[1] Sir James Dewar, _Compt. Rend._ (1904), 139, 261 and 241.
ARGONAUTS ([Greek: Argonautai], the sailors of the "Argo"), in Greek
legend a band of heroes who took part in the Argonautic expedition under
the command of Jason, to fetch the golden fleece. This task had been
imposed on Jason by his uncle Pelias (q.v.), who had usurped the throne
of Iolcus in Thessaly, which rightfully belonged to Jason's father
Aeson. The story of the fleece was as follows. Jason's uncle Athamas had
two children, Phrixus and Helle, by his wife Nephele, the cloud goddess.
But after a time he became enamoured of Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, and
neglected Nephele, who disappeared in anger. Ino, who hated the children
of Nephele, persuaded Athamas, by means of a false oracle, to offer
Phrixus as a sacrifice, as the only means of alleviating a famine which
she herself had caused by ordering the grain to be secretly roasted
before it was sown. But before the sacrifice the shade of Nephele
appeared to Phrixus, bringing a ram with a golden fleece on which he and
his sister Helle endeavoured to escape over the sea. Helle fell off and
was drowned in the strait, which after her was called the Hellespont.
Phrixus, however, reached the other side in safety, and proceeding by
land to Aea in Colchis on the farther shore of the Euxine Sea,
sacrificed the ram, and hung up its fleece in the grove of Ares, where
it was guarded by a sleepless dragon.
Jason, having undertaken the quest of the fleece, called upon the
noblest heroes of Greece to take part in the expedition. According to
the original story, the crew consisted of the chief members of Jason's
own race, the Minyae. But when the legend became common property, other
and better-known heroes were added to their number--Orpheus, Castor and
Polydeuces (Pollux), Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of Boreas,
Meleager, Theseus, Heracles. The crew was supposed to consist of fifty,
agreeing in number with the fifty oars of the "Argo," so called from its
builder Argos, the son of Phrixus, or from [Greek: argos] (swift). It
was a larger vessel than had ever been seen before, built of pine-wood
that never rotted from Mount Pelion. The goddess Athena herself
superintended its construction, and inserted in the prow a piece of oak
from Dodona, which was endowed with the power of speaking and delivering
oracles. The outward course of the "Argo" was the same as that of the
Greek traders, whose settlements as early as the 6th century B.C. dotted
the southern shores of the Euxine. The first landing-place was the
island of Lemnos, which was occupied only by women, who had put to death
their fathers, husbands and brothers. Here the Argonauts remained some
months, until they were persuaded by Heracles to leave. It is known from
Herodotus (iv. 145) that the Minyae had formed settlements at Lemnos at
a very early date. Proceeding up the Hellespont, they sailed to the
country of the Doliones, by whose king, Cyzicus, they were hospitably
received. After their departure, being driven back to the same place by
a storm, they were attacked by the Doliones, who did not recognize them,
and in a battle which took place Cyzicus was killed by Jason. After
Cyzicus had been duly mourned and buried, the Argonauts proceeded along
the coast of Mysia, where occurred the incident of Heracles and Hylas
(q.v.). On reaching the country of the Bebryces, they again landed to
get water, and were challenged by the king, Amycus, to match him with a
boxer. Polydeuces came forward, and in the end overpowered his
adversary, and bound him to a tree, or according to others, slew him. At
the entrance to the Euxine, at Salmydessus on the coast of Thrace, they
met Phineus, the blind and aged king whose food was being constantly
polluted by the Harpies. He knew the course to Colchis, and offered to
tell it, if the Argonauts would free him from the Harpies. This was done
by the winged sons of Boreas, and Phineus now told them their course,
and that the way to pass through the Symplegades or Cyanean rocks--two
cliffs which moved on their bases and crushed whatever sought to
pass--was first to fly a pigeon through, and when the cliffs, having
closed on the pigeon, began to retire to each side, to row the "Argo"
swiftly through. His advice was successfully followed, and the "Argo"
made the passage unscathed, except for trifling damage to the stern.
From that time the rocks became fixed and never closed again. The next
halting-places were the country of the Maryandini, where the helmsman
Tiphys died, and the land of the Amazons on the banks of the Thermodon.
At the island of Aretias they drove away the Stymphalian birds, who used
their feathers of brass as arrows. Here they found and took on board the
four sons of Phrixus who, after their father's death, had been sent by
Aeetes, king of Colchis, to fetch the treasures of Orchomenus, but had
been driven by a storm upon the island. Passing near Mount Caucasus,
they heard the groans of Prometheus and the flapping of the wings of the
eagle which gnawed his liver. They now reached their goal, the river
Phasis, and the following morning Jason repaired to the palace of
Aeetes, and demanded the golden fleece. Aeetes required of Jason that
he should first yoke to a plough his bulls, given him by Hephaestus,
which snorted fire and had hoofs of brass, and with them plough the
field of Ares. That done, the field was to be sown with the dragons'
teeth brought by Phrixus, from which armed men were to spring.
Successful so far by means of the mixture which Medea, daughter of
Aeetes, had given him as proof against fire and sword, Jason was next
allowed to approach the dragon which watched the fleece; Medea soothed
the monster with another mixture, and Jason became master of the fleece.
Then the voyage homeward began, Medea accompanying Jason, and Aeetes
pursuing them. To delay him and obtain escape, Medea dismembered her
young brother Absyrtus, whom she had taken with her, and cast his limbs
about in the sea for his father to pick up. Her plan succeeded, and
while Aeetes was burying the remains of his son at Tomi, Jason and Medea
escaped. In another account Absyrtus had grown to manhood then, and met
his death in an encounter with Jason, in pursuit of whom he had been
sent. Of the homeward course various accounts are given. In the oldest
(Pindar) the "Argo" sailed along the river Phasis into the eastern
Oceanus, round Asia to the south coast of Libya, thence to the mythical
lake Tritonis, after being carried twelve days over land through Libya,
and thence again to Iolcus. Hecataeus of Miletus (Schol. Apollon. Rhod.
iv. 259) suggested that from the Oceanus it may have sailed into the
Nile, and so to the Mediterranean. Others, like Sophocles, described the
return voyage as differing from the outward course only in taking the
northern instead of the southern shore of the Euxine. Some
(pseudo-Orpheus) supposed that the Argonauts had sailed up the river
Tanais, passed into another river, and by it reached the North Sea,
returning to the Mediterranean by the Pillars of Hercules. Again, others
(Apollonius Rhodius) laid down the course as up the Danube (Ister), from
it into the Adriatic by a supposed mouth of that river, and on to
Corcyra, where a storm overtook them. Next they sailed up the Eridanus
into the Rhodanus, passing through the country of the Celts and
Ligurians to the Stoechades, then to the island of Aethalia (Elba),
finally reaching the Tyrrhenian Sea and the island of Circe, who
absolved them from the murder of Absyrtus. Then they passed safely
through Scylla and Charybdis, past the Sirens, through the Planctae,
over the island of the Sun, Trinacria and on to Corcyra again, the land
of the Phaeacians, where Jason and Medea held their nuptials. They had
sighted the coast of Peloponnesus when a storm overtook them and drove
them to the coast of Libya, where they were saved from a quicksand by
the local nymphs. The "Argo" was now carried twelve days and twelve
nights to the Hesperides, and thence to lake Tritonis (where the seer
Mopsus died), whence Triton conducted them to the Mediterranean. At
Crete the brazen Talos, who would not permit them to land, was killed by
the Dioscuri. At Anaphe, one of the Sporades, they were saved from a
storm by Apollo. Finally, they reached Iolcus, and the "Argo" was placed
in a groove sacred to Poseidon on the isthmus of Corinth. Jason's death,
it is said, was afterwards caused by part of the stern giving way and
falling upon him.
