ministers banished, and their children bap. tized and educated in the Roman Catholic Church, the Valleys were attacked by the troops both of France and Savoy. The Vaudois made at first considerable resis. tance, but, deceived by a false promise that their persons and families should be safe, they threw themselves on the Duke of Savoy's clemency. This, however, proved no security. The author details various cruelties which were exercised on these faith ful followers of the Lord. Of these we shall mention only two instances. "Daniel Moudon, elder of the church of Rora, after seeing his two sons beheaded, the wife and child of the one, and the two children of the other, massacred, was compelled to carry the heads of his sons upon his shoulders, to walk two hours barefooted, and was afterwards hanged. "M. Leydet, Minister of Pral, hid himself in caves, but was at length taken, and conveyed to Luzerne, to the palace of the Marquis D'Angrogne, where the Duke of Savoy was also at the same time. He was imprisoned and fed on bread and water; and, in addition to other hardships, was constantly assailed by the monks, over whom he as constantly triumphed in argument. When threatened with death if he did not abjure his faith, he replied, that he could not be justly put to death, since he was not armed when taken prisoner; besides, the Duke of Savoy had promised a pardon to all his subjects: Still, said he, I am ready to die for the name of Jesus Christ. His example and exhortations exceedingly fortified his fellow-prisoners. When the sentence of death was pronounc. ed, he heard it with Christian resignation. Although he begged to be left alone,in order to pray with freedom, the monks still harassed him with disputes till the time of execution, which took place at Fort St. Michel, arrived. On quitting the prison, be said 'it was a day of double deliverance; that of his body from captivity, and that of his soul from imprisonment in the body; for he cherished the expectation of partaking shortly in full liberty of the joys of the blessed,' At the foot of the scaffold he prayed in a manner that very much affected the bystanders, and on the ladder said, 'My God, into thy hands I commend my spirit.-A martyr worthy of the best ages of the church of Christ! Even his enemies were compelled to admit that he died like a saint." About fifteen thousand men, women, and children, who had thrown themselves on the Duke's clemency, were confined for about nine months in fourteen castles in Piedmont, with a scanty allowance of unwholesome bread and water. They lay on brick or rotten straw, and in such crowds that the air was infected: eight thousand died in consequence of these barbarities. Most of the survivers were permitted to return to Switzerland, after threatenings and allurements had been tried, for the most part in vain, to induce them to forsake their religion. Those who did apostatize, did not regain their possessions, but were conveyed to a distant province. In many cases, however, the children were not permitted to accompany their parents to Switzerland, but were taken away and dispersed in Piedmont. Their pastors were also removed from them, and eighty men were forced to work in chains for three years in the citadel of Turin. Even those who were allowed to seek refuge in Switzerland endured great hardships. They were made to travel in the severest weather. Numbers died on the way, whom their friends were not even permitted to remain and bury. Women were seen lying in the snow, with their infants still in their arms. Many expired at the very gates of Geneva. These wretched exiles, while they remained in Switzerland, were supported by the charitable contributions of the English and Dutch. Most of them afterwards obtained grounds in Wirtemberg, Dourlach, Hesse Darmstadt, and Hanau, where they established fourteen churches, and where seven ministers and school-mas. ters were supported by our King William. In 1689, a party of from six to nine hun, dred of the exiles, who remained in Switzerland, joined by about three hundred French exiles, resolved to return and reoccupy their native Valleys. On the night of the 17th of August, they crossed the lake of Geneva and landed in Savoy, and thence forced their way, at the point of the sword, over Mount Cenis, till they arrived at Guigon, a hamlet annexed to Pral, where they engaged in worship, singing the cxxixth Psalm, their Colonel and Pastor Arnaud preaching to them. Here they maintained themselves, displaying on all occasions extraordinary valour, but exhibiting more of the martial than of the evangelic spirit, till at length the Duke of Savoy was induced to conclude a peace with them, and to permit the return of their wives and children. Hence the origin of the present race of Waldenses, a population of seventeen thousand souls. Subsequently to their return, they were long subjected to many hardships. They were compelled to desist from work on the Romish festivals, and forbidden to practice physic or surgery, or to purchase land; and their children were often taken from them, to be educated in the Catholic faith. The Vaudois inhabit the three Valleys of Lazerne, La Perouse, and St. Martin, containing thirteen parishes or communautès. Their grounds were formerly more extensive; but they have been dispossessed of them; and these three Valleys have been left to them rather as places of exile than of enjoyment. With the exception of a few spots, it is by dint of hard labour that the barren soil of the sides of the mountains yields the means of subsistence. The principal diet is black wheat, potatoes, cow's