tween Holland and England. As both England and Holland
were at the time in alliance with Spain, it must be admitted that
their secret arrangement for the partition of her territories was
of a very infamous character.

Louis of France, while apparently acting with the other powers,
secretly communicated the contents of the treaty to Charles II. The
Spanish king was naturally dismayed at the great conspiracy to
divide his kingdom at his death, and he convened his council of
state and submitted the matter to them. It was apparent that
France, by far the most powerful of the other continental states,
could alone avert the division, and the states general therefore
determined to unite the interests of France and Spain by appointing
the Duc d'Anjou, grandson of the King of France, sole heir to the
vast empire of Spain.

The news that Spain and France were henceforth to be united caused
the greatest consternation to the rest of the States, and all
Europe began to arm. Very shortly after signing the bequest, the
old King of Spain died, and the Duc d'Anjou ascended the throne.
The Spanish Netherlands, governed by the young Elector of Bavaria,
as Lieutenant General of Spain, at once gave in their adhesion to
the new monarch. The distant colonies all accepted his rule, as did
the great Spanish possessions in Italy; while the principal
European nations acknowledged him as successor of Charles the
Second.

The new empire seemed indeed of preponderating strength. Bavaria
united herself in a firm alliance with France and Spain; and these
three countries, with Italy and Flanders, appeared capable of
giving the law to the world. England, less affected than the
continental powers by the dominance of this powerful coalition,
might have remained quiet, had not the French King thrown down the
gauntlet of defiance. On the 16th September, 1701, James the
Second, the exiled King of England, died, and Louis at once
acknowledged his son as King of Great Britain and Ireland. This act
was nothing short of a public declaration of war, not only against
the reigning monarch of England, but against the established
religion of our country. The exiled prince was Roman Catholic.
Louis was the author of the most terrible persecution of the
Protestants that ever occurred in Europe. Thus the action of the
French king rallied round William the Second all the Protestant
feeling of the nation. Both Houses of Parliament voted loyal
addresses, and the nati