his legate, that there was but one way to secure himself from impending danger: which was, to put himself under thepope's protection, who was a merciful father, and still willing to receive a repentant sinner to his bosom. John, too much intimidated, by the manifest danger of his situation, not to embrace every means offered for his safety, assented to the truth of the legate's remonstrances, and took an oath to perform whatever stipulations the pope should impose. Having thus sworn to the performance of an unknown command, the artful Italian so well managed the barons, and so effectually intimidated the king, that he persuaded him to take the most extraordinary oath in all the records of history, before all the people upon his knees, and with his hands held up between those of the legate.

"I John, by the grace of God, king of England, and lord "of Ireland, in order to expiate my sins, from my own free "will, and the advice of my barons, give to the church of "Rome, to pope Innocent, and his successors, the kingdom "of England, and all other prerogatives of my crown. I will "hereafter hold them as the pope's vassal. I will be faithful "to God, to the church of Rome, to the pope my master, and "his successors legitimately elected. I promise to pay him "a tribute of a thousand marks yearly; to wit, seven hundred "for the kingdom of England, and three hundred for the "kingdom of Ireland." Having thus done homage to the legate, and agreed to reinstate Langton in the primacy, he received the crown, which he had been supposed to have for feited, while the legate trampled under his feet the tribute which John had consented to pay. Thus, by this most scandalous concession, John once more averted the threatened blow; and thus, by repeated acts of cruelty, by expeditions without effect, and humiliations without reserve, John was become the detestation of all mankind.

The barons had been long forming a confederacy against him; but their union was broken, or their aims disappointed, by various and unforeseen accidents. At length, however, they assembled a large body of men at Stamford, and from thence, elated with their power, they marched to Brackley, about fifteen miles from Oxford, the place where the court' then resided. John, hearing of their approach, sent the archbishop of Canterbury, the earl of Pembroke, and others of his council, to know the particulars of their request, and what those liberties were which they so earnestly importuned him to grant. The barons delivered a schedule, containing the chief articles of their demands, and of which the charters of Henry and Edward formed the ground-work. No sooner

were these shewn to the king than he burst into a furious passion, and asked, why the barons did not also demand his kingdom? swearing that he would never comply with such exorbitant demands. But the confederacy was now too strong to fear much from the consequences of his resentment. They chose Robert Fitzwalter for their general, whom they dignified with the title of "Mareschal of the army of God, and of the holy church;" and proceeded, without farther ceremony, to make war upon the king. They besieged Northampton; they took Bedford, and were joyfully received in London. They wrote circular letters to all the nobility and gentlemen who had not yet declared in their favour, and menaced their estates with devastation, in case of refusal or delay.

John, struck with terror, first offered to refer all differences to the pope alone, or to eight barons, four to be chosen by himself, and four by the confederates. This the barons scornfully rejected. He then assured them, that he would submit at discretion; and that it was his supreme pleasure to grant all their demands: a conference was accordingly appointed, and all things adjusted for this most important treaty.

The ground where the king's commissioners met the barons was between Staines and Windsor, at a place called Runimede, still held in reverence by posterity, as the spot where the standard of freedom was first erected in England. There the barons appeared with a vast number of knights and warriors, on the 15th day of June, while those on the king's part came a day or two after. Both sides encamped apart, like open enemies. The debate between power and precedent is, generally, but of short continuance. The barons, determined on carrying their aims, would admit of few abatements; and the king's agents being for the most part in their interests, few debates ensued. After some days, the king, with a facility that was somewhat suspicious, signed and sealed the charter required of him; a charter which continues in force to this day, and is that famous bulwark of English liberty, which goes by the name of MAGNA CHARTA. This famous deed either granted or secured freedom to those orders of the kingdom that were already possessed of freedom, namely, to the clergy, the barons, and the gentlemen ; as for the inferior, and the greatest part of the people, they were as yet held as slaves, and it was long before they could come to a participation of legal protection.

John, however, could not well brook those concessions that were extorted from his fears, he, therefore, took the first op

portunity of denying to be in the least governed by them. This produced a second civil war, in which the barons were obliged to have recourse to the king of France for assistance. Thus England saw nothing but a prospect of being every way undone: If John succeeded, a tyrannical and implacable monarch was to be their tormentor; if the French king should prevail, the country was ever after to submit to a more powerful mo narchy, and was to become a province of France. What neither human prudence could foresee, nor policy suggest, was brought about by a happy and unexpected event.

John had assembled a considerable army, with a view to make one great effort for the crown; and at the head of a large body of troops, resolved to penetrate into the heart of the kingdom. With these resolutions he departed from Lynn, which for its fidelity he had distinguished with many marks of favour, and directed his route towards Lincolnshire. His road lay along the shore, which was overflowed at high water; but not being apprised of this, or being ignorant of the tide of the place, he lost all his carriages, treasure, and baggage, by its influx. He himself escaped with the greatest difficulty, and arrived at the abbey of Swinstead, where his grief for the loss he had sustained, and the distracted state of his affairs, threw him into a fever, which soon appeared to be fatal. Next day being unable to ride on horseback, he was carried on a litter to the castle of Seeford, and from thence removed to Newark, where, after having made his will, he died in the fifty-first year of his age, and the eighteenth of his detested reign.

