submit to be bound by it. With a considerable portion of his
cavalry, he succeeded in passing through the Royal lines; but the whole
of the infantry under General Skippon were forced to capitulate, the
king giving them honorable terms, and requiring only the surrender of
the artillery, arms, and ammunition. The whole of the army returned as
scattered fugitives to London.
The king resolved again to march upon the capital. Montrose was now in
arms in Scotland, and had gained two considerable victories over the
Covenanters. The defeat at Marston had been outbalanced by the victories
over Waller and Essex, and the Scotch, alarmed by the successes of
Montrose, were ready to listen to terms, Steadily the king advanced
eastward, and at Newbury the armies again met. As upon the previous
occasion on that field, the battle led to no decisive results. Each side
fought stoutly, and at nightfall separated without achieving substantial
results. The king fell back upon Oxford, and the Parliament army upon
Readings and negotiations were once again renewed between king and
Parliament.
CHAPTER XII.
AN ESCAPE FROM PRISON.
There was no sadder or more gloomy face among the officers of the
Parliament than that of Herbert Rippinghall--sad, not from the sour
asceticism which distinguished the great portion of these officers, but
from his regrets over the struggle in which he was taking a part. While
Harry Furness saw much to find fault with in the conduct of many of his
fellows, and in the obstinacy with which the king refused to grant
concessions which might up to this time have restored peace to the land,
Herbert, on his side, was shocked at the violence and excessive demands
on the part of the Parliament, and at the rank hypocrisy which he saw
everywhere around him. Both lads still considered that the balance of
justice was on the side upon which they fought. But both, Herbert
perhaps because more thoughtful, therefore more strongly, saw that the
faults upon one side balanced those upon the other. Herbert had not
taken up the sword willingly, as Harry had done. He was by disposition
far less prone to adventure and more given to sober thought, and the
violence of his father and the bigoted opinions which he held had
repelled him from rather than attracted him toward the principles which
he advocated. When, however, the summons came from his father to join
him at Reading, with the rest of the hands employed in the business, h
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