Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/191

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ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL (Earl of Argyle).
485


to screw them into treason. Lord Halifax told Charles himself, that lie knew not the Scottish law, but the English law would not have hanged a dog for such a crime. On his escape from the castle, Argyle, by the direction of Mr John Scott, minister of Hawick, rode straight to the house of Pringle of Torwoodlee, who sent his servant along with him to the house of Mr William Veitch, who conducted him to Clapwell, in Derbyshire; where, becoming afraid from the alarm that had been everywhere given, Mr Veitch thought it prudent to advise with Lockyer, an old Cromwellian captain, who generously offered his services to conduct Argyle safely to London ; which he did, bringing him first to Battersea, four miles above London, to Mr Smith's, a sugar baker's house, whose wife was a very pious and generous gentlewoman. They were rich, and had no children ; of course they were .able to do a great deal in the way of charity, without hurting themselves. They acquainted the lady with the earl's secret, but concealed it from her husband, and his lordship passed for an ordinary Scottish gentleman of the name of Hope. The lady, however, in a day or two, sent to one of her agents in the city to provide two chambers at a good distance from one another, where two friends of her's might be quiet and retired for a while; and Argyle and Veitch were sent to town by night to the house of Mr Holmes, the lady's agent, to be directed to their lodgings. None of them knew Holmes ; but the moment Holmes came into the room which they had been shown, he took Argyle in his arms, saying, my dear lord Argyle, you are most welcome to me. Argyle, in astonishment, and not without some visible concern, inquired how he knew him. I knew you, said Holmes, since that day 1 took you prisoner in the Highlands, and brought you to the castle of Edinburgh. Hut now we are on one side, and I will venture all that is dear to me to save you. So he carried them to their several lodgings ; those of Argyle being known to no one but Mr Veitch and Holmes. As soon as the noise about his escape was over, Mrs Smith brought them both out to a new house they had moved to at Brentford; Argyle passing for a Mr Hope, and Veitch for a captain Fabes. Here there were frequent meetings of noblemen, gentlemen, and rich merchants, with a view of devising means for preventing the nation from falling into slavery ; but the whole ended in the discovery of the Rye-house plot, which occasioned the apprehending of Mr William Carstairs, Mr Spence, and 1'aillie of Jerviswood; the two former of whom were put to the torture, .and the latter executed in the most cruel manner. Upon the appearance of the plot being discovered, Argyle went over to Holland; and Mi's Smith, who was deep in the plot also, persuaded her husband to emigrate to that country from general motives, for he was ignorant of the plot; and they continued to live together, taking up their abode at Utrecht. Veitch, happily, when the search was made for them in London, had departed for Scotland; and, after hiding for some time in the best manner he could, he also stole over to Holland. There he met with Monmouth, Argyle, the earl of Melville, lord Polwart, Torwoodlee, James Stuart, and many others similarly situated, who all took a deep interest in the plan now formed for invading both kingdoms at the same time, Monmouth to lead the attack upon England, and Argyle that upon Scotland. "Both of them," says Veitch, who seems to have been quite familiar with the whole plan, "had great promises sent them of assistance, but it turned to nothing, and no wonder; for the one part kept not their promises, and the other followed not the measures contrived and concerted at Amsterdam, April the 17th, 1085." The persons present at this meeting were Argyle, and his son Charles Campbell, Cochrane of Ochiltree, Hume of Pol wart, Pringle of Torwoodlee, Denholm of Westsliields, Hume of Bassendean, Cochrane of Waterside, Mr George Wisheart, William Cleland, James Stuart, and Gilbert Elliot. Mr Veitch says, he brought