! YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE HISTORY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE XVIII. CENTURY: INCLUDISG THE VERY INTERESTING ACCOUNT WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSES. BY VV^ILLIAM JONES. TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. THIRD AMERICAN FROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION. PUBLISHED BY R. W. POMEROY. SOLD BY HOGAN & THOMPSON, 139J MARKET STREET. 1833. C. SHERMAN & CO. PRINTERS, St. James Street, Philadelpliia. CONTENTS. Chronological Tables to Vols. I. and II. - - - vii Preface to the First Edition, - ... xiii Preface to the Fifth Edition, - - xix Introduction, .---.--i 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 Getjtiles, ... 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 Subj ect 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 n. History of the Christian Church frotn 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 iv contents. CHAPTER III. The State of Christianity from the Accession of Constantine to the Rise ofthe TFaldenses, A. D. 306—800. Sect. 1. A View ofthe 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. A Viewof the State of the Christian Prof essionfromthebeginning of the ninth to the end ofthe 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 ofthe City of Jerusalem, A. D. 1096 1270, 289 CHAPTER V. The History of the TT aldenses and Albigenses, from the Times of Peter TValdo, A. D. 1160, to the Bays of Jrickliff, 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. - . _ 0/17 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 contents. V 4. Additional Testimonies from the Writings of both Friends and Foes — Miscellaneous Reflections on their History, 346 5. A Vie.w of the Rise and Establishment of the Inquisition, with Reflections on its Spirit and Operation — Edicts of Frederick II. - - - - 358 6. History of the persecutions of the Albigenses in France, during the thirteenth Century, - 369 7. The State of the Waldenses, from the Period of the Extirpation of the Albigenses, to the Middle of the fourteenth Century, A. D. 1220 — 1350, - 389 8. State of Religion in England and Bohemia, in the thir teenth and fourteenth Centuries — Sketches of Wick liff — the Lollards — Huss — ^Jerome of Prague — Bohe mian Brethren, &c. &c. ... 403 CHAPTER VI. History of the TValdenses continued from the Middle of the four teenth to the End of the seventeenth Century, A. D. 1350—1700. Sect. 1. The History of the Waldenses from the Days of Wick liff" to the Rise of Luther, A. D. 1350—1500, 430 2. History of the Waldenses frora the End of the fifteenth to the Middle of the sixteenth Century, A. D. 1500 — 1550, ..... 443 3. View of the Conduct of the Court of Rome, and of the Inquisition in the sixteenth Century^State of Affairs in Spain and the Netherlands, A. D. 1550 — 1570, 458 4. History of the Waldenses continued, from the Middle of the sixteenth to the Commencement of the seven teenth Century, A.D. 1551 — 1600, - - 473 5. History of the Waldenses continued, from the year 1600 to 1665 — their Banishment from the Marquisate of Saluces — Cruel Order of Gastaldo — Dreadful Massacre in Piedmont, A. D. 1665-^Defection and Recovery of two of their Pastors, &c. ... 491 6. History of the Waldenses continued — Generous Inter ference of the English Government — -Milton's Sonnet, and State Letters to the Swiss Cantons — the King of France — Duke of Savoy — King of Sweden — King of Denmark — United Provinces — Swiss Cantons — Prince of Transylvania — Senators of Geneva — The a2 contents. Landgrave of Hesse to the Duke of Savoy — Mission of Sir S. Morland, .... 504 7. Waldensian History continued — Sanguinary Proceedings against them in Poland — Appeal to the English Na tion — Narrative of the Cruelties inflicted by the Ca tholics, - - - - 527 8. History concluded — Edict of Victor Amadeus — Inter ference of the Swiss Cantons — Distracted State of Piedmont — Despotic Influence of Louis XIV. — Pied mont invaded by the French Army — Massacre — Im prisonment — Final Extirpation of the Waldenses — Reflections on their History and Sufferings, - 540 Appeiidix — Proofs and Illustrations, .... 567 Index to the two Volumes, ... 597 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES TO ILLUSTRATE THE FIRST VOLUME OP THIS WORK. N. B. The dates in the first column denote the year in which the person died, or resigned the office. BO MAir EMPEBOKS. Century L A.D. Augustus, - . 14 Tiberius, _ 37 Caligula, - . 41 Claudius, . 54 Nero, . 68 Galba, - . 69 Otho, . 69 Vitellius, . 70 Vespasian, - . 79 Titus, - . 81 Domitian, - . 96 Nerva, Century U. - 98 Trajan, . 117 Adrian, . - 138 Antoninus Pius, 161 Marcus Antoninus, - 180 Lucius Verus Commodus, - 192 Pertinax, . - 193 Did. Julianus, . 193 Niger, - . - 194 Albinus, Century in. 197 Severus, . 211 CaracaUa, . - 217 Macrinus, - . 218 Heliogabalus, . - 222 Severus Alexander, , 235 Maximin, . . 237 Gordian I. n. . 237 Eubianus and Balbinus, - 238 Gordian IH. . 244 Philip the Arabian, . 250 Decius, . 252 Gallus and Volusianus, - - 253 JEmilianus, . 253 Valerian, . - 259 Gallienus, - . 268 Claudius II. . - 270 BISHOPS OF BOME.* Century L Linus, f Chronologists Anaclitus, - differ about Clement, ¦ the dates Evaristus, . of their Alexander, deaths Century II. A. B. Xystus or Sixtus, - 127 Tellesphorus, - . 138 Hyginus, . 150 Pius I. - . . 153 Anicetus, - 162 Soter, - . 172 Eleutherus, . 185 Victor, Century III. 196 Zepherinus, ^ 219 Callistus, . 224 Urban, 231 Pontianus, . 235 Anterns, - 236 Fabianus, . 251 Cornelius, 254 Lucius, . 256 Stephen, - 258 Sixtus IL 259 Dionysius, 270 Eutychianus , - 283 Caius Marcellinus, - 296 Century IV. Marcellinus, 304 Marcellus, . . 309 Eusebius, 311 Melchiades, , _ 313 Sylvester, 335 Mark, - . 336 Julius, , 352 Liberius, . . 367 Damasus, . 384 Syricius, - - 398 • The succession of the Bishops of Rome is an extremely intricate affair. But the foUowing catalogue, which is according to the learned Bishop Pearson, will, perhaps, be sufficiently accurate to serve the purpose of assisting the readers ofthis history. I am apprehensive, however, that the dates, as respects the Bishops of Rome and the Popes, denote the time of their elevation to the chair of St. Peter. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES. BOMAK EMPEBOBS. Century III. A.D. QuintilUus, 270 Aurelian, 275 Tacitus, 275 Florianus, 276 Probus, 282 Cavus, - 283 Numei-ianus, 284 Century IV. Dioclesian and Maximin, 305 Constantius, 306 Galerius, 311 Maximin and Licinius, 312 COSSTASTINE THE GbEAT, - 337 Constantine II. 338 Constans, 350 Constantius, 361 Julian the Apostate, 363 Jovian, - _ - 364 Valentinian, 375 Valens, 378 Gratian, 383 Valentinian II. 392 Theodosius the Gbeat, 395 N.B. The Roman empire was at this time di^-ided into Eastern and Western. EMPEBOns OF the WEST. (eOSIE.) Century V. Honorius, - 423 Valentinian III. 455 Maximus, 455 Avitus, - 456 Majorianus, 461 Severus, 465 Anthemius, 472 Glycerius, 474 Julius Nepos, 475 Augustulus, 476 OnoACEE took the title of King of^ Italy, and put an end to tlie L493 Western Empire until thereign J of Charlemagne, in 800. Century VI. KI>-GS OF ITALY. Theodoric, 526 Athalaiic, 534 Theodatus, 536 Vitiges, 540 EOMBABD KINGS. Albinus, 571 Clephis, 573 Autharis, 590 EMPEKOIIS OF THE EAST. (CONSTANTI- IfOPLE. Century V. Arcadius, 408 Theodosius II. 450 Marcianus, 457 BISHOPS OE BOME. Century V. A.D. Anastasius, 402 Innocent, 417 Zasinius, 418 Boniface I. 423 Celestine I. 432 Sixtus m. 450 Leo the Great, 461 Hilarius, - 467 Simplicius, - 483 Felix m. 492 Galasius, 496 Anastasius II. 498 Century VL Sjonmachus I. 514 Hormisdas, 523 John I. 526 Felix IV. - 529 Boniface II. - - 531 John U. 535 Agapetus L 536 Sylverius, - 540 Vigilius, 555 Pelagius I. 558 John m. - 572 Bendict I. - 577 Pelagius II. 590 Geegobt THE Gbeat, who is pro- perly termed the Pope or Uni- versal Bishop. POPES AFTER GREGORY THE GREAT. Century VIL Sabinianus, 605 Boniface III. - 606 Boniface IV. 614 Deodatus, - 617 Boniface V. 625 Honorius I. - 638 Severinus I. 639 John IV. 641 Theodore I. 648 Martin I. - . - 655 Eugenius I. 656 Vitalianus, 671 Adeod.itus, 676 Domnus, - 678 AgaUio I. 682 Leo II. - - 684 Benedict II. - . 685 John V. 686 Conon, ... 687 Century VIIL Sergius I. - . - 701 John VI. 705 John VII. 707 Sisinnius, ... 708 Constantine, - 714 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES. IX EMPEBOBS OF THB EAST. A.D. POP Ca ES OF BOME. Century V. ttury VIIL LeoL - 474 Gregory H. LeoIL 474 Gregory HI. - - Zeno Isaurius, ... 491 Zachary, Century VL Stephen H. . . Anastatius, - 518 Stephen HI. Justin I. 527 Paul, - . . Justinian, ... 565 Stephen IV. Justin n. - - - 578 Adrian, . • Tiberius n. 586 Leo III. - Century VII. Century IX. Mauricius, - - . 602 Stephen V. . Phocas^ . - . 610 Paschal I. . . Heraclius, ... 641 Eugene H. . Constantine m. 641 Valentine, . ¦ Heraclianus, 642 Gregory IV. .- Constans H. - 668 Sergius II. - Constantine IV. 685 Leo IV. - Leontius, ... 698 Benedict III. , . Century VIIL Nicholas I. - . Tiberius IH. 703 Adrian II. . . Justinian H. - 711 John VIII. - . Anastatius H. 714 Marinus II. . . Theodosius HI. 716 Adrian HI. - . Leo Isaurius, 741 Stephen VI. . Const. Copronymus, - 780 Formosus, . Porphyry, - 797 Boniface VI. . . Irene, .... 802 Stephen VII. - EMPEBOBS OF THE WEST, OF THE HOUSE Century X. OF FBAKCE. Theodore II. - Century IX, John IX. Charlemagne, 800 Benedict IV. Lewis the Debonnair, - 814 Leo V. Lotharius I. 840 Christopher, Lewis n. - - - 855 Sergius, Charles H. or the Bald, 875 Anastatius III. Lewis m. or the Stammerer, - 878 Landon, Charles IH. or the Fat 879 John X. Arnold, 887 Leo VI. Lewis IV. - 899 Stephen VIII. OEBMAN EMPEBOBS. John XI. Century X. Leo VII. - Conrad I. 912 Stephen IX. Henry I. or the Fowler, 919 Marinus III. Otho L or the Great, 936 Agapetus IL Otho H. or the Bloody, 973 John XII. - Otho in. - 983 Leo VIH. EMPEBOBS OF THE EAST. Benedict V. Century TX. John XIH. Nicephorus, 802 Domnus II. Stauracius, 811 Benedict VI. Michael Corupalates, 811 Boniface VII. LeoV. 813 Benedict VH. Michael H. the Stammerer, 820 John XIV. - Theophilus, . -i. . 829 John XV. Michael HL 842 John XVL - . Basil, .... 866 John XVII. . Leo the Philosopher, 886 Gregory V. - CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES. EMPEBOBS OF THE EAST. A. D. POPES OF BOME. Century X. Alexander, - - , Century XI. A.D. - 999 1003 - 1003 1009 911 Silvester II. Constantine Prophyrogenitus, - 912 John XVIII. Romanus Lecapene, 919 John XIX. Christopher, Sergius IV. Constantine restored. 944 Benedict VHI. 1012 Stephen, . . - John XX. 1024 Romanus the Young, 959 Benedict IX. - - 1034 Basil and Constantine, - 963 Gregory VI. 1044 Nicephorus Phocas, 963 Clement H. - - 1046 John Zimisces, 969 Damasus II. . 1048 BasU II. and Constantine the St. Leo IX. 1049 Young restored. 974 Victor II. - 1054 Century XL Stephen X. 1057 Romanus Argyropulus, 1028 Nicholas H. - - 1058 Michael the Paphlagonian, 1034 Alexander H. 1061 Michael CaLiphates, 1041 Gregory VII. - - 1073 Zeo and Theodora, 1042 Victor UI. 1086 Constantine Monomachus, 1042 Urban II. - 1088 Theodora, 1054 Paschal H. 1099 Michael the Warrior, - 1056 Century XIL Isaac Comnenus, - 1057 Gelasus II. 1118 Constantine Ducas, 1059 Calixtus II. - 1119 Romanus Diogenes, 1068 Honorius II. 1124 Michael Ducas, 1071 Innocent H. - 1130 Nicephorus Botoniates, 1078 Celestine H. 1143 Michael Ducas and Constantine, Luejus II. - 1144 Alexius Comnenus, 1081 Eugenius III. 1145 Century XII. Anastatius IV. 1153 Joanus Comnenus, 1118 Adrian IV. 1154 Manuel Comnenus, 1143 Alexander IH. - 1159 Alexius Comnenus the Younger, 1180 Lucius ni. 1181 Andronicus Comnenus, 1183 Urban HI. - 1185 Isaac Angelus, 1185 Gregory VIH. 1187 Alexius Angelus, caUed the Ty Clement HI. - - 1188 rant. 1195 Celestine III. 1191 EMPEBOBS OF THE WEST. Innocent III. - 1192 Century XI. St. Henry II. surnamedthe Lame 1002 Conrad II. the Salic, 1024 Henry III. the Black, - 1039 Henry IV. the Old, 1056 Rodolph I. 1077 Century XII. Henry V. 1106 Lotharius H. - 1125 Conrad III. 1139 Frederick I. Barbarossa, 1150 Henry VI. 1193 Philip, 1199 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE or SOVEREIGN PRINCES ILLUSTRATIVE OP THE SECOND VOLUME OP THIS WORK. POPES OF BOME. Century XIII. A. D. Honorius in. - - 1216 Gregory IX. - - - 1227 Celestine IV. - 1241 Innocent IV. - - 1243 Alexander IV. 1254 Urban IV. - - -1261 Clement IV. - - 1265 Gregory X. - - - 1271 Innocent V. - - 1276 Adrian V. - - - 1276 Nicholas m. - - 1277 Martin IV. - - - 1281 Honorius IV. 1285 Nicholas IV. - - 1288 S. Celestine V. - 1294 Boniface VIII. - - 1294 Century XIV. Benedict XI. 1303 Clement V. - - - 1305 John xxn. - - 1316 Benedict XH. - 1334 Clement VI. - - 1342 Innocent VI. - - 1352 Urban V. - - - 1362 Gregory XI. - - 1370 Urban VI. - - - 1378 Clemekt \TI. - - 1378 Boniface IX. - - 1389 Century XV. Innocent vn. - 1404 Gregory XII. - - 1406 Alexander V. - - 1409 John xxin. - - - 1410 Martin V. - - - 1417 Eugene IV. - - -1431 Nicholas V. - - 1447 Calixtus in. - - - 1455 Pius II. - - 1458 Pauin. - - - -1464 Sixtus IV. - - - 1471 Innocent VTH. - 1484 Alexander VI. - 1492 GEBMAS EMPEBOBS. Century XUL 1208 ¦ 1212 1250 1254 - 1257 12711272 Otho IV. - - - Frederick II. Conrad IV. - - WiUiam, Earl of Holland, - - Richard, of Corn wall, Interregnum which lasted two years, iijz._ Rodolph I. Count of Hapsburg, 1272 Adolphus of Nas sau, . - - - 1292 Albert I. - - - 1298 Century XIV. Henry VII. of Luxumburg, - 1308 Lewis V. of Ba varia, - - 1314 Charles IV. of Luxemburg, - 1347 Winceslaus, king of Bohemia, - 1378 Robert, elector Palatine, - - 1400 Century XV. Sigismund, king of Bohemia, - 1411 Maximilian I. - 1493 Century XVI. Charies V. - - 1519 Ferdinand I. - - 1558 MaximUian n. - 1564 Rodolph - - -1576 Century XVIL Matthias I. - 1612 Ferdinand n. - -1619 Ferdinand III. 1637 Leopold, - - 1657 KIXGS OF FRAXCE. Century XIV. A, D. Lewis X. caUed Hutin, - - 1314 PhUip V. called the Long, - - 1316 Charies IV. called the Fat>, - - 1321 PhUip VI. ofVa- loise, .... 1328 John, surnamed the Good, - ¦ - 1350 Charles V. or the Wise, - - 1364 Charles VI. called the Bienaime, - 1380 Century XV. Charles VII. called the Victorious, - 1422 Lewis XI. - - - 1461 Charles VIII. - 1483 Lewb XII. - - - 1497 Century XVI. Francis I. - - 1514 Henry II. - - - - 1547 Francis II. - - - 1559 Charles IX. - - - 1560 Henry III. - - - 1574 Henry IV. - - - 1589 Century XVIL Lewis Xin. - 1610 Lewis XIV. - - 1643 EABES OF SAVOT ABU MAU- BIENNE. Century XIV. Edward, - - 1323 Aymon, - - -1329 Amadeus VI. - - 1343 Amadeus VII. - - 1383 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES. POPES OF BOME. EMPEBOBS OF THE HOUSE DUKES OF SAVOT. OF AUSTBIA. Century XVL A. D. Century XIV. Century XV. A.D. Pius III. - - - 1503 A. D. Amadeus VUI. Julius H. - - - - 1503 Albert H. - - 1438 resigned, - - 1391 LeoX. - - - 1513 Frederic IH. - - 1440 Adrian Aa. - - -1522 MaximUian I. 1493 Century XV. Clement Vrt. - - 1523 Lewis, . - . - 1434 Paul m. ... 1534 Century XVL Amadeus IX. -1465 Julius in. - - - 1550 Charles V. - - 1519 Philibert I. - - 1472 MarceUusH.- - -1555 Charles I. ¦1482 Paul IV. - 1555 Charles John Pius IV. - - - -1559 Amadeus, - - 1490 Pius V. ¦ - - - 1563 EMPEBOBS OF THE EAST. PhUip Lackland, 1496 Gregory Xin. - -1572 (CONSTANTINOPIE.) PhUibert n. - - 1496 Urban Vn. - - 1590 Century XIII. Century XVL Gregory XIV. 1590 Alexius the Charles m. - - 1504 Innocent IX. - - 1591 Younger, - - 1203 Emanuel Phili Clement VIH. - 1592 Alexius IV. - -1203 bert, - . . . 1559 Murtzupliius - 1204 Charles Emanuel, 1580 Century XVIL Leo XL- - - - 1605 Century XVH. PaulV. - - - -1605 Victor Amadeus I. 1630 Gregory XV. - - 1621 Francis Hyacin- Urban VIH. - - - 1623 thus, .... 1637 Innocent X. - - 1644 Charles Emanueln. 1638 Alexander Vn. - - 1655 Victor Amadeus U. 1675 Clement IX. - - 1667 Clement X. - - 1670 Innocent XI. - - 1675 Alexander VIU. - 1689 Innocent xn. - - 1691 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The History of the Christian Church, when prosecuted in minute detail, and in all its ramifications, is an ample theme, and has occu pied the pens of many learned men, both of our own and other coun tries. The elaborate treatises of Eusebius, Du Pin, Fleury, Mo sheim, Priestley, Milner, and others of inferior consideration, have most of them been long before the public, and are all well known. To discuss the subject at large, or to enter into any competition with those works, as it is not to be expected in the compass of a single volume,* so it must not be considered as having at all entered into the views of the present writer. The following pages, whatever may be their merits or defects, were not designed to instruct persons of general reading; for tlie author is fully aware that they contain little which is not familiar to that class of men. They were compiled with the view of communi cating some interesting information to a few friends whose views of the gospel of Christ, and of the nature of his kingdom in this world, hap pen to coincide pretty much with his own, but who have been debarred the opportunity of exploring the voluminous productions in which that information lay scattered. Those who have bestowed any considerable degree of attention upon the article of Ecclesiastical History, will readily admit, that no period of it stands so much in need of elucidation, as that. which intervened from the beginning of the ninth century to the days of Luther. The original sources of our information are, almost exclusively, the Catholic writers — a race of men who, while they had an interest in disguising the truth, appear to have delighted themselves in calumniating all that dissented from their communion. And even since the time of the Re formation, while the light of divine truth has been shining around us with increasing splendour, and thus contributing to expose in all its deformity that " raystery of iniquity," the Roman hierarchy, our Pro testant historians have been but too implicitly led by those false guides. There is scarcely any History of the Christian Church extant in our language from which it would not be easy to exemp^lify the truth of this representation ; but in no case could it more stfikingly be done, than in that which respects the leading object of the present work. Not to multiply proof of this, where proofs are so abundant, an instance in point may be adduced from a cotemporary writer of our own country, • The first edition was cornprised in one volume. B xiv PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. who, a few years ago, published in our own language, the " History of France " in five vols. 4to. The following is the account there given of the Albigenses, a class of Christians who, as the reader will see from the subsequent part of this volume, were only a branch of the Waldenses, inhabiting a particular district in France. " The Albigenses," says this historian, " believed in two Gods ; one a beneficent being, author of the New Testament, who had two wives, Collant and CoUibant, and was father of several children, and among others, of Christ and the devil. The other God was a malevolent being, a liar, and a destroyer of men, author ofthe ancient law, who, not con tent wilh having persecuted the patriarchs during their lives, had con signed them all to damnation after death. They also acknowledge two Christs ; one wicked, who was born at Bethlehem and crucified at Je rusalem, and who kept as his concubine Mary Magdalene, the woraan so well known for having been caught in the act of adultery; the other Christ, all virtuous and invisible, who never inhabited the world, but spiritually in the body of Paul. They represented the Church of Rorae as the scarlet whore mentioned in the Revelation. They regarded the sacraments as frivolous things ; considered marriage as a state of prosti tution; the Lord's supper as a chimera; the i-esurrection of the flesh as a ridiculous fable ; and the worship of images as detestable idolatry. Had all their tenets been equally rational with the last, they would not have been obnoxious to much censure. They were divided into two classes ; the perfects and the believers. They all openly professed great purity of manners, and secretly practised the most infamous vo luptuousness, on the principle, that from the waist downwards man is incapable of sin."* Such is the disgusting caricature whieh this writer has exhibited to the world of the Albigenses. But that any man wilh his eyes open, and capable of exercising two grains of discrimination, should have first of all permitted himself to be so far imposed upon by the Catholic writers, as to give credit to such a tissue of absurd and ridiculous fool eries, and then gravely to detail them to his readers for the truth of history, is at once a striking instance of weakness in the author, and of the necessity of exercising continual vigilance on the part of the reader, if he would neither become the dupe of Papal slander, nor of Protestant credulity. The reader cannot fail to be surprised when he is told that the author of this wretched ribaldry is no other than John Gifford, Esq, the biographer of the late Right Honourable William Pitt, whose work, recently published in a vols. 4to. and 6 vols. Svo. is held up as a kind of national undertaking ! Of the merits of this fast pub- • HisTOBT OF Fbance, Vol. L p. 412. London, 1791. I am not insensible that there is a grossness in tins quotation which renders it almost unfit to be trans planted into any other soil ; and I am anxious to apologize to my readers for laying it before them ; but the truth is, that it is not worse than may be found on the same subject in many other writers ; while the recency of its publication and the high ground which its author has lately taken among us, seemed to entitle him to the nght of preference As to the statement itself, it cannot but remind us of the words of Jesus. Blessed are ye when mm shall soy all manner of evil against you falsely far my names sake." ^ ""'.'.» uj ™.. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XV lication it would, no doubt, be presumptuous in the present writer to of- fei' any opinion ; but if the biographer of our great statesman have been as regardless of the truth of history in the latter instance as in the for mer, posterity will owe him but few obligations for his labours. Mr. Hume had a much more correct view of the character of the Al bigenses ; and it is singular that Mr. Gifford should have overlooked it. The following is the passage to which I refer. " The Pope (Innocent III.) published, a crusade against the Albigenses, a species of enthu siasts in the south of France, whom he denominated heretics, because, like other enthus'iasls, they neglected the rights ofthe church and op posed the power and influence of the clergy. The people from all parts of Europe, moved by their superstition and their passion for wars and adventures, flocked to his standard. Simon de Montfort, the general of the crusade, acquired to himself a sovereignty in these provinces. The Count of Toulouse, who protected, or perhaps only tolerated the Albi genses, was stripped of his dominions. And these sectaries them selves, though THE MOST INNOCENT AND INOFFENSIVE OF MANKIND, WCre exterminated with all the circumstances of extreme violence and barba rity." History of England, Vol. II. ch. xi. Nothing can be more just than this account of the Albigenses, provided we allow Mr. Hume his own definition of the terni "enthusiasts" — a term which he uni formly employs to denote all those who believe the Bible to be the word of God, and who receive it as the rule of their faith and practice. I may further add, that the reader will find his account of the Albigenses to be perfectly consonant to all that is related of them in the following pages. I shall here take the liberty to introduce, as expressive of my own sentiments, the language of an author, who more than a century ago, was engaged in the same pursuit with myself, and to whose learned pen the following pages are much indebted. " I conceived that it was well becoming a Christian to undertake the defence of innocence, oppressed and overborne by the blackest calumnies the devil could ever invent. That we should be ungrateful towards those whose sufferings for Christ have been so beneficial to his church, should we not take care to justi fy their memory, when we see it so maliciously bespattered and torn. That to justify the Waldenses and Albigenses, is indeed to defend the Reformation and Reformers, they having so long before us, with an ex emplary courage, laboured to preserve the Christian religion in its an cient purity, which the Church of Rome all this while has endeavoured to abolish, by substituting an illegitiraate and suppositious Christianity in its steatd. So long as the ministers of the Church of Rome think fit to follow his conduct who was a liar and a murderer from the begin ning, innocence should not be deprived of the privilege of defending herself against their calumnies, while she wiUingly resigns to God the exercise of vengeance for the injustice and violence of those who have oppressed her."* It may possibly occur to some of my readers that " the Portraiture of Popery," would have been a title every way as appropriate to the * Dr. AlUx's Remarks on the Churches of Piedmont, preface, p. 6. xvi PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ensuing pages as that which I have given it. And it certainly miist be admittld, that the odious features of superstition and intolerance do but too prominently obtrude upon us, wherever the proceedings of that apostate church interpose themselves. The picture which invariably presents itself to the mind, is that of a power " speaking great words against the Most High, and wearing out the saints of the Most High,"* or, of a woman " drunken with the blood of the saints, and of the mar tyrs of Jesus."t It should, however, be remarked, that if the outlines of this hideous picture have been sketched in the following work, and in colours more sombre than may be pleasing to its friends, the circum stance is wholly accidental, since it is an object that was entirely foreign to the intention of the writer, further than a faithful record of weU-authenticated facts might necessarily lead him to it. In sketching the History of the Christian Church previous to the times of the Waldenses, I have gone considerably more into detail than was my original intention ; but in that particular I have been actuated solely by the desire of rendering the work more generally useful to that class of readers for whom it was principally designed. After all, it pretends to nothing more than a sketch of a vast subject, and no one can be more sensible than the writer himself is of its numerous deficien cies. Whether he may hereafter be induced to resume the subject, and fill up the outline more correctly, must depend partly upon the recep tion which the present attempt meets with from his cotemporaries, and partly npon other circumstances which are beyond the reach of human control. For the rest he would gladly offer his qpology in the words of Father Paul the Venetian. " He that shall observe that I speak more of some times, and more sparingly of others, let him remember, that all fields are not equally fruitful, nor all grains deserve to be kept; and that of those which the reaper would preserve, some ears escape the hand, or the edge of the sickle : it being the condition of every har vest, that some part remains to be afterwards gleaned. "J It may possibly strike some readers with surprise that no notice is taken, in the foUowing pages, of a multiplicity of sects which arose, from time to time, in what is called the Christian world and whose his tory occupies so very large a space in the volumes of most of our modern writers on this subject. But to speak the truth, my opinion of these in general is, that they have nothing to do with the history of the church or kingdom of Christ ; and that to connect them with it, as Dr. Mosheim and others have done, is scarcely more unwise than the conduct of Mr. Hume would have been, had he incorporated the Tyburn Chronicle into his valuable History of England. In tracing the kingdom of Christ in the world, I have paid no regard whatever to the long disputed subject of apostolical succession. I have, indeed, read mucli that has been written upon it by the Catholic writers on one side, and by Dr. AUix, Sir Samuel Morland, and several Pro testants on the other ; and I regret the labour that has been so fruit lessly expended by the latter, persuaded as I am that the postulalum * Dan. vii. 26. x g^^ ^^jj - + History of the CouncU of Trent, translated by Brent, p. 2." PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XVll is a mere fiction, and that the ground on which the Protestant writers have proceeded in contending for it, is altogether untenable. It is ad mitted, that the Most High has had his churches and people in every age, since the decease of the Apostles ; but to attempt to trace a regular succession of ordained bishops in the VaUeys of Piedmont, or any other country, is " labouring in the fire for very vanity," and seems to me to proceed upon mistaken views of the nature of the kingdom of Christ, and of the sovereignty of God, in his operations in the earth, as they have respect unto it. Jesus himself, in reply to an inquiry put to him by the Pharisees, (Luke xvii. 20 — 24.) compares his kingdom to the lightning, darting its rays in the most sovereign and uncontrolled man ner from one extremity of the heavens to the other. And this view of it corresponds with matter of fact. Wherever the blessed God has his elect, there in his own proper time, he sends his gospel to save them. One while we see it diffusing its heavenly light on a particular region, and leaving another in darkness. Then it takes up its residence in the latter, and forsakes the former. Thus, when Paul and his companions attempted to go into Bithynia, the Spirit permitted them not ; but they were instructed by a vision to proceed to Macedonia, where the word of the Lord had free course and was glorified. When Paul first came to Corinth, he met with great opposition, but he was encouraged to persevere by Him who said, " I have much people in this city." When the first churches began to swerve from the form of sound words, to cor mpt the discipline of the house of God, and to commit fornication with the kings of the earth, by forming an alliance with the state, we cease to trace the kingdom of Christ among them, but we shall find it suc cessively among the churches of the Novatians, the foUowers of iErius, the Paulicians, the Cathari, or Puritans, in Germany, the Paterines, and the Waldenses, until tho times of reformation. If the present work contain any thing of sufficient interest to give it a temporary buoyancy upon the ocean of pubhc opinion, and pre vent its rapid transition into the gulf of oblivion — that insatiable vor tex which has already swallowed up myriads of much more important publications, the author would persuade himself it must be those excel lent letters of our great poet Milton, which, in the capacity of Latin Secretary to CromweU, he wrote to the Protestant princes upon the Continent, pleaded the cause of the poor, afllicted, and grossly injured Waldenses. It is a mortifying reflection, that these interesting letters should now be almost forgotten as the compositions of our great poet. Whence comes it to pass, that while Milton's Defence of the People of England is so generally known, no one ever speaks of his Defence of the Waldenses ? It wiU be difficult to assign a more plausible rea son for this, than the unpopularity of the subject. The AV aldenses were " a poor and afflicted people," the subjects of a kingdom that is not of this world, and they were treated by their adversaries as " the filth of the world and offscouring of all things." But Milton under stood their character, and duly appreciated it. He recognized in them his Christian brethren ; their distress not only reached his ears, but roused aU the sensibiUties of his soul; he participated in their sorrows, and his letters in their behalf do as much honour to the beneyolenee b2 XVlll PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. of his heart as his immortal poem of Paradise Lost does to the sub limity of his genius. It has been too much the fashion amongst a cer tain class of writers to inveigh against the malignity and moral charac ter of Milton ; but surely we have a right to ask his revilers, before they take such freedoms with his fair fame, at least not to be unjust to his virtues. Islington, July, 1812, PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. An interval of somewhat more than a dozen years has now elapsed, since I first called the attention of my friends and the public to the in teresting history of " The meek confessors of Piedmont, and of the south of France." To detail the circumstances which originaUy prompted me to prosecute the study of their history, would have so much the appearance of vanity and parade that I decline entering upon it ; but I may be allowed to say that, after having possessed myself of Such materials as the leadings of Providence had thrown in my way, I was chiefly determined to pursue the subject and lay the result be fore the world, by finding, that in whatever circle the mention of these extraordinary people was introduced, scarcely an individual could be met with who knew any thing more about thera than the name. Whe ther it were owing to the political state of Europe during the greater part of the past century, and of the last thirty years in particular ; or to whatever other cause it is to be attributed, the fact is undeniable, that the memory of this noble army of martyrs was rapidly sinking into oblivion, and in a fair way of speedily becoming extinct. Concise, and consequently imperfect, however, as was the narrative of the Waldenses comprised in the first edition of this work, the au thor was gratified on perceiving that it had excited an unusual degree of interest among the friends of Primitive Christianity, who expressed themselves anxious to know whatever more could be told thera con cerning this remarkable people. He therefore kept the subject con stantly in view, and in the beginning of the year 1816, presented them with a greatly enlarged edition of the work, comprised in 2 vols. 8vo. Two years afterwards a third edition was called for, and since then a fourth, all of which the public have been pleased to receive with marked testimonies of approbation. Though additions and improvements were introduced into each suc ceeding impression of the work, the author was far from supposing that he had brought it to any thing like a perfect state. He was, ne vertheless, disposed to take credit to himself for having embodied into one succinct narrative a more copious and digested history of the Wal denses, and of those who maintained the same faith and order with them, than had hitherto appeared in our language, or indeed in any other, and he had the satisfaction to find the public voice unequivocally admitting this fact. It cannot reasonably, therefore, as he thinks, be expected from him that he should sit down quiet and unmoved while XX PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. he sees others rising up, and by means that are scarcely compatible with the strict rules of literary warfare, endeavouring to push mm to the waU Of this unfair mode of proceeding, he has witnessed many attempts since he first brought the subject of this history before the public, but of which he did not think it worth his whde to take any particular notice. That a topic which has every year been rising in popularity, should find writers ready to take it up, was so naturaUy to be expected, thatit could not reasonably excite surprise in any one. Since the first edition of this work made its appearance, several of our countrymen have been induced to visit the regions of Piedmont; and two of them, clergymen of the Church of England, who on their return laid before the pubUc the result of their observations and inquiries, have shown no little zeal to identify the ancient Waldenses with our national establishment. This is no way v.-onderful — there is scarcely a sect in Christendom, which, during the last dozen years has not laid claim to them as their rightful kindred, in one way or other ; but as this is a case of fact which involves in it the truth of history, it deserves more than a bare mention in this place. Before we enter on the discussion of it, however, and indeed to lay a proper foundation for the remarks which I have to offer, I must be permitted to premise, that I have now before me a " Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piedmont, in the year 1823, and Re searches among the Vaudois or Waldenses, Protestant inhabitants of the Cottian Alps, &c. &c. By WiUiam Stephen Gilly, M. A. Rector of North Fambridge, Essex. Second edition, with considerable addi tions and corrections, 1825." In an Appendix to the volume, Mr. Gilly presents his readers with a " Notice of Publications relating to the Vaudois (Waldenses) during the three last centuries;" and having given the titles of several, and re marked upon most of them with some degree of minuteness, he at last announces my book in the following terms, which I quote verbatim. 8. " History of the Waldenses, connected with a Sketch of the Christian Church, from the birth of Christ to the eighteenth century. By WUliam Jones, London, 1812. Octavo, pp. 576." " This volume does not enter upon the subject of the Vaudois tiU the 319th page, and carries their history no farther than the year, 1686." ' This is the only mention that is made of my publication, so far as I can perceive, in all Mr. Gilly's book; and there are two or three cir cumstances connected with it of sufficient moment to entitle them to regard. Some may probably think that I ought to be well satisfied, and consider it an act of condescension in a clergyman of the Church of England, that he had noticed, even thus briefly, a publication issuing from the pen of a dissenter ! Be this as it may, I cannot help remark ing It as somewhat singular, that he should refer his readers to the first edition of my book, which, at the time of his writing, had been ten years sold off, and consequently must have cost him no little pains to procure. In the year 1833, when he commenced his excursion to PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. XXl Piedmont, there had been a second, third, and fourth edition published, in an enlarged and improved state ; but probably it better suited his pur pose to refer to the first and most imperfect edition of the work than to any other. Leaving the reader, however, to indulge his own reflections on the correctness ofthis probability, I proceed to notice the complaint which Mr. Gilly makes, and which, in fact, is applicable to every edition of my work, namely, that " it carries their history no farther than the year 1686." This is certainly true; but my defence is an easy one^-my Narrative stops where the Story ends. I professed to give the His tory of the Churches of Piedmont and other places, commonly desig nated Waldenses and Albigenses, not of individuals ; and as I consider those churches to have been utterly dispersed and scattered by a series of persecutions which terminated in the year 1686, I consider myself to have brought the subject to its legitimate close. If we are to credit a host of writers belonging to the Church of Eng land, the two witnesses of the Apocalypse, (Rev. xi. 3, 4, &c.) were the two churches, or to speak more properly, the two classes of churches, which passed under the names of the Waldenses and Albi genses. This was the opinion of Bishops Lloyd, Newton, Hurd, &c. Messrs. Whiston, Faber, Gauntlett and others, and even Mr. GUly himself admits it, (p. 146.) Now these two witnesses, after prophe sying twelve hundred and sixty years in sackcloth, according to the prophetic testimony, were to be finally overcome and killed by the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit. (Rev. xi. 7.) This event I con sider to have been consummated in the year 1686, and consequently as terminating the history of the Waldenses. Where, then, is the pro priety of complaining of me, as Mr. Gilly and others would seem to do, that I have not pursued the subject further ? But it may be asked, does not the page of history record, that in the year 1689 about eight or nine hundred men proceeded from the neigh bourhood of Geneva, equipped with arms and ammunition, re-entered their own country, drove away the new inhabitants, and after many contests with their enemies, obtained a reinstatement in their former possessions ? Certainly ; there is no disposition to deny the fact ; but I beg leave to ask Mr. Gilly, and those who dwell upon it, of what description of persons did this new race of the Waldenses consist — and are they prepared to show us a number of new churches formed by them bearing any resemblance to those of the ancient Waldenses which were dispersed by the arraies of Louis XIV. and the Duke of Savoy ? We are quite content to rest the issue of this inquiry on the testimony which is borne to the present state of the Vaudois, by our author and the other members of the Established Church, compared with the ac counts which have been transmitted us by friends and foes concerning their ancestors. Let us try the subject on one or two points ; and I begin with their doctrinal sentiments : — " I ventured to ask Mr. Peyrani (says Mr. Gilly) if the Vaudois Clergy urged the doctrine of absolute predestination and election. He replied that these nice points of controversy were not often discussed in their pulpits, and that for his own part he had never given his assent xxii PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. to the belief in absolute predestination." " If God infallibly saves some, and as infallibly rejects others, (said Mr. P.) I do not see what is the use of his laws 1" He admitted that Calvin was a good man, he desired to be thought a faithful servant of God, " but many of his tenets con vey a strange notion of the Almighty's attributes." I now request the reader to turn to Vol. II. of my History, and com pare the preceding extract, with the numerous testimonies given, pp. 357, et seq. to the doctrinal sentiments of the ancient Waldenses But what shall we think of Mr. Gilly, who in the face of aU this evidence to the contrary, can stand up and tell us, " that the peculiar doctrinal sentiments maintained by Calvin never found any warm advocates in these Valleys," p. 245 ? This is to falsify the truth of history. But I proceed to notice the account which Mr. GiUy gives us of the constitation, discipline and worship of the present Vaudois churches. He informs us they are partial lo the Episcopal form of church govern ment ; and though particular circumstances have induced them to drop the title of bishop in its generaUy received sense, yet the Episcopal functions are retained, p. 75. "At present," says he, " either the liturgy of Geneva, or Neufchatel is read in the churches, according to the discretion of the pastor; but that of Geneva, which is a beautiful production, is principally follow ed. — The rituals which are adopted, in conformity to their intercourse with Switzerland, have a service for the Communion, and different forms for certain days and seasons." So much for the present race of churches in Piedmont ! Let the reader carefully examine the Con fessions of Faith, published by their ancestors, and given in my History, vol. II. chi V. sect. 3. and try if he can find any thing that bears a resemblance to this order of things. As regards Episcopacy, we find them saying, " We must not obey the pope and bishops, because they are the wolves of the church of Christ."—" So many orders of the clergy, so many marks of the beast." In the "beautiful" liturgy of Geneva, as Mr. Gilly terms it, we have stated prayers for Sundays — morning and evening prayers for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays ; others for Wednesdays and Saturdays — prayers also for particular solemnities, Easter, Ascension-day, and Whitsunday — Christmas-day — New-year's-day — the first of June, &c. &c. Had the ancient churches of the Waldenses any thing of this trumpery among them ? Far otherwise ; for, in alluding to these things, we find them strongly inveighing against them, as marks of antichrist, and quoting the very words of the aposUe Paul 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," See pp. 354 357. Vol. II. of this work. Once more : let us compare the ancient and modern Vaudois on the article of Baptism. On this subject Mr. Gilly thus writes : " From infant instruction, we came to the discussion of infant bap tism, and nothing canbe more false than the calumny, that the Vau dois object to infant baptism. One of the arguments used by the pe titioners of the commune of San Giovanni, when they implored per mission to reopen their new church, was, that in the winter time their PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. Xxiil poor infants suflfered dreadfully from the severity of the cold, in being carried to such a distance as Angrogne to be publicly baptized. They have even a formulary of baptism, very much like that in the Church of England, and the service begins thus : — " You present this infant to be baptized." This may be done, it seems, either by sprinkling or immersion, at the discretion of the parties ! " In some articles of faith," says Mr. Gilly, " subsequently drawn up by the Waldensian clergy, there are many such strong declarations as these : ' We maintain that infants must be baptized under salvation, [pray what is meant by that ?] and consecrated to Jesus Christ, accord ing to Christ's coramand ;' ' Suffer little children to come unto rae.' " pp. 168, 169. Let us now compare with this, the doctrine of their forefathers, as handed down to us in their Confessions of Faith and other writings, " We believe that in the ordinance of baptism," say they, " the water is the visible and extemal sign which represents to us that which, by virtue of God's invisible operation, is within us — namely, the re novation of our minds, and the mortification of our members through Jesus Christ. And by this ordinance we arc received into the holy congregation of God's people, previously professing our faith and change of life." And with regard to the baptism of infants, they in sist upon it to be one of the leading features of antichrist. Their ' words are : " He teaches to baptize children into the faith, and attri butes to this, the work of regeneration ; thus confounding the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, with the external rite of baptism, and on this foundation bestows orders, and indeed grounds all his Christi anity." See pp. 335 and 338. But here I stop — it is needless to pursue the subject farther. Enough has surely been said to show that the present race of Pro testant churches in Piedmont, bears little or no affinity to the ancient Waldenses, either in their doctrinal sentiments, their discipline and ex ternal order, or their religious practices ; and it ia an act of justice to the memory of those exceUent people to rescue them frotn this unna tural alliance. Mr. GUly's "Narrative" is not destitute of amuse ment and information, but it is a perfect melange, in which topogra phical description, biographical anecdote, ecclesiastical history, the an cient and the modern, fact and fiction, are strangely jumbled together. So far as his efforts have been exerted to plead the cause of the dis tressed inhabitants of those vaUeys, whose privations and sufferings arising from the invasion of their country by the French armies during the late war, we can easily imagine to be great, he is entitled to our re spect and gratitude. But in his attempt to identify the present race of the Vaudois with their predecessors, " The meek confessors of Pied mont," he has totaUy failed. In fact, had he properly understood the character of the ancient Waldensian churches, we can have no concep tion that he would have entertained any wish to become their advocate. And as it may probably save others from falling into similar blunders, I shall close this Preface with laying before the reader a brief sketch of what they were. xxiv PREFACK TO THE FIFTH EDITION. In the first place, they were dissenters — protestant dissenters — dis senters upon principle, not only from the church of Kome, but also from all national establishraents of rehgion. — They existed by mere toleration from the civil government — they acknowledged no earthly po tentate as head of the church ; they absolutely protested against every thing ofthe kind. — They had no Book of Common Prayer — no Liturgy, no thirty-nine articles to guard them from error, heresy, or schism.— They had no reverend gentlemen — no privUeged order of clergymen, paid or pensioned for discharging the duties of the pastoral office among them. They paid particular respect to their Lord's words ; " Be ye not called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ and all ye are brethren : And caU no man your father upon earth, for one is yonr Father which is in heaven : Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master even Christ : but he that is greatest among you shaU be your servant." They brought up their children in the nurture and ad monition of the Lord ; but they neither sprinkled nor immersed them, under the notion of administering Christian baptism — they were, in a word, so many distinct churches of antip^dobaptists. Islington, Sept. 25th, 1835, INTRODUCTION, The rise and progress of the Christian religion, — its influence on every state and kingdom by which it has been embraced, — and the amelioration of the condition of the human race, through its means, by the conversion of rude barbarians to a degree of improvement un known to classic ages, — aU concur to render an impartial account of it, almost as interesting to the philosopher and the politician as it is to the sincere disciple of the Saviour. The history now offered to the public has, however, been compiled with a more direct and special view to the information of the latter class of readers than of either of the former ; and it may not be without its use, before we enter immediately on the subject itself, to pause, and take a cursory view of the actual state of the world in the age in which the gospel dispensation had its commencement. Christianity claims an heavenly origin, and professes to have conferred, and indeed stiU to confer, blessings on mankind to which no other religion has any pre tensions. What, from age to age, it is doing for ourselves, few of us need to be told : but without reverting to the condition of our species at the tirae of its first promulgation, and distinctly marking its progress in the subversion of the idolatrous rites and absurd superstitions of Paganism, we can never appreciate, as we ought to do, the extent of those benefits which have resulted from the introduction and establish ment of this divine institution in the world. It appears highly desira ble therefore, by way of introduction to the following work, that the reader be presented with a sketch of the general state of the world at the time of the Saviour's birth ; and that his attention be also particu larly called to the state of the Jewish nation at the same interesting period. PART I. a view of the state of the world in general at the time of Christ's birth. The inspired historians, who have narrated the life and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ, have particularly specified the time of his birth, as being under the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, and when 1 2 State of the Tl'orld in general Herod the Great was king of Judea.* At this period the Roman em pire was in the zenith of its extent and power ; tliat military people having reduced the greatest part of the habitable earth under the do minion of its arras; and even the land of Judea, once so renowned as the kingdom over which David and Solomon had swayed the royal scep tre, had sunk into a province of this mighty empire. The ancient Roman empire was at this epoch of the world a raost magnificent object. It extended from the river Euphrates in the east, to the AUantic or western ocean; that is, in length more than three thousand miles. In breadth too, it was more than two thousand ; and the whole included above sixteen hundred thousand square miles. This vast extent of territory was divided into provinces ; and they comprised the countries called Spain, Gaul (since France), the greater part of Britain, Italy, Rhoetia, Noricum, Pannonia, Dalmatia, Moesia, Dacia, Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Egypt, Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea, with its islands and colonies. This extended territory lay between the twenty-fourth and fifty-sixth degrees of northern latitude, which was certainly the most eligible part of the temperate zone, and it produced in general all the conveniences and luxuries of life.t From the days of Ninus, who lived about three hundred years after the flood, to those of Augustus Caesar, was a period of two thousand , years ; in which interval, various empires, kingdoms, and states, had gradually arisen and succeeded each otheri The Assyrian or Baby lonian empire may be said to have taken the lead. It not only had the precedence in point of time, but it was the cradle of Asiatic ele gance and arts, and exhibited the first examples of that refinement and luxury which have distinguished every subsequent age in the annals of the east. But that gigantic power gave place to the erapire of the Medes and Persians, which itself, in process of time, yielded to the valour of the Greeks; while the empire of Greece, so renowned for splendour in arts and arms, had sunk under the dominion of Imperial Rome, who thus became mistress of all the civilized world. Rome is said to have owed her dominion as much to the manners a.? to the arms of her citizens. Whenever the latter had subdued a par ticular territory, they prepared to civilize it. They transferred into each of the conquered countries their laws, manners, arts, sciences, and literature. The advantages that resulted from the bringing of so many different nations into subjection under one people, or to speak more properly, under one man, were no doubt, in many respects, con siderable. For by this means the people of various countries, alike strangers to each other's language, manners, and laws, became asso ciated together in amity and enjoyed reciprocal intercourse. By Ro man magnificence, which spared no expense to render the public roads commodious to travellers, an easy access was given to parts the most distant and remote. Literature and the arts became generaUy diffused, * Luke u. 1 Matt, ii, 1. ¦j- liollin's Roman History.— Hook's ditto.— and Gibbon's Decline and Fallot the Roman Empire. at the Birth of Christ. 3 and thft cultivation of them extended even to countries that had pre viously formed no other scale by which to estimate the dignity of man, than that of corporeal vigour, or muscular strength. In short, men that had hitherto known no other rules of action, or modes of life, than those of savage and uncultivated nature, had now before them the example of a polished nation, and were gradually instructed by their conquerors to form themselves after it. These things deserve mention, because, as they contributed in sorae measure to facilitate the propaga tion of the gospel by the labours of the apostles, they may conse quently be entitled to rank among those concurring events which con stituted the period of our Lord's advent "the fulness of time." The subjects of the Roman empire, at this period, have been esti mated at about one hundred and twenty millions of persons, and divided into three classes, namely. Citizens, Provincials, and Slaves. The first class enjoyed ample liberty and were entitled to peculiar immu nities; the second had only the shadow of liberty without any consti tutional freedom ; while the last were entirely dependant on the arbi trary will of their masters, who, as best suited their purpose, either enfranchised, or oppressed, or barbarously punished and destroyed them. Enthusiastic in the cause of liberty themselves, the Romans studied the most prudent methods of rendering the provinces of the empire insensible to the yoke that was imposed on thera. They treated willing captives with commendable liberality; and used the conquered countries with that moderation which evinced that their leading object was, not the destruction of mankind, but the increase of the empire. They colonized foreign countries with Romans, who introduced agriculture, arts, sciences, learning, and comraerce. Having made the art of governing a particular branch of study, they excelled in it above all the inhabitants of the globe. Their history, indeed, exhibits wise councils, prudent measures, equitable laws ; and all classes of men are represented to us as conducting theraselves so as to command the admiration of posterity. Having thus briefly glanced at the state of civilization which pre vailed in the Roman empire at the date of the Christian aera we shall dismiss the subject, in order to examine more particularly its condition with regard to morals and religion ; for it is with these that the history of the Christian church is more especially concerned. And that we may have a more enlarged and distinct view of the matter, it may be profitable for us to go back in our inquiries, and take a rapid glance of the state of the Gentile world from a much earlier period. The prophet Isaiah, rapt in prophetic vision, and transported to that distant age when God should perform the mercy promised to the fathers, breaks out into the following sublime strains: "Behold darkness shaU cover the earth, and gross darkness the people : but fhe liOrd shall arise upon thee, and his glory ehaU be seen upon thee."* Much has been said of late re specting the suSiciency of reason to direct the human mind in its pursuit of the chief good, or of the knowledge of the true character of God and of obedience to his wiU : the inquiry on which we are entering may • Isaiah Ix. 2, 3. 4 State of the World in general possibly serve to evince how far such representations are entitled to regard, and perhaps tend to prove the truth of the apostle's assertion, that " the world by wisdom knew not God."* Our knowledge of the state of any of those nations which were situ ated beyond the confines of the Roman empire, is necessarily very im perfect and obscure, arising from the paucity of their historical monu ments and writers. We have sufficient light, however, to perceive that the eastern nations were distinguished by a low and servile spirit, prone to slavery and every species of abject humiliation ; whilst those towards the north, prided themselves in cherishing a warlike and savage dispo sition, that scorned even the restraint of a fixed habitation, and placed its chief gratification in the liberty of roaming at large through scenes of devastation, blood, and slaughter. A soft and feeble constitution both of body and mind, with powers barely adequate to the cultivation of the arts of peace, and chiefly exercised in ministering at the shrine of voluptuous gratification, may be considered as the characteristic trait ofthe former: a robust and vigorous corporeal frame, animated with a glowing spirit that looked with contempt on life, and every thing by which its cares are soothed, that of the latter. The minds of the people inhabiting these various countries, were fettered by superstitions of the most degrading nature. Though the sense of a Supreme Being, from whom all things had their origin, and whose decrees regulate the universe, had not become wholly extinct; yet in every nation a general belief prevailed, that all things were sub ordinate to an association of powerful spirits, who were called gods,t and whom it was incumbent on every one, who wished for a happy and prosperous course of life, to worship and concUiate. One of these deities was supposed to excel the rest in dignity, and to possess a super- eminent authority, by which the tasks or offices of the inferior ones were aUotted, and the whole of the assembly, in a certain degree, di rected and governed. His rule, however, was not conceived to be by any means arbitrary ; neither was it supposed that- he could so far in vade the provinces of the others, as to interfere with their particular functions ; and hence it was deeraed necessary for those who would secure the favour of heaven, religiously to cultivate the patronage of every separate deity, and assiduously to pay that homage to each of tliem which was respectively his due. Every nation, however, did not worship the same gods, but each had its peculiar deities, differing from those of other countries, not only in their names, but in their nature, their attributes, their actions, and other respects : nor is there any just foundation for the supposition which some have adopted, that the gods of Greece and Rome were the same with those worshipped bythe Germans, the Syrians, the Arabians, the Persians, the Egyptians, and others. The Greeks and Romans, in deed, pretended thatthe deities which they acknowledged were equally reverenced in every other part of the world ; and it might probably be * 1 Cor. i. 21. t Hence the apostle's expression, " there are, that are caUed, lords many and gods many." 1 Cor. vui. 5. at the Birth of Christ. 5 the case with most nations, that the gods of other countries were held in a sort of secondary reverence, and perhaps, in some instances, pri vately worshipped ; but it is certain that each counti-y had its appro priate deities, and that to neglect or disparage the established worship of the state was always considered as an offence of the most atrocious kind.* This diversity of deities and religious worship seldom generated ani mosity : for each nation readily conceded to others the right of forming tlieir own opinions, and of judging for themselves in religious matters ; and they left them, both in the choice of their deities and raode of wor shipping them, to be guided by whatever principles they might think proper to adopt. Those who were accustomed to regard this world in the light of a commonwealth, divided into several districts, over eaeh of which a certain order of deities presided, could with an ill-grace assume the liberty of forcing other nations to discard their own favourite deities, and receive in their stead the same objects of adoration with themselves. It is certain that the Romans were extremely jealous of introducing any new divinities, or of making the least change in the public religion ; yet the citizens were never denied the privilege of individually con forming to any foreign mode of worship, or of manifesting, by the most solemn acts of devotion, their veneration for the gods of other countries.! The principal deities of most nations consisted of heroes renowned in antiquity, emperors, kings, founders of cities, and other iUustrious persons, whose eminent exploits, and the benefits they had conferred on mankind, were treasured up and embalmed in the breasts of poste rity, by whose gratitude they were crowned with divine honours and raised to the rank of gods. And in no other respects were the heathen deities supposed to be distinguished beyond the human species, than by the enjoyment of power and an immortal existence. And to the worship of divinities of this description was joined in many countries, that of some ofthe noblest and most excellent parts ofthe creation ; the luminaries of heaven in particular, the sun, the moon, and the stars, in whora, as the effects of their influence was always perceptible, an in telligent mind was supposed to reside. The superstitious practices of some countries were carried to an almost endless extreme : mountains, rivers, trees, the earth, the sea and the winds, even the diseases of the body, the virtues and the vices (or rather certain tutelary genii, to whom the guardianship and care of all these things was conceived to belong) were made the object of adoration, and had divine honours regularly paid to them. Buildings of the most superb and magnificent kind, under the names of temples, fanes, . At this tirae, the apostie John Avas banished to the island of Patraos, 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 crirae alleged against the Christians at this period, and which drew down upon thera the cmel 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. lii. 4, 5. 10* 114 History ofthe Christian Church. cense on the altars of the heathen deities. The storm, however, was of short duration ; for both Eusebius and Tertullian inforra us, that Do mitian revoked the edict Avhich he had issued against the Christians, and recaUed frora banishment those Avho 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 Avas suc ceeded in the empire by Nerva, a prince of a most gentie and humane disposition, under w^om the Romans lived as happy as during the former reign they had been miserable. He pardoned all that Avere 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 AVorship ; and because Christians, having neither temples, altars, nor sacrifices, were generally considered by them to be also Avithout religion. After a short but briUiant reign of sixteen months and eight days, Nerva died, A. D. 98, and was suc ceeded by Trajan, whom he had previously norainated as his heir, a man well skilled in martial and cabinet affairs. In his deportment courteous, affable, humane, and just ; and, perhaps, not undeservedly esteeraed one of the best princes Avith Avhich Rome had ever been favoured. ( 115 ) CHAPTER II. HISTORY or THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH FROM THE CLOSE OF THB FIRST CEN TURV, 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 reraark, that Christianity was, at the beginning, more Ukely to prosper under bad than under good eraperors; 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 httie re gard to the progress of the gospel. They were raled 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 Uves, and the erapire Avas a scene of confusion, desolatioh, and misery.* Gibbon, in one short paragjraph, has sketched a tolerably correct picture of the state of the Roman governraent 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 Ave should vainly seek among the mixed and doubtful characters of modern history. In the conduct of these monarchs, Ave 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 beastiy Vitellius,t and the ti mid, inhuraan Domitian, are conderaned 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 eating, 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 famUies, and was fatal to alraost 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 Avorld during which the condition of the human race Avas most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesita tion, name that which elapsed frora the death of Doraitian to the ac cession of Coramodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was governed by absolute poAver, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The armies Avere restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four suc cessive emperors, Avhose character and authority commanded involun tary respect. The forras of the civil adrainistration were carefully governed by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, Avho delighted in the image of liberty, and Avere pleased Avith considering theraselves as the accountable ministers of the laAvs,"t Such a state of things as this many Avould imagine could be littie inferior to a milleniiem, as it respected Christians — but hoAV far the opinion Avould be consonant to truth, Avill appear in the sequel, Trajan ascended the throne of the Caesars 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 ofthe 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 eraperors seem to be stiU in force, Avere brought before his tribunal. Having never had occasion to be present at any such examinations before, the multitude of the crirainals, and the severity of the laAVS against thera, seem to have greatiy stmck 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 Avrote to Ti:ajan upon this occasion, as well as the ansAver of the letter, are happily preserved, and are among the raost valuable monuments of antiquity, on account of the light Avhich they throw upon the state of the Christian profession, at this splendid epoch. The letter of Pliny seems to have been Avritten in the year 106 or 107, and is as follows. " C. Pliny to the Emperor Trajan, Avishes health. Sire ! Itis cus tomary Avith me to consult you upon every doubtful occasion ; for where my oAvn judgment hesitates, who is more corapetent to direct me than yourself, or to instruct me where uninformed? I never had occasion to be present at any examination ofthe 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 Avhether there should not be some distinction made between the young and the old, the tender and the robust ; Avhether pardon should not be offered to penitence, or whether the guilt of an avoAved profession of Christianity can be expiated by the most unequivocal retraction — whether the pro- • Decline and FaU ofthe 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 Avhether the crimes attached to name, raust be proved before they are made liable to punishraent. " In the mean time, the method I have hitherto observed Avith the Christians, who have been accused as such, has been as follows. I in terrogated thera — Are you Christians? If they avoAved it, I put the sarae question a second, and a third time," threatening them with the punishraent decreed by the laAV : if they still persisted, / ordered them to be immediately executed : for ofthis I had no doubt, whatever was the nature of their religion, that such perverseness and iri/lexible 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 rne, raany denied the fact that they were, or ever had been Christians ; and they repeat ed after rae an invocation of the gods, and of your image, Avhich for this purpose I had ordered to be brought with the statues of the other deities. They performed sacred rites with Avine and frankincense, and execrated Christ ; none of which things, I am assured, a real Christian can ever be corapeUed to do. These, therefore, I thought proper to discharge. Others, naraed by an inforraer, 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 tAventy years ago. All these worshipped your iraage 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 reUgion 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 caUed 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 perfeotiy 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. Inforraations are pouring in against multitudes of every age, of aU orders, and of both sexes, and more wiU be impeached ; for the contagion of this superstition hatii spread not only through cities, but 118 History of the Church of Christ. vUlages 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 tirae been intermitted, are now attended afresh ; and the sacrifi cial victirns, Avhich once could scarcely find a purchaser, noAV 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 perfecdy 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 Avith 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 ofthe Avorstkiiid, 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 acknoAvledges that the Pagan temples had becorae "alraost deso late," Nor should we overlook the reraarkable proof whicii they af ford us of the state of the Christian profession, and the dreadful perse cutions to Avhich the disciples of Christ were then exposed. It is evident from thera, that by the existing laws, it was a capital offence, punishable Avith death, for any one to avow hiraself a Christian. Nor did the humane Trajan and the philosophic Pliny entertain a doubt of the propriety of the laAv, or the wisdom and justice of executing it in the fullest extent. Plin}' 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 Avho apostatized from their pro fession, denied their Lord and Saviour, and did homage to the idols o{ Paganism. These letters also give us a pleasing vicAV of the holy and exemplary lives of the first Christians. For, it appears by the confession of apos tates themselves, that no raan could continue a raeraber 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 Avorship 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 TVarburton's remarks on Persecution. - 119 broken body and shed blood in the ordinance of the supper — these things constitute what Pliny caUs the " depraved superstition," the " execrable crimes," which could only be expiated by the blood of fhe Christians ! We should not overlook the proof which these letters afford, of the peaceableness ofthe 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 OAvn representation, their num bers Avere so iraraense, that, had they considered it lawful, they might have defended theraselves by the power of the-SAvord, 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 pjiests 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, Bnt the Christians neither abused their power to resist government, nor acted indecently in their worship. They knew the edicts that Avere 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 aAvhile yielded to the storm, and desisted from the observance of their Agapfe, 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 Avhich both the emperor and the proconsul sustained, for mildness of disposition and gentleness of manners, it has occasioned no sraall 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 giveu a very swisfactory solution of this difficulty ; and, though the passage be rathei long, I shall transcribe the substance of it in this place, "The Pagan worio having eariy imbibed this inveterate ^iiejudice concerning intercommutf.ty of worship, raen were but too much accus tomed to new revelations, whe^. the Jewish appeared, not to acknoAv ledge its superior pretension.,. Accordingly we find, by the history of this people, that it Avas esteemed "e.y its neighbours a true one ; and therefore tiiey proceeded to join iioccasionally with their oAvn ; 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 Avas the influence of this principle, that, m the same tirae and countty, 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, becarae rigid, in pretending not only that their reh gion Avas 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 andun- 120 History of the Christian Church. 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 ceming 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 oAvn 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! theraselves airs of sublimer wisdom than the rest of the world, and on that score refuse all communion Avith it, as not equally pure, — I must tell them, that itis not to be believed thatthey 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 Avith 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 araong 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 incu< the same hatred and contempt with the Jewish. But when it went still fiirther, and urged the necessity of all raen 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 tme origin of persecution for religion ; a persecution not com mitted, but undergone by the Christian church. " Hence we see hoAv 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 fie inquirers into ecclesiastical antiquity, and given a handle to the deists, Avho erapoison every thing, of pretending to suspect, that there must be something very much amiss in priraitive Christianity, whiy such Avise magish-ates could become its persecutors. But the reaso* is noAv manifest. The Christian pretensions overthrew a fuHdame-ital principle of Paganism, which they thought founded in nature, n(^ely, the friendly intercom munity of worship. And thus thpiamous passage of Pliny the younger becomes inteUigible. ' For I diJ 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 neAV religion ; that Avas a thing comraon enough. It was the refusing aU coraraunion with Paganism,— refusing to throw a grain of incense on their altars. For Ave must not think, as is commonly iraagined, 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 Avas indeed, and rightiy 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 mattei". 121 inflexibility as a mere error, but as an immorality likewise, 'The un sociable, uncoraraunicable temper, in matters of religious worship, was esteemed by the best of them as a hatred and aversion to mankind. Thus yacitus, speaking of the biiming of Rome, calls . the Christians 'persons conwc^erf of hatred. to aU mankind.