The skull of the father of the Duchess of Orleans was beaten to fragments by the soldiers of a prince among the ladies of whose splendid Court she held the foremost place.
And yet a discerning eye might have perceived that, unfortunate as the confederates seemed to have been, the advantage had really been on their side.

The contest was quite as much a financial as a military contest.
The French King had, some months before, said that the last piece of gold would carry the day; and he now began painfully to feel the truth of the saying.

England was undoubtedly hard pressed by public burdens; but still she stood up erect.

France meanwhile was fast sinking.

Her recent efforts had been too much for her strength, and had left her spent and unnerved.