Education > Elements of universal history on a new and systematic plan

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY A. I).
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of Louis XIV. Hardly, therefore, was he seated in his newly
I acquired sovereignty, ere he appeared on the Continent at
I the head of a confederacy embracing Germany, Spain, Great
I Britain, and Holland. Various bloody but indecisive campaigns
were fought; and though unable to command that success
i which his military talents deserved, he had the rare fortune of
l appearing always as formidable after defeat as he had been
| before action. This contest conferred a high reputation on the
I naval and military force of Holland ; but she had at the same
j time to lament an increase of public debt and the diminution
I of trade ; while the peace of Ryswick, 1697, by which it was
1* terminated, secured to her no advantages. Nevertheless, the
states readily became parties to the Grand Alliance, 1701 ;
and William was once more preparing to lead the armies of
Europe against the French, when his death in the same year
I left his plans to be carried out by more fortunate leaders.
Holland, however, did not neglect this opportunity of re-
I curring to the old government of 1650 : no new stadtholder
i was appointed ; the supreme authority was retained by the
states-general, and Heinsius, the grand-pensioner, was in-
j trusted with the active direction of affairs. This great man
[; amply justified the confidence reposed in him ; he ably co¬
operated with Marlborough and Prince Eugene in the long
contest which followed ; and to his assistance and counsels
were owing in no small degree those masterly combinations
which resulted in the splendid triumphs of Blenheim, Ramil-
lies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet. The peace of Utrecht, 1713,
which secured to Holland a strong barrier of frontier fortresses,
also saw the republic raised to her highest point of influence
and greatness. Her powerful enemy had been humbled to
_ the dust; her commerce had revived amidst the struggle;
i her finances were placed on a satisfactory footing; and sur-
i rounding states regarded her with envy or respect.
For a period of thirty years after this treaty, the United
Provinces enjoyed the unwonted blessing of peace, during
which the states devoted their entire energies to internal re¬
forms. They received into their protection the persecuted
! sectaries of France, Germany, and Hungary ; and though the
principle of toleration might seem to be violated in the expul¬
sion of the Jesuits, 1731, a Protestant country cannot well be
blamed for a measure afterwards universally imitated even by
Catholic states. In 1732, the whole nation was overwhelmed
with alarm, by the discovery that the beams and other wood-