The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-04-08
DUKE OF ARGYLL.
At Home in His Historical
Castle and Argyll Lodge.
HIS SHREWD SCOTCH BRAIN,
A Lover OfBo0ks and a Lavish Enter
taIner - Unpopular and Cold
ShOuldered by Royalty.
HIS sRREWD SCOTCH BRAIN,
LONDON, March 20, 1888.

LONDON, March 20, 1888.
Written for THE SUNDAY HERALD.
The head of the clan Campbell is by
that sole fact one of the great men of
the earth to every Scot, especially to
every Campbell.
In no jesting sense, it may be said
that the Duke of Argyll is truly great
man. Perhaps he is moderated by the
many. am not at all sure that he is,
but there is singular conspiracy OF
silfnce among the cliques who write up
every scribbling friend as a genius.
These log-rolling gentry love q weak
man, they cannot appreciate strong
one. Thev too often toady to would
be somebody, who is thankful to use
their laudations as stepping-stones to
fame. There is a tendency in some
quarters to ignore those who nave al
ready risen, or who are born so high
they Iced not trouble to rise higher.
And perhaps the Duke of Argyll is him
self the cause OF his own ssmi-isolation,
for such is his situation. His charac-
ter will, to some extent, explain the
matter.
Though a duke, and nearly allied to
the sovereign, the titu!ar rank of
Argyll of the Isles" is ouly that of a
baron, which stands thus in the order
of precedence: arcbbishops, dukes,
| marquises, earls, viscOunts, bishops,
barons. His dukedom is Scotch, and
does not count in the English p.eraoe.
He sits in the House of Lords as Baron
lSundrldge, which is an Engli b title,
and by that ZANE he speaks and votes.
His son, the Queen s son-in law. the
Marquis OF Lorne, is in England only
CommoEer, and has to be elected to the
House OF Commons like any other NJ.
T.. but the constituencies reject him.
The Duke of Argyll is in his sixty
fifth year. He succeeded TO his title In
1S47. For many years be has been an
intimate friend and adviser of the
Queen-less so since than before the
marriage of the marquis with the prin-
cess. He was brilliant scholar IN his
student days, with q hard head and
love for hard work. Nothing that con-
Germs the practlcal welfare of his class,
the landlords, and of his tenants has
been neglected by his shreWd Scotch
brain. The duke has been hungry
devourer of every new book on every
new project, new philosophy or new
social movement. By instinct and
training, he has always been Liberal,
generally en- advanced Liberal. at
times he has shown an independence
amounting 10 sneer obstinacy. brayely
holding himself ready to prove the
majority against him wrong in facts
and in deductions. Perhaps his ply
sique accounts for this.
In stature, the Duke of Argyll is a
very short man, quite midget for a
duke. He has a really handsome,
noble face, face like that of John
Bright, so like that in certain positions,
1t would be easy 10 mistake one for the
other were their bodies invisible. The
ducal nose is rather more tip tilted of
the two. and this gives a sharpish ex-
preston to an otherwise most dIgnifed
face. A wealth of golden hair floats
backwards from his high arched brow
right over his coat collar behiL d,
Niagara of silk, that waves and flaps as
he taxes his unbounding strides along
0hS LIS Adil IL OH UuI Wnltc
now. and the changed hue increases the
dignity of his expression. He is rarely
seen in repose; there is always an alert
ness, quite unusual in wearers of cor
onets.
This natural hGuteur, and good deal
of it is pride of the ordinary sort, has
tended to build hedge around re-
markable man. better worth knowing
and admiring than are many popular
heroes to-day. The head of the Camp
bells must necessarily be man of high
notions, and the native canniness
cropped out in the clever ana ambitious
matchmaking for his SOD. Viewing if
in the lowest way, as speculation, it
was failure. 1t made the duke more
unpopular than before. He was more
than little cold-shouldered by peers,
who inwardly resented this presumption
of Sc3tchman, and, no doubt, il drove
the duke more into himself. Always a
prominent speaker in the House of
Lords. it was the sheer force of ais abil-
tiles that opened the door of Mr.. Glad
stone s cabinet t. him. Incomparably
the ablest statesman and orator among
the old Wings, the Duke of Argyll was
never received into the inner and upper
circle of his party.
III MS nAClVo 1nVer&ry castle, the
duke is a minor deity TO the country
round. The Scotch think much more
of their dukes than the English do. 1t
is grand old castle. historical in every
stone, and furnished in the half -medi-.
&c al style that lends so delightful
favor to our older British homes. The
duke has done hard work in its we'll
stocked book-room. Here he wrote his
Reign of Law" his many controver-
sial essays on agriculture, science, for
eign policy, domestic policy, and the
ology. The severe bent of his mind
may be traced in the curious recreation
chosen by his son, the marquis, who
toned down the frivolity of his semi
court life by turning the Psalms of
David into verse.
In London, the Duke has been Law
ish entertainer. His fine house, Argyll
Lodge, is one of the old and Charming
mansions situated in grounds that it
will never be possible to multiply. Here
again, though the rooms and hall
abound with art treasures, mostly old