rushing torrent is generally heard; and sometimes, especially at Pral, the dreadful avalanche overwhelms an individual on the road, or a family in their cottage. I now proceed to some cursory re. marks on the character and manners of the Waldenses, premising that it is not at all intended to go through the round of mortal virtues, and shew how far they are respected or exemplified by the people, but merely to state a few particulars of which I was informed, or which fell under personal observation. They preserve from their forefathers a sincere respect for pure and undefiled religion. Public worship is very generally and conscientiously attended; and when I had an opportunity of witnessing a communionday, the church was quite full, and the behaviour of the communicants solemn and pleasing.* Nor is their religion wholly confined to their temples on the Sunday evenings in winter several families assemble in a stable (partly induced by the intense cold), and unite in religious exercises, as reading the scriptures, and singing psalms and hymns. The social duties they also exercise to a very considerable extent. For instance, though more frequently persecuted than protected by their sovereigns, the Waldenses are loyal subjects. When the King of Sardinia was lately restored to his crown, they sang Te Deum" on the occasion, as well as presented an address of congratulation: and when, at a former period, Louis the Fourteenth's army invaded Turin, Victor Amadeus II. was advised to rely upon their loyal ty, and take refuge in Rora: he did so, and remained soure sill Prince Eugene came to his relief. They are also remarkably honest. Whilst the immediate vicinity (the plain) is infested with robbers and assassins, these valuable men devote themselves, with that industry and patience which the nature of the soil *Religious instruction is very carefully instilled before young persons become for the first time communicants. I was told that a young lady of Turin had been four months at a relation and minister's house, passing through a course of religious studies. requires, to useful labour for their subsistence. A robbery seldom or never occurs in the valleys. Assured of this, I felt no anxiety, though once overtaken by night near the woods, and entirely at a loss which of the numerous intersecting hy-ways to choose. My companion and myself walked fearlessly along till we perceived a light, and got an obliging Vaudois to attend us home. We find, indeed, more than mere honesty among them; even a generous disinterestedness, though so poor. I could not prevail upon a man at one time, upon a child at another, to take any reward for a trifling service they had rendered; and I recollect seeing a soldier, who offered himself to the King of Sardinia instead of his brother or some other individual, unaccustomed to war, who might be required to serve. Hospitality is another very pleasing trait, and exercised in such a manner, that when you quit their roof, the Vaudois seem as if they had received, and not conferred a favour. Their humanity is also, on many occasions, conspicuous. If any one is ill, the neighbours cheerfully and gratuitously sit up at night in the sick chamber, and there is even a sort of dispute who shall pay the first and the greatest attentions. In case of an accident that a poor person has met with, a sermon is sometimes preached, and a collection made. But this kindness is by no means confined to their own friends. Whilst the Catholics around usually relieve the necessitous of their own religion, the Vaudois give what they can spare to the destitute of either communion. There is one illustrious instance, in particular, of their humanity, which should not pass unnoticed. When the Austrians and Russians, under Marshal Suwarrow, compelled the French army to retreat, three hundred wounded French soldiers received all the assistance, with respect to medicines, &c. that could be given; and at the request of M. Rustan, their Minister, the inhabitants of Bobbi carried these poor men on their shoulders over the mountains to the French territory—a most painful task, as those can well attest who have taken the tedious and difficult road of the mountains from Piedmont to Dauphine. Their conduct appears to have been a pure act of humanity, Memoir respecting the Waldenses. not the result of any partiality to the French; yet, but for the generous interposition of Prince Bagration with the Commander in Chief, it would have exposed them and their property to considerable danger. The Austrians could not withhold their admiration; and the French General (Suchet) published an order of the day for the very purpose of acknowledging such a singular instance of benevolence. I will mention but one moral feature besides, and that is, their gratitude. They have been long indebted (as will be seen in the sequel) to our nation for its sympathy and protection, and especially to a British Princess (their guardian angel, if we may so speak), for her munificence. These benefits have never been forgotten: on the contrary, the pastors and people regard the English as their best friends-in seasons of difficulty, their chief resource ;* and I remember I was very forcibly struck with the remark of the amiable wife of one of their ministers, who told me, that they made a point of instilling