The Vaudois; comprising observations made during a tour to the Valleys of Piedmont, in the summer of 1814: together with remarks, introductory and interspersed, respecting the origin, history and present condition of that people

Preface

. The object of the following publication is to excite a more general attention and sympathy in behalf ot the people of whom it treats. Shut up within the secluded valleys they inhabit in the north-west corner of Italy, tlie Vaudois might still have remained, as they had done for ages, unknown to the world, if it had not been for a long series of cruel persecutions to which they have been subject on the part of Rome. The barbarities inflicted on them about the middle of the seventeenth century roused the several Protestant states of Europe to interfere for their protection ; on which occasion two folio volumes appeared, setting forth their history, polity, and sufferings : the one by Sir Samuel Mor- Iand, Commissioner Extraordinary of Oliver Cromwell at tlie court of Turin, and the other by Jean Leger, one of their pastors and moderators. Their history was subsequently taken up by Dr. Allix, and other writers of less note ; but they seem almost to have

PREFACE.

. IV been lost sight of till about twenty years ago, when the first of Dr. Gilly's interesting works brought them again into notice, and produced an impression in their favour, which has been attended with very important consequences, and continues, to a certain extent, to be felt at the present time. Roused by the threatening appearances of a fresh storm, many of the friends of the Vaudois in this country have been induced to inquire : Whether some more pointed expression of national feeling ought not to be called forth in reference to their grievances ? The writer was requested last spring, by a gentleman who takes a lively interest in their welfare, to enlist the sympathies of his ministerial brethren in London on their behalf, and to urge the propriety of presenting a memorial to Her Majesty, praying that instructions might be sent to Her Representative at the Sardinian court, to exert all the power of British influence, which he could legitimately employ, for the removal of intolerant enactments, procured at the instance and by the intrigues of the Jesuits, and to secure their protection in the enjoyment of vested lights and privileges, guaranteed to them by treaties of the 50th October, 1G90, and the 1th August, 1701 . to which the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and

PREFACE.

. tlie States General of Holland were contracting parties. By a secret article in thc former of these treaties it was expressly stipulated, not only " that His Royal Highness (the Duke of Savoy) preserves and replaces them (the Vaudois,) their children, and their posterity, in the possession of all and of each of their ancient rights, edicts, usages, and privileges, as well in regard to their abodes, their trade, and the exercises of their religion, as to every other purpose ;" but also " that the ministers of His Britannic Majesty and of their High Mightinesses (the States General) shall be instructed and authorized to regulate, according to the ancient edicts, rights, and concessions, with the ministers of His Royal Highness, the particulars of things, and whatever may have been left out and omitted, in order to provide for the security of the said Vaudois under this article, as also for the execution of the same in respect of matters concerning their religion, and relative to their property, rights, and all other objects.'"* Not being at the time sufficiently acquainted with * See The Crown or the Tiara?

Considerations on the present Condition ofthe Waldenses, addressed to the Statesmen of civiliicd Europe ; London, Murray, 1842 ; and a very able article on the same in the Quarterly Review for December 1843. a PKEFACE. VI the actual circumstances of the Vaudois, the writer was induced to visit their valleys in the course of the summer, in order to elicit such information respecting their condition as might guide him and his brethren in reference to further proceedings. An account of the tour performed on that occasion, he here sub mits to the perusal of a candid public. While the result of his inquiries goes to prove, that though these inoffensive professors of a purer faith, are subject to continued grievances and annoyances on the part of the Romanists, and are liable, at any moment, to have the scourge of open and cruel per secution again let loose upon them, yet there exist at present no gross and overt acts on the side of the Sardinian government, demanding the direct exer cise of the power conceded in the article above quoted.

The Vaudois themselves have no desire that foreign states should so interpose, except in cast us dire necessity. They are accused of reposing that confidence in other potentates, which they withhold from their own ; but it is a fact which cannot be placed in too broad a light, that they have never in a single instance, compromised their character for loyalty to their Sovereign, and have carried on no correspondence with foreign powers, since the time

PREFACE.

