Père Du Breul (one of the Benedictines of S. Germain des Près), writing in 1612 in his _Théâtre des Antiquités de Paris_, speaks of the church as follows: "Ce sera un des plus beaux bâtiments de l'Europe, s'il peut être parfait comme il a été commencé; car rien n'y manque pour ce qui est de la perfection de l'architecture, soit pour le haut exhaussement, les fenêtres et ouvertures, et aussi l'enrichissement des diverses frises et moulures de toutes sortes et façons. Toutefois, pour la grande dépense qu'il y conviendrait faire, il est demeuré imparfait jusques à présent." To meet this _grande dépense_, the chancellor Séquier, and the _Surintendant de finance_, Claude de Bullion, supplied a considerable sum. But a church existed upon the same site long before the foundation stone of the present building was laid by Jean de La Barre in 1532. Whether there is any truth in the tradition that the Romans erected a temple dedicated to Cybele upon the spot during the reign of Julian the Apostate, based probably upon the discovery of a large bronze head of the goddess at the entrance to the Rue Coquillière, there is no doubt that a chapel under the patronage of S. Agnes was built in the early ages of Christianity, for an account of its foundation is given by Gilles Corrozet, the first of the historians of Paris. It appears that a certain citizen named Jean Alais, in consideration of his help in financial matters, obtained from the king the right to levy a tax of a penny upon every basket of fish sold in the market. Remorse overtaking this modern publican, he begged his sovereign to revoke the tax; but the victims gained nothing by the repentance, as the privilege was accorded to another citizen, with an augmentation of the tax. Thereupon Alais, dying of remorse, was buried near the chapel he had founded in expiation of his sins, at the spot where a stream passed through the market. A large stone was placed hard by, which served as a bridge in time of rain and flood--hence, _Pont Alais_.