The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 274

exultation among the clergy knew no bounds. The cardinal of Lorraine
rewarded the messenger with a thousand crowns; the cannon of St.
Angelo thundered forth a joyous salute; and bells rang out from every
steeple; bonfires turned night into day; and Gregory XIII, attended by
the cardinals and other ecclesiastical dignitaries, went in long procession
to the church of St. Louis, where the cardinal of Lorraine chanted a Te
Deum.... A medal was struck to commemorate the massacre, and in
the Vatican may still be seen three frescoes of Vasari, describing the
attack upon the admiral, the king in council plotting the massacre, and
the massacre itself. Gregory sent Charles the Golden Rose; and four
months after the massacre, ... he listened complacently to the sermon of
a French priest, ... who spoke of ‘that day so full of happiness and joy,
when the most holy father received the news, and went in solemn state
to render thanks to God and St. Louis.”’—Henry White, The Massacre
of St. Bartholomew, ch. 14, par. 34.
The same master spirit that urged on the St. Bartholomew Massacre
led also in the scenes of the Revolution. Jesus Christ was declared
to be an impostor, and the rallying cry of the French infidels was,
“Crush the Wretch,” meaning Christ. Heaven-daring blasphemy and
abominable wickedness went hand in hand, and the basest of men, the
most abandoned monsters of cruelty and vice, were most highly exalted.
In all this, supreme homage was paid to Satan; while Christ, in His
characteristics of truth, purity, and unselfish love, was crucified.
“The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war
against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” The atheistical
power that ruled in France during the Revolution and the Reign of Terror,
did wage such a war against God and His holy word as the world
had never witnessed. The worship of the Deity was abolished by the
National Assembly. Bibles were collected and publicly burned with
every possible manifestation of scorn. The law of God

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