dels, either in Spain or Palestine; that he should not insist on the
observance of such customs derogatory to ecclesiastical privileges, as
had been introduced in his own time; and that he should not obstruct
appeals to the pope in ecclesiastical causes, but should content himself
with exacting sufficient security from such clergymen as left his
dominions to prosecute an appeal, that they should attempt nothing
against the rights of his crown. Upon signing these concessions, Henry
received absolution from the legates, and was confirmed in the grant of
Ireland made by Pope Adrian; and nothing proves more strongly the great
abilities of this monarch than his extricating himself on such easy
terms from so difficult a situation. He had always insisted, that the
laws established at Clarendon contained not any new claims, but
the ancient customs of the kingdom; and he was still at liberty,
notwithstanding the articles of this agreement, to maintain his
pretensions. Appeals to the pope were indeed permitted by that treaty;
but as the king was also permitted to exact reasonable securities from
the parties, and might stretch his demands on this head as far as he
pleased, he had it virtually in his power to prevent the pope from
reaping any advantage by this seeming concession. And on the whole, the
constitutions of Clarendon remained still the law of the realm; though
the pope and his legates seem so little to have conceived the king's
power to lie under any legal limitations, that they were satisfied with
his departing, by treaty, from one of the most momentous articles of
these constitutions, without requiring any repeal by the states of the
kingdom.

Henry, freed from this dangerous controversy with the ecclesiastics and
with the see of Rome, seemed now to have reached the pinnacle of human
grandeur and felicity, and to be equally happy in his domestic situation
and in his political government. A numerous progeny of sons and
daughters gave both lustre and authority to his crown, prevented the
danger of a disputed succession, and repressed all pretensions of
the ambitious barons. The king's precaution also, in establishing the
several branches of his family, seemed well calculated to prevent all
jealousy among the brothers, and to perpetuate the greatness of his
family. He had appointed Henry, his eldest son, to be his successor
in the kingdom of England, the duchy of Normandy, and the counties of
Anjou, Maine, and Touraine; t