, that the horses, the canopy, and the cloth of gold all
pertained to him in virtue of his office, and, whilst awaiting the
decision, he insisted that the horses, chariots, and harness should at
least be turned over to him provisionally in order that he might conduct
the ladies and the pages of the late queen. But it was feared that he
would keep them under any conditions. The king-at-arms and the heralds
wanted all the mouldings and all the stuffs of velvet and of silk which
were on the walls of the chapelle ardente; and the chaplains of the
cardinal, the sum of all the offerings made both at Notre-Dame and at
Saint-Denis. The Parliament devoted a week to endeavoring to bring the
disputants into accord, and in the meanwhile ordered an appraisement of
all the horses, carriages, etc., which were confided to the grand
equerry, and all the linen, ornaments, dais, etc., were sequestered and
placed in the hands of Jean du Val, receiver of pledges, and of Ragerin
Le Lieur, merchant bourgeois.

In addition to his grief over his wife's death, the king found himself
very much embarrassed in his finances till his good city of Paris came
to his relief with a donation of twenty thousand livres. He had even
sold his vessels of gold and silver, for the sum of two hundred thousand
livres. Being thus relieved, with the inconstancy of men, he began to
think of another wife, and in September, 1514, the magistrates of the
city went out in state to meet the ambassadors of England who had
arrived to negotiate a match with the Princess Mary, daughter of their
sovereign. For this fickleness (which, however, was partially dictated
by political considerations) Louis XII was destined to pay dearly; he
was fifty-three years of age and his bride was eighteen; to please her,
he changed all his habits of life, and even the hours of his repasts. He
had been in the habit of "dining" at eight o'clock, and he now dined at
noon; he had been accustomed to go to bed at six o'clock in the evening,
and now it was often midnight when he retired. So that he died at the
Palais des Tournelles on the first of the following January, 1515, and
the death-criers, sounding their bells, paraded the streets, calling
aloud: "The good king Louis, father of the people, is dead!"

It was the States-General of the nation, speaking through the
representative of Paris, which had given him this fine name, _Pere du
peuple_, and which, by his care for their interests, his economy