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by the bold prediction of a hermit in Yorkshire, known by the name of Peter of Pomfret, that before Ascension-day his crown should be given to another. The prophecy appeared of such possible fulfilment, that it obtained a wide belief, and John sent for the hermit, demanding of him in what manner it was to be accomplished, by his death, or his deposal? Peter was not so crazy as to imagine he could answer this question; but he persisted in affirming that when the appointed day arrived, John would no longer be king, and willingly staked his life upon the issue.

Impiety is no preservative against superstition. The day of Ascension was at hand, when Pandulph landed at Dover, and tendered to John the alternative of submitting to the Pope upon all the points for which he had contended, or abiding the event of an invasion. In fear and trembling he affixed his seal to the instrument which Pandulph had prepared, and swore to observe what he had thus subscribed. But such was the character of this worthless prince, that his signature and his oath were not deemed sufficient securities; and the most powerful of the nobles who were present, swore by the King's soul that, as far as in them lay, they would compel him to perform what he had promised. His humiliation was not yet completed. He still dreaded the French King and his own nobles, and the hermit's prophecy terrified him. The apprehension of death produced a startling thought of eternity; and whether the prophecy pointed at his death or his deposal, if in any way it could be averted, it must be by the authority of the Vicar of God intrusted to his representative. With these feelings, in the prostration of a heart as abject in adversity as it was insolent in power, on the day before the festival of the Ascension he laid his crown at Pandulph's feet, and signed an instrument by which, for the remission of his sins and those of his family, he surrendered the kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, to hold them thenceforth under him and the Roman see. . . For himself, his heirs, and successors, he swore liege homage to that see, bound his kingdom to the annual payment of a thousand marks for ever, in token of vassalage, and renounced for himself or his successors all right to the throne, if the agreement should on their part be infringed. The money, which was delivered in earnest of this tribute, Pan

dulph trampled under foot, to indicate how little the Pope regarded worldly wealth, and he kept the crown five days before he restored it to John. Peter of Pomfret's prediction had now been fairly fulfilled, and there can be little doubt but that the hope of averting a worse fulfilment had been one motive which induced John to the unworthy act; nevertheless, with the malignity of a mean mind, he ordered the hermit to be hanged as a false prophet, and his son with him.

The deed of conveyance stated, that in subjecting his kingdom to the Roman see, John had acted with the general advice of his Barons; and there is reason to believe that they encouraged, if they did not urge, him to a measure by which they expected to diminish his power and to increase their own. Whatever their motives may have been, this act, which now appears so revolting to the feelings of an Englishman, led, in its speedy consequences, to that event which may perhaps be regarded as the most momentous and beneficial in English history, . . . the acquisition of Magna Charta.

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Langton, during the preceding contest, had for a time taken up his abode at Pontigny, as if intimating thereby to the King of England, that he was prepared to tread in the steps of Becket. But Langton had neither Becket's singleness of purpose, nor his intemperance of mind. He had been the occasion of the struggle, not the cause; and had so little personal part in it, that he had in no degree rendered himself obnoxious to the nation. It was otherwise with regard to John, who would always regard him as the means of his humiliation, and Langton well knew there was no crime of which that miscreant was not capable. It behoved him therefore to look for protection against his perfidious resentment; and he seems to have thought that this might more certainly be found in the English Barons, and in the laws of England, than in the Pope, whose policy it would be to treat his vassal King with condescension and favour. Arriving in England with the other exiles, he proceeded to Winchester, there to absolve the King. John came out to meet them, fell at their feet, and asked their forgiveness. After the absolution had been pronounced, the Primate made him swear to defend the Church and her ministers, to renew the good laws of his predecessors, and especially of Edward the Confessor, and to annul bad ones, to

administer justice according to the rightful judgement of his courts, to give every man his rights, and to make full satisfaction before the ensuing Easter for all the damages he had caused on account of the interdict, or in default to fall again under the sentence from which he was now released. The interdict was not wholly to be removed till these conditions had been observed. Langton exacted, likewise, a renewal of the oath of fealty to the Pope.

