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excite in you and your readers a strong desire to know something more of the volume from which I have taken it, viz. "An Historical Defence of the Waldenses, or Vaudois, Inhabitants of the Valleys of Piedmont, by Jean Rodolphe Peyrani, late Pastor of Pomaret, and Moderator of the Waldensian Church: with an Introduction and Appendixes, by the Rev. Thomas Sims, M. A."

The Editor has benevolently published it at his own expense, for the benefit of the destitute family of the late Moderator; and I may safely add, that you will be promoting the cause both of charity and truth, by aiding the circulation of a volume, which contains a most able and temperate exposition of Protestantism.

Nov. 16, 1826.

PEYRANI, Moderator,

Your most obedient Servant,

G.

To the Clergy and Heads of Families of the Waldensian Churches of the Valleys.

Dear and well-beloved Brethren in Jesus Christ.

The pastoral letter which the most illustrious and Right Reverend Bishop of Pignerol has addressed to the curés and their parishioners (in which, addressing himself to us, he reproaches us with having inflicted a wound upon our parent, by our separation from the Romish Church), having given rise to the fears with which some of you are agitated, and having (without doubt contrary to the intention of that prelate) excited a kind of exultation in the minds of the Catholics who reside amongst us, who have flattered themselves that this pastoral letter was the prelude to violent measures about to be employed, to force us to re-enter the pale of a Church, which has at all times exerted every means to compel us to embrace her opinions, I have thought it my duty to quiet those fears which have thus troubled you.

I place my reliance on the equity, the justice, the moderation, and the wisdom of his Majesty our Sovereign, which are too well known to me, to leave the least doubt of his truly paternal intentions towards us; and I am convinced that, supposing there were any amongst the clergy of his dominions who would advise him to adopt violent measures against us, he would not listen to them, but would reject them at once.

But let us suppose for a moment, my Brethren, that which I consider as improbable, that they endeavoured to compel us to act contrary to our conscience and our tenets; you are too well instructed not to know, that we must be faithful to God and his truth, even unto death, and persevere to the end in the midst of the severest trials and persecutions. As to the claims of civil society, they cannot be accused of disturbing its peace, who, without acting contrary to its laws, devote themselves to the faithful service of God alone in their religious worship: its disturbers are they who wish to constrain others to follow them in the worship they render to created beings. Whatever obedience may be owing to sovereigns according to the word of God, none is owing to them contrary to its commands; otherwise it would never be said that we must obey God rather than man, and there would be no exhortation to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ, or to be faithful unto death.

A man can never be deemed a rebel to an earthly prince, for refusing to yield to him his conscience, which he does not derive from him, and contrary to the dictates of which, he can undertake nothing without opposing himself to the commands of God, and arrogating to himself that which does not belong to him: provided that while he refuses to disobey God, he consents to suffer the punishment which the prince imposes. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. We must be subject to princes, not only from fear of their wrath, but for conscience sake,

because God, to whom our conscience ought always to be submitted, has ordained their authority, and commanded every one to obey them, declaring that they are his ministers. But we must not so submit our conscience to them, as to do by their command that which is contrary to the will of God. To be subject for conscience sake, is to obey princes, because we know that God wills it, and has commanded it: and as we do it to obey God, we must no longer do it when they command us to disobey Him, for the love of whom we obey them.

Dear and well-beloved Brethren, if we were called upon to suffer for our faith, I should not hesitate to tell you my sentiments on what we ought to think and to say, concerning that which we should be called upon to suffer, and the authors of our sufferings. First, I am of opinion that it would be useless to enter upon political discussions, as to the treatment they might inflict. It is the spirit of the present age, more than any other, to ridicule those miserable sufferers who take upon themselves to instruct sovereigns on the subject of their own interests. We should have a right to complain, and as we should not have merited the evils which we should endure, by any transgression against those who would cause them, we should be obliged to do so, and to declare our innocence, in order that posterity might not think that we had suffered justly at the hands of men whom we had injured. I cannot believe that any prince will take umbrage at our saying, that whatever a sovereign's power and authority may be, justice and equity, which ought to guide his conduct, will not permit him to withdraw those privileges which he has granted to his subjects, when they have done nothing to render themselves unworthy of them; nor to ill-treat them for persevering in a religion which his predecessors and himself, by the most solemn edicts, have allowed them publicly to profess and exercise. I am of opinion also, that I ought, for the interest of truth, and the safety of your souls, to draw your attention to the imperious spirit of the clergy of the Church of Rome, whose aim is to obtain universal domination, and to hold all men in a blind obedience, which God himself has never exacted. There are no expedients which they do not employ to further their designs; they make it their especial study to render every thing subservient to their authority; and they spare nothing to engage princes to employ all their power to advance their interests, and to avenge their cause. They have but just escaped a shipwreck, which was near overwhelming them, and yet they appear to be insensible to any danger. They seem to brave alike their enemies and friends, and to declaim against those to whom they owe their re-establishment, and the tranquillity which they enjoy. Let them enjoy their imaginary triumph quietly, for I predict that their triumph will be of short duration, unless they know how to moderate their pretensions. They are now cherishing in their own bosom causes for fresh degradation, and I see the hour approaching.

