where commissioners from the parliament met
them with a supply of clothes and money. The lord general repaired to his
own house, calling for an investigation both into his own conduct and into
that of the committee, who had neglected to disperse the royalists in the
rear of his army, and had betrayed the cause of the people, to gratify
their own jealousy by the disgrace of an opponent. To soothe his wounded
mind, the houses ordered a joint deputation to wait on him, to thank him
for his fidelity to the cause, and to express their estimation of the many
and eminent services which he had rendered to his country.

This success elevated the hopes of the king, who, assuming a tone of
conscious superiority, invited all his

[Footnote 1: Rushworth, v. 683, 684, 690-693, 699-711. Clarend. iv.
511-518-527.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1644. Aug 30.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1644. Sept. 1.]

subjects to accompany him to London, and aid him in compelling the
parliament to accept of peace.[a]But the energies of his opponents were
not exhausted. They quickly recruited their diminished forces; the several
corps under Essex, Waller, and Manchester were united; and, while the
royalists marched through Whitechurch to Newbury, a more numerous army
moved in a parallel direction through Basingstoke to Reading.[b]There the
leaders (the lord general was absent under the pretence of indisposition),
hearing of reinforcements pouring into Oxford, resolved to avail themselves
of their present superiority, and to attack, at the same moment, the
royalist positions at Show on the eastern, and at Speen on the western side
of the town. The action in both places was obstinate, the result, as late
as ten at night, doubtful; but the king, fearing to be surrounded the next
day, assembled his men under the protection of Donnington Castle, and[c]
marched towards Wallingford, a movement which was executed without
opposition by the light of the moon, and in full view of the enemy.[d]In
a few days he returned with a more numerous force, and, receiving the
artillery and ammunition, which for security he had left in Donnington
Castle, conveyed it without molestation to Wallingford. As he passed and
repassed, the parliamentarians kept within their lines, and even refused
the battle which he offered. This backwardness, whether it arose from
internal dissension, or from inferiority of numbers, provoked loud
complaints, not only in the capital, where the conflict at Newbury ha