The Scotchmen all took the oath very readily, though
some of the English refused.

At any rate, the state of things was not such as to intimidate the
Scotch, and lead them, as the king had hoped, to sue for peace. So he
concluded to move on toward the borders. He went to Newcastle, and
thence to Berwick. From Berwick he moved along the banks of the Tweed,
which here forms the boundary between the two kingdoms, and, finding a
suitable place for such a purpose, the king had his royal tent
pitched, and his army encamped around him.

Now, as King Charles had undertaken to subdue the Scots by a show of
force, it seems they concluded to defend themselves by a show too,
though theirs was a cheaper and more simple contrivance than his. They
advanced with about three thousand men to a place distant perhaps
seven miles from the English camp. The king sent an army of five
thousand men to attack them. The Scotch, in the mean time, collected
great herds of cattle from all the country around, as the historians
say, and arranged them behind their little army in such a way as to
make the whole appear a vast body of soldiers. A troop of horsemen,
who were the advanced part of the English army, came in sight of this
formidable host first, and, finding their numbers so much greater than
they had anticipated, they fell back, and ordered the artillery and
foot-soldiers who were coming up to retreat, and all together came
back to the encampment. There were two or three military enterprises
of similar character, in which nothing was done but to encourage the
Scotch and dishearten the English. In fact, neither officers,
soldiers, nor king wished to proceed to extremities. The officers and
soldiers did not wish to fight the Scotch, and the king, knowing the
state of his army, did not really dare to do it.

Finally, all the king's council advised him to give up the pretended
contest, and to settle the difficulty by a compromise. Accordingly, in
June, negotiations were commenced, and before the end of the month
articles were signed. The king probably made the best terms he could,
but it was universally considered that the Scots gained the victory.
The king disbanded his army, and returned to London. The Scotch
leaders went back to Edinburgh. Soon after this the Parliament and the
General Assembly of the Church convened, and these bodies took the
whole management of the realm into their own hands. They sent
commissioners to London to see and co