,
which, by its very nature, was liable to be overthrown by every faction
of the great, or prejudice of the people. He had indeed a present
advantage over his competitor: the heir of the house of Mortimer, who
had been declared in parliament heir to the crown, was a boy of seven
years of age:[*] his friends consulted his safety by keeping silence
with regard to his title: Henry detained him and his younger brother in
an honorable custody at Windsor Castle.

* Dugdale, vol. i. p. 151.

But he had reason to dread that, in proportion as that nobleman grew
to man's estate, he would draw to him the attachment of the people, and
make them reflect on the fraud, violence, and injustice by which he had
been excluded from the throne. Many favorable topics would occur in his
behalf: he was a native of England; possessed an extensive interest from
the greatness and alliances of his family; however criminal the deposed
monarch, this youth was entirely innocent; he was of the same religion,
and educated in the same manners with the people, and could not be
governed by any separate interest: these views would all concur to favor
his claim; and though the abilities of the present prince might ward
off any dangerous revolution, it was justly to be apprehended, that
his authority could with difficulty be brought to equal that of his
predecessors.

Henry, in his very first parliament, had reason to see the danger
attending that station which he had assumed, and the obstacles which he
would meet with in governing an unruly aristocracy, always divided by
faction, and at present inflamed with the resentments consequent on
such recent convulsions. The peers, on their assembling, broke out into
violent animosities against each other; forty gauntlets, the pledges of
furious battle, were thrown on the floor of the house by noblemen who
gave mutual challenges; and "liar" and "traitor" resounded from all
quarters. The king had so much authority with these doughty champions,
as to prevent all the combats which they threatened; but he was not
able to bring them to a proper composure, or to an amicable disposition
towards each other.

{1400.} It was not long before these passions broke into action. The
earls of Rutland, Kent, and Huntingdon, and Lord Spenser, who were now
degraded from the respective titles of Albemarle, Surrey, Exeter, and
Glocester, conferred on them by Richard, entered into a conspiracy,
together with the earl of Salisbu