Lay-people shall take example by those Images and figures of the liues of Saints it is most certaine that it is impossible For the Virgin Mary was an example of humility pouerty and chastity and they adorne her Image rather with vestments of pride then humility So that the Lay-people doe not reade in their habits humility but pride and auarice if they conforme themselues to the said Bookes corrupted and ill written For the Priests and the people in these dayes are couetous proud and luxurious and therefore they cause their Images to be pictured like themselues And therefore saith Dauid Thou thinkest foolishly that I am like vnto thee Obiect But there are others that say We worship the visible Images in honour of the inuisible God Answer This is false For if wee will truly honour the Image of GOD by doing good vnto men we serue and honour the Image of GOD For the Image of GOD is in euery man but the resemblance or likenesse of God is not in all but onely in those where the thought is pure and the soule humble But if we will truly honour God wee giue place vnto the truth that is to say wee doe good vnto men that are made after the Image of God we doe honour vnto God when we giue meate to those that hunger drink to those that thirst cloath to those that are naked And therefore what honour doe wee giue vnto God when we serue him in a stock or a stone when we adore idle Figures without soules as if there were some diuinity in them and contemne man who is the true Image of God Saint Chrysostome vpon Mathew saith That the Image of God cannot be painted or pictured in gold but figured in man The Money of Caesar is gold but the money of God is man And therefore if the Iewes were commanded vnder the Law that they should destroy all the figures and Images and addict themselues to one onely God as it is written in the first Booke of the Kings But Samuel said to all the House of Israel If you turne vnto the Lord with all your heart and remoue from you all your strange Gods and keepe your heart vnto the Lord and serue him onely he will deliuer you from the hands of the Philistines Much lesse then ought Christians to depend vpon such signes and Images which the Iewes did not but they ought rather to lift vp their affections vnto Christ who sitteth at the right hand of God An Exposition of the 3. Commandement Tu ne prendras point le nom du Seigneur ton Dieu en vain c. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine c. IN this Commandement we are forbidden to sweare falsly vainely and by custome as it is written Leuit. 19. The man that is accustomed to sweare shall bee filled with iniquity and the plague shall not depart from his house An oath confesseth God to know the truth and it is to confirme a thing doubtfull for an oath is an act of Gods seruice and therefore they that sweare by the Elements doe sinne This is the reason why Christ Iesus forbiddeth vs to sweare by any thing neither by the heauen nor by the earth or any thing else but that our speech bee Yea yea and No no and whatsoeuer is otherwise is sinne And Saint Iames in the fift Chapter of his Epistle saith Aboue all things my brethren sweare not neither by heauen neither by the earth neither by any other oath lest ye fall into condemnation An Exposition of the 4. Commandement Souuienne toy du iour du repos c. Remember thou keepe holy the Sabbath day c. THey that will keepe and obserue the Sabbath of Christians that is to say Sanctifie the day of the Lord must be carefull of foure things The first is to cease from all earthly and worldly labours The second not to sinne The third not to be idle in regard of good workes The fourth to doe those things that are for the good and benefit of the soule Of the first it is said In sixe dayes shalt thou labour and doe all that thou hast to doe but the seuenth is the Sabboth of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt doe no manner of worke and in Exodus it is said Keepe my Sabbath for it is holy he that polluteth it shall die the death and in the Booke of Numbers we reade that one of the children of Israel being seene to gather stickes vpon the Sabbath day hee was brought vnto Moses who not knowing what course to take therein the Lord said vnto Moses This man shall die the death all the people shall stone him with stones and he shall die God would that his Sabbath should be kept with such reuerence that the children of Israel durst not to gather Manna therein when it was giuen them from heauen The second thing which we are to obserue is to preserue our selues from sinne as it is said in Exodus Remember to sanctifie the day of rest that is to obserue it by keeping thy selfe carefully from sinne And therefore saith Saint Augustine It is better to labour and to dig the earth vpon the Lords day then to bee drunke or to commit any other sinnes for sinne is a seruile worke by which a man serues the deuill Againe he saith that it is better to labour with profit then to range and roame abroad idly For the day of the Lord was not ordained to the end that a man should cease from worldly good workes and giue himselfe vnto sinne but to the end he should addict himselfe to spirituall labours which are better then the worldly and that hee repent himselfe of those sinnes he hath committed the whole Sabbath throughout for idlenesse is the Schoole-master of all euill Seneca saith It is a sepulchre of a liuing man The fourth thing is to doe that which may be good and profitable to the soule as to think on God deuoutly to pray vnto him dilligently to heare his Word and Commandements to giue thankes vnto God for all his benefits to instruct the ignorant to correct the erroneous and to preserue our selues from all sinne to the end that saying of Esay might bee accomplished Repent you of your sinnes and learne to doe good for rest is not good if it bee not accompanied with good workes An Exposition of the 5. Commandement These Commandements tell vs how we are to carry our selues towards our neighbours Non sentend tant solament de la reuerentia de fora c. Honour thy father and thy mother c. WEe are not to vnderstand these words as if the question were onely touching outward reuerence but also concerning matter of complement and things necessary for them and therefore wee are to doe that which is enioyned in this Commandement for that honour which is due vnto fathers and mothers for we receiue from them three excellent gifts that is to say our Being our
if they were good Catholikes or no to which being well taught they answered yea and with that answere the Commissioners contented themselues And yet it appeareth that they demanded diuers questions touching the Eucharist Purgatory Inuocation of Saints and diuers other points Againe he saith that the witnesses were fearefull and durst not speake and yet it plainly appeareth that the witnesses produced were for the most part Priests and Monkes of the faction of the Arch-bishop exhibited by him Againe that they suffered nothing to be set downe in writing whereas it appeareth that there are no Indictments where there is more written then in those that were framed by the said Commissioners But that which troubled the Arch-bishop most was that the said Commissioners gaue sentence of absolution touching Contumacy sine praeiudicio causae principalis iuris cuicunque acquisiti against which the Arch-bishop protested and would not yeeld his consent to seale the said sentence complaining that Monsieur the Officiall of Orleans had made knowen by his proceedings that he fauoured the said Waldenses especially hauing said openly at his lodgiug at the signe of the Angell in Ambrun that he desired to be but as good a Christian as the worst of Frassiniere But the greatest hurt came to himselfe for he saw that hee must restore diuers viniards belonging to the said Waldenses situated at S. Clements S. Crespin and at the place Chanteloube and diuers inheritances at Chateau-Roux which his Predecessor named Iohn had ioyned to the Demaine of his Arch-bishopricke The Confessor of the King hauing reported vnto him and to his Counsell what he knew touching the Waldenses and how they were absolued of their contumacy did ordaine that the goods of the said Waldenses should be restored whereupon these Letters following were granted by King Lewis the twelfth 〈◊〉 that name Lewis by the grace of God King of France c. FOr as much as it is come to our knowledge that the Inhabitants of Frassiniere haue endured great troubles and vexations punishments and trauels VVe desiring to releeue them and that they