odious in the eyes of the world, their enemies branded them with the names of several ancient heretics.

There were differences of opinion among these various classes of men, but of all of them it may be affirmed, that they ardently opposed the absurdities of the church, and the tyranny of the Papal see, and boldly preached, according to their light, the truth as it is in Jesus." Whatever might be the errors, however, of any of these branches, the parent stock, the Waldenses of the valleys of Piedmont, never deviated from the pure doctrines of the word of God.

Having made these remarks concerning the various branches of opponents to the Romish church, who have all been denominated by the general term Waldenses, we shall now take notice more particularly of a number of sincere and humble Christians, who, in the beginning of the twelfth century, attracted the notice of the Papal see, and who, among other names, were by their enemies termed Cathari. They were found chiefly in the south of France, Savoy, and Milan; and in Cologne, Flanders, and Lombardy. Their doctrines resembled, in many particulars, those of Claudius of Turin; and it is not at all improbable that they were the fruit of his labours, and had existed from the age in which he lived. These heretics, as they were called

by their enemies, were accused of holding the most detestable opinions; and many of them were put to death in the cruelest form, by the supporters of the Romish church.

One of their enemies, Evervinus, after throwing out innumerable invectives and false statements against a people, of whose manners he acknowledges he knew but little, with a strange inconsistency adds: “If you ask them of their faith, nothing can be more Christian; if you observe their conversation, nothing can be more blameless; and what they speak, they prove by deeds. You may see a man, for the testimony of his faith, frequent the church, honour the elders, offer his gift, make his confession, receive the sacrament. What more like a Christian? As to life and manners, he circumvents no man. He fasts much, and eats not the bread of idleness, but works with his hands for his support. The whole body, indeed, are rustic and illiterate, and all whom I have known of this sect are very ignorant."

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Egbert, too, a monk, tells us, that he had often disputed with those heretics, and that they maintained their sentiments by the authority of Scripture. They are armed,” says he, with all those passages in holy Scripture which in any degree seem to favour their sentiments; with these they know how to defend themselves, and to oppose the

Catholic faith; though they mistake entirely the true sense of Scripture, which cannot be discovered without great judgment. They are increased to great multitudes throughout all countries, to the great danger of the church; for their words eat like a canker. Concerning the souls of the dead, they hold this opinion, that at the very instant of their departure out of the body, they go to eternal bliss or endless misery, for they do not admit the belief of the Universal Church, that there are some purgatory punishments, with which the souls of some are tried for a time, on account of those sins from which they have not been purified by a plenary satisfaction in this life. On which account they think it superfluous and vain to give alms for the dead and to celebrate 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. As for masses, they altogether despise them, regarding them as of no value."

During the twelfth century the Cathari were exposed to many grievous sufferings. Galdinus, archbishop of Milan, having for eight or nine years persecuted them with great barbarity, fell a martyr to his own zeal, in the year 1173, in consequence of an illness which he contracted through the excess of his vehemence in preaching against them.

A company of these poor despised people, consisting of about thirty men and women, appeared in England in 1159, and soon at tracted the attention of the government by the singularity of their religious practices and opinions. They were immediately apprehended, and brought before a council of the clergy at Oxford. Being questioned con cerning their religion, Gerrard their teacher, answered that they were Christians, and be lieved the doctrines of the Apostles. Upon a more particular inquiry, it appeared that they denied several of the received doctrines of the church, such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, the invocation of saints, &c.; and on refusing to abandon these heretical opinions, they were condemned as being incorrigible, and delivered over to the secular power to be punished. At the instigation of the clergy, the king, Henry II. commanded them to be branded with a red hot iron on the forehead, to be whipped through the streets of Oxford, and then, deprived of part of their clothes, to be turned out into the open fields, all persons being prohibited from affording 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, they all perished with cold and hunger!

Such was the provision of divine grace,"

says Milner, speaking of the true piety of the persecuted Waldenses, to take out of a corrupt and idolatrous world of nominal christians, a people formed for himself, who should show forth his praise, and who should provoke the rest of mankind by the light of true humility and holiness; a people, singularly separate from their neighbours in spirit, manners, and discipline; rude indeed, and illiterate, and not only discountenanced, but even condemned, by the few real good men who adhered altogether to the Romish church; condemned because continually misrepresented. I know not a more striking proof of that great truth of the divine word, that, in the worst of times, the church shall exist, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

CHAPTER III.

ABOUT the year 1160, Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, attached himself to the Waldenses, at a period, happily, when the Papal hierarchy began to put its threats in execution against all who questioned its infallibility. The extensive mercantile engagements of this great and good man, gave ample opportunities of conversation with strangers on the idolatries of the Romisn