depiction of the ghost of King Charles I of England  depiction of the ghost of Oliver Cromwell   

A DIALOGUE Betwixt the GHOSTS OF CHARLES the I, Late King of England: AND OLIVER The late Usurping PROTECTOR.  
LONDON, Printed in the year, 1659.   

A DIALOGUE BETWIXT The GHOSTS of CHARLES late King of England, and Oliver the late Protector.  Charles. 
TEll me who thou art that thus presumest to disturb the Ashes of one that hath been at rest this ten years.  Oliver. 
It is he that sent thee to that Rest, who now would fain be at rest himself, but cannot.  Charles. 
Ha! what doth mine eyes behold, that grand Rebel and Traitor which was he destruction of me and my Family, I command thee to be gone; Was it not enough that in my life time by thy open force, and thy cunning and secret Plots, thou and thy Emissaries took away mi life, and extirpated my Family, and the Lord knows what ruin thou hast brought upon the poor Kingdoms, that I once happily Governed, but that thou must now pursue me after Death.  Oliver. 
O Sir, Pray forgive me, for you cannot imagine the tortures of conscience that I indute, when I call to mind all my ambitious and damnable Plots, to ruin you and yours, and to set myself in your ste●●; It was I that laid the Plot to draw your Subjects' obedience from you, under pretence of Religion and Liberty; It was I that after we had Routed your Army in th● Fields, juggled you into the Isle of Wight; Knowing that the● I had you safe enough, and far enough from your Friends and then when there was a Treaty there, and almost all agreed betwixt you and the Commissioners, I by my dam'd Policy and Power, broke off the Treaty, and all to get the Government myself.  Charles. 
Who, thee the Government, why how couldst thou expect the Government, didst thou think that such a free born people a they of England would be come subject to such a mean born Traitor as thee; besides (if you swords must carry it) you were but Lieut. Gen. Fairfax was your Brutish General, (as in my life time I once styled him.)  Oliver. 
Alas Sir, see how far your honesty misleads you; I had no sooner caused your head to be taken off, but I was since over into Ireland, where I was made Lord Deputy.  Charles. 
Oh! Name Ireland and Deputy no more, for that puts me in mind of my weakness in subscribing to that wicked Bill, for putting Stafford to death, but go on with thy Discourse.  Oliver. 
So having brought that Kingdoms under obedience to the Parliament (as I then pretended) thy ●on being owned by thy Native Countrymen the Scots; There was an Army to be sent against them which Fairfaxes tender judgement would not admit off. The which I presently accepted off; and Jehu like run over all Scotland, and took all their Garrisons, and in two Field Fights, the one at Dunbar in Scotland, the other at Worcester in England, overthrew thy Son Charles.  Charles. 
My Son Charles, and hast thou Murdered him too, or prithee Traitor tell me how he escaped thy bloody Thirsty hands, or how came it to pass that treacherous Nation did not sell him to thee, as well as they did sell me.  Oliver. 
They would have delivered him to me; but he was too wise for them, for after the field was lost at Worcester, he with the help of one or two, of his choice friends in a disguise miraculously made an escape to London, and from thence beyond the Seas, where I did use all the Plots, and Stratagems to destroy him, but all in vain.  Charles. 
Oh how merciful is the Almighty God, (that although he was pleased in order to these mutations and changes which have since fallen upon these three Nations) to let me fall into thy wicked and bloody hand, that he should be so gracious, to let my Son escape thee, and thy implacable cruelly: Surely he hath reserved him for a further Work, for the good of these Nations; but go on.  Oliver. 
So having subdued all the Enemies of the Commonwealth, (as I called them) but the greatest, which was myself; I disposed of my force, for my advantage throughout the three Nations; and than that which was, accounted a high breach of Parliament in thee, to desire but five Members of Parliament, to be brought to a Legal Trial (in me was nothing at one time to turn out fifty, and then afterwards all of them, and so made myself, with the help of two or three corrupt judges, and the power of my sword, Protector over the three Nations of England, Scotland, and Ireland.  Charles. 
Oh horror! them Nations surely were well protected by thee; But it is strange to me my Subjects the English (for I know the other two Nations would quickly be brought to any Government) thy Tyranny would impose on them should endure o●e of so low a Birth as thee to rule over them; They being wholly addicted to Kingly Government, and their Ancient Nobles.  Oliver. 
Alas Sir, see your goodness and mild disposition, What I got by my Tyranny, that I held by oppression; not sparing any that did in the least seem to oppose me; Let them either be such as had been of your side, or them that were for the Parliament; but them of your side it were too long to tell the horrid and damnable contrivances I had against them, to the ruin of all or most of them and their families; Making Plots myself, and fathering them upon them, that so I might have occasion to take away their lives, or at least to get their Estates. And I never wanted my Engines to swear and to forswear, or Act what I had a mind too. But oh the Sting of Conscience that troubles me, now too late I find the horridness of my Crimes, by oppressing the righteous, and spilling the blood of the innocent; Oh Sir little do you think what I feel for now I find the reward of all my evil do.  Charles. 
But prithee tell me how camest thee hither; Did the people call thee to an account, and put thee to death by the hand of Justice, or did some free born subject of England stab thee or take away thy life some other way; for surely such a Rebel, Traitor, and Tyrant, could never die in peace, without an open punishment for such offences as thou hast committed.  Oliver. 
Sir, I believe you had cause to know me better in my life time, then to think that I would be destroyed by any private hand; I had read too much of Machivil for that, my Guards were strong and all my own Creatures; And to tell you the truth my Reign was, (as all Usurpers must be) more like to a Hell then a Heaven, my Palace being a Prison to me; I not daring to stir out of it, without a guard sufficient to storm a City, and if I had had not Enemies, my own thoughts had been enough; for if I looked one way me thought I see you without a Head bleeding afresh, as if there had been a Deluge, to drowned me and all my Crew in blood. If I looked another way me thought I see your Sons and Friends all with their swords drawn and Armed Cap-a-Pee, to take Vengeance on me, for destroying of so good a King. Thus having Tyrannised as Protector over the people for almost six years, it pleased the Lord in his wisdom and Justice at last to Visit me with two or three strong diseases which (as I was always Violent) at last Violently hurried me out of that world wherein I had Acted so many Tragedies, whereof yourself was witness of some, and to tell you the rest would fill a volume; but hold my pains come on me I must leave you, and repair to my Station. Farewell.   
FINIS.