222 THE VAUDOIS LITURGY. ultimately the bounty was restored, and has ever since been regularly paid. To the honour of the Vaudois pastors it deserves to be universally known, that when the restoration was announced to them, they came to the noble resolution, to take only 300 francs each, instead of 523-devoting the remainder to the endowment of two additional ministers at Rodoret and Macel, and the maintenance of superannuated pastors, and pastors' widows. To the latter object a portion of monies collected in Holland is also annually appropriated. The total amount of the salaries of the ministers is only from £50 to £60. Four of the oldest have a small additional allowance, proportioned to the age of each. No fees are given at marriages, baptisms, or funerals. Each has a presbytère, with a small glebe, which is kept up at the expense of the parish. It only remains here to add a few words respecting the Vaudois liturgy. That they had anciently a liturgy of their own, is placed beyond dispute, by the reference made to it in some of their old manuscripts. It does not appear, however, to have at any time existed in a printed form; and the written copies, with the exception of one preserved in the Library of Geneva, in all probability perished during the perse cutions. The pastors who succeeded, having come from Switzerland, naturally introduced into their respective churches those liturgies to which they had been accustomed in their native country, so that not fewer than three different ones, viz., those of Geneva, Neufchatel, and Lausanne, came into use in the THE VAUDOIS LITURGY. 223 valleys. Some years ago a number of copies of the English Prayer Book, in French, were forwarded for distribution, but not being approved, they were never introduced into the churches. In 1829, Dr. Gilly made definite proposals for the compilation of a liturgy, to be formed, in part at least, after the model of that of the Church of England,* in consequence of which a commission was appointed to execute the task; and in 1839, a Service Book, which had been prepared, was approved by the synod and ordered for adoption. That any part of the English liturgy was inserted does not appear: nor does the platform which it exhibits, seem to have been taken as a model. In an advertisement prefixed to the edition printed at Lausanne in 1842, which I take to be the first, it is stated, that "the Evangelical church of the valleys of Piedmont, having long employed divers liturgies in use in the Reformed Churches in Switzerland, has judged it expedient, for the establishment of uniformity in the service of God, to make a collection of prayers, extracted from the same liturgies, under the title of Liturgie Vaudoise,' or the manner of celebrating divine service in the Evangelical church of the valleys of Piedmont." Besides the prayers used in the churches, and at funerals, &c., it contains forms for morning and evening prayer in families on each day of the week, and others to be used by individuals in their solitary devotions; prayers for the unconverted, the sick, and the dying; and such as are proper for occasions of public calamity, &c. * Waldensian Researches, p. 385. CHAPTER XIV. Ascent to Pramol-Pastor Vinçon-Mutual kindness of the Vaudois-Bedroom broken into-View from Pramol-Catholic church converted into a Protestant School-house-Return by St. Germain, and St. Barthelemi-Colonel Beckwith--Vaudois hospitality-Service at the church of La Tour-Alpine Chalets and Sabbath-Sabbath evening scene-Leave the valleys-Character of the Vaudois-State of religion. July 26th.-Ir was noticed at the close of a former chapter that I went from St. Germain to visit Pramol, the only remaining parish in which I had not been. The path is equal in steepness to that leading up to Rora, and consists of a zig-zag almost the whole length. In many parts it is paved with large stones; in others, it is cut out of the rock. It got dark before I was more than half-way up; but the cheerful and interesting conversation of the Pastor, Mons. Jacques Vinçon, made me forget, in some measure, the fatigue of the ascent, and the gloom in which we were involved; though it was not till after numerous stoppages for the purpose of taking breath, that we reached the summit. The distance does not exceed four miles, but the journey is equal to eight or ten on level ground. Mons. V. has been upwards of twenty years minister of this parish. He is a man of very considerable MUTUAL KINDNESS OF THE VAUDOIS. 225 information, and zealous in the discharge of the duties of his office as pastor, besides which, he holds that of Secretary to the Ecciastical Board. He is fifty years of age, and still equal to be numerous journeys which in both capacities he is caed to undertake on foot. From all I could learn, he has quite a helpmeet for him in Madame Vinçon, whose acquaintance I had not the pleasure of forming, owing to her indisposition at the time of my visit. She is a native of Switzerland, but previous to her marriage had spent some time as a governess both in London and in the family of an Archbishop in Ireland. The pastor took great delight in telling me of the good she does in the parish by dispensing medicines among the sick, and contributing in various ways to the happiness of the inhabitants. It was touching to hear of the kindly attentions which the parishioners show to one another in all cases where assistance is required. If any of them is sick, his neighbours bring him bread and wine, and supply his lamp with oil at night. They also cheerfully take their turns in sitting up with him. If any of them happens to want help in getting in his harvest, or doing any pressing work, he has only to ask those who are near him to lend their aid, and he never meets with a refusal. Nor is he backward in his turn. What they do for him to-day, he does for them to-morrow. If two have differed, and are not on the best terms with each other, neither of them will on that account withhold his help when requisite. The parish is in a state of such excellent discipline 226 VIEW FROM PRAMOL. that differences of a serious nature are scarcely known to arise. I was accommodated with a good bed at the presbytère, which is in better condition than several of the dwellings occupied by the pastors, and should have thoroughly enjoyed the night's rest, but for the noise occasioned by the masons, who were building a new church close to the gable which formed one of the sides of my bedroom. They commenced their operations at four o'clock, and kept me wide awake for more than an hour; after which I began to doze, but was all at once startled by a crash, as if some person had broken into the apartment. On opening my eyes, what was my astonishment to find that one of the workmen had actually dug a large hole through the wall into the fire-place, so that the rays of the morning sun shot brightly across the room. He had wanted an aperture in which to fix one of the poles of the scaffolding, and was not aware of the thinness of the wall at that particular spot. After breakfast Mons. V. took me to a small knoll a little beyond the site of the new church, which commands a noble view of the surrounding scenery. Next to that obtained above Prarustin, I should describe it as one of the finest in the valleys. Behind, towards the west and north, rise the Alps, which separate the cultivated parts of Pramol from the valley of St. Martin. On the south is the Vachere with its numerous châlets, beyond the deep dell through which the Rousillard forces its way among the rocks down to the Cluson, and which is so |