No More Learning

In the disposition which all these causes had concurred universally to diffuse, the slightest motion in his kingdom threatened the most dangerous consequences. Those things which in quiet times would have only raised a slight controversy, now, when the
minds of men were exasperated and inflamed, were
capable of affording matter to the greatest revolutions. The affairs of the Church, the winds which mostly governed the fluctuating people, were to be
regarded with the utmost attention. Above all, the
person who filled the see'of Canterbury, which stood
on a level with the throne itself, was a matter of the
? ? ? ? 446 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
last importance. Just at this critical time died Hubert, archbishop of that see, a man who had a large
share in procuring the crown for John, and in weakening its authority by his acts at the ceremony of
the coron~ation, as well as by his subsequent conduct.
Immediately on the death of this prelate, a cabal
of obscure monks, of the Abbey of St. Augustin,
assemble. by night, and first binding themselves by
a solemn oath not to divulge their proceedings, until
they should be confirmed by the Pope, they elect one
Reginald, their sub-prior, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The person elected immediately crossed the seas; but
his vanity soon discovered the secret of his greatness.
The king received the news of this transaction with
surprise and indignation. Provoked at such a contempt of his authority, he fell severely on the monastery, no less surprised than himself at the clandestine proceeding of some of its members. But the sounder part pacified him in some measure by their
submission. They elected a person recommended by
the king, and sent fourteen of the most respectable
of their body to Rome, to pray that the former proceedings should be annulled, and the later and more
regular confirmed. To this matter of contention
another was added. A dispute had long subsisted
between the suffragan bishops of the province of Canterbury and the monks of the Abbey of St. Austin,
each claiming a right to elect the metropolitan. This
dispute was now revived, and pursued with much
vigor. The pretensions of the three contending parties were laid before the Pope, to whom such disputes
were highly pleasing, as he knew that all claimants
willingly' conspire to flatter and aggrandize that
authority from which they expect a confirmation
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 447
of their own. The first election he nulled, because
its irregularity was glaring. The right of the bishops was entirely rejected: the Pope looked with an
evil eye upon those whose authority he was every day
usurping. The second election was set aside, as made
at the king's instance: this was enough to make it
very irregular. The canon law had now grown up
to its full strength. The enlargement of the prerogative of the Pope was the great object of this jurisprudence, -a prerogative which, founded on fictitious
monuments, that are forged in an ignorant age, easily admitted by- a credulous people, and afterwards
confirmed and enlarged by these admissions, not satisfied with the supremacy, encroached on every minute part of Church government, and had almost
annihilated the episcopal jurisdiction throughout Europe. Some canons had given the metropolitan a
power of nominating a bishop, when the circumstances of the election were palpably irregular; and
as it does not appear that there was any other judge
of the irregularity than the metropolitan himself, the
election below in effect became nugatory. The Pope,
taking the irregularity in this case for granted, in virtue of this canon, and by his plenitude of power, ordered the deputies of Canterbury to proceed to a new
election. At the same time he recommended to their
choice Stephen Langton, their countryman, -- a person already distinguished for his learning, of irreproachable morals, and free from every canonical impediment. This authoritative request the monks had not the courage to oppose in the Pope's presence and
in his own city. They murmured, and submitted.
In England this proceeding was not so easily ratified. John drove the monks of Canterbury from
? ? ? ? 448 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
their monastery, and, having seized upon their revenues, threatened the effects of the same indignation against all those who seemed inclined to acquiesce in the proceedings of Rome. But Rome had not made so bold a step with intention to recede. On the king's positive refusal to admit Langton, and the expulsion of the monks of Canterbury,
England was laid under an interdict. Then
La D. 1208.