* But how? The con fession ofthe Pagans themselves, concerning the purity of the Chris tian mor^s, shows this could be no other than a being ' convicted' of rejecting aU intercommunity of Avorship ; which, so great Avas their pre judice, they thought could proceed from nothing but hatred toAvards mankind. Universal prejudice had made raen regard a refusal of this intercoraraunity as the raost brutal of all dissociabUity. And the em peror Julian, who understood this matter the best of any, fairly OAvns, that the Jews and Christians brought the execration of the Avorld upon them, by their aversion to the gods of Paganism, and their refusal of all comraunication with them,"* But to proceed, Frora Avhat took place in the province of Bithynia, under the govern ment ofthe mild and amiable Pliny, a tolerably correct judgraent may be forraed of the State of Christianity, during the reign of Trajan, in every other part of the empire, ,, . WhUe Pliny was thus conducting matters in Bithynia, the province of \ Syria was under the government of Tiberianus, There is still extant a letter Avhich 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 theraselves to death. Wherefore I have laboured by exhortations and threats, to discourage them from daring to confess to me, thatthey are of that sect. Yet, in spite of all persecution, they continue still to do it. Be pleased there fore to inform me, Avhat your highness thinks proper to be done Avith thera,"t The stated returns of the public garaes and festival? 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, Avhere every circurastance of the place, as well as of the cereraony, contributed to kindle their devotion and to extinguish their humanity. Whilst the nuraerous spectators, crowned with garlands, perfuraed with incense, purified with the blood of vic tims, and surrounded with the altars and statues of their tutelar deities, resigned theraselves to the enjoyment of pleasures, which they consi dered as an essential part of their religious worship ; they recoUected, tiiat the Christians alone abhorred the gods -of raankind, and by their absence and melancholy on those solemn festivals, seemed to insult or to lament the public felicity. If the erapire had been afflicted by ahy recent calaraity, by a plague, a famine, or an unsuccessful Avar ; if the Tyber had, or if the NUe 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 Enquiry, p. 201. 4to, ed. 11 122 History ofthe Christian Church. impiety of the Christians, who Avere 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 araphitheatre stained with the blood of wild beasts and gladiators, that the voice of compas sion could be heard. The impatient claraours of the raultitude 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 raost distinguished of the new sectaries, required, with irresistible ve hemence, that they should be instantiy apprehended and cast to tiie lions."t About the time that Pliny Avrote his celebrated letter, Trajan, who was then entering upon the Parthian Avar, arrived at Antioch in Syria. Ignatius was at that tirae one of the pastors ofthe chuich there ; a man of exeraplary piety, and "in all things like to the apostles." During the eraperor's stay at Antioch, the city Avas almost entirely rained by an earthquake. It was preceded by violent claps of thunder, unusual winds, and a dreadful noise under ground. Then foUoAved so terrible a shock, that the earth trembled, several houses Avere overturned, and others tossed to and fro, like a sJiip at sea. The noise of the cracking and bursting ofthe timber, and of the falUng of the houses, droAvned the cries of the dismayed populace. Those Avho happened to be in their houses were, for thfe 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 hiraself was much hurt, but escaped through a AvindoAV out of the, house in whicii he Avas. 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 avcU as herself, Avith her railk. The erainent station of Ignatius, and the popularity Avhich generally attends superior talents, marked him out as the victim of iraperial fury on the occasion. He Avas seized, and by the eraperor's order sent from Antioch to Rorae, where he was exposed to the fury of Avild beasts in the theatre, and by them devoured. About the same time, Simeon, the son of Cleopas, Avho had succeeded the apostle James, as pastor ofthe church originally gathered in Jerusalera, but Avhich, at tiie time of its destmction, removed to a sraaU tOAvn caUed Pella, was accused, before • Inveterate as Were the prejudices ofthis classical historian ag'ainst the Chris tians, it seems he could condescend occasionally to borrow a striking thought or a brilliant sentence fi-om their writings. The reider may compare the above quotation with the following extract from Tertidlian'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 en'emies thirst after the blood of the innocent, cloakingtheir 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 hejivens alter their course — if there be an earthquake, a famine, a plague, immediately the cry is " Away with the Christians to the lions." Apoi. 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 daya; but though his hardiness as tonished, his siifferings failed to excite the pity of his persecutors, and he was, at length, ordered to be crucified.- This state of things, Avhich is coramoiily termed the third persecu tion, seems to have continued during the Avhole 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 iraperial sceptro nine teen years, was closed in the year 117, av hile prosecuting his great military expedition in the east. SECTION II. THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. THE STATE OF THE CHRISTL-VX PROFESSION UNDER THE REIGNS OF ADRIAN A.\D THE ANTONINES. A. D, 117 180, The persecuting edicts, Avhich had been issued against the Chris tians, under the forraer emperors, continued unrepealed when Adrian wa.0 raKRd tn «K^ fhr-^o ,.£ Ao C»=^,» The law of Trajan, of which 1 have taken notice in the foregoing section, and which had been re gistered araong the p.ublic edicts of the empire, had, in sorae deffree, ameliorated the state of matters, " The Christians were not to be offi ciously sought after ;" butstUl, such as were accused and convicted of an adherence to Christianity were l^j 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 erapire flourished in peace and pros- perity He encouraged the arts, reformed the laws, enforced military discipline, and visited ajl his provinces in person. His vast and active tZl J"' Tf^ "T^ 1° ^l™"^' ""'"^^'1 ^i«^«' ^nd the minute de ails 0 civil policy ; but the ruling passions of his soul were curiosity ZiZT A' *''' P'r'*''*"*' ""'^ ''^ *«y ^'«^« ^"^-'=ted by differ^ ent objects Adrian was, by turns, an exceUent prince, a ridiculous so phist, or a jealous tyrant. After his death, the senate doubted whether LYis ml P'"'""'""' ^""i" ^°^ "' ' 'y'^»'' ^"'i 'he honours decreed Winus f ^ ""¦¦' ^'"'"^ '" '^' P""'^"^ '^^^ ^"'''^^^^''r, the pious iniLl.d'-'''^^'' ^?'' *''"^'' '"'«", Adrian carae to Athens, where heAvas imtiated in the Eleusinian raysteries, TertuUian describes him J ^ JZ % f li.nowledge was various and extensive— he had studied an the arts of magic, and was passionately fond of the Pagan instiS * Gibbon's Rome, vol, i. ch. 3. 124 History of the Christian Church. tions. At the time of his visiting Athens, Quadratus Avas 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 Avhen 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 Avere in danger of being AvhoUy scattered. Quadratus laboured indefatigably to recover them, and he succeeded. Order and discipline Avere 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 Avriter 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 we any certain information Avhat effect they produced upon the raind of the em peror, " The Pagan priests," says Mosheira, " set the populace in motion to demand from the raagistrates, Avith 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 thera in their requests," During these coraraotions, Serenus Granianus, pro consul of Asia, wioie tu llie eiiiperor lliat " it seemed lo liiiu uiireasoii- 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," IThis seems the first instance of any Roraan 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 Avere Christians, Serenus, at the time of Avriting his letter, Av'as probably about to quit his office, but Adrian addressed the foUoAving rescript to his successor, TO MlNUTIUS FUNDANUS, "I have received a letter written to me by the very iUustrious Se renus Granianus, whom you have succeeded. To me then the afiair seems by no means fit to be slightiy 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 avUI 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 Avill accuse thera, that you should take cognizance of these rnatters. 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 crirae. 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 tbe 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 Asi?, 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 Avretches' If ye wiU die, ye have pi:ecipices and halters," He adds, tiiat 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 Jbavs once more attempted to free themselves from the Roraan yoke. A rebeUious chief arose among them, of the narae of Barchochebas, who assumed the title of "King of the Jews," smd prevaUed upon these deluded people, thinned a's they were by slaughJer, and dispersed throughout the different provinces, to rally round his standard, and contend Avith the Romans for empire. WhUe the rebeUion was in progress, -the Christians, refusing to join the standard ofthis fictitious Messiah, suffered the most atrocious indig nities, and were raassacred without mercy, untUthe fall of their leader, and the' destruction of his adherents put an end to the sedition. The issue of the rebeUion "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.t The elder Antoninus "appears to have been a most araiable prince. He diffused order and tranquiUity throughout the erapire ; and, in his OAvn personal character and intentions, Avas guiltiess of Christian blood. The disciples of Jesus Avere nevertheless cruelly treated in some of the provinces of Asia, and it occasioned Justin Martyr to write his first apology, Avhich 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 sufficientiy 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 huraanity and justice. He addressed a letter to the province of Asia, in favour of the persecuted Christians, which is of too much iraportance to be here omitted. • Eusebius, b. 4. c. 9. and Justin Martyr's First Apology, ad finem. f Decline and Fall, vol. iii. ch, 3. 10* 126 History ofthe Christian Church. The Emperor to the Common Council of Asia. " I am clearly ofxipinion, that the gods will take care to discover such persons (as those to Avhom you refer.) - For it much more con cerns them to punish those who refuse to worship thera, than you, if they be able. "But you harass and vex the Christians, and accuse them of atheism and other crimes, Avhich 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 recentiy, is it not proper to remind you of your own despondency, Avhen they happen ; and to desire you to compare your spirit with theirs, and observe hoAV serenely they confide in God? In such seasons you seera 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 Avorship him. Conceming these same men, some others of the pro vincial governors Avrote 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 conceming these men, to whom I have returned an answer agreeable to the maxims of my father. But if any person Avill- 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 simUar 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 Avorship God in peace. This must have been a halcyon season to the poor afflicted disciples of Jesus, Avhen they were permitted to sit under their OAvn vine and fig-tree, without fear or molestation ; but it terminated Avilh the life of the elder Antoninus, about the year 162, at which tirae the government of the empire de volved wholly upon his late coUeague, 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 phUosophy to the Roman people, in a manner, says Gibbon, who nevertheless eulogizes his character, raore pubhc than Avas consistent with the raodesty 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 iraprobable that he had beheld witii 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 Aurelius Antoninus. 127 were, at least, with his connivance. Certain it is, that no sooner had he attained to the fuU 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 dreadfuUy at this period. Polycarp was pastor of the church in Smyrna, an office which he had held for more than eighty years, and Avhich he had fiUed with honour to himself, to the edification of his Christian brethren, and the glory of his divine Master. It only remained for him noAv to seal his testimony with his blood. The eminence of his station marked him out as the victira of popular fury. The cry of the multi tude against Polycarp was, " This-is the doctor of Asiq, the father of the Ghristians, the subverter of our gods, who teaches many that they must not perform the sacred rites', nor worship our deities. Away vnth these Atheists." The philosophy of the emperor could not teach him that this pretended atheism Avas a real virtue, which de served to be encouraged and propagated amongst mankind. Here rea son and philosophy foiled him ; and his blind attachment to the gods of his country caused him to shed rauch blood, and to becorae the destroyer of the saints of the living God !* The friends of Polycarp, anxious for his safety, prevailed on hira to AvithdraAV himself from public view, and to retire to a neighbouring vUlage, Avhich he did, continuing with a few of his brethren, day and night, in prayer to God, for the tranquiUity of all the churches. The most diUgent search was, in the mean tiihe, made for him without effect. But when his eneraies 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, Avith 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 hira on an ass, and conveyed hira toAvards 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.t Many efforts were tried to shake his constancy, and induce him to abjure his profession ; at one tirae he was threatened by the proconsul with the fury of wild beasts, " CaU for them," said Polycarp, " it does not becorae us to turn from good to evU." " See ing you raake so Ught of wild beasts," rejoined the magistrate, " I Avill • This is the emperor, whom Pope has panegyrized in the following lines — " Who noble ends by noble means obtains. Or, filing, smiles in exile or in chiuns; like good Aurelius, let him reign; or bleed Like Socrates; that man is great indeed," f Cave's life of Polycarp, p. S3, 138 History ofthe Christian Church. tame you with the more terrible punishment of fire," But Polycarp bravely replied, " You threaten rae Avith a fire that is quickly extin guished, but are ignorant of the eternal fire of God's judgraent, reserv ed for the wicked in the other .world, Bnt Avhy do you delay ? order Avhat 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 bumt to ashes, in the year 166, Melito Avas, at this period, pastor of the neighbouring church of Sar dis, As the rage of . persecution grew raore violent, he drew up an apology for the Christians, which he presented to the eraperor, (A, D, 170,) about the tenth ye&r of his reign, a fragraent of which is stiU preserved in Eusebius, He oomplalns of it as an alraost unhesird of thing, that pious men were noAV persecuted, and gready distressed by ncAv decrees throughout Asia ; that raost irapudent inforraers,- who were greedy of other people's substance, took occasion, frora the imperial edicts, to plunder others who Avere entirely innocent. He thenhumbly beseeches the emperor that he Avould not suffer the Christians to be used in so cruel and iinrighteous 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 rerainds him that the Christian religion Avas so far frora being destructive to the Ro man erapire as its eneraies 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 dreAV up a Second Apology, which he addressed to the eraperor Antoninus, and to the senate of Rome, He states the case of his Chris tian brethren, coraplains 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 thc usual objections against tliem, and desires no greater favour than that the Avorld 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 corapanions were seized and carried before Rusti cus, the praefect ofthe city of Rorae, 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 raind can desert the truth to erabrace error and irapiety." And when threatened, that unless they coraplied they should be tortured Avithout mercy, " Despatch us as soon as you please," said the disciples, "for we are Christians, and cannot sacrifice to idols." On saying Avhich, 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 lata," which was iramediately 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, f - Cave's Life of Justin, State ofthe Christians under Aurelius. 129 Martyr, in the account he gives of the martyrdora of Ptolemaeus, assures us, that the only question asked him Avas, " Are you a Christian ?" And upon his confessing that he was one, he was iramediately put to death,* Lucius was also put to death for making the same confession, and for asking Urbicus, the praefect, Avhy he condemned Ptolemy, who was neither convicted of adultery, rape, murder, theft, robbery, nor of any other crime, but merely for owning himself-to be a Christian, Hence, it is sufficientiy manifest, that it Avas the mere name of a Chris tian that Avas stiU raade a capital offence, and that while these inhuman proceedings Avere 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 ciruelties were exercised on persons of the most virtuous characters, for their adherence to the worship of the one tme God, the first principle of aU true religion, - How precious, in those times especially, must have been the conso latory sayings of Jesus Christ ; and Avhat but an unshaken confidence in his alraighty 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, Avhich had hitherto aflbrded no raaterials for ecclesiastical history, viz. the kingdom of France, in those days called GaUia, By whom or by what means, the light of the glo rious gospel was first conveyed into that country, Ave have no certain inforraation ; for the first inteUigence that Ave have of the fact itself, arises flora me account ol a Oreadtul persecution ^hich came upon the churches of Vienne and Lyons, tAvo cities lying contiguous to each other in that province, Vienne was an ancient Roraan colony : Lyons was more modem : and of this laiter 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 hoAV favourable the confluence of the Rhine and the Soane, on which it stands, is for the purposes of coramerce. 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 frora the other Asiatic churches, is apparent."f That it was in some such way as this Christianity was first planted tiiere, seeras 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 alsp the names of several other distinguished persons in these churches prove them to have been of Greek extraction. And when we reflect upon the cmel 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 storra in these cities. The churches, too, though they appear to have been but recently planted, were evidentiy very numerous, at the time • Second Apology, ch. 42. f John xiv, 27. ch. xv. 18—23. xvi. 23. xvii. 24. t 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 Ls supposed by Iraeneus, in the form of an epistie from the churches of Vienne and Lyons td 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 Avhen he pronounces it " the finest thing of the kind in all antiquity."* Eusebius gives it as a, specimen of what Avas transacted in other places; and that the reader may have some notion of the savage rage Avith Avhich this persecution was carried on, not only with the conni vance, but Avith the knoAvledge and approbation of this philosophic em peror, I shall give a copious abridgment of the account. The epistle opens with the foUoAving simple address. — " The servants of Christ,' sojourning in Vienne and Lyons in France, to the brethren in Asia Propria and Phrygia, who have the sarae faith and hope of rederaption with us ; peace and grace, and glory, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." They then declare theraselves unable to express the greatness of the affliction which the saints in those cities had recently sustained, .or the intense aniraosity of the heathen against thera. Christians Avere absolutely prohibited from ap pearing in any house, except their oavu, in baths, in the raarket, or in any public place whatever. " The first assault carae from the people at large — shouts, blows, the dragging of their bodies, the plundering of their goods, casting of stones, Avith all the indignities that may be ex pected from a fierce and outrageous multitude — these Avere magnani mously-sustained. Being then led Into tlie torum Dy tne tnoune and the magistrates, theywere examined before all the people whether they Avere Christians ; and on pleading guilty, Avere shut up in prison until the arrival of the governor. Before him they were at length brought, and " he treated us," say they, " Avith 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 deraanded to be heard in behalf of the brethren, pledging himself to prove that there was nothing atheistic or irapious among them. " He Avas a person of quality" — but hoAvever equitable his demand was, it only served to excite the clamour of the mob, ^nd to irritate the governor, who merely asked him if he was a Christian, which he confessed in the most open manner, and forwhich he Avas immediately executed. Others-imitated his confidence and zeal, and suffered with- the sarae alacrity of raind. In process of time, ten of their number lapsed, " whose case," say they, " filled us Avith great and unmeasurable sorroAv." This appears to have much dejected the churches, and to have spread a general alarra, " not that we dreaded • CredibiUty 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 ofthe subject. It is not the simple, natural, unaffected language of a feeling heart. We must, however, remember that Irsneus was a Greek, and that the Greeks were greatadmirers of eloquence. Persecutions at Lyons and Vienne. 131 die torment," say they, " with Avhich we are threatened, but because we looked forward unto the end, and feared the danger of apostasy," The vUest caluranies Avere propagated against them at this time-— they were accused of eating huraan flesh, and of various.unnatural crimes ; "of things," say the}% " 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 whoUy disregarded. " Now it was," say tiiey, " that our Lord's Avord Avas fulfilled — ' the tirae wiU come when Avhosoever killeth you wiU think that he doeth God service.' " The martyrs sustained tortures Avhich exceed the powers of description. " The whole fury of the raultitude, the governor, and the soldiers, was spent in a particular manner on Sanctus, a deacon of the church of Vienne, and on-Matums,a late, convert indeed, but a magnanimous Avrestier in spiritual things ; and on Attains of Pergamus, a man who had been the piUar and support ef our chui'ch ; and on Blandina, a fe male Avho was most barbarously tortured from raoming to night, Avith the intent of extorting from her a -confession Avhich should criminate her brethren; but "it was an evident refreshraent, support, and an annihi lation of all her pains to say, ' I am a Christian, and no evil is commit ted araong us.'" The raost barbarous indignities were inflicted upon Sanctus the dea con, to extort frora hira something injurious to the gospel, which he sustained in a manner raore than- huraan ; and such was the firmness Avith Avhich he resisted the most intense sufferings, that to every ques tion which Avas put to him by his tormentors, he had uniformly one reply, " I ara 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 forra. Having left hira a fcAV days in this ulcerated condi tion, they hoped to raake him more exquisitely sensible to fresh tor tures. But the renewal of these while he Avas dreadfully sweUed, was found to have the effect of reducing him to his former shape, and re storing hira to the use of his limbs. Biblias, a female, Avas one of those who had swerved frora her profession at the .commencement of the persecution. She was now pitched upon, as being one that Avas 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 Avas pressed upon her to acknowledge was, that the Christians ate their Children. "In her torture she recoA'cred herself," it is said, " and awoke as out of a sleep, and in ansAver to their interrogations, thus remonstrated, HoAV can we eat infants — we, to Avhora it is not lawful to eat the blood of beasts."* She now recoA'ered her fortitude, avowed her Christianity, and " was added to the array of raartyrs." * A late ecclesiastical, historian (Mr. Milner) has the foUoAving 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 'm 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 Avith the rest, as raurderers, 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 aU 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 throAvn to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre, that favourite spectacle was at length provided for them on this occasion, . and Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attains, were brought out for this purpose. But pre vious to the wild beasts being produced, Maturus and Sanctus Avere put to the torture in the araphitheatre, as ifit had not been applied to them before ; and every thing that an enraged multitude called for hav ing been tried upon thera, 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 Avith the greatest coraposure ; and, by her prayers, encouraged others to bear Avith 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, with a board held before, him, on which Avas 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 tliis prohibition is subsequently annulled .' If not, may we be allowed to ask, " By Avhat 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, tiiat church which has power to make new hws 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 ofa sensible writer shows, that he is far from agreeing with Mr. Milner in thinking that blood eating is any part of Christian liberty. "This (t. 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 liim,' 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 deatii." Fuller's Disc, on Gen. ix. 3, 4. Persecution at Lyons dnd Vienne. 1 33 inscribed, This is Attalus the Christian. It appearing, however, that he was a Roman citizen, the president remanded him to prison, untU the eraperor's pleasure should be known concerning him and others who Avere in the same predicament. In this respite they so en couraged raany Avho had hitherto declined this glorious corabat, as it Avas justiy called, that great numbers voluntarily declared themselves Ghristians. The emperor's answer was, that they who confessed themselves to be Christians should be put' to death; but that those Avho denied it should be set at liberty. Upon this, a public assembly Avas convened, attended, by a vast concourse of people, before Avhom the confessors Avere produced, when such of them as were found to be Roraan citi zens Avere beheaded, and the rest thrown to the Avild beasts. But to the astonishraent of all present, raany who had previously renounced their Christianity, and were noAV -produced only to be set at liberty, revoked their recantation, and, declaring theraselves Christians, suffer ed Avith the rest. These had been greatly encouraged to do so, by Alexander, a Phrygian, who had shown hiraself particularly solicitous for the perseverance of his brethren. The raultitude becarae greatiy enraged at this ; and Alexander being called before the tribunal, and confessing hiraself a Christian, he Avas sentenced to be throAvn to the wild beasts ; and on the following day he Avas produced in the amphitheatre for that purpose, together Avith Attalus, whom the people had insisted upon being brought out once more. Previous to their exposure to the wUd beasts they were sub jected to a variety of tortures, and at last mn 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 aUusion to the vulgar charge against the Christians of those days, of murdering and eating infants, "This, which is your own practice, is to devour raen ; Ave neither eat raen, nor practise any other wickedness." On the last day ofthe show, Blandina was again produced, together with a young man of the name of Ponticus, about fifteen years of age, Avho 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 thera to the Avhole circle of tortures, tdl Ponticus expired in thera ; and Blandina, having been scourged, and placed in the hot iron chair, was put into a net, and exposed to a buU ; and after being tossed for some time by the furious animal, she Avas at length despatched with a SAvord. The spectators acknoAvledged that they had never known any female bear torture Avith 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 Avere thrown to the dogs, and watched day and night, lest their friends should bury them. The sarae was done Avith 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 Chur chi Even in this horrid state the heathens insulted them, by asking where Avas 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 bumed ; and being reduced to ashes, the latter was~cast into the river, to disappoint them, as Avas fondly imagined, of their hopes ofa resurrection. From what was. done in this, place, says Eusebius, we may form an estimate' of what Avas transacted in others.* The prisons Avere now glutted with the multitude of the Christians — they were thmst into the darkest and most loathsome cells, and num bers Avere 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, upAvards 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, Avithout the least respect to his age, pelting him with Avhatever 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 tAVO days, expired. These fcAV instances, which indeed are but littie iih comparison of the horrid barbarities detailed in this letter, may, hoAvcA'cr, 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 rem arks, will be an indelible stain upon the memory of the prince by whose order they AVere carried on. His death, hoAvever, which took place in the year 180, put a period to this fiery trial, Avhich, with scarcely any interraission, had raged in one quarter or other during a period of eighteen years. SECTION III. SKET ch of TH-E state of CHRISTIANITY FROM THE DEATH OF MARCUS AURELIUS TO THE TIME OF CONSTANTINE. A. D. 180^-306. Aurelius 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 extemal peace, and their num bers Avere every where multiplied to a vast extent. The character of this young prince forraed 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 infaray." 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 Avith it. The Lord, in whose hand are the hearts of all men, and who turns them as the rivers of Avater, frequently sends his people relief in the most unexpected manner, and by raeans from which they Avould least apprehend it — thus impressing upon their minds a conviction of his own dorainion and sovereignty, and of their entire dependence upon him. In the year 192, Comraodus Avas put to death, in consequence of a conspiracy raised against hira by his own doraestics ; when the choice of a successor fell upon Pertinax, preefect of the city, an ancient senator of consular rank, whose conspicuous merit had broke through the ob scurity of his birth, and raised hira to the first honours of the state. The reign of this araiable prince, however, proved of short duration ; for on the 28th of March, of the same year, only eiffhty-six days after the deatii 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 eraperor 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 whieh 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, Avhich faUs in Avith the year 202, his native ferocity of teraper broke out afresh, and kin dled a very severe persecution against the Christians. He was then recentiy retiurned frora the east, victorious ; and the pride of prosperity induced hira to forbid the propagation of the gospel. He passed a law by Avhich every subject of the empire Avas 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 tirae Asia, Egypt, and the other provinces were deluged Avith the blood of the raartyrs, as appears frora the testiraonies 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 church at Lyons, suffered martyrdom, that induced TertuUian to write Ins Apology, and several other books in defence ofthe Christians. The raention of TertuUian naturaUy 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 Avhole coun try, once the scene of Carthaginian greatness, abounded with Chris tians m the second century ; though of the manner in which the gos- 1 36 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 may rely on the correctoess of some of our historians, " he exhibited a striking instance, howmuch Avisdom and weakness, learning and ignorance, faith and folly, truth and error, goodness and delusion, may be mixed tip in the composi tion ofthe same person,"* His works, which Avere 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 Avas 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 Avith 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 extrerae. It is, hoAvever, due to him to say, that he defen(Jed, Avith great clearness and ability, the doctrine of the revealed distinction in the Godhead, against Praxeas, who had propagated sentiraents 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 vicAV of the spirit and behaviour of the disciples of Jesus at tiiat 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 hoAviever 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 eraperors to the eternal God, the tme, the liiing God, Avhom emperors themselves Avould desire to be propitious to. them, above all others who are called gods. We, looking up to heaven, Avith outstretched hands, because they are harmless, with naked heads, because we are not ashamed, witbout 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 Avell moralized people, a quiet state of the Avorld : Avhatever Csesar would wish for himself in his public or private capacity, I cannot solicit these things from any other than from Him frora whom I knoAv 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, Avho worship him alone, and am ready to lose ray life in his service. Thus, then, let the claAVS of • Haweis's Church History, vol. i. p.' 192. TertuUian's Apology. ¦ 1 37 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 rulers ? Will ye kill the good subjects who supplicate God for the emperor ? Were we dis posed to return evU for evil, it Avere easy for us to avenge the injuries which we sustain. But God forbid that his people -should vindicate theraselves by huraan force; or be reluctant to endure that by which their sincerity is evinced. Were we disposed to act the part, I avUI not say of secret assassins, but of open enemies, should we want forces and nurabers ? It is true we are but of yesterday, and yet we have fiUed all your toAvns, cities, islands, casties, boroughs, councUs, camps, courts, palaces, senate, forum ;* we leave you only your tem ples. For what war should we not be ready and well prepared, even though unequal in nurabers; we, who die with so much pleasure, Avere it not that our religion require^ us rather to suffer death than to inflict it ? If Ave were to raake a general secession frora 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 Avhole world is our republic. " We are a body united in one bond of religion, discipline, and hope. We raeet in our assemblies for prayer. We are corapelled to have re course to the divine oracles for caution and reeoUection on all occasions. We nourish our faith by the word of God ; Ave erect our hope, we fix our confidence, we strengthen our discipline; by repeatedly inculcating precepts, exhortations, corrections, and by excoraraunication when it is needful. This last, as being in the sight of God, is of great Aveight ; and is a serious Avarning of the future judgment, if any one behave in so scandalous a manner as to be debarred from holy conlraunion. Those who preside araong 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 Avhen 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 Avho, for the word of God, are conderaned to the mines or iraprisonraent. This very charity of ours has caused us to be noticed by sorae : " 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 bestOAv upon our own members. And is it any • I carfflbt 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 Uiii-d century: but-Paganism was stdl the religion ofthe empire; and if any reliance can be placed upon Gib bon s calculation as it respects tliis matter, "not more than a twentieth part of the subjects of the Roman empire had enlisted tiiemselves under the banners of the cross betore the conversion of Constantine." 12* 138 History ofthe Christian Churcli. great AVonder, that such charitable brethren as enjoy all things in com mon, should have such frequent love-feasts ? For this it is you traduce us, and reflect upon our litde fmgal suppers, not only as infamously Avi'cked, but as scandalously excessive. The nature of this supper you may understand by its name, for it is the Greek word for love. We Christians think Ave can. never be too expensive, because we consider aU 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 needy. We feed the hungry, because Ave know God takes a peculiar delight in seeing us do it. If, therefore, Ave feast only Avith 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 souls ascend in prayer to God, before Ave sit doAvn 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 Avho 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 we conclude all Avith 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 following appeal, with which Ter tullian closes bis Apology. "And noAv, O worshipful judges, proceed with your shoAV of jus tice, -and believe me, ye Avill 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 alien, you notoriously confess that such a pollution is more abhorred by a Christian, than all the torments and deaths you can heap upon her. But do your Avorsl, and rack your inventions for tortures for Christians. 'Tis all to no purpose ; you do but attract the notice of the world, and make it fall the more in love Avith our religion. The more you mow us down, the thicker Ave spring up— the Christian blood you spill, is like the seed you soAV ; it springs from the earth again and fructifies the more. That which you reproach in us as stubbornness, has been tbe most instructive mistress in proselyting the Avorld — for who has not been struck with the sight of Avhat 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 1 and whoever embraoad it [on proper grounds] that Avas not ready to die for it? For this reason itis that Ave thank you for condemning us, because there is such a happy variance and disagreement between the Divine and human judgraent, that when you condemn us upon earth, God absolves us in heaven." MiNucius Felix was contemporary with Tertullian, and rather be- • Reeves's Apologies, vol. i. p. 302 — 339. TTie Apology of Minudus Felix. 1 39 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 Avas published about the year 210, This work is in the form of dialogue, between Caecilius, a heathen, and Octavius, a Christian — Minucius sitting as umpire between them. The style of Minucius possesses aU 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 a long and declaraatory harangue, brings forAvard aU the'comraon-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, Octavius, having patiendy listened to this severe phHippic, addresses himself to Minucius, and tells hira, that he shaU endeavour to the best of his abUity, 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 Avorship of their iraages, "The mice," says he, " the swalloAvs, 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 thera, then clean, Avipe, and protect them, that you may fear and wor ship them. Should we -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 shoAvs that ihan differs from the other creatures on this lower world chiefly in this, that whUe 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, forraed for the conteraplation of the heavens, susceptible of rea son and conscience — calculated to lead him to the knoAvledge and irai tation of God. Hence he infers the absurdity of atheisra 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 surA'cy 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 Alraighty hand which poises them in their orbs, and balances them in their moveraent. Behold hoAv the sun Tegulates the year by its annual circuit, and hoAV 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 Avitness to its divine Author? The spring with her flowers, the sumraer with her harvest, the ripening autumn with her grateful fraits, and the moist and unctuous Avinter, 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 aboiit Avith security and comfort, betAveen the extremes of parching heat and of cold? Observe the sea, and you will find it bounded with a shore, a law Avhich it cannot transgress. Look into the vegetable, world, and see hoAv all the trees draw their life from the bowels of the earth. View the ocean, in constant ebb and floAv ; and the fountains, running in fuU veins ; with the rivers, perpetuaUy gliding in their Avonted chan nels. Why should I take up time in showing how providentially this spot of eartli 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 ^bout with teeth, or fortified with hoofs and claws, or speared with stings, while others are swift of foot or of Aving? But, above all, the beautiful structure of man most plainly speaks a God, Man, of stature straight, and countenance erect, with e)e3 placed above, like centinels, watching over the other senses within the tower." This may furnish a specimen of the elegant style, and poAverful reasoning of this early Christian Avriter, in belialf of the existence of a great first cause and of a providence — in the clearness and force of Avhich 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 hoAV can a man be poor, who wants nothing, who covets not what is another's, Avho 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 Avithout any patrimony ; the beasts find pasture every day, and we feed upon them. Indeed they are created for our use, which, Avhile Ave do not covet, Ave enjoy. That man goes happier to heaven, Avho is not burdened Avith an unnecessary load of riches. Did we think estates to be useful to us, Ave would beg them of God, who, being Lord of all, Avould afford us Avhat is necessary. But Ave choose rather to contemn riches than to possess them, preferring innocence and patience to thera, and desiring rather to be good than prodigal. Our courage is increased by infirmities, and affliction i often the school of virtue," Athenagoras lived in the reigns of Adrian and the Antonines, H Avas, in his younger days, a heathen philosopher, and designing t Avrite against the Christians, sat doAvn to read their Scriptures, witi the vieAV of making his Avork more complete, A dUigent inquiry int the divine oracles, however, brought hira over to that faith Avhich h Avished to destroy. He drew up an Apology for the Christians, ad dressed to Marcus Aurelius, in which he complains, that Avhile th( other subjects of the Roman governraent were freely permitted to wor ship the deities according to their own voluntary choice, the Chris tians alone, Avhose Avorship Avas pure, simple, and worthy of the Dei- Apology of Athenagoras. 141 ty, Avere not only denied this privilege, but Avere most unjustiy ma ligned, slandered, and persecuted. He vindicates them from the charge of atheism, of which they Avere accused by their heathen adversaries ; refutes the calumny of their eating human flesh, and the impure and unnatural connections Avith 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 narae does not deserve your hatred ; it is Avickedness alone that de serves punishraent. If avc are convicted of any crime, less or more, let us be punished, but not merely for the name of a Christian ; for no Christian (^an be a bad raan, unless he acts contrary to his profession. We are accused, ' that we do not Avovsliip the same gods as your ci ties, and offer them sacrifices.' Bnt consider, O emperor, that the Ma ker and Govemor of this world stands in no need of blood and sweet- sraeUing incense ; he delights in himself, nothing is Avanting in him. The sacrifice he deraands is a rational and acceptable service." Again, " There is an infaraous report," says he, " that Ave are guUty of three great crimes, viz. irapiety against the gods, feeding on mur dered infants, and of incestuous copulations. If these be tme, spare neither age nor sex ; punish us', with our Avives and children ; extir pate us out ofthe world, if any among us live as beasts, (though even the beasts ofthe 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 thera as such. Inquire into our lives, into our opinions, in to our obedience to authority, our concern for your person and govern ment ; aUoAV us only that coraraon justice and equity you grant your enemies, and Ave ask no more, being assured of the victory, and are willing to lay down our lives for the tmth."* Lastiy, 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 Avorks. 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 .0 those that ask, and love their neighbour as themselves. Thus Ave do, because we are assured that there is a God who superintends hu man affairs, who made both us and the Avhole world, and to whom Ave nust at last give an account of aU the actions of our lives,"t * Athenagoras' Legatio pro Christianis, c. 4. ¦\ It has been made a question by some, how far it is probable the apologies hich were, from time to time, di-awn up by the Christians and addressed to the 'japerors, ever reached the hands of those monarchs. But with all their pomp id mightiness, there is good reason to think that the Roman emperors were ire accessible than many ofthe petty sovereigns of Europe are in the present '¦ Augustus, for example, suffered all sorts of persons to approach him ; and en a poor man once offered him a petition in a timorous manner, with a hand f extended and half .drawn back, the emperor jested with him, and told him .... looked as if he was ^v'lng an halfpenny to an elephant.— /oriin's Remarks. 142 History ofthe Christian Church. These are, unquestionably, triumphant appeals, and reflect the high est honour on the Christians of those days. 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 littie, if at all improved, during some parts of the third, on Avhich Ave are iioav entering. " That the Christians suffered in this century," says Mosheira, " calaraities and injuries of the most dreadful kind, is a matter that adraits of no debate; nor Avas there, indeed, any period of it in which they were not exposed to perpetual dangers. The laAV Avhich 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 seeraed only adapted to put a stop to the furthei; 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 raight be led, through fear of similar treatraent, to purchase their safety at an expensive rate." It seeras to have been during the reign of Severus, that the raartyr dora of Perpetua and Felicitas, Avith that of their companions, took place at Carthage, in Africa, the residence of Tertullian, about theyear 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 ajjlear idea of the manner in which these ancient persecutions Avere wont to be conducted. Augustine refers to the ease of Perpetua, in his Works, vol. vii. p. 304 ; and Fleury has also giA'en a copious account of the subject, vol. i. b. vi. On this occasion, three young men, whose names Avere Satuminus, Secundulus, and Revocatus, Avere 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 thera, two females of the name of Felicitas and Perpetua ; the latter a AvidoAv of the age of twenty-two, of a good fainily, and well educated, having a father and mother living, besides two brothers, and an infant at the breast. The father of Perpetua, who alone, of all the famUy 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 corapulsion, to induce her to desist frora 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 Avere all thrown into prison, where the treatment she met Avith very much af fected her at first, particularly the darkness ofthe 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 Avants, procured bythe influence of raoney the reraoval 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 hira the care of her infant son ; and was, ac cording to her OAvn expression, as happy as if she had been in a palace. Persecution' at Carthage. 143 At this -tirae she had a remarkable dream, frora which she inferred that she should certainly suffer ; but by which she was nevertheless greatiy 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, overwhelraed 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 surviA'e 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 Avho would not think themselves, in reality, honoured by her conduct. To all his entreaties, hoAvever, she uniformly returned this answer, that she was not at her OAvn disposal, but at that of God. On the ensuing day, whUe she and her friends were dining, they were suraraoned to an audience in the public forum, where a prodigious crowd was assembled. Here all her feUoAV prisoners confessed that they were Christians ; bnt before Perpetua had an opportunity of doing it in the customary forra, her father presented himself, holding her chUd in his arms, and supplicating her to have compassion upon him. In these entreaties he Avas 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 eraperor. She only answered, that she was a Christian, and could not do it. After this the father was coraraanded to desist ; but showing a reluc tance to retire, one of the lictors strack hira Avith a rod, Avhich affected her, she said, as rauch as if she had herself been struck. However, having aU made their confession, they were sentenced to be thrown to the AvUd beasts ; notwithstanding Avhich they returned to the prison fiUed Avith joy. Perpetua now sent Pomponius, the deacon, to request that her child might be sent to her, that as heretofore she might have the privUege of suckUng it; but that indulgence was denied her. She bore the disappointraent, however, with fortitude, even greater than she herself could have expected. After a few days, Pudeus, the jailer, being favourably inclined to Avards thera, gave permission to their friends to visit them, and Avhen 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 hira. The author of the narrative next proceeds to give an account of some ofthe 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 tiU 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 Avould be able to endure the being exposed to wild beasts, when she was so 144 History ofthe Christian Church. much affected with the pains of chUd-birth. She replied, that in this case she Avas left to herself, but that in her other sufferings she should have another to support her, even Hira for whora 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 Avere apprehended, had voluntarily surrendered hiraself. The day preceding the exhibition, they all joined in a love-feast with their Christian friends who had perraission to visit thera, in the presence of many strangers whora 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 Avere about to suffer, Saturus bade them observe their countenances, that they' might knoAV them all again the next day. From this extraordinary spectacle, the strangers retired Avith 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, Avith joy rather {ban with fear. In particular, Perpetua walked in such a manner as struck the spectators AArith 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 ara phitheatre, the officers, according to custom, began to clothe the men in the dresses of the priests of Saturn, and the Avomen in those of the priestesses of Ceres, But when they reraonstrated against the in justice of being corapelled by force to do that, for refusing Avliich they were AvUling to lay down their lives, the tribune granted them the privilege of dying in their oavu habits. They then entered the amphitheatre ; Avhen Perpetua advanced singing hymns, and her three male corapanions soleranly exhorted the people as they Avent 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 Avere 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 Avere let loose, Satuminus according to a Avish which he had previously expressed, died by the attack of several of thera rushing upon hira at the sarae time ; and Revocatus was kUled by a leopard and a bear. Saturas was first exposed to a Avild bear ; but while the attending officer Avas gored by the aniraal 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, Avould not go out of its den to meddle Avith hira. He was, hoAvever, throAvn in the way of a leopard, towards the end of the exhibition, and so rauch blood gushed out at one of his bites, that the spectators ridiculed him, as being baptized with blood. Not being quite kUled, he, Avhen tbe aniraal Avas withdrawn, addressed Pudeus, the jaUer, 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 o a wild cow. But this sight stmck the spectators with horror, as the lormer was a delicate woman, and the breasts ofthe latter Avere 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 throAvn 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 togetiier, near the gate of the amphitheatre. Thither Perpetua sent for her brother, and exhorted him to continue firm in the faith, to love his feUoAv Christians, and not to be discouraged by her sufferings. Being aU in a mangled condition, they were now taken to the usual place of execution, to he 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 OAvn accord to go thither. Then, having given each othei- tiie kiss of cha rity, they quietly resigned themselves to their fate. In walking, Satums 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 hi? office,* In the year 211, the tyrant Severus died, after a reign of eighteen years, and the church found repose and tranquiUity under his son and successor. CaracaUa, though, in other respects, a monster of Avicked ness, whose life, says Gibbon, disgraced human nature ; yet he neither oppressed the Christians himself, nor permitted any others to treat them with craelty 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 firiendship 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, Avas elected by the array 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 Mosheira says, perhaps the most odious of all mortals, yet he showed no marks of bitterness or aversion to the disciples of Christ. He ave^s 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 esteeriied one of the best characters in profane , history. He did not indeed abrogate the existing laws * Opuscula tria veterum auctorum, Fastidii Episcopi Fassio S, S, Martyrum PEBPiTciB et Felicitatis, &c. a Luca Holstenio, Svo. Rom. 1663. The editor of tills publication, Lucas Holstenius, was Keeper of the Vatican Libriry, at Rome, a person of great learning, and the friend of our poet Milton. He stu died three years at Oxford, and luid, a great esteem and affection for Milton, who visited him at Rome, and received many civilities fi-om him there. See Bp. New ton's Life ofMUon, prefixed to hia edition of Paradise Lost. Svo. p. 13. 13 146 History ofthe Christian Church. against the Christians, which accounts for the mention of a feAV mar tyrdoms under his administratiom He nevertheless shoAved 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 Mararaaea, for Avhom he had a high degree of love and veneration ; and who was herself favourably disposed toAvards the Christians, Being at Antioch Avith her son, A. D. 229, she sent for the renowned Origen, Avho 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 eraperor 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 Avere both put to death in a conspiracy raised by Maximin, a man Avho had risen from the humblest ranks of life to a dignified sta tion in the army, and Avho noAV Avas 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 Maxirain, the aspect of affairs changed. The character of this latter raonarch formed a striking contrast to that of his predecessor. The former tyrants, says Gibbon, viz. Caligula and Nero, Comraodus and Caracalla, Avere all dissolute and inexperienced youths, educated in the purple, and cor rupted by the pride of empire, the luxury of Rorae, and the perfidious voice of flattery. The craelty of Maxirain was derived from a differ ent source—the fear of contempt. Though he depended on the at tachraent of the soldiers, who loved him for virtues like their OAvn, he Avas 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 Avith the amiable manners of Alex ander Severas. He remembered, that, in his humbler fortune, he had often Availed before the door of the haughty nobles of Rome, and had been denied admittance by the insolence of their slaves. He recoUected also, the friendship of a few Avho had relieved his poverty and assisted his rising hopes. But those Avho had spurned, and those who had protected him, were guilty of the same crime, the knoAvledge of his original obscurity. For this crinie raany 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 Avas 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 Avitness, Avith out a trial, and Avithout an opportunity of defence, Magnus, with four thousand of his supposed accomplices, were put to death. Confisca tion, exUe, or siraple death, Aveie, hoAvever, esteemed uncommon in- Some account of Origen. I't' 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 Roraan Avorld, a general cry of indignation was heard, implor ing vengeance against the coraraon 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 Avhom the Christians had been so peculiariy favoured, stimulated him to persecute them bitterly, and he gave orders to put to death the pas tors of the churches, Avhora he knew Alexander had treated as his in tiraate friends. The persecution, however, was not confined to them ; others suffered at the same time: and a letter from FirmiUan to Cy prian, bishop of Carthage, preserved in the works of the latter, informs us that the flarae 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 thera Origen dedicated his Book of Martyrs, He hiraself Avas obliged to retire ; but the tyrant's reign lasted only three years, in which time it must be confessed that the rest of the Avorld 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, Priestiey, " 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 firom his infancy. His history is given in considerable detail by Eusebius, who tells us, that this very eminent man vvas 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 iraproveraents were such as gave his worthy parent the greatest satisfaction. He was only se venteen years of age when the persecution under Severas began in Alexandria and his father was apprehended and confined ; yet he Avould, at that early period of life, have fain thrown hiraself in the way of the persecutors, if his mother, after her most eamest entreaties had faded, had not hid his clothes in order to prevent his going abroad. He, however, Avrote to his father, exhorting hira to steadfastness in his professi6n, 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 becoraing 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 farai ly. She, at the same time, entertained in her house a person of dis- * Gibbon's Decline and FaU, vol. ch. 7. t Cyprian's 'Works, Letter Ixxv. p. 256. t Eusebius, b. 6. ch. 28. Orosius, b. 7. ch. 19. Origen, tom. 28. 148 History ofthe Christian Church. tinguished abilities, Avho held the principles of the Gnostics, and her table was the resort of other raen of letters. But though Origen could not refrain from associating with this heretic, such was the firraness of his raind and the fixedness of his principles, that he would never join Avith him in prayer. In his eighteenth year he was elected raaster of the great School of Alexandria, Avhich 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 grararaar and the principles of religion. So devoted, hoAvever, did he becorae to the study of sacred literature, that he wholly abandoned the teaching of graramar, and sold his library, consisting of the works of the heathen phUosopbers and poets, for which the purchaser engaged to pay him four oboli a day. While he was thus employed, many of his pupUs became martyrs ; and, being in so conspicuous a station, it was with great difficulty that he himself escaped. Being obliged to instruct Avomen as Avell as men, and having adopted a plan of great austerity of raan 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 greatiy condemned himself, in the subsequent period of his life, when he had reaped the benefit of experience and reflection. Applying himself Avith extraordinary assiduity to the duties of his office as a teacher, his reputation rapidly increased; and it Avas stUl further augmented by an edition of the Old Testament, Avith all the different Greek versions then extant accompanying it, ranged in separate colurans. These were the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the Sep tuagint, that of Theodotion, and two others ; Avith the Hebrew text in HebrcAV characters, and the sarae in Greek letters. This constituted feight colurans in the whole, but it was called Hexapla, from having the six Greek versions. Finding this Avork too expensive and uuAvieldy for general use, he afterwards reduced it in both respects by composing Avhat is called the Tetrapla, which contained only the first four of the Greek versions already raentioned, Sorae tirae 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 hira ; and the bishop of Alexandria being ap plied to by an Arabian prince for a person to instruct hira 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 Avent to Csesarea 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 horae 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 Avhen it Avas communicated to him in confidence, he had promised never to divulge it, and at that time did 'not even blarae him for it, but encouraged him to apply Avith vigour to the duties of his profession. Some account of Origen. 149 Demetrius at first got him banished from Alexandria, in a courlcil, held A, D, 231, though on what pretence does not distinctiy appear. In a second council he was deposed from the priesthood and excom municated; and the sentence was of course ratified by distant churches. StiU, hoAvever, he was received-at Caesarea, and by other bishops who became greatiy attached to hira, and undertook his defence. While he resided at Caesarea, nurabers resorted to him from distant quarters for instruction ; and araong otiiers Gregory, afterwards bishop of Neocae sarea, and his brother Athenodorus, whom he persuaded to abandon profane literature for the study of theology; and they attended his lectures five years, FirmiUan, also bishop of CcBsarea in Cappadocia, a distinguished character in his time, was so attached to Origen that he strove to prevail upon him to reraove into his province and reside with hira. In this situation he composed his Commentaries on the Scriptures, dictating, it is said, to seven notaries and soraetiraes more ; and em ploying as many scribes to take fair copies," the expense of which was cheerfully defrayed by Arabrosius, whora Origen had brought over from the Valentinians to the catholic church. When he. Avas 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, Avho undertook to calumniate Christianity, in the raost 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 aU his writings, which were certainly very voluminous ; for Eusebius says he wrote five and twenty volumes upon the gospel by Matthew \ It raust be reraem bered, however, thatthe ancients gave the title oi volume to very small tracts. In the persecution under Maximin, Origen concealed himself hy 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 ofthat fortitude which he had so early in life, and so often afterwards, recoramended 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 circurastance evidently mentioned by the historian to intiraate 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 hira, 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 hira. He survived this per secution— and Uved to write letters afterwards highly edifying to those of his persecuted brethren who were brought into sirailar circumstances ; and, at the advanced age of seventy, in the year 254, died at Tyre, a natural death. From the death of Maxirain to the reign of Decius, the Christians 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 Uttle 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 Avhich had come upon them in their profession. The simplicity and purity of the Christian religion Avas 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 Avho walks in the raidst of the golden candlesticks, and holds the stars in his right hand— who has declared that he will make all the churches to knoAV that it is HE who searches the reins and hearts, and avUI give to every one according to his Avorks — should interpose at this time to vindicate his oAvn cause, and reclaim the wanderings of his people. No sooner had Decius ascended the throne than a tempest was raised, ill Avhich the fury of persecution fell in a dreadful manner upon the church of Christ, Whether it were frora an ill-grounded fear of the Christians, or frora a violent zeal for the superstitions of his ancestors, does not appear ; but it is certain that he issued edicts of the raost san guinary kind, commanding the praetors, on pain of death, either to ex tirpate the whole body of Christians, without exception, or to force thera by torments of various kinds to return to the Pagan Avorship, 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, dnring the reigns of Gallus, Valerian, Dioclesian, and others of the Roman eraperors ; but the detail is harassing to the feelings, and instead of prosecuting it circumstantially, I shaU dismiss the subject by an extract from Dr, Chandler's History of Persecutions, relating to this period, " Tbe most excessive and outrageous barbarities," says he, "were made use of upon all Avho would not blaspheme Christ and offer incense to the imperial gods. They Avere publicly whipped, — drawn by the heels through the streets of cities, — racked till every bone of their body Avas disjointed, — ^had their teeth beat out, — their noses, hands, and ears cut off, — sharp pointed spears run under their naUs, — Avere tor tured Avith melted lead throAvn on their naked bodies, — had their eyes dug out, — their limbs cut off, — Avere condemned to the raines, — ground between stones, — stoned to death, — bumt alive, — thrown headlong from the high buUdings, — beheaded, — sraothered inhuming limekUns, — run through the body with sharp spears, — destroyed Avith 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 dcAdse."* * Introduction to Limbcrrch'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 uito any of thelarger histories of tliis period, and he will soon be undeceived. Persecution under Decius. 151 Whei die 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 mercUess 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 Avas soon marked out as a victim to imperial fury, but he prudentiy fled from Carthage, in consequence of Avhich he was proscribed, and his effects were seized. He has been censured by some persons as a deserter of his flock ; but the firmness and Christian piety Avith which he afterwards (under the reign of Valerian, A, D. 258,) laid down his life, affords a presumption that he had not retired for Avant of courage. His works, Avhich 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 tirae that they display a benevolent and pious mind, and evince much ofthe character ofthe Christian pastor, in the affectionate solici tude with which he watched over his flock. The letters which he wrote during his retireraent, give a distressing picture of the effects Avhich had been produced upon the churches by that state of tranquil lity and exeraption frora 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 raust 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, fulfiUed the wiU of the Father ; but Ave neglect the wiU 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, frora that drawn by Ter tuUian 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 abateraent. His vehement teraper," says he, " his indignation against vice, and his African eloquence, might induce him to make free with a figure called exaggeration."^ But, unhappUy, Cyprian's account is confirraed by the testimony of Eusebius, who was nearly coteraporary with him; and, which is stiU worse, it is put beyond aU dispute by the immense number of defections frora the Christian profession Avhich' every where abounded when the persecution, set on foot by Decius, coramenced, and which occasioned great commotions in all the churches. * Cyprian's "Works, Epist. xi. •J- Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. 1. p. 376. 152 History ofthe Christian Church. " Through too much liberty," says Eusebius, " they grcAV negligent and slothful, envying and reproaching one another; waging, as it were, civU wars among themselves, bishops quarreUing with bishops, and the people divided into parties. Hypocrisy and deceit were grown to the highest pitch of wickedness. "They Avere become so insensible as not so much as to think of appeasing the Divine anger; but, like Atheists, they thought the Avorld destitute of any providential government and care, and thus added one crirae to another. The bishops themselves had thrown off aU concern about religion ; were perpetually contending with one another; and did nothing but quarrel Avith, and threaten, and envy, and hate one another; — they Avere full of ambition, and tyranrn- cally used their poAver."* Such Avas the deplorable state of thc churches, which God, as Eusebius justly remarks, first punished with a gentle hand ; but when they greAv 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, aU 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 VIEAV 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 frora 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 governraent. The first propagation of the Christian faith was not only unaided, but directly opposed in raost instances, by the civil government in the different countries in which it spread. The publishers of the gospel, were, in general, plain and nnlearned 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 corae ; 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 Aveight 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. View 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 sionaUy 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 iraportance ? So long as the Christian profes sion was thus circumstanced, its success carried 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 huraan heart. The consequence of such a change in the state of things may be easUy anticipated by those who have any proper views of the corraption 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 aniraating their flocks to a patient continuance in bearing the cross — no sooner do we see them invested with secular honours, iraraense wealth, and elevated to dignity, than the first object of their lives seeras to have been to maintain their power and pre-eminence, and aspiring at dorainion over the bodies and consciences of men. From the days of Constantine, the corrap tion ofthe Christian profession proceeded with rapid progress. Many evUs, 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 becarae an engine of the clergy, to be exercised in -^eif 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, untd it arrived at Its fuU 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 shaU have to detaU m the succeeding events of church history, should be exhibited under a profession of Christianity, may very reasonably excited our astonish ment. Many, indeed, without discriminati'ng 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 stiU are, committed under the Christian narae. And it raust be allowed, that it is one of the most plausible and successful argu ments in encouragmg and supporting a sceptical state of mind, to paint the Christian system as it appears the engine of priestcraft, and the support of spinhial tyranny, idolatry, and superstition. But genuine GhrisUanity is no more accountable for these enormities, than, what is 154 History ofthe 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 Avhich had hitherto operated against the fuU raanifesta tion of the antichristian power, being removed, the current of events gradually brought matters to that state, in which "the raan 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 Avhicli should arise under the Christian profes sion at a future period. There were not wanting syraptoras of this even in their OAvn days, as appears from the folloAving passages. AVhen 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 Avhich the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, he adds, as the reason of it : " for I know this, that after my departure shall grievous avoIa'Cs enter in araong 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, Avhich he entertained relative to the influence of false teachers, is manifest in the following passage. " But I fear, lest by any raeans, as the ser pent beguiled Eve, through his subtUty, so your minds should be cor rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ : For such are false apos tles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves iiilo the aposties of Christ ; and no wonder, for Satan hiraself 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 genersd -caution against the effects Avhich should proceed from false teachers, is very plainly given by the apostie 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 thera, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shaU foUow their pemicious ways, by reason of whom the way of trath shaU be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shaU they with feigned Avords make mer chandise of you, Avhose judgraent now of a long tirae 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 folloAving, as it not only foreteUs but describes the nature of the apostasy that should take place, and at a period reraote frora 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 Ues in hypocrisy, having their con- Nature of the Antichristian apostasy. 155 stiences 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 beheve and luiow the truth," 1 Tim, iv. 1 — 3, Again, " This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come ; for men- shaU be lovers of their oAvn selves, covetous, boasters, 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 coraing 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 AVord, 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 shaU not come, except there corae a faUing 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 Avor shipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shoAving him self that he is God, Remember ye not, that when I Avas yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye knoAv what Avithholdeth that he raight be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already wqrk ; only he who now letteth wiU let, until he be taken out of the way ; and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shaU consurae 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 aU deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; be cause they received not the We ofthe trath, that they might be saved." 