The duke returned, and being resolved to put his hand to the task, he communicated to the episcopal council, with all suitable precautions, his firm intention to assume henceforward the rights of sovereignty. Charles knew the weakness, the venality even of the prince-bishop’s councillors, who were unwilling at any price to displease Savoy. As soon as the report of this demand was known in the city, everybody exclaimed against it; they said that the superior jurisdiction belonged only to the sovereign, and that if the duke should obtain it, he would have to take but one step more to be recognised as lord of Geneva. The weakest thought their independence lost. ‘Be easy,’ said wiser men, ‘there is a certain “child of Geneva” in the council, who will shut all their mouths.’ They were not deceived; determined to oppose an inflexible resistance to Charles’s demand, Lévrier began to strengthen the weak, to win over the cowards, and to intimidate the traitors. ‘Neither the duke nor the senate of Savoy,’ he said, ‘has any authority in Geneva. The jurisdiction belongs to the city and to its head, the bishop: the duke, when within our walls, is a vassal, and not a sovereign.’[333] These bold but true words made a deep impression; Gruet, the vicar-episcopal, resolved to join Lévrier in defending the rights of his master. The opposition was not less energetic among the citizens. It was the time for nominating syndics; the alarmed huguenots resolved to place one of the warmest friends of independence among the chief magistrates. They elected Claude Richardet, a man of steady principles and decided character, ‘tall, handsome, powerful, and very choleric,’ says a chronicle.