Modern Literature. vols. A Novel. 1804, 3 vols. 12mo. BLACK, a name, like Brown, White, &c., originally given, when surnames began to be first used, which in Scotland was not till about the beginning of the twelfth century, to persons in the middle or lower ranks who had no lands, from the colour of the visage or hair, or some peculiarity in the mental or personal character, and when the surname was not assumed from a trade or occupation, as Smith, Cook, Hunter, &c., or from the name of the father, with the addition of son, as Williamson, Johnson, Robertson, &c. of the late War; to which is prefixed, a View of the progres- | This important discovery, with that of latent heat, sive Improvement of England, in Prosperity and Strength, for which we are also indebted to Dr. Black, laid to the accession of his Majesty. Lond. 1804, 6 vols. 8vo. the foundation of modern pneumatic chemistry, An edition of the Spectator, with lives of the authors, in 6 which has opened to the investigation of the philosopher a fourth kingdom of nature, viz. the gaseous kingdom. In 1755 he published his 'Experiments on Magnesia, Quicklime, and other Alkaline Substances,' which more fully developed his views on the subject he had touched upon in his thesis. His opinions, of course, gave rise to considerable discussion, particularly in Germany, but he was enabled satisfactorily to answer and refute all objections. In 1756, Dr. Cullen having removed to Edinburgh, Dr. Black was appointed his successor, as professor of anaanatomy and lecturer on chemistry, in the university of Glasgow. The former chair he soon exchanged for that of medicine, for which he was better qualified. One of his pupils at Glasgow was Watt, the celebrated inventor of the improved steam-engine, who was led by Dr. Black's views and theories respecting the nature of steam, and particularly on the subject of evaporation, to make those great improvements which have been of so much benefit to science. Between the years 1759 and 1763, Dr. Black matured those speculations on latent heat which had for some time engaged his attention. An observation of Fahrenheit's, recorded by Dr. Boerhaave, that water would become considerably colder than melting snow, without freezing, and would freeze in a moment if disturbed, and in the act of freezing emit many degrees of heat, seems to have suggested to Dr. Black the notion that the heat received by ice during its conversion into water was not lost, but was contained in the water. The experiments by which he demonstrated the existence of what he termed latent heat in bodies will be found fully detailed in his 'Lectures.' The result of these he first read, in April 1762, to a select society in Glasgow, and afterwards before the Newtonian Society in Edinburgh. He remained in Glasgow, occasionally practising as a physician, till 1766, when Dr. Cullen being appointed professor of medicine in Edinburgh, Dr. Black was removed to the chemical chair in that university, where he continued for about thirty years. He contributed a paper to the Philosophical Transactions of BLACK, JOSEPH, M.D., the founder of pneumatic chemistry, though not a native of Scotland, was of Scottish descent, and long resided in this country. He was born on the banks of the Garonne in France in 1728. His father, John Black, who was a native of Belfast, but of a Scottish family, had settled at Bordeaux, as a wine merchant, and lived in intimacy with the celebrated Montesquieu, who expressed his regret in strong terms on Mr. Black's quitting Bordeaux, when he retired from business, as appears by several of his letters. His mother was a daughter of Mr. Robert Gordon of Hillhead, Aberdeenshire, and by her Dr. Black was nearly related to the wives of Dr. Adam Fergusson and Mr. James Russell, professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. In 1740, when he was twelve years old, he was sent to Belfast, to receive the rudiments of his education. In 1746 he entered as a student at the university of Glasgow, where Dr. Cullen the same year became professor of chemistry. He prosecuted his studies, particularly in physical science, with so much assiduity and success that he soon attracted the notice of this eminent man, who made him his assistant in all his chemical experiments. In 1751, having chosen the profession of medicine, to complete his medical studies he went to the university of Edinburgh, at that time rising into reputation as a medical