All the nations which had taken part in so many wars were now becoming exhausted by the contest, but none so much so as France.  The great despot who had so long wielded the energies of that country with such wonderful splendor and success found that his unbounded love of dominion was gradually sapping all the real good of his people, in chimerical schemes of universal conquest.  England, though with much resolution voting new supplies, and in every way upholding William in his plans for the continuance of war, was rejoiced when Louis accepted the mediation of Charles XI., king of Sweden, and agreed to concessions which made peace feasible.  The emperor and Charles II. of Spain, were less satisfied with those concessions; but everything was finally arranged to meet the general views of the parties, and negotiations were opened at Ryswyk.  The death of the king of Sweden, and the minority of his son and successor, the celebrated Charles XII., retarded them on points of form for some time.  At length, on the 20th of September, 1697, the articles of the treaty were subscribed by the Dutch, English, Spanish, and French ambassadors.  The treaty consisted of seventeen articles.  The French king declared he would not disturb or disquiet the king of Great Britain, whose title he now for the first time acknowledged.  Between France and Holland were declared a general armistice, perpetual amity, a mutual restitution of towns, a reciprocal renunciation of all pretensions upon each other, and a treaty of commerce which was immediately put into execution.  Thus, after this long, expensive, and sanguinary war, things were established just on the footing they had been by the peace of Nimeguen; and a great, though unavailable lesson, read to the world on the futility and wickedness of those quarrels in which the personal ambition of kings leads to the misery of the people.  Had the allies been true to each other throughout, Louis would certainly have been reduced much lower than he now was.  His pride was humbled, and his encroachments stopped.  But the sufferings of the various countries engaged in the war were too generally reciprocal to make its result of any material benefit to either.  The emperor held out for a while, encouraged by the great victory gained by his general, Prince Eugene of Savoy, over the Turks at Zenta in Hungary; but he finally acceded to the terms offered by France; the peace, therefore, became general, but, unfortunately for Europe, of very short duration.

France, as if looking forward to the speedy renewal of hostilities, still kept her armies undisbanded.  Let the foresight of her politicians have been what it might, this negative proof of it was justified by events.  The king of Spain, a weak prince, without any direct heir for his possessions, considered himself authorized to dispose of their succession by will.  The leading powers of Europe thought otherwise, and took this right upon themselves.  Charles died on the 1st of November, 1700, and thus put the important