. VII of the great persecution, when they were threatened with utter extermination. Whatever movements have taken place in their favour, have been purely the result of the spontaneous feelings of humanity, justice, and Christianity, excited from without. But while the author does not feel warranted to advise the adoption of any public measures at the present time, he cannot sufficiently implore the Pro testants of Great Britain to be constantly on the alert, and ready, on the very first symptoms of a de termination to crush the Vaudois, to come forward and rouse the British Lion in their defence. Not only in our own highly favoured land, but in almost every country under heaven, we discover the strenuous efforts which are being made by the Romish Church, to establish and extend the reign of spiritual despo tism.

The melancholy story of the capture and secret ing of the daughter of the late Dutch Ambassador at Turin, and the fruitless application to majesty itself with a view to effect her recovery, proves the power of ecclesiastical influence in that city ; while the reported apathy of the King of Holland, is in direct contrast with the feelings of his people in reference to Protestantism in the Sardinian states. Let us all stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ

PREFACE.

. hath made us free, lest we be entangled again with the yoke of Roman bondage. And let us ever be prepared to supply the oppressed and afflicted with the fruits of Christian benevolence. The reader will perceive that no notice has been taken of the Waldenses, or the followers of Peter Waldo. The reason is to be found in the fact, that they, with all the other sects which sprang up before the Reformation, have long since ceased to exist. Tlie Vaudois have survived the storms of ages. To them the visit here described was paid ; and to them exclusively, public attention is here directed. Park Terrace, Highbury, Dec. 5th, 1844. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Leave Lausanne — Entrance of the valley of the Rhoiie — A recent battle — Character of the Vallais— Sion — The Alps — Brieg — The passage of the Simplon — Duomo d'Ossola— The lake Maggiore, and the Borromean Islands — Arona — The statue of Cardinal Borromeo — Lombardy — Milan . . . .47 CHAPTER H. Milan — Cathedral — Ambrosian library — Rare manuscripts — Church of St. Ambrose — Ambrosian office — Reforms in the dark ages — Refusal of the Milanese to submit to Rome — False alarm — Vercelli — Cathedral of St. Eusebius — Manuscript of the four Gospels written by that prelate — Anglo-Saxon manuscript— Turin — Pignerol — Subornation of Vaudois children . 63

Chapter III

Leave Pignerol for La Tour — State of the roads — Partiality shown to tbe Catholics — First Vaudois parish — Cultivation of the vine — Modes of threshing — Weeping willow— Landscape— Consequences of refusing to do homage to the host — Anticipated visit "I' the king — New convent and church — Description of La Tour . . . . . . . .84 CONTENTS. X

Chapter IV

College— Founded by the Rev. Dr. Gilly— Site— Number of Students— Professors— Courses of tuition— College library— Tracts for the Times — Popular library — Central schools — Regents — Instruction — Ostervald's Catechism — Hamlet schools — Girls' schools — Beckwith Institution — Devotion of the early Vaudois to *U learning — College at Pra del Tor — Fire-fly

Chapter V

The Hospital — Royal and imperial munificence — Visit to Madame Bert— St. Jean — Pastor Jean Pierre Bonjour — Description of the parish — Silkworms — The church — History of the screen — Schools . . . . . • -105

Chapter VI

Tour up the valley of Luserne — Mont Vandalin — Casteluzzo — Villar — Pastor Gay — Population — Schools — Gunpowder plot — Conversable character of the Vaudois — Scenery about Bobi — Pastor J. P. Revel — German neology — Parishioners — Schools — Breakwater — Sibaud — Tour to Rora — Luserne market — Town — Difficulties of the ascent to Rora— Gratitude of the Vaudois for English benevolence — A soldier of Napoleon — Madame Rollier — Prayer meetings suppressed — Return to La Tour — Dine at St. Jean . . . . . . .114

Chapter VII

Sabbath in Angrogna — Morning service at Serre — Sermon by Monsieur Revel— Baptism — Infants baptized by the ancient Vaudois — Mode — Appearance of the Congregation — Accommodation — Insignia of the Vaudois — Funeral — Second service at St. Laurent — Catholic interruption — Prayer-meeting — Desecration of the Sabbath . . . . . .13.3 CONTEXTS. XI

Chapter VIII

The Lord's supper among the Vaudois — Admission of the young — Mode of celebrating the ordinance— Laxity of discipline — Secession — Views respecting the nature of the sacrament — Historical celebrity of Angrogna — Pra del Tor — Hostility to Rome . 153

