(A.D. 1520 to A.D. 1560.)
After haying published the Bible, and confirmed their unity in faith with the Reformed Church, the Vaudois entered upon the public preaching of the glad tidings of salvation.
It will be remembered that the houses of their Barbas had hitherto served them for places of meeting. Thus the primitive church, exposed for centuries to assaults from without, long sheltered its testimony in the retirement of private dwellings. But withal, this unobtrusive ministry was not the less active, and the church all at once manifested an increased strength at the expiry of that first age of concentration. The Vaudois valleys adopted the same method, which must be considered as the method adopted by our Lord. At the date to which our history now refers, all their places of worship were constructed in a single year.[2]
The number of hearers who at that time crowded into the residences of the Barbas became too great to be accommodated there, for they came not only from the valleys, but from the plain of Piedmont; and as the parish of Angrogna was most easily accessible to them, they repaired thither in greatest numbers.
One day the throng, assembled in the square of the village, waited till they should be able to enter the pastor's residence, which was already full of people. It was in the month of August, 1555. The pastor taught within; a schoolmaster preached without. "Yes, the times are come," exclaimed he, "when the gospel must be proclaimed to every nation, when the Lord will pour out his Spirit upon every creature! Come and drink at these living fountains of the grace by which Christ refreshes our souls! Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled!" And the people, with increased eagerness, called for the pastor. The pastor was Stephen Noël, whom Gilles, in returning from Calabria, had brought with him from Lausanne. He was obliged to leave his house and preach in the open air. Privacy was no longer possible. A place of worship was constructed upon that spot, and before the end of the year another was built, at the distance of half-a-league. These two places of worship remain to the present day.[3] The pastors read the Bible there, and explained it to the people every day; the people could not be satisfied.
In the other communes the same demand arose for places of worship. Within eighteen months they were all built. What a power there is in evangelical life and activity! "Show me thy faith by thy works," said St. James to the primitive church; and that church pursuing her course of unobtrusive ministration in private dwellings, laboured for centuries to win souls and elevate them heavenwards, as so many temples dedicated to the Lord; and afterwards her places of worship arose everywhere. In the same manner the Vaudois Church, after centuries of hidden life, set open the sanctuary of its teachings, and all the places of worship in its valleys were erected at once. It was not long till they were cemented with the blood of martyrs. Behold the works of our faith! might these worthy inheritors of the primitive Christians have said to the apostle.
But they had been favoured by the kindness of their sovereigns. There is extant a brief of Julius II, of date 8th May, 1506, addressed to the Duke of Savoy, who had interceded for them with the court of Rome;[4] and for twenty years after the great synod of 1532, the Vaudois still lived undisturbed. "The pastors and other leaders of the churches," says Gilles, "had resolved to conduct their religious services with as little display and noise as possible, in order not unnecessarily to irritate those who only desired an occasion to do them harm."
When prudence does not interfere with devotedness, it increases our estimate of its value; and when, at a later period--after having been brought by Providence to enjoy a publicity of ministrations beyond what they had sought--these intrepid propagators of the gospel had notice given them that they must submit to some restrictions, "Why," said they, "should we diminish the work of God and the field of labour which he has assigned us?" "Armed bands," it was replied, "will come from Turin and annihilate you."[5] "God will defend what he has set up," said they. And they pursued, with the calmness of courage, the work commenced in the calmness of prudence. It is the character of strong minds; it was that of these evangelical mountaineers.
But when seven places of worship were erected at once in the valleys--when, notwithstanding the execution of Laborie, Vernoux, Varailles, and Hector, who suffered martyrdom at that period, it was perceived that the number of Vaudois students in foreign parts, and that of the foreign pastors in Piedmont increased at the same time with the flocks hungering for the pastures of the Bible--the court of Rome took the alarm, and armed itself with its utmost severity.
The Vaudois valleys and the city of Turin belonged at that time to France. The unfortunate Duke of Savoy, Charles III, so justly surnamed the Good, had sought the assistance of Charles V, and from his retreat at Verceil he beheld with sorrow his hereditary dominions alternately made the prey of his allies and of his enemies.
