Forty of the enemy’s vessels arrived at Nice shortly afterwards, and landed artillery.  M. de Savoie arrived there also, with six or seven thousand men.  It was now no longer hidden that the siege of Toulon was determined on.  Every preparation was at once made to defend the place.  Tesse was in command.  The delay of a day on the part of the enemy saved Toulon, and it may be said, France.  M. de Savoie had been promised money by the English.  They disputed a whole day about the payment, and so retarded the departure of the fleet from Nice.  In the end, seeing M. de Savoie firm, they paid him a million, which he received himself.  But in the mean time twenty-one of our battalions had had time to arrive at Toulon.  They decided the fortune of the siege.  After several unsuccessful attempts to take the place, the enemy gave up the siege and retired in the night, between the 22nd and 23rd of August, in good order, and without being disturbed.  Our troops could obtain no sort of assistance from the people of Provence, so as to harass M. de Savoie in his passage of the Var.  They refused money, militia, and provisions bluntly, saying that it was no matter to them who came, and that M. de Savoie could not torment them more than they were tormented already.

The important news of a deliverance so desired arrived at Marly on Friday, the 26th of August, and overwhelmed all the Court with joy.  A scandalous fuss arose, however, out of this event.  The first courier who brought the intelligence of it, had been despatched by the commander of the fleet, and had been conducted to the King by Pontchartrain, who had the affairs of the navy under his control.  The courier sent by Tesse, who commanded the land forces, did not arrive until some hours after the other.  Chamillart, who received this second courier, was piqued to excess that Pontchartrain had outstripped him with the news.  He declared that the news did not belong to the navy, and consequently Pontchartrain had no right to carry it to the King.  The public, strangely enough, sided with Chamillart, and on every side Pontchartrain was treated as a greedy usurper.  Nobody had sufficient sense to reflect upon the anger which a master would feel against a servant who, having the information by which that master could be relieved from extreme anxiety, should yet withhold the information for six or eight hours, on the ground that to tell it was the duty of another servant!

The strangest thing is, that the King, who was the most interested, had not the force to declare himself on either side, but kept silent.  The torrent was so impetuous that Pontchartrain had only to lower his head, keep silent, and let the waters pass.  Such was the weakness of the King for his ministers.  I recollect that, in 1702, the Duc de Villeroy brought to Marly the important news of the battle of Luzzara.  But, because Chamillart was not there, he hid himself, left the King and the Court in the utmost anxiety, and did not announce his news until long after, when Chamillart, hearing of his arrival, hastened to join him and present him to the King.  The King was so far from being displeased, that he made the Duc de Villeroy Lieutenant-General before dismissing him.