
 oaths of all kinds, — and their patient endurance of persecu- 
 tion for conscience sake, have invested their history with 
 especial interest. 
 
 In preparing this little work, the writer has carefully 
 consulted such standard works, relating to the subject, as 
 were accessible to him, and has generally referred to them 
 in the margin. The work is now submitted to the public 
 with a hope that it may promote tiie cause of Truth and 
 the advancement of practical righteousness. 
 
 S. M. J. 
 Spjingdale Boarding School, 
 
 Loudon Co., Va., 5th mo. 2Mh, 1847. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is not proposed in this work to give a full 
 history of the Christian church during the period 
 of which it treats, but merely a sketch of some 
 events which had a material influence upon the 
 progress or decline of Christian principles. 
 
 The advent of the Messiah is the most impor- 
 tant and interesting event recorded in the annals 
 of the world. Whether we consider the dignity 
 and perfection of his character, the ennobling ten- 
 dency of the doctrines he taught, or the influence 
 his example has had upon the progress of society, 
 his mission stands without a parallel. The prin- 
 ciples he promulgated being immutable in their 
 nature, have been the same in all ages; and al- 
 though at times but imperfectly understood, and 
 still more imperfectly carried out in practice, they 
 are, in proportion to their prevalence in the minds 
 of men, the only means of true peace in this life, 
 and of preparation for the joys of an eternal 
 world. But what are tliese principles? They 
 are all comprised in these two precepts of Christ, 
 To love God supremely, and our neighbor as our- 
 selves. He who truly loves the Divine author of 
 our being will imitate his perfections as exempli- 
 fied in the life of his beloved Son, and exhibited 
 in his works; " for he maketh his sun to rise on 
 the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the 
 just and on the unjust." Matt. v. 45. 
 
vni. 
 
 The Jewish people at the time of Christ's 
 coming strictly observed the ritual of Moses; but 
 in their blind attachment to outward ceremonies 
 " they omitted tiie weightier matters of the law — 
 judgment, mercy, and faith." It was the main 
 purpose of the ministry of Jesus to call their at- 
 tention to the kingdom of heaven, or reign of God 
 in the hearts of his people, which sets them free 
 from the bondage of corruption, and brings them 
 into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. 
 
 By thi^> means the disciples of Christ came to 
 experience in themselves the fulfilment of the 
 law, and to witness in the purifying and sanctify- 
 ing operations of Divine grace all those spiritual 
 realities which were shadowed forth in sacrifices 
 and ablutions. But although the ceremonial law 
 was not intended to be permanent, it appears that 
 Jesus observed all its obligations; and there is no 
 evidence that during his ministry he gave any 
 command for its abrogation. His design evident- 
 ly was, by calling men to the substance to lead 
 them from the shadows, wliich are destined to 
 pass away, as the sliades of night are dispersed 
 by the rising sun. 
 
 After his death and resurrection, his disciples 
 still continued in their attachment to the institu- 
 tions of their fathers. Notwithstanding the ex- 
 traordinary illumi?iation they experienced on the 
 day of Pentecost, they could not relinquish the 
 prejudices of their education, and they still ad- 
 hered to rites and ceremonies possessing in them- 
 selves no efficacy , but endeared to them by early 
 associations, and venerated for their high antiqui- 
 ty. It appears that Peter, eight years after the 
 
ascension of Christ, was so filled with Jewish 
 prejudices, that it required a remarkable vision 
 to convince him that he ought to go into the house 
 of Cornelius to preach the gospel; and after he 
 had done so, " they of the circumcision contended 
 with him, saying, Thou wentest in unto men un- 
 circumcised and didst eat with them." 
 
 But the multitudes of Gentiles who were con- 
 verted to the Christian faith came into the church 
 with no prepossession for the rites of Judaism, and 
 some of them, perhaps, with a strong repugnance 
 to its onerous yoke. The attempt made by some 
 of the Jewish Christians to force upon these the 
 rituals of Moses occasioned a controversy which 
 required for its settlement all the wisdom and for- 
 bearance of the apostles. 
 
 At the council held at Jerusalem (A. D. 52) 
 to consider this question, after there had been 
 "much disputing," Peter rose and reminded them 
 that God had blessed his ministry to the Gentiles, 
 and conferred Jipon them the Holy Spirit; where- 
 .ore then, said he, " will ye tempt God to put a 
 yoke on the neck of the disciples, that neither our 
 fathers nor we were able to bear." 
 
 Paul and Barnabas aho declared what mira- 
 cles and wonders God had wrought among the 
 Gentiles by them, after which James delivered 
 the judgment of the assembled church in favor of 
 exempting the Gentiles from the Mosaic ritual. 
 
 Notwithstanding this judgment of the church, 
 dictated by the Holy Spirit, the Jewish Christians 
 still adhered to the ceremonial law; for we find 
 that eight years after this council, and twenty- 
 Ibiir jears after the conversion of Paul, when he 
 
went up to Jerusalem the disciples said to him, 
 " thou seest, brother, how many thousands of 
 Jews there are which believe, and they are all 
 zealous of the Imv." On this occasion the apostle 
 of the Gentiles so far condescended to the preju- 
 dices of his brethren, as to purify himself and to 
 enter with four others into the temple, " until an 
 offering should be made for every one of them;" 
 and the reason assigned by the elders for this pro- 
 ceeding was to make it known that Paul himself 
 walked orderly and kept the law. Acts xxi. 17 
 to 25. 
 
 Indeed, there is no reason to believe that the 
 Jewish Christians ever relinquished the Mosaic 
 law until after the seventieth year of the Chris- 
 tian era, when the destruction of Jerusalem with 
 its splendid temple put an end to the regular ad- 
 ministration of its rites. The water baptism of 
 John was probably retained for the same reason, 
 although it was acknowledged that the baptism 
 which saves is " not the putting away of the filth 
 of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience 
 towards God." 1 Peter iii. 21. 
 
 The conflicting sentiments of the Jewish and 
 Gentile converts were not confined to those doc- 
 trines and ceremonies which sprung from the Mo- 
 saic law; for there is reason to believe that the 
 converts from heathenism also brought with them 
 prejudices and customs which, in the second and 
 third centuries, it was thought expedient to con- 
 ciliate by the adoption of pagan ceremonies, or 
 the modification of Jewish rites, so as to accord 
 with their lonir established habits. 
 
Thus there was a gradual departure from the 
 simplicity and spirituality of the gospel dispensa- 
 tion; and while rites and ceremonies were multi- 
 plied, the attention of the people was drawn off 
 from the only point of vital importance, the opera- 
 tion of divine grace in the soul, and fixed upon a 
 mass of cumbrous observances. 
 
 It will be shown in the following work that this 
 declension of the Christian church was greatly 
 accelerated by the learned doctors who embraced 
 the profession of the gospel, and blended with its 
 pure doctrines the speculative notions which they 
 brought with them from the schools of heathen 
 philosophy. 
 
 In proportion as pure Christianity declined the 
 power of the bishops and other church officers 
 was increased, for it is the invariable tendency of 
 superstition to degrade the mass of the people, and 
 to increase the power of those by whom the cere- 
 monies of religion are administered. 
 
 There is but one means by which the church 
 can be preserved in purity, and that is by a con- 
 tinual reliance upon the teachings of the spirit of 
 Christ, who is " the true shepherd and bishop of 
 souls." The revelation of this heavenly power 
 in the human soul, by which it is redeemed from 
 sin and made "a partaker of the Divine nature," 
 is the only means of obtaining a saving knowledge 
 of God and of his Son Jesus Christ. 
 
 It was this revelation to which Christ alluded 
 when he said to Peter, "on this rock I will build 
 my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it:" this rock is Christ in his spiritual 
 manifestation, " for other foundation can no man 
 
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.'' 1 
 Cor. iii. 11. 
 
 The vitality of the Christian church depends 
 not upon the form of its organization, the creed it 
 has adopted, or the ceremonies it employs, but 
 upon the indwelling of the spirit of Christ, and the 
 manifestation of that spirit by works of charity 
 and love, — for these are the fruits it will always 
 bring forth. That these blessed fruits may be 
 promoted and practical piety advanced, has been 
 the design of the writer in preparing this work, 
 which he has endeavored to render accurate by 
 consulting and comparing all the reliable authori- 
 ties within his reach. 
 
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 CORING THE 
 
 MIDDLE AGES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Corruptions of Christianity, 
 
 During that dark and disastrous period known 
 in history as the Middle Ages, extending from the 
 latter part of the 5th to the close of the 15th cen- 
 tury, there existed in various parts of Europe 
 and Asia large bodies of Christian worshippers 
 who had withdrawn from the Crreek and Roman 
 churches, in order to escape the corruption of 
 their morals and the domination of the clergy. 
 
 It is the design of this treatise to give an ac- 
 count of- these dissenters, and, in order, show the 
 proprietyof their withdrawal from the established 
 churches; it seems proper to take a view of the 
 state of religion at that period, and to endeavor to 
 trace the causes which led to that general declen- 
 sion of morals and corruption of doctrines which 
 tarnished the glory of the Christian name. 
 
This '' falling away" from the purity of primi- 
 tive Christianity had been foreseen and predicted 
 by the inspired penmen. 
 
 The apostle Paul, in his address to the ciders 
 of the church of Ephesus, related in the Acts of 
 the Apostles, tells them, " I know this, that after 
 my departing shall grievous wolves enter in 
 among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your 
 own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse 
 things, to draw away disciples after them." 
 
 In his first Epistle to Timothy he says, " Now 
 the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter 
 times some shall depart from the faith, giving 
 heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons; 
 speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their con- 
 sciences seared with a hot iron; forbidding to 
 marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, 
 which God hath commanded to be received with 
 thanksgiving of them who believe and know the 
 truth." Chap. iv. 1. 
 
 In his second Epistle to Timothy, chapter 3rd, 
 he alludes to the same class of false teachers, 
 who would intrude themselves into the church, 
 being heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure 
 more than lovers of God, and having the form of 
 godliness, but denying the power thereof. And 
 in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap- 
 ter 2nd, he alludes to a prevalent belief, that the 
 Messiah would shortly appear to judge the world, 
 and cautions them "not to he shaken in mind nor 
 troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by 
 letter as from vs, as that the day of Christ is at 
 hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: 
 for that dav shnll not conie. e\cf pt fhere be a 
 
3 
 
 falling away first, and that tiie man of sin be re- 
 vealed." 
 
 In the same Epistle he says, " The mystery of 
 iniquity doth already work, only he who now 
 letteth will let, [or hinder] until he be taken out 
 of the way." 
 
 The causes which led to this declension of the 
 church, may chiefly be classed under two heads: 
 1st, The ambition and covetousness of the bishops; 
 2ndly, Their proneness to adopt the notions of 
 speculative philosophy. 
 
 In the original constitution of the Christian 
 church, it would seem as though the Messiah 
 had taken especial pains to guard against these 
 two sources of corruption. He had chosen for 
 his apostles, not the scribes or teachers of the 
 law, but unlearned fishermen and mechanics; — 
 he sent them forth as lambs among wolves, not 
 dependent upon the weapons of human wisdom, 
 but upon the guidance of Divine grace. So far 
 from authorising them to receive money for their 
 instructions, he told them, " freely ye have re- 
 ceived, freely give," and they went forth "taking 
 nothing of the gentiles," but with their own hands 
 ministering to their necessities, remembering the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, " it is more blessed to 
 give than to receive." 
 
 Not only men, but women also, were engaged 
 in this service, and many females are mentioned 
 in the New Testament, who were prophetesses 
 and ministers of the gospel. 
 
 The ministers of the Christian churches were, 
 during the first and second centuries, generally 
 *' plain and illiterate men. remarkable rather for 
 
their piety and zeal, than fur iheir learning and 
 eloquence.'"* Among them there were many who 
 bore the name of prophets, being endowed with a 
 Divine gift, by which they were enabled '• to 
 speak to edification, exhortation, or comfort." It 
 is remarked by the learned Moshiem, that these 
 prophets were raised up by the providence of God, 
 " to discourse in the public assemblies upon the 
 various points of Christian doctrine," because 
 "there were few men of learning in the primitive 
 church who had capacity enough to insinuate 
 into the minds of a gross and ignorant multitude, 
 the knowledge of Divine things;" and he informs 
 us, that " the order of prophets ceased when the 
 want of teachers which gave rise to it was abun- 
 dantly supplied."! In this instance he has evi- 
 dently mistaken the effect for the cause. 
 
 It cannot be supposed that human learning 
 would supply the place of a Divine gift in the 
 work of the ministry; but it is reasonable to con- 
 clude that when the minds of men were with- 
 drawn from a dependence upon Divine power, 
 and disposed to lean upon human wisdom, the 
 heavenly gift would be withheld and spiritual 
 darkness would ensue. 
 
 In proportion as the number of learned doctors 
 or teachers of religion increased in the church, 
 their influence was exerted in favor of philoso- 
 phy; and at length, "vvhon they gained tlie ascen- 
 dency, " laws were enacted which excluded the 
 ignorant and illiterate from the office of public 
 teachers." J 
 
 • Moshicin, E. H., F^ook I, part U, chap. iii. HbiH, pait 
 "2, chap. ii. I Ibid, part 2, chap. i. 
 
The (Jciiiger which awaited the church from 
 the corrupting influence of heathen philosophy, 
 had heen pointed out by the apostle Paul in his 
 Epistle to the Colossians: "Beware lest any man 
 spoil you through pliilosophy and vain deceit, af- 
 ter the traditions of men, after the rudiments of 
 the world, and not after Christ." Chap. ii. 8. It 
 must be borne in mind that a large proportion of 
 the philosophy which prevailed in that day was 
 justly entitled to the epithet of "ram deceit.^' It 
 was not directed to the observation of natural 
 phenomena, nor to the investigation of the laws 
 established by the Creator; but was chiefly em- 
 ployed in fruitless speculations, many of which 
 related to subjects far beyond the reach of human 
 wisdom. There can be no reasonable objection 
 to the cultivation of u^ell-founded science, which 
 relies upon facts for its premises, and directs its 
 researches to the order of nature established by 
 the Deity. This inductive philosophy leads to 
 useful results; it promotes the comforts of life, 
 facilitates the intercourse of nations, and expands 
 the mind by enlarged views of the universe. But 
 speculative philosophy is barren; it dreams iiu 
 stead of observing; it finds its premises in the re, 
 gions of imagination, and wastes its energies \\\ 
 pursuing shadows. In order to show the perni- 
 cious influence it exerted in corrupting the Chris- 
 tian church, I will briefly advert to some of its 
 distinguishing features. The Oriental philosophy, 
 which was embraced by many of the early Chris- 
 tians, was supposed to be derived from Zoroaster, 
 the celebrated Persian sage; but there is muclj 
 uncertainty concerning the doctrines be taught, 
 1* 
 
6 
 
 which are supposed to have been corrupted by 
 his successors, who took the name of Gnostics, a 
 term borrowed from the Greek to express their 
 more intimate knowledge of the Divine nature. 
 
 They taught that the Deity, after having ex- 
 isted many ages in solitude and silence, at length 
 produced from himself two other beings, of the 
 most pure and exalted nature, one of whom was 
 male and the other female. From these two 
 sprang a vast family of celestial and immortal 
 beings, whose habitation is in the Pleroma, or re- 
 gions of infinite space. Matter they considered 
 the source of all evil; they believed that it has 
 existed from all eternity, but was a shapeless and 
 incongruous mass, subject to perpetual agitation 
 until it was found by one of these celestial spirits, 
 who reduced it to order and produced the world 
 we now inhabit.* 
 
 He created man, who was endowed with a ray 
 of celestial light, either stolen from heaven, or 
 imparted by the bounty of the Deity. When the 
 work of creation was finished, this creating spirit, 
 whom they termed Demiurgis, revolted from the 
 Divine government, assumed the exclusive control 
 of this new world, and drew over to himself a 
 ninnber of inferior spirits, whom he appointed his 
 agents or assistants. Man, therefore, was sup- 
 posed to be compounded of two principles, acting 
 in opposition to each other; a soul partaking of 
 the Divine nature and aspiring to its great origi- 
 nal, but confined in a material body as its prison 
 
 * Jones' Ch. Hi-tory, Yol. 1, p. 30. Moahiem, E. IJ., Ist 
 
 century. 
 
house; borne down by the earthly propensities 
 which spring from the flesh, and liable to be in- 
 fluenced by the fallen spirits or demons by whom 
 the world is governed. From this doctrine sprang " 
 two modes of life, or courses of discipline, exactly 
 opposite. One sect of the Gnostics maintained 
 that the animal propensities must be kept down 
 by rigid abstinence, laceration of the body, and 
 every species of austerity, in order that the soul 
 may be permitted to rise in contemplation to its 
 Divine parent. The other sect contended that 
 the essence of piety consists in a knowledge of the 
 Supreme Being, and that the soul being purified 
 by contemplation, is not responsible for the pas- 
 sions and propensities of the body. Hence, they 
 imposed no restraints upon their appetites, and 
 led the most dissolute lives, while professing to 
 be purified in spirit. There was another sect, 
 whose system professed to combine and explain 
 all other systems of philosophy, and to comprise 
 the sublimated essence of all knowledge. This 
 school, known by the appellation of the New Pla- 
 tonists, was founded near the close of the second 
 century by Ammonius Saccas, who taught at 
 Alexandria in Egypt, with the most distinguished 
 success.* Ammonius was born of Christian pa- 
 rents, and is generally supposed to have been 
 himself a professor of Christianity, though the 
 system which he taught was an incongruous 
 mass of opinions, borrowed from all the schools 
 of pagan philosophy, and blended with some of 
 the doctrines of Christianity. 
 
 * Moshictn, E. H., 2nd centwy. 
 
He inaiiitaiiied that the true doctrines of philo* 
 sdphy and religion came from the east, and were 
 taught to the ancient Egyptians by Hermes.— 
 From Egypt they were transplanted to Greece 
 and corrupted by the fables of the poets, but 
 again revived in their original purity by Plato. 
 He endeavored to show that the fables of the 
 Grecian poets, and the ceremonials of the Jewish 
 law, were but allegorical representations of these 
 original doctrines, which Jesus Christ came to 
 restore and purify. His views concerning the 
 eternity of matter and the government of the 
 world by demons, resembled the doctrines of the 
 Gnostics, and like them, he taught that the free- 
 dom of the soul from sensuality was only to be 
 attained by the most severe mortification of the 
 body. Those of his disciples who aspired to the 
 perfection of wisdom, were required to adopt the 
 most rigid abstinence, and the most severe disci- 
 pline, for the purpose of subduing all the desires 
 of the flesh. Withdrawing themselves from hu- 
 man society, they devoted their days to contem- 
 plation, and their nights to watching and prayer, 
 in order that they might shake off the trammels 
 of the body and rise into union with the Father 
 of Spirits. The doctrines of this school were so 
 well adapted to the spirit of the age, and enforced 
 with so much learning and dexterity, that they 
 spread rapidly and involved in the labyrinths of 
 error many of the most prominent teachers in the 
 Christian church. 
 
 Among these was Origin, celebrated for his 
 learning and zeal, who endeavored to explain the 
 scriptures by forced constructions, so as to make 
 
9 
 
 them agree with the Platonic philosophy, and thus 
 gave rise to the science oi^ scholastic theology — the 
 darkest and most dana-eroiis innovation that ever 
 assailed the church of Christ. 
 
 It is mournful to reflect, that, during the space 
 of more than a thousand years, those who as- 
 sumed to be the shepherds of the Christian flock 
 resorted for instruction to schools and colleges 
 where these visionary and deceptive notions pre- 
 vailed, and where the most renowned professors 
 wasted their time in vain speculations and fruit- 
 less debates. 
 
 Another pernicious consequence of the doc- 
 trines of the New Platonists, was the belief in 
 demons or evil spirits, which, in the third centu- 
 ry, became prevalent in the church. It was 
 supposed that these evil spirits were continually 
 hovering over human bodies, with a vehement 
 desire to seduce them from the path of duty, and 
 that the actions of wicked men were not so much 
 prompters by their own depraved passions, as 
 stimulated by the whispers of these fallen spirits. 
 Hence there was instituted in the church an or- 
 der of men called Exorcists, whose duty it was 
 to expel evil spirits from the new converts, which 
 they pretended to effect by loud shouting and de- 
 clamation; and the demon was often heard to con- 
 fess, as he took his departure, that he was one of 
 the false gods worshipped by the pagans. As 
 the labors of the Exorcist were supposed to expel 
 the demons from the chambers of the heart, so the 
 ceremony of water baptism was thought to close 
 the door against his return.* 
 
 * Moshipm, 
 
10 
 
 Although the absurdities of fanaticism may ex* 
 cite a smile of derision, it is humiliating to think 
 that the pure and simple religion of Jesus should 
 so soon have been obscured and contaminated by 
 the inventions of men. Nor did these innovations 
 spring from the supei'stitions of the ignorant muU 
 titude; they were introduced by bishops and pres* 
 byters, distinguished for their learning and re. 
 nowned for their eloquence. In attempting to 
 interpret the scriptures, they discarded the only 
 true guide — the voice of the pure witness within 
 the heart — and giving the reins to their imagina- 
 tions, they sought for the secrets of wisdom in the 
 wildest dreams of pagan philosophy. 
 