Marcel II, a well-meaning and upright pope, who had manifested some dispositions favourable to reformation, and evinced a desire to introduce it into the Church, having been elected on the 9th of April, 1555, died unexpectedly twenty-one days after his exaltation to the papal chair, being struck, it was said, with apoplexy. His successor, Paul IV,[6] more faithful to the spirit of Catholicism, instead of favouring improvement, endeavoured to put a stop to it. Events, at first, seemed to fall in with his designs. The cardinals of Lorraine and of Tournon, the latter of whom had already proved so dreadful an enemy to the Vaudois of Provence, came to Rome on the 15th of December, 1555, to conclude, in name of the King of France, a league against the Spaniards. At the same time the nuncio wrote from Turin to report the progress made by the Vaudois, and Paul IV took advantage of the return of the diplomatist cardinals to apply to Henry II, with whom he had just been negotiating an alliance, requiring that he should employ rigorous measures against these heretics.
The French monarch accordingly transmitted orders to the parliament of Turin, and that body named two commissioners, St. Julian and Della Chiesa (in Latin called De Ecclesia), who were appointed to proceed to the spot, to collect information, to prepare a report, to endeavour to bring over the Vaudois to Catholicism, and to take all steps which they might judge necessary for that purpose. These delegates, escorted by a numerous suite, arrived in the valleys in the month of March, 1556. They commenced by issuing a proclamation, in which, reminding the people of the respect due to the authority of the king and of the church, they threatened with, the severest penalties those who should resist. The Vaudois replied that they were, and would continue to be, faithful subjects and Christians.
But the irritation of the Catholics against the reformed was great. A man of St. John, who had got his child baptized by the pastor of Angrogna, was denounced to the commissioners, and cited before them at Pignerol. There he received orders to have his child re-baptized by a priest, with certification that if he did not he would be burned alive. The disconcerted villager stood silent. Being urged to reply, he asked time for reflection. "You shall not leave that spot till you decide." "Permit me, at least, to take counsel." "Of your confessor, perchance?" said the vice-president, with a sarcastic air.[7] "Yes, my lord," gravely replied the Christian. His request was granted. "What is he going to do?" said those who were present, one to another. The countryman retired to the most distant part of the room, and fearlessly kneeling in presence of these great ones, humbly addressed himself to God in prayer.
And was not this, indeed, to go to the best counsellor--the friend to whom all distresses may be confided--the only confessor who is able both to absolve and to direct? "What have you resolved upon?" said the magistrate. "Will you take upon your souls," replied the peasant, "the evil which there may be in doing what you require of me?" The commissioners, disconcerted in their turn, sent him away, without insisting upon his compliance.
But all around them fanaticism was breaking out into deeds of violence, and the basest passions were expressed in the most offensive language. "I will cut off the nose of that cursed pastor of Angrogna, if he continues his audacious preachings," cried a man, named Trombaud, in the public square of Briquèras.
The smallest incidents were significant at that time; they appeared, to the lively and simple imagination of the people, to take place under the guiding hand of God. And why should it not always be so? This same Trombaud, travelling by night towards the mountains of Angrogna, was attacked by a wolf, which sprang at his face, and disfigured it; so that he underwent the same mutilation by the teeth of a ferocious beast, with which his hand had threatened the pastor. Common-place as this circumstance may seem to us, it was taken at that time for a providential chastisement, and perhaps retarded the bursting of the storm which gathered over the Vaudois.
The commissioners visited the valley of Perouse; they then went to Lucerna, and afterwards to Angrogna, where they entered both the places of worship, and were present during sermon. When the minister had descended from the pulpit, they commanded a monk to get up into it, requesting the congregation to listen to him also. The monk preached on the unity of the Catholic Church, and asserted that separation from it was a crime. "It is that church herself that has separated from the gospel," said the minister, when the monk had finished his discourse; "and, if the honourable commissioners will permit us, we will prove it from the Bible." "We are not come here to hold discussions," they replied, "but to enforce the observance of the king's orders. Recollect what happened ten years ago to your brethren of Merindol and of Cabrières, for having resisted the laws of the church."[8] The Vaudois, without taking any notice of the confusion which these words made of civil and ecclesiastical laws, or of the threat with which they were accompanied, answered with the utmost simplicity, but firmly, that they were resolved to live according to the word of God, and that if the falsehood of their doctrines could be proved to them from the word of God, they were ready to forsake them. The same answer was given to the commissioners in the other communes of the valleys, which they visited in the same manner.
