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THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, from the birth of Christ to the 18th Century: including the very interesting account of the Waldenses and Albigenses
By William Jones

First Edition 1812
Fourth Edition 1819
Fifth Edition 1826
London: Printed for the Author by W. Myers, 7, Took’s Court, Castle Street, Holborn

[Note from the publisher. This valuable out-of-print book was carefully formatted for electronic publication by Way of Life Literature. For a catalog of other books, both current and old, in print and electronic format, contact us at P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail), http://www.wayoflife.org (web site).]

[Table of Contents for "A History of the Christian Church" by William Jones]

CHAPTER FIVE -- SECTION 4

ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIES IN FAVOR OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF THE WALDENSES, COLLECTED FROM THE WRITINGS OF BOTH FRIENDS AND FOES; WITH MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS IN ILLUSTRATION OF THEIR CHARACTER AND HISTORY.

Having, in the two preceding sections, endeavored to lay before the reader a fair and impartial representation of the doctrinal sentiments, and social religious practices of the Waldenses, and especially as these stood in opposition to the whole prevailing system of popery, I shall, before proceeding to a detail of their general history, adduce a few additional particulars of a more miscellaneous nature than hath been hitherto submitted to his consideration.

The enemies of the Waldenses, while they stigmatize them as heretics, and think no cruelties too horrid to be inflicted upon them, on account of their opposition to the whole system of the papal hierarchy, are, nevertheless, constrained by the force of truth, to bear the most honorable testimony to the integrity, uprightness, and exemplary deportment, which so conspicuously characterized this denomination of Christians. In proof of this, let us attend to the testimony of their adversaries.

An ancient inquisitor, to whose writings against the Waldenses, I had occasion to refer in a former section, thus describes them. "These heretics are known by their manners and conversation, for they are orderly and modest in their behavior and deportment. They avoid all appearance of pride in their dress; they neither indulge in finery of attire, nor are they remarkable for being mean or ragged. They avoid commerce, that they may be free from deceit and falsehood. They get their livelihood by manual industry, as day-laborers or mechanics; and their teachers are weavers or tailors. They are not anxious about amassing riches, but content themselves with the necessaries of life. They are chaste, temperate, and sober. They abstain from anger. Even when they work, they either learn or teach. In like manner also, their women are very modest, avoiding backbiting, foolish jesting, and levity of speech, especially abstaining from lies or swearing, not so much as making use of the common asseverations, "in truth," "for certain," or the like, because they regard these as oaths--contenting themselves with simply answering "yes" or "no." [Allix’s Remarks, p. 235.]

Claudius Seisselius, archbishop of Turin, from whose Treatise against the Waldenses I have quoted largely in a former section, is pleased to say, that "their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians. They never swear but by compulsion, and rarely take the name of God in vain. They fulfill their promises with punctuality; and, living for the most part in poverty, they profess to preserve the apostolic life and doctrine. They also profess it to be their desire to overcome only by the simplicity of faith, by purity of conscience, and integrity of life; not by philosophical niceties and theological subtleties." And he very candidly admits, that "In their lives and morals they are perfect, irreprehensible, and without reproach among men, addicting themselves with all their might to observe the commands of God" [Usher de Christ. Ecclesiastes success, et statu; Perrin, book 1, chapter 5].

Lielenstenius, a Dominican, speaking of the Waldenses of Bohemia, says, "I say that in morals and life they are good; true in words, unanimous in brotherly love; but their faith is incorrigible and vile, as I have shown in my Treatise" [Usher, ubi supra.].

Samuel de Cassini, a Franciscan friar, speaking of them in his "Victoria Trionfale," explicitly owns in what respect their faith was incorrigible and vile, when he says, "That all the errors of these Waldenses consisted in this, that they denied the church of Rome to be the holy mother church, and would not obey her traditions" [History of Popery, Volume 1. p. 421].

