ffolds; and again the scenes of the day were closed by horrid
executions; Louis XVI., struggling hand to hand with his jailers and
executioners, was dragged forward to the block, and there held down by
main force till the axe had fallen, and his dissevered head rolled on the
scaffold."(343) Nor was the king the only victim; near the same spot two
thousand and eight hundred human beings perished by the guillotine during
the bloody days of the Reign of Terror.

The Reformation had presented to the world an open Bible, unsealing the
precepts of the law of God, and urging its claims upon the consciences of
the people. Infinite Love had unfolded to men the statutes and principles
of heaven. God had said, "Keep therefore and do them; for this is your
wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall
hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people."(344) When France rejected the gift of heaven, she
sowed the seeds of anarchy and ruin; and the inevitable outworking of
cause and effect resulted in the Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

Long before the persecution excited by the placards, the bold and ardent
Farel had been forced to flee from the land of his birth. He repaired to
Switzerland, and by his labors, seconding the work of Zwingle, he helped
to turn the scale in favor of the Reformation. His later years were to be
spent here, yet he continued to exert a decided influence upon the reform
in France. During the first years of his exile, his efforts were
especially directed to spreading the gospel in his native country. He
spent considerable time in preaching among his countrymen near the
frontier, where with tireless vigilance he watched the conflict, and aided
by his words of encouragement and counsel. With the assistance of other
exiles, the writings of the German Reformers were translated into the
French language, and together with the French Bible, were printed in large
quantities. By colporteurs, these works were sold extensively in France.
They were furnished to the colporteurs at a low price, and thus the
profits of the work enabled them to continue it.

Farel entered upon his work in Switzerland in the humble guise of a
schoolmaster. Repairing to a secluded parish, he devoted himself to the
instruction of children. Besides the usual branches of learning, he
cautiously introduced the truths of the Bible, hoping through the children
to reach their