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MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 REV. JOHN BLACKADER; 
 
 COMPILED CHIEFLY 
 
 FROM L'NPIBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS. AKJJ MEMOIRS Ol 111- 
 LIFE AND MINISTRY WHIT TEN BY DIM -KM 
 KILE PRISONER ON THE I 
 
 AND 
 
 DNTAINlKG ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EPISCOPAL 
 
 PERSECUTION FROM THE RESTORATI' 
 TO THE DEATH OF CHARLES II. 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 V1NG A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORY AM- 
 SIEGE OF THE BASS, ^^ 
 
 BY 
 
 ANDREW CRICHTON. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRIMED foil AHCH11IAJJJ (ONSTAIJLE & C0MPAN1 
 vii BURST, boh iv 
 
 1888. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Memoirs here presented to the public, 
 were originally intended merely as an article to a 
 Periodical Miscellany. But from the discovery 
 of various materials, of which I was then unap- 
 prised, they appeared to me to be not altogether 
 unworthy the distinction of a separate volume 
 Whether the result may justify my anticipatioi 
 it is for others to determine. Writers naturallv 
 magnify to themselves the importance of their 
 subject. They are too inclinable to appreciate 
 with self partiality, as, in general, they measure 
 the value of their production by the labour of 
 their researches. 
 
 The period of which these Mucous treat, is 
 unquestionably important ; and it has, of la 
 obtained a kind of adventitious celebrity from 
 circumstances upon which it is unnecessary to 
 condescend. No investigation can be regarded 
 as useless, which has truth for its object : Hut 
 there is an additional interest in such dkcUMMM 
 when they tend to illustrate timet and event- 
 that have made a conspicuous figureon tin arena 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 of literary controversy, and may be said still to 
 divide the public opinion. 
 
 The subject cannot be considered as exhaust- 
 ed. Much has already been given to the world, 
 but much remains yet to be explored. Among 
 the manuscript collections of Wodrow, are vari- 
 ous documents which that writer could only 
 notice in a very cursory manner. These contain 
 matter calculated still further to unveil the atro- 
 cities of a persecution which some endeavour to 
 extenuate, or affect to disbelieve. They would 
 assist in clearing away misapprehensions on the 
 conduct and character of those men who figured 
 in the great national struggle for civil and reli- 
 gious liberty. 
 
 I do not flatter myself that my researches will 
 advance much that is essentially new or of his- 
 torical consequence : And I am prepared to ex- 
 pect, that those who are versant in that period, 
 may find the quantity and importance of original 
 information shrink within narrow dimensions. 
 I am aware also, that the Individual, to whom 
 they refer, is only one among a Cloud of other 
 Witnesses, and his " life" cannot be viewed as 
 supplying any material chasm in the Biography of 
 the church. Though prominent in his own times, 
 his name is comparatively unknown to fame. It 
 is not, therefore, calculated to excite intense cu- 
 riosity, or rally round it a host of expectations. 
 Yet I am persuaded his annals will be perused 
 
PREFACE v 
 
 botli with interest and advantage. It was 1 
 cause he had not already found a more honour- 
 able memorial, and did not occupy a more dis- 
 tinguished place on the rolls of martyrologv, that 
 the present attempt is made to usher his history 
 into notice. 
 
 With respect to the authorities from which I 
 have drawn my materials, they are mostly allud- 
 ed to in course of the work. I haw < \trac r 
 from public records, and family writs which Wi 
 put into my possession. The principal mm 
 were two of the Wodiow manuscripts in the A 
 vocates Library; one, an * 4 Account of Mr.Black- 
 aders Sufferings,^ written by his son; the othi 
 " Memoirs," written by himself, while a prison- 
 er on the Bass, commencing with his ordination 
 (in 1653) to tlie parish of Troqueer, in the pn 
 hytery of Dumfru These I have used Bfl m\ 
 
 ground-work, and from them various extracts are 
 given entire, in the form of quotations. But 
 
 the narrative was in some places dull and prolix, 
 it required to be abridged: In others then 
 deficiency of necessary information, which T turn 
 
 endeavoured to supply from collater a soura 
 
 It wa> solely with this view, that excursions 
 have occasionally been made into the provin 
 of genera] history: And though these illustra- 
 tions may have little claim to noveltv, it i* ii<>}>- 
 ed they will not be without their useful] 
 
 pecially to such readers as have not the means 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 of exploring for themselves the fountains of 
 intelligence, or want leisure to bestow a more 
 profound and critical attention on historical re- 
 searches. 
 
