were corruptions that spread by degrees over nearly the whole of Christendom.

There were, however, a few undaunted Christians left, who were scandalized at the assumption of temporal power,

is invited to repose under the security of heavenly protection, during the ensuing hours of gloom and darkness, it never can be religiously affected at all. Rome, however, is not the place, where the impressions of this service are best understood. Who that has been at Venice, and attended vespers at St. Mark's, with feelings that are brought from colder regions, where the name of God alone can warm the heart, has not lamented, that the aspirations of the soul, which seem to be so devoutly offered from the hundreds, who pour into that venerable cathedral for a few moments, before the last glimmer of twilight expires, should be breathed in any other name than that of the most High? Who, as he has beheld the prostrate multitude bending their heads, and humbling their spirits upon the timeworn pavement, which has witnessed the same prostrations for nearly a thousand years, has not been jealous for the King of Ages, and trembled to think, that worshippers should come, in their blindness, to divide their hearts with the Eternal, and to pronounce Sancta Maria, Sancta Dei Genitrix, ora pro nobis, (Holy Mary, Holy Mother of God, pray for us) in the same breath with, Pater de Cœlis, Deus, miserere nobis! (Oh God, the father of Heaven, have mercy upon us!).

Venice is the city of silence. The gondolas, or barges, gliding noiselessly along the water of the canals, are the only things which move, freighted with men or merchandize; not the sound of a wheel, nor the clattering of a hoof ever breaks upon the ear. The hum of human voices is all that is heard, and this seems to cease, when the chimes have pealed for Ave-Maria. St. Mark's, which, of all other sanctuaries, from its dark and retiring aisles, its massy pillars, its antiquated construction, its dingy colouring, and imperfect light, is calculated to add to the effect of this evening-service, is completely filled every evening a few minutes after the vesper-bell has tolled. A concourse of people hurry in from all quarters: the merchant ceases from his half-finished bargain, the young and the gay desist from trifling, the porter leaves his burthen upon the steps of the cathedral, and all that happen to be near quit their occupations or amusements, to offer up the prayer of a moment to the Virgin. The organ plays a soft symphony, while the multitude are entering, and dispersing themselves through the church on a sudden a small bell tinkles, and every knee is bent, and every head bowed in silent adoration. Not a sound from within or without disturbs the spirit of supplication. This lasts for a minute or two. The bell tinkles again: the congregation then rise from their knees, the tapers are extinguished, and the sacred walls are soon left to solitude and darkness. I witnessed this scene several times, and never without an unusual degree of emotion. It was impossible not to honour the feeling of devotion, short-lived at it might be, which brought so many to the foot of the altar, and equally impossible not to condemn the profane system which directs the supplicant to address his prayers to the imaginary Queen of Heaven, and the Mother of God.

in the professed servants of Him, whose "kingdom is not of this world," and thought they saw "the image of the beast," and the marks of Antichrist, in such unscriptural arrogance. They protested against the pontifical tyrant, and cast away his chains from them. Anathemas were first fulminated against such daring rebels; and afterwards, the vassals of the Roman church, that is to say, kings and princes, were ordered to be the executioners of Papal vengeance, and to carry fire and sword into the valleys of Piemont, where the seeds of the obnoxious heresy were first spread. But the Vaudois were neither to be convinced nor compelled for the one, they had too much faith; for the other, too much courage and both faith and courage were only still more excited by the violence adopted for their suppression. Fire and the sword never yet made converts; their appeal is to the flesh, while conviction is of the mind.

Should it then be asked, where was the true church of Christ to be found, after so many heresies were avowed by the Roman Hierarchy, at the Second Council of Nice, in 767, the answer is:-It was to be found in the churches of the valleys of Piemont; to preside over which Bishop Claude was called from Spain, that he might stem the torrent of idolatry, and oppose further attempts at unscriptural innovations.

CHAPTER XII.

General observations-The churches which have been planted by the Vaudois-In Calabria, Spain, and France-Persecutions in these countries-The Waldenses of Provence-Their correspondence with colampadius-Francis I.-The cruelties praetised at Merindol, at Cabriere-Aymond de la Voye-The Waldenses of Piemont take measures for their own defenceConcessions granted by their Sovereign,-Review of their character, conflicts and opinions-Their claims to attention-Concluding observations.