should be restored to their goods moueables and immoueables do by these Presents command all those that detaine the said goods that incontinently and without delay they desist and renounce the said goods and restore them to the said Suppliants or their Atturneies for them euery one in his place and ranke And in case of opposition refusall or delay Wee hauing regard to their pouerty and misery wherein they haue a long time and now are detained without power to obtaine iustice desiring withall Our heart it should bee administred vnto them Our will is to take notice thereof in Our owne proper person warning all those that shall oppose themselues or make delay to appeare before Vs at a certaine competent day c. Giuen at Lion the twelfth of Oct. 1501. These Letters being executed it was the opinion of most men that since the fairest and best part of the goods of the said Waldenses was possessed by the Lord Arch-bishop that there was great reason that hee should giue example vnto others seeing especially that that which they held came vnto some of them as a sallary or fee for their punishments and by the hands of the Arch-bishop Iohn his Predecessor The Arch-bishop Rostain answered that he held none of the goods of the Frassinieres onely certaine goods had been annexed to his Arch-bishopricke vpon good and iust cause and incorporated to his Church by his Predecessor the said goods being within the territories and iurisdiction thereof in which no commandement of the King hath euer been accustomed to be executed and therefore it is not to bee beleeued that it commeth from the will of the King being Protector of the Churches and following the example of his great predecessors But yet neuerthelesse the said Arch-bishop being willing to please our Lord the King will bee content to yeeld vnto the said Inhabitants of Frassiniere the said vineyards vpon condition that other the Lords and Masters of Dauphine deliuer that which they haue of the said goods and then the Arch-bishop will be content to restore that which hee and his Church doe possesse Thus these poore people were frustrated of their attempt For there was not any one that would restore any thing of that which he detained And therefore they summoned before the King and his counsell the said Arch-bishop Master Pons Counsellor of the Parliament at Grenoble Peter de Rames Esquier Lord of Poit Faix de Rames the Master of Montainard and of Argentiere Arrouars de Bonne and diuers other ordinary Atturnies Priests and Burgeses of Ambrun and Briancon They sent to the Court and hauing there more friends and credit then the Inhabitants of Frassiniere Their excuse was receiued wherein they declared that it was not in their power to restore the said goods before the Pope had absolued them And the Arch-bishop protested that hee for his part was ready to restore all that his Predecessors had vnited to his Church prouided that they had the aforesaid absolution This occasioned such as were lesse affected and constant to assay this way and to send to Pope Alexander the sixt of that name then Bishop of Rome But they were compelled rather not to goe to Rome but to fetch a writ of absolution from the Cardinall Legat in France George of the title of Saint Xist which would suffice and might be obtained with lesse charge For the obtaining whereof they had the Commissary the Kings Confessor They sent therefore one Steuen Roux who who brought two Bulles one by which he gaue absolution for Simony theft murder vsury Adultery dedention of Benefices destruction of goods Ecclesiasticall violence against Clerks by beating them vnlawfull oathes periuries Fraudes yea Apostacy and Heresie and whosoeuer had committed any crime were it neuer so hainous this Cardinall absolued them from all by his Apostolicall authority And forasmuch as his Arch-bishop might pretend that the said Bull did not absolue the said people of Frassinieres hauing been condemned by the said Apostolicall authority by Commissioners and Inquisitors deputed by the Pope and therefore his mouth was stopped he brought another Bull in which there was especially this clause Hauing power from the Pope to decide or determine any matter that any other that hath been deputed by that holy Sea or substituted can doe yea where there hath been an appeale absoluing all that haue in any manner been condemned This poore man thought he had gotten much and proceeded far in this busines but the Arch-bishop Rostain flouted his Bulles saying that they were obtained with too great a price and importunity and that he must haue an absolution from the Pope himselfe And so resolued with himselfe to restore nothing and all the rest followed his example And notwithstanding they had had absolution from the Pope yet they would haue restored nothing for he knew well inough that in those daies all things were sold at Rome witnesse
reprechension by the holy Scriptures they might be instructed concerning that which they were to recant or if they found nothing that they could reprehend that they might be no more molested by so many and so grieuous persecutions for feare lest thinking they made warre onely against men it should appeare that they made it against God and his truth and those that maintained it All their petitions serued to no other end then to prouoke them the more for the Iudges being possessed with an opinion that they were Heretikes refusing to take the paynes to know and examine the truth they made all their Acts in fauour of the Priests that accused them In such sort that when the Cardinall of Tournon had obtained at a high price Letters from the King for the execution of the aforesaid Decree notwithstanding the pardon and reuocation before obtained it was executed This was in the yeere 1545 that the President of Opede Gouernour of Prouence in the absence of the Earle of Grignan deputed for Commissioners the President Francis de la Fon Honoré de Tributiis and Bernard Badet Counseller and the Aduocate Guerin in the absence of the Procurator Generall He dispatched sundry Commissions and proclaimed the warre with sound of trumper both at Aix and at Marseilles So the troopes being leuied and the fiue ensignes of the old bands of Piedmont ioyned with them the army marched to Pertuis and the next day being the fourteenth of Aprill they went to Cadinet and the sixteenth they began to set fire to the Villages of Cabrieres Pepin la Mothe and Saint Martin belonging to the Lord of Sental then vnder age There the poore labourers without any resistance were slaine women and their daughters rauished some great with childe murdered without any mercy The breasts of many women were cut off after whose deaths the poor infants died with famine d'Opede hauing caused Proclamation to be made vpon paine of the with that no man should giue any reliefe or sustenance to any of them All things were ransacked burnt pilled and there were none saued aliue but those that were reserued for the Galloys The seuenteenth day Opede commanded the old bands of Piedmont to draw neere and the day following hee burnt the Villages of Lormarin Ville Laure and Trezemines and at the same time on the other side of Durance le Rieur de la Rocque and others of the Towne of Arles burnt Gensson and la Roque Opede being come to Merindol he found not any there but onely a yong lad called Morisi Blanc a very simple fellow who yeelded himselfe prisoner to a Souldier with promise of two crownes for his ransome d'Opede finding none other vpon whom he might wreake his anger payed the two crownes to the Souldier and so commanding him to be bound to a tree caused him to be slaine with hargubuse shot Afterwards he commanded the said Towne to be pilled sacked and vtterly razed and laid leuell with the ground where there were aboue two hundred houses There remained the Towne of Cabrieres compassed with walles which were beaten with the Cannon These poore people being sicke within who were about some threescore boores or Pesants of the Country called vnto them that they needed not to spend so much powder and paines to batter the Walles because they were ready to open the gates vnto them and to quit themselues of the place and Country and to depart to Geneua or into Germany with their wiues and children leauing all their goods behind them onely that their passage might be free The Lord of Cabrieres treated for them that their cause might be determined by iustice without force or violence But Opede being within the Town he commanded the men to be brought into a field and to be cut in peeces withswords