every image of horror, misery, and crime. The barons, dispersed and
trembling in their castles, waited who should fall the next victim. They
had no army able to keep the field. The Archbishop, on whom they had
great reliance, was suspended from his functions. There was no hope even
from submission: the king could not fulfil his engagements to his
foreign troops at a cheaper rate than the utter ruin of his barons.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1216]

In these circumstances of despair they resolved to have recourse to
Philip, the ancient enemy of their country. Throwing off all allegiance
to John, they agreed to accept Louis, the son of that monarch, as their
king. Philip had once more an opportunity of bringing the crown of
England into his family, and he readily embraced it. He immediately sent
his son into England with seven hundred ships, and slighted the menaces
and excommunications of the Pope, to attain the same object for which he
had formerly armed to support and execute them. The affairs of the
barons assumed quite a new face by this reinforcement, and their rise
was as sudden and striking as their fall. The foreign army of King John,
without discipline, pay, or order, ruined and wasted in the midst of its
successes, was little able to oppose the natural force of the country,
called forth and recruited by so considerable a succor. Besides, the
French troops who served under John, and made a great part of his army,
immediately went over to the enemy, unwilling to serve against their
sovereign in a cause which now began to look desperate. The son of the
King of France was acknowledged in London, and received the homage of
all ranks of men. John, thus deserted, had no other ally than the Pope,
who indeed served him to the utmost of his power, but with arms to which
the circumstances of the time alone can give any force. He
excommunicated Louis and his adherents; he laid England under an
interdict; he threatened the King of France himself with the same
sentence: but Philip continued firm, and the interdict had little effect
in England. Cardinal Langton, by his remarkable address, by his interest
in the Sacred College, and his prudent submissions, had been restored to
the exercise of his office; but, steady to the cause he had first
espoused, he made use of the recovery of his authority to carry on his
old designs against the king and the Pope. He celebrated divine service
in spite of the interdict, and by his influence and exam