|THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,f f Princeton, N. J. * ^***** £&&&* BR 143 .J63 1832 Jones, William, 1762-1846. The history of the Christia church u HISTORY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE XVIII. CENTURY: I>'CLCDI>TG THE VERY INTERESTING ACCOUNT WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSES, BY WILLIAM JONES. TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. THIRD AMERICAN FROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION. IWaifelpfjia: PUBLISHED BY R. W. POMEROY. SOLD BY HOGAN & THOMPSON, 139* MARKET STREET. 1832. C. SHERMAN &, CO. PRINTERS, St. James Street, Philadelphia. t"vzv~ . THSOLOG: mm iVV.*v - - ' Chronological Tables to Vols. I. and II. - - vii Preface to the First Edition, ----- xiii Preface to the Fifth Edition, .... xix Introduction, -------l CHAPTER I. A View of the Rise and Progress of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the End of the First Century. Sect. 1. From the Birth to the Death of Christ, - 35 2. From Christ's Resurrection to the Promulgation of the Gospel among the Gentiles, - - - 40 3. From the first Preaching of the Gospel among the Gen- tiles to the Return of Paul and Barnabas from their first Journey, - 53 4. The Subject continued — Paul's second and third Journeys, 66 5. From Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem with the Contributions from Asia to the Period of his Death, - 84 6. From the Time of Paul's Decease, A. D. 66, to the End of the first Century, - 96 CHAPTER II. History of the Christian Church from the End of the first Cen- tury to the Establishment of Christianity under Con- stantine the Great, A. D. 98 — 306. Sect. 1. The State of the Christian Profession under the Reign of the Emperor Trajan, A. D. 98 — 117, - 115 2. The Christian Church under the reigns of Adrian and the Antonines, A. D. 117 — 180, - - 123 3. From the Death of Marcus Aurelius to the days of Con- stantine, A. D. 180 — 306 - - - 134 4. Reflections on the History of the Christian Church dur- ing the first three Centuries, with a View of the Rise of Antichrist, - - - - 152 CHAPTER III. The State of Christianity from the Accession of Conslantine to the Rise of the PFaldenses, A. D. 306—800. Sect. 1. A View of the Reign of Constantine the Great, and the Establishment of Christianity, A. D. 306—337, 159 2. From the Death of Constantine to the End of the fourth Century, A. D. 337—400, 175 3. From the Beginning of the fifth Century to the Establish- ment of the Dominion of the Popes, A. D. 401— 606, 195 4. The Subject continued — the Gothic Invasion — the sack- ing of Rome — Settlement of the Barbarians in Europe, 209 Appendix to Chap. III. Sect. 4. - - 222 5. From the Establishment of the Dominion of the Popes to the Rise of the Waldenses — Sketch of Mahometan- ism— Sect of the Paulicians, &c. A. D. 606—800, 225 CHAPTER IV. Ji View of the State of the Christian Prof essionfromthebeginning of the ninth to the end of the twelfth Century, A. D. 800 —1200. Sect. 1. Description of the Valleys of Piedmont, and of the Py- renees, with some Account of Claude of Turin, 246 2. View of the Catholic Church from the ninth to the twelfth Century, A. D. 800—1200, - - 257 3. Sketch of the State of Christianity from the Death of Claude of Turin, to the Days of Peter Waldo, — Ca- thari in Germany — Waldenses in England — Arnold of Brescia — Paterines in Milan, &c. A. D. 840 — 1160, 273 4. History of the Crusades for the Recovery of the Holy Land, and of the City of Jerusalem, A. D. 1096 — 1270, 289 CHAPTER V. The History of the Waldenses and Mbigenses, from the 7 imes of Peter Waldo, A. D. 1160, to the Bays of Wickliff, A. D. 1368. Sect. 1. Etymology of the Terms Waldenses and Albigenses, with some Account of Peter Waldo of Lyons — Decree of Pope Lucius III. &c. ... 307 2. View of the doctrinal Sentiments of the Waldenses, ac- cording to the Testimony of their Adversaries, 318 3. Their Sentiments and Practices, collected from their own Writings, 332 4. Additional Testimonies from the Writings of both Friends an 25- § Acts x. 38. I White's Sermons at Bampton's Lectures. 4 38 History of the Christian Church. lowed Jesus, that the number of his disciples was immense. But we have frequent intimations of the fallacy of implicitly trusting to appear- ances in these things. Were we to consider only the interesting nature of his doctrine, the wisdom and energy with which it was delivered, and the stupendous works of supernatural power by which it was accompanied — the little success that attended it, must have ever remained a source of perplexity to us ; but the problem is solved by admitting the scriptural account of the depravity of the human mind, its aliena- tion from God, and its natural enmity against his truth. The reception which the Messiah was to meet with, had been described by an ancient prophet in these remarkable Avords, " AVho hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" — And the event justi- fied the prediction. Some k\v indeed, and those chiefly from among the inferior ranks in life, believed on him as the hope of Israel, and found in him all their salvation and desire ; and while his claims of being the Messiah were generally set at naught by their countrymen, they could say, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe and are sure, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."' From among these latter, Jesus selected twelve whom he named apostles, and whom he qualified and sent forth to preach the doctrine of his kingdom, and to cure diseases ; and sometime afterwards he appointed seventy others also to labour in his vineyard. These he sent forth, two and two, into every city and place to which he himself would come, as his heralds, announcing his approach, and calling all descrip- tions of persons to repent and believe the gospel.t It appears from the testimony of ancient historians, that about the time of Christ's appearing, the Jews anxiously expected him as the great deliverer and chief ornament of their nation ; and even among the heathens an opinion was at that time prevalent, probably derived from the Hebrew prophets, that a prince of unparalleled glory was to arise in Judea, who was to found a kind of universal monarchy.;): But in the humble appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, the Jews found nothing that corresponded to the expectations they entertained on this subject. Their vain hearts, like those of the generality of men in all ages, were so intoxicated with the admiration of worldly pomp, that that was the only greatness for which they had any relish ; and hence they formed a picture of him, who was the desire of all nations, very unlike the original. Nor was the doctrine which he inculcated more suited to their taste, than his personal appearance answered to their expecta- tions. For, while they fostered the presumptuous imagination, that in virtue of the privileges they enjoyed as God's covenanted people, and especially as being the descendants of Abraham, they had a peculiar claim to the Divine favour and to all the blessings of their Messiah's kingdom, both Jesus and his forerunner boldly attacked this master- prejudice, and evinced the futility of every such plea. They were now called upon to give up the erroneous sentiments which they entertained * John vi. 68, 69. f Luke x. 1—16. \ Suetonius in vita Vespasian), ch. 1. Taciti Hist. 1. v. cap. 13. The Ministry of Jesus Christ. 39 respecting their own characters, the way of acceptance with God, and the nature and blessings of their Messiah's reign, on pain of incurring eternal ruin. For whereas they expected eternal life as the reward of their Jewish privileges, or of their own personal righteousness, they were now taught, that God so loved the world as to give his only be- gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; that the Son of God came to be lifted up upon the cross, as the antitype of the brazen serpent which Moses elevated in the wilderness, that whosoever, not of the Jews only, but among the Gentiles also, believed in him, should not perish, but obtain eternal life. And, with regard to the nature of the Messiah's kingdom the doc- trines of Jesus were equally at variance with their fondest hopes ; for, while they ardently longed for the accomplishment of the promises which God had made unto their fathers by the prophets, they seemed in general to have had no other object in view than the establishment of a temporal monarchy, like the other kingdoms of this world, though doubtless much surpassing them in all its extent and splendour. Ac- cordingly, being interrogated by their leaders " when the kingdom of God should come," Jesus perceived the mistake of their hearts, and to correct it, told them that " the kingdom of God cometh not Avith observation" — that is, it did not at all resemble the kingdoms of this world — it was not to strike the senses of men by the glare of worldly grandeur ; for as it is wholly spiritual, consisting in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, he added, " the kingdom of God is within you."t So also when he spake to them concerning their bondage to sin and vassalage to Satan, the god of this world, with the necessity of being set free from this spiritual tyranny before they could participate of the liberty of the sons of God, they resented it as the highest insult that could be offered them; "We are Abraham's seed," say they, "and were never in bondage to any man; how sayest thou, ye shall be made free. "J If we keep in view these false principles by which the minds of the Jewish people were led astray, the invincible obstinacy of their preju- dices, and the contrariety of the doctrine and character of Jesus thereto, we shall cease to wonder at the issue to which matters were ultimately reduced between them. When he avowed himself to be the Son of God, and claimed equality with the Most High, they resisted his pre- tensions and accused him of blasphemy. And when he acknowledged his regal character, they charged him with treason against the Roman government. On these grounds they demanded his death, and " the voice of them and the chief priests prevailed. "§ It cannot be necessary to pursue this part of the narrative in detail, since the result must be familiar to every Christian. " They that dwelt at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which were read every Sabbath-day, — they fulfilled them in condemning him; and though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain ; * John iii. 16, 17. f Luke xvii. 20, 21. $ John viii. § Luke xxiii. 23. 40 History of the Christian Church. and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him FROM THE DEAD."* SECTION II. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. FROM THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST TO THE PROMULGATION OF THE GOS- PEL AMONG THE GENTILES. The resurrection of Jesus is an article of such importance in the system of Christianity, that, like the key-stone in the arch of the build- ing, it is emphatically that which supports the whole superstructure. " If Christ be not risen," says the apostle, " then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain : yea, and we are found false witnesses of God."t That the Messiah should rise again from the dead, was an event clearly predicted in ancient prophecy ;} and Jesus himself repeat- edly foretold both the fact of his rising, and the day on which it should happen, not only to his disciples but to his enemies also, and even rest- ed the evidence of his divine mission upon that event.§ Of the truth and certainty of his resnrrRO.tinn, Ihpn, the apostles were witnesses, and they were every way qualified for substantiating the fact. " He was seen by them alive, after his crucifixion. It was not one person, but many who saw him. They saw him not only separately but together, not only by night but by day, not at a distance but near, not once only but several times. They not only saw him but touched him, conversed with him, ate with him, examined his person to remove their doubts. "[| — 4>He showed himself alive to them after his passion by many infalli- ble signs, being seen of them forty days," during which time "he spake to them concerning the kingdom of God,"^[ which they were to be employed in setting up in the world. To qualify them for this vast achievement he had promised to pour down upon them the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, and di- rected them to wait at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. When thus fitted for their work, they were enjoined to " go and teach all nations," or proclaim to them the glad tidings of sal- vation, to baptize all who believed the gospel, and then further to in- struct them in all his commands.** In doing this, they were to be wit- nesses for him both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.tt Thus having delivered to them • Acts xiii. 27—30. f 1 Cor. xv. 14—19. \ Psal. ii. Psal. xvi. 10, 11. Isa. liii. 10.— 12. §See Matt. xvi. 21. and xvii. 23. and xx. 19. alsoxii. 38. John ii. 18— :20. and X. 17. and viii. 28. also Matt.xxvii 53. || Paley'a Evidences of Christianity, vol. ii. ch. 8. If Acts i. 3. "" Luke xxiv. 19.— Acts i. 4. ' ff Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Mark xvi. 16. Effusion of the Holy Spirit. 41 Iiis last injunctions, he led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and while engaged in the very act of benediction, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven, a cloud receiving him out of their sight.* When the seventh Sabbath from the passover was completely ended, and the next day or first day of the week fully come, that is, fifty days after Christ's resurrection, and ten days after his ascension, the apostles, with the hundred and twenty disciples, were all assembled together with one accord, agreeably to their stated practice.! " And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, sitting upon each of them ; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. "J Such is the account given to us by the Spirit of inspiration concern- ing this extraordinary interposition of heaven, and the effects which it produced upon the apostles were certainly of the most stupendous kind. For, it is evident, that a flood of light now broke in upon their minds, as it were instantaneously, instructing them in the meaning of the pro- phetical writings, far beyond what they had hitherto attained ; removing the films of prejudice which clouded their understandings, and leading them into just views of the spiritual and heavenly nature of their Lord's kingdom. Upon many occasions, during his personal intercourse with them, they had discovered strong prejudices in favour of a worldly kingdom, and slowness of heart to believe all that the prophets had written : and even when their Lord had risen from the dead, and was about to ascend into heaven, they asked him, " Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ?"§ But the illumination which now filled their minds, removed their ignorance, rectified their misap- prehensions, and conformed their views to the scope of all the prophets, as well as to the doctrine which they had received from the lips of Christ himself. It is also manifest that this effusion of the Holy Spirit had an amaz- ing effect upon the apostles in animating them with a spirit of power, magnanimity, and zeal in their master's service. While he was yet with them, we may trace in their history numerous marks of timidity and weakness under the anticipation of danger. Such were their ef- forts to prevent his going into Judea: and their forsaking him at the time of his apprehension ; on which occasion, it is recorded that they all forsook him and fled ; even Peter, the most intrepid among them, denied that he knew him. But what a revolution took place in their conduct in this respect after the day of pentecost. We behold them inspired with fortitude and resolution to declare their testimony before magistrates and rulers, regardless of personal danger, and even " re- joicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake." But the most astonishing effect of all was, that they were hereby qualified for speaking various languages which they had never learned, * Lukexxiv. 50, 51.— Acts i. 8. f John xx. 19—26. Acts ii. 1. 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. t Acts ii. 2—4. § Acts i. 6. 4* 42 History of the Christian Church. thus making known their message to men of all nations under heaven, and confirming its truth by performing such miraculous works as were an evident indication that God was with them. This indeed was in perfect consistency with Christ's promise to them when he said, " In my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re- cover." An occurrence so remote from the common course of nature, we may readily suppose, would produce an astonishing sensation upon those who were witnesses of it. The sudden ability of so many rude and illiterate Galileans, to speak perfectly in all languages — to express themselves with propriety and force, so as not only to be clearly un- derstood, but to impress the consciences of the hearers, was a pheno- menon which carried with it a proof of Divine interposition too incon- testible to admit of a rational doubt. Those who first observed it spake of it to others, and a rumour spread abroad. Jerusalem was at the moment the resort of Jews and Jewish proselytes dispersed throughout the various parts of the Roman empire, and multitudes had come from different countries to celebrate the feast. The promiscuous throng, who were collected by so strange a report, and had been accustomed to dif- ferent languages, were therefore greatly astonished to hear them declare, each one in his own tongue, the wonderful works of God. AVhile some expressed their surprise at this, others ascribed it to the effects of wine. This weak and perverse slander was, however, immediately refuted by the apostle Peter, who, standing up with the other eleven apostles, lifted up his voice and said unto them : — " Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, that these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day* — but this is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel."t He then quotes the words of Jehovah in which he had promised to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh — attended with the most awful denuncia- tions against those who should despise it, but with a gracious promise of salvation to all that should call upon the name of the Lord. The illustration of this remarkable prophecy, and its application to what was now obvious to all their senses, paved the way for the apostle's drawing their attention to the great subject of his ministry, the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had taken and by wicked hands had crucified and slain. The Holy Spirit gave energy to this doctrine. Like a torrent, it bore down all the vain imaginations and presumptuous reasonings by which the minds of his hearers were fortified ; it reached conviction to their consciences ; so that, like men frantic with despair, they ciied out in the anguish of their hearts, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" To persons reduced to this extremity, conscious that they had been imbruing their hands in the blood of the Son of God, how un- speakably welcome must have been the words of the apostle, " Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the .remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost; for the pro- * Corresponding to our nine in the morning'. f Acts ii. 14 — 16. The Church at Jerusalem. 43 mise is to you and your children, and to all that are afar off, even to ag many as the Lord our God shall call."* This divine declaration of mercy, to men in the situation of these convicted Jews, pricked to the heart with a consciousness of their guilt and overwhelmed with despair, must have heen like life from the dead. Three thousand of them joyfully received the apostle's doctrine, were baptized, and the same day added to the number of disciples that already existed in Jerusalem. And here we contemplate the beginning of the establishment of Christ's kingdom in the world ; or, which is the same thing, the erec- tion of the first Christian church. But before proceeding further, it may not be improper to pause, and endeavour to trace out a concise description of it in a few leading particulars. When Jesus was interrogated by the Roman governor concerning his claim to royalty, he replied that his kingdom teas not of this world ; and in the church of Jerusalem we see the truth of this exemplified. We there behold a company of self-condemned sinners, who under the impending wrath of heaven had fled for refuge to the mercy of God, freely proclaimed to them in the gospel of salvation. They were per- sons who believed what these inspired witnesses testified concerning the mission, the character, the sufferings, death, resurrection, and as- cension into heaven of the Son of God ; and who, under all their accu- mulated guilt and wretchedness, found enough in these things to en- courage their hope of forgiveness, and even fill their souls with peace and joy. The gospel which the apostles preached, was that which exactly suited their case — it contained no rules or directions about what they should do in order to atone for their deep and aggravated guilt ; for they found all that was necessary to satisfy the most troubled con- science in the doctrine concerning the Son of God, as delivered for the offences of the guilty and raised again for their justification. Hence we see that, in obedience to his command, " those who gladly received the truth, were baptized" in the name of the Lord Jesus. In this ordinance they confessed their faith in him as the Son of God, who died for their sins, was buried, and rose again the third day ; publicly professing that all their hope of salvation centered in these things. They separated themselves from " an untoward generation ;" and " all that believed were together." They received from the apostles the various ordinances of public worship, the apostles' doctrine, the fellow- ship, the breaking of bread, and the ordinances of prayer and praise ; and in these things they continued steadfastly, having favour with all the people and receiving into their number, from time to time, such in- dividuals as it pleased the Lord to call to the knowledge of the truth. The doctrine which they believed, and in which they found all their happiness and joy, was the common bond of union among them. They loved one another for the truth's sake, which dwelt mutually in them. To this they were naturally attached, as being the common centre of their hope and joy ; and it prompted them to take a lively interest in each other's spiritual welfare. Having experienced much forgiveness * Acts ii. 38. 44 History of the Christian Church. at the hands of God, they were influenced to love much. And this love was not an inactive, dormant principle in them, for it manifested itself in the most substantial acts of kindness and liberality. " There were none among them that lacked ; for as many as were possessed of lands or houses sold them, and laid the amount down at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made according as every man had need."* It is evident, therefore, that they were not connected together by any of those ties which constitute the spring of action in the kingdoms of this world. In men actuated by such noble and disinterested principles, human policy could have no place. Their fears, their hopes, their joys, and their sorrows, were all of a spiritual and heavenly tendency ; and they were animated by one object of pursuit, the attainment of that glory, honour, and immortality, promised them by the Lord Jesus. Thus was the kingdom of Christ established with all possible evidence that it was not of this world. What laws were given were of Divine origin and authority, — they were held superior to all other laws. We ought, say the servants of Jesus, to obey God rather than man. What power appeared, was the power of God working in a miraculous manner, and with a supernatural efficacy. The design of this extraor- dinary interposition was not to restore again the kingdom to Israel, or to bestow the honours and the riches of the world on the followers of Christ; but to deliver them from the present evil world, and save them from perishing in the destruction that awaits it. So far were they from being allowed the hope of reigning in this life, that they were as- sured of being exposed to poverty, contempt, and every form of perse- cution. Neither their principles nor their practices were conformable to this world ; nor were their hopes or fears to be engaged by the con- cerns of it ; but they were to wait for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and expect to reign with him in glory. If this be a just representation of the church or kingdom of Christ as it appeared in its establishment, it is manifest that, wherever we trace it in subsequent periods, we must find something that resembles it in its leading features. We shall discern a people, holding the same views of the character and work of the Saviour, owning subjection to him as the king whom God hath set upon his holy hill of Zion ; evincing their allegiance to him by an implicit obedience to his laws, institutions, and ordinances; and discarding the doctrines and commandments of men. As the church at Jerusalem was the first Christian church established by the ministry of the apostles, so it was designed to serve as a pattern, in its faith and order, to all succeeding churches, to the end of the world. It was constituted under the direction of the twelve inspired apostles, who for a course of time acted as the elders, bishops, or overseers of the flock of Christ, took up their station in it, and under Divine direc- tion, gave forth the law to regulate the practices of all other churches : for out of Zion was to go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.* Having briefly glanced at this heavenly kingdom in its first establish- ment, and seen its origin, nature, laws, immunities, and the character • Acts iv. 34. * Acts xv. 6, 22—29. Isa. ii. 2. Peter and John visit the Temple. 45 of its subjects, I now proceed to trace its subsequent history, agreeably to the account given of it by the prophet Daniel. " And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms ; and it shall stand for ever." Dan. ii. 44. The success which attended the first publication of the gospel, is very beautifully described in the Book of the Revelation, ch. vi. 1, 2, by a vision which the apostle had of the Lamb, opening the first seal. "And I saw," says he, "and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer." The history of the apostles and first preachers affords a striking comment on these words, at the same time that it illustrates to us an ancient prediction concerning the Messiah ;* for now we see the standard of Christ first erected as an ensign to the nations ; from hence went forth the rod of his strength, by which he ruled in the midst of his enemies, and (from that time, or) in that day of his power, the willing nations submitted to him cheerfully, and "numerous as drops of morning clew." Among the Jews there were daily three stated hours of prayer, at which time some went up to the temple, and others prayed in their own houses with their faces directed towards the temple. The first of these stated times of devotion was at nine in the morning, which was the time of their offering the lamb for the morning sacrifice ; the second at twelve at noon, called by them the time of the great meat-of- fering ; and the third, at three in the afternoon, when they offered the lamb for the evening sacrifice. Two of the apostles, viz. Peter and John, going up together into the temple, on one of these occasions, were addressed by a poor cripple, who solicited alms from them. The man had been lame from his infancy, and was carried daily to the gate of the temple, where he importuned the alms of the worshippers as they passed him. The apostles fixing their eyes upon him, demanded his attention to what they were about to say ; assured him that silver and gold they had none, but that such as they had they were ready to com- municate, adding, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.t" The power of the glorified 'Saviour gave energy to the word of his servants. Peter took him by the hand and lifted him up ; his feet and ancle bones received strength, and the invalid was in an instant restored to the entire and perfect exercise of his limbs. Wonder and amazement seized the minds of the spectators of this miracle ; the people collected together in vast concourse around the apostles in Solo- mon's porch, "greatly wondering" at what had taken place, but wholly unable to account for it. Peter seized the opportunity, a most favour- able one unquestionably, to draw their attention to the grand theme of his ministry, the death and the resurrection of his Lord. He first re- prehended their stupidity in supposing for a moment, that a work so far exceeding the power of man, and so much above the course of na- ture, could have been accomplished by their own agency, or in virtue * Psal. ex. 2, &c. f Acts iii. 1, &c. 46 History of the Christian Church. of their own holiness ; pressed home upon them their guilt in putting to death the Prince of Life; boldly testified that God had raised him again from the dead; and declared that the miracle which they had witnessed, was effected solely by the power of Christ. The apostle admitted that their guilt had arisen from their own ignorance, and that of their rulers ; and that God, whose province it is to educe good out of evil ; who makes the wrath of man to praise him, and ordereth all things after the counsel of his own will, had over-ruled their wicked devices to subserve at once his own glory and the happiness of sinful man. He, therefore, exhorted them to repent and believe the gospel which he now preached, and which it was the Divine good pleasure should first of all be made known among them who were the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with the fathers. He declared to them that Jesus of Nazareth was that great Prophet whose coming had been fore- told by Moses, and of whom he was only the type; that it was their in- dispensable duty to hear Him in all things whatsoever he should speak ; and reminded them of the warning which Moses himself had denounced against every one that should not hear that great Prophet. "Unto you Jirst," says he, " God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." This discourse produced a second harvest of converts to the Chris- tian faith; for "many who heard the word believed; the number being about five thousand."* By this time, however, the enemies of Jesus began to take the alarm. Peter had scarcely done speaking, when the priests and Sadducees, with the captain of the temple, rush- ing upon them, forcibly apprehended Peter and John, and committed them to prison. On the following day the Jewish Sanhedrim, their supreme court of judicature, was convened. It consisted of the rulers or chief priests ; the heads of the twenty-four courses ; the elders of the other tribes ; and the Scribes who were doctors of the law, com- monly of the tribe of Levi. This great national council sat at Jerusa- lem. Annas, who had formerly been high -priest, but now ejected by the Roman procurator, was with them, and Caiaphas (his son-in-law) who was now high-priest ; the very persons who had procured the death of Jesus Christ, and who of course were highly concerned to suppress this new doctrine. John and Alexander, two distinguished personages among the Jews, with others who were related to the high- priest, were also present upon this interesting occasion. It was the custom for the Sanhedrim to sit almost in a circle, and to place the prisoners in its centre. The apostles being now brought out and placed in the midst, it was demanded of them to say by what power, or by what name, they had performed the wonderful^ cure on the pre- ceding day. Peter, who had formerly trembled at the voice of a girl, was now not afraid to use the utmost freedom with the council and heads of the Jewish nation. He confessed the name and cause of Jesus ; charged home upon their consciences the guilt of putting him to death ; assur- ed them the miracle was wrought in his name and by his power; and * Acts iv. 4. Peter's intrepid Conduct. 47 while he pointed their attention to the voices of their own prophets, declaring that "the stone which should be set at nought of the build- ers, would become the head of the corner ;" finally averred that Jesus was the alone medium of salvation to the children of men. A little reflection upon this strange scene will be sufficient to ap- prize us of the dilemma in which the Sanhedrim was now involved. On the one hand, the fortitude, the wisdom, and the composure of the apostles struck them with surprise : for they perceived that they were men destitute of the advantages of education, and had no pretensions to what the world calls wisdom. They were recognized by some as the former companions of Jesus previous to his crucifixion, in whose name they now declared the miracle to have been wrought ; and the man who had been healed stood before them. There was no reason- ing against matter of fact ; the thing carried its own evidence along with it. But the question now was, how should the difficulty be got over I They, therefore, ordered the apostles out of court ; held a so- lemn council among themselves ; confessed that the miracle was in- controvertible ; but that the best way of getting rid of the business was, as far as in them lay, to quash all further inquiry into this mysterious affair, and dismiss the apostles with a strict injunction that they should teach no more in the name of Jesus ! The number of the disciples continued to increase in Jerusalem, and, from the church there, the word of the Lord sounded out into the adjacent parts. The presence of Christ was conspicuously displayed among his people. " The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul;" the apostles were armed with fortitude to bear tes- timony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; and " great grace was upon them all." The instituted discipline of the house of God was manifested, by punishing, in the persons of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, the odious crimes of dissimulation and hypocrisy ; and this awful manifestation of the Divine jealousy and holiness impressed the whole church with reverence and fear; while "believers were the more added to the Lofd, multitudes both of men and women."* Then it was that Zion " looked forth as the morning, fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners. "t The Sadducees, it would seemjhad, at this time, the chief sway in the Jewish state. Josephus, their own historian, has described them " as remarkable for a fierce and cruel temper: and that, particu- larly when they sat in judgment, they were much more rigorous and severe than the Pharisees. "J Of this sect were Caiaphas, the high- priest, and his party. They heard of the progress of the gospel, and were filled with indignation. Upon this occasion all the apostles seem to have been the victims of their rage. They were seized and confined in the common prison. But how futile is the rage of man when opposing the counsels of heaven ! One stronger than the whole Sanhedrim, even the Lord Jesus, despatched his angel that same night, * Acts v. 14. t Cant- vi- 10- * Antiq. b. 13. ch. sect. 10. 6. and b. 20. ch. 9. sect. 1. Jew. Wars, b. 2. ch. 4g History of the Christian Church. who opened the prison doors and brought out the apostles, directing them to go in the morning into their very temple, and there speak to the people all the words of this life. How great must have been the amazement of the Sanhedrim at hearing, on their assemblage on the morrow, and giving commandment to have the apostles brought forth, that the officers found the prison doors shut with all possible safety, and the guards at their posts, but not a prisoner within; and that the apostles were, at that moment, in the temple, teaching the people. The report, as may easily be imagined struck an unusual damp upon the whole court, who finding themselves so frequently foiled, began to hesitate about the result of all this. They had obstinately resisted the divine mission of Jesus, supported as it was by the most unquestiona- ble miracles ; and they had at length succeeded in putting him to death. Now they congratulated themselves that there was an end to him and his cause. But when they found his disciples, after his death, affirming that God had raised him from the dead, and exalted him to the highest glory in heaven ; that they carried on the same de- sign, and that they wrought miracles in his name, they could see no end of the affair, and were wholly at a loss what course to take. Add to all this, that the sentiments of the multitude were now evidently with the apostles, and some little prudence was necessary, while they punished the latter, that they did not bring down upon their own heads the vengeance of the former. The officers, however, were sent to take them, and enjoined to do it without violence. The apostles peace- ably yielded themselves ; and being brought before the council, were severely reprehended for disregarding the late prohibition they had re- ceived from the council. They answered with their usual firmness, as they had done upon a former occasion, that it was only reasonable they should obey God, rather than man; but they avowed their deter- mination to persevere, and even charged the Sanhedrim, in terms more pointed than ever they had yet done, with being the betrayers and murderers of the Lord of life. They, at the same time, asserted that " God had raised up Jesus from the dead, and exalted him to his right hand in heaven, to be a Prince and Saviour, to dispense repentance to Israel, and the remission of sins." It is manifest that matters were now arrived at the utmost crisis, between the apostles and the Jewish rulers, who were cut to the heart by the answer which the former had given them. The rage of the Sadducees could no longer be restrained ; and the destruction of the apostles was the first thing that occurred to them: — A true picture of the spirit of bigotry in every age, when men armed with power have been engaged in opposing the cause of truth and justice. But God, who in his overruling providence, had hitherto guarded the lives of his servants, and had still further occasion for their labours, restrained the wrath of the Jewish rulers, and averted the purposes of this confede- racy. There was among them a certain doctor of the Jewish law, of the sect of the Pharisees, (said to have been the son of good old Si- meon, mentioned Luke ii. 25,) and certainly the preceptor of the fa- mous apostle Paul, a person of great eminence in his profession, and deservedly venerated for his prudent counsel in cases of difficulty. Ga- Gamaliel's prudent Counsel. 49 maliel, after requesting that the apostles might withdraw a little while from the hall of justice, gave his advice that they should let those men alone. He reminded them of the fate of several impostors who had risen up among them from time to time, but who had all come to ruin; and that if this new sect were a mere human institution, it was unne- cessary to give themselves any trouble to suppress it, for it would of itself quickly come to an end; but if it were really of God, all their opposition would be in vain, and they themselves would only be found ultimately fighting against heaven. The advice of Gamaliel prevailed; the apostles were again called in, and again commanded not to speak any more in the name of Jesus ; yet, to save appearances, they were not dismissed until they had been scourged and enjoined silence. But neither the stripes nor the injunctions had any influence upon them ; they "retired from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, whilst daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."* At this interesting period, while Satan's kingdom fell like lightning from heaven before the preaching of the everlasting gospel, and the number of the Christians was daily increasing, a circumstance arose in the church, which demanded the attention and engaged the wisdom of the apostles. The church, though consisting wholly of Hebrews, comprised two classes of persons: one part understood only the He- brew and Chaldee languages, which was used in their synagogues at Jerusalem and its vicinity ; while the other had been accustomed chief- ly to the use of the Greek language, into which the Old Testament Scriptures had been translated, (the version which we now call the septuagint) and which had been for some time in common use, previ- ous to the coming of Christ, in all the Jewish synagogues dispersed throughout the cities of Greece, as well as in Egypt. These last were called Hellenists, or Grecians; and of them it would appear, there were at that time many in Jerusalem, members of the church. As the multitude relieved out of the common fund was very great, it can ex- cite no surprise that a few individuals were occasionally overlooked. Hence a " murmuring is said to have been excited among the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. "t „ c Hitherto the twelve apostles had executed the different offices ot apostle, elder, and deacon— the former or highest office in the Chris- tian church, being evidently considered as including every inferior one. To redress the alleged grievance, the apostles convened the whole church, stated to them that the ministry of the word of God was that which claimed their own primary attention, and how unsuitable it would be for them to neglect it for the sake of attending to the poor; they therefore recommended it to their brethren to look out among themselves for seven men, full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit, to be appointed over this matter. "But we," say they, "will give ourselves wholly to prayer and to the ministry of the word." The proposal met * Acts v, 41. t Acts & *» &c« 50 History of the Christian Church. the cordial approbation of all the church; and thus the office of deacon was instituted. They chose Stephen, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. Some of them (probably all) were occasionally engaged in preaching the gospel, but this was no part of their office as deacons, the latter be- ino- restricted to the serving of tables, or ministering to the wants of the poor. There were in Jerusalem a great number of synagogues to which the people resorted for religious instruction. One of these was called the synagogue of the Libertines; that is, such Jews and proselytes as had been Roman slaves, but had obtained their freedom, or were the de- scendants of such free men. It was also the resort of the Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and those who came from Cilicia, (among whom, in all probability, was Saul of Tarsus*) as well as others that came from Asia Minor. Stephen, by the boldness of his doctrine, and the mira- cles which he wrought among the people in attestation of it, had at- tracted the attention of certain persons belonging to that synagogue, who undertook to dispute with him; but not being able to resist the wisdom and energy with which he spake, they had recourse to the old method of persecution. They suborned men to accuse him of blas- phemy against Moses and against God. By this artifice Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrim, where, though alone and unsupported, in the midst of furious enemies, he stood firm and unmoved, like a rock in the midst of the waves. " And all that sat in the council look- ing steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an an^ gel."t The noble defence which Stephen delivered on this occasion, will be found in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, to Avhich I must refer the reader; its length precludes its insertion ; and to abridge would be to injure it, But what avails signs and wonders, the most splendid appeals of eloquence, or the most forcible convictions of truth, among the obdurate and incorrigible? For, notwithstanding the goodness of his cause, the miracles which he had wrought to support it, the lustre with which he now appeared, and the eloquence which flowed in torrents from his lips, " they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him to dea'th."J His dying deportment evinced how eminently he was filled with the spirit of his divine Master, and is a pattern to all who are call- ed to suffer in the same righteous cause. He kneeled down with the utmost tranquillity and composure, and having committed his departing soul into the hands of his Redeemer, his only remaining concern was for his murderers, and, in the temper and spirit of his dying Master, his last words were, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." The death of Stephen was so far from satiating the rage of the Jew- ish rulers, that it seems to have been regarded merely as the tocsin to fresh scenes of slaughter and blood. They now gave full vent to their • Acts xxiii. 34. and xxi. 39. f Acts vi. 15. \ Acts vii. 57 — 60. Dispersion of the Disciples. 51 cruelty, and raised a general persecution against the whole church. The loss of this first of "the noble army of martyrs" was deeply be- wailed by his brethren ; and as the only remaining token of their affec- tion, " Devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great la- mentation over him."* During the last tragical scene, when his ene- mies were about to carry their vengeance into effect against him, they laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man whose name was Saul, and who was one of those that gave their voice for his being pu t to death. Saul was born at Tarsus, the chief city of the province of Cilicia. His parents were both of them Hebrew Jews, and his father, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, was a freeman of Rome. Having received the first rudiments of his education in his native city, he went to Jerusalem, were he entered himself of the sect of the Pharisees, and studied the law of Moses, with the traditions of the elders, under Ga- maliel, a noted doctor of the laws. When Stephen was put to death, Saul, though but a young man, appears to have taken an active part upon the occasion ; and now, flushed with the blood .of that eminent martyr, he became outrageous. Armed with authority from the high- priest, he made havoc of the church: pursued them from house to house, dragging them away to prison without mercy, and scourging them in the synagogues, compelled them to blaspheme the name of Jesus, not sparing even the weaker sex.t Conformably to the instructions which Christ himself had left them,| the disciples gave way to the storm, and dispersed themselves through- out the cities of Judea and Samaria, spreading the knowledge of the gospel wherever they came. And here it is scarcely possible for us to contemplate the short-sightedness of human policy, as contrasted with the wisdom and over-ruling providence of God. The very me- thods taken to quash the cause of Christ became the direct means of promoting its progress. Philip, of whom we have lately seen that he was chosen a deacon of the church in Jerusalem, went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ among the inhabitants with great success. Intelligence being brought to Jerusalem that Samaria had received the word of God, two of the apostles went down thither, and communicated to the new converts the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, and thus the second Christian church was planted. Soon after this Ave find Philip, by Divine direction, meeting with the Ethiopian eunuch, to whom he communicated the knowledge of Christ, and bap- tized him into the faith of it, by which means the gospel would be car- ried down to Ethiopia, and the prediction of the Psalmist consequently fulfilled, " Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God."§ Philip, on returning from this interview with the eunuch, called at Azotus (the famous Ashdod of the Philistines)|| a town on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and from thence passed through several eities that lay in his way, preaching the gospel in each of them, until he arrived at Caesarea, at that time the metropolis of Palestine, and * Acts viii. 1, 2. f Acts xxvi. 9, 10. * Matt. x. 22. § Psa. lxviii. 31. || 1 Sam. vi. 17. 52 History of the Christian Church. residence of the Roman governor, where he appears to have afterwards settled for life.* In all this time the malice of Saul was raging with unabated fury. Intimation had probably been given him, that many of the persecuted disciples had taken refuge at Damascus. This was a most noble city, situated at the foot of Mount Lebanon.! It had formerly been the capi- tal of Syria, and was still very considerable. Josephus says it abound- ed with Jews, and in one place mentions that the inhabitants shut up in their baths and destroyed in one hour, ten thousand of them '.% and upon another occasion he represents the Damascenes as having mur- dered eighteen thousand Jews with their wives and children, without the least colour or pretext.§ To this city Saul petitioned the high- priest to grant him letters of authority to go and search the synagogues for the disciples of Jesus, and that, if he found any, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Caiaphas was still in office, and, no doubt, every way as anxious as Saul himself could be to stop the growing heresy. The request was cheerfully complied with ; and, in the capa- city of chief inquisitor, and breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the Christians, Saul hastened on his journey, to fulfil, as he thought, the holy errand of extirpating heretics. About noon, Saul and his companions arrived in the vicinity of the city of Damascus, when suddenly there appeared to him the Schekinah, or glory of the Lord, far more bright and dazzling than the sun in his meridian splendour, and this great light from heaven shone around them. Saul was suffi- ciently versed in Jewish learning to recognize this as the excellent glory, and he instantly fell to the earth as one dead. But how incon- ceivably great must have been his astonishment to hear himself address- ed by name, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" And yet, if alarmed at the question, his surprise could not be diminished on ask- ing, " Who art thou Lord ?" to be told in reply, " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, — it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Trembling and astonished, Saul inquired, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do V Jesus said unto him, " Arise and go into the city, and it • Acts xxi. 8, 9. f So Milton, in reference to the Syrian idol, whose temple was fixed in that city, thus writes — " Rimmon, whose delightful seat Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams." Par. Lost, b. I. 1. 467, &c. Mr. Maundrell describes it as " situated on an even plain of so great extent, that one can but just discern the mountains which compass it on the farther side. It stands on the west side of the plain, about two miles distant from the head of the river Barrady which waters it. It is of a long straight figure, about two miles in extent, adorned with mosques and steeples, and encompassed with gar- dens, according to computation, full thirty miles round." — The fruit tree called the Damascene, and the flower called the Damask rose, were transplanted from the gardens belonging to this city ; and the silk and linen, known by the name of Damask, were probably the invention of its inhabitants. Anc. Univ. Hist. 8vo. vol. i. p. 260. t Wars, b. 2. ch. 20. sect. 2. § Ibid. b. 7. ch. 8. sect. 7. donverbion of Saul of Tarsus. 53 shall be told thee what thou must do." And Saul arose from the earth, but the splendour of the vision had overpowered his bodily eyes, so that he was led by the hand into Damascus, where he remained three days without sight or food. The Lord afterwards appeared in vision to a certain disciple, in Da- mascus, named Ananias, and directed him where he should find Saul, and what instructions he should give him as to his future conduct, tell- ing him that he was a chosen vessel unto him, to bear his name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel, " for I will show him," said the Saviour, "how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."* Ananias obeyed the Divine command, and laid his hands on Saul, when a thick film like scales fell from his eyes ; his sight returned, his mind became tranquillized, and he was baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Thus the lately persecuting Saul was numbered with the disciples ; and in a few days *f he straightway preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is the Son of God ;" an event no less wonderful to the disciples which dwelt at Damascus than to their enemies ; but " Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt there, proving that Jesus is the true Messiah. "t SECTION III. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. FROM THE FIRST PREACHING OF TIIK GOSPEL AMONG THE GENTILES TO THE RETURN OF PAUL AND BARNABAS FROM THEIR FIRST JOURNEY. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus to the faith of Christ is a memo- rable event in the annals of the Christian church. Whether we consi- der the nature of the change which then passed upon his mind, the extraordinary signs which accompanied it — such as the miraculous shutting and opening of his eyes — or the astonishing effects which these things produced, we shall find something to excite our admiration, and lead us to adore the riches and sovereignty of divine grace. Such a revolution was now produced in all his sentiments and in all the springs of his life, as resembled the course of a mighty river changed from east to west by the shock of an earthquake. The supernatural signs which affected his bodily frame, showed whatbefel his mind, and at the same time served to exemplify the effects which his ministry should produce among the Gentiles, unto whom Christ now sent him " to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. "J " When it pleased God," says he, " who called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, im- * Acts ix. 1—16. j- Acts ix. 22. * Acts xxvi. 18, with ch. ix. 17, 18. 5* 54 History of the Christian Church. mediately I conferred not with flesh and blood; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus."* In that country he appears to have spent nearly the term of three years,t but the inspired historian has given us no account of the fruit of his ministry there. Our own reflections, however, may teach us to contemplate the wisdom of God, in directing the steps of Saul into Arabia, at this particular juncture of his life. His conversion to the Christian faith must, in, the eyes of his unbelieving countrymen, and especially of his former associates, have been in the highest degree provoking. Engaged as he had formerly been in the most active measures for destroying the subjects of the kingdom of Christ, they must now necessarily have regarded him as a grand apostate, whose conversion tended greatly to weaken the cause in which they were so zealously engaged, while it strengthened the hands of the Christians. But, notwithstanding the interval that had elapsed, and which, hu- manly speaking, might have given time for the fiercest rage to cool, Saul had no sooner returned to Damascus, than "the Jews took coun- sel to kill him. "| The Lord, however, opened a way for his escape. For although his adversaries had prevailed upon the governor of the city to aid them with a military force ; and though centinels were placed at tiie gates of the city night and day to prevent his escape, his friends let him down by night through a window in a basket, by the wall of the city, and thus frustrated their malicious designs. § Saul, upon this, went up to Jerusalem to have an interview with some of the other apostles, where he met with Peter and James, and abode with them fifteen days. It is perfectly natural to suppose that such of the disciples of Christ, in that city, as had a personal know- ledge of him, and had witnessed his former persecuting zeal against them, would, if unacquainted with his conversion, take the alarm on his again appearing among them. Such, in fact, was the case; for when he attempted to join himself to them, " they were all afraid of him, not believing him to be a disciple."|] Their feavs, however, were instant- ly dispelled by the intelligence which Barnabas gave them of his con- version, and of his subsequent preaching at Damascus. He was there- fore received of the church, and gave them the most convincing proof of the sincerity of his profession, by the boldness with which, durino- the short time he was among them, he spake in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the members of the synagogue with whom he had been formerly connected. The consequence was, that another effort was made to destroy him, which coming to the ears of his breth- ren, he was safely conveyed down to Ccesarea, and from thence sent to Tarsus, the place of his nativity. The persecution which had arisen in consequence of the death of Stephen, and which occasioned the dispersion of the greater part of the church, had now raged during a period of four years; but it pleased Cod at this time to grant his people a season of repose and tranquillity. TiHERius, who had swayed the imperial sceptre at Rome for three and twenty years, was now dead, and had been succeeded, as emperor, "Gal.i. 15— i7. fVcr. 18. *Actsix.23. § 2 Cor. xi.23. | Acts ix. 26. Character of Caligula. 55 by his grandson Caius Caligula. So infamous had been the conduct of the former, and so odious had he rendered his character in the eyes of his subjects, that, if we may credit historians, he was suspected of choosing the latter for his successor, " as foreseeing that Caius alone would outstrip him in what was vile and abominable."* Certain it is that his excessive wickedness, and intolerably shocking behaviour, tended in no small degree to obliterate the recollection of the horror and infamy that had attached itself to the name of Tiberius.t The commencement of the reign of Caius was rather auspicious than otherwise. He signalized himself by several wise and beneficent ac- tions, and gained upon the love and popularity of his subjects. They retained an affectionate remembrance of his father Germanicus, and hoped the son would tread in his steps. But the atrocious character of the new emperor speedily began to develope itself. One of his first vile actions was the murder of the younger Tiberius, who had been appointed, by the late emperor Tiberius, his colleague in the govern- ment of the empire. Another was the murder of Macro, a person to whom Caius himself owed the greatest obligations. When Caius did any thing unbecoming his dignity, it had been the custom of Macro to admonish him boldly of the impropriety of his conduct, a freedom which the despot soon grew weary of, and therefore ordered him to be put to death. To such a pitch of extravagance and impiety did he at length arrive, that he set himself up for a deity, and insisted upon be- ing worshipped as such ; a thing to which the Jews, of all nations, would never consent, and hence they incurred his resentment. Altars and temples were erected to Caius throughout the various countries then subject to the Roman arms, and the image of this detestable tyrant was set up as an object of adoration. An attempt was even made by some heathens who dwelt at Jamnia, a city of Judea, and who had an aversion to the Jewish laws, to build an altar of brick in honour of Caius, intending probably thereby, at once to vex the Jews and ingra- tiate themselves with the emperor. The Jews instantly demolished the altar, and the heathens complained to Capito, the questor (or col- lector of the Roman tribute) who transmitted an account of the affair to the emperor ; though Capito himself was suspected of being the real author and contriver of the plot, in order to ensnare and destroy the Jews. Caius, without delay, recalled Vitellius, the Roman governor of that province, from his station ; a man whose mild and gentle de- portment had greatly conciliated the Jews ; and sent Petronius to suc- ceed him, giving him orders to go to Jerusalem with an army and set up his statue in their temple, in the most holy place, with the name of Jupiter inscribed upon it; enjoining him to put to death every Jew that dared to resist, and to make all the rest of the nation slaves. This or- der from Caligula came upon them like a clap of thunder. At first, the Jews could scarcely credit the report of so execrable a design, but their incredulity was soon dissipated. Petronius marched with a large body of auxiliaries raised in Syria, from Antioch into Judea, and even ad- * Dion. Cassius, b. 58. f Suetonius' Life of Calig\ c. xi. Josephus Antiq. b. 18. c. 6. sect. 10. Eutrop. Brev. Hist. Rom. b. 7. sect. 12. 56 History of the Christian Church. vanced as far as Ptolemais. The Jews were thrown into the utmost consternation. An immense multitude of them were collected together, who, with their wives and children, went into the plain near Ptolemais, and supplicated Petronius, first for their laws and next for themselves. The friends of Petronius seeing them at a distance, mistook them for a large army; but, on a nearer approach, they found them only an un- armed, lamenting multitude. Advancing in sight of Petronius, who was seated upon an eminence, they threw themselves down upon the ground before him, uttering the deepest lamentations. When ordered to rise, they approached him with dust upon their heads, and their hands behind them like men condemned to die, and the Senate address- ed Petronius to the following effect: " We come to you, sir, as you see, unarmed ; we have brought with us our wives, children, and relations ; and we throw ourselves down before you as at the feet of Caius, hav- ing left none at home, that so you may save all, or destroy all;" with much more to the same purport, declaring also that their love for their temple and laws was greater than for their lives, accompanying the whole with expressions of the bitterest lamentation, and every token of anguish and distress. Their entreaties prevailed ; Petronius humanely granted their request, and deferred executing his commission. Some, indeed, attribute his lenity to another cause. Caligula was expected to visit Alexandria in Egypt the ensuing summer; had Petronius push- ed matters to an extremity at this moment with the Jews, it would, in all probability, have led them to neglect their harvest, and the cultiva- tion of their lands; and as the emperor's journey must unavoidably be made through those parts, it was apprehended that such neglect would have prevented that plenty which was requisite to accommodate the vast concourse that might be expected to accompany him on such an occa- sion. He therefore wrote to the emperor, urging the most plausible pretexts for the delay, and especially the necessity that existed of de- ferring the matter, for fear of the scarcity that might ensue. It has been usual with commentators to attribute the cessation of per- secution at this time to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus ; but I appre- hend a much more adequate cause is to be found in the circumstances how related. The Jews were fully employed in warding off this ter- rible blow from themselves and their temple, which was their glory and confidence, and, in such a state of things we may be fully assured, that they would want both the leisure and inclination to pursue and perse- cute the Christians. Caligula died soon after, in the fourth year of his reign, being assassinated in his own palace by one of his officers. And thus " the churches had rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comforts of the Holy Spirit, were edified and multiplied." It is probable, also, that during this interval of external peace, many of the Christians, who had been driven from their families and houses, by the cruel hand of persecution, again returned to Jerusalem.* * Philo dc Legat. ad Caium, p. 1010—1021. Josephus de Bello Jud. b, 2. c. 10. sect. 1. Lardncr's Credibility, ed. 1730. p. 121 — 145. Peter'' 3 vision at Joppa. 57 During this auspicious season, Peter revisited the churches already- planted in Galilee and Samaria, and among other places came down to Lydda, where there appear to have been a few disciples not yet orga- nized as a church. Here he wrought a miracle by restoring a man to health and soundness who had been afflicted with palsy, and confined eight years to his bed. At Joppa, a neighbouring town, he raised to life a female disciple named Tabitha. These things were spread abroad, and drew the attention of such as heard of them, " and many believed and turned to the Lord." Peter took up his residence for some time in Joppa: and while he continued there, an event took place which merits particular relation. The church of Jerusalem had been now planted about eight years, during which time the preaching of the gospel had been restricted to the natural descendants of Abraham. The period, however, was now at hand, when, according to the Divine good pleasure, the Sun of Righteousness was to arise upon the benighted Gentiles with healing in his wings. This mystery, which had been hid from ages and genera- tions, was now unfolded to the mind of the apostle Peter, by means of a vision which he had while he abode at Joppa,* and by the interpre- tation of that memorable vision, he was instructed to consider the mid- dle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles as no longer in force ; that henceforward he was to call no man common or unclean. He was sent down to Caesarea to preach the gospel of Christ to Cornelius the centurion and his household; and while engaged in making known to these Gentiles the way of salvation, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all his hearers in the same supernatural manner as had been for- merly done upon the Jews on the day of Pentecost, to the astonish- ment of the apostle and of all the Jewish brethren who accompanied him from Joppa. Thus was his mind instructed into this part of the Divine will ; the believing Gentiles baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and received into the kingdom of the Messiah : and thus was Peter now honoured by his divine Master in opening the door of faith to the Gentiles, as he had previously done to the Jews at Jerusalem, for unto him were committed the keys of the kingdom of heaven, t When Peter returned to Jerusalem, he found his fellow apostles and all his Jewish brethren, labouring under the same mistaken sentiments concerning the admission of the Gentiles into the kingdom of Christ, which had recently occupied his own mind. They had heard with some surprise that the Gentiles had also received the word of God, and waited the apostle's arrival, probably with some impatience, to explain to them his conduct in going into men uncircumcised and eat- ing with them. Peter recapitulated the whole matter in detail, and ter- minated the narrative with this pointed appeal to themselves, " Foras- much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who be- lieved on the Lord Jesus Christ, What was I that I should ivithstand God?'''' This silenced all their scruples ; for it is said, "they held their peace and glorified God, saying, then hath God also to the Gen- tiles granted repentance unto life."± * Acts x. 9. f Matt. xvi. 18. i Acts xi. 1—18. 58 History of the Christian Church. When Saul of Tarsus was called by divine grace to the knowledge of the truth, he at the same time received a commission from the glo- rified Saviour, to execute his ministry among the Gentiles. Hence, in explaining to the churches of Galatia his apostolic authority, he says, " He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the cir- cumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles."* And to this great undertaking he devoted himself most unreservedly, as we shall perceive by taking a brief review of his labours. The place where we begin to trace the history of this great apostle of the Gen- tiles, is Antioch. There were formerly many cities which bore that name; but this was the metropolis of Syria, and indeed of all the east. For situation, magnitude, populousness, and various other advantages, it ranked as the third city in the Roman empire, being inferior only to Rome and Alexandria. The greater part of its inhabitants were Greeks; but Josephus says, that many Jews also settled in it. " The kings of Syria allowed the Jews the freedom of Antioch equally with the Greeks, so that their numbers increased exceedingly, and they were always bringing over a great many of the Greeks to their religious worship. "t This city, which is situated on the river Orontes, was re- markable, not only for its local scenery, but also for the magnificence of its buildings, the extent of its commerce, and the learning of its in- habitants, insomuch that it seems to have been considered in those days as an honour to be one of its citizens. Hence, Cicero, in his ora- tion for the poet Archias, a native of Antioch, calls it " a noble city, once eminent and wealthy, abounding in men eminent for their great learning and true taste." But however famous Antioch was for the things mentioned by Ci- cero, it became more remarkable in having the light of the glorious gospel bestowed upon it ; for the success which the gospel had among its inhabitants, the fruit of which appeared in the erection of a nume- rous Christian church ; and for its giving the name of Christian to the followers of Jesus Christ. Here Christianity flourished to such a degree, for many ages, that it obtained the appellation of Theophilus, or the city of God, and this church was considered as the first and chief of the Gentile churches. The gospel, indeed, had found its way into this great city previous to its being visited by Saul ; for it appears from the inspired history that some of the teachers, who had been driven from Jerusalem by the persecution which arose about Stephen, had reached Antioch, where they made known the glad tidings of salvation among the Grecians or Hellenistic Jews ; and " the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. "J When the report of these things reached Jerusalem, that church sent Barnabas to An- tioch, who rejoiced-at seeing the grace of God so illustriously display- ed among them ; and, by his own exhortations and discourses, he was eminently instrumental in promoting the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom among them. Hearing that Saul was at Tarsus, Barnabas » Gal. ii. 8. f Josephus' Wars, b. 7. ch. 3. sect. 3. * Acts xi. 19—22. Herod kills James and imprisons Peter. 59 went in quest of him, and having found him, he brought him also to Antioch, where they both continued a whole year labouring with much success in the work of the Lord. Caius Caligula, whose death has been already noticed, and which took place about this time, was succeeded in the empire by Claudius Caesar, who, soon after his entrance on the government, bestowed the kingdom of Judea on Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, (mentioned Matt, ii.) and nephew to Herod the Tetrarch, who put to death John the Baptist. Herod Agrippa experienced much of the vicis- situdes that usually accompany the pursuit of ambition. He had incur- red the displeasure of Tiberius, by whose order he was put in chains and committed to prison. The account which Josephus gives us of this affair is as follows. Before Caius Caligula ascended the throne of the Caesars, as Herod and he were one day riding together in their chariot, the former, who was anxious to ingratiate himself with the heir apparent to the throne, " wished to God that Tiberius was gone, and Caius emperor in his stead." Eutychus, who drove the chariot, over- heard the words, but concealed his knowledge of them at the moment. Some time afterwards, however, being accused by his master Herod of theft, he discovered the treason to Tiberius, who instantly had him ar- rested, and confined during the life of the latter. When Tiberius died, Caius not only liberated his old friend, but invited him to his palace, put a crown upon his head, and constituted him king of the tetrarchy of Philip, and bestowed on him a chain of gold, of the same weight as the iron one which he had worn during his imprisonment.* Herod was a professed zealot for the law of Moses and the peculiar- ities of Judaism, and studied by every means in his power to ingratiate himself with the Jews. He expended large sums in the defence and ornament of their city ; but it was now in his power to attempt a more acceptable service, by exerting his authority against the Christians ; and the motives of vanity and popular applause by which he was governed, prompted him to embrace the opportunity. He begun by apprehending the apostle James, the son of Zebedee, and brother of John, whom he hastily put to death; and finding the Jews were highly pleased with this step, he caused Peter also to be apprehended and imprisoned, in- tending to have him executed after the passover; a period when, by reason of the influx of strangers from all parts to the city, he should have an opportunity of showing his zeal against this new sect to a greater number of spectators. James, indeed, had finished his course, and was gone to receive the crown of righteousness from the hands of his divine Master in the kingdom of God. But the work of Peter was not yet accomplished ; and though marked out by Herod for a speedy sacrifice, he was still secure. So intent was Herod, however, upon his destruc- tion, that he not only committed him to prison, but loaded him with two chains, and consigned him to the charge of sixteen soldiers, who were to watch him by turns, four at a time, two of them being chained to him, one on either side, and two placed as centinels at the prison door. It is probable that the Jews still recollected how all the apostles * Josephus' Antiq. b. 18. ch. 6. sect. 5. and Wars, b. 1. ch. 9. sect. 4. gO History of the Christian Church. had formerly escaped when put in prison, and perhaps they suspected the fidelity of the guards ; nor is it unlikely that at their particular re- quest, all these precautions were taken in the case of Peter. We may also realize something of the anxiety and concern which must have pervaded the church on this distressing occasion. They had lost Stephen and one apostle ; and the life of the great apostle of the cir- cumcision was in the utmost jeopardy : "But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." How long it pleased God, in this instance, to exercise the faith and confidence of the church, does not clearly appear. It is thought by some,* that Peter was apprehended about the beginning of April, or during the days of unleavened bread, which was the beginning of the feast of the passover. That feast lasted eight days, and they date the transactions in the third year of the reign of Claudius. It was the usual practice of the Jews, during the festival, to indulge in mirth and jollity, and at the end to release the prisoners. On this occasion, however, they were anticipating the high satisfaction of seeing, as soon as the paschal lamb was eaten, and the festival quite ended, the foremost of this sect brought out and put to death. His enemies congratulated themselves in thinking that they had him secure. The next day was appointed by Herod for his being publicly executed. But the night before this was to take place, the Lord interposed and rescued him out of their hands. Peter, in all probability, knew the time they had ap- pointed for his martyrdom ; but he seems to have been in the enjoyment of a serene and tranquil mind, and not in the least alarmed about their machinations. He was sleeping very composedly between the two soldiers, chained by the arm to each of them, when the angel of the Lord came upon him, accompanied with an effulgent brightness, and smiting Peter on the side, raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly ; and his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said, " Gird thyself and bind on thy sandals; and he did so. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee and follow me, and he went out and followed him," apprehending that he saw a vision. The prison was in the suburbs of Jerusalem, and when they had passed the first and second watch, they came unto the great iron gate which led towards the city. This open- ed to them of its own accord ; and the angel having escorted Peter through one street, and completely delivered him out of the hands of his enemies, he departed from him. In the morning, Herod found himself disappointed of his prey ! The guards were examined, but being unable to give a satisfactory account of their prisoner, he commanded them to be put to death. It is not im- probable that Herod might suspect a miraculous interposition in this instance ; but to punish the guards as if they had been guilty of conniv- ing at his escape, was the likeliest method to stop further inquiry, and prevent the people from suspecting any thing extraordinary in the affair.t Herod did not not long survive this event. He lived and died a monument of the instability of human greatness. He was much de- * See Benson's First Planting- of Christianity, ch. 5. sect. 6. t Acts xii. 1—19. Impiety and Death of Herod. 61 voted to his Roman masters, and had a taste for their magnificence. This induced him to celebrate games and shows at Cscsarea in honour of the emperor; on which occasions he laboured to display the utmost of his grandeur. His pride was fartber flattered by an embassy from Tyre and Sidon. Those cities had incurred his displeasure ; but as they chiefly drew their subsistence from his dominions, they were compelled to supplicate peace, which, though they had highly offended him, they obtained by their interest with Blastus, his chamberlain. The king appointed a day on which to receive their submission, when he appear- ed in the theatre with a splendour that dazzled the eyes of the specta- tors. He addressed himself to the ambassadors in a pompous oration, suited, we may suppose, to give them the highest idea, both of his power and clemency. When he had ended, he heard his praises re- sound from every quarter; — the multitude shouted, " It is the voice of a god and not of a man." His vain heart was elated with this impious compliment, which, considering that Herod professed the knowledge of the true God, displayed an awful instance of pride and impiety. The angel of the Lord smote him with an irresistible though invisible stroke, because he gave not God the glory ; and while surrounded with the fancied insignia of majesty, and in the midst of their idolatrous acclama- tions, he was seized with excruciating pains, " worms bred in his pu- trefied flesh and devoured him alive." In this wretched condition he continued five days, and then expired, an awful instance of God's just judgment, "who resisteth the proud, and will not give his glory to another."* While these things were transacting in Judea, the church of Antioch increased greatly, both in numbers and in gifts. For besides the stated office-bearers of bishops and deacons, which were common to all the churches, this at Antioch had several eminently gifted persons, as pro- phets (or exhorters,) and teachers (or ministers of the word ;) among whom were Barnabas and Simeon, and Lucius, and Manaen, and Saul. By means of a certain prophet who had come down from Jerusalem to Antioch in those days, the Lord was pleased to intimate his will that, among other things, a season of scarcity was approaching which would severely affect the disciples in Judea; an event which accordingly took place in the latter end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth year of the reign of Claudius, as is noticed by Josephus, Eusebius, and * The account which Josephus gives of the death of Herod, coincides with that given by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, except that the former goes more into detail, and has particularly noticed that the king himself could not but acknow- ledge the hand of God in his sufferings, and how nattering and unjust the accla- mations were, which ascribed divinity to him, a mortal being, now seized with a disease which would quickly hurry him out of the world. He left behind him a son named Agiuppa, then seventeen years of age, before whom Paul afterwards appeared and made the well known apology for Christianity, by which he almost persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian. He also left two daughters, who are no- ticed in the New Testament, viz. Bkrnice, who was married to Herod, king of Chalcis, her father's brother, when she was only sixteen years of age; and Dau- silla, who was afterwards married to the governor Felix. After the death of Herod Agrippa, the kingdom was again reduced to a Roman province, and then the persecution of the Christians, for awhile, abated. 6 Q2 History of the Christian Church. Orosius. In this calamitous event, we have a signal display, not only of the care of the blessed God over his people, in revealing its approach by the ministry of this prophet, and thus giving them an opportunity to provide against it, at a time when many of the Christians in Jerusa- lem had forsaken all for the gospel's sake, and were labouring under peculiar difficulties ; but we have also a manifestation of his divine wis- dom and goodness in so ordering the course of events, as that, in the generous and disinterested conduct of the believing Gentiles, the church at Jerusalem should have a pledge of their fervent love and affection towards them as their Christian brethren, and of the sense they enter- tained of their obligations to those from whom the sound of the gospel first came out ; for " having been made partakers of their spiritual things, they thought it perfectly reasonable to minister unto them in temporal things." And if we also take into the account, that even among the believing Jews there was at that time some little remains of the ancient jealousy about the admission of the Gentiles into the king- dom of Christ, we cannot but see how wisely adapted this was to dissi- pate all evil surmising from the minds of the former, and to promote the most cordial amity and concord between these different classes of Christians. Nothing has so powerful a tendency to meliorate the human heart, as acts of kindness and love ; nothing softens the mind of man and infuses into it a favourable opinion of others like expres- sions of charity ! No sooner was the approach of this famine intimated in the church at Antioch, than " the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren which were in Judea, which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." Soon after Barnabas and Saul had returned from Jerusalem to Anti- och, the Lord was pleased to make known his will, that they should be separated for the great work whereunto he had called them, which was accordingly done by fasting and prayer, accompanied with the imposi- tion of hands. Saul had long been invested with the apostolic office ; for he received it not from any man or body of men, as he himself declares, but immediately from Jesus Christ. We are not therefore to imagine that the act of the church, on this occasion, constituted either Saul or Barnabas apostles — but it recognized them as the apostles of Christ; and from the whole transaction we may at least deduce this instruction, that as God is not the author of confusion, but of order and peace in all the churches of the saints, so it is his will that all the affairs of his kingdom should be conducted, not as human Avisdom may suggest, but from a regard to his authority, under the control of his revealed will, and in a dependence upon him for his blessing, without which the wisest and best concerted measures must prove fruitless. Thus sent forth "by the Holy Spirit," concurring with the act of the church at Antioch, they accordingly departed unto Seleucia, a place fifteen miles below Antioch, and situated upon the same river, Orontes, and five from the place where that river runs into the sea. From thence they sailed to the island of Cyprus, situated in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, being the native country of Barnabas. As this island lay contiguous to Judea, it abounded with Jews, as it is Seleitcia, Salmnis, and Paphos. 63 attested by several ancient authors. The first place which the apos- tles visited in that island was Salamis, a city lying on the eastern extremity, and one of the High- est ports to Syria. The gospel had already reached that island, but the knowledge of it was confined to the Jews.* The apostles here found Jewish synagogues, which they frequented, and in which they preached the word of God to both Jews and Gentiles. After this they travelled nearly the whole length of the island, till they came to Pa- phos, which was situated upon th-j western extremity, a place famed for its temple and obscene worship of tbe Paphion Venus. This was the residence of Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, who hearing of the arrival of Barnabas and Saul, sent for them, desiring to hear from their mouths the word of God. Here the apostles were withstood by Elymas, a noted magician, who sought to turn away the deputy from the faith. Saul, however, detected his malicious intention ; and, as Peter had formerly done in the awful instance of Ananias and Sapphira, so Saul by his apostolic power, denounced upon Elymas the impending judgment of God for his iniquity. Scarcely had he uttered the words when the sorcerer was struck with a total blindness, insomuch that he went about seeking some one to lead him by the hand."t The Lord was pleased by means of this judgment upon Elymas, to awaken the attention of the proconsul to the things which concerned his everlasting peace, for " when he saw what was done, he believed, being astonish- ed at the doctrine of the. Lord." On this occasion, we find the first intimation of the change of the name of the great apostle of the Gentiles from Saul to Paul. Various conjectures for this have been offered by the learned. By some it is supposed that the latter title was given him because he had been the means of converting Sergius Paulus to the Christian faith ; as Scipio obtained the appellation of Africanus from the circumstance of his hav- ing conquered Africa. Others, however, and among them ranks the judicious Benson, account for it, by supposing that at the time of his circumcision he received the two names of Saul and Paul — the latter as his Roman name, (for he was born a freeman of Rome,) and the former as his Jewish name, for he was a Jew, or as he calls himself, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. As, therefore, he had been called Saul, while he con- tinued among the Jews, and as he was henceforward to execute his ministry among the Romans he adopted his Roman name. And the same reason hath been assigned, for changing the name of his compa- nion Silas into that of Silvanus. Paul and Barnabas quitting Paphos sailed to Perga, a town in Pamphilia, not far from the coast of Asia Minor, from whence they passed on to Antioch in Pisidia. And here we may remark, that, in executing their mission among the Gentiles, it was the invariable practice of these apostles, on their arrival at any city or town, where they had not pre- viously been, in the first place to inquire whether there were any Jewish synagogue in it, and if they found one, they attended its wor- ship on the ensuing Sabbath. Such was the case at Iconium, Acts xiv. * Acts xi. 19. f Acts xiii. 6—12. 64 History of the Christian Church. 1. — at Thessalonica, ch. xvii 1. — at Corinth, ch. xviii. 4. — at Ephesus, ch. xix. 8, and other places ; and such was the case at Antioch in Pi- sidia, where " they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down."* This manner of proceeding does not appear to have been arbitrary or capricious ; but conformable to the revealed will of their divine Master, who, in the commission which he gave to his apostles to preach the gospel to every creature, commanded them " to begin at Jerusalem," the place where he was crucified. This was altogether in unison with the nature and with the properties of the grace revealed in the gospel itself — which " Grand as the bosom whence it flowed, and kind as the heart that gave it vent, — outshines the thoughts of shal- low man." So we find Peter reminding the Jews that unto them first GJod, having raised up his Son Jesus, had sent him to bless them, in turning away every one of them from his iniquities.! And the conduct of Paul at Antioch was strictly conformable to this. He first address- ed himself to the Jews, briefly glancing at their history from the period of the Exodus of their fathers from Egypt till the time of David, that eminent type of the Messiah ; and from the mention of whom he is na- turally led to speak of David's Son — the Saviour promised unto Israel. This he proceeds to prove, was none other than Jesus of Nazareth, of whose character John the Baptist had spoken in the most exalted terms — whom the Jewish rulers had put to death, but whom God had raised again the third day, and of whose resurrection the apostles were witnesses. The important inference which the apostle deduced from these facts and doctrines is, that " through this man, Christ Jesus, is preached the forgiveness of sins, and that by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses;" and he enforced the whole by the most awful denun- ciations against those who should despise his doctrine and reject his testimony. Many of the Jews had no ear to give to this doctrine ; but to the Gentiles it was indeed glad tidings of great joy ; and even some of the Jews and religious proselytes took part with the apostles, who exhort- ed them to continue in the grace of God. The Gentiles having thus tasted that the Lord is gracious, expressed their earnest desire that the apostles would again preach to them on the following Sabbath ; to which Paul and Barnabas consenting, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. To those who know any thing of the value of the gospel to human happiness, one can scarcely imagine a more interesting spectacle, than the bare idea of such a multitude flocking around these inspired teachers to receive from their lips the words of eternal life. Vastly different, however, was its effect upon the unbelieving Jews ; — " they were filled Math envy, and spake against those things which the apostles taught, contradicting and blas- pheming." Paul and Barnabas, however, animated with that fortitude which became them as the ambassadors of the Most High, thus so- lemnly warned them ; " It was necessary that the word of God should be first spoken unto you, but seeing ye put it from you, and thereby * Acts xiii. 14, &c. f Acts iii. 26. The Apostles return to Antioch. 65 declare yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gen- tiles ; for so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, (by the prophet Isaiah) I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation to the ends of the earth." This intelligence, that such things had been prophesied concerning them many ages ago, and that the Lord had commanded his apostles to receive them as subjects of his kingdom, without subjecting them to the law of Moses, was most acceptable to the poor Gentiles, who rejoiced in it as those that find great spoil ; and they glorified the word of the Lord. Thus " as many of them as were ordained to eternal life believed ; the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."* A persecution was, however, raised against the apostles by the unbelieving Jews, who stirred up the devout and honourable women and the chief men of the city, who speedily succeeded in causing them to be expelled out of their coasts. They therefore shook off* the dust of their feet as a testimony against them and came to Iconium, which was then the chief city of Lycaonia, and even to this day subsists as a considerable town under the name of Cogni, situated at the foot of Mount Taurus. Here also they found a synagogue of the Jews, in which they preached the gospel with such success, that a great multitude botli of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed their testimony. From the number of those who in Iconium are said to have believed, we may infer that it was a great and populous city, as well as perceive the reason of the apostles' conduct in prolonging their stay in it to establish the disciples in the faith, and to comfort them under the persecution which the unbelieving Jews raised against them. But when matters arrived at such a crisis, that the city became divided, one part holding with the Jews and the other with the apostles, the latter, having received intimation that an assault was about to be made upon them to use them cruelly and stone them, they prudently withdrew and fled to Lystra and Derbe, two other cities of Lycaonia, in which they preached the gospel. At the former of these places, the apostles met with one who had all his days been a cripple, having never walked ; and Paul by a word restored him to the perfect use of his limbs, so that he leaped for joy. This extraordinary cure, performed so instantane- ously, excited a kind of ecstacy and surprise in the minds of the spec- tators, who shouted aloud in the language of the Cappadocians, that the gods were come down in the similitude of mortal men. And they named Barnabas, Jupiter — and Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker. The next thing was to make preparation for sacrificing oxen to them, and crowning them with garlands, as was customary with their heathen deities. But the apostles were very differently minded from Herod, (who received the blasphemous adulations of the people upon a. far less occasion ;) they no sooner heard of it than they ran into the midst of them, and after the eastern manner of expressing grief or indignation, they rent their clothes and exclaimed, " Sirs, why * Acts xiii. 16—52. 6* 66 History of the Christian Church. do ye these things — we are men of like passions with yourselves, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities to the living God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein," &c. Nor was it without difficulty that, even with these argu- ments, they prevailed upon them to desist from their absurd purpose. Among the fruit of their ministry here, however, at this time, the apostles had the satisfaction of enumerating Timothy, afterwards an evangelist; as well as his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, whose native city seems to have been Lystra.* But the adversaries of the apostles who had formerly driven them from Iconium, at length pursued them to Lystra, where they seized Paul, drew him out of the city, and stoned him, leaving him, as they thought, dead. While his friends stood around him, however, he rose up and walked into the city, and the following day,. Barnabas and he took their leave and de- parted for Derbe, where they preached the gospel with much success, and from thence returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, establishing the minds of the disciples in the truths they had received, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and warning them that they must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Upon this second visit, they also ordained elders or bishops in every church, which was done by fasting and prayer, commending them to the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ on whom they believed. After this they passed throughout all the region of Pisidia and came to Pamphilia, where they again preached the word in the city of Perga, and passing through Attalia, sailed for Antioch in Syria, the city from whence they had ori- ginally taken their departure. Thus having accomplished their first journey, they reported to the church all that God had wrought by their means, and especially how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. This done they took up their abode again for a considerable while with the disciples at Antioch.t SECTION IV. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. FROM THE RETURN OF PAUL AND BARNABAS AFTER THEIR FIRST JOUR- NEY, TO THE PERIOD OF PAUL'S ARRIVAL AT JERUSALEM WITH THE CONTRIBUTION FOR THE SAINTS; BEING HIS SECOND AND THIRD JOURNEYS. While Paul and Barnabas were prolonging their stay with the church at Antioch, previous to their setting out on a second journey, a circumstance occurred in that church, which, on account of its great importance to all the Gentile converts, appears to have engaged their most serious and fixed attention. * Compare 1 Tim. i. 2. and 2 Tim. i. 5. with Acts xiv. 21. and chap. xvi. 1,2. f Acts xiv. 19—23. The Decree respecting Circumcision. 67 It seems that at this particular juncture, " certain men came down from Judea, and taught the Gentile brethren at Antioch, that, unless they were circumcised, after the manner of Moses, and kept the law, they could not be saved."* Some suppose these teachers to have been Cerinthus and Ebion, the founders of two noted sects, of which the mention frequently occurs in ecclesiastical history ; but the opi- nion rests solely upon tradition— a very doubtful guide in all cases, and more especially so in the concerns of religion. It is probable that, whatever were their names, they had formerly been of the sect of the Pharisees ; and that when they became professors of the Christian faith, they still retained something of that old leaven, of which Jesus had warned his disciples to beware. The doctrine and spirit of that sect were very opposite to the religion of Christ ; and when these men embraced the gospel, they had not discerned the difference so clearly as Paul did at his conversion — they rather reconciled the gos- pel to their former ways of thinking, than became themselves recon- ciled to its simplicity. Hence we iind they became disturbers of the Gentile churches, as is evident from what took place at this lime at Antioch, as well as from the epistle which Paul afterwards wrote to the churches of Galatia. The doctrine of these teachers, which aimed at subjecting the Gen- tile converts to the rite of circumcision, and especially to make their obedience to that institute essential to their salvation, met with the most pointed opposition from these apostles. The subject involved the whole church at Antioch in dissension and disputation ; and ter- minated in a general agreement that a deputation, consisting of Paul and Barnabas, with several others, should go up to Jerusalem to consult the apostles and the elders of that church about this question. In their way they passed through the regions of Phoenicia and Samaria, where they made known the calling of the Gentiles into the Christian church, and the success which their ministry had met with among them, to the inexpressible satisfaction of the Jewish brethren. On their arrival at Jerusalem, they acquainted the apostles and el- ders with the object of their mission, in consequence of which the church was convened to take the subject into deliberation. And it ap- pears that even in that church, the proposal to subject the Gentiles to circumcision, found supporters, especially among those disciples who had originally been of " the sect of the Pharisees."! "When the church had been some time harassed with the dispute, Peter rose up and reminded them how God had formerly made choice of him to be the means of opening the door of faith to the Gentiles, and how he had also poured out the Holy Spirit upon them, making no distinction in his kingdom between Jew and Gentile, but purifying the hearts of each by faith. He, therefore, expostulated with them for attempting to bring the Gentile brethren under the severe yoke of Jewish cere- monies— a yoke so intolerable, that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear it; and pronounced the project of these men to be no less than a " tempting God." And he closed his speech by declaring the • Acts xv. 1, 24. f Acts xv. 5. 68 History of the Christian Church. sufficiency of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to effect the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles, without any regard to the peculiarities of Judaism. When Peter had ended his address, Paul and Barnabas gave the church a particular account of the miracles and wonders which, by means of their ministry, God had wrought among the Gentiles ; and when they had finished, the apostle James, who seems to have acted as president of the assembly on this occasion, summed up the whole subject, recapitulating what had been said, and giving his own judg- ment as an apostle of Christ, which was, " That they should not trouble those who from among the Gentiles were turned unto God ; but that they should write unto them, that they must abstain from pol- lutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood." This met the unanimous approbation of the whole church ; and accordingly, letters were written to all the Gentiles, dis- claiming the authority of these new teachers, protesting against their doctrine, and completely freeing the disciples from the yoke of bon- dage which was thus attempted to be imposed upon them. So Paul and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem to the church . at Antioch, which being convened, they read the epistle, to the great consolation of all the Gentile brethren. The apostles, after this, continued at An- tioch, teaching the disciples the commandments of the Lord Jesus, and preaching the glad tidings of salvation to all sorts of men, in which it seems they were assisted by many others on whom the glorified Head of the church had bestowed the gifts necessary for the work of the Christian ministry.* The interest of the kingdom of Christ was a subject that, of all others, lay nearest to the heart of the apostle Paul. The church at Antioch was now confirmed in the faith and obedience of the gospel; the question which had lately agitated them was set at rest ; and it abounded with labourers in the Lord's vineyard ; he therefore proposed to Barnabas that they should leave Antioch and pay a second visit to the different places in which they had formerly preached the doctrine of Christ, and examine the state of the various churches they had there planted. It is not at all improbable, that Paul's fear and jealousy might be excited, lest these corrupt teachers, who had troubled the brethren at Antioch, might also get access into other Gentile churches, and pro- pagate the same pernicious sentiments, thereby subverting the doctrine of divine grace, and stumbling the Gentile, disciples in their profession. Barnabas yielded to the proposal ; but when they were about to pro- ceed, a difference of opinion arose between them as to the propriety of taking Mark with them as an evangelist, or assistant in the work of the ministry ; and this diversity of judgment was overruled by their common Master, no doubt, ultimately to promote his own glory and the happiness of numbers, by inducing the aposties to travel asunder and in opposite directions ; for the result was, that Barnabas took Mark, his own nephew, and sailed unto Cyprus, his native country — while Paul chose Silas, one of the brethren that had returned with him from Jeru- * Acts xv. 33. Barnabas and Mark proceed to Cyprus. 69 salem when he last visited it; and being commended by the church to the Divine benediction, they took their leave and proceeded for Syria and Cilicia. Many Christian churches were collected by the ministry of the first preachers of the word, of which we have no express mention in that very concise narrative, — the Acts of the Apostles. Thus, for instance, we have no particular account of any Christian churches being planted in Cilicia, yet we are informed that Paul and Silas went through Cilicia confirming the churches, which of course must have been previously gathered and set in order. And when we consider that this was Paul's native country, and that previous to his being first brought to Antioch by Barnabas he had spent some years in it, we may reasonably infer, that his ministry had been owned by his divine Master, and that he was the spiritual father of many, in the regions of Cilicia. Of the labours of Barnabas and Mark in the island of Cyprus, the sacred history is silent; but, that he who commissioned his apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and who also promised to be always with them while thus engaged, even to the end of the world, did own their labours and grant them success, it were unreasonable to doubt. Paul, accompanied by Silas, however, among other places, revisited Derbe and Lystra, at the latter of which he had, duringhis former visit, converted Timothy, then quite a youth, to the faith of Christ. The father of Timothy was a Gentile, probably proselyted to the Jewish religion, but his mother and grandmother were both Jewesses. From his earliest years he had been instructed in the knowledge of the Old Testament writings — and, it would seem from an expression which Paul uses in one of his letters to him,* that upon his being first brought to the knowledge of the truth, the Holy Spirit had given a prophetical in- timation of his future eminence as a minister of the word. So favour- able was the report which the brethren of Lystra now gave the apostle, of the gifts, the zeal, and the amiable deportment of Timothy, that Paul chose him as an associate in the work of the ministry, with which office he was solemnly invested by the prayers of the church and the laying on of the hands of the presbyters of the church at Lystra.t To prevent the Jews in that quarter from cavilling at his ministry, because they knew that his father was a Gentile, the apostle circumcised him with his own hand: after which they proceeded on their journey, every where delivering to the churches the decrees which had been ordained by the church at Jerusalem, and which ascertained in the fullest manner the liberty of the Gentiles from the observances of the Mosaic ritual; and by these means they were established in the faith, and their num- bers multiplied daily. Their stay appears to have been very transient in Phrygia and the region of Galatia, on this occasion; nor were they permitted by the Holy Spirit to preach the word at this time in Asia Minor; but, pass- ing by Mysia, they came down to * 1 Tim. i. 18. | i Tim. iv. 14. 70 History of the Christian Church. Troas, a noted sea-port town, where travellers from the upper coasts of Asia usually took shipping to pass into Europe. Here they appeal- to have been joined by Luke, the writer of the history of the Acts, a native of Antioch, as is generally believed, and who, to the profession of a physician, had joined that of an evangelist or preacher of the gospel.* At Troas, Paul had a vision in the night. There stood beside him a man of Macedonia, and besought him, saying, " Come over into Ma- cedonia and help us." Paul gave an account of this vision to his com- panions, who all concurred in one interpretation of it, namely, that the Lord had called them to preach in Macedonia. They therefore obeyed the heavenly admonition, loosed from Troas, and went direct for Samo- thracia, an island in those seas, famous for being the seat of certain reli- gious mysteries, in ecmal estimation with those called Eleusinian ; but it does not appear they went on shore, for they landed the next day at PSeapolis, a sea-port town of Macedonia. Thus Paul, having first preached the gospel at Damascus, after that in Arabia, next at Jerusalem, and throughout . all the coasts of Judea, then to the Gentiles in Syria and Cilicia, and most of the countries of the Lesser Asia, was now, by Divine appointment, entering upon his career among the Greek nations. At Neapolis, where he first landed, he seems to have made little or no stay, but to have proceeded immedi- ately to Philippi, which is said to have been the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony. Though an inland town, Philippi was si- tuated on the river Strymon, which was the ancient boundary of Mace- donia. It had formerly gone by the name of Crenides, owing probably to its springs or fountains of water ; for, according to Appiaji, it was built upon a hill. Afterwards it took the name of Datus, because of the gold mines which were in its neighbourhood. But Philip, the. fa- ther of Alexander the Great, having conquered Thrace, added that part of it which lay between the rivers Nessus and Strymon to Macedonia, and observing that it might be made a good defence against the Tlira- cians, he fortified it and gave it the name of Philippi, in honour of him- self. Lucian, in his dialogue entitled The Fugitives, introduces Her- cules describing Philippi in the following manner: " The plain, which is very fertile, raises itself into little hills, which serve for a defence to the city of Philippi, whose walls are washed by the river Hebrus." Pierce, in his Synopsis prefixed to this epistle, mentions certain coins of several Roman emperors, and particularly one of Claudius, the in- scription of which intimates that a colony of Romans was planted at Philippi by Julius Ca?sar, and afterwards augmented by Augustus, who sent the adherents of Mark Anthony into this and other cities of Mace- donia, so that, having twice received inhabitants from Italy, of a small town it became a great city, and enjoyed all the privileges of a Roman colony. It appears as though there were but few Jews resident at Philippi, since we find no mention of any synagogue in it. There was, however, * Acts xvi. 9, 10. Paid and Silas arrive at Philippi. 71 an Oratory or Proseucha, a place in which the Jews and their prose- lytes were accustomed to assemble for prayer, without the city, by the river side, to which Paul and his companions resorted on the Sabbath- day, and being set down, they spake unto the women which resorted thither. Among these was Lydia, a Jewish proselyte, of the city of Thyatira, who had taken up her residence at Philippi for the sake of commerce. The Lord opened her heart so that she understood and be- lieved the doctrine which Paul taught. Lydia and her domestics were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and with this Christian family the apostle and his associates afterwards took up their abode, during their stay at Philippi, which is said to have been "many days." Upon several occasions, as they went to the place where the Jews assembled for prayer, they were annoyed by a certain damsel possess- ed with a spirit of divination, or of the Pythian Apollo — probably a species of fortune-teller, by means of which she brought her employers much gain. She seems to have indulged herself in pouring ridicule upon the apostle and his companions, whom she followed through the streets, exclaiming aloud, "these men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation." Paul, grieved with her conduct, ejected the evil spirit out of her — which greatly en- raged her masters, for they perceived that there was now an end to their emoluments from that quarter; and seizing him and Silas, they drew them before the magistrates and rulers of the city, making bitter complaints against them as persons who " exceedingly troubled their city, teaching customs which it was not laAvful for them to observe, being Romans." This speech incensed the populace against them, and the too credulous magistrates used them in a manner that was both shameful and barbarous — ordering the lictors to tear off their clothes and beat them with rods, which they instantly did, and with great se- verity. We find Paul afterwards alluding to this cruel treatment, 1 Thess. ii. 2. and again 2 Cor. xi. 23, where, reciting some of his suf- ferings he says, " he had received stripes above measure." Not satis- fied, however, with this brutal outrage, they cast them into prison, enjoining the jailer to keep them safely. The latter well understood their meaning, and to comply with it, " thrust them into the inner pri- son, and made their feet fast in the stocks."* In this situation, distressing no doubt, and in the eyes of many very contemptible, at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, in the hearing of the other prisoners. And now the Lord caused a great earthquake which opened all the doors of the prison, and loosed every one's bonds. The jailer was by the noise roused from his slum- bers, and thrown into the utmost consternation ; and finding all the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was on the eve of committing suicide, suspecting the prisoners to be fled, and probably recollecting the strict orders he had received the day before concerning Paul and Silas. The apostles, however, perceiving that he was about to lay violent hands upon himself, cried with a loud voice, "Do thyself no harm, for we (the prisoners) are all here." Upon hearing which, * Acts xvi. 24. 72 History of the Christian Church. the jailer called for lights, rushed into the prison, and trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas, whom he brought out, and said, " Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?" The answer was direct and unequivo- cal "Relieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and all that were in his house. Nothing could possibly be better suited to the jailer's case, than the doctrine which the apostle now preached unto him. It was an imme- diate and an effectual relief under all the horrors of a guilty conscience. He found in it what reconciled his mind to God, and filled him with joy and peace, as the sequel shows ; for believing, he rejoiced in God with all his house, and was baptized, he and all his straightway. The fruits of his faith were instantly apparent in his kind and tender treat- ment of Paul and Silas ; for he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and taking them into his house, exercised towards them that hospitality which became a Christian brother. Such were the transactions of this memorable night. The earthquake had, no doubt, been felt over the whole city ; and the miraculous open- ing of the prison doors would soon be communicated to the magistrates, who, when the morning arrived, sent an order for the discharge of the prisoners. Paul, however, did not think it inconsistent with Christian meekness to demand from them an apology for the illegal treatment he and his friend had sustained, especially considering that they were Roman citizens. Of this latter circumstance, the magistrates seem never to have had the least apprehension ; but on being told it, they took the alarm, waited upon them personally, made due acknowledg- ments of the impropriety of their conduct, and besought them to depart out of their city. The apostle complied with that request ; but his conduct on this occasion shows, that while he considered it to be his duty to demean himself as a quiet and peaceable subject of the govern- ment under which he was placed, he did not think it inconsistent there- with, to claim the protection of that government, and all the civil rights and privileges to which he was entitled. So quitting the prison, they went to the house of Lydiato visit their brethren, and having comforted them, took their leave of Philippi, leaving, as is supposed, Luke behind, who probably continued some years with this infant society.* Thus have we reviewed the origin of the church of the Philippians — * The following are some of the grounds on which this supposition is founded. The writer of the Acts of the Apostles, previous to this event, carries on the narrative in the following manner. Acts xvi. 11 — 16. "Loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothrace — and on the Sabbath day we went out of the city, by a river side — and it came to pass as we went to prayer," &c. But after Paul and the rest departed from Philippi, the writer changes his style, thus — "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica," &c. Nor does he resume his former manner of writing', until chap. xx. where, describing Paul's voyage to Syria, he thus writes — " These goinjr before tarried for us at Troas ; and we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas, where we abode seven days." It is therefore very probable, that Luke remained with the new converts at Phi- lippi, until Paul, several years afterwards, in his way from Corinth to Syria, came to Philippi and took him with them. Paul and Silas visit Thessalonica. 73 a church which, of all that were planted by this apostle, seems to have enjoyed the greatest share of his esteem and affection. But their love was evidently reciprocal. For it is manifest that the sufferings which the apostle had undergone in their city, for the sake of communicating to them the knowledge of salvation, more precious than gold, had great- ly endeared him to the church there ; while, on the other hand, the brethren at Philippi lost no opportunity of evincing their gratitude to the apostle ; for when he was at Thessalonica, they twice sent him a pecuniary contribution, thus enabling him to make the gospel without charge to the Thessalonians. They also sent him money during his first imprisonment at Rome, that he might want nothing necessary to his comfort which they could supply.* Passing through Amphipolis, a city built in an island formed by two branches of the river Strymon, and a colony of the Athenians, and from thence through Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,! now the metropolis of all the countries comprehend- ed in the Roman province of Macedonia. It was the residence both of the proconsul and questor ; so that being the seat of government, it was constantly filled with strangers, some to attend the courts of judicature, and others to solicit offices. Placed at the bottom of the Thermaic gulf, it was conveniently situated for commerce, and many of its inha- bitants were merchants, who carried on an extensive trade with foreign countries. The Jews resorted to this city in such numbers as to form a large synagogue, to which, according to his usual custom, the apostle, on his arrival there, had recourse. The account which is left us, by the sacred historian, of the apos- tle's method of procedure in the synagogue of Thessalonica, though concise, is remarkably comprehensive. According to his usual custom, he, during three Sabbath days, reasoned with them out of the Scrip- tures (of the Old Testament, which Avere esteemed by themselves as the oracles of God ;) unfolding their meaning, and alleging from their true import, that the Messiah must necessarily have already come; and, moreover, that he must have been a suffering person, since their own prophets had clearly described him under this view ; nay, that he must also have risen again from the dead, concerning which event the spirit of prophecy had spoken particularly ; and, finally, that this Jesus of Nazareth, unto whom he bore witness, was the Christ, or true Messiah, whom they were anxiously expecting. The result was, that some of the Jews believed that Jesus whom he preached was the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners, and consequently con- sorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multi- tude, and of the women of chief note in the city not a few4 It seems probable that Paul and his associates continued their attend- ance on the synagogue worship no longer than three Sabbath days, though it appears from Phil. iv. 16, that they remained some consi- derable time after that in Thessalonica. But having now repeatedly * See Phil. iv. 15, 16, and ver. 18. with chap. ii. 25. f Anciently called Thermx; it still subsists as a place of some note, and is now in possession of the Turks, under the name of Salonichi. i Acts xvii. 1 — 4. 7 74 History of the Christian Church. declared their testimony, they withdrew, and separated the disciples. After this Paul and Siias appear to have preached, without reserve, among the idolatrous Gentiles, and to have wrought many miracles, all which were attended with the most amazing success; for in the first epistle, which he wrote not long afterwards to this church, he reflects with the most grateful emotions of mind upon the success which his ministry had among them — that the gospel which he preached came unto them not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance ; so that they became followers of the apostles and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, insomuch that the Thessalonians became ensamples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia — that the gospel sounded out from them ; and in every place their faith towards God was spoken of; so that the unbelieving Jews who persecuted them, were ready to attest the power which the gospel had upon these idolatrous Gentiles, and how it became the means of turning them to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered them from the wrath to come.* Paul and his companions were at length driven from this city, in consequence of a persecution raised by the envious, unbelieving Jews, who instigated the rabble against them, setting all the city in an uproar, and assaulting the house of Jason, whom they drew, along with other brethren before the rulers of the city. In this state of things it was judged prudent to withdraw, which they accordingly did, unto Berea, where they found a synagogue of the Jews, and into which they entered, declaring their testimony as at Thessalonica. To the honour of the Bereans, it is recorded that they received the doctrine which the apostle preached, and with the utmost readiness of mind examined the Scriptures daily, whether the things he declared were so or not — the happy result of which was that " many of them believed, of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men not a few." Intimation, however, having reached Thessalonica that Paul was preaching with great success at Berea, the unbelieving Jews, who had recently driven him from that city, followed him to Berea, and there also excited the multitude against him. The brethren, therefore, sent him away, as though he were going towards the sea, reserving Silas and Timothy among them, who seem to have been less obnoxious to the Jews than Paul was. But the friends of the latter, anxious for his safety, privately conveyed him to Athens, styled by general consent, " the seat of the muses" — once the first city of Greece in every point of view ; and though it had at this time passed the zenith of its political splendour, it was still as famous for learning as it had ever been : for at the time Paul visited it, the city was full of philosophers, rhetoricians, orators, painters, poets, sta- tuaries, and of young men who resorted thither to be taught philoso- phy and the liberal sciences. Pausanias says, that there were more images in Athens than all Greece besides, and that they worshipped * 1 Thess. i. 5—10. Paul's arrival at Athens. 75 the gods more than all Greece did. No place could possibly afford a greater fund of speculation and amusement to a curious mind than Athens. Temples, altars, statues, historical memorials, living philo- sophers of various sects, the works of the learned of every age, a con- fluence of the most polite and literary persons from various countries, all indulging the luxury of learned leisure, were objects that must at once have obtruded themselves upon the apostle's notice. Nor was he incapacitated, either by defect of natural taste or of education, from relishing the beauties or appreciating the value of such things. He had enjoyed a liberal education, had read their poets, and we have repeated instances of his quoting striking passages from them. But in Paul, the Christian predominated over the philosopher and the critic. He plainly saw, that with all their advantages, they lacked " the one thing needful" — the knowledge of the true God, and the enjoyment of his life-giving favour ; without which, all their luxury was but splendid misery. Having carefully surveyed the city, Paul found the inhabitants were almost wholly devoted to idolatry, and he therefore sent an urgent re- quest to Silas and Timothy, who were still at Berea, to come to him with all possible expedition. Finding a synagogue of the Jews, his first object was to dispute with them, and with the Gentiles proselyted to their religion ; and after that, with such of the idolatrous inhabitants as he met with in the market-place. The apostle was soon attacked by some of the philosophers belonging to two of their most renowned sects, viz. the Epicureans and the Stoics. The Epicureans are said to have ascribed neither creation nor providence to God, but held that the world was made by a casual conflux of atoms — That the gods, if there were any, were of human shape, who lay lolling upon the clouds in ease and indolence, entirely unconcerned about human affairs. They also held, that in the present state, pleasure is the chief good ; and that men are not to expect a resurrection from the dead, or any future state of rewards and punishments. The Stoics, who were intolerably proud and arrogant, held that matter was eternal, God corporeal, and that either God was the soul of the world, or the world itself a god. They looked upon all things as subject to an irresistible fatality ; that virtue was its own sufficient reward, and vice its own sufficient punishment. They fluctuated as to their belief of a future state of rewards and pu- nishments, though they had some expectation of an hereafter, as well as of the conflagration and renovation of the world. In the eyes of these philosophical gentlemen, the apostle appeared a mere bladder ; and in the plenitude of their superior wisdom, they looked down upon him with all the pride and disdain that has ever cha- racterized persons of similar tenets and pretensions. When Paul preached to them Jesus and the resurrection, they regarded him as a setter forth of new deities. However, as it belonged to the court of Areopagus to take cognizance of such things, they brought Paul be- fore it. They had at Athens two courts of judicature, of which one was chosen annually, consisting of five hundred persons. The other was perpetual ; and the members of it were accustomed to assemble in the 76 History of the Christian Church. forum called Areopagus, which stood upon a hill, and was the highest forum in Athens. The judges belonging to this latter court were held in such veneration, that, to be an Areopagite was a term used prover- bially among them for an excellent person.* They were the Athenian senate, or standing court of judicature,! and, besides other things, mat- ters of religion, blasphemy against the gods, contempt of the holy mys- teries, and all sorts of impiety ; the consecration of new gods, the erecting of temples or altars, and the introduction of new ceremonies into divine worship, were referred to the judgment of this court. Con- ceiving, therefore, that the apostle had some new object of worship to propose to the Athenians, it was perfectly natural for them to conduct him before this venerable assembly, which having done, they requested him to explain himself concerning this new doctrine ; they frankly ac- knowledged that he brought strange things to their ears, in talking to them about Jesus and the resurrection, and they desired to know what these things meant. The apostle's discourse upon this occasion has always been admired as a model of fine address and of cogent reasoning. He had carefully inspected their religious rites and worship; and, among the multiplicity of their altars, had observed one that was dedicated to "the unknown God." He began, therefore, by stating, that he perceived them to be extremely religious ;± for besides the number of temples and altars which they had in common with the other cities of Greece, he observed one with this peculiar inscription, " To the unknown God." He might therefore fairly presume that it would not be unacceptable to them to be made acquainted with the character of that Being whom they ignorantly worshipped. " God," says he, " who made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, since he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth." And here we may remark, in passing, the different method which the apostle pursued, in reasoning with the idolatrous Gentiles, from that which he uniformly adopted with the Jews. The latter had in their .hands the writings of Moses and their prophets, which they themselves acknowledged to be the oracles of God. In attempting to engage their attention to his testimony, he had nothing to do but make his appeal to those Scriptures, and convince them that their own prophets had fore- told all that he now testified unto them, for that in reality " he said none other things than what Moses and the prophets did say should come, viz. that Christ should sutler, and that he should be the first to rise from the dead, and should show light to his people Israel and to the Gentiles." But with the Athenians, who had no written revelation in their hands, he proceeds upon quite other principles : he appeals to the volume of creation, and argues from the impressions of power, wisdom, and goodness every where displayed before their eyes ; he asserts the * Aulus Gellius, b. 12. ch. 7. f Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. i. p. 105. t Very religious, for so the word, dusiaaimonesteroi, should be translated, as lias been frequently remarked by critics, and not too superstitious, as our trans- lators have it. Paul arrives at Corinth. 77 providence and the omnipresence of God ; that he is the fountain of life and all its comforts — the supreme disposer of all events, and the com- mon lather of mankind; appealing in proof of this part of his doctrine to Aratus, one of their own most favourite poets. From these first principles, founded in reason, and which commend themselves to the consciences of all men, the apostle justly infers the folly of their idols. Admitting as they did, that they themselves Avere the offspring of God, how absurd was it in them to imagine " the Godhead like unto gold, or silver, or stone graven by artor man's device." Thus, having shown the gross absurdity of their idolatrous worship, he declared to them that the Most High had for a course of time allowed men to go on in their ignorance, without instructing them by messengers divinely com- missioned, that he might show them by facts and their own experience, the insufficiency of their reason in the concerns of religion. But the state of things was now changed ; for the time was come when God commanded all men, every where, to repent of their ignorance, idola- try, and wickedness, having " appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by his Son Jesus Christ, whom he had raised from the dead," and in that event hath given the highest cer- tainty of the fact. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, the Epicureans mocked him, and the Stoics found so little interest in his reasoning, that they gladly adjourned the meeting, promising, like Felix, upon another occasion, to hear him again of this matter at a more convenient season. Some few individuals, however, were struck with his doc- trine, and received it as Divine truth ; amongst whom was Dionysius, one of the Areopagite judges, and a woman of some note named Da- maris, with a few others, who consequently clave to the apostle and consorted with him. The handful of seed, however, sown at this time, at Athens, produced, in due season, the harvest of a numerous church, as will be seen in the history of the next century. AVhile Paul was thus employed at Athens, Timothy arrived from Berea, and informed him that the enemies of the faith at Thessalonica had raised a dreadful persecution against the disciples there ; on hearing which, the apostle thought it best to be left alone at Athens, and with- out delay despatched Timothy to Thessalonica to succour the brethren in their distress ; to comfort their hearts, and prevent their being turned aside from the good profession they had made, by the afflictions they were now enduring.* Timothy soon afterwards returned to the apos- tle bringing him a most pleasing account of their steadfastness in the faith, their regard for Paul, and their anxious desire to see him again, all which greatly refreshed and cheered his mind.t From Athens he proceeded to Corinth, a city situated on the narrow neck of land which joined the Peloponnesus to Greece, in consequence of which it commanded the commerce of both Asia and Europe. On the eastern side of the isthmus were the ports of Cenchrea and Sch?enus, and being thus ad- vantageously situated for commercial purposes, it soon became extreme- * 1 Thess. iii. 1—6. f Ibid. ver. 6, 7. History of the Church of Christ. 78 ly rich and populous. Its original name was Ephyre, but during the Achaean war, the Roman consul, Mummius, burnt it to the ground. It was, however, rebuilt by Julius Caesar, afler having long lain in ashes, and by his command it was colonized with the ancestors of those Gen- tiles to whom Paul preached the everlasting gospel. When Achaia was made a Roman province, Corinth, becoming the seat of govern- ment, soon regained its ancient celebrity in regard to commerce and its attendants, riches and luxury ; so that, at the time it was visited by Paul, it was almost as famous for learning and the arts as Athens itself. Here philosophers taught science, and established academies for the instruc- tion of youth ; and in such high reputation were its seminaries, that an education at Corinth became proverbial for the most finished cultivation of manners, in every polite and literary accomplishment.* "With all its advantages, however, it seems to have outstripped every city of Greece in laxity of morals ; insomuch that a Greek word, formed by the name of this city, has been used to signify all lasciviousness and profligate corruption which leave the human heart enslaved to the basest and most headstrong passions. According to Strabo, there was in it a temple dedicated to Venus, at which no less than a thousand priestesses attended, who made prostitution a part of their devotions to the god- dess. Paul, on his arrival in this city, found a Jewish Christian, of the name of Aquilla, and his wife Priscilla, just arrived from Italy, in con- sequence of a decree which had been issued by the Roman emperor Claudius Caesar, commanding all Jews to depart from Rome. It is affirmed by Dio, an ancient historian, that Claudius did not banish the Jews from Rome, but only prohibited their assemblies. This, however, even though his decree proceeded no further, was in effect banishing all those who had any conscience of religion. But Suetonius, who lived nearer the time, expressly says, that " he expelled the Jews from Rome, who were continually making tumults ; Chrestus being their leader, or the occasion of their disturbances. "t It is a matter of dis- pute among the learned, whether by Chrestus, Suetonius meant Jesus Chiist, or not. The probability is, that he did ; for in other places he has shown himself peculiarly virulent against the Christians.^ And, admitting this to have been his meaning, it shows us that the decree of Claudius was occasioned by the tumults which the unbelieving Jews were continually raising at Rome against the disciples of Christ, just as they persecuted Paul and his party at Lystra, Thessalonica, and Berea, and afterwards at Corinth, not to mention their conduct in the cases of Stephen, the apostles, or the Lord Jesus himself. The Jews being numerous in Corinth, and having a synagogue, Paul, according to his custom, had immediate recourse to it ; and there, for some time, "he reasoned every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and Jewish proselytes, testifying in the boldest manner, that Jesus was the Messiah." But when they opposed and reviled his doctrine, he shook * Thus the Roman poet Horace, — " Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum." f Life of Claudius, ch. 25. * Life of Nero, ch. 16. Paul persecuted at Corinth. 79 his raiment, to indicate that he had done with them, adding-, " Your blood be upon your own heads, 1 am clean ; from henceforth I will go to the Gentiles ;" on saying winch, he departed from the synagogue and went into the house of Justus, which lay contiguous to it. Crispus, however, the chief ruler of the synagogue, received Paul's testimony, as did also his household, and " many of the Corinthians, hearing, be- lieved, and were baptized."* It is not improbable that the apostle, experiencing so much opposi- tion as he at first did from the Jews in this city, was about to take a speedy departure from it ; but if such was his purpose, he was prevented from carrying it into effect, by a vision which he had during the night. The Lord Jesus appeared to him, to animate and encourage him to persevere in preaching the gospel at Corinth. " Be not afraid," were his gracious words, "but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much peo- ple in this city." Thus encouraged, he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God, who gave testimony to the word of his grace, and made the labours of his servants instrumental in gather- ing a numerous church, enriched with a plenitude of spiritual gifts. While here, he also wrote his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, which is generally thought to have been the first written of all his fourteen epistles. By some, however, it is thought he had previously written his epistle to the churches of Galatia, and that he did it at Antioch, be- fore he left that city to take his present journey into Greece. During these eighteen months that Paul is said to have passed at Corinth, it seems probable that he made an excursion from that city into the region of Achaia, or the Peloponnesus, where were many synagogues of the Jews, and from whence he returned again to Corinth, (2 Cor. ch. xi. ver. 10.) ; and if we consider that his second epistle is addressed "to the saints which are in all Achaia," it plainly shows that he had made many converts at other places in that quarter besides the city of Corinth. Accordingly his return to it is spoken of as a second coming to Corinth, for he tells them, 2 Cor. xii. 14. and chap, xiii. 1, that he was then coming to them the third time, though in the Acts of the Apostles there is no mention of his having been at Corinth more than once before he wrote his second epistle to that church. The great success which crowned the apostle's ministry at this time, seems to have exasperated his enemies to the highest pitch. They formed a conspiracy to apprehend him, in which they succeeded, and dragged him before the judgment-seat of the deputy of Achaia, com- plaining bitterly that he persuaded men to worship God contrary to the law of Moses. Gallio was the present proconsul, and had just entered upon his new dignity. This man was the elder brother of the famous Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and tutor to Nero, and it is con- jectured he obtained the office through the interest of his brother Seneca. The latter has described Gallio,t as a man of the most mild and amiable disposition, of great suavity of manners, and be- nign to men in general. Dion Cassius also commends him as a * Acts xviil. 8. f Senecx Prsefut. ad Natural. Quest, lib. 4. 80 History of the Church of Christ. man of great wit and good sense.* As his conduct regards the case of Paul, he has been severely censured by many Christian writers, but probably without due consideration. He rather seems to have been aware of the futility of the charge which these Jews alleged against the apostle, and like a wise magistrate, who considered matters of opi- nion quite beyond his province, so long as they did not disturb the peace of society, he told the Jews that if they had any accusation to prefer against Paul for a breach of the civil law, he was ready to listen to them ; but if it was merely a question of words and names, and mat- ters regarding their law, they must settle it among themselves, for he would be no judge in affair's of that nature ; Avhich having said, he drove them from his judgment-seat. After this the apostle prolonged his stay some time at Corinth, from whence it would seem that the rulers were not unfriendly towards him ; but afterwards, taking his leave of the brethren, he sailed from the port of Cenchrea, accompanied by Aquilla and Priscilla ; and the vessel touching at Ephesus, Paul left them there ; for, having come under a vow while at Cenchrea, it was necessary he should offer the appointed sacrifices at Jerusalem, at the ensuing feast of the passover, which was then just at hand. He therefore bade them farewell; yet perceiving that Ephesus stood much in need of the light of the glorious gospel, he promised to return to them, when the Lord should permit; and quitting that city, he landed at Caesarea, from whence he went up to Jerusalem and saluted the church, performed his vow, and returned to Antioch. After spending some time there with his old friends, he went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, strength- ening the disciples; and passing through the upper coasts, he at length returned to Ephesus, which was at that time the metropolis of the province of Asia, and an exceedingly populous city. It was situated upon the ri- ver Layster, and famous, among other things, for an immense temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess Diana. This amazing edifice was four hundred and twenty-five feet long, and two hundred and twenty broad, supported by an hundred and twenty-seven stately pil- lars, each of them sixty feet high, the work of a king, who erected them as a token of his piety and magnificence. The entire structure was two hundred and twenty years in building, and reared at the com- mon charge of all Asia propria ; and so admirable was it, that it ranked as one of the seven wonders of the world. It had been twice destroyed by lire previous to its present enlarged and improved state ; the first time, on the very day that Socrates was poisoned, and the second on the night in which Alexander the Great was born, when it was designedly set on fire by Erastratus, who, being condemned to die for it, confessed that he had destroyed so exquisite a structure, solely "that he might be remembered in future ages." The common coun- cil of Asia, however, not only put him to death, but passed a decree that " his name should never be mentioned more." The fame of Eras- tratus, nevertheless, survived their decree ; for though silence may • Lib. 10. p. 688, Sec. The Church at Ephesus. 81 have been imposed upon that generation, his conduct has been record- ed by almost every historian who has written of those times. It was, however, again rebuilt upon a plan of the celebrated architect Deno- crates, and most magnificently adorned by the Ephesians. When Paul visited the city, this temple was in all its glory. Here a prodi- gious concourse of people always resorted ; some to worship the god- dess Diana, others to learn the arts of sorcery and magic, which were taught and practised with such reputation at Ephesus, that the magical words or sentences used in sorcery were taken from the name of the city, being called Ephesian letters. Many came to prosecute law- suits, or to solicit offices from the Roman governor of the province, who resided here ; to all which may be added, that multitudes resorted to it for the purposes of commerce, or were continually passing through it in their way to -and from Europe. But that Avhich more especially renders Ephesus interesting to the ecclesiastical historian is, that Satan had there erected his very throne of idolatry, superstition, and magic ; and reigned over the minds of his deluded subjects with uncontrolled sway. The apostle on his way to Jerusalem, had caught a transient glimpse of the state of things in that city, and having discharged his vow, he returned as expeditiously as was consistent with his purpose in visiting the countries that lay in his way, now to invade this empire of darkness, and storm the strong- holds of the prince of the power of the air.* Thus Ephesus became his residence during a space of three years. On his arrival, accompanied by Gaius and Aristarchus, two of the brethren out of Macedonia, called his companions in travel,t and by Timothy, and Erastus the chamberlain or treasurer of the city of Co- rinth, and probably by Titus also, Paul found here twelve men who had been the disciples of John the Baptist, and, as some understand, baptized by him. These men appear to have believed the preaching of John, as it respected the immediate appearance of the Messiah and the setting up of his kingdom, but they seem not to have been ac- quainted with Christ or his apostles, nor to have known that the Mes- siah had actually appeared, that he had been crucified, and was risen again. They, therefore, knew nothing of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, in his miraculous operations, which was now communicated to them by the apostle, in consequence of which they spake with divers tongues and prophesied. After this the apostle went into the synagogue of the Jews which he found there, and for three months reasoned with them, and persuaded them concerning the things of the kingdom of God; but finding many of them obstinate, their minds filled with prejudices, and that they began to revile him and his doctrine, Paul separated the disciples : and from that pe- riod met daily in the school of Tyrannus, who had probably himself been converted by the preaching of the apostle. And this continued during the space of two years, which gave an opportunity to many who resided in distant parts of the province, and who had heard of Paul's preaching and miracles, to visit Ephesus, and to hear the word * Eph. ii. 2, 3. f Acts xix. 29. 82 History of the Christian Church. of God from his mouth, so that by this means the knowledge of the gospel was communicated to all Asia. And now the Divine power manifested itself remarkably, in owning the mission and doctrine of Paul ; for " God wrought special miracles by his hands ;" — diseases vanished, not only at his touch but at his word, and evil spirits were ejected out of many that were possessed with them. Some of the wandering Jews who had practised the art of exorcism, supposing that Paul's miracles bore some affinity to their own tricks, undertook to imitate them, by expelling a daemon out of one that was possessed ; but when they invoked the name of Jesus whom Paul preached, " the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded," to the consternation of all the Jews and Greeks that dwelt at Ephesus ; " and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." The most amaz- ing consequences succeeded this display of Divine power; for many of the necromancers received the apostolic testimony, and came and con- fessed their diabolical practices, and the arts by which they had deceiv- ed the multitude. Many of those also who had been engaged in the devices of exorcism, conjuration, and magic, brought their books, in which were prescribed the various forms of incantation, and spontane- ously set fire to them in the presence of all the people ; and they com- puted their value, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver, equal to seven thousand five hundred pounds sterling — an amazing effect of the prevalence of divine truth over all the powers of darkness ! Yet, notwithstanding the success of his ministry, Paul had many adversaries at Ephesus. A number of the inhabitants enriched them- selves, by manufacturing representations in miniature of the temple of Diana, and of the image that was said to have fallen down from Jupi- ter ; by means of which they amassed considerable wealth. Perceiv- ing that if Paul's doctrine were suffered to spread, their trade would be ruined, they convened a meeting of all that were of the same occu- pation, and very gravely deliberated what was best to be done, in or- der to check the growing evil : " Sirs," said one of them, " ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. It is evident, moreover, that not only at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath turned away much people, saying that they are no gods which are made with hands ; so that not only our trade is in danger of being destroy- ed, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be despis- ed, and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world wor- shipped!." Interest is a powerful stimulus to the passions of men ; and on this occasion the speech of Demetrius, which was founded upon it, produced the desired effect, for, " when they heard these tilings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, ' Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' " The utmost confusion ensued throughout the city : the artificers ran about the streets, spreading the alarm to the multitude ; and having seized two of Paul's companions, viz. Gaius and Aristarchus, they ran with one accord into the theatre, intending, probably, to cast them to the wild beasts usually kept there. The apostle would himself have also entered, but his friends dissuaded him. Paul preaching at Ephesus. 83 Anarchy had now reached its highest pitch, — some exclaimed one thing, and some another, — the multitude was confounded, and the greater part knew not the cause of their coming together ; they con- tinued, however, for the space of two hours, crying out, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." The rage of the rioters became at length exhausted ; the proconsul's secretary appeased the people, and ad- dressed them to the following effect ; " Ye men of Ephesus, who is there that knows not that the city of the Ephesians worshippeth the great goddess Diana? since this is evident, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, whom ye have not yet proved to be either spoilers of temples, or blas- phemers of the goddess ; if, therefore, Demetrius and his craftsmen have any thing to allege against them, the courts of law are open, where the matter may be fairly tried." He also reminded them, that they were in danger of being called to account by the Romans for the riot they had raised, there being no justifiable cause for it. On say- ing which, he liberated Gaius and Aristarchus, and dismissed the as- sembly. During Paul's stay at Ephesus, a church had not only been gather- ed, but set in order with its bishops and deacons.* By means of his preaching, multitudes had been converted to the Christian faith, amongst whom were " certain of the chiefs of Asia," supposed to have been priests of the temple of Diana, who had the care of the games celebrated in honour of that goddess.t These, the apostle hav- ing called together after the uproar, embraced them, and then taking his leave, departed for Macedonia. Having visited the churches in that country, and given them much exhortation, he went into Greece, and there continued about three months ; after which he went down to Troas, a place he had formerly visited, £ and where he preached with great success. § The disciples of Christ being at this period reduced to great straits in Judea, Paul had written to the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Greece to assist them by a general contribution ; and during his abode among them at this time, he received the various collections which those churches had made for their relief. Having carried into effect this important service, he sailed for Syria, and landed at the port of Tyre, from whence passing along by Ptolemais, and thence to Caesa- rea, he arrived at Jerusalem, where he delivered the contributions, and was most cordially received of the brethren. * Acts xx. 17, 28. f See Whitbv on Acts xix. 31. * Acts xiv. 8. §2 Cor. ii. 12, 13. 84 History of the Christian Church. SECTION V. the subject continued. from Paul's arrival at Jerusalem with the contributions from asia, to the period of his death. We are now arrived at a period in the life of the great apostle of the Gentiles, when a circumstance arose which has occasioned no little perplexity to commentators, and drawn from many of them either un- merited reproaches or needless apologies. It seems that previous to the apostle's arrival in Judea, a report had. got into circulation, that he was in the practice of teaching the Jews who were dispersed throughout the Gentile countries, "to forsake the law of Moses, and neither circumcise their children, nor walk after the Jewish customs."* This was an unfounded representation of his con- duct in regard to this matter. He indeed taught the Gentiles that they should observe none of these things ; but he well knew that the time which God had appointed for putting an end to the political constitution of the Jews, had not yet arrived. He, therefore, conformed to the riets of Judaism himself, though aware that the whole of that typical dispensation had been virtually abolished by the death of Christ ; and he instructed his Jewish brethren to do the same, until, by the destruc- tion of their temple and city, the providence of God should co-operate with his word in rendering it impossible for them any longer to adhere to Moses. It was, therefore, necessary that the Jews in Jerusalem should be undeceived in this matter ; and, in order to this, it was re- commended to him by James the apostle, and the elders of the church, to give a proof to all his Jewish brethren that what they had heard of him was incorrect, by joining himself to four men who were under a vow, and subjecting himself to the charges that were necessary to the performance of it, " that all might know that the things which they had heard concerning him were nothing, but that he himself walked orderly and kept the law." Paul complied with this advice ; and the follow- ing day, purifying himself with them, they all entered into the temple, to signify to the priest their resolution to accomplish the seven days of their purification. But before these were ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up all the people against him, and ap- prehending him by violence, cried out, "Men of Israel, help; this is the man that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place, and hath polluted this holy temple by bringing Greeks into it." By this means an universal ferment was excited throughout Jerusalem, for the people ran together, and seizing Paul, drew him out of the temple, closing the doors, being resolved, it would seem, to put him to death. At this critical moment, when they were actually engaged in beating him, Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison, interposed with a band of soldiers and rescued * Acts xxi. 21. Paul before the Jewish Sanhedrim. 85 Paul, demanding to know who he was and what he had done. Find- ing it impossible, however, from the contrariety of their reports, to ar- rive at any certainty in theaffair, he ordered the soldiers to take him into the castle, whither he was pursued by the multitude, crying out, " away with him." Having reached the top of the stairs, Paul asked leave of the chief captain to address them ; which being granted, he beckoned to them with his hand, and when he had obtained silence, accosted them in the Hebrew tongue, recapitulating the most material circumstances of his history, particularly his conversion to the Christian faith ; appealing to the high-priest and elders for the truth of what he said ; and closing the narrative with stating the commission he had received from Jesus Christ, to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles. The very men- tion of this was enough for these Jews. Hitherto they had listened to him patiently, but no sooner had he spoken of his commission to the Gentiles, than they became outrageous, exclaiming, " Away with such a fellow from the earth ; it is not fit that he should live :"* on saying which, they rent off their clothes and threw dust into the air. Lysias, in all probability, understood nothing of what Paul had spoken in Hebrew ; but seeing the effects which his speech had pro- duced upon the Jews, and that they were driven to frenzy by it, he concluded that certainly he must be some notorious malefactor, and, therefore, commanding him to be brought into the castle, he was pre- paring to have recourse to the Roman custom of extorting a confession from his own lips, by means of torture, — one method of which was by binding the person to a pillar and severely scourging him.t When the soldiers had stripped Paul, and were extending his arms to the utmost stretch, that they might bind him with thongs to the pil- lar, he inquired from the centurion, whether it were lawful for him to scourge a freeman of Rome, before he was convicted of any crime ? The officer, upon receiving this hint, that the apostle was a Roman citizen, desisted from his purpose, and apprized the chief captain of the fact, who, interrogating Paul, and finding that he was free-born, began to regret what he had done, and liberated him from his bonds. On the following day the apostle was brought before the Jewish San- hedrim, with the view of having his conduct investigated before that great national council. When placed in the midst, he surveyed the assembly with earnestness and composure, and was proceeding to renew his vindication before them, but the first sentence he uttered pro- voked the high-priest, who commanded the by standers to smite him on the mouth. Paul complained of this as an unjust procedure on the part of his judges : probably he was not aware whence the order to smite him originated ; at any rate, he was not apprized that it came from the high-priest, whose office was then become quite a marketable commodity, and in which the Romans were of course making frequent changes. The apostle, however, recalled his words, and apologized for them ; but continuing to look round upon the council, and perceiving * Acts xxii. 1—22. . . : , „ . •_ • ■„> ^ f See Suetonius' Life of Augustus, ch. 19. Tacit. Annals, b. 15. ch. 56, 57. Joseph. Antiq. b. 16. ch. 10. sect. 2 — 5. 86 History of the Christian Church. that one part of them were Pharisees, and the other Sadducees, he made an appeal to the former, that he had been one of their sect, and that he was now called to answer for the hope which he had, of a resurrection from the dead — a doctrine wholly denied by the latter. A contention immediately arose between the two parties, and the San- hedrim became divided. In this state of confusion, the chief captain, fearing Paul might be sacrificed between them, ordered a company of soldiers to go down and take him by force, and bring him into the castle. In the ensuing night the Lord Jesus appeared in vision to his ser- vant, encouraging him to " be of good cheer," and telling him, that as he had borne witness of him in Jerusalem, he must now also do the same at Rome. A conspiracy was formed among forty of the Jews, the next morning to put him to death; "they bound themselves by a curse," that they would neither eat nor drink till that object was accom- plished. The stratagem, however, failed and the plot was defeated. Paul's sister's son got intimation of it, and conveyed it to his uncle, who called one of the centurions of the garrison, desiring him to intro- duce the young man to Lysias, the tribune, he having something to communicate to him. Paul's nephew developed the whole plot to Lysias, who, enjoining upon him the utmost secrecy, immediately gave orders for two hundred soldiers, with the same number of spear- men, and seventy horsemen, to be got ready against nine o'clock at night, and also to provide a horse for Paul to ride upon to Caesarea, to which place he was accordingly conveyed in safety, with a letter from Lysias to the Roman governor there, explaining the reasons of the procedure. Felix was at this time governor of Caesarea ; and Lysias, having now transferred the whole affair between Paul and his adversaries to his jurisdiction, he ordered the high-priest and some others of the San- hedrim to appear before him in five days, which they did, accompa- nied by Tertullus, an advocate or Roman orator, who was to lay Paul's crimes before the governor. When the day arrived, the apostle was brought into court, and the orator, in a pompous speech, interspersed with flattering compliments to Felix, accused him vehemently of being a pestilent fellow, an exciter of seditions among the Jews every where, a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, who had profaned their holy temple, and that they would have judged him according to the Jewish law, had they not been prevented by the conduct of Lysias, who took him out of their hands ; to the truth of all which, the Jews gave their assent. By the Roman law both parties were to be heard before sentence was passed. When, therefore, the governor had beckoned with his hand for Paul to speak, he addressed them in a firm and undaunted manner, de- nying the accusation which they had thought proper to prefe, against him of being an exciter of tumult and sedition, and boldly challenging his enemies to the proof. He admitted, indeed, that after the way which they called " heresy," so worshipped he the God of his fathers, believing all things that were written in the law and in the prophets; and this he did in the confident expectation, that there would be a re- Paul's Defence before Felix. 87 surrection from the dead, both of the just and unjust. Felix, who was no doubt tolerably well acquainted with the affairs of the Christians, and the temper of the Jews towards them, put off the decision of the case for the present, promising that when Lysias came down to Caesarea, he •would institute a more strict inquiry into the subject; and in the mean time Paul was remanded to the care of a centurion, who was instructed to allow him all the liberty that was consistent with his being a prison- er, and to prohibit none of his Christian brethren from having free access to him. Felix was at this time living in an adulterous intercourse with Dru- silla, a Jewess. One day during the apostle's confinement at Caesarea, they sent for Paul, wishing to hear him concerning the faith in Christ. The apostle wisely adapted his address to the characters of his audi- ence ; he stated the obligation under which all mankind are, to obey the law of God ; the guilt and wrath incurred by a breach of it; and the final account to be given in the great day of retribution. Nothing could be more strikingly calculated to arouse the consciences of Felix and Drusilla. Tacitus, speaking of the former, says, he exercised the au- thority committed to him with all manner of cruelty and lewdness: and as for Drusilla, with whom he cohabited, she was the lawful wife of Azizus, king of the Emesenians. How pertinent, therefore, were the topics of Paul's reasoning, viz. righteousness, temperance, and a future judgment ! The portrait which the apostle drew of an iniquitous and licentious governor, so exactly corresponded to the original before him, that Felix could not help shuddering at the representation of his own moral deformity; while conscience, that faithful monitor within, made the application, and told him that the mirror in which Paul showed him the features of an abandoned heart, did him no injustice. " Felix trembled, and said, Go thy way for this time ; when I have a more con venient season I will send for thee." He did, indeed, again send for him, and communed often with him, but it was under the expectation ol having his avarice gratified, by obtaining from the prisoner a sum of money to purchase his release. No attempt, however, being made to gratify the governor in that way, he detained him during the remaining years of his government; and even when he was compelled to leave the province, he declined releasing him, from a wish to please the Jews, who earnestly desired to have Paul put to death. Felix was succeeded in the government by PorciusFestus, who went up to Jerusalem three days after his landing at Caesarea. And now the Jews interceded with him, to have the apostle sent back to their city for trial, intending to lay wait for him and kill him. Festus, however, was aware of their design, and refused his consent. Paul, he said, should be kept at Caesarea; and if they had any thing to lay to his charge they might go down there and accuse him of it. After continuing ten days among them at Jerusalem, Festus returned, and the following day ordered Paul to be brought before him. The Jews were again present, and laid many grievous complaints against him, which they could not prove ; against all which Paul defended himself. But when Festus, with a view to gratify the Jews, proposed that he should go up to Jeru- salem and there be judged, the apostle objected to it, telling the gover- 88 History of the Christian Church. nor that if he had done any thing worthy of death, he would not refuse to die ; that, (as Festus very well knew) he had done the Jews no in- jury; that they could not prove any of the things which they alleged against him, consequently that he ought not to be delivered into their hands ; and he further added, that he stood at Caesar's judgment-seat, where he ought to be judged, and to Caesar he made his appeal ; for it was one of the privileges of the freemen of Rome, that if they suspected justice would not be done them, they could, before sentence was pass- ed, appeal to the emperor, and, having made that appeal, they were then reserved to be judged by the emperor himself. After conferring some time with his council what was best to be done, Festus yielded to Paul's request, and informed him he should be sent to Rome. Previous, however, to Paul's departure from Caesarea, king Agrippa, accompanied by his sister Bernice, came there to pay their respects to Festus. The iatter, when they had been with him some days, men- tioned Paul's case to the king, and what had already taken place in re- gard to it. Agrippa expressed a wish to see him ; and on the following day, when the king, his sister, and all the tribunes and principal men of the city, had entered into court, the apostle was brought before them. Festus, in a short address, stated to Agrippa and all that were present, what already had been done in the affair, and how the Jews had failed to make good their charges against Paul — that he had once more brought him into court, that the king himself might have an op- portunity of examining him previous to his being sent to Rome. Agrippa then addressed Paul, and told him he was permitted to speak for himself; upon which the apostle stretched forth his hand, and de- clared how happy he thought himself in being permitted to answer the accusations of the Jews, before one who was so expert in the Jewish religion and laws, as the king was. He then went over the particulars of his birth, education, and manner of life to the time of his conversion; the remarkable circumstances of which, he laid before the monarch in the most striking manner, declaring how Jesus had appeared to him, and remonstrated with him upon his conduct, in persecuting his disci- ples as he had done, and finally, that he had given him a commission . to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He avowed, in the most explicit manner, the effect which this heavenly vision had had upon him — that he did not attempt to resist it, but had showed to the Jews at Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all Judea, the necessity that there was for their repentance and turning to God. These were the things for which the Jews sought to kill him; but " having obtain- ed help from God, he continued unto this day, saying none other things than what Moses and the prophets did say should come ; that the Mes- siah should suffer, and should be the first to rise from the dead, and to show light to the people and to the Gentiles." This noble defence seems to have completely arrested the attention of both Festus and Agrippa. The former could endure it no longer, but cried out, "Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad." The apostle, with that dignity which always becomes the advocate of divine truth, replied, " I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." And then, address- Pauls voyage to Rome. 89 ing himself to the king, he boldly appealed to him for the truth of what he had said concerning his conversion ; the facts were notorious ; they were not done in a corner. Besides, as to what he had stated concern- ing the voices of the prophets, he knew that Agrippa acknowledged their divine authority, and was competent to judge how far he was right in quoting them. This appeal forced from Agrippa an acknowledgment, that Paul's address had " almost persuaded him to be a Christian." The apostle replied in the most benevolent and prophetic manner, " I would to God that not only thou, but all that hear me, were not only almost, but altogether such as I am, except these bonds." It being now determined to send Paul to Rome, he was committed to the custody of a centurion, named Julius, with whom he embarked in a vessel that was on a trading voyage to several parts of the Lesser Asia. Aristarchus, and some other of his friends, went with him ; and particularly Luke the evangelist. On the following day they touched at Sidon, where the centurion gave him liberty to refresh himself, and visit his friends. At the next port, which was Myra in Lycia, a ves- sel offering, which Avas bound direct for Italy, they went on board her. In the beginning of their passage they were retarded by contrary winds. At length they reached the island of Crete, now called Candia, and having put into a port called " the Fair Havens," Paul wished to per- suade them to continue there for the present, intimating, that as the winter was now advancing, they would be subject to many inconve- niences and dangers, if they ventured to proceed any farther. His re- monstrance, however, was overruled, the centurion preferring the opi- nion of the master of the ship to that of Paul. It was also thought best, if possible, to reach another haven at the west end of the island, which was considered more commodious and safe than the place Paul proposed ; and a favourable wind springing up from the south, deter- mined their resolution. Their hopes, however, were soon blasted ; for immediately after sailing, they were overtaken by a sudden and violent storm. The name given it by the historian, Euroclydon, expresses its direction to have been from the east, and also its energy upon the waves. The tempest irresistibly overpowered the mariners, and rendered their skill impracticable and vain. They were compelled to abandon the ship to the direction of the wind, and were hurried away they knew not whither. Considering themselves to be in the utmost jeopardy, they had recourse to various expedients for securing the ship, at one time by undergirding it with ropes, and at another by throwing a considera- ble part of the cargo into the sea. In this perilous situation, expect- ing every hour to be either swallowed up by the waves, or dashed to pieces against unknown rocks or shores, they continued fourteen days. When, nearly exhausted with hardship, anxiety, and hunger — the sea- men having seen neither sun nor stars for many days — and when all hope of safety had forsaken them, Paul stood forth in the midst, and exhorted them to be of good courage, and take their food ; for that God, to whom he belonged, and whom he served, had given him assurance by an angel, not only of his own safety, but that the lives of all on board should for his sake be preserved. Paul's words were verified ; 8* 90 History of the Christian Church. the ship indeed was wrecked, but the whole crew, consisting of two hundred and seventy-six persons, were ultimately brought safe to land. The island on which they were cast, is called by Luke, Melita, and many have contended that it is the present Malta ; but the latter island is not in the Adriatic Sea, and it has been convincingly shown,* that it was an island belonging to Dalmatia, formerly called Melite, but now Mleet, by the Sclavonians, and is subject to Ragusa. Here, the inhabitants, though called barbarians, received and accommodated them with great humanity, and manifested a tenderness not always found among those who bear the Christian name. They brought them un- der cover, and kindled fires to warm and dry them. As Paul was assisting in supplying the fire with fuel, a viper came out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. The inhabitants of the island Avho were spectators, no sooner saw the venomous animal suspended from his hand, than they said among themselves, " No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped shipwreck, vengeance suf- fereth not to live." Under this conviction, they confidently expected to see him fall down dead ; but when they saw the apostle shake the viper into the fire, and found that he had not received the least injury from its bite, they changed their opinions of him, and said that he was a god. The apostle and his friends were for three days courteously enter- tained by Publius, the governor of the island; and during his stay there, he wrought many miracles upon persons that were sick and diseased, among whom was the father of Publius, who at that time lay ill of a fever and bloody flux. These kind offices procured them many favours from the inhabitants ; and when, after a residence among them of three months, they were about to depart, they liberally supplied them with every necessary accommodation for their journey. Sailing from thence in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered at the island, they proceeded to Syracuse in Sicily, where they tarried three days, and soon after arrived at Rhegium, and from thence, in two days at Puteoli near Naples, where they disembarked, and continued a week, in compliance with the wishes of the Christian brethren whom they found there. From Puteoli to Rome, their journey was about a hundred miles by land. Several of the disciples at Rome, hearing of Paul's approach, pro- ceeded to meet him at Appii-forum, and the Three Taverns ; the for- mer place being about fifty, and the latter, thirty miles from the city. The sight of these Christian brethren inspired the apostle with new life and vigour, for it is said, " When he saw them he thanked God and took courage." And thus in the month of February, of the six- teenth year of the Christian sera, and seventh of the reign of the em- peror Nero, the apostle arrived at Rome, the imperial city, and metropolis of the whole world, situated in Italy, on the banks of the Tiber, at a distance of about sixteen miles from the sea. The foundations of this celebrated city were laid • See Bryant's Observations on Ancient History, and Pliny's Natural Historv, b. 3. ch.26. } FauVs Arrival at Rome. 91 by Romulus, 753 years before the birth of Christ, at which time it consisted of only a small castle on the summit of Mount Palatine I But it had risen, by gradual and almost imperceptible degrees, to the proud eminence of being the first city in the world, in point of extent, popu- lation, and splendour. The populousness of that great capital, says Gibbon, cannot perhaps be exactly ascertained ; but the most modest calculation will not surely reduce it lower than a million of inhabi- tants.* It was built upon seven hills,t and is said to have been twen- ty miles in circumference. There were in it no less than four hun- dred and twenty temples, crowded with statues ; the priests were numerous, and each divinity had a separate college of sacerdotal ser- vants. Previous to the establishment of Christianity in the empire, the worship and sacrifices of the Romans were uncommonly supersti- tious. The will of the gods was consulted upon every occasion ; and no general marched to an expedition, without the previous assurance from the augurs that the omens were propitious. Their wars were declared in the most awful and solemn manner, and prayers were al- ways offered in the temples for the prosperity of Rome, when a defeat had been sustained or a victory won. They raised altars, not only to the gods, who, as they supposed, presided over their city, but also to the deities of conquered nations, as well as to the various passions and virtues. The gospel had found its way to this imperial city long before it was visited by Paul, who had himself written his epistle to the church there, several years prior to his being brought thither as a prisoner. It seems very probable that the knowledge of Christ was conveyed to Rome soon after the day of Pentecost ; for, it is expressly mentioned, that, among the multitude who were witnesses of the miraculous gift of tongues, there were " strangers from Rome, both Jews and prose- lytes."J Such of these as were converted to the Christian faith, would, on their return home, carry with them the glad tidings of salvation, and communicate it to others. When Paul wrote his epistle to that church, it must have been numerous, for he acknowledges that " their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world. "§ He mentions a considerable number of them by name in his last chapter, though he had never been among them ; and they must have made great progress in their Chris- tian profession, for he declares that " he was persuaded of them that they were full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. "|| The apostle had had " a great desire for many years''^ to visit that church, and had been long arranging his plans to accomplish his wish ;** but his purpose was now effected in a manner altogether different from what he had been expecting. * Decline and Fall, vol. 2. ch. 15. ■j" Hence it was called Urbis septicollis, and a festival was celebrated in Decem- ber, called Septimontium festus, to commemorate the addition of the seventh hill. The names were Mons Palatinus, Capitolinus, Aventinus, Quirinalis, Coe- lius, Viminalis, and Exquilinus. There is a very striking allusion to this local circumstance, Rev. xvii. 9. and the reader may see the subject ably illustrated in Hurd's Introductory Sermons, vol. ii. Serm. 11. * Acts ii. 10. § Rom. i. 8. || Rom. xv. 14. 1 Rom. xv. 23. »* Rom. i. 11—13. 92 History of the Christian Church. During the whole voyage, it is evident that Paul had been treated by Julius, the Roman officer, to whose custody he was committed, with erreai humanity and kindness. At Sidon he allowed him to go on shore to visit his Christian friends. And when they were shipwrecked on the island of Melite, he kept the soldiers from killing the prisoners, that he might save Paul. "When Paul's friends at Puteoli wished him to remain with them a week, probably that they might enjoy his com- pany on the Sabbath, he kindly granted their request. Julius had been favoured with many opportunities of knowing the character of his pri- soner; he, no doubt, knew the favourable opinion which was enter- tained of his case by Festus and Agrippa, and all the tribunes at Caesa- rea; but the things that had occurred during the voyage, must also have tended greatly to increase his respect for him ; and, it is highly proba- ble, that, to the esteem which Julius had for him, the apostle was indebted for the indulgence which was shown him immediately on his arrival at Rome. For he was not shut up in a common jail with the other prisoners, but, from the very first, was permitted to dwell in his own hired house, attended by a soldier who guarded him by means of a long chain fastened to his right wrist and the soldier's left arm. In this manner Herod Agrippa was chained to a soldier when he was thrown into prison by Tiberius.* On the fourth day after his arrival, Paul called the chief of the Jews together, and explained to them the circumstances of his case ; the treatment he had received in his own country ; how he had been deli- vered at Jerusalem a prisoner into the hands of the Romans, who after investigating his affair, would have liberated him, had not the clamour of the Jews prevented it ; and, in short that it was '* for the hope of Israel" he was bound with the chain which they then saw. It seems Paul's accusers had not yet arrived from Judea. The Jews whom he had called together, therefore, confessed that they had not received any letters from that quarter, nor any information concerning him through any other medium ; they were desirous, nevertheless, of knowing his opinion of the Christian sect, which was every where spoken against. A day was therefore appointed, on which many came to his lodgings, to whom, from morning till evening, he narrated fully the history of Jesus, testifying concerning the nature of the kingdom of God, and per- suading them both from the law of Moses and from the writings of the prophets. The result was that some believed the things that were spoken, and others believed not. Thus the apostle having discharged his duty in first making) known the glad tidings of salvation to his own brethren according to the flesh, took his leave of them, and thencefor- ward associated with the Gentiles, who had been previously formed into a church in this city, and to whom he had already addressed his important and invaluable epistle. " And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preach- ing the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unmolested by any one." And with this information the inspired historian closes his narrative of the great apostle of the Gentiles. * Joscphus' Antiq. b. 18. ch. 6. sect. 6, 7. Paul's subsequent Travels. 93 During the two years that Paul was detained, on this occasion, a pri- soner at Rome, he Avrote several of those epistles to the churches which now enrich the Scriptures, and constitute so important a part of Divine revelation. Amongst these are enumerated, that to the Ephe- sians — to the Philippians — to the Colossians — and the short letter to Philemon; and, it is thought, that immediately on his release he wrote the epistle to the Hebrews. From these letters we may collect, that, during his imprisonment at Rome, he was attended by many of the dis- ciples and friends, who either accompanied him from Judea, or followed him to Italy. Of this number was Tychicus, by whom he sent his epistle to the Colossians, ch. iv. 7, and Onesimus, ver. 9, and Mark, ver. 10, and also Jesus, who was called Justus, all of the circumcision, ver. 11, except Onesimus. Demas too was with him, ver. 14. -and Timothy, Phil. i. 1 ; and Aristarchus, who was imprisoned for his zeal in preaching the gospel, Col. iv. 10; and Luke, the beloved physician and evangelist, ver. 14. He also enumerates Epaphras, who seems to have been one of the pastors of the Colossian church, ver. 12; and Epaphroditus, a member of the church at Philippi, Phil. ii. 25. All these Christian brethren, residents of very remote countries, appear to have been with the apostle during his first confinement at Rome. Of the circumstances attending his trial and release, we have no au- thentic particulars ; but that he was liberated after a period of two years, seems deducible from the words with which the sacred historian closes the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Nor have we any certain infor- mation concerning his travels and preaching, from this time till his death. Intimations, indeed, are given in the epistles which he wrote from Rome, of his purposes, from which some writers have undertaken to sketch the transactions of the latter period of his life, and there is at least a probability that it was to the following effect. After being released, in the spring of the year 62, he embarked with Titus, and probably with Timothy also, at some of the ports of Italy, and touched at the Island of Crete, where he preached in many cities, and collected the disciples into societies ; but finding it requisite to quit Crete, he left Titus there, to set in order the things that were wanting, and to ordain elders in every city.* From thence he proceeded to Judea, to fulfil the promise which he had made, in his epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xiii. 23, of visiting the church at Jerusalem, and the other churches in that country. After spending some time among them, accompanied by Timothy, he left Judea to visit the churches of the Lesser Asia taking Antioch in his way, and travelling through Cili- cia into Galatia, from whence he went to Colosse, where he had de- sired Philemon to provide him a lodging,t as he had intended to spend some time in that city. While at Colosse he wrote his epistle to Titus in Crete, and from thence proceeded to Ephesus, where he left Timothy to direct the af- fairs of that numerous church.! From Ephesus, Paul went into Ma- cedonia, calling at Troas in his way, where, lodging with Carpus, he left behind him the cloak (which some suppose his father had received * Titus i. 5. f Philemon, ver. 12. * 1 Tim. i. 3. 94 History of the Christian Church. as a badge of his Roman citizenship,) and likewise some parchments (probably the autographs or original copies of his epistles to the churches.) These he afterwards requested Timothy to bring with him, when he came to visit him at Rome, during his second imprison- ment.* In Macedonia he visited the church at Philippi, agreeably to the intimation he had given them in his letter,! and from thence pro- ceeded to Epirus, where he spent the winter, at the city of Nicopolis,J and where he had desired Titus to come from Crete and give him the meeting. Here also, or at Philippi, he wrote his first epistle to Timo- thy, instructing him how to conduct himself in the house of God, fear- ing it would not be in his power to return to Ephesus at the time he proposed.§ Accordingly, Titus having brought him such a report of the state of the churches in Crete, as made it necessary for the apostle to visit them, he set out early in the spring from Nicopolis for that island, accompanied by Titus, Trophimus, and Erastus, and taking Co- rinth in his way, Erastus, who was a native of that city chose to abide there. When they arrived at Crete, Trophimus fell sick, and was left in Miletum, a city of that island. || But while Paul was thus employed in conveying the glad tidings of mercy to guilty men, or confirming the churches in the truths they had already learned, a dreadful storm was gathering at Rome, which burst upon the church there with tenfold fury. Nero, who had swayed the imperial sceptre about ten years, and who had arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as to prepare the minds of his subjects for the belief of any act of tyranny, cruelty, or vileness which was reported of him, is said to have set fire to the city of Rome, on the 10th of July, A. D. 64, in consequence of which a great part of it was laid in ashes. Mischief and the misery of others were his delight; and he is said to have ex- pressed great pleasure at the spectacle, indulging himself in singing the burning of Troy while his own city was in flames. He, however, very soon became the suspected incendiary, and consequently the object of popular hatred. To clear himself from the odious charge, he endea- voured to fix the crime on the Christians ; and, having thus falsely and tyrannically imputed the guilt to them, he put them to death by various methods of exquisite cruelty. The account which is given us by Ta- citus, a heathen historian, is too remarkable to be omitted. Speaking of Nero, and the conflagration of Rome, he thus proceeds ; " To divert suspicion from himself, he substituted fictitious criminals, and with that view inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those men, who, under the vulgar appellation of Christians, were already branded with deserved infamy. The confessions of those who were seized, discovered a great multitude^ of their accomplices, and they were all convicted, not so • 2 Tim. \v. 23. fPhil. i. 25, 26. \ Titus ill. 12. § 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15. || 2 Tim. iv. 20. \ " Tngens jnultitudo," is the expression of Tacitus, the literal translation of which is, " a very great multitude." It is impossible for us, in the present day, to ascertain the exact import of this phrase : Gibbon, who evinces no solicitude to overrate the number of Christians, has ingeniously compared these words of Tacitus with the import of the same words as used by Livy on another occasion ; a careful inquirv into the meaning of which had furnished" the result to be seven thousand. JJeclme and Fall, vol. 2. ch. 15. Nero persecutes the Christians. 95 much for the crime of setting fire to the city, as for their hatred of hu- man kind. They died in torments; and these were embittered by in- sult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses, others sewed up in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs, — others again were smeared over with combustible materials, and used as torches to illumine the darkness of the night. The gardens of Nero were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied by a horserace and honoured with the presence of the emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress and attitude of a charioteer. The guilt of the Christians deserved, indeed, the most exemplary punishment ; but the public abhorrence was changed into commiseration, from the opinion that these unhappy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the rigour of justice, as to the cruelty of the jealous tyrant."* Intelligence of these cruelties being brought to Paul while at Crete, and, thinking his presence might be useful in comforting the minds of his brethren, he set out for Italy, and probably arrived at Rome in the beginning of the year 65, where he was apprehended, as being a chief man among this obnoxious sect. He appears to have been twice brought before the emperor or his prefect, whence it is presumed that he had been confined at least a year before he was condemned. We may easily conceive how perilous it must have been for any of Paul's friends to avow an open attachment to him, under existing cir- cumstances ; and, indeed, it appears from the Second Epistle to Timo- thy, which he wrote while waiting his execution, that most of them fled the city. Of the conduct of Onesiphorus, however, he makes the most honourable mention, (2 Tim. i. 16 — 18.) During the apostle's stay at Ephesus, he had been extremely kind to him. But having oc- casion to visit Rome, while Paul was in confinement, Onesiphorus " sought him out very diligently and found him." He was not ashamed of the apostle because he was immured in a jail and loaded with a chain ; on the contrary, he bestowed upon him the most kind and ten- der assiduities, and cheerfully ministered to his temporal necessities. Paul could not reflect upon this affectionate behaviour of his friend, without having all the sensibilities of his soul excited ; and he gave vent to them, by offering up his prayer to God that he would " grant merey to the house of Onesiphorus in the great day of account;" repeating his supplication, " the Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day." But Onesiphorus had now 'returned to Ephesus: Luke alone was with him ; and even he appears to have been so inti- midated that, at the apostle's first examination, he was afraid to stand by him. In this state of things, " about to be offered up, and viewing the hour of his departure at hand," he urged Timothy to hasten to him to receive his last instructions, and assist him in the ministry during the short time he had to live. And thus, according to the most credible records, he was condemned and put to death in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, answering to the sixty-sixth of the Christian a?ra. Two years after that, Nero put an end to his own life, and to this terrible persecution, which had raged during a period of four years, and swept off a prodigious number of the disciples of Christ. * Tacit. Annal. b. 15. c. 44. 96 History of the Christian Church. SECTION VI. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. FROM THE PERIOD OF THE DEATH OF PAUL, A. D. 66, TO THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST CENTURY. It has been pertinently remarked by one of the ancients, that the writer of the Acts of the Apostles leaves the reader thirsting for more. But concise as his narrative is, it ought to be regarded by us as an in- valuable part of the sacred writings ; and for this reason among others, because it shows us in what sense the apostles understood the commis- sion which their Lord had given them, previous to his ascension into heaven. From their discourses, recorded in that book, we learn what were the doctrines they preached ; what the laws and institutions they enforced upon the disciples ; and the manner in which they set up his kingdom in the world. In attempting a sketch of this interesting sub- ject, we have hitherto prosecuted our journey under the light of divine Revelation ; but, henceforward, we must be content to explore our way under more uncertain guides. A mind accustomed to reflection, naturally inquires, how were the other apostles of Christ occupied during the period that Paul was en- gaged in conveying the glad tidings of salvation throughout the Gen- tile countries. But the volume of revelation does not give such ample information upon this subject as we might wish. It mpy, however, be remarked, that as Jerusalem was the place from whence, according to ancient prophecy, " the word of the Lord was to go forth, and the law to proceed out of Zion," so we may see special reasons why the Lord appointed them their stations for a season in that church. It seems evident, that at the first, they not only discharged the apostolic office in giving forth the New Testament revelation of doctrine, and de- livering to the churches the ordinances of public worship, but they also acted as bishops, elders, pastors, or ministers of the word, and al- so as deacons, having the care of the poor. In process of time, how- ever, we find other persons appointed to fulfil the two last mentioned offices,* and that, even while some of the apostles still remained with the church at Jerusalem. We may also infer, that though the twelve were stationed there by the Head of the church, they, nevertheless, made occasional excursions into different parts of Judea and Samaria, to propagate the knowledge of Christ, and gather his disciples into churches as we see Peter doing, (Acts ix. 32 ;) and that when it be- came no longer necessary for them to remain with that church, they proceeded to carry into effect the commission which the Lord Jesus had given them, to " go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. "t It appears from credible records, that the gospel was preached in Idumea, Syria, and Mesopotamia, by Jude ; in Egypt, Mamorica, * Compare Acts vi. 5, with xi. 30, and xv. 6 — 22, 23. f Mark xvi. 15. Spread of the Gospel. 97 Mauritania, and other parts of Africa, by Mark, Simeon, and Jude ; in Ethiopia, by the Eunuch and Matthias ; in Pontus, Galatia, and the neighbouring parts of Asia, by Peter ; in the territories of the seven Asiatic churches by John ; in Parthia, by Matthew ; in Scythia, by Philip and Andrew ; in the northern and western parts of Asia, by Bartholomew ; in Persia, by Simeon and Jude ; in Media, Carmania, &c. by Thomas ; from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, by Paul, who also published it in Italy, and probably in Spain, Gaul, and Britain.* James, the brother of the apostle John, and son of Zebedee, as we have formerly noticed, had been put to death by Herod ; and, if we may credit Jerome, Peter was also put to death in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, about the same time that Paul finished his course and was taken to receive the crown of righteousness which his Divine Master had promised to bestow upon him. By this time also James, the Lord's brother, had sealed his testimony with his blood. The fol- lowing account of his death is given us by Josephus the Jewish his- torian. " Ananus, who had seized the office of high priest, was a man bold in his temper, and very insolent. He was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who surpass all the other Jews in their rigid manner of judging offenders ; and he thought he now had a proper opportunity of exercising his authority. Festus was dead, and Albinus, who had been sent into Judea to succeed him, was upon his journey thither. So he assembled the Sanhedrim of Judges, and brought before him the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others of his companions, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned." J Eusebius, the ecclesiastical historian, gives a somewhat different ac- count of the death of James, and thinks he was killed, not in conse- quence of a judicial trial, but in a popular tumult, the occasion of which he thus explains. " When Paul had appealed unto Caesar, and had been sent to Rome by Festus, the Jews who had aimed at his death, turned their rage against James, the Lord's brother, who had been appointed by the apostles, bishop of Jerusalem. "J These different accounts are certainly not irreconcilable, and the fact itself is unques- tionable, that he was put to death by the Jews, about the year 64, and only a short time after the writing of that excellent epistle which forms a part of the sacred canon. The divine long-suffering was, however, now fast drawing towards a close with the devoted city and people of Jerusalem. The measure of their iniquities was at length filled up. To all their former crimes they had now added these, that " they had both killed the Lord Jesus, and persecuted his servants the apostles," even unto death ; and the wrath of heaven was about to come upon them to the uttermost. Christ himself, during his personal ministry, had foretold their doom, and bewailed it in the most pathetic strains. " O Jerusalem, Jerusa- * Young's History of Idolatrous Corruptions in Religion, vol. ii. p. 216 — 240. See also a Sermon by Dr. Geo. Campbell, entitled " The Success of the Gospel, a Proof of its Truth." f Antiq. b. 20. ch. 9. } Eccles. Hist. b. 2, ch. 23. 9 98 History of the Christian Church. leva, thou that killest the prophets and stonest those that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not : be- hold your house is left unto you desolate."* For " the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cist a trench about thee and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another."! As the accomplish- ment of these predictions ended in the utter abolition of the Jewish church and state, a constitution which was originally founded in Di- vine appointment, and had existed during a period of fifteen hundred years ; and, as it was unquestionably the most awful revolution in all the religious dispensations of God, and which, moreover, in various ways, contributed greatly to the success of the gospel, it seems to me- rit a more detailed account than is generally to be found of it in the his- tories of the Christian church. Nero, the Roman emperor, whose death has been already adverted to, left the empire in a state of extreme confusion, and Judea partook of it in a remarkable degree. To him succeeded Galba, who reigned from June the 9th, 68, to January loth, 69, when he was followed by Otho, who scarcely swayed the imperial sceptre three months. Then came Vitellius, who reigned no longer than to December 21st of the same year — there having been, if we includ^Nero who preceded, and Vespasian who followed, no less than five different emperors in the short space of eighteen months ; during which the empire was a scene of confusion, desolation and misery. It has been remarked, that Chris- tianity at first derived some advantages from the abandoned characters of the Roman emperors, who at this time swayed the sceptre. They had other crimes and other mischiefs in view, and this left them little leisure to harass a sect so contemptible, when compared with Pagan- ism, as was that of the Christians. Accordingly, from the death of Christ to that of Vespasian, for about the space of thirty-seven years, the Romans paid little regard to the progress of the gospel. They were ruled by weak, frantic, or vicious emperors ; the magistrates and sena- tors, and every worthy man of any note, stood in continual fear for their own lives. Nero, indeed, had destroyed many of the Christians at Rome ; but it was for a supposed crime of which all the world knew them to be innocent ; so that this cruel treatment raised compassion, and rather did service than harm to the Christian cause, and the persecution was soon over. After the death of king Herod Agrippa, the particulars of which the reader will find recorded, Acts xii. Judea again became a province of the Roman empire, and Cuspius Fadus was sent to be its governor. Upon his arrival he found the country infested with banditti, which were grown both numerous and powerful, whom he was compelled to suppress, and also to quell an insurrection which the Jews had raised against the inhabitants of Philadelphia, formerly the city of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites. During the government of Fadus, there arose a notable impostor, named Theudas, who drew great numbers of • Matt, xxiii. 37. f Luke xix. 42. Remarks on the state of Judea. 99 the deluded Jews after him, inviting them to follow him beyond Jordan, and promising them that he would divide the waters of that river, as Joshua had done by his single word. Fadns sent some military troops against him and his followers, who killed some and took others prison- ers, and among the latter, Theudas himself, whom he caused to be be- headed, and his head brought to Jerusalem.* Fadus was soon after- wards succeeded by Tiberius Alexander, an apostate Jew, who very shortly gave way to make room for Ventidius Cumanus, during whose government of Judea, those trou- bles began which ended in the ruin of the Jewish nation. The great concourse of people which their festival brought to Jerusalem, obliged the Romans at such times to keep a guard before the gate of the temple to prevent tumults. It was now the passover, when one of the Roman soldiers upon duty, had the impudence, probably intended an insult to the Jews, by showing that he was not of the circumcision, to expose his nakedness. This indignity roused the resentment of the Jews to such a height, that they went and complained of it to Cumanus, and very insultingly told him, that the affront was offered by his order, not merely to the nation, but to their God. Cumanus at first tried to ap- pease them by fair means, but finding them grow more tumultuous, he ordered all his troops to the spot, which so alarmed them that they fled in the greatest consternation, ionsmueh, that ten thousand (Eusebius and Jerome say thirty thousand) were stifled to death in their flight, by running over one another in the confined avenues that led to and from the temple. t Cumanus was soon afterwards succeeded in the government of Judea by Claudius Felix, under whom the Jewish affairs proceeded in a progressive course of deterioration. The country swarmed with rob- bers and insurgents, and Jerusalem itself became the prey of false pro- phets, and pretended workers of miracles, who were continually blowing the embers of discontent and sedition. Add to which, that numbers of Sicdrii or assassins crowded into all the cities and towns of the country, committing the most horrible murders, under the pretext of zeal for their religion and liberties. Felix did not content himself with merely inflicting punishment upon those who violated the public peace, but he extended it to almost all others indiscriminately, whom his avarice or resentment marked out for destruction. His cruel behaviour induced a very old priest, named Jonathan, who had been instrumental in pro- curing him the office, to complain of his ill conduct ; which Felix at length becoming unable to bear, procured a person, in whom Jonathan reposed great confidence, to assassinate the latter, and it was accordingly done. This murder going unpunished, because the person who should have avenged it was the instigator to it, proved the occasion of an al- most infinite number of others, which were committed every where, the temple not excepted; insomuch, -that the Jewish chiefs, and even the pontiffs, made no hesitation of hiring the assassins above-mentioned to rid them of all such persons as were obnoxious to them. J Felix was succeeded in the government by Festus,§ who, on coming into the province, found the very priesthood engaged in a civil war * Joseph. Antiq. b. 20. ch. 1, and 5. f lb. b. 20. ch. 5. ± Ibid. b. 2. ch. 13. § Acts xiv. 27. 100 History of the Christian Church. among themselves, occasioned by the frequent depositions of the pon- tiffs (or high priests) and their continuing to insist upon being allowed a greater portion of the tithes, than the inferior priests could afford them. Agrippa had the preceding year deposed Ananias, and put Ish- mael in his room. There were still several other discarded pontiffs alive, all of whom claimed the same share in the tithes which they had enjoyed while in office ; the yielding of which, must of course im- poverish the inferior priests, who therefore resisted the demand. Their rancour at length arose to such a height, that each party was accustomed to walk the streets, accompanied by a troop of the Sicarii, and upon every rencontre they fell foul on each other, killing all that opposed them, and filling both city and country, and even the very temple itself, oftentimes with blood. Festus, therefore, had a threefold task upon his hands ; he had to suppress the violence of the priesthood against each other — that of the seditious laity against the Romans, and such as con- tentedly submitted to their government — and that of the banditti abroad, who infested the whole country, and robbed, plundered, and massacred every where without mercy.* These concerns occupied the greater part of his time, during his short government. Festus dying soon after Paul was brought before hhn,t Nero nomi- nated as his successor Albinus, of whom we had lately occasion to speak, the high-priesthood having in the mean time been, by Agrippa, transferred to Ananus. Of this governor it is x-elated by historians, that he was such a cruel and rapacious monster, that Felix and Festus, with all their faults, were angels when compared with him. His first care, however, was to suppress the Sicarii, robbers, and banditti, which were now grown more numerous and daring than ever. He punished with the utmost severity as many as came into his hands ; yet the rest only became thereby more bold and impudent. Albinus, after a two years tenure of office, was recalled by Nero, and succeeded by Gessius Florus, the last and Avorst governor that Judea ever had. Josephus seems at a loss for language sufficiently strong in which to paint him correctly, or a monster black enough with which to com- pare him. His rapines, and cruelties, and acts of oppression ; his compromising with the banditti for large sums of money ; and, in short, his whole behaviour, was so openly flagitious, that the Jews were disposed to regard him rather as a bloody executioner sent to tor- ture than as a magistrate to govern them. His design seemed to be that of goading them to a open rebellion, either that he might have the brutal satisfaction of seeing them destroy each other, or to prevent them from inquiring into his own oppressions and atrocities. And, indeed, he but too well succeeded in this ; for, by his means a war was kindled, which only ended with the total ruin of the Jewish na- tion.;}; My confined limits render it inexpedient to go into any ample detail of this dreadful catastrophe, and I shall therefore restrict myself to a few of the leading particulars, referring such of my readers, as desire a more full account of the matter, to the volumes of Josephus. While Felix was governor of Judea, a dispute arose between the Jews and the Syrians, concerning the city of Caesarea — the former * Joseph. Antiq. b. 20. ch. 8. f Acts xxvi. * Joseph. Antiq. b. 20. ch. 11. Hie Jews revolt against the Romans. 101 maintaining that it belonged to them, because it had been built chiefly by Herod; the latter insisting that it had always been esteemed a Greek city, inasmuch as their monarch had erected temples and sta- tues in it. From words they proceeded to blows, and took up arms against each other. Felix, for the moment, put an end to the contest, by sending some of the chief men of each nation to Rome, to plead their cause before the emperor. The latter decided in favour of the Syrians ; but the decision was no sooner announced in Judea than it becamethe signal for a general revolt — the Jews every where taking up arms ; and thus began the fatal war, in the second year of the govern- ment of Florus, in the twelfth of Nero's reign, and in the sixty-ninth year of Christ. Agrippa, who was at Jerusalem at the beginning of the revolt, used every exertion to moderate their rage ; they pelted him with stones, and compelled him to leave the city, which was instantly in a flame. Florus beheld all this with inhuman pleasure, and with- out lifting his finger to quell the tumult. The evil spread throughout all Judea, and nothing was to be heard of but robberies, murder, and every species of cruelty — cities and villages filled with the dead of all ages and of each sex, and of every quality down to the tender infant. The Jews, who were almost every where the sufferers, on their part, spared neither Syrians nor Romans, but retaliated their cruelties wher- ever they got the better of them, in consequence of which many of their peaceful brethren were murdered in their places of abode. The Csesareans- fell suddenly on those of their city, and massacred twenty thousand of them ; two thousand were murdered at Ptolemais ; and fifty thousand at the city of Alexandria in Egypt. At Jerusalem, Florus one day caused his troops to go and plunder the market, and to kill all they met; and they accordingly murdered three thousand five hundred persons, men, women, and children. This, however, was far from satiating the monster — the streets of the city continued day after day to be deluged with human blood. Bernice, the sister of Agrippa, happening to be detained at Jerusalem during this time, to perform the vow of the Nazarene, which required thirty days for its accomplishment, used every entreaty to soften the brutish prator, even at the risk of her own life. And when repulsed one day, she repeated her exertions on the next, going barefoot, and throwing herself at the footstool of his tribunal, in the most submissive terms beseeching him to put a stop to the shedding of so much blood. He disdained. to show her the least token of common respect, and she ran the risk of being torn to pieces before she could reach her own home. Florus wrote to Cestius, the governor of Syria, casting all the blame of these horrible cruelties upon the Jews.* The revolt still spreading wider, the Jews at length carried their conquests beyond Jordan, where they took the fortress of Cyprus, raised it to the ground, and put all the Romans to the sword. Ces- tius, whom I have just mentioned, and who had hitherto kept himself an idle spectator of these mutual devastations, began to think it high time to exert himself in putting a stop to their further progress. He, * Joseph. Wars of the Jews, b. 2. ch. 14, 15. 102 History of the Christian Church. therefore, marched into Judea with a powerful army, burned all the towns and villages in his way, massacred all the Jews he could come at, and then encamped before Gibeon about the feast of tabernacles. The Jews at Jerusalem no sooner heard of his approach, than forsak- ing the solemnities of their religion, and, even though it was on the Sabbath-day, they flew to arms, and proceeded to meet him with such fury, that had not the cavalry arrived at the moment to the support of his infantry, he had sustained a signal defeat. He lost five hundred men, while the Jews lost but twenty-two. Here Cestius tried to con- ciliate the latter by sending two of his principal officers to offer them a pardon and terms of peace. Instead of listening to his proposals they put one of them to death, and wounded the other, who narrowly escaped with his life — an action so base and treacherous, that it was condemned by the more moderate of the Jews themselves. Cestius enraged at this, pursued them almost to Jerusalem, and halting at a village called Scopas, about a mile from the city, waited three days, in the hope that their terror would induce them to relent ; but not find- ing that to be the case, he advanced in order of battle on the 30th of October, 69, and put them in such consternation, that they abandoned all the outworks and retired into the inner cincture near the temple. Cestius set fire to the former, and began to lay siege to the latter, ta- king up his head quarters in the royal palace.* Had the governor vigorously pushed the siege, it is probable he might have succeeded at this time in putting an end to the sedition ; but that sinful nation was to be reserved for much sorer evils. Means were found to corrupt his generals, which gave new life to the insur- gents. They made a sortie and succeeded in repulsing him, pursued him to his camp at Gibeon, harassing his rear, whilst, having secured the passes, they attacked his army in flank. Hemmed in on all sides, the mountains re-echoed with the hideous cries of his soldiers, and having lost four thousand foot and two hundred horse, favoured by the intervening night, they, on the 8th of November, happily found a pass through the narrow straits of Bethoron and escaped.t Intelligence being brought to Nero of the ill success of Cestius, and that the Jews were making the most vigorous preparations to carry on war against the Romans, he gave orders to Vespasian, who had greatly signalized himself, both in Germany and Britain, to march speedily into Judea with a powerful army. In the beginning of the ensuing year, accompanied by his son Titus, at the head of sixty thousand men, all well disciplined, he entered Galilee, and having burnt Gadara, was marching to besiege Jotapata. Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian was at that time governor of the province ; and being ap- prized of the intention of Vespasian, he threw himself into Jotapata, which, during a period of forty-seven days, he defended with great hraverv. It was at length taken by assault, about the beginning of July, and given up to fire and sword ; not one Jew escaped to convey the dreadful tidings, but all were either murdered or made prisoners. Of the former, the number was computed at forty thousand, and of the * Joseph. Wars, b. 2. ch. 18. f Joseph. Wars, b. 2. ch 19. Vespasian's Success in Judea. ] 03 atter only twelve hundred, among whom was Josephus the gover- nor.*! Whilst Vespasian was carrying on the siege of Jotapata, his son Ti- tus was sent against Jaffa in the neighbourhood, which he subdued on the 20th of June. On taking possession of the town, the inhabitants made a desperate resistance in the streets during the space of six hours; but being at last overpowered all the men were put to the sword, and the women and children taken prisoners. A week after, the Sama- ritans, who had assembled upon Mount Gerizim, with the intention of defending themselves, having been closely surrounded by a Roman * Joseph. "Wars, b. 3. ch. 7. f Josephus, whose " History of the Wars of the Jews" is too well known to need any description from me, was, by his father, of the race of the priests, and of the first of the twenty-four courses; and by his mother he was descended from the Asmonxan' family, in which the royal power was united with that of the high- priesthood. He was born at Jerusalem, in the first year of Caius Caligula. At sixteen years of age, he began to inquire into the sentiments of the different sects among the Jews, — the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. At twenty-six he went to Rome, to petition the emperor Nero in behalf of several priests of his acquaintance, whom Felix had sent bound to Rome. At Puteoli he became ac- quainted with Alitui'us, a Jewish comedian, who had ingratiated himself with Nero. Through this man he was introduced to Poppaea, the wife of Nero, by whose interest he succeeded in obtaining liberty for his friends, and from whom he also obtained many considerable presents. The following year he returned into Judea, when he saw every thing tending to a revolt tinder Gessius Florus. In the beginning of the Jewish war, he commanded in Galilee. When Vespa- sian, who was a general of the Roman army under the reign of Nero, had con- quered that country, Josephus was taken at Jotapata. He and forty more Jews had concealed themselves in a subterraneous cavern, where they formed the desperate resolution of killing each other rather than surrender themselves to the Romans. Josephus, having been governor of the place, and therefore en- titled to priority in point of rank, it was at first proposed by the rest to yield it to him as an honour, to become the first victim. He, however, contrived to divert their minds from this, by proposing to cast lots for the precedency; and after thirty-nine of them had balloted and killed one another, he, and the other who survived, agreed not to lay violent hands upon themselves, nor to imbrue their hands in one another's blood, but deliver themselves up to the Romans. Upon this, Josephus surrendered himself up to Nicanor, who conducted him to Vespa- sian. When brought into the presence of the latter, Josephus told him that he had something to communicate to him which would probably strike him with much surprise, and perhaps not obtain his immediate credit — it was that he, Ves- pasian, should become emperor of Rome, in less than three years. Aware that the general might think this was merely a stratagem on the part of Josephus to save his life, the latter told him that he did not ask for his liberty, — he was con- tent to be kept as a close prisoner during the intei-val; and that, should his pre- diction not be realized, he was content to be then put to death. Vespasian yield- ed to his request, although he, at first, placed no credit in what Josephus had said. He, however, kept the latter with him, as a prisoner, while he himself continued in these parts; but when he heard that he had been elected emperor at Rome, he gave him his liberty, and raised him to his confidence and favour. Josephus continued with his son Titus, who took the command of the army af- ter his father Vespasian was gone to Rome. He was present at the siege of Je- rusalem, and was a spectator of the awful desolations of the city, temple, and country; and soon after wrote his History of the Jewish Wars, and Jewish Anti- quities". The whole were finished in the 56th year of his age, in the loth of Domitian, and Anno Christi, 93. 104 History of the Christian Church. detachment, were reduced to the utmost distress for want of water. Many of them died with thirst, and those who refused to surrender were all put to the sword. Joppa, which had been laid waste by Ces- tius, being again repeopled by a great number of seditious Jews, who infested the adjoining countries, Vespasian sent troops to take it, which they soon achieved. Above four thousand of them endeav- oured to escape the massacre, by fleeing to their ships. A sudden tem- pest drave them back, so that they were all either drowned or put to the sword. Tarichea and Tiberias were next taken — after the reduc- tion of which, all the other cities of Galilee submitted to the Romans, except Gischala, Gamala, and Mount Tabor.* Gamala was situated upon the lake Genesareth, opposite to Tari- chea, and stood the siege of Agrippa, near seven months; but, still holding out, the Romans were obliged to come to his assistance. But of all the places which they had been called to subdue, none put the courage and strength of the Romans so severely to the test as Gamala. Having at length succeeded in beating down one of its towers, the ar- my entered in at the breach, and put four thousand of its inhabitants to the sword ; while a much greater number perished by their own hands, precipitating themselves down from the rocks and walls, as well as by other violent methods. In the mean time Placidus, a Roman general, by a dexterous stratagem succeeded in obtaining possession of Mount Tabor.t The inhabitants of Gischala, against which Vespasian sent his son Titus, seemed disposed to make a voluntary surrender of themselves, to which Titus, who by this time was satiated with the carnage that had ensued at Gamala, earnestly exhorted them. The voice of the more peaceable citizens, however, was overruled by that of a factious and vile fellow, named John, the son of Levi, who succeeded in getting the mob at his beck, and overawed the whole city. It being the Sabbath, this wretched man begged of Titus to forbear hostilities till the morrow, when he would accept of his offer ; but, succeeding in his request, he in the mean time fled to Jerusalem, where he was the occasion of much mischief. On the morrow the citizens went out and surrendered them- selves, informing Titus of John's flight, supplicating his clemency to- wards the innocent, and beseeching him that he would only punish the factious. Titus readily yielded to their request, and despatched some of his horse after the fugitives. John himself reached Jerusalem ; but the Romans put to death six thousand of his followers upon the road, and brought back three thousand women and children prisoners. The taking and garrisoning of this place completed the conquest of Galilee, Titus on this rejoined his father at Caesarea, where diey gave their troops a respite before they proceeded to besiege Jerusalem.^ Here it may be proper to digress a little, and compare with the pre- ceding melancholy detail, the predictions of Jesus Christ concerning this devoted people. He had been foretelling the destruction of the temple, when his disciples came and asked him, " But when shall these things be, and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass ? And he said, let no man deceive you, for many shall come, • Joseph. Wars, b. 3. ch. 7, 9, 10. f Ibid. b. 4. ch. 1. * Ibid. ch. 2- Predictions of Jesus Christ. 105 saying, I am the Christ; and the time draweth near — go ye not after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions be not terrified, for these things must first come to pass, but the end is not yet — for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom ; and there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, and famines and pesti- lences, and great signs shall there be from heaven. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled. But wo unto them that are with child, and to those that give suck in those days ! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity ; the sea and the waves roaring ; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shallbe shaken."* It may be useful to keep these things in view, while we now proceed to mark the accomplishment of this awful prophecy in the prosecution and final issue of this dreadful siege. Vespasian discovered no haste to depart from Caesarea, and commence the siege of Jerusalem, but prolonged his stay, insomuch that his of- ficers began to be amazed at his inactivity, and took the liberty to remind him that he was losing the most favourable opportunity of making him- self master of that city and of all Palestine. But that prudent general soon made them sensible that his continuing thus idle at Csesarea was the surest means of effecting the conquest of which thay were speaking, with the least difficulty and risk of his troops. There can be little doubt that he was fully apprized of the shocking state of things within the city, which at this time was given up to such intestine broils and massacres that the strength of the Jews was daily exhausting itself, while the Romans were nourishing theirs. In fact, the whole nation was at this moment divided into two opposite parties ;"': one of which, foreseeing that the war, if continued, must end in the total ruin of thei country, were for putting an end to it by a speedy submission to the Romans; while the other breathed nothing but hostility, confusion, and cruelty; and opposed all peaceable measures with invincible obstinacy. This latter party was by far the most numerous and powerful; besides which, it consisted of men of the vilest and most profligate characters that perhaps the pen of the historian ever recorded. They were proud, ambitious, cruel, rapacious, and addicted to the most horrid crimes. If we may credit Josephus, their own historian, they acted more like in- fernal beings than men. John of Gischala, formerly mentioned, was then at the head of this party in Jerusalem. Upon one occasion they put to death twelve thousand persons of noble extraction and in the flower of their age, butchering them in the most horrid manner. In short, their rage and cruelty had grown to such a height, that the whole nation trembled at their very name, while none durst be seen or heard to weep for the murder of their nearest relatives, nor even to give them burial. t * Luke xxi. Mat. xxiv. Mark xiii. f Joseph. Wars, b. 4. ch. 6. 106 History of the Christian Church. Thus every thing- succeeded to the wish of Vespasian. The party of John of Gischala, having massacred or driven away their opponents, began to turn their murderous weapons against each other. In the mean time, the Roman general, having past his winter at Caesarea, marched out in the beginning of the spring, and penetrated Idumea, plun- dering and burning every place through which he passed, except where he thought it necessary to leave a garrison to keep the country in awe.* A few months previous to this time he had received the news of Nero's death, and of Galba being appointed his successor. Titus, his son, was therefore despatched to Rome to compliment the new emperor, and to know his pleasure about prosecuting the war against the Jews. Taking his journey by sea, and detained by adverse winds, he had reached no further than Achai, when the news arrived that Galba was murdered, after a reign of seven months, and Otho proclaimed in his stead. The latter, in about three months, shared the fate of his pre- decessor, and was succeeded by Vitellius, whose short reign issued in Vespasian being chosen emperor. Suetonius, describing the state of things at this period, compares Rome to a ship at sea, tossed about by contrary winds, and ready at every moment to sink. And such was its fluctuating state, when the election of Vespasian happily restored tran- quillity to the empire. As soon as he had received the news that his election was confirmed at Rome, he left the best of his troops with his son, ordering him to go and besiege Jerusalem and utterly destroy it, while himself returned to the capital of his empire. Titus lost no time in carrying into effect the injunctions of his father; and, accordingly, in the beginning of April, near the time of the feast of the passover, he put his army in motion; and, advancing as close to the city as he thought expedient, went personally, attended only by six hundred horse, to reconnoitre its strength and avenues. It was strongly situated by nature ; surrounded by three stout walls, and many stately and strong towers. The first or old wall, which, by reason of its vast thickness, was looked upon as impregnable, had no less than sixty of these towers, lofty, firm, and strong. The second had fourteen, and the third eighty. The former, besides its extraordinary height and thickness, was raised on a high and steep mountain, having beneath it a valley of prodigious depth. The other two were, high and strong in proportion. The whole circumference of the city was nearly four English miles.J Before he commenced a regular siege, Titus despatched Josephus, the Jewish historian, with offers of peace to the inhabitants, but they were indignantly rejected. He was sent a second time with fresh over- tures, but with no better success. Titus now resolved to begin the assault in good earnest. In fourteen days a breach was made in the first wall, by means of the battering rams which played against it, at which the Romans entered, and the Jews abandoning this last en- closure, retired behind the next. Titus, in five days more, succeeded in destroying a tower in the second enclosure, which gave his troops admittance into that also ; but being bent on saving the city, he would not suffer any part of the wall or streets to be demolished, which left ♦ Joseph. Wars, b. 4. ch. 9. f lb. \ Ibid. b. 4. ch. 11. andb. 5. ch. 2, and 4. Dreadful Famine in Jerusalem. 107 the breach and lanes so narrow, that when his soldiers were repulsed by the besieged, they experienced great inconvenience, and many of them were killed. The oversight was speedily rectified, and the attack renewed with such vigour, that they resumed their advantage in four days after the first repulse. * At this time the internal state of the city was beyond description horrible. For besides that faction prevailed against faction, and the streets became deluged with the blood of the people, famine raged in a terrible manner among them, which was soon followed by a pestilence; and as these two dreadful judgments increased, so did the fury of the factions, who by their intestine feuds, had destroyed such quantities of provisions, that they were forced to prey upon the people with un- heard of cruelty. They broke into their houses, and, if they found any store of provisions, put them to death for not apprizing them of it ; and if nothing was found but bare walls, which was generally the case, they inflicted torture upon them, under the pretext that they had some provisions concealed. " I should undertake an impossible task," says Josephus, " were I to enter into a detail of all the cruelties of these impious wretches ; let it suffice to say, that I do not think that, since the creation of the world, any city ever suffered such dreadful calamities, or abounded with men so fertile in every species of wicked- ness."