III. CHAP. pregnant with danger, that the infatuated monarch determined to leave his kingdom. His cousin and heir, the earl of March, had been surprised and slain by a party of Irish: and, in his eagerness to revenge the loss of a relation, he despised the advice of his friends, and wilfully shut his eyes to the designs of his enemies. He goes to Having appointed his uncle, the duke of York, regent, during his absence, the king assisted at a solemn mass at Windsor, chanted a collect himself, and made his offering. At the door of the church he took wine and spices with his young queen; and lifting her up in his arms, repeatedly kissed her, saying, "Adieu, madam, "adieu, till we meet again." From Windsor, accompanied by several noblemen, he proceeded to Bristol, where the report of plots and conspiracies reached him, and was received with contempt. At Milford Haven he joined his army, and embarking in a fleet of two hundred sail, arrived in a few days in the port of Waterford. May 31. His cousin the duke of Albemarle had been ordered to follow with a hundred more: and three weeks were consumed in waiting for that nobleman, whose delay was afterwards attributed to a secret understanding with the king's enemies. At length Richard led his forces against the June 20. Irish: several of the inferior chiefs hastened barefoot, and with halters round their necks, to implore his mercy; but M'Murchad spurned the idea of submission, and boasted that he III. would extirpate the invaders. He dared not CHAP. indeed meet them in open combat: but it was his policy to flee before them, and draw them into woods and morasses, where they could neither fight with advantage, nor procure subşistence. The clamours of the soldiers compelled the king to give up the pursuit, and to direct his march towards Dublin: and M'Murchad, when he could no longer impede their progress, solicited and obtained a parley with the earl of Glocester, the commander of the rear guard. The chieftain was an athletic man; he came to the conference mounted on a grey charger, which had cost him four hundred head of cattle; and brandished with ease and dexterity a heavy spear in his hand. He seemed willing to become the nominal vassal of the king of England; but refused to submit to any conditions. Richard set a price on his head, proceeded to Dublin, and at the expiration of a fortnight, was joined by the duke of Albemarle with men and provisions. This seasonable supply enabled him to recommence the pursuit of M'Murchad; but while he was thus occupied, with objects of inferior interest in Ireland, a revolution had occurred in England, which eventually deprived him both of his crown and his life. 179 When Richard sailed to Ireland, Henry of III. lands in CHAP. Bolingbroke, the new duke of Lancaster, resided in Paris, where he was narrowly watched by the Lancaster king of France. The late primate (for during England. his exile Arundel like his predecessor had been translated to the bishoprie of St. Andrew's) secretly left his house at Cologne; and in the disguise of a friar procured an interview with the duke at the hotel de Vinchester.180 The result of their meeting was a determination to return to England during the king's absence. To elude the suspicions of the French ministers, Henry procured a passport to visit the duke of Bretagne; and, on his arrival at Nantes, hired three small vessels, with which he sailed from Vannes to seek his fortune in England. His whole retinue consisted only of the archbishop, the son of the late earl of Arundel, fifteen lances, and a few servants. After hovering for some days on the eastern coast, he landed at Ravenspurn in Yorkshire; and was immediately joined by the two powerful earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland. In their presence he declared upon oath, that his only object was to recover the honours and estates, which had belonged to his father. July 4. His suc cess. The duke of York, to whom the king had intrusted the government during his absence, was accurately informed of the motions of Henry; and had summoned the retainers of the crown 180 Since called the Bicetre. RICHARD II. III. to join the royal standard at St. Alban's. He CHAP. soon found himself at the head of a numerous force but so many of the leaders betrayed a disinclination to draw the sword against Henry, whom they conceived to have a just claim to the inheritance of his father, that the friends of Richard began to be alarmed for their own security. The earl of Wiltshire, with Bussy and Green, members of the committee of parliament, had been appointed to wait on the young queen at Wallingford: but they suddenly abandoned their charge, and fled with precipitation to Bristol. York himself, doubtful of the fidelity of his forces, and perhaps desirous to give up the command to the king on his expected arrival from Ireland, followed in the same direction; and the road from Yorkshire to the metropolis was left open to the approach of the insurgents. Henry. was already on his march. The snowball had increased as it rolled along: and the small body of twenty followers, with whom he had landed, swelled, before he reached London, to about sixty thousand armed men. He stayed in the capital no longer than was requisite to flatter the citizens, and secure their good will: and continuing his march to the west, entered Evesham on the same day that York reached Berkley. After an interchange of messages, the dukes met in the church of the castle; before they separated, the doom of Richard was sealed. The regent, whether he were intimidated by the III. CHAP. power, or deceived by the protestations of his nephew, espoused the same cause: with united armies, to the number of one hundred thousand men, they laid siege to the castle of Bristol: and sir Peter Courteney the governor, though he refused to treat with Henry, consented to surrender the place at the command of the regent. The earl of Wiltshire, Bussy, and Green, were executed the next morning without the formality of a trial. York remained at Bristol: Henry with his own forces proceeded to Chester. 181 Richard' returns. i Three weeks had elapsed since the landing of the exiles, and there were yet no tidings of Richard, whose ignorance of these events had been prolonged by the tempestuous state of the weather. The first who brought him the alarming intelligence was the chancellor, sir Stephen Scroop. "Ha!" exclaimed the king, "fair "uncle of Lancaster, God reward your soul: for "had I believed you, this man would not have "injured me. Three times have I pardoned him: "this is the fourth offence he has committed." It was immediately resolved that the earl of Salisbury should sail with as many men as could embark on board the ships in the harbour of Dublin and that the king should lead the rest to Waterford, and follow with the fleet which lay in that port. The earl landed at Conway, and summoned the natives of Wales to the royal 181 Wals. 358. |