 Although their doctrines have long since fallen 
 into contempt and neglect among the well-inform- 
 ed, there is reason to believe that their lingering 
 influence is still felt in the superstitions that pre- 
 vail among the vulgar in some parts of Christen- 
 dom. There are nmltitudes who still atti'ibute to 
 the influence of demons much of the wickedness 
 that prevails among mankind, and are even dis- 
 posed to assign to these evil spirits an agency in 
 human affairs that ill-comports with the power 
 and benevolence of the Deity. 
 
 The exclusion of the unlearned from the Chris- 
 tian ministry, so contrary to the example of Christ 
 and the spirit of the gospel, soon began to produce 
 the most bitter fruits, and led to the division of the 
 church into two classes, the clergy and the laity; 
 a distinction that was entirely unknown in the 
 primitive church. 
 
 No sooner was this monopoly established than 
 the clergy began to encroach upon the liberties 
 
11 
 
 of the people, by assuming the right to settle all 
 differences in matters of faith; and the numerous 
 synods and councils they caused to be assembled, 
 composed entirely of ecclesiastics, instead of set- 
 tling their differences, only tended to disturb the 
 peace of the church and scandalize their profes- 
 sion. We find no trace of these councils before 
 the middle of the second century; for in the ear- 
 lier ages of the church those nice points of specu- 
 lative theology, which afterwards caused so much 
 dissention, had been left undetermined; it being 
 the chief concern of the apostles and their im- 
 mediate successors to express the excellence of 
 Christianity by the purity of their lives, rather 
 than to inquire into its doctrines with excessive 
 curiosity. 
 
 No creed or confession of faith had then been 
 adopted; " but all who professed firmly to believe 
 that Jesus was the Redeemer of the world, and 
 who, in consequence of this profession, promised 
 to live in a manner conformable to his holy reli- 
 gion, were immediately received among the dis- 
 ciples of Christ.* 
 
 During the apostolic age, nothing was deter- 
 mined without the consent and approbation of the 
 people, for all were united together in the bonds 
 of Christian love; the Spirit of Divine grace was 
 acknowledged as the governing principle; and 
 every member moving under this influence might 
 speak his opinion. The bishops, presbyters, or 
 elders, which were only different names for the 
 same office, so far from arrogating to themselves 
 
 * Moshiem, p. 42. 
 
12 
 
 the control over tlie whole body, were "examples 
 to the flock'' and servants of the church. But 
 the councils assembled in the second and third 
 centuries changed the whole face of affairs, by 
 diminishing the privileges of the people and aug- 
 menting the power of the clergy. 
 
 The bishops did not at once assume the au- 
 thority with which they were afterwards invest- 
 ed. Their encroachments were gradual. At 
 their first appearance in these councils they were 
 considered only as the delegates of their respec- 
 tive churches, and acted in the name and on be- 
 half of the people. "But they soon changed this 
 humble tone, imperceptibly extended the limits 
 of their authority, turned their influence into do- 
 minion and their counsels into laws, and openly 
 asserted, at length, that Christ had empowered 
 them to prescribe authorative rules of faith and 
 manners."* " They had the address to persuade 
 the people that the ministers of the Christian 
 church succeeded to all the rights and privileges 
 of the Jewish priesthood, and this was a source 
 of honor and profit to the sacred order." * 
 
 Hence the rise of tythes, first fruits, splendid 
 garments and titles of honor by which the clergy 
 became distinguished. 
 
 This great change in the character and consti- 
 tution of the Christian system did not immediately 
 prevail in all the churches which were scattered 
 throughout the Roman empire. In some places 
 they were protected by their poverty from the en- 
 croachments of the clergy; and in others they 
 
 • Moshicm, vol. 1, p. 60. 
 
13 
 
 ^'ere favored with ministers who could not be 
 'dazzled by the display of erudition, nor seduced 
 by the allurements of luxury. 
 
 The persecution they endured under several of 
 the Roman emperors had also a salutary effect in 
 preserving the purity of the church, by repelling 
 from its communion those, who, from unworthy 
 motives, might have been induced to profess the 
 Christian name. These persecutions were some- 
 times undertaken to gratify the arbitrary will of 
 the emperors; but not unfrequently they were in- 
 stigated by the bigotry of the pagan priesthood 
 and the clamor of a superstitious people. 
 
 The numerous train of priests and augurs, who 
 found lucrative employment in the heathen tem- 
 ples, saw that their craft was in danger; for the 
 triumph of Christianity must be attended by the 
 downfall of paganism. In order to rouse the pre- 
 judices of the populace, they accused the Chris- 
 tians with being the enemies of the gods, and the 
 haters of mankind. 
 
 Thus it happened, as in the case of Socrates 
 at Athens, an attempt to lift the veil which con- 
 'cealed the deformity of paganism, roused in the 
 breasts of a superstitious people the most malig- 
 nant passions; and the inculcation of the most 
 sublime of all religious truths, the unity and 
 spirituality of the Supreme Being, was branded 
 with the odious name of atheism. The fires of 
 persecution were lighted, — the most agonizing 
 tortures were inflicted upon venerable men and 
 delicate women, — the wild beasts of the amphi- 
 theatre were let loose upon the unoffending vic- 
 tims; but still the Christian martyrs remained un- 
 2 
 
14 
 
 dismayed, — refused to renounce that faith which 
 was the crown of their rejoicing, — &,ad died in the 
 full assurance of a blessed immortality. Notwith- 
 standing the odium that attended the profession of 
 the cross, multitudes were convinced by the con- 
 stancy of the martyrs, and every act of persecu- 
 tion enlarged the boundaries of the church. 
 
 But now the scene is about to change: the em- 
 peror, Constantine, makes a public profession of 
 Christianity, and although he still tolerates, for a 
 while, the religion of his ancestors, he employs 
 all the influence of his station and the patronage 
 of the state, to advance the interests of the church 
 and promote the power and dignity of the clergy. 
 This event, which was hailed by the Christians 
 with transports of joy, and considered the harbin- 
 ger of happier days, proved to be the means of 
 corrupting the Christian ministry and hastening 
 the progress of the apostacy. 
 
 In proportion as wealth and honors were lavish- 
 ed upon the clergy, their stations became an ob- 
 ject of ambition, and the sacred office was soon 
 filled by men who were actuated by base and un- 
 worthy motives. This was especially the case in 
 Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria, 
 where the churches were richly endowed and 
 presented to the aspiring clergy a tempting object 
 of pursuit, which was seldom attained without 
 vehement contention. The ecclesiastical writers 
 afford abundant evidence, that soon after the ac- 
 cession of Constantine, A. D. 306, the spirit of 
 disputation, which had before been introduced by 
 scholastic theology, but had hitherto been sup- 
 pressed by the pagan power, burst into an open 
 
15 
 
 flame and involved the churches in a general 
 conflict. 
 
 The principal subject of dispute in the fourth 
 century, was the doctrine of three persons in the 
 God-head; a subject, "which in the three preced- 
 ing centuries had happily escaped the vain curi- 
 osity of human researches, and been left unde- 
 fined and undetermined by any particular set of 
 ideas." Previous to this time, "nothing had been 
 dictated on this head to the faith of Christians, 
 nor were there any modes of expression prescribed 
 as requisite to be used in speaking of this myste- 
 ry." "Hence it happened that the Christian 
 doctors entertained different sentiments upon this 
 subject without giving the least offence."* "In 
 Egypt and the adjacent countries, the greater 
 part embraced in this, as in other matters, the 
 opinion of Origin, who held that the Son was in 
 God, that which reason is in man, and that the 
 Holy Ghost was nothing more than the Divine 
 energy or active force."* The origin of the dis- 
 putes respecting this doctrine took place in an 
 assembly of the presbyters of Alexandria. The 
 bishop of that city, whose name was Alexander,, 
 " maintained that the Son was co-eternal and of 
 the same essence and dignity with the Father." 
 But "Arius, one of the presbyters, disputed this 
 position, and contended that the Son, although the 
 first and noblest of created beings, was not co- 
 eternal with the Father, and therefore inferior to 
 him, both in nature and dignity."! This dispute, 
 
 * Moshiein, E. H., 4th century, part 2nd. 
 t Moshiem, 4th century. Jones, I. p. 292- 
 
16 
 
 which is known by the name of the "Arian con- 
 troversy," soon grew so violent and extended so- 
 widely, that the emperor Constantino became con- 
 cerned for the peace and reputation of the church; 
 and he endeavored by expostulation and entreaty 
 to restore harmony between the contending par- 
 ties. Finding his efforts unavailing, he summon- 
 ed a general council of bishops to meet at Nice, 
 in Bythinia, A. D. 325. The number of bishops 
 was 318, besides a multitude of presbyters and 
 deacons, amounting in the whole to 2048 persons. 
 Constantine met in person with this ecclesiastical 
 assembly, and the first thing they did, before pro- 
 ceeding to business, was to commence complain- 
 ing of each other before tbe emperor, and vindi- 
 cating themselves. He listened with patience to 
 their disputes, and desired them to reduce their 
 complaints to writing, which being done, he threw 
 all the billets unopened into the fire, saying, that 
 it did not belong to him to decide the differences 
 of Christian bishops, and the hearing of them must 
 be deferred till the day of judgment. 
 
 The emperor having succeeded in quieting 
 their complaints, they proceeded to consider the 
 business before them, and, after a warm discus- 
 sion of about two months, they drew up a creed, 
 "which they all were required to subscribe as the- 
 only true and orthodox faith, and which, from the 
 place where they were assembled, bears the name 
 of Nicene." 
 
 Arius appeared in the council, and was op- 
 posed by Alexander, who was assisted by Athena- 
 sius, afterwards bishop of Alexandria, and famous 
 as a controversial writer. 
 
17 
 
 The decision of the council was adverse to the 
 doctrines of Arius, whose opinions were condemn- 
 ed, and he and his followers were excommuni- 
 cated. Arius was banished from Alexandria; and 
 an edict was issued by the emperor, commanding 
 that his writings should be destroyed; and any 
 person convicted of concealing them should suffer 
 death. 
 
 At this council the time of holding Easter was 
 also settled, which was considered so important, 
 that it had occasioned the most violent dissentions. 
 The bishops having fulfilled their arduous labors, 
 the emperor filled their pockets, and courteously 
 dismissed them. 
 
 The creed established by this council of con- 
 tentious bishops, and enforced by the sword of a 
 Roman emperor, was so far from healing the dis- 
 sentions of the church, that it only increased the 
 animosity of the two parties, and the persecutin^r 
 edict of Constantine enlisted on the side of Arius 
 the sympathies of the public; so that in the suc- 
 ceeding reign he was recalled from banishment, 
 ^and his party gained the ascendency, when they 
 *in turn persecuted the Athenasian party, and en- 
 deavored to establish their own doctrines by the 
 arm of secular power. 
 
 After various vicissitudes, the Athenasian par- 
 ty finally prevailed over the Arians, and assumed 
 the name of Catholic, or universal church, of 
 which the bishop of Rome was considered the 
 head. 
 
 It appears sufficiently clear, that in the Apes- 
 tohc age the See of Rome enjoyed no kind of su- 
 premacy or control over other churches. 
 
 2* 
 
18 
 
 The plea set up by some writers, that Peter 
 was the prince of the Apostles, and that he found- 
 ed the See of Rome and delegated his authority 
 to his successors, appears to have no other founda- 
 tion than tradition of the most doubtful character. 
 An event so important to the Christian church, 
 could not have been entirely overlooked in the 
 Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles of Paul. 
 Now, we find no mention of it in the Acts ; and 
 Paul, so far from countenancing such a claim, 
 says expressly, that to himself was committed the- 
 ministry of the Gentiles, as that of the circumci- 
 sion had been to Peter. It appears from the most 
 authentic accounts, that in the first and second 
 centuries the bishops of Rome did not enjoy, or 
 even claim any supremacy or authority over 
 other churches. All the bishops were consider- 
 ed as brethren, whose master was Christ; but 
 there were three churches, those of Rome, An- 
 tioch, and Alexandria, which, in consequence of 
 the great number of their members, and the pow- 
 er and dignity of those cities, possessed greater 
 influence than the churches established in smaller 
 cities. 
 
 This influence being delegated to the bishops 
 who represented those churches, gave them great 
 consideration among their brethren, but no au- 
 thority to govern them in matters of faith. 
 
 When the seat of imperial power was transfer- 
 red to Constantinople, the bishop of that cily 
 claimed the same respect that had been awarded 
 to Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. In process 
 of time the churches of Antioch and Alexandria 
 were weakened by various causes, and ultimately 
 almost dcijtroyed by the donuniou of the Saracens. 
 
19 
 
 During this time the power of the Roman bishops 
 was gradually augmented ; but their encroach- 
 ments were resisted by the patriarchs of Constan- 
 tinople, who were considered at the head of the 
 Greek church. From that time to the present 
 the Roman and Greek churches have been at va- 
 riance : they differ from each other in their doc- 
 trine and discipline, but are, perhaps, equally 
 alienated from the purity and simplicity of the 
 Christian dispensation. 
 
 In the latter part of the sixth century John, the 
 patriarch of Constantinople, received the title of 
 universal bishop, which was conferred upon him 
 by a council held in that metropolis. This title 
 was so offensive to Gregory, who about this time 
 assumed the title of pope, that he used every ef- 
 fort to induce the patriarch to renounce it ; and 
 failing in this, he appealed to the emperor Mauri- 
 tius, but without success. Gregory, who has 
 been honored by the Catholic writers with the 
 title of " the great," condemned this " pompous 
 title;" declaring that " whoever adopts or affects 
 the title of universal bishop, has the pride and 
 character of anti-Christ."* Yet this very title, 
 so much abhorred by Gregory, when applied to 
 his rival, was a few years afterwards Solicited by 
 one of his successors, Boniface ITT., on whom it 
 was conferred in the year 606 by the emperor 
 Phocas, one of the most profligate tyrants that 
 ■ever usurped a throne.! 
 
 No sooner had the title of universal bishop been 
 conferred by Phocas on the popes, than they be. 
 
 * Jones i. 381. t Mosbietn, 6th and 7tb centuries. 
 
20 
 
 gan to assume a more extensive authority, and 
 claimed the right to exercise jurisdiction over the 
 whole Catholic church. This claim was for a 
 long time rejected by the other bishops, and re- 
 quired many centuries of persevering efforts for 
 its full establishment. 
 
 Hitherto the popes had only claimed spiritual 
 dominion ; but in the year 754, Papin, (la Bref) 
 king of France, in order to secure his usurped 
 power, made an alliance with pope Stephen, in- 
 vaded Italy, subdued the king of the Lombards, 
 and bestowed a part of his territory upon the 
 bishop of Rome, who from that time became a 
 temporal prince, and held the sword of the magis- 
 trate as well as the ci-osier of the priest. Charle- 
 magne, the successor of Papin, and the most 
 powerful monarch of his age, still further aug- 
 mented the papal power. This renowned con- 
 queror was engaged during many years in bloody 
 wars with the Saxons and Huns, whom he under- 
 took to convert to the Christian religion by force 
 of arms; and he finally succeeded in dragooning 
 them into a profession of Christianity. He sta- 
 tioned among them many bishops and priests, and 
 founded schools and monasteries, in order to com- 
 plete the work begun by his soldiers. Although 
 licentious in morals, his signal services in behalf 
 of the church entitled him to high consideration, 
 and his name stands enrolled in the calendar of 
 Catholic saints. 
 
 After the death of Charlemagne, A. D. 814, 
 the empire was divided among his sons ; and the 
 popes took advantage of their weaknesses to ad- 
 vance their claims. Nicholas I., in the year 858, 
 
was seated in the papal chair, and announced to 
 the world his claim to paramount jurisdiction over 
 all Christian kingdoms, in virtue of his office as 
 the successor of St. Peter. 
 
 This arrogant assumption, thougli at first re- 
 sisted, was, through the weakness and dissentions 
 of the European monarehs, submitted to by many, 
 and in several instances was exercised by hum- 
 bling or deposing the most powerful sovereigns. 
 
 One of the most efficient measures employed to 
 advance the power of the clergy, was the imposi- 
 tion of a vow of celibacy on all who entered the 
 order of the priesthood. By this means they were 
 separated from their connection with society, their 
 individual interests were merged in the general 
 interests of the order, and their energies were de- 
 voted to building up and consolidating the power 
 of the clergy, which was considered as identified 
 with the prosperity of the church. 
 
 During the first three centuries, marriage was 
 permitted to all the members of the church ; and 
 we learn from the Scriptures, that the Apostle 
 Peter had a wife ; and Philip the Evangelist had 
 four daughters, who were all prophetesses. But 
 it appears that in the third century, "those who 
 continued in a state of celibacy obtained by this 
 abstinence a higher reputation of sanctity and 
 virtue than others. 
 
 " This was owing to an almost general persua- 
 sion, that they who took wives were of all others 
 the most subject to the influence of malignant de- 
 mons."* In order to comply with this prevailing 
 
 * Moshiem (3d century) cites Porphyrius. 
 
22 
 
 superstition, many of the clergy lived m a state 
 of celibacy ; but the attempt thus made to coun- 
 tervail the order of nature re-acted upon its au- 
 thors with tremendous effect, and introduced into 
 the church a general corruption of morals. 
 
 This deplorable result was still further aug- 
 mented by the tendency . towards monastic life, 
 which prevailed throughout Christendom. 
 
 It appears that even before the Christian era a 
 portion of the sect of the Essenes retired from so- 
 cial life, and established communities where a 
 rigid abstinence from every pleasure was prac- 
 tised or professed, in order to secure the tranquil- 
 lity and perfection of the soul. 
 
 During the earlier ages of the Christian church, 
 when its members were subjected to persecution 
 and death by their Pagan rulers, great numbers 
 of both sexes fled to deserts Or solitary places, 
 where they obtained a frugal subsistence by the 
 labor of their hands. When persecution ceased, 
 many returned to their homes ; but some having 
 become accustomed to solitude, chose to remain 
 and devote their lives to religious contemplations. 
 
 The example of these anchorites may have 
 been the first step towards monkery, which after- 
 wards became so prevalent throughout Christen- 
 dom ; but about the beginning of the fourth cen- 
 tury the ascetic life was embraced by several 
 fanatics, who attained to great celebrity, and 
 spread far and wide their pernicious supersti- 
 tions. 
 
 Anthony, an illiterate youth of Thebais, in 
 Egypt, distributed his patrimony, renounced so- 
 ciety and kindred, and after a long and painful 
 
23 
 
 sojourn among the tombs, advanced three days' 
 journey into the desert, to- the eastward of the 
 Nile, and fixed his abode in a lonely spot which 
 enjoyed the advantages of shade and water. Here 
 he became an object of curiosity and superstitious 
 reverence, numerous pilgrims resorted to him, 
 and havin"; attained the age of one hundred and 
 five years, he rejoiced in beholding numerous 
 colonies of monks, the fruits of his teaching and 
 example. 
 
 " I'o the south of Alexandria, the mountain 
 and adjacent desert of Nitria were peopled by 
 five thousand anchorets ; and the traveller may 
 still investigate the ruins of fifty monasteries 
 which were planted in that barren soil by the dis- 
 ciples of Anthony."* 
 
 About the middle of the fourth century, "Atha- 
 nasius introduced into Rome the knowledge and 
 [practice of the monastic life," by transferring to 
 that city an Egyptian colony of monks. 
 
 The strange and savage appearance of these 
 ^fanatics at first excited the horror and contempt 
 of the Remans, but at length gained their ap- 
 plause and zealous imitation. 
 
 " The senators, and more especially the ma- 
 trons, transformed their palaces and villas into 
 religious houses, and numerous monasteries were 
 erected on the ruins of the ancient temples. "t 
 
 The infection spread to all parts of the empire: 
 ttlie monasteries of Palestine are represented as 
 '*' innumerable ;" they were also "profusely" 
 scattered on the coast of the Black sea; in Gaul, 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. 2, 385 f Ibid. 386. 
 
in Ireland, and in lona, one of tlie Hebrides, col^ 
 onies were found ; and wherever they appeared 
 they obtained the reverence of a superstitious 
 people. The pure and simple religion of Jesus 
 Christ was corrupted by the monks, who thought, 
 by voluntary penances, to gain the favor of hea- 
 ven, lacerating the body to purify the soul, and 
 substituting a round of useless ceremonies for that 
 pure and spiritual worship which alone is accep- 
 table to the Father of spirits. 
 
 The rapid increase and wide diffusion of the 
 monastic orders is attributed by Moshiem to the 
 doctrines of the New Platonists, introduced in 
 Eigypt by Ammonius about the close of the second 
 century, and subsequently adopted by the teachers 
 of religion in most of the schools of philosophy. 
 