2 Thess, U, 1—10, In this representation of the apostasy from the purity of the Chris tian faith and its influence, which terrainated 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 oAvn day, " The mystery of iniquity doth already work," ver, 7. The seed was then soAvn ; idolatry was already stealing into the churches, 1 Cor. X, 14, A voluntary humiUty, and Avorshipping of angels. Col, n, 18, Men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, supposing that gain was godhness, 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 fuU revelation of the man of sin, there was no direct disa vowal of the truth of Christianity ; it was " a form of godhness without the power of it." 2. There is an evident intimation in this passage of an obstacle or hinderance ra 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, untU he be taken out ofthe way. And then shaU 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 Avicked power which is here the subject of the apostle's discourse, and denorainated the man of sin, had not then been fuUy displayed, and that there exist ed some obstacle to a complete revelation of the mystery of iniquity. The apostie uses a particular caution when hinting at it ; but the Thes salonians, he says, knew of it; probably from the explanation he had given them verbaUy, when he Avas with them. It can scarcely be ques tioned, that the hinderance or obstacle,- referred to in these Avords, Avas 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 wiU afterwards appear. The extreme caution which the apostle manifests in speaking of this restraint, renders it not improbable that it was soraething relat ing to the higher powers ; for we can easily conceive hoAv 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 TertuUian's Apology, that may serve to justify the sense Avhich Pro- testant4 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 Avhich 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 erapire. This is what we would not experience ; and while we pray that it may be deferred, Ave hereby show our good-will to the perpetuity ofthe Roman state."* From this extract it is very manifest that the Christians, even in TertuUian'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 Avhich 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, Avhich were carried on by the Pagan Roraan eraperors continued, and all secu lar advantages were on the side of Paganism, there was little encour agement for any one to embrace Christianity, Avho didnot discern some what of its truth and excellence. Many ofthe errors, indeed, of several centuries, the fmit of vain philosophy, paved the Avay for the events which followed ; but the hinderance was not effectually removed, until Constantine the emperor, on professing hiraself 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, • TertuUian'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 foUowed 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 revelationjof the man of sin, Avhen this hinderance, or let, should be removed, "And then shaU that wicked be revealed,— whose coming is after the Avorking of Satan, with all poAver, and signs, and lying Avon- ders, and with aU 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 Avorshipped ; 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 poAver, inthe assumption of Divine authority, Divine honours, and Di vine worship ; a poAver which should arrogate the prerogatives of the Most High, having its seat in tiie temple or house of God, and which should be carried on by Satan's influence, with aU deceit, hypocrisy, and tyranny; and with this corresponds the figurative representation given ofthe same poAver, Rev. xiu. 5 — 8s 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 cliraax here depicted by the inspired apostie. Neither the cormption of Christianity, nor the reformation of U?, abuses was effected in a day ; " evU men and seducers waxed worse." There was a course ot mmuaiiy deceiving and being deceived. The conscience of raan is not blunted all at once against the convictions of guUt ; and there is soraething 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 trath, 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 cormpt 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 foUoAvers of Christ, the besotted ecclesiastics employed against each other in defence of what was now called "the Holy Catholic Church," The history ofthis church, from the accession of Constantine to the period Avhen the bishop of Rome was elevated to suprerae 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 asserabling of councils, the persecutions altemately carripd on by the different parties, were so 14 158 History ofthe Christian Church. many means of preparing the way for tho 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 Avas interrogated by the Roman governor con ceming his kingdom, he replied, " My kingdom is not of this world." This is a maxim of unspeakable importance in his religion ; and almost every cormption that has arisen, and by which this heavenly institu tion has been debased, frora tirae to tirae, 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 hira to trace the kingdora of the Son of God, araidst the labyrinths of error and delusion which he wUl presentiy have to explore. ( 159 ) CHAPTER III. THE STATE OF CHRISTIANITV 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 cenhiry of the Christian aera, the Roman empire was under the dominion of four monarchs ; of whom tAVO, viz, Dioclesian and Maximin Herculeus were of superior rank and each distinguished by the titie of Augustus ; while the other two, Constantius Chloras and Maximinus Galerius, sustained a subordinate dignity, and were honoured with the humbler appellation of Cesars, 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 araiable prince, under whose govemraent 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 alarraed the Pagan priests, whose interests Avere 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 Avas becoming daily more uni versal and triumphant throughout the erapire, addressed theraselves 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 sorae tirae, 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 ofthe Christian Church. temper, which rendered hirn 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 ofthe Roman emperors about this time, to take up their residence occasionally at Nicomedia, the capital of the province of Bythinia — the place from whence Pliny addressed his celebrated letter to Trajan,t This city, for its beauty and greatness, has been corapared to Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria ; but, what is more to our purpose, it abounded with Christians, even frora the days of the apostles,^ Dioclesian having taken up his abode at Nicomedia, Galerius, his son-in-law, had corae to spend the Avinter Avith him. In the year 302, the latter prevailed upon his colleague to grant an edict for pulling doAvn all the places of worship belonging to the Christians, to bum 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 Christiana, for Dioclesian was much averse to slaughter and bloodshed. It Avas, however, raerely a prelude to what was to follow ; for, not long after the publication of this first edict, afire 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 thebishops, pas tors, and public teachers, throughout the empire, to be apprehended and imprisoned ; hoping probably, that if the leaders could be once effectually sUenced, their respective flocks might be easUy dispersed. Nor did his inhuman policy stop there ; for, a third edict was presentiy issued, by which it Avas ordered, that all sorts of torments should be employed, and the most intolerable punishraents 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 iraraense nuraber of persons became the victims of this cmel stratagem throughout every part of the Roman empire, except those Avhohad the felicity to be placed under the mild and equitable governraent of Constantius Chlorus. The shameful manner in which multitudes of them Avere punished, it would be difficult to relate without violating the rules of decency ; and, in the present day, would scarcely obtain credit ; Avhilc 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. t 1 Pet. i. 1. Tlie 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 sil 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 deUghted in acts of blood and violence. It is the remark of Gibbon, Avhen 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 stiU 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 comraonly 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, forthe present, to Constantius Chlorus, at that time in Britain, with the iU state of whose health he was weU 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 atterapt 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 kiUed 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 norainated his son as his successor; and the army, without waiting to consult Galerius, irarae diately pronounced Constantine eraperor of the Avgst, in the roora of his father — a proceeding which must have stung the tyrant to the heart, Avho was nevertheless obliged to submit, and even to confirm the ap^ pointment witb 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 tliis trying occasion, and to show that they were inconsiderable indeed ; but even liis own account of things, Avhen impar. tially weighed, will be found to justify all I have said of it . 14* 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, Avas 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 painfiil distemper suggested to the mind of Galerius, at length con vinced him that the raost 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 intent'ion to correct and re-establish all things according to the ancient laws and public dis cipline ofthe 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 laAVS 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, tb enforce the worship of the gods, having exposed many ofthe 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 laAVS and government. By another rescript, we shall signify onr intentions to the judges aiid magistrates; and we 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 OAvn, and for that of the republic."* This important edict was issued and set up at Nicomedia, on the 13th April, 311 ; but the Avretched 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 hira in the govemment 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 adl 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 DecUne and FaU, vol, il, ch. 16. Conversion of Constantine the Great. 163 nive at the secret assemblies of those enthusiasts. In consequence of these orders, says Gibbon, great nurabers 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, soHcited Avith tears of re pentance, their re-admission into the bosom of the Church."* Tliis treacherous calm, however, was of short duration. Cruelty and superstition Avere the ruling passions of the soul of Maximin — the former suggested the means, the latter pointed out the objects of per secution. He was devoted to tiie worship of the Pagan deities, to the study of magic, and to the belief of oracles, HappUy, 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 coUeague 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 adrainistered by no less than six eraperors at one time, now became divided betAveen Constantine and Licinius, who immediately granted to the Christians perraission to live according to their own laws and institutions, a privilege which was stUl more clearly ascer tained by an edict drawn up at Milan, in the year 313. By this edict, every subject of the erapire was aUowed to profess either Christianity or Paganisra unraolested. 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 erapire. 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 ; Avhile the Pagan historians have spread their glooray shades upon the canvass, and obscured every trait that Avas great and amiable. The circumstances attending his conversion to Christianity, are too famUiar 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 raay credit his own assertion, he had been an indignant spectator of the savage craelties which had been inflicted by the hands of the Roraan 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 Avas rendered stiU 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 Avere 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 foUy and impiety of the Pagan superstition, which in duced him to exhort all his subjects earnestly to erabrace the gOspel, and at length to employ aU the force of his authority to aboUsh 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 arras, for subduing the sorceries and magic of his adversary, he anxiously looked out for the aid of sorae 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 cross Avas seen by the eraperor and his army, in the air, above the sun, inscribed Avith the Avords, " 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 dreara, the author of Christianity appeared to hira, to confirra the vision, direct ing him at the same time, to make the symbol of the cross his mUitary ensign,* * FeAV 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 sufiiciently apparent, entertains no doubt of the reality of the miracle; and such is his inconsistency with his OAvn theological creed, that he resolves it into an ansAver 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 fsdth! Prov. xv. 8. and Heb. xi. 6.) Dr. Haweis gives up the miracle altogether, and seems to consider the whole as an imposition. The leamed Mosheim is evidentiy perplexed about it, and seems at a loss in what light to consider it — and so also is his translator. " The Avhole story," says the latter, " is attended with difficulties which render it, boUi as a miracle and as a fact, extremely dubious, to say no more." If any should think the subject worthy of further investigation, I would recommend to their perusal a very ingenious and leai-ned disquisition upon it, subjoined as an appendix to the fiirst volume of Dr. Gregory's Church History, written by Mr. Henely of Rendlesham. They will there find a compressed account of the opinions of the different writers on the subject, and the following deductions not unfaMy draAvn 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 oaiA— that neither the day, the yea)-, the time, nor the place of tills vision is recorded — that there is no evidence that any one of the army saAV the pheno menon besides the emperor — that tiie accounts given of it by the emperor at dif ferent times do not quadi-ate— tiiat the whole story is replete with contradictions .r-«nd that there exists a presumption diametricaUy opposite to tiie intent ofthe alleged miracle, in tlie declaration of Christ to the Roman governor, " My king dom is not of this world) if my kingdom were of tliis world, then would my ser vants fight," &c. — and that, in a word, the powerfiil 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 sg. Jution of tile whole contrivance and fraud. Character of Constantine. 165 Constantine vanquished his adversary ; and no sooner was he made master of Rorae, by the destmction 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 buUt 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 hunself continuaUy in aggrandizing the church. He removed the seat of empire to Byzantium, which he embeUished, 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 demoUtion 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 Avhich 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, ferventiy 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 Avhich he entire ly laid aside his purple and regal robes, and continued to \vear a white garment tiU the day of his death, which, after a short iUness, 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 Avhole of the Christian profession. Its friends Avere 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 greaf, and connecting with their profession the riches and honours of this present world — the baneful effects of Avhich began speedily to develope theraselves. So long as the Christians Avere 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 way 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 Avere 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 ofthe 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 aposties and evangelists aU breathe this amiable spirit, and abound with exhortations to culti vate this God-like disposition ; and so conspicuous was the exercise of it among the primitive Christians that it Avas 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 noAv that the re straint was wholly taken off by Constantine, the churches endowed, and riches and honours liberaUy 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 aU 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 tirae 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 shorrty after the time of Constantine, remarks concerning the bi shops of Rorae, " It would be Avell 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, recomraended them to the deity as his trae worshippers,"* Now they began to new-model the Christian church, the govem ment of which was, as far as possible, arranged conformably to the government of the state. The emperor himself assumed the titie of bishop— -and claimed the power of regulating its extemal 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 Avas 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 frora the societies of ecclesiastics, Avhich Eusebius, bishop of Verceil, and after him Augustine, formed in their houses, and in Avhich these prelates were styled their fathers and masters. t This constitution of things was an entire departure fromthe 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 Avas 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 ofthe Corruptions of Christianitj', voL ii. p. 342. Cliristianity Established by Law. 167 with those of whom Ave read in the foUoAving ages. For though they were both designated by the same name, yet they differed extreraely, in raany 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 govem 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 smaUest 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 Avith 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 aU ye are breth ren. And call no raan your father upon the earth ; for one is your fa ther Avho is in heaven. Neither be ye caUed masters ; for one is your Master, even Christ, But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant ; and. Ajrhnsoever exalteth himself shall be abased, while he a,..!, iiuiiibleth himself snaU be exalted.":f Tnese 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, raore haughty 4hd arrogant in their beha viour, raore 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 nuraber of persons divided into par ties, and the bishops disagreeing araong themselves. He earnestly wishes to compose their differences; butin spite of all his efforts, they persisted in their quarrels — which drew from hira a pathetic complaint, • Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 105— lOr. + Luke xxU. 25, 25. t Matt, xxiii. 3—12. 168 History of the Christian Church. that those who onght 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 th6m. To puf 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 Avith littie 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, Avith out particularizing any sects or parties, gave full liberty to all of them, both Christians and Pagans, to foUoAv Avhatever 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 Avorship and other effects should be restored to Christians in general, it Avas soon followed by another, which restricts this grant to "the CATHOLIC church." After this, in a letter to Miltiades, bishop of Korae, oomplalning^of +hc difltercncBs^ lom 611160 Oy the African msnop?, he tells hira, that he had so great a reverence for " the catholic church," that he would not have hira suffer, in any place, any schism or differ ence Avhatsoever 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 weU as of the exceUent edict which he had formerly issued. He prohibited by law* the wor ship of idols in cities and country — coraraanded that no statues of the gods should be erected, nor any sacrifices ofi'ered upon their altars, and sent into all the provinces Christian presidents, forbidding the Pagan priests to offer s.acrifice, and confirming to the former the honours due to their characters and stations ; thus endeavouring to support the king dom of Christ, Avhich is not of this world, by means altogether worid- ly, viz. the prospects and rewards of worldly honour and preferment It can excite no surprise, that those persons Avho could advise the issuing of these edicts, to suppress the ancient religion of the erapire, 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 civU magis trate is vested tvith authority to prohibit religious opinions, or punish * Eusebius, b. 10. ch. 5, 6, Rise of the Arian Controversies. 169 the abettors of them, raerely because in his view they are erroneous, it must necessarily foUoAv, that he has an equal right to punish a profess ing Christian whose sentiments or practices differ frora 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 consistentiy to deny it to hira in any other; and as his oavu judgment is, irt all cases, the author ized standard of what is tmth 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, Jcav, 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, Avere 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 Avell 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 laAV ofthe 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 taraper with religion, by atterapting to enforce its exercises and duties, "These, unless they be free-will offerings, are nothing ; they are worse Qthan nothing,] By such an unnatural aUiance, and ill- judged aid, hypocrisy and superstition may, indeed, be greatiy promot ed; but genuine piety never fails to suffer,"* The sentiraents 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 ofthe Christian faith. But a dispute noAV arose which raay 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, Avho, 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 upori their public theatres,t The occasion of this dispute, which is Avell knoAvn by the name of "The Arian Controversy," seeras to have been simply this, Alex ander, one of the prelates of that church, speaking upou 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 ofthe 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 there was a time when he (the Son) was not," &c. It is wholly incompatible with the object of this history to discuss points of Christian doctrine ; but the reader wiU, 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 mannei: 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 iramensity 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 conceming himself in his holy word. There, indeed, we learn with certainty, what may be also inferred frora 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, Avhatthe 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 huraan 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 huraan body, and thus " that holy thing which was born of the Virgin, was the Son of God,"* The doctrine of " etemal generation" was unknown to the inspired Avriters, 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, northe Son the Father; and the Holy Ghost is never caUed by the name of • Luke i. 31—35. John i. 14. View ofthe Arian Controversy. 171 tlie 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 knoAvledge goes no further. The Cherubims vail the rest with their Avings." 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 Avith God unbegottenly, being ever begotten, being unbegottenly begotten — God Avas not before the Son, no not in con ception, or the least point of tirae, he being ever God, ever a Son — For the Son is out of God hiraself." Alexander, on the contrary, in a letter to the bishop of Constantinople, gives us the doctrine of Arius in the foUoAving words. " There was 'a tirae when there was no Son of God, and that he Avho before was not, afterwards existed, being made, Avhensoever he was made, just as any man whatsoever; and that therefore he Avas of a mutable nature, and equally receptive of vice and virtue," &c. If these things were publicly taught and avoAved, by these men, as each represents the other's sentiments, every sober man will surely think that they both raerited severe reprehension, for leaving the plain language of scripture, and introducing terras of their own invention into a doctrine of pure revelation, and at last dividing the whole of Christendom on account of it. Numerous expedients Avere tried to bring Alexander and Arius to one raind, the eraperor himself condescending to become a media tor between them ; but all attempts proved fruitless. He wrote let ters to thera 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 Avorthy 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 sentiraents concerning a silly, erapty question — and Arius, that he had iraprudentiy 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 exactiy comprehended or suitably explained. And that to insist on such points before die people could produce no other effect than to make sorae of them talk blasphemy, and others tum schismatics."* This, unquestionably, was excellent advice, but religious animosi ties are not so easily removed ; and tiie ecclesiastical corabatants ivere too warmly engaged to listen to such salutary counsel. Finding all other resources ineffectual, the emperor Avas at length under the neces- * Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b, 1, ch, 63, 172 History ofthe Christian Church. sity of issuing letters to the bishops of the several provinces of thc erapire, enjoining them to assemble together at Nice, in Bythinia, Avhich 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, araounting in the whole to Iavo thousand and forty-eight persons. The ecclesiastical historians inform us, that in this vast collection of the bishops, sorae Avere reraarkable 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 councU, 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 sUence 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 shoAving the greatest humility and modesty in his manner of Avalking, gesture, and behaviour. Having taken his sta tion in the middle of the upper part of the room, near a low chair that Avas covered with gold, he did not sit down, tiU the fathers de sired it. All being now seated, says Eusebius, the bishop Avhose place Avas 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 destraction of the * " The eloquence of Lactantius, and the beauty and purity of his style, raise him superior to every author of the fourth century, and place him upon an equality with some of the most accomplished writers of ancient Home. 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 leamed comparison between it and Christianity. It is to the indelible disgrace of the age, that while a num ber of fanatic monks and popular declaimers obtained the highest stations in the church, a man who possessed the leai-ning of Aristotle, Avith the eloquence of Cicero, who united philosophy with religion, and an eai-nest piety Avith all the graces of a polished taste and enlightened understanding, should be permittedto languish without distinction or reward. It is, hoAvever, but too common a case, that the service which is rendered to a party, is rated higher' than that ivhich 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 ofthe heai-ts, the morals, tiie judgments, and rehgious sentiments ofthe na tion, shall frequently be passed over, with scarcely tiie cold return of fruitiess praise." — Gregory's Church History, vol. i. p. 224. " Such was the taste ofthe 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 ofthe Latin fathers, and justly called the Christian Cicero, was in Avant of common necessaries; whUe Ambrose, who was not AVorthy to carry his books, Avas elected to the rich see of Milan; and tills when the people elected their own bishops." — Robinson'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 thera 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. Iramediately after this speech, this excellent eraperor 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 tp 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 corae to an agreeraent, 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 eraperor's hands written libels, containing their coraplaints against each other, he tlircAV them all together into the fire, advising them, according to the doctrine of Christ, to forgive one another as they theraselves 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 thrcAv 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 Avhere they were assembled, bears the title of the NicENE.t The principal * Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b, iii. oh. 10 — .14. j- As a matter of curiosity, which may gratify some readers, I subjoin this sum* mary of tiie orthodox faith at this period. The original may be found in the epistle of Eusebius to the Caesareans. " Webelieve 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 ofthe Father, that is, of thesubstance 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 things on earth ; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate, and became man, suffered an^irose again the tliird 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 Avas not before he was born ; that he was made of nothing, or of another substance or being ; or that he is created, or changeable, or convertible." 15* 174 History ofthe Christian Church. persons who appeared on the side of Arius, and assisted him in the public disputation, ivere Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theognis of Nice, and Maris of Calcedon ; and the person who chiefly opposed thera 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 whioh ivere present two hundred and seventy-five bishops, confirmed thera 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 triuraph of the Athanasian party, Eusebius of Nicomedia, and sixteen other bishops, opposed the gene ral sense of the council, and rejected the word consubstantial. But finding themselves in so small a minority, and that the emperor was deterrained to enforce respect to the decisions of the councU, they aU, except four, ultimately subscribed the confession of faith. The pre vailing party then proceeded to excomraunicate Arius and his follow ers, banishing the former from Alexandria. Letters Avere also written to all the churches in Egypt, Lybia, and Pentapolis, announcing their decrees, and informing them that the holy synod had conderaned 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, fiUed their pockets, and sent them honourably horae, exhorting them at part ing to maintain peace among theraselves, and that none of them should envy another who raight 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 saiv into their tempers, and Avas no stranger to the haughtiness and pride that influenced some, and the envy and hatred that prevaUed in others, t ^ It requires not the spirit of prophecy to anticipate the effects which must flow from the disgraceful proceedings of this general councU, 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 wiU of God, and that the agreement of so great anum- ber" of such bishops was by inspiration ofthe Holy Ghost." It laid the foundation for a system of persecution of a coraplexion altogether new • Maimbourg's History of Arianism, vol. i. p. 48. . , n •j- Eusebius's Life of Constantine, b. iii. 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 wiU 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 gentie, 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 counseUors," &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 caUed Porphyrians (from Porphyrius, a heathen, Avho 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 should undergo the same infamy with them. As therefbre, Porphyrius, an enemy of godliness, for his having composed Avicked 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 Anus'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 PnzsEBVE You." -f- Eusebius's Ijfe 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 ofthe proceedings of this memorable council (provided he can make the necessary aUowance 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, lUyricum, Italy, and Africa ; AvMlst 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 betAveen 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 becarae sole master of all the Avestem provinces. He retained possession of this iraraense territory untU the year 350, when Magnentius, one of his OAvn officers, with the view of getting hira 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 rebeUious conduct, mai:ch- ed an array, against hira, and repulsing him at the outset, Magnentius, transported tvith rage and despair at his ill success, and apprehending the most terrible and ignominious death frora the resentraent of the conqueror, put a termination to his own life. Thus, Constantius, in the year 353, became sole raonarch of the Roman erapire, which he governed until the year 361. Marching at the head of his array, in that year, to chastise the presuraption of his own kinsraan, Julian, whom the forces entrusted to his comraand in Gaul, had, in an hour of victory, saluted with the titie of Augustus, he Avas 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 frora 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 Avas ban ished to lUyricum, and his followers compelled to assent to the con fession of faith coraposed by the synod — his writings also had been pro scribed as heretical, and the punishraent of death decreed against aU who were convicted of the crime of harbouring them in their houses. But persecuting edicts cannot extend their dorainion over the thoughts, and it is scarcely less difficult to irapose an effectual restraint upon the tongue. Persecution has generally been found favourable to Avhatever cause it has been directed against ; it soraehow 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 Avas never knoAvn to be on the persecuting side ;"* an impartial examination, however, of the opinions and 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 eraperor'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 Avith the Father, openly propagating 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 ot .'feart^oundness of his speculative creed, he was evidently a man of rfSfiStfUt^ 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 tme 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," 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 AA'icked 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 Avere 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 pubUc 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 mling 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 coraraitted, 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 Avith equal justice, against the Athanasians. Constantius banished Athanasius from his bishoprick at Alexandria, and Avrote a letter to the citizens, in which he terras him " an irapos- 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 deadhnJftrt^Hmes ,•" anda bishop, named George, was put in to his see, whtfjiii.Ofcs eloquent emperor is pleased to style "a most venerable person, and the most capable of dl 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 Avith commit ting the most impious actions and outrageous craelties. The tmth 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 groivn 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 ofthe 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 Avithdrawn hiraself frora 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 tiie 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 ofthe 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, gentieness, goodness, fidelity, meekness and temperance ; and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts." Gal. v. 2^. The orthodox were deposed, and the Arians substituted in their places, ivith the raurder of thousands ; and as the controversy was now no longer about the plain doctrines of uncorrupted Christianity, but about secu lar honours and dignified preferraents, 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 cmelty, 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 sarae iraplacable bitterness and seve rity, as their common eneraies, the heathen, had ever exercised towards thera, or as though they thought persecution for conscience-sake had been the distinguishing characteristic ofthe Christian religion, and that they could not more effectually recoraraend themselves as the disci ples of Christ, than by devouring each ether. This made JuUan, the emperor, say of them, that he found by experience, that even the beasts of the forest are not so cmel as the generaUty 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 leadefsifor the sake of Avords, of the raeaning of Avhich they understood nothing, and con- tendmg for victory even to bloodshed and death. Thus, as Socrates observes, " was the church torn in pieces for the sake oi Athanasius and the word consubstantial J" 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 MarceUinus, 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 ways were, covered with troops of bishops, galloping from every side to the assemblies, which they caUed synods ; and while they laboured to reduce the whole sect to their own particular opinions, the public establishment of the posts was almost mined by their hasty and re peated joumeys."* It was certainly a very just, though severe cen- • Ammianus Marcellinus, 1. xxi. ch. 16. 180 History ofthe Christian Cliurch. sure, which Gregory Nazianzen passed upon the councils that ivere 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. "i So fascinating is the influence of Avorldly 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-erainence over all other prelates. He surpassed all his brethren in the raagnificence 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 Avhen 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 tlieir table." This led Proetextatus, an heathen, who was praefect of the city, to say, " Make me Bishop of Rome, and I'll be a Christian too 1" In the year 366, Liberius, bishop of Rome, died, and a violent con test arose respecting his successor. The city Avas 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 Avas carried to such a height, that great numbers Avere 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," Avhich had * Opera, vol. i. Epist. 55. j- Decline and Fall, vol. is. ch. 50. i 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 erapire, and Chris tians were consequently corapelled to bear their cross, by patiently suffering the hatred of the Avorld, in conformity to the Captain of their salvation. But no sooner was this impediment removed by the estab lishraent of Christianity, under Constantine, than " the Man of Sin" — " the Son of perdition" began to be manifestr Men were now found, professing themselves the disciples of the meek and loivly Jesus, yet walking after the course of this world, " lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, — traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God," — " having a form of godliness, but denying the poAver 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 and hateful bird,"t Ave may rest fully assured that the sheep of Christ, — those who heard his voice and followed his will,J Avould 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 reraark, that not long before the times of Avhich 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 Ave 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 tiie Catholic party. It is a difficult matter, at this very reraote period, to ascertain the real grounds of difl'erence betiveen 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 Avho, in the time of persecution, hadbeen induced through fear of sufferings or death, to apostatize from their profession, and offer sacri fices to the heathen deities ; a principle whicii he founded on a mistaken view of Heb. vi. 4^6. We raay 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 Avould 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 raore readily submit it to the reader, because • 2 Tim. iii. 3—5. \ 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 knoAv Mr. Robinson, can, for a moraent, suspect hira-of hav ing any undue predilection for the principles of Novatian. " He ivas," says he, " an elder in the church of Rome, a man of extensive leaming, holding the same doctrine as the church did, and published several trea tises in defence of what he beUeved. His address Avas eloquent and insinuating, and his morals irreproas;) which are among you, I exhort," &c. Ver. 2, " Feed the flock of God which is araong you, taking the over sight thereof, (srtio'xoirijvlEff) discharging the ofiice of bishops."* So much for the heresy of j^rius as it respected the denial of any distinc tion betiveen the office of bishop and presbyter. On the other three particulars of his heresy, it is, at this tirae of day, quite unnecessary for us to bestow a word in the way of apology. Amongst the innuraerable 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 maxira 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, justiy accounting that no human feUcity ought to come in competition • Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, vol, i, p, 125, 126,' 200 lEstory of the Christian Church. with their fidelity to Christ, and diflBdent of their own abUity to per severe in resisting the temptations wherewith they were incessantly harassed by their persecutors, took tiie resolution to abandon their possessions and worldly prospects, and, whilst the storra lasted, to re tire to unfrequented places, far from the haunts of men, the married with, or Avithout, their wives, as agreed between them, that they might enjoy in quietness their faitii and hope, and, exempt from teraptations to apostasy, eraploy themselves principally in the worship and service of their Maker, 'Fhe cause Avas reasonable, and the motive praise- Avorthy ; but the reasonableness arose solely from the circumstances. When the latter Avere changed the former vanished, and the raotive could no longer be the same. When there was not the sarae 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 periectiy safe, many returned without blarae from their retirement, and resuraed their stations in society. Some, indeed, fami liarized by tirae to a solitary life, at length preferred through habit, what they had originally adopted through necessity. They did not, hoAvever, Avaste their time in idleness ; they supported themselves by their labour, and gave the surplus in alms. But they never thought of fettering theraselves by vows and engageraents ; because, by so doing, they raust have exposed their souls to new temptations, and, perhaps, greater dangers. It was, therefore, a very different thing from that system of monkery ivhich afterwards became so prevalent, though, in all probabUity 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, ivhich dazzles the eyes of the weak, and poAverfully engages imitation. Blind imitators, regardless of the cir cumstances whicii alone can render the conduct laudable, are often, by a strong perversion of intellect, led to consider it as the raore raeritori ous the less it is rational^ and the more eligible the less it is useful. The spirit ofthe 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, tiiough in itself a source of perpetual peril. Such was the operation of the principle in the case referred to. Multitudes carae in process of time to impose upon theraselves vows of abstinence, poverty, celibacy, and virginity, soleranly engaging in an uninterrupted observance of those virtues,' as they accounted thera, 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 aposties kept up a free and open intercourse with the world ; and their writings abound with instructions to Christians, not to withdraw them selves frora society, and shut themselves np in cloistered ceUs in a state of seclusion, but to fiU up their respective stations usefully in civil society, perforraing aU the social and relative duties of life in the most exemplary manner, Man ivas made for action; powers were • Essay on Christian Temperance and Self.denial, by Dr. George CampbeU, Prevalence of Monkery. 201 given him for exertion, and various talents have been conferred upon him by Providence, as instmments 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, shictiy speaking, of the monastic life, Anthony, an iUiterate youth of that country, in the times of Athanasius, distributed his patrimony, de serted his family and house, took up his residence among the torabs 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 ivater, he fixed his last abode. His example and his les sons infected others, Avhose curiosity pursued him to the desert ; and before he quilted life, Avhich was prolonged to the term of a hundred and five years, he beheld a numerous progeny iraitating his original. The prolific colonies of monks multiplied Avith rapid increase on the sands of Lybia, upon the Rocks of Thebais, and the cities of the NUe. Even to the present day the traveller may explore the ruins of fifty monasteries, which Avere 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 sirailar enthusiasm, and innumerable monasteries Avere soon distributed over all Palestine. In the west, Martin of Tours, " a soldier, a hermit, a bishop, and a saint," founded a monastery near Poictiers, and thus introduced mo nastic institutions into France, His monks were mostly of noble fa milies, and subraitted to the greatest austerities both in food and rai ment ; and, such was the rapidity of their increase, that two thousand of thera 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, Avas fill ed Avith 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 lona, 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 sarae time to retire from the Avorld, and dedicate them selves to solitude and devotion. The practice is alluded to in the earlier councUs ; 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. WidoAvs, and children above six years of age, were admitted after a year's probation. They Avere strictiy shut up in the monastery, and 202 History ofthe Christian Church. secluded from all worldly intercourse. They were neither aUoAved to go out, nor was any person permitted to corae in unto them, nor even to enter the church Avhither 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 Avere common. They served themselves or helped one ano ther. They made tiieir own clothes, Avhich were white and plain AvooUen — the height of the cap or head-dress was restricted to an inch and tivo lines — they were tasked daily, but forbidden to Avork 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 Avere 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 deUnquent, 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 raonastery, trod the steep and thorny path of eternal happiness. The popular monks, Avhose reputation Avas 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, who might bestow Avealth or dignity on the monastic profession. The lives of the monks Avere consumed in penance and solitude, undisturbed by the various occupations which fill the time and exercise the faculties of reasonable, active, and social beings. They passed their lives without personal attachments, among a crowd which had been formed by acci dent, and Avas detained in the same prison by force or prejudice. Their days were professedly eraployed in vocal or mental prayer : they as sembled in the evening, and were awakened in the night for the public Avorship 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 Aveight of crosses and chains, and their eraaciated limbs were con fined by coUars, bracelets, gauntiets, and greaves of massy iron,t The times of martyrdom ivere noiv passed, and of course that sort of courage and constancy could not be exerted ; a method was therefore contrived of voluntary martyrdora, 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 Avorld, obliged themselves to a sin gle and solitary life, and alloAved themselves no more food, raiment, and sleep, than Avould barely support life. The ethics of monks is a raere 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, Avhat is beautiful in the original is hideous in the copy. The doctrines of * Fleury's Eccles. Hist. tom. vii, t Gibbon's Rome, vol, vi. ch. xxvii. Monkery extolled hy the Fathers. 203 Christianity are divinely adapted to the state of man in this Avorld, 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 Avorld to come. In the system of monkery all these Christian vir tues are carried to the most ridiculous extreme. About the middle of the fourih century, Gregory Nazianzen wrote an eulogy in praise of the raonastic life, wherein he describes the manner in which it Avas practised at Nazianzum. " There are some," says he, " who loaded themselves with iron chains in order to bear down their bodies— who shut theraselves up in cabins, and appeared to nobody — who continued twenty days and twenty nights without eating, practising often tiie 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 aniraated statue,"* Noav, adraitting 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? Ifet 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 iraraoral, is, as if a raan 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 tmth, is both virtuous and heroical ; but the self-inflicted penances of the raiserable hermit serve as a testimony of nothing so rauch as the idiocy or insanity ofthe 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 exaraples of monkish penance that is upon record, is that of St, Symeon, a Syrian monk, who lived about the raiddle of the fifth century, and who is thought to have outstripped aU those that preceded hira. He is said to have lived thirty-six years on a pillar erected on the surarait of a high mountain in Syria, whence he got the name of " Symeon Stylites," From his pUlar, it is said, he never descended, unless to take possession of another ; which he did four tiraes, having in all occupied five of them. On his last pUlar, which was loftier than any of the forraer, 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. ivi. ch. li. t Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. ii. 204 History of the Christian Church. clemencies of the seasons, in a cliraate 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 he down. He spent the day till three in the afternoon in meditation and prayer; from that tirae till sunset, he harangued the people, who flocked to him frora all countries— tiiey were then dis missed with his benediction. He would on no account perrait feraales to corae Avithin his precincts, not even his own mother, who is said, through grief and mortification, in being refused adraittance, 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 tirae daUy in the exeraplary exercise of bowing so low as to make his forehead strike his toes, and so fre quentiy, that one who went with Theodoret to see hira, counted no fewer than twelve hundred and forty-four times, when being more wearied in numbering than the saint ivas 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 au ulcer,* Instances of similar fanaticism abound in the pages of ecclesiastical history, Baradatus, in the same century, and, in all probability from similar raotives, betook hiraself to a wooden coffer, or rather cage, in which he was so confined by its dimensions and forra, that he was always bowed down in it, and could not stand upright. This raansion 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 coraplied; but to make compensation for one restraint that was taken off, he raade choice of another, and devoutly abjured the use of his hands, in any way in ivhich they could be serviceable either to himself or others. This he did by devoting thera to reraain always in one posture, extended towards heaven, probably in coraraemoration 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 raarvellous, and the most frantic, such as dishonoured the name of religion, and rendered raen worse than useless, were considered as the most sublirae attainments in the Christian life. And thus the dsmon 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 liira to look further into the histoiy ofthis 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 chui-ch of England, defending the farae of this wretched fanatic, and advocating, with all theu' might, the truth and reality ofthe mfa-acles reported to have been wrought by him ! See Middleton, ut supra. Monkery extolled by the Fathers. 205 Yet all the principal fathers of the Catholic Church, both Greek and Latin, eraployed 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 ivonderful sanc tity and rairaculous gfifts, and founding monasteries wherever they tra velled, " There was a certain shadow of it," says Bellarmine, its great advocate, " in the laAV of nature before the flood ; a plainer ex pression of it under the Mosaic dispensation; but in'the time of the aposties it came to perfection." Athanasius Avas one ofthe first, Avho, frora 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 t'he great oracles of the Catholic church, at that time, indulged, Avhen recommending this stupid practice, Basil terms it " an angelical institution ; a blessed and evangelic life, leading to the mansions of the Lord," Jerorae declares the societies of raonks 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 beaven ; not at all inferior to that of an gels." And Augustine styles them upon every occasion " the servants of Gt)d." By the influence of these renowned fathers, all of whom flourished in the fourth and foUoAving century ; and by the many lies and forged miracles Avhich they dUigentiy propagated in" honour of the monks, innumerable monasteries, as they themselves tell us, Avere founded over the western world, but especially in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, whose deserts ivere covered with them ; and sorae of them in the fifth century, are said to have contained each five thousand monks at -a tirae. We find Chrysostom frequently haranguing also on the great bless ings whicii the church reaped from fhe relics of the martyrs, and the daily miracles which were Avrought by thera ; and he concludes one of his homilies on two female Jnartyrs 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 poiver, since their bones have so great an one ; and not only on the day of their festival, but on other days also, let us fix ourselves as it Avere 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 coflSns ; that not only their bones, but their tombs and their urns also overfloived Avith blessings," Basil informs us, that " all Avho Avere pressed with any diflSculty or distress, were wont to fly for relief to the tombs of the martyrs ; and whosoever did but touch their rehcs acquired some share of their sanctity,"* • Introductory Discourse to Dr. Middleton's Free Inquiry, p. 52 — 56. where the reader will find tiie authorities quoted. Of these, and a thousand other le gendary tales, with which the writings ofthe fathers of this period ai-e profific, we may say, as Voltiure has said upon a similar occasion ; " They have been re lated by many historians, and cannot be denied without overturning the very foundation of history ; but it is certen we cannot give credit to them without overturning the very foundation of reason !" 18 206 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, ivhich 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 inanner of the Pagans, Jerome, esteemed a great luminary of the Catholic church, Avho Avas a most zealous advocate for all these superstitious rites, undertook the task of refuting Vigilantius, Avhom he politely styles " a most blasphemous heretic," comparing him to the Hydra, to Cerberus, the Centaurs, &c, and considers him only asthe organ ofthe daemon. He, however, fumishes us with all the particular articles of his heresy, in the words of Vigilantius hiraself, ivhich are as follow : " That the honours paid to.the rotten bones and dust of tbe saints and martyrs, by adoring, kissing, wrapping thera up in silk and vessels of gold, lodging thera in their churches and lighting up wax candles before thera, 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 leAvdness, That to pray to thc dead, or to desire the prayers of the "dead, Avas superstitious ; for that the souls of the departed saints and raartyrs Avere 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. Thatthe sepulchres of the martyrs ought not to be worshipped, nor their fasts and vigils to be observed ; and lastly, that the signs and Avonders said to be wrought by their relics and at their sepulchres, served to no good end or pur pose of reUgion." These were the sacrilegious tenets, as Jerome calls them, which he could not hear with patience, or without the utmost grief, and for Avhich he declares VigUantius to be a' detestable heretic, venting his foul- mouthed blasphemies against the relics of the martyrs, Avhich 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 hiraself burnt, not by those wax candles which so much offended him, but by.invisible flames which would force that dffimon Avho talked within hira, to confess hiraself to be the sarae Avho had personated a Mercury, perhaps, or a Bacchus, or sorae other of their gods among the heathen," Such is the wUd rate, as Dr. Middle- ton weU observes, at which this renowned father raves on through several pages. " , t i- . .i,„ It may probably gratify the reader to see how Jerorae refutes the arguraents of VigUantius ; andhe 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 ofthe saints, as Vigilantius contends, then the eraperor Constantius raust needs be a sacrilegious person, who translated tiie holy relics of Andrew, Luke, and Tiraothy to Constanti nople; then Arcadius Augustus also must be held sacrdegious, who translated the bones of the blessed Sarauel from Judea, ivhere they had • Postscript to Free Inquiry, p. 131—134. Prevalence of Monkery, ^c. 207 lain so many ages, into Thrace ; then aU the bishops ivere 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 lastiy, then the people of all the churches must needs be fools, who Avent out to meet those holy relics, and received them with as much joy, as ifthey had seen the prophet himself, living and present among them, for the procession Avas attended by swarms of people from Palestine even unto Chalcedon, singing Avith one voice the praises of Christ, Avho were yet adoring Samuel, perhaps, and not Christ, whose prophet and Levite Samuel Avas.*"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 Avere • m 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 ofthe 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 martyi-s. One hundred and fifty years after the glorious deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Vatican and the Ostian road ivere distinguished by the tombs, or rather by the trophies of those spiritual heroes. In tbe age which followed the conversion of Constantine, the emperors, the consuls, and the generals of armies, devoutiy lisited the sepulchres of a teftt-maker and a fisherman ; and theu* venerable bones ivere deposited under the altars of Christ, on which the bishops of the royal city continually offered the unbloody sacrifice. The neiv capital of the eastern world, unable to produce any ancient and domestic trophies, was en riched by the spoils of dependant provinces. The bodies of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timotiiy, 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 Thracian Bosphorus. About fifty years afterwards, the same banks were lionoui'ed 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 ivoidd have shoivn to the living prophet ; the highways, from Palestine to the gates of Constantinople, were filled with an uninteiTupted procession ; and the emperor Arcadius himself, at the head of the most illustrious members ofthe clergy and senate, advanced to meet his extraordinary guest, who had always deserved and claimed the homage of kings. Tlie example of Rome and Constantinople con firmed the faith and discipline of the Catiiolic world. The honours of the saints and martyrs, after a feeble and ineffectual murmur of profane reason, ivere 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 whicli adopted and cherished this pernicious "mnovation." 208 History ofthe Christian Church. invented for the sake of their bones, and dreams and miracles were employed in the discovery of obscure names and of sacred graves tUl then unknown to sorae. To write the life of a saint, to make a pil grimage to his tomb, to bring home fragraents of his bones, of his cof fin or of his clothes, or to erect a church to his memory, Avere acts not only honourable and meritorious, but frequentiy extrenrffely lucrative. Scarcely any one deemed himself safe, especially on a joumey or in times of danger, without some scrap of a rehc in his possession. It Avas necessary to the security of every habitation, and to the corafort of every family,- and neither church nor monastery Avas considered as duly consecrated, till it becarae the repository of the relics of some re puted saint ; and, if his narae were renoAvned, the church was croAvd- ed with supplicants far health, children, or prosperity : his priests Avere loaded Avith presents, and his treasury stored with donations of money and land. Towards tiie 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 centiy been erected in honour of that apostie. Gregory wrote to her in reply that she had solicited what he durst not grant; for, said he, " the bodies ofthe aposties 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 sorae alteration on a silver ornament on the body of St. Peter, at the distance of fifteen feet, Avhen an awful vision appeared to him, which was folloAved by his death, I rayself Avished to repair soraewhat about the body of St. Paul, and with a view to that had occasion to dig a littie near his se pulchre ; Avhen, in digging, the superior of the place raising some bones apparentiy unconnected with-the sacred torab, had a disraal vision after it, and suddenly died. In like manner, the workraen and the monks, not knoAving 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, Madara, the Romans in granting relics, do not touch the saints' bodies : they only put a littie linen in a box, Avhich they place near them ; after sorae tirae they withdraw it, and deposit the box and linen solemnly in the church Avhich they raean to dedicate. This linen performs as many miracles, as ifthey 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 peculiariy efficacious, provided they succeeded, which was not always the case, in. filing them ofi","* This may sufiice 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 sra ; and I therefore quit the sub ject to pass on to affairs of a different descnption. * Fleury's Eccles. Hist. tom. viii. p. 91—93. Arcadius and Honorius, Emperors. 209 SECTION IV. GOTHIC INVASION OF THft 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 Avorld devolved upon his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, Avho, by the unanimous consent of their suWects, Avere saluted as the lawful eraperors 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 ivas termed the East ern Empire. His brother Honorius assumed, in the eleventh year of his age, the government of Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain, and Britain, un der the denomination ofthe Western, Their father died in the month of January, 395, and before the end of the ivinter in the same year, die Gothic nation was in arms ; and, from the forests of Scythia, the savage Avarriors "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 Rorae expired Avith Theodosius, He Avas the last of the successors of Augustus and Constantine, who ap peared in the field at the head of their arraies, 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 Roraans at the period of which we speak. The Barbarians, as they were called, breathed nothing but war — their martial spirit was yet in its vigour — their sivord Avas their right, and theyexercised.it Avithout remorse as the right of nature. Siraple and severe in their manners, they were unacquainted with the name of luxury ; any thing Avas sufiicient for their extreme frugality. Inured to exercise and toil, their bodies seemed irapervious to disease or pain ; they sported ivith danger, and met death with expressions of joy. The Rornan character Avas then reduced to the reverse of all this. Accustoraed to repose and luxury, they had degenerated into a dastard- ' ly and efferainate race, overwhelnjed with fear and folly, or, what Avas still more ignominious, Avith treachery. That enormous fabric, the Roman empire, had, for a succession of ages, groaned under its OAvn utiAvieldy.bulk, and every method had been resorted to, that human wisdom could devise, for the purpose of preventing the superstructure from crambling into ruins. Theodosius had attempted to appease the invaders by voluntary contributions of money. Tributes were multi plied upon tributes, untU the empire Avas 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 ansAvered for the moment ; but it terminated in the subversion of the empire. Already acquainted with the luxuries, the Avealth, and the Aveakness of the Romans, they turned their arms against their mas- 18* 210 History ofthe Christian Church. ters, inviting their countryraen to corae and share with them in the spoils ofa people that were unworthy of so inany 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 die south of the Danube, submitted to the calamities, which, in the course of twenty years, ivere almost grown familiar to their imagination, and the various troops of Barbarians, who gloried in the Gothic narae, were irregularly spread from the woody shores of Dalraatia to the AvaUs of Constantinople, Under the bold and enterprising genius of Alaric, their renowned leader, they traversed Avithout resistance the plains of Macedonia and Thessaly, stretching from east to ivest, to the edge of the sea shore. " The fertile fields of Phocis and Boeotia," says Gibbon, "Avere instantiy covered by a deluge of Barbarians, who massacred the raales of an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful females, with the spoU 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, frora 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 Paganisra — and a system Avhioh had then subsisted eighteen hundred years, did not survive the calamities of Greece. "t Having completely ravaged the entire territory of Greece, Alaric pro ceeded to-iuvade Italy, and the citizens of Rome were throAvn into the utmost consternation at his approach. The eraperor had taken up his residence in his palace at Milan, Avhere he thought himself secured by the rivers of Italy which lay betAveen him and the Gothic chief. But the season happened to be remarkably dry, Avhich enabled the Goths to traverse, Avithout impediraent, the wide and stony beds, Avhose centre was faintly marked by the course of a shaUow stream; and as Alaric approached the ivaUs, or rather the suburbs of Milan, he enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing the emperor of the Romans flying before him. The danger to ivhich the latter had been exposed, noAv urged hira to seek a retreat in sorae inaccessible fortress of Italy, where he raight securely reraain, while the open country Avas covered by a deluge of Barbarians ; and in the tAventieth year of his age, anxious only for his personal safety, Honorius retired to the perpetual confinement of the waUs and morasses of Ravenna. His exaraple was imitated by his feeble successors, the Gothic kings, and afterwards the Exarchs, who occupied the throne and palace of the eraperors ; and, tiU the raiddle of the eighth century,' Raveuna 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. j- Decline and Fall, vol. v. ch. 30. Rome besieged by the Goths. 211 of this proud metropolis. ^ By a skUful 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 Avas soon humbled by misfortune. The unfortunate city gradually experienced the dis tress of scarcity, and at length the horrid calamities of famine. The daily alloAvance of three pounds of bread, was reduced to one half — to one third — to nothing ; and the price of com still continued to rise in a rapid and extravagant proportion. The poorer citizens, unable to procure the necessaries of life, solicited the precar'iOus charity of the rich ; but private and occasional donations were insuflicient to appease the hunger of a numerous people. The food the most repugnant to sense or imagination, the aliments the most unAvholesome and per- * 'W^e seem in general to entertain a ver}- inadequate jdea ih 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 tliis work : yet I flatter myself a few hints may be pardoned by the reader, ivere 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 Briton ; but it contained about one-fifth more inhabitants ; for five may fairly estimate the number of mhabitants," 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 hundi-ed, and eighty-two — a num ber inferior to those of the British capital ; but that is accounted for from the loftiness of the 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 fi-equent and fatal accidents which happened through the hastiness of their erection, and the insufliciency of their materials, that the height oi private edifices, within the walls of Rome, should not exceed tiie measure of SEVEifTr 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 tile bulk of the common people was crowded into a naiTow space, and the dif ferent floors and apartments of the same house were divided among several famiUes. There were seventeen hundred and eighty superb mansions, the resi dence of wealthy and honourable citizens. Np doubt the language of one of their own poets (Claudius Rutilius,) who Uved at the time of the Gothic invasion, is to be understood as indulging in poetic Ucense, when it describes "each palace as equal to a city, since it included ivithin 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 tlie riches and luxury of these nobles, we may form an estimate fi'om this circumstance ; that several examples are recorded in the age of Honorius, of persons who cele brated the year of theb 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, A-iii, ch, 31. and Optatus de Schism. Donat. lib. ii. p. 40. 212 History ofthe Christian Church. nicious to the constitution, were eageriy devoured, and fiercely dispu ted by the rage of hunger, A dark suspicion was entertained that some wretches fed on the bodies of their feUow creatures, whom they had secretiy murdered, and even mothers are said to have tasted the flesh ot their slaughtered infants! Many tiiousands of the inhabitants of Kome expired m their own houses, or in the streets, for want of sus tenance ; and as the public sepulchres without the waUs were in the power of the enemy, the stench which arose frora so many putrid and unburied carcasses, infected the air; and the raiseries of famine were succeeded and augmented by the contagion of a pestUential disease, and the proud and insolent Romans were at length compelled to seek relief in tihe clemency, or at least in the moderation of the king of the Goths. The senate appointed Iavo ambassadors to negotiate with the eneray. AA hen 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 either 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 arras and aniraated 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 eraaciated by faraine. He then condescended to fix the ransora which he ivould receive as the price of his retreat from the waUs 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 fhat could prove their title to the name of Barbarians. " If such, 0 king, are your deraands," said they, " what do you intend to leave us ?" " Your Uves," repUed the haughty conqueror ! They trembled and retired. The stem features of Alaric, however, became insensibly relaxed, and he abated much of the rigour of his terras ; for he at length con sented to raise tbe siege on the iraraediate payraent 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 Aveight of pepper. But the public treasury was exhausted ; the annual rents of the nobles were intercepted by the cala mities of Avar, the gold and geras had been exchanged, during the famine, for the vilest sustenance. Recourse was, therefore, obliged to be had to the hoards of secret Avealth Avhich had been concealed by the obstinacy of avarice, and some reraains of consecrated spoils, Avhich afforded the only means of averting the impending ruin of the city. As soon as thc Roraans had satisfied the rapacious deraands of Alaric, they were restored, in some measure, to the enjoyment of peace and plenty,* Before he Avithdrew his army from the gates of Rorae, Alaric had stipulated for the payment of an annual subsidy of com and money, which the treacherous Romans now sought to evade, and in the fol- * Gibbon's Rome, vol. ,-. 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, hoAvever, 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 Avas undertaken by Julius Caesar, and finished in the reign of Claudian, Avhere the corn of Africa was deposited in spacious granaries for the use of the capital, had, by this time, insensibly SAvelled to the size of an episcopal city. As soon as Alaric was in possession of that iraportant place, he suraraoned the city to surrender, declaring that a refusal, or even a delay, should be instantiy foUowed 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 Avhich Alaric raade them, of placing a new emperor on the throne of the Caesars in place of the unAvorthy Honorius, and the suffrage of the Gothic conqueror bestow ed the purple on Attalus, praefect ofthe city, Attalus, however, was not long in evincing his incompetency for the duties of the high station to Avhich 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 Rai'enna, 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 Avith it ; and, instead of accepting the friendly overture of Alaric, a body of three hundred soldiers AVere or dered to saUy out of the gates of Ravenna, AA-ho surprised and cut in pieces a considerable party of Goths, after ivhich they re-entered the city in triuraph. Thc crirae and folly Joi the court of Ravenna Avas expiated a third tirae by the calaraities'of Rome. Alaric, Avho now no longer dissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge, appeared in arms under the Avails 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 Avere unable to guard against the se cret conspiracy of their slaves and domestics, Avho, either from birth or interest, were attached to the cause of the enemy. At the hour of midnight, tiie Salarian gate was silentiy 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 wntten by Pelagius, the author of the Pelagian heresy, to a Roman lady ot the name of Demethias, and it deserves insertion in this place, were it only to exlubit to the reader a specimen of the superior talents which were possessed by that apostate fi'om the doctrines of grace. PiLAGins, whose original name was Morgan, was a native of 'Wales, and by protession a monk. He was far advanced in life before he began pubUcly 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- paieu au his errors, does him the justice to own that " he had the esteem of be- im* ''fS' P'°*^ ™an> and a Christian of no vulgar rank." Pelagius happened IL.t 7 ^"^.^''en that city was besieged by the Goths, and was probably a ?J1 A t °i tnat passed during the sacking of the meti-opoUs. Soon after it was taken he set sad for Afi-ica, and from thence wrote to the Lady Demetrias me letter, ol which the foUowing is an extract, refen-ing to tiie Gothic invasion. 314 History of the Christian Church. the year 410, eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the founda tion of Rome, the imperial city, ivhich had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, ivas delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia, Avho, during six days, piUaged tiie city of aU its gold and jewels, stripped the palaces of their splendid furniture — the sideboards of their massy plate, and the Avardrobes of tiieir silk and purple, which were loaded on waggons to foUoAv the march of the Gothic army — the most cruel slaughter was made of the Romans — the streets of the city were fiUed Avith 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 ^o more into detaU on tins subject, than I should otherwise have done, for the sake of giving the uninformed reader some general notion of the misery ivhich resulted from t'he irrup tion of these Barbarian hordes into the Roman erapire ; and, because it ultimately proved the means of its subversion ; but it is incompatible Avith my plan to pursue the matter further than just to add, that new invaders, frora regions more reraote 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 sivord of slaughter Aveary of destroying, " If a man AA'ere called," says Dr. Robertson, " to fit upon the period in the history of the Avorld, during Avhich the condition of the human race Avas most calamitous and afflicted, he Avould, Avithout 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. The 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 Avhich they had brought on the Avorld, to the havoc occasioned hy earthquakes, conflagrations, or deluges — the most formidable and fatal calamities which the iraagination of raan can conceive."