the tables were turned , and they saw themselves about to fall into the pit into which they had hoped to plunge Berquin . In amazement they looked about them for some way of escape .
" Just at that time an image of the Virgin at the corner of one of the streets , was mutilated ." There was great excitement in the city . Crowds of people flocked to the place , with expressions of mourning and indignation . The king also was deeply moved . Here was an advantage which the monks could turn to good account , and they were quick to improve it . " These are the fruits of the doctrines of Berquin ," they cried . " All is about to be overthrown--religion , the laws , the throne itself--by this Lutheran conspiracy ." -- Ibid ., b . 13 , ch . 9 . Again Berquin was apprehended . The king withdrew from Paris , and the monks were thus left free to work their will . The Reformer was tried and condemned to die , and lest Francis should even yet interpose to save him , the sentence was executed on the very day it was pronounced . At noon Berquin was conducted to the place of death . An immense throng gathered to witness the event , and there were many who saw with astonishment and misgiving that the victim had been chosen from the best and bravest of the noble families of France . Amazement , indignation , scorn , and bitter hatred darkened the faces of that surging crowd ; but upon one face no shadow rested . The martyr ' s thoughts were far from that scene of tumult ; he was conscious only of the presence of his Lord .
The wretched tumbrel upon which he rode , the frowning faces of his persecutors , the dreadful death to which he was going--these he heeded not ; He who liveth and was dead , and is alive for evermore , and hath the keys of death and of hell , was beside him . Berquin ' s countenance was radiant with the light and peace of heaven . He had attired himself in goodly raiment , wearing " a cloak of velvet , a doublet of satin and damask , and golden hose ." --D ' Aubigne , History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin , b . 2 , ch . 16 . He was about to testify to his faith in the presence of the King of kings and the witnessing universe , and no token of mourning should belie his joy .
As the procession moved slowly through the crowded streets , the people marked with wonder the unclouded peace , and joyous triumph , of his look and bearing . " He is ," they said , " like one who sits in a temple , and meditates on holy things ." --Wylie , b . 13 , ch . 9 . At the stake , Berquin endeavoured to address a few words to the people ; but the monks , fearing the result , began to shout , and the soldiers to clash their arms , and their clamor drowned the martyr ' s voice . Thus in 1529 the highest literary and ecclesiastical authority of cultured Paris " set the populace of 1793 the base example of stifling on the scaffold the sacred words of the dying ." -- Ibid ., b , 13 , ch . 9 . Berquin was strangled , and his body was consumed in the flames . The tidings of his death caused sorrow to the friends of the Reformation throughout France . But his example was not lost . " We , too , are ready ," said the witnesses for the truth , " to meet death cheerfully , setting our eyes on the life that is to come ." --D ' Aubigne , History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin , b . 2 , ch . 16 .
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