 According to their views, — the matter of which 
 our bodies are composed being naturally inclined 
 to evil, and the soul being also subjected to the 
 influence of evil spirits, which are continually 
 hovering around us, — it becomes necessary to 
 mortify the body by severe penances, in order to. 
 purify the soul from the gross desires of the 
 flesh. 
 
 In an age when superstition was general, there 
 were various motives which prompted to the adop- 
 tion of the monastic life. Some embraced it in 
 youth, under the influence of misguided zeal,— 
 others in old age endeavored to atone for a life of 
 sensuality and crime, by renouncing the pleasures 
 they could no longer enjoy, and spending their 
 few remaining years in voluntary penance. 
 
 The rich were sometimes induced to give up 
 their wealth, to purchase treagiires in heaven; 
 
25 
 
 and the poor and distressed hoped to lind tran- 
 quillity and ease in the seclusion of tlie cloister. 
 
 Thus they renounced the obligations of society, 
 and the pleasures and duties of domestic life, 
 under the vain pretence of devoting themselves to 
 God ; as though it were more acceptable to Him 
 to spend our lives in useless ceremonies, or indo- 
 lent repose, than to be actively engaged in the 
 service of mankind, in imitation of our holy pat- 
 tern, who went about continually doing good. 
 
 To such a pitch of extravagance was this pas- 
 sion carried, that many of these enthusiasts erect- 
 ed for themselves pillars or columns, on the top 
 of which they passed many years of their lives, 
 destitute of shelter, and regardless of the incle- 
 mency of the seasons. 
 
 These were called stylites, or pillar saints. 
 One of them named Simeon, a Syrian monk, 
 passed, in this manner, thirty-seven years of his 
 life, of which the last fifteen were spent on a col- 
 umn sixty feet high. There he went through the 
 various forms of his devotions, sometimes stretch- 
 ing out his arms to make the figure of a cross, 
 but more frequently bowing his emaciated body 
 until his forehead came in contact with his feet. 
 
 " Successive crowds of pilgrims from Gaul and 
 India saluted the pillar of Simeon ; the tribes of 
 Saracens disputed in arms the honor of his bene- 
 diction, the queens of Arabia and Persia grateful- 
 ly confessed his supernatural virtue ; and the an- 
 gelic hermit was consulted by the younger The- 
 odosius in the most important concerns of the 
 church and state. His remains were transported 
 to Antioch by a solemn procession of the patri- 
 3 
 
26 
 
 arch, the master general of the East, six bishops, 
 twenty-one counts or tribunes, and six thousand 
 soldiers. The fame of the Apostles and martyrs 
 was graduall}^ eclipsed by these recent and popu- 
 lar anchorets ; the Christian world fell prostrate 
 before their shrines ; and the miracles ascribed 
 to their relics exceeded, at least in number and 
 duration, the spiritual exploits of their lives."* 
 
 As superstition increased and extended its sway, 
 the passion for relics, the adoration of images, the 
 invocation of saints, and the performance of pil- 
 grimages became general among the professors of 
 Christianity, and afforded another source of wealth 
 and power to the clergy. 
 
 No place of worship was in favor with the 
 people, unless it could boast of having the bones 
 of a martyr, a wonder-working image of the Vir- 
 gin, or at least something that had been once in 
 contact with the sacred remains of a saint. To 
 illustrate this superstition I will quote a letter 
 written towards the close of the sixth century by 
 pope Gregory I., to whom the Greek empress 
 had applied for tlie body of the Apostle Paul, to 
 be placed in a church at Constantinople. 
 
 Gregory informs her that she has solicited what 
 he dares not grant ; for, says he, " the bodies of 
 the Apostles Peter and Paul are so terrible by 
 their miracles, that there is reason to apprehend 
 danger in approaching even to pray to them. My 
 predecessor wanted to make some alterations in a 
 silver ornament on the body of St. Peter, at the 
 distance of fifteen feet, when an awful vision ap- 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. 2. p. 394. 
 
27 
 
 peared to him, which was followed by his deatJr. 
 I myself wished to repair somewhat about the 
 body of St. Paul ; and with a view to that, had 
 occasion to dig a little near his sepulchre, wherj, 
 in digging, the superior of the place raising some 
 bones apparently unconnected with the sacred 
 tomb, had a dismal vision after it and suddenly 
 died. In like manner, the workman and the 
 monks, not knowing precisely the tomb of St. 
 Lawrence, accidentally opened it, and having 
 seen the body, though he did not touch it, died in 
 ten days. Wherefore, madam, the Romans, in 
 granting relics, do not touch the saints' bodies ; 
 they only put a little linen in a box, which they 
 place near them ; after some time they withdraw 
 it, and deposite the box and linen solemnly in the 
 church which they mean to dedicate. This linen 
 performs as many miracles as if they had trans- 
 ported the real body. In the time of pope Leo 
 some Greeks doubting the virtue of such relics, 
 he took a pair of scissors, as we are assured, and 
 cuttincr the linen, forthwith the blood flowed from 
 
 it." 
 
 He, however, tells the empress that he will en- 
 deavor to send her a few grains of the chain which 
 had been on Paul's neck and hands, and which 
 had been found peculiarly efficacious, provided 
 they succeeded, which was not always the case, 
 in filing them off.* 
 
 I have given a rapid sketch of the causes which 
 led to the corruption of Christianity, and some of 
 the steps by which an apostate persecuting church 
 
 * Jones, vol. 1, p. 360. Fleury's Ecc. Hist., tome viii. p. 
 91,93. 
 
28 
 
 arrived at tlie sujumit of power. VVe see that her 
 encroachments were at first gradual and almost 
 imperceptible ; for in the first stage of her pro- 
 gress she could have had no prospect of the giddy- 
 height lo which she afterwards attained. In pro- 
 portion as the priesthood became enriched, they 
 aspired to power, and indulged in luxury, until, 
 at length, their arrogance knew no bounds, and 
 their vices were proverbial throughout Christen- 
 dom. During that mournful period which elapsed 
 between the ninth and the sixteenth centuries, the 
 state of religion was truly deplorable : the worr 
 ship of images and relics was almost every where 
 practised, — pretended miracles at the shrines of 
 the saints were devoutly believed by the vulgar; 
 the sacred Scriptures were hidden from the people, 
 and almost unknown to the clergy ; worship was 
 performed in a dead language; the hard earnings 
 of the poor, and the righes of the great, were ta- 
 ken to purchase masses for the dead, and indul- 
 gences for the living ; the terrors of the inquisi- 
 tion repressed the spirit of inquiry, and impaired 
 the confidence of social life ; and, in fact, every 
 thing seemed to proclaim that the powers of dark- 
 ness had taken possession of the human mind. 
 
 But let us not suppose that the knowledge of 
 Divine Truth was banished from the earth ; the 
 church of Christ was indeed oppressed and afflict- 
 ed, but not destroyed ; the outer court was trod- 
 den down by the Gentiles, but true worship was 
 still performed by a faithful few in the inner 
 .sanctuary of the heart. Notwithstanding the 
 general corruption of manners that prevailed, 
 there were, doubtless, many pure spirits that 
 
29 
 
 tnourned in secret for the desolations of Zion ; 
 and many true liearts tliat did not bow the knee 
 to Baal, nor kiss his image. Even in the clois- 
 ters of the monks and nuns, so generally the 
 abodes of sloth and licentiousness, some sincere 
 worshippers were found, who, like Thomas a Kem- 
 pis, retired from the world to seek for spiritual 
 comfort in communion with God. But there was 
 another class of worshippers far more interesting 
 to us, and by no means inconsiderable in num- 
 ber, whose histoiy I propose to examine in ano- 
 ther chapter. 
 
 These were the dissenters from the established 
 churches, who for many centuries bore witness 
 to the truth, and protested against the usurpations 
 of the clergy. 
 
 The brightness of their example softened the 
 gloom that settled over the Christian church, du- 
 ring the long dark period of the middle ages ; as 
 the twinkling of a solitary star, in a tempestuous 
 night, serves to keep alive the hopes of the dis- 
 tressed mariner, until the morning star appears, 
 and gives the promise of another glorious day. 
 
30 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 History of the Novatians, Paulicians^ and Albi- 
 genses. 
 
 Having in ihe first chapter taken a view of the 
 causes which led to the corruption of Christianity, 
 and irjvolved its professors in the dark clouds of 
 ignorance and superstition, I sjjall now proceed 
 to describe some of those Christian churches, or 
 sects, wiiich dissented from the doctrines and 
 withdrew from the communion of the Latin and 
 Greek churches. 
 
 The purity of manners exhibited by these dis- 
 senters, the firmness with which they resisted the 
 encroachments of the bishops, and their constancy 
 in the midst of persecution and extreme sufferings, 
 cannot fail to awaken the interest, and call forth 
 the admiration of every benevolent heart. 
 
 By means of their faithfulness, a succession of 
 witnesses has been preserved from the Apostolic 
 age down to the present time; and although they 
 have prophesied in sackcloth, and borne the odious 
 name of heretics, even their persecutors have 
 been compelled to acknowledge the spotless pu- 
 rity of their lives. The knowledge we have of 
 these dissenters in ancient times is chiefly derived 
 from the writings of their adversaries, who, while 
 they bear witness to the excellence of their moral 
 character, afJect to consider them the worst of 
 heretics, because they denied the supremacy of 
 
31 
 
 (he pope, and bore a testimony ag.sinst the sacrifice 
 of the mass, the worship of imajjes and relics, ihe 
 invocation of saints, and the vices of the cleroy. 
 
 These dissenters were known by Viiiious names, 
 such as Novatians, Calhari, Pau!ici;in?, Paterines, 
 Waldenses, Albigenses, VVickliffiles, and Bohe- 
 mian Brethren. 
 
 Even before the time of Constantine the Great, 
 a pastor of one of the churches in Rome, whose 
 name was Novatian, separated from the Catholic 
 party, on the ground that their discipline was too 
 much relaxed, and their communion degraded, by 
 receiving back into membership those who, in 
 times of persecution, had denie(] the faith and 
 fallen into idolatry. He also complained that the 
 attention of the people had been transferred by 
 the bishops from the great principles of religion, 
 and fixed upon vain shows and ceremonies bor- 
 rowed from the Jewish law, and the institutions of 
 paganism. ^' Great numbers followed the exam- 
 ple of Novatian; and all over the empire Puritan 
 churches were constituted, and flourished through 
 the succeeding two hundred years. Afterwards, 
 when penal laws obliged them to lurk in corners 
 and worship God in private, ihey were distin- 
 guished by a variety of names, and a succession 
 of them continved till the Reformation.^' 'I'his 
 accotmt, taken from Robert Robinson's Ecclesi- 
 astical Researches, does not entirely correspond 
 with the views tfjat Moshiem an<l some olhers 
 have taken of the secession of Novatian. These 
 writers concur with the Catholics in blaming him 
 for the severity of his discipline, which, they al- 
 
lef,'e. inflicted n needless woutid nn the peace of 
 the church. 
 
 [t is, however, a('knovvle(l<rcH by all, that there 
 was at this time, in most of the churches, an 
 alarrninix tendency to pomp and luxury on the 
 part of the clerjiy, accompanied in many instances 
 by vices which dishonored their profession.* This 
 being the case, it is obvious that the secession of 
 some part of the church, in order to establish a 
 purer discipline, would have a salutary influence 
 upon the whole. Whatever may have been the 
 motives which prompted Novalian, there is suffi- 
 cient evidence that the members of the churches 
 which bore his name, and who were sometimes 
 called Cathari, or Puritans, from the strictness of 
 their morals, were a worthy and exemplary peo- 
 ple. 
 
 When the emperor Constantine the Great 
 condemned the errors of the Manicheans and 
 their kindred sects, he directed a civil magistrate 
 to inquire into the principles of the Novatians; 
 and being convinced of" their orthodox fliith and 
 exemplary morals,'" he issued an edict in their fa- 
 vor, exempting from the penalties of the law, and 
 allowing them to build a church at Constantino- 
 ple. t "One charge against them was, that they 
 did not pay due reverence to the martyrs, nor al- 
 low that there was any virtue in their relics;"^ 
 which is an evidence of their good sense, and 
 shows that, even in that early age, superstition 
 ond idolatry were creeping into the church, 
 
 * Moshicni, 3d century, part ii. chap. ii. 
 t Gibbon, 1. 436. t Jones, i. 315. 
 
3$ 
 
 Durinu: ihe reign of Constantlrie, the Novalians 
 were sulbjected to a cruel persecution by Mace- 
 doniua, bishop or patriarch of Constantinople. 
 Being informed that a large district in Paphligo- 
 nia was inhabited almost entirely by them, he re- 
 solved either to convert or extirpate them; and 
 for this purpose sent an army of four thousand 
 troops to subdue them. The Novatian peasants, 
 driven to despair, defended themselves with scythes 
 ond axes, and repulsed the invaders.* Although 
 often subjected to persecution, this is the only in- 
 stance I find in which they resisted j About the 
 same time the most violent conflicts took place in 
 Constantinople between the Arians and Athana- 
 sians, in which many lives were lost. One of 
 their battles took place in a churc-h, of which the 
 courts and porticos overflowed with blood. 
 
 A circumstance is mentioned by an ancient 
 historian, which reflects great credit upon the 
 Novatians. Durhig the reign of the emperor 
 Valens, in the fourth century, the^ Arians had the 
 ascendency, and a violent persecution was waged 
 against the Alhanasian party. 
 
 The Novatians were at first included in this 
 persecution; but through the influence of Mar- 
 cian, one of their presbyters, ihey secured tolera- 
 tion for themselves, and extended much liberality 
 and kindness towards the Catholic party, by whom 
 they had formerly been persecuted.! 
 
 In the fifth century the Novati;ins were found 
 in Kgy})t; and we learn from Gibbon, that one 
 of the first acts of Cyril, the fatuous archbishop 
 
 * Gibbon, i. 467. f Jones, i. 3!5. 
 
34 
 
 of Alexandria, was lo persecute these people, 
 *Mhe most innocent and harmless of all the sec- 
 taries,''' and " to interdict their religious wor- 
 ship."* 
 
 About the middle of the seventh century ano- 
 ther sect of dissenters arose in the east, under the 
 name of Paulicians, which, for the sufferings they 
 endured and the excellence of some of their tes- 
 timonies, demand a share of our attention. 
 
 An obscure individual named Constantine, who 
 lived in a village near Samosata, entertained a 
 stranger who was returning from Syrian caj)tivity, 
 and from him received the inestimable gift of tlie 
 New Testament, which was then almost lost to 
 the world, being concealed by the clergy from 
 the eyes of the vulgar. 
 
 This book became the constant study of Con- 
 stantii>e, and enabled him to discover that the 
 gospel of Christ had been almost obliterated by 
 superstitious observances and the inventions of 
 men. lie was particularly attached to the writings 
 of the apostle Paul, and from this circumstance 
 it is supposed that the name of Paulicians was de- 
 rived, which was bestowed upon him and his ad- 
 herents. Constantino took tlie name of Sylvanus, 
 and liis fellow-laborers were known by the appel- 
 lations of 'I'itus, Timothy, atid Tychicus, which 
 they adopted from the writings of their favorite 
 author. The doctrines of this sect are only known 
 through the writings of their adversaries, and have 
 probably been much niisreprer^ented m many pnr- 
 liculars; but there is no doubt they bore a faithful 
 
 * Gibbon, iii. 249. 
 
35 
 
 testimony against the worship of images and relics, 
 and the invocation of saints, which had then be- 
 come almost universal in the Greek and Latin 
 churches. 
 
 They were accused hy llieir enemies with the 
 heresy of the Manicheans, who blended the doc- 
 trines of the gospel with the speculations of the 
 Persian Magians; but they disclaimed the imputa- 
 tion, and professed to be the simple votaries of 
 St. Paul and of Christ. 
 
 Whatever may have t)een their doctrinal views, 
 there is reason to believe that the strictness of 
 their morals, and their open contempt of the su- 
 perstitions of the age, were the chief causes that 
 drew upon them the hatred of a mercenary priest- 
 hood, who instigated the persecutions they en- 
 dured. 
 
 ♦'The Paulici:in teachers were distinguished 
 only by their scriptural names, by the modest title 
 of fellow pilirrims, by the austerity of their lives, 
 their zeal or knowledge, and the credit of some 
 extraordinary gifts of the [loly Spirit."* " But 
 ti)ey were incapable of <lesiring, or at least of ob- 
 taining the wealth and honors of the Catholic 
 prelacy; such anti-christian pride they bitterly 
 censured, and even the rank of elders or presby- 
 ters was condemned as an institution of the Jew- 
 ish synagogue."* 
 
 Their proselytes soon became rmmerous, and 
 they estai)li«hed churches throughout the "pro- 
 vinces of Asia Minor, to the westward of the Eu- 
 phrates." Syivanus, after having labored in this 
 
 * Gibbon ch. 54. 
 
8(5 
 
 cause for twenty-seven years, ''retired from under 
 the tolerating government of the Arabs, and fell 
 a sacrifice to Roman persecution." 
 
 Simeon, a Greek minister, armed with military 
 and legal power, -'appeared at Colonia to strike 
 the shepherd, and, if possible, reclaim the lost 
 sheep to the Catholic fold. By a refinement of 
 cruelty, he placed the unfortunate Sylvanus be- 
 fore a line of his disciples, who were commanded, 
 as the price of their pardon and proof of their re- 
 pentance, to massacre their spiritual father. They 
 turned aside from the impious office; the stones 
 dropped from their filial hands, and of the whole 
 number only one executioner could be found, — a 
 new D.ivid, as he is styled by the Catholics, who 
 boldly overthrew the giant of heresy. Tliis apos- 
 tate, Justus was his name, again deceived and 
 betrayed his unsuspecting brethren, and a new 
 conformity to the acts of St. Paul may be found 
 in the conversion of Simeon; like the apostle, he 
 embraced the doctrines which he had been sent 
 to persecute, renounced his honors and fortunes, 
 and acquired among the Paulicians the fame of 
 a missionary and a martyr."* 
 
 For a period of one hundred and fifty years this 
 people sustained with patience all the sufferings 
 that the most relentless biijotry could inflict. — 
 Several of the emperors of Constantinople signal- 
 ized their zeal for the form of religion, by perse- 
 cuting the unoffending Paulicians; but it was re- 
 served for the empress 'i'heodora, who restored 
 the images to the oriental churches, to manifeit 
 
 •Gibbon, ch. 54. 
 
37 
 
 her sanfTuinary devotion by waging against them 
 an exterminating war. It was the boast of her 
 flatterers, tliat, during her short reign, one hun- 
 dred thousand Pauhcians were extirpated by the 
 sword, tlie gibbet, and the flames. 
 
 Many of them being driven from their homes 
 found llieir way into Europe, where we shall find 
 Iheui introducing their religious views and esta- 
 blishino societie.^; some of them were driven by 
 persecution to revolt and oppose by force of arms 
 the sanguinary rulers of their country. In the 
 mountain fastnesses of Armenia they fortified 
 themselves, and long maintained their indepen- 
 dence; but after a tedious and harassing warfare, 
 theii* stronghold was taken, many were put to the 
 sword, and a remnant of this onc5 nuiiierous peo- 
 ple found on the banks of the F^jphrates a refuge 
 among the Saracens.* 
 
 It appears that a colony of Paulicians was set- 
 tled in Thrace about the middle of the eighth 
 century, and was in the tenth century augmented 
 by a large reinforcement, who were, by the Greek 
 ^emperor, John Zimisces. granted a free tolera- 
 tion. "^ In the eleventh century the Greek empe- 
 ror, Alexius Comnenus, who was distinguished 
 for his learning, undertook in person the difficult 
 task of bringing over to the orthodox faith the 
 Paulicians in Thrace and Bulgaria. He went to 
 Philippolis, their chief town, and spent whole days 
 in disputing with their principal teachers; but not 
 content with the arms which logic and rhetoric 
 supplied, he held out tempting rewards to those 
 
 * Gibbon, ch. 54. 
 
38 
 
 who should renounce their principles, and inflict- 
 ed severe punishments on the unyiehling. 
 
 In order to avoid the persecution of the Greek 
 church, or with a view to disseminate their prin- 
 ciples, many of the Paulicians of Thrace and Bul- 
 garia emigrated and spread themselves through 
 several countries of Europe. Their first resting 
 place was in Italy, whence, in process of time, 
 they sent colonies into almost all the other pro- 
 vinces of Europe, where their opinions took root, 
 and congregations were formed, which afterwards 
 endured the most severe persecution from the 
 Roman pontiffs. In Italy they were called Pa- 
 lerini and Cathari, and in France, Bulgarians. 
 