! Titus was not unapprized of their miserable condition, and was still desirous of sparing them. He granted them four days for reflection, during which he caused his army to be mustered, and provisions to be distributed to them in the sight of the Jews, who flocked upon the walls to see it. He then sent Josephus to expostulate with them, which he did, exhorting them not to run themselves into inevitable ruin, by obstinately persisting to defend a place which could hold out but a very little longer, and which the Romans already looked upon as their own. Josephus has given us a copy of his elaborate and pathetic speech on this occasion, which he tells us drew a flood of tears from his eyes. They requited his kindness by darting their arrows at him, and rejected the merciful overtures of Titus.J It is difficult for us in the present day to form any adequate concep- tion of the extremity of wretchedness to which the inhabitants of this devoted city were reduced. While the poor were carried out at the gates, to be buried at the public expense, Titus was informed by a de- serter, that at one of the gates where he was stationed, there were carried out one#hundred and fifteen thousand, eight hundred and eighty, between the 14th of April, when the siege commenced, and the 1st of July. Another told him that they had carried out at all the gates six hundred thousand, and that then, being unable to carry them all out, they had filled whole houses with them, and shut them up. I must not disgust the reader by reciting in this place, the miserable resources to which the wretched inhabitants were now reduced, in order to prolong the sad remains of life ; but one circumstance is so materially connected with the narrative, that it cannot with any pro- * Joseph. Wars, ch. 7—9. + Ibld- b- 5- ch- 19> an<1 b- 6» cb- 4- * lb. ch. 1 108 History of the Christian Church. priety be suppressed. It was in this sad and pinching conjuncture that an unhappy mother was reduced to the extremity of feeding upon her own child! This lady, whose name was Miriam, had taken re- fuge, with many others, in this devoted city, from the breaking out of the war. As the famine increased, her house was repeatedly plunder- ed of such provisions as she had been able to procure. She had vain- ly endeavoured by her entreaties, to prevail upon them, or by her execrations to provoke them, to put an end to her miserable existence, but the mercy was too great to be granted her. Frantic at length with fury and despair, she snatched her infant from her bosom, cut its throat, and broiled it ; and having satiated her present hunger, con- cealed the rest. The smell of it soon drew the voracious human tigers to her house ; they threatened her with the most excruciating tortures, if she did not discover her provisions to them. Upon which she set before them the relics of her mangled infant, bidding them eat heartily and not be squeamish, since she, its once tender mother, had made no scruple to butcher, dress, and feed upon it. At the sight of this horrid dish, inhuman as they were, they stood aghast, petrified with horror, and departed, leaving the astonished mother in possession of her dismal fare.* When the report of this spread through the city, the horror and consternation were as universal as they were inexpressible. They now, for the first time, began to think themselves forsaken of the pro- vidence of God, and to expect the most awful effects of his anger. Nor were their fears either unreasonable or ill-founded ; for no sooner had Titus heard of this inhuman deed, than he vowed the total extir- pation of the city and people. "Since," said he, " they have so often refused my proffers of pardon, and have preferred war to peace, rebel- lion to obedience, and famine to plenty, I am determined to bury that cursed metropolis under its ruins, that the sun may never more dart his beams on a city, where the mothers feed on the flesh of their chil- dren, and the fathers, no less guilty than themselves, choose to drive them to such extremities, rather than lay down their arms."t This dreadful event happened about the end of July, by which time the Romans had got possession of the fortress or castle of Antonia, which obliged the Jews to set fire to the stately galleries that joined it to the temple, lest it should facilitate a passage to the besiegers into it. On the seventeenth day of that month, the daily sacrifices, for the first time, ceased, there being no proper person remaining to offer them up. On the 28th of July, Titus set fire to the north gallery of the temple, which enclosed the outer court, from fort Antonia to the valley of Cedion, by means of which he got an easy admittance into it, and forced the besieged into that of the priests. Six days he tried to batter down one of the galleries ; yet such was the strength of the wall, that it eluded the force of his battering rams, as well as the art of sapping. His next attempt was to get possession by scaling ; but his men were so vigorously repulsed, and with such loss that he was obliged to de- sist. The gates were then set on fire, which, being plated with silver, burnt all that night, whilst the metal dropped down in the melting. * Josep. Wars, b. 6. ch. 3. f Ibid. The Temple destroyed. 109 The flame communicated itself to the porticos and galleries, which the besieged beheld without offering to stop it, contenting themselves with sending out vollies of impotent curses against the Romans. On the ninth of August, Titus gave orders to extinguish the fire, and called a council to determine whether the remainder of the temple should be saved or not. He himself was for the former — but most of his officers for the latter, alleging that it was no longer a temple, but a scene of war and slaughter, and that the Jews would never be at rest, so long as any part of it was standing. But when they found Titus so inflexibly bent on preserving so noble an edifice, against which he told them he could have no quarrel, they all came over to his mind. The next day, August the 10th, was therefore determined upon for a general assault.* In the mean time, something on the part of the Jews, having turned up, which exasperated the Roman soldiers, or as Josephus thinks, pushed by the hand of Providence, one of them of his own accord, took up a blazing fire-brand, and getting on his comrade's shoulders, threw it into one of die apartments that surrounded the sanctuary, through a window, and instantly set the whole north side in a flame, up to the third story. Titus, who was gone to rest himself awhile in his pavilion, was awaked at the noise, and ran immediately to give or- ders for the fire to be extinguished. He called, entreated, threatened, and even caned his men, but all to no purpose. The confusion was so great, and the soldiers so obstinately bent upon destroying all that was left, that he was neither heard nor regarded. Those that flocked thither from the camp, instead of obeying his orders, were busy, either in killing the Jews or increasing the flames. Observing that all his endeavours were ineffectual, Titus entered into the sanctuary and most holy place, the remaining grandeur and riches of which, even yet, sur- passed all that had been told him of it.t Out of the former he saved the golden candlestick, the table of the shew bread, the altar of incense, all of pure gold, and the book of the 'aw, wrapped up in a rich golden tissue. Upon his quitting that sacred place, some soldiers set fire to it, obliging those who had staid behind to come out also — in conse- quence of which, they all began to plunder it, carrying off the costly utensils, robes, gold plating of the gates, &c. insomuch that there was not one of them who did not enrich himself by it. A horrid massacre succeeded to this, in which many thousands per- ished, some by the flames, others falling from the battlements, and a greater number still by the enemy's sword, which spared neither age, sex, nor quality. Among them were upwards of six thousand per- sons, who had been seduced thither by a false prophet, who had pro- mised them that they should find a miraculous deliverance on that very day. The Romans carried their fury to the burning of all the treasure- houses of the place, though they were full of the richest furniture, vestments, plate, and other valuable articles, there laid up for security ; nor did they cease the dreadful work of devastation, till they had de- stroyed all except two of the temple gates, and that part of the court that was destined for the women. The city was now abandoned to • Joseph. Wars, b. 6. ch. 4. f Ibid. b. 6. ch. 4. 10 110 History of the Christian Church. the fury of the soldiers, who proceeded forthwith to plunder it, setting it on fire in every direction, and murdering all that fell into their hands — whilst the factious party among the Jews, that had hitherto escaped, went and fortified themselves in the royal palace, where they killed eight thousand of their own countrymen that had there taken refuge.* Preparations were now making for a vigorous attack on the upper city, and particularly on the royal palace, and this occupied Titus from the 20th of August to the 7th of September, during which time, great numbers came and made their submission to him, among whom were forty thousand citizens of the inferior classes, including, in all proba- bility, the Christian church, to whom he gave permission to go and settle where they would. On the 8th of September the city was taken and entered by Titus. Justus Lirsius has been at the pains to compute the numbers of Jews that are said by Josephus to have perished, from the beginning to the conclusion of the war ; and, for the reader's satisfaction, I sub- join them. JEWS KILLED IN AND OUT OF JUDEA. At Jerusalem, by order of Floras ----- 3,630 At Caesarea, by the inhabitants ----- 20,000 At Scythopolis in Syria ---.--- 30,000 At Ascalon, by the inhabitants 2,500 At Ptolemais 2,000 At Alexandria in Egypt, under Tiberius Alexander - 50,000 At Damascus 10,000 At the taking of Joppa 8,400 In the mountain of Cabula 2,000 In a battle at Ascalon - 10,000 In an ambush -- 8,000 At the taking of Apheck ------ 15,000 Upon Mount Gerizim 11,600 Drowned at Joppa, in a sudden storm - - - - 4,200 Killed at Teriehea 6,500 at Gamala - ' 9,000 in their flight from Gischala 2,000 — — at the siege of Jotapata 30,000 of the Gadarenes, besides many drowned - - 13,000 in the villages of Idumea 10,000 at Gerisum 1,000 at Macheron ------- 1,700 in the desart of Jardes 3,000 Slew themselves at Massala 960 In Cyrene, by the governor Catulus 3,000 Perished at Jerusalem, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and during the siege 1,100,000 1,357,490 * Joseph. Wars, b. 7. ch. 1. Computation of Jews destroyed. Ill According to this account, the whole amounts to 1,357,490, besides a vast multitude that died in the caves, woods, wildernesses, common sewers, in banishment, and various other ways, of whom no computa- tion could be made. To which must also be added, ten thousand slain at Jotapata more than our author has mentioned ; for Josephus express- ly mentions forty thousand, but he only thirty thousand. To these if we add ninety thousand taken prisoners, apparently doomed to a cap- tivity worse than death, and eleven thousand, who are said to have perished either through the neglect of their keepers or their own sullen despair, the amount will be scarcely less than a million and a half ! The reader must also keep in view, that a great proportion of these were strangers, who had been invited from remote parts of the world, to come to Jerusalem and assist them in the defence of their religion and liberties, their country, city, and temple ; in doing which, they shared in the common ruin. Thus did the providence of God order it, that those who, by their opposition to the gospel, in all parts of their dispersion, had participated in the guilt of crucifying the Lord Jesus, and persecuting his apostles, should also be involved in their punish- ment. It is not a little remarkable that Titus, though a heathen, was fre- quently obliged, during this war,- to acknowledge an overruling provi- dence, not only in the extraordinary success with which he had been favoured against them, but also in the invincible obstinacy through which they, to the last, preferred their total destruction to that of ac- cepting his repeated overtures of mercy. Again and again did he, in the most solemn manner, appeal to heaven that he was innocent of the blood of these wretched people.* In almost every chapter, we find Josephus also ascribing these dreadful calamities, and the final ruin of his nation, city, and temple, to an overruling power ; to the offended Deity, to the sins of the people : but nowhere more pathetically, than in that chapter, in which he sums up a number of dreadful warnings sent beforehand, not so much to reduce them to obedience, as to make them discern the almighty hand that was now pouring out the awful vials of his wrath upon them.t As soon as the Romans had completed their destructive work of fire and slaughter, Titus set them to demolish the city, with all its noble structures, fortifications, palaces, towers, walls, and other ornaments, down to the level of the ground; as though he had nothing in view but to fulfil the predictions of Christ concerning its destruction, as contain- ed in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew's gospel. He left nothing standing but a piece of the western wall and three towers, which he re- served merely as a monument to future ages of what had been the strength of the city, and the skill and valour of its conqueror. His orders were executed so punctually, that, except what has been just mentioned, nothing remained which could serve as an index that that ground had been once inhabited ; insomuch, that when Titus himself, some time afterwards, passed through it, in his way from Caesarea to Alexandria, in order to embark for Rome, he wept profusely at the sight • Joseph. Wars, b. 5. ch. 12. f Joseph. Wars, b. 6. ch. 5. and b. 5. ch. 13. 112 History of the Christian Church. of a devastation so dreadful, cursing the wretches that had compelled him to be the author of it.* Such was the dreadful issue of this war, terminating in the utter downfall of the Jewish state and nation, from which it has never reco- vered to this day ; it involved in it the destruction of the temple and the discontinuance of the services annexed to it. The desolation of the country itself went on increasing ; till, from being, for its size, one of the most fertile and populous countries in the world, it is now become the most barren and desolate, the latest computation of the number of its inhabitants scarcely exceeding fifty thousand. All these calamities were, no doubt, accomplished by natural causes ; and were therefore such as might have been expected from a thorough knowledge of the tempers of the inhabitants, their refractory disposition towards the Romans, their factions among themselves, and their pre- sumptuous confidence in supernatural assistance joined to a knowledge of their weakness when contrasted with the overbearing power of the Romans. But who besides the Supreme Being could have foreseen all these circumstances, or have known that the operation of them would lead to this catastrophe, when the rebellion might have terminated in many other ways, instead of the total ruin of the country and the dis- persion of its inhabitants ? The divine foresight is conspicuous there- fore, in our Saviour's clear prediction of these events, with all their leading circumstances, when it does not appear that any other person entertained the least apprehension of such a thing. The Jews, indeed, now tell us, that Jesus Christ found all that he predicted concerning the destruction of their city and temple in the prophecies of Daniel ; but it is natural to ask, why did not their own Scribes, the professed interpreters of the law and the prophets ; and why did not also the leading men of their own nation discover the same things in that book ? Not only the wisdom but the justice of God is also conspicuously displayed in this great event. A particular Providence had ever at- tended that people. They had always been favoured with prosperity while obedient to God and his prophets ; and on the other hand, cala- mity of some kind had been the never-failing consequence of their dis- obedience. But the measure of their iniquities was now filled up ; and the wrath of heaven came upon them to the uttermost. Never had the nation in general shown a more perverse and obstinate disposition to- wards any of their prophets, than was now evinced towards Christ and his apostles, though none of their prophets had ever been sent to them with such evident marks of a divine mission. Their inveteracy to Christianity continues to this day, and so does their dispersion, though they are still a distinct people, and never mix, so as to be confounded, with any of the nations among whom they have settled. But I quit this subject with a reflection or two. The reader will perceive, that the history of the Jewish war, as detailed by their own historian, Josephus, in many instances a witness of the facts he attests, forms a commentary upon the prophecies of Christ. Amongst other things, he has given a distinct account of the " fearful sights and great * Joseph. Wars, b. 6. ch. 8, 9. Reign of Vespasian — Titus — Domitian. 113 signs from heaven," which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem; and Tacitus has confirmed the narration of Josephus.* If Christ had not expressly foretold these things, some might have suspected that Jose- phus exaggerated, and that Tacitus was misinformed; but as the testi- monies of these historians confirm the predictions of Christ, so do the predictions of Christ confirm the wonders recorded by these historians. We may also remark, that by these terrible events, an end was at length put to the Mosaic economy ; for, with the destruction of their city and temple, the whole of the Jewish polity and church state was also subverted. From that time, the remnant of that once highly fa- voured nation have been dispersed throughout the world ; despised and hated by all; subjected, from age to age, to a perpetual succession of persecutions and miseries, yet under all these disadvantages, upheld by Divine Providence, a distinct people. They have ever since remained " without a king, without a prince, and without a sacrifice : without an altar, without an ephod, and without divine manifestations ;" as monu- ments every where of the truth of Christianity — yet, with this promise, that " the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God; and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days."t The accession of Vespasian to the imperial dignity, connected with the termination of the Jewish war, by the arms of his son Titus, hap- pily restored tranquillity and peace to the world. He reigned ten years, much to the happiness of his subjects, and Avas succeeded in the throne by his son, who, though rather unpopular at the commencement of his reign, nevertheless, conducted himself in such a manner as to acquire the greatest reputation of any of the Roman emperors. During all this period the churches enjoyed a state of outward peace, and the gospel was every where crowned with success. To the inexpressible grief of his subjects, however, at the age of forty-one, and after the short reign of two years, two months, and twenty days, Titus was snatched away, having, as was suspected, been poisoned by his own brother Domitian, who succeeded to the throne in the year 81. Domitian, in his temper and disposition, inherited all the savage cruelty of the monster Nero. Yet he spared the Christians in a con- siderable degree, until about the year 95, when several were put to death, and others banished, on account of their religion, both in Rome, and throughout all the provinces. Among those put to death was his own cousin and colleague in the consulship, Fabius Clemens; and, among the banished, the wife and niece of the latter, both named Fla- vian Domitillge. At this time, the apostle John was banished to the island of Patmos, from whence he wrote his epistles to the seven churches in Asia. He is said to have survived the persecution of Do- mitian, though it is uncertain how long ; and to have died at Ephesus in the reign of Nerva or Trajan, at which city he was buried. The crime alleged against the Christians at this period, and which drew down upon them the cruel hand of persecution, was that of Atheism, by which is to be understood, that they refused to throw a grain of in- * Tacit. Annal. b. 5. f Hos. iii. 4, 5. 10* 114 History of the Christian Church. cense on the altars of the heathen deities. The storm, however, was of short duration ; for hoth Eusebius and Tertullian inform us, that Do- mitian revoked the edict which he had issued against the Christians, and recalled from banishment those who had been driven away. Hav- ing caused the earth to groan under his cruelties and excesses, he was at length assassinated, in the sixteenth year of his reign, and was suc- ceeded in the empire by Nerva, a prince of a most gentle and humane disposition, under whom the Romans lived as happy as during the former reign they had been miserable. He pardoned all that were imprisoned for treason, called home such as had been banished, restored the sequestrated es- tates, punished informers, redressed grievances to the utmost of his power, and acted with universal beneficence towards all descriptions of his subjects. According to Dio Cassius, he forbade the persecution of any persons either for Judaism, or for impiety ; by which is to be understood, Christianity; for so the Heathens termed the latter, on account of its being hostile to their worship ; and because Christians, having neither temples, altars, nor sacrifices, were generally considered by them to be also without religion. After a short but brilliant reign of sixteen months and eight days, Nerva died, A. D. 98, and was suc- ceeded by Trajan, whom he had previously nominated as his heir, a man well skilled in martial and cabinet affairs. In his deportment courteous, affable, humane, and just ; and, perhaps, not undeservedly esteemed one of the best princes with which Rome had ever been favoured. ( 115 ) CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH FROM THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST CEN- TURY, TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY UNDER CONSTANTINE, A. D. 315. SECTION I. THE STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION UNDER THE REIGN OF TRAJAN. A. D. 98 to 117. There is more truth than would at first strike the mind of a super- ficial observer, in Dr. Jortin's remark, that Christianity was, at the beginning, more likely to prosper under bad than under good emperors; especially if the latter were tenacious of their religious rites and cere- monies. Accordingly, from the death of Christ to the reign of Vespa- sian, a period of about thirty-seven years, the Romans paid little re- gard to the progress of the gospel. They were ruled by weak or frantic and vicious emperors ; the magistrates and senators, and every worthy man of any note, stood in continual fear for their own lives, and the empire -was a scene of confusion, desolation, and misery.* Gibbon, in one short paragraph, has sketched a tolerably correct picture of the state of the Roman government during the times of which we are now treating, and the reader cannot be displeased at my transplanting it into these pages. " The annals of the emperors," says he, " exhibit a strong and vari- ous picture of human nature, which we should vainly seek among the mixed and doubtful characters of modern history. In the conduct of these monarchs, we may trace the utmost lines of vice and virtue ; the most exalted perfection, and the meanest degeneracy of our own spe- cies. The golden age of Trajan and the Antonines had been preceded by an age of iron. It is almost superfluous to enumerate the unworthy successors of Augustus. Their unparalleled vices, and the splendid theatre on which they were acted, have saved them from oblivion. The dark, unrelenting Tiberius, the furious Caligula, the feeble Clau- dius, the profligate and cruel Nero, the beastly Vitellius,t and the ti- mid, inhuman Domitian, are condemned to everlasting infamy. During fourscore years (excepting only the short and doubtful respite of Ves- pasian's reign) Rome groaned beneath an unremitting tyranny, which * Jortin's Remarks, vol. I. p. 30. f Vitellius consumed in mere eating1, at least six millions of our money in about seven months. It is not easy to express his vices with dignity or even decency. Tacitus fairly calls him " a hog." 116 History of the Christian Church. exterminated the ancient families, and was fatal to almost every virtue, and every talent that arose in this unhappy period."* We have already traced the progress of Christianity through our author's age of iron, and are now entering upon what he terms the golden age of Trajan and the Antonines. " If a man were called to fix," says the same elegant historian, " the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesita- tion, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the ac- cession of Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four suc- cessive emperors, whose character and authority commanded involun- tary respect. The forms of the civil administration were carefully governed by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with considering themselves as the accountable ministers of the laws."t Such a state of things as this many would imagine could be little inferior to a millenium, as it respected Christians — but how far the opinion would be consonant to truth, will appear in the sequel. Trajan ascended the throne of the Csesars in the year 98, and soon afterwards conferred the government of the province of Bithynia upon his friend the ingenious and celebrated Pliny. The character of the lat- ter is one of the most amiable in all Pagan antiquity. In the exercise of his office as proconsul, the Christians, against whom the severe edicts which had been issued by preceding emperors seem to be still in force, were brought before his tribunal. Having never had occasion to be present at any such examinations before, the multitude of the criminals, and the severity of the laws against them, seem to have greatly struck him and caused him to hesitate how far it was proper to carry them into execution, without first consulting the emperor upon the subject. The letter which he wrote to Trajan upon this occasion, as well as the answer of the letter, are happily preserved, and are among the most valuable monuments of antiquity, on account of the light which they throw upon the state of the Christian profession at this splendid epoch. The letter of Pliny seems to have been written in the year 106 or 107, and is as follows. " C. Pliny to the Emperor Trajan, wishes health. Sire ! It is cus- tomary with me to consult you upon every doubtful occasion ; for where my own judgment hesitates, who is more competent to direct me than yourself, or to instruct me where uninformed? I never had occasion to be present at any examination of the Christians before I came into this province ; I am therefore ignorant to what extent it is usual to inflict punishment, or urge prosecution. I have also hesitated whether there should not be some distinction made between the young and the old, the tender and the robust ; whether pardon should not be offered to penitence, or whether the guilt of an avowed profession of Christianity can be expiated by the most unequivocal retraction — whether the.pro- • Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. i. ch. 3. f Ibid. Pliny's Epistle to Trajan. 117 fession itself is to be regarded as a crime, however innocent in other respects the professor may be ; or whether the crimes attached to name, must be proved before they are made liable to punishment. " In the mean time, the method I have hitherto observed with the Christians, who have been accused as such, has been as follows. I in- terrogated them — Are you Christians? If they avowed it, I put the same question a second, and a third lime, threatening them with the punishment decreed by the law : if they still persisted, / ordered them to be immediately executed : for of this I had no doubt, whatever ivas the nature of their religion, that such perverseness and inflexible ob- stinacy certainly deserved punishment. Some that were infected with this madness, on account of their privilege as Roman citizens, I re- served to be sent to Rome, to be referred to your tribunal. " In the discussion of this matter, accusations multiplying, a diversi- ty of cases occurred. A schedule of names was sent me by an un- known accuser ; but when I cited the persons before me, many denied the fact that they were, or ever had been Christians ; and they repeat- ed after me an invocation of the gods, and of your image, which for this purpose I had ordered to be brought with the statues of the other deities. They performed sacred rites with wine and frankincense, and execrated Christ; none of which things, I am assured, a real Christian can ever be compelled to do. These, therefore, I thought proper to discharge. Others, named by an informer, at first acknowledged them- selves Christians, and then denied it, declaring that though they had been Christians, they had renounced their profession, some three years ago, others still longer, and some even twenty years ago. All these worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and at the same time execrated Christ. " And this was the account which they gave me of the nature of the religion they once had professed, whether it deserves the name of crime or error ; namely, that they were accustomed on a stated day to assemble before sun-rise, and to join together in singing hymns to Christ as to a deity ; binding themselves as with a solemn oath not to commit any kind of wickedness ; to be guilty neither of theft, rob- bery, nor adultery ; never to break a promise, or to keep back a depo- sit when called upon. Their worship being concluded, it was their custom to separate, and meet together again for a repast, promiscuous indeed, and without any distinction of rank or sex, but perfectly harm- less ; and even from this they desisted, since the publication of my edict, in which agreeably to your orders, I forbade any societies of that sort. "For further information, I thought it necessary, in order to come at the truth, to put to the torture two females who were called deacon- esses. But I could extort from them nothing except the acknowledg- ment of an excessive and depraved superstition ; and, therefore, desist- ing from further investigation, I determined to consult you ; for the number of culprits is so great as to call for the most serious delibera- tion. Informations are pouring in against multitudes of every age, of all orders, and of both sexes, and more will be impeached ; for the contagion of this superstition hath spread not only through cities, but 1 1 8 History of the Church of Christ. villages also, and even reached the farm houses. I am of opinion, ne- vertheless, that it may be checked, and the success of my endeavours hitherto forbids despondency; for the temples, once almost desolate, begin to be again frequented — the sacred solemnities which had for some time been intermitted, are now attended afresh ; and the sacrifi- cial victims, which once could scarcely find a purchaser, now obtain a brisk sale. Whence I infer, that many might be reclaimed, were the hope of pardon, on their repentance, absolutely confirmed." Trajan to Pliny. " My dear Pliny, " You have done perfectly right, in managing as you have, the matters which relate to the impeachment of the Christians. No one general rule can be laid down which will apply to all cases. These people are not to be hunted up by informers ; but if accused and con- victed, let them be executed ; yet with this restriction, that if any re- nounce the profession of Christianity, and give proof of it by offering supplications to our gods, however suspicious their past conduct may have been, they shall be pardoned on their repentance. But anony- mous accusations should never be attended to, since it would be esta- blishing a precedent of the worst kind, and altogether inconsistent with the maxims of my government." It is an obvious reflection from these letters, that at this early period, Christianity had made an extraordinary progress in the empire; for Pliny acknowledges that the Pagan temples had become "almost deso- late." Nor should we overlook the remarkable proof which they af- ford us of the state of the Christian profession, and the dreadful perse- cutions to which the disciples of Christ were then exposed. It is evident- from them, that by the existing laws, it was a capital offence, punishable with death, for any one to avow himself a Christian. Nor did the humane Trajan and the philosophic Pliny entertain a doubt of the propriety of the law, or the wisdom and justice of executing it in the fullest extent. Pliny confesses that he had commanded such capi- tal punishments to be inflicted on many, chargeable with no crime, but their profession of Christianity ; and Trajan not only confirms the equity of the sentence, but enjoins the continuance of such executions, without any exceptions, unless it be of those who apostatized from their pro- fession, denied their Lord and Saviour, and did homage to the idols of Paganism. These letters also give us a pleasing view of the holy and exemplary lives of the first Christians. For, it appears by the confession of apos- tates themselves, that no man could continue a member of their com- munion whose deportment in the world did not correspond with his holy profession. Even delicate women are put to the torture, to try if their weakness would not betray them into accusations of their brethren ; but not a word nor a charge can be extorted from them, capable of bearing the semblance of deceit or crime. To meet for prayer, praise, and mutual instruction; to worship Christ their God; to exhort one another to abstain from every evil word and work; to unite in com- memorating the death of their Lord, by partaking of the symbols of his WarburtorCs remarks on Persecution. 119 broken body and shed blood in the ordinance of the supper — these tilings constitute what Pliny calls the "depraved superstition," the" execrable crimes," which could only be expiated by the blood of the Christians! We should not overlook the proof which these letters afford, of the peaceableness of the Christians of those days, and of their readiness to submit even to the most unjust requisitions, rather than disturb the peace of society. According to Pliny's own representation, their num- bers were so. immense, that, had they considered it lawful, they might have defended themselves by the power of the sword. Persons of all ranks, of every age, and of each sex, had been converted to Christianity; the body was so vast as to leave the Pagan temples a desert, and their priests solitary. Scarce a victim was brought to the altar, or a sacred solemnity observed, through the paucity of the worshippers. The de- fection from Paganism must have been conspicuous which could pro- duce such striking effects. But the Christians neither abused their power to resist government, nor acted indecently in their worship. They knew the edicts that were in force against them ; and to avoid giving offence, they assembled before break of day, for the worship of their God and Saviour. And when Pliny issued his edict to that effect, they, for awhile yielded to the storm, and desisted from the observance of their Agapae, or feasts of charity. This view of things abundantly justifies the encomium of Hegesippus, one of the earliest Christian writers, " that the church continued until these times, as a virgin, pure and uncorrupted." Considering the character which both the emperor and the proconsul sustained, for mildness of disposition and gentleness of manners, it has occasioned no small perplexity to many, and even to some of our phi- losophic historians, how to account for the circumstance, that such men should be found on the list of persecutors, and at the same time to ad- mit the unoffending deportment of the Christians. Dr. Warburton has given a very satisfactory solution of this difficulty; and, though the passage be rather long, I shall transcribe the substance of it in this place. " The Pagan world having early imbibed this inveterate prejudice concerning intercommunity of worship, men were but too much accus- tomed to new revelations, when the Jewish appeared, not to acknow- ledge its superior pretensions. Accordingly we find, by the history of this people, that it was esteemed by its neighbours a true one; and therefore they proceeded to join it occasionally with their own ; as those did whom the king of Assyria sent into the cities of Israel in place of the ten tribes. Whereby it happened, so great was the influence of this principle, that, in the same time and country, the Jews of Jerusalem added the Pagan idolatries to their religion, while the Pagans of Sama- ria added the Jewish religion to their idolatries. " But when these people of God, in consequence of having their dogmatic theology more carefully inculcated to them, after their return from the captivity, became rigid, in pretending not only that their reli- gion was true, but the only true one ; then it was that they began to be treated by their neighbours, and afterwards by the Greeks and Romans, with the utmost hatred and contempt, for this their inhumanity and an- 120 History of the Christian CJiurch. sociable temper. To this cause alone we are to ascribe all that spleen and rancour which appears in the histories of these later nations con- cerning them. Celsus fairly reveals what lay at the bottom, and speaks out for them all. ' If the Jews, on these accounts,' says he, 'adhere to their own law, it is not for that they are to blame : I rather blame those who forsake their own country religion to embrace the Jewish. But if these people give themselves airs of sublimer wisdom than the rest of the world, and on that score refuse all communion with it, as not equally pure, — I must tell them, that itis not to be believed that they are more dear or agreeable to God than other nations.' — Hence, among the Pagans, the Jews came to be distinguished from all other people, by the name of a race of men odious to the gods, and with good rea- son. This was the reception the Jews met with in the world. "When Christianity arose, though on the foundation of Judaism, it was at first received with great complacency by the Pagan world. The gospel was favourably heard, and the superior evidence with which it was enforced, inclined men, long habituated to pretended revelations, to receive it into the number of the established. Accordingly we find one Roman emperor introducing it among his closet religions ; and another promising to the senate to give it a more public entertainment. But when it was found to carry its pretensions higher, and, like the Jewish, to claim the title of the only true one, then it was that it began to incur the same hatred and contempt with the Jewish. But when it went still further, and urged the necessity of all men forsaking their own national religions, and embracing the gospel, this so shocked the Pagans, that it soon brought upon itself the bloody storm which followed. Thus you have the true origin of persecution for religion ; a persecution not com- mitted, but undergone by the Christian church. " Hence we see how it happened, that such good emperors as Tra- jan and Mark Antonine came to be found in the first rank of persecu- tors ; a difficulty that hath very much embarrassed the inquirers into ecclesiastical antiquity, and given a handle to the deists, who empoison every thing, of pretending to suspect, that there must be something very much amiss in primitive Christianity, while such wise magistrates could become its persecutors. But the reason is now manifest. The Christian pretensions overthrew a fundamental principle of Paganism, which they thought founded in nature, namely, the friendly intercom- munity of worship. And thus the famous passage of Pliny the younger becomes intelligible. ' For I did not in the least hesitate, but that what- ever should appear on confession to be their faith, yet that their fro- wardness and inflexible obstinacy would certainly deserve punishment.' What was the ' inflexible obstinacy?' It could not be in professing a new religion ; that was a thing common enough. It was the refusing all communion with Paganism, — refusing to throw a grain of incense on their altars. For we must not think, as is commonly imagined, that this was at first enforced by the magistrate to make them renounce their religion ; but only to give a test of its hospitality, and sociable- ness of temper. It was indeed, and rightly too, understood by the Christians to be a renouncing of their religion, and so accordingly ab- stained from. The misfortune was that the Pagans did not consider the Gibbon'' s account of this matter. 12 1 inflexibility as a mere error, but as an immorality likewise. The un- sociable, uncommunicable temper, in matters of religious worship, was esteemed by the best of them as a hatred and aversion to mankind. Thus Tacitus, speaking of the burning of Rome, calls the Christians ' persons convicted of hatred to all mankind.' But how ? The con- fession of the Pagans themselves, concerning the purity of the Chris- tian morals, shows this could be no other than a being ' convicted' of rejecting all intercommunity of worship; which, so great was their pre- judice, they thought could proceed from nothing but hatred towards mankind. Universal prejudice had made men regard a refusal of this intercommunity as the most brutal of all dissociability. And the em- peror Julian, who understood this matter the best of any, fairly owns, that the Jews and Christians brought the execration of the world upon them, by their aversion to the gods of Paganism, and their refusal of all communication with them."* But to proceed. From what took place in the province of Bithynia, under the govern- ment of the mild and amiable Pliny, a tolerably correct judgment may be formed of the state of Christianity during the reign of Trajan, in every other part of the empire. While Pliny was thus conducting matters in Bithynia, the province of Syria was under the government of Tiberianus. There is still extant a letter which he addressed to Trajan, in which he says, " I am quite wearied with punishing and destroying the Galilaeans, or those of the sect called Christians, according to your orders. Yet they never cease to profess voluntarily, what they are, and to offer themselves to death. Wherefore I have laboured by exhortations and threats, to discourage them from daring to confess to me, that they are of that sect. Yet, in spite of all persecution, they continue still to do it. Be pleased there- fore to inform me, what your highness thinks proper to be done with them."t The stated returns of the public games and festivals were generally attended by calamitous events to the Christians. " On those occasions, the inhabitants of the great cities of the empire were collected in the great circus of the theatre, where every circumstance of the place, as well as of the ceremony, contributed to kindle their devotion and to extinguish their humanity. Whilst the numerous spectators, crowned with garlands, perfumed with incense, purified with the blood of vic- tims, and surrounded with the altars and statues of their tutelar deities, resigned themselves to the enjoyment of pleasures, which they consi- dered as an essential part of their religious worship ; they recollected, that the Christians alone abhorred the gods of mankind, and by their absence and melancholy on those solemn festivals, seemed to insult or to lament the public felicity. If the empire had been afflicted by any recent calamity, by a plague, a famine, or an unsuccessful war ; if the Tyber had, or if the Nile had not, risen beyond its banks ; if the earth had shaken, or if the temperate order of the seasons had been interrupt- ed, the superstitious Pagans were convinced that the crimes and the * Divine Legation of Moses, vol. ii. b. ii. sect. 6, &c. f Quoted in Dr. Middleton's Free Enquirv, p. 201. 4to. ed. 11 122 History of the Christian Church. impiety of the Christians, who were spared by the excessive lenity of the government, had at length provoked the Divine justice.* It was not among a licentious and exasperated populace, that the forms of legal proceedings could be observed ; it was not in an amphitheatre stained with the blood of wild beasts and gladiators, that the voice of compas- sion could be heard. The impatient clamours of the multitude de- nounced the Christians as the enemies of God and men, doomed them to the severest tortures, and venturing to accuse by name, some of the most distinguished of the new sectaries, required, with irresistible ve- hemence, that they should be instantly apprehended and cast to the lions. "t About the time that Pliny wrote his celebrated letter, Trajan, who was then entering upon the Parthian war, arrived at Antioch in Syria. Ignatius was at that time one of the pastors of the church there ; a man of exemplary piety, and " in all things like to the apostles." During the emperor's stay at Antioch, the city was almost entirely ruined by an earthquake. It was preceded by violent claps of thunder, unusual winds, and a dreadful noise under ground. Then followed so terrible a shock, that the earth trembled, several houses were overturned, and others tossed to and fro, like a ship at sea. The noise of the cracking and bursting of the timber, and of the falling of the houses, drowned the cries of the dismayed populace. Those who happened to be in their houses were, for the most part, buried under their ruins ; such as were walking in the streets and in the squares, were, by the violence of the shock, dashed against each other, and most of them killed or dangerously wounded. Trajan himself was much hurt, but escaped through a window out of the house in which he was. When the earthquake ceased, the voice of a woman was heard crying under the ruins, which being removed, she was found with a sucking child in her arms, whom she kept alive, as well as herself, with her milk. The eminent station of Ignatius, and the popularity which generally attends superior talents, marked him out as the victim of imperial fury on the occasion. He was seized, and by the emperor's order sent from Antioch to Rome, where he was exposed to the fury of wild beasts in the theatre, and by them devoured. About the same time, Simeon, the son of Cleopas, who had succeeded the apostle James, as pastor of the church originally gathered in Jerusalem, but which, at the time of its destruction, removed to a small town called Pella, was accused, before * Inveterate as were the prejudices of this classical historian against the Chris- tians, it seems he could condescend occasionally to borrow a striking- thought or a brilliant sentence from their writings. The reader may compare the above quotation with the following- extract from Tertullian's Apology. "If the city be besieged, if any thing happen ill in the fields, in the garrison, in the lands, immediately they, (the Pagans,) cry out, " Tis because of the Chris- tians." Our enemies thirst after the blood of the innocent, cloaking their hatred with this silly pretence, " That the Christians are the cause of all public calami- ties." If the Tyber flows up to the walls — if the river Nile do not overflow the fields — if the heavens alter their course — if there be an earthquake, a famine, a plague, immediately the cry is " Away with the Christians to the lions." Apol. cap. 1. Operum, p. 17. f Gibbon's Decline, vol. ii. ch. 16. Christianity under the reign of Adrian. 123 Atticus, the Roman governor, of being a Christian. He was then an hundred and twenty years old, but his hoary hairs were no protection to him under the charge of professing Christianity. He endured the punishment of scourging, for many days; but though his hardiness as- tonished, his sufferings failed to excite the pity of his persecutors, and he was, at length, ordered to be crucified. This state of things, which is commonly termed the third persecu- tion, seems to have continued during the whole of Trajan's reign; for it does not appear that his edicts against the Christians were revoked during his life, which, after having swayed the imperial sceptre nine- teen years, was closed in the year 117, while prosecuting his great military expedition in the east. SECTION II. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. THE STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION UNDER THE REIGNS OF ADRIAN AND THE ANTONINES. A. D. 117 180. The persecuting edicts, which had been issued against the Chris- tians, under the former emperors, continued unrepealed when Adrian was raised to the throne of the Caesars. The law of Trajan, of which I have taken notice in the foregoing section, and which had been re- gistered among the public edicts of the empire, had, in some degree, ameliorated the state of matters. " The Christians were not to be offi- ciously sought after ;" but still, such as were accused and convicted of an adherence to Christianity were to be put to death as wicked citi- zens, if they did not return to the religion of their ancestors. Under the reign of Adrian, the empire flourished in peace and pros- perity. He encouraged the arts, reformed the laws, enforced military discipline, and visited all his provinces in person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the most enlarged views, and the minute details of civil policy ; but the ruling passions of his soul were curiosity and vanity. As these prevailed, and as they were attracted by differ- ent objects, Adrian was, by turns, an excellent prince, a ridiculous so- phist, or a jealous tyrant. After his death, the senate doubted whether they should pronounce him a god or a tyrant, and the honours decreed to his memory were granted to the prayers of his successor, the pious Antoninus.* In the sixth year of his reign, Adrian came to Athens, where he w'as initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries. Tertullian describes him as a man excessively curious and inquisitive — (curiositatum omnium ex- plorator) — his knowledge was various and extensive — he had studied all the arts of magic, and was passionately fond of the Pagan institu- * Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. ch. 3. 124 History of the Christian Church. tions. At the time of his visiting Athens, Quadratus was pastor of the Christian church in that city, having succeeded Publius, who suffered martyrdom either in this or the foregoing reign. It seems likely that this church had undergone a severe persecution ; for we are informed that when Quadratus took the oversight of them he found the flock in a dispersed and confused state ; their public assemblies were neglect- ed ; their zeal was become languid, and they were in danger of being wholly scattered. Quadratus laboured indefatigably to recover them, and he succeeded. Order and discipline were restored, insomuch, that at a subsequent period, when Origen wrote his treatise against Celsus, he adduces the church at Athens as a notable pattern of good order, constancy, meekness and quietness.* Quadratus drew up an apology for the Christian religion, which he addressed and delivered to the emperor; as did also Aristides, a Chris- tian writer at that time in Athens. Unfortunately these apologies are lost, and it is greatly to be regretted ; for had they survived the wreck of time, they would, in all probability, have thrown much light upon the state of the Christian profession at that period. Nor have Ave any certain information what effect they produced upon the mind of the em- peror. " The Pagan priests," says Mosheim, " set the populace in motion to demand from the magistrates, with one voice, during the pub- lic games, the destruction of the Christians ; and the magistrates, fear- ing that a sedition might be the consequence of despising or opposing these popular clamours, were too much disposed to indulge them in their requests." During these commotions, Serenus Granianus, pro- consul of Asia, wrote to the emperor that " it seemed to him unreason- able, that the Christians should be put to death, merely to gratify the clamours of the people, without trial, and without being convicted of any crime." This seems the first instance of any Roman governor publicly daring to question the propriety and justice of Trajan's edict, which, independent of any moral guilt, inflicted death on Christians, merely because they were Christians. Serenus, at the time of writing his letter, was probably about to quit his office, but Adrian addressed the following rescript to his successor. TO MINUTIUS FUNDANUS. "I have received a letter written to me by the very illustrious Se- renus Granianus, whom you have succeeded. To me then the affair seems by no means fit to be slightly passed over, that men may not be disturbed without cause, and that sycophants may not be encouraged in their odious practices. If the people of the province will appear pub- licly, and make open charges against the Christians, so as to give them an opportunity of answering for themselves, let them proceed in that manner only, and not by rude demands and mere clamours. For it is much more proper, if any person will accuse them, that you should take cognizance of these matters. If therefore, any accuse, and show that they actually break the laws, do you determine according to the • Eusebius, b. 4. ch. 23. and Cave's Life of Quadratus. Reign of the Antonines. 125 nature of the crime. But, by Hercules, if the charge be a mere ca- lumny, do you estimate the enormity of such calumny and punish as it deserves."* This rescript seems to have somewhat abated the fury of the persecu- tion, though not wholly to have put an end to it. Tertullian, in refer- ence to these times, informs us that Arrius Antoninus, then proconsul of Asia, when the Christians came in a body before his tribunal, or- dered some of them to be put to death ; and said to others, " You wretches ' If ye will die, ye have precipices and halters." He adds, that several other governors of provinces, punished some few Chris- tians, and dismissed the rest, so that the persecution was neither so ge- neral nor so severe as it had been under Trajan. During the reign of Adrian, the Jews once more attempted to free themselves from the Roman yoke. A rebellious chief arose among them, of the name of Barchochebas, who assumed the title of " King of the Jews," and prevailed upon these deluded people, thinned as they were by slaughter, and dispersed throughout the different provinces, to rally round his standard, and contend with the Romans for empire. While the rebellion was in progress, the Christians, refusing to join the standard of this fictitious Messiah, suffered the most atrocious indig- nities, and were massacred without mercy, until the fall of their leader, and the destruction of his adherents put an end to the sedition. The issue of the rebellion was the entire exclusion of the Jews from the ter- ritory of Judea. After a reign of twenty-one years, Adrian was succeeded, in the year 138, by Titus Antoninus Pius, a senator about fifty years of age, whom he declared his successor, only on the condition that he himself should immediately adopt Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, a youth of about seventeen, and by these two Antonines the Roman world was governed forty years. Their united reigns, says Gibbon, are possibly the only period of history, in which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of government.! The elder Antoninus appears to have been a most amiable prince. He diffused order and tranquillity throughout the empire ; and, in his own personal character and intentions, was guiltless of Christian blood. The disciples of Jesus were nevertheless cruelly treated in some of the provinces of Asia, and it occasioned Justin Martyr to Write his first apology, which was presented to the emperor. The crimes they were accused of by their enemies, were impiety and atheism, which are refuted by Justin in his Apology. In several of the former edicts, the word crime had not been sufficiently determined in its significa- tion. Hence, the Pagan priests, and even the Roman magistrates, frequently applied this term to the profession of Christianity itself. But Antoninus issued an edict, in which he decided the point on the side of humanity and justice. He addressed a letter to the province of Asia, in favour of the persecuted Christians, which is of too much importance to be here omitted. * Eusebius, b. 4. c. 9. and Justin Martyr's First Apology, adjinem. f Decline and Fall, vol. iii. ch. 3. 10* 126 History of the Christian Church. The Emperor to the Common Council of Asia. " I am clearly of opinion, that the gods will take care to discover such persons (as those to whom you refer.) For it much more con- cerns them to punish those who refuse to worship them, than you, if they be able. But you harass and vex the Christians, and accuse them of atheism and other crimes, which you can by no means prove. To them it appears an advantage to die for their religion, and they gain their point, while they throw away their lives, rather than comply with your injunctions. As to the earthquakes, which have happened in times past or more recently, is it not proper to remind you of your own despondency, when they happen ; and to desire you to compare your spirit with theirs, and observe how serenely they confide in God? In such seasons you seem to be ignorant of the gods, and to neglect their worship. You live in the practical ignorance of the supreme God himself, and you harass and persecute to death those who do worship him. Concerning these same men, some others of the pro- vincial governors wrote to our divine father Adrian, to whom he re- turned for answer, ' That they should not be molested, unless they appeared to attempt something against the Roman government.' Many also have made application to me concerning these men, to whom I have returned an answer agreeable to the maxims of my father. But if any person will still persist in accusing the Christians merely as such, let the accused be acquitted, though he appear to be a Christian, and let the accuser be punished." Set up at Ephesus in the Common Assembly of Asia. Letters of similar import were also written to the Larisseans, the Thessalonians, the Athenians, and all the Greeks, as we are informed by Eusebius ; and the humane emperor took care that his edicts were carried into effect. He reigned three' and twenty years, and it seems reasonable to conclude that during the greater part of this time, Chris- tians were permitted to worship God in peace. This must have been a halcyon season to the poor afflicted disciples of Jesus, when they were permitted to sit under their own vine and fig-tree, without fear or molestation ; but it terminated with the life of the elder Antoninus, about the year 162, at which time the government of the empire de- volved wholly upon his late colleague, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. This prince, at the age of twelve years, embraced the rigid system of the stoical philosophy, which he also laboured to inculcate upon the minds of his subjects. He even condescended to read lectures of philosophy to the Roman people, in a manner, says Gibbon, who nevertheless eulogizes his character, more public than was consistent with the modesty of a sage or the dignity of an emperor. Under his reign commenced, what is generally accounted the fourth persecution of the Christians. It is not improbable that he had beheld with an anxious eye, the lenity which had been shown them by his predeces- sors, and that the occasional interruptions that had been given them, The reign of Marcus Jlurelius Antoninus. 127 were, at least, with his connivance. Certain it is, that no sooner had he attained to the full exercise of power, than he completely discarded the tolerant principles of Antoninus Pius, and threw open once more the flood-gates of persecution. The churches of Asia appear to have suffered dreadfully at this period. Polycarp was pastor of the church in Smyrna, an office which he had held for more than eighty years, and which he had filled with honour to himself, to the edification of his Christian brethren, and the glory of his divine Master. It only remained for him now to seal his testimony with his blood. The eminence of his station marked him out as the victim of popular fury. The cry of the multi- tude against Polycarp was, " This is the doctor of Asia, the father of the Christians, the subverter of our gods, who teaches many that they must not perform the sacred rites, nor worship our deities. Aivay U'ith these Atheists." The philosophy of the emperor could not teach him that this pretended atheism was a real virtue, which de- served to be encouraged and propagated amongst mankind. Here rea- son and philosophy failed him ; and his blind attachment to the gods of his country caused him to shed much blood, and to become the destroyer of the saints of the living God !* The friends of Polycarp, anxious for his safety, prevailed on him to withdraw himself from public view, and to retire to a neighbouring village, which he did, continuing with a few of his brethren, day and night, in prayer to God, for the tranquillity of all the churches. The most diligent search was, in the mean time, made for him without effect. But when his enemies proceeded to put some of his brethren to the torture, with the view of compelling them to betray him, he could no longer be prevailed on to remain concealed. " The will of the Lord be done," was his pious ejaculation; on uttering which, he made a voluntary surrender of himself to his persecutors, saluted them with a cheerful countenance, and invited them to refresh themselves at his table, only soliciting from them on his own behalf one hour for prayer. They granted his request, and his devotions were prolonged to double the period, with such sweetness and savour, that all who heard him were struck with admiration, several of the soldiers repent- ing that they were employed against so venerable an old man. His prayer being ended, they set him on an ass, and conveyed him towards the city, being met on the road by Herod the Irenarch, (a kind of jus- tice of the peace) and his father Nicetes, who were chief agents in this persecution.! Many efforts were tried to shake his constancy, and induce him to abjure his profession ; at one time he was threatened by the proconsul with the fury of wild beasts. " Call for them," said Polycarp, " it does not become us to turn from good to evil." " See- ing you make so light of wild beasts," rejoined the magistrate, " I will * This is the emperor, whom Pope has panegyrized in the following' lines — " Who noble ends by noble means obtains, Or, failing, smiles in exile or in chains; Like good Aurelius, let him reign; or bleed Like Socrates; that man is gi-eat indeed." \ Cave's life of Polycarp, p. 53. 128 History of the Christian Church. tarae you with the more terrible punishment of fire." But Polycarp bravely replied, " You threaten me with a fire that is quickly extin- guished, but are ignorant of the eternal fire of God's judgment, reserv- ed for the wicked in the other world. But why do you delay ? order what punishment you please." Thus, finding him impenetrable both to the arts of seduction and the dread of punishment, the fire was com- manded to be lighted, and the body of this venerable father burnt to ashes, in the year 166. Melito was, at this period, pastor of the neighbouring church of Sar- dis. As the rage of persecution grew more violent, he drew up an apology for the Christians, which he presented to the emperor, (A. D. 170,) about the tenth year of his reign, a fragment of which is still preserved in Eusebius. He complains of it as an almost unheard of thing, that pious men were now persecuted, and greatly distressed by new decrees throughout Asia ; that most impudent informers, Avho were greedy of other people's substance, took occasion, from the imperial edicts, to plunder others who were entirely innocent. He then humbly beseeches the emperor that he would not suffer the Christians to be used in so cruel and unrighteous a manner ; that he would vouchsafe to examine the things charged on the Christians, and stop the perse- cution, by revoking the edict published against them ; and reminds him that the Christian religion was so far from being destructive to the Ro- man empire as its enemies suggested, that the latter was much enlarged since the propagation thereof.* In the same year that Polycarp was put to death, (166,) Justin Mar- tyr drew up a Second Apology, which he addressed to the emperor Antoninus, and to the senate of Rome. He states the case of his Chris- tian brethren, complains of the unrighteousness and cruelty with which they were every where treated, in being punished merely because they were Christians, without being accused of any crimes ; answers the usual objections against them", and desires no greater favour than that the world might be really acquainted with their case. His appeal seems to have produced no impression upon those to whom it was addressed. Justin and six of his companions were seized and carried before Rusti- cus, the praefect of the city of Rome, where many attempts were made to persuade them to obey the gods and comply with the emperor's edicts. Their exhortations had no effect. " No man," says Justin, " who is in his right mind can desert the truth to embrace error and impiety." And when threatened, that unless they complied they should be tortured without mercy, "Despatch us as soon as you please," said the disciples, "for we are Christians, and cannot sacrifice to idols." On saying which, the governor pronounced the following sentence, that " for re- fusing to sacrifice to the gods, and to obey the imperial edicts, they should be first scourged and then beheaded according to law," which was immediately carried into effect.t The history of the reign of this philosophic emperor abounds with similar instances of unrelenting cruelty on the part of the magistracy, and of patient suffering for Christ's sake on that of his disciples. Justin • Cave's Life of Melito, and Eusebius, b. 4. ch. 26. j- Cave's Life of Justin. State of the Christians under Aurelius. 129 Martyr, in the account he gives of the martyrdom of Ptolemseus, assures us, that the only question asked him was, " Are you a Christian ?" And upon his confessing that he was one, he was immediately put to death.* Lucius was also put to death for making the same confession, and for asking Urbicus, the prsefect, why he condemned Ptolemy, who was neither convicted of adultery, rape, murder, theft, robbery, nor of any other «rime, but merely for owning himself to be a Christian. Hence, it is sufficiently manifest, that it was the mere name of a Chris- tian that was still made a capital offence, and that while these inhuman proceedings were sanctioned by an emperor who made great pretensions to reason and philosophy, they were carried on for the purpose of sup- porting a system of superstition and idolatry repugnant to every principle of reason and truth. These cruelties were exercised on persons of the most virtuous characters, for their adherence to the worship of the one true God, the first principle of all true religion. How precious, in those times especially, must have been the conso- latory sayings of Jesus Christ; and what but an unshaken confidence in his almighty power and faithfulness, could have supported the hearts of his people in such trying circumstances ?t Towards the close of the reign of this emperor, (A. D. 177,) the flame of persecution reached a country, which had hitherto afforded no materials for ecclesiastical history, viz. the kingdom of France, in those days called Gallia. By whom or by what means, the light of the glo- rious gospel was first conveyed into that country, we have no certain information ; for the first intelligence that we have of the fact itself, arises from the account of a dreadful persecution which came upon the churches of Vienne and Lyons, two cities lying contiguous to each other in that province. Vienne was an ancient Roman colony: Lyons was more modern : and of this latter church, the presbyters or elders were Pothinus and Iraeneus. "Whoever," says Milner, "casts his eye on the map of France, and sees the situation of Lyons, at present the largest and most populous city in the kingdom, except Paris, may observe how favourable the confluence of the Rhine and the Soane, on which it stands, is for the purposes of commerce. The navigation of the Me- diterranean, in all probability, was conducted by the merchants of Lyons and Smyrna, and hence the easy introduction of the gospel from the latter place, and from the other Asiatic churches, is apparent.''^ That it was in some such way as this Christianity was first planted there, seems probable, also from the circumstance, that not only the names of Pothinus and Iraeneus, the pastors of the church at Lyons, are Grecian, but that also the names of several other distinguished persons in these churches prove them to have been of Greek extraction. And when we reflect upon the cruel persecutions by which the friends of Jesus had been harassed both in Greece and Asia Minor, it seems not unreasonable to expect that they should seek an asylum from the storm in these cities. The churches, too, though they appear to have been but recently planted, were evidently very numerous, at the time • Second Apology, ch. 42. f John xiv. 27. ch. xv. 18—23. xvi. 23. xvii, 24. * Church Hist. vol. i. p. 223. 130 History of the Christian Church. this terrible persecution overtook them. When the violence of the storm had in some measure subsided, a pretty copious account of it was drawn up, as is supposed by Iraeneus, in the form of an epistle from the churches of Vienne and Lyons to the brethren in Asia and Phrygia. We are indebted to Eusebius for preserving it from oblivion, in his Ecclesiastical History, and I incline to the judgment of Dr. Lardner when he pronounces it "the finest thing of the kind in all antiquity."* Eusebius gives it as a specimen of what was transacted in other places ; and that the reader may have some notion of the savage rage with which this persecution was carried on, not only with the conni- vance, but with the knowledge and approbation of this philosophic em- peror, I shall give a copious abridgment of the account. The epistle opens with the following simple address. — " The servants of Christ, sojourning in Vienne and Lyons in France, to the brethren in Asia Propria and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope of redemption with us ; peace and grace, and glory, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." They then declare themselves unable to express the greatness of the affliction which the saints in those cities had recently sustained, or the intense animosity of the heathen against them. Christians were absolutely prohibited from ap- pearing in any house, except their own, in baths, in the market, or in any public place whatever. " The first assault came from the people at large — shouts, blows, the dragging of their bodies, the plundering of their goods, casting of stones, with all the indignities that may be ex- pected from a fierce and outrageous multitude — these were magnani- mously sustained. Being then led into the forum by the tribune and the magistrates, they were examined before all the people whether they were Christians ; and on pleading guilty, were shut up in prison until the arrival of the governor. Before him they were at length brought, and "he treated us," say they, " with great savageness of manners." Vettius Epigathus, one of their brethren, a young man full of charity both to God and man — of exemplary conduct — a man ever unwearied in acts of beneficence, was roused at beholding such a manifest perver- sion of justice, and boldly demanded to be heard in behalf of the brethren, pledging himself to prove that there was nothing atheistic or impious among them. " He was a person of quality" — but however equitable his demand was, it only served to excite the clamour of the mob, and to irritate the governor, who merely asked him if he was a Christian, which he confessed in the most open manner, and for which he was immediately executed. Others imitated his confidence and zeal, and suffered with the same alacrity of mind. In process of time, ten of their number lapsed, " whose case," say they, " filled us with great and immeasurable sorrow." This appears to have much dejected the churches, and to have spread a general alarm, " not that we dreaded * Credibility of the Gospel History, part 2. But though I bow with great de- ference to the judgment of Dr. Lardner, I must be allowed to say that the style in which this letter is drawn up does not meet my taste. It is much too laboured to correspond with the melancholy nature of the subject. It is not the simple, natural, unaffected language of a feeling heart. We must, however, remember that Iraneus was a Greek, and that the Greeks were great admirers of eloquence. Persecutions at Lyons and Vtenne. 131 the torment," say they, " with which we are threatened, but because we looked forward unto the end, and feared the danger of apostasy." The vilest calumnies were propagated against them at this time — they were accused of eating human flesh, and of various unnatural crimes ; "of things," say they, " not fit even to be mentioned or imagined, and such as ought not to be believed of mankind." The rabble became in- censed against them even to madness — and the ties of blood, affinity, or friendship, seem to have been wholly disregarded. " Now it was," say they, " that our Lord's word was fulfilled — ' the time will come when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.' " The martyrs sustained tortures which exceed the powers of description. " The whole fury of the multitude, the governor, and the soldiers, was spent in a particular manner on Sanctus, a deacon of the church of Vienne, and on Maturus, a late convert indeed, but a magnanimous wrestler in spiritual things; and on Attalus of Pergamus, a man who had been the pillar and support of our church ; and on Blandina, a fe- male who was most barbarously tortured from morning to night, with the intent of extorting from her a confession which should criminate her brethren; but "it was an evident refreshment, support, and an annihi- lation of all her pains to say, * I am a Christian, and no evil is commit- ted among us.' " The most barbarous indignities were inflicted upon Sanctus the dea- con, to extort from him something injurious to the gospel, which he sustained in a manner more than human ; and such was the firmness with which he resisted the most intense sufferings, that to every ques- tion which was put to him by his tormentors, he had uniformly one reply, " I am a Christian." This provoked the executioners so much, that they applied red hot plates of iron to the tenderest parts of his body, till he was one wound, and scarcely retaining the appearance of the human form. Having left him a few days in this ulcerated condi- tion, they hoped to make him more exquisitely sensible to fresh tor- tures. But the renewal of these while he was dreadfully swelled, was found to have the effect of reducing him to his former shape, and re- storing him to the use of his limbs. Biblias, a female, was one of those who had swerved from her profession at the commencement of the persecution. She was now pitched upon, as being one that was likely to accuse the Christians; and the more effectually to extort from her that confession which they Avished her to make, this weak and ti- morous creature was put to the torture. The fact which was pressed upon her to acknowledge was, that the Christians ate their children. " In her torture she recovered herself," it is said, " and awoke as out of a sleep, and in answer to their interrogations, thus remonstrated, How can we eat infants — we, to whom it is not lawful to eat the blood of beasts."* She now recovered her fortitude, avowed her Christianity, and " was added to the army of martyrs." * A late ecclesiastical historian (Mr. Milner) has the following1 remark upon this passage. "Hence it appears that the eating of blood was not practised among the Christians at Lyons ; and they understood not Christian liberty in this point." But with all due deference to Mr. Milner, one cannot help wishing 132 History of the Christian Church. The ten persons who had swerved from their profession in the hour of trial, and denied that they were Christians, not being credited by the magistrates, were refused the benefit of their recantation. They were insulted for their cowardice, and led to punishment along with the rest, as murderers, though not as Christians, on the evidence which had been produced of their eating human flesh. They proceeded with countenances full of shame and dejection, while those who suffer- ed for their attachment to Christianity, appeared cheerful and coura- geous, so that the difference between them was perceptible to all the by-standers. After this, no Christian who was apprehended, renounced his profession, but persevered in it to the last. The populace becoming clamorous to have the Christians thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre, that favourite spectacle was at length provided for them on this occasion, and Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus, were brought out for this purpose. But pre- vious to the wild beasts being produced, Maturus and Sanctus were put to the torture in the amphitheatre, as if it had not been applied to them before ; and every thing that an enraged multitude called for hav- ing been tried upon them, they were at last roasted in an iron chair, till they sent forth the offensive effluvia of burnt flesh. Upon Sanc- tus, however, the only effect produced was a declaration of his former confession, that he was a Christian ; and at length death terminated his sufferings. Blandina was then produced, and on being fastened to a stake, a wild beast was let loose upon her ; but this she bore with the greatest composure ; and, by her prayers, encouraged others to bear with for- titude whatever might befal them; but, as the wild beast did not med- dle with her, she was remanded back to prison. At length, Attalus was loudly called for; and he was accordingly led round the amphitheatre, Avith a board held before him, on which was that he had shown us, " Who gave Christians the liberty of eating things strang- led and blood." Nothing can be more express than the prohibition, Acts xv. 28, 29. Can those who plead their " Christian liberty" in regard to this matter, point us to any part of the word of God, in which this prohibition is subsequently annulled > If not, may we be allowed to ask, "By what authority, except his own, can any of the laws of God be repealed ?" Mr. M. held that " the church has power to decree rites and ceremonies, and to settle controversies in matters of faith ;" and doubtless, that church which has power to make new laws in Christ's kingdom, cannot want authority to abolish old ones ; but where they ob- tained this power and authority, we have yet to learn. The following remark of a sensible writer shows, that he is far from agreeing with Mr. Milner in thinking that blood eating is any part of Christian liberty. "This (i. e. eating the blood of animals) being forbidden to Noah, appears also to have been forbidden to all mankind ; nor ought this prohibition to be treated as belonging to the ceremonies of the Jewish dispensation. It was not only en- joined before that dispensation existed, but was enforced upon the Gentile Chris- tians by the decrees of the apostles, Acts xv. 20. To allege, as some do, our Lord's words, « that it is not that which goeth into a man which defileth him,' would equally justify the practice of cannibals in eating human flesh. — Blood is the life, and God seems to claim it as sacred to himself. Hence, in all the sacri- fices, the blood was poured out before the Lord, and in the sacrifice of Christ, he shed his blood, or poured out his soul unto death." Fuller's Disc, on Gen. ix. 3, 4. Persecution at Lyons and Vienne. 133 inscribed, This is Attalus the Christian. It appearing, however, that he was a Roman citizen, the president remanded him to prison, until the emperor's pleasure should be known concerning him and others who were in the same predicament. In this respite they so en- couraged many who had hitherto declined this glorious combat, as it was justly called, that great numbers voluntarily declared themselves Christians. The emperor's answer was, that they who confessed themselves to be Christians should be put to death ; but that those who denied it should be set at liberty. Upon this, a public assembly was convened, attended by a vast concourse of people, before whom the confessors were produced, when such of them as were found to be Roman citi- zens were beheaded, and the rest thrown to the wild beasts. But to the astonishment of all present, many who had previously renounced their Christianity, and were now produced only to be set at liberty, revoked their recantation, and, declaring themselves Christians, suffer- ed with the rest. These had been greatly encouraged to do so, by Alexander, a Phrygian, who had shown himself particularly solicitous for the perseverance of his brethren. The multitude became greatly enraged at this ; and Alexander being called before the tribunal, and confessing himself a Christian, he was sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts ; and on the following day he was produced in the amphitheatre for that purpose, together with Attalus, whom the people had insisted upon being brought out once more. Previous to their exposure to the wild beasts they were sub- jected to a variety of tortures, and at last run through with a sword. During all this Alexander said nothing, but evinced the greatest firm- ness of mind. And, when Attalus was placed in the iron chair, he on- ly said, in allusion to the vulgar charge against the Christians of those days, of murdering and eating infants, " This, Avhich is your own practice, is to devour men ; we neither eat men, nor practise any other wickedness." On the last day of the show, Blandina was again produced, together with a young man of the name of Ponticus, about fifteen years of age, who had been brought out daily to be a spectator of the sufferings of others. This youth, being required to acknowledge the heathen dei- ties, and refusing to do so, the multitude had no compassion for either of them, but subjected them to the whole circle of tortures, till Ponticus expired in them ; and Blandina, having been scourged, and placed in the hot iron chair, was put into a net, and exposed to a bull ; and after being tossed for some time by the furious animal, she was at length despatched with a sword. The spectators acknowledged that they had never known any female bear torture with such fortitude. When this scene was over, the multitude continued to show their rage by abusing the dead bodies of the Christians. Those who had been suffocated in prison were thrown to the dogs, and watched day and night, lest their friends should bury them. The same was done with the bodies that were left unconsumed by fire ; that had been man- gled or burned, with the heads only of some, and the trunks of others. 12 134 History of the Christian Church. Even in this horrid state the heathens insulted them, by asking where was their God, and what their religion had done for them. The man- gled carcasses having been exposed in this manner for six days, were then burned ; and being reduced to ashes, the latter was cast into the river, to disappoint them, as was fondly imagined, of their hopes of a resurrection. From what was done in this place, says Eusebius, we may form an estimate of what was transacted in others.* The prisons were now glutted with the multitude of the Christians — they were thrust into the darkest and most loathsome cells, and num- bers were suffocated ; even " young men who had been lately seized, and whose bodies had been unexercised with sufferings, unequal to the severity of the confinement, expired." Pothinus, one of the elders of the church at Lyons, upwards of ninety years of age, though very in- firm and asthmatic, was dragged before the tribunal; "his body," says the narrative, " worn out indeed with age and disease, yet he retained a soul through which Christ might triumph." After being grossly ill- treated by the soldiers and the rabble, who unmercifully dragged him about, insulting him in the vilest manner, without the least respect to his age, pelting him with whatever came first to hand, and every one looking upon himself as deficient in zeal if he did not insult him in some way or other; he was thrown into prison, and after languishing two days, expired. These few instances, which indeed are but little in comparison of the horrid barbarities detailed in this letter, may, however, give the reader some idea of this dreadful persecution, which, lamentable to tell, received the express sanction of the philosophic emperor, Marcus Au- relius. " He sent orders," says the letter, " that the confessors of Christ should be put to death ; and that the apostates from their divine Master should be dismissed." Such proceedings, as Mosheim pro- perly remarks, will be an indelible stain upon the memory of the prince by whose order they w"ere carried on. His death, however, which took place in the year 180, put a period to this fiery trial, which, with scarcely any intermission, had raged in one quarter or other during a period of eighteen years. SECTION III. SKETCH OF THE STATE OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE DEATH OF MARCUS AURELIUS TO THE TIME OF CONSTANTINE. A. D. 180 306. Atjrelius was succeeded in the government of the empire by his son Commodus, during whose reign of nearly thirteen years, the Christians enjoyed a large portion of external peace, and their num- bers were every where multiplied to a vast extent. The character of this young prince formed a contrast to that of his father : he was not * Euseb. Hist. b. v. ch. 1. Death of Pertinax, and Reign of Severus. 135 only an epicure, but, as Gibbon allows, "he attained the summit of vice and infamy." Historians attribute the toleration which he grant- ed the Christians, to the influence which Marcia, his favourite concu- bine, had obtained over his mind. She is said to have had a predilec- tion for their religion, and to have employed her interest with Com- modus in their behalf. There is nothing incredible in this, unless in- deed the character of that lady should be thought incompatible with it. The Lord, in whose hand are the hearts of all men, and who turns them as the rivers of water, frequently sends his people relief in the most unexpected manner, and by means from which they would least apprehend it — thus impressing upon their minds a conviction of his own dominion and sovereignty, and of their entire dependence upon him. In the year 192, Commodus was put to death, in consequence of a conspiracy raised against him by his own domestics ; when the choice of a successor fell upon Pertinax, praefect of the city, an ancient senator of consular rank, whose conspicuous merit had broke through the ob- scurity of his birth, and raised him to the first honours of the state. The reign of this amiable prince, however, proved of short duration ; for on the 28th of March, of the same year, only eighty-six days after the death of Commodus, a general conspiracy broke out in the Roman camp, which the officers wanted either the power or inclination to sup- press, and the emperor fell a victim to the rebellious fury of the Prae- torian guards. On the death of Pertinax the sovereign power devolved upon Se- verus, who, during the persecution of the churches of Lyons and Vienne, had sustained the rank of governor of that province. In the first years of his reign, he permitted the Christians to enjoy a continu- ance of that toleration which had been extended to them by Commo- dus and Pertinax. But the scene changed towards the latter end of this century, and about the tenth year of his reign, which falls in with the year 202, his native ferocity of temper broke out afresh, and kin- dled a very severe persecution against the Christians. He was then recently returned from the east, victorious ; and the pride of prosperity induced him to forbid the propagation of the gospel. He passed a law by which every subject of the empire was prohibited from changing the religion of his ancestors for that of the Christian or Jewish. Christians, however, still thought it right to obey God rather than man. Severus persisted, and exercised the usual cruelties. At this time Asia, Egypt, and the other provinces were deluged with the blood of the martyrs, as appears from the testimonies of Tertullian, Clemens of Alexandria, and other writers. It was this series of calamities, dur- ing which, Leonides, the father of Origen, and Irenaeus, pastor of the chureh at Lyons, suffered martyrdom, that induced Tertullian to write his Apology, and several other books in defence of the Christians. The mention of Tertullian naturally directs our attention to the pro- gress of Christianity, in a region which we have hitherto had no occa- sion to notice, viz. the Roman province of Africa. This whole coun- try, once the scene of Carthaginian greatness, abounded with Chris- tians in the second century ; though of the manner in which the gos- 136 History of the Christian Church. pel was introduced, and of the proceedings of its first preachers there, we have no account. A numerous church existed at Carthage in the latter end of the second and beginning of the third century, of which Tertullian was one of the pastors. He may be said to have flourished from the year 194 to 220, though, if we xn^y rely on the correctness of some of our historians, " he exhibited a striking instance, how much wisdom and weakness, learning and ignorance, faith and folly, truth and error, goodness and delusion, may be mixed up in the composi- tion of the same person."* His works, which were written in Latin, have been handed down to us ; and it certainly is matter of regret, that, in general, the subjects on which he wrote, are not more impor- tant. Nor can it be denied, that there was much of the ascetic in his composition. He seems to have been deeply impressed with appre- hensions that a spirit of lukewarmness and indifference was coming upon the churches, and with the fear of their being infected by the customs of the Pagans around them, which he laboured to counteract by enforcing a discipline rigorous in the extreme. It is, however, due to him to say, that he defended, with great clearness and ability, the doctrine of the revealed distinction in the Godhead, against Praxeas, who had propagated sentiments subversive of the Christian faith. In that work he treats of the Trinity in Unity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — yet one God ; — of the Lord Jesus Christ as both God and man ; as at once the Son of man, and the Son of God ; — and of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter and Sanctifier of believers ; and this he describes as the rule of faith which had obtained from the beginning of the gospel. But his Apology for the Christians is an invaluable treatise ; it ex- hibits a most pleasing view of the spirit and behaviour of the disciples of Jesus at that time, and of their adherence to the faith, order, and discipline of the churches planted by the apostles. The reader will not be displeased at my introducing in this place, the following inter- esting sentences ; it is however proper to premise, that I give them rather as an abridgment, than as an exact transcript of my author, though his ideas are carefully preserved. "We pray for the safety of the emperors to the eternal God, the true, the living God, whom emperors themselves would desire to be propitious to them, above all others who are called gods. We, looking up to heaven, with outstretched hands, because they are harmless, with naked heads, because we are not ashamed, without a prompter, because we pray from the heart ; constantly pray for all emperors and kings, that they may have a long life, a secure empire, a safe palace, strong armies, a faithful senate, a well moralized people, a quiet state of the world: whatever Caesar would wish for himself in his public or private capacity. I cannot solicit these things from any other than from Him from whom I know I shall obtain them, if I ask agreeably to his will ; because he alone can do these things : and I expect them from him, being his servant, who worship him alone, and am ready to lose my life in his service. Thus, then, let the claws of * Haweis's Church History, vol. i. p. 192. TertulUari's Apology. 137 wild beasts pierce us, or their feet trample on us, while our hands are stretched out to God : let crosses suspend us, let fires consume us, let swords pierce our breasts — a praying Christian is in a frame for endur- ing any thing. How is this, ye generous riders ? Will ye kill the good subjects who supplicate God for the emperor ? Were we dis- posed to return evil for evil, it were easy for us to avenge the injuries which we sustain. But God forbid that his people should vindicate themselves by human force ; or be reluctant to endure that by which their sincerity is evinced. Were we disposed to act the part, I will not say of secret assassins, but of open enemies, should we want forces and numbers ? It is true we are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all your towns, cities, islands, castles, boroughs, councils, camps, courts, palaces, senate, forum ;* we leave yon only your tern- pies. For what war should we not be ready and well prepared, even though unequal in numbers ; we, who die with so much pleasure, were it not that our religion requires us rather to suffer death than to inflict it? If we were to make a general secession from your domi- nions, you would be astonished at your solitude. We are dead to all ideas of worldly honour and dignity, nothing is more foreign to us than political concerns ; the whole world is our republic. " We are a body united in one bond of religion, discipline, and hope. We meet in our assemblies for prayer. We are compelled to have re- course to the divine oracles for caution and recollection on all occasions. We nourish our faith by the Avord of God ; we erect our hope, we fix our confidence, we strengthen our discipline, by repeatedly inculcating precepts, exhortations, corrections, and by excommunication when it is needful. This last, as being in the sight of God, is of great weight; and is a serious warning of the future judgment, if any one behave in so scandalous a manner as to be debarred from holy communion. Those who preside among us, are elderly persons, not distinguished for opu- lence, but worthiness of character. Every one pays something into the public chest once a month, or when he pleases, and according to his ability and inclination, for there is no compulsion. These gifts are, as it were, the deposit of piety. Hence we relieve and bury the needy ; support orphans and decrepit persons ; those who have suffered ship- wreck, and those who, for the word of God, are condemned to the mines or imprisonment. This very charity of ours has caused us to be noticed by some : " See (say they) how these Christians love one another" "But we Christians look upon ourselves, as one body, informed as it were by one soul ; and, being thus incorporated by love, we can never dispute what we are to bestow upon our own members. And is it any * I cannot but think that this language of Tertullian is much too strong, and that the reader who would not be misled, should receive it with some degree of qualification. There can be no doubt that the profession of Christianity had spread extensively at the commencement of the third century: but Paganism was still the religion of the empire; and if any reliance can be placed upon Gib- bon's calculation as it respects this matter, " not more than a twentieth part of the subjects of the Roman empire had enlisted themselves under the banners of the cross before the conversion of Constantine." 12* 138 History of the Christian Church. great wonder, that such charitable brethren as enjoy all things in com- mon, should have such frequent love-feasts 1 For this it is you traduce us, and reflect upon our little frugal suppers, not only as infamously wicked, but as scandalously excessive. The nature of this supper you may understand by its name, for it is the Greek Avord for love. We Christians think we can never be too expensive, because we consider all to be gain that is laid out in doing good. "When therefore we are at the charge of an entertainment, it is to refresh the bowels of the Weedy. We feed the hungry, because we know God takes a peculiar delight in seeing us do it. If, therefore, we feast only with such brave and excellent designs, I leave you from thence to guess at the rest of our discipline in matters of pure religion. Nothing earthly, nothing un- clean, has ever admittance here. Our soids ascend in prayer to God, before we sit down to meat. We eat only what suffices nature, and drink no more than is strictly becoming chaste and regular persons. We sup as servants that know we must wake in the night to the ser- vice of our Master, and discourse as those who remember that they are in the hearing of God. When supper is ended, every one is invited forth to sing praises to God ; and by this you may judge of the measure of drinking at a Christian feast. As Ave begin, so Ave conclude all with prayer, and depart with the same tenor of temperance and modesty Ave came : as men Avho have not so properly been drinking, as imbibing religion."* There is something noble in the folloAving appeal, with which Ter- tullian closes his Apology. "And now, O worshipful judges, proceed Avith your show of jus- tice, and believe me, ye will be still more and more just in the opinion of the people, the oftener you make them a sacrifice of Christians. Crucify, torture, condemn, grind us all to powder if you can; your in- justice is an illustrious proof of our innocence, and for the proof of this it is that God permits us to suffer ; and by your late condemnation of a Christian woman to the lust of a pander, rather than the rage of a lion, you notoriously confess that such a pollution is more abhorred by a Christian, than all the torments and deaths you can heap upon ber. But do your Avorst, and rack your inventions for tortures for Christians. 'Tis all to no purpose ; you do but attract the notice of the Avorld, and make it fall the more in love with our religion. The more you mow us down, the thicker Ave spring up — the Christian blood you spill, is like the seed you sow ; it springs from the earth again and fructifies the more. That Avhich you reproach in us as stubbornness, has been the most instructive mistress in proselyting the world — for Avho has not been struck with the sight of what you call stubbornness, and from thence prompted to look into the reality and grounds of it ; and Avhoever looked Avell into our religion that did not embrace it ? and whoever embraced it [oh proper grounds] that Avas not ready to die for it? For this reason it is that we thank you for condemning us, because there is such a happy variance and disagreement between the Divine and human judgment, that Avhen you condemn us upon earth, God absolves us in heaven." Minucius Felix was contemporary Avith Tertullian, and rather be- * Reeves's Apologies, vol. i. p. 302 — 339. Tlie Jlpology of Mvnucius Felix. 139 fore than after him. He had been a Roman orator, but, being converted to the Christian faith, he wrote an eloquent and learned defence of that religion, which Dr. Lardner thinks was published about the year 210. This work is in the form of dialogue, between Caecilius, a heathen, and Octavius, a Christian — Miuucius sitting as umpire between them. The style of Minucius possesses all the charms of Ciceronian eloquence; nor would it be an easy task for any translator of him to do justice to his original. Caecilius, the heathen, in along and declamatory harangue, brings forward all the common-place calumnies of his predecessors, and accuses the Christians as a desperate and unlawful faction, who poured contempt upon their deities, derided their worship, scoffed at their priests, and despised their temples as no better than charnel-houses and heaps of dead men's bones. Octavms, having patiently listened to this severe philippic, addresses himself to Minucius, and tells him, that he shall endeavour to the best of his ability, by stating the truth, to ex- onerate his religion from the foul aspersions cast upon it by his opponent. He does not deny the fact, that the Christians poured contempt upon the gods of the heathen. On the contrary, he freely admits it, and pro- ceeds to evince the vanity of the worship of their images. " The mice," says he, " the swallows, and the bats, gnaw, insult, and sit upon your gods ; and, unless you drive them away, they build their nests in their mouths ; the spiders weave their webs over their faces. You first make them, then clean, wipe, and protect them, that you may fear and wor- ship them. Should Ave view all your rites, there are many things which justly deserve to be laughed at — others that call for pity and compassion." He then proceeds to discuss the subject with his opponent in regu- lar order. He shows that man differs from the other creatures on this lower world chiefly in this, that while the beasts of the field are creat- ed prone to the earth, bent downward by nature, and formed to look no further than the good of their bellies — man was created erect and up- right, formed for the contemplation of the heavens, susceptible of rea- son and conscience— calculated to lead him to the knowledge and imi- tation of God. Hence he infers the absurdity of atheism and the ne- cessity of a great first cause, as one of the clearest dictates of reason and conscience. " When you lift up your eyes to heaven," says he, "and survey the works of creation around you, what is so clear and unde- niable, as that there is a God, supremely excellent in understanding, who inspires, moves, supports, and governs all nature. Consider the vast expanse of heaven, and the rapidity of its motion either when stud- ded with stars by night, or enlightened with the sun by day ; contem- plate the Almighty hand which poises them in their orbs, and balances them in their movement. Behold how the sun regulates the year by its annual circuit, and how the moon measures round a month by its increase, its decay, and its total disappearance. Why need I mention the constant vicissitudes of light and darkness, for the alternate repara- tion of rest and labour? Does not the standing variety of seasons, pro- ceeding in goodly order, bear witness to its divine Author? The spring with her flowers, the summer with her harvest, the ripening autumn with her grateful fruits, and the moist and unctuous winter, are all 140 History of the Christian Church. equally necessary. What an argument for providence is this, which interposes and moderates the extremes of winter and summer with the allays of spring and autumn — thus enabling us to pass the year about with security and comfort, between the extremes of parching heat and of cold? Observe the sea, and you will find it bounded with a shore, a law which it cannot transgress. Look into the vegetable world, and see how all the trees draw their life from the bowels of the earth. View the ocean, in constant ebb and flow ; and the fountains, running in full veins ; with the rivers, perpetually gliding in their wonted chan- nels. Why should I take up time in showing how providentially this spot of earth is cantoned into hills, and dales, and plains? What need I speak of the various artillery for the defence of every animal — some armed with horns and hedged about with teeth, or fortified with hoofs and claws, or speared with stings, while others are swift of foot or of wing? But, above all, the beautiful structure of man most plainly speaks a God. Man, of stature straight, and countenance erect, with eyes placed above, like centinels, watching over the other senses within the tower." This may furnish a specimen of the elegant style, and powerful reasoning of this early Christian writer, in behalf of the existence of a great first cause and of a providence — in the clearness and force of which it may be fairly doubted if he has ever been surpassed by any who have come after him. Adverting to the accusation, that the Christians were in general a poor and despicable race of men, their apologist replies, " That the most of us are poor, is not our dishonour, but our glory. The mind, as it is dissipated by luxury, so it is strengthened by frugality. But how can a man be poor, who wants nothing, who covets not what is another's, who is rich towards God? That man is rather poor, who, when he has much, desires more. No man can be so poor as when he was born. The birds live without any patrimony ; the beasts find pasture every day, and we feed upon them. Indeed they are created for our use, which, while we do not covet, we enjoy. That man goes happier to heaven, who is not burdened with an unnecessary load of riches. Did we think estates to be useful to us, we would beg them of God, who, being Lord of all, would afford us what is necessary. But we choose rather to contemn riches than to possess them, preferring innocence and patience to them, and desiring rather to be good than prodigal. Our courage is increased by infirmities, and affliction is often the school of virtue." Athenagoras lived in the reigns of Adrian and the Antonines. He was, in his j^ounger days, a heathen philosopher, and designing to write against the Christians, sat down to read their Scriptures, with the view of making his work more complete. A diligent inquiry into the divine oracles, however, brought him over to that faith which he wished to destroy. He drew up an Apology for the Christians, ad- dressed to Marcus Aurelius, in which he complains, that while the other subjects of the Roman government were freely permitted to wor- ship the deities according to their own voluntary choice, the Chris- tians alone, whose worship was pure, simple, and worthy of the Dei- Apology of Athena gor as. 141 ty, were not only denied this privilege, but were most unjustly ma- ligned, slandered, and persecuted. He vindicates them from the charge of atheism, of which they were accused by their heathen adversaries ; refutes the calumny of their eating human flesh, and the impure and unnatural connections with which they were charged, by showing the sanctity of their doctrines, and the purity and innocence of their lives. " Why should you be offended at our very name?" says he, " the bare name does not deserve your hatred ; it is wickedness alone that de- serves punishment. If we are convicted of any crime, less or more, let us be punished, but not merely for the name of a Christian ; for no Christian can be a bad man, unless lie acts contrary to his profession. We are accused, ' that we do not worship the same gods as your ci- ties, and offer them sacrifices.' But consider, O emperor, that the Ma- ker and Governor of this world stands in no need of blood and sweet- smelling incense ; he delights in himself, nothing is wanting in him. The sacrifice he demands is a rational and acceptable service." Again, " There is an infamous report," says he, "that we are guilty of three great crimes, viz. impiety against the gods, feeding on mur- dered infants, and of incestuous copulations. If these be true, spare neither age nor sex ; punish us, with our wives and children ; extir- pate us out of the world, if any among us live as beasts, (though even the beasts of the field do not these abominable things.) But if any man be baser than a beast, to commit such wickedness, let him be punished for it. If these, however, be false and scandalous calumnies against us, notice them as such. Inquire into our lives, into our opinions, in- to our obedience to authority, our concern for your person and govern- ment; allow us only that common justice and equity you grant your enemies, and we ask no more, being assured of the victory, and are willing to lay down our lives for the truth."* Lastly, in vindication of their manner of life, Athenagoras says, " Among us the meanest day-labourers, and old women, though not able to dispute about their profession, yet can demonstrate its useful- ness in their lives and good works. They do not, indeed, critically weigh their words, and recite elegant orations, but they manifest ho- nest and virtuous actions, while being buffeted they strike not again, nor sue those at law who spoil and plunder them ; they give liberally to those that ask, and love their neighbour as themselves. Thus we do, because we are assured that there is a God who superintends hu- man affairs, who made both us and the whole world, and to whom we must at last give an account of all the actions of our lives."! * Athenagoras' I.egatio pro Christianis, c. 4. f It has been made a question by some, how far it is probable the apologies which were, from time to time, drawn up by the Christians and addressed to the emperors, ever reached the hands of those monarchs. But with all their pomp and mightiness, there is good reason to think that the Roman emperors were more accessible than many of the petty sovereigns of Europe are in the present day. Augustus, for example, suffered all sorts of persons to approach him ; and when a poor man once offered him a petition in a timorous manner, with a hand half extended and half drawn back, the emperor jested widi him, and told him he looked as if he was giving an halfpenny to an elephant. — Jortin's Remarks. 142 History of the Christian Church. These are, unquestionably, triumphant appeals, and reflect the high- est honour on the Christians of those clays. But, however eloquent and forcible, they appear to have been little regarded by the rulers and magistrates. We have taken a review of the state of things through- out the second century ; and painful as the recital is, we shall find that matters were little, if at all improved, during some parts of the third, on which we are now entering. " That the Christians suffered in this century," says Mosheim, "calamities and injuries of the most dreadful kind, is a matter that admits of no debate; nor was there, indeed, any period of it in which they were not exposed to perpetual dangers. The law which Severus had enacted, forbidding his subjects to change their religion, was, in its effects, most prejudicial to the Christians; for though it did not formally condemn them, and seemed only adapted to put a stop to the further progress of the gospel, yet it induced rapacious and unjust magistrates to persecute, even unto death, the poorer sort among the Christians ; that thus the richer might be led, through fear of similar treatment, to purchase their safety at an expensive rate." It seems to have been during the reign of Severus, that the martyr- dom of Perpetua and Felicitas, with that of their companions, took place at Carthage, in Africa, the residence of Tertullian, about the year 202. The account is too interesting to be omitted; and it will serve, in addition to the history already detailed of the transactions at Lyons and Vienne, to give a clear idea of the manner in which these ancient persecutions were wont to be conducted. Augustine refers to the case of Perpetua, in his Works, vol. vii. p. 304 ; and Fleury has also given a copious account of the subject, vol. i. b. vi. On this occasion, three young men, whose names were Saturninus, Secundulus, and Revocatus, were apprehended on a charge of being Christians, (probably occasioned by a rumour that they were all of them about to be baptized and added to the church,) and along with them, two females of the name of Felicitas and Perpetua; the latter a widow of the age of twenty-two, of a good family, and well educated, having a father and mother living, besides two brothers, and an infant at the breast. The father of Perpetua, Avho alone of all the family con- tinued a heathen, no sooner heard that his daughter was informed against, than he had recourse to every method of persuasion and even of compulsion, to induce her to desist from her purpose of suffering martyrdom; so that she rejoiced when he left her, and in this interval she and the rest were baptized. Some days afterward, they were all thrown into prison, where the treatment she met with very much af- fected her at first, particularly the darkness of the place, the heat occa- sioned by the number of prisoners, the rudeness of the soldiers, and especially her anxiety about her child. Two of the deacons of the church, however, Tertius and Pomponius, who ministered to their wants, procured by the influence of money the removal of all the Chris- tian prisoners into a more airy part of the prison, where Perpetua had the opportunity of suckling her child, which was ready to die for want thereof. In this situation, she comforted her mother, and encouraged her brother, entrusting to him the care of her infant son; and was, ac- cording to her own expression, as happy as if she had been in a palace. Persecution at Carthage. 1 43 At this time she had a remarkable dream, from which she inferred that she should certainly suffer ; but by which she was nevertheless greatly encouraged in her resolution. , ; A few days after this, a report was prevalent, that these Christian prisoners would soon be called before the governor; on which her fa- ther, overwhelmed with grief, came to her, entreating her to have com- passion on his grey hairs, and on her mother, brothers, and child, which he said could not survive her. This he did, kissing her hands, and throwing himself at her feet, evincing stronger affection for her than he had before done. This much increased her concern; add to which, that he was the only relative she had who would not think themselves, in reality, honoured by her conduct. To all his entreaties, however, she uniformly returned this answer, that she was not at her own disposal, but at that of God. On the ensuing day, while she and her friends were dining, they were summoned to an audience in the public forum, where a prodigious crowd was assembled. Here all her fellow prisoners confessed that they were Christians ; but before Perpetua had an opportunity of doing it in the customary form, her father presented himself, holding her child in his arms, and supplicating her to have compassion upon him. In these entreaties he was joined by Hilarianus, the procurator, who besought her to think of her aged father and her own child, and to sa- crifice for the safety of the emperor. She only answered, that she was a Christian, and could not do it. After this the father was commanded to desist; but showing a reluc- tance to retire, one of the lictors struck him with a rod, which affected her, she said, as much as if she had herself been struck. However, having all made their confession, they were sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts ; notwithstanding which they returned to the prison filled with joy. Perpetua now sent Pomponius, the deacon, to request that her child might be sent to her, that as heretofore she might have the privilege of suckling it; but that indulgence was denied her. She bore the disappointment, however, with fortitude, even greater than she herself could have expected. After a few days, Pudeus, the jailer, being favourably inclined to- wards them, gave permission to their friends to visit them, and when the time of exhibition drew near, the father of Perpetua also renewed his visit. He now threw himself upon the ground, tore his beard, leaving nothing either to be said or done which he thought could tend to move her ; but without any other effect than to excite her pity to- wards him. The author of the narrative next proceeds to give an account of some of the other prisoners; and the case of Felicitas is almost as interesting as that of Perpetua. Being eight months advanced in pregnancy, she was fearful lest her execution should be put off till another time, and that then she should die in the company of ordinary malefactors. Her companions also were affected at the reflection of going without her. Three days before the exhibition, however, she was delivered ; and, being in great pain, those who were about her, asked how she would be able to endure the being exposed to wild beasts, when she was so 144 History of the Christian Church. much affected with the pains of child-birth. She replied, that in this case she was left to herself, but that in her other sufferings she should have another to support her, even Him for whom she suffered. Being delivered of a daughter, a sister of her's undertook to bring it up. Secundulus died in prison ; but they had been joined by another of their friends called Saturus, who, after they were apprehended, had voluntarily surrendered himself. The day preceding the exhibition, they all joined in a love-feast with their Christian friends who had permission to visit them, in the presence of many strangers whom curiosity had brought to the place. To those the prisoners expressed great joy in the idea of their ap- proaching sufferings, and endeavoured to engage their attention to the great cause for which they were about to suffer. Saturus bade them observe their countenances, that they might know them all again the next day. From this extraordinary spectacle, the strangers retired with marks of astonishment, and many of them afterwards became con- verts. When the day of exhibition arrived, they all went from the prison, with erect and cheerful countenances, trembling, says our author, with joy rather than with fear. In particular, Perpetua walked in such a manner as struck the spectators with particular respect ; and Felici- tas rejoiced that, being delivered of her child, she should accompany her friends to this glorious combat. On reaching the gate of the am- phitheatre, the officers, according to custom, began to clothe the men in the dresses of the priests of Saturn, and the women in those of the priestesses of Ceres. But when they remonstrated against the in- justice of being compelled by force to do that, for refusing which they were willing to lay down their lives, the tribune granted them the privilege of dying in their own habits. They then entered the amphitheatre ; when Perpetua advanced singing hymns, and her three male companions solemnly exhorted the people as they went along. Coming in view of the propraetor, they said, " You judge us, but God will judge you." This so enraged the populace that, at their request, all the three were scourged ; but in this they rejoiced, as having the honour to share in one part of the suffer- ings of their Saviour. When the wild beasts were let loose, Saturninus according to a wish which he had previously expressed, died by the attack of several of them rushing upon him at the same time ; and Revocatus was killed by a leopard and a bear. Saturus was first exposed to a wild bear ; but while the attending officer was gored by the animal so that he died on the following day, he himself was only dragged about, and not ma- terially hurt. A bear too, to which he was next exposed, would not go out of its den to meddle with him. He was, however, thrown in the way of a leopard, towards the end of the exhibition, and so much blood gushed out at one of his bites, that the spectators ridiculed him, as being baptized with blood. Not being quite killed, he, when the animal was withdrawn, addressed Pudeus, the jailer, exhorting him to steadfastness in the faith, and not to be disheartened by his sufferings. He even took a ring from his finger, and dipping it in one of his wounds, gave it to him as a pledge. Persecution at Carthage. 145 Perpetua and Felicitas were first enclosed in a net, and then exposed to a wild cow. But this sight struck the spectators with horror, as the former was a delicate woman, and the breasts of the latter were stream- ing with milk after her delivery. They were therefore recalled, and exposed in a common loose dress. Perpetua was first tossed by the beast ; and, being thrown down, she had the presence of mind to compose her dress as she lay on the ground. Then rising, and see- ing Felicitas much more torn than herself, she gave her her hand, and assisted her to rise ; and for some time they both stood together, near the gate of the amphitheatre. Thither Perpetua sent for her brother, and exhorted him to continue firm in the faith, to love his fellow Christians, and not to be discouraged by her sufferings. Being all in a mangled condition, they were now taken to the usual place of execution, to be despatched with a sword ; but the populace requesting that they should be removed to another place, where the execution might be seen to more advantage, they got up of their own accord to go thither. Then, having given each other the kiss of cha- rity, they quietly resigned themselves to their fate. In walking, Saturus had supported Perpetua, and he expired the first. She was observed to direct a young and ignorant soldier, who was appointed to be her executioner, in what manner he should perform his office.* In the year 211, the tyrant Severus died, after a reign of eighteen years, and the church found repose and tranquillity under his son and successor. Caracalla, though, in other respects, a monster of wicked- ness, whose life, says Gibbon, disgraced human nature ; yet he neither oppressed the Christians himself, nor permitted any others to treat them with cruelty or injustice. And though few men have ever ex- ceeded him in the ferocious vices, nevertheless, during the six years and two months that he reigned, the disciples found in him friendship and protection. Macrinus, who from an obscure extraction had been raised to an elevated rank in the Roman army, and who had been accessary to the death of Caracalla, was elected by the army to fill the imperial throne ; but he had reigned only one year and two months, when he was suc- ceeded by Heliogabalus, a youth of fifteen, whose follies and vices were infamous ; and, although, as Mosheim says, perhaps the most odious of all mortals, yet he showed no marks of bitterness or aversion to the disciples of Christ. He was slain at the age of eighteen, hav- ing reigned three years and nine months, and was succeeded, in the year 222, by his cousin, Alexander Severus, who was then only in the sixteenth year of his age ; a prince distinguished by a noble as- semblage of illustrious virtues, and esteemed one of the best characters in profane history. He did not indeed abrogate the existing laws * Opuscula tria veterum auctorum, Fastidii Episcofi Passio S. S. Martyrum Peb.fetu.s5 et Felicitatis, &.c. a Luca Holstenio, 8vo. Rom. 1663. The editor of this publication, Lucas Holstenius, was Keeper of the Vatican Library, at Rome, a person of great learning1, and the friend of our poet Milton. He stu- died three years at Oxford, and had a great esteem and affection for Milton, who visited him at Rome, and received many civilities from him there. See Bp. New- ton's Life of Wilton, prefixed to his edition of Paradise Lost. 8vo. p. 13. 13 146 History of the Christian Church. against the Christians, which accounts for the mention of a few mar- tyrdoms under his administration. He nevertheless showed them, in various ways, and on many occasions, unequivocal testimonies of kind- ness and regard. Some attribute this to the instructions and counsels of his mother Julia Mammaea, for whom he had a high degree of love and veneration ; and who was herself favourably disposed towards the Christians. Being at Antioch with her son, A. D. 229, she sent for the renowned Origen, who resided at Alexandria, to come to her, that she might enjoy the pleasure and advantages of his conversation. It does not appear that either the emperor or his mother, so far under- stood and believed the Christian doctrine as to make an open profes- sion of it, though their favourable sentiments induced them to tolerate the sect, during their lives, which were prolonged to the year 235, when they were both put to death in a conspiracy raised by Maximin, a man who had risen from the humblest ranks of life to a dignified sta- tion in the army, and who now was made emperor. From the death of Severus, which happened in 211, to the com- mencement of the reign of Maximin, A. D. 235, a period of about five and twenty years, the condition of the Christians was, in some places prosperous, and in all, tolerable. But with Maximin, the aspect of affairs changed. The character of this latter monarch formed a striking contrast to that of his predecessor. The former tyrants, says Gibbon, viz. Caligula and Nero, Commodus and Caracalla, were all dissolute and inexperienced youths, educated in the purple, and cor- rupted by the pride of empire, the luxury of Rome, and the perfidious voice of flattery. The cruelty of Maximin was derived from a differ- ent source — the fear of contempt. Though he depended on the at- tachment of the soldiers, who loved him for virtues like their own, he was conscious that his mean and barbarous origin, his savage appear- ance, and his total ignorance of the arts and institutions of civil life, formed a very unfavourable contrast with the amiable manners of Alex- ander Severus. He remembered, that, in his humbler fortune, he had often waited before the door of the haughty nobles of Rome, and had been denied admittance by the insolence of their slaves. He recollected also, the friendship of a few who had relieved his poverty and assisted his rising hopes. But those who had spurned, and those who had protected him, were guilty of the same crime, the knowledge of his original obscurity. For this crime many were put to death ; and by the execution of several of his benefactors, Maximin published, in characters of blood, the indelible history of his baseness and ingra- titude. The sanguinary soul of the tyrant was open to every suspicion against those among his subjects, who were the most distinguished by their birth or merit. Whenever he was alarmed by the sound of trea- son, his cruelty was unbounded and unrelenting. A conspiracy against his life was either discovered or imagined ; and Magnus, a consular senator, named as the principal author of it. Without a witness, with- out a trial, and without an opportunity of defence, Magnus, with four thousand of his supposed accomplices, were put to death. Confisca- tion, exile, or simple death, were, however, esteemed uncommon in- Some account of Origen. 147 stances of his lenity. Some of the unfortunate sufferers, he ordered to be sewed up in the hides of slaughtered animals, others to be exposed to wild beasts, others again to be beaten to death with clubs. Through- out the Roman world, a general cry of indignation was heard, implor- ing vengeance against the common enemy of human kind, and, at length, by an act of private oppression, a peaceful and unarmed pro- vince was driven into rebellion against him.* The malice of Maximin, against the house of the late emperor, by whom the Christians had been so peculiarly favoured, stimulated him to persecute them bitterly, and he gave orders to put to death the pas- tors of the churches, whom he knew Alexander had treated as his in- timate friends. The persecution, however, was not confined to them ; others suffered at the same time: and a letter from Firmilian to Cy- prian, bishop of Carthage, preserved in the works of the latter, informs us that the flame extended to Cappadocia and Pontus.t Ambrose, the friend of Origen, and Protoctetus, pastor of the church in Caesarea, suffered much in the course of it, and to them Origen dedicated his Book of Martyrs. He himself was obliged to retire ; but the tyrant's reign lasted only three years, in which time it must be confessed that the rest of the world had participated of his cruelties as much as the Christians.^ But the name of Origen is too important to be passed over in a history of the Christian church, with only a casual or inci- dental mention. " He was a man," says Dr. Priestley, " so remarka- ble for his piety, genius, and application, that he must be considered an honour to Christianity and to human nature." Even Jerome, his .great adversary, admits that he was a great man from his infancy. His history is given in considerable detail by Eusebius, who tells us, that this very eminent man was born at Alexandria, in Egypt, A. D. 185. His father Leonides, from whom he received the first rudiments of his education bestowed uncommon pains upon it ; and afterwards had him instructed by the ablest masters of the age, among whom were St. Clement and Ammonius Saccas, an eminent philosopher of Alexandria, the founder of the Eclectic sect. His early improvements were such as gave his worthy parent the greatest satisfaction. He was only se- venteen years of age when the persecution under Severus began in Alexandria and his father was apprehended and confined ; yet he would, at that early period of life, have fain thrown himself in the way of the persecutors, if his mother, after her most earnest entreaties had failed, had not hid his clothes in order to prevent his going abroad. He, however, wrote to his father, exhorting him to steadfastness in his profession, and not to be moved by any considerations about his fami- ly, though, in the event of his death, there would be a widow and se- ven children left in great poverty ; and, thus encouraged, his father was beheaded, submitting, to his destiny with becoming resolution. A large family being left in this destitute condition, a rich lady of Alexandria, the friend of genius and virtue, took Origen into her fami- ly. She, at the same time, entertained in her house a person of dis- * Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. ch. 7. f Cvpi"ian's Works, Letter lxxv. p. 256. ± Eusebius, b. 6. ch. 28. Orosius, b. 7. ch. 19. Origen, torn. 28. 148 History of the Christian Church. tinguished abilities, who held the principles of the Gnostics, and her table was the resort of other men of letters. But though Origen could not refrain from associating with this heretic, such was the firmness of his mind and the fixedness of his principles, that he would never join with him in prayer. In his eighteenth year he was elected master of the great School of Alexandria, which had been deserted by its late master in the time of persecution ; and not choosing to be unnecessarily burthensome to his benefactress, he quitted her mansion, and provided for his own support by giving lessons of instruction in grammar and the principles of religion. So devoted, however, did he become to the study of sacred literature, that he wholly abandoned the teaching of grammar, and sold his library, consisting of the works of the heathen philosophers and poets, for which the purchaser engaged to pay him four oboli a day. While he was thus employed, many of his pupils became martyrs ; and, being in so conspicuous a station, it was with great difficulty that he himself escaped. Being obliged to instruct women as well as men, and having adopted a plan of great austerity of man- ners, in a fit of enthusiastic fervour, he made a literal application to him- self of Christ's words, Matt. xix. 12, an action for which he greatly condemned himself, in the subsequent period of his life, when he had reaped the benefit of experience and reflection. Applying himself with extraordinary assiduity to the duties of his office as a teacher, his reputation rapidly increased; and it was still further augmented by an edition of the Old Testament, with all the different Greek versions then extant accompanying it, ranged in separate columns. These were the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the Sep- tuagint, that of Theodotion, and two others ; with the Hebrew text in Hebrew characters, and the same in Greek letters. This constituted eight columns in the whole, but it was called Hexapla, from having the six Greek versions. Finding this work too expensive and unwieldy for general use, he afterwards reduced it in both respects by composing what is called the Tetrapla, which contained only the first four of the Greek versions already mentioned. Some time after, Origen quitted his employment and his studies, for the purpose of making a visit to Rome, for what particular object does not appear ; but, returning to Alexandria, many persons of learning from distant places resorted to him ; and the bishop of Alexandria being ap- plied to by an Arabian prince for a person to instruct him in the Chris- tian faith, he made choice of Origen in preference to any other. At the time that Alexandria was ravaged by Caracalla, Origen went to Caesarea in Palestine, and there the bishop engaged him to expound the Scriptures publicly in the church, though he had not then been or- dained. This gave umbrage to Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, who insisted on his returning home again, which he did. He never- theless visited Caesarea not long afterwards, where he received ordina- tion, which gave such offence to Demetrius, that from that time he did every thing in his power to injure him, particularly by exposing the rash action mentioned above ; though when it was communicated to him in confidence, he had promised never to divulge it, and at that time did not even blame him for it, but encouraged him to apply with vigour to the duties of his profession. Some account of Origen. 149 Demetrius at first got him banished from Alexandria, in a council, held A. D. 231, though on what pretence does not distinctly appear. In a second council he was deposed from the priesthood and excom- municated; and the sentence was of course ratified by distant churches. Still, however, he was received at Caesarea, and by other bishops who became greatly attached to him, and undertook his defence. While he resided at Caesarea, numbers resorted to him from distant quarters for instruction; and among others Gregory, afterwards bishop of Neocce- sarea, and his brother Athenodorus, whom he persuaded to abandon profane literature for the study of theology; and they attended his lectures five years. Firmilian, also bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, a distinguished character in his time, was so attached to Origen that he strove to prevail upon him to remove into his province and reside with him. In this situation he composed his Commentaries on the Scriptures, dictating, it is said, to seven notaries and sometimes more ; and em- ploying as many scribes to take fair copies, the expense of which was cheerfully defrayed by Ambrosius, whom Origen had brought over from the Valentinians to the catholic church. When he was turned sixty, he permitted scribes to copy after him as he delivered his discourses from the pulpit. It was in this period of his life that he drew up his excellent books against Celsus, in defence of Christianity. This latter was an Epicurean philosopher, who undertook to calumniate Christianity, in the most outrageous manner. Origen most ably answered all his ob- jections, and vindicated the truth of his own religion, by the prophecies concerning Christ, by the evidence of miracles, and by an appeal to the holy influence of the gospel evinced in the lives of his disciples. This is considered by the learned to be the most valuable of all his writings, which were certainly very voluminous ; for Eusebius says he wrote five and twenty volumes upon the gospel by Matthew ! It must be remem- bered, however, that the ancients gave the title of volume to very small tracts. In the persecution under Maximin, Origen concealed himself by re- tiring to Athens, where, however, he was not idle, but continued to write commentaries. In the persecution under Decius, he was appre- hended, and though then far advanced in life, lie showed an example in his own conduct of that fortitude which he had so early in life, and so often afterwards, recommended to others. He was confined in the interior part of the prison, and there fastened with an iron chain, his feet stretched in the stocks to the fourth hole, a circumstance evidently mentioned by the historian to intimate that it was a posture of extreme pain, and where he was kept for several days. He bore, with invincible fortitude, a great variety of tortures to which his persecutors subjected him, taking care that they should not absolutely deprive him of life ; and at length he was threatened to be burned alive. But neither what he felt, nor what he feared, at all moved him. He survived this per- secution— and lived to write letters afterwards highly edifying to those of his persecuted brethren who were brought into similar circumstances ; and, at the advanced age of seventy, in the year 354, died at Tyre, a natural death. From the death of Maximin to the reign of Decius, the Christiana 13* 150 History of the Christian Church. enjoyed considerable repose, and the gospel made an extensive progress. Indeed, with the exception of the short reign of Maximin, they suffered but little persecution for nearly half a century, and the effects were but too manifest in the melancholy state of the churches at this time, — in the laxity of their discipline, and the general lukewarmness which had come upon them in their profession. The simplicity and purity of the Christian religion was greatly corrupted, and the usual concomitants of a season of worldly ease and prosperity, viz. ambition, pride, and lux- ury, too generally prevailed among both pastors and people. In such a state of things, it cannot surprise a reflecting mind, that he who walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks, and holds the stars in his right hand — who has declared that he will make all the churches to know that it is he who searches the reins and hearts, and will give to every one according to his works — should interpose at this time to vindicate his own cause, and reclaim the wanderings of his people. No sooner had Decius ascended the throne than a tempest was raised, in which the fury of persecution fell in a dreadful manner upon the church of Christ. Whether it were from an ill-grounded fear of the Christians, or from a violent zeal for the superstitions of his ancestors, does not appear ; but it is certain that he issued edicts of the most san- guinary kind, commanding the prators, on pain of death, either to ex- tirpate the whole body of Christians, without exception, or to force them by torments of various kinds to return to the Pagan worship. Hence, in all the provinces of the empire, during a space of two years, multi- tudes of Christians were put to death by the most horrid punishments which an ingenious barbarity could invent. This trying state of things was continued, with more or less inter- mission, during the reigns of Gallus, Valerian, Dioclesian, and others of the Roman emperors ; but the detail is harassing to the feelings, and instead of prosecuting it circumstantially, I shall dismiss the subject by an extract from Dr. Chandler's History of Persecutions, relating to this period. " The most excessive and outrageous barbarities," says he, " were made use of upon all who would not blaspheme Christ and offer incense to the imperial gods. They were publicly whipped, — drawn by the heels through the streets of cities, — racked till every bone of their body was disjointed, — had th&ir teeth beat out, — their noses, hands, and ears cut off, — sharp pointed spears run under their nails, — were tor- tured with melted lead thrown on their naked bodies, — had their eyes dug out, — their limbs cut off, — were condemned to the mines, — ground between stones, — stoned to death, — burnt alive, — thrown headlong from the high buildings, — beheaded, — smothered inhuming limekilns, — run through the body with sharp spears, — destroyed with hunger, thirst, and cold, — thrown to the wild beasts, — broiled on gridirons with slow fires, — cast by heaps into the sea, — crucified, — scraped to death with sharp shells, — torn in pieces by the boughs of trees, — and, in a word, destroyed by all the various methods that the most diabolical subtlety and malice could devise. "* * Introduction to Limborch's History of the Inquisition, vol. 2. sect. 1. p. 14. Should any suspect Dr. Chandler of having overcharged the picture in this dread- ful detail, I must intreat him to look into any of the larger histories of this period, and he will soon be undeceived. Persecution under Decius. 151 When the persecution arose under the emperor Decius, or rather, as it is expressed by a late writer, " when the gates of hell were once more opened, and merciless executioners were let loose upon the de- fenceless churches, who deluged the earth with blood," (A. D. 249,) Cyprian was presbyter of the church of Carthage, having been ordained the preceding year. He was soon marked out as a victim to imperial fury, but he prudently lied from Carthage, in consequence of which he was proscribed, and his effects were seized. He has been censured by some persons as a deserter of his Hock ; but the firmness and Christian piety with which he afterwards (under the reign of Valerian, A. D. 258,) laid down his life, affords a presumption that he had not retired for want of courage. His works, which consist of a collection of his epistles, eighty-three in number, and several tracts, contain much in- formation respecting the state of Christianity at that period, at the same time that they display a benevolent and pious mind, and evince much of the character of the Christian pastor, in the affectionate solici- tude with which he watched over his flock. The letters which he wrote during his retirement, give a distressing picture of the effects which had been produced upon the churches by that state of tranquil- lity and exemption from suffering, which, with little interruption, they had enjoyed from the death of Severus, in 211, to the reign of Decius in 249, — a period of about forty years. " It must be owned and confessed," says he, " that the outrageous and heavy calamity, which hath almost devoured our flock, and conti- nues to devour it to this day, hath happened to us because of our sins, since we keep not the way of the Lord, nor observe his heavenly com- mands, which were designed to lead us to salvation. Christ, our Lord, fulfilled the will of the Father; but we neglect the will of Christ. Our principal study is to get money and estates ; we follow after pride ; we are at leisure for nothing but emulation and quarrelling, and have neglected the simplicity of faith. We have renounced this world in words only, and not in deed. Every one studies to please himself, and to displease others."* It is impossible for us not to be struck with the shocking contrast which this picture presents, from that drawn by Ter- tullian about fifty years before. It seems even to have staggered the credibility of some writers. Dr. Jortin, for example, remarks, that " Cyprian has described, in very strong terms, the relaxation of disci- pline and manners which had ensued; which yet may require some abatement. His vehement temper," says he, " his indignation against vice, and his African eloquence, might induce him to make free with a figure called exaggeration.''^ But, unhappily, Cyprian's account is confirmed by the testimony of Eusebius, who was nearly cotemporary with him ; and, which is still worse, it is put beyond all dispute by the immense number of defections from the Christian profession which every where abounded when the persecution, set on foot by Decius, commenced, and which occasioned great commotions in all the churches. * Cyprian's Works, Epist. xi. f Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. 1. p. 376, 152 History of the Christian Church. ~ " Through too much liberty," says Eusebius, " they grew negligent and slothful, envying and reproaching one another ; waging, as it were, civil wars among themselves, bishops quarrelling with bishops, and the people divided into parties. Hypocrisy and deceit were grown to the highest pitch of wickedness. They were become so insensible as not so°much as to think of appeasing the Divine anger; but, like Atheists, they thought the world destitute of any providential government and care, and thus added one crime to another. The bishops themselves had thrown off all concern about religion ; were perpetually contending with one another ; and did nothing but quarrel with, and threaten, and envy, and hate one another; — they were full of ambition, and tyranni- cally used their power."* Such was the deplorable state of the churches, which God, as Eusebius justly remarks, first punished with a gentle hand ; but when they grew hardened and incurable in their vices, he was pleased to let in the most grievous persecutions upon them, under Dioclesian, which exceeded, in severity and length, all that had gone before. It began in the year 302, and lasted ten years. SECTION IV. REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES ; WITH A VIEW OF THE RISE OF ANTICHRIST. In reviewing the history of the Christian church, from the first pro- pagation of the gospel until the reign of Constantine, it can scarcely fail to strike the reader's attention, that the Christian profession is marked, during this period, with a peculiar character, in distinction from what it sustained after the accession of Constantine to the throne, when the Christian religion was taken under his fostering care, and sup- ported by the civil government. The first propagation of the Christian faith was not only unaided, but directly opposed in most instances, by the civil government in the different countries in which it spread. The publishers of the gospel, were, in general, plain and unlearned men, destitute of all worldly influence and power ; their doctrine was in itself obnoxious, and their appearance little calculated to procure it a favour- able hearing ; nor could they present to the view of men any other in- ducement to embrace their testimony, than the prospect of life and im- mortality in the world to come ; with the certainty, that through much tribulation believers must enter into the kingdom of God. The suc- cess of their doctrine stood in direct opposition to the power of princes, the wisdom of philosophers, the intrigues of courts, the enmity of the Pagan priesthood, with all the weight of an established system of ido- latry and superstition ; it could, therefore, only make its way by sus- taining and overcoming the malice and rage of its enemies. In the view that we have taken of the Christian history during the preceding period, it appears uniformly in harmony with this represen- * Eusebius's Hist. b. 8. ch. 1. Tlew of the rise of Antichrist. 153 tation. The general character of the disciples of Christ is that of a suffering people ; and, notwithstanding some intervals of repose occa- sionally intervening, in general the progress of the gospel is traced in the blood of the saints, and its power and evidence made conspicuous in prevailing against the most formidable opposition. Thus, the ex- cellency of its power appeared to be of God, and not of man. While the Christian cause was thus opposed to the world, and made its way by its own divine energy, the general purity of its profession was pre- served ; for, what could induce men to embrace it, but a conviction of its heavenly origin and importance ? So long as the Christian profes- sion was thus circumstanced, its success earned with it its own wit- ness. But the scene is altogether changed, when we view the state of matters after the ascension of Constantine ; for then, instead of the teachers of Christianity being called upon to show their attachment to it by self-denial and suffering for its sake, we see them exalted to worldly honour and dignity ; and the holy and heavenly religion of Jesus, converted into a system of pride, domination and hypocrisy, and becoming, at length, the means of gratifying the vilest lusts and passions of the human heart. The consequence of such a change in the state of things may be easily anticipated by those who have any proper views of the corruption of human nature ; and it corresponds with matter of fact. For no sooner do we perceive the teachers in the church, who had hitherto been the foremost in sustaining the oppo- sition of the persecuting powers, and animating their flocks to a patient continuance in bearing the cross — no sooner do we see them invested with secular honours, immense wealth, and elevated to dignity, than the first object of their lives seems to have been to maintain their power and pre-eminence, and aspiring at dominion over the bodies and consciences of men. From the days of Constantine, the corrup- tion of the Christian profession proceeded with rapid progress. Many evils, probably, existed before this period, which prepared the way for the events that were to follow ; but when the influence of the secu- lar power became an engine of the clergy, to be exercised in their kingdom, it need not be a matter of surprise that the progress became exceedingly rapid in converting the religion of Christ into a system of spiritual tyranny, idolatry, superstition, and hypocrisy, until it arrived at its full height in the Roman hierarchy, when, what is called the church became the sink of iniquity. That such a display of human depravity as we shall have to detail in the succeeding events of church history, should be exhibited under a profession of Christianity, may veiy reasonably excited our astonish- ment. Many, indeed, without discriminating between Christianity and its corruptions, have found what they conceive a sufficient justifi- cation of their own scepticism, in the many abominations which have been, and still are, committed under the Christian name. And it must be allowed, that it is one of the most plausible and successful argu- ments in encouraging and supporting a sceptical state of mind, to paint the Christian system as it appears the engine of priestcraft, and the support of spiritual tyranny, idolatry, and superstition. But genuine Christianity is no more accountable for these enormities, than, what is 154 History of the Christian Church. called, the religion of nature is for all the absurd and superstitious rites of Paganism. It may be proper, therefore, to observe, that the greatest iniquity that has been discovered in what is called the Christian church, admit- ting the evil in its full extent, is but the accomplishment of what was before predicted in the sacred Scriptures ; and, considered in this view, it presents us with a most powerful argument in confirmation of the prophetic word. In the establishment of Christianity by Constantine, the obstruction which had hitherto operated against the full manifesta- tion of the antichristian power, being removed, the current of events gradually brought matters to that state, in which "the man of sin" became fully revealed, " sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself as God." The apostles of Jesus Christ gave many intimations in their writ- ings of the corruptions which should arise under the Christian profes- sion at a future period. There were not wanting symptoms of this even in their own days, as appears from the following passages. When the apostle Paul delivered to the elders of the church at Ephe- sus, a solemn warning to take heed to themselves, and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, he adds, as the reason of it ; " for I know this, that after my departure shall grievous w olves enter in among you, not sparing the flock ; also of your own- selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away dis- ciples after them." Acts xx. 29, 30. The jealousy and fear, which lie entertained relative to the influence of false teachers, is manifest in the following passage. " But I fear, lest by any means, as the ser- pent beguiled Eve, through his subtilty, so your minds should be cor- rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ : For such are false apos- tles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ ; and no wonder, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be trans- formed into ministers of righteousness," (2 Cor. xi. 3, 13, 14, 15.) The same general caution against the effects which should proceed from false teachers, is very plainly given by the apostle Peter. " But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make mer- chandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.' 2 Pet. ii. 1 — 3. To these pas- sages, and many others that might be adduced, as calculated to awaken the attention of Christians to the dangers they should be exposed to from corrupt teachers, we may particularly add the following, as it not only foretells but describes the nature of the apostasy that should take place, and at a period remote from the time when the predictions were delivered. " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, -that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their con- Nature of the Jlntichristian apostasy. 155 sciences seared with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and command- ing to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them who believe and know the truth." 1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3. Again, " This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come ; Sot men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boastera, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, un- holy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, inconti- nent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high- minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ; — having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," 2 Tim. iii. 1 — 5. But of all the predictions contained in the New Testament, the most particu- lar and express description of the antichristian power that should arise under the Christian name, is the following : " Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gather- ing together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled; neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who op- poseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- shipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing him- self that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work ; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way ; and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming ; even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders ; and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; be- cause they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thess. ii. 1—10. In this representation of the apostasy from the purity of the Chris- tian faith and its influence, which terminated in the man of sin sitting in the temple of God, we may notice the following particulars : — 1. That the apostle describes its origin as taking place in his own day. " The mystery of iniquity doth already work," ver. 7. The seed was then sown ; idolatry was already stealing into the churches, 1 Cor. x. 14. A voluntary humility, and worshipping of angels, Col. ii. 18. Men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, supposing that gain was godliness, and teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre-sake. Men of this cast appear to have early abounded, and, as acting not wholly in direct opposition to Christianity, but corrupting it in the way of deceit and hypocrisy. During the whole progress to- wards the full revelation of the man of sin, there was no direct disa- vowal of the truth of Christianity ; it was " a form of godliness without the power of it." 2. There is an evident intimation in this passage of an obstacle or hinderance in the way of his power being fully revealed. "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For 156 History of the Christian Church. the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, &c." ver. 6, 7. Without going into any minute and criti- cal examination of these verses, it is obvious that the wicked power which is here the subject of the apostle's discourse, and denominated the man of sin, had not then been fully displayed, and that there exist- ed some obstacle to a complete revelation of the mystery of iniquity. The apostle uses a particular caution when hinting at it ; but the Thes- salonians, he says, knew of it; probably from the explanation he had o-iven them verbally, when he was with them. It can scarcely be ques- tioned, that the hinderance or obstacle, referred to in these words, was the heathen or pagan Roman government, which acted as a restraint upon the pride and domination of the clergy, through whom the man of sin ultimately arrived at his power and authority, as will afterwards appear. The extreme caution which the apostle manifests in speaking of this restraint, renders it not improbable that it was something relat- ing to the higher powers ; for we can easily conceive how improper it would have been to declare in plain terms, that the existing government of Rome should come to an end. There is a remarkable passage in Tertullian's Apology, that may serve to justify the sense which Pro- testants put upon these verses ; and since it was written long before the accomplishment of the predictions, it deserves the more attention. " Christians," says he, " are under a particular necessity of praying for the emperors, and for the continued state of the empire; because we know that dreadful power which hangs over the world, and the con- clusion of the age, which threatens the most horrible evils, is restrained by the continuance of the time appointed for the Roman empire. This is what we would not experience ; and while we pray that it may be deferred, we hereby show our good-will to the perpetuity of the Roman state."* From this extract it is very manifest that the Christians, even in Tertullian's time, a hundred and twenty years before the Pagan go- vernment of Rome came to its end, looked forward to that period as pregnant with calamity to the cause of Christ; though it is probable they did not accurately understand the manner in which the evils should be brought on the church. And this indeed, the event proved to be the case. For while the long and harassing persecutions, which were carried on by the Pagan Roman emperors continued, and all secu- lar advantages were on the side of Paganism, there was little encour- agement for any one to embrace Christianity, who did not discern some- what of its truth and excellence. Many of the errors, indeed, of several centuries, the fruit of vain philosophy, paved the way for the events which followed ; but the hinderance was not effectually removed, until Constantine the emperor, on professing himself a Christian, undertook to convert the kingdom of Christ into a kingdom of this world, by ex- alting the teachers of Christianity to the same state of affluence, gran- deur, and influence in the empire, as had been enjoyed by Pagan priests and secular officers in the state. The professed ministers of Jesus hav- ing now a wide field opened to them for gratifying their lust of power, * Tertullian's Apology, ch. xxxii. Concluding Reflections on Antichrist. 157 ■wealth, and dignity, the connection between the Christian faith and the cross, was at an end. What followed was the kingdom of the clergy, supplanting the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 3. It is worthy of observation, in what language the apostle describes the revelation'of the man of sin, when this hinderance, or let, should be removed. " And then shall that wicked be revealed, — whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying won- ders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that per- ish." He had before described this power, and personified him as " the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself, above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Every feature in this description corresponds to that of a religious power, in the assumption of Divine authority, Divine honours, and Di- vine worship ; a power which should arrogate the prerogatives of the Most High, having its seat in the temple or house of God, and which should be carried on by Satan's influence, with all deceit, hypocrisy, and tyranny ; and with this corresponds the figurative representation given of the same power, Rev. xiii. 5 — 8. As many things in the Christian profession, before the reign of Con- stantine, made way for the kingdom of the clergy, so, after they were raised to stations of temporal dignity and power, it was not wholly at one stride that they arrived at the climax here depicted by the inspired apostle. Neither the corruption of Christianity, nor the reformation of its abuses was effected in a day ; " evil men and seducers waxed worse." There was a course of mutually deceiving and being deceived. The conscience of man is not blunted all at once against the convictions of guilt; and there is something uncommonly expressive in the apostle's words, when he describes the blessed God as giving men up to strong delusions, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness ; and this he represents as the ne- cessary consequence of their not receiving the love of the truth, that they might be saved. In the sequel, it will appear, that when the bishops were once ex- alted to wealth, power, and authority, this exaltation was of itself the prolific source of every corrupt fruit. Learning, eloquence, and influ- ence, were chiefly exerted to maintain their own personal dominion and popularity. Contests for pre-eminence over each other, became the succedaneum of the ancient contention for the faith, and its influ- ence over the world. Power was an engine of support to the different factions ; and the sword of persecution, which, for three centuries, had been drawn by the Pagans against the followers of Christ, the besotted ecclesiastics employed against each other in defence of what was now called " the Holy Catholic Church." The history of this church, from the accession of Constantine to the period when the bishop of Rome was elevated to supreme authority, discovers a progressive approximation to that state of things, denoted in scripture by the revelation of " the man of sin sitting in the temple of God." All the violent contentions, the assembling of councils, the persecutions alternately carried on by the different parties, were so 14 158 History of the Christian Church. many means of preparing the way for the assumption of spiritual ty- ranny, and the idolatry and superstition of the Roman hierarchy. In all these transactions, the substitution of human for divine authority, contentions about words instead of the faith once delivered to the saints ; pomp and splendour of worship, for the primitive simplicity ; and worldly power and dignity instead of the self-denied labours of love and bearing the cross ; — this baneful change operated in darkening the human mind as to the real nature of true Christianity, until, in process of time, it was lost sight of. When Jesus Christ was interrogated by the Roman governor con- cerning his kingdom, he replied, " My kingdom is not of this world." This is a maxim of unspeakable importance in his religion ; and almost every corruption that has arisen, and by which this heavenly institu- tion has been debased, from time to time, may be traced, in one way or other, to a departure from that great and fundamental principle of the Christian kingdom. It may, therefore, be of importance to the reader to keep his eye steadily fixed upon it, while perusing the follow- ing pages, as that alone can enable him to trace the kingdom of the Son of God, amidst the labyrinths of error and delusion which he will presently have to explore. ( 159 ) CHAPTER III. THE STATE OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE ACCESSION OF CONSTANTINE TO THE RISE OF THE WALDENSES. A. D. 306 800. SECTION I. A VIEW OF THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY AS THE RELIGION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. A. D. 306 TO 337. At the commencement of the fourth century of the Christian aera, the Roman empire was under the dominion of four monarchs ; of whom two, viz. Dioclesian and Maximin Herculeus were of superior rank and each distinguished by the title of Augustus ; while the other two, Constantius Chlorus and Maximums Galerius, sustained a subordinate dignity, and were honoured with the humbler appellation of Caesars. Dioclesian was raised to the throne in the year 284, consequently had swayed the imperial sceptre sixteen years; but, though much ad- dicted to superstition, he entertained no aversion to the Christians ; and during this period they had enjoyed a large portion of outward peace. Constantius Chlorus, to whose lot it fell to exercise the so- vereign power in Gaul and the western provinces, was a mild and amiable prince, under whose government we find no traces of perse- cution. He had himself abandoned the absurdities of Polytheism, and treated the Christians with benevolence and respect. The principal offices of his palace were executed by Christians. He loved their per- sons, esteemed their fidelity, and entertained no dislike to their reli- gious principles. This alarmed the Pagan priests, whose interests were so intimately connected with the continuance of the ancient su- perstition, and who, apprehending, not without reason, that, to their great detriment, the Christian religion was becoming daily more uni- versal and triumphant throughout the empire, addressed themselves to Dioclesian, whom they knew to be of a timorous and credulous dispo- sition, and by fictitious oracles and other perfidious stratagems, endea- voured to engage him to persecute the Christians.* The treacherous arts of a selfish and superstitious priesthood failed, however, for some time, to move Dioclesian. Their recourse was next had to Maximinus Galerius, one of the Caesars, who had married the daughter of Dioclesian ; a prince, whose gross ignorance of every thing but military affairs, was accompanied with a fierce and savage * Mosheim, Cent. iv. ch. 1. 160 History of the Christian Church. temper, which rendered him a proper instrument for executing their designs. Stimulated by the malicious insinuations of the heathen priests, the suggestions of a superstitious mother, and the ferocity of his own natural temper, he importuned Dioclesian in so urgent a man- ner for an edict against the Christians, that he, at length, obtained his horrid purpose. * It seems to have been the practice of the Roman emperors about this time, to take up their residence occasionally at Nicomedia, the capital of the province of Bythinia — the place from M'hence Pliny addressed his celebrated letter to Trajan.t This city, for its beauty and greatness, has been compared to Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria ; but, what is more to our purpose, it abounded with Christians, even from the days of the apostles.J Dioclesian having taken up his abode at Nicomedia, Galerius, his son-in-law, had come to spend the winter with him. In the year 302, the latter prevailed upon his colleague to grant an edict for pulling down all the places of worship belonging to the Christians, to burn all their books and writings, to deprive them of all their civil rights and privileges, and render them incapable of any honours or civil promotion. This first edict, though rigorous and severe, did not extend to the lives of the Christians, for Dioclesian was much averse to slaughter and bloodshed. It was, however, merely a prelude to what Avas to follow ; for, not long after the publication of this first edict, a fire broke out at two different times in the palace of Nicome- dia, where Galerius lodged with Dioclesian. The former, though in all probability the real incendiary, threw all the odium of this upon the Christians, as an act of revenge ; and the credulous Dioclesian, too easily persuaded of the truth of this charge, caused the most inhuman torments to be inflicted upon multitudes of them at Nicomedia. Soon after this, a new edict was issued, ordering all the bishops, pas- tors, and public teachers, throughout the empire, to be apprehended and imprisoned ; hoping probably, that if the leaders could be once effectually silenced, their respective flocks might be easily dispersed. Nor did his inhuman policy stop there ; for, a third edict was presently issued, by which it was ordered, that all sorts of torments should be employed, and the most intolerable punishments resorted to, in order to force the disciples of Jesus to renounce their profession, and sacrifice to the hea- then gods. The consequence was, that an immense number of persons became the victims of this cruel stratagem throughout every part of the Roman empire, except those who had the felicity to be placed under the mild and equitable government of Constantius Chlorus. The shameful manner in which multitudes of them were punished, it would be difficult to relate without violating the rules of decency ; and, in the present day, would scarcely obtain credit ; while others were put to death, after having their constancy tried by tedious and inexpressible torments ; and not a few sent to the mines, where they were doomed to linger out the remains of a miserable life in poverty and bondage. In the third year of this horrible persecution (A. D. 304,) a fourth edict was published by Dioclesian, at the instigation of Galerius,- com- • Mosheim, ubi supra. f See page 116. + 1 Pet. i. 1. The Dioclesian Persecution. 161 missioning the magistrates to force all Christians, without distinction of rank or sex, to sacrifice to the gods, and authorizing them to employ all sorts of torments, with the view of driving them to this act of apos- tasy. The diligence and zeal of the Roman magistrates in the execu- tion of this inhuman edict, ultimately reduced the Christian profession to a very low ebb; for this horrid persecution lasted ten years. The rigorous edicts of Dioclesian, were strictly and cheerfully executed by his associate Maximian, who had long hated the Christians, and who delighted in acts of blood and violence. It is the remark of Gibbon, when speaking of Maximian and Galerius, that the minds of those princes had never been enlightened by science. Education had never softened their temper. They owed their greatness to their swords ; and in their most elevated fortune they still retained their superstitious prejudices of soldiers and peasants. Maximian swayed the sceptre over the provinces of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, where he gratified his own inclination by yielding a rigorous obedience to the stern demands of Dioclesian. A learned French writer, Monsieur Godeau, computes that in this tenth persecution, as it is commonly termed, there were not less than seventeen thousand Christians put to death in. the space of one month. And that " during the continuance of it, in the province of Egypt alone, no less than one hundred and fifty thousand persons died by the violence of their persecutors; and five times that number through the fatigues of banishment, or in the public mines to which they were condemned."* Galerius now no longer made a secret of his ambitious designs. He obliged Dioclesian and Maximian to resign the imperial dignity, and got himself declared emperor of the east, resigning the west, for the present, to Constantius Chlorus, at that time in Britain, with the ill state of whose health he was well acquainted. But Divine Providence was now preparing more tranquil times for the church ; and, in order to this, it confounded the schemes of Galerius, and brought his counsels to nothing. In the year 306, Constantius Chlorus, finding his end approaching, wrote to Galerius to send him his son Constantine, who had been kept as an hostage at court. The request was refused ; but, coming to the ears of young Constantine, and aware of the danger of his situation, he resolved to attempt his escape, and seizing a favourable moment, he made the best of his way for Bri- tain, and, to prevent pursuit, is said to have killed all the post horses on his route. He arrived at York just in time to witness the death of his father Constantius, who had in the meantime nominated his son as his successor ; and the army, without waiting to consult Galerius, imme- diately pronounced Constantine emperor of the west, in the room of his father — a proceeding which must have stung the tyrant to the heart, who was nevertheless obliged to submit, and even to confirm the ap- pointment with the outward marks of his approbation. * See a Sermon of Dr. Calamy's, on Matt. xvi. 18. Mr. Gibbon has laboured to diminish the number of martyrs on this trying occasion, and to show that they were inconsiderable indeed ; but even his own account of things, when impar* tially weighed, will be found to justify all I have said of it, H* - 162 History of the Christian Church. Not long after this (A. D. 311,) Galerius himself, the author of all this series of complicated suffering to the Christians, was reduced to the brink of the grave by a dreadful and lingering disease, in which he suffered horrors that no language can express. " The frequent disap- pointments of his ambitious views," says Gibbon, "the experience of six years of persecution, and the salutary reflections which a lingering and painful distemper suggested to the mind of Galerius, at length con- vinced him that the most violent efforts of despotism are insufficient to extirpate a whole people, or to subdue their religious prejudices." De- sirous of repairing the mischief that he had occasioned, he published in his own name, and in those of Licinius and Constantine, a general edict, which after a pompous recital of the imperial titles, proceeded in the following manner: "Among the important cares which have occupied our minds, for the utility and preservation of the empire, it was our intention to correct and re-establish all things according to the ancient laws and public dis- cipline of the Romans. We were particularly desirous of reclaiming, into the way of reason and nature, the deluded Christians who had re- nounced the religion and ceremonies instituted by their fathers, and presumptuously despising the practice of antiquity, had invented ex- travagant laws and opinions according to the dictates of their fancy, and had collected a various society from the different provinces of our em- pire. The edicts which we have published, to enforce the worship of the gods, having exposed many of the Christians to danger and distress, many having suffered death, and many more, who still persist in their impious folly, being left destitute of any public exercise of religion, we are disposed to extend to those unhappy men the effects of our wonted clemency. We permit them, therefore, freely to profess their private opinions, and to assemble in their conventicles without fear of moles- tation, provided always that they preserve a due respect to the estab- lished laws and government. By another rescript, we shall signify our intentions to the judges and magistrates ; and tve hope that our indul- gence will engage the Christians to offer up their prayers to the Deity whom they adore, for our safety and prosperity, for their own, and for that of the republic."* This important edict was issued and set up at Nicomedia, on the 13th April, 311 ; but the wretched Galerius did not long survive its publication ; for he died about the beginning of May, under torments the most excruciating, and in the nature of his complaint and manner of his death, very much resembling the case of Herod. After his death, Maximin succeeded him in the government of the provinces of Asia. In the first six months of his new reign he affected to adopt the prudent counsels of his predecessor ; and, though he never conde- scended to secure the tranquillity of the church by a public edict, he caused a circular letter to be addressed to all the governors and magis- trates of the provinces, expatiating on the imperial clemency, acknow- ledging the invincible obstinacy of the Christians, and directing the officers of justice to cease their ineffectual prosecutions, and to. con- * Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. ii. ch. 16. Conversion of Const antine the Great. 163 nive at the secret assemblies of those enthusiasts. In consequence of these orders, says Gibbon, great numbers of Christians were released from prison, or delivered from the mines. " The confessors, singing hymns of triumph, returned into their own countries ; and those who had yielded to the violence of the tempest, solicited with tears of re- pentance, their re-admission into the bosom of the Church."* This treacherous calm, however, was of short duration. Cruelty and superstition were the ruling passions of the soul of Maxim in — the former suggested the means, the latter pointed out the objects of per- secution. He was devoted to the worship of the Pagan deities, to the study of magic, and to the belief of oracles. Happily, while this bigoted monarch was preparing fresh measures of violence against the Christians with deliberate policy, a civil war broke out between him- self and his colleague Licinius, which occupied his whole attention ; and his defeat and death taking place soon after, delivered the Chris- tians from this last and most implacable of their enemies. The government of the Roman world, which, a few years before, had been administered by no less than six emperors at one time, now became divided between Constantine and Licinius, Avho immediately granted to the Christians permission to live according to their own laws and institutions, a privilege which was still more clearly ascer- tained by an edict drawn up at Milan, in the year 313. By this edict, every subject of the empire was allowed to profess either Christianity or Paganism unmolested. It also secured the places of Christian worship^ and even directed the restoration of whatever property they had been dispossessed by the late persecution. The rival princes, however, were not long in seeking or finding occasion to turn their arms against each other, in the issue of which Licinius fell, and left his competitor in the undisturbed possession of the empire. No character has been exhibited to posterity in lights more contra- dictory and irreconcilable than that of Constantine. Christian wri- ters, transported with his profession of their faith, have magnified his abilities and virtues to excess, and thrown an almost celestial splen- dour over every part of the portrait ; while the Pagan historians have spread their gloomy shades upon the canvass, and obscured every trait that was great and amiable. The circumstances attending his conversion to Christianity, are too familiar to most readers, to render any thing like a minute detail of them proper in this place. His father Constantius had shown himself very favourably disposed towards the Christians, and Constantine gave early indications of a desire to protect and favour its professors. If we may credit his own assertion, he had been an indignant spectator of the savage cruelties which had been inflicted by the hands of the Roman soldiers, on those citizens whose religion was their only crime. In the east and in the west he had seen the different effects of severity and indulgence ; and as the former was rendered still more odious by the example of Galerius, his implacable enemy, the lattter was recom- mended to his imitation by the authority and advice of a dying father, * Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. ii. ch. 16. 1 64 History of the Christian Church. These tolerant principles were displayed alike both towards Pagans and Christians, before the emperor had avowed any peculiar attach- ment towards the latter. It is true, nevertheless, that he did not always maintain this state of indifference; he appears evidently to have been convinced of the folly and impiety of the Pagan superstition, which in- duced him to exhort all his subjects earnestly to embrace the gospel, and at length to employ all the force of his authority to abolish the ancient heathen worship. According to his own account, he was marching at the head of his army, from France into Italy, against Maxentius, on an expedition, which he was fully aware, involved in it his future destiny. Oppress- ed with extreme anxiety, and reflecting that he needed a force superior to arms, for subduing the sorceries and magic of his adversary, he anxiously looked out for the aid of some deity, as that which alone could secure him success. About noon, when the sun began to de- cline, whilst praying for supernatural aid, a luminous cioss was seen by the emperor and his army, in the air, above the sun, inscribed with the words, " By this conquer," at the sight of which, amazement overpowered both himself and the soldiery on the expedition with him. He continued to ponder On the event till night, when, in a dream, the author of Christianity appeared to him, to confirm the vision, direct- ing him at the same time, to make the symbol of the cross his military ensign.* * Few things have occasioned more perplexity to the writers of ecclesiastical history, and set them more at variance, than this vision of Constantine. Mr. Milner, whose credulity on most occasions is sufficiently apparent, entertains no doubt of the reality of the miracle; and such is his inconsistency with his own theological creed, that he resolves it into an answer to Constantine's importunate prayer. "He prayed, he implored," says he, " with much vehemence and im- portunity, and God left him not unanswered." (As though the blessed God would listen to any prayer but that of faith! Prov. xv. 8. and Heb. xi. 6.) Dr. Haweis gives up the miracle altogether, and seems to consider the whole as an imposition. The learned Mosheim is evidently perplexed about it, and seems at a loss in what light to consider it — and so also is his translator. " The whole story," says the latter, " is attended with difficulties which render it, both as a miracle and as a fact, extremely dubious, to say no more." If any should think the subj'vt worthy of further investigation, I would recommend to their perusal a very ingenious and learned disquisition upon it, subjoined as an appendix to the first volume of Dr. Gregory's Church History, written by Mr. Ilenely of Itendlesham. They will there find a compressed account of the opinions of the different writers on the subject, and the following- deductions not unfairly drawn from the whole — That Eusebius, who received the account of this extraordinary scene from the mouth of Constantine himself, and who wrote the life of that emperor, does not appear to have given credit to it, though the latter attested it by an oath — that neither the day, the year, the time, nor the place of this vision is recorded — that there is no evidence that any one of the army saw the pheno- menon besides the emperor — that the accounts given of it by the emperor at dif- ferent times do not quadrate — that the whole story is replete with contradictions — and that there exists a presumption diametrically opposite to the intent of the alleged miracle, in the declaration of Christ to the Roman governor, " My king- dom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my ser- vants fight," &c. — and that, in a word, the powerful inducements of policy and party, the obvious character of Constantine, and the opinions of the times, when judiciously considered and properly combined, present in themselves an easy so- lution of the whole contrivance and fraud. Character of Constantine. 165 Constantine vanquished his adversary ; and no sooner was he made master of Rome, by the destruction of Maxentius than he honoured the cross by putting a spear of that form into the hand of the statue erect- ed for him at Rome. He now built places for Christian worship, and showed great beneficence to the poor. He encouraged the meeting of bishops in synods — honoured them with his presence, and employed himself continually in aggrandizing the church. He removed the seat of empire to Byzantium, which he embellished, enlarged, and honoured with the name of Constantinople ; and prohibited, by a severe edict, the performance of any Pagan rites and ceremonies throughout the city. His religious zeal augmented with his years ; and towards the close of his life, several imperial edicts were issued for the demolition of the heathen temples, and the prevention of any sacrifices upon their altars. He was on the other hand, scrupulously attentive to the religious rites and ceremonies which were prescribed by the Christian clergy. He fasted ; observed the feasts in commemoration of the martyrs, and de- voutly watched the whole night on the vigils of the saints. And in his last illness, he summoned to the imperial palace at Nicomedia, se- veral Christian bishops, fervently requesting to receive from them the ordinance of baptism, and solemnly protesting his intention of spend- ing the remainder of his life as the disciple of Christ. He was accord- ingly baptized by Eusebius, bishop of that city: after which he entire- ly laid aside his purple and regal robes, and continued to wear a white garment till the day of his death, which, after a short illness, took place on the 22d of May, in the year 337, at the age of sixty-four, having reigned thirty-three years.* The extraordinary occurrences of the life of Constantine produc- ed an entire change in the whole of the Christian profession. Its friends were now no longer called to endure patiently the hatred of the world — to take up their cross, and press after a conformity to Christ in his sufferings, and through much tribulation, to enter his kingdom ; but they were to bask in the sunshine of worldly prosperity, enjoying the smiles of the great, and connecting with their profession the riches and honours of this present world — the baneful effects of which began speedily to develope themselves. So long as the Christians were per- secuted by the heathen on account of their faith and practices, they were driven to the gospel as their only source of consolation and sup- port; and they found it every Avay sufficient for their utmost need. The animating principles which it imparted, raised their minds supe- rior to the enjoyments of this world, and in the hope of life and immor- tality, they were happy, even if called to lay down their lives for the sake of their profession. And, herein, the power of their religion was conspicuous. It was not with them an empty speculation, floating in the mind, destitute of any influence upon the will and the affections. While it induced them to count no sacrifice too costly which they were called to make for the gospel's sake, they were led by it to exercise the most Christian affection one towards another — to sympathize ten- derly with each other in all their sorrows and distresses — and by bear- * Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b. iv. ch. 62. 166 History of the Christian Church. ing one another's burdens, they fulfilled their Lord's new command of brotherly love. This was the prominent feature in Christianity during the first three centuries. The writings of the apostles and evangelists all breathe this amiable spirit, and abound with exhortations to culti- vate this God-like disposition ; and so couspicuous was the exercise of it among the primitive Christians that it was commonly remarked by their enemies, and recommended by them as worthy of imitation. Such, however, is the depravity of human nature, that, as they en- joyed any intervals from persecution, they became more profligate in their morals and more litigious in their tempers. But now that the re- straint was wholly taken off by Constantine, the churches endowed, and riches and honours liberally conferred on the clergy ; when he au- thorized them to sit as judges upon the consciences and faith of others, he confirmed them in the spirit of this world — the spirit of pride, ava- rice, domination, and ambition — the indulgence of which has, in all ages, proved fatal to the purity, peace and happiness of the kingdom of Christ. This inconsistent conduct of the leading men among them, in professing a religion, the prominent characteristics of which are hu- mility and self-denial, and at the same time aspiring after the pleasures and the honours of this world, seems to have forcibly struck the very heathens themselves. Hence, an historian of the latter class, who lived shortly after the time of Constantine, remarks concerning the bi- shops of Rome, " It would be well if, despising the magnificence of the city, they would imitate some of the bishops of provincial towns, whose temperance in eating and drinking, plainness of apparel, and looking above the world, recommended them to the deity as his true worshippers."* Now they began to new-model the Christian church, the govern- ment of Avhich was, as far as possible, arranged conformably to the government of the state. The emperor himself assumed the title of bishop — and claimed the power of regulating its external affairs ; and he and his successors convened councils, in which they presided, and determined all matters of discipline. The bishops corresponded to those magistrates whose jurisdiction was confined to single cities ; the metropolitans to the pro-consuls or presidents of provinces ; the pri- mates to the emperor's vicars, each of whom governed one of the im- perial provinces. Canons and prebendaries of cathedral churches took their rise from the societies of ecclesiastics, which Eusebius, bishop of Verceil, and after him Augustine, formed in their houses, and in which these prelates were styled their fathers and masters.! This constitution of things was an entire departure from the order of worship, established under Divine direction by the apostles of Christ in the primitive churches. In fact, scarcely any two things could be more dissimilar than was the simplicity of the gospel dispensation from the hierarchy established under Constantine the Great. " Let none," says Dr. Mosheim, alluding to the first and second centuries, " con- found the bishops of this primitive and golden period of the church, * Ammianus Marcellinus, b. xxvii. 362. f Priestley's History of the Corruptions of Christianity, voL ii. p. 342. Christianity Established by Law. 167 with those of whom we read in the following ages. For though they were both designated by the same name, yet they differed extremely, in many respects. A bishop, during the first and second centuries, was a person who had the care of one Christian assembly, which, at that time, was, generally speaking, small enough to be contained in a private house. In this assembly, he acted, not so much with the au- thority of a master, as with the zeal and diligence of a faithful servant. The churches also, in those early times, were entirely independent ; none of them subject to any foreign jurisdiction, but each one govern- ed by its own rulers and its own laws. Nothing is more evident than the perfect equality that reigned among the primitive churches ; nor does there ever appear, in the first century, the smallest trace of that association of provincial churches, from which councils and metropo- litans derive their origin."* To which we may add, that the first churches acknowledged no earthly potentate as their head. This had been expressly prohibited by their Divine Master. " The kings of the Gentiles," said he, "exercise lordship over them; and they that exer- cise an authority upon them are termed benefactors. But with you it shall not be so ; — let him that is greatest among you be as the younger, and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. "t Again, " Be not ye call- ed Rabbi ; for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are breth- ren. And call no man your father upon the earth ; for one is your fa- ther who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters ; for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant ; and, whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, while he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. "J These divine maxims, which are in perfect unison with the whole tenor of the New Testa- ment, were entirely disregarded by the ecclesiastics who undertook to new-model the constitution of the Christian church, under the auspices of Constantine, and whom, as a matter of courtesy, they condescended to make its earthly head. But to proceed. Thus restored to the full exercise of their liberty, their churches re- built, and the imperial edicts every where published in their favour, these new bishops immediately began to discover what spirit they were of. As their several revenues increased, they grew more ambitious, less capable of contradiction, more haughty and arrogant in their beha- viour, more quarrelsome in their tempers, and more regardless of the simplicity and gravity of their profession and character. Constantine's letters afford abundant proof of the jealousies and animosities that reign- ed among them. Adverting to a violent quarrel which had taken place between Miltiades, bishop of Rome, and Coecilianus, bishop of Car- thage, in which the principals had enlisted a host of their colleagues as their respective auxiliaries, he states to them, that it was a very griev- ous thing to him to see so great a number of persons divided into par- ties, and the bishops disagreeing among themselves. He earnestly wishes to compose their differences; but in spite of all his efforts, they persisted in their quarrels — which drew from him a pathetic complaint, * Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 105—107. f Luke xxii. 25, 26, t Matt, xxiii. 3—12. 168 History of the Christian Church. that those who ought to have been the foremost in maintaining a bro- therly affection and peaceable disposition towards each other, were the first to separate from one another in a scandalous and detestable man- ner, giving occasion to the common enemies of Christianity to scoff and deride them. To put an end to such factious and disgraceful proceedings, he sum- moned a council to meet at Aries in France, in order, if it were possi- ble, to bring to a friendly and Christian compromise this long pending altercation. He himself condescended to be present on the occasion, and exerted all his influence to restore peace and harmony among them, but with little effect. He had unfortunately sown the seeds of strife and contention, by his liberal endowment of churches, and by the riches and honours that he had conferred upon the bishops, and he was now reaping the fruit of his folly. Had this first of the Christian emperors, rested satisfied with the pri- mary edict which he published in favour of the Christians, he had act- ed the part of a wise, good, and impartial governor. That decree, with- out particularizing any sects or parties, gave full liberty to all of them, both Christians and Pagans, to follow whatever religious profession seemed to them most eligible. But that liberty was of no long dura- tion, and was soon abridged in reference to both Christians and Hea- thens. For, although in that edict he had commanded that the places of worship and other effects should be restored to Christians in general, it was soon followed by another, which restricts this grant to " the catholic church." After this, in a letter to Miltiades, bishop of Rome, complaining of the differences fomented by the African bishops, he tells him, that he had so great a reverence for " the catholic church," that he would not have him suffer, in any place, any schism or differ- ence whatsoever to exist. There are in his letters many things which savour of the same spirit, and which can leave us in no doubt, that, by " the catholic faith and church" we are to understand that which was approved by those bishops who had the greatest interest in his favour. And with regard to his treatment of the Pagans, it was in flagrant violation of the first principle of Christianity, as well as of the excellent edict which he had formerly issued. He prohibited by law* the wor- ship of idols in cities and country — commanded that no statues of the gods should be erected, nor any sacrifices offered upon their altars, and sent into all the provinces Christian presidents, forbidding the Pagan priests to offer sacrifice, and confirming to the former the honours due to their characters and stations ; thus endeavouring to support the king- dom of Christ, which is not of this world, by means altogether world- ly, viz. the prospects and rewards of worldly honour and preferment. It can excite no surprise, that those persons who could advise the issuing of these edicts, to suppress the ancient religion of the empire, should be against tolerating any sects among themselves that should pre- sume to differ from them on any articles of the Christian faith or dis- cipline. For nothing can be more evident than that, if the civil magis- trate is vested with authority to prohibit religious opinions, or punish * .Eusebius, b. 10. ch. 5, 6, Rise of the Avian Controversies. 1 69 the abettors of them, merely because in his view they are erroneous, it must necessarily follow, that he has an equal right to punish a profess- ing Christian whose sentiments or practices differ from his own, as he would have to punish those of a Pagan or Mahommedan. If the ma- gistrate's jurisdiction extend to his exercising a control over the human mind in one instance, it will be impossible consistently to deny it to him in any other; and as his own judgment is, in all cases, the author- ized standard of what is truth and error, in religion, he bears the sword, on this principle to punish every deviation from that standard which he has erected, whether found in Christian, Jew, or Pagan. Thus, if Constantine and his bishops were justified in abolishing heathenism by the civil power, because they believed it erroneous, Dioclesian and Gal- lienus with their priests, were equally right in prohibiting Christianity by civil laws, because they believed it to be not only false and impious, but blasphemy against their gods, and even as bordering upon atheism itself. It has been well remarked by a sensible writer, that "men have been very long in discovering, and even yet seem scarcely to have discover- ed, that true religion is of too delicate a nature to be compelled, by the coarse implements of human authority and worldly sanctions. Let the law of the land restrain vice and injustice of every kind, as ruinous to the peace and order of society ; for this is its proper province : but let it not tamper with religion, by attempting to enforce its exercises and duties. These, unless they be free-will offerings, are nothing ; they are worse [than nothing.] By such an unnatural alliance, and ill- judged aid, hypocrisy and superstition may, indeed, be greatly promot- ed; but genuine piety never fails to suffer."* The sentiments of primitive Christians for the first three centuries, in reference to the divinity of the Saviour, were generally speaking, pretty uniform ; nor do there appear to have been any public controver- sies regarding this leading article of the Christian faith. But a dispute now arose which may be said to have involved all Christendom in a flame. It originated in the church of Alexandria, in Egypt, between Alexander and Arius, two of the pastors of that church, and soon spread itself into other churches, inflaming bishops against bishops, who, under the pretext of supporting divine truth, excited tumults, and fomented the most deadly strifes and hatreds towards each other. These divi- sions of the prelates set the people together by the ears, and the dis- pute was managed with such violence, that it involved the whole Christian world, and gave occasion to the heathens to ridicule the Christian religion upon their public theatres.t The occasion of this dispute, which is well known by the name of "The Arian Controversy," seems to have been simply this. Alex- ander, one of the prelates of that church, speaking upon the subject of the Trinity, had affirmed that there was " an unity in the Trinity, and particularly that the Son was co-eternal, and con-substantial, and of the same dignity with the Father." Arius objected to this language, and * Campbell's Lectures on Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 73. f Socrates's Eccles. Hist. b. i. ch. 6. 15 170 History of the Christian Church. argued that " If the Father begat the Son, he who was begotten must have a beginning of his existence; and from hence, says he, 'tis mani- fest that tbcre was a time Avhen he (the Son) was not," Sic. It is wholly incompatible with the object of this history to discuss points of Christian doctrine ; but the reader will, probably, excuse a few remarks on this extraordinary controversy. It is scarcely possible for any one who entertains a reverential regard for the great God, not to be struck with the presumption of poor, finite, erring mortals, dar- ing to investigate, in the rash and inconsiderate manner that was now done, a subject of such awful import as the modus of the divine exist- ence. We no sooner turn our thoughts to this question than our feeble capacities are overwhelmed with the immensity of the subject. Reason, in its most improved state, can carry us but a little way in our disco- veries of God ; and, if we are wise, we shall receive in simplicity of mind, every information which the great First Cause hath been pleased to afford us concerning himself in his holy word. There, indeed, we learn with certainty, what may be also inferred from the works of cre- ation and providence, that there is a God, who at first called the uni- verse into being, and who still upholds and governs all things. But the works of creation and providence could never teach us, what the Scrip- tures make abundantly plain, — that there is in this one immense being, a distinction of Father, Word, and Spirit — a distinction which lies at the foundation of the whole economy of our redemption. Men in the pride of their hearts, may ask, how can these things be? But we are under no obligation to explain that point to them. And, indeed, it will be early enough for them to put the question, when they shall have ex- plained how body, soul, and spirit constitute one individual human per- son. Every child may see that this distinction pervades the whole of divine revelation, and especially the New Testament. The Father is always represented as sustaining the majesty of the Godhead ; as the great moral Governor of the world, giving laws to his creatures, enforced by the sanctions of the rewards and punishments of a future state. The Word is described as becoming incarnate to accomplish the purposes of the Father's love in the redemption of the guilty. And the Holy Spirit as the efficient agent, carrying into effect the purpose of the Fa- ther and the grace of the Son, on the hearts of the elect. But then it never leads us to conceive of the Son of God, abstractedly from his in- carnation. The Word was made flesh, or assumed a human body, and thus " that holy thing which was born of the Virgin, was the Son of God."* The doctrine of " eternal generation" was unknown to the inspired writers, and, unquestionably, hatched in the school of Alexandria. Happy had it been for the Christian world, could they have rested satisfied with the simple doctrine of divine revelation on this sublime subject ; not seeking to be wise beyond what is written. Much as I dislike the character of Athanasius, it is only due to him to say, that he has in a few words said all that can with propriety be said on this subject. " The Father," says he, "cannot be the Son, nor the >Son the Father; and the Holy Ghost is never called by the name of * Luke i. 31 — 35. John i. 14. View of the Arian Controversy. 171 the Son, but is called the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. The Holy Trinity is but one divine nature and one God. This is sufficient for the faithful; human knowledge goes no further. The Cherubims vail the rest with their wings." But let the reader mark how these ecclesiastical combatants repre- sent each other's opinions. Arius in a letter to Eusebius of Nicome- dia, thus states the sentiments of Alexander. " God is always and the Son always — the same time the Father, the same time the Son — the Son co-exists with God unbegottenly, being ever begotten, being unbegottenly begotten — God was not before the Son, no not in con- ception, or the least point of time, he being ever God, ever a Son — For the Son is out of God himself." Alexander, on the contrary, in a letter to the bishop of Constantinople, gives us the doctrine of Arius in the following words. " There was 'a time when there was no Son of God, and that he who before was not, afterwards existed, being made, whensoever he was made, just as any man whatsoever; and that therefore he was of a mutable nature, and equally receptive of vice and virtue," &c. If these things were publicly taught and avowed, by these men, as each represents the other's sentiments, every sober man will surely think that they both merited severe reprehension, for leaving the plain language of scripture, and introducing terms of their own invention into a doctrine of pure revelation, and at last dividing the whole of Christendom on account of it. Numerous expedients were tried to bring Alexander and Arius to one mind, the emperor himself condescending to become a media- tor between them ; but all attempts proved fruitless. He wrote let- ters to them at Alexandria, exhorting them to lay aside their differ- ences and become reconciled to each other. He informs them that he had diligently examined the rise and progress of this dispute, and that he found the occasion of the difference to be very trifling and not worthy such furious contentions ; and that therefore he promised him- self, his mediation for peace would have its desired effect. He re- minds Alexander that, " He required from his presbyters a declaration of their sentiments concerning a silly, empty question — and Arius, that he had imprudently uttered what he should not even have thought of, or what at least he should have kept secret in his own bosom ; that questions about such things ought not to have been asked ; if asked, should not have been answered ; that they proceeded from an idle itch of disputation, and were in themselves of so high and difficult a nature, as that they could not be exactly comprehended or suitably explained. And that to insist on such points before the people could produce no other effect than to make some of them talk blasphemy, and others turn schismatics."* This, unquestionably, was excellent advice, but religious animosi- ties are not so easily removed ; and the ecclesiastical combatants were too warmly engaged to listen to such salutary counsel. Finding all other resources ineffectual, the emperor was at length under the neces- * Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b. 1. ch. 63. 172 History of the Christian Church. sity of issuing letters to the bishops of the several provinces of the empire, enjoining them to assemble together at Nice, in Bythinia, which was accordingly done, A. D. 325. This is what goes by the name of " The First General Council." The number of bishops was three hundred and eighteen, besides a multitude of presbyters, deacons, acolythists, and others, amounting in the whole to two thousand and forty-eight persons. The ecclesiastical historians inform us, that in this vast collection of the bishops, some were remarkable for their gra- vity, patience under sufferings, modesty, integrity, and eloquence, yet they all agree that there were others of very opposite characters.* On the day appointed for holding the council, the bishops and infe- rior clergy were assembled in the largest room in the palace, rows of seats being placed on each side of it; and all having taken their places, they waited, standing in respectful silence for the emperor, who, being preceded by several of his friends, at length made his appearance, as Eusebius says, like an angel of God, exceeding all his attendants, in size, gracefulness, and strength ; and dazzling all eyes with the splen- dour of his dress ; but showing the greatest humility and modesty in his manner of walking, gesture, and behaviour. Having taken his sta- tion in the middle of the upper part of the room, near a low chair that was covered with gold, he did not sit down, till the fathers de- sired it. All being now seated, says Eusebius, the bishop whose place was the first on his right hand (Maimbourg informs us it was Eustathius, patri- arch of Antioch,) rose, and addressing the emperor, gave thanks to God on his account, congratulating the church on its prosperous condition, brought about by his means, and particularly in the destruction of the * " The eloquence of Lactantius, and the beauty and purity of his style, raise liim superior to every author of the fourth century, and place him upon an equality with some of the most accomplished writers of ancient Rome. En- trusted with the education of Crispus, the unfortunate son of Constantine, whom that monarch afterwards put to death, Lactantius, amidst the splendours of a court, was distinguished only by his talents and his poverty. His principal work consists of a masterly refutation of Paganism, and a learned comparison between it and Christianity. It is to the indelible disgrace of the age, that while a num- ber of fanatic monks and popular dcclaimers obtained the highest stations in the church, a man who possessed die learning of Aristotle, with the eloquence of Cicero, who united philosophy with religion, and an earnest piety with all the graces of a polished taste and enlightened understanding, should be permitted to languish without distinction or reward. It is, however, but too common a case, that the service which is rendered to a party, is rated higher than that which is rendered to mankind in general. The defence of a single dogma shall raise a man to eminence and fortune; while the enlightening of thousands, the improv- ing of the hearts, the morals, the judgments, and religious sentiments of the na- tion, shall frequently be passed over, with scarcely the cold return of fruitless praise." — Gregory's Church History, vol. i. p. 224. " Such was the taste of the times and the people, that Lactantius, who was a man of learning and real eloquence, a man of sound sentiments, extensive know- ledge, and inoffensive life, the most excellent of the Latin fathers, and justly called the Christian Cicero, was in want of common necessaries; while Ambrose, who was not worthy to carry his books, was elected to the rich see of "Milan; and this when the people elected their own bishops." — Robhison's Eccles. Re- searches. Proceedings of the Nicene council. 173 idolatrous worship of Paganism. Then sitting down, the emperor himself addressed the company in Latin, expressing his happiness at seeing them all met on so glorious an occasion as the amicable settle- ment of all their differences, which, he said, had given him more con- cern than all his wars ; but that these being at an end, he had nothing more at heart than to be the means of settling the peace of the church ; and he concluded with expressing his earnest wish that they would, as speedily as possible, remove every cause of dissension, and lay the foundation of a lasting peace. What he said in Latin was interpreted to the fathers in Greek. Immediately after this speech, this excellent emperor was witness to a scene which must have afforded him a very unpromising prospect as to the success of his project for peace. For before they entered upon the discussion of any thing that related to the great object of their meet- ing, the bishops began with complaining to the emperor of each other, and vindicating themselves. To every thing that was said, he gave a patient hearing, and by his mildness and great address, speaking to them in Greek (which he was in some measure able to do) he at length pre- vailed upon them to come to an agreement, says Eusebius, not only with respect to their private differences, but also with regard to the two great objects of their assembling — the rule of faith as it respected the Arian controversy, and the time of celebrating Easter. Socrates says, that the bishops having put into the emperor's hands written libels, containing their complaints against each other, he threw them all together into the fire, advising them, according to the doctrine of Christ, to forgive one another as they themselves hoped to be for- given. Sozomen says, that the bishops having made their complaints in person, the emperor bade them reduce them all into writing, and that on the day which he had appointed to consider them, he said, as he threw all the billets unopened into the fire, that it did not belong to him to decide the differences of Christian bishops, and that the hearing of them must be deferred till the day of judgment.* However, the emperor ultimately succeeded in restoring them to some degree of temper ; and they consequently proceeded in good ear- nest to draw up a creed, which they were all required to subscribe, as the only true and orthodox faith, and which, from the place where they were assembled, bears the title of the Nicene.I The principal * Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b, iii. ch. 10 — 14. ■j" As a matter of curiosity, which may gratify some readers, I subjoin this sum-, mary of the orthodox faith at this period. The original may be found in the epistle of Eusebius to the Cesareans. " We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things, visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten ; be* gotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father, God of God \ Light of Light ; true God of true God ; begotten, not made ; consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made, things in heaven, and tilings on earth ; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate, and became man, suffered and rose again the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and comes to judge the quick and the dead : and in the Holy Ghost. And the catholic and apostolic church doth anathematize those persons who say, that there was a, time when the Son of God was not ; that he was not before he was born } that he was made of nothing, or of anotiier substance or being ; or that he is created^ or changeable, or convertible." 15* 174 History of the Christian Church. persons who appeared on the side of Arius, and assisted him in the public disputation, were Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theognis of Nice, and Maris of Calcedon ; and the person who chiefly opposed them and took the part of Alexander, was Athanasius, then only a deacon in the church of Alexandria, but much confided in by the bishop, and of whom more will be said hereafter. No sooner were the decrees and canons of the council drawn up, than they were sent to Sylvester, then bishop of Rome, who, in the thirteenth council of Rome, at which were present two hundred and seventy-five bishops, confirmed them in these words : " We confirm with our mouth, that which has been decreed at Nice, a city of Bythi- nia, by the three hundred and eighteen holy bishops, for the good of the catholic and apostolic church, mother of the faithful. We anathe- matize all those who shall dare to contradict the decrees of the great and holy council, which was assembled at Nice, in the presence of that most pious and venerable prince, the emperor Constantine." And to this all the bishops answered, " We consent to it."* The council began their discussions on the 19th of June, and ended them on the 25th of August, of the same year (325) to the joy of Con- stantine, the defeat of Arius and the triumph of the Athanasian party. Eusebius of Nicomedia, and sixteen other bishops, opposed the gene- ral sense of the council, and rejected the word constcbstantial. But finding themselves in so small a minority, and that the emperor was determined to enforce respect to the decisions of the council, they all, except four, ultimately subscribed the confession of faith. The pre- vailing party then proceeded to excommunicate Arius and his follow- ers, banishing the former from Alexandria. Letters were also written to all the churches in Egypt, Lybia, and Pentapolis, announcing their decrees, and informing them that the holy synod had condemned the opinions of Arius, and had fully determined the time for the celebra- tion of Easter ; exhorting them to rejoice for the good deed they had done, for that they had cut off all manner of heresy. When these things were ended, Constantine splendidly treated the bishops, filled their pockets, and sent them honourably home, exhorting them at part- ing to maintain peace among themselves, and that none of them should . envy another who might excel the rest in wisdom or eloquence — that they should not carry themselves haughtily towards their inferiors, but condescend to, and bear with, their weakness ; — a convincing proof that he saw into their tempers, and was no stranger to the haughtiness and pride that influenced some, and the envy and hatred that prevailed in others.! It requires not the spirit of prophecy to anticipate the effects which must flow from the disgraceful proceedings of this general council, though Constantine himself wrote letters, enjoining universal conform- ity to its decrees, and urges as a reason for it, that " what they had decreed was the will of God, and that the agreement of so great a num- ber of such bishops was by inspiration of the Holy Ghost." It laid the foundation for a system of persecution of a complexion altogether new * Maimbourg's History of Arianism, vol. i. p. 48. j" Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b. ill. ch. 20. Socrates, b. i. ch. 9. Conclusion of the council of Nice. 175 — professed Christians tyrannizing over the consciences of each other, and, as will be seen in the sequel, inflicting torture and cruelties upon each other far greater than they had ever sustained from their heathen persecutors. The emperor's first letters were mild and gentle, but he was soon persuaded into more violent measures ; for out of his great zeal to extinguish heresy, he issued edicts against all such as his fa- vourite bishops persuaded him were the authors or abettors of it, and particularly against the Novatians, Valentinians, Marcionists, and others, whom, after reproaching with being " enemies of truth, de- structive counsellors," &c. he deprives of the liberty of meeting for worship, either in public or private places ; and gives all their orato- ries to the orthodox church. And with respect to the discomfited par- ty, he banished Arius himself, commanded that all his followers should be called Porphyrians (from Porphyrius, a heathen, who wrote against Christianity)* — ordained that the books written by them should be burnt, that there might remain to posterity no vestiges of their doc- trine ; and, to complete the climax, enacted that if any should dare to keep in his possession any book written by Arius, and should not im- mediately burn it, he should no sooner be convicted of the crime, than he should suffer death.t Such were the acts of the last days of CON- STANTINE THE GREAT. SECTION II. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. FROM THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, TO THE CLOSE OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. A. D. 337 400. On the decease of Constantine, the government of the Roman em- pire was distributed between his three sons. To Constantine the II. * The following is a copy of the Edict which Constantine issued on that occa- sion ; it was addressed to the Bishops and People throughout the Empire. " Since Arius hath imitated wicked and ungodly men, it is just that he shoidd undergo the same infamy with them. As therefore, Porphyrius, an enemy of godliness, for his having composed wicked books against Christianity, hath found a suitable recompense, so as to be infamous for the time to come, and to be loaded with great reproach, and to have all his impious writings quite destroyed ; so also it is now my pleasure, that Arius, and those of Arius's sentiments, shall be called Porphyrians, so that they may have the appellation of those whose manner they imitated. Moreover, if any book composed by Arius shall be found, it shall be committed to the flames ; that not only his evil doctrine may be destroyed, but that there may not be the least remembrance of it left. This also I enjoin, that if any one shall be found to have concealed any writing composed by Arius, and shall" not immediately bring it and consume it in the fire, death shall be his pun- ishment ; for as soon as he is taken in this crime, he shall suffer a capital punish- ment. God Pbeserve You." f Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b. iii. ch. 65, Sozomen, b. i. ch. 21. So- crates, b. i. ch. 9. The reader will also find a very amusing account of the proceedings of this memorable council (provided he can make the necessary allowance for the author's predilection for the Catholic party, it being written More Maimburgiano, as Dr. Jortin would express it) in Maimbourg's History of Arianism, translated by Webster, vol. i. book 1. 4to. edition, 1727. 176 History of the Christian Church. were assigned the provinces of Britain, Spain, and Gaul, now called France. To his brother Constans, Illyricum, Italy, and Africa ; whilst Constantius inherited the east, comprehending Asia, Syria, and Egypt, with the city of Constantinople, to which his father had transferred the imperial residence, and consequently made it the seat of government. In the year 340, a quarrel arose between the two first mentioned brothers, which ended in a war, and that war in the death of Constan- tine. Constans now added the dominions of the deceased prince to his own, and thereby became sole master of all the western provinces. He retained possession of this immense territory until the year 350, when Magnentius, one of his own officers, with the view of getting him- self declared emperor, contrived to procure the assassination of Con- stans. The usurper, however, did not long enjoy the fruits of his per- fidy; for Constantius, justly incensed by his rebellious conduct, march- ed an army against him, and repulsing him at the outset, Magnentius, transported with rage and despair at his ill success, and apprehending the most terrible and ignominious death from the resentment of the conqueror, put a termination to his own life. Thus, Constantius, in the year 353, became sole monarch of the Roman empire, which he governed until the year 361. Marching at the head of his army, iu that year, to chastise the presumption of his own kinsman, Julian, whom the forces entrusted to his command in Gaul, had, in an hour of victory, saluted with the title of Augustus, he was arrested by the hand of death, and expired at Mopsucrene in Cilicia, leaving the vacant throne to Julian. None of the sons of Constantine the Great, inherited the spirit and genius of their father. They, nevertheless, so far trode in his steps, as to extend their fostering care to the Catholic religion, to accelerate its progress through the empire, and to continue to undermine and abolish the system of Paganism. But the controversy which had arisen between Arius and Alexan- der, relative to the sonship of Christ, was far from being put to rest by the decision of the council of Nice. The doctrine of Arius, indeed, had been condemned by a very large majority — he himself was ban- ished to Illyricum, and his followers compelled to assent to the con- fession of faith composed by the synod — his writings also had been pro- scribed as heretical, and the punishment of death decreed against all who were convicted of the crime of harbouring them in their houses. But persecuting edicts cannot extend their dominion over the thoughts, and it is scarcely less difficult to impose an effectual restraint upon the tongue. Persecution has generally been found favourable to whatever cause it has been directed against ; it somehow enlists the sensibilities of our nature on the side of the persecuted party ; and disposes the mind to a more candid and impartial examination of the question in dispute, than we should otherwise possess. It is perhaps too much to affirm with Dr. Middleton, that " truth was never known to be on the persecuting side ;"* an impartial examination, however, of the opinions find proceedings of both Arians and Athanasians on this occasion, * Preface to his Free Inquiry, p. 8. 4to. edit. Constantius favours Arianism. 177 serves in some degree to justify the maxim, and convinces us that they were equally remote from the truth, even as they were alike well dis- posed to persecute each other in proportion as either party obtained the means of doing it. Only it is due to the orthodox party to say, that they took the lead in punishing heretics with death, and persuaded the emperor to destroy those whom they could not convert. When the undivided government of the empire centered in the hands of Constantius, he evinced a strong predilection for the Arian side of the controversy, and Arianism became fashionable at court. The em- peror favoured only the bishops of that party. Paul, the orthodox prelate of the see of Constantinople, was ejected from his office by the emperor's order, and Macedonius substituted in his room. This man adopted a scheme different from either party, and contended that the Son was not consubstantial, but of a like substance with the Father, openly pi-opagating this new theory, after thrusting himself into the bishoprick of Paul ; and thus, by the addition of a single letter, affect- ing to settle the whole dispute. Frivolous as was this distinction, it enraged the orthodox party, who, filled with rage and resentment, rose in a body to oppose Hermogenes, the officer whom Constantius had sent to introduce him unto his episcopal throne, burnt down his house, and drew him round the streets by his heels until they had murdered him. Athanasius, who had rendered such essential service to Alexander, his bishop, in managing the dispute with Arius at the council of Nice, had, by this time, risen to great popularity, and in reality was become the oracle of the orthodox party. We are supposed to be indebted to him for the creed which bears his name, and which fills so eminent a place in the liturgy of our national church. Even to this day he is ex- tolled by such respectable writers as Milner and Haweis, as a prodigy of evangelical light. But whatever may be said of the soundness of his speculative creed, he was evidently a man of aspiring views and of persecuting principles. In a letter to Epictetus, bishop of Corinth, alluding to some heretical opinions then prevalent, he says, " I won- der that your piety hath borne these things, and that you did not immediately put those heretics under restraint, and propose the true faith to them, that if they would not forbear to contradict they might be declared heretics, for it is not to be endured that these things should be either said or heard amongst Christians." And upon another oc- casion, " they ought to be held in universal hatred,'1'' says he, " for opposing the truth," — comforting himself that the emperor, when duly informed, would put a stop to their wickedness, and that they would not be long-lived. In one of his letters he exhorts those to whom he wrote, to " hold fast the confession of the fathers, and to reject all who should speak more or less than was contained in it. And, in his first oration against the Arians, he declares in plain terms, " that the ex- pressing a person's sentiments in the words of scripture, was no suf- ficient proof of orthodoxy, because the devil himself, used scripture words to cover his wicked designs upon our Saviour, and that heretics were not to be received though they made use of the very expressions of orthodoxy itself." 178 History of the Christian Church. The Scriptures were now no longer the standard of the Christian faith. What was orthodox, and what heterodox, was, from hence- forward, to be determined by the decisions of fathers and councils ; and religion propagated not by the apostolic methods of persuasion, ac- companied with the meekness and gentleness of Christ, but by impe- rial edicts and decrees ; nor were gainsayers to be brought to convic- tion by the simple weapons of reason and scripture, but persecuted and destroyed. It cannot surprise us, if after this we find a continual fluctuation of the public faith, just as the prevailing party obtained the imperial authority to support them ; or that we should meet with lit- tle else in ecclesiastical history than violence and cruelties, committed by men who had wholly departed from the simplicity of the Christian doctrine and profession ; men enslaved to avarice and ambition ; and carried away with views of temporal grandeur, high preferments, and large revenues. To dwell upon the disgraceful cabals, the violent invectives, and slanderous recriminations of those ruling factions, would afford little edification to the reader, and certainly no pleasure to the writer. Were we disposed to give credit to the complaints of the orthodox against the Arians, we must certainly regard them as the most execrable set of men that ever lived. They are loaded with all the crimes that can possibly be committed, and represented as bad, if not worse, than in- fernal spirits. And had the writings of the Arians not been destroy- ed, we should, no doubt, have found as many and grievous charges laid by them, perhaps with equal justice, against the Athanasians. Constantius banished Athanasius from his bishoprick at Alexandria, and wrote a letter to the citizens, in which he terms him " an impos- tor, a corrupter of men's souls, a disturber of the city, a pernicious fellow, one convicted of the worst crimes, not to be expiated by his suffering death ten times ;" and a bishop, named George, was put in- to his see, whom this eloquent emperor is pleased to style " a most venerable person, and the most capable of all men to instruct them in heavenly things." Athanasius, however, in his usual style, calls him " an idolater and hangman ; and one capable of all kinds of violence, rapine, and murders ;" and whom he actually charges with commit- ting the most impious actions and outrageous cruelties. The truth is, that the clergy of the Catholic church were now be- come the principal disturbers of the empire ; and the pride of the bish- ops, and the fury of the people on each side had grown to such a height, that the election or restoration of a bishop seldom took place in the larger cities, without being attended with scenes of slaughter. Athanasius was several times banished and restored at the expense of blood. What shall we make of the Christianity of the man who could act thus, or countenance such proceedings ? Had Athanasius been in- fluenced by the benign and peaceable spirit of the gospel, he would at once have withdrawn himself from such disgraceful scenes, and pre- ferred to worship God in the society of only a dozen day-labourers in a cellar or a garret, to all the honour and all the emolument which he could derive from being exalted to the dignity of archbishop of Alex- andria, on such degrading conditions. One can scarcely forbear con- Effects of the Arian Controversy. 