been lost sight of till about twenty years ago, when the first of Dr. Gilly's interesting works brought them again into notice, and produced an impression in their favour, which has been attended with very important consequences, and continues, to a certain. extent, to be felt at the present time.

Roused by the threatening appearances of a fresh storm, many of the friends of the Vaudois in this country have been induced to inquire: Whether some more pointed expression of national feeling ought not to be called forth in reference to their grievances? The writer was requested last spring, by a gentleman who takes a lively interest in their welfare, to enlist the sympathies of his ministerial brethren in London on their behalf, and to urge the propriety of presenting a memorial to Her Majesty, praying that instructions might be sent to Her Representative at the Sardinian court, to exert all the power of British influence, which he could legitimately employ, for the removal of intolerant enactments, procured at the instance and by the intrigues of the Jesuits, and to secure their protection in the enjoyment of vested rights and privileges, guaranteed to them by treaties of the 20th October, 1690, and the 4th August, 1704, to which the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and

the States General of Holland were contracting parties.

By a secret article in the former of these treaties it was expressly stipulated, not only" that His Royal Highness (the Duke of Savoy) preserves and replaces them (the Vaudois,) their children, and their posterity, in the possession of all and of each of their ancient rights, edicts, usages, and privileges, as well in regard to their abodes, their trade, and the exercises of their religion, as to every other purpose;" but also "that the ministers of His Britannic Majesty and of their High Mightinesses (the States General) shall be instructed and authorized to regulate, according to the ancient edicts, rights, and concessions, with the ministers of His Royal Highness, the particulars of things, and whatever may have been left out and omitted, in order to provide for the security of the said Vaudois under this article, as also for the execution of the same in respect of matters concerning their religion, and relative to their property, rights, and all other objects."*

Not being at the time sufficiently acquainted with

* See The Crown or the Tiara? Considerations on the present Condition of the Waldenses, addressed to the Statesmen of civilized Europe; London, Murray, 1842 ; and a very able article on the same subject in the Quarterly Review for December 1843.

open

the actual circumstances of the Vaudois, the writer was induced to visit their valleys in the course of the summer, in order to elicit such information respecting their condition as might guide him and his brethren in reference to further proceedings. An account of the tour performed on that occasion, he here submits to the perusal of a candid public. While the result of his inquiries goes to prove, that though these inoffensive professors of a purer faith, are subject to continued grievances and annoyances on the part of the Romanists, and are liable, at any moment, to have the Scourge of and cruel persecution again let loose upon them, yet there exist at present no gross and overt acts on the side of the Sardinian government, demanding the direct exercise of the power conceded in the article above quoted. The Vaudois themselves have no desire that foreign states should so interpose, except in case of dire necessity. They are accused of reposing that confidence in other potentates, which they withhold from their own; but it is a fact which cannot be placed in too broad a light, that they have never, in a single instance, compromised their character for loyalty to their Sovereign, and have carried on no correspondence with foreign powers, since the time

of the great persecution, when they were threatened with utter extermination. Whatever movements have taken place in their favour, have been purely the result of the spontaneous feelings of humanity, justice, and Christianity, excited from without.

But while the author does not feel warranted to advise the adoption of any public measures at the present time, he cannot sufficiently implore the Protestants of Great Britain to be constantly on the alert, and ready, on the very first symptoms of a determination to crush the Vaudois, to come forward and rouse the British Lion in their defence. Not only in our own highly favoured land, but in almost every country under heaven, we discover the strenuous efforts which are being made by the Romish Church, to establish and extend the reign of spiritual despotism. The melancholy story of the capture and secreting of the daughter of the late Dutch Ambassador at Turin, and the fruitless application to majesty itself with a view to effect her recovery, proves the power of ecclesiastical influence in that city; while the reported apathy of the King of Holland, is in direct contrast with the feelings of his people in reference to Protestantism in the Sardinian states. Let us all stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ

hath made us free, lest we be entangled again with the yoke of Roman bondage. And let us ever be prepared to supply the oppressed and afflicted with the fruits of Christian benevolence.

The reader will perceive that no notice has been taken of the Waldenses, or the followers of Peter Waldo. The reason is to be found in the fact, that they, with all the other sects which sprang up before the Reformation, have long since ceased to exist. The Vaudois have survived the storms of ages. Το them the visit here described was paid; and to them exclusively, public attention is here directed.

Park Terrace, Highbury,

Dec. 5th, 1844.