In the campaigns of 1694 and 1695, fortune seemed rather to favour the allies : Huy was retaken ; the Dukc of Savoy penetrated into Dauphine ; and King William, taking advantage of the death of Marshal Luxemburg, in vested Namur, which, though it was gallantly defended, was obliged to capitulate in the sight of the French army under Villeroi. About this period, a dreadful famine afflicted France ; it was caused partly by unfavourable seasons, and partly by the war not having left labourer sufficient to cultivate the ground. Corn was brought from abroad ; and if this had been the only measure adopted, probably the calamity might have been in some measure alleviated ; but by attempts to regulate the price, the evil was increased ; many of the peasants perished of hunger, and the whole kingdom exhibited a dreadful scene of poverty and distress.
In consequence of the misery of his people, and the ex hausted state of his finances, Louis perceived the necessity either of making peace, or of detaching some of the mem bers from the confederacy. He preferred the latter. A negociation was opened with the Duke of Savoy, who was induced to desert the allies, and to unite himself to Louis, in consideration of the restitution of his dominions ; the honours of sovereignty ; four millions of money ; and the marriage of his daughter with the young Duke of Bur gundy, son of the Dauphin.
The campaign of 1697 was not distinguished by any remarkable occurrence, except the taking of Barcelona by the Duke of Vendome, notwithstanding it was gallantly defended by the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, with a gar rison of 10,000 men. This event induced the King of Spain to listen to the proposals of France. A congress for a general peace was opened at the Castle of Ryswick, under the mediation of Charles XI. of Sweden. The Em peror at first was unwilling to listen to terms of accom modation, but finding himself deserted by his allies, he acceded to the treaty.
By this treaty, Louis restored to the Spaniards all the places he had taken from them ; but the pretensions of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish succession were left in full force. He acknowledged William lawful king of England : with regard to Holland, he adhered to the terms fixed at Munster and Nimeguen. To the empire he restored Kehl and Philipsburg ; and to the Emperor, Friburg and Brisac : he even consented to destroy the for tifications of Strasburg on the Rhine ; and restored Lor raine, Treves, and the Palatinate, to their respective princes.
This peace was very unpopular in France, particularly with the inhabitants of Paris, who reproached and insulted the ministers who made it, on their return to the capital ; but these people looked only to the victories which the French arms had gained, not to the effects of such an ex pensive war on the resources of the country, and yet they were very obvious, and plainly pointed out a peace as absolutely necessary. The five first campaigns had cost
more than 200,000,000 extraordinary ; the finances were in the greatest disorder ; that the people might not be oppressed with taxes, recourse was had to loans, to the erecting new offices, and to other measures, which in the end became more extensively and permanently oppressive than additional taxes. The value of the silver mark in coin had been increased three Byres in 1689 ; by which the commerce v, as injured, the kingdom impoverished, in dividuals unjustly treated, and the revenue sensibly di minished. In 1695, the capitation tax was established ; by it 21,000,000 were raised, but they were at the expencc of the other taxes, for the revenue of this year was not on the whole increased.
It has been noticed, that the succession to the throne of Spain, which was claimed by the Bourbon family, was not settled by the terms of the peace of Ryswick ; and scarcely was that peace concluded, before it was evident that hos tilities would soon recommence from this cause. The King of Spain, a prince equally weak in body and mind, was on the point of dying without children. According to the strict and just rights of consanguinity, only the Imperial or French families had a claim to the throne ; but there was another competitor, who founded his claim on a will. The three competitors were, Louis XIV. the Emperor Leopold, and the Elector of Bavaria. Louis and the Emperor were both grandsons of Philip III.; in this repect therefore their claim was equally strong ; hut the right of birth was in the House of Bourbon, the king and his son the dauphin being both descended from the eldest daughters of Philip III. and Philip IV. respectively. The Imperial family, however, asserted, in support of their claim, the solemn and repeated renunciations of Louis XIII. and XIV. and the blood of Maximilian, the common parent of both branches of the House of Austria. The Elector of Bavaria claimed, as the husband of the only surviving child of the Emperor Leopold by the infanta Margaret, second daughter of Philip IV. who had declar ed her descendants the heirs of his throne, in preference to his eldest daughter's descendants ; so that the will of Philip IV. must be set aside, before the claim of the Elec tor could be rendered null.