ture to an edict which threatened the total destruction of the Waldenses throughout the whole of his dominions. "It enacted. that every dissentient from the holy mother church should acknowledge his errors, and obtain reconciliation within a stated period, under the severest penalties in case of disobedience; and because Merindol was considered to be the principal seat of the heresy, that devoted city was ordered to be razed to the ground. With a species of the most refined cruelty, the edict added, that all the caverns, hidingplaces, cellars, and vaults, in the vicinity of the town, should be carefully examined and destroyed, that the woods should be cut down, and all the gardens and orchards laid waste, and that none who had possessed a house or property in Merindol, or within a certain distance, should ever occupy it again, either in his own person, or in that of any of his name or family, in order that the memory of the excommunicated sect might be utterly wiped away from the province, and the place be made a desert. This horrible decree was put into execution by an armed force, without the least mercy or forbearance; the wretched inhabitants fled en masse, and because they refused to surrender themselves at discretion, the commander of the troops which marched against Merindol, threatened death, without

trial or appeal, to every one who should render them the least assistance. Nothing ever exceeded the dreadful scenes which followed."

The town of Coste was next assaulted and taken, when scenes of atrocity, the most detestable and villanous, were committed, the very recital of which would fill the mind of the reader with horror. "It was in this manner," says Gilly, "that plunder, carnage, and violation were spread from one end of Provence to another; Dauphiné and Languedoc experienced nearly the same horrors, and few were the Protestants who were spared, and fewer those who had the courage to acknowledge that they belonged to the proscribed party. There was, however, one illustrious champion left, Aymond de la Voye, whose name ought not to be forgotten. This brave and pious man boldly went from village to village, to confirm the wavering, and re-assure the hopeless, until at length he exposed himself to suspicion, and was carried before a tribunal which was sitting for the condemnation of heretics. The first question that was put to him, was intended to draw forth a disclosure that would lead to the apprehension of others.

"Who are your associates ?"

"My associates are those who know and do the will of my heavenly Father, whether

they be nobles, merchants, peasants, or men

of

any other condition."

"Who is the head of the church ?"

"Jesus Christ."

"Is not the Pope the head of the church ?"

"No-if he is a good man, he is the minister and primate of the Roman church, but nothing more."

"Is not the Pope the successor of St. Pe ter ?"

"Yes, if he be like St. Peter; but not else."

His persecutors saw that he was not to be moved, and ordered him to be led to execution. As he passed by an image of the Virgin Mary, he refused to salute it; and the execrations of an infuriated mob had no other effect upon him, than to pray aloud, “Oh, Lord, I beseech thee to make it known to these deluded creatures, that it is to thee only they are to bow the head, and offer supplications." As he mounted the scaffold, he cried out with a firm voice, "Be it known that I die not a heretic, but a christian." The clamorous multitude insisted that his voice should be stopped; and, before the executioner had inflicted the tortures usual upon these occasions, an end was ordered to be put to his existence, because there was no other way of silencing the undaunted Aymond de la Voye, whom even prolonged suffering could not intimidate.”

CHAPTER VI.

THE dreadful sufferings of the Waldenses in Provence deeply afflicted, and filled with

alarm, their brethren in the valleys of Piedmont. Similar barbarities continued to be committed in various other places,* and they knew not how soon an attack might be made upon themselves. Nor were their fears groundless. Francis I. having conquered Piedmont, Paul III. who then filled the Papal throne, persuaded the parliament which that monarch had assembled at Turin, vigor ously to proceed against the Waldenses, as "most pernicious heretics." The consequence was, that multitudes of the Vaudois were seized and committed to the flames. In vain did they petition the king to grant them the same privileges under his government which they and their forefathers had enjoyed under the house of Savoy. Both Francis and is parliament commanded them, under pain

*In Calabria especially, the Waldenses were subjected to the most cruel sufferings. A bull for their extermination was issued by the Papal see, and no mercy was shown to those who refused to be baptized by a Romish priest. "The pastors were carried in chains to Rome; some were starved to death in prison, others were tortured in the dungeons of the inquisition, after witnessing the utter destruction or dispersion of their flock; and two were burnt at the stake, to gratify the malignity of Pope Pius IV. who could not be satisfied unless he saw with his own eyes the expiring agonies of the heretics, who had dared to question his infallibility." In short, the Waldenses of Calabria were wholly exterminated.