190
The Great Controversy 1888
statutes and principles of Heaven. God had said, “Keep therefore
and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely
this great nation is a wise and understanding people,” [
Deuteronomy
4:6
.] When France rejected the gift of Heaven, she sowed the seeds of
anarchy and ruin; and the inevitable outworking of cause and effect
resulted in the Revolution and the reign of terror.
Long before the persecution excited by the placards, the bold and
ardent Farel had been forced to flee from the land of his birth. He
repaired to Switzerland, and by his labors, seconding the work of
Zwingle, he helped to turn the scale in favor of the Reformation. His
later years were to be spent here, yet he continued to exert a decided
[231]
influence upon the reform in France. During the first years of his
exile, his efforts were especially directed to spreading the gospel in
his native country. He spent considerable time in preaching among
his countrymen near the frontier, where with tireless vigilance he
watched the conflict, and aided by his words of encouragement and
counsel. With the assistance of other exiles, the writings of the German
reformers were translated into the French language, and, together with
the French Bible, were printed in large quantities. By colporteurs,
these works were sold extensively in France. They were furnished to
the colporteurs at a low price, and thus the profits of the work enabled
them to continue it.
Farel entered upon his work in Switzerland in the humble guise of
a school-master. Repairing to a secluded parish, he devoted himself
to the instruction of children. Besides the usual branches of learning,
he cautiously introduced the truths of the Bible, hoping through the
children to reach their parents. There were some who believed, but the
priests came forward to stop the work, and the superstitious country
people were roused to oppose it. “That cannot be the gospel of Christ,”
urged the priests, “seeing the preaching of it does not bring peace but
war.” Like the first disciples, when persecuted in one city he fled to
another. From village to village, from city to city, he went; traveling
on foot, enduring hunger, cold, and weariness, and everywhere in
peril of his life. He preached in the market-places, in the churches,
sometimes in the pulpits of the cathedrals. Sometimes he found the
church empty of hearers; at times his preaching was interrupted by
shouts and jeers, again he was pulled violently out of the pulpit. More