divine service at once ceased throughout the
kingdom; the churches wer'e shut; the sacraments
were suspended; the dead were buried without hon
or, in highways and ditches, and the living deprived
of all spiritual comfort. On the other hand, the king
let loose his indignation against the ecclesiastics,seizing their goods, throwing many into prison, and
permitting or encouraging all sorts of violence against
them. The kingdom was thrown into the most terrible confusion; whilst the people, unicertain of the
object or measure of their allegiance, and distracted
with opposite principles of duty, saw themselves deprived of their religious rites by the ministers of
religion, and their king, furious with wrongs not
caused by them, falling indiscriminately on the innocent and the guilty: for John, instead of soothing
his people in this their common calamity, sought to
terrify them into obedience. In a progress whicl he
made into the North, he threw down the inclosures
of his forests, to let loose the wild beasts upon their
lands; and as -he saw the Papal proceedings increase
with his opposition, he thought it necessary to strengthen himself by new devices. He extorted hostages and
a new oath of fidelity from his barons. He raised a
great army, to divert the thoughts of his subjects
from brooding too much on their distracted condi
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 449
tion. This army he transported into Ireland; and
as it happened to his father in a similar dispute with
the Pope, whilst he was dubious of his hereditary
kingdom, he subdued Ireland. At this time he is
said to have established the English laws in that
kingdom, and to have appointed itinerant justices.
At length the sentence of excommunication was
fulminated against the king. In the same year the
same sentence was pronounced upon the Emperor
Otho; and this daring Pope was not afraid at once
to drive to extremities the two greatest princes in
Europe. And truly, nothing is more remarkable
than the uniform steadiness of the court of Rome in,
the pursuits of her ambitious projects. For, know-.
ing that pretensions which stand merely in opinionh
cannot bear to be questioned in any part, though she,
had hitherto seen the interdict produce but little ef --
fect, and perceived that the excommunication itself
could draw scarce one poor bigot from the king's
service, yet she receded not the least point from the
utmost of her demand. She broke off an accommodation just on the point of being concluded, because the king refused to repair the losses which the clergy
had suffered, though he agreed to everything else,.
and even submitted to receive the archbishop, who,,
being obtruded on him, had in reality been set over.
him. But the Pope, bold as politic, determined to
render him perfectly submissive, and to this purpose brought out the last arms of the ecclesiastic stores, which were reserved for the most extreme
occasions. Having first released the English subjects
from their oath of allegiance, by an unheard-of presumption, he formally deposed John from his throne and dignity; he invited the King of France to take
VOL. VII. 29
? ? ? ? 450 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
possession of the forfeited crown; he called forth all
persons from all parts of Europe to assist in this expedition, by the pardons and privileges of those who fought for the Holy Land.
This proceeding did not astonish the world. The
King of France, having driven John from all he held
on the continent, gladly saw religion itself invite him
to further conquests. He summoned all his vassals,
under the penalty of felony, and the opprobrious
name of culvertage,* (a name of all things dreaded
by both nations,) to attend- in this expedition; and
such force had this threat, and the hope of plunder
in. 1213 i England, that a very great army was in
a short time assembled. A fleet also rendezvoused in the mouth of the Seine, by the writers
of these times said to consist of seventeen hundred
sail. On this occasion John roused all his powers.
He called upon all his people who by the duty
of their tenure or allegiance were obliged to defend
their lord and king, and in his writs stimulated them
by the same threats of culvertage which had been
employed against him. They operated powerfully in
his favor. His fleet in number exceeded the vast
navy of France; his army was in everything but
heartiness to the cause equal, and, extending along
the coast of Kent, expected the descent of the French
forces.
Whilst these two mighty armies overspread the opposite coasts, and the sea was covered with their fleets, and the. decision of so vast an event was hourly expected, various thoughts arose in the minds of those who moved the springs of these affairs. John, at the
* A word of uncertain derivation, but which signifies some scandalous species of cowardice.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 451.
Lead of one of the finest armies in the world, trembled
inwardly, when he reflected how little he possessed
or merited their confidence. Wounded by the consciousness of his crimes, excommunicated by the
Pope, hated by his subjects, in danger of being at
once abandoned by heaven and earth, he was filled
with the most fearful anxiety. The legates of the
Pope had hitherto seen everything succeed to their
wish. But having made use of an instrument too
great for them to wield, they apprehended, that, when
it had overthrown their adversary, it might recoil
upon the court of Rome itself; that to add England
to the rest of Philip's great possessions was not the
way to make him humble; and that ill ruining John
to aggrandize that monarch, they should set up a
powerful enemy in the place of a submissive vassal.