school, where in 1754 he took the degree of M.D. His inaugural thesis on this occasion was entitled 'De Acido a Cibis orto, et de Magnesia Alba,' in which was contained an outline of his celebrated discovery of fixed air, or carbonic acid gas; which he now, for the first time, showed to be the true cause of the causticity of alkalies. London,' for 1774, entitled Observations on the | Dr. Black was of a cheerful and sociable disposimore ready freezing of water that has been boiled.' tion, and, as his mind was well stored with inforThe only other paper written by him was pub- mation, he was, at all times, an entertaining comlished in the second volume of the Transactions panion. His company was therefore much courted, of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,' being an An- and as his circumstances were affluent, he dedialysis of the Waters of some boiling Springs in cated as much time to the pleasures of society as Iceland,' in which he found a considerable quan- was consistent with his avocations. He left the tity of silica. The following portrait of Dr. Black principal part of his fortune, which is said to is engraved from the painting by Sir Henry Rae- have been considerable, among the children of his burn: brothers and sisters. After his death his Lectures Dr. Black was never married. He long resided in the house in Nicholson Street, Edinburgh, which now forms the Blind Asylum. He was simple in his habits, and very abstemious in his diet. He died suddenly November 26, 1799, while sitting at table with his usual fare, viz., some bread, a few prunes, and a measured quantity of milk diluted with water. Having the cup in his hand, feeling the approach of death, he set it carefully down on his knees, which were joined together, and kept it steady in his hand, in the manner of a person perfectly at ease; and in this attitude expired, out spilling a drop, and without a writhe in his countenance, as if an experiment had been wanted to show to his friends the facility with which he departed. He was in the 71st year of his age. on Chemistry' were published from his notes in 2 vols. 4to, by his friend and colleague, Dr. Robison, late professor of natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh.-Thomson's History of Chemistry. -Scots Mag. for 1803. Subjoined is a catalogue of the works of Dr. Black: Experiments on Magnesia Alba, Quick Lime, and other Alkaline Substances; to which is added, An Essay on Cold, produced by Evaporating Fluids, and some other means of producing Cold, by Dr. Cullen. Edinburgh, 1776-82, 12mo. All these Papers were previously published in the Essays Physical and Literary, vol. ii. p. 157. The Supposed Effect of Boiling on Water, in disposing it to freeze more readily; ascertained by Experiment. Phil. Trans. Abr. xiii. 610. 1775. An Analysis of the Waters of some Hot-Springs in Iceland. Ed. Phil. Trans. iii. Part. ii. 95. 1794. Lectures on the Elements of Chemistry, delivered in the University of Edinburgh, by the late Joseph Black, M.D., now published from his Manuscripts, by John Robison, LL.D. Edin. 1803, 2 vols. 4to. BLACKADDER, a surname derived from lands on the stream of that name in the Merse division of Berwickshire. The true meaning of the word is Blackwater, adder, from the Cainbro-British awedur, signifying a running water.' When applied to the stream, the word is usually pronounced, and sometimes written, Blackater. der, who possessed the lands of Tulliallan in Perthshire. The ruins of the old castle of Tulliallan, which formerly belonged to them, are still standing. The modern castle of that name belongs to the baroness Keith, by marriage Countess Flahaut There was an ancient family named Blacader, or Blackad in France. The original family was Blackadder of that ilk in Berwickshire, who distinguished themselves in the Border feuds so with-early as the minority of James the Second, towards the middle of the fifteenth century. They received the lands whence they derived their name from that monarch, conferred as a reward for defending the eastern frontier against the incursions of the English. Beatrice, eldest daughter of one of the two portioners of Robert Blackadder of Blackadder, married John Home, fourth of the seven sons of Sir David Home of Wedderburn, so well known in border song as "the seven spears of Wedderburn," and thereby got the estate of Blackadder. This marriage, however, was brought about in a very violent manner on