Breadalbane had gone up to London at Christmas in order to give an account of his stewardship.

There he met his kinsman Argyle.
Argyle was, in personal qualities, one of the most insignificant of the long line of nobles who have borne that great name.

He was the descendant of eminent men, and the parent of eminent men.

He was the grandson of one of the ablest of Scottish politicians; the son of one of the bravest and most truehearted of Scottish patriots; the father of one Mac Callum More renowned as a warrior and as an orator, as the model of every courtly grace, and as the judicious patron of arts and letters, and of another Mac Callum More distinguished by talents for business and command, and by skill in the exact sciences.

Both of such an ancestry and of such a progeny Argyle was unworthy.