Nearly a hundred years ago this beautiful country of France, where I am
now writing, was in a most sad and troubled state,--a state which we,
whose lives have been passed in quiet and peaceful times, can scarcely
picture to ourselves. For many, many years--hundreds of years--the
causes which led to the terrible outbreak of the people against the
ruling classes, known in history as "the Great French Revolution," had
been slowly but surely growing and gathering till at last the storm
broke all bounds, and the unhappy country was given over to the rage and
fury of the mob. Yet, cruel as were the leaders of this revolt,
frightful as were the deeds they committed, it is impossible, and it
would be altogether unjust, to blame them and their followers alone. In
national as in family quarrels, the adage of "faults on both sides" is
almost always found to be true, and certainly the misdeeds which were at
the bottom of this most terrible of quarrels were far more on the side
of the upper classes than of the lower. For generations they had been
growing more and more indifferent to the sufferings of those whom they
should have protected and helped. They seemed to think that the poor
and the humble only existed to be their slaves. They seemed to forget
that those beneath them had hearts and feelings,--almost to forget that
they were human beings. The beautiful teaching of Jesus Christ was
trampled and cast underfoot, even by those who still called themselves
His followers. The rich lived in the greatest luxury, squandering money
which had been ground out of the sore toil and labour of the poor. And
the poor hated and abhorred the rich, till at last all classes, alike
but in one thing--that they listened only to their own evil passions,
caring nothing for the voice of God in their consciences, till that
voice, so long disregarded, grew silent, and the good angels of the
unhappy country seemed to fly away in mournful despair--were plunged
into a sea of horror and bloodshed.
The king and queen were put to death, and so were hundreds, nay
thousands, of the nobles and gentry of the country, for the leaders of
the Revolution, seeing how badly things had gone under a _bad_
government, foolishly thought, like children escaping from the rule of
too harsh a schoolmaster, that the only way to be truly free and happy
was to have no regular government at all, but for every one to do just
what he pleased, with no regard for others, no respect for the eternal
laws of right and wrong--a state of things which _could_ not but become
the worst of tyrannies, for it was the tyranny of the many instead of
the few.
What was the end of this dreadful state of things--"the Reign of
Terror," as it is often called--can be read in the many histories that
have been written of this time. It did not last long--it could not have
done so, for "Order is Heaven's first law." Disorder and confusion soon
wear themselves out. But the story of the Great French Revolution will
never be forgotten while history exists. It stands there as a terrible
warning of the fate of a nation whose rulers neither themselves regard,
nor teach to those below them, the Divine laws of justice and mercy and
love to all mankind.
Good has come out of evil, as sooner or later it always must, in the
history of France as in all other histories. But it would be a mistake
to suppose that even during that dark time there was no brighter side to
things. The very greatness of the evil brought out nobleness that in
other times might have never been called forth. Among the many who
suffered the horrors of the dungeon and the guillotine were numbers of
pure and good and benevolent people, who, though belonging to the rich
upper classes, had never treated their poorer neighbours unjustly or
unkindly, but had done their utmost to make them happier. These met
death with calmness and courage beautiful to see, though their hearts
were wrung with sorrow for the misery of their country. And among the
people there were many instances of faithful devotion at the greatest
risk to themselves, of compassion even for some of those who had little
deserved at their hands. The simple story I am going to tell you will
show you this, I hope--will show that even in the darkest pages of our
poor old world's much troubled history, bright lines stand out like rays
of sunshine through a cloudy sky, telling of noble courage and
self-sacrifice for others, of faithfulness till death--of trust in God
through the most awful trials.