The
inhabitants, in 1562, alarmed by the capture of Rouen, consented to
receive a garrison from our Queen Elizabeth, rather than submit to
renounce their creed; but they were obliged, in the course of the same
year, to surrender to the royal troops. Notwithstanding all this, the
Protestants of Dieppe, through the wisdom and moderation of the
governor, escaped unhurt from the massacre of St. Bartholomew. The town
was nevertheless one of the first in France to declare, in 1589, for
Henry IV. when, pursued by the victorious forces of the league, he
sought shelter in these walls, and here collected the handful of troops,
with which he almost immediately afterwards gained the important victory
of Arques. The same prince also retired hither three years subsequently,
and remained ten days in the midst of _ses bons Dieppois_, as he was in
the habit of styling them, to be cured of the wounds received in the
battle of Aumale.

Among the various royal personages, with whose presence Dieppe has been
honored on different occasions, were Mary of Guise, widow of James V. of
Scotland, and mother to the unfortunate princess of the same name, who
succeeded her on the Scottish throne. She landed here in 1549, and was
immediately joined by Henry II. who was at that time at Rouen. In 1564,
Catherine of Medicis came hither, attended by her son, Charles IX. with
a view of healing the wounds occasioned by the religious dissentions;
and, in 1618, Louis XIII. after holding an assembly of the states of
Normandy at the capital of the duchy, repaired to Dieppe, to visit one
of the most important sea-ports of his kingdom. The same attention was
shewn to the town twenty-nine years subsequently, by Louis XIV. then in
his minority, accompanied by the Queen Regent; and, in our own days, it
has been equally distinguished by Napoleon.

In this short outline of the principal events connected with the history
of Dieppe, no notice has been taken of the honor acquired by its
sailors, who have, however, on all occasions, distinguished themselves.
They did so particularly in the year 1555, when, unassisted by their
king, or by any other part of France, they armed their merchant vessels,
and attacked and defeated, and nearly destroyed, the Flemish fleet,
consisting of twenty-four sail of ships of war. At all times they have
been considered as supplying some of the best men to the French navy, so
that the President de Thou pronounced them to be entitled to the