Next year, when the king and queen returned from Gascony to England, the Jews had occasion to present a memorial to the king himself, in reply to another unreasonable request, in which they thus addressed him:―― “Sir king, we see thou sparest neither Christians nor Jews, but studiest with crafty excuses to impoverish all men. We have no hope of respiration left us, the usurers of the pope have supplanted us. Permit us to depart out of the kingdom with safe conduct, and we will seek for ourselves such a mansion as we can, be it what it will.” “Although we may admire the boldness,” observes Mr. Blunt, “with which the Jews (notwithstanding their degraded and dependent situation) demanded relief from their wrongs, it can in no way excite astonishment to find that the language they employed had not the effect of procuring them the redress which they claimed.” When the king received their memorial, and was informed of the address to the council, he expressed himself in terms of violent anger. The words which he used on the occasion are recorded: ――“Is it to be marvelled at,” he said, “that I covet money? It is a horrible thing to imagine the debts wherein I am held bound. By the head of God, they amount to the sum of 200,000 marks; and if I should say 300,000, I should not exceed the bounds of truth. I am deceived on every side; I am a maimed and an abridged king――yea, now but half a king. There is a necessity for me to have money, gotten from what place soever, and by what means soever, and from whomsoever.”¹ ¹ Well might Henry say, “that it would be a greater act of charity to bestow money on him, than on those who went from door to door, begging alms.” M. Paris. A. Strickland. No time was lost in devising measures for procuring a supply, according to the intention thus expressed. The Duke Richard proposed to provide the king with the sum which was required, upon condition that the whole of the Jews should be assigned over to him. The king consented to the proposal, and forthwith, upon receiving the money, he sold the Jews to the duke as a security for the sum advanced.¹ ¹ M. Paris; Maddox; Prynne; Tovey; Blunt.