these valiant executioners striuing who could shew the best manhood in cutting off heads armes and legges He caused the women to be locked vp in a barne full of straw and so put fire vnto it where were burnt many women great with childe Wherewith a Souldier being moued to compassion hauing made an ouerture for them they were beaten backe into the fire with pikes and holberds The rest of these men that were found hidden in the caues were brought into the Hall of the Castle where they were horribly massacred in the presence of the said Opede As for the women and children that were found in the Temple they were exposed to the chiefe Bauds and Ruffians of Anignon who slew about eight hundred persons without distinction of age or sexe About the end of this execution le Sieur de la Coste kinsman to Opede came thither who intreated him to send him some men of warre offering to bring all his souldiers into Aix and to make as many breaches in the wall as hee would which was granted by word of mouth but not wholly performed For three Ensignes of foot men were sent thither who pillaged whatsoeuer seemed good vnto them burnt a part of the Towne rauished women and their daughters and killed some Boores not finding any resistance In this meane time the rest of those of Merindol and other places were in great extremities in the mountaines and rockes persecuted by Opede and his army They intreated him that hee would permit them to retire themselues to Geneua with the rest of their wiues and children promising to leaue behind them all their goods Hee answered that hee would send them all to dwell in the Country of hell with all the diuels them their wiues and children in such a manner that there should be no memory left of them King Francis being aduertised of those cruelties that were executed in pursuit of the said arrest was much displeased therewith in such sort that at the very point of death being wounded with some remorse of conscience principally because it had all passed vnder his name and authority being sorry because hee could inflict no punishment vpon them before his death that had shed so much innocent blood hee gaue in charge to his sonne Henry to bee reuenged on them in prosecution whereof after the decease of his father hee sent out his Letters Patents in the yeere one thousand fiue hundred forty nine by which hee tooke vnto himselfe and into his owne hands the cause of the said Waldenses of Prouence but there was none but the Aduocate Guerin that was hanged because hee had falsty informed the King when hee kept backe the reuocation of the first retention of the cause of those of Merindoll whereupon presently followed the execution of the Arrest of the Court of Parliament of Aix And all the rest that were faulty escaped vpon this consideration that it was to no purpose to attempt any more against the Lutherans at that time Touching the rest that escaped this massacre some there were that retired themselues to Geneua others into Switzerland others into Germany and others continued neere thereabouts tilling their land by stealth and so by little
and in good order The King of Aragon seeing him thought hee came rather to cast himselfe downe at his feet than to fight The King of Aragon had lodged his Armie in a place very aduantagious and fauourable They ioyne battell and presently the Vantgard of the Earle Simon was almost cut in peeces and it went so ill with him and his that it seemed vnto him that that was the place whither God had called him to pay with vsurie for all his fore-passed cruelties and insolencies to his owne shame when the King of Aragon in the head of his Vauntgard approched for his totall ruine and destruction for being come neere to an ambush of foure hundred Harquebusiers which the Earle Simon had placed in certaine old decayed houses he was wounded to death and fell from his horse Whereupon they fell presently into such a disorder and astonishment that doe what the Earle Remond of Toulouze of Foix and Comminge what they could to stay this cowardly Armie they could preuaile nothing with them but were enforced themselues to follow the trace and to commit themselues to the hazard and euent of this shamefull retreat flying directly to Toulouze The Earle Simon taking the aduantage of his victory and following the chase euen to the gates of Toulouze slew so many men in this dayes fight that himselfe was moued with compassion grieuing for the hard hap of his Lord the King of Aragon and causing a search to bee made among the dead commanded him to be interred not in the ground which they call holy because hee was excommunicated but in a field nere to St. Granier The Bishops Priests and Monkes which were within the Castle of Muret from whence they might behold from farre the euent of this daies iourney The Monke of the Valleis Sernay chap. 127. haue had a Monke that giues them the whole commendations of this so renowned a victory affirming that it was obtained by the benediction which the Bishop of Comminge gaue to the Army with the Crosse promising to the Pilgrims Paradice without any paine of Purgatory and that if they died in that fight they should all be receiued into heauen as Martyrs As also hee saith that all the Ecclesiasticall persons that were within the place retired themselues to a Church all the time of the Combat and that they praied with such ardency that they seemed by their crie rather to houle than to pray He that writes the History of Languedoc saith The History de Lang. sol 12. that they got the aduantage because they had receiued the benediction from the Bishops and had adored the wood of the true Crosse in the hands of the Bishop of Toulouze On the other side the Albingenses acknowledged that they saw herein an extraordinary proofe of the iudgement of God in that the king of Aragon attributed at that time more to his owne power and prouidence than the helpe and succours of the eternall God But yet for all this they lost not their courage though they had lost in this iourney fisteene thousand fighting men neither did they dispaire of the iustice and goodnesse of their cause it not being the first armie that hath beene discomfited in a iust quarrell nor the first bad cause that hath beene maintained with victory So foure hundred thousand men of Israel were beaten by twenty six thousand of the children of Beniamin who maintained a bad cause and slew in two battells two and forty thousand men Iudge 20. Iudge 20.1 Sam. 4. So the Philistins being vncircumcised Idolaters got the better in two battells against the Israelites and slew of them thirty foure thousand men and tooke the Arke of God So Ionathan was slaine by the Philistins 2 King 23 So Iosiah who was zealous of the seruice of God receiued his deadly blow fighting against the king of Egipt at Megiddo So king Iohn hauing an armie of sixty thousand men was discomfited and taken prisoner by the Prince of Wales who had not aboue eight thousand men notwithstanding the cause of the king of France were very iust defending himselfe against his enemie who assaulted him in his owne countrey The warre of the Albingenses encreased for the Earle Simon thought it was necessary hee should pursue his enemies being halfe dead and ouerthrowne and the Albingenses for their part knew that they must of necessitie defend themselues or bee vanquished and brought into thraldome CHAP. XII Pope Innocent the third sent against the Albingenses a new Legat named Bonauenture Prince Lewis the sonne of Philip tooke on him the Crosse and caused Toulouze and Narbonne to be dismantled and the walles laid euen with the ground THe Earle Simon being puffed vp with this victorie sent one to summon the Earle of Toulouze Foix and Comminge and the Prince of Bearne to deliuer vnto him the keis of those cities and castles that they possessed and that they should sabscribe to what it pleased the Legat or resolue miserably to perish He receiued no answer but euery one betooke himselfe to his owne territories there to prouide the best they could possibly for their affaires The Earle Remond retired himselfe to Montauban and writ to those of Toulouze from whence he was but then departed that he vnderstood that Rodolph the Bishop of Arras was comming with a great number of Pilgrims and therefore forasmuch as he saw that they had no meanes to defend their city against so great a force that they should treat and grow to some composition with the Earle Simon reseruing only their hearts vnto himselfe vntill God should giue meanes to free them from those miseries