Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, replied with great warmth to the
letter which Cromwell addressed to him in favour of the Vaudois,
testifying the horror he felt at such cruelties, and his desire to
support the cause of the Gospel with the same energy as the Protector.
This king also wrote to the court of Turin, earnestly to request that
the Vaudois might not be disturbed in their possessions and privileges;
and soon after desired that M. J. Leger should be sent to him, that
he might receive from him all necessary details, and take efficient
measures for the re-establishment of the Vaudois. A premature death
unfortunately put a stop to his benevolent intentions.
The elector Palatine acted similarly in writing to Turin.
Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, interested himself in the
most lively manner, corresponding with the other Protestant courts on
the subject, and offering a general collection.
The landgrave, William, of Hesse Cassel, exhibited the same spirit of
charity, and acted with equal energy.
The republic of Geneva showed great interest in the affair, and indeed
every one of the reformed churches of Europe wrote the most touching
letters, evincing their great interest and compassion for their brethren
of the valleys.
So many proofs of the kindness and respect shown to our ancestors,
by the most wise and enlightened governments, would suffice for the
eulogium of this unfortunate people, were not the details of their own
conduct amply sufficient to place them in their true light; nor can the
unrestrained malevolence, to which they have been exposed, withhold from
them the admiration and esteem of all good men.
The Vaudois had scarcely began to enjoy the repose which was granted
them, when their implacable enemies had again recourse to the same
system of intrigues, which had so often been resorted to against them.
But, for the moment, we will not follow them any farther, lest the
minds of my readers should be wearied with this tale of suffering, they
require to be relieved for a time from the contemplation of these dark
plots of malevolence and fanaticism, before they return to the scenes
which we have yet to lay before them.
Alas! a cloud of misfortune seems to have hung over all the Vaudois
historians:--Gilles de Gilles was persecuted, as we have seen above; the
indefatigable J. Leger (the same moderator already mentioned) finished
his great work in exile, and died in Holland; and our author, the
virtuous Bresse, after experiencing the most cruel injustice at Geneva,
was forced by circumstances to establish himself at Utrecht, where he
died before the publication of the last part of his work, which it had
been the project of his life to accomplish, and to which he had devoted
himself since the sixteenth year of his age.--Note by the Translator.
End of Project Gutenberg's L'Histoire Des Vaudois, by J. Bresse et al.