In 1358, the peasants in revolt, who were called the _Jacques_, were cut to pieces below the walls by the French and English nobles. MEAUX IN 1914 Happier now than in 1814 and 1870, Meaux escaped in September, 1914, the horrors of invasion; and it was only crossed by some German patrols. A few shells fell in the Faubourg Saint-Nicolas and even in the neighbourhood of the cathedral, but no serious damage was done. The British troops in retreat crossed the town on September 2 and 3 and blew up the Market bridge (_view below_) also the foot-bridge, further down stream. The floating wash-houses, which might have served as pontoons, had already been sunk. Thirteen thousand out of the 14,000 inhabitants left Meaux with the civilian authorities. The bishop, Mgr. Marbeau, showed great energy in organising help for those who remained in the town and for the wounded that poured in after September 5. In spite of the abnormal circumstances, a _Te Deum_ was sung in the cathedral for the election of the Pope Benoît XV. [Illustration: MARKET BRIDGE AND WASH-HOUSES (Sept. 1914)] [Illustration: MEAUX] VISIT TO THE TOWN =St.-Stephen's Cathedral= (historical monument) _Beautiful panorama is visible from the top of the belfry. To visit, apply to the verger (gratuity)._ [Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF MEAUX] The building of the cathedral was begun at the end of the twelfth century and continued until the sixteenth. It has just been completely restored. The left tower, the only one completed, has no spire. That on the right is called the Black Tower, because of its covering of slates. The façade is in the decorated Gothic style. A beautiful rose window in the middle dominates the three doorways. The middle doorway and that on the right are surmounted by acute triangular gablets; that on the left, of a more obtuse ogive, is placed under an arch in accolade. The church is preceded by a parvis dating from 1610, which is reached by means of eight steps. The stone used in the present building has, unfortunately, very little resistance and is weather-worn. In the course of the revolutions witnessed by the old cathedral, mutilations were added to the damage caused by weather. The three rows of statuettes which adorn each porch are much spoilt, as are the bas-reliefs which decorate the tympanum. The great statues which filled the niches have disappeared. [Illustration: THE MARNE AT MEAUX] [Illustration: THE LIONS' DOORWAY (Cathedral)] _After having viewed the west façade, the tourist, keeping to the right of the cathedral, should go and look at the_ +Lions' Doorway+, which is on the south front. This thirteenth century doorway, restored in the nineteenth by Viollet-le-Duc, takes its name from the gargoyles, representing lions, which flank it. It is a reproduction of the southern doorway of Notre-Dame de Paris.