■WILLIAM AND MAEY. 265

and honours to the House of Stair. The son promptly changed chap.sides, and cooperated ably and zealously with the father. SirJames established himself in London for the purpose of givingadvice to William on Scotch affairs. Sir John’s post was in theParliament House at Edinburgh. He was not likely to findany equal among the debaters there, and'was prepared toexert all his powers against the dynasty which he had latelyserved.*

By the large party which was zealous for the Calvinisticchurch government John Dalrymple was regarded with incu-rable distrust and dislike. It was therefore necessary that an-other agent should be employed to manage that party. Such Melville,an agent was George Melville, Lord Melville, a nobleman con-nected by affinity with the unfortunate Monmouth, and withthat Leslie who had unsuccessfully commanded the Scotcharmy against Cromwell at Dunbar. Melville had always beenaccounted a Whig and a Presbyterian. Those who speak ofhim most favourably have not ventured to ascribe to him emi-nent intellectual endowments or exalted public spirit. Buthe ap-pears from his letters to have been by no means deficient in thathomely prudence the want of which has often been fatal to menof brighter genius and of purer virtue. That prudence had re-strained him from going very far in opposition to the tyranny ofthe Stuarts: but he had listened while his fronds talked aboutresistance, and therefore, when the Rye House plot was dis-covered, thought it expedient to retire to the Continent. In hisabsence he was accused of treason, and was convicted on evi-

* As to the Dalrymples, see the Lord President’s own writings, andamong them his Vindication of the Divine Perfections; Wodrow’s Analecta;Douglas’s Peerage; Lockhart’s Memoirs; the Satyre on the Familie ofStairs; the Satyric Lines upon the long wished for and timely Death of theRight Honourable Lady Stairs; Law’s Memorials; and the HyndfordPapers, written in 170$ and printed with the Letters of Carstairs. Lock-hart, though a mortal enemy of John Dalrymple, says, “There was none inthe parliament capable to take up the cudgels with him.’*