[1] On the evening of the[e] seventh day his van overtook the rear of
the royalists between Daventry and Harborough. Fairfax and his officers
hailed with joy the prospect of a battle. They longed to refute the bitter
taunts and sinister predictions of their opponents in the two houses; to
prove that want of experience might be supplied by the union of zeal and
talent; and to establish, by a victory over the king, the superiority of
the Independent over the Presbyterian party. Charles, on the contrary,
had sufficient reason to decline an engagement.[2] His numbers had been
diminished by the necessity of leaving a strong garrison in Leicester,
and several reinforcements were still on their march to join the royal
standard. But in the presence of the Roundheads the Cavaliers never
listened to the suggestions of prudence. Early[f] in the morning the royal
army formed in line about a mile south of Harborough. Till eight they
awaited with patience the expected charge of the enemy; but
[Footnote 1: Lords' Journals, vii. 429, 431.]
[Footnote 2: So little did Charles anticipate the approach of the enemy,
that On the 12th he amused himself with hunting, and on the 13th at supper
time wrote to secretary Nicholas that he should march the next morning,
and proceed through Landabay and Melton to Belvoir, but no further.
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