the army in the
same direction. It might be that, to relieve himself from
responsibility, he wished to be in readiness to deliver up the command
on the expected arrival of Richard from Ireland; but at the same time he
left open the road from Yorkshire to the metropolis, and allowed the
adventurer to pursue his object without impediment. Henry was already on
his march. The snowball increased as it rolled along, and the small
number of forty followers, with whom he had landed, swelled by the time
that he had reached St. Albans to sixty thousand men. He was preceded by
his messengers and letters, stating not only his own wrongs, but also
the grievances of the people, and affirming that the revenue of the
kingdom had been let out to farm to the rapacity of Scrope, Bussy, and
Greene. In all those lordships which had been the inheritance of his
family he was received with enthusiasm; in London by a procession of the
clergy and people, with addresses of congratulation, and presents, and
offers of service.

His stay in the capital was short. Having flattered the citizens, and
confirmed them in their attachment to his person, he turned to the west,
and entered Evesham, on the same day on which York reached Berkeley.
After an interchange of messages they met in the church of the castle;
and, before they separated, the doom of Richard was sealed. That the
regent consented to the actual deposition of his nephew does not
necessarily follow; he might only have sought his reformation by putting
it out of his power to govern amiss; but he betrayed the trust which had
been reposed to him, united his force with that of Henry, and commanded
Sir Peter Courtenay, who held the castle of Bristol for the King, to
open its gates. That officer, protesting that he acknowledged no
authority in the Duke of Lancaster, obeyed the mandate of the regent.
The next morning the three fugitives, the Earl of Wiltshire, Bussy, and
Greene, were executed by order of the constable and marshal of the host.
The Duke of York remained at Bristol; Henry with his own forces
proceeded to Chester to secure that city, and awe the men of Cheshire,
the most devoted adherents of the King.

We may now return to Richard in Ireland. It must appear strange, but
Henry had been in England a fortnight before the King, in consequence,
it was said, of the tempestuous weather, had heard of his landing. The
intelligence appears to have provoked indignation as much as alarm.
"Ha!"