The story of the expedition of the Argonauts is very old. Homer was
acquainted with it and speaks of the "Argo" as well known to all men;
the wanderings of Odysseus may have been partly founded on its voyage.
Pindar, in the fourth Pythian ode. gives the oldest detailed account of
it. In Greek, there are also extant the _Argonautica_ of Apollonius
Rhodius and the pseudo-Orpheus (4th century A.D.), and the account in
Apollodorus (i. 9), based on the best extant authorities; in Latin, the
imitation of Apollonius (a free translation or adaptation of whose
_Argonautica_ was made by Terentius Varro Atacinus in the time of
Cicero) by Valerius Flaccus. In ancient times the expedition was
regarded as a historical fact, an incident in the opening up of the
Euxine to Greek commerce and colonization. Its object was the
acquisition of gold, which was caught by the inhabitants of Colchis in
fleeces as it was washed down the rivers. Suidas says that the fleece
was a book written on parchment, which taught how to make gold by
chemical processes. The rationalists explained the ram on which Phrixus
crossed the sea as the name or ornament of the ship on which he escaped.
Several interpretations of the legend have been put forward by modern
scholars. According to C.O. Muller, it had its origin in the worship of
Zeus Laphystius; the fleece is the pledge of reconciliation; Jason is a
propitiating god of health, Medea a goddess akin to Hera; Aeetes is
connected with the Colchian sun-worship. Forchhammer saw in it an old
nature symbolism; Jason, the god of healing and fruitfulness, brought
the fleece--the fertilizing rain-cloud--to the western land that was
parched by the heat of the sun. Others treat it as a solar myth; the ram
is the light of the sun, the flight of Phrixus and the death of Helle
signify its setting, the recovery of the fleece its rising again.
There are numerous treatises on the subject: F. Vater, _Der
Argonautenzug_ (1845); J. Stender, _De Argonautarum Expeditione_
(1874); D. Kennerknecht, _De Argonautarum Fabula_ (1886); M. Groeger,
_De Argonautarum Fabularum Historia_ (1889); see also Grote, _History
of Greece_, part i. ch. 13; Preller, _Griechische Mythologie_;
articles in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_, Roscher's _Lexikon der
Mythologie_, and Daremberg and Saglio's _Dictionnaire des Antiquites_.
ARGONNE, a rocky forest-clad plateau in the north-east of France,
extending along the borders of Lorraine and Champagne, and forming part
of the departments of Ardennes, Meuse and Marne. The Argonne stretches
from S.S.E. to N.N.W., a distance of 63 m. with an average breadth of 19
m., and an average height of 1150 ft. It forms the connecting-link
between the plateaus of Haute Marne and the Ardennes, and is bounded E.
by the Meuse and W. by the Ante and the Aisne, which rises in its
southern plateau. The valleys of the Aire and other rivers traverse it
longitudinally, a fact to which its importance as a bulwark of
north-eastern France is largely due. Of the numerous forests which
clothe both slopes of the plateau, the chief is that of Argonne, which
extends for 25 m. between the Aire and the Aisne.
For Dumouriez's Argonne campaign in 1792, see FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY
WARS.
ARGOS, the name of several ancient Greek cities or districts, but
specially appropriated in historic times to the chief town in eastern
Peloponnese, whence the peninsula of Argolis derives its name. The
Argeia, or territory of Argos proper, consisted of a shelving plain at
the head of the Gulf of Argolis, enclosed between the eastern wall of
the Arcadian plateau and the central highlands of Argolis. The waters of
this valley (Inachus, Charadrus, Erasinus), when properly regulated,
favoured the growth of excellent crops, and the capital standing only 3
m. from the sea was well placed for Levantine trade. Hence Argos was
perhaps the earliest town of importance in Greece; the legends indicate
its high antiquity and its early intercourse with foreign countries
(Egypt, Lycia, &c.). Though eclipsed in the Homeric age, when it appears
as the seat of Diomedes, by the later foundation of Mycenae, it regained
its predominance after the invasion of the Dorians (q.v.), who seem to
have occupied this site in considerable force. In accordance with the
tradition which assigned the portion to the eldest-born of the Heracleid
conquerors, Argos was for some centuries the leading power in
Peloponnesus. There is good evidence that its sway extended originally
over the entire Argolis peninsula, the land east of Parnon, Cythera,
Aegina and Sicyon. Under King Pheidon the Argive empire embraced all
eastern Peloponnesus, and its influence spread even to the western
districts.
This supremacy was first challenged about the 8th century by Sparta.
Though organized on similar lines, with a citizen population divided
into three Dorian tribes (and one containing other elements), with a
class of Perioeci (neighbouring dependents) and of serfs, the Argives
had no more constant foe than their Lacedaemonian kinsmen. In a
protracted struggle for the possession of the eastern seaboard of
Laconia in spite of the victory at Hysiae (apparently in 669), they were
gradually driven back, until by 550 they had lost the whole coast strip
of Cynuria. A later attempt to retrieve this loss resulted in a crushing
defeat near Tiryns at the hands of King Cleomenes I. (probably in 495),
which so weakened the Argives that they had to open the franchise to
their Perioeci. By this time they had also lost control over the other
cities of Argolis, which they never succeeded in recovering. Partly in
consequence of its defeat, partly out of jealousy against Sparta, Argos
took no part in the war against Xerxes. Indeed on this, as on later
occasions, its relations with Persia seem to have been friendly. About
470 the conflict with Sparta was renewed in concert with the Arcadians,
but all that the Argives could achieve was to destroy their revolted
dependencies of Mycenae and Tiryns (468 or 464). In 461 they contracted
an alliance with Athens, thus renewing a connexion established by
Peisistratus (q.v.). In spite of this league Argos made no headway
against Sparta, and in 451 consented to a truce. A more important result
of Athenian intervention was the substitution of the democratic
government for the oligarchy which had succeeded the early monarchy; at
any rate forty years later we find that Argos possessed complete
democratic institutions.
During the early Peloponnesian War Argos remained neutral; after the
break-up of the Spartan confederacy consequent upon the peace of Nicias
the alliance of this state, with its unimpaired resources and
flourishing commerce, was courted on all sides. By throwing in her lot
with the Peloponnesian democracies and Athens, Argos seriously
endangered Sparta's supremacy, but the defeat of Mantineia (418) and a
successful rising of the Argive oligarchs spoilt this chance. The
speedily restored democracy put little heart into the conflict, and
beyond sending mercenary detachments, lent Athens no further help in the
war (see PELOPONNESIAN WAR).
At the outset of the 4th century, Argos, with a population and resources
equalling those of Athens, took a prominent part in the Corinthian
League against Sparta. In 394 the Argives helped to garrison Corinth,
and the latter state seems for a while to have been annexed by them. But
the peace of Antalcidas (q.v.) dissolved this connexion, and barred
Argive pretensions to control all Argolis. After the battle of Leuctra
Argos experienced a political crisis; the oligarchs attempted a
revolution, but were put down by their opponents with such
vindictiveness that 1200 of them are said to have been executed (370).