Chapter IX

Leave Angrogna — Beautiful landscape — Prarustin — St. Barthelemi — English influence — St. Germain — The Moderator — The Cluson — Perouse — Burning of Bibles in the valley of Pragela — Pomaret . . • • ■ . .163

Chapter X

School at Pomaret — Situation of the village — New church — Population — Hospital— Pastor Peyrani — Pastor Lantaret — Villeseche — Pastor Rostaing — Circuitous route — Maneille— Macel — Pastor Canton— Balsille— The Balsi . . . .173

Chapter XI

Journey to Prali — Ascent of Mont Salsa — Visit Rodoret — Meet a Dutch family among the rocks — Valley of St. Martin — Prali — t 'liaracter of the scenery and climate — Guigot — Pastor M. H. Gay — Felix Neff — Return to Pomaret — Terrible grandeur of the scenery below Rodoret— Mountain of white marble — Perera — Arrive at Pomaret ..... 185

Chapter XII

Danger to which Protestant ladies are exposed in Italy — A pious Vaudois peasant — Vaudois confidence — Dine with the assembled Pastors — Interesting subjects of discussion — Importance of sound theological edueation — Lausanne preferred to Geneva — Vaudois pastors sound in the faith— State of their education — Pastors' circulating library wanted— GraCitude for the interest taken in the Valley Churches by different bodies of Protestants — The Moderator ....... CONTENTS. XII

Chapter XIII

Vaudois simplicity and Roman superstition contrasted— Ancient usage — Apostolical succession — Episcopacy — Church polity of the Vaudois — Consistory — Elders — Board of executive — Synod — .'Moderator — Ordination — Classification of Parishes— Election of Pastors—Salaries — Generosity of the Pastors— Vaudois Liturgy 205

Chapter XIV

Ascent to Pramol — Pastor Vineon — Mutual kindness of the Vaudois — Bedroom broken into — View from Pramol — Catholic church converted into a Protestant School-bouse — Return by St. Germain, and St. Barthelemi — Colonel Beckwith — Vaudois hospitality — Service at the church of La Tour— Alpine Chalets and Sabbath— Sabbath evening scene — Leave the valleys — Character of the Vaudois — State of religion . . . . 224

Chapter XV

Leave Turin — Rivoli — Susa — Ascent of Mont Cenis — The Yselli s — Plain and highest peak of Mont Cenis — Hospice and Tavernettes— Resolution of the Vaudois — Descent by Lans-le-bour_r — St. Julien de Maurienne — Chambery — Arrive at Geneva . APPENDICES. I. — Zurich MS. of the Vaudois New Testament 248 II. — Vaudois Confession of Faith 251 III. — Letter from Oliver Cromwell to the Evangelical Can tons of Switzerland .....

Introduction

. The Vaudois, or, as they are commonly but erroneously designated, Waldenses, inhabit the lower portion of that division of the Cottian Alps which lies between Monte Viso and Mont Genevre, having the plains of Piedmont on the east, and the province of Dauphigny in France on the west. At the com mencement of their territory the low-lands terminate, and give place to chains of lofty mountains, which are intersected by deep, fertile, and beautiful valleys. These valleys are watered by rapid rivers and im petuous torrents, the collected waters of which join the Po, at a short distance from the town of Carmagnola. The most southerly of the valleys is that of Lu serne, which runs up in a westerly direction till it is lost in the Alpine region which separates Piedmont from France. It is divided by the Pelice, which has its source near Fort Mirabouc, to the north of Monte Viso ; and rushing along with great impetuosity, is augmented in its progress by numerous torrents from the mountains on either side. Of this valley, that i;

INTRODUCTION.

. of Rora, divided by the Lusernette, may be regarded as a branch. It is the shortest, but most seques tered of all. That of Angrogna, which commences at La Tour, is extremely narrow, running up between tremendous precipices and elevated mountain districts as far as the celebrated Pra del Tor, where, it sepa rates into two : the waters forming the torrents, flow ing from the ridge of mountains between Angrogna and Prali, as well as from parallel ridges which divide the former commune from those of Perouse, and Luserne. The valley of Perouse stretches towards the north-west, commencing nearly opposite to Pig nerol, and extending as far as the town of Perouse, from which it takes its name. Only that portion of it, however, which lies on the west side of the Clu son, belongs to the Vaudois : that on the east side is now exclusively inhabited by Roman Catholics, and joins the valley of Pragela, which was at one time Vaudois property, but is now also that of the Roman ists.

