But it did not stop here; what they had
resolved on in the moment of intoxication, they attempted when sober to
carry into execution. It was necessary to manifest to the people in some
striking shape the existence of their protectors, and likewise to fan
the zeal of the faction by a visible emblem; for this end nothing could
be better than to adopt publicly this name of Gueux, and to borrow from
it the tokens of the association. In a few days the town of Brussels
swarmed with ash-gray garments, such as were usually worn by mendicant
friars and penitents. Every confederate put his whole family and
domestics in this dress. Some carried wooden bowls thinly overlaid with
plates of silver, cups of the same kind, and wooden knives; in short,
the whole paraphernalia of the beggar tribe, which they either fixed
around their hats or suspended from their girdles. Round the neck they
wore a golden or silver coin, afterward called the "Guesen penny," of
which one side bore the effigy of the King, with the inscription "True
to the King"; on the other side were seen two hands folded together,
holding a wallet, with the words "as far as the beggar's scrip." Hence
the origin of the name "Gueux," which was subsequently borne in the
Netherlands by all who seceded from popery and took up arms against the
King.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190