Jacobus de Riberia, who published a work entitled, "Collections of the city of Toulouse," and who, in his time, assisted in persecuting the Waldenses, nevertheless acknowledges, that for a long time they had obtained the highest esteem in Norbonne [a city and province in the south of France], as well as in the diocese of Alby, Rhodes, Cahors, and Agen; and that those who would be styled priests and bishops [in the catholic church] were then but little accounted of, which he resolves into their ignorance and unworthy conduct, by reason of which, says he, it was an easy matter for the Waldenses to obtain the preference among the people for the excellency of their doctrine. He acknowledges that they were so well instructed in the Holy Scriptures, that he had seen peasants who could recite the book of Job verbatim, and several others who could perfectly repeat all the New Testament.

Cardinal Baronius, in his Ecclesiastical Annals, tom. 13, styles the Waldenses of Toulouse "good men," and acknowledges that they were "peaceable persons," though he elsewhere falsely lays to their account many heinous accusations. [Perrin’s Hist. des Vaudois, chapter 5.]

In the time of a great persecution of the Waldenses of Merindol and Provence, a certain monk was deputed by the bishop of Cavaillon, to hold a conference with them, that they might be convinced of their errors, and the effusion of blood prevented. But the monk returned in confusion, owning that in his whole life he had never known so much of the Scriptures, as he had learned during those few days that he had been conversing with the heretics. The bishop, however, sent among them a number of doctors, young men, who had lately come from the Sorbonne, which, at that time, was the very center of theological subtlety at Paris. One of these publicly owned, that he had understood more of the doctrine of salvation from the answers of the little children in their catechisms, than by all the disputations which he had ever before heard. [Vesembecius’s Oration on the Waldenses, quoted by Perrin, in his Hist. des Vaudois, chapter 5.]

FRANCIS I, king of France, being informed that the parliament of Provence brought very heavy charges against the Waldenses, whom they were then severely persecuting at Merindol, Cabriers, and other neighboring places, was desirous of ascertaining the truth of those accusations. With a view to this, he commanded one of his nobles, the Lord of Langeai, who was at that time his lieutenant in Piedmont, to investigate this matter, and report to him the true state of things. His lordship consequently sent into Provence two clergymen, giving them a strict charge to inquire into the lives and religious principles of the Waldenses, and of the proceedings of the parliament against them. On their return, they reported that "they were a laborious race of people, who, about two hundred years ago, had emigrated from Piedmont, to dwell in Provence, -- that betaking themselves to husbandry and feeding of cattle, they had restored many villages destroyed by the wars, and rendered other desert and uncultivated places extremely fertile by their industry. That by the information given them in the said country of Provence, they found they were a very peaceable people, beloved by their neighbors--men of good behavior, of godly conversation, faithful to their promises, and punctual in paying their debts. That they were a charitable people, not permitting any among them to fall into want. That they were, moreover, liberal to strangers and the traveling poor, as far as their ability extended. And that the inhabitants of Provence affirmed, they were a people who could not endure to blaspheme, or name the devil, or swear at all, unless in making some solemn contracts, or in judgment. Finally, that they were well known by this, that if they happened to be cast into any company, where the conversation was lascivious or blasphemous, to the dishonor of God, they instantly withdrew. [Joachim Camerarius, in his History, p. 352. quoted by Perrin, book 1, chapter 5.]

LOUIS XII, king of France, being informed by the enemies of the Waldenses, inhabiting a part of the province of Provence, that several heinous crimes were laid to their account, sent the master of requests, and a certain doctor of the Sorbonne, who was confessor to his majesty, to make inquiry into this matter. On their return, they reported that they had visited all the parishes where they dwelt, had inspected their places of worship, but that they had found there no images, nor signs of the ornaments belonging to the mass, nor any of the ceremonies of the Romish church; much less could they discover any traces of those crimes with which they were charged. On the contrary, they kept the sabbath-day, observed the ordinance of baptism, according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith, and the commandments of God. The king having heard the report of his commissioners, said with an oath that they were better men than himself or his people. [Vesembeclus’s Oration on the Waldenses, in Perrin, chapter 5.]

