t weak prince, a
compact was made which proved the source of untold evils. He had been
forewarned by ladies in Catharine's interest, as he valued his life, to
oppose none of her demands; but the wily Florentine scarcely expected so
easy a triumph as she obtained. To the amazement of friend and foe,
Antoine de Bourbon ceded his right to the regency, without a struggle,
to the queen mother, a foreigner and not of royal blood. For himself he
merely retained the first place under her, as lieutenant-general of the
kingdom. He even consented to be reconciled to his cousins of Guise,
and, after publicly embracing them, promised to forget all past grounds
of quarrel.[965]

[Sidenote: Death of Francis II., Dec. 5, 1560.]

The vows which Francis made "to God and to all the saints of paradise,
male and female, and particularly to Notre-Dame-de-Clery, that, if they
should grant him restoration of health, he would never cease until he
had wholly purged the kingdom of those wicked heretics,"[966] proved
unavailing. On the fifth of December, 1560, he died in the eighteenth
year of his age and the seventeenth month of his reign. "God, who
pierced the eye of the father, had now stricken the ear of the
son."[967]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: "Epitre au Tigre de la Prance."]

The most annoying of the anonymous pamphlets against the Guises was
a letter bearing the significant direction: _Au Tigre de la
France_. Under this bloodthirsty designation every one knew that
the Cardinal of Lorraine alone could be meant, and the style of
the production showed that a master-hand in literature had been
concerned in the composition. The Guises were furious, but it was
impossible to discover the author or publisher of the libel. Both
succeeded admirably in preserving their incognito. Yet, as victims
were wanted to appease the anger of the ruling family, two unhappy
men expiated by their death a crime of which they were confessedly
innocent. The incident, which comes down to us attested not only by
the best of contemporary historians, but by the records of the
courts, recently brought to light, may serve to illustrate the
prevalent corruption of the judges and the occasional whimsical
application of the so-called justice wherein they were given to
indulging. Diligent search on the part of the friends of the Guises
led to the detection