y returned to Lindsay, standing in amazement, and said
with great emotion, "Now the battle is ours!" Cromwell and Lindsay
were soon at their posts in the field, the former resolute and
hopeful, the latter dismayed and irresolute. To retain his proper
place in the field was Lindsay's intention; but after the first charge
his courage forsook him, and he fled as fast as his charger could
carry him, although no man pursued. The king's troops were beaten,
leaving Cromwell master of the position. Prior to the result of the
day's engagement being communicated by mortal man to Lindsay, he made
known to a clergyman what had taken place in the morning, finishing
his statement in these words: "I am sure the king's forces are beaten,
and I am certain Cromwell will die this day seven years, for he has
sold himself to the devil, who will not fail to claim him then."

Ever after this memorable day, Cromwell regarded the 3rd of September
auspicious to him, as well he might; for in addition to the events at
Worcester, it was on the same day of that month, in 1650, that he
gained the battle of Dunbar. Years rolled on, in the course of which
Cromwell encountered numerous dangers, and escaped conspiracies and
plots, provoked by serious crimes, yet he survived to breathe his last
on downy pillows, on the anniversary of his great triumphs at Dunbar
and Worcester. Neither the clang of swords nor the roar of guns
disturbed his last moments, but a dreadful commotion raged all around.
Nature seemed to have lashed itself into a rage: a high wind, such as
had never been heard before by the oldest inhabitants, unroofed houses
on land, and caused wrecks at sea. In the midst of the tempest were
heard shrieks, not of men, but of spirits revelling in the gale, as it
carried destruction and death over the country. Notwithstanding
Cromwell's body being embalmed and put into a leaden coffin, the
stench therefrom became so insufferable, that the remains had to be
immediately consigned to the grave, and afterwards the funeral
ceremonies were performed over an empty coffin,--so at least says
Echard, on whose authority we give the foregoing particulars
concerning the Lord Protector. Though Cromwell's dust was interred in
Westminster, it was not permitted to rest there. In January 1661, on
the anniversary of the death of Charles I., his decayed body was
disinterred and conveyed to Tyburn, where it was hanged on a gallows,
then cut down, and the trunk cast into