generation been as distinguished as any of his more formidable ancestry. Their prospective head—the Marquis of Lorne—has passed the Rubicon of Royal etiquette, allied himself with a Princess of the Blood, and gives promise of a most useful and distinguished career. The clan can further claim for themselves six members of the British Peerage, and no less than twenty-two Baronets, nearly every one of whom has been raised from the ranks for conspicuous merit in one sphere or another. In almost every relation of life, the clan has had honour and glory reflected upon it through some of its members; and, in consideration of its past, present, and future importance, the possessor of the name of Campbell may feel a justifiable pride in the stock from which he springs.

George Douglas Campbell, the present head of the Ducal House of Argyll, unites in himself many of the most estimable qualities that enabled his ancestors, apart from the mere accident of birth, to achieve greatness. That he is one of the most exalted of Scotland's aristocracy, a great territorial magnate, and entitled to take a high place in the Council of the nation, are facts external and independent of his own intrinsic merits. But the same remark does not apply to the Duke's rare diplomatic and literary abilities, to the sageness of his wisdom, to the maturity end value of his experience, and to the kindly qualities of his heart. Pope spoke of an ancestor of his Grace as—

but if the poet had applied his Muse to describe the living representative of the noble House he could justly have bestowed upon him a much greater meed of praise. It is a rare conjunction to find one who is born great, seek also to achieve greatness; but this His Grace has done in an eminent degree. The adventitious circumstances of his birth placed him in a position only a few removes from Royalty itself, but not content with mere physical greatness, and realising that "the mind's the standard of the man," he has applied himself diligently to the acquisition of wisdom, until both in the domain of politics and in the still more cosmopolitan sphere of belles lettres he has, perhaps, made himself more conspicuous by his sheer native worth than any other member of the aristocracy of Scotland. Intimately associated from his earliest years with the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of his native country, he has been enabled, in his time, to do the State some service; and when the "history of Scotland in the nineteenth century" shall come to be written, the Duke of Argyll will be mentioned with honour and grateful regard. On these, and many other grounds that might be quoted, we are prepared to justify the incorporation in the present series of articles of such a name and of such a life—a name that is as familiar in the Church Courts as in the Councils of the nation, and a life that has been singularly pure, useful, and exemplary.

Born April, 30, 1823, his Grace is the second son of the sixth Duke of Argyll, by his marriage with Joan, daughter of John Glassel, Esq., his father's second wife. The present Duke is the thirty-second Knight of Lochow, and the thirtieth Campbell in the direct line of descent. He showed from an early age the remarkable aptitude for business and the literary capacity which have since distinguished him in so eminent a degree, his first work being published before he was 20. While Marquis of Lorne he took an active part in the great controversy relating to patronage in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which culminated in the Disruption of 1843. His Grace was one of the first to denounce the obnoxious system of patronage, and he lent his great influence and high social position to the party of which Dr. Chalmers was the recognised head, giving it an importance which it might never otherwise have acquired. But his Grace did more than aid the Secession by his social influence; he also rendered yeoman service to that movement by his able pen. One of his first productions was a brochure "On the Duty and Necessity of Immediate Legislative Interposition on behalf of the Church of Scotland as determined by considerations of Constitutional Law." In this publication the writer gave an historical view of the Church of Scotland, particularly in reference to its constitutional power in matters ecclesiastical. In another pamphlet, written in the course of the same year, and entitled "A Letter to the Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D.D., on the present position of Church affairs in Scotland, and the causes which have led to it," his Grace vindicated the right of the Church to legislate for itself, condemned the movement then in progress among certain members of the General Assembly to establish the Free Church by a secession from the Establishment, and expressed his dissent from Dr. Chalmers' view that "lay patronage and the integrity of the spiritual independence of the Church has been proved to be, like oil and water, immiscible." In an essay entitled "Presbytery Examined," published in 1848, the Duke entered upon a critical and historical review of the ecclesiastical history of Scotland since the Reformation, which was favourably criticised at the time, and received from every theological party in Scotland a good deal of attention. His "Reign of Law," may, however, be considered his chef d'œuvre as a literary effort. First contributed to the pages of Good Words, the "Reign of Law" was re-published in a separate form in 1866, and since then it has enjoyed a large sale and a high reputation.

As showing his unflagging industry and his love of letters, it is worth mentioning that he still contributes from time to time to the leading magazines of the day. As a rule, his articles receive the place of honour. They may not be so profoundly metaphysical as the contributions of Professor Maurice, neither are they so appallingly scientific as the propaganda of Huxley; but they are at least as entertaining, as instructive, as able as the best literary efforts of our most popular writers. One of the Duke's most recent contributions, which appeared in the Contemporary Review for January last, on "Hibernicisms in Philosophy," shows that to Sidney Smith's stale joke about the obtuseness of Scotchmen there is at least one illustrious exception. It is one of the best things of its kind that has ever appeared in a magazine that can command the greatest literary talent of the day.

The Duke of Argyll's political career has been long and illustrious. He first took office as Lord Privy Seal under Lord Aberdeen's administration in 1852. After Lord Palmerston had assumed the reins of Government he was continued in this place until, in 1855, he exchanged it for the office of Postmaster-General. In the following year he went out of office; but in 1867 he was again induced to accept the Lord Privy Seal, an appointment which he continued to hold until 1859. In 1860 he was restored to the slightly more lucrative (there is a difference in salary of £500) but much more responsible and useful appointment of Postmaster-General. When the present Administration was formed, the Duke was elected to the office of Secretary of State for India, the Under-Secretary being Mr. Grant Duff, the member for the Elgin Burghs, than whom no man alive has a more thorough acquaintance with Indian affairs.

In 1851 the Duke was elected Chancellor of the University of St. Andrews, and in 1854 he was elected Rector of Glasgow University. In September, 1855, His Grace presided over the twenty-fifth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which was held that year in Glasgow. On that occasion, as well as at other times throughout his career, His Grace displayed scientific