or goat's milk, and chesnuts. The roads wind through rocks, where the noise of the rushing torrent is generally heard; and sometimes the dreadful avalanche overwhelms the traveller, or buries a family in their cottage. The Vaudois preserve from their forefathers a sincere respect for pure and undefiled religion. Public worship is generally attended; and on the day of celebrating the Lord's Supper, the church was full, and the behaviour of the communicants solemn and pleasing. It is usual, on the winter evenings, for several families to meet together to unite in religious exercises. Notwithstanding the persecutions they have endured, they are loyal subjects. They rejoiced in the recent restoration of the King of Sardinia; and when at a former period Louis XIV. invaded Turin, Victor Amadeus II. took refuge among them, and remained secure till relieved by Prince Eugene. They are also an honest people. While the country near them is infested by robbers, they devote them selves to useful labour. They shew even a generous disinterestedness, refusing rewards for the services they render to strangers, and exercising hospitality as if they received instead of conferring a favour. Ifone is ill, the neighbours cheerfully and gratuitously sit up at night in the sick chamber; and there is even a strife among them who shall pay the first and greatest attentions. If a poor man has met with an accident, a collection is often made for him. Nor do they confine their benevolence to their own sect, but are ready, from their scanty means, to relieve their Catholic brethren also. Their respect and grateful attachment to the English is remarkable. The English they regard as their best friends; their chief resource in difficulty: and it is to the British Minister they have now confided their interests at the Congress of Vienna. "I was forcibly struck," says the author, "with the remark of the amiable wife of one of their ministers, who told me that they made a point of instilling into their children respect and esteem for the English, from the very dawn of reason in their minds." Their manners are in general very correct, though of late injured by the necessa ry communication with the French. Their great amusements are firing at a mark, with a view to become skilful marksmen; and dancing. This last exercise was prohibited in 1711 by the Synod, but the prohibition was not attended to. Their schools were once flourishing. About 3007. sterling were annually sent from Holland for the support of fifteen great, ninety little or winter, and two Latin schools, and for relieving disabled ministers and widows of ministers.-Since the year 1810, however, only 100 a year has been received from this source. The schools have therefore fallen into decay. With the exception of the Latin schools, indeed, they still exist; but barely exist. Our Queen Mary had also granted pensions to thirteen schoolmasters; but since 1797 this resource has also failed. Each of the thirteen parishes has a minister; and to each of them several hamlets are annexed, in which there are also churches. Queen Mary established a grant of 201. annually to each pastor; but of this nothing has been received since 1797. Besides this, there is an annual payment, the product of a collection made in England about forty years ago, which has been regulariy received; and from which the ministers and the widows of ministers derive some assistance. From the failure of the Royal grant, however, several of the ministers (some of them men of taste and learning,) and also of the widows of ministers, are reduced to very narrow and even distressed circumstances. The Swiss Cantons formerly assisted in the education of candidates for the ministry among them, which was conducted at Geneva and Lau. sanne; but it is uncertain whether the same aid will be continued. They have lately erected two new churches; one of which had been destroyed by an earthquake, and the other by hostile hands. In this they were aided by the United Brethren, and some friends at Turin. The ancient Waldenses were Episcopalians. At present a moderator is chosen, who presides over their little Synod. Each church has a deacon, who attends to charitable objects, and several elders; but their discipline is less perfect than formerly. The Liturgy used in their churches is that of Neufchatel. The festivals they observe are, Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. condition of the Waldenses through the medium of this imperfect Memoir, British Christians found themselves actually in the Valleys, and, holding a history of the Vau dois in their hands, cast the eye around spots consecrated by the sufferings of so many disciples of the Lord Jesus, they would be filled with esteem for the people, and a desire to promote their happiness. The evening before I quitted them, a solitary walk afforded me full scope to indulge such a train of feelings:-a sacred luxury it may be well termed, since the sensations of delight were really such as neither the treasures of art deposited in the Louvre, nor the stupendous views of nature unfolded in the Cantons of Switzerland, had possessed in an equal degree the magic to impart. All around seemed to have a tendency to foster the disposition:-a torrent rushed by on the left; the evening was so mild, that the leaves scarcely stirred; and the summits of the mountains, behind which the sun had just set, appeared literally above the clouds. The emotions produced by the scenery and recollections associated with it, will not be soon effaced: it might be the last time I should see those mountains, which had been so