The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 12: 1567, part IMotley, John Lothrop
History
The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 12: 1567, part I
Motley, John Lothrop
Netherlands -- Church history; Netherlands -- History -- Eighty Years' War, 1568-1648
Michael Herlin, a very wealthy and distinguished burgher, was arrested
upon the first day. The two ministers, Guido de Bray and Peregrine de
la Grange, together with the son of Herlin, effected their escape by the
water-gate. Having taken refuge in a tavern at Saint Arnaud, they were
observed, as they sat at supper, by a peasant, who forthwith ran off to
the mayor of the borough with the intelligence that some individuals,
who looked like fugitives, had arrived at Saint Arnaud. One of them,
said the informer, was richly dressed; and wore a gold-hilted sword with
velvet scabbard. By the description, the mayor recognized Herlin the
younger,--and suspected his companions. They were all arrested, and sent
to Noircarmes. The two Herlins, father and son, were immediately
beheaded. Guido de Bray and Peregrine de la Grange were loaded with
chains, and thrown into a filthy dungeon, previously to their being
hanged. Here they were visited by the Countess de Roeulx, who was
curious to see how the Calvinists sustained themselves in their
martyrdom. She asked them how they could sleep, eat, or drink, when
covered with such heavy fetters. "The cause, and my good conscience,"
answered De Bray, "make me eat, drink, and sleep better than those who
are doing me wrong. These shackles are more honorable to me than golden
rings and chains. They are more useful to me, and as I hear their clank,
methinks I hear the music of sweet voices and the tinkling of lutes."
This exultation never deserted these courageous enthusiasts. They
received their condemnation to death "as if it had been an invitation to
a marriage feast." They encouraged the friends who crowded their path to
the scaffold with exhortations to remain true in the Reformed faith. La
Grange, standing upon the ladder, proclaimed with a loud voice, that he
was slain for having preached the pure word of God to a Christian people
in a Christian land. De Bray, under the same gibbet; testified stoutly
that he, too, had committed that offence alone. He warned his friends to
obey the magistrates, and all others in authority, except in matters of
conscience; to abstain from sedition; but to obey the will of God. The
executioner threw him from the ladder while he was yet speaking. So
ended the lives of two eloquent, learned, and highly-gifted divines.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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