581 
ENG 
redriftions) to re (lore the abhorred John. But that 
wicked and unfortunate prince was doomed to receive no 
benefit from their good intentions. A violent flood had 
fwe.pt away his money, his -provifions, and even his rega¬ 
lia, as he marched along the fhores of Lincolnfhire : no 
confcioufnefs of reftitude, no magnanimity, was at hand 
to fupport him under this unexpefted calamity; with 
difficulty he reached Newark caflle ; and in that fortrefs 
broken-hearted and unlamented, he breathed his lad. 
John had fo ftrong an attachment to Lynn in Norfolk, 
that he had given it a charter, and had girded the firft 
mayor with his own fword, a relic dill preferved in that 
town. He alfo kept there his crown and other regalia; 
and it was in attempting to remove thefe to a ftronger 
fortrefs that he met with the lad misfortune. 
A worfe prince never difgraced any throne ; and the 
hidorian may finely lave himfelf the odious talk of draw¬ 
ing up his charafter, by referring the reader to the annals 
of hisJife, as fon, uncle, and king. He died in the forty- 
ninth year of his_ age, leaving five legitimate children, 
Henry (who fucceeded him), and Richard earl of Corn¬ 
wall ; Joan, queen of Scotland; Eleanor, countefs of 
I.eiceder ; and Ifabella, wife of Frederic II. emperor of- 
Germany. He had fix natural children, whole names 
and poderity are recorded at length by Sandford. 
The perfon of John was tall and well-favoured ; though 
it has not been well authenticated by his biographers. 
If, in the black gloom of his fullen foul there was a (ingle 
fpark of patriotifm, it pointed its ray towards the navy. 
In the fird year of his reign he had aliened the fuperio- 
ritY_ of the Englifh flag by an ordinance ; and in 1213, he 
had annihilated the naval power of France, by a gallant 
and fuccefsful battle; and in his didrefs in 1215, the af¬ 
fection of the feamen {of the Cinque Ports particularly) 
was his only refuge. He even lived night and day on 
fhip-board, for fear of being betrayed. Nor diould it be 
concealed that, from the beginning of his reign this in¬ 
confident prince had diewn a fingular readinefs to con¬ 
vert demefne-tovvns into corporate burghs; a meafure 
inimical to all defpotifm. Trifling too as the merit may 
appear, we mud allow to John the honour of having been 
the fird Eifglilh king who perfected the coining of pure 
derling money. Had hidorians no ftronger reafons to ac- 
cufe this hated prince of impiety, than his pointing to a 
fat deer, and faying, “ fee how plump lie is ; and yet lie 
lias never heard mafs,” we might have allowed fotnewhat 
for the humourous allafion to the wonderful gluttony of 
the monks in his days. But John was uniformly wicked ; 
and laughed at every obligation which the fouls of men 
effeem as (acred. Matthew Paris, however, (who ab¬ 
horred him,) owns, that once, when he was periuaded to 
deface a fplendid tomb erected over an enemy ; he chid 
the advifer, and added 11 would to heaven all my foes 
were as handl'omely intombed,” 
From the Epoch of MAGNA CHARTA, and 
DEATH of KING JOHN, to the Assassina¬ 
tion of RICHARD II. 
On the death of king John, the crown of England de. 
volved to his elded fon Henry, who was 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, was at the time of.that 
prince’s death marlhal of England, and confequently at 
the head of the army. This nobleman determined to 
fupport the intereds of the young prince, and had him 
folemnly crowned by the billiops of Wincheder and 
Bath, at Glouceder. In order alfo to enlarge and con¬ 
firm his own authority, a general council of the barons 
was fummoned at Bridol, where the earl was chofen 
guardian to the king, and proteftor of the kingdom. 
One of the fird afts of his adminidration was to renew 
the Great Charter of their liberties, a judicious meafure, 
the darling objection which the people had fet their 
hearts, and which brought great popularity to the royal 
Vol. VI. No. 374. 
