up any part of that empire either to England or to Holland. The
demand which was made upon himself was altogether inadmissible. A
barrier was not less necessary to France than to Holland; and he never
would break the iron chain of frontier fastnesses which was the defence
of his own kingdom, even in order to purchase another kingdom for his
grandson. On that subject he begged that he might hear no more. The
proposition was one which he would not discuss, one to which he would
not listen.

As William, however, resolutely maintained that the terms which he had
offered, hard as they might seem, were the only terms on which England
and Holland could suffer a Bourbon to reign at Madrid, Lewis began
seriously to consider, whether it might not be on the whole for his
interest and that of his family rather to sell the Spanish crown dear
than to buy it dear. He therefore now offered to withdraw his opposition
to the Bavarian claim, provided a portion of the disputed inheritance
were assigned to him in consideration of his disinterestedness and
moderation. William was perfectly willing and even eager to treat
on this basis. The first demands of Lewis were, as might have been
expected, exorbitantly high. He asked for the kingdom of Navarre,
which would have made him little less than master of the whole Iberian
peninsula, and for the duchy of Luxemburg, which would have made him
more dangerous than ever to the United Provinces. On both points he
encountered a steady resistance. The impression which, throughout these
transactions, the firmness and good faith of William made on Tallard
is remarkable. At first the dexterous and keen witted Frenchman was
all suspicion. He imagined that there was an evasion in every phrase, a
hidden snare in every offer. But after a time he began to discover that
he had to do with a man far too wise to be false. "The King of England,"
he wrote, and it is impossible to doubt that he wrote what he thought,
"acts with good faith in every thing. His way of dealing is upright and
sincere." [13] "The King of England," he wrote a few days later, "has
hitherto acted with great sincerity; and I venture to say that, if he
once enters into a treaty, he will steadily adhere to it." But in the
same letter the Ambassador thought it necessary to hint to his
master that the diplomatic chicanery which might be useful in other
negotiations would be all thrown away here. "I must venture to observe
to Your Majesty that the