[98] Disgraceful and injurious.
[99] Saying to them.
SUPPOSED PLOTS (1397).
Source.—Froissart's Chronicle (Hafod Press, 1803), iv. 546, 552, 553.
[This story, given by Froissart and the Monk of St. Denis, both admirers of Richard, seems to be absolutely unfounded.]
The Duke of Gloucester would gladly have seen this nephew, called John, Earl of March, on the throne of England, and King Richard deposed from it, saying he was neither worthy nor capable to hold the government of England; and this opinion he made no secret of to those who were in his confidence.
He invited this Earl of March to come and see him; and, when at Pleshy, he unbosomed himself to him of all the secrets of his heart, telling him that he had been selected for King of England; that King Richard and his Queen were to be confined, but with ample provision for their maintenance, as long as they lived; and he earnestly besought his nephew to believe all he said, for he should make it a point to put his plans into execution, and that he was already joined by the Earl of Arundel, Sir John Arundel, the Earl of Warwick, and many prelates and barons of England.... The King of England had received positive information that the Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Arundel had plotted to seize his person, and that of the Queen, and carry them to a strong castle, where they should be confined under proper guards, but allowed sufficiently for their table and other necessary expenses. That four regents should be appointed over the kingdom, of whom the Dukes of Lancaster and York were to be the chief, and have under them the government of all the northern parts, from the Thames to the Tyne, and as far as the Tweed, that runs by Berwick, and comprehend all Northumberland, and the borders of Scotland. The Duke of Gloucester was to have for his government London, Essex, and that part of the country to the mouth of the Humber, and likewise all the coast from the Thames to the water of Southampton, and westward comprehending Cornwall. The Earl of Arundel was to have Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, and all the country from the Thames to Bristol, and the river Severn that divides England from Wales, where there are very extensive lordships, with power of punishing by death all offenders. But their chief design was to find out some means of re-kindling the war with France; and, if the King of France wished to have his daughter again, it might be done, for she was still very young, not more than eight years and a half old, and, perchance, when she was marriageable, she might repent of this connection, for she was innocently, and without her being able to judge for herself, married, and, beside, it was unjust to break off her match with the heir of Brittany; but should she wish to abide by her marriage, she would in justice remain Queen of England, and enjoy her dower, but she should never be the companion of the King of England. Should the King die before she was of a proper age, she was to be sent back to France.
These were the plans that had been concerted by many of the English, particularly the Londoners, for they hated the King, and several now repented they had checked the mobs that attacked London from the different counties of England; for they had determined, according to their confessions when put to death, to murder the King, the Earl of Salisbury, the Earl of Oxford, and the whole of the King's Council.
Had this been done the kingdom would soon have found another head; and the citizens, with the consent of the country, and the aid of the Duke of Gloucester (who took great pains to excite trouble and confusion), have selected a fit person to wear the crown, and place the government and kingdom in a different state to what it then was.