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The History of France From the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Death of Louis Xvi
The History of France From the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Death of Louis Xvi Author:William Grimshaw Subtitle: Interspersed With Entertaining Anecdotes and Biographies of Eminent Men General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1829 Original Publisher: the author Subjects: France Fiction / Classics History / Europe / France Travel / Europe / France Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It... more » has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: 50 It was discovered, that Alaric was forming an offen- ' sive league, with Theoderic; and making clandestine preparations to surprise Clovis, while he amused him with the appearance of perfect friendship. But Clovis was soon aware of this design. He not only stood upon his guard, but was first ready to take the field. He entered Poictou, at the head of an army, and met Alaric on the plain of Vouille. At the first onset, the Visigoths were driven back: but an accident occurred, which, for some moments, held the issue in suspense. The two kings, who rode along the ranks, to encourage their men, encountered each other, in the midst of the field of battle. Every eye was turned towards the interesting scene. Every sound was hushed, save the clashing of the royal arms. Both sides stood still, waiting the event of a single combat, that was, in all appearance, to decide the fate of the two nations. They made many pushes at each other, and many blows were given, by each prince, which they warded off with their shields; but, at length, Clovis dismounted his antagonist, and gave him, at the same time, a stroke, of which he quickly died. It was not difficult, to complete. the overthrow of an army, that had already begun to turn their backs. The Visigoths, after this defeat, were able to preserve only a small part of the territory possessed by them, in Gaul. Clovis detached a numerous body of troops, under his so...« less