The same monarch having been told that in the valley of Fraissiniere, in the diocese of Ambrun, and province of Dauphiny, there was a class of people who lived like beasts, without religion, and strongly opposed to the Romish worship, deputed one of his confessors and the official of Orleans to investigate the truth or falsehood of this report. The confessor, with his colleague, accordingly repaired to the place, where he examined the Waldenses who inhabited the valley, respecting their faith and conversation. The archbishop of Ambrun, well knowing that the goods of the Waldenses were liable to confiscation for the crime of heresy, and that they would be annexed to the domains of his archbishopric, strongly pressed the commissioners to condemn them as heretics. They, however, not only resisted his application, but even expressed their admiration of the Waldenses, insomuch that the king’s confessor publicly declared, in the presence of a number of his friends, who were with him at his lodgings at the Angel in Ambrun, that he wished he was as good a Christian as the worst of the valley of Fraissiniere. [Memorials of Rostain, Archbishop of Ambrun, quoted in Perrin, chapter 5.]

These are, unquestionably, very important testimonies to the Waldenses who resided in France; but I shall now lay before the reader a still more interesting document; it is the testimony which is borne to these people, by that eminent historian Thuanus--an enemy indeed to the Waldenses, himself being a catholic; but he was, nevertheless, a fair and candid one. Quoting the words of Guy de Perpignan, bishop of Elna, in Roussillon, who exercised the office of inquisitor against the Waldenses, he informs us that "their fixed opinions are said to be these--that the church of Rome, because she hath renounced the true faith of Christ, is the whore of Babylon, and that barren tree which Christ himself hath cursed and commanded to be rooted up; therefore we must by no means obey the pope and the bishops who cherish his errors--that the monastic life is the sink of the church, and a hellish institution; its vows are vain, and subservient only to the filthy love of boys--the orders of the presbytery are the marks of the great beast mentioned in the Apocalypse--the fire of purgatory, the sacrifice of the mass, the feast of the dedications of churches, the worship of saints, and propitiations for the dead, are the inventions of Satan. To these the principal and certain heads of their doctrine, others were fictitiously added concerning marriage, the resurrection, the state of the soul after death, and concerning meats."

Again, describing the inhabitants of the valley of Fraissiniere, he thus proceeds--"Their clothing is of the skins of sheep--they have no linen. They inhabit seven villages, their houses are constructed of flint stone, having a flat roof covered with mud, which, when spoiled or loosened by the rain, they again smooth with a roller. In these they live with their cattle, separated from them, however, by a fence. They have also two caves set apart for particular purposes, in one of which they conceal their cattle, in the other themselves when hunted by their enemies. They live on milk and venison, being, through constant practice, excellent marksmen. Poor as they are, they are content, and live in a state of seclusion from the rest of mankind. One thing is very remarkable, that persons externally so savage and rude, should have so much moral cultivation. They can all read and write. They know French sufficiently for the understanding of the Bible and the singing of Psalms. You can scarcely find a boy among them, who cannot give you an intelligible account of the faith which they profess. In this, indeed, they resemble their brethren of the other valleys. They pay tribute with a good conscience, and the obligation of this duty is peculiarly noted in their confession of faith. If, by reason of the civil wars, they are prevented from doing this, they carefully set apart the sum, and at the first opportunity pay it to the king’s tax-gatherers" [Thuani Hist. sui temporis, lib. 6, sect. 16. and lib. 27].

But of all the catholic writers, who have treated of the Waldenses, there is none whose testimony is more important than that of Reinerius Saccho. He had himself been one of their number, and consequently could speak of them from personal knowledge. He had apostatized from their profession; was "by merit raised to the bad eminence" of an inquisitor in the catholic church; and of course was become one of their bitterest persecutors. He wrote a book against them, (A.D. 1258) from which I have already quoted largely in a former section. But that extract is almost wholly confined to an enumeration of the articles on which they did not agree with the catholic church. Let the reader now remark his unsought testimony in their favor. "Of all the sects that have risen up against the church of Rome," says he, "the Waldenses have been the most prejudicial and pernicious, inasmuch as their opposition has been of very long continuance. Add to which, that this sect is become very general, for there is scarcely a country to be found in which this heresy is not planted. And, in the third place, because while all other sects beget in people a dread and horror of them on account of their blasphemies against God, this, on the contrary, hath a great appearance of godliness; for, they live righteously before men, believe rightly concerning God in every particular, holding all the articles contained in the [apostles’] creed--but hating and reviling the church of Rome, and on this subject they are readily believed by the people" [Reinerius contra Waldenses, in Perrin, book 2, chapter 1].