 Like many others who have been indebted to 
 them for similar favours, I cheerfully express the 
 obligations under which I lie to the Curators of 
 the Advocates Library, whose politeness and li- 
 berality seem rather to invite than to permit ac- 
 cess to their literary stores. I have the same sa- 
 tisfaction in acknowledging the kindness of Dr. 
 William Ritchie, Professor of Divinity, and the 
 Managers of the Theological Library. There are 
 various individuals who deserve my warmest gra- 
 titude, for their friendly attention and ready as- 
 sistance. Among these I cannot omit to record 
 the names of Dr. M-'Crie and Dr. Lee. The 
 papers relative to the Bass, referred to in the Ap- 
 pendix, are from the Manuscripts in the Library 
 at North-Berwick House, and were politely com- 
 municated to me by Sir Hew Dalrymple Hamil- 
 ton, Bart. The engraving of the Bass is taken 
 from the original drawing of T. Dury, their ma- 
 jesties engineer for Scotland, who superintended 
 the siege in 1691. It is more complete, and a 
 more correct likeness than that in Slezer's Thea- 
 trum Scotiae. 
 
 Edinburgh, 13th May 1823. 
 
REFERENCES TO THE ENGRAVING OF THE BASS 
 
 A , " Lower rock. 
 
 B. 3Iiddle or south rock. 
 
 D, North rock. 
 
 C, East mouth of the cavern. 
 
 E, North-east point; a landing place behind the lower to 
 W. West mouth of the cavern. 
 
 1, South-west point, or common landing place. 
 
 2, Osborne point. 
 
 3, 3Iantle wall and ladder leading to the outer-gat 
 i, The crane bastion, mounted with cannon. 
 
 5, The crane and place where the boats lie. 
 
 6, East turret. 
 
 7, Prison. 
 
 s. Governor's house and soldiers' barrack v 
 . West turret. 
 
 10, Powder magazine, anciently a chapel. 
 
 11, Garden. 
 
 12, Fresh -water spring. 
 
 13, Rampart. Behind this wall is the entrance ascending bj 
 
 three flights of scale stairs, each terminated by a strong | 
 
. * 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. JOHN BLACKADEU, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Origin of the Family of Black cult r — Birth a y 
 Education of Mr. Blackadi 
 
 jNIit. Blackader was descended from an am u 
 family of considerable wealth and distinction. As 
 he has himself recorded some particulars, and h; 
 a hereditary claim to the honours of his ancestors, 
 I shall introduce this Memoir with a short ; 
 count of their origin. 
 
 They were originally from Berwickshire, where 
 they long had their residence. Situate in the 
 district of predatory and warlike exploits, t!u-\ 
 made sonic figure ID the earlier transaction- 
 border history* They became connected, by in- 
 termarriage, with the lords of the Marches, and 
 may reckon among their lateral descendant' 
 
, * 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REA 7 . JOHN BLACKADER, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Origin of the Family of Blackadcr — Birth ay 
 Education of Mr. Blacluukr. 
 
 j\Iit. Blackadee was descended from an ancu 
 family of considerable wealth and distinction. As 
 be has himself recorded some particulars, and had 
 a hereditary claim to the honours of his ancestors, 
 I shall introduce this Memoir with a short ac- 
 count of their origin. 
 
 They were originally from Berwickshire, when 
 they long had their residence. Situate in the 
 district of predatory and warlike exploits, the\ 
 made some figure in the earlier transactions of 
 border history. They became connected, l>v in- 
 termarriage, with the lords of the Marches, and 
 niav reckon among their lateral descendants some 
 
2 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of the present Scottish nobility.* Though they 
 never reached the higher degrees of titulary ho- 
 nours, they acquired extensive vassalage, rose to 
 official dignities, and were ultimately advanced to 
 the baronage. 
 
 The patrimonial estate, bearing their own name, 
 lay in the Merse ; and considering the ordinary 
 mode of making territorial acquisitions then in 
 practice, it is, at least, creditable to the founder 
 of this family, that he held his lands by a more 
 reputable charter than fraud or violence. They 
 were the gift of the sovereign, and earned by an 
 honourable valour. The sirname and the property 
 were conferred as a reward for military services 
 on Cuthbert, who had signalized himself during 
 the minority of James II, by his activity and suc- 
 cess in repelling the inroads of the English ma- 
 rauders. The royal grant is dated 1452. This 
 redoubted borderer was remarkable for courage 
 and daring enterprise, fond of chivalrous and ro- 
 mantic adventure. He was known by the title of 
 " Chieftain of the South." In various attacks, 
 he had chastised the insolent pillagers, who often, 
 with unprovoked hostility, came over to slay and 
 harry en the Scottish frontier. On these expedi- 
 tions, he was accompanied by his seven sons, 
 '? all valiant gentlemen ;*" and, from the darkness 
 
 Doug. Baronage, p. 238. Peerage, vol. i, 513. 
 