 The first religious assembly which the Pauli- 
 cians formed in France was, according to Mo- 
 ehiem, at Orleans, and its principal members 
 were twelve canons of the cathedral, men emi- 
 nently distinguished by their learning and piety. 
 These canons and their adherents were accused 
 by a monk of holding the doctrines of the Mani- 
 cheans, upon which a council was held to try 
 them, and they were condemned to be burnt 
 alive. Dr. Moshiem, with strange inconsistency, 
 calls (hem a ''pernicious sect;" yet he informs us 
 that *♦ even their enemies acknowledged the sin- 
 cerity of their piety, although they blackened them 
 with accusations which were evidently false." — 
 He says they were " a set of mystics who looked 
 with contempt upon all external worship, rejected 
 aW rites and ceremonies, and even the Christian 
 sacraments, as destitute of any, even the least spi- 
 ritual efficacy or virtue, — placed the whole of re- 
 ligion in the internal contemplation of God, and 
 
39 
 
 (he elevation of llje soul lo divine and celestial 
 tliiiiijis; and in llieir philaso[)hical speculations 
 concerning God, the Trinity, and the human soul, 
 soared above the ajje in which they lived. A like 
 set of men proceeded in vast numbers out of Italy 
 in the fullowing ages, spread like an inundation 
 through all the European provinces, and were 
 known in Germany under the name of the Breth- 
 ren of the Free Spirit, while they were distinguish- 
 ed in other countries by the appellation of Beg- 
 hards." 
 
 The same author mentions another branch of 
 this numerous sect who were converted or con- 
 vinced of thoir alleged errors by a discourse of 
 Gerard, bishop of Cambray and Arras, in the 
 year 1030. They maintained in general accord- 
 ing to Their own confession, that the whole of re- 
 ligion consisted in the study of •practical piety^ 
 and in a course of action corformahle to the Di- 
 vine laws; and they treated all external modes of 
 worship with the utmos-t contempt. Tiieir par- 
 ticular tenets may be reduced to the foUowinsf 
 heads: 
 
 1. They rejected baptism, and more especially 
 the baptism of infants, as a ceremony that was in 
 no re.-;pect essential to salvation. 2. They re- 
 jected, for the same reason, the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper. 3. They denied tlial churches 
 were more holy than private houses, or that they 
 were inore adapted to the worship of God than 
 any otlier place. 4. Tiiey affirmed that altars 
 were unworthy of any marks of veneration and 
 regard. 5. 'i'hey di.sa improved of the use of in- 
 cense and consceiatcii oil in reliuious services. 
 
40 
 
 6. They looked upon the use of bells in churches 
 as an intolerable superstition. 7. They denied that 
 the establishment of bishops, presbyters, deacons, 
 and other ecclesiastical dignities, was of Divine 
 tnstitution, and went so far as to maintain that the 
 appointment of stated ministers in the church was 
 entirely unnecessary. 8. They affirmed that the 
 institution of funeral rites was an effect of sacer- 
 dotal avarice, and thai it was a matter of indif- 
 ference whether the dead were buried in churches 
 or in the fields. 9. They looked upon the volun- 
 tary punishment, called penance, so o;enerally 
 practised, as unprofitable and absurd. lO./Fhey 
 denied that the sins of departed spirits could be 
 in any measure atoned for by masses, the distri- 
 bution of alms to the poor, or a vicarious pen- 
 ance; and they consequently treated the doctrine 
 of purgatory as a ridiculous fable. 11. They 
 considered marriage a pernicious institution. — 
 12. They thouglit a certain sort of veneration 
 was due to the apostles and martyrs, but consid- 
 ered the bodies of the confessors as no more sa- 
 cred than any other human carcass. 13. 'i'hey 
 disapproved of the use of instrumental music in 
 religious worship. 14. "^J'hey denied that the 
 cross, on which Christ sufiered, was any more 
 sacred than other kinds of wood, and refused to 
 worship it. 15. They refused all acts of adora- 
 tion to the images of Christ, and of the saints, 
 and were for having them removed out of the 
 churches. 16. They were shocked at the sub- 
 ordination and distinctions established among the 
 clergy. 
 
41 
 
 II is remarked, with much reason, by the editor 
 of Mosliiem's History, that, "The 11th article, as 
 here expressed, in relation to marriage, is hardly 
 credible. It is more reasonable to suppose that 
 these Mystics did not absolutely condemn mar- 
 riage, but only held celibacy in higher esteem, as 
 a mark of superior sanctity and virtue." 
 
 'I'his account is more full and explicit, with re- 
 gard to the religious opinions of the Mystics of 
 the middle ages, than any I have met with; and 
 corresponding as it does in several particulars 
 with the opinions attributed to the Paulician mar- 
 tyrs, who suffered at Orleans, we may reasonably 
 conclude that many of these views were enter- 
 tained by the kindred sects of Cathari or Puritans, 
 who were then so numerous in several parts of 
 Europe. 
 
 It is remarked by Hallam, in relation to the 
 Catharists, whom he styles ''a fraternity of Pauli- 
 cian origin,'' that "their belief was a compound 
 of strange errors with truth; but it was attended 
 by qualities of h. far superior lustre to orthodoxy, 
 by a sincerity, a piety, and a self-devotion^ that 
 almost purified the age in which they lived. ^^ *'It 
 is always important to perceive that these high 
 moral excellencies have no necessary connexion 
 wiih speculative truths.' The same author ob- 
 serves, that in tracing the revolutions of popular 
 opinion, he is inclined to attribute a very exten- 
 sive effect to the preachirjg of these iieretics. — 
 'I'hey appear in various countries nearly during 
 the same period; in Spain, Lombardy, Germany, 
 Flanders and England, as well as France. Thirty 
 unhappy persorys, convicted of denying the sacra- 
 4* 
 
nienls, are said to luive perished at Oxford hy cold 
 and famine, in the reigii of Henry If. In every 
 country the new sects appear to have spread 
 chiefly among the h)\ver people, which, wliile it 
 accounts for tlie imperfect notice of liistorians, 
 indicates a more substantial influence upon the 
 moral condition of society than tlie conversion of 
 a few nobles and ecclesiastics." * 
 
 The Albigenses of Languedoc are, by some 
 authors, considered a branch of the Paulicians, 
 and by others they are identified with the Wal- 
 densea. The former opirMon Is embraced by 
 Moshiem, Gibbon, and llallam; the latter by 
 Jones and I'eyran. 
 
 After consulting such authors as are within my 
 reach, I have come to the conclusion expressed 
 m a note to Moshiem's account of this sect in the 
 thirteenth century. He says the term Albigenses 
 is used in two senses, of which one is general, and 
 the other more confined. In the n)ore general 
 and extensive sense, it comprehends all the various 
 kinds of heretics (or dissenters from Ihe church 
 of Rome) who resided at that time in Narbonne 
 Gaul, i. e. the southern part of France. 
 
 The term Albigenses, in its more confined 
 sense, was used to denote those heretics who in- 
 clined towards the Manichean system, and who 
 were otherwise known by the name of Catharists, 
 Publicans or Paulicians, and Bulgarians. This 
 appears, evidently, from many incontestable au- 
 thorities, and more especially from the Codese 
 Inquisitionis Tolosande, (published in Lernberch's 
 
 * Hallam's Middle Agcb.'p. 506. 
 
i;3 
 
 History of llie Inquisition) in which the Albi- 
 genses arc carefully distinguished from the other 
 sects that made a noise in tijat century.* I am 
 therefore obhged, in this case, to dissent from liie 
 opinion expressed by Jones, in his excellent His- 
 tory of the VValdenses, who considers the Albi- 
 genses as a branch of that church. I am the 
 more inclined to consider the Albi«;ensos a dif- 
 ferent sect from the circumstance of their defend- 
 ing themselves when attacked, which appears not 
 to have been done by the VValdenses, so early as 
 the thirteenth century. Gibbon says it was in 
 the country of the Abigeois, in the southern pro- 
 vinces of France, that the Pauiicians were most 
 deeply implanted; and the same vicissitudes of 
 martyrdom and revenge which had been displayed 
 in the neighborhood of liie Euphrates, were re- 
 pealed in the thirteenth century on the banks of 
 the Rhone.! 
 
 In the year 1163, "a synod was convened at 
 Tours, a city of France, at which all the bishops 
 and priests of the country of Toulouse, in Lan- 
 guedoc, were strictly enjoined to forbid, under 
 pain of excommunication, every person from pre- 
 suming to give reception or the least assistance 
 to the followers of this heresy, to have no dealings 
 with them in buying or selling, that thus being 
 deprived of the common necessaries of life they 
 might be compelled to repent of the evil of their 
 way." And further, '' that as many of them as 
 could be found should be imprisoned by the 
 
 * Moshiem's Ecc. History, 13th century. 
 •! History of Decline and Fall, chap. hv. 
 
44 
 
 Catholic princes, and punished wilh the furfeiture 
 of all their substance." 
 
 Many of these persecuted peo[)le having fled 
 into Spain, the king, Ildefonser?, issued a severe 
 and bloody edict for their expulsion. Notwith- 
 standing the severe measures adopted to expel 
 thenj from France, tfiey continued to increase, 
 and in the " year 1200, the city of Toulouse and 
 eighteen other prinri[)al towns in lianguedoc, 
 Provence and Daupliine, were fdled with Wal- 
 denses and Alhigenses." * Finding the perse- 
 cuting decree of the synod insuflicient, the Court 
 of Rome proceeded to anathematize the Wal- 
 denses, Puritans and Paterines, and the Catholic 
 princes were called upon to assist the bishops 
 with the power of the sword. In the beginning 
 of the thirteenth century, a crusade was preached 
 against the Albigenses, and the soldiers who en- 
 gaged in this " holy war" were promised not only 
 the plunder of their innocent victims, but a ple- 
 nary indulgence fur all their sins, and a certain 
 passport to heaven. At this stage of the proceed- 
 ings a discussion was proposed, or agreed upon, 
 in which umpires were chosen, and some of the 
 pastors of the Albigenses engaged in arijument 
 with the Pope's legates, and others of the Catholic 
 clergy. 
 
 VVhile the controversy was proceeding, and 
 Arnold Hot, on behalf of the Albigenses, after 
 making an eloquent defence of their doctrines, 
 was calling on the. Catholics to defend themselves, 
 it was announced that the "army of the crusaders 
 
 * Jones' Church History, vol. ii, p. 113. 
 
45 
 
 was at hand." The papal farces immediately 
 proceeded, with warlike weapons, and fire and 
 fagot, to put an end to the controversy wiiich the 
 arguments of the priests had failed to decide. 
 
 The armies employed in tiiis service by Pope 
 Innocent III., destroyed above two hundred thou- 
 sand of the Albigenses in the short space of a i'ew 
 months. Raymond, Count of Toulouse, in whose 
 territories they chiefly resided, still humanely ex- 
 tended to them his protection, vi'hich drew down 
 upon him the resentment of the Pope, who issued 
 a bull of excommunication against him, and ab- 
 solved his subjects from their oaths of allegiance. 
 Raymond not being intimidated by these wicked 
 measures, an army of one hundred thousand cru- 
 saders was brought against him, which induced 
 him to make his submission to the Pope, who im- 
 posed upon him the most humiliating conditions. 
 Notwithstanding the count's submission, the im- 
 mense army of the crusaders still proceeded with 
 their work of devastation and bloodshed. Ray- 
 mond had a nephew by the name of Roger, Earl 
 of Beziers, who took up the sword to defend him- 
 self and his subjects. His capital, the city of Be- 
 ziers, being invested by the enemy, was compelled 
 to surrender, and every individual, to the number 
 of twenty-three thf^usand, put to the sword. 
 
 There being many Catholics among the inhabi- 
 tants, the crusaders hesitated as to what they 
 should do with them; when application being 
 made to the Abbe of Cisteaux, the commander, 
 he replied, "Kill them all,— the Lord knoweth 
 them (hat are his." 
 
46 
 
 The Earl of D<?zier3, foreseeint; the result of 
 tlie seitje, made his escape, and withdrew to the 
 city of Carcasorme. Here he was again sur- 
 rounded by the papal army; but the place being 
 strongly fortified, lie was enabled to defend him- 
 self, until at length he was induced, by the most 
 solemn oaths and promises of safety, to entrust 
 himself to the Pope's legate, in order to negotiate 
 a peace, when he was treacherously seized and 
 thrown into prison, where he soon after died, not 
 without exciting strong susjjicions of being poi- 
 soned. The inhabitants of the city were thrown 
 into the greatest consternation by the loss of their 
 leader. "A report, however, was circulated, that 
 there was a vault or subterraneous passage some- 
 where in the city, which led to the castle of Cab- 
 aret, a distance of about three leagues from Car- 
 casonne, and that if the mouth or entry thereof 
 could be found, Providence had provided for 
 them a way of escape. The entrance of the 
 cavern was fecund, and at the begini)ir)g of the 
 night they all began their journey through it, car- 
 rying with them only as much food as was deem- 
 ed necessary to save them for a few days." " It 
 was a dismal and sorrowful sight," says their his- 
 torian, " to witness their removal and departure, 
 accompanied with sighs, tears and lamentations, 
 at the thoughts of quitting their habitations and all 
 their worldly possessions, and betaking themselves 
 to the uncertain event of saving themselves by 
 flight. Parents leading their children, and the 
 more robust yiipp<<rting decrepit old persons, 
 and especially to hear ti'ic afleetuig lamentations 
 
47 
 
 of tiie women." They, however, arrived the fol- 
 lowing day at the castle, whence they dispersed 
 themselves througli various provinces, and many 
 sought a refuge in foreign, countries. 
 
 This relentless and desolating war was con- 
 tinued, with various success, for a period of twen- 
 ty years; and it has been estimated that a million 
 of persons, bearing the name of heretics, were 
 put to death.* During most of this time the cru- 
 sading army was commanded by Simon, Earl of 
 Montfort, who succeeded the Abbe of Cistcaux. 
 'J'his nobleman, with the approbation of the Pope, 
 claimed all the possessions of Raymond, the Earl 
 of Toulouse; but the latter succeeded, at last, in 
 regaining possession of his capital and most of his 
 territory. On his death, which took f)luce in 
 1221, he was succeeded by his son, the young 
 Count Raymond, who soon after banished the 
 Inquisition from his territory. This drew upon 
 him the wrath of Pope Honorius III., who direct- 
 ed his emissaries to proclaim another ''holy war," 
 and called upon Louis, King of France, to assist 
 in crushing the Albigenses. After enduring the 
 horrors of a cruel and desolating war, Raymond 
 was at length taken by treachery, and from this 
 period the Albigenses ceased to exist in any con- 
 siderable numbers in France. Those who escaped 
 with their lives fled for refuge to the valleys of 
 Piedmont and other places, wherever they could 
 find an asylum. 
 
 After one of the terrible conflicts which took 
 place in the crusade against the Albigenses, a 
 
 * Jones, vol.2, p. 149, who cites Mede on the Apocalypse 
 and Newton on the Prophecies. 
 
48 
 
 singular disclosure was made, which throws some 
 light upon the iiistory of those times. After the 
 battle of INIurat there was found among the slain, 
 belon^MDg to the Albigenscs, a knight in black 
 armor. "On exaniinino-, behold, it was discover- 
 ed to be Peter, King of Arragon, — that very 
 monarch who had formerly been engaged in ne- 
 gotiating between the Pope's legale and the Earl 
 of Beziers. 'I'here, also, hiy one of his sons, and 
 many of the Arragonian gentlemen and vassals, 
 who, while ostensibly supporting the Ronian 
 cliurch, had, in disguise, been fighting in defence 
 -of 4 he Albjjrenses," 
 
49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 History of the Waldcnses i}revions to the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 The Waldenscs or Vauilois were, during the 
 middle atres, a nuiDerous people, originally settled 
 in the Valleys of Piedmont, but afterwards spread 
 through several rialions of Europe. We learn 
 from the letters of Jean Rodolphe Peyran, one of 
 the pastors of the modern Waldenses, that the 
 term used in that country to designate an inhab- 
 itant of the Valleys is Vaudes; and that Vaudois 
 in the French and Waldenses in the Latin are 
 correspondintj terms. 
 
 He says they should not be considered as re- 
 formed churches, but rather as evangelical or 
 apostolic, because they have never been connect- 
 ed with the image worship of Rome, but have, on 
 the contrary, protested against it from the earliest 
 ages. 
 
 This agrees with a statement quoted by Pey- 
 ran from a French historian, who says, '' those 
 who were called Manicheans, and afterwards 
 Vaudois, Albigenses, and Lollards, — and who so 
 frequently reappeared under a variety of other 
 names, were a remnant o{ the 'primitive Christians 
 of Gaul^ who were attached to many ancient 
 usages, which have since been changed by the 
 court of Rome, and ignorant of many opinions 
 which that court has established in the course of 
 5 
 
50 
 
 ages.'' •' For instance, these primitive Christians 
 were unacquainted with the worship of images." 
 It is very remarkal)le that tliese men, almost un- 
 known to ilie rest of the world, i-hould have per- 
 severed constantly from time imnieinorial in cus- 
 toms which in all other [)laces have passed away. 
 It is with cu?tqms as will) languages; an infinite 
 number of ancient terms are preserved in distant 
 cantons, while in the capitals and large cities lan- 
 guage varies from age to age. The people in the 
 vicinity of Turin, who inhabit the caves of the 
 Vaudois, preserve the dress, the language, and al- 
 most all tiie rites of the age of Charlemagne.* 
 
 The antiquity of the VValdensian church and 
 some of its distinguishing tenets are incontestably 
 proved by the following extract frorn a poem 
 called La Noble Loicon, written in the old Pro- 
 vencal language about the year 1100: 
 
 Que non vogli mandir ne jura, ne mentir, 
 N'occir, ne avoutrir, ne preure de attrui, 
 Ne s' avengeur deli suo ennemi, 
 Los dison qu'cs Vaudes, ct los feson inoririf 
 
 that is, whosoever refuses to curse, to swear, to 
 lie, to commit adultery, to steal, to be revenged 
 of his enemy, they say he is a Vaudois, and there- 
 fore they put him to death. | 
 
 There is also abundant evidence in Catholic 
 writers to show that the VValdenses may be traced 
 
 * Nouvelles Lettres sur Ics Vaudois, par Jean Ilodolphe 
 Peyran, p. 133. 
 
 t These verses are quoted in Hallam's Middle Ages, p. 
 507, with the orthography somewhat different. 
 
 t Jones, C. H. ii. 27. 
 
51 
 
 to a still higher antiquity. Tlie irujuisitor Riene- 
 rus Sacco, who wrote in the Ihirleenth century, 
 says, "this sect is ilie most ancient of all, some 
 j)er§pj%s asserting that it has existed since the time 
 of pope Sylvester, (A. D. 33")) and others tracing 
 its origin even to the time of the apostles."* 
 
 Claudius Seissel, archhishop of 'J'urin, in a 
 book which he published against the Vaudois in 
 the year 1547, says, that ''after much research 
 he finds it impossible to fi.\ the exact antiquity or 
 origin of this sect;" and he freely acknowledges 
 *' that there is great reason to conclude that the 
 sect of the Vaudois has been in existence many 
 centuries, because all sorts of people at various 
 times have tried in vain to root then) out, yet in 
 opposition to the opinions of the whole world 
 they have still continued unconquered and invin- 
 cible." 
 
 He further observes that the Vaudois or Wal- 
 denses owe their origin to Leo, a pious man, who 
 being shocked at the avarice of pope Sylvester, 
 (A. D. 335) and the excessive donations of Con- 
 stantine, was no longer willing to continue in 
 communion with the bishop of Rome, and was 
 followed by great numbers of good men.f Froni 
 this cause it is supposed by some that the Wal- 
 denses were formerly called Leonists; but by 
 others this title is derived from Leo of Ravenna, 
 who protested against the paf)al power in the 
 reign of Charlemagne. The inquisitor Rienerus 
 Sacco;|: bears witness to the purity of their morals, 
 
 * Peyran's Letters, p. 28. 
 
 t N. Lettres sur les Vaudois, p. '28. Appendix to do. 154. 
 
 t N. Leltres, S. V., p. 22. 
 
saying that lliey lived justly before all men, that 
 they had good sentiments respecting the Deity, 
 and that they blasphemed only the church of 
 Rome and the clergy, to which the laity wtllingly 
 consented. He adds in another place, that the 
 Cathari (or Manicheans) were few in number, 
 there not being more than four thousand of thein 
 in the whole world; but those who "are sometimes 
 called Leonists, and at others Vaudois, were an 
 infinite number, and that he having often assisted 
 to examine these heretics had counted forty-one 
 of their schools in the diocess of Padua, and ten 
 in Rubac or Clemma." 
 
 I shall add but one more testimony to the an- 
 tiquity of the VValdensian church, which is that of 
 Malte Brun, the celebrated geographer. 
 
 He says, in his description of Savoy, " twenty- 
 two thousand Vaudois residing in the Valleys of 
 the A\ps, irho for at least twelve centuries have 
 professed a worship analag^ous to the reformed 
 religion, bear in silence the privation of their 
 privileges as citizens." 
 
 Piedmont, the district in which they reside, de- 
 rives its name from two L^tin words, pede mon- 
 tivni, signifying the foot of the moimtain. 
 
