es, and pray that God may enlighten our minds and pardon our sins;
we pray for our sovereign, that his reign may be prosperous and his life
happy; we pray for our magistrates, that God may preserve them."(354) Some
of the judges were deeply moved, yet the father and one of his sons were
condemned to the stake.

The rage of the persecutors was equaled by the faith of the martyrs. Not
only men but delicate women and young maidens displayed unflinching
courage. "Wives would take their stand by their husband's stake, and while
he was enduring the fire they would whisper words of solace, or sing
psalms to cheer him." "Young maidens would lie down in their living grave
as if they were entering into their chamber of nightly sleep; or go forth
to the scaffold and the fire, dressed in their best apparel, as if they
were going to their marriage."(355)

As in the days when paganism sought to destroy the gospel, the blood of
the Christians was seed.(356) Persecution served to increase the number of
witnesses for the truth. Year after year the monarch, stung to madness by
the unconquerable determination of the people, urged on his cruel work;
but in vain. Under the noble William of Orange, the Revolution at last
brought to Holland freedom to worship God.

In the mountains of Piedmont, on the plains of France and the shores of
Holland, the progress of the gospel was marked with the blood of its
disciples. But in the countries of the North it found a peaceful entrance.
Students at Wittenberg, returning to their homes, carried the reformed
faith to Scandinavia. The publication of Luther's writings also spread the
light. The simple, hardy people of the North turned from the corruption,
the pomp, and the superstitions of Rome, to welcome the purity, the
simplicity, and the life-giving truths of the Bible.

Tausen, "the Reformer of Denmark," was a peasant's son. The boy early gave
evidence of vigorous intellect; he thirsted for an education; but this was
denied him by the circumstances of his parents, and he entered a cloister.
Here the purity of his life, together with his diligence and fidelity, won
the favor of his superior. Examination showed him to possess talent that
promised at some future day good service to the church. It was determined
to give him an education at some one of the universities of Germany or the
Netherlands. The young student was granted permission to choose a school
for himself, with one proviso, that he must no