"The first lesson," says he, in another place, "that the Waldenses teach those whom they bring over to their party, is to instruct them what kind of persons the disciples of Christ ought to be; and this they do by the doctrine of the evangelists and apostles, saying, that those only are the followers of the apostles who imitate their manner of life. Inferring from thence," says he, "that the pope, the bishops, and the clergy, who possess the riches of this world, and make them the object of their pursuit, do not tread in the footsteps of the apostles, and therefore are not the true guides of the church; it never having been the design of the Lord Jesus Christ to commit his chaste and well-beloved spouse to those who would rather prostitute her by their bad example and abominable works, than preserve her in the same state of purity in which they at first received her, a virgin chaste and without spot" [Idem. cap. de studio pervertendi alios et medo docendi, fol. 98].

The same author has furnished us with an interesting account of the manner in which the Waldenses privately disseminated their principles among the gentry; and a proper attention to it will sufficiently explain to the reader the amount of various charges brought against them, from time to time, by the catholic writers, viz. that they allowed their women to teach. It seems to have been a common practice with their teachers, the more readily to gain access for their doctrine among persons in the higher ranks of life, to carry with them a small box of trinkets, or articles of dress, something like the hawkers or peddlers of our day, and Reinerius thus describes the manner in which they were wont to introduce themselves. "SIR, will you please to buy any rings, or seals, or trinkets? MADAM, will you look at any handkerchiefs, or pieces of needlework for veils? I can afford them cheap." If after a purchase the company ask, "Have you any thing more?" the salesman would reply, "O yes, I have commodities far more valuable than these, and I will make you a present of them, if you will protect me from the clergy." Security being promised, on he would go. "The inestimable jewel I spoke of, is the word of God, by which he communicates his mind to men, and which inflames their hearts with love to him." "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth"--and so he would proceed to repeat the remaining part of the first chapter of Luke. [The reader should keep in mind, that at this time the use of the Bible was not allowed by the pope to the laity, and indeed very few of the clergy knew any thing about its contents.] Or, he would begin with the thirteenth of John, and repeat the last discourse of Jesus to his disciples. If the company should seem pleased, he would proceed to repeat the twenty-third of Matthew. "The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’s seat -- Woe unto you; ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, ye devour widows’ houses." -- "And pray," should one of the company say, "Against whom are these woes pronounced think you?" he would reply, "Against the clergy and the monks. The doctors of the Roman church are pompous, both in their habits and their manners--they love the uppermost rooms, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and to be called Rabbi, Rabbi. For our parts, we desire no such Rabbis. They are incontinent; we live each in chastity with his own wife. They are the rich and avaricious, of whom the Lord says, "Woe unto you, ye rich, for ye have received your consolation;" but we, "having food and raiment are therewith content." They are voluptuous and devour widows’ houses--we only eat to be refreshed and supported. They fight and encourage wars, and command the poor to be killed and burnt, in defiance of the saying, "he that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword." For our part, they persecute us for righteousness’ sake. They do nothing, but eat the bread of idleness. We work with our hands. They monopolize the giving of instruction, and "woe be to them that take away the key of knowledge." But among us, women teach as well as men, and one disciple, as soon as he is informed himself, teaches another. Among them, you can hardly find a doctor who can repeat three chapters of the New Testament by heart--but of us there is scarcely man or woman who doth not retain the whole. And because we are sincere believers in Christ, and all teach and enforce a holy life and conversation, these Scribes and Pharisees persecute us to death, as their predecessors did Jesus Christ [Reineri. cap. 8. Quomodo se ingerant familiaritati magnorum].

The plan adopted by the Waldenses, for engaging the attention of others to the word of God, as described by Reinerius in the foregoing extract, is both simple and striking, and deserves the attention of missionaries in the present day. It seems to have been prosecuted for several centuries, even beyond the times of the Reformation, as appears from the following circumstance:--The first editor of the complete book of Reinerius, was Father Gretzer, who published it in the year 1613. In the margin of that work, opposite to the passage above quoted, he has placed these words: "This is a true picture of the heretics of our age, particularly of the Anabaptists" [Vera effigies hereticorum nostrae aetatis [1613] praesertim Anabaptistarum]. There are few of the Baptists of the present day, it is to be hoped, who would blush to own an alliance with either the old Waldensian preachers, or the heretical Baptists referred to by this father of the catholic church, at least in this part of their conduct; and, indeed, it would be well if all our Missionaries and private Christians of the present day were as conversant with the word of God as the Waldenses even in that dark age appear, from the testimony of their very enemies, to have been.

