take me for Monsieur Scarron I easily put by that blow in crying out with a full Throat Fire upon that bold Fellow But says his Majesty you dearly then bought the glory that you had to keep the Field about half an hour by the death of my best Officers and of a great number of brave persons of my House Sir says Luxemburgh your Majesty has long since used your self to lose a great mâ—ny Men when you would have the advantage over your Enemies As it is my Maxime to attack them ordinarily three against one and that the Enemies who see themselves almost always inferiour and more feeble in number by half fight also like Madmen that 's the reason your Majesty loses more men than they but still you have the Glory on your side But says his Majesty if these losses are frequent and that the War should last four or five Campaigns as in all appearance it will I run a risque to see my self without Officers and Souldiers Sir says Luxemburgh your Majesty must buâ— a Peace at any rate should it cost even half your Subâ—ects But answers his Majesty I had then rather hazard a general Battle and come orderly into an open Campaign in the Face of my Enâ—mies I am perswaded that they would not refuse it and that would be infinitely more glorious and worthier of the name of Great that I bear imitating in that Charles Martel who acquir'd that name by reason of his martial humour and of the great actions he did at the Battle of Tours where the French kill'd a hundred and seventy five thousand Moors that lay dead on the Spot It seems to me that an Action like that would be incomparably better than all the Tricks and Wiles that I have made use of till now which are no more after all than small Rencounters which decide nothing and only lengthen the War No Sir says Luxemburgh that is not the way by which I pretend to conduct your Majesty your Enemies would desire no better The Prince of Orange and the Elector of Bavaria would Triumph with joy and your Majesty cannot do them a greater favour than to come as you say into an open field There wants but only one such like Resolution to annihilate in an instant all those Prodigies of glory and to lose so many brave Conquests heap'd up one upon the other which hast cost so many Men and so much Blood and I am persuaded that your Majesty has not yet forgot what it cost Francis the First and St. Louis for having expos'd themselves a little too much How then says his Majesty do you understand it for we must take the shortest way my People begin to be able to do no more and Mony becomes scarce in my Kingdom and as we say foresight is the Mother of Wisdom I know what it cost me in 1672 for having staid a little too long Sir says Luxemburgh doth your Majesty absolutely wish to have a peace I have already pray'd you several times to discover to me your most secret intentions You know says his Majesty that I wish it passionately But I reserve to my self the glory to grant it to my Enemies and I fight only at present to constrain them to come and demand it of me Sir answer'd Luxemburgh since it is so that your Majesty is absolutely resolved to have a peace that you wish it and seek after it this is the way to come quickly to it Your Majesty must then at present make Flanders the Seat of War you must gather together your greatest force and you must reckon to have three Armies this Campaign to act in concert and mutually to assist one another Each of these Armies must be at the least fifty thousand Men. For this purpose your Majesty must give Orders to Monsieur Voisin Intendant of the Low Countries to make with the Commissaries of Provisions an exact computation of Provisions necessary for the maintenance of so many Troops and to furnish the Magazines of which the Principle ones shall be at Mons Maubeuge Philipville and Dinant The great Master of the Ordinance must also give order that the Ammunitions of War as well as the great Artillery be transported early to the nearest frontier places The Count de Guiscard Governour of Dinant must take care to assemble and get ready a good number of Boats Monsieur de Vertillac Governour of Mons must likewise take care to get together all the Waggons and Carts which can be found in the Country of Hainault He must make at the same time as well as the other Governours a list of the Pioneers that we can have the number of which cannot be less than Twenty thousand and to the end that all the Troops may be there at the time of the general Rendevouse which shall be at Mons your Majesty must presently dispatch Orders to make them march I add also that care must be taken to have good intelligence to stir them up and maintain them cost what it will because it is the primum mobile without which we shall build upon a Quicksand All these Resolutions being taken there will want nothing but a Head to move so great a Body And as the presence of Kings and Princes is the Soul and strength of their Army and that a Prince which commands in person his Armies aspires to an immortal glory so there is not a Souldier who fighting in the sight of his Prince doth not employ all his valour and being animated with a desire of glory and hopâ—s to be liberally recompens'd doth not present himself with joy to the greatest and most dangerous perils I advise then your Majesty to make this Campaign as you did that of Mons your Majesty took notice that this important place was surrendred in less than fifteen Days after