France might have reproached Louis XIV. for the arrogance which had drawn her, with him, to the borders of an abyss. Intoxicated as well as the monarch by an insensate ardor for glory, the French people had long served the royal passions. They cruelly expiated their faults, without however allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by their misfortunes. In France, as well as in Spain, the people and the army nobly responded to the appeals of the sovereigns. "It is a miracle that the firmness and the virtue of the soldier survives the sufferings of hunger," said Marshal Villars, who took command of the French army in the Low Countries. He encountered near Malplaquet, on the 11th of September, 1709, Prince Eugene and Marlborough, who had just taken possession of Tournay. In vain did Villars, for many days, implore the king for permission to give battle. When finally, to his great joy, the orders were given to engage the enemy, his troops were so eager for the combat that they threw away the rations which had just been distributed to them. "Vive le Roi! Vive le marechal!" cried the soldiers. Villars intrenched himself outside of a woods. "So we have still to fight against moles," angrily said Prince Eugene. During the action Marshal Villars was seriously wounded. "I had my wound dressed upon the field, and placed myself upon a chair to give my orders," wrote he in his Memoirs, "but the pain caused me a swoon, which lasted so long that I was borne unconsciously to Quesnoy." Prince Eugene, also wounded, while attacking the centre of the French army, refused all care. "There will be time enough for that this evening, if I survive," said he calmly. He remained on his horse. Marshal Boufflers, who had served thus far as a volunteer, took the command of the French army. Its defeat was complete, although glorious. The retreat was conducted like a parade. The allies lost twenty thousand men. "If God vouchsafe that we should lose such another battle," wrote Villars to Louis XIV., "your Majesty could count your enemies destroyed." The king was not deceived; but he sadly renewed the negotiations by sending Marshal Uxelles, and the Abbé Polignac to Gertruydenberg. {109}