as king of England; while the emperor was still more outspoken, declaring against the King of France and the Duke of Anjou.

Thus began the great War of the Spanish Succession.
It is far from easy, in dealing with a war of such proportions, lasting for more than ten years, to disentangle from the general narrative that part which particularly touches our subject, without at the same time losing sight of the relation of the one part to the whole.

Such a loss, however, is fatal to the end in view, which is not a mere chronicle of naval events, nor even a tactical or strategic discussion of certain naval problems divorced from their surroundings of cause and effect in general history, but an appreciation of the effect of sea power upon the general result of the war and upon the prosperity of nations.

It will conduce to clearness, however, to point out again that the aim of William III.

was not to dispute the claim of Philip V.to the throne,--a matter of comparative indifference to the sea powers,--but to seize, to the benefit of their commerce and colonial empire, such portions of the Spanish American possessions as he could, and at the same time to impose such conditions upon the new monarchy as would at least prevent any loss, to English and Dutch commerce, of the privileges they had had under the Austrian line.