the part of the Homes, with the view of acquiring the lands of Blackadder, having, by rapacity and fraud, appropriated to themselves, in course of time, the greater part of Berwickshire. The person on whom James the Second conferred the lands, and who from them took the surname of Blackadder, as a reward for military services, was named Cuthbert, styled the "Chieftain of the South." The royal grant is dated in 1452. On his expeditions against the English who crossed the borders for plunder he was accompanied by his seven sons who, from the darkness of their complexion, were called the "Black band of the Blackadders." [Writs of the Family, quoted in Crichton's Life of the Rev. John Blackadder.] When the country required to be put in a posture of defence against the preparations of Edward the Fourth, the Blackadders raised a body from among their kindred and retainers, the Elliots, Armstrongs, Johnstons, and other hardy and warlike borderers to the number of two hundred and seventeen men, all accoutred with jack and spear. Their castle, a fortress of some strength, was planted with artillery, and furnished with a garrison of twenty soldiers. [Ibid. Redpath's Border History.] Cuthbert and his sons joined the train of adventurers from Scotland, who had embarked in the wars of York and Lancaster, marshalling themselves under the banner of the Red Rose, and fighting for the earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry the Seventh, at Bosworth, where the father and three of his sons were left dead on the field. Andrew, the eldest of the surviving brothers, succeeded to the barony of Blackadder. Robert and Patrick entered into holy orders. The former became prior of Coldingham, the latter was made dean of Dunblane. The fourth brother, William, remained in England, where he obtained a title and opulent possessions. [Writs of the Family of Blackadder.] In memorial of their services at Bosworth, King James granted the family permission to carry on their shield the roses of York and Lancaster. It was afterwards quartered with the house of Edmonstone; field, azure; cheveron, argent; upper left hand, gules; crest, a dexter hand holding a broadsword; motto, 'Courage helps fortune.' Andrew Blackadder, the proprietor of the estate, married a daughter of the house of Johnston of Johnston, ancestor of the earls of Annandale, and had two sons, Robert and Patrick. Robert, the elder son, espoused Alison Douglas, fourth daughter of George, Master of Angus, and sister of Archibald, earl of Angus. He followed the standard of the Douglases at Flodden in 1513, and was slain with his father-in-law and two hundred gentlemen of the name of Douglas, on that disastrous field, leaving a widow and two daughters, Beatrix and Margaret, who, at the time, were mere children. [Redpath's Border History.] Of Patrick, the younger son, described as a man of chivalry, who obtained by marriage the estate of Tulliallan in Perthshire, the succeeding paragraph gives an account. From the unprotected state of Robert's daughters, the Homes of Wedderburn formed the design of seizing the lands of Blackadder, and the way in which they succeeded in their villanous project is but too illustrative of the manners of those rude times to be omitted, especially as by it the patrimonial estate of the Blackadders was for ever wrested from the rightful owners. They began by cutting off all within their reach, whose affinity was dreaded as an hereditary obstacle. They attacked Robert Blackadder, the prior of Coldingham, at the village of Lamberton, while following manner. the sports of the chase, and assassinated him and six of his attendants. [Leslie's Hist. of Scotland, p. 389. History of the Homes.] His brother, the dean of Dunblane, shared the same fate. Various others were despatched in a similar Patrick Blackadder, the cousin of the late prior, endeavoured to obtain the priory of Coldingham; but on the active interference of the Homes, it was bestowed on William Douglas, brother of the earl of Angus. They now assaulted the castle of Blackadder, where the widow and her two young daughters resided. The garrison refused to surrender, but the Homes succeeded in obtaining possession of the fortress, and seized the widow and her children, compelling them to marriage by force. Sir David Home of Wedderburn married the widow. The two daughters were contracted to his brothers, John and Robert, in 1518, and as they were then only in their