Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 15.djvu/330

 lieutenant-colonel of Dundee's regiment of horse. The adherence of such an hereditary foe of the covenanters to William of Orange shortly after his landing in 1688 caused considerable sensation. He left the king at the same time as Prince George and the Duke of Ormonde, and the three together joined the prince at Sherborne on 30 Nov. (, Own Time, ed. 1838, p. 501). Lockhart of Carnwath, after alluding to the favours which Drumlanrig and his father had received from King James, says: ‘He was the first Scotsman that deserted over to the Prince of Orange, and from thence acquired the epithet (among honest men) of Proto-rebel, and has ever since been so faithful to the revolution party, and averse to the king and all his advisers, that he laid hold on all occasions to oppress the royal party and interest’ (Papers, i. 44). By William he was appointed colonel of the sixth or Scottish troop of horse guards, and named a privy councillor and one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber. He served in Scotland against his old general, Dundee. His apostasy was ascribed by Lockhart to his being ‘of lazy, easy temper, and being seduced by falling into bad hands,’ and Macky characterises him to much the same effect as of ‘fine, natural disposition, but apt to be influenced by those about him.’ It cannot be affirmed that these estimates of Queensberry by somewhat one-sided judges were altogether borne out by his subsequent career, but they may be accepted as accurate so far as they testify to his personal popularity and his tolerant spirit, which, however, were not incompatible with considerable force of character as well as diplomatic skill. In April 1690 he wrote a letter to Carstares, soliciting the office of extraordinary lord of session, held before the revolution by his father (, State Papers, p. 292), but the application was unsuccessful, and the office was again bestowed on his father 23 Nov. 1693. The son in 1692 was made a commissioner of the treasury, and in 1693 was authorised to sit and vote in parliament as lord high treasurer. He succeeded to the dukedom on the death of his father, 28 March 1695, and subsequently was appointed extraordinary lord of session in his room, also keeper of the privy seal. When, after the disasters to the Darien expedition in 1699, the king, in deference to an influential petition from Scotland, unwillingly consented in 1700 to a meeting of the Scottish estates, which was fixed for 18 May, Queensberry was appointed the king's commissioner. To allay the discontent and induce them to resign the unlucky enterprise, Queensberry promised them a habeas corpus act, greater freedom of trade, and ‘everything they could demand’ (, Own Time, p. 662), but a vote was nevertheless carried declaring the matter to be of national importance, whereupon Queensberry thought fit on 6 Feb. 1701 to adjourn the parliament to 6 May. On reassembling, the discontent, chiefly owing to the skilful management of Queensberry and the Earl of Argyll, gradually subsided, and the session ended in a manner satisfactory to both parties. In reward for such important services, Queensberry on 18 June was made a knight of the Garter, Argyll at the same time being created duke. On the accession of Queen Anne Queensberry retained the confidence of the government, and was continued commissioner to the Scottish parliament, which met 9 June 1702, being also appointed, along with the Earl of Cromartie, one of the secretaries of state for Scotland. After certain Jacobite members, under the leadership of the Duke of Hamilton, had entered their dissent and withdrawn, an act was immediately passed recognising the authority of Queen Anne. An act was then brought forward for an oath of abjuration, to which Queensberry at first expressed ‘very good inclination’ (Marchmont Papers, iii. 243), but finding afterwards that there was a strong opposition to it, he, after various attempts to compromise matters, adjourned the house on 30 June. It would appear that Queen Anne's government were desirous meanwhile to keep the question to some extent open, as a check on the whigs and the house of Hanover, and Lord Marchmont and others who had been importunate in supporting an uncompromising policy were consequently deprived of their offices. The devious and uncertain attitude of Queensberry naturally gave great encouragement to the Jacobites at St. Germain. Instructions were sent from the court there to the Duke of Hamilton January 1703 (, Original Papers, i. 623–4), and also to Captain Murray (ib. pp. 626–7), advising the use of every possible means to prevent an agreement with England in settling the crown on the house of Hanover, and even mooting the arrangement of a compromise whereby the chevalier might be allowed to return to the throne of his ancestors in Scotland, while Queen Anne until her death might be permitted to remain unchallenged on the throne of England. The result of these secret engagements was that many who had hitherto kept out of parliament and were known to the Jacobites came and qualified themselves by taking the oath (, p. 736). To gain support for their schemes they meanwhile consented to purchase the aid of the presbyterians by voting for an act for securing the presbyterian