conflict of heroes, in which the completest of victories fell to the lot of the patriots. The commander displayed rare military talents, wise caution, and headlong bravery.

What next was to come? Other questions than those connected with warfare arose in the mind of Fairfax, and disquieted him. England must have a government of some sort, but of what sort would it be? The solution of this problem was necessarily deferred until the sword had opened the way to settlement. The battle of Langport, the storming of Bridgewater and of Bristol, the subjugation of Devonshire, the pacification of the West, and the surrender of Oxford followed in quick succession; and, after four years of desolating strife, peace again dawned upon the bleeding country.

arms.

Fairfax was rapturously hailed as the benefactor of England, and received the unprecedented honor of a congratulatory visit from both Houses. of Parliament on the 14th of November, 1647. Still there could be neither constitutional order nor peace while the perfidious Charles Stuart held nominal title to the throne. The army refused to disband. Oliver Cromwell, who had served as lieutenant-general of horse under Fairfax, seized the person of the king, and was sustained by the sterner and more thoughtful members of the Parliamentary party. Fairfax, who on the death of his father--March 13th, 1647-succeeded to the peerage and estates as the fourth lord, showed great kindness to the fallen monarch, whose life was the great obstacle to permanent quiet. Charles's partisans again rose in The temper of "Black Tom" grew judicially severe in the subsequent suppression of the insurrection in Kent, the siege and capture of Colchester, and the court martial which condemned the infamous Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle to death. Inflexibly upright, he shrank from no act of necessary justice, acquiesced in the purgation of Parliament by the forcible removal of its unworthy members, and in the popular demand for annual parliaments, universal suffrage, liberty of conscience, and equality of all men before the law. But as a monarchist he looked, however illogically, upon the execution of Charles as wicked and subversive of the form of government to which he was conscientiously attached. But he could not prevent that sublime act of inexorable justice. The man who had tyrannically deluged his native land with blood suffered condign punishment as a traitor to its constitution and liberties; and in the sound of the headsman's axe as it fell upon the block despotism heard the knell of its own doom. Feudalism in England received its death-blow on the 30th of January, 1649.

On June 25th, 1650, Lord Fairfax resigned his commission and retired, covered with wounds and fame, to the pleasant rural retreat of Nun-Apple

ton. Cromwell now seized the reins of power, and raised England to the pinnacle of power, glory, and prosperity. When he died, on the 3d of September, 1659, there was no man who could fill his place. Fairfax, impelled by sense of duty, again entered into public life. On the 3d of January, 1660, his personal influence brought the army over to the adoption of his policy, decided the fate of England, and reinstated the dynasty of the Stuarts. The Committee of Safety was overthrown, a free Parliament re

called the worthless Charles II., and Lord Fairfax-for good or for evilrestored the monarchy. He headed the commission that recalled Charles from Holland. He exulted in the thought that he had obtained that for which he had so bravely fought on many a battle field; namely, a free Parliament, and liberty of conscience and worship under a constitutional king. Events showed how grievously he was mistaken. Charles was an arrant, knavish profligate; the church more persecuting and cruel than "England," remarks Markham, "never was disgraced by a viler and baser government." Lord Fairfax was bitterly disappointed, but still hoped

ever.

for the best. The last sentence in his "Memorial " proves this. He wrote: "I hope that God will one day clear this cause we undertook, so far as concerns His honor, and the integrity of such as faithfully served Him. For I cannot believe that such wonderful successes have been given in vain; and, though cunning and deceitful men must take shame to themselves, the purposes and determinations of God shall have happy effect, to His glory and the comfort of His people. Amen."

His only daughter, the Duchess of Buckingham, was the first lady in the kingdom, next to the queen; but, like that unhappy consort, was shamefully treated by her dissolute husband.

