succession to the throne of Spain as were those of the continental
powers, she threw herself into the struggle with ardor.

The two claimants to the throne of Spain were the Archduke Charles,
second son of Leopold, Emperor of Austria, and Philip, Duke of
Anjou, a younger grandson of Louis. On the marriage of the French
king with Maria Theresa, the sister of Charles II of Spain, she
had formally renounced all claims to the succession, but the French
king had nevertheless continued from time to time to bring them
forward. Had these rights not been renounced Philip would have had
the best claim to the Spanish throne, the next of kin after him
being Charles of Austria.

During the later days of the King of Spain all Europe had looked on
with the most intense interest at the efforts which the respective
parties made for their candidates. Whichever might succeed to the
throne the balance of power would be destroyed; for either Austria
and Spain united, or France and Spain united, would be sufficient
to overawe the rest of the Continent. Louis XIV lulled the fears
of the Austrian party by suggesting a treaty of partition to the
Dutch states and William the Third of England.

By this treaty it was agreed that the Archduke Charles was to be
acknowledged successor to the crowns of Spain, the Indies, and the
Netherlands; while the dauphin, as the eldest son of Maria Theresa,
should receive the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, with the Spanish
province of Guipuscoa and the duchy of Milan, in compensation of
his abandonment of other claims. When the conditions of this treaty
became known they inspired natural indignation in the minds of the
people of the country which had thus been arbitrarily allotted,