p.

94.] On the 17th of November, 1560, as he was mounting his horse to go hunting, he fainted suddenly.

He appeared to have recovered, and was even able to be present when the final sentence was pronounced against Conde; but on the 29th of November there was a fresh fainting-fit.

It appears that Ambrose Pare, at that time the first surgeon of his day, and a faithful Reformer, informed his patron, Admiral Coligny, that there would not be long to wait, and that it was all over with the king.

Up to the very last moment, either by themselves or through their niece Mary Stuart, the Guises preserved their influence over him: Francis II.