Gaston de Foix, nephew of Louis XII., who had just appointed him governor of Milaness, could certainly force the clergy to proceed and the people to be quiet, but he could not force them to have for the council the respect due to so great a name; there were not seen at it, according to usage, the legates of the Holy See; there were scarcely fifteen or sixteen French prelates there; the Emperor Maximilian had either not influence enough or no inclination to send to it a single one from Germany; and, in a word, there was not to be seen in this assembly anything that savored of the majesty of a general council, and it was understood to be held for political purposes." [Bossuet, _Abrege de l'Histoire de France pour l'Education du dauphin_; _OEuvres completes_ (1828), t.

xvii.

pp.

541, 545.] Bossuet had good grounds for speaking so.

Louis XII.