CHAPTER IV.

FRANCE AT THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES IX.

[1560.]

Contrast--Power of King and Nobles--The Provinces--Roads--Rate of Traveling--Forests--Wild Animals--Brigandage--Inns--League of the Loire--Agriculture--Condition of the Peasantry--Rent--Serfage--Wages--Cost of Provisions--Food--Sumptuary Laws--Social Changes--Ignorance of the People--Population of France--Taxation--Army and Navy--The Clergy--Superstitions--Justice--Punishments--Brutality of Manners--Domestic Architecture--Paris--Cities of France: Orleans, Rouen, Bordeaux, Dieppe, Lyons, Boulogne, Dijon, Moulins, St. Etienne, and Toulouse 112