L'Histoire Des Vaudois. J. Bresse

PREFACE.

       Table of Contents

      "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies they shall fail, whether there be tongues, they shall cease, whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away. And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity."

      But the greatest of these is charity! What words are these which I have just quoted? Christians, of all countries, of all sects, and of all communions! do you recognize in them the religion of your hearts? You do, or you are but hypocrites, and no true friends to the gospel.

      O ye senseless fanatics! who have dared for ages, to divide, inflame, and overturn the world; to arm son against father, and brother against sister, for the sake of opinions, not necessary to their happiness, or at best of little importance. Ye persecutors, who beneath the veil of a religion, whose essence is charity, have believed that homage was to be rendered to your Creator, by immolating human victims on his altars, and committing the most horrible atrocities. Ye, who make religion consist in vain ceremonies, and the gospel a rampart for the defence of your base interests, come forward before the tribunal of charity, and if it be yet possible, let this admirable sentence penetrate your hearts. "Now abideth faith, hope, and charity; these three, but the greatest of these is charity!" Try every action of your life by this sentence of the apostle. And as the pilot has ever before his eyes the compass to direct his course through the ocean, let this sublime picture of charity be the invariable rule of your actions and opinions, and the very soul of your whole conduct. Far from me be those useless distinctions of sects and parties, by which some would excuse the sin of intolerance, and the fury of fanaticism: for me, there exist neither Protestants, nor Catholics, nor Lutherans, nor Calvinists, nor Moravians, nor Anabaptists; I own to no other title, than that of Christian; no other religion than that of Christianity. Every man who practices its duties is my brother, whatever may be his particular opinions. It would be easy to demonstrate that this reasoning is derived immediately, from the fundamental maxims of the gospel; and the evils which a contrary belief have occasioned, prove that it is of the greatest importance. No true Christian can deny this, since it is confirmed by every line of his code. But who is a true Christian? He who lives in charity; / he who practises it as did St. Paul. This is the true touchstone of our religion. He who shrinks from this test bears it not, is not a Christian. "He is nothing," to use the words of the Apostle.

      It is upon these principles that I beg all that I have advanced in the history of the Vaudois may be judged. If I have expressed myself warmly against their enemies, it is only when they have violated the first duties of Christianity; then I neither wish or ought to spare them, for truth, in the judgment of an honest man, is one and immutable. He ought to purchase it, to use the words of the gospel, to publish and defend it, at the price of all he has in the world. I have nothing to do with Catholicism, but with the excesses which Catholics have committed. If I have anathematized the ministers of the Inquisition, it is because so execrable an establishment does not exist under heaven. The sun may well have withdrawn his light in horror, when he first illuminated the dark and bloody walls of this abominable tribunal! And they dare to assert that it is established for the propagation of the Christian faith. What a horrible blasphemy is this! We may ask of the most ardent partizans of the Propaganda,* whether Jesus had recourse to an Inquisition? if the Apostles used such a means of extending their doctrine, or proving the faith of their brethren? Did the first preachers use tortures to force men to adopt their creed? Did not Jesus, himself say to those who remained with him, when others fled—"And ye! will ye also go away?"** Is this the expression of a persecutor? or can the infernal rules of the Inquisition be founded upon the feelings which dictated this question?

      * The College of Propaganda fide, in Rome, is synonymous

       with the Italian Inquisition.

       ** John, chap. vi. ver. 67.

      Nay! is there in the whole of the sacred Scriptures, one single line or word which can excuse persecution for the sake of religion? If there is, let it be produced, and I will on the instant make full reparation to this host of executioners and fanatics. But if the precepts of Christianity tend to recommend to us the love of God and of our brethren, it follows that the Inquisitors and their adherents, have been Christians in name only, and that their conduct has tended to the discredit of true religion and greatly injured the cause of Christ; for light and darkness are not more different than a true Christian, and a bigoted fanatic. I have more than once remarked, in the course of my history, that we should rather accuse the Inquisition, than the House of Savoy of the atrocities committed on the Vaudois. If the latter deserves censure, it is for want of courage to oppose the perfidious and criminal instigations of this bloody tribunal. The frightful tyranny of Rome, at that time, may be considered as an excuse; and our history will show to what excesses the anti-christian policy of that proud court was led. And as the picture of such cruelty is disgusting, it will be pleasing to turn from it to the mildness which reigns in the present government. …

      It is for the Vaudois youth that I have undertaken this work, though I trust that those of more mature age may find it both interesting and instructive: it will recall to their minds anecdotes of their ancestors, which their fathers have often repeated to them; and their deepest feelings must be excited at the recollection of their forefathers, who have fallen beneath the axe of fanaticism for the sake of the gospel. The families of Mondons, Arnauds, Legers, Janavels, and many others still existing will read with emotion the exploits of their virtuous ancestors; their children will pronounce with reverence these names which have been an honour to our country; they will learn to repeat the most remarkable passages of our history. Enjoying from their earliest years the light of the gospel, their zeal will be inflamed by the sublime sentiments such examples inspire; and their first ambitious desires will be to imitate them. How well Shall I be rewarded for my labour, if such be the effect of this work; the most ardent wish of my heart will have been accomplished, and I shall not have lived in vain.

      Here let me repeat what I have said in my prospectus. The history of the Vaudois occupies, perhaps, the most interesting point of time in Christian history. Confined amidst the mountains of Piedmont, adjoining Dauphiné, they have there preserved the Christian doctrine and worship in evangelical purity and simplicity, whilst the most profound darkness covered the rest of Europe. It is from the Apostles or their immediate successors, that they have received the gospel, and from that time their faith has never changed; it is now the same as it was before the reformation. The existence of these few thousand Vaudois is therefore most interesting to all Christian nations. Many authors have written before me, but their works are scarce, and their style often nearly unintelligible, from their antiquity; nor do any of their works contain a complete history. Those to whom I have alluded in my prospectus, are Perrin, Gilles, Leger, Arnaud, and Boyer.

      Perrin wrote the "Histoire des Vaudois et Albigeois," printed at Geneva, 1618, 2 vols. 12mo. The work only carries down