Hereupon they retired to Lucerna, and caused an edict to be published on the 23d of March, 1556, by which they ordained the Vaudois to abjure, and to receive no more preachers coming from other parts, except such as might be sent to them by the Archbishop of Turin. The third part of the goods of offenders was promised to those who should inform against them.
The Vaudois replied by a profession of faith, founded upon the Bible, in the spirit of which they resolved to persevere, like their forefathers, until it should be proved to them that they were in error. "And as for human traditions," they added, "we willingly receive those which serve to promote order, decency, and the dignity of the holy ministry; but as for those which are recommended in order to the acquiring of merit, and to bind and oblige consciences, contrary to the word of God, we absolutely reject them, and would not accept them even from the hand of an angel."
The commissioners could not hope to prevail more than an angel, and upon this demanded that the pastors and schoolmasters should be delivered up to them. "If they teach the truth," said the Vaudois, "why take them from us? and if they do not teach the truth, let it be proved to us by the word of truth." All the threatenings and solicitations of the parliamentary envoys failed against that impregnable rampart of the Vaudois church--the Bible--the eternal stumbling-block of the Church of Rome." Very well," said St. Julian, "keep your schoolmasters and your preachers, but you will have to give an account of your keeping them, when they shall be demanded from you again."
After this the commissioners returned to Turin, and made their report to the parliament, which appointed them to proceed to France, to inform Henry II of what had taken place, and to receive his instructions for the future. It was not until next year that they returned, and revisiting the valleys, said to the Vaudois that the king commanded them immediately to embrace Catholicism. Three days were allowed them for deliberation. But they did not need long time. "Let them prove to us," said they, "that our doctrines are not agreeable to the word of God, and we are ready to abandon them; otherwise, let them not ask us for any abjuration." "We are not here to enter into any discussion," replied the commissioners, "but to know if you are ready to become Catholics; yes or no." "No !" said the Vaudois.
Thereupon, by an edict of the 22d of March, 1557, forty-six of the principal of them were summoned to appear at Turin on the 29th of the same month, under pain of a fine of 500 crowns of gold for each who should disregard the citation. All disregarded it. A month after, new summonses were sent to some of those who had been cited before, and to all the pastors and schoolmasters without exception. This time, also, they refused to attend. The syndics were ordered to apprehend them, but no one durst lay a hand upon them.
About this time Spain and England declared war against France, and the Swiss cantons interposed their influence with Henry II, in favour of the Vaudois. These events suspended the proceedings against them; and they hastened to profit by the intermission, to prepare a code of ecclesiastical discipline, which was formally adopted on the 13th of July, 1558.
In the following year Emmanuel Philibert was restored to the enjoyment of his dominions.[9] On the 9th of July, 1559, he espoused the sister of Henry II, who was favourable to Protestantism; and in the commencement of his reign he showed a friendly disposition towards the inhabitants of the Vaudois valleys, whose valour and loyalty were both well known to him.
But the prelates, the nuncio, the King of Spain, and some of the princes of Italy, at the instigation, as Gilles says, of certain gentlemen of the valleys,[10] so plied the good prince on all hands with their solicitations, that he began by forbidding all who did not belong to the Vaudois valleys from going to hear sermon there.[11] And thereupon commissioners were named, to see that the reformed worship was not celebrated beyond the prescribed limits of these mountains. At their head was no less a personage than Philip of Savoy, the cousin of the reigning duke, who assumed the appellation of Count of Racconis; with him was the Count of La Trinité, whose proper name was George Coste, and the grand inquisitor of Turin, by name Thomas Jacomel. Gilles, who is usually so reserved in his expressions, says of him, that he had the reputation of being an apostate, and a shameless and insatiable plunderer of what belonged to others.
