The translation of this work was undertaken in the belief, which remains unshaken in the translator's mind, of its being the most complete and interesting history of the Vaudois yet given to the world. The lively and graphic style, of which the English reader may perhaps find here but an imperfect representation, although it adds much to the value of the work, is far from being its chief merit. The author has evidently devoted no small amount of labour to its preparation, both in the acquisition and in the arrangement of his materials. He has added to the stores of historic information previously accumulated, and has elucidated points that were formerly obscure, by his researches amongst documents inaccessible to previous historians. He has also, more fully than any previous author, brought the whole history of the Vaudois into one view--not only that of the Church in the Piedmontese valleys from the earliest period to the present day, but also that of the Vaudois inhabiting the French territory, of the Vaudois settlement in Calabria, and of the colonies which Vaudois exiles founded, who sought a refuge from persecution in different parts of Germany.
Few subjects have greater claims to the regard of all Christians than that of which this work treats. Even if the opinion were admitted, against which Dr. Muston contends, that the Vaudois derived their name and their origin as a distinct Christian community from Peter Waldo, the merchant of Lyons, who became a preacher of righteousness, and a witness against the corruptions of the Church of Rome, in the end of the twelfth century, it would be impossible to regard without deep interest that light shining in the midst of darkness throughout so many centuries, and the testimony so long maintained, amidst so many conflicts, by these Reformers before the Reformation. But the interest with which we contemplate the Vaudois (or Waldenses), is greatly increased when we acknowledge them as possessing a still higher antiquity-- as giving his name and, in part at least, his knowledge of the truth to Waldo, instead of deriving theirs from him--as forming a connecting link between the primitive church and the churches of the Reformation.
The reader of Vaudois history cannot read with unmingled pleasure. History records no deeds of cruelty more atrocious, no persecutions more terrible. But scenes which the benevolent mind would fain shut out from its contemplation, are yet invested with the highest and most enduring interest by the triumphs of faith, or possess a very great historic value as manifestations of the spirit of Popery, and as proofs of the identity of the Church of Rome with that Babylon of the Apocalypse, in which, when the Lord makes inquisition for blood and proceeds to the judgment long deferred, shall be found "the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."
The high testimonies of approbation which Dr. Huston's work has received from the historians Thierry and Michelet, the late lamented Dr. Gilly, and others most competent to judge, have already in part been made known by the publishers in their prospectus of this translation. The translator may be permitted to add, that the manner in which Dr. Huston's work has been treated, even by those continental writers who, in magazines and in works recently published, have argued in support of opinions contrary to his, on the important question of the origin of the Vaudois, has been such as to exhibit their high sense of its importance. Dr. Herzog, in his recent work on this subject (Die romanischen Waldenser, ihre vorreformatorischen Zustände und Lehren, u. s. w.), describes Dr. Huston's history as containing a rich store of precious materials. Constant reference has been made to it in the whole of the recent discussions concerning the Vaudois.
To the question of the origin of the Vaudois, the translator has ventured to devote an Appendix. He would have been glad to have entered more largely into this subject than he has been able to do--the necessary limits of the work preventing him. His desire, however, was not so much to adduce any argument of his own, which he could scarcely pretend to do, as to exhibit the state of the controversy on the Continent concerning the historic apostolicity of the Vaudois--a question of great interest and importance, although certainly not of so great importance as some have ascribed to it. This he has in some measure endeavoured to do; and imperfect as it is, he is not without hope that the appendix devoted to this subject, may be of use in directing attention to facts and arguments with which, if he may judge from all he has seen in print, very few persons in this country seem to have much acquaintance.
It may be proper, and yet, perhaps, it is not quite necessary, for the translator here to say that he does not hold himself responsible for every sentiment contained in the work which he has translated, nor wish to be understood as assenting to it. He differs from the author in some instances in which he has not thought it requisite to append any note; but in no case did he think it warrantable to change what the author had written. Dr. Muston has been allowed to speak for himself and to say to the British public what he originally thought fit to say to that of France and Switzerland. On various points, religious, political, and historical, the translator would have expressed himself otherwise; but he remembered that the work was Dr. Muston's and not his, and he is confident that it will find general approbation among the religious public of Britain, for the evangelical, liberal, and generous sentiments with which it is pervaded.
The work, as now issued, is not, however, a mere translation of the Israel of the Alps, as published six years since in France, but possesses, at the same time, the character of a second edition. Some corrections and additions have been made by the author, and maps and plates now accompany the work for the first time. The plates are chiefly, as will be seen, from sketches by Dr. Muston himself.
The translator has only to add, that concerning the form and spelling of proper names, he felt considerable difficulty. The French form, generally used in the original, is sometimes the least familiar to British readers. It has been thought best to prefer the most familiar form--French or Italian, as it might be. And if a perfect uniformity has not in all cases been preserved, it is hoped that no difficulty will thence arise to the reader.