and. 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 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 tyranny, 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 criminal
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 his own army, he saw nothing there but
coldness, disaffection, uncertainty, 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 pres