I cannot sufficiently implore the Protestants of ready, on the very first symptoms of a determination Great Britain to be constantly on the alert, and to crush the Vaudois, to come forward and rouse the British Lion in their defence.+ dren. I observe a strong tendency in parents, the more likely we are, with God's blessing, to sucotherwise well informed, to lay their children's | ceed.* sins to the account of the bad company into which they have fallen. When a child of the family sins in a stranger's presence, how eagerly will the affronted mother put in the excuse, that bad boys have taught her child this habit. True it is, "evil communications corrupt good manners;" but the contact of evil from without is but an aggravation of the evil which has its independent spring within. Parents miss the mark, when their regard is diverted from the inherent sinfulness of their own child to the effects of a bad example. Attend to both, but most to the deepest and most dangerous. A parent's instinctive love for his own child is made an instrument of the devil to turn his attention from the point where his efforts to correct might be most effectual. Be not deceived; your own child is not better than others. These bitter roots were not all sown by the bad example of others. They have sprung up native in the soul of your own child. Fanned by a tainted breath, and moistened by contact with a putrid stream-" the course of the world"— they may have grown more rank; but they have sprung in an evil heart. Deceive not yourselves-lay not a flattering unction to your souls, by throwing all the blame on others. Concentrate your pains and your prayers on the point of danger-even the sinful heart of your own child. Never cease either the pains or the prayers, till you see that hard heart flowing down like water, under the beams of a Saviour's love. As many promising young men are prevented, by poverty, from prosecuting their studies for the minis try, and as the Table has no available funds at its disposal for their support, the moderator earnestly recommends the institution of bursaries for their assistance. These should be of two kinds; the larger ones, amounting to five hundred francs (twenty) guineas) annually, being devoted to the support of students at the Evangelical Academy of Geneva; the cluding board, or to one hundred francs without it, smaller ones, amounting to four hundred francs, inbeing destined for the support of scholars prosecuting their preliminary studies at the College of La Torre. I think it requires only to be known that for the sum of four pounds three shillings and fourmaintained at the Vaudois college till his preliminary pence, paid annually for six years, a student can be studies are completed, to induce many benevolent persons to place such bursaries at the disposal of the Vaudois Table for the support of individual students. Another object of deep interest to the Vaudois Table. parish throughout the valleys. The number of such is the establishment of a female school in every schools at present in existence is nine; thus leaving six parishes still unprovided. One of these schools, including rent and the schoolmistress' salary, is only five hundred francs per annum. For assistance ren-1 dered in any of these ways, the Waldensian pastors would be exceedingly grateful; but if asked to suggest one particular object on which the members of our Church might concentrate all their energies, I am fully convinced, from long and earnest conversa tions with the officers of the Table on the subject, that they would recommend the raising of a salary for the support of two assistant ministers, to act as evangelists in the valleys. The sum required for this would be fifty pounds per annum. In addition! to the fifteen parish churches, there are no less than ten others in good repair throughout the valleys; in all of which pastors might be settled with great advantage to the community, were it not for an edict MUCH has been already done for them, but they which forbids their increase. There is no law, howgreatly stand in need of more; and being too poor to ever, to forbid the employment of suffragans. Could contribute themselves, they can only pray that the the requisite funds be provided, one of these would Lord would put it into the hearts of their richer officiate regularly at each of the ten churches in brethren in other countries to do it for them. Rus- rotation, or would be appointed to divide his services sia and Prussia have contributed to build their hos- among those situated in the most mountainous re pitals; England has built and endowed a college, gions. The other would act as assistant to the mode supplied a library for the students (though the selec- rator, during his term of office, relieving him of the tion is none of the best, containing, among other ob-week-day duties of the parish, preaching for him jectionable works, "The Tracts for the Times "), printed their liturgy, and rebuilt their churches and schools; Holland supplies the funds by which their schoolmasters are supported; and, blessed be God, though late in the day, Scotland has also "come to their help against the mighty," and has transmitted to them, in addition to smaller sums for other purposes, five hundred pounds to purchase a theological circulating library for the use of their pastors, which they have called "The Scottish Library."