The Press.
London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

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Wanderings and Iffuslngelit the Valleys of the
Waldenses. By Jam A. Wylie, LL.D.
London : Nisbet.
THOSE who look at a good map of Piedmont—the
magnificent one, for instance, drawn by Signor
Brambilla for the Sardinian Government—will
observe, south-west of Turin, and a little to the
north of Monte Viso, a system of valleys running
up into the heart of the Alps towards the French
frontier, and having from their geographical
shadings somewhat of the appearance of vine-
leaves, the stems of which would be represented
by the central river of each district, and the
radiating veins by the streams which water its
tributary valleys. This mountain region, irri-
gated by innumerable torrents, and comprehending
within itself a fertile soil at various elevations of
temperature, from the Alp only fit for the pas-
turage of cattle, down to the rich low-lying mead
ripened by the rock-reflected rays into exuberant
productiveness, is the home of a people which,
sturdy as the oak of Algidus that supplied the
Roman poet with a comparison for the perennial
vigour of his race, has handed down from sire to
son, through the.blasts of persecution, the torch
of a true religion and the symbols of an antique
faith.

Numerous as are the books which have been
written on the subject of the Waldenses, the
subject is one which a tolerably readable
writer, even if his work was not abAolutely neces-
sary, may be readily forgiven for attempting.
Dr. Wylie evidently feels a genuine enthusiasm,
and his literary pretensions, though not first-rate,
are such as to entitle him to a favourable hearing.
His object has been in the first place to deal with
the country, and to advert to the history of its
inhabitants only so far as will actually serve to
illustrate the localities he describes. Those who
are acquainted with the works of Arnaud, Mait-
land, Faber, and Gilly will not find much that is
new in Dr. IVylie's pages. The first of these
writers would supply the general history, the
second and third the controversial antiquities,
the fourth the topography and the aspect of the
country as it appears to a traveller. Dr. Wylie
conceives that full justice has not hitherto been
done to its natural beauties, and this is accor-
dingly the point to which he first directs our
attention—pausing by the way to commemorate
the heroism of the Vaudois struggles and to
moralize (a fertile topic) on the wickedness of
the Romanism which caused them. Yielding to
him not at all in our admiration for scenery, and
feeling with him both as to the courage of the
martyrs and the cruelty of their persecutors, we
are still sensible of a certain discordance and
undue elevation of style to which he is addicted,
and by which the effect of his descriptions and
reflections is greatly marred. He has tried, ap-
parently, to emulate Mr. Ruskin ; "gates barred
with storm " and " red swollen torrents" impede
his path, and he occasionally gives way to a sort
of platform eloquence, venting itself in turgid
paragraphs to which " Hear, hear !" seems the
natural and necessary appendage. The following
passages are specimens of the Jowl mem er to
which we allude : 0 .1

When we go to Italy and ask, " Where is the primitive
Church—the Church which Paul planted in this land, and
which was renowned throughout the earth for its faith 7'
the Pope and the Cardinals rep:y, " There it is," pointing
to the Vatican. We examine narrowly; we look beneath
the purple, and fine linen, and gold, for the marks of the
Church primitive and apostolic: we reed only the image
anti superscription of Cesar. "No," we say, " this can
not be the primitive Church: that Church must be some-
where else." Following the indications of history, we
leave the marble threshold of the Vatican, and turn to the
Alps. " Here is a Church," we exclaim, " buried deep
mid the shadows of the mountains, with an open bible
grawail upon it as its symbol. This must be the Church
MOW*. 004 apostolic."

•
t
• •
In ' over us there are many summits, but only
4Q •
one Monteidib: In heaven there are powers and princi-
palities, but only one Mediator. His function and dignity
are supreme and alone. And just as the splendour of
Monte Viso, like a veil, hides all the other summits that
steed around him, so stands our Great high Priest, pre-
eminent and s•ipreme amid the thrones and dominions of
%le upper world.

Nor does the Doctor disdain to borrow from so
profane an author as Byron :

Oier these fel-retreating ravine*, lure a treinen.lons
wave on the paint of breaking, the mountain hang its
wiry, tinting ridge.