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, he received the crown, which had been supposed to have forfeited, while the legate trampled under his feet the tribute which John had consented to pay.

Thus after all his armaments and expectations, Philip saw himself disappointed of his prey, and perceived that the pope had over-reached him in this transaction.

CHAP. XXIX.

Magna Charta resigned by King John,
A. D. 1216.

THE English Barons, fired with indignation at the meanness of their king, had recourse to arms, and demanded a re-establishment of the laws of Edward the Confessor, and a renewal of the charter of Henry the First; which being refused by the king, they elected Robert Fitzwaltor for their general, whom they dignified with the titles of Mareschal of the army of God, and of the Holy Church," and proceeded without further ceremony to make war upon the king. They besieged Northampton, they took Bedford,

they were joyfully received into London. They wrote circular letters to all the nobility and gentlemen, who had not declared in their favor, and menaced their estates with devastation, in case of refusal or delay.

In the mean time, the timid king was left at a place called Odiham in Surry, with a mean retinue of only seven knights, where he vainly endeavored to avert the storm by the mediation of his bishops and ministers. He appealed to archbishop Langton against those fierce remonstrants, little suspecting that the primate himself was leagued against him. He desired him to fulminate the thunders of the church upon those who had taken arms against their prince; and aggravated the impiety of the opposition, as he was engaged in the pious and noble duties of the crusade. Langton permitted the tyrant to waste his passion in empty complaints, and declared he would not pass any censure where he found no delinquent. He promised, indeed, that much might be done, in case some foreign auxiliaries, which John had lately brought over, were dismissed; and the weak prince supposing his advice sincere, disbanded a great body of Germans and Flemings, whom he had retained in his service. When the king had thus left himself without protection, he then thought it was the duty of Langton to perform his promise; and to give him the aid of the church, since he had discarded all temporal assistance. But what was his surprise, when the archbishop refused to excommunicate a single baron, but peremptorily opposed his commands. John, stung with re

sentment and regret, knew not where to turn for advice and comfort. As he had hitherto sported with the happiness of mankind, he found none that did not secretly rejoice in his sufferings. He now began to think that any terms were to be complied with; and that it was better to reign a limited prince, than sacrifice his crown, and perhaps his life, to ambition. But first he 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 Stains and Windsor, at a place called Runimede, still held in revcrence 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 fifteenth day of June, while those on the king's part, came a day or two after.

Both sides encamped apart, like open enemies. The debates between power and precedent are 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 now goes by the name of Magna Charta.

This famous deed, either granted or secured very important privileges to those orders of the kingdom, who 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 still held as slaves, and it was long before they could come to a participation of legal protection.

CHAP. XXX.

Of Edward the First, and the Origin of the Title of the Prince of Wales.

EDWARD I. came to the throne of England, A. D. 1272. He was crowned on his return from Palestine, where, with only 10,000 Englishmen, he struck a general panic into the Saracens. He narrowly escaped being murdered there by an assassin, from whom he received a wound in his arm, which was given by a poisoned dagger; and it is affirmed that he owed his -life to the affection of Eleanor his queen, who was with him, and sucked the venom out of the wound.

He was a brave and politic prince, and being perfectly well acquainted with the laws, interests, and constitution of his kingdom, the wisdom

and policy of his regulations, have justly given him the title of the English Justinian.

He granted certain privileges to the cinqueports, which, though now very inconsiderable, were then obliged to attend the king when he went beyond sea, with fifty-seven ships, each having twenty armed soldiers on board, and to maintain them at their own costs for the space of fifteen days.

Edward, having defeated and killed Llewellyn, a petty king of Wales, who had revolted, afterwards summoned a parliament at Ruthen, where it was resolved, that Wales should be inseparably united to England. But some of the Welsh nobles telling the king, that he would never peaceably enjoy their country, till they were governed by a prince of their own nation, he sent for his queen, who was then pregnant, to lie in at Caernarvon, where she was brought to bed of a prince, whom the states of Wales acknowledged for their sovereign; and since that time, the eldest sons of the kings of England have borne the title of the Prince of Wales.

Soon after this Queen Eleanor died at Grantham in Lincolnshire; to whose memory the king erected a cross at every place where the corpse rested in the way to Westminster.