They had done enough to give them a superiority
in any negotiation, and they privately sent an embassy to the King of England. Finding him very tractable, they hasted to complete the treaty. The Pope's
legate, Pandulph, was intrusted with this affair. He
knew the nature of men to be such that they seldom
engage willingly, if the whole of an hardship be
shown them at first, but that, having advanced a certain length, their former concessions are an argument
with them to advance further, and to give all because
they have already given a great deal. Therefore he
began with exacting an oath from the king, by which,
without showing the extent of his design, he engaged
him to everything he could ask. John swore to submit to the legate in all things relating to his excommunication. And first he was obliged to accept Langton as archbishop; then to restore the monks of Canterbury, and other deprived ecclesiastics, and to
? ? ? ? 452 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
make them a full indemnification for all their losses.
And now, by these concessions, all things seemed to
be perfectly settled. The cause of the quarrel was
entirely removed. But when the king expected for
so perfect a submission a full absolution, the legate
began a labored harangue on his rebellion, his tyran
ny, and the innumerable sins he had committed, and
in conclusion declared that there was no way left to
appease God and the Church but to resign his crown
to the Holy See, from whose hands he should receive
it purified from all pollutions, and hold it for the future by homage and an annual tribute.
John was struck motionless at a demand so extravagant and unexpected. He knew not on which side
to turn. If he cast his eyes toward the coast of
France, he there saw his enemy Philip, who considered him as a oriminal as well as an enemy, and who aimed not only at his crown, but his life, at the head.
of an innumerable multitude of fierce people, ready
to rush in upon him. If he looked at hlis own army,
he saw nothing there but coldness, disaffection, un-.
certainty, distrust, and a strength in which he knew
not whether he ought most to confide or fear. On
the other hand, the Papal thunders, from the wounds
of which he was still sore, were levelled full at his
head. He could not look steadily at these complicated difficulties: and truly it is hard to say what choice he had, if any choice were left to kings in what
concerns the independence of their crown. Surrounded; therefore, with these difficulties, and that all his late humiliations might not be rendered as ineffectual as they were ignominious, he took the last step, and in the presence of a numerous assembly of
Ehis peers and prelates, who turned their eyes from
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT: OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 453
this mortifying sight, formally resigned his crown to
the Pope's legate, to whom at the same time he did
homage and paid the first fruits of his tribute. Nothing. could be added to the humiliation of the king
upon this occasion, but the insolence of the legate,
who spurned the treasure with his foot, and let the
crown remain a long time on the ground, before he
restored it to the degraded owner.
In this proceeding the motives of the king may be
easily discovered; but how the barons of the kingdom, who were deeply concerned, suffered without
*any protestation the independency of the crown to
be thus forfeited is mentioned by no historian of that
time. In civil tumults it is astonishing how little regard is paid by all parties to. the honor or safety of
their country. The king's friends were probably induced to acquiesce by the same motives that had influenced the king. His enemies, who were the most numerous, perhaps saw his abasement with pleasure. ,
as they. knew this action might be one day employed
against him with effect. To the bigots it was enough
that it aggrandized the Pope. It is perhaps worthy
of observation that the conduct: of Pandulph towards
King:John bore a very great affinity to that -of the
Roman consuls to the people of Carthage in the last
Punic War, - drawing them from concession to concession, and carefully concealing their design, until
they made it impossible for the Carthaginians to resist. Such a strong resemblance did the same ambition produce in. such distant times; and it is far from the sole instance in which we may trace a similarity
between the spirit and conduct of the former and latter Rome in their common design on the liberties of
mankind
? ? ? ? 454 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
The legates, having thus triumphed over the king,
passed back into France, but without relaxing the
interdict or excommunication, which they still left
hanging over him, lest he should be tempted to throw
off the chains of his new subjection. Arriving in
France, they delivered their orders to Philip with as
much haughtiness as they had done to John. They
told him that the end of the war was answered in the
humiliation of the King of England, who had been
rendered a dutiful son of the Church,- and that, if
the King of France should, after this notice, proceed
to further hostilities, he had to apprehend the same
