The king had them arrested, and three of their colleagues with them.

Special commissioners were charged with the preparation of the case against them.

It has already been mentioned that one of the most considerable amongst the officers of the army, Francis d'Andelot, brother of Admiral Coligny, had, for the same cause, been subjected to a burst of anger on the part of the king.

He was in prison at Meaux when Henry II.died.

Such were the personal feelings and the relative positions of the two parties when Francis II., a boy of sixteen, a poor creature both in mind and body, ascended the throne.
[Illustration: Francis II----269] Deputies from Parliament went, according to custom, to offer their felicitations to the new king, and to ask him "to whom it was his pleasure that they should, thenceforward, apply for to learn his will and receive his commands." Francis II.