Ingratitude of Victor Amadeus-banishment of three thousand of the Waldenses-establishment of these exiles in foreign countries-England and other States afford the Vaudois pecuniary relief-Popish plot to assassinate the inhabitants of La Torre-General Go din-march of the Vaudois for the preservation of their families the assassination prevented-injustice of the Government-Piedmont falls under the yoke of France-increase of the salaries of the Vaudois pastors -abridgment of their privileges on the restoration of Principles of the Waldenses collected from their own writings-statement of their doctrines by their adver- saries-by an inquisitor-by Æneas Sylvius-by Seis- selius-their opinions on infant baptism-testimonies from modern writers that they have in general pre- served their opinions unchanged till the present time their church government-their character-testi- monies in their favour by their enemies-the Bishop.. of Cavaillon deputes a monk to confer with them- HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES. CHAP. I. Introductory remarks-the Paulicians-their principles -they are persecuted by the Greek Emperors-sentiments of Paulinas, Bishop of Aquileia-Claudius, Bishop of Turin-he opposes the errors and superstitions of the Romish Church-his zeal exposes him to the resentment of the clergy-extracts from his writings-successful result of his labours-his death -his opinions preserved in the valleys of Piedmont. THE melancholy picture which ecclesiastical historians have exhibited of the state of religion in the seventh and following centuries, is too well authenticated to require farther proof. Ignorance, superstition, error, and vice, reigned throughout the Christian world, both among B the clergy and the laity. The pure and holy doctrines of the Son of God were so sadly corrupted by the unhallowed inventions of men, that to that "iron age" may literally be applied the words of the sacred historian, "They set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images,-and worshipped all the host of heaven;-and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger." That this passage of Scripture is justly applicable to the Papal Church in these degenerate ages, is corroborated by the united testimony of numerous historians. "Every thing sacred in religion," says Voltaire, "was disfigured in the West, by customs the most ridiculous and extravagant. The festivals of fools and asses were established in most churches. On days of solemnity, they created a bishop of fools; and an ass was led into the body of the church, dressed in a cape and four-cornered cap. Church dances, feastings on the altar, revelry, and obscene farces, were the ceremonies observed on those festivals, and in many dioceses these extravagances were continued for seven centuries. Were we to consider only the usages here related, we should imagine we were reading an account of Hottentots or Negroes; and it must be confessed, that in many things we did not fall much short of them." In the darkest ages of Popery, however, God never left himself without a witness." It is true, that from the rise of that Antichristian hierarchy till the dawn of the Reformation, the people of Christ may be emphatically denomi nated a "little flock;" yet small as their num ber may appear to have been to the eye of and unable as ecclesiastical historians may now be to trace with accuracy the saints of the Most High, amidst "a world lying in wickedness," it cannot be doubted that, even then, there was man, a remnant which kept the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." If God reserved to himself 66 seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal" in the reign of the idolatrous Ahab, can we suppose, that, during any succeeding period, his Church ever could cease to exist, or his cause utterly perish? On the contrary, his "hidden ones" were to be found in every age, and his faithful witnesses' never ceased to prophesy, though it was almost uniformly in sackcloth. Among many others who at a much earlier period fearlessly lifted up their voices against the evils which abounded in the Church, was a body of Christians, called Paulicians, who appeared in the East about the year 660. Constantine, their leader, who was a native of Mananalis, an obscure town in the vicinity of Samosata, having received from a stranger the New Testament in its original language, not only studied that inestimable gift himself, but. communicated to others the great truths which it contained. The success which attended his labours was so great, that a church was soon collected, and in a short time afterwards several individuals arose among them, qualified for the work of the ministry. These heralds of the Gospel disseminated their principles in many distant places; several congregations were formed throughout Armenia and Cappadocia, and in process of time they spread over the provinces of Asia Minor to the westward of the Euphrates. As all our information concerning the Pau |