The Salzburgers and their descendants : being the history of a colony of German (Lutheran) Protestants, who emigrated to Georgia in 1734 and settled at Ebenezer, twenty-five miles above the city of Savannah

Front matter

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Chapter I

The causes whlcli led to the Colonization of Americor— French Colony in Florida — Colony of Massachusetts Bay^- The Puritans — Intolerance of the Church of England — The Salzburgers— Contrast between them and the Puritans — Iiyustice done to the former — ^Tbe Origin of the Salzburgers — Their persecutions by the dukes of Savoy — They embrace the Doctrines of the Befcrmation — Cruelty toward their pastor — The Valleys of Teffereck — Their Eetreats discovered — Mixlmilian Gudolph — Salzburgers before the Bishop's Court at Hallein — Kenewed persecutions — Sympathy of Protestant States — Elector of Brandenburg — Corpus Evangelicum — Return of the TefTereckers — Duplicity and Treachery of the Catholic Authorities — Penalties imposed on the Salzburgers — Banishment and Confiscation of their Estates — Severe Sufferings of the Exiles — Joseph Schaitberger — Remarkable conversion of his daughter — Schaitberger as an author — The Confession of Faith — The Salzburg Emigrant's Song — Persecutions under Leopold — Archbishopric of Salzburg — The City of Salzburg — Thirty thousand Protestants exiled — Their reception by Protostant States Page 19

Chapter II

Charter granted by Charles II. to the Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia — The design of the colony — General Oglethorpe — English settlers arrive at Savannah —

" Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge" — Interest on behalf of the Salzburgers — Arrangements to remove the Safeburgers to Georgia — Fifty families engaged for the first transportation — Provision made by the " Society" — Liberality of the " Trustees" — First company of emigrants — Love of country — Departure from their homes — Incidents of their journey — The city of Augsburg — Hospitalities extended to the Salzburgers — Beoommence their travels — Rev. S. Urlsperger — Effects of the sojourn of the Salzburgers at Augsburg — Revival of religion — Further Incidents — Arrival in the city of Frankfort — Conduct of the Burgers — Procession — Entrance into the city — Hospitality of the inhabitants — Departure from Frankfort — The Maine and Rhine — Arrival at Rotterdam — Rev. Messrs. Bolzius and Gronau— Departure from Rotterdam — Arrival at Dover, in England — Impressions made by the emigrant; on their English benefactors — Preparations for leaving England — Departure of the Purisborg, first ship with German emigrants Page 44

Chapter III

The Salzburgers at sea — Conduct during the voyage — Arrival at Charleston, S. C. — General Oglethorpe — Departure from Charleston — Arrival at Savannah— Sentiments of the emigrants — Their reception at Savannah — Notes of Mr. Bolzius — Baron Von Reck — Conduct of the Indians — Disembarkation of the Salzburgers — Liberality of General Oglethorpe — Expedition into the country — Description of the country — Devout conduct of the Salzburgers — Ebenezer — Foundation of the colony — Location of their settlement — Uehee Indians — St. Matthew's Parish — Lord Effingham — Town laid out — Salzburgers remove to their new home — Impressions in relation to the nature of the country — Baron Yon Reek's enthusiastic description — Real character of the country — Assignment of lots — Hardships incident to colonization — Scarcity of mechanics and materials for building — Other trials — Sickness and death among the colonists

— Extracts from Mr. Bolzius's journal — Influence of affliction — ^Arrival of a second company of Salzburgera — Improvement in the condition of the colony — Progress of the town, Ac Page 67