sentence which had humbled his adversary. Philip,
-who had not raised so great an army with a view of
reforming the manners of King John, would have
slighted these threats, had he not found that they
were seconded by the ill dispositions of a part of his
own army. The Earl of Flanders, always disaffected
to his cause, was glad of this opportunity to oppose
him, and, only following him through fear, withdrew
his forces, and now openly opposed him. Philip
turned his arms against his revolted vassal. The
cause of John was revived by this dissension, and his
courage seemed rekindled. Making one effort of a
vigorous mind, he brought his fleet to an action with
the French navy, which he entirely destroyed on the
coast of Flanders, and thus freed himself from the
terror of an invasion. But when he intended to embark and improve his success, the barons refused to
follow him. They alleged that he was still excommunicated, and that they would not follow a lord
under the censures of the Church. This demonstrated to the king the necessity of a speedy absolution; and he received it this year from the hands of Cardinal Langton.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 455
That archbishop no sooner came into the kingdom
than he discovered designs very different from those
which the Pope had raised him to promote. He
formed schemes of a very deep and extensive nature,
and became the first mover in all the affairs which
distinguish the remainder of this reign. In the oath
which he administered to John on his absolution, he
did not confine himself solely to the ecclesiastical
grievances, but made him swear to amend his civil
government, to raise no tax without the consent of
the Great Council, and to punish no man but by
the judgment of his court. In these terms we may
see the Great Charter traced in miniature. A new
scene of contention was opened; new pretensions
were started; a new scheme was displayed. One
dispute was hardly closed, when he was involved in
another; and this unfortunate king soon discovered
that to renounce his dignity was not the way to secure his repose. For, being cleared of the excommunication, he resolved to pursue the war in France,
in which he was not without a prospect of success;
but the barons refused upon new pretences, and not
a man would serve. The king, incensed to find himself equally opposed in his lawful and unlawful commands, prepared to avenge himself in his accustomed manner, and to reduce the barons to obedience by
carrying war into their estates. But he found by
this experiment that his power was at an end. The
Archbishop followed him, confronted him with the
liberties of his people, reminded him of his late oath,
and threatened to excommunicate every person who
should obey him in his illegal proceedings. . The
king, first provoked, afterwards terrified at this resolution, forbore to prosecute the recusants.
? ? ? ? 456' ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
The English barons had privileges, which they
knew to have been violated; they had always kept
up the memory of the ancient Saxon liberty; and if
they were the conquerors of Britain, they did not
think that their own servitude was the just fruit of
their victory. They had, however, but an indistinct
view of the object at which they aimed; they rather
felt their wrongs than understood the cause of them;
and having no head nor council, they were more in
a condition of distressing their king and disgracing
their country by their disobedience than of applying
any effectual remedy to their grievances. Langton
saw these dispositions, and these wants. He had
conceived a settled plan for reducing the king, and
all his actions tended to carry it into execution.
This prelate, under pretence of holding an ecclesiastical synod, drew together privately some of the
principal barons to the Church of St. Paul in London. There, having expatiated on the miseries
which the kingdom suffered, and having explained
at the same. time the liberties to which it was entitled, he produced the famous charter of Henry the
First, long concealed, and of which, with infinite difficulty, he had procured an authentic copy. This he
held up to the barons as the standard about which
they were to unite. These were the liberties which
their ancestors had received by the free concession of
a former king, and these the rights which their virtue was to force from the present, if (which God forbid! ) they should find it necessary to have recourse to such extremities. The barons, transported to find
an authentic instrument to justify. their discontent
and to explain -and sanction their pretensions, covered the Archbishop with praises, readily confeder
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. '457
ated to support their demands, and, binding themselves by every obligation of human and religious
faith to vigor, unanimity, and secrecy, they depart to
confederate others in their design.
This plot was in the hands of too many to be perfectly concealed; and John saw, without knowing
how to ward it off, a more dangerous blow levelled
at his authority than any of the former. He had no
resources within his kingdom, where all'ranks and
orders were united against him by one common
hatred.
