Londoners too, were in a strange consternation
at this mistake of their general; and had the king, whose great
misfortune was always to follow precipitant advices,--had the king,
I say, pushed on his first design, which he had formed with very good
reason, and for which he had been dodging with Essex eight or ten
days, viz., of marching directly to London, where he had a very
great interest, and where his friends were not yet oppressed and
impoverished, as they were afterwards, he had turned the scale of his
affairs. And every man expected it; for the members began to shift
for themselves, expresses were sent on the heels of one another to the
Earl of Essex to hasten after the king, and, if possible, to bring him
to a battle. Some of these letters fell into our hands, and we might
easily discover that the Parliament were in the last confusion at
the thoughts of our coming to London. Besides this, the city was in a
worse fright than the House, and the great moving men began to go
out of town. In short, they expected us, and we expected to come, but
Providence for our ruin had otherwise determined it.

Essex, upon news of the king's march, and upon receipt of the
Parliament's letters, makes long marches after us, and on the 23rd of
October reaches the village of Kineton, in Warwickshire. The king was
almost as far as Banbury, and there calls a council of war. Some of
the old officers that foresaw the advantage the king had, the concern
the city was in, and the vast addition, both to the reputation of his
forces and the increase of his interest, it would be if the king could
gain that point, urged the king to march on to London. Prince
Rupert and the fresh colonels pressed for fighting, told the king it
dispirited their men to march with the enemy at their heels; that the
Parliament army was inferior to him by 6000 men, and fatigued with
hasty marching; that as their orders were to fight, he had nothing
to do but to post himself to advantage, and receive them to their
destruction; that the action near Worcester had let them know how easy
it was to deal with a rash enemy; and that 'twas a dishonour for him,
whose forces were so much superior, to be pursued by his subjects in
rebellion. These and the like arguments prevailed with the king to
alter his wiser measures and resolve to fight. Nor was this all; when
a resolution of fighting was taken, that part of the advice which they
who were for fighting gave, as a reason for t