Chapter IV

General Oglethorpe visita England — Favourable condition of the colony — Trustees determine to send out reinforcements — Aid from British Parliament — Character of the colonists engaged — Highlanders and Salzburgers — Liberal terms proposed by the Trustees — Captain Hermsdorff and Baron Von Beck — The Trustees charter the "London Merchant" and the " Symond" — The " great embarkation" — English and German emigrants — Moravians under Bishop Nitschman — John and Charles "Wesley — Departure from England — Storm at sea — Effect of the conduct of the Germans upon Mr. Wesley — Testimony of Dr. Jackson, President of British Conference — Mr. Wesley's spiritual condition — Conference with Mr. Spangenburg — Influence of the Moravians — Rev. Peter Boehler — Salzburgers confounded with the Moravians — Mistake of Mr. Bancroft — Removal of Moravians to Pennsylvania — Mr. Wesley's religions experience — Extract from his journal — Subsequent visit to England — His conversion — Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans — Mr. Wesley's preaching after his conversion — Forms " Societies," the basis of Wesleyan Methodism — The Methodist Church a fruit of the Lutheran Reformation — Arrival of the " embarkation'' at Savannah — Settlement of Salzburgers on St. Simon's Island — Views of the Germans in relation to war — Reinforcement at Ebenezer — Lutheran settlement at Frederica — Rev. U. Dreisler:— Revs. Bolzius and Gronan visit Savannah — Conference with General Oglethorpe — Salzburgers dissatisfied with their location, and desire a change — General Oglethorpe visits Ebenezer — Reasons of the Salzburgers for desiring to remove — General Oglethorpe's advice and kindness to the Salzburgers— Change of location determined upon 73

Chapter V

New Ebenezer — Its location, and the plan upon nhicli is was laid out — The environs of the town — Its rapid growth — Municipal and other regulations — Rules originally adopted for the goTemment of the congregation — The duties of pastors set forth — Elders and wardens — Parochial schools — Church members, Ac. — Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg — Salaries of the pastors — Their responsibilities — Relation to the church in Germany — Sale of rum prohibited, and the introduction of Negro slaves — Effects of these regulations on the colony at Ebenezer — Mr. Bolzins, Rev. George Whitfield, and Baron Von Reck on slavery — Position of Mr. Bolzius — Views of Hon. James Habersham and Rev. S. TJrlsperger — Controversy settled, and slavery allowed — The Salzburgers and the Lutheran Church in Germany — Liberality of the latter — Education — " Bethany" church — Favourable condition of the settlement — Religious character of the inhabitants — Their industry, frugality, &c. — Letter of Mr. Bolzius — Rev. George Whitfield at Ebenezer — His testimony in favour of the Salzburgers — He visits the Orphan House — Letter of Thomas Jones — Principal settlers at Ebenezer up to 1741 — The invasion of Georgia by Spaniards — Another letter of Mr. Bolzius — Extracts from his journal — Statement of Mr. Benjamin Martyn — New arrivals — Emigrants bind themselves as servants — Frederick Helfenstein — Lutheran church in Savannah founded — Rev. U. Driesler — His death — Rev. Mr. Zublii — The town of Frederica — Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg visits Ebenezer — Mr. Gronau — "Jerusalem" church at Ebenezer — " Zion's" church — Extracts from Mr. Bolzius's journal — Death of Mr. Gronau , Page 90

CHAPTER VL

State of feeling at Ebenezer consequent on the death of Mr. Gronau — Mr. Bolzius writes to Germany for an assistant —

His humility and devotion — The church in Germany send over another pastor — Rer. H. H. Lembke arrives at Ebenezer — His reception — Marries the widow of Mr. Gronau — Mr. Bolzins retains his position — Mr. Bolzius, as trustee, erects mills — Silk culture introduced at Ebenezer — Mr. Amatis of Piedmont — Mulberry-trees planted at Ebenezer — Success of the Salzburgers in raising silk — Bridge and causeway over Ebenezer Creek — New church and school-house erected^Pastoral labours — Extent of the field to be cultivated — Goshen church — Abercom — Extension of the settlements around Ebenezer— ^Demand for more ministerial labour — Rev, C. Rabenhorst arrives at Ebenezer — Mr. Bolzius's letter on his arrival — Change of views — Provision for the support of the new pastor — Condition of the colony — Mr. Bolzius assigns his trusteeship to Mr. Lembke — Copy of the deed of trust — ^The " Trust" to be transferred — Subsequent change — Erection of another mill — Mr. Bolzius begins to decline in health — The symbolical hooka — Proper views in relation to the " Fathers" — Confessions and catechisms — Deep-toued piety of the first pastors at Ebenezer — Mr. Bolzius's labours — His letters — Rev. S. TJrlsperger and Dr. Zeigenhagen — Close of his ministerial duties — His illness and death — Mr. Bolzius's family... Page 125

CHAPTER Til.

