King; but Henry was always liberal of promises which could be evaded, and this was certainly one which he did not intend to keep unless compelled to do so. At this meeting with Louis, other transactions took place regarding Becket, which will be noticed shortly hereafter. But it is worthy of remark, that kings and princes in that day, notwithstanding the barbarism of the age, and the frequent acts of violence committed, trusted themselves in the hands of other monarchs whose amity was very doubtful, with a degree of frankness and confidence which the progress of civilization unfortunately banished too soon.

After the meeting at Saint Denis, Henry's attention was turned once more towards Britanny; and, proceeding thither, he held his court in the town of Nantes, celebrated the festival of Christmas with the greatest splendour, received with hospitality and magnificence a number of the principal nobles and ecclesiastics of the Duchy, and then made a complete tour through the whole of Geoffrey's possessions, causing the nobles to do homage to the prince who accompanied him, and preparing the province as far as possible for his own return to England, which was now about to take place. It would appear that he was followed by a considerable force, for his progress through the country is marked by an act, most of the circumstances attending which are left in darkness; but which-whatever was the necessity-must have been painful to Henry, if he

had any human feeling left. It is evident, from the words used by all the historians of the time, that the unfortunate Eudes, Viscount of Porhoet, must have still been in arms against Henry at this period, or that he refused to do homage to Geoffrey; for it is certain that early in the year 1170, Henry entered his territories, destroyed almost everything that he found therein, forced Eudes to surrender at dis cretion, and had him tried and condemned to lose the whole of his possessions. Various historians of Britanny censure Henry's conduct in this instance, and declare that he violated the articles of Montmirail; but as they throw no light upon the causes of Henry's conduct, and as the King of France, to whom any infraction of that treaty was both an injury and an insult, did not, that we can discover, either remonstrate against Henry's proceedings, or support the cause of Eudes in any manner, we are bound to suppose in this instance, as we did in regard of the Barons of Aquitaine, that Henry was justified in the course he pursued.

The whole of Britanny being reduced to obedience, the indefatigable King of England set out for his insular dominions in the first week of March. He was accompanied by a considerable armament; but a terrible storm overtook him in the Channel, and for many hours he was in danger of being wrecked. His whole fleet was dispersed, and one of the best of the ships by which he was escorted, and which contained his physi

cian, several other officers of his household, and some noblemen of the highest distinction, perished, with more than four hundred persons on board. The number of persons this vessel contained is worthy of remark, as the size of the ship itself, which does not call for any particular observation on the part of the contemporary historians, must have been much larger than we are accustomed to ascribe to ships of that day.

Henry himself escaped from the storm, and arrived in safety at Portsmouth. His presence in England was greatly wanted; for peculation to an immense amount had taken place in this country during the long period of his absence and one of his first acts after his return, was to call a parliament at Windsor during the festival of Easter, when with the consent and authority of his council, he appointed an ambulatory commission of some of the most dignified and respectable men of his realm, for the purpose of enquiring into the malversations which had taken place during the absence of the King. This commission is one of the most extraordinary on record, and was probably modelled on that appointed by William the Conqueror for the purpose of compiling the famous Doomsday book. The commissioners in this instance, as in that, were empowered to examine all persons upon oath, of whatsoever rank they might be, regarding the subject of their enquiry; and the result was, the discovery of a mass of

fraud and villainy which induced the King to have recourse to another measure of a very extraordinary kind, namely, to dismiss almost all the sheriffs in the kingdom, with their inferior officers, and to take measures for punishing those persons who, holding hereditary jurisdictions, were not dependent for office on the King's pleasure.

The immediate object of the monarch, however, in returning to his kingdom, was to cause the coronation of his son Henry to be performed. It was a frequent custom* in those days, when hereditary succession, either to estates or to the royal dignity, had not been clearly and firmly established upon the basis of long and indisputable habit, for monarchs to guard against the caprices of their subjects, the pretences of ambitious relations, and all the many accidents which might occur to prevent a son from inheriting his father's throne, by causing the heir-apparent to be crowned during his father's life-time, and thus to render it impossible for after opposition to take place, without the clear commission of treason. This act by no means implied either an abdication of the crown on the part of the father, or an association of the son to the royal authority. As far as I can discover, it only gave to the prince the name of King, and enabled him to rule, of right, in cases of his father's absence or incapacity.

*The last time that this was done in Europe, was I believe in the case of Philip Augustus, which took place not long after.

But Henry had many motives at the present moment for performing a ceremony which was scarcely necessary in order to render the succession of his son secure. In the first place, he loved that son with a degree of weakness, which in all probability nurtured in him many of those gross faults and failings which rendered him an undutiful child, and which would have made him, there can be but little doubt, a cruel and tyrannical monarch. To do this favourite son honour, and to gratify his pride by the title of king, was certainly one of Henry's objects in his present proceeding. We find that he had entertained this purpose a considerable time before he put it into execution; but it is very clear that the design was renewed and carried rapidly forward, in order to obviate some of the evil consequences which might ensue from the peculiar position of the King and Becket.

To that part of the affairs of Henry which refers to the Prelate we must once more turn; for the disputes with the Archbishop now become so complicated with all the other events of the day, and have so great an effect upon the history of the years which follow, that they can be by no means omitted here.

I have mentioned the mission of the legates from Pope Alexander, during the time that his fortunes were at a low ebb; and I have shown that the Pope falsified his word to Henry, by diminishing, at the request of Becket and the French King, the powers