* Montreal, July 12, 1845. THE WALDENSES. PART II. V. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR THEM? VI. WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE? It becomes our duty to use every means for the protection of the Vaudois, remembering that the more vigilance and stedfastness of purpose we manifest, * Rev. R. W. Stewart, in "Lectures on Foreign Churches." when necessary on the Sabbath, and when not so employed, taking his turn with the others in supply. ing these district churches.+ VII. THEIR SABBATH SERVICES, SACRAMENTS, ETC. During the assembling of the congregation, the schoolmaster reads a portion of the Bible, with Osterwald's Reflections on it. He ceases when the pastor enters the pulpit, and the service proceeds in the following order: Singing, prayer from the liturgy. reading a portion of Scripture, an extempore prayer, another psalm, and a sermon; after which follows a second prayer from the liturgy, a psalm, and the apostolic benediction. The organ is not used in the Rev. R. W. Stewart. + Vaudois, by the Rev. Dr Henderson. THE WALDENSES. churches of the valleys; more, I apprehend, from want of means than of inclination, as it is used in all the Presbyterian Churches on the Continent, and the Church of La Torre had one within the last twenty years. There used formerly to be only one service in each parish church on Sabbath morning, the afternoon being devoted to catechetical instruction; but now that Sabbath schools are being introduced, the younger and more zealous clergy have adopted a second service. The pastor is obliged to preach extempore; he is not allowed the assistance even of notes, and the practice of reading would not be tolerated for a moment. Baptism is always administered during public worship, except in cases of severe illness; and it is refused to the children of those who are not members of the Church. Godfathers and godmothers take part in the ceremony, as well as the parents. The Lord's supper is dispensed eight times a-year in their churches, viz., on Christmas-day, and on the preceding Sabbath; on Easter, and on the preceding Sabbath; on Whitsunday, and on the preceding Sabbath; and on the first two Sabbaths of September. The young communicants are admitted after a long course of instruction, which they call confirmation. The ordinance is dispensed in the same way as in the Swiss Churches. The service begins, as amongst ourselves, by reading the words of institution, from 1 Cor. xi., and fencing the tables, The minister first communicates, then the elders, after which the congregation pass before the table in single file-the men first, and afterwards the women -they partake of the elements standing, and then return in the same order to their pews.* VIII. MISCELLANEOUS STATEMENTS AND ANECDOTES. A young Protestant from one of the valleys, serving in one of the Sardinian regiments, was lately, when at Nice, commanded, with the rest of his comrades, to present arms to the host as it passed. He complied with the order; but when the whole company to which he belonged fell down upon their knees, the Vaudois retained his erect posture, to the great offence of the Catholics-both his officers and others. He was tried by a court-martial; but when asked what induced him to act the part he had done, instead of giving a reply which might have thrown him into the hands of the spiritual power, he simply answered, that he had been guilty of no breach of military duty. Kneeling was no part of the discipline to which, as a soldier, he had been trained, though presenting arms, in obedience to the word of command, was. With that he had strictly complied, and he now stood upon his right to be acquitted as innocent of any charge. The reply produced such an effect upon his judges, that he not only received an acquittal, but exemption, along with other Protestants serving in the army, from the performance of duty during similar processions.+ While walking to St Germain, the sun was intensely hot, and it was a considerable time before I could avail myself of the shade. At length, however, the road led me close under the forest which covers the north side of the adjacent mountain, along the foot of which I had a delightful shelter for the space of an hour and a half. Among other persons whom I met was an ordinary peasant, who, on recognising me as a native of Britain, insisted on my turning back a few steps with him, to a house which I had just passed, in order to take some refreshment. The house, he said, was not his; but he knew the inmates would be forward to show me hospitality. Finding that I resisted his entreaties, he then begged to be allowed to walk part of the way with me; and, throwing down his harvest implements by the side † Vaudois. Rev. B. W. Stewart. of the road, where he knew he might leave them in It was touching to hear of the kindly attentions It About the middle of the sermon we were annoyed by the singing of a Catholic procession, which became louder and louder, the nearer it approached. roused