into their children respect and esteem for the English from the very dawn of reason in their minds. Having said thus much of some valuable qualities of the mind, a few observations may be added respecting their manners. They are in general very correct, such as one might anticipate amongst a people well instructed, little used to intercourse with the world, and devoted to the laborious occupations of ploughmen, herdsmen, shepherds and vine-dressers. The late war, however, has in some degree injured them, as it obliged many of their youth to become soldiers in the French service. There was also a fortress established by the French of late years, not far from St. Jean. They have experienced, no doubt, like most others, the melancholy truth of the maxim, "Evil communications corrupt good manners." The principal amusement of the people has in itself something of the martial; it is their great ambition to be expert marksmeu; a circumstance to be traced, probably as much to a motive It is to the British representative they have confided their Memorial and interests at the present Congress of Vienna. 135 of self-defence as of pleasure. After Easter the inhabitants of the several parishes (each body with an elected king at its head) receive each other with peculiar respect, fire at a mark with a musket ball, and afterwards adjudge rewards to the most skilful. This tends to cement the union of the several parishes. Their marriages, baptisms, &c. usually take place in winter, and then they often indulge in their favourite amusement of dancing. In 1711, a synod prohibited dancing, but the prohibition does not seem to have been attended with suc cess. I will next describe what I am persuaded will interest, I wish I could add gratify, benevolent persons in England-the state of their schools. They were once flourishing, and the sum of six thousand livres of Piedmont was annually remitted from Holland for the purpose of supporting fifteen great, ninety little (or winter) and two Latin schools; part of the money being reserved however, for the widows of ministers, for disabled ministers, for the poor, and for an allowance to five deans. The events of the late war have entirely changed, this happy aspect of affairs. Since the year 1810, two thousand livres per annum only (1007. sterling) have been received from Holland; and as half the people had not the means of pay, ing, the schools have exceedingly declined, and even run the risk of complete decay. With the exception of the Latin schools, however, they exist at present (barely exist, and but ill provided with teachers), as charitable persons in the valleys have hitherto paid for the poor. They have been equally unfortunate with regard to the pensions which Queen Mary II. granted to thirteen schoolmasters; for this re source has also failed since 1797. It is highly important that Christian be nevolence should avail itself of the occasion here presented of benefiting the rising generation, both in granting such an allowance as shall procure efficient teachers, and in suggesting the various improvements in system which have lately taken place in the + About 3001. sterling. The five senior ministers are always deans.. 136 education of the poor in our own coun- The next subject that claims atten- Each of the thirteen parishes has a settled minister; and to each parish several hamlets are annexed, in which there are also temples. Queen Mary established what they term the royal subsidy, a grant of 400 livres (201.) annually to each pastor; but from this fund nothing has been received since the year 1797. What they call the national subsidy, is the product of a collection in England about forty years ago. Part of this is intended for the widows of ministers; and ministers themselves derive from it the annual sum of four hundred livres, which has been regularly received. It is obvious, from this statement, that those pastors who have not private property, must be in unhappy circumstances; and indeed the royal subsidy having failed, some have been reduced to the painful necessity of borrowing money of their respective flocks. Few would imagine that persons of learning and taste are to be found among them, and yet there are: their education places them on the same, or nearly the same, level with the generality of ministers in this country. The Swiss Cantons, which have ever shewn a friendly regard to the interests of the Waldenses, assisted them in this respect; and in 1729 an English lady settled a pension upon a student, which was paid through the consistory of Amsterdam. Their candidates were educated at Geneva and Lausanne; but I think I am correct in stating that their pensions have failed (the events of the late war having introduced change and disorder into every department), and that they will experience difficulties in future, on account of the expense of an academical education. I am sorry to say the case of at least some of the widows of deceased pastors is also distressing. There are now six one, who has a daughter, has only about 10l. a year -she had a son, a student at Lausanne, who was compelled to serve in the army he afterwards died at home of his wounds. The late Mr. O. had a very laborious parish in the mountains; often a long and fatiguing walk; and then, after both the intense heat in summer, and the