was obstructed by several fences
and ditches; there was a short delay; and a short delay sufficed to
frustrate his design. Luxemburg was the very man for such a conjuncture.
He had committed great faults; he had kept careless guard; he had
trusted implicitly to information which had proved false; he had
neglected information which had proved true; one of his divisions was
flying in confusion; the other divisions were unprepared for action.
That crisis would have paralysed the faculties of an ordinary captain;
it only braced and stimulated those of Luxemburg. His mind, nay his
sickly and distorted body, seemed to derive health and vigour from
disaster and dismay. In a short time he had disposed every thing. The
French army was in battle order. Conspicuous in that great array were
the household troops of Lewis, the most renowned body of fighting men
in Europe; and at their head appeared, glittering in lace and embroidery
hastily thrown on and half fastened, a crowd of young princes and lords
who had just been roused by the trumpet from their couches or their
revels, and who had hastened to look death in the face with the gay and
festive intrepidity characteristic of French gentlemen. Highest in
rank among these highborn warriors was a lad of sixteen, Philip Duke of
Chartres, son of the Duke of Orleans, and nephew of the King of France.
It was with difficulty and by importunate solicitation that the gallant
boy had extorted Luxemburg's permission to be where the fire was
hottest. Two other youths of royal blood, Lewis Duke of Bourbon, and
Armand Prince of Conti, showed a spirit worthy of their descent. With
them was a descendant of one of the bastards of Henry the Fourth, Lewis
Duke of Vendome, a man sunk in indolence and in the foulest vice, yet
capable of exhibiting on a great occasion the qualities of a great
soldier. Berwick, who was beginning to earn for himself an honourable
name in arms, was there; and at his side rode Sarsfield, whose courage
and ability earned, on that day, the esteem of the whole French army.
Meanwhile Luxemburg had sent off a pressing message to summon Boufflers.
But the message was needless. Boufflers had heard the firing, and, like
a brave and intelligent captain, was already hastening towards the point
from which the sound came.

Though the assailants had lost all the advantage which belongs to a
surprise, they came on manfully. In the front of the battle were the
British commanded by Count