John Methuen (diplomat) the Treaty on 16 May 1703, a step of great significance in the War of the Spanish Succession. John, on his return from England, concluded a commercial treaty on 27 December 1703, opening Portugal to the English cloth trade in return for preferential rates of duty on the import of wine. How beneficial to either country the Treaty was in the long run has been debated; possibly its most important result was the development of the port wine trade, and it was later referred to humorously as "the Port-Wine Treaty". Methuen in later life increasingly suffered from gout and rheumatism;
Treaty of Casco (1703) Casco, Maine (present day Falmouth, Maine), June 20, 1703. The Indians made the customary professions of peace, disavowing any conspiracy with the French to exterminate the English. They then presented the governor with a belt of wampum and ended the ceremony with an exchange of volleys. The Treaty caused concern for the French, as it left them vulnerable in Acadia. Accordingly, Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan, Governor of Acadia, urged the Governor of New France, Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, to send a force to instigate hostilities between the Native Tribes and New England. Vaudreuil was equally concerned about