138

IIISTOllY OF ENGLAND.

chap, hear no more. The proposition was one which he would-yiiusr - not discuss, one to which he would not listen.

As William, however, resolutely maintained that theterms which he had offered, hard as they might seem, werethe only terms on which England and Holland could suffera Bourbon to reign at Madrid, Lewis began seriously toconsider whether it might not he on the whole for his in-terest and that of his family rather to sell the Spanishcrown dear than to buy it dear. He therefore now offeredto withdraw his opposition to the Bavarian claim, provideda portion of the disputed inheritance were assigned to himin consideration of his disinterestedness and moderation.William was perfectly willing and even eager to treat onthis basis. The first demands of Lewis were, as might havebeen expected, exorbitantly high. He asked for the king-dom of Navarre, which would have made him little lessthan master of the whole Iberian peninsula, and for theduchy of Luxemburg, which would have made him moredangerous than ever to the United Provinces. On bothpoints he encountered a steady resistance. The impressionwhich, throughout these transactions, the firmness andgood faith of William made on Tallard is remarkable. Atfirst the dexterous and keen witted Frenchman was allsuspicion. He imagined that there was an evasion in everyphrase, a hidden snare in every offer. But after a time hebegan to discover that he had to do with a man far too wiseto be false. “ The King of England,” he wrote, and it is