EDWARD,** the able English translator of Tasso, was a native of Yorkshire, son of Sir Edward Fairfax of Denton. Little is known of his history; he is believed to have been an illegitimate son; and though liberally provided for by his father, he continued in obscure retirement at home, while the other sons of Sir Edward Fairfax were distinguished for their military services. Edward Fairfax, however, no less signalily served his country by his pen than his brethren did with the sword. In the year 1600, when he is conjectured to have been little more than twenty years of age, he published his translation of the *Jerusalem Delivered* of Tasso. Never did mere translation receive such enthusiastic and continued approbation as the work of Fairfax. Waller said he was indebted to it for the harmony of his numbers; Dryden places the translator almost on a parity with Spenser (whom undoubtedly Fairfax imitated); and Collins beautifully apostrophises him as

> "Prevailing poet, whose undoubting mind Believed the magic wonders which he sung."

In our own day, Thomas Campbell has reckoned Fairfax's work as one of the glories of the reign of Elizabeth, while Mr Hallam, more critical, admits that if it does not represent the grace of its original, and deviates also too much from its sense, it is by no means deficient in spirit and vigour. The poetical spirit of the translation is indeed its life-blood and preservation. Hoole, Hunt, and others, may give a more literal version, but Fairfax alone seizes upon the poetical and chivalrous character of the *Jerusalem*, and carries along with him the interest and admiration of the reader. The style of Fairfax is also remarkable, and is characterized by great ease and sweetness of versification. Fairfax made no other appeal to the public. He wrote a series of *Eclogues*, one of which, the fourth, is published in Mrs Cooper's *Muses' Library*, a modern compilation; while the others remain in manuscript. He wrote also a work on *Demonology*, which is still in manuscript. This should surely see the light. It would be interesting to trace the effect of superstition on Fairfax's own mind, and to estimate its height in the age in which he lived. A fragment of the work relative to the author has been printed, and in this Fairfax describes himself in these terms:—“I am in religion neither a fantastic Puritan nor superstitious Papist; but so settled in conscience that I have the sure ground of God's word to warrant all I believe, and the commendable ordinances of our English Church to approve all I practise; in which course I live a faithful Christian and an obedient subject, and so teach my family.” He appears, however, to have taken a warm interest in the religious controversies of the day, which are seldom conducive to quiet or contentment, and his descendants have not deemed it necessary to publish his prose MSS. on those subjects. His fame is secure, grafted upon the stem of Tasso, and flourishing in perennial beauty and vigour. Fairfax was living in 1631; the date of his death has not been recorded.

THOMAS LORD,** who acted so conspicuous a part during the civil wars, was the eldest son of Ferdinand Lord Fairfax, by Mary, daughter of Edmund Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, and was born at Denton in the parish of Otley, Yorkshire, in the month of January 1611. After studying at St John's College, Cambridge, he proceeded to Holland, where he served as a volunteer under Horatio Lord Vere. On his return to England he married a daughter of that officer. When Charles I endeavoured to raise a guard for his own person at York, intending it, as the event afterwards proved, to form the nucleus of an army, Fairfax was employed to present a petition to his sovereign, entreating him to hearken to the voice of his parliament, and to discontinue the raising of troops; and when Charles attempted to avoid receiving it, Fairfax followed him with the petition, which he presented upon the pommel of his saddle, in Heyworthmoor, before an assemblage of nearly a hundred thousand persons. Shortly afterwards, upon the breaking out of the civil war, his father having received from the parliament a commission appointing him general-in-chief of the forces in the north, Fairfax was at the same time made general of the horse under him. In this war, both father and son distinguished themselves by their bravery, intelligence, and activity, particularly at the battle of Marston-Moor and the taking of York; Thomas Fairfax having been twice severely wounded, and having frequently exposed his life in the most daring manner. In 1645, when it was judged expedient to new-model the army, and to deprive Essex of the command, the parliament, knowing that Fairfax was a zealous Presbyterian, unanimously appointed him as successor to Essex. In this command Cromwell was joined with him in the capacity, and with the title, of lieutenant-general.

