reds and thousands, openly
assembled, and, marching in procession, chanted the Psalms of David in
the translation of Marot.[544]

[Sidenote: RESISTANCE TO THE EDICTS.]

This open defiance of the edicts called for the immediate interposition
of the government. At Tournay two Calvinist preachers were arrested,
and, after a regular trial, condemned and burned at the stake. In
Valenciennes two others were seized, in like manner, tried, and
sentenced to the same terrible punishment. But as the marquis of Bergen,
the governor of the province, had left the place on a visit to a
distant quarter, the execution was postponed till his return. Seven
months thus passed, when the regent wrote to the marquis, remonstrating
on his unseasonable absence from his post. He had the spirit to answer,
that "it neither suited his station nor his character to play the part
of an executioner."[545] The marquis of Bergen had early ranged himself
on the side of the prince of Orange, and he is repeatedly noticed by
Granvelle, in his letters, as the most active of the malecontents. It
may well be believed he was no friend to the system of persecution
pursued by the government. Urged by Granvelle, the magistrates of the
city at length assumed the office of conducting the execution
themselves. On the day appointed, the two martyrs were escorted to the
stake. The funeral pile was prepared, and the torch was about to be
applied, when, at a signal from one of the prisoners, the multitude
around broke in upon the place of execution, trampled down the guards
and officers of justice, scattered the fagots collected for the
sacrifice, and liberated the victims. Then, throwing themselves into a
procession, they paraded the streets of the city, singing their psalms
and Calvinistic hymns.

Meanwhile the officers of justice succeeded in again arresting the
unfortunate men, and carrying them back to prison. But it was not long
before their friends, assembling in greater numbers than before, stormed
the fortress, forced the gates, and, rescuing the prisoners, carried
them off in triumph.

These high-handed measures caused, as may be supposed, great indignation
at the court of the regent. She instantly ordered a levy of three
thousand troops, and, placing them under the marquis of Bergen, sent
them against the insurgents. The force was such as to overcome all
resistance. Arrests were made in great numbers, and the majesty of the
law was vindicated by the trial