The democracy consistently supported the victorious Thebans against
Sparta, figuring with a large contingent on the decisive field of
Mantineia (362). When pressed in turn by their old foes the Argives were
among the first to call in Philip of Macedon, who reinstated them in
Cynuria after becoming master of Greece. In the Lamian War Argos was
induced to side with the patriots against Macedonia; after its capture
by Cassander from Polyperchon (317) it fell in 303 into the hands of
Demetrius Poliorcetes. In 272 the Argives joined Sparta in resisting the
ambition of King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose death ensued in an
unsuccessful night attack upon the city. They passed instead into the
power of Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, who maintained his control by
means of tyrants. After several unavailing attempts Aratus (q.v.)
contrived to win Argos for the Achaean League (229), in which it
remained save during a brief occupation by the Spartans Cleomenes III.
(q.v.) and Nabis (224 and 196).
The Roman conquest of Achaea enhanced the prosperity of Argos by
removing the trade competition of Corinth. Under the Empire, Argos was
the headquarters of the Achaean synod, and continued to be a resort of
Roman merchants. Though plundered by the Goths in A.D. 267 and 395 it
retained some of its commerce and culture in Byzantine days. The town
was captured by the Franks in 1210; after 1246 it was held in fief by
the rulers of Athens. In later centuries it became the scene of frequent
conflicts between the Venetians and the Turks, and on two occasions
(1397 and 1500) its population was massacred by the latter. Repeopled
with Albanian settlers, Argos was chosen as seat of the Greek national
assembly in the wars of independence. Its citadel was courageously
defended by the patriots (1822); in 1825 the city was burnt to the
ground by Ibrahim Pasha. The present town of 10,000 inhabitants is a
purely agricultural settlement. The Argive plain, though not yet
sufficiently reclaimed, yields good crops of corn, rice and tobacco.
In the early days of Greece the Argives enjoyed high repute for their
musical talent. Their school of bronze sculpture, whose first famous
exponent was Ageladas (Hagelaidas), the reputed master of Pheidias,
reached its climax towards the end of the 5th century in the atelier of
Polyclitus (q.v.) and his pupils. To this period also belongs the new
Heraeum (see below), one of the most splendid temples of Greece.
Remains of the early city are still visible on the Larissa acropolis,
which towers 900 ft. high to the north-west of the town. A few courses
of the ancient ramparts appear under the double enceinte of the
surviving medieval fortress. An aqueduct of Greek times is represented
by some fragments on the south-western edge. In the slope above the town
was hewn a theatre equalling that of Athens in size. The Aspis or
smaller citadel to the north-east has revealed traces of an early
Mycenaean settlement; the Deiras or ridge connecting the two heights
contains a prehistoric cemetery.
AUTHORITIES.--Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon; Plutarch, _Pyrrhus_,
30-34; Strabo pp. 373-374; Pausanias ii. 15-24; W.M. Leake, _Travels
in the Morea_ (London, 1835), ii. chs. 19-22; E. Curtius,
_Peloponnesos_ (Gotha, 1851), ii. 350-364; H.F. Tozer, _Geography of
Greece_ (London, 1873), pp. 292-294; J.K. Kophiniotis, [Greek:
Historia ton Argous] (Athens, 1892-1893); W. Vollgraff in _Bulletin de
Correspondance Hellenique_ (1904, pp. 364-399; 1906, pp. 1-45; 1907,
pp. 139-184). (M. O. B. C.)
_The Argive Heraeum._--Since 1892 investigation has added considerably
to our knowledge concerning the Argive Heraeum or Heraion, the temple of
Hera, which stood, according to Pausanias, "on one of the lower slopes
of Euboea." The term Euboea did not designate the eminence upon which
the Heraeum is placed, or the mountain-top behind the Heraeum only, but,
as Pausanias distinctly indicates, the group of foothills of the hilly
district adjoining the mountain. When once we admit that this designated
not only the mountain, which is 1730 ft. high, but also the hilly
district adjoining it, the general scale of distance for this site grows
larger. The territory of the Heraeum was divided into three parts,
namely Euboea, Acraea and Prosymna. Pausanias tells us that the Heraeum
is 15 stadia from Mycenae. Strabo, on the other hand, says that the
Heraeum was 40 stadia from Argos and 10 from Mycenae. Both authors
underestimate the distance from Mycenae, which is about 25 stadia, or a
little more than 3 m., while the distance from Argos is 45 stadia, or a
little more than 5 m. The distance from the Heraeum to the ancient Midea
is slightly greater than to Mycenae, while that from the Heraeum to
Tiryns is about 6 m. The Argive Heraeum was the most important centre of
Hera and Juno worship in the ancient world; it always remained the chief
sanctuary of the Argive district, and was in all probability the
earliest site of civilized life in the country inhabited by the Argive
people. In fact, whereas the site of Hissarlik, the ancient Troy, is not
in Greece proper, but in Asia Minor, and can thus not furnish the most
direct evidence for the earliest Hellenic civilization as such; and
whereas Tiryns, Mycenae, and the city of Argos, each represent only one
definite period in the successive stages of civilization, the Argive
Heraeum, holding the central site of early civilization in Greece
proper, not only retained its importance during the three periods marked
by the supremacy of Tiryns, Mycenae and the city of Argos, but in all
probability antedated them as a centre of civilized Argive life. These
conditions alone account for the extreme archaeological importance of
this ancient sanctuary.
According to tradition the Heraeum was founded by Phoroneus at least
thirteen generations before Agamemnon and the Achaeans ruled. It is
highly probable that before it became important merely as a temple, it
was the fortified centre uniting the Argive people dwelling in the
plain, the citadel which was superseded in this function by Tiryns.
There is ample evidence to show that it was the chief sanctuary during
the Tirynthian period. When Mycenae was built under the Perseids it was
still the chief sanctuary for that centre, which superseded Tiryns in
its dominance over the district, and which this temple clearly antedated
in construction. According to the _Dictys Cretensis_, it was at this
Heraeum that Agamemnon assembled the leaders before setting out for
Troy. In the period of Dorian supremacy, in spite of the new cults which
were introduced by these people, the Heraeum maintained its supreme
importance: it was here that the tablets recording the succession of
priestesses were kept which served as a chronological standard for the
Argive people, and even far beyond their borders; and it was here that
Pheidon deposited the [Greek: obeliskoi] when he introduced coinage into
Greece.
We learn from Strabo that the Heraeum was the joint sanctuary for
Mycenae and Argos. But in the 5th century the city of Argos vanquished
the Mycenaeans, and from that time onwards the city of Argos becomes the
political centre of the district, while the Heraeum remains the
religious centre. And when in the year 423 B.C., through the negligence
of the priestess Chryseis, the old temple was burnt down, the Argives
erected a splendid new temple, built by Eupolemos, in which was placed
the great gold and ivory statue of Hera, by the sculptor Polyclitus, the
contemporary and rival of Pheidias, which was one of the most perfect
works of sculpture in antiquity. Pausanias describes the temple and its
contents (ii. 17), and in his time he still saw the ruins of the older
burnt temple above the temple of Eupolemos.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE HERAEUM (_surveyed and drawn by Edward L.
Tilton_).