rain and snow in winter, no place of shelter and rest (the church standing on He fell, at length, a victim to his exan isolated spot), before the service. daughters, the eldest only fourteen ertions, leaving a widow and seven years old, to lament so severe a loss. The pecuniary resources for the support of so numerous a young family are very slender indeed. When I stood near the grave and read this simple inscription on a rude headstone: Juge;" and when I entered his libra"1814, J. D. O. Pasteur et ry and opened the books he had been used to read, and looked thoughtfully around the room which had so often witnessed the prayers of a father for his family, and a pastor for his flock; this consideration that their circumstances were so reduced, could not but awaken still deeper sympathy for this afflicted family. are thirteen parishes; of these my It has been already stated that there short residence only permitted me to see nine. The old chapel of St. Jean to the principles of the Waldenses; had been destroyed by persons hostile but of late years they have, with the assistance of friends at Turin, built a what has been advanced of the senew church. This seems to confirm rious view of the importance of religion which reigns in the valleys. But this is not all: they have likewise erected a new church, almost wholly at their own expense, at St. Germain,* an earthquake (which is no uncommon occurrence among them) having greatly injured the former one in 1808. vernment, there is a moderator elected With regard to church goat every synod; each church has a deacon, who attends to objects of charity; and several elders; the discipline is less strict than formerly; the liturgy used in public worship is that of Neufchatel; the festivals observed are Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost.† Other particulars, with which either The United Brethren kindly advanced something. French, which they often speak; but the + All the offices of their church are in patois of Piedmont is also prevalent among them. The ancient Waldenses were Episcopalians with respect to church government, and the sermons in Italian, or a lan guage in some measure similar to it. Memoir respecting the Waldenses. personal observation or the information of others has made me acquainted, 1 forbear to mention in so brief a Memoir, and therefore pass on to a hint or two as to the means of promoting the welfare of this valuable class of our fellow-christians. They are clearly in want of pecuniary aid; and such is the benevolent disposition of Brifish Christians, that to mention this fact is quite enough. Yet, however anxious that they should not be overlooked in this age of beneficence, I am fully aware, that, since there are magnificent institutions in the country which have a much higher claim upon Christian liberality, donations are chiefly to be hoped for from persons whose affluence enables them, after subscribing to larger societies, to spare something for others of an inferior description. Very many such persons are to be found; and one cannot for a moment suppose that they will permit this interesting people, so eminently protected by the English in the eighteenth, to be neglected in the nineteenth century. There was a time when the Waldenses did not so much receive as impart benefits. Their college of Angrogne sent forth zealous missionaries to convey pure religious knowledge to several parts of Europe, then involved in ignorance and superstition. They were, indeed, according to the import of their armorial bearings, a light shining amidst thick darkness. If, in these latter days, something of the ancient splendour of their piety should, through divine grace, re-appear, those Christians will have reason to esteem themselves very happy, who, by their generous efforts, may be in some degree honoured as instruments of the revival. It is unquestionably the duty of believers to endeavour to promote and to pray for such a revival of vital piety in churches once renowned, as well as the diffusion of divine truth among the heathen. I am sensible that this appeal in behalf of the Waldenses is in no respect worthy of the cause it undertakes to advocate; yet since, however unadorned, it has at least the simplicity of truth, and the importance of the subject to recommend it, I could willingly cherish the hope that it will secure for this excellent "Lux in tenebris;" the arms of the town of Luzerne, which once belonged to them. VOL. XI. 157 people a warm interest in the best affections of their fellow-christians. Of this I am very sure, that if, instead of seeing their condition through the medium of an imperfect memoir, they found themselves actually in the valleys, and, holding a history of the Vaudois in their hands, cast the eye around spots consecrated by the sufferings of so many disciples of the Lord Jesus, they would be filled with esteem for the people, and a desire to promote their happiness. The evening before I quitted them, a solitary walk afforded me full scope to indulge such a train of feelings:-a sacred luxury it may well be termed, since the sensations of delight were really such as neither the treasures of art deposited in the Louvre, nor the stupendous views of nature unfolded in the cantons of Switzerland, had possessed in an equal degree the magic to impart. All around