for Louis to maintain his troops, while William, though England was by no means exhausted as France was, was as completely hampered by the want of ready money. Louis had indeed in the course of the year made overtures for peace, but the improvement in his prospects, caused by the conduct of the Duke of Savoy, who had deserted the coalition, joined his army to the French under Marshal Catinat, and successfully insisted that Austria and Spain should declare the neutralization of Italy, had induced him to recede from one of the fundamental conditions of peace—the recognition of William as King of England. The negotiations had been broken off, but succeeding events induced Louis, in 1697, to renew his proposals. The Assassination Plot had failed; William was more popular and better supported than he had ever been; the country had passed successfully through its period of crisis, had emerged more powerful than ever and more determined to support the war, and the great French military project for the capture of Brussels had been thwarted by the rapidity of William's movements. Louis therefore now, for the first time in his life, offered reasonable terms, consenting to resign many of the conquests he had made during the war, to give back Lorraine to its Duke, Luxemburg to Spain, Strasburg to the Empire, and to acknowledge the King of England. William, Opposition of the coalition. who was never carried away even by his most impetuous feelings, much as he hated France, at once recognized the justice of these offers and the wisdom of accepting them. He found however much difficulty in managing the coalition. The two great powers who had done the least to support the war now did all in their power to frustrate the pacification. Spain, moved by a foolish vanity little suitable to its weak condition, made demands which it was impossible that Louis should grant, while the Emperor, moved by selfish policy, would have been only too glad to continue a war, carried on chiefly at the cost of England, till the death of the Spanish King, which was every day expected. He would then, he imagined, be able to secure by means of the European coalition his succession to that monarchy. At length, after many difficulties, plenipotentiaries from France and the coalition were assembled (March 1697), the one party at the Hague, the other at Delft, and conferences were held at Ryswick, which lies nearly equidistant between these two towns. But the ceremonies of diplomacy, the ridiculous details of precedence, seemed to promise that the negotiations would be dragged out to an interminable length. William was not to be so treated. Having made up his mind that peace was desirable and that the terms offered were fair, he was determined that the peace should be speedily made. While the plenipotentiaries were wasting their time at Ryswick, a series of private meetings took place between Portland and Marshal Boufflers, between the armies, a few miles from Brussels. A few meetings sufficed to Terms of peace. settle the terms, which were reduced to writing on the 6th of July. Beyond the general terms of treaty already offered by France, some personal questions between William and Louis had to be settled. A mutual promise was exchanged that neither king would countenance assaults upon the other. William was to be acknowledged as King of England, and the Princess Anne as his successor. Mary of Modena was to receive whatever sum of money the English Law Courts held to be her due; and though Louis, with his usual magnanimity, refused to stipulate that James should leave France, it was understood that he should withdraw either to Avignon or to Italy. Spain and the Emperor still refused to accept the proffered terms. Louis declared that, unless they were accepted by the 21st of August, he should no longer hold himself bound by them. The day passed, and, as was to be expected, the French King raised fresh demands; he would no longer surrender Strasburg. But the opposition of Spain had already been crushed. The disasters of the year had brought that country to reason; Vendome had captured Barcelona, and a French fleet, joined by the buccaneers of the West Indies, had taken and sacked Carthagena. William therefore, though much vexed at the obstinacy of the Emperor, which involved the loss of Strasburg, found himself able to accept the new terms, in concert with all the great powers of the coalition, with the exception of the Emperor, and at length, on the 10th of Treaty of Ryswick. Sept. 10. September, a treaty was concluded between France, Holland, Spain and England. France surrendered all the conquests made since the Treaty of Nimeguen, and placed the chief fortresses of the Low Countries in the hands of Dutch garrisons; William was recognized as King of England, Anne as his successor, and all assistance was withdrawn from James. A month later the Emperor also consented to treat. By this second treaty all the towns acquired since the Peace of Nimeguen, with the exception of Strasburg, were restored, together with Fribourg, Brissac, Philipsburg, and all French fortifications on the right bank of the Rhine. Lorraine was restored to its Duke, Leopold, who granted however a passage through his dominions for French troops. The Elector of Cologne was recognized, and the rights of the Duchess of Orleans upon the Palatinate compromised for money. William and the European coalition were thus triumphant. Louis had for the first time to withdraw to his own boundaries, and the succession of England was secured. At the same time France gained what had now become absolutely necessary, time to recruit her strength, and leisure to prepare for that great struggle which all men saw to be imminent, when the death of Charles II. of Spain, without a direct heir, should leave the succession of that great monarchy to be disputed among the various claimants.
The joy of England at the conclusion of the war was enthusiastic. The King made a triumphal entry into London, and was everywhere received with enthusiasm. The crowning point of his reign had been reached. Almost without knowing it, he had solved the great constitutional question of the time, and, supported by a ministry in harmony with the Commons, and the national representatives in harmony with the people, had triumphantly brought to conclusion the great objects of his life, established the Protestant succession in England, and proved to Louis the necessity of respecting the rights and feelings of the rest of Europe.
The Parliament reduces the standing army.
On the very day after the rejoicings to celebrate the Peace of Ryswick, on the 3rd of December 1697, the Parliament, which had hitherto shown itself so firm in support of the Crown, so unanimous and vigorous in its action, met for its third and last session. William had every right to expect a period of peace and prosperity. But, unfortunately, the very success for which England was rejoicing brought with it the seeds of faction and division. For at once a question had to be settled, on which the Whig party was itself divided, and on which the national feeling was on the whole strongly opposed to the King. The establishment of peace naturally involved the question of the fate of the great army, numbering more than 80,000 men, which England had kept up for the last nine years. The nation, suffering heavily from taxation, was not likely to be willing to continue in peace the efforts made during war. It was, moreover, a deeply ingrained feeling among the country gentry of both parties that a standing army in time of peace was an intolerable evil. The Tories had indeed already adopted the policy which long marked the party. They would have wished England to confine itself, even in war, to the pursuit of success upon the sea, which they regarded as her natural element, and to have withdrawn as far as possible from all the complications of Continental policy. But, even setting aside this view, the experience of both parties led them very naturally to regard an army in time of peace as the inevitable instrument of tyranny. While the Tories remembered with horror the triumphant Ironsides of Cromwell, the Whigs recalled with no less detestation the importation of Irish troops at the close of the last reign, and London overawed by the great camp at Hounslow. On the other hand, William, with his eyes fixed abroad, with a profound mistrust of France, and certain knowledge of the rapid approach of another great Continental quarrel, could not bring himself to approve of the breaking up of an army which he had brought to such perfection. The ministry, under his immediate influence, and guided by the far-sighted sagacity of Somers, believed, like the King, in the approach of fresh danger, and thoroughly disbelieved in the efficacy of half-drilled militia to withstand such well-trained troops as Louis had always at his disposal. The national feeling was, however, too strong to be withstood. A resolution was passed that the number of soldiers should be reduced to the same amount as had been kept on foot after the peace of Nimeguen, a resolution which was liberally construed by the Government to mean 10,000. On other points the ministry and the Parliament remained at one. It was in vain that an attack was directed against William's lavish grants of Crown lands, in vain that an accusation of peculation was directed against Montague, it resulted only in a formal declaration on the part of the Commons of the great services of that statesman.
Montague's success as a financier had indeed reached its culminating point in this session by the temporary settlement of the question with regard to the Indian trade which had so long excited the commercial The East Indian trade. public