THE ISLES AND THK COVENANT. 339 



is barely conceivable that the intelligence of the defeat 

 would prove fatal to a man in the prime of life he was 

 only forty-three unless he was the victim of some disease 

 which, as in his brother's case, carried him off prematurely ; 

 his end possibly being accelerated by the sad tidings from 

 England. He is described by the Earl of Cromartie 

 not an unbiassed critic as "a nobleman of excellent 

 qualifications " ; and Montrose himself, in a letter to the 

 Earl, congratulated him upon his "noble and resolute 

 carriage towards the King and his kindness to his friends, 

 which had procured him so much respect among all honour- 

 able people as it is not to be exchanged for a world "... 

 and he could " never forget n what he owed to him.* The 

 importance of this testimony, coming from such a source, 

 cannot be overlooked, and goes far to mitigate the harsh 

 judgment which, on account of his feats of political jugglery, 

 posterity has inevitably passed upon his memory. When 

 it is recollected that, according to Clarendon, it was " a 

 very rare virtue in that time " for a man to be " the same 

 man he pretended to be " ; that Montrose, Urry, Middleton, 

 and Balcarres were all ardent Covenanters, and no less 

 ardent Royalists, at different periods of their careers; it 

 may be admitted that Lord Seaforth's mixed politics were 

 not peculiar to him, although his was perhaps the most 

 glaring case of inconsistency. He may have been a 

 "subtill" man so he has been described but he was 

 undoubtedly both an influential partisan, and in his private 

 relations, a generous friend, and a chief who was capable 

 of inspiring the devotion of his clansmen. 



* Wishart's Memoirs, pp. 443-4. 