Notwithstanding, let us not forget what we owe to ourselves, and to the honour of our profession. If we were called upon to assert our innocence, and protest against the iniquity of their treatment, we must take care not to be so engrossed with the idea of the injustice of man, as to forget the justice of God, nor to occupy ourselves so much with the ills we may endure, as to be unmindful of the sins which we have committed, and for which we may justly have merited all that we may suffer. The true sentiment that it is God who punishes us according as we have deserved, would make us kiss the rod which he uses to chasten us. You know, my well-beloved Brethren, that there is nothing which the Gospel (that is the glad tidings of the grace of God and the remission of our sins) forbids so expressly as the feelings of revenge. "Love," says Jesus Christ, "your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for them who persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." "Bless," says St. Paul, "those who persecute you." Render not evil for evil," says St. Peter, “nor railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing, knowing that you are thereunto called, that ye should inherit blessings." This, then, is an indispensible duty, without which it is impossible to please God. If we are not sufficiently regenerated to follow implicitly

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these maxims of the Gospel, we must acknowledge that our minds are not disposed to submit to the will of God, and to obey his commandments; we ought to confess that we have uttered, falsehoods in our prayers and at the Holy Communion, when we have said that we consecrate ourselves to his service, to obey him as children obey their parents. A Christian who has faith, and all other virtues, still gives no proof of his loving God above everything if he is not patient in afflictions: this is why St. James says, "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh patience; but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect, wanting nothing." It is accomplished by charity; and to have charity is to love God with all our heart. Are you persuaded, my beloved Brethren, that it is by these tribulations God conducts men to his kingdom of glory? If you do not believe it, you will not suffer them; but if you believe it, you will suffer them with joy, and in the sentiment of charity, loving and pitying those who are the cause of your sufferings, on account of the misfortune they.draw on themselves by their injustice and cruelty.

Above all, my Brethren, I wish you to be fully impressed with this sentiment, that when we are speaking of the authorities established by God over the people, we are not to allow our resentment to extend so far as to induce us to blaspheme against these dignities; that is to say, when speaking of them, to hold injurious, violent, or contemptuous language. In thus addressing you, I am only acting in conformity to that which the word of God prescribes; and you are my witnesses, as well as thousands in other communities, that I bave severely reprimanded (even in times when there was some danger in expressing such sentiments) the language which many persons allowed themselves to hold on the subject of authorities. I repeat, then, that it is a respect which we owe to the order of God who has established kings, that we impose restraint on our very thoughts when we find they are rising against them: "Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought," says the Holy Spirit. It is also our duty to let our moderation be known unto all men, and to testify great respect for the authorities God makes use of to afflict us. The Holy Scriptures, speaking of powers, tell us of three maxims, which it is necessary to keep always before our eyes, if we wish to regulate well our thoughts, words, and actions. The first is, that "The powers that be are ordained of God," (Rom. xiii. 1); the second, "that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; as the rivers of water he turneth them whithersoever he will,” (Prov. xxi. 1), this signifies, (if I mistake not) that kings have their own natural impulses and propensities as streams of water, but that as men can dispose the course of the streams and regulate them at pleasure, so God makes use of the propensities and inclinations of kings to apply them to the actions, and upon the subjects which he judges expedient, "so that they do nothing but that which the hand and counsel of God have determined before to be done," (Acts iv. 28.) The third is, that the prince is the servant of God, who, in all that he does, is employed for that purpose, as was Nebuchadnezzar in all that he did against Judah and Jerusalem, against Tyre and Egypt.

If then the king, under whose dominion we live, caused our temples to be demolished, prohibited the exercise of our religion, commanded our houses to be pillaged, &c. in order to compel us to obey him by becoming unfaithful to God, we ought to consider him as an instrument employed by God for the punishment of those who have dared to call themselves the children of God whilst they are living like the children of this world, and to profess the true religion whilst they are plunging themselves into the filth of this world.

Let us not fix our eyes on the faults of others, nor consider our evils as injuries done to us; for whilst we so think, we shall not profit by the chastisement of God; nor should we look upon ourselves as objects of pity, without endeavouring to correct those sins which are the true cause of all our sufferings. If, however, whilst we confess, in the midst of our sorrows, that God is just, and that we have well merited all these sufferings, we may not be able to restrain ourselves from feeling our innocence as regards a king to whom we have never given cause for ill-treating us, our duty will be to complain of it.

