ght set up
against another power, which it was equally his interest to reduce.

Though these measures were taken with the greatest judgment, and seemed
to promise a peaceful evening to his reign, the seeds of rebellion
remained still at home, and the dispositions that nourished them were
rather increased abroad. The parental authority, respectable at all
times, ought to have the greatest force in times when the manners are
rude and the laws imperfect. At that time Europe had not emerged out of
barbarism, yet this great natural bond of society was extremely weak.
The number of foreign obligations and duties almost dissolved the family
obligations. From the moment a young man was knighted, so far as related
to his father, he became absolute master of his own conduct; but he
contracted at the same time a sort of filial relation with the person
who had knighted him. These various principles of duty distracted one
another. The custom which then prevailed, of bestowing lands and
jurisdictions, under the name of Appanages, to the sons of kings and the
greater nobility, gave them a power which was frequently employed
against the giver; and the military and licentious manners of the age
almost destroyed every trace of every kind of regular authority. In the
East, where the rivalship of brothers is so dangerous, such is the force
of paternal power amongst a rude people, we scarce ever hear of a son in
arms against his father. In Europe, for several ages, it was very
common. It was Henry's great misfortune to suffer in a particular manner
from this disorder.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1180.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1183.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1188.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1189.]

Philip succeeded Louis, King of France. He followed closely the plan of
his predecessor, to reduce the great vassals, and the King of England,
who was the greatest of them; but he followed it with far more skill and
vigor, though he made use of the same instruments in the work. He
revived the spirit of rebellion in the princes, Henry's sons. These
young princes were never in harmony with each other but in a confederacy
against their father, and the father had no recourse but in the
melancholy safety derived from the disunion of his children. This he
thought it expedient to increase; but such policy, when discovered, has
always a dangerous effect. The sons, having just quarrelled enough to
give room for an explanation of each other's designs, and to display
those of their fa