from grace?" The preacher had a soothing reply ready: "It is not," he
answered. "Then," exclaimed this unhappy man, whose soul was red with
the blood of thousands of his countrymen, "I am safe, for I know I was
once in grace." Anon he cries out, whilst tossing wildly on his bed,
"Lord, although I am a miserable and a wretched creature, I am in
covenant with Thee through grace, and I may and will come to Thee for
Thy people. Pardon such as desire to trample upon the dust of a poor
worm. And give us a good night if it be Thy pleasure. Amen."

It was now the 2nd of September. As the evening of that day approached
he fell into a stupor, and those who watched him thought the end had
come.

Within the darkened chamber in Whitehall all was silence and gloom;
without all was tumult and fear. Before the gates of the palace a
turbulent crowd of soldiers and citizens had gathered in impatient
anxiety. Those he had raised to power, those whose fortunes depended on
his life, were steeped in gloom; those whose principles he had outraged
by his usurpation, those whose position he had crushed by his sway,
rejoiced at heart. Not only the capital, but the whole nation, was
divided into factions which one strong hand alone had been able to
control; and terror, begotten by dire remembrances of civil war and
bloodshed, abode with all lovers of peace.

As evening closed in, the elements appeared in unison with the
distracted condition of the kingdom. Dark clouds, seeming of ominous
import to men's minds, gathered in the heavens, to be presently torn
asunder and hurried in wild flight by tempestuous winds across the
troubled sky. As night deepened, the gale steadily increased, until it
raged in boundless fury above the whole island and the seas that rolled
around its shores. In town houses rocked on their foundations, turrets
and steeples were flung from their places; in the country great trees
were uprooted, corn-stacks levelled to the ground, and winter fruits
destroyed; whilst at sea ships sank to rise no more. This memorable
storm lasted all night, and continued until three o'clock next
afternoon, when Cromwell expired.

His body was immediately embalmed, but was of necessity interred in
great haste. Westminster Abbey, the last home of kings and princes, was
selected as the fittest resting-place for the regicide. Though it was
impossible to honour his remains by stately ceremonials, his followers
were not content to let the occasion