He levied, likewise, vast sums upon his converts, and whenever he appeared in public, his apparel and pomp were befitting an emperor.

Three thousand armed satellites escorted his steps and put to death all who resisted his commands.

So groveling became the superstition of his followers that they drank of the water in which, he had washed, and treasured it as a divine elixir.
Advancing still further in his experiments upon human credulity, he announced his approaching marriage with the Virgin Mary, bade all his disciples to the wedding, and exhibited himself before an immense crowd in company with an image of his holy bride.

He then ordered the people to provide for the expenses of the nuptials and the dowry of his wife, placing a coffer upon each side of the image, to receive the contributions of either sex.

Which is the most wonderful manifestation in the history of this personage--the audacity of the impostor, or the bestiality of his victims?
His career was so successful in the Netherlands that he had the effrontery to proceed to Rome, promulgating what he called his doctrines as he went.