State of affairs at Ebenezer consequent upon the death of Mr. Bolzius — Increase of population and of ministerial labour — Transfer of trust to Mr. Rabenhorst — Harmony between the two pastors — Jerusalem church built at Ebenezer — Description of the edifice — The Swan, Luther's coat of arms — Death of Mr. Lembke — His character as a preacher — Gottlieb Snider — Rev. 0. F. Triebner sent over as successor to Mr. Lembke — His character — Marries a daughter of Mr. Lembke — Injudicious selection — Division in the church — Controversy between Messrs. Rabenhorst and Triebner— Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg arrives at Ebenezer — Object of his mission — His prudent and judicious con-

14 GONTEKTP.

(luot— Tho grounds of dispute stated — Elders prefer obarges against Mr. Triebner — Origin of the difficulty— Dr. Muhlenberg's efforts to reconcile the parties — Hia views of the case — ^Opinion of Mr. Triebner — Plan of settlement proposed — He con dilation — Dr. Muhlenberg's reflections — His opinion of Mr. Habonhorst — Exculpates him from all censure — His estimation of Mr. Kabenhorst as a man and as a preacher — Dr. Muhlenberg's labours among the Salzburgers — Saves the church property from alienation Page 148

CHAPTER VIII.

Dr. Muhlenberg still at Ebenezer — Church discipline — Views and practices of the founders of American Lutheran Church — Evils arising from want of discipline — False views on the subject — The discipline adopted at Ebenezer in 1V74, and duties of pastors, ofiicers, and church members defined — List of church members who signed the discipline, as certified by Dr. Muhlenberg — Settlements at Abercorn and Goshen — Mr. Knox buys the lands at Abercorn — Moravian missionaries brought over to preach to the Negroes — Labours of the Moravians at Goshen — Fears of Dr. Muhlenberg — Moravians not successful — Advice to them by^ one of the Salzburgers — Pears of Dr. Muhlenberg not realized — Moravians leave tho settlement — Dr. Muhlenberg's successful labours at Ebenezer — He leaves Georgia for Philadelphia — Condition of the congregation at Philadelphia — Keflections 164

CHAPTER IX.

Affairs at Ebenezer after Dr. Muhlenburg's departure — Rabenhorst and Triebner — Pastors cease to be Trustees, and the trust transferred to the church officers — ^^Ir. Kabenhorst created first pastor — State of feeling between the two pastors — Inventory of church property — Its estimated value — Church funds — ^Views of the propriety of creating thom — A case of necessity with the Salzburgers — General state of the colony- — Prosperity of Ebenezer — A fancy sketch — Commercial relations of Ebenezer — Gradual extension of the settlements — New settlers come in — Commencement of the Kevolution — Stamp Act and tax on tea — State of the public mind in the Province of Georgia — Position of the Salzburgers — Prorincial Congress in Savannah — Salzburgers in that Congress — Majority of them side with the Colonists — Protest of a portion of the Salzburgers — Adherents to the Crown in St. Matthew's Parish — Patriotic and noble sentiments of the Salzburgers — Mr. Triebner sides with the Crown — Judicious course of Mr. Rabenhorst — His long and successful labours, and death Page 188.

CHAPTER X.

