14 Constitutional History. [chap.
Richard's
acquiescence
in his depo-
sition ; Oct.
ɪ, 1399∙
that after all this he hoped that his cousin would be good lord
to him So the record ends ; but it was known at the time
that Bichard, when he was further pressed to renounce all the
honours and dignity pertaining to a king, refused to renounce
the spiritual honour of the royal character impressed upon him,
or his unction2. When the judge read to him the terms in
which he had confessed himself unworthy, insufficient, and unfit
to govern, and had allowed that he was deposed on account of his
demerits, he corrected him, saying ‘ not so, but because my
governance pleased them not 3∙, Thirning insisting on the form,
Richard gave way, and said with a smile that he trusted they
would provide him with such means that he would not be
destitute of an honourable livelihood. To the last he is a
problem; we cannot tell whether they are words of levity or
of resignation.
Meeting of
parliament,
Oct. 6, 1399.
’ Arundel’s
discourse.
The meeting of the parliament on the 6th of October was
merely formal4. The king took his seat ; the lords and com-
mons with a great company of spectators were in attendance.
Arundel explained the circumstances which had rendered the
new writ of summons necessary, and repeated the substance of
his sermon. ‘ This honourable realm of England, the most
abundant angle of riches in the whole world,’ had been reduced
to destruction by the counsels of children and widows; now
God had sent a man knowing and discreet for governance, who
by the aid of God would be governed and counselled by the wise
and ancient of his realm. Having thus struck the keynote of
the Lancastrian policy, he took another text, ‘ the affairs of the
kingdom lie upon us,’ from which he deduced the lesson that
Henry was willing to be counselled and governed by the
honourable, wise, and discreet persons of his kingdom, and by
their common counsel and consent to do his best for the
governance of himself and his kingdom, not wishing to be
1 Rot. Parl. iii. 424.
2 ‘ Respondit quod noluit renunciare Spirituali honorɪ eharaeterɪs sɪbi
impressi et inunctioni quibus renunciare non potuit nec ab hiis Cessare ;,
Ann. Henr. p. 286 ; Capgr. Ill. Henr. p. 107.
3 Ann. Henr. p. 286.
1 Rot. Parl. ɪii. 415.
χvι∏∙]
Changes in the Peerage.
ʃɔ
governed, of his own will nor of his own ‘ voluntary purpose or
εi∏gular opinion,’ but by common advice, counsel and consent.
After pɪaɪsiɪɪg England as the land which most of all lands
might trust to its own resources, and pointing out the requisites
0f good government, he declared the king’s purpose of conserv-
ing the liberties of the Church, of the lords spiritual and tem-
poral, and the commons. Then with the consent of the assembly
the parliament was adjourned to the day after the coronation.
That solemn act was celebrated on the appointed day with all ɪɪæ ∞r≡-
the pomp and significance that befitted the beginning of a new 1399’. ɪ3
dynasty. The Lancaster sword was borne before the king by
the earl of Northumberland as sovereign of the Isle of Man;
the golden eagle and cruse were used for the first time, and
from the knighting of forty-six candidates for the honours of
chivalry, the heralds date the foundation of the order of the
Bath1. The king had already begun to reward his friends ; Appoint-
Ralph Neville, the earl of Westmoreland, had been made mar- ɪt,inistera.
shal and received the honour of Richmond ; Henry Percy, the
father, had been made constable and lord of Man ; his son
received the isle of Anglesey ; his brother, the earl of Worces-
ter, was made admiral2 ; Arundel had been of course recognised
as archbishop without waiting for the pope’s reversal of his
translation3. John Searle, the chancellor; and John Northbury,
the treasurer, were probably men who had stood aloof from
politics and were trusted as officers who knew their own
business 4.
303. On the 14th of October the parliament met for dispatch Composition
p , of parlia-
OI business ; four dukes, one marquess, ten earls, and thirty-four ment ; Oct.
14, 1399.
1 See Froissart, book iv. c. 116 ; Ann. Henrici, p. 291 ; Chronique de la
Trahison, p. 225 note; FabyanjChr. p. 565; Taylor, Glory of Regality,
P∙ 259 J Favine, Theatre of Honour, tome ii. p. 65; Selden, Titles of
Honour, pp. 819, 820.
3 Rymer, viii. 91, 95 ; Ordinances of Privy Council, i. ɪ 78.
The temporalities were restored Oct. 21 : Itymer, viii. 96; the papal
u∏ for his restoration vas dated Oct. 19 ; Wilk. Cone. iii. 246.
«. Northbury had been Richard’s minister, but in the discussions on the
1J⅛s guilt declared that he had resisted his attempts at tyranny; and,
/y n Ragot asked what man in parliament would have ventured to do so,
jɪ ere* lnquit, ego, etsi perdidɪssem omnia bona mea, una cum vita Ann.