I pass by Colchester's part, if he took any, in Richard's journey to Ireland in 1399;[82] for our records throw no light on what did not concern the Convent. There appears to be no doubt that he was confederate with the Earls of Rutland, Huntingdon, Kent, and Salisbury, who were at first confided to his safe-keeping by Henry IV.; that he took part on December 17, 1399, in a secret gathering of the conspirators within the Abbey; that he was arrested, and sent first to Reigate and then, January 25, 1400, to the Tower; and that he was released, after a trial there held on February 4.[83] He had, of course, received Henry IV. when he made his progress to Westminster on October 12, 1399, and had taken part in the coronation on the following day.[84] But inside the Convent there was an evident desire to eschew partisanships, as any one can realize who reads Roger Cretton's bare and impartial record in the _Liber Niger_.[85] I therefore pass from public questions and take up an otherwise undated letter[86] of the Abbot, written from Cologne on October 10, to two important Westminster monks whom we have already had before us, Peter Coumbe and John Borewell. It reveals Colchester's close interest in Abbey affairs, however far away he might be, and it is even somewhat peremptory in tone. For he had referred to them some detail of monastic business, and says that he is daily awaiting their answer, in order that he may take action accordingly. The Convent, he adds, is to receive with due honour a relation of the Bishop of Lincoln, remembering that his lordship has always been gracious to them in matters of conventual concern.