179 trasting his conduct with the behaviour of Him, whose servant he pro- fessed to be. " When Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force, and make him a king, he departed again into a moun- tain alone." John vi. 15. The fruits of the Spirit are not turbulence and strife; "but love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness and temperance ; and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts." Gal. v. 22. The orthodox were deposed, and the Arians substituted in their places, with the murder of thousands ; and as the controversy was now no longer about the plain doctrines of uncorrupted Christianity, but about secu- lar honours and dignified preferments, so the bishops were introduced into their churches and placed upon their thrones by armed soldiers. And when once in actual possession, they treated those who differed from them without moderation or mercy, turning them out of their churches, denying them the liberty of worship, fulminating anathemas against them, and persecuting them by every species of cruelty, as is evident from the accounts given by the ecclesiastical historians of Athanasius, Macedonius, George, and others. In short, they seem to have treated one another with the same implacable bitterness and seve- rity, as their common enemies, the heathen, had ever exercised towards them, or as though they thought persecution for conscience-sake had been the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian religion, and that they could not more effectually recommend themselves as the disci- ples of Christ, than by devouring each other. This made Julian, the emperor, say of them, that he found by experience, that even the beasts of the forest are not so cruel as the generality of Christians then were to one another. Such was the wretched state of things in the reign of Constantius, which affords us little more than the history of councils and creeds differing from, and clashing with each other — bish- ops deposing, censuring, and anathematizing their adversaries, and the people divided into factions under their respective leaders, for the sake of words, of the meaning of which they understood nothing, and con- tending for victory even to bloodshed and death. Thus, as Socrates observes, " was the church torn in pieces for the sake of Athanasius and the word consubstantial .'" It probably would not be easy to sketch in few words a more strik- ing picture of these times than that which is given us by Ammianus Marcellinus, who, having served in the armies, had the best opportu- nities of studying the character of Constantius. " The Christian re- ligion, which in itself," says he, " is plain and simple, he confounded by the dotage of superstition. Instead of reconciling the parties by the weight of his authority, he cherished and propagated by verbal dis- putes, the differences which his vain curiosity had excited. The high- Avays were covered with troops of bishops, galloping from every side to the assemblies, which they called synods ; and while they laboured to reduce the whole sect to their own particular opinions, the public establishment of the posts was almost ruined by their hasty and re- peated journeys."* It was certainly a very just, though severe cen- * Ammianus Marcellinus, 1. xxi. ch. 16. 180 History of the Christian Church. sure, which Gregory Nazianzen passed upon the councils that were held about this time. " If I must speak the truth," says he, " this is my resolution, to avoid all councils of the bishops, for I have not seen any good end answered by any synod whatsoever; for their love of contention, and their lust of power, are too great even for words to express."* The scepticism of Gibbon has subjected him to an un- measurable effusion of rancour from the clergy of his day ; and far be it from me to stand forward the advocate of scepticism in any man ; but I most cordially agree with that eminent writer, when he says, " the patient and humble virtues of Jesus should not be confounded with the intolerant zeal of princes and bishops, who have disgraced the name of his disciples."} So fascinating is the influence of worldly pomp and splendour upon the human mind, that it is not to be wondered at, that the see of Rome became at this time a most seducing object of sacerdotal ambition. In the episcopal order, the bishop of Rome was the first in rank, and distinguished by a sort of pre-eminence over all other prelates. He surpassed all his brethren in the magnificence and splendour of the church over which he presided ; in the riches of his revenues and pos- sessions ; in the number and variety of his ministers; in his credit with the people ; and in his sumptuous and splendid manner of living. Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman historian, who lived during these times, adverting to this subject, says, " It was no wonder to see those who were ambitious of human greatness, contending with so much heat and animosity for that dignity, because when they had obtained it, they were sure to be enriched by the offerings of the matrons, of appearing abroad in great splendour, of being admired for their costly coaches, sumptuous in their feasts, out-doing sovereign princes in the expenses of their table." This led Proetextatus, an heathen, who was prtefect of the city, to say, " Make me Bishop of Borne, and I'll be a Christian too.'" In the year 366, Liberius, bishop of Rome, died, and a violent con- test arose respecting his successor. The city was divided into two factions, one of which elected Damasus to that high dignity, while the other chose Ursicinus, a deacon of the church. The party of Damasus prevailed, and got him ordained. Ursicinus, enraged that Damasus was preferred before him, set up separate meetings, and at length he also obtained ordination from certain obscure bishops. This occasioned great disputes among the citizens, as to which of the two should obtain the episcopal dignity ; and the matter was carried to such a height, that great numbers were murdered on either side in the quarrel — no less than one hundred and thirty -seven persons being de- stroyed in the very church itself !J But the very detail of such shame- ful proceedings is sufficient to excite disgust ; and enough has been said to convince any unprejudiced mind of the absurdity of looking for the kingdom of the Son of God in the " Catholic Church," as it now began to be denominated. " The mystery of iniquity," which had * Opera, vol. i. Epist. 55. f Decline and Fall, vol. ix. ch. 50. t Socrates' Eccl. Hist. b. xxvii. ch. 3. Rise of the Novatian Churches. 181 been secretly working since the very days of the apostles, (2 Thess. ii. 7,) had nevertheless been subject to considerable control, so long as Paganism remained the established religion of the empire, and Chris- tians were consequently compelled to bear their cross, by patiently suffering the hatred of the world, in conformity to the Captain of their salvation. But no sooner was this impediment removed by the estab- lishment of Christianity, under Constantine, than " the Man of Sin" — " the Son of perdition" began to be manifest. Men were now found, professing themselves the disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus, yet walking after the course of this world, " lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, — traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure move than lovers of God," — " having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."* And, as this state of things continued to increase in progressive enormity, until it ultimately brought forth that monstrous system of iniquity, denomi- nated " Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and abominations of THE earth" — described by the prophetic pen, as " the habitation of devils, — the hold of every foul spirit, — the cage of every unclean ar.d hateful bird,"t we may rest fully assured that the sheep of Christ, — those who heard his voice and followed his will.J would see it their indispensable duty to separate themselves from such an impure communion, in obedience to the reiterated com- mands of God.§ It may be proper to remark, that not long before the times of which we now treat, some Christians had seen it their duty to withdraw from the communion of the church of Rome. The first instance of this that we find on record, if we except that of Tertullian, is the case of Nova- tian, who in the year 251, was ordained the pastor of a church in the city of Rome, which maintained no fellowship with the Catholic party. It is a difficult matter, at this very remote period, to ascertain the real grounds of difference between Novatian and his opponents. Those who are in any tolerable degree conversant with theological controversy, will scarcely need to be apprized how much caution is necessary to guard against being misled by the false representations which different parties give of each other's principles and conduct. Novatian is said to have refused to receive into the communion of the church any of those per- sons who, in the time of persecution, had been induced through fear of sufferings or death, to apostatize from their profession, and offer sacri- fices to the heathen deities ; a principle which he founded on a mistaken view of Heb. vi. 4 — 6. We may readily conceive how interesting and difficult a subject this must have been to all the churches of Christ in those distressing times, and the danger that must have arisen from laying down any fixed rule of conduct that should apply to all cases that would come before them ; or even verging towards an extreme on either side of this question. The following is the account given of Novatian by the late Mr. Robert Robinson, in his Ecclesiastical Re- searches, p. 126; and I the more readily submit it to the reader, because • 2 Tim.iii. 3 — 5. f Rev. xvii. 5. and xviii. 2. * John x. 27. § 2 Cor. vi. 14 — 18. 2 Tim. iii. 5. Rev. xviii. 4. 16 182 History of the Christian Church. none who know Mr. Robinson, can, for a moment, suspect him of hav- ing any undue predilection for the principles of INovatian. " He was," says he, "an elder in the church of Rome, a man of extensive learning, holding the same doctrine as the church did, and published several trea- tises in defence of what he believed. His address was eloquent and insinuating, and his morals irreproachable. He saw with extreme pain the intolerable depravity of the church. Christians within the space of a very few years were caressed by one emperor, and persecuted by another. In seasons of prosperity many persons rushed into the church for base purposes. In times of adversity, they denied the faith, and reverted again to idolatry. When the squall was over, away they came again to the chureh, with all their vices, to deprave others by their ex- amples. The bishops, fond of proselytes, encouraged all this ; and transferred the attention of Christians from the old confederacy for vir- tue, to vain shows at Easter, and other Jewish ceremonies, adulterated too with Paganism. On the death of bishop Fabian, Cornelius, a bro- ther elder, and a violent partizan for taking in the multitude, was put in nomination. Novatian opposed him ; but as Cornelius carried his election, and he saw no prospect of reformation, but on the contrary, a tide of immorality pouring into the church, he withdrew and a great many with him. Cornelius, irritated by Cyprian, who was just in the same condition, through the remonstrances of virtuous men at Car- thage, and who was exasperated beyond measure with one of his own elders, named Novatus, who had quitted Carthage, and gone to Rome to espouse the cause of Novatian, called a council and got a sentence of excommunication passed against Novatian. In the end, Novatian formed a church, and was elected bishop. Great numbers followed his example, 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, they were distinguished by a variety of names, and a sicccessio?i of them continued till the Beformation.'''' The same author, afterwards adverting to the vile calumnies with which the catholic writers have in all ages delighted to asperse the character of Novatian, thus proceeds to vindicate him : They say Novatian was the first Antipope ; and yet there was at that time no pope, in the modern sense of the word. They call Novatian the author of the heresy of Puritanism ; and yet they know that Ter- tullian had quitted the church near fifty years before, for the same rea- son, and Privatus, who was an old man in the time of Novatian, had, with several more, repeatedly remonstrated against the alterations taking place ; and, as they could get no redress, had dissented and formed separate congregations. They tax Novatian with being the parent of an innumerable multitude of congregations of Puritans all over the em- pire ; and yet he had no other influence over any, than what his good example gave him. People every where saw the same cause of com- plaint, and groaned for relief; and when one man made a stand for virtue, the crisis had arrived; people saw the propriety of the cure, and applied the same means to their own relief. They blame this man, and all Vindication of Novation. 183 these churches for the severity of their discipline ; — yet this severe discipline, was the only coercion of the primitive churches, and it was the exercise of this that rendered civil coercion unnecessary. Some exclaimed, it is a barbarous discipline to refuse to readmit people into Christian communion, because they have lapsed into idolatry or vice. Others, finding the inconvenience of such a lax discipline, required a repentance of five, ten, or fifteen years ; but the Novatians said, you may be admitted among us by baptism — or, if any Catholic has bap- tized you before, by re-baptism ; but if you fall into idolatry, we shall separate you from our communion, and on no account readmit you. God forbid we should injure either your person, your property, or your character, or even judge of the truth of your repentance or your future state ; but you can never be readmitted to our community, without our giving up the last and only coercive guardian we have of the purity of our [fellowship.} Whether these persons reasoned justly or not, as virtue was their object, they challenge respect, and he must be a weak man indeed, who is frighted out of it because Cyprian is pleased to say, they are the children of the devil." The doctrinal sentiments of the Novatians appear to have been very scriptural, and the discipline of their churches rigid in the extreme. They were the first class of Christians who obtained the name of [Ca- thari) Puritans, an appellation which doth not appear to have been chosen by themselves, but applied to them by their adversaries ; from which we may reasonably conclude that their manners were simple and irreproachable. Some of them are said to have disapproved of second marriages, regarding them as sinful; but in this they erred in common with Tertullian and many other eminent persons. A third 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 ! — A plain proof of their good sense. Novatian appears to have been possessed of considerable talents— Mosheim terms him, " A man of uncommon learning and eloquence ;" — and he wrote several works, of which only two are now extant. One of them is upon the subject of the Trinity. It is divided into thirty- one sections : the first eight relate to the Father, and treat of his na- ture, power, goodness, justice, &c. with the worship due to him. The following twenty sections relate to Christ — the Old Testament pro- phecies concerning him — their actual accomplishment — his nature — how the Scriptures prove his divinity — confutes the Sabellians — shows that it was Christ who appeared to the patriarchs, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, &e. The twenty-ninth section treats of the Holy Spirit — how promised — given by Christ — his offices, and operations on the souls of men and in the church. The last two sections recapitulate the argu- ments before adduced. The work appears to have been written in the year 257; six years after his separation from the Catholic church. The other tract is upon the subject of "Jewish Meats," addressed in the form of a letter to his church, and written either during his banish- ment or retreat in the time of persecution. It opens up the typical na- ture of the law of Moses, and while he proves its abolition, is careful to 184 History of the Christian Church. guard his Christian brethren against supposing that they were there- fore at liberty to eat things sacrificed to idols.* Dr. Lardner in his Credibility of the Gospel History, ch. xlvii. has been at considerable pains in comparing the various and conti-adictory representations that have been given of Novatian and his followers, and has exonerated them from a mass of obloquy, cast upon them by the Catholic party. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, wrote many epistles or treatises respecting the sect of the Novatians, which afford abundant evidence that their rigid discipline was relished by many. Fabius, bishop of Antioch, in particular, was their friend and favourer. Mar- cian, bishop of Aries, was firm in the same principles in the time of Stephen, bishop of Rome. A church was formed at Carthage for the Novatian party, of which Maximus Avas the pastor. Socrates, the his- torian, speaks of their churches at Constantinople, Nice, Nicomedia, and Coticeus in Phrygia, all in the fourth century — these he mentions as their principal places in the East, and he supposes them to have been equally numerous in the West. What were their numbers in these cities does not appear, but he intimates that they had three churches in Constantinople. Though, therefore, Novatian and his principles were condemned by the Catholic party, at the time that Dionysius wrote the fore-mentioned letters concerning them to the bishop of Rome, he still continued to be supported by a numerous party in various places, separated from the Catholic church. They had among them some persons of considerable note, and of eminent talents. Among these were Agelius, Acesius, Sisinnius, and Marcian, all of Constantinople. Socrates mentions one Mark, bishop of the Novatians in Scythia, who died in the year 439. In fact, the pieces written against them by a great variety of authors of the Catholic church — such as Ambrose, Pacian, and others — the notice taken of them by Basil and Gregory Nazianzen — and the accounts given of them by Socrates and Sozomen in their ecclesiastical histories, are proofs of their being numerous, and that churches of this denomi- nation were to be found in most parts of the world, in the fourth and fifth centuries. " The vast extent of this sect," says Dr. Lardner, "is manifest from the names of the authors who have mentioned them, or written against them, and from the several parts of the Roman empire in which they were found. "t All the ecclesiastical historians complain loudly of the schism that was made in the Christian church by the Novatians, whose difference from the Catholics respected matters of discipline only. But we should not be too hasty in joining issue with them in these lamenta- tions. On the contrary, it may fairly admit of a doubt, whether this breach in the unity of the Christian church in that age, and other simi- lar breaches that have taken place at different times, have not been pro- ductive, upon the whole, of the happiest effects. For besides promot- ing free inquiry and discussion, without which no subject can be well understood, this multiplication of sects has had a powerful tendency to * Dr. A. Clarke's Succession of Sacred Literature, vol. 1. p. 209 — 212. f Lardner's Works, 4to. ed. vol. ii. p. 57. Reign of the Emperor Julian. 185 counteract that overbearing authority which the whole Christian church united, could not have failed to possess, and which, if there had been no place of retreat from power, would have been insupportable. What would have been the terror of an excommunication from a church, and how would it have been possible to correct any abuse in such circum- stances ? That families and friends should be divided, and that those divisions should be the cause of so much animosity as they have often occasioned is, no doubt, to be lamented. But this is an evil that does not necessarily arise from sects in religion, but solely from the unrea- sonable spirit of bigotry in men, which cannot bear with patience that others should think or act differently from them — that bigotry, which a number of sects, and their necessary consequences, can alone cure. Private animosity was an evil inseparable from the promulgation of Christianity itself, and was distinctly foretold by its divine author. The excellent character of many of the Novatian Bishops, was of great use in exciting emulation among those of the Catholic Church, and in checking that abuse of power, which has often disgraced Christianity infinitely more than the divisions that are the subject of complaint. But to proceed. Constantius, whose death has been already mentioned, was succeed- ed in the administration of affairs in the year 361, by his nephew Ju- lian. This prince, during his infancy, had been entrusted to the care of Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, to whom he was related on his mo- ther's side. But although considerable pains had been taken to in- struct him in the principles of Christianity, the mind of Julian imbibed a partiality for the Pagan worship, which, however, he dexterously contrived to conceal until he had assumed the reins of government. Mr. Gibbon, not without probability, resolves this unhappy bias of the young prince's mind into a disgust which he had taken at the manner in which the Arian controversy was carried on. " He was educated," says he, " in the lesser Asia, amidst the scandals of the Arian contro- versy. The fierce contests of the Eastern bishops, the incessant alter- ations of their creeds, and the profane motives which appeared to actu- ate their conduct, insensibly strengthened the prejudices of Julian that they neither understood nor believed the religion for which they so fiercely contended."* There is surely nothing incredible in this — the wonder would have been that, spectator as he was of such detestable squabbles, he should have retained any predilection for the Christians. The apostasy of Julian (as the Catholic clergy delighted to call it) was carefully concealed during his minority; and, when first intimated, it was cautiously done among the adherents of the ancient Pagan wor- ship. From the zeal and virtues of their royal proselyte, they fondly hoped the restoration of their temples, sacrifices, and worship, of which they had been in a considerable degree deprived during the reigns of Constantine and his sons. Probably they expected that the flames of persecution should again be lighted up against the enemies of their deities ; while the Christians beheld with horror and indignation the apostasy of Julian. But the hopes of the former, and the fears of the • Decline and Fall, vol. iv. ch. 25. 16* 186 History of the Christian Church. latter, were disappointed by the prudent conduct of Julian, who, during his short reign, consulted the good of his subjects and the public tran- quillity. Actuated by these motives, and apprehensive of disturbing the repose of an unsettled reign, he surprised the world by an edict, ex- tending to all the inhabitants of the empire the benefits of a free and equal toleration — but he had seen enough of the intolerant principles of the Catholic clergy, to deprive them of the power of persecuting their fellow subjects. The Pagans were permitted to open all their temples,, and were at once delivered from the oppressive laws and arbitrary ex- actions imposed upon them by Constantine and his sons. At the same time, the bishops and clergy, who had been banished by Constantins, were recalled from exile, and restored to their respective churches. Julian, who had paid considerable attention to their disputes, invited the leaders of the different parties to his palace, that he might enjoy the pleasure of witnessing their furious encounters. The clamour of con- troversy sometimes provoked him to exclaim, " Hear me ! the Franks have heard me, and the Germans ;" — but he soon discovered that he was now engaged with more obstinate and implacable enemies ; and, though he exerted all the powers of his oratory to persuade them to live in concord, or at least in peace, he was perfectly satisfied he had nothing to fear from their union and co-operation. There are .two particulars in the reign of Julian which ought not to be passed over without being briefly adverted to. The first is, the ex- traordinary exertions which he made to restore the ancient superstitious worship. No sooner did he ascend the throne, than he assumed the character of supreme Pontiff, and became a perfect devotee to the rites of Paganism. He dedicated a domestic chapel to the sun, his favourite deity — his gardens were filled with statues and altars of the gods — and each apartment of his palace displayed the appearance of a magnificent temple. He also endeavoured, by his own zeal, to inflame that of the magistrates and people. " Amidst the sacred but licentious crowd of priests, of inferior ministers, and of female dancers, who were dedicated to the service of the temple, it was the business of the emperor to bring the wood, to blow the fire, to handle the knife, to slaughter the victim, and thrusting his bloody hands into the bowels of the expiring animal, to draw forth the heart or liver, and to read, with the consum- mate skill of a soothsayer, the imaginary signs of future events."* Encouraged by the example of their sovereign, as well as by his exhor- tations and liberality, the cities and families resumed the practice of their neglected ceremonies. " Every part of the world," exclaims one of their own writers, with transport, " displayed the triumph of reli- gion— and the grateful prospect of flaming altars, bleeding victims, the smoke of incense, and a solemn train of priests and prophets, without fear, and without danger. The sound of prayer and of music was heard on the tops of the highest mountains; and the same ox afforded a sacri- fice for the gods, and a supper for their joyous votaries." This may give us some notion of what might have ensued had the life of Julian not been cut short. * Gibbon, vol. iv. ch. 23. Attempts to rebuild the Jewish Temple. 187 The other circumstance alluded to, is the project which this emperor entertained of rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. In a public address to the people of the Jews, dispersed throughout the provinces of his empire, he tells them, that he pities their misfortunes, condemns their oppressors, praises their constancy, declares himself their gracious pro- tector, and expresses a hope, that after his return from the Persian war, he may be permitted to pay his vows to the Almighty in the holy city of Jerusalem. It is probable that the vain and ambitious mind of Julian aspired to the honour of restoring the ancient glory of the temple. He knew the Christians were firmly persuaded that, by the coming of Christ, the typical dispensation had come to an end; and could he suc- ceed in restoring the Jews to their city and the ritual of their worship, he might convert it into an argument against the faith of prophecy and the truth of revelation. He, therefore, resolved to erect, on Mount Moriah, a stately temple ; and without waiting for his return from the Persian war, gave instructions to his minister Alypius, to commence without delay, the vast undertaking. At the call of their great deliverer, the Jews, from all the provinces of the empire, repaired to Jerusalem. The desire of rebuilding the temple has, in every age, been a favourite project with them. In this propitious moment, says Gibbon, the men forgat their avarice and the women their delicacy ; spades and pick- axes of silver were provided by the vanity of the rich, and the rubbish was transported in- mantles of silk and purple. Every purse was opened in liberal contributions, every hand claimed a share in the pious labour; and the commands of a great monarch were executed by the enthusiasm of a whole people. The joint efforts of power and enthusiasm were, however, on this occasion unsuccessful. I am aware that the reason of this is different- ly accounted for. Some resolve it wholly into the early death of Ju- lian, and the additional circumstance of his successor being actuated by different religious principles. I shall, however, transcribe the ac- count which is given of this extraordinary affair, not by a Christian, but by a heathen writer, who lived during the transaction, and wrote his book within twenty years of it — leaving the reader to make his own reflections on the subject. Ammianus Marcellinus, detailing the history of his own times, says, " whilst Alypius, assisted by the governor of the province, urged with vigour and diligence the execution of the work, horrible balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, with frequent and reiterated attacks, rendered the place, from time to time, inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen ; and the victorious element continuing in this man- ner, obstinately and resolutely bent as it were, to drive them to a dis- tance, the undertaking was abandoned."* This " unexceptionable tes- timony," as Gibbon candidly admits it to be, is also supported by Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in a letter to the emperor Theodosius— by the eloquent Chrysostom, who at the time was bishop of Antioch — and by Gregory Nazianzen, who published his account of this preter- natural event before the expiration of the same year. « Ammianus Marcellinus, b. xxi. at the beginning. 188 History of the Christian Church. There are few of the Roman emperors, whose characters have been exhibited in more discordant lights, than that of Julian. His predilection for Paganism, or his prejudice against Christianity, or both, have given such a partial bias to the pen of Mr. Gibbon when recording the events of his reign, that he uniformly represents him as a virtuous and amiable monarch. But there certainly were traits in his character of a very different nature. Dr. Lardner, whose impar- tiality has never been called in question, tells us, that Julian " had a certain levity of mind ; was a great talker ; very fond of fame ; super- stitious rather than properly religious ; so addicted to sacriticing, that it was said the race of bulls would be destroyed if he returned victo- rious from Persia : and such was the multitude of his victims, that his soldiers, who partook of them, were frequently much disordered by excess in eating and drinking. He received the rising sun with blood, and attended him with blood at his setting. — By frequent devotions he engaged the gods to be his auxiliaries in war ; worshipping Mercury, Ceres, Mars, Calliope, Apollo, and Jupiter. Libanius, complaining of the deities who had deserted him, says, " Which of them shall we blame ? not one, but all, for none were neglected by him, neither gods nor goddesses. And is this the return," says he, " for all his victims, for all his vows, for all the incense, and all the blood offered up to them, by day and night 1 Wherever there was a temple, continues the same writer, whether in the city, or on the hill, or on the tops of the mountains, no place was so rough or so difficult of access but he ran to it, as if the way had been smooth and pleasant." " But though Julian was so devout and religious in his way, he could be much displeased when he was disappointed, and even angry with his gods, like other heathens. In the Persian war, having ob- tained some successes and expecting more, he prepared a grand sacri- fice for Mars ; but the omen not being favourable, he was greatly in- censed; and called Jupiter to witness, that he would never more offer a sacrifice to Mars. This excess of superstition, it seems to me, is the proof of the want of judgment — a defect which appeared upon di- vers occasions and in many actions not altogether becoming the dignity of an emperor."* The conduct of Julian towards the Christians does not seem to have been characterized by all that impartiality which his admirers claim for him. Sozomen, the historian, says, he ordered the strictest in- quiry to be made after the estates that belonged to Christians, with a view to confiscate the whole of them, not hesitating to employ torture to come at the truth. He subjected the Christian clergy to the lowest services in the army — and threatened, that unless the Christians re- built the Pagan temples, he would not suffer the Galileans to wear their heads ; and our historian observes, that if it had been in his power, and he had not been prevented by death, he would probably have been as good as his word.t Though Julian forbore to persecute unto death, he could not, on se- * Lardner's Testimonies, vol. iv. p. 25. f Sozomen's History, bk. v. ch. iv. Reign of the Emperor Jovian. 189 veral occasions, refrain from using insults, which sufficiently showed what he felt, and what he wished to do. When he was sacrificing in a temple at Constantinople, and Maris, the bishop of Chalcedon, a man respectable for his learning and for the part he had acted in public life, and now venerable for his age, happening to pass by, he abused him as an impious person, and an enemy of the gods. He had even the meanness to reproach him for his blindness, saying, " Will not your Galilean God cure you?" The old man replied, " I thank my God that I am deprived of sight, that I may not see your fall from piety." On this occasion, Julian had so much command of himself, as to pass on without making any reply. But notwithstanding his affectation of magnanimity, Julian was not always so much master of himself, as he appeared to be on this occa- sion. While at Antioch, just before he set out on his expedition against Persia, two of the officers who usually attended upon his per- son, inadvertently complained, that by his orders, every thing in the city was polluted with the rites of heathenism, insomuch that the very fountains that supplied the city, and every thing sold in the market, bread, butcher's meat, herbs, fruit, &c. had been sprinkled with lus- tral water, by which they were, as it were, consecrated to the heathen gods : such had been his insidious policy, in order to draw the people insensibly into idolatry. These complaints coming to the ears of Julian, he ordered them to be brought before him ; and interrogating them, as was his custom, with great familiarity, they frankly told him, that they had made those complaints ; and that having been educated in the Christian religion, under his predecessors, Constantine and Constantius, they could not help being disgusted at seeing every thing contaminated with the rites of heathenism ; but that this was the only thing in his reign of which they complained. At this he was so provoked, that he ordered them to be put to death with torture : pretending that it was not on account of their religion, but for their petulance in insulting their emperor. About the same time, a deaconess, of the name of Pythia, who led the female singers, happening, as the emperor was passing by the doors of a place of worship, to be singing a psalm, and having, per- haps imprudently, pitched upon one of those in which the heathen gods and their worshippers are spoken of with contempt, he was so provoked that he sent for her; and, though she was very old, one of his guards struck her by his command, and in his presence, on both the cheeks, with such violence, that the blood gushed out.* After a short reign of twenty months, Julian, who perished by the lance of a common soldier, while prosecuting the Persian war upon the banks of the Euphrates, was succeeded in the year 363 by Jovian, one of the officers of his army. He had been educated in the principles of Christianity, and as soon as he ascended the throne, transmitted a cir- cular letter to all the governors of the provinces, securing the legal es- tablishment of the Christian religion. The edicts of Julian were abo- lished, and ecclesiastical immunities restored and enlarged. The Ca- * Theod. Hist. b. iii. ch. xv. 190 History of the Christian Church. tholic clergy were unanimous in the loud and sincere applause which they bestowed on Jovian, but they were yet ignorant what creed or what synod he would choose for the standard of orthodoxy. The lead- ers of the different factions were properly aware, how much depended upon the first impressions made on the mind of an untutored soldier, and they hastened to the imperial court. The public roads were crowd- ed with Athanasian, Arian, Semi-arian, and Eunomian bishops, who struggled to outstrip each other in the race : the apartments of the pa- lace resounded with their clamours, and the ears of the prince were as- saulted, and perhaps astonished by the singular mixture of metaphysi- cal argument and personal invective. He wisely recommended to them charity and concord, but referred the disputants to the decision of a fu- ture council. The conduct of Jovian seems to have given the death blow to the prevalence of Paganism in the empire. " Under his reign," says the historian of the Roman empire, " Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory ; and as soon as the smile of royal patronage was with- drawn, the genius of Paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the acts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust. In many cities, the temples were shut or deserted ; the philosophers who had abused the transient favour, thought it prudent to shave their beards, and disguise their profession ; and the Christians rejoiced, that they were now in a condition to forgive or to revenge the injuries which they had suffered under the preceding reign."* Jovian, never- theless, issued a wise and gracious edict, in which he explicitly de- clares, that though he should severely punish the sacrilegious rites of magic, his subjects might exercise with freedom and safety, the cere- monies of the ancient worship. " I hate contention," says he, " and love those only that study peace;" declaring, that "he would trouble none on account of their faith, whatever it was ; and that such only should obtain his favour and esteem, as should stand forward, in re- storing the peace of the church." The senate of Constantinople de- puted an orator, of the name of Themistius, to express their loyal de- votion to the new emperor. His oration is preserved, and merits par- ticular attention, for the discovery which it inadvertently makes of the state of the established Catholic church at that period. " In the recent changes," says he, " both religions have been alternately disgraced, by the seeming acquisition of worthless proselytes, of those votaries of the reigning purple, who could pass, without a reason and without a blush, from the church to the temple, and from the altars of Jupiter to the sacred table of the Christians. "t Could a volume give us a more striking picture of the wretched state to which the Christian profession was reduced in so short a time as half a century after its establish- ment? Jovian reigned only one year. He appears to have been addicted to intemperance ; for, after indulging himself in the pleasures of the table at supper, he retired to rest, and the next morning was found dead in his bed. The throne of the empire now remained ten days vacant ; but * Gibbon, vol. iv. ch. lxxxv. -j- Quoted by Gibbon, ubi supra- Reign of Valentinian and Valens. 191 it was at length filled by two brothers, Valentinian and Valens, the for- mer a distinguished officer in the army, who, thirty days after his own elevation, voluntarily associated his brother with him in the government of the empire, A. D. 364. Of both these princes, Mr. Gibbon says, that " they invariably retained in the purple, the chaste and temperate simplicity which had adorned their private life; and under their reign, the pleasures of a court never cost the people a blush or a sigh." Though in a great measure illiterate themselves, they were great pro- moters of learning among their subjects. They planned a course of in- struction for every city in the empire ; and the academies of Rome and Constantinople, but more especially the latter, were considerably extensive. The two emperors were of very different tempers, and took different courses in regard to religion. The former was of the orthodox party; but though he especially favoured those of his own sentiments, he gave no disturbance to the Arians. Valens, on the contrary, was less liberal in his views, and persecuted all who differed from him. In the begin- ning of their reign, a synod was convened in Illyricum, which again decreed the consubstantiality of Father, Son, and Spirit. The empe- rors issued a circular letter, declaring their assent to this, and ordering that this doctrine should be preached — though they published laws for the toleration of all religious denominations, and even of Paganism. In the year 375, Valentinian died suddenly in a transport of rage, and Valens being sole emperor, was soon prevailed on by the artifice of Eudoxius, bishop of Constantinople, to take a decided part with the Arians, and to abandon his moderation, by cruelly persecuting the Or- thodox. The first thing that fired his resentment was the conduct of these latter, who had solicited and obtained his permission to hold a synod at Lampsacus, for the amendment and settlement of the faith; when, after two month's consultation, they decreed the doctrine of the Son's being like the Father as to his essence, to be the true orthodox faith, and deposed all the bishops of the Arian party. This highly exasperated Valens, who, without delay, convened a council of°the Arian bishops, and in his turn, commanded the bishops who composed the synod of Lampsacus to embrace the sentiments of Eudoxius the Arian : and upon their refusal, sent them into exile, transferring their churches to their opponents. After this, he pursued measures still more violent against them ; some were commanded to be whipped, others disgraced, not a few imprisoned, and many fined. But the most detestable part of his conduct was his treacherous and cruel behaviour towards eighty of them, whom, under the pretence of sending them into banishment — a thing to which they had consented, rather than subscribe what they did not believe — he put on board a ship, and caused the vessel to be set on fire as it sailed out of the har- bour, through which they all perished either by fire or water. These kinds of cruelty continued to the end of his reign, and there is no room to doubt that he was greatly stimulated to them by the bishops of the Arian party. It is a melancholy reflection, that the pity which such merciless treatment as this could not have failed to excite in every feel- ing mind, the orthodox should have deprived themselves of, by their 192 History of the Christian Church. own imprudence, in commencing the first assault upon the Arians. They ought to have remembered that divine maxim, " whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them;" for on most of those occasions it was only " the measure they meted that was measured to them again." But the conduct of Valens was not regulated by the strict rules of equity ; for in this persecution he included the Novatians, whose churches he commanded to be shut up, and their pastors banished ; although, so far as I can perceive, they took no part whatever in the squabbles that existed between the contending factions. Agelius, the pastor of the church in Constantinople, a man of admirable sanctity and virtue, and remarkable for his perfect contempt of money, was ex- iled. Yet he was restored not long after, and recovered the churches of his communion. Socrates, the historian, who seems to have been intimately acquainted with the affairs of the Novatians, says, that the toleration which this class of Christians at length obtained, they owed under providence to one Marcian, a presbyter of their church in Con- stantinople, a man of learning and piety, who tutored two daughters of the emperor. This historian particularly mentions the liberality and kindness which the Novatians exercised towards such of the orthodox party as were the subjects of persecution ; while they themselves were tolerated, — a trait in their history which even Milner is obliged to ad- mit "reflects an amiable lustre on the character of these Dissenters"* — and for showing which benevolence, they actually incurred the dis- pleasure of the reigning party. Agelius presided over that church forty years, and died in the sixth year of the reign of Theodosius. Before his death, some difference of opinion arose in the church relative to a successor. Agelius gave the preference to Sisinnius,t a person of * History of the Church, vol. ii. p. 157. f Socrates, the historian, has given us some interesting particulai-s of Sisin- nius, which, as I do not recollect to have seen them quoted by any modern writer, I shall here extract. "He was," says he, "an eloquent person and an excellent philosopher — had diligently cultivated the art of Logic, and was in- comparably well versed in the sacred Scriptures." He wore a white garment, and regularly bathed himself twice a day in the public baths. He seems to have been remarkable for the readiness of his wit on all occasions; in illustration of which, Socrates has recorded several anecdotes Being interrogated by one of his acquaintance, why he, who was a bishop, chose to bathe twice a day, Sisin- nius promptly replied, "Because I cannot bathe thrice.'" His good sense led him to treat with levity the practice of clothing the clergy in black. Calling one day to pay a friendly visit at the house of Arsacius, who had succeeded Chrysostom in the see of Constantinople, he was asked, why he dressed in a manner so un- suitable to his character as a bishop. " Tell me," said he, "where it is written that a bishop should wear a black garment? You," said he, "can never show that a priest ought to wear black — but I will give you my authority for wearing white. Hath not Solomon expressly said, ' Let thy garments be always white?' " Eccles. ix. 8. He then referred them to Luke ix. 29, on which occasion both the Lord Jesus, and Moses, and Elias, appeared to the apostles clothed in white. In the province of Galatia, Leontius, the bishop of Ancyra, commenced a prose- cution against the church of the Novatians, in that city, and took from them their place of worship. Happening soon afterwards to come to Constantinople, Sisinnius waited upon him, for the purpose of entreating him to restore to his friends their chapel. Leontius flew into a passion, and said, " You Novatianists Character of Sisinnius. 193 great learning and talents, and consequently ordained him. The church had a great partiality for Marcian, who had been eminently instrumental in enabling them to weather the storm of persecution under Valens. Distressed that any cause of murmuring should exist among them, Agelius immediately ordained Marcian to the episcopal office, and thereby restored harmony and concord. After having reigned fourteen years, Valens lost his life in a battle with the Goths, A. D. 378, and was succeeded in the government of the empire by Gratian, the son of Valentinian. He was of the ortho- dox party ; and after the death of his uncle Valens, he recalled those that had been banished — restored them to their sees, and sent Sapores, one of his captains, to drive the Arians, like wild beasts, out of all their churches. This emperor, soon after his accession to power, united ought not to have churches, for you discard all repentance, and exclude the lov- ing-kindness of God," &c. Sisinnius listened patiently to this philippic, and then calmly replied, "But no man can repent more than I do!" How,' said Leontius, do you repent? "I repent," replied Sisinnius, " that I have seen your' Chrysostom, who was at the head of the Catholic party, and who was a man of excessive arrogance, on one occasion addressed him with great heat, saying, "You are a heretic, and I will make you leave off preaching." "I'll give you a reward," said Sisinnius "if you will free me from the labour of it." "O! if the office is laborious," rejoined Chrysostom, " you may go on with it." Socrates closes Ms account of Sisinnius with the following sketch. "He was very eminent for his learning, on which account all the bishops who succeeded, loved and honoured him. Moreover, all the eminent personages of the Senato- rian order had a great affection for him and admired him. He wrote many books, but he is too studious about words in them, and intermixes too many poetic terms; he was more admired for his speaking than for his writings. In his countenance and voice, in his dress and aspect, and in the whole of his action and deportment, there was much gracefulness— by reason of which accomplish- ments, he was beloved by all sects." Upon another occasion, he remarks that, such was the high estimation in which Sisinnius was held by the Novatian peo- ple, that " his word was law." Sisinnius died in the year 407, and was succeeded by Chrysanthus, a man of signal prudence and modesty, by whose means the churches of the Novatians were not only upheld but increased. Eccles. Hist. b. vi. ch. 22. and b. vii. ch. 12. It is quite amusing to witness Mr. Milner's spleen against the characters of Novatian and Sisinnius. He terms the latter a "facetious gentleman," and only mentions him for the sake of censuring his singularity in not conforming to the catholic clergy and the clerical garb. Indeed, he seems to have regarded him in much the same light as that in which Dr. Johnson regarded Milton, when he said, "he was not of the Church of England, he was not of the Church of Rome— to be of no church is dangerous." But of .Erius (concerning whom the reader will meet with some account in the next section) he disdains, so far as I can per- ceive, even to record his name or his heresy — though on St. Augustine, a part of whose labours were employed in an attempt to refute him, he'has bestowed 172 closely printed pages ! — that Augustine, of whom, after all, he is constrained to acknowledge that he understood not Paul's doctrine of justification — that he perpetually confounds it with sanctification, (vol. ii. p. 426, &c.) and that as to the doctrine of particular redemption, it was unknown to him a.nd all the ancients, as he [Mr. Milner] wishes it had remained equally unknown to the moderns." p. 467. This was, indeed, fulfilling the pledge Mr. M. had given the public, of writing an Ecclesiastical History on a new plan. See his Preface to vol. 1. of his History of the Christian Church. 17 194 History of the Christian Church. with himself as colleague in the government, " the great Theodosius, a name celebrated in history, and dear to the Catholic church." Immediately on his advancement to the throne of the empire, Theo- dosius betrayed a warm zeal for the orthodox opinions. Hearing that the city of Constantinople was divided into different religious parties, he wrote a letter to them from Thessalonica, wherein he acquaints them, that " it ivas his pleasure, that all his subjects should be of the same religious profession with Damasus, bishop of Rome, and Peter, bishop of Alexandria, and that their church alone should be denomi- nated " Catholic," who worshipped the divine Trinity as equal in ho- nour, and that those who were of another opinion should be called heretics, become infamous, and be liable to other punishments."* And on his arrival in the imperial city, he sent for Demophilus, the Arian bishop, demanding to know whether he would subscribe the Nicene confession of faith, adding, " if you refuse to do it, I will drive you from your churches" — and he kept his word, for he turned him and all the Arians out of the city. The more effectually ~Xo extinguish heresy, he in the year 383, sum- moned a council of bishops of his own persuasion to meet at Constan- tinople, in order to confirm the Nicene faith ; the number of them amounted to an hundred and fifty, to which may be added, thirty-six of the Macedonian party. This is commonly termed the second Oe- cumenical or general council. They decreed that the Nicene faith should be the standard of orthodoxy, and that all heresies should be condemned. When the council was ended, the emperor issued two edicts against heretics ; the first prohibited them from holding any as- semblies ; and the second, forbidding them to meet in fields or villages! And as though this were not sufficiently extravagant, he followed up this absurd procedure by a law, in which he forbade heretics to wor- ship or to preach, or to ordain bishops or presbyters, commanding some to be banished, others to be rendered infamous and deprived of the common privileges of citizens. In the space of fifteen years he promulgated at least, fifteen several edicts against the heretics. It is some apology for him certainly that he did not often put these execra- ble statutes in force ; and one would charitably hope that Sozomen and Socrates, who have recorded the history of these whimsical transac- tions, are correct in thinking that he only intended by them to terrify others into the same opinions of the Divine Being with himself. But the zeal of Theodosius was not wholly absorbed in the estab- lishment of uniformity among the professors of Christianity ; he was equally anxious to extinguish the expiring embers of Paganism. About the year 390, he issued a law, in which he expressly states that "it is our will and pleasure, that none of our subjects, whether magistrates or private citizens, however exalted, or however humble may be their rank and condition, shall presume, in any city or in any place, to worship an inanimate idol, by the sacrifice of a guiltless victim. "t The act of sacrificing, and the practice of divination by the entrails of the victim, * Sozomen, b. vli. ch. 4 — 6. f Theod. 1. xvi. tit. 10. leg. 12. Reflections on the fall of Paganism. 195 are declared a crime of high treason against the state which can be ex- piated only by the death of the guilty. The rites of Pagan superstition are abolished, as highly injurious to the truth and honour of religion ; and luminaries, garlands, frankincense, and libations of wine are enu- merated and condemned. Such were the persecuting edicts of Theodosius against the Pagans, which were rigidly executed; and tbey were attended with the desired effect, "for so rapid and yet so gentle was the fall of Paganism, that only twenty-eight years after the death of Theodosius, the faint and minute vestiges were no longer visible to the eye of the legislator*. "t SECTION III. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIFTH CENTURY TO THE ESTABLISH- MENT OF THE DOMINION OF THE POPES. A. D. 401 606. The fall of Paganism, which may be considered as having begun to take place in the reign of Constantine, and as nearly consummated in that of Theodosius, is probably one of the most extraordinary revolutions that ever took place on the theatre of this world. Their own writers * Gibbon's Rome, vol. v. ch. xx. ■f The increase of the Christian profession in the world, must always be an interesting1 topic with those who rightly estimate the importance of the gospel to human happiness ; but every one must be aware of the difficulty there is in ar- riving at certain calculations on the subject. The reader, however, will require uo apology from me for subjoining in this place, a short extract from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. " Under the reign of Theodosius," says he, "after Christianity had enjoyed, more than sixty years, the sunshine of im- perial favour, the ancient and illustrious church of Antioch (in Syria) consisted of one hundred thousand persons ; three thousand of whom were "supported out of the public oblations. The splendour and dignity of the Queen of the East, [the name then given to Antioch] the acknowledged populousness of Cxsarea, Seleucia, and Alexandria, and the destruction of two hundred and fifty thousand souls in the earthquake which afflicted Antioch under the elder Justin, are so many convincing proofs that the whole number of its inhabitants was not less than half a million." Vol. ii. ch. xv. Now, according to this calculation, the reader will see that at the time Theo- dosius attempted to enforce an uniformity of worship throughout the empire, the proportion which the nominal Christians in Antioch bore to the rest of the citizens, was as one to five. Taking this as a fair average, there must have been in Rome two hundred and fifty thousand professed Christians at that time, and at Alexan- dria, in Egypt which was the second city in the empire, probably one hundred and fifty thousand. Thus in those three cities alone there were half a million of nominal Christians. The number of inhabitants included in the whole of the Ro- man Empire at that period, was one hundred and twenty millions ; and if we ex- tend the computation to that multitude, we should be led to conclude that there were among them twenty-four millions that professed the Christian religion. We must, however, keep this consideration always in view, that Christianity had, at this time, been sixty years established by law as the religion of the empire, and consequently was not a little corrupted from its original purity. 196 History of the Christian Church. have described it as " a dreadful and amazing prodigy, which covered the earth with darkness, and restored the ancient dominion of chaos and of night."* But the pen of inspiration has depicted the awful catastrophe in strains of much higher sublimity and grandeur, and, doubtless, upon very dif- ferent principles — "I beheld," says the writer of the Apocalypse, "when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earth- quake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together : and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains — and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand T't The same thing seems to be intended, when the writer says, " There was war in heaven ; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven ; and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels werecast out with him."j In this highly-wrought figurative language we are taught to conceive of the dreadful conflict which subsisted between the Christian and heathen professions, the persecutions which for three centuries had been inflicted upon the former, Tvith the iaauo of the w holer, in the ulti- mate overthrow of the Pagan persecuting powers, and the subversion of that idolatrous system in the empire. From the time of the establishment of Christianity under Constantine, to the end of the fourth century, a period of more than seventy years, the disciples of Jesus were highly privileged. They were in general permitted to sit under their own vine and fig-tree, exempt from the dread of molestation. The clergy of the Catholic church, indeed per- sisted in waging a sanguinary and disgraceful contest with each other, about church preferments, and similar objects of human ambition; but, notwithstanding the squabbles of those men of corrupt minds, it must have been a season of precious repose and tranquillity to the real churches of Christ, which stood aloof from such scandalous proceedings, and kept their garments unspotted from the world. There are few things more gratifying to the friend of truth, than to have an opportunity of recording the disinterested labours of such as, under circumstances of discouragement, and frequently at the expense of all that men in general account valuable, have stood forth the cham- pions of her noble cause, against a prevailing torrent of error. We have already adverted to the rise of the Novatianist churches, which stood * See Gibbon's Rome, vol. v. ch. xxviii. f Rev. vi. 12— 17. * Chap. xii. 7—9. The discriminating principles of JErius. 197 firmly attached to the simple doctrine and order of the first Christian churches, and maintained a public testimony against the corrupt state of the Catholic party. Towards the close of the fourth century arose Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, in the island of Sardinia, a man remarkable for his prudence, the austerity of his character, and the firmness of his mind in all his resolutions. Though he wrote in defence of the doc- trine of the Trinity against the Arians, he refused all religious fellowship with both parties, on account of the corruption of their doctrine and the laxity of their discipline ; while he and his followers were content to sutler the persecution of either party.* About the same time rose up tErius, the founder of a new sect, who propagated opinions different from those that were commonly received, and collected various societies throughout Armenia, Pontus, and Cap- padocia. We are indebted to Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, Avhodied early in the fifth century, for recording the discriminating tenets of this denomination of Christians. iErius was an elder of the church of Sebastia in Pontus ; and, as Epiphanius. who undertook to confute him and all other heretics, informs us, obstinately defended four great errors. These were, 1. That bishops were not distinguished from presbyters or elders, by any divine right; for that, according to the New Testa- ment, their office and authority were absolutely the same. 2. That it was wrong to offer up any prayers for the dead, which it seems was become customary in those days. 3. That there was no authority in the word of God for the celebration of Easter, as a religious solemnity ; and 4. That fasts ought not to be prefixed to the annual return of days, as the time of Lent and the week preceding Easter. Such seems to have been the heresy of iErius, and his writings in defence of which, we are told, met with the most cordial reception from his cotemporaries. "We know with the utmost certainty," says Mosheim, "that it was highly agreeable to many good Christians, who were no longer able to bear the tyranny and arrogance of the bishops of this century." The reader, it is hoped, will excuse a remark or two upon this sub- ject before we proceed. The learned historian, whom I have just quoted, informs us that — " The great purpose of iErius seems to have been that of reducing Christianity to its primitive simplicity ;" he then adds, " a purpose indeed laudable and noble, when considered in itself; though the principles from whence it springs, and the means by which it is executed, are generally in many respects, worthy of censure, and may have been so in the case of this reformer. "t I cannot forbear subjoining the comment of his erudite translator, Dr. Maclaine, upon the text of this historian. " The desire," says he, " of reducing reli- gious worship to the greatest possible simplicity, however rational it may appear in itself, and, abstractedly considered, will be considerably moderated in such as bestow a moment's attention upon the imperfection and infirmities of human nature in its present state. Mankind, generally speaking, have too little elevation of mind to be much affected by those forms and methods of worship in which there is nothing striking to the * Mosheim, vol. i. p. 386. j- Mosheim, vol. i. cent. iv. part ii. ch, iii. 17* 198 History of the Christian Church. outward senses. The great difficulty here lies in determining the lengths which it is prudent to go in the accommodation of religious ceremonies to human infirmity; and the grand point is to fix a medium, in which a due regard may be shown to the senses and imagination, without violating the dictates of right reason, or tarnishing the purity of true religion. It has been said, that the church of Rome has gone too far in its condescension to the infirmities of mankind — and this is what the ablest defenders of its motley worship have alleged in its behalf. But this observation is not just; the church of Rome has not so much accommodated itself to human weakness, as it has abused that weakness, by taking occasion from it to establish an endless variety of ridiculous ceremonies, destructive of true religion, and only adapted to promote the riches and despotism of the clergy, and to keep the multitude still hoodwinked in their ignorance and superstition."* Now according to Dr. Mosheim's manner of expressing himself on this subject, the reader will readily perceive, that, however much some of the friends of truth might labour to stem the torrent of corruption, and restore Christianity to its original simplicity, such attempts were almost certain to be condemned by both this eminent historian and his translator. With them nothing is more common than to extol the simplicity of gospel worship during the apostolic age, and in a few pages afterwards to censure the efforts of those who have laboured to retrieve it from the corruptions to which the folly and wickedness of men have subjected it. Hence, we invariably find persons of this de- scription ranked in the class of " heretics," and reprobated as troublers of " the church !" The design of iErius, it is admitted, was laudable and noble in itself, nor is it affirmed that the means which he made use of were actually worthy of censure ; but they may have been so. But, surely, a cordial attachment to the simplicity of primitive Christianity would have prompted the historian to evince some few grains of allow- ance for the conduct of iErius, even though in the prosecution of a " laudable and noble design," he had been betrayed into some little in- discretion in regard to the means of effecting it, which, after all, in the present instance, is not pretended. This is only what might have been reasonably expected ; since to impute, without evidence, the worst motives that can be assigned to the actions of men, is not the immediate operation of that charity which thinketh no evil. The learned translator, however, takes up the subject in a somewhat differ- ent point of view ; for, upon his principle, the simplicity of gospel- worship, as established in the apostolic churches, must be considered as altogether unsuitable to the exigencies of human nature ; for, that the constitution and worship of the first churches were remarkable for a divine simplicity, none will deny. Now if it be lawful for men to depart from this simplicity, and to accommodate the forms of Chris- tian worship to the ignorance, infirmities, or prejudices of men, ac- cording as these may happen to prevail in different ages, then, indeed, a power to decree rites and ceremonies in matters of religion, is quite necessary to adapt the Christian profession to the incessant fluctua- * Ubi supra, p. 388. Distinction between Bishop and Elder. 199 tions of the state of this world ; though it will not be very easy, when this right is once admitted, to show, on what principle the church of Rome can be condemned for going to an extreme in this matter ; since, in that case, it is no divine ride that is to regulate our conduct, but the different fancies of men, as these respect human infirmities. It is happy for simple Christians that their rule of duty is plain, though, unlortunately, not sanctioned by either the catholic or the re- formed church. It is "not to admit into the worship of God, any thing which is either not expressly commanded, or plainly exempli- fied m the New Testament." This was evidently the principle upon which jEnus proceeded in opposing the superstitions of his time, and for which he deserves to be held in perpetual remembrance it is the only principle which evinces a becoming deference to the wisdom and authority of God in the institution of his worship — and, it may be added, which secures the uniform regard of his people to the institu- tions of his kingdom, to the end of time. The distinction between bishop and presbyter or elder, which iErius so strongly opposed, seems to have prevailed early in the Christian church; yet it is demonstrably without any solid foundation in the New Testament. " That the terms bishop and elder are sometimes used promiscuously in the New Testament," says Dr. Campbell, " there is no critic of any name who now pretends to dispute. The passage, Acts xx. 17, &c.'is well known. Paul, from Miletus sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church, saying, " Take heed to yourselves, and to all the church over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers (literally smsg) which are among you, I exhort," &c. Ver. 2. " Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the over- sight thereof, (sviHfxoiriivlsg) discharging the office of bishops."* So much for the heresy of iErius as it respected the denial of any distinc- tion between the office of bishop and presbyter. On the other three particulars of his heresy, it is, at this time of day, quite unnecessary for us to bestow a word in the way of apology. Amongst the innumerable corruptions of Christianity which have prevailed in the Catholic church, there is none that makes a more con- spicuous figure than the institution of monachism or monkery ; and if traced to its origin, it will be found strikingly to exemplify the truth of the maxim that, as some of the largest and loftiest trees spring from very small seeds, so the most extensive and wonderful effects some- times arise from very inconsiderable causes. In times of persecution, during the first ages of the church, whilst " the heathen raged, and the rulers took counsel together, against the Lord and against his anoint- ed," many pious Christians, male and female, married and unmarried, justly accounting that no human felicity ought to come in competition • Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 125, 126, 200 History of the Christian Church. with their fidelity to Christ, and diffident of their own ability to per- severe in resisting the temptations wherewith they were incessantly- harassed by their persecutors, took the resolution to abandon their possessions and worldly prospects, and, whilst the storm lasted, to re- tire to unfrequented places, far from the haunts of men, the married with, or without, their wives, as agreed between them, that they might enjoy in quietness their faith and hope, and, exempt from temptations to apostasy, employ themselves principally in the worship and service of their Maker. The cause was reasonable, and the motive praise- worthy ; but the reasonableness arose solely from the circumstances. When the latter were changed the former vanished, and the motive could no longer be the same. When there was not the same danger in society, there was not the same occasion to seek security in solitude. Accordingly, when persecution ceased, and the profession of Chris- tianity rendered perfectly safe, many returned without blame from their retirement, and resumed their stations in society. Some, indeed, fami- liarized by time to a solitary life, at length preferred through habit, what they had originally adopted through necessity. They did not, however, waste their time in idleness ; they supported themselves by their labour, and gave the surplus in alms. But they never thought of fettering themselves by vows and engagements ; because, by so doing, they must have exposed their souls to new temptations, and, perhaps, greater dangers. It was, therefore, a very different thing from that system of monkery which afterwards became so prevalent, though, in all probability it suggested the idea of it, and may be considered as the first step towards it.* Such signal sacrifices, not only of property, but of all secular pur- suits, have a lustre in them, which dazzles the eyes of the weak, and powerfully engages imitation. Blind imitators, regardless of the cir- cumstances which alone can render the conduct laudable, are often, by a strong perversion of intellect, led to consider it as the more meritori- ous the less it is rational, and the more eligible the less it is useful. The spirit of the measure comes in time to be reversed. What at first, through humble diffidence, appeared necessary for avoiding the most imminent danger, is, through presumption, voluntarily adopted, though in itself a source of perpetual peril. Such was the operation of the principle in the case referred to. Multitudes came in process of time to impose upon themselves vows of abstinence, poverty, celibacy, and virginity, solemnly engaging in an uninterrupted observance of those virtues, as they accounted them, to the end of their lives. Every attentive reader of the Scriptures must see that they are far from countenancing this piece of superstition. Both Christ and his apostles kept up a free and open intercourse with the world ; and their writings abound with instructions to Christians, not to withdraw them- selves from society, and shut themselves up in cloistered cells in a state of seclusion, but to fill up their respective stations usefully in civil society, performing all the social and relative duties of life in the most exemplary manner. Man was made for action ; powers were * Essay bn Christian Temperance and Self-denial, by Dr. George Campbell. Prevalence of Monkery. 201 given him for exertion, and various talents have been conferred upon him by Providence, as instruments not of doing nothing, but of doing good, by promoting the happiness both of the individual and of so- ciety. Egypt, the fruitful parent of superstition, afforded the first example, strictly speaking, of the monastic life. Anthony, an illiterate youth of that country, in the times of Athanasius, distributed his patrimony, de- serted his family and house, took up his residence among the tombs and in a ruined tower, and after a long and painful novitiate, at length advanced three days journey into the desert, to the eastward of the Nile, where discovering a lonely spot which possessed the advantages of shade and water, he fixed his last abode. His example and his les- sons infected others, whose curiosity pursued him to the desert ; and before he quitted life, which was prolonged to the term of a hundred and five years, he beheld a numerous progeny imitating his original. The prolific colonies of monks multiplied with rapid increase on the sands of Lybia, upon the Rocks of Thebais, and the cities of the Nile. Even to the present day the traveller may explore the ruins of fifty monasteries, which were planted to the south of Alexandria, by the disciples of Anthony. Inflamed by the example of Anthony, a Syrian youth, whose name was Hilarion, fixed his dreary abode on a sandy beach between the sea and a morass, about seven miles from Gaza. The austere penance in which he persisted forty-eight years, diffused a similar enthusiasm, and innumerable monasteries were soon distributed over all Palestine. In the west, Martin of Tours, " a soldier, a hermit, a bishop, and a saint," founded a monastery near Poictier^, and thus introduced mo- nastic institutions into France. His monks were mostly of noble fa- milies, and submitted to the greatest austerities both in food and rai- ment ; and, such was the rapidity of their increase, that two thousand of them attended his funeral ! In other countries, they appear to have increased in a similar proportion, and the progress of monkery is said not to have been less rapid nor less universal than that of Christianity itself. Every province, and, at last, every city of the empire, wag fill- ed with their increasing multitudes. The disciples of Anthony spread themselves beyond the tropic, over the Christian empire of Ethiopia. The monastery of Bangor, in Flintshire, a few miles south of Wrex- ham, contained above two thousand monks, and from thence a nume- rous colony was dispersed among the Barbarians of Ireland ; and Iona, one of the western isles of Scotland, which was planted by the Irish Monks, diffused over the northern regions a ray of science and super- stition. The monastic institution was not confined to the male sex. Females began about the same time to retire from the world, and dedicate them- selves to solitude and devotion. The practice is alluded to in the earlier councils ; but it is expressly ordained by the council of Carthage, A. D. 397, that orphan virgins shall be placed in a nunnery — and that the superior of the nunnery shall be approved by the bishop of the diocese. "Widows, and children above six years of age, were admitted after a year's probation. They were strictly shut up in the monastery, and 202 History of the Christian Church. secluded from all worldly intercourse. They were neither allowed to go out, nor was any person permitted to come in unto them, nor even to enter the church whither they went to worship, except the clergy of approved reputation, who were necessary to conduct the religious services. None was allowed to possess property, for among them all things were common. They served themselves or helped one ano- ther. They made their own clothes, which were white and plain woollen — the height of the cap or head-dress was restricted to an inch and two lines — they were tasked daily, but forbidden to work em- broidery, or to bleach their garments, assume any ornaments, or ac- commodate themselves to any fashion which they might happen to see or hear of in the world. The means of correction and discipline were reproof and excommunication ; but the latter consisted only in separation from public prayers, and from the common table at meals, and if these failed to reclaim the delinquent, recourse was had to fla- gellation.* These unhappy exiles from social life were impelled by the dark genius of superstition, to persuade themselves that every proselyte who entered the gates of a monastery, trod the steep and thorny path of eternal happiness. The popular monks, whose reputation was connected with the fame and success of the order, assiduously labour- ed to multiply the number of their fellow captives. They insinuated themselves into noble and opulent families, and the specious arts of flattery and seduction were employed to secure those proselytes, Avho might bestow wealth or dignity on the monastic profession. The lives of the monks were consumed in penance and solitude, undisturbed by the vnrinne oooupatione wirrek fill *Vip timp nnrl exercise the faculties of reasonable, active, ami social beings. They passed their lives without personal attachments, among a crowd which had been formed by acci- dent, and was detained in the same prison by force or prejudice. Their days were professedly employed in vocal or mental prayer : they as- sembled in the evening, and were awakened in the night for the public worship of the monastery; and to such a pitch was absurdity at length carried, that one class of them came ultimately to sink under the pain- ful weight of crosses and chains, and their emaciated limbs were con- fined by collars, bracelets, gauntlets, and greaves of massy iron.t The times of martyrdom were now passed, and of course that sort of courage and constancy could not be exerted ; a method was therefore contrived of voluntary martyrdom, and persons of fanatical dispositions inflicted upon themselves as many pains and penalties as Pagan cruelty had invented. They left parents, wives, children, friends, families, and fortunes ; they retired from the world, obliged themselves to a sin- gle and solitary life, and allowed themselves no more food, raiment, and sleep, than would barely support life. The ethics of monks is a mere caricature of virtue, in which every feature is exaggerated, distorted, or out of place ; and, as hath often happened in other matters, though the likeness is preserved, what is beautiful in the original is hideous in the copy. The doctrines of * Fleury's Eccles. Hist. torn. vii. f Gibbon's Rome, vol. vi. ch. xxvii- Monkery extolled by the Fathers. 203 Christianity are divinely adapted to the state of man in this world, con- sidered as a fallen and corrupted being. They exhibit a remedy for his moral depravity in the grand and interesting truths which the gos- pel proclaims as the objects of his faith, the ground of his hope, and the motives of his love and joy. But he is called to the exercise of self-denial, the mortification of his fleshly appetites, disconformity to the course of this world, patience under sufferings of various kinds, and in the way of well-doing to seek for glory, honour, and immortality in the world to come. In the system of monkery all these Christian vir- tues are carried to the most ridiculous extreme. About the middle of the fourth century, Gregory Nazianzen wrote an eulogy in praise of the monastic life, wherein he describes the manner in which it was practised at Nazianzum. " There are some," says he, "who loaded themselves with iron chains in order to bear down their bodies — who shut themselves up in cabins, and appeared to nobody— who continued twenty days and twenty nights without eating, practising often the half of Jesus Christ's fast — another abstained entirely from speaking, not praising God except in thought — another passed whole years in a church, his hands extended, without sleeping, like an animated statue."* Now, admitting the possibility of these things, how grossly must men's notions of truth and rectitude be perverted, who can think that the all-wise Creator gave hands to any man to be kept in a position which unfitted them for being of use to himself or others — that he gave the faculty of speech, but not to be employed in communicating know- ledge? Yet these things are the subject of panegyric even from the pen of Gregory Nazianzen, a person of unquestionable talents and vir- tue. " To go into a convent," said Dr. Johnson, "for fear of being immoral, is, as if a man should cut off his hands for fear he should steal."t To suffer with patience and fortitude, when called to it, for the cause of truth, is both virtuous and heroical ; but the self-inflicted penances of the miserable hermit serve as a testimony of nothing so much as the idiocy or insanity of the sufferer; for with regard to God, they are derogatory from his perfections — they exhibit him as an ob- ject rather of terror than of love, as a tyrant rather than the parent of the universe. One of the most renowned examples of monkish penance that is upon record, is that of St. Symeon, a Syrian monk, who lived about the middle of the fifth century, and who is thought to have outstripped all those that preceded him. He is said to have lived thirty-six years on a pillar erected on the summit of a high mountain in Syria, whence he got the name of "Symeon Stylites." From his pillar, it is said, he never descended, unless to take possession of another ; which he did four times, having in all occupied five of them. On his last pillar, which was loftier than any of the former, being sixty feet high and only three broad, he remained, according to report, fifteen years without in- termission, summer and winter, day and night, exposed to all the in- * Fleury's Eccles. Hist. b. xvi. eh. li. f Boswell's life of Johnson, vol. ii. 204 History of the Christian Church. clemencies of the seasons, in a climate liable to great and sudden changes, from the most sultry heat to the most piercing cold. We are informed, that he always stood — the breadth of his pillar not permit- ting him to lie down. He spent the day till three in the afternoon in meditation and prayer; from that time till sunset, he harangued the people, who flocked to him from all countries — they were then dis- missed with his benediction. He would on no account permit females to come within his precincts, not even his own mother, who is said, through grief and mortification, in being refused admittance, to have died the third day after her arrival. In order to show how indefatiga- ble he was in every thing that conduced to the glory of God and the good of mankind, he spent much time daily in the exemplary exercise of bowing so low as to make his forehead strike his toes, and so fre- quently, that one who went with Theodoret to see him, counted no fewer than twelve hundred and forty-four times, when being more wearied in numbering than the saint was in performing, he gave over counting. He is said to have taken no food except on Sundays, and that all the last year of his life he stood upon one leg only, the other having been rendered useless by an ulcer.* Instances of similar fanaticism abound in the pages of ecclesiastical history. Baradatus, in the same century, and, in all probability from similar motives, betook himself to a wooden coffer, or rather cage, in which he was so confined by its dimensions and form, that he was always bowed down in it, and could not stand upright. This mansion was placed on the top of a rock, where he was exposed to the sun, the rain, and all kinds of weather. Theodatus, the bishop of the diocese, unable to comprehend either the dignity or the utility of such sublimated virtue, cruelly obliged him to quit his cage, that he might live like other men. He complied; but to make compensation for one restraint that was taken off, he made choice of another, and devoutly abjured the use of his hands, in any way in which they could be serviceable either to himself or others. This he did by devoting them to remain always in one posture, extended towards heaven, probably in commemoration of the crucifixion. In this situation, it is said, that he lived in the open air disdaining to take shelter in any house, or building, from the incle- mencies of the weather. Extravagancies the most marvellous, and the most frantic, such as dishonoured the name of religion, and rendered men worse than useless, were considered as the most sublime attainments in the Christian life. And thus the daemon of superstition, under the mask of superior piety, led men to counteract the designs of providence in the application of their natural powers. The Christian religion is disgraced by such fool- eries, which assimilate it to the very worst of heathen superstitions. * The reader whose curiosity may prompt him to look further into the history of this champion of monkish austerity, may consult Dr. Middleton's Free Inqui- ry, 4to. p. 164 — 168. It may justly excite one's astonishment, that only half a century ago there were to be found learned doctors of the established church of England, defending the fame of this wretched fanatic, and advocating, with all their might, the truth and reality of the miracles reported to have been wrought by him ! See Middleton, ut supra. Monkery extolled by the Fat Iters. 205 Yet all the principal fathers of the Catholic Church, both Greek anil Latin, employed their authority and eloquence in extolling the perfec- tion of monkery, and recommending its practice. This they did by writing the lives of particular monks, celebrating their wonderful sanc- tity and miraculous gifts, and founding monasteries wherever they tra- velled. " There was a certain shadow of it," says Bellarmine, its great advocate, " m the law of nature before the flood ; a plainer ex- pression of it under the Mosaic dispensation; but in the time of the apostles it came to perfection." Adianasius was one of the first, who, from the pattern of the Egyptian monasteries, introduced them into Italy and Rome where they had previously been held in utter contempt. It is amazing to read the flights of fancy in which tlie great oracles of the Catholic church, at that time, indulged, when recommending this stupid practice. Basil terms it " an angelical institution ; a blessed and evangelic life, leading to the mansions of the Lord." Jerome declares the societies of monks and nuns to be " the very flower and most pre- cious stone among all the ornaments of the church." Chrysostom calls it, "a way of life worthy of heaven; not at all inferior to that of an- gels." ^And Augustine styles them upon every occasion " the servants of God." By the influence of these renowned fathers, all of whom flourished in the fourth and following century ; and by the many lies and forged miracles which they diligently propagated in honour of the monks, innumerable monasteries, as they themselves tell us, were founded over the western world, but especially in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, whose deserts were covered with them ; and some of them in the fifth century, are said to have contained each five thousand monks at a time. We find Chrysostom frequently haranguing also on the great bless- ings which the church reaped from the relics of the martyrs, and the daily miracles which were wrought by them ; and he concludes one of his homilies on two female martyrs in the following manner: "With this ardour, therefore, let us fall down before their relics : let us em- brace their coffins, for these may have some power, since their bones have so great an one ; and not only on the day of their festival, but oa other days also, let us fix ourselves as it were to them, and entreat them to be our patrons" — and on other occasions he exhorts his hearers "to dwell in their sepulchres, to fix themselves to their coffins ; that not only their bones, but their tombs and their urns also overflowed with blessings." Basil informs us, that " all who were pressed with any difficulty or distress, were wont to fly for relief to the tombs of the martyrs ; and whosoever did but touch their relics acquired some share of their sanctity."* * Introductory Discourse to Dr. Middleton's Free Inquiry, p. 52—56 where, the reader will find the authorities quoted. Of these, and a thousand other le- gendary tales, with which the writings of the fathers of this period are prolific we may say, as Voltaire has said upon a similar occasion ; « They have been re- lated by many historians, and cannot be denied without overturning the verv n^ltlT lhlstory ' bu,t J is c,ertain we ca™°t give credit to them without overturning the very foundation of reason !" 206 History of the Christian Church. In the beginning of the fifth century, Vigilantius, a learned and emi- nent presbyter of a Christian church, took up his pen to oppose these growing superstitions. His book, which unfortunately is now lost, was directed against the institution of monks — the celibacy of the clergy, — praying for the dead and to the martyrs — adoring their relics — cele- brating their vigils — and lighting up candles to them after the manner of the Pagans. Jerome, esteemed a great luminary of the Catholic church, who was a most zealous advocate for all these superstitious rites, undertook the task of refuting Vigilantius, whom he politely styles " a most blasphemous heretic," comparing him to the Hydra, to Cerberus, the Centaurs, &c. and considers him only as the organ of the daemon. He, however, furnishes us with all the particular articles of his heresy, in the words of Vigilantius himself, which are as follow : " That the honours paid to the rotten bones and dust of the saints and martyrs, by adoring, kissing, wrapping them up in silk and vessels of gold, lodging them in their churches and lighting up wax candles before them, after the manner of the heathens, were the ensigns of ido- latry. That the celibacy of the clergy was a heresy, and their vows of chastity the seminary of lewdness. That to pray to the dead, or to desire the prayers of the dead, was superstitious ; for that the souls of the departed saints and martyrs were at rest in some particular place, whence they could not remove themselves at pleasure, so as to be pre- sent every where to the prayers of their votaries. That the sepulchres of the martyrs ought not to be worshipped, nor their fasts and vigils to be observed ; and lastly, that the signs and wonders said to be wrought by their relics and at their sepulchres, served to no good end or pur- pose of religion." These were the sacrilegious tenets, as Jerome calls them, which he could not hear with patience, or without the utmost grief, and for which he declares Vigilantius to be a detestable heretic, venting his foul- mouthed blasphemies against the relics of the martyrs, which were working daily signs and wonders. He tells him to go into the churches of those martyrs, and he would be cleansed from the evil spirit which possessed him, and feel himself burnt, not by those wax candles which so much offended him, but by invisible flames which would force that daemon who talked within him, to confess himself to be the same who had personated a Mercury, perhaps, or a Bacchus, or some other of their gods among the heathen." Such is the wild rate, as Dr. Middle- ton well observes, at which this renowned father raves on through several pages.* It may probably gratify the reader to see how Jerome refutes the arguments of Vigilantius ; and he may take as a specimen the following passage. " If it were such a sacrilege or impiety," says he, " to pay those honours to the relics of the saints, as Vigilantius contends, then the emperor Constantius must needs be a sacrilegious person, who translated the holy relics of Andrew, Luke, and Timothy to Constanti- nople; then Arcadius Augustus also must be held sacrilegious, who translated the bones of the blessed Samuel from Judea, where they had * Postscript to Free Inquiry, p. 131 — 134. Prevalence of Monkery, %-c. 207 lam so many ages, into Thrace; then all the bishops were not only sacrilegious but stupid too, who submitted to carry a thing the most contemptible, and nothing but mere dust, in silk and vessels of gold; and lastly, then the people of all the churches must needs be fools, who went out to meet those holy relics, and received them with as much joy, as if they had seen the prophet himself, living and present among them, for the procession was attended by swarms of people from Palestine even unto Chalcedon, singing with one voice the praises of Christ, who were yet adoring Samuel, perhaps, and not Christ, whose prophet and Levite Samuel was.*"t Some readers may think the reasoning of Jerome not very conclu- sive on the question of relics ; it is nevertheless certain that his voice prevailed over that of Vigilantius, and that this superstitious practice not only continued, but became more and more prevalent and popular. When the tombs of the Holy Land were exhausted, other tombs and countries supplied the increasing demand. Saints and martyrs were * Ubi Supra, p. 137. f I subjoin Mr. Gibbon's account of this singular matter ; — even as a specimen of the splendid magnificence of that writer's style, it deserves regard. " The grateful respect of the Christians for the martyrs of the faith, was exalt- ed, by time and victory, into religious adoration ; and the most illustrious of the saints and prophets were deservedly associated to the honours of the martyrs. One hundred and fifty years after the glorious deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Vatican and the Ostian road were distinguished by the tombs, or rather by the trophies of those spiritual heroes. In the age which followed the conversion of Constantine, the emperors, the consuls, and the generals of armies, devoutly visrted the sepulchres of a tent-maker and a fisherman ; and their venerable bones were deposited under the altars of Christ, on which the bishops of the royal city continually offered the unbloody sacrifice. The new capital of the eastern world, unable to produce any ancient and domestic trorKio„, ,„,8 en- riched bv the snnik of denenrlnnf ranees. The h^:~ ~c »*• Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy, had reposed, near three Hundred years, in the obscure graves, from whence they were transported, in solemn pomp, to the church of the apostles, which the magnificence of Constantine had founded on the banks of the Thraoan Bosphorus. About fifty years afterwards, the same banks were honoured by the presence of Samuel, the judge and prophet of the people of Israel. His ashes, deposited in a golden vase, and covered with a silken veil were delivered by the bishops into each other's hands. The relics of Samuel were received by the people, with the same joy and reverence which they would have shown to the living prophet ; the highways, from Palestine to the gates of Constantinople, were filled with an uninterrupted procession ; and the emperor Arcadius himself, at the head of the most illustrious members of the clergy and senate, advanced to meet his extraordinary guest, who had always deserved and claimed the homage of kings. The example of Rome and Constantinople con- firmed the faith and discipline of the Catholic world. The honours of the saints and martyrs, after a feeble and ineffectual murmur of profane reason, were uni- versally established ; and in the age of Ambrose and Jerome, something was still deemed wanting to the sanctity of a Christian church, till it had been consecrated by some portion of holy relics, which fixed and inflamed the devotion of the faithful. "In the long period of twelve hundred years, which elapsed between the reign of Constantine and the reformation of Luther, the worship of saints and relics corrupted the pure and perfect simplicity of the Christian model ; and some symptoms of degeneracy may be observed even in the first generations which adopted and cherished this pernicious innovation." 208 History of the Christian Chitrch. invented for the sake of their bones, and dreams and miracles were employed in the discovery of obscure names and of sacred graves till then unknown to some. To write the life of a saint, to make a pil- grimage to his tomb, to bring home fragments of his bones, of his cof- fin or of his clothes, or to erect a church to his memory, were acts not only honourable and meritorious, but frequently extremely lucrative. Scarcely any one deemed himself safe, especially on a journey -or in times of danger, without some scrap of a relic in his possession. It was necessary to the security of every habitation, and to the comfort of every family, and neither church nor monastery was considered as duly consecrated, till it became the repository of the relics of some re- puted saint ; and, if his name were renowned, the church was crowd- ed with supplicants for health, children, or prosperity : his priests were loaded with presents, and his treasury stored with donations of money and land. Towards the close of the sixth century, the Greek empress made a pressing application to Pope Gregory 1. for the body of the apostle Paul, to be placed in the church at Constantinople which had then re- cently been erected in honour of that apostle. . Gregory wrote to her in reply that she had solicited what he durst not grant; for, said he, " the bodies of the apostles Paul and Peter are so terrible by their mi- racles, that there is reason to apprehend danger, even in approaching to pray to them. My predecessor wanted to make some alteration on a silver ornament on the body of St. Peter, at the distance of fifteen feet, when an awful vision appeared to him, which was followed by his death. 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 se- pulchre ; when, in digging, the superior of the place raising some bones apparently unconnected with the sacred tomb, had a dismal vision after it, and suddenly tii^o. in tike manner, the workmen ana me monks, not knowing precisely the grave of St. Lawrence, accidentally opened it ; and having seen the body, though they did not touch it, died in ten days. Wherefore, Madam, the Romans in granting relies, 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 deposit 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, doubt- ing the virtue of such relics, he took a pair of scissars, as we are as- sured, and cutting the linen, forthwith the blood flowed from it. He, however, tells the empress, that he would endeavour 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."* This may suffice for giving the reader some idea of the deplorable state to which the " Holy Catholic Church" was reduced in the fifth and sixth centuries, of the Christian a?ra ; and I therefore quit the sub- ject to pass on to affairs of a different description. * Fleury's Eccles. Hist. torn. viii. p. 91 — 93. Arcadius and Honorius, Emperors. SECTION IV. GOTHIC INVASION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE THE CITY OF ROME BESIEGED AND PLUNDERED SETTLEMENT OF THE BARBARIANS IN THE EMPIRE- ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DOMINION OF THE POPES. A. D. 408 606. On the death of the emperor Theodosius, the government of the Roman world devolved upon his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, who, by the unanimous consent of th^\T subjects, were saluted as the lawful emperors of the East, and of the West. Arcadius was then about eighteen years of age, and took up his residence at Constantino- ple, from whence he swayed the sceptre over the provinces of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt — comprising what was termed the East- ern Empire. His brother Honorius assumed, in the eleventh year of his age, the government of Italy, Africa, Caul, Spain, and Britain, un- der the denomination of the Western. Their father died in the month of January, 395, and before the end of the winter in the same year, the Gothic nation was in arms ; and, from the forests of Scythia, the savage warriors " rolled their ponderous waggons," says one of their Roman poets, "over the broad and icy bank of the indignant river"— the Danube. But the genius of Rome expired with Theodosius. He was the last of the successors of Augustus and Constantine, who ap- peared in the field at the head of their armies, and whose authority was universally acknowledged throughout the whole extent of the em- pire. Nothing could form a more striking contrast than the character of those Gothic tribes and that of the Romans at the period of which we speak. The Barbarians, as tliey wpre called, breathed nothing but war — their martial spirit was yet in its vigour — their eword was their tight, and they exercised it without remorse as the right of nature. Simple and severe in their manners, they were unacquainted with the name of luxury ; any thing was sufficient for their extreme frugality. Inured to exercise and toil, their bodies seemed impervious to disease or pain ; they sported with danger, and met death with expressions of joy. The Roman character was then reduced to the reverse of all this. Accustomed to repose and luxury, they had degenerated into a dastard- ly and effeminate race, overwhelmed with fear and folly, or, what was still more ignominious, with treachery. That enormous fabric, the Roman empire, had, for a succession of ages, groaned under its own unwieldy bulk, and every method had been resorted to, that human wisdom could devise, for the purpose of preventing the superstructure from crumbling into ruins. Theodosius had attempted to appease the invaders by voluntary contributions of money. Tributes were multi- plied upon tributes, until the empire was drained of its treasure. Ano- ther expedient was then adopted ; large bodies of the Barbarians were taken into pay and opposed to other Barbarians. This mode of de- fence answered for the moment ; but it terminated in the subversion of the empire. Already acquainted with the luxuries, the wealth, and the weakness of the Romans, they turned their arms against their mas-. 18* 210 History of the Christian Church. lers, inviting their countrymen to come and share with them in the spoils of a people that were unworthy of so many accommodations.' Immense hordes of these savage tribes poured into every part of the empire. Wherever they marched, their route was marked with blood. The most fertile and populous provinces were converted into deserts. The wretched inhabitants of those countries to the south of the Danube, submitted to the calamities, which, in the course of twenty years, were almost, grown familiar to their imagination, and the various troops of Barbarians, who gloried in the Gothic name, were irregularly spread from the woody shores of Dalmatic, to the walls of Constantinople. Under the bold and enterprising genius of Alaric, their renowned leader, they traversed without resistance the plains of Macedonia and Thessaly, stretching from east to west, to the edge of the sea shore. " The fertile fields of Phocis and Bceotia," says Gibbon, "were instantly covered by a deluge of Barbarians, who massacred the males of an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful females, with the spoil and cattle to the flaming villages. Corinth, Argos, Sparta, yielded without re- sistance to the arms of the Goths, and the most fortunate of their in- habitants were saved, by death, from beholding the slavery of their families, and the conflagration of their cities. This invasion, instead of vindicating the honour, contributed, at least accidentally, to extirpate the last remains of Paganism — and a system which had then subsisted eighteen hundred years, did not survive the calamities of Greece."! Having completely ravaged the entire territory of Greece, Alaric pro- ceeded to invade Italy, and the citizens of Rome were thrown into the utmost consternation at his approach. The emperor had taken up his residence in his palace at Milan, where he thought himself secured by the rivers of Italy which lay between him and th© Gothic chief. But the season happened to be remarkably dry, which enabled the Goths to traverse, without impediment, the wide and stony beds, whose centre was faintly marked by the course of a shallow stream ; and as Alaric approached the walls, or rather the suburbs of Milan, he enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing the emperor of the Romans flying before him. The danger to which the latter had been exposed, now urged him to seek a retreat in some inaccessible fortress of Italy, where he might securely remain, while the open country was covered by a deluge of Barbarians; and in the twentieth year of his age, anxious only for his personal safety, Honorius retired to the perpetual confinement of the walls and morasses of Ravenna. His example was imitated by his feeble successors, the Gothic kings, and afterwards the Exarchs, who occupied the throne and palace of the emperors ; and, till the middle of the eighth century, Ravenna was considered as the seat of government and the capital of Italy. During a period of six hundred and nineteen years, the city of Rome, the seat of government, had never been violated by the presence of a foreign enemy ; but in the year 408, Alaric commenced the blockade * Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. 1. sect. 1. f Decline and Fall, vol. v. ch. 30. Borne besieged by the Goths. 211 of this proud metropolis.* By a skilful disposition of his numerous forces, he encompassed the walls, commanded the twelve principal gates, intercepted all communication with the adjacent country, and vigilantly guarded the navigation of the river Tyber, from which the Romans derived the surest and most plentiful supply of pro- visions. The first emotions of the nobles, and of the people, were those of surprise and indignation, that a vile Barbarian should dare to insult the capital of the world ; but their arrogance was soon humbled by misfortune. The unfortunate city gradually experienced the dis- tress of scarcity, and at length the horrid calamities of famine. The daily allowance of three pounds of bread, was reduced to one half — to one third — to nothing ; and the price of corn still continued to rise in a rapid and extravagant proportion. The poorer citizens, unable to procure the necessaries of life, solicited the precarious charity of the rich ; but private and occasional donations were insufficient to appease the hunger of a numerous people. The food the most repugnant to sense or imagination, the aliments the most unwholesome and per- * We seem in general to entertain a very inadequate idea in the present day of what was the extent and magnificence of the city of Rome, at the period of which we are now treating. The subject is somewhat foreign to the object of this work : yet I flatter myself a few hints may be pardoned by the reader, were it merely on the score of exciting attention to a subject of considerable curiosity. When the capital of the empire was besieged by the Goths, the circuit of the walls was accurately measured by Ammonius, the mathematician, who found it equal to twenty-one miles. The 'form of the city was almost that of a circle. It probably covered a less space of ground than the metropolis of Great Britain ; but it contained about one-fifth more inhabitants ; for "we may fairly estimate the number of inhabitants," says Mr. Gibbon, referring to this period, "at twelve hundred thousand." The total number of houses, in the fourteen regions of the city, amounted to forty-eight thousand, three hundred, and eighty-two— a num- ber inferior to those of the British capital ; but that is accounted for from the loftiness of die buildings, which were carried to such an enormous elevation, that it was repeatedly enacted, by Augustus, as well as by Nero,, in consequence of the frequent, and fatal accidents which happened through the hastiness of their erection, and the insufficiency of their materials, that the height of private edifices, within the walls of Rome, should not exceed the measure of seventy feet from the ground ! House rent was immoderately dear — the rich acquired, at an enor- mous expense, the ground which they covered with palaces and gardens ; but the bulk of the common people was crowded into a narrow space, and the dif- ferent floors and apartments of the same house were divided among several families. There were seventeen hundred and eight}- superb mansions, the resi- dence of wealthy and honourable citizens. No doubt the language of one of their own poets (Claudius Rutilius,) who lived at the time of the Gothic invasion, is to be understood as indulging- in poetic license, when it describes "each palace as equal to a city, since it included v ithin its own precincts, every thing which could be subservient either to use or luxury ; markets, race-courses, temples, fountains, baths, porticoes, shady groves, and artificial aviaries." Of the riches and luxury of these nobles, we may form an estimate from this circumstance ; that several examples are recorded in the age of Honorius, of persons who cele- brated the year of their praetorship by a festival which lasted seven days, and cost above one hundred thousand pounds sterling. Before the Dioclesian persecution, which commenced A. D. 303, the places of Christian worship in Rome were augmented' to more than forty in number ; and the pastors and teachers to up- wards of an hundred and fifty. — Gibbon's Rome, vol. viii. ch. 31. and Optatus de Sckism. Donat. lib. ii. p. 40. 212 History of the Christian Church. nicious to the constitution, were eagerly devoured, and fiercely dispu- ted by the rage of hunger. A dark suspicion was entertained that some wretches fed on the bodies of their fellow creatures, whom they had secretly murdered, and even mothers are said to have tasted the flesh of their slaughtered infants ! Many thousands of the inhabitants of Rome expired in their own houses, or in the streets, for want of sus- tenance ; and as the public sepulchres without the walls were in the power of the enemy, the stench which arose from so many putrid and unburied carcasses, infected the air; and the miseries of famine were succeeded and augmented by the contagion of a pestilential disease, and the proud and insolent Romans were at length compelled to seek relief in the clemency, or at least in the moderation of the king of the Goths. The senate appointed two ambassadors to negotiate with the enemy. When introduced into his presence, they declared, perhaps in a more lofty style than became their abject condition, that the Romans were resolved to maintain their dignity cither in peace or war ; and that if Alaric refused them a fair and honourable capitulation, he might sound his trumpets and prepare for battle with an innumerable people, exercised in arms and animated by despair. " The thicker the hay, the easier it is mowed," was the concise reply of the Barbarian, ac- companied by a loud and insulting laugh, expressive of his contempt for the threats of an unwarlike populace, enervated by luxury before they were emaciated by famine. He then condescended to fix the ransom which he would receive as the price of his retreat from the walls of Rome. It was all the gold and silver in the city, whether it were the property of the state or of individuals ; all the rich and pre- cious movables ; and all the slaves that could prove their title to the name of Barbarians. " If such, O king, are your demands," said they, " what do you intend to leave us ?" " Your lives," replied the haughty conqueror ! They trembled and retired. The stern features of Alaric, however, became insensibly relaxed, and he abated much of the rigour of his terms ; for he at length con- sented to raise the siege on the immediate payment of five thousand pounds of gold — of thirty thousand pounds of silver — of four thousand robes of silk — of three thousand pieces of fine scarlet cloth — and of three thousand pounds weight of pepper. But the public treasury was exhausted ; the annual rents of the nobles were intercepted by the cala- mities of war, the gold and gems had been exchanged, during the famine, for the vilest sustenance. Recourse was, therefore, obliged to be had to the hoards of secret wealth which had been concealed by the obstinacy of avarice, and some remains of consecrated spoils, which afforded the only means of averting the impending ruin of the city. As soon as the Romans had satisfied the rapacious demands of Alaric, they were restored, in some measure, to the enjoyment of peace and plenty.* Before he withdrew his army from the gates of Rome, Alaric had stipulated for the payment of an annual subsidy of corn and money, which the treacherous Romans now sought to evade, and in the fol- * Gibbon's Rome, vol. v. ch. 23. Rome a second time besieged. 213 lowing year (409) the Gothic chief, resolving to punish their perfidy, a second time laid siege to their city. On this occasion, however, in- stead of assaulting the capital, he directed his efforts against the port of Ostia, one of the boldest and most stupendous works of Roman magnificence. This port or harbour, which was undertaken by Julius Caesar, and finished in the reign of Claudian, where the corn of Africa was deposited in spacious granaries for the use of the capital, had, by this time, insensibly swelled to the size of an episcopal city. As soon as Alaric was in possession of that important place, he summoned the city to surrender, declaring that a refusal, or even a delay, should be instantly followed by the destruction of the magazines, on which the lives of the Roman people depended. The clamours of the people, and the terror of famine, subdued the pride of the senate — they listen- ed without reluctance to the proposal which Alaric made them, of placing a new emperor on the throne of the Caesars in place of the unworthy Honorius, and the suffrage of the Gothic conqueror bestow- ed the purple on Attalus, praefect of the city. Attains, however, was not long in evincing his incompetency for the duties of the high station to which he had been raised ; and in the fol- lowing year Alaric publicly despoiled him of the ensigns of royalty, and sent them as the pledge of peace and friendship, to Honorius at Ravenna. Some favourable occurrence, however, happening to turn up in the fortunes of this latter prince, just at that moment, the inso- lence of his ministers returned with it ; and, instead of accepting the friendly overture of Alaric, a body of three hundred soldiers were or- dered to sally out of the gates of Ravenna, who surprised and cut in pieces a considerable party of Goths, after which they re-entered the city in triumph. The crime and folly of the court of Ravenna was expiated a third time by the calamities of Rome. Alaric, who now no lo»gor dissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge, appeared in arms under the walls of the capital, and the trembling senate, without any hopes of relief, prepared by a desperate resistance, to delay the ruin of their country. But they were unable to guard against the se- cret conspiracy of their slaves and domestics, who, either from birth or interest, were attached to the cause of the enemy. At the hour of midnight, the Salarian gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet.* In * There is a very eloquent passage referring to this particular subject, in a letter written by Pelagius, the author of the Pelagian heresy, to a Roman lady of the name of Demetrias, and it deserves insertion in this place, were it only to exhibit to the reader a specimen of the superior talents which were possessed by that apostate fronuthe doctrines of grace. Pelagius, whose original name was Morgan, was a native of Wales, and by profession a monk. He was far advanced in life before he began publicly to pro- pagate his heretical sentiments, and until that period it seems that he sustained a blameless reputation; for Augustine, who was cotemporary with him, and com- bated all his errors, does him the justice to own that " he had the esteem of be- ing a very pious man, and a Christian of no vulgar rank. " Pelagius happened to be at Rome when that city was besieged by the Goths, and was probably a spectator of all that passed during the sacking of the metropolis. Soon after it was taken he set sail for Africa, and from thence wrote to the Lady Demetrias the letter, of which the following- is an extract, referring to the Gothic invasion. 214 History of the Christian Church. the year 410, eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the founda- tion'of Rome, the imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia, who, during six days, pillaged the city of all its gold and jewels, stripped the palaces of their splendid furniture — the sideboards of their massy plate, and the wardrobes of their silk and purple, which were loaded on waggons to follow the march of the Gothic army — the most cruel slaughter was made of the Romans — the streets of the city were filled with dead bodies — the fe- males were delivered up to the brutal lust of the soldiers — and many of the noblest edifices of the city destroyed by fire. I have been induced to go more into detail on this subject, than I should otherwise have done, for the sake of giving the uninformed reader some general notion of the misery which resulted from the irrup- tion of these Barbarian hordes into the Roman empire ; and, because it ultimately proved the means of its subversion ; but it is incompatible with my plan to pursue the matter further than just to add, that new invaders, from regions more remote and barbarous, drove out or exter- minated the former colonists, and Europe was successively ravaged, till the countries which had poured forth their myriads, were drained of people, and the sword of -slaughter weary of destroying. " If a man were called," says Dr. Robertson, "to fix upon the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most calamitous and afflicted, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Theodosius the Great (A. D. 395) to the establishment of the Lombards in Italy, (A. D. 571.) The contemporary authors, who beheld that scene of desolation, labour, and are at a loss for expression, to describe the horror of it. Tlie scourge of God, the destroyer of nations, are the dreadful epithets by which they distinguish the most noted of the barbarous leaders : and they compare the ruin which they had brought on the world, to the havoc occasioned by earthquakes, conflagrations, or deluges — the most formidable and fatal calamities which the imagination of man can conceive."* " This dismal calamity is but just over, and you yourself are a witness how Rome that commanded the world was astonished at the alarm of the Gothic trumpet, when that barbarous and victorious nation stormed her walls, and made her way through the breach. Where were then the privileges of birth, and the distinctions of quality ? Were not all ranks and degrees levelled at that time, and promiscuously huddled together ? Every house was then a scene of misery, and equally filled with grief and confusion. The slave and the man of quality were in the same circumstances, and every where the terror of death and slaughter was the same, unless we may say the fright made the greater im- pression on those who got the most by living. Now, if flesh and blood has such power over our fears, and mortal men can terrify us to this degree, what will become of us when the trumpet sounds from the sky, and the archangel sum- mons us to judgment; when we are not attacked by sword, or lance, or any tiling so feeble as an human enemy: but when all the terrors of nature, the artillery of heaven, and the militia, if I may so speak, of Almighty God, are let loose upon us ? — In the Letters of Augustine, No. 142. * History of Charles V. vol. sect. 1. The intelligent reader will not need to he reminded, how well this account of things corresponds with the striking fan- Settlement of the Barbarians in Europe. 215 The overwhelming progress of the Barbarians soon diffused its powerful effects throughout every part of Europe. In the course of the fifth century, the Visigoths took possession of Spain ; the Franks of Gaul ; the Saxons of England ; the Huns of Pannonia ; the Ostro- goths of Italy, and the adjacent provinces. New governments, laws, languages ; new manners, customs, dresses ; new names of men and countries prevailed, and an almost total change took place in the state of Europe. It is, no doubt, much to be lamented, that this revolution was the work of nations so little enlightened by science, or polished by civilization ; for the Roman laws, though imperfect, were in gene- ral the best that human wisdom had then framed, and its arts and literature infinitely surpassed any thing found among rude nations, or which those who despised them produced for many ages. Many of the Gothic chiefs were men of great talents, and some of them not wholly ignorant of the policy and literature of the Romans ; but they were afraid of the contagious influence of Roman example, and they therefore studied to avoid every thing allied to that name, whether hurtful or beneficial. They erected a cottage in the vicinity of a palace, breaking down the stately building, and burying in its ruins the finest works of human ingenuity. They ate out of vessels of wood, and made their captives be served in vessels of silver. They prohibited their children from acquiring a knowledge of literature and of the elegant arts, because they concluded from the dastardly beha- viour of the Romans, that learning tends to enervate the mind, and that he who has trembled under the rod of a schoolmaster, will never dare to meet a sword with an undaunted eye. Upon the same principle they rejected the Roman code of laws ; it reserved nothing to the ven- geance of man — they, therefore inferred, that it would rob him of his active powers. Nor could they conceive how the person who receiv- ed an injury could rest satisfied, but by pouring out his fury upon the author of the injustice. Hence arose all those judicial combats, and private wars which, for many ages, desolated Europe. In one particular only did these barbarian tribes condescend to con- form to the institutions of- those different nations among whom they settled, viz. in religion. The conquerors submitted to the religion of the conquered, which at this period, indeed, in its established form, approximated closely to the superstition and idolatry of the ancient heathen. But whatever shades of difference there might be found among the numerous kingdoms in which the Roman Western Empire was at this time divided, whether in the forms of their government, or their civil and political institutions ; they unanimously agreed to sup- port the hierarchy of the church of Rome, and to defend and maintain it as the established religion of their respective states. Nor is the cir- cumstance altogether unworthy of notice, that when Alaric forced his entrance into Rome, he issued a proclamation which discovered some regard for the laws of humanity and religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the rewards of valour, and to enrich themselves guage of the book of Revelation quoted at the beginning of the last Section, See p. 196. 216 History of the Christian Church. with the spoils of the citizens ; but he exhorted them to spare the lives of the unresisting, and to respect the churches of the apostles St. Pe- ter and St. Paul, as holy and inviolable sanctuaries.* " In ages of ignorance and credulity," says Dr. Robertson, " the ministers of religion are the objects of superstitious veneration. When the Barbarians who overran the Roman empire first embraced the Christian faith, they found the clergy in possession of considerable power ; and they naturally transferred to those new guides the pro- found submission and reverence, which they were accustomed to yield to the priests of that religion which they had forsaken. They deemed their persons to be equally sacred with their function, and would have considered it as impious to subject them to the profane jurisdiction of the laity. The clergy were not blind to these advantages which the weakness of mankind afforded them. They established courts, in which every question relating to their own character, their function, and their property, was tried. They pleaded, and obtained an almost total exemption from the authority of civil judges. Upon different pretexts, and by a multiplicity of artifices, they communicated the privilege to so many persons, and extended their jurisdiction to such a variety of cases, that the greater part of those affairs which gave rise to contest and litigation, was drawn under the cognizance of the spi- ritual courts."! The claims to supremacy, which, during the preceding centuries, had been asserted by the bishops of Rome, were at first faintly urged, and promoted by artful and almost imperceptible means. They now, however, began to insist upon superiority as a divine right attached to their see, which, they contended, had been founded by the apostle Pe- ter ; and this arrogant claim, which had appeared conspicuously enough in the conduct of the bishops of Rome of the preceding century, was now no longer concealed, or cautiously promulgated. But, however violent their claims, or extensive their authority in affairs both eccle- siastical and civil, they still remained subject, first to the jurisdiction of the Gothic kings, and, upon the retaking of Rome, to the emperors • This is the circumstance which gave rise to that ponderous folio volume of St. Augustine, entitled, " The City of God." The writer's object is to justify the ways of Providence in the destruction of the Roman greatness; and he cele- brates with peculiar satisfaction, this memorable occurrence, while he insulting- ly challenges his adversaries to produce one similar example ^f a town taken by 6torm, in which the fabulous gods of antiquity had been able to protect either themselves or their deluded votaries — appealing particularly to the examples of Troy, Syracuse, and Tarentum. Had the life of this great luminary been pro- longed about half a century beyond this time, he might have been instructed, by facts and experience, how fallacious his vaunting was. In the year 455, Gense- ric, a Vandal warrior, invaded Italy, and once more sacked the city of Rome. *• The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights, and all that yet remained of pub- lic or private wealth, of sacred or profane treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of Genseric." Among the spoils were the holy instruments of the Jewish worship, — the golden table, the golden candlesticks with seven branches, Etc. which four hundred years before Titus had brought from Jerusalem, and which had been since deposited in the Temple of Peace. He also stripped the Christian churches of every article of plate and grandeur that was movable. | History of Charles V. vol. 1. sect. 1. Inordinate ambition of the Popes. 217 of Constantinople. Such, however, was the extensive influence of the papal intrigues, that there were few among the princes of the West- ern Empire, that were not virtually brought into a state of subjection to the authority of the bishops of Rome, before the close of the fifth century. A station so elevated, which lay open to the ambition of numbers, was eagerly contested, and often obtained by fraud, chicanery, or the practice of whatever was most opposite to the spirit of the gospel. During the sixth century, the peace of the catholic church was thrice disturbed by the contests and squabbles of the rival pontiffs. Symma- chus and Laurentius, who had been elevated to the vacant see by dif- ferent parties, continued, for several years, to assert their discordant claims. After repeated struggles, the former, at length, prevailed. In this contest he was materially assisted by the pen of Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, who employed the most abject flattery in behalf of Symma- chus, whom he blasphemously styles " Judge in the place of God, and vicegerent of the Most High." The church was again divided by the reciprocal claims of Boniface and Dioscorus ; the premature death of the latter, however, terminated this clerical war. But the century did not close without a scene alike disgraceful. A prelate of the name of Vigilius, intrigued at court to procure the deposition of the reigning bishop Silverus. The latter was, in consequence, de- prived of his dignities and banished. He appealed to the emperor Justinian, who interfered in his behalf, and encouraged him to return to Rome, with the delusive expectation of regaining his rights ; but the artifices of Vigilius prevailed — his antagonist was resigned to his pow- er, and immediately confined by him in the islands of Pontus and Pan- datara, where, in penury and affliction, he terminated his wretched ex- istence. The advantages attendant upon the acquisition of such enormous power, induced the bishops of Constantinople, who were scarcely less arrogant and ambitious than their brethren at Rome, to refuse acknow- ledging their pre-eminence, and prompted them to lay claim to similar authority. The arrogant pretensions of these rival sees involved them in continual dissensions ; which were prodigiously increased by the conduct of John, the faster, a prelate distinguished for his authority ; who, in a council held at Constantinople in the year 588, assumed the title of Universal Bishop, which was confirmed to him by the coun- cil. This appellation, which implied a pre-eminence difficult to be endured by those who were as ambitious as himself, was opposed ve- hemently by Pelagius II. then bishop of Rome, who called it an exe- crable, profane, and diabolical procedure ; but his invectives were dis- regarded, and he died soon after. In the year 560, he was succeeded by Gregory the Great, as he is usually termed ; a voluminous writer, and, though superstitious in the extreme, not altogether destitute of ta- lents. His works are still extant, and in high reputation with the Ca- tholics. The following letter written by him to the emperor Maurice, at Constantinople, in consequence of John, the patriarch of that city, assuming the name of " Universal Bishop," casts so much light upon 19 218 History of the Christian Church. the history of that age, that it cannot, without injury to the subject, be omitted. " Our most religious lord, whom God hath placed over us, among other weighty cares belonging to the empire, labours, according to the just rule of the sacred writings, to preserve peace and charity among the clergy. He truly and piously considers, that no man can well govern temporal matters, unless he manages with propriety things di- vine also ; and that the peace and tranquillity of the commonwealth depend upon the quiet of the Universal church. For, most gracious sovereign, what human power or strength would presume to lift up irreligious hands against your most Christian majesty, if the clergy, be- ing at unity amongst themselves, would seriously pray to our Saviour Christ to preserve you who have merited so highly from us? Or what nation is there so barbarous as to exercise such cruelty against the faithful, unless the lives of us who are called Priests, but in truth are not such, were most wicked and depraved? But whilst we leave those things which more immediately concern us, and embrace those things for which we are wholly unfit, we excite the Barbarians against us, and our offences sharpen the swords of our enemies, by which means the commonwealth is weakened. For what can we say for ourselves, if the people of God, over whom, however unworthily, we are placed, be oppressed through the multitude of our offences ; if our example destroys that which our preaching should build ; and our ac- tions, as it were, give the lie to our doctrine? Our bones are worn with fasting, but our minds are puffed up ! Our bodies are covered with mean attire, but in our hearts we are quite elated ! We lie grovelling in the ashes, yet we aim at things exceedingly high ! We are teachers of humility, but patterns of pride, hiding the teeth of wolves under a sheep's countenance ! The end of all is, to make a fair appearance before men, but God knoweth the truth ! Therefore our most pious so- vereign hath been prudently careful to place the church at unity, that he might the better compose the tumults of war and join their hearts together. This verily is my wish also, and for my own part I yield due obedience to your sovereign commands. However, since it is not my cause, but God's, it is not myself only but the whole church that is troubled, because religious laws, venerable synods, and the very pre- cepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, are disobeyed by the invention of a proud and pompous speech. My desire is, that our most religious so- vereign would lance this sore, and that he would bind with the cords of his imperial authority the party affected, in case he makes any re- sistance. By restraining him the commonwealth will be eased ; and by the paring away of such excrescences the empire is enlarged. Eve- ry man that has read the gospel knows that, even by the very words of our Lord, the care of the whole church is committed to St. Peter, the apostle — the prince of all the apostles. For to him it is said, " Pe- ter, lovest thou me? Feed my sheep." " Behold, Satan hath desired to winnow thee as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith should not fail." And, " thou being at the last converted, confirm thy. brethren." To him it is said, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I Gregory'1 s letter to the Emperor Maurice. 219 will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ; and to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and what- soever thou bindest on earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and what- soever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." Be- hold ! he hath the keys of the kingdom, and the power of binding and loosing is committed to him. The care and the principality of the whole church is committed to him ; and yet he is not called " Uni- versal Apostle" — though this holy man, John, my fellow priest, la- bours to be called " Universal Bishop !" I am compelled to cry out, "O the corruption of times and manners?" Behold the Barbarians are become lords of all Europe : cities are destroyed — castles are beaten down — provinces depopulated — there is no husbandman to till the ground** — Idolaters rage and domineer over Christians ; and yet priests, who ought to lie weeping upon the pavement, in sackcloth and ashes, covet names of vanity, and glory in new and profane titles. Do I, most religious sovereign, in this plead my own cause? Do I vindicate a wrong done to myself, and not maintain the cause of Almighty God, and of the church universal? Who is he that presumes to usurp this new name against both the law of the gospel and of the canons? I would to God there might be one called universal without doing in- justice to others. We know, that many priests of the church of Con- stantinople have been not only heretics, but even the chief leaders of them. Out of that school proceeded Nestorius, who, thinking it im- possible that God should be made man, believed that Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man, was two persons, and went as far in infidelity as the Jews themselves. Thence came Macedonius, who denied the Holy Ghost, consubstantial to the Father and the Son, to be God. If, then, every one in that church assumes the name by which he makes himself the head of all good men, the catholic church, which God forbid should ever be the case, must needs be overthrown when he falls who is called Universal. But, far from Christians be this blasphemous name, by which all honour is taken from all other priests, while it is foolishly arrogated by one. It was offered to the bishop of Rome by the reverend council of Chalcedon, in honour of St. Peter, prince of the apostles ; but none of them either assumed or consented to use it, lest, while this privilege should be given to one, all others should be deprived of that honour which is due unto them. Why should we refuse this title when it was offered, and another assume it without any offer at all? This man (John) contemning obedience to the canons, should be humbled by the commands of our most pious sove- reign. He should be chastised who does an injury to the holy catho- lic church ! whose heart is puffed up, who seeks to please himself by a name of singularity, by which he would elevate himself above the emperor! We are all scandalized at this. Let the author of this scan- dal reform himself, and all differences in the church will cease. I am the servant of all priests, so long as they live like themselves — but if any shall vainly set up his bristles, contrary to God Almighty, and to * Gregory here seems to refer to the irruption of the Goths into the Roman empire, and its total subversion by those Barbarians. — Author. 220 History of the Christian Church, the canons of the Fathers, 1 hope in God that he will never succeed in bringing my neck under his yoke — not even by force of arms. The things that have happened in this city, in consequence of this new ti- tle, I have particularly declared to Sabinianus, the deacon, my agent. Let therefore my religious sovereigns think of me their servant, whom they have always cherished and upheld more than others, as one who desired to yield them obedience, and yet am afraid to be found guilty of negligence in my duty at the last awful day of judgment. Let our most pious sovereign either vouchsafe to determine the affair, accord- ing to the petition of the aforesaid Sabinianus, the deacon, or cause the man, so often mentioned to renounce his claim. In case he submits to your most just sentence, or your favourable admonitions, we will give thanks to Almighty God, and rejoice for the peace of the church, procured by your clemency. But if he persist in this contention, we shall hold the saying to be most true, " Every one that exalteth him- self shall be abased." And again it is written, " Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." In obedience to my sovereign, I have written to my brother priest both gently and humbly, urging him to desist from this vainglory. If he gives ear unto me, he hath a brother devoted unto him, but if he continue in his pride, I fore- see what will befall him — he will make himself His enemy of whom it is written, " God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the hum- ble."* It is difficult to determine whether the finesse of the politician, or the envy of the priest, be most prevalent in this artful letter. It does not, however, appear to have produced any good effect. John, indeed, was soon afterwards removed by death from his archiepiscopal dignity ; but Cynacus, who succeeded him as bishop of Constantinople, adopt- ed the same pompous title as his predecessor. Having had occasion to despatch some agents to Rome, in the letter Avhich he wrote to the Roman Pontiff Gregory, he so much displeased him by assuming the appellation of " Universal Bishop," that the latter withheld from the agents somewhat of the courtesy to which they considered themselves entitled, and, of course, complaint was made to the emperor Maurice of the neglect which had been shown them. This circumstance ex- torted a letter from the emperor at Constantinople to the Bishop of Rome, in which he advises him to treat them, in future, in a more friendly manner, and not to insist so far on punctilios of style, as to create a scandal about a title, and fall out about a few syllables. To this Gregory replies, " that the innovation in the style did not consist much in the quantity and alphabet ; but the bulk of the iniquity was weighty enough to sink and destroy all. And, therefore, I am bold to say," says he, " that whoever adopts, or affects the title of Universal Bishop," has the pride and character of Antichrist, and is in some manner his forerunner in this haughty quality of elevating himself above the rest of his order. And, indeed, both the one and the other seem to split upon the same rock ; for, as pride makes Antichrist strain • Epist. Greg-. Mag-. Ep. xxxii. Gregory succeeded by Boniface. 221 his pretensions up to Godhead, so whoever is ambitious to be called the only or Universal Prelate, arrogates to himself a distinguished su- periority, and rises, as it were, upon the ruins of the rest."* But though Gregory artfully disclaimed for himself, and refused to his aspiring brother the title of Universal bishop, he exercised an authority, says bishop Hurd,t that can only belong to that exalted character. Gregory died in the year 604, and was succeeded by Pope Boniface III. who had no scruples about adopting this proud title. He readily accepted, or rather importunately begged it from the emperor Phocas, with the privilege also of transmitting it to all his successors. The profligate emperor, to gratify the inordinate ambition of this court sycophant, deprived the bishop of Constantinople of the title which he had hitherto borne, and conferred it upon Boniface, at the same time declaring the church of Rome to be the head of all other churches. * Epist. Greg. 1. 6. Ep. 30. \ Introductory Sermons to the Study of Prophecy. Vol. ii, Serm. 7, I!)' ( 222 ) APPENDIX TO CHAP. III. SECT. IV. A respectable writer in one of our Monthly Journals, and, as I am informed, a Classical Tutor in one of our Dissenting Academies, ap- pears to think that, in animadverting on the characters of some of the luminaries of the Catholic church, I have not made sufficient allowance for the darkness of the period in which they lived. His words are, " We apprehend, that Mr. Jones has not quite enough attended to the infelicity of times, the want of a free communication of knowledge, the power of educational prejudices, and the effect of usages venerated as apostolic. Under circumstances so disadvantageous, it is not, we hope, unreasonable to believe that many who in their hearts loved the Redeemer, and in their lives served him, according to the light they had, were found dragged in the train of those who wandered after the beast. Painful and humbling fact ! That such men as Athanasius and Gregory, Anselm and Bernard, should have defiled their garments with the blood of persecution, and bowed their knees before relics and wafers." The Gregory referred to in this quotation, I understand to be " Gregory the Great," as he is commonly termed ; the first of the Roman pontiffs of that name ; the man to whose exploits the preced- ing pages refer. He is the only prelate of the Roman church, of that appellation, who, so far as I know, has ever been considered by Pro- testants to have had any pretensions to the character of a Christian ; and his history, certainly, well assorts with that of Athanasius and Ber- nard ; which confirms me in the supposition that he is the person re- ferred to. Now, granting the correctness of this conjecture, I beg leave, with all becoming deference to my critical supervisor, to offer a few remarks by way of apology. I feel not the smallest disposition to dispute the truth of this very respectable writer's remark, that I have " not sufficiently studied that humiliating part of the philosophy of man, his strange inconsistencies." And I am ready to admit that I may not have made the proper allow- ances for the infelicity of times, &c. Yea, further ; that in the darkest periods of the church, there were individuals dragged in the train of those who wandered after the beast, who, nevertheless, in their hearts loved the Redeemer, and in their lives served him, according to the light they had, is a sentiment to which I cheerfully subscribe, but am not aware that I have said any thing that militates against it in this work. The only disputable point between us is, how far the character of Gregory entitles him to this favourable judgment. The reader has already seen the fulsome and adulatory strains in which this pontiff addressed the emperor Maurice, in consequence of Appendix to Ch. III. Sect. IV. 223 the patriarch of Constantinople arrogating to himself the title of "Uni- versal Bishop." He styles the emperor his " most religious Lord" — his " most gracious Sovereign" — his " most Christian Majesty" — his " most religious Sovereign," against whom it would be the height of impiety to lift a finger, &c. Let us now mark what followed. Gregory with all his flattery was unable to prevail on the emperor Maurice to second his views ; and the former, as might be expected, became not a little dissatisfied with his " most religious Lord." Soon after this the emperor was dethroned by one of his centurions, who first murdered him, and then usurped his crown. This wretch, whose name was Pho- cas, was one of the vilest of the human race — a monster, stained with those vices that serve most to blacken human nature. Other tyrants have been cruel from policy ; the cruelties of Phocas are not to be ac- counted for, but on the hypothesis of the most diabolical and disinter- ested malice. He caused five of the children of the emperor Maurice to be massacred before the eyes of their unhappy father, whom he re- served to the last, that he might be a spectator of the destruction of his children before his own death. There still remained, however, a brother and son of the emperor's, both of whom he caused to be put to death, together with all the patricians who adhered to the interest of the un- happy monarch. The empress Constantine and her three daughters had taken refuge in one of the churches of the city, under sanction of the patriarch of Constantinople, who defended them for a time with great spirit and resolution, not permitting them to be dragged by force from their asylum. The tyrant, one of the most vindictive and inexorable of mankind, not wishing to alarm the church at the outset of his reign, now had recourse to dissimulation ; and by means of the most solemn oaths and promises of safety, at length prevailed on the females to quit their asylum. The consequence was, that they instantly became the helpless victims of his fury, and suffered on the same spot on which the late emperor and five of his sons had been recently murdered. So much for the character of Phocas : now what should we expect would be the reception which the account of all this series of horrid cruelty would meet with at Rome, from a man so renowned for piety, equity, and mildness of disposition as Pope Gregory was? If we look into his letters of congratulation, we find them stuffed with the vilest and most venal flattery ; insomuch, that were we to learn the character of Phocas only from this pontiffs letters, we should certainly conclude him to have been rather an angel than a man. He recites the murder of "his most religious Lord" with as much coolness as though religion and morality could be nowise affected by such enormities. Mark how the sanctity of a Gregory congratulates the blood-thirsty rebellious regicide and usurper. Thus he begins — " Glory to God in the highest ; Avho, according as it is written, changes times and transfers kingdoms. And because he would have that made known to all men, which he hath vouchsafed to speak by his own prophets, saying, that the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men, and to whom he will he gives it." He then goes on to observe, that God in his incomprehensible providence, sometimes sends kings to afflict his people and punish them for their sins. This, says he, we have known of late to our woful experience. 224 Appendix to Ch. III. Sect. IV. Sometimes, on the other hand, God, in his mercy, raises good men to the throne, for the relief and exultation of his servants. Then applying this remark to existing circumstances, he adds: "In the abundance of our exultation, on which account, we think ourselves the more speedily confirmed, rejoicing to find the gentleness of your piety equal to your imperial dignity." Then breaking out into a rapture, no longer to be restrained, he exclaims, " Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad ; and, for your illustrious deeds, let the people of every realm, hitherto so vehemently afflicted, now be filled with gladness. May the necks of your enemies be subjected to the yoke of your supreme rule ; and the hearts of your subjects, hitherto broken and depressed, be relieved by your clemency." Proceeding to paint their former miseries, he concludes, with wishing that the commonwealth may long enjoy its present happiness. Thus, in language evidently borrowed from the inspired writers, and in which they anticipate the joy and gladness that should pervade universal nature at the birth of the Messiah, does this pope celebrate the march of the tyrant and usurper through seas of blood to the imperial throne. "As a subject and a Christian," says Gibbon, " it was the duty of Gregory to acquiesce in the established government ; but the joyful applause with which he salutes the fortune of the assassin, has sullied, with indelible disgrace, the character of the saint. The successor of the apostles might have inculcated with decent firmness the guilt of blood, and the necessity of repentance: he is content to cele- brate the deliverance of the people, and the fall of the oppressor ; to rejoice that the piety and benignity of Phocas have been raised by Pro- vidence to the imperial throne ; to pray that his hands may be strength- ened against all his enemies ; and to express a wish, that, after a long triumphant reign, he may be transferred from a temporal to an ever- lasting kingdom." — "I have traced," says the same writer, "the steps of a revolution, so pleasing in Gregory's opinion both to heaven and earth, and Phocas does not appear less hateful in the exercise than in the acquisition of power. The pencil of an impartial historian has delineated the portrait of a monster ; his diminutive and deformed per- son, &c. Ignorant of letters, of laws, and even of arms, he indulged, even in the supreme rank, a more ample privilege of lust and drunken- ness ; and his brutal pleasures were either injurious to his subjects, or disgraceful to himself. Without assuming the office of a prince, he renounced the profession of a soldier ; and the reign of Phocas afflicted Europe with ignominious peace, and Asia with desolating war. His savage temper was inflamed by passion, hardened by fear, and exas- perated by resistance or reproach. The flight of Theodosius, the only surviving son of the emperor Maurice, to the Persian court, had been intercepted by a rapid pursuit, or a deceitful message : he was beheaded at Nice ; and the last hours of the young prince were soothed by the comforts of religion and the consciousness of innocence."* Now, if there be any thing of either truth or justice in these remarks on the character of Phocas, what are we to think of that of Gregory, who could stoop to the vile practice of panegyrizing such a monster ; and, with • Decline and Fall, ch. xlvi. Retrospect of the Donatists. 225 all due deference, I humbly submit it to the consideration of my discreet monitor, " What valuable end can possibly be answered, by shutting our eyes against such flagrant enormities, and eulogizing the men who have perpetuated them?" "To me," says a late candid writer, "Gregory appears to have been a man, whose understanding, though rather above the middle rate, was much warped by the errors and preju- dices of the times in which he lived. His piety was deeply tinctured with superstition, and his morals with monkery. His zeal was not pure, in regard to either its nature or its object. In the former respect, it was often intolerant; and in regard to the latter, he evinced an attachment more to the form than to the power of religion, to the name than to the tiling. His zeal was exactly that of the Pharisees, who compassed sea and land to make a proselyte, which, when they had accomplished, they rendered him two-fold more a child of hell than before. He was ever holding forth the prerogatives of St. Peter, nor did he make any ceremony of signifying, that this prime minister of Jesus Christ, like all other prime ministers, would be most liberal of his favours to those who were most assiduous in making court to him, especially to them who were most liberal to his foundation at Rome, and that most ad- vanced its dignity and power. So much for St. Gregory, and for the nature and extent of Roman Papal virtue."* SECTION V. FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DOMINION OF THE POPES TO THE RISE OF THE WALDENSES. A. D. 606 800. Retrospect of the Donatists — Introduction of the worship of images — Rise of the Mahometan imposture — Ignorance of the Catholic clergy — Origin of the sect of the Paulicians. Having hitherto taken no notice in this history of the sect of the Donatists, it seems almost necessary, before we proceed farther with the affairs of the Christian church, to introduce a concise account of them, which I shall here do from the writings of Dr. Lardner, who has collected into a few pages almost every thing that is now interesting, relative to this denomination of Christians. The Donatists appear to have resembled the followers of Novatian more than any other class of professors in that period of the church, of whom we have any authentic records ; but their origin was at least half a century later, and the churches in this connexion appear to have been almost entirely confined to Africa. They agreed with the Novatians in censuring the lax state of discipline in the Catholic church, and though they did not, like the former, refuse to readmit penitents into their com- munion, nor like them condemn all second marriages, they denied the * Campbell's Lectures on Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 79. 226 History of the Christian Church. validity of baptism as administered by the church of Rome, and rebap- tized all who left its communion to unite with them. In doctrinal sen- timents they were agreed with both the Catholics and the Novatians; while the regard they paid to the purity of their communion, occasion- ed their being stigmatized with the title of Puritans, and uniformly treated as schismatics by Optatus and Augustine, the two principal writers against them, in the Catholic church. The Donatists are said to have derived their distinguishing appella- tion from Donatus, a native of Numidia, in Africa, who was elected bishop of Carthage about the year 306. He was a man of learning and eloquence, very exemplary in his morals, and, as would appear from several circumstances, studiously set himself to oppose the growing cor- ruptions of the Catholic church. The Donatists were consequently a separate body of Christians for nearly three centuries, and in almost every city in Africa, there was one bishop of this sect and another of the Catholics. The Donatists were very numerous, for we learn that in the year 411, there was a famous conference held at Carthage, be- tween the Catholics and the Donatists, at which were present 286 Ca- tholic bishops, and of the Donatists 279, which, when we consider the superior strictness of their discipline, must give us a favourable opinion of their numbers, and especially as they were frequently the subjects of severe and sanguinary persecutions from the dominant party. The emperor Constans, who reigned over Africa, actuated by the zeal of his family for the peace of the church, sent two persons of rank, Paul and Macarius, in the year 348, to endeavour to conciliate the Donatists, and if possible to restore them to the communion of the Catholic church. But the Donatists were not to be reconciled to such an impure commu- nion ! to all their overtures for peace, they replied, Quid est imperatori cum ecclesia? that is, " What has the Emperor to do with the church?" an excellent saying, certainly, and happy had it been for both the church and the world, could all Christians have adopted and acted upon it. Optatus relates another maxim of theirs, which is worthy of being recorded. It was usual with them to say, " Quid Christianis cum re- gibus, aut quid episcopis cum palatio ?" What have Christians to do with kings, or ivhat have bishops to do at court? These hints are strikingly illustrative of the principles and conduct of the Donatists, who had among them men of great learning and talents, and who dis- tinguished themselves greatly by their writings.* But I pass on from this brief mention of them to notice the state of things during this pe- riod in the Catholic church. The introduction of images into places of Christian worship, and the idolatrous practices to which, in process of time, it gave rise, is an evil that dates its origin soon after the times of Constantine the Great; but, like many other superstitious practices, it made its way by slow and imperceptible degrees. The earlier Christians reprobated every species of image worship in the strongest language ; and some of them employed the force of ridicule to great advantage, in order to expose its * See Lardner's Works, 4to. ed. Vol. II. p. 295 — 301, and Long's History of the Donatists. Rise of the Worship of Images. 227 absurdity. When the empress Constantia desired Eusebius to send her the image of Jesus Christ, he expostulated with her on the impropriety and absurdity of her requisition in the following striking words — — " What kind of image of Christ does your imperial Majesty wish to have conveyed to you ? Is it the image of his real and immutable na- ture ; or is it that which he assumed for our sakes, when he was veil- ed in the form of a servant ? With respect to the former, I presume you are not to learn, that " no man hath known the Son but the Fa- ther, neither hath any man known the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." But you ask for the image of Christ when he appeared in human form, clothed in a body similar to our own. Let me inform you, that the body is now blended with the glory of the Deity, and all that was mortal in it is absorbed in life."* Paulinus, who died bishop of Nola, in the year 431, caused the walls of a place of worship to be painted with stories taken out of the Old Testament, that the people might thence receive instruction; the con- sequence of which was, that the written word was neglected for these miserable substitutes. But about the commencement of the seventh century, during the pontificate of the first Gregory, a circumstance turned up which tends to throw additional light upon this subject. Serenus, bishop of Marseilles, in France, observing some of his congre- gation paying worship to the images that had been placed in the churches of that city, in his zeal, commanded them to be broken and destroyed, which gave so much disgust, that many withdrew from his communion, and complaints against him were made to the bishop of Rome. Gregory wrote to him in consequence of these complaints ; and the following is an extract of his letter. " I am lately informed," says he, " that upon your taking notice that some people worshipped images, you ordered the church pictures to be broken and thrown away. Now, though I commend you for your zeal, in preventing the adoration of any thing made with hands, yet in my opinion, those pic- tures should not have been broken in pieces. For the design of pic- tures in churches is to instruct the illiterate, that people may read that in the paint, which they have not education enough to do in the book. In my judgment, therefore, brother, you are obliged to find out a tem- per to let the pictures stand in the church, and likewise to forbid the congregation the worship of them. That by this provision, those who are not bred to letters, may be acquainted with the scripture history ; and the people, on the other hand, preserved from the criminal excess of worshipping images."! Hence, it appears, that the worship of images was not a very general thing in Gregory's time, and that he disapproved of the practice. But this imprudent concession, sanctioned by the authority and in- fluence of Gregory, was productive of the worst consequences that can be imagined, and tended to accelerate the growing superstition with amazing velocity throughout the countries subject to his pontificate. For as the knowledge of God's true character is only to be fully learn- ed from the revelation which is made of it by means of the gospel of * White's Bampton Lectures, Notes, p. 8. f Ep. Greg. 1. 1. 7. Epist. 109. 228 History of the Christian Church. Christ, in proportion as the hearts of men become fortified against that which alone dispels the clouds of ignorance and error from the human mind, their propensity to every kind of superstition and idolatry naturally succeeds. This evil, therefore, made a most rapid progress, during the seventh century, and arrived at its zenith in the next. It did not, however, succeed without a struggle ; and as the conflict ulti- mately issued in bringing about two important events, viz. the schism between the Greek and Roman churches, and the establishment of the pope as a temporal potentate, I shall endeavour, as concisely as possi- ble, to sketch the leading particulars of this article of ecclesiastical history. About the beginning of the eighth century, Leo, the Greek emperor, who reigned at Constantinople, began openly to oppose the worship of images. One Besor, a Syrian, who appears to have been an officer of his court, and in great favour with the emperor, is said to have con- vinced him by his arguments that the adoration of images was idola- trous, and in this he was ably seconded by Constantine, bishop of Na- colia, in Phrygia. Leo, anxious to propagate truth and preserve his subjects from idolatry, assembled the people, and with all the frankness and sincerity which mark his character, publicly avowed his conviction of the idolatrous nature of the prevailing practice, and protested against the erection of images. Hitherto no councils had sanctioned the evil, and precedents of antiquity were against it. But the Scriptures, which ought to have had infinitely more weight upon the minds of men than either councils or precedents, had expressly and pointedly condemned it ; yet, such deep root had the error at this time taken, so pleasing was it with men to commute for the indulgence of their crimes by a routine of idolatrous ceremonies ; and, above all, so little ear had they to be- stow on what the word of God taught, that the subjects of Leo murmur- ed against him as a tyrant and a persecutor. And in this they were encouraged by Germanus, the bishop of Constantinople, who, with equal zeal and ignorance, asserted that images had always been used in the church, and declared his determination to oppose the emperor ; which, the more effectually to do, he wrote to Gregory the second, then bishop of Rome, respecting the subject, who, by similar reason- ings, warmly supported the same cause. Two original epistles from Gregory the second to the emperor Leo, are still extant, and they merit attention on account of the portrait they exhibit of the founder of the papal monarchy. " During ten pure and fortunate years," says Gregory to the emperor, " we have tasted the annual comfort of your royal letters, subscribed in purple ink, with your own hand, the sacred pledges of your attachment to the orthodox creed of our fathers. How deplorable is the change! How tremendous the scandal ! You now accuse the Catholics of idolatry; and by the accu- sation, you betray your own impiety and ignorance. To this igno« ranee we are compelled to adapt the grossness of our style and argu- ments ; the first elements of holy letters are sufficient for your confu- sion, and were you to enter a grammar-school, and avow yourself the enemy of our worship, the simple and pious children would be pro- voked to cast their horn-books at your head." After this decent saluta- Letters of Pope Gregory II. 229 tion, the pope explains to him the distinction between the idols of anti- quity and the Christian images. The former were the fanciful repre- sentations of phantoms or daemons, at a time when the true God had not manifested his person in any visible likeness — the latter are the ge- nuine forms of Christ, his mother, and his saints. To the impudent and inhuman Leo, more guilty than a heretic, he recommends peace, silence, and implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constantinople and Rome. " You assault us, O tyrant," thus he proceeds, "with a carnal and military hand; unarmed and naked we can only implore the Christ, the prince of the heavenly host, that he will send unto you a devil, for the destruction of your body, and the salvation of your soul. You declare, with foolish arrogance, ' I will despatch my orders to Rome ; I will break in pieces the images of St. Peter; and Gregory, like his predecessor Martin, shall be transported in chains and in exile to the foot of the imperial throne.' Would to God, that I might be permitted to tread in the footsteps of the holy Martin ; but may the fate of Con- stans serve as a warning to the persecutors of the church. After his just condemnation by the bishops of Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the fulness of his sins, by a domestic servant; the saint is still adored by the' nations of Scythia, among whom he ended his banishment and his life. But it is our duty to live for the edification and support of the faithful people, nor are we reduced to risk our safety on the event of a combat. Incapable as you are of defending your Roman subjects, the maritime situation of the city may, perhaps, expose it to your depreda- tion ; but we can remove to the distance of four and twenty stadia, to the first fortress of the Lombards, and then you may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the popes are the bond of union between the East and the West 1 The eyes of the nations are fixed on our humility ; and they revere as a God upon earth, the apostle Saint Pe- ter, whose image you threaten to destroy. The remote and interior kingdoms of the West present their homage to Christ and his vicege- rent, and we now prepare to visit one of the most powerful monarchs, who desires to receive from our hands the sacrament of baptism. The Barbarians have submitted to the yoke of the gospel, while you alone are deaf to the voice of the shepherd. These pious Barbarians are kindled into rage ; they thirst to avenge the persecution of the East. Abandon your rash and fatal enterprise ; reflect, tremble, and repent. If you persist, we are innocent of the blood that will be spilt in the con- test; may it fall on your own head !"* The character of Leo has been so blackened by the writers of the Catholic party, that it is difficult to form a just estimate of it ; but when we consider that he not only condemned the worshipping of images, but also rejected relics, and protested against the intercession of saints, we cannot doubt of his possessing considerable strength of mind, while it may help us to account for much of the obloquy that was cast upon him. In the year 730 he issued an edict against images, and having in vain laboured to bring over Germanus, the bishop of Constantinople, * Acts of the Nicene Council, torn. viii. 20 230 History of the Christian Church. to his views, he deposed him from his see, and put Anastatius in his place, who look part with the emperor. There was, in the palace of Constantinople, a porch which contained an image of the Saviour on the cross. Leo, perceiving that it was made an instrument of idolatry, sent an officer to remove it. Some females, who were then present, entreated that it might remain, but without effect. The officer mount- ed a ladder, and with an axe struck three blows on the face of the figure, when the women threw him down, by pulling away the ladder, and murdered him on the spot. The image, however, was removed, and burnt, and a plain cross set up in its room. The women then proceeded to insult Anastatius for encouraging the profanation of holy things. An insurrection ensued — and in order to quell it, the emperor was obliged to put several persons to death. The news of this flew rapidly to Rome, where the same rage for idolatry prevailed, and such was the indignation excited by it, that the emperor's statues were immediately pulled down, and trodden under foot. All Italy was thrown into confusion ; attempts were made to elect another emperor, in the room of Leo, and the pope encouraged these attempts. The Greek writers affirm that he prohibited the Ita- lians from paying tribute any longer to Leo ; but, in the midst of these broils, while defending idolatry and exciting rebellion with all his might, he was stopped short in his wicked career. " He was extreme- ly insolent," says an impartial writer, " though he died with the char- acter of a saint."* He was succeeded in his office by Gregory the III. A. D. 731, who entered with great spirit and energy into the measures of his predeces- sor. The reader cannot but be amused with the following letter which he addressed to the emperor, immediately on his elevation. " Because you are unlearned and ignorant, we are obliged to write to you rude discourses, but full of sense and the word of God. We conjure you to quit your pride, and to hear us with humility. You say that we adore stones, walls, and boards. It is not so, my lord ; but these symbols make us recollect the persons whose names they bear, and exalt our grovelling minds. We do not look upon them as gods ; but, if it be the image of Jesus, we say, " Lord help us." If it be the image of his mother, we say, " Pray to your Son to save us." If it be of a martyr, we say, " St. Stephen pray for us." We might, as having the power of St. Peter, pronounce punishments against you ; but as you have pronounced the curse upon yourself, let it stick to you. You write to us to assemble a general council, of which there is no need. Do you cease to persecute images, and all will be quiet ; we fear not your threats." Few readers will think the style of this letter much calculated to conciliate the emperor ; and though it certainly does not equal the ar- rogance and blasphemy which are to be found among the pretensions of this wretched race of mortals in the subsequent period of their his- tory, it may strike some as exhibiting a tolerable advance towards it. It seems to have shut the door against all further intercourse between * Walch's Compend. Hist, of the Popes, p. 101. Rise of the Pope' s temporal power. 231 the parties ; for in 732, Gregory, in a council, excommunicated all who should remove or speak contemptuously of images ; and Italy, being now in a state of rebellion, Leo fitted out a fleet with the view of quashing the refractory conduct of his subjects, but it was wrecked in the Adriatic, and the object of the expedition frustrated. The Roman pontiff now acted in all respects like a temporal prince. He intrigued with the court of France, offering to withdraw his obedi- ence from the emperor, and give the consulship of Rome to Charles Martel, the prime minister of that court (or mayor of the palace, as he is generally called) if he would take him under his protection. But the war in which France had lately been engaged with the Saracens ren- dered it inconvenient at the moment to comply with the request ; and in the year 741, the emperor, the pope, and the French minister were all removed from the stage of life, leaving to their successors the man- agement of their respective views and contentions. Leo left behind him a son, Constantine Copronymus, who inherited all his father's zeal against images. Pope Gregory the III. was suc- ceeded by Zachary, an aspiring poHtician, who, by fomenting discord among the Lombards, contrived to wrest from their king Luitbrand an addition to the patrimony of the church. And Charles Martel was succeeded by his son Pepin, who sent a case of conscience to be re- solved by the pope, viz. whether it would be just in him to depose his own sovereign, Childeric, and to reign in his stead. The pope an- swered in the affirmative, in consequence of which, Pepin threw his master into a monastery, and assumed the title of king. Zachary, the pope, died soon after, namely, in the year 752, and was succeeded by Stephen the HI. who, in his zeal for images was not inferior to any of his predecessors. Voltaire has remarked, that there prevailed at that time a strange mixture of policy and simplicity, of awkwardness and cunning, which strongly characterized the general decay of the age. Stephen, the new pope, who had quarrelled with the king of the Lombards, forged a let- ter, purporting to be the production of the apostle Peter, addressed to Pepin and his sons, which is too remarkable to be here omitted. " Peter, called an apostle by Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, &c. As through me the whole Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman church, the mother of all other churches, is founded on a rock; and to the end, that Stephen, bishop of this beloved church of Rome, and that virtue and power may be granted by our Lord to rescue the church of God out of the hands of its persecutors : to your most excellent princes, Pepin, Charles, and Carloman, and to all the holy Bishops and Abbots, Priests and Monks, as also to Dukes, Counts, and people, I, Peter, the Apostle, &c. ■ I conjure you, and the Virgin Mary, who will be obliged to you, gives you notice, and commands you, as do also the thrones, dominations, &c. If you will not fight for me, I declare to you, by the Holy Trinity, and by my apostleship, that you shall have no share in heaven." This letter had its desired effect : Pepin passed the Alps with an ar- my to assist the pope against the Lombards. Intimidated by the pre- sence of the king of the Franks, Astolphus, the Lombard king, imme- 232 History of the Christian Church. diately relinquished the whole Exarchate of Ravenna* to the pope, in- cluding that and twenty-one other cities, who, by this means, became proprietor of the Exarchate and its dependencies ; and, by adding ra- pacity to his rebellion, was established as a temporal monarch ! Thus was the sceptre added to the keys ; the sovereignty to the priesthood ; and thus were the popes enriched with the spoils of the Lombard kings and of the Roman emperors ! He afterwards took a journey into France, where he anointed with oil the king of the Franks ; and, by the authority of St. Peter, forbade the French lords, on pain of ex- communication, to choose a king of another race. Thus did these two ambitious men support one another in their schemes of rapacity and injustice. The criminality of the pope was, indeed, greatly aggravated by the pretence of religion. " It is you," says he, addressing Pepin, " whom God hath chosen from all eternity. For whom he did pre- destinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justi- fied." Yet the question concerning images was far from being put to rest either at Rome or Constantinople, but continued to agitate the Catho- lic church for a length of time, and gave occasion to the assembling of council after council, one council annulling what the former had de- creed. During the reign of the emperor Constantine Copronymus, a synjod was held at Constantinople, to determine the controversy.! The fathers being met, to the number of three hundred and thirty, after considering the doctrine of scripture, and the opinions of the fathers, decreed, " That every image, of whatsoever materials made and form- ed by the artist, should be cast out of the Christian church as a strange and abominable thing," adding an "anathema upon all who should make imao-es or pictures, or representations of God, or of Christ, or of the Virgin Mary, or of any of the saints," condemning it as " a vain and diabolical invention" — deposing all bishops, and subjecting the monks and laity, who should set up any of them in public or private, to all the penalties of the imperial constitution.^ Paul I. who was at that time pope of Rome, sent his legate to Constantinople, to admo- nish the emperor to restore the sacred images and statues to the churches, threatening him with excommunication in case of refusal. But Copronymus treated his message with the contempt it deserved. On the decease of Paul I, A. D. 768, the papal chair was filled for one year by a person of the name of Constantine, who condemned the worship of images, and was therefore tumultuously deposed ; and Ste- * The Exarch was the chief imperial officer appointed by the emperor of Constantinople for near two centuries past, to superintend as a vicar or prefect, the affairs of Italy. Ravenna was his residence and the seat of government; and Loric, the territory attached to him, was called the Exarchate of Ravenna. ■)- It was at this time the prevailing fashion in the Catholic church to dignifV the Virgin Mary with the title of " Mother of God." The emperor one day said to the patriarch of Constantinople, " What harm would there be in terming the Virgin Mary Mother of Christ ?" "God preserve you," answered the patriarch, " from entertaining such a thought. Do you not see how Nestorius is anathe- matized by the whole church for using similar language ?" — "I only asked for my own information," said the emperor ; " let it go no further." $ Platina's Lives of the Popes — Life of Paul I. Contest respecting Image Worship. 233 phen the IV. substituted in his room, who was a furious defender of them. He immediately assembled a council in the Lateran church, where the renowned fathers abrogated all Constantine's decrees, de- posed all the bishops that had been ordained by him, annulled all his baptisms and chrisms, and, as some historians relate, after having beat and used him with great indignity, made a fire in the church and burnt him to death. After this, they annulled all the decrees of the synod of Constantinople, ordered the restoration of statues and images, and anathematized that execrable and pernicious synod, giving this curious reason for the use of images — " that if it was lawful for emperors, and those who had deserved well of their country, to have their images erected, but not lawful to set up those of God, the condition of the im- mortal God would be worse than that of man."* Thus the mystery of iniquity continued to work, until at length, un- der the reign of Irene, the empress of Constantinople, and her son Constantine, about the close of this century, was convened, what is termed the seventh general council. It was held at Nice, and the num- ber of bishops present was about three hundred and fifty. In this ve- nerable assembly it was decreed, " that holy images of the cross should be consecrated, and put on the sacred vessels and vestments, and upon walls and boards, in private houses, and in public ways. And espe- cially that there should be erected images of the Lord God, our Sa- viour Jesus Christ, of our blessed Lady, the mother of God, of the venerable angels, and of all the saints. And that whoever should presume to think or teach otherwise, or to throw away any painted books, or the figure of the cross, or any image or picture, or any genuine relics of the martyrs, they should, if bishops or clergymen, be deposed, or if monks or laymen be excommunicated." They then pronounced anathemas upon all who should not receive images, or who should apply what the scriptures say against idols to the holy images, or who should call them idols, or who should wilfully communicate with those who rejected and despised them ; adding, according to cus- tom, "Long live Constantine and Irene his mother — Damnation to all heretics — Damnation on the council that roared against venerable images — The holy Trinity hath deposed them."t One would think the council of Pandemonium would have found it difficult to carry im- piety and profaneness much beyond this. Irene and Constantine approved and ratified these decrees — the result of which was, that idols and images were erected in all the churches, and those who opposed them were treated with great severity. And thus, by the intrigues of the popes of Rome, iniquity was established by a law, and the worship of idols authorized and confirmed in the Ca- tholic church, though in express opposition to all the principles of na- tural religion, and the nature and design of the Christian revelation. But it is time for us to return and take some notice of another impor- tant branch of ecclesiastical history, which belongs to the period of the * Platina — Life of Stephen. + Platina — Life of Hadrian I. - 20* 234 History of the Christian Church. seventh and eighth centuries, viz. the rise of the Mahomedan impos- ture.* Mahomet was born in the year 569 or 570, at Mecca, a city in Ara- bia Felix. He was descended from the tribe of Koreish, and the fa- mily of Hashem, the most illustrious of the Arabs, the princes of Mec- ca, and the hereditary guardians of their code of religious institutions. In his early infancy he was deprived of his father, his mother, and his grandfather ; but his uncles were numerous and powerful, and in the division of the inheritance, the orphan's share was reduced to five ca- mels and an Ethiopian female slave. At home and abroad, in peace and war, Abu-Taleb, the most respectable of his uncles, was the guide and guardian of his youth. In his twenty-fifth year, he entered into the service of Cadijah, a rich and noble widow of Mecca, who soon rewarded his fidelity with the gift of her hand and fortune. By this alliance he was raised from a humble sphere in life to the station of his ancestors ; and the lady who had thus elevated him, was content with his domestic virtues, till, in the fortieth year of his age, he assum- ed the title of a prophet, and proclaimed the religion of the Koran. According to the tradition of his companions, Mahomet was distin- guished by the beauty of his person. Before he spoke, the orator en- gaged on his side the affections of his audience, who applauded his commanding presence, his majestic aspect, his piercing eye, his gra- cious smile, his flowing beard, his countenance that painted every sen- sation of the soul, and his gestures that enforced each expression of the tongue. In the familiar offices of life, he scrupulously adhered to the grave and ceremonious politeness of his country ; his respectful at- tention to the rich and powerful was dignified by his condescension and affability to the poorest citizens of Mecca. His memory was ca- pacious and retentive, his wit easy and social, his imagination sublime, his judgment clear, rapid, and decisive. With all these advantages, Mahomet was an illiterate barbarian ; his youth had never been in- structed in the arts of reading and writing ; the common ignorance ex- empted him from shame or reproach, but he was reduced to a narrow circle of existence, and deprived of those faithful mirrors which reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes. Yet the volume of nature and of man was open to his view. When only thirteen years of age, he twice accompanied his uncle's caravan into Syria, to attend the fairs of Bostra and Damascus, but his duty obliged him to return home as soon as he had disposed of the merchandize with which he was en- trusted. From his earliest youth, Mahomet was addicted to religious contemplation ; and every year during the month of Ramadan, he withdrew from the world and from the society of his wife, to the cave of Heva, three miles from Mecca, where he consulted the spirit of fraud or enthusiasm, and where he at length matured the faith which, * The story of this extraordinary man, the pretended Arabian prophet, has been written by the author of the " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," with all that felicity of diction, for which he stands unrivalled ; but at much too great a length to be introduced into this sketch. I have endeavoured to seize the more prominent features of the portrait. Principles of Mahomet. 235 under the name of Islam, he at last preached to his family and nation ; a faith compounded of an eternal truth and a necessary fiction — That THERE IS ONLY ONE GoD, AND THAT MAHOMET IS HIS APOSTLE. Such are the first principles of the religion of Mahomet, which are illustrated, and enlarged upon with numerous additional articles in the Koran, or, as it is sometimes termed, the Alcoran. The prophet of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets, on the rational principle, that whatever rises must set ; that whatever is born must die ; that whatever is corruptible must decay and perish. According to his own account, or the tradition of his disciples, " the substance of the Koran is uncreated and eternal ; subsisting in the es- sence of the Deity, and inscribed with a pen of light on the table of his everlasting decrees. A paper copy, in a volume of silk and gems, was brought down to the lowest heaven by the angel Gabriel — who suc- cessively revealed the chapters and verses to the Arabian prophet. In- stead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the frag- ments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet ; each revelation is suited to the emergency of his policy or passion, and all contradiction is removed by the saving maxim, that any text of the Alcoran is abrogated or modified by any subsequent passage. In the spirit of enthusiasm or of vanity, the prophet rests the truth of his mission on the merit of his book ; audaciously challenges both men and angels to imitate the beauties of a single page ; and presumes to assert that God alone could dictate this incomparable performance. Yet his loftiest strains must yield to the sublime simplicity of the book of Job, composed in a remote age in the same country, and in the same language.* The contents of the Koran were at first diligently recorded by his disciples on palm leaves and the shoulder bones of mutton; and the pages, without order or connection, were cast into a chest in the custody of one of his wives. Two years after the death of Mahomet, the sacred volume was collected and published by his friend and successor Abubeker. At the end of two hundred years, the Sonna, or oral law was fixed and consecrated by the labours of Al Boeheri, who distinguished seven thousand two hundred and seventy- five genuine traditions, from a mass of three hundred thousand reports of a more doubtful or spurious character !* According to the Koran, some rays of prophetic light, commencing with the fall of Adam, and extending in one unbroken chain of inspi- ration to the days of Mahomet, had been imparted to one hundred and twenty-four thousand of the elect, discriminated by their respective mea- sure of virtue and grace — three hundred and thirteen apostles were sent with a special commission to recal their country from idolatry and vice — one hundred and four volumes had been dictated by the Holy Spirit, and six legislators of transcendant brightness have announced to man- • I am aware that this subject has been much disputed among- the learned; but the reader who wishes to see it critically examined will find it done by the learned and judicious Bishop Lowth, in his Lectures on the Hebrew Poetry. See Lect. 32, 33, 34. — See also the Biblical Cyclopedia, Article Job — and Clarke's Succession of Sacred Literature, vol. i. p. 13 — 15. Also Du Pin on the Canon; and the Notes of Michaelis on Lowth's Lectures. 236 History of the Christian Church. kind the six successive revelations of various rites, but of one immu- table religion. The authority and station of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ, and Mahomet, rise in just gradation above each other ; but whosoever hates or rejects any one of the prophets is numbered with the infidels. For the author of Christianity, the Mahometans are taught by tlie prophet to entertain a high and mysterious reverence. " Verily, Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the apostle of God, and his word, which he conveyed into Mary, and a spirit proceeding from him, honourable in this world, and in the world to come ; and one of those who approach near to the presence of God." Yet, he teaches that Jesus was a mere mortal, and that at the day of judgment, his tes- timony will serve to condemn both the Jews, who reject him as a pro- phet, and the Christians who adore him as the Son of God. The ma- lice of his enemies, we are told, aspersed his reputation, and conspired against his life ; but their intention only was guilty ; a phantom, or a criminal was substituted on the cross, and the innocent saint was trans- lated to the seventh heaven. During six hundred years, the gospel was the way of truth and salvation; but the Christians insensibly for- got both the laws and example of their founder, and Mahomet was in- structed to accuse the church as well as the synagogue, of corrupting the integrity of the sacred text. The piety of Moses and of Christ re- joiced in the assurance of the future prophet, more illustrious than themselves, and the promise of " the Comforter" was prefigured in the name, and accomplished in the person of Mahomet, the greatest and last of the apostles of God. The mission of the ancient prophets, of Moses and of Christ, had been confirmed by many splendid prodigies, and Mahomet was repeat- edly urged by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a simi- lar evidence of his divine mission : to call down from heaven the angel, or the volume of his revelation, to create a garden in the desert, or to kindle a conflagration in the unbelieving city. But as often as he is pressed upon this subject, he involves himself in the obscure boast of vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and shields himself behind the providence of God, who refuses those signs and wonders that would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the guilt of infidelity. But the very tone of his apologies betrays his weakness and vexation, while the numerous passages of scandal are more than sufficient to settle the question respecting the integrity of the Koran. The votaries of Mahomet are more confident than he himself was of his miraculous gifts, and their credulity increased as they were removed from the time and place of his exploits. They believe, or affirm, that trees went forth to meet him; that he was salu- ted by stones ; that water gushed from his fingers, that he fed the hungry, cured the sick, and raised the dead ; that a beam groaned to him ; and that a camel complained to him ; that a shoulder of mutton informed him of its being poisoned ; and that both animate and inani- mate nature were alike subject to this apostle of God. His dream of a nocturnal journey is seriously described as a real and corporeal transaction — a mysterious animal, the Borak, conveyed him from the temple of Mecca to that of Jerusalem ; with his companion Gabriel, Religious duties of a Mussulman. 237 he successively ascended to the seven heavens, where he both received and repaid the salutations of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the an- gels, in their respective mansions. Beyond the seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was permitted to proceed; he passed the Veil of Unity, approached within two bow-shots of the throne ; and felt a cold that pierced him to the heart, when his shoulder was touched by the hand of God. After this familiar though important conversation, he again descended to Jerusalem, remounted the Borak, returned to Mecca, and performed in the tenth part of a night, the journey of many thousand years. Such are the marvellous tales with which the vulgar are amused. Prayer, fasting, and alms, are the religious duties of a Mahometan ; and he is encouraged to hope that prayer will carry him half way to God — fasting will bring him to the door of his palace — and alms will gain him admittance. During the month of Ramadan, from the rising to the setting of the sun, the Mussulman abstains from eating and drink- ing and women and baths and perfumes ; from all nourishment that can restore his strength ; from all pleasure that can gratify his senses. In the revolution of the lunar year, the month Ramadan coincides by turns with the winter cold and with the summer heat ; but the patient martyr, without assuaging his thirst with a drop of water, must wait for the close of a tedious and sultry day. The interdiction of wine is converted by Mahomet into a positive and general law ; but these pain- ful restraints are often infringed by the libertine, and eluded by the hypocrite. The Koran acknowledges the doctrine of a resurrection from the dead and the future judgment. At the blast of the trumpet, new worlds will start into being ; angels, genii, and men, will arise from the dead, the human soul will again be united to the body ; and this will be suc- ceeded by the final judgment of mankind. After the greater part of mankind has been condemned for their opinions, the true believers only will be judged by their actions. The good and evil of each Mussul- man will be accurately weighed in a balance, and a singular mode of compensation will be allowed for the payment of injuries ; the aggres- sor will refund an equivalent of his good actions, for the benefit of the person he has wronged, and if he should be destitute of any moral pro- perty, the weight of his sins will be loaded with an adequate share of the demerits of the sufferer. According as the shares of guilt or vir- tue shall preponderate, the sentence will be pronounced, and all, with- out distinction, will pass over the sharp and perilous bridge of the abyss ; but the innocent, treading in the footsteps of Mahomet, will gloriously enter the gates of Paradise, while the guilty will fall into the first and mildest of the seven hells. The term of expiation will vary from nine hundred to seven thousand years ; but the prophet has judiciously promised that all his disciples, whatever may be their sins, shall be saved, by their own faith and his intercession from eternal damnation. It is natural enough that an Arabian prophet should dwell with rap- ture on the groves, the fountains, and the rivers of Paradise ; but in- stead of inspiring the blessed inhabitants with a liberal taste for har- 238 History of the Christian Church. mony and science, conversation and friendship, he idly celebrates the pearls and diamonds, the robes of silk, palaces of marble, dishes of gold, rich wines, artificial dainties, numerous attendants, and the whole train of sensual and costly luxury, which becomes insipid to the owner, even in the short period of this mortal life. Seventy-two Houris, or black-eyed damsels, of resplendent beauty, blooming youth, virgin purity, and exquisite sensibility, will be created for the use of the meanest believer; a moment of pleasure will be prolonged to a thou- sand years, and his faculties will be increased a hundred-fold to render him worthy of his felicity. Such are the outlines of the religion of Mahomet, which he began to preach at Mecca, in the year 609. His first converts were his wife, his servant, his pupil, and his friend. In process of time, ten of the most respectable citizens of Mecca were introduced to the private les- sons of the prophet; they yielded to the voice of enthusiasm and re- peated the fundamental creed. — " There is but one God, and Mahomet is his apostle." Their faith, even in this life, was rewarded with riches and honours, with the command of armies and the government of kingdoms ! Three years were silently employed in the conversion of fourteen proselytes, the first fruits of his mission. But in the fourth he assumed the prophetic office, and resolving to impart to his family the benefits of his religion, he prepared a banquet for the entertainment of forty guests of the race of Hashem. " Friends and kinsmen," said Mahomet to the assembly, " I offer you, and I alone can offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasures of this world and of the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to his service. Who among you will support my burden ? Who among you will be my com- panion and my vizir ?" No answer was returned, till the silence of astonishment, and doubt, and contempt, was at length broken by the impatient courage of Ali, a youth in the fourteenth year of his age. " O prophet, I am the man ; whosoever rises against thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. O prophet, I will be thy vizir over them.'' Mahomet accepted his offer with transport. His uncle Abu-Taleb, advised the prophet to relin- quish his impracticable design. " Spare your remonstrances," replied the fanatic, to his uncle and benefactor, " if they should place the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left, they should not divert me from my course." He persevered ten years in the exercise of his mission, during which time the religion that has since overspread the East and the West advanced with a slow and painful progress within the walls of Mecca. In his uncle Abu-Taleb, though no believer in his mission, the im- poster found a guardian of his fame and person, during the life of that venerable chief; but at his death, which took place in the year 622, Mahomet was abandoned to the power of his enemies, and that too at the moment when he was deprived of his domestic comforts by the loss of his faithful and generous wife Cadijah. The tribe of the Koreishites and their allies were, of all the citizens of Mecca, the most hostile to his pretensions. His death was resolved upon, and it was agreed that a sword from each tribe should be buried in his heart, to divide the Mahomet a martial Apostle. 239 guilt of his blood, and to baffle the vengeance of his disciples. An an- gel or a spy revealed their conspiracy, and flight was the only resource of Mahomet. At the dead of night, 'accompanied by his friend Abube- ker, he silently escaped from his house — three days they were con- cealed in the cave of Thor, three miles from Mecca, and in the close of each evening they received from the son and daughter of Abubeker a supply of intelligence and food. The most diligent search was made after him ; every haunt in the neighbourhood was explored ; his adver- saries even arrived at the entrance of the cave, but the sight of a spider's web, and a pigeon's nest are supposed to have convinced them that the place was solitary and inviolate. " We are only two," said the trembling Abubeker. "There is a third," replied the prophet, "it is God him- self." No sooner was the pursuit abated, than the two fugitives issued from the den, and mounted their camels : on the road to Medina they were overtaken by the emissaries of the Koreish ; but they redeemed themselves with prayers and promises from their hands. In this event- ful moment the lance of an Arab might have changed the history of the world. The religion of the Koran might have perished in its cradle, had not Medina embraced with faith and reverence the outcasts of Mecca. But some of its noblest citizens were converted by the preaching of Ma- homet. Seventy-three men and two women of Medina held a solemn conference with Mahomet, his kinsmen and his disciples, and pledged themselves to each other by a mutual oath of fidelity. They promised, in the name of the city, that if he should be banished, they would re- ceive him as a confederate, obey him as a leader, and defend him to the last extremity. "But if you are recalled by your country," said they, "will you not abandon your new allies?" "All things," replied Ma- homet, " are now common between us ; your blood is as my blood ; your ruin as my ruin. We are bound to each other by the ties of honour and interest. I am your friend and the enemy of your foes." " But if we are killed in your service," said they, " what will be our reward?" "Paradise," replied the prophet. "Stretch forth thy hand." He stretched it forth, and they reiterated the oath of allegiance and fidelity. From his establishment at Medina, Mahomet assumed the exercise of the regal and sacerdotal office. On a chosen spot of ground he built a house and a mosque, venerable for their rude simplicity. When he prayed and preached in the weekly assembly, he leaned against the trunk of a palm-tree ; and it was long before he indulged himself in the use of a chair or pulpit. After a reign of six years, fifteen hundred of his followers, in arms, and in the field, renewed their oath of allegiance, and their chief repeated the assurance of his protection. From this time Mahomet became a martial apostle — he fought in per- son at nine battles or sieges, and fifty enterprises of war were achieved in ten years by himself or his lieutenants. He continued to unite the professions of merchant and a robber, and his petty excursions for the defence or the attack of a caravan insensibly prepared his troops for the conquest of Arabia. The distribution of the spoil was regulated by the law of the prophet ; the whole was collected in one common mass ; a filth of the gold and silver, the cattle, prisoners, &c. was reserved for 240 History of the Christian Church. pious and charitable uses ; the remainder was shared in adequate por- tions by the soldiers. From all sides the roving Arabs were allured to the standard of religion and plunder ; the apostle sanctified the license of embracing the female captives as their wives or concubines, and the enjoyment of wealth and beauty was the type of their promised para- dise. "The sword," says Mahomet, "is the key of heaven and hell: a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer ; whoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven ; at the day of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk ; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubims." Till the age of sixty-three, the strength of Mahomet was equal to the fatigues of his station. He had, by that time made an entire conquest of Arabia, and evinced a disposition to turn his arms against the Ro- man empire ; but his followers were discouraged. They alleged the want of money, or horses, or provisions ; the season of harvest, and the intolerable heat of the summer. "Hell is much hotter," said the in- dignant prophet ; but he disdained to compel their service. He was then at the head of ten thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, in the way that leads from Medina to Damascus, intent upon the conquest of Syria, when he was stopped short in his career, having been poison- ed, as he himself seriously believed, at Chaibar, in revenge by a Jew- ish female. Its fatal effect, however, was not immediate, for during four years the health of Mahomet declined ; his infirmities increased, and he was at last carried off by a fever of fourteen days continuance, which, at intervals, deprived him of the use of his reason, and he died in the year 632. His death occasioned the utmost consternation among his followers. The city of Medina, and especially the house of the prophet, was a scene of clamorous sorrow, or of silent despair. "How can he be dead?" exclaimed his deluded votaries, "our wit- ness, our intercessor, our mediator with God. He is not dead. Like Moses and Jesus, he is wrapt in a holy trance, and speedily will he return to his faithful people." The evidence of sense was disregarded, and Omar, unsheathing his scimitar, threatened to strike off the heads of the infidels who should dare to affirm that the prophet was no more. But this tumult was appeased^by the weight and moderation of Abube- ker. "Is it Mahomet," said he to Omar and the multitude, "or the God of Mahomet whom you worship? The God of Mahomet liveth for ever, but the apostle was a mortal like ourselves, and, according to his own prediction, he has experienced the common fate of mortality." He was piously interred by the hands of his nearest kinsman, on the same spot on which he expired. Medina has been rendered famous by the death and burial of Mahomet, and the innumerable pilgrims of Mecca often turn aside from the way to bow in voluntary devotion, be- fore the simple tomb of the prophet. Having thus briefly glanced at the rise and progress of Mahometanism, I quit the subject, to notice the state of the Catholic Church. Ignorance of the Catholic clergy. 241 The emperors of Rome and Constantinople, who professed Chris- tianity, had now been lavishing on the clergy riches, immunities, and privileges, during three succeeding centuries ; and these seducing ad- vantages had contributed to a relaxation of discipline, and the introduc- tion of such a mass of disorders as wholly destroyed the spirit of the Christian profession. Under the dominion of the Barbarian kings, the degeneracy increased, till the pure principles of Christianity were lost sight of in the grossness of superstition, in consequence of which, men Avere led to endeavour to conciliate the favour of heaven by the same means that satisfied the justice of man, or by those employed to ap- pease their fabulous deities. As the punishments due for civil crimes, among the Barbarian conquerors, might be bought off by money, they attempted, in like manner, to bribe heaven, by benefactions to the church, in order to supersede all future inquest. They seem to have believed, says the Abbe de Mably, that avarice was the first attribute of the Deity, and that the saints made a traffic of their influence and pro- tection. " Our treasury is poor," said Chilperic, king of the Franks. " Our riches are gone to the church ; the bishops are the kings." And true it is, that the superior clergy, by the influx of wealth and the ac- quisition of lands, combined the influence of worldly grandeur with that of religion, insomuch that they were often the arbiters of kingdoms, and disposed of the crown, while they regulated the affairs of the state. Historians have exhibited to us the most melancholy picture of the universal darkness and ignorance, which, at the beginning of the se- venth century, had overspread all ranks of men. Even the ecclesias- tical orders scarcely afforded an exception to this general description. Among the bishops, the grand instructers and defenders of the Chris- tian church, few, we are told, could be found whose knowledge and abilities were sufficient to compose the discourses, however mean and incoherent, which their office sometimes obliged them to deliver to the people. The greater part of those among the monastic orders, whom the voice of an illiterate age had dignified with the character of learn- ing, lavished their time and talents in studying the fabulous legends of pretended saints and martyrs, or in composing histories equally fabti- lous, rather than in the cultivation of true science, or the diffusion of useful knowledge. The want even of an acquaintance with the first rudiments of literature was so general among the higher ecclesiastics of those times, that it was scarcely deemed disgraceful to acknowledge it. In the acts of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, many ex- amples occur, where subscriptions are to be found in this form — '• /, such an one, have subscribed by the hand of such an one, because I cannot icnte." And, such a bishop having said that he could not write, I, whose name is underwritten, have subscribed for him."* We may take a specimen of the divinity that was current dur- ing the seventh century, from the description given of a good Chris- tian by the highly revered St. Eloi, bishop of Noyon, in one of his fa- mous homilies. We are informed by the writer of his life, that, " be- sides his other miraculous virtues, one was especially bestowed on him of the Lord ; for on his diligent search, and persevering with singular * White's Bampton Lectures, Serm. ii. and Notes, p. 6. 21 242 History of the Christian Church. ardour of faith in this investigation, many bodies of holy martyrs, con- cealed from human knowledge for ages, were discovered to him, and brought to light !" Let the reader mark the divinity of this renown- ed bishop. " He is the good christian," says he, " who comes often to church, and brings his oblation to be presented on God's altar ; who presumes not to taste of the fruits he hath gathered, till he hath first made his of- fering of them to God ; who, on the return of the sacred solemnities, for many days preceding, observes a sacred continence, even from his own wife, that he may approach God's altar with a safe conscience ; and who can repeat from memory, the creed and the Lord's prayer." So much for his good Christian ; on which the learned translator of Mosheim very properly remarks, " We see here a large and ample de- scription of the character of a good Christian, in which there is not the least mention of the love of God, resignation to his will, obedience to his laws, or of justice, benevolence, and charity to men, and in which the whole of religion is made to consist in coming often to the church, bringing offerings to the altar, lighting candles in consecrated places, and such like vain services." But let us hear this luminary of the seventh century once more. " Redeem your souls," says he, " from the punishment due to your sins, whilst you have the remedies in your power. Offer your tithes and oblations to the churches — light up candles in the consecrated places, according to your abilities — come frequently to church, and with all humility pray to the saints for their patronage and protection ; which things if ye do, when at the last day ye stand at the tremendous bar of the eternal Judge, ye may say confidently to him, " Give Lord, because I have given."* Da Domine quia dedi. In several churches of France, a festival was celebrated in commem- oration of the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt — it was called the feast of the ass. A young girl, richly dressed, with a child in her arms, was placed upon an ass superbly decorated with trappings. The ass was led to the altar in solemn procession — high mass was said with great pomp — the ass was taught to kneel at proper places — a hymn, no less childish than impious, was sung in his praise ; and when the ce- remony was ended, the priest, instead of the usual words with which he dismissed the people, brayed three times like an ass ; and the peo- ple, instead of the usual response, brayed three times in return. t " Every thing sacred in religion," says Mons. Voltaire, when treat- ing of this period, " was disfigured in the West, by customs the most ridiculous and extravagant. The festivals of fools and asses were es- tablished in most churches. On days of solemnity, they created a bi- shop of fools ; and an ass was led into the body of the church, dressed in a cape and four cornered cap. Church dances, feastings on the al- tar, revelry and obscene farces were the ceremonies observed on those festivals, and in many dioceses these extravagancies were continued * Surely the late Mr. Milner must have been very much off his guard when, writing' of this bishop, he tells his reader — " Eloi, bishop of Noyon, carefully visited his large diocese — and was very successful among the people. — But God was with him loth in life and doctrine." History of the Church, vol. iii. p. 116. f Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. i. Rise of the sect of the Paulicians. 243 for seven centuries. Were we to consider only the usages here relat- ed, we should imagine we were reading an account of Hottentots or Negroes ; and it must be confessed that in many things we did not fall much short of them."* But it is disgusting to relate such mummery, and perhaps I ought to apologize to my reader for laying it before hirn. He may rest assured, however, that it is only a sample from a fruitful crop which it were easy to produce. If he be shocked, as he well may, at contemplating such disgraceful things coupled with the name of the pure and holy religion of the Son of God, he will be glad to turn his attention with me to a more pleasing subject. While the Christian world, as it has been the fashion to call it, was thus sunk into an awful state of superstition — at a moment when " darkness seemed to cover the earth, and gross darkness the people" — it is pleasing to contemplate a ray of celestial light darting across the gloom. About the year 660, a new sect arose in the east, under the name of Paulicians,! which is justly entitled to our attention. In Mananalis, an obscure town in the vicinity of Somosata, a person of the name of Constantine entertained at his house a deacon, who, having been a prisoner among the Mahometans, was returning from Syria, whither he had been carried away captive. From this passing stranger, Constantine received the precious gift of the New Testament in its original language, which, even at this early period, was so con- cealed from the vulgar, that Peter Siculus, to whom we owe most of our information on the history of the Paulicians, tells us, the first scru- ples of a Catholic, when he was advised to read the Bible, was, " it is not lawful for us profane persons to read those sacred writings, but for the priests only." Indeed, the gross ignorance which pervaded Eu- rope at that time, rendered the generality of the people incapable of reading that or any other book; but even those of the laity who could read, were dissuaded by their religious guides from meddling with the Bible. Constantine, however, made the best use of the deacon's pre- sent— he studied his New Testament with unwearied assiduity — and more particularly the writings of the apostle Paul, from which he at length endeavoured to deduce a system of doctrine and worship. "He investigated the creed of primitive Christianity," says Gibbon, " and whatever might be the success, a Protestant reader will applaud the spirit of the inquiry.''^ The knowledge to which Constantine himself was, under the Divine blessing, enabled to attain, he gladly communi- cated to others around him, and a Christian church was collected. In a little time several individuals arose among them qualified for the work of the ministry ; and several other churches were collected throughout * General History, vol. i. ch. xxxv. fit is much to be regretted that of this class of Christians, all our information is derived through the medium of their enemies. The two original sources of intelligence concerning them are Photius, b. i. Contra Manichaeos ; and Siculus Hist. Manicheor, and from them Mosheim and Gibbon have deduced their ac- count of the Paulicians. The latter writer has entered far more fully into the subject than the former, and, what is singular enough, he has displayed more candour ! I have collected from these two modern authors the concise account given above, and have aimed at impartiality. + Decline and Fall, vol. x. ch. liv. 244 History of the Christian Church. Armenia and Cappadocia. It appears from the whole of their history to have been a leading object with Constantine and his brethren to re- store, as far as possible, the profession of Christianity to all its primi- tive simplicity. Their public appearance soon attracted the notice of the Catholic party, who immediately branded them with the opprobrious appellation of Manichaeans ; but " they sincerely condemned the memory and opi- nions of the Manichaean sect, and complained of the injustice which impressed that invidious name on them."* There is reason, therefore, to think, that they voluntarily adopted the name of Paulicians, and that they derived it from the name of the great apostle of the Gentiles. Constantine now assumed or received the name of Sylvanus, and others of his fellow labourers were called Titus, Timothy, Tichicus, &c. and as the churches arose and were formed in different places, they were named after those apostolic churches to which Paul originally addressed his inspired writings, without any regard to the name of the city or town in which they assembled for worship. The labours of Constantine— Sylvanus, were crowned with much success. Pontus and Cappadocia, regions once renowned for Chris- tian piety, were again blessed with a diffusion of the light of divine truth. He himself resided in the neighbourhood of Colonia, in Pontus, and their congregations, in process of time, were diffused over the pro- vinces of Asia Minor, to the westward of the Euphrates. " The Pauli- cian teachers," says Gibbon, " were distinguished only by their scrip- tural names, by the modest title of fellow-pilgrims ; by the austerity of their lives, their zeal and knowledge, and the credit of some extraordi- nary gift of the Holy Spirit. But they were incapable of desiring, or at least of obtaining the wealth and honours of the Catholic prelacy. Such anti-christian pride they strongly censured." Roused by the growing importance of this sect, the Greek emperors be- gan to persecute the Paulicians with the most sanguinary severity ; and the scenes of Galerius and Maximin were re-acted under the Christian forms and names. " To their excellent deeds," says the bigoted Peter Siculus, "the divine and orthodox emperors added this virtue, that they ordered the Montanists and Manichaeans (by which epithets they chose to stigmatize the Paulicians) to be capitally punished ; and their books, wherever found, to be committed to the flames; also that if any person was found to have secreted them, he was to be put to death, and his goods confiscated." A Greek officer, armed with legal and military powers, appeared at Colonia, to strike the shepherd, and, if possible, reclaim the lost sheep to the Catholic fold. " By a refinement of cru- elty, Simeon (the officer) placed the unfortunate Sylvanus before a line of his disciples, who were commanded, as the price of their own par- don, and the proof of their repentance, to massacre their spiritual father. They turned aside from the impious office ; the stones dropt from their filial hands, and of the whole number, only one executioner could be found ; a new David, as he is styled by the Catholics, who boldly overthrew the giant of heresy."! This apostate, whose name was Jus- * Gibbon, ubi supra. f Gibbon, ut supra. Persecution of the Paulicians. 245 tus, stoned to death the father of the Paulicians, who had now laboured among them twenty-seven years. The treacherous Justus betrayed many others, probably of the pastors and teachers, who fared the fate of their venerable leader ; while Simeon himself, struck with the evi- dences of divine grace apparent in the sufferers, embraced at length the faith which he came to destroy — renounced his station, resigned his honours and fortunes, became a zealous preacher among the Paulicians, and at last sealed his testimony with his blood.* During a period of one hundred and fifty years, these Christian churches seem to have been almost incessantly subjected to persecution, which they supported with Christian meekness and patience ; and if the acts of their martyrdom, their preaching and their lives were dis- tinctly recorded, I see no reason to doubt, that we should find in them the genuine successors of the Christians of the first two centuries. And in this as well as former instances, the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. A succession of teachers and churches arose, and a person named Sergius, who had 'aboured among them in tke ministry of the gospel thirty-seven years, is acknowledged, even by their vilest calumniators, to have been a most exemplary Christian. The perse- cution had, however, some intermissions, until at length Theodora, the Greek empress, exerted herself against them, beyond all her predeces- sors. She sent inquisitors throughout all Asia Minor in search of these sectaries, and is computed to have killed by the gibbet, by fire, and by the sword, a hundred thousand persons. Such was the state of things at the commencement of the ninth century, t * " Thrice hail, ye faithful shepherds of the fold, " By tortures unsubdued, unbribed by gold ; " In your high scorn of honours, honoured most, "Ye chose the martyr's, not the prelate's post ; •'Firmly the thorny path of suffering trod, "And counted death " all gain" to live with God." Hypocrisy, a poem by the Rev. C. Colton, pt. i. p. 156. f It has been already stated that we derive all our information concerning the Paulicians, through the medium of their adversaries, the writers belonging to the Catholic church. It should not, therefore, surprise us to find them imputing the worst of principles and practices to a class of men whom they uniformly decry as heretics. Mosheim says, that of the two accounts of Photius and Peter Siculus, he gives the preference for candour and fairness to that of the latter — and yet I find Mr. Gibbon acknowledging, that "the six capital errors of the Paulicians are defined by Peter Siculus, with much prejudice and passion." (Decline and Fall, vol. x. ch. 54.) One of their imputed errors is, that they rejected the whole of the Old Testament writings ; a charge which was also brought, by the writers of the Catholic school, against the Waldenses and others, with equal regard to truth and justice. But this calumny is easily accounted for. The advocates of popery, to support their usurpations and innovations in the kingdom of Christ, were driven to the Old Testament for authority, adducing the kingdom of David for their ex- ample. And when their adversaries rebutted the argument, insisting- that the parallel did not hold, for that the kingdom of Christ, which is not of this world, is a very different state of things from the kingdom of David, their opponents ac- cused them of giving up the divine authority of the Old Testament. Upon similar principles, it is not difficult to vindicate the Paulicians from the other charges brought against them ; but to do that would require more room than can be here allotted to the subject. 21* ( 246 ) CHAPTER IV. A VIEW OF THE STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION FROM THE BEGIN- NING OF THE NINTH TO THE END OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. A. D. 800—1200. SECTION I. A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE VALLEYS OF PIEDMONT, AND OF THE PY- RENEES ; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND DOCTRINE OF CLAUDE, BISHOP OF TURIN. The principality of Piedmont,* derives its name from the circum- stance of its being situated at the foot of the Alps — a prodigious range of mountains, the highest indeed in Europe, and which divide Italy from France, Switzerland, and Germany. It is bounded on the east by the duchies of Milan and Montferrat ; on the south by the county of Nice and the territory of Genoa ; on the west by France ; and on the north by Savoy. In former times it constituted a part of Lombardy, but more recently has been subject to the king of Sardinia, who takes up his residence at Turin, the capital of the province, and one of the finest cities in Europe. It is an extensive tract of rich and fruitful val- leys, embosomed in mountains which are encircled again with mountains higher than they, intersected with deep and rapid rivers, and exhibiting in strong contrast, the beauty and plenty of Paradise, in sight of frightful precipices, wide lakes of ice, and stupendous mountains of never-wasting snow. The whole country is an interchange of hill and dale ; mountain and valley — traversed with four principal rivers, viz. the Po, the Tanaro, the Stura, and the Dora, besides about eight and twenty rivulets great and small, which, winding their courses in different directions, con- tribute to the fertility of the valleys, and make them resemble a watered garden. The principal valleys are Aosta and Susa on the north — Stura on the south — and in the interior of the countiy, Lucerna, Angrogna, Raccapi- atti, Pramol, Perosa, and S. Martino. The valley of Clusone, or Pra- gela, as it is often called, was in ancient times a part of the province of Dauphiny in France, and has been, from the days of Hannibal, the ordinary route of the French and other armies, when marching into Italy. Angrogna, Pramol, and S. Martino are strongly fortified by nature on account of their many difficult passes and bulwarks of rocks and moun- tains ; as if the all-wise Creator, says Sir Samuel Morland,t had, from * The term "Piedmont" is derived from two Latin words, viz. Pede montium, "at the foot of the mountains." I History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 5. Valleys of Piedmont and the Pyrenees. 247 the beginning, designed that place as a cabinet, wherein to put some inestimable jewel, or in which to reserve many thousand souls, which should not bow the knee before Baal. Several of these valleys are described by our geographers as being remarkably rich and fruitful— as fertile and pleasant as any part of Italy. In the mountains are mines of gold, silver, brass, and iron ; the rivers abound with a variety of exquisite fish ; the forests and the fields with game ; while the soil yields every thing necessary to the enjoyment of human life,— abundance of corn, rice, wine, fruits, hemp, and cattle. Throughout the whole territory, except on the tops of the mountains, there is toabe found great plenty of fruits, especially'of chestnuts which the inhabitants gather in immense quantities, and after drying them in an oven or upon a kiln, they manufacture from them an excellent kind of biscuit, which in France they call marroons, and where they are in high estimation as a species of confectionary. They first of all string them, as they do their beads or chaplets, and then hang them up in some humid place for their better preservation. As the bread made from the chestnut constitutes a considerable part of the food of the in- habitants of Piedmont, it is a common practice among them, after reser- ving what may be necessary for their own sustenance, to sell or ex- change the surplus with the inhabitants of the plain for corn or other commodities. In the patriarchal age of the world, when the people of the east had parcelled out the country into many separate states, some savage and others civilized, it is said of the Hebrews, that they went from one nation to another ; from one kingdom to another people. In the mid- dle ages, the same spirit prevailed over the west. Petty chiefs assum- ed independence, and formed a vast number of separate kingdoms. Reputed heretics, like the ancient Israelites, emigrated from place to place, taking up their abode only where they could enjoy the privi- leges of religious liberty. The Pyrenean mountains, which separate France and Spain, extend from the Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic ocean, that is, at least two hundred miles, and in breadth at several places more than one hun- dred. The surface is, as may naturally be expected, wonderfully di- versified. Hills rise upon hills, and mountains over mountains, some bare of verdure, and others crowned with forests of huge cork trees, oak, beech, chestnuts, and ever-greens. When travellers of taste pass over them, they are in raptures, and seem at a loss for words to express what they behold. The landscape, say they, on every side is divine. More delightful prospects never existed even in the creative imagina- tion of Claude Lorraine.* In some places are bleak, perpendicular rocks and dangerous precipices ; in others beautiful, fertile, and very- extensive valleys, adorned with aloes, and wild pomegranates ; enrich- ed with olives, lemons, oranges, apples, corn, flax ; and perfumed with aromatic herbs, and animated with venison and wild fowl Nu- merous flocks of sheep and goats enliven the hills, manufacturers of wool inhabit the valleys, and corn and wine, flax and oil, hang on the * Swinburne's Travels, ch. xliv, 248 History of the Christian Church. slopes. Inexhaustible mines of the finest iron in the world abound there, and the forests supply them with plenty of timber. There are whole towns of smiths, who carry on the manufacture of all sorts of iron work, especially for the use of the military and navy, and their workmanship is much extolled. This chain of mountains runs from the Bay of Biscay to the Bay of Roses, and the sea-ports about each of them were accustomed to be crowded with inhabitants, commerce, plenty and wealth. A spectator, taking his stand on the top of the ridge of these moun- tains, will observe, that at the foot, on the Spanish side, lie Asturias, Old Castile, Arragon, and Catalonia ; and on the French side, Gui- enne and Languedoc, Toulouse, Beam, Alby, Roussillon, and Nar- bonne, all of which places were remarkable in the darkest times for harbouring Christians who were reputed heretics.* Indeed, from the borders of Spain, throughout the greatest part of the south of France, among and below the Alps, along the Rhine, and even to Bohemia, thousands of the disciples of Christ, as will hereafter be shown, were found, even in the very worst of times, preserving the faith in its pu- rity, adhering to the simplicity of Christian worship, patiently bearing the cross after Christ : men distinguished by their fear of God and obedience to his will, and persecuted only for righteousness' sake. Voltaire has so justly and beautifully described the general state of Italy, as it existed at a period some little time subsequent to that of which I am about to treat, that, I shall here introduce his words. "In the beautiful and trading cities of Italy," says he, " the people lived in ease and affluence. With them alone the sweets of life seem to have taken up their residence, and riches and liberty inspired their genius and elevated their courage. Notwithstanding the dissensions that pre- vailed every where, they began to emerge from that brutality which had in a maimer overwhelmed Europe after the decline of the Roman empire. The necessary arts had never been entirely lost. The arti- ficers and merchants, whose humble station had protected them from the ambitious fury of the great, were like ants, who dug themselves peaceable and secure habitations, while the vultures and eagles of the world were tearing one another in pieces. "t This pleasing picture, which, no doubt, is very correct, as it re- spects the civil affairs of men, is equally applicable to the inhabitants of Piedmont and the Pyrenees, as to those states of Italy of whom Voltaire speaks ; but if applied to the concerns of the kingdom of hea- ven, the felicity resulting from it will be found to have been almost ex- clusively theirs, during several of the succeeding centuries. I shall not, however, with the view of justifying this remark, here anticipate oc- currences which will come more properly under the reader's notice in prosecuting that branch of ecclesiastical history, on which we are about to enter. The former chapter affords an ample insight into the gradual encroach- ments and domineering influence of the church of Rome, during the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries. But it ought to be noticed, that * Robinson's Eccles. Researches, p. 280. f General History, ch. lxix. Some account of Paulinus of Jlquileia. 