But not to enlarge, I close this section by laying before the reader a few of the testimonies that were borne to the Waldenses, by our first Protestant reformers and earlier historians, who, as most of them lived about three hundred years nearer to their times than we do, may reasonably be supposed so much better qualified for appreciating their true character.

In the year 1530, ECOLAMPADIUS, one of the reformers, then resident at Basle, in Switzerland, was visited by George Morell, one of the pastors among the Waldenses, by whom, on his return to Provence, he addressed a letter "to his well-beloved brethren in Christ, called Waldenses," and it is as follows:

"We have learned with great satisfaction, by your faithful pastor, George Morell, the nature of your faith and religious profession, and in what terms you declare it. Therefore, we thank our most merciful Father, who hath called you to so great light in this age, amidst the dark clouds of ignorance which have spread themselves over the world, and notwithstanding the extravagant power of Antichrist. Wherefore we acknowledge that Christ is in you: for which cause we love you as brethren; and would to God we were able to make you sensible in effect of that which we shall be ready to do for you, although it were to be done with the utmost difficulty. Finally, we desire that what we write may not be regarded as though through pride we arrogated to ourselves any superiority over you, but consider it as proceeding from that brotherly love and charity which we bear towards you. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath imparted to you an excellent knowledge of his truth, beyond that of many other people, and hath blessed you with spiritual blessings. So that if you persevere in his grace, he hath much greater treasures wherewith to enrich you, and make you perfect, according to your advancement in the measure of the inheritance of Christ."

LUTHER, in the year 1588, published the Confessions of the Waldenses, to which he wrote a preface. In that preface he candidly acknowledges that, in the days of his popery he had hated the Waldenses, as persons who were consigned over to perdition. But having understood from their confessions and writings the piety of their faith, he perceived that those good men had been greatly wronged whom the Pope had condemned as heretics; for that, on the contrary, they were rather entitled to the praise due to holy martyrs. He adds, that among them he had found one thing worthy of admiration, a thing unheard of in the Popish church, that, laying aside the doctrines of men, they meditated in the law of God, day and night; and that they were expert, and even well versed in the knowledge of the Scriptures; whereas, in the papacy, those who are called masters wholly neglected the Scriptures, and some of them had not so much as seen the Bible at any time. Moreover, having read the Waldensian Confessions, he said he returned thanks to God for the great light which it had pleased him to bestow upon that people; rejoicing that all cause of suspicion being removed which had existed between them and the reformed, they were now brought together into one sheepfold under the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls. [Morland’s History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 58; Perrin’s Vaudois, chapter 6.]

THEODORE BEZA, the contemporary and colleague of Calvin, in his "Treatise of the famous pillars of learning and religion," says; "As for the Waldenses, I may by permitted to call them the very seed of the primitive and purer Christian Church, since they are those that have been upheld, as is abundantly manifest, by the wonderful providence of God, so that neither those endless storms and tempests by which the whole Christian world has been shaken for so many succeeding ages, and the western parts at length so miserably oppressed by the bishop of Rome, falsely so called; nor those horrible persecutions which have been expressly raised against them, were ever able so far to prevail as to make them bend, or yield a voluntary subjection to the Roman tyranny and idolatry. [Preface to Morland’s History, p 7.]

On another occasion the same writer remarks that "The Waldenses, time out of mind, have opposed the abuses of the Church of Rome, and have been persecuted after such a manner, not by the sword of the word of God, but by every species of cruelty, added to a million of calumnies and false accusations, that they have been compelled to disperse themselves wherever they could, wandering through the deserts like wild beasts. The Lord, nevertheless, has so preserved the residue of them, that, notwithstanding the rage of the whole world, they still inhabit three countries at a great distance from each other, viz. Calabria, Bohemia, and Piedmont, and the countries adjoining, where they dispersed themselves from the quarters of Provence about two hundred and seventy years ago. And as to their religion, they never adhered to papal superstitions; for which reason they have been continually harassed by the bishops and inquisitors abusing the arm of secular justice, so that their continuance to the present time is evidently miraculous" [History of the Reformed Churches in France, tom. 1, book 1, page 35, in Perrin, book 1, chapter 6].

