Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/133

 “Look at these brave heresy hunters!” jeered the mob as the thoroughly frightened magistrates beat a hasty retreat, leaving the image-breakers in possession of the field.

The work of destruction now began in earnest. Costly paintings were cut in pieces; the golden vessels on the altar were thrown down and battered; the elegantly embroidered altar-robe was rent asunder and wound about the shoulders of a low wanton, who wreathed the diamond necklace of the Virgin in her dishevelled hair. The exquisitely toned organ was hewn in pieces, while the sacramental wine was passed in golden goblets from lip to lip.

The civil authorities were paralyzed with fear. They either could not or would not interfere. Before the morning sun shone again thirty churches within the city limits had been sacked, while every image of the Virgin, every crucifix, and every sculptured saint were hewn in pieces. Many monasteries and nunneries were entered, their valuable libraries, altars and pictures destroyed, and the occupants of these retreats were driven out into the summer night.

For two more days and nights the fury of the mob was unappeased, and the churches, chapels, and convents in the immediate vicinity of Antwerp were despoiled: not for plunder, for no one carried away any of the treasures, but for revenge,