* " Tliis dismal calamity is but just over, and you yourself are a witness how Rorae that commanded the world was astonished at the alarm of the Gothic trumpet, ivhen 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 fiUed with grief and confusion. The slave and the man of quality ivere in the same circumstances, and every ivhere the terror of death and slaughter ivas the same, unless ive 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 wiU become of us when the trumpet sounds from the sky, and the archangel sum mons us to judgment; ivhen ive 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 be reminded, how iveU this account of things corresponds with the striking lan- Settlemeut of the Barbarians in Europe. 215 The overwhelming progress of the Barbarians soon diffused its powerfiil 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, custoras, 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 poUshed 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 ivere men of great talents, and some of thera not wholly ignorant of the policy and Uterature 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 jthey concluded from the dastardly beha viour of the Romans, that learning .tends to enervate the mind, and that he who has trerabled under the^'-rod of a schoolraaster, wiU never dare to meet a sword with an undaunted eye. Upon the same principle they rejected the Roraan code of laws ; it reserved Jiothing 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 ' settied, viz. in religion. The conquerors subraitted to the religion of tiie conquered, which at this period, indeed, in its established forra, 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 Westem Empire was at this time divided, whether in the forms of their government, or uieir civil and political institutions ; they unanimously agreed to sup port the hierarchy oY the church of Rome, and to defend and maintain it as the estabUshed religion of thei^ 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 tor the laws of huraanity and religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the rewards of valour, and to enrich themselves |^*^pjg'''^''°o*^ of Revelation quoted at the beginning of tiie last Section, 216 History of the Christian Church. with tho spoils of the citizens ; buthe exhorted them to spare the lives of the unresisting, and to respect the churches of the aposdes 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 accustoraed to yield to die priests of that religion which they had forsaken. They deeraed their persons to be equally sacred with their function, and would have considered it as impious to subject thera to the profane jurisdiction of the laity. The clergy were not blind to these advantages ivhich the weakness of mankind afforded them. They established courts, in which every question relating to their own character, their function, and their property, AVas tried. They pleaded, and obtained an alraost total exemption from the authority of civil judges. Upon different pretexts, and by a multiplicity of artifices, they coraraunicated 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. "t The claims to supremacy, which, during the preceding centuries, had been asserted by the bishops of Rome, were at first fainfly urged, and promoted by artful and alraost imperceptible means. They now, Jiowever, began to insist upon superiority as a divine right attached. to their see, which, they contended, had been founded by the apostie 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 civU, they stiU 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 foUo volume of St. Augustine, entitied, " The Citt of Gob." The writer's object is to justify the ways of Providence in the destruction ofthe Roman greatness; and he cele brates with pecuUar satisfaction, this memorable occui-rence, wJiile he insulting ly chaUenges his adversaries to produce one similar example ofa town taken by storm, in which the fabulous gods of antiquity had been able to protect either themselves or their dehided votaries— appealing particularly to the examples of Troy, Syracuse, and Tarentum. Had the Ufe 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 A^andal 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, oi sacred or profane treasure, was diligentiy transported to Uie vessels of Genseric." Among the spoils were the holy instruments of the Jewish worship,— the golden table, the golden candlesticks ivith seven branches, &c. which four hundred yeai-s 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. f History of Charles V. vol. 1. sect. 1. Inordinate ambition of the Popes. , 217 of Constantinople, Such, hoivever, was the extensive influence of tiie papal intrigues, that there ivere few among the princes of the West ern Erapire, 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 tiie 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, prevaUed. In this contest he was materially assisted by the pen of Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, who employed the most abject flattery in behalf of Syraraa- chus, whora 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, hoivever, 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 die 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 VigiUus prevaUed — his antagonist was resigned to his pow er, and iraraediately confined by him in the islands of Pontus and Pan- datara, ivhere, in penury and affliction, he terrainated 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 arabitious than their brethren at Rome, to refuse acknow ledging their pre-erainence, and prorapted thera to lay claira to sirailar authority. The arrogant pretensions of these rival sees involved them in continual dissensions ; ivhich 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 titie of Universal Bishop, ivhich was confirmed to him by the coun cil. This appellation, which implied a pre-eminence difficult to be endured by those Avho were as ambitious as himself, was opposed ve- hementiy by Pelagius II. then bishop of Rome, Avho called it an exe crable, profane, and diabolical prociedure ; but his invectives Avere dis regarded, and he died soon after. In the year 560, he was succeeded by Gregory the Great, as he is usuaHy termed ; a voluminous writer, and, though superstitious in the extreme, not altogether destitute of ta lents. His works are stiU extant, and in high reputation Avith the Ca- tiiolics. The following letter written by him to the emperor Maurice, at Constantinople, in consequence of John, the patriarch of that city, assuraing the narae of "Universal Bishop," casts so much light upon 19 218 History ofthe Christian Church. the history of that age, that it cannot, Avithout 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 mie of the sacred writings, to preserve peace and charity among the clergy. He truly and piously considers, that no raan can AveU govern temporal matters, unless he manages Avith propriety things di vine also ; and that the peace and tranquillity of the commonAvealth 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 raajesty. if the clergy, be ing at unity amongst themselves, Avould seriously pray to our Saviour Christ to preserve you Avho 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 Avicked and depraved? But whilst Ave leave those things which more immediately concern us, and embrace those things for which we are AvhoUy unfit, we e.xcite the Barbarians against us, and our offences sharpen the sAvords of our eneraies, by Avhich means the commonAvealth is Aveakened. For Avhat can Ave say for oursehes, if the people of God, 0A>er whom, however unworthily, we are placed, be oppressed through the multitude of our offences ; if our example destroys that Avhich our preaching should build ; and our ac tions, as it were, give the lie to our doctrine? Our bones are ivorn with fasting, but our minds are puffed up ! Our bodies are covered Avith 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 pmdendy careful to place the church at unity, that he might the better compose the tumults of Avar and join their hearts together. This verily is my Avish also, and for my own part I yield due obedience to youi" sovereign cornmands. However, since it is not my cause, but God's, it is not myself only butthe whole church that is troubled, because religious laAvs, venerable synods, and the very pre cepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, are disobeyed by tiie invention of a proud and pompous speech. My desire is, that our most reUgious so vereign would lance this sore, and that he Avould bind with the cords of his imperial authority the party affected, in case he makes any re sistance. By restraining him the coramonwealth wiU be eased ; and by the paring away of such excrescences the empire is enlarged. Eve ry man that has read the gospel knoAvs that, even by the very words of our Lord, the care of tiie whole church is committed to St. Peter, the apostie— the prince of aU the aposties. For to hira 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 1 Gregory's letter to the Emperor Maurice. 319 wUl build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ; and to thee I AviU give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and Avhat 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 ofthe kingdora, and the power of binding and loosing is coraraitted to him. The care and the principality of the Avhole church is committed to him ; and yet he is not called " Uni versal Apostie" — though this holy man, John, my feUoAV priest, la bours to be called " Universal Bishop !" I am compelled to cry out. " 0 the corruption of times and manners?" Behold the Barbarians are become lords of aU Europe : cities are destroyed — casties 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 kndAV, that raany priests ofthe church of Con stantinople have been not only heretics, but even the chief leaders of thera. Out of that school proceeded Nestorius, Avho, thinking it im possible that God should be made man, believed that Jesus Christ, the Mediator betAveen 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 raen, the catholic church, ivhich God forbid should ever be the case, must needs be overthrown Avhen he falls Avho is called Universai. But, far from Christians be this blasphemous name, by which all honour is taken frora all other priests, while it is foolishly arrogated by one. It Avas offered to the bishop of Rorae by the reverend council of Chalcedon, in honour of St. Peter, prince of the aposties ; but none of thera either assumed or consented to use it, lest, while this privUege should be given to one, all others should be deprived of that honour whicii is due unto them. Why should WE refuse this title when it was offered, and another assume it without any offer at all? This raan (John) contemning obedience to the canons, should be humbled by the commands of our raost pious sove reign. He should be chastised who does an injury to the holy catho lic church ! Avhose heart is puffed up, who seeks to please himself by a name of singularity, by which he Avould elevate himself above the eraperor ! We are aU scandalized at this. Let the author of this scan dal reform hiraself, and all differences in" the church will cease. I am the servant of aU priests, so long as they live like themselves — ^but if any shall vainly set up his bristies, 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 Avill 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 tie, I have particularly declared to Sabinianus, the deacon, my agent. Let therefore my religious sovereigns think of me their servant, Avhom 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 ray 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 trae, " Every one that exalteth him self shall be abased." And again it is ivritten, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a faU." In obedience to my sovereign, I have Avritten to my brother priest both gentiy and humbly, urging hira to desist frora this vainglory. If he gives ear unto rae, he hath a brother devoted unto him, but if he continue in his pride, I fore see Avhat will befall him — he ivill 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, Avas soon afterwards removed by death from his archiepiscopal dignity ; but Cynacus, who succeeded hira as bishop of Constantinople, adopt ed the same pompous titie as his predecessor. Having had occasion to despatch sorae agents to Rome, in the letter which he wrote to the Roman Pontiff Gregory, he so much displeased him by assuming the appeUation of " Universal Bishop," that the lattef ivithheld frora the ao-ents soraewhat of the courtesy to ivhich they considered themselves entitled, and, of course, complaint Avas made to the eraperor Maurice of the neglect Avhich had been shoAvn them. This circumstance ex torted a letter frora the eraperor at Constantinople to the Bishop of Rome, in Avhich 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 creatq,a scandal about a titie, and faU 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 Avas weighty enough to sink and destroy aU, And, therefore, I am bold to say," says he, " that whoever adopts, or affects the titie 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 arabitious 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 hiraself, and refused to his aspiring brother the tide 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 tide. He readily accepted, or rather importunately begged it from the emperor Phocas, Avith the privilege also of transraitting 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 ivhich 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. f Introductory Sermons to the Study of Prophecy Vol. ii. Serm. 7. 19' 222 ) APPENDIX TO CHAP, HI, SECT, IV, A RESPECTABLE Writer in one of our Monthly Journals, and, as I am inforraed, a Classical Tutor in one of our Dissenting Acaderaies, ap pears to think that, in aniraadverting on the characters of sorae of the luminaries of the Catholic church, I have not made sufficient aUowanc8 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 Redeeraer, and in their lives served hira, according to the light they had, were fbund dragged in the train of those who wandered after the beast. Painful and humbling fact ! That such men as Athanasius and Gregory, Anselm and Bemard, 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 Roraan 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 appeUation, 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 confirras rae in the supposition that he is the person re ferred to, Noav, 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 tmth of this very respectable writer's reraark, that I have " not sufficientiy studied that humUiating part of the philosophy of raan, his strange inconsistencies. And I am ready to admit that I raay not have raade the proper allow ances for the infelicity of tiraes, &c. Yea, fiirther ; that in the darkest periods of the church, there were individuals dragged m 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 Ught they had, is a sentiment to Avliich I cheerfully subscribe, but am not aware that I have said any thing that mUitates against it in this work. Ihe 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 shrams in which tills pontiff addressed the emperor Maurice, m consequence ol Appendix, to Ch, IIL Sect. IV. 223 the patriarch of Constantinople arrogating to himself the tide of "Uni versal Bishop." He styles the eraperor his " most religious Lord" — his " most gracious Sovereign" — his "most Christian Majesty" — his " most religious Sovereign," against Avhom it would be the height of impiety to lift afinger, &c. Let us noiv raark what followed. Gregory Avith all his flattery was unable to prevail on the emperor Maurice to second his views ; and the former, as raight be expected, became not a littie dissatisfied witli 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, Avas 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 crael from policy ; the cmelties 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 destmction of his children before his OAVn death. There stiU remained, however, a brother and son ofthe eraperor's, both of whora he caused to be put to death, together Avith all the patricians Avho adhered to the interest of the un happy monarch. The erapress 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 thera for a time with great spirit and resolution, not permitting them to be dragged by force from their asylura. The tyrant, one of the niost vindictive and inexorable of raankind, not wishing to alarm the church at the outset of his reign, now had recourse to dissiraulation ; and by means of the most solemn oaths and proraises of safety, at length prevaUed on the females to quit their asylura. 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 recenfly murdered. So much for the character of Phocas : now Avhat should we expect Avould be the reception Avhich the account of aU 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 Avith the vUest and most venal flattery ; insomuch, that were Ave to learn the character of Phocas only frora this pontiflTs 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 coohiess as though religion and morality could be noivise 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 ; who, according as it is wntten, changes times and transfers kingdoms. And because he would have that made known to aU men, whioh he hath vouchsafed to speak by his own prophets, saying, that the Most High mles in the kingdoms of men, and to whom he wiU he gives it." He Uien 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 latO to our woful experience. 224 Appendix to Ch. IIL 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 tiiink ourselves the more speedily confirmed, rejoicing to find the gentieness 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 Ulustrious deeds, let the people of every realm, hitherto so vehementiy afflicted, noAV be fiUed with gladness. May the necks of your enemies be subjected to the yoke of your supreme mie ; 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 comraonwealth may long enjoy its present happiness. Thus, in language evidently borrowed from the inspired writers, and in Avliich 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 iraperial throne. "As a subject anda Christian," says Gibbon, "it was the duty of Gregory to acquiesce in the estabUshed governraent; 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 aposties 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 ; lo 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 aU his enemies ; and to express a wish, that, after a long triumphant reign, he may be transferred from a teraporal to an ever lasting kingdora." — "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 dirainutive and deforraed per son, &c. Ignorant of letters, of laws, and even of arms, he indulged, CA'en in the supreme rank, a more araple privilege of lust and drunken ness ; and his bmtal pleasures Avere 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 eraperor Maurice, to the Persian court, had been intercepted by a rapid pursuit, or a deceitful message : he Avas 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, Avhat are Ave to think of that of Gregory, who could stoop to the vile practice of panegyrizing such a monster ; and, Avith • DecUne and Fall, ch. xlvi. Retrospect of the Donatists. 225 all due deference, I humbly submit it to the consideration of ray 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 raan, Avhose 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 forra than to the power of religion, to the name than to the tiling. His zeal was exactly that of the Pharisees, Avho compassed sea and land to make a proselyte, which, when they had accoraplished, they rendered him two-fold more a chUd of hell than before. He was ever holding forth the prerogatives of St. Peter, nor did he make any ceremony of signifying, that this prirae minister of Jesus Christ, like all other prirae ministers, would be most liberal of his favours to those Avho were most assiduous in making court to him, especiaUy to them Avho 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 nOMINION OF THE POPES TO THE RISE OF THE AV ALDENSES. 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 tiiem, Avhich I shaU here do frora the Avritings of Dr. Lardner, Avho has coUected into a fcAv pages alraost every thing that is now interesting, relative to this denoraination 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 whora Ave have any authentic records ; but their origin was at least half a century later, and the churches in this connexion appear tohave been almost enhrely confined to Africa, They agreed with the Novatians in censuring the lax state of discipline in the Catholic church, and though they did not, hke the former, refuse to readmit penitents into their com munion, nor Uke thera condemn all second marriages, they denied the CampbeU'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 Avho left its communion to unite Avith them. In doctrinal sen timents they were agreed with both the Catholics and the Novatians; AvhUe the regard they paid to the purity of their communion, occasion ed their being stigraatized with the titie of Puritans, and uniformly treated as schismatics by Optatus and Augustine, thie tivo principal writers against thera, in the Catholic church. The Donatists are said to have derived their distinguishing appeUa tion from Donatus, a native of Nuihidia, in Africa, Avho was elected bishop of Carthage about the year 306. He Avas a man of leaming and eloquence, very exemplary in his morals, and, as Avould appear from several circumstances, studiously set himself to oppose the groAving cor mptions of the Catholic church. The Donatists Avere consequentiy a separate body of Christians for nearly three centuries, and in alraost every city in Africa, there Avas one bishop of this sect and another of the Catholics, The Donatists were very numerous, for we learn that in the year 411, there Avas a famous conference held at Carthage, be tAveen the Catholics and the Donatists, at which Avere present 286 Ca tholic bishops, and ofthe Donatists 279, which, when weoonsider the superior strictness of their discipline, raust give us a favourable opinion of their nurabers, and especiaUy as theywere frequentiy the subjects of severe and sanguinary persecutions from the dominant party. The emperor Constans, who reigned over Ai'rica, actuated by the zeal of his faraUy for the peace ofthe church, sent tivo persons of rank, Paul and Macarius, in the year 348, to endeavour to conciliate the Donatists, and if possible to restore thera 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 Eraperor to do Avith 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 raaxira of theirs, which is Avorthy of being recorded. It Avas usual with them to say, "Quid Christianis cura re gibus, aut quid episcopis cura palatio ?" TVhat have Christians to do with kings, or what have bishops to do at court? These hints are strikingly illustrative of the principles, and conduct of the Donatists, Avho had among them men of great learning and talents, and who dis tinguished themselves greatiy by their writings.* But I pass on from tills brief mention of thera to notice the slate of things during this pe riod in the Catholic church. The introduction of iraages into places of Christian worship, and the idolatrous practices to Avhich, in process of tirae, it gave rise, is an evil that dates its origin soon after the tiraes 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 Avorship 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. U. p. 295—301, and Long's Histor}- of the Donatists. Rise of the TVorship of Images. 227 «. absurdity. When the empress Constantia desired Eusebius to send her the image of Jesus Christ, he exposttHlated Avith her on the impropriety and absurdity of her requisition in the foUowing striking AVords — — "What kind of image of Christ does your imperial Majesty Avish 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 ? Wilh respect to the former, I presurae you are not to leam, that "no man hath known the Son but the Fa ther, neither hath any man known the Father but the Son, and he to Avhomsoever the Son wiU reveal him." But you ask for the image of Christ when he appeared in human form, clothed in a body similar to our OAvn. Let rae inform you, that the body is now blended Avith the glory of the Deity, and all that was mortal in it is absorbed in life." * Paulinus, Avho died bishop of Nola, in the year 431 , caused the AvaUs of a place of Avorship 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 throAV additional light upon this subject. Serenus, bishop of MarseiUes, 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 withdrcAV from his coraraunion, and coraplaints against him were made to the bishop of Rorae. Gregory Avrote to him in consequence of these complaints ; and the following is an extract of his letter. "T am lately informed," says he, " that upon your taking notice that some people Avorshipped images, you ordered the church pictures to be broken and thrown aAvay. Now, tbough I coraraend you for your zeal, in preventing the adoration of any thing inade with hands, yet in ray 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, Avhich 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 Avho are not bred to letters, may be acquainted Avith the scripture history ; and the people, on the other hand, preserved from the criminal excess of worshipping images. "t 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 impmdent concession, sanctioned by the authority and in fluence of Gregory, Avas productive of the worst Consequences that can be iraagined, and tended to accelerate the growing superstition Avith . 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 Avhich is made of it by raeans of the gospel of * White's Bampton Lectures, Nates, 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 clouids. 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 beginn'mg of the eighth century, Leo, the Greek emperor, who reigned at Constantinople, began openly to oppose the ivorship of images. One Besor, a Syrian, who appears to have been an officer of his court, and in great favour with the eraperor, is said to have con vinced him by his arguments that the adoration of iraages 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 aU the frankness and sincerity ivhich mark his character, pubUcly avo wed his conviction of the idolatrous nature of the prevaUing practice, and protested against the erection of images. Hilherto 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 rainds of men than either councils or precedents, had expressly and pointedly condemned it; yet, such deep root had the error at this tirae taken, so pleasing ivas it with raen to coraraute for the indulgence of their criraes by a routine of idolatrous ceremonies ; and, above aU, so little ear had they to be stow on what the word of God taught, that the subjects of Leo murraur- ed against him as a tyrant and a persecutor. And in this they Avere encouraged by Gerraanus, the bishop of Constantinople, who, Avith equal zeal and ignorance, asserted that iraages had always been used in the church, and declared his deterraination to oppose the eraperor; Avhich, the raore effectuaUy to do, he Avrote to Gregory the second, tiien bishop of Rome, respecting the subject, Avho, by sirailar reason ings, warraly supported the same cause. Two original episties frora Gregory the second to the eraperor Leo, are stiU extant, and they raerit attention on account of the portrait they exhibit of the founder of the papal raonarchy. " During ten pure and fortunate years," savs Gregory to the eraperor, " we have tasted the annual corafort of your royal letters, subscribed in purple mk, with your own hand, the sacred pledges of your attachraent to the orthodox creed of our fathers. Hoav deplorable is the change ! Hoav treraendous the scandal ! You noAV accuse the Catholics of idolatry ; and by the accu sation, you betray your own impiety and ignorance. To this igno rance we are compelled to adapt the grossness ot our style and argu ments; the first elements of holy letters are sufficient for your confu sion, and were you to enter a grararaar-school, and avow yourself the enemv of our worship, the siraple 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 iraages. 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, raore guilty than a heretic, he recommends peace, sflence, and implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constantinople and Rorae, " You assault us, 0 tyrant," thus he proceeds, " with a carnal and military hand; unarraed 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, "ifou 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 ofthe iraperial throne,' Would to God, that I raight be perraitted to tread in the footsteps of the holy Martin ; but raay the fate of Con stans serve as a warning to the persecutors of the church. After his just conderanation by the bishops of Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the fulness of his sins, by a doraestic servant; the saint is still adored by the nations of Scythia, among whom he ended his banishraent 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 corabat. 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 reraove 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 ? The eyes of the nations are fixed on our humUity ; and they revere as a God upon earth, the apostle Saint Pe ter, Avhose iraage you threaten to destroy. The remote and interior kingdoms of the "West present their homage to Christ and his vicege rent, and ive now prepare to visit one of the raost 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 ofthe blood that wiU be spiUin the con test; may it fall on your own head !"* The character of Leo has been so blackened by the ivriters of the CathoUc 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 mmd, while it may help us to account for much of the obloquv that was cast upon hira. In the year 730 he issued an edict against images, and having in vain laboured to bring over Germanus, the bishop of Constantinople, • Acts ofthe Nicene Council, tom, viii, 20 230 History of the Christian Church. to his views, he deposed him frora his see, and put Anastatius in his place, Avho took part Avith the eraperor. There Avas, in the palace of Constantinople, a porch Avhich contained an image of the SaAiour on the cross, Leo, perceiving that it was raade an instrument of idolatry, sent an officer to remove it. Some feraales, Avho wert then present, entreated that it raight 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 hira down, by pulling away the ladder, and murdered him on the spot. The image, however, ivas removed, and bumt, and a plain cross set up in its roora. The ivoraen then proceeded to insult Anastatius for encouraging the profanation of holy- things. An insurrection ensued — and in order to quell it, the eraperor was obliged to put several persons to death,, The news of this fleiv rapidly to Rome, where the same rage for idolatry prevailed, and such was the indignation excited by it, that the eraperor's statues were immediately pulled down, and trodden under foot, AU Italy was thrown into confijsion ; atterapts were raade to elect another emperor, in the roora of Leo, and the pope encouraged these atterapts. The Greek writers affirm that he prohibited the Ita lians from paying tribute any longer to Leo ; but, in Ihe midst of these broils, while defending idolatry and exciting rebeUion with all his might, he was stopped short in his ivicked career, " He was extreme ly insolent," says an irapartial Avriter, " though he died Avith the char acter of a saint,"* He Avas succeeded in his office by Gregory the III, A, D. 731, who entered with great spirit and energy into the raeasures of his predeces sor. The reader cannot but be amused Avith the following letter Avhieh he addressed to the eraperor, iraraediately on his elevation. " Because yon are unlearned and ignorant, ive are obliged to Avrite to you rude discourses, but full of sense and the word of God. We conjure yoa to quit your pride, and to hear us with humility. You say that ive 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 thera as gods'; but, if it be the image of Jesus, Ave say, " Lord help us." If it be the image of his mother, we say, " Pray to your Son to save us." Ifit be of a martyr, Ave say, " St, Stephen pray for us." We raight, as bavins; 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 avUI be quiet ; we fear not your threats." , , . , ¦ , i . j . 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 Avretched race of mortals in the subsequent period of their his torv it may strike some as exhibiting a tolerable advance towards it. It seems to have shut the door against aU further intercourse between • 'Walch's Compend. Hist, ofthe Popes, p. 101. Rise of the Pope' s temporal poieer. 231 the parties ; for in 732, Gregory, in a council, excommunicated all who should remove or speak contemptuously of iraages ; 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 aU respects like- a temporal prince. He intrigued with the. court of France, offering to Avithdraw his obedi ence from the eraperor, and give the consulship of Rome to Charles Martel, the prime minister of that court (or mayor of the palace, as he is generaUy called) if he would take him under his protection. But the war in Avhieh France had lately been engaged with' the Saracens ren dered it inconvenient at the moraent to coraply with the request ; and in the year 741, the eraperor, the pope, and the French minister were all removed from the stage of life, leaving to the'ir successors the man agement of their respective views and contentions. Leo left behind hira a son, Constantine Copronyraus, who inherited aU his father's zeal against images. Pope Gregory the III. was suc ceeded by Zachary, an aspiring politician, who, by fomenting discord araong the Lorabards, contrived to wrest from their king Luitbrand an addition to the patriraony of the church. And Charles Martel Avas succeeded by his son Pepin, who sent a case of conscience to be re- soh'cd by the pope, yiz. Avhether it would be just in him to depose his OAA'n sovereign, Childeric, and to reign in his stead. The pope an swered in the affirmative, in consequence of which, Pepin thrcAV 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 iraages was not inferior to any of his predecessors. Voltaire has reraarked, that there prevailed at that time a strange mixture of policy and simplicity, of awkwardness arid cunning, which strongly characterized the general decay of the age. Stephen, the neiv pope, Avho had quarrelled with the king of the Lorabards, forged a let ter, purporting to be the production of the ajDostie Peter, addressed to Pepin and his sons, which is too reraarkable to be here omitted. " Peter, called an apostie by Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, &e. As through me the whole Catholic, Apostolic, andRoraan church, the mother of all other churches, is founded on a rock; and to the end, that Stephen, bishop of this beloved church of Rorae, and that virtue and power raay be granted by our Lord to rescue the church of God out of the hands of its persecutors : to your, raost excellent princes, Pepin, Charies, and Carioraan, 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 wiU be obUged to you, gives you notice, and coraraands you, as do also the thrones, dorainations, &e. If you wiU not fight for rae, I declare to you, by the Holy Trinity, and by ray apostleship, tiiat you shad 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, Astofphus, the Lombard king, irarae- 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 teraporal raonarch ! 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 Roraan eraperors ! 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 scheraes of rapacity and injustice. The criminality of the pope was, indeed, greatiy aggravated by the pretence of religion, "It is yon," says he, addressing Pepin, " whom God hath chosen firora all eternity. For whora he did pre destinate, thera he also called, and whom he called, them he also justi fied," Yet the question conceming iraages was far frora being put to rest either at Rorae 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 ofthe emperor Constantine Copronyraus, a synod was held at Constantinople, fo deterraine the controversy .t 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 ivhatsoever materials raade and forra 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 images 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 iraperial constitution.! Paul I. who was at that time pope of Rome, sent his legate to Constantinople, to admo nish the eraperor to restore the sacred iraages and statues to the churches, threatening hira with excommunication in case of refusal. But Copronymus treated his raessage ivith the conterapt it deserved. On the decease of Paul I, A. D, 768, the papal chair was filled for one year by a person of the narae 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 Cathohc chm-ch to dignify the Vir^n Mary with the titie 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. Uo 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 rw further." t Platina's Lives of the Popes— Life of Paul I. Contest respecting Image TVorship. iJ33 phen the IV. substituted in his room, who was a furious defender of them. He iraraediately asserabled a councU in the Lateran church, ivhere the renowned fathers abrogated all Constantine's decrees, de posed aU the J)ishops that had been ordained by him, annulled, all his baptisras and chrisras, and, as sorae historians relate, after having beat and used hira 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 iraages — " that if it was lawful for eraperors, 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 terraed the seventh general council. It was held at Nice, and the num ber of bishops present ivas 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 ciaUy 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 Avhoever should presurae 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 thera idols, or who should wilfully communicate ivith those who rejected and despised them ; adding, according to cus tom, "Long live Constantine and Irene his mother — Daranation 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 Pandemoniura would have found it difficult to carry im piety and profaneness much beyond this. Irene and Constantine approved and ratified these decre'es^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 aU the principles of na tural religion, and the nature and design of the Christian revelation. But it is time for us to retum and take sorae notice of another impor tant branch of ecclesiastical history, whioh belongs to the period of the • Platina— Life of Stephen. t Platina— Life of Hadrian \. 20-* 234 History of the Christian Church. seventh and eighth centuries, viz, the rise of the Mahomedan irapos ture,* Mahomet ivas bom 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, th'e most Ulustrious of the Arabs, the princes of Mec ca, and the hereditary guardians of their code of religious institutions. In, his early infancy he ivas deprived of his father, his raother, and his grandfather ; but his uncles were numerous and poAverful, and in the division of the inheritance, the orphan's share Avas reduced to five ca mels and an Ethiopian female slave. At home and abroad, in peace and Avar, Abu-Taleb, the raost respectable of his uncles, Ai'as the guide and guardian of his youth. In his twenty-fifth year, he entered into the service of Cadijah, a rich and noble Avidow of Mecca, who soon rewarded his fideUty 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, Avas content with his domestic virtues, till, in the fortieth year of his age, he assum ed the titie of a prophet, and proclairaed 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 farailiar offices of life, he scrupulously adhered to the graA'e and ceremonious politeness of his country ; his respectful at tention to die 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 sublirae, 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 comraon ignorance ex erapted hira frora shaine or reproach, but he Avas reduced to a narrow circle of existence, ahd 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 vicAV, When only thirteen years of age, he twice accompanied his uncle's caravan into Syria, to attend the fairs of Bostra and Daraascus, but his duty obliged him to return horae as soon as he had disposed of the merchandiie with ivhich he was en trusted. From his earliest youth, Mahomet was addicted to religious contemplation ; and every year during the raontii of Ramadan, he withdrew from the world and from the society of his wife, to the cave of Heva, three mUes frora Mecca, where he consulted the spirit of fraud or enthusiasm, and where he at length matured the faith which, * The story of this extraordinai-y 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 ivhich he stands unrivalled ; but at much too great a length to be introduced into this sketch. I have endeavoured to seize die more prominent features of the portr^t. Principles of Mahomet. 235 under the name of Islam, he at last preached to his family and nation ; a faitii compounded of an etemal 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 iUustrated, and enlarged upon with nuraerous additional articles in the Koran, or, as it is sometimes termed, the Alcoran, The prophet of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and raen, of stars and planets, oh the rational principle, that whatever rises must set^ that whatever is born must die ; that whatever is cormptible must decay and perish. According to his own account, or the, tradition of his disciples, " the substance of the Koran is uncreated aud 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 aU contradiction is removed by the saving maxira, that any text of the Alcoran is abrogated or modified by any subsequent passage. In the spirit of enthusiasra or of vanity, the prophet rests the tmth of his mission on the raerit of his book ; audaciously challenges both men and angels to imitate the beauties ofa single page; and presumes to assert that God alone^ could dictate this incomparable performance. Yet his loftiest strains must yield to the sublirae simplicity of the book of Job, composed iu a reraote age in the sarae country, and in the sarae language,* The contents of the Koran were at first diligentiy recorded by his disciples on palm leaves and the shoulder bones of mutton; and the pages, ivithout order or connection, were cast into a chest in the custody of one of his wives, Tivo 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, tho 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 ofa more doubtful or spurious character!* According to the Koran, some rays of prophetic Ught.-commAicing with the faU of Adam, and extending in one unbroken chain of inspi- ration to the days of Mahomet, had been iraparted to one hundred and twenty-four thousand ofthe elect, discrirainated by their respective raea sure of virtue and grace — three hundred and thirteen aposties were sent with a special coramission to recal their country from idolatry and vice —one hundred and four volumes had been dictated by the Holy Spirit and SIX legislators of U^anscendant brightness have announced to man- * l^'^ ^'^f e that tliis subject has been much disputed among tiie learned- but the reader who wishes to see it critically examined will find I done bv the LecT 32 3^f 3^ ,°"''°f ^T^' ^" ^' ^^<=*"^^' °" *^ "^^rew Poetry ^ Sel Leet 32, 33, 34.— See also the Biblicai, Ctciopjbdia, Article Job— and Clarkf^s Succession of Sacred Literature, vol. i. p. 13—15 Abonn Pin oTtw Canon ,¦ and tiie Note, of Michaelis on Lowth's Lectures 236 History ofthe Christian Church. kind the six successive revelations of various rites, but of one immu table religion. The authority and station of Adara, Noah, Abraham, Moses Christ, and Mahomet, rise m just gradation above each other' bu whosoever hates or rejects any one of the prophets is numbered with he infidels. For the author of Christianity, the Mahometans are teughtby the prophet to entertain a high and mysterious reverence. Verily Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the apostle of God, and his Avord, which he conveyed into Mary, and a spirit proceedinff from him, honourable in this worid, and in the worid 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 wdl serve to conderan both the Jews, who reject him as a pro phet, and the Christians who adore hira as the Son of God. The ma lice of his eneraies, we are told, aspersed his reputation, and conspired against his life ; but their intention only was guilty ; a phantom, or a criminal Avas 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 exaraple of their founder, and Mahomet was in structed to accuse tiie church as well as the synagogue, of corrupting the integrity of the sacred text. The piety of Moses and of Christ re joiced m the assurance of the future prophet, more illustrious than themselves, and the promise of " the Comforter," was prefigured in the name, and accoraplished in the person of Mahoraet, the greatest and last of the aposties of God. The mission of the ancient prophets, of Moses and of Christ, had been confirmed by raany splendid prodigies, and Mahoraet was repeat edly urged by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a sirai lar evidence of his divine mission : to caU down frora heaven the angel, or the volurae 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 hiraself behind the providence of God, who refuses' those signs and Avonders 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 nuraerous passages of scandal are more th-an sufficient to settle the question respecting the integrity of the Koran. The votaries of Mahoraet are raore confident than he himself was of his miraculous gifts, and their credulity increased as they Avere reraoved frora the time and place of his exploits. They believe, or affirm, that trees went forth to raeethim; that he was salu ted by stones ; that Avater gushed from his fingers, that he fed the hungry, cured the sick, and raised the dead ; that a beara groaned to him ; and that a carael coraplained to hira ; that a shoulder of rautton inforraed him of its being poisoned ; and that both animate and inani mate nature were alike subject to this apostle of God. His dream of B nocturnal journey is seriously described as a real and corporeal transaction — a raysteiious animal, the Borak, conveyed him from the temple of Mecca to that of Jerusalem ; Aviih his companion Gabriel, Religious duties ofa Mussulman. 237 he successively ascended to the seven heavens, Avhere 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 "VeU 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 Jemsalem, remounted the Borak, returned to Mecca, and performed in the tenth part of a night, the joumey of many thousand years. Such are the marveUous tales with which the vulgar are araused. Prayer, fasting, and alms, are the religious duties of a Mahometan ; and he is encouraged to hope that prayer AviU carry him half way to God — fasting wiU bring him to the door of his palace — and alms AviU gain him admittance. During the month of Ramadan, from the rising to the setting of the sun, the Mussulman abstains frora eating and drink ing and women and baths and perfumes ; from aU nourishment that can restore his strength ; frora all pleasure that can gratify his senses. In the revolution of the lunar year, the raonth Ramadan coincides by turns with the ivinter cold and with the suramer heat ; but the patient martyr, ivithout assuaging his thirst with a drop of water, must wait for the close ofa 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 raen, 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 raankind. After the greater part of mankind has been conderaned 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 corapensation wiU be aUowed 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, wUl 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 ivill fall into the first and raUdest of the seven hells. The term of expiation will vary from nine hundred to seven thousand years; but the prophet has judiciously proraised that aWhis disciples, whatever may be their sins, shaU be saved, by their own faith and his' intercession from etemal daranation. It is natural enough that an Arabian prophet should dweU Ayith rap ture on the groves, the fountains, and the rivers of Paradise ; but in stead of inspiring the blessed inhabitants Avith 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 costiy 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 me-anest believer; a moment of pleasure avUI 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 outiines 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 Avere 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 apostie." Their faith, even in this life, Avas rewarded with riches and honours, with the coraraand of arraies and tiie government of kingdoms ! Three years Avere silentiy eraployed in the conversion of fourteen proselytes, the first fruits of his raission. But in the fourth he assuraed the prophetic office, and resolving to impart to his family the benefits of his religion, he prepared a banquet for the entertainraent of forty guests of the race of Hashein. " Friends and kinsraen," said Mahomet to the asserably, " I offer you, and I alone can offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasures of this Avorld and of the world to corae. God has commanded me to caU you to his service. Who among you will support ray burden ? Who among you will be my com panion and ray vizir ?" No answer Avas retumed, tiU the silence of astonishraent, and doubt, and contempt, Avas at length broken by the irapatient courage of Ali, a youth in the fourteenth year of his age, " O prophet, I ara the raan ; Avhosoever rises against thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly, 0 prophet, I AviU be thy vizir over them," Mahoraet accepted his offer Avith transport. His uncle Abu-Taleb, advised the prophet to relin quish his irapracticable design, " Spare your remonstrances," replied the fanatic, to his uncle and benefactor, " if they should place the sun on ray right hand and tiie raoon on ray left, they should uot divert rae frora 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 ira- poster found a guardian of his farae -and person, during the life of that venerable cliief; but at his death, which took place in the year 622, Mahomet was abandoned to the power of his eneraies, 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 aUies were, of aU the citizens of Mecca, the most hostile to his pretensions. His deatii 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 guUt of his blood, and to baflfle 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 dUigent search was raade after hira ; every haunt in the neighbourhood was explored ; his adver saries even arrived atthe entrance of the cave, but the sight of a spider's web, and a pigeon's nest are supposed to have convinced them thatthe place was solitary and inviolate. " We are only tivo," said the trerabling Abubeker. "There is a third," replied the prophet, " it is God him self," No sooner Avas 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 frora their hands. In this event ful raoraent the lance of an Arab raight have changed the history of the world. The religion of the Koran raight have perished in its cradle, had not Medina erabraced with faith and reverence the outcasts of Mecca. But sorae of its noblest citizens were converted by the preaching of Ma horaet, Seventy-three raen and two women of Medina held a solemn conference with Mahomet, his kinsmen and his disciples, and pledged theraselves to each other by a rautual oath of fidelity. They promised, in the name of the city, that if he should be banished, they would re ceive hiin as a confederate, obey him as a leader, and defend him to the last extreraity, "But if you are recalled by your country," said they, "wiU you not abandon your new aUies?" "AU things," replied Ma horaet, " are now common betiveen us ; your blood is as ray blood ; your ruin as ray ruin. We are bound to each other by the ties of honour and interest. I ara your friend and the eneray of your foes." " But if we are kiUed in your service," said they, " what wiU be our reward ?" "Paradise," replied the prophet. "Stretch fiDrth 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 asserably, 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 foUoAvers, in arras, and in the field, renewed their oath of aUegiance, and their chief repeated the assurance of his protection. Frora this time Mahomet became a martial apostie — he fought in per son at nine batties or sieges, and fifty enterprises of war Avere achieved in ten years by himself or his lieutenants. He continued to unite the professions of raerchant 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 tiie prophet ; the whole was coUected in one coramon raass ; a fifth of the gold and silver, the cattie, 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 aU sides the roving Arabs were aUured to die standard oi religion and plunder ; the apostle sanctified the license of erabracing the feraale 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 heU: 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 faUs in battie, his sins are forgiven ; at the day of judgraent his wounds shaU be resplendent as vermUion,-and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his limbs shaU be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubims," TiU the age of sixty-three, the strength of Mahomet was equal lo the fatigues of his station. He had, by that time made an entire conquest of Arabia, and evinced a disposition to tum his arms against the Ro man empire ; but his foUowers were discouraged. They alleged the want of money, or horses, or provisions ; the season of harvest, and the intolerable heat of the sumraer, ' " Hell is rauch hotter," said the in dignant prophet ; but he disdained to corapel their service. He was then at the head of ten thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, in the way that leads frora Medina io 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 feraale. Its fatal effect, however, was not iraraediate, for during four years the health of Mahoraet. declined ; his infirraities increased, and he was at last carried off by a fever of fourteen days continuance, Avhich, at intervals, deprived hira of the use of his reason, and he died in the year 632, His death occasioned the utraost consternation araong his followers. The city of Medina, and especially the house of the prophet, was a scene of claraorous sorrow, or of silent despair, " How can he be dead?" exclairaed his deluded votaries, " our wit ness, our intercessor, our raediator with God, He is not dead. Like Moses and Jesus, he is ivrapt in a holy trance, and speedUy wiU he return to his faithful people," The evidence of sense Avas disregarded, and Omar, unsheathing his scimitar, threatened to strike off the heads ofthe infidels who should dare to affirra thatthe prophet was no more. But this turault was appeased^by the weight and moderation of Abube ker, " Is it Mahoraet," said he to Oraar and the raultitude, " or the God of Mahomet Avhom you Ai'orship? The God of Mahomet liveth for ever, but the apostle was a raortal like ourselves, and, according to his own prediction, he has experienced the comraon fate of mortaUty," 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 Mahoraet, and the innumerable pUgrims of Mecca often turn aside frora the way to boiv in voluntary devotion, be fore the simple torab of the prophet. Having thus briefly glanced at the rise and progress of Mahoraetanism, I quit the subject, to notice the state of the Catholic Church, Ignorance ofthe Catholic clergy. 241 The eraperors 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 were led to endeavour to conciliate the favour of heaven by the same means that satisfied the justice of man, or by those eraployed 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 Uke raanner, to bribe heaven, by benefactions to the church, in order to supersede all fiiture 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 tme 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 theywere often the arbiters of kingdoms, and disposed of the crown, whilo they regulated the affairs of the state. Historians have exhibited to us the most melancholy picture of the universal darkness and ignorance, Avhich, 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, Araong the bishops, the grand instructers and defenders of the Chris tian church, feAV, Ave are told, could be found whose knowledge and abilities were sufficient to compose the discourses, however mean and incoherent, which their office sometiraes obliged thera to deliver to the people. The greater part of those among the raonastic orders, whom the voice of an illiterate age had dignified with the character of learn ing, lavished their tirae and talents in studying the fabulous legends of pretended saints and martyrs, or in coraposing histories equally fabu lous, rather than in the cultivation of true science, or the diffusion of useful knowledge. The want even of an acquaintance with the first rudiraents of literatifte was so general araong the higher ecclesiastics of those tiraes, that it Avas scarcely deeraed disgraceful to acknowledge it. In the acts of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, many ex- aniples occur, where subscriptions are to be found in this form — " I, such an one, have subscribed by the hand of such an one, because I cannot write." And, such a bishop having said that he could not write, I, whose name is underwritten, have subscribed for him."* We may take a speciraen of the divinity that was current dur ing the seventii centiiry, from the description given of a good Chris tian by the highly revered St, Eloi, bishop of Noyon, in one of his fa mous horadies. We are informed by the writer of his life, that, " be sides his other rairaculous virtues, one was especially bestowed on him ofthe Lord ; for on his dUigent 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 ofthis 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, tiU 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 araple de scription of tiie 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 laivs, or of justice, benei-olence, and charity to men, and in which the Avhole 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, Avhilst 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 abUities — 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 treraendous 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 Avas caUed the feast of the ass. A young girl, richly dressed, with a chUd in her arms, was placed upon an ass superbly decorated with trappings. The ass Avas 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 chUdish than impious, was sung in his praise ; and Avhen the ce remony Avas ended, the priest, instead ofthe' usual Avords with Avhich he dismissed the people, brayed three times like an ass ; and the peo ple, instead of the usual response, brayed three times in retum.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 soleranity, 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 rauch off his guard when, writing of this bishop, he tells his reader—" Eloi, bishop of Noyon, carefully visited his large diocese — and was vei-y successtiil among the people.— But God was with him both in life and doctrine." History of the Church, vol. iii. p. 116. j- Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. i. Rise ofthe sect ofthe Paulicians. 243 for seven centuries. Were we to consider only the usages here relat ed, we should iraagine we were reading an account of Hottentots or Negi-oes ; and it raust be confessed that in many things we did not fall much short of them,"* But it is disgusting to relate such muraraery, and perhaps I ought to apologize to my reader for laying it before him. 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 ivelF may, at contemplating such disgraceful tlungs coupled with the name of the pure and holy reUgion of the Son of God, he wiU be glad to tum his attention with rae to a niore pleasing subject, WhUe the Christian world, as it has been the fashion to call it, was thus sunk into an awful state of superst"ition — at a moment when " darkness seemed to cover the earth, and gross darkness the people" — ^it is pleasing to, contemplate aray of celestial light darting across the gloora. About the year 660, a new sect arose in the east, under the name of PAOLiciANS,t which is justiy entitled to our attention. In Mananalis, an obscilre town in the vicinity of Somosata, a person of the name of Constantine entertained at his house a deacon, who, having been a prisoner araong 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 Sieulus, to whom we owe most of our inforraation 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 tirae, rendered the generality of the people incapable of reading that or any other book ; but even those of the laity who could read, ivere dissuaded by their religious guides frora meddling with the Bible, Constantine, however, raade the best use of the deacon's pre sent — he studied his New Testaraent with unwearied assiduity.— and more particularly the Avritings of the apostle Paul, from which he at length endeavoured to deduce a systera of doctrine and worship, "He investigated the creed of priraitive Christianity," says Gibbon, " and whatever raight be the success, a Protestant reader will applaud the spirit of the inquiry,"| 'J'he knowledge to whioh Constantine himself was, under the Divine blessing, enabled to attain, he gladly communi cated to others around him, and a Christian church Avas collected. In a little tirae several individuals arose among them qualified for the Avork of the ministry ; and several other churches Avere collected throughout * General History, vol. i. ch. xxxv. + It is much to be regretted that of this class of Christians, aU our information is derived through the medium of their enemies. The two original sources of intelligence conceming them are Photius, b. i. Contra Manichaeos ; and Sieulus 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. i Decline and Fall, vol. x. ch. liv. 2'14 History ofthe Christian Church. Armenia and Cappadocia. It appears frora 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 prirai tive simplicity. Their public appearance soon attracted the notice of the Catholic party, who iraraediately branded them with the opprobrious appellation of Manichasans ; but " they sincerely condemned the memory and opi nions ofthe Manichaean sect, and coraplained of the injustice Avhich impressed that invidious narae on thera."* There is reason, therefore, to think, that they voluntarily adopted the name of Paulicians, and that they derived it frora the narae of the great apostle of the Gentiles. Constantine no'w -assumed or received the name of Sylvanus, and others of his felloAV 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, ivere crowned Avith much success. Pontus and Cappadocia, regions once renowned for Chris tian piety, were again blessed Avith a diffusion of the light of divine tmth. 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 titie of fellow-pilgrims ; by the austerity of their lives, their zeal and knowledge, and the credit of sorae extraordi nary gift ofthe 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 iraportance of this sect, the Greek eraperors 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 naraes, " To their exceUent deeds," says the bigoted Peter Sieulus, "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 flaraes ; also that if any person was found to have secreted thera, he was to be put to death, and his goods confiscated." A Greek officer, arraed with legal and military powers, appeared at Colonia, to strike tiie 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 coraraanded, as the price of their oivn 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."t This apostate, whose name was Jus- * Gibbon, ubi supra. j- 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 ; Avhile Simeon hiraself, struck with the evi dences of divine grace apparent in tiie sufferers, embraced at length the faith which he came to destroy — renounced his station, resigned his honours and fortunes, becarae 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 tohave been almost incessantly subjected to persecution, which they supported with Christian meekness and patience ; and if the acts of their martyrdom, their preaehing 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 ofthe first two centuries. And in tbis as well as former instances, the blood of the raartyrs was the seed of the church, A succession of teachers and churcheis arose, and a person naraed Sergius, who had laboured araong thera in the ministry ofthe gospel thirty-seven years, is acknowledged, even by their vilest calumniators, to have been a most exeraplary 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 aU Asia Minor in search of these sectaries, and is computed to have kUled 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 hajl, ye faithful shepherds ofthe 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 ivith God." HiPocmsT, a poem by the Rev. C. Colton, pt. i. p. 156. t It has been already stated that we derive all our information concerning the Paulicians, through the medium of their adversaries, the writers belonging tothe 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 ofthe two accounts of Photius and Peter Sieulus, he gives the preference for candour and fairness to that of the latter— and yet I tad Mr. Gibbon acknowledging, that "the sixcapital ei-rors of the Paulicians are delmed by Peter Sieulus, with much prejudice andpassion." (Decuke and Fau, *1?^; i^rj; ^"^'^ *^"® of their imputed errors is, that they rejected the whole of me Old Testament writings ; a charge which was also brought, by the writers of theCattiohc school, agamst the Waldenses and others, with equal regard to trutii 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 authoriiy, adducing the kingdom of David for their ex- r;?.^ nil .Tj" ^!*^"A^'^ adversaries rebutted the argument, insisting that the parallel did not hold, for that the kingdom of Christ, which is not ofthis world. rn^ed them^f"?- ^^''^ "t*!??' from the kingdom of David, their opponents ac- cused them of givmgup the divine authority of the Old Testament. Upon similar pnncp es, ,t is not difficult to vindicate the Paulicians from tiie othfr chr^es aSd toTei:^P.'"^ '" ^^ «^*t would require more room than can be hire 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 Piedraont,* derives its name from the circura 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 Gerraany. 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 forraer tiraes 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, erabosoraed 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 ; raountain 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 smaU, ivhich, winding their courses in different directions, con tribute to the fertility ofthe valleys, and raake them resemble a watered garden. The principal valleys are Aosta and Susa on the north — Stura on the south — and in the interior ofthe country, Lucerna, Angrogna, Raccapi- atti, Praraol, Perosa, and S. Martino. The vaUey 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. Augrogna, Praraol, 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, i-lz. Pede montium, " at the foot of the mountains." j- History of tiie Churches of Piedmont, p. S. 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 ivith game ; Avhile the soil yields every thing necessary to the enjoyment of human hfe, — abundance of corn, rice, wine, fruits, hemp, and cattie. Throughout the whole territory, except on the tops of tho mountains, there is to^be 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 ohaplets, and then hang them up in some humid place for their better preservation. As the bread raade from the chestnut constitutes a considerable part of the food of the in habitants of Piedmont, it is a comraon practice araong them, after reser ving what may be necessary for their oivn 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, Avhen the people of the east had parcelled out the country into many separate states, some savage and others civUized, 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 nuraber of separate kingdoms. Reputed heretics, like the ancient Israelites, eraigrated 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 Atiantic ocean, that is, at least Iavo hundred miles, and in breadth at several places raore than one hun dred. The surface is, as raay naturaUy be expected,- wonderfuUy di versified. HiUs 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 Avords 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 perfuraed .with aromatic herbs, and animated Avith venison and wild fowl. Nu merous flocks of -sheep and goats enliven the hUls, manufacturers of wool inhabit the vaUeys, and corn and wine, flax and oU, hang on tho * Swinburne's Travels, ch. xUv, 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 raanufacture of all sorts of iron work, especially for the use of the mUitary and navy, and their Avorkmanship is much extoUed, This chain of mountains runs frora the Bay of Biscay to the Bay of Roses, and the sea-ports about each of them were accustomed to be crowded with inhabitants, comraerce, plenty and wealth, A spectator, taking his stand on the top of the ridge of these moun tains, Avill observe, that at the foot, on the Spanish side, lie Asturias, Old CastUe, Arragon, and Catalonia ; and on the French side, Gui enne and Languedoc, Toulouse, Beam, Alby, Roussillon, and Nar bonne, all of which places were reraarkable in the darkest tiraes for harbouring Christians who were reputed heretics,* Indeed, frora the borders of Spain, throughout the greatest part of the south of France, araong and beloAv the Alps, along the Rhine, and even to Bohemia, thousands of the disciples of Christ, as Avill hereafter be shown, were found, even in the very Avorst of times, preserving the faith in its pu rity, adhering to the simplicity of Christian worship, patientiy 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 justiy and beautifully described the general state of Italy, as it existed at a period some little tirae subsequent to that of which I ara about to treat, that I shall here introduce his words, " In the beautiful and trading cities of Italy," sjys he, " the people lived in ease and affluence. With thera 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 manner overwhelmed Europe after the decline of the Roraan empire. The necessary arts had never been entirely lost. The arti ficers and merchants, whose humble station had protected them from the arabitious fury of the great, were like ants, Avho dug themselves peaceable and secure habitations, while the vultures and eagles of the world were tearing one another in pieces,"! This pleasing picture, Avhich, 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 concems of the kingdom of hea ven, the felicity resulting from it wUl be found to have'been alraost 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 wUl 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 doraineering 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. j- General History, ch. Ixix. Some account of Paulinus of Aquileia. 249 neither the prevailing corruptions of that church, nor the arrogant claims of its successive popes, were implicitiy allowed by aU the other bishops and churches, even in Italy itself, " In the year 590, the bishops of Italy and the Grisons (Sivisserland), to the number of nine, rejected the communion of the Pope, as of an heretic. This schism had already continued from the year 553, and towards the close of the century, the emperor Maurice, having ordered them to he present at the council of Rome, they were dispensed with by the same emperor, upon their pro testing that they could not communicate Avith Pope Gregory I ; so little were they persuaded at that time of the Pope's infaUibility, that to lose communion with hira was to lose the coraraunion of the church, or that they held their ordinations from the hand of the Popes, and from the bishops subjected to their jurisdiction,"* In the foUoAving century a firm and noble stand was made against the papal usurp-ations by Paulinus, bishop of the church of Aquileia, in Italy, This venerable man Avas bom about the year 726, near Friuli; but of the earlier part of his life, we know littie more than that he was in great favour Avith Charles the Great, king of France, and preached the gospel to the Pagaus of Carinthia and Styria, and to the Avares, a nation of Huns. In the year 776, he Avas ordained bishop of Aqui leia, in' Avhich office he continued labouring till his death, which took place in 804. He seems to have possessed a strong and an enlightened raind, for there are few of the aborainations 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 councU of Nice, which had established the worship 'of images,t declaring it to be idolatrous, and that, too, notwithstanding the council had received the sanction of pope Adrian, Avho was present at its de liberations, and exerted all his authority to maintain its decisions. This shows that, at this time, the despotisra of Antichrist was not uni versaUy OAvned, even throughout Italy itself. The city of Rome and its environs seem to have been at that period the most corrupt part of Christendora 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 affirras 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 raass, 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 aU human satisfactions, raaintaining 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. Allix's Remarks on the Ancient Churches of Piedmont, ch. v. p. 32. t 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 aU that are redeemed by him. He, I say, was not redeem ed, because he Avas never captive ; but we are redeemed, who Avere captives sold under sin, and bound by the hand-Avriting that was against us, which he took away, blotting it out Avith 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 Ulustrates John vi, 32 — 58, " Is it said, that he Avho doth not eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, hath not etemal life ? ' He that eats my flesh,' saith Christ, ' and drinks my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise hira 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 Avhich he is the Son of man. And yet if that Son of man, Avhose flesh and blood this is, (for that one and the same person is both the Son of God and Son of raan) Avere not really God, his flesh and blood could not procure eternal life to those that eat thera. Hence the evangelist John saith, 'The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth frora all sin.' Moreover, Avhose flesh and blood is it that gives life to those that eat -and drink thera, but the Son of Man's, whora God the Father hath sealed ; Avho is the true and almighty Son of God. For He, the bread of life, came doAim from heaven for us, and gives his life for the Avorld, 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 raiddle person between both the disagreeing parties, and reconciles both of thera 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 tiiat intercedes for those that are already reconciled, even as our Redeemer doth, when he shoAvs his human nature to God the Father, in the unity of his person, being God-man, ,fohn doth not intercede for us, but declares Hira (Jesus) to be the propitiation for our sins," These extracts, Avhich might be enlarged to a great extent, are suf ficient to give the intelUgent reader some idea of the doctrinal principles of Paulinus. He denied the supreraacy 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 Rorae — and, in short, to quote the words of a leamed writer, — " Whoever examines the opinions of this bishop, Avill easily perceive that he denies Avhat the church of Rome affirms with relation to raany of its leading tenets, and affirms what the church of Rome denies : and Avhatever colourable pretexts may be employed, it will be difficult uot to perceive this opposition through them all,"* * AUix'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 Ufe and labours of Claude, Bishop of Turin. This truly great man, who 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; ul consequence of Avhich, 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 Avho might stem the groAving torrent of image wor- slrip, proraoted 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 eraperor were amply jus tified in the labours of Claude ; by his writings he ably iUustrated the sacred Scriptures, and drew the attention of multitudes to their plain and simple meaning, unadulterated by the corriipt glosses of the Catho lic priesthood. "In truth," says Fleury, himself a CathoUc writer, "he began to preach and instruct with great application." His first zeal was directed against images, relios, pilgrimages, and crosses. It is not to be supposed that efforts such as his, directed against the pre vailing superstitions of the age, shguld 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 littie time, he went about in fear of his life. Supported, hoAvever, by the testiraony of a good conscience, and a confidence in the goodness of his cause, Claude persevered, ajid wrote comments on several books of scripture, of which,, unfortunately, the only one that has been printed is his Exposition of the Epistie 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 forraal vindication against the calumnies of his oppo nents, but it raay be satisfactory to the reader to have before him a sumraary ofthe principles Avhich he held, and for which he nobly con tended. Let it be observed then, that, throughout the whole of his writings, he raaintains that " Jesus Christ is the alone head of the church." This, the reader will perceive, struck iraraediately at the root of the first principle of Popery — the vicarious office of the bishop of Rome. He utterly discards the doctrine of huraan worthiness in the article of justification, in such a inanner as overthrows all the sub tUe distinctions of Papists on the subject. He pronounces anathemas against traditions in matters of religion, and thus drew the attention of men to the Avord 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 Avhich 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 Rorae. 