Henry made some obscure attempts to come to an arrangement with certain chiefs of the Leaguers; but they were rejected with violence.

The Duke of Mayenne, having come to Paris on the 15th of February, was solemnly received at Notre-Dame, amidst shouts of "Hurrah for the Catholic princes! hurrah for the house of Lorraine!" He was declared lieutenant-general of the crown and state of France.

He organized a council-general of the League, composed of forty members and charged with the duty of providing for all matters of war, the finance and the police of the realm, pending a fresh convocation of states-general.

To counterbalance in some degree the popular element, Mayenne introduced into it fourteen personages of his own choice and a certain number of magistrates and bishops; the delegates of the united towns were to have seats at the council whenever they happened to be at Paris.

"Never," says M.Henry Martin [_Histoire de France,_ t.i.