ut off the collar of his doublet and shirt, in
order to facilitate the stroke of the executioner. This he did to
convince them that he meditated no resistance; and on his promising that
he would attempt none, they consented to his remaining with his hands
unbound.

Egmont was dressed in a crimson damask robe, over which was a Spanish,
mantle fringed with gold. His breeches were of black silk; and his hat,
of the same material, was garnished with white and sable plumes.[1156]
In his hand, which, as we have seen, remained free, he held a white
handkerchief. On his way to the place of execution, he was accompanied
by Julian de Romero, _maitre de camp_, by the captain, Salinas, who had
charge of the fortress of Ghent, and by the bishop of Ypres. As the
procession moved slowly forward, the count repeated some portion of the
fifty-first psalm,--"Have mercy on me, O God!"--in which the good
prelate joined with him. In the centre of the square, on the spot where
so much of the best blood of the Netherlands has been shed, stood the
scaffold, covered with black cloth. On it were two velvet cushions with
a small table, shrouded likewise in black, and supporting a silver
crucifix. At the corners of the platform were two poles, pointed at the
end with steel, intimating the purpose for which they were
intended.[1157]

In front of the scaffold was the provost of the court, mounted on
horseback and bearing the red wand of office in his hand.[1158] The
executioner remained, as usual, below the platform, screened from view,
that he might not, by his presence before it was necessary, outrage the
feelings of the prisoners.[1159] The troops, who had been under arms
all night, were drawn up around in order of battle; and strong bodies of
arquebusiers were posted in the great avenues which led to the square.
The space left open by the soldiery was speedily occupied by a crowd of
eager spectators. Others thronged the roofs and windows of the buildings
that surrounded the market-place, some of which, still standing at the
present day, show, by their quaint and venerable architecture, that they
must have looked down on the tragic scene we are now depicting.

It was indeed a gloomy day for Brussels,--so long the residence of the
two nobles, where their forms were as familiar, and where they were held
in as much love and honor as in any of their own provinces. All business
was suspended. The shops were closed. The bells tolled in all the
church