The news of the conclusion of the Peace of Ryswick was brought to London by Prior the poet, who took a considerable part in public affairs: he had a slow and troublesome passage. The intelligence had already reached England by post, when Prior landed and made the official announcement: it was received with universal joy, except by the Jacobites: the public also were generally content with the stipulations.

Bank shares and the funds rose in proportion as the tidings became more certain and distinct. The peace secured the credit of the English commonwealth, as it had been established by the Revolution and happily maintained in arms. All were weary of the constraint and disturbance which the war caused to business: now however every one thought the sea would once more be safe and trade unchecked. The great merchants reckoned on voyages and profits. Who could have been unaffected by the pressure of taxation and the confusion in the currency? Every one looked for some improvement in his own personal relations.

But with these matters a political reaction was also necessarily connected.

The war had tended to moderate the one-sided impulse of opposite principles on which the State rested, and which kept it in agitation; it had hindered the open outbreak of their opposition. The King's power itself was really based on the prosecution of the war, which was the all-important matter.