The most really noble of these three personages soon withdrew from the bloody course which they thought fit to open up for the triumph of Catholicism; for it was by their hands that so many stakes were at that time erected, and that the flame of so many piles illustrated the devotedness of our martyr fathers. It was at that time, also, that the valleys of Mathias, Larche, and Méane were so cruelly assailed, of which notice will fall to be taken in the history of Pragela, as well as those of Saluces and Barcelonnette, of which we have already spoken. Amidst such a series of persecutions, it could not fail, ere long, to come to the turn of the Vaudois valleys also. But, forgetful of their own dangers, they were forward in endeavouring to avert those of their brethren. The representations, petitions, and supplications which the Vaudois at that time addressed to the sovereign,[12] in favour of their persecuted brethren, had no effect but to attract attention to their own church, which till then had been spared.
The year 1560 commenced in the valleys with violent earthquakes.[13] At this date, also, the monks of the abbey of Pignerol had in their pay a troop of plunderers; and, in the words of Crespin, "they sent them out to pillage, beat, and kill the poor people, and to bring prisoners to the abbey, both men and women, of whom some were most cruelly burned alive, and others sent to the galleys, axid some few released for a ransom. Those who escaped from their prisons were so sick that they seemed to have been poisoned."[14]
The valley of St. Martin was laid waste by the seigneurs of Le Perrier, named Charles and Boniface Truchet.[15] In the preceding year they had already attempted to seize the minister of Rioclaret (the valley of the clear stream). Whilst he was preaching, they had sent to the place of worship traitors, who, under the guise of simple hearers, were to gather around the minister, and lay hold of him. These hireling villains were at their post. Charles Truchet arrived at the gates of the place of worship with his proud and well-armed troop. He sounded the clarion; his secret emissaries rushed upon the pastor, and endeavoured to drag him away. All the people flew to defend him. The troop attempted to carry the church by assault, but was repulsed; its leader, although of great stature, vigorous, and armed with mail, was in danger of losing his life, for one of these robust mountaineers having got into combat with him, and squeezed him up against a tree, could easily have choked him; but because of his rank, says Gilles, and from motives of humanity, he let him go.
Instead of being thankful, his hostility only grew. Thus it is with base natures. On the 2d of April, 1560, before daylight, he returned to Rioclaret with a troop more numerous than the former, broke open the doors, killed the inhabitants, and ravaged the whole hamlet. But the cries of his first victims wakened their neighbours, who fled without clothes, without provisions, and without arms, to the peaks of the mountains, still covered with snow. "The enemy," says Richard,[16] "pursued these poor people far up into the woods, firing many shots at them with their arquebuses: afterwards they came back to the deserted houses, took up their lodgings there, and made themselves comfortable, whilst those to whom the houses and provisions belonged were suffering from hunger and cold: they even asserted loudly that they would not permit them to return, at least until they should promise to go to mass."
Next day an aged pastor, recently come from Calabria, made an attempt to visit and encourage these poor fugitives. The troop of Truchet perceived him at daybreak, pursued him, seized him, and delivered him over to the monks of Pignerol, who caused him to be burned alive, with another prisoner from the valley of St. Martin. It is as needless to say that they might have saved their lives by apostasy, as it was needless to propose it to them.
Three days afterwards, however, the Vaudois of Pragela having learned the unhappy condition of their brethren of Rioclaret, assembled, to the number of 400, and resolved upon going to their rescue. Their pastor, named Martin, marched at the head of this troop. From time to time as they advanced, he flung himself upon his knees, with all his men, and prayed to God to give them the victory. Their prayer was heard. The weather was very gloomy, and it was towards evening when they arrived at Rioclaret. The enemy, being apprised of their approach, had made preparations for defence; but a terrible storm, such that the Alps themselves seemed to be shaken when it burst upon their peaks, poured its fury upon the mountain at the moment when the action commenced. After an obstinate combat, the band of Truchet was driven from its positions, and pursued into the ravines, where the soldiers wandered in the midst of the night, and for the second time the unjust aggressor had difficulty in making his escape.