eighth year, they were confined, by John Home, in the castle of Blackadder till they came of age. [Douglas' Peerage, vol. ii. p. 174.] The estate, however, had been entailed in the male line, and should have passed to Sir John Blackadder, then baron of Tulliallan, the cousin and tutor of the ladies, as nearest heir of tailzie. But the Homes, who obtained the sanction of the earl of Angus to marry his nieces, refused to quit possession of the lands, or deliver up the fortress. Sir John applied to the legislature for redress against them: but at that period there was no regular administration of justice in Scotland, and both parties had recourse to the sword During the long minority of James the Fifth, they were involved in mutual hostilities. Sir John Blackadder was beheaded in March 1531 for the murder of James Inglis, abbot of Culross, "because, when he was absent at Edinburgh, the said abbot gave ane tack above his head to the Lord Erskine of the lands of Balgownie." Happening to meet with him on his return, he resolved to be avenged. Both parties being of equal number, about sixteen horse, a rencontre took place, at the Lonhead of Rosyth, near Culross,' which ended in the slaughter of the abbot. Patrick, archdeacon of Glasgow, succeeded his brother in Tulliallan. He held also, by the king's special commission, the wardenship of Blackadder, to which he had been appointed, under warrant and command from the governor of Scotland. While archdeacon he had authority granted him by the Pope, in 1510, to visit all kirks and monasteries within the bounds of the see of Glasgow. He got also, in 1521, the priory of Coldingham, (which William Douglas had forcibly held,) by the king's seal, with consent of the duke of Albany, protector and governor of Scotland. In this office, he was succeeded by his brother, Adam Blackadder, abbot of Dundrennan in Galloway; the first worth two thousand pounds, the latter one thousand pounds a-year. For bearing Sir Patrick's expenses in travelling to France to procure these appointments from Albany, who was there at the time, the said Adam bound himself to pay three thousand pounds; for which he gave in pledge two massy silver cups, till the debt was discharged. [Writs of the Family, quoted in Crichton's Life of the Rev. John Blackadder.] Sir Patrick renewed the process against the Homes, for the recovery of Blackadder. Under pretence of submitting the dispute to friends, to have all differences settled in an amicable way, the Homes appointed a day to meet Sir Patrick at Edinburgh. Thither accordingly he repaired, without suspicion of treachery, having received warrant of safe convoy from Archibald, earl of Angus, under the great seal, and accompanied by a small retinue of domestics, fifteen or sixteen horsemen, who usually rode in his train, but was clandestinely waylaid by a body of fifty horse, that lay in ambush near the Dean, within a mile of Edinburgh. Being wellmounted, he made a gallant charge, and broke through the Baldrede Blacader, knychtes; Adam Blacader, Charlis Blacader, Dame Elizabeth Edmonstoune lady of Tullyallane, Patrick Blacader hir sone and aire, Margaret Blacader lady of Carnschallo, Johne Maxwel hir sone and aire, Master Johne Blacader, Persone of Kirkpatrick-Flemyng, Schir Patrik Blacader, Persone of Ranpatrik, Robert Blacader, sone and apperand aire to Andro Blacader of that ilk,' &c. ambuscade, killing several with his own hand. Overpowered | Blacader of that ilk, Schirris Johne Forman of Ruthirfurde, with numbers he fled, taking the road towards the West Port, fiercely pursued. On approaching the city, he was surprised by a fresh troop of horse, secretly posted in a hollow, where St. Cuthbert's church now stands. These joining in the pursuit, he made the best of his speed to gain the entrance by the Nether Bow, or the Canongate; but before he could reach the ford of the Loch a party of foot sallied out from another place of concealment to intercept him. Finding himself beset on all hands, he ventured to take the North Loch, near to the place called Wallace's tower (properly Well-house tower) on the Castle brae, when his horse becoming embogged, he and all his attendants were basely murdered. This was in the year 1526. Hume of Godscroft has recorded this affray, (Hist. of House of Angus, vol. ii. p. 86,) but he makes the archdeacon the aggressor. This was the last attempt that the Blackadders made to obtain redress. The estate of Blackadder, of