To obtain the consent of Lewis to such an arrangement seemed all but impossible; but William manoeuvred with rare skill.

Though he frankly acknowledged that he preferred the Electoral Prince to any other candidate, he professed.
himself desirous to meet, as far as he honourably or safely could, the wishes of the French King.

There were conditions on which England and Holland might perhaps consent, though not without reluctance, that a son of the Dauphin should reign at Madrid, and should be master of the treasures of the New World.

Those conditions were that the Milanese and the Two Sicilies should belong to the Archduke Charles, that the Elector of Bavaria should have the Spanish Netherlands, that Lewis should give up some fortified towns in Artois for the purpose of strengthening the barrier which protected the United Provinces, and that some important places both in the Mediterranean sea and in the Gulf of Mexico should be made over to the English and Dutch for the security of trade.

Minorca and Havanna were mentioned as what might satisfy England.
Against these terms Lewis exclaimed loudly.