. Pope describes
him as

Argyll, the State's whole thunder born to wield,
And shake alike the senate and the field.

Scott has drawn a charming picture of him in the "Heart of Mid-Lothian"
as the patriotic Scotchman, whose heart must "be cold as death can make
it when it does not warm to the tartan"--the kind and generous protector
of Jeanie Deans. Argyll was a man of many gifts. He was a soldier, a
statesman, and an orator. He had charged at Ramilies and Oudenarde, had
rallied a shrinking column at Malplaquet, and served in the sieges of
Ostend and Lille and Ghent. His eloquence in the House of Lords is said
to have combined the freshness of youth, the strength of manhood, and the
wisdom of old age. Lord Hervey, who is not given to praise, admits that
Argyll was "gallant, and a good officer, with very good parts, and much
more reading and knowledge than generally falls to the share of a man
educated a soldier, and born to so great a title and fortune." But
Hervey also says that Argyll was "haughty, passionate, and peremptory,"
and it cannot be doubted that he was capable of almost any political
tergiversation, or even treachery, which could have served his purpose;
and his purpose was always his own personal interest. He changed his
opinions with the most unscrupulous promptitude; he gave an opinion one
way and acted another way without hesitation, and without a blush. He
was always equal to the emergency; he had the full courage of his
non-convictions. He was the grandson of that Argyll whose last sleep
before his execution is the subject of Mr. Ward's well-known painting;
his great-grandfather, too, gave up his life on the scaffold. He did not
want any of the courage of his ancestors; but he was {45} likely to take
care that his advancement should not be to the block or the gallows. At
such a moment as this which we are now describing his adhesion and his
action were of inestimable value to the Hanoverian cause.

When these two great peers entered the council-chamber a moment of
perplexity and confusion followed. Bolingbroke and Ormond had probably
not even yet a full understanding of the meaning of this dramatic
performance, and what consequences it was likely to insure. While they
sat silent, according to some accounts, the Duke of Shrewsbury arose, and
gravely thanking the Whig peers for their courtesy in attending the
council, accepted their co-operation in the name of all the others
present.