Historical and genealogical memoirs of the House of Hamilton

OF THE HOUSE OF HAMILTON. 149
vention of Estates. This Convention met at Edinburgh, 14th March anne, duchess
1689, and the Duke was chosen president of that meeting, which de- OF hamilti
dared the throne vacant, and tendered the crown to King William and
Queen Mary, who were accordingly proclaimed. The Convention being
turned into a Parliament, the Duke of Hamilton was constituted their
Majesties' Lord High Commissioner thereto in June 1689. His Grace
had the office of President of the Council and High Admiral of Scotland,
— was again High Commissioner to the Parliament which met 18th April
1693, — and, on the 19th December following, appointed an Extraor-
dinary Lord of Session, being then in London ; from whence returning
in March 1694, he died, at the Abbey of Holyroodhouse, on the 18th
April same year, in the 60thyear of his age, and was buried at Hamilton,
where a monument is erected to his memory, with a long inscription,
printed in Crawford's Peerage.
According to Burnet, he was not of polished manners, — he was rough,
but candid and sincere. His temper was boisterous, — less calculated to sub-
mit than to govern. He wrote well but spoke ill, — for his judgment, when
calm, was better than his imagination. He made himself a great master in
the knowledge of the laws, of the history, and of the families of Scotland,
and seemed always to have a regard to justice and the good of his country.
Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, a lady of great constancy of mind, even-
ness of temper, solidity of judgment, and unaffected piety, survived her hus-
band many years. Her Grace resigned her titles into the hands of King
William, 9th July 1698, in favour of her eldest son, the Earl of Arran, who
was accordingly created Duke of Hamilton, with the original precedency.
The King of France, not unmindful of the services the Hamiltons had
rendered his predecessors at different periods, engaged that justice should
be done to the family concerning the Duchy of Chatelherault, granted to
the Earl of Arran when Regent of Scotland and tutor to Queen Mary ;
vide the 22d article of the Treaty of Utrecht, quoted in note below.*
* " Spondet insuper Rex Cliristianissi- " Le Roy, T. C. promet encore qu'il fera
mus quod Genti Hamiltonianse super Du- incessament apres la paix faite, /aire droit
catu de Chatelraut ; Duci de Richmond a la famille a" Hamilton au sujet da Ducke
super lis quae in Gallia petenda habet, ut de Chatelherault; au Due de Richemont
et Domino Carolo de Douglas, circa fun- sur les pretentions qu'il a en France, comme
dos quosdam ab ipso repetendos, aliisque, aussi auSr. Charles Douglas touchant quel-
post pacem initam, jus quam primum fieri ques terres en fonds qu'ils repete, et a d'au-
faciet." tres particuliers."
From the " Actes, Memoires, et autres Pieces Authentiques concernant la paix Utrecht, tome ii. p. SOS. A
Utrecht 1714." 22d Article of the Treaty, 11th April 1713.
T