wherein they were plunged by the insatiable auarice of their common enemie In the meane time he the Earle of Foix Comminge and the Prince of Bearne did their endeuours to trouble and to infest the enemies Armies with all the power they could for their common good The citie of Toulouze deputed six of the principall men of the city to offer to the Earle Simon the keies of Toulouze He receiued them honourably and commanded them not to depart from him without his permission In the meane time he writ to Lewis the sonne of king Philip that since the battle of Muret they of Toulouze offered to yeeld themselues vnto him but his desire was that he should haue the praise of that conquest being onely worthy of himselfe King Philip his father would not heretofore permit that he should war against the Albingenses becauve he had promised the King of Aragon to carry himselfe as a neuter betwixt both but now hearing of the death of the said King of Aragon he suffered him to goe The Prince being at Toulouze the citie was deliuered into his hands and presently the Legat hauing assembled the Bishops of his ranke it was concluded that the pillage should be granted to the Pilgrims and that the city should be dismantled the Castle of Narbonne excepted which was incontinently executed contrary to the promise which
armes he had recourse to his ordinary wiles and subtilties hoping to worke his ruine vnder a pretence of amitie He caused therefore the Legat Bonauenture to write vnto him that he had compassion on him for that he was so obstinate in so great a warre to his great charge and the losse of the bloud of his Subiects which if he would he might end in a short time by taking his iourny to Rome declaring his innocency to the Pope that he would giue him his best assistance as far forth as possibly he could to procure the restitution of all his Lands But yet it was very necessarie that the Church should haue some gages of his fidelitie that is that he should deliuer into his hands the Castle of Foix the one onely meanes to take away all shadow and shew of false play and that incontinently after his returne turne it should be restored vnto him with the rest of his houses He suffered himselfe to be cheated and gulled by these promises deliuered vnto him the Castle of Foix and tooke his iourney to Rome but if he went a foole thither a foole he returned For the Legat had written to Rome to the Conclaue and to the Pope that the Earle of Foix was one of the most dangerous Heretiques that was amongst the Albingenses a man of great courage and valiant and most to be feared that if he were subdued the Earle of Toulouze would be much weakned that he had gotten from him the meanes to doe any hurt by obtaining by faire words those places which the Church would neuer haue gotten by armes namely the Castle of Foix and that they were to take heed that they made no restitution of his lands which if they did it would bee impossible that the Church should euer bring the Albingenses to their vtter ruine The Pope was willing enough to ioyne in his ouerthrow but because hee came vnto him with submissions he feared least it might bee a meanes to hinder others from euer putting any confidence in the Pope He was prodigall of his Crosses his Bulls and his Words but in effect he commanded his Legat that he should not restore vnto him those places vntill hee had giuen good proofes of his obedience and iustification Presently vpon his returne hee addressed himselfe to the Legat to enioy the effect of his faire promises The Legat gaue him to vnderstand that his hands were bound by the Pope because there were some clauses in his Bulls that did binde him to a new proceeding and to know in good earnest what his innocency was but yet he should assure himselfe of his affection and that he should not attribute to him if he receiued not his full content and that he would doe his best endeuour to make loue and friendship betwixt the Earle Simon and himselfe The Earle of Foix by little and little with-drew himselfe fearing to be arrested walking about the fields and houses of his Subiects as for his owne they were all in the hands of the Earle Simon There he cursed his owne facilitie to suffer himselfe to be gulled by a Priest bites his singers for anger to see himselfe so blockishly abused after so many trickes and stratagems plaid against him The Earle of Toulouze and the King of Aragon resolue to make a leuy of their Subiects and presently to build a Fort at Montgranier a place very strong by nature In a few daies they made it a place of defence by the means labours of their poore subiects who bewailing their own miseries their Lords trauelled day night very willingly to bring the work to an end This place being built he put therin a garison left there his son Roger. The Earle Simon besieged it in the end took it by famine The cōposition was that Roger should not beare armes for one whole yeare against the Church An Article that troubled much this valiant Lord. For he withdrew himselfe for the same yeare into a house where he counted the moneths and the daies till the time was expired wherein he might either die valiantly in fight or vanquish his enemies And to this purpose he many times conferred with the sonne of the King of Aragon lately slaine how he might carrie himselfe to finde a meanes to be reuenged of his Fathers death The Legat Bonauenture in the meane time vseth the same subtletie with the Earle Remond of Toulouze He perswadeth him to goe to Rome to determine his affaires with the Pope more peaceably than with the Earle Simon The Monke of the Valley Sernay Chap. 133. especially because he was charged with the death of his owne Brother the Earle Baudoin taken in the Castle d'Olme in the Country of Cahors because he had there borne Armes against him an action that had made him odious both to God and men and which his enemies did exaggerate to the end they might stirre vp the Pilgrims to take vengeance on him saying That at the very point of death they had denied him a Confessor and that the said Bodoin prayed vnto God that he would raise vp some good Christians to reuenge the wrong done vnto him by his brother as by another Caine. The son of the Earle of Toulouze named also Remond vnderstanding that his Father was to take his iourney to Rome he went with letters from his Vncle the King of England to the Pope intreating him to doe iustice to his brother in Law The young Lord had beene brought vp vntill then in England where he could no longer spend time seeing his Father oppressed with warres and continuall trauels he therefore resolued to vse his best endeuours for his deliuerance either by composition or by armes The cause of the Earle Remond was debated before the Pope There was a Cardinall that maintained Idem Chap. 152. that great wrong had beene offered those Lords who had many times giuen of their best lands to the Church to witnesse their obedience The Abbot of St. Vberi also tooke their part with great courage and resolution The Earle Remond likewise defended his owne cause charging the Bishop of Toulouze with many outrages and that if hee had beene constrained to defend himselfe he must accuse those that had driuen him to that necessitie for had he not made resistance he had long agoe beene vtterly ouerthrowne That the Bishop of Toulouze had many times caught vnto him the fairest of his reuenewes and being neuer satisfied did still continue to vex him parting his goods with the Earle Simon of Montfort and that their onely auarice had beene the cause of the death of ten thousand men of Toulouze and of the pillage of that faire and great Citie a losse which could neuer be repaired The Charterie of Lion did also shew vnto the Pope that the Bishop of Toulouze had alwaies kindled the fire and warmed himselfe at the flame Arnaud de Villemur did also present himselfe before the Pope demanding Iustice for that the