As soon as Fairfax, who was then in the north of England, received the orders of parliament, he repaired to London, where he arrived on the 18th of February 1645, and was presented to the House of Commons on the following day by four members, and complimented by the speaker, who handed him his commission. He had full powers to name all the generals under his orders; and in the month of April he proceeded to Windsor, where he employed himself in organizing the new army which the parliament had just voted. After various movements, the hostile armies met on the 14th of June at Naseby, in Northamptonshire, and a battle took place, which ended in the total discomfiture of the royalists. The king was obliged to fly from the field, and retired into Wales. On the 16th the victorious Fairfax laid siege to Leicester, which surrendered two days afterwards. On the 10th July he offered battle to Lord Goring, who had been obliged to raise the siege of Taunton; on the 22d he carried Bridgewater by assault, and thereafter took several other places; and on the 10th September he forced Bristol to capitulate. Having reduced to subjection the whole country to the west of London, he next marched to the south; but finding it impossible, from the rigour of the season, to besiege Exeter, a well fortified city, in regular form, he converted the investment into a blockade, which lasted until the 13th of April 1646. In this interval he took several places, defeated and dispersed different bodies of royalists, and completely humbled, or rather annihilated, this party in the provinces of the south and west, which had formed its great stronghold and constituted its principal resource in England. Having obtained these successes, Fairfax marched in all haste to Oxford, where was the most considerable garrison that yet remained to the king. But the latter, afraid of being shut up in the place, and thus falling into the hands of his mortal enemies, withdrew secretly and proceeded to Newark, to throw himself into the arms of the Scotch. Oxford capitulated; and by the end of September Charles had neither army nor garrison in England.

Fairfax having arrived in London on the 12th November, was complimented and thanked for his successes by the two houses of parliament. But he had scarcely time to enjoy a little repose from the fatigues of war, when he received a commission to escort the two hundred thousand pounds granted by the English parliament to the Scotch army, in name of arrears of pay; but, in reality, according to some, as the price of the king's person, which that army had consented to give up. Charles was delivered up to the commissioners of parliament on the 30th January 1646. Fairfax, who preceded the king, having met him beyond Nottingham, dismounted from his horse, kissed the royal hand, and having resumed his seat, discoursed with the unfortunate prince during the journey to Holdenby. That Charles was satisfied with the conduct of Fairfax, appears from the observation which he addressed to one of the parliamentary commissioners. "The general," said he, "is a man of honour, and keeps his word which he had pledged to me." Fairfax was received at Cambridge with the greatest honours, and created master of arts. By this time the parliament, after long debates, had appointed him general of the forces, which were still to be kept on an effective footing; for it was now intended to disband the greater part, and send the remainder to Ireland. But the soldiers being extremely dissatisfied with a project which threatened to deprive them of all the advantages they had reaped from the war, Cromwell, who had hitherto allowed Fairfax to enjoy in appearance the honours of supreme command, resolved, in concert with Ireton, his son-in-law, to profit by this disposition of the army, in order to foment a revolt against the parliament. Fairfax observed with regret that these agitators, as they called themselves, had usurped the power which he should have exercised over the army; he discerned that they were the forerunners of anarchy; and that their design was to raise their own fortune on the ruin of the state. He therefore resolved to resign his commission; but the chiefs of the Independents, whose projects were not fully matured, persuaded him to retain it. He then, with culpable weakness, co-operated in all the proceedings of the army, which had for their object to destroy the power of the parliament. In vain did the two houses enjoin him to leave his troops at the distance of at least 15 miles from London; he entered that city in triumph, with the speaker and sixty members of the House of Commons, who, betraying the privileges of parliament, had retired to the camp, and whom he now re-instated in their places. Having soon afterwards learned that the king had been removed by violence from Holdenby, Fairfax, indignant at this proceeding, repaired to the place where this unfortunate prince was detained near Cambridge, conducted himself towards the royal captive in the most respectful manner, and caused him to follow all the movements of the army, in order that the parliament might not obtain possession of his person, for which purpose commissioners had already been named by both houses. The credit of Fairfax with the troops, however, diminished daily; he had neither firmness of will nor force of character sufficient to oppose himself to a power which had long overtopped his own; and although he had in view none of the objects which Cromwell cherished, he contributed to render them all successful. It was doubtless in consequence of this inconceivable weakness that he concurred in the manifesto of the army, published in the month of January 1648, which adhered to the vote of the commons, that no more addresses or messages should be presented to the king; and protested that it would obey parliament in everything which might henceforth be necessary for the government of the kingdom and the safety of parliament, whether with the king or against him.