the very dogs, which were lying about the aisles, and thereby increased the disturbance. To prevent further inconvenience, the doors, which had stood open for the admission of fresh air, were closed, and I hoped that the noise would gradually die away as it had increased; but the priests, apparently out of sheer spite, conducted the procession close round the church, so that it was impossible to hear what dropped from the lips of the preacher. When the annoyance was at the worst, one of the elders called out to the minister, Attendez un peu Monsieur! on which he stopped, and we all waited in silence till the mummery ceased. While indignant at this wanton interruption of divine service, I could not sufficiently admire the composure with which the Vaudois submitted to it. They have learned by experience that remonstrance is vain, and patiently endure the triumph of their enemies. The conduct of the Romanists, which is similarly repeated at certain stated periods, is wholly without excuse. There is no shrine in the neighbourhood to which they proceed, in order to pay their vows to some relic, or some favourite saint; nor any gaping throng, as in cities, + Ibid. before whom to exhibit their gorgeous ceremonial. * Vaudois. Their sole object is, the annoyance of the poor defenceless Vaudois. I had heard of such proceedings before reaching the valleys, but they had escaped my memory at the time, so that I was quite taken by surprise when the interruption commenced.* Improvements find their way but slowly to such retired corners of the world as those in which we were sojourning; therefore, the implements of husbandry, and the use of them, as far as we observed, belonged, like the Church of the Vaudois, to primitive times. The scythes and spades were cumbersome and ill adapted for the despatch of work; the animals principally employed in the fields were milch cows, whether to draw the plough in seed-time or the wain at harvest. The forks were for the most part of wood, split so as to form the prongs, with a cross bar or wedge to keep them distended. But there was another observation of a more interesting nature still, which reminded us also of patriarchal times the gentleness and docility of the cattle, and the kindness with which they are treated and managed. The kine, sheep, and goats, are not driven, but led, and become as familiar and tractable as dogs; they obey the voice and movements of the hand, come singly from the flock when their names are called, and illustrate the scriptural passages: "He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out:""One little ewe lamb, which lay in his bosom."+ In the course of one of our rambles, a poor man, who was engaged in some work in the fields, begged that we would assist him with a small gift, and pleaded the urgency of his wants. Mr Amadee Bert, the pastor's second son, who happened to be with us, expressed great indignation at this act of mendicity, and declared that he had never before witnessed anything of the kind. Upon mentioning it to his father, the worthy pastor himself was evidently vexed that such a circumstance had occurred; but upon stating the petitioner's name, he confirmed his tale of distress, and assured us that the poor peasant had a large family, and had suffered greatly from indigence which no industry could prevent. He added, that the indiscreet generosity of some of our countrymen had taught several of his flock to beg, who, before they saw almsgiving as Englishmen sometimes give, had never practised or imagined such a mode of seeking relief. Mr Bert had made an appointment to pray with a venerable parishioner, whom the weight of years was bringing gently down to the grave, on the first Sabbath after my arrival. At his invitation I accompanied him. I felt that it was good for me to be there. The dying man was supported in his bed by some attentive children or grand-children, and seemed more like one who was to give, than to receive, exhortation and comfort. After a word or two 'from his pastor, he took up his parable, and continued it with a strength of voice and an earnestness of manner which evinced a foretaste of heaven. There was neither rapture nor presumption in anything that fell from his mouth, but an expression of humble confidence in his Redeemer's love, and of dependence on the promises of God, which denoted him to be in full possession of that peace which passeth understanding. Mr Bert spoke of me to the old man as an English clergyman; he desired my prayers, and promised to remember me in his. "I am eightythree years of age," said he, "and my testimony of 'God's graciousness and mercy is more than that of * Vaudois. Waldensian Researches, by Rev. Dr Gilly. Ibid. David. I have never been forsaken even in my unrighteousness; God is with me in my old age, though I have too often gone astray from him, both in youth and age.