Foreign alliance he had none, among temporal powers. He endeavored, therefore, if possible,
to draw some benefit from the misfortune of his new
circumstances: he threw himself upon the protection
of the Papal power, which he had so long and with
such reason opposed. The Pope readily received him
into his protection, but took this occasion to make
him purchase it by another and more formal resignation of his crown. His present necessities and his
habits of humiliation made this second degradation
easy to the king. But Langton, who no longer acted
in subservience to the Pope, from whom he had now
nothing further to expect, and who had put himself
at the head of the patrons of civil liberty, loudly exclaimed at this indignity, protested against the resignation, and laid his protestation on the altar. This was more disagreeable to the barons'than the
first resignation, as they were sensible that he now
degraded himself only to humble his subjects. They
were, however, once more patient witnesses to that
ignominious act,-and were so much overawed by
the Pope, or had brought their design to so little
maturity, that the king, in spite of it, still found
means and authority to raise an army, with which he
? ? ? ? 458 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
1214 made a final effort to recover some part of
his dominions in France. The juncture was
altogether favorable to his design. Philip had all
his attention abundantly employed in another quarter, against the terrible attacks of the Emperor Otho
in a confederacy with the Earl of Flanders. John,
strengthened by this diversion, carried on the war in
Poitou for some time with good appearances. The
Battle of Bouvines, which was fought this year, put
an end to all these hopes. In this battle, the Imperial army, consisting of one hundred and fifty thousand men, were defeated by a third of their number of French forces. The Emperor himself, with difficulty escaping from the field, survived but a short
time a battle which entirely broke his strength. So
signal a success established the grandeur of France
upon immovable foundations. Philip rose continually in reputation and power, whilst John continually
declined in both; and as the King of France was
now ready to employ against him' all his forces, so
lately victorious, he sued, by the mediation of the
Pope's legate, for a truce, which was granted to him
for five years. ' Such truces stood in the place of
regular treaties of peace, which were not often made
at that time.
The barons of England had made use of the king's
absence to bring their confederacy to form; and now,
seeing him return with so little credit, his allies discomfited, and no hope of a party among his subjects,
a. D. 1215. they appeared in a body before him at London. All in complete armor, and in the
guise of defiance, they presented a petition, very humble in the language, but excessive in the substance,
in which they declared their liberties, and prayed that
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 459
they might be formally allowed and established by
the royal authority. The king resolved not to submit to their demands; but being at present in no condition to resist, he required time to consider of so
important an affair. The time which was granted to
the king to deliberate he employed in finding means
to avoid a compliance. He took the cross, by which
he hoped to render his person sacred; he obliged the
people to renew their oath of fealty; and, lastly, he
had recourse to the Pope. Fortified by all the devices which could be used to supply-the place of a
real strength, he ventured, when the barons renewed
their demands, to give them a positive refusal; he
swore by the feet of God (his usual oath) that he
would never grant them such liberties as must make
a slave of himself.
The barons, on this answer, immediately fly to
arms: they rise in every part; they form an army,
and appoint a leader; and as they knew that no design call involve all sorts of people or inspire them
with extraordinary resolution, unless it be animated
with religion, they call their leader the Marshal of
the Army of God and Holy Church. The king was
wholly unprovided against so general a defection.
The city of London, the possession of which has
generally proved a decisive advantage in the English civil wars, was betrayed to the barons. He
might -rather be said to be imprisoned than defended in the Tower of London, to which close
siege was laid; whilst the marshal of the barons'
army, exercising the prerogatives of royalty, issued
writs to summon all the lords to join the armry of liberty, threatening equally all those who should adhere to the king and those who betrayed an indifference to
? ? ? ? 460 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the cause by their neutrality. John, deserted by all,
had no resource but in temporizing and submission.
Without questioning in any part the teims of a treaty which he intended to observe in none, he agreed
to everything the barons thought fit to ask, hoping
that the exorbitancy of their demands would justify
in the eyes of the world: the breach of his promises.
The instruments by which the barons secured their
liberties were drawn up in form of charters, and in
the manner by which grants had been usually made
to monasteries, with a preamble signifying that it was
done for the benefit of the king's soul and those of
his ancestors. For the. place of solemnizing this remarkable act they chose a large field, overlooked by
Windsor, called Running-mede, which, in our present
tongue, signifies the Meadow of Council, --a place
long consecrated by public opinion, as that wherein
the quarrels and wars which arose in the English
nation, when divided into kingdoms or factions, had
been terminated from the remotest times. Here it
was that King John, on the 15th day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1215, signed those two memorable
instruments which first disarmed the crown of its unlimited prerogatives, and laid the foundation of English liberty. One was called the Great Charter; the other, the Charter of the Forest. If we look back to
the state of the. nation at that time, we. shall the
better comprehend the spirit and necessity of these
grants.