BULLINGER, in the preface to his Sermons on the Book of the Revelation, (1530) writes thus concerning the Waldenses. "What shall we say, that for four hundred years and more, in France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Bohemia, and other countries throughout the world, the Waldenses have sustained their profession of the gospel of Christ; and in several of their writings, as well as by continual preaching, they have accused the pope as the real Antichrist foretold by the apostle John, and whom therefore we ought to avoid. These people have undergone divers and cruel torments, yet have they constantly and openly given testimony to their faith by glorious martyrdoms, and still do so even to this day. Although it has often been attempted by the most powerful kings and princes, instigated by the pope, it hath been found impossible to extirpate them, for God hath frustrated their efforts" [Preface to his Sermons, quoted by Perrin chapter 6].

MONSIEUR DE VIGNAUX, who was forty years pastor of one of the Churches of the Waldenses, in the valleys of Piedmont, and died at the age of eighty, wrote a Treatise concerning their life, manners, and religion, in which he says; "We live in peace and harmony one with another, have intercourse and dealings chiefly among ourselves, having never mingled ourselves with the members of the church of Rome by marrying our sons to their daughters, nor our daughters to their sons. Yet they are so pleased with our manners and customs, that Catholics, both lords and others, would rather have men and maid servants from among us, than from those of their own religion; and they actually come from distant parts to seek nurses among us for their little children, finding, as they say, more fidelity among our people than their own." He then gives a summary of their doctrinal principles, for the sake of which they have been persecuted; such as "that the Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to our salvation, and that we are called to believe only what they teach, without any regard to the authority of man--that nothing else ought to be received by us except what God hath commanded--that there is only one mediator between God and man, and consequently that it is wrong to invoke the saints. That baptism and the Lord’s supper are the only standing ordinances in the church of Christ--that all masses are damnable, and ought to be abolished -- that all human traditions are to be rejected. That the saying and recital of the office, fasts confined to particular days, superfluous holy-days, differences of meats, so many degrees and orders of priests, monks, and nuns, so many benedictions and consecrations of creatures, vows, pilgrimages, and the whole vast and confused mass of ceremonies, formerly invented, ought to be abolished. They deny the supremacy of the pope, and more especially the power that he has usurped over the civil government, and admit of no other degrees than bishops and deacons. They contend that the See of Rome is the true Babylon--the marriage of the clergy lawful, and that the true church of Christ consists of those who hear the word of God and believe it" [Perrin’s History, book 1, chapter 6].

JOHN CHASSAGNON, who wrote a History of the Albigenses, says, "It is recorded of the Waldenses, that they rejected all the traditions and ordinances of the church of Rome as being superstitious and unprofitable, and that they made light of the whole body of the clergy and prelates. On which account, having been excommunicated and expelled their country, they dispersed themselves in different places, viz. into Dauphiny, Provence, Languedoc, Piedmont, Calabria, Bohemia, England, and elsewhere. Some say, that a part of the Waldenses retired into Lombardy (in Italy) where they multiplied to such an extent that their doctrine spread itself throughout Italy, and reached even into Sicily. Nevertheless, in all their dispersions they maintained among themselves some union and fraternity, during the space of four hundred years, living in great simplicity and the fear of God" [Perrin’s History, book 1, chapter 6].

