lizing purposes. He also devoted himself to the study of the Bible, and, some affirm, translated the Gospels into the vulgar tongue; at all events, he gave the people this inestimable boon, and caused the intelligible Word of God to be widely circulated amongst them. Many of his followers, who, in imitation of their leader, gave up their all and went about in humble guise preaching the gospel, were styled “the poor men of Lyons,” which at length became the general appellation of this rapidly increasing sect. The amazing success which attended their efforts, the truly apostolic life of Peter and his disciples, soon drew on them the anathema of the Pope, and the violent persecution of the Archbishop of Lyons. Waldo made his escape into Picardy, where he had many co-religionists, and then crossed the Alps with some of his followers to find a welcome in Piedmont. Once more he returned, to escort other aliens to the same place of shelter ; and then this eminent Reformer retired, about 1182, with a number of his followers from the same locality, into Bohemia, where he finished his distinguished career about the year 1197, leaving behind him a vast number of disciples, converts from the Romish Church, who, scattered far and wide by the storms of persecution, settled in various countries, carrying with them the precious truths of the Gospel of Christ.
Thus the tempest which uproots the parent tree bears the seed on its wing, until, scattered over the moistened earth, it springs up and covers with fertility the hitherto unproductive soil.
