ENGLAND. 



615 



Death of 

 thig king. 

 A. U. 1216 



Betline of 



Loui.' 



futy. 



Hiitory. Jy crowitecl, and received the homage ef the barons and 

 burghers. But the partiality of the new monarch to 

 his own countrymen, and a report, that he had threaten- 

 ed to exterminate the English barons as traitors to their 

 prince, and bestow their estates and dignities on his 

 native subjects, were very prejudicial to his cause. This 

 report was universally credited ; and the information 

 was said to have been derived from the Viscount Melun, 

 one of Louis' courtiers, who revealed it to some of his 

 friends on his death-bed. The Earl of Salisbury, and 

 many other noblemen, jealous of the French influence, 

 returned to their allegiance to John, who was advan- 

 cing with a considerable army to make one mighty effort 

 for his crown; and the French had every reason to 

 dread a reverse of fortune. But as the king was pas- 

 sing from Lynn, along the sea-shore, and being igno- 

 rant of the situation of the place, he lost all his carriages, 

 treasure, and baggage, by the influx of the tide. He 

 was so overwhelmed with grief at this disaster, and the 

 distracted state of his affairs, that he was seized with a 

 fever, which soon after put a period to his existence, in 

 the 49th year of his age, and 1 8th of his reign. 



The character of this prince has been justly held up to 

 general reprobation, as including almost every vice that 

 was mean and odious in our nature ; but while we des- 

 pise his cowardice and detest his baseness, we ought to 

 remember, that it was to his weakness find incapacity, 

 more than to the firmness and generosity of the barons, 

 that we are indebted for the foundation of the British 

 constitution. 



The death of John was fatal to the cause of Louis. 

 Tbe resentment of the barons against their sovereign 

 w.is buried with him in the grave; and the youth 

 of his son Henry, who succeeded him, claimed their 

 pity, rather than enmity. At the head of the oppo- 

 site party also, was the Earl of Pembroke, an expe- 

 rienced and disinterested statesman, who had main- 

 tained, during the whole contest, his fidelity to John 

 unshaken, and who was determined to support, at every 

 hazard, the interests of his son. That nobleman, in a 

 veneral council of the barons-, was chosen protector of 

 the realm ; and having crowned the young king at 

 GloooMtcr, in the presence of Gualo, the legate, he en- 

 deavoured to reconcile all ranks to the government of 

 I Icnry, by new concessions. The Great Charter, with 

 some alterations and additions, was renewed and con- 

 firmed, and was brought nearly to its present shape ; 

 and these concessions were so acceptable to the nation, 

 that Louis soon found himself almost without an ad- 

 herent. The malcontent barons hastened to make 

 their submission, to prevent those attainders to which 

 they were exposed by their rebellion ; and his cause 

 was rendered still more desperate, by the defeat of his 

 troops near Lincoln, and the destruction of the French 

 fleet, which carried a considerable reinforcement, off 

 the coast of Kent, by Philip d' Albiney, the English com- 

 mander. He was consequently glad to conclude a 

 peace upon any honourable terms ; and stipulated only 

 for his own safety, and an indemnity to his adherents. 



The death of the Protector, which happened soon after 

 this accommodation, threw the kingdom into new com- 

 motions. It required all the wisdom and valour of 

 that virtuous nobleman, to restrain a licentious and 

 jxjwcrful nobility ; and though his successor, Hubert de 

 Burgh, possessed both abilities and integrity, he was un- 

 able to suppress that spirit of insubordination among 

 the b.irons, which is the usual attendant of a minority. 

 They held by force the royal castles, and usurped the 

 king's demesnes. They were continually surrounded 

 by a disorderly retinue, whom they encouraged and 



lie- leaves 

 the king- 

 dom. 



inuibordi- 

 ution of 



the b-i.-'i;;'. 



protected, in all their outrages and depredations ; and History. 

 the people, as well as the king, suffered by their op- """ " Y~~ * 

 pressions. The Earl of Albemarle was particularly 

 distinguished for his violent and illegal proceedings ; 

 and Hubert, in order to reduce him to obedience, seized 

 upon Rockingham castle, which he had garrisoned with 

 his adherents. This drove him to more open rebellion ; 

 but being excommunicated by Pandulph, the legate, he 

 was deserted by his associates, and obliged to sue for 

 mercy, when he was again restored to his possessions. 

 This restless chief, however, continued for some time 

 to give disturbance to the government. When Henry 

 was declared by the pope to be of full age, and the 

 barons were required to resign into his hands the royal 

 castles and fortresses, Albemarle and some others open- 

 ly refused. They even attempted to surprise London, 

 and seize the person of the king ; and such was the 

 weakness of the executive, that they were considered 

 too formidable to be punished. They were at last, 

 however, through fear of excommunication, forced to 

 comply. 



As Henry advanced to man's estate, he shewed him- Weaknes* 

 self totally unfit for the government of the kingdom in of the king. 

 its present unsettled state. He was gentle and humane, 

 but without activity and vigour ; and so fickle and ir- 

 resolute, that men neither valued his friendship nor 

 dreaded his resentment. Had he been steady to the 

 counsels of Hubert de Burgh, he might have moderated 

 and -subdued the turbulence of his barons : but this able 

 and virtuous minister was displaced, in a fit of caprice, 

 and exposed to the persecution of his enemies. His A. D. 1J31 . 

 successor, Peter dcs Roches, bishop of Winchester, was 

 of a very different character, and by his arbitrary and 

 violent conduct, raised new divisions in the state. HP 

 was a Poictevin by birth, and advised the king to 

 invite over a number of his countrymen and other 

 foreigners, whom he pretended could more safely be 

 trusted than his English subjects. Upon these men 

 every pluci 1 of command and preferment was bestowed 

 to the exclusion of the natives, which occasioned such 

 general discontent, that a combination was formed by 

 tke barons to expel the king's minister from his office. 

 They withdrew from parliament ; and when again sum- 

 moned to attend, they demanded that Henry should 

 dismiss his foreigners, otherwise they would drive him 

 and them out of the kingdom, and put the crown upon 

 a head more worthy to wear it. Peter des Roches, n; s pa,,f s . 

 however, found means of disconcerting their schemes, lity to fo- 

 The more obnoxious barons had their estates confiscat- reigners. 

 ed, without legal sentence or trial by peers ; and their 

 possessions were profusely bestowed upon the Poic- 

 tttvins. Edmond, the primate, at last interfered, and 

 threatened the king witfi excommunication, unless he 

 would dismiss his minister and his associates. Henry 

 was obliged to submit ; but the barons found it was 



only a change of masters. The king having married . 



r-i 1-1 e D .11- A - 



hleanor, daughter of the C ount of Provence, the king- 

 dom was again inundated with strangers, who were 

 caressed, enriched, and loaded with preferment. This 

 partiality and imprudent generosity, often reduced him 

 to the greatest straits for want of money ; and as the 

 parliament often refused him supplies, he was some- 

 times obliged to have recourse to arbitrary exactions, 

 and to extort loans from his most opulent subjects. All 

 the dignities and wealth of the country seem to have been 

 swallowed up by these hungry foreigners, and Proven- 

 $als, Savoyards, and Gascons, were sure to meet with 

 friendship and honour, in preference to his own subjects. 

 It was the insolence, however, of these favourites, at 

 much as their power, that excited the indignation of the 