his heauenly benedictions in these latter times An excellent prouocation doubly to obliege them to loue the truth which hath bin freely manifested vnto them and to bring forth fruits worthy thereof As it should be an extreme griefe to those places that haue neglected and reiected is that God hath abandoned them and left them to their owne sence euen in that darkenesse which they loued reuenging the contempt of his word by the ignorance thereof and suffering those to perish in their error that haue preferred it before the truth CHAP. XII The conclusion of this History of the Albingenses IT is an easie matter to gather by the contents of this History of the Albingenses that the people inhabiting in the Countrey of Albi Languedoc and diuers other places neere adioyning haue made profession of the selfe-same Religion that they haue that elsewhere were called Waldenses and the rather because their aduersaries themselues haue affirmed that they haue persecuted them as Waldenses As also that the greatest troubles that haue lighted vpon them haue beene procured by the Priests whose corruptions they haue descryed and discouered their abuses maintaining against the Church of Rome the Gospell of Christ Iesus in it puritie refusing to yeeld to those Idolatries that bare sway in those times but aboue all detesting the Masse and the inuention of Transubstantiation shaking the authoritie of the Popes dominion as being abusiue and tyrannicall hauing no resemblance of the well-befitting humilitie of the true Pastors of the Church or conformitie to the doctrine and vocation of the Apostles but rather an excesse and ryot befitting those that loue the world and perish with the world By which libertie which they tooke vnto themselues to reprehend those that beleeued the right of all redargution to belong onely to themselues they haue beene charged with diuers faults and condemned for rash inconsiderare people prophane secular persons who had thrust themselues into the office of teaching when with silence they should rather learne And the Popes not being able to winne them to the obedience of their commands nor to conuince them of error by the word of God they haue persecuted them by their Monkes Inquisitors who haue deliuered to the secular Magistrate as many as the said Monkes could apprehend and forasmuch as this way was somewhat too slow to cut them off and to see the end of them the Popes haue drawne their swords against them haue armed their Cardinals and Legats and driuen to these bloudy warres the Kings and Princes of the earth giuing Paradice for a recompence to whomsoeuer would beare armes against them and aduenture his life for the extirpation of them for fortie daies together Many great Lords haue beene desirous to know the cause of that vnreconcilable enmitie of the Pope against their subiects and hauing perceiued that passion carried those that were offended for the truth they haue maintained their cause being grounded vpon this reason That when they should bee conuinced of this errror by the word of God they would giue the glory vnto God From hence haue proceeded those cruell warres wherein a million of men haue lost their liues In the meane time euen then when it seemed that all truth was buried in the ground and that the Dragon had ouercome God raised in diuers of those places where this grace had beene knowne and receiued many goodly Churches wherein his name is purely inuocated maugre the Deuill and all his adherents To God therefore who hath begunne to destroy the sonne of perdition by the blast of his Spirit To the Sonne-of God who hath bought vs with his precious bloud bee all honour and glory for euer and euer So be it * ⎠* FINIS THE THIRD PART OF THE HISTORIE OF THE WALDENSES AND ALBINGENSES THE FIRST BOOKE Contayning the Doctrine and Discipline that hath beene common amongst them The Catechisme or manner of instructing their Children which the Waldenses and Albingenses haue vsed in manner of a Dialogue where the Pastor asketh the question and the Childe answereth set down iointly in their owne proper Language in the French Copy for the more Authority CHAPTER I. Lo. Barba Si tu fosses demanda qui sies tu Respond L'Enfant Creatura de diorational mortal c. The learned Reader desirous to see the originall may haue recourse to the French Booke where it is faithfully set forth in their owne old Language The Pastor Question WHat art thou Answer A creature of God reasonable and mortall Q. Why hath God created thee A. To the end I should know and serue him and that I might be saued by his grace Q. In what doth thy saluation consist A. In three essentiail vertues which doe necessarily belong to saluation Q. Which be they A. Faith Hope and Charity Q. How dost thou proue it A. The Apostle saith in the 1 Epistle to the Corinthians Chap. 13.13 These three things remaine Faith Hope and Charity Q. What is Faith A. According to the Apostle Heb. 11.1 It is the substance of things hoped for the euidence of things not seene Q. How many kindes of Faith are there A. There are two sorts of Faith that is a liuely and a dead Faith Q. What is a liuely Faith A. That which worketh by Charity Q. What is a dead Faith A. According to Saint Iames That Faith which is without workes is dead Againe Faith is nothing without workes Or a dead faith is to beleeue there is a God and to beleeue those things concerning God and not to beleeue in God Q. What is thy Faith A. The true Catholike and Apostolike Faith Q. What is that A. It is that which in the Apostles Symbole is diuided into twelue Articles Q. What is that Symbole A. I beleeue in God the Father Almighty c. Q. By what meanes canst thou know that thou beleeuest in God A. By this Because I know that I haue giuen my selfe to the obseruation of the Commandements of God Q. How many Commandements of God are there A. Ten as it appeareth in Exodus and Deuteronomy Q. Which are they A. Hearken O Israel I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt haue no other Gods but me Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenesse of any thing that is in Heauen c. Q. Vpon what doe all these Commandements depend A. Vpon the two great Commandements that is to say Thou shalt loue God aboue all things and thy Neighbour as thy selfe Q. What is the foundation of these Commandements by which euery one ought to enter into life without which foundation no man can worthily fulfill the Commandements A. Our Lord Iesus Christ of whom the Apostle saith in the first to the Corinthians None can lay any other foundation but that which is laid euen Iesus Christ Q. By what meanes may a man attaine to this foundation A. By Faith So saith Saint Peter 1 Epist 2.6 Behold I lay in Sion a chiefe corner stone elect precious
Law and thy Discipline I haue committed many sinnes especially in my vnderstanding for the stench of wickednesse hath beene more pleasing then the diuine sweetnesse of thy celestiall honours for adoring the euill I haue therein taken greater contentment because I haue committed many sinnes and omitted much good that I should haue done and not acknowledging my faults I haue endeuoured to cast them vpon another I haue not been temperate in my eating and drinking I haue many a time and oft returned wrong for wrong and therein I haue taken greatest pleasure I haue a wounded body and soule I haue stretched out my hands to touch vanitie and I haue laboured to possesse the goods of another man and to mischiefe my neighbour My heart hath delighted in that I haue said and much more in many other vaine delights and pleasures O Lord pardon mee and giue mee chastitie I haue ill imployed the time that thou hast giuen mee and I haue followed during my yonger yeeres my vanities and pleasures I haue wandred from the right way and haue giuen an ill example by my lightnesse I know but little good in my selfe and I finde much euill I haue displeased thee by my wickednesse and condemned mine owne soule and hated my neighbour O Lord preserue mee that I bee not condemned I loue my neighbour for my temporall benefit I haue not carried my selfe faithfully when there hath beene any question of giuing and receiuing but I haue had respect vnto the persons according to mine affection I haue loued the one too much and too much hated the other I haue taken too little ioy and comfort in the good of the godly and too great delight in the finne of the wicked And besides all the euill that I haue committed in times past vnto this present day I haue not had any repentance or distaste of my finnes answerable to my manifold offences I haue many a time and oft returned to that wickednesse I haue committed and now confessed for which I am hartily sorrie O Lord God thou knowest that I haue confessed my selfe vnto thee and that there are yet in me many wickednesses which I haue not recounted vnto thee but thou knowest the wicked thoughts the wicked words the wicked works that I haue committed vnto this day O Lord forgiue me giue me time in this life to repent me of my sins and vouchsafe me the grace in time to come so to hate those sins I haue committed as that I neuer offend in that kind any more that I may so loue vertue and keepe it in my heart