em
those favors which the king ought in policy to have conferred on the
English nobility, by whom his government could have been supported and
defended. His mother Isabella, who had been unjustly taken by the late
king from the count de la Marche, to whom she was betrothed, was no
mistress of herself by the death of her husband, than she married that
nobleman;[*] and she had born him four sons, Guy, William, Geoffrey, and
Aymer, whom she sent over to England, in order to pay a visit to their
brother. The good-natured and affectionate disposition of Henry was
moved at the sight of such near relations; and he considered neither his
own circumstances, nor the inclinations of his people, in the honors and
riches which he conferred upon them.[**] Complaints rose as high against
the credit of the Gascon, as ever they had done against that of the
Poictevin and of the Savoyard favorites; and to a nation prejudiced
against them, all their measures appeared exceptionable and criminal.
Violations of the Great Charter were frequently mentioned; and it is
indeed more than probable, that foreigners, ignorant of the laws, and
relying on the boundless affections of a weak prince, would, in an
age when a regular administration was not any where known, pay more
attention to their present interest than to the liberties of the people.
It is reported that the Poictevins and other strangers, when the
laws were at any time appealed to in opposition to their oppressions,
scrupled not to reply, "What did the English laws signify to them? They
minded them not." And as words are often more offensive than actions,
this open contempt of the English tended much to aggravate the general
discontent, and made every act of violence committed by the foreigners
appear not only an injury, but an affront to them.[***]

I reckon not among the violations of the Great Charter some arbitrary
exertions of prerogative to which Henry's necessities pushed him, and
which, without producing any discontent, were uniformly continued by all
his successors, till the last century. As the parliament often refused
him supplies, and that in a manner somewhat rude and indecent,[****] he
obliged his opulent subjects, particularly the citizens of London, to
grant him loans of money; and it is natural to imagine that the same
want of economy which reduced him to the necessity of borrowing,
would prevent him from being very punctual in the repayment.[*****] He
demanded benevolenc