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subjected to ignominious exile, but was also deprived of his estates, and the object of repeated insults from the King, wounded the just pride of the injured prince, and excited in him a spirit of ambition and revenge, which his vigorous character made worthy to be feared and conciliated. While such thoughts occupied his mind in Paris, the English people, and especially the people of the metropolis, who were strongly attached to him, began to grumble at so monstrous an injustice, which filled the measure of the iniquities to which they themselves had been subjected by the foolish tyranny of Richard. To the commonalty may be added the great house of Percy, the virtual sovereigns of the north, and other nobles, who, from a consistent adherence to the Lancaster family, or dislike of the measures and bearing of Richard, were encouraged to espouse the cause of the new Duke. Thus Lancaster could safely reckon on the French court, a majority of the English nobility, a great proportion of the English people, the personal weakness of Richard, and the justice of his own claim, if he desired to resist the capricious tyranny to which he had been subjected.

A practical demonstration of the good-will of King Charles and his family was, about this time, added to the expressions of sympathy of which they had already been profuse. Marie de Berri, Countess d'Eu, was the daughter of the Duke de Berri, the next younger brother of Charles the Fifth, and uncle of the reigning sovereign. She was the most beautiful and charming princess at the court; was twenty-three years of age, and had been twice married, to Louis Count de Blois, and to Philip d'Artois, a heroic knight, who had fallen at the head of a Christian legion in the Hungarian Crusade. Charles pro

posed this lady to Lancaster for his wife. Mary de Bohun, his first wife, had died some time before. Such an alliance would greatly augment Lancaster's influence, and would insure to him the coöperation of the French court in whatever designs he might form, to recover his patrimony. He listened, therefore, with much satisfaction to the proposal, and the preparations for the nuptials went forward on a scale befitting a princess of Valois and a royal duke of England. King Richard heard of the proposed alliance with alarm and indignation. He was little desirous that his enemy should be thus strengthened. He determined to exert his authority to prevent the match. For this purpose he sent the Earl of Salisbury to Paris with a strenuous protest against the marriage. This nobleman was reluctant to perform so unpleasant a task; possibly he foresaw the rising sun of Lancaster. The King finally overpersuaded him, however, and he departed on the mission.

He met with no little difficulty at first in shak ing Charles's resolution. He represented to him that Richard regarded Lancaster as a traitor to England; that it would be an insult to the English crown to wed a princess of the house of Valois with a rebel and malcontent; that such an event would naturally create a breach between the sover eigns; and that the harmony now existing between the nations could only be preserved by breaking the alliance between Marie and Henry. The easy and amiable temper of Charles the Well-Beloved yielded to this appeal, having a natural dislike to war, and being inclined to adopt measures most favorable to harmony with England. The marriage had been proposed rather on account of the personal popularity of Lancaster, who gained the good-will of all

with whom he associated, than from any reason of State policy. It was now abandoned because the King was unwilling to defend a caprice at the peril of his country. Perhaps, could Charles have seen into the future, he would have adhered to the alliance. The royal determination was made known to Lancaster by Charles himself, who approached the subject in so winning and gracious a manner, and with such evident regret, that the Duke was fain to take the unwelcome news in good part. When he heard that this was Richard's doing, his desire to retaliate greatly increased, and his agents passed with redoubled frequency between London and Paris. His adherents in England, rapidly augmenting, became bolder in their plans, and louder in their complaints.

The last affront gave them a fertile theme by which to direct the popular indignation against the King. Poor Richard, already sufficiently disliked, began to be detested. Everywhere he went he met with cold looks and averted heads; sometimes men moved away as he approached; sometimes hisses and groans greeted him; sometimes he heard "Long live Lancaster!" echoed through the crowd. The persecution of the "good Duke" was on all hands denounced. The King's favorites were not secure in passing from their houses to the royal antechambers. The only personage of the royal family who was not affronted in the streets was the gentle Queen Isabella, the sister of that generous King Charles who had welcomed and pro

tected the beloved exile. On one occasion Richard provided a tournament at Windsor for the public diversion. A gorgeous pageant was prepared. A word passed among Lancaster's friends: "Let no Lancastrian be present at Windsor!" When the day

for the tournament came, the attendance was so small that the affair proved a failure. This was an alarming evidence of the strength of Bolingbroke, and afforded, as Richard could not but perceive, much ground of encouragement to his supporters.

The quarrel between Richard and Lancaster was assuming the magnitude of a national one; and it seemed that the great majority were arraying themselves against the sovereign. The principal friends of the Duke met together in frequent consultation; the King's tyrannies and insults to Lancaster were kept constantly before the people; emissaries were despatched to the distant counties to sound the feelings of the gentry; spies were set upon the King; those favorable to the Duke armed themselves; and an industrious correspondence was constantly maintained between London and the Hôtel de Clisson.

When these hostile counsels were at their height, and when the daily occurrences in the metropolis must have warned him of his insecurity, Richard had the inexplicable imprudence to set out on an expedition to suppress some troubles in Ireland. Roger Mortimer, Earl of Marche, had been slain in attempting to quell an insurrection. The rude natives of Erin were still in arms, defying the Crown. The King was enraged at the death of his cousin, and at the continued audacity of the subject race. He left London in the midst of impending dangers, and went over to Ireland to administer chastisement. A train of knights followed him, with much murmuring and discontent; some, friendly to him, being indignant that he should so expose himself to rebellion at home; others, not so well affected, being angry that they should miss the chance which seemed to offer to the friends of Lancas

ter. The King's armament consisted of about twelve thousand men. The Earl of Northumberland and the brave Harry Percy, his son, absolutely refused to attend him. A messenger of Richard, sent by him to Alnwick Castle to summon these barons, was immediately ordered back with the answer that they should not obey the summons. The King, incensed, and spurred on by his ministers, issued an order banishing the Percys from the realm. When this sentence reached the ears of Northumberland, he summoned a council of his friends and adherents; for he was virtually sovereign in the northern shires. They advised that he should ask an asylum of King Robert in Scotland, but that he should remain on his estates until compelled to depart by force. It was shrewdly conjectured that Richard had sufficient difficulties to encounter without entering upon a civil war with rebels so able to defend themselves. They therefore felt secure in tacitly resisting the King's decree. The King of Scotland, an ally of Charles of France, and an enemy of the King of England, promptly responded to the appeal of his neighbor. He offered him protection in the Scotch territory, and a force, if necessary, to conduct him thither in safety.

The commotions in England daily increased, and grew to such proportions as might well alarm the court of Richard. Hardly had he turned his back upon the capital, when discontent boldly reared its front in all directions. As the King receded from the only place where his royalty was secure, the premonitions of the approaching storm became loud and frequent. The courts of justice were obliged to suspend their sessions. Trade, to a great extent, ceased. It was unsafe for merchants to travel. Theft met with no punishment, hardly

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