bservance of this
treaty, and done homage to Henry, as to the heir of the crown, that
prince evacuated the kingdom; [MN Death of the king, Oct. 25, 1154.]
and the death of Stephen, which happened the next year, after a short
illness, prevented all those quarrels and jealousies which were likely
to have ensued in so delicate a situation.

England suffered great miseries during the reign of this prince: but
his personal character, allowing for the temerity and injustice of his
usurpation, appears not liable to any great exception; and he seems to
have been well qualified, had he succeeded by a just title, to have
promoted the happiness and prosperity of his subjects [n]. He was
possessed of industry, activity, and courage, to a great degree;
though not endowed with a sound judgment, he was not deficient in
abilities; he had the talent of gaining men's affections; and
notwithstanding his precarious situation, he never indulged himself in
the exercise of any cruelty or revenge [o]. His advancement to the
throne procured him neither tranquillity nor happiness; and though the
situation of England prevented the neighbouring states from taking any
durable advantage of her confusions, her intestine disorders were to
the last degree ruinous and destructive. The court of Rome was also
permitted, during those civil wars, to make farther advances in her
usurpations; and appeals to the pope, which had always been strictly
prohibited by the English laws, became now common in every
ecclesiastical controversy [p].
[FN [n] W. Malm. p. 180. [o] M. Paris, p. 51. Hagul. p. 312. [p] H.
Hunt. p. 395.]

CHAPTER VIII.

HENRY II.

STATE OF EUROPE--OF FRANCE.--FIRST ACTS OF HENRY'S GOVERNMENT--
DISPUTES BETWEEN THE CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL POWERS.--THOMAS A BECKET,
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.--QUARREL BETWEEN THE KING AND BECKET.--
CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON.--BANISHMENT OF BECKET.--COMPROMISE WITH
HIM.--HIS RETURN FROM BANISHMENT.--HIS MURDER--GRIEF AND SUBMISSION OF
THE KING.

[MN 1154. State of Europe]
The extensive confederacies by which the European potentates are now
at once united and set in opposition to each other, and which, though
they are apt to diffuse the least spark of dissension throughout the
whole, are at least attended with this advantage, that they prevent
any violent revolutions or conquests in particular states, were
totally unknown in ancient ages; and the theory of foreign politics,
in each kingdom,