often the refuge of the oppressed-those churches where the doctrines of the Gospel had been so long and so faithfully maintained-and those friends, from whom a stranger from a distant land had received so many proofs of affectionate regard! Full of such thoughts as I walked along, I arrived at length at the house of one of the pastors, to pass the night. The next day he accompanied me to the limits of his parish, on the Col de Croix, which separates Piedmont from Dauphine. The walk being long and tedious, he had brought bread and a flagon of wine, and observed, as he gave me the refreshment, it was une espece de communion'-might be almost considered a sort of communion. We then parted, with expressions of Christian esteem, and, descending the other side of the mountain, I soon lost sight of the lands belonging to the Vaudois-descendants of a class of men who were, for a series of ages, 'destitute, afflicted, tormented;' but of whom "If," he adds, "instead of seeing the the world was not worthy!" The Waldenses are clearly in want of pecuniary aid; and it cannot be supposed, observes the author feelingly, that a people "so eminently protected by us in the eighteenth, will be neglected by us in the nineteenth, century. There was a time when the Waldenses did not so much receive as impart benefits. Their college of Angrogne sent forth zealous missionaries to convey pure religious knowledge to several parts of Europe, then involved in ignorance and superstition. They were, indeed, according to the import of their armorial bearings, a light shining amidst thick darkness.* If, in these latter days, something of the ancient splendour of their piety should, through Divine grace, re-appear, those Christians will have reason to esteem themselves very happy, who, by their generous efforts, may be in some degree honoured as instruments of the revival. It is unquestionably the duty of believers to endeavour to promote, and to pray for such a revival of vital piety in churches once renowned, as well as the diffusion of Divine Truth among the heathen." * "Lux in tenebris:" the arms of the town of Luzerne, which once belonged to them. Christ. Observ. No. 157. The author states, that a Committee will shortly be formed, and a treasurer appointed for managing any sums of money that may be entrusted to them for the Vaudois; K and should any profits arise from the sale of his publication, they will be devoted to the same object. The Memoir is pub lished by Hatchard, and well deserves the attention of our Christian readers. 4 VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. THE present month has been remarkably sterile of events. The Congress at VIENNA, to which the eyes of Europe are at present anxiously directed, still continues its labours; but we are left in utter igno. rance respecting either the nature of the discussions which are passing there, or their probable result. Conjecture and rumour are indeed very busy, and each continental mail is fraught with fresh tales of quarrel or conciliation, of demand or refusal, of renewed hostility or universal harmony. We see no ground for giving the smallest credence to these varying reports: They are evidently fabricated to amuse the public, or to serve some sinister end. In SPAIN the persecution of the patriots continues with unabated rigour, and the state of the country is represented as critical and alarming. We can hardly regret any crisis which shall issue in the overthrow of the Inquisition, and in the punishment of perfidy so black as has been shewn towards those noble and gallant men, who achieved the independence of the Peninsula, and, in evil hour for themselves and for Spain, effected the restoration of Ferdinand VII. Bonaparte, by the single act of preserving, and at length liberating, that Prince, has amply avenged himself on the Spanish Nation. The Legislative Assemblies of FRANCE have been prorogued to the 1st of May. The 21st instant, the anniversary of the murder of Louis XVI. has been observed as a day of general mourning, and religious humiliation in Paris, and we presume in other parts of France.-The bigotry of the Romish priesthood in refusing the usual rites of sepulture to a tragic actress of em. inence, who lately died at Paris, had nearly produced a formidable commotion in that city. The seasonable interference of the Government, in overruling the determina. tion of the Church, quieted the tumult, and prevented the threatened explosion-A plan is said to have been adopted for found. ing a free French Colony in Africa, on the model of Sierra Leone. Such a plan must necessarily terminate in disaster and failure, if it be not accompanied by the Abolition of the Slave Trade. What the French Government will now do in respect to this great measure, it is impossible to say; but as they must be fully convinced, by the information recently received, of the imprac ticability of re-establishing the plantations of St. Domingo, they may possibly be more accessible to solicitation on this point. We are happy to understand that in the Treaty with the UNITED STATES, there is a stipulation binding both countries to do all in their power to abolish the slave trade universally. No fresh events of moment have occurred on the Western side of the Atlantic. The very great difficulty, however, which is experienced in raising money, and the growing discontent of the Eastern States, afford a strong pledge for the ratification by Mr. Madison of the Treaty of Ghent. HAYTI is almost the only part of the world which has furnished any thing very interesting in the way of news, during the present month. We