When William III came to England, he was leagued with the States-General and some few German princes for this one object; but in order to give the undertaking the desired direction, and to turn it against the preponderance of France, a far more comprehensive union had to be arranged.

And now again came up that condition of international policy which during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had especially ruled the course of politics–namely, the connexion between Spain and the Indies with the Netherlands on the one hand, and with South Italy and also Milan on the other. Since the time that the Spanish monarchy had ceased to menace the liberties of Europe, men had become familiar with this connexion. And now more than ever Spain, incessantly pressed by the ever-growing preponderance of France, saw that her safety lay in a close union with Holland and England, of old her stoutest enemies. The two representatives of the Spanish monarchy, Gastanaga, Governor of Brussels, and the envoy Ronquillo in London, welcomed with glad approval a proposal of which the effect would be the ruin of French influence in England. We have already mentioned the visits which Ronquillo, under cover of the utmost secrecy, paid to the Prince on his arrival at St. James's. In these visits the chief talk was of a great war with France. When the Brandenburg general Spaen arrived, people reckoned up the troops to be opposed to the French in the Netherlands.