Vigilius Bartholomew , (Germ. Wach-auf,) was a Westphalian, whose German name appears to have been Latinized, not, as Bock insinuates, for the purpose of concealment, but to give it a more classical air, in accordance with a well-known custom, which had prevailed among literary men, from the time of the Reformation. In the year 1603, he was appointed Co-rector of the College at Racow, with Christopher Brockayus, after a public disputation, "De tribus Legibus Logicis," in which he gave ample proof of his qualifications for the office to which he aspired. He was present at the Conferences, or Theological Exercises, at the house of Smalcius, between the years 1606 and 1609. In the Synodical Acts, he is frequently called "Gedanensis," to intimate that he was in some way connected with the city of Dantzic. In that city, for many years, he greatly benefited the Socinian Church, by his advice and assistance. His services were properly estimated at the time, and duly registered in the Synodical Acts. One of the most important of them was, the advice which he gave, respecting the establishment of a German printing-office at Dantzic, for the use of the Socinian Church. This proposal he brought forward at the Synod of the year 1617. But at the Assembly of Czarcow, in 1652, when his period of active service was almost over, while he thanked the Presidents of the Socinian Church for the favours which they still conferred upon him, he lamented his misfortune, in being removed from an advantageous situation to one which was less so. He was living as late as the year 1655, at which time Ruarus importuned the Church not to desert him.

There is no doubt, that Vigilius had been employed in translating the works of Socinian writers from the Polish into the German and Latin languages. That this was the case, we learn from the Synodical Acts of the year 1615: but the titles of the books so translated are not given. In the year 1634 also, he sent from Dantzic to Racow some books, which he had rendered into Latin: but on this occasion, as in 1615, no mention is made of the titles of these books.

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Valdez John (ou Juan), (sometimes written Valdesso, or Val D'esso,) occupies the second place in the "Bibliotheca Antitrinitariorum" of Sandius, who gives the following brief account of him. "John Valdez, a Spanish Noble, a Civilian, and Secretary to the King of Naples, is reported to have brought with him from Germany to Naples the writings of Luther, Bucer, and the Anabaptists. Bernardine Ochinus is said to have imbibed from him his opinion against the received doctrine of the Trinity. He flourished in the year 1542. The Ministers of the united Churches of Poland and Transylvania, Bk. 1, Ch. 3, ' On a false and true Knowledge of the One God the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,' write thus. ' Why should we speak also of John Valdez, illustrious both by his descent and his piety, who, leaving us, in his published compositions, specimens of his erudition, writes, that he knows nothing else of God and his Son, than that there is one Most High God, the Father of Christ; and our Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the Virgins womb ; and one Spirit of both V "

Bock insinuates, that no one could interpret the above words in an Antitrinitarian sense, who was not himself an Antitrinitarian. But it may be put to any candid Trinitarian, whether he would choose to adopt this declaration of Valdez, as a fair statement of his own opinions; and whether he could conscientiously say, that "he knows nothing else of God and his Son," than what may be found in the above extract.

Valdez's work, entitled, "Considerations on a Religious Life," was originally written in Spanish, and afterwards translated into Latin, and several of the Continental languages. A manuscript copy of the Latin version, written in the year 1558, was deposited in the Offenbachian Library at Frankfort. The Italian version, from which the French, English, Dutch, German and Latin versions were probably made, bears the following title. "Le Cento e dieci divine Consideratione del Signore Giovani Valdesso, nelle quali si Ragiona delle cose piu utili, piu necessarie, et piu perfette della Christiana Professione. In Basilea, 1550," 8vo. Celius Secundus Curio wrote the Preface to it, in which he commends Peter Martyr for bringing it with him, as a great treasure, from Italy, and causing it to be printed at Basle. A French translation of it was published at Lyons, in 8vo., as early as the year 1563, by C.K. [that is, CI. de Kerquisinen]. This was reprinted at Paris in 1565, 16mo. The English translation was made by Nicholas Ferrar, and printed at Oxford, in 4to., A. D. 1638 ; and Dr. Jackson, by whom it was edited, describes it as containing "many learned discourses of experimental and practical divinity, well expressed, and elegantly illustrated ; and yet," he adds, "there be some few expressions and similitudes in it, at which not only the weak reader may stumble, and the envious quarrel; but also the wise and charitable reader may justly blame." Dr. J. afterwards alludes to "suspicious places, and some manifest errors," by which he probably means passages which savour of heterodoxy. Beza speaks of this work in very bitter terms, and represents it as the source whence Ochinus derived his heretical opinions. Bock says, on the other hand, that he has " perceived in these meditations no blasphemies against the word of God, of which they have sometimes been accused, although" he has "read them over again and again;" and he refers to some statements and expressions, which certainly are not wanting in orthodoxy. But it is highly improbable, either that the Ministers, alluded to by Sandius, should have deceived themselves, and misled him, by referring to certain expressions as those of Valdez, which he never penned; or that, in quoting them, to shew the bias of the writer's mind towards Antitrinitarianism, these Ministers should altogether have misapprehended their purport. Walchius places Valdez among "Socinian Commentators," along with such writers as John Crellius, and Dr. John Taylor, of Norwich; and what Bayle has said concerning him, in his Dictionary, has convinced some, that his proper place is among Antitrinitarians. For these reasons, therefore, the present account of him is inserted in the body of this work ; and till arguments more cogent, and more to the purpose, are adduced in favour of the contrary opinion, he must continue to be regarded as an Antitrinitarian.