Besides, the ecclesiastical jurisprudence, at that
time, two systems of laws, very different from each
other in their object, their reason, and their authority, regulated the interior of the kingdom: the Forest Law, and the Common Law. After the Northern
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF. ENGLISH HISTORY. 461
nations had settled here, and in other parts of Europe, hunting, which had formerly been the chief
means of their subsistence, still continued their favorite diversion. Great tracts of each country, wasted by the wars in which it was conquered, were set apart for this kind of sport, and guarded in a state of
desolation by strict laws and severe penalties. When
such waste lands were in the hands of subjects, they
were called Chases; when in the power of the sovereign, they were denominated Forests. These forests
lay properly within the jurisdiction of no hundred,
county, or bishopric; and therefore, being out both of
the Common and the Spiritual Law, they were governed by a law of their own, which was such as the
king by his private will thought proper to impose.
There were reckoned in England no less than sixtyeight royal forests, some of them of vast extent. In
these great tracts were many scattered inhabitants;
and several persons had property of woodland, and
other soil, inclosed within their bounds. Here the
king had separate courts and particular justiciaries;
a complete jurisprudence, with all its ceremonies and
terms of art, was formed; and it appears that these
laws were better digested and more carefully enforced
than those which belonged to civil government. They
had, indeed, all the qualities of the worst of laws.
Their professed object was to keep a great part of the
nation desolate. They hindered communication and
destroyed industry. They had a trivial object, and
most severe sanctions; for, as they belonged immediately to the king's personal pleasures, by the lax
interpretation of treason in those days, all considerable offences against the Forest Law, such as killing the
beasts of game, were considered as high treason, and
? ? ? ? 462 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
punished, as high treason then was, by truncation of
limbs and loss of eyes and testicles. Hence arose a
thousand abuses, vexatious suits, and pretences for
imposition upon all those who lived in or near these
places. The deer were suffered to run loose upon
their lands; and many oppressions were used with
relation to the claim of commonage which the people had in most of the forests. The Norman kings
were not the first'makers of the Forest Law; it subsisted under the Saxon and Danish kings. Canute
the Great composed a body of those laws, which still
remains. But under the Norman kings they were
enforced with greater rigor, as the whole tenor of the
Norman government was more rigorous. Besides,
new- forests were frequently made, by which private
property was outraged in a grievous manner. Nothing, perhaps, shows more clearly how little men are
able to depart from the common course of affairs than
that the Norman kings, princes of great capacity, and
extremely desirous of absolute power, did not think
of peopling these forests, places under their own uncontrolled dominion, and which might have served
as so many garrisons dispersed throughout the country. The Charter of the Forests had for its object
the disafforesting several of those tracts, the prevention of future afforestings, the mitigation and ascertainment of the punishments for breaches of the Forest Law.
The Common Law, as it then prevailed in England,
was in a great measure composed of some remnants
of the old Saxon customs, joined to the feudal institutions brought in at the Norman Conquest. And it
is here to be observed, that the constitutions of Magna Charta are by no means a renewal of the Laws
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 463
of St. Edward, or the ancient Saxon laws, as our
historians and law-writers generally, though very
groundlessly, assert. They bear no resemblance in
any particular to the Laws of St. Edward, or to any
other collection of these ancient institutions. Indeed,
how should they? The object of Magna Charta is
the correction of the feudal policy, which was first
introduced, at least in any regular form, at the Conquest, and did not subsist before it. It may be fur-' ther observed, that in the preamble to the Great
Charter it is stipulated that the barons shall hold
the liberties there granted to them and their heirs,
from the king and his heirs; which shows that the
doctrine of an unalienable tenure was always uppermost in their minds. Their idea even of liberty was not (if I may use the expression) perfectly free; and
they did not claim to possess their privileges upon
any natural principle or independent bottom, but
just as they held their lands from the king. This
is worthy of observation.