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 deraanded thera ; while he lashed, in the severest manner, the supersrtition and idolatry which every where abounded under the countenance and authority of the see of Rorae. The writings of Claude Avere volurainous ; for he was indefatigable in explaining the Scriptures, and in opposing the torrent of supersti tion. He wrote three book's 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 Comraentary on Exodus in the year 821, and another on Leviticus in'823, besides Avhich, he wrote cora raents on, all the apostolic epistles, which have been since found, in manuscript in two vols, in the Abbey of Fleury, near Orleans, in France. These latter were drawn up at the express request of the em peror, Ludovicus Pius, to whora he dedicated his Coramentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians ; also of Justus, bishop of Charroux, and of Dmcteraranus, an abbot of celebrity, to whora he dedicated his Cora ment on the Epistle to the Galatians. As a specimen of his style and sentiraents, the reader raay take the following extracts from his illus tration of the Lord's supper. " The aposdes 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 soleranities of the passover, which Avere used in coraraemoration of the deliverance of the chUdren of Israel, being ended, he passeth on to the new, because he would have the sarae to be celebrated in his church, as a raeraorial of the raystery of her rederaption, 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 Avhich 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 hiraself, as vi'ell 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 Avas worthy of death : He blesseth it with profound humUity at the very tirae that he saw hiraself laden with stripes, no doubt to teach us that subraission which we ought to exercise founder the chastening hand of God.] If he, who was' innocent, endured with meekness and tranquUlity, 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 Avhich Avas consecrated by the effusion of the blood of Claude's sentiments on the Eucharist. 253 goats and oxen, as the [JcAvish] laAvgiver said at the sprinkling of it, " This is the blood of the covenant that God hath commanded you :" For it Avas 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 apostie Paul declares through out his whole epistie to the Hebrews, where he makes a distinction between the law and the gospel. Jesus Christ, Avhen 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 wUl no longer take delight in the carnal ceremo nies of the synagogue, amongst the number of which, the great festival ofthe paschal larab was one of the chiefest; for the time of ray resur rection is at hand ; that day wiU arrive, ivhen I shaU be lifted up to my heavenly kingdom, even to a state of glorious imraortaUty, where I shall be filled together with you, with a new joy for the salvation of my people, ivhich shall be born again in the spring of one and the same grace. The " new Avine," may also iraport the immortality of our re newed bodies; for when he saith, "I will drink it with you," he pro mises them the resurrection of their bodies, in order to their being clothed with imraortality." In the year 828, Claude Avas attacked most fiercely by a French monkish writer of the name of Dungalus, who censures him for taking upon hiraself, after a lapse of raore' than eight hundred and twenty years, to reprove those things that had hitherto been in continual use, as if there had been none before hiraself that had ever had any zeal for religion. About the sarae time another writer of the same school, wliose narae was Theodemims, 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 raay almost persuade himself that he is perusing the pages of the imraortal Luther. " I have received," says he to Theodemims, " 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 neiv doctrine, or setting myself up as the founder of a new sect, contrary to the rules of the ancient Catholic faith, Avhich 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 utraost of ray 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 aU the churches fuU of abomina tions and images ; and because I began to destroy Avhat every one adored, every one began to open his mouth against me. These kind 22 254 History of the Christian Church. oi people against whom Ave have undertaken to defend the church of God, tell us, if you write upon the Avail, or draw the images of Paul, of Jupiter, of Saturn, or Mercury, neither are the one of these gods, nor the other aposties, and neither the one nor the other of these are men, and therefore the name is changed. But, surely, if we ought to Avor ship them, Ave ought rather to Avorship 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 Ave may neither worship nor serve the Avorks of God's hand, hoAV much less may Ave worship the Avorks 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 doAvn to false images ; and Avherefore, like a slave, dost thou bend thy body to pitiful shrines, -and to the Avork of men's hands 1 Certainly, not only he Avho serves and honours visible images, but also whatsoever creature else, Avhether heavenly or earthly, spiritual or corporeal, serves the same instead of God, and from it expects the salvation of his soul, ivhich he ought to look for fi-om God alone. All such are of the num ber of those concerning whora the apostie said, that " they worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator," " But mark ivhat the followers of superstition and false religion al lege ! They tell us it is in commemoration and houour of our Saviour that we serve, honour, and adore the cross — persons whom nothing in the Saviour pleaseth, but that ivhich 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 ivhat the wicked saw and per ceived of him, whether Jews, or heathens, who do not see bis resur rection, and do not consider hira but as altogether swallowed up of death, Avithout regarding what the apostie says, "We know Jesus Christ no longer according to the flesh," " God commands one thing, and these people do quite the contrary. God comraands us to bear our cross, and not to worship it; but these are all for Avorshipping 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 Avhich he made ac cording to the flesh? Did he not continue nine months in the Avomb of the virgin ? Why do they not then on the sarae score Avorship aU that are virgins, because avirgin brought forth Jesus Christ ? Why do they not adore raangers 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, Avherewith was caught a miraculous quantity of fish? Let them adore asses, because he en tered into Jemsalem upon the foal of an ass ; and lambs, because it is Avritten of him, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh aAvay the sin of the world." But these sorts of men would ratiier eat live lambs than worship their images ! Why do they not worship lions, because he is called " the Uon of the tribe of Judah?" or rocks, since it is said, "and that rock was Christ?" or thorns, because he was crowned with thera ? 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 ive 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 ; Avhy are ye gone astray from the tmth, 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 sharae, aiid by these means make souls, by troops, to becom.e 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, 1 demand of you yourself, whether thou thinkest that to go to Rome is to repent, or to do penance 1 If indeed it be, Avhy then hast thou for so long a time damned so many souls bv confining them in thy monastery, and whom ihou nasi talcen into it, that they might there do penance, if it be so that the way to do penance is to go to Rorae, and yet thou hast hindered theni ? What hast thou to say against this sentence, ' Whosoever shall lay a stone of sturabling be fore any of these littie ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hung about his neck, and he cast into the bottom of the sea ?' " We know very well that this passage of the gospel is quite misun derstood — ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I wiU 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 aU the true presbyters and pastors of the ehurch, who discharge the same as long -ds they aie In tins world, and AVhen 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; retum to him who enlightens every man that cometh into the world. All of you, hoAvever numerous ye may be, who depart from this light, ye walk in darkness, and know not Avhither ye go, for the darkness has put out your eyes. If we are to believe God when he promiseth, how much raore Avhen he SAvears, and saith. If Noah, Daniel, and Job, (that is, if the saints whom you caU upon, were endowed with hohness, 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 raight place their confidence, in either the raerits or the intercession of saints. Understand ye this, ye people Avithout understanding? Ye fools, when will ye be "wise ? Ye who run to Rome, there to seek for the intercession of an apostie. " 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 reraeraber, 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 apostie, and in the mean tirae 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 forraed of the principles and character of Claude of Turin — a narae 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 kingdora of heaven — and, although the seed were as a grain of mustard seed cast into the earth, the glorious effects ultiraately produced by it, justify the truth of our Lord's parable, that Avhen it is grown up, it pro- ducetii a tree, whose branches are so raraified and extended, that the birds of the air come and lodge therein. His doctrine grew exceed ingly — the valleys of Piedraont were in time filled with his disciples, and while midnight darkness sat enthroned over alraost every portion of the glcfbe, the Waldenses, which is only another name for the in- liabiionto of these valleys, preserved the gospel among thera in its native purity, and rejoiced in its glorious light. Claude continued his labours at Turin at least twenty years, for he Avas alive in eight hundred and thirty-nine — but we have no docuraents existing that enable us to trace out the operation oi his principles in the formation of independent churches, in a stateof separation from the Avorld ; 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 OAvned, that " the valleys of Piedraont, Avhich 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, Avhich we shall soon arrive at, we shall see hoAv extensively they spread not only in Piedmont, but throughout the neighbouring country of the Milanese. "It is adraitted," 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 aU communion Avith the established church. It AviU, no doubt, appear a matter of surprise to sorae, that an op poser so zealous and intrepid as Claude certainly Avas, should have es caped the fury of the church of Rorae. But it should be reraerabered, that the despotisra 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 ofthe bishops of Rome with considerable jealousy, and gladly extended their protection to those whose labours had a ten dency to reduce it ; such Avas 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 ara 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 aU consolation, hath comforted us in all our afilictions, that Ave may be able, in like manner, to corafort those that are cast down with sorrow and affliction. We rely upon die 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 H. 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 sera, are universaUy aUowed to form the lowest point of depression to which the profession of the religion of Jesus Avas reduced in regard to darkness and supersti tion. It AviU not, therefore, be necessary to detain the reader long from subjects of a more pleasing nature, by dweUing 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 tiie latter writer indeed, is so reraarkable, that it deserves to be quoted. Alluding to Psalm xliv. 23, he says, "Christ was then, as it ivould ap pear, in a deep sleep, and the ship was covered with waves ; and what seeraed worse, ivhen the Lord Avas thus asleep, there were no disciples, by their cries to aAvaken him, being themselves all fast asleep." It may not, hoAvever, be without its use to take a rapid glance at the proceed ings of the court of Rorae, and mark the stages by which the antichris tian poAver arrived at its zenith. On entering upon this subject, there is one reraarkable circumstance which merits the reader's notice as he proceeds, for the fact is Avorthy 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 reraark is, that it was by the aid ofthat same poiver, in a very especial inanner, thatthe " 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 ivhich I have given a short detail in a former section.* The se quel will appear to be quite in character ; but ive must go back a Uttie to trace the subject in order. On the death of Pepin, king of France, in tiie year 768, his dominions Avere divided betAveen his Iavo sons, Charles and Carloman, the latter of Avhora dying two years afterAvards, Charles becarae sole monarch of that country. In his general character, he somewhat resembled our English Alfred, and is deservedly ranked amongst the most iUustrious • Collection of his 'Works, tom. i. quoted by Dr. AUix, p. 72. f See p!ig-e 231. 22* 258 History of the Christian Church. sovereigns that have appeared — a rare instance of a monarch, Avho united his oAvn glory v/ith the happiness of his people. In private life he Avas amiable ; an affectionate father, a fond husband, and a generous friend. Though engaged in many wars, he was far frora neglecting the arts of peace, the welfare of his subjects, or the cultivation of his own mind, Govemment, morals, religion, and letters, were his constant pursuits. He frequentiy convened the national assemblies, for regulating the affairs both of church and state. His attention extended to the raost distant comer of his empire, and to all ranks of men. His house Avas a model of econoray, and his person of sirapUcity 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 woraen, or reserve them for those days of pomp and ceremony when robes are worn for shoiv, not use." He was fond of the company of learned men, and assembled thera frora 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 sarae tirae honouring him as his companion and particular favourite. "The dignity of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arras, 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 bom in tlie north of England, and educated at York, underthe 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 Offa, king of Mereia, tothe 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 earnestiy 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, matiiematics, and divinity, and was treated ivith so much kindness and famiharity by the em peror, that by way of eminence, tiie courtiers called him "the emperor's de light." 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 coiTespondence with the em peror, and tiieir letters evince their mutual regard for rehgion and learning, and tlieir 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 tile times. " The employment of your Alcuin," says he to the emperor, " in his retreat, are suited to his humble sphere, but they are neither inglorious nor unprofitable. I spend my time in the halls of St. Martin, in teaching some ofthe noble youths under my care the intricacies of grammar, and inspiring them with a taste for the learning ofthe ancients ; in describing to otiiers 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 tothe court of your imperial majesty. In doing this, I find a great want of several things, particularly of those exsus Christ, and maintained that he ivas 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 ofthat decision, Charles expressed himself in these reraarkable words : " You entreated me to judge of rayself; I have done so, I have assisted as an auditor and an arbiter in an assembly of bishops ; Ave have examined ; and by the grace of God, we have settied what must be believed!" It Avas 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 councU 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 ofthe Acts of this councU, 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, caUed the Caroline books, in Avhich he treated the Ni cene councU with the utmost contempt and abuse. He transmitted his pubUcation to Adrian, desiring him to excommunicate the erapress and her son. The pope excused himself on the score of iiiiages, rec tifying the mistake upon Avhich 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 die church. He also took the opportunity of hinting at certain projects which he had formed for the exaltation of the Roraish 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 tiiey do not restore to me my patrimony in Sicily," In the year 796, Leo m, who had succeeded Adrian in the papacy, transmitted to Charles the Roman standard, requesting him to send sorae person to receive the oath of fidelity from the Romans, an in stance of subraission Avith 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 raass in St, Peter's church, in the midst of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, and Avhile upon his knees before the al tar, the pope advanced and put an imperial croAvn upon his head. As soon as the people perceived it, they exclaimed, " Long life and idc- tory to Charles Augustus, crowned by the hand of God ! Long live the great and pious emperor of the Romans," The suprerae pontiff then conducted him to a raagnificent throne, which had been prepared for the occasion, and as soon as he was seated, paid hira those honours which his predecessors had been accustomed to pay to the Roraan em perors. Leo now presented hira with the iraperial mantie, 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 au 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 die 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 recorapense " for the reraission of his sins and the salvation of his soul," The splendid donation Avas granted in supreme and ab solute dominion, and the worid then beheld, for the first time, a Chris tian bishop invested with the prerogatives of a teraporal prince ; the choice of raagistrates, 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 tiie charac ters of the Roman pontiffs ; and the profuse liberality of the French kings, at this time, Avas not much calculated to promote it among them. By their bounty, the ancient patrimony of the church, which consisted of farms and houses, Avas 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 aUy, a greatness which, in the cool raoraents of refiection, he Avas unable to contemplate Avithout jealousy. But Charles died in the year 814, at Aix-la-ChapeUe, 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 Louia with bim in the adminlstraiion of go vemraent ; and, as if this great man had foreseen the approaching usurpations of the church, he placed the iraperial croAvn 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 inind, 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 Aveight of erapire. He rendered him self odious to the clergy, by atterapting 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 iraperial authority, to which he was subject — a rebellious conduct, in which he ivas encouraged by the archbishop of Milan and the bishop of Creraona, Louis, on this occa sion, acted with vigour. He raised a powerful array, and Avas preparing to cross the Alps, Avhen Bernard Avas abandoned by his troops, and the unfortunate prince, being raade 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 Avas inflicted; and Louis, to prevent future troubles, ordered three natural sons of Charlemagne to be shut up in a convent. In a littie time the emperor Avas seized Avith keen reraorse for his conduct. He accused himself of the raurder of his nepheAv, and of tyrannic cruelty to his brothers. In this melancholy huraour 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 Aveakness, 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 C-atholic clergy claimed an exemption from all civil jurisdiction. Even the monks, Avhile they pretended to renounce the world, seemed to aspire to the government of it. In the year 823, the three sons of Louis Avere' associated in a rebel lion against their father^ — an unnatural crirae, in which they were en couraged by some of the reigning clergy. The emperor, abandoned by his army, w-as made prisoner ; and in all probability Avould have lost his croAvn had not the nobility pitied their humbled sovereign, and by soAving dissension among the three brothers, contrived to restore him to his dignity. In 832, the three brothers forraed a new league against their father, and Gregory I'V, then pope, went to France in the array of Lothaire, the eldest brother, under pretence of accommodating mat ters, but in reality Avith an intention of employing against the emperor that poAver which he derived from him, happy in the opportunity of asserting the supreraacy 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 eraperor found himself at the mercy of his rebeUious sons. He was deposed in a tumultuous assembly, and Lothaire proclaimed in his stead ; after which infamous transaction the pope retumed to Rome. To give StabUity 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 Avas accordingly arraigned in an as serably of the states, by Ebbo, archbishop of Rheims, and condemned to do penance for life. Louis Ayas then prisoner in a monastery at Soissons, and being greatiy intimidated, he patientiy submitted to a ceremony no less so leran than degrading. He prostrated himself on a hair cloth, which was spread beibre 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 ivas compeUed to read aloud a Avritten confession, in which he was raade to accuse hiraself of sacrilege and murder; and to enumerate among his crimes, the raarching of troops in Lent, caUing an assembly on Holy Thursday, and taking up arms to defend himself against his re bellious chUdren ! So easy is it for superstition to transforra into criraes 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 ofthe 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 hurable. The nobility returned to their obedience, paying horaage to Louis as their lawful sovereign ; and the arabitious Lothaire Avas obUged to crave raercy in the sight of the whole array, at the feet of a parent and an eraperor, 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 eraotion ; "but teU him frora me that he ought to seek forgiveness of God, for bringing ray gray hairs down with sorrow to the grave,"* Lothaire succeeded his father in the iraperial dignity, and, after a reign of fifteen years, took the habit of a monk, that, according to the language of those tiraes, he raight atone for his criraes, 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 knoAvn by the n-arae of Charies the Bald, At the time of his father's death he was only seventeen years of age ; but his father, in bequeathing the erapire to Lothaire, had stipulated for a portion of ter ritory to his youngest child, and the forraer to fulfil the wishes of his indulgent father and entreaties of a fond mother, consented to resign to hira a part of his territories. But scarcely was Charies warm in his seat, Avhen he conspired with his brother Louis to dispossess Lothaire of the erapire. Here fraternal hatred appeared in all its horrors. A battie was fought at Fontenoy, in Burgundy, than which, few engage ments that are upon record Avere 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 niore confa- dence of success, as Lothaire, in order to raise his troops with greater expedition, had pmraised the Saxons the liberty of renouncmg Chris tianity, the very idea of which was abhorred by the church of Rome. Thebishops assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle, and alter exarainmg the raisconduct ofthe emperor, inquired ofthe two princes, whether they chose to foUow his exaraple, or to govern according to the laws qf God— hy which they raeant, 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 • Vita Ludov. Pii. passim, t Gibbon's Rome, vol, ix. ch. 49. Assumptions ofthe Clergy. 265 indulgence to the Saxons, and other expedients, was enabled to raise a new array, and to recover his throne.* Nothing is more clear, than that the cleigy 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 arguraent 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 frora crowned heads the raost extravagant marks of respect and the most debasing humilia tions. They trumped up a collection of forged acts, knoAvn at present by the name of " 'I'he Decretals," spurious writings, in which are supposed the existence of ancient canons, ordaining tha|; no provincial council shall be held without the perraission of the pope ; and that all ecclesiastical causes shall be under his jurisdiction. The words of the iraraediate successors of the aposties 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 Avas 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 suppUed the place of tmth ! 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 whieh, 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 confirraed 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 doraineering 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 • Russel's Modem Europe, vol. i. let. 10, 23 266 History of the Christian Church. his voice in the most spirited raanner 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 subraission which the ancient pontiffs had always paid to princes, and to re flect that his dignity gave him no right over the governraent of kingdoms ; that he could not be at the same time pope and king : that the choice ofa sovereign belongs to the people ; that anathemas ill ap phed 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 raob. The evil proceeded in defiance of the expostulation of Hincraar, About the year 877, Pope John VIII, convened a councU at Troyes in France, one of the canons of Avhich is sufficientiy remarkable to be adduced as a speciraen of the spirit of the tiraes. It expressly asserts, that " the powers ofthe world shaU 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 convenientiy 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 asra as the darkest epoch in the annals of raankind. " The histo ry of the Roraan pontiffs that lived in this [tenth] century," says the leamed Mosheira, " is a history of so raany monsters, and not of men; and exhibits a horrible series of the raost flagitious, treraendous, 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 Iavo thousand hunting horses, which he fed with pignuts, pistachios, dates, dried grapes, figs steeped in the most exquisite Avines, to all Avhich he added tbe richest perfumes. One holy Thursday, as he Avas cele brating high mass, his groom brought hira the joyful news that one of his favourite raares 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 hurable Christian, I shaU take leave of it by a short revicAv of the state of things as they existed in the middle of the eleventh century. In the year 1056, Henry I'V, sumamed 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 erapire was harassed Avith civfl wars, and Italy was a prey to intestine disorders, Nicholas II. then » Fleury's Eccles. Hist. f Quoted fi-om Fleury's Eccles. 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, shaU one day be emperor, according to the privilege which we have al ready conferred upon him ; and saving the honour of his successors, on whora the apostolic see shall confer the same high privilege. There resided at this time at Rome, one HUdebrand, a monk of the order of Cluny, who had recentiy 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 Soan^ in Tuscany, of obscure parents, brought up at Rome, and had been frequently eraployed 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 tiie year 1073, by the title of Gregory VII, and the papacy has not produced a raore extraordinary character, "All that the raaiice or flattery ofa raultitude of writers have said ofthis 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 cither side of hira,"* Gregory was instaUed by the people of Rome, without consulting the emperor, as had hitherto been custoraary ; but though Henry had not been consulted upon the occa sion, Gregory pradently waited for his confirmation of the choice be fore he assumed the tiara. He obtained it by this mark of submission : Hae emperor confirmed his election, and the new pontiff was not dUa- tory in pulling off the mask, for in a little tirae he raised a storm Avhich fell Avith 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 layraan, and every layman. by Avhom such benefice should be conferred. This was engaging the chnrch in an open Avar with all the sovereigns of Europe. But the thunder of the holy see Avas more particularly di rected against Henry, who, sensible of his danger and anxious to avert it, Avrote 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 Avhich he now confessed himself guilty. The pope at the same tirae proposed a cmsade, the object of which was to deliver the holy sepulchre at Jerusalera fi-om the hands of the Turkish infidels ; offering to head the Christians in person, and de siring Henry to serve as a volunteer under his coramand ! Gregory next formed the projectof making himself lord of Christen dom, by at once dissolving the jurisdiction which kings and eraperors had hitherto exercised over various orders ofthe 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 dorainions tributary to the see of Rorae ; 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 ofthe erapire. Gregory, w'ho favoured the cause of the usurper, exclaimed against this act of subraission, and said in a letter to Solomon, " You ought to know, that the kingdom of Hungary belongs to the Roraan church ; and learn, that you will incur the indignation of the holy see, if you do not acknowledge that you hold your dorainions of the pope, and not of the eraperor," This presuraptuous declaration, and the neglect with which it was treated, brought the quarrel between the em pire and the church to a crisis : il 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 accustoraed to send legates to the emperors to entreat their assistance, to obtain their con firmation, or to desire them to corae and receive papal sanction. Gre gory now resolving to push the claira of investitures, sent two of his legates to suraraon 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 abmptly disraissed the legates, and lost no tirae in convoking an assembly of princes and dignified ecclesiastics at Worms; where after mature deliberation, they carae to this conclu sion, that Gregory having usurped the chair of St, Peter, by indirect means, infected the church of God tvith 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 quentiy, sent an ambassador to Rorae, Avith a formal deprivation of Gregory ; who, in his turn, convoked a councU, 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 wilh hira on pain of excoraraunica tion. And this execrable sentence was iramediately fulra inated against the emperor and his adherents, " In the narae of Almighty God, and by your authority," said Gregory, addressing the raerabers of the councU, " I prohibit Henry frora governing the Teutonic kingdora and Italy. I release all Christians frora their oath of allegiance to him; and I strictly forbid aU persons to serve or attend hira as king," This is the first instance of a pope presuraing to deprive a sovereign of his crown ; but, unhappUy, it was too flattering to ecclesiasUcal pride to be the last. No preceding prelate had hitherto dared to use such imperious language as Gregory ; for, though Louis, the son o Charles the Great, had been deposed by his bishops, there was at least TTie arrogance of Gregory VII. 269 some colour for that step ; they condemned him in appearance only tc\ do public penance. The circular letters written by Gregory breathe the sarae spirit as his sentence of deposition. In them he repeatedly asserts, that "bishops are superior to kings, apd raade tb.judge them" — expressions equally artful and presumptuous. His object is said to have been that of en gaging in the bondsof fideUty and aUegiance to the pope as vicar of Christ, all the potentates of the eajrth, and tjo estabUsh at Rome an an nual assembly of bishops', by Avftom the contests Avhich, frora time to time, might arise between kingdoms and sovereign states Avere to be decided, the rights and pretensions of princes to be examined, and the fate of nations and empires determined,* Gregory well kneAv Vhat consequences' would result from the thun ders of the cliurch. The bishops in Germany iniijiediately carae oVer to his party, and drew Avith them many pf the iwbles, "The Saxons took the opportunity of revolting: even the emperor's favourite, Guelf, a noblenian to whom he had given thO duChy of Bavaria; supported the mal-contents with that very poiver iS'hich he owed to his sovereign's bounty ; and the princes and prelates who had assisted in deposing Gregory, gave up their raonarch to be tried by the pope, who was re quested to come tb Augsburg for that purpose, • To avoid the odium of this impfending 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 MatUda, at Canosa, a fortress on the Appenines. At the gate of this mansion, the emperor presented himself as an hum ble pefiitent. He alone was admitted within the outer court, where, being stripped of his robes, and wrapped in sackcloth, he was .compelled to reraain three days, ih the month of January (A, D, 1077,) barefoot and fasting, before he was perraitted to kiss the feet of his holiness ! ! ¦jThe indulgence was, hoivever, at length granted him — ^he was permit ted to throw hiraself at thefeet ofthe haughty pontiff, whb condescend ed to' grant him absolution, after- he had sworn obedience to the pope in all things, and promised to subniiit to his solemn decision at Augs-> burgh ; so that Henry reaped nothing but disgrace and mortification frora his journey, ivhile the pontiff, elate Avith triumph, and now con sidering himself as the lord and raaster of all the croAvned heads in Christendom, said in several of his letters, that " it was his duty to pull down the pride of kings," Happily for Henry, aU sense of propriety and of common decency was not banished fi-ora the earth, 'fhe princes of Italy were disgusted' with the strange accoraraodation that had taken place between hira and the pope. They never could forgive the insolence of the former, nor the abject humUity of the latter. But their indignation at Gregory's arrogance over-balanced their detestation of their raonarch's meanness ., He took advantagfe ofthis temper,, and, by a change of fortune hitherto unknown to the Gerraan emperors, found a strong party in Italy, when • Moshcim's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. cent. xi. part ii. 23* 270 History of the Christian Church. abandoned by his ow,n> subjects. AU Lombardy took up arms against the pope, whUe the latter was raising all Germany against the emperor. The former had recourse to every art to procure the election of another emperor in Gerraany, 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, AvhoAvas solemnly crowned at Mentz; and this gave Gregory an opportunity of exercising all his finesse in order to extort submission frora Henry. He affected to be displeased that Rodolph was consecrated without his order. He had deposed Henry, but it was stiU in his power to pardon him — he therefore de clared that he would acknowledge as emperor and king of .Germany that clairaant Avho should be most submissive to the.holy see. But Henry was not now to be duped. He chose rather to t^ust to the valour, of his arms than to the generosity of the pope, and there fore marched his tropps against his rival Rodolph, whom he defeated in several engagements, ¦ Gregory, seeing no hopes of subrai5.si6n, thundered out a second sentence of excoraraunication, in which, after deriving Henry of strmgth in combat, and condemning him never to be victorious— 'he desires, the worid to take notice that it is in the pope's power to -lake away erapires, kingdoras, principalities, &c. and to bestow thera on whora he pleases. "The whole concludes Avith the following extraordinary apostrophe to the aposties, 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, erapires, kingdoms, principalities. Let the kings and princes of the age instantiy feel your power,, that they may not dare to despise the orders of your church ; and let your jus tice be so speQdUy executed upon Henry, that nobody may doubt of his faUing by yOur means and not by chance."* But the aposties were either deaf to the prayer of their pretended successor, or decUned their co-operation with it. Henry triumphed over his eneraies. Rodolph had his hand cut off in a battie which was fought with great fury near Mersburg, in Saxony, and, discouraged by the misfortune of their Chief, his foUowers gave way. Rodolph, perceiving his end approaching, ordered the amputated raember to be brought him, and thus addressed his .officers. " Behold the hand Avith which I tQo)i the oath of 41egiance to Henry— an oath which, at the instigation of Rome, I have violated, in perfidiously aspiring to an honour that was not due to rae." The affairs of Henry now revived apace. A,new pope was elected, who took the titie of "Clement III. and the emperor, thus delivered frora his forraidable antagonist, soon dispersed the rest of his eneraies in Germany, and proceeded to Italy, to settle the new pontiff in tiie papal chair." The gates of Rorae being shut against him, he was com peUed to attack the city in form. After a siege of two years, it was taken by assault, and with difficulty saved from piUage, but Gregory retired into the castle of St. Angelo, from whence he hurled defiance, and fulminated his thunder against the conqueror. The siege of bt, * Flem-y's Eccles. History. Henry's Sons rebel against him. 27 1 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 die troubles of Henry did not terminate Avith the hfe of Gregory. The pontiffs. virho succeeded proved as inimical to his peace and tran quiUity as their predecessor had been. Urban II, contrived, in con junction Avith die countess MatUda, to seduce the emperor's son into a rebellion against his ffither. This young prince, whose narae was Conrad,, assumed the tide of king of Italy, and succeeded so AveU 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,t 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 forraer by his younger brother Henry as king of Italy> The new pope was scarcely invested Avith office ere he contrived to excite young Henry to rebel against his father. He called a council, to which he sumraoned the aged monarch ; and as the latter did not obey the citation, he excomraunicated him for the schisms which he had introduced into the church ; stiraulating 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 excomraunicated king or father^ In vain did the emperor use every paternal remonstrance to dissuade his son from proceeding to extremities ; the breach becarae 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 Avas 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 ofthis subraission, he was taken into favou'r'by his indul gent parent, Avho instantly disraissed his array. The ungrateful youlh now revealed the perfidy that was in his heart ; he ordered his father to be confined — assembled a. diet of big own confederates, at which the pope's legate presided, and repeated the sentence of excoraraunica tion against the emperor, whose dignity' was instantiy transferred to his rebellious son. The archbishops of Mentz and Cologne were sent as deputies to the old eraperor, to intimate his deposition and deraand his regalia. Henry received this deputation with equal surprise and caocern ; and findmg that the chief Accusation against him ivas " 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 WL. by Dlthraar. t The word ban originally signified banner, afterwards edict, and lastly, a declaration of outiawry, which was thus intimated: " We declare thy wife a widow, tiiy children orphans, and send thee, in the name of the devil, to the tour comers ofthe earth." 272 History ofthe Christian Church. church for hire, you, yourselves, are the most proper persons to con vict rae of that siraony. Say then.I conjure you in the narae of the etemal God ! what have I exacted, or what hate I received, for hav ing promoted you to the dignities that you npw enjoy ?" They ac knowledged that he was innocent, so far as regarded their preferraents. " And yet," continued be, " the archbishops of Mentz and Cologne, being two of the best in my gift, I raight have fiUed my coffers by exposing them to sale. I bestoiVed thera, however, upon you, out of free grace and favour, and a -Vvorthy return you make to ray benevo lence ! Do not, I beseech you, become' abettors of those who have lifted up their haVids against their lord and raaster 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 Iq the apartraent he had left, and seating hiraself on a chair of state, he renewed his remonstrance in these words: " Here are the taarks 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 rauch as to lay violent hands on your sovereign, you raay strip me of them, I am not in a condition to defend rayself." Regardless of these expostulations, the two archbishops snatched the crown from his head, and dragging him from his cjiair, forcibly pulled off his robes. WhUe thus eraployed, Henry exclairaed, " Great God ! (the tears floiving down his venerable cheeks) thou art the' God of ven geance, and Avilt repay this outragfe. I have sinned, I own, and raerited such shame by the follies of ray youth ; but thou Afrilt notfail to punish those traitors for their violence, ingratitude, and perjury." To such a degree, of Avretchedness Avas this prince afterwards reduced by thebaftairity of his son, that, destitute of the comraon necessaries of life, he entreated the bishop of Spire, whora hehad proraoted to that see, to grant him a canonry for his subsistence, representing that he was capable of perforraing the office of " chanterior reader." Disappointed in that hurable request, he shed a flood of tears, and taming to those who Avere present, said, with a deep sigh," " My dear friends, at least have pity upon mij 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 raeans to escape frora custody and reached Cologne, where he was recognized as laAvful eraperor. Repairing next to the Netheriands, he fouhd 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 theraselves in his cause. He even wrote to the pope, intiraating that he Avas in clined to an accoraraodation, provided it could be settled Avithout pre judice to his cause. But before any thing raaterial 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 endoAvments both of body and mind. In Character of the TValdenses. 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 raerciful, his kindness and benevolence exten sive, and his hfe exhibited an admirable pattern of fortitude and resig nation.* SECTION HI. SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION FROM THE DEATH OF CLAUDE OF TURIN TO THE TIMES OF PETER WALDO, A, D, 843 1 160. During the dark ages which succeeded the invasion of Europe by the barbarous nations, when feudal anarchy distracted the civil govem ments, and a flood of superstition had deluged the church, Christianity, banished frora the seats of empire, and 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 comraandraents of an apostate church, unarabitious in their teraper, and simple in their manners, she preferred their society, and among them took up her abode. The turbulence of the times, which drave raany from the more fertUe plains of France and Italy, in search of freedom and tranquillity, greatiy augraented the popu lation of this remote district ; and in the ninth century, the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven had been held forth among thera Avith 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, arid occa sioned it to be mmoured 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 Roraish church ; who paid no tithes, offered no mass, worshipped no saints, nor had recourse to any of the prescribed means for redeeraing their souls from purgatory. The archbishops of Turin, MUan, and other cities, heard this report with anxiety, and the necessary measures Avere accordingly adopted for ascertaining its truth or falsehood ; thfe former turning out to bethe 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 Avas demanded. The princes and nobles of the adjacent coun tries at first refused to disturb them ; they had beheld with pleasure their siraple manners, their uprightness and integrity, their readiness to oblige, and their fidelity in the discharge of all the duties of civil and • Russell's Modem 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. GUes Juan Leger, ch. 20, 21, 22, 21. Rankin's Hist. France, vol.ui. 274 History ofthe 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 vaUeys. Scaffolds were erected and fires kindled at Turin and other cities around them. The fortitude and con fidence of the martyrs, however, increased as their faith and constancy were tried. "Favour me," said Catalan Girard, who was one of their nuraber, as he sat upon the funeral pile at Reuel — " favour me with those two flint stones," ivhich he saw near him. Being handed to him, he added, as he threw them to the ground, " Sooner shaU I eat these stones, than you shall be able by persecution to destroy the rehgion 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 trira- 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 reforraation of the Christian church.t In the present section, avc 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 Uttle patient research, and the aid of a discriminating judgment in selecting the probable frora the fictitious, Ave shall be fur nished with sorae interesting inforraation relative to this obscure por tion of their history. But before ive 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 coraraonly terraed; and by writing against it, caUed 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 Avas, that the bread was the identical body, and the Avine the very blood of Christ— not only figuratively, but substantiaUy 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 hira, most bitterly complaining of his heresy ; but not feeUng the force of their arguments, Berengarius remained unmoved, and defended his opinions with the utmost pertinacity. He wrote a * Perrin's History ofthe Vaudois, part ii. b. ii. ch. 4. f Dr. Rankin's History of France, vol. i'li.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 Norraandy, and called from thence by WiUiam the Conqueror to be archbishop of Canterbury, which being opened while the latter was from home, was officiously transraitted 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 consequentiy 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 coraply. This example was followed also by the coun cil of Paris, summoned the very same year by Henry I. in Avhich Berengarius and his nuraerous adherents, were threatened with all sorts of evils both spiritual and temporal— evils Avhich 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 sentiraents. In the raean while, the opinions of Berengarius were every where spreading rapidly, insomuch that if we may credit coteraporary writers, " his doctrine had corrupted all the English, Italian, and French nations." Thuanus adds, that "in Gerraany Avere 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 Avas rekindled, and a council Avas assembled at Tours, in 1055, to exaraine aneiv the doc trine of Berengarius. At this council the faraous Hildebrand, who was afterwards created Pope Gregory VII. appeared in the character of legate, and opposed the new doctrine with the utraost vehemence. Berengarius was also present at this asserably, 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 circuraspection, the opinions he had forraerly pro fessed. The account of his perfidy reaching Rome, he ivas 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 erabrace and adhere to the doctrines which that venerable as serably should think proper to irapose upon hira. 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 sacraraent, bnt 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 sacramentaUy, 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 becorae 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 Avritings ; and returned zealously to the profession and defence of his forraer real opinion. The conti-oversy, hoAvever, was stiU prolonged during raany years, and a raultitude of writings on both sides of the question, were conti nually issuing, and the foUowers of Berengarius every where increas ing. His adversaries now had recourse to the seducing influenceof 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 Avide-spread- ing controversy, sent an order to Berengarius to repair to Rorae in the year 1078. Gregory had a high esteera for the latter, and though to silence the claraours of the raultitude he found it necessary to oppose hira, he did it with aU possible mildness. He permitted Berengarius to draw up a new confession of his faith, and to renounce that which he had formerly swom to abide by. This new confession not proving satisfactory to his enraged adver saries, though Gregory himself approved it, a second was draAvn up, which indeed was less vague and equivocal, but then it contained aU 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 Chiist, 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 hira with caresses and sent him back to France, graced with the raost honourable testimonies of his liberality and friendship. Solemn, however, as the declaration had been at Rorae, Berengarius had no sooner returned to his residence than he began to corapose an elaboiate refutation of his last confession, which excited afresh the flames of theological controversy. Berengarius, however, amidst the clamours of his enraged adversaries, frora this tirae observed a pro found silence. Disgusted with a controversy in which the first prin ciples of reason Avere so irapudently 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 reraainder of his days in fastjhg, 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 guUty of at Rome ; leaving behind him, in the rainds 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 noAV pass on to a more pleasing and profitable subject. A little before the year 1140, Evervinus, of Stainfield, in the diocese of Cologne, 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. AUix 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 raind about them ; and to obtain a solution of his doubts, he Avrote as follows, to the renoAvned Bemard, whose word, at that time, was as law throughout Christendora. " There have lately been sorae heretics discovered araong us near Cologne, of whora sorae have with satisfaction returned again to the church. One that was a bishop among thera 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, raain taining their heresy frora the Avords of Christ and his apostles. But finding that they raade no irapression, they desired that a day might be fixed, upon which they might bring along with them raen skilful in their faith, promising to retum to the churcli, provided their teachers were unable to answer their opponents ; but that otherwise they Avould rather die than depart from their judgment. Upon this declaration, having been admonished to repent for three days, they were 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 Avith you, I should be glad to ask you, how these raerabers 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 foUoAV the Avays of Christ, and imitate the aposties, not seeking secular gains, possessing no property, fol lowing the pattern of Christ, who was hiraself perfecdy 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 Avolves — enduring persecution with the aposties and martyrs ; though strict in their raanner of life, absteraious, laborious, devout and holy, and seeking only what is needful for bodUy sustenance, Uving as • Mosheim, vol. ii. Cent. xi. part 2. t 'We shall see reason hereafter to believe that, m this particular, Evervinus misrepresented them, 24 ^'^^ History of the Christian Church. menAvho are not of the worid. But you, say they, lovers ofthe worid, have peace with the world because ye are of it. False apostles, who adulterate the word of God, seeking their own things, have mk- led you and your ancestors. Whereas we and our fathers having been bom and brought up m the apostolic doctrine, have continued in he grace of Chnst and shaU continue so to the end, 'By their Jntit^ rbrist ^r *era, saith Christ ; and our fmits are the footstepTof Christ, The apostolic dignity, say they, is corrupted by engaging it self in secular affairs, while it sits in the chair of Peter. Thiy do not hold the baptism of infants, aUeging that passage of the gospel, " He that beheveth and is baptized shall be saved." They pkce no confi dence in the intercession of saints ; and aU things observed in the church which have not been established by Christ himself or his apos tles, they caU superstitious. They do not admit of any purgatory fire alter 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 ot Solomon, ' Which way soever the tree faUs, 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 eraploy your care and watchfulness against these manifold mischiefs ; and that you Avonld be pleased to direct your pen against these wild beasts of the reeds, not thinking it sufficient to ansAver us that the toAver of David, to which we may betake ourselves for refuge, is sufficiently fortified Avlth buhvarks, that a thousand bucklers hang on the waUs of it, all shields of mighty men. For we desire father, for the sake of us siraple ones, and that are slow of understanding, you Avould be pleased by your study, to gather all these arms into one place, that they may be the more readily found, and raore poAverful to resist these monsters. I must inform you also, that those of them Avho have retumed 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 Avho Avere burnt, they, in the defence they made for theraselves, told us, that this heresy had been concealed frora the time of the raartyrs — 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 raighty charapion iramediately prepared hiraself for the corabat. He Avas then publishing a set of serraons on the Canticles, and in the 65th and 66th of them he enters the lists raost veheraentiy with these heretics. He is extreraely offended with them for deriding the Catholics because they baptized infants, and prayed for the dead, and asserted purgatory — conderans their scrupulous re fusal to swear at all, which, according to him, Avas one of their pe culiarities — upbraids them Avith 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 Women in the same house Avithout being married to them, by Avhich Ave are 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 littie of the manners of the sect ; and from the nuraberless rumours propagated against them, he suspects thera 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 raore Christian ; if you observe their conversation, nothing can be raore blaraeless, and what they speak, they prove by deeds. You raay see a raan, 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 ivhole body, indeed, are rustic and illiterate, and all whom I have knoAvn of this sect are very ignorant." Such was the testiraony of the great Saint Bernard in their behalf.* We have sorae 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 frora those who had, through the force of torments and the threat of being burned, renounced their coraraunion. • Dr. Haweis loses all patience ivith his brother Milner, for attempting to in troduce the great Bemard 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 miracles, lying prophecies, bloody persecutions of the faithful, and servitude to the papacy and her dominion, constitute a saint of tlie 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; buf 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 Home, even in those d,iys. On tbe contrary, he used the greatest freedom of speech in lashing the vices of the clergy of his time, and made liimself extremely obnoxious to them by his free remonstrances. "AVho at the outset," says he, "ivhen theorder "of monks began, would ever have imagined that monks would become so ivicked as they since have ? Oh, how unl'Jce 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 becoftie darkness ? How is the salt ofthe earth become unsavoui-y ? I am a liar," says he, " if I have not seen an abbot h.iving 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, wliile the poor are starv ing." Even the popes themselves were not spared hy 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 provei-b, and was common for centuries after, vir. Bernardus non vidit omnia — Bernard does not see every thing. 290 History of the Christian Church. He says, " they are comraonly called Cathari, [^Puritans'] a sort of people very pernicious to the catholic faith, 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 ulUity of baptism to in fants, which, say they, through their incapacity, avails notiiing 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 ofthe holy scripture which in anyway seera -to favour their sentiments, and with those they know hoiv to de- fencJ their errors, and to oppose the catholic tmth ; though in reality they are wholly ignorant of the true meaning couched in those Avords, 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 Avoids eat like a canker, and, like a flying le prosy, runs every way, infecting the precious members of Christ. These, in our Germany Ave call Catiiari ; in Flanders they call them Piphles ; in French, Tisserands, frora the art of Aveaving, because num bers of thera are of that occupation. "t Thus by coraparing together these several fragraents of inforraation, we may acquire sorae distinct notion of these Cathari. They were a plain, unassuraing, harraless, and industrious race of Christians, patient ly bearing the cross after Christ, and both in their doctrine aud raan ners conderaning the Avhole 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 sentiraents and prac tices by that divine standard. Even in the lAvelfth century their num bers abounded in the neighbourhood of Cologne, in Flanders, the south of France, Savoy, and MUan. " They Avere increased," says Egbert, " to great multitudes, throughout all countries," and although they seera not to have attracted attention in any reraarkable 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 raust have long ex isted as a people wholly distinct frora the catholic church, though, araidst the political squabbles of the clergy, it was their good fortune to be alraost elitirely overiooked. The sarae Egbert, speaking of thera, 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 raisery, for they do not adrait the beUef of the universal church, that there are sorae pur gatory punishments, Avith which the souls of sorae of the elect are tried for a tirae, on account of those sins frora Avhich they have not been purified by a plenary satisfaction in this life. On Avhich account they think it superfluous and vain to give alras for the dead and celebrate • See his Sermon against the Cathari in Bib. Pat. tom. ii. p. 99, 106. D'An- ver's Hist. Bapt. p. 249. j Dr. Allix's Remarks, p. ISO. Persecution ofthe TT'aldenses in England. SSSl masses; and they scoff at our ringing of bells, which, nevertheless, for pious reasons, are used in our churches, to give others warning that they may pray for the dead, and to put thera in raind of their own death. As for raasses, they altogether despise them, regarding them as of no value, for they maintain that the sacerdotal order has entirely ceased in tlie church of Rome and all other catholic churches, and that true priests are only to be found in their sect."* Throughout the whole ofthe tivelfth century, these people were ex posed to severe persecution. The zeal of Galdinus, archbishop of Mi lan, Avas 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 Ulness contracted through the excess of his veheraence in preaching against them. Towards the middle of the twelfth century, a small society of these Puritans, as they were called by some, or TValdenses, as they are termed by others, or Paulicians, 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, ivhere, being as numerous as the sand of the sea, they sorely infested both France, Italy, Spain, and England." The foUoAV- 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 Avhat is said of them by Rapin, Collier, Lyttleton, and other of our Avriters. " 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 governraent 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 raore particular inquiry, it Avas 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 Avere caUed, 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, coraraanded 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 • Serm. I. p. 889, in Bib. pp. Colon, ed. quoted by Dr. Allix, p. 152. 24* 382 History of the Christian Church. crime of heresy, and it would have been rauch fo the honour of the country if they had been the last." There is an account of the punishing of these Waldenses, in the Arch«:ologia, vol. ix. p. 292 — 305, Avritten by the' Rev, Mr, Denne, of WUmington ; frora Avhich I shaU here give a short extract by way of supplement to the preceding narrative. "These persons," says he, " haying been believers of the essential doctrines of Christianity, (as is admitted by the bishops) and, as it may be inferred frora the silence of the historian, that these sectaries were in their raanners inoffensive, nothing but the evil spirit of persecution could have prompted their judges to deliver them up to the civil raagistrate. It Avas the raore culpable in the prelates, because there Avas so littie ground for an alarra of their propagating Avith success their peculiar tenets. For though they seem to have resided for sorae time in England, tbey only converted one woman of an inferior rank, and she was so slightiy 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 soraewhat strange that the king, whose disposition ivas humane, should think those people merited branding and exile. But it Avas during the contest between Henry and Becket, in support of the just righls of the croAvn, 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 adherent? to charge them with profaneness, or an inattention to the cause of religion. By the council of Tours, held in 1163, princes Avere ex horted and directed to imprison all heretics ivithin their dorainions, and to confiscate their effects. Of this injunction Henry could not be igno rant, and he raight be actuated by it to treat the delinquents with more rigour than he otherwise Avould have done." Mr. Denne has fixed the sitting of the councU at Oxford in the year 1166. But the Cathari, or Puritans, Avere not the only sect which, dnring the twelfth century, appeared in opposition to the superstition of the church of Rome. About the year IUO, in the South of France, in the provinces ofLanguedoc and Provence, appeared Peter de Bruys, preach ing the gospel of the kingdora of heaven, and exerting the raost 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 raost indefatigable ministry of twenty years continuance, he Avas burnt at St. GUes's, a city of Lan 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 reforraer. His followers were called Petrobrusians ; bnt of his doctrinal sentiraents the foUoAving are those alone which we can be sure of at this reraote period— That the ordinance of baptism waste 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 m worship has a peculiar respect to the state ofthe heart, and who cannot be worshipped with temples made by hands— that crucifixes were ob- iects of superstition, and ought tobe 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 Bruys, rose up an Italian by birth, ofthe narae of Henry, said to have been his disciple, and who wasthe founder of a new sect called the Henricians, He hadbeen both a monk and a hermit ; but having received the knowledge of the truth he labour ed to reforra the superstitions of the times. Quitting Lausanne, a city of Switzerland, he travelled to Mans, and being banished from thence, reraoved 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 ivith ve heraence and fervour against the vices of the clergy, and the supersti tions introduced by them into the Christian church. At Toulouse he was warraly opposed by the great St, Bernard, that lurainary of the Catholic church, who, though he wrote against him Avith 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 compeUed 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, coraraitted 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 Avished, " All we know is, that he rejected infant baptism ; censured with severity the corrupt and licentious raanners of the clergy ; treated the festivals and ceremonies ofthe Catholic church with the utraost 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 narae of Arnold of Brescia, because Mosheira and other writers have described him as a man of a turbulent and impetuous spirit; and, though he is universally aUowed to have been possessed of extensive erudition, and reraarkable for the austerity of his manners, he is represented by those ivriters as not confining hiraself 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 of his en raged adversaries prompted them to vent against hira. There are few things raore difficult than to corabine the leniter in modo with the fortiter 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 thera. 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. t. 284 History of the Christian Church. " Arnold, at an early period of life traveUed into France, and be came the disciple of the celebrated Abelard. Having irabibed some of the heretical sentiments, and a portion of that freedom of thought, which distingiushed his master, he retumed 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 coiruption of the rights of secular princes, and that all the corruptions which disgraced the Christian faitii, and aU the animosities which distracted the church, sprang frora the power and overgrown possessions of the clergy. These bold truths lyere propagated not as mere points of speculation, or as an explana tion of the various calamities ivhich 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 caUed upon to renounce their usurped possessions, and to lead a fmgal 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 apostie of religious liberty, and rose in rebellion against their lawful bishop. The church took alarm at these dangerous coraraotions, and in a general council of the Lateran, held in 1139, by Innocent II, Arnold was conderaned 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 reforra, 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, reclairaed 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- thera with such a regard for their civil and ecclesiastical rights, that a coraplete 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 calaraity. 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 frora the people, and insisted that his holiness and the clergy should trust only to pious offerings of the faithful, Lucius survived this deraand but a iew days, and was succeeded by Eugenius III, who, dreading the mutinous spirit of the inhabitants, withdrew frora Rome, and was consecrated in a neighbouring fortress. As soon as Arnold was acquainted with the escape of the pontiff, he entered Rorae, and aniraated with new vigour the licentious fury of the populace. He called to their reraerabrance the achieveraents of their forefathers — he painted in the strongest colours, the sufferings which spmng frora ecclesiastical tyranny ; and he charged them as men and as Romans, never to admit the pontiff within their waUs, till Account of Arnold of Brescia. 285 they had prescribed the limits of his spiritual jurisdiction, and fixed the civU 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 sivear allegiance to the new system of things. The Roman pontiff could no longer view with patience the excesses of this ungovernable raob. At the head of his troops, chiefly com posed of Tiburtines, he marched against the city, and after sorae tri fling concessions on his part, was reinstated on tbe papal throne. Not withstanding the triumph over the malecontents, the friends of Arnold were still nuraerous, and continued to 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 rainds of the people. Arnold and his followers were banished frora the city, and fled for protection to the viscounts of Campania, His holiness, however, was not satisfied ivith restoring peace to his capital, A spirit of revenge burned within hira, till he instigated Frederick Barbarossa to force Arnold from his asylum in Campania, This intrepid reforraer Avas iramediately seized by cardinal Gerard in 1155, and was burned alive in the midst ofa 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 throAvn into ihe Tiber ; but though no corporeal relic could be preserved to aniraate his fol lowers, the efforts Avhich he raade in the cause of civil and religious freedora 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 irapossible not to adraire the genius and persevering intrepidity of Arnold. To distinguish truth frora error in an age of darkness, and to detect the causes of spiritual corruption in the thickest atraosphere of ignorance and superstition, evinced a raind of raore than ordinary stretch. To adopt a plan for recovering the lost glory of his country, and fixing the liraits of spiritual usurpation, deraanded 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 nuraber 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 wiU appreciate as one of the noblest legacies ivhich forraer ages have bequeathed. Every triuraph that is gained over ecclesiastical power stretched beyond its just liraits, in whatever country it is sanctioned, and under whatever system of faith it is exercised, is the triuraph of right reason over the worst passions of the heart. It is the greatest step ivhich the hu- 286 History ofthe 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 tmly say," says Dr. AUix, " that scarcely any raan was ever so tom and defaraed 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 ivhich the popes began to establish at Rome over the temporal jurisdic tion of the emperors. He was the man who, by his counsel, reneAved the design of re-establishing the authority of the senate in Rome, and of obliging the pope not to raeddle with any thing but Avhat concemed the governraent of the church,, withouf invading the teraporal 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 : Prxter hsec de Sacramento altaris et baptismo parvulorum, non sane dicitur sensisse! that is, " He Avas unsound in his judgraent about the sacraraent of the altar and infant baptisra" — (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 hiraself industriously to oppose the accuraulating errors in the church of Brescia, his native place, in Avhich he was supported by Maifredus, the consul of that city, accusations against hira were trans mitted to pope Innocent II, Avho iraraediately imposed silence upon hira, lest such pernicious doctrine should spread further. On this, Ar nold retired from Italy, and settled at Zurich, in the diocese of Con stance, Avhere 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 foUoAving account of the death of this great raan, " Being entered into the city [Rorae] and finding it altogether in a seditious uproar against the Pope, he ivas so far frora folloiving the advice of the wise raan, not to add fuel to the fire, that he greatiy increased it, proposing to the multitude the exara ples of tiie ancient Roraans, Avho, by the raaturity of their senators' counsels, and the valour and integrity of their youth, made the Avorld their oavu. He therefore advised them to rebuUd the capital, to restore the dignity of the senate, and reforra the order of knights. He raain tained that the civU governraent of tho city did not belong to the Pope, who ought to confine hiraself to raatters purely ecclesiastical. And so far did the mischief of this infectious doctrine prevail, that the raob pulled down several of the houses ofthe nobility and cardinals, treating the latter with personal abuse, and even violence. He could not hope to escape long, after coraraitting so heinous a crirae against persons so extreraely jealous of their tyranny, " Having persisted for a length of tirae, incessantiy and irreverently, in these and similar enterprises, conteraning the sentence of the clergy justiy and canonically pronounced against hira as altogether void, and of no authority ; he at length /eZZ into the hands of some, on the borders of • Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclop. Art. AniroiD. f AUix's Kemai-ks, 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 prsefect 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 ofthe popes, and whose hatred he had thereby incurred. His tragical end occasioned deep and loud murraurs ; 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 Avere ¦ numerous, and obtained the name of Amoldists, separated themselves from the coraraunion 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 ofthe sect of the Paterines, The most copious accountof them that I have raet 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 sarae people by Dr. Allix, Mosheim, and others, I present it to the reader mostiy in his own Avords. 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, Uliterate, low bred ; and these people were so called, because they Avere chiefly of the lower order of raen; 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 poAver to frame any constitutions ; it was not right to take oaths ; it was not lawful to kiU 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 Avorks could not save a man ; the church ought notto 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 futUe, 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 nanie soever they were called, as Manichfeans, Gazari, Jose- phists, Passigines, &c, raade no complaint of the mode of baptizing, but Avhen they were examined, they objected veheraentiy against the baptism of infants, and condemned it as an error. Among other things, • Dr. Affix's Remarks, p. 172. 