The chronology of Valdez's life is involved in some obscurity. The earliest account of him is found in two letters, addressed to him by Erasmus, A.D. 1528 and 1529 ; in which he is represented as a young man, no less distinguished by a love of elegant literature, than by sincere Christian piety. From this time he lived chiefly in Italy. In 1535, he went to Naples ; and, according to Antonio Caraccioli, did more to subvert men's minds, than an army of eight thousand German soldiers, who had been previously assembled there, and had carried with them the seeds of the Lutheran heresy. Being a man of literature and refinement, he soon drew around him a number of followers, among whom were Galleazzo Caraccioli, Peter Martyr, and Bernardine Ochinus.

De Porta says, that Valdez ventured to attack the prevalent false opinions respecting good works, and to expose several superstitions; but adds, that his followers did not go beyond the article of Justification, and therefore frequented Church, and continued to attend Mass.

It was not till 1541, that Ochinus's acquaintance with Valdez commenced; and Sandius informs us, that he flourished in 1542. Yet Bayle and others represent his death as having taken place as early as 1540 ; and it appears, from a letter addressed by Bonfadio to Carnesecchi, and published in " Lettere Volgari di diversi Nobilissimi Huomini," (Ald. 1543,) that he was then currently reported to be dead. "I wish we were again at Naples," says Bonfadio ; "but when I consider the matter in another point of view, to what purpose should we go there now, when Valdez is dead ? His death truly is a great loss to us, and to the world ; for Valdez was one of the rarest men in Europe.—Life scarcely supported his infirm and sparebody : but his nobler part, and pure intellect, as if it had been placed without the body, was wholly occupied with the contemplation of truth and divine things. I condole with Marco Antonio (Flaminio), for above all others he greatly loved and admired him."

C. S. Curio, in the Preface to the "Divine Consideratione," says, "Valdez did not much follow the Court after that Christ had revealed himself to him; but abode in Italy, spending the greatest part of his life at Naples, where, with the sweetness of his doctrine, and the sanctity of his life, he gained many disciples unto Christ; and especially among the gentlemen and cavaliers, and some ladies, he was very eminent and praiseworthy in all kinds of praise. It seemed that he was appointed by God for a Teacher and Pastor of noble and illustrious personages: and not this alone, but he gave light to some of the most famous Preachers of Italy, which I very well know, having conversed with them themselves." Valdez wrote

1. Two Dialogues in Italian,—one between Charon and Mercury, and the other between Lactantius and an Archdeacon. Sandius also mentions,

2. Pious and learned Considerations;

3. On some of the Psalms;

4. On the Gospel of Matthew;

5. On the Gospel of John;

6. A Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, A.D. 1556; and

7. A Commentary on the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. This Commentary was prohibited in the Spanish Expurgatory Indexes. Vergerius, in his " Animadversions on the First Index of Prohibited Books," attributes one or two other works to Valdez.