 It is about one hundred and fifty miles long and 
 ninety broad; and bounded on tlie nortii by the 
 Valais, a canton of Switzerland, on the east by 
 the Milanese, south by the county of Nice and 
 territory of Genoa, and west by I'Vance. It con- 
 tains many lofty mountains belonging to the chairs 
 of the Alps, and enclosing among them a number 
 of fertile and secluded vallies. The whole coun- 
 try is " an intcrclmnge of hill and dale, mounlairi 
 
5S 
 
 and valley, traversed with four principal rivers, 
 the Po, the Tanaro, tlie Stura, and the Dorii; be- 
 sides about ei«rht and twenty rivulets urcnt and 
 small, which windinjj^ their courses in diflerenl di-. 
 rections, contribute to the fertility of the valleys 
 and make them resemble a watered garden.''* 
 
 Piedmont contains many beautiful and fertile 
 vallies, where the smiling verdure of meadows, 
 and rich luxuriance of orchards, are strikingly 
 contrasted with tiie rugged grandeur of the sur- 
 rounding mountains. Some of the vallies are so 
 com})letely encircled by steep ridges and precipi- 
 tous rocks, as to be only accessible by narrow 
 passes; and the inhabitants thus shut out from the 
 world are defended by the bulwarks of nature. 
 
 It has been remarked by an intelligent historian 
 that it would seem "as if the all-wise Creator had 
 from the beginning designed this place as a cab- 
 inet wherein to put some inestimable jewel, or in 
 which to reserve many thousand souls which should 
 not bow the knee before Baal.'"t 
 
 Tiie Vaudois formerly occupied a large portion 
 of Piedmont; but they have at different times been 
 driven from some of the most fertile spots, and 
 they are now principally confined to three of the 
 valleys, Luzerna, Perousa, and San Martino, in the 
 Province of Pinerolo. " The present population 
 occupying filleen villages or parishes, under the 
 care of thirteen pastors, whose religious duties 
 extend to one hundred and three hamlets annexed 
 to the villages, amounts to [about] twenty thou- 
 sand souls, besides one thousand seven hundred 
 
 * M. Brun's Geo. vol 3. Jones, i. 426. Peyran, Int. xvii. 
 t Sir Samuel Moreland's Hist, of the Churches of Piedmont. 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 Roman Calhulics.-'^" 'I'he villages are for the most 
 part situate in the valleys, the hamlets on the de- 
 clivities of mountains; and whilst the former are- 
 in some instances surrounded by vineyards and 
 meadows, the latter are exposed to a scorching 
 sun in the summer, and are encompassed in win- 
 ter for some months by deep snow, which, while 
 it envelops the hamlets in its white mantle, de- 
 mands the greatest caution on the part of the in- 
 habitants, as it fills up the ravines and conceals 
 the precipices from view."! 
 
 'J'he inhabitants of these valleys are generally 
 poor, frugal, and industrious. In many places the 
 declivities of the mountains are so steep that they 
 are obliged to build walls to support the soil, and 
 prevent it from being washed down by the heavy 
 rains. 
 
 They have to break up the ground by manual 
 labor, since no cattle can be used to plough; and 
 they are compelled to carry the hay and corn on 
 their backs, and thus to {)errorm the labors which 
 in other countries are assigned to beasts of bur- 
 den. Thus, by means of unwearied perseverance, 
 they succeed in gaining a scanty subsistence, con- 
 sisting chiefly of rye, buckwheat, and chesnuts. 
 
 Such is the account given by geographers and 
 travellers of the condition of the VValdenses'in the 
 present century; but in ancient times they were a 
 much more numerous people. 
 
 There is no reason to suppose that the Wal- 
 denses were entirely separated from the Catholic 
 church earlier than the ninth century, although 
 
 * Int. to Poyran's N. Lcttres siir les Vaudois, xviii. 
 t Int. to N. L. v.. Peyran, xix. and xxx. 
 
55 
 
 they denied the supremacy of the po})C, and op- 
 posed many of the ceremonies which liad been 
 introduced. In tliis respect they were not alone; 
 for we find that " nine bishops of Italy and Swit- 
 zerland, in the year 590, rejected the communion 
 of tlie pope as an heretic;" and in tlie latter part 
 of the eiiihth century Paulinis, bishop of the 
 church of Aqulea in Italy, opposed the papal 
 usurpations, and condemned the decrees of the 
 second council of Nice, whicii had established the 
 worship of images.* 
 
 The first eminent pastor among the VValdenses 
 of whom we have any account was Claudius, 
 bishop of Turin. He was born in Spain, and liad 
 been chaj)lain of Lewis the Meek, king of France 
 and emperor of the West, by whom he was ap- 
 pointed to tlie bishoprick of Turin in the vear 
 817. 
 
 He was celebrated for liis knowledge of the 
 scriptures, and began to preach with great zeal 
 against the superstitions of the age, such as 
 images, relics^ pilgrimages, and crosses.* 
 
 He denied the supremacy of the pope, saying, 
 *' He alone is apostolic who has the doctrines of 
 the apostles, and not he who boasts of sitting in 
 the chair of the apostle."! 
 
 This course produced a great clamor among 
 the monks, and drew upon him so much haired 
 as to endanger his life; but he still continued to 
 labor in the good cause, and with so much suc- 
 cess, that the valleys of Piedmont in the neigh- 
 borhood of Turin were filled with his disciples. t 
 
 * Jones C. H. i. 431. t N. L. Peyran, p. 33. 
 
56 
 
 It is stated by Catholic writers, that the VVal- 
 (lenses preserved the opinions of Claudius in the 
 ninth and tenth centuries; but there is no record 
 oftlie exact time wlien they finally separated from 
 the Catholic church. 
 
 Although the church of Rome was then sunk 
 to the lowest point of superstition arnl ignorance, 
 tiie papal power had not yet acquired that des- 
 potic sway which afterwards enabled it to tyran- 
 nize over the consciences of men. This may ac- 
 count for the circumstance that Claudius was not 
 excommunicated or put to death. 
 
 'I'he inhabitants of the valleys who had em- 
 braced the views of Claudius continued for some 
 years after his death to live in peace and security, 
 and their numbers are supposed to have been 
 augmented by immigration from other districts. 
 But the bishops of Milan and Turin being inform- 
 ed of their numbers and prosperity, bethought 
 themselves of bringing them again under the 
 yoke of clerical authority. 
 
 Accordingly the scaffold was erected, and the 
 fires of persecution were lighted at Turin, in 
 order to compel these inoffensive people to re- 
 nounce their opinions and embrace the Catholic 
 ffiith. Some of them suffered martyrdom, and 
 others fled from persecution to sow in other 
 lands the seeds of their faith, which soon sprung 
 up and produced an abundant increase of prose- 
 lytes. 
 
 About the year 1140 a number of these reputed 
 heretics were discovered near Cologne in Germa- 
 ny, who appear to have been men of exemplary 
 lives and pious sentiments; but because they re- 
 
57 
 
 jected the IraJitions of \Ue cliurch, and exposed 
 the vices of the clerijy, they were seized and 
 burnt to death. They stated tliat great numbers 
 every where entertained the same sentiments.* 
 
 In the year 1159 a company of about thirty 
 men and women who spoke the German language 
 appeared in England, professing similar senti- 
 ments, who were taken up and through the insti- 
 gation of the clergy condemned by Henry II, to 
 undergo a cruel and ignominious punishment, and 
 then to be turned out in the fields destitute of 
 food or shelter, where they died of cold and 
 hunger. 
 
 In the year 1110, Peter de Bruys preached the 
 gospel in Languedoc and Provence, and great 
 numbers were convinced by his ministry. After 
 a service of twenty years, he too suffered martyr- 
 dom. 
 
 But previous to this time a considerable body 
 of dissenters who bore the name of Paterines ap- 
 peared in Italy, in the cities of xMilan, Modena, 
 Ferrara, Verona, and many other places. They 
 taught that "a Christian church ought to consist 
 only of good people; that it is not right to take 
 oaths, nor to kill mankind; that faiih Without 
 works will not save us; that the church ought not 
 to persecute any, even the wicked; that the law 
 of Moses was no rule to Christians; that there 
 was no need of priests, especially wicked ones; 
 and that the ceremonies, orders, and sacraments 
 of the church of Pvome were futile, expensive, op- 
 pressive, and wicked."! The Paterines were de- 
 
 * Jones, i. 482. t Ibid, i. 498. 
 
58 
 
 cent in their deportment, modest in llieir dress 
 and manners, and tlieir morals irreproachable. — 
 They were not eaaer to accumulate wealth, and 
 avoided commerce because it ex[)osed them to 
 temptation, choosing rather to live by labor and 
 useful trades. They were always employed in 
 spare hours either in givinor or receiving instruc- 
 tion. Their bishops and officers were mechanics, 
 weavers, shoemakers, and others, who maintained 
 themselves by their industry. About the year 
 1040 they became a very numerous people in 
 Milan, which was their principal residence; and 
 here they flourished at least two hundred years.* 
 
 In the twelfth century the number and zeal of 
 the Waldenses were much increased by the labors 
 of Peter Waldo of I^yons, a celebrated teacher of 
 religion, who has by some writers been erroneous- 
 ly considered the father of the Waldcnsian church. 
 This mistake has probably arisen from the coinci- 
 dence of names, and from the circumstance that 
 until his time these dissenters had remained in 
 comparative obscurity. 
 
 It appears that about the year 1160 the doc- 
 trine of transubstantiation began to prevail in the 
 Ro-nan church; that is to say, the people were 
 taught to believe ti)at the wafer and wine conse- 
 crated by tlie priest and eaten by the people, were 
 the identical body and real blood of Christ, and 
 not tlie mere emblems as liad been formerly be- 
 lieved. 
 
 When this new doctrine, which was first broach- 
 ed in the ninth century, become fully established, 
 
 * Jones, i. 498. Extracted from Robinson's Ecc. Res. 
 
59 
 
 The priests and people bowed down and worship- 
 ped the God whowiis thus supposed to he present 
 in a corporeal fDrm. This is termed the saorilice 
 of the mass, and tiie bread thus worshipped id 
 called the host, which is ollered up every day by 
 the papists as a sacrifice for sin. 
 
 When Peter Waldo beheld this ceremony he 
 was so struck with its absurdity and impiety, that 
 he opposed it in the. most courageous manner. It 
 is stated that he had then no intention of separa- 
 ting from the church of Rome, nor of beconiing 
 a reformer; but a circumstance afterwards oc- 
 curred which had the most important conse- 
 quences in ills life. *' One evening after supper, 
 as he sat conversing with a party of his friends, 
 one of the company fell down dead on the floor, 
 to the consternation of all present." This evi- 
 dence of the uncertainty of human life so deeply 
 affected him, that he could not escape from the 
 convictions which overpowered his mind. He had 
 recourse to the sacre'd volume for instruction and 
 consolation, and through the powerful operation 
 of divine grace attained to the saving Unowledge 
 of God. 
 
 At that time there was no translation of the 
 scriptures in the vernacular tongues, the Latin 
 Vulgate Bible being the only one known in Eu- 
 rope, and even that was accessible to but few. — 
 Happily for Waldo and for the world, his educa- 
 tion and circumstances enabled him to surmount 
 these obstacles; he not only read it himself, but 
 he caused the New Testament to be translated 
 into French, and thus procured for the common 
 people the inestimable treasures it contains. 
 
CO 
 
 In proportion as he became acquainted with 
 the scriptures he perceived more clearly the mass 
 of superstition and idolatry that prevailed, and he 
 hejran to preach against the corruptions of the 
 church of Rome and the vices of the clergy. 
 
 Multitudes (lot'ked to his ministry and gladly 
 received the word of Truth. The clergy were 
 incensed at this boldtiess in a layman, and alarm- 
 ed at the prospect of their craft being endanger- 
 ed. Pope Alexander HI. being informed of these 
 proceedings anathematized the reformer and his 
 adherents, and through the instigation of the 
 priests a violent persecution was stirred up, which 
 compelled Waldo- in the year 1163 to quit Lyons, 
 and disj^ersed his flock, who fled into different 
 countries carrying with them every where the 
 principles of their faith, which took root and mul- 
 tiplied. Waldo himself settled in Dauphiny, where 
 he preached vviih such success, that great nuuj- 
 bers embraced his doctrines, who were afterwards 
 denominated Leonists, Vaudois, Albigenses or 
 Waldenses; these various names being applied in 
 difl^erent countries to people professing nearly the 
 same doctrines. 
 
 Being still persecuted from place to place, 
 Waldo retired to Picardy and from thence to 
 Germany, where his labors were attended with 
 abundant success: he at length settled in Bohe- 
 mia, where he finished liis course in the year 
 1179, after a ministry of twenty years. There is 
 no doubt that he was instrumental in raising up, 
 or at least in confirming that large class of dis- 
 senters known by the names of Bohemian Breth- 
 ren and Moravians.* 
 
 ' Jones, vol. ii., 13 and 31. 
 
01 
 
 Numbers of the followers of Waldo fled to 
 Piedmont, taking with them liis translation of the 
 scriptures, which was an inestimable gift to the 
 faithful VValdenses. 
 
 There is abundant evidence to prove tliat the 
 VValdenses, or dissenters professing the same prin- 
 ciples, spread throughout Europe; and that great 
 numbers especially of the poorer classes embraced 
 their principles, although in doing so they became 
 exposed to the severest persecution instigated by 
 the monks arid priests of the established religion. 
 In the valleys of the Pyrenees these dissenters 
 were very numerous, and they were found in 
 Spain in the thirteenth century, where vast num- 
 bers were put to death by the Inquisition. 
 
 In England they appeared under the name of 
 Lollards, who were the precursors of the VVick- 
 liffites,* so called from the celebrated reformer 
 John Wickliffe, the first person who translated the 
 scriptures into the English language. 
 
 The rapid spread of these doctrines which were 
 denominated "heresy," caused, the utmost alarm 
 at the court of Rome; to arrest their progress the 
 most learned doctors of theology entered into 
 controversy with the dissenters, but the weapons 
 of logic and sophistry were found to be powerless, 
 when opposed to the plain language of scripture 
 and the conclusions of common sense. It was 
 then determined by the adherents of the papacy 
 that as the work of extirpating heretics could not 
 be done by argument, it must be accomplished by 
 physical force; and to effect this object they insli- 
 
 * Nouvelles Lettres sur les Vaudois, p. 7. 
 6 
 
62 
 
 tuted llie " Holy Ofiice,'* or as it is more orer.e- 
 rully terrued the Inquisition, the most terrible en- 
 gine of oppression that human depravity ever in- 
 vented. This fearful tribunal was first suggested 
 by Dominic, a Spanish monk, about the com- 
 mencen»ent of the thirteenth century. His design 
 was approved by pof)e Innocent III., and Dominic 
 was appointed cliief inquisitor. The Inquisition 
 was introduced into France, but soon afterwards 
 expelled by the indijination of tlie people. In 
 Italy its desolating effects still continue to be felt, 
 but in Spain and Portugal its ravages have been 
 most revolting and destructive. 
 
 In liie united kingdoms of Castile and Arra- 
 gon there were eighteen inquisitorial courts, each 
 having its counsellors, secretaries, sergeants, and 
 other officers; and besides these there were twen- 
 ty thousand familiars dispersed throuiihout tlje 
 kingdom, who acted as spies and informers. — 
 " By these familiars persons were seized on bare 
 suspicion, and in contradiction to the established 
 rules of equity they were put to the torture, tried, 
 and condemned by the inquisitors, without being 
 confronted by their accusers," and even without 
 being informed of the crimes alleged against 
 them. 
 
 Persons of the most infamous character were 
 heard as witnesses against the most virtuous, and 
 the zeal of fanaticism was invoked to induce ser- 
 vants to depose against their masters, children 
 against their parents, and husband and wife 
 against each other.* 
 
 * Voltaire's Univ. Hist, and Jones' Church Hist. 
 
63 
 
 The sweols of domealin lift; were destroyer], 
 confidence between man ami man was at an end, 
 and a jrloomy and ferocious despotism brooded 
 over the land which has changed the Spanish 
 character from vivacity and buoyancy to distrust 
 and reserve, and h.is reduced a nation once the 
 most powerful in Europe, to the lowest state of 
 degradation. Thousands and tens of thousands 
 of the most virtuous citizens of Europe were tor- 
 tured and destroyed by this inhuman tribunal. 
 The poor Waldenses in France and Germany 
 suffered severely, but maintained their principles 
 with unshaken constancy in the midst of the most 
 excruciating tortures, when stretched on the rack, 
 or consuming at the stake. 
 
 At this time the Waldenses of Piedmont en- 
 joyed peace and security under the paternal gov- 
 ernment of the Dukes of Savoy, who from the be- 
 ginning of the thirteenth to near the close of the 
 fifteenth century, a period of almost three hundred 
 years, resisted all the efforts of the clergy to in- 
 troduce the Inquisition into their territories. An 
 attempt was made to establish this odious tribunal 
 in Piedmont, but the people^ who had heard of 
 its cruelties in France, rose and put to death an 
 inquisitor who had been sent by the pope to esta- 
 blish it. In Milan, Naples, and Venice similar 
 attempts were made and resisted by the people. 
 
 About" the year 1330 the Waldenses in several 
 parts of Ciermany were grievously oppressed by 
 an inquisitor named Echard, a Jacobin monk. 
 This persecutor appears to have been more sin- 
 cere than many of his brethren; for after inflicting 
 great cruelties upon his unoffending victims he 
 
64 
 
 wns at length induced to examine Ihe reasons for 
 tlieii- spparniion frorxj the chnrch of Rome, when, 
 lH::inij convinced of iheir correctness, he acknow- 
 lodijed his errors and joined himself to these per- 
 secuted disciples of Christ. 
 
 This course brought upon him the wrath of the 
 other inquisitors, by whom lie was pursued, taken, 
 and committed to the flames. '' His dying testi- 
 mony was a noble attestation of the principles 
 and conduct of the Waldenses, for he went to the 
 stake charging it upon the church of Rome as a 
 monstrous and iniquitous procedure to put to 
 death so many innocent persons, for no other 
 crime but their steadfast adherence to the cause 
 of Christ."* 
 
 Notwithstanding the persecution they endured, 
 the Waldenses continued to increase in Germany, 
 and became so numerous that it was asserted, 
 that " in travellinfj from Cologne to Milan, the 
 whole extent of Germany, they could lodge every 
 night with persons of their own profession." 
 
 Like the primitive Christians in the reign of 
 Trajan, who were found enduring j)ersecution in 
 every city and every province of the empire, their 
 numbers would have been suflicient to enable 
 them to resist the malice of their adversaries; but 
 their peaceable principles forbade them to rise in 
 arms against the government. About the year 
 1370 a colony of the Waldensian youth of Uau- 
 phiny sought a settlement in Calabria, probably 
 hoping to enjoy without molestation their religious 
 privileges. They made application to the pro- 
 
 * Jones' C. H. p. 156. Perrin's History, C. ii. c. ii. 
 
Of) 
 
 prietors for land to nultivale, which being grant- 
 ed, they speedily enriched and improver) their re- 
 spective districts, and by their industry, probity, 
 and peaceable manners, grained the esteem and 
 confidence of their landlords and neighbors. 
 
 The priests alone were dissatisfied. They found 
 these colonists contributed nothing to support the 
 church by masses for the dead and other popish 
 ceremonies: and the foreign schoolmasters who 
 educated the children of these strangers were 
 liighly respected and preferred to themselves. — 
 I'hey signified their mtenlion of complaining to 
 the pope, but the gentry resisted and remonstra- 
 ted, until they found it expedient to relinquish 
 their purpose. The consequence was that the 
 Calabrian VValdcnses enjoyed security and tolera- 
 tion until the year 1560, when they formed a 
 union with the church of Geneva, of which Cal- 
 vin was their pastor. The persecutions they en- 
 dured after this union will demand our notice at a 
 subsequent period. During the fourteenth cen- 
 tury the Waldenses continued to spread through 
 the various countries of Europe, and almost every 
 where met with persecution from the priests and 
 rulers; but their doctrines took root among the 
 common people, and under various names con- 
 tinued to be maintained till the time of the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 In the year 1457, a considerable body of Bohe- 
 mians who dissented from the established worship 
 were permitted to settle on the crown lands of 
 Litiz between Silesia and Moravia, where they 
 formed a religious society called the United 
 Brethren. Pious persons from various places, 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 nnd arnonn fliRtn many Walclenses who had been 
 driven frcnn their homes, joined this society, which 
 soon became a flourishing and happy community. 
 Their prosperity, however, soon attracted the 
 attention of the priests, and ihey were subjected 
 lo a severe persecution. 
 
