The emperor obstinately insisted upon his claim to the whole Spanish monarchy, refusing to give up the least tittle of his pretensions; and the Dutch adhered to the old preliminaries which Louis had formerly rejected.

The queen saw that the liberties of Europe would be exposed to much greater danger from an actual union of the Imperial and Spanish crowns in one head of the house of Austria, than from a bare possibility of Spain's being united with France in one branch of the house of Bourbon.

She knew by experience the difficulty of dethroning Philip, rooted as he was in the affections of a brave and loyal people; and that a prosecution of this design would serve no purpose but to protract the war, and augment the grievances of the British nation.
She was well acquainted with the distresses of the French, which she considered as pledges of their monarch's sincerity.

She sought not the total ruin of that people, already reduced to the brink of despair.

The dictates of true policy dissuaded her from contributing to her further conquest in that kingdom, which would have proved the source of contention among the allies, depressed the house of Bourbon below the standard of importance which the balance of Europe required it should maintain, and aggrandize the states-general at the expense of Great Britain.