Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/69

Rh but over-perſuaded them to ſtay, and told them it would be diſhonourable to deſert what they had undertaken. They therefore got together what proviſion they could out of the town in that ſhort ſpace, for within three days the King and his army were with them, and had blocked them up. There they behaved themſelves like great men; but the ſiege laſting long, they were ſo ſtraitened for proviſions, that they were forced at laſt to eat their horſes. Being thus in diſtreſs, the barons at London, though of the lateſt, remembered their oath, to relieve them in caſe they were beſieged, and marched out with a pompous army as far as Dartford; but there the gentle ſouth-wind met them, and blew in their faces and though it uſed not to be troubleſome to any body elſe, yet it drove them back, as if it had been drawn ſwords, to their known den at London. This ſcoffing reaſon is all that Matthew Paris will give for their ſhameful retreat, and deſerting their companions; but, no doubt, it was ſome panic fright from the reports of the country, concerning the numbers and condition of the King’s army: for he himſelf elſewhere tells us, That they were ſuch as ſtruck a terror into every body that beheld them. This piece of cowardice makes