 Their history and principles are recapitulated 
 by Robinson, in his Ecclesiastical Researches, in 
 the followinjT language: 
 
 '♦ Authentic records in France assure us that a 
 people of a certain description were driven from 
 thence in the twelfth century. Bohemian records 
 of equal authenticity inform us, that some of the 
 same description arrived in Bohemia at the same 
 time, and settled near a hundred miles from 
 Prague, at Saltz and Launu, on the river Eger, 
 just on the borders of the kingdom. Almost two 
 hundred years after, another undoubted record of 
 the same country mentions a people of the same 
 description, some as burnt at Prague, and others 
 as inhabiting the borders of the kingdom; and a 
 hundried and fifty years after that, we find a peo- 
 ple of the same description settled by connivance 
 in the metropolis, and in several other parts of the 
 kingdom. About one hundred and twenty years 
 lower we find a people in the same country living 
 under the protection of law on the estate of prince 
 Lichetenslein exactly like all the former, and 
 about thirty or forty thousand in number. The 
 religious character of this people is so very difl^er- 
 ent from that of all others, that the likeness is not 
 easily mistaken. They had no priests, but taught 
 one another. They had no private property, for 
 they held all things jointly. They executed no 
 
67 
 
 offices, and neiihcr exaclecl nor took oaths. They 
 bore no arms^ and rather chose to suffer than re- 
 sist wroritT. They held every thing called religion 
 in the church of Rome in abhorrence, and wor- 
 shipped God only by adoring his perfections and 
 endeavoring to imitate his goodness. They thought 
 Christianity wanted no comment; and they pro- 
 fessed the belief of that by being baptized, and 
 their love to Christ and one another by receiving 
 the Lord's supper. 
 
 *' They aspired at neither wealth nor power, 
 and their plan was industry. We are shown how 
 highly probable it is that Bohemia offered them 
 work, was/rs, and a secure asylum; which were 
 all they wanted. If these be facts, they are facta 
 that do honor to human nature; they exhibit in 
 the great picture of the world a few small figures 
 in a back ground unstained with the blood, and 
 unruffled with the disputes of their fellow crea- 
 tures." This testimony corresponds with the 
 statement of Peyran in his letters concerning the 
 Waldenses, who considers the Brethren of Bohe- 
 mia and Moravia as a branch of the Waldenses, 
 who are said to have emigrated to Bohemia in 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
 
 We will now return to the main body of the 
 Waldenses living in the valleys of Piedmont. 
 
 After having enjoyed the protection of the dukes 
 of Savoy for nearly three hundred years, they were 
 again subjected to cruel persecution through the 
 instigation of the clergy. In the latter part of the 
 fifteenth century pope Innocent VIII. issued a 
 violent bull against them, in which he directed 
 Albert de Capitaneis, archdeacon of Cremona, to 
 
extirpnle fhem. nnfl "to trearl Sliem under foot as 
 venomous adders." He accordingly proceeded 
 to the south of France, where he raised an army 
 which he marched to the valley of Loyze; but the 
 inhabitants fled at his approach and concealed 
 themselves in their mountain caves. He discov- 
 ered their retreats, and placed qtinntities of woc>d 
 at their entrances, whicli he caused to be set on 
 fire. By this means four hundred children were 
 suffocated in their cradles, or in the arms of their 
 dead mothers; and multitudes were dashed head- 
 lonor on the rocks below, or butchered by the sol- 
 diery. On this occasion more than three thousand 
 men, women, and children were destroyed. In the 
 year 1488, he advanced with an army of eighteen 
 thousand men to attack the valleys of Piedmont, 
 where he was joined by many of the Piedmontese 
 Catholics, who were allured by the hope of plun- 
 der, and the promise of having their sins remitted 
 for so meritorious a service. The inhabitants of 
 the valleys defended the narrow passes of the 
 mountains, and repelled the invaders. The duke 
 of Savoy being informed of these proceedings was 
 touched with compassion for his subjects, who sent 
 him a deputation explaining the motives of their 
 conduct, and craving his protection. " He accept- 
 ed their apology and forgave them what had pass- 
 ed. But having been informed that their young 
 children were born with black throats; that they 
 were hairy, and had four rows of teeth, with only 
 one eye and that placed in the middle of their 
 forehead, — he commanded some of them to be 
 brought before him at Pignerol; where being sat- 
 isfied by occular demonstration that the VValden- 
 
60 
 
 ses were not monsters, he blamed liimsolf for 
 bein^ so easily imposed upon by ihe clergy of the 
 Catholic church as to credit such idle reports, 
 and at the same ticne declared his determination 
 to protect them in the possession of those privi- 
 leges which had been allowed to their ances- 
 tors." 
 
 Notwithstanding the duke's good intentions to- 
 wards them, the inquisitors who had established 
 themselves in a convent near Pignerol continued 
 to harass them, and as often as they could, lay 
 hands on any of them, delivered them over to the 
 secular power for punishment. ^ 
 
 As we are now approaching the period of the 
 Reformation, when the views, or at least the 
 practice of the Waldenses were in some respecta 
 modified by their connection with the church of 
 Geneva, it will be proper to close this chapter 
 with a brief summary of their moral and religious 
 principles. Voltaire, in his Universal History, in 
 speaking of that branch of the Waldenses who in- 
 habited the valleys between Provence and Dau- 
 phiny, says they cultivated the soil with such in- 
 defatigable industry, as to reclaim a great quanti- 
 ty of waste land. 
 
 He says, ♦' in the space of two hundred and fifty 
 years their number increased to near eighteen 
 thousand, who were dispersed in thirty small 
 towns, besides handets. All this was the fruit of 
 their industry. There were no priests among 
 them, no quarrels about religious worship, no law 
 suits; they determined their differences among 
 themselves. None but those who repaired to the 
 neio-hborintr cities knew that there were such 
 
70 
 
 things as mass or bishops. M'hoy prayed to God 
 in their own jartjon, and heiiijT contin»)ally em- 
 ployed they had the happiness to know no vice. 
 This peaceful state they enjoyed for above two 
 hundred years since the wars against the Albi- 
 genses, with which the nation had been wearied. 
 
 " When mankind have lonor rioted in cruelty, 
 their fury abates and sinks into lanjiour and indif- 
 ference, as we see constantly verified in the case 
 of individuals and whole nations. Such was the 
 tranquillity which the Waldenses enjoyed when 
 the Reformers of Germany and Geneva came to 
 liear that there were others of the same persua- 
 sion, as tKemselves. 
 
 ♦' fmmediately they sent some of their ministers 
 (a name given to the curates of the Protestant 
 churches) to visit them; and since then the Wal- 
 denses are but too well known."* What the 
 French historian means by their being too well 
 known, refers to the dreadful persecutions they 
 endured, which will be related in another chap- 
 ter. 
 
 The moral principles of the Waldenses, which 
 1 consider the essential part of Christianity, ap- 
 pear to have been unimpeachable. Even the in- 
 quisitors who persecuted and put thoin to death 
 acknowledged the spotless purity of iheir lives. 
 
 There are sever.il of their confessions of ftith 
 extant, which were prohahlv drawn Uf) in times of 
 persecution to vir)dicate the/n from the slanders 
 of their enemies. None of these, however, are 
 earlier than the twelfth century, nor are there any 
 
 * Voltaire's U II. ii. p. 338. 
 
71 
 
 writinos of llieirs much older. From the most 
 ancient of their writings, and the accounts of in- 
 quisitors who examined them, it does not appear 
 that they dissented from the Catholic church on 
 the nature of the Deity, or the incarnatioti of 
 Christ. It is probable they assented to the Atha- 
 nasinn creed established by the first council of 
 Nice in the year 325, and gfenerally adopted in 
 the Western churches before the Waldenses were 
 known as a separate people. 
 
 It is is said by D'Aubigne, in his history of the 
 Reformation, that the Vaudois "contended for 
 iheir lively hope in God through Christ, for regen- 
 eration and inv/ard renewal by faith, hope, and 
 charity; for the merits of Christ, and the all-suffi- 
 ciency of his cfrace and rijzhteousness." 
 
 But he adds, that "this primary truth of the 
 justification of the sinner, which ougfht to rise 
 pre-eminent above other doctrines, like Mount 
 Blanc above the surrounding Alps, icas not suffi- 
 ciently prominent in iheir system. "^^ 
 
 Thia I take to be an admission that the doc- 
 trine of a vicarious satisfaction was not insisted 
 upon by the Waldenses as it now is by some of 
 the Protestant churches. 
 
 They rejected the sacraments of the Catholic 
 church, except baptism, which they administered 
 to adults only, and the Eucharist, wh'\ch they con- 
 sidered as on\y Jigurative of the body and blood. t 
 Their doctrine and practice with regard to the 
 Christian ministry, are worthy of our especial at- 
 tention. 
 
 * Voltaire, vol. i. p. 71. t Jones' C. H. vol. ii. p. 22. Also, 
 Preface to 5th London ed. p. 26. 
 
It is stated by Mosliiem, that they denied the 
 supremacy of the Roman ponlifl", and maintained 
 that the rulers and ministers of the church were 
 obhged by their vocation to imitate the poverty 
 of the apostles, and to procure for themselves a 
 subsistence by the work of their hands. They 
 considered every Christian as in a certain mea- 
 sure qualified and authorized to instruct, exhort, 
 and confirm the brethren in their Christian 
 course. "The government of the church was 
 committed by the Waldenses to bishops, presby- 
 ters, and deacons; for they acknowledged that 
 these three orders were instituted by Christ him- 
 self." (The bishops were called majoroles or 
 elders.) '' But they deemed it absolutely necessa; 
 ry that all these orders should resemble exactly 
 the apostles of the divine Saviour; and be like 
 them, illiterate, poor, destitute of all worldly 
 possessions, and furnished with some laborious 
 trade or vocation, in order to gain by constant in- 
 dustry their daily subsistence."* 
 
 Milton, in a tract entitled " Considerations 
 touching the likeliest means to remove hirelings 
 out of the church," says " those most ancient Re- 
 formed churches of the Waldenses, if they rather 
 continued not pure since the apostles' days, de- 
 nied that tithes were to be given, or that they 
 were ever given in the primitive church, as ap- 
 pears by an ancient tractate inserted in the Bo- 
 hemian history. The poor Waldenses, the ancient 
 itock of our Reformation, without the help [of 
 tithes] bred up themselves in trades, and especial- 
 
 * Moshiem, C. H. 12th cent. 
 
78 
 
 ly in physic and surgery, as well as the study of 
 scripture, which is the only true theology, that 
 they niigjjt be no burden to the church, and after 
 the example of Christ might cure both soul and 
 body, through industry adding that to their minis- 
 try which He joined to his by the gift of the spirit. 
 So Peter Giiles relates in his history of the Wal- 
 denses of Piednsont. But our ministers scorn to 
 use a trade, and count it the reproach of this age 
 that IradesrTien preach the gospel. It were to be 
 wished they were all tradesmen; they would not 
 then, for want of another trade, make a trade of 
 their preaching; and yet they clamor that trades- 
 men preach, though they preach, while themselves 
 are the worst tradesmen of all."* 
 
 This testimony of Milton is corroborated by 
 that of the learned Jorton, an English historian 
 and divine. He says of the Waldenses, " they 
 said that the prelates and doctors ou«»ht to imitate 
 the poverty of the apostles, and earn their bread 
 by the labor of their hands. They contended that 
 the office of teaching, confirming and admonishing 
 the brethren belonged in some measure to all 
 Christians.'"] 
 
 It appears from an ancient Catholic writer 
 quoted by Peyran, that women as well as men 
 were engaged in teaching religious truths. He 
 says concerning the Vaudois, " men and women, 
 small and great, night and day they cease not to 
 teach and to learn." " By day the laborer teaches 
 his companion or learns of him; and at night all 
 the time they are awake they are employed in in- 
 
 * Jones' C. H. ii. 87, London cd. t Jones, ii. 89. 
 
 7 
 
74 
 
 •Iructing one an<jlher." Peyran, in speaking of 
 certain theologians who in llie eleventh century 
 had been instructed by an Italian woman that liie 
 Eucharist was not chani:ed into tiie body of Jesus 
 Christ, savp, 1 leMve yoti to judije whether thorc 
 Whs then in Italy anotljer |)lnce besides the valleys 
 where wotncri knew tiiis doclriiif, and were able 
 to teach it.* 
 
 An old inquisitor of the Catholic chnrcli, Rie- 
 nerus Sacco, corroborates this view, lie |)ut3 
 the following hingiiajre into tlie niouihs of the 
 Waldenses: '' The doctors of the Kornan church 
 are pompous both in their habits and manners; 
 thev love the uppermost rooms and the chief seats 
 in the svnairogues, to be called of men Rabl)i, 
 Rabbi. For our parts we desire no such Rabbis." 
 *' They fight ami encourage wars, and command 
 the poor to be killed and burnt, in defiance of the 
 saying, * he thai taketh the sword shall perish by 
 the sword.' For our parts they {)ersecute us for 
 righteousness' sake. They do nothing l)ut eat the 
 bread of idleness. We work with our hands. — 
 They monopolize the giving of instruction, and 
 * wo be to them that take away the key of know- 
 lediie.' But among us women teach as well as 
 men, and one disciple as soon as he is informed 
 teaches another. Among tiiem you can hardly 
 find a doctor who can repeat three chapters of 
 the New 'I'estament by heart; but of us there is 
 scarcely man or woman who doth not retain the 
 whole." ^ 
 
 • Peyran's Nouvelles Leltres sur Ics Vaudois, p. 34. 
 f Jones' C. H. ii. p. 80. 
 
75 
 
 Tlieir itetirnony conceniirijr oaths and wnr are 
 tliijs stated Wy Mi)sliiein: '• They adopted as the 
 MiotUd of tlieir moral di.^cijjline ihe sermon of 
 Chri>t on the Mount, which they interpreted and 
 explained in tiie most rigorous and literal man- 
 ner; and consequently proliibited and condemned 
 in their society all wars and suits at l;«vv, all at- 
 lempls towar(ls the acqui>iiion of wealth, the in- 
 fliction of ca[)itHl punishment, self-defence against 
 unjust violence, and oaths of ail kinds.'"* 
 
 Tliis is corroborated by Dr. Jortin's account of 
 them, who says, they interpreted Christ's Sermon 
 on the Mount according to the literal sense of the 
 words; and they condemned war, law suits, the 
 acquisition of riches, capital punishments, oaths, 
 and even self defence.! In further confirmation 
 of these views the well known testimony of the 
 United Brethren or Moravians against wars of 
 every kind may be adduced. This society is a 
 branch of the VValdenses founded in the year 
 1457, and continues to bear the same testimony 
 to this day. 
 
 In one instance already related (in 1488) some 
 of the itdiabitants of the valleys defended the 
 mountain passes to prevent ihe approach of an 
 army sent to destroy the Waldenses; but I have 
 seen no evidence to show that the members of 
 the Waldensian church in any instance departed 
 from their peaceable principles, previous to the 
 time of the Reformation. 
 
 We have reason to believe that up to this time, 
 during a period variously estimated at from seven 
 
 * Moshiem, E. II. I9th cent. t Jones' C. H. ii. 89, 
 
to twelve centuries^ they bore a faithful testimony 
 against war; and althougii they sufl'ered at times 
 from persecution, there can be no doubt their 
 sufferings were incomparably less than, during 
 the same period, fell to the lot of any other 
 people. 
 
 In order to estimate the temptations to which 
 they were subjected, we must bear in mind that 
 during a part of this time the whole of southern 
 Europe was ravaged by hordes of northern bar- 
 barians; and that at a subsequent period when 
 the spirit of chivalry prevailed, the world resound- 
 ed with the clang of arras, a crusading phrenzy 
 seized upon the people, and the dignitaries of the 
 established church aj)peared as the leaders of in- 
 vading armies. 
 
77 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 History of the WalJenses since the I^rformation. 
 
 It has been very generally supposed that when 
 Luther began to preach against indulgences, near- 
 ly the whole population of Europe was completely 
 devoted to the doctrines and worship of the church 
 of Rome. This may have been apparently the 
 case on the surface of society, but doubtless there 
 was a deep under current, which, though almost 
 unobserved, was sweeping silently and powerfully 
 onwards. Hence, the Reformers found an answer 
 to their appeals in the hearts of their hearers, for 
 the work to which they were called had been pre- 
 pared before them, and the fields were already 
 white unto harvest. 
 
 This preparation had been greatly promoted 
 by the labors of the Waldenses and other kindred 
 societies, who were then very numerous, and had 
 been scattered by persecution throughout all the 
 nations of Europe. In the year 1530, George 
 Morel, one of the pastors of the Waldenses, pub- 
 lished memoirs of the history of their churches, 
 in which "he states that at the time he wrote, 
 there were above eight hundred thousand profess- 
 mg the religion of the Waldenses; nor Vv-ill this 
 appear incredible when we reflect that nearly two 
 centuries before there were 80,000 of them in the 
 small kingdom of Bohemia.* 
 
 » Jones' C. H., ii. 236. 
 
78 
 
 At the beginning of the sixteenth century the 
 pontifical chair was filled by Alexander VI., who 
 has been called the Nero of the papal throne. A 
 more odious compound of vice and hypocrisy has 
 seldom been exhibited before the world; and his 
 son, Csesar Borgia, whom he promoted to a high 
 office in the church, was not less noted for his 
 profligate morals and vindictive temper, which 
 rendered him a terror to the Roman people. Al- 
 exander VI. died in 1503, and was succeeded by 
 Julius II., who, after a reign of three years, died 
 and was succeeded by Leo X., one of the most 
 conspicuous, if not the most exemplary charac- 
 ters, of the sixteenth century. 
 
 He was a munificent patron of learning and 
 the fine arts, easy and amiable in his temper, 
 profuse in his expenditures, and not over scrupu- 
 lous in the means he adopted to replenish his 
 treasury. His taste for magnificent display in- 
 duced him to put in requisition every means of 
 raising money that had been devised by papal 
 avarice; among the rest, the sale of indulgences 
 was carried to a shameful extent, and became the 
 means of opening the eyes of many to see the cor- 
 ruptions of an apostate church. 
 
 How great soever the crimes committed, or in 
 contemplation, by any member of the church, all 
 that was requisite, in order to obtain absolution, 
 was the purchase of an indulgence. Tetzel, (a 
 Dominican monk) the celebrated vender of indul- 
 gences in Germany, exclaimed in the ears of the 
 people, " Draw near, and I will give you letters 
 duly sealed, by which even the sins you shall 
 hereafter desire to commit shall be all forgiven 
 
79 
 
 you. I would not exchange my privileges for 
 those of St. Peter in heaven, for I have saved 
 more souls with my indulgences than he with hia 
 sermons." 
 
 " The very moment that the money clinks 
 against the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes 
 from purgatory and flies free to heaven."* Luther 
 was at this time a young Augustine monk, full of 
 zeal for the Catholic church, " so infatuated and 
 steeped in the Romish doctrines," said he, " that 
 I would willingly have helped to kill any one 
 who had the audacity to refuse the smallest act 
 of obedience to the Pope." 
 
 But he was sincere; and when persons came 
 to his confessional and acknowledged themselves 
 guilty of the grossest crimes, he required them to 
 repent and promise to reform before he could 
 grant them absolution. When they refused to 
 make such promises, and showed him the indul- 
 gences they had purchased, he was shocked and 
 grieved at this abominable traffic in the souls 
 of men, and did not scruple to declare his abhor- 
 rence. 
 
 This coming to the ears of Tetzel, he became 
 furious with rage, and declared from the pulpit 
 that he was ordered by the Pope to burn the here- 
 tics who should dare to oppose his most holy in- 
 dulgences. " Such was the incident that gave 
 occasion to the Reformation, though not the cause 
 of it.'"'t 
 
 Luther, being singled out as an object of attack 
 by the venders of indulgences, was induced to ex- 
 
 * D'Aubigne, History of Reformation, i. 212. t lb. i. 231. 
 
80 
 
 amine more closely the doctrines and practices of 
 the church, many of which lie found to be incon- 
 sistent with the plain letter of scripture and the 
 dictates of sound reason, as well as inimical to 
 the best interests of society. He was gradually 
 led to see the necessity of a thorough reform; but 
 finding no disposition on the part of the hierarchy 
 to listen to liis views, there was no alternative left 
 him but unconditional submission, or a rupture 
 with the church. He knew the dangers that 
 awaited him if unsuccessful; — he was fully ap- 
 prized that tliousands of Christian martyrs had 
 died in prison or perished in the flames for daring 
 to question the infallibility of the Popes and the 
 decrees of the councils. With undaunted cour- 
 age, and a firm reliance upon Divine Providence, 
 he went forward boldly in the work of reform, 
 which shook the foundation of the Papacy, and 
 embroiled in a sanguinary conflict some of the 
 principal nations of Europe. 
 
 It is not the purpose of this treatise to enter 
 into the particulars of that eventful contest, but 
 reference is made to it here on account of the 
 close connexion which afterwards took place be- 
 tween the Reformed churches and those of the 
 Waldenses. 
 
