The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 278

minds of kings against the Reformation, as an enemy to the crown, an
element of discord that would be fatal to the peace and harmony of
the nation. It was the genius of Rome that by this means inspired the
direst cruelty and the most galling oppression which proceeded from the
throne.
The spirit of liberty went with the Bible. Wherever the gospel was
received, the minds of the people were awakened. They began to cast
off the shackles that had held them bondslaves of ignorance, vice, and
superstition. They began to think and act as men. Monarchs saw it and
trembled for their despotism.
Rome was not slow to inflame their jealous fears. Said the pope
to the regent of France in 1525: “This mania [Protestantism] will not
only confound and destroy religion, but all principalities, nobility, laws,
orders, and ranks besides.”—G. de Felice, History of the Protestants of
France, b. 1, ch. 2, par. 8. A few years later a papal nuncio warned
the king: “Sire, be not deceived. The Protestants will upset all civil as
well as religious order.... The throne is in as much danger as the altar....
The introduction of a new religion must necessarily introduce a new
government.”—D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the
Time of Calvin, b. 2, ch. 36. And theologians appealed to the prejudices
of the people by declaring that the Protestant doctrine “entices men away
to novelties and folly; it robs the king of the devoted affection of his
subjects, and devastates both church and state.” Thus Rome succeeded
in arraying France against the Reformation. “It was to uphold the throne,
preserve the nobles, and maintain the laws, that the sword of persecution
was first unsheathed in France.”—Wylie, b. 13, ch. 4.
Little did the rulers of the land foresee the results of th