Hereupon Truchet repaired to Nice, where Philibert then held his court, for the city of Turin had not yet been given up to him. "The Vaudois," he said to him, "are rebels; they bring foreign troops into your dominions," (alluding to that band which came from Pragela, in the kingdom of France,) "and they are constructing places of security on the mountains."
A miserable stronghold, indeed, was that to which they had been obliged to retire amidst the snow, half-naked, and without arms or provisions ! But the duke could not know these particulars: he was in bad health, and very irritable; and the Truchets counted on his wrath. Yielding, therefore, to their perfidious suggestions, he authorized them to rebuild the fortifications of Le Perrier, which had been destroyed by the French before the restitution of that place,[17] and to burden the Vaudois with compulsory labour. The Vaudois addressed respectful remonstrances to their sovereign; the seigneurs of Le Perrier returned to Nice to counteract the effect of them; and during a pleasure excursion which they made upon the sea, they were carried off by corsairs, and are no more mentioned in history.[18]
Whilst these things were taking place in the valley of St. Martin, the duke's cousin, the Count of Racconis, had proceeded to that of Lucerna. One day, in the month of April, he ascended to Angrogna, and listened in silence to the sermon of the minister. After the conclusion of the service, he expressed a desire to see the proceedings against the Vaudois terminated. To take advantage of these friendly feelings, the Vaudois sent to him a particular exposition of their doctrines, with three petitions, one addressed to the Duchess of Savoy, another to the duke, and the third to his council.
Six weeks after, towards the end of the month of June, the Count of Racconis returned to Angrogna with the Count of La Trinité. The syndics and pastors being assembled, these commissioners demanded of them whether they would make any opposition to the duke's causing mass to be sung in their parish. They said, "No, if we are not obliged to go to it." "If the duke send you ministers who shall preach to you the word of God in purity, will you hear them?" "Yes; if that word itself be not taken from us." "In that case, will you consent to send away your present pastors, under reservation of a right to recall them, if those who shall be given you shall not appear to you to be evangelical?" The Vaudois having asked time to reflect upon this question until the morrow, replied that they could not resolve to send away their present pastors, whom they already knew to be evangelical, in order to receive others who might not be so. This was too reasonable to admit of being answered; accordingly the commissioners, without attempting to answer it, harshly ordered the Vaudois to send away their ministers without further remarks. In vain the syndics mildly set forth that they had always found them of sound doctrine and holy life, and that they could not expel them without a cause. "They are enemies of the prince," replied the Count of La Trinité, "and you will expose yourselves to great dangers in keeping them among you."
The two noble lords then retired without any act of violence; but all the adversaries of the Vaudois redoubled their insolence towards them. The mercenaries of the abbey of Pignerol, in particular, carried on a lawless course of infuriate violence, and it was at this time that they seized the pastor of St. Germain, whose martyrdom has been already related.
"In the month of June," says Crespin, "at the time when the harvest is reaped in Piedmont, a number of the Vaudois people having gone, according to their custom, to work in the plain as reapers for hire, to earn a little, they were all made prisoners at different places and times, without their knowing anything one of another; but by the goodness of God they all escaped from their prisons, as if by miracle. Then came the harvest time in the mountains in the month of July, and the people of Angrogna, being one morning in their muandas or summer huts [chalets], in the neighbourhood of St. Germain, heard some arquebuses shots in the direction of that place; and a little after they perceived a troop of plunderers, to the number of 120, who were advancing towards them. Hereupon they immediately shouted, to give notice to their brethren, and being all assembled, they formed themselves into two troops of fifty men each, the one of which went higher up, and the other lower down upon the mountain. The latter were the first to rush upon the rascally company, who were all loaded and encumbered with booty, and they put them to flight, and pursued them to the banks of the Clusone, where the half of them were drowned." If the men of Angrogna had chosen then to pursue the fugitives, they might have seized upon the abbey buildings, and delivered all their brethren who were prisoners, for the monks had fled to Pignerol; but they could not venture to do it without consulting their pastors, and thus the opportunity was lost.
