those of York, Chester, Devon, and Cornwall, in which the leaders had[a] already learned to abhor the evils of civil dissension.  They met on both sides, and entered into engagements to suspend their political animosities, to aid each other in putting down the disturbers of the public peace, and to oppose the introduction, of any armed force, without the joint consent both of the king and the parliament.  Had the other counties followed the example, the war would have been ended almost as soon as it began.  But this was a consummation which the patriots deprecated.  They pronounced such engagements

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1642.  Dec. 23.]

derogatory from the authority of parliament; they absolved their partisans from the obligations into which they had entered; and they commanded them once more to unsheath the sword in the cause of their[a] God and their country.[1]

But it soon became evident that this pacific feeling was not confined to the more distant counties.  It spread rapidly through the whole kingdom; it manifested itself without disguise even in the metropolis.  Mea were anxious to free themselves from the forced contribution of one-twentieth part of their estates for the support of the parliamentary army[2] and the citizens could not forget the alarm which had been created by the late approach of the royal forces.  Petitions for peace, though they were ungraciously received, continued to load the tables of both houses; and, as the king himself had proposed a cessation of hostilities, prudence taught the most sanguine advocates for war to accede to the wishes of the people, A negotiation was opened at Oxford.  The demands of[b] the parliament amounted to fourteen articles; those of Charles were confined to six.  But two only, the[c] first in each class, came into discussion.  No argument[d] could induce the houses to consent that the king should name to the government of the forts and castles without their previous approbation of the persons to be appointed; and he demurred to their proposal that both armies should be disbanded, until he knew on what conditions he was to return to his capital.  They had limited the duration of the conference to twenty days; he proposed a prolongation of[e]

[Footnote 1:  Journals, 535.  Rushworth, v. 100.  Clarendon, ii, 136, 139.]

[Footnote 2:  Journals, 463, 491, 594, Commons’ Journals, Dec. 13.  It was imposed Nov. 29, 1642.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1643.  Jan. 7.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1643.  Jan. 30.] [Sidenote c:  A.D. 1643.  Feb. 3.] [Sidenote d:  A.D. 1643.  March 20.] [Sidenote e:  A.D. 1643.  March 30.]