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The Great Controversy 1888
its first guillotine. On the very spot where the first martyrs to the
Protestant faith were burned in the sixteenth century, the first victims
were guillotined in the eighteenth. In repelling the gospel, which would
have brought her healing, France had opened the door to infidelity and
ruin. When the restraints of God’s law were cast aside, it was found
that the laws of man were inadequate to hold in check the powerful
tides of human passion; and the nation swept on to revolt and anarchy.
The war against the Bible inaugurated an era which stands in the
world’s history as “The Reign of Terror.” Peace and happiness were
banished from the homes and hearts of men. No one was secure. He
who triumphed today was suspected, condemned tomorrow. Violence
and lust held undisputed sway.
King, clergy, and nobles were compelled to submit to the atrocities
of an excited and maddened people. Their thirst for vengeance was
only stimulated by the execution of the king; and those who had
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decreed his death, soon followed him to the scaffold. A general
slaughter of all suspected of hostility to the Revolution was determined.
The prisons were crowded, at one time containing more than two
hundred thousand captives. The cities of the kingdom were filled with
scenes of horror. One party of revolutionists was against another party,
and France became a vast field for contending masses, swayed by the
fury of their passions. “In Paris one tumult succeeded another, and the
citizens were divided into a medley of factions, that seemed intent on
nothing but mutual extermination.” And to add to the general misery,
the nation became involved in a prolonged and devastating war with
the great powers of Europe. “The country was nearly bankrupt, the
armies were clamoring for arrears of pay, the Parisians were starving,
the provinces were laid waste by brigands, and civilization was almost
extinguished in anarchy and license.”
All too well the people had learned the lessons of cruelty and
torture which Rome had so diligently taught. A day of retribution at
last had come. It was not now the disciples of Jesus that were thrust
into dungeons and dragged to the stake. Long ago these had perished
or been driven into exile. Unsparing Rome now felt the deadly power
of those whom she had trained to delight in deeds of blood. “The
example of persecution which the clergy of France had exhibited for
so many ages, was now retorted upon them with signal vigor. The
scaffolds ran red with the blood of the priests. The galleys and the