anders would, during this year, be
the chief theatre of war. Here, therefore, a great army was collected.
Strong lines were formed from the Lys to the Scheld, and Villeroy fixed
his headquarters near Tournay. Boufflers, with about twelve thousand
men, guarded the banks of the Sambre.

On the other side the British and Dutch troops, who were under
`-William's immediate command, mustered in the neighbourhood of Ghent.
The Elector of Bavaria, at the head of a great force, lay near Brussels.
A smaller army, consisting chiefly of Brandenburghers was encamped not
far from Huy.

Early in June military operations commenced. The first movements of
William were mere feints intended to prevent the French generals from
suspecting his real purpose. He had set his heart on retaking Namur.
The loss of Namur had been the most mortifying of all the disasters of a
disastrous war. The importance of Namur in a military point of view had
always been great, and had become greater than ever during the
three years which had elapsed since the last siege. New works, the
masterpieces of Vauban, had been added to the old defences which had
been constructed with the utmost skill of Cohorn. So ably had the two
illustrious engineers vied with each other and cooperated with nature
that the fortress was esteemed the strongest in Europe. Over one gate
had been placed a vaunting inscription which defied the allies to wrench
the prize from the grasp of France.

William kept his own counsel so well that not a hint of his intention
got abroad. Some thought that Dunkirk, some that Ypres was his object.
The marches and skirmishes by which he disguised his design were
compared by Saint Simon to the moves of a skilful chess player.
Feuquieres, much more deeply versed in military science than Saint
Simon, informs us that some of these moves were hazardous, and that such
a game could not have been safely played against Luxemburg; and this is
probably true, but Luxemburg was gone; and what Luxemburg had been to
William, William now was to Villeroy.

While the King was thus employed, the Jacobites at home, being unable,
in his absence, to prosecute their design against his person, contented
themselves with plotting against his government. They were somewhat less
closely watched than during the preceding year; for the event of
the trials at Manchester had discouraged Aaron Smith and his agents.
Trenchard, whose vigilance and severity had made him an object of te