followed him. They joined their forces—
how they brought that about, is not distinctly
understood — and proceeded to Bristol Castle,
whither three noblemen had taken the young
Queen. The castle surrendering, they
presently put those three noblemen to death. The
Regent then remained there, and Henry went
on to Chester.

All this time, the boisterous weather had
prevented the King from receiving
intelligence of what had occurred. At length it
was conveyed to him in Ireland, and he sent
over the EARL OF SALISBURY, who, landing at
Conway, rallied the Welshmen, and waited
for the' King a whole fortnight; at the end of
that time the Welshmen, who were perhaps
not very warm for him in the beginning, quite
cooled down, and went home. When the King
did land on the Coast at last, he came with a
pretty good power, but his men cared nothing
for him and quickly deserted. Supposing
the Welshmen to be still at Conway, he
disguised himself as a priest, and made for
that place in company with his two brothers
and some few of their adherents. But, there
were no Welshmen left — only Salisbury and
a hundred soldiers. In this distress, the King's
two brothers, Exeter and Surrey, offered
to go to Henry to learn what his intentions
were. Surrey, who was true to Richard, was
put into prison. Exeter, who was false, took
the royal badge, which was a hart, off his
shield, and assumed the rose, the badge of
Henry. After this, it was pretty plain to the
King what Henry's intentions were, without
sending any more messengers to ask.

The fallen King, thus deserted — hemmed
in on all sides, and pressed with hunger—
rode here and rode there, and went to this
castle, and went to that castle, endeavouring
to obtain some provisions, but could
find none. He rode wretchedly back to
Conway, and there surrendered himself to
the Earl of Northumberland, who came from
Henry, in reality to take him prisoner, but in
appearance to offer terms; and whose men
were hidden not far off. By this earl he
was conducted to the castle of Flint,
where his cousin, Henry, met him, and
dropped on his knee as if he were still
respectful to his sovereign. " Fair cousin
of Lancaster," said the King, " you are
very welcome" (very welcome, no doubt;
but he would have been more so, in chains
or without a head). " My lord," replied
Henry, " I am come a little before my
time; but, with your good pleasure, I will
show you the reason. Your people
complain with some bitterness, that you have
ruled them rigorously for two-and-twenty
years. Now, if it please God, I will help you
to govern them better in future." " Fair
cousin," replied the abject King, " since it
pleaseth you, it pleaseth me mightily."

After this, the trumpets sounded, and the
King was stuck on a wretched old horse,
and carried prisoner to Chester, where he
was made to issue a proclamation, calling
a Parliament. From Chester he was taken,
on towards London. At Lichfield he tried
to escape by getting out of a window and
letting himself down into a garden; it was
all in vain, however, and he was carried on
and shut up in the Tower, where no one pitied
him, and where the whole people, whose
patience he had quite tired out, reproached
him without mercy. Before he got there, it
is related, that his very dog left him and
departed from his side to lick the hand of
Henry.

The day before the Parliament met a
deputation went to this wrecked King, and
told him that he had promised the Duke of
Northumberland at Conway Castle to resign
the crown. He said he was quite ready to do it,
and signed a paper in which he renounced his
authority and absolved his people from their
allegiance to him. He had so little spirit left
that he gave his royal ring to his triumphant
cousin Henry with his own hand, and said,
that if he could have had leave to appoint a
successor, that same Henry was the man of
all others whom he would have named. Next
day, the Parliament assembled in Westminster
Hall, where Henry sat at the side of the
throne, which was empty and covered with a
cloth of gold. The paper just signed by the
King was read to the multitude amid shouts
of joy, which were echoed through all the
streets; when some of the noise had died
away, the King was formally deposed. Then
Henry arose, and, making the sign of the
cross on his forehead and breast, challenged
the realm of England as his right; the
archbishops of Canterbury and York seated him
on the throne.

The multitude shouted again, and the
shouts re-echoed throughout all the streets.
No one remembered, now, that Richard
the Second had ever been the most beautiful,
the wisest, and the best of princes; and
he now made living (to my thinking) a
far more sorry spectacle in the Tower of
London, than Wat the Tyler had made, lying
dead, among the hoofs of the royal horses in
Smithfield.

The Poll-tax died with Wat. The Smiths
to the King and Royal Family, could make
no chains in which the King could hang
the people's recollection of him; so the Poll-
tax was never collected.

Now Ready, Price 3s. 6d.,
THE FIRST VOLUME OF
A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
BY CHARLES DICKENS.
To be completed in three Volumes, of the same size and price,
Collected and revised from " Household Words,"
With a Table of Dates.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STEEET.