LAND. 
caufe. To this was added alfo a charter, afcertaining 
the jurifdidtion and the boundaries of the royal foreds, 
which from thence was called Charts forejla. By this it 
was enacted, that'all the fcrcds which had been inclofed 
fince the reign of Henry the Second, diould be again re- 
dcred to the rightful owners. Offences on the foreds 
were no longer declared to be capital, but punifhable by 
milder laws ; and all the proprietors of land were granted 
a power of cutting and ufing their own timber at plea- 
fure. To thefe meafures, which gave univerfal fatisfac- 
tion, Pembroke took care to add his more aCtive endea¬ 
vours againd the enemy. He wrote letters, in the king’s 
name, to all the malcontent barons, adoring them of his 
refolution to govern them by their own charters; and re- 
prefented the danger which they incurred by their adhe¬ 
rence to a French monarch, who only fought to opprefs 
them. Thefe aflurances were attended with the defired 
effeft. The party in the intereds of Louis began to lofe 
ground, and the earls of Salifbury, Arundel, and Wj. 
renne, together with William Marlhall, elded fon of the 
protettor, fwore allegiance to the young king ; and all the 
red of the barons appeared defirous of an opportunity of 
following their example. 
The count de Perche, in the mean while, who com¬ 
manded for Louis, at the head of a fuperiorarmy, marched 
into Lincoln, and belieged the cadle. The proteftor, 
fenfible that a decifive blow was to be druck, fummoned 
bis forces from every quarter to relieve a place of fo much 
importance ; and thus he, in turn, appeared fo much fu- 
perior to the French, that they dint thernfelves up in the 
city. But the governor of the cadle having received a 
drong reinforcement, made a vigorous Lilly upon the be- 
liegers, while the Englilh army aflaulted them from with¬ 
out ; and, fealing the walls, entered the city fword in 
hand. Lincoln was now delivered over to be pillaged ; 
the French army was totally routed in the dreets; the 
cpmmander in chief.was killed, and the principal officers 
made prifoners. This misfortune of the French was the 
immediate forerunner of another. Their fleet, which was 
bringing over reinforcements both of men and money, was 
attacked in the channel by the Englifh under the com¬ 
mand of Philip d’Albiney, and repulfed with confiderable 
lofs. Louis, after thefe decifive actions, was glad to fuli¬ 
mit to any conditions favourable to his retreat. He con¬ 
cluded a peace with the proteftor, in which he agreed to 
quit the kingdom, upon an indemnity being granted for 
all his adherents. Thus, A. D. 1216, ended a civil war, 
which had drenched the kingdom in blood ; and which 
threatened the fubverfion of the laws, and the fubjuga- 
tion of the people, to the yoke of France. 
Henry the Tiiird was of a charafter the very oppofite 
to that of his father; for as he grew up, lie was found 
to be gentle, merciful, and humane. Without activity 
or vigour, lie was ill qualified to conduft a war ; without 
fufpicion, he was iinpofed upon in times of peace. A 
king ot fuch beneficent qualifications was inadequate to 
the government of England, where every order was af- 
piring to independence, and rifing on the fpoils of the 
prerogative. Thefe evils foon became vifible after the 
death of the proteftor, who was fucceeded in his office 
by Peter bilhop of Wincheder, and Hubert de Burgh, 
high judiciary ; but no delegated authority could con- 
troul men who had been long ufed to civil difeord, and 
who caught every flight occafion to magnify misfortunes 
into public grievances. The nobles were now the tyrants 
of the people: for having almod deflroyed the power of 
the crown, and being encouraged by the weaknefs of a 
minority, they confidered the laws as the indruments of 
an arbitrary authority, with which they alone were to 
govern. They retained by force the royal cadles which 
had been ufurped during the former convullions; they 
opprelled their vaflals, plundered their neighbours, and 
invited all diforderly people to take refuge under their 
authority. In this unqualified date of things, the barons 
being required to give up their caftles, they not only re- 
7 I fuled, 
