Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 13.djvu/423

 the claims of William. Being himself returned to the convention as member for Stranraer, he brought forward successfully a motion on 4 April that James Stuart had forfeited his claims to the crown of Scotland; and, as representing the ‘estate’ of the burghs, he was one of the three commissioners sent by the convention to London to offer the crown to William and Mary. It is supposed that he was the commissioner who relieved William of his difficulty in regard to a clause in the coronation oath on the ‘rooting’ out of ‘all heretics and all enemies of the true worship,’ by promptly assuring the king, when he declined to ‘lay himself under any obligation to be a persecutor,’ that no obligation of this kind was implied in the clause or in the laws of Scotland. The king, Burnet states, resolved to rely for advice in regard to Scotland chiefly on the elder Dalrymple (Own Time, ed. 1838, p. 539); and although Melville, a moderate presbyterian, was made secretary of state, the younger Dalrymple, who became lord advocate, had the chief management of Scottish affairs, being entrusted with the duty of representing the government in the Scottish parliament. Burnet states that since Dalrymple had been sent to offer William the throne as commissioner for the burghs, the king ‘concluded from thence that the family was not so much hated as he had been informed’ (ib. p. 539), while the author of the ‘Memoirs of Great Britain’ attributes the ‘absolute trust’ placed in the Dalrymples by William to the certainty that ‘they could never hope to be pardoned by James’ (ii. 300). No doubt the part played by the Dalrymples in winning Scotland for William was what originally commended them to his favour; but, apart from this, the king could not fail to be greatly impressed with the remarkable qualifications of the younger Dalrymple—not merely his skill as a political tactician, or his fascinating manners, or his eloquence, of which Lockhart admits he was so great a master ‘that there was none in the parliament capable to take up the cudgels with him’ (Papers, i. 89), but his freedom both from religious bigotry and party spirit, and his capacity for regarding measures from a British as well as a Scottish standpoint. Some, however, of those very qualifications which commended him to William excited against him the special distrust and animosity of many in Scotland. It could not be overlooked that he had held a prominent office under James, and especially that he had taken office to carry into effect the dispensing power, for it was not generally discerned that he had merely accepted office at a critical extremity of his fortunes, chiefly to lull suspicion and to enable him more effectually to further the revolution. His indifference to religious disputes, of which the frequenters of conventicles had reaped the advantage while they were in adversity, was now keenly resented when they found themselves triumphant, and wished to enjoy in turn the sweet experience of indulging in religious persecution. The opposition to Dalrymple was led by Sir James Montgomery, an extreme covenanter, bitterly exasperated by his failure to obtain the secretaryship of state. Montgomery gathered around him the disappointed leaders of all the extreme parties, who formed themselves into a society called the Club, and, concerting measures under his guidance against the government, gained for a time complete ascendency in parliament. Thus it curiously happened that almost immediately after William had been called to the throne of Scotland by an overwhelming balance of public opinion in his favour, the crown and parliament, owing to the strong feeling against Dalrymple, artfully stimulated and guided by Sir James Montgomery, found themselves entirely at cross purposes. An act levelled specially against Dalrymple was carried, interdicting the king from ever employing in any public office any person who had ever borne any part in any proceeding inconsistent with the claim of right; and against his father, Sir James Dalrymple, it was proposed to claim a veto on the nomination of judges. It was further resolved to refuse supply till these and other votes received the royal assent. In the midst of the discussions Dalrymple was also accused of having violated his instructions as one of the commissioners sent to offer the crown, in proposing that the king should take the coronation oath before the ‘grievances’ were read. The design was, he relates, that on this accusation he should ‘be sent to the castle—wagers five to one upon it’ (Letter to Lord Melville, 12 July 1689, Leven and Melville Papers, p. 166); but this he completely baulked by the production of the instructions, ‘bearing expressly to offer the instrument of government, the oath, and the grievances the last place.’ As the supplies voted by Scotland constituted only a very small proportion of his revenue, William could without any inconvenience refuse his assent, and on 5 Aug. prorogued the parliament. During the recess the Jacobites continued their meetings and attempted to foment agitation by petitions and addresses, but their procedure aroused only a languid interest, and failed to win any general sympathy from the nation. Montgomery hoped, with the aid of the Jacobites,