SECTION

1.

Thurl. ii. p. 359.

Ib. p. 475.

"compliance with the English, his [sitting in the Par"liament at London, his assisting Monk against "Glencairn and Middleton on the hills." This last

appears to have been considered as a very material charge, and was alledged to have been done in 1654 and 1655. That Argyle was at this period acting in concert with, or rather under the orders of Monk, appears from a letter, written 18th June, 1654, in which he is stated to have been sent by Monk to gather what forces he could against Montrose, who, after chasing Monk to Sterling Bridge, is described to be hunting Argyle. And 19th July, 1654, Cromwell's troops were protecting Argyle's country, which the King's troops had begun to burn. In the same month Argyle is said to have 4000 men, and his son joined with him for the English, as before mentioned, which certainly was not true; for, by referring to Baillie, it seems clear that Argyle and his Baill. ii. p. 394. son were at open variance, and the King's troops who had begun to burn Argyle's country were commanded by, or connected with Lorne.

Ib. p. 478.

Clar. St. Pap. iii. p. 135.

Ib. p. 165.

What was the opinion entertained of Argyle, at an early period, by the King, is manifested by a letter, dated January 18, 1652-3, in which Sir Edward Hyde says, the King "will never trust him," and then calls him "the worst man alive ;" and in another letter, dated May 9, 1653, he uses this expression, "fearing «Cromwell much more than I do Argyle." So that

1.

if, as Dr. Campbell asserts, Argyle was always a Royal- SECTION ist he was certainly a concealed one in the beginning of 1653, and had taken such effectual pains to conceal his principles, that the King himself had mistaken him for one of his bitterest enemies, and described him as a man not fit to be trusted.

66

376.

Baillie corroborates the account given of Argyle, Baillie, ii. p. and his connections in the before-mentioned letters; for the 19th of July, 1654, he describes him "as almost "drowned in debt, in friendship with the English, but Ib. p. 382. "in hatred with the country." In a postscript dated the next day, after explaining why Monk had been burning the lands of Lochaber, Glengary, and Seaforth, he adds, Glenorchy had been too great an intelligencer "for the English, and sided with Argyle against "Lorne his son. So Middleton burnt much of his land. "This burning, now begun on both sides, may ruin "the whole country." And the particulars, which in Thurl. ii. p. the before mentioned letter, addressed to the Protector, Argyle desires his servant may communicate, probably alluded to his losses and the destruction of his property, in consequence of the severity of Monk, and the retaliation of the royalists. And, possibly, from this letter may be dated the enmity of Monk, which might not shew itself immediately, but was unrelentingly continued till it brought its object to the scaffold. Argyle, however, continued steady to

L

517.

SECTION
I.

Thurl.iii. p. 28.

Baillie, ii. p. 385.

the side he had taken, and in December, 1654, Lord Lorne was to meet him, and probably would come in, this circumstance Dr. Campbell relies upon to shew, that Argyle was a concealed royalist, but the fact of the governing power having previous notice that such a meeting was to take place, and giving no orders to prevent it, rather implies that this conference had its approbation and concurrence, especially as Monk wrote to the Protector for directions in case Argyle should Ib. iv. p. 500. prevail upon his son to come in. On the 4th of February, 1654, some intended alterations in the shires in the Highlands are mentioned by Lord Broghill, to which it was expected Argyle's interest would lead him to object. Baillie's Letters now supply some important particulars. On the 20th of July, 1654, Monk, Cowper, Twislington, and Argyle were at Dunbarton, advising on a hard and sorrowful work, what "houses and what corn to burn :" and before the conclusion of the year 1655, probably about the time when the Scottish chiefs submitted to the English, Argyle sought a garrison to lie in the county of Thurl. v. p. 18. Agyle, to keep it from his son's violence. In the next year, it seems that the Protector had in contemplation to do something for Argyle, but his fidelity had been suspected suspected by Thurloe, by Thurloe, to whom Lord Broghill, on the 13th of May, 1656, writes, describing him as doing acts prejudicial to his highness's service, and desires he, or the General, Monk, may have

b. p. 394.

be

SECTION 1.

295.

a previous hint of whatever may be intended to done for him, that his highness may be thoroughly informed. Argyle, it should seem, left Scotland and went to London, where he obtained from Cromwell the sum of 12,000l as a debt for maintaining the Scots troops in Ireland, upon the credit of the public faith. And there is no trace of any suspicion of Argyle's fidelity to the cause of the Protector having been entertained by any of the officers of his Government, until the year 1657; when, on 20th May, some Thurl. vi. p. cautions were given concerning him, and some meetings he was calling in Argyleshire to pay the losses of the English in 1652; and on 23d May, complaints b. p. 306. were made to Monk of his conduct. On 10th June, Ib. p. 341. Monk incloses to Thurloe, four letters, in which he will find what his carriage has been since his coming home, and how ill he deserved the 12,000l. which had been given to him, and asserting he could shew he owed 18,000l. to the State. On the 15th July, 1657, Ib. p. 405. the Protector Oliver was proclaimed at Edinburgh, Argyle and others of the nobility attending; and Gumble, chaplain to Monk, who writes the letter, relates with exultation, that Argyle was all the while upon the cross, while the proclamation was reading.

467.

Upon the death of the Protector Oliver, in September Lang. iii. p. 1658, Argyle returned into the Highlands oppressed with debts, and the public hatred; but in the latter

SECTION

I.

Thurl. vii. p. $84.

Baillie ii. p. 434.

end of December, Monk, as before mentioned, complained heavily of him for opposing the court interest in the election of members to serve in the Protector Richard's, first Parliament, and for wishing to be chosen himself for the county of Argyle, Baillie however informs us, that he was in fact chosen commissioner of Aberdeenshire, and sat in that House of Commons, complied with the Protector as long as he stood, and then with the new Parliament, but finding himself disregarded, slipt home for fear of being arrested for debt, with small credit or contentment, and afterwards was obliged to refund a large sum to Mont

rose.

The reader will now be enabled to judge of the propriety of the assertions of Dr. Campbell, and the strength of the presumptive evidence of Mr. Rose. From 1652, nearly to the end of 1654, if not to the beginning of 1657, Argyle was acting with the utmost energy, to assist Monk in the subjugation and government of Scotland; he had been sent by Monk to raise forces against Montrose, and in return was pursued by him; his country was protected by Cromwell's troops against the King's, which, commanded by his son, were burning it; and he consulted with Monk and his friends, what houses and what barns were to be burnt. Is it not then highly probable that in the active part he took in these transactions, letters must have