and they were glad to accede to a treaty which gave them ample spoils and Louis, time to recover himself. The "Public Good" was barely mentioned. The king refused to occupy the palace of the Louvre and chose to dwell in the new Hôtel des Tournelles, near the Porte St. Antoine, built for the Duke of Bedford and subsequently presented to Louis when Dauphin by his royal father; for thither a star led him one evening as he left Notre Dame. Often would he issue _en bourgeois_ from the Tournelles to sup with his gossips in Paris. The institution of the mid-day Angelus, in 1472, was due to Louis' devotion to the Virgin. He ordained that the great bell of Notre Dame should be rung at noon as a signal that the good people of Paris should recite the Ave Maria. When in Paris scarcely a day passed without the king being seen at mass, and at leaving he always gave an offering. In 1475, Louis' old enemy, the Duke of Burgundy, was seeking an alliance with Edward IV. of England, and once more a mighty army entered France to reassert the claims of the English kings to the French crown. Louis, by his usual policy of flattery and bribery, succeeded in leading Edward to negotiate. If he had had to meet in the flesh the lion rampant on the English king's escutcheon, he could not have taken ampler precautions. A bridge was built over the Somme, near Amiens, "and in the middle thereof was a strong trellis of wood such as is made for cages of lions, and the holes between the bars were no larger than a man could put his arm through." On either side of this cage the monarchs and a score of courtiers met and conversed. Louis had divided his enemies; each in turn was cajoled and bribed, and the "Hucksters' Peace" was concluded. [Illustration: PORCH OF ST. GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS] "When King Louis," says De Comines, "retired from the interview he spake with me by the way and said he found the English king too ready to visit Paris, which thing was not pleasing to him. The king was a handsome man and very fond of women; he might find some affectionate mistress there, who would speak him so many fair words that she would make him desire to return; his predecessor had come too often to Paris and Normandy, and he did not like his company this side the sea, but beyond the sea he was glad to have him for friend and brother." De Comines was informed next day by some English that the peace had been made by the Holy Ghost, for a white dove was seen resting on the king of England's tent during the interview, and for no noise soever would she move; "but," said a sceptical Gascon gentleman, "it simply happened to have rained during the day, and the dove settled on the tent which was highest to dry her wings in the sun."