But although the conscience or common sense of Waldo revolted against this novel piece of superstition, he seems not to have entertained, at that time, the most distant idea of withdrawing himself from the communion of the Romish church, nor indeed to have had much sense of religion upon his mind. God, however, who hath the hearts of all men in his hands, and who turns them as the rivers of water, had destined him for great usefulness in his kingdom. To him, also, whatever means seem necessary for effecting his purposes in the world, are equally at command. An extraordinary occurrence in providence was the means of awakening the mind of Peter Waldo, to the "one thing needful." One evening after supper, as he sat conversing with a party of his friends, and refreshing himself among them, one of the company fell down dead on the floor, to the consternation of all that were present. Such a lesson on the uncertainty of human life, and the very precarious tenure on which mortals hold it, most forcibly arrested his attention. The Latin Vulgate Bible was the only edition of the Scriptures at that time in Europe; but that language was inaccessible to all, except one in an hundred of its inhabitants. Happily for Waldo, his situation in life had enabled him to surmount that obstacle. "Being somewhat learned," says Reinerius, when speaking of him, "he taught the people the text of the New Testament in their mother tongue." The sudden death of his friend led him to think of his own approaching dissolution, and under the terrors of an awakened conscience, he had recourse to the Holy Scriptures for instruction and comfort. There, in the knowledge of the true character of God, as the just God and the Saviour, reconciled towards sinners through the blood of atonement, he found the pearl of great price~ a way of escape from the wrath which is to come. The belief of the testimony which God hath given of his Son, VOL. II. C

diffused peace and joy into his own mind; raised his views and conceptions above "the smoke and din of this dim spot which men call earth," and led him to look for glory, honour, and immortality, even eternal life in the world to come. But christian love is an operative principle. It expands the mind in which it dwells, and fills it with generous sentiments-with supreme love to God, and the most disinterested benevolence to man. Waldo was desirous of communicating to others a participation of that happiness which he himself enjoyed. He abandoned his mercantile pursuits, distributed his wealth to the poor as occasion required; and, while the latter flocked to him to partake of his alms, he laboured to engage their attention to the things which belonged to their everlasting peace.

One of the first objects of his pursuit was to put into their hands the word of life; and he either himself translated, or procured some one else to translate the four Gospels into French; and the next was to make them acquainted with their sacred contents. Matthias Illyrius, a writer who prosecuted his studies under Luther and Melancthon, and was one of the Magdeburgh centuriators, speaking of him, says, "His kindness to the poor being diffused, his love of teaching, and their love of learning growing stronger and stronger, greater crowds came to him, to whom he explained the scriptures. He was himself a man of learning; so I understand from some old parchments--nor was he obliged to employ others to translate for him as his enemies affirm." But whether Waldo himself translated these Scriptures or employed others to do it, or, which is most probable, executed it himself with the assistance of others, certain it is, that the inhabitants of Europe were indebted to him for the first translation of the Bible into a modern tongue, since the time that the Latin had ceased to be a living language-a gift of inestimable value!

As Waldo became more acquainted with the Scriptures, he began to discover that a multiplicity of doctrines, rites, and ceremonies which had been introduced into the national religion, had not only no foundation in the word of God, but were most pointedly condemned in that book. Inflamed with zeal for the glory of God, on the one hand, and with concern for the souls of his fellow sinners on the other, he raised his voice loudly against them, condemning the arrogance of the Pope, and the reigning vices of the clergy. Nor did he satisfy himself with mere declamation against what was wrong in others. He taught the truth in its simplicity, and enforced its practical influence on the heart and life; and by his own example, as well as by an appeal to the lives of those who first believed in Christ, he laboured to demonstrate the great difference there was between the Christianity of the Bible and that of the Church of Rome.

The consequences of all this may be easily supposed by a reflecting mind. The Archbishop of Lyons heard of these proceedings, and became indignant. Their tendency was obvious; the honour of the church was involved in them, and, in perfect consistency with the usual mode of silencing objectors among the catholic party, he forbad the new reformer to teach any more on pain of excommunication, and of being proceeded against as an heretic. 'Waldo replied, that though a layman, he could not be silent in a matter which concerned the salvation of his fellow-creatures. Attempts were next made to apprehend him; but the number and affection of his friends, the respectability and influence of his connections, many of whom were men of rank; the universal regard that was paid to his character for probity and religion; and the conviction that his presence was highly necessary among the people whom he had by this time gathered into a church, and of which he had taken the oversight, all

operated so strongly in his favour, that he lived concealed at Lyons during the space of three whole years.*

Information of these things was then conveyed to Pope Alexander III. who no sooner heard of such heretical proceedings than he anathematized the reformer and his adherents, commanding the archbishop to proceed against them with the utmost rigour. Waldo was now compelled to quit Lyons; his flock in a great measure followed their pastor; and hence a dispersion took place not unlike that which arose in the church of Jerusalem on the occasion of the death of Stephen. The effects were also similar. Waldo himself retired into Dauphiny, where he preached with abundant success; his principles took deep and lasting root, and produced a numerous harvest of disciples, who were denominated Leonists, Vaudois, Albigenses, or Waldenses; for the very same class of Christians is designated by these various appellations at different times, and according to the different countries or quarters of the same country in which they appeared. +

Persecuted from place to place, Waldo retired into Picardy, where also success attended his labours. Driven from thence, he proceeded into Germany, carrying along with him the glad tidings of salvation; and, according to the testimony of Thuanus, a very authentic French historian, he at length settled in Bohemia, where he finished his course, in the year 1179, after a ministry of nearly twenty years. He was evidently a man of very singular endowments; and one of those extraordinary persons whom God in his providence occasionally raises up and qualifies for eminent usefulness in his kingdom; but he has met with no historian capable of doing justice to his talents and character. Numbers of his people fled for an asylum into the vallies of Piedmont, taking with them the

* Perrin's History, ch. i.

+ Ibid. ch. i.

new translation of the Bible. In the ensuing section, we shall have an opportunity of examining their doctrinal sentiments; and their history in that country, as well as in the south of France, and wherever else we can trace them, will occupy, in one way or other, the remaining pages of this volume.

The persecution of Waldo and his followers, with their flight from Lyons, is a remarkable epoch in the annals of the christian church. Wherever they went, they sowed the seeds of reformation. The countenance and blessing of the King of kings accompanied them. The word of God grew and multiplied, not only in the places where Waldo himself had planted it, but in more distant regions. In Alsace and along the Rhine, the doctrines of Waldo spread extensively. Persecutions ensued-thirty-five citizens of Mentz were burned in one fire at the city of Bingen, and eighteen at Mentz itself. The bishops of both Mentz and Strasburgh breathed nothing but vengeance and slaughter against them; and at the latter city, where Waldo himself is said to have narrowly escaped apprehension, eighty persons were committed to the flames. In the treatment, and in the behaviour of the Waldenses, were renewed the scenes of martyrdom of the second century. Multitudes died praising God, and in the confident hope of a blessed resurrection. But the blood of the martyrs again became the seed of the church; and in Bulgaria, Croatia, Dalmatia, and Hungary, churches were planted, which flourished throughout the thirteenth century, and which are said to have owed their rise chiefly to the labours of one Bartholomew, a native of Carcassone, a city not far distant from Toulouse, in the south of France, and which may be not improperly termed the metropolis of the Albigenses. In Bohemia, and in the country of Passau, it has been computed that there were not less than eighty thousand of this class of Christians in the year 1315.