1673. Louvois, who was no friend to Turenne, allotted the larger force of 45,000 men to Condé, to oppose William of Orange in the neighbourhood of Charleroy. The Stadtholder combined a fine army of Dutch and Spanish, counting nearly 60,000 men; but it was already July before any campaign commenced; for Condé could not attempt the offensive with his inferior numbers; and he held a strong position in his camp at Réton, which yielded him something like an equality with his adversary. His policy was therefore to sit still. William, however, resolved to draw him down from his position, by moving towards Senef. With extraordinary negligence, the Prince of Orange marched, in all the confidence of superior strength, in a careless and straggling march, in which he exposed his flank to the enemy. The fault was not likely to be overlooked by the greater experience and eagle glance of Condé. It was the 11th August when, mounting his horse, he led the household cavalry of France, and fell upon the village of Senef, in which rested the combined infantry and cavalry of the Spaniards. In a very few moments these were forced to fly from the village; but having joined themselves to another division of the combined army near St. Nicholas-au-Bois, the Comte de Monetery made a stubborn resistance, which induced Condé to order the Chevalier de Fourilles, the famous cavalry organizer, to lead a reinforcement to the spot. It is said that this officer called the attention of the Prince to the amount of bloodshed that would attend the attempt to carry the position; whereupon Condé replied, "It is obedience I demand of you now, and not advice." The brave Fourilles, stung by this reproach, dashed forward, and in an instant received a mortal wound. William of Orange, aroused by the onslaught, disputed the ground by inches; and both leaders endeavoured to repair faults by prodigality of bloodshed, while both shared in the fight like athletes. Condé had three horses killed under him, and William lost

several; nor did the strife end till after the moon had 1673. risen. It was not till after having been seventeen hours on horseback, that Condé regained his camp; and 27,000 corpses are said to have been left on the field of battle. Neither army retained possession of the field; so that neither of the illustrious chiefs could claim a victory, and no consequence of note resulted from the battle. Louis XIV. was not pleased at the lavish waste of the blood of his soldiers at Senef; nevertheless His Majesty gave the Prince a reception full of kindness and grace, for His Majesty went to meet him as far as the great staircase of Versailles. Condé, who had nearly lost the use of his legs from gout, and from the effect of the violence of a fall from one of the horses he rode at the battle, was ascending the stairs very slowly, when, seeing the King, he exclaimed, "I crave your Majesty's pardon if I keep you waiting." "My cousin," replied Louis, "do not hurry yourself; when one is so laden with laurels, one cannot walk fast!"

Flanders:

Vauban,

Condé again resumed the command of the army De Crequi's under Louis in Flanders. The towns of Huy and successes in Dinant, which had been besieged and taken from the Limburg is French in the last campaign, were recaptured by the taken by Maréchal de Crequi, on the 19th May; and Limburg, 20th June: a strong fortress and better defended, succumbed under death of Turenne, the attack of Vauban on the 20th June; after which, 27th. on the 17th July, the King quitted the army and returned to Versailles. Soon after this an event occurred which placed France in mourning, and affected all her policy, the death of Turenne on the 27th. The immediate consequence of the great Maréchal's death was a dispute as to who had the right to succeed to the command of the army in Alsace; which the King at once settled by ordering the Prince de Condé to undertake the charge of it. He pleaded the increasing infirmities of his health; but nevertheless obeyed. The plans of the great leader, however, had perished with him, and his rival and friend "exprima son regret de ne pouvoir

1675.

Condé retires to Chantilly:

his encou

causer seulement deux heures avec l'ombre de Monsieur de Turenne." Neither his adversary nor Condé could resume the thread of those famous manœuvres that had immortalized his lost genius; and after a futile campaign the armies of both leaders took up their winter quarters at the beginning of November.

