"The downfall of the papal government [in 1798], by whatever means effected, excited perhaps less sympathy than that of any other in Europe: the errors, the oppressions, the tyranny of Rome over the whole Christian world, were remembered with bitterness; many rejoiced, through religious antipathy, in the overthrow of a church which they considered as idolatrous, though attended with the immediate triumph of infidelity; and many saw in these events the accomplishment of prophecies, and the exhibition of signs promised in the most mystical parts of the Holy Scriptures."--_"History of France from 1790 to 1802" (London, 1803), Vol. II, p. 379._ From those tunes of fulfilling prophecy, there arose a distinct movement, reviving the teaching of the doctrine of Christ's second coming, and directly preparing the way for the advent movement that was to come with the days of 1844, when yet fuller light was to break forth from the unsealed prophecies of the book of Daniel. Of the angel that symbolizes the special gospel work for these last days, it is written, "He had in his hand a little book open." Rev. 10:2. The "time of the end" came, and with it has come the opening of the sealed book. The "sure word of prophecy" speaks its message full and clear to the ears of all mankind today. Increase of Knowledge "Many shall run to and fro," the prophecy said, "and knowledge shall be increased." It is knowledge of the prophecy and of the things of God that is primarily the topic; but the era that we are discussing has been one of general enlightenment and extension of knowledge.[J] "The entrance of Thy words giveth light," says the psalmist: and when the Reformation of the sixteenth century broke the bands of age-long superstition and error, and set free the Word of God, the way was preparing for the coming of this wonderful era of the diffusion of general knowledge. The era of reform movement was an era of world exploration and discovery. Diaz had founded the south African cape, and Columbus had given to future generations the New World. The result was voyage after voyage of discovery, and then awakening, colonization, and expansion. The famous and learned Francis Bacon, who died in 1626, felt in his day that the time spoken of by Daniel's prophecy was drawing near. He wrote: "Nor should the prophecy of Daniel be forgotten, touching the last ages of the world: 'Many shall go to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased;' clearly intimating that the thorough passage of the world (which now by so many distant voyages seems to be accomplished, or in course of accomplishment), and the advancement of the sciences, are destined by fate, that is, by divine Providence, to meet in the same age."--_"Novum Organum," book 1, xciii. (Bacon's Works, Spedding and Ellis, Vol. IV, p. 92.)_