In 1560, Dieppe possessed a mercantile marine equal to that of all the rest of France. The population of the city amounted to 60,000, now it is about 20,000. The ship-owners of this “northern Rochelle” may compare with the Medicis. When John Ango entertained Francis I. at his chateau of Varengeville (now an undistinguishable heap of ruins), he received the king with a magnificence unusual even in those magnificent times. The rooms were decorated with costly hangings, curious furniture, Italian sculpture, and precious vases. Ango lent money and ships to the court, and often had as many as twenty armed vessels afloat, with which he ventured to measure strength with the King of Portugal. When the government of the Low Countries seized all the French ships in Flemish waters, Henry II. ordered Coligny to equip a fleet instantly and take summary vengeance. But the ports were empty, and there were no ships. “It is only the people of Dieppe,” said the admiral, “who can supply your majesty with a fleet.” The citizens, proud of the honor, offered to pay half the expense, and fitted out nineteen vessels of one hundred and twenty tons each. Ships of Caen went to Africa and the New World, bringing back so much more gold than could be exchanged, that the king permitted the merchants to have a mint of their own. Lyons, owing to its fairs, possessed a stronger foreign element among its inhabitants than any other town in France. In 1575 Lippomano called it “one of the most celebrated cities;” and there was a proverb that “Lyons supported the crown by its taxes, and Paris by its presents.” The revenue contributed by the former city alone was so great, that when there was a talk of suspending the fairs, it was calculated that the change would involve a loss of ten millions of gold yearly. The immense business led to the appointment of special tribunals for the fairs, and a sort of clearing-house for bills of exchange. The principal merchants and bankers were Italians: Capponi, Gondi, Spini, Deodati. Lorenzo Capponi, one of the most munificent of his class, kept open house during each fair, and entertained more than 4000 persons. After the introduction of silk-growing, Lyons received a great development. The first mulberry-tree planted in the 16th century at Alais, about a league from Montelimart, was still alive in 1802. In this century all Europe was supplied with books from the presses of Lyons--no city, Venice perhaps excepted, circulating more. The names of Gryphæus and Dolet, Tournes and Roville, are familiar to all book-collectors. In the house of Henry Stephens (Etienne) every body spoke Latin from garret to cellar. The old city occupied the space between the Cours Napoleon and a line drawn from the Pont Morand to the Pont de la Feuillée, the Church of St. Nizier being about the middle. There were only two bridges--one over each river; and a small suburb on the right bank of the Saone, clustering round the cathedral and the Church of St. Lawrence.