The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 172

The European Union in Prophecy
The French Reformers, eager to see their country keeping pace with Germany
and Switzerland, determined to strike a bold blow against the superstitions of Rome,
that should arouse the whole nation. Accordingly placards attacking the mass were
in one night posted all over France. Instead of advancing the reform, this zealous but
illjudged movement brought ruin, not only upon its propagators, but upon the friends
of the reformed faith throughout France. It gave the Romanists what they had long
desired--a pretext for demanding the utter destruction of the heretics as agitators
dangerous to the stability of the throne and the peace of the nation.
By some secret hand--whether of indiscreet friend or wily foe was never known-
-one of the placards was attached to the door of the king's private chamber. The
monarch was filled with horror. In this paper, superstitions that had received the
veneration of ages were attacked with an unsparing hand. And the unexampled
boldness of obtruding these plain and startling utterances into the royal presence
aroused the wrath of the king. In his amazement he stood for a little time trembling
and speechless. Then his rage found utterance in the terrible words: "Let all be seized
without distinction who are suspected of Lutheresy. I will exterminate them all.-- Ibid.,
b. 4, ch. 10. The die was cast. The king had determined to throw himself fully on the
side of Rome.
Measures were at once taken for the arrest of every Lutheran in Paris. A poor
artisan, an adherent of the reformed faith, who had been accustomed to summon the
believers to their secret assemblies, was seized and, with the threat of instant death
at the stake, was commanded to conduct the papal emissary to the home of every
Protestant in the city. He shrank in horror from the base proposal, but at last fear of
the flames prevailed, and he consented to become the betrayer of his brethren.
Preceded by the host, and surrounded by a train of priests, incense bearers, monks,
and soldiers, Morin, the royal detective, with the traitor, slowly and silently passed
through the streets of the city. The demonstration was ostensibly in honour of the
"holy sacrament," an act of expiation for the insult put upon the mass by the protesters.
But beneath this pageant a deadly purpose was concealed. On arriving opposite the
house of a Lutheran, the betrayer made a sign, but no word was uttered. The
procession halted, the house was entered, the family were dragged forth and chained,
and the terrible company went forward in search of fresh victims. They "spared no
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