A few days after, the commandant of Fossano retired into this abbey, after a polemical conference with the Vaudois pastors; and from thence he sent and seized a number of poor people of Campillon and Fenil, with their families and their cattle. Their brethren, alarmed, took to flight. Upon this one of the seigneurs of Campillon offered them his protection, and assured them that they would be left in quiet, if they would pay him thirty crowns. They gave the money, and remained in their abodes. And who was it that then betrayed them? The same gentleman who had caused them to pay him to be their protector, and who now promoted their apprehension. But being warned in time, they took to flight again, and so escaped from that treachery.[19]
Meanwhile the Duke of Savoy had transmitted to Rome the statement of their doctrines which the Vaudois had sent him. As they offered to abandon their doctrines if they were proved to be erroneous, and as they had never ceased to invoke discussion for this intent, it appeared only fair to commence thereby. But as this involved a question strictly ecclesiastical, it was necessary to consult the head of the church, and the pontifical decision did not arrive at Nice till near the end of June. "I will never permit," said Pius IV, "that points which have been canonically decided should be opened to discussion. The dignity of the church requires that everyone submit himself to her constitutions, disputing nothing; and the duty of my office is to proceed with all rigour against those who do not choose to be in subjection thereto." The pope would consent only to send to the valleys a legate, who might absolve from all their past crimes those who should become Catholics, and instruct them in their new duties without controversy, that is to say, without their examining for themselves.
Accordingly, the governor of Fossano, by name Poussevin, was commissioned by Emmanuel Philibert, on the 7th of July, 1560, to establish in the Vaudois churches certain of the Brethren of Christian doctrine, under whose influence intellectual servility would soon have brought about that precious submission so necessary to the Church of Rome.
Poussevin repaired in the first place to the castle of Cavour, situated upon a solitary eminence, like a verdant pyramid in the midst of the plain, opposite to the valley of Lucerna. The castle belonged at that time to the Count of Racconis, who happened also to be there. The Vaudois were invited to send representatives thither. They named three, and one of them was chosen from Bubiano, a town situated close by the gates of Cavour. This one was the notary Reinier, father-in-law of Bartholomew Coupin, one of the martyrs whose story has been already told. On their arrival at Cavour, the governor acquainted them with his commission, and demanded if they would consent to hear the sermons which he proposed to preach in the valleys. "Yes," they replied, "if you preach the word of God; but if you preach the human traditions, which bring it to nought, No." Poussevin did not seem to be offended at this frankness and energy, and replied that he would preach only the pure gospel.
But during this conference, a Vaudois of St. Germain had complained to the Count of Racconis that the people of Miradol had carried away his cattle, and had promised to return them to him upon payment of 100 crowns, which he had scraped together with great difficulty. "And have you sent them to them?" "Yes; but they have kept both the cattle and the money." "I commend you to Poussevin, said the count;" "he will give you full and prompt justice." " You are an ill-bred fellow," said Poussevin, in reply to the poor man's request, "and if you had gone to mass, this would never have happened to you. And I can tell you," he added, "that this is only the commencement of what is in store for heretics." Such were the first proofs of justice and of pure evangelical doctrine, given by the representative of the throne and of the church.
This governor, however, had a great reputation for eloquence, and doubtless supposed that his power of oratory, together with the assistance of the secular arm, would procure him the honour of a ready triumph over the consciences of these poor, good-natured Vaudois, who suffered themselves to be so easily duped. Having therefore announced that he would preach at Cavour next day, to set forth in public the object of his mission, he ascended the pulpit of the largest church in the town, and said, in substance, that he was about to convict all the Vaudois pastors of heresy, to expel them, and to re-establish the mass in the valleys. Two days after he went to Bubiano, where he added terrible threats against the obstinate, and splendid promises for those who should abjure--new auxiliary means, of which he began to feel the need. The Protestants of Bubiano, who formed one-half of the population, were not moved; but the Catholics, their neighbours and friends, with whom they had always lived upon good understanding, actuated both by religious zeal and by natural affection, strongly urged them at once to become Catholics, in order to avoid the calamities with which they were threatened.