By the Feudal Law, all landed property is, by a
feigned conclusion, supposed to be derived, and therefore to be mediately or immediately held, from the crown. If some estates were so derived, others were
certainly procured by the same original title of conquest by which the crown itself was acquired, and the derivation from the king could in reason only be considered as a fiction of law. But its consequent rights being once supposed, many real charges and burdens
grew from a fiction made only for the preservation of
subordination; and in consequence of this, a great
power was exercised over the persons and estates of
the tenants. The fines on the succession to an estate,
called in the feudal language reliefs, were not fixed
? ? ? ? 464' ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
to any certainty, and were therefore frequently made
so excessive that they might rather be considered as
redemptions or new purchases than acknowledgments
of superiority and tenure. With respect to that most
important article of marriage, there was, ini the very
nature of the feudal holding, a great restraint laid
upon it. It was of importance to the lord that the
person who received the feud should be submissive
to him; he had, therefore, a right to interfere in
the marriage of the heiress who inherited the feud.
This right was carried further than the necessity required: the male heir himself was obliged to marry according to the choice of his lord; and even widows,
who had made one sacrifice to the feudal tyranny,
were neither suffered to continue in the widowed state
*nor to choose for themselves the partners of their second bed. In fact, marriage was publicly set up to sale. The ancient records of the Exchequer afford
many instances where some women purchased by
heavy fines the privilege of a, single life, some the
free choice of an husband, others the liberty of rejecting some person particularly disagreeable. And what may appear extraordinary, there are not wanting examples where a woman has fined in a considerable sum, that she might not be compelled to marry a
certain man; the suitor, on the other hand, has outbid her, and solely by offering more for the marriage than the heiress could to prevent it, he carried his
point directly and avowedly against her inclinations.
Now, as the king claimed no right over his immediate tenants that they did not exercise in the same or
in a more oppressive manner over their vassals, it is
hard to conceive a more general and cruel grievance
than-this shameful market, which so universally out
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 465
raged the most sacred relations among mankind.
But the tyranny over women was not over with the
marriage. As the king seized into his hands the estate of every deceased tenant in order to secure his
relief, the widow was driven often by an heavy composition to purchase the admission to her dower, into
which it should seem she could not enter without the
king's consent.
All these were marks of a real and grievous servitude. The Great Charter was made, not to destroy
the root; but to cut short the overgrown branches
of the feudal service: first, in moderating. and in reducing to a certainty the reliefs which the king's tenants paid on succeeding to their estate according toi their rank; and, secondly, in taking off some of the!
burdens which had been laid on marriage, whether
compulsory or restrictive, and thereby preventing that
shameful market which had been made in the persons of heirs, and the most sacred things amongst
mankind.
There were other provisions made in the Great
Charter that went deeper than the feudal tenure,
and affected the whole body of the civil government.
A great part of the king's revenue then consisted
in the fines and amercements which were imposed
in his courts. A fine was paid there for liberty to,
commence or to conclude a suit. The punishment.
of offences by fine was discretionary; and this discretionary power had been very much abused. But
by Magna Charta things were so ordered, that a delinquent might be punished, but not ruined, by a
fine or amercement; because the degree of his offence, and the rank he held, were to be taken into
consideration. His freehold, his merchandise, and.
VOL. VII. 30
? ? ? ? 466 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISIH HISTORY.
those instruments by which he obtained his livelihood were made sacred from such impositions.
A more grand reform was made with regard to
the administration of justice. The kings in those
days seldom resided long in one place, and their
courts followed their persons. This erratic justice
must have been productive of infinite inconvenience
to the litigants. It was now provided that civil
suits, called Common Pleas, should be fixed to some
certain place. Thus one branch of jurisdiction was
separated from the king's court, and detached from
his person. They had not yet come to that maturity of jurisprudence as to think this might be
made to extend to criminal law also, and that the
latter was an object of still greater importance. But
even the former may be considered as a great revolution. A tribunal, a creature of mere law, independent of personal power, was established; and this separation of a king's authority from his person was
a matter of vast consequence towards introducing
ideas of freedom, and confirming the sacredness and
majesty of laws.