that I may loue thee aboue all things and feare thee in such sort that when the houre of death shall come I may doe that that shall be pleasing vnto thee And giue me such affiance in thee at the day of Iudgement that I neither feare the deuill nor any other thing may affright mee but receiue me and set me at thy right hand without offence free from all sinne Good Lord let all this come to passe according to thy good pleasure for thy Son Christ Iesus sake Amen An Exposition of the Waldenses and Albingenses vpon the ten Commandements of the Law of GOD. CHAP. III. An Exposition of the first Commandement Lo premier Commandement de la Ley de Dio es aquest Non aures Dio straing deuant mi. Exod. 20. c. Thou shalt haue no other Gods but me ALl they that loue the Creature more then the Creator Taken out of the Booke of the Waldenses intituled The Booke of vertues pag. 197. obserue not this Commandement That which euery man honoureth and serueth more then GOD that vnto him is God And therefore saith Saint Chrysostome vpon Mathew The euill to which a man is a seruant is to him a God So that if any man shall say I cannot know whether I loue more or lesse GOD or the thing God forbids mee to loue let him know that what a man loues least in a case of necessity is that which he is most willing to loose and that which he loues is that which he keepeth and preserueth As it is the manner of Merchants to doe is when they are in danger of drowning they willingly cast their Merchandize into the Sea to saue their liues they loue their liues better then their Merchandize So thinke thou with thy selfe that if vpon any occasion thou hadst rather loose thy temporall things or receiue any losse or hinderance in them as in thy Money thy Houses thy Cattell thy Wife thy Children yea thine owne body then commit any sinne by which thou must loose God then doubtlesse thou louest God more then all things aboue mentioned But contrarily if thou haddest rather sinne then loose these temporall things then certainly thou doest adore and serue these things more then God and thou art an Idolater And this doth our Sauiour affirme in the Gospell The rest touching this Commandement is before in theâ— Booke of the History of the Waldendes Chap. 4. saying If any man come vnto me and hateth not his Father and his Mother his Wife and Children his Brothers and Sisters yea and his owne soule hee cannot be my Disciple All such offend against this Commandement c. An Exposition of the 2. Commandement Tu ne te fer as image taillee c. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image c. THou shalt make thee no Image cut out of stone or wood or any other thing which may be cut into any figure or picture or in any other manner whatsoeuer that is in Heauen aboue as the Angels the Sunne the Moone the Starres nor in the Earth beneath as Men and other Creatures as the Aegyptians doe nor in the waters as the Fish For the Philistines serued Dagon which was an Idol which had a head like a Fish Nor vnder the Earth as the Diuels as they of Acheron who worshipped Beelzebub Thou shalt not worship them by doing them outward reuerence nor serue them with inward reuerence Neither shalt thou doe any worke that may tend to the honour and reuerence of them So hee manifestly forbiddeth to make any grauen Image of any thing to the end to serue and adore it And therefore it is wonderfull that there are some that frame vnto themselues Figures and Images and attribute vnto them by their ignorance and against the Commandement of God the honour and reuerence which belongeth to one onely God Obiect But there are some that say that Images are Lay-mens Bookes who not being able to reade in Bookes may see that vpon a wall which they cannot reade Answer To whom wee may answer that the Lord saith to his Disciples in the fift Chapter of Saint Matthew Ye are the salt of the Earth the light of the World For the life and conuersation of the Pastors ought to be the Booke of their Flockes And if a man should grant that they are Bookes yet they are false and ill written For if
Nourishment and our Instruction which we are neuer able fully to recompence The Wiseman saith Honour thy father and forget not the sorrowes of thy mother Remember that by them thou hast had thy being render then a recompence answerable to the price they haue giuen thee and therefore hauing regard to that naturall being which we haue receiued from our father and mother we are to serue them in all humility and reuerence after a threefold mannet First with all the power of our bodies wee are to support their bodies and to yeeld them the seruice of our hands As the wise man speaketh He that feares God will honour his Father and his Mother and will serue them as his Lords that baue begotten Him Againe wee must serue our Fathers and Mothers with all our power neuer debating or questioning with them with hard and bitter speeches but wee must answer them humbly and hearken louingly to their reprehensions Prouerbs 1.8 My sonne heare the instructian of thy Father and forsake not the Law of thy Mother He that sahll curse his Father and Mother his Lampe shall be put out in the middest of darkenesse We must likewise honor them by administring vnto them things necessary for this life For Fathers and Mothers haue nourished their Children with their owne flesh their proper substance and Children nourish their Parents with that which is without their flesh being impossible they should restore vnto them those benefits they haue receiued of them And touching the instruction wee haue receiued of our Parents wee must obey them in whatsoeuer shall tend to our saluation and to a good end Ephes 6. Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Of which obedience Christ hath giuen vs an example as it is in the second Chapter of Saint Luke And he went downe with them and was obedient to his Father and Mother And therefore honour first thy Father that hath created thee then thy Father that hath begotten thee and thy Mother that hath borne thee in her wombe and hath brought thee forth to the end thy dayes may be prolonged vpon the Earth and that perseuering in that which is good thou mayest passe out of this world to an euerlasting inheritance An Exposition vpon the 6. Commandement En aquest Commandament es desfen du specialment l'homicidi c. Thou shalt not kill MVrder is especially forbidden in this Commandement but more generally to hurt our Neighbour in any manner whatsoeuer as with words detractions iniuries or deeds as to strike our Neighbour Of the first sort it is said Mathew 5.22 Whosoeuer is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of iudgement And Saint Iames saith Chapter 1.20 The wrath of man worketh not the righteousnesse of God And Saint Paul Ephes 3. Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your anger He that is angry with his brother without cause is worthy of iudgement but not hee that is angry vpon iust occasion For if a man should not be angry sometimes the doctrine were not profitable neither would the iudgement bee discerned nor sinne punished And therefore iust anger is the Mother of discipline and they that in such a case are not angry sinne for that patience that is without reason is the feed of vices it nourisheth negligence it suffereth not onely the bad to swerue but the good too For when the euill is corrected it vanisheth So that it is plaine that anger is sometimes good when it is for the loue of righteousnesse or when a man is angry with his owne sinnes or the sinnes of another man Thus was Christ angry with the Pharises The other sort of anger is wicked which proceedeth from a desire of reuenge which is forbidden Vengeance belongs vnto me saith the Lord and I will reuenge An Exposition vpon the 7. Commandement Loqual Commandament defend tota nonlicita cubititia c. Thou shalt not commit adultery THis Commandement for bids all vnlawfull lust and pollution of the flesh as it is said in the fift by Saint Mathew He that looketh vpon a woman and lusteth after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart And in the fift of the Apostle to the Ephesians it is said This ye know that no whoremonger nor vncleane person nor couetous man shall inherite the Kingdome of God And in the I Corinthians 6.9 Be not deceiued neither fornicators nor vncleane persons shall inherite the Kingdome of Heauen And in the 5. Chapter If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or couetous c. Eate not with such a one Now as there is a corporall whoredome so there is a spirituall that is to say