We should charge our sins with being the cause of God's abandoning a prince (otherwise so equitable, just, and merciful) to the impulses of his own heart, and who has permitted the great qualities with which our prince is adorned, to be tarnished by actions which are unworthy of him. We ought to lament on his account, and fervently to implore God to pardon him an offence which was necessary for us. We ought to beg that his eyes may be opened to see the hand which urges him. We should pray also that a salutary repentance may be vouchsafed to him, to us, and all his people.

This, my beloved Brethren, is the true disposition which we ought to cherish towards a king under whose sceptre we were born, whose power is ordained of God, and who is to be pitied for being thus abandoned to counsels which have induced him to issue edicts which those of his subjects who are children of God will be forced to disobey, in order that they may hold fast their obedience to their Heavenly Father. PEYRANI,

Pastor and Moderator.

ON THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.

MR. EDITOR.-I observe that in your number for October, a correspondent signing himself Laicus, has made some remarks on an essay contained in two former numbers, on the Conversion of Saint Paul, with the signature "O." These remarks, I regret to observe, do not display altogether that spirit of courtesy which has happily become usual in the controversies of the present day.

Your correspondent "O" has, I conceive, satisfactorily made out the following points:

1. That neither in the general religious character of St. Paul, before his conversion, nor in his persecution of the Church, can any particular degree of actual moral guilt be charged upon him.

2. That as to his conversion, as very little actual change in his moral character was required, so the main or sole change was one in his religious principles; considered, 1st, as to the knowledge of the truth, and 2dly, as to the influential effects of that knowledge:-his moral and practical character remaining in effect nearly the same as before, but now grounded upon a true faith, influenced by a regenerated spirit, and his endeavours directed to higher and better ends.

And the conclusion which is drawn is simply this ;-that as his case was not that of the conversion of a flagrant ACTUAL offender, so it cannot be brought forward as affording unqualified hopes of mercy to abandoned sinners. And further, that to hold out such hopes, is, upon general grounds, highly improper in christian ministers.

Such, I apprehend, is a fair synopsis of the doctrine contained in "O's" paper; and I confess I can see in it nothing to call forth such observations as those of Laicus. Where has "O" asserted that St. Paul was not under the influence of original sin; or that he had not need of spiritual regeneration, or of becoming a new creature in Christ? As to works before justification, which our article asserts are not pleasing to God, but have rather the nature of sin, I only ask where has "O" asserted that the moral goodness of St. Paul before his conversion had anything to do with his justification? He, indeed, speaks of the degree of mercy shewn, being proportionate to the degree of guilt:-and who will deny that that act of mercy which, together with

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the deliverance from the effects of original sin, grants a deliverance from a heavy load of actual sin also, is greater than that which grants only, or chiefly, the former?

Laicus can hardly be forgiven for representing "O's" remark that "St. Paul's sincerity rendered it natural and consistent that he should be selected to the office of an Apostle," by omitting the latter part of the sentence, as if it was intended to apply to the general manifestation of divine mercy towards him.

And when "O" maintains that "we may hence learn that mercy is not arbitrarily vouchsafed, nor without regard to the capacity for mercy shewn by the recipient," his meaning, if Laicus would but have sought it from the context, is clearly, that abandoned sinners are not hence to expect "an arbitrary violence to be exerted for their conversion,”— "a conclusion not to be drawn from this precedent, because the repentance, of which St. Paul had need, was utterly different in extent and nature from that required of presumptuous and flagrant sinners." A view of the subject which is entirely unconnected with any question about merit of congruity :-and which simply exhibits the conversion of St. Paul as a peculiar case; and one which will not, except in a few of its most general features, apply to any ordinary case of conversion. This is a subject on which much more might be said: but I will not trespass further on your valuable pages at present,

And remain your constant reader,

P.

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MONTHLY REGISTER.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,

We have received the Reports of the AYLESBURY, STORRINGTON, and DEANERY OF ACKLEY District Committees.

"The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge presents its powerful claims to the members of the United Church of England and Ireland, on the consideration that it had the high honour of setting the example of benevolent exertions in various depart

ments.

"It was the first Institution which distributed the Holy Bible; circulated the Common Prayer-Book; and dispersed religious Tracts for the instruction of the poor.

"It was the first Society in Great Britain, which awakened the sympathies of Christians to send forth Missionaries to preach the Gospel to the heathen.

"It was the first Society which took compassion on the rising gene

ration, and patronized the education of the poor, at a period when ignorance, bigotry, and popular prejudice opposed the undertaking.-It has also ultimately been the means of extending opportunities of instruction to the whole population of England, and the British dominions, by means of that important establishment, the National School.

"In the admirable words of a learned Prelate, in supporting so beneficial an Institution, We may apply to our humbler labours, what St. Paul said of his own, and those of Apollos, We are planting; we are watering; and we trust that God, in his good time, will give the increase.""-Extract from Aylesbury Report.

"Since the Storrington District Committee presented its last Report to its Subscribers, a change has been made in the management of its concerns, which it is material to notice,

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