which they were thus fraudulently dispossessed, remained in the family of Home. Both Hume and Buchanan, mistakenly, call Patrick archdeacon of Dunblane instead of Glasgow, and the brother of Robert heir of Blackadder, whereas he was his nephew. As above stated, Sir Patrick, younger son of Andrew Blackadder, acquired the lands of Tulliallan in Perthshire, by his marriage with Elizabeth, one of the daughters and coheirs of Sir James Edmonstone of Edmonstone. Her dowery was only half the lands, but Sir Walter Ogilvy, who had married her younger sister, "excambed his moiety with Sir Patrick, in 1493, for the thanedom of Boyne." Robert Blackadder, his son, was, in 1480, being then at Rome, with a public character from King James the Third, consecrated bishop of Aberdeen by Pope Sixtus the Fourth. In 1484 he was translated to the bishopric of Glasgow. He had so much favour at Rome that he obtained from the Pope the erection of the see of Glasgow into an archbishopric. He was frequently employed in the public transactions of the period with the English, and particularly in the year 1505. With the earl of Bothwell, and Andrew Forman, prior of Pittenweem, he negotiated the marriage between King James the Fourth and Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry the Seventh, which laid the foundation for the union of the two kingdoms of Scotland and England. He stood, likewise, with the earl of Bothwell, godfather to the young prince, who did not long survive. The archbishop died in 1508, while on a journey to the Holy Land. [Keith's Scottish Bishops, p. 254.] In the Appendix to Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, (vol. i. part i. page 100,) under date August 18, 1499, there is a Remission to Andro Blacatar of that Ilk and Niniane Nesbit, for the forthocht felony done be thaim apone Philip Nesbit of Wester Nesbit, and Johne, his brother, Patrick Nesbit in Mongois Wall, &c. And for the cruell slauchter of umquhile the said John Nesbit, and Philip Nesbit in Mongois Wall, apone forthocht felony committit: And for the spulzeing of thair gudis, &c. And of all crimes that in onywise may be imput to thaim for the committing of the said slauchter and forthocht felony, in the kingis palace and residence, quhare his hienes was personallie present.' In the same valuable work [Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, vol. i., part i., p. 41] is given in full, a special respite, granted by James the Fourth, on 28th August, 1504, in favour of the 'men, kin, tenentis, factouris, and servandis of Robert, archbishop of Glasgow, (then about to proceed to Rome on the king's business,) and especially for the slauchter of umquhile Thomas Ruthirfurde within the abbaye of Jedworthe.' Among the persons mentioned in the said 'Respuyt,' as taken under the special protection of the king in the archbishop's absence, are · Andro The name properly should be Blackader, but according to modern orthography it is usually spelled with two ds. Besides the noble family of Angus, the house of Blackadder formed intermarriages with the family of Graham, earls of Menteith, and Bruce of Clackmannan, whose line still survives in the earls of Elgin and Kincardine. "They espoused the part of the unfortunate Mary, and sided with the cavaliers in the parliamentary wars of Charles the First. There was a cadet of this family in the Spanish service, under Ludovic, earl of Crawford, and another served with Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, in his campaigns for the relief of the distressed protestants in Germany. One of their last lineal representatives raised a body of troops, and joined the earl of Glencairn, who, with some of the Highland chiefs, in 1653, assembled a considerable force in the north to repel the usurpations of Cromwell." [Crichton's Life and Diary of Col. J. Blackadder, p. 15.] The estate and castle of Tulliallan continued to be possessed by the Blackadders for five generations. The next baron after Sir Patrick was John. In 1532 he undertook a pilgrimage, probably to expiate his father's sacrilege, and during his stay beyond seas, King James granted a warrant of protection to all his domestics, tenants and vassals. He adhered to the interests of the ill-fated queen Mary, and an insurrection having taken place of some of the nobles who were discontented at her marriage with Darnley, she addressed a letter to him, with her own hand, "to meet her at Stirling, on the 