REBUFFED on land in Scotland and Ireland, Louis saw his ships inflict a humiliating defeat on a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet at Beachy Head on June 10th, 1690. England braced for invasion, while French forces harassed English colonies as far afield as New England,* the Caribbean, and even India, where French ships bombarded Madras. But no invasion came, and revenge for the Allies at Barfleur and La Hogue in the summer of 1692 reduced Louis’s battered navy to harassing English merchantmen.
But the financial burden of fighting so long and so far afield was growing, and in September 1697 peace was agreed at Ryswick in the Dutch Republic.* Territorial changes were small, but the balance of power shifted. Louis the ‘Sun King’ no longer dazzled the smaller states of Europe. William’s right to the English crown was admitted. The Royal Navy was the envy of Europe, and England’s merchant sailors, rid of French harassment, were hunting spices, tea and fabrics across the seven seas.* A new power was rising.
At this time, though England controlled the eastern coast of North America from modern-day Georgia to Maine, much of the interior was a French colony named New France. It extended from the Gulf of Mexico up through Louisiana and Illinois to Quebec and Montreal, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. See a map at Wikimedia Commons.
Today, Rijswijk in the Netherlands. To refinance the Treasury, Parliament raised a variety of new taxes, and in 1694 the Bank of England was founded, with a brief to raise £1.2m by the sale of gilt-edged securities to private investors.
England acquired her taste for tea in the 1660s, when Queen Catherine, Charles II’s Portuguese wife, introduced the fashion to court. The East India Company began importing tea commercially from Indonesia in 1669, and the first tea-shop was opened at 216 The Strand in 1706, by Thomas Twining, from which the company still trades today.
Précis
Victory in Ireland did not end the war, which spread even to England’s colonies in North America and India. However, Louis’s navy was weakened by defeat at Barfleur and La Hogue in 1692, and the cost of the war was becoming prohibitive. When peace was agreed at Ryswick in 1697, the balance of European power had shifted in William’s favour. (60 / 60 words)
Victory in Ireland did not end the war, which spread even to England’s colonies in North America and India. However, Louis’s navy was weakened by defeat at Barfleur and La Hogue in 1692, and the cost of the war was becoming prohibitive. When peace was agreed at Ryswick in 1697, the balance of European power had shifted in William’s favour.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, just, or, otherwise, since, unless, until, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Colony. Envoy. Merchant.
2 Combine. Head. Revenge.
3 Govern. Place. Spice.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
hds (5+1)
heads. heeds. hideous. hides. hoods.
hods.
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