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Campbell
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Campbell

islands had once been buried under snow and ice. As the evidence accumulated in demonstration of this conclusion, the vigour of the duke's protest against its growing acceptance seemed to augment in proportion. The universality and significance of the polished and striated rock-surfaces were never recognised by him, so that to the end he clung to the belief, long since abandoned by the great body of geologists, that the marks of glaciation are local and one-sided and can quite well be accounted for by local glaciers and floating ice.

The third domain of scientific inquiry into which the duke boldly plunged as a controversial critic was that of the evolution of organised creatures. From the first he was strongly opposed to Darwinian views. The strength of his convictions led him to pen many articles and letters in the journals of the day, and to engage in polemics with such doughty antagonists as Mr. Herbert Spencer and Thomas Henry Huxley [q. v. Suppl.] It may be admitted that the keen critical faculty of a practised debater enabled him to detect a weak part here and there in his adversary's armour and to take full advantage of it. But here again, in the broader aspects of the subject, he seemed to labour under some disqualification for framing in his mind and reproducing in words an accurate picture of the chain of reasoning that had led his opponents to their conclusions. To him the modern doctrines of evolution were deserving of earnest reprobation for their materialism and their want of logical coherence. With energy and often with eloquence he maintained that the phenomena of the living world and the history of life in the geological past are inexplicable except on the assumption that the apparent upward progress and evolution have from the beginning been planned and directed by mind. On the basis of this fundamental postulate he was willing to become an evolutionist, though with various reserves and qualifications.

Though the Duke of Argyll can hardly be ranked as a man of science, he undoubtedly exerted a useful influence on the scientific progress of his day. His frequent controversies on scientific questions roused a wide-spread interest in these subjects, and thus helped to further the advance of the departments which he subjected to criticism. It is perhaps too soon to judge finally of the value of this criticism. There can be no doubt, however, that it was in itself stimulating, even to those who were most opposed to it. A prominent public man, immersed in politics and full of the cares of a great estate, who finds his recreation in scientific inquiry, must be counted among the beneficent influences of his time.

The duke began his writings on scientific subjects in 1850, and continued them almost to the end of his life. They include various papers and addresses read before learned societies or communicated to popular journals; likewise a few independent works consisting partly of essays already published. Of these works the more notable are: 'The Reign of Law ' (1867; 5th ed. 1870), 'Primeval Man' (1869), ' The Unity of Nature' (1884), and 'Organic Evolution cross-examined' (1898).

Besides his scientific works, Argyll was author of the following works on religion and politics:

  1. 'Presbytery Examined,' London, 1848, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1849; this evoked many replies.
  2. 'India under Dalhousie and Canning,' London, I860, 8vo.
  3. 'Iona,' London, 1870, 8vo; new edit. Edinburgh, 1889, 8vo.
  4. 'Essay on the Commercial Principles applicable to Contracts for the Hire of Land ' (published by the Cobden Club), London, 1877, 8vd'.
  5. 'The Eastern Question,' London, 1879, 2 vols. 8vo.
  6. 'Crofts and Farms in the Hebrides,' Edinburgh, 1883, 8vo.
  7. 'Scotland as it was and as it is,' Edinburgh, 1887, 2 vols. 8vo; 2nd edit, same year.
  8. 'The New British Constitution and its Master Builders,' Edinburgh, 1888, 8vo.
  9. 'The Highland Nurse; a tale,' London, 1892, 8vo.
  10. 'Irish Nationalism: an Appeal to History,' London, 1893, 8vo.
  11. 'The Unseen Foundations of Society,' London, 1893, 8vo.
  12. 'Application of the Historical Method to Economic Science,' London, 1894, 8vo.
  13. 'The Burdens of Belief and other Poems,' London, 1894, 8vo.
  14. 'Our Responsibilities for Turkey: Facts and Memories of Forty Years,' London, 1896, 8vo.
  15. 'The Philosophy of Belief; or, Law in Christian Theology,' London, 1896, 8vo.

The duke also published many speeches, lectures, addresses, letters, and articles in magazines and reviews on religious and political topics.

[The Duke of Argyll wrote a private memoir of his career for publication; it is now in the hands of the Dowager Duchess of Argyll and Viscount Peel as trustees. This article is based on Hansard, memoirs appearing on the day subsequent to his death in the Times, Standard, Daily Telegraph, and other leading papers; as well as on his own works and private information from former colleagues and friends.]

CAMPBELL, JAMES DYKES (1838–1895), biographer of Coleridge, born at Port Glasgow on 2 Nov. 1838, was second son and third child of Peter Campbell. His