House of Argyll and the collateral branches of the clan Campbell, from the year 420 to the present time

HOUSE OF AEGYLL. 51
by sound of trumpet, he behaved with great firmness
and constancy, as well as calmness and dignity, by
raising his eyes to Heaven and addressing his judges :
— " I had the honour to set the Crown upon the King's
head, and now he hastens me to a better Crown than
his own. You have the indemnity of an earthly king
in your hands, and have denied me a share in that, but
you cannot hinder me from the indemnity of the King
of Kings, and shortly you must come before his tri-
bunal. I pray He mete not out such measure to you
as you have done to me, when you are called to an
account for all your actions, and this among the rest."*
Those who passed sentence upon him did not think fit
to sign a dead warrant, so that in the letter of the law,
as well as in the eye of reason, this could be accounted
no better than a murder committed with much form, f
He behaved on the scaffold with the intrepidity of a
hero, or rather with the constancy of a Christian. His
last words were — " I desire you, gentlemen, and all
that hear me, again to take notice and remember that
now, when I am entering on eternity, and am to appear
before my Judge, and as I desire salvation and expect
eternal happiness from Him, I am free from any acces-
sion, by knowledge, contriving, counsel, or any other
* Canute's Chronicle, p. 451. Wodrow's Church History, p. 53.
State Trials, vol. ii., p. 434. Heath's Chronicle, p. 497. Edward's
History, p. 793.
f Wodrow's Church History, vol. i., pp. 56 and 57.