To these numerous testimonies, I shall now add that of our great poet MILTON, who seems to have diligently studied the character of the Waldenses, and to have well understood their principles and the constitution of their churches. Of this the reader will find abundant evidence hereafter in the numerous letters which he wrote in their behalf to the Protestant princes of Europe, pleading their cause against their popish persecutors. What I have at present in view is, the account given by him of the constitution of their churches, and the simplicity of their worship. He wrote a Tract, entitled, "Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove hirelings out of the church," addressed to the Parliament of England; in which he shows the pernicious effects arising from the endowing of churches with tithes; refutes, in the most convincing manner, the various pleas which were urged by Episcopalians in favor of that practice as founded on the Jewish law; and frequently adduces the happy poverty and purity of the Waldenses, as forming a stalking contrast to the corruptions that abound in national churches. "For the first three hundred years and upwards," says he, "in all the ecclesiastical story, I find no such doctrine or example, [as that of supporting the pastors of Christian churches by the imposition of tithes] though error by that time had brought back again priests, altars, and oblations; and in many other points of religion had miserably Judaised the church."--"The first Christian emperors, who did all things as bishops advised them, supplied what was wanting to the clergy, not out of tithes, which were never mentioned, but out of their own imperial revenues; as is manifest in Eusebius, Theodoret, and Sozomen, from [the times of] Constantine to Arcadius. Hence, those most ancient reformed churches of the Waldenses, if they rather continued not pure since the apostles’ days, denied that tithes were to be given, or that they were ever given in the primitive church, as appears by an ancient Tractate inserted in the Bohemian history. The [pastors of the] poor Waldenses, the ancient Stock of our reformation, without the help (of tithes) bred up themselves in trades, and especially in physic and surgery, as well as in the study of scripture, which is the only true theology, that they might be no burden to the church; and after the example of Christ might cure both soul and body, through industry adding that to their ministry which he joined to his by the gift of the Spirit. So Peter Gilles relates, in his history of the Waldenses of Piedmont. But our ministers scorn to use a trade, and count it the reproach of this age that tradesmen preach the gospel. It were to be wished they were all tradesmen; they would not then for want of another trade make a trade of their preaching: and yet they clamor that tradesmen preach, though they preach while themselves are the worst tradesmen of all."--"Seeing the Christian church is not national, but consists of many particular congregations, not determined by any outward judge in matters of conscience; those pretended church revenues, as they have ever been, so they are likely to continue, matters of endless dissension between the church and the magistrate, and the churches among themselves; there will, therefore, be found no better remedy for these evils, otherwise incurable, than (after the example of) the most incorrupt counsel of those Waldenses, our first reformers, to remove them as a pest -- an apple of discord in the church; for what else can the effect of riches be, and the snare of money in religion? and to convert them to more profitable uses; considering that the church of Christ was founded in poverty rather than in revenues, stood purest, and prospered best without them, received them unlawfully from those who both erroneously and unjustly, sometimes impiously, given them, and so was justly ensnared and corrupted by them."--"The Waldenses, our first reformers, both from the Scriptures and primitive example, maintained those among them who bore the office of ministers by alms alone, Take their very words, ‘Our food and clothing is sufficiently administered and given to us by way of gratuity and alms, by the good people whom we teach.’ As for church endowments and possessions, I meet with none considerable before Constantine, but the houses and gardens where they met, and their places of burial: and I persuade myself, that from thence the ancient Waldenses, whom I deservedly cite so often, held that, ‘to endow churches is an evil thing,’ and that the church then fell off and became the whore sitting on that beast mentioned in the book of the Revelation when, under pope Sylvester, she received those temporal donations. So the forecited Tractate of their doctrine testifies."

Thus far Milton; on which it may be observed, that to such as have studied the annals of the Christian church, and are in any tolerable degree aware how much the avarice, pride, and ambition of the clergy, have in all ages contributed to promote the corruptions that have prevailed in it, both in doctrine, discipline, and worship; the view that he gives us of the humble and self-denied deportment of the Waldensian pastors, must be considered as one of the strongest evidences that can be afforded of the purity of the communion of their churches, and of their close adherence to the pattern left them for imitation in the approved examples of the New Testament. But Milton was not singular in the commendation that he has given to the confessors of Piedmont; for thus writes the candid JORTIN, in perfect consistency with our great poet. "The Waldenses taught that the Roman church departed from its former sanctity and purity in the time of Constantine the Great; they therefore refused to submit to the usurped powers of its pontiff. They said that the prelates and doctors ought to imitate the poverty of the apostles, and earn their bread by the labor of their hands. They contended that the office of teaching, confirming, and admonishing the brethren, belonged in some measure to all Christians, etc. Their discipline was extremely strict and austere; for they interpreted Christ’s discourse on the Mount according to the literal sense of the words, and they condemned war, law-suits, the acquisition of riches, capital punishments, oaths, and [even] self-defense." [D.W. Cloud: At least some of the Waldenses did defend themselves against their enemies.] Again, the same writer remarks, that "The honest Waldenses very plainly discerned that the powers usurped by the popes and ecclesiastics were tyrannical and antichristian; and consequently that the decretals which established some of those notions must have been impudent forgeries. Why could not the popes discern the same? Because profaneness, pride, ambition, and avarice, hardened their hearts, and blinded their eyes; because they would neither examine, nor let other people examine" [Remarks on Ecclesiastes Hist. volume 3, p. 303]. But not to enlarge further on this particular, I shall close this section with a few general remarks.