IcEV JOHN BLACKADER. 
 
 of their complexion, they were called the " Black 
 band of the Blackaders."* When their countr\ 
 required to be put in a posture of defence again 
 the preparations of Edward IV, and the parlia- 
 ment had appointed all fencible men within die 
 realm to be in readiness, with arms and provi- 
 sions, to march at the king's pleasure, the Black- 
 aders raised a body from among their kindr 
 and retainers, the Elliots, Armstrongs, Johnstoi 
 £cc. to the number of two hundred and sevetHe* 
 men, all accoutred with jack and spear. Their 
 -tie, a fortress of some strength, was planted 
 with artillery, and furnished with a garrison of 
 twenty soldiers.-f 
 
 But this swarthy brotherhood did not limit 
 their exploits to the spreading of terror and flight 
 on the borders, or the repairing of injuries com- 
 mitted on the king's lieges. They joined the train 
 »f* adventurers from Scotland, who had embarked 
 the wars of York and Lancaster, which, at 
 that time, offered a promising field for military en- 
 terprise. To a bold and romantic spirit a life 
 ease ifl inglorious, and possi few charms com- 
 pared with the toils and hazard of the camp. 
 Cuthbert and his son> marshalled themsel 
 under the banner of the red rose* eager to di>- 
 plav their prowess, and court warlike ruiown 
 
 ' Writs of the Family of lilackutltr. MSS* j*nes l 
 
 •f Redpsth'i liord. Hi- Wria ofthi Fau.il> of Blackiul«r. 
 
4 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 under a foreign standard. But it proved a dis- 
 astrous concern to intermeddle in adjusting the 
 claims of rival and contending factions. In one of 
 those bloody rencounters, the veteran of the bor- 
 ders had the misfortune to fall : three of his sons 
 were left dead on the same field. This appears to 
 have been at Bosworth, the field that terminated 
 a sanguinary warfare, which had raged for thirty 
 years with relentless fury, until it had nearly 
 drained England of all her ancient and noble 
 blood.* 
 
 After the pacification of that debate, three of 
 the surviving brothers returned to their native 
 country. Andrew, the eldest, succeeded to the 
 barony of Blackader ; Robert and Patrick ex- 
 changed the helm for the cowl, and entered into 
 holy orders ; — the former got the rich priory of 
 Coldingham, the other was made dean of Dun- 
 blane. The fourth brother, William, remained 
 in England, where he obtained a title and opu- 
 lent possessions.-^- Andrew had two sons by his 
 
 * In memorial of this service, King James granted him and 
 his heirs to carry on their shield the roses of York and Lancas- 
 ter. It was afterwards quartered with the house of Edmiston ; 
 field azure ; cheveron, argent ; upper left hand, gules ; crest, a 
 dexter hand holding a broadsword ; motto, M Courage helps 
 fortune." — Writs of Family of Blackadc r. 
 
 j- Write of Family of Blackader. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 
 
 wife, who was of the house of Johnston of that 
 Ilk, ancestors to the Earls of Annandale. 1\ 
 trick,* the younger, married Elisabeth, daught 
 of Sir James Edmiston ; and with her got t 
 estate of Tulliallan in Perthshire."! - Her dowTv 
 was only half the lands; but Sir Walter OgiK 
 who had married the younger sister, " excamh 
 his moiety with Sir Patrick, in 1493, tor the 
 thanedom of Boyne.**^ The other, Robert, was 
 heir of Blackader, and espoused Alison Doug- 
 las,§ sister to Archibald Earl of Angus, but cued 
 
 * Sir Patrick was a man of chivalry, and lived in the r< 
 of justing and tournament, when James IV. •• who loved I 
 thing so well as able men and good horse," practised with hii 
 lords and barons all sorts of knightly games, (Pita \o$.) 
 