Descent of the British upon Georgia — General Provost takes Savannah — British posts along the river — Mr. Triebner takes the oath of allegiance to the crown, and conducts troops to Ebenezer — A garrison established under Major Maltland — Proclamation issued by Major Maitland — Some of the Salzburgers take "protections" — Majority of the Salzburgers Whigs — Governor Treutlen — Holsendorf — John and Samuel Stirk — John Schnider — Strohaker — Jonathan and Gottlieb Schnider — Jonathan Rahn — Ernest Zittrauer — Joshua and Jacob Helfenstein — Sufferings of the Salzburgers during the war — Tories — Eichel and Martin Dasher — Marauding parties — Frederick Helfenstein and his two sons — General Wayne — The Salzburgers forced to abandon their homes — Sufferings at Ebenezer — Prisoners — Sergeants Jasper and Newton — Sacrilegious act of the British toward the church at Ebenezer — Other acts of cruelty — Mistaken policy of the British — Sad influence of the licentiousness of the British troops upon the morals of Ebenezer — Pastor Triebner — His removal to England and death — General character of the pastors at Ebenezer — Triebner an exception — Dispensations of Providence — General Wayne attempts the redaction of Savannah — British troops withdrawn from Ebenezer — General Wayne makes his head-quarters there — British evacuate Savannah — Salzburgers return to Ebenezer — Scene of desolation — Condition of the church — Congregation without a pastor — Petition sent to Germany — Dr. Muhlenburg's concern for the Salzburgers — A minister visits Ebenezer — Dr. Muhlenburg's letter — Vindication of Mr. Triebner — Pastor to be sent in the spring — -Despondency among the Salzburgers — Darkness begins to disappear — New pastor about to be sent Page 201

CHAPTER XI.

The arrival of a pastor anticipated — Solicitude on the subject — The Rev, John Earnest Bergman arrives at Ebenezer — His early history — His qualifications for the ministry — State of afTairs at Ebenezer and Savannah — Mr. Bergman's defects — Parochial schools — Mr. Bernhardt — Mr. Probst — Mr. Ernst — Increase of pastoral labours — Church in Savannah — Letter from Mr. Scheuber — Correct views of the sacraments — Usages of the Lutheran Church — Mr. Bergman's marriage — His family — Mr. Bergman as a scholar — His correspondence — Parsonage at Ebenezer — Bishop Francis Asbury — His letter to Mr. Bergman — Improvement in temporal affairs — Bad habits among the Salzburgers — Want of church discipline — Disaffection toward the church — Members withdraw — Ebenezer Bridge — Ebenezer becomes the county site — Effects of this measure — County site changed to Springfield— The mills — Demand for English preaching— Letter from Bishop Asbury — Mistaken policy — Methodists in Savannah — Obligations of the Methodists to the Lutheran Church — Rev. Hope Hull — Jonathan Jackson — Josiah Handle — John Garvin — Rev. S. Dunwoody — First Methodist Society in Savannah — Mr. Bergman relinquishes the church in Savannah — Letter to Rev. H. Holcombe — Savannah church without a pastor — Rev. S. A. Mealy — Salzburgers in other churches — Jesse Leo visits Ebenezer — Mr. Bergman curtails his labours — "Bethel" church erected — Personal difficulty — Letter of Rev. J. McVean — Efforts to proselyte — Las state of morals —

Want of difcipUne— Mr. Bergman's grief at the condition of the colony— External prosperity— Spifitual declension —Death of Mrs. Neidliiiger— Mr. Bergman's health declihefl —His death...... pa^^ 218

CHAPTER XII.

