was carried on, by which the soldiers suffered little
and the cultivators of the soil much. But all men looked, with anxious
expectation of some great event, to the frontier of Brabant, where
William was opposed to Luxemburg.

Luxemburg, now in his sixty-sixth year, had risen, by slow degrees,
and by the deaths of several great men, to the first place among the
generals of his time. He was of that noble house of Montmorency which
united many mythical and many historical titles to glory, which boasted
that it sprang from the first Frank who was baptized into the name of
Christ in the fifth century, and which had, since the eleventh century,
given to France a long and splendid succession of Constables and
Marshals. In valour and abilities Luxemburg was not inferior to any of
his illustrious race. But, highly descended and highly gifted as he was,
he had with difficulty surmounted the obstacles which impeded him in the
road to fame. If he owed much to the bounty of nature and fortune, he
had suffered still more from their spite. His features were frightfully
harsh, his stature was diminutive; a huge and pointed hump rose on his
back. His constitution was feeble and sickly. Cruel imputations had been
thrown on his morals. He had been accused of trafficking with sorcerers
and with vendors of poison, had languished long in a dungeon, and had at
length regained his liberty without entirely regaining his honour. [309]
He had always been disliked both by Louvois and by Lewis. Yet the war
against the European coalition had lasted but a very short time when
both the minister and the King felt that the general who was personally
odious to them was necessary to the state. Conde and Turenne were no
more; and Luxemburg was without dispute the first soldier that France
still possessed. In vigilance, diligence and perseverance he was
deficient. He seemed to reserve his great qualities for great
emergencies. It was on a pitched field of battle that he was all
himself. His glance was rapid and unerring. His judgment was clearest
and surest when responsibility pressed heaviest on him and when
difficulties gathered thickest around him. To his skill, energy and
presence of mind his country owed some glorious days. But, though
eminently successful in battles, he was not eminently successful in
campaigns. He gained immense renown at William's expense; and yet there
was, as respected the objects of the war, little to choose between the
two comm