of Philip of Anjou to the Spanish throne. Hostilities had indeed
already broken out in Italy between the French and Austrian armies; but
the king had not abandoned the dream of a peaceful settlement when
France by a sudden act forced him into war. Lewis had acknowledged
William as king in the Peace of Ryswick and pledged himself to oppose
all attacks on his throne; but in September 1701 he entered the
bedchamber at St. Germain where James the Second was breathing his last,
and promised to acknowledge his son at his death as king of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. The promise which was thus made was in fact a
declaration of war, and in a moment all England was at one in accepting
the challenge. The issue Lewis had raised was no longer a matter of
European politics, but a question whether the work of the Revolution
should be undone, and whether Catholicism and despotism should be
replaced on the throne of England by the arms of France. On such a
question as this there was no difference between Tory and Whig. Every
Englishman backed William in his open resentment of the insult and in
the recall of his ambassador. The national union showed itself in the
warm welcome given to the king on his return from the Hague, where the
conclusion of a new Grand Alliance in September between the Empire,
Holland, and the United Provinces had rewarded William's patience and
skill. The Alliance was soon joined by Denmark, Sweden, the Palatinate,
and the bulk of the German States. William seized the moment of
enthusiasm to dissolve the Houses whose action had hitherto embarrassed
him; and though the new Parliament which met in 1702 was still Tory in
the main, its Tory members were now as much for war as the Whigs, and
the House of Commons replied to the king's stirring appeal by voting
forty thousand soldiers and as many sailors for the coming struggle. As
a telling reply to the recognition of the young James by Lewis, a Bill
of Attainder was passed against the new Pretender, and correspondence
with him or maintenance of his title was made treason. At the same time
all members of either House and all public officials were sworn to
uphold the succession of the House of Hanover as established by law.

[Sidenote: Marlborough.]

The king's weakness was already too great to allow of his taking the
field; and he was forced to entrust the war in the Netherlands to the
one Englishman who had shown himself capable of a great command. John
Churchill,