THE Waldenses were the first to expose the superstitions of the Roman church, and the monstrous absurdities which its hierarchy introduced into the forms of Christian worship. They were the first who engaged to cleanse this Augean stable of corruption; and if we had records that would enable us to follow them, step by step, through their bold and arduous undertaking, we should be able to exhibit one of the most glorious pictures of human perseverance that was ever displayed. They not only succeeded in preserving the pure doctrine and discipline of the primitive ages in their own secluded valleys of Piemont, but they carried them into distant parts; and upon the banks of the Rhine and the Danube, in the remote provinces of Spain and Calabria, and in the plains of France, were witnessed for a time the extraordinary effects produced upon the manners and character of the inhabitants, by Waldensian preachers, whose Alpine retreats gave the name to a church, which has withstood every assault that has been made upon it, on the spot where it was originally founded. And this, it

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will be observed, is not the least remarkable feature in the history of the Vaudois. They sent forth teachers, who crossed the Alps, the Apennines, and the Pyrenees, making proselytes wherever they went, and establishing the same fundamental truths, and even the same forms of worship, which prevailed among their own community; but no where, save between the Pelice and the Clusone, in Piemont, have those truths been uninterruptedly preserved. The parent stock remains, but most of the branches have been cut off. They were soon put down in Spain; the spirit of the proselytes there was not enough to support them against the strong arm of oppression, although the country presented the same mountain fastnesses, as that from whence the purer faith had reached them. In Calabria, the new church flourished for about two centuries: it was planted in the year 1370; and though the lords, and landed proprietors of that province, were indignant at the idea of being set right upon the vital topics of religion by their vassals, yet they found it to be to their interest to protect a peasantry, who were more industrious in their habits, more quiet in their conduct, and more regular in their payments, than the turbulent inhabitants of the adjoining districts. But when the progress of Lutheranism threatened to hurl the triple tyrant from his throne, the Waldenses of Calabria were thought to be too much in concert with the reformers of the north, and too near the states of the church, to be suffered to remain unmolested. The bull for their extermination went forth, and no mercy was shewn to those who refused to be baptized by a popish priest: the pastors were carried in chains to Rome, some were starved to death in prison, others were tortured in the dungeons of the inquisition, after witnessing the utter destruction or dispersion of their flock; and two were burnt at the stake, to gratify the malignity of Pope Pius IV. who could not be satisfied, unless he saw, with his own eyes, the expiring agonies of the heretics, who had dared to question his infallibility.

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THE WALDenses of FRANCE.

In France, the Waldensian name and faith continued to be upheld for several hundred years; but even there, after extending into Dauphiné, Provence, Languedoc, Guienne, and Picardy, they could not finally make head against persecution, but gradually submitted to the strong hand of power. It is not meant to say, that the spirit of religious reformation has been at any period of history totally subdued in those provinces, where the Albigenses and Waldenses once formed so large a portion of the population. But where religious services are performed, as they were there, in secret, and where there is no visible church or congregation, as has been the case at different periods in the history of the French Protestants, there, it must be allowed, you cannot expect to find the faith of the reformers in the same purity, as among men, who resolutely persevere in making an open profession of their opinions, who form a community among themselves, and are prepared to assert their right of conscience, sword in hand, whenever it is disputed.

From century to century, the Waldenses of Piemont have composed a distinct people, and have successfully vindicated their religious independence. The churches of the three valleys have remained churches: and whenever it was found that an attempt was making to prevent the free exercise of their religion, in the more habitable and accessible regions that bordered upon the plains, these hardy mountaineers retreated, with their wives and children, to the rocks and forests of the higher Alps, rather than renounce the doctrines of their ancestors. If they could not worship God in their own way in their villages, the whole race of them retired to their strong holds in the mountains, until the fury of persecution had exhausted itself: but they never submitted nor recanted, nor were they ever entirely driven from their ancient settlements. Like the Athenians of old, who declared by retiring to their ships, that Athens consisted not in its walls, or houses, but in its citizens, who would