Beyond Perouse extends the valley of St. Martin, divided by the Germanesca. At some distance above the town of Perera, a branch of the vallev breaks off to the right, and runs up in the direction of the Basile, — the Vaudois Thermopylæ, — while the main division is continued beyond Prali, the most remote and wildest of all the valleys. Between the valleys of Luserne and Perouse, and east of the commune of Angrogna, lies the district of Prarustin, charmingly diversified by hill and dale, and abounding in rich and productive vineyards; while at the entrance of that of Luserne, is the

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 beautiful parish of St. Jean, combining the character of the plains of Piedmont with that of the valleys to which it forms the foreground. Formerly, the Vaudois also occupied extensive tracts in the marquisate of Saluzzo, and in the val leys in the neighbourhood of Susa : and such was the number of congregations in the valleys altogether, that not fewer than one hundred and forty barbes,* or pastors, assembled in synod ; but they were all extirpated from these places during the persecutions, and for ages there has not been one left to witness against the corruptions of Rome. The name and origin of the inhabitants of these valleys have been the subject of much dispute. Those who trace them to Peter Waldo, the Lyonese Reformer, have generally been satisfied with the similarity in sound, between Waldo and Waldenses, and have been strengthened in their opinion by the indiscriminate application of the term Waldenses, both by friends and foes, to those on both sides of the Cottian Alps who refused to receive the false doctrines, and comply with the corrupt practices of the church of Rome.

But a more rigid investigation of historical particulars has brought out the result, that, whatever these professors of a purer faith might have had in common, there were certain points on which they differed, and certain local references and relations by which they were distinguished from each other. * The term barbe, by which the Vaudois pastors were originally designated, properly signifies uncle, and was applied to them as a title of respect, just as magna was applied to females for the same reason. B

INTRODUCTION.

. 4 Against the derivation of the name from Waldo, it must be strenuously objected, that the most distant idea of it never was entertained by the inhabitants of the valleys themselves. Their most ancient documents know nothing of it, and their immemorial tradition is decidedly against it ; tracing, as such tradition unequivocally does, their existence as a separate and distinct people, protesting against the errors of Rome, ages before Waldo was born. In the " Noble Lesson," one of the most venerable of the ancient Vaudois productions, which must have been written, if not before, at least about the time of that reformer, the term is employed in its pure and original form, as pronounced by the people themselves, and not in the Frenchified form in which it now appears. And it is there applied to them as a sect which had already acquired universal noto riety ; identifying with them all who led a life of sanctity, according to the Divine commandments.

The passage is as follows : — " If any good man be found, Who loves God and fears Jesus Christ; Who will not slander, nor swear, nor lie, Nor commit adultery, nor kill, nor steal, Nor avenge himself of his enemy : They say, He is a Vaudes, and deserves to be punished."* Ill such connexion, if we abstract the local significa- * " Que sel se troba alcun bon que ame Dio e teme Jeshu Crist Que non volha maudire, ni jurar, ni mentir, Ni avoutrar, ni ancir, ni penre de l'autruy, Ni venjar-se de li sio enemis, Uh dion qu'es Vaudes et degne de punir."

INTRODUCTION.

. tion, the term is equivalent, as one of reproach, to Cathar, or Puritan, which had been so liberally applied to those in the north of Italy who served God in simplicity and sincerity, in contradistinction from the rest of their countrymen whose religion was taught by the commandments of men. It is true, both the antiquity and the genuineness of this document have been called in question, but, in my opinion, with out any valid reason. That it was written a.d. 1100, which was sixty or seventy years before the time of Waldo, has been generally believed, and is still stre nuously maintained, on the ground that the date 1100 actually occurs in it. And unquestionably, if this number of years stood absolutely by itself, unlimited by any qualifying circumstance in the context, the earlier antiquity of the poem must be regarded as completely established.