 " He was such ane hunter and halker, that he freely gave to 
 the first laird of Pittferran, the lands of Prymrose, beneath I 
 fennling, which consisted in eighteen chalder of victual, or 
 by, for ane black gelding, who was most fleet for rat 
 i ng. ■ ' — I J V its of Fa M i hj of B la d:u 1 1 
 
 f Doug. Baronage, 288. 
 
 J The family of Edmiston was very ancient. The Ian* 
 Tulliallan were gifted to them by Earl Douglas in 14 \v> 
 
 grant was renewed, with the addition of the thanedom of i 
 to Sir James Edmiston, by royal charter, dated Stilling I 1 
 (NUbcf* lLrahl. i, 24-6'.) lie was grandson to 1 
 daughter of King Robert II, first, Counters of D 
 terwards Lady Edmiston. Through this connection, t 
 aders claimed some affinity to the royal blood — Writs f 1 '*iiy 
 of Blackdth'r. 
 
 § Alison Douglas was fourth daughter t 
 
6 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 before succeeding to his fortune.* He followed 
 the standard of the Douglasses at the battle of 
 Flodden in 1513, and was among that devoted 
 band of kinsmen whom old Bell-the-Cat left as 
 pledges of his loyalty, when the king, imprudent- 
 ly taunting his courage, affronted him in terms 
 which made it inconsistent with his honour to 
 continue in the camp. On that luckless field he 
 perished with his father-in-law, George Master of 
 Angus, with two hundred gentlemen of the name 
 of Douglass, leaving behind him his widow and 
 two daughters, Beatrix and Margaret.-f- 
 
 The unprotected state of his family, opened a 
 way for scenes of cruelty and fraud, which in- 
 volved the house of Blackader in a most calami- 
 tous feud with the Homes of Wedderburn. The 
 Homes were a turbulent and rapacious clan, pro- 
 secuting their aggrandisement by the basest acts 
 of villany and bloodshed. They had already cast 
 an avaricious eye on the lands of Blackader ; and, 
 to compass their project, scrupled not to perpe- 
 
 Angus. In the year 1510, her father indents for her marriage 
 with Robert, heir-apparent to Andrew Blackader of that Ilk, 
 her portion, 300 merks ; 40 pounds to be paid at completing 
 the marriage ; 20 pounds at the feast of Martinmas then next ; 
 and so 20 pounds termly, until it were paid. She had an elder 
 sister, who was called Lady 'Ba&s.—Godscrqffs Hist, of Ang. 
 vol. ii, p. 60. 
 
 * Doug. Peerage, vol. i, 436 ; vol. ii, 174. 
 
 t Redpath's Bord. Hist. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 
 
 trate the most revolting and sacrilegious deer 
 murder. All within their reach, whose affinity 
 was dreaded as a hereditary obstacle, were made 
 the victims of their lawless ambition. They at- 
 tacked the prior of Coldingham, in the village of 
 Lamberton, and assassinated him with six of I 
 domestics. The dean of Dunblane was sacri- 
 ficed at the same unhallowed shrine, and vara 
 others despatched in a similar manner.* The 
 priory, which murder had made vacant, was \ 
 stowed on William Douglass, brother to Angi 
 From carnage they turned to courtship, and in- 
 vaded the solitary females, having recommended 
 themselves to their affections by the daughter 
 of so many of their kindred. The daughters, 
 however, being minors and under ward, wire r 
 in capacity to make a legal tender of their per- 
 sons ; a disability which did not apply to the 
 widow. Besides, instead of attachment, grief and 
 indignation could be the only passions that oc- 
 cupied their hearts; and, to avoid all unseasoi 
 able intrusion, they shut themselves up in t 
 castle of Blackader. But the Homes wen re- 
 solved not to let an alliance so desirable be pi 
 vented by impediments of form and cereinoir. 
 and if not to be won by voluntary consent, to ai - 
 complish it bv violent matrimony. In theardoilf 
 
 * ( hall r'i I lecLvoLU. 
 
8 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of their impatience they assaulted the castle, de- 
 termined to carry their suit by storm, and make 
 the sword overcome their connubial scruples. 
 The garrison would accept of no conditions, and 
 refused to surrender until compelled by force of 
 arms. After this hymeneal siege, the Homes 
 seized the objects of their affections, and kept 
 possession of the fortress. They contrived, the 
 better to establish their right, and make their in- 
 terests coalesce, to terminate the whole affair by 
 a solid union. Sir David of Wedderburn mar- 
 ried the widow; the two daughters were contract- 
 ed 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 Blackader till they came of age.* 
 
 This monopoly, though it excluded all rival 
 pretensions in matrimony, conveyed, it would 
 
 * Doug. Peerage, vol. ii, 174. 
 