249 neither the prevailing corruptions of that church, nor the arrogant claims of its successive popes, were implicitly allowed by all the other bishops and churches, even in Italy itself. "la the year 590, the bishops of Italy and the Grisoas (Swisserlaad), to the number of nine, rejected the communion of the Pope, as of aa heretic. This schism had already continued from the year 553, aad towards the close of the century, the emperor Maurice, having ordered them to be present at the council of Rome, they were dispensed with by the same emperor, upon their pro- testing that they could not communicate with Pope Gregory I; so little were they persuaded at that time ol the Pope's infallibility, that to lose communion with him was to lose the communion of the church, or that they held their ordinations from the haud of the Popes, and from the bishops subjected to their jurisdiction,"* lb the following century a firm and noble stand was made against the papal usurpations by Paulinus, bishop of the church of Aquileia, in Italy. This venerable man was bora about the year 726, near Friuli; but of the earlier part of his life, we know little more than that he was in great favour with Charles the Great, king of France, and preached the gospel to the Pagans of Carinthia and Styria, and to the Avares, a nation of Huns. In the year 776, he was ordained bishop of Aqui- leia, in which office he continued labouring till his death, which took place in 804. He seems to have possessed a strong and an enlightened mind, for there are few of the abominations of his times which he does not appear to have combated. In the year 787, he, and some other Italian bishops agreed to condemn the decrees of the famous se- cond council of Nice, which had established the worship "of images,! declaring it to be idolatrous, and that, too, notwithstanding the council had received the sanction of pope Adrian, who was present at its de- liberations, and exerted all his authority to maintain its decisions. This shows that, at this time, the despotism of Antichrist was not uni- versally owned, even throughout Italy itself. The city of Rome and its environs seem to have been at that period the most corrupt part of Christendom in Europe. Amongst other corruptions which prevailed, the doctrine of transub- stantiation then began to be generally propagated. Paulinus undertook to refute that absurdity, in a treatise on the eucharist, which he wrote at the request of Charles the Great, and which he dedicated to that monarch. He affirms that the eucharist was a morsel or bit of bread, and that it is either death or life to him that partakes of it, according as he hath or hath not faith in that which is signified by it. He pours the utmost contempt upon the sacrifice of the mass, opens up the scripture doctrine of Christ's priestly office, as after the order of Mel- chisedec, vindicates his incarnation and crucifixion as the true propi- tiatory sacrifice for sin, and thunders out the boldest anathemas against all human satisfactions, maintaining that the blood of none of those who have themselves been redeemed is capable of blotting out the least sin, for that this privilege comes alone through the Lord Jesus Christ. * Dr. Affix's Remarks on the Ancient Churches of Piedmont, ch. v. p. 32. f See page 233. 250 History of the Christian Church. "The Son of God," says he, "our Almighty Lord, because he re- deemed us by the price of his blood, is properly called the true Re- deemer by ail that are redeemed by him. He, I say, was not redeem- ed, because he was never captive ; but we are redeemed, Avho were captives sold under sin, and bound by the hand-writing that was against us, which he took away, blotting it out with his blood, which the. blood of no other redeemer could do, and fixed it to his cross, openly tri- umphing over it in himself." In opposition to the Arians, who attributed to Christ only an adopted Sonship, he thus illustrates John vi. 32 — 58. " Is it said, that he who doth not eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, hath not eternal life ? ' He that eats my flesh,' saith Christ, ' and drinks my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day ; my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.' The power of raising up at the last day belongs to none but the true God ; for the flesh and blood cannot be referred to his divine, but to his hu- man nature, by which he is the Son of man. And yet if that Son of man, whose flesh and blood this is, (for that one and the same person is both the Son of God and Son of man) were not really God, his flesh and blood could not procure eternal life to those that eat them. Hence the evangelist John saith, ' The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth from all sin.' Moreover, whose flesh and blood is it that gives life to those that eat and drink them, but the Son of Man's, whom God the Father hath sealed ; who is the true and almighty Son of God. For He, the bread of life, came down from heaven for us, and gives his life for the world, to the end that whosoever eats thereof, shall live for ever." In reference to Christ's intercession, he says, "He is called the Mediator, because he is a middle person between both the disagreeing parties, and reconciles both of them in one. Paul is not a mediator, but a faithful ambassador of the Mediator." He then quotes his words, " We are ambassadors for Christ, praying you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." " Our advocate," says he, " is one that intercedes for those that are already reconciled, even as our Redeemer doth, when he shows his human nature to God the Father, in the unity of his person, being God-man. John doth not intercede for us, but declares Him (Jesus) to be the propitiation for our sins." These extracts, which might be enlarged to a great extent, are suf- ficient to give the intelligent reader some idea of the doctrinal principles of Paulinus. He denied the supremacy of Peter over the rest of the apostles — lays it down as an inviolable maxim of Christianity, that God alone is the object of our faith, in opposition to what was taught in the church of Rome — and, in short, to quote the words of a learned writer, — "Whoever examines the opinions of this bishop, will easily perceive that he denies what the church of Rome affirms with relation to many of its leading tenets, and affirms what the church of Rome denies : and whatever colourable pretexts may be employed, it will be difficult not to perceive this opposition through them all."* * Allix's Remarks, p. 52. Character of Claude of Turin. 251 But the succession of events now leads me to call the reader's atten- tion to the life and labours of Claude, Bishop of Turin. This truly great man, Avho has not improperly been called the first Protestant re- former, was born in Spain. In his early years he was a chaplain in the court of the emperor Lewis the Meek (Ludovicus Pius, king of France and emperor of the West) and was even then in high repute for his knowledge of the Scriptures, and his first-rate talents as a preacher; in consequence of which, says the Abbe Fleury, Lewis per- ceiving the deplorable ignorance of a great part of Italy, in regard to the doctrines of the gospel, and desirous of providing the churches of Piedmont with one who might stem the growing torrent of image wor- ship, promoted Claude to the see of Turin, about the year 817. In this event, the attentive reader will hereafter perceive the hand of God so ordering the course of events in his holy providence as, in the very worst of times, to prepare, " a seed to serve him, and a generation to call him blessed." The expectations of the emperor were amply jus- tified in the labours of Claude ; by his writings he ably illustrated the sacred Scriptures, and drew the attention of multitudes to their plain and simple meaning, unadulterated by the corrupt glosses of the Catho- lic priesthood. "In truth," says Fleury, himself a Catholic writer, "he began to preach and instruct with great application." His first zeal was directed against images, relics, pilgrimages, and crosses. It is not to be supposed that efforts such as his, directed against the pre- vailing superstitions of the age, should produce no ostensible effect; the monks were presently up in arms against him, reviling him as a blasphemer and a heretic, and his own people became so refractory that, in a little time, he went about in fear of his life. Supported, however, by the testimony of a good conscience, and a confidence in the goodness of his cause, Claude persevered, and wrote comments on several books of scripture, of which, unfortunately, the only one that has been printed is his Exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians. " He bore a noble testimony," says Mr. Robinson (in his Ecclesi- astical Researches, p. 447) " against the prevailing errors of his time, and was undoubtedly a most respectable character." Of one whose reputation stands so high, it cannot be necessary to enter upon any formal vindication against the calumnies of his oppo- nents, but it may be satisfactory to the reader to have before him a summary of the principles which he held, and for which he nobly con- tended. Let it be observed then, that, throughout the whole of his writings, he maintains that " Jesus Christ is the alone head of the church." This, the reader will perceive, struck immediately at the root of the first principle of Popery — the vicarious office of the bishop of Rome. He utterly discards the doctrine of human worthiness in the article of justification, in such a manner as overthrows all the sub- tile distinctions of Papists on the subject. He pronounces anathemas against traditions in matters of religion, and thus drew the attention of men to the word of God, and that alone, as the ground of a Christian's faith. He maintained, that men are justified by faith, without the deeds of the law — the doctrine which Luther, seven hundred years afterwards, so ably contended for, and which so excessively provoked 252 History of the Christian Church. the advocates of the church of Rome. He contended that the church was subject to error, and denied that prayers for the dead can be of any use to those that have demanded them ; while he lashed, in the severest manner, the superstition and idolatry which every where abounded under the countenance and authority of the see of Rome. The writings of Claude were voluminous ; for he was indefatigable in explaining the Scriptures, and in opposing the torrent of supersti- tion. He wrote three books upon Genesis in the year 815, and also a Commentary on the Gospel by Matthew, of which there are several copies in England. He wrote a Commentary on Exodus in the year 821, and another on Leviticus in 823, besides which, he wrote com- ments on all the apostolic epistles, which have been since found, in manuscript in two vols, in the Abbey of Fleury, near Orleans, in France. Tbese latter were drawn up at the express request of the em- peror, Ludovicus Pius, to whom he dedicated his Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians ; also of Justus, bishop of Charroux, and of Dructeramnus, an abbot of celebrity, to whom he dedicated his Com- ment on the Epistle to the Galatians. As a specimen of his style and sentiments, the reader may take the following extracts from his illus- tration of the Lord's supper. " The apostles being sat down at table, Jesus Christ took bread, blessed and brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying to them, Take, and eat — this is my body. The ancient solemnities of the passover, which were used in commemoration of the deliverance of the children of Israel, being ended, he passeth on to the new, because he would have the same to be celebrated in his church, as a memorial of the mystery of her redemption, and to substitute the sacrament of his body, and of his blood, instead of the flesh and blood of the paschal lamb; and to show that it was he himself to whom God had sworn, and shall never repent, ' Thou art the eternal Priest according to the order of Melchi- sedec' Moreover, he himself breaks the bread which he gives the dis- ciples, that he might represent and make it appear, that the breaking of his body would not be contrary to his inclination, or without his wil- lingness to die; but as he himself elsewhere says, that he had power to give his life, and to deliver it up himself, as well as to take it again, and raise himself from the dead. He blessed the bread before he brake it, to teach us that he intended to make a sacrament of it. When he drew nigh to the time of his death and passion, it is said, that, having taken the bread and cup, he gave thanks to his Eternal Father. He who had taken upon him to expiate the iniquities of others, gave thanks to his Father, without having done any thing that was worthy of death : He blesseth it with profound humility at the very time that he saw himself laden with stripes, no doubt to teach us that submission which we ought to exercise [under the chastening hand of God.] If he, who was innocent, endured with meekness and tranquillity, the stripes due to the iniquities of others, it was to teach and instruct us what we ought to do when corrected for our own transgressions. In regard to his saying, " This is my blood of the New Testament," it is to teach us to distinguish between the new covenant and the old — the latter of which was consecrated by the effusion of the blood of Claude's sentiments on the Eucharist. 253 goats and oxen, as the [Jewish] lawgiver said at the sprinkling of it, " This is the blood of the covenant that God hath commanded you :" For it was necessary that the patterns of true things should be purified by these, but that the heavenly places should be purified with more excellent sacrifices, according to what the apostle Paul declares through- out his whole epistle to the Hebrews, where he makes a distinction between the law and the gospel. Jesus Christ, .when about to suffer, says, " I will drink no more of this fruit of the vine, until the day that I shall drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father." As if he had plainly said, "I will no longer take delight in the carnal ceremo- nies of the synagogue, amongst the number of which, the great festival of the paschal lamb was one of the chiefest; for the time of my resur- rection is at hand; that day will arrive, when I shall be lifted up to my heavenly kingdom, even to a state of glorious immortality, where I 6hall be filled together with you, with a new joy for the salvation of my people, which shall be born again in the spring of one and the same grace. The " new wine," may also import the immortality of our re- newed bodies; for when he saith, "I will drink it with yon," he pro- mises them the resurrection of their bodies, in order to their being clothed with immortality." In the year 828, Claude was attacked most fiercely by a French monkish writer of the name of Dungalus, who censures him for taking upon himself, after a lapse of more than eight hundred and twenty years, to reprove those things that had hitherto been in continual use, as if there had been none before himself that had ever had any zeal for religion. About the same time another writer of the same school, whose name was Theodemirus, wrote to him, giving him to understand that his opinions and behaviour every where gave great offence. His answer to these writers was such as made it quite unnecessary for him to write another treatise on the same or a similar occasion ; and in the following extracts from it, the reader may almost persuade himself that he is perusing the pages of the immortal Luther. " I have received," says he to Theodemirus, " by a special messen- ger, your letter, with the articles, wholly stuffed with babbling and fooleries. You declare in these articles, that you have been troubled that my fame was spread not only throughout all Italy, but also in Spain and elsewhere ; as if I were preaching a new doctrine, or setting myself up as the founder of a new sect, contrary to the rules of the ancient Catholic faith, which is an absolute falsehood. But it is no wonder that the members of Satan should talk of me at this rate, since they called [Christ] our Head a deceiver, and one that had a devil, &c. For, I teach no new heresy, but keep myself to the pure truth, preach- ing and publishing nothing but that. On the contrary, as far as in me lies, I have repressed, opposed, cast down, and destroyed, and do still repress, oppose and destroy, to the utmost of my power, all sects, schisms, superstitions, and heresies, and shall never cease so to do, God being my helper, as far as in me lies. " When I came to Turin, I found all the churches full of abomina- tions and images ; and because I began to destroy what every one adored, every one began to open his mouth against me. These kind 22 254 History of the Christian Church. of people against whom we have undertaken to defend the church of God, tell us, if you write upon the wall, or draw the images of Paul, of Jupiter, of Saturn, or Mercury, neither are the one of these gods, nor the other apostles, and neither the one nor the other of these are men, and therefore the name is changed. But, surely, if we ought to wor- ship them, we ought rather to worship them during their lifetime, than as thus represented as .the portraits of beasts, or (what is yet more true) of stone or wood, which have neither life, feeling, nor reason. For if we may neither worship nor serve the works of God's hand, how much less may we worship the works of men's hands and pay adora- tion to them in honour of those whose remembrance we say they are? For if the image you worship is not God, wherefore dost thou bow down to false images ; and wherefore, like a slave, dost thou bend thy body to pitiful shrines, and to the work of men's hands ? Certainly, not only he who serves and honours visible images, but also whatsoever creature else, whether heavenly or earthly, spiritual or corporeal, serves the same instead of God, and from it expects the salvation of his soul, which he ought to look for from God alone. All such are of the num- ber of those concerning whom the apostle said, that " they worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." " But mark what the followers of superstition and false religion al- lege ! They tell us it is in commemoration and honour of our Saviour that we serve, honour, and adore the cross — persons whom nothing in the Saviour pleaseth, but that which was pleasing to the ungodly, viz. the reproach of his sufferings and the token of his death. Hereby they evince that they perceive only of him what the wicked saw and per- ceived of him, whether Jews, or heathens, who do not see his resur- rection, and do not consider him but as altogether swallowed up of death, without regarding what the apostle says, " We know Jesus Christ no longer according to the flesh." " God commands one thing, and these people do quite the contrary. God commands us to bear our cross, and not to worship it; but these are all for worshipping it, whereas they do not bear it at all — to serve God after this manner is to go a-whoring from him. For if we ought to adore the cross, because Christ was fastened to it, how many other things are there which touched Jesus Christ, and which he made ac- cording to the flesh? Did he not continue nine months in the womb of the virgin ? Why do they not then on the same score worship all that are virgins, because a virgin brought forth Jesus Christ ? Why do they not adore mangers and old clothes, because he was laid in a man- ger and wrapped in swaddling clothes ? Why do they not adore fish- ing-boats, because he slept in one of them, and [from it] preached to the multitudes, and caused a net to be cast out, wherewith was caught a miraculous quantity of fish? Let them adore asses, because lie en- tered into Jerusalem upon the foal of an ass ; and lambs, because it is' written of him, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." But these sorts of men would rather eat live lambs than worship their images ! Why do they not worship lions, because' he is called "the lion of the tribe of Judah ?" or rocks, since it is said, "and that rock was Christ ?" or thorns, because he was crowned with them ? or lances, because one of them pierced his side ? Sentiments of Claude of Turin. 255 " All these things are ridiculous, and rather to be lamented than set forth in writing; but we are compelled to state them in opposition to fools, and to declaim against those hearts of stone, which the arrows and sentences of the word of God cannot pierce. Come to yourselves again, ye miserable transgressors ; why are ye gone astray from the truth, and why, having become vain, are ye fallen in love with vanity? Why do you crucify again the Son of God, and expose him to open shame, and by these means make souls, by troops, to become the com- panions of devils, estranging them from their Creator, by the horrible sacrilege of your images and likenesses, and thus precipitating them into everlasting damnation? " As for your reproaching me, that I hinder men from running in pil- grimage to Rome, I demand of you yourself, whether thou thinkest that to go to Rome is to repent, or to do penance ? If indeed it be, why then hast thou for so long a time damned so many souls by confining them in thy monastery, and whom thou hast taken into it, that they might there do penance, if it be so that the way to do penance is to go to Rome, and yet thou hast hindered them ? What hast thou to say against this sentence, ' Whosoever shall lay a stone of stumbling be- fore any of these little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hung about his neck, and he cast into the bottom of the sea V " We know very well that this passage of the gospel is quite misun- derstood— ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ;' under the pretence of which words, the stupid and ignorant multitude desti- tute of all spiritual knowledge, betake themselves to Rome, in the hope of acquiring eternal life. But the ministry [of the gospel] belongs to all the true presbyters and pastors of the church, who discharge the same as long as they are in this world, and when they have paid the debt of death, others succeed in their places, who possess the same authority and power. " Return, O ye blind, to your light; return to him who enlightens every man that cometh into the world. All of you, however numerous ye may be, who depart from this light, ye walk in darkness, and know not whither ye go, for the darkness has put out your eyes. If we are to believe God when he promiseth, how much more when he swears, and saith, If Noah, Daniel, and Job, (that is, if the saints whom you call upon, were endowed with holiness, righteousness, and merit, equal to theirs,) they shall neither deliver son nor daughter; and it is for this end he makes the declaration, that none might place their confidence, in either the merits or the intercession of saints. Understand ye this, ye people without understanding? Ye fools, when will ye be wise ? Ye who run to Rome, there to seek for the intercession of an apostle. " The fifth thing for which you reproach me is — that you are much displeased, because ' the apostolic lord' (for so you are pleased to nomi- nate the late Pope Paschal) had honoured me with this charge. But you should remember, that he only is apostolic who is the keeper and guardian of the apostle's doctrine, and not he who boasts himself of being seated in the chair of the apostle, and in the mean time neglects 256 History of the Christian Church. to acquit himself of the apostolic charge ; for the Lord saith, that the Scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat."* From these extracts, some estimate may be formed of the principles and character of Claude of Turin — a name less known in the present day, and a character less honoured, than they deserve. By his preach- ing, and by his valuable writings, he disseminated the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven — and, although the seed were as a grain of mustard seed cast into the earth, the glorious effects ultimately produced by it, justify the truth of our Lord's parable, that when it is grown up, it pro- duced! a tree, whose branches are so ramified and extended, that the birds of the air come and lodge therein. His doctrine grew exceed- ingly— the valleys of Piedmont were in time filled with his disciples, and while midnight darkness sat enthroned over almost every portion of the globe, the Waldenses, which is only another name for the in- habitants of these valleys, preserved the gospel among them in its native purity, and rejoiced in its glorious light. Claude continued his labours at Turin at least twenty years, for he was alive in eight hundred and thirty-nine — but we have no documents existing that enable us to trace out the operation of his principles in the formation of independent churches, in a state of separation from the world ; and it is very probable that during the life of this venerable man, but few attempts of this kind were made. The Catholic writers, par- ticularly Genebrard in his Chronology, and also Rorenco, have explicit- ly owned, that " the valleys of Piedmont, which belonged to the bi- shoprick of Turin, preserved the opinions of Claude in the ninth and tenth centuries ;" and, in the account of the Paterines, which we shall soon arrive at, we shall see how extensively they spread not only in Piedmont, but throughout the neighbouring country of the Milanese. "It is admitted," says Mr. Robinson, "that if the Waldenses had reasoned consequentially on the principles of their master, they would, after his death, have dissented, but there is no evidence that they did reason so." He, therefore, is of opinion, that some considerable time elapsed (probably half a century,) before they broke off all communion with the established church. It will, no doubt, appear a matter of surprise to some, that an op- poser so zealous and intrepid as Claude certainly was, should have es- caped the fury of the church of Rome. But it should be remembered, that the despotism of that wicked court had not yet arrived at its pleni- tude of power and intolerance. To which may be added as another very probable reason, that some of the European monarchs viewed the domineering influence of the bishops of Rome with considerable jealousy, and gladly extended their protection to those whose labours had a ten- dency to reduce it; such was at this time the case with the court of France in regard to Claude. It is, nevertheless, sufficiently manifest, that this great man held his life in continual jeopardy. "In standing up," says he, " for the confirmation and defence of the truth, I am be- come a reproach to my neighbours, to that degree, that those who see us do not only scoff at us, but point at us one to another. But God, * Allix's Remarks, ch. ix. p. 64 — 77. Character of Charlemagne. 257 the Father of mercies, and author of all consolation, hath comforted us in all our afflictions, that we may be able, in like manner, to comfort those that are cast down with sorrow and affliction. We rely upon the pro- tection of him who hath armed and fortified us with the armour of righ- teousness and of faith, the tried shield of our salvation."* SECTION II. THE STATE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FROM THE NINTH TO THE TWELFTH CENTURY. A. D. 800 1200. The ninth and tenth centuries of the Christian aera, are universally allowed to form the lowest point of depression to which the profession of the religion of Jesus was reduced in regard to darkness and supersti- tion. It will not, therefore, be necessary to detain the reader long from subjects of a more pleasing nature, by dwelling very minutely upon the state of things during this period. The fact is acknowledged by the papists themselves ; by Caranza, Genebrard, Baronius, and others, who describe the tenth century as a monstrous age. The language of the latter writer indeed, is so remarkable, that it deserves to be quoted. Alluding to Psalm xliv. 23, he says, " Christ was then, as it would ap- pear, in a deep sleep, and the ship was covered with waves ; and what seemed worse, when the Lord was thus asleep, there were no disciples, by their cries to awaken him, being themselves all fast asleep." It may not, however, be without its use to take a rapid glance at the proceed- ings of the court of Rome, and mark the stages by which the antichris- tian power arrived at its zenith. On entering upon this subject, there is one remarkable circumstance which merits the reader's notice as he proceeds, for the fact is worthy of his attention. It has fallen to our lot, through the good providence of God, to see this monstrous power, which for a succession of ages tyran- nized over the bodies and souls of men, virtually annihilated by the power of France. What the reader should particularly remark is, that it was by the aid of that same power, in a very especial manner, that the " Man of Sin" was elevated to his throne. It can scarcely be necessary to recal to his recollection the intrigues between the popes and French monarchs, of which I have given a short detail in a former section.* The se quel will appear to be quite in character ; but we must go back a little to trace the subject in order. On the death of Pepin, king of France, in the year 768, his dominions were divided between his two sons, Charles and Carloman, the latter of whom dying two years afterwards, Charles became sole monarch of that country. In his general character, he somewhat resembled our English Alfred, and is deservedly ranked amongst the most illustrious * Collection of his Works, torn. i. quoted by Dr. Allix, p. 72. f See page 231. 23* 258 History of the Christian Church. sovereigns that have appeared — a rare instance of a monarch, who united his own glory with the happiness of his people. En private life he was amiable ; an affectionate father, a fond husband, and a generous friend. Though engaged in many wars, he was far from neglecting the arts of peace, the Avelfare of his subjects, or the cultivation of his own mind. Government, morals, religion, and letters, were his constant pursuits. He frequently convened the national assemblies, for regulating the affairs both of church and state. His attention extended to the most distant corner of his empire, and to all ranks of men. His house was a model of economy, and his person of simplicity and true grandeur. " For shame," he would say to some of his nobles, who were more finely dressed than the occasion required, "learn to dress like men, and let the world judge of your rank by your merit, not your dress. Leave silks and finery to women, or reserve them for those days of pomp and ceremony when robes are worn for show, not use." He was fond of the company of learned men, and assembled them from all parts of Europe, forming in his palace a kind of royal academy, of which he condescended to become a member, and of which he made Alcuin, our learned countryman,* the head ; at the same time honouring him as his companion and particular favourite. "The dignity of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vigour of his govern- ment, and the reverence of distant nations, distinguish Charles from * For the honour of our country, I here record a few particulars concerning Alcuin. He was born in the north of England, and educated at York, under the direction of archbishop Egbert, whom in his letters he frequently styles his be- loved master, and the clergy of York the companions of his youthful studies. Being sent on an embassy by OfTa, king of Mercia, to the emperor Charlemagne, his talents and his virtues so won upon the latter, that he contracted ahigh esteem for him, and a mutual friendship ensued. Charles earnestly solicited, and at length prevailed upon him to settle in his court and become his preceptor in the sciences. He accordingly instructed that prince in rhetoric, logic, mathematics, and divinity, and was treated with so much kindness and familiarity by the em- peror, that by way of eminence, the courtiers called him "the emperor's de- Alcuin, having passed many years in the most intimate familiarity with Charle- magne, at length, with great difficulty, obtained leave to retire to his Abbey of St. Martins at Tours. Here he kept up a constant correspondence with the em- peror, and their letters evince their mutual regard for religion and learning, and their anxiety to promote them in the most munificent manner. In one of these letters, which Dr. Henry has translated, there is a passage which throws some light on the learning of the times. " The employment of your Alcuin," says he to the emperor, " in his retreat, are suited to his humble sphei-e, but they are neither inglorious nor unprofitable. I spend my time in the halls of St. Martin, in teaching some of the noble youths under my care the intricacies of grammar, and inspiring them with a taste for the learning of the ancients ; in describing to others the order and revolutions of those shining orbs which adorn the azure vault of heaven ; and in explaining to others the mysteries of divine wisdom, which are contained in the Holy Scriptures ; suiting my instructions to the views and capa- cities of my scholars, that I may train up many to be ornaments to the church of God and to the court of your imperial majesty. In doing this, I find a great want of several things, particularly of those excellent books in all arts and sciences, which I enjoyed in my native country, through the expense and care of my great master Egbert. May it, therefore, please your majesty, animated with the most ardent love of learning, to permit me to send some of your young gentlemen into Intolerant conduct of Charlemagne. 259 the royal crowd : and Europe dates a new aera from his restoration of the western empire."* But with all these amiable traits in the character of Charles the Great (or Charle-magne, as he is usually called) a superstitious at- tachment to the see of Rome, unhappily mingled itself with all his policy, and led him to engage in theological disputes and quibbles un- worthy of his character.! It would have been well for his memory, indeed, had he stopped there ; but a blind zeal for the propagation of Christianity, which extinguished his natural feelings, made him guilty England, to procure for us those books which we want, and transplant the flowers of Britain into France, that their fragrance may no longer be confined to York, but may perfume the palaces of Tours." Charlemagne often solicited Alcuin to return to court, but he excused himself, and remained at Tours until his death, May 19, 804. He understood the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages extremely well ; was an excellent orator, philosopher, and mathematician. His works, which consist of fifty-three treatises, homilies, commentaries, letters, poems, 8cc. are comprised in 2 vols, folio. * Gibbon, vol. ix. ch. xlix. f The following short letter written by Charlemagne, and addressed to Odil- bert, archbishop of Metz, while it exhibits a striking proof of this monarch's concern to promote attention to the means of instruction and learning, is not less deserving regard on account of the disclosure which it makes of the state of religion in liis day. "We have often wished," says he, "if we could accomplish it, to converse with you and your colleagues familiarly on the utility of the holy church of God. But although we are not ignorant of the real concern with which you watch over divine things, yet we must not omit, while we trust in the co-operating in- fluence of the Holy Spirit, by our authority to exhort and admonish you to la- bour in word and doctrine in the church of God, more and more studiously, and with watchful perseverance; so that by your pious diligence the word of God may spread and flourish extensively, and the number of the Christian people may be multiplied, to the praise and glory of our Saviour. Wherefore we de- sire to know in writing, or from your own mouth, in what manner you and your clergy teach and instruct both those who are candidates for the holy office of the ministry, and the people committed to you in the sacrament of Baptism. That is, Why does a child first become a Catechuman ? and what is a Catechuman ? And so of other things in their order. Of examination, what is it ? Of the creed; what is the interpretation, or meaning of it among the Latins ? Of belief, in what manner are we to believe in God the Father Almighty, in Jesus Christ his Son, and in the Holy Spirit ? &c. Of renouncing Satan, and his works and pomp, what is this renunciation ? What is the meaning of breathing on the per- son, and exorcising him ? Why does the Catechuman receive salt ? Why are the ears touched ? the breast anointed with oil ? the arms crossed ? and the breast and arms washed ? Why are white garments put on ? Why is the head anointed with the holy chrism ? Why is it covered with a mystical vail ? And why is con- formation made with the body and blood of Christ ? All these things we require you by careful study to examine, and to report an accurate account of them to us in writing; and further, to state whether you so maintain and preach these things, and govern your own life by the doctrines which you preach." Ran- kin's History of France, vol. i. p. 406. Now all this had been well, if the Scrip- tures had said any thing about these things; but it was unfortunate for the zeal of this monarch, that the things here enumerated, and about which he was con- cerned, were almost entirely the corruptions of Christianity, with which that divine institution has nothing to do, except to condemn them as the doctrines and commandments of men. One cannot but feel curious to know what kind of answers the archbishop would return to these sage questions, 260 History of the Christian Church. of severities which shock humanity. One of the leading objects of his reign, was the conversion of the Saxons, a nation of Germany, to the Christian faith. He seems to have considered a reception of the mild doctrines of Christianity as the best means of taming a savage people, and to accomplish this he sent his armies to invade their coun- try. After a number of battles gallantly fought, and many cruelties committed on both sides, the Saxons were totally subjected ; but as they were no less tenacious of their religious than of their civil liberty, persecution marched in the train of war, and stained with blood the fetters of slavery. Four thousand five hundred of their principal men because they refused, on a particular occasion, to give up their cele- brated general, Witikind, were ordered to be massacred — an instance of severity scarcely to be paralleled in the history of mankind, espe- cially if we consider that the Saxons were not the natural subjects of Charles, but an independent people struggling for freedom. He com- pelled the Saxons, under pain of death, to receive baptism ; condemn- ed to the severest punishments the breakers of Lent, and every where substituted force for persuasion. As the little learning which, at that period, remained among man- kind, was monopolized by the clergy, it cannot excite our surprise that they obtained the most signal marks of his favour. He establish- ed the payment of tithes, and admitted the clergy into the national as- semblies, associating them with the secular nobles in the administration of justice ; in return for which, they honoured him with the most marked distinctions, permitting him to sit in councils purely ecclesias- tical. Accordingly, in the year 794, we find him seated on a throne in the council of Frankfort, with one of the pope's legates on each hand, and three hundred bishops waiting his nod. The object of that council was to investigate the sentiments of two Spanish bishops, who, to refute the accusation of Polytheism, brought against the Christians by the Jews and Mahommedans, gave up the proper divinity of Jesus Christ, and maintained that he was the Son of God only by adoption. The monarch opened the assembly, and pro- posed the condemnation of this heresy. The council decided confor- mably to his will ; and in a letter to the churches of Spain, in conse- quence of that decision, Charles expressed himself in these remarkable words : " You entreated me to judge of myself; I have done so. I have assisted as an auditor and an arbiter in an assembly of bishops ; we have examined ; and by the grace of God, we have settled what must be believed !" It was during the reign of Charles the Great, that the empress Irene convened the second council of Nice* for the purpose of re-establish- ing the use of images, which Leo IV. and his son Constantine Copro- nymus had exerted themselves so much to suppress. That council accordingly decreed that we ought to render to images an honorary worship, but not a real adoration, the latter being due to God alone. Whether designedly or not, but so it was, that in the translation of the Acts of this council, which pope Adrian sent into France, the meaning * See page 233. Charles declared Emperor of the Romans. 261 of the article which respected images was entirely perverted, for it ran thus : " I receive and honour images according to that adoration which I pay to the Trinity." Charles was so shocked at this impiety, that in the effervescence of his zeal, and with the aid of the clergy, he drew up a treatise, called the Caroline books, in which he treated the Ni- cene council with the utmost contempt and abuse. He transmitted his publication to Adrian, desiring hirn to excommunicate the empress and her son. The pope excused himself on the score of images, rec- tifying the mistake upon which Charles had proceeded ; but at the same time insinuating, that he would declare Irene and Constantine heretics, unless they restored some lands which formerly belonged to the church. He also took the opportunity of hinting at certain projects which he had formed for the exaltation of the Romish church, and of the French monarchy.* "I cannot," said he, " after what the council of Nice has done, declare Irene and her son heretics ; but I shall de- clare them to be such, if they do not restore to me my patrimony in Sicily." In the year 796, Leo III. who had succeeded Adrian in the papacy, transmitted to Charles the Roman standard, requesting him to send some person to receive the oatli of fidelity from the Romans, an in- stance of submission with which that monarch was highly flattered. Accordingly in the year 800, we find Charles at Rome, where he passed six days in private conferences with the pope. On Christmas day, as the king assisted at mass in St. Peter's church, in the midst of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, and while upon his knees before the al- tar, the pope advanced and put an imperial crown upon his head. As soon as the people perceived it, they exclaimed, " Long life and vic- tory to Charles Augustus, crowned by the hand of God ! Long live the great and pious emperor of the Romans." The supreme pontiff then conducted him to a magnificent throne, which had been prepared for the occasion, and as soon as he was seated, paid him those honours which his predecessors had been accustomed to pay to the Roman em- perors. Leo now presented him with the imperial mantle, on being invested with which, Charles returned to his palace amidst the accla- mations of the multitude. Favours such as these that were conferred by the pontiff on the French monarch, imperiously called for an adequate return, and it is due to Charlemagne to say that he was by no means deficient in gra- titude. His name, and those of his successors, are consecrated as the saviours and benefactors of the Roman church. The Greek emperor had abdicated or forfeited his right to the exarchate of Ravenna, and the sword of Pepin, the father of Charles, had no sooner wrested it from the grasp of Astolphus, than he conferred it on the Roman pon- tiff, as a recompense " for the remission of his sins and the salvation of his soul." The splendid donation was granted in supreme and ab- solute dominion, and the world then beheld, for the first time, a Chris- tian bishop invested with the prerogatives of a temporal prince ; the choiceofmagistrat.es, and the exercise of justice ; the imposition of taxes, and the wealth of the palace of Ravenna. * Millot's Elements of General History, part ii. 262 History of the Christian Church. "Perhaps," says Gibbon, "the humility of a Christian priest should have rejected an earthly kingdom, which it was not easy for him to govern without renouncing the virtues of his profession." I feel no disposition to controvert the justice of this remark ; but humi- lity does not appear to have been a very prominent trait in the charac- ters of the Roman pontiffs ; and the profuse liberality of the French kings, at this time, was not much calculated to promote it among them. By their bounty, the ancient patrimony of the church, which consisted of farms and houses, was converted into the temporal do- minion of cities and provinces. The cities and islands which had formerly been annexed to the exarchate of Ravenna, were now also, by the gratitude of Charles, yielded to the pope, to enlarge the circle of the ecclesiastical state ; and the new emperor lived to behold in his ecclesiastical ally, a greatness which, in the cool moments of reflection, he was unable to contemplate without jealousy. But Charles died in the year 814, at Aix-la-Chapelle, his usual residence, in the seventy- second year of his age, and the forty-sixth of his reign. He had pre- viously associated his son Louis with him in the administration of go- vernment ; and, as if this great man had foreseen the approaching usurpations of the church, he placed the imperial crown upon the al- tar, and ordered the prince to put it on his own head, thereby inti- mating that he held it only of God. The young prince, though very amiable in his disposition and man- ners, appears to have been much inferior to his father in strength of mind. I have already had occasion to mention him in a former sec- tion as the friend and patron of Claude of Turin. His piety and pa- rental fondness are praised by historians, but his abilities were inade- quate to the support of so great a weight of empire- He rendered him- self odious to the clergy, by attempting to reform certain abuses among them, not foreseeing that this powerful body would not pay the same deference to his authority, which had been yielded to the superior ca- pacity of his father. Three years after his accession to the throne, he admitted his eldest son, Lothaire, to a participation of the French and German territories, declared his son Pepin, king of Aquitaine, and Louis king of Bavaria. This division gave offence to his nephew, Bernard, at that time king of Italy, who revolted, and levied war against his uncle, in contempt of his imperial authority, to which he was subject — a rebellious conduct, in which he was encouraged by the archbishop of Milan and the bishop of Cremona. Louis, on this occa- sion, acted with vigour. He raised a powerful army, and was preparing to cross the Alps, when Bernard was abandoned by his troops, and the unfortunate prince, being made prisoner, was condemned to lose his head. His uncle mitigated the sentence to the loss of his eyes, but the unhappy prince died three days after the punishment was inflicted ; and Louis, to prevent future troubles, ordered three natural sons of Charlemagne to be shut up in a convent. In a little time the emperor was seized with keen remorse for his conduct. He accused himself of the murder of his nephew, and of tyrannic cruelty to his brothers. In this melancholy humour he was encouraged by the monks ; and it at last grew to such a height, that Rebellion of the Emperor's Sons. 263 he impeached himself in an assembly of the states, and requested the bishops to enjoin him public penance. The clergy, now sensible of his weakness, set no bounds to their usurpations. The popes con- cluded that they might do any thing under so pious a prince. They did not wait for the emperor's confirmation of their election ; the bi- shops exalted themselves above the throne, and the whole fraternity of the Catholic clergy claimed an exemption from all civil jurisdiction. Even the monks, while they pretended to renounce the world, seemed to aspire to the government of it. In the year 822, the three sons of Louis were associated in a rebel- lion against their father, — an unnatural crime, in which they were en- couraged by some of the reigning ciergy. The emperor, abandoned by his army, was made prisoner ; and in all probability would have lost his crown had not the nobility pitied their humbled sovereign, and by sowing dissension among the three brothers, contrived to restore him to his dignity. In 832, the three brothers formed a new league against their father, and Gregory IV. then pope, went to France in the army of Lothaire, the eldest brother, under pretence of accommodating mat- ters, but in reality with an intention of employing against the emperor that power which he derived from him, happy in the opportunity of asserting the supremacy and independence of the Holy See. The presence of the pope, in those days of superstition, was of itself suf- ficient to determine the fate of Louis. After a deceitful negotiation, and an interview with Gregory on the part of Lothaire, the unfortu- nate emperor found himself at the mercy of his rebellious sons. He was deposed in a tumultuous assembly, and Lothaire proclaimed in his stead ; after which infamous transaction the pope returned to Rome. To give stability to this revolution, and at the same time to conceal the deformity of their own conduct, the bishops of Lothaire's faction had recourse to a curious artifice. " A penitent," said they, " is inca- pable of all civil offices ; a royal penitent must therefore be incapable of reigning ; let us subject Louis to a perpetual penance, and he can never reascend the throne." He was accordingly arraigned in an as- sembly of the states, by Ebbo, archbishop of Rheims, and condemned to do penance for life. Louis was then prisoner in a monastery at Soissons, and being greatly intimidated, he patiently submitted to a ceremony no less so- lemn than degrading. He prostrated himself on a hair cloth, which was spread before the altar, and owned himself guilty of the charges brought against him, in the presence of many bishops, canons, and monks — Lothaire being also present, that he might enjoy the sight of his father's humiliation. Nor was this all ; the degraded emperor was compelled to read aloud a written confession, in which he was made to accuse himself of sacrilege and murder; and to enumerate among his crimes, the marching of troops in Lent, calling an assembly on Holy Thursday, and taking up arms to defend himself against his re- bellious children ! So easy is it for superstition to transform into crimes the most innocent, and even the most necessary actions. After having made this humiliating confession, Louis, at the command of the arch- 264 History of the Christian Church. bishop, laid aside his sword and belt, divested himself of his royal robes, put on the penitential sackcloth, and retired to the cell that was assigned him. But the feelings of nature, and the voice of humanity, at length pre- vailed over the prejudices of the age and the policy of the clergy. Lo- thaire became an object of general abhorrence, and his father of com- passion. His two brothers united against him, in behalf of that father whom they had contributed to humble. The nobility returned to their obedience, paying homage to Louis as their lawful sovereign ; and the ambitious Lothaire was obliged to crave mercy in the sight of the whole army, at the feet of a parent and an emperor, whom he had lately insulted. Louis died in the year 840 near Mentz, in the sixty- fourth year of his age, and the twenty-seventh of his reign, leaving to his unnatural son Lothaire a crown, a sword, and a very rich sceptre. The bishop of Mentz observing that he had left nothing to his son Louis, reminded him that at the least, forgiveness was his duty; " Yes, I forgive him," cried the dying prince, with great emotion ; "but tell him from me that he ought to seek forgiveness of God, for bringing my gray hairs down with sorrow to the grave."* Lothaire succeeded his father in the imperial dignity, and, after a reign of fifteen years, took the habit of a monk, that, according to the language of those times, he might atone for his crimes, and though he had lived a tyrant, die a saint. In this pious disguise he expired, be- fore he had worn it a week. His father Louis, by a second marriage, had a son who was after- wards known by the name of Charles the Bald. At the time of his father's death he was only seventeen years of age ; but his father, in bequeathing the empire to Lothaire, had stipulated for a portion of ter- ritory to his youngest child, and the former to fulfil the wishes of his indulgent father and entreaties of a fond mother, consented to resign to him a part of his territories. But scarcely was Charles warm in his seat, when he conspired with his brother Louis to dispossess Lothaire of the empire. Here fraternal hatred appeared in all its horrors. A battle was fought at Fontenoy, in Burgundy, than which, few engage- ments that are upon record were more bloody, for 100,000 men are said to have fallen on the spot.t Lothaire was defeated, and obliged to abandon France to the armies of his victorious brothers. To secure their conquest the latter applied to the clergy, and with the more confi- dence of success, as Lothaire, in order to raise his troops with greater expedition, had promised the Saxons the liberty of renouncing Chris- tianity, the very idea of which was abhorred by the church of Rome. The bishops assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle, and after examining the misconduct of the emperor, inquired of the two princes, whether they chose to follow his example, or to govern according to the laivs of God — by which they meant, in enforcing Christianity upon the Sax- ons. Their answer may be easily anticipated. " Receive then the kingdom by the divine authority," added the prelates: "we exhort you, we command you to receive it." But Lothaire, by means of his * VitaLudov. Pii. passim. f Gibbon's Rome, vol. ix. ch. 49. Assumptions of the Clergy. 265 indulgence to the Saxons, and other expedients, was enabled to raise a new army, and to recover his throne.* Nothing is more clear, than that the clergy now aspired to the right of disposing of crowns, which they founded on the ancient Jewish practice of anointing kings. They had recourse to the most miserable fictions and sophisms to render themselves independent. They refused to take the oath of fidelity, "because sacred hands could not, without abomination, submit to hands impure !" One usurpation led to ano- ther ; abuse constituted right— a quibble appeared a divine law. Igno- rance sanctified every thing, and the most enormous usurpations of the clergy obtained a ready sanction from, the slavish superstition of the laity. One very popular argument which the former much insisted on was, that the splendour of their dignity was to the majesty of the empe- rors and kings as the effulgence of the sun to the borrowed light of the moon ; and therefore they demanded and extorted from crowned heads the most extravagant marks of respect and the most debasing humilia- tions. They trumped up a collection of forged acts, known at present by the name of " The Decretals," spurious writings, in which are supposed the existence of ancient canons, ordaining that no provincial council shall be held without the permission of the pope ; and that all ecclesiastical causes shall be under his jurisdiction. The words of the immediate successors of the apostles are also therein quoted, and they are supposed to have left writings behind them. All these being writ- ten in the wretched style of the eighth century, and the whole filled with blunders of the grossest kind, both historical and geographical, the artifice was sufficiently apparent ; but they had only ignorant per- sons to deceive. These false decretals imposed upon mankind for eight hundred years, and though the fraud was at length detected, the customs established by them still subsist in some countries : their an- tiquity supplied the place of truth ! The papal chair was filled about the middle of the ninth century by Nicholas I. one of the most obsti- nate, inflexible, and ambitious prelates that ever disgraced the priest- hood. Even his own clergy, the bishop of Treves and Cologne ac- cused him of making himself emperor of the world, an expression which, though somewhat strained, was not wholly without foundation. He asserted his dominion over the French clergy, and received appeals from all ecclesiastics, dissatisfied with their bishops. Hence he taught the people to acknowledge a supreme tribunal at a distance from their own country, and of course a foreign sway. He issued his orders in the most authoritative style, to regulate the disputed succession to the kingdom of Provence. " Let no one prevent the emperor," says he, " from governing the kingdoms which he holds in virtue of a succes- sion confirmed by the holy see, and by the crown which the sove- reign pontiff has set on his head." It is, however, pleasing to find that, deplorable as was the state of things, this domineering conduct of the popes did not always go with- out remonstrance, even from some of the clergy themselves. Hinc- mar, archbishop of Rheims, for example, about the year 875, raised * RussePs Modern Europe, vol. \. let 10 23 266 - History of the Christian Church. his voice in the most spirited manner against the arrogant pretensions of Adrian II. the successor of Nicholas. This bold and independent prelate desired the pope to call to mind that respect and submission which the ancient pontiffs had always paid to princes, and to re- flect that his dignity gave him no right over the government of kingdoms ; that he could not be at the same time pope and king : that the choice of a sovereign belongs to the people ; that anathemas ill ap- plied have no effect upon the soul ; and that free men are not to be en- slaved by a bishop of Rome.* But the voice of an individual is easily drowned in the clamours of a mob. The evil proceeded in defiance of the expostulation of Hincmar. About the year 877, Pope John VIII. convened a council at Troyes hi France, one of the canons of which is sufficiently remarkable to be adduced as a specimen of the spirit of the times. It expressly asserts, that " the powers of the world shall not dare to seat themselves in the presence of the bishops, unless de- sired." To dwell minutely upon this subject, and to illustrate the reign of the antichristian power by a copious detail of historical facts, though an easy task, would require more room than can be conveniently al- lotted to such a discussion in this sketch. The reader will probably be satisfied with this concise detail. Indeed, all our historians, civU and ecclesiastical, agree in describing the tenth century of the Chris- tian aera as the darkest epoch in the annals of mankind. " The histo- ry of the Roman pontiffs that lived in this [tenth] century," says the learned Mosheim, " is a history of so many monsters, and not of men; and exhibits a horrible series of the most flagitious, tremendous, and complicated crimes, as all writers, even those of the Romish commu- nion, unanimously confess." Nor was the state of things much better in the Greek church at this period ; as a proof of which, the same learned writer instances the example of Theophylact, patriarch of Constantinople. " This exemplary prelate, who sold every ecclesias- tical benefice as soon as it became vacant, had in his stable above two thousand hunting horses, which he fed with pignuts, pistachios, dates, dried grapes, figs steeped in the most exquisite Avines, to all which he added the richest perfumes. One holy Thursday, as he was cele- brating high mass, his groom brought him the joyful news that one of his favourite mares had foaled ; upon which he threw down the Liturgy, left the church, and ran in rapture to the stable, where having express- ed his joy at that grand event, he returned to the altar to finish the di- vine service, which he had left interrupted during his absence."! To avoid the necessity of recurring to a topic so replete with every thing that can excite disgust in the mind of a humble Christian, I shall take leave of it by a short review of the state of things as they existed in the middle of the eleventh century. In the year 1056, Henry IV. surnamed the Great, though only five years old, ascended the throne of his father as emperor of Germany. During the first years of his reign, the empire was harassed with civil wars, and Italy was a prey to intestine disorders. Nicholas II. then * Fleury's Eccles. Hist. -j- Quoted from Fleury's ficcles. Hist. The Reign of Henry IV. 267 filled the pontifical chair ; and he caused a council to be convened which consisted of a hundred and thirteen bishops, who passed a de- cree, by which it was ordained, that in future the cardinals only should elect the pope, and that the election should be confirmed by the rest of the Roman clergy and people, " saving the honour," it was added, " due to our dear son Henry, now king ; and who, if it please God, shall one day be emperor, according to the privilege which we have al- ready conferred upon him ; and saving the honour of his successoi's, on whom the apostolic see shall confer the same high privilege. There resided at this time at Rome, one Hildebrand, a monk of the order of Cluny, who had recently been created a cardinal ; a man of a restless, fiery, and enterprising disposition ; but chiefly remarkable for his furious zeal for the pretensions of the church. He was born at Soana in Tuscany, of obscure parents, brought up at Rome, and had been frequently employed by that court to manage various political concerns which required dexterity and resolution, and he had rendered himself famous in all parts of Italy for his zeal and intrepidity. Hil- debrand had interest enough to procure himself to be elected to the pontifical chair, in the year 1073, by the title of Gregory VII. and the papacy has not produced a more extraordinary character. " All that the malice or flattery of a multitude of writers have said of this pope, is concentrated in a portrait of him drawn by a Neapolitan artist, in which Gregory is represented as holding a crook in one hand, and a whip in the other, trampling sceptres under his feet, with St. Peter's net and fishes on either side of him."* Gregory was installed by the people of Rome, without consulting the emperor, as had hitherto been customary; but though Henry had not been consulted upon the occa- sion, Gregory prudently waited for his confirmation of the choice be- fore he assumed the tiara. He obtained it by this mark of submission : the emperor confirmed his election, and the new pontiff was not dila- tory in pulling off the mask, for in a little time he raised a storm which fell with violence upon the head of Henry, and shook all the thrones in Christendom. He began his pontificate with excommuni- cating every ecclesiastic who should receive a benefice from a layman, and every layman by whom such benefice should be conferred. This was engaging the church in an open war with all the sovereigns of Europe. But the thunder of the holy see was more particularly di- rected against Henry, who, sensible of his danger and anxious to avert it, wrote a submissive letter to Gregory, and the latter pretended to take him into favour, after severely reprimanding him for the crimes of simony and debauchery, of which he now confessed himself guilty. The pope at the same time proposed a crusade, the object of which was to deliver the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem from the hands of the Turkish infidels ; offering to head the Christians in person, and de- siring Henry to serve as a volunteer under his command ! Gregory next formed the project of making himself lord of Christen- dom, by at once dissolving the jurisdiction which kings and emperors had hitherto exercised over various orders of the clergy, and subjecting * Voltaire's Universal History, vol. i. ch. xxxvi. 268 History of the Christian Church. to the papal authority all temporal princes, rendering their dominions tributary to the see of Rome; and however romantic the undertaking may appear, it was not altogether without success. Solomon king of Hungary, was at that time dethroned by his cousin Geysa, and fled to Henry for protection, renewing his homage to the latter as head of the empire. Gregory, who favoured the cause of the usurper, exclaimed against this act of submission, and said in a letter to Solomon, M You ought to know, that the kingdom of Hungary belongs to the Roman church; and learn, that you will incur the indignation of the holy see, if you do not acknowledge that you hold your dominions of the pope, and not of the emperor." This presumptuous declaration, and the neglect with which it was treated, brought the quarrel between the em- pire and the church to a crisis : it was directed to Solomon, but intend- ed for Henry. Hitherto the princes of Christendom had enjoyed the right of nomi- nating bishops and abbots, and of giving them investiture by the ring and crosier. The popes, on their part, had been accustomed to send legates to the emperors to entreat their assistance, to obtain their con- firmation, or to desire them to come and receive papal sanction. Gre- gory now resolving to push the claim of investitures, sent two of his legates to summon Henry to appear before him as a delinquent, because he still continued to bestow investitures, notwithstanding the papal de- cree to the contrary : adding, that if he failed to yield obedience to the church, he must expect to be excommunicated and dethroned. This arrogant message, from one whom he regarded as his vassal, greatly provoked Henry, who abruptly dismissed the legates, and lost no time in convoking an assembly of princes and dignified ecclesiastics at Worms ; where after mature deliberation, they came to this conclu- sion, that Gregory having usurped the chair of St. Peter, by indirect means, infected the church of God with many novelties and abuses, and deviated from his duty to his sovereign in several instances, the empe- ror, by the supreme authority derived from his predecessors, ought to divest him of his dignity, and appoint a successor. Henry, conse- quently, sent an ambassador to Rome, with a formal deprivation of Gregory ; who, in his turn, convoked a council, at which were present one hundred and ten bishops, who, unanimously agreed, that the pope had just cause to depose Henry, to annul the oath of allegiance which the princes and states had taken in his favour, and to prohibit them from holding any correspondence with him on pain of excommunica- tion. And this execrable sentence was immediately fulminated against the emperor and his adherents. " In the name of Almighty God, and by your authority," said Gregory, addressing the members of the council, " I prohibit Henry from governing the Teutonic kingdom and Italy. I release all Christians from their oath of allegiance to him ; and I strictly forbid all persons to serve or attend him as king." This is the first instance of a pope presuming to deprive a sovereign of his crown ; but, unhappily, it was too flattering to ecclesiastical pride to be the last. No preceding prelate had hitherto dared to use such imperious language as Gregory ; for, though Louis, the son of Charles the Great, had been deposed by his bishops, there was at least The arrogance of Gregory VII. 269 some colour for that step ; they condemned him in appearance only to do public penance. The circular letters written by Gregory breathe the same spirit as his sentence of deposition. In them he repeatedly asserts, that " bishops are superior to kings, and made to judge them" — expressions equally artful and presumptuous. His object is said to have been that of en- gaging in the bonds of fidelity and allegiance to the pope as vicar of Christ, all the potentates of the earth, and to establish at Rome an an- nual assembly of bishops, by whom the contests which, from time to time, might arise between kingdoms and sovereign states were to be decided, the rights and pretensions of princes to be examined, and the fate of nations and empires determined.* Gregory well knew what consequences would result from the thun- ders of the church. The bishops in Germany immediately came over to his party, and drew with them many of the nobles. The Saxons took the opportunity of revolting: even the emperor's favourite, Guelf, a nobleman to whom he had given the duchy of Bavaria, supported the mal-contents with that very power which he owed to his sovereign's bounty; and the princes and prelates who had assisted in deposing Gregory, gave up their monarch to be tried by the pope, who was re- quested to come to Augsburg for that purpose. To avoid the odium of this impending trial, Henry took the strange resolution of suddenly passing the Alps, accompanied only by a few domestics, and of throwing himself at the feet of Gregory, in order to implore his absolution. The pontiff was at that time on'a visit to the countess or duchess Matilda, at Canosa, a fortress on the Appenines. At the gate of this mansion, the emperor presented himself as an hum- ble penitent. He alone was admitted within the outer court, where, being stripped of his robes, and wrapped in sackcloth, he was compelled to remain three days, in the month of January (A. D. 1077,) barefoot and fasting, before he was permitted to kiss the feet of his holiness ! ! The indulgence was, however, at length granted him — he was permit- ted to throw himself at the feet of the haughty pontiff, who condescend- ed to grant him absolution, after he had sworn obedience to the pope in all things, and promised to submit to his solemn decision at Augs- burgh ; so that Henry reaped nothing but disgrace and mortification from his journey, while the pontiff, elate with triumph, and now con- sidering himself as the lord and master of all the crowned heads in Christendom, said in several of his letters, that " it was his duty to pull down the pride of kings." Happily for Henry, all sense of propriety and of common decency was not banished from the earth. The princes of Italy were disgusted with the strange accommodation that had taken place between him and the pope. They never could forgive the insolence of the former, nor the abject humility of the latter. But their indignation at Gregory's arrogance over-balanced their detestation of their monarch's meanness- He took advantage of this t8inper, and, by a change of fortune hitherto unknown to the German emperors, found a strong party in Italy, when * Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. cent. xi. part ii. 23* 270 History of the Christian Church. abandoned by his own subjects. All Lombardy took up arms against the pope, while the latter was raising all Germany against the emperor. The former had recourse to every art to procure the election of another emperor in Germany, while Henry, on his part, left nothing undone to persuade the people of Italy to choose another pope. The Germans chose Rodolph, duke of Suabia, who was solemnly crowned at Mentz ; and this gave Gregory an opportunity of exercising all his finesse in order to extort submission from Henry. He affected to be displeased that Rodolph was consecrated without his order. He had deposed Henry, but it was still in his power to pardon him — he therefore de- clared that he would acknowledge as emperor and king of Germany that claimant who should be most submissive to the holy see. But Henry was not now to be duped. He chose rather to trust to the valour of his arms than to the generosity of the pope, and there- fore marched his troops against his rival Rodolph, whom he defeated in several engagements. Gregory, seeing no hopes of submission, thundered out a second sentence of excommunication, in which, after depriving Henry of strength in combat, and condemning him never to be victorious — he desires the world to take notice that it is in the pope's power to take away empires, kingdoms, principalities, &c. and to bestow them on whom he pleases. The whole concludes with the following extraordinary apostrophe to the apostles, Peter and Paul : " Make all men sensible that, as you can bind and loose every thing in heaven, you can also upon earth, take from or give to, every one according to his deserts, empires, kingdoms, principalities. Let the kings and princes of the age instantly feel your power, that they may not dare to despise the orders of your church ; and let your jus- tice be so speedily executed upon Henry, that nobody may doubt of his falling by your means and not by chance."* But the apostles were either deaf to the prayer of their pretended successor, or declined their co-operation with it. Henry triumphed over his enemies. Rodolph had his hand cut off in a battle which was fought with great fury near Mersburg, in Saxony, and, discouraged by the misfortune of their chief, his followers gave way. Rodolph, perceiving his end approaching, ordered the amputated member to be brought him, and thus addressed his officers. " Behold the hand with which I took the oath of allegiance to Henry — an oath which, at the instigation of Rome, I have violated, in perfidiously aspiring to an honour that was not due to me." The affairs of Henry now revived apace. A new pope was elected, who took the title of Clement III. and the emperor, thus delivered from his formidable antagonist, soon dispersed the rest of his enemies in Germany, and proceeded to Italy, to settle the new pontiff in the papal chair. The gates of Rome being shut against him, he was com- pelled to attack the city in form. After a siege of two years, it was taken by assault, and with difficulty saved from pillage, but Gregory retired into the castle of St. Angelo, from whence he hurled defiance, and fulminated his thunder against the conqueror. The siege of St, * Fleury's Eccles. History. Henry'' s Sons rebel against him. 271 Angelo was now prosecuted with vigour, but in the absence of Henry, Gregory found means to escape, and died soon after at Salerno, A. D. 1085. His last words were, "I have loved justice and hated ini- quity ; therefore I die in exile."* But the troubles of Henry did not terminate with the life of Gregory. The pontiffs who succeeded proved as inimical to his peace and tran- quillity as their predecessor had been. Urban II. contrived, in con- junction with the countess Matilda, to seduce the emperor's son into a rebellion against his father. This young prince, whose name was Conrad, assumed the title of king of Italy, and succeeded so well in his usurpation, that the greater part of the cities of Italy and their nobles acknowledged him as their sovereign. The emperor, despair- ing of being able to reduce him to obedience by arms, assembled the German princes, who put the delinquent to the ban of the empire,! and declared his brother Henry king of the Romans. Two years after- wards both Conrad and the pope died — the latter being succeeded in the papal chair by Pascal II. (another Gregory) and the former by his younger brother Henry as king of Italy. The new pope was scarcely invested with office ere he contrived to excite young Henry to rebel against his father. He called a council, to which he summoned the aged monarch ; and as the latter did not obey the citation, he excommunicated him for the schisms which he had introduced into the church ; stimulating his son to rebellion, by alleging that he was bound to take upon himself the reins of govern- ment, as he could not acknowledge an excommunicated king or father. In vain did the emperor use every paternal remonstrance to dissuade his son from proceeding to extremities ; the breach became wider, and each prepared for the decision of the sword. But the son, dreading his father's superiority, and confiding in his tenderness, had recourse to a stratagem as base as it was effectual. He threw himself unex- pectedly at the emperor's feet, and implored pardon for his undutiful behaviour, which he attributed to the influence of evil counsellors. In consequence of this submission, he was taken into favour by his indul- gent parent, who instantly dismissed his army. The ungrateful youth now revealed the perfidy that was in his heart ; he ordered his father to be confined — assembled a diet of his own confederates, at which the pope's legate presided, and repeated the sentence of excommunica- tion against the emperor, whose dignity was instantly transferred to his rebellious son. The archbishops of Mentz and Cologne were sent as deputies to the old emperor, to intimate his deposition and demand his regalia. Henry received this deputation with equal surprise and concern ; and finding that the chief accusation against him was " the scandalous manner in which he had set bishopricks to sale," he thus addressed the audacious ecclesiastics : " If I have prostituted the benefices of the * Life of Gregory VII. by Dithmar. f The word ban originally signified banner, afterwards edict, and lastly, a declaration of outlawry, which was thus intimated: "We declare thy wife a widow, thy children orphans, and send thee, in the name of the devil, to the four corners of the earth." 272 History of the Christian Church. church for hire, you, yourselves, are the most proper persons to con- vict me of that simony. Say then, I conjure you in the name of the eternal God ! what have 1 exacted, or what have I received, for hav- ing promoted you to the dignities that you now enjoy ?" They ac- knowledged that he was innocent, so far as regarded their preferments. " And yet," continued he, " the archbishops of Mentz and Cologne, being two of the best in my gift, I might have filled my coffers by exposing them to sale. I bestowed them, however, upon you, out of free grace and favour, and a worthy return you make to my benevo- lence ! Do not, I beseech you, become abettors of those who have lifted up their hands against their lord and master in defiance of faith, gratitude, and allegiance." As the unfeeling prelates, deaf to this pathetic address, insisted on his compliance with the object of their mission, Henry retired, and put on his regal ornaments ; then returning to the apartment he had left, and seating himself on a chair of state, he renewed his remonstrance in these words : " Here are the marks of that royalty with which I was invested by God, and the princes of the empire ; if you disregard the wrath of heaven, and the eternal reproach of mankind, so much as to lay violent hands on your sovereign, you may strip me of them, I am not in a condition to defend myself." Regardless of these expostulations, the two archbishops snatched the crown from his head, and dragging him from his chair, forcibly pulled off his robes. While thus employed, Henry exclaimed, " Great God ! (the tears flowing down his venerable cheeks) thou art the God of ven- geance, and wilt repay this outrage. I have sinned, I own, and merited such shame by the follies of my youth ; but thou wilt not fail to punish those traitors for their violence, ingratitude, and perjury." To such a degree of wretchedness was this prince afterwards reduced by the barbarity of his son, that, destitute of the common necessaries of life, he entreated the bishop of Spire, whom he had promoted to that see, to grant him a canonry for his subsistence, representing that he was capable of performing the office of " chanter or reader." Disappointed in that humble request, he shed a flood of tears, and turning to those who were present, said, with a deep sigh, " My dear friends, at least have pity upon my condition, for I am touched by the hand of the Lord." Yet in the midst of these distresses, when every one thought his courage was utterly extinguished, and his soul overwhelmed by despon- dence, Henry found means to escape from custody and reached Cologne, where he was recognized as lawful emperor. Repairing next to the Netherlands, he found friends who raised a considerable body of men to assert his claims, and facilitate his restoration ; he also issued circular letters, calling upon the princes of Christendom to interest themselves in his cause. He even wrote to the pope, intimating that he was in- clined to an accommodation, provided it could be settled without pre- judice to his cause. But before any thing material could be executed in his favour, Henry died at Liege (Aug. 7, 1106) in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the forty -ninth of his reign. He was a prince of great courage and excellent endowments both of body and mind. In Character of the Waldemes. 273 his appearance there was an air of dignity which spoke the greatness of his soul. He possessed a natural fund of eloquence and vivacity, his temper was placid and merciful, his kindness and benevolence exten- sive, and his life exhibited an admirable pattern of fortitude and resig- nation.* SECTION III. SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION FROM THE DEATH OF CLAUDE OF TURIN TO THE TIMES OF PETER WALDO. A. D. 843 1 1 60. During the dark ages which succeeded the invasion of Europe by the barbarous nations, when feudal anarchy distracted the civil govern- ments, and a flood of superstition hud deluged the church, Christianity, banished from the seats of empire, ^nd loathing the monkish abodes of indolence and vice, meekly retired into the sequestered valleys of Pied- mont. Finding there a race of men unarrayed in hostile armour, un- contaminated by the doctrines and commandments of an apostate church, nnambitious in their temper, and simple in their manners, she preferred their society, and among them took up her abode. The turbulence of the times, which drave many from the more fertile plains of France and Italy, in search of freedom and tranquillity, greatly augmented the popu- lation of this remote district ; and in the ninth century, the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven had been held forth among them with consider- able clearness and ability by Claude, bishop of Turin.t Remote from the influence of noisy parties, and little conversant with literature, we can scarcely expect any notice of them, until their increase and prosperity excited the attention of ambition and avarice, and occa- sioned it to be rumoured in the neighbouring ecclesiastical states, that a numerous people occupied the southern valleys of the Alps, whose faith and practice differed from those of the Romish church; who paid no tithes, offered no mass, worshipped no saints, nor had recourse to any of the prescribed means for redeeming their souls from purgatory. The archbishops of Turin, Milan, and other cities, heard this report with anxiety, and the necessary measures were accordingly adopted for ascertaining its truth or falsehood ; the former turning out to be the result, and finding that these people were not to be controlled by the authority and denunciations of the church of Rome, the aid of the civil power was demanded. The princes and nobles of the adjacent coun- tries at first refused to disturb them ; they had beheld with pleasure their simple manners, their uprightness and integrity, their readiness to oblige, and their fidelity in the discharge of all the duties of civil and * Russell's Modern Europe, vol. i. part i. letter 23. and the authors there quoted on this subject. f See chap.iv. sect. i. p 251 — 256. and L'Hist. Generale des Eglises Vaud. par. Giles Juan Leger, ch. 20, 21, 22, 21. Rankin's Hist. France, vol.iii. 274 History of the Christian Church. social life. The clamour of the Romish clergy, however, ultimately prevailed, and the civil power was armed against the peaceable and in- offensive inhabitants of the valleys. Scaffolds were erected and fires kindled at Turin and other cities around them. The fortitude and con- fidence of the martyrs, however, increased a? their faith and constancy were tried. "Favour me," said Catalan Girard, who was one of their number, as he sat upon the funeral pile at Reuel — " favour me with those two flint stones," which he saw near him. Being handed to him, he added, as he threw them to the ground, "Sooner shall I eat these stones, than you shall be able by persecution to destroy the religion for which I die."* Multitudes, however, fled like innocent and defenceless sheep from these devouring wolves. They crossed the Alps ; and travelled in every direction as Providence and the prospect of safety conducted them, into Germany, England, France, Italy, and other countries. There they trim- med their lamps and shone with new lustre. Their worth every where drew attention, and their doctrine formed increasing circles around them. The storm which threatened their destruction, only scattered them as the precious seeds of the future glorious reformation of the Christian church.f In the present section, we shall endeavour to mark their dispersions into different countries, and the treatment they met with during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, prior to the appearance of Peter Waldo of Lyons. Our materials of information are scanty, and even those we must be content to receive chiefly from their implacable enemies ; but by a little patient research, and the aid of a discriminating judgment in selecting the probable from the fictitious, we shall be fur- nished with some interesting information relative to this obscure por- tion of their history. But before we proceed, it may be proper to remark, that about the middle of the eleventh century, and during the pontificate of Pope Leo IX. (A. D. 1050) rose up Berengarius, a person of great learning and talents, who denied the doctrine of the real presence, as it was then commonly termed ; and by writing against it, called forth all the learned of the church of Rome to defend the doctrine of transubstan- tiation. Berengarius was a native of France, educated under Fulbert, bishop of Chartras, a very learned man; and taking orders in the church, became deacon of St. Maurice, and ultimately archbishop of Angers, in the province of Anjou. He was also principal of the aca- demy of Tours. The prevalent sentiment of his day relative to the eucharist was, that the bread was the identical body, and the wine the very blood of Christ — not only figuratively, but substantially and pro- perly. Berengaruis, on the contrary, insisted that the body of Christ is only in the heavens ; and that the elements of bread and wine are merely the symbols of his body and blood. Several of the bishops wrote against him, most bitterly complaining of his heresy ; but not feeling the force of their arguments, Berengarius remained unmoved, and defended his opinions with the utmost pertinacity. He. wrote a * Perrin's History of the Vaudois, part ii. b. ii. ch. 4. f Dr. Rankin's History of France, vol. iii.p. 193 — 198. Heresy of Berengarius. 275 letter on the subject to Lanfrank, who was at that time at the head of the convent of St. Stephens, at Caen, in Normandy, and called from thence by William the Conqueror to be archbishop of Canterbury, which being opened while the latter was from home, was officiously transmitted by the convent to Pope Leo. The pontiff, shocked at its heretical contents, summoned a council at Vercelli, at which Beren- garius was commanded to be present. His friends, however, advised him against going, and he consequently sent two persons to attend the council, and answer in his behalf. Lanfrank also was present and pleaded for Berengarius, but the latter was condemned, the two per- sons who appeared for him imprisoned, and Lanfrank commanded by the pope to draw up a refutation of the heresy of Berengarius on pain of being himself reputed a heretic ; with which injunction he thought it prudent to comply. This example was followed also by the coun- cil of Paris, summoned the very same year by Henry I. in which Berengarius and his numerous adherents, were threatened with all sorts of evils both spiritual and temporal — evils which were in part executed against the heretical prelate, for the monarch deprived him of all his revenues. But neither threatenings nor fines, nor the decrees of Synods, could shake the firmness of his mind, or oblige him to re- tract his sentiments. In the mean while, the opinions of Berengarius were every where spreading rapidly, insomuch that if we may credit cotemporary writers, " his doctrine had corrupted all the English, Italian, and French nations." Thuanus adds, that "in Germany were many of the same doctrine, and that Bruno, bishop of Treves, banish- ed them all out of his diocese, sparing only their blood." During the remainder of the life of Leo IX. Berengarius and his friends enjoyed a temporary respite, but no sooner had Victor II. succeeded to the pon- tifical chair, than the flame of religious discord was rekindled, and a council was assembled at Tours, in 1055, to examine anew the doc- trine of Berengarius. At this council the famous Hildebrand, who was afterwards created Pope Gregory VII. appeared in the character of legate, and opposed the new doctrine with the utmost vehemence. Berengarius was also present at this assembly, and overawed, by threats rather than convinced by argument, he professed to abandon his opinions, solemnly abjured them in the presence of the council, and made his peace with the church. In this, however, he appears to have been insincere, for soon after this period he taught anew, though with more circumspection, the opinions he had formerly pro- fessed. The account of his perfidy reaching Rome, he was sum moned to attend a council which was convened there in 1059, and on this occasion, so terrified was Berengarius, that he declared his readi- ness to embrace and adhere to the doctrines which that venerable as- sembly should think proper to impose upon him. A confession of faith was accordingly drawn up, which he publicly signed and ratified by an oath. In that confession the following declaration was con- tained,— that the bread and wine after consecration were not only a sacrament, but also the real body and blood of Jesus Christ ; and that this body and blood were handled by the priests, and consumed by the faithful, not sacramentally, but in reality and truth, as other sensible 276 History of the Christian Church. objects are. This doctrine was so monstrously absurd ; it was such an impudent insult upon common sense and the very first principles of reason, that it is impossible it should impose upon the acute mind of Berengarius for a moment, nor could it possibly become the object of his serious belief ; and his conduct, almost immediately after, proved that his profession of it was an odious act of dissimulation ; for no sooner was he returned into France, than he expressed the utmost detestation and abhorrence of the doctrines he had been obliged to pro- fess at Rome, solemnly abjured them in his discourse and writings ; and returned zealously to the profession and defence of his former real opinion. The controversy, however, was still prolonged during many years, and a multitude of writings on both sides of the question, were conti- nually issuing, and the followers of Berengarius every where increas- ing. His adversaries now had recourse to the seducing influence of soft and friendly expostulation, to engage him to dissemble anew ; or, in other words, to return from his pretended apostasy ; but these prov- ed ineffectual. At length, Gregory VII. was raised to the papal chair, a man whose enterprising spirit no difficulties or opposition could dis- courage. This prelate, resolving to put an end to this wide-spread- ing controversy, sent an order to Berengarius to repair to Rome in the year 1078. Gregory had a high esteem for the latter, and though to silence the clamours of the multitude he found it necessary to oppose him, he did it with all possible mildness. He permitted Berengarius to draw up a new confession of his faith, and to renounce that which he had formerly sworn to abide by. This new confession not proving satisfactory to his enraged adver- saries, though Gregory himself approved it, a second was drawn up, which indeed was less vague and equivocal, but then it contained all the quintessence of absurdity which characterized the original one ; for he now professed to believe, that " the bread and wine were, by the mys- terious influences of the holy prayer, and the words of Christ, sub- stantially changed into the true, proper, and vivifying body and blood of Christ." No sooner had he made this strange declaration than the pope loaded him with caresses and sent him back 10 France, graced with the most honourable testimonies of his liberality and friendship. Solemn, however, as the declaration had been at Rome, Berengarius had no sooner returned to his residence than he began to compose an elaborate refutation of his last confession, which excited afresh the flames of theological controversy. Berengarius, however, amidst the clamours of his enraged adversaries, from this time observed a pro- found silence. Disgusted with a controversy in which the first prin- ciples of reason were so impudently insulted, and exhausted by an op- position which he was unable to overcome, he abandoned all his worldly concerns and retired into solitude, to pass the remainder of his days in fasting, prayer, and the exercise of piety. " In the year 1088 death put a period to the affliction which he suffered in his retirement, occasioned by a bitter reflection upon the dissimulation he had been guilty of at Rome ; leaving behind him, in the minds of the people, a Principles of the Cathari. 277 deep impression of his extraordinary sanctity, and his followers were as numerous as his fame was illustrious."* This controversy was too remarkable to be wholly passed over in this place, but having said thus much of it, I now pass on to a more pleasing and profitable subject. A little before the year 1140, Evervinus, of Stainfield, in the diocese of Cblogne, in Germany, addressed a letter to the celebrated Saint Ber- nard, concerning certain heretics in his neighbourhood. This letter has been preserved by Mabillon, and the learned Dr. Allix has fur- nished us with a translation of it in his Remarks on the Ancient Churches of Piedmont, p. 140. A few extracts from it will enable us to form some judgment concerning this class of men. Evervinus was much perplexed in his mind about them ; and to obtain a solution of his doubts, he wrote as follows, to the renov/ned Bernard, whose word, at that time, was as law throughout Christendom. " There have lately been some heretics discovered among us near Cologne, of whom some have with satisfaction returned again to the church. One that was a bishop among them and his companions, openly opposed us in the assembly of the clergy and laity, the lord archbishop himself being present, with many of the nobility, main- taining their heresy from the words of Christ and his apostles. But finding that they made no impression, they desired that a day might be fixed, upon which they might bring along with them men skilful in their faith, promising to return to the church, provided their teachers were unable to answer their opponents ; but that otherwise they would rather die than depart from their judgment. Upon this declaration, having been admonished to repent for three days, they ivere seized by the people in their excess of zeal, and burnt to death ; and, what is most astonishing, they came to the stake, and endured the torment of the flames, not only with patience, but even with joy. In this case, O holy father, were I present with you, I should be glad to ask you, how these members of satan could persist in their heresy with such constancy and courage as is rarely to be found among the most reli- gious in the faith of Christ. " Their heresy is this : — They say that the church is only among themselves, because they alone follow the ways of Christ, and imitate the apostles, not seeking secular gains, possessing no property, fol- lowing the pattern of Christ, who was himself perfectly poor, nor per- mitted his disciples to possess any thing.t Whereas ye, say they to us, join house to house, and field to field, seeking the things of this world, — yea, even your monks and regular canons possess all these things — describing themselves as the poor of Christ's flock, who have no certain abode, fleeing from one city to another, like sheep in the midst of wolves — enduring persecution with the apostles and martyrs ; though strict in their manner of life, abstemious, laborious, devout and holy, and seeking only what is needful for bodily sustenance, living as * Mosheim, vol. ii. Cent. xi. part 2. j- We shall see reason hereafter to believe that, in this particular, Evervinus misrepresented them. 24 278 History of the Christian Church. men who are not of the world. But you, say they, lovers of the world, have peace with the world because ye are of it. False apostles, who adulterate the word of God, seeking their own things, have mis- led you and your ancestors. Whereas we and our fathers having been born and brought up in the apostolic doctrine, have continued in the grace of Christ, and shall continue so to the end. ' By their fruits ye shall know them,' saith Christ ; and our fruits are the footsteps of Christ. The apostolic dignity, say they, is corrupted by engaging it- self in secular affairs, while it sits in the chair of Peter. They do not hold the baptism of infants, alleging that passage of the gospel, '* He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." They place no confi- dence in the intercession of saints ; and all things observed in the church which have not been established by Christ himself or his apos- tles, they call superstitious. They do not admit of any purgatory fire after death, contending that the souls as soon as they depart out of the bodies, do enter into rest, or punishment, proving it from that passage of Solomon, ' Which way soever the tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, there it lies,' by which means they make void all the prayers and oblations of believers for the deceased. " We, therefore, beseech you, holy father, to employ your care and watchfulness against these manifold mischiefs ; and that you would be pleased to direct your pen against these wild beasts of the reeds, not thinking it sufficient to answer us that the tower of David, to which we may betake ourselves for refuge, is sufficiently fortified with bulwarks, that a thousand bucklers hang on the walls of it, all shields of mighty men. For we desire father, for the sake of us simple ones, and that are slow of understanding, you would be pleased by your study, to gather all these arms into one place, that they may be the more readily found, and more powerful to resist these monsters. I must inform you also, that those of them who have returned to our church, tell us, that they had great numbers of their persuasion scat- tered almost every where, and that amongst them were many of our clergy and monks. And as for those who were burnt, they, in the defence they made for themselves, told us, that this heresy had been concealed from the time of the martyrs — and that it had existed in Greece and other countries." The letter of Evervinus had all the effect upon Bernard that he could desire. The mighty champion immediately prepared himself for the combat. He was then publishing a set of sermons on the Canticles, and in the 65th and 66th of them he enters the lists most vehemently with these heretics. He is extremely offended with them for deriding the Catholics because they baptized infants, and prayed for the dead, and asserted purgatory — condemns their scrupulous re- fusal to swear at all, which, according to him, was one of their pe- culiarities— upbraids them with their secrecy in the observance of their religious rites, not considering the necessity which persecution imposed upon them — finds fault with a practice among them of. dwell- ing with vomen in the same house without being married to them, by which we a,e no doubt to understand, that they did not think it ne- cessary to solemnize their marriages according to the ceremonies of Testimony of Bernard to their character. 279 the church of Rome, though he expresses himself as knowing very little of the manners of the sect ; and from the numberless rumours propagated against them, he suspects them of hypocrisy. Yet his tes- timony in favour of their general conduct seems to overbalance all his invectives. "If," says he, "you ask them of their faith, nothing can be more Christian ; if you observe their conversation, nothing can be more blameless, and what they speak, they prove by deeds. You may see a man, for the testimony of his faith, frequent the church, honour the elders, offer his gift, make his confession, receive the sa- crament. What more like a Christian? As to life and manners, he circumvents no man, over-reaches no man, and does violence to no man. He fasts much, and eats not the bread of idleness, but works with his hands for support. The whole body, indeed, are rustic and illiterate, and all whom I have known of this sect are very ignorant." Such was the testimony of the great Saint Bernard in their behalf.* We have some additional information concerning these people, given us by Egbert, a monk, and afterwards abbot of Schonauge, who tells us that he had often disputed with these heretics, and that he had learned still more of their opinions from those who had, through the force of torments and the threat of being burned, renounced their communion. * Dr. Haweis loses all patience with his brother Milner, for attempting- to in- troduce the gTeat Bernard into the calendar of saints. "I am astonished," says he, "at his attempt to enrol Bernard in his catalogue of evangelical religion. Saint added to such a name would be impious. However orthodox some of his sentiments may be, can false mLatlcs, tying; prophecies, bloody persecutions of the faithful, and servitude to the papacy and her dominion, constitute a saint of the first water ? A protestant divine disgraces his page by these commendations, and renders even the truths which he supports, and contends for as evangelical, suspicious." Impartial Hist. vol. ii. p. 230. In all this I fully agree with Dr. Haweis; but then it furnishes me with a powerful plea against his own consis- tency, who has no scruple to enrol in his catalogue the names of Athanasius and Augustine — men equally renowned for their lust of power, their persecuting principles, their false miracles, their lying prophecies, and abject servitude to the prevailing corruption of their respective times. To the character of Bernard, however, let us not be unjust. He was not a blind and slavish supporter of the court of Rome, even in those days. On the contrary, he used the greatest freedom of speech in lashing the vices of the clergy of his time, and made himself extremely obnoxious to them by his free remonstrances. "Who at the outset," says he, "when the order of monks began, would ever have imagined that monks would become so wicked as they since have ? Oh, how unlike are we to those in the days of Anthony ? Did Macarius live in such a manner ? Did Basil teach so ? Did Anthony ordain so ? Did the fathers in Egypt carry themselves so ? How is the light of the world become darkness ? How is the salt of the earth become unsavoury ? I am a liar," says he, "if I have not seen an abbot having above sixty horses in his train! When ye saw them riding, ye might say, « These are not fathers of monasteries, but lords of castles — not shepherds of souls, but princes of provinces!' — Oh, vanity of vanities! the walls of churches are glorious, while the poor are starv- ing." Even the popes themselves were not spared by Bernard. He wrote to Eugenius and to Innocent the Second, imputing to them the blame of all the wickedness in the church, — though he approved of its constitution, and defend- ed all its rites and ceremonies. This inconsistent conduct gave rise to a saying which passed into a proverb, and was common for centuries after, Yiz.Bernardus non vidit omnia — Bernard does not see every thing. 280 History of the Christian Church. He says, " they are commonly called Cathari, [Puritans] a sort of people very pernicious to the catholic faithT which, like moths, they corrupt and destroy." He adds, that they were divided into several sects, and maintained their opinions by the authority of Scripture. He takes particular notice of their denying the utility of baptism to in- fants, which, say they, through their incapacity, avails nothing to their salvation ; insisting that baptism ought to be deferred till they come to years of discretion, and that even then those only should be baptized "who make a personal profession of faith, and desire it.* They are arm- ed," says he, "with the words of the holy scripture which in anyway seem to favour their sentiments, and with those they know how to de- fend their errors, and to oppose the catholic truth ; though in reality they are wholly ignorant of the true meaning couched in those words, and which cannot be discovered without great judgment. They are in- creased to great multitudes throughout all countries, to the great danger of the church — for their words eat like a canker, and, like a flying le- prosy, runs every way, infecting the precious members of Christ. These, in our Germany we call Cathari; in Flanders they call them Piphles ; in French, Tisserands, from the art of weaving, because num- bers of them are of that occupation."! Thus by comparing together these several fragments of information,, we may acquire some distinct notion of these Cathari. They were a plain, unassuming, harmless, and industrious race of Christians, patient- ly bearing the cross after Christ, and both in their doctrine and man- ners condemning the whole system of idolatry and superstition which reigned in the church of Rome, placing true religion in the faith, hope, and obedience of the gospel, maintaining a supreme regard to the au- thority of God, in his word, and regulating their sentiments and prac- tices by that divine standard. Even in the twelfth century their num- bers abounded in the neighbourhood of Cologne, in Flanders, the south of France, Savoy, and Milan. " They were increased," says Egbert, " to great multitudes, throughout all countries," and although they seem not to have attracted attention in any remarkable degree pre- vious to this period, yet, as it is obvious they could not have sprung . up in a day, it is not an unfair inference that they must have long ex- isted as a people wholly distinct from the catholic church, though, amidst the political squabbles of the clergy, it was their good fortune to be almost entirely overlooked. The same Egbert, speaking of them, says, " Concerning the souls of the dead, they hold this opinion, that at the very instant of their depar- ture out of the body, they go to eternal bliss or endless misery, for they do not admit the belief of the universal church, that there are some pur- gatory punishments, with which the souls of some of the elect are tried for a time, on account of those sins from which they have not been purified by a plenary satisfaction in this life. On which account they think it superfluous and vain to give alms for the dead and celebrate * See his Sermon against the Cathari in Bib. Pat. torn. ii. p. 99, 106. D'An- ver's Hist. Bapt. p. 249. | Dr. Allix's Remarks, p. 150. Persecution of the TFaldenses in England. 281 masses; and they scoff at our ringing of belle, which, nevertheless, for pious reasons, are used in our churches, to give others warning that they may pray for the dead, and to put them in mind of their own death. As "for masses, they altogether despise them, regarding them as of no value, for they maintain that the sacerdotal Order has entirely ceased in the church of Rome and all other catholic churches, and that true priests are only to be found in their sect."* Throughout the whole of the twelfth century, these people were ex- posed to severe persecution. The zeal of Galdinus, archbishop of Mi- lan, was roused against them to such a pitch, that after making them the objects of unrelenting persecution, during a period of eight or nine years, he, at length, fell a martyr to his own zeal, dying in the year 1173, in consequence of an illness contracted through the excess of his vehemence in preaching against them. Towards the middle of the twelfth century, a small society of these Puritans, as they were called by some, or Waldenses, as they are termed by others, or PauUcians, as they are denominated by our old monkish historian, William of Neuburg, made their appearance in England. This latter writer speaking of them, says, " they came originally from Gascoyne, where, being as numerous as the sand of the sea, they sorely infested both France, Italy, Spain, and England." The follow- ing is the account given by Dr. Henry, in his History of Great Britain, vol. viii. p. 338. Oct. ed. of this emigrating party, which, in substance, corresponds with what is said of them by Rapin, Collier, Lyttleton, and other of our writers. "A company, consisting of about thirty men and women, who spoke the German language, appeared in England at this time (1159), and soon attracted the attention of government by the singularity of their religious practices and opinions. It is indeed very difficult to discover with certainty what their opinions were, because they are recorded only by our monkish historians, who speak of them with much asperity. They were apprehended and brought before a council of the clergy at Oxford. Being interrogated about their religion, their teacher, named Gerard, a man of learning, answered in their name, that they were Christians, and believed the doctrines of the apostles. Upon a more particular inquiry, it was found that they denied several of the received doctrines of the church, such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, and the invocation of saints ; and refusing to abandon these damnable here- sies, as they were called, they were condemned as incorrigible heretics, and delivered to the secular arm to be punished. The king, (Henry II.) at the instigation of the clergy, commanded them to be branded with a red hot iron on the forehead, to be whipped through the streets of Oxford, and, having their clothes cut short by their girdles, to be turn- ed into the open fields, all persons being forbidden to afford them any shelter or relief under the severest penalties. This cruel sentence was executed in its utmost rigour ; and it being the depth of winter, all these unhappy persons perished with cold and hunger. These seem to have been the first who suffered death in Britain, for the vague and variable * Serin. I. p. 889, in Bib. pp. Colon, ed. quoted by Dr. Allix, p. 152. 24* 282 History of the Christian Church. crime of heresy, and it would have been much to the honour of the country if they had been the last." There is an account of the punishing of these Waldenses, in the Arch^eologia, vol. ix. p. 292 — 305, written by the Rev. Mr. Denne, of Wilmington ; from which I shall here give a short extract by way of supplement to the preceding narrative. "These persons," says he, " having been believers of the essential doctrines of Christianity, (as is admitted by the bishops) and, as it may be inferred from the silence of the historian, that these sectaries were in their manners inoffensive, nothing but the evil spirit of persecution could have prompted their judges to deliver them up to the civil magistrate. It was the more culpable in the prelates, because there was so little ground for an alarm of their propagating with success their peculiar tenets. For though they seem to have resided for some time in England, they only converted one woman of an inferior rank, and she was so slightly attached to them, that she was soon prevailed on to recant and forsake their society. And as they were not disturbers of the public peace, it is somewhat strange that the king, whose disposition was humane, should think those people merited branding and exile. But it was during the contest between Henry and Becket, in support of the just rights of the crown, that this occurrence happened ; and his hard usage of these foreigners has been attributed to an unwillingness of affording a pretext to the pope and his adherents to charge them with profaneness, or an inattention to the cause of religion. By the council of Tours, held in 1163, princes were ex- horted and directed to imprison all heretics within their dominions, and to confiscate their effects. Of this injunction Henry could not be igno- rant, and he might be actuated by it to treat the delinquents with more rigour than he otherwise would have done." Mr. Denne has fixed the sitting of the council at Oxford in the year 1166. But the Cathari, or Puritans, were not the only sect which, during the twelfth century, appeared in opposition to the superstition of the church of Rome. About the year 1110, in the South of France, in the provinces ofLanguedoc and Provence, appeared Peter de Bruys, preach- ing the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and exerting the most lauda- ble efforts to reform the abuses and remove the superstitions which disfigured the beautiful simplicity of the gospel worship. His labours were crowned with abundant success. He converted a great number of persons to the faith of Christ, and after a most indefatigable ministry of twenty years continuance, he was burnt at St. Giles's, a city ofLan- guedoc in France, in the year 1130, by an enraged populace, instigated by the clergy, who apprehended their traffic to be in danger from this new and intrepid reformer. His followers were called Petrobrusians ; but of his doctrinal sentiments the following are those alone which we can be sure of at this remote period — That the ordinance of baptism was to be administered only to adults — that it was a piece of idle super- stition to build and dedicate churches to the service of God, who in worship has a peculiar respect to the state of the heart, and who cannot be worshipped with temples made by hands — that crucifixes were ob- jects of superstition, and ought to be destroyed — that in the Lord's sup- per the real body and blood of Christ were not exhibited, but only Account of Arnold of Brescia. 283 represented in the way of symbol or figure — and lastly, that the ob- lations, prayers, and good works of the living, could in no respect be beneficial to the dead.* A few years after the death of Peter Brays, rose up an Italian by birth, of the name of Henry, said to have been his disciple, and who was the founder of a new sect called the Henricians. He had been both a monk and a hermit ; but having received the knowledge of the truth he labour- ed to reform the superstitions of the times. Quitting Lausanne, a city of Switzerland, he travelled to Mans, and being banished from thence, removed successively to Poictiers, Bourdeaux, and other cities in France ; and at length, in the year 1147, to Toulouse, preaching the gospel in all those places with the greatest acceptance, and declaiming with ve- hemence and fervour against the vices of the clergy, and the supersti- tions introduced by them into the Christian church. At Toulouse he was warmly opposed by the great St. Bernard, that luminary of the Catholic church, who, though he wrote against him with great bitter- ness, is nevertheless constrained to admit that Henry was a learned man, and greatly respected by his numerous followers. The latter, however, to avoid his fury, was compelled to save himself by flight. He was, nevertheless, seized, in his retreat, and carried before Pope Eugenius III. who assembled a council at Rheims, in which he pre- sided in person, and having received a number of accusations against Henry, committed him in the year 1158 to a close prison, in which he soon ended his days. His doctrinal sentiments have not been handed down to us in a manner so full and explicit as could be wished. "All we know is, that he rejected infant baptism ; censured with severity the corrupt and licentious manners of the clergy ; treated the festivals and ceremonies of the Catholic church with the utmost contempt ; and held private assemblies, in which he explained and inculcated his peculiar sentiments. "t I feel some hesitation in adding to the list of reformers who arose during this benighted period, the name of Arnold of Brescia, because Mosheim and other writers have described him as a man of a turbulent and impetuous spirit; and, though he is universally allowed to have been possessed of extensive erudition, and remarkable for the austerity of his manners, he is represented by those writers as not confining himself to the apostolic weapons of the Christian warfare. Yet, the spirit of candour and fairness would seem to require that allowance should be made for those exaggerations which the malignity oi his en- raged adversaries prompted them to vent against him. There are few things more difficult than to combine the leniter in modo with the fortitcr in re, and gentleness seems almost incompatible with the zeal of a reformer. I shall, however, adduce a few impartial testimonies to the character of Arnold, and leave the reader to his own reflections on them. The following account of him is given in a recent publica- tion of great merit. * Mosheim's Church History, vol. iii. cent. xii. part 2. ch. v. and the authors there referred to. f Mosheim, vol. iii. cent. xii. part ii. ch. v. 284 History of the Christian Church. " Arnold, at an early period of life travelled into France, and be- came the disciple of the celebrated Abelard. Having imbibed some of the heretical sentiments, and a portion of that freedom of thought, which distinguished his master, he returned to Italy, and in the habit of a monk, began to propagate his opinions in the streets of Brescia. The zeal of this daring reformer was at first directed against the wealth and luxury of the Romish clergy. Insisting that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, he maintained that the temporal power of the church was an unprincipled corruption of the rights of secular princes, and that all the corruptions which disgraced the Christian faith, and all the animosities which distracted the church, sprang from the power and overgrown possessions of the clergy. These bold truths were propagated not as mere points of speculation, or as an explana- tion of the various calamities which then affected the church ; they were held as the foundation of a system of reform which the people were excited to carry into execution ; and the clergy were called upon to renounce their usurped possessions, and to lead a frugal and abste- mious life on the voluntary contributions of the people. The inhabi- tants of Brescia were roused by the eloquent appeals of their country- man. They revered him as the apostle of religious liberty, and rose in rebellion against their lawful bishop. The church took alarm at these dangerous commotions, and in a general council of the Lateran, held in 1139, by Innocent II. Arnold was condemned to perpetual si- lence. He sought for refuge beyond the Alps, and found an hospita- ble shelter in the Canton of Zurich. Here he again began his career of reform, and had the ability to seduce from their allegiance the bish- op of Constance, and even the pope's legate. The exhortations of St. Bernard, however, reclaimed these yielding ecclesiastics to a sense of their duty, and Arnold was driven by persecution to hazard the des- perate expedient of fixing the standard of rebellion in the very heart of Rome. Protected, perhaps, if not invited, by the nobles, Arnold harangued the populace with his usual fervour, and inspired them with such a regard for their civil and ecclesiastical rights, that a complete revolu- tion was effected in the city. Innocent struggled in vain against this invasion of his power, and at last sunk under the pressure of calamity. His successors, Celestine and Lucius, who reigned only a few months, were unable to check the popular frenzy. The leaders of the insur- rection waited upon Lucius, demanded the restitution of the civil rights which had been usurped from the people, and insisted that his holiness and the clergy should trust only to pious offerings of the faithful. Lucius survived this demand but a few days, and was succeeded by Eugenius III. who, dreading the mutinous spirit of the inhabitants, withdrew from Rome, and was consecrated in a neighbouring fortress. As soon as Arnold was acquainted with the escape of the pontiff, he entered Rome, and animated with new vigour the licentious fury of the populace. He called to their remembrance the achievements of their forefathers — he painted in the strongest colours, the sufferings which sprung from ecclesiastical tyranny ; and he charged them as men and as Romans, never to admit the pontiff within their walls, till Account of Arnold of Brescia. 285 they had prescribed the limits of his spiritual jurisdiction, and fixed the civil government in their own hands. Headed by the disaffected nobles, the frenzied populace, attacked the cardinals and clergy, who still continued in the city. They set fire to the palaces, and forced the inhabitants to swear allegiance to the new system of things. The Roman pontiff could no longer view with patience the excesses of this ungovernable mob. At the head of his troops, chiefly com- posed of Tiburtines, he marched against the city, and after some tri- fling concessions on his part, was reinstated on the papal throne. Not- withstanding the triumph over the malecontents, the friends of Arnold were still numerous, and continued 10 disturb the peace of the city, till our countryman, Adrian IV. was raised to the chair of St. Peter. On the first appearance of a riot, during which a cardinal was either killed or wounded in the street, Adrian held an interdict over the guilty city, and from Christmas to Easter deprived it of the privilege of religious worship. This bold and sagacious contrivance gave a sudden turn to the minds of the people. Arnold and his followers were banished from the city, and fled for protection to the viscounts of Campania. His holiness, however, was not satisfied with restoring peace to his capital. A spirit of revenge burned within him, till he instigated Frederick Barbarossa to force Arnold from his asylum in Campania. This intrepid reformer was immediately seized by cardinal Gerard in 1155, and was burned alive in the midst of a fickle people, who gazed with stupid indifference on the expiring hero, who had fallen in defence of their dearest rights, and whom they had formerly regarded with more than mortal veneration ; his ashes were thrown into the Tiber ; but though no corporeal relic could be preserved to animate his fol- lowers, the efforts which he made in the cause of civil and religious freedom were cherished in the breasts of future patriots, and inspired those mighty attempts which have chained down and finally destroyed the monster of superstition. It is impossible not to admire the genius and persevering intrepidity of Arnold. To distinguish truth from error in an age of darkness, and to detect the causes of spiritual corruption in the thickest atmosphere of ignorance and superstition, evinced a mind of more than ordinary stretch. To adopt a plan for recovering the lost glory of his country, and fixing the limits of spiritual usurpation, demanded a degree of re- solution which no opposition could control. But to struggle against superstition entrenched in power, to plant the standard of rebellion in the very heart of her empire, and to keep possession of her capital for a number of years, could scarcely have been expected from an indi- vidual who had no power but that of his eloquence, and no assistance but what he derived from the justice of his cause. Yet such were the individual exertions of Arnold, which posterity will appreciate as one of the noblest legacies which former ages have bequeathed. Every triumph that is gained over ecclesiastical power stretched beyond its just limits, in whatever country it is sanctioned, and under whatever system of faith it is exercised, is the triumph of right reason over the worst passions of the heart. It is the greatest step which the hu- 286 History of the Christian Church. man mind can take in its progress to that knowledge and happiness to which the Almighty has destined it to arrive."* " We may truly say," says Dr. Allix, " that scarcely any man was ever so torn and defamed on account of his doctrine as was this Ar- nold of Brescia. Would we know the reason of this ? It was be- cause, with all his power, he opposed the tyranny and usurpation which the popes began to establish at Rome over the temporal jurisdic- tion of the emperors. He was the man who, by his counsel, renewed the design of re-establishing the authority of the senate in Rome, and of obliging the pope not to meddle with any thing but what concerned the government of the church, Avithout invading the temporal jurisdic- tion : — this was his crime, and this indeed is such an one as is unpar- donable with the Pope, if there be any such."t " But there was a still more heinous thing laid to his charge, which was this: Prseter hsec de Sacramento altaris et baptismo parvulorum, non sane dicitur sensisse! that is, " He was unsound in his judgment about the sacrament of the altar and infant baptism" — (in other words, he rejected the popish doctrine of transubstantiation and of the baptism of infants.) And this alone was sufficient ground for his condemnation ; for as he set himself industriously to oppose the accumulating errors in the church of Brescia, his native place, in which he was supported by Maifredus, the consul of that city, accusations against him were trans- mitted to pope Innocent II. who immediately imposed silence upon him, lest such pernicious doctrine should spread further. On this, Ar- nold retired from Italy, and settled at Zurich, in the diocese of Con- stance, where he continued to disseminate his doctrine until the death of the Pope, at which time he returned to Rome." Otho Frisingensis, a Catholic bishop, gives the following account of the death of this great man. " Being entered into the city [Rome] and finding it altogether in a seditious uproar against the Pope, he was so far from following the advice of the wise man, not to add fuel to the fire, that he greatly increased it, proposing to the multitude the exam- ples of the ancient Romans, who, by the maturity of their senators' counsels, and the valour and integrity of their youth, made the world their own. He therefore advised them to rebuild the capital, to restore the dignity of the senate, and reform the order of knights. He main- tained that the civil government of the city did not belong to the Pope, who ought to confine himself to matters purely ecclesiastical. And so far did the mischief of this infectious doctrine prevail, that the mob pulled down several of the houses of the nobility and cardinals, treating the latter with personal abuse, and even violence. He could not hope to escape long, after committing so heinous a crime against persons so extremely jealous of their tyranny. " Having persisted for a length of time, incessantly and irreverently, in these and similar enterprises, contemning the sentence of the clergy justly and canonically pronounced against him as altogether void, and of no authority ; he at length fell into the hands of some, on the borders of * Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclop. Art. Arnold. f Allix's Remarks, p. 169. Account of the sect of the Paterines. 287 Tuscany, who took him prisoner, and being preserved for the prince's trial, he was at last, by the prefect of the city, hanged, (Mosheim says he was crucified) and his body burnt to ashes, to prevent the foolish rabble from expressing any veneration for his body, and the ashes of it cast into the Tiber."* Such was the end of Arnold of Brescia, whose memory, however, was long and fondly cherished by the people of Rome, whose interests he had so courageously advocated against the tyranny of the popes, and whose hatred he had thereby incurred. His tragical end occasioned deep and loud murmurs; it was regarded as an act of injustice and cru- elty, the guilt of which lay upon the bishop of Rome and his clergy, who had been the occasion of it. The disciples of Arnold, who were numerous, and obtained the name of Arnoldists, separated themselves from the communion of the church of Rome, and long continued to bear their testimony against its numerous abominations. This seems to be the proper place for introducing some particular mention of the sect of the Paterines. The most copious account of them that I have met with, is that given by Mr. Robinson in his Ecclesiasti- cal Researches ; and as it appears to be well supported by the authori- ties which he has adduced, and to correspond with what is said of the same people by Dr. Allix, Mosheim, and others, I present it to the reader mostly in his own words. Much has been written on the etymology of the word Paterine ; but as the Italians themselves are not agreed on the derivation, it is not likely foreigners should be able to determine it. In Milan, where it was first used, it answered to the English words, vulgar, illiterate, low- bred ; and these people were so called, because they were chiefly of the lower order of men; mechanics, artificers, manufacturers, and others, who lived of their honest labour. Gazari, is a corruption of Cathari, Puritans ; and it is remarkable that in the examinations of these people, they are not taxed with any immoralities, but were con- demned for speculations, or rather for virtuous rules of action, which all in power accounted heresies. They said a Christian church ought to consist of only good people ; a church had no power to frame any constitutions ; it was not right to take oaths ; it was not lawful to kill mankind; a man ought not to be delivered up to officers of justice to be^ converted ; the benefits of society belonged alike to all the members of it ; faith without works could not save a man ; the church ought not to persecute any, even the wicked : — the law of Moses was no rule to Christians ; there was no need of priests, especially of wicked ones ; the sacraments, and orders, and ceremonies of the church of Rome were futile, expensive, oppressive, and wicked ; with many more such posi- tions, all inimical to the hierarchy. As the Catholics of those times baptized by immersion, the Paterines, by what name soever they were called, as Manichaeans, Gazari, Jose- phists, Passigines, &c. made no complaint of the mode of baptizing, but when they Mere examined, they objected vehemently against the baptism of infants, and condemned it as an error. Among other things, • Dr. Allix's Remarks, p. 172. 288 History of the Christian Church. they said, that a child knew nothing of the matter, that he had no de- sire to be baptized, and was incapable of making any confession of faith, and that the willing and professing of another could be of no ser- vice to him. "Here then," says Dr. Allix, very truly, we have found a body of men in Italy, before the year one thousand and twenty-six, five hundred years before the Reformation, who believed contrary to the opinions of the church of Rome, and who highly condemned their er- rors." Atto, bishop of Verceulli, had complained of such people eighty years before, and so had others before him, and there is the highest reason to believe that they had always existed in Italy. It is observa- ble that those who are alluded to by Dr. Allix, were brought to light by mere accident. No notice was taken of them in Italy, but some disci- ples of Gundulf, one of their teachers, went to settle in the Low Coun- tries, (Netherlands) and Gerard, bishop of Cambray, imprisoned them, under pretence of converting them. From the tenth to the thirteenth century, the dissenters in Italy con- tinued to multiply and increase ; for which several reasons may be as- signed. The excessive wickedness of the court of Rome and the Ita- lian prelates was better known in Italy than in the other countries. There was no legal power in Italy in these times to put dissenters to death. Popular preachers in the church, such as Claude of Turin, and Arnold of Brescia, increased the number of dissenters, for their disciples went further than their masters. The adjacency of France and Spain too, contributed to their increase, for both abounded with Christians of this sort. Their churches were divided into sixteen compartments, such as the English Baptists would call associations. Each of these was subdivided into parts, which would be here termed churches or congregations. In Milan there was a street called Pataria, where it is supposed they met for divine worship. At Modena they assembled at some water-mills. They had houses at Ferrara, Brescia, Viterbe, Verona, Vicenza, and several in Rimini, Romandiola, and other places. Reinerius says, in 1259 the Paterine church of Alba .consisted of about five hundred members ; that at Concorezzo of more than fifteen hundred ; and that of Bagnolo about two hundred. The houses where they met seem to have been hired, by the people, and tenanted by one of the brethren. There were several in each city, and each was distinguished by a mark known by themselves. They had bishops, or elders, pastors and teachers, deacons, and messengers ; that is, men employed in travelling to administer to the relief and com- fort of the poor, and the persecuted. In times of persecution they met in small companies of eight, twenty, thirty, or as it might happen ; but never in large assemblies, for fear of the consequences. The Paterines were decent in their deportment, modest in their dress and discourse, and their morals irreproachable. In their conver- sation there was no levity, no scurrility, no detraction, no falsehood, no swearing. Their dress was neither fine nor mean. They were chaste and temperate, never frequenting taverns, or places of public amusement. They were not given to anger and other violent pas- sions. They were not eager to accumulate wealth, but content with the necessaries of life. They avoided commerce, because they thought Of the Paterine Churches. 289 it would expose them to the temptation of collusion, falsehood, and oaths, choosing. rather to live by lahour or useful trades. They were always employed in spare hours either in giving or receiving instruc- tion. Their bishops and officers were mechanics, weavers, shoe- makers, and others, who maintained themselves by their industry. About the year 1040, the Paterines had become very numerous at Milan, which was their principal residence, and here they flourished at least two hundred years. They had no connection with the [Ca- tholic] church; for they rejected not only Jerome of Syria, Augustine of Africa, and Gregory of Rome, but Ambrose of Milan ; considering them, and other pretended fathers, as corrupters of Christianity. They particularly condemned pope Sylvester as Antichrist. They called [the adoration of] the cross the mark of the beast. They had no share in the state, for they took no oaths and bore no arms. The state did not trouble them, but the clergy preached, prayed, and pub- lished books against them with unabated zeal. About the year 1176, the archbishop of Milan, an old infirm man, while preaching against them with great vehemence, dropped down in a fit, and expired as soon as he had received extreme unction ! About fourteen years afterwards, one Bonacursi, ivho pretended he had been one of these Paterines, made a 'public renunciation of his opinions, and embraced the Catholic faith, fil- ling Milan with fables, as all renegadoes do. He reported that cities, subburs, towns., and castles, were full of these false prophets — that it was the time to suppress them, and that the prophet Jeremiah had direct- ed the Milanese what to do, when he said, " Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood ! !" Advice which Ave shall presently see was but too implicitly followed.* SECTION IV. HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES TO ASIA, FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE HOLY LAND AND THE CITY OF JERUSALEM FROM THE TURKS. A. D. 1096 1270. It has be"en remarked by a late eminent historian,! that " there is no event in the history of mankind more singular than that of the cru- sades." The subject is indeed very remotely, if at all, connected with * Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 407 — 412. and p. 455. As it may afford satisfaction to some readers to know from what sources of authority Mr. R. has drawn his account of the Paterines, I here subjoin them. Muratori JLntiq. Ital. torn. v. Gregorii, contra Maniclises, qui Paterini dicuntur, opusculi specimen, cap. vi. Sicardi Episcopi Cremonensis chronicon, ad. An. 1213. Bona- cursi Vitx haereticorum. Manifestatio kseresis Catharorum D'Archerii Spicile- gium, torn. i. 208. Be Catharis monitum. f Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. i. Appendix, Note 13. Mr. Hume terms them "the most signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation." Hist, of England, vol. i. ch. 5. 25 290 History of the Christian Church. the kingdom of Christ ; but as it forms a prominent feature in the his- tory of the Antichristian apostasy ; and as these extravagant enter- prises took place towards the end of the eleventh, and during a con- siderable part of the twelfth century, and especially as the relation of them throws a portion of light upon the history of Europe during this benighted period, it may not be without its use here to give a concise account of them. I have purposely reserved the article for a separate section, to prevent its being mingled with what regards the Waldenses and Albigenses, who had nothing to do with these frantic expeditions, except to condemn tbem. Pope Gregory VII. among his other vast ideas, had formed the project of uniting the Christians of the Western empire against the Mahometans, and of recovering Palestine from the hands-of those in- fidels : but his quarrels with the emperor Henry IV. prevented the en- terprise from being achieved during his pontificate. The work, how- ever, was reserved for a meaner instrument ; for a man, whose condi- tion could excite no jealousy ; and whose hand was as weak as his imagination was warm. But previous to entering upon his history, it will be proper to describe the state of the East at that time, and of the passion for pilgrimages which then prevailed in Europe. The veneration and delight with which we view those places that have been the residence of any illustrious personage, or the theatre of any great event, has been frequently remarked by philosophers and moralists. Hence the enthusiasm with which the learned still visit the ruins of Athens and Rome ; and from this source also flowed the su- perstitious devotion with which Christians from the earliest time were accustomed to visit that country whence their religion originated, and that city in particular in which the Saviour died for the redemption of sinners. Pilgrimages to the shrines of saints and martyrs were also common ; and in proportion to the difficulty with which they were performed to distant countries, was their merit appreciated, till they came at length to be considered as an expiation for almost every crime. Moreover, an opinion began to prevail over Europe towards the close of the tenth and beginning of the eleventh century, that the thousand years mentioned by the writer of the book of the Revelation, ch. xx. 2 — 4, were nearly accomplished, and the end of the world at hand — a persuasion which greatly augmented the number and ardour of the credulous devotees who undertook this tedious journey. A general consternation seized the minds of men; numbers relinquished their possessions, forsook their families and friends, and hastened to the Holy Land, where they imagined Christ would suddenly appear to judge the living and the dead. But in these pious journeys, the pilgrims had the mortification to find the holy sepulchre, and the other places which had been rendered sacred by the Saviour's presence, fallen into the hands of infidels. The Mahometans had made themselves masters of Palestine, soon after the death of their prophet ; but they gave little disturbance, to the zealous pilgrims who daily flocked to Jerusalem ; and they allowed every person, on payment of a moderate tribute, to visit the holy se- pulchre, to perform his religious duties, and to return in peace. But, Expedition of the Crusades. 291 about the middle of the eleventh century, the Turks, who had also embraced Mahometanism, wrested Syria from the Saracens who had now been in possession of it for several centuries, and making them- selves masters of Jerusalem, the pilgrims became exposed to outrages of every kind from those fierce barbarians. Every person who re- turned from Palestine related the dangers that he had encountered in visiting the holy city, and described the cruelty and vexation of the Turks, who, to use the language of the pilgrims, not only profaned the sepulchre of the Lord by their presence, but derided the sacred mysteries in the very place of their completion, and where the Son of God was expected immediately to judge the world. "While the minds of men were thus roused, a fanatical monk, com- monly known by the name of Peter the Hermit, a Frenchman, born at Amiens in Picardy, conceived the project of leading all the forces of Christendom against the infidels, and driving them out of the Holy Land. He had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and was so deeply affected with the danger to which his fellow pilgrims were now ex- posed, that, on. his return, he ran from province to province, with a crucifix in his hand, exciting princes and people to undertake this holy warfare ; and he succeeded in every where kindling the same enthusias- tic ardour for it with which he himself was animated. " When he painted the suffering of the natives and pilgrims of Palestine, every heart was melted to compassion ; every breast glowed with indignation when he challenged the warriors of the age to defend their brethren and rescue their Saviour."* Pope Urban II. who at first hesitated about the success of such a project, at length entered into Peter's views, and summoned a council at Placentia, at which, so immense was the multitude of "attendants, that it was found necessary to hold it in the open fields. It consisted of four thousand ecclesiastics and thirty thousand of the laity, who all declared for the war against the Infidels, though but few of them dis- covered any alacrity to engage personally in the enterprise. The Pope, therefore, was under the necessity of calling another council, during the same year, at Clermont in Auvergne, which was attended by prelates, nobles, and princes of the first distinction. On this occa- sion the pontiff and the hermit exerted all their eloquence, by the most pathetic exhortations, to stimulate the audience to embark in this pious cause ; at the conclusion of which the whole assembly, as if impelled by an immediate inspiration, exclaimed with one voice, " It is the will of God J It is the will of God!" " It is indeed the will of God," re- plied the pope ; " and let this memorable saying, the inspiration surely of the Holy Spirit, be for ever adopted as your cry of battle to animate the devotion and courage of the champions of Christ. His cross is the symbol of your salvation ; wear it : a red, a bloody cross, as an external mark on your breast or shoulders ; as a pledge of your sacred and irrevocable engagement." The words were accordingly adopted as the motto for the sacred standard, and as the signal of rendezvous and battle in all the future exploits of the champions of the Cross; • Gibbon's Rome, vol. vi. p. 3, 292 History of the Christian Church. the symbol chosen by the devout combatants, as the badge of union ; and it was affixed to their right shoulder ; whence their expedition ob- tained the name of a Crusade. Persons of all ranks now flew to arms with the utmost ardour ; not only the gallant nobles of that age and their martial followers, whom the boldness of a romantic enterprise might be supposed to allure, but persons in the more humble and pacific stations of life, ecclesiastics of every order, and even females concealing their sex beneath the disguise of armour, engaged with emulation in a cause which was deemed so sacred and meritorious. The greatest criminals entered with alacrity into a service which they regarded as a propitiation for all their of- fences : if they succeeded, they flattered themselves with the hope of making their fortunes in this world ; and if they died, they were pro- mised a crown of glory in the world to come. Devotion, passion, prejudice, and habit, all contributed to the same common end, and the combination of so many causes produced that wonderful emigration which induced the daughter of Alexis Comnenus, the emperor of Con- stantinople, to say, that " Europe loosened from its foundations, and impelled by its moving principle, seemed in one united body to pre- cipitate itself upon Asia." The number of adventurers soon became so great, that their more experienced leaders were apprehensive the greatness of the armament would defeat its own purpose. They therefore wisely permitted an undisciplined multitude, computed at three hundred thousand men, to go before them, under the command of Peter the Hermit, Walter the Moneyless, and other wild fanatics. Peter, at the head of his army, with sandals on his feet and a rope about his waist, marched through Hungary and Bulgaria towards Con- stantinople. A German priest of the name of Godescaldus, followed by a numerous banditti, took the same route ; and trusting to heaven for a miraculous supply of all their wants, they made no provision for subsistence on their march. They were not long, however, in finding themselves reduced to the necessity of obtaining by plunder what they presumptuously expected from miracles. The Jews were the first victims of their plunder. Considering themselves as enlisted in the service of Christ, they concluded that they were fully warranted to take vengeance on his murderers, and they, therefore, put to the sword without mercy such as refused to be baptized, seizing their property without the smallest regard to the rights of justice. In Bavaria alone twelve thousand Jews were massacred, and many thousands more in the other provinces of Germany. But Jews were not to be found every where : these pious robbers, having tasted the sweets of plunder, and being subject to no military regulations, began of course to pillage without distinction, till the inhabitants of the countries through Avhich they passed rose in defence of themselves and families, and nearly de- stroyed them all. Peter, however, with the remnant of his army, con- sisting ,of about twenty thousand starving wretches, at length reached Constantinople, where he was reinforced by a multitude of the rabble from Germany and Italy, who, by pillaging the churches, and prac- tising the greatest disorders, had contrived so far to follow their leader. Engagement of the Crusaders with Soliman. 293 Alexis Comnenus, the Greek emperor, was astonished to see his dominions deluged with an inundation of licentious barbarians, strangers alike to order and discipline ; and especially on being told of the multi- tudes that were following under different leaders. Thus circumstanced, however, he very wisely considered that the most prudent step he could take, was to get rid of such troublesome guests as soon as possible, by furnishing them with vessels to transport themselves to the other side of the Bosphorus ; and Peter, the general of the Crusade, soon found himself in the plains of Asia, at the head of a Christian army, ready to give battle to the Infidels. Their first engagement was with Soliman, Sultan of Nice, who fell upon the disorderly crowd, and slaughtered them almost without resistance. Walter the Moneyless, and many other leaders of equal celebrity, were slain ; but Peter the Hermit found his way back to Constantinople, where he was regarded as a maniac who had enlisted a multitude of infatuated people to follow him. Asia was then divided into a number of petty states, comprehended under the great ones. The princes of the lesser states paid homage to the Caliphs, though they were in effect their masters : and the Sultans, -who were very numerous, still further enfeebled the Mahometan empire by continual wars with each other, the certain consequence of divided sway. The crusaders, therefore, who, when mustered on the banks of the Bosphorus, amounted to the incredible number of one hundred thousand horsemen and six hundred thousand foot, were sufficient to have conquered all Asia, had they been properly disciplined, united under one head, or commanded by leaders who acted in concert ; but they were conducted by men of the most independent, intractable spirits, unacquainted with discipline, and enemies to civil and military subor- dination. Their zeal, however, their courage, and their irresistible force, still carried them forward, and advanced them to the object of their expedition in defiance of every obstacle. After an obstinate siege, they took Nice, the seat of old Soliman, Sultan of Syria ; they also made themselves masters of Antioch, the seat of another Sultan, and entirely broke the strength of the Turks, who had for a long time ty- rannized over the Arabs. On the fall of the Turkish power, the Caliph of Egypt, whose al- liance the crusaders had hitherto courted, recovered the authority of the Caliphs of Jerusalem. He therefore, sent ambassadors to the leaders of the Crusades, informing them, that if they would throw away their arms they might now perform without molestation or inconvenience their religious vows in the holy city, and that all pilgrims, who should from that time visit the holy sepulchre, might expect the same good treatment which they had ever received from their predecessors. His offer was, however, rejected: he was required to yield up the city to the Christians; and on his refusal, Jerusalem was besieged, the pos- session of which was the great object of their armament, and the con- summation of their labours. The army of the Crusaders was now greatly reduced in number, partly by disasters, and partly by the detachments they had been ob- liged to make in order to keep possession of the places they had con- quered, insomuch, that according to the testimony of historians, they 25* 294 History of the Christian Church. scarcely exceeded twenty thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse, while the garrison of Jerusalem consisted of forty thousand men. Yet, notwithstanding this diminution of force, after a siege of five weeks, they took the city by assault, and put the garrison and inhabitants to the sword without distinction. The brave were not protected by arms, nor the timid by submission ; neither age nor sex were spared ; infants perished by the same sword that pierced the supplicating mother. The streets of Jerusalem were covered with heaps of slain ; and the shrieks of agony or despair resounded from every house, when these triumphant warriors, glutted with slaughter, threw aside their arms, still streaming with blood, and advanced, with naked feet and bended knees to the sepulchre of the Prince of Peace! sung anthems to that Redeemer who had purchased their salvation by his death, and while deaf to the cries of distress from their fellow-creatures, dissolved in tears for the suffer- ings of the Messiah ! So inconsistent is human nature with itself; and so easily does the most degrading superstition associate both with the most heroic courage and with the fiercest barbarity. This important event, the conquest of Jerusalem, was achieved in 1099, the last year of the eleventh century ; but towards the middle of the twelfth, the power of the crusaders began to decline, and was grow- ing weaker every day in those countries which they had conquered. The small kingdom of Edessa, had been retaken by the Turks, and Jerusalem itself was threatened. Europe was solicited for a new arma- ment; and, as the French had taken the lead in the former armament, they were on the present occasion honoured with the first application for a renewal. The papal chair was at that time filled by Eugenius III. to whom the deputies of the East had been sent ; and he wisely pitched upon the celebrated Bernard, as the instrument of this pious warfare. A more suitable character could scarcely have been found. Bernard was learned for the times in which he lived ; he was naturally eloquent, austere in his life, irreproachable in morals, enthusiastically zealous, and inflexible in his purpose. He had long held the reputation of a saint, was regarded as an oracle, and revered as a prophet ; no wonder then that he found means to persuade the young king of France, Lewis VII. to engage in this fresh Crusade. The French monarch, who had but recently ascended the throne, found himself at the commencement of his reign engaged in one of those civil wars which the feudal govern- ments rendered almost unavoidable ; and having in an expedition into Champagne, made himself master of Vitry, he caused the church to be set on fire, by which means thirteen hundred persons, who had taken refuge in it, all perished in the flames — a piece of cruelty which, on reflection, sunk deep into the king's mind, and filled him with dreadful remorse. Bernard availed himself of this penitentiary state, and per- suaded the king of France, that to expiate his guilt, it was his indis- pensable duty to make an expedition to the Holy Land. At Vezelar, a city in the province of Burgundy, a scaffold was erected in the market place, on which Bernard appeared by the side of Lewis VII. The saint first harangued the multitude, and was then seconded by the king, after receiving the cross from his hands. The queen who was present, also took the cross ; and the example of the royal pair was Second Crusade to the Holy Land. v 295 followed by all the company, among whom were many of the nobility. In vain did Suger, who was prime minister to the king, labour to dis- suade his royal master from abandoning his dominions, by assuring him that he might make a much more suitable atonement for his sins by remaining at home, and governing his dominions in a wise and prudent manner ; the eloquence of Bernard, and the frenzy of the times prevail- ed. The minister, however, retained his opinion ; and made no scruple to predict the inconveniences that would attend an expedition to Pales- tine, whilst the monk pledged himself for its success, and extolled it with an enthusiasm that passed for inspiration. From France, Bernard proceeded to preach the Crusade in Germany ; where through the force of his irresistible eloquence, he prevailed on the emperor Conrad III. as well as on Frederick Barbarossa, who was afterwards emperor, and an immense number of persons of all ranks, to take the cross, promising them in the name of the Most High, complete victory over the Infidels. He ran from city to city, every where com- municating his enthusiasm ; and, if we may credit the historians of those times, working miracles. It is not indeed pretended that he re- stored the dead to life ; but it is affirmed that the blind received their sight, the lame walked, the sick were healed, and to these bold asser- tions we may add a fact no less incredible, that while St. Bernard's eloquence operated so powerfully on the minds of the Germans, he al- ways preached to them in French, a language which they did not understand ! The confident hopes of success in this new enterprise, induced the greatest part of the knights in their respective dominions to enrol them- selves under the banners of the emperor, and king of France ; and it is said, that in each army there were seventy thousand men in complete armour, with a prodigious number of light horse, besides the infantry, making this second emigration at least equal to the number of three hundred thousand men ; which added to thirteen hundred thousand sent on the former occasion, makes a sum total of one million six hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Europe transplanted to Asia on these crusading expeditions. The Germans advanced first, the French fol- lowed them ; and the same excesses that had been committed by the soldiers of the first Crusade were repeated by those of the second. When the emperor Conrad had passed the Bosphorus,he acted with that imprudence which is very characteristic of such expeditions. In- stead of joining those Christians who remained in Syria, and there wait- ing the arrival of the king of France, jealous of all competitors, he marched his army into the heart of Asia Minor, where the Sultan of Iconium, a more experienced general than himself, drew his heavy German cavalry among the rocks and cut his army in pieces. He fled to Antioch, and from thence proceeded to Jerusalem as a pilgrim, in- stead of appearing as the leader of an army, and at last returned to Europe with an handful of men, A. D. 1148. The king of France was not more successful in his enterprise. He fell into the same snare that had entrapped the emperor ; and being sur- prised among the rocks near Laodicea, was defeated as Conrad had been, and the conclusion of the whole expedition was, that Lewis, like 296 History of the Christian Church. Conrad, returned to Europe with the wreck of a great army, A. D. 1149, after visiting the holy sepulchre. A thousand ruined families in vain exclaimed against Bernard for his prophecies: he excused him- self upon the example of Moses, who he said, had like himself pro- mised the children of Israel to conduct them into a happy country, and yet saw the first generation perish in the deserts. The failure of this second Crusade reduced the affairs of the Oriental Christians to a state of great distress, which was still further augment- ed by the bold and enterprising conduct of Saladin the Great, a prince of Persian extraction, who, having by his bravery fixed himself on the throne of Egypt, began to extend his conquests over all the East, but finding the settlement of the Christians in Palestine an obstacle to the progress of his arms, he bent the whole force of his policy and valour to subdue that small though important territory. Taking advantage of the dissensions that prevailed among the champions of the cross, and having secretly gained over to his interest the Count of Tripoli, who commanded their armies, he invaded Palestine with a mighty force, and obtained a complete victory over them, utterly annihilating the vigour of the already languishing kingdom of Jerusalem. The holy city itself fell into his hands in the year 1187, after a feeble resistance; the king- dom of Antioch was almost entirely subdued; and, excepting some ma- ritime towns, nothing of importance remained of those boasted con- quests, which, nearly a century before, had cost the efforts of all Eu- rope to acquire. The papal chair was then filled by Clement III. who no sooner re- ceived the melancholy tidings, than he ordered a Crusade to be preach- ed throughout all the countries of Christendom. Europe was filled with grief and consternation. The emperor of Germany, Frederick Barbarossa, assembled a diet at Mentz in 1188, in order to deliberate with the states of the empire on this unhappy event. To encourage his subjects, he himself took the cross ; his son Frederick, duke of Sua- bia, followed his father's example, as did also sixty-eight of the first German nobles, ecclesiastics as well as laymen. Ratisbon was appoint- ed the place of rendezvous ; and to prevent the inconvenience arising from too great a multitude, Frederick decreed that no person should take the cross, who could not afford to expend three marks of silver. Yet, notwithstanding this regulation, so great was the zeal of the Ger- mans, that an army was formed, consisting of a hundred and fifty thou- sand military adventurers, well armed, and provided with necessaries for undertaking the third Crusade. The emperor in person marched at the head of thirty thousand men, by way of Vienna to Presburg, where he was joined by the rest of his army. He thence proceeded through Hungary, into the territories of the Greek emperor, who, notwithstanding his professions of friendship, had been detached by Saladin's promises and insinuations, to give up the interests of Frederick, in consequence of which he took every oppor- tunity of harassing the Germans in their march. Enraged at his- per- fidy, Frederick laid the country under contribution ; captured and plun- dered Philipopolis ; defeated a body of Greek troops that attacked him by surprise, and compelled the emperor of Constantinople to sue for Crusade of England and France. 297 peace. He wintered at Adrianople; crossed the Hellespont in the spring ; refreshed his troops a short time at Laodicea ; defeated the Turks in several battles ; took and pillaged the city of Iconium, and crossed Mount Taurus, so that all Asia was filled with the terror of his name. Among the crusaders, Frederick was as renowned as Saladin among the Turks. The Christians in Syria and Palestine flattered themselves that, from his assistance, they should obtain effectual relief, but their hopes were suddenly blasted. This great prince who was an expert swimmer, one day plunged into the cold river Cydnus, to refresh himself from the sultry heat of summer, which brought on a fatal ill- ness, which at once put a period to his life and heroic exploits. The kings of England and France had entered with considerable ardour into the third Crusade. Philip Augustus reigned at that time over France ; and in our own country the throne was filled by the first Richard. Both of these monarchs considered the recovery of the Holy Land as the ultimate purpose of their government ; yet neither of them was so much impelled to the pious enterprise by superstition, as by the love of military glory. Richard, in particular, had so little regard to sanctity in his external deportment, that when a zealous preacher of the Crusade advised him to rid himself of his pride, ava- rice, and voluptuousness, which the priest called his majesty's three favourite daughters, Richard replied, " You counsel well; and I here- by dispose of the first to the Templars, the second to the Benedict- ines, and the third to my bishops !" Resolving to profit by the disasters that had attended the former cru- sading expeditions, the kings of France and England determined to make trial of another road to the Holy Land, which was to conduct their ar- mies thither by sea ; to carry provisions along with them ; and by means of their naval power, to maintain an open communication with their own states, and with the western parts of Europe. Their first place of rendezvous was the plain of Vezelai, on the borders of Burgundy, where Philip and Richard found their armies amount to one hundred thousand men. Here they pledged each other in promises of mutual friendship, and engaged not to invade each other's dominions during the Crusade ; Their barons and prelates exchanged oaths to the same effect ; after which they separated. Philip took the road to Genoa, Richard that to Marseilles, with a view of meeting their fleets, which were severally appointed to assemble in those harbours. They put to sea at the same time, and both were compelled by stress of weather to take shelter in the harbour of Messina, where they were detained during the whole winter. In the spring of the year 1191, both fleets arrived in Asia, where, the troops being embarked, they laid siege to Ptolemais, which had been attacked about two years before, by the combined force of all the Christians in Palestine, and defended by the utmost efforts of Saladin and the Saracens. Before this place, Frederick, duke of Suabia, son of the emperor Barbarossa, had perished; and along with him the re- mains of the German army. But the arrival of the armies of England and France, with Richard and Philip at their head, infused fresh vi- gour into the besiegers, and the emulation that prevailed between these 298 History of the Christian Church. rival kings and rival nations, produced extraordinary feats of valour. Richard, in particular, drew upon himself the attention of the world, and acquired a great and splendid reputation. Ptolemais was taken ; the Saracen garrison reduced to the last extremity, surrendered them- selves prisoners of war, and the wood of the true cross was restored ! And thus this famous siege, which had engaged the attention of all Eu- rope and Asia, was at last achieved — with the, loss of three hundred thousand men. The French monarch, instead of pursuing his conquests further, and redeeming the holy city from slavery, declared his resolution of re- turning into France, disgusted, as it is said, by the ascendancy which the king of England had acquired by his more precipitate courage, and romantic spirit ; pleading the ill state of his health, however, as the reason of his deserting the common cause. The heroic actions of Richard, while in Palestine, were the best apology for his conduct. On opening the campaign of 1192, he determined to attempt the siege of Ascalon, the conquest of which fortress was a necessary step to prepare the way for that of Jerusalem ; and leaving Ptolemais, he marched with the army under his command along the sea coast with that intention. Saladin determined to intercept their passage, and placed himself upon the road with an army of three hundred thousand men. On this occasion was fought one of the most formidable battles of that age, and the most celebrated for the military genius of the command- ers; for the number and valour of the troops, and for the variety of events which attended it. The right wing of the Christian army, commanded by D'Avesnes, and the left under that of the duke of Bur- gundy, were, in the former part of the day, broken and defeated ; when Richard, who led on the main body, restored the fortunes of the day. He attacked the enemy with the greatest intrepidity and valour ; with all the skill of a consummate general and gallant soldier ; and not only gave his two wings the opportunity of recovering from their confusion, but obtained a complete victory over the Saracens ; forty thousand of whom, it is said, were left dead upon the field. Ascalon surrendered to the crusaders ; other sieges were carried on with success. Richard advanced within sight of Jerusalem, when he had the mortification to find that he must abandon all hopes of present success ; and put a stop to his career of victory. The zeal and ardour with which the crusaders were animated for some time carried them forwards in the prosecution of their romantic expedition, regardless of all the rules of prudence or safety ;. and, con- fident of the approbation of heaven, they set nothing before them but fame and victory in this world, and a crown of glory in the next : but long absence from home, famine, fatigue, and disease, added to the va- rieties of fortune which naturally attend war, had greatly abated that fury which nothing was able directly to withstand. All, but the king of England, expressed a desire to return to Europe ; so that there ap- peared an imperious necessity of abandoning for the present all future conquests, and of securing their present acquisitions by a treaty of peace with Saladin. Richard, therefore, concluded a truce with that monarch : and stipulated that Ptolemais, Joppa, and other sea-port Celestine III. solicits another Crusade. 299 towns of Palestine, should remain in the hands of the Christians, and that every one of that religion should enjoy the privilege of performing his pilgrimage unmolested. This truce was ratified A. D. 1192, and was to remain in force for three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours ; a magical number, suggested by a super- stition well suited to the object of the war. Saladin died at Damascus soon after the ratification of this truce with the leaders of the Crusade. He was a prince of great valour, and of generous sentiments; and it is memorable, that during his last illness, he gave orders for his winding sheet to be carried as a stand- ard through every street of the city, while a cryer preceded it pro- claiming with a loud voice, " This is all that remains to the mighty Saladin, the conqueror of the East," His last will is also remarkable : he ordered alms to be distributed to the poor without regard to distinc- tion of Jew, Mahometan, or Christian ; thereby intimating that he considered all men as brethren, and as equally entitled to the exercise of our compassion when in distress — a lesson, though coming from a Mussulman, which deserves the imitation of Christians. But the ad- vantages of science, of moderation, and of humanity, were indeed at that time wholly on the side of the former. Richard, having no further business in Palestine, took shipping for Europe, but was unfortunately wrecked in the Adriatic ; and, reach- ing land, he disguised himself in the habit of a pilgrim, hoping by that means to pass safely through Germany. But being betrayed by his liberalities and expenses, he was arrested by Leopold, duke of Aus- tria, whom he had offended at the siege of Ptolemais, who to gratify his revenge threw him into prison, and then sold him to the emperor Henry VI. The latter had also taken offence at some part of Rich- ard's conduct, and was therefore glad to have him in his power. Thus the gallant king of England, who had filled the world with his renown, was confined to a dungeon in the heart of Germany, loaded with chains, and entirely at the mercy of his enemy, one of the basest and most sordid of mankind! Richard, however, in a little time succeeded in bringing his case before a diet of the empire, at which he personally attended ; and by his eloquence and spirit, made such an impression on the German princes, that they exclaimed loudly against the con- duct of the emperor, whom the pope also threatened with excommuni- cation. In the issue, Henry concluded a treaty with Richard for his ransom, and agreed to liberate him for the sum of about three hundred thousand pounds of our present money — an enormous sum in those days. But notwithstanding the reiterated disasters and ill-success that at- tended the frantic expeditions to the Holy Land, so resolutely was the court of Rome bent on'the achievement of its grand object, that the popes were continually urging the princes of Europe to renew their efforts. Their power and influence were, by this time, become so pre- dominant, that it was at the peril of the latter they declined compliance with their sovereign will. The papal chair was at this time filled by Celestine III. by whom Henry VI. was crowned emperor of Germany. He was then a very old man, being in his eighty-sixth year ; the cere- 300 History of the Christian Church. mony of coronation was performed on Easter Monday ; the pope placed his crown on the head of Henry, which he had no sooner done, than he kicked it off again, as a testimony of the power residing in their sove- reign pontiffs to make and unmake emperors at their pleasure ! In the year 1196, Henry was solicited by the pope to engage in a new Crusade for the relief of the Christians in Palestine ; and the em- peror consented, though he had prudence enough to study his own in- terest in the compliance. He convoked a general diet at Worms, at which he avowed his determination to employ all his resources, and even to risk his own life for the accomplishment of so holy an enter- prise; and so eloquently did he expatiate upon the subject, that nearly the whole assembly took the cross. Their example prevailed through- out the empire, and so great was the number who enlisted themselves, that Henry divided them into three large armies : the first, under the command of the bishop of Mentz, took the route of Hungary, where it was joined by Margaret, queen of that country, who herself entered as a volunteer on this pious expedition, and actually ended her days in Palestine : the second was assembled in lower Saxony, and embarked in a fleet furnished by the inhabitants of Lubec, Hamburgh, Holstein, and Friesland; while the emperor in person, conducted the third into Italy, to avenge himself of the Normans in Naples and Sicily, who had revolted from their allegiance to him. The state of Europe was at this time full of perplexity and confusion. Innocent III. succeeded Celestine in the papal chair, an able and ambi- tious pontiff", whose ruling passion was the aggrandisement of the holy see. He quarrelled with Philip, duke of Suabia, who had recently been elected king of the Romans, excommunicating him and all his adhe- rents; and laboured with all his might to detach the princes and pre- lates from his cause, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the king of France, to whom he proudly replied, " Either Philip must lose the em- pire, or I the papacy." But all these dissensions and troubles in Eu- rope did not prevent the formation of another Crusade to Asia. Those who enrolled themselves were principally French and Germans. Bald- win, Count of Flanders, was their commander; and the Venetians, as greedy of wealth and power as the Carthaginians of old, furnished them with ships, for which they took care to be amply repaid both in money and territory. The city of Zara, in Dalmatia, had recently withdrawn itself from the government of the republic of Venice ; the crusaders un- dertook to reduce it to obedience ; and they besieged and took it, not- withstanding the pope threatened to excommunicate them — a striking proof of the reigning spirit of those fanatical adventurers. The army of the cross, as they called themselves, next fell upon Con- stantinople, under the pretext of avenging the cause of Isaac Angelus, the Greek emperor, who had been dethroned and deprived of his sight in 1195, by his own brother Alexis. Baldwin and his followers, eager- ly embraced this as an apology for their violence ; and under the pre- text of adjusting the quarrel between the two brothers, they made them- selves masters of Constantinople. They entered the city without much resistance, putting every one to the sword who opposed them, and gave themselves up to ail the excesses of avarice and fury. The booty of Constantinople taken and sacked. 301 the French lords alone, was valued at four hundred thousand marks of silver: the very churches were pillaged; and what strongly marks the character of that volatile and giddy nation, it is related that the French officers danced with the ladies of Constantinople in the church of St. Sophia, after having robbed the altar and drenched the city in blood ! Thus was this noble city, in that age the most flourishing in the Chris- tian world, for the first time taken and sacked by Christians who had made a vow to fight only against Infidels. One consequence of this was, that the pope gained, for a time, the whole Eastern church ; an acquisition t>f much greater consequence to him than that of Palestine. Of this indeed the conquerors seemed fully sensible; for, notwithstand- ing the vow they had taken to go and succour Jerusalem, it was only a very inconsiderable part of the crusaders that proceeded into Syria, and those were such as could obtain no share in the plunder of Constanti- nople. In 1215, Frederick II. was crowned emperor of Germany with great magnificence at Aix-la-Chapelle ; and to secure the favour of the pope to the other solemnities of his cororation, he added a vow to make an expedition to the Holy Land. Pope Innocent died the following year, and was succeeded by Honorius III. who expressed great eagerness to have the Crusade carried into effect. He therefore ordered it to be preached up through all the provinces of Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Bohemia, and Hungary, and his exertions were crowned with extraor- dinary success. The emperor himself declined the performance of his vow until he should have regulated the affairs of Italy, and most of the other princes of Europe were detained at home by domestic disturb- ances. But an infinite number of private noblemen and their vassals took the cross, ranging themselves under the dukes of Austria and Ba- varia, the archbishop of Mentz, and the bishops of Munster and Utretch ; and the king of Hungary, who brought with him a body of fine troops, was declared generalissimo of the Crusade. The fate of this expedition pretty nearly resembled those of the pre- ceding. The army was embarked in three hundred sail of transports, equipped in the ports of Lower Saxony, which joining a squadron that was fitted out by the Frieslanders, Flemings, and people of Brabant, proceeded for the Straits of Gibraltar in their way to Ptolemais. On their arrival at that port, a council of war was held, at which it was re- solved to besiege Damietta, in Egypt, which was accordingly invested by sea and land, and taken, after a tedious siege of eighteen months, in the year 1219. Their possession of this place, however, was of no great duration. A dispute arose among the chiefs of the crusaders about precedency, which it was found impossible to adjust without con- sulting his holiness, who, in his great wisdom, at length directed that the supreme command should be vested in a cardinal of the church of Rome. This monkish general brought the army of the cross between two branches of the river Nile, just at the time when that river, which fertilizes and defends Egypt, began its periodical inundation. The Sul- tan, informed of their situation, opened the sluices, and overflowed the camp of the crusaders ; and while he burnt their ships on one side, the Nile increasing on the other, threatened the hourly destruction of the 26 302 History of the Christian Church. whole army. The pope's legate finding himself and his troops reduced to the last extremity, restored Damietta, and was glad to conclude with the Sultan a dishonourable treaty, by which he bound himself and his army not to serve against the former for eight years. When the leaders of the crusading army arrived in Europe, the pope was extremely incensed at the loss of Damietta, and wrote a se- vere letter to the emperor, accusing him of having sacrificed the inter- ests of Christianity by so long delaying the performance of his vow* and threatening him with immediate excommunication, if he did not instantly depart with an army into Asia. Frederick, exasperated at these reproaches renounced all correspondence with the court of Rome, filled up vacant sees and benefices, and even expelled some bishops, who were creatures of the pope, on pretence of their being concerned in7practices against the state. The pontiff at first attempted to repel force by force, threatening the emperor with the thunder of the church, for presuming to lift his hand against the sanctuary ; but finding that Frederick was not to be intimidated, he became sensible of his own imprudence, in wantonly incurring the resentment of so powerful a prince, whose temper he now thought proper to soothe by submissive apologies and gentle exhortations. A reconciliation accordingly took place ; and the emperor, as a proof of his sincere attachment to the church, published four severe edicts against the Paterines, Waldenses, and others to which we shall have occasion afterwards to advert, and which tended greatly to promote the establishment of the Inquisition. Not long after this a solemn assembly was held at Ferentino, at which both the emperor and pope attended, together with John de Brienne, the titular king of Jerusalem, who had come to Europe to demand succours against the Sultan of Egypt. This monarch had an only daughter whom he offered in marriage to the emperor, with the kingdom of Jerusalem as her dowry, on condition that he, within two years performed the vow he had made of leading an army to the Holy Land. Frederick married her on these terms, because he chose to please the pope ; and since that time, the kings of Sicily have taken the title of king of Jerusalem. But Frederick evinced no impatience to go and conquer his wife's portion, having business at home of more importance that required his attendance. The principal cities of Lombardy had entered into a league to renounce his authority ; to counteract which, he convoked a diet at Cremona, A. D. 1227, where all the princes and nobles of Germany and Italy were summoned to attend. The interference of the pope produced an accommodation, and it was agreed that the emperor should lay aside his resentment against the confederate towns, and that those towns should furnish and maintain four hundred knights for the relief of the Holy Land. Peace being thus concluded, his holiness reminded the emperor of his vow ; Frederick promised compliance, but the pope died before the execu- tion of a project which he seemed to have so much at heart. He was succeeded by Gregory IX. who, pursuing the same line of .policy, urged the departure of Frederick for the Holy Land, and finding him still backward, declared him incapable of holding the imperial dignity, as having incurred the sentence of excommunication. Frederick, in- Frederick in possession of Jerusalem. 303 censed at such insolence, ravaged the patrimony of St. Peter, and was excommunicated. Wearied, however, at length with increasing con- tentions, and desirous of gratifying the prejudices of a superstitious age, Frederick resolved to perform his vow, and accordingly embarked for the Holy Land. The pope now prohibited his departure until he was absolved from all the censures of the church ; but the emperor proceeded in contempt of the pope's threatening, and with better suc- cess than his predecessors. He did not indeed desolate Asia, and gra- tify the barbarous zeal of the times, by shedding the blood of infidels ; but he concluded a treaty with the Sultan of Egypt, by which the end of his expedition was fully answered. The Sultan ceded to him Jeru- salem and its territory as far as Joppa, Bethlehem, and Nazareth, and all the country between Jerusalem and Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, and the neighbouring districts: and in return for these concessions, the emperor granted him a truce for ten years. A. D. 1229. About twenty years after this, the Sultan of Egypt having regained his authority in the Holy Land, these frantic expeditions were re- sumed by Louis IX. king of France, commonly called Saint Louis. This prince no sooner came of age than he was universally acknow- ledged one of the greatest potentates in Europe ; and his character is perhaps one of the most singular in the annals of history. To the ab- ject superstition of a monk, he united all the magnanimity of a hero ; but what may be deemed still more wonderful, the justice and integrity of the sincere patriot, and where religion Avas not concerned, the mild- ness and humanity of the true philosopher. J3ut Louis had his foibles. Persuaded that heretics, or those who dissented from the Roman church, deserved the punishment of death, he favoured the tribunal of the Inquisition; and the same turn of thinking led him to ascribe merit to a war against Infidels. His humane heart became a prey to the barbarous superstition of the times. When a dangerous illness de- prived him of his senses, and almost of his life, his heated imagination took fire, and he thought he heard a voice commanding him to shed the blood of Infidels. He accordingly made a vow that, as soon as he recovered, he would engage in a new Crusade, and he immediately took the cross. Nor could any remonstrances induce him to forego his purpose ; he considered his vow as a sacred and indissoluble obli- gation. A. D. 1244. But though not to be dissuaded from his Eastern expedition, Louis was in no haste to depart. Four years were spent in making prepara- tions and settling the government of his kingdom, which he committed to the care of his mother; and at length, in 1248, he set sail for Cy- prus, accompanied by his queen, his three brothers, and almost all the knights of France. Arriving at Cyprus, it was resolved to make a descent upon Egypt, as it was supposed that Jerusalem and the Holy Land could not be preserved while that country remained in the hands of the Infidels. Louis and his army therefore landed on the Egyptian coast, near to the city of Damietta ; which, contrary to all expectation, was abandoned to them. Here he received fresh succours from France, and found himself in the plains of Egypt at the head of sixty thousand men, the flower of his kingdom, by whom he was both obeyed and 304 History of the Christian Church. loved. Yet this Crusade, like all the rest, ended only in sorrow and disappointment. One-half of these fine troops-fell a prey to sickness and debauchery ; the other part was defeated by the Sultan, at Mas- soura, where Louis beheld his brother Robert, Count of Artois, killed by his side, and himself taken prisoner, with his two brothers, the Counts of Anjou and Poictiers, and all his nobility, A. D. 1250. During the king's captivity, the queen mother granted permission to a fanatical monk to preach a new Crusade for her son's release ; and this man, availing himself of the pastoral circumstances attending our Lord's nativity, assembled nearly a hundred thousand of the rabble, whom he denominated " shepherds." It soon appeared, however, that their more appropriate title would have been that of wolves ; for, wherever they came, they robbed and pillaged without either regard to justice or mer- cy ; so that it was at length found necessary to disperse them by force of arms ; and even that was not effected without some difficulty. The death of the queen mother in the meantime, made it necessary for Louis to return to France; and to effect this, after a captivity of more than three years, he purchased his ransom, and that of his nobles, for a thousand pieces of gold ; but he returned only to prepare for a new Crusade, so strongly had this mania infected his mind ! A. D. 1254. But it is needless to prosecute this subject further in detail. Enough, and more than enough, has been said to convince the reader of the de- plorable state of darkness and superstition which reigned throughout Europe, to say nothing of Asia and Africa, during this period. Yet these romantic expeditions, though barbarous and destructive in them- selves, were not without some beneficial results to the state of society: they were rendered subservient to the welfare of the community and of individuals. The Crusades being conducted under the immediate pro- tection of the Roman church, and its heaviest anathemas being denounced against all who should molest their persons or their property, private hostilities were for a time suspended or extinguished ; the feudal sove- reigns became more powerful, and their vassals less turbulent; a more steady administration of justice was introduced, and some advances were made towards regular government. Nor were the commercial effects of the Crusades less considerable than their political influence. Many ships were necessary to transport the prodigious armies which Europe poured forth, as well as to supply them with provisions. Those ships were principally furnished by the Venetians and Genoese, who thereby acquired immense sums of money, and at the same time opened to themselves a new source of wealth, by importing into Europe the com- modities of Asia. The cities of Italy grew rich and powerful, and ob- tained extensive privileges ; and some of them erected themselves into independent states, or communities, the establishment of which may be considered as the first grand step towards civilization in modern Europe.* * Hume's History of England, vol. i. ch. v. Robertson's Charles V.. vol. i. ArpENDix. Russet's History of Modern Europe, Lett. xxv. xxvii. xxx. xxxi xxxii. xxxiv. HISTORY siujSESffiii^sr ©sowscm BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE XVIII. CENTURY. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOl.. II. ( 307 ) CHAPTER V. THE HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSE9, FROM THE TIME OF PETER WALDO, A. D. 1160, TO THE DAYS OF WICKXIFFE, 1360. SECTION I. ORIGIN OF THE NAMES WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSES, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF PETER WALDO OF LYONS, AND THE SANGUINARY EDICT OF POPE LU- CIUS III. AGAINST THE DISCIPLES OF WALDO. Having sketched the more prominent features of the Christian Church, for the first ten centuries, and arriving at that period in which we are to give the reader some account of the Waldenses, it will be proper to introduce the subject by an attempt to ascertain the origin of their dis- tinguishing appellation. The learned Mosheim contends with consider- able pertinacity that they derived their name from Peter Waldo, an opulent merchant of Lyons, whose history will presently come under our notice ; but in this he is contradicted by his learned translator, and, I believe, I may truly add, by most writers of authority since his time. The most satisfactory definition that I have met with of the term Waldenses, is that given by Mr. Robinson, in his Ecclesiastical Re- searches ; and, in the confidence that it is the true one, and that I may not unnecessarily trespass on the reader's time and patience, I submit it to his consideration. From the Latin word vallis, came the English word valley, the French and Spanish valle, the Italian voidest, the Low Dutch valleye, the Provencal vaux, vaudois, the ecclesiastical Valdenses, Ualdenses, and Waldenses. The words simply signify valleys, inhabitants of val- leys, and no more. It happened that the inhabitants of the valleys of the Pyrenees did not profess the Catholic faith; it fell out also that the inhabitants of the valleys about the Alps did not embrace it ; it happen-* ed, moreover, in the ninth century, that one Valdo, a friend and coun- sellor of Berengarius, and a man of eminence who had many followers, did not approve of the papal discipline and doctrine ; and it came to pass about an hundred and thirty years after, that a rich merchant of Lyons, who was called Valdus, or Waldo, openly disavowed the Ro- man Catholic religion, supported many to teach the doctrines believed in the valleys, and became the instrument of the conversion of great numbers ; all these people were called Waldenses.* This view of the matter, which to myself appears indisputably the true one, is also supported by the authority of their own historians, Pierre Gilles* Perrin, Leger, Sir S. Morland, and Dr. Allix. * Ecclesiastical Researches, page 302, 303, 308 History of the Christian Church. To the preceding account of the derivation of the term Waldenses, I shall now add the explanation given by these writers of various other appellations that were bestowed on this class of Christians, and particu- larly that of Albigenses. The names imposed on them in France by their adversaries, they say, have been intended to vilify and ridicule them, or to represent them as new and different sects. Being stripped of all their property, and re- duced by persecution to extreme poverty, they have been called "the poor of Lyons." From their mean and famished appearance in their exiled and destitute state, they have been called in provincial jargon " Siccan," or pickpockets. Because they would not observe saints' days, they were falsely supposed to neglect the Sabbath also, and called " Inzabbatati or Insabbathists."* As they denied transubstantiation, or the personal and divine presence of Jesus Christ in the host, or wafer exhibited in the mass, they were called " Arians." Their adversaries, premising that all power must be derived from God through his vice- gerent the pope, or from an opposite and evil principle, inferred that the Waldenses were " Manichaeans," because they denied the pope's supremacy over the emperors and kings of the earth. In Languedoc, the Catholics affirmed that the origin of these heretics was recent, and that they derived their name of Vaudois, or Waldenses, from Peter Waldo, one of their barbes or preachers, whose immediate followers were called Waldenses ; but this was rather the renovation of the name from a particular cause than its original : accordingly it extended over that district only, in France, where Peter Waldo preach- ed ; for in other districts the people who were branches of the same original sect, as in Dauphine, were, from a noted preacher called Jo- sephists — in Languedoc, they were called Henricians — and in other provinces, from Peter Bruys, they were called Petrobusians. Some- times they received their name from their manners, as " Catharists," {Puritans) and from the foreign country whence it was presumed they had been expelled, they were called " Bulgarians" or Bougres. In Italy they were commonly called Fratricelli, that is, " men of the bro- therhood," because they cultivated brotherly love among themselves, acknowledging one another as brethren in Christ. Sometimes they were denominated " Paulicians," and, by corruption of the word, " Publicans," considering them as sprung from that ancient sect which, in the seventh century, spread over Armenia and Thrace,* and which, when persecuted by the Greek emperor might migrate into Europe, and mingle with the Waldenses in Piedmont. Sometimes they were named from the country or city in which they prevailed, as Lombard- ists, Toulousians, and Albigenses. All these branches, however, sprang * Dr. Mosheim traces the derivation of this word to a kind of slipper which they wore, as a distinguishing- badge of the sect, and Gibbon has adopted his opinion. But I agree with Mr. Robinson in thinking it very unlikely, that people who could not descend from their mountains into neighbouring states, without hazarding their lives through the furious zeal of inquisitors, should tempt danger by affixing a visible mark on their shoes. The above opinion, therefore, appears to me much more probable. ■j- See vol. I. ch. ill. sect. 4. Various names given to the Sect. 309 from one common stock, and were animated by the same religious and moral principles. Albigenses became latterly their common name in France, from the great number of them that inhabited the city of Alby, and the district of Albigeois, between the Garonne and the Rhone : but that name was not general and confirmed till after the council of Alby in the year 1254, which condemned them as heretics. Their number and preva- lence in that country are ascribed to the patronage and protection which they received from Roger, Count of Alby, after they had been persecuted in other countries. Some writers have laboured to prove that the Waldenses and Albigenses were quite different classes of Christians, and that they held different principles and opinions : but there seems no solid ground for maintaining such a distinction. When the popes issued their fulminations against the Albigenses, they ex- pressly condemn them as Waldenses ; their legates made war against them as professing the faith of the Waldenses ; the monks of the in- quisition formed their processes of indictment against them as being Waldenses ; the people persecuted them as such; and they uniformly adopted the title when it was given them, and even thought themselves honoured by it. To this may be added, that historians do not trace their origin to any local causes in Albigeois, and about Toulouse, but represent them as emigrants from other regions. Neither do they re- present their origin as recent before the council of Alby, but as stran- gers from adjacent countries about a hundred years before. Farther, the provincial councils of Toulouse, in 1119, and of Lom- bez, in 1176, and the general councils of Lateran in 1139, and 1179, do not treat of them, nor condemn them as Albigenses but as heretics, and when they particularize them, they denominate them " bons hom- met" — (i. e. good men) — " Cathari" — " Paterini" — "Publicani," &c. which shows that they existed before they were generally known as Albigenses. It is also proved, from their books, that they existed as Waldenses, before the times of Peter Waldo, who preached about the year 1160. Perrin, who wrote their history, had in his possession a New Testament in the Vallese language, written on parchment, in a very ancient letter, and a book entitled in their language, " Qual cosa sia 1' Antichrist" — that is, " What is Antichrist?" under date of the year 1120, which carries us back at least twenty years before Waldo. Another book entitled, " The Noble Lesson" — is dated A. D. 1100. Their enemies confirm their great antiquity. Reinerius Saccho, an inquisitor, and one of their most implacable enemies, who lived only eighty years after Waldo, admits that the Waldenses flourished five hundred years before that preacher. Gretzer, the Jesuit, who also wrote against the Waldenses, and had examined the subject fully, not only admits their great antiquity, but declares his firm belief " that the Toulousians and Albigenses condemned in the years 1177, and 1178, were no other than Waldenses. In fact, their doctrine, discipline, go- vernment, manners, and even the errors with which they have been charged (by the Catholics,) show that the Albigenses and Waldenses 310 History of the Christian Church. were distinct branches of the same sect, or that the former were sprung from the latter.* From the death of Claude, bishop of Turin, who may not impro- perly be termed the Wickliffe of that city, to the times of Peter Waldo of Lyons, a considerable period intervened, during which the history of the disciples of that great man is involved in much obscurity. They seem to have had no writers among themselves capable of detailing their proceedings during this period ; or, if any records of their eccle- siastical history were committed to writing, the zeal of their oppo- nents hath prevented their transmission to our times. In the writings of their adversaries, indeed, we have abundant proof of their existence, as a class of Christians separated in faith and practice from the catho- lic church, and of the multiplication of their numbers ; but of their proceedings in the formation of churches, and of their order, worship, and discipline, we are very imperfectly informed. Of the Catharists, in Germany, and of the Paterines, in the duchy of Milan, &c. during this period, both of which held the same princi- ples as the Waldenses, we have already taken some notice in the pre- ceding chapter. But it was not till the twelfth century that the Vau- dois appear in ecclesiastical history as a people obnoxious to the church of Rome. And even then it seems, in great measure, to have been oc- casioned by the indefatigable labours, the ardent zeal, and the amazing success which crowned the ministry of Peter Waldo of Lyons, whose followers first obtained the name of Leonists, and who, when persecu- ted in France, fled into Piedmont, incorporating themselves with the Vaudois. The following is the account which Mr. Robinson gives of this intricate article of ecclesiastical history, and as it appears to my- self more probable than any other that I have seen, I incline to admit it as the true one. " In the twelfth century, towards the close, a great reformation was begun at Lyons, under the auspices of a merchant there, who procured a translation of the Four Gospels from Latin into French, and who both preached in person, and engaged others to do so in various parts of the country. Reinerius Saccho thought all the believers (Credenti) sprung from this stock; and he therefore calls them all Leonists. Whether the merchant received his name (Valdus) from the Vaudois, or whether they received theirs from him, is uncertain ; the former is the more probable opinion of the two, and the fact seems to be, that till then the Vaudois were (comparatively speaking) few and obscure, and the Leonists at once numerous and popular ; that the Vaudois and Leonists soon incorporated themselves together ; that the Vaudois com- municated their name, which passed for that of a low, rustical, and ob- scure people to the Leonists ; and that the Leonists emboldened the Vaudois to separate openly from the church. This view of things in * Dr. Rankin's History of France, vol. iii. p. 198 — 202. To this contempo- rary and able writer, I have much pleasure in tendering my acknowledgments for the eminent services which, in this instance, he has rendered to the cause of truth and virtue. His patient research, and his cool, correct, and discrimi- nating judgment, have greatly abridged my labour on this branch of the sub- ject. Conversion of Peter Waldo. 311 part reconciles the opinion of the catholic bishop, Bossuet, with that of Dr. Allix and other Protestants. Bossnet says, the separation of the Vaudois was for a long time a mere schism in the church, and that Waldo was their parent. Protestants deny this, and say that the Vau- dois were the parents of the Leonists. It should seem the Vaudois were the first, and that they continued in the church a sort of party till Waldo emboldened them to separate, and so became not the founder of the party, but the parent of their separation." But the history of Peter Waldo, his exemplary life, his zeal in the cause of truth and virtue, the noble sacrifices which he made to reli- gious principle, and the extraordinary success which crowned his la- bours in the promulgation of the gospel of peace, entitle him to some- what more than an incidental mention in the history of the times in which he lived. He was an opulent merchant in the city of Lyons — a city which, in the second century of the Christian sera, as we have formerly seen,* was blessed with the clear light of divine truth — where Christ had planted a numerous church to serve as a pillar on which his truth was inscribed, or a candlestick on which he had placed the lamp of life. But the lamp had long been extinguished, and the pillar removed. Lyons, in the times of Peter Waldo, was sunk into a state of the grossest darkness and superstition. About the year 1160, the doctrine of transubstantiation, which some time afterwards pope Inno- cent III. confirmed in a very solemn manner, was required by the court of Rome to be acknowledged by all men. A most pernicious practice of idolatry was connected with the reception of this doctrine. Men fell down before the consecrated wafer and worshipped it as God ; an abomination, the absurdity and impiety of which forcibly struck the mind of Waldo, who opposed it in a most courageous manner.* But although the conscience or common sense of Waldo revolted against this novel piece of superstition, he seems not to have entertain- ed, at that time, the most distant idea of withdrawing himself from the communion of the Romish church, nor indeed to have had much sense of religion upon his mind. God, however, who hath the hearts of all men in his hands, and who turns them as the rivers of water, had des- tined him for great usefulness in his kingdom. To him, also, what- ever means seem necessary for effecting his purposes in the Avorld, are equally at command. An extraordinary occurrence in providence was the means of awakening the mind of Peter Waldo, to the " one thing needful." One evening after sup"per, as he sa^conversing with a party of his friends, and refreshing himself among them, one of the company fell down dead on the floor, to the consternation of all that were pre- sent. Such a lesson on the uncertainty of human life, and the very precarious tenure on which mortals hold it, most forcibly arrested his attention. The Latin Vulgate Bible was the only edition of the Scrip- tures at that time in Europe; but that language was inaccessible to all, except one in an hundred of its inhabitants. Happily for Waldo, his situation in life had enabled him to surmount that obstacle. " Being somewhat learned,'''' says Reinerius Saccho, when speaking of him, • See vol. i. p. 129. f Perrin Histoire des Vaudois, ch. i. 312 History of the Christian Church. " Vie taught the people the text of the New Testament in their mother tongue." The sudden death of his friend led him to think of his own approaching dissolution, and under the terrors of an awakened con- science, he had recourse to the Holy Scriptures for instruction and comfort. There, in the knowledge of the true character of God, as the just God and the Saviour, he found the pearl of great price — the way of escape from the wrath which is to come. The belief of the testimony which God hath given of his Son, diffused peace and joy into his own mind, raised his views and conceptions above " the smoke and din of this dim spot which men call earth," and led him to look for glory, honour, and immortality, even eternal life, in the world to come. But Christian love is an operative principle. It expands the mind in which it dwells, and fills it with generous sentiments — with supreme love to God, and the most disinterested benevolence to man. Waldo was desirous of communicating to others a portion of that happiness which he himself enjoyed. He abandoned his mercan- tile pursuits, distributed his wealth to the poor as occasion required ; and, while the latter flocked to him to partake of his alms, he laboured to engage their attention to the things which belonged to their everlas- ting peace. One of the first objects of his pursuit was to put into their hands the word of life ; and he either himself translated, or procured some one else to translate the four Gospels into French ; and the next was to make them acquainted with their sacred contents. Matthias Illy- rius, a writer who prosecuted his studies under Luther and Me- lancthon, and was one of the Madgeburgh Centuriators, speaking of him, says, " His kindness to the poor being diffused, his love of teaching and their love of learning growing stronger and stronger, greater crowds came to him, 'to whom he explained the Scriptures. He was himself a man of learning ; so I understand from some old parchments — nor was he obliged to employ others to translate for him as his enemies affirm." But whether Waldo himself translated these Scriptures or employed others to do it, or, which is most probable, executed it himself with the assistance of others, certain it is, that the inhabitants of Europe were indebted to him for the first translation of the Bible into a modern tongue, since the time that the Latin had ceased to be a living language — a gift of inestimable value. As Waldo became more acquainted .with the Scriptures, he began to discover that a multiplicity of doctrines, rites, and ceremonies which had been introduced into the national religion, had not only no founda- tion in the word of God, but were most pointedly condemned in that book. Inflamed with zeal for the glory of God, on the one hand, and with concern for the souls of his fellow-sinners on the other, he raised his voice loudly against them, condemning the arrogance of the pope, and the reigning vices of the clergy. Nor did he satisfy himself with mere declamation against what was wrong in others. He taught the truth in its simplicity, and enforced its practical influence on the heart and life ; and by his own example, as well as by an appeal to the lives of those who first believed in Christ, he laboured to demonstrate the great difference that existed between the Christianity of the Bible and that of the church of Rome. Preaching of Waldo at Lyons. 313 The consequence of all this may be easily supposed by a reflecting mind. The archbishop of Lyons heard of these proceedings, and be- came indignant. Their tendency was obvious ; the honour of the church" was involved in them, and, in perfect consistency with the usual mode of silencing objectors among the Catholic party, he forbade the new reformer to teach any more on pain of excommunication, and of being proceeded against as an heretic. Waldo replied, that though a layman, he could not be silent in a matter which concerned the salva- tion of his fellow-creatures. Attempts were next made to apprehend him ; but the number and kindness of his friends, the respectability and influence of his connections, mar y of whom were men of rank ; the uni- versal regard that was paid to his character for probity and religion ; and the conviction that his presence was highly necessary among the people whom he had by this time gathered into a church, and of which he had taken the oversight, all operated so strongly in his favour, that he lived concealed at Lyons during the space of three whole years.* Information of these things was then conveyed to pope Alexander III. who no sooner heard of such heretical proceedings than he anathema- tized the reformer and his adherents, commanding the archbishop to proceed against them with the utmost rigour. Waldo was now com- pelled to quit Lyons ; his flock in a great measure followed their pas- tor; and hence a dispersion took place not unlike that which arose in the church of Jerusalem on the occasion of the death of Stephen. The effects were also similar. Waldo himself retired into Dauphiny, where he preached with abundant success ; his principles took deep and last- ing root, and produced a numerous harvest of disciples who were deno- minated Leonists, Vaudois, Albigenses, or Waldenses ; for -the very same class of Christians is designated by these various appellations at different times, and according to the different countries or quarters of the same country in which they appeared.! Persecuted from place to place, Waldo retired into Picardy, where also success attended his labours. Driven from thence, he proceeded into Germany, carrying along with him the glad tidings of salvation ; and, according to the testimony of Thuanus, a very authentic French historian, he at length settled in Bohemia, where he finished his course, in the year 1179, after a ministry of nearly twenty years. He was evi- dently a man of very singular endowments ; and one of those extraor- dinary persons whom God in his providence occasionally raises up and qualifies for eminent usefulness in his kingdom ; but he has met with no historian capable of doing justice to his talents and character. Num- bers of his people fled for an asylum into the valleys of Piedmont, tak- ing with them the new translation of the Bible. In the ensuing section, we shall have an opportunity of examining their doctrinal sentiments ; and their history in that country, as well as in the south of France, and wherever else Ave can trace them, will occupy, in one way or other, the remaining pages of this volume. The persecution of Waldo and his followers, with their flight from Lyons, is a remarkable epoch in the annals of the Christian church. * Perrin's History, ch. i. j- Ibid. ch. i. 27 314 History of the Christian Church. Wherever they went, they sowed the seeds of reformation. The coun- tenance and blessingof the King of kings accompanied them. The word of God grew and multiplied, not only in the places where Waldo him- self had planted it, but in more distant regions. In Alsace and along the Rhine, the doctrines of Waldo spread extensively. Persecutions ensued — thirty-five citizens of Mentz were burned in one fire at the city of Bingen, and eighteen at Mentz itself. The bishops of both Mentz and Strasburgh breathed nothing but vengeance and slaughter against them ; and at the latter city, where Waldo himself is said to have narrowly escaped apprehension, eighty persons were committed to the flames. In the treatment, and in the behaviour of the Walden- ses, were renewed the scenes of martyrdom of the second century. Multitudes died praising God, and in the confident hope of a blessed resurrection. But the blood of the martyrs again became the seed of the church; and in Bulgaria, Croatia, Dalmatia, and Hungary, churches were planted, which flourished throughout the thirteenth century, and which are said to have owed their rise chiefly to the labours of one Bartholomew, a native of Carcassone, a city not far distant from Tou- louse, in the south of France, and which may be not improperly term- ed the metropolis of the Albigenses. In Bohemia, and in the country of Passau, it has been computed that there were not less than eighty thousand of this class of Christians in the year 1315. In short we shall find in the sequel, that they spread themselves throughout almost every country in Europe ; but they were every where treated as the filth of the world, and as the offscouring of all things.* It can excite no surprise that their increasing numbers should rouse the court of Rome to adopt the most vigorous measures for suppress- ing them. The inquisition had not yet been established; but council after council had been convened in France ; and about twenty years after Waldo had been driven from Lyons, the following persecuting edict was issued from Rome. THE DECREE OF POPE LUCIUS III. AGAINST HERETICS, A. D. 1181. " To abolish the malignity of diverse heresies which are lately sprung up in most parts of the world, it is but fitting that the power commit- ted to the church should be awakened, that by the concurring assist- ance of the Imperial strength, both the insolence and mal-pertness of the heretics in their false designs may be crushed, and the truth of Car tholic simplicity shining forth in the holy church, may demonstrate her pure and free from the execrableness of their false doctrines. Where- fore we, being supported by the presence and power of our most dear son, Frederick, the most illustrious Emperor of the Romans, always increaser of the empire, with the common advice and council of our brethren, and other patriarchs, archbishops, and many princes, who from several parts of the world are met together, do set themselves against these heretics who have got different names from the several i'alse doctrines they profess, by the sanction of this present general de- • Perrin's Hist. ch. ii. Decree of pope Lucius III. against Heretics. 315 cree, and by our apostolical authority according to the tenor of these presents, we condemn all manner of heresy, by what name soever it may be denominated. " More particularly, we declare all Catharists, Paterines, and those who call themselves ' the Poor of Lyons ;' the Passignes, Josephists, Arnoldists, to lie under a perpetual anathema. And because some, under a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, as the apostle saith, assume to themselves the authority of preaching; whereas the same apostle saith, ' how shall they preach except they be sent' — we therefore conclude under the same sentence of a perpetual anathema, all those who either being forbid or not sent do notwithstanding pre- sume to preach publicly or privately, without any authority received either from the Apostolic See, or from the bishops of their respective dioceses : As also all those who are not afraid to hold or teach any opin- ions concerning the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, baptism, the remission of sins, matrimony, or any other sacra- ments of the church, differing from what the holy church of Rome doth preach and observe : and generally all those whom the same church of Rome, or the several bishops in their dioceses, with the advice of their clergy, or the clergy themselves, in case of a vacancy of the See, with the advice if need be of neighbouring bishops, shall judge to be heretics. And we likewise declare all entertainers and defenders of the said here- tics, and those that have showed any favour or given countenance to them, thereby strengthening them in their heresy, whether they be called comforted, believers, or perfect, or with whatsoever superstitious name they disguise themselves, to be liable to the same sentence. "And though it sometimes happens that the severity of ecclesiastical discipline, necessary to the coercion of sin, is condemned by those who do not understand the virtue of it, we notwithstanding by these presents decree, That whosoever shall be notoriously convicted of these errors, if a clergyman, or one that endeavours to conceal himself under any religious order, he shall be immediately deprived of all prerogative of the church orders, and so being divested of all office and benefice, be delivered to the secular power to be punished according to demerit, un- less immediately upon his being detected he voluntarily returns to the truth of the Catholic faith, and publicly abjures his errors, at the dis- cretion of the bishop of the diocese, and makes suitable satisfaction. And as for a layman who shall be found guilty either publicly or pri- vately of any of the aforesaid crimes, unless by abjuring his heresy and making satisfaction he immediately return to the orthodox faith, we decree him to be left to the sentence of the secular judge, to receive condign punishment according to the quality of the offence. "And as to those who are taken notice of by the church as suspect- ed of heresy, unless at the command of the bishop they give full evi- dence of their innocence, according to the degree of suspicion against them and the quality of their persons, they shall be liable to the same sentence. But those who after having abjured their errors, or cleared themselves upon examination to their bishop, if they be found to have relapsed into their abjured heresy — We decree that without any further hearing they be forthwith delivered up to the secular power, and their goods confiscated to the use of the church. 316 History of the Christian Church. " And we further decree, That this excommunication, in which our will is that all heretics be included, shall be repeated and renewed by all patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops, in all the chief festivals and on any public solemnity, or upon any other occasion to the glory of God and the putting a stop to all heretical pravity : ordering by our apostolic authority, that if any bishop be found wanting or slow herein, he be suspended for three years from his episcopal dignity and admin- istration. " Furthermore, with the counsel and advice of bishops, and intima- tion of the emperor and princes of the empire, we do add, That every archbishop or bishop, either in his own person or by his archdeacon, or by other honest and fit persons, shall once or twice in the year visit the parish in which it is reported that heretics dwell, and there cause two or three men of good credit, or, if need be, the whole neighbour- hood, to swear that if they know of any heretics there, or any that frequent private meetings, or that differ from the common conversation of mankind, either in life or manners, they will signify the same to the bishop or archdeacon : The bishops also or archdeacon shall summon before them the parties accused, who, unless they at their discretion, according to the custom of the country, do clear themselves of the guilt laid to their charge ; or if after having so cleared themselves they re- lapse again to their former unbelief, they shall be punished at the bishop's discretion. And if any of them, by a damnable superstition, shall re- fuse to swear, that alone shall suffice to convict them of being heretics, and liable to the punishments before mentioned. " We ordain further, That all eafls, barons, governors and consuls of cities and other places, in pursuance of the commonition of the respec- tive archbishops and bishops, shall promise upon oath, that in all these particulars, whenever they are required so to do, they will powerfully and effectually assist the church against heretics and their accomplices ; and endeavour faithfully, according to their office and power, to execute the ecclesiastical and imperial statutes concerning the matters herein- mentioned. " But if any of them shall refuse to observe this, they shall be de- prived of their honours and charges, and be rendered incapable of re- ceiving others ; and, moreover, be involved in the sentence of excom- munication, and their goods be confiscated to the use of the church. And if any city shall refuse to yield obedience to these Decretal Constitutions, or that contrary to the episcopal commonition they shall neglect to punish opposers, we ordain the same to be excluded from ail commerce with other cities, and be deprived of the episcopal dignity. " We likewise decree, That all favourers of heretics, as men stigma- tized with perpetual infamy, shall be incapable of being attorneys or witnesses, or of bearing any public office whatsoever. And, as for those who are exempt from the law of diocesan jurisdiction, as being immediately under the jurisdiction of the apostolic see; nevertheless, as to these constitutions against heretics, we will, That they be subject to the judgment of the archbishop and bishops, and that in this case they yield obedience to them, as to the delegates of the apostolic see, the immunity of their privileges notwithstanding." King of Arr agon's edict against Heretics. 317 Ildefonsus, king of Arragon, also testified his zeal against the Wal- denses, by an edict published in the year 1194, from the tenor of which we are authorized to infer, that the doctrine of Waldo had not only found its way into Spain, but that it had got such footing there a? to create no little alarm, and call forth the determined interference of the government. The following is a copy of this severe edict, as given by Pegna, in his notes on the " Directory of the Inquisitors." " Ildefonsus, by the grace of God, King of Arragon, Earl of Bar- celona, Marquis of Provence, to all archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church of God, earls, viscounts, knights, and to all peo- ple of his kingdom, or belonging to his dominions, wisheth health, and the sound observance of the Christian religion. " Forasmuch as it hath pleased God to set us over his people, it is but fit and just, that according to our might we should be continually solicitous for the welfare and defence of the same; wherefore we, in imitation of our ancestors, and in obedience to the canons which deter- mine and ordain heretics, as persons cast out from the sight of God and all Catholics, to be condemned and persecuted every where, do command and charge that the Waldenses, Inzabbati, who otherwise are called ' the poor of Lyons,' and all other heretics who cannot be num- bered, being excommunicated from the holy church, adversaries to the cross of Christ, violaters and corrupters of the Christian religion, and the avowed enemies of us and our kingdom, to depart out of our king- dom and all our dominions. Whosoever, therefore, from this day for- ward, shall presume to receive the said Waldenses, and Inzabbati, or any other heretics of whatsoever profession, into their houses, or to be present at their pernicious sermons, or to afford them meat, or any other favour, shall thereby incur the indignation of Almighty God, as well as ours, and have his goods confiscated, without the remedy of an appeal, and be punished as if he were actually guilty of high treason. And we strictly charge and command, that this our edict and perpetual constitution be publicly read on the Lord's days by the bishops and other rectors of churches, in all the cities, castles, and towns of our kingdom, and throughout all our dominions : and that the same be ob- served by vicars, bailiffs, justices, &c. and all the people in general; and that the aforesaid punishment be inflicted on all transgressors. " We further will, that if any person, noble or ignoble, shall in any part of our dominions find any of these wicked wretches, who shall be known to have had three days notice of this our edict, and that do not forthwith depart, but rather are obstinately found staying or lin- gering ; let such know that if they shall any way plague, despitefully use or distress them, wounding unto death and maiming of them only excepted, he will in so doing perform nothing but what will be very grateful and pleasing to us, and shall be so far from fearing to incur any penalty thereby, that he may be sure rather to deserve our favour. Furthermore, we give these wicked miscreants respite, though that may seem somewhat contrary to reason and our duty, till the day after All Saints day : but that all those who either shall not be gone by that time, or at least preparing for their departure, shall be spoiled, beaten, cudgelled, and shamefully ill-treated." 27* 318 History of the Christian Church. SECTION II. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DOCTRINAL SENTIMENTS AND RELIGIOUS PRAC- TICES OF THE WALDENSES, COLLECTED FROM THE WRITINGS OF THEIR ADVERSARIES. It is intended, in this and the two following sections, to lay before the reader a more detailed account of the principles and practices of the Waldenses, than hath hitherto been given ; and there appears no method of doing this more satisfactory, than by first hearing the charges alleged against them by their adversaries of the Romish church; and then attending to the apologies, reasonings, and confessions of faith which, from time to time, the ever laudable principle of self-de- fence necessarily extorted from them. This is the plan, therefore, which I intend to pursue, and the present section shall be devoted to the testimony of their adversaries. Reinerius Saccho, whose name I have had occasion more than once to mention, was for seventeen years of the earlier part of his life, tn some way or other, connected with the Waldenses; but he aposta- iized from their profession, entered the Catholic church, was raised in it to the dignified station of an inquisitor, and became one of their most cruel persecutors. He was deputed by the pope to reside in Lom- bardy, in the south of France ; and about the year 1250, published a catalogue of the errors of the Waldenses under three and thirty distinct heads. The reader who wishes to peruse the original Latin, may find it in Dr. Allix's Remarks upon the Churches of Piedmont, p. 188 — 191. The following is a faithful translation. " Their first error," says he, " is a contempt of ecclesiastical pow- er, and from thence they have been delivered up to Satan, and by him cast headlong into innumerable errors, mixing the erroneous doctrines of the heretics of old with their own inventions. And being cast out of the Catholic church, they affirm that they alone are the church of Christ and his disciples. They declare themselves to be the apostles' successors, to have apostolical authority, and the keys of binding and loosing. They hold the church of Rome to be the whore of Babylon, (Rev. ch. xvii.) and that all that obey her are damned, especially the clergy that have been subject to her since the time of pope Sylvester. : They deny that any true miracles are wrought in the church, because none of themselves ever worked any. They hold, that none of the or- dinances of the church, which have been introduced since Christ's as- cension, ought to be observed, as being of no value. The feasts, fasts, orders, blessings, offices of the church, and the like, they utterly reject. They speak against consecrating churches, church-yards, and other things of the like nature, declaring that it was the invention of cove- tous priests, to augment their own gains, in spunging the people by those means of their money and oblations. They say, that a man * This pontiff was bishop of Rome in the days of Constantine the Great, about the year 330. II einer ills'1 s account of the Waldenses. 319 is then first baptized when he is received into their community. Some j of them hold that baptism is of no advantage to infants, because they cannot actually believe. They reject the sacrament of confirmation, but instead of that, their teachers lay their hands upon their disciples. They say, the bishops, clergy, and other religious orders are no better than the Scribes and Pharisees, and other persecutors of the apostles. They do not believe the body and blood of Christ to be the true sacra- ment, but only blessed bread, which by a figure only is called the body of Christ, even as it is said, " and the rock was Christ," &c. Some of them hold that this sacrament can only be celebrated by those that are good,* others again by any that know the words of consecration. This sacrament they celebrate in their assemblies, repeating the words of the gospel at their table, and participating together, in imitation of Christ's supper. They say that a priest who is a sinner, cannot bind or loose any one, as being himself bound ; and that any good and in- telligent layman may absolve another, and impose penance. They re- ject extreme unction, declaring it to be rather a curse than a sacrament. Marriage, say they, is nothing else but sworn fornication, unless the parties live continently, and account any filthiness preferable to the conjugal rites. They praise continence indeed, but in the meantime give way to the satisfying of burning lust by any filthy means whatso- ever, expounding that place of the apostle, ' It is better to marry than to burn,' thus, that it is better to satisfy one's lust by any filthy act, than to be tempted therewith in the heart.t But this they conceal as much as possible, that they may not be reproached therewith. If any honest wo- man among them that has the repute of chastit)^ is brought to bed of a child, they carefully conceal it, and send it abroad to be nursed, that it may not be known. They hold all oaths to be unlawful, and a mortal sin, yet they dispense with them when it is done to avoid death, lest they should- betray their accomplices, or the secret of their infidelity. They hold it to be an unpardonable sin to betray an heretic, yea the very sin against the Holy Ghost. They say that malefactors ought not to * The meaning of this does not seem very obvious. The words in the origi- nal are, Quidam autem hoc dicunt tantum per bonos Jleri, alii per omnes qui verba consecrationis sciunt ,• and the reason of the obscurity is, that, as I shall hereafter show, they did not allow any but pastors to administer the eucharist. f There appears something like a consciousness about Reinerius, that in this monstrous accusation he was calumniating the Waldenses, for in the following words he qualifies the charge by describing them as not avowing it. The read- er will presently see their sentiments on the subject of marriage, and be con- vinced of the foulness of this slander. I shall, therefore, at present, only quote from their own apology a short extract, in winch they repel the charge of coun- tenancing lasciviousness. "It was tins vice," say they, "that led David to pro- cure the death of his faithful servant, that he might enjoy his wife — and Ammon to defile his sister Tamar. This vice consumes the estates of many, as it is said of the prodigal son, who wasted his substance in riotous living. Balaam made choice of this vice to provoke the children of Israel to sin, which occasioned the death of twenty -four thousand persons. This sin was the occasion of Samson's losing his sight; it perverted Solomon, and many have perished through the beauty of a woman. The remedies for this sin are fasting, prayer, and keeping at a distance from it. Other vices may be subdued by fighting; in this we con- quer by flight; of which we have an example in Joseph." — Perrin's Hist. ch. iv. 320 History of the Christian Church. be put to death by the secular power. Some of them hold it unlawful to kill brute animals, as fishes, or the like ; but when they have a mind to eat them, they hang them over the fire or smoke till they die. Fleas and such sort of insects they shake off their clothes, or else dip their clothes in hot water, supposing them thus to be dead of them- selves.