For those who were considered derelict in church duties or heretical in doctrine, edicts were declared, forbidding them to gather in private assemblies for devotion, in various parts of Europe. All reading of the scriptures; all discussion within one's own doors concerning faith, the sacraments, the papal authority, or other religious matter, was forbidden "under penalty of death. The edicts were no dead letter. The fires were kept constantly supplied with human fuel by monks who knew the act of burning reformers better than of arguing with them. The scaffold was the most conclusive of syllogisms, and used upon all occasions" (_The Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Motley). The Inquisition Continuing this woeful account of conditions in the rebellious Netherlands and other countries under Spanish rule, the author of _The Rise of the Dutch Republic_ says: "Charles V introduced and organized a papal institution, side by side with those horrible 'Placards' of his invention, which constituted a masked inquisition even more cruel than that of Spain. . . . The execution of the system was never permitted to languish. The number of Netherlanders who were burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive, in obedience to his edicts, and for the offense of reading the scriptures, of looking askance at a graven image, or of ridiculing the actual presence of the body and blood of Christ in a wafer, have been placed as high as one hundred thousand by distinguished authorities, and have never been put at a lower mark than fifty thousand." Dawning of a Better Day Conditions like these could not go on forever. The dawn of a better day began to break over the nations. The Spirit of the Lord was striving with men and preparations commenced for the introduction into the world of the re-established Gospel at a later day. It was necessary that the shackles of superstitious fear and illiteracy, which bound the world so completely, should be broken, that men might exercise their right of free agency before the fulness of Gospel light should break forth. Not only was advancement made in the art of printing, but there came a revival of learning and research in all directions and in all parts of Europe. It was not confined to one land or to one people, but the whole of Europe took on a new life. The discovery of the telescope, the law of gravitation, the invention of gunpowder and many other wonderful things, were revolutionizing the thoughts of men. The Mission of Columbus