I. Old Temple.
II. Stoa.
III. Stoa.
IV. East Building.
V. 5th-Century Temple.
VI. South Stoa.
VII. West Building.
VIII. North-West Building.
IX. Roman Building.
X. Lower Stoa.
XI. Phylakeion.
A, B, C, D, E, F, Cisterns.]
All these facts have been verified and illustrated by the excavations of
the American Archaeological Institute and School of Athens, which were
carried on from 1892 to 1895. In 1854 A.R. Rhangabe made tentative
excavations on this site, digging a trench along the north and east
sides of the second temple. Of these excavations no trace was to be seen
when those of 1892 were begun. The excavations have shown that the
sanctuary, instead of consisting of but one temple with the ruins of the
older one above it, contained at least eleven separate buildings,
occupying an area of about 975 ft. by 325.
On the uppermost terrace, defined by the great Cyclopean supporting
wall, exactly as described by Pausanias, the excavations revealed a
layer of ashes and charred wood, below which were found numerous objects
of earliest date, together with some remains of the walls resting on a
polygonal platform--all forming part of the earliest temple. Immediately
adjoining the Cyclopean wall and below it were found traces of small
houses of the rudest, earliest masonry which are pre-Mycenaean, if not
pre-Cyclopean.
We then descend to the second terrace, in the centre of which the
substructure of the great second temple was revealed, together with so
much of the walls, as well as the several architectural members forming
the superstructure, that it has been possible for E.L. Tilton to design
a complete restoration of the temple. On the northern side of this
terrace, between the second temple and the Cyclopean supporting wall, a
long stoa or colonnade runs from east to west abutting at the west end
in structures which evidently contained a well-house and waterworks;
while at the eastern end of this stoa a number of chambers were erected
against the hill, in front of which were placed statues and
inscriptions, the bases for which are still extant. At the eastern-most
end of this second terrace a large hall with three rows of columns in
the interior, with a porch and entrance at the west end facing the
temple, is built upon elaborate supporting walls of good masonry.
Below the second terrace at the south-west end a large and complicated
building, with an open courtyard surrounded on three sides by a
colonnade and with chambers opening out towards the north, may have
served as a gymnasium or a sanatorium. It is of good early Greek
architecture, earlier than the second temple. A curious, ruder building
to the north of this and to the west of the second terrace is probably
of much earlier date, perhaps of the Mycenaean period, and may have
served as propylaea.
Immediately below the second temple at the foot of the elevation on
which this temple stands, towards the south, and thus facing the city of
Argos, a splendid stoa or colonnade, to which large flights of steps
lead, was erected about the time of the building of the second temple.
It is a part of the great plan to give worthy access to the temple from
the city of Argos. To the east of this large flights of steps lead up to
the temple proper.
At the western extremity of the whole site, immediately beside the
river-bed, we again have a huge stoa running round two sides of a
square, which was no doubt connected with the functions of this
sanctuary as a health resort, especially for women, the goddess Hera
presiding over and protecting married life and child-birth. Finally,
immediately to the north of this western stoa there is an extensive
house of Roman times also connected with baths.
While the buildings give archaeological evidence for every period of
Greek life and history from the pre-Mycenaean period down to Roman
times, the topography itself shows that the Heraeum must have been
constructed before Mycenae and without any regard to it. The foothills
which it occupies form the western boundary to the Argive plain as it
stretches down towards the sea in the Gulf of Nauplia. While it was thus
probably chosen as the earliest site for a citadel facing the sea, its
second period points towards Tiryns and Midea. It could not have been
built as the sanctuary of Mycenae, which was placed farther up towards
the north-west in the hills, and could not be seen from the Heraeum, its
inhabitants again not being able to see their sanctuary. The west
building, the traces of bridges and roads, show that at one time it did
hold some relation to Mycenae; but this was long after its foundation or
the building of the huge Cyclopean supporting wall which is coeval with
the walls of Tiryns, these again being earlier than those of Mycenae.
There are, moreover, traces of still more primitive walls, built of rude
small stones placed one upon the other without mortar, which are in
character earlier than those of Tiryns, and have their parallel in the
lowest layers of Hissarlik.
Bearing out the evidence of tradition as well as architecture, the
numerous finds of individual objects in terra-cotta figurines, vases,
bronzes, engraved stones, &c., point to organized civilized life on this
site many generations before Mycenae was built, _a fortiori_ before the
life as depicted by Homer flourished--nay, before, as tradition has it,
under Proetus the walls of Tiryns were erected. We are aided in forming
some estimate of the chronological sequence preceding the Mycenaean age,
as suggested by the finds of the Heraeum, in the new distribution which
Dorpfeld has been led to make of the chronological stratification of
Hissarlik. For the layer, which he now assigns to the Mycenaean period,
is the sixth stratum from below. Now, as some of the remains at the
Heraeum correspond to the two lowest layers of Hissarlik, the evidence
of the Argive temple leads us far beyond the date assigned to the
Mycenaean age, and at least into the second millennium B.C. (see also
AEGEAN CIVILIZATION). As to its chronological relation to the Cretan
sites--Cnossus, Phaestus, &c., and the "Minoan" civilization as
determined by Dr A. Evans, see the discussion under CRETE.
This sanctuary still holds a position of central importance as
illustrating the art of the highest period in Greek history, namely, the
art of the 5th century B.C. under the great sculptor Polyclitus. Though
the excavations in the second temple have clearly revealed the outlines
of the base upon which the great gold and ivory statue of Hera stood, it
is needless to say that no trace of the statue itself has been found.
From Pausanias we learn that "the image of Hera is seated and is of
colossal size: it is made of gold and ivory, and is the work of
Polyclitus." Based on the computations made by the architect of the
American excavations, E.L. Tilton, on the ground of the height of the
nave, the total height of the image, including the base and the top of
the throne, would be about 26 ft., the seated figure of the goddess
herself about 18 ft. It is probable that the face, neck, arms and feet
were of ivory, while the rest of the figure was draped in gold. Like the
Olympian Zeus of Pheidias, Hera was seated on an elaborately decorated
throne, holding in her left hand the sceptre, surmounted in her case by
the cuckoo (as that of Zeus had an eagle), and in her right, instead of
an elaborate figure of Victory (such as the Athena Parthenos and the
Olympian Zeus held), simply a pomegranate. The crown was adorned with
figures of Graces and the Seasons. A Roman imperial coin of Antoninus
Pius shows us on a reduced scale the general composition of the figure;
while contemporary Argive coins of the 5th century give a fairly
adequate rendering of the head. A further attempt has been made to
identify the head in a beautiful marble bust in the British Museum
hitherto known as Bacchus (Waldstein, _Journal of Hellenic Studies_,
vol. xxi., 1901, pp. 30 seq.)
We also learn from Pausanias that the temple was decorated with
"sculptures over the columns, representing some the birth of Zeus and
the battle of the gods and giants, others the Trojan War and the taking
of Ilium." It was formerly supposed that the phrase "over the columns"
pointed to the existence of sculptured metopes, but no pedimental
groups. Finds made in the excavations, however, have shown that the
temple also had pedimental groups. Besides numerous fragments of nude
and draped figures belonging to pedimental statues, a well-preserved and
very beautiful head of a female divinity, probably Hera, as well as a
draped female torso of excellent workmanship, both belonging to the
pediments, have been discovered. Of the metopes also a great number of
fragments have been found, together with two almost complete metopes,
the one containing the torso of a nude warrior in perfect preservation,
as well as ten well-preserved heads. These statues bear the same
relation to the sculptor Polyclitus which the Parthenon marbles hold to
Pheidias; and the excavations have thus yielded most important material
for the illustration of the Argive art of Polyclitus in the 5th century
B.C.
