Page 19 - 12 The French Reformation

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,