"power had been enriching her literature and cultivating her science; if their wisdom had been guiding her councils, their bravery fighting her battles, their equity framing her laws, and the religion of the Bible strengthening the intellect and governing the conscience of her people, what a glory would at this day have encompassed France! What a great, prosperous, and happy country—a pattern to the nations—would she have been! GC 278.1"
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."
The EGW passage directly illustrates the principle stated in Proverbs 14:34. Righteousness (following the religion of the Bible) would have exalted France, while sin (rejecting it) led to its downfall.