CONTENTS. CHAP. I. PAGE. From the Accession of Cromwell to the Protector- ate, to his Death in September 1658, 173 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 theirselves 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 thirtieth 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 conditions, a few of the excluded members. The Lords likewise met, and on the 6th of February proceeded to business; but the Commons, mindful of their secession during the trial of his Majesty, refused to recognise them, and took no notice of some bills which were sent down for their consideration. In a few days afterwards, they passed a resolution to make no more addresses to the Peers, nor to receive any from them; and finally, that as the existence of an Upper House was useless and dangerous, it ought to be forthwith abolished. About the same time they voted the extinction of monarchical gorafitment in England; declaring it high treason to proclaim, or any otherwise to acknowledge, Charles Stuart, commonly called Prince of Wales. In pursuance of the same object, they issued orders to engrave a new Great Seal, on which was represented their own assembly in the act of deliberation, and the following legend inscribed, “ ON THE FIRST YEAR OF FREEDOM BY GOD'S BLESSING RESTORED, 1648." The statues of his late Majesty, too, at St Paul's and the Royal Exchange, were thrown down by directions from Parliament; and on the pedestal which supported the latter was written, "EXIT TYRANNUS, REGUM ULTIMUS-the ty rant, the last of the Kings, is gone." To conduct the administration of affairs, a Council of State was nominated, consisting of forty-one members, among whom were Fairfax, Cromwell, Bradshaw, St John, and the younger Vane. Upon this body devolved the duties which formerly attached to the crown and its ministers in the two Houses. They received all addresses on national concerns; gave orders to generals, admirals, and all others employed in the public service; received and answered let ters from foreign governments; executed the laws against criminals and offenders; and submitted to Parliament all such questions as respected matters of finance, the expediency of peace or of war, and the enactment of statutes suited to the wants of the infant commonwealth. As this power was acknowledged to come from the people, so did the Council of State profess their intention of restoring it to the commu nity at large, whenever they should have succeeded in settling the republic on a permanent basis. The public mind had long been distracted by theories of government, as well as by theological speculations, of which the main object was to subvert every ancient institution, and to reconcile the nation to a complete change in all the wonted forms of church and state. Such, indeed, was the rage for innovation among a certain class of politicians, that the Parliamentary leaders had no sooner taken upon themselves the direction of affairs, than they found that the great breach in the constitution to which they had given countenance, was about to admit a host of radical reformers, determined to achieve alterations still more alarming. The fanatics who had sprung up in the army, and whose principles, now engrafted upon those of the levellers, announced an immediate return to the |