eace of Ryswick, 1697.

The English naval commander, Admiral Russell, like many of William's
pretended friends and supporters, had been engaged in treasonable
correspondence with James II. If the latter succeeded in recovering
his crown, the Admiral hoped to bask in the sunshine of royal favor;
but he later changed his mind and fought so bravely in the sea fight
off La Hogue that the French supporters of James were utterly beaten.

King William, however, continued his Continental wars for the next
five years, until, by the Peace of Ryswick, in Holland, 1697, Louis
XIV bound himself to recognize William as King of England, the
Princess Anne[1] as his successor, to withdraw all support from James,
and to place the chief fortresses of the Netherlands, or Low
Countries, in the hands of the Dutch garrisons. The Peace of Ryswick
marked the end of the conspiracy between Louis and the Stuarts to turn
England into a Roman Catholic country dependent on France (SS477,
488). When William went in solemn state to return thanks for the
conclusion of the war, it was to the new cathedral of St. Paul's,
which Wren had nearly completed (S474), and which was then first used
for public worship.

[1] The second (Protestant) daughter of James II. See Genealogical
Table, p. 323.

503. The National Debt, 1693; the Bank of England, 1694.

William had now gained, at least temporarily, the object that he had
in view when he accepted the English crown. He had succeeded in
drawing the English into a close defensive alliance against Lois
XIV,[2] who, as we have seen, was bent on destroying both the
political and the religious liberty of the Dutch as a Protestant
people (S476).

[2] Guizot's "History of Civilization," chap. xiii.

William's wars had compelled him to borrow large sums from the London
merchants. Out of these loans sprang the permanent National Debt.
That debt was destined to grow from less than a million of pounds to
so many hundred millions that all thought of ever paying it has long
since been given up. Furthermore, it became necessary to organize a
Banking Company, 1694, for the management of this collosal debt;
together the two were destined to become more widely known than any of
William's victories.

The building erected by that Company covers not far from four acres of
land in the very heart of London. In the first room which one enters
stands a statue of the King, bearing this inscription: "To the memory
of th