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132
From Here to Forever
by main force till the axe had fallen, and his dissevered head rolled
on the scaffold.
Near the same spot 2800 human beings perished
by the guillotine.
The Reformation had presented to the world an open Bible.
Infinite Love had unfolded to men the principles of heaven. When
France rejected the gift of heaven, she sowed seeds of ruin. The
inevitable outworking of cause and effect resulted in the Revolution
and the Reign of Terror.
The bold and ardent Farel had been forced to flee from the land
of his birth to Switzerland. Yet he continued to exert a decided
influence upon the reform in France. With the assistance of other
exiles, the writings of the German Reformers were translated into
French and together with the French Bible were printed in large
quantities. By colporteurs these works were sold extensively in
France.
Farel entered upon his work in Switzerland in the humble guise
of a schoolmaster, cautiously introducing the truths of the Bible.
Some believed, but the priests came forward to stop the work, and
superstitious 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.
From village to village he went, enduring hunger, cold, and
weariness, and everywhere in peril of his life. He preached in the
marketplace, in the churches, sometimes in the pulpits of the cathe-
drals. More than once he was beaten almost to death. Yet he pressed
forward. One after another he saw towns and cities which had been
strongholds of popery opening their gates to the gospel.
Farel had desired to plant the Protestant standard in Geneva. If
this city could be won, it would be a center for the Reformation in
France, Switzerland, and Italy. Many of the surrounding towns and
hamlets had been gained.
With a single companion he entered Geneva. But only two ser-
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mons was he permitted to preach. The priests summoned him before
an ecclesiastical council, to which they came with arms concealed
under their robes, determined to take his life. A furious mob was
16
Wylie, bk. 13, ch. 21.
17
Wylie, bk. 14, ch. 3.