CAMPBELL, ARCHIBALD, Earl and Marquis of Argyll, was the son of Archibald Earl of Argyll and Lady Anne Douglas daughter of William Earl of Morton. He was born in the year 1598, and educated in the principles of the Reformed religion, of which his ancestors had been zealous promoters. When his father, however, renounced Protestantism and declared himself a Papist, the young earl was put in possession of his patrimonial estates by order of government, and quickly promoted to places of trust and power. From the commencement of his political career he espoused the cause of the Presbyterian party, and defended the Covenanters when summoned to London to give his opinion of their proceedings before the king. In 1638 he remained with the General Assembly after it had been dissolved by the king's commissioner, and with the other nobility and gentry signed the Solemn League and Covenant in defence of the national liberties. Having thus openly committed himself to the Presbyterian cause, he took a prominent part in the various civil and military transactions of the following years. (See BRITAIN, p. 395, et seq.) Having gone to London in the year 1660, he was arrested and thrown into prison. In the following year he was tried for high treason, and, principally on ground of treasonable correspondence with Monk expressing concurrence with his government, he was condemned to death and executed on the 25th of May. He took a cheerful leave of his friends before ascending the scaffold, saying, "I could die like a Roman, but choose rather to die as a Christian;" and kneeling down, he received the fatal blow with the greatest calmness.