See Waldstein, _The Argive Heraeum_ (vol. i., Boston and New York,
1902; vol. ii., the Vases by J.C. Hoppin, the Bronzes by H.F. de
Cosa, 1905); _Excavations of the American School of Athens at the
Heraion of Argos_ (1892); and numerous reports and articles in the
_American Archaeological Journal_ since 1892. (C. W.*)
ARGOSTOLI (anc. _Cephallenia_), the capital of Cephalonia (one of the
Ionian islands), and the seat of a bishop of the Greek church. Pop.
about 10,000. It possesses an excellent harbour, a quay a mile in
length, and a fine bridge. Shipbuilding and silk-spinning are carried
on. Near at hand are the ruins of Cranii, which afford fine examples of
Greek military architecture; and at the west side of the harbour there
is a curious stream, flowing _from_ the sea, and employed to drive mills
before losing itself in caverns inland.
See Sir C. Fellows's _Journal of an Excursion in Asia Minor_ in 1838,
and Wiebel's _Die Insel Kephalonia und die Meermuhlen von Argostoli_
(Hamburg, 1873).
ARGOSY (a corruption, by transposition of letters, of the name of the
seaport Ragusa), the term originally for a carrack or merchant ship from
Ragusa and other Adriatic ports, now used poetically of any vessel
carrying rich merchandise. In English writings of the 16th century the
seaport named is variously spelt Ragusa, Aragouse or Aragosa, and ships
coming thence were named Ragusyes, Arguzes and Argosies; the last form
surviving and passing into literature. The incorrect derivation from
Jason's ship, the "Argo," is of modern origin.
ARGUIN, an island (identified by some writers with Hanno's Cerne), off
the west coast of Africa, a little south of Cape Blanco, in 20 deg. 25'
N., 16 deg. 37' W. It is some 4 m. long by 2-1/2 broad, produces
gum-arabic, and is the seat of a lucrative turtle-fishery. Off the
island, which was discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century, are
extensive and very dangerous reefs. Arguin was occupied in turn by
Portuguese, Dutch, English and French; and to France it now belongs. The
aridity of the soil and the bad anchorage prevent a permanent
settlement. The fishery is mostly carried on by inhabitants of the
Canary Isles. In July 1816 the French frigate "Medusa," which carried
officers on their way to Senegal to take possession of that country for
France, was wrecked off Arguin, 350 lives being lost.
ARGUMENT, a word meaning "proof," "evidence," corresponding in English
to the Latin word _argumentum_, from which it is derived; the
originating Latin verb _arguere_, to make clear, from which comes the
English "argue," is from a root meaning bright, appearing in Greek
[Greek: argaes], white. From its primary sense are derived such
applications of the word as a chain of reasoning, a fact or reason given
to support a proposition, a discussion of the evidence or reasons for or
against some theory or proposition and the like. More particularly
"argument" means a synopsis of the contents of a book, the outline of a
novel, play, &c. In logic it is used for the middle term in a syllogism,
and for many species of fallacies, such as the _argumentum ad hominem,
ad baculum_, &c. (see FALLACY). In mathematics the term has received
special meanings; in mathematical tables the "argument" is the quantity
upon which the other quantities in the table are made to depend; in the
theory of complex variables, e.g. such as a + ib where i = [root](-1),
the "argument" (or "amplitude") is the angle [theta] given by tan
[theta] = b/a. In astronomy, the term is used in connexion with the
Ptolemaic theory to denote the angular distance on the epicycle of a
planet from the true apogee of the epicycle; and the "equation to the
argument" is the angle subtended at the earth by the distance of a
planet from the centre of the epicycle.
ARGUS, in ancient Greek mythology, the son of Inachus, Agenor or
Arestor, or, according to others, an earth-born hero (autochthon). He
was called Panoptes (all-seeing), from having eyes all over his body.
After performing several feats of valour, he was appointed by Hera to
watch the cow into which Io had been transformed. While doing this he
was slain by Hermes, who stoned him to death, or put him to sleep by
playing on the flute and then cut off his head. His eyes were
transferred by Hera to the tail of the peacock. Argus with his countless
eyes originally denoted the starry heavens (Apollodorus ii. 1;
Aeschylus, _P. V._ 569; Ovid, _Metam._ i. 264).
Another ARGUS, the old dog of Odysseus, who recognized his master on his
return to Ithaca, figures in one of the best-known incidents in Homer's
_Odyssey_ (xvii. 291-326).
ARGYLL, EARLS AND DUKES OF. The rise of this family of Scottish peers,
originally the Campbells of Lochow, and first ennobled as Barons
Campbell, is referred to in the article ARGYLLSHIRE.
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, 5th earl of Argyll (1530-1573), was the elder son of
Archibald, 4th earl of Argyll (d. 1558), and a grandson of Colin, the
3rd earl (d. 1530). His great-grandfather was the 2nd earl, Archibald,
who was killed at Flodden in 1513, and this nobleman's father was Colin,
Lord Campbell (d. 1493), the founder of the greatness of the Campbell
family, who was created earl of Argyll in 1457. With Lord James Stuart,
afterwards the regent Murray, the 5th earl of Argyll became an adherent
of John Knox about 1556, and like his father was one of the most
influential members of the party of religious reform, signing what was
probably the first "godly band" in December 1557. As one of the "lords
of the congregation" he was one of James Stuart's principal lieutenants
during the warfare between the reformers and the regent, Mary of
Lorraine; and later with Murray he advised and supported Mary queen of
Scots, who regarded him with great favour. It was about this time that
William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley, referred to Argyll as "a goodly
gentleman universally honoured of all Scotland." Owing to his friendship
with Mary, Argyll was separated from the party of Knox, but he forsook
the queen when she determined to marry Lord Darnley; he was, however,
again on Mary's side after Queen Elizabeth's refusal to aid Murray in
1565. Argyll was probably an accomplice in the murder of Rizzio; he was
certainly a consenting party to that of Darnley, and then separating
himself from Murray he commanded Mary's soldiers after her escape from
Lochleven, and by his want of courage and resolution was partly
responsible for her defeat at Langside in May 1568. Soon afterwards he
made his peace with Murray, but it is possible that he was accessory to
the regent's murder in 1570. After this event Argyll became lord high
chancellor of Scotland, and he died on the 12th of September 1573. His
first wife was an illegitimate daughter of James V., and he was thus
half-brother-in-law to Mary and to Murray. His relations with her were
not harmonious; he was accused of adultery, and in 1568 he performed a
public penance at Stirling.
He left no children, and on his death his half-brother Colin (d. 1584)
became 6th earl of Argyll. This nobleman, whose life was partly spent in
feuds with the regent Morton, died in October 1584. He was succeeded as
7th earl by his young son Archibald (1576-1638), who became a Roman
Catholic, fought for Philip III. of Spain in Flanders, whither he had
gone to avoid his creditors, and, having entrusted the care of his
estates to his son, died in London.