* One little trait of character pleased me excessively. I observed the eye of a boy of ten years of age rest ing with admiring, perhaps with wishful gaze, upen the treasures of one of the toy stalls. He was the son of a pastor, and I desired him to tell me what he would like to have among the glittering and amusing objects before him. He modestly declined making any choice. In vain I urged him to select something. He could not be tempted to accept my offer. At last I bought an English knife, and put it into his hand; he then burst into tears, and it was with the utmost difficulty, and only at the command of one of his relations, that he could be persuaded to put it into his pocket. The secret of his tears and reluctance was this-he was fearful lest his longing look should have been mistaken for a mode of asking, and his fine spirit was racked by the idea. I had other opportunities of noticing this noble-minded boy. He seemed a lovely and a tender plant-not long for this world-and I fear that he is now only to be remembered among the number of those regretted objects whose display of early talent and feeling is the presage of an early death. His parents have already been bereaved of children untimely cut off. The hectic colour and delicate appearance of this lad, gave but little hope of his arriving at maturity. Perhaps, while my heart warms at the recol lection of him, his is cold in the grave.+ An event which occurred near Briançon, will give some notion of the incidents which emblazon mountain life and field sports in these regions. A peasant, with his wife and three children, had taken up his summer quarters in a chalet, and was depasturing his flocks on one of the rich Alps which overhang the Durance. The oldest boy was an idiot, about eight years of age, the second was five years old and dumb, and the youngest was an infant. It so happened that the infant was left one morning in charge of his brothers, and the three had rambled to some distance from the chalet before they were missed. When the mother went in search of the little wanderers, she found the two elder, but could discover no traces of the baby. The idiot boy seemed to be in a transport of joy, while the dumb child displayed every symptom of alarm and terror. In vain did the terrified parent endeavour to collect what had become of the lost infant. The antics of the one and the fright of the other explained nothing. The dumb boy was almost bereft of his senses, while the idiot appeared to have acquired an unusual degree of mirth and expression. He danced about, laughed, and made gesticulations, as if he were imitating the action of one who had caught up something of which he was fond, and hugged it to his heart. This, however, was of some slight comfort to the poor woman, for she imagined that some acquaintance had fallen in with the children, and had taken away the infant. But the day and night wore away, and no tidings of the lost child. On the morrow, when the parents were pursuing their search, an eagle flew over their heads, at the sight of which the idiot renewed his antics, and the dumb boy clung to his father with the shrieks of anguish and affright. The horrible truth then burst upon their minds, that the miserable infant had been carried off in the talons of a bird of prey; and that the half-witted elder brother was delighted at his riddance of an object of whom he was jealous. On the morning in which the accident happened an Alpen yager, THE SUPERIORITY OF A FREE GRACE, &c. 317 "Whose joy was in the wilderness, to breathe had been watching near an eagle's nest, under the hope of shooting the bird upon her return to her eyry. After waiting in all the anxious perseverance of a true sportsman, he beheld the monster slowly winging her way towards the rock behind which he was concealed. Imagine his horror, when, upon her nearer approach, he heard the cries, and distinguished the figure of an infant in her fatal grasp. In an instant his resolution was formed to fire at the bird at all hazards, the moment she should alight upon her nest, and rather to kill the child than leave it to be torn to pieces by the horrid devourer. With a silent prayer and a steady aim, the mountaineer poised his rifle. The ball went directly through the head or heart of the eagle, and in a minute afterwards this gallant hunter of the Alps had the unutterable delight of snatching the child from the nest, and bearing it away in triumph. It was dreadfully wounded by the eagle's talons in one of its arms and sides, but not mortally; and within twentyfour hours after it was first missed, he had the satisfaction of restoring it to its mother's arms.* HOPE. REFLECTED on the lake, I love To see the stars of evening glow, So tranquil in the heaven aboveSo restless in the wave below. Thus heavenly hope is all serene; But earthly hope, how bright soe'er, Still flutters o'er this changing scene, As false, as fleeting, as 'tis fair. HEBER. THE SUPERIORITY OF A FREE GRACE TO A SELF-RIGHTEOUS SALVATION, PROVED BY RECENT FACTS. BY THE REV. J. G. LORIMER, GLASGOW. NO. III. THE JOY AND STRENGTH OF FELT PARDON. IN "The United Testimony of Four Priests who have recently Renounced the Communion of Rome," I have already called the reader's attention to the dark side of the picture. I have spread out before him, not in words, but in facts, the unmingled and hopeless wretchedness of a salvation by self-righteousness, and have warned against its woe, present and future. I have now the more pleasing duty to invite