Bedford inquirer and chronicle. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1854-1857, 1856-02-15


wantonly harassa By arms. The king was
t furious, bat be had tough character il
Langton TO deal with. lie was insensible to
fear. While Joan was furious, Langion
hastcned 20 Lonaon, aud at second meet
ing of the barons. on the 25th of August,
he read Henry the First's liberal character,
aud after inducing the bagoas 10 approve its
provisions, Lapg;on made them swear to be
true to each other and TO conquer or die in
! support Of their liosFtie4. One nionta II
ter, q new Papa leeatie arrived, Cardinal
Nicholas, and found JOHN warring against
the character of Henry. The treacherous
king bowed in homage to the Pope, paid
ifteen thousand marks to the legate, and
promised fifty thousand to the bishops
The court Of Rome at once joined John il
al bis optrages, aided him IN warring a
gaiHst the liberties of England, and went
hand in hand with one of the D,capest, low
esi, most treacherous aud ferocious tyrants
that ever wore a crown.
But Archbishop Iangton was true to the
cause Of liberty, even after Pope lnnoeea,
had abandoned everything connected with
It. Laagson was the life and soul Of the
cause o. Magma Charta. lie was to that
cause what S4nluel Adams was 10 that cause
/ of American liberty. lie could be ne ither
iatinddatelsRor eajoied. When at the feast
of Epiphany. the barous waited en- John
and denandqtls an answer, lie wished to pal
them eff until Eister, aud theY granted the
/ respite on condition that Cardinal Langtop
/ would bc one Of the kings sure.les that he
would do justice to their demands. After
he gat rid Of tue barons, John attempted to
court the Church by yielding certain priyir
leges to it. But Stephen Langton was IN
! flinching to toe cause q liberty. Iauocent
wrote aaipsolent letter to Langton, in wlieh
/ the Papacy expressed itself in unuistakable
terms that il would support John right 81
wrong. bat neither kiaSly power nor pa
pal daninion ever caused Cardinal Laagtoa
! TO sxerTe for single uoneht from the cause
Of freedom.
Wheu JOHN attempted to meet the ba-
irons eith an army of foreign 1ncreeniTies
and bishop Paplulph urged L4ugton to ex-
communicate the barons, according to or
ders from Rome, Langion turned the tables
] and threatened to eAeommnnica:e johns
army unless itdispersed, which act it speedi-
| y performed. Tie spirit aad frmness Of
| Langton crushed John, and on the l5th OF
.Ianc, l2l4, at RCnpymead, John signed
the charter. The barons looked to Lang
4oa as the life Of the whole work, aud while
they held Loadoa, they canided the Tower
10 the fidelity and courageof Langton. He
lived for tweuty-luur years in the enjoyment
OF the liberties he had thus secured. Pope
iaEoeent was as busy with his excomnuni-
cations of Magma Gharta aud lis friends as
John was in his buteheries ana assassiua-
| tious, but the ferocious, treacherous, brutal
John aud his idus, Achates Pope, Innc-
cent, died withnut being able to oveylurn
the character Of English liberty. Should
such man as Siephea Langton, vino never
in his priestly Office and high ecclesiastical
honors forgot what was due to freedoms, be
lost to the memory Of honest and true rnon2
While liberty has votury on the earth,
Stephen Langto ms name shonld be held in
honor, amid the excavations that belong TO
king John of England and Pope In
nooent of the Roman Catholic Hiegar
chy.