* Thus they cheat their own consciences in this and other ob- servances. From whence we may see, that having, forsaken truth, they deceive themselves with their own false notions. According to them there is no purgatory, and all that die, immediately pass either into heaven or hell. That therefore the prayers of the church for the dead are of no use, because those that are in heaven do not want them, nor can those that are in hell be relieved by them. And from thence they infer, that all offerings made for the dead are only of use to the clergymen that eat them, and not to the deceased, who are incapable of being profited by them. They hold, that the saints in heaven do not hear the prayers of the faithful, nor regard the honours which are done to them, because their bodies lie dead here beneath, and their spirits are at so great a distance from us in heaven, that they can neither hear our prayers nor see the honours which we pay them. They add, that the saints do not pray for us, and that therefore, we are not to entreat their intercession, because, being swallowed up with heavenly joy, they cannot attend to us, nor indeed to any thing else. Hence they deride all the festivals which we cele- brate in honour of the saints, and all other instances of our veneration for them. Accordingly, wherever they can do it, they secretly work upon holy days, arguing, that since working is good, it cannot be evil to do that which is good on a holy day. They do not observe Lent, or other fasts of the church, alleging that God does not delight in the afflictions of his friends, as being able to save without them. Some heretics indeed afflict themselves with fasting, watchings, and the like, because without these they cannot obtain the reputation of being holy among the simple people, nor deceive them by their feigned hypocrisy. They do not receive the Old Testament, but the Gospel only, that they may not be overthrown by it, but rather be able to defend themselves therewith ; pretending that upon the introduction of the gospel dispen- sation all old things were to be laid aside.t In like manner they se- lect the choicest sayings and authorities of the holy fathers, such as Augustine, Jerome, Gregory, Chrysostom, and Isidore, that with them they may support their opinions, oppose others, or the more easily seduce the simple, by varnishing over their sacrilegious doctrine with the good sentences of the saints, at the same time very quietly passing over those parts of the writings of the holy fathers that oppose and confute their errors. Such as are teachable and eloquent among them, they instruct to get the words of the gospel, as well as the sayings of * Many will think that Reinerius must have been at great loss for substantial grounds of accusation against the Waldenses, when he could condescend to enu- merate such childish things as these. f This was precisely the charge which was brought against the Paulicians ; see Note, vol. i. ch. iii. sect. 4, and the remarks there offered upon it. Albigenses not Manichaeans. 321 the apostles, and other holy men by heart, that they may be able to inform others, and draw in believers, beautifying their sect with the goodly words of the saints, that the things they persuade and recom- mend may pass for sound and wholesome doctrine ; — thus by their soft speeches deceiving the hearts of the simple. And not only the men, but even their women also teach* amongst them, because women have an easier access to those of their own sex, to pervert them, that afterwards, by their means, the men may be perverted also, as the serpent deceived Adam by means of Eve. They teach their disciples to speak in dark and obscure words, and instead of speaking truth, to endeavour to speak lies ; that when they are asked about one thing, they might perversely answer about another, and thus craftily deceive their hearers, especially when they fear that by confessing the truth, they should discover their errors. In the same dissembling manner they frequent our churches, are present at divine service, offer at the altar, receive the sacrament, confess to the priests, observe the church fasts, celebrate festivals, and receive the priest's blessing, reverently bowing their heads, though in the meantime they scoff at all these in- stitutions of the church, looking upon them as profane and hurtful. They say it is sufficient for their salvation if they confess to God, and not to man." Such is the view which Reinerius gave of the principles of the Wal- denses, about eighty years subsequent to the times of Peter Waldo ; and we must understand this description as applicable to one general class of Christians, scattered throughout the south of France, the valleys of thePyrenean mountains, the valleys of Piedmont, and the country of the Milanese ; though probably distinguished in different places by the different names of Puritans, or Catharists, Paterines, Arnoldists, Leon- ists, Albigenses, or Waldenses, the last of which ultimately became their more general appellation.! No doubt there were shades of dif- ference in sentiment among them on points of minor importance, even as there are among Christians in the present day ; and it is very certain that the Catholic writers sometimes class under the general name of * The reader must not understand the teaching here alluded to as referring to public teaching in the church, for the Waldenses permitted nothing of that kind in their females, and the Scriptures pointedly forbid it: but he refers to their mode of propagating their sentiments by conversation, and I shall have an opportunity of showing, in a future section, from the writings of this same Rei- nerius, the very simple and striking manner in which they did this. -j- "Nothing is so well known to the curious in these matters, as the following verses upon the Vaudois ( Waldenses) in the year 1100 : — Que non vogli maudir ne jura, ne mentir, N'occir, ne avoutrar, ne prenre de altrui, Ne s'avengear deli suo ennemi, Loz dison qu' es Vaudes & los feson morir. Whosoever refuses to curse, to swear, to lie, to kill, to commit adultery, to steal, to be revenged of his enemy — they say he is a Vaudois, and therefore they put him to death." Voltaire's Gen. History, ch. lxix. 322 History of the Christian Church. Waldenses or Albigenses, persons whose theological sentiments and re- ligious practices were very opposite to those which were professed by the followers of Peter Waldo. " The practice of confounding heretics of all kinds in one common herd," says Mr. Robinson, " hath been an ancient custom with ecclesiastical historians, and it hath obscured his- tory."* This is a very just remark, and the reader who would not be imposed upon by those writers, will find it of great importance to at- tend to it. He himself, however, tells us that the Albigenses wereMa- nichaeans,t or nearly so, and that they differed from the Vaudois and Waldenses. That individuals, or even a sect, holding those wild and extravagant opinions, may have existed at that time, and been classed by the Catholic writers under the head of Albigenses, is not impossible, though I have met with no evidence that puts the fact beyond dispute; and the historians of the latter give a very easy and natural solution of the reason of their being accused of ManichaBism. But, whatever may be in this, the following facts are indisputable ; that the general body of the Albigenses received the doctrines of Peter Waldo — that these doc- trines had no connection with Manichseism — and that the Waldenses and Albigenses were two branches of the same sect, inhabiting different countries, each deriving its appellation from its local residence. * Eccles. Researches, p. 463. f The sect of the Manichzeans derived its origin from a person of the name of Manes, or Manichreus, as he is sometimes called by his disciples. He was by- birth a Persian, educated among1 the Magi, and himself one of their number be- fore he embraced the profession of Christianity, about the end of the third cen- tury. His doctrine was a motley mixture of the tenets of Christianity, with the ancient philosophy of the Persians, in which he had been instructed during his youth. The following view of his system is given by Dr. Mosheim, Vol. I. Cent. iii. ch. v. " That there are two principles from which all things proceed — the one a most pure and subtle matter, called Light, the other a gross and corrupt substance called Darkness. The being who presides over light is called God — he that rules the land of darkness bears the name of Hyle, or Demon. The ruler of the light is supremely happy, and consequently benevolent and good — the prince of darkness is unhappy in himself, and desiring to render others parta- kers of his misery, is evil and malignant. These two beings have produced an immense multitude of creatures, resembling themselves, whom they have distri- buted through their respective provinces. He held that Christ is that glorious intelligence whom the Persians called Mithras — a splendid substance, endowed with life, and having his residence in the sun. The Holy Ghost a luminous and animated body, diffused throughout every part of the atmosphere which sur- rounds this terrestrial globe. He held that the God of the Jews was the prince of darkness — affirmed that the Old Testament was not the word of God, but of the prince of darkness, and rejected as spurious the four Gospels, and indeed most of the canonical Scriptures — maintained the transmigration of souls," &.C&.C It is really surprising that Mr. Robinson, the acute, the ingenious, the liberal- minded Mr. Robinson, should have charged the Albigenses with adopting this absurd system, without producing any evidence to support such an opinion. Few writers have combated the foul misrepresentations of the Catholics with more zeal and success than he has done; but in this instance he has joined their senseless clamour against the Albigenses. It is a very questionable point, whether the sect of the Manichreans had any existence at the period of which Mr. R. is treating, and I am strongly inclined to think they had not, at least in Europe. But even though that could be proved, I may venture to affirm that it was utterly out of the power of Mr. R. or any other person to produce from Hit Albigenses not Manichseans. 323 In the sketch which Reinerius has furnished of the principles of the Waldenses, it is to be remarked, that there is not the slightest allusion to any erroneous opinions maintained by them, regarding the faith and doctrines of the gospel, and this is a noble testimony to the soundness of their creed. For having himself been connected with them, — a man of learning and talents, he doubtless was intimately acquainted with their doctrinal sentiments ; and, having apostatized from their profession and become their determined adversary, he did not want inclination to bring forward any accusation against them which could be done with the smallest regard to decency on his own part. The errors of which he accuses them (a few instances excepted, and on which they repelled his slanderous charges) are such as no protestant dissenter of the present day would shrink from the odium which is connected with holding, since they will all be found in one way or other to resolve themselves into the unfounded claims of the clergy, or the introduction of human traditions and the basest superstition into the worship of God. It will be recollected that, towards the close of the former section, it was stated that Peter Waldo, after disseminating his doctrines in France and Germany, was at length driven into Bohemia, where he spent the last years of his life in preaching the gospel, which he did with the most astonishing success. That kingdom comprehended what is now included in the duchy of Silesia, and the marquisate of Moravia. The country is about three hundred miles long, and two hundred and fifty broad, almost wholly surrounded with impenetrable forests and lofty mountains. The soil, where it is cultivated, is fruitful, and yields corn enough for the use of its inhabitants, which are computed at three millions in number, leaving a considerable surplus frequently for ex- portation. Its pasture-lands produce abundance of cattle particularly horses fit for war. They have inexhaustible mines of gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, lead, sulphur and nitre ; and their carbuncles, emeralds, and other precious stones, are vended all over Europe. Crantz, who wrote the history of the Bohemian brethren, mentions a colony of Wal- denses as obtaining permission to settle at Saltz and Lun, on the river Eger, so early as the twelfth century, which the coincidence of time renders it highly probable, refers to the persecuted Waldo and his the confessions, catechisms, testimonies, or conduct of the Albigenses the least trace of Manichseism. I am tempted on this occasion to adopt the lofty language of Dr. Allix, when defending the Piedmontese Waldenses from the same charge brought against them by the Catholic bishop Bossuet. "I defy the impudence .of the devil himself," says he, "to find in their writings the least shadow of Manichxism." — Remarks, ch. 17. The fact is, that, on this subject, the Catho- lic writers misled Mosheim and Limborch; and these latter historians have mis- led Mr. Robinson. Indeed, an impartial reader will easily perceive throughout this gentleman's account of "the Valleys of Piedmont," in his Ecclesiastical Re- searches, the strongest indications of a. jaundiced eye. Speaking of Leger's His- tory of the Waldenses, he adds, " Orthodoxy is proved and overproved in it, for it will be allowed that an apostolical church with the Athanasian creed is above par." He cannot therefore believe that the Catholics inflicted upon the " poor Waldenses," the horrible cruelties which are detailed by Leger, though he has no difficulty in believing them to have inflicted cruelties full as great upon others ! 324 History of the Christian Church. brethren. Certain it is, that his labours were crowned with great suc- cess in that country ; and we have two noted authors who have left us a particular account of the faith and practices of the Waldenses in Bo- hemia, during the fourteenth century, at which time their numbers had increased very considerably, and they had to sustain the fire of papal persecution. The first is an inquisitor of the church of Rome, who says " Ae had exact knowledge of the Waldenses," at whose trials he had often assisted, in several countries. The other is ^Eneas Sylvius, who wrote the history of Bohemia, and afterwards ascended the ponti- fical chair with the title of pope Pius II. Thus writes the inquisitor concerning the Waldenses of Bohemia. The first error of the Waldenses, says he, is, that they affirm the church of Rome is not the church of Jesus Christ, but an assembly of ungodly men, and that she has ceased from being the true church, from the time of pope Sylvester, at which time the poison of temporal ad- vantages was cast into the church — That all vices and sins reign in that church, and that they alone live righteously — That they are the true church of Christ, and that the church of Rome is the whore mentioned in the Revelation. They despise and reject all the ordinances and statutes of the church, as being too many and very burdensome. They insist that the pope is the head and leader of all error — That the pre- lates are the scribes and seemingly religious Pharisees — That the popes and their bishops, on account of the wars they foment, are murderers — That our obedience is due to God alone, and not to prelates, which they found on Acts iv. 9. — That none in the church ought to be greater than their brethren, according to Matt. xx. 25, &c. — That no man ought to kneel to a priest, because the angel said to John (Rev. xix. 10.) " See thou do it not" — that tithes ought not to be given to priests, because there was no use of them in the primitive church — That the clergy ought not to enjoy any temporal possessions, because it was said in the law, " The tribe of Levi shall have no inheritance with the children of Israel, the sacrifices being their portion" (Deut. xviii.) — That it is wrong to endow and found churches and monasteries, and that nothing ought to be bequeathed to churches by way of legacy. They condemn the clergy for their idleness, saying they ought to work with their hands as the apostles did. They reject all the titles of pre- lates, as pope, bishop, &c. They affirm that no man ought to be forci- bly compelled in matters of faith. They condemn all ecclesiastical of- fices, and the privileges and immunities of the church, and all persons and things belonging to it, such as councils and synods, parochial rights, &c. declaring that the observances of the religious are nothing else than pharisaical traditions. As to the second class of their errors — They condemn all the sacra- ments of the church. Concerning the sacrament of baptism they say, that the catechism signifies nothing, that the absolution pronounced over infants avails them nothing — that the godfathers and godmothers do not understand what they answer the priest. That the oblation which is called SI wogen is nothing but a mere human invention. They reject all exorcisms and blessings. Concerning the eucharist they say, that a wicked priest cannot celebrate that sacrament — that Principles of the Waldenscs. 325 transubstantiation is not performed by the hands of him who celebrates unworthily, and that it (the eucharist) may be celebrated on our com- mon tables, alleging for this the words of Malachi i. 11. " In every place shall a pure offering be offered to my name." They condemn the custom of believers communicating no more than once a year, whereas they communicate daily.* That the mass signifies nothing : that the apostles knew nothing of it : and that it is only done for gain. They reject the canon of the mass, and only make use of the words of Christ in the vulgar tongue — affirming that the offering made by the priest in the mass is of no value. They reject the kiss of peace, that of the altar, of the priest's hands, and the pope's feet. They condemn marriage as a sacrament, saying, that those that enter into the state of marriage without hope of children, are guilty of sin. They have no regard to the degrees of carnal or spiritual affinity in marriage which the church observes, nor the impediments of order and public decency, or to the prohibition of the church in that matter. They contend that a woman after child-birth doth not stand in need of any blessing or churching. That it was an error of the church to forbid the clergy to marry. They disallow the sacrament of extreme unction — they hold the sacrament of different orders of the clergy to be of no use, every good layman being a priest, and the apostles themselves being all lay- men. That the preaching of a wicked priest cannot profit any body, and that which is uttered in the Latin tongue can be of no use to those laymen who do not understand it. They deride the tonsure of priests ; and reproach the church that she raiseth bastards, boys, and notorious sinners to high ecclesiastical dignities. — Whatsoever is preached without scripture proof, they account no better than fables. They hold that the Holy Scripture is of the same efficacy in the vulgar tongue as in Latin, and accordingly they communicate and administer the sacra- ments in the vulgar tongue. They can say a great part of the Old and | New Testament by heart. They despise the decretals, and the say- ings and expositions of holy men, and cleave only to the text of scrip- ture. They contemn excommunication, neither do they value absolu- tion, which they expect alone from God. They reject the indulgences of the church, and deride its dispensations. They admit none for saints except the apostles, and they pray to no saint. They contemn the canonization, translation, and vigils of the saints. They laugh at those laymen who choose themselves saints at the altar. They never read the liturgy. They give no credit to the legends of the saints, make a mock of the saints' miracles, and despise their relics. They abhor the wood of the cross, because of Christ's sufferings on it ; nei- ther do they sign themselves with it. They contend that the doctrine of Christ and his apostles is sufficient to salvation without any church statutes and ordinances, and affirm that the traditions of the church were no better than the traditions of the Pharisees — insisting, more- over, that greater stress is laid on the observation of human tradition, * I suspect this should have been every Lord's day, or first day of the week, for it is certain they did not come together for worship every day ,■ nor indeed was the thing practicable. 28 326 History of the Christian Church. than on the keeping of the law of God. They refute the mystical sense of scripture, especially as delivered in sayings and actions, and published by the church, such as that the cock upon steeples signifies the pastor! Their third class of errors is as follows. They contemn all approved ecclesiastical customs which they do not read of in the gospel, such as the observation of Candlemas, Palm-Sunday, the reconciliation of peni- tents, and the adoration of the cross on Good-Friday. They despise the feast of Easter, and all other festivals of Christ and the saints, and say that one day is as good as another, working upon holy-days, where they can do it without being taken notice of. They disregard the church fasts, alleging Isa. lviii. " Is this the fast that I have chosen?" They deride and mock at all dedications, consecrations, and benedic- tions of candles, ashes, palm-branches, oil, fire, wax candles, Jignus BeVs, churching of women, strangers, holy places and persons, vest- ments, salt and water. They look upon the church built of stone to be no better than a common barn, neither do they believe that God dwells there, quoting Acts vii. 48. " God doth not dwell in temples made with hands" — and that prayers offered up in them are of no more efficacy than those which we offer up in our closets, according to Matt. vi. 6. "But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet." They set no value on the dedication of churches, and call the ornaments of the altar "the sin of the church," saying, that it would be much better to clothe the poor than to decorate walls. Of the altar they say, that it is wastefulness to let so much cloth lie rotting upon stones ; and that Christ never gave to his disciples vests, or rockets, or mitres. They celebrate the eucharist in their household cups, and say that the cor- poral, or cloth on which the host is laid, is no holier than the cloth of their breeches. Concerning lights used in the church, they say that God, who is the true light, stands in no need of light, and that it can have no further use than to hinder the priests from stumbling in the dark. They reject all censings ; estimating holy water no better than common water. The images and pictures in the church they pro- nounce to be idolatrous. They mock at the singing [chanting] in churches, saying that the efficacy is in the words and not in the music. They deride the cries of the laymen, and reject all festival processions, as those of Easter, as well as mournful processions at Rogation-week and at funerals. They laugh at the custom of bringing sick persons on a bench before the altar. They dissuade people from going on a pilgrimage to Rome, and other places beyond sea, though they them- selves pretend to go on pilgrimage, whereas it is only with a design to visit their bishops who live in Lombardy. They express no value for the Lord's sepulchre, nor for those of the saints, and condemn the bu- rying in churches, which they found on Matt, xxiii. 29. " Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees, because ye build the tombs," &c. and . would prefer burying in the field to the chureh-yard, were they not afraid of the church. They maintain that the offices for the dead, masses for the deceased, offerings, funeral pomps, last wills,, legacies, visiting of graves, the reading of vigils, anniversary masses, and simi- lar suffrages, are of no avail to departed souls. They condemn watch- Waldenses of Bohemia described. 327 ing with the dead by night, because of the folly and wickedness which are practised on those occasions. They hold all these errors because they deny purgatory, saying that there are only two ways, the one of the elect to heaven, the other of the damned to hell, according to Eccles. xi. 3. " Which way soever the tree falleth there it must lie." They contend that a good man stands in no need of intercessions, and that they cannot profit those that are wicked — That all sins ara mortal, and none of them venial — That once praying in the words of the Lord's prayer is of more effica- cy than the ringing of ten bells, yea, than the mass itself. They think that all swearing is sinful, because Christ says, Matt. v. 34, " Swear not at all, but let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay." They are against punishing malefactors with death, which they found on Rom. xii. 19. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay it, saith the Lord."* — Thus far the testimony of this inquisitor ; to which I shall now sub- join the short account which the celebrated iEneas Sylvius gives of the Waldenses. of Bohemia, in his history of that kingdom. They hold, says he, that the pope of Rome is not superior to bi- shops, and that there is no difference (as to rank or dignity,) for that grace and virtue alone give the preference — That the souls of the de- ceased are either immediately plunged into hell, or advanced to eternal joys [in heaven.] — That there is no purgatory fire — that it is a vain thing to pray for the dead, and merely an invention of priestly covet- ousness — That the images of God and of the saints ought to be de- stroyed— That the blessing of water and palm-branches is ridiculous — That the religion of the Mendicants [begging Friars] was invented by evil spirits — That priests ought to be poor, and content themselves with alms — That every one has liberty to preach [or instruct.] — No capital sin ought to be tolerated under pretence of avoiding a greater evil — That he who is guilty of mortal sin, ought not to enjoy any ec- clesiastical dignity — That the confirmation which is celebrated with anointing and extreme unction, is none of the sacraments of the church of Christ — That auricular confession is a piece of foppery — that every one ought, in his closet, to confess his sins to God — That baptism ought to be administered without the addition of holy oil — That the use of church-yards is vain, and nothing but a covetous invention, and that it signifies nothing in what ground the bodies of the dead are laid — That the temple of the great God is the universe, and that to build churches, monasteries, and oratories to him under the supposition that the divine goodness could be more favourably found in them than in other places, is a limiting the Divine Majesty — That the priestly vestments, altar, ornaments, pall, corporals, chalices, patins, and other vessels are of no efficacy — That it is vain to implore the suf- frages of the saints reigning with Christ in heaven, because they can- not help us — That it is to no purpose to spend one's time in singing and saying the canonical hours — That we are to cease from working on no day except the Lord's day — That the holidays of saints are to • Hist. Script. Bohem. p. 222. et seq. in Dr. Alllx's Remarks, p. 211— 219. 328 History of the Christian Church. be rejected, and that there is no merit in observing the fasts instituted by the church.* Claudius Seisselius, was archbishop of Turin, towards the close of the fifteenth century, a little before the time of the Reformation, and wrote a treatise against the Waldenses. His residence in the very heart of the valleys of Piedmont must have furnished him with the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with the principles and practices of his non-conformist neighbours, and he has transmitted to posterity a narrative sufficiently circumstantial and explicit to enable any impar- tial person to form a tolerably correct judgment of them. His testimo- ny is therefore, of too much importance to be omitted : but I must en- treat the reader to bear in mind that it is the testimony of an adversa- ry, whose papal zeal he will perceive to blaze forth against them occa- sionally with no little fury. Alluding to the churches of the Waldenses in Piedmont, and those scattered throughout the diocese of Italy, he tells us, that the most cruel persecutions had not been able to extirpate them, or hinder them from a constant defence of that doctrine which they had received from their ancestors. " All sorts of people," says he, "have repeatedly endeavoured, but in vain, to root them out; for even yet, contrary to the opinion of all men, they still remain con- querors, or at least wholly invincible." He then proceeds thus to de- scribe them. "The Pope of Rome, and the rest of the prelates and priests of that church," these Waldenses affirm, " neither follow the life nor the precepts of Christ, but do quite the contrary ; and that not only in secret, but so openly and manifestly that it can no longer be disguised, because they chiefly value themselves on things that are contrary to religion, and not only contemn but even mock at the pre- cepts of the apostles. The latter lived in great poverty, humility, chastity, continence as to carnal things, and contempt of the world; whereas we prelates and priests live in great pomp, luxuriousness, and dissoluteness. We think it a brave thing to excel in royal power ra- ther than in sacerdotal sanctity ; and all our endeavours and studies tend only to the acquisition of glory amongst men, not by means of virtue, holiness, and learning, but by the abundance of all [temporal] things; by arms and warlike magnificence, and by vast expense in equipage, furniture of horses, gold, and other things of that nature. The apostles would not possess any thing as their own, neither would they receive any into their society who had not forsaken all and laid it in common : whereas we, not contented with what we already pos- sess, fish for other people's goods more greedily and impudently than heathens themselves. Hence it is that we make wars, and incite Christian princes and people to take up arms. The apostles travelling through towns and villages, and sowing the word of God with power, exercised many other offices of charity, according to the several gifts they had received : whereas we, not only do nothing like this, and give no good examples of holy conversation, but on the contrary fre- quently resist and oppose those that do, thus opening the way to all manner of dissoluteness and avarice. They, as it were, against their * Hist. Bohem. p. 141. abi supra. Seisselius's account of the Waldenses. 329 wills and with reluctance, by the divine command or inspiration of God, received ordination to promote the salvation of others : whereas we buy benefices and preferments for money, or procure them by force, or through the favour of princes and other indirect means, merely to satiate our lusts, to enrich our relations, and for tbe sake of worldly glory. Moreover, they spent their lives in manifold fastings, watch- ings, and labours, terrified neither by trouble nor danger, that they might show to others the way of salvation : whereas we pass our time in idleness, in pleasures, and other earthly or wicked tilings. They, despising gold and silver, as they had freely received the divine grace, so they freely dispensed it to others ; whereas we set all holy things to sale, and barter with the heavenly treasures of God himself, and, in a word, confound all things both divine and human. So that the church of Rome cannot be said to be the spouse of Christ, but that common prostitute described by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and St. John, in the Revelation, in such lively colours. For Christ hath joined his church to him to be his bride, holy, pure, fair, adorned with the ornaments and jewels of every virtue, without spot or wrinkle, such as the Holy Spirit figuratively describes her in the Canticles. Far be it, therefore, that Christ should ever think of changing this his beautiful and loving bride for such a stinking, loathsome harlot." Further, Seisselius thus proceeds. " We do not deny," say the Waldenses, " that God alone is the searcher of hearts, for, as the Scripture saith, ' He searcheth the heart and trieth the reins ;' and therefore, that he alone knows whether the works of men are pleasing unto him and obtain his favour, which others can only know by con- jecture. But he himself hath taught us how to form our judgment when he saith, * Ye shall know them by their fruits ; for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, nor a good tree evil fruit.' Hence, though it be a difficult thing to judge of good works, because they re- ceive their value from the intention of the doer, yet wicked works dis- cover themselves, and the intention cannot make them good, especially when they are open, barefaced, and obviously repugnant to the law of God. Therefore, if I see the bishops and priests every day living in dissoluteness and luxury, robbing others of their goods, smiting their neighbours, persecuting those that are good, blaspheming the name of God, prodigally wasting the patrimony of the church in voluptuous- ness and damnable crimes, may I not undoubtedly affirm, that they who commit these things are not the ministers of God, but his public and avowed enemies ? Surely such they are, though we should sup- pose them created or confirmed by an universal synod of Christians, or by the pope, or by Peter himself. But how much more may we conclude them such, when those that ordained them are worse than themselves, and their works obviously worse than theirs ? What shall we say, if it appear that they have publicly and notoriously bought the papacy — that they openly set to sale sacerdotal functions, and that they set over the churches, not by mistake, but out of malice, those who are known to be wholly unworthy of that charge, and who never in all their lifetime did any thing worthy either of a priest, or even of a Christian? Shall we obey such priests and prelates who lead us in the 28* 330 History of the Christian Church. way to salvation neither by word or work, but rather endeavour all they can to drag us into the same pit of destruction as themselves ? Doth not our Saviour tell us that we must not suffer ourselves to be led by blind guides, lest when one blind man leads another, they both fall into the ditch ? Hath he not declared that such as these are cut off from the life of the church and the body of Christ, and destined to the fire ? How can he be the vicegerent of Christ, who is not so much as a Christian, or a member of the mystical body of Christ, but whom he commands us to avoid as a heathen and publican, so long as he con- tinues incorrigible ? " The apostolic authority, the faith of Peter, which Christ said should not fail the catholic church, and with which church he pro- miseth to abide for ever, is to be found amongst us who walk after the example of the apostles, and according to our weak measure, observe the commands and ordinances they have given us. We are those of whom the apostle Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Corinthians, ' Brethren consider your calling, that ye are not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble ; but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise ; and the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty ; and the base things of this world, and things that are despised, yea, and the things that are not, to bring to nought the things that are.' And the same apostle tells us, that he was sent to preach the gospel, not in the mightiness of man's wisdom, but in plainness and simplicity ; al- leging to this purpose what the Lord saith elsewhere, " I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nought the prudence of the prudent.' " Such is the description given us, by the archbishop of Turin, of the Waldenses of Piedmont, before Luther was born, or Calvin thought of, or the term of reformation even mentioned. And yet the Catholics have had the effrontery to ask us, "Where was your religion before Luther?" But let us further attend to the account which he gives us of the articles of their faith. On this particular he thus writes. " They receive only what is written in the Old and New Testa- ments. They say that the popes of Rome and other priests have cor- rupted the Scriptures by their doctrines and glosses — that they owe neither tithes nor first-fruits to the clergy — that the consecration of churches, indulgences, and similar benedictions, are the inventions of false priests. They do not celebrate the festivals of the saints. They say that men do not stand in need of the suffrages of the saints, Christ abundantly sufficing in all things. They affirm that marriage may be contracted in any degree, excepting only one or two at the most ; as if the popes had no power to prohibit marriage in any other degree ! They say that whatever is done to deliver the souls of the dead from the pains of purgatory is useless, lost, and superstitious — that our priests have not the power of forgiving sins. They say that they alone observe the evangelic and apostolic doctrine, on which account, by an intolerable impudence, they usurp the name of the catholic church ! Their barbs [pastors] do greatly err," saith Seisselius, " be- cause they are neither sent of God, nor by the pastors of the [catholic] Seisselius's account of the TValdenses. 331 church, but of the devil, as appears from their damnable doctrine. They say that the authority of hearing confessions belongs to all Christians that walk according to the apostolic precepts (which their barbs attribute to themselves) because the apostle James saith, ' Con- fess your faults one to another.' They say that we ought not to have any kind of [set form of] prayer, except it appear that it was com- posed by some certain [inspired] author, and approved of God. Their barbs have often preached this doctrine to abolish the service of the glorious "Virgin and of other saints. They do not think that Chris- tians ought to say the angelical salutation to the mother of God, al- leging that it has not the form of a prayer, but a salutation : but that they do only that they may rob the Virgin of this service, saying, that it is not lawful to worship or serve her any more than the rest of the saints. They affirm that the blessings of the priests are of no virtue at all. Did not Christ bless the bread in the desert ? When the apos- tles sat down to eat bread, they blessed what was set upon the table. They say there is no need of holy water in the churches, because neither Christ nor his apostles either made it or commanded it: as if we ought to say or do nothing but what we read was done by them. They say, that the indulgences allowed of by the church are despica- ble, useless things — that the souls of the dead, without being tried by any purgation, immediately on their parting from the body, enter into happiness or misery ; and that the clergy, blinded by their covetous- ness, have invented purgatory. They say that the saints cannot take notice of what is done here below. They detest and abhor all images, and the sign of the cross, much more than we honour them. They make no distinction between the worship of Latria, which is due to God only, and that of Bulia, which belongs to the saints. As to the fasts which the catholic church has instituted for the honour of God and the saints, they have yet less reason to object these to us. They affirm that a lie is always a mortal sin, because David says, ' God shall destroy all liars.' " And as to transubstantiation he tells us, " that the Waldenses made a mock of all the artifices which the Catho- lics had recourse to with the view of making it appear to them more plausible." Upon this part of their conduct, the reflections of the learned archbishop are sufficiently pertinent to be here introduced. " I think," saith he, " that those took pains to little purpose, who, when writing against this sect, made it their chief business to insist upon the difficulties about the sacrament of the eucharist, and who, in order to clear them, have spoken so sharply and subtilely, not to say confusedly, that I have great reason to doubt whether they ever understood the thing themselves. Yet I will not say that because I do not myself comprehend it, (for that I ingenuously confess,) I think it also to sur- pass the capacity of others ; but because it has always appeared to me to be a point of that difficulty, that the ablest have been ready to own that the strength of human understanding must in this case be subject to faith." 332 History of the Christian Church. SECTION III. A VIEW OF THE DOCTRINAL SENTIMENTS AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF THE AVALDENSES, COLLECTED FROM THEIR OWN WRITINGS. Having in the former section laid before the reader the sentiments imputed to the Waldenses by four of their avowed adversaries, there can be no reasonable objection to our now permitting them to make their own apology. Their historian, John Paul Perrin, in his " His- toire des Vaudois," published at Geneva in 1619, has furnished us with two of their " Confessions of Faith,'' of which the following are faithful translations. Sir Samuel Morland has fixed the date of the first of them in the year 1120.* THE CONFESSION OF FAITH OF THE WALDENSES. 1. We believe and firmly maintain all that is contained in the twelve articles of the symbol, commonly called the apostles's creed, and we regard as heretical whatever is inconsistent with the said twelve articles. 2. We believe that there is one God, — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 3. We acknowledge for sacred canonical scriptures the books of the Holy Bible. (Here follows the title of each, exactly conformable to our received canon, but which it is deemed, on that account, quite unnecessary to particularize.) 4. The books above-mentioned teach us — That there is one God, almighty, unbounded in wisdom, and infinite in goodness, and who, in his goodness, has made all things. For he created Adam after his own image and likeness. But through the enmity of the devil, and his own disobedience, Adam fell, sin entered into the world, and we became transgressors in and by Adam. 5. That Christ had been promised to the fathers who received the law, to the end that, knowing their sin by the law, and their unrighte- ousness and insufficiency, they might desire the coming of Christ to make satisfaction for their sins, and to accomplish the law by him- self. 6. That at the time appointed of the Father, Christ was born — a time when iniquity every where abounded, to make it manifest that it was not for the sake of any good in ourselves, for all were sinners, but that He, who is true, might display his grace and mercy towards us. 7. That Christ is our life, and truth, and peace, and righteousness — our shepherd and advocate, our sacrifice and priest, who died for the salvation of all who should believe, and rose again for their justification. 8. And we also firmly believe, that there is no other mediator, or advocate with God the Father, but Jesus Christ. And as to the Vir- * Morland 's History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 30. Waldensian Confession of Faith. 333 gin Mary, she was holy, humble, and full of grace; and this we also believe concerning all other saints, namely, that they are waiting in heaven for the resurrection of their bodies at the day of judgment. 9. We also believe, that, after this life, there are but two places — one for those that are saved, the other for the damned, which [two] we call paradise and hell, wholly denying that imaginary purgatory of An- tichrist, invented in opposition to the truth. 10. Moreover, we have ever regarded all the inventions of men (in the affairs of religion) as an unspeakable abomination before God; such as the festival days and vigils of saints, and what is called holy-water, the abstaining from flesh on certain days, and such like things, but above all, the masses. 11. We hold in abhorrence all human inventions, as proceeding from Antichrist, which produce distress,* and are prejudicial to the liberty of the mind. 12. We consider the Sacraments as signs of holy things, or as the visible emblems of invisible blessings. We regard it as proper and even necessary that believers use these symbols or visible forms when it can be done. Notwithstanding which, we maintain that believers may be saved without these signs, when they have neither place nor opportunity of observing them. 13. We acknowledge no sacraments (as of divine appointment) but baptism and the Lord's supper. 14. We honour the secular powers, with subjection, obedience, promptitude, and payment.! ANOTHER CONFESSION OF FAITH. The Centuriators of Magdeburgh, in their History of the Christian Church, under the ttvelfth century, recite from an old manuscript the following epitome of the opinions of the Waldenses of that age. In articles of faith the authority of the Holy Scriptures is the high- est; and for that reason it is the standard of judging; so that whatso- ever doth not agree with the word of God, is deservedly to be rejected and avoided. The decrees of Fathers and Councils are [only] so far to be approved as they agree with the word of God. The reading and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures is open to, and is necessary for all men, the laity as well as the clergy ; and moreover the writings of the prophets and apostles are to be read rather than the comments of men. The sacraments of the church of Christ are two', baptism and the Lord's supper : and in the latter, Christ has instituted the receiving in both kinds, both for priests and people. Masses are impious ; and it is madness to say masses for the dead. * Alluding' probably to the voluntary penances and mortification imposed by the Catholics on themselves. f Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, ch. xii. 334 History of the Christian Church. Purgatory is the invention of men ; for they who believe go into eternal life ; they who believe not, into eternal damnation. The invoking and worshipping of dead saints is idolatry. The church of Rome is the whore of Babylon. We must not obey the pope and bishops, because they are the wolves of the church of Christ. The pope hath not the primacy over all the churches of Christ ; neither hath he the power of both swords. That is the church of Christ, which hears the pure doctrine of Christ, and observes the ordinances instituted by him, in whatsoever place it exists. Vows of celibacy are the inventions of men, and productive of un- cleanness. So many orders [of the clergy,] so many marks of the beast. Monkery is a filthy carcass. So many superstitious dedications of churches, commemorations of the dead, benedictions of creatures, pilgrimages, so many forced fast- ings, so many superfluous festivals, those perpetual bellowings, [allud- ing to the practice of chanting] and the observations of various other ceremonies, manifestly obstructing the teaching and learning of the word, are diabolical inventions. The marriage of priests is both lawful and necessary. About the time of the Reformation, the Waldenses who resided in the South of France, and who of course were subjects of the French king, were persecuted with the most sanguinary severity, particularly those resident in the country of Provence. In the year 1540, the par- liament of Aix, the chief judicature of the province, passed a law, that " they should all of them promiscuously be destroyed, that their houses should be pulled down, the town of Merindole be levelled with the ground, all the trees cut down, and the country adjacent converted into a desert." Voltaire, speaking of this cruel decree, says, " The Wal- denses, terrified at this sentence, sent a deputation to cardinal Sadole- tus, bishop of Carpentras, who at that time was in his diocese. This illustrious scholar, this true philosopher, this humane and compassion- ate prelate, received them with great goodness, and interceded in their behalf, and the execution of the sentence was for a time suspended."* The sentence, nevertheless, was executed in all its rigour five years afterwards, as will be related in a future section. In the preceding year, however, (1544) as we are informed by Sleiden, in his history of the Reformation, p. 347, the Waldenses, to remove the prejudices that were entertained against them, and to manifest their innocence, trans- mitted to the king, in writing, the following confession of their faith. THIRD CONFESSION. 1. We believe that there is but one God, who is a Spirit — the Creator of all things — the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and * Voltaire's Univ. Hist. ch. cxvi. Waldensian Confession of Faith. 335 in us all; who is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth — upon whom we are continually dependent, and to whom we ascribe praise for our life, food, raiment, health, sickness, prosperity, and adversity. We love him as the source of all goodness ; and reverence him as that sublime being, who searches the reins and trieth the hearts of the children of men. 2. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son and image of the Father — that in Him all the fulness of the Godhead dwells, and that by Him alone we know the Father. He is our Mediator and advocate ; nor is there any other name given under heaven by which we can be saved. In His name alone we call upon the Father, using no other prayers than those contained in the Holy Scriptures, or such as are in substance agreeable thereunto. 3. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, proceeding from the Father, and from the Son; by whose inspiration we are taught to pray ; being by Him renewed in the spirit of our minds ; who creates us anew unto good works, and from whom we receive the knowledge of the truth. 4. We believe that there is one holy church, comprising the whole assembly of the elect and faithful, that have existed from the beginning of the world, or that shall be to the end thereof. Of this church the Lord Jesus Christ is the head — it is governed by his word and guided by the Holy Spirit. In the church it behoves all Christians to have fellowship. For her He [Christ] prays incessantly, and his prayer for it is most acceptable to God, without which indeed there could be no salvation. 5. We hold that the ministers of the church ought to be unblamable both in life and doctrine ; and if found otherwise, that they ought to be deposed from their office, and others substituted in their stead ; and that no person ought to presume to take that honour unto himself but he who is called of God as was Aaron — that the duties of such are to feed the flock of God, not for filthy lucre's sake, or as having dominion over God's heritage, but as being examples to the flock, in word, in con- versation, in charity, in faith, and in chastity. 6. We acknowledge, that kings, princes, and governors, are the ap- pointed and established ministers of God, whom we are bound to obey [in all lawful and civil concerns.] For they bear the sword for the defence of the innocent, and the punishment of evil doers ; for which reason we are bound to honour and pay them tribute. From this power and authority, no man can exempt himself, as is manifest from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who voluntarily paid tribute, not taking upon himself any jurisdiction of temporal power. 7. We believe that in the ordinance of baptism the water is the visible and external sign, which represents to us that which, by virtue of God's invisible operation, is within us — namely, the renovation of our minds, and the mortification of our members through [the faith of] Jesus Christ. And by this ordinance we are received into the holy congregation of God's people, previously professing and declaring our faith and change of life. 8. We hold that the Lord's supper is a commemoration of, and 336 History of the Christian Church. thanksgiving for, the benefits which we have received by his sufferings and death — and that it is to be received in faith and love — examining ourselves, that so we may eat of that bread and drink of that cup, as it is written in the Holy Scriptures. 9. We maintain that marriage was instituted of God — that it is holy and honourable, and ought to be forbidden to none, provided there be no obstacle from the divine word. 10. We contend, that all those in whom the fear of God dwells, will thereby be led to please him, and to abound with the good works [of the gospel] which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them — which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gen- tleness, sobriety, and the other good works enforced in the Holy Scrip- tures. 11. On the other hand, we confess that we consider it to be our duty to beware of false teachers, whose object is to divert the minds of men from the true worship of God, and to lead them to place their confidence in the creature, as well as to depart from the good works of the gospel, and to regard the inventions of men. 12. We take the Old and the New Testament for the rule of our life, and we agree with the general confession of faith contained in [what is usually termed] the apostles' creed.* Amongst the writings of the ancient Waldenses that have reached our times, is " A Treatise concerning Antichrist, Purgatory, the Invo- cation of Saints, and the Sacraments."! Their historian, John Paul Perrin, to whom we are indebted for rescuing it from oblivion, informs us that the original manuscript, in which are also many sermons by their pastors, bears date, A. D. 1120; which is nearly half a century before the time of Peter Waldo, and about the period when Peter de Bruys was discharging his ministry in France. The treatise has in- deed been attributed, and not without probability, to the pen of Peter de Bruys. Perrin says, it was carefully preserved among the inhabi- tants of the Alps, from whence he procured it. If we could depend with certainty upon the correctness of the date of this manuscript, it would be a very important document in the history of the Waldensian churches, because it bears internal evidence of having been written for the express purpose of exhibiting a public declaration of their reasons for separating from the communion of the church of Rome, and conse- quently it would throw much light upon the question of their antiquity. But it is proper to apprize the reader of one circumstance attending it, which ought to excite a doubt upon the subject ; and that is, that the Scriptures are quoted in it as divided into chapters and verses, which we know was not done until after the middle of the thirteenth century.J * See Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, ch. xiii. -j- This is the work to which the late Bishop Hurd refers us, in his " Introduc- tory Sermons on the Study of the Prophecies," vol. ii. p. 30. Ser. 7. note (t,) where he says, " In this (twelfth century) was composed a very remarkable tract on the subject of Antichrist, which may be seen in Mede's Works, p. 721." i Mr. Milner has overlooked this circumstance altogether, and reasons from this Treatise in behalf of the antiquity of those churches, as though the date it bears was unquestionable. See his History, vol. iii. p. 477. Waldensian description of Antichrist. 337 If, therefore, the original was written at the period fixed hy Perrin, the chapters must have been added by a copyist. The treatise, neverthe- less, whensoever written, is very interesting, and though the whole of it be too long for insertion, I shall submit to the reader a few extracts. Thus it describes Antichrist : — " Antichrist is a falsehood, or deceit varnished over with the sem- blance of truth, and of the righteousness of Christ and his spouse, yet in opposition to the way of truth, righteousness, faith, hope, charity, as well as to moral life. It is not any particular person ordained to any degree, or office, or ministry, but it is a system of falsehood, op- posing itself to the truth, covering and adorning itself with a show of beauty and piety, yet very unsuitable to the church of Christ, as by the names, and offices, the Scriptures, and the sacraments, and various other things, may appear. The system of iniquity thus completed with its ministers, great and small, supported by those who are induced to follow it with an evil heart and blind-fold — this is the congregation, which, taken together, comprises what is called Antichrist or Babylon, the fourth beast, the whore, the man of sin, the son of perdition. His ministers are called false prophets, lying teachers, the ministers of dark- ness, the spirit of error, the apocalyptic whore, the mother of harlots, clouds without water, trees without leaves, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, wandering stars, Balaamites and Egyptians. " He is termed Antichrist, because being disguised under the names of Christ and of his church and faithful members, he oppugns the sal- vation which Christ wrought out, and which is truly administered in his church — and of which salvation believers participate by faith, hope, and charity. Thus he opposes the truth by the wisdom of this world, by false religion, by counterfeit holiness, by ecclesiastical power, by secular tyranny, and by the riches, honours, dignities, with the pleasures and delicacies of this world. It should therefore be carefully observed, that Antichrist could not come, without a concurrence of all these things, making up a system of hypocrisy and falsehood — these must be, the wise of this world, the religious orders, the pharisees, ministers, and doctors; the secular power, with the people of the world, all mingled together. For although Antichrist was conceived in the times of the apostles, he was then in his infancy, imperfect and unformed, rude, unshapen, and wanting utterance. He then wanted those hypocritical ministers and human ordinances, and the outward show of religious orders which he afterwards obtained. As he was destitute of riches and other endowments necessary to allure to himself ministers for his service, and to enable him to multiply, defend, and protect his adherents, so he also wanted the secular power to force others to forsake the truth and embrace falsehood. But growing up in his members, that is, in his blind and dissembling ministers, and in worldly subjects, he at length arrived at full maturity, when men, whose hearts were set upon this world, blind in the faith, multiplied in the church, and by the union of church and state, got the power of both into their hands. " Christ never had an enemy like this ; so able to pervert the way of truth into falsehood, insomuch that the true church, with her children, is trodden under foot. The worship that belongs alone to God he 29 338 History of the Christian Church. transfers to Antichrist himself — to the creature, male and female, de- ceased— -to images, carcasses, and relics. The sacrament of the eucha- rist is converted into an ohject of adoration, and the worshipping of God alone is prohibited. He robs the Saviour of his merits, and the suffi- ciency of his grace in justification, regeneration, remission of sins, sanc- tification, establishment in the faith, and spiritual nourishment ; ascrib- ing all these things to his own authority, to a form of words, to his own works, to the intercession of saints, and to the fire of purgatory. He seduces the people from Christ, drawing off their minds from seeking those blessings in him, by a lively faith in God, in Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, and teaching his followers to expect them by the will and pleasure and works of Antichrist. He teaches to baptize children into the faith, and attributes to this the work of regeneration ; thus confounding the work of the Holy Spi- rit in regeneration, with the external rite of baptism, and on this foun- dation bestows orders, and indeed grounds all his Christianity. He places all religion and holiness in going to mass, and has mingled toge- ther all description of ceremonies, Jewish, Heathen, and Christian ; and by means thereof/the people are deprived of spiritual food, seduced from the true religion and the commandments of God, and established in vain and presumptuous hopes. All his works are done to be seen of men, that he may glut himself with insatiable avarice; and hence every thing is set to sale. He allows of open sins, without ecclesiasti- cal censure, and even the impenitent are not excommunicated. He does not govern, nor does he maintain his unity by the Holy Spirit, but by means of the secular power, making use of the same to effect spiritual matters. He hates, and persecutes, and searches after, and plunders, and destroys the members of Christ. These are some of the principal of the works of Antichrist against the truth, but the whole are past numbering or recording. On the other hand, he makes use of an outward confession of faith; and therein is verified the saying of the apostle — " They profess in words that they know God, but in works they deny him." He covers his iniquity by pleading the length of his duration, or succession of time, and the multitudes of his followers — concerning whom it is said in the Revelation, that "power is given him over every tribe, lan- guage, and nation, and all that dwell on the earth shall worship him." He covers his iniquity by pleading the spiritual authority of the apos- tles, though the apostle expressly says, " We can do nothing against the truth" — and " there is no power given us for destruction." He boasts of numerous miracles, even as the apostle foretold — "Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all miracles and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." He has an outward show of holiness, consisting in prayers, fastings, watch- ings, and alms-deeds, of which the apostle testified, when he said, " Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Thus it is that Antichrist covers his lying wickedness as with a cloak or garment, that he may not be rejected as a pagan or infidel, and under which disguise he can go on practising his villanies boldly, and like a harlot. But it is plain from both the Old and New Testa- How the Waldenses described Antichrist. 339 merits, that a Christian stands bound by express command to separate himself from Antichrist. [Here the following scriptures are quoted at large from the Old Testament, Isa. Hi. 11, 12. Jer. 1. 8. Numb. xvi. 21. and ver.6. Lev. xx. 24 — 27. Exod. xxxiv. 12, 15. Lev. xv. 31. Ezek. ii. Deut. xx.] Now it is manifest from the New Testament, John xii. that the Lord is come, and hath suffered death that he might gather together in one the children of God; and it is on account of this unity in the truth, and their separation from others, that it is said in Matt. x. " I am come to separate a man from his father, and to set the daughter against the mother, and the daughter-in-law against her moth- er-in-law, and those of a man's own household shall be his enemies." Christ hath enjoined this separation upon his disciples, when he said, " Whosoever doth not forsake father and mother, &c. cannot be my disciple." And again, "Beware of false prophets, which come unto you in sheep's clothing." Again, " Beware of the leaven of the Pha- risees— and take heed lest any man seduce you, for many shall come in my name and seduce many." And in the book of the Revelation he warns by his own voice, and charges his people to go out of Babylon, saying, " Come out of her, my people, and be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues ; for her sins are come up unto hea- ven, and the Lord remembereth her iniquity." The apostle says the same. " Have no fellowship with unbelievers, for what communion hath righteousness with iniquity, or what agreement hath light with darkness, or what concord hath Christ with the devil, or what part hath a believer with an infidel, or the temple of God with idols ? Where- fore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you, and be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." From what has been said, we may learn wherein consist the per- verseness and wickedness of Antichrist, and that God commands his people to separate from him, and to join themselves to the holy city, Jerusalem. And since it hath pleased God to make known these things to us by his servants, believing it to be his revealed will, accord- ing to the Holy Scriptures, and admonished thereto by the command of the Lord, we do, both inwardly and outwardly, depart from Anti- christ. We hold communion, and maintain unity, one with another, freely and uprightly, having no other object to propose herein, but purely and singly to please the Lord, and seek the salvation of our own souls. Thus, as the Lord is pleased to enable us, and so far as our understandings are instructed into the path of duty, we attach ourselves to the truth of Christ, and to his church, how mean soever she may appear in the eyes of men. We therefore, have thought it good to make this declaration of our reasons for departing from Antichrist, as well as to make known what kind of fellowship we have, to the end that, if the Lord be pleased to impart the knowledge of the same truth to others, those that receive it may love it together with us. It is our desire also, that if peradventure, others are not sufficiently enlightened, they may receive assistance from this service, the Lord succeeding it by his blessing. On the other hand, if any have received more abundantly 340 History of the Christian Church. from him, and in a higher measure, we desire with all humility to be taught, and instructed better, that so we may rectify whatever is amiss. The Treatise then proceeds to sketch and succinctly to confute the numerous abominations of popery, and to show how they all tend to subvert the faith of Christ, and destroy the souls of men ; but my limits will only allow of a very abridged view of this masterly statement. " Be it known," they say, " to all in general, and to every one in par- ticular, that these are the reasons of our separation, viz. It is for the truth's sake which wc believe — for the knowledge which we have of the only true God, and the unity of the divine essence in three per- sons, a knowledge which flesh and blood cannot communicate — it is for the worship due to that only true God — for the love we owe him above all things — for the sanctification and honour which are due to him supremely, and above every name — for the lively hopes which we have in God through Christ — for regeneration and the renewing of our minds by faith, hope, and charity — for the worthiness of Jesus Christ, with the all-sufficiency of his grace and righteousness — for the commu- nion of saints — the remission of sins — an holy conversation — for the sake of a faithful adherence to all the commands in the faith of Christ — for true repentance — for final perseverance, and everlasting life." " A various and endless idolatry, in opposition to the express com- mand of God and Christ," say they, " marks the genius of Antichrist ■ — divine worship offered, not to the Creator, but to the creatures, visi- ble and invisible, corporeal and spiritual, male and female — unto which creatures, they present the worship of faith and hope, works, prayers* pilgrimages, and alms, oblations and sacrifices of great price — honour- ing and adoring them in various ways, by hymns and songs, speeches and solemnities, and celebration of masses, vespers peculiarly appro- priated to them, with vigils and feast-days, hoping thereby to obtain that grace which is essentially in God alone, which is meritoriously in Christ, and which is obtained only by faith through the Holy Spirit. " Another feature which characterizes Antichrist is the excessive love of the world, whence springs an endless train of sin and mischief in the church, as well in those that govern, as in them that officiate — both of whom sin without control. With this is connected the false hopes which Antichrist holds out, of pardon, grace, justification, and everlasting life, as things not to be sought from and obtained in Christ, nor in God through Christ, but in men, living or dead — not by that true and living faith which workcth by love, producing repentance, and in- fluencing the mind to depart from evil, and give itself up to God." These extracts will give the reader some notion of the manner in which the subject is handled in this Treatise; and it is unnecessary to indulge in more copious extracts. The articles intituled, " The Dream of Purgatory," and " The Invocation of Saints," are discussed with equal judgment; and in the latter, especially, the doctrine of the medi- ation of Jesus Christ — the perfection and all-sufficiency of his sacrifice for sin — his office as high priest, advocate, and intercessor' of his church, are most clearly and nobly maintained, in opposition to the pa- pal worship and innovation of saints. " Christ alone," say they, ♦' hath the prerogative of interceding for his guilty people, and he ob- Apology of the Waldenses. 341 tains whatsoever he requests in behalf of those whom he hath recon- ciled by his death. He is the only and sole mediator between God and man, the advocate and intercessor with the Father for sinners ; and so sufficient is he, that God the Father denies nothing to any one which he asks in his name. For, being near unto God, and living of himself, he prays to God continually for us ; and "such an high-priest became us, who was holy, harmless, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." Hence they argue, that as there is nothing attainable at the hand of God but through Jesus the mediator, how great is the folly of seeking any other intercessor ! He having made expiation for the sins of his people, and having approached unto God for them, where he ever lives to intercede. " No man comes to the Father but by him." Hence he himself says, " Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Fa- ther in my name, I will do it." — " Thou, O Lord, art worthy to re- ceive the book and to unloose the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue, and hast made us kings and priests unto our God."* In the year 1508, about ten years before Luther began the Reforma- tion, and during the reign of Ladislaus, king of Hungary and Bohemia, a dreadful persecution broke out against that class of his subjects, who held the principles of the Waldenses. The latter, to justify themselves from several charges erroneously imputed to them by their adversaries, drew up an apology addressed to the king, which was still extant in the time of Perrin, and as he has handed down to us the substance of it, I shall here extract a few of the more interesting particulars. 1. It was said of them, by their adversaries, that a man might leave his wife when he pleased. On which they reply, that " matrimony is a bond which nothing but death can dissolve, except the crime of fornication, as saith the Lord Jesus Christ;" and also the apostle Paul, 1 Cor. vii. saith, "Let not the wife depart from her husband, nor the husband put away his wife." 2. A second calumny regards a community of goods and wives — to which they reply, " that marriage was of old ordained by God in Pa- radise ; that it was designed as an antidote against adultery ; and that it is recorded by the apostle, when speaking of this subject, "Let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband." Also, that " the husband ought to love his wife as Christ loveth the church," and that such as are married ought to live holily together with their children in the fear of God. That as for goods, every one hath possessed his own at all times and in all places — they never hav- ing had any such intercommunity among them, as tended in the small- est degree to derogate from that lawful propriety which every one has by right to his own estate. 3. Another scandalous charge was, that they worshipped their barbs or pastors. The grossness of this calumny, indeed, sufficiently refuted itself. At one time they are represented as setting aside the necessity of the pastoral office altogether, and making its peculiar duties common to every member — at others they are charged with holding their pas- * Perrin's Histoire des Vaudois, part ii. book v. ch. 8. 29* 342 History of the Christian Church. tors in such estimation, that they paid them divine honours. The "Waldenses refer, on this subject, to their own writings, in which they have shown that God alone is the object of worship, and that they ne- ver intended to give that to any creature. And that as to their pastors, regarding them as those by whom they have heard the word of recon- ciliation, they consider themselves as bound in conscience and duty to treat them with kindness, and to esteem them in love for their work's sake. 4. They have been accused of maintaining that it was in no instance lawful to swear. In reply to that, they say that " some oaths are cer- tainly lawful, tending both to the honour of God and the edification of their neighbour," instancing Heb. vi. 17. That "men swear by a greater than themselves, and an oath made for confirmation is an end of all strife." They also allege that it was enjoined upon the people of Israel, Deut. vi. to swear by the name of the Lord — and also the oath made betwixt Abimelech and Isaac, Gen. xxvi. and that of Jacob, Gen. xxxi. 5. Another calumny was, that they showed no reverence to sacred places, maintaining that it is not a more grievous sin to burn a church than to break open another house. To defend themselves against this charge they say, " That neither the place nor the pulpit makes a man holy — and that those are greatly deceived who think the better of themselves because of the dignity of the place. For what was greater than Paradise, or what more pure than heaven ? Notwithstanding which, man was driven out of Paradise, because he sinned there ; and the angels were expelled from heaven, that they might be an example to all succeeding ages, teaching us that it is neither the place, nor its grandeur and dignity, but innocence of life that makes a man holy." 6. Again ; they were charged with holding, that the civil magistrate ought not to sentence any one to death. To which they answer, " that it is written, a malefactor shall not be suffered to live; and that without correction and discipline, doctrine serves to no purpose, neither would judgments be known or wickedness punished. That therefore, just anger is the mother of discipline, and patience without reason the seed of vices, encouraging the wicked to proceed in their excesses." True it is, that they complained of the conduct of the magistrates in delivering them up to death, without any other knowledge of them than they had obtained from the priests and monks who pretended to dis- cover errors in them, and then exclaiming against them as abuses which they had introduced into the church, condemned them as heretics, and delivered them up to the secular power. Moreover, they regarded it as both unwise and cruel, on the part of the magistrates, to give credit to men so carried away with passion as were the priests, and that they should put to death so many poor innocent persons without having either heard or examined them. 7. Allied to the foregoing was another slander, tending to render them odious to kings and princes, namely, " that a layman in a stats of grace hath more authority than a prince living in mortal sin." In reply to that imputation, they said, "that every one ought to be sub- ject to those who are placed in authority — that it is their duty to obey Apology of the Waldenses. 343 them, to honour them with double honour, to be subject to them with allegiance, and promptly paying them tribute," &c. 8. The next charge was, that the Waldenses affirmed the pope had no authority over the kings and princes of the earth, who derived their authority from God alone ; and on which account they took, occasion to call them Manichaeans. They replied, " We believe that the holy Trinity created all things, both visible and invisible, and that [Jehovah] is Lord of all things in heaven, earth, and hell, as it is written, ' All things were created by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.' " 9. It was further alleged against them, that they objected to the payment of tithes — that priests might lawfully be put to death, or dis- possessed of their tithes, which any one might retain without scruple of conscience. And it is certain, says their historian, that could the Waldenses have appropriated their tithes to any other purpose than the maintenance of those whom they regarded as, "dumb dogs," drow- sy watchmen, slow bellies, deceivers, and deceived, they would have done it; but as they had not power to detain them, none of them made any disturbance about the matter. It indeed appears, that in what depended upon their own voluntary choice, they gave nothing to such persons, nor cared for any of their helps after death, of which the priests complained, and thence took occasion to accuse them as heretics. But let us hear thein upon the subject of revenge. " The Lord knowing that we should be delivered up, said ' Beware of men.' But he never teaches or counsels his elect to slay any one, but on the contrary, to ' love their enemies.' When the disciples said to him, ' shall we call for fire from heaven and consume them V Christ an- swered, • Ye know not what spirit ye are of.' Also the Lord said to Peter, ' Put up thy sword into its place,' &c. Besides, temporal dis- tresses ought to be despised and sustained with patience, for in them nothing happens that is new. Whilst we are here, we are the Lord's threshold, to be beaten like corn when it is separated from the chaff." 10. Claude de Rubis, a virulent catholic writer, who compiled the history of the city of Lyons, defames them by saying, that, having re- tired from the city of Lyons, and taken refuge among the Alps, the Waldenses, like the rest of the inhabitants of the valleys, had become sorcerers — and indeed, says he, there are two things which commonly accompany each other, that is heresy and sorcery, as hath been verified in the cities and provinces which have admitted heresy amongst them. To justify themselves against this foul aspersion, they say, " Those act against the first precept of the decalogue, who believe the planets can control the free-will of man. Such do, in effect, esteem the planets to be gods; for they attribute to the creature that which is the pecu- liar province of the Creator. Against such the prophet Jeremiah saith, " Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not afraid of those thing3 at which the heathen are dismayed." Paul also says to the Galatians, " Ye observe days and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed on you labour in vain." They also act against this commandment who believe in sorcerers and diviners, for such believe the daemons to be gods. The reason is, because they ask 3.44 History of the Christian Church. that of daemons which God alone can grant, viz. to discover things that are secret, and to reveal the truth of things to come, which is forbidden by God. Lev. xix. " Thou shalt not regard them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards. Moreover, thou shalt not divine nor give any heed to dreams. Thou shalt not be an enchanter, neither take counsel with familiar sprits, or wizards, nor inquire the truth among the dead, for all these things are an abomination to the Lord." And as to the punishment which God, in a way of vengeance, inflicts upon such, we read in the book of Kings, that Elijah demanded of Ahaziah, saying. What ! is there no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub, the god Ekron ? Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die." Saul died, because he had prevaricated with the commandment that God had given him : he kept it not, neither put his trust in the Lord, but asked counsel of a witch : wherefore the Lord slew him, and transferred his kingdom to David the son of Jesse. It is also said, in the book of Leviticus, that, " whosoever shall turn aside to enchanters and wizards, I will lay my hand upon him, and cut him off from the midst of his people." Every one ought to know that all enchantment, or conjuration, or charms, or spells, carried for a re- medy to men or beasts, are of no avail, but on the contrary a snare and ambush of the old adversary the devil, through which he endeavours to deceive mankind. 11. One more charge against them is, that they compelled their pas- tors to follow some trade. Their answer to this is surely a very sa- tisfactory one. " We do not think it necessary, say they, that our pas- tors should work for their bread. They might be better qualified to instruct us if we could maintain them without their own labour ; but our poverty has no remedy.* The Catholic writers frequently reproach them with making little or no account of the pastoral office — affirming that they made the duty of preaching the gospel common to every member of the church, both male and female; and that they allowed persons who had not the suf- frages of the church, to administer the ordinances of gospel worship. That this was an unfounded accusation has been very satisfactorily shown by Dr. Allix, whose researches into the history of those churches entitle him to the gratitude of posterity. I subjoin the substance of his defence of them against this charge. 1. Bernard, abbot of Foneaud, in his Treatise against the sect of the Waldenses, ch. vi. accuses only some of them of having no pastors]; which shows, as he very properly remarks, that the body of that church had a fixed ministry before the end of the twelfth century. There is, therefore, nothing in this to support the charge of their mak- ing light of the pastoral office ; for it is only what has happened to so- cieties of Christians in every age of the world, to be for a time with- out presbyters or pastors, until the great Head of the Church raises up among them persons properly qualified by age, experience, and gifts, * Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, b. ch. iv. and Usher de Christ. Eccles. succ. et statu. Apology of the Waldenses. 345 to take the oversight of their brethren, to labour in the word and doctrine, and rule the church of God. It is plain that it was so with the first churches for a time. Acts xiv. 23. Titus i. 5. 2. Reinerius Saccho, who lived about the year 1250, acknowledges that in Lombardy, where he himself resided, they had their bishops or pastors ; " Lombardiam intrantes, visitant, episcopos snos," are his words, chap. v. that is, " when they come into Lombardy they visit their elders." Again Matthew Paris (under the year 1243) speaks of a bishop of the Paterines in Cremona, who was deposed by them for fornication. And, further, Pilickdorf, a writer quoted by Bossuet in his history of the Variations, p. 223, says, "they do not approve of a lay - marl's celebrating the eucharist,^ ch.i. which sufficiently proves, says Dr. Allix, that they made a signal difference between the people and their pastors.* 3. Commenius, who published a Synopsis of the discipline of the churches of Bohemia, dwells particularly upon this article; and shows that " a stated ministry was always considered as a matter of great importance among the Waldensian churches.'''' A dreadful persecution broke out against the Bohemian brethren, in the days of Commenius, which produced such havoc among them, that he himself was " The only surviving bishop that escaped." The scattered brethren, in pro- cess of time, elected three persons as qualified for the pastoral office, but " found themselves greatly perplexed about their ordination." Having understood that there were some Waldensian churches on the confines of Moravia and Austria, to satisfy their own scruples, as well as those of others, they resolved to send Michael Zambergius, one of their pastors, with two other persons, to find out those Waldenses, and give them an account of what had passed among them, and especially to ask their advice upon the matter in hand. They met with one Stephen, a Waldensian bishop, who sent for others also residing in that quarter, with whom they had a conference upon the doctrines of the gospel, and the state of their churches, and by them the said three pas- tors were ordained by the imposition of hands. " Hence," says Dr. Allix, " it is abundantly evident, that as the Waldenses have preserved the faith that was committed to them, so have they been as careful to preserve entire amongst them the ancient discipline of the church — and, hence it will follow, that nothing can be more false than what is pre- tended, viz. that they had no kind of lawful ministry among them, but that laymen took upon themselves the power of preaching, of ordaining ministers, and administering ordinances."! * 1243. Dr. Allix's Remarks, p. 239. f Allix's Remarks, p. 245. 346 History of the Christian Church. ' SECTION IV. ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIES IN FAVOUR OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF THE WALDENSES, COLLECTED FROM THE WRITINGS OF BOTH FRIENDS AND FOES ; WITH MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS IN ILLUSTRATION OF THEIR CHARACTER AND HISTORY. Having, in the two preceding sections, endeavoured to lay before the reader a fair and impartial representation of the doctrinal sentiments, and social religious practices of the Waldenses, and especially as these stood in opposition to the whole prevailing system of popery, I shall, before proceeding to a detail of their general history, adduce a few ad- ditional particulars of a more miscellaneous nature than hath been hither- to submitted to his consideration. The enemies of the Waldenses, while they stigmatize them as here- tics, and think no cruelties too hard to be inflicted upon them, on account of their opposition to the whole system of the papal hierarchy, are, nevertheless, constrained by the force of truth, to bear the most honour- able testimony to the integrity, uprightness, and exemplary deportment, which so conspicuously characterized this denomination of Christians. In proof of this, let us attend to the testimony of their adversaries. An ancient inquisitor, to whose writings against the Waldenses, I had occasion to refer in a former section, thus describes them. " These heretics are known by their manners and conversation, for they are orderly and modest in their behaviour and deportment. They avoid all appearance of pride in their dress ; they neither indulge in finery of attire, nor are they remarkable for being mean and ragged. They avoid commerce, that they may be free from deceit and falsehood. They get their livelihood by manual industry, as day-labourers or mechanics ; and their teachers are weavers or tailors. They are not anxious about amassing riches, but content themselves with the necessaries of life. They are chaste, temperate, and sober. They abstain from anger. Even when they work, they either learn or teach. In like manner also, their women are very modest, avoiding backbiting, foolish jesting, and levity of speech, especially abstaining from lies or swearing, not so much as making use of the common asseverations, " in truth," " for cer- tain," or the like, because they regard these as oaths — contenting themselves with simply answering "yes" or "no."* Claudius Seisselius, archbishop of Turin, from whose Treatise against the Waldenses I have quoted largely in a former section, is pleased to say, that " their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians. They never swear but by compulsion, and rarely take the name of God in vain. They fulfil their promises with punc- tuality ; and, living for the most part in poverty, they profess to pre- serve the apostolic life and doctrine. They also profess it to be their desire to overcome only by the simplicity of faith, by purity of con- science, and integrity of life ; not by philosophical niceties and theologi- * AUix's Remarks, p. 235 The Waldenses vindicated. 347 cal subtleties." And he very candidly admits, that " In their lives and morals they were perfect, irreprehensible, and without reproach among men, addicting themselves with all their might to observe the commands of God."* Lielenstenius, a Dominican, speaking of the Waldenses of Bohe- mia, " I say that in morals and life they are good ; true in words, unanimous in brotherly love ; but their faith is incorrigible and vile, as I have shown in my Treatise."! Samuel de Cassini, a Franciscan friar, speaking of them in his "Vic- toria Trionfale," explicitly owns in Avhat respect their faith was incor- rigible and vile, when he says, " That all the errors of these Walden- ses consisted in this, that they denied the church of Rome to be the holv mother church, and would not obey her traditions. "J Jacobus de Riberia, who published a work intituled, " Collections of the city of Toulouse," and who, in his time, assisted in persecuting the Waldenses, nevertheless acknowledges, that for a long time they had obtained the highest esteem in Norbonne,§ as well as in the dio- cese of Alby, Rhodes, Cahors, and Agen ; and that those who would be styled priests and bishops [in the Catholic church] were then but little accounted of, which he resolves into their ignorance and unworthy conduct, by reason of which, says he, it was an easy matter for the Waldenses to obtain the preference among the people for the excellen- cy of their doctrine. He acknowledges that they were so well instruct- ed in the Holy Scriptures, that he had seen peasants who could recite the book of Job verbatim, and several others who could perfectly re- peat all the New Testament. Cardinal Baronius, in his Ecclesiastical Annals, torn. xiii. styles the Waldenses of Toulouse " good men," and acknowledges that they were " peaceable persons," though he elsewhere falsely lays to their account many heinous accusations. || In the time of a great persecution of the Waldenses of Merindol and Provence, a certain monk was deputed by the bishop of Cavaillon, to hold a conference with them, that they might be convinced of their errors, and the effusion of blood prevented. But the monk returned in confusion, owning that in his whole life he had never known so much of the Scriptures, as he had learned during those few days that he had been conversing with the heretics. The bishop, however, sent among them a number of doctors, young men, who had lately come from the Sorbonne, which, at that time, was the very centre of theological sub- tlety at Paris. One of these publicly owned, that he had understood more of the doctrine of salvation from the answers of the little children in their catechisms, than by all the disputations which he had ever be- fore heard. ^ Francis I. king of France, being informed that the parliament of * Usher de Christ. Eccles. success, et statu. — Pen-in, b. i. ch. v. f Usher, ubi supra. t History of Popery, Vol. I. p. 421. § A city and provtnce in the south of France. S Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, ch. v. U Vesembecius's Oration on the Waldenses, quoted by Perrin, in his Hist, des Vaudois, ch. v. 348 History of the Christian Church. Provence brought very heavy charges against the Waldenses, whom they were then severely persecuting at Merindol, Cabriers, and other neighbouring places, was desirous of ascertaining the truth of those ac- cusations. With a view to this, he commanded one of his nobles, the Lord of Langeai, who was at that time his lieutenant in Piedmont, to investigate this matter, and report to him the true state of things. His lordship consequently sent into Provence two clergymen, giving them a strict charge to inquire into the lives and religious principles of the Waldenses, and of the proceedings of the parliament against them. On their return, they reported that " they were a laborious race of people, who, about two hundred years ago, had emigrated from Piedmont, to dwell in Provence, — that betaking themselves to husbandry and feed- ing of cattle, they had restored many villages destroyed by the wars, and rendered other desert and uncultivated places extremely fertile by their industry. That by the information given them in the said coun- try of Provence, they found they were a very peaceable people, be- loved by their neighbours — men of good behaviour, of godly conversa- tion, faithful to their promises, and punctual in paying their debts. That they were a charitable people, not permitting any among them to fall into want. That they were moreover, liberal to strangers and the travelling poor, as far as their ability extended. And that the inhabi- tants of Provence affirmed, they were a people who could not en- dure to blaspheme, or name the devil, or swear at all, unless in making some solemn contracts, or in judgment. Finally, that they were well known by this, that if they happened to be cast into any company, where the conversation was lascivious or blasphemous, to the dishon- our of God, they instantly withdrew.* Louis XII. king of France, being informed by the enemies of the Waldenses, inhabiting a part of the province of Provence, that several heinous crimes were laid to their account, sent the master of requests, and a certain doctor of the Sorbonne, who was confessor to his majes- ty, to make inquiry into this matter. On their return, they reported that they had visited all the parishes where they dwelt, had inspected their places of worship, but that they had found there no images, nor signs of the ornaments belonging to the mass, nor any of the ceremo- nies of the Romish church ; much less could they discover any traces of those crimes with which they were charged. On the contrary, they kept the sabbath-day, observed the ordinance of baptism, according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith, and the commandments of God. The king having heard the report of his commissioners, said with an oath that they were better men than himself or his people.! The same monarch having been told that in the valley of Frissiniere, in the diocese of Ambrun, and province of Dauphiny, there was a class of people who lived like beasts, without religion, and strongly opposed to the Romish worship, deputed one of his confessors and the official of Orleans to investigate the truth or falsehood of this report. The con- » Joachim Camerarius, in his History, p. 352, quoted by Perrin, book i. chap. v. f Vesembecius's Oration on the Waldenses, in Pernn, ch. 5. Testimonies in favour of the Waldenses. 349 fessor, with his colleague, accordingly repaired to the place, where he examined the Waldenses who inhabited the valley, respecting their faith and conversation. The archbishop of Ambrun, well knowing that the goods of the Waldenses were liable to confiscation for the crime of heresy, and that they would be annexed to the domains of his arch- bishopric, strongly pressed the commissioners to condemn them as heretics. They, however, not only resisted his application, but even expressed their admiration of the Waldenses, insomuch that the king's confessor publicly declared, in the presence of a number of his friends, who were with him at his lodgings at the Angel in Ambrun, that he wished he was as good a Christian as the worst of the valley of Frais- siniere.* These are, unquestionably, very important testimonies to the Wal- denses who resided in France ; but I shall now lay before the reader a still more interesting document ; it is the testimony which is borne to these people, by that eminent historian Thuanus — an enemy indeed to the Waldenses, himself being a Catholic ; but he was, nevertheless, a fair and candid one. Quoting the words of Guy de Perpignan, bishop of Elna, in Roussillon, who exercised the office of inquisitor against the Waldenses, he informs us that " their fixed opinions are said to be these — that the church of Rome, because she hath renounced the true faith of Christ, is the whore of Babylon, and that barren tree which Christ himself hath cursed and commanded to be rooted up ; therefore we must by no means obey the pope and the bishops who cherish his errors — that the monastic life is the sink of the church, and a hellish institution ; its vows are vain, and subservient only to the filthy love ol boys — the orders of the presbytery are the marks of the great beast mentioned in the Apocalypse — the fire of purgatory, the sacrifice of the mass, the feast of the dedications of churches, the worship of saints, and propitiations for the dead, are the inventions of Satan. To these the principal and certain heads of their doctrine, others were fictitious- ly added concerning marriage, the resurrection, the state of the soul after death, and concerning meats." Again, describing the inhabitants of the valley of Fraissiniere, he thus proceeds — " Their clothing is of the skins of sheep — they have no linen. They inhabit seven villages, their houses are constructed of flint stone, having a flat roof covered with mud, which, when spoiled or loosened by the rain, they again smooth with a roller. In these they live with their cattle, separated from them, however, by a fence. They have also two caves set apart for particu- lar purposes, in one of which they conceal their cattle, in the other themselves when hunted by their enemies. They live on milk and venison, being, through constant practice, excellent marksmen. Poor as they are, they are content, and live in a state of seclusion from the rest of mankind. One thing is very remarkable, that persons external- ly so savage, and rude, should have so much moral cultivation. They can all read and write. They know French sufficiently for the under- standing of the Bible and the singing of Psalms. You can scarcely find a boy among them, who cannot give you an intelligible account of * Memorials of Rostain, Archbishop of Ambrun, quoted in Perrin, ch.-v. 30 350 History of the Christian Church. the faith which they profess. In this, indeed, they resemble their brethren of the other valleys. They pay tribute with a good conscience, and the obligation of this duty is peculiarly noted in their confession of faith. If, by reason of the civil wars, they are prevented from doing this, they carefully set apart the sum, and at the first opportunity pay it to the king's tax-gatherers."* But of all the Catholic writers, who have treated of the Waldenses, there is none whose testimony is more important than that of Reinerius Saccho. He had himself been one of their number, and consequently could speak of them from personal knowledge. He had apostatized from their profession; was "by merit raised to the bad eminence" of an inquisitor in the Catholic church; and of course was become one of their bitterest persecutors. He wrote a book against them, (A. J). 1258) from which I have already quoted largely in a former section. But that extract is almost wholly confined to an enumeration of the ar- ticles on which they did not agree with the Catholic church. Let the reader now remark his unbought testimony in their favour. " Of all the sects that have risen up against the church of Rome," says he, " the Waldenses have been the most prejudicial and pernicious, inas- much as their opposition has been of very long continuance. Add to which, that this sect is become very general, for there is scarcely a country to be found in which this heresy is not planted. And, in the third place, because while all other sects beget in people a dread and horror of them on account of their blasphemies against God, this, on the contrary, hath a great appearance of godliness ; for, they live right- eously before men, believe rightly concerning God in every particular, holding all the articles contained in the [apostles'] creed — but hating and reviling the church of Rome, and on this subject they are readily believed by the people."! "The first lesson," says he, in another place, " that the Waldenses teach those whom they bring over to their party, is to instruct them what kind of persons the disciples of Christ ought to be ; and this they do by the doctrine of the evangelists and apostles, saying, that those only are the followers of the apostles who imitate their manner of life. Inferring from thence," says he, " that the pope, the bishops, and the clergy, who possess the riches of this world, and make them the ob- ject of their pursuit, do not tread in the footsteps of the apostles, and therefore are not the true guides of the church; it never having been the design of the Lord Jesus Christ to commit his chaste and well-be- loved spouse to those who would rather prostitute her by their bad ex- ample and abominable works, than preserve her in the same state of purity in which they at first received her, a virgin chaste and without spot."f The same author has furnished us with an interesting account of the manner in which the Waldenses privately disseminated their prin- ciples among the gentry ; and a proper attention to it will sufficiently * Thuani Hist, sui temporis, lib. vi. sect. 16. and lib. xxvii. j- Reinerius contra Waldenses, in Perrin, b. ii. ch. i. }Idem. cap. de studio pervertendi alios et modo docendi, fol. 98. The TValdenses propagate their sentiments. 351 explain to the reader the amount of various charges brought against them, from time to time, by the Catholic writers, viz. that they allowed their women to teach. It seems to have been a common practice with their teachers, the more readily to gain access for their doctrine among persons in the higher ranks of life, to carry with them a small box of trinkets, or articles of dress, something like the hawkers or pedlars of our day, and Reinerius thus describes the manner in which they were wont to introduce themselves. " Sir, Will you please to buy any rings, or seals, or trinkets ? Madam, will you look at any handkerchiefs, or pieces of needlework for veils ? I can afford them cheap." If after a purchase the company ask, " Have you any thing more ?"' the salesman would reply, " O yes, I have commodities far more valuable than these, and I will make you a present of them, if you will protect me from the clergy." Se- curity being promised, on he would go. " The inestimable jewel I spoke of, is the word of God, by which he communicates his mind to men, and which inflames their hearts with love to him." " In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Ga- lilee named Nazareth" — and so he would proceed to repeat the remain- ing part of the first chapter of Luke.* Or, he would begin with the thirteenth of John, and repeat the last discourse of Jesus to his disci- ples. If the company should seem pleased, he would proceed to re- peat the twenty-third of Matthew. " The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses's seat Wo unto you ; ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men ; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Wo unto you, ye devour widows' houses." — "And pray," should one of the company say, "against whom are these woes pronounced think you ?" he would reply, " Against the clergy and the monks. The doctors of the Roman church are pompous, both in their habits and their manners — they love the uppermost rooms, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and to be called Rabbi, Rabbi. For our parts, we desire no such Rabbies. They are incontinent; we live each in chastity with his own wife. They are the rich and avaricious, of whom the Lord says, ' Wo unto you, ye rich, for ye have received your consolation;' but we, 'having food and raiment are therewith content.' They are voluptuous and devour widows' houses — we only eat to be refreshed and supported. They fight and encourage wars, and command the poor to be killed and burnt, in defiance of the saying, ' he that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword.' For our parts, they persecute us for righteousness' sake. They do nothing, but 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 knowledge.' But among us, women teach as well as men, and one disciple, as soon as he is informed him- self, teaches another. Among them, you can hardly find a doctor who can repeat three chapters of the New Testament by heart — but of us * The reader should keep in mind, that at this time the use of the Bible was not allowed by the pope to the laity, and indeed very few of the clergy knew any thing about its contents. 352 History of the Christian Church. there is scarcely man or woman who doth not retain the whole. And because we are sincere believers in Christ, and all teach and enforce a holy life and conversation, these Scribes and Pharisees persecute us to death, as their predecessors did Jesus Christ."* The plan adopted by the Waldenses, for engaging the attention of others to the word of God, as described by Reinerius in the foregoing extract, is both simple and striking, and deserves the attention of mis- sionaries in the present day. It seems to have been prosecuted for several centuries, even beyond the times of the Reformation, as appears from the following circumstance : — The first editor of the complete book of Reinerius, was Father Gretzer, who published it in the year 1613. In the margin of that work, opposite to the passage above quoted, he has placed these words : " This is a true picture of the he- retics of our age, particularly of the Anabaptists."! There are few of the Baptists of the present day, it is to be hoped, who would blush to own an alliance with either the old Waldensian preachers, or the here- tical Baptists referred to by this father of the Catholic church, at least in this part of their conduct; and, indeed, it woidd be well if all our Missionaries and private Christians of the present day were as conver- sant with the word of God as the Waldenses even in that dark age ap- pear, from the testimony of their very enemies, to have been. But not to enlarge, I close this section by laying before the reader a few of the testimonies that were borne to the Waldenses, by our first Protestant reformers and earlier historians, who, as most of them lived about three hundred years nearer to their times than we do, may reasonably be supposed so much better qualified for appreciating their true character. In the year 1530, Ecolampadius, one of the reformers, then resident at Basle, in Switzerland, was visited by George Morell, one of the pastors among the Waldenses, by whom, on his return to Provence, he addressed a letter " to his well-beloved brethren in Christ, called Waldenses," and it is as follows: — " We have learned with great satisfaction, by your faithful pastor, George Morell, the nature of your faith and religious profession, and in what terms you declare it. Therefore, we thank our most merciful Father, who hath called you to so great light in this age, amidst the dark clouds of ignorance which have spread themselves over the world, and notwithstanding the extravagant power of Antichrist. Wherefore we acknowledge that Christ is in you: for which cause we love you as brethren ; and would to God we were able to make you sensible in effect of that which we shall be ready to do for you, although it were to be done with the utmost difficulty. Finally, we desire that what we write may not be regarded as though through pride we arrogated to ourselves any superiority over you, but consider it as proceeding from that brotherly love and charity which we bear towards you. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath imparted to you an excellent knowledge of his truth, beyond that of many other people, and hath blessed you with spiritual blessings. So that if you persevere .'in his • Reinehi. cap. viii. Quomodo se ingerant familiuritati mgnorum. •j- Vera effigies hereticorum nostrse xtatis [1613] prxsertim Anabaptistarum. Testimonies in jav our of the Waldenses. 353 grace, he hath much greater treasures wherewith to enrich you, and make you perfect, according to your advancement in the measure of the inheritance of Christ." Luther, in the year 1533, published the Confessions of the Wal- denses, to which he wrote a preface. In that preface he candidly ac- knowledges that, in the days of his popery he had hated the Wal- denses, as persons who were consigned over to perdition. But having understood from their confessions and writings the piety of their faith, he perceived that those good men had been greatly wronged whom the Pope had condemned as heretics ; for that, on the contrary, they were rather entitled to the praise due to holy martyrs. He adds, that among them he had found one thing worthy of admiration, a thing un- heard of in the Popish church, that, laying aside the doctrines of men, they meditated in the law of God, day and night ; and that they were expert, and even well versed in the knowledge of the Scriptures; whereas, in the papacy, those who are called masters wholly neglected the Scriptures, and some of them had not so much as seen the Bible at any time. Moreover, having read the Waldensian Confessions, he said he returned thanks to God for the great light which it had pleased him to bestow upon that people ; rejoicing that all cause of suspicion being removed which had existed between them and the reformed, they were now brought together into one sheepfold under the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls.* Theodore Beza, the cotemporary and colleague of Calvin, in his "Treatise of the famous pillars of learning and religion," says, "As for the Waldenses, I may be permitted to call them the very seed of the primitive and purer Christian Church, since they are those that have been upheld, as is abundantly manifest, by the wonderful provi- dence of God, so that neither those endless storms and tempests by which the whole Christian world has been shaken for so many suc- ceeding ages, and the western parts at length so miserably oppressed by the bishop of Rome, falsely so called ; nor those horrible persecu- tions which have been expressly raised against them, were ever able so far to prevail as to make them bend, or yield a voluntary subjection to the Roman tyranny and idolatry."! On another occasion the same writer remarks that " The Wal- denses, time out of mind, have opposed the abuses of the Church of Rome, and have been persecuted after such a manner, not by the sword of the word of God, but by every species of cruelty, added to a million of calumnies and false accusations, that they have been compelled to disperse themselves wherever they could, wandering through the de- serts like wild beasts. The Lord, nevertheless, has so preserved the residue of them, that, notwithstanding the rage of the whole world, they still inhabit three countries at a great distance from each other, viz. Calabria, Bohemia, and Piedmont, and the countries adjoining, where they dispersed themselves from the quarters of Provence about * Morland's History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 58. — Perrin's Vaudois, ch. vi. f Preface to Morland's History, p." 7. 30* 354 History of the Christian Church. two hundred and seventy years ago. And as to their religion, they never adhered to papal superstitions ; for which reason they have been continually harassed by the bishops and inquisitors abusing the arm of secular justice, so that their continuance to the present time is evi- dently miraculous."* Bullinger, in his preface to his Sermons on the Book of the Reve- lation, (1530) writes thus concerning the Waldenses. "What shall we say, that for four hundred years and more, in France, Italv, Ger- many, Poland, Bohemia, and other countries throughout the world, the Waldenses have sustained their profession of the gospel of Christ; and in several of their writings, as well as by continual preaching, they have accused the pope as the real Antichrist foretold by the apostle John, and whom therefore we ought to avoid. These people have un- dergone divers and cruel torments, yet have they constantly and openly given testimony to their faith by glorious martyrdoms, and still do so even to this day. Although it has often been attempted by the most powerful kings and princes, instigated by the pope, it hath been found impossible to extirpate them, for God hath frustrated their efforts. "t Monsieur de Vignaux, who was forty years pastor of one of the churches of the Waldenses, in the valleys of Piedmont, and died at the age of eighty, wrote a treatise concerning their life, manners, and re- ligion, in which he says; "We live in peace and harmony one with another, have intercourse and dealings chiefly among ourselves, having never mingled ourselves with the members of the church of Rome by marrying our sons to their daughters, nor our daughters to their sons. Yet they are so pleased with our manners and customs, that Catholics, both lords and others, would rather have men and maid servants from among us, than from those of their own religion ; and they actually come from distant parts to seek nurses among us for their little chil- dren, finding, as they say, more fidelity among our people than their own." He then gives a summary of their doctrinal principles, for the sake of which they have been persecuted ; such as " that the Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to our salvation, and that we are called to believe only what they teach, without any regard to the authority of man — that nothing else ought to be received by us except what God hath commanded — that there is only one mediator between God and man, and consequently that it is wrong to invoke the saints. That baptism and the Lord's supper are the only standing ordinances in the church of Christ — that all masses are damnable, and ought to be abolished — that all human traditions are to be rejected. That the say- ing and recital of the office, fasts confined to particular days, super- fluous holy-days, differences of meats, so many degrees and orders of priests, monks, and nuns, so many benedictions and consecrations of creatures, vows, pilgrimages, and the whole vast and confused mass of ceremonies, formerly invented, ought to be abolished. They deny the supremacy of the pope, and more especially the power that he has * History of the reformed Churches in France, torn. i. b. i. p. 35. in Perrin, b. i. cli. vi. j Preface to his Sermons, quoted by Perrin, ch. vi. Milton's testimony to the Waldenses. 355 usurped over the civil government, and admit of no other degrees than bishops and deacons. They contend that the See of Rome is the true Babylon — the marriage of the clergy lawful, and that the true church of Christ consists of those who hear the word of God and believe it.'** John Chassagnon, who wrote a History of the Albigenses, says, " It is recorded of the Waldenses, that they rejected all the traditions and ordinances of the church of Rome as being superstitious and unpro- fitable, and that they made light of the whole body of the clergy and prelates. On which account, having been excommunicated and ex- pelled their country, they dispersed themselves in different places, viz. into Dauphiny, Provence, Languedoc, Piedmont, Calabria, Bohemia, England, and elsewhere. Some siy, that a part of the Waldenses re- tired into Lombardy (in Italy) where fhey multiplied to scuh an extent that their doctrine spread itself through Italy, and reached even into Sicily. Nevertheless, in all their dispersions they maintained among themselves some union and fraternity, during the space of four hun- dred years, living in great simplicity and the fear of God."t To these numerous testimonies, I shall now add that of our great poet Milton, who seems to" have diligently studied the character of the Waldenses, and to have well understood their principles and the con- stitution of their churches. Of this the reader will find abundant evidence hereafter, in the numerous letters which he wrote in their be- half to the Protestant princes of Europe, pleading their cause against their popish persecutors. What I have at present in view is, the ac- count given by him of the constitution of their churches, and the sim- plicity of their worship. He wrote a tract, entitled, " Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove hirelings out of the church," addressed to the Parliament of England ; in which he shows the per- nicious effects arising from the endowing of churches with tithes ; re- futes, in the most convincing manner, the various pleas which were urged by Episcopalians in favour of that practice as founded on the Jewish law ; and frequently adduces the happy poverty and purity of the Waldenses, as forming a striking contrast to the corruptions that abound in national churches. " For the first three hundred years and upwards," says he, "in all the ecclesiastical story, I find no such doc- trine or example, [as that of supporting the pastors of Christian churches by the imposition of tithes] though error by that time had brought back again priests, altars, and oblations ; and in many other points of religion had miserably Judaized the church." — " The first Christian emperors, who did all things as bishops advised them, sup- plied what was wanting to the clergy, not out of tithes, which were never mentioned, but out of their own imperial revenues ; as is manifest inEusebius, Theodoret, and Sozomen, from [the times of] Constantine to Arcadius. Hence, those most ancient reformed churches of the Wal- denses, 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 appears by an ancient Tractate inserted in the Bo- hemian history. The [pastors of the] poor Waldenses, the ancient * Perrin's History, b. i. cb. vi. f Ibid, 356 History of the Christian Church. stock of our reformation, without the help (of tithes) bred up them- selves in trades, and especially in physic and surgery, as well as in the study of scripture, which is the only true theology, that they might be no burden to the church ; and after the example of Christ might cure both soul and body, through industry adding that to their ministry which he joined to his by the gift of the Spirit. So Peter Gilles re- lates, in his history of the Waldenses of Piedmont. But our ministers scorn to use a trade, and count it the reproach of this age that trades- men 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 clamour that tradesmen preach, though they preach while themselves are the worst tradesmen of all." — " Seeing the Christian church is not national, but consists of many particular congregations, not determined by any outward judge in matters of con- science, those pretended church revenues, as they have ever been, so they are likely to continue, matters of endless dissension between the church and the magistrate, and the churches among themselves ; there will, therefore, be found no better remedy for these evils, otherwise in- curable, than (after the example of) the most incorrupt counsel of those Waldenses, our first reformers, to remove them as a pest — an apple of discord in the church ; for what else can the effect of riches be, and the snare of money in religion ? and to convert them to more profitable uses ; considering that the church of Christ was founded in poverty rather than in revenues, stood purest, and prospered most without them, received them unlawfully from those who both erroneously and un- justly, sometimes impiously, given them, and so was justly ensnared and corrupted by them." — " The Waldenses, our first reformers, both from the Scriptures and primitive example, maintained those among them who bore the office of ministers by alms alone. Take their very words : ' Our food and clothing are sufficiently administered and given to us by way of gratuity and alms, by the good people whom we teach.' As for church endowments and possessions, I meet with none considerable before Constantine, but the houses and gardens where they met, and their places of burial : and I persuade myself, that from thence the ancient Waldenses, whom I deservedly cite so often, held that, ' to endow churches is an evil thing,' and that the church then fell off and became the whore sitting on that beast mentioned in the book of the Revelation when, under pope Sylvester, she received those tem- poral donations. So the forecited Tractate of their doctrine testifies." Thus far Milton; on which it may be observed, that to such as have studied the annals of the Christian church, and are in any tolerable degree aware how much the avarice, pride, and ambition of the clergy, have in all ages contributed to promote the corruptions that have pre- vailed in it, both in doctrine, discipline, and worship; the view that he gives us of the humble and self-denied deportment of the Waldensian pastors, must be considered as one of the strongest evidences that can be afforded of the purity of the communion of their churches, and of their close adherence to the pattern left them for imitation in the ap- proved examples of the New Testament. ButMilton was not singular in the commendation that he has given to the confessors of Piedmont ; Dr. Jortin's Testimony. 357 for thus writes the candid Jortin, in perfect consistency with our great poet. " The Waldenses taught that the Roman church departed from its former sanctity and purity in the time of Constantine the Great ; they therefore refused to submit to the usurped powers of its pontiff. They said that the prelates and doctors ought to imitate the poverty of the apostles, and earn their bread by the labour of their hands. They contended that the office of teaching, confirming, and admonishing the brethren, belonged in some measure to all Christians, Sfc. Their discipline was extremely strict and austere ; for they interpreted Christ's discourse on the Mount according to the literal sense of the words, and they condemned war, law-suits, the acquisition of riches, capital punish- ments, oaths, and [even] self-defence." Again, the same writer re- marks, that " the honest Waldenses very plainly discerned that the powers usurped by the popes and ecclesiastics were tyrannical and anti- christian ; and consequently that the decretals which established some of those notions must have been impudent forgeries. Why could not the popes discern the same ? Because profaneness, pride, ambition, and avarice, hardened their hearts, and blinded their eyes ; because they would neither examine, nor let other people examine."* But not to enlarge further on this particular, I shall close this section with a few general remarks. An impartial review of the doctrinal sentiments maintained by the Waldenses ; the discipline, order, and worship of their churches, as well as their general deportment and manner of life, not to mention their determined and uniform opposition to the church of Rome, affords abundant evidence of the similarity of their views and practices to those held by Luther, Calvin, and the other illustrious characters, whose labours, in the sixteenth century, contributed so eminently to effect the glorious Reformation. Most of the catholic writers, who lived about the time of the Reformation, and the age which succeeded it, clearly saw this coincidence between the principles of the Waldenses, and- those of the reformers, and remarked it in their works. The following ' are instances of this. Cardinal Hosius, a learned and zealous champion for the papacy, who presided at the council of Trent, lived during the Lutheran refor- mation, and wrote a history of the heresies of his own times, in which he says, "the leprosy of the Waldenses spread its infection throughout all Bohemia — and following the doctrine of Waldo, the greatest part of that kingdom separated itself from the church of Rome." Lindanus, a catholic bishop of the see of Ghent, who wrote in de- fence of the tenets of the church of Rome, about 1550, terms Calvin the inheritor of the doctrine of the Waldenses." Mezeray, the celebrated historiographer of France, in his Abridge- ment of Chronology, speaking of the Waldenses, says, "They held nearly the same opinions as those who are now called Calvinists." Gualtier, a Jesuitical monk, in his chronographical tables, drew up a catalogue consisting of seven and twenty particulars, in which he shows that the principles of the Waldenses, and those of the Calvinists coincided with each other. * Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. iii. p. 303. 358 History of the Christian Church. Thomas Walden, who wrote against Wickliff, says, that the doc- trine of Peter Waldo was conveyed from France into England — and that among others Wickliff received it. In this opinion he is joined by Alphonsus de Castro, who says that Wickliff only brought to light again the errors of the Waldenses. Cardinal Bcllarmine, also, is pleased to say that " Wickliff could add nothing to the heresy of the Walden- ses." Eccmus reproached Luther, that he only renewed the heresies of the Waldenses and Albigenses, of Wickliff and of Huss, which had long ago been condemned. With him may also be classed Claude Rubis, who wrote the History of the city of Lyons, in which, adverting to the principles of Luther, he says, "the heresies that have been current in our time are founded upon those of the Waldenses," and he calls them " the relics of Waldo." iENEAS Sylvius (afterwards Pope Pius II.) declares the doctrine taught by Calvin to be the same as that of the Waldenses. In this opinion he was followed by John de Cardonne, who, in his life of the Monk of the Valleys of Sernay, thus quaintly expresses himself, " What the sect of Geneva doth admit, The Albigenses did commit."* To these impartial testimonies, which are more than sufficient to set- tle the question of family likeness, I shall only add that of the learned Limborch, professor of divinity in the university of Amsterdam, and that of Dr. Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian. The former, com- paring them with the Christians of his own time, says, " To speak candidly what I think, of all the modem sects of Christians, the Dutch Baptists, most resemble both the Albigenses and Waldenses. "t The latter, notwithstanding the flimsy, confused, and, in many instances, the' erroneous account which he has given of the Waldenses, yet has expressly owned, that " before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay concealed, in almost all the countries of Europe, persons who adhered tenaciously to the principles of the modern Dutch Baptists. "% SECTION V. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INQUISITION, WITH REFLECTIONS ON ITS GENERAL SPIRIT AND OPERATION. The preceding sections will have enabled the reader to form a toler- ably correct judgment concerning the religious principles and general character of that denomination of Christians called Catharists, Paterines, * Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, b. i. ch. viii. where the references to these authors are given. f Limborch's History of the Inquisition, Vol. I. ch. viii. i Mosheim's Eccles. History, cent. xvi. sect. iii. part. ii. ch. iii. Origin of the Inquisition. 359 Albigenses, or Waldenses ; and I should now proceed to a more detailed account of their history, subsequent to the times of Peter Waldo, and especially of the dreadful persecutions and complicated sufferings which came upon them in consequence of their adherence " to the command- ments of God and the faith of Jesus ;" but it will be proper, in this place, to take a glance at the origin, the establishment, and the opera- tion of that monstrous system of cruelty and oppression, gently called by the Catholics " the holy office," though better known among Pro- testants by the name of the Inquisition.* It was not until about the year 1200, the papal chair being then fill- ed by Innocent III. that the terms " Inquisition into heresy," and " Inquisitor," were much, if at all, neard of. The bishops, and their vicars, being, in the pope's apprehension, neither so fit nor so diligent in the discharge of their duty respecting the extirpation of heresy as he thought necessary, two new orders of regulars were at this time insti- tuted, viz. those of St. Dominic and St. Francis, both zealously devoted to the church, and consisting of persons with whom the advancement of Christianity, and the exaltation of the pontifical power, were always synonymous terms. To St. Dominic, indeed, the honour of first sug- gesting the erection of this extraordinary court is commonly ascribed. It was not, however, at first, on the same footing on which it after- wards settled, and on which it has since continued. The first inquisi- tors were vested with a double capacity, not very happily conjoined in the same persons ; one was that of preachers, to convince the heretics by'argument; the other that of persecutors, to instigate magistrates to employ every possible method of extirpating the refractory — that is, all who were so unreasonable as not to be convinced by the profound rea- soning of those merciless fanatics and wretched sophisters. Dominic descended from an illustrious Spanish family of the name of Guzman, was the son of Felix and Joanna, and born at the village of Cabaroga, in the year 1170, in the diocese of Osma. His mother during her pregnancy, is said to have dreamed that she was with child of a pup, carrying in its mouth a lighted torch ; that after its birth, it * As I shall have occasion, in the subsequent pages of this work to make fre- quent references to " Limborch's History of the Inquisition," it is proper the reader should be apprized of the degree of credit which is due to that author's statements. He was a native of Amsterdam, born 1633, a person of great learn- ing and talents, which raised him to the rank of professor of divinity in that city. When his History of the Inquisition first came over to England, it was received with the highest approbation by many of the principal nobility and clergy. In particular, Mr. Locke, that incomparable judge of men and books, bestowed the highest eulogiums upon it, — commended it for its method and perspicuity, and the authorities by which it is so abundantly confirmed, — and pronounced it to be a work of its kind absolutely perfect. In a letter to Limborch himself, he tells him, that he had so fully exposed their secret acts of wickedness and cruelty, that if the Papists had any remains of humanity in them they must be ashamed of their horrid tribunals, in which every thing that was just and righteous was so monstrously perverted; and that it was proper it should be translated into the vulgar language of every nation, that the meanest people might understand the antichristian practices of that execrable court. The Papists became so alarmed at its publication, that the cardinals, inquisitors general at Rome, condemned it by an edict, and forbade the reading of it, under the severest penalties. 360 History of the Christian Church. put the world in an uproar by its fierce barkings, and at length set it on fire by the torch which it carried in its mouth. His followers have interpreted this dream, of his doctrine, by which he enlightened the world ; while others, if dreams presage any thing, think that the torch was an emblem of that fire and faggot by which an infinite multitude of persons were burnt to ashes.* He was educated for the priesthood, and grew up the most fiery and the most sanguinary of mortals. Be- fore his time every bishop was a sort of inquisitor in his own diocese; but Dominic contrived to incorporate a body of men, independent of every human being except the pope, for the express purpose of ensnar- ing and destroying Christians. He was well aware, that however loudly the priests declaimed against heresy, the lords of the soil would not suffer them to butcher their tenants under any such vain pretences. In Biscay, the priesthood was at a very low ebb, in the eleventh cen- tury, and the clergy complained to the king of Navarre that the nobi- lity and gentry treated them very little better than their slaves, employ- ing them chiefly only to breed up and feed their hogs. Nearly a cen- tury after that time, in a neighbouring state, when the renowned St. Bernard began, in a sermon to a crowded auditory, to inveigh against heresy, the nobility and gentry all rose up and left the church, and the people followed them. The preacher came down and proceeded to the market place, where he attempted to harangue on the same subject ; but the populace, wiser than the preacher, refused to hear him, and raised such a clamour as drowned his voice, and compelled him to de- sist. Only one expedient remained, — Bernard recollected that Jesus had ordered his apostles, in certain cases, to shake off the dust of their feet, and as though he were an apostle and had received the same command, he affected to imitate the example. He left the city, shook his feet, and cursed the inhabitants by exclaiming, " May the Almighty punish this city with a draught." Thus far went the rage of Catholicism at the beginning of the twelfth century, and here its proud waves were stayed ; but at the commencement of the thirteenth, about the year 1215, Dominic broke down the dam, and covered Toulouse with a tide of despotism stained with human blood. Posterity will scarcely be- lieve that this enemy of mankind, after forming a race like himself, first called preaching, and then Dominican friars, died in his bed, was canonized for a: saint, worshipped as a divinity, and proposed as a mo- del of piety and virtue to succeeding generations.! Never, says Dr. Geddes, was there such a rabble in the world as a Spanish saint-roll. The first class of them are ideal beings, or pagans, or enthusiastics ; but the last are saints with a vengeance, for all their steps to Paradise are marked with human blood.J The inquisitors, at first had no tribunals ; they merely inquired after heretics, their number, strength, and riches. When they had detected them, they informed the bishops, who at that time, had the sole power of judging in ecclesiastical affairs, urging them to anathematize, banish, or otherwise chastise such heretical persons as they brought before • Limborch's History of the Inquisition, Vol. I. ch. x. f Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 321. i Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. i. Sanguinary edicts of Frederick II. 361 them. It is true, says bishop Burnet, adverting to these times, the church pretended that she would shed no blood ; but all this was in- sufferable juggling. For the churchmen declared who were heretics, and the secular arm was required to be always in readiness to execute their sentence. This was not only claimed by the bishops, but it was made a part of their oath at their consecration, " that they should op- pose and persecute heretics to the utmost of their power." Nor were they contented to proceed by the common rules of justice, upon accu- sations and witnesses ; but all forms were superseded, and by virtue of their pastoral authority, as if that had been given them to worry their sheep and not to feed them, they objected articles to their prison- ers upon suspicion, requiring them to purge themselves of them by oath. And because bishops were not perhaps all equally zealous and cruel, that bloody man Dominic, took this work to task, and his order has ever since furnished the world with a set of inquisitors, compared to whom all that had ever dealt in tortures, in any former times, were mere bunglers.* Sometimes they excited princes to arm their subjects against them, and at other times they inflamed tiie rabble, whom they themselves headed, to take up arms and unite in extirpating them. Such as they could prevail upon to devote themselves to this service, obtained the title of crusaders, and were distinguished by a cross of cloth affixed to their garments. This badge operated like a charm upon the deluded populace, who, if they were inflamed before, now became infuriate, and, as one happily expresses it, were raised to a super-celestial sort of virtue, which defies all the restraints of reason and humanity. Things remained pretty much in this state till about the year 1250 ; that is, for half a century. During this period the efforts of the inquisitors were greatly assisted by the emperor of the Romans, Frederick II. who in the year 1224, promulgated, from Padua, four edicts against heretics, of the most fero- cious and sanguinary description, addressed to his beloved princes, the venerable archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church ; to the dukes, marquises, earls, barons, governors, judges, ministers, officials, and all other his faithful subjects throughout the empire. In these edicts he takes the inquisitors under his protection, imposes on obstinate here- tics the punishment of being burnt to death, and of perpetual imprison- ment on the penitent, committing the cognizance of the crime to the ecclesiastical, and the condemnation of the criminals, as well as the in- fliction of the punishment, to the secular judges. As the object of all these bloody edicts was chiefly to destroy the Waldenses or Albigenses, it may not be foreign to our purpose to give a specimen of the spirit that breathes throughout the whole of them. " The care of the imperial government," says his Majesty, "com- mitted to us from heaven, and over which we preside, demands the material sword, which is given to us separately from the priesthood, against the enemies of the faith, and for the extirpation of heretical pra- • Bishop Burnet's Remarks concerning Persecution, prefixed to his Transla- tion of Lactantius' Relation of the Deaths of the Primitive Persecutors. Amst. 1687. p. 34, &c. 31 362 History of the Christian Church. vity, that we should pursue with judgment and justice those vipers and perfidious children who insult the Lord and his church, as though they would tear out the very bowels of their mother. We shall not sufTec these wretches to live who infect the world by their seducing doct-ines, and who, being themselves corrupted, more grievously taint the flock of the faithful." He then proceeds to pronounce the most dreadful sen- tence against all persons convicted of heresy, against all who may be employed as advocates for them, and against all who may be detected in receiving and abetting them, condemning their persons, disinheriting their children, and confiscating their property. The second edict, though not less sanguinary, was more definite in its object, since it professes to have directly in view the destruction of the sect of the Paterines, of whom, it will be recollected, a particular account has been given in a former section. The reader shall have a specimen. " The heretics are endeavouring to rend the seamless co;ir. of our God, and raging with deceitful words, strive to divide the unity of the invisible faith itself, and to separate the sheep from the care of St. Peter, to whom they were committed by the Good Shepherd, to be fed. These are the ravenous wolves within, who put on the meekness of the sheep, that they may the better enter into the Lord's sheepfolc1. These are the worst angels — the sons of naughtiness, of the father of wickedness — appointed to deceive simple souls. These are adders who deceive the doves — serpents which crawl in private, and under the sweetness of honey, vomit poison; so that whilst they pretend to ad- minister the food of life, they sting with their tail, and mingle the most bitter poison into the cup of death. — They call themselves Paterines, after the example of the martyrs.* These miserable Paterines, who do not believe the eternal Trinity, by their complicated wickedness offend against three, viz. God, their neighbour, and themselves. Against God, because they do not acknowledge the Son and the true faith — they deceive their neighbours, whilst under the pretence of spi- ritual food, they minister the delights of heretical pravity — but their cruelty to themselves is yet more savage, since, besides the loss of their immortal souls, they expose their bodies to a cruel death, being prodigal of their lives and fearless of destruction, which by acknowledging the true faith they might escape, and, which is horrible to express, their survivors are not terrified by their example. Against such enemies to God and man we cannot contain our indignation, nor refuse to punish them with the sword of just vengeance, but shall pursue them with so much the greater vigour, as they appear to spread wider the crimes of their superstition, to the most evident injury of the Christian faith, and of the church of Rome, which is adjudged to be the head of all other churches." The edict then proceeds to denounce every one convicted of belonging to the sect of the Paterines, as guilty of the crime of high treason — to be punished with the loss of life and of goods, and their * "Paterines, after the example of the martyrs." Notwithstanding' the ob- scurity which rests upon the etymology of this name, does it not appear evident from this Imperial Edict, that it was "then understood to have been conferred on •'hese people on account of the sufferings to which they were exposed — and if so, nay it not be derived from the Latin verb Pati, " to suffer ?" Sanguinary Edicts of Frederick II. 363 memory rendered infamous. It enjoins that strict inquiry be made by the officials, after all such as commit those crimes, and wherever the smallest suspicion exists, that such be examined by the ecclesiastics and prelates, and if found to err in one point from the Catholic faith, they are, in case of obstinacy, by that edict condemned to suffer death, — t'o be committed to the punishment of the flames, and to be burned alive in public view — forbidding any, on pain of incurring the imperial indignation, to intercede for such persons. The third law is as follows — " We condemn the receivers, accom- plices, and abettors of the Paterines, to forfeiture of their goods, and. perpetual banishment, who by their care to save others, have no fear or regard for themselves. Let not their children be in any wise admitted to honours, but always accounted infamous, nor let them be allowed as witnesses in any causes in which infamous persons are refused. But if the children of those who favour the Paterines shall discover any one of them, so that he shall be convicted, let them, as the reward of their acknowledgment of the faith, be entirely restored by our imperial fa- vour, to their forfeited honour and estate." In the fourth edict his Imperial Majesty is pleased thus to proceed, — " We condemn to perpetual infamy, withdraw our protection from, and put under our ban,* the Puritans, Paterines, Leonists, Arnoldists, Passignes, Josephines, Albigenses, Waldenses, &c. and all other here- tics of both sexes, and of whatsoever name; and ordain that their goods may be so confiscated as that their children may never inherit them, since it is much more heinous to offend the eternal than the tem- poral majesty." It then proceeds to condemn all suspected persons, as Heretics, if they do not purge themselves within a year — commands the officials to exterminate heretics from all places subject to them — orders that the lands of the barons shall be seized by the Catholics, if they do not purge them from heretics, within a year after proper admonition, and ordains various punishments against all the favourers of heretics — thus closing the dreadful catalogue : " Furthermore, we put under our ban those who believe, receive, defend, and favour heretics ; ordaining that if any person shall refuse to give satisfaction within a year after his excommunication, he shall be, ipso jure, infamous, and not admitted to any kind of public offices — let him be intestable, and let him not have the power of making a will, nor of receiving any thing by succes- sion or inheritance. Moreover, let no one answer for him in any af- fair, but let him be obliged to answer others. If he should be a judge, let his sentence be of no effect, nor any causes be heard before him. If an advocate, let him never be admitted to plead in any one's defence. If a notary, let no instruments made by him be valid. We add, that an heretic may be convicted by an heretic, and that the houses of the Paterines their abettors and favourers, either where they have taught, or where they have laid hands on others, shall be destroyed, never to be rebuilt."t— Bated at Padua, Feb. 22, 1224. * For the meaning of this, the reader may revert to vol. i. ch. iv. f The reader will find these Edicts entire in the first vol. of Limborch's His- tory of the Inquisition, ch. xii. 364 History of the Christian Church. Any thing more infamous than these edicts, in the way of spiritual tyranny, it would be difficult to imagine ; and although, by reason of the circumstances of the times, and the differences which soon arose between the pope and the emperor, they had not all that effect which might have been expected, it is, nevertheless, certain that the inquisi- tion was greatly promoted by them. They were approved and con- firmed by the pope, and inserted in his bulls, and in process of time, the persecuting spirit which pervades them, came gradually to be in- corporated into the laws of almost every country in Europe. After the death of Frederick, which happened about the middle of the century, pope Innocent IV. remaining sole arbiter of the affairs of Lombardy and other parts of Italy, set himself diligently to extirpate heresy, which of late had exceedingly increased ; and considering the labour which had been employed in his service by the Franciscan and Dominican friars, whose zeal, unrestrained by either respect of persons or the fear of dangers — by any regard to justice or the feelings of hu- manity, had recommended them highly to the pontiff, he cheerfully availed himself of their ardour to second his efforts. Preaching was found of little avail, and even the enlisting of crusaders and inflicting military execution was suspended for the sake of erecting in different countries standing tribunals armed with tremendous authority, but charged solely with the purgation of heretical pravity.* To the establishment of these novel tribunals there were, however, two objections started. The first, that it was an encroachment on the authority of the ordinary bishop of the place, and the second, that it was unprecedented to exclude the civil magistrate from the trial and punishment of heretics, on whom it had hitherto devolved. To remove the first of these difficulties, an expedient was soon devised — the pope enacted that the tribunal should consist of the inquisitor, with the bishop of the place also, but so managing the affair, at the same time, that the inquisitor was not only to be the principal, but, in reality, every thing, and leaving the bishop little more than the name of a judge. To re- medy the second inconvenience, and to give at least the appearance of authority to the secular powers, they were allowed to appoint the sub- ordinate officers to the inquisition, yet still subject to the approbation of the inquisitors ; they were also allowed to send with the inquisitor, when he should go into the country, one of their assessors, whom the inquisitors should choose. Of all the property belonging to the heretics which they should be enabled to confiscate, a third part was to go to the community, in return for which, the community was to defray the whole expense of keeping the prisons, and supporting the prisoners. The infliction of the legal punishment was also vested in the magis- trate, after trial and condemnation by the inquisitors ; but that was a matter so much of course, and which he well knew he could not avoid executing, without incurring the vengeance of the church, that, in fact, • The phrase "heretical pravity," will sound rather uncouth to modern ears that have not been accustomed to the jargon of the catholic writers, but the reader should be told that it is the usual slang of those writers for denoting the Wickedness of thinking differently from the church of Home. Progress of the Inquisition. 365 it only converted him into a spiritual judge's executioner: and thus, to use the language of Dr. Jortin, " the priest was the judge, and the king was the hangman."* Such was the footing on which " the holy office" was placed in the year 1251, in the ecclesiastical states of Italy, which were under the pope's immediate inspection. It was afterwards extended to more distant provinces, and every where entrusted to the management of Do- minican friars. Thirty-one rules or articles, defining their jurisdiction and powers, and regulating the procedure of this spiritual court of judi- cature, were devised; and all rulers and magistrates were commanded, by a papal bull, issued for the purpose, to give, under pain of excom- munication, the most punctual obedience, and every possible assistance to this holy court. It should, however, be remarked, that the attempts which were made to introduce the inquisition, did not prove equally successful in all Ro- man Catholic states, nor even in the greater part of them. It was never in the power of the pope to obtain the establishment of this tribunal in many of the most populous countries that were subject to the See of Rome. In France it was early introduced, but soon afterwards ex- pelled, in such a manner, as effectually to preclude a renewal of the attempt. The difficulties arose partly from the conduct of the inqui- sitors— their inordinate severity, their unbounded extortion and avarice, and the propensity they showed, on every occasion, to extend beyond measure, their own authority ; insomuch that they were making rapid strides to engross, under one pretext or another, all the criminal juris- diction of the magistrate ; for under the head of heresy, they insisted, were included, infidelity, blasphemy, perjury, sorcery, poisoning, bi- gamy, usury ! Another reason was, that the tribunal was found to be so expensive, that the community refused to sustain the burden of it. Nor has it been alike severe in every place into which it has been in- troduced. In Spain and Portugal this scourge and disgrace to humanity has for centuries glared, monster like, with its most frightful aspect— in Rome it has been much more tolerable. Papal avarice has served to counterbalance papal tyranny. The wealth of modern Rome has arisen very much from the constant resort of strangers from all countries and of all denominations, and chiefly those of the higher ranks. Nothing could have more effectually checked that resort, and of course the in- flux of riches into that capital, than such a horrid tribunal as that which existed at Lisbon and Madrid, and which diffused a terror that was felt to the utmost confines of those unhappy kingdoms. Exclusive of the cruel punishments inflicted by the holy office, says a late writer, it may be truly affirmed, that the inquisition is a school of vice. There the artful judge, grown old in the habits of subtlety, along with the sly secretary, practises his cunning in interrogating a prisoner to fix a charge of heresy. Now he fawns, and then he frowns; now soothes, and then looks dark and angry ; sometimes affects to pity and to pray, at other times insults and bullies, and talks of racks and dungeons, flames, and the damnation of hell. One while he lays * Remarks, vol. iii. p. 303. 31* 366 History of the Christian Church. his hand upon his heart, and sheds tears, and promises and protests he desires not the death of a sinner, but would rather that he would turn and live ; and all that he can do he will do for the discharge, aye, for the preferment of his imprisoned brother. Another while he discovers himself deaf as a rock, false as the wind, and cruel as the poison of asps.* In no country has the operation of this dreadful court of spiritual despotism been more strikingly exemplified than in Spain. The sub- ject has been placed in the most instructive point of view by two ac- curate and elegant modern historians,! and their reflections upon it are so just and natural, that as it cannot be unacceptable to the reader, I shall give the substance of what they have said. The court of inquisition, which although it was not the parent, has been the nurse and guardian of ignorance and superstition in every king- dom into which it has been admitted, was introduced into Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, and was principally intended to prevent the relapse of the Jews and Moors, who had been converted, or who pre- tended to be converted, to the faith of the Church of Rome. Its juris- diction, however, was not confined to the Jews and Moors, but extended to all those who in their practice or opinions differed from the estab- lished church. In the united kingdoms of Castile and Arragon, there were eighteen different inquisitorial courts, having each of them its counsellors, termed apostolical inquisitors ; its secretaries, Serjeants, and other officers ; and besides these there were twenty thousand familiars dispersed throughout the kingdom, who acted as spies and informers, and were employed to apprehend all suspected persons, and commit them for trial, to the prisons which belonged to the inquisition. By these familiars, persons were seized on bare suspicion, and in con- tradiction to the established rules of equity, they were put to the torture, tried and condemned by the inquisitors, without being confronted, either with their accusers, or with the witnesses on whose evidence they were condemned. The punishments inflicted were more or less dreadful, according to the caprice and humour of the judges. The unhappy victims were either strangled or committed to the flames, or loaded with chains, and shut up in dungeons during life — their effects confiscated, and their families stigmatized with infamy. This institution was, no doubt, well calculated to produce an uni- formity of religious profession, but it had a tendency also to destroy the sweets of social life ; to banish all freedom of thought and speech ; to disturb men's minds with the most disquieting apprehensions, and to produce the most intolerable slavery, by reducing persons of all ranks in life to a state of abject dependence upon priests ; whose integrity, were it even greater than that of other men, as in every false profession of religion it is less, must have been corrupted by the uncontrolled au- thority which they were allowed to exercise. By this tribunal a visible change was wrought in the temper of the people, and reserve, distrust, • Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 277. f Watson's History of Philip II. king of Spain, and in Robertson's History of Charles V. Dreadful effects of the Inquisition. 367 and jealousy became the distinguishing characteristics of a Spaniard. It confirmed and perpetuated the reign of ignorance and superstition ; inflamed the rage of religious bigotry, and by the cruel spectacles to which, in the execution of its decrees, it familiarized the people, it nourished in them that ferocious spirit, which in the Netherlands and America they manifested by deeds that have fixed an indelible reproach upon the Spanish name. Authors of undoubted credit affirm, and without the least exaggera- tion, that millions of persons have been ruined by this horrible court. Moors were banished, a million at a time. Six or eight hundred thou- sand Jews were driven away at once, and their immense riches seized by their accusers, and distributed among their persecutors, while thou- sands dissembled, and professed themselves Christians only to be ha- rassed in future. Heretics of all ranks and of various denominations were imprisoned and burnt, or fled into other countries. The gloom of despotism overshadowed all Spain. The people at first reasoned, and rebelled, and murdered the inquisitors — the aged murmured and died — the next generation fluttered and complained, but their successors were completely tamed by education ; and the Spaniards are now trained up by the priests to shudder at the thought of thinking for themselves. That honour to his country and of human nature, the late Mr. Howard, says, when he saw the inquisition at Valladolid, "I could not but ob- serve, that even the sight of it struck terror into the common people as they passed." " It is styled," he adds, by a monstrous abuse of words, "the holy apostolical court of inquisition." A simple narrative of the proceedings of the inquisition has shocked the world, and the cruelty of it has become proverbial. Nothing ever displayed so fully to the eyes of mankind the spirit and temper of the papal religion. "• Christians," says Tertullian, " were often called, not Christiani, but Chrestiani, from the gentleness of their manners, and the sweetness of their tempers. Jesus himself was the essence of mildness. His apostles were gentle, even as a nurse that cherisheth her children. But what an awful contrast is exhibited in this horrid court of papal inquisition." Let us hear the description which Voltaire, a very competent witness, gives of it. " Their form of proceeding," says he, "is an infallible way to destroy whomsoever the inquisitors wish. The prisoners are not confronted with the accuser or informer. Nor is there any informer or witness who is not listened to. A public convict, a notorious malefactor, an infamous person, a common prosti- tute, a child, are in the holy office, though no where else, credible accusers, and witnesses. Even the son may depose against his father, the wife against her husband." The wretched prisoner is no more made acquainted with his crime than with his accusers. His being told the one might possibly lead him to guess the other. To avoid this, he is compelled, by tedious confinement in a noisome dungeon, where he never sees a face but the jailor's, and is not permitted the use of either books or pen and ink — or should confinement alone not be suf- ficient, he is compelled, by the most excruciating torture, to inform against himself, to discover and confess the crime laid to his charge, of which he is often ignorant. " This procedure," says our historian, 368 History of the Christian Church. "unheard of till the institution of this court, makes the whole kingdom tremble. Suspicion reigns in every breast. Friendship and quietness are at an end. The brother dreads his brother, the father his son. Hence taciturnity is become the characteristic of a nation, endued with all the vivacity natural to the inhabitants of a warm and fruitful climate. To this tribunal we must likewise impute that profound ignorance of sound philosophy in which Spain lies buried, whilst Germany, England, France, and even Italy, have discovered so many truths, and enlarged the sphere of our knowledge. Never is human nature so debased, as where ignorance is armed with power."* But these melancholy effects of the Inquisition are a trifle when compared with those public sacrifices, called Auto da Fe, or Acts of Faith, and to the shocking barbarities that precede them. A priest in a white surplice, or a monk who has vowed meekness and humility, causes his fellow creatures to be put to the torture in a dismal dun- geon. A stage is erected in the public market-place, where the con- demned prisoners are conducted to the stake, attended with a train of monks and religious con-fraternities. They sing psalms, say mass, and butcher mankind. Were a native of Asia to come to Madrid upon a day of an execution of this sort, it would be impossible for him to tell whether it were a rejoicing, a religious feast, a sacrifice, or a massacre ; and yet it is all this together ! The kings, whose presence alone in other cases is the harbinger of mercy, assist at this spectacle uncover- ed, seated lower than the inquisitors, and are spectators of their sub- jects expiring in the flames. The Spaniards reproached Montezuma with immolating his captives to his gods ; what would he have said, had he beheld an "Auto da Fe?" It is but doing justice, however, to many Roman Catholic states, and to thousands of individuals belonging to that church, to say, that they abhor this infernal tribunal, almost as much as protestants them- selves do. This is sufficiently evinced by the tumults which were ex- cited in several parts of Italy, Milan, and Naples in particular, and af- terwards in France, as well as in other Catholic countries, by the attempts that were made to introduce it at first, and by its actual expul- sion from some places, where, to all appearance, it was firmly esta- blished. It is, indeed, matter of regret that any among the members of that church should have their minds so enslaved by prejudice, as to imagine, for a moment, that a despotism which required for its support such diabolical engines, could possibly be of heavenly origin. There is something in the very constitution of this tribunal so monstrously unjust, so exorbitantly cruel, that it must ever excite one's astonish- ment, that the people of any country should have permitted its exist- ence among them. How they could have the inconsistency to acknow- ledge a power to be from God, which has found it necessary to recur to expedients so manifestly from hell, so subversive of every principle of sound morality and religion, can be regarded only as one of those contradictions, for which human characters, both in individuals, and nations, are often so remarkable. The wisdom that is from above is * Voltaire's Univ. Hist. vol. ii. ch. cxviii. Persecution of the Albigenses. 369 pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. But the policy of Rome, as displayed in the Inquisition, is so strikingly characterized by that wisdom which is earthly, sensual, and devilish, that the person who needs to be convinced of it, seems to be altogether beyond the power of argument. Never were two systems more diametrically op- posed in their spirit, their maxims, and effects, than primitive Chris- tianity, and the religion of modern Rome ; nor do heaven and hell, Christ and Belial, exhibit to our view a more glaring contrast.* SECTION VI. HISTORY OF THE PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES IN FRANCE, DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. " The flight of Peter Waldo from Lyons, and the consequent disper- sion of his flock throughout the south of France, took place in the year 1163. As nothing lay nearer the hearts of the popes, than an anxious desire to crush in its infancy every doctrine that opposed their exorbi- tant power, they were seldom remiss in adopting such measures as ap- peared to them best calculated for promoting that favourite object. Ac- cordingly we find that in the same year (1163) a synod was convened at Tours, a city of France, at which all the bishops and priests in the country of Toulouse, were strictly enjoined " to take care, and to for- bid, under pain of excommunication, every person from presuming to give reception, or the least assistance to the followers of this heresy ; to have no dealings with them in buying and 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 " whosoever should dare to contravene this order, should be excommunicated as a partner with them in their guilt." And, lastly, that " as many of them as could be found, should be imprisoned by the Catholic princes, and punished with the forfeiture of all their substance. "t It is very natural to suppose that these cruel precautionary proceed- ings, if followed up with much rigour, must drive the friends of Waldo to seek an asylum in more hospitable climes ; and of course, many of them took refuge in the valleys of Piedmont, while others proceeded to Bohemia, and not a few migrated into Spain. Hence, in the year 1194, in consequence of some of the Waldenses coming into the pro- vince of Arragon, king Ildefonsus issued a severe and bloody edict, by which "he banished them from his kingdom and all his dominions, as enemies of the cross of Christ, profaners of the Christian religion, and public enemies to himself and kingdom. "J • See Father Paul Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent; and Dr. G. Camp- bell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History. f Baronius's Annals, sect. 18. n. 4. quoted in Limborch, ch. be. i Bzovius. A. 1199. sect. 38. in Limborch, ch. ix. 370 History of the Christian Church. Yet, notwithstanding these inhuman proceedings, both in France and Spain, " so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed," that in the year 1200, both the city of Toulouse, and eighteen other principal towns in Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphene, were filled with Wal- denses and Albigenses. This, no doubt, was owing, under God, to the protection that was afforded them by the Counts of Toulouse and Foix, the Viscount of Beziers, and several other of the French nobility. It can excite no surprise, therefore, that their numbers and growing in- fluence should spread universal alarm at Rome, and that the most spi- rited exertions should be determined on for subduing them. The first measures resorted to were the issuing of papal canons and sentences of excommunication. Not only was the whole sect anathe- matized, but also everyone who should receive them into their houses, and protect them, or hold any intercourse with them. The archbishops and bishops of Guienne and other provinces of France, as well as the clergy throughout the different dioceses, were enjoined to banish the Waldenses, Puritans, and Paterines from their territories; to mark them, and take care that they should neither enjoy Christian privileges while living, nor burial when dead. Kings, princes, and magistrates, were called upon to support and assist the Catholic clergy with the power of the sword ; to confiscate the property, and raze to the foun- dation the houses of these heretics, and of all that countenanced them.* To give efficacy to these measures, pope Innocent III. sent two of his legates into France, viz. the famous Reinerius, (whom we have already had frequent occasion to mention) and Guido, the founder of the order of Hospitallers, to stimulate the clergy to greater diligence, to watch the conduct of the nobles, and on the detection of any of the heretics, to demand the most summary proceedings against them — en- joining his legates to transmit him by messenger or letter, the fullest information they could procure ; that thus, being more particularly in- formed, he might the better know how to proceed against them. Our learned countryman, Archbishop Usher, to whom we are under great obligations for the pains he took to explore the affairs of this dark period, and to illustrate the history of the Waldensian churches, gives ■us a very amusing account of the strain of preaching which prevailed throughout those Catholic countries at that period. The preachers had one favourite text, viz. Psalm xciv. 16. " Who will rise zip for me against the evil doers ? or who will stand up for me against the zcorkcrs of iniquity P" and it is probable that the sermon was as uni- form as the text ; for we are told they generally concluded thus : " You see, mest dear brethren, how great the wickedness of the heretics is, and how much mischief they do in the world. You see also, how tenderly, and by how many pious methods the church labours to re- claim them. But with them they all prove ineffectual, and they fly to the secular power for their defence. Therefore our holy mother, the church, though with reluctance and grief, calls together against them the Christian army. If then you have any zeal for the faith ; if you * Rankin's Hist, of France, vol. iii. and Limborch's History of the Inquisition, di. ix. Inquisition introduced into France. 371 are touched with any concern for the honour of God; if you would reap the benefit of this great indulgence, come and receive the sign of the cross, and join yourselves to the army of the crucified Saviour." As the country of Toulouse was the principal place of rendezvous for the Albigenses, and as they abounded there in immense numbers, the pope evinced the utmost solicitude to prevail upon Count Ray- mond to expel them from his dominions. But all his entreaties to in- duce the latter, either to banish so large a number of his peaceable subjects, or even to persecute them, proving fruitless, he ordered him to be excommunicated as a favourer of heretics. He sent his legate with letters to many of the prelates, commanding them to make in- quisition against the heretical Albigenses in France, to destroy them and convert their protectors. He also wrote to Philip, king of France, reminding him that it was his duty to take arms against those heretics, and to use all his power to suppress them, that by thus labouring to stem the progress of heresy, he might purge himself from all suspicion of being tainted therewith in his own person. Twelve abbots of the Cistercian order, accompanied by the pope's legate, went preaching the cross against the Albigenses, and promising, by the authority of his holiness, a plenary remission of their sins, to all who took on them the crusade. The famous, or, more properly speaking, the infamous Dominic, the founder of the Inquisition, joined himself to this asso- ciation, and, while engaged on this murderous expedition, he is said to have digested the plan of that iniquitous court. The efforts of Reinerius and his associates, not answering the san- guine expectations of the pope, and the scheme of Dominic for estab- lishing the Inquisition being communicated to him, the latter, in the year 1216, transmitted his letters patent, creating Dominic inquisitor general, which was confirmed by the council of Lateran in the same year. Having received these letters, and being thus armed with au- thority, Dominic, on a certain day, in the midst of a large concourse of people in the church of St. Prullian, announced, in one of his sermons, that " he was raised by the pope to a new office ; adding, that he was resolved to defend, with his utmost vigour, the doctrines of the faith ; and that if the spiritual and ecclesiastical arms were not sufficient for this end, it was his fixed determination to call in the aid of the civil magistrate, to excite and compel the Catholic princes to take arms against heretics, that the very memory of them might be entirely de- stroyed." A nobleman in the vicinity of Narbonne, having about this time been converted to the Catholic faith, the inquisitors obtained possession of his house or castle, where they fixed their court, and commenced the operations of that iniquitous system. On the one hand, they offered to their converts the remission of their sins, plenary indulgences, and various other privileges ; and on the other, the obstinate were branded, imprisoned, and tortured. Multitudes were allured by these deceitful pretexts to enrol themselves under the banners of St. Dominic, vainly imagining, that they could thus make compensation for their crimes. Dominic framed a code of regulations for the preservation and pro- per government of this, crusading fraternity. One was, that such as 372 History of the Christian Church. entered upon this warfare should take an oath, that they would endea- vour with all their might to recover, defend, and protect the rights of the church, against all who should presume to usurp them ; and that they would expose themselves and their estates in defence of the eccle- siastical immunities, by taking up arms as often as they should be called upon to do it, by the prelate of the war, — an honour at that time vested in Dominic himself, and subsequently in the masters general of the Dominican order. If any of them were married, an oath was re- quired from their wives, that they would not persuade their husbands to forsake the war for the support of the ecclesiastical privileges, pro- mising them eternal life as the reward of so pious a service. To dis- tinguish them from laics, a peculiar dress was devised for both the men and their wives, consisting of white and black colours, but of different formation. No one was to be admitted to this sacred warfare, without a previous rigorous examination of his life, manners, and faith — whe- ther he had paid his debts, forgiven his enemies, and made his will, that he might be the more ready for the battle, and also whether he had obtained leave from his wife before a notary and proper witnesses. The wives of those that were slain in the expedition promised that they would never marry again. All this, no doubt, was highly ridicu- lous ; but it imposed an air of sacredness upon the thing which took with the vulgar, and rendered the crusade so popular, that numbers en- tered into it with avidity, hoping by the slaughter of heretics, and the plunder of their goods, to ensure their admission into heaven.* With all this, however, the cause proceeded but slowly. The pope was dissatisfied. The measures of Dominic and his adherents seemed to him but as the sprinkling of water, which only aggravated and ex- tended the flame of heresy. He, therefore, denounced open and more violent war ; invited the catholic princes and nobles to take up arms, and commissioned his ministers to preach the same indulgences, and to offer terms of every kind, as advantageous as those that were granted when levies were made for crusading to Asia.t The court of Rome, however, with a view to preserve at least the semblance of decency, thought it expedient, before proceeding to compul- sory measures with the Albigenses, to try to reclaim them to the church by the more gentle and reasonable methods of persuasion, and the latter formed the resolution of defending their own principles. They conse- quently gave the bishops to understand that some of their pastors were ready to discuss the subject with them in open conference, provided the thing could be conducted with propriety. They explained their notions of propriety by proposing that there should be moderators on each side, vested with authority to prevent tumult and preserve order and regula- rity— that the conference should be held in some place to which all parties concerned might have free and safe access ; and lastly, that a particular subject should be agreed upon between the disputants, which should be steadily prosecuted until it was fully discussed and deter- mined, and that the party which could not maintain it by an appeal to the Scriptures, the only standard of faith to Christians, should own themselves vanquished. • Limbroch's Inquisition, chap. xi. \ See vol. i. ch. iv. sect. 4. Massacre of the Albigenses. 373 The proposal was so reasonable that it could not with decency be re- jected : it was therefore accepted by the bishops and monks. The place of conference agreed upon was Montreal, near Carcassone, in the year 1206. The umpires on the Catholic side were the bishops of Villeneuse and Auxere — and on that of the Albigenses, R. de Bot, and Anthony Riviere. On the part of the latter, several pastors were ap- pointed to manage the debate, of whom Arnold Hot was the principal. He arrived first at the appointed place. A bishop of the name of Eusus met him on behalf of the papacy, accompanied by the renowned Domi- nic, two of the pope's legates, and several other of the catholic clergy. The points which Arnold undertook to prove were, that the mass and transubstantiation are idolatrous and unscriptural — that the church of Rome is not the spouse of Christ — and that its polity is of a pernicious and wicked tendency. Arnold drew up certain propositions upon these points, which he transmitted to the bishop, who required fifteen days to answer them, which was granted. On the appointed day, the bishop appeared, and produced a large manuscript, which was read in the pub- lic assembly. Arnold requested that he might be permitted to reply by word of mouth, only entreating their patience if he took a considerable time in answering so prolix a writing, and fair promises were made him of a patient hearing. He then discoursed for the space of four days upon the subject, with such fluency and readiness, such order, perspi- cuity, and forcible reasoning, that a strong impression was produced on the "audience. Arnold, at length, called upon his opponents to defend themselves. What they said on the occasion we are not informed, but the cause of the abrupt termination of the conference is a fact allowed on all hands, and may possibly suggest what was the real state of the controversy. For, while the pope's legates were disputing with Ar- nold, the umpire of the papal party, the bishop of Villeneuse, declared that nothing could be determined, because the army of the crusaders was at hand.* What he asserted, alas, was but too true ; the papal armies advanced, and, by fire and faggot instantly decided all the points of controversy ; and if we may place any reliance upon writers of un- impeachable veracity, " the armies employed by pope Innocent III. destroyed above two hundred thousand of them in the short space of a few months. "t Arnold and his brethren, indeed, might have been fully assured that it never was the intention of the pope to submit to any de- cision of the controversy by argument, which might happen to be un- favourable to his party. The acquiescence of his holiness in the pro- posal to discuss the differences between the parties in a public disputa- tion, was in all probability, a mere manoeuvre, intended only to amuse the Albigenses and gain time, till the armies that were preparing with a view to destroy them might be in readiness. Platina, one of their own writers, in his Life of Innocent XIII. seems to insinuate as much, when he tells us, that there was need, not only of disputations, but of arms also; to such a pitch was the heresy grown." The bull which the pope had already issued, in consequence of the death of Peter de * Perrin's History of the Albigenses, b. iii. ch. ii. f Dr. Grosvenor's Sermon aguinst Popery, at Salter's Hall, 1735. 32 374 History of the Christian Church. Chatineau, had also made that sufficiently apparent. He had despatch- ed preachers throughout all Europe, to collect an army which should revenge the blood of that man, promising paradise, and the remission of all their sins, to those who should bear arms forty days in that holy warfare ; and, after telling them that "they were not to keep faith with those who do not keep faith with God," he thus proceeds, " We ex- hort you, that you would endeavour to destroy the wicked heresy of the Albigenses, and do this with more rigour than you would towards the Saracens themselves ; persecute them with a strong hand ; deprive them of their lands and possessions ; banish them and put Roman Catholics in their room."* Raymond, the sixth count of Toulouse, in whose territories the Albi- genses chiefly abounded, still humanely extended to them his protection and patronage. Pope Innocent, by a bull, had excommunicated him as a favourer of heretics — he was prohibited the communion of holy things and of the faithful — all his subjects were absolved from their oath of allegiance, and power was dispensed to any Catholic man not only to act against his person, but to seize his dominions, and dispossess him of them, under the pretext that by the prudence of the one, they might be effectually purged from heresy, as they had been grievously defiled by the wickedness of the other. Yet he does not appear to have been in the least diverted from his purpose by these horrid proceedings. His character is variously represented by the friends and enemies of his party. The former describe him, not only as generous and brave, but as pious and virtuous ; while the latter revile him as a hypocrite. The true account of him seems to be, that whether he had adopted the sen- timents of the Albigenses or not, he humanely sympathized with them — that he understood the spirit of true religion to be a spirit of toler- ance; that he studied to promote the real interests of his country; and with these views, at least, that he was desirous to protect all such as were useful members of society, whatever might be their peculiar reli- gious tenets. Under such patronage their numbers rapidly increased, but it proportionally inflamed the indignation of the fierce and bloody inquisitors. t While affairs remained in this critical posture, it unfortunately hap* pened that Peter de Chatineau, one of the inquisitors, was assassinated, and Count Raymond was suspected of being, at least, privy to the mur- der. The Catholics loudly inveighed against the crime as of the deep- est dye. The Count protested his innocence, affirming that he was in no respect guilty of the death of that friar — that he had been killed at St. Giles's by a certain gentleman whom Peter had pursued, and who immediately afterwards retired to his friends at Beaucaire — that he had done every thing in his power to apprehend the manslayer ; and in fine, that even were it true that he had been in any respect accessary to the murder, the ordinary course of justice ought to be pursued, and not to revenge it upon his subjects who were innocent. To all this the Catholic party were deaf; Raymond was loaded with infamy, and with * Clarke's Martyrology, ch. xxiv. ^ Kankin's History of France, vol. iii. Submission of Count Raymond. 375 the highest censures of the church ; and, in a little time, an expedition of more than one hundred thousand cross-bearers (crusaders) was ac- tually equipped against him. Raymond was justly alarmed — he offer- ed to submit, promised obedience, and as a proof of his sincerity, deli- vered up into the hands of the pope seven fortified places in Provence. But that was not a sufficient sacrifice to ecclesiastical pride and malig- nity. He was required to present himself before the gates of the church of St. Agde, in the town of that name. Upwards of twenty bishops and archbishops were present, convened for the purpose of receiving his submission. He was required to swear upon the holy solemnities of the eucharist and the relics of the saints, which were exposed with great reverence before the gates of the church, and held by several pre- lates, that he would obey the commands of the holy Roman church. When he had thus bound himself by an oath, the legate ordered one of the sacred vestments to be thrown over his neck, and, drawing him by means of it, he was brought into the church, where after scourging him with a whip, he was absolved. It is added, " that he was so grievous- ly torn by the stripes in scourging, that he was unable to go out by the way in which he had entered the church, but was forced to pass quite naked as he was, through the lower gate. He was also compelled to undergo the same degrading process at the sepulchre of St. Peter the martyr, at New Castres."* The immense army of crusaders, however, being now in motion, it was not to be reduced to a state of inactivity because the Earl of Tou- louse had effected his reconciliation with the see of Rome. On the contrary, they every where attacked the Albigenses, took possession of the cities in which they were known to be, filled the streets with slaughter and blood, and committed to the flames numbers whom they had taken prisoners. Raymond had a nephew of the name of Roger, who was more bold and determined than his uncle. He was at the head of seven fiefs, or baronies, dependent, however, upon the Earl of Toulouse, and he evinced no disposition to yield an implicit obedience to the orders of Rome, nor abandon the people who had put themselves under his protection. Among the humiliating stipulations imposed upon the Earl of Toulouse, the one most repugnant to his feelings was, that he himself should lead the crusading army against Beziers, the capital of his own nephew's dominions ; which was in effect now to make him the instrument of the destruction of the Albigenses, as he had hitherto been their protector, and indeed the destruction of his ne- phew also. This has ever been the detestable policy of the court of Rome, never to be satisfied with reasonable offers of submission, with- out degrading the wretched suppliant, even in his own eyes. The Earl continued with the army a few days and then took his leave of the legate, choosing rather to take a journey to Rome, in order to hum- ble himself before the pope, a privilege which could not be denied him, than continue with it to be a spectator of the murder of thousands of peaceable and virtuous men, and the ruin of his own nephew. When the army advanced towards the neighbourhood of Beziers, the fate of the city was easily foreseen, and the nephew of Raymond, fully * Limborch's Inquisition, cb. xi. 376 History of the Christian Church. sensible that it could not be defended against an hundred thousand men, went out of the city, threw himself at the feet of the pope's legate, and supplicated his mercy in favour of his capital, beseeching him not to involve the innocent with the guilty, which must be the case if Beziers were taken by storm — that there were many Roman Catholics in the city, who would be involved in one indiscriminate scene of ruin contrary to the intentions of the pope, whose object was understood to be, solely the punishment of the Albigenses. Numerous other topics of entreaty were urged by the young prince ; but the an- swer of the legate to all he could plead was, that " all his apologies and excuses would avail him nothing, and that he must do the best he could for himself." Thus foiled in his object, the Earl of Beziers returned into the city, convened the inhabitants, to whom he explained the ill success that had attended his mission ; and particularly, that the only condition upon which pardon would be granted by the pope's legate was, that the Albigenses should abjure their religion, and promise to live according to the laws of the Roman church. The Catholic inhabitants of Beziers now interposed, using every en- treaty with the Albigenses to comply with that stipulation, and not be the occasion of their death, since the legate was resolved to pardon none, unless they all consented to live in subjection to one rule of faith. The Albigenses replied, that they never could consent to purchase a prolongation of this perishing life at the price of renouncing their faith —that they were fully persuaded God could, if he pleased, protect and defend them : — but they were as fully persuaded, that if it were his good pleasure to be glorified by the confession of their faith, it would be an high honour conferred upon them to sacrifice their lives for righ- teousness' sake — that they much preferred displeasing the pope, who could only destroy their bodies, to incurring the displeasure of God, who is able to destroy both soul and body together — that they hoped never to be ashamed of, nor forsake a faith by which they had been taught the knowledge of Christ and righteousness, and at the hazard of eternal death, barter it for a religion which annihilated the merits of the Saviour, and rendered his righteousness of none effect. They, there- fore, left it to the Catholics and the Earl of Beziers to make the best terms they could for themselves, but entreated that they would not pro- mise any thing on their behalf inconsistent with their duty as Chris- tians. Finding the Albigenses inflexible, the Catholic party next sent their own bishop to the legate, to entreat him not to comprehend in the pun- ishment of the Albigenses, those that had always been constant and uniform in their adherence to the church of Rome. In this interview the bishop explained to him that he was their prelate ; that he knew them well ; and that as to the Albigenses, he did not think them so ir- recoverable as to be past all hopes of repentance — that, on the contra- ry, he trusted a becoming mildness on the part of the church, which does not delight in blood, might yet reclaim them. The sanguinary ecclesiastic, however, was wholly deaf to the voice of humanity. Transported with rage, he gave vent to the most terri- Horrid Massacre at Beziers. 377 ble threatenings ; and swore that unless all who were in the city ac- knowledged their guilt, and submitted to the church of Rome, they should every individual be put to the sword, without regard to religious profession, age, or sex — giving instant orders for the city to be sum- moned to surrender at discretion. Under these circumstances resist- ance was vain ; the assailants were immediately in possession of it, and its inhabitants, to the number of three and twenty thousand, were indiscriminately massacred, and the city itself destroyed by fire. Cae- sarius informs us, that when the crusaders were about to enter the city, knowing that there were many Catholics mixed with the heretics, and hesitating how they should act in regard to the former, application was made to Arnold, the Abbe of Cisteaux, for advice, who instantly replied, " Kill them all — the Lord knoweth them that are his."* The earl of Beziers, foreseeing the ruin which threatened his capi- tal, made his escape, and withdrew to the neighbouring city of Carcas- sone. This place was much more strongly fortified, both by nature and art, than Beziers, and consequently more defensible. The city, or upper town, stands upon a hill, surrounded by a double wall ; the lower town or borough is in the plain, about two miles distant from the city. Numbers of the Albigenses resided there, and many more fled to it for security. The young earl, who had now been fully in- structed, by the horrible proceedings at Beziers, into the motives and determination of the Catholics, resolved, as far as was practicable, to defend Carcassone. He, therefore, convened his subjects, reminded them of the treatment which the inhabitants of Beziers had received, and that they had to do with the same enemies, who had indeed chang- ed the place of siege, but not the cruelty of their disposition, nor their- wish to destroy them if they could effect it. He therefore gave it as his opinion, that it was preferable to die in defence of their city and privileges, rather than fall into the hands of such cruel and relentless enemies. That for his own part, he professed the Roman Catholic re- ligion, but he was fully aware that the present was not a war of reli- gion, but a system of robbery, contrived for the purpose of getting pos- session of the dominions of his uncle, the Earl of Raymond, and all that were related to him. He therefore urged the inhabitants to defend themselves like men, and to recollect that both their lives and the free exercise of their religion were at stake, pledging himself that he would never forsake them in so honourable a cause as that of defending them- selves against their common enemies, who, under the mask of dissem- bled piety, were, in effect, nothing better than thieves and robbers. This manly address infused courage into the hearts of his subjects — they pledged themselves to defend their sovereign and the city of Carcas- sone with whatever concerned them. In the mean time the army of the crusaders had been augmented by the arrival of fresh levies from every part of France, as well as from Italy and Germany, to upwards of three hundred thousand men, (some • Perrin's History of the Albigenses, book iii. chap. iv. Bzovius, A. 1209, sect. 1, and Ranaklus, A. 1209, sect. 22, in Limborch's History of the Inquisi. tion, vol. i. ch. xi. 32* 378 History of the Christian Church. writers make them five hundred thousand) and had advanced to the walls of the town, where they rushed furiously upon the first rampire, filling the ditch with fascines, and making themselves sure of an easy conquest of the place. But they met with so valiant a repulse, that the ground was covered with the dead bodies of the pilgrims (as they call- ed themselves) round about the city. The following day the legate or- dered the scaling ladders to be applied, and a general assault to be made on the town, but the inhabitants made a resolute defence. They were, however, at length overpowered with numbers, and beat back from the walls, when the enemy entered and gave the inhabitants of the Borough much the same treatment they had lately done to those of Beziers, putting them all to the sword. The city, or upper town, however, was yet secure, but the besieg- ing army lost no time in proceeding to its reduction. The legate com- manded them to play all their engines of war upon it, and to take it by assault. But he had the mortification to see his soldiers of the cross fall by thousands — the ground covered, and. the ditches filled, with the dead bodies of his pilgrims. This immense army, in a little time, be- gan to experience the want of forage, which the soldiers were driven to the necessity of seeking about the fields— add to which, that the term of forty days, for which they had originally enlisted, and in which time they were to purchase the bliss of paradise, was now accomplish- ed ; contenting themselves therefore with that great object, they re- fused to enter upon any further conquest, and withdrew by thousands from the legate's standard. The latter, alarmed at the reduction of his army, and not finding the conquest of the city so practicable as he at first apprehended, had recourse next to stratagem for effecting his pur- pose. Amongst those who had joined his army with fresh auxiliaries under the walls of Carcassone, was the king of Arragon, in Spain. A plot was formed between this monarch and the legate to try the effect of a negotiation with the Earl of Beziers, and the former was deputed to solicit an interview and manage the whole affair. An interview accordingly took place, at which the King of Arragon expressed his wish to know what could induce the Earl to shut him- self up in the city of Carcassone against so vast an army of the pil- grims. The latter replied, It was the justice of his cause — that he was fully persuaded the pope, under the pretext of religion, had formed the design of ruining both his uncle, the Earl of Raymond, and himself — of this he had had the most convincing proof when he undertook to in- tercede for his subjects, the inhabitants of Beziers. The pope's legate had refused to spare such of them as were Catholics, and had even but- chered the priests themselves, though clothed in their sacerdotal vest- ments, and though they had ranged themselves under the banner of the cross. That that horrible instance of cruelty and wickedness, added to their proceedings in the borough of Carcassone, where his unoffend- ing subjects had been exposed to fire and sword without regard to age or sex, had taught him the folly of looking for any mercy at the hands of the legate or his army of pilgrims ; that consequently he pre- ferred to die in his own defence rather than be exposed to the mercy of so relentless and inexorable an enemy. He acknowledged to the Proposals sent to the Earl of Beziers. 379 King, that many of his subjects in the city of Carcassone professed a faith very different from that of the church of Rome, but they were persons who never did wrong or injury to any one, and that in requital of their good services to himself, he was resolved never to desert them. He also expressed his hope that God, who is the protector and de- fender ef the innocent, would support them against that misinformed multitude, who, under the mistaken notion of meriting heaven, had left their own houses to plunder, burn, and destroy the houses of other men, and to murder without reason, mercy, or discretion. The King of Arragon returned from this parley, and, in an assem- bly, consisting of the legate, the lords and prelates, reported the parti- culars of what had passed between himself and the Earl of Beziers. He declared that he had found his good ally, the Earl of Beziers, ex- tremely scandalized at their inhuman proceedings against his subjects both of Beziers and Carcassone ; and that he was now fully persuaded, seeing that they had not spared the Roman Catholics, nor even the priests themselves, that it was not a religious war, as was pretended, but a system of plunder under the pretext of religion : that the Earl hoped God would be so favourable to him as to make his innocence and the justice of his cause, which was purely that of self-defence, sufficiently apparent: that it was in vain to expect them to surrender at discretion, since they had found by experience they had nothing to ex- pect at their hands but an indiscriminate slaughter. He then apprized the pope's legate, that it had alway proved bad policy to drive an enemy to despair ; wherefore if he would condescend to propose any terms of compromise that were tolerable to the Earl of Beziers and his subjects, mildness would be found a much more effectual means of reducing the Albigenses, than extreme severity ; and that it should not be overlooked that the Earl of Beziers was still a young man, possessing much of the confidence of his subjects ; and, consequently, had it in his power to render essential services in reducing them to the communion of the church of Rome, to which he was himself attached. When the king of Arragon had delivered this address, he was re- quested by the legate to withdraw a little while, on which a consulta- tion took place ; and being again called in, he was commissioned to return to the Earl and propose to him, that, at his intercession, the le- gate had consented to receive him into mercy, upon the following terms : He should be permitted to come out of the city, and to bring with him eleven others, with their bag and baggage,. But with regard to the rest of the inhabitants, they should not leave the city except at his discre- tion, of which they ought to entertain the most favourable opinion, because he ivas the pope's legate. That all the inhabitants, both men, women, maidens, and children, should come forth without so much as their shirts or shifts on, or the smallest covering to hide their naked- ness ; and that finally, the Earl of Beziers should be kept in strict custody and confinement, and that all his possessions should remain in the hands of such a successor as should be chosen for the preservation of the country. The Spanish monarch was fully persuaded, that propositions so de- grading as these, it was needless to offer to the Earl of Beziers ; he, 380 History of the Christian Church. nevertheless, complied with the legate's request, and submitted them to the Earl, who gave an immediate reply that he would never quit the city upon conditions so dishonourable and unjust, and that he was re- solved to defend both himself and his subjects by every means that God had put within his power. Finding himself thus foiled in his attempt to move the Earl of Beziers, the legate soon had recourse to a less honourable, and much more deeply laid plot. He insinuated himself into the graces of one of the officers of his army, telling him that it lay in his power to render to the church a signal instance of kindness, and that if he would undertake it, besides the rewards which he should receive in heaven, he should be amply recompensed on earth. The object was to get access to the Earl of Beziers, professing himself to be his kinsman and friend, as- suring him that he had something to communicate of the last import- ance to his interests ; and having thus far succeeded, he was to prevail upon him to accompany him to the legate, for the purpose of negotiating a peace, under a pledge that he should be safely conducted back again to the city. The officer played his part so dextrously, that the Earl imprudently consented to accompany him. At their interview, the latter submitted to the legate the propriety of exercising a little more lenity and moderation towards his subjects, as a procedure that might have the happiest tendency in reclaiming the Albigenses into the pale of the church of Rome ; he also stated to him that the conditions which had been formerly proposed to him were dishonourable and shameful, and highly indecorous in those whose eyes ought to be as chaste as their thoughts : that his people would rather choose to die than submit to such disgraceful treatment. The legate replied that the inhabitants of Carcassone might exercise their own pleasure ; but that it was now un- necessary for the Earl to trouble himself any further about them, as he was himself a prisoner until Carcassone was taken, and his subjects had better learnt their duty ! The Earl was not a little astonished at this information ; he protested that he was betrayed, and that faith was violated : for that the gentle- man, by whose entreaties he had been prevailed upon to meet the le- gate, had pledged himself by oaths and execrations to conduct him back in safety to Carcassone. But appeals, remonstrances, or entreaties, were of no avail : he was committed to the custody of the Duke of Burgundy, " and, having been thrown into prison, died soon after, not without exciting strong suspicions of being poisoned." No sooner had the inhabitants of Carcassone received the intelligence of the Earl's confinement, than they burst into tears, and were seized with such terror, that they thought of nothing but how to escape the danger they were then placed in ; but blockaded as they were on all sides, and the trenches filled with men, all human probability of escape vanished from their eyes. A report, however, was circulated, that there was a vault or subterraneous passage somewhere in the city, which led to the castle of Cabaret, a distance of about three leagues from Carcas- sone, and that if the mouth or entry thereof could be found, Providence had provided for them a way of escape. All the inhabitants of the city, except those who kept watch upon the rampires, immediately com- Perfidy of the Pope's legate. 38 1 menced the search, and success rewarded their labour. The entrance of the cavern was found, and at the beginning of the night they all be- gan their journey through it, carrying with them only as much food as was deemed necessary to serve them for a few days. " It was a dis- mal and sorrowful sight," says our historian. " 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 supporting decrepit old persons; and especially to hear the affecting lamentations of the women." They, however, arrived the following day at the castle from whence they dispersed themselves through different parts of the country, some proceeding to Arragon, some to Catalonia, others to Toulouse and the cities belonging to their party, wherever God in his providence opened a door for their admission. The awful silence which reigned in the solitary city excited no little surprise on the following day among the pilgrims. At first they sus- pected a stratagem to draw them into an ambuscade ; but on mounting the walls and entering the town, they cried out, " the Albigenses are fled '." The legate issued a proclamation, that no person should seize or carry off any of the plunder — that it should all be carried to the great church of Carcassone, whence it was disposed of for the benefit of the pilgrims, and the proceeds distributed among them in rewards according to their deserts.* The crusade against the Albigenses had hitherto been conducted by an ecclesiastic, the Abbe de Cisteaux; but having been prolonged be- yond the period at first calculated upon, and the entire reduction of the heretics being found not quite so easy a task as was first expected, the supreme command was now vested in the hands of Simon, Earl of Montfort, a person of some military talents, but of a fierce and ungo- vernable temper. He was appointed governor of the whole country, both of what had been already conquered, and what should be conquer- ed in future. This nobleman, under the mask of piety and zeal for re- ligion, gratified a relentless and covetous disposition. He plundered, assassinated, and committed to the flames the poor Albigenses, without regard to character, sex, or age. Dazzled by his success, he set no bounds to his rapacious cruelty ; and, encouraged by the papal legate, he insolently proposed that the Earl of Toulouse should absolutely sur- render to him all his castles and territories as conquered by the Catho- lic army. Raymond refused, and appealed to Philip, king of France, his lord paramount. The haughty Count, however, began to execute his threats, and laid siege to the castle of Mincrba, (or Minerva) a place strongly fortified by nature, in the territory of Narbonne, on the con- fines of Spain. "This place (said he) is of all others the most execra- ble, because no mass has been sung in it for thirty years" — a remark which gives us a striking idea of the number of the Waldenses ; the very worship of popery, it seems, was expelled from the place. On the surrender of the castle, which was defended by Raymond, Earl of * Perrin's History of the Albigenses, b. iii. ch. v. 382 History of the Christian Church. ^Termes, and compelled to capitulate for want of water, they exerted all 'their influence to induce him to recant his religion and turn Catholic ; but finding him inflexible, they shut him up in a close prison, where he soon after died. They then seized his wife, sister, and virgin daugh- ter, with other females of distinguished rank, all of whom they laboured to convert, both by flattery and frowns, by fair speeches and cruel threats ; but finding that nothing could prevail upon them to recant, they made a large fire, into which they were all thrown and consumed to ashes. After the castle had been taken, the Earl of Montfort caused the Abbe de Vaux, a friar, to preach to the inhabitants, exhorting them to ac- knowledge the pope and church of Rome: but they interrupted him, exclaiming, " we will not renounce our religion ; you labour to no pur- pose, for neither life nor death shall induce us to abandon our profes- sion." On this the Earl and the legate commanded a hundred and eighty men and women to be committed to the flames ! These went, it is said, with cheerfulness, blessing God that he was pleased to confer on them the honour of dying for his sake ; at the same time warning the Earl of Montfort that he would one day pay dear for his cruelties to- wards them. All who witnessed their courage and constancy were astonished.* But I must not attempt to prosecute, in minute detail, the history of this i-eligious crusade, which was carried on against the Albigenses, during almost the whole of the first thirty years of this century, and with varied success ; for besides that it could administer to the reader little of either profitable instruction or edification, it would carry me far beyond the limits prescribed by my publication. The reader who has never had an opportunity of exploring the history of this period, can scarcely conceive the scenes of baseness, perfidy, barbarity, indecency, and hypocrisy, over which Pope Innocent III. and his immediate suc- cessors presided. The bare reflection of three hundred thousand men, actuated by the motives of avarice and superstition, filling the country of the Albigenses with carnage and confusion, during a period of twenty years, is, in itself, sufficient to harrow up the soul; but to go into any thing like a circumstantial detail of all the multifarious atrocities which belong to it, would only be to impose upon the reader an obligation to throw aside the book, from a regard to his own feelings. I must con- tent myself with an outline. Having got possession of the castle of Minerva, Earl Montfort next laid siege to that of Preissan, or, as it is often called, Termes, in the district of Narbonne, a place which seemed invincible to human force; but the garrison being reduced to great distress for want of water, aban- doned the place by night, and made good their retreat undiscovered by the enemy. The castle of La Vaur was next besieged, and after a siege of six months taken by assault, when all its brave defenders were put to the sword, except eighty gentlemen, whom the Earl caused to be igno- miniously hanged, and Lord Almeric on a gibbet higher than the rest. * Clarke's Martyrology, p. 110. Perrin's History of the Albigenses, p. ii. b. iii. ch. vii. Slaughter of the Mbigenses. 383 The lady of Lavaur was cast alive into a pit, and there stoned to death. And with respect to the other inhabitants, it was put to their option whether they would conform to the church of Rome, or perish by the flames. They almost without exception chose the latter, and about four hundred persons thus precipitated themselves into the flames, joy- fully yielding up their spirits into the hand of God.* The Count de Foix, who had been peculiarly interested in the de- fence of Preissan, was very favourably disposed towards the Albigenses, and consequently much disconcerted at the loss of the place. The Earl of Toulouse, also, began to be much alarmed at the success of Mont- fort, and, apprehensive for his own safety and that of his subjects, roused many of the neighbouring barons, and collected a considerable force, which he brought to the assistance of the Count de Foix. Their united exertions suddenly changed the aspect of affairs. Montfort was stripped of almost all his conquests, and a complete revolution was nearly effected ; but in a general engagement, which took place in the valley of Theniere, they were defeated, and the courage of the party began again to droop. Success raised the pride and demands of the inquisitors. Conditions were now prescribed, to which no man of spirit could agree — "That Earl Raymond should lay down his arms, without retaining one soldier or auxiliary; that he should not only submit absolutely and for ever to the church, but that he should repair and refund whatever losses the church might have sustained by the war — that in all his territories, no one should ever eat more than two kinds of flesh — that he should expel all heretics, and their allies and abettors from his dominions — that with- in a year and a day he should deliver up to the Count de Montfort, every person whom he should name or require to be punished or dis- posed of as the Count might think fit — that his subjects should never wear any jewels, nor fine clothes, nor caps, nor bonnets, of any other colour than black — that all his fortifications should be demolished ; that no relative or friend of his, should reside in any city, but in the coun- try only — that no new tax should be levied by him, but that every head of a family in his territories should annually pay four deniers to the pope's legate — that the tiends should be paid over all his lands — that the papal legate should never be required to pay any toll, or other impost, while travelling through the country under his jurisdic- tion— that Raymond should associate himself with the knights of St. John, and go into voluntary exile as a crusader to the Holy Land, never to return without leave, and finally, that he should not have his lands restored until he had complied with all these demands." In the year 1215, pope Innocent III. convened the famous council of Lateran, at which Dominic was present, and many decrees against heretics were enacted. To this council both the Earl of Toulouse and his son Raymond had recourse, and urged their plea against Montfort, who had usurped their dominions. The council, however, decreed Earl Raymond to be for ever excluded from his dominions, which he had governed ill, and ordered him to remain in some convenient place I * Clarke's Marty rology, p. 111. 384 History of the Christian Church. out of his dominions, with a view to his giving suitable proofs of his repentance. Four hundred marks of silver were, nevertheless, as- signed him annually out of his revenues, as long as he behaved himself with an humble obedience; but his possessions were adjudged to Montfort. Upon this decree, the Earl went into Spain, and his son into Provence, where they raised auxiliary forces, and were not only enabled to continue the war against Montfort, but actually recovered some part of the Earl's dominions, and even his capital, the city of Toulouse. Whilst Montfort was endeavouring to retake it, he was struck on the head by a stone which instantly killed him, in the year 1218, and the city was delivered from the siege. In the course of the war the castle of Minerva having surrendered to the Catholic army, the Abbe de Cisteau, who, ever since the election of Montfort to its command, had continued the chief counsellor of the crusaders, hesitated for some time, how he should dispose of the garri- son and inhabitants. " He sincerely desired the death of the enemies of Jesus Christ," says the author of the history of the Albigenses, " but being a priest and a monk, he could not agree to the slaughter of the citizens, if they would be converted. Robert Mauvoisin, a zealot in the army, dissatisfied with this appearance of humanity and conde- scension, insisted that they had come there, not to favour heretics, but to exterminate them. In this dilemma, the blood-thirsty monk was re- lieved from his embarrassment, by the higher tone, not the fiercer spirit, of a third person, who exclaimed, 'Fear not, probably not one of them will accept of the alternative !' The event proved the correct- ness of his judgment ; for, the piles being kindled, they mostly pre- cipitated themselves into the flames."* Earl Raymond did not long enjoy the possession of his dominions, which he had reconquered, for he died in the year 1221, and was suc- ceeded by his son, the young Raymond, who soon after banished the inquisition from the country of Toulouse. Pope Innocent III. also died about the same time, and was succeeded by Honorius III. who was no sooner elevated to power than he issued his denunciations against all heretics, and violators of the ecclesiastical immunity, in the following rescript, which was sent into France. " We excommunicate all he- retics of both sexes, and of whatsoever sect, with their favourers, re- ceivers, and defenders ; and, moreover, all those who cause any edicts or customs, contrary to the liberty of the church, to be observed, unless they remove them from their public records in two months after the publication of this sentence. Also we excommunicate the makers and the writers of those statutes, and moreover, all governors, consuls, rulers, and counsellors of places where such statutes and customs shall be published and kept, all those who shall presume to pass judgment, or to publish such judgments, as shall be made according to them." The conduct of the young Raymond had rendered him peculiarly obnoxious to the new pontiff, who took care to inform him, that unless he returned to his duty, he should be stripped of his dominions, as his father had been ; and by letters, bearing date the 8th of November, * Hist. Albigenses, cap. 37. in Rankin's France, vol. iii. p. 214. Penance War instituted. 385 1221, he confirmed the sentence of the legate, by which he deprived him of all his right in every country that had ever been subject to his father ; and that this sentence might want nothing of its full force, he commanded the Dominicans to proclaim a holy war against heretics, to be called the penance war. At the sound of this horrid trumpet, multitudes rushed to the standard, enrolling themselves in this holy society, as they presumptuously imagined it to be, wearing a black cloak over a white garment, and receiving the sacrament of the eucha- rist for the defence of the Catholic faith. The more effectually to subdue the Earl of Toulouse, the pope transmitted his letters to Louis, king of France, exhorting him to take arms against the Albigenses, in the following extraordinary words. " 'Tis the command of God, who says, If thou shalt hear say in any one of thy cities which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known, thou shalt smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. Although you are under many obligations already to God, for the great benefits hitherto received from him, from whom comes every good and perfect gift, yet you ought to reckon yourself more especially obliged courageously to exert yourself for him against the subverters of the faith, by whom he is blasphemed, and manfully to defend the Catholic purity, which many in those parts, adhering to the doctrines of devils, are known to have east off." This profound logic was too irresistible to be withstood by Louis, who began to collect an army of crusaders, at the head of which he placed himself, and sat down before the city of Avignon. Raymond, at that time, held several cautionary lands of the king of England ; and the pope, suspecting that he might possibly apply for assistance to our English monarch to enable him to defend them, wrote to caution him not to take up arms against the French king, in these words, " Make no war, either by yourself, or your brother, or any other person, on the said king, so long as he is engaged in the affair of the faith and service of Jesus Christ, lest by your obstructing the matter, which God forbid you should do, the king, with his prelates and barons of France, should be forced to turn their arms from the extirpation of heretics to their own defence. As for us, since we could not excuse such a conduct, an instance of great indevotion, we could not impart to you our paternal favour, which, under other circumstances, at all pro- per seasons, should never be wanting to you. And as we are not only ready to do you justice, but even to show you favour, as far as God enables us, we have taken care, that whatever becomes of heretics and their lands, your rights and those of other Catholics shall be safe." The city of Avignon was defended by Earl Raymond with great bravery, and multitudes of the French army fell during the siege. For, besides those that were killed in the ordinary mode of warfare, the army was afflicted with a dysentery and other diseases, which carried off numbers, and among the rest the French monarch. The pope's legate, for some time, concealed the death of the king, lest the army should break up with disgrace from the siege of a single city, without being able to take it. Finding, however, that it was not to be con- 33 386 History of the Christian Church. quered by force, the legate had recourse to fraud ; and even these measures for some time failed him. He then desired that he might be admitted into the city, in company with his prelates, under pretence that he would examine into the faith of the inhabitants, and affirming with an oath, that he put off the siege of the city for no other cause than the Avelfare of thair souls. He added, that the cry of their infi- delity had ascended to the pope; and that he wished to inquire whe- ther they had done altogether according to the cry that had come up before him. The too credulous citizens, not suspecting the fraud, and especially relying upon the sacredness of his oath, opened their gates, on which the soldiers of the French army, as had been previously de- termined, rushed violently into the city, seized the citizens, bound them in chains, plundered their houses, killed numbers of the inhabit- ants, and having thus, by treachery, got possession, they broke down the towers, and destroyed the walls of that noble city. Such is the narrative handed down to us of those sanguinary proceedings by the monk of St. Albans, Matthew Paris. Avignon being thus taken, the crusaders next bent all their forces against Toulouse. This city, which was most gallantly defended, maintained a long siege, but it was at length taken, in 1221, and young Raymond compelled to submit to terms even more severe than those which were proposed to his father in the council of Aries. From this period the Albigenses declined greatly in France. For, being no longer permitted to find an asylum under any of the reigning princes, such of them as escaped the edge of the sword, and the vengeance of their ad- versaries, fled for refuge into the valleys of Piedmont and other places, dispersing themselves in every direction, as will be shown in the en- suing section, wherever they could enjoy quietness and the liberty of worshipping God agreeably to the exercise of a good conscience. As to the ordinary manner of proceeding with such as fell into their hands captives of war, a single extract from Limborch's history may suffice to show. " A person of the name of Robert," says he, quoting the Annals of Bzovius, and of Raynaldus, 1207, &c. " who had been of the sect of the Albigenses, but afterwards joined the Dominicans, supported by the authority of the princes and magistrates, burnt all who persisted in their heresy. Within two months he caused fifty persons, without distinction of sex, either to be burnt or buried alive, whence he was called ' the Hammer of the Heretics.' In 1211 they took the city of Alby, and there put numbers to death. They took La Vaur by storm, and burnt in it multitudes of the Albigenses. They hanged Almeric, the governor of that city, who was of a very noble family ; and beheaded eighty of the inferior rank, not sparing the fe- males. They threw the sister of Almeric, who was the principal lady of the sect of the Albigenses, into a well, -and covered her with stones. Afterwards they conquered Carcum, and put sixty men to death. They seized on Pulchra Vallis, a large city near Toulouse, committed four hundred Albigenses to the flames, and hanged fifty more." Thuanus, that impartial Catholic writer, in the History of his own Times, book vi. confirms this dreadful statement in its general results, and further adds, " that after the capture of La Vaur, the towns of Les Cures, Ra- Cruelties inflicted on the Albigenses. 387 bastains, Gaillac, St. Marcel, St. Anthonin, Causae, and Moisac, were stormed, and a great massacre made of the townsmen by the conquer- ors. The castle of Perre in the Agenois having after a long siege capi- tulated, seventy of the soldiers were hanged, and the others who ad- hered to their errors were burnt alive. Nor was Paris itself exempt from this contagion ; for fourteen persons, most of whom were priests (teachers among the Albigenses) being convicted of this error, expired in the flames. In England they were handled with more mildness, if loss of life be the measure of punishment, but with more ignominy; the convicted persons being branded with a hot iron on their shoulders, or even on their foreheads." But, independent of those that fell by the edge of the sword, or were committed to the flames by the soldiers and magistrates, the in- quisition was constantly at work, from the year 1206 to 1228, and produced the most dreadful havoc among the disciples of Christ. Of the effects occasioned by this infernal engine of cruelty and oppression, we may have some notion from this circumstance, — that in the last- mentioned year the archbishops of Aix, Aries, and Narbonne, found it necessary to intercede with the monks of the Inquisition, to defer a little their work of imprisonment, until the pope could be apprized of the immense numbers apprehended — numbers so great, that it was im- possible to defray the charge of their subsistence, or even to provide stone and mortar to build prisons for them. Their own language, in- deed, is so remarkable, that it deserves to be laid before the reader, and here it is. «« It has come to our knowledge," say they, " that you have appre- hended so many of the Waldenses, that it is not only impossible to defray the charges of their subsistence, but also to provide stone and mortar to build prisons for them. We, therefore, advise you to defer for awhile augmenting their number, until the pope be apprized of the great multitudes that have been apprehended, and until he notify what he pleases to have done in this case. Nor is there any reason you should take offence thereat ; for as to those who are altogether impeni- tent and incorrigible, or concerning whom you may doubt of their re- lapse or escape, or that, being at large again, they would infect others, you may condemn such ivithout delay."* Such is the representation given us by writers of unimpeachable ve- racity, of the merciless treatment which the Albigenses received from the Catholics at this period, purely on account of their religious pro- fession.! Before I dismiss the subject, it may be proper to notice a * Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, b. ii. ch. 2. ■j- "'In the council of Toulouse, held in the year 1229, a most severe and san- guinary inquisition was established against heretics. One of its canons is, ' it shall not be permitted to laymen to have the books of the Old and New Testa- ment; only they who out of devotion desire it, may have a Psalter, a Hreviary, and the hours of the Virgin. But ice absolutely forbid them to have the above men- tioned books translated into the vulgar tongue.' This is the first time, says the Abbe Fleury, in his Ecclesiastical History, that I have met with this prohibition: but it maybe favourably explained by observing that the minds of men being then much irritated, there was no other method of putting a stop to contentions, than by taking away from them the Holy Scriptures, of which the heretics made a bad use " A poor excuse indeed! says Dr. Jortin. Remarks, vol. in. p. 311. 388 History of the Christian Church. difficulty which will strike the minds of reflecting readers. It has been intimated both by the friends and enemies of the Waldenses, that they had religious scruples against bearing arms, and even shedding the blood of animals unnecessarily. The question, therefore, naturally presents itself, " Were they at last driven to the necessity of taking up the sword in defence of their religion and lives ?" Upon the lawfulness or unlawfulness of doing so, when pressed by dire necessity, I shall offer no opinion in this place. My business is to state facts as I find them ; and that the reader may not suspect me of a wish to misre- present their principles and conduct in the instance referred to, I shall quote the words of Mr. Robinson, who had much better means of in- formation than have fallen to my lot. " The difficulty here is," says he, " how such people as bore no arms, and shed no blood, could be said to bring large armies into the field to defend their rights. The proper answer is — the pious were named from the provinces, the provinces and princes from the pious ; for one common principle, that all mankind had a right to be free, brought together Goths and professors of the gospel. Both loved liberty — the latter paid for it by taxes, the fruits of their industry, and the former fought for it, and, by defending one, preserved both parties. The church of Rome having adopted clerical dominion as an article of orthodox belief, it followed of course, that resistance to that, was here- sy both political and religious. Too many historians take up the affair in the gross, lay it down as they took it up, and gravely say, the Lord, by a course of miracles, assisted his dear servants the Catholics to drown, stab, and burn, forty thousand heretics — because they (the Catholics) were afraid of their lives, in a society of people who had such an aversion to the taking away [even] of animal life, that they never killed a bird, from a sparrow to an eagle ; or a quadruped, from a weasel to an elephant ;* and who perpetually exclaimed against penal laws, and thought it wrong to take away the life of man." A proper attention to this matter, may help us to solve several things in the writings of the Catholics themselves, which must otherwise prove extremely perplexing. Thus for instance, several of their own writers describe the battle which proved so fatal to the cause of the Albigenses. "In the year 1213, the Christian army of eight hundred horse and one thousand foot, near Toulouse, being divided into three corps, in honour of the Holy Trinity, the first under the command of Simon, count of Montfort, the second commanded by the Lord Bishop of Toulouse, and the third by the Lord Bishop of Cominge, attacked the army of here- tics, consisting of an hundred thousand fighting men, and defeated them. The Catholics lost about a hundred men, but of the Albigenses, two and thirty thousand were either killed or drowned in the river Ga- * Mr. Robinson has here given the very words of the Inquisitor Reinerius, who, describing the Waldenses, says, "Ita, est communis opinio Catharorum, quod graviter peccaret, quicumque occiderit avem aliquam a minima usque ad maximam; et quadrupedia, a mustela usque ad elephantem." That is, "It is also a common opinion among the Puritans (Cathari) that that man sins grievous- ly who kills any bird, from the least to the greatest — or a quadruped, from a weasel to an elephant." Contra Waldc?ises, cap.vi. Tolerant principles of the Dukes of Savoy. 389 ronne."* This they call the battle of Murat,t and they add, that after this victory many of the surviving heretics fled into the valleys of Piedmont, where their descendants resided till two hundred years after, when Huss revived the same heresy in Bohemia, and Luther in Germany, about a hundred years after him. The explanation of all this miracle is, that the cities and towns that were attacked by the crusaders were peopled with mechanics, manufacturers, and husbandmen of the kind described by the inquisitors — an industrious and virtuous people, who took no oaths, objected to wars of every kind, and refused to shed the blood of a fellow-creature, even in defence of their own lives. Such appears plainly to have been the case with the Albigenses. The Count of Toulouse, and the barons and vassals that constituted his army, no doubt acted upon different maxims ; for, had they followed out the principles of these Albigenses, they would have dissolved the whole feudal system ; but they approved of the conduct of these people in dissenting from the communion of the church of Rome, admired the simplicity of their doctrine and worship, and, to the utmost of their power, protected them from the rage of their bigoted and sanguinary persecutors.^ * SECTION VII. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF THE WALDENSES, FROM THE PERIOD OF THE SUPPRESSION OF THEIR CHURCHES IN FRANCE, TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, A. D. 1230, 1350. While the daemon of persecution was raging with resistless fury against the Albigenses in the southern provinces of France, the inhabi- tants of the valleys of Piedmont appear to have enjoyed a large por- tion of external peace : — their churches had rest, and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comforts of the Holy Spirit, were edified and * Voltaire's remark upon this curious piece of Catholic history, maybe thought by some not altogether impertinent. "Is it likely," he asks, "that only eighteen hundred men would attack an army of an hundred thousand in the open field, and divide themselves into three bodies? 