but he did not forget them when he was king, and, far
from repudiating their patriotic and modest work in the cause of reform
and progress, he entered into it sincerely and earnestly with the aid
of Cardinal d'Amboise, his honest, faithful, and ever influential
councillor. The character and natural instincts of Louis XII. inclined
him towards the same views as his intelligence and moderation in politics
suggested. He was kind, sympathetic towards his people, and anxious to
spare them every burden and every suffering that was unnecessary, and to
have justice, real and independent justice, rendered to all. He reduced
the talliages a tenth at first and a third at a later period. He refused
to accept the dues usual on a joyful accession. When the wars in Italy
caused him some extraordinary expense, he disposed of a portion of the
royal possessions, strictly administered as they were, before imposing
fresh burdens upon the people. His court was inexpensive, and he had no
favorites to enrich. His economy became proverbial; it was sometimes
made a reproach to him; and things were carried so far that he was
represented, on the stage of a popular theatre, ill, pale, and surrounded
by doctors, who were holding a consultation as to the nature of his
malady: they at last agreed to give him a potion of gold to take; the
sick man at once sat up, complaining of nothing more than a burning
thirst. When informed of this scandalous piece of buffoonery, Louis
contented himself with saying, "I had rather make courtiers laugh by my
stinginess than my people weep by my extravagance." He was pressed to
punish some insolent comedians; but, "No," said he, "amongst their
ribaldries they may sometimes tell us useful truths let them amuse
themselves, provided that they respect the honor of women." In the
administration of justice he accomplished important reforms, called for
by the states-general of 1484 and promised by Louis XI. and Charles
VIII., but nearly all of them left in suspense. The purchase of offices
was abolished and replaced by a two-fold election; in all grades of the
magistracy, when an office was vacant, the judges were to assemble to
select three persons, from whom the king should be bound to choose. The
irremovability of the magistrates, which had been accepted but often
violated by Louis XI., became under Louis XII. a fundamental rule. It
was forbidden to every one of the king', magistrates, from the premier-
preside