This, however, was only the prelude to scenes still more remarkable. Poussevin, having come to St. John, invited the leading members of the Vaudois churches to have a conference with him. The conference took place in the Protestant church of Les Stalliats. "Here," he said, "is the commission which has been given to me;" and he caused the ducal letters patent to be read, from which he derived his authority. "Here now," he said, "is the statement of doctrines presented as on your part; do you acknowledge it?" On their replying that they did, he asked them if they adhered to the sentiments which it contained. "We have seen no reason," said they, "to change them." "Well, then," said he, "you are bound by this paper to repudiate your errors so soon as they shall be proved to you." "And we promise it again," said they. "If that be the case," said he, "I will prove to you that the mass is to be found in the Holy Scripture. Does not the word massah signify sent?" "Not exactly." "Was not the primitive expression, Ite, missa est, employed to send away the audience?" "That is true." "You see, then, gentlemen, that the mass is to be found in the Holy Scripture."
Never did a novice of an advocate, thinking to catch his adversary by arguments from which there was no escape, make a more ridiculous conclusion. But, alas! it had been well if such sophistical quirks had not led to frightful massacres!
The Vaudois, however, respectfully replied that he had made a mistake as to the term massah, which was not to be found in the Hebrew text with the sense which he had assigned to it;[20] and that, moreover, if it were, it would not prove the Divine institution of the mass; also that private masses, transubstantiation, the denial of the cup to the laity, and many other things which were in dispute between them, would by no means be justified by such a line of argument. "You are heretics, atheists, and damned," cried Poussevin in a sort of frenzy; "I have not come to hold discussions with you, but to drive you out of the country as you deserve." This contemptible and coarse reply confounded the hearers, who had accompanied the governor because of the renown of his learning and eloquence, and caused the blood to rush into their cheeks. The governor, however, immediately caused notification to be made to the syndics of the several communes of the valley, that they must expel the pastors, and provide for the maintenance of the priests who should be sent to them. The syndics replied that they would not send away their pastors unless they were convicted of errors in behaviour or doctrine, and that they would make no provision for the maintenance of those of whom he spoke as coming, unless they were equally irreproachable in doctrine and morals.
It was upon this that Poussevin retired into the abbey of Pignerol, as has been stated in the commencement of this chapter. There he passed the month of August, and composed a polemical work, which was refuted by the celebrated and learned Scipio Lentulus, then pastor at St John, and afterwards one of the pillars of the Evangelical Church of the Grisons.
In the beginning of September, 1560, Poussevin quitted Pignerol to go to Emmanuel Philibert, who was always in bad health and irritable; and before him brought the most odious and calumnious accusations against the Vaudois. They, being informed of this, addressed new protestations to the duke, through the intervention of the good Duchess Margaret, the daughter of Francis I, and that of Renée of France, who had just arrived in Piedmont on her way home to her own country. She was the daughter of Louis XII, and had now for a year been the widow of Hercules II, Duke of Ferrara, in which city she had at a former period attended the preaching of Lentulus, who was of Neapolitan origin. He wrote to her to say that he had found in the Vaudois valleys "a people strongly attached to the true religion, faithful to God and to their superiors, and of exemplary life, but cruelly persecuted in these difficult times; wherefore he prayed her to recall to mind the favour which she used to have for him, and to intercede with their highnesses of Savoy on behalf of this poor people." But all these efforts remained fruitless.
The beginning of the month of October, 1560, had now come. The nuncio and the prelates strongly insisted upon the duke's complying with the instructions of the holy father. Why consult him if his decision was not to be respected? It was to aggravate the wrong which the church had already endured by the increase of heretics. The argument was correct. Rome is logical : the deference which had been shown was an acknowledgment of her power, and power requires obedience. The Duke of Savoy, therefore, must needs obey.
