ENGLAND. 



framed, and ratified by parliament, by which a coun- 

 fourteen ]>ersons was appointed, to whom was 

 transferred the sovereign power for one year. In tins 

 ', nvamirc liich.ird was also obliged to acquiesce; but at 

 the end of the session, he publicly entered a protest, 

 onthe that the prerogatives of the cmwn should still l>c deem- 

 ror*l preio- gj entire and unimpaired. He could not, however, 

 **"*' but see that he was in a manner dethroned ; and his 

 violent temper soon urged lu'm to seek the mean* of 

 recovering hi* lost authority. He first endeavoured to 

 gain over the Commons to his interest, by influencing 

 the elections. Hut this failing, he had recourse to the 

 i iiiiliil by judges, who encouraged him in resisting the authority 

 Richard. o f y,,. council. They declared that the late commis- 

 sion was altogether derogatory to the prerogatives of 

 the crown, and that those who supported it were guil- 

 ty of treason. They also gave it as their opinion, that 

 the king alone has the right of dissolving the parlia- 

 ment at pleasure ; that that assembly, when it sits, must 

 first proceed upon the king's business ; and that it can- 

 not, without his consent, impeach any of his ministers 

 S0d jiu! 



Gloucester at once perceived the king's intentions, 

 and, in order to prevent their execution, he and his ad- 

 herents assembled their vassals near Highgate, and de- 

 Pimigui of manded that those persons who had misled him by 

 Gloucester, pernicious counsels should be delivered up to them. 

 They accused the Archbishop of York, the Duke of 

 Ireland, the Earl of Suffolk, Sir Robert Tresilian, and 

 Sir Nicholas Brembre, as traitors to the king and king- 

 dom. The Duke of Ireland levied some forces, arid at- 

 tempted to relieve his master ; but he was defeated by 

 Gloucester, and obliged to fly to the Low Countries. The 

 rest also sought safety in flight ; but they were con- 

 demned by the parliament as guilty of high treason ; 

 and Brembre and Tresilian, who had been discovered 

 and taken, were executed. The other judges, who had 

 given their opinion in favour of the king, were banished 

 His cruelty, to Ireland. But the vengeance of Gloucester was still 

 unsatisfied, and it fell upon Lord Beauchamp of Holt, 

 Sir James Berners, and Sir Simon Burley, who were 

 all condemned and executed. Burley had been ap- 

 pointed governor to Richard by the late king and the 

 iilack I'rince, and had attended him from his earliest 

 infancy. He was generally beloved for his many good 

 qualities, but his enemies were jealous of his influence 

 over the king ; and though the queen, whose amiable 

 dispositions had acquired her the appellation of the 

 " Good Queen Anne," interested herself in his behalf, 

 and knelt for three hours before Gloucester, begging 

 for his life ; yet the tyrant was inexorable. This 

 prince's power, however, which he had so wantonly 

 Richard r t -- abused, was but of short continuance. In less than a 

 cun his twelvemonth, Richard was enabled to recover his autho- 

 authority. rity, though by what means is not known, but which 

 he exercised for a time with great moderation. He dis- 

 placed the principal officers of the crown, who hail late- 

 ly been appointed by the opposition ; and Gloucester 

 and the Earl of Warwick were also removed, fora time, 

 A. D. 1389. from the council. He confirmed, by proclamation, the 

 general pardon which had been passed by the parlia- 

 ment ; and endeavoured to engage the affections of the 

 people, by remitting some subsidies which had been 

 granted him. 



During these domestic convulsions, the French war 



Battle of was scarcely heard of, and the battle of Otterburn was 



tHtcrbum ; the only event that marked the hostilities with Scotland. 



This affair, however, proceeded more from a rivalship 



between the martial families of Percy and Douglas, 



4- 



than from any national quarrel. In this engagvmentt ^Hito<y. ^ 

 Douglas was slain, and Percy was taken prisoner ; v * "V^ 

 hut both sides claimed the victory. A truce was now and inuv 

 established with France for twenty-five years ; and with Kunct. 



I, who h.vl lost his queen, was affianced to 

 Charles' daughter K- l.rlla, now only seven yairs old. 



During this period also, the Duke of Lancaster, with 

 the flower o; the F.nulisli army, had l>een prosecuting, 

 in Spain, his claim to the crown of Castile; but after 

 a vain and useless effort, he wiis compelled to resign it, 

 upon receiving a large sum of money- On his return, 

 he was received with great kindness by the king, who 

 employed his authority to counterbalance that of his 

 uncle Gloucester. This turbulent prince, hove 

 still continued to excite divisions and rebellion ; and 

 the conduct of Richard tended too much to heighten, 

 rather than to soothe the discontents of the nation. His 

 time wjis spent chiefly in the company of worthless fa- 

 vourites, and the public treasures were dissipated in 

 low pleasures and unprofitable amusements. The truce Turbulenc* 

 with France gave universal dissatisfaction, and Glou- * ni ' 9cd '- 



took advantage of this spirit to inveigh against '." 



,. duct of the 

 the measures of aovermuent, and the pusillanimity of |) u iieof 



the king. He inflamed the minds of the people by the lilouccster. 

 recital of their former victories, and compared the glo- 

 ries of the former reijrn with the indolence and effemi- 

 nacy of the present. His popularity daily increased, 

 and it was even alleg'-d. that he contemplated the over- 

 throw ol the goxeinr.ient, and the dethronement of the 

 king. Richard at least \v.'s jealous and apprehensive of 

 his popiii.nitv. , :iiid resolved, liy sonic decisive measure, 

 to counteract his ambitious designs. His impetuous ton- 

 Mr would not allow him to deliberate, but he ordered 

 Gloucester to be instantly arrested ai.it conveyed to Ca- Gloucester 

 lais. The F.arls of Arundel and Warwick were seized n<l others 

 at the same time, and a parliament was immediately sc 

 summoned to deliberate upon the conduct of these 

 noblemen. They were accused of high treason, in pro- A. D. 1397 

 curing the illegal commission, and in appearing inarms 

 against their sovereign ; to which they pleaded, that 

 their crimes had been committed eight years before, 

 and for which they had received repented pardons. 

 This defence, however, did not avail them. Arundel Anindel 

 was executed, and Warwick was condemned to per- c * ccut " l> 

 petual banishment in the Isle of Man. A warrant was Warwick 

 next issued for bringing over the Duke of Gloucester b""' 8 '"* 1 ) 

 from Calais, in order to his trial ; but the governor re- " 

 turned for answer, that he had died suddenly of an 

 apoplexy. The suspicions which this circumstance Gloucester 

 excited, were much to the discredit of the king's ho- privately 

 nour and humanity, for it was generally believed that nurfere4 

 his uncle was murdered by his orders. Indeed, in the 

 following reign it was incontestibly proved before par- 

 liament, that he had been suffocated with pillows, by 

 the command of his nephew. 



Aflerthc fall of Gloucester and his adherents, Richard 

 endeavoured to attach the opposite party more closely 

 to his interests, by grants and preferments. The prin- 

 cipal nobility now seemed devoted to his will ; but it 

 was the devotion of fear and interest, not of affection; 

 and they waited only for n favourable opportunity to 

 shake off the restraint under which they were held, 

 and to transfer their submission to a more worthy ol>- 

 ject. While the king thus believed his government Quarrel 

 secure from farther opposition, a quarrel happened among the 

 among his friends, which, by his imprudent weakness, Ij 1 

 was rendered the cause of Ins future overthrow and de- 

 struction. The Duke of Hereford, son of the Duke of 

 Lancaster, accused the Duke of Norfolk before parlia- 





