Page 55 - 12 The French Reformation

the superstitious country people were roused

to oppose it. “That cannot be the gospel of

Christ,” urged the priest, “seeing the

preaching of it does not bring peace, but

war.”—Wylie, b. 14, ch. 3. Like the first

disciples, when persecuted in one city he fled

to another. From village to village, from city

to city, he went, traveling on foot, enduring

hunger, cold, and weariness, and everywhere

in peril of his life. He preached in the market

places, in the churches, sometimes in the

pulpits of the cathedrals. Sometimes he found

the church empty of hearers; at times his

preaching was interrupted by shouts and

jeers; again he was pulled violently out of the

pulpit. More than once he was set upon by

the rabble and beaten almost to death. Yet he

pressed forward. Though often repulsed,

with unwearying persistence he returned to

the attack; and, one after another, he saw