his attention to the bright aspects of the picture-to the joyful reception of a free grace salvation. Nothing can be more striking than the contrast-the one involved not the partial, but the extreme of misery; the other involves, not mere relief, but the very height of joy. Oh! that all Romish priests, and not only so, but that all professedly Evangelical Protestants, passed through the same experience. M. L'Hote, describing his conversion, says:— "And as I confounded Christianity, of which I was profoundly ignorant, with these doctrines, which Waldensian Researches. But are only a base parody of it, I fell, as I have already said, into the hopeless depths of Infidelity. from the time that I heard the Gospel-from the moment that its saving truths were disentangled from the errors and superstitions of the Church of Romeas soon as I beheld Jesus dying upon the cross, and healing the wounds of the soul, as the serpent of brass the fiery serpents-then I at once understood the lifted up by Moses in the desert healed the bites of mission of the Son of God-the full import of the Gospel-of the glad tidings of forgiveness of sins, and of the regeneration of the children of Adam, not by the baptism of water, but by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "Here there was nothing of the intervention of priests, of popes, and of bishops, in order to reach heaven; no confession, nor absolution, nor masses, nor indulgences, nor merit of good works; but only the death of Jesus-only the blood of Jesus Christ, that cleanses from all sin. 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'-Acts xvi. 31. "Every word of that verse: God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life' (John iii. 16), vibrated upon my heart. I no longer needed learned comments upon those words; I had felt their divine power-I saw in them the impress of God-they had penetrated my heart and enlightened my understanding." The first means, in the hand of God, of removing obstacles, and opening the way to salvation, in this case, was a good Protestant book of Drelincourt's, an eminent minister of the Reformed Church of France, exposing the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome. This book was useful; but it was the Scriptures revealing the Gospel which really brought light and peace to the soul. Speaking of the Bible, he says: "As I read, new life came into my soul. I loved its divine language-I believed; and whenever I read a few pages of it, I felt refreshed, just as does the wearied traveller when he finds a spring of pure water that quenches his thirst, and gives him fresh vigour." Happy in the newly discovered hope of the Gospel, he could not retain it in quiet in his own soul. He longed to make it known to others. Later in his history he adds: "Immediately that the explanation of the passage of Scripture was finished, moved with holy enthusiasm, I exclaimed: Yes, my friends, this is the true religion. This doctrine is the work of God; it is not a system invented by men. The religion which grants salvation for the price of good works is a religion of man; but that which grants a free salvation by faith in Jesus Christ is the religion of God!' Such was for me, after my long wanderings, the memorable day of the Lord's visitation! I now know on whom I have believed, and nothing shall separate me from the love of my God." A great movement has taken place in the parish where this now converted but once Infidel priest resided. It is the Villefavard of which so much has recently been heard in this country-a parish where six hundred people, almost the entire community, have revolted from Rome. M. Rouaze bears a similar testimony to the happiness of salvation by grace. After informing us (and surely his experience is worthy of no small consideration) that, though a zealous advocate for works, he never found a moment's repose in the efforts which he made to accomplish a righteousness of his own; and that ever since he had abandoned Rome he had felt happy in his mind, and knew the happiness of having for his master, not a sinful mortal like himself, but the Lord Jesus Christ-the Redeemer the faithful guide and guardian of souls, he adds, in regard to his conversion: “And, what is very remarkable, God made use of a Roman Catholic priest to convert me-the evangelical Martin Boos. The biography of this priest unfolded before my eyes the picture of my own life. I there found the same disgusts, the same vexations, the same discouragement, that I had myself experienced, and that had been his lot all the time that he lived in the observances of the Church of Rome. He was on the point of giving up, when God caused these words to sound in his ears: The just shall live by faith; and immediately this faith was the precious plant that healed him of his wounds. This priest, who had been before so timid, so sorrowful, so troubled, so discouraged-behold him transformed at once into a new man, experiencing tranquil peace, and joy, and serenity in the midst of his persecutions! What was the cause of this great change?