A

CHAP. XI.

HENRY III.

A. D. 1216—1272.

CLAIM was, upon the death of John, made in favour of young Henry, the son of the late king, who was now but nine years of age. The earl of Pembroke, a nobleman of great worth and valour, who had faithfully adhered to John in all the fluctuations of his fortune, determined to support his declining interests, and had him solemnly crowned by the bishops of Winchester and Bath, at Gloucester. The young king was of a character the very opposite to his father: as he grew up to man's estate, he was found to be gentle, merciful, and humane; he appeared easy and good-natured to his dependants; but no way formidable to his enemies. Without

activity or vigour, he was unfit to conduct in war; without distrust or suspicion, he was imposed upon in times of peace.

As weak princes are never without governing favourites, he first placed his affections on Hubert de Burgh, and he becoming obnoxious to the people, the place was soon supplied by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, a Poictevin by birth, a man remarkable for arbitrary conduct, courage, and abilities. Henry, in pursuance of this prelate's advice, invited over a great number of Poictevins, and other foreigners, who, having neither principles nor fortunes at home, were willing to adopt whatever schemes their employer should propose. Every office and command was bestowed on these unprincipled strangers, whose avarice and rapacity were exceeded only by their pride and insolence. So unjust a partiality very naturally excited the jealousy of the barons; and they even ventured to assure the king, that if he did not dismiss all foreigners from court, they would drive both him and them out of the kingdom; but their anger was scarce kept within bounds when they saw a new swarm of these intruders come over from Gascony, with Isabella, the king's mother, who had been some time before married to the count de la Marche. To these just causes of complaint were added the king's unsuccessful expeditions to the continent, his total want of economy, and his oppressive exactions, which were but the result of the former. The kingdom, therefore, wait. ed with gloomy resolution, resolving to take vengeance when the general discontent was arrived at maturity.

This imprudent preference, joined to a thousand other illegal evasions of justice, at last impelled Simon Montford, earl of Leicester, to attempt an innovation in the government, and to wrest the sceptre from the feeble hand who held it, This nobleman was the son of the famous general who com. manded against the Albigenses, a sect of enthusiasts that had been destroyed some time before in the kingdom of Savoy. He was married to the king's sister; and by his power and address, was possessed of a strong interest in the nation, having gained equally the affections of the great and the little.

The first place where the formidable confederacy which he formed discovered itself was, in the parliament-house, where the barons appeared in complete armour. The king, upon his entry, asked them what was their intention? to which they submissively replied, to make him their sovereign, by confirming his power, and to have their grievances redressed. Henry, who was ready enough to promise whatever was demanded, instantly assured them of his intentions to give all

possible satisfaction; and for that purpose, summoned a parliament at Oxford, to digest a new plan of government, and to elect proper persons, who were to be entrusted with the chief authority. This parliament, afterwards called the MAD PARLIAMENT, went expeditiously to work upon the business of reformation. Twenty-four barons were appointed, with supreme authority, to reform the abuses of the state, and Leicester was placed at their head. The whole state in their hands underwent a complete alteration; all his former officers were displaced, and creatures of the twenty-four barons were put in their room. They not only abridged the authority of the king, but the efficacy of parliament, giving up to twelve persons all parliamentary power between each session. Thus these insolent nobles, after having trampled upon the crown, threw prostrate all the rights of the people, and a vile oligarchy was on the point of being established for ever.

The first opposition that was made to these usurpations, was from a power which but lately began to take place in the constitution. The knights of the shire, who, for some time, had begun to be regularly assembled in a separate house, now first perceived those grievances, and complained against them. They represented, that their own interests and power seemed the only aim of all their decrees; and they even called upon the king's eldest son, prince Edward, to interpose his authority, and save the sinking nation.

Prince Edward was at this time about twenty-two years of age. The hopes which were conceived of his abilities and integrity, rendered him an important personage in the transactions of the times, and, in some measure, atoned for his father's imbecility. He had, at a very early age, given the strongest proofs of courage, of wisdom, and of constancy. At first, indeed, when applied to, appearing sensible of what his father had suffered by levity and breach of promise, he refused, some time, to listen to the people's earnest application; but being at last persuaded to concur, a parliament was called, in which the king resumed his former authority. But. this being considered as a breach of the late convention, a civil war ensued, in which, in a pitched battle, the earl of Leicester became victorious, and the king was taken prisoner, but soon after exchanged for prince Edward, who was to remain as a hostage to insure the punctual observance of the former agreement.

With all these advantages, however, Leicester was not so entirely secure but that he still feared the combinations of the foreign states against him, as well as the internal machinations of the royal party. In order, therefore, to secure his ill-ac