He levied troops in Piedmont, promised a full pardon to all condemned persons, fugitives from justice, vagabonds and outlaws, who should enrol themselves as combatants against the Vaudois, in whose sight persecuting fanaticism already permitted its triumphant joy to break out. Their friends at a distance repaired to the valleys, to persuade those who were dear to them to leave the scene of danger. The inhabitants of the plain took away the infants which they had sent thither to be nursed. Catholics of kind and humane disposition, who had relatives in the mountains, entreated those whom they loved to abjure rather than suffer themselves to be destroyed. It seemed that all was on the point of being consumed in a total and inevitable destruction. The consternation was general.
Count Charles of Lucerna, at that time governor of Mondovi, repaired in person to Angrogna, and wrote several times to the Vaudois, to whom he was strongly attached, to persuade them to bend to circumstances, and to submit to the commands of their sovereign, were it only for love of him and of their own families. "Worthy Sir," they replied, "we must, above all, do that which the love of God and of truth directs us." However, a deputation was sent to him by the Vaudois, to thank him for the interest which he took in their fate. "If you will consent," said he, "to send away your pastors, at least whilst this storm shall last, I will go and cast myself at the feet of his highness to try if I can save you." "We are deeply impressed with your great kindness," they replied, "but we are not empowered to make any such engagement in name of our people." "Ah, well!" he said, "go and consult them, and we will try to reconcile your presentation and your faith."
It was agreed that the reply of the people should be conveyed to him by Peter Boulles of Bubiano, the brother of him of whom mention has already been made in the history of the Protestants of that town. Bat without waiting for the return of that emissary, Count Charles wrote immediately to his mother, that she should do everything in her power to incline the Vaudois to some apparent concessions. The countess, in her turn, wrote to them, and they replied, that having stated to the Duke of Savoy all that their consciences permitted them to do according to the word of God, they were resolved not to change what they had said. "If the circumstances in which we are placed are serious," said they, "our duties are still more serious. The times may change, but the Bible never changes, and our consciences cannot be altered."
The countess transmitted this reply to her son, who left Mondovi, and came himself to Lucerna, on the 22d of October. He immediately caused the principal inhabitants of Angrogna to be called before him--Rivoire, Odin, Frache, Monastier, Malan, Appia, Buffa, Bertin, and some others. He found fault with them, reprimanded them, exhorted, menaced, showed them that an army was already mustered, and quite prepared to proceed to the greatest severities against them; he conjured them not to be obstinate and to incur certain death; to pay some respect to the attachment which he felt for them, to the compassion with which he was filled, to the urgency which he employed; he even entreated them to send away their pastors. "Is your fate inseparable from that of these men?" he added, in conclusion. "No, certainly, we are not slaves to any man, but to the word of God; our pastors are dear to us, but the word of God alone is necessary to us; let them allow us ministers who preach it, and we will send away those who at present teach it to us." "And if the duke cause mass to be celebrated in your parts, what will you do?" "We will not attend it." After urging them, in vain, to obtain some further concession, the count caused these conditions to be written down.
The deputies retired. Some hours after, the report spread rapidly that they had consented to the expulsion of their pastors and the establishment of the mass. The people of Angrogna were furious. "Rather let us die!" they exclaimed; and pressing like a swelling sea around the astonished deputies, they demanded an explanation. It was given, but was not at all in accordance with the minute of conference already mentioned, which, upon examination, was found to be falsified.
It was the secretary's fault, the count said; but his church had accustomed him to pious frauds another invention of Catholicism, like religious wars: the impious combinations of words are characteristic of Catholicism itself as a whole! And the good seigneur had thought he might allow himself to employ one of these pious frauds in order to save the Vaudois.
But they had no thought of saving themselves at such a price. The papers were torn in pieces, and the martyr people declared that they could not make any change in their resolutions.
"Let your pastors at least go and hide themselves for a few days," said the count again; "they will come and celebrate mass at Angrogna; you will not attend it; the duke will be satisfied, and the armies will be withdrawn." "But why this hypocrisy?" rejoined these poor people; "must we do good as men do evil, concealing it? No! may God protect us! we will not be ashamed of his ministers, for then he would be ashamed of us."
The count, Gilles says, manifested much grief at the prospect of the miseries which he foresaw. The Vaudois thanked him with great feeling for all that he had done, and assured him of their attachment and respect, but they retired without yielding anything.
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