the opening of the Trenches in the sight of an Enemies Army and in a time where the rigours of the Season oppos'd you After such a blow your Majesty may undertake what you please That 's very well says his Majesty but where do you judge it will be necessary to open the Campâ—ign shall it be by the Siege of At h or Charleroy as these places are nearest it seems that we must begin there No Sir says Luxemburgh you must attack your Enemies in a more sensible part At h and Charleroy are places which will fall of themselves into your Majesties Hands What must be done then says his Majesty shall we go to Bombard Brussels No Sir says Luxemburgh that is not worth while it must be a more shining enterprize it is not reasonable your Majesty should put your self at the head of your Armieâ— for so small a matter What then says his Majesty shall we Attack Ostend by Sea and by Land this loss will be very sensible to my Enemies because that is the place where all the English Troops come to Land and from thence we may penetrate into the Heart of the County of Flanders No Sir
should happen to me and that that should fall out for having fail'd of good Intelligence Sir reply'd the Mareschal de Lorge the Germans go not so fast in business your Majesty makes them gain at this time more Conquests than they will make in three Campaigns They are too great Friends to their Ease and good Cheer to forsake their Winter Quarters in the Month of May. Now I think on't de Lorge says his Majesty How did you Govern your self the last Campaign which was that of 1691. for I hear that their Army was strong Sir answer'd de Lorge this Campaign was pass'd like the rest that is to say in disputing the Ground But as the Confederate Army commanded by the late Elector of Saxony came very late into the Field which is the Original Sin of the Germans that of your Majesty had two Months sooner the Enemies Country at her discretion After having caus'd the Forrage to be consum'd on the Right and Left as I had Orders from your Majesty to keep my self upon the Defensive I repass'd the Rhine upon the Arrival of the Enemies Army The Duke of Saxony pretended to follow me but as he wanted more necessaries than I to make a Bridg so I was on the other side before he was ready and made my self first Master of the best Posts The Marquiss d Vxelles made on his side with a Flying Camp all the necessary Marches and Counter-marches as well to cover the Place as to give false Alarms to the Enemies Monsieur de Melac open'd the Campaign by thirty Villages that he Burnt with a very good Grace As he is the ablest Incendiary of Europe so he has reason to hope for a Mareschals Staff for recompence But says his Majesty How did then the Designs of the Elector of Saxony end Sir answer'd de Lorge this Elector was a good Prince made much of by the God Mars but a lover of Joy of Pleasure and of good Chear Brave otherwise as the Sword he wore But as he was not absolute in the Army and that I had the secret to divide them I knew always beforehand by the means of my Spies and my Intelligence all the Resolutions taken in their Council Besides I do not know a Nation more lyable to be Corrupted than the Brabancons at the sight of a Golden Calf they all Humble and Prostrate themselves St. Louis was a great Saint in Germany as well as in Flanders I speak as to particulars because as to the general each People have their Scaevola who had rather Dye a Thousand times than betray their Country To come back to my Subject the Division began and the Sickness accomplish'd the ruin of their Army which coming to want Provisions by the defect of the Magazines saw themselves reduc'd to the brink of falling into great extremities The Elector himself having felt in his own Person part of the Evils which began to afflict his Army went out of the Camp and caus'd himself to be carryed Sick of the Bloody Flux to Frankfort Sometime after I heard of his Death which made an end of the Expeditions of the Campaign of the Germans for the Year 1691. But answer'd the King that does not follow and does not prove that it will be the same this year The Germans may come again to themselves make just reflections and enter into their true Interests and as they have a mighty Spur which is the Prince of Orange and have on the other side from Forty to Fifty Thousand Men if they should come all of a sudden to pass the Rhine and force you I am perswaded that you would be in a great confusion having but Ten Thousand Men to oppose them So that coming to lose a Battle I should lose the Fairest Flower of my Crown and my good Fortune which has promis'd not to quit me but in the Grave would bid me eternally Farewel Besides that the Turk my Ally whom I have till now strove to raise up in his hopes by the consideration of the Progress that I have made upon the Rhine would turn his Back upon me and making his separate Peace with the Emperour our common Enemy I should find my self in a very ill condition Sir answer'd de Lorge do not forge unto your self Monsters for fighting them The Picture that your Majesty now makes of the present State of Germany is nothing less than such To be fully perswaded therein we need reflect only upon what has been done on that side since the beginning of the War till now Three Campaigns are pass'd without having gaind one Inch of Ground upon your Majesty and if the Deceased Duke of Lorrain whom we might have call'd with