Page:Daughters of Genius.djvu/127

 the river. Lord Dufferin, in speaking of his successor, said that the Marquis of Lorne "came of good Whig stock," or, in other words, of a family whose historical importance was founded upon the sacrifices they had made in the cause of constitutional liberty."

"When a couple of a man's ancestors," added Lord Dufferin, "have perished on the scaffold as martyrs to the cause of political and religious freedom, you may be sure there is little likelihood of this descendant seeking to encroach upon the privileges of Parliament, or the independence of the people."

Lord Dufferin referred in this passage, first, to the Earl of Argyll, executed in 1660, for the firmness with which he maintained the independence of the Scottish Presbyterian Church. It was he who said, as he laid his head upon the block:

"I could die like a Roman, but choose rather to die as a Christian."

The son of this nobleman, another Earl of Argyll, lost his head a few years after, in the reign of James II. Being called upon to take what was called the test oath of 1661, he refused on two grounds: first, that the oath was inconsistent with itself; and, secondly, that it was inconsistent with the Protestant religion. Upon this he was convicted of high treason, sentenced to death, his estates confiscated, and his arms torn down. He escaped into Holland; whence returning, after the death of Charles the Second, he joined the Duke of Monmouth in his rebellion, and soon shared the misfortunes of that incompetent leader. Argyll being taken prisoner, was executed upon his former sentence, and met his death with fortitude.

The family from which the Marquis of Lorne descends is one of the most ancient in Europe; it may even be the most ancient; for there is some reason to think that