ous prince in his duty, he put it too much in
his power, whenever he pleased, to depart from it.

The king, impelled more by the love of military glory than by
superstition, acted, from the beginning of his reign, as if the sole
purpose of his government had been the relief of the Holy Land, and the
recovery of Jerusalem from the Saracens. This zeal against infidels,
being communicated to his subjects, broke out in London on the day of
his coronation, and made them find a crusade less dangerous and attended
with more immediate profit. The prejudices of the age had made the
lending of money on interest pass by the invidious name of usury: yet
the necessity of the practice had still continued it, and the greater
part of that kind of dealing fell every where into the hands of the
Jews, who, being already infamous on account of their religion, had no
honor to lose, and were apt to exercise a profession, odious in itself,
by every kind of rigor, and even sometimes by rapine and extortion. The
industry and frugality of this people had put them in possession of all
the ready money which the idleness and profusion common to the English
with other European nations, enabled them to lend at exorbitant and
unequal interest. The monkish writers represent it as a great stain
on the wise and equitable government of Henry, that he had carefully
protected this infidel race from all injuries and insults; but the zeal
of Richard afforded the populace a pretence for venting their animosity
against them. The king had issued an edict, prohibiting their appearance
at his coronation; but some of them, bringing him large presents from
their nation, presumed, in confidence of that merit, to approach the
hall in which he dined: being discovered, they were exposed to the
insults of the bystanders; they took to flight; the people pursued them;
the rumor was spread that the king had issued orders to massacre all the
Jews; a command so agreeable was executed in an instant on such as fell
into the hands of the populace; those who had kept at home were exposed
to equal danger; the people, moved by rapacity and zeal, broke into
their houses which they plundered, after having murdered the owners;
where the Jews barricadoed their doors, and defended themselves with
vigor, the rabble set fire to their houses and made way through the
flames to exercise the pillage and violence; the usual licentiousness of
London, which the sovereign power with difficulty res