Gloomy prospects at Ehenezer— Rev. C. F. Bergman— His early religions sentiments — Calvinistic tendency — Attends the Georgia Presbytery — Letter to Rev. M. Ranch — Conflicting views — Becomes a member of Presbytery — Receives a call to St. Matthew's Lutheran Church — Dr. J, Bachman visits Savannah and Ebenezer — Interview and correspondence with Mr. Bergman — Mr. Bergman changes his views, joins South Carolina Synod, and becomes pastor at Ebenezer — His piety and qualification for the work — State of the congregation — Methodist and Baptist churches organized — Methodist church at Goshen — Rev. J. 0. Andrew — Delusion — A false Messiah — Strange scene at Goshen — Sad results — Rev. L. Myera locates at Goshen — His character, labours, and death — Temperance movement at Ebenezer — Mr. Bergman introduces English preaching — His marriage — His children — Temporal and spiritual prosperity — Emigration of Salzburgers to other counties- Church in Savannah — Rev. S. A. Mealy — Rev. N. Aldrich — New church in Savannah — Rev. A. J. Karn — German congregation — Rer. W. Epping — Disaffection ' at Ebenezer— Other churches built up by Salzburgers — Mr. Bergman as a scholar — Trials — Indifference to education — Mr. Bergman's sickness and death — Rev. J. D. Schenck — Rev. E. A. BoUes — Difficulties at Ebenezer — Rev. P. A. Strobel — Death of Mrs. Bergman — Rev. E. Eieffer — Rev. G. Haltiwanger — Rev. J. Austin — Present condition of the church —"Father Snider." 249

CHAPTER XIIL

The town of Ebenezer — Its present appearance — The results of this experiment at colonization — The colonies in New

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England, Virginia, an4 the Carolinas — Koyal Histoiical Society of Austria — ^Inquiries as to the fate of the Salzburgers answered — Religious and social influence of the Salzburgers upon the other colonists — Bellgions sentiments of the first pastors — Dr. Hazelius's testimony — Present condition and pursuits of their descendants — Effingham county — General reflections — Conclusion.... Page 278

THE

Chapter I

The causes which led to the Colonization of America — French Colony in Florida — Colony of Massachusetts Bay — The Puritans — Intolerance of the Church of England — The Salzljurgers — Contrast between them and the Puritans — Injustice done to the former^-The Origin of the Salzburgers — Their Persecutions by the Dukes of Savoy — They embrace the Doctrines of the Keformation — Cruelty toward their Pastors— The Valleys of Teffereck — Their Retreats discovered — Miximilian Gudolph — Salzburgers before the Bishop's Court at Halloin — Benewed Persecutions — Sympathy of Protestant States — Elector of Brandenburg — Corpus Evangelicum — Return of the Teffereckers— Duplicity and Treachery of the Catholic Authorities — Penalties imposed on the Salzburgers — Banishment and Confiscation of their Estates — Severe Sufferings of the Exiles — Joseph Schaitberger — Remarkable Conversion of his Daughter — Schaitberger as an Author — The Confession of Faith — The Salzburg Emigrant's Song — Persecution under Leopold — Archbishopric of Salzburg — The City of Salzburg — Thirty Thousand Protestants Exiled — Their Reception by Protestant States.

The colonial history of our country derives much of its interest from the fact, that many of the early settlers were those who had been expatriated for conscience' sake and were brought hither by their high veneration for the gospel. Forsaking their country and their homes — severing all those ties which bind man so strongly to the place of his nativity — abandoning the comforts and endearments of civilized life, they came to the -wilderness of America, that they might enjoy without restraint that great birthright of the immortal mind — "freedom to worship God" at " a faith's pure shrine."

From the middle of the sixteenth to the latter part of the eighteenth century, companies of emigrants reached our shores from Great Britain and different parts of continental Europe, who were driven hither by the relentless persecutions of their religious adversaries. It is well known that those who came from England were outlawed by the bigotry and intolerance of the Established Church. By the act of Uniformity, passed in the reign of Edward VI., the Church of England attempted to conform the opinions of all British subjects, as well as their modes of worship, to her Canons and Liturgy. As might have been expected, these efforts to enslave the human mind and shackle the conscience were boldly resisted, and hundreds and thousands preferred imprisonment, exile, and even death, rather than endanger their spiritual interests by embracing error, or submitting their wills to "the commandments and ordinances of men." Those who came from the continent of Europe,

AND TlIEIIl DESCENDANTS. 21 were Protestants, who had emhraced the doctrines of the Refortnation, as ta:iight by Luther or Calvin, as distinguished from the doctrines of the Church of Rome, and who were consequently driven into exile, by the prescriptive and relentless spirit, which has always characterized that churfih. .