But the grand article, and that which cemented
all the parts of the fabric of liberty, was this, --:that " no freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or
disseized, or outlawed, or banished, or in any wise
destroyed, but by judgment of his peers. "
There is another article of nearly as much consequence as the former, considering the state of the
nation at that time, by which it is provided that the
barons shall grant to their tenants the same liberties
which they had stipulated for themselves. This prevented the kingdom from degenerating into the worst
imaginable government, a feudal aristocracy. The
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 467
English barons were not in the condition of those
great princes who had made the French monarchy
so low in the preceding century, or like those who
reduced the Imperial power to a name. They had
been brought to moderate bounds by the. policy of
the first and second Henrys, and were not in a condition to set up for petty sovereigns by an usurpation
equally detrimental to the crown and the people.
They were able to act only in confederacy; and this
common cause made it necessary to consult the common good, and to- study popularity by the equity of
their proceedings. This was a very happy circumstance to the growing liberty.
These concessions were so just and reasonable, that,
if we except the force, no prince could think himself
wronged in making them. But to secure the observance of these articles, regulations were made, which,
whilst they were regarded, scarcely left a shadow
of regal power. And the barons could think of no
measures for securing their freedom, but such as
were inconsistent with monarchy. A council of
twenty-five barons was to be chosen by their own
body, without any concurrence of the king, in order
to hear and determine upon all complaints concerning the breach of the charter; and as these charters
extended to almost every part of government, a tribunal of his enemies was set up who might pass judgment on all his actions. And that force might not be wanting to execute the judgments of this new
tribunal, the king agreed to issue his own writs to
all persons, to oblige them to take an oath of obedience to the twenty-five barons, who were empowered
to distress him by seizure of his lands and castles,
and by every possible method, until the grievance
? ? ? ? 468 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
complained of was redressed according to their pleasure: hit own person and his family were alone exempted from violence.
By these last concessions, it must be confessed:, he
was effectually dethroned, and with all the circumstances of indignity which could be imagined. He
had refused to govern as a lawful prince, and he
saw himself deprived of even his legal authority.
He became of no sort of consequence in his kingdom; he was held in universal contempt and derision; he fell into a profound melancholy. It was
in vain that he had recourse to the Pope, whose
power he had found sufficient to reduce, but not
to support him. The censures of the Holy See,
which had been fulminated at his desire, were little
regarded by the barons, or even by the clergy, supported in this resistance by the firmness of their
archbishop, who acted with great vigor in the cause
of the barons, and even delivered into their hands
the fortress of Rochester, one of the most important
places in the kingdom. After much meditation the
king at last resolved upon a measure of the most extreme kind, extorted by shame, revenge, and despair,
but, considering the disposition of the time, much
the most effectual that could be chosen. He dispatched emissaries into France, into the Low Countries and Germany, to raise men for his service. He had recourse to the same measures to bring his kingdom to obedience which his predecessor, William, had
used to conquer it. He promised to the adventurers
in his quarrel the lands of the rebellious barons, and
it is said even empowered his agents to make charters of the estates of several particulars. The ut
most success attended these negotiations in an age
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF' -ENGLISH HISTORY. 469
when Europe abounded:with a warlike and poor nobility, with younger brothers, for whom there was
no provision in regular armies, who seldom entered
into the Church, and never applied'themselves to
commerce, and when every considerable family was
surrounded by an innumerable multitude of retainers and dependants, idle, and greedy of war and pillage. The Crusade had universally diffused a spirit of adventure; and if any adventure had the Pope's
approbation, it was sure to have a number of followers.
John waited the effect of his measures. He kept
up no longer the solemn mockery of a court, in
which a degraded king must always have been the
lowest object. He retired to the Isle of Wight: his
only companions were sailors and fishermen, among
whom he became extremely popular. Never was he
more to be dreaded than in this sullen retreat, whilst
the barons amused themselves by idle jests and vain
conjectures on his conduct. . Such was the strange
want of foresight in that barbarous age, and such
the total neglect of design in their affairs, that the
barons, when they had got the charter, which was
weakened even by the force by which it was obtained
and the great power which it granted, set no watch
upon the king, seemed to have no intelligence of
the great and open machinations which were carrying on against them, and had made no sort of dispositions for their defence. They spent their time in tournaments and bear-baitings, and other diversions suited to the fierce rusticity of their manners.
At length the storm broke forth, and found them utterly unprovided. The Papal excommunication, the
indignation of their prince, and a vast army of law
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