(Vidend. Sandii B. A. p. 2. Bock, Hist. Ant. T. I. pp. 980—982; T. II. pp. 315—320. Catal. Universal. Bibl. Uffenbachianae Libr. tam Typis quam Manu exarat. Francof. ad Moen. 1729—1731, 8vo. T. III. N. 31, p. 578. Bezce Opp. T. III. p. 200, Ep. 4. Walchii Bibl. Theol. T. IV. pp. 690. 695. Bayh, Diet. Hist, et Crit. Art. Valdes (jean). Erasmi Opp. T. III. pp. 619. 824. Melch. Adam. Vita Theolog. Exter. Principum, p. 16, col. 2. De Porta, Hist. Ref. Eccles. Raetic., Curiae Ruetorum, 1771—1774, 4to. L. ii. C. i. p. 9. ITCrie's Hist, of the Reformation in Italy, 1833, Ed. 2, Chap. iii. pp. 134, 135. Hist, of the Reformation in Spain, Chap. iv. pp. 140—146.)

Tyscovicius John , ou Tyskievicius, (Polon. TyszkieWicz,)  was a burgher of the town of Bielsk, in Podlachia. His relations, among whom was the Chief Magistrate of the town, longing to possess themselves of his property, which had recently received a considerable accession, by the death of a person to whom he was heir, sought to entrap him, by obliging him to accept the office of Chamberlain, or town treasurer, at the same time dispensing with the customary oath. But at the year's end, he was required to swear, that he had honestly discharged the duties of his office. At first he refused to do this ; but when they urged him, and began to throw out suspicions of his having embezzled the public money, he consented to swear by Almighty God ! This, however, was not permitted ; and he was required to swear, either upon the wooden image of a crucifix, or by the Triune God. On positively refusing to do either the one or the other, he was falsely charged with trampling upon the crucifix, and with blaspheming the Trinity, and saying that he would not swear by it, for that he did not know whether it was male or female. Other charges of a similar nature were falsely brought against him, upon which he was reviled and beaten by the Magistrate of the town ; and being condemned, and thrown into prison, he confidently appealed, in the King's absence, to the Supreme Tribunal of the kingdom, in proof of his innocence. On his cause being heard, the Tribunal, honourably discharging its duty, pronounced him innocent, and acquitted him of all the accusations brought against him ; in addition to which, the Magistrate of Bielsk was fined and punished, as a perverter of justice. Meanwhile, however, the enemies of Tyscovicius, persisting in their malicious charges, carried the cause to Queen Constantia, wife of Sigismund III., to whom the town of Bielsk had been granted, as an Archduchess of Austria. The Queen confirmed the Magistrate's sentence, and ordered that it should be carried into execution ; and it was afterwards determined by the King in council, that Tyscovicius should suffer death. He was accordingly apprehended at Warsaw, whither he had gone to clear himself ; committed to close confinement ; and a short time after, the dreadful sentence of death was pronounced upon him, in these terms : —That, whereas he had been guilty of blasphemy, his tongue should be plucked out ; that, whereas he had dared to appeal to the Tribunal of the kingdom, and had been guilty of contumacy towards the Magistrate to whom he was subject, and towards Her Majesty the Queen's decree, by which he had been remanded to the same Magistrate, he should be beheaded as an obstinate offender, and a rebel ; that, whereas he had thrown down the image of the crucifix, and trampled upon it, his hand and his foot should be cut off: and finally, that he should be burnt as a heretic. The Jesuits and Monks, who had before pressed him to change his religion, urged him more vehemently than ever, when the royal decree was read ; and promised, that the sentence of death should be revoked, and that his property should be restored to him, if he would comply. But he turned a deaf ear to their entreaties ; and resisted their importunities the more strongly, the shorter his term of existence became. When they found that they could not prevail upon him, either by threats or promises, he was led to the stake, in the market-place at Warsaw, where preparations had been made for his execution; and was put to death, according to his sentence. This tragedy was perpetrated on the 16th of November, at the hour of nine in the morning, A. D. 1611.