Justice the Turenne of Germany had not by his Vigilance and his Bravery stir'd up and animated the Electors to take the Reins in their Hands and Unite all together to raise again the Glory of the Empire to work for her preservation and to set themselves in opposition to the Violence of the Common Enemy that same would not have been compassed So that in the Campaign which was of 1689. we saw them bestir themselves and minding their business heartily they form'd the Siege of Maâ—â—ence of Bon and of Keiserswert of which they made themselves Masters But this great Zeal which had so â—â—rongly animated them cool'd by little and little and was wholly stifled by the Death of him who had first rais'd it Besâ—des if your Majesty wishes to have a more sensible proof of what your Enemies are in a condition to undertake on that side you have only to follow the course of the Rhiâ—e in beginning by the Palatinate so to Colegâ—â— and then to consider the condition which most of the Members of the Empire have been reduc'd to since the Rupture of the Truce Let us begin with the Palatinate I do not think that your Majesty has any thing to fear on that side since it is only a Melancholy remainder of what escap'd the Fury of the Soldiers and the Barbarity of the Incendiaries and by consequence worthier of pity and compassion than to be fear'd As for the Elector Palatine he is a brave Prince and who might be fear'd if he had Power in his Hands Let us go on to the Elector of Mayence neither will he put himself at the Head of the Imperial Army to Command it because on the other side it is not his business I am perswaded that he will be very sorry to have chang'd his Cross for a Marshal's Staff and he ought long ago to have remember'd the Allyance of your Majesty and to have more than he did hearken'd to the French Sirens which obstinacy hath made him become a Prince without Land an Arch-bishop without a Diocess and a Shephard without a â—lock and he would have been still in the same condition if the Deceased Dâ—ke of Lorrain and the Allies had not taken up Arms in his Favour to recover him a part of his Country as for the rest the
Prince as we may say forcing nature in the Child did so harass him in mounting on Horse back and fencing before he was strong enough to bear these rude Exeâ—â—ises that he thereby lost one full Third of hiâ— Boâ—y In effect those that have seen him undress'd know that he is in a manner all Thighs and Leggs Nevertheless this last opinion is scarcely believ'd if we make Reflection upon his hump back which gives him so ridiculous an Air and which cannot be look'd upon otherwise than a natural defect and it is reasonable to believe he came into the World in this condition because we certainly see by experience that the exercise of Arms contributes rather to regulate and render the Body free than to cause such imperfections Let it be as it will he has improv'd it well We may say that he is at present a Man after the King 's own Heart so it is not to be wonder'd at if he leaves to him the Government of his Armies since he has been bold several times to say That he thank'd God that he had caus'd him to be born without pity and compassion to the end he might be more capable of serving the King his Master and executing his designs A very Christian like sentiment and worthy of Monsieur de Luxemburgh But as to the Hump in his Back it will not be amiss to give an account of a thought which he had the day after the Battle of Fleurns As he receiv'd the Complements of success from the Lieutenant Generals and other Officers of his Army shewing them his Hump he told them he had there a reserve of a Body of Forty Thousand Men of which his Enemies knew nothing which would always render him Victorious thereby remarking the Artifices which he made use of which without contradiction makes up a good part of the Necromancy of which he was accused and which he himself has begun to Communicate since he has been a Commander to the other French Generals The Marquess de Bouflers who was one of his principal Disciples did him most Honour for he it is that at present seems to have profited most by the Lessons of his Master So Monsieur de Luxemburgh chose him to be at the Head of this reserve of which he spoke and was very careful in all the Battles to place him so well that he was seen running up and down like a Mad-Man not to say fly upon the least signal that he gave him The King seeing him come in turn'd towards him and spoke in these Terms Luxemburgh you are the Person at this Day in whom France places her greatest hopes my People look upon you as their Turenne and I my self esteem you as my right Hand you see me engaged in an unhappy War which consumes my Treasure impoverishes my Subjects ruins the State and makes me apprehensive of unhappy Events It is a lingring Fever which undermines by little and little my Kingdom and I fear lest it should in the issue become like Spain that is to say a poor and impotent Desert Sir answer'd Luxemburgh I thank your Majesty for having forgot my pass'd faults and for honouring me with the preference of the Command of your Armies before the Marshal d' Humieres much Older and Wiser than my self I am at the same time very much Obliged to the deceased Marquess of Louvois my good Friend and to the good Madam de Maintenon who sollicited my release and employ'd all their credit with your Majesty to get me out of the