But it is only necessary to read the second line of the stanza in which it occurs, in order to perceive that the terminus a cjuu is not the birth of our Lord, but the period at which John wrote his first epistle. The words are these : " A thousand and one hundred years are fully accomplished Since it was written : We are i n the last time." * That reference is specifically had to 1 John ii. 18, and not to any other passage of the New Testament, there cannot, I imagine, be the shadow of a doubt, for the author afterwards quotes the words, " even now there are many antichrists," from the same verse. * " Ben ha mil eei't anu's npli entierm't Que so sc'pta : car sen al dene tip."

INTRODUCTION.

. What proves that the " Noble Lesson" must have been composed before Waldo had made much pro gress, is the statement, that " after the apostles were certain teachers, Who taught the way of Jesus Christ our Saviour, And these are found even at this present day, But they are known to very few." The coadjutors of Waldo speedily multiplied, not only in France, but in Germany, the Low Count ties, and Bohemia ; and were known everywhere as the promulgators of what was deemed a new faith. It must further be remarked, that the name Vaudes, or Vaudois, cannot have any etymological connexion with Waldo. The latter term is derived from the German Waid, a wood or forest ; whereas the former signifies a Valley-man, and secondarily, one living in such locality, and at the same time professing doctrines adverse to the church of Rome.

It is obviously in this acceptation that it came to be appropriated to those who inhabited the valleys of Piedmont. That the appellative was anciently employed with a local reference, is evident from the statement made by Ebrardus of Bethune, in the book which he wrote against those whom he calls Waldenses, only adopting a metaphorical instead of the literal signification of the term. " Some of them," he says, " call themselves Vallenses (not Waldenses) because they dwell in the valley of tears."* And in like manner, Bernardus, the abbot of Fontcaude, says of * " Quidem autem qui Vallenses se appellant, eo quod in Valle lachrymarum maneant."

INTRODUCTION.

. 7 them, " They are called Valdenses, namely, from a deep valley, because of the deep and dark errors in which they are involved."* To the antiquity of the Vaudois as a body not symbolizing with Rome, testimony is borne by Marco Aurelio Rovenco, grand prior of St. Roc in Turin, and one of the lords of the valley of Luserne, who was commissioned to inquire into their history, and who must have had opportunities of consulting any documents relating to them which might be found both among the Vaudois themselves, and in the ducal archives. In his work, intituled, " Narra tione dell' Introduttione delle Heresie nelle Valli, Turin, 1632," he states, that the heresy of the eighth century (by which he means the doctrines of Claude) had continued in the valleys during the ninth and tenth centuries ; that the Vaudois were no new sect, but only the revival of an old one which had preceded it ; and that it was impossible to ascertain with certainty at what time it had been introduced into the valleys, j- The amount of testimony which he received from themselves was to the same effect.

" They declared," he says, " that it had not been within some fifty years merely that they had had the knowledge of the pure truth, but that it was impossible for any one to be ignorant, that, for more than * " — dicti sunt Valdenses, nimirum a valle densa, eo quod profun dis et densis errorum tenebris involvantur." f " Che nel nono seculo non vi fu nuova setta, ma ben nuovo fomentatore delle precedenti — non si puo haver certezza del suo ingressi* nelle Valli." — Leger, p. 174.

INTRODUCTION.

. five or six centuries they had taught the same." And he adds, in proof of their early existence as a religious body: "No edict can be found of any prince who gave permission for the introduction of this religion into these parts. The princes only grant permission to their subjects to continue in the same religion which they had received from their ancestors." The monk Belvedere, who was despatched by the pope on a mission into the valleys in the year 1630, mentions, as the result of his inquiries into the subject, that " the valley of Angrogna had always been inhabited by heretics."* And they are described by Henry de Corvie as " an ancient race of men, inhabiting the Alps and their vicinity, who have always been fond of ancient usages."*! Nor must the testimony of Reinerus the inquisitor, who flourished less than a century from the time of Waldo, be omitted ; for whatever apparent contradiction there may, at first sight, appear to be in his ascribing the origin of the Lyonists to that reformer, and yet asserting the sect to be of longer duration than any other — alleging the opinions of those who traced it to the time of pope Sylvester, and even to that of the apostles themselves, still the fact is incontrover- * " Le Valli di Angrogna sempre ed in ogni tempo hanno havuto heretici." — Leger, p. 169. t " Hi homines sunt seducti ab antiqua progenie simplicium homi num, qui Alpes et viciniam habitant, et semper amant antiqua." Muston, p. 195.

