, the queen, and the whole court had been present
at it for three days. The entertainment was drawing to a close. The
king, who had run several tilts "like a sturdy and skilful cavalier,"
wished to break yet another lance, and bade the Count de Montgomery,
captain of the guards, to run against him. Montgomery excused himself;
but the king insisted. The tilt took place. The two jousters, on
meeting, broke their lances skilfully; but Montgomery forgot to drop at
once, according to usage, the fragment remaining in his hand; he
unintentionally struck the king's helmet and raised the visor, and a
splinter of wood entered Henry's eye, who fell forward upon his horse's
neck. All the appliances of art were useless; the brain had been
injured. Henry II. languished for eleven days, and expired on the 10th
of July, 1559, aged forty years and some months. An insignificant man,
and a reign without splendor, though fraught with facts pregnant of grave
consequences.

[Illustration: Joust between Henri II. and Count de Montgomery----268]

CHAPTER XXXII.----FRANCIS II., JULY 10, 1559--DECEMBER 5, 1560.

During the course, and especially at the close of Henry II.'s reign, two
rival matters, on the one hand the numbers, the quality, and the zeal of
the Reformers, and on the other, the anxiety, prejudice, and power of the
Catholics, had been simultaneously advancing in development and growth.
Between the 16th of May, 1558, and the 10th of July, 1559, fifteen
capital sentences had been executed in Dauphiny, in Normandy, in Poitou,
and at Paris. Two royal edicts, one dated July 24, 1558, and the other
June 14, 1559, had renewed and aggravated the severity of penal
legislation against heretics. To secure the registration of the latter,
Henry II., together with the princes and the officers of the crown, had
repaired in person to Parliament; some disagreement had already appeared
in the midst of that great body, which was then composed of a hundred and
thirty magistrates; the seniors who sat in the great chamber had in
general shown themselves to be more inclined to severity, and the juniors
who formed the chamber called La Tournelle more inclined to indulgence
towards accusations of heresy. The disagreement reached its climax in
the very presence of the king. Two councillors, Dubourg and Dufaure,
spoke so warmly of reforms which were, according to them, necessary and
legitimate, that their adversaries did not hesitate to