288 History of the Christian Church. they said, that a chUd 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 wiUing and professing of another could be of no ser vice to him, "Here then," says Dr, Allix, very tmly, we have found a body of men in Italy, before the year one thousand and twenty-six, five hundred years before the Reforraation, who believed contrary tothe opinions of the church of Rome, and Avho highly conderaned 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 thera in Italy, but sorae disci ples of Gundulf, one of their teachers, went to settle in the Low Coun tries, (Netherlands) and Gerard, bishop of Carabray, iraprisoned 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 raasters. The adjacency of France and Spain too, contributed to their increase, for both abounded with Christians of this sort. Their churches Avere divided into sixteen corapartraents, such as the English Baptists would call associations. Each of these was subdivided into parts, Avhich would be here termed churches or congregations. In Milan there Avas a street called Pataria, where it is supposed they raet for divine worship. At Modena they assembled at sorae water-mills. They had houses at Ferrara, Brescia, Viterbe, Verona, Vicenza, and several in Rimini, Roraandiola, and other places, Reinerius says, in 1259 the Paterine church of Alba consisted of about five hundred raerabers ; that at Concorezzo of raore than fifteen hundred ; and that of Bagnolo about Iavo hundred. The houses where they raet seera 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 raark known by theraselves. They had bishops, or elders, pastors and teachers, deacons, and raessengers ; that is, men employed in travelling to administer to the relief and cora fort of the poor, and the persecuted. In tiraes of persecution they raet in sraaU corapanies of eight, twenty, thirty, or as it might happen ; but never in large asserablies, for fear of the consequences. The Paterines were decent in their deportraent, raodest in their dress and discourse, and their raorals 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 Avere chaste and teraperate, never frequenting taverns, or places of public amuseraent. They were not given to anger and other violent pas sions They were not eager to accuraulate wealth, but content witn the necessaries of life. They avoided comraerce, because they thought Ofthe Paterine Churches. 289 it would expose them to the temptation of collusion, falsehood, and oaths, choosing rather to live by labour or useful trades. They were always eraployed in spare hours either in giving or receiving instmc tion. Their bishops and officers Avere mechanics, weavers, shoe makers, and others, who raaintained themselves by their industry. About tbe year 1040, the Paterines had become very numerous at MUan, 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 Jerorae of Syria, Augustine of Africa, and Gregory of Rome, but Ambrose of MUan ; 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 MUan, an old infirm man, whUe 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, who pretended he had been one of these Paterines, made a public renunciation of his opinions, and embraced the Catholic faith, fil ling MUan with fables, as aU 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 keepetl^ back his sword from blood ! 1" Advice which we shall presendy see was but too implicitiy 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 been 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 Patekises, I here subjoin them. Mukatobi Antiq. Ital torn. v. Gregorii, contra Manichees, gut Paterini dicuntur, opusculi specimen, cap. vi. Sicardi Episcopi Cremonensis chronicon, ad. An. 1213. Bona cursi Vitse hsereticorum. Manifestatio heeresis Catharorum D'Abcherii Spicik- gium, tom. i. 208. De Catharis moniium. t 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 prorainent 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 tivelfth 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 frequentiy remarked by philosophers and moraUsts. Hence the enthusiasra with Avhich the learned slid 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. PUgrimages 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, tiU 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 ofthe 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 Avorld at hand — a persuasion which greatly augmented the nuraber 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 littie disturbance to the zealous pUgrims 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 ofthe Crusades. 291 about the middle of the eleventh century, the Turks, Avho had also embraced Mahoraetanism, Avrested Syria from the Saracens who had now been in possession of it for several centuries, and making them selves masters of Jerusalem, the pUgrims becarae 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 Turlis, 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 Avas expected immediately to judge the world. AVhUe the minds of men ivere 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 raade the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and Avas so deeply affected with the danger to which his fellow pilgrims Avere 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 Avarfare ; and he succeeded in every where kindling the same enthusias tic ardour for it Avith Avhich he hiraself 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 tvhen he chaUenged the warriors of the age to defend their brethren and rescue their Saviour,"* Pope Urban II, who at first hesitated about tbe success of such a project, at length entered into Peter's views, and summoned a council at Placentia, at which, so immense Avas 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 Avar against the Infidels, though but few of thera dis covered an}' alacrity to engage personally in the enterprise. The Pope, therefore, Avas under the necessity of caUing another councU, during the sarae 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 wilh one voice, " It is the will of God! It is the will of God!" " It is indeed the wiU 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 raark 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 battie in aU 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 uoav flew to arms with the utmost ardour ; not only the gallant nobles of that age and their martial foUowers, 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 Avhich was deemed so sacred and meritorious. The greatest criminals entered Avith 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 Avere pro mised a crown of glory in the world to come. Devotion, passion, prejudice, and habit, all contributed to the sarae coramon end, and the combination of so many causes produced that ivonderful eraigration 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 arraament would defeat its own purpose. They therefore wisely perraitted 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 sarae 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 rairacles. 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 Avithout 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 tiiousands 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 raUitary regulations, began of course to piUage without distinction, till the inhabitants of the countries through ivhich they passed rose in defence of themselves and famUies, 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, ivhere he was reinforced by a multitude of the rabble frora Germany and Italy, who, by piUaging the churches, and prac tising the greatest disorders, had contrived so far to follow their leader. Engagement of the Crusaders wilh Soliman. 293 Alexis Comnenus, the Greek emperor, was astonished to see Jiis 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 raost prudent step he could take, Avas to get rid of such troublesome guests as soon as possible, by fumishing them with vessels to transport themselves to the other side ofthe Bosphorus; and Peter, the general of* the Crusade, soon found himself in the plains of Asia, at the head ofa Christian army, ready to give battie to the Infidels. Their first engagement was with Soliman. Sultan of Nice, who fell upon the disorderly crowd, and slaughtered them almost ivithout resistance, Walter the Moneyless, and raany other leaders of equal celebrity, were slain ; but Peter the Hermit found his way back to Constantinople, Avhere he was regarded as a maniac who had enlisted a multitude of infatuated people to follow him, AlSia 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 nuraerous, stiU further enfeebled the Mahometan empire by continual Avars with each other, the certain consequence of divided sway. The crusaders, therefore, ivho, Avhen mustered on the banks of the Bosphorus, amounted to the incredible nuraber of one hundred thousand horseraen and six hundred thousand foot, were sufficient to have conquered all Asia, had they been properly disciplined, united under one head, or coraraanded by leaders Avho acted in concert ; but they were conducted by raen 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 cmsaders had hitherto courted, recovered the autiiority of the Caliphs of Jerusalem, He therefore, sent arabassadors to the leaders of the Crusades, inforraing them, that if they would throiv away their arms they might now perform without molestation or inconvenience their religious vows in the holy city, and that all pilgrims, Avho should from that time visit the holy sepulchre, might expect the same good treatraent 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, pardy bj 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 Jemsalem 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 Avithout distinction. The brave Avere not protected by arms, nor the tiraid by submission ; neither age nor sex were spared ; infants perished by the sarae sword that pierced the supplicating mother. The streets of Jerasalem Avere''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 ofthe Prince of Peace! sung anthems to that Redeemer who had purchased their salvation by his death, and whUe 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 iraportant event, the conquest of Jemsalera, was achieved in 1099, the last year of the eleventh century ; but towards the middle of the tivelfth, the poAver of the crusaders began to decline, and was grow ing AA'caker every day in those countries which they had conquered. The small kingdom of Edessa, had been retaken by the Turks, and Jerusalem itself Avas threatened. Europe was solicited for a neAV arraa 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 tirae 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 Avas 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, Avas 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 coraraenceraent 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 flaraes — a piece of cmelty which, on reflection, sunk deep into the king's mind, and filled him Avith dreadful remorse. Bemard avaUed himself of this penitentiary state, and per suaded the king of France, that to expiate his guUt, 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 Avas then seconded by the king, after receiving the cross from his hands. The queen who Avas present, also took the cross ; and the example of the royal pair was Second Crusade to the Holy Land. 295 followed by all the company, among whom Avere 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 raonk pledged himself for its success, and extolled it with an enthusiasm that passed for inspiration. From France, Bemard 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 Ave 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 larae walked, the sick were healed, and to these bold asser tions we raay add a fact no less incredible, that while St. Bernard's eloquence operated so poAverfuUy on the minds of the Germans, he al ways preached to them in French, a language Avhich 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 eraigration 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 Avere 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 Avho remained in Syria, and there wait ing the arrival ofthe 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, drcAv 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 pUgrim, in stead of appearing as the leader of an array, 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 araong the rocks near Laodicea, was defeated as Conrad had been, and the conplusion oHhe whole expedition Avas, that Lewis, like 296 History ofthe Christian Church. Conrad, returned to Europe witii the wi-ock of a great array, A. D, 1149, after visiting the holy sepulchre, A thousand ruined faraUies in vain exclaimed against Bemard 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 saAV 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 i bo^amp. a p"=y ik the barbarous superstition of the times. When a dangerous iUness de prived him of his senses, and alraost 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, ivhich he committed to the care of his mother ; and at length, in 1248, he set sail for Cy pras, accompanied by his queen, his three brothers, and almost all the knights of France, Arriving at Cyprus, it Avas resolved to make a descent upon Egypt, as it was supposed that Jerusalem and the Holy Land could not be preserved AvhUe 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 frora 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 ofthe Christian Church. loved. Yet this Cmsade, 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, kiUed by his side, and hiraself taken prisoner, with his two brothers, the Counts of Anjou and Poictiers, and all his nobiUty, 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 thera by force of arms ; and even that was not effected without sorae 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 retumed only to prepare for a neiv 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 nathing 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 ofthe community and of individuals. The Crasades being conducted under the immediate pro tection of iboRom«>j» okurot, end iio i.vxx.icoi aimtHciuas tiemg dcnounceu against aU 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 govemment. Nor were the commercial effects of the Crusades less considerable than their political influence. Many ships were necessary to transport the prodigious armies ivhich 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 suras 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 sorae of thera erected themselves into independent states, or coraraunities, the establishment of which may be considered as the first grand step towards civUization in modern Europe,* • Hume's History of England, vol. i. ch. v. Robertson's Charles V. vol. i. Appendix. Russets History of Modem Europe, Lett. xxv. xxvii. xxx. xxxi xxxii. xxxiv. HISTORY or THE (^HI^IESfSi^M (^^WlB^lIe FROltl THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE XVIII. CENTURY. IN TWO VOLUMES. vol.. IZ. ( 307 ) CHAPTER V. THE HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSES, FROM THE TIME OF PETER WALDO, A, D, 1160, TO THE DAYS OF WICKLIFFE, 1360, SECTION I. ORIGIN OF THE NAMES AV ALDENSES AND ALBIGENSfS, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF PETER WALDO OF LYONS, AND THE SANGUINARY EDICT OF POPE LU CIUS III. AGAINST THE DISCIPLES OF WALDO, Havino sketched the more prorainent features ofthe 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 atterapt to ascertain the origin of their dis tinguishing appellation. The learned Mosheira 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 tmly add, by most writers of authority since his time. The most satisfactory definition that I have met with of the term TValdenses, is that given by Mr, Robinson, in his Ecclesiastical Re searches ; and, in the confidence that it is the true one, and that I raay not unnecessarUy trespass on the reader's time and patience, I submit it to his consideration, Frora the Latin word vallis, came the English word valley, the French and Spanish valle, the Italian valdesi, the Low Dutch valleye, the Provencal vaux, vaudois, the ecclesiastical Valdenses, Valdenses, and TValdenses. 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 feU 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 foUoAvers, 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 caUed Valdus, or Waldo, openly disavoAved the Ro-- man Catholic religion, supported many to teach the doctrines believed in the valleys, and became the instmment 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 oivn 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 shaU 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 iraposed 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," Frora 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 caUed " 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 Avas recent, and that they derived their name of Vaudois, or Waldenses, from Peter Waldo, one of their barbes or preachers, whose imraediate folloAvers 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 Fran(*, where Peter Waldo preach ed ; for in other districts the people who were branches of the sarae original sect, as in Dauphine, Avere, frora a noted preacher called Jo- sephists — in Languedoc, they Avere 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 expeUed, they Avere called " Bulgarians" or Bougres, In Italy they were commonly called FratriceUi, that is, " men of the bro therhood," because they cultivated brotherly love araong themselves, acknowledging one another as brethren in Christ, Sometiraes they were denominated " Paulicians," and, by corruption of the word, " PubUcans," considering them as spmng 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 Avhich they prevaUed, as Lombard- ists, Toulousians, and Albigenses, AU 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. Eobinson in thinking it very unlikely, that people who could not descend from their mountains into neighbouring states, Avithout hazarding their lives through the furious zeal of inquisitors, should tempt danger by affixing a visible mark on their shoes. The above opimon, therefore, appears to me much more probable. + See vol. I. ch. iii. sect. 4. Various names given to the Sect. 309 from one common stock, and were animated by the same reUgious and moral principles. Albigenses became latterly their common name in France, front 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 titie 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 councU 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, iu 117S, and thp gpnpral cjaiincils of Lateral in_ 1139. and 1179» do not treat of thera, nor condemn thera as Albigenses but as heretics, and when they particularize thera, they denorainate thera " 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 tiraes 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 I'Antichrist" — that is, " What is Antichrist?" under date of the year 1 120, which carries us back at least twenty years before Waldo. Another book entitied, " The Noble Lesson" — is dated A, D, 1100, Their eneraies 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 1 177, and 1 178, were no other than Waldenses. In fact, their doctrine, discipline, go vernment, raanners, and even the errors with which they have been charged (by the Catholics,) show that the Albigenses and Waldenses 310 History ofthe Christian Church. were distinct branches of the same sect, or that the former were sprang frora the latter,* From the death of Claude, bishop of Turin, who may not irapro 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 rauch obscurity. They Seem to have had no writers among themselves capable of detaUing 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 ths 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 raeasure, 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 ivho, when persecu ted in France, fled into Piedmont, incorporating themselves with the Vaudois, The foUowing is the account Avhich 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 incUne to adrait it as the trae 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 ofthe country. Reinerius Saccho thought all the beUevers (Credenti) spmng from this stock; and he therefore caUs thera all Leonists, Whether the merchant received his name (Valdus) frora 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 tUl 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 narae, which passed for that of a low, rustical, and ob scure people to the Leonists ; and that the Leonists eraboldened the Vaudois to separate openly frora the chureh. 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 iect. Conversion of Peter TValdo. 311 part reconcUes the opinion of the catholic bishop, Bossuet, with that of Dr. Allix and other Protestants. Bossuet 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 seera 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 croivned his la bours in the promulgation of the gospel of peace, entide 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 lera, 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 Avhich 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 piUar removed. Lyons, in the tiraes 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 soleran manner, was required by the court of Rorae to be acknowledged by all men, A most pemicious practice of idolatry was connected with the reception of this doctrine. Men fell down before the consecrated wafer and worshipped it as God ; an aboraination, the absurdity and irapiety of which forcibly struck the raind of Waldo, who opposed it in a most courageous manner,* But although the conscience or coramon 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 coraraunion of the Roraish church, nor indeed to have had much.sense of reUgion upon his mind, God, however, who hath the hearts of all men in his hands, and who tums them as the rivers of water, had des tined him for great usefiilness in his kingdom. To him, also, Avhat ever means seera necessary for effecting his purposes in the world, are equally at coraraand. An extraordinary occurrence in providence was the raeans of awakening the raind of Peter Waldo, to the " one thing needful." One evening after supper, as he sat conversing with a party of his friends, and refreshing himself among thera, one of the company fell doAvn dead on the floor, to the consternation of aU that were pre sent. Such a lesson on the uncertainty of huraan life, and the very precarious tenure on Avhich mortals hold it, raost forcibly arrested his attention. The Latin Vulgate Bible was the only edition of the Scrip tures at that tirae 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 hira, • See vol. i. p. 129. f Pei-rm Histou-e des Vaudois, ch. i. 312 History ofthe Christian Church. " he taught the people the text of the New Testaraent 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 oivn mind, raised his views and conceptions above "the smoke and din of this dim spot which men call earth," and led hira to look for glory, honour, and iraraortality, even etemal life, in the world to corae. But Christian love is au operative principle. It expands the mind in which it dwells, and fills it with generous sentiraents — Avith suprerae love to God, and the most disinterested benevolence to man. Waldo Avas desirous of coraraunicating to others a portion of that happiness which he hiraself enjoyed. He abandoned his raercan tile pursuits, distributed his wealth to the poor as occasion required ; and, while the latter flocked to hira to partake of his alras, he laboured to engage their attention to the things which belonged to their everlas ting peace. One of the first objects of his pursuit Avas to put into their hands the word of life ; and he either hiraself translated, or procured some one else to translate the four Gospels into French ; and the next was to make thera acquainted with their sacred contents. Matthias lUy- rius, a writer who prosecuted his studies under Luther and Me lancthon, and Avas 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 croAvds came to him, to whom he explained the Scriptures. He was himself a man of learning ; so I understand frora some old parchments — nor was he obliged to employ others to translate for him as his enemies affirm." But whether Waldo hiraself translated these Scriptures or eraployed otiiers to do it, or, which is raost probable, executed it hiraself Avith the assistance of others, certain it is, that the inhabitants of Europe were indebted to hira for the first translation of the Bible into a raodern tongue, since the time that the Latin had ceased to be a living language — a gift of inestimable value. As Waldo becaine 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 Avord 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 tiie souls of his felloAV-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 Avrong in others. He taught tha truth in its sirapUcity, and enforced its practical influence on the heart and life ; and by his own example, as weU 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 TValdo ut 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 carae 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 layraan, he could not be silent in a matter Avhich concerned the salva tion of his fellow-creatures. Attempts were next raade to apprehend him ; but the nuraber and kindness of his friends, the respectability and influence of his connections, many of whom were raen 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 araong 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 Avhole years,* Information of these things was then conveyed to pope Alexander III. who no sooner heard of sueh heretical proceedings than he anathema tized the reformer and his adherents, commanding the archbishop to proceed against them with the utraost rigour. Waldo Avas now cora pelled to quit Lyons ; his flock in a great raeasure foUoAved 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 simUar, 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 Avhich they appeared,! Persecuted from place to place, Waldo retired into Picardy, where also success attended his labours. Driven frora 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 1 179, after a ministry of nearly twenty years. He was evi dentiy a raan 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 witii 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 Avith them the neAV translation of the Bible. In the ensuing section, we shall have an opportimity of exaraining their doctrinal sentiments ; and their history in that country, as well as in the south of France, and wherever else we can trace them, will occupy, in one way or other, the remaining pages of this volurae. The persecution of Waldo and his foUoAvers, with their flight from Lyons, is a reraarkable epoch in the annals of the Christian church, • Perrin's History, ch. i, + ibid. ch. i. 27 314 History ofthe Christian Church. Wherever they went, they sowed the seeds of reformation. The coun tenance and blessingof the King of kings atcompanied them. The word of God greAV 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 bumed in one fire af the city of Biiigen, 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 hiraself is said to have narroAvly escaped apprehension, eighty persons Avere committed to the flames. In the treatment, and in the behaviour of the Walden ses, were rencAved the scenes of martyrdora 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^f 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 frora 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 worid, and as the offscouring'of all things,* It can excite no surprise that their increasing nurabers 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 lAventy years after Waldo had been driven from Lyons, the foUoAving persecuting edict was issued from Rome. THE decree OF POPE LUCIUS III. AGAINST HERETICS, A. D. 1181, "To abolish themalignity of diverse heresies Avhich are lately sprung up in most parts of the Avorld, it is but fitting that the poiver commit ted to the church should be aAvakened, that by the concurring assist ance of the Iraperial strength, both the insolence and raal-pertness of the heretics in their false designs raay be crashed, and the truth of Ca tholic sirapUcity shining forth in the holy church, raay deraonstrate her pure and free from the execrableness of their false doctrines. Where fore we, being supported by the presence and powcr of our most dear son, Frederick, the most illustrious Eraperor of the Romans, always increaser of the erapire, with the coramon advice and council of our brethren, and other patriarchs, archbishops, and raany princes, who frora several parts of the worid are met together, do set themselves against these heretics who have got different names from the several false 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 Avhat name soever it raay be denominated. " More particularly, we declare all Catharists, Paterines, and those who call themselves ' the Poor of Lyons ;' the Passignes, Josephists, Amoldists, to lie under a perpetual anathema. And because some, under a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, as the apostie saith, assurae to themselves the authority of preaching ; Avhereas the same apostle saith, 'hoAV shaU 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 aU 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 reraission of sins, raatriraony, 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, Avith 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, shalljudge to be heretics. And Ave 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, Ave notwithstanding by these presents decree. That whosoever shall be notoriously convicted of these errors, if a clergyman, or one that endeavours to conceal hiraself under any religious order, he shall be immediately deprived of all prerogative of the church orders, and so being divested of aU office and benefice, be delivered to the secular power to be punished according to demerit, un less immediately upon his being detected he vohmtarily returns to the truth of the Catholic faith, and publicly abjures his errors, at the dis cretion of the bishop of the diodfese, 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 retum to the orthodox faith, we decree hira 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 comraand of the bishop they give fuU 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 excoraraunication, in which our wiU is that aU heretics be included, shaU be repeated and renewed by aU 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 Avaiiting or slow herein, he be suspended for three years from his episcopal dignity and adrain istration. " Furthermore, with the counsel and advice of bishops, and intiraa tion of the eraperor and princes of the empire, Ave do add. That every archbishop or bishop, either in his oavu 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 SAvear that if they know of any heretics there, or any that frequent private meetings, or that differ from the comraon 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 tiie 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 aU earls, 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 alltiiese particulars, Avhenever they are required so to do, they wiU powerfully and effectually assist the church against heretics and their accoraplices ; and endeavour faithfully, according to their office and power, to execute the ecclesiastical and imperial statutes concerning the raatters herein- mentioned. "But if any of them shaU 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 shaU refuse to yield obedience to these Decretal Constitutions, or that contrary to the episcopal comraonition they shaU neglect to punish opposers, we ordain the same to be excluded from aU coramerce with other cities, and be deprived of the episcopal dignity. " We likewise decree. That all favourers of heretics, as men stigma tized Avith perpetual infamy, shaU be incapable of being attorneys or Avitnesses, or of bearing any public office whatsoever. And, as for those who are exerapt frora the law of diocesan jurisdiction, as being immediately nnder the jurisdiction of the apostolic see; nevertheless, as to these constitutions against heretics, we wiU, 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 Arragon' 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 as to create no little alarm, and call forth the determined interference of the govemment. 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 aU archbishops, bishops, and other prelates ofthe church of God, earls, viscounts, knights, and to all peo ple of his kingdom, or belonging to his dominions, Avisheth 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 raight 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 frora the sight of God and all Catholics, to be condemned and persecuted every where, do comraand 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 presurae 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 weU as ours, and have his goods confiscated, without the remedy of ah appeal, and be punished as if he Avere actually guilty of high treason. And we strictiy 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 wUl, that if any person, noble or ignoble, shall in any part of our dominions find any of these wicked wretches, who shall be knoAvn 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 shaU any way plague, despitefuUy use or distress them, wounding unto death and maiming of them only excepted, he wiU in so doing perform nothing but what wiU be very grateful and pleasing to us, and shaU 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 aU those who either shaU not be gone by that time, or at least preparing for their departure, shaU be spoiled, beaten, cudgelled, and shamefuUy ill-treated." 27* 318 History of the Christian Church. SECTION n. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DOCTRINAL SENTIMENTS AND RELIGIOUS PRAC TICES OF THE AV ALDENSES, COLLECTED FROM THE WRITINGS OF THEIR ADVERSARIES.It is intended, in this and the tivo folloAving sections, to lay before the reader a raore 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 Roraish 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 narae I have had occasion raore than once to mention, Avas 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 Avas 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 perase 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, raixing 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 aposties successors, to have apostolical authority, and the keys of binding and loosing. They hold the church of Rorae to be the Avhore of Babylon, (Rev. ch. xvii.) and that aU that obey her are daraned, 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 ofthe church, which have been introduced since Christs as cension, ought to be observed, as being of no value. The feasts, lasts, orders, blessings, ofiices of the church, and the like, they utteriy reject. Thev speak against consecrating churches, church-yards, and other thines of the like nature, declaring that it was the invention of cove tous priests, to augment their own gains, in sponging the people by those means of their money and oblations. They say, that a man • This pontiff was bishop of Eome in the days of Constantine tiie Great, about the year 330, Reinerius's account ofthe TValdenses. 319 13 then first baptized when he is received into their community. Some 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 knoiv 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 teUigent 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 ivhatso 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 rauch as possible, that they may not be reproached therewith. If any honest wo man among them that has the repute of chastity, 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 aU oaths to be unlawful, and a mortal sin, yet they dispense with them Avhen 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 fieri, alii per omnes gui 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 Jhe foulness of this slander. I shall, therefore, at present, only quote from their own apology a short extract, in wliich they repel the charge of coun tenancing lasciviousness. " It was this 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 (lie prodigal son, who wasted his substance in riotous living. Balaam made choice of tlus 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."— Pm-in's Hist. ch. iv. ^^^ History ofthe Christian Church. be put to death by the secular power. Some of them hold it unlawful to kill brate aniraals, 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, ¦ 1 hus they cheat their own consciences in this and other ob- servances. From whence we may see, that having forsaken trath, 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 heU. That therefore the prayers of the church tor the dead are of no use, because those that are in heaven do not want them, nor can those that are in heU be relieved by them And frora thence they infer, that aU offerings made for the dead are only of use to the clergyraen that eat thera, and not to the deceased, who are incapable of being profited by them. They hold, diat the samts 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 thera. 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 aU the festivals which Ave cele brate in honour of the sainls, 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, bnt rather be able lo defend theraselves therewith; pretending that upon the introduction ofthe gospel dispen sation all old things Avere 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 siraple, 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 Avords of the gospel, as Avell 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. j- This was precisely the charge which was brought against the Paulicians j see Note, vol. i. ch. iii. sect. 4, and the remai-ks there offered upon it. Albigenses not Manichaeans. 321 the aposdes, 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 reconi- mend may pass for sound and wholesome doctrine ; — thus by their soft speeches deceiving the hearts of the siraple. And not only the men, but even their women also teach* amongst them, because AVomen have an easier access to those of their own sex, to pervert thera, that afterAvards, by their means, the raen 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 Avhen they are asked about one thing, they might perversely ansAver 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 dissembhng manner they frequent our churches, are present at divine service, offer at the altar, receive the sacraraent, confess to the priests, observe the church fasts, celebrate festivals, and receive the priest's blessing, reverentiy boAving their heads, though in the meantime they scoff at all these in stitutions of the church, looking upon thera 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 Avhich Reinerius gave ofthe principles ofthe 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 throughoutthe south of France, the valleys of the Pyrenean mountains, the valleys of Piedraont, and the country of the Milanese ; though probably distinguished in different places by the different naraes of Puritans, or Catharists, Paterines, Amoldists, Leon ists, Albigenses, or Waldenses, the last of which ultimately became their raore general appellation.t No doubt there were shades of dif ference in sentiraent araong them on points of minor importance, even as there are araong 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 notiiing 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 tiie 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, Lpz dbon qu' es Vaudes & los feson morir. THAT IS, Whosoever refuses to curse, to swear, to lie, to kiU, to commit adultery, to steal, to be revenged of his enemy — they say he is a Vacbois, and therefore they put him to death." Voltaire's Gen. History, ch. Ixix. 322 History of the Christian Church. Waldenses or Albigenses, persons whose theological sentiments and re ligious practices were very opposite to those Avhich Avere professed by the followers of Peter Waldo. " The practice of confounding heretics of aU kinds in one common herd," says Mr. Robinson, " hatii been an ancient custom with ecclesiastical historians, and it hath obscured his tory."* This is a very just reraark, and the reader who would not be iraposed upon by those writers, wdl find it of great importance to at tend to it. He himself, however, teUs us that the Albigenses were Ma nichaeans,! or nearly so, and that they differed from the Vaudois and Waldenses, That individuals, or even a sect, holding those wild and extravagant opinions, raay have existed at that tirae, 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 Manichaeism, But, whatever raay 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 Manichaeisra — and that the Waldenses and Albigenses were two branches of the sarae sect, inhabiting different countries, each deriving its appellation from its local residence, • Eccles. Researches, p. 463. •j- The sect ofthe Manichaans derived its origin from a person of the name of \lanes, or Manichxus, as he is sometimes called by his disciples. He was by birth a Persian, educated among 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 docti-ine 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 systemis given by Dr.Mosheim, A'ol. I. Cent. lii. ch. v. " That there are two principles from wliich all things proceed — the one a most pure and subtle matter, called Light, the other a gross and corrupt substance called Dahkness. 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 flie light is supremely happy, and consequently benevolent an4 good — the prince of darkness is unhappy in himselfi 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 Mitiiras — a splendid substance, endowed with life, and having his residence in the sun. The Holy Ghost a luminous and animated body, difiused throughout every part of die atmosphere which sur rounds this terrestrial globe. He held that the God ofthe 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 ofthe canonical Scriptures— maintained the transmigration of souls," &c. &c. It is really surprising that Mr. Robinson, the acute, tiie ingenious, the liberal- minded Mr. Robinson," should have charged the Albigenses witii adopting this absurd system, without producing any evidence to support such an opinion. Few writers have combated tiie foul misrepresentations of the Catholics with more zeal and success than he has done; but in this instance he has joined their senseless clamoiu- against the Albigenses. It is a very questionable point, whether the sect of the Manichaeans 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 atfinn that it was utterly out of the power of Mr. R. or any other person to produce fi-om Tlie Albigenses npt Manichxans. 323 In the sketch ivhich Reinerius has furnished of the principles of the Waldenses, it is to be remarked, that there is not the slightest aUusion to any erroneous opinions raaintained by thera, 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 Avith their doctrinal sentiraents ; and, having apostatized from their profession and become their determined adversary, he did not want inclination to bring forward any accusation against them Avhich could be done with the sraallest regard to decency on his own part. The errors of Avhich he accuses them (a feiv instances excepted, and on ivhich 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 wiU all be found in one way or olher to resolve themselves into the unfounded clairas of the clergy, or the introduction of huraan traditions and the basest superstition into the worship of God. It will be recoUected that, towards the close of the former section, it was stated that Peter Waldo, after disseminating his doctrines in France and Germany, Avas at length driven into Bohemia, where he spent the last years of his life in preaching the gospel, which he did Avith the most astonishing success. That kingdom coraprehended what is now included in the duchy of SUesia, and the marquisate of Moravia, The country is about three hundred mUes long, and two hundred and fifty broad, alraost wholly surrounded with irapenetrable forests and lofty mountains. The soU, where it is cultivated, is fruitful, and yields corn enough 'for the use of its inhabitants, which are computed at three raUlions 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 BohemiattiJfethren, 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 Manichjeism. I ara 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 tlie devil himself," says he, "to findin their writings the least shadow of Manichaism." — 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 tiiis gentleman's account of "the VaUeys 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 cmelties which are detailed by Leger, though he has no difficulty in believing them to have inflicted cruelties full as great upon 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 Rorae, who says " Ae had exact knowledge ofthe TValdenses," at whose trials he had often assisted, in several countries. The other is jEneas Sylvius, who Avrote the history of Bohemia, and afterwards ascended the ponti fical chair with the titie of pope Pius II, Thus writes the inquisitor conceming the Waldenses of Bohemia, The first error of the Waldenses, says he, is, that they affirra the church of Rorae is not the church of Jesus Christ, but an asserably 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 Avhore 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 Avars they foment, are raurderers — 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 raan 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 Avas no use of them in the priraitive church — That the clergy ought not to enjoy any temporal possessions, because it Avas said in the law, " The tribe of Levi shall have no inheritance with the children of Israel, the sacrifices being their portion" (Deut. xvui.)— That it is wrong to endoAV 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 aposties did. They reject aU the tides of pre lates, as pope, bishop, &c. They affirm that no man ought to be forci bly compeUed in matters of faith. They condemn all ecclesiastical of fices, and the privUeges and iraraunities 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 tiie second class of their errors — They conderan aU the sacra ments of the church. Concerning the sacrament of baptism they say, that the catechism signifies nothing, that the absolution pronounced over infants avaUs them nothing — that the godfathers and godmothers do not understand what they answer the priest. That the oblation which is caUed Al wogen is nothing but a mere human invention. They reject aU exorcisms and blessings, Conceming the eucharist they say, that a wicked priest cannot celebrate that sacrament— that Principles of the TValdenses. 325 transubstantiation is not performed by the hands of him who celebrates unworthUy, and that it (the eucharist) may be celebrated on our com mon tables, aUeging for this the Avords of Malachi i. 11. "In every place shaU a pure offering be offered to ray narae." They condemn the custom of believers coraraunicating no raore than once a year, whereas they coramunicate daily.* That the mass signifies nothing : that the aposties knew nothing of it : and that it is only done for gain. They reject the canon of the raass, and only make use of the Avo;ds of Christ in the vulgar tongue— affirming that the offering made by the priest in the raass 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 chUdren, 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 publie 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 Avas 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 aposties themselves being all lay raen. 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 raen, 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 aposties, 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 aposties 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 huraan tradition, * I suspect tiiis 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 ! r r 5 Their third class of errors is as follows. They contemn aU approved ecclesiastical customs which they do not read of in the gospel, such as the observation of Candlemas, Palra-Sunday, the reconciUation of peni tents, and the adoration of the cross on Good-Friday, They despise the feast of Easter, and aU other festivals of Christ and the saints, and say tiiat 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, aUeging Isa, Iviii, " Is this the fast that I have chosen?" "They deride and raock at all dedications, consecrations, and benedic tions of candles, ashes, palra-branches, oil, fire, wax candles, Agnus Dei's, churching of Avomen, strangers, holy places and persons, vest ments, salt and Avater, They look upon the church buUt of stone to be no better than a common barn, neither do they believe that God dwells there, quoting Acts vu, 48, " God doth not dweU in temples made Avith hands" — and that prayers offered up in them are of no more efficacy than those which ive 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 caU the ornaments of the altar " the sin of the church," saying, that it would be much better to clothe the poor {ban to decorate walls. Of the altar they say, that it is Avastefulness to let so rauch 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 cot' poral, or cloth on Avhich the host is laid, is no holier than the cloth of their breeches. Concerning lights used in the church, they say that God, Avho 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 coraraon 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 layraen, and reject all festival processions, as those of Easter, as well as mournful processions at Rogation-week and at funerals. They laugh at the custora of bringing sick persons on a bench before the altar. They dissuade people from going on a pilgrimage to Rorae, and other places beyond sea, though they them selves pretend to go on pilgriraage, 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 church-yard, were they not afraid of the church. They raaintain that the offices for the dead, masses for the deceased, offerings, funeral pomps, last wiUs, legacies, visiting of graves, the reading of vigils, anniversary masses, and simi lar suffrages, are of no avail to departed souls, They_condemn watch- TValdenses of Bohemia described. 327 ing with the dead by night, because of the foUy and wickedness which are practised on those occasions. They hold aU 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 aU sins are 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 beds, yea, than the mass itself. They think that aU swearing is sinful, because Christ says. Matt. v. 34, " Swear not at all, but let your comraunication be yea, yea, nay, nay." They are against punishing malefactors with death, which they found on Rora. xu. 19. "Vengeance is raine ; I wiU repay it, saith the Lord."* — Thus far the testiraony of this inquisitor ; to which I shaU now sub join the short account which the celebrated .iEneas Sylvius gives of the Waldenses of Boheraia, in his history of that kingdora. They hold, says he, that the pope of Rorae 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 iraraediately 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 raerely 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 palra-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 alras — 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 ivho is guilty of mortal sin, ought not to enjoy any ec clesiastical dignity — That the confirraation Avhich is celelirated with anointing and extrerae unction, is none of the sacraraents 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 adrainistered without the addition of holy oil — That the use of church-yards is vain, and nothing but a covetous invention, and tijat it signifies nothing in what ground the bodies of the dead are laid — That the teraple of the great God is the universe, and that to build churches, monasteries, and oratories to him under the supposition that tiie divine goodness could be raore 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 iraplore the suf frages of the saints reigning ivith Christ in heaven, because they can not help us — That it is to no purpose to spend one's tirae 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. AUix'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 litde before the tirae of the Reforraation, and Avrote a treatise against the Waldenses. His residence in the very heart of the valleys of Piedmont must have fumished 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 judgraent of them. His testimo ny is , therefore, of too much importance to be oraitted : but I must en treat the reader to bear in raind that it is the testiraony of an adversa ry, whose papal zeal he avUI perceive to blaze forth against them occa sionaUy Avith 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 frora 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 AvhoUy invincible." He then proceeds thus to de scribe them, "The Pope of Rorae, and the rest ofthe prelates and priests of that church," these Waldenses affirra, " neither foUow the life nor the precepts of Christ, but do quite the contrary ; and that not only in secret, but so openly and raanifestiy that it can no longer be disguised, because they chiefly value theraselves on things that are contrary to religion, and not only contemn but even raock at the pre cepts of the aposties. The latter lived in great poverty, humiUty, chastity, continence as to camal things, and contempt of the world; whereas we prelates and priests live in great pomp, luxnriousness, 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 araongst raen, not by raeans of virtue, holiness, and learning, but by the abundance of all [temporal^ things : by arras and warlike raagnificence, 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 theraselves. Hence it is that we make Avars, and incite Christian princes and people to take up arras. The aposties traveUing through towns and viUages, and sowing the word of God Avith 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 Avay to all manner of dissoluteness and avarice. They, as it were, against their * Hist. Bohem. p. 141. ubi supra. Seisselius' s account of the TValdenses. 329 wUls and with reluctance, by the divine command or inspiration of God, received ordination to proraote the salvation of others,: whereas we buy benefices and preferments for money, or procure thera by force, or through the favour of princes and other indirect raeans, merely to satiate our lusts, to enrich our relations, and for the sake of worldly glory. Moreover, they spent their lives in raanifold fastings, watch ings, and labours, terrified neither by trouble nor danger, that they might show to others the Avay of salvation : whereas we pass our time in idleness, in pleasures, and other earthly or wicked things. They, despising gold and silver, as they had freely received the divine grace, so they freely dispensed it to others ; whereas we set aU holy things to sale, and barter with the heavenly treasures of God himself, and, in a word, confound aU things both divine and human. So that the church of Rome cannot be said to be the spouse of Christ, but that coramon 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, SeisseUus 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 Avhether 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 hoAV to form our judgment when he saith, ' Ye shaU know them by their fraits ; 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 Avicked 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 narae 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 thera are worse than themselves, and their works obviously ivorse than theirs ? What shall Ave 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 raistake, but out of malice, those who are known to be whoUy unworthy of that charge, and who never in all their lifetirae 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 38* 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 teU us that we must not suffer ourselves to be led by blind guides, lest when one blind man leads another, they both faU into the ditch 1 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 raember 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 autiiority, the faith of Peter, Avliich Christ said should not fail the catholic church, and with which church he pro miseth to abide for ever, is to be found araongst us Avho Avalk after the example of the aposties, 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 Epistie to the Corinthians, ' Brethren consider your caUing, that ye are not raany Avise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble ; but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the Avise ; 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 teUs 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 I^ord saith elsewhere, " I AviU 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 Avritten 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 siraUar benedictions, are the inventions of false priests. They do not celebrate the festivals of the saints. They say that raen do not stand in need of the suffrages of the saints, Christ abundantly sufficing in aU things. They affirm that raarriage raay be contracted in any degree, excepting only one or Iavo at the most ; as if the popes had no poiver to prohibit raarriage 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 ivhich account, by an intolerable impudence, they usurp the name of the catholic church '. Their barbs [pastors] do greatiy err," saith Seisselius, " be cause they are neither sent of God, nor by the pastors ofthe [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 theraselves) because the apostle Jaraes 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 sorae 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 forra 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 laivful 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 aU, Did not Christ bless the bread in the desert ? When the apos ties sat down to eat bread, they blessed what Avas set upon the table. They say there is no need of holy Avater in the churches, because neither Christ nor his aposties either made it or commanded it : as if we ought to say or do nothing but what Ave read was done by them. They say, that the indulgences alloAved of by the church are despica ble, useless things — that the souls of the dead, without being tried by any purgation, iraraediately on their parting from the body, enter into happiness or raisery ; 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, rauch more than we honour thera. They make no distinction between the worship of Latria, which is due to God only, and that of Dulia, 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 affirra that a lie is always a mortar sin, because David says, 'God shall destroy all liars.' " And as to transubstantiation he tells us, " that the Waldenses raade a mock of aU the artifices Avhich 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 thc sacrament of the eucharist, and who, in order to clear thera, have spoken so sharply and subtilely, not to say confusedly, that I have great reason to doubt Avhether they ever understood the thing theraselves. Yet I wiU not say that because I do not rayself coraprehend 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 ofthe Christian Church. SECTION HI. A VIEW OF THE DOCTRINAL SENTIMENTS AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF THE WALDENSES, COLLECTED FROM THEIR OWN WRITINGS. Haaqng in the former section laid before the reader the sentiments iraputed to the Waldenses by four of their avowed adversaries, there can be no reasonable objection to our now perraitting thera 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 foUowing 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 AV ALDENSES, 1, We believe and firmly maintain all that is contained in the twelve articles of the symbol, coraraonly called the apostles's creed, and Ave 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-raentioned teach us — That there is one God, alraighty, unbounded in wisdora, and infinite in goodness, and who, in his goodness, has made all things. For he created Adam after his own iraage and likeness. But through the enmity of the devil, and his own disobedience, Adara 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 laAv, and their unrighte ousness and insufficiency, they raight desire the coraing of Christ to make satisfaction for their sins, and to accoraplish the law by him self, 6, That at the time appointed of the Father, Christ was bom — a time when iniquity every Avhere abounded, to make it raanifest that it was not for the sake of any good in ourselves, for all were sinners, but that He, Avho 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 Ave also firmly believe, that there is no other mediator, or advocate with God the Father, but Jesus Christ, And as to the Vir- * Moriand's History ofthe Churches of Piedmont, p, 30, TValdensian 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 beUeve, that, after this life, there are but two places — one for those that are saved, the other for the daraned, 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 frora flesh on certain days, and such like things, but above all, the masses, 11, We hold in abhorrence all human inventions, as proceedingfrom Antichrist, which produce distress,* and are prejudicijfl to the liberty of the mind, 12, We consider the Sacraments as signs of holy things, or as the visible erableras 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 Avhich, we maintain' that believers may be saved Avithout these signs, Avhen 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 poAvers, with subjection, obedience, promptitude, and payment.t ANOTHER CONFESSION OF FAITH, The Centuriators of Magdeburgh, in their History of the Christian Church, under the twelfth century, recite from an old manuscript the foUowing 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 knoAvledge ofthe 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 aposties are to be read rather than the comments of men. The sacraments of the church of Christ are tAvo, 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 irapious ; 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 lEstory of the Christian Church. Purgatory is the invention of men ; for they who believe go into etemal life ; they who believe not, into etemal damnation. The invoking and Avorshipping 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 beUoAvings, [allud ing to the practice of chanting] and the observations of various other ceremonies, manifestly obstructing the teaching and leaming of the word, are diabolical inventions. The marriage of priests is both lawful and necessary. About the time of the Reformation, the Waldenses Avho resided in the South of France, and who of course were subjects of the French king, Avere persecuted Avith the most sanguinary severity, particularly those resident in the country of Provence. In the year 1540, the par liaraent of Aix, the chief judicature of the province, passed a law, that " they should all of them promiscuously be destroyed, that tiieir 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 tirae was in his diocese. This Ulustrious scholar, this true philosopher, this huraane and compassion ate prelate, received them with great goodness, and interceded in their behalf, and the execution of the senteame was for a time suspended." " The sentence, nevertheless, was esfeirtlted in aU its rigour five years afterwards, as wiU be related in a,fia«f*e section. In the preceding year, however, (1544) as we are inforfaed 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 raitted to the king, in writing, the foUoAving confession of their faith. THIRD CONFESSION. 1. We believe that there is but one God, who is a Spirit — the Creator of aU things — the Father of all, who is above aU, and through aU, and ? Voltaire's Univ. Hist. ch. cxvi. TValdensian 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 hira as that sublime being, who searches the reins and trieth the hearts of the children of men, 2, We beUeve that Jesus Christ is the Son and iraage 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 narae given under heaven by which we can be saved. In His name alone we caU 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 frora the Son ; by Avhose inspiration we are taught to pray ; being by Hira renewed in the spirit of our minds ; who creates us ancAv unto good works, and frora whom we receive the knowledge of the truth, 4, We believe that there is one holy church, coraprising the whole assembly of the elect and faithful, that have existed frora 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 govemed by his word and guided by the Holy Spirit, In the church it behoves all Christians to have feUowship, For her He [Christ] prays incessantiy, 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 exaraples 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 rainisters of God, whora weare 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, Frora 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 extemal sign, which represents to us that which, by virtue of God's invisible operation, is within us — namely, the renovation of our rainds, and the mortification of our raembers 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 comraemoration 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 — exaraining ourselves, that so we may eat of that bread and drink of that cup, as it is Avritten 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 frora the divine AVord. 10, We contend, that all those in whora the fear of God dAvells, will thereby be led to please hira, and to abound with the good Avorks [of the gospel] which God hath before ordained that we should walk in thera — 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, Ave confess that avc 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 thera to place their confidence in the creature, as weU as to depart frora the good works of the gospel, and to regard the inventions of raen, 12. We take the Old and the Nbav Testaraent for the rule of our life, and we agree with the general confession of faith contained in [Avhat is usually terraed] the aposties' creed,* Amongst the writings of the ancient Waldenses that have reached our times, is " A Treatise conceming Antichrist, Purgatory, the Invo cation of Saints, and the Sacraraents, "t Their historian, John Paul Perrin, to Avhom avc are indebted for rescuing it from oblivion, inforras 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 Brays was discharging his ministry in France. The treatise has in deed been attiibuted, and not without probability, to the pen of Peter de Brays, Perrin says, it was carefully preserved among the inhabi tants of the Alps, from Avhence 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 Ihe 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 Rorae, and conse quentiy it would throw rauch Ught 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, Avhich we knoAV was not done until after the raiddle of the thirteenth century ,J * See Perrin's Hist, des Vaudois, ch. xiii. ¦(¦ 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." 4; 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. ui. p. 477. TValdensian description of Antichrist. 337 If, therefore, the original was ivritten at the period fixed by 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 Avay 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 systera 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 raan of sin, the son of perdition. His ministers are called false prophets, lying teachers, the rainisters 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 tmly 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 poiver, 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 systera 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 aposties, 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 obtaimed. 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 foree others to forsake the truth and embrace falsehood. But growing up in his members, that is, in his blind and dissembling rainisters, and in worldly subjects, he at length arrived at full maturity, when men, whose hearts ivere setupon 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 ivay of trath 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 object of adoration, and the worshipping of God alone is prohibited. He robs the Saviour of his raerits, and the sufli- ciency of his grace in justification, regeneration, reraission 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 thera 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, Avith the external rite of baptism, and on this foun dation bestoAvs orders, and indeed grounds all his Christianity, He places all religion and holiness in going to raass, 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 Avith 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 sorae of the principal of the works of Antichrist against the truth, but the whole are past numbering or recording. On the other hand, he raakes use of an outivard confession of faith; and therein is verified the saying of the apostie — " They profess in words that they knoAV God, but in works they deny him," He covers his iniquity by pleading the length of his duration, or succession of tirae, and tbe multitudes of his followers — concerning whora it is said in the Revelation, that " power is given hira over every tribe, lan guage, and nation, and all that dwell on the earth shall worship hira," He covers his iniquity by pleading the spiritual authority of the apos tles, though the apostie expressly says, " We can do nothing against the tmth" — and " there is no power given us for destruction," He boasts of numerous miracles, even as the apostie foretold — " Whose coming is after the Avorking of Satan, with all miracles and signs, and lying wonders, and Avith 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 garraent, that he may not be rejected as a pagan or infidel, and under which disguise he can go on practising his vUlanies boldly, ^nd like a hariot. But it is plain from both the Old and New Testa- How the TValdenses described Antichrist. . 339 ments, that a Christian stands bound by express command to separate hiraself from Antichrist, [Here the foUowing scriptures are quoted at large from the Old Testament, Isa, lii, 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,] Noav it is manifest from the Ncav 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 ofthis 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 thc 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, \1. 388 History of the Christian Church. difficulty which ivill strike the minds of reflecting readers. It has been intimated both by the friends and enemies ofthe Waldenses, that they had religious scruples against bearing arms, and even shedding the blood of animals unnecessarily. The question, therefore, naturally presents itself, " Were tiiey at last driven to the necessity of taking up the SAVord 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 thera ; and that the reader raay not suspect me ofa wish to misre present their principles and conduct in the instance referred to, I shall quote the Avords of Mr. Robinson, Avho 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 fmits of their industry, and the former fought for it, and, by defending one, preserved both parties. The church of Rome having adopted clerical dorainion 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 bum, 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 aAvay [even] of aniraal life, that they never kUled a bird, from a sparroAV to an eagle ; or a quadruped, from a Aveasel to an elephant;* and Avho perpetually exclaimed against penal laws, and thought it wrong to take away the hfe of man," A proper attention to this raatter, raay help us to solve several things in the Avritings of the Catholics themselves, Avhich must otherwise prove extremely perplexing. Thus for instance, several of their own Avriters describe the battle Avhich 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 Si.raon, 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 thera. The Catholics lost about a hundred raen, but of the Albigenses, tivo 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, nuod graviter peccaret, quicumque ccciderit avem aliquam a minima usque ad maximam; et quadrupedia, a mustela usque ad elephantem." That is, "Itis also a common opinion among the Puritans (Cathari) that that man sms grievous ly v/ho kills any bird, from the least to the greatest— or a quadruped, from a Aveasel to an elephant." Contra TValdenses, cap. vi. Tolerant principles of the Dukes of Savoy. 389 ronne."* This they call the battie of Murat,! and they add, that'after this victory many of the surviving heretics fled into the valleys of Piedmont, where their descendants resided till Iavo 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 cmsaders 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 oavu lives. Such appears plainly to have been the case Avith the Albigenses, The Count of Toulouse, and the barons and vassals that constituted his army, no doubt acted upon different maxims ; for, had they foUowed out the principles of these Albigenses, they would have dissolved the Avhole feudal system ; but they approved of the conduct of these people in dissenting from the communion of the church of Rome, admired the siraplicity of their doctrine and worship, and, to the utmost of their power, protected them from the rage of their bigoted and sanguinary persecutors,^ SECTION VH, some account of the state of the av aldenses, 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, Avere edified and • Voltaire's remark upon this curious piece of Catholic history, raaybe 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,' sorae writers ivill say, but military people, upon reading such a story, will teU them it is nonsense and absurdity," General History, vol. i. ch. 1. f A singular disclosure was made after this battie, 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 Avas 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 eng-aged in negotiating between the pope's legate and the earl of Beziers. (see p. 378.) There also lay one of his sons and many ofthe Arra- gonian gentlemen and vassals, who, while ostensibly supporting the Roman church had, in disguise, been fighting in defence of tiie Albigenses ! ! ^ See Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, ch. a. and Dr. Allix's Remarks on the Ecclesiastical History ofthe Ancient Churches ofthe Albigenses, ch. xxi. 33* 390 History of the Christian Church. multiplied. The kind providence of God appeared in blessing them with a succession of mild and tolerant princes, inthe 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 Piedraont, but the proceedings in France had sufficiently opened the eyes of the in habitants to the spiiit 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 inartyr oi h'lm either at Turin or Susa,"! At MUan, also, the united power of pope Pius IV, and Philip II, of Spain, Avas found insufficient to introduce the Inquisi tion ; the mob rose at the bare proposal of it and flew to arms, ex claiming that it Avas 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 pities of Italy, and incorapatible Avith the Milanese forms of law, on which grounds they opposed its introduction, Naples and Venice also successfully resisted the inquisitorial scherae ; and, as the populace in almost every part of Italy formed insurrections against the inquisitors, evincing the most determined spirit of hostUity against them, the states pradently avaUed themselves of this temper of mind, and pretended they were afraid of exasperating the people should they introduce the independent poAver of the holy office. The scenes of slaughter and devastation Avhich had been carried on against the Albigenses, in the southern provinces of France, for raore than twenty years during the forraer part of the thirteenth century, in which time it has been computed that a million of persons bearing that name were put to death,f 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, MatthcAV Paris, in his History of the reign of Henry III, notices this circurastance, and informs us that in the year • Mr Robinson, refering to this subject, has the foUowing pertinent remark. "It is a curious phenomenon in politics, that the family which aUowed its subjects religious liberty, when all otiier princes oppressed conscience, should, in a coun tiy enthusiastically fond of liberty, become in the end, the most absolute monai-chs in the Christian world. Such is the king of Sardinia, who is also Duke of Savoy, and to whose eldest son, the heir apparent, tiie titie ofthe Prince of Piedmont is hereditary." Eccles. Researches, p. 459. i Limborch, on the autiiority of Pegna in Eymeric, says, " as he was going from Como to Milan, A. D. 1252, to extirpate heresy, a certam behever of here tics attacked him in his journey, and despatched him with many wounds. He was canonized and worshipped as a martyr." ± Mede on the Apocalypse, p. 503. and Newtmi on the Prophecies, vol. n. p 257. Sth ed. 1789. Clark in his Martyrology doubles the number. TValdenses persecuted in Spain. 