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Twardochles Matthias is a name, which was known to few ecclesiastical writers before the time of Bock ; and yet a kind of romantic interest attaches to his life. There was a secret history among the Socinians, that he brought up Gregory Ottreprowicki, or Griska Uttrepreja, the wellknown Pseudo-Demetrius ; and that he was his private friend and adviser. This young man, under the name of Prince Demetrius, invaded Muscovy in the reign of Boris Godoonoff ; seized the reins of government ; and caused himself to be proclaimed Czar. Boris had acted in the capacity of Regent during the reign of Feodor Ivanovich, and is said to have procured the assassination of Demetrius, second son of Ivan Vassilovich, and brother of Feodor ; and then to have slain the murderers. After this he poisoned Feodor, and usurped the vacant throne. But as usurpation commonly leads to tyranny, the reign of Boris was one of cruelty and oppression; and he became odious in the eyes of the people, who longed for an opportunity of shaking off the yoke. In the year 1604, a rumour went abroad, that Prince Demetrius, the last of the house of Rurik, who was supposed to have been murdered when a child at Uglitsch, was still living, and employed in making preparations for the assertion of his rights, and the recovery of the throne of his ancestors, who had ruled Muscovy, through a line of fifty-six sovereigns, and during a period of 736 years. Ottreprowicki, it is said, who had been educated in Poland, availing himself of the general dissatisfaction, and of his personal resemblance to the real Demetrius, assumed his name, gave out that another had been slain in his stead by the hired assassins of Boris, collected a band of followers, entered Russia, and being joined by the troops which had been sent to oppose him, was in full march on Moscow, when Boris suddenly died, April 13th, 1605, not without a strong suspicion of having lost his life by poison. Nothing now stood in the way of Ottreprowicki, who seized the reins of government, and was proclaimed Czar of Muscovy. But his reign was of short duration. He lost his life in a popular insurrection, headed by a boyar, of the name of Basil Zuski, by whose hand he perished, May 17th, or, according to some accounts, May 8th, 1606, at Moscow, while celebrating his nuptials with Anna Maria Georgia, daughter of the Palatine of Sandomir, to whom he had been married by proxy at Cracow, Nov. 24th, 1605.

The history of this enterprising youth is involved in considerable obscurity. Many of his contemporaries believed his claims to be well founded ; and it is still considered doubtful, whether or not he was the person, whom he represented himself to be. Smalcius, in his Diary, evidently regards him as the real Prince Demetrius, and no impostor. Under the year 1604, he says, "This year Demetrius, son of John Basilius, Duke of Muscovy, became known, who had lain concealed for seven years in the monasteries of Ruvergne." (Zeltneri Hist. Crypto-Soc. Suppl. p. 1179.)

After Ottreprowicki had been seated on the throne a few months, Twardochleb undertook a journey to Moscow, for the purpose of visiting him, and was graciously and honourably received. According to Smalcius, he set out for Moscow on the 7^th of November, 1605, accompanied by J. J. Morscovius, Nicholas Rosteck, and Lubczowski. But his stay at Moscow was short. He saw a cloud gathering round the newly elevated monarch; availed himself of the approaching Synod in Poland, as an excuse for his abrupt departure; and thus saved himself from the jaws of destruction. It was very soon after he had left Moscow, that Ottreprowicki was slain by Basil Zuski, who succeeded him as Czar, and whose adherents, from the time of Ottreprowicki's elevation to the throne, under the name of Demetrius, were actuated by a spirit of deadly enmity towards the Polish nation.

Gittichius mentions Twardochleb in an unpublished letter to Krokier, dated Jan. 27th, 1613 ; and in a manuscript letter to an anonymous friend, he says, "I am sorry that you, and our dearly beloved brother Twardochleb have not changed your surnames." Might not this regret be occasioned by a sense of the danger, to which Twardochleb exposed himself as the patron and friend of Ottreprowicki ?

The subject of the present article first officiated as a Minister of the Socinian Church at Lublin. But he appears to have been uneasy in his situation there ; and in 1615, was removed to the Church at Kissielin, of which he had the charge upwards of thirty years. He was a man of delicate constitution; and was allowed to make this change at his own request. His mind was impressed with the idea, that his life might be prolonged under every disadvantage at Kissielin, where there was a great paucity of medical practitioners, while at Lublin, where unprincipled Physicians abounded, and drugs were plentiful, and close at hand, it might be cut short at any moment by poison.

Twardochleb is represented as being by no means in straitened circumstances, but rather wealthy than otherwise ; and annually, at each returning Synod, he made a present of a hundred florins to the funds of the Church. Lubieniecius, who reckons him among the number of not unprofitable labourers in-the Church of Lublin, says, that he was a man of singular piety, sparing in his diet and clothing, but munificent in his charities to the poor.

