The Catholic Church and Civil Liberty [pp. 232-239]

i836.] THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND CIVIL LIBERTY.
there were received by the citizens with the most favorable de monstrations. John had apparently been relying on the support
of that city, but when it joined the other party he at once sur rendered. During these events a portion of the barons had
taken sides with the king, but, as the demonstration in London
had subdued the king, they joined themselves with their brethren.
John then requested that a time and place of meeting be fixed,
at which he would attend, and the barons named Runnymede
and June 15. When that day arrived the barons and bishops
were there and so was the king. The deliberations lasted four
days, and on the I9th of the month the paper was completed,
was sealed by the king, and promulgated as the great charter of
the liberties of the English people.
And that instrument contains the germ of every principle
now considered essential to good government and civil liberty.
Nearly seven centuries have elapsed since that day, and how
great the progress of the world has been during that period all
know. Yet wisdom, experience, enlightenment, and book-knowledge have added little or nothing to the structure raised by
Catholic prelates and Catholic barons, many of whom could
neither read nor write.
John died soon afterwards, leaving as his successor his son
Henry, who was only nine years old. The Earl of Pembroke
was made regent, and in a short time after the death of the king
a meeting of barons and prelates was held, at which the regent
renewed the Great Charter, making, however, many changes in
it. Some of these consisted in the omission of articles of a
merely temporary character, the occasion for which no longer
existed. But a backward step was taken, and the new instrument was shorn of some of its valuable provisions. And before
another year had passed it was reissued for the second time,
with still further changes, some of omission, some of addition,
and some of alteration. This remained until Henry became of
age and assumed the crown, and he again re-enacted it, still
making changes. Edward I. confirmed it as framed by Henry,
and in that form it stands at the present day on the English
statute-book.
Nothing more would seem to be necessary to make the
Charter solid and binding; yet the people were not satisfied to
let it stand so, but renewed, re-enacted, and confirmed it thirtyseven times-six times by Henry 1II., three by Edward I., fourteen by Edward IIl., six by Richard II., six by Henry IV., once
by Henry V., and once by Henry VI. From that day to this it
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