Such has been the history of the Waldenses all through the ages — subject to initold suffering from persecution; then enjoying, in the rpiiet valleys of Piedmont, comparative' traniiuillity for a time; then assailed b}' their ever-relentless foe, the Roman Cath- olic Church, which has spared no pains, by fire and slaughter, and the horrors of the Inquisition, to put an end to the unfortunate victims of their violence. Wliile Napoleon was emperor, in common with all his subjects, they were tolerated in the exercise of their religious rights; but when the house of Savoy was again in pos- session of their ancestral domains, the old persecuting spirit was revived, for, however just and inclined they might be to be tolerant, there was a power behind the throne whose authority was supreme — the power of the ancient foe of the dwellers in the valleys of Piedmont, the pope of Rome.
III. Present Comlitinn.— At last came what, to the down-trodden Waldenses, must have been their "year of jubilee"— the year 1848— when, for tlie first time in all their long and sadly eventful history, full liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience was acconled to them by Charles Albert. Everywhere they could settle iii Italy, and not be mo- lested in the enjoyment of their religious faith. From Turin, which had been the seat of their operations, they wished to remove to Florence. Ten years, however,
must elapse before they could take this step, but thev were years of preparation to enter upon the evangelistic work which the Waldensian Church was to undertake in Italy. In 1859 the dotninions of king Victor Em- manuel embraced nearly all Southern Italy, except the Papal States, and now toleration of religion was allowed everywhere, and the time had come wiicii the Walden- sian Church could establish its head(iuarters in Flor- ence. Ihither, in May, 18G0, the Vaudois Synod de- cided to remove its theological school ; and the next autumn the two professors. Bevel (so well known in America) and Geyinoiiet, with eight pupils, took up their residence in the Palazzo Salviati, once the man- sion of an archbishop of Florence, and so utilized every part of the spacious building that they secured for their work not only a college with convenient class-rooms, but also a chapel capable of holding three or four lumdred hearers, rooms for their families, rooms for preparatory school-work, and a suitable place to set up the printing- press which they had brought from Turin. From the Salviati Palace, as a centre of operation, the 'Waldensian Church has sent forth the missionaries of the Cross in all directions. The college and preparatory schools are still among the valleys of Piedmont. Students who propose to engage in missionary labors as fast as they are educated at La Tour, the seat of the Waldensian college, are transferred to the theological school at Flor- ence, tliere to receive their special training for their future work. The press also has proved a most efficient helper in giving the pure Gospel to Italy. First of all, there was issued from it a stereotyped edition of Dioda- ti's translation of the Bible in Italian in the ICtli cen- tury. In 1862 there were sent out, under the direction of the Religious Tract Society, 53,967 copies of religious works, large and small. Among these were II Primato del Papa, 3000; Diff'erenza fra il Prntestantismo e Ro- manismo, 2000; // Corpo di Grazia, 10,000; and Fischi ma non Bussi, 7000. The next year the number was considerably more than doubled, being not far from 120,000 copies, including iJialoff/ietti di JJe Sanc/is, 78,000; Va a Gesu, 3000; and De Sanctis, Lettere al Ciudinal Putrizi, 3000. Among the books sent out in 18()4 were Sermoni del Rev. C. //. Spurr/eon (8 vols.), 3000 each. The total for the three years was nearly 224,000 copies. Standanl English books translated into the Italian have a large circulation. In one year 10,000 copies of The Pili/riin's Progress were circulated in Italy. From the last available statistics, it appears that all the higher Waldensian seats of learning were in a prosper- ous condition. Four journals were published at Flor- ence, one in French. There were 10 mission stations, with 50 out-stations which receive more or less atten- tion. In the different churches are over 2000 converts. They have also their hospitals and schools. In Rome itself they have a place of worship and schools of va- rious kinds. With the progress of religious freedom in all parts of Italy, and the toleration which is every- where pledged to Christians of all names, it cannot be doubted that, with the blessing of Heaven, a prosperous future is before the Waldensian Church.
W . Literatiwe. — References to the Waldenses are very numerous. All writers of ecclesiastical history dwell more or less upon the record of their sufferings. See Baird, The Waldenses, A Ibigenses, and Vaudois (Phila. 1848); L' Israel des Alpes (Paris, 1851, 4 vols.) ; [Anonymous], Sketches of the Evangelical Christians of the Valleys of Piedmont (VhWa. 1853); Wylie, The Awak- ening of Italy and the Crisis of Rome (a publication by the Ainerican Tract Society); Adam, The Gloriuus Re- covery by the Vaudois of their Own Valleys (Loiid. 1827, 8vo), from the original of Henri Arnaud ; Beattie, The Waldensian or Protestant V(dleys of Piedmont (illustr. by Bartlett and Brockdon, ibid. 1838, 4to) ; Ilistoire drs Vaudois, ou des //abitans des Vallees Occidentales du Piemont, etc. (Paris, 1796, 2 vols. 8vo); Charvas, Ori- gine dei Valdesi e Carattere delle Primitive Pottrine, versione di G. F. Muratori (Torino, 1858, 8vo); Faber,