Page:Life of Oliver Cromwell.pdf/14

 In this predicament, he called his officers "to a day of seeking the Lord," when he felt, as he afterwards declared, such an enlargement of heart in prayer, that he confidently bade all about him take courage, for God had certainly heard them, and would show them some remarkable sign of his power. Shortly after this "seeking of the Lord," and whilst walking with some of his officers in the Earl of Roxburgh's garden, which lay under the hill occupied by the Scottish army, he discovered, on looking through a spy-glass, that the enemy were in motion, and descending from the vantage-ground which they possessed. Overjoyed by this circumstance, he exultingly exclaimed, "God is delivering them into our hands, see they are coming down to us!" He was not mistaken; the Scottishi army were absurdly leaving their stronghold, by their keeping possession of which but a little longer, Cromwell would inevitably have been starved into a surrender. The whole night was employed by the Scottish army in descending the hill, an operation in which the enemy took care not to disturb them. Early in the morning, however, when the whole had gained the level ground, but before they had time to form, Cromwell attacked them with such fury that an immediate and sanguinary rout ensued; during which, were we to credit the victorious general's account, 1000 Scotsmen fell. It is certain, how ever, that two entire regiments, which had offered a braver resistance than some of the others, were wholly destroyed. On obtaining this victory, Cromwell immediately pushed forward to Edinburgh, of which city, together with Leith, he immediately took possession. In the latter place his dragoons converted the churches into stables for their horses.