amends, if we were but so fortunate as to escape the Danger which threaten'd us. At last we were delivered out of it, I don't well know how; for had the Enemy advanc'd ever so little, we were sure of being left dead on the Spot.
Thus, Madame, have I given you what pass'd most remarkable since the Storm of the Counterscarp. On the 11th, some Motion was made on the part of the Enemy, who even advanc'd almost up to our Trenches; but we were in a Posture to receive them. Their Army lay all Night under Arms, and next Morning at Daybreak drew up in Order of Battle, but contrary to our Expectation nothing came of it; for the Princes of France, the Chevalier de St. George, the Duke de Vendosme, and several General Officers contented themselves with taking a View of our Camp; but as they advanc'd somewhat too near to our Intrenchments, we were oblig'd to be a little rude to such great Princes, and to let fly some Cannon-Ball among them, whereupon they thought fit to retire.
My Lord Duke heard the same Day, that M. de Chamillard, Secretary at War, was arriv'd from Versailles in the Army of France, to be present at a Council which was to be held there. It was therein resolv'd, That we should not be attack'd, and that their only Business should be to cut off our Convoys from Brussels. To execute this Project they posted themselves behind the Scheld, from whence they indeed did very much incommode us. We had no Passage left now but from Ostend, by which General Webb brought us a considerable Convoy. M. de la Motte, a Lieutenant-General of the French Army endeavor'd to hinder its Passage; he had also the Advantage of the Ground. Nevertheless he was defeated near
Wynendale. To this Convoy may be ascrib'd the Conquest of Lisle, which was at length oblig'd to surrender on the 28th of October, and the Marshal de Boufflers retir'd into the Citadel; yet as brave as the Garison was that march'd into it with him, he could not hold it out long. Thus the Allies gain'd some considerable Advantage or other every day. Never did they make a more glorious Campaign; for besides the taking of Lisle and its Citadel, they had also the Glory in this same Campaign of raising the Siege which the Elector of Bavaria had laid to Brussels, and of reducing Ghent and Bruges.
I forgot to tell you, that during the Siege of Lisle, we had like to have lost Prince Eugene. This Prince receiv'd a Packet one day by the Post, and having broke it open, he saw a greasy Paper, which gave him a mistrust; but he only threw it upon the Ground, and a Person that gathered it up being taken ill, it induc'd them to make an Experiment upon a Dog, which when they had rubb'd it about his Nose, died that Instant. Thus was God pleas'd to preserve this Hero from the basest of Treasons.
I wish'd I could have been at the taking of Lisle, but was oblig'd to quit the Army some time before, M. Dankelman my Tutor having receiv'd the King's Orders to send me to Berlin, where his Majesty design'd to give me a Place at Court; and as he had Thoughts of marrying again, he propos'd to prefer me to an Employment under the new Queen.
The King's Marriage was talk'd of at the Waters of Carelsbadt. I have had the honor to acquaint you, Madame, that the Physicians not knowing what Remedy to prescribe, for curing him of the Faintness, which was the Relic of his
great illness in 1707, had at all adventures order'd the Waters of Carelsbadt, and the King was perfectly recover'd by them. The Recovery of his Health reviv'd the Pleasures of the Court. The voluptuous Courtier, who had not yet forgot what the Presence of an amiable Queen is capable of doing, began to form Vows, that the King might make a Choice as good as the first: nay, the matter was carried farther; it was mention'd to his Majesty, who was told withal, that nothing was more necessary, than to think immediately of a second Marriage; and that the Prince Royal having no Children, there was Danger of his Majesty's leaving no Issue. In short, every body voted so heartily for a Marriage, that the King, who also was desirous of it, declar'd he wou'd marry again. The only difficulty was to know, who should be the Princess that was to be advanc'd to the Throne; and then arose several Parties, who had each very different Views.
The Great Chamberlain was for the Princess of Nassau-Friesland, a Marriage with whom, he imagin'd, would put an end to all the Disputes about King William's Succession. The King approv'd of the Proposal, and sent the Baron de Schalifer to negociate the Treaty. You would not believe perhaps, Madame, that the very Mother of this Princess caus'd it to miscarry, from a Jealousy of her Daughter's Grandeur. Her Pretext was, that she had before vainly flatter'd herself with the Hopes of marrying her Daughter to the Prince Royal; that she had been bubbled then; and that it would be the same thing now. The Assurances that the Baron gave her to the contrary, and the Advantages he shew'd her would accrue to her Family from this Match, were all to no
purpose; she remain'd inflexible; and told him in plain Terms, that she could not bear to think of seeing her Daughter so much above her. The Baron having made some other Attempts, this jealous Mother prevail'd on her Daughter to refuse the greatest Offer she could ever hope for. A great many of the Courtiers were not sorry to see this Match broke off. They had been jealous for a long time of the great Credit of the Prince of Anhalt, who being Uncle to the Princess in question, 'twas natural to presume, that she would grow more powerful than before, besides the being more united than ever to the Great Chamberlain, to whom the Prince would be oblig'd for this Marriage.