13th of August, 1565, with his kin, friends, and household, to pursue the rebels, [as they were called,] who had directed their march southward." Disagreeing among themselves, however, the insurgent nobles durst not hazard an engagement with the queen's forces, but fled from Edinburgh, and took their way through Biggar to Dumfries, "the king all the while dogging them at their heels." This was called the Runaway Raid, or Wild Goose Chase. [Hist. of the House of Angus, vol. ii. page 155.] John Blackadder's son, Captain William Blackadder, was with the queen's army at Langside. After that event he was taken and executed, being also accused of having been concerned in the murder of Darnley. With three others, he was drawn backward on a cart to the cross of Edinburgh, and there hanged and quartered, on the 24th of June 1567. Roland Blackadder, subdean of Glasgow, was a younger brother of John. The next laird of Tulliallan was James Blackadder, who married Alison, daughter of Bruce of Clackmannan. His only son inherited his estate about 1602. The latter married Elizabeth Bruce of Balfouls, by whom he had Sir John Blackadder, born in 1596. He was, in 1626, created a baronet of Nova Scotia-a dignity which none of his posterity ever enjoyed. Being of a wasteful and extravagant turn he impoverished his estate, and retired to the Continent. He bore a commission for some time in the French guards, and died in America about 1651. He married Elizabeth Graham, daughter of John, sixth earl of Menteith, and had two sons and a daughter, Marriott, married to Laurence, eldest son of Laurence Oliphant, Esq. of Condie, Perthshire. To the title of baronet, the Rev. John Blackadder, the subject of the immediately succeeding memoir, lived to be the lineal heir, having survived all nearer claimants, but as the prodigality of its first possessor had reduced it to an empty honour, it was never assumed either by himself or any of his descendants. He was of a younger branch of the Tulliallan family, who possessed the lands and barony of Blairhall, near Culross. His grandfather, Adam Blackadder of Blairhall, married Helen, daughter of the celebrated Robert Pont, minister of St. Cuthbert's, near Edinburgh, and one of the last of the clerical order that sat as a Lord of Session. The only fruit of this marriage was John, father of the Rev. John Blackadder, minister of Troqueer. The minister himself had seven children, five sons and two daughters. The eldest son, William, was born in 1647, and studied medicine. In 1665, he was sent to the University of Edinburgh. He was present at Bothwell Brig, and took an active part in that affair. He graduated at Leyden in Holland in 1680. In 1685 he returned to Scotland with the earl of Argyle in his unfortunate expedition, and was taken prisoner on his landing at Kirkwall in Orkney. After he had been more than a year in prison, a remission came down from London in his favour, and he was set at liberty, on which he proceeded to Holland, where he remained till 1688, some weeks before the prince of Orange came over. In the month of August that year, he and Colonel Cleland were sent to Scotland, to prepare the way for the Prince's landing in the subsequent November. Having imprudently ventured up to the castle of Edinburgh, to see one Captain Mackay, a patient of his, he was apprehended by the duke of Gordon, the governor of the castle. After being subjected to several examinations before a committee of the council, on rumours of the prince of Orange's invasion reaching Edinburgh, he was set at liberty, without being put to the torture, though it was frequently threatened. After the Revolution Dr. Blackadder was appointed physician to King William, and died, without issue, about the year 1704. The second son, Adam, was bred to the mercantile profession in Stirling, and in the month of November 1674, while yet an apprentice, was, with several others, apprehended for not subscribing the black bond, as it was called, and for attending conventicles. His brother, Dr. Blackadder, presented a petition to the council, and after some time obtained his freedom. He was twice afterwards imprisoned, once in Fife, and another time in Blackness. The latter was for being at his father's preaching at Borrowstounness, where he baptized twenty-six children. He was afterwards a merchant in Sweden, where he resided for about nine years, and married a Swedish woman, whom he converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism, on account of which he was obliged to fly with her from her country, escaping with great difficulty, it being at that time death in Sweden for a native Swede to turn either Catholic or Calvinist. About the end of 1684 he returned to Scotland, and settled in Edinburgh. He wrote an account of his father's sufferings, which he transmitted to the historian Wodrow, and some political tracts concerning the Darien expedition, and the state of parties in Scotland. The late Mr. John Blackadder, accountant-general of excise, was his grandson. Robert, the third son, studied theology at the university of Utrecht, where he died in 1689. Thomas, the fourth son, appears also to have been a mer chant. He went to New England shortly after his father's imprisonment, and died in Maryland before his father. The fifth and youngest son was named John after himself, and became a lieutenant-colonel in the army. His Life and Diary, by Andrew Crichton, the biographer of his father, was published at Edinburgh in 1824. He was born at Barnden | | noch, in the parish of Glencairn, Damfries-shire, September 14, 1664. He very early evinced a religious disposition, and at the age of twelve is said to have partaken of the Lord's Supper. He entered the army in 1689, in his twenty-fifth year, as a cadet, at sixpence a-day, in the regiment (now the 26th of the Line), raised at the Revolution by the Cameronians, under the command of the earl of Angus, only son of the marquis of Douglas, of which the accomplished soldier and poet, William Cleland, was the lieutenant-colonel. In less than two months he became lieutenant. He was engaged in the affair at Dunkeld, 21st August 1689, when the Cameronians were attacked by the Highlanders, and in which their gallant lieutenant-colonel, Cleland, fell, an interesting account of which, in a letter to his brother, written on the spot, was printed in the periodical papers of the time, and is inserted in Crichton's Life and Diary of Col. Blackadder, (pp. 102-105.). On this occasion the Highlanders, victorious at Killiecrankie in the previous month, were signally defeated and repulsed. It is stated that an attempt was made by Colonel Cannan, their commander, to induce the Highlanders to renew their attack on the Cameronian regiment, but they declined, for this reason, that although still ready to fight with men, they would not again encounter devils. [Life and Diary of Colonel Blackadder, p. 98.] Blackadder afterwards accompanied his regiment abroad, and gradually rose to the rank of lieutenantcolonel. He served with distinguished honour under the great duke of Marlborough in the wars of Queen Anne. He was present at the battles of Donawert, Blenheim, Ramilies, and most of the engagements of that celebrated campaign. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1716, and died deputy-governor of Stirling castle in 1729. He had the character of a brave soldier and a devout Christian. One of Mr. Blackadder's daughters died young in Glencairn The other, Elizabeth, married, in 1687, a Mr. Young, a writer in Edinburgh. Having fallen into difficulties, he went to London, with a design to improve his circumstances. While there he wrote an excellent consolatory letter to his wife in Edinburgh, which has often been printed under the title of 'Faith Promoted, and Fears Prevented, from a proper view of affliction as God's rod.' Mrs. Young appears to have been a lady of remarkable piety and superior learning. She kept a diary or 'Short Account of the Lord's providence towards her,' which gives a summary of the memorable events of her life from 1700 until 1724. She died in 1732. The descendants of her family still survive.-Crichton's Memoirs of the Rev. John Blackadder. BLACKADDER, JOHN, an eminent minister of the Church of Scotland, was born in 1615. He was the representative, as above-stated, of the Blackadders of Tulliallan, and the grand nephew of the celebrated topographer Timothy Pont. He studied divinity in Glasgow, under the eye of his mother's brother, Principal Strang of that university. Having been duly licensed, in 1652 he received a call to the parish church of Troqueer, in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. In 1662, when episcopacy was attempted to be forced on Scotland, Mr. Blackadder, in his sermons on several Sundays, energetically exposed its unlawfulness, and, to use his own phrase, "entered his dissent in heaven" against |