ached, they tactfully conceded this point and
promised immediate evacuation, if the treaty were at once concluded. Van
Beverningh and his colleagues accordingly, acting on their instructions,
affixed their signatures just before midnight.

They fell into the trap laid for them, for the treaty between France and
Spain was not yet signed, and it was the intention of the French to make
further pretexts for delay in the hope that Mons meanwhile would fall.
The report of the conclusion of peace reached the stadholder in his camp
on August 13, but unofficially. On the morning of August 14 D'Estrades
came personally to bring the news to Luxemburg; and the French marshal
was on the point of forwarding the message to the Dutch camp, when he
heard that Orange was advancing with his army to attack him, and he felt
that honour compelled him to accept the challenge. A sanguinary fight
took place at St Denis, a short distance from Mons. William exposed his
life freely, and though the result was nominally a drawn battle, he
achieved his purpose. Luxemburg raised the siege of Mons, and the
negotiations with Spain were pressed forward. The treaty was signed on
September 17, 1678. The peace of Nijmwegen thus brought hostilities to
an end, leaving the United Provinces in possession of all their
territory. It lasted ten years, but it was only an armed truce. Louis
XIV desired a breathing space in which to prepare for fresh aggressions;
and his tireless opponent, the Prince of Orange, henceforth made it the
one object of his life to form a Grand Alliance to curb French
ambition and uphold in Europe what was henceforth known as "the Balance
of Power."

In setting about this task William was confronted with almost
insuperable difficulties. The Dutch people generally had suffered
terribly in the late invasions and were heartily sick of war. The
interest of the Hollanders and especially of the Amsterdammers was
absorbed in the peaceful pursuits of commerce. The far-reaching plans
and international combinations, upon which William concentrated his
whole mind and energies, had no attraction for them, even had they
understood their purpose and motive. The consequence was that the prince
encountered strong opposition, and this not merely in Holland and
Amsterdam, but from his cousin Henry Casimir and the two provinces of
which he was stadholder. In Amsterdam the old "States" party revived
under the leadership of Valckenier and Hooft; and in his la