d by the counsels of his minister of war, Louvois, whose influence
was great, and who regarded Avaux with no friendly feeling. It was
determined to strike in a quarter remote from Holland a great and
unexpected blow. Lewis suddenly withdrew his troops from Flanders, and
poured them into Germany. One army, placed under the nominal command of
the Dauphin, but really directed by the Duke of Duras and by Vauban, the
father of the science of fortification, invested Philipsburg. Another,
led by the Marquess of Boufflers, seized Worms, Mentz, and Treves. A
third, commanded by the Marquess of Humieres, entered Bonn. All down the
Rhine, from Carlsruhe to Cologne, the French arms were victorious. The
news of the fall of Philipsburg reached Versailles on All Saints day,
while the Court was listening to a sermon in the chapel. The King made
a sign to the preacher to stop, announced the good news to the
congregation, and, kneeling down, returned thanks to God for this great
success. The audience wept for joy. [475] The tidings were eagerly
welcomed by the sanguine and susceptible people of France. Poets
celebrated the triumphs of their magnificent patron. Orators extolled
from the pulpit the wisdom and magnanimity of the eldest son of the
Church. The Te Deum was sung with unwonted pomp; and the solemn notes of
the organ were mingled with the clash of the cymbal and the blast of the
trumpet. But there was little cause for rejoicing. The great statesman
who was at the head of the European coalition smiled inwardly at the
misdirected energy of his foe. Lewis had indeed, by his promptitude,
gained some advantages on the side of Germany: but those advantages
would avail little if England, inactive and inglorious under four
successive Kings, should suddenly resume her old rank in Europe. A few
weeks would suffice for the enterprise on which the fate of the world
depended; and for a few weeks the United Provinces were in security.

William now urged on his preparations with indefatigable activity and
with less secrecy than he had hitherto thought necessary. Assurances of
support came pouring in daily from foreign courts. Opposition had become
extinct at the Hague. It was in vain that Avaux, even at this last
moment, exerted all his skill to reanimate the faction which had
contended against three generations of the House of Orange. The chiefs
of that faction, indeed, still regarded the Stadtholder with no friendly
feeling. They had reason to