The Vaudois of the Alps are, in my opinion, primitive Christians, or descendants and representatives of the primitive church, preserved in these valleys from the corruptions successively introduced by the Church of Rome into the religion of the gospel. It is not they who have separated from Catholicism, but Catholicism which has separated from them by changing the primitive religion.
Hence arises the impossibility of assigning any precise date for the commencement of their history. The Church of Rome, which at first also was a part of the primitive church, did not change all at once; but as it became powerful, it adopted, along with the sceptre, the pomp, the pride, and the spirit of domination which usually accompany the possession of power; whilst, in the retirement of the Vaudois valleys, that primitive church was reduced to an obscure existence, retaining its freedom in its isolation, and thenceforth little tempted to abandon the pure simplicity of its first days. The independence of the diocese of Milan, to which the Christians of the Alps then belonged, and that of which the episcopal see of Turin gave evidence, by opposing the worship of images in the 9th century,[2] must have contributed to their security in that situation.
The Vaudois have been represented as deriving their origin from Valdo of Lyons, and it is indisputable that that reformer had disciples to whom he left the name of Vaudois; but this is not sufficient to prove that the Vaudois of the Alps derive their origin from him. Many circumstances, on the contrary, seem to establish their existence anterior to his time,[3] and perhaps it was from them that he derived the name by which he is now known.[4]
The Vaudois valleys could not always preserve that unnoticed independence in which their security consisted. Catholicism having gradually attired itself in new forms of worship unknown to the apostles, made the contrast daily more striking between its pompous innovations, and the ancient simplicity of the Vaudois. In order, therefore, to reduce them to the despotic unity of Rome, there were sent against them the agents of a ministry equally unknown to apostolic times. These were the inquisitors.[5] In consequence of the resistance which they encountered in these retired mountainous regions, the valley of Lucerna was placed under ban.[6] But this measure served only to make more manifest the line of demarcation betwixt the two churches; for whilst the Vaudois had not schismatically separated themselves from the Catholic Church, whose external forms they still retained, they had their own clergy, their own religious service, and their own parishes.
Their pastors were designated Barbas.[7] It was in the almost inaccessible solitude of a deep mountain-pass that they had their school, where the whole influences of external nature were opposed to anything soft and yielding in the soul.[8] They were required to commit to memory the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, the general epistles, and a part of those of St. Paul. They were instructed, moreover, during two or three successive winters, and trained to speak, in Latin, in the Romance language, and in Italian. After this they spent some years in retirement, and then were set apart to the holy ministry by the administration of the Lord's Supper, and by imposition of hands. They were supported by the voluntary contributions of the people. These were divided annually in a general synod: one part was given to the ministers, one to the poor, and the third was reserved for the missionaries of the church.
These missionaries always went forth two and two, to wit, a young man and an old one. The latter was called the Regidor, and his companion the Coadjutor. They traversed Italy, where they had stations organized in many places, and secret adherents in almost all the towns. At Venice they reckoned 6000;[9] at Genoa they were not less numerous. Vignaux speaks of a pastor of the valley of Lucerna, who was away from it for a period of seven years.[10] The Barba Jacob was returning from a missionary tour in 1492, when he was arrested by the troops of Gattanée on the Col de Coste-Plane, as he passed from the valley of Pragela to that of Freyssinières;[11] and the records[12] of judicial investigations directed against the Vaudois from 1350 to 1500, and so often quoted by Bossuet,[13] make mention also of the characteristic circumstance of these habitual journeys.
What a delightful and truly festival time it must have been to these scattered Christians, when the missionary pastor came amongst them, expected all the year with the certainty of the regularly returning seasons!--a time soon past, but fraught with blessings, and in which the fruits of the soul and the harvest of the Lord made progress towards maturity.
Each pastor was required to become missionary in his turn. The younger ones were thus initiated into the delicate duties of evangelization--each of them being under the experienced guidance of a man of years, who, according to the discipline of his church, was his superior, and whom he was bound to obey in everything, as matter of duty, and not merely out of deference. The old man, on his part, thus made his preparation for repose, by training for the church successors worthy of it and of himself. His task being accomplished, he could die in peace, with the consolatory assurance of having transmitted the sacred trust of the gospel into prudent and zealous hands.
Besides this, the Barbas received instructions in some trade or profession, by which they might be enabled to provide for their own wants. Some were hawkers, others artisans, the greater part physicians or surgeons, and all were acquainted with the cultivation of the soil and the keeping of flocks, to the care of which they had been accustomed in their early years. Very few of them were married; and their perpetual missions, their poverty, their missionary tours, their life always spent amidst warfare and dangers, make it easy to understand the reason of their celibacy.
