The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1566 part 2 | Page 9

suppress any tumults, and to inspire confidence in the people. He had
come to a city where five sixths of the inhabitants--were of the
reformed religion, and he did not, therefore, think it judicious to
attempt violently the suppression of their worship. Upon his arrival he
had issued a proclamation, ordering that all property which might have
been pillaged from the religious houses should be instantly restored to
the magistracy, under penalty that all who disobeyed the command
should "be forthwith strangled at the gibbet." Nothing was brought
back, however, for the simple reason that nothing had been stolen.
There was, therefore, no one to be strangled.
The next step was to publish the Accord of 24th August, and to signify
the intention of the Admiral to enforce its observance. The preachings
were as enthusiastically attended as ever, while the storm which had
been raging among the images had in the mean time been entirely
allayed. Congregations of fifteen thousand were still going to hear

Ambrose Wille in the suburbs, but they were very tranquil in their
demeanor. It was arranged between the Admiral and the leaders of the
reformed consistories, that three places, to be selected by Horn, should
be assigned for their places of worship. At these spots, which were
outside the walls, permission was given the Reformers to build
meeting-houses. To this arrangement the Duchess formally gave her
consent.
Nicholas Taffin; councillor, in the name of the Reformers, made "a
brave and elegant harangue" before the magistrates, representing that,
as on the most moderate computation, three quarters of the population
were dissenters, as the Regent had ordered the construction of the new
temples, and as the Catholics retained possession of all the churches in
the city, it was no more than fair that the community should bear the
expense of the new buildings. It was indignantly replied, however, that
Catholics could not be expected to pay for the maintenance of heresy,
particularly when they had just been so much exasperated by the
image- breaking Councillor Taffin took nothing, therefore by his "brave
and elegant harangue," saving a small vote of forty livres.
The building was, however, immediately commenced. Many nobles
and rich citizens contributed to the work; some making donations in
money; others giving quantities of oaks, poplars, elms, and other timber
trees, to be used in the construction. The foundation of the first temple
outside the Ports de Cocquerel was immediately laid. Vast heaps of
broken images and other ornaments of the desecrated churches were
most unwisely used for this purpose, and the Catholics were
exceedingly enraged at beholding those male and female saints, who
had for centuries been placed in such "reverend and elevated positions,"
fallen so low as to be the foundation- stones of temples whose builders
denounced all those holy things as idols.
As the autumn began to wane, the people were clamorous for
permission to have their preaching inside the city. The new buildings
could not be finished before the winter; but in the mean time the
camp-meetings were becoming, in the stormy seasons fast approaching,
a very inconvenient mode of worship. On the other hand, the Duchess
was furious at the proposition, and commanded Horn on no account to
consent that the interior of Tournay should be profaned by these
heretical rites. It was in vain that the Admiral represented the justice of

the claim, as these exercises had taken place in several of the city
churches previously to the Accord of the 24th of August.
That agreement had been made by the Duchess only to be broken. She
had already received money and the permission to make levies, and
was fast assuming a tone very different from the abject demeanor
which had characterized her in August. Count Horn had been used even
as Egmont, Orange and Hoogstraaten had been employed, in order that
their personal influence with the Reformers might be turned to account.
The tools and the work accomplished by them were to be thrown away
at the most convenient opportunity.
The Admiral was placed in a most intolerable position. An honest,
common-place, sullen kind of man, he had come to a city full of
heretics, to enforce concessions just made by the government to heresy.
He soon found himself watched, paltered with, suspected by the
administration at Brussels. Governor Moulbais in the citadel, who was
nominally under his authority, refused obedience to his orders, was
evidently receiving secret instructions from the Regent, and was
determined to cannonade the city into submission at a very early day.
Horn required him to pledge himself that no fresh troops should enter
the castle. Moulbais swore he would make no such promise to a living
soul. The Admiral stormed with his usual violence, expressed his regret
that his brother Montigny had so bad a