The Ferryman of Brill | Page 7

this hour of the night?"
"They must come to the Holy Office, to answer certain questions,"
answered the speaker. "Lead the way."
"But if the door is opened the light will be blown out, and you will be
unable to follow me."
Her great aim was to delay as long as possible, in the hope that by some
means her master and Gretchen might make their escape by the back of
the house. She was greatly in hope that the light would blow out, that
she might thus have an excuse for a longer delay.
"Come--come! no fooling, mistress!" exclaimed the officer. "Lead on,
or we must find the way by ourselves."
On this, Barbara proceeded up the broad steps to the floor above. Two
or three men, however, kept watch below. In vain were all her
precautions. In the usual sitting room, quietly seated at a table, were
Gretchen and her father. They rose as the officers of the Inquisition
entered, and the merchant asked them what they wanted. The officer
repeated what he had said to Barbara.

"We must obey," said the merchant; "we have no power to resist."
Instantly the father and daughter were surrounded, and carried off
separately. Poor Barbara wrung her hands in terror as she saw them
depart. They were carried along to the prison in which those accused by
the Inquisition were confined. Brill had for some time been free from
such visitations, but the presence of Alva at Brussels had stirred up the
authorities, and victims were sought for throughout every town in
Flanders.
They were not allowed to languish long in prison before their trial took
place. It was very short, for they did not deny the accusations brought
against them. They refused to acknowledge that the elements of bread
and wine were really the body and blood of Christ.
"Christ is in heaven," answered the merchant Hopper, "at the right hand
of God; He cannot be on earth at the same time. I don't believe that
sinful man, by a few words, would have the power of changing bread
and wine into flesh and blood. If there was a change, our sense would
give us evidence of that change. The bread remains bread, and the wine,
wine. But more than this, I see no authority in Scripture for this belief.
Christ told us to take bread and wine in remembrance of the last supper
He took with His disciples on earth, or rather, of the great sacrifice
which He was about to offer up, the last, the only one which God
would ever accept, all previous ones being types of this; promising us
the same support to our spiritual nature that the bread and wine gives to
our physical nature. He often speaks of Himself as a door, as a rock, as
a corner-stone of a building. In the same way He speaks of His flesh
and blood. He intends us to understand that we are spiritually to feed on
Him, that is to say, to trust on His sacrifice, His blood shed for us."
"This is heresy! You need say no more," said the judge. "And your
daughter there, what does she say to these things?"
"I agree with my father," answered Gretchen, firmly. "I believe that the
just shall live by faith; that neither our works nor our obedience to the
Church of Rome will help in any way to save us. Christ has
accomplished that great and glorious work, and only requires us to take

hold of it by faith."
"Enough--enough!" exclaimed the Inquisitor, stamping; "you have
condemned yourself by your own words. We need no other witnesses,
though we can prove that you and others were present at heretical
meetings. That circumstance alone was sufficient to condemn you to
death. We may afford you a few days for consideration and repentance.
If you will recant your errors, you may receive a more merciful
sentence, but if not, you, Andrew Hopper, are condemned to be burned
alive; and you, Gretchen Hopper, to be drowned in a tank at the place
of execution."
Several other persons were brought up before the Inquisitors, the
greater number of whom were condemned to death. Andrew Hopper's
property was confiscated to the use of the state, or in other words, to
assist Duke Alva in riveting yet more firmly his yoke upon the necks of
their countrymen. Both Andrew Hopper and Gretchen Hopper bore
their fate with firmness and resignation. The chief regret of his
daughter was that she was separated from her father. She longed to be
with him that she might comfort and support him. Her thoughts, too,
occasionally went back to her lover Diedrich. Where was he all the
time? Alas! she would never see him again in this world, but