 Blackader castle was a place of some strength, and stood va- 
 rious assaults in the border wars. When the plot which the 
 queen-dowager had formed with her husband Angus in 1516, to 
 carry off the young prince, James V, was discovered, she fled 
 from Linlithgow palace to this fortress, on her way to England, 
 (Cated. vol. ii, 289.) It was rased by the Duke of Albany, re- 
 gent of Scotland, about 1520, when on a progress through that 
 country " to daunten all theft, reiff, and slaughter, committed 
 in the king's young age, especially by the Lords Angus and 
 Home, at a time when there was no justice ministrate, for inlaik 
 of a head to plaint to." — Pitscottie* 194. 
 
JtKV. JOHX BLACKADER. *) 
 
 seem,no title to the estate. This was entailed to the 
 male line, " and should have passed to Sir John, 
 then baron of Tulliallan, as nearest heir of tail- 
 zie," who was cousin and tutor to the ladies. Hut 
 the Homes, who obtained the sanction erf tl 
 Earl of Angus to marry his nieces, and had g 
 them in custody, refused to quit poseesaoaof t) 
 iands, or deliver up the fortress. Sir John aj>- 
 plied to the legislature for redress igainst them, 
 " for forcibly detaining and not surrendering 
 his wards, as well as for violent spulzie committed 
 within the castle.** But at that time, unfortu- 
 nately, all was anarchy and misrule; there was DO 
 regular administration of justice. Men, inured to 
 rapine, and little accustomed to judicial restrain 
 despised the feeble authority of the lai Moth 
 parties had recourse to the sword, then the re 
 diest arbiter of contested rights, and during the 
 long minority of James V, were embroiled in mu- 
 tual hostilities, *f- 
 
 When resentments are implacable, revenge be- 
 comes hereditary. Patrick, archdeacon of Gla 
 gow, who had succeeded his brother in Tullial- 
 lan, espoused the family quarrel.* ^ e nc ' ( ' a '*'- 
 
 • Writ> of Family of Blackatter. 
 
 + Calecl vol, ii, :>> 
 
 £ Patrick's accession was on account of his taotha .'Vit- 
 
 »irc; though it is difficult to reconcile the d it] SI 
 
 yet it wa» most likely for a murder lie had committed. Mr John 
 
 A 
 
10 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 by the king's special commission, the warden of 
 Blackader, to which he had been appointed un- 
 der warrant and command from the governor of 
 Scotland.* He renewed the process for recove- 
 ry of his lawful rights, but met in the attempt 
 with a " sad catastrophe." 
 
 His murder, though not detailed at length, is 
 particularly mentioned by Buchanan, -J- who agrees 
 with the narrative given here. The Homes, ap- 
 
 was beheaded in 1530, for killing Inglis, abbot of Cuiross. 
 (HoUinshcd, vol. v, 516,) u because, when he was absent at Edin- 
 burgh, 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 of this insult. Both 
 parties being of equal number, — about sixteen horse, — a ren- 
 counter took place, " at the Lonhead of Rosyth, near Culross," 
 which ended in sacrilegious slaughter. Sir Patrick, while 
 archdeacon, had authority granted him, by the Pope, in 1510, 
 of visiting all kirks and monasteries, within the bounds of the 
 see of Glasgow. He got also the priory of Coldingham, which 
 William Douglass had forcibly held, by the king's seal, with 
 consent of the Duke of Albany, protector and governor of Scot- 
 land, in 1521. In this office, he was succeeded by his brother, 
 Adam Blackader, who was abbot of Dundrennan, in Galloway ; 
 the first worth 2000 pounds, the Jatter 1000 pounds a-year. For 
 bearing Sir Patrick's expenses in travelling to France to procure 
 these appointments at the hands of Albany, who was there at the 
 time, the said Adam binds himself to pay 3000 pounds ; for 
 which he gave in pledge two massy silver cups, till the debt be 
 discharged. — Writs of Family of Blackader. 
 
 * Writs of Family of Blackader. 
 
 -j* Lib. xiv. 
 