As early as the year 1564, a colony of Huguenots, or French Protestants, was planted in Florida by John Ribault, under the patronage of the noble and philanthropic Admiral Coligny. The cruel sufferings endured by these devoted Christians during the reign of the imbecile Charles IX. and his perfidious mother, Catherine de Medicis, compelled them to forsake the vine-clad hills and the beautiful vales of France, to seek in the wilderness of the West, a retreat from the sword and fagot of the persecutor. Of the unhappy fate of this colony it is not necessary to speak, further than to remark, that it was entirely destroyed in 1565 by Pedro Melendez, the inhuman agent of the bigoted Philip II. of Spain, who murdered all the colonists, and completely devastated their settlement.

On the 22d of December, 1620, the colony of Massachusetts was commenced by the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth Rock. These venerable men, as is well known, were from England, where, by their rigid virtues and their resistance to the spiritual domination of

22 THE SALZBURGBRS the Established Church, they had acquired the name of Puritans, then a term of reproach, but now synonymous with unostentatious piety, sterling integrity, and uncompromising opposition to every species of despotism ; and which shall be forever identified with the great principles of civil and religious freedom. By asserting the rights of conscience, and by refusing their assent to the unjust and unreasonable pretensions set up by the Church of England under the sanction of the British parliament, they became obnoxious to the displeasure of their civil and religious rulers. Arraigned before the Court of High Commission, the Puritans boldly asserted the principles of religious toleration, and claimed the free exercise of their judgment in all matters of faith. But in the liberal views that they entertained, they were too far in advance of the age in which they lived. They were consequently condemned. Hundreds of their ministers were deposed and deprived of their livings, and with their flocks, sentenced to imprisonment and the loss of country, and even of life.

It was for these causes and under these circumstances that the Pilgrims quitted the shores of England, and sought, among the savages of the New World, the free exercise of those privileges which they had been denied in the Old. Nor were they disappointed. Infusing

.AXD THEIR DESCENDANTS. 23 their principles into all their institutions, civil, political, and religious, they prepared the way for the establishment of that great fabric of American freedom, Tyhioh is now the pride of th,eir posterity and the admiration of the civilized world. And by the influence which they exerted in shaping the destines of this republic, they have erected for themselves a monument which shall be coequal with our national existence.

Without stopping to notice other colonies of less importance, we pass on to the one which is more especially the subject of this little volume. We allude to the colony of Salzburgers, which was planted in Georgia in 1733. It has often been a matter of surprise, that so little notice has been taken of this colony in the various histories of our country which have been published from time to time. Like the Pilgrim Fathers, the Salzburgers were the victims of religious persecution: like them they were driven from their country and their homes on account of their unwavering attachment to the principles of the gospel; and there is a striking parellel in their characters and their early history. If the Puf itans could boast of the venerable Robinson, as their pastor, the Salzburgers could point to their Bolzius and Gronau. If the Puritans were proud of Brewster and Carver, of Bradford, and Winslow, and Standish,

24 THE SALZBUEGEEf the Salzburgers had their Von Reck, and Vatt, and Hermsdorf, and Dreisler, all men of mark, and who, in point of energy, firmness of principle, powers of endurance, and upright and consistent character, would compare favourably with any of the fathers of New England. But while the story of the Pilgrims has been a fruitful theme for the historian and the poet, the Salzburgers have either been entirely overlooked, or their history has been sketched very hastily and unsatisfactorily. This may be owing, in a measure, to the comparatively secluded spot which they selected for their settlement, together with the quietness and unobtrusiveness of their character. Beside which, the prevalence of the German language among them, the little intercourse which they cultivated with their English neighbours, and the preservation of their records in their native language, have no doubt all tended to obscure them, and deprive them of that position in the annals of our country to which their sufferings, their virtues, and their influence so justly entitle them.

