It is, then, enough to say, that upon all occasions where address was reciprocally employed, the Chevalier gained the advantage; and that if he paid his court badly to the minister, he had the consolation to find, that those who suffered themselves to be cheated, in the end gained no great advantage from their complaisance; for they always continued in an abject submission, while the Chevalier de Grammont, on a thousand different occasions, never put himself under the least restraint.  Of which the following is one instance: 

The Spanish army, commanded by the Prince de Conde and the archduke, —­[Leopold, brother of the Emperor Ferdinand the III.]—­besieged Arras.  The Court was advanced as far as Peronne.—­[A little bat strong town, standing among marshes on the river Somme, in Picardy.]—­The enemy, by the capture of this place, would have procured a reputation for their army of which they were in great need; as the French, for a considerable time past, had evinced a superiority in every engagement.

The Prince supported a tottering party, as far as their usual inactivity and irresolution permitted him; but as in the events of war it is necessary to act independently on some occasions, which, if once suffered to escape, can never be retrieved; for want of this power it frequently happened that his great abilities were of no avail.  The Spanish infantry had never recovered itself since the battle of Rocroy;—­[This famous battle was fought and won 19th May, 1643, five days after the death of Louis XIII.]—­and he who had ruined them by that victory, by fighting against them, was the only man who now, by commanding their army, was capable of repairing the mischief he had done them.  But the jealousy of the generals, and the distrust attendant upon their counsels, tied up his hands.

Nevertheless, the siege of Arras was vigorously carried on.

[Voltaire observes, that it was the fortune of Turenne and Conde to be always victorious when they fought at the head of the French, and to be vanquished when they commanded the Spaniards.  This was Conde’s fate before Arras, August 25, 1654, when he and the archduke besieged that city.  Turenne attacked them in their camp, and forced their lines:  the troops of the archduke were cut to pieces; and Conde, with two regiments of French and Lorrainers, alone sustained the efforts of Turenne’s army; and, while the archduke was flying, he defeated the Marshal de Hoquincourt, repulsed the Marshal de la Ferte, and retreated victoriously himself, by covering the retreat of the vanquished Spaniards.  The king of Spain, in his letter to him after this engagement, had these words:  “I have been informed that everything was lost, and that you have recovered everything.”]

The Cardinal was very sensible how dishonourable it would be to suffer this place to be taken under his nose, and almost in sight of the king.  On the other hand, it was very hazardous to attempt its relief,