LIFE OLIVER CROMWELL. BY THE REV. M. RUSSELL, LL.D., AUTHOR OF "A CONNECTION OF SACRED AND PROFANE HISTORY, IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 329 & 331 PEARL STREET, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1858. E 45 Containing an Account of the Events which took place in Scot- LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. CHAPTER I. Extending from the Execution of Charles, to the Subjugation of Ireland by Cromwell. THE execution of the king struck with amazement the whole people of England. The royalists had not permitted themselves to believe that the republicans were in earnest, or that the formalities of a trial were intended for any other purpose than to compel Charles to submit to their terms, and to relinquish all such parts of the prerogative as appeared inconsistent with their more enlarged notions of freedom. But the event which marked the 30th of January removed all doubts as to the future views of the military faction, by whom it was brought to pass. It was now manifest that Cromwell and his confederates had resolved, not only to take away the life of the sovereign, but also to abolish monarchy in the nation, and to substitute in its place a form of government which should admit neither king nor House of Peers. An attempt was made, meanwhile, to recruit the ranks of parliament, by filling up some of the vacant seats by new elections, and by receiving, on certain |