REV. JOHX BLACK ADE: 11 
 
 prehensive of an unfavourable decision, requested 
 submission and reference to friends to comix 
 all differences in an amicable way. A day « 
 set to meet Sir Patrick at the burgh of Edin- 
 burgh, in order to proffer some kind of satisfac- 
 tion, as they were unwilling to incur the odium 
 of invading other mens rights. Thither he re- 
 paired, without suspicion of treachery, havi: 
 received warrant of safe convoy from Archibald 
 Earl of Angus, under the great seal; accompa- 
 nied by a small retinue of domestics, fifteen or 
 sixteen horsemen, who usually rode in his train. 
 While on his journey, he was clandestinely way- 
 laid by a body of fifty horse, that lay in ambush 
 near the Dean, within a mile of Edinburgh. Be- 
 ing of a brave undaunted spirit, and well mounted, 
 he made a gallant charge, and broke through the 
 ambuscade, killing divers with his own hand. 
 Overpowered 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. Cuthberf s kirk stands. These joining 
 in the pursuit, lie was forced to make the best of 
 his speed to gain the entrance by the Nether Bow. 
 or the Canongate ; but ere he reached the ford 
 of the Loch, another party of foot sallied from 
 their invisible intrenchments to intercept him. 
 Finding himself beset on all hands, every retreat 
 cut off, and every access blockaded by ma 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 men, he ventured to take the North Loch, near 
 to the place called Wallace^ * tower, and in mak- 
 ing this attempt to escape the treacherous swords 
 of his enemies, his horse embogged, and he with 
 all his company were basely murdered. This 
 was in the year 1526.-J- 
 
 This atrocity filled the streets with horror and 
 
 * Properly Well-house tower, — anciently a small fortress ad- 
 joining to the rock, so called from its vicinity to a spring of water. 
 — Arnofs Hist, Edin, b. ii, chap. 1. 
 
 *f* Hume of Godscroft has recorded this affray, {Hist, of An- 
 gus, vol. ii, 86;) but he makes the archdeacon the aggressor. — 
 ** The Blackaders laid wait for John Home divers times, to have 
 slain him, especially at one time. He being in a tavern at Edin- 
 burgh, and his men being all abroad or in another room, a priest 
 of Archdeacon Blackader's came into the room where he was sit- 
 ting. John, not knowing him, desired him, out of courtesy, to 
 drink with him ; but he refused, and went out presently. When 
 he was gone, one of the house says to John, If ye had known 
 who that man was, ye would not have offered him any wine; for 
 it was such a one. If I had known, says John, that it had 
 been he, I would have made him drink his bellyful, whether he 
 would or not. As they were talking, a servant of the house, 
 going to the door, espies the Archdeacon coming with a great 
 company of men, and came running to John, and told him of it; 
 who, escaping to the door, just as they were ready to enter, made 
 good the door, and drave them back, — so that with much ado, 
 he and them that were with him found means to shut it. This 
 attempt so incensed him, that having understood of the Archdea- 
 con's coming to Edinburgh at this time, he lay in wait for him 
 by the way, and slew him." Both Hume and Buchanan, mis- 
 takingly, call Patrick archdeacon of Dunblane, and brother to 
 Bobert, heir of Blackader ; whereas, he was his nephew. 
 
REV. JOHN' BLACKADEB. 18 
 
 indignation; and, according to Buchanan, the per- 
 petrators would hardly have escaped the public- 
 vengeance, had it not been repressed and overaw- 
 ed by the terror of the Douglasses, who lav around 
 the city, and whose insolent authority set the g(>- 
 vernment at defiance. This was the last, and 
 most unlucky experiment which they ever made 
 to obtain redress. The estate of Blackader, of 
 which they were thus fraudulently dispossessed, 
 remained in the family of Home.* 
 
 Among the brandies of this house who attain- 
 ed to eminence, may be mentioned Robert Black- 
 ader, first archbishop of Glasgow. He had 
 studied at Rome, and received consecration from 
 the hands of the Pope. It was during his epis- 
 copate, and chiefly by his interest with Pope 
 Alexander VI, that die see of Glasgow was erect- 
 ed into an archbishoprick, an honour which great- 
 ly exasperated his spiritual brother of St. An- 
 drew's, who objected to acknowledge this rival 
 dignitary, as St. Andrew^ had been created 1>\ 
 bull of Sextus IV, metropolitan of all Scotland. 
 Jealous for the supremacy of his eastern capital, 
 he commenced ail ecclesiastic warfare, whieh di- 
 vided both clergy and nobility into factioi The 
 contending prelates were, however, happily recon- 
 
 icd, and all hostilities appeased, by granting the 
 
 * ( ataL \ol. ii. 358, 612. Writs of Family of Blackader. 
 