 It is probable that Luther, when he commenced 
 his arduous labors, was not aware of the true 
 character, nor of the numbers of the Waldenses 
 and other dissenters from the church of Rome. 
 Their adherents in Germany were not among the 
 rich or the learned, but generally lived in obscu- 
 rity, and found in the consolations of religion the 
 solace of their lives. They must have rejoiced 
 
81 
 
 greatly at the boldness and success with w hich 
 he attacked time-honored abuses and exposed the 
 mischiefs of priestly domination; and it must 
 have been equally rejoicing to the heart of the 
 intrepid Reformer when he found so many thou- 
 sands responding to his call, and spreading far 
 and wide the truths which he taught. 
 
 But although it afforded joy and encourage- 
 ment to the Waldenses, to be informed of the la- 
 bors of Luther and his associates, it does not ap- 
 pear that they made any advances towards a 
 union with the Reformers till the year 1530, be- 
 ing thirteen years after the Reformation com- 
 menced. At this time a deputation from the 
 Waldensian churches of Provence visited Swit- 
 zerland and Germany, and had an interview 
 with the Reformers CEcolampadius, Bucer and 
 Hallar. This led to a correspondence, and in 
 the year 1540 a union took place, or at least, 
 teachers of religion from Germany were received 
 by the Waldensian churches in the south of 
 France, which led to the most disastrous conse- 
 quences. This portion of their history I will re- 
 late in the words of a Roman Catholic loriter of 
 undoubted credit. ^^ 
 
 "When the inhabitants of Merindole and Cab- 
 riare, at the report of those things which were 
 done in Germany, lifted up their crests, and hir- 
 ing teachers out of Germany, discovered themselves 
 more manifestly than they had done before, they 
 were brought to judgment by the Parliament of 
 Aix, at the instance of the King's Procurator; but 
 being admonished by their friends, and deterred 
 by the danger that undoubtedly attended their 
 
82 
 
 trial, they failed to appear. And having been 
 summoned for three market-days together, they 
 were condemned as contumacious by a most hor- 
 rible and immeasurably cruel sentence, on the 
 18th of November, about the year 1540. By 
 that decree the fathers of families were condemn- 
 ed to the flames, and the estates, wives, children, 
 and servants of the condemned parties confiscated 
 to the use of the treasury. And because Merin- 
 dole had hitherto been the usual den and recep- 
 tacle of such sort of infected persons, it was or- 
 dered that all the houses should be laid level with 
 the ground; that the subterranean caves and 
 vaults, where they might be concealed, should 
 be demolished and filled up; that the wood round 
 about it should be cut down, and even the very 
 trees of the gardens; that the possessions of those 
 who dwelt in Merindole should not be so much as 
 let for the future to any of the same family, or 
 even of the same name with the former owners." 
 The execution of this cruel decree was delayed 
 for awhile, and on application to the King of 
 France, he ordered his lieutenant general, in 
 Piedmont, to inquire into it. Accordingly, after 
 due inquiry, he made this discovery: that the 
 Vaudois or Waldenses were a people who about 
 three hundred years before had hired of the 
 owners a rocky and uncultivated part of the 
 country, which, by dint of pains and constant til- 
 lage, they had rendered productive of fruits and 
 fit for cattle; that they were extremely patient of 
 labor and want; abhorring all contentions, — kind 
 to the poor; tiiat they paid the prince's taxes and 
 their lord's dues with the greatest exactness and 
 
88 
 
 fidelity; that lliey kept up a show of Divine wor- 
 ship by daily prayer and innocence of manners, 
 but seldom came to the churches of the saints, 
 unless by chance, when they went to the neigh- 
 boring towns for traffic or other business; and 
 whenever tliey set tlieir feet in them, they paid 
 no adoration to tiie statues of God or the saints, 
 nor brought them any tapers or other presents; 
 nor ever entreated the priests to say mass for 
 them, or the souls of their relations; nor crossed 
 their foreheads, as is the manner of others; that 
 when it thundered they never sprinkled them- 
 selves with holy water, but lifting up their eyes 
 to heaven implored the assistance of God; that 
 they never made religious pilgrimages, nor un- 
 covered their heads in the public ways before the 
 crucifixes; that they performed their worship in 
 a strange manner and in the vulgar tongue; and 
 lastly, paid no honor to the Pope or the bishops, 
 but esteemed some select persons of their own 
 number as priests and doctors. 
 
 When this report was made to Francis he de- 
 spatched an arret to the Parliament of Aix, par- 
 doned all past crimes, and allowed the Waldenses 
 three months, within which they were required 
 publicly to revoke their opinions. This respite 
 was further extended by the King, but he, at 
 length, having received false reports concerning 
 them, and " being instigated by the Cardinal de 
 Tournou, a bitter enemy to this sort of men, sent 
 letters to the Parliament in January, 1545, where- 
 by he permitted them to proceed against the Me- 
 randolians and other Waldenses according to 
 law." The States of the Empire, by their letters 
 
84 
 
 from Ratisbon. and the Protestant Swiss Cantons, 
 interceded on their behalf; but the King was in- 
 exorable, and a military force under John Meinier, 
 an enemy of the Waldenses, was sent to execute 
 the cruel decree. 
 
 The most revolting scenes of cruelty and out- 
 rage were perpetrated by the soldiers; many of 
 the inhabitants who fled with their women and 
 cliildren were pursued and slain; twenty-three 
 villages were destroyed and their inhabitants 
 massacred. 
 
 The King, afterwards, regretted these cruel 
 measures, and " among the last commands he 
 gave to his son Henry, he added this expressly — 
 that he should make inquisition into the injuries 
 done in that cause by the Parliament of Aix to 
 the Provencals; and even before he died, he 
 caused John Romano, a monk, to be apprehend- 
 ed, and commanded the Parliament of Aix to 
 punish him; for he, in the examination of here- 
 tics, invented a new^ kind of torture, ordering the 
 tortured parties to put on boots full of boiling tal- 
 low, and after laughing at them and clapping on 
 a pair of spurs, he would ask them whether they 
 were not finely equipped for a journey.*' * 
 
 Fifteen years after these horrid transactions in 
 the south of France, that is, in the year 1.560, the 
 Waldenses in Calabria, a district in the southern 
 extremity of Italy, "formed a junction with Cal- 
 vin's church at Geneva. The consequence of 
 this was, that several pastors or public teachers 
 went from the neighborhood of Geneva to settle 
 
 *Thuani Hisitoria sui temporis, lib. vi., quoted by Jonw. 
 
B5 
 
 With the cliurc'lies of Calabria.'" * This spread 
 an alarm among the Catholics, which reached 
 the ears of the Pope, Pious IV. Measures were 
 therefore undertaken for wholly exterminating 
 the Waldenses in that quarter, which in enormity 
 have seldom been exceeded. Two monks were 
 first sent to the inhabitants of St. Xist, who as- 
 sembled the people and by a smooth harangue 
 endeavored to persuade them to desist from hear- 
 ing these new teachers, whom they knew they 
 had lately received from Geneva. 
 
 Instead of complying, however, the Waldenses 
 forsook their houses, and as many as were able 
 fled to the woods with their wives and children. 
 Two companies of soldiers were instantly ordered 
 to pursue them, who hunted them like wild beasts, 
 crying "Amassa ! Amassa !" that is, kill, kill, — 
 and numbers were put to death. 
 
 Such as reached the tops of the mountains ob- 
 tained the privilege of being heard in their own 
 defence. They expostulated with. their pursuers, 
 referred to their harmless and irreproachable 
 lives, and begged, if they could not be permitted 
 to remain unmolested, they might at least be per- 
 mitted to retire from the country with their wives 
 and children; but stated, that if reduced to the 
 necessity of defending themselves, they must do 
 it at the peril of those who forced them to such 
 extremities. This expostulation only exasperated 
 the soldiers, who immediately rushing upon them 
 in the most impetuous manner — a "terrible affray 
 ensued, in which several lives were lost, and the 
 military at last put to flight." 
 
 ♦Jones, C. H., ii. 296. 
 8 
 
86 
 
 The Inquisitors, on this, wrote to the Viceroy 
 of Naples for more soldiers, who cheerfully com- 
 plied. Proclamation was made throughout the 
 kingdom of Naples, inviting persons to come to 
 the war against the heretics. 
 
 The fugitives in the mountains were hunted 
 and slain, the villages destroyed, some of the in- 
 habitants condemned to the gallies, many slain 
 and their wives and children sold or put to death. 
 One of their pastors died in prison from starva- 
 tion; another, named Lewis Pascal, was taken to 
 Rome and burnt in presence of the Pope and car- 
 dinals. " Such was the end of the Waldenses of 
 Calabria, who were wholly exterminated." 
 
 Let us now turn our attention to the main body 
 of the VValdenses, inhabiting the valleys of Pied- 
 mont. We have seen that in the year 1488 they 
 were attacked by an army led by Abert de Cape- 
 tain, Archdeacon of Cremona, who was author- 
 ized by a papal bull to destroy them. They 
 were, however, taken under the protection of the 
 Duke of Savoy, who saved them from extermina- 
 tion, but could not prevent the Inquisitors from 
 harassing them by putting to death some who 
 travelled beyond their own districts, and came 
 within the reach of their officers. This state of 
 things continued till about the time of the Refor- 
 mation, at the commencement of which, the atten- 
 tion of the Inquisitors being drawn towards Ger- 
 many and Switzerland, the Waldenses enjoyed a 
 season of repose, which lasted about thirty-eight 
 years, until they formed a union with the Re- 
 formers, or became so far identified with them as 
 to excite anew the jealousy of the Catholics, when 
 
87 
 
 they were again subjected to a fiery persecution. 
 This part of their history I will relate in the lan- 
 guage of the continuator of Sleidan's History of 
 the Reformation. "This people, about the year 
 1555, had embraced the Beformatlon and had svf- 
 fered it to he puhUcly p?'eached, though it was for- 
 bidden by the Council of Turin, which, the year 
 following, sent one of its own members to inquire 
 after the offenders and to punish them; to whom 
 the inhabitants delivered the confession of their 
 faith, declaring that they professed the doctrine 
 contained in the Old and New Testaments and 
 comprehended in the apostles' creed, and admit- 
 ted the sacraments instituted by Christ, and the 
 ten commandments," &c. " On this, a solemn 
 deputation was appointed concerning the sacri- 
 fice of the mass, .auricular confession, tradition, 
 prayers and oblations for the dead, and the cere- 
 monies of the church and her censures, all which 
 they rejected, alledging that they were human 
 inventions and contrary to the word of God." 
 
 This confession was sent by the Duke of Savoy 
 to the King of France, who, about a year after, 
 returned an answer, that he had caused it to be 
 examined by learned divines, who had all con- 
 demned it as erroneous and contrary to true reli- 
 gion; and therefore the King commanded them 
 to reject the confession and submit to the holy 
 church of Rome, and if they did not do so their 
 persons and estates should be confiscated. But 
 they, on the contrary, were resolved to stand by 
 their former confession. They were, therefore, 
 commanded not to admit any teacher who was 
 not sent by the Archbislwp of Turin, or the 
 
88 
 
 Council there; and that if any teachers came 
 among them from Geneva they should discover or 
 apprehend them, upon pain of death or loss of all 
 they had. For three years after this the Wal- 
 denses were let alone and no way molested; but 
 this year, 1560, the Duke of Savoy, much against 
 his will and inclination, was drawn by the Pope 
 to make war upon them. 
 
 " The pastor of Perousa was taken and burnt 
 with a slow fire, together with many of his flock, 
 and the inhabitants were despoiled of all they 
 had and forced to flee to the mountains. Being 
 thus enraged with hard usage, in the month of 
 July fifty of them set upon one hundred and 
 twenty soldiers belonging to the Abbey of Pigne- 
 rol, (where the Inquisitors were stationed) put 
 them to flight and slew the greatest part of them; 
 and about four hundred more of their party com- 
 ing up, they took the Abbey of Pignerol and de- 
 livered all their people which were imprisoned 
 there. In October following, news being brought 
 that the Duke of Savoy was sending an army to 
 destroy them, they resolved that it was not lawful 
 to take arms against their prince, but that they 
 would take what they could carry away and be- 
 take themselves to the rjiountains, and there await 
 the good pleasure of God, who never forsakes his 
 own, and can turn the hearts of princes which way 
 he pleaseth. There was not one man amongst 
 them who repined against this decree. In after- 
 times they had pastors icho taught them otherwise, 
 and told them it was not their prince but the Pope 
 that they resisted, and that they fought, not for 
 their religion, but for their wives and children." 
 
89 
 
 The forces of the Duke of Savoy entered their 
 borders, and the soldiers attempting to get above 
 them, they betook themselves to their slings and 
 maintained a fight against them (though they 
 were but few in number) the space of a whole 
 day, with no great loss. At last the general, 
 finding they were not to be forced, gave them 
 leave to petition the Duke of Savoy, " that they 
 might live in peace, assuring him that nothing 
 but utter ruin could have forced them to take 
 arms against him; for which they humbly begged 
 his highness's pardon, and begging the liberty of 
 their consciences and that they might not be 
 forced to submit to the traditions of the church of 
 Rome, but might, with his leave, enjoy the reli- 
 gion they had learned from their ancestors." — 
 "This petition was seconded by the Duchess of 
 Savoy, who was a merciful princess, and had 
 great power over the affections of the Duke. It 
 being ever her judgment that this people were 
 not to be so severely used, who had not changed 
 their religion a few days ago, but had been in 
 possession of it from their ancestors so many 
 ages." Upon this they were received to mercy; 
 but the soldiery fell upon them when they sus- 
 pected nothing. and plundered them three days 
 together. 
 
 Having sent a deputation to the Duke to peti- 
 tion for mercy, their deputies were required to 
 ask pardon of the Pope's nuncio, and to promise 
 to admit the mass, which they did. " On their 
 return, when the principals understood what had 
 been done, they wrote to the rest of the Valleys 
 what had been done and desired a public consul- 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 tation or diet, at which it was agreed that they 
 should all join in a league to defend their reli- 
 gion." 
 
 "And the next day they entered into the church 
 of Bobbio and broke down the images and altars, 
 and marching to Villare, where they intended to 
 do the like, they met the soldiers, whom they 
 pelted with their slings." After this they beat 
 the captain of Turin in a second fight. By this 
 time the whole army drew into the field, and the 
 inhabitants of these valleys not being able to re- 
 sist them, the soldiers burnt all their towns and 
 houses, and destroyed all the people they took. 
 After this a peace was concluded, but it lasted 
 only four years, for in 1565, at the importunate 
 request of the Catholic party, an edict was issued 
 enjoining every subject throughout the dominions 
 of the Duke of Savoy, within ten days, to appear 
 before the magistrates and declare their readiness 
 to go to mass, or quit the country in two months. 
 The Protestant Princes of Germany, and espe- 
 cially the Elector Palatine of the Rhine, inter- 
 ceded on their behalf, and being seconded by the 
 entreaties of the Duchess of Savoy, the Duke 
 again relented, and " they enjoyed peace until 
 the year 1571, when the Duke being drawn in to 
 join several of the Princes of Europe in a league 
 offensive against the Protestants; which he had 
 no sooner done, than he began to molest his Pro- 
 testant subjects in the valleys." The Duchess 
 again interposed on their behalf, and the Wal- 
 denses were permitted to remain with Httle mo- 
 lestation until the death of the Duke, which took 
 place in 1580. 
 
91 
 
 He was succeeded by his son, Charles Em- 
 manuel, who being waited upon by the deputies 
 of the Waldenses, assuring him of their fidelity 
 and asking his favor, he promised to protect them 
 from molestation, which he did till the end of the 
 century, being about twenty years. 
 
 In the Marquisate of Saluces, a tract of coun- 
 try at the head of the river Po, and separated 
 from the Valley of Lucerne, in Piedmont, only 
 by a single mountain, there was a settlement of 
 dissenters from the church of Rome, who had for 
 '' many ages maintained the purity of the Chris- 
 tian profession, living in great harmony, and 
 holdings fellowship with the neighboring churches 
 of the same faith and order. 
 
 This district of country had been under the 
 jurisdiction of the Kings of France until the year 
 1588, when it was ceded to the Duke of Savoy. 
 Previous to this time, " their external peace had 
 been frequently invaded by the Kings of France, 
 and their constancy and patience under sufferings 
 put severely to the test; but if the French mon- 
 archs had chastised them with whips, it was re- 
 served for their new sovereign, Charles Em- 
 manuel, to do it with scorpions. In the year 
 1597, he made his pleasure known to his new 
 subjects, that they should embrace the Roman 
 Catholic religion. They replied by an humble 
 petition, requesting him to allow them to enjoy 
 their ancient religious privileges, and reminded 
 him that even the Jews were allowed to live in 
 peace and in the enjoyment of their religious 
 worship. This answer was not without effect, 
 for they remained undisturbed until 1601, when 
 
92 
 
 an edict was issued, requiring all dissenters to 
 appear before a magistrate within fifteen days 
 and renounce their profession and attend mass, 
 or depart out of the country within the space of 
 two months, never to return, under pain of death. 
 
 This barbarous decree was put in execution, 
 and more thai> five hundred families driven into 
 exile. Some crossed the Alps and retired in 
 Dauphiny, in France; others, to Geneva, while 
 many sought a refuge among their friends in the 
 valleys of Piedmont. 
 
 " From this period the Waldenses appear to 
 have been tolerably free from persecution for half 
 a century. But in the month of January, 1655, 
 the tragedy of Saluces was reacted over almost 
 all the valleys of Piedmont, and with tenfold 
 cruelty." 
 
 In that month an order was issued by Andrew 
 Gastaldo. doctor of the civil law and conservator 
 general of the holy faith, by virtue of authority 
 vested in him by the duke of Savoy, to require 
 ''every head of a family with its members of the 
 reformed religion, of whatever rank or condition, 
 in the valleys of Piedmont, within three days from 
 the publication of the decree to depart and to be 
 with their families withdrawn out of the said 
 places," and to be transported into the places al- 
 lowed by his royal highness, under pain of death 
 and confiscation of goods, unless they would em- 
 brace the Catholic religion. Notwithstanding 
 their humble petitions for mercy, this inhuman 
 decree procured by the Roman clergy was, after 
 a feeble resistance, executed by a military force 
 of six thousand men, assisted by a promiscuous 
 
93 
 
 rabble of plunderers gatliered from the neighbor- 
 ing states. 
 
 The massacre that ensued, estimated at six 
 thousand persons, is described by eye witnesses 
 and historians as horrible beyond measure. 
 
 All the Protestant nations of Europe were filled 
 with grief and indignation ; among them the 
 English took the most active part, and the protec- 
 tor CromwTll, assisted by his secretary, the poet 
 Milton, drew up a most able and touching remon- 
 strance addressed to the duke of Savoy, which he 
 sent by the hands of a special ambassador, Sir 
 Samuel Moreland. He also addressed letters to 
 the king of France and all the Protestant princes 
 of Europe, and he caused collections to be taken 
 up throughout England for the relief of the suf- 
 ferers, which amounted to thirty-eight thousand 
 two hundred and forty-one pounds sterling. Mil- 
 ton's feelings w^ere so deeply interested for the 
 fate of the poor Waldenses, that he composed the 
 following touching little poem : 
 
 ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEDMONT. 
 
 Avenge, Oh Lord! thy slaughtered saintp, whose bones 
 Lie scatlered on the Alpine inounleiins cold; 
 Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 
 When all our fathers worshipt stocks and stones, 
 
 Forget not: in thy book record their groans 
 Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 
 Slain by the bloody Piedmontesc that roli'd 
 Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 
 
 The vales redoubled to the hill:^, and Ihcy 
 
 To heaven. Their niartyr'd blood and ashes sow 
 O'er all th' Italian fields, whore still doth sway 
 
 The tripled tyrant; that from these may grow 
 A hundred fold, who having learn'd thy way 
 Early may fly the Babylonian woe. 
 
94 
 
 The reaionslrance of Cromwell, and the inter- 
 cession of the Swiss and other friends of the Wal- 
 denses, induced the duke of Savoy to enter into a 
 treaty in the year 1(355, granting liberty to the 
 scattered survivors to return to their homes, or 
 rather to the desolated valleys where their homes 
 had once been found. Notwithstanding the sup- 
 plies sent them from other countries, they suffer- 
 ed for many years the most grievous wants, being 
 harassed continually by their enemies, and the 
 provisions of the treaty disregarded. 
 
 In the year 1663 another attempt was made to 
 extirpate them, when they stood upon the defen- 
 sive, and kept their enemies at bay until their 
 friends in the Swiss Cantons interfered and pre- 
 vailed upon the duke to renew the treaty of 1655. 
 This state of things continued until 1672, when 
 an event occurred which marks a striking dilTer- 
 ence in their principles from those W'hich were 
 held by the ancient Waldenses. The duke being 
 at war with the Genoese, and his troops much 
 worsted in the conflict, the Waldenses embraced 
 the opportunity to show their loyalty and volun- 
 tarily enrolled themselves in the army, where they 
 fought so valiantly as to turn the tide of victory 
 in favor of their sovereign. The duke Vv-as so 
 much pleased with tiieir conduct, that he address- 
 ed tliem a letter of thanks, and promised them his 
 " royal protection." 
 
