s uncle, the
dissipations of his father, and the usurpations of the barons, he was
tempted to levy money by irregular exactions, which, without enriching
himself, impoverished, at least disgusted, his people. Of all men,
nature seemed least to have fitted him for being a tyrant, yet are there
instances of oppression in his reign, which, though derived from the
precedents left him by his predecessors, had been carefully guarded
against by the Great Charter, and are inconsistent with all rules of
good government. And on the whole, we may say, that greater abilities,
with his good dispositions, would have prevented him from falling
into his faults, or with worse dispositions, would have enabled him to
maintain and defend them.

This prince was noted for his piety and devotion, and his regular
attendance on public worship; and a saying of his on that head is much
celebrated by ancient writers. He was engaged in a dispute with Lewis
IX. of France, concerning the preference between sermons and masses: he
maintained the superiority of the latter, and affirmed, that he would
rather have one hour's conversation with a friend, than hear twenty of
the most elaborate discourses pronounced in his praise.[*]

* Walsing. Edw. I. p. 43.

Henry left two sons, Edward, his successor, and Edmond earl of
Lancaster; and two daughters, Margaret, queen of Scotland, and Beatrix,
duchess of Brittany. He had five other children, who died in their
infancy.

The following are the most remarkable laws enacted during this reign.
There had been great disputes between the civil and ecclesiastical
courts concerning bastardy. The common law had deemed all those to
be bastards who were born before wedlock; by the canon law they were
legitimate: and when any dispute of inheritance arose, it had formerly
been usual for the civil courts to issue writs to the spiritual,
directing them to inquire into the legitimacy of the person. The bishop
always returned an answer agreeable to the canon law, though contrary to
the municipal law of the kingdom. For this reason, the civil courts had
changed the terms of their writ; and instead of requiring the spiritual
courts to make inquisition concerning the legitimacy of the person, they
only proposed the simple question of fact, whether he were born before
or after wedlock. The prelates complained of this practice to the
parliament assembled at Merton in the twentieth of this king, and
desired that the municipa