Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/129

 and the moral atmosphere is rapidly lowering. Count Brederode's visit to Antwerp has sown the seeds of recklessness and mob law.”

The morning of the eighteenth of June, 1566, dawned clear and bright. Although the Catholics were in the minority in Antwerp, they were in nowise daunted by this fact. The time-honored festival of the Ommegang proceeded as usual.

It consisted in the conveying from one end of the city to the other of a colossal image of the Virgin. This image was borne aloft on the shoulders of priests and followed by the religious sodalities, guilds and military organizations. The sounds of drum and fife heralded the approach of the “Queen of Heaven.” This wooden image, to the Protestants meant the Inquisition and the stake. The sight of this solemn pageant filled their hearts with indignation. The procession was followed by the usual crowd of scoffers, who confined themselves to insulting words and gestures. One or two of the bolder ones threw mud upon the image as it passed, crying, “Mayken, Mayken, your hour is come! Antwerp is tired of you! This is your last promenade!”

The festivities incident to this occasion were shortened; the procession halted in safety before the cathedral doors, and the mud-bespattered representative of Our Lady was carried within. Instead of remaining in the centre of the church, as