formerly stated, that M. Malouet, the Minister of the Colonies, had sent over to Hayti, before his death, three Commissioners for the avowed purpose of obtaining and transmitting to Government, information respecting its state and the disposition of its chiefs. They ar rived in Jamaica in the month of August. On the 6th of September, the Chief of the Mission, M. Dauxion Lavaysse, addressed a letter to the President Petion, in which he endeavoured to allure him, in a manner, however, but ill adapted to the end he had in view, to acknowledge the authority of Louis XVIII. On the 1st of October, he addressed to Christophe, a letter of a very different description, forming a strange mixture of stupid flattery, and still more stupid intimidation. He threatens him with the united force of Europe, if he refuses to proclaim Louis XVII. Great Britain, he affirms, is the soul of the confederacy, which has been formed to overturn every of slavery or death." "And to whom do revolutionary Government, and among the they dare thus to speak of master and rest that of Hayti, should he be so blind to slave ? To us, a people free and indepenhis interests as not to yield to the invitations dent; to warriors covered with noble of that monarch. The slaves which the wounds, gained in the field of honour, who French are at this moment purchasing on have destroyed, to their very roots, ancient the coast of Africa, he adds, will be con- prejudices and slavery; to those warriors verted into soldiers for the purpose of des- who, in a thousand combats, have made so troying the refractory. He intimates at many of these barbarous colonists bite the the same time, that Christophe is too wise dust; the residue of whom, escaped from not to prefer becoming a great lord and a our vengeance, now dare to speak of resgeneral officer, under the great sovereign toring their abhorred system, which we of France, to continuing in the precarious have proscribed for ever." "The conduct situation of the chief of a number of revolt- pursued by the French shews that they ed slaves. The letter is full of the grossest place us beyond the pale of nations; for to misstatements of fact, in respect to the what other people on earth would they dare recent events which have taken place in to propose conditions so vile and degrad. Europe, and abundantly proves the entireng? They contemn us; they are so imignorance of M. Dauxion Lavaysse, and of pressed with the idea of our stupidity, as to his master Malouet, as to the state of in- suppose, that we want the ordinary instinct formation in Hayti, Every occurrence which actuates animals to seek their own which takes place in Europe is as fully preservation. Is it in return for the beneknown there as it is on the Exchange of fits we have received from the French, that London. we are now to resume the chains of slave. ry? Is it for a sovereign, who is wholly unknown to us, who has never done any thing for us, and in whose name we are insulted, that we should now change our state? Is it to be delivered anew to torture, or to be devoured by dogs, that we are to renounce the fruit of twenty-five years of battles and blood? What have we still in common with this people? We have broken every tie which bound us to them. We have now no points of union with the French, who have never ceased to persecute us, and whom we abhor. Why then must we be condemned to groan under their oppressive yoke ?” "We desire to be free and independent, and ever shall be so in spite of tyrants." If it were a question, they observe, whether they should prefer the renunciation of freedom, or extermination, they would unanimously em. brace the latter alternative. But no: they say, that is impossible: "Hayti will be invincible. The justice of her cause will enable her to triumph over all obstacles." They conclude with offering their arms, their lives, their property to the service of their king, their country, their liberty, their independence. This foolish and impolitic proceeding has had precisely the issue which might have been expected. Of the course pursued by Petion, on the occasion, we only know in general, that he lias turned a deaf ear to all the solicitations of M.Dauxion Lavaysse, who repaired himself to Port au Prince. There he was almost immediately taken ill; and he still continued so ill at the date of the last despatches, as to be incapable of attending to business. This emissary appears to have been a member of the Committee of Public Safety, under Robes. pierre; a circumstance which was known to the Haytians, and which was by no means calculated to inspire them with confidence in his intentions. We have received much more ample details from Cape Francois. Christophe, on receiving the letter of Dauxion Lavaysse, summoned a General Council of the nation, to whom it was submitted, together with a copy of the same person's letter to Petion. The Council unanimously voted an address to the king couched in very energetic terms, "The most abominable of tyrants," they observe, "when they have wished to impose their oppressive yoke on the people, have employed treachery, and have covered their criminal purposes under some specious pretexts; but the envoy of the king of the French has impudently dispensed with all disguise. He has dared to propose to a free people, the alternative The same packet which brought us this account, brought over also to this country several very able Haytian publications. One of these is a refutation of the calumnies of M. Malouet, against the negro race, and of that minister's defence of the colonial system;-another, a refutation of the |