Page:Historyoffranc00yong.djvu/166

 142 HISTORY OF FRANCE [chap. In 1674 was fought at 6"^«^ William's first battle and Condi's last. It lasted seventeen hours, and there were 27,000 killed, but was undecided. Turenne was sent to resist the imperial troops which had entered Elsass. In a campaign which was deemed as a marvel of skill, he drove them out of Elsass, and then, to cut off their re- sources, savagely wasted the Palatinate. While preparing for a battle at Salzbach, Turenne was killed by a chance shot from a battery, to the exceeding grief of the whole army. Condd was sent to take the command, but he was in bad health and fought no battle, though he drove the imperial army back when they had advanced on Turenne's death. In the summer the king took the field, when Valenciennes was taken by assault, also Cambray and St. Omer, and the honour of the victory at Cassel was given to the Duke of Orleans. By this time all parties were weary of the war, and peace was made at Nimwegen on the loth of August, 1678. By this treaty France kept Franche Comte and ten imperial towns which still re- mained in Elsass ; in the Netherlands the frontier was again changed, France giving up some points and gain- ing some others. The young Duke of Lorraine was to be restored, but only on surrendering Bar and submitting to conditions which destroyed his independence. He there- fore refused to accept the terms, and remained at the imperial court, while the French occupied his duchy. The terms of the treaty gave an opening for fresh en- croachments on the part of Lewis. In each case of a cession being promised, the places " with their depen- dencies " were mentioned. The other powers expected that there would be a committee of all parties concerned to decide what these dependencies were. Bnt Lewis took upon himself to settle the question ; he set up what he called chambers of reunion, and by their mians helped himself as he chose to towns belonging .^to the King of Sweden, the Dukes of Wiirttemberg andZweibriicken, and the Elector Palatine, all with a view to the favourite dream of the French of making the Rhine their boundary. At last a claim was laid to the greatest town of Elsass, the old free imperial city of Stnusburg, and, with the connivance of some of the Roman Catholic inhabitants, the city was seized in time of peace. From 1681 to 1870 Strassburg remained a French possession. 17. Disputes with the Pope on the Regale, 16S2. — The war still went on in the Netherlands ; the Empue