At this period (1647), Fairfax lost his father, whom he succeeded in his titles and employments; but still he remained, as before, the instrument of the ambition of Cromwell. He displayed the greatest activity in putting down insurrections, and took Colchester, whither the remains of the royalist party had betaken themselves. He caused Lord Lisle and Sir Charles Lucas, who had defended Colchester, to be executed—an act of harsh severity, if not contrary to the terms of capitulation. At the end of the year he returned to London, in order to keep in check that city and the parliament; and he took up his head-quarters in the palace of Whitehall. All his proceedings served to accelerate the crisis of the king's fate; but although placed at the head of the judges before whom Charles was to be tried, he refused to act, probably at the instigation of his wife, who on this occasion displayed great boldness and intrepidity. He even exerted himself to prevent the execution of the sentence, and tried to persuade his regiment to rescue the king from the hands of those who had condemned him to death. But Cromwell and Ireton, ably assisted by Harrison, imposed on the pious credulity of Fairfax; and kept him at a distance from Whitehall engaged in religious exercises, until the fatal blow was struck. A few days after the execution of Charles, he was appointed a member of the council, but refused to sign the form of oath by which all that had been done relative to the king and to the royal authority was approved of. Towards the end of March he received the title of general of the troops in England and in Ireland; but he no longer possessed any real power. He marched against the Levellers, who having become numerous, had occasioned considerable uneasiness and would soon have rendered themselves formidable, and completely routed them at Burford in Oxfordshire. He then repaired to Oxford, where he received the degree of doctor of laws; after which he proceeded to allay the troubles in Hampshire, assembled the army in Guildford, exhorted it to obedience, and returned to London, where he was presented with a basin and ewer of beaten gold. In June 1650, when the Scotch had declared for Charles II., the council of state in England having resolved to send an army to Scotland, in order to prevent an invasion, Fairfax was consulted respecting the design, which he appeared at first to approve; but afterwards declared himself satisfied that the parliament of England had no just ground for sending an army to invade Scotland; and, in terms of this declaration, he resigned his commission. The supreme command of the army was then conferred upon Cromwell, who saw with pleasure the retirement of a man who, being no longer necessary to his ambitious projects, now formed an obstacle to their entire accomplishment. The parliament, however, in some measure indemnified Fairfax, by granting him a pension of five thousand pounds sterling.

Being thus released from all public employment, Fairfax retired to Nunapleton, Yorkshire, where he passed his time in tranquillity, earnestly praying, it is said, for the restoration of the royal family. When General Monk invited him to assist in the operations about to be undertaken against Lambert's army, he promptly obeyed the call, and on the 3d December 1659 appeared at the head of a body of Yorkshire gentlemen; and such was the influence of his name and reputation, that the Irish brigade, consisting of twelve hundred horse, quitted Lambert's colours and joined him; an event which was speedily followed by the breaking up of all Lambert's forces. On the 1st January 1660 he made himself master of York; and on the 2d he was chosen by the Rump Parliament one of the council of state, an appointment which was renewed on the 23d of February ensuing. On the 29th of March he was elected one of the knights of the county of York in the healing parliament; and he was put at the head of the commission appointed by the House of Commons on the 3d of May, to wait upon Charles II. at the Hague and urge his speedy return. After the dissolution of the healing parliament, which was of short duration, he again retired to his seat in the country, where he lived in a manner strictly private till his death, which happened on the 12th of November 1671, in the sixtieth year of his age. The integrity of Fairfax has never been doubted. He was a brave and honest soldier, but great only in the field. He had none of the qualities of a statesman, and though praised by Milton for "firm unshaken virtue," he was in reality deficient in moral courage and consistency. He seems to have oscillated between the counsels of his wife, "one of the fighting Veres and given to Presbyterianism," as Mr Carlyle says, and the influence of Cromwell, whose strong decisive character was a contrast to that of Fairfax his general-in-chief. Lord Fairfax had a taste for literature, and both at York and Oxford endeavoured to save the libraries from pillage. He enriched the Bodleian library with some valuable MSS. He wrote some poetical and miscellaneous pieces, including a sketch of his own life. His correspondence has lately (1848–49) been published.