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470 he was commanded to do it by the king. His father dying this same year, he succeeded to all his honours, and the remainder of his property. During the time he was in London, Argyle was certainly informed of the plan that had been already concerted for an invasion in Scotland by the Irish, under the marquis of Antrim, who for the part he performed in that tragical drama, was to be rewarded with the whole district of Kintyre, which formed a principal part of the family patrimony of Argyle. This partitioning of his property without having been either asked or given, and for a purpose so nefarious, must have had no small influence in alienating from the court a man who had imbibed high principles of honour, had a strong feeling of family dignity, and was an ardent lover of his country. He did not, however, take any decisive step till the assembly of the church, that met at Glasgow, November the twenty first, 1638, under the auspices of the marquis of Hamilton, as lord high commissioner. When the marquis, by protesting against every movement that was made by the court, and finally by attempting to dissolve it the moment it came to enter upon the business for which it had been so earnestly solicited, discovered that he was only playing the game of the king ; Argyle, as well as several other of the young nobility, could no longer refrain from taking an active part in the work of Reformation. On the withdrawal of the commissioner, all the privy council followed him, except Argyle, whose presence gave no small encouragement to the assembly to continue its deliberations, besides that it impressed the spectators with an idea that the government could not be greatly averse to the continuation of the assembly, since one of its most able and influential members encouraged it with his presence. At the close of the assembly, Mr Henderson the moderator, sensible of the advantages they had derived from his presence, complimented him in a handsome speech, in which he regretted that his lordship had not joined with them sooner, but hoped that God had reserved him for the best times, and that he would yet highly honour him in making him instrumental in promoting the best interests of his church and people. To this his lordship made a suitable reply, declaring that it was not from the want of affection to the cause of God and his country that he had not sooner come forward to their assistance, but from a fond hope that, by remaining with the court, he might have been able to bring about a redress of their grievances, to the comfort and satisfaction of both parties. Finding, however, that it was impossible to follow this course any longer, without being unfaithful to his God and his country, he had at last adopted the line of conduct they witnessed, and which he was happy to find had obtained their approbation. This assembly, so remarkable for the bold character of its acts, all of which were liable to the charge of treason, sat twenty-six days, and in that time accomplished all that had been expected from it. The six previous assemblies, all that had been held since the accession of James to the English crown, were unanimously declared unlawful, and of course all their acts illegal. In that held at Linlithgow 1606, all the acts that were passed were sent down from the court ready framed, and one appointing bishops constant moderators, was clandestinely inserted among them without ever having been brought to a vote, besides that eight of the most able ministers delegated to attend it, were forcibly prevented in an illegal manner by the constituted authorities from attending. In that held at Glasgow in 1608, nobles and barons attended and voted by the simple mandate of the king, besides several members from presbyteries, and thirteen bishops who had no commission. Still worse was that at Aberdeen 1616, where the most shameful bribery was openly practised, and no less than sixteen of his creatures were substituted by the primate of St Andrews for sixteen lawfully chosen commissioners. That which followed at St Andrews was so notoriously illegal, as never