It was here that Monsieur le Prince terminated his military career. He could have wished to have given his command to his son; and offered to assist him ragement with his counsel. But Louis XIV. would have no of men of letters: decrepid generals; nor did he put faith in a reversion his death, of genius. Condé withdrew to Chantilly, where he 11th Dec., 1686. repaired the severity of his attacks of violent gout by the society of men of letters, whose intercourse he both loved and cultivated. He was indeed quite equal to the converse of such a circle, by his own knowledge of the Arts and Sciences. Racine, Boileau, Corneille, Molière, Pascal, La Fontaine, Bossuet, and Bourdeloue, were often his guests in his retirement, and gilded the decline of life, which terminated at Fontainebleau on the 11th December, 1686. But although he had only lived three-score years, he exhibited in the few last years of his existence the same "tears of dotage" that are recorded of the great Marlborough. Voltaire remarks, "Il ne resta rien du grand Condé les deux dernières années de sa vie." It is fair to say, that other authorities are quoted to the effect, "that he preserved his senses to the last."

Condé's military character.

It is difficult to question the military reputation of Condé without offending a great and gallant nation, who never mention his name without the prefix of "Grand." As to the use of that epithet, it has been so capriciously ascribed to heroes, that it is not worth while to quarrel about it. But no just exception can be made if one who assumes to write an impartial biography hesitates to concur in the French estimate of a warrior who does not appear to have evinced any great ability in strategy or tactics, nor to have in

vented or improved either the art or the implements 1686. of war. Let us take a short review of his battles. Beginning with Rocroy, we find a daring young man, in the full blaze of native fire and ardent spirits. While in command of a considerable army, this rash and inexperienced young man places himself at the head of a body of horse, and actually passes to the rear of the enemy's army from one flank to the other. It is true that the consequence of this charge was utterly to break up the Spanish Tercios, which had been till then the dread of Europe. But this unwieldy formation was already out of date, and it was no act of generalship that destroyed them. Very nearly a similar account may be given of his next so-called victory,-"The three days of Freiburg." Here Condé, with an amount of presumption that would have been highly blamed in any other than a young Prince, acted in direct opposition to the experience of Turenne, and gained a very doubtful victory by perseverance in slaughter, rather than by any military skill. At the Battle of Allersheim, Condé again acted in opposition to Turenne's advice, and only obtained a barren victory at such a cost of blood that the Queen Regent was forbidden to rejoice at it. In all these three battles there was the same young man's road to glory

daring, dash, and perseverance in bloodshed; and nothing of importance was obtained without a fearful sacrifice of human life.

The Battle of Lens1 first shows the Prince de Condé as an efficient leader of an army; and here a very complicated action required as much genius as bravery, both of which were conspicuous in the conflict. But even here there was little evidence of the higher

1 The term "petits maîtres" is said to have been first applied in ridicule to the followers of the Prince, when returning to Paris after this victory; flushed with the renommée they had obtained, they gave themselves such insolent airs as to be quite intolerable.

1686.

Condé's personal characteristics.

military characteristics. Nor indeed when he was opposed to Turenne, did he ever shine with any success ; but then it was said he fought with the Spaniards against the French. His latest campaigns-the seizure of Franche Comté, and the two or three campaigns in Flanders, including even the Battle of Senef, were all creditable enough; but none of the incidents were such as to raise him to that transcendental height to which his countrymen love to exalt him. Let it, however, be recorded to his high honour, that by his last will the Prince bequeathed 50,000 crowns to be distributed in those districts in which, during his wars, he had been the cause of the greatest havoc and personal misery. This was a noble tribute from an old soldier, and evidences to the world that none can so well appreciate the sufferings of war as those who have shared in and witnessed them.

In person, Condé had an agreeable expression, a noble air, and a very fine head. His eyes, though blue, were full of vivacity; and his nose so arched and aquiline, that, as has been said of many countenances in which the nose predominates, it had the resemblance of an eagle's. There was an expression about the mouth that was faulty; for it was large, and the teeth were disagreeably prominent. His personal bearing is reputed to have been stern and haughty".

2 "Life of the Great Condé," by L. J., Prince of Condé; Bussy Rabutin-"Mémoires de Retz;" Histories of France; Lord Stanhope's "Life of Condé ;" and Biographical Dictionaries, passim.