Triple Alliance

Hearing, however, that Charles had wondered why he did not withdraw himself, he determined to take the hint, which indeed soon became a positive command, and on November 29th he fled to France, leaving Parliament to the barren vengeance of passing an act banishing him forever, to which Charles was forced to consent.

End of Section 17 Section 18 of The English Restoration and Louis XIV by Osmond Airy This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Pamela Nagami Chapter 14 The Triple Alliance and Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Number 1 Various Projects of Charles Underlying the other causes of the parliamentary attack upon Clarendon had been the conviction that he was directing English policy in the French interest.

It was this jealousy of the French power, the jealousy of the nation as distinct from the king, which now led to the formation of a great European coalition against Louis.

The project of a close alliance between England and the Republic had been discussed even before the close of the late war.

He demanded a heavy subsidy, permission to send a fixed number of ships for unrestricted trade to Buenos Aires and the Philippines, privileges in Antwerp, which was again to become the rival of Amsterdam, and through the exercise of Spanish influence, free trade with the Hansa towns.

Both the poverty and the pride of Spain stood in the way of the acceptance of such terms.

Number two, the triple alliance.

Nothing therefore now remained, if England was to take action at all, but the acceptance of the union with the Republic proposed by De Witt to compel Louis to bind himself to one or other of his alternatives, and to this under Arlington's influence, Charles now found decisive reasons for turning.

It was clear that nothing could resist him but a firm union of the remaining powers of Europe.

Sir William Temple, English resident at The Hague, and one of the ablest diplomatists of those days, early tried to impress this upon Charles II, and succeeded in persuading him to conclude in 1668 an offensive and defensive alliance with Holland and Sweden, called the Triple Alliance.

But Charles II cared little for foreign politics.

The balance of power in Europe was nothing to him compared with ease at home and freedom to do as he liked.

Louis XIV spared no pains to win from the ranks of his enemies a monarch whose neutrality, could he get nothing more, would be of great importance to him in the future.

He promised to grant Charles II a large subsidy which would free him from the control of his parliament by taking away the need for its grants if Charles II would aid him in his projects against Holland and Spain.

In 1670 the Triple Alliance was replaced by the secret Treaty of Dover between Charles II and Louis XIV.

Under Cromwell England had once more become a power of the first rank in Europe, and the policy of the Triple Alliance would have enabled her to remain so.

and now he sleeps in the church of Farnham, where he desired to be buried, in the heart of the wild scenery which he loved so well.

just under crooksbury that grand scene of cobbett's exploits lies moore park the retreat of sir william temple in his old age which seemed to him to quote his own words the sweetest place i think that i have ever seen in my life either before or since at home or abroad There we may still see the gardens which the statesman of the Triple Alliance laid out after the fashion of those which he remembered in Holland, where he enjoyed the companionship of his beloved sister, Lady Gifford, and where his heart lies buried under the sundial.

Here Swift lived as his secretary, and learnt from King William III how to cut asparagus.

here he wrote the tale of the tub and made love to mrs hester johnson lady gifford's pretty black-eyed waiting-maid the memory of that immortal love-story has not yet perished and the house where she lived is still known as stella's cottage Here too, just beyond Moor Park, on the banks of the way, are the ruins of Waverley Abbey, the first Cistercian house ever founded in England, often described as Le Petit Citeau, and the mother of many other abbeys.