r the throne,
which was empty and covered with cloth of gold. The resignation of the
King was read; each member, standing in his place, signified his
acceptance of it aloud; and the people with repeated shouts expressed
their approbation. Henry now proceeded to the second part of his plan,
the act of deposition. For this purpose the coronation oath was first
read; thirty-three articles of impeachment followed, in which it was
contended that Richard had violated that oath; and thence it was
concluded that he had by his misconduct forfeited his title to the
throne. Of the articles, those which bear the hardest on the King are:
the part which he was supposed to have had in the death of the Duke of
Gloucester, his revocation of the pardons formerly granted to that
Prince and his adherents, and his despotic conduct since the dissolution
of parliament. Of the remainder, some are frivolous; many might, with
equal reason, have been objected to each of his predecessors; and the
others rest on the unsupported assertion of men whose interest it was to
paint him in the blackest colors.

No opposition had been anticipated, nor is any mentioned on the rolls;
but we are told that the Bishop of Carlisle, to the astonishment of the
Lancastrians, rose and demanded for Richard what ought not to be refused
to the meanest criminal, the right of being confronted with his
accusers; and for parliament what it might justly claim, the opportunity
of learning from the King's own mouth whether the resignation of the
crown, which had been attributed to him, were his own spontaneous act.
If Merks actually made such a speech, he must have stood alone; no one
was found to second it; the house voted the deposition of Richard; and
eight commissioners, ascending a tribunal erected before the throne,
pronounced him degraded from the state and authority of king, on the
ground that he notoriously deserved such punishment, and had
acknowledged it under his hand and seal on the preceding day. Sir
William Thirnyng, chief justice, was appointed to notify the sentence to
the captive, who meekly replied that he looked not after the royal
authority, but hoped his cousin would be good lord to him.

The rightful possessor was now removed from the throne. But, supposing
it to be vacant, what pretensions could Henry of Lancaster advance to
it? By the law of succession it belonged to the descendants of Lionel,
the third son of Edward III; and their claim, it is said,