or,
to give him immediate possession of the throne, by the deposition of a
prince so unworthy of power and authority: and when Mortimer declined
the project, he resolved to make a partition of the kingdom between
himself, his two brothers, and the earl of Arundel; and entirely to
dispossess Richard of the crown. The king, it is said, being informed of
these designs, saw that either his own ruin, or that of Glocester, was
inevitable; and he resolved by a hasty blow to prevent the execution of
such destructive projects. This is certain, that Glocester, by his own
confession, had often affected to speak contemptuously of the king's
person and government; had deliberated concerning the lawfulness of
throwing off allegiance to him; and had even borne part in a secret
conference, where his deposition was proposed, and talked of, and
determined:[***] but it is reasonable to think, that his schemes were
not so far advanced.

* Rymer, vol. vii. p. 152.

** Liv. iv. chap. 86.

*** Cotton, p. 378. Tyrrel, vol. iii. part ii. p. 972, from
the records. Par. Hist. vol. i. p. 473. That this confession
was genuine, and obtained without violence, may be entirely
depended on. Judge Rickhill, who brought it over from
Calais, was tried on that account, and acquitted in the
first parliament of Henry IV., when Glocester's party was
prevalent. His acquittal, notwithstanding his innocence, may
even appear marvellous, considering the times. See Cotton,
p. 393. putting them immediately in execution. The danger
probably was still too distant to render a desperate remedy
entirely necessary for the security of government.

But whatever opinion we may form of the danger arising from Glocester's
conspiracies, his aversion to the French truce and alliance was public
and avowed; and that court which had now a great influence over the
king, pushed him to provide for his own safety, by punishing the
traitorous designs of his uncle. The resentment against his former
acts of violence revived; the sense of his refractory and uncompliant
behavior was still recent; and a man whose ambition had once usurped
royal authority, and who had murdered all the faithful servants of the
king, was thought capable, on a favorable opportunity, of renewing the
same criminal enterprises. The king's precipitate temper admitted of no
deliberation: he ordered Glocester to be unexpectedly arrested; to be
hurri