this battery, though it was strongly enforced by Harrison, who, in reply
to the Lord-General's question, "What was the warrant for the assumption
that Scotland meant to fall upon England?" inquired, if Scotland did not
mean to invade England, for whose benefit were levies being made and
soldiers enlisted.

Fairfax proved immovable. "Every man," said he, "must stand or fall by
his own conscience"; and as he offered to lay down his command, there
was nothing for it but to accept the resignation and appoint his
successor. This was speedily done, and on the 28th of June 1650 "Oliver
Cromwell, Esquire," was appointed Captain-General and Commander-in-chief
of all the forces. On 16th July Cromwell crossed the Tweed, and on the
3rd of September the Lord delivered Leslie into his hands at Dunbar.

It was in these circumstances that Lord Fairfax and his energetic lady
and only child went back to their Yorkshire home in the midsummer of
1650, taking Marvell with them to instruct the Lady Mary in the tongues.

Nunappleton House is in the Ainstey of York, a pleasant bit of country
bounded by the rivers Ouse, Wharfe, and Nidd. The modern traveller, as
his train rushes north, whilst shut up in his corridor-carriage with his
rug, his pipe, and his novel, passes at no great distance from the house
on the way between Selby and York. The old house, as it was in Marvell's
time, is thus described by Captain Markham, who had a print to help
him, in his delightful _Life of the Great Lord Fairfax_:--

"It was a picturesque brick mansion with stone copings and a high
steep roof, and consisted of a centre and two wings at right angles,
forming three sides of a square, facing to the north. The great hall
or gallery occupied the centre between the two wings. It was fifty