'It is a miracle,' some writers will say, but military people, upon reading such a story, will tell them it is nonsense and absurdity." General History, vol. i. ch. 1. f A singular disclosure was made after this battle, and as the circumstance tends to throw a ray of light upon the secret history of these times it deserves to be recorded. When the battle of Murat was over, there was found among the slain belonging to the Albigenses a knight in black armour. On examining, behold it was discovered to be Peter, king of Arragon — that very monarch, who had formerly been engaged in negotiating between the pope's legate and the earl of Beziers. (see p. 378.) There also lay one of his sons and many of the Arra- gonian gentlemen and vassals, who, while ostensibly supporting the Roman church had, in disguise, been fighting in defence of the Albigenses ! ! * See Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, ch. x. and Dr. Allix's Remarks on the Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of the Albigenses, ch. xxi. 33* 300 History of the Christian Church. multiplied. The kind providence of God appeared in blessing them with a succession of mild and tolerant princes, in the Dukes of Savoy,* who, continually receiving the most favourable reports of them, as a people simple in their manners, free from deceit and malice, upright in their dealings, loyal to their governors, and ever ready to yield them a cheerful obedience in every thing but the concerns of religion, turned a deaf ear to the repeated solicitations of priests and monks, and, from the beginning of the thirteenth century until the year 1487, a period of nearly three hundred years, peremptorily refused to disturb or molest them. An effort was made to introduce the Inquisition into Piedmont, but the proceedings in France had sufficiently opened the eyes of the in- habitants to the spirit and principles of that infernal court, and they wisely resisted its establishment among them. An inquisitor of the name of Peter of Verona, had been deputed by the pope to carry the project into effect; but we are told by Ludovicus a Paramo, a Spanish writer of those times, that " the people made a martyr of him either at Turin or Susa."t At Milan, also, the united power of pope Pius IV. and Philip II. of Spain, was found insufficient to introduce the Inquisi- tion ; the mob rose at the bare proposal of it and flew to arms, ex- claiming that it was a system of tyranny, and not of religion. Even the senate protested against it as inimical to trade, repugnant to the free constitution of the cities of Italy, and incompatible with the Milanese forms of law, on which grounds they opposed its introduction. Naples and Venice also successfully resisted the inquisitorial scheme ; and, as the populace in almost every part of Italy formed insurrections against the inquisitors, evincing the most determined spirit of hostility against them, the states prudently availed themselves of this temper of mind, and pretended they were afraid of exasperating the people should they introduce the independent power of the holy office. The scenes of slaughter and devastation which had been carried on against the Albigenses, in the southern provinces of France, for more than twenty years during the former part of the thirteenth century, in which time* it has been computed that a million of persons bearing that name were put to death,! had occasioned many of them to cross the Pyre- nees and seek a shelter from the storm in the Spanish provinces of Ar- ragon and Catalonia. Matthew Paris, in his History of the reign of Henry III. notices this circumstance, and informs us that in the year * Mr. Robinson, refering to this subject, has the following pertinent remark. " It is a curious phenomenon in politics, that the family which allowed its subjects religious liberty, when all other princes oppressed conscience, should, in a coun- try enthusiastically fond of liberty, become in the end, the most absolute monarchs in the Christian world. Such is the king of Sardinia, who is also Duke of Savoy, and to whose eldest son, the heir apparent, the title of the Prince of Piedmont is hereditary." Eccles. Researches, p. 459. | Limborch, on the authority of Pegna in Eymeric, says, " as he was going from Como to Milan, A. D. 1252, to extirpate heresy, a certain believer of here- tics attacked him in his journey, and despatched him with many wounds. He was canonized and worshipped as a martyr." \ Mcde on the Apocalypse, p. 503. and Newton on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p 257. 8th ed. 1789. Clark in his Martyrology doubles the number. Waldenses persecuted in Spain. 39 1 1214, during the pontificate of Alexander IV. there were great num- bers of the Waldenses in these provinces, of which the pope bitterly complained in one of his bulls, saying, that they had permitted them to gain such a footing, and given them such time to increase and mul- tiply, that the evil called loudly for a remedy. He further adds, that they had several churches duly set in order with their bishops and deacons, in which they publicly and boldly preached their doctrine. Thither the vigilance of the inquisitors traced their steps, and accord- ingly in the year 1232, the Inquisition was brought into Arragon. A further inducement, indeed, to this was, that the bishop of Huesca, a considerable city of Arragon, was reported to err in matters of faith, and in all probability had so much humanity in his composition, as led him to connive at the residence of heretics in his diocese. The office of making inquisition against them, was committed by pope Gregory IX. to a friar of the order of Predicants, named Peter Caderite ; and James, the King of Arragon, was magisterially enjoined not to permit him, or any of his assistants, to be molested in the discharge of the duties of the Inquisition. A commission was at the same time given to the archbishop of Tarragona, the metropolitan city of Catalonia, and his suffragans, to constitute a court of inquisition there also, against heretical pravity. The following is a copy of the bull which was is- sued for that purpose. " Since the evening of the world is now declining, we admonish and beseech your brotherhood, and strictly command you by our writ- ten and apostolic words, as you regard the Divine judgment, that with diligent care you make inquiry against heretics, and render them infa- mous, by the assistance of the friars Predicants, and others whom you shall judge fit for this business ; and that you proceed against all who are culpable and infamous, according to our statutes lately published against heretics, unless they will from the heart absolutely obey the commands of the church — which statutes we send you enclosed in our bull ; and that ye also proceed against the receivers, abettors, and fa- vourers of heretics, according to the same statutes. But if any will wholly abjure the heretical plague, and return to the ecclesiastical unity, grant them the benefit of absolution, according to the forms of the church, and enjoin them the usual penance."* Soon after the establishment of the Inquisition in Arragon, a synod was convened at Tarragona, when many severe decrees were passed against heretics, and the holy office was erected there also ; and, for the space of a century and a half, measures of the greatest rigour were incessantly carried on against the Waldenses in that quarter, before their entire extinction could be effected. The Catholic writers avow these facts, and acknowledge that they owed their ultimate success, in subduing the heretics in that quarter, to the superior talents and exer- tions of Nicholas Eymeric, a Predicant monk, and author of the direc- tory of the inquisitors, who was created inquisitor-general, about the year 1358, and died January 4th, 1392, having kept up the office of the Inquisition against heretics forty-four years in succession. * Bzovius, A. 1233. sect. 8. 9. 392 History of the Christian Church. The flight of Waldo from the south of France into Germany, and the success that attended him in preaching the gospel in the different cities which are situated on the banks of the Rhine, have been already noticed. We are informed that about the year 1213, Germany and Alsace were full of the Waldenses.* Two considerations may enable us to account for this. One is, the destructive war that was waged against the Albigenses in France, supported by the terror of the Inqui- sition, which would necessarily drive the disciples of Christ to seek security in other countries. The other is, that a violent quarrel arose about tins time between the pope and Frederick II. Emperor of Germa- ny. The latter prince, on his first accession to the throne, had gone eagerly into all the measures of the court of Rome, and issued the most horrid and sanguinary edicts against the Waldenses, as hath been shown in a former section.t But he had now, by some means, incur- red the displeasure of Gregory IX. who, at the moment that Frederick was prosecuting a war against the Saracens in the east, excited the emperor's own son Henry, who had been elected king of the Romans, to rebel against his father, in consequence of which, the cities ofLom- bardy had revolted. The rebellion was, however, suppressed, the prince was confined, and Frederick triumphed — but his troubles were not ended. The pope excommunicated him, and, to sow division be- tween him and the princes of the empire, he (A. D. 1237) transmitted a bull into Germany, in which were the following words, referring to the emperor. " A beast of blasphemy, abounding with names, is risen from the sea, with the feet of a bear, the face of a lion, and members of other different animals : which, like the proud, hath opened its mouth in blasphemy against the holy name ; not even fearing to throw the ar- rows of calumny against the tabernacle of God, and the saints that dwell in heaven. This beast, desirous of breaking every thing in pieces with his iron teeth and nails, and of trampling all things under his feet, hath already prepared private battering rams against the wall of the Catholic faith ; and now raises open machines, in erecting soul-destroy- ing schools of Ishmaelites ; rising, according to report, in opposition to Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, the table of whose covenant he attempts to abolish with the pen of wicked heresy. Be not, therefore, surprised at the malice of this blasphemous beast, if we, who are the servants of the Almighty, should be exposed to the arrows of his de- struction. This King of plagues was even heard to say, that the whole world has been deceived by three imposters, Moses, Christ, and Mahommed ; but he makes Jesus far inferior to the other two. ' They,' says he, 4 supported their glory to the last, whereas Christ was igno- miniously crucified."' Frederick, on the other hand, drew up an apo- logy to the princes of Germany, in which he terms Gregory, The Great Dragon and Antichrist, of whom it is written, " and another red horse arose from the sea, and he that sat upon him took peace from the earth."J * Constans on the Revelation, in Perrin, b. ii. ch. ix. f See ch. v. sect. 5. } Russell's Modern Europe, vol. i. letter 32. Frederick II. decreed to lose his Crown. 393 In the year 1245, pope Innocent IV. convened the famous council of Lyons, concerning which the following inscription is preserved in the Vatican library at Rome. " The thirteenth general council, and the first of Lyons : Frederick II. is there declared an enemy to the church, and deprived of the Imperial diadem." To this council Frederick did not fail to send ambassadors to defend his cause, well knowing that he was there to be publicly accused. The pope, who had set himself up as judge at the head of the counil, acted also the part of his own advo- cate ; and after strenuously insisting on his right to the temporalities of Naples and Sicily, and to the patrimony of the Countess Matilda, he charged Frederick with having made a peace with the Mahometans — with having had Mahometan concubines — with not believing in Christ — and, in a word, with being a heretic* The emperor's orators ha- rangued in his defence with great spirit and resolution, and in their turn accused the pope of having been guilty of usury and rapine. Am- bassadors from England were also sent to attend at this council, and represent the grievances which their countrymen were groaning under from the enormous exactions of the court of Rome. They complained as loudly of the pope as the pope had done of the emperor. " You draw," said they, " by means of your Italian emissaries, above sixty thousand marks yearly out of the kingdom of England; you nave lately sent us a legate, who has given away all the church livings to Italians. He raises excessive taxes upon all the religious houses, and excommu- nicates every body that complains of his extortions. Let these griev- ances, therefore, be instantly redressed, for we will no longer endure them." The pope blushed, and made no answer, but proceeded to pronounce sentence against the emperor, by which he deprived him of his crown. While the pontiff was pronouncing the sentence, the fa- thers of the church held in their hands the lighted wax candles, which were immediately extinguished on the sentence being pronounced. As one party signed the decision, the other went out, giving vent to their groans. The emperor was himself at Turin during these transactions, and, according to report, was greatly agitated on hearing of them. He, how- ever, called for his strong box, which was brought him, and taking out of it the imperial crown, he added, " This the pope and his council have not been able to take from me, and before they strip me of it much blood shall be spilt." He then proceeded to write to all the princes of Europe, urging them to support him against the pope. " I am not the first," says he, in his letters, " whom the clergy have treated so un- worthily, and I shall not be the last. But you are the cause of it, by obeying these hypocrites, whose ambition, you are sensible, is carried beyond all bounds. How many infamous actions, shocking to modesty, might you not, if you were disposed to it, discover in the court of Rome ? While they are abandoned to the vices of the age, and intoxi- cated with its pleasures, the greatness of their riches stifles in their minds all sense of religion. It is, therefore, a work of charity to de- • Mons. Voltaire drily asks, " How could the emperor be a heretic and an in- fidd at the same time ?" A very pertinent question certainly. 394 History of the Christian Church. prive them of these pernicious treasures which are their ruin, and it is your duty to assist me in so doing." These extracts sufficiently show the state of deadly hatred that existed between the pope and emperor, and it produced a flame that raged, with more or less violence, throughout the empire, until the death of the lat- ter in the year 1250. " It was dreadful," says a late writer, " to see the misery to which many thousands were reduced in Germany, by a new and illegal election of another emperor, and by the violences com- mitted in the revolted cities of Italy ; in all which the pope was the only one insensible to the operations of Divine justice. In the midst of this confusion (1254) the Almighty summoned him before his tribu- nal."* One beneficial result of this long-pending quarrel was, that it retarded the establishment of the inquisition in different parts of the German empire, and consequently gave the Waklenses an opportunity of propagating their sentiments more extensively. The clergy, no doubt, were generally upon the alert in quest of heretics, and wherever they were discovered, means of one kind or other were not wanting to persecute them, and render their dispersion necessary to avoid its fury. But these things always turned out to the furtherance of the gospel, " because many learned preachers were thereby dispersed abroad to make known the purity of their religion to the world. "t But after the death of Frederick, the establishment of the Inquisition met with less obstruction. The affairs of Germany had been left by him in great disorder. Italy was without a prince, and the Milanese .under the control of the pope. "The latter," says Limborch, " now determined to extirpate all heresy, which had greatly increased during the preceding war."X About the year 1330, the Waklenses were grievously harassed and oppressed, in several parts of Germany, by an inquisitor of the name of Echard, a Jacobin monk. The circumstance is related by Vignier, in his Historical Library, part the third, where he also records an anecdote of this Echard that is worth mentioning. After inflicting cruelties with great severity, and for a length of time, upon the Waldenses, he was at length induced to investigate the causes and reasons of their separa- tion from the church of Rome. The force of truth ultimately prevailed over all his prejudices — his own conscience attested that many of the errors and corruptions, which they charged on that apostate church, really existed ; and, finding himself unable to disprove the articles of their faith by the word of God, he confessed that truth had overcome him, gave glory to God, and entered into the communion of the Waldensian churches, which he had long been engaged in punishing and persecut- ing even to death. The news of his conversion was soon spread abroad, and reached the ears of the other inquisitors, whose indignation was roused by his apostasy. Emissaries were despatched in pursuit of him, and he was at length apprehended and conveyed to Heidelberg, where he was committed to the flames. His dying testimony was a noble attestation to the principles and conduct of the Waldenses ;' for he * Walch's History of the Popes. f Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. ii. \ Limborch's Inquisition, ch. xv. Increase of the Waldenses in Germany. 395 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, in opposition to the delusions of Antichrist.* The Waldenses, however, continued to increase throughout Ger- many, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Four hundred and forty-three were apprehended by the inquisitors in Saxony and Po- merania, in the year 1391, who confessed that tl*eir teachers came from Bohemia, and that they and their ancestors before them had been instructed in the principles they then held. In 1457, a great number of the Waldenses were discovered by the inquisitors in the diocese of Eistein in Germany, who were put to death, and who confessed that they had among them twelve barbes, or pastors, who laboured in the work of the ministry, In short, Trithemius relates it as an acknow- ledged fact, that in those days the Waldenses were so numerous, that in travelling from Cologne to Milan, the whole extent of Germany, they could lodge every night with persons of their own profession, and that it was a custom among them to affix certain private marks to their signs and gates, whereby they made themselves known to one an- other.! In the year 1210, twenty-four persons of the sect of the Waldenses were seized in the city of Paris, some of whom were imprisoned, and others committed to the flames. In the year 1334, the monks of the inquisition, who were deputed to search after the Waldenses, appre- hended one hundred and fourteen of them at Paris, who were burnt alive, sustaining their torture with admirable fortitude. It is also re- lated by the author of a work intituled " The Sea of Histories," that in the year 1378, the persecution against the Waldenses continuing, a vast number of them were burnt in the place de Grave, in Paris.J These sanguinary proceedings, however, it would seem, were far from eradicating the heresy. For, two years after this, viz. in 1380, we rind Francis Borelli, an inquisitorial monk, armed with a bull of pope Clement VII. undertaking the persecution of the Waldenses in the same quarter. In the space of thirteen years, he delivered into the hands of the civil magistrates of Grenoble a hundred and fifty persons to be burned as heretics. And in the valley of Fraissiniere, he appre- hended eighty more, who were also committed to the flames. § || * Vignier's Bibliotheca Historialis, part iii. Anno 1330, in Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. ii. j- Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. xi. i Perrin, book ii. ch. xv. § Milner's Church History, vol. iii. p. 496. i| There is a passage in the writings of that eminent Catholic Historian, Thu- anus, relating to the subject we are now upon, which deserves the reader's at- tention, as throwing considerable light upon the history of this dark period, and certainly no writer was more competent to give us information. " Against the Waldenses,' says he, "when exquisite punishments availed little, and the evil was exasperated by the remedy which had been unseasonably applied, and their number increased daily, complete armies were at length raised, and a war of no less weight than what our people had before waged against the Saracens, was determined against them. The result was that they were rather slain, put to flight, spoiled every where of their goods and possessions, and dispersed abroad 396 History of the Christian Church. About the year 1370, a colony of the Waldensian youths of Dau- phine sought a new settlement in Calabria, probably hoping there to enjoy, with less molestation, their religious privileges. Finding the soil fertile, and the region thinly peopled, they applied to the proprie- tors of the land, and stipulated for a settlement among them. The lords of the country cheerfully granted their request, gave them the kindest reception, agreed with them on equitable terms, and let out to them parcels of land for cultivation. By their superior industry, the new colonists speedily fertilized and enriched their respective districts ; and bv their probity, peaceable manners, and punctuality in the payment of their rents, they ingratiated themselves with their landlords and neighbours in general. The priests alone were dissatisfied. They found they did not act like others in religious matters; they contri- buted nothing to the support of the church by masses for the dead, or other popish innovations, and they were offended. In particular, they were chagrined at finding that certain foreign schoolmasters who edu- cated the children of these strangers, were highly respected and pre- ferred to themselves — and that they received nothing from them except tithes, which were paid aceording to contract with their landlords. Concluding, therefore, that they must be heretics, they signified their intention to complain of them to the pope. The gentry, however, re- sisted that. " They are just and honest," said they, " and have enrich- ed all the country. Even ye priests have received important advantages from their industry. The tithes alone, which ye now receive, are so much greater than those which were formerly produced from these countries, that you are more than compensated for any losses you may sustain on other accounts. Perhaps the country from whence they came is not so devoted to the ceremonies of the Roman church ; but as these people fear God, are generous to the poor, just and beneficent to all men, it is illiberal on your parts to force their consciences. Are they not a temperate, sober, discreet people, and peculiarly decent in their speech ? Does any person ever hear them utter a blasphemous expression?" This prudent counsel was not without its use. The priests, indeed, who felt, or imagined their interests were undermined by these new settlers, murmured, and gave vent to their mortification in private. But the lords of the country had sufficient discernment to estimate the value of their new tenants ; and they protected them from the indig- nation of the clergy. The consequence was, that the Calabrian Wal- denses enjoyed security, and the benefits of toleration, until the year 1560, when they formed a union with the church of Geneva, of which Calvin was then pastor. Their history previous to that union is dread- ful, on account of the scenes of papal persecution that ensued ; but it belongs to a subsequent period, and we must not here enter upon it. than convinced of their error and brought to repentance. So that they who at first defended themselves by arms, fled into Provence, and the neighbouring Alps of the French territory, and found a shelter for their life and doctrine in those places. Part of them withdrew into Calabria, and continued there a long while, even to the pontificate of Pius IV. Many passed into Germany, and fixed their abode among the Bohemians, and in Poland and Livonia. Others, turning to the West, obtained refuge in Britain. Thuani Prefatio ad Henricum iv. p. 7. Waldenses in Poland, Italy, §-c. 397 During the period of which we are now treating, the Netherlands (Flanders) exhibited many shocking scenes of slaughter of the Wal- denses. It seems probable that when persecuted in France they re- treated into that country, where also the intolerant zeal of inquisitors followed, and made dreadful havoc of them. Here they obtained a new appellation, viz. Turihipins, that is, the wolves of Turin. The explanation which their own friends give us of this term is, that being banished from the society of men, and driven to dwell with the beasts of the forest, they, in reference to the place whence they originated, designated them Turlupins, or Turilupins. Our historian, Matthew Paris, informs us, in his life of Henry III. that one Robert Bougre, who had lived among the Waldenses, and professed their faith, aposta- tized from them, became a Dominican, and was appointed by the pope inquisitor general. This man, knowing their usual places of conceal- ment, apprehended more than fifty of them, in the year 1236, and caused them all to be burned or buried alive. But of the extremes to which this miscreant carried his cruelties, a tolerable notion may be formed from the singular occurrence, that even the court of Rome com- plained of his abusing the power with which he had been entrusted. He was accused of perverting the authority of his office, of punishing the innocent with the guilty, and of committing various atrocities, in consequence of which he was deprived of his office of inquisitor, and condemned to perpetual imprisonment.* We are told by Le Sieur de la Popeliniere, who wrote a History of France, that the religion of the Waldenses spread itself throughout all the countries of Europe, even into Poland and Lithuania; and that ever since the year 1100, they had been propagating their doctrine, which differed but little from that of the modern Protestants. He adds that, notwithstanding the vigorous efforts that have been resorted to, by different princes and powers to suppress their doctrine, they had, even to his times, boldly and courageously maintained it. Vignier, before quoted, mentions, that when the Waldenses were driven from Picardy, through the violence of persecution, several of them retired into Poland. Hence we find, that in the year 1330, the Inquisition followed them there, and that numbers of them were put to death. Matthias Illyrius, in his " Catalogue of the Witnesses of the Truth," says he had lying before him the forms of the Inquisition made use of on that occasion.! From these same writers, to whom may also be added the inquisitor Reinerius Saccho, we learn, that the persecutions which took place in the south of France, during the former part of the thirteenth century, drove the Waldenses also into various other countries. " In 1229 they had spread themselves in great numbers throughout all Italy. They had ten schools in Valcamonica alone, which were supported by pe- cuniary contributions in all their societies, and which contributions were transmitted into Lornbardy." Reinerius adds, that about the year 1250, the Waldenses had churches in Albania, Lornbardy, Milan, * Matthew Paris — Life of Henry 111. Perrin's Hist. b. ii. ch. xiii, j- Perrin's Hist. b. ii. ch. xiv. and Limborch, ch. xvi. 34 398 History of the Christian Church. in Romagna, Vincenza, Florence, and Val Spoletine ; and, in the year 1280, there was a considerable number of Waldenses in Sicily. In all these places the sanguinary edicts of the Emperor Frederick II. were continually suspended, like the sword of Damocles, over their heads. To these, also, were now added the rage of inquisitors and of papal constitutions, through which they were continually exposed to suffer- ings and misery. In Sicily in particular, the imperial fury raged against them — they were ordered to be treated with the greatest seve- rity, that they might be banished, not only from the country, but from the earth. And throughout Italy, both Gregory IX. and Honorius IV. harassed and oppressed them with the most unrelenting barbarity, by means of the Inquisition — the living were, without mercy, committed to the hands of the executioner, their houses razed to the ground, their goods confiscated, and even the slumbering remains of the dead were dragged from their graves, and their bones committed to the flames.* We are further informed by Reinerius Saccho, that in his time, the Waldenses had their churches at Constantinople and Philadelphia, in Sclavonia, Bulgaria, and Diagonitia. Vignier reports, that after the persecution' of Picardy, they dispersed themselves into Livonia and Sarmatia. And, it is added by Matthew Paris, that they had spread themselves as far as Croatia and Dalmatia, where their profession pre- vailed to that degree, that they had won over several (Catholic) bishops to their party. It is pleasing to find, that while the Waldense-s were thus carrying the light of the gospel of Christ throughout the whole continent of Eu- rope, a gleam of celestial brightness burst upon our own country, and, in some degree, served to irradiate the gloom in which it was enve- loped. In a former section, we have noticed the emigration of thirty of the Waldenses into England, who were cruelly persecuted and de- stroyed at Oxford in the year 1166. John Bale, in his Chronicle of London, mentions a person who was burnt at London, in 1210, whose only crime was, that he was tainted with the faith of the Waldenses. But the wars that were carried on against the Albigenses in the south of France about this time, contributed very much to the propagation of the principles of the Waldenses in this country, as indeed, appears from the testimony of Thuanus, lately adduced. For, independent of the contiguity of the two countries, there were circumstances of a po- litical nature that tended very much to keep up the intercourse between them. Guienne was at that time in the possession of the English — to which may be added, that Raymond, Earl of Toulouse, the great pa- tron and protector of the Albigenses, was brother-in-law to the King of England ; in consequence of which alliance, our countrymen were fre- quently employed in assisting the subjects of Raymond in their wars. That the doctrines of the Waldenses had begun to spread themselves here about the close of the thirteenth century, is sufficiently obvious from a fact noticed by Archbishop Usher, viz. that in the reign of Henry III. " the orders of the Friars Minorites came into England to suppress the Waldensian«heresy." * Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. xvi. Memoirs of Greathead, bishop of Lincoln. 399 The most remarkable character that appears in the annals of the English ecclesiastical history during this period, was Robert Great- head,* bishop of Lincoln. He was born about the year 1175, at Strad- brook, in the county of Suffolk, and appears to have been a person of obscure parentage. His studies, however, were prosecuted at the Uni- versity of Oxford, where he acquired an intimate acquaintance with the Greek and Hebrew languages ; after which he went to Paris, at that time the first seminary in Europe, where he became a perfect master of the French language. Returning to his native country, he was, in the year 1235, elected, by the dean and chapter, bishop of Lincoln, and King Henry III. ratified the choice. He seems to have possessed, even from his youth, much seriousness of mind ; and though at that period of life, immersed in the darkness and superstitions of the age, lie was no sooner inducted to his office than he began to reform abuses. He convened the clergy of his diocese at stated times, to whom he preached, and urged them to the duties which devolved upon them from their office. But as the lattei had no ear to give to these things, the bishop soon began to be involved in litigations with the monks and other popish agents. In the year 1247, two persons of the Franciscan order were sent into England to extort money for the pope. They ap-" plied to the prelates and abbots, but, as it would seem, not with all the success that was wished. Greathead was amazed at the pomp and in- solence of these friars, who demanded six thousand marks as the con- tribution of the diocese of Lincoln, at the same time giving him to understand that they were vested with the pope's bull. " Friars," said he, " with all reverence to his holiness be it spoken, the demand is as dishonourable as it is impracticable. The whole body of the clergy and the people are concerned in it equally with myself. To give a definite answer, in an instant, to such a demand, before the sense of the kingdom is taken upon it, would on my part be rash and absurd." Circumstances of this kind, in process of time, began to open the eyes of the bishop to the domineering influence of the court of Rome. Another thing which struck his mind forcibly was, that in going through his diocese, he found the pope had, by means of his letters, introduced into all the churches, where opulent benefices were to be enjoyed, a set of lazy Italians, who neither understood the language of the country, nor possessed either ability or inclination to instruct the people. These enormities became the objects of his detestation. When the papal bulls, intended to introduce some new evil, were put into his hands, he would indignantly cast them from him, and absolutely refuse compliance with them, saying, that he should prove himself the friend of Satan, were he to commit the care of souls to foreigners. Pope Innocent, however, persevering in the same line of conduct, magisterially ordered him to * So his name is written by Bishop Newton, Proph. vol. ii. Bishop Hurd calls him Grostete. Introd. to Proph. vol. ii. Milner and others call him Grosseteste. The reason of this variation probably is, that he was either of French extraction, or assumed this latter name after his residence in France ; for the name of Greatheadin English, and Grosseteste in French, are synonymous. 400 History of the Christian Church. admit an Italian, totally ignorant of the English language, to a very rich benefice in the diocese of Lincoln ; and the bishop refusing to com- ply, the former suspended him from his functions. But Greathead treated the papal mandate with contempt, and continued to discharge his episcopal duties. In the year 1253, the pope was desirous of preferring his own ne- phew, an Italian youth, to a rich benefice in the cathedral of Lincoln ; and, for this purpose, he, by letter, enjoined the bishop to give him the first canonry that should be vacant. This was to be done by provision, for that was the term employed by the pontiff when he undertook to provide beforehand a successor to a benefice ; and on this occasion he seems to have been determined to intimidate the bishop into compli- ance. He declared that any other disposal of the canonry should be null and void, and that he would excommunicate every one that should dare to disobey his injunction. But Greathead, resolving not to com- ply, wrote a letter en this occasion, which reflects the highest honour on his memory. " Next to the sin of antichrist," says he, " which shall be in the latter times, nothing can be more contrary to the doc- trine of Christ, than to destroy men's souls, by defrauding them of the ' benefit of the pastoral office. Those who minister to their own carnal lusts, by means of the milk and wool of the sheep of Christ, and do not strive to promote the salvation of the flock, in the pastoral office, are guilty of destroying the souls of men. Two atrocious evils are in this way committed — they sin against God himself, who is essentially good, and also against the image of God in man, which, by the recep- tion of his grace, becomes partaker of the divine nature. For the holy apostolic see to be accessary to such wickedness, would be a monstrous abuse of power, and argue an entire separation from the glorious king- dom of Christ, and a participation with the two powers of darkness, (meaning probably the devil and Antichrist.) No man can obey such mandates with a good conscience, even though they were seconded by the high order of angels themselves ; on the contrary, every faithful Christian ought to oppose them with all his might." "When this epistle reached the hands of the pope, it roused his indig- nation to the highest pitch. " Who," said he, " is this old dotard, that dares to judge my actions ? By Peter and Paul, if I were not re- strained by my generosity, I would make him an example and a spectacle to all mankind. Is not the King of England my vassal and my slave ? And if I gave the word, would he not throw him into prisonand load him with disgrace ?" The cardinals, however, who saw the danger into which the pontiff was about to plunge himself by his rashness, strove to mode- rate his resentment. One Giles, a Spanish cardinal, in particular, thus ad- dressed him. " It is not expedient for you to proceed against the bishop in that violent manner ; for, what he says is certainly true, nor can we with decency condemn him. He is a holy man — much more so than we ourselves are' — a man of admirable genius, and of the most ex- emplary morals — no prelate in Christendom is thought to excel him. It is probable, that by this time the truths expressed in his letter are known to many, and they will excite many against us. The clergy, both in France and England, know the character of the man, nor is it GreatheaiV s doctrinal Sentiments. 401 possible to fix any stigma upon him. He is understood to be a great philosopher, an accomplished scholar in Latin and Greek literature, zealous in the administration of justice, a theological lecturer in the schools, a popular preacher, a friend to chastity, and the enemy of si- mony." In these sentiments Giles was seconded by others, and the whole conclave of cardinals advised the pope to wink at these transac- tions, lest a tumult should arise in the church; for, said they, " it is an evident truth that a revolt from the church of Rome, will one day take place in Christendom." But the rage of Innocent IV. was not to be allayed; he excommunicated the bishop of Lincoln, and appointed Al- bert, one of his nuncios, to succeed him. Greathead, supported by a conviction of the rectitude of his conduct, referred his appeal to the tri- bunal of Christ, and paid no regard to the decree ; and what the cardi- nals foresaw, was realized in the event — the pope's mandate was uni- versally neglected, and the bishop remained in quiet possession of his dignity. But this venerable prelate was now fast advancing towards the end of his labours, and in the year 1253, he died (Oct. 9th) at his palace at Buckden. When the pope heard of his death, he exuitingly exclaimed, " I rejoice, and let every true son of the church of Rome rejoice with me, that my great enemy is removed." He ordered a letter to be writ- ten to the King of England, requiring him to cause the bishop's body to be taken up, cast out of the church, and burned. The cardinals, how- ever, resisted his project; and the letter, though written, was never sent, owing, probably, to the declining state of the pontiff's health, for he died in the following year. Matthew Paris, the monk of St. Alban's, though superstitiously at- tached to the See of Rome, and not a little prejudiced against the Bishop of Lincoln, on account of the severity with which he treated the mo- nastic orders, has furnished a character of Greathead so honourable, that it deserves to be recorded. " The holy bishop Robert," says he, " departed this world, which he never loved, and which was always to him as a place of banishment. He was the open reprover of my lord the pope, and of the king, as well as of the prelates. He was the corrector of monks, the director of pries'ts, the instructer of the clergy, the patron of scholars, a preacher to the laity, the punisher of incontinence, the diligent investigator of various writings, and the scourge of lazy and selfish Romanists, whom he heartily despised. In regard to temporal concerns, he was liberal, copious, polite, cheerful, and affable — in spiritual things he was devout, humble, and contrite — in the execution of his episcopal office he was diligent, venerable, indefatigable."* Greathead's doctrinal sentiments, considering the darkness of the age in which his lot was cast, appear to have been remarkable for their purity and simplicity. The following is his view of the important ar- ticle Of DIVINE GRACE. " Grace," says he, " is that good pleasure of God whereby he is pleased to bestow upon us what we have not deserved, and the gift is * Matthew Paris, p. 876. See also Pegge's Life of Greathead. 34* 402 History of the Christian Church. for our advantage and not his. Hence it is very clear, that all the good we possess, whether it be natural, or freely conferred afterwards, pro- ceeds from the grace of God ; because there is no good thing, the ex- istence of which he does not will; and for God to will any thing is to do it ; therefore there can be no good of which he is not the author. He turns the human will from evil, and converts it to good, causing it to persevere in the same." Several of his manuscript sermons, it seems, are still extant in the cathedral church of York. One of them is founded upon Luke vi. 20. Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. In discuss- ing the subject, he undertakes to describe the poverty recommended in the text ; which, by comparing the words with the parallel place in Matt. v. 3. he finds to be poverty of spirit. This poverty, he tells us, is wrought in the heart of the elect, by the Holy Spirit — its founda- tion is laid in real humility ; which disposes a man to feel that he has nothing but what he has received from above. But that is not all — for, as he observes, humility in this view belonged to Adam before he fell — the humility of a sinner hath a still deeper root. The humble man not only sees that he has nothing in himself, but he is stripped of all desire to possess in himself the springs of self-exaltation. Self-con- demned and corrupt before God, he despairs of help from his own powers, and finds all he wants in Him, who is the true life, wisdom, and health, and indeed his all in all, even the incarnate Son of God, who condescended to come into our vale of sin and misery, that he might raise us from their depths. By leaning on him alone, every real Christian rises into true life and peace and joy. He lives in his life — sees light in his light — is invigorated with his warmth — grows in his strength — and leaning upon the Beloved, his soul ascends upwards. The lower he sinks in humility, the higher he raises towards God. He is sensible that he not only is nothing in himself, but that he also has lost what he had gratuitously received, has precipitated himself into misery, and so subjected himself to the slavery of the devil ; and lastly, that he has no internal resources for recovery. Thus he is induced to place his whole dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ, to abhor him- self, and always to prefer others as better than himself. This leads him " to take the lowest seat" as his own proper place. He then calls upon the man who professes to be the subject of humi- lity, earnestly to examine himself, how far he demonstrates in his tem- per and conduct, this fruit of the Spirit ; and even should he find some evidences of it in his soul, to beware that he be not inflated with the discovery, because he ought to know that it is only of God that he is what he is — and that he ought no more to boast of himself, than the refulgent colours of the prism should glory in that splendour which they derive Avholly from the solar rays. He observes that the tempta- tions to self-complacency are the effect of Satanic injections — and that it behoves him who would not be deceiving himself to see whether he has the genuine marks of humility in his practice — whether, for in- stance, he can bear to be rebuked by an inferior — whether he is not rendered insolent by honours — whether he is not inflated by praise — whether among equals he is the first to labour, and the last to exalt State of things in the Thirteenth Century. 403 himself — whether he can recompense blessings for curses and good for evil. By such methods of self-examination he is to check the ebullitions of vain glory, with which the tempter is apt to inspire those who seem to have made some proficiency in the divine life. If that proficiency be real, let them take care never to conceive of it as something sepa- rate from Christ. He alone, dwelling in them by his Spirit, produces all that is good, and to Him alone the praise belongs. SECTION VIII. a view of the state of religion in england and bohemia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with sketches of the history of wickliff, the lollards, john huss, and jerome of Prague; including a concise account of the " unitas fratrum," or united bohemian brethren, till the times of luther. An attentive reader of the preceding pages will have observed that when the governments of France and Spain lent their aid to second the views of the court of Rome, in expelling the Waldenses and Albigenses from their respective countries, the persecuted followers of Jesus Christ found an*asylum in Bohemia, where their principles took deep root, and their numbers multiplied exceedingly.* As it is intended in this section to notice a little more particularly the progress of these princi- ples, both in that kingdom and in our own country, at this interesting period, I must trespass on the reader's patience by laying before him a short extract from the impartial Thuanus, which, while it serves to re- fresh his memory by a recapitulation of what has already been related, will also furnish an introduction to what is to follow. " Peter Waldo, a rich citizen of Lyons, about the year of Christ 1 170, gave name to the Vaudois or Waldenses. This man (as has been recorded by Guy de Perpignan, bishop of Elna, who exercised the office of inquisitor against the Waldenses) leaving his house and estate, had entirely devoted himself to the profession of the gospel, and had procured the writings of the prophets and apostles to be translated into the language of the country, together with several testimonies from the primitive fathers ; all which having well fixed in his mind, and trusting to his natural parts, he look up the office of preaching, and in- terpreted the gospel to the common people in the streets. And when in a short time, he had got about him a good number of followers, he sent them out into all parts, as disciples, to propagate the gospel. They, as being generally unlearned, having easily fallen into various errors, were cited by the archbishop of Lyons ; and though they were, as he reports, convicted, yet they fortified themselves with mere obstinacy, saying, that in religious affairs, God, and not man, was to be obeyed. Being for this cut off from the church, and appealing to the pope, they * See page 314, and 327 of this vol. and the note from Thuanus, page 395. 404 History of the Christian Church. were, in the council immediately preceding that of Lateran, condemned as altogether pertinacious and schismatical : from whence, becoming hated and execrated by all men, they wandered about without a home, and spread themselves up and down in Languedoc, Lombardy, and especially amongst the Alps, where they lay concealed and secure for many years. They were charged with these tenets — that the church of Rome, because it renounced the true faith of Christ was the whore of Babylon, and that barren tree which Christ himself cursed, and com- manded to be plucked up — that consequently no obedience was to be paid to the pope, or to the bishops, who maintain her errors — that a monastic life was the sink and dungeon of the church ; the vows of which were vain, and served only to promote the vile love of boys — that the orders of the priesthood were marks of the great beast men- tioned in the Revelation — that the fire of purgatory, the solemn mass, the consecration-days of churches, the worship of saints, the propitia- tions for the dead, were the devices of Satan. Besides these principal and authentic heads of their doctrine, others were pretended, relating to marriage, the resurrection, the state of the soul after death, and to meats. Peter Waldo, therefore, their leader, quitting his country, came into the Netherlands, and having gained many followers in that province, which is now called Picardy, he removed from thence into Germany ; and after a long abode amongst the Vandal cities, settled at last in Bohemia, where, even at this day, the professors of that doctrine are from thence called Picards. Waldo had a companion named Arnold, who by a different route fell into Languedoc, and fixed himself at Alby, formerly called Alba of the Helvians, from whence came the Albigenses, who in a little time spread themselves amongst the people of Toulouse, Rovergue, Le Quercy, and Agen. Arnold, was succeeded by Esperon and Joseph, and from these Gregory IX. denominated them Arnoldists, Esperonites, and Josephists, and also Gazars, as all heretics at this day are called throughout Germany and the northern countries ; which name is supposed to be taken from the emperor Leo III. named Gazar, whom the Roman pontiffs accused beyond all other men of sacrilege and erro- neous principles ; though in other books they are styled the Pure, (Puritans) which name is also given to such as pretend to a purer doc- trine in England. The same people are also called Leonines, from that Leo, who is nevertheless represented as a just and prudent prince, by Zonaras himself, who yet charges him with heretical pravity. He, at the persuasion of Theodotus a monk, had removed out of the churches all pictures and statues, which he considered as the fuel of impiety, and as traps to catch the ignorant multitude, by which God was of- fended ; for which reason he was called the enemy of images. Though others imagine them to be rather called Leonines from one Leo, a Frenchman, of that sect, because Leo the emperor was too far distant from those times and places. Thus, however, they were nick-named, either from their authors or favourers. From the place they were also styled Poor Men of Lyons, Albigenses, and in different quarters, for different causes, Tramontanes, Paterines, Lollards, Turlupins, and lastly Chaignards. As they carried divers faces, though their tails were tied together, (as pope Gregory IX. expresses it, because they inveighed Character of Wickliff. 405 too vehemently against the wealth, pride, and vices of the popes, and alienated the people by degrees from their obedience to them) Innocent III. used at first the spiritual sword against them, sending to the Albi- genses twelve abbots of the Cistercian order, and after them Diego, bishop of Oxford, who carried with him that Dominic who afterwards founded the Dominican order. But when he found little success that way, laying aside the spiritual sword he drew the iron one, and made Leopold the sixth, Duke of Austria, for Germany, and Simon of Mont- fort, for France, commanders in the holy war, to Avhom many others joined themselves. Though from that time they were persecuted from place to place, yet at intervals there appeared some who frequently re- vived their doctrine ; as John Wickliff, in England, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, in Bohemia. And in our age, since the general re- ception of Luther's doctrine, their scattered remains began to re-unite, and with the increase of Luther's name to gather strength and authority, especially in the regions of the Alps and the adjacent provinces."* Thus far Thuanus : we now procee 1. The usurpations of the court of Rome had reached their highest pitch about the thirteenth or fourteenth century. That astonishing system of spiritual tyranny had drawn within its vortex almost the whole government of England. The pope's haughty legate, spurning at all law and equity, made even the ministers of justice to tremble at his tribunal ; parliaments were overawed, and sovereigns obliged to tem- porize, while the lawless ecclesiastic, entrenched behind the authority of councils and decrees, set at nought the civil power, and opened an asylum to any, even the most profligate disturbers of society. In the mean time, the taxes collected under various pretexts, by the agents of the See of Rome, amounted to five times as much as the taxes paid to the king! The insatiable avarice and insupportable tyranny of the court of Rome, had given such universal disgust, that a bold attack made about this time on the authority of that court, and the doctrines of that church, was, at first, more successful than could have been expected, in that dark and superstitious age. This attack was made by the famous John Wickliff, who was one of the best and most learned men of the age in which he flourished. His reputation for learning, piety, and virtue, was so great, that Archbishop Islep appointed him the first warden of Canterbury college, Oxford, in 1365. His lectures in divinity which he read in that university, were much admired, though in these lectures he treated the clergy, and particularly the mendicant friars, with no little freedom and severity. A discourse which he published against the pope's demand of homage and tribute from Edward III. for the kingdom of England, recommended him so much to that prince, that the latter bestowed upon him several benefices, and employed him in several embassies. In one of these embassies to the court of Rome, in 1374, he discovered so many of the corruptions of that court, and of the errors of that church, that he became more bold and more severe in his censures of those errors and corruptions. He even proceeded * Thuanus's Historv of his own Times, b, vi. 406 History of the Christian Church. so far as to call the pope antichrist, to deny his supremacy, and to ex- pose his intolerable tyranny and extortions in the strongest colours. This, as might naturally have been expected, drew upon him the in- dignation of his holiness, and involved him in various troubles. Pope Gregory XI. published several thundering bulls against him, in 1377, commanding him to be seized, imprisoned, and brought to trial for his damnable heresies. The affection of the people, and the favour of the court, protected him from imprisonment ; but he found it necessary to appear before Simon Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, and William Courtney, bishop of London, who had been appointed his judges by the pope. At this appearance he had the honour to be accompanied by two of the greatest men in the kingdom, John of Gaunt, duke of Lan- castei-, and Lord Henry Percy, marshal of England. These two lords demanded a chair for Wickliff; which being denied by the bishop of London, some very angry words passed between that prelate and the Duke of Lancaster; which excited so violent a tumult in the court, that it broke up in great confusion, without doing any [business. Wickliff made a second appearance before the papal commissioners at Lambeth, where he was attended by so great a body of the citizens of London, that his judges were deterred from pronouncing any sentence against him ; and their commission soon after terminated by the death of the pope, March 27, 1378. It is very difficult to discover, with certainty and precision, what were the real sentiments, in some particulars, of this illustrious cham- pion of truth and liberty, against the errors and tyranny of the church of Rome ; because he seems, in some things, to have changed his mind ; and because certain tenets were inputed to him by his adversa- ries which he did not hold. It very plainly appears from his writings, that the doctrines which he taught were very nearly the same with those which were propagated by our more successful reformers in the sixteenth century. The prosecution against Wickliff was suspended for some time, by the schism in the papacy which succeeded the death of Gregory XI. and by the insurrection of the Commons in England, which threw all things into confusion. In this tumult, archbishop Sudbury, one of his most zealous adversaries, was beheaded by the insurgents on Tower- hill, June 14, 1381. William Courtney, bishop of London, was pro- moted to the primacy by a bull of pope Urban VI. (who had been ac- knowledged in England to be the lawful pope,) dated the 8th of Sep- tember in the same year. As soon as the insurrection of the Commons was quelled, and the public tranquillity restored, the new primate ap- plied with great zeal to the suppression of the heretical opinions, as he esteemed them, which were propagated by Wickliff and his followers. With this view, he assembled a council of the bishops of his province, and many doctors of divinity, and of the civil and canon law, in the priory of the preaching friars, London, May 17, 1382. Before this council he submitted twenty-four opinions, extracted from the writings of Wickliff, for their examination ; and the council unanimously de- clared ten of these opinions heretical, and fourteen of them erroneous. Several suspected persons were then brought before the council, parti- Wickliff' s Letter to Huss. 407 cularly Nicholas Hereford and Philip Rapyngdon, doctors in divinity, and John Ayshton, A. M. and commanded to declare their sentiments of these opinions. Their declarations appearing to the council evasive and unsatisfactory, they were pronounced to be convicted of heresy. The ancient historian Henry Knyghton relates, that Wickliff was brought before this council, and that he made a kind of recantation of his heretical opinions. But as nothing of this appears in the record, it is probably a mistake, if not a calumny. On the day after the conclu- sion of this council, there was a solemn procession in London ; after which Dr. Kinyghan, a Carmelite friar, preached to the people, and published the doctrines which had been condemned ; declaring, that all persons who taught, favoured, or believed any of these doctrines, were excommunicated heretics. To give the greater weight to the de- crees of this council, the clergy prevailed upon the king to publish a proclamation, July 12, authorizing and commanding the bishops to seize and imprison all persons who were suspected of holding any of the doctrines which had been condemned. The doctrines of Wickliff had for some years made a mighty noise in the university of Oxford, where they were first published, and where they had many violent opposers, and many zealous advocates. Dr. Berton, who was chancellor in the University in 1381, and Dr. Stokes, were at the head of the former, and Dr. Hereford and Dr. Ra- pyngdon at the head of the latter. The Archbishop of Canterbury sent the decrees of his late council to Oxford, commanding Dr. Stokes to publish them at St. Frideswyde's church, on Corpus-Christi day; and Dr. Rigge, the chancellor of the University, to assist and protect him in performing in that office. Dr. Philip Rapyngdon had been appoint- ed to preach at that church on that day, and he declaimed with great vehemence against the corruptions of the church, and in defence of the doctrines of Wickliff; and his sermon was heard with approbation. But when Dr. Stokes attempted to publish the decrees of the council of London, he was interrupted with clamours and reproaches, which obliged him to desist, without having received any countenance or pro- tection from the chancellor or proctors, who were secret favourers of the new opinions. For this negligence they were summoned to appear before Archbishop Courtney, who treated them very roughly, and by threats prevailed upon them to return to Oxford, and to publish the de- crees of the council of London, both in Latin and English, first in St. Mary's Church, and afterwards in the schools. While the doctrines of Wickliff were propagated and opposed with so much zeal, at Oxford and other places, he, being in a declining state of health, resided, during the two last years of his life, at his living of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, employed in finishing his translation of the Bible, and other works. Being seized with a stroke of the palsy, which deprived him of his speech, December 28, 1384, he expired on the last day of that year.* As the clergy had hated and persecuted him with great violence during his life, they exulted with indecent joy * It appears that before the death of Wickliff, his principles had extended into Bohemia, and that John Huss had begun to sow the seeds of reform in that 408 History of the Christian Church. at his disease and death, ascribing them to the immediate vengeance of Heaven for his heresy. " On the day of St. Thomas the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, says Walsingham, a contemporary histo- rian, that limb of the devil, enemy of the church, deceiver of the peo- country also. The following letter, written by our great English reformer, in the last year of his life, is too valuable to be omitted. Letter fhom Wickliff to Hrss. Health and Salvation; and if any thing can be devised or expressed more loving and dear in the bowels of Jesus Christ. "Dear brethren in the Lord, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but all those who know the truth ; I say that the truth, which dwelleth in us by the grace of God, shall be with us for ever. I rejoiced greatly at the brethren, com- ing to us from you, bearing testimony of you in the truth, and that ye walk in truth. I have heard how antichrist troubleth you, causing many and various tri- bulations to the faithful in Christ. And no wonder that such things should be done among you, since the law of Christ suffereth oppression from its adversaries over all the world ; and from that red dragon with many heads, which John speaks of in the Revelation, that cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that she might be carried away of it. But the Lord, who is faithful, will certainly rescue his dearly beloved spouse. Let us be strengthened and comfort- ed in the Lord our God, and in his infinite goodness, and be firmly persuaded that he will not permit his beloved to fail of his proposed reward for them, if we only love him (as we ought) with our whole heart. For ad-ersity shall not pre- vail over us, if iniquity do not prevail. Therefore let no affliction, pressure, or torment, for the sake of Christ, cast us down, or cause us to despair ; since we know, that whomsoever the Lord accounteth as sons, he chasteneth. For the Father of Mercy exerciseth us in adversity in this present life, that he may af- terwards spare us ; as that gold which a skilful workman chooseth is tried in the fire by day, that afterwards he may put it into his pure, eternal, treasure. We know that the present life is but short and transitory : but that life which we ex- pect, and which is to come, is happy and eternal. Let us labour, while we have time, that we may be found worthy to enter into that rest. Let me entreat you to consider, that wo see nothing else in this life, but grief, anguish, and sorrow ; and what ought to trouble the faithful most of all, a contempt and trampling down of the divine laws. Let us endeavour, as much as lies in our power, to lay hold of those good things, which shall always endure and be eternal; denying our tran- sient and frail senses. Let us look back upon and consider the behaviour of our ancestors in former ages. Let us call to mind the saints of both the Old and New Testament ; how they bore tossing-s, tempests, and adversities, in this sea of trou- ble,— imprisonments, and bonds. They were stoned ; they were sawn asunder ; they were slain by the sword. They wandered about in sheep and in goat skins, and other such like tilings ; as the Epistle to the Hebrews recounteth at large; all walking in, and following the footsteps of Christ, in that narrow path, Mho said, "Where I am, there shall my servants be also." Since we have such a cloud of witnesses of the saints in former times placed before us, let us lay aside every offence and weight, yea, sin, which besets us, and run with patience the race that is set before us; looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who cheerfully endured the cross, despising all contempt and shame. Let us consider how he bore such contradiction against himself from sinners, and let us not be weary with desponding minds: but let us beg assistance from the Lord, with all our heart, and fight manfully against his adversary, antichrist. Let us love his laws with all our heart, and be not fraudulent and deceitful labourers; but act boldly in all things, as far as the Lord permits us; and let us be valiant in the cause of God, and in hope of an eternal reward. Do thou, therefore, O Huss! a brother greatly beloved in Christ, unknown to me indeed in person, but not in faith and love; (for, what part of the world can tear asunder, and separate those Progress of Wickliff"' s Doctrine. 409 pie, idol of heretics, mirror of hypocrites, author of schisms, sower of hatred, and inventor of lies, John Wickliff, was, by the immediate judgment of God, suddenly struck with a palsy, which seized all the members of his body, when he was ready, as they say, to vomit forth his blasphemies against the blessed St. Thomas, in a sermon which he had prepared to preach that day." But these reproaches do honour to his memory, as they were brought upon him by his vigorous efforts to deliver his countrymen from the errors, superstitions, and extortions of the Church of Rome. Though the joy of the clergy at the death of Wickliff was very great, it was not of long duration. They soon found, that his doc- trines had not died with him, but were propagated with great zeal, and no little success, by his followers, who were commonly called Lol- lards.* Many of those who were preachers travelled up and down the whom the love of Christ unites >) be comforted arid strengthened in the grace which is given thee. As a good soldier of Jesus Christ, war in word and in deed; and recal into the way of truth as many as thou art able: because neither by er- roneous and deceitful decrees, nor by the false opinions and doctrines of anti- christ, is the truth of the Gospel to be kept in silence and in secret. Rather comfort and strengthen the members of Christ, by weakening the wiles and deceit of Satan: because antichrist shall come to an end in a short time; it is the will of the Lord! It is a great joy to me, that not only in your kingdom, but elsewhere, God hath so strengthened the hearts of some, that they suffer with pleasure, im- prisonments, banishments, and even death itself, for the word of God. I have nothing more to write, beloved brethren, only that I willingly confess I would strengthen you and all the lovers of Christ's laws, in the law of the love of God. Therefore 1 salute them from the bowels of my heart; particularly your compa- nion;f entreating that you would pray for me and the whole church. And the God of peace, who raised from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ, fit you for every good work; that ye may do what is acceptable to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." * Even to the present day, the derivation of this term remains a point of doubt and uncertainty. Clark in his Martyrology, p. Ill, says, "About this time, A- D. 1210, the English, who now possessed Guienne which bordered upon the Earldom of Toulouse, began to help the Albigenses, being stirred up thereto by Maynard Lollard, a godly and learned man, who by his powerful preaching converted many to the truth, and defended the faith of the Albi- genses." He further adds, that " John le Meyer much commends this Lollard, who foretold many things by divine revelation, which, saith he, came to pass in my time, and therefore he putteth him into the rank of holy prophets. And as for his learning, it is evident by his Comment upon the Revelation, where he setteth forth many things that are spoken of the Roman antichrist. This wor- thy man was afterwards apprehended in Germany, and being delivered to the secular power, was burnt at Cologne." A few pages afterwards we find the following short paragraph in the same volume. '• Anno Christi 1322, Lollard Walterus, from whom our English professors were called Lollards, was taken at Cologne, where he had privately preached, and through God's blessing, drawn many from ignorance and error to embrace the truth, and persisting constantly in his opinions, he was condemned and burnt alive," p. 124. The discrepancies- in these two accounts are so many and palpable, that they are not easily recon- ciled. I find no evidence that there were two persons of the name of Lollard, at the distance of more than a century from each other, both preachers of the Gos- f Probably Jerome of Prague. 35 410 History of the Christian Church. country on foot, in a very plain dress, declaiming with great vehe- mence against the corruptions of the church, and the vices of the clergy. These preachers were not only admired and followed by the common people, but were favoured and protected by several persona of high rank and great power, particularly by the Duke of Lancaster, the lords Percy, Latimer, Clifford, Hilton, and others. By the zeal, activity, and eloquence of the preachers, under the protection of these great men, the new doctrines, as they were called, gained ground so fast, that, as a contemporary historian of the best credit affirms, " more than one half of the people of England, in a few years, became Lol- lards." The same historian, who was a clergyman, and a most in- veterate enemy to the Lollards, acknowledges, that as Wickliff excelled all the learned men of his age in disputation, so some of his followers, in a very little time, became very eloquent preachers and very powerful disputants ; which he ascribes to the assistance of the devil, who, he says, took possession of them as soon as they became Lollards. The clergy, alarmed and enraged at this rapid progress of the new opinions, attempted to put a stop to it by violence and persecution, which have been often employed by power against truth. They pro- cured, or at least promulgated, a statute, which still appears in our sta- tute-book, (though the Commons, it is said, never gave their assent to it,) empowering and commanding all sheriffs to seize and imprison all preachers of heresy. They also prevailed upon the king, in 1387, to grant a commission to certain persons to seize all the books and writ- ings of John Wickliff, Nicholas Hereford, John Ayshton, and other heretical writers, and to imprison all who transcribed, sold, bought, or concealed such books. By these methods the clergy hoped to inter- rupt the preaching and writing of the reforming teachers, by which they chiefly propagated their opinions. But the contemporary histo- rian Knyghton observes, with regret, " that these laws and edicts were but slowly and faintly executed, because the time of correction was not yet come." Though the violent factions amongst the nobility, and the general animosity of the laity against the clergy, on account of their excessive power and riches, prevented for a time a rigorous execution of the pe- nal statutes against heretics; several persons were apprehended and tried upon these statutes. Some of them, as particularly Hereford, Ayshton, and Rapyngdon, who had been the most zealous propagators of Wickliff's doctrines, were, by threats and promises, prevailed upon to make a kind of recantation, and to desist from preaching these doc- trines. Others escaped with slight censures, by giving artful, evasive explanations of their tenets. In general it may be observed, that the followers of Wickliff were not very ambitious of the crown of martyr- dom ; and none of them were capitally punished in the reign of Ri- chard II. pel, and burnt at Cologne for heresy. It is observable too, that even the latter account fixes the martyrdom of Lollard two years before the birth of Wickliff, who, therefore, though he may have read some of his writings, could not possi- bly have seen him nor been instructed by him. Proceedings of the Lollards. 41 1 In spite of all the laws that had been made in England against the tyrannical usurpations of the court of Rome, they still continued, or rather increased. When a clerk had obtained a sentence in favour of his presentation to a church in the king's court, and the bishop of the diocese had inducted him in consequence of that sentence, it was usual for the pope, on the complaint of the losing party, to excommunicate the bishop. When an English bishop had by any means offended his holiness, he sometimes punished him, by translating him to a foreign see, without his own consent, or that of the king. Upon a complaint of these papal usurpations by the Commons, in a parliament at Win- chester, in 1392, a very severe law was made for the punishment of those who solicited, or brought into the kingdom, any papal bulls of excommunication, translation, or other thing against the rights and dignity of the crown. These contests between the king and parlia- ment of England and the court of Rome, encouraged the Lollards to make a bold and direct attack on the established church. Accordingly, they presented to a parliament, which was held by the Duke of York, the king being in Ireland, at Westminster, in 1394, a remonstrance containing twelve articles of complaint against the church and clergy ; praying for redress and reformation. In this remonstrance, they com- plain chiefly of the exorbitant power, excessive wealth, and profligate lives of the clergy, which last they ascribe chiefly to their vows of celi- bacy ; — of transubstantiation and the superstitious practices which the belief of it produced ; — of prayers for the dead ; — of the worship of images ; — of pilgrimages ; — of auricular confession, and its conse- quences ; — and of several other particulars in which the present Pro- * ■ '■"* ^1'uicnes Oilier from the church of Rome. What reception this remonstrance met with from the parliament, we are not informed. About the same time the Lollards published several satirical papers, painting the deceitful arts, abominable vices, and absurd opinions of the clergy in very strong colours ; which excited both the contempt and hatred of the people against them. Some of these papers, written with much asperity, and no little wit, were pasted up on the most pub- lic places in London and Westminster. The clergy were so much alarmed at these bold attacks, that they despatched the archbishop of York, the bishop of London, and several other commissioners, to the king then in Ireland, to entreat him to re- turn immediately into England, to protect the church, which was in danger of destruction. " As soon," says acontemporary historian, " as the king heard the representation of the commissioners, being inspired with the Divine Spirit, he hastened into England, thinking it more ne- cessary to defend the church than to conquer kingdoms." On his arri- val, he called before him the lords Clifford, Latimer, Montague, and other great men who favoured the Lollards, and threatened them with immediate death, if they gave any further encouragement to heretical preachers. Intimidated by these threats, they complied with the king's desire, and withdrew their protection. Several of the Lollard preachers, discouraged by this defection of their patrons, soon after recanted their opinions, and returned into the bosom of the church. Thomas Arundel, archbishop of York, who was 412 History of the Christian Church. a most violent enemy to the Lollards, obliged those in his province vrho recanted, to take the following curious oath, which is given in the ori- ginal language and spelling : " I — , before you, worshipful fader and lord archbishop of Yhork, and your clergy, with my free will and full avysed, swere to God and all his seyntes, upon this holy gospel, that fro this day forthword, I shall worship images, with praying and offer- ing unto them, in the worship of the saints, that they may be made after ; and also, I shall never more despise pylgremage, ne states of holy chyrche, in no degre. And also I shall be buxum to the laws of holy chyrche, and to yhowe as to myn archbishop, and myn other or- dinaries and curates, and keep the laws up my power and meyntein them. And also, I shall never more meyntein, ne techen, ne defenden, errors, conclusions, ne techeng of the Lollards, ne swych conclusions and techengs that men clopeth Lollards doctrine ; ne shall her books, ne swych books, ne hem or ony suspect or diffamed of Lollardary, re- ceyve or company with all, willingly, or defend in tho matters : and if I know any swych, I shall, with all the hast that I may, do yhowe, or els your nex officers, to wyten, and of ther bokes, &c."* The kingdom of Bohemia, is, in point of territorial surface, the most elevated ground, the most mountainous, and by nature the strongest in Germany. Its inhabitants too have ever been distinguished by the lofti- ness of their spirit, and the vigour and success of their struggles for civil and religious liberty. The country is almost surrounded by the mountains of the famous Hyrcanian forest, whose sides, broken into many sloping ridges, intersect this lofty and spacious amphitheatre, and form a landscape bold, various, and of great beauty. The metropolis of the country is Prague, a city of great extent, stretching along the banks, and on either side of the river Mulda, adorned with many sump- tuous edifices, and particularly two strong castles, one of which was the residence of the ancient Bohemian kings. The ancient inhabitants are represented by contemporary historians, as a people of a ruddy com- plexion, and of enormous stature and muscular strength ; in their dis- positions intrepid, fierce, proud, quick in resenting injuries, of ahaughty deportment, lovers of a rude magnificence and pomp, and naturally ad- dicted to revels and intemperance. The native language of Bohemia is the Sclavonic, which also appears to have been the mother tongue of the Tartars, and their offspring the Turks, and of all the nations inhabit- ing those regions which extend from the northern parts of Russia to Turkey in Europe.t The authority of the church of Rome was never so great and general as entirely to banish from the nations of Europe a spirit of inquiry, or the love of knowledge. During the thickest darkness of the middle * Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 598-9. Wood's History of Oxon, 190—192. Lewis's Life of Wickliff", Anglia Sacra, torn. 2. p. 121. Walsing- ham, page 201 — 205. Biographia Britannica, Art. Wickliff*. Spelman's Coun- cil, torn. 2, p. 629 — 656. Henry's Great Britain, vol. viii. 8vo. b. 4, ch.-2, sect. 2. -j- Namely, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Transylvania, Sclavonia, Cro- atia, Istria, Wallachia, &c. &c. See Dr. Watson's History of Philip HI. King of Spain, b. vi. Bohemians divided into three sects. 413 ages, a star appeared here and there in the firmament, which reflected the light of ancient times, and formed a presage, that although the sun of science was set, it would return to enlighten bewildered nations. We have seen that so early as the eighth century, Claude of Turin sowed the seeds of reformation in the valleys of Piedmont, whence they were gradually transplanted into other countries. In the thirteenth century, the Waldenses or Albigenses, names almost indiscriminately applied to the disciples of Claude, were multiplied throughout France to an asto- nishing degree; and when scattered by the persecuting power of Rome, they were driven into Bohemia, Livonia, and Poland, in the former of which places we learn that there were no less than eighty thousand of them at the commencement of the fourteenth century. We are informed by Sleidan, that the Bohemians were divided, on the article of religion, into three classes, or sects. The first were such as acknowledged the pope of Rome to be head of the church, and vicar of Jesus Christ; the second were those that received the eucharist in both kinds, and in celebrating mass, read some things in the vulgar tongue, but in all other matters differ nothing from the church of Rome ; the third were those who went by the name of Picards or Beghardi — • these called the pope of Rome and all his party antichrist, and the whore that is described in the Revelation, (ch. xvii.) They admitted, says he, of nothing but the Bible, as the ground of their doctrine; they ■chose their own priests and bishops, denied marriages to no man, per- formed no offices for the dead, and hnd but very few holidays and ceremo- nies.* It is obvious, therefore, that the latter class alone were the ge- nuine Waldenses, and that the second were a species of dissenting- con- formists, differing but little from our English Episcopalians. It is pro- per the reader should keep this distinction clearly in view ; he will otherwise fall into a mistake which is very prevalent, respecting the principles of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who are generally sup- posed to have belonged to the sect of the Waldenses, though, in fact, they ranked with the second class mentioned by Sleidan, and never gave up the communion of the church of Rome. They were in Bohemia what WicklifF was in England, members of the established church, dis- satisfied with its corruptions, and strenuous advocates for a reform both in its doctrine and discipline, like many of the evangelical clergy in our day, but without the virtue of dissenting from its communion, and of bearing a public and decided testimony to its antichristian spirit and constitution. The whole of the history of these Reformers, which is so circumstantially given by L'Enfant, in his history of the council of Constance, and with such demonstrable impartiality, affords unques- tionable proof of the truth of this observation. t When or by whom the gospel was first preached in Bohemia, is a very doubtful point. That Paul preached the Gospel in Illyricum, and that Titus visited Dalmatia, are things capable of proof from Rom. xv. 19. — 2 Tim. iv. 10. And hence the Bohemians infer, that it was preached in all the countries of Sclavonia in the first ages of Christian- * Sleidan's History of the Reformation, b. iii. p. 53. f History of the Council of Constance, vol. \. passim. 35* 414 History of the Christian Church. ity.* They say that St. Jerome, a native of Illyricum, translated the Scriptures into his native tongue, and that all the nations of Sclavonian extraction use that translation to this day, just as the Latin church use the Vulgate ; and further, that their bishops and martyrs are mentioned in the early ages of the church. But whatever of truth there may be in this, it is certain that Bohemia partook of the general corruption, and was immersed in darkness and superstition, when Waldo and his friends sought an asylum in that kingdom, and in the year 1176 formed a colony at Saltz and Laun, on the river Eger. These Waldenses found the Bohemians tenacious of the rites and ceremonies of the Greek church, which are scarcely less superstitious than those of the church •of Rome ; but they endeavoured to convince them of their defects of the religious exercises, and introduced among them the knowledge of the Christian faith in its purity, according to the word of God.t Popery was not fully established in Bohemia till the fourteenth century, and then not by the consent of the Bohemians ; but by the power and artifice of the Emperor Charles IV. Two of his chaplains endeavoured to persuade his Majesty to curb the pope and reform the church, but they were both banished for their officious zeal. One of them, whose name was Janovius, and had studied at Paris, being a person of piety and erudi- tion, was a very hearty friend to reform, and both preached and pub- lished against the antichristian hypocrisy of the times : but as he knew the world, and, by residing at court, thoroughly understood the motives and views of great men, he comforted his friends with these remarkable words just before he expired. " The fury of the enemies of truth now prevails against us, but it will not always be so : a mean people will arise without sword or power, and against them they will never be able to prevail." A saying full of wisdom, and confirmed by the ex- perience of ages ; for reformation of abuses rarely proceeds from those that are in possession of power. By the banishment of these two eminent men, the voice of reform was silenced. Ignorance, profligacy, and vice, prevailed amongst all orders of men in the national church: the Inquisition was introduced for the purpose of enforcing despotism in the civil government, and uniformity of opinion in matters of religion. The consequence was, that multitudes withdrew themselves from the public places of worship, and followed the dictates of their own consciences by worshipping God in private houses, woods, and caves. Here they were persecuted, dragooned, drowned, and killed ; and thus matters went on till the appearance of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague.;}; It was in the latter part of the life of Wickliff, that king Richard II. of England married Ann, the sister of Winceslaus, king of Bohemia ; and in consequence of this family alliance, a free intercourse was open- ed between the two kingdoms. About the same time John Huss, who had been a student in the University of Prague, where he had taken his * Crantz's History of the Bohemian Brethren, p. 13. j- Paul Stransky, de Repub. Bohem. p. 272. * Crantz's History, p. 1. sect. 4. and Robinson's Eccles. Researches, p. 480. Svnopsis Hist. Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. cap. vii. State of religion in Bohemia. 415 degrees, became a zealous disciple of Wickliff. He was born in the village of Hussinctz; in 1373, of parents not in affluent circumstances; at the age of twenty he was raised to the dignity of professor in the University of Prague, and in 1400 appointed preacher in one of the largest churches of that city. He was a person of eminent abilities, and of still more eminent zeal : his talents were popular, his life irre- proachable, and his manners the most affable and engaging. He was the idol of the populace ; but in proportion as he attracted their esteem and regard, he drew upon himself the execration of the priests. Peter Payne, principal of Edmund Hall, in the University of Oxford, a man equally distinguished for his talents and his inflexible opposition to the friars, appears to have been the instrument of first conveying into Bohemia the writings of our countryman Wickliff, of which he was a great admirer. Payne is said to have been a good disputant, and to have signalized himself in a controversy with Walden, the Carmelite, on the subjects of pilgrimage, the eucharist, images, and relics, &c. Sic. —in consequence of which he became so obnoxious to the clergy, that he was obliged to quit the University and flee into Bohemia, where he carried with him a number of Wickliffs tracts, which were highly es- teemed by Huss, Jerome, and the greater part of the University of Prague. The introduction of WicklifTs writings, however, into that University, gave great offence to the Archbishop of Prague, who issued his orders that every person that was in possession of them should bring the books to him, in order that such as contained any thing here- tical might be burnt ! And we are accordingly told that two hundred volumes of them, finely written, and adorned with costly covers and gold borders, probably belonging to some of the nobility, were com- mitted to the flames, by Archbishop Sbynko ; a conduct which excited great disgust in the minds of the students of the University of Prague, and of Huss in particular, who took every opportunity to persuade the members of the University that the conduct of the archbishop was an infringement on the rights, liberties, and privileges of their Seminary, whose members had a right to read all sorts of books without molesta- tion. Huss and his friends consequently appealed from the mandate of the archbishop to Gregory XII. who was then acknowledged pope in Germany ; and the latter cited the archbishop to Rome. The pre- late, however, informed his holiness how deeply the writings of Wick- liff had taken root in Bohemia, on which he obtained a bull authorizing him to prevent the propagation of Wickliffs doctrine in his diocese ; at the same time condemning them in the most pointed manner as heretical, and issuing processes against four eminent doctors of the university, who had refused to deliver up the writings of Wickliff which were in their possession, and prohibiting them, notwithstanding their ecclesiastical dignities, from preaching in any congregation. Huss , and the members of the university, entered a protest against these pro- ceedings, and on the 25th of June, 1410, appealed from the sentence of the archbishop to the court of Rome. The affair was carried before pope John XXIII. who granted a commission to Cardinal Colonna to cite Huss to appear personally before him at Rome, and there answer to the accusations laid against him of preaching both errors and here- 416 History of the Christian Church. sies. Huss desired to be excused a personal appearance, and so greatly was he favoured in Bohemia, that king Winceslaus, his queen, the nobility, and the University at large, joined in a request to the pope, that he would dispense with such an appearance ; and moreover, that he would not suffer the kingdom of Bohemia to be subject to the impu- tation of heresy, but permit them to preach the gospel with freedom in their places of worship ; and that he would send legates to Prague to correct any presumed abuses, the expense of which should be defrayed by the Bohemians.* Three proctors were despatched to Rome to tender Huss's apology to his holiness ; but the excuses alleged were deemed insufficient, and Huss being declared contumacious, was accordingly excommunicated. This excommunication extended also to his disciples and friends ; he himself was declared a promoter of heresy, and an interdict was pro- nounced against him ! From these proceedings he appealed to a fu- ture council ; and notwithstanding the decision of the court of Rome, he retired to Hussinetz, the place of his nativity, where he boldly con- tinued to propagate his sentiments both from the pulpit and by means of his pen. The letters which he at this time wrote, are very numer- ous ; he also drew up a Treatise defending the character and writings of Wickliff, and justifying his own conduct in reading his works. The extraordinary state of affairs at this juncture, in reference to the chair of St. Peter, tended for awhile to screen Huts from the ven- geance of his adversaries, by diverting their attention from him. In the year 1378, Pope Gregory XI. died, and was succeeded by the archbishop of Barri, a Neapolitan, who assumed the name of Urban VI. This pontiff, a man of a haughty temper, began his reign in so arbitrary a manner, that he alienated from him the affections of his sub- jects ; and his own cardinals so highly resented his behaviour that they set aside his election, and chose Clement VII. in his room. The con- sequence was, that Urban refusing to vacate his office, there were two popes, laying an equal claim to St. Peter's chair, each strenuously ex- erting himself to strengthen his party ; their quarrel immediately be- came, in the opinion of their deluded votaries, the cause of God; each found adherents in every part of Europe, and much human blood was spilt in the contest. During a period of more than twenty years were these ambitious prelates roaming up and down Europe, like wolves or beasts of prey, until at length, to put a termination to this disgraceful schism, Alexander V. was elected to the popedom, in hopes that by this event the other two popes would relinquish their claims. But restless ambition intervened : neither of them would give up his power, and from this time the church was governed, if such a state of anarchy may be called government, by three popes at a time — their names now were John, Gregory, and Benedict. With a view to heal this fatal schism, and repair the disorders that had sprung up during its continu- ance as well as to bring about a reformation of the clergy, which was now loudly and generally called for, in the year 1414, the Emperor * Dupin's Eccles Hist, xvth cent. Lewis's Life of Wickliff. Rolfs Lives of the Reformers, p. 13. Huss arrested and imprisoned. 417 Sigismund convened the council of Constance. Hither, from all parts of Europe, princes and prelates, clergy, laity, regulars and seculars flocked together. Fox, the martyrologist, has given us a humorous catalogue of the grotesque assembly. " There were," says he, " arch- bishops and bishops 346 ; abbots and doctors 564 ; princes, dukes, earls, knights, and squires 16,000; prostitutes 450; barbers 600; mu- sicians, cooks, and jesters 320." The council of Constance was assembled Nov. 16, 1414, to deter- mine the dispute between the three contending factions for the papacy, and thither Huss was cited to appear, in order to justify his conduct and writings. The Emperor Sigismund, brother and successor of Winceslaus, encouraged Huss to obey the summons, and as an induce- ment to his compliance, sent him a passport with assurance of safe conduct, permitting him to come freely to the council, and pledging himself for his safe return. Huss consented, and in all the cities through which he passed he caused placards to be issued, stating that lie was going to the council to answer all the accusations that were made against him, inviting his adversaries to meet him there. No sooner had Huss arrived within the pope's jurisdiction, than, re- gardless of the emperor's passport, he was arrested and committed close prisoner to a chamber in the palace. This violation of common law and justice was noticed by the friends of Huss, who had, out of the respect they bore his character, accompanied him to Constance. They urged the imperial safe-conduct ; but the pope replied, that he never granted any safe-conduct, nor was he bound by that of the em- peror.* * As the affair of the safe-conduct, on which the aggravation of the injuries done to Huss so greatly depends, is placed in different lights by Protestant and Popish writers, it may not be improper to inquire into the merits of it, and to lay before the reader the principal topics of the argument on both sides of the question. In answer to the Protestants' exclamations against so notorious a breach of faith, the Papist thus apologizes: " We allow," says Maimburgh, that " Huss obtained a safe-conduct from the •emperor: but for what end did he obtain it? Why, to defend his doctrine. If his doctrine was indefensible, his pass was invalid." "It was always," says Rosweide, a Jesuit, "supposed, in the safe-conduct that justice should have its course. — Besides," cry a number of apologizers, "the emperor plainly exceeded his powers. By the canon-law he could not grant a pass to a heretic ; and by the decretals the council might annul any imperial act. "Nay, farther," says Morery, " if we examine the pass, we shall find it, at best, a promise of security only till his arrival at Constance; or, indeed, rather a mere recommendation of him to the cities through which he passed: so that, in fact, it was righteously fulfilled." To all this the Protestant thus replies: — "Be it granted, (which is, in truth, gTanting too much) that the safe-conduct implied a liberty only of defending his doctrine; yet it was violated, we find, before that liberty was given — before that doctrine was condemned, or even examined. And though the emperor might exceed his power in granting a pass to a heretic, yet Huss was, at this time, only suspected of heresy. Nor was the imperial act annulled by the council till after the pass was violated. Huss was condemned in the fifteenth session, and the safe-conduct decreed invalid in the nineteenth. With regard to the deficiency of the safe-conduct, which is Morery's apology, it doth not appear that it was 418 History of the Christian Church. Jerome of Prague was the intimate friend and companion of Huss ; inferior to him in age, experience, and authority, but his superior in all liberal endowments. He was born at Prague and educated in that uni- versity. Having finished his studies, he travelled into many countries of Europe, where he acquired great esteem for his talents and virtues, particularly for his graceful elocution, which gave him great advan- tages in the public seminai'ies. The universities of Prague, of Paris, of Cologne, and of Heidelberg, conferred upon him the degree of mas- ter of arts : and having made the tour of the continent, he visited Eng- land, where he obtained access to the writings of Wickliff, which he copied out, and returned with them to Prague.* As Jerome had distinguished himself by an active co-operation with Huss in all his opposition to the abominations of the times, he was cited before the council of Constance on the 17th of April, 1415, at the time his friend Huss was confined in a castle near that city. Arriv- ing shortly afterwards in Constance, or the neighbourhood, he learnt how his friend had been treated, and what he himself had to expect ; on which he prudently retired to Iberlingen, an imperial city, from whence he wrote to the emperor and council, requesting a safe-con- duct, but not obtaining one to his satisfaction, he was preparing to re- turn into Bohemia, when he was arrested at Hirschaw and conveyed to Constance. Every one knows the fate of these two eminent men. They were both condemned by the council to be burnt alive, and the sentence was carried into effect. Huss was executed on the 7th July, 1415 ; and Jerome on the 20th May, 1416. The former sustained his fate with the most heroic fortitude, praying for his merciless perse- cutors. Previous to his execution l-»o «"»*- L=it*-~. *~ l~~ ^:-„a :„. Bohemia, winch attord a gratifying representation of the frame of his mind. The following is an extract from one of them. " My dear friends, Let me take this last opportunity of exhorting you to trust in nothing here, but give yourselves up entirely to the service of God. Well am I authorized to warn you not to trust in princes, nor in any of the children of men ; for there is no help in them. God alone remaineth steadfast : whatever he promises he will undoubtedly perform. For myself, on his gracious promise I trust. Having laboured as his faithful servant, I am not afraid of being de- serted by him. ' Where I am, says the gracious Redeemer, there shall my servant be.' May the God of heaven preserve you ! This is pro- ever an apology of ancient date. Huss, it is certain, considered the safe-conduct as a sufficient security for his return home; and, indeed, so much is implied in the very nature of a safe-conduct. What title would that general deserve, who should invite his enemy into his quarters by a pass, and then seize him? Rea- soning-, however, apart, let us call in fact: Omni prorsus impedimenta remoto, transire, stare, morari et hf.dire Mere permittatis sibique et suis, are the very words of the safe-conduct." In conclusion, therefore, we cannot but judge the emperor to have been guilty •of a most notorious breach of faith. The blame, however, is generally laid, and with some reason, upon the council, who directed his conscience. What true son of the church would dare to oppose his private opinion against the unani- mous voice of a general council? * Dupin's Eccles. History, p. 121. Poggio's account of Jerome's defence. 419 bably the last letter I shall be enabled to write, having reason to think I shall to-morrow be called upon to answer with my life. Sigismund (the emperor) hath in all things acted deceitfully. I pray God to for- give him ! You have heard in what severe terms he hath spoken of me." If we may credit the Catholic writers, Jerome at first displayed less magnanimity than his friend Huss. The dread of suffering intimidated him, and he showed a disposition to concede his opinions to his Ca- tholic interrogators, who, perceiving symptoms of this compliant tem- per about him, craftily availed themselves of it, and by procrastinating his trial from month to month, they hoped ultimately to recover him from his heresy. In this, however, they were disappointed. His mind gradually resumed all its wonted vigour; and instead of yielding his principles to his persecutors, he avowed them in the boldest man- ner, and supported them with increasing confidence to the last. Poggio Bracciolini, the Florentine secretary, who attended the council, and was a spectator of all he relates, gave a pretty circumstantial account of the whole of this tragical affair, in a letter to his friend Aretin, the pope's secretary, and it is too interesting to be omitted. Letter from Poggio of Florence to Leonard Jlretin. " In the midst of a short excursion into the country, I wrote to our common friend; from whom, I doubt not, you have had an account of me. " Since my return to Constance, my attention has been wholly en- gaged by Jerome, the Bohemian heretic, as he is called. The elo- quence and learning which this person has employed in his own defence, are so extraordinary, that I cannot forbear giving you a short account of him. "To confess the truth, I never knew the art of speaking carried so near the model of ancient eloquence. It was, indeed, amazing to hear with what force of expression, with what fluency of language, and with what excellent reasoning, he answered his adversaries : nor was I less struck with the gracefulness of his manner, the dignity of his action, and the firmness and constancy of his whole behaviour. It grieved me to think so great a man was labouring under so atrocious an accusation. Whether this accusation be a just one, God knows : for myself, I inquire not into the merits of it ; resting satisfied with the decision of my superiors. But I will just give you a summary of his trial. " After many articles had been proved against him, leave was at length given him to answer each in its order. But Jerome long refus- ed, strenuously contending that he had many things to say previously in his defence ; and that he ought first to be heard in general, before he descended to particulars. When this was overruled, ' Here,' said he, standing in the midst of the assembly, 'here is justice — here is equity. Beset by my enemies, I am already pronounced a heretic ; I am con- demned before I am examined. Were you gods omniscient, instead of an assembly of fallible men, you could not act with more sufficiency. 420 History of the Christian Church. Error is the lot of mortals ; and you, exalted as you are, are . subject to it. But consider, that the higher you are exalted, of the more dan- gerous consequence are your errors. As for me, I know I am a wretch below your notice ; but at least consider, that an unjust action, in such an assembly, will be of dangerous example.' " This, and much more, he spoke with great elegance of language, in the midst of a very unruly and indecent assembly : and thus far, at least, he prevailed ; the council ordered, that he should first answer ob- jections, and promised that he should then have liberty to speak. Ac- cordingly all the articles alleged against him were publicly read, and then proved ; after which he was asked, whether he had aught to ob- ject? It is incredible with what acuteness he answered; and with what amazing dexterity he warded off every stroke of his adversaries. Nothing escaped him : his whole behaviour was truly great and pious. If he were, indeed, the man his defence spoke him, he was so far from meriting death, that, in my judgment, he was not in any degree culpa- ble. In a word, he endeavoured to prove, that the greater part of the charges were purely the invention of his adversaries. Among other things, being accused of hating and defaming the holy see, the pope, the cardinals, the prelates, and the whole estate of the clergy, he stretched out his hands, and said, in a most moving accent, ' On which side, reverend fathers, shall I turn me for redress ? whom shall I implore ? whose assistance can I expect ? which of you hath not this malicious charge entirely alienated from me ? which of you hath it not changed from a judge to an inveterate enemy? It was artfully alleged indeed ! Though other parts of their charge were of less moment, my accusers might well imagine, that if this were fastened on me, it could not fail of drawing upon me the united indignation of my judges.' " On the third day of this memorable trial, what had passed was re- capitulated: when Jerome, having obtained leave, though with some difficulty, to speak, began his oration with a prayer to God ; whose assistance he pathetically implored. He then observed, that many ex- cellent men, in the annals of history, had been oppressed by false wit- nesses, and condemned by unjust judges. Beginning with profane his- tory, he instanced the death of Socrates, the captivity of Plato, the ba- nishment of Anaxagoras, and the unjust sufferings of many others: he then instanced the many worthies of the Old Testament in the same circumstances — Moses, Joshua, Daniel, and almost all the prophets; and lastly those of the New — John the Baptist, St. Stephen, and others, who were condemned as seditious, profane, or immoral men. An un- just judgment, he said, proceeding from a layic was bad; from a priest, worse ; still worse from a college of priests ; and from a general coun- cil, superlatively bad. These things he spoke with such force and emphasis, as kept every one's attention awake. " On one point he dwelt largely. As the merits of the cause rested entirely upon the credit of witnesses, he took great pains to show, that very little was due to those produced against him. He had many ob- jections to them, particularly their avowed hatred to him; the sources of which he so palpably laid open, that he made a strong impression upon the minds of his hearers, and not a little shook the credit of the Jerome's conduct before the Council. 421 witnesses. The whole council was moved, and greatly inclined to pity, if not to favour him. He added, that he came uncompelled to the coun- cil ; and that neither his life nor doctrine had been such, as gave him great reason to dread an appearance before them. Difference of opinion, he said, in matters of faith, had ever arisen among learned men, and was always esteemed productive of truth, rather than of error, where bigotry was laid aside. Such, he said, was the difference between Austin and Jerome : and though their opinions were not only different, but contradictory, yet the imputation of heresy was never fixed on either. "Every one expected, that he would now either retract his errors, or at least apologize for them; but nothing of the kind was heard from him : he declared plainly, that he had nothing to retract. He launched out into a high encomium of Huss, calling him a holy man, and lament- ing his cruel and unjust death. He had armed himself, he said, with a full resolution to follow the steps of that blessed martyr, and to suffer with constancy whatever the malice of his enemies could inflict. 'The perjured witnesses,' said he, ' who have appeared against me, have won their cause : but let them remember, they have their evidence once more to give, before a tribunal where falsehood can be no disguise.' " It was impossible to hear this pathetic speaker without emotion. Every ear was captivated, and every heart touched. But wishes in his favour were vain; he threw himself beyond a possibility of mercy. Braving death, he even provoked the vengeance which was hanging over him. ' If that holy martyr,' said he, speaking of Huss, ' used the clergy with disrespect, his censures were not levelled at them as priests, but as wicked men. He saw with indignation those revenues, which had been designed for charitable ends, expended upon pageantry and riot.' "Through this whole oration he showed a most amazing strength of memory. He had been confined almost a year in a dungeon : the se- verity of which usage he complained of, but in the language of a great and good man. In this horrid place he was deprived of books and pa- per. Yet, notwithstanding this, and the constant anxiety which must have hung over him, he was at no more loss for proper authorities and quotations, than if he had spent the intermediate time at leisure in his study. "His voice was sweet, distinct, and full : his action every way the most proper, either to express indignation or to raise pity ; though he made no affected application to the passions of his audience. Firm and intrepid, he stood before the council, collected in himself ; and not only contemning, but seeming even desirous of death. The greatest charac- ter in ancient story could not possibly go beyond him. If there is any justice in history, this man will be admired by all posterity. I speak not of his errors: let these rest with him. What I admired was his learning, his eloquence, and amazing acuteness. God knows whether these things were not the ground-work of his ruin. "Two days were allowed him for reflection; during which time many persons of consequence, and particularly my lord cardinal of Flo- 36 422 History of the Christian Church. rence, endeavoured to bring him to a better mind. But persisting ob- stinately in his errors, he was condemned as a heretic. With a cheerful countenance, and more than stoical constancy, he met his fate ; fearing neither death itself, nor the horrible form in which it appeared. When he came to the place, he pulled off his upper gar- ment, and made a short prayer at the stake ; to which he was soon after bound, with wet cords and an iron chain, and enclosed as high as his breast in faggots. " Observing the executioner about to set fire to the wood behind his back, he cried out, ' Bring thy torch hither. Perform thy office be- fore my face. Had I feared death, I might have avoided it.' " As the wood began to blaze, he sang a hymn, which the violence of the flame scarce interrupted. " Thus died this prodigious man. The epithet is not extravagant. I was myself an eyewitness of his whole behaviour. Whatever his life may have been, his death, without doubt, is a noble lesson of phi- losophy. " But it is time to finish this long epistle. You will say I have had some leisure upon my hands; and to say the truth, I have not much to do here. This will, I hope, convince you, that greatness is not wholly confined to antiquity. You will think me, perhaps, tedious ; but I could have been more prolix on a subject so copious. — Farewell, my dear Leonard." Constance, May 20. The news of these barbarous executions quickly reached Bohemia, where it threw the whole kingdom into confusion, and a civil war was kindled from the ashes of the martyrs. As to Winceslaus, the king, he was seldom sober, and paid no regard to the condition of his sub- jects. The nobility were divided into factions ; some zealous to resent the insults that had been offered to the nation by the proceedings at Constance, and to repel the forces that had been introduced into the kingdom by the authority of the pope, with a view to the suppression of heresy in Bohemia, and to compel that fierce nation to establish uni- formity in religion. Sigismuud, the emperor, had many respectable qualities ; but he had lent himself wholly to the papacy at the council, and in consequence of the disgust which his conduct had excited, the Bohemians revolted, and under the banners of a very intrepid leader, John Ziska, defended their opinions not only with arguments but with arms also. At first the populace were only a harmless inquisitive star- ing multitude; but as the Catholic priests proceeded to publish in the churches, bulls from the pope, exhorting all kings, princes, dukes, lords, citizens, and others, to take up arms against heresy, conjuring them by the wounds of Christ to extirpate heretics, and promising the forgiveness of all sins to any person who should kill a Bohemian here- tic, the people seceded in great multitudes, retired to the distance of about five miles from Prague, where they held meetings for public wor- ship, elected their own teachers, and had the Lord's supper administer- ed to them at three hundred tables, formed by laying boards upon casks, the number of communicants amounting to forty thousand. Proceedings in Bohemia. 423 Their leader, John Ziska, was of a noble family, brought up at court, and in high reputation for wisdom, courage, the love of his country, and the fear of God. Fugitives daily resorted to him from all parts, and put themselves under his protection. At one time four hundred poor men, who had lived in the mountains for the sake of enjoying religious liberty, came down to Pragtfe, with their wives and children, and ranged themselves under the banners of Ziska. It is highly probable that these were Waldenses, the descendants of those who had settled in remote parts of the kingdom more than two hundred and fifty years before. Freedom from the Austrian yoke, deliverance from the tyranny of Rome, and the full enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, were the objects for which Ziska avowedly contended, and his army presently consisted of forty thousand men. iEneas Sylvius, who afterwards ascended the pontifical chair under the title of Pius II. had travelled over the whole empire ; and by him we are informed that the churches and religious houses in Bohemia, were more numerous, more spacious, more elegant and sumptuous, than in any other part of Europe , and that the images in public places, and the habits of the priests, were covered with jewels and precious stones. Ziska commenced his work of reform with attacking these. He demolished the images, discharged the monks, who, he said, were only fattening like swine in sties, converted cloisters into bar- racks, conquered several towns and garrisoned Cuthna, defeated the armies of the emperor in several battles, and gave law to the kingdom of Bohemia till the time of his death, which happened in 1424. He encamped his followers on a rocky mountain about ten miles from Prague, which he soon after fortified with a wall, and within that the people built houses. This mountain he called Tabor (after Mount Ta- bor in the Holy Land) and thence his followers obtained the name of Taborites. When Ziska found himself dying, he gave orders that a drum should be made of his skin ; and what is equally extraordinary, his orders were faithfully obeyed. Ziska's skin, after undergoing the necessary preparations, was converted into a drum, which was long the symbol of victory to his followers. Procopius, a Catholic priest, converted by the writings of one of the disciples of Huss, revived the spirits of the Bohemian brethren, many of whom, after the death of Ziska, had re- treated to caves and mountains. Uniting the military with the sacer- dotal character, this champion supported the cause of his party with great courage and bravery, but fell in a battle with the Catholics. Yet so terrible had the name of the Hussites become to the emperor Sigis- mund, that, despairing to reduce them by the power of his arms, he entered into a compromise, allowing them the use of the cup in the eucharist, the deprivation of which had been a principal source of complaint ; together with a general amnesty, and a confirmation of their privileges. But verbal and even written promises are easily re- tracted, where there exists no power of enforcing their accomplish- ment ; and a right avails nothing without a remedy. The dispersed brethren ceased to be formidable. Sigismund renewed his tyranny. His immediate successors on the imperial throne were, like himself, 424 History of the Christian Church. zealous Catholics, and the friends and followers of Hnss continued to be the subjects of frequent persecutions till the times of Luther. Crantz, in his history of the Bohemian brethren, informs us, that after the death of Ziska, his followers divided themselves again, accord- ing to the diversity of their opinions and views, into Calixtines, Ta- borites, and Orphans ; while such as, with a distinguished zeal, urged an entire reformation were termed Zealots. In times of distress, how- ever, they all united against their common enemy ; and the latter, un- able to carry the point against them, granted to their deputies, at the council of Basil, in 1433, the terms contained in the following four ar- ticles, which goes by the name of The Bohemian Compactata, or terms of agreement. 1. That the word of God shall be freely preach- ed by able ministers, according to the Holy Scriptures, without any human invention. That the Lord's supper shall be administered unto all in both kinds, and divine worship performed in the mother-tongue. 3. That open sins shall be openly punished, according to the law of God, without respect of persons. 4. That the clergy should exercise no worldly dominion, but confine themselves to preaching the gospel.* But notwithstanding these concessions, it appears evident that mat- ters remained in a very unsettled state among the Bohemians about the middle of the century. The leading person in ecclesiastical affairs was Rokyzan, archbishop of Prague, a man of no principle whatever. The contentions of parties ran high; and this metropolitan, wearied with perpetual applications for reformation, which he found it quite imprac- ticable to carry into effect, at length advised such as were dissatisfied with the existing order of things to retire to the lordship of Lititz, be- tween Silesia and Moravia, about twenty miles from Prague ; — a place which had been laid waste by the ravages of war, where they might establish their own regulations respecting divine worship, choose their own ministers, and introduce their own discipline and order, according to their own conscience and judgment. Numbers adopted his sugges- tion, and in 1457, they formed themselves into a society bearing the name of the Unitas Fratrtjm, or United Brethren, binding themselves at the same time to a rigorous church discipline, and resolving to suffer all things for conscience sake ; and instead of defending themselves, as the Taborites had done, by force of arms, their only weapons were to be prayer and reasonable remonstrance against the rage of their ene- mies.! It is highly probable that when the archbishop offered them this in- dulgence, he had little expectation that they would be able to carry the project into effect ; it was merely an alternative which relieved him from a momentary embarrassment, and probably that was all he was concerned about; but if so, he found himself disappointed. Three years had not elapsed ere their numbers were considerable ; pious per- sons flocked to them, not only from different parts of Bohemia, but even from every distant quarter of the whole empire ; and churches were gathered every where throughout Bohemia and Moravia.' Many of the ancient Waldenses, who had been lurking about in dens and » Crantz's History, p. 19. f Ibid, part ii. p. 23. Increase of the United Brethren. 425 caves of the earth, as well as upon the tops of the mountains, now came forward with alacrity, and joining themselves to the " United Brethren," became eminently serviceable to the newly-formed societies, inconsequence of their more advanced state of religious knowledge and experience. Many of the new converts renounced the baptism of in- fants, and were baptized by the pastors before they were received into church communion.* The archbishop had not foreseen the consequences of settling these people on the crown lands. The multiplication of their numbers, and their growing influence, soon drew upon them the attention, and ex- cited the rancour of the Catholic party. A clamour against him ensu- ed ; and the Waldenses, Picards, and other opprobrious names, by which they were stigmatized, became too numerous and too scanda- lous for an archbishop to patronize ; he therefore found it necessary to treat them with indifference and keep them at a distance. Scarcely had three years transpired from the establishment of the society of " The United Brethren," than a terrible persecution arose against them in Bohemia and Moravia, and they were called to prove " what manner of spirit they were of." They were declared by the state unworthy of the common rights of subjects; and, in the depth of winter, expelled from their houses in towns and villages, with the forfeiture of all their goods. Even the sick were cast into open fields, where numbers per- ished through cold and hunger. They threw them into prisons, with a view to extort from them, by means of the severity of their suffer- ings, a confession of seditious designs, and an impeachment of their accomplices : and when nothing could be extorted from them, they were maimed in their hands and feet, inhumanly dragged at the tails of horses and carts, and quartered or burnt alive. During this persecu- tion, those who had it in their power to do so, retired into woods, for- tresses, and caves of the earth, where they held their religious assem- blies, elected their own teachers, and endeavoured to strengthen and edify one another. The parent society at Lititz, being less molested than those in other places, did not cease to send messengers and letters to their persecuted brethren, with the view of strengthening their faith and exhorting them to patience. In process of time the storm subsided, though not until nearly every society of the Brethren in Bohemia was scattered or dispersed, and both the king and archbishop were removed from the stage of life.t * Comenii Synopsis Hist. Persecutionum Eccles. Bohem. cap. 18. and Ca- meharius de ecclesiis fratrum narratio, p. 87. "Isthxc rebaptisatio, jam dictis tot causis usurpata et introducta a nostris, duravit in ecclesia nostra ad hxc usque tempora." Jlpologia verse doctrinse co- rum qui vulgo appellantur Waldenses et Picardi. D. G. M. Brandebar, Anno 1532. Par. iv. de Baptismo. " Initio crescente in cxtu multitudinum hominum, et ex diversamm religionum professionibus accedente, si quis forte de veritate baptismi christian! dubitarent, et animo suo angerentur, et conscientiam haberent malam, eos expetantes hoc curarunt denuo baptizandos, exigendo et sincerx fidaei confessionem et promis- sionem de observatione discipline et vita: sanctitate. Quem confitendi promit* tendique morem prisca ecclesia religiosissime tenuit. Camerahius, ubi supra. j Robinson's Eccles. Researches, p. 501. 36* 426 History of the Christian Church. Uladislaus, prince of Poland, was now elected to the crown of Bo- hemia, and being a mild and tolerant prince, little inclined to persecu- tion, the exiled brethren returned to their own homes, and resumed their occupations. Under this amiable monarch they cultivated their lands, applied themselves to literature, and for some years enjoyed prosperity as well as peace. According to the testimony of one of their bitter enemies, " They took such deep root, and extended their branches so far and wide, that it was impossible to extirpate them." In the year 1500, there were two hundred congregations of the United Brethren in Bohemia and Moravia. Many counts, barons, and noble- men joined their churches, who built them meeting houses in their cities and villages. They got the Bible translated into the Bohemian tongue, and printed at Venice ; when that edition was disposed of, they got two more printed at Nuremberg, and finding the demand for the Holy Scriptures continuing to increase, they established a printing office at Prague, another at Bunzlau in Bohemia, and a third at Kralitz in Moravia, -where at first they printed nothing but Bohemian Bibles. Although the king of Bohemia was extremely anxious to preserve peace and harmony among his subjects, whether Catholics, Calixtines, or the United Brethren, he found it no easy task to accomplish his wishes in that respect. " Every morning when he rose," says a late writer, " and every evening when he retired to rest, he put up this petition to God, ' Give peace in my time, O Lord!' A prayer worthy of a king, but Uladislaus did not know that to attain the object of his prayer he ought to discharge his chaplains." The clergy were per- petually teazing him for an edict against heretics, and poisoning his mind with false representations of their sentiments and conduct ; and they, at length, succeeded in obtaining a severe edict against them. The Brethren immediately drew up an apology, which they presented to the king ; and he, with his usual lenity, ordered his clergy to con- verse with the Picards, and endeavour to reclaim them by reason ; but by all means to maintain peace among themselves. An order was con- sequently issued, requiring the principal ministers of the Brethren in Prague to hold a conference, on an appointed day, with some of the Catholic clergy ; but early on the morning of that day, Martin Pocza- tecius, the principal enemy of the Brethren, died suddenly, and the conference was postponed. As the king was understood to be tolerant in his principles, the Brethren thought that a confession of their faith might probably produce some good, and they accordingly drew one up and sent it to his majes- ty, who was then in Hungary. It did not, however, answer the end at court ; for the Catholic bishops had recourse to a stratagem, which unhappily succeeded to their wishes. The king was passionately fond of his queen, who was at this time in an advanced state of pregnancy ; and the bishops and prelates having a great ascendancy over the queen, they, therefore, most humbly and earnestly entreated her to obtain from the king an edict to suppress the Picards, for they assured them- selves that, at such a time, he would not deny her majesty any request, or occasion her a moment's pain. The king one day entering her apartment, the queen mildly asked the favour. The monarch looked Bohemian Brethren persecuted. 427 sad and sorrowful, but remained silent. Bossack, an Hungarian bishop, began instantly to write in the king's presence ; and the edict was soon prepared and signed. The moment, however, that the humane mon- arch had put his name to the instrument, he quitted the room, retired to his closet, fell on his knees, burst into tears, and besought the Al- mighty to forgive him, and to frustrate the sanguinary purposes of these bishops against innocent men. At first the States would not allow this edict the force of law, so jealous were the Bohemians of their liberties ; and it took four years to bring them to consent to a statute which prohibited the " United Brethren" from holding any religious assem- blies, public or private ; commanded that their meeting-houses should all be shut up : that they should not be allowed either to preach or print ; and that within a given time they should all hold religious communion with either the Calixtines or the Catholics. Although the Catholic party had so far succeeded as to obtain this persecuting edict, they did not immediately reap from it all the happy fruits that they expected. The Bohemians were a bold and intrepid race of men, and not easily daunted. The king and wiser part of the magistrates, did not go heartily into the clerical measures of depopula- tion and destruction; and though the dominant party were so strong that the king durst not openly protect the Brethren, he was obliged to wink at the cruel use that was made of this persecuting statute by some bigoted magistrates ; but, upon the whole, the pacific inclination of the court was generally understood, and people acted accordingly. Some emigrated ; others retired and worshipped God as formerly, in remote places and in small companies ; some ran all risks, and many fell into the hands of their enemies and were punished. A Bohemian nobleman caught six poor men at their devotions, in a small village : he accordingly had them taken up, and brought before the parish-priest to be examined. The latter asked but one question, namely, whether they Avould submit to him as a shepherd of souls ? they answered to this, that " Christ was the shepherd of their souls" — upon which they were convicted on the statute against heresy, made in the twentieth year of their sovereign lord the king, and instantly committed to the flames. This is a fair specimen of their proceedings, and it is needless to enlarge or multiply instances. In this manner the affairs of the Brethren proceeded until Luther be- gan the Reformation in Gemiany ; at which time it would appear, that a continued series of persecutions had wasted the churches, and nearly exhausted the survivors of their fortitude and patience ; insomuch that the Brethren appear to have been meditating a compromise with the Catholic church, under certain modifications ; and actually wrote to Luther for his advice on the subject, in the year 1522. Sleidan has furnished us with the substance of the letter which Luther returned in reply, and it is of sufficient interest to merit insertion. He informs them that the name of Bohemians had been some time very odious unto him, so long as he had been ignorant that the pope was Antichrist : but that now, since God had restored the light of the gospel to the world, he was of a far different opinion, and had declared as much in his books ; so that at present the pope and his party were 428 History of the Christian Church. more incensed against him than against them ; that his adversaries had many times given it out that he had removed into Bohemia, which he oftentimes wished to have done ; but that lest they should have aspersed his progress, and called it a flight, he had altered his resolution. That as matters now stood, there were great hopes that the Germans and Bohemians might profess the doctrine of the gospel, and the same re- ligion ; that it was not without reason that many were grieved to see them so divided into sects among themselves ; but that if they should again make defection to popery, sects would not only not be removed, but even be increased and more diffused, for that sects abounded no where more than among the Romanists ; and that the Franciscans alone were an instance of this, who in many things differed among themselves, and yet all lived under the patronage and protection of the church of Rome. That his kingdom was, in some manner, maintained and sup- ported by the dissensions of men ; which was the reason also that made him set princes together by the ears, and afford continual matter of quarrelling and contention ; that, therefore, they should have special care, lest whilst they endeavour to crush those smaller sects, they fell not into far greater, such as the popish, which were altogether incurable, and from which Germany had been lately delivered. That there was no better way of removing inconveniences, than for the pastors of the churches to preach the pure word of God in sincerity. That if they could not retain the weak and giddy people in their duty, and hinder their desertion, they could at least endeavour to make them steadfast in receiving the Lord's supper in both kinds, and in preserving a venera- tion for the memory of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague ; for that the pope would labour chiefly to deprive them of these two things ; where- fore if any of them should relent, and give up both to the tyrant, it would be ill done of them. But that though all Bohemia should apos- tatize, yet he would celebrate and commend the doctrine of Huss to all posterity. That, therefore, he prayed and exhorted them to persevere in that way which they had hitherto defended with the loss of much blood, and with the highest resolution, and not cast a reproach upon the flourishing gospel by their defection. That although all things were not established among them, as they ought to be, yet God would not be wanting, in time, to raise up some faithful servants of his, who would reform what was amiss, provided they continued constant, and utterly rejected the uncleanness and impiety of the Romish papacy.* Mr. Robinson thus recapitulates the history of the Bohemian breth- ren. "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 descrip- tion arrived in Bohemia at the same time and settled near a hundred miles from Prague, at Saltz and Laun, on the river Eger, just on the borders of the kingdom. Almost two hundred years after, another un- doubted record of the same country mentions a people of the same de- scription, some as burnt at Prague, and others as inhabiting the borders * Sleidan's History of the Reformation, p. 58.] Luther's advice to the Bohemians. 429 of the kingdom ; and a hundred and fifty years after that, we find a people 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 Lichetenstein exactly like all the former, and about thirty or forty thousand in number. The religious character of this people is so very different 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 offices, and neither exacted nor took oaths. They bore no arms, and rather chose to suffer than resist wrong. They held every thing called religion in the church of Rome in abhorrence, and worshipped God only by adoring his perfections, and endeavouring to imitate his goodness. They thought Christianity wanted no comment; and they professed 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 Low highly probable it is that Bo- hemia afforded them work, wages, and a secure asylum, which were all they wanted. If these be facts, they are facts that do honour to hu- man 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 creatures."* * Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 527. ( 430 ) CHAPTER VI. HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES CONTINUED FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FOURTEENTH TO THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. SECTION I. HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES, FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FOURTEENTH? TO THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. A. D. 1350 1500. It has been pertinently remarked by a late writer, that in reading the history of every country, there are certain periods at which the mind naturally pauses, to meditate upon and consider them, with re- ference, not only to their immediate effects, but to their more remote consequences.* This remark is as applicable to the history of the Christian church, as it is to that of any particular country. I have en- deavoured to conduct the reader through the mazes and labyrinths of that history, during a period of nearly fourteen hundred years, in which time we have traversed a dreary wilderness, through a dark and be- nighted season, until we are at length brought to approach the confines of light— the morning of the Reformation. In entering upon the last chapter of this book, it may be no unprofitable employ, therefore, for us to pause, and take a review of the existing state of Europe, at this interesting period, in reference to the great concern of religion. The picture, indeed, has been already sketched by an able artist, and pro- bably I cannot do better than present it to the reader. " The state of religion at this time was truly deplorable. Ecclesias- tical government, instead of that evangelical simplicity and fraternal freedom which Jesus Christ and his apostles had taught, was now be- come a spiritual domination under the form of a temporal empire. An innumerable multitude of dignities, titles, rights, honours, privileges, and pre-eminences belonged to it, and were all dependent on a sove- reign priest, who, being an absolute monarch, required every thought to be in subjection to him. The chief ministers of religion were ac- tually become temporal princes ; and the high-priest, being absolute sovereign of the ecclesiastical state, had his court and his council, his ambassadors to negotiate, and his armies to murder — his flock. The clergy had acquired immense wealth ; and, as their chief study was either to collect and to augment their revenues, or to prevent the alien- ation of their estates, they had constituted numberless spiritual corpo- rations, with powers, rights, statutes, privileges, and officers. The * Fox's History of James II. — Introduction, p. 5. State of Religion prior to the Reformation. 431 functions of the ministry were generally neglected, and of consequence, gross ignorance prevailed. All ranks of men were extremely depraved in their morals, and the pope's penitentiary had published the price of every crime, as it was rated in the tax-book of the Roman chancery. Marriages, which reason and scripture allowed, the pope prohibited, and for money dispensed with those which both forbade. Church bene- fices were sold to children, and to laymen, who then let them to under tenants, none of whom performed the duty for which the profits were paid : but all having obtained them by simony, spent their lives in rleecing the flock to repay themselves. The power of the pontiff was so great, that he assumed, and what was more astonishing, he was suf- fered to exercise, a supremacy over many kingdoms. When monarchs gratified his will, he put on a triple crown, ascended a throne, suffered them to call him Holiness, and to kiss his feet. When they disobliged him, he suspended all religious worship in their dominions ; published false and abusive libels, called bulls, which operated as laws, to injure their persons ; discharged their subjects from obedience ; and gave their crowns to any who would usurp them. He claimed an infallibi- lity of knowledge, and an omnipotence of strength ; and he forbade the world to examine his claim. He was addressed by titles of blasphemy, and though he owned no jurisdiction over himself, yet he affected to extend his authority over heaven and hell, as well as over a middle place called purgatory, of all which places he said he kept the keys. This irregular church-polity was attended with quarrels, intrigues, schisms, and wars. " Religion itself was made to consist of the performance of numer- ous ceremonies, of Pagan, Jewish, and Monkish extraction, all which might be performed without either faith in God, or love to mankind. The church ritual was an address, not to the reason, but to the senses of men ; music stole the ear, and soothed the passions ; statues, paint- ings, vestments, and various ornaments, beguiled the eye ; while the pause which was produced by that sudden attack which a multitude of objects made on the senses, on entering a spacious decorated edifice, was enthusiastically taken for devotion. Blind obedience was first allowed by courtesy, and then established by law. Public worship was performed in an unknown tongue, and the sacrament was adored as the body and blood of Christ. The credit of the ceremonial pro- duced in the people a notion that the performance of it was the prac- tice of piety, and religion degenerated into gross superstition. Vice, uncontrolled by reason or scripture, retained a Pagan vigour, and com- mitted the most horrid crimes ; and superstition atoned for them, by building and endowing religious houses, and by bestowing donations on the church. Human merit was introduced, saints were invoked, and the perfections of God were distributed by canonization, among the creatures of the pope. " The pillars, that supported this edifice, were immense riches, aris- ing, by imposts, from the sins of mankind ; idle distinctions between supreme and subordinate adoration ; senseless axioms, called the divi- nity of the schools ; preachments of buffoonery, or blasphemy, or both ; cruel casuistry, consisting of a body of dangerous and scandalous mo- 432 History of the Christian Church. rality ; false miracles and midnight visions ; spurious books and paltry relics ; oaths, dungeons, inquisitions, and crusades. The whole was denominated the holy catholic and apostolic church, and laid to the charge of Jesus Christ."* These things premised, we now return to the history of the Waldenses. About the year 1400, a violent outrage was committed upon the Waldenses who inhabited the valley of Pragela, in Piedmont, by the Catholic party resident in that neighbourhood. The attack, which seems to have been of the most furious kind, was made towards the end of the month of December, when the mountains were covered with snow, and thereby rendered so difficult of access, that the peaceable in- habitants of the valleys were wholly unapprized that any such attempt was meditated , and the persecutors were in actual possession of their caves, ere the former seem to have been apprized of any hostile de- signs against them. In this pitiable plight they had recourse to the only alternative which remained for saving their lives — they fled to one of the highest mountains of the Alps, with their wives and chil- dren, the unhappy mothers carrying the cradle in one hand, and in the other leading such of their offspring as were able to walk. Their in- human invaders, whose feet were swift to shed blood, pursued them in their flight, until night came on, and slew great numbers of them, be- fore they could reach the mountains. Those that escaped, were, how- ever, reserved to experience a fate not more enviable. Overtaken by the shades of night, they wandered up and down the mountains, cover- ed withi snow, destitute of the means of shelter from the inclemencies of the weather, or of supporting themselves under it by any of the com- forts which Providence has destined for that purpose : benumbed with cold, they fell an easy prey to the severity of the climate, and when the night had passed away, there were found in their cradles, or lying upon the snow, fourscore of their infants, deprived of life, many of the mothers also lying dead by their sides, and others just upon the point of expiring. During the night, their enemies were busily employed in plundering the houses of every thing that was valuable, which they conveyed away to Susa. A poor woman, belonging to the Waldenses, named Margaret Athode, was next morning found hanging upon a tree ! This seems to have been the first general attack that was made by the Catholics on the Waldenses of Piedmont; for though the former had repeatedly availed themselves of the edicts of the emperors, the bulls of the popes, and the promptitude of inquisitorial zeal, to disturb their peace, and put many of them to death, during the three preceding centuries, yet such had been the protection afforded them by the Dukes of Savoy, that the rage of their adversaries was happily restricted to the occasional apprehension of a few solitary heretics, for whose good they never failed to light up the fires as often as opportunity was af- forded them. But the outrageous attack that was now made upon them was a novelty, and it made a lasting impression on their minds. They had experienced nothing like it, say their own historians, either in their • Memoirs of the Reformation in France, prefixed to Saurin's Sermons, trans- lated by Robinson, vol. i. Persecution of the Waldenses in France. 433 own time, or that of their forefathers ; and for more than a century af- terwards, they were wont to speak of it as of a dreadful scene which was still present to their view : and from generation to generation, they continued to relate, with deep impressions of horror, that sudden sur- prise which had occasioned so much affliction and calamity among them.* From that period, until about the year 1487, the Waldenses of Pied- mont appear to have remained, in a great measure, unmolested in the profession of their religion. But scenes of far more extensive cruelty were awaiting them, as will hereafter be shown ; it is, however, ne- cessary for us first to take a view of the proceedings against their breth- ren in other quarters. The persecution which had so furiously raged against them in France, during the earlier part of the thirteenth century, as detailed in a former section, and which may be said to have deluged the earth with their blood, had not wholly succeeded in extirpating the Waldenses from that country. The valleys of Fraissiniere, Argentiere, and Loyse,t seem to have abounded with them in the year 1450, at which time a Franciscan monk, armed with inquisitorial authority by the archbishop of Ambrun, was sent on a mission of persecution, and to drive them from the neighbourhood. Such was the ardour with which this zealot proceeded in his measures, that scarcely any persons in those valleys escaped being apprehended either as heretics or as their abettors. Those of them who were not of the profession of the Waldenses, had recourse to the king of France, Louis XL beseeching him to interfere, and, by his authority, put a stop to the course of such persecutions. The monarch listened to their application, and issued his royal letters, in which he pointedly condemns the conduct of the inquisitors, who by measures the most vexatious had molested the persons, and possessed themselves of the property of innocent subjects, whom they had, with, that intent, falsely accused of heresy, and annoyed with process upon process, both in the parliament of Dauphiny and of several other countries. Perrin has preserved a copy of these royal letters, in his History of the Waldenses : and they are entitled to regard from the disclosure which they make of the scandalous procedure of those agents of the court of Rome. A short extract will show the complexion of the whole. Thus his majesty proceeds : "And, whereas, in order to obtain the confiscation of the goods of those whom they charge with the said crime [of heresy]] several of the judges, and even of the inquisitors of the faith — are continuing to send out processes against several poor people, without any just or reasonable cause ; and have put some upon the rack, calling them to answer without any previous informations lodged against them ; and have condemned them for crimes of which * Vig'naux's Memoirs of the Waldenses — Perrin's Hsit. des Vaudois, b. ii. ch. iii. — Pierre Gilles Hist. Eccles. c. 4. — Morland's Churches of Piedmont, p. 194. f The reader should not forget the pleasing1 picture which Thuanus has sketch- ed of the inhabitants of these valleys, and which has been already quoted. See pages 349 — 350 of this volume. 37 434 History of the Christian Church. they were not guilty, as hath afterwards been discovered; while from others they have exacted large sums of money to obtain their liberty, and molested and troubled them by divers unjust and illegal means, to the injury not only of the said supplicants, but also of us and the whole republic of our country of Dauphiny," &c. &c. — the king, therefore, puts a stop to such disgraceful proceedings ; orders that all suits com- menced against such persons as can give proof of their innocence be dismissed, and that restitution be made for any injury they may have sustained.* But the zeal or avarice of the archbishop of Ambrun, and his inqui- sitorial colleagues, was so far from being damped by his majesty's let- ters, that they proceeded Avith more energy than ever. They dexter- ously contrived to convert a certain clause of the letters, into an autho- rity for their cruel proceedings, and found in it an entire justification of all their conduct; in consequence of which they resisted every appli- cation for redress or remuneration. Attempts were repeatedly made by some of these oppressed people to regain the property of which they had been despoiled; but though their cause was patronized, both by this monarch and by his successor, Charles VIII. they never could obtain a remedy. Innocent VIII. was raised to the pontifical chair in the year 1414, and soon after invested Albert de Capitaneis, archdeacon of Cremona, with full powers to act as his legate and commissioner. According to the usual practice of the popes on their accession to office, this pontiff issued his bull for the extirpation of heresy, pointing it particularly against the Waldenses, and arming Albert with authority to carry his will into effect. Having recounted, in a long preamble, the titles which be- longed to himself and to his "beloved son Albert," he thus proceeds : " Our hearty desires chiefly tend to this, that as touching those, for the gaining of whom to the church, the supreme Maker of all things was pleased to undergo human infirmities, we to whom he hath com- mitted the care and government of his flock, may, with all watchful in- dustry endeavour to withdraw them from the precipices of error, that providing for their salvation, as it shall please God to favour us with grace, we may continually labour, that the Catholic faith may, in our times, be propagated, and the evil of heresy be rooted out from the borders of the faithful." After this precious specimen of dissimulation, his holiness condescends to be a little more explicit. " We have heard," says he, " and it is come to our knowledge, not without much displeasure, that certain sons of iniquity, followers of that abominable and pernicious sect of malignant men, called the Poor of Lyons, or Waldenses, who have long ago endeavoured in Piedmont and other places, to ensnare the sheep belonging to God, to the perdition of their souls, having damnably risen up, under a feigned pretence of holiness — being given up to a reprobate sense, and made to err greatly from the way of truth — committing things contrary to the orthodox faith, offen- sive to the eyes of Divine Majesty, and which occasion a great hazard of souls," &c. &c. " We, therefore, having determined to use all our * Perrin's History, b. ii. ch.iii. Papal bull against the Waldenses. 435 endeavours, and to employ all our care, as we are bound by the duty of our pastoral charge, to root up and extirpate such a detestable sect — that the hearts of believers may not be damnably perverted from the catholic church — have thought good to constitute you, at this time, for the cause of God and the faith, the Nuncio Commissioner of us and of the-apostolic see, within the dominions of our beloved son Charles, Duke of Savoy — to the end that you should induce the followers of the most wicked sect of the Waldenses, and all others polluted with hereti- cal pravity — to abjure their errors, &c. And, calling to your assistance all archbishops and bishops, seated in the said duchy [of Savoy] whom the Most High hath called to share with us in our cares — with the in- quisitor, the ordinaries of the place, their vicars, &c. — you proceed to the execution thereof against the aforenamed Waldenses, and all other heretics whatever, to rise up in arms against them, and by a joint com- munication of processes, to tread them under foot as venomous adders ; diligently providing that the people committed to their charge do per- severe in the profession of the true faith — bending all your endeavours, and bestowing all your care towards so holy and so necessary an exter- mination of the same heretics." In this style the pontiff proceeds through several succeeding pages, giving directions for the raising of an army of crusaders, appointing generals and officers to command it — issuing instructions how to seize the effects of all heretics, and dis- pose of the booty, &c. &c. and at length he thus closes the address to Albert. " Thou, therefore, beloved son, taking upon thee with a devout mind tlic buidcu uf so meritorious a work, show thyself, ill the execu- tion thereof, so careful in word and deed, and so diligent and studious, that the much wished-for fruits may, through the grace of God, re- dound unto thee from thy labours, and that thou mayestnot only obtain the crown of glory which is bestowed as a reward on those that prose- cute pious causes, but that thou mayest also ensure the approbation of us and of the apostolic see."* — Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, 27 Apr. 1487, and the 3d of our popedom. Albert was no sooner vested with his high commission, than he pro- ceeded to the south of France, where he called to his aid the king's lieutenant in the province of Dauphiny, who lost no time in levying troops for his service, at the head of whom he himself marched, as di- rected by Albert, in the valley of Loyse. The inhabitants, apprized of their approach, fled into their caves at the tops of the mountains, car- rying with them their children, and whatever valuables they had, as well as what was thought necessary for their support and nourish- ment. The lieutenant finding the inhabitants all fled, and that not an individual appeared with whom he could converse, at length discovered their retreats, and causing quantities of wood to be placed at their en- trances, ordered it to be set on fire. The consequence was, that four hundred children were suffocated in their cradles, or in the arms of their dead mothers, while multitudes to avoid dying by suffocation, or being burnt to death, precipitated themselves headlong from their ca- verns upon the rocks below, where they were dashed in pieces ; or * Morland's Churches of Piedmont," p. 188—198. 436 History of the Christian Church. if any escaped death by the fall, they were immediately slaughtered by the brutal soldiery. " It is held as unquestionably true," says Perrin, " amongst the Waldenses dwelling in the adjacent valleys, that more than three thousand persons, men and women, belonging to the valley of Loyse, perished on this occasion. And, indeed, they were wholly exterminated, for that valley was afterwards peopled with new inhabi- tants, not one family of the Waldenses having subsequently resided in it; which proves beyond dispute, that all the inhabitants, and of both sexes, died at that time."* Having completed their work of extermination in the valley of Loyse, they next proceeded to that of Fraissiniere ; but Albert's presence and that of the army being found necessary in another quarter, he appointed as his substitute in these valleys a Franciscan monk, who, in the year 1489, began to exhibit fresh informations against the inhabitants of Fraissiniere. He cited them to appear before him at Ambrun ; but disregarding his citation, they were first excommunicated, then anathe- matized, and lastly, condemned as contumacious heretics, to be deliver- ed over to the secular power, and their goods confiscated. A counsellor, of the name of Ponce, attended on this occasion in behalf of the par- liament of Dauphiny, the object of which was supposed to be that of precluding any appeal being made from this mixt judgment. The sen- tence was pronounced at the great church of Ambrun, and afterwards fixed upon the door of the church — to which were appended thirty-two articles of the faith of the Waldenses, chiefly relating to the mass, pur- gatory, the invocation uf saints, pilgrimagoo, the ubscivaiioc of foaets, the distinction of meats on certain days, &c. on all of which subjects they were regarded as heretical. To these, indeed, were added some detestable charges, concerning incest and uncleanness, but which, as they never had the semblance of probability to support, or even render them plausible, I deem it unnecessary to particularize. The persecution which ensued, is said to have been extremely se- vere. For the Waldenses being condemned as heretics by the inquisi- tor; Ponce, the counsellor, and Oronce, the judge, committed them to the flames, as fast as they were apprehended, without permitting them to make any appeal. The number of sufferers was also consider- ably augmented on another ground; for, whoever presumed to intercede in their behalf, though it were the child for the parent, or the parent for the child, he was instantly committed to prison, and himself prosecuted as a favourer of heretics.! While these merciless proceedings were going on against the Wal- denses in France, Albert de Capatineis had advanced in the year 1488, at the head of eighteen thousand soldiers, against the valleys of Pied- mont. The invading army was also joined by many of the Piedmon- tese Catholics, who hastened to it from all parts, allured by the specious promise of obtaining the remission of their sins, and the hope of shar- ing in the sweets of plunder. The more effectually to get possession of the country, the enemy's forces were divided into detachments, and inarching in different directions against Angrogne, Lucerne, La Perouse, * Perrin's History, b. ir. ch. iii. j Ibid. Attack on the Waldenses in Piedmont. 437 St. Martin, Praviglerm, and Biolet, which is in the marquisate of Sa- luces ; thus, as it were, encompassing the whole of the valleys. They also raised troops in Dauphiny, to overrun the valley of Pragela. But the Waldenses, armed with wooden targets and crossbows, availing themselves of the advantages of their situation, every where defended the passes of their mountains, and repulsed their invaders — " the wo- men and children on their knees, during the conflict, entreating the Lord to protect his people." When information of this affair was brought to the Duke of Savoy, his heart was touched with compassioivtowards his subjects. He was convinced they had always been a loyal and obedient people, and he candidly distinguished between the resistance which on this occasion, his subjects had made, and a spirit of sedition and turbulence. They sent a deputation to wait upon him, and explain the motives of their conduct ; at the same time offering an apology for whatever might seem improper. The prince accepted their apology and forgave them what was passed. 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 fore- head, he commanded some of them to be brought before him to Pigne- rol, where, being satisfied by ocular demonstration, that the Waldenses were not monsters, he blamed himself for being so easily imposed upon by the clergy of the Catholic church, as to credit such idle reports ; and, at the same time, declared his determination to protect them hence- forward in the undisturbed possession of those privileges which had been allowed their ancestors, and which the rest of his subjects in Pied- mont still enjoyed.* But though this declaration sufficiently manifested the kind intentions of the prince towards his subjects, he seems to have wanted the power necessary for carrying them into effect. The inquisitors, who lay in ambush in a convent near Pignerol, issued their processes daily against the AValdenses, and as often as they could apprehend any of them they were delivered over for punishment to the secular power. In this way they continued to harass them in that quarter until the year 1532. And it appears from their history, that by these means a visible impression was made upon their public church-meetings. The fear of the inquisi- tors had imperceptibly led them to study to avoid publicity ; and in process of time they assembled for worship wholly in private. In the year last mentioned, however, they seem to have been sensibly struck with the impropriety of this mode of procedure ; for upon reviewing the existing state of matters among them, they came to the determina- tion no longer to conceal their meetings for worship, but resolved that their elders should preach the gospel openly and boldly, unawed by the apprehension of danger from their adversaries. The Duke of Savoy, instigated by the archbishop and the inquisitor of Turin, seems to have taken umbrage at this re-appearance in public of the Waldenses ; for, on being told of it, he so far yielded to the soli- citations of the clergy, as to despatch one of his officers at the head of * Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. iii. Morland's History, p. 223. 37* 438 History of the Christian Church. five hundred men, horse and foot, who, before the inhabitants were ap- prized, entered the valleys, pillaging, plundering, and laying waste whatever came in their way. The unsuspecting people were, at the time the army approached, industriously employed about the cultivation oftheir lands. But recovering from the panic into which they had been thrown by this unexpected attack, they took courage, and every man quitting his plough and his agricultural pursuits, they fled to the passes of their mountains, which they secured ; and then arming themselves with slings and stones, encountered their invaders so manfully that they compelled them to flee, leaving their booty behind, and many of their men dead upon the field. When the news of this reached the Duke of Savoy, he remarked that experience had sufficiently shown it to be an improper plan to attempt to reclaim and subdue the inhabitants of Piedmont by military force; the strength of their country, and their intimate acquaintance with the defiles and passes of the mountains giving them an infinite advantage over their assailants ; and, therefore, while the skin of one of the Wal- denses was to be purchased at the expense of the lives of a dozen of his other subjects, it was foolish to proceed in that way. He consequently, declined employing his military force any more against them, and re- linquished it to the inquisitors after heresy, to apprehend them two or three at a time, as they came in or went out of the valleys.* I believe I must here interrupt the narrative, for the purpose of in- troducing a short extract from that lively French writer, Monsieur Vol- taire, in which he furnishes us with an estimate of the character of the Waldenses in France, of whom we have been speaking. It is interest- ing to compare the opinions of different writers upon any particular subject; and the reader cannot be displeased at having the opportunity of seeing how nearly, on this topic, those of Voltaire, a man of no re- ligion, coincided with the sentiments of the liberal Sleidan, and the in- comparable Thuanus, to both of whom we have already had occasion to advert, and shall again in the sequel. " In the twelfth century," says Voltaire, " there was one Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, whose piety and errors are said to have given rise to the Vaudois, (Waldenses.) This man having retired with several poor people, whom he maintained, to the desert valleys betwixt Provence and Dauphine, acted both as their high-priest and father, instructing them in his doctrine, in which he differed very little from the Albigenses, or from Wickliff, John Huss, Luther, and Zuin- glius, in regard to several of the chief articles. These men lived a great while in obscurity, busied in the culture of barren lands, which, with indefatigable industry, they rendered fit for corn and pasture : a proof of our being greatly to blame, if through neglect, we suffer any part of France to be uncultivated. The neighbouring grounds were let to them on leases ; and they improved them by their labour, so as to maintain themselves, and to enrich their landlords, who never com- plained of their behaviour. In the space of 250 years, their number increased to near 18,000, who were dispersed in thirty small towns, * Morlancl's History, p. 224. Voltaire's account of the JValdenses. 439 besides hamlets. 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 neighbouring cities knew that there existed any such things as mass or bishops. They prayed to God in their own jargon;* and, being continually employed, they had the happiness to know no vice. This peaceful state they enjoyed for above 200 years, since the wars against the Albigenses, with which the nation had been wearied. When mankind have long rioted in cruelty, their fury abates and sinks into languor and indifference ; as we see con- stantly verified both 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 hear that there were others of the same persuasion as themselves. Immediately they sent some of their minis- ters, a name given to the curates of the Protestant churches, to visit them ; and since then, the Waldenses are but too well known. "t So far Mons. Voltaire, whose narrative, considering the principles of the author, is as candid and correct as could reasonably be expected. Of the number of persons who professed the faith of the Waldenses, both within and without the valleys of Piedmont, at the beginning of the sixteenth century — the period when Luther broke off from the church of Rome and began the Reformation in Germany, it would be impossible to attain any certainty. But it is presumed the reader will have seen enough in the preceding pages to satisfy him, that the opin- ion which has so currently prevailed among us, of the almost total ex- tinction of the Christian profession, in its purity, at the time of, and for ages preceding, the Lutheran reformation, is altogether a popular error. There was a period, in the history of ancient Israel, when idolatry and profaneness appeared to have so wholly deluged the land, that the prophet Elijah was led to consider himself as a solitary worshipper of the true God, in the midst of the creation. Yet the Lord had reserved to himself seven thousand souls who had not bowed the knee to Baal, although unknown to the prophet. It appears from what Voltaire has just remarked, and, indeed, an attentive reader of the works of Luther and his associates will easily perceive, that their minds laboured under a somewhat similar mistake as to their- own case. It was not without surprise they learnt, that there were numbers around them, in every country, opposed to the corruptions of the church of Rome, and sighing in secret for a reform. It may also be added, that Protestants in every succeeding age have but too implicitly imbibed their error.;}; The * What Mons. Voltaire means by this uncouth speech is, that the Waldenses had no liturgy or forms of public prayer. •j- Voltaire's Universal History, vol. ii. p. 338, 12mo. edit. Edin. 1782. | I might instance in proof of this fact, even in our own times, Mr. Cox's in- teresting Life of Melancthon, recently published. The author of that work does indeed speak of " Waldus, Wickliff, Huss, and Jerome of Prague," as of im- perishable names ; and he adds, "but in vain did they struggle against the torrent of corruption that deluged the earth. They could oppose, in their respective times and stations, but a momentary resistance, and were swept away. Their ef- forts, indeed, produced some effects, but they were evanescent, for 'darkness 440 History of the Christian Church. blessed God hath never left himself without witnesses in the world ; and even during the reign of Antichrist — a period of the most general and awful defection from the purity of his worship, he had reserved to him- self thousands and tens of thousands of such as kept his commandments and the faith of Jesus. Nor is there any thing in this to occasion our surprise. The real followers of Christ are subjects of a kingdom that is not of this world. And having no national establishment, nor aim- ing at worldly power, their principles and conduct have seldom been thought .worthy of regard by the world, except in so far as their public testimony against it has subjected them to persecution. The true pro- fession of Christianity leads its friends to cultivate peace and union among themselves, and, like its divine author, to avoid all turbulence and faction in the state. But amidst the rubbish of error, as a late writer has justly remarked, which had accumulated century after century till the Reformation, God determined to erect the temple of Truth, and his providence cleared an ample space, chose a variety of workmen, and reared the admirable structure. And as in the erection of a building, it is necessary that there be different kinds of labourers, all co-operating together and all essential to complete the undertaking, so it was requisite, in erecting this great edifice, to prepare and to employ persons very differently constituted, but all capable of useful co-operation. If the Reformation claimed the steady efforts of true courage and inextinguishable zeal, it ought also to be remembered, that it no less required a proportion of nice discernment, elegant taste, and literary skill ; — if a superstition which invested a mortal with the prerogative of infallibility, were to be attacked and levelled with the dust, the ignorance which, with its characteristic blindness supported that superstition, was at the same time to be dethroned and demolished ; — if old abuses were to be re- moved, and a new order of things to be introduced and systematized, it was desirable to find not only a nervous, but a polished mind, at once to clear away the rubbish of error, and clothe unwelcome novelties with attractive beauty ; — in a word, if existing circumstances called for a Luther, they also demanded a Melancthon.* In the year 1530, George Morel, one of the pastors of the church of the Waldenses, published Memoirs of the History of their Churches, in which he states, that at the time he wrote, there were above eight hundred thousand persons professing the religion of the Waldenses ;t covered the earth, and gross darkness the people.' But when Luther appeared," &.c. page 3. Now what I object to, in this statement is, that it is calculated to mislead the reader, inasmuch as it has a tendency to impress him with this very erroneous no- tion, that during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, the four individuals, whose names he records, were the only advocates of reform. Thus the thousands, and tens of thousands, of the Waldenses and Albigenses, who at the constant peril, and generally at the expense of their lives, kept up a standing testimony against the abominations of the man of sin, are wholly overlooked ! This is scarcely pardonable in a Dissenter who knew better, and can only have arisen from the most culpable inadvertency. * Cox's life of Melancthon, p. 38. f Morland's Evangelical Churches, p. 224. Estimate of the character of Luther. 441 nor will this appear an exaggerated statement, if we consider the view that was given, in the last section, of their dispersions throughout almost every country of Europe — the immense numbers that suffered martyr- dom; and what was formerly mentioned, that in the year 1315, namely two centuries before this time, there were eighty thousand of them in the small kingdom of Bohemia. It seems reasonable, however, to conclude, that the Waldenses must have beheld with infinite satisfaction, the schism which took place in the Roman church, when Luther and his associates withdrew from its com- munion. For, independent, of the labours of this intrepid reformer, the great cause for which the Waldenses were contending, viz. the purity of the doctrines of the gospel, and the simplicity of christian wor- ship— was powerfully supported by a host of learned men, who rose up in rapid succession, and ranged themselves on the side of Luther. Among these were Philip Melancthon, John Ecolampadius, Martin Bucer, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, Zuinglius, Peter Martyr, Bullinger, and many others, all advocates of reform, and men of eminent talents, who, by their various labours, both from the pulpit and the press, con- tributed greatly to disseminate the knowledge of divine truth, and free the minds of their contemporaries from the slavish shackles of ignorance and superstition. But although we may readily conceive the pleasure which it must have yielded the Waldenses, to contemplate the labours of these great men in so glorious a cause, they do not appear to have acted precipi- tately In interfering with them, or soliciting an union of churches. The reformers, with all their zeal and learning, were babes in spiritual knowledge, when compared with the more illiterate Waldenses — par- ticularly in regard to the nature of the kingdom of Christ, and its insti- tutions, laws, and worship in general. Luther, for instance ; besides that both he and Calvin always contended for a form of national Chris- tianity— a principle which, the moment it is received into the mind, must necessarily darken it as to the nature of the kingdom of Christ ; Luther, with all his zeal against popery, was never able to disentangle his own mind from the inexplicable doctrine 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, but insisted strenuously on a consubstan- tiation — that 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 drank by the communicants !* And * It is not intended by this remark, to insinuate any disparagement to the cha- racter of this great reformer, of whose laborious exertions in the cause of truth and virtue no one can entertain a higher opinion than myself. His praise is in all the churches, and will be handed down to the latest posterity with increasing lustre. Let me further add, that, what appears to me the most amiable and in- teresting part of his character, seems to be the least generally known among us in the present day. To explain my meaning, I shall here quote a passage from the writings of one of his contemporaries, who in a letter to Philip Melancthon, thus describes him: 442 History of the Christian Church. with respect to Calvin, it is manifest, that the leading, and to me at least, the most hateful feature in all the multiform character of popery adhered to him through life — I mean the spirit of persecution. Hold- ing, as I do, many doctrinal sentiments in common with Calvin, I am prompted to speak my opinion of him with the less reserve. I regard him as a man whom the Creator had endowed with transcendant ta- lents, and have no doubt that he knew what " flesh and blood could never reveal to him." He seems to have been blessed with an extraor- dinary insight into the economy of human redemption, as revealed in the sacred writings ; and his vast and capacious mind took a compre- hensive grasp of a system which angels contemplate with wonder and amazement, and in which they study the manifold wisdom of God. No mere man, probably, ever surpassed Calvin, in his indefatigable la- bours, according to the measure of his bodily strength, in making known to others the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus, both from the pulpit and the press ; and his bitterest enemies cannot deny that the progress of the Reformation was wonderfully accelerated by his means. Yet, with all these excellencies, Calvin was a persecutor ! He had yet to learn, or at least how to practise, that simple lesson of the kingdom 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 enemies and the corrupters of his truth. Upon this point his judgment was perverted by the principle of his education, and unhappily for his own character and the cause of truth, his conduct was founded upon this erroneous judgment. His behaviour throughout the whole affair of Servetus, is too well known to need any explanation in this place ; but I conceive it to be the imperious duty of every friend to toleration and the rights of conscience, to express their marked abhorrence of this part of the character of Calvin. And more especially is it the duty of those, the similarity of whose theological creed to that which he contended for, hath subjected them to the im- putation of being his followers. As an obscure, and humble individual " I cannot sufficiently admire the extraordinary cheerfulness, constancy, faith, and hope of this man, in these trying1 and vexatious times. He continually nourishes these good affections, hy a very diligent study of the word of God. Then not a day passes in which he does not occupy in prayer at least three of his very best hours. I once happened to hear him at prayer. Gracious God! What spirit and what faith there was in his language! He petitions God with as much reverence as if he were actually in the divine presence, and yet with as firm a hope and confidence, as he would address a father and a friend. ' I know,' says he, « thou art our Father and our God; therefore I am sure thou wilt bring to nought the persecutors of thy children. For shouldst thou fail to do this, thine own cause, being connected with ours, would be endangered. It is entirely thine own concern: we, by thy providence, have been compelled to take a part. Thou, therefore, wilt be our defence.' " Whilst I was listening to Luther praying in this manner at a distance, my soul seemed on fire within me, to hear the man address God so like a friend, and yet with so much gravity and reverence; and also to hear him in the course of his prayer, insisting on the promises contained in the Psalms, as if he were cer- tain his petitions would be granted." — Coeelst. I. 275. Com. de Luth. lxix. 8. Sketch of Papal policy. 443 of that class, I strenuously deprecate every attempt to palliate the enor- mity of Calvin's conduct in the instance referred to, by pleading, as many have done, that Socinus was as bitter a persecutor as himself : for until it be made apparent to my understanding how two blacks con- stitute one white, I must regard such pleas as extremely ill-judged. The truth is, and it ought to be avowed, that the conduct of Calvin admits of no apology ! It was a violent outrage upon the laws of hu- manity as well as upon the laws of God, and has fixed a stigma upon the character of that otherwise great man, which will never be oblite- rated. But let not the enemies of the truth, from this take occasion, as they too often have done, to identify the spirit of persecution with the doctrines which Calvin held. His conduct, in this particular, has drawn tears of lamentation and regret from the eyes of thousands, since his time, on account of the reproach it has brought upon the way of truth, " causing it to be evil spoken of," and it will continue to suf- fuse with all the consciousness of shame, the cheeks of thousands yet unborn. SECTION II. HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES FROM THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH TO THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY ; AND MORE ESPECIALLY OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THEM IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. A. D. 1500 — 1550. The history of Modern Europe does not present us with a more in- teresting period than the commencement of the sixteenth century, the era at which we are now arrived. The sanguinary proceedings that had been carried on against the Waldenses in the southern provinces of France, towards the close of the former century, had apparently ex- hausted the malice of the court of Rome ; the heretics, for the moment at least, were driven from public view ; and the state of the Catholic church was more than usually tranquil. The empire and the priest- hood, which for several centuries had been constantly in arms against each other, had depopulated Italy, Germany, and almost every other country in Europe, but the contest ended in the triumph of the church. The Roman pontiffs, says a late writer, have always possessed an ad- vantage over the other sovereigns of Europe, from the singular union of ecclesiastical and temporal power in the same person ; two engines- which long experience had taught them to use with a dexterity equal to that with which the heroes of antiquity availed themselves by turns of the shield and the spear. When schemes of ambition and aggran- dizement were to be pursued, the pope, as a temporal prince, could en- ter into alliances, raise supplies, and furnish his contingent of troops, so as effectually to carry on an offensive war ; but no sooner was he endangered by defeat, and alarmed for the safety of his own govern- ment, than he resorted for shelter to his pontifical robes, and loudly 444 History of the Christian Church. called upon all Christendom to defend from violation the head of the holy church. These characters were successively assumed with great address and advantage ; and although some difficulties might occasion- ally arise in the exercise of them, yet the world has been sufficiently indulgent to their situation ; nor has even the shedding of Christian blood been thought an invincible objection to the conferring on a deceas- ed pontiff the honour of adoration, and placing him in the highest order of sainthood conferred by the church.* At the opening of the sixteenth century the pontifical chair was filled by Alexander VI. who died in 1503, after a reign of eleven years, leav- ing behind him a memory, says Voltaire, more odious than the Nero's or Caligula's, because a greater degree of guilt arose from the sanctity of his character. He was succeeded by Julius II. who, after a military but successful reign of a few years, gave place to the celebrated Leo X. in whose pontificate Luther commenced hostilities with the papacy, threw off his allegiance to the See of Rome, and entered upon his career of reform. A. D. 1517. To enter upon any thing like a circumstantial detail of the History of the Reformation, would not only demand much more space than can be allotted to it in the present undertaking, but would also, in a great measure, be to depart from my leading object. Nor, indeed, is such a narrative called for by the public exigence. Any deficiency of that kind which may be experienced by the readers of the present work, may readily be supplied by consulting the authors mentioned below,* whose writings are in the hands of every scholar. Instead, therefore, of treading this beaten track over again, I shall only remark upon it, that the flame which was kindled throughout Europe, at this time, by the preaching and writings of Luther and his associates, so completely occupied the attention of the Catholic party for about a do- zen years, namely, from 1517 to 1530, that the Waldenses, both in France and Piedmont, were happily, in a great measure, overlooked. But as the conflagration excited by Luther's hostility gradually sub- sided, they began again to attract the notice of their adversaries, and to come in for an equal share of their malice and malignity ; of the truth of which the reader will soon have abundant proof. In the year 1530, the Waldenses seem to have been entirely employ- ed in paving the way for a more unreserved intercourse between them and the German Reformers. Such of them as resided in the south of France, had, at this time, been sustaining the fire of papal persecution, and it would seem that they had not encountered it with their usual fortitude. Many amongst them had been induced to shrink from the cross ; and to avoid its inconvenience, were fallen into the practice of feigning a complaisant kind of acquiescence with the national forms of worship. Some of the Waldensian churches of Provence appear to have been deeply affected at seeing this Laodicean conduct prevail ; and * Roscoe's Life and Pontificate of Leo X. vol. I. ch. i. The reference is to the case of Saint Leo. IX f Milner's History of the Christian Church, vol. iv. and Sleidan's History of the Reformation. Robertson's History of Charles V. &c. &c. The Waldenses' letter to Ecolampadius. 445 to bring the matter to its proper bearing, they commissioned two of their pastors, viz. George Morel and Peter Burgoine, to confer with the other churches and with some of the Reformers upon that subject. They first visited their sister churches in the neighbouring provinces of Dauphiny, and from thence proceeded on their journey towards Germany, to have a personal interview with John Ecolampadius, minister of Basle, in Switzerland ; with Martin Bucer, at Strasburgh ; and Richard Haller, at Berne. The churches sent letters by them, ex- plaining their situation, and asking their advice. The following is an extract of their letter to Ecolampadius. Health be to you, Mr. Ecolampadius. " Whereas several persons have given us to understand that He who is able to do all things hath replenished you with the blessings of his Holy Spirit, as conspicuously appears by its fruits, we have re- course to you from a far country under the firm hope and confidence, that by your means the Holy Spirit will enlighten our minds into the knowledge of several things, concerning which we, at present, stand in doubt." They then proceed to explain the immediate occasion of their writing — " We, poor instructers of this small people," say they, "have sustained, for above these four hundred years, most severe and cruel persecutions, not without signal marks of Christ's favour, as all the faithful can testify ; for he has often interposed for the deliver- ance of his people, when under the harrow of these cruel and severe persecutions ; and we now come unto you for advice and consolation in this our state of distress," &c. &c. The particular subjects of difficulty and distress may be easily gathered from the letter which Ecolampadius wrote them in reply, and which is so excellent that I shall here insert it entire. Ecolampadius ivishes the grace of God, through Jesus Christ his Son, and the Holy Spirit, to his well-beloved brethren in Christ, called Waldenses. " We understand that the fear of persecution hath caused you to conceal and dissemble your faith. Now, with the heart we believe unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salva- tion. But those who are afraid to confess Christ before the world, shall find no acceptance with God the Father ; for our God is truth without any dissimulation ; and as he is a jealous God, he cannot en- dure that any of his servants should take upon them the yoke of anti- christ. For there is no fellowship or communion between Christ and Belial ; and if you communicate with infidels, by going to their abomi- nable masses, you will there hear blasphemies against the death and sufferings of Christ. For when they boast, that by means of such sa- crifices they make satisfaction to God for the sins of both the living and the dead, what naturally follows from thence, but that Christ by his death hath not made sufficient expiation and satisfaction, and con- sequently that Christ is not Jesus — that is, not a Saviour, and that he 38 446 History of the Christian Church. died for us in vain ? That if we participate of that impure table, we thereby declare ourselves to be of one and the same body with the wicked, however contrary we may pretend it to be to our wills and inclinations. And when we say Amen to their prayers, do we not deny Christ ? "What death ought we not rather to undergo; what torture and tor- ment ought we not rather to endure — nay, into what abyss of wo and misery ought we not rather to plunge ourselves, than by our presence to testify our .consent to, and approbation of, the blasphemies of the wicked ? I know that your infirmity is great; but those who have been taught that they were redeemed by the blood of Christ, ought to be more courageous, and always to stand in awe of Him who can cast both body and soul into hell. And what ! is it enough for us to have pre- served this life alone? Shall this be more precious to us* than that of Christ ? And are we satisfied with having enjoyed the delights and pleasures of this world ? Are there not crowns laid before us, and shall we flinch back and recoil ? Who will believe that our faith was true and sincere, if it want zeal and ardour in the time of persecution ? We beseech the Lord to increase your faith. But surely it is better for us to lose our lives than to be overcome by temptations. And, therefore, brethren, I beseech you thoroughly to consider this matter; for if it be lawful for us to conceal our faith under the tyranny of antichrist, it must be lawful so to do under that of the Turk, and, with Dioclesian, to worship a Jupiter or a Venus. It would then have been lawful for Tobit to worship the calf in Bethel — and what then will become of our faith towards God? If we do not pay to God that honour which is due to him, and if our lives-be nothing else than hypocrisy and dissimula- tion, he will spew us out. of his mouth, like base and lukewarm wretches. And how shall we glorify the Lord in the midst of suffer- ings and tribulations, if we deny him ? We must not, brethren, look back, when once we have put our hand to the plough ; nor must we yield to the dictates and instigations of our flesh, which by prompting us to sin, though it may endure many things that are distressing in this world — may, after all, sutler shipwreck in the haven." This excellent letter came very opportunely to the aid of the poor persecuted Waldenses, who were immediately called to carry its prin- ciples into effect. Peter Masson, one of their pastors, and messengers of the churches, on this occasion, returning home, was seized at Dijon, and condemned to death as a Lutheran. George Morel narrowly es- caped with his letters and papers, but arrived safe in Provence, where he laboured assiduously and with much success in re-establishing the Waldensian churches. But the reader will best learn the state of affairs among the Waldensian brethren in the south of France, from the year 1540 to 1550, by my laying before him the following extracts from two eminent writers, who lived shortly after the events which they have re- corded, and whose works are of unquestionable veracity; and I the rather do this, that I may not be suspected of any wish to exaggerate the sanguinary proceedings of the Catholic party against the Waldenses. The following is Sleidan's account. — " In Provence, in France, there are a people called Waldenses, who, by an ancient custom, acknowledge not the pope of Rome, having al- Persecution in the south of France. 447 ways professed a greater purity of doctrine ; and, since Luther appear- ed, eagerly thirsted after knowledge. Many times had they been com- plained of to the king, as despisers of magistrates and fornentors of re- bellion, which envious, rather than true accusation, is by most made use of at this day. They live together in some towns and villages, amongst which is Merindole. About five years since, sentence was pronounced against them in the parliament of Aix, the chief judicature of the province, That they shall all promiscuously be destroyed, that the houses shall be pulled down, the village levelled with the ground, all the trees also cut down, and the place rendered a desert. Now though this sentence was pronounced, yet it was not then put in exe- cution, William de Bellay, of Langey, the king's lieutesant in Pied- mont, with some others, having represented the matter to the king, as a case that ought to be reviewed by himself. But, at length, this year, 1545, John Meinier, president of the parliament of Aix, having, April the 12th, called the parliament, read to them the king's letters, which warranted him to put the sentence into execution. Now Meinier is said to have procured these letters by means of the Cardinal of Tour- non, and the solicitation of Philip Cortine, a proper agent in the case. However, having received them in the month of January, he did not immediately produce them, but kept them till a season more proper for the exploit. The letters being read, some of the parliament were se- lected to see the matter put in execution, to whom Meinier offered him- self as assistant, because that in the absence of Grignian, the governor of the province, he had the chief command. Before that time, he had by the king's orders raised forces for the English war, and these he made use of for his purpose : besides these, he commanded all that were able to carry arms in Marseilles, Aix, Aries, and other populous places, to repair to him, under severe penalties, if they disobeyed, hav- ing assistance likewise sent him from the country of Avignon, under the dominion of the pope. The first attempt then was not made upon those of Merindole, but upon the country adjoining the town of Per- tuse. April the thirteenth, Meinier attended by a multitude of gentle- men and officers, came to Cadeuet. In the mean time some officers made an irruption into one or two villages upon the river of La Dru- ance, and putting all to fire and sword, plundered and carried away a great many cattle. The same also was done in other places, whilst those of Merindole seeing all in a flame about them, left'their habita- tions, flew into the woods, and in great consternation spent the night at the village of Sainfalaise. The inhabitants of that place were them- selves preparing to fly ; for the pope's vice-legate had ordered some officers to fall upon them, and put them to the sword. Next day they advanced farther into the woods ; for they were beset on all hands with danger, Meinier having made it death for any person to aid or assist them, and commanding them all, without respect, to be killed wherever they were found. The same edict was in force in the neighbouring places of the pope's jurisdiction, and some bishops of that country were reported to have maintained a great part of those forces. They had a tedious and uneasy journey of it then, marching with their children on their backs and' in their arms, nay, and some in the cradle; poor 448 History of the Christian Church. women also big with child following them. When they were got to the appointed place, whither many in that forlorn condition had fled, they had intelligence not long after, that Meinier was mustering together all his forces, that he might fall upon them, and this news they learnt to- wards the evening. Wherefore, consulting together what was best to be done, they resolved upon the spot, because the ways were rough and difficult, to leave their wives, daughters, and little children there, with some few to bear them company, amongst whom was one of their min- isters, and the rest betook themselves to the town of Mus : this they did in hope, that the enemy might show some compassion towards a helpless and comfortless multitude. But what wailing and lamentation, what sigh- ing and embracing, there was at parting, any man may easily imagine. Having marched all night long, and passed the mountain De Leberon, they had the sad prospect of many villages and farms all in a flame. Meinier, in the meantime, having divided his forces, set about the work ; and, be- cause he had got intelligence of the place to which those of Merindole had betaken themselves, he himself marched to Merindole and sent the rest of his men in search and pursuit of them. But, before these were come into the wood, one of the soldiers, moved with, pity, ran before, and from the top of a rock, in the place where he judged the poor fugi- tives might have rested, he threw down two stones, calling to them by intervals, though he did not see them, that they should instantly fly for their lives. And at the same instant, two of those who had betaken themselves to Mus came ; and having got notice of the enemy's ap- proach, advised the minister of the church, and the rest of those few guards that were left with the women, to be gone, having showed them a steep way through the wood, by which they might escape all danger in their flight. Hardly were these gone, when the raging soldiers came in shouting and making a frightful noise, and with drawn swords preparing for the butchery. However, at that time they forbore to kill, but having committed many insolencies, and robbed the poor creatures of all their money and provisions, they carried them away prisoners. They had purposed to have used them more basely, but a captain of horse prevented it, who by chance coming in, threatened them, and commanded them to march straight to Meineir ; so that they proceed- ed no farther, but leaving the women there, who were about five hundred in number, they carried off the cattle and booty. In the meantime Meinier came to Merindole, and finding it forsaken by the inhabitants, he plundered and set it on fire, which was ushered in by a very cruel action ; for having found there one single youth, he com- manded him to be tied to an olive tree, and there shot to death. He marched next to Cabriere, and began to batter the town ; but, by the mediation of Captain Poulain, he persuaded the town's people, upon promise of indemnity, to open the gates ; which being done, and the soldiers let in, after a little pause, all were put to the sword, without respect to age or sex. Many fled to the church, others to other places, and some into the wine-cellar of the castle ; but being dragged out into a meadow, and stripped naked, they were all put to the sword, not only the men, but also the women, and many of these with child too. Meinier also shut up about forty women in a barn full of hay and Cruelties against the TValdenses in France. 449 straw, and then set it on fire ; and after that, the poor creatures having attempted, in vain, to smother the fire with their clothes, which for that end they had pulled off, betook themselves to the great window, at which the hay is commonly pitched up into the barn, with an inten- tion to leap down from thence : but they were kept in with pikes and spears, so that all of them perished in the flames ; and this happened on the twentieth of April. Meinier after this sent part of his forces to besiege the town of Coste ; but when the)' were just upon their march, those were found, who, as we said a little before, had fled into the wine-cellar of the castle : a noise being thereupon raised, as if there had been some ambush laid, the soldiers were recalled, who put every man of them to the sword. The number of the slain, as well in the town as abroad in the fields, amounted to eight hundred ! The young infants which survived the fury, were for the most re-baptized by the enemy. Affairs thus despatched at Cabriere, the forces were sent to Coste : the lord of that town had beforehand agreed with the inhabi- tants, that they should carry their arms into the castle, and in four places make breaches in the walls : which if they did, he promised them that he would use his interest, which he knew could easily pre- vail with Meinier, that they should receive no damage. Being over persuaded, they obeyed; and he departed with a purpose seemingly to treat and intercede for them ; but he was not gone far before the sol- diers met him, who nevertheless proceeded in their march, and attack- ed the place. At the first onset they did but little, but next day they more briskly renewed the assault : and having burnt all the suburbs about, they easily became masters of the place, and the rather, that the night before, most had deserted the town and fled, having got down over the walls by ropes. After the victorious had put all that stood in their way to fire and sword, they ran into a garden adjoining the castle, and there satiated their lust upon the women and young girls promis- cuously, who in great fear and consternation had fled thither, and for a day and night's time, that they kept them shut up there, so inhumanly and barbarously did they use them, that the pregnant women and younger girls shortly after died of it. In the meantime the Merindo- lians, and many others who wandered with them over the woods and rocks, being taken, were either sent to the galleys, or put to death, and many also were starved. Not far also from the town of Muss, as we mentioned before, some five-and-twenty men had got into a cave, and kept lurking there, but being betrayed, all of them were either smo- thered with smoke or burnt : so that no kind of cruelty was omitted. Some, however, that had escaped this butchery, got to Geneva, and the places thereabouts. When the news of this was brought into Germany, many were highly offended thereat ; and the Swiss, who are not of the popish religion, interceded with the French king, that he would be merciful to those who had fled their country. But the king answered them, that he had just cause for what he had done ; and that what he did within his own territories, and how he punished the guilty, concerned them no more to know, than it did him what was done amongst them."* * Sleidan's History of the Reformation, b. xvi. 450 History of the Christian Church. I cannot better close this section than by an extract from an eminent Catholic writer, who was cotemporary with the dreadful occurrences which he has so impartially recorded ; and notwithstanding its length, and also that it touches upon some particulars already adverted to by Sleidan, I persuade myself that its importance and interesting nature will more than compensate for its prolixity. " When the inhabitants of Merindole and Cabriere, at the report of those things which were done in Germany, lifted up their crests, and hiring teachers out of Germany, discovered themselves more manifestly than they had done before, they were brought to judgment by the par- liament of Aix, at the instance of the king's procurator ; but being ad- monished by their friends and deterred by the danger that undoubtedly attended their trial, they failed to appear. And having been summoned for three market-days together, they were condemned as contumacious, by a most horrible and immeasurably cruel sentence, on the eighteenth day of November, about the year 1540, Bartholomew la Chassagne, a lawyer of great reputation, being at that time president of the parliament. By that decree the fathers of families were condemned to the flames, and the estates, wives, children, and servants of the condemned parties confiscated to the use of the treasury. And because Merindole had hitherto been the usual den and receptacle of such sort of infected per- sons, it was ordered, that all the houses should be laid level with the ground, that the subterraneous 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 at 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 de- cree was committed to the ordinary judges of Aix, Tournes, St. Maxi- mim, and Apt : but it was thought by most people very proper to be suspended, until in process of time the sentence issued against the ab- sent and contumacious, should pass by the laws and customs of the realm into a definite sentence. Others, on the contrary, judged it more fit to be precipitate, out of hatred to the crime, and regard to the danger which that contagion certainly threatened, if any delay were in- terposed. In the first place the bishop of Aix and Aries pressed Chas- sagne to proceed against the rebels with an armed force, promising, in their own and the name of the other ecclesiastics, a great sum of mo- ney towards the expense of that war. Whilst they disputed on each side with great warmth, the matter was put off, by a method ridiculous enough in itself, but well accommodated to the person with whom it was used. There was at Aix, Nicholas Aliens, a gentleman of Aries, of great respectability, and not unskilled in letters, an intimate friend of Chassagne's, who, shocked at the injustice of the decree, and greatly desiring to have it respited, at a private conference, addressed himself to the wavering president in the following speech. " You are not ignorant of the discourses which every where pass in relation to the sentence lately issued against the inhabitants of Merin- dole ; nor is it my business or inclination to give my opinion of them, well knowing how important it is to a well ordered commonwealth, Mice excommunicated by the clergy. 451 that judgments should be solemnly regarded, and not rashly called in question. But if we consider the magnitude of the affair, it seems worthy of inquiry, whether the execution ought not to be deferred, and the bitterness of the sentence mitigated by the advantage of a delay. As various and very considerable reasons may be alleged for that delay, I have determined to treat familiarly with you, by the help of your own arguments, agreeably to that intimacy which subsists between us. Do you not remember, whilst you were yet sitting only on the lower bench of justice at Autun, what you formerly thought in the case of the mice ? For you have even published a narrative of it ; and such is your mo- desty and candour, that I have observed you to call to mind the trans- actions of those times with pleasure. This is the account you give. When, in the bailliage of Autun, a great multitude of mice had done much damage by eating the corn, the country people could think of no more immediate remedy for this new disaster, than that the bishop or his vicar should excommunicate the mice. The affair then being laid before the bishop's vicar, he was of opinion, that the crier of the court should give them three citations ; which done, he was still unwilling to pronounce sentence, till the mice had an advocate assigned them, who should plead for them in their absence. You, therefore, under- took the patronage of the mice, and in that case, in pursuance of the character which you sustained, you by many arguments persuaded the judges, that the mice had not been regularly summoned ; you obtained for them that a fresh day should be set them by the curates of the re- spective parishes, forasmuch as the lives of all the mice were concern- ed in the issue of that trial. And when you had gained that point, you again showed, that too short a time had been given them, considering that the mice who were to appear were waylaid in every village by the cats. You then brought many things out of the Holy Scriptures in de- fence of your clients, and prevailed at length to have a longer time as- signed them, in which proceeding you acquired great reputation for equity and knowledge of the law. I now call you to your own book, and your own arguments. For what can sound harsher in the ears of mankind, than that you, who in the case of mice thought the due course of judgment proper to be observed, should think it fit to be perverted in a cause wherein the life, safety, and fortunes of men are concerned. Beware, therefore, lest you incur the fault of those fencing masters, who, when they fight at blunts, observe the rules of the science, and often come off conquerors ; but when they are to draw their sword against an enemy, are either so enraged or confounded, that they forget their art, and generally suffer themselves to be stabbed. What you ob- served in that ludicrous process, when you were yet but a youth, and little better than a private person, will you neglect in so serious an af- fair, at that age and in that station, wherein you have raised such an universal opinion of yourself? Are the lives of so many wretched men so cheap a thing, that they shall find a harder fate at your hands, now you are judge, than the mice formerly experienced under your patron- age ? I do not speak of their innocence. But yqu yourself know how many things they are maliciously and wrongfully charged with, and that in other respects they are diligent worshippers of God, and never 452 History of the Christian Church. refuse to pay their landlords their dues, nor to yield tribute or obe- dience to the prince or the magistrate. Therefore, by the friendship which is betwixt us, I conjure you again and again maturely to weigh these reasons, and to persuade yourself, that in a cause which respects the life and death and fortunes of men, no delay can be too long.* " By this speech Aliens prevailed with Chassagne to respite the business, and to dismiss the troops which had already rendezvoused in great numbers, until he could know the mind of the king ; who being informed of the decree by William du Bellay Sieur de Langey, lieute- nant general in Piedmont, commanded the latter to inform himself of the case, and to transmit him an account of it. Accordingly, after due inquiry, he made this discovery, that the Vandois, or Waldenses, were a people, who about three hundred years before had hired, of the own- ers, a rocky and uncultivated part of the country, which by dint of pains and constant tillage, they had rendered productive of fruits and fit for cattle ; that they were extremely patient of labour and want; abhor- ring all contentions ; kind to the poor ; that they paid the prince's taxes, and their lord's dues with the greatest exactness and fidelity ; that they kept up a show of divine worship by daily prayer and innocence of manners ; but seldom came to the churches of the saints, unless by chance when they went to the neighbouring towns for traffic or other bu- siness ; and whenever they set their feet in them, they paid no adoration to the 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 themselves with holy water, but, lifting up their eyes to heaven, implored the assistance of God ; that they never made religious pilgrimages, nor uncovered 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 honour 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, on the eighth day of February, he despatched an arret to the parliament of Aix, wherein, having pardoned all past crimes, he allowed the Waldenses the space of three months, within which time they were required publicly to revoke their opinions : and that it * That this whimsical circumstance, namely, the excommunication of the mice by the spiritual court, actually took place, as related by our author, can admit of no reasonable doubt. Nor, indeed, ought it that the cause of the poor mice was successfully pleaded by this eminent counsellor. The question, however, will naturally strike a reflecting1 mind, "Were the inhabitants of the country, who indicted the mice for misdemeanor, really in eaAest in this ludicrous affair; or was it only what, in modern style, is called a hoax upon the clergy ?" For my- self, I have little doubt that the latter was the case; and that both the indictment and the pleadings of the counsel were designed to burlesque the proceedings of the Catholic clergy, in the treatment of the heretics. The main difliculty is to believe that the clergy themselves could be so stupid as not to see it in this light. And I am perfectly aware that, in the present enlightened era, an historian is in danger of shocking the credibility of his readers even while he impartially re- lates the mummery that was prevalent among the Catholics of those days: Wit- ness the feast of the ass, mentioned in my first volume. Authob. Character of the Waldenses. 453 might be known who they were that were willing to reap the benefit of the amnesty, it was ordered that chosen persons out of the towns and villages should appear at Aix, in the name of the rest of the multitude, and publicly abjure their error: if they persisted in it, the parliament were empowered and commanded to punish them after the example of former ages, and if need were, to call in the military officers to their aid. The arret being read in the senate, Francis Chais and William Armand came to Aix, in the name of the people of Merindole, and pre- sented a petition to the parliament, that the cause might be reheard and examined by a disputation of divines ; contending that it was unjust, that, before they were convicted, tney should confess themselves here- tics, or be condemned unheard. La Chassagne, in whose breast his friend's advice had made a deep impression, calling aside the deputies in the presence of the king's advocates, admonished them to acknowledge their error, and not by their excessive obstinacy lay the judges under the necessity of dealing with them more harshly than agreed with their inclinations : But as they still continued to press La Chassagne to take cognizance of their opinions, he at length obtained of those stubborn people, that they should present the heads of their doctrine to the par- liament, who would transmit them to his majesty. The townsmen of Cabrieres, in the*county of Venaisoin, were attacked at the same time by those of Avignon ; and, as they were all concerned in the common danger, they drew up a common profession of their religion, resembling Luther's in the most points, and sent one copy to Francis, who put it into the hands of Castellain to be examined by him, and another to Car- dinal James Sadolet, bishop of Carpentras ; who, being of a pious and mild disposition, received the suppliants with great humanity, and in- genuously declared, that whatever else they were charged with, beyond what was contained in that book, were mere slanders invented to create them ill-will ; for that after a thorough inquiry he had gained a perfect knowledge of that matter ; but that in the book that was offered, there seemed to be many things which might be mended by a small altera- tion, and others reflecting upon the Pope and the prelates, which might be corrected by a more temperate style : that however he wished them well; and that it would never be with his good liking, if they were treated in an hostile manner ; and that he would repair, by the first op- portunity, to his seat at Cabrieres, and examine the whole affair upon the spot. Besides these expressions he showed them real marks of a favourable and sincere regard, by repressing the deputy of Avignon, who was advancing with an armed force, and admonishing him to retire. The confession of the people of Merindole being exhibited, by a decree of parliament, John Durandi and the bishop of Cavaillon with some other-divines went to Merindole, to convince the poor villagers of their error, and to grant a pardon to such as should, upon oath, renounce it: but although they continued in their obstinate spirit of opposition, yet, as long as Chassagne lived, no violence was employed against them, because the king had taken to himself the cognizance of the whole mat- ter: but when he was carried off by a sudden death, and succeeded by John Meinier, baron Oppede, (a vehement man, and one, who for cer- tain affronts received from the people of Cabrieres, to whom some of 454 History of the Christian Church. his farms were adjoining, was their bitter enemy) the hatred against the Waldenses was renewed. This nobleman, in the absence of Lewis des Emars, count of Grignan, who had been sent by the king to the diet of Worms, took upon himself the chief command in Provence, and assured Francis, by letters, that the Waldenses were met together to the number of sixteen thousand men, with a design to seize Marseilles, and to raise commotions in Provence. He also sent Philip Courtin, ap- paritor of the court, to demand, in the name of the king's advocate, that the judgment given against the rebels might be put in execution. The king, exasperated by this information, and being further instigated by the Cardinal de Tournon, a kinsman to Grignan, and a bitter enemy to this sort of men, sent letters to the parliament, in the month of Jan- uary, in the year 1545, whereby he permitted them to proceed against the Merindolians and the rest of the Waldenses, according to law : and when the states of the empire, by their letters from Ratisbon, and the protestant Swiss Cantons were urgent, that not only the penalty, but the condition of acknowledging their error might be remitted, because there- by force was afforded to resolution and conscience, he constantly de- nied their request; and when afterwards he was pressed by them to be merciful to the dispersed remains of those people, he bluntly answered, that they ought not to trouble themselves with what he did in his own country, or how he punished delinquents, any more than he concerned himself with their affairs. Meinier, therefore, having received those orders, kept them by him for some time, in expectation of a fairer op- portunity : for in the meanwhile levies were made every where under the pretence of the English war, and he would not suffer the secret to be divulged, that so he might fall upon them unawares. But when things were in readiness, and he had under severe penalties summoned all those who were capable of bearing arms at Aix, Aries, Marseilles, and other populous towns, to come into the field ; and when six com- panies of foot, with a squadron of horse, commanded by Poulain, and other auxiliary troops from Piedmont and Avignon were already assem- bled, the royal letters which had been hitherto suppressed, were read in parliament : whereupon the senators, upon the 12th of April, decreed the execution of the sentence passed upon the people of Merindole : and the business was committed to the president, Francis de la Fons, with the counsellors Honore de Tributiis, and Bernard de Badet, to whom was joined Nicholas Guerin the king's advocate, and principal incendiary of the war. Oppede, the day following, accompanied wifli a great body of nobles, repaired to the army at Cadenet, bringing with him four hun- dred pioneers. The first attack was made upon the country adjoined to the town of Pertuys ; the villages of Pupin, La Mote, and St. Martin, near the Durance ; these were taken, pillaged and set on fire. On the following day the little towns of Ville-Laure, Lourmarin, Gensson, Trezemines, and La Roque, from whence the multitude had fled, were cruelly burnt, and all the cattle driven away. Then Oppede consulted about attacking Merindole ; but when the inhabitants saw the country round about it in flames, they fled into the neighbouring woods with their wives and children ; which exhibited a most lament- able spectacle, for in those by-ways were to be seen marching, old Attach on the Waldenses in Provence. 455 men mixed with boys, and women carrying their crying infants in cradles, or in their arms or laps. They rested the first night at Sanfalaise, where also the inhabitants were preparing all things for a flight, because they knew that the Bishop of Cavaillon, the pope's legate, had ordered his men to massacre them. The next day they advanced farther under the security of the thick woods, full of fears from every quarter : for Oppede had outlawed the Waldenses, and had ordered, under pain of death, that none should give them any relief, but that wherever they were found, they should (without respect to age or sex) be all murdered. And now after an excessively long jour- ney, they had reached their appointed station, the women being hardly able to stand under the burden of their big bellies, or children ; and many others, Avho had left their habitations, had flocked together at the same place, when towards night they were informed Meinier was at hand with all his forces. Hereupon they were obliged to take counsel on a sudden ; and leaving there all the women and feeble part of their company, whom they imagined the enemy would spare, put themselves again on the way, whilst nothing could be heard but the most dismal groans, with the lamentations and screamings of the women, which were re-echoed by the mountains and woods, and all things were in the utmost hurry and confusion. When they had spent the whole night in travelling, at last climbing over Mount Lubieres, and seeing the villages every where in flames and the farms deserted, they pro- ceeded to the town of Mtis : here Oppede divided his troops into two parts, one of which he sent to pursue the fugitives, for he had been informed of their flight by certain spies, and the other he took with him to Merindole. At that juncture one of Oppede's men, touched with compassion, ran before, and from the top of the rock, where he guessed the Merindolians were settled, flung down two stones, and in the interval called out with a miserable voice to them to save them- selves by flight :. immediately some persons went out of Mus, to order the pastor and the guides, who were left with the unarmed multitude, to escape, showing them a by-way through the brambles ; and not long after Oppede's men appeared, and full of rage, with drawn swords, demanded the slaughter of the whole company ; they were preparing to use the women in a still viler manner, but were hindered by a cap- tain, who threatened them with death, if they did not forbear: so after they had stripped them and drove away their cattle, they departed. Oppede entered the town of Merindole, now destitute of inhabitants, and finding there only one youth, Maurice Blanc by name, wreaked upon him that fury which he could not vent upon the whole body of the people ; and, tying him. to an olive-tree, ordered him to be cruelly shot to death : then, burning and demolishing the town, he marched straightway to Cabrieres. When the townsmen, of whom no more than sixty, with about thirty women, were left in the place, had at first shut their gates against him, some great guns were brought down, upon which they surrendered on a promise, confirmed by Poulain and the lord of the place, of having their lives saved : but when the garrison was admitted they were all seized, even they who lay hid in the dun- geon of the castle, or thought themselves secured by the sacredness of 456 History of the Christian Church. the church ; and being dragged out from thence into a hollow meadow were put to death, without regard to age or the assurances given : the number of the slain, within and without the town, amounted to eight hundred : the women, by the command of Oppede, were thrust into a barn filled with straw, and fire being set to it, when they endeavoured to leap out of the window, they were pushed back by poles and pikes, and miserably suffocated and consumed in the flames. Thence they pro- ceeded to La Coste, the lord of which place having passed his word to the townsmen for their safety, provided they carried their arms into the castle, and broke down their walls in four places, the credulous people did as they were commanded ; notwithstanding which, on the arrival of Oppede, the suburbs being burnt and the town taken, all that were found left in the place were murdered to a man. The women who, to avoid the first fury of the soldiers, had retired into a garden near the castle, were deflowered, and, after the rage of lust was extin- guished, handled in so cruel a manner, that most of those who were with child, and even the virgins, died either of grief, or by hunger and torments. The men, who sheltered themselves at Mus, being at length discovered, underwent the same fate with the others : the remainder of them, wandering here and there among the woods and solitary moun- tains, led a wretched life, deprived of both wives and children ; some few escaped, partly to Geneva, and partly to the Swiss Cantons. In all there are twenty-two villages reckoned, which were punished with the last severity by Oppede ; by whose authority judges were again selected, to make inquiry after the heretics ; and these condemned the rest of those poor wretches either to the gallies, or to the payment of excessive fines. Some, indeed, were absolved ; and among these the tenants of Cental, who solemnly adjured their error. When these things were done, Oppede and the committee of judges, being terrified by their conscience, and justly apprehending that one time or other their heads might be endangered by those practices, deputed the presi- dent De la Fons to the king to load the slaughtered and harassed peo- ple with the most execrable crimes, and to make it appear that, consi- dering the heinousness of their oflence, they had been very gently treated. He accordingly, on the 18th day of August, by the sugges- tions (as it is thought) of the Cardinal de Tournon, obtained an instru- ment from the king, wherein he seemed to approve the punishment which was taken of those guilty persons; of which, however, he afterwards repented. Many writers have reported, that, among the last commands which he gave to his son Henry, he added this expressly, that he should make inquisition into the injuries done in that cause by the par- liament of Aix to the Provencals; and, even before he died, he caused John Romano, a monk, to be apprehended, and commanded the parlia- ment of Aix to punish him ; for he, in the examination of heretics, in- vented anew kind of torture, ordering the tortured parties to. put on boots full of boiling tallow, and after laughing at them, and clapping on a pair of spurs, he would ask them, whether they were not finely equipt for a journey. But this man, being Avell-informed of the decree of the parliament, fled to Avignon ; where, though secured, as he ima- gined, from men, he did not escape the Divine vengeance, being robbed Review of Papal Cruelties. 457 of all his effects by his servants, and reduced to extreme poverty, whilst his body was so overrun with filthy boils, that he wished for death, which he did not obtain until very late, and after the most horrible tor- ments. Upon the death, therefore, of Francis, when the Cardinal de Tour- non and the Count de Grignan, who had long flourished in the king's favour, were violently hated by those who were placed about the new king; the Merindolians and Waldenses, who knew of their disgrace, gathering together their remains into abody, formed a complaint of the injustice and cruelty of the parliament of Aix, and, out of spite to them, easily obtained to have their cause heard over again. The Duke of Guise was their principal encourager, who procured for himself the county of Grignan under the title of a gift or sale from Lewis des Emars, to exempt him from danger. For though all things had been acted in the count's absence, as we mentioned, yet because they were said to be done by Oppede his lieutenant, and by his order, he also himself was brought into a share of peril. The matter was first debated in the great council, as it is called : afterwards when Oppede, De la Fons, De Tri- butiis, Badet, and Guerin, being called upon to answer, they defended themselves by the plea of a sentence past, against the execution whereof the royal advocate had not appealed ; at length, by a new arret of the 17th day of March, the king took the cause into his own cognizance. And because the question concerned the force and authority of the su- preme court of Aix, he committed the hearing both of the matter itself, and of the appeals, to the grand chamber of the parliament of Paris ; where the cause was publicly managed, with great contention, and be- fore a large concourse of people, for fifty days, by James Aubury on the part of the Merindolians, Peter Robert for the parliament of Aix, and Denys de Ryants for the king's advocate. When upon the men- tion of so many horrid facts of which the defendants were accused, the minds of all men were in the utmost attention and expectation of the issue, they were entirely disappointed of their hopes, Guerin alone, who happened to be destitute of friends at court, suffering the punishment of death. Oppede, who with Grignan, escaped by the intercession of the Duke of Guise, was restored to his former post, together with his col- leagues : but, in a little time, being grievously afflicted with pains in the bowels, he breathed out his sanguinary soul in the midst of the most cruel torments, and paid the deserved penalty, which his judges had not exacted, late indeed, but therefore so much the heavier, to God."* Such is the relation of this dreadful scene of cruelty, oppression, and carnage — detailed not by the poor persecuted Waldenses themselves, but by a catholic historian, whose impartiality and rigid adherence to truth has never been questioned except by his own party. • Thuani Historic/, sui temporis, lib. vi. 458 History of the Christian Church. SECTION III. A VIEW OF THE CONDUCT OF THE COURT OF ROME, AND THE OPERATION OF ITS FAVOURITE INSTRUMENT, THE INQUISITION, ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY ; INCLUDING DETAILS OF THE HORRID CRUEL- TIES EXERCISED TOWARDS THE FRIENDS OF REFORM, PARTICULARLY IN SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS. A. D. 1550 1557. Having devoted a former section to the purpose of tracing the rise, spirit, operation, and progress of that infernal instrument of cruelty, known by the name of the Inquisition; that we may not wholly lose sight of the influence of this engine of spiritual despotism, we shall, for a moment, suspend the immediate narrative of the Waldenses in France and Piedmont, in order that we may take a cursory view of the state of affairs, in reference to religion, in Spain and the Netherlands, at the period at which we are now arrived, namely, about twenty years after the Reformation by Luther. It is scarcely necessary for me to state, that, in the succession of kings by whom Spain had been governed for about the space of three hundred years, the popes of Rome had generally found a race of obsequious princes, seldom reluctant to yield their concurrence with any measures that might be proposed for the destruction of heretics. But it was now the misfortune of that country to possess a monarch whose zeal for the extirpation of heretical pravity, surpassed even that of popes and cardinals. This monarch was Philip II. son of the emperor Charles V. and Isabella, daughter of Immanuelthe Great, king of Portugal. He was born on the 27th of May, 1527, and educated in Spain, under ecclesiastics noted for their bigotry, which may account for several of those features in his character that afterwards appeared so prominently in his conduct. He was the most power- ful monarch of the age ; for, besides the government of Spain, he possessed the kingdom of Naples and Sicily ; the duchy of Milan, Franche Compte and the Netherlands, or, as they were then gene- rally termed, the Low Countries. These provinces, which, on account of their situation, are called the Netherlands, had been long governed by their respective princes, under the titles of dukes, marquisses, or counts ; and under the administration of the princes of the house of Burgundy, they had flourished in trade, commerce, and manufactures, beyond any other European state. No city in those days, except Venice, possessed such extensive commerce as Antwerp. It was the great mart of all the northern nations. Bruges was little inferior ; and in the city of Ghent there were many thousand artificers employed in the woollen manufacture, long before the art was known to the English, from whom the wool was purchased by the industrious Flemings. In consequence of the constant intercourse which subsisted between Germany and the Netherlands, we may naturally suppose that the doctrines of the Reformers would be early propagated from the for- mer to the latter country ; and, accordingly in the month of May, State of the Netherlands. 459 1521, even before the days of Philip, his father, the emperor Charles V. had published an edict, in which all the penalties of high treason were pronounced against heretics. In the execution of this edict, which Charles from time to time renewed, all the fury of persecu- tion was exercised ; and it is affirmed by several cotemporary his- torians, that, during his reign, fifty thousand of the inhabitants of the Netherlands were put to death on account of their religious prin- ciples.