INTRODUCTION.

. 9 tible, that he does admit its diutumity.* Though his object is to show that it was to Waldo the Poor Men of Lyons attached themselves, and thus formed themselves into a new sect, yet he acknowledges that Waldo was not the originator of the doctrines which they held. These doctrines had previously been held by others, whose origin was unknown, but which some referred to a high antiquity, even to the apos tolic age itself. Instead of contradicting the claim to antiquity, he clearly admits it as the ground of his assertion, quia diuturnior. To the ancient histories of the Vaudois no appeal can be made, as they were all collected and destroyed by their enemies during the persecutions. But the impression left upon the minds of those who had seen these documents quite accords with the fore going statements.

In a manuscript obtained by Morland, and dated a.d. 1587, in which the question is put : How long they had inhabited the valleys ? the reply is : " On the actual authority of many histories, about five hundred years ; but, according to our belief, from time immemorial, and handed down from father to son, from the time of the apostles. "f * " Inter omnes sectas quæ sunt, vel fuerunt, non est pernitiosior Ecclesiæ Dei, quam Pauperum de Lugduno, tribus de causis. Primo, quia diuturnior ; quidam dicunt quod duraverit a tempore Svhestri, alii dicunt a tempore apostolorum." t " Circa cinque cento anni, come si pao raccoglier da molte his toric ma secondo la credenza ce gli hahitanti delle Valli, da tempo imiuemoriale, et da padre in figlivolo indi dal tempo de gl' apos toli." — Leger, p. 162. B

INTRODUCTION.

. 10 On the supposition that they occupied the valleys prior to the ninth century (and there is no proof to the contrary) it must have been impossible for them not to have received a fresh impulse from the labours and writings of Claude, bishop of Turin, who was a diligent student of the Bible, and whom Waddington justly calls " the Protestant of the ninth century." They lived in his diocese, and must have been among the first to give their adhesion to the doctrines which he taught. Of these doctrines the following* are some of the principal : — That Christ is the only head of the church ; that bishops and presbyters were originally equal ; that traditions are worthless, and to be held in detestation ; that we are saved by faith alone ; that there is no merit in good works ; that the church is fallible ; that prayers for the dead are useless ; that the worship of saints, the cross, images' relics, &c, is sinful.

So thoroughly protestant was this zealous and distinguished prelate, that Bellar mine himself is forced to acknowledge, that " the identical belief which he taught, and which was publicly taught and practised in those valleys of Piedmont in the year 820, was the very same which is at this day professed and owned by the Reformed churches."* Jonas of Orleans, who wrote in that year against Claude, expressly states, that he was most careful to preserve his whole diocese in his sen timents.f Nor did he content himself with merely preaching and writing against the superstitions which had been introduced : in the year 823, he ordered * Leger, Part i. p. 174. f Ib;d-

INTRODUCTION.

. 11 all the images, and even that of the cross, to be cast out of the churches, and committed to the flames.* That the Vaudois should long have lived unno ticed, and without coining into collision with the ecclesiastical power, cannot be deemed surprising, when we consider the secluded locality which they occupied ; the independence of the Papal jurisdiction which the diocese of Turin enjoyed; the sanction which had been given to the doctrines of Claude, not only by his sovereign, Louis the Meek, but also by the Gal lican bishops assembled at the synod of Paris ; the liberty of thinking for themselves in matters of reli gion, which the people of the north of Italy con tinued to maintain ; the controversies respecting the eucharist, predestination, &c. ; as well as the crusades, which almost entirely absorbed public attention.

It was not till the twelfth and thirteenth cen turies that they were brought into notice in connection with the stir created by the appearance of the Paulicians, Patarini, Cathari, Albigenses, and Leon ists, especially the last mentioned, who agreed with them on many important points, and who appear to have been on terms of fellowship with them. In consequence of the daring attempt of Arnold of Brescia to effect a revolution both civil and ecclesiastical, the widely extending dissemina tion of the principles preached by Peter Waldo, Peter Bruys, and Henry of Lausanne, and the immense increase of those who were branded with the name of heretics, measures were at length taken to arrest *Mosheim, Soames' edit., vol. ii. p. 231.