of Burgundy and
some other territories of the deceased duke. Altogether, during his
reign, he brought eleven provinces under the direct government of the
crown--Brittany being the only great fief which at his death remained
independent. He had thus assured the unity of France and her
preponderance in Europe.

Hardly less important services to his country were his establishment of
order and good administration, his financial and judicial reforms, his
encouragement of industry and commerce. "He effected," says Lavallee,
"attempted, or projected, all the innovations of modern France."
Diplomacy, the modern makeshift for the international office of the
mediaeval papacy, dates from him. Historians have dwelt on his cruelty,
perfidy, and superstition.[12] Turbulent nobles, like St. Pol and
Armagnac, were brought to the block; treacherous ministers, like
Cardinal La Balue, were kept for years in iron cages; vulgar criminals
swung from gibbets on every highroad. But this severity toward ruffians
of high and low degree, who had preyed on the country for the best part
of the century, wrought peace and prosperity for the law-abiding and
industrious. In the decay of feudal manners and Catholic discipline, the
sentiment of honor had almost vanished from public life. But, judged
relatively to his times, Louis is not to be branded as perfidious. He
did not scruple to break treaties contrary to the interests of his
country, which had been extorted from him by force; but he was more
straightforward than his principal contemporaries. Twice, when he could
have got rid of Charles the Bold by acts of treachery, which in those
days no one would have blamed, he chose the honorable course. To
reproach a man of the fifteenth century with superstition, because he
thought there might be some efficacy in images and relics, is an abuse
of language. If he clung to life it was because he felt that so much of
his projected work remained unfinished. He met death with remarkable
fortitude, his thoughts and efforts being to the last moment occupied
with the affairs, not of his soul, but of his country. His minister and
intimate friend, Comines, has left a faithful and judicious account of
his life. Two great poets have dealt unfairly with him: Scott could not
forgive the foe of feudalism; Hugo was blinded by democratic prejudices.

[Footnote 12: It is said that Louis was a firm believer in
astrology, that he wore a cap set round with