Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/223

Rh to whom he adhered so long as he enjoyed the confidence of the queen, which was as long as he lived ; and, with this view, when her majesty had thrown herself into the arms of the tories, he had taken his measures so accurately that he was by them considered of first rate importance, employed upon the most important affairs and intrusted- with the secret of their most dangerous and unmanageable speculations. In consequence of this address on his part, though he had been from the first active on the side of the whigs, he found himself in a situation to demand the secretaryship of Scotland from the tories on the death of Queensberry; and though Argyle, whom they were exceedingly willing to oblige and to confirm in his lately taken up attachment to their cause, applying for it for his brother Hay at the same time, prevented an immediate compliance with his wishes, they durst not openly refuse him, hut, for fear of offending Argyle, declined to make for a time any appointment on the subject. It is not a little amusing to contrast the character and conduct of these rivals for power, Marr and Argyle, at this period. Both were ambitious, and both were in a high degree selfish; but the selfishness of the latter was softened by something like a principle of honour and consistency; that of the former was unmitigated and unbroken by any higher conflicting principle. Accordingly, knowing it was gratifying to the queen, Marr stood up openly for Sacheverel, defended his absurdities, and along with the notorious Jacobites, the duke of Hamilton, the earl of Wemyss, and Northeske, voted for his acquittal. Argyle condemned his absurdities, but made an atonement by voting for a lenient punishment. Argyle, to recommend himself to the queen and her peace-pursuing ministry, depreciated the services and undervalued the talents of the duke of Marlborough, hoping that some of the honours and a few of the places which that great man enjoyed, might be in the issue conferred upon himself. Marr, knowing how much her majesty was set upon obtaining peace, and that nothing was more pleasing to her ears than the assertion of her lineal descent from an ancient race of kings, and the praise of prerogative, procured from the Jacobite clans a loyal address, embracing these topics, and enlarging upon them in a higher strain than the boldest time-server at court had hitherto presumed to adopt. The peace was not yet made, but the "patriots, the faithful advisers of this great transaction," were largely applauded. The insolence of the press, which her majesty had recommended to the notice of the late parliament, was duly reprobated, and a hope expressed, that the ensuing one would work out a thorough reformation, that they might be no more scandalized, nor the blessed Son of God blasphemed, nor the sacred race of the Stuarts inhumanly traduced with equal malice and impiety. And they concluded with a hope, that "to complete their happiness and put an end to intestine division after the queen's late demise, the hereditary right and parliamentary sanction would meet in a lineal successor." The commissioners sent up to Marr with this address, were introduced to the queen, who commended the warmth of their loyalty, and most graciously rewarded them with pensions. After this, no one will wonder that the influence of Marr became among the Tories evidently paramount Argyle, though he joined with him in an attempt to have the treaty of union dissolved, shrunk from the contest for superiority; and, apparently in disgust, dropped back into the ranks of the whigs. Marr, having now no competitor for power among his countrymen, succeeded, most unfortunately for himself, in his darling wish. The secretaryship for Scotland, which had lain in abeyance for two years, he now received; so that he and his brother, lord Grange, who was lord justice clerk, became the most influential men in Scotland. He was also, along with Bolingbroke and Harley, regarded by the Jacobites, especially those of Scotland, as holding the destiny of the exiled