Godly, learned, and patient, the great general lingered for several years in disease and suffering. The antique chair to which he was confined, his two-handed sword, pistols, and boots, with other relics, are carefully preserved at Bilbrough Hall. Other memorials are treasured up by C. W. Martin, Esq., of Leeds Castle, Kent. Lord Fairfax died on the 12th of November, 1671, leaving Denton, Askwith, Rigton, and Bilbrough to his cousin Henry, Rector of Bolton Percy; and Nun-Appleton, Bolton Percy, and Bishop-Hill to the Duch

ess Mary. All the properties, except Bilbrough, have since passed into other hands. That remains in possession of Sir William Fairfax's descendants. The tomb of the great warrior in the little church at Bilbrough is frequently visited by tourists.

Henry Fairfax, son of the second, and cousin of the great Lord Fairfax, was too noble and patriotic for the new régime; he was induced to resign his living, and died on the 5th of April, 1665, at the age of seventy-eight. His two sons were Thomas, the fifth lord, and Henry, whose son William settled in Virginia, and became the ancestor of the American Fairfaxes.

Thomas, who was active in promoting the Revolution of 1688, married Catharine, the daughter and heiress of Thomas, Lord Culpeper, and acquired with her the proprietary title to the northern neck of Virginia,

and an estate of 300,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley. By her will, dated April 22d, 1719, Lady Fairfax left the latter to her son Thomas, the sixth lord, who appointed his cousin William to the agency of the Virginia estates, and afterwards settled on them himself.

Irving's "Life of Washington" exhibits the connection between these events and the shaping of the social forces so influential in the American Revolution. These distinguished Englishmen exerted profound influence

on the character and career of George Washington. Lawrence, elder brother of the future President, had married Anne, eldest daughter of Sir William Fairfax, who resided at a beautiful seat named Belvoir, a few miles below Mount Vernon, on the same wooded ridge bordering the

Potomac. This event brought the promising youth into close association with the noble foreigner. William Fairfax was a cultured gentleman and an experienced soldier; had been Governor of New Providence, Bahama Islands, and Collector of Customs at Salem, Mass.; and advised George to enter the navy. This he would have done but for the misgivings of his excellent mother. It was in conformity to Fairfax's counsels that Washington afterwards held public prayers in his camp while in command of the local forces operating against the French. Fairfax died and was buried at Belvoir, September 3d, 1757.

Being a favorite of Sir William Fairfax, and an occasional inmate of Belvoir, the youthful Washington there met with Thomas, Lord Fairfax, who became one of his earliest friends, and in some measure the founder of his fortunes. Lord Fairfax was then over sixty years of age, upwards of six feet high, gaunt and raw-boned, near-sighted, had light gray eyes, sharp features, and an aquiline nose. Educated at Oxford, where he graduated with credit, and afterward a commissioned officer in the cavalry regiment known as the "Blues," he had enjoyed access to the best society, and had also distinguished himself by occasional contributions to the "Spectator." Jilted by the lady to whom he was affianced, humiliated and cut to the quick by this unworthy treatment, he avoided the society. of the fair sex, abjured the gayeties of fashion, and sought relief by visiting his American estate in 1739. Delighted with the climate, scenery, and hunting of Virginia; with the frank and cordial character of the colonists, and with their independent modes of life, he determined to spend the remainder of his days among them. Somewhat eccentric, yet always amiable and courteous in manners, liberal in spirit, and generous in deed, he was deservedly popular from the outset of his new career.

George W., the eldest son of Sir William Fairfax, was educated in England, married, in 1748, to Sarah, daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary, of Ceelys, near Hampton, on the James River, and had just come with his bride to reside at Belvoir. Between him and Washington a life-long friendship at once sprang up. But it was with Lord Fairfax that the latter found special favor. He was hunting companion, and also trusted landsurveyor to that nobleman. In the latter occupation George William Fairfax was a frequent assistant. Washington's surveys in the great valley of Virginia were so singularly accurate and satisfactory, that through Lord Fairfax's influence he received the appointment of public surveyor. The old peer moved across the Blue Ridge, laid out a manor, and projected a spacious manor-house, to which he gave the name of Greenway Court. But he never began the execution of his design. A long, one-story, stone