-
and account of his share in its workmanship, is in his powerful book,
- ‘The Standard of the Quakers examined,’ &c., 1702, 8vo.
His own account of his missionary labours is in
- ‘A Journal of Travels,’ &c., 1706, 4to. In almost his last publication he returned to the mathematical studies of his youth, proposing a new method for ascertaining the longitude, in
- ‘Geography and Navigation Compleated,’ &c., 1709, 4to.
Keith's variety of attainment and his controversial capacity are admitted by his opponents. His examination of quakerism is much more searching than that of later seceders, such as Isaac Crewdson [q. v.]; and he has more insight into the consequences of his own principles than is shown by recent reconstructors of quakerism, such as Joseph John Gurney [q. v.] It is partly the fault of his self-assertive disposition that justice has hardly been done to the genuineness of his personal convictions and the consistency of his mental development. In his later publications he answers his earlier arguments, but throughout his literary and religious history there runs a thread of attachment to the exteriors of belief and practice, which, after his first enthusiasm, really determined his course.
[Barclay's Works (Truth Triumphant), 1692, pp. 570 sq.; Croese's Historia Quakeriana, 1696, pp. 192 sq.; George Fox's Journal, 1696, pp. 433 sq.; Leslie's Snake in the Grass, 1698, pp. 209, 259; Bugg's Pilgrim's Progress from Quakerism to Christianity, 1700, pp. 82, 344; Sewel's Hist. of the Quakers, 1725, pp. 616 sq.; Burnet's Own Time, 1734, ii. 248 sq.; Life of John Richardson, 1757, pp. 103 sq.; Wilson's Dissenting Churches of London, 1808, i. 137 sq.; Jaffray's Diary, 1833, pp. 241, 257, 328, 548 sq.; Smith's Catalogue of Friends' Books, 1867, ii. 18 sq.; Hunt's Religious Thought in England, 1871, ii. 300 sq.; Theological Review, 1875, pp. 393 sq.; Barclay's Inner Life of Religious Societies of the Commonwealth, 1876, pp. 375 sq.; Storrs Turner's The Quakers, 1889, pp. 248 sq. (an excellent account, but blunders in making Keith a son-in-law of George Fox); many of Keith's publications.]
KEITH, GEORGE, tenth Earl Marischal (1693?–1778), was eldest son of William, ninth earl Marischal, by Lady Mary Drummond, eldest daughter of the fourth earl of Perth, high chancellor of Scotland. He is stated in the preface to the ‘Memoirs of Marshal Keith’ to have been born in 1689, but this is unlikely, since his age at his death is given as eighty-six. He succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father, 27 May 1712. At an early period of his life he served under Marlborough, and on 3 Feb. 1714 was appointed captain of the Scottish troop of horse grenadier guards. On the death of Queen Anne he was, according to one account, only prevented by the timidity of his fellow-Jacobites from proclaiming the Pretender at the head of his troops (Memoirs of Marshal Keith, p. x). Resigning, or having been deprived of, his commission, he returned to Scotland, meeting on his way north his younger brother, James Francis Edward Keith [q. v.], who was on his way to London, in hope of promotion, and whom he persuaded to return with him. He attended the meeting convened by Mar at Aboyne on 27 Aug. 1715, when it was resolved to take up arms on behalf of the chevalier, and at Sheriffmuir he held command of two squadrons of horse. The chevalier, after landing at Peterhead on 22 Dec., passed his second night in Scotland at the Earl Marischal's house at Newburgh, and afterwards proceeded south to the earl's mansion of Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, where he was met by Mar and Marischal, and constituted his first privy council. Along with Mar he accompanied the chevalier when he made his entry into Dundee. On the retreat of Mar before Argyll from Perth to Montrose, an arrangement, according to Mar, was made for Marischal to go to France along with him and the chevalier, but for some reason he failed to keep the appointment, and they sailed without him (Thornton, Stuart Dynasty, p. 422). After the dispersion of the highlanders he succeeded in making his escape to the continent. Shortly afterwards he was attainted, and his estates were forfeited to the crown. In 1719 he undertook the command of the smaller Spanish expedition on behalf of the chevalier, which landed in the island of Lewis. The intention was to surprise Inverness, but disputes between Marischal and Tullibardine occasioned a delay which proved fatal to the accomplishment of this purpose. After they had reached the mainland, they were attacked on 1 April by General Wightman, near the pass of Glenshiel; the highlanders dispersed to the mountains, and the Spaniards delivered themselves up. Marischal was severely wounded, but made his escape to the Western Isles, whence, after lying some months in concealment, he embarked in disguise for Spain. There he resided for a long time, chiefly at Valencia, continuing to correspond with the chevalier, and being concerned in various intrigues and negotiations for his restoration. In 1740 he was despatched by the chevalier to Madrid to endeavour to induce Spain to grant assistance towards a proposed expedition; and in 1744, when France meditated an attack on Great Britain, it was contemplated that he should again undertake the command of a small force to be landed in Scotland.