In the annual synod, which was held in the valleys, inquiry was made concerning the conduct of the pastors, and changes of residence were made amongst them. The Barbas actually employed in the ministry, were changed from place to place every three years--two of them always exchanging places with one another, except the aged men, who were no longer removed. A general director of the church was named at each synod, with the title of president or moderator. The latter title became more prevalent, and continues to this day.
The Vaudois Barbas were bound to visit the sick, whether sent for or not. They nominated arbiters in disputes; they admonished those who behaved ill, and if remonstrances produced no effect, they went the length of excommunication; but it was very rare. Their preaching, catechizing, and other exercises of instruction and devotion, were generally similar to those of the Reformed churches, except that the worshippers pronounced, with a low voice, the prayer which preceded and that which followed the sermon. The Vaudois had likewise hymns, which they only sung in private; which, moreover, agrees with what we know of the customs of the primitive church.
Their doctrines were equally analogous, or rather were remarkably identical with those of the apostolic times, and of the earliest fathers of the church. They may be briefly summed up in these few words:--The absolute authority and inspiration of the Bible[14]-- the Trinity in the Godhead[15]--the sinful state of man[16]--and free salvation by Jesus Christ[17]--but above all, faith working by love.[18]
It may, perhaps, surprise many to be told that, before the Reformation, the Vaudois never disputed with the Romish Church the number of the sacraments which it received.[19] They, in fact, contented themselves with remarking that Jesus Christ instituted only two of them; and as the gospel, upon which they always founded, had not formally indicated that number, nor even made use of the word sacrament, it was very natural for them to acquiesce concerning this point in the decision of the church, as they afterwards did in that of the Reformers.[20]
They admitted Confession;[21] but let us observe in what circumstances. Confession, say they, is of two kinds; the first must be made to God from the inmost heart; without which, no one can be saved.[22] The second kind is that which is made with audible voice to the priest, in order to receive counsel from him; and this confession is good, when that of the heart has preceded it. But, alas! many confide only in the latter, and fall into perdition.[23]
They admitted the sacrament of Repentance, but again let us note how. "Acts of repentance are excellent, and becoming on the part of every sinner; but they must proceed from abhorrence of sin, and sorrow for having committed it. Otherwise it is a false repentance, and a false repentance alienates a man from God as much as a true repentance brings him near to him."[24] Such a false repentance is that which reposes upon vain satisfactions; for what good thing can you do that you were not bound in duty to have done? and if you do not those things which you ought, what shall you substitute for them! The whole world could not deliver us from our sins; but he alone has made satisfaction for them, who is both Creator and creature at once, namely Christ.[25]
Therefore, with good reason, they add that idolatry has no other cause than these false opinions by which Antichrist takes away grace, truth, authority, invocation, and intercession from God, in order to ascribe them to the ministry and to the works of his own hands, namely, the saints and purgatory.[26]
The Vaudois, however, do not cease to recommend almsgiving,[27] as a means of fighting against sin, by the giving up of those riches which might have served as its instrument, and by the help of the prayers of the poor thus solicited.[28] It is with the same object that they recommend fasting, by which a man is humbled;[29] but fasting without charity is like a lamp without oil, it smokes and does not give light.[30] Prayer is, according to them, essentially implied in love;[31] and they add that patience, and constancy, and gentleness, and resignation, and charity, are the seal of the Christian.[32] As for those who would devolve upon others the care of their salvation, seeking the prayers of priests and of monks, masses, indulgences, neuvaines, &c., they forget the word of God, which declares that everyone shall bear his own burden.[33] They recommend, indeed, that men should go to the priests, who have the power of binding and of losing;[34] but let us take notice how they understand this, "that is to say, who know how to give good advice for a man's deliverance from the bondage of sin."[35] Not that they expect any absolution from them, for this they designate a delusive thing;[36] but because, they say, as a sick man seeks the best physician who can assist nature in him, and free him from his malady, even so the sinner ought to seek the best counsellor in order to get quit of sin;[37] and that feeling of guiltiness, the strength of which attests the sensibility of the soul in which it is experienced, presses so sore amongst these rustic and ancient Vaudois, that they never cease to bring forward the expression of it again and again in their different works. "We have turned aside from the path of truth. The light of righteousness shines not in us." "The sun of understanding is covered with clouds; iniquity holds us fast in its trammels."[38] "I am weak for that which is good, and strong for that which is evil."[39] In the name of God, my brethren, renounce the world, that you may follow the Lord."[40] "The works of man are of little avail for salvation."[41] Such is their mode of speaking. They like- wise add that it is impossible for man to perform his duties without faith. "Yes, I know that thou canst do nothing by thyself; but call upon the Lord for help, and he will hear thee."[42]
Finally, let us take notice that the Vaudois acknowledged, like the Catholics, the distinction rejected by Protestants, betwixt mortal sins and venial sins;[43] but that they were very far from meaning by these terms to extenuate the heinousness of any sin, because they said of sin in general, "Sin annihilates man, and brings him down from the position which he ought to occupy."[44] These terms, moreover, which may be traced to a very high antiquity in the annals of the church, might be thought to derive countenance from that passage of St. John, "All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death." (1 John 5:17)
The Vaudois had also their own houses of retirement from the world.[45] In the number of the thirty-two propositions which were ascribed to them, and which were affixed upon the gates of the cathedral of Embrun, in 1489, the following occurs, "They deny that a Christian, should ever take an oath." I cannot say, however, that they have anywhere made so absolute a declaration on this subject; but it is certain that they considered it as a fruit of perfection, that truth should never need from the lips of man the guarantee of any kind of oath. The perfect man, said they, ought not to swear;[47] and these words imply, on the other hand, the lawfulness of oaths, from the very absence of perfection, for no one is perfect here below.