An impartial review of the doctrinal sentiments maintained by the Waldenses; the discipline, order, and worship of their churches, as well as their general deportment and manner of life, not to mention their determined and uniform opposition to the church of Rome, affords abundant evidence of the similarity of their views and practices to those held by Luther, Calvin, and the other illustrious characters, whose labors, in the sixteenth century, contributed so eminently to effect the glorious Reformation. Most of the catholic writers, who lived about the time of the Reformation, and the age which succeeded it, clearly saw this coincidence between the principles of the Waldenses, and those of the reformers, and remarked it in their works. The following are instances of this.

Cardinal Hosius, a learned and zealous champion for the papacy, who presided at the council of Trent, lived during the Lutheran reformation, and wrote a history of the heresies of his own times, in which he says, "the leprosy of the Waldenses spread its infection throughout all Bohemia--and following the doctrine of Waldo, the greatest part of that kingdom separated itself from the church of Rome."

Lindanus, a catholic bishop of the see of Ghent, who wrote in defense of the tenets of the church of Rome, about 1550, terms Calvin "the inheritor of the doctrine of the Waldenses."

Mezeray, the celebrated historiographer of France, in his Abridgement of Chronology, speaking of the Waldenses, says, "They held nearly the same opinions as those who are now called Calvinists."

Gualtier, a Jesuitical monk, in his chronographical tables, drew up a catalogue consisting of seven and twenty particulars, in which he shows that the principles of the Waldenses, and those of the Calvinists coincided with each other.

Thomas Walden, who wrote against Wickliff, says, that the doctrine of Peter Waldo was conveyed from France into England--and that among others Wickliff received it. In this opinion he is joined by Alphonsus de Castro, who says that Wickliff only brought to light again the errors of the Waldenses. Cardinal Bellarmine, also, is pleased to say that "Wickliff could add nothing to the heresy of the Waldenses."

Ecchius reproached Luther, that he only renewed the heresies of the Waldenses and Albigenses, of Wickliff and of Huss, which had long ago been condemned. With him may also be classed Claude Rubis, who wrote the History of the city of Lyons, in which, adverting to the principles of Luther, he says, "the heresies that have been current in our time are founded upon those of the Waldenses," and he calls them "the relics of Waldo."

Aeneas Sylvius (afterwards Pope Pius II) declares the doctrine taught by Calvin to be the same as that of the Waldenses. In this opinion he was followed by John de Cardonne, who, in his life of the Monk of the valleys of Sernay, thus quaintly expresses himself, "What the sect of Geneva doth admit, The Albigenses did commit" [Perrin’s Hist. des Vaudois, book 1, chapter 8, where the references to these authors are given].

To these impartial testimonies, which are more than sufficient to settle the question of family likeness, I shall only add that of the learned Limborch, professor of divinity in the university of Amsterdam, and that of Dr. Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian. The former, comparing them with the Christians of his own time, says, "To speak candidly what I think, of all the modern sects of Christians, the Dutch Baptists most resemble both the Albigenses and Waldenses" [Limborch’s History of the Inquisition, Volume 1, chapter 8]. The latter, notwithstanding the flimsy, confused, and, in many instances, the erroneous account which he has given of the Waldenses, yet has expressly owned, that "before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay concealed, in almost all the countries of Europe, persons who adhered tenaciously to the principles of the modern Dutch Baptists" [Mosheim’s Ecclesiastes History, cent. 16, sect. 3, part 2, chapter 3].