. 1642. Nov. 13.]

promise on oath never more to bear arms against him.[1]

This action put an end to the projected treaty. The parliament reproached
the king that, while he professed the strongest repugnance to shed the
blood of Englishmen, he had surprised and murdered their adherents at
Brentford, unsuspicious as they were, and relying on the security of a
pretended negotiation. Charles indignantly retorted the charge on his
accusers. They were the real deceivers, who sought to keep him inactive
in his position, till they had surrounded him with the multitude of
their adherents. In effect his situation daily became more critical. His
opponents had summoned forces from every quarter to London, and Essex found
himself at the head of twenty-four thousand men. The two armies faced[a]
each other a whole day on Turnham Green; but neither ventured to charge,
and the king, understanding that the corps which, defended the bridge
at Kingston had been withdrawn, retreated first to Beading, and then to
Oxford. Probably he found himself too weak to cope with the superior number
of his adversaries; publicly he alleged his unwillingness to oppose by a
battle any further obstacle to a renewal of the treaty.[2]

The whole kingdom at this period exhibited a most melancholy spectacle.
No man was suffered to remain neuter. Each county, town, and hamlet was
divided into factions, seeking the ruin. of each other. All stood upon
their guard, while the most active of either

[Footnote 1: Each party published contradictory accounts. I have adhered to
the documents entered in the Journals, which in my opinion show that, if
there was any breach of faith in these transactions, it was on the part of
the parliament, and act of the king.]

[Footnote 2: May, 179. Whitelock, 65, 66. Clarendon, ii. 76.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1642. Nov. 14.]

party eagerly sought the opportunity of despoiling the lands and surprising
the persons of their adversaries. The two great armies, in defiance of the
prohibitions of their leaders, plundered wherever they came, and their
example was faithfully copied by the smaller bodies of armed men in other
districts. The intercourse between distant parts of the country was
interrupted; the operations of commerce were suspended; and every person
possessed of property was compelled to contribute after a certain rate
to the support of that cause which obtained the superiority in his
neighbourhood. In Oxford and its vicinity,