—The free mercy of God, that opened his eyes, revealing to him that salvation is a free gift bestowed through Christ upon the sinner, as a rich man bestows his alms upon the indigence of the poor. From the moment that this priest embraced this salvation in Jesus Christ, he triumphed over all evils within, and his enemies without. This doctrine of free grace was as a ray of light which showed me the true meaning of the expiatory sacrifice of the Saviour. "When God had given me to receive his testimony, I felt I could no longer take any part in the ceremonies of the Church of Rome, which imply that the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary has not accomplished a complete salvation. I am not surprised that Rome should abhor the doctrine of free grace, for this doctrine strikes at her very heart, and threatens her existence." It is remarkable, that the same words which were so useful to M. Rouaze and to Boos, were the words which sounded as from heaven in the ears of Luther, as he climbed, with weary step, the pretendedly "sacred stairs" of the Vatican, and which proved the means of his thorough and final divorce from the Church of Rome. Well would it have been had the excellent Boos followed the footsteps of his great predecessor, and instead of lingering in the Romish communion, yea, defending it, and gathering others within its pale, had come forth and formed a separate evangelical Church. Humanly speaking, had he pursued such a course, and complied with God's plain call, the fruit of his labours would not have perished with the man; and instead of the new German movement, there might have been a consistent and vigorous separation going on for the last twenty years, ready to hail and mightily extend the present reformation. M. Stilmant gives an interesting account of his conversion, entirely confirmatory of the preceding cases, showing the value of the Word, particularly of the Epistle to the Romans, which so many foolishly decry as mysterious and unintelligible, and also his happiness in the Lord : "My anguish of mind continued. Finding no consolation anywhere, I had one day shut myself up in my room to compose a sermon, and in turning over the leaves of the Bible to find a text, I read the Epistle to the Romans from one end to the other. My attention was especially fixed upon these words of the 3d chapter: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of ance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righhim that believeth in Jesus.' "That day's reading was to me the dawn of the happiest day of my life; and filled with indescribable joy, I exclaimed: Man is, then, saved by faith in Jesus Christ!' "I was also arrested by a passage in the 4th chapter of the same Epistle: Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and God imputeth righteousness without works; saying. whose sins are covered!' I inferred from this, that God imputes righteousness without the works of the law. I then read and meditated on the 53d chapter of Isaiah. As I proceeded, light more and more abundant beamed upon my mind, clearing my understanding, vivifying my heart, and giving me a new existence." His closing sentence, in the form of a prayer, proclaims his charity and brotherly love as really as his joy and gladness :— "And now, O Lord Jesus, that thou hast taught me the futility of my own works as a means of salva word. received by faith, hath healed my soul, and tion-that thou alone art my Saviour and that thy nourished, and comforted, and strengthened me, deign also to give the same grace to my former colleagues. Shine also with thine enlightening grace upon the different flocks with which I have been connected, and bring them to the knowledge of thy Gospel. Thou who art made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, increase to us all our days that faith which justifieswhich renews and saves! Amen." The last case of free grace conversion is that of Don Pablo Sanchez. Less is said of it than of the others; but it is not inferior in its simplicity and scriptural character : "Desirous of examining more seriously into a subject so important, and having often heard the Bible spoken of, I determined to get one and read it, persuaded that it would be able to show me whether the Church of Rome was, or was not, the Church of God. This resolution soon brought me out of u certainty, and gave me to see that I had not been far wrong in supposing that a religion so arbitrary thing that struck me in my examination of the Bible or rather, so unjust, could not be of God. The first was the reading the ten commandments of God. After having read, and re-read them, I could not believe my eyes. I perceived that the Romish Church had actually suppressed the second, and, to conceal her deception and maintain the number ten, had divided the tenth commandment into two! This at once destroyed my impression of her truth, seeing that she trampled under foot one of the commandments of God, and that because it condemned the worship of images. "Thus, you see, the more I compared the Holy Bible with the teaching and the abuses of our Church, the more I felt condemned by its testimony. How great was my distress! I was convinced of the errors of Rome; I had become, in fact, a Protestant without being aware of it, by the simple study of the Bible; 7 |