seemed to have a tendency to foster the disposition; a torrent rushed by on the left; the evening was so mild that the leaves scarcely stirred; and the summits of the mountains, behind which the sun had just set, appeared literally above the clouds. The emotions produced by the scenery and recollections associated with it, will not be soon effaced: it might be the last time I should see those mountains, which had been so often the refuge of the oppressed those churches, where the doctrines of the gospel had been so long and so faithfully maintained— and those friends, from whom a stranger from a distant land had received so many proofs of affectionate regard! Full of such thoughts as I walked along, I arrived at length at the house of one of the pastors, to pass the night. The next day he accompanied me to the limits of his parish, on the Col de Croix, which separates Piedmont from Dauphine. The walk being long and tedious, he had brought bread and a flagon of wine, and observed, as he gave me the refreshment, it was "une espèce de communion"-might be almost considered a sort of communion. We then parted with expressions of Christian esteem; and, descending the other side of the mountain, I soon lost sight of the lands belonging to the Vaudois-descendants of a class of men who were, for a series of ages, "destitute, afbut "of whom flicted, tormented, the world was not worthy!" MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. Credo [p. 25,] in his purpose of obviating the difficulties alleged by your Cambridge correspondent, in what he conceives to be a more satisfactory manner than I was enabled to do; yet justice to myself, and the cause I have espoused, requires that I should correct a palpable mis-statement which occurs at the commencement of his letter, and which appears and influences his remarks throughout. He sets out with the phrase "physiological correspondence" as descriptive of the Letter of Cantabrigiensis, and consequently of the subject for our mutual consideration. He also states, that the leading difficulty to be considered was, whether if a man dies wholly, a resurrection is within the bounds of probability. The difficulty which he has not very judiciously severed, is thus ingenuously and succinctly stated by Cantabrigiensis himself: "If I die wholly a resurrection appears scarcely within the bounds of possibility. There may be a new creation, but can the regenerated being be myself? If there be nothing to constitute my individuality but the will and power of the Creator, I seem reduced to the absurdity of thinking that my consciousness may be conferred on any number of created forms." Thus it clearly appears that he felt doubts concerning the possibility of a resurrection by the energy of the Creator alone, independent of some secondary means, such as the "preservation of consciousness" in the interval between death and the resurrection. He suspected that a complete resurrection or restoration of vital existence after it had wholly ceased to be, involved some absurdity, and consequently was not an object even of infinite power. To this difficulty I undertook to reply, by shewing that it is equally in the power of the Creator to restore life and consciousness as it was originally to impart, preserve and withdraw those blessings and that it is sufficiently agreeable to the : analogy of his actual proceedings both in the ordinary course of nature and by miracle; and further, that he can receive no assistance whatever, from secondary means, all created exist otherwise, existing only as the pure effect of his power; and consequently being entirely at his disposal either to preserve, remove or restore at his pleasure. This was the leading subject of our discussion, or at least which I undertook to discuss; as I perfectly coincided with him in opinion, that the hypothesis of Dr. Watts, concerning "an indestructible germ of matter, being the nucleus of the regenerated man, is altogether a gratuitous supposition." The question between us, therefore, instead of being of a physiological nature, and relating to the probability of a resurrection, by any such secondary means as Credo appears to have iu contemplation, was wholly theological, or relative to what was possible as the pure result of the divine energies. Whatever Credo may be about to do in his next letter by way of more effectually clearing up the difficulties of Cantabrigiensis, he has hitherto done very little except misrepresenting and distorting his expressions, and making heavy complaints against me, for not answering him by such arguments as he deems most cogent. In No. 1, of his remarks, he twice repeats his misrepresention of the leading difficulty; and then complains of me for replying directly to it, instead of wandering into other topics. He is displeased with the length of my argument, and that it is metaphysical. The first of these inconveniences he has himself sufficiently remedied, though so much at the expense of perspicuity and sense, particularly at the closing sentence of his abridgment (1), that I should much rather he had left it to speak for itself in its original, uninviting condition. The, reason why it could not be physical has been explained; it necessarily relates whol • Excited in the second paragraph, Vol. viii. p. 734, should have been exerted. |