Page:The Rebellion in the Cevennes (Volume 1).djvu/37

Rh apostles of Jesus, visit the wilderness of Jordan, and there in the dreariness of the mountains and in holy solitude willingly listen to the Eternal Word, and are anxious to erect there their church like the hut at Bethlehem, lest their fervid imaginations might be overwhelmed with the splendour and sculptured beauty of the statues, and thereby forget their salvation and their God. These people here are likewise true Christians, my son, whatever our priests may say to you about it, and the Father will not reject them. There arose long since in our Cevennes, and in the valleys of the Albigences, a simple faith, a peaceful retreat, far from the pomp and ambiguity of the episcopal and popish church. It may be, that for the good of mankind, for religion, education, and liberty, it was expedient in those earlier ages, that the Bishop of Rome should declare himself the head-shepherd and lay the foundation of a spiritual kingdom; but, that the christian church in later times has declined on that account,