l residents. The extension of the wall was erected under the
superintendence of Etienne Marcel, called _Prevot des Marchands_; what
might be termed Mayor or Chief Magistrate of the tradespeople, a man of
extraordinary energy, which he exerted to the utmost for the benefit of
his fellow citizens, and at this period first began the custom of
putting chains at night across the streets as a measure of security, as
notwithstanding that Paris was menaced on all sides by enemies from
without, insurrections of the most violent nature took place within its
walls, commencing on account of the Dauphin, who was governor of Paris
and regent of the kingdom (in consequence of the imprisonment of his
father John in England), issuing a coinage consisting of base metal
which he was compelled to recall; but the fire-brand was kindled, other
grievances were mooted, thirty thousand armed Parisians assembled headed
by Etienne Marcel, who himself stabbed Robert de Clermont, Marshal of
Normandy, and Jean de Conflans, Marshal of Champagne, in the presence of
the Dauphin; but to save the latter from the fury of the people, Marcel
changed hats with the Prince, thus affording him a passport, by causing
him to wear a hat that bore the colours of the people, blue and red.
After a tremendous slaughter, Marcel and his principal friends were
themselves dispatched by the partisans of the Dauphin. During all these
convulsions in the interior of Paris, it was surrounded on one side by
the troops of the King of Navarre, whilst the forces of the Dauphin were
hovering under the walls, the different parties skirmishing with each
other, and all living upon the pillage and contributions levied on the
inhabitants of the adjacent country.

Meantime famine thinned the population of Paris, cut off from any means
of receiving provisions from without; but on account of the wall
constructed by Marcel, Edward III of England found it impossible to make
any progress in the siege, and having exhausted the country for some
leagues of extent, was obliged to retreat for want of food to maintain
his army. The scarcity of money was such in Paris at that period, that
they were compelled to have a circulation of leather coin, with a little
nail of gold or silver stuck in the middle; yet when John returned from
his captivity in England, the streets were hung with carpets wherever he
had to pass, and a cloth of gold borne over his head, the fountains
poured forth wine, and the city