when a man separateth himselfe from God An Exposition of the 8. Commandement En aquest Commandament es deffendu totalment furt et fraud de cosas stragnas c. Thou shalt not steale IN this Commandement we are forbid all manner of thest and all vnlawfull meanes to get vnto our selues the goods of another by fraud or auarice or intury or violence For they are not onely theeues that take the goods of another but they that command them that receiue theeues into their Houses and that buy stollen goods and make profit of them wittingly All they that doe such things and they that consent thereunto they shall suffer equall punishment or if thou finde any thing and restorest it not thou hast robbed thy Neighbour for thou art bound to make restitution of that thou hast found They that depriue their subiects of their goods and commodities as Lords vse to doe imposing vniust charges and taxations ouer-burthening the poore by their wicked inuentions and if they refuse to doe it they imprison them and many times torment them euen to the death and so take from them their goods vniustly they are theeues Of these the Prophet Esay speaketh Chapter 1.23 Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of Theeues and follow after rewards They are also Theeues that retaine the wages of the labourer by fraud Of such it is said in the 19 of Leuiticus The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night vntill the morning And as Saint Iames speaketh in his fift Chapter Ye that haue heaped treasure together for the last dayes Behold the hire of the Labourers which haue reaped downe your fields which is of you kept backe by fraud cryeth and the cries of them which haue reaped are entred into the eares of the Lord of Hasts They play the theeues that hurt the weale publike as Coyners in the weight number value and generally all such as falsifie their weights and measures and diuers Merchandizes these are called robbers of the common good and such according to the Law are to be put to death in boyling oyle They are Theeues that labour to get by fraud that deceiue men in their wares and merchandize selling bad for good Also Gamesters who inuite others to gaming who play out of auarice the roote
daughters goe a whoring after their gods and make thy sonnes goe a whoring after their gods This is likewise manifest in the New Testament Iohn 12. That the Lord came into the world and suffered death to the end he might ioyne all the children of God in one And for this truth of the vnity and separation of others it is said Matth. 10.34 Thinke not I am come to send peace on earth I came not to send peace but a sword For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter in law against the mother in law And a mans foes shall be they of his owne houshold And this diuision hee hath commanded saying If there be any that forsaketh not father and mother for my sake c. Againe Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheepes clothing Againe Beware of the leuen of the Pharises Againe Take heed lest any seduce you for many shall come in my Name and shall seduce many And therefore if any one shall say vnto you heere is Christ and there is Christ beleeue him not And Reuel 8.4 he admonisheth with his owne voyce and commandeth all that are his to goe out of Babylon saying Come out of her my people that you be not partakers of her sinnes and that ye receiue not of her plagues For her sins haue reached vnto heauen and God hath remembred her iniquities The Apostle affirmeth the same 2 Cor. 6.14 Be ye not vnequally yoked together with vnbeleeuers for what fellowship hath righteousnesse with vnrighteousnesse and what communion hath light with darkenesse And what concord hath Christ with Belial and what part hath he that beleeueth with an Infidell And what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols And therefore goe out of her and separate your selues from her saith the Lord and touch no vncleane thing and I will bee vnto you in the place of a father and you shall bee vnto mee as sonnes and daughters saith the Lord. Againe Ephes 5.7 Be not yee therefore partakers with them for yee were sometimes darkenesse but now are yee light in the Lord. Againe 1. Cor. 10.20 I would not that yee should haue fellowship with deuils yee cannot drinke the cup of the Lord and the cup of deuils And againe 2. Thes 3.6 Wee command you brethren in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that ye withdraw your selues from euery brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he receiued of vs. For your selues know how ye ought to follow vs And in the 14. verse And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle note that man and haue no company with him that he may be ashamed And Ephes 5.11 Haue no fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse And 2. Tim. 3.1 This also know that in the last dayes perillous times shall come And Verse 5. Hauing a forme of godlinesse but denying the power thereof from such turne away By these places aboue repeated the malice of Antichrist doth manifestly appeare So it is likewise commanded by the Lord that we separate our selues from him and to ioyne our selues to the holy City Ierusalem And therefore we that haue knowledge of these things the Lord hauing reuealed them vnto vs by his seruants beleeuing this reuelation deliuered in the Word being admonished by the Commandements of the Lord to separate our selues from him inwardly and outwardly because we beleeue him to bee Antichrist and haue conuersation and vnity of will and sincere intention purposing to please God that wee may be saued by the ayde and assistance of our Lord wee ioyne our selues to the truth of Christ and of his Spouse how little soeuer it be in the eye of the world so farre foorth as our vnderstanding shall direct vs. And therefore we haue determined with our selues to make knowne to the world what are the causes of our departure and what our congregation is to the end that if the Lord shall giue the knowledge of the selfe-same truth they that haue receiued it should loue it together with our selues And that if peraduenture they be not sufficiently illuminated they may receiue comfort and assistance by this meanes and be watered by the dew of heauen And if this grace bee giuen more abundantly and in a higher measure to any other wee desire in all humility to bee better instructed by him intreating our faults and defects may bee amended These things then that follow are the causes of our separation Be it knowne to all in generall and euery particular person that the cause of our separation is for the essentiall verity of Faith and the ministeriall The Essentiall verity of Faith is the inward knowledge of one true God and the vnity of Essence in three persons which knowledge flesh and bloud hath not giuen As also for the decent and conuenient seruice due to one onely God for the loue thereof aboue all things for sanctification and the honour thereof aboue all things and aboue all names for a liuely hope by Christ in God for regeneration and inward renouation by faith hope and charity for the merit of Iesus Christ with all sufficiency of grace and righteousnesse for the participation or communion with all the Elect for remission of sinnes for holy conuersation and for the faithfull accomplishment of all the Commandements in the faith of Christ for true repentance for perseuerance vnto the end and for life euerlasting The Ministeriall verities are these The outward Congregation of Ministers with the people subiect in place time and truth by the ministry of the truth aboue mentioned directing establishing and preseruing the Church the said Ministers by faith and an integrity of life shewing themselues obedient and giuing themselues couragiously to the practise and vsuall cariage of our Sauiour ouer the flocke The things which the Ministers are bound to doe for the seruice of the people are these The Euangelicall Word the Sacraments annexed to the Word which certifie what the intention and vnderstanding hath beene confirme the hope in Christ and in the faithfull the ministeriall communion of all things by the Essentiall verity And if there be any other ministeriall things they may all bee referred to the abouenamed But of these singular verities some are essentially necessary to the saluation of man others conditionally They are contained in the twelue Articles of our Faith and in diuers writings of the Apostles For Antichrist hath long since raigned in the Church by diuine permission The errours and impurities of Antichrist are these that is to say diuers and innumerable Idolatries against the Commandements of God and of Christ by a seruice giuen to the creature and not to the Creator visible and inuisible corporall and spirituall vnderstanding or sensible naturall or made and framed by some art and vnder the name of Christ or hee saints or shee-saints or reliques which creature is serued by faith by hope by gestures by