14 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 new dignity to Glasgow, but allowing St. An- 
 drew^ still to retain its ancient precedency. In his 
 time, about 1494, the dawning light of the reform- 
 ation was spreading in the west, chiefly in the 
 districts of Kyle and Cunningham. Thirty per- 
 sons were summoned at his instance before the 
 king and council, as holders of heretical opinions. 
 Among these were several distinguished person- 
 ages, Campbell of Cesnock, Reid of Barskim- 
 ming, Lady Stair, &c. who were nicknamed the 
 Lollards of Kyle.* This archbishop went to 
 England with the Earl Bothwell to negotiate the 
 marriage of James IV with the Princess Marga- 
 ret, daughter to Henry VII, which ceremony 
 was performed at Edinburgh in 1503. He stood 
 likewise, with the same Earl, godfather to the 
 young prince.-f - Spottiswood calls him " a gen- 
 
 * Knox. Hist. chap. i. 
 
 •f The transaction and celebration of this marriage are detailed 
 by Hollinshed, vol. v, 465. There are minute accounts of the 
 magnificent entertainments given on the occasion at Edinburgh. 
 The lady being conveyed to the Scottish borders, by the Earl of 
 Surry and others, was received M at Lambert church, in Lamer - 
 
 moore." She set out from Dalkeith castle for Edinburgh, nobly 
 
 accompanied, " and in fayr array, in her littere, very richly en- 
 ormed. A myle from Delkeith, the kynge sent to the quene a 
 grett tame hart, for to have a corse. The kynge caused the said 
 hart to be losed, and put a grayhond after hym, that maid a 
 fair corse— Half of the way, the kynge came to mett her, mont- 
 
REV. JOHN BLA( KADhR. 15 
 
 tleman well descended, and of good knowledge 
 
 both in divine and human learning." He died 
 about the year 1508, on a pilgrimage to the holy 
 sepulchre at Jerusalem.* 
 
 It is unnecessarv to trace minutely these n - 
 mote genealogies. After the tragical conference 
 at Edinburgh, the castle of Tulliallan became 
 the family residence, and continued to be posst 
 
 ed apon a bay horse, renning as he wold renne after the ha\ 
 
 accompanyed of many gentylmen. At the commying towardes 
 
 the queene, he made hyr very humble obeyssaunce, in lepyr. 
 
 downe of hys horse, and kyssed hyr in her litere, The Erie 
 
 Bothwell bare the swerde at the entreng the towne of Eden- 
 bourgh, and had on a long gowne of black velvett, fourred with 
 marten. The kynge monted upon a pallefroy, with the said que* 
 
 behinde hym, and so rode thorow the said towne. The tov. 
 
 was, in many places, haunged with tapissery ; the howses and 
 wyndowes war full of lorde*. ladyes, gentylwomen, and gent 
 men ; and in the streyts war soe grett multitude of peple with- 
 out number, that it was a fay re thynge to se. — Quoted from 
 X CaL ii, o'(H. 
 
 - This yeere, lames, Prince of Scotland, wa* borne in the 
 
 al)beie of the Holierood, the onc-and-twentieth of lanuarie ; and 
 
 <»n the three -and-twentieth, was baptized in the said abbeie 
 
 church. His godfathers were Robert, bishop of Glasgow, and 
 
 rick Erie Bothwell ; and the (ountesse of Huntleie was 
 
 Imother. The queene was vcri weake, and troubled wit: 
 
 -icknesse ; for recouereie of whose helth, the kynge went 
 4 vnto Bt Ninian's, in pilgrimage ; ami alter ward in Jul 
 •h the kynge and the queene went thither to visit the ta 
 saint." — IfoUin. uf tupro, 1«I7. 
 
 - ttiswood, pp. 58, 60, 105, 1 1 1. 
 
