:

being in the form of a cross, and the chapel in the centre

Among other excellent institutions at Lyons, I was much interested by that of the Veterinary School. In England, much as the breed of horses is cultivated, and the animal itself valued and petted, the profession of veterinary surgeon is by no means encouraged as it should be; but here the hippiatrique art is so patronized, that "L'ecôle Royale Vetérinaire" has its own pharmacy, its cabinet of natural history, its botanical garden, its spacious laboratory, and every thing else which is necessary for the improvement of the student.

There are few cities in France to be compared with Lyons, either in situation, antiquities, or splendour; but it is too much of a manufacturing and trading town, the prejudices of its inhabitants against the English are too deep-rooted, and its revolutionary atrocities are too recent, to make it a

C

desirable residence for a stranger. Its two magnificent rivers, the Rhone and the Saone, its hill-begirt site, its charming promenades, its Museum, and its antique-looking edifices, are noble objects; but who would willingly remain long in a place where he knows that a strong national antipathy prevails against him? We were disturbed at midnight by alarming cries of fire: bells sounded, drums beat, and voices called loudly for assistance. We rose from our beds, and hastened to the spot, where we lent our aid in passing the hand buckets from the Rhone to the burning houses. When we thought the fire was nearly extinguished, and that we had performed our part in the labour, we endeavoured to return to our hotel, but for a length of time the soldiers on duty would not permit us to depart, but obliged us to continue the exercise, very much to the delight of the mob, who were pleased to see the predicament in which four Englishmen had placed themselves. The Gazette of Lyons afterwards did us the honour to mention our names, and to talk of the services we had rendered upon the occasion.

One of the objects of my stay at Lyons was connected with the history of the extraordinary people, who will form the principal subject of this volume. I was anxious to learn whether there were still existing any remains of the sect of Peter Waldo, who has often been mistaken as the founder of the Vaudois Church; whereas, in fact, he derived his doctrine from it. There have been so many religious changes in the South of France, and the revolutionary spirit was so active and successful in this city, that it is difficult

"Ce qui a donné juste sujet au grand et judicieux de Beze de nous assurer, dans son livre des Hommes Illustrés, pag. 985, que bien loin que les Vaudois des Vallées eussent pris leur nom de Valdo de Lyon, que luy tout au contraire a premièrement été nommé Valdo, parce qu'il avoit reçeu la Doctrine des Vaudois."-Leger, p. 16.

"Il est vrai que plusieurs auteurs, et même de ceux qui ont écrit notre histoire, tels que Perrin et Gilles, donnent une toute autre origine au nom de Vaudois. Ils prétendent qu'il vient de Pierre Waldo de Lyon. Mais rien n'est moins fondé."Histoire des Vaudois, p. 41.

THE REFORMER OF LYONS.

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to prove that any opinions have been steadily maintained from one age to another. At all events the Protestants here have no pretensions whatever to consider themselves upon a footing with the Vaudois, either in antiquity, perseverance, sound doctrine, or simplicity of life and manners.

The reformer of Lyons, Peter Waldo, has, in one respect, acquired a degree of celebrity, to which, whatever were his real merits, he certainly had no claim. As the great patron and supporter of a sect, who boldly resisted the corrupt innovations of the Church of Rome, he demands our admiration: but nothing can be collected from his history, which could warrant oùr ascribing to him the superior character of the founder of a Protestant Church. Happily for the cause of truth, the courage, zeal, and piety of Waldo were most conspicuous at a period, when the Papal Hierarchy began to put its threats in execution against all who questioned its infallibility. But even these great qualities would not have been sufficient to raise the spirits of the reformers of the twelfth century, if the means of this great and good man had not been equal to his strength of mind. His extensive mercantile engagements gave him opportunities of conversing with strangers, and of learning what were the general sentiments upon those practices of idolatry, which accompanied the doctrine of transubstantiation; and his riches and influence enabled him to assert his own opinions the more boldly, and to countenance those who were friends to the same doctrines. It was about the year 1160 that Waldo first began to take a decided part with those, who refused submission to the continued encroachments of the See of Rome. All his wealth was employed in their service; and at length he resorted to a measure, which put the seal upon their undertaking, that of diffusing the Scriptures among

8 It must not be understood that Waldo made a complete translation of the Holy Scriptures; parts only of the sacred volume were rendered into French upon this occasion. The first entire Bible in the French language was translated and

his countrymen in their own tongue. This, in my opinion, is the greatest praise of Peter of Lyons. Latin had, for several centuries, continued to be the language of the southern part of Christendom. The Bible, and books of devotion were all written in this language; and when it ceased to be spoken in its purity, there was no provision for those who could not understand it. Waldo's opulence, and perhaps his learning, gave him the power of having translations of the Scripture executed and distributed in the vulgar tongue, and of dispersing also such collections of passages from the ancient fathers, as accorded with his own doctrines. He also maintained, at his own expence, several persons, who were employed to recite and expound these translations to the people; and hence, most probably, proceeded the name of the disciples of Waldo, and the opinion that he was the preacher and apostle of a new faith: an opinion which the Roman Catholics were glad to encourage; for it has ever been their object to represent the Waldenses as a sect of late date, and to vindicate the antiquity and universal recognition of their own dogmas.

The enemies of popery, being thus provided with copies of the Scriptures in their own tongue, were encouraged to declare themselves with the greater confidence, because they were now able to explain to the people that they were not advancing doctrines of their own, but a pure faith, as it really existed in the Bible. They were able to argue effectually, that the tenets of their adversaries were in direct opposition to the divine oracles; and they boldly defied the Papists to justify themselves by any reference to the canons of the New Testament. As long as Waldo and his friends confined themselves to the grounds which had already been taken up, the Hierarchy of Rome suspended its thunders;

printed by Robert Olivetan, a native of the Valleys, at Neufchatel, in the year 1535 or 1537. Beza, as quoted by Leger, speaking of this, says, "Il faut avouer que c'est par le moyen des Vaudois des Vallées, que la France a aujourhuy la Bible en son langage."

but as soon as they employed that invincible engine, the Scriptures in the Vulgar tongue, they were immediately anathematized and excommunicated. For three years after his first condemnation by the Archbishop of Lyons, which took place in 1172, Waldo contrived to remain concealed in the city or its environs: but at length Pope Alexander the Third fulminated his threats and terrors so effectually against all, who should dare to hold the slightest communication with the reformer, that, for his friends' sake, he fled from Lyons, and became a wanderer for the rest of his life. At first he took refuge in Dauphiné, with an intention possibly of finding his way to the secluded valleys of Pragela, or Angrogna, among the Vaudois Protestants of Piemont. But the persecution was too fierce on this side of France, and he was obliged to make his escape towards the western provinces. For a short time he was sheltered in Picardy; but there was no resting-place in the dominions of Philip Augustus for any of his subjects, who presumed to question the papal prerogative. Germany was his next asylum, and it is supposed that he finally escaped into Bohemia, and there died previous to the year 1179. Such are the outlines of Waldo's history; from no part of which can it be gathered, or even presumed, that the Protestant Church of Piemont is to ascribe its origin to him. We can find no trace of him whatever in Italy; and while his name never occurs prior to the year 1160, we can adduce incontrovertible evidence that the Vaudois had existence as a church, and were recorded as separatists from Rome, long before that period.

In the library of the University of Geneva, there is an old manuscript in old Gothic characters, of the date 1100, which speaks of the Vaudois by name. There is also another at Cambridge1, dated 1120, forty years anterior to any

See Appendix, No. 2.

This was one of the Waldensian manuscripts presented by Sir Samuel Morland to the public library of the University of Cambridge, upon his return