He first addressed himself to Holland, where there existed a general desire for peace; the war could bring the Dutch no other profit than a guarantee of security. The king offered this. "In the midst of the sufferings that hostilities had inflicted upon commerce, there was reason to hope," wrote the Marquis of Torcy, in his Memoirs, "that the grand pensionary, regarding principally the interests of his country, would desire the end of a war, the burden of which fell upon his own country. Authorized by the republic, he had no reason to fear any secret intrigue, nor any cabal to displace him from a post which he occupied to the satisfaction of his masters, and in which he conducted himself with moderation. Although the united provinces bore the principal weight of the war, the emperor alone gathered the fruits. It is said that the Dutch guarded the Temple of Peace and held the keys in their hands." Torcy had counted too much upon the moderation of Heinsius. In vain President Rouillé, charged with the secret negotiations, proposed to abandon Spain, provided Naples, Sardinia and Sicily were assured to Philip V.: Louis XIV. thereby came back to the second treaty of partition, but recently concluded with the United Provinces, as well as with England. Heinsius, faithful to the Grand Alliance, ardent to avenge the past injuries of the republic, and justly suspicious regarding France, did not comprehend that he was destroying the work of William III., and the European equilibrium, if he assured to the house of Austria the preponderance of which he deprived the house of Bourbon; the conditions that he exacted, through his delegates, were such that Rouillé scarcely dared transmit them to Versailles. {105} Each of the allies desired a share of the spoils. England claimed Dunkirk, Germany desired Strasbourg and the re-establishment of the Peace of Westphalia; Victor Amadeus wanted to recover Nice and Savoy, and the Dutch demanded that to the barrier stipulated at Reyswick should be added, Lille, Condé and Tournay. "The king will break off the negotiations, sooner than accept such exorbitant conditions," said the deputy of the States-General to Marlborough.--"So much the worse for France," replied the English general; "for the campaign once begun, things will go further than the king thinks. The allies will never relax their first demands."