He wrote an account of his journey to Moscow, which, if it could now be recovered, would be a valuable historical document, in connexion with one of the most obscure portions of Russian history. Bock says, he has no doubt that it once existed; and thinks that, in his time, it lay concealed somewhere. But his efforts to trace it to its possessor proved fruitless. At the Synod of Racow, in 1630, a resolution was passed, enjoining Twardochleb to commit to writing an account of his Muscovite journey to the Czar Demetrius, and to present it to the Synod, that it might be deposited in the public library of the Church, as a perpetual memorial of himself.

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Trevisanus Julian and De Ruego Fancis were members of the society at Vicence ; and it is stated, by Sandius and others, that, when this society was broken up, in 1546, Julian Trevisanus and Francis De Ruego, being unable to make their escape, were seized, and put to death at Venice.

De Porta informs us, that Melanchthon, as early as the year 1539, addressed a letter to the Senate of Venice, in which he put the members of that body upon their guard against several Italians, who had been led, by a perusal of Servet's "Books on the Errors of the Trinity," to give up that doctrine ; it having been said, and that too by no vague report, that there were upwards of forty individuals of the first rank, and the highest literary distinction, in the city and territory of Venice, who had become infected with the notions of Servet. The same historian professes his inability to say, whether this admonition was attended to ; but adds, that he finds elsewhere an account of two men of this description, namely Julian Trevisanus and Francis De Ruego, who were deprived of life by submersion, and whom the Unitarians properly reckon among the number of their martyrs. (Hist. Ref. Eccl. Raet. T. I. L. ii. C. iii. P. 63.)

It is not said, by any of the Unitarian writers who have mentioned the above fact, when this punishment was inflicted; and there are reasons for supposing, that it was not till after an imprisonment of fifteen, or twenty years. M'Crie remarks, that no one was capitally punished for religion at Venice before the year 1560 ; and adds, "I have little doubt, that the two persons referred to were Julio Guirlauda of the Trevisano, and Francesco Sega of Rovigo." (Hist, of the Ref. in Italy, 2nd Ed. p. 267.) The former of these is mentioned, as the first person, who suffered martyrdom at Venice, after the Reformation ; and the latter, who composed several pious works during his confinement, for the comfort of his fellow-prisoners, (which necessarily implies an imprisonment of considerable duration,) soon afterwards shared the same fate. Both of them were precipitated into the sea, with stones attached to them, for the purpose of sinking them;—a punishment, which it afterwards became customary to inflict upon reputed heretics at Venice. " If the autos de fe of the Queen of the Adriatic," says M'Crie, (ubi supra,) in allusion to this custom, "were less barbarous than those of Spain, the solitude and silence with which they were accompanied were calculated to excite the deepest horror. At the dead hour of midnight, the prisoner was taken from his cell, and put into a gondola or Venetian boat, attended only, beside the sailors, by a single Priest, to act as Confessor. He was rowed out into the sea, beyond the Two Castles, where another boat was in waiting. A plank was then laid across the two gondolas, upon which the prisoner, having his body chained, and a heavy stone affixed to his feet, was placed; and, on a signal given, the gondolas retiring from one another, he was precipitated into the deep."

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(Vidend. Art. 134, 135. Private MS.)

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Teichmann Peter was a Prussian. He is first mentioned, in 1612, among the alumni and students of Theology at Racow, where he was appointed tutor to the son of the Palatine, Sieninius. In 1613, he was ordained at the Synod of Racow, as Minister of the Church of Borucinia, in Cujavia. A little after this, he had the pastorate of the Church of Bolizinko committed to his charge. This place was not far from Buskow, where Ulric Herwart had recently succeeded Christopher Ostorod. But Teichmann did not remain long at Bolizinko; for, in 1618, he was appointed Pastor of the Church at Lasznyn, in the district of Lenczyca. In 1633, he succeeded Adam Franck, as Rector of the College at Racow, if we are to credit the account given by the anonymous author of the "Letter on the Life and Death of Andrew Wissowatius." (Ad calc. Sandii B. A. p. 230.)

(Vidend. Smalcii Diar. A.D. 1614, ap. Zeltn. p. 1203. Bock, Hist . Ant. T. I. pp. 976, 977. Hist . Socin. Pruss. § viii. p. 21.)

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