Their opposition to the Church of Rome was always founded upon the Bible;[48] the character of a Christian, according to them, was to be found in the Christian life, and the Christian life was a gift of the grace of God.
The Barbas went once a year to each of the scattered hamlets of their parishes,[49] in order to listen to each person apart in a private confession. But this confession had no other object than to obtain the salutary counsels of Christian experience, and not a delusive absolution.
Such was, in its principal features, the state of the Vaudois Church of the middle ages. In a poem in the Romance language, entitled La Nobla Leyczon, and which is of the date of the end of the 11th century, or the commencement of the 12th, the Vaudois are said to have been already persecuted upon account of their customs and their doctrines. We may form a ready notion of that war of a corrupt world against a people, the severe purity of whose manners condemned at once its disorders and its superstitions. "If there be any one of whom it is said, that he will not slander, nor swear, nor lie, nor be guilty of dishonesty, or theft, nor give himself up to dissoluteness, nor revenge himself upon his enemies, they call him a Vaudois, and exclaim 'Death to him!'[52] But these were, unquestionably, nothing more than the results in particular and isolated instances of that hostility which the spirit of evil always excites in the hearts of worldly persons and impenitent sinners, against the visible fruits of evangelical sanctification.
The first measures of a more general character, adopted by the secular authorities for the destruction of the Vaudois, do not appear to have been earlier than the year 1209. At that epoch Otho IV was elected Emperor of the West, at Cologne, by a part of the empire, and crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. This ceremony took place in 1198; but, in 1206, he was defeated by Philip of Swabia, his rival, and retired to England, to the court of King John, his uncle. He returned two years afterwards, having heard of the death of his rival. He was then recognized by the diet of Frankfort; and in the following year he repaired to Rome, in order to be crowned emperor by Pope Innocent III, who had always favoured him in opposition to Philip. On this journey he passed through Piedmont; but Thomas, the then reigning Count of Savoy, had taken part against him in his disputes with Philip, who, in recompense for his support, had given him the towns of Quiers, Testona, and Modon. Otho IV, irritated against the old partisan of his rival, thought good to avenge himself of him by weakening his power within his own states, and for this purpose he gave to the Archbishop of Turin, who was a prince of the empire,[53] authority to destroy the Vaudois by force of arms. So that the long course of successive persecutions through which they were to pass, was not commenced by the Duke of Savoy, but by his enemies; and when, at a later period, the house of Savoy itself adopted the same methods of cruelty and depopulation, it was never of its own spontaneous movement, but from foreign influences, of which the most pressing were those of the court of Rome.
The branch of the Counts of Piedmont reigned for 176 years, and the last four of them bore the title of Princes of Achaia, Their residence was at Pignerol, and you will not find, says the Marquis of Beauregard, in his Historical Memoirs,[54] that these princes, who dwelt so close to the Vaudois, or the first Marquises of Saluces, ever persecuted them. It has even been supposed that some of the Counts of Lucerna,[55] immediate vassals of the empire, and principal lords of these valleys, at a very ancient period, were partakers of their religious opinions.
Thus was the primitive church preserved in the Alps to the very period of the Reformation. The Vaudois are the chain which unites the reformed churches with the first disciples of our Saviour. It is in vain that Popery, renegade from evangelical verities, has a thousand times sought to break this chain; it resists all her efforts. Empires have crumbled--dynasties have fallen--but this chain of scriptural testimony has not been broken, because its strength is not from men, but from God.
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