The business of restitution was not so easy. John ordered commissioners to inquire into the amount of the damages sustained, and report it to the Great Council which had been summoned to meet at St. Alban's. He then joined his army which he had collected at Portsmouth, for the purpose of prosecuting the war in France. They had tarried for him so long that their means were spent, and they told him, therefore, that unless he supplied them with money they could not follow him. To do this was, probably, as little in his power as in his will. He embarked with his own household, and sailed, expecting that a sense of shame, if not of allegiance, would make them put to sea after him. But in this he was deceived; . . . they had performed all to which the feudal system bound them; no honour was to be expected under such a leader, and as no feeling of personal attachment towards him existed, they broke up and returned home. The Great Council meantime had met. The Earl of Essex, Geoffry Fitz-Peter, to whom, with the Bishop of Winchester, the government had been intrusted during the King's absence, laid before them the terms to which he had sworn; and, in pursuance of his engagement, it was ordered that all injurious ordinances should be abrogated, that no sheriff, forester, or other minister of the King should offer injury to any man, or extort fines as they had been used to do; and that the laws of Henry I. should be observed throughout the realm.

The King had sailed to Jersey; being then convinced that his barons would not follow him, he returned to England in the bitterness of disappointment and rage, and with such forces as he could collect, marched to take vengeance upon them. The Primate met him at Northampton, and observed to him that his present conduct was a violation of the oath which he had taken. The vassals must stand to the judgement of his court, and he

must not thus, in his own quarrel, pursue them with arms. Impatient of such an opposition, and probably astonished at it, John replied, "that these matters did not belong to the Archbishop, and should not be impeded by him;" and the next morning he marched towards Nottingham. Langton followed him, and told him that unless he desisted he would excommunicate all who should bear arms, till the interdict was withdrawn, himself alone excepted. The King had felt the effect of such weapons too lately again to encounter them: he yielded to the threat, and in obedience to Langton, appointed a day on which the Barons should appear and answer to his charges.

These events passed in rapid succession, and the Great Council, within three weeks after its meeting at St. Alban's, assembled again at London in St. Paul's Church. The King was not present; his intention was to demand escuage from his Barons, in commutation for the personal service which they had refused to perform their plea was, that they were not bound to pay it for any wars beyond sea; but he insisted that it had been paid in his father's time and in his brother's, and that it was his rightful due. The consideration that the money raised by the two preceding Kings was expended in upholding the honour of England, but that under him nothing but loss and ignominy could be purchased, availed nothing against the validity of his claim: the hope, therefore, of evading this payment became an additional motive for combining to limit those undefined powers which the Sovereign hitherto had exercised: and when on this occasion Langton produced a copy of that charter which Henry the First had granted, and which, though confirmed by the two succeeding Kings, had become but of use, and almost out of mind, they bound themselves by an oath to contend for the rights which were there secured to them, and if need were to die in the cause. this time the chief Justiciary died: he was a man whose dignity of character commanded respect even from King John; that worthless Prince rejoiced, therefore, at his death, and swore that now for the first time he was Lord of England. He lost in him the only person to whom all parties might have deferred, and who might have prevented fatal extremes on either side. But John expected that by help of the Pope he should succeed in curbing all opposition to his will. The papal court has ever been equally

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ready to confirm the absolute authority of devoted sovereigns, and to stir up rebellion against those who resisted its usurpations. Innocent readily espoused the King's cause, but he chose in Cardinal Nicholas, Bishop of Tarentum, a legate unequal to the service on which he was sent. When the question of damages was debated, it was perceived that he acted, not as a just arbitrator, but as one determined upon favouring the King; the act of submission was renewed in his presence, and the deed of resignation was authenticated with a seal of gold and delivered into his hands to be sent to Rome. His policy should now have been to conciliate the Primate and the other prelates; instead of this, he invaded their rights, and, without consulting them, filled up the vacant sees and abbeys, committing also the farther imprudence of promoting persons altogether unworthy of advancement. Upon this Langton required him not to interfere with his jurisdiction, and interposed an appeal to Rome. Pandulph, who was sent to justify the new legate's proceedings, extolled John as a humble and dutiful son of the Church, charged Langton and the Bishops with demanding more in reparation than they ought to expect, and accused the Barons of seeking to oppress their sovereign, and to curtail the liberties of the realm. With the Pope the merit of obedience was everything; regardless of all other considerations, he supported his royal vassal, and empowered his legate to settle the damages, and withdraw the interdict.

These were minor interests; Langton had stirred a more momentous question, and the Barons, for their own security, persevered resolutely in the course which they had begun. They held secret meetings at St. Edmundsbury, which they could do without exciting suspicion, because St. Edmund's shrine was frequented by pilgrims; and there, before the altar of the saint, they pledged themselves by a vow, that if the King did not confirm the laws which Langton had laid before them, and grant them the rights which they claimed, they would make war upon him, till they should have obtained their demands in a charter under his own seal. This was about the middle of November. At Christmas, they engaged to present themselves before the King, and make their petition; meantime they were to provide force for going through with what they had begun. Had they failed in their undertaking, this would have been deemed a treasonable com

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