The most satisfactory accounts of this interesting people which have been published in this country, are to be found in the Sbllections of the Georgia Historical Society, Bancroft's History of the United States, Dr. Hazelius' History of the American Lutheran Church, and Dr. Steven's History of Georgia. But while these authors have done much to rescue the Salzburgers from the obscurity into which they had been permitted to pass, it was not to have been expected, from the very character of these publications, that ample justice could have been done to the subject.

In attempting a particular history of the Salspurgers, it must be admitted that the work is attended with difficulty. Many of their records have been»lost or destroyed, and those which have been preserved are so voluminous, and at the same time comprise so much matter that is of very little historical importance, that it would require months, if not years, of patient research to investigate them thoroughly. All ■that we shall aim at, therefore, will be, to notice briefly the origin of the Salzburgers, and the immediate causes which led to the planting of the colony in Georgia, with an account of their settlement at Ebenezer, and so much of their subsequent history as may be deemed of general

» interest.

The Salzburgers were descended from the Vallenses, a name derived from the Alpine valleys of Piedmont, and which was applied to all who had emigrated into that region, espe-

*ciallyfrom the East. The Vallenses had, for several centuries prior to the Reformation, oppqped the corruptions of the Church of Rome, and had consequently exposed themselves to

26 THE SALZBURfiEHS severe persecutions, especially at the hands of the Dukes of Savoy, who waged against them a war of extermination. We may properly enumerate in their history ten bloody persecutions, from the establishment of their church in the commencement of the fifteenth century, until their exodus, which occurred toward the middle of the eighteenth century. To escape the dangers to which they were exposed, and to enjoy the free exercise of their religion, they were compelled to secrete themselves in the most inaccessible mountains of Dauphine in France, and the Alps of Switzerland and the Tyrol. Here, in their mountain retreats, secluded from the enjoyments of more civilized life, amid the wild majesty and grandeur of nature, they worshipped God in the true simplicity of the gospel, holding communion with Him, "who prefers above all temples the upright heart and pure;" and acquiring continually, by a faithful improvement of their advantages, a fitness for that kingdom where the foot of the oppressor shall never enter, and the conflicts of the faithful shall end in everlasting peace and glory.

Nor were they content in seeking their own improvement: embarrassing as their circumstances no doubt were, they felt that it was their duty, to embrace every opportunity to impart to others those religious truths which they had derived from the sacred Scriptures. Hence, as far as their situation would permit, they were constantly engaged in efforts to disseminate the doctrines of Christianity among the untutored inhabitants of those mountainous regions. And their labour of love was not in vain; for through their instructions, and more especially by the purity of their lives, hundreds were won to the cause of truth.

But this favourable state of things, which had continued for many years, was interrupted in the commencement of the seventeenth century. The doctrines of the Reformation, as taught by Luther and Calvin, having been proclaimed throughout Europe, found their way to the retreats of these devoted Christians ; and panting, as they no doubt did, for clearer views of religious truth, they readily embraced the doctrines of the reformed faith, and identified themselves with the friends of evangelical religion. When, therefore, the Church of Rome determined to stop the progress of the Reformation, by persecuting and if need be, by exterminating all who favoured it, these devoted people again became the subjects of Popish superstition and rage. They were hunted like wild beasts by the emissaries of Rome, and made to suffer every cruelty, and indignity which the malice of man could possibly devise. One of their ministers, Anthony Brassus, was decapitated, and, as if to add insult to injury, his head was nailed to his pulpit ; others were scourged with such severity that they expired at the whipping-post; and every pastor who fell into the hands of the priests was put to death under the most revolting circumstances. Nor were the lay members of these churches more fortunate than their spiritual shepherds. Some were blown up with gunpowder, others were driven into barns and houses, and suffocated, or made to perish amid the flames of their own dwellings. Neither age nor sex procured exemption from the cruelties of these inhuman monsters ; and nothing but the providential escape of a small number, saved this entire people from extermination.