son. But when
the cause of France was at the very lowest, and it seemed as though
she might be driven to concessions which would reduce her to a
second-class power, the existence of the coalition was threatened by
the disgrace of Marlborough, who represented England in it. His loss
of favor with the queen was followed by the accession to power of the
party opposed to the war, or rather to its further continuance. This
change took place in the summer of 1710, and the inclination toward
peace was strengthened both by the favorable position in which England
then stood for treating, and by the heavy burden she was bearing;
which it became evident could bring in no further advantages
commensurate to its weight. The weaker ally, Holland, had gradually
ceased to contribute her stipulated share to the sea forces; and
although far-sighted Englishmen might see with complacency the
disappearance of a rival sea power, the immediate increase of expense
was more looked to and felt by the men of the day. The cost both of
the continental and Spanish wars was also largely defrayed by
England's subsidies; and while that on the continent could bring her
no further gain, it was seen that the sympathies of the Spanish people
could not be overborne in favor of Carlos III. without paying more
than the game was worth. Secret negotiations between England and
France soon began, and received an additional impulse by the
unexpected death of the Emperor of Germany, the brother of the
Austrian claimant of the Spanish throne. There being no other male
heir, Carlos became at once emperor of Austria, and was soon after
elected emperor of Germany. England had no more wish to see two crowns
on an Austrian head than on that of a Bourbon.

The demands made by England, as conditions of peace in 1711, showed
her to have become a sea power in the purest sense of the word, not
only in fact, but also in her own consciousness. She required that the
same person should never be king both of France and Spain; that a
barrier of fortified towns should be granted her allies, Holland and
Germany, as a defensive line against France; that French conquests
from her allies should be restored; and for herself she demanded the
formal cession of Gibraltar and Port Mahon, whose strategic and
maritime value has been pointed out, the destruction of the port of
Dunkirk, the home nest of the privateers that preyed on English
commerce, the cession of the French colonies of Newfoun