In Germany from the Leipsic Disputation to the Diet at Worms - James Aitken Wylie

at a great Bar. It was to them the day of visitation;
it was now to be determined whether they were to
be planted in the earth, whether their thrones
should be stable, and their power should continue
to flourish, or whether their houses should be
razed, and their thrones swept away in a deluge of
wrath, in a flood of present evils, and of eternal
desolation.
He pointed to the great monarchies of former
ages–to Egypt, to Babylon, to Nineveh, so mighty
in their day, but which, by fighting against God,
had brought upon themselves utter ruin; and he
counselled them to take warning by these examples
if they would escape the destruction that overtook
them. "You should fear," said he, "lest the reign of
this young and noble prince, on whom (under God)
we build such lofty expectations, not only should
begin, but should continue and close, under the
most gloomy auspices. I might speak of the
Pharaohs, of the Kings of Babylon, and those of
Israel, whose labors never more effectually
contributed to their own destruction, than when
they sought by counsels, to all appearance most
136