The Portland daily press., 1889-11-11
KING JOHN.
Or. DaIton's First Saturday Lecture.

When Lord Chatham said he had derived
most of his knowledge of English history
from Shakespeare, what did he meanP He
meant not exact knowledge of the order of
the events, but the spirit, the essence of the
history. so we must not look for a precise
account OF events in King John, but only
the temper OF the times, and a masterlv de-
hneation OF the character of the chief actors.
Ihe principal points are these: % A
disputed succession, and the part Philip Au-
gustus of France played in his own interest.
W Inc rise and fall of Johns fortunes both
In France and England 81 The part
played by the Pope and Randolph. By law
ana usage. Arthur, son of Godfrey, was the
legitimate King of England, his father being
an elder son of Henry III, then John. The
French King and provinces sided with Ar
thur. Constance, his mother, alternated be-
tween Philip and John, relying mainly and
finally on Philip. John, at last, took Arthur
prisoner. and later murdered him at Rouen,
This crime caused revolt of the provinces,
and fierce war, in which John lost all. in
Guiding Normandy, which fell with Chateau
Gaillard, its chief fortress.
~ John driven from Venice and distrust
ed by the English, resigned his kingdom to
the rope TO escape the consequences of the
accommodation which had been hurled
against him. Philip of France had resnond-
ed to the Pope with large land and naval
force, which he had collected at great ex
pense. But on Johns submission the Pone
forbade the execution of the plan to invade
England, mandate which greatly enraged
the French.
Now John. in his turn, formed a great
league against Philip, including Ohio. the
Emperor of Germany, and the Earl OF Elan
derS A desperate battle was fought and
the allies were defeated. Thus France was
freed frem all danger from foreign sources
provinces (Normandy after 300 years.. Later
on, Louis, the dauphin, came to England to
assist in accomplishing the overthrow of
John. but on the death of the king his occu-
patton was gone.
81 Johns accommodation. The
occasion of the Popes interdict
and accommodation was the refusal of the
King to recognize the right of the Pope to
name the Archbishop of Canterbury without
congo d elire from the king. After long
ana nltter confess, John was compelled by
his distresses to receive Langton, the pope's
man, who proved blessing in disguise. For
when John oppressed and outraged his sub
lects by every method he could devise, Lang
ton led the 6arons in resisting his tyranny,
which they finally restrained and reduced to
a minimum by extorting his signature to
magma Charta. the great chart of civil rights
TheSe three, then, are the chief lines which
English history follows in the reign of John
AS TO the succession; neither party was
wholly In the right. Richard designated
first Arthur, then John, as his successor.
But John forfeited everything by his crimes
AS 70 the rlvafies and wars between John
and Philip Augustus, they were fatal to
John. but really favorable to the best inter
VI the Pope. Innocent Ill, we may allow
that he was the ablest man of the time. and
LangGon, whom he forced ON the Church of
Englon1 proved worthy of the honor con-
1erred on him: But the principle was peril
maintained.
VI the characters in the play, much more
might be said than time permits Elinor, the
queen Mother, was one of the astutest of
tnose women en- SO frequently met with in the
history of French politics. Constance is
splendid scold, but gained nothing by her
vituperation. Her bitter tongue bit herself
and her boy. The Earl de la Marche was
deeply injured man and revenged his injur-
les les: Inc two kings were both able men,
put Jonn vices and crimes secure to him
the bad emlhence of universal detestation
and execration. The only king of England
70 whom we can compare John is Richard
IL. while Philip Augustus is in some re-
spects comparable to Louis XII and in 9th
ers TO Frederic the Great of Prussia. The
woman 10 the play remind us also of several
III. '"A"
Inc prison scene between Hubert and the
young princeis the most effecting of the
Kind in history. 1t is draw with that power
and pathos which the genius of Shakespeare
employed to bring into the heart of England,
sucn an ignorance of this species of crimes
as to render its repetition morally impossi-
BILE.
This is but brief outline of the lecture in
which al these points were enlarged on and