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RISE OF THE CONTINENTALin their geographical situations, which has cost so muchblood, and will probably cost yet more. In the West andEast Indies, and in North America, the French and theEnglish now became neighbours. Their interests thereforecrossed each other more and more ; they came in contactno longer only in Europe they found each other in ;everycorner of the world. Even under the Stuarts this rivalryhad displayed itself notwithstanding the unanimity of thesovereigns. England in 1668 had joined the triple allianceagainst France, in opposition to the wishes of Charles II. *and although in the next war (1672) Charles united withLewis against Holland, after two years the voice of thenation forced him to break the alliance. We find, then, thatat the time of the revolution, the foundation had alreadybeen laid of a national rivalry ; it did not therefore owe itsorigin entirely to the policy of William III.It does not however admit of a doubt that the personalinclinations, and the position in which this monarch wasplaced, tended greatly to increase this rivalry, since he madeits maintenance a principal maxim of his policy. Even inhis youth (1672) he stood opposed, as the champion of theNetherlands, to the great" king of France, 1to whom he borea personal hatred, which was in turn cherished against himby that monarch and; from that moment he seemed to livefor the sole purpose of thwarting Lewis, and became thelife and soul of all the alliances which were formed againsthim. When raised to the throne of England he had to defend it against Lewis, who took his rival under his protection.The war, hastened as it was besides by many other causes,became thus unavoidable, and itwrapped nearly all Europein flames, (1689 1697,) until at the peace of RyswickLewis found it convenient to acknowledge William as kino; Sof England.which would lead, if not to interminable, at least to lasting peace in Europe,it would be the geographical separation of the colonies. This has been ingreat part although not wholly accomplished, by the last treaty ofwinch we peace,shall consider hereafter ; the fortunes of the Spanish colonies willperhaps brmcr about the rest.1It is well known from the Memoirs of St. Simon, that this personal hatredarose from the refusal of William, when only Prince of Orange, to accept theEw e Lewis?s naturalt.daughters, which was offered him by herfatner. We should be careful, however, not to lay too much stress upon suchanecdotes, even when true. 'The result would have been the same had thiscircumstance never occurred.