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, 1st marquess and 8th earl of Argyll (1607-1661),
eldest son of Archibald, 7th earl, by his first wife, Lady Anne Douglas,
daughter of William, 1st earl of Morton, was born in 1607[1] and
educated at St Andrews University, where he matriculated on the 15th of
January 1622. He had early in life, as Lord Lorne, been entrusted with
the possession of the Argyll estates when his father renounced
Protestantism and took service with Philip of Spain; and he exercised
over his clan an authority almost absolute, disposing of a force of
20,000 retainers, and being, according to Baillie, "by far the most
powerful subject in the kingdom." On the outbreak of the religious
dispute between the king and Scotland in 1637 his support was eagerly
desired by Charles I. He had been made a privy councillor in 1628, and
in 1638 the king summoned him, together with Traquair and Roxburgh, to
London; but he refused to be won over, openly and courageously warned
Charles against his despotic ecclesiastical policy, and showed great
hostility towards Laud. In consequence a secret commission was given to
the earl of Antrim to invade Argyllshire and stir up the Macdonalds
against the Campbells, a wild and foolish project which completely
miscarried. Argyll, who inherited the title by the death of his father
in 1638, had originally no preference for Presbyterianism, but now
definitely took the side of the Covenanters in defence of the national
religion and liberties. He continued to attend the meetings of the
Assembly after its dissolution by the marquess of Hamilton, when
Episcopacy was abolished. In 1639 he sent a statement to Laud, and
subsequently to the king, defending the Assembly's action; and raising a
body of troops he seized Hamilton's castle of Brodick in Arran. After
the pacification of Berwick he carried a motion, in opposition to
Montrose, by which the estates secured to themselves the election of the
lords of the articles, who had formerly been nominated by the king, a
fundamental change in the Scottish constitution, whereby the management
of public affairs was entrusted to a representative body and withdrawn
from the control of the crown. An attempt by the king to deprive him of
his office as justiciary of Argyll and Tarbet failed, and on the
prorogation of the parliament by Charles, in May 1640, Argyll moved that
it should continue its sittings and that the government and safety of
the kingdom should be secured by a committee of the estates, of which,
though not a member, he was himself the guiding spirit. In June he was
entrusted with a "commission of fire and sword" against the royalists in
Atholl and Angus, which, after succeeding in entrapping the earl of
Atholl, he carried out with completeness and some cruelty. It was on
this occasion that took place the burning of "the bonnie house of
Airlie." By this time the personal rivalry and difference in opinion
between Montrose and Argyll had led to an open breach. The former
arranged that on the occasion of Charles's approaching visit to
Scotland, Argyll should be accused of high treason in the parliament.
The plot, however, was disclosed, and Montrose with others was
imprisoned. Accordingly when the king arrived he found himself deprived
of every remnant of influence and authority. It only remained for
Charles to make a series of concessions. He transferred the control over
judicial and political appointments to the parliament, created Argyll a
marquess (1641) with a pension of L1000 a year, and returned home,
having in Clarendon's words "made a perfect deed of gift of that
kingdom." Meanwhile the king's policy of peace and concession had, as
usual, been rudely and treacherously interrupted by a resort to force,
an unsuccessful attempt, known as the "incident," being made to kidnap
Argyll, Hamilton and Lanark. Argyll was mainly instrumental at this
crisis in keeping the national party faithful to what was to him
evidently the common cause, and in accomplishing the alliance with the
Long Parliament in 1643. In January 1644 he accompanied the Scottish
army into England as a member of the committee of both kingdoms and in
command of a troop of horse, but was soon in March compelled to return
to suppress royalist movements in the north and to defend his own
territories. He compelled Huntly to retreat in April, and in July
advanced to meet the Irish troops now landed in Argyllshire, which were
acting in conjunction with Montrose, who had put himself at the head of
the royalist forces in Scotland. A campaign followed in the north in
which neither general succeeded in obtaining any advantage over the
other, or even in engaging battle. Argyll then returned to Edinburgh,
threw up his commission, and retired to Inveraray Castle. Thither
Montrose unexpectedly followed him in December, compelled him to flee to
Roseneath, and devastated his territories. On the 2nd of February 1645,
when following Montrose northwards, Argyll was surprised by him at
Inverlochy and witnessed from his barge on the lake, to which he had
retired owing to a dislocated arm, a fearful slaughter of his troops,
which included 1500 of the Campbells. He arrived at Edinburgh on the
12th of February and was again present at Montrose's further great
victory on the 15th of August at Kilsyth, whence he escaped to
Newcastle. Argyll was at last delivered from his formidable antagonist
by Montrose's final defeat at Philiphaugh on the 12th of September. In
1646 he was sent to negotiate with the king at Newcastle after his
surrender to the Scottish army, when he endeavoured to moderate the
demands of the parliament and at the same time to persuaade the king to
accept them. On the 7th of July 1646 he was appointed a member of the
Assembly of Divines.
Up to this point the statesmanship of Argyll had been highly successful.
The national liberties and religion of Scotland had been defended and
guaranteed, and the power of the king in Scotland reduced to a mere
shadow. In addition, these privileges had been still further secured by
the alliance with the English opposition, and by the subsequent triumph
of the parliament and Presbyterianism in the neighbouring kingdom. The
sovereign himself, after vainly contending in arms, was a prisoner in
their midst. But Argyll's influence could not survive the rupture of the
alliance between the two nations on which his whole policy was
constructed. He opposed in vain the secret treaty now concluded between
the king and the Scots against the parliament, and while Hamilton
marched into England and was defeated by Cromwell at Preston, Argyll,
after a narrow escape from a surprise at Stirling, joined the
Whiggamores, a body of Covenanters at Edinburgh; and, supported by
London, Leven and Leslie, he established a new government, which
welcomed Cromwell on his arrival there on the 4th of October. This
alliance, however, was at once destroyed by the execution of Charles I.,
which excited universal horror in Scotland. In the series of tangled
incidents which followed, Argyll lost control of the national policy. He
describes himself at this period as "a distracted man ... in a
distracted time" whose "remedies ... had the quite contrary operation."
He supported the invitation from the Covenanters to Charles II. to land
in Scotland, gazed upon the captured Montrose, bound on a cart on his
way to execution at Edinburgh, and subsequently, when Charles II. came
to Scotland, having signed the Covenant and repudiated Montrose, Argyll
remained at the head of the administration. After the defeat of Dunbar,
Charles retained his support by the promise of a dukedom and the Garter,
and an attempt was made by Argyll to marry the king to his daughter. On
the 1st of January 1651 he placed the crown on Charles's head at Scone.
But his power had now passed to the Hamilton party. He strongly opposed,
but was unable to prevent, the expedition into England, and in the
subsequent reduction of Scotland, after having held out in Inveraray
Castle for nearly a year, was at last surprised in August 1652 and
submitted to the Commonwealth. His ruin was then complete. His policy
had failed, his power had vanished. In his estate he was hopelessly in
debt, and on terms of such violent hostility with his eldest son as to
be obliged to demand a garrison in his house for his protection. During
his visit to Monk at Dalkeith in 1654 to complain of this, he was
subjected to much personal insult from his creditors, and on visiting
London in September 1655 to obtain money due to him from the Scottish
parliament, he was arrested for debt, though soon liberated. In Richard
Cromwell's parliament of 1659 Argyll sat as member for Aberdeenshire. At
the Restoration he presented himself at Whitehall, but was at once
arrested by order of Charles and placed in the Tower (1660), being sent
to Edinburgh to stand his trial for high treason. He was acquitted of
complicity in the death of Charles I., and his escape from the whole
charge seemed imminent, but the arrival of a packet of letters written
by Argyll to Monk showed conclusively his collaboration with Cromwell's
government, particularly in the suppression of Glencairn's royalist
rising in 1652. He was immediately sentenced to death, his execution by
beheading taking place on the 27th of May 1661, before even the death
warrant had been signed by the king. His head was placed on the same
spike upon the west end of the Tolbooth on which that of Montrose had
previously been exposed, and his body was buried at the Holy Loch, where
the head was also deposited in 1664. A monument was erected to his
memory in St Giles's church in Edinburgh in 1895.
