From Rise of Protestantism in France to Publication of the Institutes - James Aitken Wylie

the king was to pronounce an oration, and the
assembly kept silence, eager to hear what so august
a speaker, on so great an occasion, would say.
The king presented himself to his subjects with
a sorrowful countenance; nor is it necessary to
suppose that that sorrow was feigned. The affair of
the placards threatened to embroil him with both
friend and foe; it had crossed his political projects;
and we can believe, moreover, that it had shocked
his feelings and beliefs as a Roman Catholic; for
there is little ground to think that Francis had
begun to love the Gospel, and the looks of sadness
in which he showed himself to his subjects were
not wholly counterfeited.
The speech which Francis I. delivered on this
occasion -- and several reports of it have come
down to us -- was touching and eloquent. He dwelt
on the many favors Providence had conferred on
France; her enemies had felt the weight of her
sword; her friends had had good cause to rejoice in
her alliance; even when punished for her faults
great mercy had been mingled with the
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