Bastile where I had been shut up upon the Death of the Count de Soissons and several other small matters which I was branded withall I vow I did not expect to be received again into your Grace and Favour your Majesty having had since tâ—e War of 1672 a particular aversion to my Pâ—rson But on the other side I am glad to see that my Enemies have for their part shame and trouble by the Triumph of my Innocence after having imploy'd all their power to ruin me I shall remember all my Life time the reverend Father La Chaise and the jealous Madam de Montespan who have been the principal actors of this Tragedy and if it is natural to keep resentment I will reserve to my self a favourable occasion to let them know that I have not been either a Necromancer nor Madam Brinvilliers Disciple But answer'd his Majesty Let us not talk of pass'd Quarrels altho' what is said of you should be true and also that you had a familiar Spirit to win Battles to gain the Love of the Ladies and to please me I will in acknowledgment of the Services that you have done me in the Wars of Holland and that you may do me in the present War order the Courts of Justice to burn the Informations and the Tryal and to forbid any upon pain of Death throughout my whole Kingdom to talk directly or indirectly of it Sir answered Luxemburg I most humbly thank your Majesty for the care that you will take of my reputation and I do engage upon my word that in remembrance of so great a Favour I will do for my part all that lies in my power to ruin your Enemies and advance your Conquests You know answer'd his Majesty That the first Campaign which was that of 1689. I gave the Command of my Army to the Marshal d' Humieres and that this General who is a good Man did really do me good service For it was him that I sent Ambassador to the Court of England immediately after the Death of King Charles and he executed my Orders very punctually For King James who came to be Crown'd King of three Kingdoms received him with open Arms and very generously accepted all the offers of Alliance and Friendship that Humieres made him on my behalf But this unfortunate Prince afterwards not having followed my Orders found himself all of a sudden overwhelm'd with great troubles and has engag'd me in a War which has Arm'd all Europe against me But to come to my purpose Having then chose him to Command in Flanders against Prince Waldeck a General of good Conduct and well instructed in what concern'd the Order that an Army in her Marches and Incampments ought to be kept in but on the other hand very unlucky to hazard a Battle I remark'd that in this first year the Marshal d' Humieres suffer'd himself to be Coop'd up as we say by Prince Waldeck and that he had during the whole Campaign the disadvantage I remember also very well the Battle of Walcourt which was on the Great St. Louis day Patron and Protector of my Kingdom where all my House-hold was Cut in pieces but I pardon him with all my heart because he did it with a good intention and belief of doing me Service that day The little Genius of d' Humieres was not only the cause of this check but we may also say that he favour'd by the little motion he made the Enterprizes
says Luxemburgh this Conquest is not important enough to imploy a King with an Army of one hundred and fifty thousand Men. What shall be done then says his Majesty shall we enter into the Country of Liege to force the Prince of that Diocess to lay down his Arms and to submit himself to my clemency No says Luxemburgh that expedition is more proper for Boufflers than your Majesty it is not glorious enough for a Prince who marches only to attack invincible places Ha! What then says his Majesty Thus Sir says Luxemburgh your Majesty must come at the Head of one hundred and fifty thousand Men divided into three Bodies the first of which shall be commanded by your Majesty having under you the Mareschall d' Humieres The the second shall be under the Command of the Marquess de Bâ—ufflers and the third shall be remitted to my Conduct The Army being thus divided the Marquess de Boufflers shall take the Van with a Body of fifteen thousand Horse and possess the passages and avenues The main Body of the Army being arriv'd your Majesty shall form the Siege of Namur and by the taking of that important place you will render your self Master of a whole County which is without contradiction the finest of the Low Countries Luxemburgh says his Majesty this enterprise is great and this place seems to me Impregnable by it Situation besides the building of a certain Fort which is called Fort William built within this little while renders it almost inaccessible Sir says Luxemburgh Art and Inteltelligence must favour force and as we say sow the Tail of the Fox to the Skin of the Lyon I know an expedient by which half of these difficulties will be overcome and thus it is as I understand it There is in the Cittadel a certain Baron de Berse which is a Major a Man fit to do any thing a high spender and much given to his pleasures I understand that this Berse calls himself Kinsman of Madam de Maintenon and that 's what we want But says his Majesty who has told you that this Berse will be a fit Man to hold correspondence Sir answer'd Luxemburgh it is sufficient that he is given to Debauchery Your Majesty must charge Madam de Maintenon with all this business and whilst we shall be preparing Bombs and Carcasses she on