""Thou hast put us to the proof when we
To Thy guidance did aspire;
"Like gold, Thou hast refined us
By the ordeal of fire."
""Into the snare our foes have laid
Thou, Lord, hast made us fall;
"And there, fast hound, we lie, and wait
Thy word, O Lord of all!"
""O Lord, to me be merciful,
And bless me with Thy grace,
"And show unto my humble heart
The brightness of Thy face."
CHAPTER XXX
ANOTHER SPECIMEN OF POLITICS
From the day of that fatal execution, the feeble health of François II. grew steadily worse.
Seven months later (at the end of November, 1560), the court being then at Orléans, where the States-General had been convoked by the Duc de Guise, the poor boy-king of seventeen was obliged to take to his bed.