At the same time he had brought, from Otho, letters, in which that prince assured the King of England of his inclination to serve him with all his forces; he had further protested, that he had never received, as he had been accused, any embassies on the part of Philip, and repeated the oath, of listening to no accommodation without participation of the emperor.

These facts we learn by the letter which John himself wrote, May 4, 1812, to the Viscount de Thouars, to strengthen his attachment to his party.

The same day, John had written also to the Count de Flandres, to induce him to engage himself to him, with the Compte de Boulogne; and, with the view of further inducement, he had lent, for a year, three thousand marks to the Countess of Flanders.

Lastly, upon the same day also, he had signed his definitive treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, with the Compte de Boulogne.

It appears also, by different acts, that, about the same time, he was assured of the Duke de Lembourg, de Valeran, son of that duke, the Counts de Bar, father and son, the Duke of Louvain, and many other lords. Lastly, March 29, 1213, he had received the homage, and engagement of service, of the Count de Hollande.

The Certainty of his Reconciliation with the Pope facilitated the means, not only of resisting the Attacks which France was preparing against him, but

· of transferring the War himself into the Bosom of that Kingdom.

On the 25th of May he wrote to the Earl of Flanders, pressing him to send more powerful succours than those which had already arrived; and on the 26th of June following, he renewed the same assurance. In fact, four days before, he had the Master of the Temple to remit to the ambassadors, whom he had sent to the earl, a sum of money, which the master had under his care, and which was reserved for the use of the earl.

At the same time, the English king urged the King of Arragon to put in execution the projects for a campaign, which had been previously concerted with him.

The Pope, at the epoch, when he named Robert de Courçon legate of France, that is, towards the end of April, 1213, certainly was not ignorant of all these intentions and projects. It was not, then, without truth, nor assuredly without reason, that, in the letter in which he recommended Robert to Philip August, he mentioned the impending peril which menaced Franee. But, was he equally sincere, or did he only use a language suitable to him, as a matter of course, when he added, in the same letter, that the interests of France were dearer to him than those of the Ecclesiastical See? In fact, if the interests of that so valued kingdom were then in danger, who other than he was the occasion of it? Had he not himself the year before

engaged, even commanded, Philip, under penalty of excommunication, to levy war against John? Had he not, under his pretended apostolical authority, transferred to Philip all the rights of a prince, then the object of ecclesiastical persecution? Had not he assured him of the assistance of all those whom the exhortations of the Holy See could rouse against an excommunicated and deposed king? Was it not, then, a kind of duplicity by which he ordered Pandolph and Durand, that, as soon as the rebel king submitted to the laws of the Vatican, all his enemies should be ordered to disarm, principally Philip, and respect John?

We are led to think, that even the personal choice of the legate, born a subject of the King of England, was, on the side of the pontiff, a consequence of his habitual partiality to England against France. In fact, Robert did not cease to manage his business in such a manner, as to favour in every thing the affairs of the King of England, and thwart the views which could aggrandise the power of Philip.

*** (Here ends the account of M. de la Porte du Theil, who has certainly elucidated an important fact in English history, not before clearly understood. He might have added, that the crafty Pope, by duping both the kings, though in a bare-faced manner, succeeded in subjugating them both to the ecclesiastical yoke. Philip, however, does not seem to have been aware that the Pope, seeing the consequences of his successful excommunications

of Otho and John, treated the French king in a manner which he had no power to prevent or resent.)

A CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN ROYAL DISBURSEMENTS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

An extraordinary instance of the rude manners of our country in ancient times appears from the following extract from a curious and authentic manuscript, a copy of which is in the possession of an eminent antiquary. This manuscript contains, among other things, the private expences of that weak, misguided, and unfortunate monarch, Edward II.; by which it appears that Cross and Pile, or, as it is now called, tossing up heads and tails, was a favourite royal diversion in those remote times of rude simplicity. The following translation from the old French, in which it is written, may afford some entertainment to such as are fond of contemplating human life under the various aspects which it exhibits, according to the difference of ages or the difference of countries :

' Item. Paid to the king himself, to play at cross and pile, by the hands of Richard de Mereworth, the Receiver of the Treasury-twelve pence.

Item. Paid there to Henry, the king's barber, for money which he lent to the king, to play at cross and pile-five shillings.

Item. Paid there to Peres Bernard, Usher of

the King's Chamber, money which he lent to the king, and which he lost at cross and pile, to Monsieur Robert Watervylle-eight-pence.

'Item. Paid to the king himself, to play at cross and pile, by Peres Bernard, two shillings, which the said Peres won of him.'

SINGULAR INSTANCE OF CHIVALRIC PROWESS IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD III.

ABOUT the middle of the fourteenth century, in the reign of Edward III, a singular instance occurred of the prevalence of chivalry and gallantry in the nations of Europe. A solemn duel of thirty knights against thirty was fought between Bembrough, an Englishman, and Beaumanoir, a Briton, of the party of Charles of Blois. The knights of the two nations came into the field; and before the combat began, Beaumanoir called out, that it would be seen that day who had the fairest mistresses. After a bloody combat, the Britons prevailed, and gained for their prize full liberty to boast of their mistresses' beauty. It is remarkable, that two such famous generals as Sir Robert Knowllis and Sir Hugh Calverly drew their swords in this ridiculous contest. The women not only instigated the champions to these rough, if not bloody, frays of tournaments, but also frequented the tournaments during all the reign of Edward, whose spirit of gallantry encouraged this practice,—Pere Daniel& Knyghton,