her side must attack the strongest part of the place by fair and good guilded Letters which will do more in one day than an Army of one hundred and fifty thousand Men in six weeks Ho! says his Majesty if matters be so my good and dear Maintenon will do that well enough to do me a kindness But what is it she must promise him in order to engage him Sir says Luxemburgh she must promise him one hundred thousand Livers for reward and after the reduction of the place a Lieutenant Generals Post I am persuaded that he will accept the proposition and that in less than eight days your Majesty will have convincing proofs thereof Ha! Well says his Majesty suppose then for example that he accepts the offers that Maintenon shall make him in your opinion what method must he take to favour the enterprize Sir says Luxemburgh it is this he must in the first place make an exact Register of all the Provisions and Ammunitions of War which shall be found in the Cittadel he must also make a very regular draught of the strength and weakness both of the Cittadel the Devils House Fort William â—e must oppose in quality of Major of thc Cittadel to all that shall be undertaken on the behalf of the Prince of Barbancon who he must also endeavour to engage if that can be done He must inform your Majesty or some of your Generals of all the designs marches and countermarches of your Enemies he must at the same time seem to do nothing but to keep himself in the Cittadel and at his ordinary Post just till you give him notice that the Mine is to be sprung Which being done Madam de Maintenon must write to him some time before to pretend to come out in a Party and suffer himself to be taken Prisoner as if it had happen'd by imprudence The Invention is not bad says his Majesty Sir says Luxemburgh being thus made Master of a Man who will inform you at bottom of the least Circumstances you ought to assure your self that from this time forth the place is surrendred If that be so says his Majesty we shall have as good a Bargain as that of Mons. But the Prince of Orange is about to repass the Sea in order to be present here early and by what I can learn here may put himself into the Field as soon as I and having a great Army and being accompany'd with the Elector of Bavaria they may well dispute this Conquest with me these two Princes are of a little hot temper so that this attacking them by so sensible an enterprise will so infâ—ame them that they will not fail to get together all their Forces to oppose me I do not doubt says Luxemburgh that whilst this Opera shall be playing in Flanders we must prepare a Tragedy in England for the Prince of Orange Your Majesty told me confidently the last time that King James had receiv'd Letters almost from all the Nobility and great ones of the Kingdom besides that there was a great number of Quakers and Faâ—aticks that had all unanimously espoused the Interest and Cause of this Prince to re-establish him upon the Throne if your Majesty would only favour and support their enterprize by Eighteen or Twenty Thousand Men which would make a Descent into the Isle of Wight It is true says his Majesty and I have my self read the Letters A Person of Quality says in express terms that his British Majesty has nothing to do but to come that he cannot believe with how much impatience and earnestness the Grandees of the Kingdom aâ—d the People wait for him that all the World generally is concern'd for his re-establishment upon the Throne That in short they begin to make proivsions of Arms and Horses which they gather together the most secretly theâ— can without forgetting good Summs of Mony which they keep ready to pay the Troops to be raised in the Kingdom which shall consist only of persons discontented with the present Government Sir says Luxemburgh if the thing be so that will be a great stroke the Prince of Orange must of all necessity repass the Sea in all hast to go to the succor of his three Kingdoms and in the mean time your Majesty may do your business without opposition and without resistance Your Majesty must give Orders without losing of time to the Count de Tourville to have the Fleet ready to Sail and that a great number of Transport Ships be got together in great diligence for the Embarquing of the Troops But says his Majesty I shall not be very well pleased that Tourville
given the Government of Languedoc to his keeping and that even till one of the three young Princes should be of age to fill it he was willing also to give him the command of the Army in Catalonia as well by reason of the nearness of the place as also of the knowledge which he hath of the Spanish Tongue and Manners But he had so small a number in Catalonia that it was not worth while to talk of it that at most we might reckon upon three thousand Men of eight that were there the five thousand remaining being design'd to make the Campaign and to act against the Miquelets His Majesty added that it was true that he had advice by the means of his Spies at the Court of Spain that the Catholick King caus'd a Fleet to be Arm'd of 14 or 15 Men of War which were to be jointly commanded with the Gallies by Admiral Papichini to cruise in the Medditerranean from the moment that the Count d' Estrees should be put to Sea and that they seem'd to have a mind to attempt something upon the Coast of Provence to favour the Duke of Savoy But that he gave so little Faith to all those