While imprisoned in the Tower he wrote _Instructions to a Son_ (1661;
reprinted in 1689 and 1743). Some of his speeches, including the one
delivered on the scaffold, were published and are printed in the
_Harleian Miscellany_. He married Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of
William, 2nd earl of Morton, and had two sons and four daughters.
See also the _Life and Times of Archibald Marquis of Argyll_ (1903),
by John Willcock, who prints for the first time the six incriminating
letters to Monk; _Eng. Hist. Review_, xviii. 369 and 624; _Scottish
History Society_, vol. xvii. (1894); _Charles II. and Scotland in
1650_, ed. by S.R. Gardiner, and vol. xviii. (1895); _History of
Scotland_, by A. Lang, vol. iii. (1904).
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, 9th earl of Argyll (1629-1685), eldest son of the
8th earl, studied abroad, and at the age of thirteen was appointed
captain in the Scottish regiment serving in France under his uncle the
earl of Irvine. He returned home at the close of 1649, and was made
captain of Charles II.'s life guards on the king's arrival in Scotland
in 1650. He declared himself a royalist in opposition to his father,
with the view, as some said, of securing the family estates in any
event. He fought at Dunbar on the 3rd of September 1650, and after the
battle of Worcester joined Glencairn in the Highlands. Bitter disputes
arose, and on the 2nd of January 1654 Lorne, quitting his troops, fled
to avoid arrest. In 1653 he submitted to Monk. He appears, however, to
have maintained communications with Charles, and on his refusal to take
the oath renouncing allegiance to the Stuarts in 1657 he was imprisoned,
remaining in confinement probably till a short time before the
Restoration. He was then well received at court by Charles II. After the
execution of his father, he endeavoured to obtain the restitution of his
forfeited estates and title, but having incautiously attacked certain
members of the government in letters which were made public, he was
indicted at Edinburgh on the capital charge of "leasing-making" and was
sentenced to death on the 26th of August. He remained a prisoner in
Edinburgh Castle till the 4th of June 1663, when the sentence was
cancelled and he was re-created earl and restored to his estates. He
disapproved of the severities practised upon the Covenanters in the
west, and in 1671 pleaded for milder methods. His staunch Protestantism
rendered him exceedingly obnoxious to James, duke of York, who in 1680
arrived as high commissioner in Scotland and at once expressed his
jealousy of Argyll's immense territorial influence. Argyll moved the
re-enactment of "all the acts against popery" omitted on James's
account, and opposed the exemption of the royal family from the test,
though allowing it in the case of James. In signing the test himself, in
its final form both ambiguous and self-contradictory, he made the
reservation "so far as consistent with itself and the Protestant faith,"
and declined to engage himself not to promote any alteration of
advantage in church or state. On his refusal to record his oath in
writing and to sign it, he was dismissed from the Scottish privy
council, and on the 9th of November 1681 was accused of treason, a
charge which Halifax declared openly in England "they would not hang a
dog upon." A trial followed, a scandalous exhibition of illegality and
injustice, at the close of which Argyll was sentenced to death and to
the forfeiture of his estates. Shortly afterwards, through the
instrumentality of his step-daughter, Sophia Lindsay, he succeeded in
making his escape, and after some adventures retired to Holland. His
subsequent movements are uncertain, but he appears to have again
visited London, and was in correspondence with the Rye House plotters
and proposing to head a rebellion in Scotland in 1683. In 1685 he joined
the conspiracy in Holland to set Monmouth on the throne instead of James
II., arriving in Orkney on the 6th of May and making his way to his own
country. But his clansmen refused to join him, and whatever small
chances of success remained were destroyed by constant and paralysing
disputes. His ships and ammunition were captured, and after some aimless
wanderings he found himself deserted, with but one companion, Major
Fullerton. On the 18th of June he was taken prisoner at Inchinnan and
arrived at Edinburgh on the 20th, where he was paraded through the
streets and put in irons in the castle. James ordered his summary
execution on the 29th, and it was carried out by beheading on the
following day, on the old charge of 1681. His head was exposed on the
west side of the Tollbooth, where his father's and Montrose's had also
been exhibited, his body finding its final place of burial at Inveraray.
By his first wife, Lady Mary Stewart, daughter of the 4th earl of Moray
(Murray), he had four sons and three daughters.
See _Argyll Papers_ (1834); _Letters from Archibald, 9th Earl of
Argyle, to the Duke of Lauderdale_ (1829); _Hist. MSS. Comm_. vi. Rep.
606; _Life of Mr Donald Cargile_, by P. Walker, pp. 45 et seq.; _The
3rd Part of the Protestant Plot ... and a Brief Account of the Case of
the Earl of Argyle_ (1682); Sir George MacKenzie's _Hist. of
Scotland_, p. 70; and J. Willcock, _A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times_
(1908).
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, 1st duke of Argyll (?1651-1703), was the eldest son
of the 9th earl. He tried to get his father's attainder reversed by
seeking the king's favour, but being unsuccessful he went over to the
Hague and joined William of Orange as an active promoter of the
revolution of 1688. In spite of the attainder, he was admitted in 1689
to the convention of the Scottish estates as earl of Argyll, and he was
deputed, with Sir James Montgomery and Sir John Dalrymple, to present
the crown to William III. in its name, and to tender him the coronation
oath. In 1690 an act was passed restoring his title and estates, and it
was in connexion with the refusal of the Macdonalds of Glencoe to join
in the submission to him that he organized the terrible massacre which
has made his name notorious. In 1696 he was made a lord of the treasury,
and his political services were rewarded in 1701 by his being created
duke of Argyll. He had two sons by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
Lionel Talmash, John (the 2nd duke) and Archibald (the 3rd duke.)