of the Prefect of that Province who is a Romish Cathosike and had already slain another Priest in the same place A young man of the Reformed Religion having been accused to have been partaker with him therein hath been delivered by the said Reformed into the hands of Justice and of the Delegate of his Royall Highness who having deposed there that the said Secretary called Pagot had perswaded him to go along with him in that horrid execution promised to give him three hundred Pistolls but that he had refused to do it and took onely two to bind him not to say a word of it hath been released and declared not guilty After this considering the scruples of some yet the same man hath severall times presented himselfe to Madame Royall and the cheifest of her Ministers and the Reformed have still represented him upon all occasions to be examined and brought face to face before the parties but they still refused it holding him as sully justified and the other convicted Besides though among the Reformed there should have been found a Thiefe neither their Concessions nor their Laws do suffer the innocent to be punished for the guilty Such Assassinations were never commited by order of the Reformed and could have no advantage by the death of an inconsiderable Country Priest who could never do them neither good or evill Secondly Some say that at La Tour an Asse hath been dressed like a Monk It is a Diabolicall invention In a word it was thus The Youth of the place partly Papists partly Reformed to jeere and mock at a very Heterocâ—iticall Marriage made a Charivary as they call it and tooke the asse or the Bridegroome whom they did set on the topp of the Oven in a publick place where it was seen of all all the day long and nothing therein touched the Monks nor the Masse nor the Host The Roman Catholikes in such occasions have often set up Asses upon the top of their Pinacles in those places Thirdly Therefore the published Order alledges no such reasons onely the Marquessâ— de Piannesa as appears in the answer he got M Gâ—beline the Roman Catholike Atturney of the the Reformed at Turin to make said that his Royall Highues was willing to abase their pride for having craved the Protection of the Forraign Princes because the Lords of Zurick and Berne after the Order published against them though not required but out of their own inclinations had sent to his Royall Highnes some Letters in their behalf Let the Reader judge of the validity of this Reason This Fourth is most cryed up in Piedmout viz. That the Reformed have cruelly murthered the Catholiques in Ireland and have wholly expelled them and that they ought to murther the Reformed in Piedmont and clear the State of them to lodge the Irish in their place Let yet the Reader Judge of this reason Besides it is false the Reformed have murthered the Catholicks in Ireland but to the contrary Therefore it remains that there hath been no other true cause of this but the hatred they bear to the Religion it being known to all the world that no Subjects have ever been true or more obedient to their Prince than they who never stirred when all the rest of the State was up in Arms who still payd their Taxes though over burthened have borne extraordinary Winter Quarters afforded their men for the war as often as demanded and even some few days afore their desolation sent their Militias for the service of his Royall Highness upon the seceipt of his very first command I have hastily given you a Copy of this tract of the horrible furies of the Adversaries desiring you to see if his Highness the Serenissinie Lord Protector could take occasion to insert in the Treaty with France the re-establishment of our Brethren escaped from the Massacres which they have caused the Irish to do as in revenge of their being banished out of their Country for Massacring the Protestants there Your Brother hath assured us he will give us the Charity ordained by your Church A generall Collection in your Quarters will be necessary there being so many thousands despolld of all that are seeking for refuge There are two Ministers viz. Master Gross and Master Aghit Prisoners at Turin God strengthen and deliver them and conserve you and your Colleagues whom I salute remaining May 8. 1655. Most honoured Brother wholy yours A Letter written to his Highness the Lord Protector of the Common-wealth of England Scotland and Ireland c. about the said Murthers Massacres and cruelties sent together with the said descriptions To his Highness My Lord Protector of the Common-wealth of England Scotland and Ireland ALthough his Highness the Lord Protector be well informed of whatsover comes to pass in most places of the world yet we have thought he would not be sorry to see as in a contracted picture the horrid crueltie praâ—â—sed by the Duke of Savoy's men upon the Faithfull in the Valleys of Piedmont That it to say upon such people that if any in the world did live in the greatest purity and the greatest innocency whose onely crime is that neither they nor their Fathers nor their Auncestors 500 years since would ever pollnte themselves with the Roman Superstitions and Idolatries The whole Christendome have their eyes fixed on his Highness and all good men hope that he will avenge or rather God will avenge by his hand such a hellish barbarousness If we should have a less knowledge of his Zeal and of his Heroicall courage we would tell him what once Mordecai said to the Queen Esther Esther c. 4. v. 14. If thou holdest thy peace at this time then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise from another place But thou and thy Father's house shall be destroyed And who knoweth whether thou art come to such a high dignity for such a time as this But as his Highness possesses lights altogether extraordinary he will of himself consider that God hath given him a great power to imploy it to his glory and that he hath put a victorious sword in his hand Rom. c. 13. v. 4. to be a revenger to execute wrath upon those that do evill So that as since the Creation of the World nothing hath been seen so dreadfull so nothing shall be punished in such an exemplary mander It is hoped that with him severall Protestant Princes will imbrace so just a cause But if there be any that be not sensibly moved by so deep and so sharp a wound and that having power yet be not willing to prosecute and pursue those Murtherers and those Incendiaries that saying will be applyed unto them of the Prophetess Deborah Curse ye Meroz Iudges c. 5 v. 23. curse ye bitterly the Inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of the Lord to the help of the Lord with the mighty In the mean while your Highness will spread through the whole earth the sweet savour of his name and as it hath been said The sword of the Lord and of Gideon so hereafter they will say the sword of the Lord and of OLIVER His praises will be celebrated to the world's end and they will say that the Protector of Great Brittain is become the Protector of all those that are persecuted for righteousness sake All those that do sincerely love God and that are sick because of the bruise of Joseph will heartily pray unto God that he might be pleased to prolong the days of his Highness to settle his Government and to pour upon his posterity his most holy and most precious blessings Let his Highness be assured that this draught hath been made by a faithfull hand and let him have the goodness not to enquire who he is that sends it It is not so much the voice of men or the blood of the Martyrs as the voice of God himself who crys for vengeance for the injury done to his great name and who commands him to work the deliverance of those that are Prisoners for the Lord Jesus and to restore to their Native Country the poor banished men who like the faithfull of old are mandring in the wildernesses in the Dens in the Mountains and in the clefts of the earth That they might sing as those that returned from the Babylonian Captivity Psal 126. v. 1.2 When the Lord turned again the Captivity of Zion we were like them that dream Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing c. FINIS