Note 457 — Chapter VII
Reading edition
Printed at Neufchâtel, by the famous Pierre de Wringle, dit Pirot Picard; completed, according to the colophon, June 4, 1535. The Waldenses having determined upon its publication at the Synod of Angrogna, in 1532, collected the sum, enormous for them, of 500 (others say 1,500) gold crowns. Adam (Antoine Saunier) to Farel, Nov. 5, 1532, Herminjard, ii. 452. Monastier, Hist. de l'église vaudoise, i. 212. The part taken by the Waldenses in this publication is attested beyond dispute by ten lines of rather indifferent poetry, in the form of an address to the reader, at the close of the volume:
"Lecteur entendz, si Vérité addresse, Viens done ouyr instamment sa promesse Et vif parler: lequel en excellence Veult asseurer nostre grelle espérance. L'esprit Jésus qui visite et ordonne. Noz tendres meurs, icy sans cry estonne Tout hault raillart escumant son ordure. Remercions eternelle nature, Prenons vouloir bienfaire librement, Jésus querons veoir eternellement."
Taking the first letter of each successive word, we obtain the lines:
"Les Vaudois, peuple évangélique Ont mis ce thrésor en publique."
See L. Vulliemin, Le Chroniqueur, Recueil historique (Lausanne, 1836), 103, etc. Bulletin de l'hist. du prot. français, i. 82.