 He continued to favor them till the time of his 
 death, which took place in 1675, and his widow, 
 who governed for ten years afterwards during the 
 minority of her son, extended to them the same 
 favor. 
 
95 
 
 Victor Amadous II. began to reign in 1085, 
 and became connected by marriage with Louis 
 XIV, king of France, "one of the most detestable 
 and sanguinary tyrants that ever sat on a throne." 
 It was he that revoked the edict of Nantz in the 
 year 1685, and exposed his Protestant subjects, 
 who then numbered about two millions, to the ut- 
 most rigor of persecution. Great numbers were 
 put to death in the most cruel manner, and about 
 eight hundred thousand persons compelled to 
 leave the kinodom. Through his instigation the 
 duke of Savoy, contrary to his own better feelings 
 and judgment, issued an edict in 1686 " forbid- 
 ding his subjects the exercise of the Protestant re- 
 ligion upon pain of death, the confiscation of their 
 goods, the demolition of their churches, and the 
 banishment of their pastors." 
 
 "All infants from that time were to be brought 
 up in the Roman Catholic religion, under the 
 penalty of their fathers being condemned to the 
 gallies." 
 
 The inhabitants of the Swiss Cantons again in- 
 terposed their good offices to save these afflicted 
 people from the impending calamity; but all they 
 could obtain for them was a temporary respite, 
 and an edict permitting them to leave their coun- 
 try. This edict required them to demolish their 
 churches, lay down their arms, and divide them- 
 selves into three bodies to be conducted out of the 
 country. Having no confidence in the edict, and 
 believing it to be intended to ensnare them, they 
 refused to accept the terms, and prepared them- 
 selves for a stout resistance. They fortified the 
 
06 
 
 passes to the valleys, armed themselves as they 
 best could, and waited for their enemies. 
 
 Tiie Waldenses under arms were about twenty- 
 five hundred, — the army of the duke with his 
 French allies much larger. After defending 
 themselves vigorously the Waldenses were over- 
 come by treachery and force, great numbers of 
 both sexes and all ages were barbarously treated 
 and put to death, and twelve thousand of the sur- 
 vivors, men, women, and children, cast into 
 prison.* 
 
 By the entreaties of the Swiss ambassadors the 
 prison doors were at length opened; but it was 
 now the beginning of winter, and the poor ema- 
 ciated and almost naked captives, reduced in 
 number to about seven thousand, were compelled 
 to take up their march across the snow-clad Alps 
 to seek an asylum in Switzerland, where such as 
 survived the hardships of the journey were kind- 
 ly received and hospitably entertained. 
 
 Their beautiful valleys were depopulated, laid 
 waste, and given to strangers. After remaining 
 three years in Switzerland, a small but intrepid 
 band, consisting of about eight hundred under the 
 conduct o^Arnaud their pastor, returned with arjns 
 in their hands, determined to reconquer their na- 
 tive country. Although opposed by far superior 
 numbers, they were enabled to sustain themselves 
 until a rupture took place between the king of 
 France and the duke of Savoy, " when, joining 
 the troops of their lawful sovereign, they proved 
 
 * Jones', ii. p. 450. 
 
their loyalty, and were permitted to re-ostablisli 
 themselves on their small patrimonial estates." 
 " Thus re-established they became the stock of 
 the existing race of Vaudois, who are still to be 
 found in the valleys of Piedmont."* Though 
 much reduced in numbers and influence they are 
 still interesting to the Protestant world as the de- 
 scendants of that martyr band who during centu- 
 ries of persecution, while darkness brooded over 
 Europe, kept alive the sacred flame of religion, 
 and prophesied in sackcloth. It must, however, 
 be acknowledged that our interest in them is di- 
 minished by the consideration, that in one impor- 
 tant particular, at least, they have not maintained 
 the principles of their forefathers, who bore a tes- 
 timony against the taking of human life, and 
 would not fight even in self-defence. It is true 
 that the circumstances in which they were placed 
 were such as to try men's souls to the very utter- 
 most; persecuted, robbed, imprisoned, and tortured, 
 their homes demolished, and their wives and chil- 
 dren butchered before their eyes, it is evident that 
 nothing but the lamb-like spirit of Christ could 
 preserve them from the shedding of blood. They 
 performed prodigies of valor, but what did this 
 avail them? they were driven from their country, 
 and what is still worse, they were driven from 
 their principles. Their ancestors had for many 
 centuries been persecuted and sometimes reduced 
 to the greatest extremities; but they still adhered 
 to their peaceable principles, Divine Providence 
 watched over them, and even when permitted to 
 
 * Sims' Introduction to Peyran's Historical Defence of 
 Vaudois, 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 be exiled fruni their country, they became instru- 
 mental in spreading the knowledge of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom. 
 
 One of the best and most satisfactory historians 
 of this interesting people* brings their history 
 down to the time of their last dispersion in 1686, 
 and gives no account of the small band who re- 
 turned under Arnaud, 1689, because (as he says 
 in the preface to his fifth London edition) he does 
 not consider this band who came from Geneva 
 "equipped with arms and ammunition,^^ to be of the 
 same church as ''the meek confessors of Pied- 
 mont.^^ It appears that those who now bear the 
 name of Vaudois or Waldenses differ in several 
 other particulars from that ancient church. 
 
 We learn from the narrative of Gilly, who 
 visited Piedmont in the year 1823, that they are 
 "partial to the Episcopal form of church govern- 
 ment; and though particular circumstances have 
 induced them to drop the title of bishop in its 
 generally received sense, yet the Episcopal func- 
 tions are retained." " At present," says he, 
 " either the liturgy of Geneva or that of Neuf- 
 chatel is read in the churches, according to the 
 discretion of the pastor; but that of Geneva, which 
 is a beautiful production, is principally followed. 
 The rituals which are adopted in conformity to 
 their intercourse with Switzerland, have a service 
 for the communion, and different forms for certain 
 days and seasons.'^ In order to carry out this 
 system of forms, and to read this " beautiful lit- 
 urgy" they must of course have a paid ministry, 
 
 s 
 
 * Jon«». 
 
99 
 
 Accordingly we learn from Sim's Introduction 
 before cited, that out of Queen Mary's grant of 
 five hundred pounds per annum, the sum of two 
 hundred and sixty-six pounds per annum was 
 granted for the support of thirteen ministers and 
 their widows, after the return of the Vaudois to 
 their native valleys in the year 1690. This 
 grant w as suspended in 1797, but has since been 
 restored. 
 
 In 17e8 collections were made in Great Britain 
 " to enable the Vaudois to maintain their ministers j 
 churches, schools, and poor." A capital of ten 
 thousand pounds was raised and invested in three 
 per cent, bank annuities for this purpose, and the 
 interest has been regularly remitted. Now let 
 us contrast these modern Vaudois with the an- 
 cient Waldenses, as described by Jones in his 
 preface before cited, p. xxv. He says, " they 
 were dissenters, — Protestant dissenters ; dissen- 
 ters upon principle not only from the church of 
 Rome, but also from all national establishments 
 of religion. They existed by mere toleration from 
 the civil government, — they acknowledged no 
 earthly potentate as head of the church; they 
 absolutely protested against every thing of the 
 kind. They had no book of common prayer, no 
 liturgy, no thirty-nine articles to guard them from 
 error, heresy, or schism. They had no reverend 
 gentlemen, — no privileged order of clergymen 
 paid or pensioned for discharging the duties of 
 the pastoral office among them. They paid par- 
 ticular respect to the Lord's words, ' Be ye not 
 called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ, 
 and all ye are brethren: And call no man your 
 
100 
 
 father upon eartli; for one is your Father which 
 is in heaven. Neil her be ye called masters, for 
 one is your Master, even Christ; but he that is 
 greatest among you shall be your servant.' " 
 
 It becomes an interesting inquiry to know 
 when and from what cause arose this change of 
 principles among the Waldenses. 
 
 I think it may be clearly shown that it took 
 place soon after their union with the churches of 
 Germany and Geneva, and originated in the em- 
 ployment of Calvinist ministers, who, contrary to 
 the practice of the ancient Waldenses, received a 
 salary for preaching. It has been already stated 
 that the Waldensian churches of Merindole and 
 Cabriare, in the south of France, '^hired teachers 
 from Germany^^ in the year 1540, and soon after 
 a horrible persecution ensued, by which they 
 were exterminated or expelled from their country. 
 In like manner the Waldenses of Calabria, in i\\e 
 south of Italy, " formed a junction in 1560 with 
 Calvin's church at Geneva, and several pastors 
 or public teachers went from the neighborhood of 
 Geneva to settle with the churches of Calabria." 
 
 This excited alarm and jealousy among the 
 Catholics, who required them ^'' to desist from hear- 
 ing these new teachers,^'' which not being complied 
 with, a horrible massacre ensued and the whole 
 settlement was destroyed. 
 
 The main body of the Waldenses in Piedmont, 
 "in the year 1555, had embraced the Reformation, 
 and had sufTcred it to be publicly preached." — 
 This increased the bitter feelings of the Catho- 
 lics towards them, who required them, " if any 
 teachers came among them from Geneva, they . 
 
101 
 
 ihould discover or apprehend them upon pain of 
 death." A severe persecution ensued, and the 
 duke of Savoy, instigated by the pope, made war 
 upon them. They resisted and a bloody conflict 
 ensued, during which ''the soldiers burnt all their 
 towns and houses, and destroyed all the people 
 they took." 
 
 When we reflect that the Waldenses of Pied- 
 mont had dissented from the church of Rome and 
 borne an open testimony against its corruptions 
 for at least seven hundred years previous to the 
 Reformation, and although often persecuted their 
 numbers continued to increase and spread to 
 other countries, we may reasonably conclude 
 that some change must then have taken place 
 which increased the rancour of their enemies. 
 Previous to that time " they prohibited or con- 
 demned in ilieir society all loars and suits at law, 
 all attempts towards the acquisition of wealth, 
 the infliction of capital punishments, self-defence 
 against unjust violence, and oaths o^ all kinds."* 
 Soon after the pastors from Geneva came among 
 them they began to defend themselves; one hun- 
 dred years later " they are said to have fought 
 more like lions than men,^^ and subsequently they 
 volunteered their services to fight the battles of 
 their sovereign against the Genoese. 
 
 The character of a people is generally mould- 
 ed, or at least modified by their religious teachers; 
 and it has passed into a proverb, "like priest, like 
 people." 
 
 The ministers of the ancient Waldenses did not 
 follow preaching as a trade or profession; " they 
 
 * Mo«hiem, i. 339. 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 were not paid or pensioned," but " they maintain- 
 ed," says Moshiein, " that the rulers and minis- 
 ters of the church were obliged by their vocation 
 to imitate the poverty of the apostles, and to pro- 
 cure for themselves a subsistence by the work of 
 their hands;" " they considered every Christian 
 as in some measure qualified and authorized to 
 instruct, exhort, and confirm the brethren in their 
 Christian course."*" It does not appear that they 
 were learned in theology; they did not trouble 
 themselves about those nice distinctions and spec- 
 ulative opinions which have embroiled the Catho- 
 lic and Protestant churches, — but they had suffi- 
 cient learning to read their bibles, which they did 
 most diligently; and instead of looking to man to 
 explain its mysteries, they looked only to Him 
 "that hath the key of David; he that openeth 
 and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man 
 openeth." 
 
 Let us now turn to the teachers of the Protes- 
 tant churches of Germany and Geneva. Although 
 1 would not willingly disparage their services to 
 mankind, nor detract from their well-earned repu- 
 tation, yet I fully concur in the remark of a 
 British historian, that " the Reformers, with all 
 their zeal and learning, were babes in scriptural 
 knowledge when compared with the more illiter- 
 ate Waldenses, particularly in' regard to the na- 
 ture of the kingdom of Christ, and its institutions, 
 laws, and worship in general. Luther, for in- 
 stance, besides that both he and Calvin always 
 contended for a form of national Christianity, — a 
 
 * Moshiem, i. 332. 
 
108 
 
 principle which, the moment it is received into 
 the mind, must necessarily darken it as to the na- 
 ture of the kingdom of Christ, — Luther, with all 
 his zeal against popery, was never able to disin- 
 tangle his own mind from the inexplicable doc. 
 trine of transubstantiation, which he had imbibed 
 in the church of Rome. He, indeed, changed the 
 name, but he retained all the absurdity of the 
 thing. He rejected the word transubstantiation, 
 tl?at is, the bread and wine were not changed into 
 the substance of the body and blood of Christ, — 
 but the body and blood of Christ were really and 
 actually present in the elements of bread and 
 wine, and were therefore literally eaten and 
 drunk by the communicants."* " And with re- 
 spect to Calvin," says the same author, "it is 
 manifest that the leading, and to me, at least, the 
 most hateful feature, in all the multiform charac- 
 ter of popery, adhered to him through life; I mean 
 the spirit of persecution. Holding, as I do, many 
 doctrinal sentiments in common with Calvin, I am 
 prompted to speak my opinion of him with the 
 less reserve. I I'egard him as a man whom the 
 Creator had endowed with transcendant talents, 
 and have no doubt that he knew what ' flesh and 
 blood could never reveal to him.' " * * * * 
 " No mere man probably ever surpassed Calvin 
 in his indefatigable labors, according to the mea- 
 sure of his bodily strength, in making known to 
 others the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus, 
 both from the pulpit and the press; and his bitter- 
 est enemies cannot deny that the progress of the 
 
 * Jones' Ch. Hist. ii. 237. 
 
104 
 
 lUformation was wonderfully accelerated by hi* 
 means. Yet with all these excellencies, Calvin 
 was a persecutor! He had yet to learn, or at 
 least hoio to practice that simple lesson of the king- 
 dom of heaven, Whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do unto you do ye even so unto them. 
 Calvin could never comprehend how another man 
 could have as great a right to think wrong, as he 
 himself had to think right! and that it is the sole 
 prerogative of the King of Zion to punish his ene- 
 mies and the corriiptors of his truth. Upon this 
 point his judgment was perverted by the princi- 
 ples of his education, and, unhappily for his own 
 character and the cause of truth, his conduct was 
 founded upon this erroneous judgment. His be- 
 havior throughout the whole alTair of Servetus is 
 too well known to need any explanation in this 
 place; but I conceive it to be the imperative duty 
 of every friend to toleration and the rights of con- 
 science to express their marked abhorrence of 
 this part of the character of Calvin."* The 
 transaction here alluded to I will briefly notice. 
 Michael Servetus, a Spanish physician who had 
 settled at Vienne in France, published some 
 works concerning the doctrines of Christianity, 
 which gave offence to both Catholics and Protes- 
 tants. *' Having escaped from Vienne, and hap- 
 pening to come to Geneva in his retreat to Naples, 
 Calvin ' procured iiis apprehension and imprison- 
 ment.^ He was brought to trial. After various 
 delays he was sentenced to be burnt alive, ' for 
 having set himself in array against the Divine 
 
 • Jones, ii. p. Q39r 
 
105 
 
 Majesty and the Holy Trinity;' and the dreadful 
 sentence was executed that same day on which it 
 was pronounced.'" The writer of the article (en- 
 titled Calvin) in the Edinburg Encyclopaedia 
 from which I have extracted this account ap- 
 pears to be an advocate of Calvin, to whom, he 
 says, " the daring impiety and presumptuous in- 
 solence of Servetus had become intolerable." Ilis 
 impiety was, doubtless, a denial of the trinitarian 
 doctrines, and his presumption consisted in think- 
 ing differently from his persecutors. 
 
 The same writer informs us that " the princi- 
 ples of toleration were as yet but imperfectly un- 
 derstood. Even those who formally recognized 
 them had not imbibed their genuine spirit. And 
 the persecuting temper of popery was insensibly re- 
 tained, after men had discovered its corruptions 
 and emancipated themselves in a great measure 
 from its yoke. This was the case in every place 
 where the Reformation existed, and with every 
 sect of Christians that was possessed of power." 
 " It appears, too, that the proceedings against 
 Servetus received the approbation of almost all 
 the eminent ecclesiastics who then flourished. 
 
 The Reformed Swiss Cantons were unanimous 
 in exhorting the council of Geneva to punish the 
 wicked man, and to put it out of his power to in- 
 crease heresy. Faral, Viret, Bucer, Beza, (Eco- 
 lampadius, and even the gentle Melancthon, ap- 
 proved of the measure.'^ 
 
 Here we discern the cause why the Catholic 
 priests and the pope were so much incensed 
 against the Waldenses for receiving the Protes- 
 tant teachers of Geneva; these teachers were of 
 
109 
 
 the game spirit as themselves, •' the ptrsecutiiig spi- 
 rit of popery was insensibly retained,''^ and they 
 were instrumental in changing the character of 
 the simple and inoffensive Waldenscs from the 
 nature of the lamb to that of the lion. 
 
 So long as they remained under the teachings 
 of their native barbs, or ministers, who were 
 husbandmen and mechanics little accustomed to 
 controversy, they excited less suspicion and alarm 
 than afterwards, when under the pastoral charge 
 of men versed in theology, and animated with an 
 ardent proselyting zeal. It may be supposed by 
 some, that there was nothing in the doctrines of 
 the Reformers of Germany and Switzerland that 
 led to persecution; but rather, that it was the re- 
 sult of education and the spirit of the age. From 
 this sentiment I must dissent; for it appears evi- 
 dent to me, that any system of doctrines which 
 restricts the salvation of mankind to any set of 
 opinions ivhatever, must lead to persecution when 
 supported by numbers and accompanied by tempo- 
 ral power. The religion of J(S5;/s Christ does not 
 consist in opinions, but in principles. He enjoined 
 upon his followers no creed, he instituted no cere- 
 monies; but he directed his disciples to wait for 
 the teachings of the comforter or " Spirit of 
 Truth," which, said he, will lead you into all 
 Truth, and " by this shall all men know that ye 
 are my disciples if ye have love one towards 
 another." 
 
 A man may conscientiously differ from others 
 in opinion, he may even entertain erroneous 
 opinions, (as most men probably do) but if his 
 heart is right towards God, — if the principles thai 
 
107 
 
 actuate his conduct are the fruits of the spirit — 
 love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, and temperance — then is he 
 a disciple of Christ, and a subject of his spiritual 
 kingdom. 
 
 Now it appears that these liberal and tolerant 
 doctrines of Christianity were not clearly per- 
 ceived by the Reformers; they taught that cer- 
 tain opinions which they held witJi regard to the 
 trinity and atonement wei^e essential to salvation^ 
 and when they became possessed of temporal 
 power they were easily persuaded to exercise it 
 in order to compel men to come into what they 
 considered the fold of Christ. 
 
 The same intolerant viev/s, when accompanied 
 by temporal power, will always lead to persecu- 
 tion, and especially when the interests of the 
 priesthood are endangered by the desertion of 
 their followers. 
 
 From the facts here related, we may draw 
 many instructive conclusions, to two of which 
 only I will call the reader's attention. 
 
 First. The ministers of Christ, like the apostles 
 and teachers of the primitive church, should not 
 look to man for their reward, nor seek for their 
 weapons in the schools of theology; nor should 
 the people to whom they minister permit them to 
 be "as lords over God's heritage," but require 
 them to be "examples to the flock." 1 Pet. v. 3. 
 
 Secondly. The triumphs of the religion of Jesu3 
 Christ have always been achieved through suffer- 
 ing, and never by resistance or violence. 
 
 He did not exert his miraculous power to de- 
 strov hi3 enemies, but he laid down his life to 
 
108 
 
 save them; and the apostles, when brought under 
 the baptizing power of the holy spirit, cheerfully 
 followed in the footsteps of their Master. In like 
 manner their successors, the martyrs of the primi- 
 tive church and the faithful followers of Christ in 
 each succeeding age, have been made willing to 
 drink of the cup that he drank of, and thus " to 
 fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of 
 Christ, for his body's sake, which is the church." 
 Col. i. 24. Although we can but deplore the 
 wickedness of those cruel men who have subject- 
 ed the faithful to persecution and death, we must 
 admire the wisdom and adore the goodness of God 
 who so filled the hearts of his servants with divine 
 love, that they could rejoice in the midst of suffer- 
 ings, and triumph even in death over all the 
 powers of darkness and wickedness of men. 
 
 But may we not boldly affirm that there is no 
 other way in which the strongholds of superstition 
 and error can be so effectually assailed as by the 
 meek example and patient sufferings of the faith- 
 ful. If we attempt to reclaim mankind from their 
 errors by physical force, or even by harsh invec- 
 tive, we rouse in them the spirit of resistance and 
 defeat our purpose; but he who is actuated by 
 that meek and gentle spirit which breathes peace 
 on earth and good will to men, becomes willing 
 to suffer rather than contend; and thus address- 
 ing himself to the best feelings of the human 
 heart he " overcomes evil with good," destroys 
 error by the weapons of truth, and triumphs over 
 hatred by the power of divine love. 
 
 THB END. 
 

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 An historical sketch of the Christian 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00068 3815