* Those principles, however, far from being extirpated, became more generally propagated and diffused amidst the severities which were employed to suppress them. Before the emperor Charles V. had resigned the reins of govern- ment to his son Philip, great numbers of his subjects had begun to retire from the provinces of the Netherlands and to transport their families and effects to the neighbouring states ; and when he was in- formed of this, by the regent, who was his sister, and queen dowa- ger of Hungary, his heart relented for the calamities of his people, and he dreaded the consequences of depopulating a country from which he had often received the most effectual assistance and sup- port. But these considerations had no influence on his son Philip. He published the edicts of his father, and ordered the magistrates to carry them into rigorous execution. In these edicts it was enacted, that all persons who held erroneous opinions in religion, should be deprived of their offices, and degraded from their rank. It was ordained, that whoever should be convicted erf having taught heretical doctrines, or of having been present at the religious meetings of heretics, should, if they were men, be put to death by the sword ; and, if women, be burned alive. Such were the punishments denounced even against those who repented of their errors and forsook them ; while all who persisted in them were con- demned to the flames. And even those who afforded shelter to here- tics in their houses, or who omitted to give information against them, were subjected to the same penalties as heretics themselves. But Philip could not content himself with publishing and executing these cruel edicts. He also established a particular tribunal for the ex- tirpation of heresy, which, although it was not called by the name Inquisition, had all the essentials of that iniquitous institution. Per- sons were committed to prison upon bare suspicion, and put to the tor- ture on the slightest evidence. The accused were not confronted with their accusers, or made acquainted with the crimes for which they suffered. The civil judges were not allowed to take any further con- cern in prosecutions for heresy, than to execute the sentences which the inquisitors pronounced. The possessions of the sufferers were con- fiscated ; and informers were encouraged by an assurance of impunity in case they themselves were guilty, and by the promise of re- wards.! That the establishment of this arbitrary tribunal should have excited * F. Paul's History of the Council of Trent, b. v. Grotius doubles the num. ber ! •J- Grotius, Annales, lib. i. 460 History of the Christian Church. considerable commotion in the Netherlands, can occasion no surprise, It had created disturbances even in Spain and Italy, where civil liberty- was not enjoyed in the measure that it was in the Netherlands. Among the Flemings, therefore, it excited the most terrible apprehensions ; they considered it as utterly subversive of their liberty. But to the griev- ances already enumerated, the inhabitants of the Netherlands further complained that the provinces were filled with Spanish soldiers, whose insolent and rapacious behaviour was intolerable. And to all these causes of discontent, Philip added another by increasing the number of bishopricks from five to seventeen, which was the number of the provinces. These new bishops were regarded as so many new inquis- itors ; and their creation was considered as an encroachment on the privileges of the provinces, and a violation on the part of the king of the oath which he had taken at his accession, to preserve the church in the condition in which he found it. Such was the state of affairs, when Philip, who had for some time taken up his residence among his sub- jects in the Netherlands, proposed in the year 1559, to quit the country and fix the seat of his government in Spain. During his absence the government of the Netherlands was conferred upon the Duchess of Par- ma, who was a natural daughter of the late emperor, and who sustain- ed the title of regent. As Philip did not intend to return speedily to the Netherlands, he thought proper, before his departure, to summon a convention of the states, which was accordingly held at Ghent. He himself was pre- sent, accompanied by the new regent, at the first opening of the assem- bly ; but as he could not speak the language of the country, he em- ployed the Bishop of Arras to address the deputies in his name. Among other things, the latter was instructed earnestly to exhort the states to study to preserve the public peace ; and to this end he thought nothing could conduce so much as the extirpation of heresy, which, whilst it set men at variance with God, put arms into their hands against their civil sovereign. They were, therefore, strenuously exhorted to main- tain the purity of their ancient faith ; and for this purpose, to execute vigorously the several edicts published for the suppression of heresy. The reply of the deputies of the states to this speech, contained the warmest sentiments of loyalty, but it was also accompanied with inti- mations, that they had expected the foreign troops would have been im- mediately transported to Spain, — that they were unable to discover any reason for keeping them any longer in the Netherlands, but such as filled their minds with terror. Their suspicion that the Inquisition was about to be established in the Netherlands, excited the most disquieting apprehensions. Some of the deputies did not scruple to remonstrate openly, that the Netherlands had never been accustomed to an institu- tion of so much rigour and severity ; that the people trembled at the very name of the Inquisition, and would fly to the remotest corners of the earth rather than submit to it; that it was not by fire and the sword, but by the gentlest and softest remedies, that the evil complained of must be cured. Various representations of this kind were addressed to the king himself by some of the deputies, who endeavoured to persuade him at least to moderate the edicts, if he would not entirely annul Proceedings of Philip II. 461 them ; but on this head Philip was inexorable. And when one of his ministers reported, that, by persisting in the execution of those edicts, he might kindle the seeds of rebellion, and thereby lose the sovereignty of the provinces; he replied, " That he had much rather be no king at all, than have heretics for his subjects."* His religion was, of all superstitions, the most intolerant ; his temper of mind, which was naturally haughty and severe; his pride which would have been wounded by yielding to what he had repeatedly de- clared he would never yield ; his engagements with the pope, and an oath which he had taken to devote his reign to the defence of the po- pish faith and the extirpation of heresy; above all, his thirst for des- potic power, with which he considered the liberties claimed in religious matters by the Protestants as utterly incompatible; all these united causes, rendered him deaf to the remonstrances which were made to him, and fixed him unalterably in his resolution to execute the edicts with the utmost rigour. He showed himself equally inflexible with regard to the new bishopricks : nor would he consent, at this time, to withdraw the Spanish soldiers. In order, however, to lessen the odium arising from his refusal, he offered the command of these troops to the Prince of Orange and Count Egmont, the two ablest and most popular noblemen in the Netherlands ; the former of whom he had ap- pointed governor of Holland, Zealand, and Utretch : and the latter of Artois and Flanders. Both of them declined accepting of the offer which was made to them, and had the courage to declare, that they con- sidered the continuance of the troops in the Low Countries, after peace had been established in France, as a violation of the fundamental laws of the constitution. The Prince of Orange, so well known in history by the name of William the First, was the representative of the ancient and illustrious family of Nassau in Germany. From his ancestors, one of whom had been Emperor of Germany, he inherited several rich possessions in the Netherlands : and he had succeeded to the principality of Orange by the will of Rene Nassau and Chalons, his cousin-german, in the year 1544. From that time the late emperor had kept him perpetually about his person, and had early discovered in him all those extraordinary ta- lents which rendered him afterwards one of the most illustrious person- ages of the age'. It does not appear, that, before the assembly of the states, Philip had any just ground for his suspicions of William's conduct; and there is only one circumstance recorded to which they can be ascribed. The prince having been sent to France as an hostage for the execution of some articles of the peace of Chateau-Cambresis, had, during his resi- dence there, discovered a scheme formed by the French and the Spa- nish monarchs for the extirpation of the Protestants. This scheme he had communicated to such of his friends in the Netherlands as had em- braced the reformed religion, and from that time the king ceased to treat him with his wonted confidence.! * JJentivoglio, lib, i. p. 9, 10. f Thuanus, torn. i. lib. xxii. sect. 10, 462 History of the Christian Church. On the 20th of August, 1559, Philip set sail from the Netherlands with a fleet of seventy ships, and on the 29th arrived at Loredo, in the province of Biscay. He reached the port in safety ; but no sooner had he landed than a dreadful storm arose, in which a part of bis fleet was shipwrecked ; above a thousand men perished, and a great number of capital paintings, statues, and other curious works of art were lost, which the late emperor, Charles, had been employed, during forty years, in collecting in Germany, Italy, and Flanders. Philip thought he could not, on this occasion, better express his gratitude for his own personal preservation, than by declaring his resolution to dedicate his life to the defence of the Catholic faith and the extirpation of heresy ; and such were the feelings with which he was animated when he en- tered Spain. The Inquisition had been introduced into Spain about a century be- fore this time, as hath already been noticed in a former section of this work ; and it met with the entire approbation and countenance of Philip, who had imbibed, in all its virulence, that spirit of bigotry and persecution which gave it birth. He regarded heretics as the most odious of criminals ; and considered a departure of his subjects from the Roman superstition, as the most dreadful calamity that could befal them. He was, therefore determined to support the inquisitors with all his power ; and he encouraged them to exert themselves in the ex- ercise of their office with the utmost vigilance. The zeal and diligence of these men corresponded to the ardour with which their sovereign was inflamed ; yet so irresistible was the spirit of inquiry and the force of truth, that the opinions of the. Reformers had found their way into Spain, and were embraced openly by great numbers of both sexes, among whom were several priests and nuns. Before Philip's arrival in the city of Valladolid, an auto-da-fe had been celebrated, in which a great number of Protestants had been com- mitted to the flames. There were still in the prisons of the Inquisition more than thirty persons, against whom the same dreadful punishment had been denounced. Philip, eager to give public proof as early as possible of his abhorrence of these innovators, desired the inquisitors to fix a day for their execution ; and he resolved to witness it. The dreadful ceremony (more repugnant to humanity, as well as to the spirit of the Christian religion, than the most abominable sacrifices re- corded in the annals of the Pagan world) was conducted with the great- est solemnity which the inquisitors could devise ; and Philip, attended by his son Don Carlos, by his sister, and by his courtiers and guards, sat within sight of the unhappy victims. After hearing a sermon from the bishop of Zamora, he rose from his seat, and having drawn his sword, as a signal, that with it he would defend the holy faith, he took an oath administered to him by the inquisitor-general, to support the inquisition and its ministers against all heretics and apostates, and to compel his subjects every where to yield obedience to its decrees. Among the Protestants condemned, there was a nobleman, of the name of Don Carlos di Sessa, who, when the executioners were con- ducting him to the stake, called out to the king for mercy, saying, " And canst thou thus, O king ! witness the torments of thy subjects ? General Council at Trent. 463 Save us from this cruel death ; we do not deserve it." " No," Philip sternly replied, " I would myself carry wood to burn my own son, were he such a wretch as thou." After which he beheld the horrid spectacle that followed, with a composure and tranquillity that betoken- ed the most unfeeling heart. This dreadful severity, joined with certain rigid laws, enacted to prevent the importation of Lutheran books, soon produced the desired effect. After the celebration of another auto-da-fe, in which about fifty Protestants suffered, all the rest, if there were any still remaining, either concealed their sentiments, or made their escape into foreign parts.* But though Philip had, for a moment banished the heretics from his Spanish dominions, he had the mortification to contemplate the rapid progress of heresy in almost every other state in Europe ; and in order to obstruct it, he employed all his influence to procure the convocation of a general council of the church. For several centuries before the Reformation, and for some time after it had been set on foot, the bigotry of the Papists would not suffer them to think of any other means of extirpating the opinions of the Protestants, but persecution ; which was exercised against them with the same unrelenting severity, as if they had been guilty of the most atrocious crimes. But it soon ap- peared how inadequate this barbarous procedure was to the purpose which the Romanists intended. Those bloody edicts which were pub- lished, those fires which were lighted up, and that variety of torments which priests and inquisitors invented with ingenious cruelty, served in reality to propagate the doctrines against which they were employ- ed, and contributed to enflame, rather than extinguish, that ardent zeal with which the Protestants were animated. Being firmly persuaded, that the cause which they maintained, was the cause of God and truth, and that their perseverance would be rewarded with a happy immor- tality, they courted their punishments instead of avoiding them; and, in bearing them, displayed a degree of fortitude and patience, which, by exciting admiration in the beholders, produced innumerable prose- lytes to the faith for which they suffered. Several princes had been converted to that faith. In some states the Protestants had become more numerous and powerful than their opponents ; and in others, their opinions so generally prevailed, that the Catholic princes found it no longer possible to extirpate them, without depriving themselves of great multitudes of their most indus- trious subjects, on which the wealth and importance of their states de- pended. The time when persecution might have proved effectual was past, and the princes came at length to perceive the necessity of having recourse to some more gentle means than had been hitherto employed. They were, at the same time, sensible, notwithstanding their preju- dices against the Reformers, some reformation was extremely neces- saay ; they had long borne with great impatience the numberless encroachments of the court of Rome ; and were convinced, that if some abuses were removed, it would not be impracticable to persuade many of the Protestants to return into the bosom of the church. • Watson's History of Philip II. Vol. I. b. iv. 464 History of the Christian Church. A general council appeared to be the only expedient by which this important end could be obtained ; and the late emperor Charles had taken infinite pains to procure the convocation of that assembly. In former times the councils of the church had been convened by the em- perors themselves ; but, in the time of Charles, the power of calling them was, by all true Catholics, considered as the peculiar prerogative of the popes ; who dreaded that such assemblies might derogate from their usurped authority, and were therefore inclined, if possible, to prevent them from being held. With the timid Clement, Charles em- ployed all his art and influence to procure a council, but in vain. Paul the Third was no less averse to this measure than Clement ; but the emperor being seconded by almost all the Catholic princes in Europe, Paul yielded to their importunities, and summoned a council to meet in Trent. From this place it was afterwards translated to Bologna. After the death of Paul it was again assembled in Trent, in 1551, and continued to be held there till the year following ; when it was pro- rogued for two years, upon war being declared against the emperor by the Elector of Saxony. In the sessions which were held under Paul, that fundamental tenet of the reformers, by which the writings of the evangelists and apostles are held to be the only rule of the Christian faith, was condemned ; and equal authority was ascribed to the books termed Apocryphal, and to the oral traditions of the church. From the manner in which the de- liberations of this assembly were conducted ; from the nature of its de- cisions, and from the blind attachment of a great majority of its mem- bers to the court of Rome, there was little ground to hope for the attainment of those ends for which the calling of it had been so earnestly desired. But no other expedient could be devised, which the Catholics thought so likely to stop the progress of heresy ; and, therefore, as soon as the war between France and Spain was concluded, the several Catholics began to think seriously of the restoration of the council. The state of Europe at that time seemed, more than ever, to require the application of some immediate remedy. The power and the num- ber of the Protestants were every day becoming more and more con- siderable. Both England and Scotland had disclaimed allegiance to the See of Rome, and new-modelled their religion. In the Netherlands the reformers had greatly multiplied of late notwithstanding the most dreadful cruelties had been exercised against them ; and in France, where every province was involved in the most terrible combustion, there was ground to apprehend, that they would soon become too powerful for the Catholics, and be able to wrest from them the reins of government. The new opinions had penetrated even into Italy, and had been embraced by a considerable number of persons both in Naples and Savoy. From the former of these states they were extirpated by the unrelenting severity of Philip ; who issued orders to his viceroy to put all heretics to death without mercy, and even to pursue with fire and sword a remnant of them who had fled from Cosenza, and were living quietly among the mountains.* • F. Paul, lib. v. Tlie pope advises persecution. 465 But the Duke of Savoy, unwilling to deprive himself of so great a number of useful subjects as at that time professed the protestant faith, was inclined to attempt to enlighten and convince them ; and with this view he desired the pope's permission to hold a colloquy of the princi- pal ecclesiastics in his dominions, on the subject of- religion. Pius was about the same time informed, that in France a resolution had been embraced to have recourse to the same expedient. He believed that no measure could be devised more likely to prove fatal to that exclusive prerogative which he claimed of judging in matters of religion. He dreaded that the example of France and Savoy would be quickly fol- lowed by other states, and the decrees of provincial synods substituted in the place of those of the Holy See. It highly concerned him, there- fore, to prevent this measure (so pernicious to his authority) from taking place. Nor did he find much difficulty in dissuading the Duke of Savoy from adopting it. " If the heretics," said he to the duke's ambassador, " stand in need of instruction, I will send divines and a legate, by whom they may be both instructed and absolved. But your master will find, that they will lend a deaf ear to all the instructions that can be given them, and will put no other interpretation upon his conduct, but that he wants power to compel them to submit. No good effect was ever produced by that lenity which he inclines to exercise ; but from ex- perience he may learn, that the sooner he shall execute justice on these men, and make use of force to reduce them, the more certain will be his success ; and if he will comply with the counsel which I offer, he shall receive from me such assistance as will enable him to carry it into execution." The Duke, who was sincerely attached to the Romish faith, and closely connected with Philip, unfortunately complied with this violent counsel, and engaged in a bloody war with his Protestant subjects, of which he had afterwards the greatest reason to repent. But to return to the state of affairs in the Netherlands : the seeds o f discord which were sown in that unhappy country, in the beginning of the reign of Philip II. continued to approximate towards maturity. At his departure from among them he had given strict orders to the regent to enforce a rigorous execution of his edicts, and the persecutions were, accordingly, carried on as formerly. The council of Trent had pub- lished its decrees, and Philip resolved to have them obeyed throughout all his dominions. The disturbances which subsisted in the Low Countries, ought to have deterred him from adding fuel to a flame which already burnt with so much violence. But his bigotry, together with his arbitrary maxims of government, rendered him averse to every mild expedient, and determined him to enforce obedience to the decrees in the Netherlands, as well as in Spain and Italy. When the regent laid his instructions on this head before the council of state, he found the counsellors much divided in their opinions. The Prince of Orange maintained, that the regent could not require the people of the Nether- lands to receive the decrees, because several of them were contrary to the fundamental laws of the constitution. He represented that some Catholic princes had thought proper to reject them; and proposed that a remonstrance should be made to the king on the necessity of recalling his instructions. 466 History of the Christian Church. "Let us not, by our misrepresentations," said he, "make him be- lieve the number of heretics to be smaller than it is. Let us acquaint him, that every province, every town, every village is full of them. Let us not conceal from him how much they despise the edicts, and how little they respect the magistrates ; that he may see how imprac- ticable it is to introduce the Inquisition, and be convinced that the remedy which he would have us to apply, would be infinitely worse than the disease." He added, " That although he was a true Catholic, and a faithful subject of the king, yet he thought the calamities which had been lately experienced in France and Germany, afforded a suffi- cient proof that the consciences of men were not to be compelled ; and that heresy was not to be extirpated by fire and sword, but by reasoning and persuasion ; to which it was in vain to expect that men would be brought to listen, until the present practice of butchering them like beasts was wholly laid aside." He represented likewise the absurdity of publishing, on this occasion, the decrees of the council of Trent, and proposed that Count Egmont should be instructed to request the king to suspend the publication of them till the present tumults were allayed. Many of the other nobles set on foot, at this time, a confederacy by which they bound themselves to support one another, in preventing the Inquisition from being established in the Netherlands. The prime mover of this expedient was Philip de Marnix, Lord of St. Alclegonde, a nobleman highly distinguished for his eloquence, his address, and his political abdities, who had the merit of contributing more than any other person (the prince of Orange alone excepted) towards accom- plishing that happy revolution, by which, the northern provinces were rescued from the Spanish yoke. By his advice, and according to his direction, a writing was drawn up, termed the Compromise, which is here inserted, as it marks strongly the spirit by which the people of the Netherlands were animated. " Whereas certain malicious persons, under the cloak of zeal for the Catholic religion, but in reality prompted by ambition, pride, and ava- rice, have by their misrepresentations, persuaded our lord, the king, to introduce into these provinces that most pernicious tribunal the Inqui- sition, which is not only contrary to all human and divine laws, but ex- ceeds in cruelty the most barbarous institutions of the most savage ty- rants in the heathen world; which subjects all authority to that of the inquisitors, reduces all men to a perpetual state of miserable slavery, and- by the visitations which it appoints, exposes the best men to con- tinual apprehensions ; so that if a priest, a Spaniard, or wicked minion of power, shall incline, he may, by means of this institution, accuse any man, however innocent, and cause him to be imprisoned, condemn- ed, and put to death, without being confronted with his accusers, and without being allowed to bring evidence of his innocence, or to speak in his defence : for these reasons we whose names are hereto sub- scribed have resolved to provide for the security of our families, goods, and persons ; and for this purpose we hereby enter into a sacred league with one another, promising with a solemn oath, to oppose with all our power, the introduction of the above-named Inquisition into these provinces ; whether it shall be attempted openly or secretly, and The Compromise. 467 by whatever name it shall he called, whether that of Inquisition, Visi- tation, Commission, or Edict: declaring at the same time, that we are far from entertaining the design of attempting any thing prejudicial to the interestof our sovereign the king; but, on the contrary, that our fixed in- tention is, to support and defend his government, to maintain peace, and to prevent, to the utmost of our power, all seditions, tumults, and" revolts. This agreement we have sworn ; and we hereby promise and swear to maintain it for ever sacred ; and we call Almighty God to witness, that neither in word or deed shall we ever weaken or counter- act it. " We likewise promise and swear, mutually to defend one another, in all places and on all occasions, against every attack that shall be made, or prosecution that shall be raised, against any individual amongst us, on account of his concern in this confederacy. And we declare, that no pretence of the prosecutors, who may allege rebellion, insurrection, or any other plea, shall exempt us from this our oath and promise. No action can deserve tho name of rebellion, that proceeds from opposition to the iniquitous decrees of the Inquisition ; and, there- fore, whether any of us be attacked directly on account of opposing these decrees, or under pretence of punishing rebellion or insurrection, we hereby swear to endeavour, by all lawful means, to procure his de- liverance. " In this and every part of our conduct regarding the inquisition, our meaning is, to submit to the general opinion of our confederates, or to that of those who shall be appointed by the rest to assist us with their counsel. " In witness of this our league, we invoke the holy name of the living God, as the searcher of our hearts ; humbly beseeching him to grant us the grace of his Holy Spirit, and that all our enterprises may be attended with success, may promote the honour of his name, con- tribute to the welfare of our souls, and advance the peace and true inte- rest of the Netherlands." Such were the terms of the Compromise, which was quickly circu- lated through the provinces, and subscribed by persons of all ranks, whether Catholics or Protestants. Books were, at the same time mul- tiplied, in which liberty of conscience was pleaded, the absurdities in the popish doctrines and worship exposed, and hideous pictures drawn of the Inquisition. The regent felt great anxiety with regard to the consequence with which so much ill-humour and discontent were likely to be attended. She had never fully credited the representations which the Prince of Orange and some of her counsellors had often made to her. And she now complained bitterly of the situation to which she was reduced by the orders sent from Spain. " For to what purpose was it," she add- ed, " to publish edicts, when I wanted power to enforce their execu- cution ' They have served only to increase the people's audacity, and to bring my authority into contempt." The Prince of Orange, and the counts Horn and Egmont, had, ever since the last republication of the edicts, absented themselves from the council. The regent now wrote to them in the most urgent manner, 468 History of the Christian Church. requiring their attendance. They readily complied ; and the regent, after having informed them of her design in calling them together, de- sired they would deliver their opinions without reserve. The Prince of Orange was among the last who rose, and he spoke as follows: — " Would to heaven, I had been so fortunate as to gain belief, when I ventured to foretel what has now happened. Desperate remedies would not, in that case, have been first applied, nor persons who had fallen into error been confirmed in it, by the means employed to re- claim them. We should not certainly think favourably of a physician's prudence, who, in the beginning of a disease, when gentle remedies were likely to prove effectual, should propose the burning or cutting off the part infected. There are two species of inquisition. The one is exercised in the name of the pope, and the other has been long prac- tised by the bishops. To the latter men are, in some measure, re- conciled by the power of custom ; and considering how well we are now provided with bishops in all the provinces, it may reasonably be expected that this sort will alone be found sufficient. The former has been, and will for ever be, an object of abhorrence, and ought to be abolished without delay. " With respect to those edicts which have been so often published against the innovators in religion, hearken not to me, but to your own experience, which will inform you, that the persecutions to which they have given rise, have served only to increase and propagate the errors against which they have been exercised. The Netherlands have for several years been a school, in which, if we have not been ex- tremely inattentive, we may have learned the folly of persecution. Men do not for nothing forego the advantages of life; much less do they expose themselves to torture and death for nothing. The con- tempt of death and pain, exhibited by heretics in suffering for religion, is calculated to produce the most powerful effects upon the minds of spectators. It works on their compassion, it excites their admiration of the sufferers, and creates in them a suspicion that truth must cer- tainly be found where they observe so much constancy and fortitude. Heretics have been treated with the same severity .in France and Eng- land as in the Low Countries. But has it been attended there with better success 1 On the contrary, is there not reason, there as well as here, to say what was said of the Christians of old, That the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. The emperor Julian, the most formidable enemy that Christianity ever had, was fully sensible of the truth of this. Harassing and tormenting could only serve, he knew, to inflame that ardent zeal which he wanted to extinguish. He had re- course, therefore, to the expedient of ridicule and contempt ; and this he found to be more effectual. The Grecian empire was, at different periods, infected with heresies of various kinds. iErius taught errors in the reign of Constance ; Nestorius in that of Theodosius ; Arius in that of Constantine. No such punishments were inflicted, either on the heresiarchs themselves or on their disciples, as are now. practised in the Netherlands ; and yet where are all those false opinions now, which the first broachers were at so much pains to propagate ? Such is the nature of heresy, if it rests, it rusts; but he who rubs it, whets it. Speech of the Prince of Orange. 469 Let it be neglected and overlooked, it will soon lose the charm of no- velty ; and with that, it will lose the greatest part of its attractive, power. But they are not the examples only of heathen princes which I would recommend to the regent's imitation. In complying with my advice, she will tread in the footsteps of onr late glorious emperor, her father ; who, from experience, was convinced, that gentle measures were more likely to prove effectual than severe ones ; and therefore adopted the former, in preference to the latter, for several years before his resignation. "The king himself appeared, at a certain period, inclined to make trial of mild expedients. But, through the influence of the bishops and other ecclesiastics, he has changed his views. Let these men answer for their conduct if they can. For my own part, I am entirely satisfied that it is impossible to root out the present evils in the Netherlands by force, without shaking the state from its foundation. I conclude with reminding you of what we have all heard frequently, That the Pro- testants in the Low Countries have opened a correspondence with those in France. Let us beware of irritating them more than we have already done, lest, by imitating the French Catholics in their severity, we, like them, involve our country in the dreadful miseries of a civil war." The regent finding that her situation became every day more critical, informed the king of it, who immediately sent the Duke of Alva, a no- bleman of the most imperious character, tyrannical and vindictive iu the extreme, to execute his pleasure in the Netherlands, armed with full power to punish or to pardon crimes of every sort. He began his administration with publishing a declaration, that a month should be allowed to the reformers for preparing to leave the country, without re- ceiving, during that space, any trouble or molestation, and at the same time he issued secret orders to the inquisitors to proceed immediately in the execution of their edicts with the utmost rigour. To assist and encourage these men in the exercise of their office, he instituted a new council, to which he gave the name of the Council of Tumults, which he appointed to take cognizance of the late disorders, and to search after and punish all those who had been concerned, directly or indi- rectly, in promoting them. This council consisted of twelve persons, the greatest part of whom were Spaniards. The duke was the presi- dent himself, and in his absence Vargas, a Spanish lawyer, distinguish- ed above all his countrymen by his avarice and cruelty. One of the first deeds of this tribunal, which might well be called, as the Flemings termed it, the Council of Blood, was to declare, That to have presented or subscribed any petition against the late erection of bishopricks, or against the edicts or Inquisition, or to have permitted the exercise of the new religion under any pretence whatever ; or to insinuate by word of mouth or writing, that the king has no right to abolish those pretended privileges which have been the source of so much impiety, is treason against the king, and justly merits the se- verest punishment he shall be pleased to inflict. The governor had already stationed his army in such a manner as he thought would most effectually secure the execution of this cruel un- 40 470 History of the Christian Church. distinguishing resolution of the council. In Antwerp he built a citadel, and compelled the inhabitants to defray the expense which this instru- ment of their own slavery had cost him. He began to build citadels in other places : and, in the meantime, he spread his troops over the country in such formidable bodies, that the people, over whom they ex- ercised the most oppressive tyranny, either forsook their habitations, or gave themselves up in despair, Above twenty thousand persons escaped, at this time, into France, England, and the Protestant pro- vinces of Germany. Great numbers were prevented from flying, and seized whilst they were meditating flight, by the cruel hand of the per- secutor. The innocent were overwhelmed with horror at the sight of the dreadful punishments inflicted on the guilty ; and lamented that this once flourishing country, so much distinguished for the mildness of its government and the happiness of its people, should now present no other object to view, but confiscations, imprisonments, and blood. There was no distinction made of age, sex, or condition. Persons in their earliest youth ; persons worn out, and ready to sink under the infirmities of age ; persons of the highest rank, as well as the lowest of the people, on the slightest evidence, and sometimes even on bare suspicion, were alike sacrificed to the rapacity and cruelty of the go- vernor and his associates. Although in the space of a few months upwards of eighteen hundred persons suffered by the hand of the executioner ; yet the Duke of Alva's thirst of blood was not satiated. Prisoners were not brought in so fast, nor seized in such considerable numbers as he desired. The time of Carnival was approaching, when he expected he should find the reformers off their guard. They would then leave their skulking-places, he supposed, and visit their families, while the Catholics were im- mersed in mirth and dissipation. On this occasion his soldiers, accom- panied by the inquisitors, like so many wolves, were let loose among the Protestants ; who were seized in the middle of the night in their beds, and from thence dragged to prisons and dungeons. Many who had been only once present at the Protestant assemblies, even although they declared their faith in the Catholic religion to be firm and unshaken, were hanged or drowned : while those who pro- fessed themselves to be Protestants, or refused to abjure their religion, were put to the rack, in order to make them discover their associates ; they were then dragged by horses to the place of execution, and their bodies being commiited to the flames, their sufferings were prolonged with ingenious cruelty. To prevent them from bearing testimony, in the midst of their tor- ments, to the truth of their profession, their executioners were not sa- tisfied with barely confining their tongues ; they first scorched them with a glowing iron, and then screwed them into a machine, contrived on purpose to produce the most excruciating pain. It is shocking to recount the numberless instances of inhuman cru- elty perpetrated by Alva and his associates, especially when we consi- der that the unhappy victims were not those hardened wretches, who, by daring and bloody deeds, are guilty of violating the laws of nature and humanity, but were generally persons of the most inoffensive char- Cruelties towards the Protestants. 471 acters ; who, having imbibed the new opinions in religion, had too much probity to disguise their sentiments ; or, at the worst, had been betrayed into indiscretions by their zeal for propagating truths, which they believed to be of the highest importance to the glory of God and the happiness of men. Alva communicated a great share of his savage spirit to the inferior magistrates ; who knew that tliey could not recommend themselves more effectually either to the king or to the governor, than by the exer- cise of rigour and severity. Several of them, however, whose huma- nity prevailed over the considerations of safety and interest, were in- duced to give the Protestants timely warning to withdraw. Even the members of the bloody council began to feel their hearts revolt against the reiterated instances of cruelty, to which their sanction was required. Some of them applied for dismission; others had the courage to absent themselves ; and out of the twelve, of which the council was composed, there were seldom above three or four present. About this time the magistrates of Antwerp, whose behaviour, from the beginning of Alva's administration, had been extremely obsequious, thought they might venture to interpose in favour of certain citizens whom the inquisitors had imprisoned. Their petition was conceived in the humblest terms ; and they represented, that although the persons for whom they pleaded had been present two or three times in the Pro- testant assemblies, yet it was only curiosity that had led them thither ; they were still true sons of the church, and faithful subjects to the king; and they had remained in the country till the time of their im- prisonment, on the faith of the declaration which the governor had made, that they should not receive any disturbance on account of what had passed, till the expiration of a month after his arrival in the Netherlands. To this petition Alva haughtily replied, That he was amazed at their folly in presuming to apply to him in behalf of heretics; and they should have reason, he added, to repent bitterly of their conduct, if they did not act more prudently in future ; for they might rest assured, that he would hang them all, for an example to deter others from the like presumption. Notwithstanding this, some of the Catholic nobility, and Viglius, who had formerly concurred in all the arbitrary measures of Granvelle, but whose heart melted at the present misery of his countrymen, had the courage to remonstrate to the king against the governor's barbarity. Even the pope exhorted him to greater moderation. Philip, however, refused to countermand the orders which he had given, till he should hear from Vargas ; who advised him to persevere in the plan which he had adopted, assured him of its success, and at the same time flattered him with the hopes of an inexhaustible fund of wealth that would arise from confiscation. Vargas being seconded by the inquisitors at Madrid, Philip lent a deaf ear to the remonstrance which had been made to him, and the persecutions were continued with the same unrelenting fury as before. The people of the Netherlands were confirmed in their despair of obtaining mercy from Philip, by the accounts transmitted to them at 472 History of the Christian Church. this time from Spain, of his cruel treatment of his son Don Carlos. Various relations are given of that tragical and mysterious affair by the contemporary historians ; but the following appears the most consistent and probable. This young prince had from his earliest youth been noted for the impetuosity and violence of his temper; and though he never gave reason to think favourably of his understanding, or his capa- city for government, he had discovered the most intemperate ambition to be admitted by his father to a share in the administration of his do- minions. Philip, whether from jealousy, or a conviction of his son's unfitness for any important trust, refused to gratify his ambition, he be- haved towards him with distance and reserve, while he gave all his confidence to the Duke of Alva, Ruy Gomez de Sylva, and the presi- dent Spinosa; against whom Don Carlos, partly on this account, and partly because he considered them as spies upon his conduct, had con- ceived the most irreconcilable aversion. In this disposition he did not scruple, on different occasions, to censure the measures of his father's government and particularly those which had been adopted in the Neth- erlands. He had sometimes expressed his compassion for the people there ; had threatened the Duke of Alva, and even made an attempt upon his life, for accepting the government; had been suspected of holding secret interviews with the Marquis of Mons, and the Baron de Montigny; and had afterwards formed the design of retiring into the Netherlands, with an intention to put himself at the head of the mal- contents. Of this design intelligence was carried, by some of the courtiers, to the king; who after having consulted with the inquisitors, at Madrid, as he usually did in matters of great importance and difficulty, resolved to prevent the prince from putting his scheme into execution, by depriv- ing him of his liberty. For this purpose he went into his chamber in the middle of the uight, attended by some of his privy counsellors and guards : and, after reproaching him with his undutiful behaviour, told him that he had come to exercise his paternal correction and chastise- ment. Then having dismissed all his attendants, he commanded him to be clothed in a dark coloured mourning dress, and appointed guards to watch over him, and to confine him to his chamber. The high spi- rited young prince was extremely shocked at such unworthy treatment, and prayed his father and his attendants to put an immediate end to his life. He threw himself headlong into the fire, and would have put an end to his life had he not been prevented by the guards. During his confinement, his despair and anguish rose to a degree of frenzy. He would fast sometimes for whole days together, then eat voraciously, and endeavour to choke himself by swallowing his victuals without chewing. Several princes interceded for his release, as did many of the principal Spanish nobles. But Ids father was relentless and inex- orable. After six months' imprisonment, he caused the Inquisition of Madrid to pass sentence against his son, and under the cover of that sentence, ordered poison to be given him, which in a few hours put a period to his miserable life, at the age of twenty-three. Philip had, before this time, given a proof of the cruelty of his dis- position ; when, as above related, he chose to be present at the exe- Invention of the Art of Printing. 473 cution of his Protestant subjects in Spain. His singular conduct on that occasion, and the composure with which he beheld the torments of the unhappy sufferers, were ascribed by some to the power of su- perstition : while they were regarded by others, as the most convinc- ing evidence of the sincerity of his zeal for the true religion. But his severity towards his son did not admit of any such interpretation. It was considered by all the world as a proof that his heart was dead to the sentiments of natural affection and humanity ; and his subjects were every where filled with astonishment. It struck terror in a particular manner, into the inhabitants of the Low Countries ; who saw how vain it was to expect mercy from a prince, who had so obstinately re- fused to exercise it towards his own son ; whose only crime, they be- lieved, was his attachment to them, and his compassion of their calami- ties.* SECTION IV. THE HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES CONTINUED, FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.— A. D. 1551—1600. Among the distinguished favours which it hath pleased the Father of Lights to confer upon mankind, the invention of the art of printing has been, in its consequences, none of the least beneficial. Before this dis- covery, learning was accessible to none but persons of princely for- tunes ; but by this means it was brought within the reach of almost every one ; and that information became generally diffused which was necessary to subvert the cause of tyranny and superstition ; thus, through the overruling providence of God, the art of printing turned out to be one of the most important events that have happened since the first promulgation of the gospel. Knowledge, which had indeed been gaining ground for some centuries before, was now wonderfully accelerated in its progress. The light acquired by one, was quickly diffused abroad, and communicated to multitudes. The facility of com- munication brought learning within the reach of the middle ranks — the dead languages became a general object of study — the Scriptures began to be consulted, not only in the Latin Vulgate, but also in the Greek — reading produced reflection, and thus diffused a light which it was no longer possible to conceal under a bushel. It would have been strange indeed, had the advocates of a system which was founded in ignorance expressed no apprehensions of alarm at the introduction of these novelties. The faculty of Theology at Paris declared before the assembled parliament, that religion was undone, if the study of Greek was permitted. But the language of the monks in those days is still more amusing. We are informed by Conrad of Heresbach, a very • Watson's History of Philip II. vol i. b. viii. 40* 474 History of the Christian Church. grave and respectable author of that period, that one of their number is said thus to have expressed himself — " They have invented a new lan- guage, which they call Greek ; you must be carefully on your guard against it; it is the mother of all heresy. I observe in the hands of many persons a book written in that language, which they call the New Testament. It is a book full of daggers and poison. As to the Hebrew, my dear brethren, it is certain that all those who learn it im- mediately become Jews."* The art of printing, which originated with John Guttenberg, a citi- zen of Mentz, was first attempted by him at Strasburg, from 1436 to 1440. His efforts which were, no doubt, at first very rude and indi- gested, had been greatly matured by skill and experience in the course of a century ; and consequently, about the year 1535, we find the Wal- denses of Piedmont anxious to avail themselves of it with a view to a more general circulation of the word of life. Hitherto they had been obliged to confine themselves to manuscripts ; and, in the JValdensian tongue, they seem not to have generally possessed an entire version of the whole Bible, but the New Testament only, and some particular books of the Old. They now, however, contracted with a printer at Neufchatel, in Switzerland, for an entire impression of the whole Bible in French, for the sum of fifteen hundred crowns of gold. An elabo- rate preface, somewhat too declamatory for a publication of that kind, was prefixed by Robert Olivetan, who appears to have been one of their number, and who professes to have translated it for the use of the churches. Both Perrin and Sir Samuel Morland affirm this to have been the first French Bible that was printed and published ; and on their authority I had so stated the fact in the first edition of this work. But on consulting Du Pin on the Canon, I am now convinced that this is a mistake. The words of the latter are, " The first edition of the French Bible, [printed] in the year 1530, is to be seen in the French king's library; the second of the year 1534, is larger, and extant in the libraries of St. Germain de Prez, and of St. Geneviese. These two editions are prior to that of Robert Olivetan, [which was] the first done by the Protestants in the year 1535."t The works of Luther, of Calvin, and others of the reformers, begin- ning about this time to be in general use, they sent Martin Gonin, one of their number, to Geneva, to procure a supply of such books as he should think calculated to promote the instruction of the people. But on his journey he was unfortunately apprehended under suspicion of being a spy : and a discovery being made that he was a Waldensian, he was sent for safety to Grenoble, and there thrown into prison. The inquisitors having been made acquainted with the case, he was, by their advice, cast into the river Lyzere, during the night, for this im- portant reason, as given by the inquisitor, that it ivas not expedient the world should hear him declare his faith, lest those who heard him should become tvorse than himself. % * See Villers' Essay on the Reformation, by Luther, translated by Mill, p. 94. note. — And Mi-. Cox's Life of Melancthon, p. 29. ■\ Du Pin on the Canon, &c. Vol. I. p. 217. i Pcrrin's Waldenses, b. ii. ch iv. Persecution of the Waldenses in Calabria. 475 It was formerly noticed, that in the year 1560, the Waldenses in Calabria formed a junction with Calvin's church at Geneva. The consequence of this was, that several pastors or public teachers went from the neighbourhood of Geneva to settle with the churches in Cala- bria. It seems probable that this circumstance had contributed to re- vive the profession in Calabria, or at least had brought the Waldenses more into public notice than they had hitherto been ; and it spread an alarm among the Catholics, which reached the ears of pope Pius IV. Measures were, therefore, immediately taken for wholly exterminating the Waldenses in that quarter ; and a scene of carnage ensued, which in enormity has seldom been exceeded. Two monks were first sent to the inhabitants of St. Xist, avIio assembled the people, and by a smooth harangue, endeavoured to persuade them to desist from hearing these new teachers, whom they knew they had lately received from Geneva ; promising them, in case of compliance, every advantage they could wish : but, on the other hand, plainly intimating that they would subject themselves to be condemned ls heretics, and to forfeit their lives and fortunes, if they refused to return to the church of Rome. And at once to bring matters to the test, they caused a bell to be immediately tolled for mass, commanding the people to attend. Instead of comply- iug, 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 out to pursue them, who hunted them like wild beasts, crying, Amassa, JLmassa ; that is, kill, kill ! and numbers were put to death. Such as reached the tops of the mountains, procured the privilege of being heard in their own defence. They stated, that they and their forefathers had now for several ages been residents of that country — that during all that period their lives and conversation had been irreproachable — that they ardently wished to remain there, if they should be allowed to continue unmolested in the profession of their faith, but that if this were denied them, they implored their pursuers to have pity on their wives and children, and to permit them to retire, under the providence of God, either by sea or land, wherever it should please the Lord to conduct them — that they would very cheerfully sacrifice all their worldly possessions rather than fall into idolatry. They therefore entreated, in the name of all that was sacred, that they might not be reduced to the necessity of defending themselves, which if they were compelled to do, must be 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. The inquisitors, on this, wrote to the Viceroy of Naples, urging him to send them some companies of soldiers, to apprehend certain heretics of St. Xist and de la Garde, who had fled into the woods ; at the same time apprizing him that by ridding the church of such a plague, he would perform what was acceptable to the pope and meritorious to him- self. The viceroy cheerfully obeyed the summons, and marched at the head of his troops to the city of St. Xist, where, on his arrival, he caused it to be proclaimed by sound of a trumpet, that the place was 476 History of the Christian Church. condemned to fire and sword. Proclamation was at the same time made throughout all the kingdom of Naples, inviting persons to come to the war against the heretics of St. Xist, and promising as a recompense the customary advantages. Numbers consequently flocked to his standard, and were conducted to the woods and mountains whither the Waldenses had sought an asylum. Here they chased them so furiously, that the greater part were slain by the sword, and the rest, wounded and desti- tute, retired into caverns upon the tops of the rocks, where they per- ished by famine. Having accomplished their wishes on the fugitives from St. Xist, they next proceeded to la Garde, and apprehended seventy persons, who were brought before the inquisitor Penza, at Montauld. This merci- less bigot caused them to be stretched upon the rack, with the view of extorting from them a confession of adultery and other abominable practices too filthy to be mentioned ; in no one instance of which did he succeed, though their tortures in many instances were so violent as to extinguish life. A person of the name of Marson was stripped naked and beat with rods, then drawn through the streets and burnt with fire- brands. One of his sons was assassinated, and another led to the top of a tower, where a crucifix was presented to him, with a promise that if he would salute it his life should be spared. The youth replied, that he would rather die than commit idolatry, and as to their threats of casting him headlong from the tower, he preferred that his body should be dashed in pieces on the earth, to having his soul cast into hell for denying Christ and his truth. The inquisitor, enraged at his answer, commanded him instantly to be precipitated, " that we may see," said he, " whether his God will preserve him." Bernardine Conde was condemned to be burnt alive. As they led him to the stake, a crucifix was put into his hands, which he threw to the ground. The enraged inquisitor sent him back to prison, and to aggravate his torture he was first smeared over with pitch and then committed to the flames. The same inquisitor Penza caused the throats of eighty of them to be cut, just as butchers slaughter their sheep ; their bodies were afterwards divided into four quarters, and the public way between Montauld and Castle Viller, for the space of thirty miles, was planted with stakes, and a quarter of the human frame stuck upon each of them. Four of the principal inhabitants of la Garde, viz. James Fermar, Anthony Palomb, Peter Jacio, and John Morglia were, by his order, hanged, in a place called Moran ; but they met their deaths with surprising fortitude. A young man, of the name of Samson, defended himself dexterously for a length of time against those who came to ap- prehend him ; but being wounded, he was seized and led to the top of a tower, where he was commanded to confess himself to a priest then present, before he was cast down. This, however, he refused, adding that he had already confessed himself to God, on which he was cast headlong from the tower. The following day the viceroy walking at the foot of the tower, saw the unhappy youth still alive, but languish- ing in tortures, having nearly all his bones broken. The monster kicked him on the head, and said, "Is the dog yet alive? give him to the hogs." Hit Calabrian Waldenses exterminated. 477 This is only a specimen of the brutal outrages that were carried on at this time against the Waldenses in Calabria ; but the reader will, probably, think it quite sufficient. Pope Pius IV. was so resolutely bent upon ridding the country of them, that he afterwards sent the Marquis of Butiane to perfect what was left undone, with a promise that if he succeeded in clearing Calabria of the Waldenses, he would give his son a cardinal's hat. He, indeed, found but little difficulty in effect- ing it ; for the inquisitorial monks and Viceroy of Naples had already put to death so many, transporting others to the Spanish gallies, and banishing all fugitives, selling or slaying their wives and children, that not much remained for the marquis to accomplish. Of their pastors, Stephen Megrin was imprisoned at Cossence, and literally starved to death. Lewis Pascal was conveyed to Rome, and there condemned to be burnt alive. As this man had been remarkable for his zeal, and the confidence with which he had maintained the Pope to be antichrist, he was reserved as a gratifying spectacle for his holi- ness and the conclave of cardinals, who were present at his death. But such was the address which Pascal delivered to the people, from the word of God, that the Pope would gladly have wished himself else- where, or that Pascal had been dumb and the people deaf! The account that is given us of his dying behaviour, can scarcely fail to remind one of the case of the martyr Stephen ; and his ardent zeal in the cause of Christ, added to his fervent supplications to the throne of grace, deeply affected the spectators, while the pope and cardinals gnashed their teeth through rage. Such was the end of the Waldenses of Calabria, who were wholly exterminated : for if any of the fugitives returned, it was upon the ex- press condition that they would in all things conform themselves to the laws of the church of Rome.* About this time, Francis I. king of France, obtained possession of the whole country of Piedmont by conquest, and regulated its affairs by means of its parliament at Turin. The Pontifical chair was then filled by Paul III. who plied the parliament so sedulously to proceed against these pernicious heretics, the Waldenses, that the recent scenes of France were now re-acted in Piedmont; numbers of the Waldenses being committed to the flames. Happily these things were, in a great measure, new among them. They, therefore, presented an address to the king, humbly supplicating that they might be indulged with the same privileges under his government, which they and their forefathers had so long enjoyed under the house of Savoy. But Francis turned a deaf ear to their prayer, commanding them to be regulated in the con- cerns of religion by the laws of the Roman church, or they should be punished as heretics, adding, that he did not burn the followers of Lu- ther in every part of France, to permit a nest of heretics, to rest secure in the bosom of the Alps. They were, therefore, commanded by the parliament to send away their pastors on pain of death ; and in their room to receive priests belonging to the Catholic church, to conduct their worship and sing masses for them. The Waldenses replied, that * Perrin's History of the Waldenses, b. ii. ch. 7. 478 History of the Christian Church. in what regarded their religious worship, they could obey no commands which interfered with the laws of God, to whom they rather chose to be obedient, in every thing that concerned his service, than to follow the fancies and inclinations of men.* But the multiplicity of important concerns which, at that critical juncture, engaged the king's attention, not permitting him to prosecute his measures against the Waldenses, the parliament relinquished the matter to the court of Inquisition, who committed to the flames as many as they could apprehend. In the year 1555, several were burnt, in the Castle Yard at Turin, and among others, Bartholomew Hector, a book- seller, who, by his admirable fortitude under his sufferings, his holy conversation, and fervent prayers to God, so deeply affected the spec- tators, that he drew tears from their eyes, and the language of compas- sionate sympathy from their lips. Not long after this, the parliament of Turin, resolving to second, by every means in their power, the efforts of the inquisitors, appointed a person of the name of St. Julian, president, and sent him throughout the valleys, armed with the king's authority, and accompanied by an assessor, to compel the Waldenses either to conform to the church of Rome or to put them to death ; promising to render their agents every assistance they might require, either to reduce to obedience, or exter- minate them. On their arrival at Perouse they issued a proclamation in the name of the king, commanding every one of the inhabitants to attend mass on pain of death. From thence they proceeded to Pignerol, where they summoned several persons to appear before them, and drew up in- dictments, probably with the view of terrifying the Waldenses ; but not finding these methods to succeed to their expectations, they next had recourse to a new and more alluring expedient. St. Julian had brought with him several monks from the valley of Angrogue, one of whom he caused to preach before a large concourse of people. The zealous ec- clesiastic laboured indefatigably to persuade them to return to the church of Rome, the praises of which he extolled to the skies. The people heard him patiently to the end of his harangue; and then rising up, requested that one of their pastors, who happened to be present, might be indulged with the privilege of making some remarks on the sermon ! but the president very prudently declined the proposal. His refusal, however, occasioned such murmuring throughout the auditory, that the president and his monks were petrified with astonishment, and took the first opportunity that was afforded them of decently retiring and return- ing to Turin. On their arrival they informed the parliamant of their proceedings, intimating how difficult it would be to subdue these people by coercive measures; and giving it as their opinion, that, even if attempted, the country afforded such facilities of defending themselves, that, either to reduce them to the obedience of the church of Rome, or to rid the coun- try of them, must be an Herculean task, and performed at the expense of so much blood, that to exterminate them must be the work of a king, * Sir Samuel Morland's Churches of Piedmont, p. 224. Proceedings of the Inquisition in Piedmont. 479 and of a king of France too : they, therefore, submitted it to consider- ation, that it would be prudent to transmit a report of this matter to his majesty, and leave the farther prosecution of the Waldenses to his own discretion. This advice was adopted, and a year elapsed before the parliament took any further measures relative to them. His majesty, however, at length reported his pleasure upon the mes- sage of the parliament; and it was, that all his subjects in Piedmont should be compelled to attend mass on pain of corporal punishment and the confiscation of their goods; and St. Julian was again sent to An- grogne to enforce obedience; but the people were still as averse to compliance as ever they had been. They answered that they were not bound to obey such decrees as were inconsistent with their duty to God. He then commanded twelve of the principal persons among them, with all the pastors and all the schoolmasters in the valleys, to surrender themselves prisoners at Turin, there to receive such sentences as should be passed upon them. They returned for answer, that such commands came from men only, and not from God, and that as they could not ap- pear at Turin but at the risk of their lives and of being troubled on account of their religious profession, they declined compliance. This contumacious behaviour inflamed the parliament to the highest pitch. They proceeded against them in the most summary manner, causing all that could be apprehended in Piedmont, and on the confines of the valleys, to be committed to the fiames at Turin ; and among others a Mr. Jeffrey Varnigle was burnt in the year 1557, in the Castle Yard. He was attended by an immense concourse of spectators, upon whom his death made a strong and lasting impression ; his fervent piety and resignation to the will of God tending greatly to confirm and establish their own minds. While these things were in progress, Francis was removed from the stage of life, and his son Henry II. raised to the throne. The protes- tant princes of Germany, now moved with compassion for the poor persecuted Waldenses, interceded for them with Henry, entreating him to permit them the same religious privileges which their forefathers had enjoyed from generation to generation. And their application was not without success, for they continued unmolested until peace was con- cluded between France and Spain, in the year 1559, at which time Piedmont was again restored to the Duke of Savoy. No sooner had the inhabitants of Piedmont become the subjects of Philbert Emanuel, than a most pressing application was made to him by the monks of Pignerol to prosecute the most sanguinary measures against the Waldenses ; and the latter, to counteract it, presented an humble petition to their sovereign, in which they informed him they were not ignorant of the many accusations laid against them, nor of the various calumnies that were cast upon them, with the view of ren- dering them odious to all princes and monarchs of the Christian world. They then make a bold avowal of their principles as these respected the Christian faith, their readiness to yield obedience to their civil rulers, in every thing that did not infringe upon the rights of con- science— their anxious wish to live peaceably with their neighbours ; boldly affirming, that though often provoked to it, they had done vio- 480 History of the Christian Church. lence to no man ; and in this respect, they challenged any complaint that could be brought against them. They appealed to their published confessions of faith that they were not obstinate in their opinions ; but on the contrary ready to receive all holy and pious admonitions that •were sanctioned by the word of God : and that they were so far from evading discussion, that, on the contrary, they anxiously desired it. They implored his highness to consider that their religious profession was not a thing of yesterday, as their adversaries falsely reported ; but had been the profession of their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grand- fathers ; yea, of their predecessors of still more ancient times, even of the martyrs, confessors, apostles, and prophets ; and they called upon their adversaries to prove the contrary if they were able. Persuaded, therefore, as they were, that their religion was not a human invention, but founded upon the word of God, which shall remain for ever, they were confident that no human force should be able to extinguish it. They call to the mind of their prince, the grievous persecutions that for many ages past had been carried on against their brethren, and which had been so far from destroying the sect, that their numbers were increasing daily — an argument, as they remarked, that the work and council was not of men but of God, and consequently not to be destroyed by violence. They remind him, that it is no trifling thing to fight against God ; and beseech him to consider well what he is about to undertake, before he embrues his hands in innocent blood. " We shall religiously obey all your highness's edicts," say they, " so far as conscience will permit — but Jesus is our Saviour, and when conscience says Nay, your highness knows that it is our duty to obey God rather than man. While we frankly acknowledge the right of Caesar to demand from us what belongs to Caesar, we must also render to God what is due to Him." But whether this petition did not arrive in time, or that the duke actually turned a deaf ear to it, it seems that in the year 1561 the in- habitants of the valleys were considerably harassed by the military ; in consequence of which they came to the resolution of sending depu- ties to Turin, to prevail upon the duchess, who was reported to be favourably disposed towards their cause, to intercede for them. In this instance they were more successful. An edict was issued in favour of the Waldenses, bearing date the 5th of June, 1561, granting them the privilege of holding their public assemblies in all the usual places, free from molestation ; and that such of them as had been injured by the seizure and confiscation of their property, should have it restored, or receive a compensation for the same. The following account of this matter, given by Sleidan's Continuator, appears to me of too much importance to be omitted in this place. " There was in Piedmont," says he, " a valley called by the name of Perouse, and St. Martin ; inhabited by about fifteen thousand souls, whose ancestors about four hundred years since, had, upon the preach- ing of Waldo, Speronus, and Arnold, made a defection from the church of Rome, and had, at times, been severely treated for it, by the French, under whom they had been ; but by the last treaty they were assigned to the Duke of Savoy. This people about the year 1555, had em- Contest in the Valley of Perouse. 481 braced the Reformation, and had suffered it to be publicly preached, though it was forbidden by the council at Turin, which, the year fol- lowing, 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 admitted the sacraments instituted by Christ, and the ten command- ments, &c. That they believed the supreme civil magistrates were instituted by God, and they were to be obeyed, and that whosoever resisted them, fought against God. They said they had received this doctrine from their ancestors, and that if they were in any error they were ready to receive instruction from the word of God, and would presently renounce any heretical or erroneous doctrine which should be so shown to them.' " On this a solemn disputation was appointed, concerning the sacri- fice of the mass, auricular confession, tradition, prayers and oblations for the dead, and the ceremonies of the church and her censures : all which they rejected, alleging that they were human inventions, and contrary to the word of God. This confession was sent bjr the Duke of Savoy to the King of France, who about a year after returned an an- swer, That he had caused it to be examined by his learned divines ; who had all condemned it as erroneous and contrary to true religion ; and, therefore, the king commanded them to reject the confession and to 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, there- fore, commanded not to admit any teacher who was not sent by the Archbishop of Turin, or the council there ; and that if any teachers came among them from Geneva, they should discover or apprehend them, upon pain of death, and loss of all they had. For three years after this, the Waldenses were let alone and no way molested ; but this year, 1560, the Duke of Savoy, much against his will and inclina- tion, was drawn by the pope to make war upon them. In the begin- ning of March, Jean de Carpuignan, and one Mathurim and his wife were apprehended and burnt, and several of the neighbouring valleys were plundered, and many of the inhabitants put to death ; about sixty were sent to the galleys, and some recanted and professed the Roman Catholic religion. After this, Thomas Jacomel, a Dominican, was sent with one Turbis for his assistant, who was a bloody man, to inquire diligently and severely into all that were suspected ; but the nobility interposing, there was no great severity shown. The monks of the abbey of Pignerol, which was seated in the entrance of the valley, on the other side, kept a parcel of soldiers in pay, and entrapping as many of these poor people as they could, as they passed to and fro, they used them very cruelly ; and some others of the nobility did the same thing; and a sedition following upon it, they fined the poor inhabitants one thousand six hundred crowns. Upon this a sharp war ensued, which ended in the ruin of the aggressors of the church of Rome. "The pastor of Perouse was "taken and burnt with a slow fire, to- gether with many of his flock, and the inhabitants were despoiled of 41 482 History of the Christian Church. 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 hun- dred and twenty soldiers belonging to the abbey of Pignerol, put them to flight, and slew the greatest part of them ; and about four hundred more of their party coming up, they took the abbey of Pignerol, and delivered 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 betake themselves to the mountains, 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 aftertimes they had pastors who 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. The 2d of November 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 iew in num- ber) 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 implored 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 religion 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 to be received in mercy ; but the soldiery fell upon them when they suspected nothing, and plundered them three days together. The general seemed to be much concerned at this breach of faith : yet after this they were fined eight thousand crowns, which they were forced to borrow on great usury, and they were also commanded to bring all their arms into the castles which the duke had garrisoned in their coun- try. And at last they were commanded to eject all their pastors (which was submitted to with the tears of their people) that they might avoid the fury of the soldiers. The general pretended not to be satisfied that their pastors were in reality gone, and when they suffered them to search their houses, the soldiers plundered them again, and then burnt their town. There was one town called Angrogne, in a valley of the same name, where the general pretended to show them more favour, and agreed that they should have one pastor left them : but they forced him also to flee into the mountains afterwards, and plundered his house, and all his neighbours, and then enjoined the Sindicks (or chief magis- trates) to bring in the pastor ; threatening that otherwise they would burn and destroy the whole territory ; and when they had so done they withdrew. Confused state of Piedmont. 483 *' In the mean time their messengers were gone with their petition, mentioned above, to the Duke at Vercelli, where they attended forty days before they could get an audience, and then they were forced to promise they would admit the mass ; and when the prince had, upon these terms, forgiven their taking arms against him, they were com- manded to ask pardon too of the Pope's nuncio, which at last they did. During their absence, the inhabitants of Angrogne had permitted no sermons but in private, that they might not exasperate the prince, or make the affairs of their deputies more difficult. But they resolved when these were returned to exercise their religion openly, and not to give any thing to the maintaining of the soldiers, whether their request was granted or denied. "In the beginning of January the deputies returned, and when their principals understood what had been done, they wrote to the rest of the valleys to give them an account of it ; and desired a public consulta- tion or diet ; at which it was resolved that they should all join in a league to defend their religion, which they believed was agreeable to the word of God, professing in the mean time to obey their prince ac- cording to the command of God, and that they would, for the future, make no agreement or peace, but by common consent, in which the freedom of their religion should be saved. Upon this they became more confident, refused the conditions offered by the Duke of Savoy, mid the promises made by their deputies'. And the next day they en- tered into the church of Bobbio, and broke down all the images and altars, and then marching to Villare, where they intended to do the like, they met the soldiers, who had heard what was done, going to plunder Bobbio, stopped them, and with their slings so pelted them, that they were glad to shift for their lives, and left these reformers to do the same thing at Villare. The captain of Turin attempting to quell this outrage was beaten, and the duke's officers were glad to seek to their pastors for a passport. 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 resist them, the soldiers burnt all their towns and houses and destroyed all the people they took. In these broils Monteil, one of the Duke of Savoy's chief officers, was slain by a lad of eighteen years of age ; and Truchet, an- other of them, by a dwarf. The duke of Savoy had sent seven thou- sand soldiers to destroy this handfull of men ; and yet such was the desperation, and the advantages of their country, that they beat his sol- diers wheresoever they met them. And in all these fights their ener mies observed that they had slain only fourteen of the inhabitants, and thence concluded that God fought for them. So the Savoyards began to treat for a peace, which at last was concluded to the advantage of these poor despicable people. The duke remitted the eight thousand crowns they were to pay by the former treaty, and suffered them to enjoy their religious liberty • so that he got nothing by this war but loss and shame, the ruin of his people on both sides, and the desolating of his country."* * Sleidan's History of the Reformation, Continuation, p. 52 — 54. 484 History of the Christian Church. This calm, however, only lasted about four years ; for in 1565, at the importunate request of the Catholic party, an edict was issued, en- joining every subject throughout the dominions of the Duke of Savoy, not conforming to the church of Rome, to appear before the magis- trates of their several districts, within tea days after its publication, and there either declare their readiness to go to mass, or quit the country in two months. The magistrates were, at the same time, directed to take particular cognizance of such as refused compliance, and to trans- mit information thereof to his highness. The protestant princes of Germany, having received information of this tremendous blow, which now threatened the Waldenses, very hu- manely interposed with the Duke, for the purpose of warding it off. The Elector Palatine of the Rhine, in particular, addressed a letter to him, which he transmitted by the hands of one of his counsellors. I regret that its length, (for it occupies seven pages in folio) renders its entire insertion here impracticable ; but some judgment may be formed of the noble sentiments that it breathes throughout from the following extracts : " I plainly see," says the Elector Palatine, " whither the designs of your highness1 s counsels tend. It is to drag these poor people to prison, and there, by means of torment, to constrain them to confess some treason, that so a pretext may be afforded for destroying all the churches of the valleys, as seditious, and to condemn them as disturbers of the public peace. But let your highness recollect, that there is a God in heaven, who not only beholds the actions of men, but who also tries their hearts and reins, and to whom all things are naked and open. Let your highness beware of wilfully fighting against God, and of persecuting Christ in his members ; for though he may bear it for awhile, to try the patience of his saints ; he will, nevertheless, in the end, chastise the persecutors of his churches and people with horrible punishments. Let not your highness suffer yourself to be abused by the persuasions of Papists, who may possibly promise you the kingdom of heaven, and eternal life, as a reward, in case you banish, imprison, and exterminate your subjects. But the infliction of cruelties, and in- human actions, are not the highways to the kingdom of heaven — there must be some other found out. Your highness may see what success has attended the last forty years of persecution. What advantage have those, who called themselves Catholics, derived from all the fires, swords, gibbets, prisons, tortures, and banishments which they have exercised in Germany, England, France, and Scotland ! No ; the his- tory of both the Jews and the primitive Christians, abundantly shows that in the concerns of religion the power, authority, or severity of men availed nothing. Do we not find that those who have persecuted, ban- ished or delivered up unto death, the Christians, have been so far from gaining any thing thereby, that, on the contrary they have increased their number, insomuch that it has become a proverb — ' The ashes of the martyrs are the seed of the Christian church.' In this respect the church resembles the palm tree, which the more it is weighed down, the loftier it rises. — Be assured that true religion is nothing else than a firm and settled persuasion of the existence of God, and of his will, Tlie Elector Palatine's Letter. 485 as revealed in his word, imprinted on the mind by the Holy Spirit, which having once taken root, cannot easily be eradicated by tortures and torments — for those who are the subjects of it, will sooner endure the worst that can befal them, than embrace any thing which appears to them contrary to religion and godliness. "By the grace of God, evangelical truth now shines in such splen- dour, that the errors and deceits of the Bishop of Rome and all his clergy, are sufficiently known in a manner by all men ; nor must the Pope think, henceforward, to abuse the world as he has done in former times. I, therefore, beseech your highness, whom I understand to be of a sweet and gentle disposition, that you would lay these things to heart, and not further molest these poor people for the sake of their religion, nor refuse them the free exercise of it, but rather allow them the liberty of assembling in public for the worship and service of God ; in doing which you will readily discover the falsehood of the charges brought against them by their adversaries, and have proof their loyalty and obedience. Your highness is net ignorant what evils were brought upon France by their violence in banishing and persecuting [the Chris- tians there,] what a flame was raised, which in a manner consumed the whole kingdom, and what ruin ensued, all ivhichhas been appeased by one single edict, granting liberty of conscience ; the result of which is, that the most entire peace and tranquillity reigns among them, though they profess different forms of religion. And, indeed, the plain truth is, that if your highness, out of complaisance to the Bishop of Rome, the cardinals, prelates, and others who are interested in the Roman re- ligion, are resolved still to continue to persecute these poor people, you will unquestionably experience the same evils that have come upon other kingdoms. Nothing that is violent is of long duration; and we must not always follow the wolf into the wood. Poverty and hunger are no inconsiderable torments, nor is it an easy thing to lead so long and miserable a life in exile, when deprived of one's goods and estates. It is the height of injustice and misery to be compelled to submit to the tyrannical yoke of the Bishop of Rome, and to be prohibited worshipping God according to his word. And it is wholly intolerable for good and faithful subjects to be accused as rebels or seditious persons. " I learn, not without much grief, that scarcely any thing has yet been done in regard to the things which your highness promised my Junius by word of mouth,* and that those poor wretches ivho are kept in the galleys on account of their religion, whose names he delivered in to your highness, are yet detained; from which I plainly perceive that these are the doings of yourhighness's counsellors, who are carried away with deadly hatred against our religion, of which I have proof, not merely hearsay, but in the actual case of two who have been lately banished. But let me tell you in a word, that this severity is neither well-pleasing to God nor man, nor is it the way to bring men to the * For understanding this, the reader must notice, that the elector had before this time, by means of one of his ministers, whose name was Junius, been inter^ ceding with the duke, in behalf of some of the "Waldenses, and that the latter had promised to redress the grievance, which, however, the Catholic clergy and the Duke's own ministers had successfully manoeuvred to prevent. 41* 486 History of the Christian Church. true knowledge of God, which must be done by persuasion and an ap- peal to the Scriptures — not by persecution. Your highness may pro- bably tell me, that our religion has been long condemned — but I ask, by whom, and how ? By him who has violated and corrupted all rights, human and divine, making himself both party and judge, and who has lately, at the Council of Trent, confirmed all his idolatries, and all the superstitions and abuses that have been introduced into the church. Let your highness carefully examine the Holy Scriptures, and you will find this to be the case. Never suffer yourself to be deluded by those de- ceivers, who maintain their idolatries and superstitions merely to serve their own bellies, and that they may lead the lives of epicures. Let your highness well consider, that you must one day appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of the souls of your subjects, and where it will avail you nothing to say, "I thought so," or, "I esteem- ed it so." God has revealed his will in his word, and it is his pleasure that we should follow the same without turning either to the right hand or to the left. The word of God is also clear and plain ; let your high- ness only hear and embrace it, and you will easily find out the truth. I say all this, as one who wishes well to your highness's soul, as much so indeed as I do to'_that of my own, and I pray the Lord incessantly that it may please him to enlighten your understanding, and call you home to his true light, that you may discern truth from falsehood, and that thus having a knowledge of the horrible abuses of the church of Rome, you may serve God in sincerity and truth. "I therefore beseech your highness to give us a pledge of that es- teem which you have for us, by delivering those poor people which are now in the galleys, and recalling those that have been recently ban- ished by the senate of Savoy, as you promised my Junius and my- self, by your letters. Have compassion upon so many wandering ex- iles, deprived of all their property and effects. Call them home, and restore them to their houses and habitations : and grant both to them, and to the other inhabitants of your highness's country, the public ex- ercise of their religious worship, which they esteem more necessary than their daily food. Absolve such of these poor people of the val- leys as have been falsely accused, that so they may all live in peace and tranquillity under your highness's government. Make such articles of peace with them as may be preserved inviolate — support them in the quiet exercise of that religion which you have permitted them, and defend them in the same, bridling and restraining the bitter hatred which their governor Castrocaro exercises towards them ; and warn him to molest them no more for the future, as he has hitherto done ; en- join upon him that he refrain from falsely imputing to them crimes and accusations, by means of which he thinks to varnish over his tyranny ; for such things are altogether unsuitable to the office of a magistrate and a governor, who ought to be a father to those that are committed to his charge. Do not render yourself an instrument to the pope and his creatures, of gratifying their insatiable desires to spill the blood of Christians. Countenance not their cruelty and inhumanity against those who are in nowise perverse, but real Christians, and who have nothing more at heart than to serve God purely and uprightly under The Duke of Savoy protects the Waldenses. 487 your highness's government, to whom they are ready to yield all that obedience and fidelity which is your due, and to lay themselves out (their property, their persons, and their lives, if necessity calls for them) for your service. The great and all-powerful God guide and govern your highness by his Holy Spirit, and preserve and defend you long in health and safety."* This letter, which breathes throughout the spirit of genuine Chris- tianity, will be found, by those who bestow proper attention upon it, to throw much light upon the state of the Waldenses in Piedmont, at the middle of the sixteenth century. For while it gives us the most fa- vourable view of their peaceable, prudent, and exemplary conduct, it unmasks the perfidious and cruel proceedings of the Catholic party to- wards them, and the distresses and afflictions with which they were perpetually harassed, on account of their profession. It appears to have had the happiest effects upon the Duke ; and, supported as it was, by the personal application of the Duchess, who is said to have been " a pi- ous and virtuous princess," it bridled the fury of the governor Castro- caro, and averted the dreadful storm which hung over them. They ap- pear to have enjoyed peace until the year 1571, at which time the rage of this inhuman governor again burst forth. The Duke, at that instant, had been 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 protestant subjects in the valleys. He first of all forbade them to hold any correspondence with the Waldenses of Dau- phiny, on pain of death. And next they were forbidden to assemble in any synod or council, unless it were in the presence of the intole- rant Castrocaro. These things sufficiently indicated the gathering of another storm ; but the duchess again humanely interposed, and with effect ; for she procured the continuance of their privileges ; and, in- deed, during her life, she remained as it were a sanctuary and place of refuge for the members of the churches of Piedmont, whenever they found themselves assailed by their adversaries. In the following year, 1572, the dreadful massacre of the Hugonots, on St. Bartholomew's day, took place at Paris, and several of the other cities of France. No sooner had the news of this reached Castro- caro, than he prepared himself for similar exploits in Piedmont : and so terrific was [the attitude in which he placed himself, that the Wal- densian brethren thought it necessary to retire, with their wives, and children, and movable effects, to the tops of the mountains and other places of real or fancied security. But God who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and who, at his pleasue, restrains the wrath of men, on this occasion disposed the heart of the Duke to befriend them. The massacres that had taken place in France filled him with disgust and horror ; and so far was he from allowing the governor to act a simdar part towards his subjects, that he caused a proclamation to be issued, commanding those who had left their habitations to return to their own houses, promising that they should sustain neither danger nor injury thereby ; and they found him true to his word, for, from that time to * Morland's Churches of Piedmont, p. 243 — 249. 488 History of the Christian Church. the death of the Duchess, which took place on the 19th of October, 1574, they suffered but little inconvenience. After the death of this amiable lady, however, the Popish party came forth, like lions out of their dens, and sought, by all possible means to destroy the Waldenses ; but the kind providence of God raised them up friends, from time to time, who interceded on their behalf with the Duke, whose heart seems to have been gradually and increasingly in- clined towards them ; for he continued to treat them with much gentle- ness and moderation from that time untill the period of his own death, which happened on the 30th of August, 1580. The late duke was succeeded in the government of the country by his son Charles Emanuel, upon whose accession to the throne a trifling contest about territory arose between him and a French prince, which was near involving the Waldenses in a dilemma. The young Duke had seized upon the marquisate of Saluces, on which Monsieur de 1' Es- diguieres, by way of retaliation, marched his army, and seized the val- leys of Piedmont. When the fracas was over, a rumour was spread abroad that the Waldenses had taken the oath of fidelity to the King of France, and the Duke displeased with that part of their conduct, had formed the resolution of extirpating all the Protestant churches in his dominions. There does appear to have been some truth in the latter part of this representation ; for, some members of the Duke's council actually proposed the thing, but it was overruled by the wiser and greater part of the members, and it met with a stern repulse from the Duke himself. The Waldenses, however, thought it expedient to appoint their deputies to wait upon him, which they did at Villaro, assuringhis highness of their loyalty and fidelity to his government, and supplicating a continuance of his favour and protection. His answer, which was made in the presence of a great number of his lords and courtiers was calculated to revive their drooping spirits. "Only be faithful to me," said the Duke, " and I shall not fail to be a good prince, nay, a father to you. And as to your liberty of conscience and the free exercise of your religion, I shall be so far from introducing any innovations into those liberties which you have enjoyed to the present time, that if any offer to molest you, have your recourse to myself, and I shall effectu- ally relieve and protect you.'''' This certainly was a very remarkable declaration, especially when we consider that it came from one who professed himself a member of the church of Rome. But it was spoken in the presence of many per- sons of high consideration, and in the most condescending manner ; and it proved eminently conducive to the interests of the Waldenses. It countervailed the threats of their implacable adversaries, and kept them in check; and such, with occasional interruptions indeed from the Ca* tholic party, sometimes by secret stratagems, and at others by open force, continued their condition until the end of the century. About that time the scene greatly changed, and the years 1601 and 1602 were prolific of mischief to the churches, both in the valley of Lucerne, and the marquisate of Saluces, of which some mention will be made in the next section ; I shall close the present with a short article of biography which may serve as an introduction to the history of the Waldenses during the seventeenth century. Hie Duke of Savoy protects the Waldenses. 489 In the year 1601, Bartholomew Copin, a Waldensian of the valley of Lucerne, had occasion to attend a public fair at Ast, a city in Piedmont, to which he had brought for sale some articles of merchandise. Sitting at table one evening in company with several other merchants, one of them started a discourse upon the subject of the diversity of religious profes- sions, and took occasion to speak reproachfully of the Waldenses of An- grogne and the neighbouring valleys. Copin undertook their defence ; conceiving that if he permitted such calumnies to pass uncontradicted, he should appear to be acquiescing in their justice, and of course should partake in the guilt that attached to them. " And what," said the stranger to Copin, " are you one of the Waldenses ?" " Yes," said he, " I am." " And what, do you not believe the real presence of God in the host?" " No," said Copin. " See," replied the other," " what a false religion yours is." " Of the truth of my religion," said Copin, " I have no more doubt, than I have of the existence of God himself, or that I myself shall die." On the following day, Copin was summoned to appear before the bishop of Ast, who told him that he had been informed of certain scandalous opinions and discourses which he had held the preceding evening at his lodgings ; and that unless he con- fessed his fault, and asked pardon, he should certainly have him pun- ished. Copin acknowledged that he had been stimulated to say what he did; but that, nevertheless, he had said nothing that was untrue, or which he would not maintain at the peril of his life. He owned that he had some property in the world, and a wife and children, but that his affections were not so rivetted to those objects, as to prefer them to the testimony of a good conscience. And as to his life and conversa- tion, if the bishop thought proper to inquire of the merchants of Ast, all of whom knew him, he might be fully satisfied of his uprightness and integrity. This, however, did not satisfy his lordship, who instantly sent him to prison ; and on the following day, the bishop's secretary paid Copin a visit, when he expressed great regard for him, but thought it neces- sary to apprize him that, unless he acknowledged his fault, he" was in danger of losing his life. Copin replied, that his life was in the hands of God — that he had no wish to preserve it to the prejudice of his glory —and that as there were but two or three steps between him and hea- ven, he trusted he would support him by his grace, and not leave him to turn aside. He was next brought before the inquisitoi*, who exam- ined him in the presence of the bishop ; but Copin always repulsed them with the word of God, telling them that were he to be ashamed of and deny Christ, he would be ashamed of and deny him before his heavenly Father. The inquisitor, finding he was not to be moved by either his fair speeches or terrific frowns, then thus addressed him. " Out upon thee, thou cursed Lutheran ; thou shalt go to the devils in hell, and when tormented by those foul spirits, thou wilt call to mind the holy instructions we have given thee, to bring thee to salvation — but thou choosest rather to go to hell, than reconcile thyself to thy holy mother, the church." Copin only answered, that he had long been reconciled to the holy church. Copin, foreseeing that his death was resolved on, and that his time here would probably be short, was one day greatly surprised by a visit 490 History of the Christian Church. from his wife and son, who seem to have been enticed to the prison by the Catholic party for sinister purposes, and who were permitted to sup with him in the prison. He improved the time, however, in exhorting his wife to submission to the will of God : telling her she would soon be deprived of her husband, and the child of its father ; he reminded her that it was not his duty to love wife or children more than Christ — that she ought to esteem him happy in that it pleased God to confer upon him the honour of bearing witness to his truth at the expense of his life; and that he hoped God would grant him grace to suffer any tor- ments for his sake. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the parting scene, which the reader's own reflections will enable him to realize. The affecting lamentations of the wife and child were sufficient to melt the most obdurate heart into pity and compassion, but having received his last benediction, they were dismissed the prison, and Copin was locked up as before. On the next day he wrote the following letter. To my well-beloved consort, Susanna Copin. " My dearest Consort! " I derived much consolation from your late visit — and indeed so much the more, by how much the less it was expected. I believe, also, it was no little satisfaction to yourself, to have the opportunity of supping with me, as it fell out on Saturday, the 15th of September, 1601. I know not how it came about that we were permitted so to do; but all things are in the hands of God, and be the cause what it may, I do not think we shall eat together any more. And, therefore, beseech God to be your comforter, and put your trust in him, who hath promised never to forsake those that, depend upon him. You want not prudence, and therefore so manage and govern your house, that you may have Samuel and Martha in proper subjection to you, and I com- mand them, by the authority that God hath given me, that they honour and obey you, and in so doing they will be blessed of God. As to the rest, be neither troubled nor concerned about me ; for if divine Provi- dence hath decreed to put a period to my life, and if it please him to demand a restitution of that soul which he hath a long time lent me, my confidence is in him, that out of his immense mercy and divine good- ness, he will receive it into heaven, for the sake of his Son Christ Jesus, Avho, I believe, hath made expiation for our sins by his sufferings and death. Be constant in prayer to God, and serve him fully — for thus you will be happy. You need not send me any thing for three weeks to come ; but at the expiration of that time you may, if you please, send me some money, to pay the gaoler and my own support, if I live so long. Recollect what I have often told you, that God added fifteen years to the life of king Hczekiah, but that he had prolonged my term much more, for you have seen me, as it were, dead a long time ago, and yet I still survive ; and I hope and trust that he will preserve my life until my death be more for his glory and my own happiness, through his goodness and mercy towards me." From the prison of Jlst, Sept. IQth, 1601, The Waldenses plead for Toleration. 491 Poor Copin was soon afterwards found dead in his cell, not without symptoms of having been strangled! After his death he was condemn- ed to be burnt ; and the body having been brought out of prison, sen- tence was read over it, and it was cast into the fire.* SECTION V. THE HISTORV OF THE WALDENSES DURING THE FORMER PART OF THE SE- VENTEENTH CENTURY. A. D. 1600 1GG5. On the southern side of the valleys of Piedmont lies a considerable tract of extremely fertile country, including extensive valleys and plain lands, with several large cities, all passing under the general term of the marquisate of Saluces.! Its most northern valley is that of Po, so named from the river Po taking its rise there ; and it is separated only by a single mountain on the north side from the valley of Lucerne, in Piedmont. Previous to the year 1588, the marquisate of Saluces was subject to the jurisdiction of the kings of France ; but at that period an exchange of territory was made between the French monarch and the Duke of Savoy — in consequence of which the latter gave up la Bresse to France, and the marquisate of Saluces was annexed to the dominions of the Duke of Savoy. The contiguity of Saluces to the valleys in Piedmont, together with its great similarity in regard to territorial surface, had entitled it, for several centuries, to participate of the light of Divine truth, which shone in the neighbouring valleys ; and in the beginning of the seventeenth century there were eight flourishing churches in the marquisate, of which Pravillelm, Biolets, Bietone, and Dronier were the chief; but they had all maintained the purity of the Christian profession for ages, living in great harmony, and holding fellowship with the neighbouring churches of the same faith and order. Their external peace had, in- deed, been frequently invaded by the kings of France, and their con- stancy and patience under sufferings put severely to the test — but if the French monarchs had chastised them with whips, it was reserved for their new sovereign, Charles Emanuel, to do it with scorpions.! In the year 1597, the Duke of Savoy made his pleasure known to his new subjects, by a letter issued from Turin, dated the 27th of March of that year, of which the following is a copy. Well-beloved Friends, fyc. It being our desire that all our subjects in the marquisate of Saluces should live under obedience to our mother, the Catholic Apostolic Ro- man Church — and knowing how much our exhortations have prevail- ed upon others, hoping also that they will have the same effect upon * Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. iv. f This name is, in our old historians, frequently spelt " Saluzzes." i Sir Samuel Morland's History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 258. Perrin's Hist. desVaudois, b. ii. ch. 5. Boyer's History of the Waldenses, ch. ix. 492 History of the Christian Church. you, and that you are willing to adhere to the truth — we have thought it proper, upon these grounds, to address you in this letter, to the end that, laying aside all heretical obstinacy, you may embrace the true re- ligion, both out of respect to God's glory and love to your ownselves. In which religion we, for our parts, are resolved to live and die ; which conduct of yours, on account of so good an example, will undoubtedly lead you to eternal life. Only dispose yourselves to do this, and we shall preserve the remembrance of it for your benefit, as the lord de la Monte will more particularly certify you on our part, to whom we re- fer ourselves in this regard, praying the Lord to assist you by his holy grace.* The publication of this letter occasioned a general consultation among the churches of the marquisate, and they returned an answer to it, in the form of a petition to the Duke of Savoy, in which they first of all tender their thanks to his highness for having permitted them so long to enjoy their religious privileges free from molestation, in the same manner as he had found them when he took possession of the marquisate, in 1588. They then proceed humbly to entreat him that he will be pleased to indulge them with a continuance of the same pri- vilege, inasmuch as they were persuaded that their religious profession was founded on the Holy Scriptures, by which standard they laboured so to regulate their lives and conversations, as to give no just cause of offence to any one. And when they reflected that even the Jews and other enemies of Christ were there allowed to live in peace, and the enjoyment of their religious worship, they confidently hoped that those who were found to be Christians, and faithful to God and their prince, would not be debarred the same privilege. This answer was not wholly without effect. They remained undis- turbed until the year 1601, when, in the month of July, an edict was issued, commanding all the inhabitants of the marquisate of Saluces, who dissented from the church of Rome, to appear individually before the magistrates, within the space of fifteen days, and there declare whe- ther or not they would renounce their religious profession and go to mass. In the former case, it was promised them that they should re- main peaceably in their houses, and be entitled to peculiar advantages ; while in the latter, they were peremptorily ordered to depart out of his highness's dominions, within the space of two months, and never to return without permission, under pain of death and the confiscation of their property. The Waldenses appear to have had considerable difficulty in per- suading themselves that this was any thing more than a threat ; in which unfounded supposition they were encouraged by some persons of note among them. They, therefore, made no preparation for a de- parture, by the settlement of their affairs ; but appointed deputies to wait on the Duke, to obtain a revocation ; or if that could not be effect- ed, at any rate, a modification of this rigorous edict. But Clement VIII. who was then pope, had got complete possession of the Duke's ear, and rendered him deaf to every entreaty. To carry the edict into * Morland, p. 263. The Waldenses driven into Exile. 493 full effect, a great number of inquisitorial monks were despatched into the marquisate, who on their arrival, went from house to house, ex- amining the inhabitants concerning their religious profession — and just at the expiration of the term allowed by the edict, their deputies returned, but, to their surprise and amazement, informed them that every hope of redress had vanished. The consequence was, that more xh^n Jive hundred families were driven into exile! " The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of residence, and Providence their guide." Some crossed the Alps, and retired into Dauphiny, in France ; others to Geneva, and its neighbourhood ; while many sought refuge among their friends in the valleys of Piedmont ; where, for awhile, they re- mained undisturbed, notwithstanding die edict had expressly mentioned that they should depart out of the dominions of the Duke of Savoy.* Whether their Catholic persecutors, not content with this too gentle mode of punishment, endeavoured, by loading them with reproaches and false accusations, to steel the hearts of the inhabitants of other countries against them, and thereby prevent their finding an asylum ; or whatever was their particular inducement thereto, it is certain that they considered it necessary, in the year 1G03, to publish a declaration explanatory of the cause of their banishment. Perrin has given us a copy of it, and the following is the substance : It begins by stating, that from time immemorial, and, from genera- tion to generation, the same doctrines and religious profession had been maintained by their predecessors in the marquisate of Saluces ; and that, Avhile under the jurisdiction of the kings of France, they had been permitted to profess their faith without molestation, just as their brethren of the valleys of Lucerne, La Perouse, &c. (in Piedmont) had done ; but that his highness, instigated by the evil counsels of persons swayed by prejudice and passion rather than of his own free will, had issued an edict to disturb and molest them. " To the end, therefore," say they, " that all men may know that it is not for any crime or mis- demeanor, perpetrated against the person of our prince, or for rebellion, or opposition to his edicts, or for murder, or theft, that we are thus persecuted, and spoiled of our goods : we protest and declare, that the doctrine maintained by the reformed churches of France, Switzer- land, Germany, Geneva, England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and other kingdoms, is the only Christian doctrine approved of God, and which brings salvation to men. We are, therefore, determined to adhere to it, to the end of our lives, and at the risk of every thing that is dear to us. If any presume to think us in an error, we desire to be shown wherein, promising to abjure and turn from it, and to follow the better way that shall be shown us ; for we have nothing more at heart, than, with a good conscience, to worship God, agreeably to his own will, and attain the salvation of our own souls. But as attempts have been made, by mere force, to compel us to forsake the way of salva- tion, and to follow after the erroneous doctrines and superstitions in- * Perrin, b.ii. ch. v. Morland, p. 265. 42 494 History of the Christian Church. vented by men, we chose to lose our houses and properties, nay, and our very lives also, rather than comply." They, therefore, implore the reformed churches, in the midst of their exile and calamity, to receive them into their fellowship ; being prepared, if it should please God so to order it, to seal their testimony with their blood. They returned thanks to God, for the honour con- ferred upon them, by calling them to suffer afflictions and persecutions for his name's sake, committing the issue of their affairs, and the righteousness of their cause, unto the divine Providence, trusting that he will effect their deliverance when and how he pleases. And they conclude with a prayer to God, that he who hath the hearts of kings and princes in his hands, would be graciously pleased to soften the heart of his highness, and incline him to pity those who never did, and who are resolved that they never will offend him ; and that it may be given him to perceive that they are more loyal and faithful to him than those are who have instigated him to such persecutions. And, finally, that the Lord will be pleased to support them in the midst of their trials, and to fortify them with patience and constancy, that they and their posterity may persevere in the profession of the truth to the end of their lives. It does not appear that this affecting address produced any ameliora- tion of the condition of the poor exiles. All the churches in the mar- quisate of Saluces were completely dispersed : aud the pope, with the assistance of his inquisitorial band, took special care to keep the coun- try clear of them, as they had formerly done that of Calabria. During the persecution, Monsieur Vignaux, pastor of the church of Villaro, in the valley of Lucerne, whose history of the Waldenses I have fre- quently adverted to,* was indefatigable in his exertions to serve his afflicted brethren. He was then l'ar advanced in life ; his years had given him the advantage of much experience in the Christian profes- sion ; and he was remarkable for his gravity and other excellent quali- ties. Deeply feeling for their distresses, he employed himself in writing long letters to his poor persecuted brethren in every quarter, exhorting them to patience and perseverance, and encouraging them by all the consolatory considerations which the gospel affords, not to faint nor be discouraged, but to bear up under their troubles. He also wrote to several of the nobility, to whom he was known, either per- sonally or by report, particularly to the governor of the marquisate, with whom he was intimately acquainted, stating the injustice and cruelty that was done to his friends, and urging all the motives and reasons that he could devise, to induce him to mitigate their sufferings ; but, so far as appears, without the least effect. From this period, the Waldenses appear to have been tolerably free from very severe 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. On the 25th of that month, a public document appeared, which has since been too well known by the title of " the order of Gastaldo." Thus runs the pre- amble : * See particularly page 351. Cruel order of Gastaldo. 495 " Andrew Gastaldo, Doctor of the Civil Law, Master Auditor Or- dinary, sitting in the most illustrious chamber of accounts of his royal highness, and Conservator General of the holy faith, for the observa- tion of the orders published against the pretended reformed religion of the valley of Lucerne, Perouse, and St. Martino, and upon this account especially deputed by his said royal highness." After stating the authority which had been vested in him by the duke, on the 13th of the same month, it proceeds " to command and enjoin every head of a family, with its members, of the reformed reli- gion, of whatever rank, degree, or condition soever, without exception, inhabiting or possessing es-tates in the places of Lucerne, Lucernetta, S. Giovanni, La Torre, Bubbiana, and Fenile, Campiglione, Briche- rassio, and S. Secondo, within three days after the publication of those presents, to withdraw and depart, and to be with their families withdrawn out of the said places, and transported into the places al- lowed by his royal highness, during his good pleasure, &c. under pain of death and confiscation of houses and goods. — Provided always that they do not make it appear to us within twenty days following, that they are become Catholics, or that they have sold their goods to the Catholics. Furthermore, his royal highness intends and wills that in the places (to which they were to transport themselves) the holy mass shall be celebrated in every one of them, and that for any person of the said reformed religion to molest, either in deed or word, the missionary fathers and those that attend them, much less to divert or dissuade any one of the said religion from turning Catholic, he shall do it on pain of death," &c. It is not difficult to conjecture what must have been the distress and misery consequent upon a compliance with such an order as this, and more especially in such a country as Piedmont, at such a season of the year. Thousands of families, comprehending the aged and infirm, the sick and afflicted, the mother advanced in pregnancy, and the one scarcely raised up from her confinement — the delicate female and the helpless infant — all compelled to abandon their homes in the very depth of winter, in a country where the snow is visible upon the tops of the mountains, throughout "every month of the year. All this surely pre- sents a picture of distress sufficient to rend the heart. On the first issuing of the edict, the Waldenses sent deputies to the governor of the province, humbly representing to him the unreason- ableness and the cruelty of this command. They stated the absolute impossibility of so many souls finding subsistence in the places to which they were ordered to transport themselves : the countries scarcely affording adequate supply for their present inhabitants. To which they added, that this command was expressly contrary to all their rights as the peaceable subjects of his highness, and the concessions which had been uniformly granted them, of maintaining without molestation their religious profession : but the inhuman governor refused to pay the least attention to their application. Disappointed in this, they next begged time to present their humble supplication to his royal highness. But even this boon was refused them unless they would allow him to draw up their petition and prescribe the form of it. Finding that what he 496 History of the Christian Church. proposed was equally inimical to their rights and consciences, they de- clined his proposal. They now found that the only alternative which remained for them was to abandon their houses and properties, and to retire with their families, their wives and children, aged parents, and helpless infants, the halt, the lame, and the blind, to traverse the coun- try, through the rain, snow, and ice, encompassed with a thousand dif- ficulties. But these things were only the beginnings of sorrow to this afflicted people. For no sooner had they quitted their houses, than a banditti broke into them, pillaging and plundering whatever they had left be- hind. They next proceeded to raze their habitations to the ground, to cut down the trees and turn the neighbourhood into a desolate wilder- ness ; and all this without the least remonstrance or prohibition from Gastaldo. These things, however, were only a trifle in comparison of what followed. But the reader will best learn this sad story from the parlies who were interested in this melancholy catastrophe; and the following is a copy of the letter which some of the survivors wrote to their Christian friends in distant countries, as soon as the tragedy was over. A brief Narrative of those horrible cruelties which were exercised towards the fValdenses in the late Massacre, in April, 1655. Brethren and Fathers ! Our tears are no more tears of water but of blood, which not only obscure our sight, but oppress our very hearts. Our pen is guided by a trembling hand, and our minds distracted by such unexpected alarms, that we are incapable of framing a letter which shall correspond with our wishes, or the strangeness of our desolations. In this respect, therefore, we plead your excuse, and that you would endeavour to col- lect our meaning from what we would impart to you. Whatever reports may have been circulated concerning our obstinacy in refusing to have recourse to his royal highness for a redress of our heavy grievances and molestations, you cannot but know that we have never desisted from writing supplicatory letters, or presenting our hum- ble requests, by the hands of our deputies, and that they were sent and referred, sometimes to the council de propaganda fide ,* at other times to the Marquis of Pionessa,t and that the tliree last times they were positively rejected, and refused so much as an audience, under the pre- text that they had no credentials nor instructions which should authorize them to promise or accept, on the behalf of their respective churches, whatever it might please his highness to grant or bestow upon them. And by the instigation and contrivance of the Roman clergy, there was secretly placed in ambush an army of six thousand men, who, animated and encouraged thereto by the personal presence and active exertions of the Marquis of Pionessa, fell suddenly and in the most violent man- ner, upon the inhabitants of S. Giovanni and La Torre. * A Council established by the court of Rome for propagating the faith or, in plain English, for extirpating- heretics. •j- This unfeeling- man seems to have sustained the station of prime minister in the court of the Duke of Savoy, and commander-in-chief of his army. Waldensian account of the Massacre of 1655. 497 This army having once entered and got a footing, was soon augment- ed by the addition of a multitude of the neighbouring inhabitants through- out all Piedmont, who hearing that we were given up as a prey to the plunderers, fell upon the poor people with impetuous fury. To all those were added an incalculable number of persons that had been out- lawed, prisoners, and other offenders, who expected thereby to have saved their souls and filled their purses. And the better to effect their purposes, the inhabitants were compelled to receive Jive or six regi- ments of the French army, besides some Irish, to whom, it is reported, our country was promised, with several troops of vagabond persons, under the pretext of coming into the valleys for fresh quarters. This great multitude, by virtue of a license from the Marquis of Pio- nessa, instigated by the monks, and enticed and conducted by our wick- ed and unnatural neighbours, attacked us with such violence on every side, especially in Angrogne, Villaro, and Bobio ; and in a manner so horribly treacherous, that in an instant all was one entire scene of con- fusion, and the inhabitants, after a fruitless skirmish to defend them- selves, were compelled to flee for their lives, with their wives and chil- dren; and that not merely the inhabitants of the plain, but those of the mountains also. Nor was all their diligence sufficient to prevent the destruction of a very considerable number of them. For, in many places such as Villaro and Bobio, they were so hemmed in on every side, the army having seized on the fort of Mareburg, and by that means blocked up the avenue, that there remained no possibility of escape, and nothing remained for them but to be massacred and put to death. In one place they mercilessly tortured not less than an hundred and fifty women and their children, chopping off the heads of some, and dashing the brains of others against the rocks. And in regard to those whom they took prisoners, from fifteen years old and upwards, who refused to go to mass, they hanged some, and nailed others to the trees by the feet, with their heads downwards. It is reported that they carried some persons of note prisoners to Turin, viz. our poor brother and pastor, Mr. Gros, with some part of his family. In short, there is neither cattle nor-provisions of any kind left in the valley of Lucerne ; it is but too evident that all is lost, since there are some whole districts, especially S. Giovanni and La Torre, where the business of setting fire to our houses and churches was so dexterously managed, by a Francis- can friar, and a certain priest, that they left not so much as one of either unburnt. In these desolations, the mother has been bereft of her dear child— the husband of his affectionate wife ! Those who were once the richest amongst us are reduced to the necessity of begging their bread, while others still remain weltering in their own blood,°and deprived of all the comforts of life. And as to the churches in S. Mar- tino and other places, who, on all former occasions, have been a sanc- tuary to the persecuted, they have themselves now been summoned to quit their dwellings, and every soul of them to depart, and that instan- taneously and without respite, under pain of being put to death. Nor is there any mercy to be expected by any of them who are found within the dominions of his roval highness. 43* 498 History of the Christian Church. The pretext which is alleged for justifying these horrid proceedings is, that we are rebels against the orders of his highness, for not having brought the whole city of Geneva within the walls of Mary Magdalene church ; or, in plainer terms, for not having performed an utter impos- sibility in departing, in a moment, from our houses and homes in Bub- biana, Lucerne, Feaile, Bricheras, La Torre, S. Giovanni, and S. Se- condo ; and also, for having renewed our repeated supplications to his royal highness, to commiserate our situation, who, while on the one hand he promised us to make no innovations in our lot, on the other refused us permission to depart peaceably out of his dominions, for which we have often entreated him, in case he would not allow us to continue and enjoy the liberty of our consciences, as his predecessors had always done. True it is, that the Marquis of Pionessa adduced another reason, and we have the original copy of his writing in our possession, which is, that it was his royal highness's pleasure to abase us and humble our pride, for endeavouring to shroud ourselves, and take sanctuary, under the protection of foreign princes and states. To conclude, our beautiful and flourishing churches are utterly lost, and that without remedy, unless our God work miracles for us. Their time is come, and our measure is full ! O have pity upon the desola- tions of Jerusalem, and be grieved for the afflictions of Joseph. Show forth your compassions, and let your bowels yearn in behalf of so many thousands of poor souls, who are reduced to a morsel of bread, for fol- lowing the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. We recommend our pas- tors, with their scattered and dispersed flocks, to your fervent christian prayers, and rest in haste, Your brethren in the Lord, April 27th, 1655. The reader may collect from this letter some general notion of the tenor of the proceedings that were at this time carried on against the Waldenses in Piedmont ; and they appear to have been extended pro- gressively throughout almost the whole country. But if credit is to be given to the statements of our countryman, Sir Samuel Morland, who in the very same year was sent by the English government to adminis- ter pecuniary assistance to these afflicted people, — if any regard is due to the attestations which he has produced from persons who were spec- tators of the dreadful work of carnage ; it is but a faint impression of the scene which can be derived from that letter. The representation given us by Sir Samuel, and further corroborated by Leger, in his General History of the Churches of Piedmont, beggars all description for atrocity. Nor, if the infernal regions had been disembowelled of their inhabitants, and the whole let loose among the valleys of Pied- mont, could we have expected the perpetration of greater enormities. The bare report of them spread amazement throughout all the Protes- tant states of Europe, as we shall presently see ; and the principal ac- tors in this deep tragedy found it necessary to aim at extricating their characters from the odium which attached to it. In particular, the Marquis of Pionessa laboured to cast the blame upon certain officers of his army, which induced one of them, not only to give up the com- mand of the regiment, but actually to draw up an affidavit, which he Petit Bourg's defence against Pionessa. 409 attested with his own hand, and got it further corroborated by the testi- mony of two of his brother officers, in vindication of his conduct iu that affair. Sir Samuel Morland obtained possession of the original do- cument, which he deposited in the University of Cambridge, along with an infinite number of other interesting manuscripts relating to this subject, and it appears of sufficient importance to be submitted to the reader's consideration. " I Sieur du Petit Bourg, first captain of the regiment of Groncy, who also commanded the same, having received direction from prince Thomas to join the Marquis of Pionessa, who was then at La Torre, and to receive his orders — when I was upon the eve of departure, the ambassador sent for me, and desired me to speak to M. de Pionessa, and to use my endeavours to accommodate the troubles which had happen- ed among those of the religion [of the Waldenses] in the valleys of Piedmont. In order to which I addressed myself to the marquis earnestly entreating him that he would give way, and allow me to un- dertake an accommodation, which, I supposed I might have been able to effect. But he repeatedly refused my request, in defiance of all the endeavours I could possibly use to persuade him. And instead of the least mitigation of matters, which could be produced by any considera- tion that I could lay before him, I was witness to many acts of vio- lence and extreme cruelties exercised by the banditti and soldiers of Piedmont, upon all sorts of persons, of every age, sex, and condition, whom I myself saw massacred, dismembered, hung up ; females vio- lated, and numerous other horrid atrocities committed. And so far is it from being true that the whole was done by virtue of the orders that were issued by me, as falsely stated in a certain Narrative, printed in French and Italian, that / beheld the same with horror and regret. And whereas it is said in the same Narrative, that the Marquis of Pio- nessa commanded me to treat them peaceably without hostility, and in the best manner I possibly could, the event clearly demonstrated that the orders he gave were altogether of a contrary tendency, since it is most certain that without distinction of those who resisted, from those who made no resistance, they were used with all sorts of inhumanity — their houses burnt, their goods plundered, and when prisoners were brought before the Marquis of Pionessa, I was a witness to his issuing orders to give them no quarter at all, assigning as a reason, that his highness was resolved to have none of that religion in any of his do- minions. And as to what he protests in the same declaration, namely, that no hurt was done to any except during the fight, nor the least outrage committed upon any unoffending and helpless persons, I do assert, and will maintain that such is not the truth, having seen with my own eyes several men killed in cold blood, and also women, aged persons, and children, miserably murdered. And with regard to the manner in which they put themselves in possession of the valley of Angrogne, to pillage and entirely burn the same, it was done with great ease. For, excepting six or seven per- sons, who, seeing there would be no mercy shown them, made some show of resistance, the rest were dispersed without difficulty, the 500 History of the Christian Church. peasants consulting how to flee, rather than how to fight the enemy. In short, I absolutely deny and protest, as in the presence of God, that none of those cruelties were executed by my order ; but, on the contrary, seeing that I could not procure a remedy, I was constrained to retire and quit the command of the regiment, not liking to be pre- sent at such wicked transactions. Done at Pignerol, November 27th, 1655. Du Petit Bourg. Now, whatever may be thought of this defence, or upon whomsoever the onus of guilt may devolve, it seems a fair inference from these documents, that cruelties of the most enormous kind were at this time inflicted by the Catholic party upon the Waldenses throughout the whole country of Piedmont, — upon a class of men whose sole crime was, that they dissented from the communion of the church of Rome, and refused to countenance her idolatry and superstition. And that their sufferings were of no ordinary cast, may be inferred from the sin- gle consideration, that they excited the commiseration of, and at the same time extorted remonstrances from almost every Protestant court in Europe, who raised large contributions to relieve their poverty, and sent their ministers to the court of Savoy, to intercede with the Duke for the amelioration of the condition of his subjects. In this benevo- lent work, it is a gratifying reflection, that our own country took the lead, as will more particularly be shown in the next section : I shall close the present with an article of no inconsiderable interest in the his- tory of the churches of Piedmont. While the fire of persecution was, as Ave have seen, so fiercely raging against the Waldenses, in the early part of the year 1655, two persons who sustained the pastoral office, in the valley of Lucerne, were seized and sent as prisoners to the city of Turin, probably with a multitude of others who escaped the edge of the enemy's sword. It is but doing justice to the Catholic party to say of them, that they sel- dom evinced their delight in human blood to such an excess as to pre- fer it to that of converting a heretic to their faith. In general, they only gave it the preference to the alternative of allowing persons to think difi'erently from themselves. Nor would it be fair to accuse them of remissness in their expedients and exertions to recover back again to the true church such as they supposed were gone astray. In that respect they could always display the wisdom of the serpent, though seldom, alas ! the harmlessness of the dove. On the present occasion, the two pastors above referred to, whose names were Peter Gros and Francis Aguit, were unhappily entrapped by the monks of the inqui- sition, and they fell from their profession. The renunciation of their principles would ensure their liberation from prison. The chains were taken from their bodies, and they recovered their liberty — but in a short time the burden was transferred from the body to the mind, and their own consciences rendered them miserable. In this state of things, they applied for re-admission into the churches, and the following de- claration of the state of their minds was publicly made by them, before a full assembly of their brethren, convened at Pinache, in the valley of Declaration of Gros and Aguit. 501 Perouse, on the 28th and 29th August, 1655, for the purpose of taking their case into consideration. Most honoured Fathers and Brethren in the Lord. We could have wished that a less mournful occasion had caused our present appearance in public, and that a more favourable opportunity had made us known to the world, by some notable action, the remem- brance of which might have been as a blessing in the churches ; but as our names can only be famous by the horrible scandal which we have brought upon the church of God, we now come forth out of the dark dungeons of our own shame and confusion, and present ourselves be- fore men, to testify to all the world our conversion and repentance, and to give indubitable proofs of our grief, that we have been so base as to forsake our former profession. When we reflect upon those advantages with which above others, the Lord was pleased to bless us, in granting us a religious education and the knowledge of his saving grace, thus teaching us where true happi- ness is to be found ; and finally to have been called to the highest em- ployment that men can have in this world, viz. to be the heralds of God's justice, and the preachers of his truth, we cannot without hor- ror speak of our offence, and are constrained to confess that our sin is rendered much more odious in that, having known our Master's will, we nevertheless withdrew our shoulders from his service, and have acted in opposition to his command. It was in these last calamities which have overrun our country, that we thus made shipwreck — after having lost our liberty and our goods — when the enemies of the truth, having resolved upon extirpating our religion in the valleys of Piedmont, exercised the most barbarous cruel- ties upon our countrymen. And we, having fallen into their hands after they had showed us how far their inhumanity could reach ; to give us a proof of the utmost degree of it, they caused us to be thrown into prison, when they proceeded against us, and sentenced us to death as guilty of high treason, and the ringleaders of rebellion, incessantly setting before our eyes the torments and punishments to which we were condemned ; and, to render us more flexible to the enticements of the Jesuits, who, without ceasing, solicited us to accept of a pardon which they would obtain for us on our embracing Popery, and abjuring our religion. At their first onsets, we were confident that, so far from yielding to them, we had strength and fortitude enough to despise whatever super- stition could present before our eyes as terrible or dreadful — and that the dark and dismal shades of death itself, with which they threatened us, were insufficient to extinguish that heavenly light which then shined in our souls. But to our extreme grief, we have learned how frail our nature is, and how deceitful the wisdom of the flesh, which, for the enjoyment of a frail and transitory life, prevailed upon us to forego those unspeakably good things which God hath prepared for his children and that everlasting joy of which those are made partakers who endure to the end. It was this fleshly wisdom, which, from a desire to preserve this house of clay, this earthly tabernacle and to 502 History of the Christian Church. avoid a shameful death, and a punishment ignominious in the eyes of the world, that induced us to a shameful falling away, turning our backs upon him who is the fountain of life. We have lent our ears to this deceitful Delilah, and although there were not offered to us any reasons so strong as in the least degree to obscure the truth that we did profess, yet we freely acknowledge that the fear of death and the horror of torments, shook our courage, and beat down our strength ; and we have decayed and dried up like water, not resisting to blood, as the profession, not only of Christians, but more especially of Christian ministers, obliged us to do. Having been persuaded by deceitful reasoning, that life is preferable to death — that we might be further profitable to the church, to our country, and to our families — that there was no glory in dying as re- bels, and that one day we might get out of captivity, and manifest to the world, that if the confession had been wanting in our mouths, yet the faith had not been wanting in our hearts Thus we accepted of pardon on these miserable conditions, and have not hesitated to enter into the temple of idols, and employ our mouths and tongues in utter- ing blasphemies against the truth of heaven, in denying and abjuring the same ; and our sacrilegious hands also in subscribing the act and events of this infamous apostasy, which has drawn many others into . the same perdition. Our light has become darkness, and our salt has lost its savour — we have fallen from heaven to the earth — from the spirit to the flesh — and from life to death. - We have made ourselves obnoxious to the curse which the Lord hath pronounced on those by whom offences come. And having made light of the threatenings of the Son of God against those who shall deny him before men, we have deserved to be denied by him before his heavenly Father. Finally, we have rendered ourselves unworthy of divine favours and mercy, and have drawn upon our guilty heads whatever is most dreadful in the wrath of God and his indignations — and have deserved to be rejected of the church as stumbling-blocks or rocks of offence, and that the faithful should even abhor our company. But as we have learned in the school of the prophets, that the mer- cies of God are infinite, and that the Lord hath no pleasure in the de- struction of his poor creatures, but calleth the sinner to repentance, that he may give him life, we presume to appear before his face, to humble ourselves in his holy presence, to bewail the greatness of ouV sin, and to make before him a free confession of oux iniquity. O that our heads might melt into waters of bitterness, and our eyes were turned into fountains of tears, to express the grief wherewith our souls are pressed down. As our sin is of no ordinary measure, so it calls for extraordi- nary repentance : and as we acknowledge it to be one of the greatest that can be committed, so do we wish that our repentance should reach the lowest degree of humiliation, and that the acts of our contrition may be known to the world. If David, for lighter faults, were willing that his complaints and his deep sorrow and repentance should be left, as it were for a memorial in the church, well may we not be ashamed to publish among men the inconsolable regret which we feel for having offended God, and giving an occasion of scandal to the assemblies of Confession of Gros and Aguit. 503 the saints ; and we deserve to have imprinted upon our foreheads a mark of perpetual infamy for our miserable fall, to make the memory thereof continue for ever. And if we can make it apparent that the sorrow it hath begotten in us is extreme, and that we now disclaim whatever fear formerly forced us to do contrary to the dictates of our consciences ; we trust that he who forgave Peter when he denied Christ in the court of Caiaphas, will grant us the same grace, since we are come to ask forgiveness in all humility, with tears in our eyes, confession in our mouths, and contrition in our hearts ; and that, as there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, so there may be joy in the congregation of the faithful when they shall behold our con- version to the Lord. Great God! Almighty Father! dreadful in thine anger; in whose presence no sinner can subsist a moment ; we prostrate ourselves at the feet of thy Majesty as poor miserable offenders, confessing that we have justly provoked thee to anger by our transgressions and iniquities, and drawn upon ourselves thy righteous judgments, in that we have forsaken thy heavenly truth, and bowed the knee before the idol ! But how shall we now appear before thee, O thou Judge of the quick and dead, since by so doing, we have deserved to feel, not only in this life thy most severe rod and punishment, but that thou shouldest also cut us oft" from the number of the living, and cast us headlong into the lake of fire and brimstone, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. O God ! rich in compassions and infinite in mercies ! which thou multipliest even in judgment; turn us and we shall be turned! be merciful to us, forgive us our offence ! blot out our iniquity ! and impute not our sin unto us ! Open unto us the door of thy grace, that we may be partakers of this thy salvation. O Lord Jesus, Redeemer of souls, who earnest into this world for the sake of poor sinners; look upon our affliction ! Receive us to mercy ! and grant that, our sins being washed away in thy most precious blood, we may draw near to the throne of thy grace with con- fidence to obtain mercy. Raise us up from our fall ! strengthen us in our weakness ! and although Satan hath sought to sift us, suffer not our faith [utterly} to fail ! Work in us effectually both to will and to do according to thy good pleasure. It is thou who hast stretched out thine hand around us ! it is thy strong hand which hath helped us ! Thou hast taken us out of captivity both of body and soul, in which we lay languishing, and hast afforded us the liberty to call upon thy name ! Thou hast heard our cries out of the deep, and hast given us fresh cause to rejoice in thy goodness, and to bless thy holy name; to whom be everlasting glory ascribed, at all times, and in all ages ! Amen. And you faithful souls, who witness our contrite heart and broken spirit before the Lord ; O commiserate our lamentable state ! Learn by our example, how great is human frailty, and what a precipice we fall into whenever God withdraws his supporting hand from us ! Consider, that as it hath been to us an extreme infelicity to have fallen into so great a sin, so have you an argument to rejoice in God, through whose grace you have been given to stand ! Watch and pray, that, you enter not into temptation ! Hold fast that which you have, that no man take your crown ! Be faithful to the Lord Jesus even unto death, that so 504 History of the Christian Church. ye may obtain the crown of life ! And, be assured that, aside from the profession of his truth, which you make to the exclusion of all other sorts of religion whatsoever, there is nothing but death, horror, and astonishment. This is a thing which we are enabled to assure you of from our own experience, because from the very first moment that we gave our consent to this unhappy apostasy, our consciences have given us no rest at all ; and through their continual harassings and agitations, they have not suffered us to enjoy any of that comfort which a Christian soul experiences in tribulation, until it pleased God to draw us out of the filthy quagmire of Babylon, and caused us to return to his ways. And do you, Christians, lend your helping hand ; let your arms be open- ed to embrace us ; do not count us unworthy of your holy communion, although we have been an occasion of offence. Suffer us to pour into your bosom a torrent of tears, to deplore our condition, and to assure you, in the anguish of our souls, that our grief is greater than we can express. Help us by your holy prayers to the Lord, and publish out repentance in all places, where you conceive our sin has been or shall be known, that so it may be evident to all the world that, from the very bottom of our souls, we grieve and are full of sorrow for it ; and that in the presence of God and of his holy angels, as well as of those who now witness our contrition, we do abjure and detest the pretended sac- rifice of the mass, the authority of the pope, and, in general, all the worship that is dependent on them. We recant whatsoever we have pronounced to the prejudice of evangelical truth, and promise, for the future, through divine assistance, to persevere in the profession of the reformed religion to the last moment of our lives, and rather to suffer death and torments, than to renounce that holy doctrine which is taught in our churches, and which we believe to be agreeable to the word of God; all which Ave protest and promise with our bended knees upon the earth, and our hands lifted up to the Eternal, our Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; and as we desire his aid to enable us to do this, even so may he help us, even our God. Amen. SECTION VI. HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES CONTINUED DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CEN- TURY : WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE HUMANE INTERFERENCE AND GENE- ROUS CONDUCT OF THE ENGLISH NATION TOWARDS THEIR PERSECUTED BRETHREN IN PIEDMONT ; INCLUDING THE INTERESTING LETTERS OF MILTON IN THEIR BEHALF, ADDRESSED TO THE PROTESTANT STATES OF EUROPE. A. D. 1655. Amongst those who have made a conspicuous figure on the threatre of Europe, in modern times, there are few characters which historians have found it more difficult to delineate than that of Oliver Cromwell. This extraordinary person held the reins of the English government, at the time the Waldenses were experiencing, in the valleys of Piedmont, Character of Oliver Cromivell. 505 the complicated sufferings which have been detailed in the preceding section. The strange combination of fraud and force, by means of which he grasped the supreme power of the state; the rigour, and, at times, the severity with which he exercised it ; the facility with which he could violate, and even pour ridicule upon the constitutional princi- ples of his country, trampling upon all the laws of the land, when they impeded his progress towards the attainment of any object on which he had set his mind, are certainly a tremendous weight to be placed in the scale against his inflexible opposition to popery, his exertions in re- forming the ministry of the established church, and even his occasional ebullitions of zeal to promote the interests of the gospel. There is but too much reason to fear that with him, as with many other princes and statesmen, religion was made wholly subservient to his worldly inte- rests. And yet it would be difficult to fix upon a period when our country was more prosperous at home, or sustained a higher character abroad, than during his protectorate. For, not to speak of the number of able and upright judges whom he introduced into Westminster Hall ; nor of the impartial administration of justice throughout the land ; nor yet of the attention which he showed to reform the national religion, by advancing men of learning and piety in the churches and discounte- nancing those of an opposite character ; he certainly contrived to sup- port his reputation both among his own subjects and with foreign na- tions, in a very extraordinary manner, even compelling those to fear who did not love him. His name was terrible throughout Europe, and " it was hard to discover," says Lord Clarendon, "which dreaded him most, France, Spain, or the Netherlands, in all which places his friend- ship was current at the value which he chose to set upon it. For, as they all sacrificed their honour and their interests to his pleasure, so there was nothing he could have demanded that either of them would have denied him."* The truth of this representation, and, in some measure, the pertinency of these reflections, will appear from the his- tory on which we are now about to enter. The council of Zurich, in Switzerland, were, by reason of their proximity to the valleys of Piedmont, the first who received intimation of the horrid massacre which had recently taken place there. The news reached them on the Lord's day, April 29 ; — and such was the impression which it made upon them, that the town council immedi- ately assembled, and issued a proclamation for a day of fasting and hu- miliation throughout all their territories ; at the same time recommend- ing that collections should every where be made for relieving the wants, * It is related of Cardinal Mazarine, who at that time swayed the councils of the French cabinet, that lie would change countenance at the very mention of his name; and it passed into a proverb in France, that "he was not so much afraid of the devil as of Oliver Cromwell." Upon the whole, says the late Mr. Fox, "the character of Cromwell must ever stand high in the list of those who raised themselves to supreme power by the force of their genius; and among such, even in respect of moral virtue, it would be found to be one of the least exceptionable, if it had not been tainted with that most odious and de« grading of all human vices, hypocrisy." Histobt of James II. p. 18. 43 506 History of the Christian Church. of the poor sufferers. On the next day they drew up a letter, ad- dressed to the States General of Holland, of which the following is a copy. Most Illustrious Lords, &c. Having this instant received the dismal news of the lamentable state of our brethren of the faith in Piedmont, as you may see by the copy of a letter now sent, we thought ourselves obliged by the sacred rights of faith, union, and communion, to acquaint you therewith ; being fully assured that you will be pleased, according to your wonted piety and Christian charity, thoroughly to consider and lay to heart this " af- fliction of Joseph." This persecution is smoothed over with a very fair pretext by the opposite party, but there is no one who loves the church of Christ, that will not easily be persuaded of the subtleties and trea- cheries to which their adversaries alternatively have recourse. Moved by an ardent sympathy we earnestly beseech you, most mighty and illustrious lords, that you would lay to heart the case of these afflicted people, and administer those means of relief which you may think conducive thereunto ; not only by prayer to the Father of Mercies for them, and by granting them that pecuniary assistance which their miseries loudly call for, but also by pacifying their prince to- wards them ; or, at least, obtaining for them the liberty to emigrate, which we also shall, to the utmost of our power, endeavour to do. — May the Sovereign Lord of all have mercy upon his church in every place ; own their cause ; and his Almighty arm avert their misery and adversities; to whose protection we heartily recommend you. Given, in haste, 30th April, 1655. The Consuls and Senators of the Protestant Cantons of Switzer- land, viz. Zurich, Berne, Glaris, Schaff house, and Appenzel. About the 20th of May an account of the Duke of Savoy's pro- ceedings against the Waldenses reached England ; and, to use the words of Sir Samuel Morland, it no sooner came to the ears of the Protector, than " he arose like a lion out of his place," and by the most pathetic appeals to the protestant princes upon the continent, awoke the whole Christian world, exciting their hearts to pity and commiseration. The providence of God had so disposed events, that our great poet Milton filled the office of Latin Secretary to Oli- ver Cromwell at this critical juncture.* Never was there a more de- cided enemy to persecution on account of religion than Milton. He appears to have been the first of our countrymen who understood *the principles of toleration ; and his prose writings abound with the most enlightened and liberal sentiments. The sufferings of the Waldenses touched his heart, and drew from his pen the following exquisite sonnet. * The office which Milton filled under the Protectorate was much the same as that which, in our day, is called " Secretary of State for Foreign Af- fairs." See Dr. Symmons's Life of Milton, p. 319. Proceedings of the Protectorate, 507 ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEDMONT. Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold; Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones Forget not: in thy book record their groans Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold Slain by the bloody Piedn.ontese that roll'd Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moan9 The vales redoubled to the hills, and they To heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow O'er all th' Italian fields, where 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 wo.* But this was a small portion of the interest which he took upon this affecting occasion. It devolved upon him by office to address the heads of the different protestant states in Europe, with the view of interest- ing them in the affairs of the Waldenses ; and his letters deserve to be handed down to the remotest age of the world, as a noble instance of a benevolent and feeling mind, worthy of the author of Paradise Lost. I shall, therefore, present the reader with the whole of them in this place, faithfully translated from the Latin originals. They are in them- selves interesting ; are intimately connected with the history of the Waldenses ; and the Christian spirit that pervades them, redounds in the highest degree to the honour of the writer. Through what strange fatality it has come to pass, that an incident which reflects so much lustre upon the character of Milton, as the writing of these state-pa- pers certainly does, should have been allowed to pass into oblivion, while many things of minor importance find a place in every memoir of the poet, it would probably be difficult to give a more plausible rea- son for than the superior interest which most men take in the con- cerns of this present life, above those of the kingdom of heaven and of their immortal souls. * Dr. Warton, in his edition of Milton's minor poems, remarks upon this son- net, that " Milton's mind, busied with this affecting subject, here broke forth in a strain of poetry, where his feelings were not fettered by ceremony or formali- ty." He adds that "The Protestants availed themselves of an opportunity of exposing the horrors of Popery, by publishing many sets of prints of this un- paralleled scene of religious butchery, which operated like Fox's Book of Mar- tyrs. Sir S. Morland, Cromwell's agent for the valleys of Piedmont, published a minute account of this whole transaction, in " The History of the Valleys of Piedmont," with numerous cuts, in folio, Lond. 1658." Among the latter, there is a print emblematical of the seventh and eighth lines of this sonnet. Morland relates that " A mother was hurled down a mighty rock, with a little infant in her arms; and three days after was found dead, with the little child alive, but fast clasped between the arms of the dead mother, which were cold and stiff, in- somuch that those who found them had much ado to get the young child out." Morland's History, p. 363. See Warton's edition of Milton's Poems and Trans- lations, with Notes and Illustrations, 2d ed. Lond. 1791. 508 History of the Christian Church. Before I introduce these interesting letters however to the reader's notice, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of laying before him the character that has been given of them by two distinguished writers of modern date ; both of them members of our Established Church, and consequently not to be suspected of any undue partiality for the charac- ter or principles of Milton. The first to whom I refer, is Dr. Thomas Newton, bishop of Bristol, who in his life of our great poet, prefixed to his edition of the Paradise Lost, tells us that " the blindness [of Mil- ton] had not diminished, but rather increased the vigour of his mind; and his State-letters will remain as authentic memorials of those times, to be admired equally by critics and politicians ; and those in particular about the sufferings of the poor Protestants [or Waldenses] in Pied- mont, who can read without sensible emotion? This was a subject he had very much at heart, as he was an utter enemy to all sorts of perse- cution ; and among his sonnets there is a most excellent one upon the same occasion," Thus far bishop Newton — the other writer to whom I alluded is Dr. Charles Symmons, the poet's last, and certainly ablest, biographer: who, referring to these letters, thus elegantly remarks: " The hand of the Latin Secretary most ably concurred with the spirit of the executive council ; and during his continuance in office, which was prolonged to the Restoration, the State-papers in his department may be regarded as models in the class of diplomatic composition. They speak, indeed, the language of energy and wisdom ; and are en- titled equally to the applause of the scholar and the statesman. They must have impressed foreign states with a high opinion of that govern- ment for which they were written ; and in the service of which so much ability was engaged. It may be observed, that the character of their immediate author is too great to be altogether lost in that of the minis- terial organ ; and that in many of them, Milton may be traced in dis- tinct, though not in discordant existence from the power for whom he acts. The letters which he wrote in the protector's name, to mediate for the oppressed Protestants of Piedmont,* whose sufferings had re- vived the horror of the Catholic atrocities in Ireland, might be cited in testimony of what I affirm. These official instruments are faithful, no doubt, to the general purposes of him under whose authority they were produced ; but they exhibit also much of the liberal and benevolent spirit of the Secretary : their mirror cannot be convicted of falsehood or perversion : but with unquestionable flattery, it reflects the harsh * Dr. Symmons, in a note on this passage, remarks that " This active and pow- erful interposition of the Protector was productive of its intended effect. The Catholic tyrant desisted from the slaughter of his innocent subjects, and those miserable people had a breathing time from their calamities. I call them, as they are called in these official despatches, by the generally known name of Pro- testants : but the dissenters from the Papal church, who occupied the valleys of Piedmont, had neither connection nor a common origin with those who were properly called Protestants, from one of the first acts of their association in Ger- many. The Waldenses asserted a much more ancient pedigree ; and assumed to be of the old Roman church before it was corrupted by the Papal innova- tions." See Life of Milton. 2d Edit. 1810.— p. 309 — 319. Protector's Letter to the French King. 509 features of the English usurper so softened into positive beauty as to conciliate our affection equally with our respect. One of the first of Cromwell's measures was to appoint a day of fasting and prayer, to seek the Lord in behalf of the melancholy con- dition of this afflicted people ; a public declaration of their state was also issued, calling upon the inhabitants throughout the land to join in free and liberal contributions towards their succour and support, in which the protector himself set them a noble example, by commencing the subscription with a donation of rwo thousand pounds from his own private purse. And that no time might be lost, in testifying his good will towards the Waldenses, on the 23d of May, Sir S. Morland re- ceived orders to prepare for setting off with a message from the Eng- lish government to the Duke of Savoy, beseeching the latter to recall the merciless edict of Gastaldo, and to restore the remnant of his poor distressed subjects to their homes and the enjoyment of their ancient liberties. On the 26th of May, Mr. Morland took his departure for the conti- nent, being charged, on his way to Piedmont, with a letter from the protector to the French king, relating to the Waldenses, in whose re- cent murder, as the reader will have already noticed, some French troops had been employed. The following is a copy of the letter which, on the first of June, the English envoy delivered at La Fere, where the king and court of France were then residing. Most Serene King ! The lamentable complaints which have been conveyed to us from those poor and afflicted people, who profess the reformed religion, and inhabit the valleys within the dominions of the Duke of Savoy ; and who have of late been most cruelly massacred ; together with the me- lancholy tidings we have received concerning the plundering and ban- ishing of others, have extorted from us these letters to your majesty; and the rather, as we have been informed, how truly we know not, that this massacre has been carried on, partly by some troops of yours, which had joined themselves to other forces belonging to the Duke of Savoy. We were very unwilling to give any credit to these things, because it cannot be thought consonant to the purposes and proceedings either of good princes or of your majesty's most prudent ancestors, who con- ceived it to be their interest, and not less conducive to the peace of Christendom, that their protestant subjects should live in safety, and enjoy protection under their government, for which they have always been grateful, and rendered eminent services to their sovereigns in times both of peace and war. Similar considerations have hitherto in- duced the Dukes of Savoy to treat their subjects with equal kindness. Now we doubt not but that your majesty has so much influence with the Duke of Savoy, that by your intercession, a peace may be procured for those poor people, with liberty to return to their native country. The performance of this would be an act worthy of your majesty, and conformable to the example set you by your predecessors, while it would, at the same time, set the minds of your own subjects at rest, by 43* 510 History of the Christian Church. assuring them that they need not fear a repetition of such evils among them ; and also confirm your confederates and allies, who profess the same religion, in greater respect and affection for your majesty. With respect to ourselves, any favour of this kind which you shall grant to your own subjects, or which you may obtain for the subjects of others, will be not less acceptable to us ; indeed it will be more so than any other profit or advantage, among the many which we promise our- selves from the friendship of your majesty. OLIVER P. Westminster, May 25, 1655. The king of France lost no time in returning a very complaisant and satisfactory answer to this letter, in which he assures the protector that the manner in which his troops had been employed by the Duke of Savoy or his ministers was very far from meeting with his approbation — that they had been sent by him into Italy, to assist the Duke of Modena against the invasion which the Spaniards had made upon his country — that he had already expostulated with the court of Savoy for having employed them in an affair of that nature without his authority or command — and that he had sent to the governor of his province of Dauphiny, requesting him to collect as many of the poor exiled Waldenses as he could, to treat them with gentleness, and afford them every protection they might stand in need of. He tells his high- ness that, knowing, as he now does, how much he is affected by the distress of these Waldenses, it gives him pleasure to think he has al- ready anticipated his wishes, and that he shall continue to use his in- fluence with the prince for their relief and comfort, and, indeed, that he had already proceeded so far as to pledge himself for their obedience and fidelity, in case the Duke of Savoy would re-establish them in his dominions, and that he had grounds to hope his mediation would not be rejected. " As to what remains," continues his majesty, " you were perfectly right in believing that I had given no orders to my troops to execute such a business as this — nor was there the least ground to suppose that I should contribute to the chastisement of the sub- jects of the Duke of Savoy who professed the reformed religion, while I was giving so many proofs of my good will to those of my own sub- jects of the same profession, whose fidelity and zeal for my service I have great reason to applaud, since they omit no opportunity of evincing their loyalty, even beyond all that can be imagined, and in every thing contributing to the prosperity and advantage of my affairs. So much in answer to your letter ; but I cannot conclude without requesting you to be assured that, upon every occasion you shall find how much I es- teem your person, and that, from the bottom of my heart, I pray the Divine Majesty that he would have you in his holy keeping." Signed, LOUIS. Having delivered the protector's letter to the king of France, and re- ceived the preceding reply to it, Sir Samuel Morland proceeded on his journey towards Savoy, and upon the 21st of June arrived at Kivoli, a city about two miles from Turin, where the duke, who seems to have Letter to the Duke of Savoy. 511 been a minor, then was with his royal mother and the court. Two days afterwards he obtained an audience, and introduced himself in an elaborate Latin oration, which he delivered in the presence of the duke, Madame Royal, and all the court, and in which he painted in strong colours the accounts that had been received in England concerning the dreadful atrocities that had been recently perpetrated upon the Wal- denses by means of the soldiery — describing" the houses on fire, which," says he, " are yet smoking — the mangled carcasses, and ground defiled with blood — virgins violated, and, after being treated with brutal out- rage, too indecent to be mentioned, left to breathe out their last — men an hundred years old, helpless through age and bed-ridden, burnt in their beds — infants dashed against the rocks," &c. &c. " Were all the tyrants," says he, "of all times ami ages alive again, they might blush to find that, in comparison of these things, they had contrived nothing that deserved to be called barbarous and inhuman ! The very angels are seized with horror at them ! Men are amazed ! Heaven itself seems to be astonished with the cries of dying men, and the very earth to blush, being discoloured with the gore of so many innocent persons," &c. Having finished his harangue, Sir Samuel presented to the duke the following letter with which he had been charged by his master, the lord protector. Most Serene Prince! We have received letters from several places near your dominions, informing us that the subjects of your royal highness, professing the reformed religion, have of late, by your express order and command, been required, under pain of death and confiscation of their estates, to abandon their houses, possessions, and dwellings, within three days after the publication of that order, unless they would pledge them- selves to relinquish their religious profession and become Catholics within twenty days. And that, when, with all becoming humility, they addressed themselves to your royal highness, petitioning for a revoca- tion of that order, and a reception to former favour, with a continuance of such liberties as were granted them by your most serene predeces- sors, a part of your army fell upon them, most cruelly massacred many, imprisoned others, banishing the rest into desert places and mountains covered with snow, where some hundreds of families are reduced to such extremity, that it is to be feared they will all miserably perish in a short time with hunger and cold. When intelligence was first brought us that a calamity so awful had befallen those most miserable people, it was impossible for us not to feel the deepest sorrow and compassion. For, as we are, not only by the ties of humanity, but also by religious fellowship and fraternal re- lation, united to them, we conceived we could neither satisfy our own minds, nor discharge our duty to God, nor the obligations of brotherly kindness and charity, as professors of the same faith, if, while deeply sympathizing with our afflicted brethren, we should fail to use every endeavour that was within our reach, to succour them under so many unexpected miseries. We, in the first place, therefore, most earnestly desire and entreat your highness that you would re-consider the acts and ordinances of 512 History of the Christian Church. your most serene predecessors, and the indulgences which were by them granted from time immemorial, and ratified to their subjects of the valleys. In granting and confirming which, as, on the one hand, they unquestionably did that which itself was well pleasing to God, who intends that the law and liberty of conscience shall remain wholly in his own power, so, on the other, it cannot be doubted but that they had a respect also to the merit of their subjects, whom they had always found faithful in war and obedient in time of peace. And as your se- rene highness has imitated the example of your predecessors, in all other things that have been so graciously and gloriously achieved by them, so we beseech you again and again that you would abrogate this edict, and any other that has been issued for the disquieting of your subjects on account of their religion ; that you would restore them to their native homes, and the possession of their properties ; that you would confirm to them their ancient rights and liberties, cause repara- tion to be made to them for the injuries they have sustained, and adopt such means as may put an effectual stop to these vexatious proceed- ings. In doing this, your royal highness will perform what is accepta- ble to God, comfort and revive those miserable and distressed people, and give satisfaction to all your neighbours professing the reformed re- ligion, and especially to ourself, who shall regard your favour and clemency towards them as the effect and fruit of our mediation, which we shall consider ourself bound to requite by a return of every good office, while it will also be the means of not only laying a foundation for our good correspondence and friendship, but also of increasing it between this commonwealth and your dominions. And this we pro- mise ourself from your justice and clemency ; whereunto we desire God to incline your heart and mind, and so we sincerely pray that he would confer on you and on your people peace and truth, and that he would prosper you in all your affairs. Given at our palace at Westminster, May 25, 1655. OLIVER P. As soon as the duke and his mother had made themselves acquainted with the contents of this letter, Madame Royal addressed herself to the English minister, and told him that "as, on the one hand, she could not but extremely applaud the singular charity and goodness of his highness, the lord protector, towards their subjects, whose situation had been represented to him so exceedingly lamentable, as she perceived by his discourse had been done, so, on the other, she could not but extremely wonder that the malice of men should ever proceed so far as to clothe such paternal and tender chastisements of their most rebellious and insolent subjects, in characters so black and deformed, thereby to render them odious to all the neighbouring princes and states, with whom they were so anxious to keep up a good understanding and friendship — es- pecially with so great and powerful a prince as the lord protector." She at the same time gave him to understand, that " she was persuaded, when he came to be more particularly informed of the truth of all that had passed, he would be so perfectly satisfied with the duke's proceed- ings, that he ivould not %ive the least countenance to his disobedient Plea of the Marquis Pionessa. 513 subjects. However, for his highness's sake, they would not only freely pardon their rebellious subjects for the very heinous crimes which they had committed, but would also grant them such privileges and favours as could not fail to give the protector full proof of the great re- spect which they entertained for his person and mediation." These plausible professions, while they no doubt display the usual finesse of politicians, yet certainly evince no ordinary measure of respect for the head of the English government, and are much more complaisant than was the style in which the same lady had previously addressed Major Weis, the deputy from the Swiss Cantons. For when this latter gentleman delivered to the duke a letter from the six protestant Can- tons of Switzerland under the same melancholy occasion, Madame Royal promptly replied, that they were not obliged to give an account of their actions to any prince in the world; nevertheless, out of the respect which they bore to his master of the Cantons, they had given orders to the Marquis of Pionessa, to acquaint him with the truth of all these affairs. The Marquis in consequence,- waited upon Major Weis, and endea- voured to justify all his proceedings, by casting the whole blame upon the Waldenses, repeatedly protesting that he never had the least design to force their consciences, and that all the reports which had been cir- culated respecting the massacre, and other cruelties were mere forgeries. To all which the major replied, that "with regard to the massacre, it was a thing so demonstrably evident, that it was impossible either to conceal or deny it. And as to the people's right of habitation in the places from whence they were ordered to depart, it was founded upon justice and equity, inasmuch as it had not only been conceded to them by Charles Emanuel, duke of Savoy, but also purchased of his royal highness for six thousand ducatoons, which were actualy paid by them on that very account.'" The Marquis told him, that he did not at all deny the authenticity of the charters which the Waldenses held, but they were all conditional, and that the Catholic religion ought to have been freely exercised in all those places, which they would never allow. In short, that their continual residence in all those places for the last ninety years, could be called no better than a ninety years' rebellion and disobedience. Such were the miserable pleas of this intolerant and blood-thirsty man. It is obvious from all that can be collected of the temper and influence of the Marquis of Pionessa, the bigoted attachment of the duke and his mother to the court of Rome, and the firm hold which the Catholic clergy had then got of their minds, that there was not the smallest dis- position in the court of Savoy, to mitigate their sufferings, or abate the rigorous proceedings which had hitherto been going on against the Wal- denses ; and that had it not been for the seasonable interference of the English envoy, the Swiss deputy would have made no impression whatever upon them. But let us now revert to the further proceedings in England. Besides the letter to the King of France and that to the Duke of Savoy, which I have already given, the following were trans- mitted on the same occasion. 514 History of the Christian Church. the lord protector to the king of sweden. Most Serene King, The report has, no doubt ere this, reached your dominions, of thai most cruel edict which has been issued by the Duke of Savoy, by means of which he has utterly ruined his subjects of the Alps, pro- fessing the reformed religion , having given orders that they should be driven out of the places of their inheritance, unless, within twenty days, they relinquished their own and embraced the Roman religion. The consequence has been, that many have been slain, the remnant, plundered and exposed to certain destruction, are at this moment wan- dering up and down with their wives and little ones, through desolate mountains of never wasting snow, ready to perish through hunger and cold — nor can we doubt that your majesty is greatly troubled at these things. For, though in lesser matters they differ among themselves, yet the hatred of our adversaries which is common to us all, sufficiently demonstrates that the protestant name and cause is one. Nor can any be ignorant, that your royal progenitors, the kings of Sweden, have alwajrs made common cause with those of the reformed religion, bring- ing their armies into Germany to defend it, without regard to minute distinctions. We have, therefore, thought it necessary to state to your majesty, what has come to our knowledge of the wretched and miserable con- dition of these poor distressed people, and to give you to understand the grief and sorrow with which we are afflicted on their behalf, as we have also done to our other friends and allies of the same profession ; and that we have also conveyed our sentiments in the strongest manner we could to the Duke of Savoy, on the behalf of those poor innocent people. We are also persuaded that your majesty, detesting such inhuman and bar- barous massacres, and in conformity to your well-known zeal and love of religion, has already, or immediately will, interpose your mediation, and intercede with the Duke of Savoy to revoke that cruel edict, and recal to their habitations and estates the little remnant of those poor men that are yet left unbutchered. And, certainly, if there be any bond of union, if any love or fellow- ship in religion is to be either believed or cultivated, such a multitude of our guiltless brethren, members of the same body of Christ, cannot suffer without the whole body suffering, and having a mutual sympa- thy with them. And, indeed, it is unnecssary to remind your majes- ty, that the principles from whence these cruelties and massacres have proceeded, equally threaten us all. As your wisdom and zeal, there- fore, will direct you to such counsels as shall be most conducive to the relief and comfort of those miserable and disconsolate men, we have not written this to admonish your majesty, but merely to convey to you the sense we entertain of their suffering, and our readiness to com- municate with you in whatever may tend to their succour, and for the support of the Protestant interest in the world. In the mean time we heartily recommend your majesty unto God Almighty. Your majesty's good friend, OLIVER P. Given at our palace at JVestminster, May 25, 1655. Cromwell's Letter to the United Provinces. 515 the lord protector of england to the king of denmark. Most Serene King, We presume your majesty must have heard, ere this, by how se- vere and merciless an edict, Emanuel, duke of Savoy, has, for the cause of religion, driven out of their native country his subjects who inha- bited the valleys of the Alps — a harmless people, who for many ages have been retaining the purity of their religious profession ; and that very many of them being slain, he has exposed the rest, naked and destitute, to all kinds of mischiefs and miseries in desolate places ; nor can we doubt that, as became so great a patron and defender of the re- formed religion, you have been deeply affected with sorrow on this ac- count. For certainly, agreeably to the laws of Christianity, if our brethren are suffering calamities and misery, we all ought to sympa- thize with them ; and, indeed, if we have been correctly informed of your prudence and piety, no man can be more apprehensive than your majesty, of the danger which this example portends to the whole Pro- testant profession. We are, therefore, induced to write you freely, wishing you to un- derstand that we entertain the same sorrow for the calamity of our most innocent brethren, and the same opinion and judgment concern- ing the whole of this matter, which we trust you do. We have also written letters to the Duke of Savoy, in which we have implored him to commiserate these unhappy people, by listening to their petitions, and not permitting that cruel edict to continue in force. And if your majesty and the other princes of the reformed religion will do the same, (which it is very probable you have already done,) we may hope that the mind of the most serene duke may be softened, and at any rate, that he will at the earnest solicitation of so many neighbouring prince3, lay aside his displeasure. But if, instead of doing that, he chooses rather to persist in his purpose, we declare that, assisted by your ma- jesty, and the rest of our allies of the reformed religion, we are pre- pared to have recourse to such measures as may, to the utmost of our power, relieve the distress, and provide for the safety and the liberty of so many poor afflicted people. In the mean time we pray God to bless and prosper your majesty. Your majesty's good friend, OLIVER P. Given at our palace at Westminster, the day of May, Anno Bom. 1655. to the high and mighty lords of the united provinces. High and Mighty Lords ! You have, no doubt, ere this been apprized, by means of various expresses and advices from the neighbouring states, of the recent edict of the Duke of Savoy against his subjects of the valleys of Lucerne, An- grogne, and other parts of his dominions, who have long professed the orthodox faith — by which edict, they were enjoined to quit their dwell- 516 History of the Christian Church. ings, stripped of all their possessions, unless in twenty days they em- braced the Roman religion. You are not ignorant of the rigour with which, by virtue of that edict, they have proceeded against men both inoffensive and helpless, and (which most nearly touches us) those who are our brethren in Christ, multitudes of them having been murder- ed by a party of soldiers sent against them, the rest plundered and driv- en out of their houses, insomuch that they are forced to wander about with their wives and children, in desolate mountains, exposed to the continual miseries of cold and hunger. Of your distress, and the sense you entertain of our brethren's calamity, we can form some apprehen- sion from our own feelings. For, united as we are by the bond of re- ligious friendship, we cannot but be affected by so heavy an oppression of our brethren. Your lordships have given abundant proof of your kindness towards the professors of the reformed religion wherever scat- tered and oppressed, in the most difficult and adverse times of the churches ; and for our own part, we had rather be found wanting in any thing, than in our zeal and affection towards our brethren who are suffering for the cause of religion, preferring, as we do, the peace and prosperity of the churches to our own ease and safety. We have, on this account, written to the Duke of Savoy, entreating him to entertain a more favourable regard towards those harmless men, his suppliants and subjects ; to restore to them their houses and prop- erty, and grant them their ancient religious liberties, as we have also done to the king of France, requesting him to intercede with the said duke in their behalf. We have also written to other princes and states of the protestant profession, as well as yourselves, conceiving this to be a common cause, that they would unite with us in this intercession. For if an example so evil as that is, should come to be followed, which seems to be the intention of those who contrive it, we need not apprize you of the danger to which the protestant faith must be thereby re- duced. And if the duke can be persuaded and prevailed upon by our joint entreaties, it will surely be a happy and satisfactory remuneration of all the labour we have taken therein. But if on the other hand, he shall continue firmly resolved utterly to destroy, and to drive to a state of distraction, those men, among whom our religion was either planted by the first preachers of the gospel, and so maintained in its purity from age to age, or else reformed and restored to its primitive purity more early than among many other nations : we hereby declare ourselves ready to advise, in common with you, and the rest of our brethren and allies of the reformed religion, by what means we may most conve- niently provide for the preservation and comfort of those distressed people. OLIVER P. Palace of Westminster, May 25, 1665. the lord rrotector to the swiss cantons. Most Noble Lords ! The calamity which has lately befallen those people in the Alps, who are of the same religious profession as ourselves, must necessarily Cromwell's Letter to the Swiss Cantons. 517 have come to your knowledge before it did to ours. They were requir- ed by an edict of the Duke of Savoy, under whose dominion they were, to forsake their native country, unless they would in three days, give assurance that they would embrace the Roman religion. Nor was that all, for they were immediately afterwards assaulted by force of arms ; numbers of them put to death, and others driven into banishment, who are now wandering in a state of wretchedness, with their wives and children, over desert mountains covered with snow, without house or shelter, in want and nakedness, ready to perish with cold and hunger. Nor can we doubt but that, as soon as the report of these things came to your ears, a calamity such as this must have affected you, as sensi- bly as it did ourself ; and perhaps more so, in as much as the proxim- ity of your situation must have made your apprehensions of their mis- ery more lively ; for we well know your singular zeal for the orthodox faith, as well as your great constancy in retaining, and your fortitude in defending the profession of it. Seeing then that, by the endearing ties of religious fellowship, we are brethren, or rather one body with these afflicted men — of which body no one member can suffer", but all the fellow-members must sutler with it ; we thought proper to write to you, and signify how much we considered it to be the common interest of us all to assist and comfort our exiled and disconsolate brethren, by such means as shall be thought proper and suitable, and thereby make provision both for removing the present evils, preventing their accumulation, and the danger to which we are exposed by the example and effects of this act. We have con- sequently written letters to the Duke of Savoy, entreating him to deal more gently with his faithful subjects, and restore them to their pro- perty and native countries. We trust that he will be prevailed upon by our, or rather by the joint entreaties of us all, and that he will cheerfully grant what we so anxiously desire. But should it turn out that he is differently minded, we are ready to advise with you about such means as may be most conducive to the redress and relief of these poor inno- cent men, our dear brethren in Christ, who groan under so many in- juries and oppressions ; and which may preserve them from a most cer- tain and unmerited destruction, and whose safety and preservation, from your well known piety, we are persuaded, lies very near your hearts. J v OLIVER P. JVestminster, May 25, 1655. Oliver, Protector of the Republic of England, to the Most Serene Prince of Transylvania. Most Serene Prince ! Your letters of the 16th November, 1654, have communicated to us the pleasing intelligence of the extraordinary good will and affec- tion which you bear towards us ; and your ambassador, who delivered those letters to us, has more fully declared the desire which you have to contract an alliance and friendship with us. For our own part, we certainly do not a little rejoice in the oppor- tunity which is now afforded us of publicly avowing the cordial esteem 44 518 History of the Christian Church. which we have for your highness, and how much we value your per- son. But after all that public rumour had conveyed to us of your me- ritorious exertions and indefatigable labours undertaken in behalf of the Christian republic; and learning, as we now do, by letters from your- self, imparting to us, in the most friendly manner, what you have fur- ther in contemplation to do for promoting the Christian interest, we could not but consider it as an abundant occasion of joy and satisfac- tion, to hear that God had raised up to himself, in those remote re- gions, so powerful and renowned a minister of his glory and provi- dence : and that this great minister of heaven, so famed for his courage and success, should wish to be associated with us in the common de* fence of the Protestant religion, which is at this time so wickedly as- sailed in word and deed. Nor can we doubt that God, who has in- spired us both, though separated from each other by many intervening climates, with similar desires and purpose of defending the orthodox religion, will be our guide, and point us to the ways and means by which we may successfully promote our own interests and that of the other reformed countries, provided we watch the opportunities of so doing, which God shall put into our hands, and be not wanting to our- selves in embracing them. In the mean time, we cannot but with extreme and heart-rending sorrow put your highness in mind, how unmercifully the Duke of Sa- voy has persecuted his own subjects, professing the orthodox faith, in certain valleys at the feet of the Alps ; whom he has, by a most severe edict, not only compelled, at least such of them as refuse to turn Ca- tholics, to forsake their native habitations, goods, and estates, but has also fallen upon them with his army, inhumanly put several to the sword, barbarously tormenting others to death, and driving the greater part of them to the mountains, there to perish through cold and hun- ger, exposing their houses to the fury, and their goods to the plunder, of his executioners. These things, as they have already been report- ed to your highness, so we readily persuade ourselves, that such cru- elty cannot, but be grievously displeasing to your ears, and that you will not be found wanting to afford your relief and succour to those wretched sufferers, if, indeed, any of them survive their multiplied slaughters and calamities. For our part, we have written to the Duke of Savoy, beseeching him to remove the fierceness of his anger from his subjects. We have also written to the King of France that he would do the same ; and, finally, we have addressed the princes of the reformed religion with the view of making them acquainted with our sentiments respecting this fierce and savage piece of cruelty, which though it has commenced with those poor and helpless people, threatens eventuallv all that profess the same religion ; and, consequently, imposes upon all the greater neces- sity of providing for themselves in general, and consulting the common safety ; which is the course we shall always follow as God shall be pleased to direct us. We beg your highness to be assured of this, as well as of our sincere affection for your serenity, which induces us to wish all possible prosperity and success to your affairs, and a happy Letter to the Senators of Geneva. 519 issue of all your enterprises and endeavours, in asserting the liberty of the gospel and its worshippers. Whitehall, May, 1655. OLIVER, PROTECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND, TO THE MOST NOBLE, THE CONSULS AND SENATORS OF GENEVA. We should ere this have communicated to your lordships our exces- sive sorrow for the severe and unheard of calamities which have be- fallen the Protestants inhabiting the \ alleys of Piedmont, whom the Duke of Savoy persecutes with so much cruelty, had we not made it our business that you should, at the same time, understand that we are not only affected by the enormity of their sufferings, but are exerting our utmost efforts to relieve and comfort them under their distresses. For this purpose we have taken measures to have a general collection throughout the whole of this republic, which, upon good grounds, we expect will be such as shall demonstrate the affection of this nation to- wards their brethren labouring under the burden of such inhuman proceedings; and that as the communion of religion is the same between both people, so the sense of their calamities is no less the same. In the mean time, while the collections of the money are going forwards, which it may require some time to finish, and as the wants and necessities of those distressed people will not well admit of delay, we have thought it proper to remit you before-hand two thousand pounds sterling with all possible speed, to be distributed among such as shall be considered most necessitous, and that more particularly re- quire present succour and relief. And as we are not ignorant how deeply the miseries and wrongs of those very harmless people have affected yourselves, and that you will not grudge any labour or pains which may contribute to their relief, we make no scruple to commit the distribution of this sum of money to your care, and to give you this further trouble, that according to your wonted piety and prudence, you would take care that the said money be distributed equally to the most necessitous, to the end that, though the sum be small, there may, nevertheless, be something to refresh and revive the most indigent and needy, till we can afford them a more plentiful supply. And thus, not doubting but that you will take in good part the trouble imposed upon you, we beseech Almighty God to stir up the hearts of all his people professing the orthodox faith, to resolve upon the common defence of themselves, and their mutual assistance of each other against their inveterate and most implacable enemies ; in doing which we should rejoice that our helping hand might be any way serviceable to the church. Farewell. June 8, 1655. P. S. £1,500 of the aforesaid £2,000 will be remitted by Gerard Hench, from Paris, and the other £500 wril be taken care of by letters from the Lord Stoup. 520 History of the Christian Church. These letters abundantly prove the firm hold which the case of the Waldenses had taken on the mind of the English government, and the lively interest which the latter so honourably took in their affairs. I cannot, however, dismiss this part of the subject without laying before the reader one letter more, not only because it is intimately connected with the narrative, but because it exhibits a pleasing specimen of the liberal and enlightened policy of the Protector's counsels. It was writ- ten in the following year, and addressed to the King of Sweden, who was, at that moment, threatening the States of Holland with a war. OLIVER, PROTECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND, &C. TO THE MOST SERENE PRINCE, CHARLES GUSTAVUS, KING OF THE SWEDES, GOTHS, AND VANDALS, &C. Most Serene King, our dearest friend and confederate. As we are fully assured of your majesty's concurrence both in thoughts and counsels for the defence of the protestant faith against its enemies, which never Avas more dangerously assailed than at present ; though we cannot but rejoice at your successful enterprises and the daily tidings of your victories, yet we cannot, on the other hand, but be as deeply concerned at one thing which disturbs and interrupts our joy ; we refer to the sad news which is intermingled with so much welcome tidings, that the ancient friendship between your majesty and the States of the United Provinces presents a gloomy aspect, and that the mischief is exasperated to that pitch, particularly in the Baltic Sea, as seems to forebode an unhappy rupture! We acknowledge ourselves ignorant of the causes ; but we too easily foresee that the events, which God avert, will be fatal to the interests of the Protestants. And, there- fore, both out of regard to that most intimate alliance now subsisting between us and your majesty, and also from that affection and love to the reformed religion, by which we ought all of us chiefly to be swayed, we consider it our duty, as we have most earnestly exhorted the States of the United Provinces, to peace and moderation, so now to persuade your majesty to the same. The Protestants have enemies every where enough and to spare, inflamed with inexorable revenge : nor were they ever known to have conspired more perniciously to our destruction — — witness the valleys of Piedmont still reeking with the blood and slaughter of the miserable — witness Austria, lately embroiled with the emperor's edicts and proscriptions — witness Switzerland. But it is needless to expatiate at large in recalling the bitter lamentations and re- collections of so many calamities. Who so ignorant as not to know that the counsels of the Spaniards and of the Roman pontiff, for these two years past, have filled all these places with conflagrations, murders, and persecutions of the orthodox? But, if to these mischiefs there should happen the still greater evil of dissension among the Protestants themselves, who are brethren, and more especially between two pow- erful states, on whose courage, wealth, and fortitude, so far as human strength may be relied on, the support and hope of all the reformed churches depend, the protestant religion must necessarily be in great jeopardy, if not upon the brink of destruction. On the other hand, if Collections to relieve the Waldenses. 521 the whole protestant name would but preserve perpetual peace among themselves, cultivating that brotherly union which becomes their pro- fession, there would be no occasion to fear what all the artifices and power of our enemies could do to hurt us, which our fraternal concord and harmony alone would easily repel and frustrate. And, therefore, we most earnestly request and beseech your majesty to foster in your bosom propitious thoughts of peace, and a disposition of mind to repair the breaches of your ancient friendship with the United Provinces, if in any part it may have accidentally Buffered the decays of mistakes and misconstructions. If there be any thing on which our labour, our fidelity and diligence may be useful towards effecting a compromise, we tender and shall cheerfully devote all to your service. And may the God of heaven favour and prosper your noble and pious resolutions, which, together with all felicity and a course of perpetual victory, we cordially wish to your majesty. Your majesty's most affectionate, OLIVER, Protector, &c. &c. From our palace, Westminster, August, 1656. It has been already noticed that, upon the very first annunciation of the distresses of the Waldenses, the protector issued a proclamation for a day of national humiliation throughout England and Wales; command- ing, at the same time, that collections should be made in all the churches and chapels for their relief; and a committee, consisting of about forty of the first of the nobility, gentry, and clergy, was formed for conducting it, Sir Thomas Viner, and Sir Christopher Pack, aldermen of London, being appointed treasurers. In no long time the sum total of the col- lections amounted to thirty-eight thousand, two hundred and forty- one pounds, ten shillings and six pence,* which if we take into ac- count the relative value of money between that and the present time, must certainly give us a very favourable impression of the liberality of our forefathers. Nor is it less gratifying to witness such a proof of the humane and benevolent spirit which, as Protestants, our countrymen evinced on an occasion that so justly called for it. For the satisfaction of the community at large, the protector and his council ordered a narrative to be published, explanatory of their pro- ceedings, with a very minute and circumstantial account of the sums contributed, specifying the counties, the number of parishes in each, with the precise amount of their contributions as well as of the appli- cation that was made of the same, through the medium of Sir Samuel Morland, who, to carry into effect the liberality of the English people, was ordered to take up his residence at Geneva, a city contiguous to the valleys of Piedmont, where he continued about three years. The whole of the document referred to is interesting — but, occupy- ing as it does, twelve pages in folio, its entire insertion in this place is impracticable. I shall, however, gratify the reader with the introductory paragraph, * Of this amount the cities of London and Westminster contributed the sum of 9,384/. lis. 6c?. exclusive of the 2,000/. given by the protector. 44* 522 History of the Christian Church. "His highness, the lord protector, having received intelligence about the month of May, 1655, that many hundreds of the poor Protestants in the valleys of Piedmont, (otherwise known by the name of Walden- ses) within the territories of the Duke of Savoy, were most cruelly massacred by a Popish party ; and having upon his spirit a deep sense of their calamities, which were occasioned by their faithful- adherence to the profession of the reformed religion, was pleased, not only to me- diate, by most pathetic letters, in their behalf, to the King of France and Duke of Savoy, but did also graciously invite the people of this nation to seek the Lord by prayer and humiliation, in reference to their then sad condition and future relief ; and from a confidence that the good people of this nation would be sensibly touched " with the afflictions of Joseph," and in thatday of their brethren's trouble manifest a sensi- ble resentment of, and sympathy Avith the sufferings of their fellow- members, professors of the same faith ; did forthwith publish a Declara- tion, expressing his earnest desire that the people might be stirred up to a free and liberal contribution towards their succour and support : for the management of which collection, certain instructions were also agreed upon and annexed to the said declaration : and for the more ef- fectually promoting of the work, his highness appointed a committee, consisting of persons of known honour, fidelity, and integrity, to con- sider and advise, from time to time, how the money that should be thereupon raised, might be employed most advantageously, for the cer- tain supply of those poor distressed members of Christ, corresponding with the real intentions of the givers ; amongst whom likewise there were two select persons of very considerable estate and reputation, ap- pointed to be treasurers for the receiving in of the said moneys, whose names, together with the number and names of the aforesaid committee, for the reader's better satisfaction, are here inserted," &c. It must afford pleasure to every benevolent mind to reflect upon the interest that was now taken in the fate of the Waldenses by all the Protestant states of Europe ; at the same time that it gives us a satis- factory pledge of the high estimation in which that particular class of Christians was universally held. The Elector Palatine of the Rhine, the elector of Brandenburgh, the Duke of Wirtemburgh, and almost every Protestant prince and state upon the continent, wrote letters to the Duke of Savoy, declaring their abhorrence of that sanguinary mas- sacre, and interceding for his persecuted subjects. Sir Samuel Morland has preserved faithful copies of most of these letters ; but none of them is more pointed or deserving of the reader's attention than that of the Landgrave of Hesse, and as it is concise, I here subjoin it. Sir! Having lately received the news of that cruel massacre, committed upon the Protestants, who are commonly known by the name of Wal- denses, inhabiting your valleys of Angrogne and Pragela, in Piedmont, I could not easily be brought at first to give credit to such a dismal story, as not being once able to imagine, that even their adversaries had been so audacious as to exercise such barbarous cruelties upon poor innocent people, who lived peaceably under the government of your Landgrave of Hesse to the Duke of Savoy. 523 highness, and in entire obedience, without giving the least offence to any ; and who, for so long a time together, have obtained protection and security from both you and your ancestors. And, indeed, I so much the less imagined this, from the persuasion I had, that their ene- mies had learned, by the experience of so many ages, that persecutions and butcheries are not the means to suppress our religion, but rather to preserve and spread the same abroad. But this news having been written and confirmed to me from so many places, and that with cir- cumstances so wholly deplorable, as that I could no longer remain in doubt, it has seized me with horror ; and, consequently, being moved with pity and compassion towards so many thousands of souls in such extreme distress who have been most cruelly robbed and spoiled of their lives and estates, by the cruelty of their furious and sworn enemies, and this without distinction either of sex or age, I have thought it my duty, as a Christian prince, interested in the preservation of those of my religion, to write this present letter to your highness, and to beseech you not only to command and allow that the remainder of those poor innocent people who have escaped the violence of their persecutors, be established in their lands, goods, and possessions, which are yet left them after this great desolation, but also that they may find the effects of this powerful protection ; and that you will be pleased, for that pur- pose henceforward to favour them, by patiently hearing their complaints, and taking cognizance of them yourself, as a good and righteous prince, from whom they ought to expect all the effects of justice, clemency, and bounty : whereas those who term themselves "of the congregation for the propagation of the faith, and for the extirpation of heretics," are their declared enemies ; and instead of turning souls to righteousness by "the sword of the word," have employed the temporal sword, the fire, and the rope, and all the barbarous cruelties which outrageous men could possibly invent for (tormenting) the bodies of those poor creatures, and to destroy them from off the face of the earth. I most earnestly beseech your highness to grant the aforesaid request, and to be assured of my inviolable affection for your interest and service, and that I shall account it an happiness to have an opportunity of giving you real testimonies of the same ; as being, &c. William, Landgrave of Hesse Cassel. July 23, 1655. The annals of Europe scarcely afforded an instance of such a state of cordial harmony and mutual consent, among the different states and nations in any affair of religion, as, at this juncture, appeared in behalf of the poor Waldenses. Their case was clearly understood, and gene- rally and deeply felt. It was purely a case of persecution for con- science' sake ; and taking all the circumstances into account, it was an instance of such atrocious and brutal outrage, as the world had rarely seen paralleled. It came home to the breasts of all the Protestants in Europe, and they took a lively interest in it. Men's expectations were raised to a very high pitch and their attention fixed upon the Protestant princes, anxiously waiting to see whether they would tamely put up with such an open and diabolical attack upon their general cause, for 524 History of the Christian Church. such they regarded this ; or whether by a joint co-operation of power and influence they would at once relieve and re-establish their distress- ed friends. At this eventful moment the Swiss Cantons, who certainly lay the most contiguous to the valleys of Piedmont, finding that they were ably supported by all the Protestant states of Europe, undertook to mediate with the Duke of Savoy in behalf of the exiled Waldenses, and sent four of their leading men as commissioners to the court of the latter, authorized with powers to negotiate a treaty of accommodation ; and the rest of the European princes had such confidence in them, that they unanimously agreed to relinquish the affair into their hands. The names of these commissioners were, Solomon Hirtzel, Charles von Bonstetten, Benedict Socin, and James Stockar. It would be uninteresting and tiresome to the reader, to trace mi- nutely the progress of this negotiation. And it but too plainly appears from the result, that the Swiss commissioners were by no means a match for the Jesuitical casuistry of the court of Savoy. A treaty, how- ever, was at length agreed upon and ratified between the parties ; but " when it came to be published to the world," says Sir S. Morland, " and accurately examined by wise and sober men, it was found to re- semble a leper arrayed in rich clothing and gay attire ! It was a treaty as full of grievances as poor Lazaius was of sores ! The greater part of the articles of which it consisted clashing with the people's interests and ancient privileges, and the remainder made up of expressions which looked as many ways as the mariner's compass. In short, it cannot be more fitly compared to any thing than to Ezekiel's roll, which, though it were as sweet as honey in the people's mouth, yet there was writ- ten within nothing but lamentation, and mourning, and wo." And such it proved in the issue, for no sooner had the Swiss commission- ers taken their departure for their own country, than an infinite num- ber of difficulties and grievances came crawling out of the said treaty, like so many hornets out of a hollow tree, and they continued to sting the poor Waldenses to death. An effort was certainly made by those that were in exile, to avail themselves of the conditions of this treaty, of which, as it was intend- ed for their benefit, they were disposed at first to think very favoura- bly. But a little experience convinced them that it was not in reality what their friends wished for them. On the 29th of March, 1656, a general meeting of the churches of the valleys of Piedmont took place, at which they drew up a paper intituled, " The grievances of the treaty made at Pignerol." It is truly an affecting document, and that the reader may form some judgment of it, I shall subjoin the first paragraph. They complain that in the preamble to the treaty, they are recognized as rebels, and disobedient persons who had taken arms against his royal highness, their natural prince and sovereign, and thereby, as persons who were guilty and deserving of his indignation, they are described as asking pardon for those outrages which, it was pretended, they had committed ; and thus, say they, " we are plainly involved in the crime of rebellion, against which we do now, and al- ways have protested ; having never done anyone act that can justly Treaty of Pignerol inefficient. 525 subject us to that imputation — no, not even when the whole state was in an uproar — nor even when they came to destroy us, as they did last year ; for although we had very great cause of suspicion, as is but too manifest from the event, having granted for the most part to the squad- ron of Savoy their winter-quarters, yet no sooner had the Marquis of Pionessa charged us, in the name of his royal highness, to receive his forces, than, without making the least resistance, we permitted them to enter and do whatever they chose." This is the first of fifteen articles of grievance which they enumerate. This melancholy catalogue of their grievances was drawn up with the view of making an appeal concerning them to the King of France, and imploring his interposition to have them redressed. Accordingly, having specified these defects in the articles, they subjoin a list of thir- teen other particulars, which had been refused to their deputies, on which they humbly pray that due reflection may be made. Among other matters, they plead, that " having been always faithful to the ser- vice of his royal highness their so\ereign, and yet cruelly massacred, burned, and pillaged, contrary to his intention, he would be pleased to give orders that justice might be done upon those that had been the chief authors and agents against them — that his royal highness would be pleased to repeal the Order of Gastaldo, as being contrary to all their ancient concessions, and likewise all the orders which the marquis of Pionessa had caused to be published during the late contest, and to command that every one might be restored to his own property and possessions — that they might no longer be subject to the quartering of soldiers upon them, a thing with which they had been harassed ever since the year 1624, and which had been made a pretext for the readier method of destroying them; but that in lieu of it, they might be allow- ed, in common with others, to contribute their proportion in money — that no more (Catholic) missionaries might be sent into the valleys, because partly by their rapes, and partly by seditions and false reports, these missionaries had always been fomenters of all the disorders that came to pass — that, in short, they might not be subject to the council de propaganda '.fide, nor to any of its members, nor to the inquisition; but that every thing might be re-established in the condition it was be- fore the late troubles, with liberty of conscience, and the free exercise of their religion, with license to their ministers to go and visit the sick wherever they lived, as well as the liberty of preaching the gospel, &c. &c. and the whole terminates with the following affecting appeal : " AVe hope from the equity and clemency of his royal highness, that he will the more readily grant us these privileges, as there is no- thing in them but what we have quietly enjoyed under the happy go- vernment of his most serene predecessors of glorious memory, accord- ing to their concessions, and nothing but what may tend to satisfy us in the clearing of those points, which as experience hath showed us, have been wrested to a wrong sense, and to represent the true meaning and the equity of the particulars therein contained, that so we may, once for all, take away from the disturbers of our peace all occasion of trou- bling the public tranquillity, and be enabled, in peace and security, to render to God that which belongs to God, and to Caesar what is Cae- 526 History of the Christian Church. sar's ; as we do protest before God and his holy angels, that we ever have had, and will ever have the same for our aim. And to the end that those things, before expressed, may stand firm and inviolable, we humbly supplicate his most Christian majesty, that he will be pleased to procure unto us this favour from our prince, that all may be put into the form of a transaction, and confirmed, not only by the chamber of Turin, but also in that of Chambery, and that many original copies may be drawn and delivered into the hands of those to whom it shall appertain." This affecting document was delivered into the hands of Monsieur de Bais, the French minister, and by him transmitted to his royal mas- ter, who, upon receipt of it, expressed great concern for the deplorable condition of the poor Waldenses, but his kind intentions towards them were entirely frustrated by some malignant spirits near the throne. " But, so it happened," says Sir Samuel Morland, " that from this time forward, the leading men in the Court of Savoy, have used their best endeavours to lay heavier loads on their backs, than ever they had hitherto done. For in their orders of April 20th, and October 6, 1656, and August 24, 1657, they summoned the poor people to pay their taxes for the year 1655, contrary to the treaty, while they exempted the Catholics from the said taxes ; and when they appealed to the Duke, October 6, 1657, on the hardship of their case, they were, among other things, absolutely prohibited the exercise of their public worship in San Giovanni." It would be endless to repeat all the edicts, orders, and injunctions that were issued against them after the cruel patent in 1655, with all their consequent grievances : and it is painful to dwell upon so melancholy a subject. Our countryman, Sir Samuel Morland, remained among them until the summer of 1658, at which time he thus affectingly closes his narrative. "It is my mis- fortune that I am compelled to leave these people where I found them, among the potsherds, with sackcloth and ashes spread under them, and lifting up their voice with weeping, in the words of Job — ' Have pity on us, have pity on us, O ye our friends, for the hand of God hath touched us.' — To this very day they labour under most heavy burdens, which are laid upon them by their rigid task-masters of the church of Rome — forbidding them all kind of traffic for their subsistence — rob- bing them of their goods and estates — banishing the pastors of their flocks, that the wolves may the more readily devour the sheep — vio- lating the young women and maidens — murdering the most innocent as they peaceably pass along the highways — by cruel mockings and re- vilings — by continual threats of another massacre, sevenfold more bloody, if possible, than the former. To all which, I must add that, notwithstanding the liberal supplies that have been sent them from England and other places, yet so great is the number of these hungry creatures, and so grievous are the oppressions of their popish enemies, who lie in wait to bereave them of whatever is given them, snatching at almost every morsel that goes into their mouths, that even to this day, some of them are almost ready to eat their own flesh for Want of bread. Their miseries are more grievous than words can express — they have no ' grapes in their vineyards — no cattle in their fields — no Application to the King of France. 527 herds in their stalls — no corn in their granaries— no meal in their bar- rel no oil in their cruise.' The stock that was gathered for them by the people of this and other countries is fast consuming, and when that is spent, they must inevitably perish, unless God, ' who turns the hearts of princes as the rivers of water,' incline the heart of their prince to take pity on his poor, harmless, and faithful subjects."* SECTION VII. HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES CONTINUED ; INCLUDING A NARRATIVE OF THE SANGUINARY PROCEEDINGS OF THE CATHOLICS AGAINST THEM IN POLAND. A. D. 1658. The return of Sir Samuel Morland from his mission to the court of Turin, gave him an opportunity of laying before the English govern- ment a minute and circumstantial explanation of the state of the Wal- denses in Piedmont, at the time of his departure in 1658. The sub- stance of this account the reader has already seen in the close of the last section, and its truth and accuracy are further ascertained by a let- ter, bearing date 30th of November, 1657, from the four Swiss com- missioners who, two years before, had been engaged in negotiating the treaty of Pignerol. This letter is addressed to Monsieur de Servient, ambassador of the French king, who was present at the ratification of the treaty, and, as it would seem, had taken a considerable interest therein. The Swiss commissioners complain that the conditions of the treaty were grossly violated by the adversaries of the Waldenses ; that interpretations were put upon various clauses contained in it, the reverse of what they were intended to bear ; and, in short, that the si- tuation in which these poor people were now placed, called loudly for the cognizance and interference of the court of France, which stood pledged to see the condition of the treaty punctually fulfilled. They, in particular, notice the lawless proceedings of the military towards the Waldenses, in plundering them of their fruits, which they carried away without the least ceremony, committing robberies in their houses, and spoiling them of their goods — that " they were laden with reproaches and injuries, beaten and wounded ; the virtue of their females attempt- ed, with numerous other outrages, altogether inexcusable." " That se- veral persons who had been sent to settle among them in the capacity of pastors and teachers, from their sister churches in Dauphiny, had been seized and banished out of the country, on the ground that they were not natives, and that therefore the condition of the treaty did not extend to them — and that, in particular, one of their pastors who had ex- ercised the holy ministry among them for thirty years, together with one Mr. Arnold, a physician, had been turned out and banished, so that by these and similar means many churches and congregations were • Morland's Churches of Piedmont, p. 682—708. 528 History of the Christian Church. at once deprived of the food of their souls and comfort of their bodies." After enumerating a long catalogue of similar grievances, they say, " Now as these things have happened to our friends and associates in religion, so palpably contrary to our expectation, our hearts are so much the more sensibly affected by it, both because we were present in the name of our lords and superiors at the negotiating of the treaty, and because we are personally interested therein." They, therefore, supplicate his excellency to interpose his mediation for the good of their friends, and for his own interest and honour's sake ; and to insist that the spirit and meaning of the treaty be in future fully and abso- lutely observed. The subject was also taken up by the English go- vernment, as appears in the following letters, both of which bear date May 26, 1658. HIS HIGHNESS THE LORD PROTECTOR TO THE KING OF FRANCE. Most Serene and most Potent King ! Your majesty may remember, that while the treaty was going on about remedying the alliance between us — an alliance that has now hap- pily commenced, as the many advantages resulting to both nations and the numerous inconveniences which arise from it to our common ene- mies, abundantly show — the dreadful slaughter of the Waldenses took place; and that, with the utmost affection and humanity, we recom- mended the case of those afflicted and destitute people to your clemency and protection. We are far from thinking that your majesty has been wanting in the exercise of your influence and authority with the Duke of Savoy to pro- mote so pious and humane an object: and as for our part, we, and many other princes and states, have not failed to interpose by embassies, let- ters, and entreaties. After a most inhuman slaughter of persons of both sexes, and of every age, a peace was, at last, concluded, or rather a more concealed course of hostility, under the disguise of peace.* The conditions of the treaty were agreed upon in your town of Pignerol — hard ones indeed — but such as those poor people, after having under- gone every species of outrage and cruelty, would cheerfully acquiesce in, hard and unjust as they are, were they only observed, but they are not observed. For, by a false interpretation of every article, and by one subterfuge or other, their real meaning is eluded, and faith violated. Multitudes are ejected from their ancient possessions, many prohibited the exercise of their religion; new payments are exacted; a new fort is * It may not be improper in this place to correct a very inaccurate statement of this matter which appears in Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. iv. ch. iii. un- der the year 1655. Referring' to the interference of the Protector with the Duke of Savoy, it is said, upon the authority of Bishop Burnet, " Upon this the perse- cution immediately ceased ; the duke recalled his army out of the valleys, and restored their goods ; the poor people returned to their houses, and recovered all their ancient rights and privileges." flow far this representation corresponds with the truth of things, let the impartial reader judge after carefully perusing the preceding pages, and the representation that Milton has given of the real state of matters, in this and the following letter. Cromwell to the King of France. 529 built for the purpose of placing a yoke upon them, out of which the soldiers sally forth, plundering and putting to death all they meet. Be- sides which, new forces are of late privately prepared against them, and those who profess the Romish religion among them are directed to with- draw for a time; so that everything seems again to portend the slaugh- tering of those miserable creatures who escaped the former butchery — a thing which I entreat and beseech your majesty that you will not suffer to be done ; nor permit, I do not say any prince — for such enor- mous cruelty cannot enter into the heart of any prince, much less can it befall the tender age of that prince, or the mind of his mother, — but those most savage murderers, to exercise such a license of outrageous tyranny : Men who, while they profess themselves the servants of Christ, and followers of him who came into the world to save sinners, at the same time abuse his merciful name and meek precepts, to perpe- trate the most cruel massacres on innocent persons. Oh that your ma- jesty, who are able, and advanced as you are to such exalted dignity ; who are worthy of the power you possess would rescue so many of your poor petitioners out of the hand? of bloody men, who havingbeen lately drunk with blood, are again thirsting after it, exulting when they are enabled to fix the invidious charge of cruelty upon princes them- selves; but let not your majesty allow the borders of your kingdom to be defiled by such cruelty. Recollect that those very people threw themselves under the protection of King Henry, your grandfather, a firm friend of the Protestants, when the Duke of l'Esdiguires, passing through their country, which affords the most convenient entrance into Italy, prosecuted his victory against the duke of Savoy, who retreated beyond the Alps. The instrument of their submission remains among the public records of your realm to this day ; in which, among other things, it is excepted and provided, that the people of the valleys should not, at any future time, be transferred to the jurisdiction of any other prince, but upon the same conditions on which they were received into the protection of your majesty's victorious grandfather.* The same protection they once more implore, and submissively entreat from his grandchild. Their anxious wish is, that, in some way of exchange, if it can be effected, they may become your subjects, rather than remain his under whom they now are. But if that cannot be eiTected, that they may, at any rate, obtain from you, patronage, protection, and re- fuge. There are also reasons of state which should induce your ma- jesty not to abandon the Waldenses — but I am not willing that so great a king should be stimulated to the relief of men whose circumstances are so pitiable, by any other reasons than the obligations of fidelity given by your ancestors and your own piety, added to your royal be- nignity and the greatness of your own mind. Thus the honour and renown of an act so truly glorious will be wholly your own, and thereby your majesty, as long as you live, may expect to find prosperity and blessings from the Father of mercies himself, and from his Son Christ • In this last sentence Milton seems to throw some light upon a subject which has been more than once hinted at in the preceding1 pages. 45 530 History of the Christian Church. the King, whose name and doctrine you Avill be the means of vindicat- ing from detestable villany. Given at our court at Westminster, May 26, 1658. THE PROTECTOR TO THE EVANGELICAL CANTONS OF SWITZERLAND. Most Illustrious and most Magnificent Lords ! Although it is impossible for us to contemplate the monstrous cruel- ties which have been inflicted upon your poor distressed neighbours of the valleys without astonishment ; or the grievous and intolerable things to which they have been subjected by their prince, on account of their religion ; we thought it needless to write to you, to whom those things must be better known than to us. We have seen copies of the letters which your ambassadors, who were parties and witnesses to the peace lately made at Pignerol, wrote to the Duke of Savoy, and the president of his council at Turin ; in which they particularly show that all the articles of the peace have been broken, and that they have been made use of for the purpose of deceiving, rather than of affording protection to these miserable people. But must they patiently bear this violation of the articles, which began the instant peace was concluded, and has been persevered in to the present moment, and which grows more in- tolerable every day ? Are they to submit basely, and give themselves up to be trodden under foot and utterly ruined ? The same calamity hangs over their heads, and another massacre similar to that which wasted and destroyed them, with their wives and children in so shock- ing a manner about three years ago, which, should it take place, must inevitably extirpate them. What can these poor distressed creatures do, who have no door opened for petitioning, no space for breathing, nor any place of security to which they can flee ? They have to do with wild beasts, or rather with furies, in whom the recollection of former slaughters has effected no repentance, nor any compassion to- wards their own countrymen, no sense of humanity, no satiety with the shedding of blood ! In plain terms, these things are not to be endured, whether we regard the safety of our brethren of the valleys — those most ancient professors of the orthodox faith ; or of religion itself. As to our part, .remote as we are in situation from them, we have done every thing that was in our power, nor shall we cease to perform whatever is yet possible for them. But as to you who are so near, not only to the miseries and lamentations of our brethren, but exposed also to the fury of the same enemies, we beseech you, by every thing that is sacred, to consider, and that without delay, what it behoves you to do at this moment — consult your own prudence, your piety, and even your fortitude, what assistance or relief you can or ought to extend to your neighbours and brethren, who, otherwise, are ready to perish. It is the very same cause of religion, for which the same enemies would have destroyed you also — yea, on account of which they would, in the preceding year, during the civil war among your confederates, have ef- fected your destruction. Next to the help of God, it seems todevolve on you, to provide that the most ancient stock of pure religion, may not be destroyed in this remnant of its ancient faithful professors, whose Cromwell to the Swiss Cantons. 