printed, the writer has not been able to ascertain.

The invasion of Scotland, which was one of the charges brought against
Cromwell, was condemned by Lord Fairfax, the commander in chief of the
parliamentary forces. He looked upon it as an infraction of the Solemn
League and Covenant, which had been very generally subscribed in England,
as well as in Scotland. Feeling alarm at this, the Council of State
appointed Cromwell, Lambert, Harrison, St John, and Whitelocke to converse
with him, with a view, if possible, to overcome his scruples. But after a
long interview, Fairfax remained unmoved by their arguments, and expressed
his determination to resign his commission rather than proceed to Scotland
with the army, which was preparing to act against that part of the
kingdom. As he adhered firmly to this resolution, he was deprived of his
commission, and Cromwell was appointed to succeed him. Whitelock(9) has
furnished us with an account of what passed at the interview, which he and
his friends had with Lord Fairfax. The views expressed by the different
parties, therefore, as Whitelock has recorded them, will enable any one to
form, it is conceived, a tolerably correct idea of the nature of the
discussion which took place at Glasgow, when the same point was one of the
questions at issue, and when two of the principal speakers were the very
individuals who had previously argued the matter with Fairfax.

The letters which passed between Cromwell, and Colonel Dundas, the
governor of Edinburgh Castle will likewise assist us to conjecture what
may have been advanced on both sides on the occasion in question, at
Glasgow. Some Scottish clergymen had taken refuge there after the battle
of Dunbar. It was to them principally, through Colonel Dundas, that
Cromwell addressed himself. The letters were printed at the time. On
examining them, it will be perceived, that the invasion of Scotland, and
the other offences with which Cromwell and his party were charged at
Glasgow, formed in this instance likewise, grounds of accusation on the
one hand, and called forth a vindication on the other. In Hume's opinion
the letters written by the parliamentary general are "the best of
Cromwell's wretched compositions that remain."(10) But Mr. Orme says of
them, "From their phraseology, I strongly suspect then to have been the
production of Owen's pen."(11) One of the letters, dated September 9,
1630, addressed to "The Honourable the Governor of the Ca