History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

within the walls of Antwerp, having rejected the
petition lately presented to that effect by a number
of the principal burghers; but the gates which the
Gospel must not enter, the iconoclast tempest had
burst open without leave of the Senate. Where the
psalm could not be sung, the iconoclast
saturnalians lifted up their hoarse voices. The night
passed in quiet, but when the day returned, signs
appeared of a renewal of the tempest. Crowds
began to collect in the square before the cathedral;
numbers were entering the edifice, and it was soon
manifest that they had come not to perform their
devotions, but to stroll irreverently through the
building, to mock at the idols in nave and aisle, to
peer through the iron railings behind which the
Virgin still stood ensconced, to taunt and jeer her
for fleeing, and to awaken the echoes of the lofty
roof with their cries of "Long live the Beggars!"
Every minute the crowd was increasing and the
confusion growing. In front of the choir, sat an
ancient crone selling wax tapers and other things
used in the worship of the Virgin. Zealous for the
honor of Mary, whom Antwerp and all Brabant
worshipped, she began to rebuke the crowd for
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