JOHN CAMPBELL, 2nd duke of Argyll and duke of Greenwich (1678-1743), was
born on the 10th of October 1678. He entered the army in 1694, and in
1701 was promoted to the command of a regiment. On the death of his
father in 1703, he was appointed a member of the privy council, and at
the same time colonel of the Scotch horse guards, and one of the
extraordinary lords of session. In return for his services in promoting
the Union, he was created (1705) a peer of England, by the titles of
baron of Chatham and earl of Greenwich, and in 1710 was made a knight of
the Garter. He first distinguished himself in a military capacity at the
battle of Oudenarde (1708), where he served as a brigadier-general; and
was afterwards present under the duke of Marlborough at the sieges of
Lille, Ghent, Bruges and Tournay, and did remarkable service at the
battle of Malplaquet in 1709. He was very popular with the troops, and
his rivalry with Marlborough on this account is thought to have been the
cause of the enmity shown by Argyll afterwards to his old commander. In
1711 he was sent to take command in Spain; but being seized with a
violent fever at Barcelona, and disappointed of supplies from home, he
returned to England. Having a seat in the House of Lords, and being
gifted with an extraordinary power of oratory, he censured the measures
of the ministry with such freedom that all his places were disposed of
to other noblemen; but at the accession of George I. he recovered his
influence. On the breaking out of the rebellion in 1715 he was appointed
commander-in-chief of the forces in North Britain, and was principally
instrumental in effecting the total extinction of the rebellion in
Scotland without much bloodshed. He arrived in London early in March
1716, and at first stood high in the favour of the king, but in a few
months was strippee of his offices. This disgrace, however, did not
deter him from the discharge of his parliamentary duties; he supported
the bill for the impeachment of Bishop Atterbury, and lent his aid to
his countrymen by opposing the bill for punishing the city of Edinburgh
for the Porteous riot. In the beginning of the year 1719 he was again
admitted into favour, appointed lord steward of the household, and, in
April following, created duke of Greenwich; he held various offices in
succession, and in 1735 was made a field marshall. He continued in the
administration till after the accession of George II., when, in April
1740, a violent speech against the government led again to his dismissal
from office. He was soon restored on a change of the ministry, but
disapproving the measures of the new administration, and apparently
disappointed at not being given the command of the army, he shortly
resigned all his posts, and spent the rest of his life in privacy and
retirement. He died on the 4th of October 1743. A monument by Roubillac
was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey. He was twice married,
and by his second wife, Jane Warburton, had five daughters; his Scottish
titles passed to his brother, but his English titles became extinct, and
though his eldest daughter was created baroness of Greenwich in 1767
this title also became extinct on her death in 1794.
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, 3rd duke of Argyll (1682-1761), was born at Ham
House in Surrey, in June 1682. On his father being created a duke, he
joined the army, and served for a short time under the duke of
Marlborough. In 1705 he was appointed treasurer of Scotland, and in the
following year was one of the commissioners for treating of the Union;
on the consummation of which, having been raised to the peerage of
Scotland as earl of Islay, he was chosen one of the sixteen peers for
Scotland in the first parliament of Great Britain. In 1711 he was called
to the privy council, and commanded the royal army at the battle of
Sheriffmuir in 1715. he was appointed keeper of the privy seal in 1721,
and was afterwards entrusted with the principal management of Scottish
affairs to an extent which caused him to be called "king of Scotland."
In 1733 he was made keeper of the great seal, an office which he held
till his death. He succeeded to the dukedom in 1743. Both as earl of
Islay and as duke of Argyll he was prominently connected (with Duncan
Forbes of Culloden) with the movement for consolidating Scottish loyalty
by the formation of locally recruited highland regiments. The duke was
eminent not only for his political abilities, but also for his literary
accomplishments, and he collected one of the most valuable private
libraries in Great Britain. He died suddenly on the 15th of April 1761.
He was married but had no legitimate issue, and his English property was
left to a Mrs Williams, by whom he had a son, William Campbell.
The succession now passed to the descendants of the younger son of the
9th earl, the Campbells of Mamore; the 4th duke died in 1770, and was
succeeded by his son JOHN, the 5th duke (1723-1806) He was a soldier who
had fought at Dettingen and Culloden, and became colonel of the 42nd
regiment (Black Watch), and eventually a field marshall. He sat in the
House of Commons for Glasgow from 1744 to 1761, when on his father's
succession to the dukedom he became legally disqualified, as courtesy
marquess of Lorne, for a Scottish constituency; he could sit, however,
for an English one, and was returned for Dover, which he represented
till 1766, when he was created an English peer as Baron Sundridge, the
title by which till 1892 the dukes of Argyll sat in the House of Lords.
The 5th duke was an active landlord, and was the first president of the
Highland and Agricultural Society. In 1759 he had married the widowed
duchess of Hamilton (the beautiful Elizabeth Gunning), by whom he had
two sons and two daughters. The eldest of his sons, GEORGE (d. 1841),
became 6th duke, and on his death was succeeded as 7th duke by his
brother JOHN (1777-1847), who from 1799-1822 sat in parliament as member
for Argyllshire. He was thrice married, and by his second wife, Joan
Glassell (d. 1828), had two sons, the eldest of whom (b. 1821) died in
1837, and two daughters, the second of whom died in infancy.
GEORGE JOHN DOUGLAS CAMPBELL, 8th duke (1823-1900), the second son of
the 7th duke, was born on the 30th of April 1823, and succeeded his
father in April 1847. He had already obtained notice as a writer of
pamphlets on the disruption of the Church of Scotland, which he strove
to avert, and he rapidly became prominent on the Liberal side in
parliamentary politics. He was a frequent and eloquent speaker in the
House of Lords, and sat as lord privy seal (1852) and postmaster-general
(1855) in the cabinets of Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmerston. In Mr
Gladstone's cabinet of 1868 he was secretary of state for India, and
somewhat infelicitously signalized his term of office by his refusal,
against the advice of the Indian government, to promise the amir of
Afghanistan support against Russian aggression, a course which threw
that ruler into the arms of Russia and was followed by the second Afghan
War. His eminence alike as a great Scottish noble, and as a British
statesman, was accentuated in 1871 when his son, the marquess of Lorne,
married Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria; but in
the political world few memorable acts on his part call for record
except his resignation of the office of lord privy seal, which he held
in Mr Gladstone's administration of 1880, from his inability to assent
to the Irish land legislation of 1881. He opposed the Home Rule Bill
with equal vigour, though Mr Gladstone subsequently stated that, among
all the old colleagues who dissented from his course, the duke was the
only one whose personal relations with him remained entirely unchanged.
Detached from party, the duke took an independent position, and for many
years spoke his mind with great freedom in letters to _The Times_ on
public questions, especially such as concerned the rights or interests
of landowners. He was no less active on scientific questions in their
relation to religion, which he earnestly strove to reconcile with the
progress of discovery. With this aim he published _The Reign of Law_
(1866), _Primeval Man_ (1869), _The Unity of Nature_ (1884), _The Unseen
Foundations of Society_ (1893), and other essays. He also wrote on the
Eastern question, with especial reference to India, the history and
antiquities of Iona, patronage in the Church of Scotland, and many other
subjects. The duke (to whose Scottish title was added a dukedom of the
United Kingdom in 1892) died on the 24th of April 1900. He was thrice
married: first (1844) to a daughter of the second duke of Sutherland (d.
1878); secondly (1881) to a daughter of Bishop Claughton of St Albans
(d. 1894); and thirdly (1895) to Ina Erskine M'Neill. Few men of the
duke's era displayed more versatility of intellect, and he was
remarkable among the men of his time for his lofty eloquence.
He was succeeded as 9th duke by his eldest son JOHN DOUGLAS SUTHERLAND
CAMPBELL (1845- ), whose marriage in 1871 to H.R.H. Princess Louise gave
him a special prominence in English public life. He was governor-general
of Canada from 1878 to 1883; member of parliament for South Manchester,
in the Unionist interest, 1895 to 1900; and he also became known as a
writer both in prose and verse. In 1907 he published his reminiscences,
_Pages from the Past_.
See the _Autobiography and Memoirs_ of the 8th duke, edited by his
widow (1906), which is full of interesting historical and personal
detail. (P. C. Y.; H. Ch.)