391 1214, during the pontificate of Alexander IV, there ivere great num bers of the Waldenses In these provinces, of which the pope bitterly coraplained in one of his bulls, saying, that they had perraitted 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 tiiey had several churches duly set in order Avith 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 offaith, 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, Avas magisterially enjoined not to perrait him, or any of his assistants, to be molested in the discharge of the duties of the Inquisition. A commission Avas 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 foUoAving is a copy of the bull Avhich 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 judgraent, that with diligent care you make inquiry against heretics, arid render them infa mous, by the assistance of the friars Predicants, and others Avhom 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 Avill 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 AvhoUy 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, Avhen many severe decrees were passed against heretics, and the holy office Avas erected there also ; and, for the space of a century and a half, measures of the greatest rigour were incessantiy carried on against the Waldenses in that, quarter, before their entire extinction could be effected. The Catholic writers avow these facts, and acknoAvledge 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 raonk, 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, • BzoA-ius, A. 1233, sect. 8, 9. 392 History ofthe Christian Church. The flight of Waldo from the south of France into Germany, and the success that attended hira 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 fuU of the Waldenses.* Two considerations may enable us to account for this. One is, the destructive war that was Avaged 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 otiier is, that a violent quarrel arose about this 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 Rorae, and issued the raost horrid and sanguinary edicts against the Waldenses, as hath been shown in a former section.! But he had now, by sorae means, incur red the displeasure of Gregory IX. who, at the moment tiiat Frederick was prosecuting a ivar against the Saracens in the east, excited the emperor's own son Henry, who had been elected king of the Roraans, to rebel against his father, in consequence of ivhich, the cities of Lom bardy had revolted. The rebellion was, hoivever, suppressed, the prince was confined, and Frederick triuraphed— but his troubles were not ended. The pope excommunicated him, and, to soav division be tween him and the princes ofthe erapire, he (A. D. 1237) transmitted a bull into Germany, in which Avere the following Avords, referring to the eraperor. " 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 diflerent 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 dweU 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 noiv 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 Avith the pen of Avicked heresy. Be not, therefore, surprised at the malice of this blasphemous beast, if ive, who are the servants of the Alraighty, should be exposed to the arrows of his de stmction. This King of plagues Avas even heard to say, that the whole Avorld has been deceived by three imposters, Moses, Christ, and Mahommed ; but he makes Jesus far inferior to the olher two. ' They,' says he, ' 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 Avhora it is written, " and another red horse arose frora the sea, and he that sat upon hira took peace from the earth."t • Constans on the Revelation, in Perrin, b. ii. ch. ix, ^ See ch. v. sect. 5. % RusseU's Modem Europe, vol. i. letter 32. Frederick II. decreed to lose his Crown. 393 In the year 1245, pope Innocent IV, convened the famous councU of Lyons, concerning which the following inscription is preserved in the Vatican library at Rome, " The thirteenth general councU, and the first of Lyons: Frederick II, is there declared an enemy tothe church, and deprived of the Imperial diadem." To this council Frederick did not faU to send ambassadors to defend his cause, well knoAving that he ivas 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 oivn advo cate ; and after strenuously insisting on his right to the temporalities of Naples and SicUy, and to die patrimony of the Countess Matilda, he charged Frederick with having made a peace Avith 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 Avere 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 eraperor, " You draiv," said they, " by means of your Italian emissaries, above sixty thousand marks yearly out of the kingdom of England ; you have lately sent us a legate, Avho 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 Avill no longer endure them." The pope blushed, and made no ansAver, 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 hiraself at Turin during these transactions, and, according to report, was greatly agitated on hearing of thera. He, how eA'er, called for his strong box, which was brought him, and taking out of it the imperial croAvn, he added, "This the pope and his couucil 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, " Avhom the clergy have treated so un worthily, and I shaU 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 infaraous 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 fidel at the same time ?" A very pertinent question certainly. 394 History of the Christian Church. prive them of these pernicious treasures Avhich are their ruin, and il is your duty to assist me in so doing." These extracts sufficientiy shoiv the state of deadly hatred that existed between the pope and emperor, and it produced a flame that raged, Avith more or less violence, throughout the erapire, until the death of the lat ter in the year 1250. " It Avas dreadful," says a late Avriter, " to see the misery to which many thousands Avere reduced in Gerraany, by a neAV and illegal election of another emperor, and by the violences com mitted in the revolted cities of Italy; in all Avhich the pope Avas the only one insensible to the operations of Divine justice. In the raidst ofthis confusion (1254) the Almighty summoned hira 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 consequentiy gave the Waldenses an opportunity of propagating their sentiments more extensively. The clergy, no doubt, were generally upon the alert in quest of heretics, and Avherever 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 lo make knoivn the purity of their religion to the Avorld."! But after the death of Frederick, the establishment of the Inquisition raet with less obstruction. The affairs of Germany had been left by him in great disorder. Italy was Avithout a prince, and the Milanese under the control of the pope. " The latter," says Limborch, " now determined to extirpate all heresy, whicli,thad greatly increased during the preceding war."X About the year 1330, the Waldenses were grievously harassed and oppressed, in several parts of Germany, by an inquisitor of the narae of Echard, a Jacobin monk. The circurastance is related by Vignier, in his Historical Library, part the third, where he also records an anecdote of this Echard that is Avorth 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 frora the church of Rorae. The force of truth ultimately prevailed over all his prejudices — his OAvn conscience attested that raany of the errors and corruptions, which they charged on that apostate church, really existed ; and, finding hiraself unable to disprove the articles of their faith by the ivord of God, he confessed that truth had overcome him, gave glory to God, and entered into the communion of the Waldensian churches, Avhich 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. Eraissaries were despatched in pursuit of hira, and he ivas at length apprehended and conveyed to Heidelberg, where he was coraraitted to the flames. His dying testimony was a noble attestation to the principles and conduct of the Waldenses ; for he • Walch's Hlstoi-y of tlie Popes. | Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. ii. i, Limborch's Inquisition, ch. xv. Increase ofthe TValdenses 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 crirae but their steadfast adherence to the cause of Christ, in opposition to thetlelusions of Antichrist.* The Waldenses, hoAvever, continued to increase throughout Ger raany, during the thirteenth and fourteentii centuries. Four hundred and forty-three were apprehended by the inquisitors in Saxony and Po- raerania, in the year 1391, Avho confessed that their teachers came frora Boheraia, and that they and their ancestors before them had been instructed in the principles they then held. In 1457, a great numberof the Waldenses were discovered by the inquisitors in the diocese of Eistein in Germany, who Avere put to death, and Avho confessed that they had among them twelve barbes, or pastors, Avho laboured in the Avork 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 oAvn profession, and that it was a custom araong them to affix certain private marks to their signs and gates, whereby they made themselves knoivn to one an other.! In the year 1310, twenty-four person's of the sect ofthe Waldenses Avere seized in the city of Paris, some of Avhom were imprisoned, and others coraraitted to the flaraes. In the year 1334, the monks ofthe inquisition, who Avere 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 Avork intituled " The Sea of Histories," that in the year 1378, the persecution against the Waldenses continuing, a vast number of them AVere burnt in the place de Grave, in Paris.| These sanguinary proceedings, hoAvever, it would seem, were far from eradicating the heresy. For, two years after this, viz. in 1380, we find Francis BoreUi, 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 coraraitted to the flames. § || • Vignier's Bibliotheca Historialis, part iii. Anno 1330, in Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. ii. ! Perrin's History, b. ii. ch. xi. i Pen-in, book ii. ch. xv. 4 Milner's Church History, vol. iii. p. 496. 0 There is a passage in the writings of tiiat eminent Catholic Historian, Thu anus, relating to the subject we are now upon, ivhich deserves the reader's at tention, as throwing considerable light upon the history ofthis 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 theu- 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 setdement in Calabria, probably hoping there to enjoy, with less molestation, their religious privileges. Finding the soU fertile, and the region thinly peopled, they applied to the proprie tors of the land, and stipulated for a settiement among them. The lords of the country cheerfuUy granted their request, gave them the kindest reception, agreed with them on equitable terras, 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 by 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 frora thera except tithes, which Avere paid according to contract Avith 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 aU the country. Even ye priests have received iraportant 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 otiier 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 blaspheraous expression?" • This prudent counsel was not Avithout its use. The priests, indeed, who felt, or iraagined their interests were undermined by these new settlers, raurmured, and gaye 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 frora 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, Avhen they forraed a union with the church of Geneva, of ivhich Calvin Avas 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 raust 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 Pi-OA'ence, 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. Otliers, tuming to the West, obtained refuge in Britain. Thuani Prefatio ad Henricum iv. p. 7. TValdenses in Poland, Italy, ^c. 397 During the period of which Ave 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. Turilupins, that is, the wolves of Turin. The explanation which their own friends give us of this term is, that being banished frora the society of men, and driven to dwell Avith the beasts of the forest, they, in reference to the place whence they originated, designated them Turlupins, or Turilupins. Our historian, Matthew Paris, inforras us, in his life of Henry III. that one Robert Bougre, who had lived among the Waldenses, and professed their faith, aposta tized frora them, became a Dominican, and was appointed by the pope inquisitor general. This raan, knowing their usual places of conceal raent, apprehended more than fifty of thera, 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 frora 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 iraprisonraent.* We are told by Le Sieur de la Popeliniere, who Avrote 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 frora 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 Avere driven from Picardy, through the violence of persecution, several of them retired into Poland. Hence we find, that in the year 1330, the Inquisition foUoAved them there, and that numbers of them ivere put to death. Matthias lUyrius, 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.! Frora 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 theraselves in great numbers throughout aU Italy. They had ten schools in Valcamonica alone, which were supported by pe cuniary contributions in all their societies, and Avhich contributions were transmitted into Lombardy." Reinerius adds, that about the year 1250, the Waldenses had churches in Albania, Lombardy, Milan, • Matthew Paris— Life of Henry UI. Perrin's Hist, b, ii, ch, xiii, t 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 Avas a considerable number of Waldenses in Sicily. In all these places the sanguinary edicts of the Eraperor Frederick II. were continuaUy 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 thera — they were ordered to be treated with the greatest seve rity, that they might be banished, not only frora the country, but from the earth. And throughout Italy, both Gregory IX, and Honorius IV, harassed and oppressed them Avith the most unrelenting barbarity, by means of the Inquisition — the living Avere, Avithout raercy, coraraitted to the hands of the executioner, their houses razed to the ground, their goods confiscated, and even the slumbering reraains of the dead were dragged from their graves, and their bones committed to the flaraes,* 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 Mattheiv Paris, that they had spread theraselves as far as Croatia and Dalraatia, Avhere their profession pre vaUed to that degree, that they had won over several (Catholic) bishops to their party. It is pleasing to find, that while the Waldenses 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 OAvn country, and, in some degree, served to irradiate the gloom in which it was enve loped. In a former section, we have noticed the eraigration of thirty of the Waldenses into England, Avho were crueUy 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 crirae was, that he Avas tainted Avith the faith of the Waldenses, But the wars that Avere carried on against the Albigenses in the south of France about this tirae, contributed very rauch to the propagation of the principles of the Waldenses in this country, as indeed, appears frora the testiraony of Thuanus, lately adduced. For, independent of the contiguity of the two countries, there Avere circurastances of a po litical nature that tended very rauch to keep up the intercourse between them, Guienne was at that tirae in the possession of the English — to which raay be added, that Rayraond, Eari 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 countryraen were fre quentiy eraployed in assisting the subjects of Rayraond in their wars. That the doctrines of the Waldenses had begun to spread theraselves here about the close of the thirteenth century, is sufficientiy obvious from a fact noticed by Archbishop Usher, viz, that in the reign of Henry III, " the orders of the Friars Minorites carae into England to suppress the Waldensian heresy," * Perrin's History, b, ii. ch. xvi. Memoirs of Greathead, bishop of Lincoln. 399 The most reraarkable 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 intiraate acquaintance with the Greek and Hebrew languages ; after Avhich 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 tiiat period of life, immersed in the darkness and superstitions of the age, he 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 latter 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 Avas Avished. 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 ansiver, in an instant, to such a deraand, 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 tirae, began to open the eyes of the bishop to the domineering influence of the court of Rome. Another thing which strack his mind forcibly ivas, thatin 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 thera from him, and absolutely refuse compliance with them, saying, that he should prove himself the friend of Satan, were he to corarait 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 Greathead in 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 hira from his functions. But Greathead treated the papal mandate Avith contempt, and continued to discharge his episcopal duties. In the year 1253, the pope Avas 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 hy 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 corapU 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 cn tiiis 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 oavu carnal lusts, by raeans of the railk 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 evUs are in this way committed — they sin against God himself, who is essentially good, and also against the iraage of God in raan, which, by the recep tion of his grace, becoraes partaker ofthe divine nature. For the holy apostolic see to be accessary to such wickedness, Avould be a raonstrous 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 raan can obey such mandates with a good conscience, even though they were seconded by the high order of angels theraselves ; on the contrary, every faithful Christian ought to oppose them with all his might," When this epistle reached the hands ofthe 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, ifl were not re strained bymy generosity, I wouldmake him an exaraple and a spectacle to all mankind. Is not the King of England my vassal and my slave ? And if I gave the word, Avould he not throw him into prisonand load him Avith disgrace ?" The cardinals, however, who saAV the danger into which the pontiff was about to plunge himself by his rashness, strove to raode rate his resentraent. One GUes, a Spanish cardinal, in particular, thus ad dressed hira, " It is not expedient for you to proceed against the bishop in that violent raanner ; for, what he says is certainly true, nor can we with decency conderan hira. He is a holy man — much more so than we ourselves are — a man of adrairable genius, and ofthe most ex eraplary raorals— no prelate in Christendom is thought to excel hira. It is probable, that by this tirae the truths expressed in his letter are known to raany, and they wUl excite many against us. The clergy, both in France and England, know the character of the man, nor is it Greathead'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 turault 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 Christendora." 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 ho regard to the decree ; and what the cardi nals foresaAV, 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 exultingly 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 lo be Avrit ten to the King of England, requiring hira 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 pontifTs health, for he died in the following year, MatthcAv Paris, the monk of St, Alban's, though superstitiously at tached to the See of Rorae, and not a littie 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 worid, 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 weU as of the prelates. He was the corrector of monks, the director of priests, 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 sentiraents, considering the darkness of the age in which his lot was cast, appear to have been reraarkable for their purity and siraplicity. 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'sLife of Greathead, 34* 402 History of the Christian Church. for our advantage and not his. Hence it is very clear, that all the good Ave 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 Avhich 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 seeras, are stUl extant in the cathedral church of York. One of thera 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 recoraraended in the text ; which, by comparing the words Avith the parallel place in Matt. V. 3. he finds to he 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 aU — for, as he observes, humility in this vieiv belonged to Adara 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 aU desire to possess in hiraself the springs of self-exaltation. Self-con demned and corrupt before God, he despairs of help from his own powers, and finds all he Avants in Him, who is the true life, wisdora, and health, and indeed his aU in all, even the incarnate Son of God, who condescended to corae 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 ftis 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 toAvards God. He is sensible that he not onfy 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, dial 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 hira " to take the lowest seat" as his own proper place. He then caUs upon the raan who professes to be the subject of humi lity, earnestiy to exaraine himself, how faf he deraonstrates in his tera 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 raore to boast of hiraself, than the refulgent colours of the prism should glory in that splendour which they derive wholly from the solar rays. He observes that the tempta tions to self-complacency are the effect of Satanic injecUons--and that it behoves him who would not be deceiving himself to see whether he has the genuine raarks of humility iu his practice— whether, for m- Stance lie 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 ef 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 thera take care never to conceive of it as something sepa rate from Christ, He alone, dwelling in them by his Spirit, produces aU that is good, and to Him alone the praise belongs. SECTION vm. A VIEW OE THE STATE OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND AND BOHEMIA DURING THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES, AVITH 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 Avhen the governments of France and Spain lent their aid to second the views of the court of Rorae, in expelling the Waldenses and Albigenses frora their respective countries, the persecuted foUoAvers 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 kingdora 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 Avritings of the prophets and apostles to be translated into the language of the country, together with several testimonies from the primitive fathers ; all Avhich having well fixed in his mind, and trusting to his natural parts, he took up the office of preaching, and in terpreted the gospel to the common people in the streets. And Avhen in a short time, he had got about hira 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 theraselves with mere obstinacy, saying, that in reUgious affairs, God, and not raan, was to be obeyed. Being for this cut off from the church, and appealing to the pope, they ind 327 of this vol. and the note from Thuanus, page 395. 404 History of the Christian Church. were, in the councU iraraediately preceding that of Lateran, condemned as altogether pertinacious and schismatical : frora whence, becoming hated and execrated by all men, they wandered about without a home, and spread themselves up and down in Languedoc, Lorabardy, and especiaUy 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 tme faith of Christ was the whore of Babylon, and that barren tree which Christ himself cursed, and com manded to be plucked up— that consequentiy 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 Avere vain, and served only to promote the vUe 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 raany folloAvers in that province, which is now called Picardy, he removed frora thence into Gerraany ; and after a long abode amongst die Vandal cities, settied at last in Bohemia, where, even at this day, the professors of that doctrine are from thence caUed Picards. Waldo had a corapanion named Arnold, who by a different route fell into Languedoc, and fixed himself at Alby, forraerly called Alba of the Helvians, frora whence came the Albigenses, who in a little time spread themselves amongst the people of Toulouse, Rovergue, Le Quercy, and Agen. Amold, was succeeded by Esperon and Joseph, and from these Gregory IX. denominated them Amoldists, Esperonites, and Josephists, and also Gazars, as all heretics at this day are called throughout Germany and the northern countries ; ivhich name is supposed to be taken from the emperor Leo III. naraed Gazar, Avhom the Roman pontiffs accused beyond all other raen of sacrilege and erro neous principles; though in other books they are styled the Pure, (Puritans) ivhich narae 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 hira with heretical pravity. He, at the persuasion of Theodotus a monk, had removed out ofthe churches aU pictures and statues, whioh 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 caUed the enemy of images. Though others imagine them to be rather called Leonines frora one Leo, a Frenchman, of that sect, because Leo the eraperor was too far distant from those times and places. Thus, hoivever, they were nick-naraed, 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, LoUards, 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 TVickliff. 405 too veheraentiy 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 Dorainic who afterwards founded the Dominican order. But when he found littie 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 whom many others joined themselves. Though from that time they were persecuted from place to place, yet at intervals there appeared some ivho 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 : avc uoav proceed. The usurpations of the court of Rorae 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, AvhUe 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 raean tirae, the taxes collected under various pretexts, by the agents of the See of Rorae, 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 tirae 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 coUege, 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 littie freedora and severity. A discourse Avhich he published against the pope's demand of homage and tribute from Edward III. for the kingdom of England, recomraended him so rauch to that prince, that the latter bestowed upon hira several benefices, and eraployed him in several embassies. Intone 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 rhuanus's History of his own Times, b. vi. 406 History ofthe Christian Church. so far as to caU the pope antichrist, to deny his supremacy, and fd ex pose his intolerable tyranny and extortions in the strongest colours, 'fhis, as might naturaUy have been expected, dreAV upon hira the in dignation of his holiness, and involved hira in various troubles. Pope Gregory XI. published several thundering buUs against him, in 1377, commanding hira to be seized, iraprisoned, and brought to trial for his damnable heresies. The affection of the people, and the favour of the court, protected him from iraprisonraent ; but he found it necessary to appear before Siraon Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, and WiUiam Courtney, bishop of London, who had been appointed his judges by the pope. At this appearance he had the honour to be accorapanied by two of the greatest men in the kingdom, John of Gaunt, duke of Lan caster, and Lord Henry Percy, marshal of England. These tAvo 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; whicii 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, Avhere he ivas attended by so great a body of the citizens of London, that his judges were deterred from pronouncing any sentence against him ; and their coraraission 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 sentiraents, in sorae 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 sarae ivith those which were propagated by our more successful reformers in the sixteenth century. The prosecution against Wickliff was suspended for sorae tirae, 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 turault, archbishop Sudbury, one of his most zealous adversaries, Avas beheaded by the insurgents on Tower- hiU, June 14, 1381. WiUiara Courtney, bishop of London, was pro moted to the primacy by a buU of pope Urban VI. (who had been ac knowledged in England to be ths lawful pope,) dated the Sth of Sep tember in the sarae year. As soon as the insurrection of the Commons Avas 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 folloivers. Wilh this vicAV, he assembled a councU 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 councU unanimously de clared len of these opinions heretical, and fourteen of thera erroneous. Several suspected persons were then brought before the councU, parti- Wickliff^ s Letter to Huss. 407 cularly Nicholas Hereford and PhUip 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 Avere 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 Avas a solemn procession in London ; after which Dr. Kinyghan, a Carmelite friar, preached to tjie 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 proclaraation, July 12, authorizing and comraanding the bishops to seize and imprison aU 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 Avhere they had many violent opposers, and many zealous advocates. Dr. Berton, who Avas chancellor in the University in 1381, and Dr. Stokes, were at the head of the forraer, 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 perforraing in that office. Dr. PhUip Rapyngdon had been appoint ed to preach at that church on that day, and he declaimed with great veheraence against the corruptions of the church, and in defence of the doctrines of Wickliff; and his sermon was heard with approbation. But when Dr. Sti)kes attempted to publish the decrees of the council of London, he was intermpted 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 tq 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. WhUe the doctrines of Wickliff Avere 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 Avith a stroke of the palsy, which deprived him of his speech, Deceraber 28, 1384, he expired on the last day of that year.* As the clergy had hated and persecuted him Avith 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 ofthe Christian Church. at his disease and death, ascribing them to the imraediate vengeance of Heaven for his heresy. " On the day of St. Thoraas the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, says Walsingham, a contemporary histo rian, -that limb ofthe devil, eneray of the church, deceiver of thc 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. Letteb ehom Wickliee to Huss. 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 dweUeth in us by the gi-ace 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 Avonder that such tilings should be done among you, since the law of Christ suffereth oppression fi-om its adversaries over aU the world ; and from that red dragon with many heads, which John speaks of in the Eevelation, 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 adversity shall not pre vaU over us, if iniquity do not prevail. Therefore let no afiiiction, 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 tbis present life, that he may af- terwai-ds 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, eterna], treasure. AVe 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, whUe we have time, that we may be found wortiiy to enter into that rest. Let me entreat you to consider, that we see nothing else in this life, but grief, anguish, and sorrow ; and what ought to trouble the faithful most of aU, a contempt and trampling down ofthe divine laws. Let us endeavour, as much as lies in our power, to lay hold of those good things, which shall always endure and bf 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 caU to mind the saints of both the Old and New Testaraent ; how they bore tossings, 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 things ; as the Epistie to the Hebrews recounteth at large; all walking in, and foUowing the footsteps of Christ, in that narrow path, who 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 cheerfuUy endured the cross, despising aU 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 fromthe Lord, ivith all our heart, and fight manfuUy against his adversary, antichrist. Let us love his laws with aU our heart, and be not fraudulent and deceitful labourers; but act boldly in aU things, as far as tbe Lord permits us; and let us be valiant in the cause of God, and in hope of an eternal reward. Do thou, tiierefore, O Huss ! a brother greatiy beloved in Christ, unknown to me indeed in person, but not in faitii and love; (for, what part of the world can tear asunder, and separate Uiose Progress of TVickliff s Doctrine. 409 pie, idol of heretics, rairror of hypocrites, author of schisms, sower of hatred, and inventor of lies, John Wickliff, was, by the immediate judgraent of God, suddenly struck with a palsy, which seized all the raerabers of his body, when he ivas ready, as they say, to vomit forth his blasphemies against the blessed St. Thoraas, in a sermon Avhich he had prepared to preach that day." But these reproaches do honour to his meraory, 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 Avas not of long duration. They soon found, that his doc trines had not died Avith him, but Avere propagated with great zeal, and no little success, by his followers, who Avere commonly called Lol lards.* Many of those ivho were preachers travelled up and down the whom the love of Christ unites?) be comforted and strengthened in the gi-ace which is given thee. As a good soldier of Jesus Christ, war in woi-d 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. Kather 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 wiU of the Lord! It is a great joy to me, that not only in your kingdom, but elsewhere, God hath so strengthened tbe 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 ivilUngly 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 fi-om the bowels of my heart; particularly your compa- nion;j- entreating that you ivould pray for me and the whole church. . And the God of peace, who raised fi-om the dead that great shepherd ofthe 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 Clirist our Lord: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." • Even to the present nothing to the AVal- denses but the exercise of their reUgious profession, but that he in no respect intended to force their consciences! The ambassadors in reply told the Marquis of St. Thoraas, that hoAvever strong his royal highness's reasons were to consent to his edict of January last, they could not annul those that necessarily en gaged hira to observe the promises given before this edict. That some considerations of state ought not to dispense a prince frora perfoyning his word, especiaUy if he entered into fhis engageraent by the raedia 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 iheh exceUencies the protestant Cantons, and confirmed by his royal highness, he could allege nothing sufficient to discharge him from the obligation of seeing them punctuaUy observed ; and fhe rather, because these patents have been enrolled by the parliament of Savoy ; and that the enrolling of the year 1 620 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, Avhich they could not lose but by an enorraous crime, and by a rebelUon against their laAvful 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, Avhich is an au thentic and glorious proof of the fidelity and inviolable adherence Avhich they had always shown to their prince's interest. That if, after the publication of the last edict, sorae particular persons araongst thera had taken up arms, they had not done it fo raake use of them against their sovereign, but only fo defend theraselves against those that, abusing his authority, had undertaken to attack and insult thera ; "and that in case there had been some disorders coraraitted, those that Avere the authors ought to be punished ; bnt that it ought not to be imputed to the Avhole 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 Avhich 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 Avere 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 tAVO parlies raaking war on one another, would never end their quarrels, \)\xt be the total ruin of one of thera. Pleas of the Swiss for the TT^aldenses. 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 Avhich had been formerly made with tliem. That all that Avas alloAved them in snch a case, Avas, to em ploy instruction and exhortation, and all the Avinning Avays of sweetness, that are calculated to make truth enter into the rainds of their people, to enlighten their understandings, and move them to embrace, with good AvUl, the true religion ; but that Avhich 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 Avas established in this country above eight centuries ago ; and that they enjoyed this right long before they were the subj ecte 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 Avhich Avere adduced, were so strong, fhat the ambassadors hoped they Avould have some effect on his royal highness's raind ; and that the Marquis of St. Thomas would be pleased to make thera known to him, and employ the credit Avhich he had with him, to obtain the revoking of an edict Avhich, without doubt, he had thought to be just, and Avhich he Avould not have published, if he had been persuaded that it Avas contrary to Avhat 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 capablq of contributing to Jjie 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 aU the evil they eould expect in this affair; and if Ave judge of things by appearance, the pains they took to dispose hira 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 fo present to him ; that he had done all he could to make hint 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 shoAV as if they were willing to execute the edict, because that such a conduct is not contrary to the raaxims of your religion, and by these raeans they Avill disarm the prince, and they may find afterwards some means to prevent the evils they are threatened with." " Our doctrine, ansAvered the ambassadors, does in no respect coun tenance the dissembling of our failh, or oblige us to profess before mea the truth Avhereof 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 engageraents into which he has entered by the mediation of several sovereigns, and araongst others, by that of the 548 History ofthe Christian Church. SavIss Cantons, our sovereign lords, it is evident that nothing can war rant him in breaking them." In ansAver to all these pleas, the ministers of the prince gave the ambassadors to understand, that the council of state having exarained them, judged they were not strong enough to hinder the prince from publishing his edict against his subjects of the VaUeys : and that sup posing the edict should really cause sorae inconvenience to his royal highness, he Avould nevertheless not desist frora 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 lo.se them all. And though the ministers wished to be thought firm in their senti ments, and to shoAv they Avere not convinced of the justice of the de mands the ambassadors made, it Avas Avell known that they defended the edict against their oavu opinion ; for one of them frankly confessed, that his royal highness's counseUors had not properly exarained the concessions of the years 1655 and 1664, and tiiat if they had made the necessary reflections on thera, they Avould 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 wert given at Versailles. This honest confession convinced the ambassadors that all their soli citations Avould produce no effect ; therefore seeing it would be impos sible for them to obtain the revocation of the edict, they thought fit, accordiftg to the chief head of their instructions, to demand that which related to the second article of the orders Avhich they had received from their sovereigns, viz. to procure the inhabitants of the Valleys the means of retreating soraeAvhere else, and of disposing of their goods as they should think fit. But as their instmction Avas, to make no proposals to the court of Turin, on this point, except Avifh the consent of the inhabitants of the Valleys, they told the Marquis of St. Thoinas that having, for several reasons, entertained no correspondence Avith them, they Avere willing to take a journey into the Valleys, to inform theraselves exactiy of the disposition of the people, and Avhen acquainted Avith their intentions, to make some overtures of a neAV negotiation. But they gave him to understand, at the same time, they Avould by no means undertake the journey, except Avith his royal highness's full consent. The Marquis of St. Thomas, having acquainted his royal highness Avith the design of the ambassadors, sent thera Avord that he approved of their intentions, and that he would give orders to the govemor of Lucerne to do thera all the honour, and to shoAv them all the respect, that Avas due to their character. When the ambassadors arrived in the Valleys, they acquainted all the coraraunities with their arrival, Avho despatched immediately two deputies and two ministers to them, to whom they represented, that they had employed their utraost endeavours to cause the edict of the 31st day of January, to be revoked, but that all their pleading had been The TValdenses deliberate. 549 unsuccessful : that it had been given them to understand, that his royal highness was so much engaged Avith one of fhe most powerful raonarchs in the world, that it was impossible for him to break it: and that he was resolved to use aU his endeavours to unite his subjects in the same religion, as he had promised to do. "There Avere, therefore, no hopes left of obtaining the revocation of the orders that had been given against them. That their sovereign lords had coraraanded them, in case his royal highness should persist in his resolution to execute his edict, that they should demand his per mission to give them leave to retireat out of his territories, and to dis pose of their goods ; but that they Avere unAvUling to enter into any negotiation upon this article, without being first inforraed of their in tentions about it. That, therefore, they should assemble to deliberate seriously about so important an affair, and acquaint thera 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 thera Avith their best advice and prudent counsel ; but the ambassadors declined to advise them in so intricate a business, teUing them they were better acquainted Avith their oavu forces; Avith the situation of the places where they intended to intrench theraselves ; with their aramunition and provisions, than they Avere ; and that, there fore, they themselves could adopt tbe best meashres 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 Avithout having first assembled all their commonalties to consult upon it, and they proraised to bring to them at Turin their last resolutions, provided they could get passporte for them. The ambassadors returned to Turin, and informed the Marquis of Sf. Thomas- of the success of their journey, who assured them that this negotiation Avas very agreeable to the court. They then demand ed a safe conduct, that some of the inhabitants of the valleys raight have liberty lo 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 Avould 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 Avhat course to take; for, on one side, they saw the la mentable consequences of war; on the other side, the dangers and almost insurraountable 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 arabassadors, stating the 550 History of the Christian Church. dangers and difficulties that obstructed their departure, and Avrote a let ter to them signed by nine rainisters and eight layraen, in Avhich, 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 arabassadors 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 Avhom 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 Avith full poAver to raake those subraissions that Avere due to him, and to beg leave to depart out of his territories, as a pecuUar favour that they should iraplore of their prince. The ambassadors had reason to be surprised at this prearable. They had denied them the safe conduct that they had demanded for the coming of the deputies of the vaUeys to Turin. They had assured them seve ral tiines, that if they should grant to the Waldenses leave to retreat, it was only upon the account and at the intercession of the arabassadors : nevertheless, they Avould 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 raade this request. This, alteration Avas not Avithout cause, and if Avas not for no thing that they now adopted raeasures altogether different from the for mer. The council of the propagation Avho managed this affair, had without doubt respect to these Iavo several points ; one Avas, that they Avould not have the ambassadors named in the permission of departure, to die end tiiat they should have the less right to deraand the execu tion of those tilings that should be proraised 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 Avhat 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 Avould by consequence, be forced to lay do\A'ri their arms ; other Avise they could not be in the condition of petitioners. But however it Avere, the ambassadors, wUling to take aAvay every pretext frora the enemies of the Waldenses, took a safe conduct to bring up the depu ties Avhom they demanded : they sent this safe conduct into the valleys by the secretary of the embassy, who caused the coraraunities to be assembled to nominate their deputies. But as, on the one hand, there Avere many Avho never engaged in the design of departing: and that, on the other, the ncAV marches of their eneraies appeared suspicious, the communities Avere not all of one raind, nor the orders tiiey gave to their respective deputies conformable one Avith another. For the tenor of some Avas 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 tAveen themselves, and laboured in the mean tirae to obtain a truce for them,* • See Appendix, No. 7. A new Edict issued. 551 Their enemies heard, Avith great satisfaction, that the communities ytere divided among themselves upon the point of departing ; they were so well persuaded that this division Avould be an infallible means to destroy them, that they caused it to be carried on and fomented, by perfidious persons Avhom they had gained for that purpose. It is also to he 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 tbe communities, their enemies changed their minds once more. They had lately declared, that they expected, in the first place, ' that the Waldenses should theraselves desire permission to depart, and should make their submission thereon. The Waldenses had not made this request nor these submissions : several of the communities Avere not of the opinion to retire : the arabassadors 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 Sth of AprU, 1686. In the mean time, notAvithstanding all this, to accomplish absolutely the divi sion of the Waldenses, and consequently to ruin them Avith the greater . ease, fhey published, unknoAvn to the ambassadors, an edict, dated the Qth of the same month of AprU, granting to the Waldenses an amnes ty, and perraission to retire out of the state of Piedmont.* This edict was published in the valleys the Ilth of AprU, the same day on Avhich the ambassadors wrote a letter to the same effect to some of the coramunities to knoAv their resolution. In the meantime they gave in a very pressing memorial to the Marquis of St. Thomas, to obtain sorae assurance that the troops -should not enter into the vaUeys, 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 ofthe valleys Avho had been at Turin, by a letter dated the 13th, Avhich fliey 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 exaraple of their ancestors, and to refer the event of it to Providence. In fact, this edict, Avhich was designed altogether to divide them, wrought a quite contrary effect, and served rauch to unite them in the sarae 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 AppencUx, No. 9. j- Appendix, No. 12, ^Appendix, No. 13, 553 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 folloAv then, that for the execution of the edict, either that the AValdenses them selves should demolish their churches, or that their enemies should do it. The .Waldenses could not resolve to demohsh them themselves, and therefore they would have sent for troops, Avhich, under the pre text of this demolishing, Avould have infallibly oppressed the Wal denses. Secondly, if they designed to perrait them retire without disturbance, why did they not defer the execution of the order of the 31st of January, tiU after their departure? Why should they oblige them to deraolish their churches, within the eight days that were given them to prepare thtjmselves fo abandon for ever their native country, were it not to render their retreat impossible ? Thirdly, this edict further requires, that they should lay doAvn their arms, and that they should open their country to monks, missionaries, and Catholics. Noav it is plain that if they had throAvn aAvay their arras, and opened their country before their departure, they would have been exposed to the mercy of their enemies, and to the fury of troops Avho Avould not have failed to enter into their country, to oppose the retreat of the Waldenses, and to torment theni till such time as they had changed their religion, as had been practised elsewhere: but their fear was so much the more justifiable on fhis occasion, in regard that fhey gave them no assurance that their troops sh'ould not enter info the valleys. Fourthly, the Waldenses were also obliged to retire in three separate brigades, and to rendezvous in- those places Avhere, the troops being encamped, they raust consequentiy surrender themselves to the discre tion of the soldiers ; and deliver theraselves up to be butc'hered. Fifthly, the perraission 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 Avere bound, out of the price of the said goods, to indemnify the raonks, the missionaries, the ancient, the niodern, and the future Catholics, for Avhatever damages they should pretend to, which they Avould 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 oavu accord, the prince should reserve to himself a poAver to banish whom he should think fit for securing the repose of those that remain, Avhich supposes not only that the conditions of the edict were so disadvantageous, that fhere would be many Waldenses who would not accept thera, 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 Avho should have a mind to stay. Seventhly, the arabas sadors were not naraed in the edict, and the Waldenses had no security for the execution of those things that Avere 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 eneraies kept their word, especially in this juncture, when they had broken the most inviolable laAvs, 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 ofthis affair, because of the engagements AA'hich he had entered into with the king of France, it Avas not to be presuraed that the latter monarch, on whom this matter depended, Avould take any milder mea sures, in respect of the Waldenses, than those he had taken Avith 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 coraraunities sent their resolution to the ambassadors, Avho 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 Avere always told, that as long as the Waldenses were in arras, 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 thera. A circumstance transpired at this time that served much to confirm them in this resolution. Tavo 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 farailies intended to quit Piedmont conforraably to the edict, and to desire of him safe conducts, Avhich he refused them under the pretence that they ought to stay tiU they Avent out with the rest. Moreover, because there Avere 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 A'iz. till the time Avhen all the other prisoners were discharged. There needed no other proof to make it appear that their design Avas to destroy the Waldenses, Avho would not change their religion. HoAvever, the coramunities 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 notto comply with the edict, but to defend themselves. It Avas fhen 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 Avrote 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 thera, 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 anived at the camp some days after the publication of the edict, hoping probably he might strike terror into the Waldenses by his presence, and 554 History of the Christian Church. force tiiem 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 Avere encamped on the plain at the foot of the Alps ; his OAvn army was com posed of his family, all tiie cavalry and infantry, and the militia of Mondovi, of Barjes, of Bagnols, Avith a great number of foreigners. And the array 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 ihe garrisons of Pignerol and Casal. The duke had also made the necessary preparations for attacking the Waldenses, as soon as the tmce thatwas granted them should expire, having appointed his OAvn array to storra the Valley of Lucerne and the coramunity of Angrogne ; and the array of France to attack the Valleys of St. Martin and Perouse. The Waldenses, on the other hand, had taken some pains to defend theraselves. They possessed only a part of the VaUey of Lucerne ; for the toAver that gave name to this Valley, and raany other considerable places, Avere in the eneray's hand. The comraunity of Angrogne, from Avhich some caU the valley by the same name, by reason of ifs large extent, was not Avholly 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 befAveen the King of France and fhe Duke of Savoy; but fhey Avere in possession of all the Valley of St. Martin, being fhe strongest of all by its situation. They had fortified themselves in every one of those Valleys Avith several intrenchments of earth and dry stones. 'They were about two thousand five hundred men bearing arras; they appointed captains and officers of the chiefest araong theraselves, for they had no foreigners, and fhey Availed the approach of the eneray 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 Avere several AV aldenses Avho had been cormpted, or that had re lented during the negotiation ; it is not to be wondered at if fhey took not all fhe necessary precautions that Avere in their power. One of the greatest faults they committed was, their striving to maintain all their posts : for if they had abandoned the raost advanced, and had retired within the intrenchraents they had raade in the mountains, it is not likely they Avould have been beaten out of them. On the 22d of April, being the day appointed for the attack, the French army commanded by Catinaf, govemor of Casal, marched two hours before day, bA' torch-light, against the Vallej-s of Perouse and St. Martin, having for some time followed the river Cluson on the king's territories. Catinat sent out a detachraent of infantry, commanded by Vellevieille, lieutenant-colonel inLimosin, who having passed the river over a bridge, entered into the VaUey 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, carae to relieve the foot who had begun the engagement. They used their utmost efforte to gain Hostilities in Piedmont. 555 the intrenchraents of the Waldenses, of Avhich 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 Avere forced to intrench themselves at a pistol shot distance ; continual firings Avere kept up on both sides for more than ten hours together; but at length the Waldenses Avent out of their intrenchments with their swords in their hands, surprised the French, Avho littie 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 droAvned. "There Avere, on this occasion, more tiian five hundred Frenchraen 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 die 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, Avho hav ing passed the river by two bridges, fetched a compass about to gain the high grounds that separate the Valley of St. Martin from Dauphiny. The rest of the army having likewise passed the river, went to encamp with Catinat alBolards part of the night, and the next day attacked the VaUey of St. Martin at a viUage called Rioclaret. But as those Avho had the comraand in that valley did not think that they would molest them, after they had shown their incUnation fo 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 Avith Avhat had passed before St. Germain, Avere not con tent merely to burn, ravish, and pUlage, 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 Avith the body of his army the mountains that sepa rate this valley from that of Perouse, and encamped without any oppo sition, in the coramunity of Pramol in the Valley of Perouse; the sol diers notwithstanding put to the edge of the sword all that fell into their hands, Avithout respect to AVomen 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 vaUey, 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- -eamped at Praraol. 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 raade in the VaUeys of Lucerne and Angrogne. The Waldenses not being able to resist the eneray's cannon in the posts that were too open, Avhere 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 Avas 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 Avay, came to storm this fort of the Waldenses, Avho receive^J them so warmly with their rauskets and stones, and defended thernselves sTi vigorously against this great body, that they kept their post all that day without the loss of raore than five men ; the enemy lost above three hundred, though they Avere covered Avith 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 info another an hundred paces beyond it, in a more convenient place, Avhere they Availed Avith great resolution the army that advanced to attack them ; when the next day, being the 24th of April, they were informed that the VaUey of St. Martin had surrendered, and that the French were coming on their rear ; for from fhat valley there is an easy passage to those of Lucerne and Angrogne. This ncAvs obliged fhe Waldenses fo treat Avith Don Gabriel of Savoy, uncle to, and general of the armies of, the Duke of Savoy, and Avith the iest of the general officers, Avho having understood the mind of his royal highness, promised positively on his part and ou their OAvn, that the Waldenses should be absolutely pardoned, and that they should be admitted fo the terms of the order of the Oth of AprU, provided they Avould deliver themselves up to his cleraency : but the Waldenses making some difficulty to confide in this promise, Don Gabriel. Avho had notice of it, sent them a note Avritten and signed Avith his oavu hand in the name of his royal highness, to this effect, " Lay doAvn your arms iramediately, 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 Avives and children shall not be touched." An assurance of tiiis 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 narae and on the part of the duke ; on fhe other hand, though it had been made only by Don Gabriel and the general officers, it ought not to be less inviolable. The Waldenses, tiierefore, laid doAvn their arras, relying on his proraise, and the greatest part of thera went and surren dered theraselves fo their eneraies believing that they should be quicldy released. But all those that yielded themselves into their hands, were raade prisoners, and carried to the city of Lucerne, under pretence of leading them to his royal highness to raake their subraissions. Their enemies also seized aU the posts that the AV aldenses possessed in the coraraunity 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 AV aldenses of CA'cry age and sex to be put to the sAvord; 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 sh-ike horror into the minds of all that have any shame or sense of humanity left. There were, nevertheless, many Waldenses, who after this comproraise dispersed theraselves up and down, not being wiUing to deliver theraselves 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 array exercised all manner of outrage Avherever it came, and, on the other, that all those that had surrendered theraselves were detained, they hid theraselves in the Avoods, 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 arraies 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 thsy should be released. In the meantirae Don Gabriel caused the highest places of the Valley of Angrogne, to be gained by part of his army, who finding no more opposition, carae as far as the tower, being the most conside rable fort of the AV aldenses, in Avhich they had the greatest part of tiieir cattle. The Marquis de Parella, who commanded this body of the army, 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 Avould deliver theraselves into his hands, their persons, and those of their -(vives and children, should be preserved harraless ; that they might carry away with thera 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 raake their submissions to his royal highness ; and that, upon this condition, those that were Avilling to turn Catholics, might return with all safety to their houses and goods, and those that would go out ofthe estates of Piedraont, should have liberty to depart conformably to the order of the Qth of April. The AV aldenses that Avere 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 Avithin 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 fhe banditti of Mondovi, their raortal 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 thera, and all hurried along so violently, that tiiose who, tiirough age or infirmity, could not raarch as fast as the soldiers would have them, had their throate cut, or were flung headlong doAvn 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 comraunity 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 Church. communities of Pramol, St. Germain, Pemstin, and Rocheplatte were retreated, to the number of fifteen hundred persons, men, woraen, and chUdren. The French might easUy make a descent from tiieir quar ters to St. Germain, and carry aAvay the Iavo hundred AV aldenses who had so vaUantiy defended themselves before, and Avere retreated within their intrenchments : but they being informed of the loss of the Valley of St. Martin, and of the eneray's march, quitted this entrenchment, fearing lest they should be surprised in it, and Avent into Peumian with their brethren. Here they Avere consulting hoAv they raight defend themselves against the French who prepared to attack them, when certain inhabitants of the valleys, Avho had revolted to the enemy, came and assured them that the Valleys of Angrogne and Lucerne had already submitted to their prince's discretion, Avho had pardoned thera, and referred them to the terras of the order of the Oth of April. They told them also, that he only wanted them to put an end- fo a war, the weight Avhereof they Avere not able to sustain alone, and to procure for themselves an advantageous peace. This neAvs having in part broke the measures of fhe AV aldenses, they sent deputies and a druraraer to treat Avith the general of the French army, Avho desired nothing more than a proposition of peace. He told them that his royal highness's intention Avas to pardon ihcra, and proraised them positively on the part of the prince and on his OAvn behalf, the lives and Uberties of the AValdenses, with a permission to return Avith all security fo their houses and goods, provided they Avould readily lay doAvn their arras: and Avhereas the deputies represented to him that they feared lest the French, being exasperated Avitli what had passed at St Germain, .should revenge themselves on the AV aldenses when they Avere dis armed; he made great protestations to them, and confirmed them with oaths, that although the Avhole array should pass by their houses, yet they should not kill so much as a chicken. This proposition being made, Catinat detained Avith him one of the deputies, and sent back the others to giAC notice to the A\' aldenses, and to oblige all thera that Avere 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 Avere informed of the peace. AVhUe the AV aldenses Avere gathering together Iheir scattered faraUies at Peumian, Catinat gave an account ofthis 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 thaf the peace Avas 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 Avere expecting the news at Peumian, Avhen there arriA'ed one of tiie king's officers from the garri son of the fort of Perouse, with several dragoons with hira. This offi cer, Avho was very avcU knoAvn lo the AA' aldenses, repeated to them the assurances of peace, and caused the men to be put in one quarter, and the women and chUdren in another. The French troops being arrived at the same tirae, told the men that they had orders to lead them to their own houses, and caused them to march four by four. These poor peo- TValdenses imprisoned. 559 pie being now forced to leave their Avives and their daughters exposed to the discretion of the soldiers, Avere conducted, not to their houses, as they had been lold, but to Don Gabriel, who Avas 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 fhat the rage and lust of brutish soldiers could invent. Not satisfied Avith plundering them of their pro perfy, these barbarians Aiolated 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 Avhen these atrocities Avere perpetrated at Peumian. He left the management of tiiis affair to certain of his of ficers, no doubt that he might be out of the Avay of hearing the com plaints which the Waldenses would haA'e made to him, and not choos ing to be a spectator of these barbarous proceedings. It is certain, hoAvever, that besides those that Avere put fo death, and others that escaped by flying to the woods and mountains, from the persecution of these monsters, nurabers were dragged to prison after a most inhuraan manner. The Valley of Perouse being noAv reduced like thc rest by the capi tulation of Peumian, a detachraent of the French army quitted it and proceeded fo join Don Gabriel at la Vachiere. And uoav, having com pleted their work, the conquered AA'aldenses were coUected from all parts of Piedmont, and lodged in different prisons or castles under pre fence of leading them to his royal highness to ask his pardon and ob tain their liberation. But this furnished their unfeeling adversaries Avith a fresh opportunity of displaying their inhumanity. The utmost pre caution was taken to separate the different branches ofthe same family ! The husband Avas carefully parted from his wife, and the parent from his child — thus depriving them of those means of succour and consola tion which the fies 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 Avithstand temptation, or endure the evUs they had in store for them. Those that could ill bear the Avretchedness of a close confinement, were to be consumed Avith fhe corroding anxiety and regret which must result from being separated from their dearest earthly connections. There were, indeed, a great number of children, whom they didnot send to prison, but dispersed them throughout Pied mont in private houses : but this Avas a piece of Jesuitical craftiness, for Ihey 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 enorraitythe 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 nOAv 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 Avriter of these pages has yet been able to bring himself to adopt. He can, indeed, adrait rauch that militates against the dignity of human nature in its lapsed state, but he can only account for the monstrous cruelties that Avere 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 midtitude of the Waldenses, coraraitted raore fhan lAvelve thousand of them to prison, and dispersed two thousand of their children among the Catholics ; concluding that their work Avas accoraplished, they caused all their properfy to be confiscated. And thus Avere the Valleys of Piedmont depopulated of their ancient inhabitants, and the light of tiie 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 SavIss Cantons convened a general assembly at Aran, to deliberate on the condition of those who Avere either imprisoned or in a state of exile in Piedraont ; and they came to the resolution of sending deputies to deraand frora the duke the release of all that were confined, and the privUege of quitting the coun try. The latter, probably by this tirae glutted Avith huraan carnage, signed a treaty, in consequence of Avhich the prisons were set open, and leave given to such as had survived, fo depart peaceably, through that part of Savoy which borders upon Berne and the territory of Ge neva. But a bare recital of the raiseries Avhich the prisoners had suf fered duiing their confinement, is sufficient to sicken the heart. More than ten thousand persons were distributed among fourteen prisons or casties 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, Avas so bad as scarcely to deserve the name ; Avhile the latter, in many instances brought from stagnant pools, Avas scarcely fit for the use of cattie. Their lodging was upon bricks or filthy straAV. The prisons were so thronged that, during the heat of the sumraer me, from which the materials of this section are drawn. The first is entitled, " The History ofthe Persecution ofthe Valleys of Piedmont, containing an account of what passed in the dispersion ofthe churches, in the year 1686." Printed in 4to. London, 1688. (See pp. 31—35.) The other is entitied, " The State of Savoy, in which a full and distinct account is given ofthe Persecution 'of ihe Protestants, by means of the French counsels." 4to. London, 1691. To tiiis last mentioned work I am indebted for tiie valuable documents which the reader will find in tiie 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 TValdenses at Geneva. 561 raonths, they became intolerable, and deaths Avere daily taking place. AA'ant of cleanliness necessarily engendered diseases araong them — they became annoyed with vermin, Avhich prevented their sleep either by night or day. Many Avomen 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 Savov's proclamation was issued for releasing thera. It was now the raonth of October ; the ground was covered with snoAV and ice ; the A-ictims of cruelty Avere almost universally emaciated through poverty and disease, and very unfit for the projected journey. The proclamation Avas made at the castle of Mondovi, for exaraple: 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 Avho conducted them to a terrible tempest upon the top of the monntain, 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 Avas, that eighty-six of their nuraber died, and were buried in thaf horrible terapest of suoav. Some raerchants thaf 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 few in stances, the officers who conducted the different troops of AV aldenses out of the couutry, treated them Avifh raore humanity. Their own histo rians adrait the fact, and it ought to be recorded, that some took a par ticular care of them : and certainly the picture that is draAvn of their deplorable condition, is such as Avas well calculated to melt the most unfeeling heart to tenderness. The greater part of them Avere almost naked and without shoes ; and they all bore such striking marks of suf fering and wretchedness thaf the very sight of them Avas enough to pierce the heart. Those Avho survived the journey, arrived at Geneva about the middle of December, but in such an exhausted state, that se veral expired belAveen the two gates of the city, " finding the end of their lives in the beginning of their liberty." Others Avere so be numbed with cold that they had not poAver to speak; many staggered fi-om faintness and disease, Avhile others having lost the use of their limbs were unable to lift up their hands to receive the assistance that Avas tendered them. At Geneva they experienced that kind and hospitable reception which was due to them as their fellow-creatures, and more especiaUy as their persecuted Christian brethren. They clothed the naked, fed die hun gry, succoured the afflicted, and healed the sick. But what pen can de scribe the affecting scene Avhich noAv 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 Piedraont. The father inquired after his child, and the child after ifs parent— the husband sought his wife, and the latter her partner in Ufe. Every one endeavoured to gain sorae inteUigence 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 fhey received. Their principal earthly comfort now arose from the hospitable kindness of the people of Geneva, who flocked around tiiem and evinced such soUcitude to conduct them to their oAvn homes, that the magistrates of the city were obliged, in order to prevent confusion and disorder, to issue an in- j unction, prohibiting any from going out of the city. 'There was a noble emulation who should entertain the most sick, or those that Avere most afflicted. They received thera not merely as strangers in distress, but as Christian brethren, who brought peace and spiritual blessings into their famUies. All that needed clothing, Avere either supplied by those that lodged them, or by the Italian Bank, the directors of Avliich, from first to last, evinced all the marks of tender compassion, and of disin terested kindness. But it Avas not only at Geneva that the AV aldenses met Avith this kind and hospitable treatment. The Cantons of Switzeriand opened to thera 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 Avould be unjust to their raeraory to pass it over wilh a slight raention.* Perhaps the best way of evincing my oavu irapartiality will be to lay before the reader the testimony of Dr. Burnet, Avho in his Letters from * It would seem that the Valleys of Piedmont were not the only spot in which the disciples of Christ Avere, 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 hundied 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 SaUzburg — a remnant of the old Waldenses. They worshipped neither images nor saints; and they believed the sacrament (of the Lord's sup per) was onlya commemoration of the death of Christ; and in many other points they bad their opinions different from those of the church of Rome. They knew nothing of either Lutherans or Calvinists ,• and the Grisons, though their neigh bours, had never heard of this nearness of theirs to the Protestant religion. Tlie archbishop of Saltzburg bearing 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 tbey 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 tbe 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 tbem, they desired only a little bread to can-y them on their way." Burnet's Letters, p. 87 — 89. Amst. 1686. Kindness of the Swiss Cantons. 563 Italy, written, as it were, at the very moraent, and frora the very scene of action, thus proceeds : — " There is one thing for which the Swiss, and those of the Canton ofBerne in particular, cannot be sufficiently coraraended. Ever since the persecution coramenced in France (alluding to the revocation ofthe edict of Nantz) they have opened a sanctuary to such as retired thither in so generous and Christian a manner, fhat it merits all the honourable remembrance that can be made of it. The ministers and others that had been conderaned, 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 rainisters 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 teri crowns a month. — And in this last total and deplorable dispersion of tlie 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 soraetiraes there have been more than Iavo thousand in Lausanne alone, and of these there Avere, 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 Avhich Ave live."