hops and
nobles. Richard's uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, was at the
head of it. This council governed the country for more than a year.
Every thing was done in Richard's name, it is true, but the real power
was in the hands of the Duke of Gloucester. Richard was very angry and
indignant, but he did not see what he could do.

He was, however, all the time forming plans and schemes to recover his
power. At last, after about a year had passed away, he called together
a number of judges secretly at Nottingham, toward the northern part of
the kingdom, and submitted to them the question whether such a council
as the Parliament had appointed was legal. It was, of course,
understood beforehand how the judges would decide. They decreed that
the council was illegal; that for Parliament to give a council such
powers was a violation of the king's prerogative, and was consequently
treason, and that, of course, all who had been concerned in the
transaction had made themselves liable to the penalty of death.

It was Richard's plan, after having obtained this decree, to cause the
prominent members of the council to be arrested, and he came to London
and began to make his preparations for accomplishing this purpose. But
as soon as his uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, heard of these
plans, he, and some great nobles who were ready to join with him
against the king, collected all their forces, and began to march to
London at the head of forty thousand men. Richard's cousin Henry, the
Duke of Lancaster's son, joined them on the way. Richard's friends and
favorites, on hearing of this, immediately took arms, and preparations
began to be made for civil war. In a word, after having successfully
met and quelled the great insurrection of the serfs and laborers under
Wat Tyler, Richard was now to encounter a still more formidable
resistance of his authority on the part of his uncles and the great
barons of the realm. These last, indeed, were far more to be feared
than the others, for they had arms and organization, and they enjoyed
every possible facility for carrying on a vigorous and determined war.
Richard and his party soon found that it was useless to attempt to
resist them. Accordingly, after a very brief struggle, the royal party
was entirely put down. Richard's favorites were arrested. Some of them
were beheaded, others were banished from the realm, and the government
of the country fell again into the hands of the uncles.