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Untitled Article
sage just quoted , together with the absence of all proof that Valdo ever visited or made disciples in the valleys , and the testimonies of their earl y opponents to the high antiquity and unknown origin of this sect , are sufficient to shew that this supposition is unfounded . In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the advocates of reform multiplied in France and Piedmont beyond all calculation , and , flying from persecution , extended their doctrines into every part of Europe , under various names , chiefly taken from
those of their most celebrated preachers , Petrobruysians , Arnaudists , Eperonites , Lollards , from Peter Lollard , a celebrated Waldensian Barbe , who preached in England , and Vallons or Walloons in Holland , a corruption of the term Vallenses or Waldenses . But the name by which they were most generally known was that of Waldenses , in French Vaudois , Vaud in old French signifying valley , the name of the sect or religion being taken from the place in which the doctrine flourished or originated , just as Moravian is employed to denote a follower of the doctrines first taught in Moravia .
The little church of Christians in the valleys may be considered as the mother of the other Protestant churches . Their Barbes travelled all over Europe to preach and confirm their disciples , and kept a sort of college for the education of ministers in a grotto or in the open air , whither the youth resorted to them for instruction from the most distant places previously to the Reformation .
The sufferings of this people on account of their religion have , indeed , shewn that they were regarded as the most formidable , as they were the oldest , enemies which a corrupted church had to encounter . The tortures inflicted upon them are too shocking to be related , and too horrible to be believed , were they not authenticated beyond the possibility of doubt . Eleven persecutions are enumerated by their historians as having been endured by them previously to the year 1686 , when they were for a time completely exterminated from their country . But under the command of
the celebrated A maud they returned again three years after , and , animated by the love of their native land and the religion they had exercised in it , performed prodigies of valour , and , in defiance of the combined armies of the Pope and the Duke of Savoy , re-entered and kept possession of their ancient abodes . All modern travellers who have visited them agree in representing their pastors as the most laborious and self-denying , and their hearers as the most religious , simple-hearted and amiable people in Europe * Vide Leger ' s Histoire des Vaudois , 1669 ; Brez ' s ditto , 1794 ; Gilly ' s Narrative , 1824 .
Such were the people whom I determined on visiting , partly from my state of health , which rendered relaxation necessary , and partly from curiosity to ascertain the two following points : 1 , Does the real character of the modern Waldenses correspond with that of their virtuous and constant ancestors ? And 2 , On what religious principles and views is such
distinguished excellence founded ? Solely with a view to the amusement of a few intimate friends , I noted down every thing remarkable I heard or saw . It having since been suggested that my journal might interest others besides my particular friends , 1 now transcribe it for insertion in the Monthly Repository , should it be deemed of sufficient interest . Venice , March , 1827 . ( To be continued . )
Untitled Article
338 The Waldenses .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1827, page 338, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1796/page/26/
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