* Here, however, I think I raay 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 frora Piedmont, our country man. Dr. Burnet, who was then raaking the tour of the Continent, has the foUowing reraarks, in a letter, which he dates frora "Turin, to a friend in this country : "I wiU not engage," says he, " in a relation ofthis last affair of the Valleys of Piedmont ; for I could not find particulars enough to give you that so distinctiy as you might probably desire it. It Avas all oA'cr long before I came to Turin ; but this I found, that all the court were ashamed ofthe matter; and they took pains with strangers, not with out sorae affectation, to convince them that the duke Avas, Avith great difficulty, forced into it — that he was long pressed to it, by repeated entreaties, frora 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 raen Avhich 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 ite own faith which hadbeen pledged to heretics, and therein manifested how true a respect it paid to the councU of Con- • Dr. Burnet's Letters from Italy, Letter I. p. 57. and 58. 561 History ofthe Christian Church. stance, uoav Avished to engage other princes to folloAV this new pattem of fidelity which it had set the Avorld. So the duke was not only pressed to extirpate the heretics of those Valleys, but he Avas also threatened that if he Avould not do it, the king Avould send his OAvn troops to extir pate heresy, for he Avould 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 Avas, 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 oavu country, as those that are hinted at in tbe conclusion of fhe foregoing paragraph, Britons have reason to be thankful to God, Avhose overrul ing providence frustrated sueh sanguinary projects: — and had fhe race of the Stuarte continued to fill the British throne, it is raore fhan pro bable that the horrible scenes of Piedmont had, indeed, beenfeacted among our forefathers in this happy land. But the glorious revolutioft which gave us a protestant monarch, took place in 1688, the very year after Dr. Burnet Avrote his Supplementary Letters, from Avhich the fore going extract is taken ; and happily saA-ed us frora all danger of the tyrant's rage. And here, Avith a fcAV reflections, I close the history of the AValdenses. Enough I presume, and more fhan enough, has appeared in the pre ceding pages fo satisfy any unprejudiced reader, that the extermination of the churches ofthe Waldenses in Piedraont was the act ofthe King of France; or, if the shadow ofa doubt should exist upon that subject, it raust for ever be removed by a careful perusal ofthe Duke of Savoy's letter to the Duke of Orleans, Avliich 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 despotisra of Louis XIV. tOAvards the Duke of Savoy, that the indignation which at first sight one is tempted to indulge against the latter, is converted into pity and cora passion for hira ; and horrible as Avere the transactions committed under his reign, every liberal mind Avill 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 arras ; let them be connected in idea Avith the cruel ties inflicted upon the Protestants in France, in consequence of the re vocation of the edict of Nantz, Avhich took place only a fcAV years be fore; and if he believe "there is a God who judgeth in the earth" he will find littie difficulty in tracing the hand of distributive justice in the series of calamities Avhich 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. j- See Appendix. No. 16. Concluding Remarks. 565 But what shaU we say of the court of Rome, the great moving spring in aU this machinery of compUcated viUany : that "holy mother church," which kept the conscience of Louis XIV. and of the other crowned heads, wbo, from time to tirae, obsequiously lent their aid to raassacre the Waldenses ? I trust I raay be permitted, without arrogance, on this occasion, to adopt the language of an unknoAvn Avriter, 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 Rorae. 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 huraanity, to the same extent. Never did the world behold such blaspheray, profligacy, and wantonness, as in the proceedings of this spiritual domination. It held the huraan mind in chains, visited with exeraplary punishment every inroad on the domains of ignorance, and sunk nations into a state of stupidity and irabecility. Its proscriptions, massacres, and murders, and all the various forms Avhich its cruelties assumed ; the miseries which it heaped on the objects of its vengeance ; its mercUess treat ment of them, and the grasp of ite iron SAvay, seeraed at one tirae to leave no roora to hope for the liberation ofthe huraan race; and surely nothing can appear raore hideous than this power in ifs true colours : it leaves the raind fuU of horror, at ite cruelties."* In aU this I have the happiness lo agree ; and though I have rarely ventured to express myself in terms so forcible as this wrltej- hn.ii done, 1 have no hftsita- tion of saying in the words of an apostie — " This witness is true." But 1 desist : and now take leave of the subject Avith presenting to the reader one extract more from the learned Dr. Allix. " Neyer," says this exceUent writer, " did the church of Rorae give a more incontestible evidence of her oAvn antichristian spirit, than by her insatiable thirst after the blood of those Christians, Avho, six hun dred years ago, renounced her communion : and to aUay which she has made the blood of these poor innocent creatures every Avhere to mn down Uke rivers ; exterminating by fire and SAvord, those Avho were not terrified by her anathemas. During this long interval the AValdenses have ever been in the condition of sheep led to the slaugh ter, by their continual and uninterrupted martyrdoms maintaining and adorning the religion of Christ our Saviour, which the church of Rome having forsaken, now sought to accoraraodate to her corrupt and world ly intereste ; and to the design she had forraed of making it a stalking horse to the pomp, lordliness, and tyranny of her pope and clergy. " AVhatever reflections the members of the church of Rorae may in dulge relative to the circumstance of God's having apparentiy 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, wiU not be stum bled af this apparent desertion of the AValdenses, and their being aban doned to the outrageous cruelty of their persecutors, nor regard the os- • MoNTHLT Review, Jcke, 1814. p. 204. 48 566 History of the Christian Church. tensible triumphs of that apostate church as any indication of the Aveak 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 lime, 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 AValdenses, and hunt for them in the caverns of the Alps. His declaraation shall never make us forego one jot of that tender veneration and respect Avhich 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 fhe raachinations, and all the violence of the Roman Catholic party. The judgment that St. Hilarius expresses in his Avritings against Auxentius, ought to be sufficient fo arm us against all the cavils of those Avho Avould insinuate that it is impossible the church should lose ifs purity, or that this purity should be preserA'ed by churches reduced to caverns and mountains." — " Of one thing I raust carefully warn you," says he, "beware of antichrist! It is ill done of you to fall in love with Avails. It is ill done of you to reverence the chureh 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 wiU fix his throne? 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, COUTAISISS 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 sorae inanner, the ulcers that are not yet in a condition to be healed, and that might be raade worse by a precipitate cure. This conduct-has been observed as Avell in other raonarchies, as by our most serene predecessors, Avho in tmth had never any other design, than to rescue their subjects professing the pretended Reformed Religion, out ofthe darkness of heresy, Avhich by an unhappy vicissitude, and a fatal corruption of these times, had passed from the very centre of the Val leys of Lucerne, into tiie very heart of Piedmont. Nevertheless, by reason of the succours which the zealote 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 Pamstin ; and by Avay 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 Alraighty to give us a favourable opportunity of bringing back those misled souls into the bosom of the holy and only catholiiT, apostolic, and Romish religion. Yet time has discovered hoAv muifch it was necessary to cut off the numerous heads of this hydra, since tihe said heretics, instead of answering this favour with a deep subraission, and with a sincere acknowledgraent 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 ; Ave think the particular graces we have received from his divine majesty, and Avhich 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 councU, 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 frora all the exercise of the said religion. And Ave 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 Avhat the precedent articles contain ; and fhis is to be executed, though the owners of such places are ignorant thereof. And Ave command accordingly all ecclesiastics, ministers, and schoolmasters, of the said pretended Reforraed ReUgion, who in one fortnight after the publishing this present edict, do not effectually erabrace 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 sarae punishraent, nol to raake, within the said tirae, or before their departure, any serraon, exhortation, or any other act of the said religion. And furthermore, Ave 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 frora this very tirae their chUdren shall be instructed by Catholic schoolmasters. And con cerning the ministers who within the said tirae shall erabrace fhe Ca tholic Religion, our wUl and pleasure is, that during their lives, and after they are dead, their widoAvs as long as they shall live unmarried, shall enjoy the said exemptions and iraraunities Avhich they enjoyed heretofore, during the exercise of their charge. And our avUI is over and above, that to the said ecclesiastics who shall be made converte 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 widoAvs 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 fhat are already, or that shall be established for the future in the said valleys : to this purpose, we coraraand their fathers Proofs and Illustrations. 569 and mothers to send or bring thera to the churches, under pain of being sent five years to the galleys for their fathers, and whipping for their mothers ; and raoreover the said children shall be brought up in the said Catholic, Apostolic, and Roraan Religion. And we command ex pressly all judges, bailiflFs, gaolers, and other officers, to see these presents duly executed. And we do confirm also the edict Ave have pubhshed the 4th of Noveraber past, concerning the subjects of His Most Christian Majesty that make profession of the pretended Reform ed ReUgion, and that are to be found in our territories, and that have left their raerchandises, raoney, or other effecte behind them ; and con cerning the other foreigners of the said religion, Avho, to the prejudice of some of our predecessors' edicts, have established themselves inthe valleys, Avithout their consent in writing, compreliending therein their offspring that are bom there : we comraand, that in case, within one fortnight after the publishing this present edict, they do not declare to be willing to erabrace 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 Avhich the said foreign ers have acquired in our territories, ought to be confiscated for our royal treasury ; nevertheless Ave are AvilUng in this case to show our accustomed clemency, and to give them leave to sell their said goods (ifthey 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 Avhora it concerns, to see this present edict in violably observed ; and so to order the same, that the council of Pied mont raay enrol it, and give their full approbation of Avhat is contained therein. Moreover, our will is," that the publishing raade hereof in the accustoraed places, and in the ordinary raanner, shall have the sarae 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 ray 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 ministera 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 : Ave 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 Avhich they did profess before they Avere under the dominion of your royal highness's ancestors, who, having found them in the possession of their religion, have maintained thera therein by several declarations, and principally by those of the year 1561, 1602, and 1603, Avhich having been enroUed by the Parlia ment of Chambery, in the year 1620, for the sum of six thousand French ducats, Avhich these churches paid them, as the very act of enroUing mentions ; their right passed into a form of transaction, and into a perpetual and irrevocable laAV, Avhich has been observed during the life of his royal highness, Victor Amadeus, and during the regency of Madam Royal, Avho confirraed thera by her declaration in the year 1638. These churches have, in following tiraes, 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 ofa right so Avell established by a possession immemorial, and by so many declarations, the Sieur Gastaldo did ncA'crtheless, in the month of February, 1655, publish a declaration, thaf 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 Avith his royal highness, Charles Eraanuel, they obtained a confirraation of their privileges and of their concessions, by two solemn, perpetual, and inviolable patents, of the year 1655 and 1664, enrolled in a good forra, and confirmed by the letters he did Avrite to our sovereign lords, the 28th of February, 1664, by Avhich he promised them to see these patents faithfully executed; to Avhich the royal madam, your royal highness's mother did engage herself also, by her letters dated Jan uary the 28th, 1679. Tiierefore, because your royal highness's ancestors had several times soleranly engaged their royal Avord, princi pally in those patents that were granted in the presence of the ambas sadors our sovereigns had sent for that purpose, it Avould 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 raonuraents of the public faith ; but also, because the words and proraises of sovereigns ought to be sacred and inviolable. If engagements of this nature raight be annulled under pretence of a necessity, to Avhich the juncture of affairs raight reduce a prince, or of sorae convenience and advantage to the state, then there Avould be nothing secure in the Avorld, and nothing would be seen there, but Avar and confusion. This maxim being once estab lished amongst sovereigns, the Protestant princes might as laAvfuUy destroy the Catholics that are under their dominions, as the CathoUcs would have a right to extirpate their Protestant subjects. Therefore it is evident, that Avhether 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, Ave shall find that the words of princes ought always to be inviolable. It is for this reason fhat we are persuaded, that no necessity of the present juncture, nor any interest will oblige so just, so gracious, and so Avise a prince, as your royal highness, to folloAV a new engageraent, that does not only destroy all your predecessors have done in the eyes of the Avhole universe, but that exposes also your own state and subjects to the flames, butchery, calamities, devastation, aud the most cruel and inhuman rage and ty ranny. It is agreed, that it is natural for a pious prince to Avish there Avas 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 hgion 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 exhortetion, 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 OA'er their consciences, Avhich are subject alone to God ; insomuch that Ave 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 lestore 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 sarae tirae they pay your royal highness that respect aud homage which they owe you, as your faithful subjects. My lords, fhe rainisters of state, hav.e told us also, that the inhabi tants of the valleys had rendered theraselves 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 thera that had committed a fault, (Avhich we are yet ignorant of,) we ought not to be surprised, if some miserable wretches, that are brought to despair, should do some impmdent actions. Besides all this Ave 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 raay have been coraraitted 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, consequentiy, 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, 573 .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 conceming 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 thera, your royal highness has published an edict that forbids thera the exercise of their religion in all the valleys, under pain of death ; that coraraands the demolishing all the churches, that banishes the ministers and school masters, that comraands that the children should be baptized, and brought up in the Roraish religion, and that deprives by these raeans those people of their liberty of conscience : our sovereign lords, that are united fo 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 v/ill 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, betAveen the churches of the val leys and the court of Savoy, and tend to throw considerable light upon the unhappy and distracted slate of affairs at this eventful period. No. 3. From the Swiss Commissioners to the TValdenses. 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 comraonalties ; and where as, since our arrival at Turin, Ave have been informed there of several tilings that confirra us that our apprehension for you is just ; that our advice is good and profitable ; avc hope that you Avill 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 avUI find all the necessary supports of Ufe 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 from 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 lion in writing, for fear, if you should protract it, our services Avould be no more respected at court, and that you would render them unsuc cessful to procure you a free and advantegeous 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 TValdenses to the Swiss Commissioners. Mv 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 hira 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 Avere 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 alraost insurraountable difficulties, which we have raade bold to set down in the enclosed memorial, which we humbly desire your excellencies to take into your Avise 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 raoderation of it, you would have the kindness to foUow those other expediente which you will judge most proper for fhe conservation of those that rely altogether upon your con duct, after having surveyed the difficulties which the said memorial mentions. This is, ray lords, the general sentiment of those churches, who will never desist to pray the ]5ivine 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 Alberan. Angrogne, March 28, 1686. 574 Appendix. No. 5. From the Swiss Commissioners to the TValdenses. 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, Avith power fo regulate the manner of youi retreat : whereof his royal highness has given us to understand by one of his ministers, that being your soA'creign, he could not, without making a breach info 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 Avhich you owe him ; and to ask by a petition, Avhat favour you desire should be granted to you : and that "afterAvards he Avill 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 aAvay all pre tences his royal highness could take hold on, to make such delibera tions that might be fatal to you, Ave think you Avill do well to send your deputies hither as soon as is possible, promising that Ave Avill as sist them with our counsels in the delivering their petition. Our se cretary is to deliver you this letter, Avith the enclosed passports, which will acquaint you raore at length Avitli the particulars of our negotia tions, and Avith the disposition of the court in your regard, &c. No. 6. From the TT'aldenses to thc Commissioners. Most High, Mighty, and Sovereign Lords, In consequence of the letter your excellencies have been pleased to write to these vaUeys some few days ago, our churches of St. Jean, Angrogne, and Boby, throAV themsehes at your feet, to assure you of their hurable respect, and of their due acknoAvledgnients of the favours your excellencies have endeavoured to obtain for them, from his royal highness, our sovereign, conceming the continuation of the exercise of our religion in these places. And couceruing the proposals that are now on foot, having been incapable of persuading our people fo corae to the same sentiraents which the other churches have, in order to com ply with your excellencies' demands, Ave have charged our deputy, Mr. Daniel Blanchis, Syndicus of fhe commonalty of St. Jean, to acquaint you by word of mouth, of our true sentiments. And avc humbly be seech you, that you Avould be pleased to continue the effects of your inexpressible and paternal kindness, and principally in regard to your powerful intercession Avith his royal highness, about the above-men tioned subject ; beseeching the Lord to bless your negotiation, and to be your abundant rewarder for aU the cares, pains, and troubles your excellencies have the goodness to take for our poor flocks, in the name Proofs and Illustrations. 575 of whioh we raake it ahvays our glory to carry Avith all respect and submission imaginable, the title of your, excellencies' most hurable, most obedient, and much obliged servants, the deputies of the foUow ing churches, Michel Purise, ? ^j. ^j^^ ^/^^^^^ ^j. ^^_ y^^„_ Jean Muston, ^ •' •' Jean Putta, for Angrogne. Marque de Damel, ~j Negrin N. Syndicus, \q. ^j^^ f.j^^^^,^ . ^^^ Fr.anc. Dane, Counsellor, \ •' j j Stephen Pertin, Deputy, J Angrogne, April, 4, 1686. Monsieur de la Bastie, minister at Angrogne, touched by the divi sions of these poor churches, Avrote to the Commissioners in the fol- loAving terms : 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 subraission to his royal highness, and to present liim such a petition as your excel lencies Avill 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 Avill defeat your exceUen- lencies' charitable negotiation with his royal highness in our behalf, and render your cares and troubles unsuccessfiil. "We have employed OOT Utmost endeavours to make thera 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 Ave Avere not satisfied of your excellencies' incomparable kindness, we should have reason to fear that this indiscreet conduct Avould much change your goodness and zeal for our interest. We most humbly beseech your excellencies to raake 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 respecte, and to assure you, that I am wilh all the respect aud submission imaginable My Lords, Your Excellencies' most humble, most obedient, and most obliged Servant, SiDRAc Bastie, Ministsr. Angrogne, 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 57 6 Appendix. honour upon their memories, and shows them to have been' raen 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 charras, and that raost raen 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 npon earth, and heaven is their true native country ; therefore you will be guUty of raistmsting 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 avc 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, fo go and inhabit some reraote 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 Ave 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 laAvful prince, a free retreat, with permission to dispose of your goods, in case he would no longer grant you the exorcise 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 Avould be very hard to xibfain it from his Royal Highness, and that in case he did grant it upon their request, you ought not only to accept it with subraission, but to show your great acknowledgraent of it; you cannot, therefore, doubt that we have been surprised fo 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 raake 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 Ave 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 farailies. 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 Afilhout hinderance. If you properly reflect upon all these things, we hope that the example of those that are of a better opinion, wiU touch and persuade you to follow the same conduct; but if you refuse to imi tate if, and if you persist in your obstinacy, you will be guilty before God, not only of having throAvn away your lives, which you raight 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 sorae succours that sorae persons have proraised you; fof Ave do assure you, that those that enter tain you Avith 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 inhabitante of your coun try ; and that therefore you Avill 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 resolved to desire of their prince a permission to retreat out of his territories, being persuaded that the Divine providence wiU conduct you to some places where you will perhaps find more ad vantageous establishmente than those you leave behind you ; and where those that are poor Avill 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 AviU give to your Deputy such a procuration as those of the other comraonalties 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 evU. This latter ought to faU from our avenging hands npon our subjects ofthe valleys of Lucerne, who make profession ofthe 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 stiU been wiUing to leave to their wiU, (which has ever followed bad counsels) the choice ofa 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 OAvn rashness their deserved punishments, which we shaU inflict upon thera without delay. Therefore, confirming in the first place our order ofthe 31st of Jan uary last, as far as it shall not be found contrary fo this, Ave have by virtue ofthis present edict, with our certain knowledge, fuU power, and absolute authority, and with advice of our privy council, coraraanded aU our subjects of the vaUeys of Luceme, making profession of the pre tended Reformed Religion, to lay down their arras, and to retire into their houses within the terra hereafter prescribed. We command them also to form no more any associations, nor lo 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 erabraced the Catholic religion, may return to their houses which they have abandoned. And Avhereas it is not reasonable that the religious raissionaries, the Catholics, and those which have embraced the Catholic Religion, should be at any loss by occasion of several damages Avhich they have received from those ofthe pretended Reformed Religion, Ave desire, comraand, and ordain, that all the necessary suras to inderanify them be generaUy 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 fo show our said subjects how great our cleraency is towards them, Ave 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-wUl has showed itself but too rauch by their past conduct, and that seA'eral could hide their evil designs under a false pretence of obedience, we reserve to ourselves, besides those Avho shall retreat out of our territories upon their own motion, to ordain it also to such as we shall think fit, and as Ave shall find it most expedient to secure the peace of those that shall stay behind, vihence Ave do intend to prescribe the mles Avhich they shall observe for the future. And as an augmentation of our favours, we grant leave as Avell to those that shall voluntarily retreat, as to those who retreat by our orders, to take along with thera 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 sarae 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 seUing of goods shall be made to Catholics, or to persons Proofs and Illustrations. 579 ^^hat have embraced the Catholic Religion ; but because there may per haps not be found buyers Avithin the term herebefore prescribed, and that we are not willing that the zealots ofthat 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 haA'e leave to stay during three months in Luceme, with full liberty to treat and negotiate with whom they think fit to sell the goods of those Avho shall have retreated, and who shall have leave to prescribe in their procurations the conditions of their selUng 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 wiUing to retreat, shall be obliged to raeet at the day and place hereafter specified, to be ready to depart without fire-arms by the way tbat shall be named thera, 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 nuraber they raay be exposed to some incon veniences upon the way, and in the places through which they are to go overcharged, they shaU divide themselves into three bodies as is herein before mentioned. The first shall be composed of those of the TaUeys 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 Pemstin, shall meet at St. Second, and shall depart the day foUoAving, viz. the lAvenfy-second of this month ; the third and lasl 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 terra Avherein our said subjects of the pretended Reformed Reli gion, that inhabit the valleys of Lucerne, shall be obliged to lay doAvn their arras, 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 fraits of our clemency, but which as well as our fatherly affec tion towardsour said subjects, we leave to its nature and course, not Avithstanding 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 aranesty to our said subjects of all their excesses, raisderaeanours, crimes, and other things which they map have committed since the publication of our order of the thirty-first of January last, as Avell 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 Avould be too pernicious an example to delay any longer their deserved punishments, after having been prodigal to them of our favours, and after having w-aited so long time for their repentance, we intend to 580 Appendix. make use of those raeans 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 af Turin, the 9th of April, 1686. EnroUed the 10th. No. 10 and 11. Letters from the Deputies of the churches of Boby, St. John, and Angrogne, to the Swiss Ambassadors. My liORDs, We did not fail iramediately after the arrival of our deputy, to raake some copies of the letter which your excellencies have been pleased to write to our churches, and they have been read every Avhere after serraon. There can nothing be said that is either raore tme, or raore moving and comforting: and your excellencies may be fuUy persuaded, that there is nobody but that finds, and does acknowledge, that it is the effect of your holy and christian charity tOAvards our churches ; yet notwithstand ing it has been tUl now absolutely irapossible fo dispose our people to a retreat out ofthis country ; sorae out of fear it might cause the loss of several persons that sh;jl venture to stay behind ; others by a prin ciple of conscience ; and others from several other considerations, which our deputy Avill 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 thera, 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 exceUencies should be farther engaged for this people, you would be extreraely 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 ofthe minds of our people about this proposition, foreseeing at the sarae tirae that it would be very hard to persuade them to it : they were for the most part resolved fo 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 extreraely afflicts your excellencies ; and we are touched with it fo our very souls : but it is not in our power to change their hearts, and to dispose of other raen's Avills ; nevertheless we conjure your excellencies, in all possible huraility, that you Avould be pleased not to abate your kindness to these churches, neither to deprive us of your poAverful and comfort able support, which, under God, has made us subsist till noAv. For God's sake do always pity us ; what way soever our affairs shall go, we lay our souls before God, to supplicate him Avith 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 stiU get the prolongation of sorae days, that Ave 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 raay not be blamed, either of one side or another. The Lord be the abundant rewarder of your exceUencies' kindness, and Ave are, Avith aU manner of respect. My Lords, Your excellencies' most humble, most obedient, and most obUged servants, , The Deputies of Boby, St. John, and Angrogne. John Aghitto, ") Daniel Graffe, \ Deputies of Boby. EsTiENNOR Danno, J Michael Parisa, > j) n^^of St. John. John Muschon, 3 John Duffa, "j Piezze Duffa, ^Deputies of Angrogne, Leavis 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 Avith 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 Avith holy joy, as a present from heaven, and a favour which they have sigh ed for at other times. This makes our hearte bleed, and so much the more, that your Excellencies' letter, which you have been pleased to write to them, ought to have iraraediately disposed them to an affair of this nature ; yet we dare still raost humbly beseech your Excellencies to have the goodness to exercise love on all these considerations, as knowing very well that we have to do \vith 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 theraselves entirely to your Excellencies' counsel, charity, and prudence, and that will never oppose what you shall find raost 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 shaU be pleased to give us. And we raost humbly be seech you to pity us and our families, to extricate us out of an unhappy state which to aU appearance is unavoidable ; this is the favour we hope from your ExceUencies, 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, SiDRAC Bastie, Guillaume Mallanot. Angrogne, April 9, 1686. I. We have been informed for certain, by a credible person, thaf his Royal Highness Avill not grant us a retreat Avith our goods, but that he pretends to detain thera 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 thom up to the governor. IV. "That the troops are to enter into the valleys to deraolish the churches, and to obstruct all divine exercises. V. In fine, we have been inforraed, that the councU would by no means suffer that the French troops should raarch against us. No. 12. Memorial of the Swiss Ambassadors to the Duke of Savoy. Your Royal Highness is hurably requested to consider, that he that will retreat out of the valleys by virtue of your published Order, is obliged to prepare hiraself for his departure, for the transportation of his Avife, his children, and his goods which will be necessary to hira; that he will be obliged to dispose in several places what he cannot carry along with hira ; that he must provide for the sale of his com, of his provisions, of his wine, of his cattie, which he Avould not be forced to le^ve 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 Avithin 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 sorae accounts that cannot be regulated but by arbitration ; that in consideration of goods iraraovable, there is to be made an exact description of the vineyards, meadows, fields, and woods, whose boundaries and limits are to be raarked out and described, as also of the rights thereunto belonging, and the suras for which they are mortgaged, and that there ought to be granted sorae particular procura tions to that purpose. Therefore your Royal Highness having been .pleased by an instinct of your justice and cleraency, to grant to your subjects of the valleys leave to retreat Avherever they please, and to sell their goods which they shall leave behind thera, you Avould not wish that his favour should be unprofitable to thera, by obstructing the fa vour of this concession by the shortness of time, to take away from them with one hand Avhat you had given thera with the other. Your Boyal 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 thaf shall be willing to retreat ; that this comraission cannot be given but to people of the country, and consequentiy to persons Avithout learn ing and Avithout capacity, and taken up with their own affairs ; that besides, these tmstees wiU be obliged to run to several places to find out buyers, to let them have a view of the property Avhich they are to buy, that settlemente must be made in several places before several no taries, that they are to watoh at the selling ofa great number of move ables that are dispersed in several houses, to count money, to change it, and to send it to thera into foreign countries, to find out some conve niences for that purpose, to Avrite to tbeir correspondents for the clear ing of several doubte that may be raised, to reraove 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 subjecte, norto augment your revenues by their losses, you wiU be pleased to grant them leave to nominate twelve persons, that within the time prescribed by your Royal Highness, shaU proceed to the sale of the goods of those that shaU have retreated. But because it will undoubtedly happen, that within the term of three months, with what diligence soever the trus tees raay proceed to the sale oi the goods of the poor refugees, there wiU be found few chapmen, and that every body will expect at the end ofthe term to take advantage ofthe necessity to which the trustees wiU 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 aU, Ave hope your Royal Highness will have the goodness to prevent this inconve nience, and according to the agreemente raade in the year 1663, with his late Royal Highness of glorious memory, you will buy at a reason able price the movable and iraraovable 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 wiUing, without doubt, to obUge any body to impossibiUties, 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 traveUing, you will make no difficulty to dispense in their favour with the laAv 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 spoUed 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 tiiat 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 hira, that he would be pleased to grant you a retreat out of his territories upon raore gracious conditions than those that are expressed by the last edict ; and we have repre sented to hira as Avell by word of mouth as by our memorial, all tiie reasons that might be capable of raoving and to prevail Avith hira to rai- 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 Avomen ncAvly brought to bed, or that were big with child, might stay behind in the country without being exposed to any ill usage ; and Avithout being obliged to quarter soldiers ; and, in fine, to give orders that his procurators raight seU the goods that should not be vended within the tirae prescribed by his edict. But we have not been able to obtain the least thing from his Royal Highness, because he has been inforraed that you are up in arms to obstruct the execution of his orders. We have also endeavoured to persuade the Marquis of St. Thoraas 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 ne has given us to understand, that as long as you shall keep in arras, there are no hopes for you. His Royal Highness departs this day for Precairas, and Ave 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, Avithout taking notice of sorae A\'ise men's Counsels, you resign the event of your affairs to God's providence, we beseech him that he Avould 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, S/-c. No. 14. Letterfrom several ofthe Pastors of Churches in Piedmont, addressed to the Cantons of Switzerland. Most High, Mighty, and Sovereign Lords, Our churches have for a long tirae experienced, and principally in these unhappy troubles that have happened to them, the incoraparable charity and fatherly affection of your exceUencies 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 avc have been inforraed of, by the letter which you have been pleased to direct to us. We are not able enough to acknow- Proofs and Rlustrations. 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 faded 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 raany favours we have received from their holy and Christian charity. We are very sensible, and confess it, though with great con- fiision, 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 raost humbly beseech you to em ploy their charrty 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 arras, 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 throAV the eyes of your clemency and tenderness upon so many poor farailies, 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 aU 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 exceUencies' 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 uoav 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 beUeve that aU the ministers do 586 Appendix. design to live and to die amongst thera, because your excellencies do not disapprove it : and, indeed, it would neither be honest nor excusa ble to abandon thera in such a juncture of lime ; 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 raost hurable thanks for the trou ble and indefatigable care you have taken for our Avelfare and subsist ence ; and we conjure you by the corapassion of God, -and by the cha rity of Jesus Christ, not to forget us, but Avhether 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 tiiat he would be pleased to rcAvard the pains and charity of your excellencies towards these churches, Avith 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' raost hurable and obedient servants. The ministers of the evangelical churches of the val leys of Lucerne, Angrogne, Perouse, St. Martin, ^c. 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. Araongst the many and great troubles, under which I ara at present, seeing none but you capable of giving sorae ease to my afflicted spi rits, I hope you Avill give me leave to do what unfortunate men have only left to do ; that is to say, to justify their conduct, and to demon- strafe their reasons to those that are not yet so far frora all equity, as to refuse to pity them. What have I ever done else to the king, than to serve hira in the raost substantial things he desired of rae ? Have I not sacrificed to his satisfaction the valleys of Lucerne, to my own prejudice, and against all the principles of true politics '? Did I not consent to give hira three of my regiments, at the same instant his ara bassador made the first raention 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 powers,* of the emperor, of the king of Spain, and of aU the confederate princes 1 Wherein have I ever displeased the king? His arabassadors have soraetimes made their coraplaints about some litde 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 tile AValdenses 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 gentieman of Nice raises, withouf 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 tliere 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 rayself to send him to prison, only to prevent the iU exaraple he h-ad given by his behaviour ; and yet, after aU, 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 oavu subjects, in my very presence, instead of Avhich they should have taken notice of my mo deration. I have given the king three regiraents, partly composed out of the principal nobility of this country ; there is a considerable number of gentleraen and olhers of ray subjects in those troops ; I am wiUing, for my greater recoraraendation, to give the king, with my own hands, such as he raay desire to have above the said nuraber : but I do not in tend fo give ray subjecte full license to act against the law, and to de viate from that loyalty they naturally OAve 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 Avords; 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 agreeraent raade about the restoring of the deserters ofthe garrison of Pignerol, Perouse, and C assai, and of those of my froops. 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 raake a great noise, as if the agreeraent was not observed on ray 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 araongst some recruits which were made for other regiraents ; or that they were to be exchanged with those troops of his raajesty that were out ofthe place; or they refused them sometiraes downright, pretending that there was an aranesty of the king in favour of the deserters ; as if an aranesty of the king, that only regards those thaf desert in his oavu 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 atCassal, that theyAvould 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. Sorae 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 Avith them a serjeant tiiat had deserted out of a regiment belong ing to the said valleys : the officers of the said regiment seized him as soon as they saw him : I was told of it in a letter: I gave them, accord ing to my custom in such matiers, 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 hiraself confess that he had deserted ; he Avas tried and conderaned 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 raade to restore the deserters, mention not to take them ourselves Avhen the'y are to be found in our own ter ritories, frora whence they deserted, only because sorae officers had the impudence to take them along Avith them? Ought we to think that it is the king's pleasure that we leave off being sovereigns in foreign coun- fries, when a criminal is at the suit of a French officer, and that there be no justice for thera 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 coraplete ray OAvn regiraents. I endeavour to retain ray own subjects by some slight deraonstrations Avithout troubling those any more fhat 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 raen, and th-at he ought to leave off raaking use of his own subjects, only to be employed in the king's service, without seeming to take notice of .it, Avithout being asked or thanked for it. Some years ago, the king desiring to make sorae recruits in Savoy, for his regiraents of Rousillon and St. Laurent, did consent that I miglit make some recruite for my service in the provinces of Dauphiny, Lion- nois, and Provence ; and though those recruite are very expensive, and come to nothing at all, by reason of the great number of those that de sert, either on the Avay, or as soon as they have arrived in this country ; yet I never failed to give orders in Savoy, as often as the officers ofthe said regiraent arrived there Avith 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 Avere come for the same purpose, that Savoy was exhausted of raen ; that if had very rauch 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 sorae more convenient time. The Count de Rebenac having spoken soraething of it here, the same reasons were made known to him ; withal teUiug him, that it Avas 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 fisfied with these just reasons, yet endeavours have been made to draAV an iU 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, Avere not evident to all the world, and Avhich is only Avith 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 b^ taken hold of by those that please themselves Avith censuring my actions before the king, except ray 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 knoAV the Dnke of Bavaria, and to see at the same 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, Avhen ray father of Jilessed raemory went to Padua for the same rea son, and that I did not know the king meddled with the travel? that other princes undertake. Sure it is that what has foUoAved, has made it evident that there Avas nothing in tbis joumey but what is good and honest, and Avhat nobody can disapprove of. Give ma leave also to answer some other complaints which the ara bassador of his majesty, and Monsieur Catinat, have mingled in their discourse, and which partly you yourself have made to the Marquis of DogUani, my ambassador, namely, that I Avas 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 Avas 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 hira, 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 ou foot against his majesty's interest: that, on the contrary, I had done several things against common civUity, 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 rayself in this point according to the Marquis of Arcy's direction, who could not allow so much as sorne gentlemen, my subjecte, 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 Stales-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 wilh thi 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 wiUing to subrait myself to the judgraent 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 sorae just re flections, according fo his great understanding, may easily see the falsity of all these accusations. And fo be plain with you ; after the hard usage I just noAv receive, it ought lo be less strange, that those who have surprised his majesty's equity, so as to persuade him lo such extremes Avith me, have endeavoured to give some feAV, though false, colours to their pretences. I beseech yo.u. Sir, to make a paraUel 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 thera ; and if if be not against cora mon sense, fo put them into a paraUel ? Cast your eyes upon what follows. Monsieur de Rebenac, the king's arabassador, arrives in this country ; he takes pains to assure me of the king's goodness in regard to my person. I ansAver it Avith those earnest protestations so often repeated by me and my ministers, of my great acknowledgraent and zeal for the king's service, that ought fuUy to persuade him of it. He de sires me to drive the rest of my subjecte out of the'Valleys; I do con sent fo it; he does nothing but entertain rae about that business, and the king's favourable opinion he has of me. Monsieur Catinat arrives at Pignerol, he comes fo see me in this city; the project against the Vaudois seems to be his only design ; he speaks to rae 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 hira with a con siderable detachraent. He seems tobe satisfied; he desires to have at Pignerol a conference with my officers ; I send them to hira. 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 tiiis, fhan the other side of Pignerol ; that it was necessary to use all haste to make an end of the business Avith the Vaudois, and he seems to concern himself Avith nothing else. In the mean time there happened an insurrection in Mondovi: to ap pease that, I sent thither sorae of ray troops, and sorae fcAV 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 proraised, I should let him have at least a part of it. I gave orders fo send him a detachraent of 400 men ; he seems fo be satisfied. It suoavs very much in the Valleys, so there is no action there. Sorae few days after, having made an end of the business of Mondovi, and coraing 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 VaUeys 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 sarae. Nobody speaks to me about the passage; I judge that the king has a mind Proofs and Illustrations. 591 eJ/Aer to take it by force, or that he desires I should offer it. I do it with all the security of going and coraing back, and all the con veniency of provisions in my territories, with ?ll possible protestations of my zeal to serve him. But this signifies nothing ; Monsieur Catinat desires sorae commissaries to explain himself about the king's intention, I send hira two persons to Pignerol. He tells them in general terms, that the king isnot satisfied with 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 Avith forage, and vvith a pound of flesh each soldier ; and gives a hint that he would Avrite to me something more particular. Those Villages through which he enters into my territories, give hira 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, Avhom you for merly knew as ray ambassador. JMonsieur Catinat begins with general complainte ; and ends with telling him, that the king expects I should send into France, over the bridge of Beauvoisin, 2000 foot, and two regiraente of dragoons, of ray 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 coraplaint, 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 hira, that I Avould send those troops over the bridge Beauvoisin, into his raajesty'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 tiie march to Grngliasch, near Turin, because the said Marquis had raade some mention aboutit. I wrote to the Count Provane, whom I thought to be at Paris, to represent to the king what the JNIarquis 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 wiU you say, Avhen you hear, that neither Monsieur Catinat's, nor my express could at all return ; that he leaves briskly VeiUane, 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 Avas, but believed it raight regard some place. That Monsieur Catinat expects an answer in twenty-four hours ; that it Avas 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 complainte, 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 knoAV Avhat place he expecte ; he makes some difficulty to tell it, aud desires we should guess it ; at last he says, that the communication of Pignerol, and the eitidel of Cassel must be secured ; but says at the same time, they made no reflection upon the ncAV city of Ast. 592 Appendix. The pope's nuncio goes to him, in order to accommodate matters betwixt us ; he shoAvs him my letter, Avherein I assure hira, that I was no Avays a treating against the King, no not so rauch as in my thoughte ; but aU 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, Avherein he shows my readiness to satisfy the King, wilh an assurance of ray good intentions. He is extremely surprised to hear out of Monsieur Catinat's own raouth, that he had not spoken of an assurance in the singular, but in the plural nuraber; that he had given it sufficientiy to understand to the Abbot of Verrue, yet it seemed to be the same thing lo 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 airaed at his ends, persisted in this opinion, and declared afterAvards, that there Avas nothing but the citadels of 'Turin and Verrue that could satisfy the King; that in case they Avere not in lAventy-four hours put into his hands, he could no longer defer fo commit hostUities ; as if the entering Avith an army into a country, and to make them subsist af the expenses of the people, were great marks of friendship. And yet he would by no raeans, nay, he had no power to treat about the conditions, Avhich is, in plain terms, to live at discre tion. In this great extreraity, seeing my people at the mercy ofa foreign army, I thought fit to give myself the honour to send to the King a let ter, fhe copy of Avhich I have joined to tiiis, and sent it to Monsieur Catinat by the Count of Marcenaese. He agreed to suspend aU actions of hostilities, and despatched immediately his nephew to carry the let ter to the King Avith all possible speed. And, indeed, his speed Avas so gi-eat, that he Avas but few hours above a seven-night in going and coming. Monsieur Catinat gave me notice of his arrival by sending rae his Majesty's answer, the copy of Avhich I have also joined lo this. I confess I Avas mightily troubled to see a letter writ with so rauch re serve, and that did not give me the least sign of the king's reconcilia tion to rae, Avhich 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 fhese things, altogether false and supposi tious, and some other slight ones, could so easily persuade hira to the depriving rae of the said places, would he ever want sorae pretences to retain them ? I sent, nevertheless, the Marquis Ferrero and the Mar quis of St. Thomas to Monsieur Catinat, Avith fuU power to treat. "They endeavoured to acquaint theraselves Avith his poAver and his sen timents : the first was in very good forra, 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 Avould give hiraself 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 not hinder 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 Avhich those that always looked upon rae as a Frenchman had tiie generosity to offer me, in this great extremity to which I am reduced ! which I did not consent to, till after I 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 beheve that all Europe avUI pity me, Avithout excepting the most generous and just raen in France. Good God ! how Avas it possible it should be for the king's interest to oppress 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 thoseof his Majesty's, and vvho by the rest of the world is taken to be aFrenchman? What Avill those princes say, which France would fain separate from the contrary party? Is it not as much as to let them knoAV, 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 1 Will the princes of Italy believe that it is in order to de fend thera from their enemies, of Avhich they have none ? or to open the way to some greater conqueste, 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 aU human pradence could furnish me Avith. I hope that God Almighty wiU not abandon the justice of my cause; that he will fortify my Aveakness ; and that the consolation of a prince, whom they endeavour to drive out of a part of what he has inherited from his ancestors, will be the darling work of Divine Providence. Pity me ia 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 Avorthy ofa son, that intends to honour you as a father all his life-time, aud 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 repUed 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 intimarted contributions to several of my territories, 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 Avith which I have been blackened in the eyes of your Majesty, have had so much power over your mind, as to deprive rae of the honour of your favour, which I have ahvays valued raore than ray life. The only consolation I have left me in this extremity is, that I have not drawn this raisfor tune upon me by the least Avant of zeal for your royal service, of which I will make a glory to continue to give some real marks on aU occa sions. When Monsieur Catinat told me, you desired part of my troops, of Avhich I have not very many, I assured him that your Majesty Avas master of them, and that they Avere to pass the mountains iraraediately to go to serve your Majesty. He has since given me to understand, that your will and plep.sure Avas, to have some places in Piedmont in assurance of my good intentions ; and although your Majesty stands in no need of any other assurance tiian that of my heart, Avhich 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 Avere aimed at, I am ready fo 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 Avould be pleased to do if upon such terms, as a prince that has the honour to be so nearly related to you, may reasonably expect frora the goodness and generosity of so great a king; but if your Majesty would be pleased to raake choice of some other place in Piedmont instead of the citadel of Turin, that I might continue to live there with the dignity ofa Sovereign, your Ma jesty Avould infinitely oblige me. I humbly iraplore your Majesty's generosity for it, as also that you would be pleased to hear the Count of Provane, ray arabassador, Avho AviU sufficiently satisfy your Majesty about the iUgrounded suspicions your Majesty has been inspired Avith concerning my behaviour, and who wiU renew to your Majesty aU the sincere protestations of my zeal and respect, assuring you that I intend to be aU ray life-time, &c. No. 18. TVie French King's answer to his Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy's Letter, dated May the 24th, 1690. Dear Brother, , . ¦ i,t I understand Avifh 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 Avasted a con siderable time, in which the march of my froops towards the dutchy of MUan would be put off; I thought fit to send to the Sieur Catinat, fuU poAvers to receive those places in my name ; and, in the mean tirae, 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 my troops to enter your territories ; and that as soon as I shaU have no cause to doubt of your zeal for ray mterest, and of that constant affection for my crown, of Avhich most of your ancestors have given raany substantial proofs, I wiU render you any friendship with pleasure, and do that for you which your near relationship gives you reason to hope for. I ara, &c. No. 19. Letterfrom his Royal Highness's 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 gble 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 littie capacity to make them agreeable, which I am also heartily sorry for. But thinking that his royal highness's proposals conceming the places and troops Avere 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 thaf you would be pleased to assist me Avith your great experience of the affairs of the world, to find out some other more successful expedient. I AviU do aU that lies in my poAver to make them acceptable to his royal highness, as also to let you see, by ray care, the honour I have to be really yours, &c. No. 20. Monsieur Catinat's Answer to the Chancellor' s Letter, dated June the 3rd, 1690. Sm, I have received the leiter 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 rainisters 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 fhat have been made to the king by his royal highness, in a leiter which he has had the honour to write to him with his own hand. I am, (fee. No. 21, Monsieur Catinat'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 raay furnish some means to your Royal Highness to help your self out of those extremities which you yourself have draAvn upon you. ness to do me the honour to believe that I ara, with deep respect, &c. No. 22. His Royal Highness's Answer to Monsieur Catinat's Letter, dated June the 17th, 1690. You have as many witnesses as you have soldiers, of Avhat I have suffered, to shoAv my respect for, and readiness to serve the king your master. You know I consented to your demand, about sorae 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, mid that you told me we should henceforth look upon the king's troops as friends. Nevertheless, sorae few days after, you wanted sorae of my strong places, afterwards you desired that, contrary to your first pro posals, my troops were not to go inlo France, but to join your army, in order to act against the Dutchy of Milan. After which you see that I have reason to Avish, that in case you have any thing to propose to rae, you Avould do it in Avriting, and I AviU do the sarae. This is aU that I can say at present, in ansAver to your letter, and tiiaf I Avill always preserve those sentiments of esteera for you, Avith which I ara, &c. No. 23. Monsieur Catinat's Reply to his Royal Highness's Answer, June the 17 th, 1690. Monseigneur, I haA'e received the letter your Royal Highness has done me the hon our to Avrite to rae, in which your intentions are so clear and evident to foUow those engageraente you have erabraced a great while ago, that it is needless to propose to you any thing in Avriting that raay furnish the means to recover the honour of his raajesty's favour. I am, with all the respect that is OAving to you. INDEX TO THE TVVO VOLUMES. Adrian, the Roraan emperor, i. 115. his letter to Minutius Fundanus in behalf of the Christians, 118. Jlrius 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 Piedraont at the head of a crusading army, 436. Aguit, Mr. Francis, a Waldensian pastor, apostatizes from his profes sion, u. 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. Avere 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, 37-6. are massacred by the' crusading army, 377. the sect nearly exterminated in that quarter, 382. the manner in Avhich they Avere 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, sorae 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. AJUx, Dr. his reraarks on the churches of Piedraont, quoted, i. 249. 250. 256, 257. ii. 327. 345. 555. Alva, Duke of, his sanguinary proceedings in the Netherlands, ii. 469. Ammianus MarceUinus, vicAV of the conduct of the clergy in his days, i. 179. his account of Julian's attempt to rebuUd the teraple, 187. Antichrist, reflections on the rise of, i. 152. 598 Index. Antioch, in Syria, described, i. 58. ite population, and die number of Christians there, in the tirae of Theodosius, 195. note. Antoninus Pius, eraperor; his araiable 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 Jerusalera, i. 40. their subsequent tra vels, 96. Arian Controversy, i. 169. not settied by the decision of the councU 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, comraands the first cmsading army against the Albigenses, ii. 381. Athens, city of, i. 74. Athenagoras, his apology for the Christians, i. 140. Athanasius, his controversy Avitli Arius, i. 177. Augustine's " City of God," i. 216. Aurelius Marcus, eraperor, persecutes the Christians, i. 127. Avignon, city of, besieged by the crusaders, ii. 385. B Bamabas and Saul proceed on their raission to the Gentiles, i. 53. Berengarius denies the real presence, i. 274. Bernard, St. his testiraony 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. Boheraia, description of, ii. 412. state of religion there, 413. Bohemian brethren, persecution against, ii'. 432. sketch of their histo ry, 4-24. 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. Caius Caligula, his reign, i. 55. Calabria, the Waldenses settied 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 cmsaders, ii. 377. singular escape of ite people from the upper city, 381. Carthage, account of the persecution there, i. 130. Caesarea, dispute between the JeAvs and Nero concerning it, i. 100. Castrocaro, Governor of Piedraont, his tyrannical conduct towards the Waldenses, ii, 486. Cathari, in Germany, in the thirteenth century, opposed infant baptisra, i. 278. Catinat, general of the French array, 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. Chariemagne, 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. 1 16. Church at Jerusalera, 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,!. 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 govemraent to By- zantiura, 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. prohibite paganism by law, 175. convenes the council of Nice, 172. his exertions to accoraraodate differences among the clergy, 173. banishes Arius and his party, 175. Constantine IL, 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 Copron3nnus, opposes the worship of images, 231. Constantine, of Mananalis, founds the sect of the PauUcians, i. 243. Copin, BartholomeAv, memoir of, ii. 489. Corinth, the city of, i. 77. CouncU of Constance, bum Huss and Jerome, ii. 418. Council of Nice, proceedings of the, i. 172. CouncU 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 thera and Stale 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, quoted, i, 147, 600 Index. D Damascus, city of, described, i. 52. Decius, the emperor, persecutes the Christians, i. 150. Dioclesian, the eraperor, persecutes the Christians, i. 160. Domitian, the Roman emperor, his character, i. 113. Dominic, founder of the inquisition, u. 359. Donatists, their origin and principles, i. 225, E 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 chureh 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^iilO. Felix, state of Judea under his government, i. 99. Festus, state of Judea under his governraent, i. ib. Florus, Gessius, state of Judea under his governinent, i. 100. Fontenoy, sanguinary battle of, i. 264. Fox, Hon. Charles James, his History of Jaraes II. quoted, ii. 430, his opinion of Oliver Crorawell, 505. note. France, kings of, seated Antichrist on his throne, i. 257. Francis I. King of France, conquers Piedraont, ii. 477. is enfreated 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. 133. Galba, succeeds Nero as emperor, i. 106. Galerius, eraperor of Rorae, his horrid craelty 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 exUed Waldenses, ii. 561. Gibbon, Mr, his Roman History quoted, i, 115, 122, 162. 180, 185. 186. 190. 195, note. 196, 203, 207, note. 210, 211, note. 224. 243. &e, 363. 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. excomraunicates 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 Gerraany, i. 266. Henricians, sorae account of, i. 283. Herod Agrippa, incurred the displeasure of Tiberius, i. 59. kills James the apostie, and imprisons Peter, ib. his pride, blasphemy, and death, 60. Hincraar, Archbp. of Rheims, boldly opposes the papal chair, i. 265. Holy Spirit, effusion of, i. 40. Huss, John, some account of, ii. 414. Ignatius, sent from Antioch to Rorae, and put to death, i. 113. Images, the worship of, traced to its source, i. 336, Inquisition, some account of, ii. 364. Inquisitors, their proceedings against the Waldenses, ii. 390, Irene, the Greek erapress, her zeal for the worship of iraages, i, 333. Irenaeus, his account of the persecution of the churches of Vienne and Lyons, i, 130, J James, tiie son of Zebedee, his death, i. 59. James, writer ofthe epistle, his death, i. 97. Jerome, his attack on VigUantius, i. 306. Jerome, of Prague, sorae account of, ii. 418. Jemsalem, Christ's predictions conceming, i. 104. is besieged and taken by the Roraans, 106. Jesus of Nazareth, his baptisra, rainistry, 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 Roraans, 102. estiraate of the numbers of them kiUed during the war and siege of Jerusalem, no. Job, reraarks 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. nate. 51 602 Index. Jovian, the eraperor, favours the Christians, i. 190. Judea, origin ofthe war there, i. 99. JuUan, the eraperor, view of his reign, i. 185. Justin Martyr, his apologies for the Christians, i. 138. suffers raartvr- dora at Rome, 129. Justus Lipsius, his enuraeration of the Jews kiUed during the war and siege of their city, i. 110. K Kingdom ofthe Messiah, the subject of prophecy, i. 35. its erection at Jerusalem, 44. description of its subjects and laws, ib. L Lactantius, sorae account of, i. 172. note. Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, hi. letter to fhe Duke of Savoy in favour of the Waldenses, ii. 522. Leo, the Greek eraperor, his contests Avith the Roraan 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, conderans the conduct of the inquisitors against the Waldenses, ii. 348. Louis XIV. his detestable conduct toAvards the Duke of Savoy, ii. Ap pendix, No. 17. Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, in Sardinia, i. 197. Ludovicus Pius, (Lewis the Meek) King of France, his reign, i. 262. Luther, his testiraony in favour of the Waldenses, ii. 353. strictures on his character, 441. Lyons, persecution ofthe church there, i. 131. M Macrinus, the Roraan emperor, his character and death, i. 145. Maximin, emperor, i. 146. M'Laine, Dr. his plea for human inventions in reUgious Avorship, i. 197. Mahomet, the Arabian impostor, his history, i. 234. Manichaeans, a view of their systera, ii. 333. 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. MUton, his testiraony in favour ofthe 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 Jemsalem, i. 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 RevicAv, quoted, ii. 565. Morlanil, Sir S. his erabassy to the Duke of Savoy, ii. 509. Muret, battie of, singular disclosure made after it, ii. 389 note. N Neal's History of the Puritans, corrected, ii. 538. Nero, the emperor, his cruel treatment of the Christians, i. 95. Nerva, the Roraan eraperor, 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, withdraAvs frora the coraraunion of the church of Rome, i. 181. his principles and conduct vindicated, 182. O Oppede, govemor of Provence, his horrid treatraent of the Waldenses, ii. 454. Origen, some accountof, i. 147. Paganism, ifs faU described in New Testament prophecy, i. 195. Paterines, their origin, principles, increase, manners, and behaviour, i. 287. Paul, the apostie, his history and travels sketched, i. 53. Paulicians, sect of, i. 343. Paulinus, of Aquileia, some account of, i. 252. Pelagius, his description of the sacking of Rome, i. 213. note. Peter, the apostie, 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, _ Piedraont, derivation ofthe name, i. 246. geographical description, fer- - tility &c. 247. progress of Christianity in, 251. ite 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. .• .,q Poggio of Florence, his account of Jerorae of Prague, u. 419. 604 Index. Pyrenean raountains described, i. 247. Polycarp, bishop of Srayrna, his raartyrdora, i. 127. Poland, persecution ofthe Waldenses there, ii. 531. Pothinus, pastor ofthe church in Lyons, his death, i. 134. Pra:lextatus, a heathen, his witticisra 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 II. im peded the progress of the Inquisition, ii. 394. R Ravenna, the residence of the Eraperor 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 fhe Waldenses, ii. 318. his testiraony 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 tirae ofthe Reforraation, 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 treatraent of the Waldenses, ib. note, his Me raoirs of the Reformation in France, quoted, 432. Rome, the city of, described, i. 90. persecution ofthe church there, 94. contentions for ite 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, ite state at Nero's death, i. 106. Roscoe's Life of Leo X. quoted, ii. 444. S Sadoletus, bishop of Capentras, freate the Waldenses kindly, ii, 453. Saluces, the marquisate of, described, ii. 491. Index. 605 Serenus Granianus, proconsul of Asia, remonstrates wilh Adrian on his treatment of the Christians, i. 124. Severus, the emperor, his severe treatment of the Christians, i. 135. Sigisraund, the emperor, his dupUcity to Huss, ii. 417. Simeon, a Greek officer, sent to destroy the Paulicians, becoraes a con vert to the faith, and suffers martyrdom, i. 244. Sisinnius, an elder of the Novatianist church in Constantinople, i. 193. interesting anecdotes concerning him, ib. note. Sleidan, John, his account of the cruelties exercised ou the Waldenses in France, ii. 446. Sonship of Christ, hoAV mistaken by 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 tenete, 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 array, plundered and destroyed, i. 109. TertuUian, 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. 103. 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 eraperor Jovian, i. 190. Theodosius the Great, advanced to the iraperial 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 ansAver to Pliny's letter, 118. U Uladislaus, king of Bohemia, ii. 436. Unitas Frafrum, their origin, ii. 434. Usher, Archbishop, quoted on the preaching of the monks, u. 370, 606 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 fo subdue the Jews, i. 103. is elected empe ror and proceeds to Rorae, 106, reraarks on his reign, 113. Victor Araadeus, Duke of Savoy, extirpates the Waldenses frora Pied mont, ii. 543. Vignaux, Mr. pastor of a Waldensian church, his history of the Wal denses referred fo, ii. 354. his compassion for his suffering brethren, Vigilantius, his opposition to the system of monkery, i. 306. 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. 381. condemned by the councU of Oxford, in 1166, 282. etymology of the name, ii. 307. hoAv described by Reinerius Saccho, 318. by an ancient inquisitor, 324. by iEneas Sylvius, 327. by Claudius SeisseUus, 328. their con fessions of faith, 333, their Treatise on Antichrist, quoted, 336. the grounds of their dissent from the Church of Rorae, 340. their apo logies, quoted, 341. testimonies frora various adversaries, quoted, 346. remarkable attestation of Thuanus, 349. and from Reinerius Saccho, 350. their raanner 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 tenete Avith those of WickUff, Luther, and Calvin, ib. per secuting edicts of Frederick II. against them, 361. spread into Spain, and edicts issued against thera, 369. 390. their spread info Gerraany, Alsace, Saxony, and Poraerania, 393. in the city of Paris, where they are cruelly treated, 395. their emigration from Dauphiny info Calabria, 396. are tolerated in Calabria for two centuries, ib. their migration from France into the Netherlands, and persecutions there, 297. info 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 Loyse, in France, 433. their probable nuraber at the beginning of the sixteenth century, 439. how affected by the Reformation, 441. intercourse between them and Ecolarapadius, 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 becorae subject to the Duke of Savoy, 479. avoAv 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. 607 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, 496. two of their pastors apostatiie, 500. dieir 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 thera, 524. disappointe 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 Piedraont obtain the favour of their prince in 1662, and are tolerated, 541. but dread fully persecuted under his son Victor Araadeus, 543. who first irapri- sons and then banishes them frora 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 Barapton Lectures quoted on the introduction of image worship, i. 227. on the ignorance of the clergy of tiie 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. the e.nd. to 3 9002 01: ' ¦