discourses that he made no difficulty to say that since they had undertaken nothing like it the two last Campaigns it was a proof of their weakness and that he had by consequence nothing to fear on that side From the affairs of Catalonia his Majesty came to those of Germany and order'd immediately that Catinat should go out of the Chamber and that the Mareschal de Lorge should come in who commanded his Army upon the Rhine and said to him de Lorge I pray you tell me a word of the condition in which you left 〈◊〉 Troops Sir aâ—â—wer'd de Lorge your Army upon the Rhine has suffer'd much by the diseases which have Reign'd all this Campaign and also it finds its self much weaken'd by the Death of so great a number of brave Officers and Souldiers not to speak of the desertion which has been also very great notwithstanding any thing we could do to hinder it Nevertheless by the care that the Marquess d' Vxelles Monsieur de Melac and I have taken your Majesties Army is at present in an incomparable better condition than it was We have given it good Winter Quarters which has much contributed to it's refreshment and cause the Diseases to abate After that we have set our selves to work with heat and success to make the necessary recruits to render the Regiments compleat and that by the means of Mony which we are to consider in that Country as the Materia prima and the second cause which makes that it is ador'd among the Germans and that by this means your Majesty will never want Souldiers The King seeing Monsieur de Melac who followed the Mareschal de Lorge address'd himself to him and said to him Melac have you brought a List of the Villages that you have burnt in Germany and particularly in the Palatinate and along the Rhine Melac answer'd Sir I have not yet made it but if your Majesty desires it I will make one immediately His Majesty answer'd him you will do me a kindness and you must take care at the same time to mark those that remain to be burnt Afterwards his Majesty address'd himself to the Marquess d' Vxelles who had likewise follow'd the Duke de Lorge and said to him d' Vxelles I am not altogether satisfied with the way of your living and I have heard many disadvantagious things to your Reputation for I am inform'd every day that you plunge your self into the dirty Debaucheries of the Duke de Vendosme altho' on the other side I do not dislike your Services and I have given you sufficient marks by conferring upon you the charge of Lieutenant General in memory of the Siege of Mayence that you defended seven weeks together against an Army of one hundred thousand Men which had at their Head the Duke of Lorrain and all the Electors of the Empire The Marquess d' Vxelles answer'd Sir I very well see that I have great Enemies at Court But I pray your Majesty to be persuaded that all these false reports that have come to your Ears do owe their Birth only to the jealousy and misunderstanding of some Generals whom I shall name in time and place in order to clear my self when your Majesty shall please to order me His Majesty answered the time is too short to enter into such a discussion greater affairs call me into Flanders so I reserve to inform my self of all these matters at my return from the Campaign After which his Majesty turning himself towards Monsieur the Duke de Lorge said to him de Lorge I have call'd you to assist in this Council of War to reveal to you a great design I have resolv'd to march into Flanders at the Head of an Army of one hundred and fifty thousand Men the time presses and the undertaking is important so I shall have occasion for all my Forces I have already given orders to make all the regulate Troops to come that I have in Italy except nine thousand Men for according to the report that Catinat has just now made me I judge that my Enemies will undertake nothing on that side Besides that I have let the Duke de Nouailles know that my will was that he should make a Detachment of three thousand Men of his best Troops and that he should make them march apace to the end they might be in the nick of time at the Rendevouse The business in Hand then is to know the number of the Troops of my Army in Germany the Detachment that you are in a condition to make and those you have occasion for to cover my Conquests with on that side Sir answer'd the Mareschal de Lorge your Majesties Army in Germany may amount to about fifty thousand Men reckoning the Garrisons of Strasbourg of Philipsbourg and the other places so you may depend upon a Detachment of twenty or twenty five thousand Men the other twenty five thousand which remain shall be order'd for the preservation of the Country of which I can at any time form an Army of ten thousand Men which will be more than sufficient to observe the Enemy and the rest shall be distributed in the Garrisons of the Frontier places But answer'd his Majesty could not the Germans during that time make use of your weakness and undertake the Siege of Philipsbourg or Landaw or else Mont Royal that the deceased Duke of Lorrain look'd upon as the Flower of all my Fortresses and insomuch that he was resolv'd to have it at any rate Or at least can they not make some considerable ravage in the Country and oblige me to quit a great undertaking half begun As I do not march unprofitably but to gather Lawrels and that Victory may follow me wherever I go I should have an inconceivable trouble if a Reverse