husband’s name was called out as one of the commissioners, the intrepid lady (no Cavalier’s dame, be it remembered, but a true blue Presbyterian), a brave soldier’s daughter, cried out, “Lord Fairfax is not here; he will never sit among you.  You do wrong to name him as a sitting Commissioner.”  This is Rushworth’s version, and he was present.  Clarendon, who was not present, being abroad at the time, reports the words as, “He has more wit than to be here.”

Later on in the day, when the President Bradshaw interrupted the king and peremptorily bade him to answer the charges exhibited against him “in the name of the Commons of England assembled, and of the people of England,” Lady Fairfax again rose to her feet and exclaimed, “It’s a lie!  Not half the people.  Where are they and their consents?  Oliver Cromwell is a traitor.”

Lieutenant-Colonel Axtell, who during the trial was in command of a regiment in Westminster and charged by his military superior, Lord Fairfax himself, with the duty of maintaining order, hearing this disturbance, went forward and told Lady Fairfax to hold her tongue, sound advice which she appears to have taken.  After the Restoration Axtell was put to his trial as a “regicide.”  His defence, which was, that as a soldier he obeyed his orders, and was no more guilty than his general, Lord Fairfax, was not listened to, and he was sentenced to death, a fate which he met like the brave man he was.

Although Fairfax did not immediately resign his command after the king’s death, from that moment he lost heart in the cause.  Lady Fairfax, whose loyalty to Charles may have been quickened by her dislike of Oliver, had great influence with him, and it may well be that his conscience pricked him.  The rupture came in June 1650, when Charles’s son made his appearance in Scotland and his peace with the Presbyterians, subscribing with inward emotions it would be unkind to attempt to describe the Solemn League and Covenant, and attending services and listening to sermons the length of which, at least, he never forgot.  War was plainly imminent between the two countries.  The question was, who should begin?  Cromwell, who had hurried home from Ireland, Lambert, and Harrison were all keen to strike the first blow.  Fairfax felt a scruple, and in those days scruples counted.  Was there, he asked, a just cause for an invasion of Scotland?  A committee was appointed, consisting of the three warriors above-named with St. John and Whitelock, to confer with the Lord-General and satisfy him of the lawfulness of the undertaking.  The six met, and having first prayed—­Oliver praying first—­they proceeded to a discussion which may be read at length in Whitelock’s Memorials, vol. iii. p. 207.  The substance of their talk was as follows:  Fairfax’s scruple proved to be that both they and the Scots had joined in the Solemn League and Covenant, and that, therefore, until Scotland assumed the offensive, there was no cause