entered the
prisons, and released the prisoners. A more flagrant violation of
justice occurred at Antwerp. A converted friar, named Fabricius, who had
been active in preaching and propagating the new doctrines, was tried
and sentenced to the stake. On the way to execution, the people called
out to him, from the balconies and the doorways, to "take courage, and
endure manfully to the last."[625] When the victim was bound to the
stake, and the pile was kindled, the mob discharged such a volley of
stones at the officers as speedily put them to flight. But the unhappy
man, though unscathed by the fire, was stabbed to the heart by the
executioner, who made his escape in the tumult. The next morning,
placards written in blood were found affixed to the public buildings,
threatening vengeance on all who had any part in the execution of
Fabricius; and one of the witnesses against him, a woman, hardly escaped
with life from the hands of the populace.[626]

The report of these proceedings caused a great sensation at Madrid; and
Philip earnestly called on his sister to hunt out and pursue the
offenders. This was not easy, where most, even of those who did not join
in the act, fully shared in the feeling which led to it. Yet Philip
continued to urge the necessity of enforcing the laws for the
preservation of the Faith, as the thing dearest to his heart. He would
sometimes indicate in his letters the name of a suspicious individual,
his usual dress, his habits, and appearance,--descending into details
which may well surprise us, considering the multitude of affairs of a
weightier character that pressed upon his mind.[627] One cannot doubt
that Philip was at heart an inquisitor.

Yet the fires of persecution were not permitted wholly to slumber. The
historian of the Reformation enumerates seventeen who suffered capitally
for their religious opinions in the course of the year 1564.[628] This,
though pitiable, was a small number--if indeed it be the whole
number--compared with the thousands who are said to have perished in the
same space of time in the preceding reign. It was too small to produce
any effect as a persecution, while the sight of the martyr, singing
hymns in the midst of the flames, only kindled a livelier zeal in the
spectators, and a deeper hatred for their oppressors.

[Sidenote: THE REGENT'S EMBARRASSMENTS.]

The finances naturally felt the effects of the general disorder of the
country. The public debt, already la