531 safety, reduced as it now is to the extremity of hazard, if you neglect, beware that the next lot do not speedily fall upon yourselves ! While in this free and fraternal manner we thus exhort you, we, in the mean time, do not faint or grow weary. Whatever was in our power, at this remote distance, we have done. We have contributed our utmost endeavours, and shall continue so to do, both for procuring the safety of those that are in danger, and relieving the necessities of those that want. May God grant to both of us such tranquillity and peace at home, and so prosperous a state of affairs and of opportunities, that we may employ all our power, strength, and means for the defence of the church, against the rage and fury of its enemies. Westminster, May, 26, 1658. The letter addressed to the King of France, was transmitted to Lord Lockhart, who then filled the office of English ambassador at the French court, to whom the Protector, at the same time, wrote, giving him in- structions to present the letter to his majesty, and pointing out eight principal topics of grievance which he was to adduce in his conversa- tion with that monarch, and to use his utmost endeavours to make his majesty sensible of them, and to persuade him to give immediate and positive instructions to his ambassador, then resident at the Duke's court, to act vigorously in behalfof the oppressed Waldenses. He was also to urge the obligations the French king lay under, to fulfil the en- gagement, of his royal predecessor Henry IV. with the ancestors of these very people, and to press the King of France to make an exchange with the Duke of Savoy for the valleys of Piedmont, resigning some part of his own dominions to the latter in lieu thereof. in me same j™-*, iese, ;*»j „t ,hP moment that the English govern- ment was making such laudable exertions to relieve the YVaklensos in Piedmont, the news arrived of another dreadful scene of cruelty and distress exercised towards a branch of the same people, inhabiting a distant quarter. The three following papers, which, like the whole of the melancholy subject to which they relate, have since sunk into the most profound oblivion, were printed by authority, at the time ; and as they sufficiently explain themselves, it is needless to introduce them by any formal preamble. There can be little doubt that the first of thorn was the composition of Milton: and the original now before me, which is printed in Waclt lCtt£C, has the Protector's arms prefixed to it. A Declaration of his Highness, for a collection towards the relief of divers Protestant churches driven out of Poland ; and of twenty Protestant families driven out of the confines of Bohemia. His highness, the lord protector, having received a petition from several churches of Christ, professing the reformed religion, lately seated at Lesna, and other places in Poland, representing their sad and deplorable condition, through the persecution and cruelty of their anti- christian enemies in those parts, in the time of the war in Poland, by whom they have not only been driven from their habitations and spoiled 532 History of the Christian Church. of their goods, upon the account of religion only, but forced to fly into Silesia, for the preservation of their lives, and for the liberty of their consciences, where a considerable number of them continue in great ■want and misery — the truth whereof hath been witnessed, as well by deputies sent unto his highness from the said churches, authorized by an instrument under the hands of the pastors of five of those churches, as also by the testimony of several protestant princes, who, out of a deep sense of the calamity of those distressed exiles, have afforded them shelter until it shall please the Lord otherwise to provide for them : And his highness having, in like manner, received a petition from twenty protestant families heretofore seated in the confines of Bohemia, where Misnia belongs unto it, representing their distressed and lamentable con- dition, through the persecution of the Jesuits and inquisitors of the house of Austria, by whom they have been driven out of their habita- tions, and spoiled of their goods, upon the sole account of their religion ; who now, for the safety of their lives, and for the liberties of their con- sciences, are retired into the marquisate of Culembach, where they find a present shelter in this their very sad and calamitous condition, which hath been witnessed both by their deputies sent unto his highness, authorized by an instrument under the hands of the chief of those fami- lies, as also by a public certificate from thence. And it being the earnest desire of the said afflicted churches and families, as well by the several petitions, as by their deputies, that his highness, out of compassion to their sufferings, would be pleased to recommend their lamentable con- dition to their brethren in these nations, in whom they hope to find bowels of mercy, yearning towards those who, professing the same faith with them, are now under so great extremities and misery for the cause of the gospel, and testimony of the I-orJ !•»««. His highness being greatly afflicted with the miserable and calamitous condition of the said churches and families, and not doubting but the people of these nations, whom the Lord hath graciously and wonder- fully preserved from that antichristian bondage and tyranny, will have a fellow-feeling of the afflictions of their brethren, hath, with the ad- vice of his privy-council, thought fit to recommend their case to the charity of those whose hearts the Lord shall stir up in these nations, to afford them some seasonable relief, whose liberality in this kind hath been testified in their large contributions to the relief of the poor Pro- testants in the valleys of Piedmont, to the refreshing of their bowels, (touching the faithful distribution whereof, an account is ordered by his highness to be printed for general satisfaction.) And to the end the said collections may be carefully made, and the money thereupon col- lected be disposed of to the relief of the said poor churches, and their members, and the families aforesaid, and to no other uses ; his high- ness doth hereby require and command the ministers and churchwar- dens of the respective parishes within England and Wales, and town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the next Lord's day after this declaration shall come unto their hands, to publish the same, and on the Lord's. day fol- lowing to make a collection of the charitable contribution of the peo- ple in their parishes, and that within three days after, they pay over the sum or sums so collected unto the high sheriff of the respective Persecution of the Waldenses in Polanl. 533 counties, to be by him paid into the hands of Sir Thomas Viner and Sir Christopher Pack, knights, aldermen of the city of London, who are appointed treasurers for this service, and who shall transmit the moneys so to be by them received for the relief of the said poor dis- tressed churches and their members, and the aforesaid twenty families, in such manner and proportions as the committee formerly appointed for the disposing of the moneys for the relief of the said poor Protes- tants in Piedmont, shall, with respect to their several numbers and suf- ferings, think fit and direct, and to the end that none of the moneys collected for so pious and charitable an end may miscarry, the minis- ters and churchwardens aforesaid are enjoined, upon payment of the said money to the respective sheriffs as aforesaid, to send up unto the said Sir Thomas Viner, a note in writing under their hands, of the sum so collected, the parish and county where such collection was made, and the person to whom the same was paid, to the end care may be taken, and the same may be duly returned and employed to the use intended. By the Committee for the Affairs of the poor Protestants in the Valleys of Piedmont. The all-wise and holy God, whose ways of providence are always righteous, though often secret and unsearchable, hath made it the con- stant lot and portion of his people in this world, to follow the Lord in bearing the cross and suffering persecutions, thereby holding forth and verifying that irreconcilable enmity between the seed of the woman, and the seed of the serpent, which was visiBle betimes in the blood- shed of righteous Abel, whom Cain (though his brother) slew, being of the wicked one, yea, and for this cause, for that his own works were evil, and his brother's good. Thus they that are born after the flesh, persecute them that are born after the Spirit to this day, and so will do while the world lasteth. In which cause and quarrel the Lord hath very many glorious ends. But scarcely have any sort of the church's enemies more clearly followed the pernicious ways of Cain herein, than hath the antichristian faction of Rome done, that Mother of Harlots and Abominations, whose garments are dyed red with the blood of saints, which they have always cruelly shed, and made them- selves drunk with, even with the blood of those holy followers of the Lamb, chiefly who would not receive antichrists's mark, nor worship his image, nor drink of the golden cup of his fornications, but rather come out from them, and witness against them, though they did it in sackcloth, and were slain for it. Among those chosen and faithful witnesses, the Lord seemeth very signally to have raised up those Christians, who, though dispersed in divers countries, have been commonly known by the name of Wal- denses, who, for some centuries of years, have lived among their ene- mies as lambs among wolves, to bear their testimony for the truth of Christ, against the apostasies and blasphemies of Rome, for which they have been killed all the day long, and appointed as sheep for the slaughter. . Nevertheless, the Lord, the great Shepherd of the sheep, 45* 534 History of the Christian Church. hath made their blood thus shed, to become a constant seed of faithful and valiant witnesses for him ; which is, indeed, the more marvellous in our eyes, that this bush hath so long burned and is not yet con- sumed. This little flock and remnant which the Lord hath left and reserved, are scattered partly in the valleys of Piedmont, of whose tragical suf- ferings we have not long since heard, and have drawn forth our bow- els to them, whereof a very faithful account is given to the world, both for the satisfaction of brethren and friends, and for stopping the mouths of all calumnies. The other part of this poor, yet precious remnant, have been dis- persed in the kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland, whose sufferings, to- gether with the Lord's signal providences about them, have been very eminent and remarkable, as hath been made appear unto us by three godly persons, delegated by those persecuted churches, which are now the sad monuments of their enemies' rage, and of the Lord's sparing mercies. These have made their addresses to his highness the lord protector, by petition, declaring the deplorable estate wherein this persecuted remnant now lieth, and with loud cries importuning the Christian bow- els and bounty of this nation, which cannot but be moved to mourn over them, and to show mercy to them. And, indeed, upon a due sense and consideration of this lamentable subject, even common hu- manity, but much more Christian charity, should provoke us to a fel- low-feeling of their present distressed condition. These sometime flourishing churches, were, by degrees worn out by the constant underminings and open outrages of the antichristian party, being first driven out of Bohemia into Poland, then after their taking root and spreading in Poland into a numerous company, were forced out of the chief cities there, and now, at last by the jesuited and enraged Polish army, persecuted in their few hiding places, with fire and sword. Their ministers were tortured to death by most exquisite and un- heard-of barbarism, by cutting out of the tongues of some, pulling out the eyes and cruelly mangling the bodies of others ; nor did their rage and brutish cruelty reach only to ministers, but to others, yea even to women and young children, whose heads they cut off, and laid them at their dead mothers' breasts. Nay, their rage brake out not only upon the living (not one of whom they spared that fell into their hands) but also upon the dead, plucking the bodies of honourable persons, and others out of the graves, tearing them to pieces, and exposing them to public scorn. But the chief eyesore and object of their fury was the city of Lesna, which, after plundering and murdering all whom they found therein, they burned to ashes, and laid in rubbish ; only the Lord in his mercy having alarmed the city of their enemies' approaching march, the great- est part of the inhabitants (being three famous churches) saved, them- selves by flight, and are now wandering up and down in Silesia, the Marquisate of Brandenburgh, Lusatia, and Hungary, poor, destitute, afflicted, and naked. Persecution of the Polish Waldemes. 535 His highness and the council having referred unto this committee the testimonials and petitions sent by the said churches, we finding upon examination thereof, their case to be thus deplorable, which is more at large stated and declared in their own narrative, have caused the said narrative to be translated, and herewith published, thereby to stir up the Lord's people in these nations to put on bowels of mercies towards these their exiled and afflicted brethren, refreshing their hearts by your love, and the tokens of it in a cheerful and liberal supply, which will not only preserve this holy seed from perishing, that hath a blessing in it, but also uphold among them the purity of religion and power of the gospel. 'Die rather, considering the present freedom from these bloody out- rages we, the people of these nations, do by the blessing of the Lord enjoy, the continuance whereof we may the more comfortably hope for, by how much our compassions are more freely extended to those in misery. And if a cup of cold water given to one disciple, as such, shall not lose its reward, how much more when a bountiful relief is given to more than five thousand disciples ? Which we should be the more forward to advance, because they ac- knowledge they have received much confirmation in the religion for which they suffer by light received from our countryman John Wick- liff, that famous witness of Christ against antichrist, even in the dark- est times of popery. And we doubt not but that God who hath lately opened your bow- els to so large and eminent a contribution towards the persecuted Pro- testants of Piedmont, (for which many thanksgivings have been made to God in your behalf,) will again draw out your hearts upon this like sad occasion, to the like bountiful liberality, it being our duty to cast our bread upon the waters, and to give a portion to six and also to seven, not being weary of well-doing, because in due time we shall reap if we faint not. Considering also how honourable it is to act grace, and to lay out ourselves upon such occasions, we recommend it again as the work of God accompanied with his own voice, calling aloud upon us to en- large ourselves in this ministration, and withal to pour out our hearts in faith and prayer, that the Lord would yet please to raise up Sion upon the ruins of Babylon, hastening his work, and blessing means to it. John Trevor, John Oiven, Christopher Pack, William Jenhjn, William Purefoy, Philip Nye, Edward Cresset, THIUum Cooper, Thomas Vyner, Edmond Calamy. Joseph Caryl, The fury of Antichrist against the Protestants, or reformed church of the Bohemian Confession in Poland, set down in a brief, but faithful Narrative, and according to the truth of the matter. The spouse of Jesus Christ, she who in the cradle was besprinkled with the blood of a proto-martyr, hath always brought into the world 536 History of the Christian Church. men like Abel or Stephen, that so there might never be wanting to cry from the earth unto God, and that the wounds of that rose which lies among the thorns of persecution might not be concealed. Every age, and every year in each age, and every month and day in each year, hath produced new inundations of blood unto this day; and yet the little flock of the Lord hath always increased under persecutions, one while here, another there, shifting their seats and habitations. While it pleased God, by the means of Wickliff, to kindle the light of the gospel in Great Britain, John Huss asserted the truth of Jesus Christ in the midst of the thick darkness of popery in Bohemia, many thou- sands being stirred up by God to receive it, who, despising all the cruelty of tyrants, received it with joy, until, by God's assistance, they took root in the kingdom, and grew up into flourishing churches. In a short time after, antichrist breathing out his fury, the truth was ban- ished out of Bohemia, and the confessors being driven out, transplant- ed the gospel into Poland; where, being favourably entertained by King Sigismund, they, in a short time, increased to so great a num- ber, that being little inferior to the Papists, they were able to boast of an equal authority and privileges with them. Hence it came to pass that the kings at their coronations were wont not only to promise, but solemnly to swear protection to such as disagreed from the Roman re- ligion, and, therefore, they proceeded not to open persecutions, save only in those cities where the Jesuits had seated themselves in power, to wit, Cracovia, Posen, Lubin, Vilna, &c. where, by their disciples, and by stirring up the common people to fury, the churches of the re- formed professors were a good while ago demolished and divers mi- nisters cruelly massacred. Nevertheless the malice of their enemies being no whit allayed, they were many ways afflicted, first indirectly, afterwards by pretences under colour of law, until those churches be- ing worn out by degrees, and overthrown, were, not many years ago, reduced to a very inconsiderable number, especially when, as in the reign of the late king, their enemies being confident they might do any thing, brought things to this pass at length, that there were no more than twenty-one congregations remaining in the greater Poland, and those also ready to perish. But among those twenty-one remaining churches, the chief, and, as it were, the mother of them all, was that of Lesna, which was divided into three congregations, the Bohemian, the Polonian, and the German ; each of which had their own pastors, but the communicants jointly were about two thousand: therefore, it was that this joint church in the first place, exposed to the enemy's malice, and of late designed to the slaughter, as well by reason of its being very much frequented and grown famous, as also because of the synod there usually celebrated, as likewise a famous University and printing-house, and books frequently published to the world. When, therefore, in the year 1655, the Swedish army out of Pomerania drew near to the borders of Poland, and the nobility were summoned to arms, according to the custom of the country, it came to pass- that the Papists brake forth into many furious expressions, crying out, that the heretics had invited the enemy, and, therefore, they were first of all to be put to the sword and extirpated : which reports, though falsely Persecution of the TValdenses m Poland. 537 scattered abroad, (for the Searcher of hearts and reins knoweth, that we never so much as dreamt of it) yet they easily found credit among the sworn enemies of the gospel, who sought nothing more than our ruin. Hereupon they who first consulted to agree with the Swedish army, being terrified by its power, concluded about the surrender of all great Poland into the King's protection, and namely, the royal cities of Posen, Calissen, Meseric, &c. to which also Lesna was expressly added. In a little time after, they endeavoured to cast off the Swedish yoke, and turned their arms not against the Swedes, but first against our evangelical professors, as conspiring with the Swedes upon the ac- count of religion, and none of them scrupled to take revenge upon them. They first of all set upon those of Lesna, with the resolution of putting all to the sword, and destroying that heretical city by fire, and they had effected both, unless God had, by sending some persons before, who, by signifying the coining of the enemy, and with what intent they came, had possessed the citizens with a panic fear, so that leaving all their estates, they every man fled ; and thus within the space of one hour, a most populous city, abounding with all manner of wealth, was left without inhabitants, who, in a miserable condition, wandered then into the neighbouring woods and marshes into Silesia. But the Polish nobility, with their army, entering the city, did what they pleased, slaying a great number of decrepit old peoplu, and sick persons, that were not able to save themselves by flight ; then the city itself was first plundered ; and afterwards so destroyed by fire, for three days together, that no part of it remained besides rubbish and ashes. In what manner they would have handled the citizens, espe- cially their pastors, they showed by their heroic actions performed in other places, by the most savage slaughtering of divers ministers of the church, and other faithful members of Christ of both sexes : for of all that they laid hold on, they gave not one man quarter, but very cru- elly put them to death with most exquisite tortures. They endeavour- ed to force Mr. Samuel Cardus, pastor of the church of Czuertzinen, to renounce his religion, after they had taken him, and miserably han- dled him with all manner of cruelty; but he stoutly resisting, they first put out his eyes, and led him about for a spectacle, then they pulled off his fingers' end with pincers ; but he not yet condescending to their mad fury, they found out a new kind of torment, poured molten lead into his mouth, and, at length, while he was yet half alive, they clapt his neck between folding doors, and violently pulling them together severed his head from his body. They took John Jacobides, pastor of the church of Dembnick, and Alexander Wartens, his col- league, and another that was in company with them, as they passed through the town of Lubin, and hurrying them up and down for di- vers hours, and grievously handling them after the manner of tyrants, they last of all, cutting their throats with a razor, threw them head- long, while they were yet breathing, into a great pit, which had been before-hand prepared for their martyrs, and stifled them by casting down dung and dirt upon them. They a great while pursued Andrew Oxlitius, a young man designed for the ministry, whom, after long seeking, they at last found in the open field, and in the end having 538 History of the Christian Church. taken him, they cut off his head with a scythe, chopping it into small pieces, and the dead carcass also they slasht in a barbarous manner. The same fate befel Adam Milota, a citizen of Lesna ; but they more grievously handled an old man above seventy, whose name was Simon Priten, and many others, whose names it were too tedious to relate. Of that barbarous execution which they did upon the weaker sex, there were, besides other examples, horrid trophies of cruelty erected in the said city of Lesna; a pious matron there, who was the mother of three children, not being able quick enough to leave the city, and being slain in the open street, they cut off her hands and feet, and cut- ting off her children's heads, they laid two of them at her breasts, and the third by her side. In like manner, another woman having her hands and feet cut off, and her tongue cut out, being enclosed and bound in a sack, lived the space of two days, making most miserable lamentation. Grief forbids us to add more, for they behaved themselves so furiously towards us, that there remains not an example of any one man saved of all those that happened to fall into their hands. It is no- toriously known how that fury of theirs tyrannized also over the dead; some they dragged out of their graves and cut into pieces, as at Zich- lin ; others they exposed naked for a public spectacle, as at Lesna ; of which outrageous action we had an example, even in the dead body of the most serene Landgrave of Hessia, which was drawn out of the grave,"who was heretofore slain in a most barbarous and tyrannical manner at Kos- cian, but buried by our friends at Lesna. The like was acted also upon the body of the most noble Arciszevius, heretofore the valiant admiral of the Hollanders in Brazil, which wUS likewise dragged out of the grave, and being stript of the grave clothes, wm found after the firin^ of Lesna. There are divers other examples, which the Christian readef may find in the book intituled Lesnse Excidium, faithfully written, and lately set forth in print ; but they are such examples only as are commonly known, for who is able to relate all things in particular? as burning men alive, drowning others with stones tied about their necks, &c. Now Lesna being destroyed, the fury of the enemy proceeded to the persecution of others ; they, in a short time, utterly demolished all our congregations, not only driving away the pastors, but also either burn- ing or leaving most of the temples desolate, as at Karmin, Dembnick, Skochy, Czriuczin, &c. yea and the auditories themselves were either slain (as in the town of Skochy, where there was a very flourishing church of the Bohemian exiles, sixty persons, both men and women, were cruelly put to death) or else they were scattered abroad, so that there remained not one place wherein the worship of God may be celebrated. Lo, this is the most miserable state and con- dition of our churches ; moreover our countrymen, to the number of five thousand, besides youth and children, being dispersed in banish- ment (which hath now befallen most of us the second time) especially throughout Silesia, as also through the Marck, Lusatia, Hungary, &c. find no comfort, but much misery, and are there exposed to the hatred and envy of men. We that are pastors dare not openly minister to our auditories with the word and sacraments, but only in private meetings, Persecution of the Waldenses in Poland. 539 or in woods among fenny places, God only seeing us, who is wit- ness of these calamities, and our comfort in extremities. Indeed, being thus destitute of all things we lead a wretched life in banishment, being afflicted, with hunger and nakedness, and are become, next to the most miserable "Waldenses, the greatest spectacle of calamity to the Christian world, for so it hath seemed good to that sovereign wisdom that governs all things, that we should be the inheritors of the cross and persecutions of those men from whom we have derived the origi- nal of our doctrine and external succession : for truly we are the re- maining progeny even of the Waldenses, with whom being raised from the ashes of blessed Huss, and with whom combining into the same holy fellowship of the faith and afflictions of Christ, we have for two whole ages and more, been perpetually subject to the like storms of ca- lamities, until at length we fell into this calamity, greater than ever was known in the memory of our fathers, and which threatens us with utter destruction, unless God prevent it. The truth is, this business constrains us to amazement and tears greater than can be expressed in words, to set forth our affliction and sorrow. If there be any consola- tion in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, we desire that this affliction of Joseph may be recommended, especially to all that are of the household of faith. Let them not suffer those to perish whom the same Spirit of Christ hath joined with them in so near a relation ; we beseech them in the name of Christ, that they would rather make haste to relieve those who are ready to perish, we being assured that we suffer this perse- cution upon no other account, than for the confession of the truth, from those enemies who have acted such things as these against us in times past, and are now at length, by God's permission, pouring out their fury upon us. Signed in the name of the said churches, by their delegates, and now exiles for the cause of Christ : Adam Samuel Hartman, Pastor of the church of Lesna, in Poland, and Rector of the famous University there. Paul Cyril, a late member of the University of Lysna. Of the amount contributed in consequence of this second appeal to the benevolence of our countrymen, I am unable to give the reader any specific information. The posture of public affairs, in our own coun- try, now became extremely critical : and in the same year (1658) in which these laudable efforts were made in behalf of the Waldenses, both of Poland and Piedmont, proved fatal to the life, and of course, to the influence of the protector. The parliament was refractory, and, in the spring of the year, he dissolved them. Public discontents ran high, and a pamphlet made its appearance entitled " Killing no mur- der"— the object of which was to prove that his assassination would be the discharge of a public duty. His fears are said to have been ex- cited ; a slow fever ensued, and on the 3rd of September he died. Of the contributions made in 1655, thirty thousand pounds had been dis- tributed among the sufferers in the Valleys of Piedmont, but the con- 540 History of the Christian Church. fusion which succeeded on the death of the protector occasioned the balance, which was nearly ten thousand pounds, to be withheld for a time, but it was afterwards remitted them. SECTION VIII. THE HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES CONCLUDED. The writer of the Apocalypse informs us that, while in the isle of Patmos, he had a vision of a beast rising up out of the sea, having se- ven heads and ten horns — and that there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies — and it was also given unto him to. make war with the saints, and to overcome them : and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations ; that all that dwell upon the earth should worship him, except those whose names were written in the slain Lamb's book of life, from the founda- tion of the world. Rev. xiii. That this prophetic description wa3 designed to point out the monstrous antichristian proceedings of Papal Rome, is now scarcely doubted by any, except the members of that apostate church : and with how much propriety such an application of it is made, may be very safely left to the determination of those who shall have impartially perused the foregoing narrative. If we calmly review the conduct of the court of Rome towards the Waldenses, and mark the savage ferocity with which they had now, for several succes- sive centuries, invariably pursued them ; how, when exiled from one country, they were followed into another, and that nothing short of their total extirpation could satisfy the relentless cruelty of their adversaries, we can scarcely forbear applying to them the affecting language of the Psalmist, " For thy sake are we killed all the day long, we are ac- counted as sheep for the slaughter," Psal. xliv. 23. We have seen that, whether in France, or Spain, or in our own country ; in Bohe- mia, Calabria, or Poland ; throughout Germany or the Netherlands ; in Italy or the Valleys of Piedmont ; one common fate awaited them, and that they never failed, sooner or later, to experience, namely, " to be slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held," Rev. vi. 9. But the crisis of their affairs was now arrived; — the witnesses who had so long and so nobly prophesied in -sackcloth, before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings, were about to finish their testimony; which having done, it remained for the " beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit to make war against them, and overcome them, and kill them," Rev. xi. 3 — 7. A glance at the manner in which this was effected will occupy the present sec- tion, and discharge my engagements to the public; so far at least as regards this undertaking. The number of the Waldenses that fell in the massacre of Piedmont, in 1655, is estimated by contemporary writers at more than six thou- Recapitulatory remarks. 541 sand.* Tn consequence, however, of the humane interference of our own and other protestant states, the residue as hath been already stated, availed themselves of the treaty that was signed by the Duke of Savoy, on the 9th of August, 1 655, to return to their dwellings. But their enemies were by no means satisfied with the measure of calamity which they had dealt out towards them. In the year 1663, they again came forward with fire and sword, and the atrocities of 1655 were once more in preparation to be reacted. Having found by experience that to stand in an attitude of self-defence was the only way left them of saving themselves, the Waldenses were now constrained to take up arms, which they did, and defended themselves so bravely, that about the end of that year they at least kept their enemies at bay ! But the Swiss cantons, ever alive to their affairs, on this occasion again sent ambassa- dors to the court of Turin, to mediate between the parties, and in Fe- bruary, 1664, a patent was granted by the Duke of Savoy, in all re- spects confirming that given in 1655; but though his royal highness now personally engaged to see the treaty carried into effect, it was no better executed than the former. The Waldenses, however, persevered, and though subject to innumerable contumelies and very injurious treat- ment, which the rancour of the council/or propagating the faith was continually inflicting upon them, they bore up until the year 1672, when an event transpired that afforded them an opportunity, in a very signal manner, of evincing their loyalty, and of rendering essential services to their sovereign and their country. In the year last mentioned, a war broke out between the Duke of Savoy and the Genoese. The army of the former was commanded by the Marquis of Pionessa, son of the nobleman of that name who nearly thirty years before had taken so active a part in the massacre of the Waldenses. Under his management the war with Genoa proved most unpropitious, insomuch that the affairs of the Duke of Savoy were brought to the brink of ruin, and, as Bishop Burnet assures us,t the duke was so displeased with his conduct that he never would forgive him, but a little before his death actually enjoined it upon his mother never to employ him again! It was in this critical juncture of their national affairs that the Waldenses, forgetting all that was past, volunta- rily came forward to enrol themselves in their sovereign's cause, and entered into the war with such zeal and courage that they soon retriev- ed the fallen fortunes of their country and brought the war to a speedy and successful termination. Their loyal and disinterested behaviour on this occasion, sensibly affected the mind of their prince, who testified his approbation of their conduct in a letter, of which the following is a copy: * History of the Persecution of the Valleys of Piedmont, p. 4. f Burnet's Letters from Italy— Supplement to ditto, Lett. III. p. 158. Edit. 1688. 46 542 History of the Christian Church. To our most faithful subjects, the communities of the Valleys of Lu- cerne, Perouse, San Martin, and of the districts of Perrus'tin, Saint Bartholomeiv, and Rocheplatte. THE DUKE OF SAVOY, PRINCE OF PIEDMONT, &C &C. Most Dear and Faithful, Forasmuch as we have been well pleased with the zeal and readiness with which you have provided men who have served us to our entire satisfaction, in the affair we had against the Genoese ; we have thought fit to testify unto you by these presents our approbation thereof, and to assure you, that we shall keep it in particular remembrance, to make you sensible on all occasions of the effects of our royal protection, wliereof the Count Beccaria shall give you more ample information, whom we have commanded to express to you our sentiments more at large, and also to take a list of the officers and soldiers, as well of those that are dead as of those that remain prisoners, that he may report the same unto us, to the end that we may pay due regard thereunto. In the meantime these presents shall serve you for an assured testimony of our satisfaction and good will ; and we pray God to preserve you from evil. Signed C. EMANUEL, Buonfiglio. Turin, November 5, 1672. The following is a copy of the duke's letter to Count Beccaria. Trusty and w ell-beloved, The men whom the communities of Lucerne, &c. have provided, have served us so faithfully, that, being desirous of testifying unto them our satisfaction therewith, we have sent you a letter herein enclosed, which we have written to them, to the end that you may deliver it to them, and also express more fully the good will that we bear to them on that account ; and that you may assure them, that whensoever any thing shall happen that may tend to their advantage we will particularly remember their affection. And on this occasion you shall take a list of the officers and soldiers, as well of those that are dead as of those that are prisoners, and make a report of the same unto us, that we may pay a suitable regard to such ; and referring to you for what may be said further in token of the satisfaction we have received, no less by their zeal and readiness, than by the good services which their officers and soldiers have rendered us ; we prav our Lord to preserve you. Signed C. EMANUEL. Turin, November 5, 1672. To Monsieur Count Beccaria, Counsellor of State. In scrupulous conformity with the tenour of these letters the duke continued, to the time of his death, which happened in 1675, to favour the Waldenses with tokens of his kindness ; and, even after his decease, the duchess, his widow, followed his example, treating them with great gentleness and goodness ; and, in the year 1679, she pledges herself, in a letter to the Swiss Cantons, dated 28th January, to main- Character and conduct of Louis XIV. 543 tain the Waldenses in the undisturbed exercise of their religious pri- vileges. Victor Amadeus II. was a minor at the time of his father's death, though he inherited the title of Duke of Savoy. The government of Piedmont was, consequently, during this interval of ten years, vested in the hands of his mother, the widow of the late Charles Emanuel II. who acted as regent untill the year 1685, when Victor Amadeus arrived at maturity ; and it appears to have been a season of tranquillity to the churches throughout the Valleys. It is a remarkable circumstance that both father and son were poisoned ! The former, indeed, fell a sacrifice to this base and treacherous act, but the youth of the son carried him through it.* It was the misfortune of this young prince, however, to become connected by marriage with Louis XIV. king of France, one of the most detestable and sanguinary tyrants that ever sat upon a throne; and who, as we shall presently see, compelled him, in defiance of his own inclination and judgment, to extirpate the Waldenses from his dominions. " There is nothing more visible," says Bishop Burnet, writing at the very time, "than that the Dukes of Savoy have sunk extremely in this age, from the figure which they made in the last ; and how much soever they have raised their titular dignity in having the title of Royal highness given them, they have lost as much in the figure which they made in the affairs of Europe. — The truth is, the vanity of this title and the expensive humour which their late mar- riages with France has spread among them, have ruined them; for in- stead of keeping good troops and strong places, all the revenue goes to keeping up the magnificence of the court, which is certainly very splen- did."! Of the justice and pertinency of these observations the reader will find abundant proof in the sequel. During the reign of Louis XIII. the Protestants had multiplied in France to such an extent, that, at the period of his death, A. D. 1613, they were computed to exceed two millions. Their religious privileges had been guaranteed to them by the well-known edict of Nantz. Louis XIV. was only five years of age when his father died, and of course, the queen mother was appointed sole regent during his minority. When the young king came of age, in 1652, the edict of Nantz was again con- firmed. But his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarine, with his con- fessors and clergy, were continually impressing his mind with the ex- pediency of revoking that edict : and when the management of affairs devolved upon his own hands, in 1661, he resolved to effect the destruc- tion of the Protestants. In prosecution of this design he began by ex- cluding the Calvinists from his household, and from all places of profit and trust. He next caused several laws to be passed in favour of the catholic religion. Then rigorous methods were adopted to compel the Calvinists to change their religion — their places of worship were shut up — and at length, October 22, 1685, he revoked the edict of Nantz, and banished them from the kingdom. The cruelties that were indicted upon them at that time, if possible, surpass in atrocity any thing * Bishop Burnet's Supplementary Letters from Italy, p. 161. f Bishop Burnet's Supplementary Letters from Italy, p. 162. 544 History of the Christian Church. that is to be found in the persecutions of the first Christians by the Heathens. "They cast some," says Monsieur Claude, "into large fires, and took them out when they were half roasted. They hanged others with ropes under their arms, and plunged them several times into wells, till they promised to renounce their religion. They tied them like criminals on the rack, and by means of a funnel, poured wine into their mouths, till, being intoxicated, they declared that they con- sented to turn Catholics. Some they cut and slashed with pen-knives, others they took up by the nose with red hot tongs, and led them up and down the rooms till they promised to turn catholics." These cruel proceedings caused eight hundred thousand persons to quit the kingdom. The tranquillity of the Waldenses in Piedmont was now first invaded by a proclamation issued by the governor of the Valleys, about the year 1685, ordering that no stranger should come and continue in the Valleys above three days without his permission, on pain of being severely punished. This seemed mysterious, but it was soon unravelled by the intelligence which presently arrived of the dreadful proceedings against the French Protestants ; for they immediately saw that it was intended to prevent them from giving an asylum to any of the unhappy exiles ; yet they little apprehended the dreadful tempest that was gathering around themselves. On the 31st of January 1686, they were amazed at the publication of an order from the Duke of Savoy, forbidding his subjects the exercise of the protestant religion upon pain of death ; the confiscation of their goods; the demolition of their churches; and the banishment of their pastors. All infants born from that time, were to be baptized and brought up in the Roman Catholic religion, under the penalty of their fathers being condemned to the galleys I* Their consternation was now extreme. Hitherto the treaty which secured to them the free exercise of their religion had been guaranteed by the kings of France ; but they were now given to understand that the Duke of Savoy, in all these in- tolerant measures, was only fulfilling the wishes of that monarch ; and, to crown the whole, the latter had marched an army to the confines of Piedmont to see the order of the duke properly executed. In this truly affecting condition, their first step was, by submission and entreaty, to soften the heart of their sovereign. Four different applications were addressed to him, beseeching him to revoke this cruel order : the only advantage they reaped was a suspension of the impending calamity until their enemies were better prepared to execute it with effect. Their old and tried friends the Swiss Cantons, being informed of this state of things, convened a Diet at Baden, in the month of February, 1686, at which it was resolved to send ambassadors to the Duke of Sa- voy to intercede for the Waldenses ; and early in the following month they arrived at Turin, where they delivered in their propositions relat- ing to the revocation of the order of the 31st of January. They show- ed his highness that they were interested in the affair, not only as the brethren of the Waldenses, but also in virtue of the treaties of 1655, • See Appendix, No. 1 . Pleas of the Swiss for the IValdenses. 545 and 1664, which were the fruits of their mediation, and which this new order annulled. The court of Turin admitted the plea; but contented themselves with telling the ambassadors, that the engagement which the duke had recently entered into with the King of France opposed the success of their negotiation. The Swiss ambassadors gave in a memo- rial, and urged a variety of pleas; in all which they were supported by letters from many protestant princes in behalf of the Waldenses. They pleaded that the predecessors of his royal highness had pledged them- selves to many of the potentates of Europe, and particularly to the Can- tons of Switzerland, to observe the privileges which had been granted to the protestant inhabitants of the Valleys : and argued that such for- mal and authenticated engagements ought to stand good; for that the immunities which had been secured to them by letters patent, were not to be regarded merely in the light of matters of momentary toleration, but as perpetual grants and irrevocable laws : that having been granted at the intercession of many sovereign princes, they must, according to the laws of nations, be regarded as monuments of the public faith : and that the promise of princes ought to be maintained sacred and inviolable. They also endeavoured to show, by arguments deduced from maxims of state policy, that the Duke of Savoy acted against his own interest in these cruel proceedings ; and that even from a regard to those he should continue the Waldenses in their ancient privileges — that the laws of justice and motives of clemency should prevent him from sub- jecting his country to fire and sword and desolation; for that he was about to ruin a harmless and innocent people, who had done nothing that could deservedly entitle them to the effects of this inhuman order. But. neither the reasoning of the ambassadors, nor their own pressing solicitations, nor the letters of intercession which had been presented in their behalf from many other protestant princes, could avail any thing with the court of Turin.* The Marquis of Saint Thomas, to whom they delivered their memorial, and who was one of the duke's ministers of state for foreign affairs returned an answer in a few days, stating that his royal highness was sorry that he was not in a capacity to grant what they desired in their own and in the name of their mas- ters— that he had far stronger reasons for enforcing this edict than they had given him to revoke it; and that he could not so much as mitigate it; that the great wheels moved and carried the little ones along with them — that having for his neighbour a prince equally powerful and jea- lous of his honour, he was obliged to carry himself with great circum- spection, and to act according to the exigencies of the times, just as in Switzerland they were sometimes compelled by the turn of their affairs, to take certain resolutions contrary to the good intentions they might otherwise have. In short, the duke was too far engaged — the troops which he had raised, at a great expense, were already in motion — that the edict could not be revoked without wounding his royal highness's reputation — that he was forced to see it executed for very cogent rea- sons, on which the ambassadors might make their own reflections. He added that the grants of 1655 and 1664, were a mere toleration, and * See Appendix, No. 2, 46* 546 History of the Christian Church. that the Waldenses had no positive right to exercise their religious pro- fession— that sovereigns do no injustice in refusing to allow more than one religion in a country, and that the Swiss Cantons themselves jus- tified the conduct of his royal highness, hy not enduring Roman Catho- lics among them. Besides, the concessions granted to the Waldenses had been legally examined, and it was agreed, that the concessions and favours which a prince grants to his subjects, he is at liberty to revoke at pleasure — that his royal highness prohibited nothing to the Wal- denses but the exercise of their religious profession, but that he in no respect intended to force their consciences ! The ambassadors in reply told the Marquis of St. Thomas, that however strong his royal highness's reasons were to consent to his edict of January last, they could not annul those that necessarily en- gaged him to observe the promises given before this edict. That some considerations of state ought not to dispense a prince from performing his word, especially if he entered into this engagement by the media- tion of another sovereign ; and that whereas the patents and concessions granted to the inhabitants of the Valleys had been acquired by the in- tercession of several kings, princes, and states, and, in particular, of their excellencies the protestant Cantons, and confirmed by his royal highness, he could allege nothing sufficient to discharge him from the obligation of seeing them punctually observed ; and the rather, because these patents have been enrolled by the parliament of Savoy ; and that the enrolling of the year 1620 alone, had cost the churches of the Val- leys six thousand crowns. They urged that the concessions granted by the predecessors of his royal highness to the inhabitants of the Valleys, did acquire them an incontestible right, which they could not lose but by an enormous crime, and by a rebellion against their lawful sovereign, and, that far from being guilty of any want of their duty, they could produce a letter of his royal highness, of the 2d of September, 1684, which is an au- thentic and glorious proof of the fidelity and inviolable adherence which they had always shown to their prince's interest. That if, after the publication of the last edict, some particular persons amongst them had taken up arms, they had not done it to make use of them against their sovereign, but only to defend themselves against those that, abusing his authority, had undertaken to attack and insult them ; and that in case there had been some disorders committed, those that were the authors ought to be punished; but that it ought not to be imputed to the whole body of the churches of the Valleys, that were in no respects guilty of it. They insisted that the prince was equally obliged to execute the promises he had made to his subjects, as those which regarded persons who are in no manner under his submission. That such obligations were grounded upon public faith and honour, which ought to rule in all treaties of sovereigns, without distinction ; that if it were allowable to fail in what they had solemnly promised to their people, it would be impossible to terminate differences that should arise between them, or to appease the troubles that might happen in their state; and that two parties making war on one another, would never end their quarrels, but be the total ruin of one of them. Pleas of the Swiss for the Waldenses. 547 They added to this, that sovereigns had reason to employ their utmost endeavours to unite their subjects in the same religion ; but that to effect it, they ought not to violate treaties which had been formerly made with them. That all that was allowed them in such a case, was, to em- ploy instruction and exhortation, and all the winning ways of sweetness, that are calculated to make truth enter into the minds of their people, to enlighten their understandings, and move them to embrace, with good will, the true religion ; but that which deserved a particular con- sideration in this contest is, that the inhabitants of the Valleys did not hold, by the concessions of their princes, the liberty to exercise in pub- lic their religion; because it was established in this country above eight centuries ago ; and that they enjoyed this right long before they were the subjects of his royal highness's ancestors; insomuch that having never been of the same religion as their prince, it could not be said that they had abandoned it, nor he oblige them to return to it. These reasons, and many others which were adduced, were so strong, that the ambassadors hoped they would have some effect on his royal highness's mind ; and that the Marquio of St. Thomas would be pleased to make them known to him, and employ the credit which he had with him, to obtain the revoking of an edict which, without doubt, he had thought to be just, and which he would not have published, if he had been persuaded that it was contrary to what a just and equitable sove- reign owes to his faithful subjects. But they did not merely content themselves in representing the right of the Piedmontese churches, and supporting it by solid reasons ; for they employed several days in soliciting all the ministers of his royal highness, and all persons they judged capable of contributing to the suc- cess of their embassy : above all they stuck close to the Marquis of St. Thomas, as one upon whom depended all the good and all the evil they could expect in this affair; and if we judge of things by appearance, the pains they took to dispose him to be favourable to them were not al- together unsuccessful. For he protested upon oath, that he had laid before his royal highness the'contents of the reply which he had been charged to present to him; that he had done all he could to make him sensible of the reasons they made use of to obtain the revoking of the edict; but that the Juncture of affairs was the reason why he could not persuade his royal highness to grant them their requests. " Neverthe- less," added he, "whereas the prince's troops are not yet upon the march, the inhabitants of the valleys may make a show as if they were willing to execute the edict, because that such a conduct is not contrary to the maxims of your religion, and by these means they will disarm the prince, and they may find afterwards some means to prevent the evils they are threatened with." " Our doctrine, answered the ambassadors, does in no respect coun- tenance the dissembling of our faith, or oblige us to profess before men the truth whereof our hearts are not persuaded. But this is not our business at present; the question is to know whether his royal highness could lawfully revoke the concessions granted to the churches of the Valleys. For as they are engagements into which he has entered by the mediation of several sovereigns, and amongst others, by that of the 548 History of the Christian Church. Swiss Cantons, our sovereign lords, it is evident that nothing can war- rant him in breaking them." In answer to all these pleas, the ministers of the prince gave the ambassadors to understand, that the council of state having examined them, judged they were not strong enough to hinder the prince from publishing his edict against his subjects of the Valleys : and that sup- posing the edict should really cause some inconvenience to his royal highness, he would nevertheless not desist from it, for fear a change of this nature should be injurious to his authority; and that endeavouring to preserve some of his subjects, he might run the hazard to lose them all. And though the ministers wished to be thought firm in their senti- ments, and to show they were not convinced of the justice of the de- mands the ambassadors made, it was well known that they defended the edict against their own opinion ; for one of them frankly confessed, that his royal higlmess's counsellors had not properly examined the concessions of the years 1655 and 1G64, and that if they had made the necessary reflections on -them, they would never have advised the prince to revoke them ; but he assured them, that the evil was now without remedy, and that all the solicitations of the ambassadors, to oblige the prince to change his will, would be in vain; indeed, one of the ministers frankly confessed, that the prince was not master of this affair, and that they executed at Turin those orders that were given at Versailles. This honest confession convinced the ambassadors that all their soli- citations would produce no effect; therefore seeing it would be impos- sible for them to obtain the revocation of the edict, they thought fit, according to the chief head of their instructions, to demand that which related to the second article of the orders which they had received from their sovereigns, viz. to procure the inhabitants of the Valleys the means of retreating somewhere else, and of disposing of their goods as they should think fit. But as their instruction was, to make no proposals to the court of Turin, on this point, except with the consent of the inhabitants of the Valleys, they told the Marquis of St. Thomas that having, for several reasons, entertained no correspondence with them, they were willing to take a journey into the Valleys, to inform themselves exactly of the disposition of the people, and when acquainted with their intentions, to make some overtures of a new negotiation. But they gave him to understand, at the same time, they would by no means undertake the journey, except with his royal higlmess's full consent. The Marquis of St. Thomas, having acquainted his royal highness with the design of the ambassadors, sent them word that he approved of their intentions, and that he would give orders to the governor of Lucerne to do them all the honour, and to show them all the respect, that was due to their character. When the ambassadors arrived in the Valleys, they acquainted all the communities with their arrival, who despatched immediately two deputies and two ministers to them, to whom they represented, that they had employed their utmost endeavours to cause the edict of the 31st day of January, to be revoked, but that all their pleading had been The Wcddenses deliberate. 549 unsuccessful: that it had been given them to understand, that his royal highness was so much engaged with one of the most powerful monarchs in the world, that it was impossible for him to break it: and that he was resolved to use all his endeavours to unite his subjects in the same religion, as he had promisee] to do. There were, therefore, no hopes left of obtaining the revocation of the orders that had been given against them. That their sovereign lords had commanded them, in case his royal highness should persist in his resolution to execute his edict, that thev should demand his per- mission to give them leave to retreat out of his territories, and to dis- pose of their goods ; but that they were unwilling to enter into any negotiation upon this article, without being first informed of their in- tentions about it. That, therefore, they should assemble to deliberate seriously about so important an affair, and acquaint them afterwards what they desired of them in the present juncture. The deputies and ministers having conferred together about this pro- position, before they resolved upon any thing, they entreated the am- bassadors to assist them with their best advice and prudent counsel; but the ambassadors declined to advise them in so intricate a business, telling them they were better acquainted with their own forces ; with the situation of the places where they intended to intrench themselves ; with their ammunition and provisions, than they were ; and that, there- fore, they themselves could adopt the best measures about it. The ministers and deputies finding that they could not agree amongst themselves, and that, besides, it was a business which could not be de- cided but by their commonalties ; told the ambassadors, that the case in question being of the greatest importance, they could take no reso- lutions about it without having first assembled all their commonalties to consult upon it, and they promised to bring to them at Turin their last resolutions, provided they could get passports for them. The ambassadors returned to Turin, and informed the Marquis of St. Thomas of the success of their journey, who assured them that this negotiation was very agreeable to the court. They then demand- ed a safe conduct, that some of the inhabitants of the valleys might have liberty to come and bring the deliberations that should be taken in this assembly : but it was refused under two pretences ; one was, that the Duke of Savoy would not permit that any Waldenses should appear at his court : the other was, that he designed to do nothing in this affair but only for the sake of the ambassadors. They were forced, therefore, to send the secretary of the embassy into the val- leys and fetch these deliberations. This secretary found the com- munities assembled at Angrogne, the 28th of March, very much un- resolved what course to take; for, on one side, they saw the la- mentable consequences of war ; on the other side, the dangers and almost insurmountable difficulties in the execution of their retreat. Besides, although they might depart without danger, they could not contemplate, but with extreme regret, the hardship of being forced to abandon their goods and native country to go into a foreign land to lead a miserable, disconsolate, and wandering sort of life. At last they resolved to send a memorial to the ambassadors, stating the 550 History of the Christian Church. dangers and difficulties that obstructed their departure, and wrote a let- ter to them signed by nine ministers and eight laymen, in which, after having entreated them to reflect on these obstacles, they declared, that they would refer the whole to their prudence and conduct. Upon re- ceiving this letter the ambassadors made it their business to obtain per- mission for the Waldenses to retire out of the estates of Piedmont, and to make sales of their goods ; but the Duke of Savoy, to whom this proposition was referred, answered, that before he would return any reply thereto, he expected that the communities of the valleys should send deputies to him with full power to make those submissions that were due to him, and to beg leave to depart out of his territories, as a peculiar favour that they should implore of their prince. The ambassadors had reason to be surprised at this preamble. They had denied them the safe conduct that they had demanded for the coming of the deputies of the valleys to Turin. They had assured them seve- ral times, that if they should grant to the Waldenses leave to retreat, it was only upon the account and at the intercession of the ambassadors : nevertheless, they would by no means have it said, that the ambassa- dors desired permission for them to depart, on their own behalf; but, on the contrary, that it was the Waldenses themselves that made this request. This alteration was not without cause, and it was not for no- thing that they now adopted measures altogether different from the for- mer. The council of the propagation who managed this affair, had without doubt respect to these two several points ; one was, that they would not have the ambassadors named in the permission of departure, to the end that they should have the less right to demand the execu- tion of those things that should be promised to the Waldenses ; the other, that the Waldenses themselves desiring this permission as a fa- vour, they might be at liberty to impose on them what conditions they pleased ; and lastly, that the Waldenses making those submissions that the duke required of them, must needs be in the state of supplicants, and would by consequence, be forced to lay down their arms ; other- wise they could not be in the condition of petitioners. But however it were, the ambassadors, willing to take away every pretext from the enemies of the Waldenses, took a safe conduct to bring up the depu- ties whom they demanded : they sent this safe conduct into the valleys by the secretary of the embassy, who caused the communities to be assembled to nominate their deputies. But as, on the one hand, there were many who never engaged in the design of departing: and that, on the other, the new marches of their enemies appeared suspicious, the communities were not all of one mind, nor the orders they gave to their respective deputies conformable one with another. For the tenor of some was to beg leave to depart and to sell their goods ; while others required the maintenance of the exercise of their religion and their other rights. These deputies being arrived at Turin, the ambas- sadors thought it not convenient for them to appear at court thus di- vided ; but sent them back into the valleys to endeavour a union be- tween themselves, and laboured in the mean time to obtain a truce for them.* • See Appendix, No. 7. A new Edict issued. 551 Their enemies heard, with great satisfaction, that the communities were divided among themselves upon the point of departing ; they were so well persuaded that this division would he an infallible means to destroy them, that they caused it to be carried on and fomented, by perfidious persons whom they had gained for that purpose. It is also to be presumed, that they never had proposed the expedient of depart- ing, but with a prospect that it might be the occasion of the disunion of the Waldenses. To take advantage therefore, of the various dispo- sitions of the communities, their enemies changed their minds once more. They had lately declared, thai they expected, in the first place, that the Waldenses should themselves desire permission to depart, and should make their submission thereon. The Waldenses had not made this request nor these submissions : several of the communities were not of the opinion to retire : the ambassadors did not solicit any longer a permission to depart, but a truce, as appears by a letter which they wrote to the Marquis of St. Thomas, the 8th of April, 1686. In the mean time, notwithstanding all this, to accomplish absolutely the divi- sion of the Waldenses, and consequently to ruin them with the greater ease, they published, unknown to the ambassadors, an edict, dated the 9th of the same month of April, granting to the Waldenses an amnes- ty, and permission to retire out of the state of Piedmont.* This edict was published in the valleys the 11th of April, the same day on which the ambassadors wrote a letter to the same effect to some of the communities to know their resolution. In the meantime they gave in a very pressing memorial to the Marquis of St. Thomas, to obtain some assurance that the troops should not enter into the valleys, and to gain for the Waldenses certain conditions more favoura- ble than those of the edict :t but the court of Turin assured them that there was nothing to be expected for the Waldenses, till they had laid down their arms, of which the ambassadors gave advice to the deputies of the valleys who had been at Turin, by a letter dated the 13th, which they wrote to them on that subject.^ On the 14th the communities held a general assembly at Rocheplatte, when, having examined the terms and conditions of the edict, they were of opinion, that their enemies thought of nothing less than in reality to permit the departure which they pretended to grant to them, and that this edict was nothing but a snare that they had laid to entangle them, and to destroy them with more ease : they resolved therefore not to accept of it, but to follow the example of their ancestors, and to refer the event of it to Providence. In fact, this edict, which was designed altogether to divide them, wrought a quite contrary effect, and served much to unite them in the same judgment. The principal reasons that hindered them from accepting this edict, were, first, that as it ordains the entire execution of the order of the 31st of January, which condemned all the churches to be demolished, they must of necessity demolish all their churches within eight days, because the edict declares expressly, that if every thing contained in it * See Appendix, No. 9. f Appendix, No. 12. i Appendix, No. 13. 552 History of the Christian Church. be not executed within the space of eight days, they are deprived of and forfeit those favours that are stipulated in it. It must follow then, that for the execution of the edict, either that the Waldenses them- selves should demolish their churches, or that their enemies should do it. The Waldenses could not resolve to demolish them themselves, and therefore they would have sent for troops, which, under the pre- text of this demolishing, would have infallibly oppressed the Wal- denses. Secondly, if they designed to permit them retire without disturbance, why did they not defer the execution of the order of the 31st of January, till after their departure? Why should they oblige them to demolish their churches, within the eight days that were given them to prepare themselves to abandon for ever their native country, were it not to render their retreat impossible ? Thirdly, this edict further requires, that they should lay down their arms, and that they should open their country to monks, missionaries, and Catholics. Now it is plain that if they had thrown away their arms, and opened their country before their departure, they would have been exposed to the mercy of their enemies, and to the fury of troops who would not have failed to enter into their country, to oppose the retreat of the Waldenses, and to torment them till such time as they had changed their religion, as had been practised elsewhere: but their fear was so much the more justifiable on this occasion, in regard that they gave them no assurance that their troops should not enter into the valleys. Fourthly, the Waldenses were also obliged to retire in three separate brigades, and to rendezvous in those places where, the troops being encamped, they must consequently surrender themselves to the discre- tion of the soldiers ; and deliver themselves up to be butchered. Fifthly, the permission which the same edict gives to the Waldenses to sell their goods, was altogether useless to them. For besides that the sale could not be made to Catholics, till after their departure, and by the management of commissioners, they were bound, out of the price of the said goods, to indemnify the monks, the missionaries, the ancient, the modern, and the future Catholics, for whatever damages they should pretend to, which they would have enhanced above the value of their goods. Sixthly, the edict also ordered, that besides those that should go out of the valleys of their own accord, the prince should reserve to himself a power to banish whom he should think fit for securing the repose of those that remain, which supposes not only that the conditions of the edict were so disadvantageous, that there would be many Waldenses who would not accept them, nor depart out of their station; but also that their departure ought not to be looked upon as a favour, but as a punishment that they intended to inflict on several Waldenses; since they reserved to themselves a power to banish those who should have a mind to stay. Seventhly, the ambas- sadors were not named in the edict, and the Waldenses had no security for the execution of those things that were therein contained. They had good reasons then very much to mistrust these proceedings, since the sad experience they had on several occasions how ill their enemies kept their word, especially in this juncture, when they had broken the most inviolable laws, were but too just a ground for their suspicions. The Duke prepares for an Attack. 553 Lastly, since the Duke of Savoy had declared that he was not the master of this affair, because of the engagements which he had entered into with the king of France, it was not to be presumed that the latter monarch, on whom tin's matter depended, would take any milder mea- sures, in respect of the Waldenses, than those he had taken with regard to his own subjects. The Waldenses had also several other reasons grounded on the impossibility of their departure in so short a time, and upon other obstacles. The communities sent their resolution to the ambassadors, who used all the exertions imaginable to procure for the Waldenses condi- tions more certain, and more advantageous than those that are contained in the edict ; but neither their reasons nor their solicitations produced any effect. They were always told, that as long as the AValdenses were in arms, they could not agree to any thing, nor so much as promise any thing positively. On the other hand, the Waldenses being persuaded that they would not disarm them but to destroy them without trouble and without resistance, could by no means yield to it, and persisted in their resolution to defend themselves, if they came to attack them. A circumstance transpired at this time that served much to confirm them in this resolution. Two or three days after the publication of the edict, several inhabitants of the Valleys went to the superintendent, to declare to him, that they and their families intended to quit Piedmont conformably to the edict, and to desire of him safe conducts, which he refused them under the pretence that they ought to stay till they went out with the rest. Moreover, because there were several that resisted his solicitations to change their religion, he caused them to be put in prison, where some of them languished and at last died, and others re- mained there above nine months viz. till the time when all the other prisoners were discharged. There needed no other proof to make it appear that their design was to destroy the Waldenses, who would not change their religion. However, the communities of the Valleys hav- ing received a letter from the ambassadors, called another assembly at Rocheplatte, the 19th of April: they persisted in their resolution not to comply with the edict, but to defend themselves. It was then ordered in that assembly, that all the ministers should preach, and administer the sacrament the following Sunday. The Valley of St. Martin entered into this deliberation with the rest, but put it not into execution. Some of that Valley changed their minds without acquainting the other Val- leys of it. And the elders of the church of Villeseche wrote to the am- bassadors, who were yet at Turin upon the point of their departing, a letter dated the 20th of April, wherein they declared to them, that they would execute the edict, and entreated them, for that reason to procure for them a safe conduct, and time to provide for their retreat. One of the ambassadors took the pains to go to the camp to demand a safe con- duct ; but they denied it, under pretence that they had not desired it in time. It was always too soon or too late, and the time was never con- venient to grant safe conducts. In the mean time the Duke of Savoy arrived at the camp some days after the publication of the edict, hoping probably he might strike terror into the Waldenses by his presence, and 47 554 History of the Christian Church. force them to sccept of the conditions that he had imposed on them. He had made a review of his troops, and of those of France that were encamped on the plain at the foot of the Alps ; his own army was com- posed of his family, all the cavalry and infantry, and the militia of Mondovi, of Barjcs, of Bagnols, with a great number of foreigners. And the army of France consisted of several regiments of horse and dragoons, of seven or eight battalions of foot that had passed the moun- tains, and a part of the garrisons of Pignerol and CasaJ. The duke had also made the necessary preparations for attacking the Waldenses, as soon as the truce that was granted them should expire, having appointed his own army to storm the Valley of Lucerne and the community of Angrogne ; and the army of France to attack the Valleys of St. Martin and Perouse. The Waldenses, on the other hand, had taken some pains to defend themselves. They possessed only a part of the Valley of Lucerne ; for the tower that gave name to this Valley, and many other considerable places, were in the enemy's hand. The community of Angrogne, from which some call the valley by the same name, by reason of its large extent, was not wholly occupied by the Waldenses. In the Valley of Perouse they took up only certain posts in the places that depend on the state of Piedmont ; for this valley is divided by the river Cluson between the King of France and the Duke of Savoy; but they were in possession of all the Valley of St. Martin, being the strongest of all by its situation. They had fortified themselves in every one of those Valleys with several intrenchments of earth and dry stones. They were about two thousand five hundred men bearing arms; they appointed captains and officers of the chiefest among themselves, for they had no foreigners, and they waited the approach of the enemy with great resolution. But as on the one hand they had neither regular troops, nor captains, nor experienced officers ; and that, on the other, there were several Waldenses who had been corrupted, or that had re- lented during the negotiation ; it is not to be wondered at if they took not all the necessary precautions that were in their power. One of the greatest faults they committed was, their striving to maintain all their posts : for if they had abandoned the most advanced, and had retired within the intrenchments they had made in the mountains, it is not likely they would have been beaten out of them. On the 22d of April, being the day appointed for the attack, the French army commanded by Catinat, governor of Casal, marched two hours before day, by torch-light, against the Valleys of Perouse and St. Martin, having for some time followed the river Cluson on the king's territories. Catinat sent out a detachment of infantry, commanded by Vellevieille, lieutenant-colonel in Limosin, who having passed the river over a bridge, entered into the Valley of Perouse on the side of Pied- mont. He seized on St. Germain, a village that the Waldenses had abandoned, and proceeded to attack an intrenchment that they had made hard by, in which there were two hundred men. The Waldenses quitted this post after some resistance, and took possession of another more advantageous. In the mean time a new detachment of horse and yellow dragoons having again passed the river, came to relieve the foot who had begun the engagement. They used their utmost efforts to gain Hostilities in Piedmont. 555 the intrenchments of the Waldenses, of which they thought easily to become masters, since they were six to one ; but they found so stout a resistance, that after having lost many of their soldiers, they were forced to intrench themselves at a pistol shot distance ; continual firings were kept up on both sides for more than ten hours together; but at length the Waldenses went out of their intrenchments with their swords in their hands, surprised the French, who little expected so bold an action, and drove them even into the plain on the other side of the Cluson, where opportunely they found a bridge that kept them from being drowned. There were, on this occasion, more than five hundred Frenchmen killed and wounded, and among the rest several officers of note, though the Waldenses had but two men killed and some few wounded. While things passed thus in Perouse, the body of the king's army repassed the Cluson to the fort of Perouse on the side of France, where Catinat formed a detachment of horse commanded by Melac, who hav- ing passed the river by two bridges, fetched a compass about to gain the high grounds that separate the Valley of St. Martin fromDauphiny. The rest of the army having likewise passed the river, went to encamp with Catinat atBolards part of the night, and the next day attacked the Valley of St. Martin at a village called Rioclaret. But as those who had the command in that valley did not think that they would molest them, after they had shown their inclination to accept of the amnesty, espe- cially as the day appointed for their departure out of that valley was not fixed; the Waldenses were not in a condition to defend themselves nor to make any resistance, but consented to lay down their arms, and implore the pity and compassion of the conqueror. But the French being enraged with what had passed before St. Germain, were not con- tent merely to burn, ravish, and pillage, but they massacred without distinction of age or sex, with unparalleled fury all that could not escape their barbarous cruelty. Catinat having ravaged all the country of Rio- claret after a most horrid manner, left some troops in the Valley of St. Martin, traversed with the body of his army the mountains that sepa- rate this valley from that of Perouse, and encamped without any oppo- sition, in the community of Pramol in the Valley of Perouse; the sol- diers notwithstanding put to the edge of the sword all that fell into their hands, without respect to women or children, to the aged or the sick. In the mean time the detachment that Melac commanded, having en- camped one night on the eminences of the Valley of St. Martin, entered through divers passages into that valley, unknown to any but the inha- bitants of the country. Wherever he passed he left the marks of an unheard of cruelty, and joined the main body of the army that was en- camped at Pramol. I shall not here give an account of the atrocities that were exercised on these and many other occasions: it will be suffi- cient to relate, in the sequel, some instances whereby one may judge of the rest. It is necessary to interrupt the relation of the actions of the French in the Valley of Perouse, because' there happened things in the Valleys of Lucerne and Angrogne that ought to be previously known. The army of the Duke of Savoy having rendezvoused at the plain 556 History of the Christian Church. of St. John the 22d of April, was, the next day, divided into several bodies, to attack different intrenchments that the Waldenses had made in the Valleys of Lucerne and Augrogne. The Waldenses not being able to resist the enemy's cannon in the posts that were too open, where the horse might also draw up, were forced, after some resist- ance, to abandon a part of these intrenchments, and to withdraw into a fort that was more advantageous above Angrogne, where they found themselves to be nearly five hundred men. The enemy having burnt all the houses that they found in their way, came to storm this fort of the Waldenses, who received them so warmly with their muskets and stones, and defended themselves so vigorously against this great body, that they kept their post all that day without the loss of more than five men; the enemy lost above three hundred, though they were covered with an intrenchment beyond pistol shot. The Waldenses fearing that they should not be able to keep this fort any longer, by reason that the troops increased, passed into another an hundred paces beyond it, in a more convenient place, where they waited with great resolution the army that advanced to attack them ; when the next day, being the 24th of April, they were informed that the Valley of St. Martin had surrendered, and that the French were coming on their rear ; for from that valley there is an easy passage to those of Lucerne and Angrogne. This news obliged the Waldenses to treat with Don Gabriel of Savoy, uncle to, and general of the armies of, the Duke of Savoy, and with the rest of the general officers, who having understood the mind of his royal highness, promised positively on his part and on their own, that the Waldenses should be absolutely pardoned, and that they should be admitted to the terms of the order of the 9th of April, provided they would deliver themselves up to his clemency : but the Waldenses making some difficulty to confide in this promise, Don Gabriel, Avho had notice of it, sent them a note written and signed with his own hand in the name of his royal highness, to this effect, "Lay down your arms immediately, and submit yourselves to his royal highness's clemency; in so doing, assure yourselves that he will pardon you, and that your persons and those of your wives and children shall not be touched." An assurance of this nature might give full satisfaction to the Waldenses for the security of their lives and liberties. For, besides that this promise was made in the name and on the part of the duke; on the other hand, though it had been made only by Don Gabriel and the general officers, it ought not to be less inviolable. The Waldenses, therefore, laid down their arms, relying on his promise, and the greatest part of them went and surren- dered themselves to their enemies believing that they should be quickly released. But all those that yielded themselves into their hands, were made prisoners, and carried to the city of Lucerne, under pretence of leading them to his royal highness to make their submissions. Their enemies also seized all the posts that the Waldenses possessed in the community of Angrogne ; they were not content to plunder, to pillage, and to burn the houses of these poor people, but they also caused a great number of the Waldenses of every age and sex to be put to the sword; they ravished abundance of women and virgins, and, in fine, Hostilities in Piedmont. 557 committed actions so barbarous and brutal, that they are enough to strike horror into the minds of all that have any shame or sense of humanity left. There were, nevertheless, many Waldenses, who after this compromise dispersed themselves up and down, not being willing to deliver themselves into the hands of their enemies, till they had heard what became of the first that did so. But seeing, on the one hand, that the army exercised all manner of outrage wherever it came, and, on the other, that all those that had surrendered themselves were detained, they hid themselves in the woods, and sent a petition to Don Gabriel, to entreat the release of their brethren whom they kept in hold contrary to their word and to cause a cessation of hostilities which the armies executed after so barbarous a manner. Don Gabriel returned no answer to this request ; but certain officers replied, that they carried the Waldenses to Lucerne, for no other cause but to ask forgiveness of his royal highness, and that afterwards they should be released. In the meantime Don Gabriel caused the highest places of the Valley of Angrogne, to be gained by part of his army, who finding no more opposition, came as far as the tower, being the most conside- rable fort of the Waldenses, in which they had the greatest part of their cattle. The Marquis de Parella, who commanded this body of the array, gave the Waldenses to understand, that a peace being con- cluded by the capitulation of Angrogne, he offered to them the enjoy- ment of the fruits of the said peace. He assured them to this effect, on the word and honour of a gentleman, that if they would deliver themselves into his hands, their persons, and those of their wives and children, should be preserved harmless ; that they might carry away with them whatever they chose, without fear of having any thing taken away from them ; that they had nothing to do but to come to Lucerne to make their submissions to his royal highness ; and that, upon this condition, those that were willing to turn Catholics, might return with all safety to their houses and goods, and those that would go out of the estates of Piedmont, should have liberty to depart conformably to the order of the 9th of April. The Waldenses that were in the field and in the tower surrendered themselves upon the credit of these promises, but they were no better performed than the other : for their enemies were no sooner entered within the bounds of the tower, than not only all that belonged to the Waldenses was given up to the plunder of the soldiers and of the banditti of Mondovi, their mortal enemies, who enriched themselves with their spoils; but those poor people, the greatest part of whom consisted of old men, sick persons, and of women and children, were made prisoners, with some ministers who were among them, and all hurried along so violently, that those who, through age or infirmity, could not march as fast as the soldiers would have them, had their throats cut, or were flung headlong down precipices. In the Valley of Perouse, the French committed almost the same outrages that the duke's troops had done at Angrogne and at the tower in the Valley of Lucerne. They were encamped in a quarter of the community of Pramol, called La Rua, distant about half an hour's march from another quarter, called Peumian, where a party of the 47* 558 History of the Christian Chitrch. communities of Pramol, St. Germain, Perustin, and Rocheplatte were retreated, to the number of fifteen hundred persons, men, women, and children. The French might easily make a descent from their quar- ters to St. Germain, and carry away the two hundred Waldenses who had so valiantly defended themselves before, and were retreated within their intrenchments : but they being informed of the loss of the Valley of St. Martin, and of the enemy's march, quitted this entrenchment, fearing lest they should be surprised in it, and went into Peumian with their brethren. Here they were consulting how they might defend themselves against the French who prepared to attack them, when certain inhabitants of the valleys, who had revolted to the enemy, came and assured them that the Valleys of Angrogne and Lucerne had already submitted to their prince's discretion, who had pardoned them, and referred them to the terms of the order of the 9th of April. They told them also, that he only wanted them to put an end to a war, the weight whereof they were not able to sustain alone, and to procure for themselves an advantageous peace. This news having in part broke the measures of the Waldenses, they sent deputies and a drummer to treat with the general of the French army, who desired nothing more tli an a proposition of peace. He told them that his royal highness's intention was to pardon them, and promised them positively on the part of the prince and on his own behalf, the lives and liberties of the Waldenses, with a permission to return with all security to their houses and goods, provided they would readily lay down their arms: and whereas the deputies represented to him that they feared lest the French, being exasperated with what had passed at St Germain, should revenge themselves on the Waldenses when they were dis- armed; he made great protestations to them, and confirmed them with oaths, that although the whole army should pass by their houses, yet they should not kill so much as a chicken. This proposition being made, Catinat detained with him one of the deputies, and sent back the others to give notice to the Waldenses, and to oblige all them that were dispersed to meet together the next day, being the 25th of April, at Peumian, to the end that every one might return to his house after they were informed of the peace. While the Waldenses were gathering together their scattered families at Peumian, Catinat gave an account of this capitulation to Don Gabriel, who sent a courier to him in the evening, and he passing through Peu- mian assured the Waldenses that he brought peace ; and the next day, on his return, told them that the peace was concluded. They were so well persuaded of it, that they had laid down their arms the day before, observing the conditions of the treaty, and confiding wholly in Catnait's promises. In these circumstances they were expecting the news at Peumian, when there arrived one of the king's officers from the garri- son of the fort of Perouse, with several dragoons with him. This offi- cer, who was very well known to the Waldenses, repeated to them the assurances of peace, and caused the men to be put in one quarter, and the women and children in another. The French troops being arrived at the same time, told the men that they had orders to lead them to their own houses, and caused them to march four by four. These poorpeo- TFaldenses imprisoned. 559 p]e being now forced to leave their wives and their daughters exposed to the discretion of the soldiers, were conducted, not to their houses, as they had been told, but to Don Gabriel, who was encamped on the mountain of Vachiere, and he gave orders for them to be conveyed to Lucerne as prisoners of war ! In the meantime the females were sub- jected to all the abominable treatment that the rage and lust of brutish soldiers could invent. Not satisfied with plundering them of their pro- perty, these barbarians violated the persons of both married women and maidens, in a manner that modesty forbids our relating ; and several were put to death merely for resisting in defence of their honour. Mons. Catinat was not present when these atrocities were perpetrated at Peumian. He left the management of this affair to certain of his of- ficers, no doubt that he might be out of the way of hearing the com- plaints which the Waldenses would have made to him, and not choos- ing to be a spectator of these barbarous proceedings. It is certain, however, that besides those that were put to death, and others that escaped by flying to the woods and mountains, from the persecution of these monsters, numbers were dragged to prison after a most inhuman manner. The Valley of Perouse being now reduced like the rest by the capi- tulation of Peumian, a detachment of the French army quitted it and proceeded to join Don Gabriel at la Vachiere. And now, having com- pleted their work, the conquered Waldenses were collected from all parts of Piedmont, and lodged in different prisons or castles under pre- tence of leading them to his royal highness to ask his pardon and ob- tain their liberation. But this furnished their unfeeling adversaries with a fresh opportunity of displaying their inhumanity. The utmost pre- caution was taken to separate the different branches of the same family ! The husband was carefully parted from his wife, and the parent from his child — thus depriving them of those means of succour and consola- tion which the ties of consanguinity naturally inspire. By this piece of refined cruelty they no doubt hoped to find the victims of their per- fidy and malice the less able to withstand temptation, or endure the evils they had in store for them. Those that could ill bear the wretchedness of a close confinement, were to be consumed with the corroding anxiety and regret which must result from being separated from their dearest earthly connections. There were, indeed, a great number of children, wrhom they did not send to prison, but dispersed them throughout Pied- mont in private houses : but this was a piece of Jesuitical craftiness, for they hoped by that means to get them the more readily instructed in the principles of the Catholic religion. . But I must not prosecute this melancholy narrative more in detail, though what has now been laid before the reader can only be considered as a sample of the harvest. Dreadful as were the proceedings which took place in the massacre in 1655, as detailed in a former section of this work, they do not appear by any means to have surpassed in enormity the cruelties inflicted upon the Waldenses in 1686.* Those * A pretty circumstantial relation of these things is to be found in several pub- lications which appeared at the time, and particularly in two tracts now before 560 History of the Christian Church. who deny the existence of the devil and his agency in prompting the human race to destroy one another, if they could account for the infernal cruelties that are related to have been now inflicted by the Catholics on the poor Waldenses, simply on the principle of human depravity, must necessarily entertain a much worse opinion of human nature than the writer of these pages has yet been able to bring himself to adopt. He can, indeed, admit much that militates against the dignity of human nature in its lapsed state, but he can only account for the monstrous cruelties that were perpetrated on a class of his fellow-creatures, the most harmless and inoffensive that ever inhabited the earth, on the principle of the active agency of "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience" — he was " a murderer from the beginning" — " that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan" — the grand adversary of God and man. The present was his hour and the power of darkness ; but to return from this digression. The armies of France and Savoy, having inhumanly butchered a multitude of the Waldenses, committed more than twelve thousand of them to prison, and dispersed two thousand of their children among the Catholics ; concluding that their work was accomplished, they caused all their property to be confiscated. And thus were the Valleys of Piedmont depopulated of their ancient inhabitants, and the light of the glorious gospel extinguished in a country where, for many pre- ceding centuries, it had shone with resplendent lustre. In the month of September, 1686, the Swiss Cantons convened a general assembly at Aran, to deliberate on the condition of those who were either imprisoned or in a state of exile in Piedmont ; and they came to the resolution of sending deputies to demand from the duke the release of all that were conlined, and the privilege of quitting the coun- try. The latter, probably by this time glutted with human carnage, signed a treaty, in consequence of which the prisons were set open, and leave given to such as had survived, to depart peaceably, through that part of Savoy which borders upon Berne and the territory of Ge- neva. But a bare recital of the miseries which the prisoners had suf- fered during their confinement, is sufficient to sicken the heart. More than ten thousand persons were distributed among fourteen prisons or castles in Piedmont. They were fed for months upon bread and wa- ter— the former, in which were often found lime, glass, and filth of va- rious kinds, was so bad as scarcely to deserve the name ; while the latter, in many instances brought from stagnant pools, was scarcely fit for the use of cattle. Their lodging was upon bricks or filthy straw. The prisons were so thronged that, during the heat of the summer me, from which the materials of this section are drawn. The first is entitled, " The History of the Persecution of the Valleys of Piedmont, containing an account of ivhat passed in the dispersion of the churches, in the year 1686." Printed in 4to. London, 1688. (See pp. 31—35.) The other is entitled, " The State of Savoy, in which a full and distinct account is given of the Persecution of the Protesta7its, by means of the French counsels." 4to. London, 1691. To this last mentioned work I am indebted for the valuable documents which the reader will find in the Appendix. Both the publications are so rare that I have not been able to meet with a second copy of either of them. Reception of the Waldenses at Geneva. 561 months, they became intolerable, and deaths were daily taking place. Want of cleanliness necessarily engendered diseases among them — they became annoyed with vermin, which prevented their sleep either by night or day. Many women in child-bearing were lost for the want of the care and comforts necessary to such a situation, and their in- fants shared the same fate. Such was the state of these afflicted and persecuted creatures, when the Duke of Savoy's proclamation was issued for releasing them. It was now the month of October ; the ground was covered with snow and ice ; the victims of cruelty were almost universally emaciated through poverty and disease, and very unfit for the projected journey. The proclamation was made at the castle of Mondovi, for example: and at five o'clock the same evening they were to begin a march of four or five leagues ! Before the morning more than a hundred and fifty of them sunk under the burden of their maladies and fatigues, and died. The same thing happened to the prisoners at Fossan. A com- pany of them halted one night at the foot of Mount Cenis ; when they were about to march the next morning, they pointed the officer who conducted them to a terrible tempest upon the top of the mountain, be- seeching him to allow them to stay till it had passed away. The in- human officer, deaf to the voice of pity, insisted on their marching ; the consequence of which was, that eighty -six of their number died, and were buried in that horrible tempest of snow. Some merchants that afterwards crossed the mountains, saw the bodies of these misera- ble people extended on the snow, the mothers clasping their children in their arms ! It is but an act of justice, however, to add that, in some {e\v in- stances, the officers who conducted the different troops of Waldenses out of the country, treated them with more humanity. Their own histo- rians admit the fact, and it ought to be recorded, that some took a par- ticular care of them : and certainly the picture that is drawn of their deplorable condition, is such as was well calculated to melt the most unfeeling heart to tenderness. The greater part of them were almost naked and without shoes; and they all bore such striking marks of suf- fering and wretchedness that the very sight of them was enough to pierce the heart. Those who survived the journey, arrived at Geneva about the middle of December, but in such an exhausted state, that se- veral expired between the two gates of the city, " finding the end of their lives in the beginning of their liberty." Others were so be- numbed with cold that they had not power to speak ; many staggered from faintness and disease, while others having lost the use of their limbs were unable to lift up their hands to receive the assistance that ■was tendered them. At Geneva they experienced that kind and hospitable reception which was due to them as their fellow-creatures, and more especially as their persecuted Christian brethren. They clothed the naked, fed the hun- gry, succoured the afflicted, and healed the sick. But what pen can de- scribe the affecting scene which now took place, while they halted at Geneva for rest and refreshment, before they proceeded forward into Switzerland! Those who arrived first, naturally went out to meet 562 History of the Christian Church. those that came after, anxiously inquiring for their relations and friends, of whom they had heard nothing since the fatal catastrophe in the Val- leys of Piedmont. The father inquired after his child, and the child after its parent — the husband sought his wife, and the latter her partner in life. Every one endeavoured to gain some intelligence of his friend or neighbour; but as three-fourths of them had died in prison or on the road, it exhibited a melancholy spectacle to see so many dissolved in tears at the distressing accounts they received. Their principal earthly comfort now arose from the hospitable kindness of the people of Geneva, who flocked around them and evinced such solicitude to conduct them to their own homes, that the magistrates of the city were obliged, in order to prevent confusion and disorder, to issue an in- junction, prohibiting any from going out of the city. There was a noble emulation who should entertain the most sick, or those that were most afflicted. They received them not merely as strangers in distress, but as Christian brethren, who brought peace and spiritual blessings into their families. All that needed clothing, were either supplied by those that lodged them, or by the Italian Bank, the directors of which, from first to last, evinced all the marks of tender compassion, and of disin- terested kindness. But it was not only at Geneva that the Waldenses met with this kind and hospitable treatment. The Cantons of Switzerland opened to them their country, and not their country only, but their hearts and affections also. The conduct of the Swiss, indeed, was so noble and disinterested throughout the whole of this distressing period, that it would be unjust to their memory to pass it over with a slight mention.* Perhaps the best way of evincing my own impartiality will be to lay before the reader the testimony of Dr. Burnet, who in his Letters from * It would seem that the Valleys of Piedmont were not the only spot in which the disciples of Christ were, at this period, the subject of persecution. The following passage in Dr. Burnet's Second Letter, written from Switzerland, in 1685, lately struck my attention in glancing over that entertaining performance. "In April, 1685, about five hundred persons, of different sexes and ages, passed through Coire (a town in Switzerland) who gave this account of them- selves. They were inhabitants of a valley in Tirol, belonging mostly to the archbishopric of Saltzburg — a remnant of the old JValdenses. They worshipped neither images nor saints; and they believed the sacrament (of the Lord's sup- per) was only a commemoration of the death of Christ; and in many other points they had their opinions different from those of the church of Rome. They knew nothing of either Lutherans or Calvinists ,• and the Orisons, though their neigh- bours, had never heard of this nearness of theirs to the Protestant religion. The archbishop of Saltzburg hearing of them, sent some persons into the country to examine them, and to exhort them to return to mass, and to threaten them with all possible severity if they continued obstinate. Perceiving a terrible storm ready to break upon them, they resolved to abandon their houses and all that they had, rather than sin against their consciences: and the whole inhabitants of the valley, old and young, to the number of two thousand, divided themselves into several bodies; some intended to go to Brandenburgh, others to the Palatinate, and about five hundred took the road to Coire, intending to disperse themselves in Switzerland. The Swiss ministers told me they were much edified by their simplicity and modesty; for, a collection being made for them, they desired only a little bread to carry them on their way." Burnet's Letters, p. 87 — S9. Amst. 1686. Mndness of the Swiss Cantons. 563 Italy, written, as it were, at the very moment, and from the very scene of action, thus proceeds : — " There is one thing for which the Swiss, and those of the Canton of Berne in particular, cannot be sufficiently commended. Ever since the persecution commenced in France (alluding to the revocation of the edict of Nantz) they have opened a sanctuary to such as retired thither in so generous and Christian a manner, that it merits all the honourable remembrance that can be made of it. The ministers and others that had been condemned, not only found here a kind reception, but all the support that could be expected, and, indeed, much more than could rea- sonably have been expected. They assigned to the French ministers a salary of five crowns per month, if single, and increased it to such as have wives and families, so that some have been allowed more than ten crowns a month. — And in this last total and deplorable dispersion of the churches, the whole country has been animated with such a spirit of love and compassion, that every man's house and purse has been opened to the refugees, who have passed thither in such numbers that sometimes there have been more than two thousand in Lausanne alone, and of these there were, at one time, nearly two hundred ministers ; and they all met with a kindness and frankness of heart that looked more like the primitive age revived, than the degenerate age in which we live."* Here, however, I think I may pause and draw this narrative towards a conclusion, which I shall do by offering a few obvious reflections on the whole of this interesting history. And the first thing that suggests itself is, that, however we may be inclined to blame the conduct of the Duke of Savoy, that of Louis XIV. who compelled him to these san- guinary proceedings, is entitled to our chief condemnation. Referring to this final extirpation of the Waldenses from Piedmont, our country- man, Dr. Burnet, who was then making the tour of the Continent, has the following remarks, in a letter, which he dates from Turin, to a friend in this country: " I will not engage," says he, " in a relation of this last affair of the Valleys of Piedmont ; for I could not find particulars enough to give you that so distinctly as you might probably desire it. It was all over long before I came to Turin ; but this I found, that all the court were ashamed of the matter; and they took pains with strangers, not with- out some affectation, to convince them that the duke was, with great difficulty, forced into it — that he was long pressed to it, by repeated entreaties, from the court of France — that he excused himself from com- plying therewith, representing to the court of France the constant fide- lity of the Waldenses ever since the last edict of pacification, and their great industry, so that they were the most profitable subjects that the duke had, and that the body of men which they had given his father in the last war with Genoa, had done great service, for it had saved the whole army. But all these excuses were unavailable ; for, the court of France having broken its own faith which had been pledged to heretics, and therein manifested how true a respect it paid to the council of Con- * Dr. Burnet's Letters from Italy, Letter I. p. 57. and 58. 564 History of the Christian Church. stance, now wished to engage other princes to follow this new pattern of fidelity which it had set the world. So the duke was not only pressed to extirpate the heretics of those Valleys, but he was also threatened that if he would not do it, the king would send his own troops to extir- pate heresy, for he would not only not suffer it in his own kingdom, but he would even drive it out of his neighbourhood. He who told me all this, knowing of what country I was, added, that probably the French monarch might very soon send similar messages to some others of his neighbours ?* If Louis XIV. had any such favours in contemplation for our own country, as those that are hinted at in the conclusion of the foregoing paragraph, Britons have reason to be thankful to God, whose overrul- ing providence frustrated such sanguinary projects: — and had the race of the Stuarts continued to fill the British throne, it is more than pro- bable that the horrible scenes of Piedmont had, indeed, been reacted among our forefathers in this happy land. But the glorious revolution which gave us a protestant monarch, took place in 1688, the very year after Dr. Burnet wrote his Supplementary Letters, from which the fore- going extract is taken ; and happily saved us from all danger of the tyrant's rage. And here, with a few reflections, I close the history of the Waldenses. Enough I presume, and more than enough, has appeared in the pre- ceding pages to satisfy any unprejudiced reader, that the extermination of the churches of the Waldenses in Piedmont was the act of the King of France; or, if the shadow of a doubt should exist upon that subject, it must for ever be removed by a careful perusal of the Duke of Savoy's letter to the Duke of Orleans, which will be found in the Appendix to this volume.t In fact, the whole of the correspondence between the court of Turin and that of France, which I have there given, affords such incontestible proof of the overwhelming despotism of Louis XIV. towards the Duke of Savoy, that the indignation which at first sight one is tempted to indulge against the latter, is converted into pity and com- passion for him ; and horrible as were the transactions committed under his reign, every liberal mind will regard him as a sovereign " more sinned against than sinning." But let a reflecting mind contemplate these events as instigated by the counsels of France and perpetrated by the power of her arms : let them be connected in idea with the cruel- ties inflicted upon the Protestants in France, in consequence of the re- vocation of the edict of Nantz, which took place only a few years be- fore; and if he believe " there is a God who judgeth in the earth" he Avill find little difficulty in tracing the hand of distributive justice in the series of calamities which have now, for nearly thirty years, afflicted that unhappy country. These are topics that Christians are but too apt to overlook, but they are of serious import and deserve considera- tion. * Dr. Burnet's Letters from Italy — Supplementary Letters, p. 162. Written in 1687, and printed the following' year, f See Appendix. No. 16. Concluding Remarks. 565 But what shall we say of the court of Rome, the great moving spring in all this machinery of complicated villany : that "holy mother church," which kept the conscience of Louis XIV. and of the other crowned heads, who, from time to time, obsequiously lent their aid tonnassacre the Waldenses ? I trust I may be permitted, without arrogance, on this occasion, to adopt the language of an unknown writer, who reviewed the first edition of this history. " The narrative which we have been perusing," said this liberal and enlightened critic, "leaves on the mind impressions of the utmost detestation for the spiritual tyranny exercised by the court of Rome. Providence never made use of so terrible a scourge to chastise mankind. No power ever outraged the interests of society, the principles of justice, and the claims of humanity, to the same extent. Never did the world behold such blasphemy, profligacy, and wantonness, as in the proceedings of this spiritual domination. It held the human mind in chains, visited with exemplary punishment every inroad on the domains of ignorance, and sunk nations into a state of stupidity and imbecility. Its proscriptions, massacres, and murders, and all the various forms which its cruelties assumed; the miseries which it heaped on the objects of its vengeance ; its merciless treat- ment of them, and the grasp of its iron sway, seemed at one time to leave no room to hope for the liberation of the human race ; and surely nothing can appear more hideous than this power in its true colours : it leaves the mind full of horror, at its cruelties."* In all this I have the happiness to agree ; and though I have rarely ventured to express myself in terms so forcible as this writer has done, I have no hesita- tion of saying in the words of an apostle — " This witness is true." Butl desist: and now take leave of the subject with presenting to the reader one extract more from the learned Dr. Allix. " Never," says this excellent writer, " did the church of Rome give a more incontestible evidence of her own antichristian spirit, than by her insatiable thirst after the blood of those Christians, who, six hun- dred years ago, renounced her communion : and to allay which she has made the blood of these poor innocent creatures every where to run down like rivers ; exterminating by fire and sword, those who were not terrified by her anathemas. During this long interval the Waldenses have ever been in the condition of sheep led to the slaugh- ter, by their continual and uninterrupted martyrdoms maintaining and adorning tiie religion of Christ our Saviour, which the church of Rome having forsaken, now sought to accommodate to her corrupt and world- ly interests ; and to the design she had formed of making it a stalking horse to the pomp, lordliness, and tyranny of her pope and clergy. " Whatever rellections the members of the church of Rome may in- dulge relative to the circumstance of God's having apparently relin- quished these poor churches to the fury of their cannibal adversaries, I am fully persuaded that those who have made the conduct of divine Providence towards the primitive church their study, will not be stum- bled at this apparent desertion of the Waldenses, and their being aban- doned to the outrageous cruelty of their persecutors, nor regard the os- * Monthly Review, June, 1814. p. 204. 48 566 History of the Christian Church. tensible triumphs of that apostate church as any indication of the weak- ness of the truth professed by the Waldenses. For, notwithstanding the extreme rigour of their persecutions, we find that God hath ten- derly preserved them till the Reformation ; and though he has often exposed them to the rage and barbarous usage of their persecutors, yet has he, from time to time, afforded them such deliverances as have en- abled them to continue until this day. Their persecutions, like those of the apostolic churches, have only served to procure martyrs to the truth of the glorious gospel, and to disperse throughout every land the knowledge and savour of that which the Romish party, treading in the steps of the ancient synagogue, so cruelly persecuted. " Let the bishop of Meaux then, if he please, insultingly tell the Protestants to go and look for their ancestors among the Waldenses, and hunt for them in the caverns of the Alps. His declamation shall never make us forego one jot of that tender veneration and respect which we have so justly conceived for this nursery and seed-plot of the martyrs, and for those valiant troops who have so generously la- vished their blood in defence of the truth against all the efforts, all the machinations, and all the violence of the Roman Catholic party. The judgment that St. Hilarius expresses in his writings against Auxentius, ought to be sufficient to arm us against all the cavils of those who would insinuate that it is impossible the church should lose its purity, or that this purity should be preserved by churches reduced to caverns and mountains." — " Of one thing I must carefully warn you," says he, " beware of antichrist ! It is ill done of you to fall in love with walls. It is ill done of you to reverence the church of God in build- ings and stately edifices ; it is wrong to rest in these things. Can you doubt that it is on these antichrist will fix his throne 1 Give me moun- tains, forests, pits, and prisons, as being far safer places ; for it was in these that the prophets prophesied by the Spirit of God."* * Dr. Allix's History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 293—296. APPENDIX, CONTAINING PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. No. 1. edict of the duke of savoy, for the extirpation of the waldenses, jan. 31, 1686. Victor Amadeus, by the grace of God, Duke of Savoy and of Pied- mont, and King of Cyprus. Political as well as Christian prudence, advises us very often to neglect, in some manner, the ulcers that are not yet in a condition to be healed, and that might be made worse by a precipitate cure. This conduct has been observed as well in other monarchies, as by our most serene predecessors, who in truth had never any other design, than to rescue their subjects professing the pretended Reformed Religion, out of the darkness of heresy, which by an unhappy vicissitude, and a fatal corruption of these times, had passed from the very centre of the Val- leys of Lucerne, into the very heart of Piedmont. Nevertheless, by reason of the succours which the zealots of that religion received from foreign countries, this holy work could not be brought to the end we so much desired ; insomuch that not having been able to purge our country of this poison, we did reduce them to, and shut them up in the Valleys of Lucerne, of Angrogne, of St. Martin, of Cernse, of St. Bar- tholomew, of Roccapiata, and of Parustin ; and by way of toleration, we did suffer them to exercise there their false religion, in the limits before prescribed them, according to the juncture of times, till it should please God Almighty to give us a favourable opportunity of bringing back those misled souls into the bosom of the holy and only catholic, apostolic, and Romish religion. Yet time has discovered how much it was necessary to cut off the numerous heads of this hydra, since the said heretics, instead of answering this favour with a deep submission, and with a sincere acknowledgment of this kind toleration, have very often made bold to be disobedient, to a scandal, and to rise against their own Sovereign. 568 Appendix. And because at present the principal cause of this said toleration is now removed by the zeal and piety of the glorious monarch of France, who has brought back to the true faith his neighbouring here- tics ; we think the particular graces we have received from his divine majesty, and which we enjoy still, would accuse us of the greatest in- gratitude, if by our negligence we should let slip the opportunity of executing this work, according to the intention of our glorious prede- cessors. It is for this, and several urgent reasons, that by virtue of this present edict, with our full knowledge, and by our absolute power, as also by the advice of our council, we have declared and ordered, and do declare and order by these presents, to our subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion, to desist for the future from all the exercise of the said religion. And we do prohibit them further, after the publishing of this edict, from holding any assemblies or conventicles, in any place or particular house, to exercise the said religion, under what title, pre- text, or occasion whatsoever, under pain of their lives, and confiscation of their goods. And we ordain also, that the past pretended toleration be of no effect, under what colour or pretence whatsoever. Our will is also, that all the churches, granges, and houses, in which at present the said religion is exercised, shall be razed to the /ground ; and also all other places in which for the future such assemblies shall be held, to the prejudice of what the precedent articles contain; and this is to be executed, though the owners of such places are ignorant thereof. And we command accordingly all ecclesiastics, ministers, and schoolmasters, of the said pretended Reformed Religion, who in one fortnight after the publishing this present edict, do not effectually embrace the Catholic Religion, shall retreat out of our territories after the said term be past, under pain of death, and confiscation of their goods ; with express com- mand, and under the same punishment, not to make, within the said time, or before their departure, any sermon, exhortation, or any other act of the said religion. And furthermore, we forbid, under the said punishment, and the forfeiture of our favour, all those that make pro- fession of the pretended Reformed Religion, to keep for the future any public or private school : it being our intention, that from this very time their children shall be instructed by Catholic schoolmasters. And con- cerning the ministers who within the said time shall embrace the Ca- tholic Religion, our will and pleasure is, that during their lives, and after they are dead, their widows as long as they shall live unmarried, shall enjoy the said exemptions and immunities which they enjoyed heretofore, during the exercise of their charge. And our will is over and above, that to the said ecclesiastics who shall be made converts in the said manner, there shall be paid during their life a pension one- third part larger than the salary was which they enjoyed in quality of being ministers of the said religion ; and that after their death their widows enjoy one half of the said pension as long as they shall continue unmarried. And concerning the children that shall be born by father and mother of the said pretended Reformed Religion, our intention is, that after the publishing this present edict, they shall be baptized by the priests of the parish that are already, or that shall be established for the future in the said valleys : to this purpose, we command their fathers Proofs and Illustrations. 569 and mothers to send or bring them to the churches, under pain of being1 sent five years to the galleys for their fathers, and whipping for their mothers ; and moreover the said children shall be brought up in the said Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Religion. And we command ex- pressly all judges, bailiff's, gaolers, and other officers, to see these presents duly executed. And we do confirm also the edict we have published the 4th of November past, concerning the subjects of His Most Christian Majesty that make profession of the pretended Reform- ed Religion, and that are to be found in our territories, and that have left their merchandises, money, or other effects behind them ; and con- cerning the other foreigners of the said religion, who, to the prejudice of some of our predecessors' edicts, have established themselves in the valleys, without their consent in writing, comprehending therein their offspring that are born there : we command, that in case, within one fortnight after the publishing this present edict, they do not declare to be willing to embrace the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Religion, they shall be obliged, if the said term be past, to retreat out of our Territories, under pain of death, and confiscation of their goods. And though, lawfully, by virtue of the said edicts, the goods which the said foreign- ers have acquired in our territories, ought to be confiscated for our royal treasury ; nevertheless we are willing in this case to show our accustomed clemency, and to give them leave to sell their said goods (if they please) within the said term, and dispose of the same as they think convenient; yet upon these conditions, that the selling the im- movable goods shall only be made in favour of the Catholics ; but in case they shall find no buyer, they shall be looked upon as sold, and united to our dominions under a reasonable price. Finally, we com- mand all the magistrates established by us, ministers of state, officers, judges, and all others whom it concerns, to see this present edict in- violably observed ; and so to order the same, that the council of Pied- mont may enrol it, and give their full approbation of what is contained therein. Moreover, our will is, that the publishing made hereof in the accustomed places, and in the ordinary manner, shall have the same virtue as if it had been made known to every particular person ; and that there be the same observance paid to the copy hereof, printed by Sinibal our printer, as to this my original itself; for this is our will. Given at Turin, Jan. 31, 1686. VICTOR AMADEUS. By his Royal Highness's Command. Dest. Thomas. No. 2. Memorial against the foregoing Edict, -presented to the Court of Savoy, by Caspar de Muratt, and Bernard de Muratt, Coun- sellors of State, the first of Zurich, and the other of Berne in Switzerland. Whereas the right honourable, the ministers of state of his royal highness, have given us to understand, upon a private information of our reasons, that his present engagement, and into which he did not enter but by the necessity of the present juncture of the times, was a 48* 570 Appendix. great obstacle to the success of our negotiation : we find ourselves obliged to represent to your royal highness, that the churches of the valleys in Piedmont, did not separate themselves from the religion of their Prince ; because they live in that they received from their prede- cessors about eight centuries ago, and which they did profess before they were under the dominion of your royal highness's ancestors, who, having found them in the possession of their religion, have maintained them therein by several declarations, and principally by those of the year 1561, 1602, and 1603, which having been enrolled by the Parlia- ment of Chambery, in the year 1620, for the sum of six thousand French ducats, which these churches paid them, as the very act of enrolling mentions ; their right passed into a form of transaction, and into a perpetual and irrevocable law, which has been observed during the life of his royal highness, Victor Amadeus, and during the regency of Madam Royal, who confirmed them by her declaration in the year 1638. These churches have, in following times, obtained several other favourable declarations of his royal highness Charles Emanuel, of glorious memory, your royal highness's father, in particular in the year 1649 and 1653. But, whereas to the prejudice of a right so well established by a possession immemorial, and by so many declarations, the Sieur Gastaldo did nevertheless, in the month of February, 1655, publish a declaration, that produced some terrible and fatal consequences to these poor churches; all the Protestant kings, princes, and states of Europe, and particularly our sovereign lords, did concern themselves in their misfortune, and having interceded in their favour with his royal highness, Charles Emanuel, they obtained a confirmation of their privileges and of their concessions, by two solemn, perpetual, and inviolable patents, of the year 1655 and 1664, enrolled in a good form, and confirmed by the letters he did write to our sovereign lords, the 28th of February, 1664, by which he promised them to see these patents faithfully executed; to which the royal madam, your royal highness's mother did engage herself also, by her letters dated Jan- uary the 28th, 1679. Therefore, because your royal highness's ancestors had several times solemnly engaged their royal word, princi- pally in those patents that were granted in the presence of the ambas- sadors our sovereigns had sent for that purpose, it would not be just to break so many formal and authentic engagements, not only because these privileges and patents being granted in the sight of all Europe, and by the mediation and intercession of several kings, princes, and states, they are pledges and perpetual monuments of the public faith ; but also, because the words and promises of sovereigns ought to be sacred and inviolable. If engagements of this nature might be annulled under pretence of a necessity, to which the junctur? of affairs might reduce a prince, or of some convenience and advantage to the state, then there would be nothing secure in the world, and nothing would be seen there, but war and confusion. This maxim being once estab- lished amongst sovereigns, the Protestant princes might as lawfully destroy the Catholics that are under their dominions, as the Catholics would have a right to extirpate their Protestant subjects. Therefore it is evident, that whether we examine the thing, as relating to the glo- Proofs and Illustrations. 571 ry and reputation of the prince ; or if we consider it according to the principles of true and just policy, that has no other end than the secu- rity of sovereign nations and states, we shall find that the words of princes ought always to be inviolable. It is for this reason that we are persuaded, that no necessity of the present juncture, nor any interest will oblige so just, so gracious, and so wise a prince, as your royal highness, to follow a new engagement, that does not only destroy all your predecessors have done in the eyes of the whole universe, but that exposes also your own state and subjects to the flames, butchery, calamities, devastation, and the most cruel and inhuman rage and ty- ranny. It is agreed, that it is natural for a pious prince to wish there was but one religion in his country ; and that being persuaded that his own is the true one, it did belong to his duty and charity to do all he can to persuade his subjects to it. But it ought to be allowed also, that re- ligion enters into our hearts by means of persuasion, and not by force: and that to convince one of the Divine Truth, there ought to be em- ployed nothing but instruction, sweetness, and exhortation, according to the practice of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles. That kings and princes, though they are masters of their subjects, yet they have no empire over their consciences, which are subject alone to God ; insomuch that we have reason to hope, that your royal high- ness, far from forcing your subjects to do things against their con- sciences, you will be pleased, on the contrary, to restore them their peace, which we implore for them, to confirm their privileges, and to let them enjoy the liberty to give God that which is due to him, whilst at the same time they pay your royal highness that respect and homage which they owe you, as your faithful subjects. My lords, the ministers of state, have told us also, that the inhabi- tants of the valleys had rendered themselves unworthy of their prince's favour. But besides that all the world agrees, that before the publish- ing of the first edict, they had given your royal highness no reason of complaint ; and that, consequently, it is not their ill conduct that has drawn upon them so rigorous an order ; and that if there were some amongst them that had committed a fault, (which we are yet ignorant of,) we ought not to be surprised, if some miserable wretches, that are brought to despair, should do some imprudent actions. Besides all this we say, your royal highness is too gracious and too good not to pardon faults of this nature ; and too just and equitable to punish the public for an excess that may have been committed by some particular persons. In fine, they would make us believe, that those patents his royal highness, Charles Emanuel, granted in the year 1655 and 1664, did . not concern religion, but gave them leave only to inhabit some certain places in the valleys ; and that, consequently, our sovereign lords, and the other princes that were mediators in this affair, had no interest in it. But we beg your royal highness to consider, first, that religion was then so much the subject of the question, that properly no other things did belong to it ; for besides that the order of the Sieur Gastaldo, that produced so many dismal consequences, did destroy these concessions, 572 Appendix. that were granted to the inhabitants of the valleys about religion, it was pretended at that time to force them to do things against their con- science, because they were threatened with death, and confiscation of their goods, that would not embrace the Catholic religion within twen- ty days after they were ordered to do it. Secondly, all the mediation and intercession of the Protestant princes and states, were only grounded on things concerning religion and con- science. They have only acted according to this principle, and the ambassadors were for no other reason received and heard, but by rea- son of the interest they took in a business concerning religion : and it is for this reason, that your royal highness's predecessors have given several assurances, by letters to their excellencies the Evangelical Can- tons, that the patents granted upon their request should be punctually and faithfully executed. And because, to the prejudice of all that has been granted them, your royal highness has published an edict that forbids them the exercise of their religion in all the valleys, under pain of death ; that commands the demolishing all the churches, that banishes the ministers and school- masters, that commands that the children should be baptized, and brought up in the Romish religion, and that deprives by these means those people of their liberty of conscience : our sovereign lords, that are united to the churches of the valleys by the same faith, are obliged to continue to intercede for them : and it is this we do now in their name, in hopes that your royal highness will be touched by some con- deration of our sovereign lords, and by some compassion for your subjects. The following Letters, No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, relate to the nego- tiations of the Swiss commissioners, between the churches of the val- leys and the court of Savoy, and tend to throw considerable light upon the unhappy and distracted state of affairs at this eventful period. No. 3. From the Swiss Commissioners to the Waldenses. We do not doubt but that your deputies have faithfully acquainted you with our sentiments, which are not grounded according to our opinion, but upon the public good of your commonalties ; and where- as, since our arrival at Turin, we have been informed there of several tilings that confirm us that our apprehension for you is just ; that our advice is good and profitable ; we hope that you will follow the coun- sel we have given to your deputies, being persuaded that God by his divine Providence will find out for you a retreat, where you will find all the necessary supports of life and liberty, to serve him in his fear, and according to your consciences ; and since you know, that the pre- sent state of your affairs requires a prompt remedy, and that there is not a moment to be lost to obtain it iroin your prince ; we found it very necessary to despatch immediately our secretary to acquaint you, that his royal highness did not find it convenient to grant passports for your deputies ; therefore we desire you to send us immediately your resolu- Proofs and Illustrations. 573 tion in writing, for fear, if you should protract it, our services would be no more respected at court, and that you would render them unsuc- cessful to procure you a free and advantageous retreat, for which, (if you desire it,) we will address ourselves to his royal highness with all possible care and affection, &c. No. 4. From the TVuldenses to the Suics Commissioners. My Lords, We have received the letters which your excellencies have done us the honour to send us by the secretary of your embassy, and have been made sensible by him of the extraordinary care your excellencies have taken to represent to his royal highness, our sovereign, and his ministers of state, all the reasons that were most capable to maintain us in our right, as also the answers made upon the reproaches of our conduct, as well in general of all the valleys, as of some particular per- sons, for which we cannot but render to your excellencies all the most humble thanks of which the most grateful persons can be capable. In the mean time we have exercised all possible reflection on the subject of your letter ; and on what side soever we turn our eyes, we find very great and almost insurmountable difficulties, which we have made bold to set down in the enclosed memorial, which we humbly desire your excellencies to take into your wise consideration. We are entirely persuaded that your excellencies have no other end but to find some solid expedient for these poor churches. They cannot but make their humble entreaty, that in case it be impossible to revoke the published edict, or to find some equitable moderation of it, you would have the kindness to follow those other expedients which you will judge most proper for the conservation of those that rely altogether upon your con- duct, after having surveyed the difficulties which the said memorial mentions. This is, my lords, the general sentiment of those churches, who will never desist to pray the Divine Majesty for the prosperity of the sacred persons of your excellencies, and the happy success of your holy employment. These are the prayers of, My Lords, Your most humble, most obedient, and most obliged, ser- vants, the ministers and deputies of the evangelical churches of Piedmont. Siderac Bastie, Moderator. David Leger, Adjoint. Jean Chauvie, Secretary. MINISTERS. DEPUTIES. Jean Laurens, Jean Manelot, Jean Jahier, Jacques Peyrot, G. Manelot, Jean Baptiste Roberto, P. Leydet, Etienne Gautier, P. Jahier, Paul Beax, Giraud, Jean Pierre Guantan, Bertrand. Daniel Mberan. rfngrogne, March 28, 1686. 574 Appendix. No. 5. From the Siviss Commissioners to the Waldenses. Gentlemen, According to your intention, which you acquainted us with in your letter of the 28th of March, and the enclosed memorial, we have de- sired of his royal highness, that he would be pleased to grant you leave to retreat out of his territories, and to dispose of all your goods ; and to that purpose to give us some commissioners, with power to regulate the manner of your retreat : whereof his royal highness has given us to understand by one of his ministers, that being your sovereign, he could not, without making a breach into his honour and authority, en- ter into a treaty with you; but that it is requisite you should send him five or six persons, with full power to make him that submission which you owe him ; and to ask by a petition, what favour you desire should be granted to you : and that afterwards he will let you see the conside- rations he has for our sovereignty. It is true, that we expected a more favourable answer than this ; but, nevertheless, to take away all pre- tences his royal highness could take hold on, to make such delibera- tions that might be fatal to you, we think you will do well to send your deputies hither as soon as is possible, promising that we will as- sist them with our counsels in the delivering their petition. Our se- cretary is to deliver you this letter, with the enclosed passports, which will acquaint you more at length with the particulars of our negotia- tions, and with the disposition of the court in your regard, &c. No. 6. From the Waldenses to the Commissioners. Most High, Mighty, and Sovereign Lords, In consequence of the letter your excellencies have been pleased to write to these valleys some few days ago, our churches of St. Jean, Angrogne, and Boby, throw themselves at your feet, to assure you of their humble respect, and of their due acknowledgments of the favours your excellencies have endeavoured to obtain for them, from his royal highness, our sovereign, concerning the continuation of the exercise of our religion in these places. And concerning the proposals that are now on foot, having been incapable of persuading our people to come to the same sentiments which the other churches have, in order to com- ply with your excellencies' demands, we have charged our deputy, Mr. Daniel Blanchis, Syndicus of the commonalty of St. Jean, to acquaint you by word of mouth, of our true sentiments. And we humbly be- seech you, that you would be pleased to continue the effects of your inexpressible and paternal kindness, and principally in regard to your powerful intercession with his royal highness, about the above-men- tioned subject ; beseeching the Lord to bless your negotiation, and to be your abundant rewarder for all the cares, pains, and troubles your excellencies have the goodness to take for our poor flocks, in the name Proofs and Illustrations. 575 of which we make it always our glory to carry with all respect and submission imaginable, the title of your excellencies' most humble, most obedient, and much obliged servants, the deputies of the follow- ing churches, Michael Purise, > Qf ^ c/mrch , ^ Jem Jean Muston, 3 Jean Putta, for Angrogne. Marque de Daniel, ~"| Negrin N. Syndicus, \Qf } a } , Bb Franc. Dane, Counsellor, j J J J Stephen Pertin, Deputy, J Jlngrogne, April, 4, 1686. Monsieur de la Bastie, minister at Angrogne, touched by the divi- sions of these poor churches, wrote to the Commissioners in the fol- lowing terras : No. 7. My Lords, I take the liberty to tender your excellencies my most humble re- spects, by the deputies that go to Turin, to make their submission to his royal highness, and to present him such a petition as your excel- lencies will think fit. I and my brethren are in the greatest consterna- tion and affliction in the world, to see our people so much divided about a retreat, apprehending their divisions will defeat your excellen- lencies' charitable negotiation with his royal highness in our behalf, and render your cares and troubles unsuccessful. We have employed our utmost endeavours to make them sensible, that, considering the present juncture of affairs, it was the best resolution they could take; but we have not been happy enough to have like success with all. If we were not satisfied of your excellencies' incomparable kindness, we should have reason to fear that this indiscreet conduct would much change your goodness and zeal for our interest. We most humbly beseech your excellencies to make use on this occasion of your goodness and clemency, and to continue in your indefatigable cares for these poor churches. I most humbly beg your excellencies' pardon for my bold- ness, and beseech you to give me leave to tender you my most humble respects, and to assure you, that I am with all the respect and submission imaginable My Lords, Your Excellencies' most humble, most obedient, and most obliged Servant, Sidrac Bastie, Ministsr. Jlngrogne, April 4, 1686. The following admirable letter was drawn up by the Swiss Commis- sioners, in consequence of the difference of opinion that existed among the Waldenses about quitting the valleys. It certainly reflects great 576 Appendix. honour upon their memories, and shows them to have been men of a right spirit. It was sent back into the valleys by the hands of the de- puty of the church of Bobio. No. 8. Gentlemen, It is true that one's native soil has great charms, and that most men have a natural desire to live and die there; yet the children of God ought not to set their hearts thereupon, because they are foreigners upon earth, and heaven is their true native country ; therefore you will be guilty of mistrusting God's providence, if you fancy you cannot find any other country where you may live comfortably, and worship your heavenly Father. In what part of the world soever we ourselves be transported, we ought to think ourselves happy, provided we there have freedom to serve God according to our consciences. You ought to pro- pose to yourselves the examples of the patriarchs, who have drawn upon them God's blessing by trusting to his promises, and by abandoning their houses and fields, to go and inhabit some remote country. A con- fidence of this nature cannot but be very acceptable to the Lord ; and it is without doubt more agreeable to the spirit of the Gospel, than to take up arms against your Sovereign; it is to suffering that Christians are called, and not to a resistance ; and we do not find that either the apos- tles or the primitive church made use of any other weapons against their persecutors than prayer and patience. These are the considera- tions that have obliged our Sovereign Lords, the evangelical cantons, to give us orders to procure for you from his Royal Highness, your lawful prince, a free retreat, with permission to dispose of your goods, in case he would no longer grant you the exercise of your religion ; and though you look upon this retreat as an insupportable unhappiness, yet they do, nevertheless, consider it as a favour, reflecting, according to their great wisdom, upon the miserable condition to which you are re- duced ; and indeed they did think it would be very hard to obtain it from his Royal Highness, and that in case he did grant it upon their request, you ought not only to accept it with submission, but to show your great acknowledgment of it; you cannot, therefore, doubt that we have been surprised to hear that you have any difficulty in resolving yourselves to it, and that you have a design to resist two powerful princes that are resolved to extirpate you, in case you make the least opposition; for by this behaviour you do not only act against your duty, against Christian prudence, and against your true interest, but you give us also just reason to complain of you, that having engaged us in a negotiation with your prince, you will not accept of those advantages we are in a condition to procure you. Open, therefore, your eyes, and consider the misfortunes you draw upon yourselves, and the fatal con- sequences of your design, that must needs turn to the entire destruction of your churches and families. Consider, that what is offered you is so advantageous, considering the present state of your affairs, that several persons of the greatest quality, would have accepted of it as the great- est happiness, in the late persecutions of France, and that they would have been exceedingly joyful to get stark naked out of their country Proofs and Illustrations. 577 without hinderance. If you properly reflect upon all these things, we hope that the example of those that are of a better opinion, will touch and persuade you to follow the same conduct; but if you refuse to imi- tate it, and if you persist in your obstinacy, you will be guilty before God, not only of having thrown away your lives, which you might have saved, and of having exposed your wives and your children to the mas- sacre, but also of having caused the ruin of these noble remains of the Waldensian churches, which you might have transported into some other country. And do not flatter yourselves with being able to pre- vent these evils by the means of some succours that some persons have promised you; for we do assure you, that those that enter- tain you with these vain imaginations only abuse you, and that you cannot be assisted from any side ; you ought to consider, that you will be left by all men, and by some of the very inhabitants of your coun- try ; and that therefore you will soon be destroyed, either by the sword or by famine, and that those that may escape the fury of their enemies, will finish their lives either by being burnt at the stake, upon the rack, or the gallows. We conjure you, that you would be prevailed with by such powerful considerations, and to agree with the sentiments of the commonalty, that are i-esolved to desire of their prince a permission to retreat out of his territories, being persuaded that the Divine providence will conduct you to some places where you will perhaps find more ad- vantageous establishments than those you leave behind you ; and where those that are poor will not be in want of charitable persons that will provide them with all necessaries. In expectation that God will inspire you with good resolutions, and that you will give to your Deputy such a procuration as those of the other commonalties have given, we re- commend you to his mercy and his divine protection, resting, Gentle- men, your very affectionate to render you service. Turin, 5th of April. No. 9. Second edict from the Duke of Savoy. Dated April 9, 1686. Divine Providence having established Sovereigns over the people, has given to the first the distribution of favours and punishments, that the hopes of the one might make the good mindful of their duty ; and that the sense of the other might prevent the bad from abandoning themselves to evil. This latter ought to fall from our avenging hands upon our subjects of the valleys of Lucerne, who make profession of the pretended Reformed Religion ; because it is notorious that they have not only gainsayed with great obstinacy our order of the 31st of January last, but that they have also hardened themselves in their crime, and are fallen into an enormous and consummate rebellion : nevertheless, our natural clemency surpassing their crime, and not contenting our- selves with our fatherly kindness, with which we have so long time unsuccessfully waited for their repentance, we have still been willing to leave to their will, (which has ever followed bad counsels) the choice of a happy or miserable condition, and to open to them at the last trial the gates of our favour, that so they may be able to take hold of it in the 49 578 Appendix. following manner, and that in case they should not answer it by a ready obedience, they might not be able to impute to any thing but their own rashness their deserved punishments, which we shall inflict upon them without delay. Therefore, confirming in the first place our order of the 31st of Jan- uary last, as far as it shall not be found contrary to this, we have by virtue of this present edict, with our certain knowledge, full power, and absolute authority, and with advice of our privy council, commanded all our subjects of the valleys of Lucerne, making profession of the pre- tended Reformed Religion, to lay down their arms, and to retire into their houses within the term hereafter prescribed. We command them also to form no more any associations, nor to hold any conventicles ; that so according to our intention, the judges of the place may have free access, and that the missionaries and other religious persons may return to the churches which they have been forced to leave, and that the Catholics, and those which have embraced the Catholic religion, may return to their houses which they have abandoned. And whereas it is not reasonable that the religious missionaries, the Catholics, and those which have embraced the Catholic Religion, should be at any loss by occasion of several damages which they have received from those of the pretended Reformed Religion, we desire, command, and ordain, that all the necessary sums to indemnify them be generally and without distinction levied upon the goods of those of the pretended Reformed Religion, so as that it shall be summarily enforced before the Chevalier Monzonx, intendant of justice of the valleys, declaring never- theless, that in case those of the said religion prove that the damages have been caused by some particular persons, they may have their re- course and warrant against them. And to show our said subjects how great our clemency is towards them, we grant leave to those that shall think of a retreat out of our territories, to do it within the term, and upon the conditions hereafter prescribed ; but because their ill-will has showed itself but too much by their past conduct, and that several could hide their evil designs under a false pretence of obedience, we reserve to ourselves, besides those who shall retreat out of our territories upon their own motion, to ordain it also to such as we shall think fit, and as we shall find it most expedient to secure the peace of those that shall stay behind, whence we do intend to prescribe the rules which they shall observe for the future. And as an augmentation of our favours, we grant leave as well to those that shall voluntarily retreat, as to those who retreat by our orders, to take along with them their goods and effects at their pleasure, and to sell those they shall leave behind them, provided they do it in such a manner as is hereafter prescribed. The same is to be understood concerning strangers, and those that are born of strangers, who are to conform themselves to all but the last article of our order of the 31st of January last, here above men- tioned. The said selling of goods shall be made to Catholics, or to persona Proofs- and Illustrations. 579 that have embraced the Catholic Religion ; but because there may per- haps not be found buyers within the term herebefore prescribed, and that we are not willing that the zealots of that religion, who shall retreat out of our territories, should be deprived of the benefits of our present concession, they may agree about or fix upon persons into whose hands they shall put their procurations, who shall have leave to stay during three months in Lucerne, with full liberty to treat and negotiate with whom they think lit to sell the goods of those who shall have retreated, and who shall have leave to prescribe in their procurations the conditions of their selling their goods for their better security, to receive the price thereof in what place soever they desire it should be sent them, without fraud and deceit of the constituted procurators, which the Chevalier and intendant Monzonx shall take care of. Those that shall be willing to retreat, shall be obliged to meet at the day and place hereafter specified, to be ready to depart without fire-arms by the way that shall be named them, either through Savoy, or the valley of Aste:'to this purpose, we will provide them with passports, that they may receive no ill usage, or hinderance in our territories; but that on the contrary, they may find all possible assistance; and be- cause that being in great number they may be exposed to some incon- veniences upon the way, and in the places through which they are to go overcharged, they shall divide themselves into three bodies as is herein before mentioned. The first shall be composed of those of the valleys of Lucerne, and shall meet at Tour this month of April ; the second, composed of those of the valleys of Angrogne, St. Bartholomew, Rocheplatte, and Perustin, shall meet at St. Second, and shall depart the day following, viz. the twenty-second of this month; the third and last made up of those of the valleys of St. Martin and Perouse, shall meet at Micadole, and part from thence the third day, viz. the twenty- third of this month. The term wherein our said subjects of the pretended Reformed Reli- gion, that inhabit the valleys of Lucerne, shall be obliged to lay down their arms, in the manner prescribed in the first article of this present order, is within eight days after the publication hereof in Lucerne, during which they ought to have obeyed the contents of the said order, to en- joy the fruits of our clemency, but which as well as our fatherly affec- tion towards our said subjects, we leave to its nature and course, not- withstanding the enormity of their crimes. And by means of a punctual observation of all herein contained, we grant our favour, pardon, remis- sion, absolution, and a full amnesty to our said subjects of all their excesses, misdemeanours, crimes, and other things which they map have committed since the publication of our order of the thirty-first of January last, as well in general as particular, so that they may not be called to an account for it under any pretence whatsoever, prohibiting all judges, fiscals, and others to whom it belongs, to inquire into it. But because in case they should render themselves unworthy of such favours, by not observing all that is here above mentioned, within the term, it would be too pernicious an example to delay any longer their deserved punishments, after having been prodigal to them of our favours, and after having waited so long time for their repentance, we intend to 580 Appendix. make use of those means which God has put into our hands to bring the obstinate to their duty, and to make them feel the punishment of their great presumption. Given at Turin, the 9th of April, 1686. Enrolled the 10th. No. 10 and 11. Letters from the Deputies of the churches of Boby, St. John, and Angrogne, to the Swiss Ambassadors. My Lords, We did not fail immediately after the arrival of our deputy, to make some copies of the letter which your excellencies have been pleased to write to our churches, and they have been read every where after sermon. There can nothing be said that is either more true, or more moving and comforting: and your excellencies may be fully persuaded, that there is nobody but that finds, and does acknowledge, that it is the effect of your holy and christian charity towards our churches ; yet notwithstand- ing it has been till now absolutely impossible to dispose our people to a retreat out of this country ; some out of fear it might cause the loss of several persons that shall venture to stay behind ; others by a prin- ciple of conscience ; and others from several other considerations, which our deputy will explain to your excellencies by word of mouth. We are in great consternation about it, and scarcely dare to appear before your excellencies with so much irresolution. Our people adhere the more to their opinion, because they have been informed that several other churches, at least a great part of those that composed them, did not know that the business was about such a retreat, when they gave their procuration to their deputies, or if they had understood them, they had changed their minds, which gives us a just reason to fear, that in case your excellencies should be farther engaged for this people, you would be extremely displeased with their refusal to retreat ; and it was by reason of this fear which we had here the last Sunday, when we de- sired your excellencies to give us leave to inform ourselves of the minds of our people about this proposition, foreseeing at the same time that it would be very hard to persuade them to it : they were for the most part resolved to be their Father's children, and hope that the Lord will be their deliverer, that would make use of feeble things to confound the strong, and that heaven would find out some hinderance to those designs which are formed against us. We do not question but this extremely afflicts your excellencies ; and we are touched with it to our very souls : but it is not in our power to change their hearts, and to dispose of other men's wills ; nevertheless we conjure your excellencies, in all possible humility, that you would be pleased not to abate your kindness to these churches, neither to deprive us of your powerful and comfort- able support, which, under God, has made us subsist till now. For God's sake do always pity us ; what way soever our affairs shall go, we lay our souls before God, to supplicate him with all ardency, that he would be pleased to direct all things to the glory of his holy name, and the preservation of our people : and that he would grant by his Proofs and Illustrations. 581 Divine Providence, by the means of your excellencies, that we may still get the prolongation of some days, that we may once more inform ourselves of the sentiments of our people by the collecting every man's voice in particular, if it be possible, to know their final resolution ; so that we may not be blamed, either of one side or another. The Lord be the abundant re warder of your excellencies' kindness, and we are, with all manner of respect, My Lords, Your excellencies' most humble, most obedient, and most obliged servants, The Deputies of Boby, St. John, and Angrogne. John Aghitto, 1 Daniel Graffe, V Deputies of Boby. EsTIENNOR DANNO, J Michael Parisa, > D .^ , ^ Joh^ John Mjschon, 3 r * John Dlffa, ~) Piezze Duffa, \ Deputies of Angrogne, Lewis Odin, J Angrogne, April 9, 1686. Most High, Mighty, and Sovereign Lords, We throw ourselves in all humility at your Excellencies' feet, to show you our most sensible and inexpressible concern, that a great part of our people are not able to appreciate with Christian prudence the favour your Excellencies endeavour to procure them, by a free re- treat out of this country, with person and goods and to embrace it with holy joy, as a present from heaven, and a favour which they have sigh- ed for at other times. This makes our hearts bleed, and so much the more, that your Excellencies' letter, which you have been pleased to write to them, ought to have immediately disposed them to an affair of this nature; yet we dare still most humbly beseech your Excellencies to have the goodness to exercise love on all these considerations, as knowing very well that we have to do with persons whom it is very hard to compass, and to make them all sensible of the reason and the state of things, but by experience, and principally when it is about aban- doning their old and dear native soil : there are, nevertheless, a great many, and the principal of them, who resign themselves entirely to your Excellencies' counsel, charity, and prudence, and that will never oppose what you shall find most expedient for the glory of God, and . their welfare and preservation. The ministers also are all of the same opinion, and we are all willing punctually to observe the counsel your Excellencies shall be pleased to give us. And we most humbly be- seech you to pity us and our families, to extricate us out of an unhappy state which to all appearance is unavoidable ; this is the favour we hope from your Excellencies, and pray the Lord to bless your Lordships 49* 582 Appendix. with all manner of prosperity ; and we are with all possible respect and submission, most high, mighty and sovereign Lords, Your Excellencies' most humble, and most obedient Servants, SlPRAC BASTIE, Gtjillaume Mallanot. Angrogne, April 9, 1686. I. We have been informed for certain, by a credible person, that his Royal Highness will not grant us a retreat with our goods, but that he pretends to detain them for the charges he has been at already. II. That he absolutely insists that the ministers and foreigners should be delivered into his hands. III. That we should lay down our arms, and that we should deliver them up to the governor. IV. That the troops are to enter into the valleys to demolish the churches, and to obstruct all divine exercises. V. In fine, we have been informed, that the council would by no means suffer that the French troops should march against us. No. 12. Memorial of the Swiss Ambassadors to the Duke of Savoy. Your Royal Highness is humbly requested to consider, that he that will retreat out of the valleys by virtue of your published Order, is obliged to prepare himself for his departure, for the transportation of his wife, his children, and his goods which will be necessary to him; that he will be obliged to dispose in several places what he cannot carry along with him ; that he must provide for the sale of his corn, of his provisions, of his wine, of his cattle, which he would not be forced to leave at random ; and that he cannot entrust with his procurator at Lu- cerne, and who consequently, by reason of the distance of the place, will be incapable to take care of it ; that within the term of eight days he will not be able to settle accounts either with his creditors or his debtors, because those he has to do with do not live in the valleys, or because there may be some accounts that cannot be regulated but by arbitration ; that in consideration of goods immovable, there is to be made an exact description of the vineyards, meadows, fields, and woods, whose boundaries and limits are to be marked out and described, as also of the rights thereunto belonging, and the sums for which they are mortgaged, and that there ought to be granted some particular procura- tions to that purpose. Therefore your Royal Highness having been pleased by an instinct of your justice and clemency, to grant to your subjects of the valleys leave to retreat wherever they please, and to sell their goods which they shall leave behind them, you would not wish that his favour should be unprofitable to them, by obstructing the fa- vour of this concession by the shortness of time, to take away from them with one hand what you had given them with the other. Your Royal Highness is also requested to consider that six trustees are not Proofs and Illustrations. 583 enough for the sale of goods belonging to several hundreds of families that shall be willing to retreat ; that this commission cannot be given but to people of the country, and consequently to persons without learn- ing and without capacity, and taken up with their own affairs ; that besides, these trustees will be obliged to run to several places to find out buyers, to let them have a view of the property which they are to buy, that settlements must be made in several places before several no- taries, that they are to watch at the selling of a great number of move- ables that are dispersed in several houses, to count money, to change it, and to send it to them into foreign countries, to find out some conve- niences for that purpose, to write to their correspondents for the clear- ing of several doubts that may be raised, to remove the obstructions they shall meet with, to defend themselves against some unjust de- mands ; to receive letters from those they shall write to from the places of their retreat, to acquaint them with the state of their affairs, and in a word, to be charged with a thousand other occupations that we cannot now foresee : Therefore, because your Royal Highness does not intend to enrich yourself with the goods of your poor subjects, nor to augment your revenues by their losses, you will be pleased to grant them leave to nominate twelve persons, that within the time prescribed by your Royal Highness, shall proceed to the sale of the goods of those that shall have retreated. But because it will undoubtedly happen, that within the term of three months, with what diligence soever the trus- tees may proceed to the sale of the goods of the poor refugees, there will be found few chapmen, and that every body will expect at the end of the term to take advantage of the necessity to which the trustees will be driven to dispose of their goods, and to have them from those wretch- ed people at an under price, by reason of their fear to lose all, we hope your Royal Highness will have the goodness to prevent this inconve- nience, and according to the agreements made in the year 1663, with his late Royal Highness of glorious memory, you will buy at a reason- able price the movable and immovable goods that within the space of three months shall not be sold. And forasmuch as your Royal Highness distinguishes yourself by your goodness and clemency, you are not willing, without doubt, to oblige any body to impossibilities, and therefore must be aware that fe- males newly brought to bed, or such as are in the last month of their time, and old and sick men, are incapable of travelling, you will make no difficulty to dispense in their favour with the law you have prescrib- ed to others about their retreat, and exempt them from quartering sol- diers, who, how well soever disciplined, always cause some disorder, and carry distress into all places where they enter, as also to grant them leave to live and die in their houses without fear of being ill used, and of being spoiled of their goods and provisions. In fine, we beseech your Royal Highness that you would be pleased instantly to use your clemency towards those of the valleys that are detained in your prisons, and towards those that have been taken upon that account, and that you will be pleased mercifully to set them at liberty. 584 Appendix. No. 13. From the Swiss Ambassadors, to the Churches of the Valleys. Gentlemen, At the secret audience which we had of his Royal Highness, your prince, we have earnestly desired him, that he would be pleased to grant you a retreat out of his territories upon more gracious conditions than those that are expressed by the last edict ; and we have repre- sented to him as well by word of mouth as by our memorial, all the reasons that might be capable of moving and to prevail with him to mi- tigate the orders he has already published against you. We solicited him to grant you a longer term to dispose yourselves for so troublesome a retreat, and to sell your goods, and that he would be pleased to aug- ment the number of the trustees charged to sell them; to give leave that the aged, sick, and infirm persons, and women newly brought to bed, or that were big with child, might stay behind in the country without being exposed to any ill usage ; and without being obliged to quarter soldiers ; and, in fine, to give orders that his procurators might sell the goods that should not be vended within the time prescribed by his edict. But we have not been able to obtain the least thing from his Royal Highness, because he has been informed that you are up in arms to obstruct the execution of his orders. We have also endeavoured to persuade the Marquis of St. Thomas that he would be pleased to em- ploy his credit with his Royal Highness, to dispose him to grant us what we desired in your favour ; but he has given us to understand, that as long as you shall keep in arms, there are no hopes for you. His Royal Highness departs this day for Preeairas, and we have had our audience of Conge, with a design to return immediately into our country, except God's providence give us some more favourable occa- sion to serve you ; and since, without taking notice of some wise men's counsels, you resign the event of your affairs to God's providence, we beseech him that he would be pleased to assist you in your calamity, and direct all to his glory and your temporal and spiritual welfare. Resting, after we have recommended you to God Almighty's favour, &c. Turin, fyc. No. 14. Letter from several of the Pastors of Churches in Piedmont, addressed to the Cantons of Switzerland. Most High, Mighty, and Sovereign Lords, Our churches have for a long time experienced, and principally in these unhappy troubles that have happened to them, the incomparable charity and fatherly affection of your excellencies towards them, and still very lately, by sending our lords, the ambassadors, to his royal highness, upon occasion of the order of the 31st of January last, pub- lished against us, as we have been informed of, by the letter' which you have been pleased to direct to us. We are not r.ble enough to acknow- Proofs and Illustrations. 585 ledge the care, trouble, and pains which our lords the ambassadors have taken in our favour and preservation, towards our sovereign ; and had they met with hearts disposed to our welfare and quietness, their intercessions would not have failed of being successful ; but it ought to be confessed, that our condition is very bad from that quarter ; we, nevertheless, render to your excellencies, with all the sentiments of ac- knowledgments we are capable of, our most humble and hearty thanks for so many favours we have received from their holy and Christian charity. We are very sensible, and confess it, though with great con- fusion, that our lords the ambassadors have not had from our people all that satisfaction that might have been wished for, concerning their re- signation into your hands; but we most humbly beseech you to em- ploy their charity and support towards a people that make to them- selves a point of conscience and honour to preserve their religion in their native country, where it has been a long time miraculously pre- served. We are very sensible that as to the world, our ruin is una- voidable ; but we are in hopes that God will revenge his quarrel, and that good and charitable people will not abandon us ; and principally we put our trust under God in your excellencies, and throw ourselves into their fatherly arms, beseeching you for the compassion of God, and in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, our common Father and Sa- viour, not to deprive us of your charity and affection, and to throw the eyes of your clemency and tenderness upon so many poor families, lit- tle children, and other weak miserable persons, as to the world, to let them feel the favourable effects of your Christian goodness. We be- seech the Lord that he would be pleased to be the perpetual preserver of your excellencies, and the abundant rewarder of all your holy and Christian charities ; and are, with all the veneration imaginable, Most high, mighty, and sovereign lords, your excellencies' most humble, most obedient, and most obliged servants, The ministers, elders, and other directors of the churches of the valleys in Piedmont, and for all, S. Bastie, Moderator, Gr. Matant, Minister. No. 15. Letter from the Pastors of the Churches in the Valleys of Piedmont to the Swiss Ambassadors. My Lords, We do intend to communicate immediately to our commonalties your excellencies' letter : we could have wished that they had been more mindful of those wise counsels your excellencies have given them, to prevent such danger and desolation as in all human probability is now unavoidable : we pray to God that he would be pleased to crown their resolution, though against all appearance, with success, and to strengthen their infirmity and feebleness. I do believe that all the ministers do 586 appendix. design to live and to die amongst them, because your excellencies do not disapprove it : and, indeed, it would neither be honest nor excusa- ble to abandon them in such a juncture of time ; and we should cer- tainly have reason to think ourselves guilty in part of their loss, be- cause a good shepherd is bound to lay down his life for his flock. We continue to give your excellencies our most humble thanks for the trou- ble and indefatigable care you have taken for our welfare and subsist- ence ; and we conjure you by the compassion of God, and by the cha- rity of Jesus Christ, not to forget us, but whether it be during your stay at Turin, or after your return to the most high and mighty Pro- testant Cantons, to favour us with your affection and Christian charity upon all occasions. We pray our great God and Saviour that he would be pleased to reward the pains and charity of your excellencies towards these churches, with his most precious blessings in heaven and earth, and to cover your sacred persons with his inviolable protection : these are the sincere and fervent wishes of those that are,' with profound re- spect, My Lords, Your excellencies' most humble and obedient servants, The ministers of the evangelical churches of the val- leys of Lucerne, Angrogne, Perouse, St. Martin, 4c. in Piedmont, and in the name of all, S. Bastie, Minister. Angrogne, April, 17, 1686. No. 16. Letter from his Royal Highness, the Duke of Savoy, to the French King's Brother, the Duke of Orleans. Amongst the many and great troubles, under which I am at present, seeing none but you capable of giving some ease to my afflicted spi- rits, I hope you will give me leave to do what unfortunate men have only left to do ; that is to say, to justify their conduct, and to demon- strate their reasons to those that are not yet so far from all equity, as to refuse to pity them. What have I ever done else to the king, than to serve him in the most substantial things lie desired of me? Have J not sacrificed to his satisfaction the valleys of Lucerne, to my oivn prejudice, and against all the prmciples of true politics ? Did I not consent to give him three of my regiments, at the same instant his am- bassador made the first mention of it ? Is it not evident that to please the king, I have abandoned my interest, my country, and my person, by such compliances, as have drawn upon me great aversion from all the Protestant poivers,* of the emperor, of the king of Spain, and of all the confederate princes ? Wherein have I ever displeased the king? His ambassadors have sometimes made their complaints about some little insignificant things, a thousand of which would not be able to * Here is a frank avowal that the duke had consented to the destruction of the Waldenses to oblige the king of France. Proofs and Illustrations. 587 balance the least part of those substantial services which I have men- tioned, nor the continual marks I have given of a strict adherence to the king's interests. A gentleman of Nice raises, without my leave, and without my desiring it, some soldiers, in the said place, against several declarations of my predecessors, at the same time that I am there actually present: this is not enough, he enlists some of those that belong to my regiment of guards: I have the goodness not to suffer him to be tried at the sessions, nor his goods to be seized according to custom ; and I content myself to send him to prison, only to prevent the ill example he had given by his behaviour; and yet, after all, they pretend to make a great business of this, as if I was obliged tamely to suffer this insolence and affront of one of my own subjects, in my very presence, instead of which they should have taken notice of my mo- deration. I have given the king three regiments, partly composed out of the principal nobility of this country ; there is a considerable number of gentlemen and others of my subjects in those troops; I am willing, for my greater recommendation, to give the king, with my own hands, such as he may desire to have above the said number: but I do not in- tend to give my subjects full license to act against the law, and to de- viate from that loyalty they naturally owe to their sovereign. Never- theless, those that do it are not punished for it, their goods are not seized, and I do expressly prohibit not to indict them for some imper- tinent and seditious words; neither do I trouble their parents for it; yet, after all, if I do not applaud their exorbitance, my past services are forgotten, and I have no good intentions for those of his majesty ! There is a reciprocal agreement made about the restoring of the deserters of the garrison of Pignerol, Perouse, and Cassal, and of those of my troops. This is not at all executed on the side of the said gar- risons ; for if they restore one, they retain fifty: and yet they make a great noise, as if the agreement was not observed on my side. Of those troops which for the king's service I entertained in the val- leys of Lucerne, a great many deserted to Pignerol ; but the governor pretended, either, that he had no authority over those deserters, because they had listed themselves amongst some recruits which were made for other regiments; or that they were to be exchanged with those troops of his majesty that were out of the place; or they refused them sometimes downright, pretending that there was an amnesty of the king in favour of the deserters ; as if an amnesty of the king, that only regards those that desert in his own kingdom, could be made use of by those that deserted out of my troops, far from coming back, as it is ex- pressly required in the amnesties of such nature. It has been declared at Cassal, that they would neither render nor retake any deserter. This is a thing I do not complain of, for there seems to be a reciprocal equity in not asking, and in not giving back: but then the garrison of Cassal has no reason to complain neither. Give me leave about this subject to inform you of a thing that has made so great a noise. Some officers of Pignerol having made their complaints, that some of their deserters were to be found in the valleys of Lucerne, I gave orders that they should be restored ; and, withal, 588 Appendix. leave that they might go themselves to discover them. They took along with them a serjeant that had deserted out of a regiment belong- ing to the said valleys : the officers of the said regiment seized him as 60011 as they saw him : I was told of it in a letter: I gave them, accord- inor to my custom in such matters, a general answer ; that is to say, to do what they found just, having no mind to condemn the deserter my- self. The serjeant did himself confess that he had deserted;, he was tried and condemned according to law. Ought a deserter not to have been seized, that had the impudence to come before his officers, to en- courage (by his so fine example) the rest of the regiment to desert as well as he? Does the agreement made to restore the deserters, mention not to take them ourselves when they are to be found in our own ter- ritories, from whence they deserted, only because some officers had the impudence to take them along with them? Ought we to think that it is the king's pleasure that we leave off being sovereigns in foreign coun- tries, when a criminal is at the suit of a French officer, and that there be no justice for them there? Ought we to think that he would have us take there more care, than in his own kingdom? And yet this is the very thing that has been so much exaggerated, to prove that I have no good intentions for the king's service. They have continued secretly to raise soldiers in my territories for the king's service : they are exhausted of men ; I cannot find enough to complete my own regiments. I endeavour to retain my own subjects by some slight demonstrations without troubling those any more that do not observe it, setting at liberty those that have been imprisoned, as soon as they have it. Such great moderation is not at all taken notice of; as if a sovereign ought to contribute himself to the exhausting his country of men, and that he ought to leave off making use of his own subjects, only to be employed in the king's service, without seeming to take notice of it, without being asked or thanked for it. Some years ago, the king desiring to make some recruits in Savoy, for his regiments of Rousillon and St. Laurent, did consent that I might make some recruits for my service in the provinces of Dauphiny, Lion- nois, and Provence; and though those recruits are very expensive, and come to nothing at all, by reason of the great number of those that de- sert, either on the way, or as soon as they have arrived in this country ; yet I never failed to give orders in Savoy, as often as the officers of the said regiment arrived there with a letter of Mons. de Louvois, to let them make their recruits. It has been represented some few months ago, to two or three officers that were come for the same purpose, that Savoy was exhausted of men ; that it had very much suffered the last year, endeavouring to hinder the incursions of those of Lucerne, and some French Protestants ; and that to continue to contribute to the king's satisfacton, there would, according to all appearance, be no less difficulty this year to furnish men enough to the same end ; desiring the said officers to put off their recruits till some more convenient time. The Count de Rebenac having spoken something of it here, the same reasons were made known to him; withal telling him, that it was no refusal, but only a putting it off for a better time, to make the said recruits with so much the more conveniency ; and though he seemed to be sa- Proofs and Illustrations. 589 tisfied with these just reasons, yet endeavours have been made to draw an ill consequence out of it, to the prejudice of my good intentions for the king's service ; as if the various troubles of this poor country, which it has been forced to undergo, were not evident to all the world, and which is only with a design to contribute to his majesty's satis- faction. I run over and examine all my actions, and I find nothing else that in the least can be taken hold of by those that please themselves with censuring my actions before the king, except my journey to Venice, which the Marquis of Arcy has so often talked of before and after it. I confess, that I was very glad to have an opportunity to know the Duke of Bavaria, and to see at the sa no time the so much renowned city of Venice. I protest, that I did not think nor resolve on it, till at a time when I could not make it known to the king, and receive his advice, without losing the opportunity of executing my design. I be- seech you seriously to consider of what ill consequence it could be, and what reason the king has to complain of it, since I did not do it, when my father of blessed memory went to Padua for the same rea- son, and that I did not know the king meddled with the travels that other princes undertake. Sure it is that what has followed, has made it evident that there was nothing in this journey but what is good and honest, and what nobody can disapprove of. Give me leave also to answer some other complaints which the am- bassador of his majesty, and Monsieur Catinat, have mingled in their discourse, and which partly you yourself have made to the Marquis of Dogliani, my ambassador, namely, that I was treating with his Impe- rial Majesty, with the King of Spain, with England and Holland. To convince his majesty that this was a false supposition, I have written you several times that it was not true: if you did but know me well, you will easily be convinced that this is more than a sufficient proof; for I had rather lose all than tell you a lie. In the mean time I inform- ed the Pope, by my resident, I have written to him, and his nuncio that had showed the letter to Mons. Catinat, that it was not true, and that nothing had passed, neither was there any thing on foot against his majesty's interest: that, on the contrary, I had done several things against common civility, and directly against my own interest, out of fear of displeasing him ; having had no ministers at the emperor's, and the catholic king's court, to behave myself in this point according to the Marquis of Arcy's direction, who could not allow so much as some gentlemen, my subjects, going into Hungary to improve themselves in the art of war. As for England, the same reason has hindered me that I have sent no answer to an obliging letter from thence; and concerning the States-General, they have written to me a letter, not long ago, in favour of the Waldenses ; I desired to be excused from doing what they requested, and this is the only correspondence I have had with them. There has been something mentioned of intelligence I kept with certain men in Dauphiny ; this is an invention of the same stamp with the rest, but with this difference, that I have reason to hope that by the falsity of this lie it will be judged that the rest is of no better foundation. In fine, I am willing to submit myself to the judgment of his holiness, 50 590 Appendix. or the commonwealth of Venice, or any other power that I have not just reason to suspect ; but the king himself, by making some just re- flections, according to his great understanding, may easily see the falsity of all these accusations. And to be plain with you ; after the hard usage I just now receive, it ought to be less strange, that those who have surprised his majesty's equity, so as to persuade him to such extremes with me, have endeavoured to give some few, though false, colours to their pretences. 1 beseech you, Sir, to make a parallel of what substantial things I have actually done for the king's service, with the aforesaid pretences, and to judge if those solid marks I have given of my zeal for the king's interest, do not altogether destroy them ; and if it be not against com- mon sense, to put them into a parallel ? Cast your eyes upon what follows. Monsieur de Rebenac, the king's ambassador, arrives in this country ; he takes pains to assure me of the king's goodness in regard to my person. I answer it with those earnest protestations so often repeated by me and my ministers, of my great acknowledgment and zeal for the king's service, that ought fully to persuade him of it. He de- sires me to drive the rest of my subjects out of the Valleys; I do con- sent to it; he does nothing but entertain me about that business, and the king's favourable opinion he has of me. Monsieur Catinat arrives at Pignerol, he comes to see me in this city; the project against the Vaudois seems to be his only design ; he speaks to me about it as the only cause of his coming. I do easily believe it, I let him see a list of all my troops, and that they are not enough to furnish garrisons for my fortresses, and to send them to such places where my service requires their presence ; and nevertheless I resolve to furnish him with a con- siderable detachment. He seems to be satisfied ; he desires to have at Pignerol a conference with my officers ; I send them to him. All his thoughts seem to be employed about this design; he makes all seeming preparations for it ; he says that his commission regards more those parts that are of this, than the other side of Pignerol ; that it was necessary to use all haste to make an end of the business with the Vaudois, and he seems to concern himself with nothing else. In the mean time there happened an insurrection in Mondovi: to ap- pease that, I sent thither some of my troops, and some few of those that are at Lucerne. Monsieur Catinat lets me know, that seeing I was engaged about the business of Mondovi, if I could not assist him with the same number of troops I had promised, I should let him have at least a part of it. I gave orders to send him a detachment of 400 men ; lie seems to be satisfied. It snows very much in the Valleys, so there is no action there. Some few days after, having made an end of the business of Mondovi, and coming back to Turin, I understand that the King's troops, which we thought were designed for Burgundy, Cata- logue, and against the Protestants in the Valleys did advance towards the borders of my territories. This report is confirmed by the discourse of his majesty's principal officers, who make it public, that they intend- ed to put the dutchy of my land under contribution, and accordingly they dispersed there some papers that intimated the same. Nobody speaks to me about the passage; I judge that the king has a mind Proofs and Illustrations. 591 either to fake it by force, or that he desires 1 should offer it. I do it with all the security of going and coining back, and all the con- veniency of provisions in my territories, with all possible protestations of my zeal to serve him. But this signifies nothing ; Monsieur Catinat desires some commissaries to explain himself about the king's intention. I send him two persons to Pignerol. He tells them in general terms, that the king is not satisfied icith my behaviour ; that he had received orders to enter his troops into my territories, that he would give them bread, but that I was to furnish them with forage, and with a pound of flesh each soldier; and gives a hint that he would write to me something more particular. Those villages through which he enters into my territories, give him what he desires; after he is entered there, he de- sires of me in a letter, to send him somebody to whom he might ex- plain himself. I send to him the Marquis of Ferrero, whom you for- merly knew as my ambassador. Monsieur Caiinat begins with general complaints ; and ends with telling him, that the king expects I should send into France, over the bridge of Beauvoisin, 2000 foot, and two regiments of dragoons, of my troops, and that I was to resolve upon it in 48 hours, in case I had no other proposals to make. The Marquis Ferrero did all he could, to let him see a second time the little grounds of his complaint, the great occasion I had for my own troops, and in fine, offers him a league defensive. But Monsieur Catinat persisting in his demands, he assures him, that I would send those troops over the bridge Beauvoisin, into his majesty's service. Monsieur Catinat seems to be very glad of it, and told the Marquis of Ferrero, that henceforth we should look upon his majesty's troops as our friends, and in assur- ance of it, countermands the march to Grugliasch, near Turin, because the said Marquis had made some mention about it. I wrote to the Count Provane, whom I thought to be at Paris, to represent to the king what the Marquis Ferrero had told Monsieur Catinat without any success, and to add some proposals to satisfy the king about the troops, with the advantages of his Majesty's service, and the least prejudice of my own. What will you say, when you hear, that neither Monsieur Catinat's, nor my express could at all return ; that he leaves briskly Veillane, and comes to Orbassan, from whence he sends a commissary to let me know, that the troops were not enough to satisfy the king, that he desires some other assurance of my good intentions for the king's service; that he did not positively know what it was, but believed it might regard some place. That Monsieur Catinat expects an answer in twenty-four hours ; that it was then about eight or nine, and that about the same time to-morrow he expected some proposals, for want of which he should begin to commit hostilities. I send him the Abbot of Verrue: Monsieur Catinat repeats his complaints, and desires some assurance of my good intentions. He is intreated to tell, if he had any power from the king to treat. He answers that he has none, but that he may accept some places in the king's name. We request to know what place he expects ; he makes some difficulty to tell it, and desires we should guess it ; at last he says, that the communication of Pignerol, and the citidel of Cassel must be secured ; but says at the same time, they made no reflection upon the new city of Ast. 592 Appendix. The pope's nuncio goes to him, in order to accommodate matters betwixt us ; he shows him my letter, wherein I assure him, that I was no ways a treating against the King, no not so much as in my thoughts ; but all this without effect. The Marquis of Ferrero, and the Abbot of Verrue return thither; they hear nothing but the same things repeated. The Marquis Ferrero returns thither once more alone, with a letter from the Marquis de St. Thomas, wherein he shows my readiness to satisfy the King, with an assurance of my good intentions. He is extremely surprised to hear out of Monsieur Catinat's own mouth, that he had not spoken of an assurance in the singular, but in the plural number; that he had given it sufficiently to understand to the Abbot of Verrue, yet it seemed to be the same thing to that abbot, and to the commissary, to speak in the plural, instead of the singular number, as they have both done. But Monsieur Catinat, who aimed at his ends, persisted in this opinion, and declared afterwards, that there was nothing but the citadels of Turin and Verrue that could satisfy the King; that in case they were not in twenty-four hours put into his hands, he could no longer defer to commit hostilities ; as if the entering with an army into a country, and to make them subsist at the expenses of the people, were great marks of friendship. And yet he would by no means, nay, he had no power to treat about the conditions, which is, in plain terms, to live at discre- tion. In this great extremity, seeing my people at the mercy of a foreign army, I thought fit to give myself the honour to send to the King a let- ter, the copy of which I have joined to this, and sent it to Monsieur Catinat by the Count of Marcenaese. He agreed to suspend all actions of hostilities, and despatched immediately his nephew to carry the let- ter to the King with all possible speed. And, indeed, his speed was so great, that he was but few hours above a seven-night in going and coming. Monsieur Catinat gave me notice of his arrival by sending me his Majesty's answer, the copy of which I have also joined to this. I confess I was mightily troubled to see a letter writ with so much re- serve, and that did not give me the least sign of the king's reconcilia- tion to me, which I did expect; and far from giving me the least hopes about the restoring of my places, he gives me sufficiently to understand, that he required long proofs of my affection before he could be persuad- ed of it; insomuch, that if these things, altogether false and supposi- tious, and some other slight ones, could so easily persuade him to the depriving me of the said places, would he ever want some pretences to retain them ? I sent, nevertheless, the Marquis Ferrero and the Mar- quis of St. Thomas to Monsieur Catinat, with full power to treat. They endeavoured to acquaint themselves with his power and his sen- timents: the first was in very good form, but the other little answered my expectation. In fine, Sir, after all the ill usage I received from the King, I am sure, if he would give himself the trouble to hear the reading of this letter, he would not desire to be judge of this affair ; and if he did de- sire it, I seriously believe he could nothinder himself from pronouncing in my favour. Proofs and Illustrations. 593 My- chancellor has written a letter to Monsieur Catinat, of which I send you a copy, as also another of his answer. After which having demanded contributions in my territories, and I hearing of nothing but threatenings, was forced to accept the succours which those that always looked upon me as a Frenchman had the generosity to offer me, in this great extremity to which I am reduced ! which I did not consent to, till after 1 had left no stone unturned to keep me from that necessity. This is so very great, that I do not think to flatter myself so much, as to believe that all Europe will pity me, without excepting the most generous and just men in France. Good God ! how was it possible it should be for the king's interest to oppiess a prince, who has the honour to be so nearly related to him, who has given him such substantial marks of his zeal and affection, whose countries are surrounded by those of his Majesty's, and who by the rest of the world is taken to be a Frenchman ? What will those princes say, which France would fain separate from the contrary party? Is it not as much as to let them know, that they have nothing to hope and every thing to fear, considering the usage I receive ? Is the world not enough informed of the vast designs of France, without discovering them so much in desiring to drive me out of the citadel of my ordinary residence, and another very consider- able place ? Will the princes of Italy believe that it is in order to de- fend them from their enemies, of which they have none? or to open the way to some greater conquests, making the beginning with him, who far from fearing any enterprises from him had all the reason in the world to rely on his protection? Pardon, Sir, the prolixity of this let- ter, and do not ascribe it to any thing but to justify to you my behaviour, after having made use of all human prudence could furnish me with. I hope that God Almighty will not abandon the justice of my cause ; that he will fortify my weakness ; and that the consolation of a prince, whom they endeavour to drive out of apart of what he has inherited from his ancestors, will be the darling work of Divine Providence. Pity me in my misfortunes, but assure yourself, that having nothing to reproach myself with, I look upon it with courage? and in case I should happen to be a prince without a country, (which, by God's assistance I hope I shall not) I will nevertheless maintain those sentiments, and that great- ness of soul, which is answerable to my birth, and worthy of a son, that intends to honour you as a father all his life-time, and that ever will be entirely yours. Since the writing of this letter, I have received one from Monsieur Catinat, which I send you a copy of, as also of the answer I sent him, and how he replied to it. Methinks that after what has passed, I am not in the wrong to desire to treat in writing, and that all the world will easily agree, that it is a mark of the uprightness of my proceedings, and the sincerity of my intentions, assuring you again that what Mon- sier Catinat mentions about a precedent engagement, is nothing but a mere pretence, and that I have had none, either with the Emperor or the Catholic King, till the third of this month, when Monsieur Catinat cut off* all manner of treaties, and intimated contributions to several of my tenitories. 50* 594 Appendix. No. 17. Letter from his Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy, to the French King, May the 20th, 1690. MONSIEGNEUR, I am infinitely troubled to see that those false colours with which I have been blackened in the eyes of your Majesty, have had so much power over your mind, as to deprive me of the honour of your favour, which I have always valued more than my life. The only consolation I have left me in this extremity is, that I have not drawn this misfor- tune upon- me by the least want of zeal for your royal service, of which I will make a glory to continue to give some real marks on all occa- sions. When Monsieur Catinat told me, you desired part of my troops, of which I have not very many, I assured him that your Majesty was master of them, and that they were to pass the mountains immediately to go to serve your Majesty. He has since given me to understand, that your will and pleasure was, to have some places in Piedmont in assurance of my good intentions ; and although your Majesty stands in no need of any other assurance than that of my heart, which is entirely yours, yet having desired Monsieur Catinat to speak somewhat plainer, and he having at last told me that the citadels of Turin and Verrue were aimed at, I am ready to give your Majesty so substantial a proof of my submission, as the delivery of those two places into your hands will be, humbly entreating you, that you would be pleased to do it upon such terms, as a prince that has the honour to be so nearly related to you, may reasonably expect from the goodness and generosity of so great a king; but if your Majesty would be pleased to make choice of some other place in Piedmont instead of the citadel of Turin, that I might continue to live there with the dignity of a Sovereign, your Ma- jesty would infinitely oblige me. I humbly implore your Majesty's generosity for it, as also that you would be pleased to hear the Count of Provane, my ambassador, who will sufficiently satisfy your Majesty about the illgrounded suspicions your Majesty has been inspired with concerning my behaviour, and who will renew to your Majesty all the sincere protestations of my zeal and respect, assuring you that I intend to be all my life-time, &c. No. 18. The French King's answer to his Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy's Letter, dated May the 24th, 1690. Dear Brother, I understand with great satisfaction, by your letter which Monsieur Catinat has sent me, the resolution you have taken to put into my hands the citadels of Turin and of Verrue : and seeing that the Count of Provane is not here, and that if I should stay for his arrival, to hear what he has to say to me on your part, there would be wasted a con- siderable time, in which the march of my troops towards the dutchy of Milan would be put off; I thought fit to send to the Sieur Catinat, full powers to receive those places in my name ; and, in the mean time, I am willing to assure you, by this letter, that I have been very much Proofs and Illustrations. 595 troubled to find myself obliged to give orders for ray troops to enter your territories ; and that as soon as I shall have no cause to doubt of your zeal for my interest, and of that constant affection for my crown, of which most of your ancestors have given many substantial proofs, I will render you any friendship with pleasure, and do that for you which your near relationship gives you reason to hope for. I am, &c. No. 19. Letter from his Royal Highnesses Chancellor to Mons. Catinat, June the 3rd, 1690. Sir, His royal highnessTias been extremely troubled to understand, by what I have told him of your invincible resistance to accept the pro- posals I have made you in his name, the misfortune he has not to be able to satisfy his majesty, and to see that so many extraordinary endeavours of his to please him, have been altogether unsuccessful. It is without doubt the effect of my little capacity to make them agreeable, which I am also heartily sorry for. But thinking that his royal highness's proposals concerning the places and troops were so very liberal and just, that they wanted no art of rhetoric, I received with pleasure his orders to make them known to you. I wish with all my heart that you would be pleased to assist me with your great experience of the affairs cf the world, to find out some other more successful expedient. I will do all that lies in my power to make them acceptable to his royal highness, as also to let you see, by my care, the honour I have to be really yours, &c. No. 20. Monsieur CatinaVs Answer to the Chancellor's Letter, dated June the 3rd, 1690. Sir, I have received the letter you have done me the honour to write to me, which I find to be written with the same spirit as all his royal highness's ministers have discovered to me in our conversations. I have found nothing that has been positive in all the treaties I have had the honour to have about a business of so great consequence, except the promises that have been made to the king by his royal highness, in a letter which he has had the honour to write to him with his own hand. I am, &c. No. 21. Monsieur Carina? s Letter to his Royal Highness, June the 16th, 1690. MONSEIGNEUR, I have to-day received an express from his majesty, with such or- ders as may furnish some means to your Royal Highness to help your- self out of those extremities which you yourself have drawn upon you. 596 Appendix. For this reason I beseech your Royal Highness to send to me two or three of your ministers, in whom you have most confidence, that I may make it known to them ; For the going and coming of which I take the liberty to send you passports. I humbly beseech your royal high- ness to do me the honour to believe that I am, with deep respect, &c. No. 22. His Royal Highness's Answer to Monsieur CatinaVs Letter, dated June the 17th, 1690. You have as many witnesses as you have soldiers, of what I have suffered, to show my respect for, and readiness to serve the king your master. You know I consented to your demand, about some of my troops going into France ; that you showed a great satisfaction about it to the Marquis Ferrero, as if it had been your only design in my regard, and that you told me we should henceforth look upon the king's troops as friends. Nevertheless, some few days after, you wanted some of my strong places, afterwards you desired that, contrary to your first pro- posals, my troops were not to go into France, but to join your army, in order to act against the Dutchy of Milan. After which you see that I have reason to wish, that in case you have any thing to propose to me, you would do it in writing, and I will do the same. This is all that I can say at present, in answer to your letter, and that I will always preserve those sentiments of esteem for you, with which I am, &c. No. 23. Monsieur CatinaVs Reply to his Royal Highnesses Answer, June the l?th, 1690. MONSEIGNEUR, I have received the letter your Royal Highness has done me the hon- our to write to me, in which your intentions are so clear and evident to follow those engagements you have embraced a great while ago, that it is needless to propose to you any thing in writing that may furnish the means to recover the honour of his majesty's favour. I am, with all the respect that is owing to you. INDEX TO THE TWO VOLUMES. Adrian, the Roman emperor, i. 115. his letter to Minutins Fundanus in behalf of the Christians, 118. iErius endeavours to restore the simplicity of the Christian worship, i. 197. denied the distinction between bishop and elder, 199. Albert de Capitaneis, appointed papal legate in France and Piedmont, ii. 434. his sanguinary exploits in the valley of Loyse, 435. invades Piedmont at the head of a crusading army, 436. Aguit, Mr. Francis, a Waldensian pastor, apostatizes from his profes- sion, ii. 500. his repentance and conversion, 501. Agelius, pastor of the Novatianist church in Constantinople, i. 192. Alaric, the Gothic chief, besieges Rome, i. 210. and ultimately sacks it, 214. Albigenses, mistakes concerning them rectified, ii. 308. were the same class of people as the Waldenses, 309. proceedings of the inquisi- tors against them, 371. their extraordinary conduct at the siege of Beziers, 376. are massacred by the crusading army, 377. the sect nearly exterminated in that quarter, 382. the manner in which they were treated by the inquisitors, 386. the immense multitudes of them that were apprehended in France, 387. Albinus, state of Judea under his government, i. 100. Alcuin, some account of, i. 258. note. Aldegonde, Lord of, a Flemish nobleman, dictates the compromise, i. 466. Alexander and Arius, how they represented each other's views of the Sonship of Christ, i. 171. Allix, Dr. his remarks on the churches of Piedmont, quoted, i. 249. 250. 256, 257. ii. 327. 345. 555. Alva, Duke of, his sanguinary proceedings in the Netherlands, ii. 469. Ammianus Marcellinus, view of the conduct of the clergy in his days, i. 179. his account of Julian's attempt to rebuild the temple, 187. Antichrist, reflections on the rise of, i. 152. 598 Index. Antioch, in Syria, described, i. 58. its population, and the number of Christians there, in the time of Theodosius, 195. note. Antoninus Pius, emperor, his amiable character, i. 125. letter to the town council of Asia, 126. his reign of twenty-three years favoura- ble to the Christians, ib. Apostles, at first confined to Jerusalem, i. 40. their subsequent tra- vels, 96. Arian Controversy, i. 169. not settled by the decision of the council of Nice, 176. Archaeologia, the account there given of the Waldenses, i. 282. Arnold, of Brescia, his history, i. 284. Arnold Hot defends the Albigenses against the Catholic clergy, ii. 373. Arnold, Abbot of Cisteaux, commands the first crusading army against the Albigenses, ii. 381. Athens, city of, i. 74. Athenagoras, his apology for the Christians, i. 140. Athanasius, his controversy with Arius, i. 177. Augustine's " City of God," i. 216. Aurelius Marcus, emperor, persecutes the Christians, i. 127. Avignon, city of, besieged by the crusaders, ii. 385. Barnabas and Saul proceed on their mission to the Gentiles, i. 53. Berengarius denies the real presence, i. 274. Bernard, St. his testimony to the Cathari, i. 278. censures the clergy of his day, 279. note, preaches against heretics, ii. 360. Berea, the first preaching of the gospel there, i. 74. Beziers, city of, attacked by the crusading army, ii. 375. Beziers, Earl of, intercedes for the Albigenses of his city, ii. 378. de- fends Carcassone, 379. falls a dupe to papal perfidy, 380. Bishops of Italy and the Grisons rejected the Church of Rome, i. 249. Blood-eating, prohibited, i. 131. Bohemia, description of, ii. 412. state of religion there, 413. Bohemian brethren, persecution against, ii. 422. sketch of their histo- ry, 424. Bourg, Sieur de Petit, his defence, ii. 499. Bruys, Peter de, founder of the Petrobrusians, i. 282. Burnet, Dr. his Letters from Italy, quoted, ii. 541. 543. 562. Cains Caligula, his reign, i. 55. Calabria, the Waldenses settled there in 1370, ii. 396. persecuted by Pope Pius IV. 475. Calvin, remarks on his talents, ii. 442. Campbell, Dr. George, quoted, on the incongruity of enforcing religion by the power of the magistrate, i. 169. the identity of the office of bishop and elder, 199. the origin of monkery, 200. his opinion of Gregory the Great, 225. Index. 599 Carcassone, besieged by the crusaders, ii. 377. singular escape of its people from the upper city, 381. Carthage, account of the persecution there, i. 130. Caesarea, dispute between the Jews and Nero concerning it, i. 100. Castrocaro, Governor of Piedmont, his tyrannical conduct towards the Waldenses, ii. 486. Cathari, in Germany, in the thirteenth century, opposed infant baptism, i. 278. Catinat, general of the French army, his cruelties towards the Walden- ses, ii. 555. Cestius, revolt of the Jews under his administration, i. 102. Chandler, Dr. his History of the Persecutions, quoted, i. 150. Charlemagne, king of France, crowned by the Pope, Emperor of the West, i. 257. Charles the Bald, raised to the throne, i. 264. Charles V. his conduct in the Netherlands, ii. 459. Christianity, state of, under Trajan, i. 116. Church at Jerusalem, a pattern of the kingdom of Christ, i. 43. Claude of Turin, account of, i. 251. Clergy, their kingdom and that of Christ not the same thing, i. 153. instance of their ignorance, 241. Constantinus Chlorus, favours the Christians, i. 159. nominates his son Constantine to be his successor, 161. Constantine the Great, different views of his character, i. 163. con- verted to Christianity, ib. removes the seat of government to By- zantium, or Constantinople, 165. his character and death, ib. changed the profession of Christianity, ib. his endowment of churches and patronage of the clergy, 167. insists on a uniformity of profession, 174. prohibits paganism by law, 175. convenes the council of Nice, 172. his exertions to accommodate differences among the clergy, 173. banishes Arius and his party, 175. Constantine II., Constans, and Constantius, divide the empire on the death of their father Constantine the Great, i. 173. Constantius the emperor, favours the Arians, i. 177. reflections on his reign, 179. Constantine Copronymus, opposes the worship of images, 231. Constantine, of Mananalis, founds the sect of the Paulicians, i. 243. Copin, Bartholomew, memoir of, ii. 489. Corinth, the city of, i. 77. Council of Constance, burn Huss and Jerome, ii. 418. Council of Nice, proceedings of the, i. 172. Council of Trent, its proceedings, ii. 464, Cromwell, Oliver, his character and government, ii. 504. appoints a public fast in behalf of the Waldenses, 509. liberality towards them and State Letters, 521. Crusades to Asia, history of, i. 289. Crusades, raised against the Albigenses, ii. 370. Cumanus, state of Judea under his government, i. 99. Cyprian, of Carthage, his letters, cpioted, i. 147. 600 Index. D Damascus, city of, described, i. 52. Decius, the emperor, persecutes the Christians, i. 150. Dioclesian, the emperor, persecutes the Christians, i. 160. Domitian, the Roman emperor, his character, i. 113. Dominic, founder of the inquisition, ii. 359. Donatists, their origin and principles, i. 225. Edict of Nantz, effects of its revocation, ii. 564. Echard, an inquisitor after persecuting the Waldenses, becomes a con- vert to their profession, and suffers martyrdom, ii. 394. Ecolampadius, his letter to the Waldenses, ii. 445. Egbert, a monk, his account of the Cathari, i. 279. Ephesus, origin of the Christian church there, i. 80. Elector Palatine, his letter to the Duke of Savoy in behalf of the Wal- denses, ii. 484. Epicureans, at Athens, their tenets, 75. Eusebius, of Caesarea, how he describes the state of the Christian pro- fession previous to the Decian persecution, i. 151. his account of the council of Nice, 172. Evervinus, of Stanfield, his letter to St. Bernard, i. 277. Exarchate of Ravenna, i. 210. Felix, state of Judea under his government, i. 99. Festus, state of Judea under his government, i. ib. Florus, Gessius, state of Judea under his government, i. 100. Fontenoy, sanguinary battle of, i. 264. Fox, Hon. Charles James, his History of James II. quoted, ii. 430. his opinion of Oliver Cromwell, 505. note. France, kings of, seated Antichrist on his throne, i. 257. Francis I. King of France, conquers Piedmont, ii. 477. is entreated by the pope to persecute the Waldensas, 478. Frederic II. his four sanguinary edicts against heretics, ii. 361. Fuller, Mr. quoted against eating blood, i. 132. Galba, succeeds Nero as emperor, i. 106. Galerius, emperor of Rome, his horrid cruelty to the Christians, i. 161. recal of his sanguinary edicts, and his shocking death, 162. Gastaldo, his order against the Waldenses, ii. 495. Geneva, receives the exiled Waldenses, ii. 561. Gibbon, Mr. his Roman History quoted, i. 115. 122. 162. 180. 185. 186. 190. 195. note. 196. 202. 207. note. 210. 211. note. 224. 243. &C. 262. Index. 601 Gothic, invasion of the Roman empire, i. 209. Greathead, bishop of Lincoln, ii. 399. withstood the sec of Rome, 400. Gregory Nazianzen, his remark on the clergy of his times, i. 180. Gregory I. (the Great), raised to the papal chair, i. 217. estimate of his character, 222. Gregory II. (pope) his two letters to the emperor Leo, i. 228. Gregory III. his letter to the emperor Leo, i. 230. Gregory IX. excommunicates the emperor, and deprives him of his crown, ii. 392. Gros, Mr. Peter, a Waldensian pastor, his fall and recovery, ii. 500. H Henry the Great, Emperor of Germany, i. 266. Henricians, some account of, i. 283. Herod Agrippa, incurred the displeasure of Tiberius, i. 59. kills James the apostle, and imprisons Peter, ib. his pride, blasphemy, and death, 60. Hincmar, Archbp. of Rheims, boldly opposes the papal chair, i. 265. Holy Spirit, effusion of, i. 40. Huss, John, some account of, ii. 414. I Ignatius, sent from Antioch to Rome, and put to death, i. 112. Images, the worship of, traced to its source, i. 226. Inquisition, some account of, ii. 364. Inquisitors, their proceedings against the Waldenses, ii. 390. Irene, the Greek empress, her zeal for the worship of images, i. 233. Irenreus, his account of the persecution of the churches of Vienne and Lyons, i. 130. J James, the son of Zebedee, his death, i. 59. James, writer of the epistle, his death, i. 97. Jerome, his attack on Vigilantius, i. 206. Jerome, of Prague, some account of, ii. 418. Jerusalem, Christ's predictions concerning, i. 104. is besieged and taken by the Romans, 106. Jesus of Nazareth, his baptism, ministry, doctrine, and miracles, i. 36. his death and resurrection, 37. Jews, their insurrection at Caesarea, i. 100. their revolt under Gessius Florus, 101. sketch of their war with the Romans, 102. estimate of the numbers of them killed during the war and siege of Jerusalem, 110. Job, remarks on his history and writings, i. 235. John the Baptist, his preaching, i. 36. John of Gischala, i. 104. Josephus, the Jewish historian, some account of, i. 103. note. 51 602 Index. Jovian, the emperor, favours the Christians, i. 190. Judea, origin of the war there, i. 99. Julian, the emperor, view of his reign, i. 185. Justin Martyr, his apologies for the Christians, i. 128. suffers martyr- dom at Rome, 129. Justus Lipsius, his enumeration of the Jews killed during the war and siege of their city, i. 110. Kingdom of the Messiah, the subject of prophecy, i. 35. its erection at Jerusalem, 44. description of its subjects and laws, ib. I, Lactantius, some account of, i. 172. note. Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, his letter to the Duke of Savoy in favour of the Waldenses, ii. 522. Leo, the Greek emperor, his contests with the Roman Pontiffs con- cerning images, i. 228. Lesna, in Poland, destroyed by the Catholics, ii. 538. Limborch's History of the Inquisition, quoted, ii. 358. character of that work, 359. note. 360. 372. 375. 390. Lollards, some account of, ii. 411. Lothaire, King of France, behaviour to his father, i. 263. Louis XII. King of France, condemns the conduct of the inquisitors against the Waldenses, ii. 348. Louis XIV. his detestable conduct towards the Duke of Savoy, ii. Ap- pendix, No. 17. Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, in Sardinia, i. 197. Ludovicu3 Pius, (Lewis the Meek) King of France, his reign, i. 262. Luther, his testimony in favour of the Waldenses, ii. 353. strictures on his character, 441. Lyons, persecution of the church there, i. 131. M Macrinus, the Roman emperor, his character and death, i. 145. Maximin, emperor, i. 146. M'Laine, Dr. his plea for human inventions in religious worship, i. 197. Mahomet, the Arabian impostor, his history, i. 234. Manichacans, a view of their system, ii. 322. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, his apology for the Christians, i. 128. Merindole, in France, destroyed by the Catholics, ii. 448. Middleton, Dr. quoted on the superstition of the Catholic fathers, i. 204. Milton, his testimony in favour of the Waldenses, ii. 355. his Sonnet, 507. and letters in behalf of the Waldenses, 509, &c. Minucius Felix, converted to Christianity, and wrote an eloquent de- fence of it, i. 139. Index. 603 Miriam, affecting account of her, during the siege of Jerusalem, i. 108. Monkery, its rise and progress, i. 200. Moors, their expulsion from Spain by the inquisition, ii. 366. Montfort, Simon, earl of, commands the crusading army against the Al- bigenses, ii. 381. Monthly Review, quoted, ii. 565. Morland, Sir S. his embassy to the Duke of Savoy, ii. 509. Muret, battle of, singular disclosure made after it, ii. 389 note. N Neal's History of the Puritans, corrected, ii. 528. Nero, the emperor, his cruel treatment of the Christians, i. 95. Nerva, the Roman emperor, his character, i. 114. Netherlands, state of religion there in the sixteenth century, ii. 458. Nicene Creed, i. 173. Nicomedia, the capital of Bithynia, becomes the residence of the Ro- man emperors, i. 160. Novatian, withdraws from the communion of the church of Rome, i. 181. his principles and conduct vindicated, 182. O Oppede, governor of Provence, his horrid treatment of the Waldenses, ii. 454. Origen, some account of, i. 147. Paganism, its fall described in New Testament prophecy, i. 195. Paterines, their origin, principles, increase, manners, and behaviour, i. 287. Paul, the apostle, his history and travels sketched, i. 53. Paulicians, sect of, i. 243. Paulinus, of Aquileia, some account of, i. 252. Pelagius, his description of the sacking of Rome, i. 213. note. Peter, the apostle, his preaching on the day of Pentecost, i. 42. is im- prisoned by Herod, but delivered by an angel, 60. Peter de Bruis, some account of, i. 282. Philip II. King of Spain, his character and history, ii. 458. celebrates an Auto-de-fe, 462. puts his own son to death, 473. Philippi, Paul's preaching there, i. 70. Piedmont, derivation of the name, i. 246. geographical description, fer- tility, &c. 247. progress of Christianity in, 251. its inhabitants en- joy toleration for three centuries, ii. 389. See further under the article Waldenses. Pionessa, Marquis of, his inhuman treatment of the Waldenses, ii. 496. Pliny's letter to Trajan, i. 116. Poggio of Florence, his account of Jerome of Prague, ii. 419. 604 Index. Pyrenean mountains described, i. 247. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, bis martyrdom, i. 127. Poland, persecution of the Waldenses there, ii. 531. Pothinus, pastor of the church in Lyons, his death, i. 134. Praetextatus, a heathen, his witticism respecting the bishops of Rome, i. 180. Prince of Orange, favours the Protestants, ii. 465. his enlightened views, 467. a fine speech of his, 468. Printing, origin and happy effects of, ii. 473. Provence, a province of France, horrible proceedings against the Waldenses there in the sixteenth century, ii. 446. Q Quadratus, of Athens, writes an apology for the Christians, i. 124. Quarrel between Pope Gregory IX. and the Emperor Frederick IL im- peded the progress of the Inquisition, ii. 394." R Ravenna, the residence of the Emperor Honorius, i. 210. Rankin, Dr. his History of France, quoted, i. 273. ii. 310, &c. Raymond, Earl of Toulouse, refuses to expel the Albigenses, ii. 374. shamefully treated by the court of Rome, 375. and recovers his do- minions, 383. his death, 384. Raymond, Roger, Earl of Beziers, incurs the displeasure of the court of Rome by- protecting the Albigenses, ii. 375. Reinerius Saccho, his account of the Waldenses, ii. 318. his testimony to their purity, 350. describes their itinerant preachers, ib. appoint- ed legate of the pope, and sent against the Waldenses in France, 370. Religion, state of, about the time of the Reformation, ii. 430. Robertson, Dr. quoted on the Gothic invasion, i. 210. on the impro- per deference shown to the clergy, 216. on the spirit of the Inquisi- tion in Spain, ii. 366. Robinson, Mr. R. his defence of Novatian, 182. his account of the sect of the Paterines, 287. mistakes the principles of the Albigenses, ii. 322. his uncandid treatment of the Waldenses, ib. note, his Me- moirs of the Reformation in France, quoted, 432. Rome, the city of, described, i. 90. persecution of the church there, 94. contentions for its bishoprick in the fourth century, 180. besieged by Alaric and his Gothic hordes, 210. its extent, population, and gran- deur, note, 211. captured by Alaric and sacked, 213. Roman Empire, its state at Nero's death, i. 106. Roscoe's Life of Leo X. quoted, ii. 444. S Sadoletus, bishop of Capentras, treats the Waldenses kindly, ii. 453. Saluces, the marquisate of, described, ii. 491. Index. 605 Serenus Granianus, proconsul of Asia, remonstrates with Adrian on his treatment of the Christians, i. 124. Severus, the emperor, his severe treatment of the Christians, i. 135. Sigismund, the emperor, his duplicity to Huss, ii. 417. Simeon, a Greek officer, sent to destroy the Paulicians, becomes a con- vert to the faith, and sutlers martyrdom, i. 244. Sisinnius, an elder of the Novatianist church in Constantinople, i. 192. interesting anecdotes concerning him, ib. note. Sleidan, John, his account of the cruelties exercised on the Waldenses in France, ii. 446. Sonship of Christ, how mistaken b> both Athanasians and Arians, i. 169. Spain, establishment and influence of the inquisition in it, ii. 366. Stephen, the protomartyr, his eloquent defence, and death, i. 50. Stoics, at Athens, their tenets, i. 75. Swiss Cantons, their proceedings in behalf of the Waldenses, ii. 305. Tacitus, his character of Nero, quoted, i. 94. Temple, set on fire by the Roman army, plundered and destroyed, i. 109. Tertullian, presbyter of Carthage, his Apology for the Christians, i. 136. Thuanus, (De Thou,) his account of the Waldenses in France, ii. 349. reflections on the persecution of the Waldenses, 395. note, traces the rise and progress of the Waldenses, 403. his account of the cru- elties inflicted on them in the sixteenth century, 450. 457. Tiberius Caesar, character of his reign, i. 54. Tiberianus, his treatment of the Christians in Syria, 121. Titus, accompanies his father Vespasian into Judea, i. 102. succeeds his father in the command of the aimy, 106. efforts to save the tem- ple, 109. razes the city to its foundations, 111. succeeds his father as emperor, 113. Themistius, his oration to the emperor Jovian, i. 190. Theodosius the Great, advanced to the imperial dignity, i. 194. en- forces uniformity of religious profession, ib. abolishes the pagan wor- ship by law, 195. Theodora, the Greek empress, her persecution of the Paulicians, i. 245. Thessalonica, origin of the church there, i. 73. Toulouse, the rendezvous of the Albigenses, taken by the army of crusaders, ii. 386. Trajan, ascends the throne, i. 116. his answer to Pliny's letter, 118. U Uladislaus, king of Bohemia, ii. 426. Unitas Fratrum, their origin, ii. 424. Usher, Archbishop, quoted on the preaching of the monks, ii. 370. 006 Index. Valentinian and Valens, associated as emperors, i. 191. Valens, persecutes the orthodox, i. 191. proceeds against the Nova- tianists, 192. Vespasian, sent by Nero to subdue the "Jews, i. 102. is elected empe- ror and proceeds to Rome, 106. remarks on his reign, 113. Victor Atnadeus, Duke of Savoy, extirpates the Waldenses from Pied- mont, ii. 543. Viguaux, Mr. pastor of a Waldensian church, his history of the Wal- denses referred to, ii. 354. his compassion for his suffering brethren, Vigilantius, his opposition to the system of monkery, i. 206. Voltaire's description of Italy, i. 248. how he characterizes the spirit of the inquisition, ii. 367. his account of Peter Waldo, 438. and of the Waldenses, 439. Vienne, in France, persecution of the church there, i. 129. W Waldenses, their appearance in England, i. 281. condemned by the council of Oxford, in 1166, 282. etymology of the name, ii. 307. how described by Reinerius Saccho, 318. by an ancient inquisitor, 324. by iEneas Sylvius, 327. by Claudius Seisselius, 328. their con- fessions of faith, 332, their Treatise on Antichrist, quoted, 336. the grounds of their dissent from the Church of Rome, 340. their apo- logies, quoted, 341. testimonies from various adversaries, quoted, 346. remarkable attestation of Thuanus, 349. and from Reinerius Saccho, 350. their manner of disseminating their principles among the great, ib. commended by Luther, 353. by Beza, Bullinger, and others, ib. Mil- ton's testimony, 355. Dr. Jortin's testimony, 357. similarity of their doctrinal tenets with those of Wickliff, Luther, and Calvin, ib. per- secuting edicts of Frederick II. against them, 361. spread into Spain, and edicts issued against them, 369. 390. their spread into Germany, Alsace, Saxony, and Pomerania, 392. in the city of Paris, where they are cruelly treated, 395. their emigration from Dauphiny into Calabria, 396. are tolerated in Calabria for two centuries, ib. their migration from France into the Netherlands, and persecutions there, 297. into Poland and Lithuania, ib. and into England, 398. perse- cuted in the valley of Pragela, 432. and in the valleys of Fraissi- niere, Argentiere, and Loysc, in France, 433. their probable number at the beginning of the sixteenth century, 439. how affected by the Reformation, 441. intercourse between them and Ecolampadius, 445. sanguinary proceedings against them in Provence, 446. those of Ca- labria cruelly persecuted, and at last exterminated, 475. their treat- ment under Francis I. king of France, 477. again become subject to the Duke of Savoy, 479. avow their principles and plead for tolera- tion, 480. are threatened and persecuted in Piedmont, ib. plea in their favour from the Elector Palatine, 484. those of Saluces driven into Index. 007 exile, 493. inhuman order of Gastaldo against those in Piedmont, 495. their pleas with the governor unsuccessful, ib. their narrative of the cruelties exercised on them, 490. two of their pastors apostatize, 500. their restoration and confession, ib. proceedings in England on hearing of the sufferings of the Waldenses, 506. contributions raised for their relief, 521. treaty negotiated for them, 524. disappoints their hopes and expectations, ib. affecting picture of their distress, 526. the Swiss a second time interfere for them, 527. persecution of their brethren in Poland and Bohemia, 533. those in Piedmont obtain the favour of their prince in 1662, and are tolerated, 541. but dread- fully persecuted under his son Victor Ainadeus, 543. who first impri- sons and then banishes them from Piedmont, 559. &c. Waldo, Peter, of Lyons, his history, ii. 311. is driven by persecution from Lyons, 313. success of his ministry, 314. retires into Bohemia and dies, ib. Warburton, his Divine Legation of Moses, quoted, i. 119. White, Dr. his Bampton Lectures quoted on the introduction of image worship, i. 227. on the ignorance of the clergy of the middle ages, 241. Wickliff, his character and writings, ii. 405. his letter to John Huss, 407. note, progress of his doctrine, 416. Z Ziska, John, some account of, ii. 423. Date Due ...~;£i2$&M& ii i $