16 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sed by them for five successive generations.* The 
 last proprietor of this name was Sir John, born in 
 1596. He was created, by Charles I, a baronet of 
 Nova Scotia, and, in the order of his patent, was 
 the fourth knight baronet in Scotland. This pa- 
 tent, which is preserved among the family records, 
 
 * The next baron after Patrick was John. In 1532, he un- 
 dertook 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 ad- 
 hered to the interests of the unfortunate Mary ; and a letter from 
 her own hand was addressed to him, u to meet her at Stirling, 
 en the 13th of August 156,5, with his kin, friends, and house- 
 hold, to pursue the rebels, (as they were called,) who had direct- 
 ed their march southward." This alludes to an insurrection of 
 ^some of the nobles, who were discontented at her marriage with 
 Darnley ; but disagreeing among themselves, they durst not 
 hazard an engagement with the queen's forces, but fled from 
 Edinburgh, and took their way through Biggar to Dumfries, 
 M the king all the while dogging them at their heels." This 
 was called the Runaway Rode, or Wild-goose Chase, {Hist, of 
 Angus, ii, 155.) He had a son, Captain William Blackader, 
 who was with the queen's army at Langside ; and after that de- 
 feat, was taken and executed. He was also accused of being ac- 
 cessary to Darnley 's murder ; — and people flocked to his execu- 
 tion, expecting to hear some great discovery made at his last 
 confession, but were disappointed, (Crawford's Mem. p. 41.) 
 Roland, sub -dean of Glasgow, was younger brother to John. 
 The next Laird of TuUiallan was James, who married Alison, 
 daughter to Bruce of Clackmannan, He had only one legiti- 
 mate son, who inherited his fortune, about 1602- His lady was 
 Elizabeth Bruce of Balfouls, by whom he had Sir John, knight 
 baronet, as above.— Writs of Family of Bfackadcr. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEK. 17 
 
 bears date the 18th of July 16^6.* He is said to 
 have been a man of profuse and expensive habits, 
 and was unhappily abetted in all his extravagan- 
 cies by his lady, Elisabeth Graham, daughter to 
 John sixth Earl of Menteith.*f The estate, 
 which with its lime-works, salt-pans, kc. yielded 
 a rental of thirty-six thousand merks yearly, he 
 squandered away and ruined, leaving scarcely 
 any thing but an empty title to survive his pro- 
 digality. His lands were appraised at the in- 
 stance of his creditors ; and all his effects l>eing 
 seized, lie fled to the Continent. He appears to 
 have been in the French service in 1642, and died 
 in America about the vear 1651. t 
 
 It was the title of this knight baronet which 
 
 * Balfour's MSS. Advocates Library, 
 -f* Doug. Peerage, vol. ii, 228. 
 
 * Writs of Family of Blackader. 
 
 His lady, who had an annuity of 360 merks, and hi> youngnt 
 son, Alexander, (the eldest being dead,) appear to have continued 
 in Tulliallan until 1662. In that year, Alexander, second Karl 
 of Kincardine, upon an agreement with Ml fellow -creditors, took 
 possession of the estate. Lord Kincardine had been abroad, and 
 was intimate with Charles II, having supplied him, in his exile, 
 with money and other necessaries. At the Restoration, he was 
 made a privy councillor, {JBwmcfs Hist, i, 103.) His son suc- 
 ceeded him in 1683 ; but being unable to extricate him.self from 
 the debts contracted by his father, the estate was brought to a ju- 
 dicial sale, by order of the Court of Session, and purchased in 
 1700 by Colonel John Lr*kine, son of David Lord ( urdross.— . 
 
 Doug* Peerage, vol. ii, oi\). 
 
18 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 was inherent in the Reverend Mr. Blackader; 
 although it must have been at a very late period 
 of his life that he arrived at this honour. But as 
 the fortunes of his house were expired, and the 
 government of the country had branded his name 
 with rebellion, the dignity w r as never assumed 
 either by himself or by any of his posterity.* 
 His connection with the Tulliallan family, though 
 lineal, was remote. He was descended from a 
 j unior branch, who possessed the barony of Blair- 
 hall, and other lands, near Culross. These were 
 disponed by one of his ancestors to Sir Edward 
 Bruce, second son of Sir David Bruce of Clack- 
 
 * Sir John had two brothers, who both died unmarried. He 
 had also two sons, — one of them, Alexander, had been in the 
 Spanish service, with Ludovic Earl of Crawford, {Doug, Peerage*, 
 i, 381,) but died without issue; the other, James, married a 
 daughter of Sir William Hart, President of the College of Jus- 
 tice, and had an only son, Archibald, who was a merchant at 
 Cadiz, where he acquired a large fortune. In 1675-76 he cor- 
 responded with the minister of Troqueer, relative to the estate,— 
 " That so soon as he had settled his affairs in Spain, he design- 
 ed to return home, in order to redeem the lands, which he was 
 both able and anxious to do, provided Lord Kincardine would 
 be moved to quit the mansion-house." {Writs of the Family 
 of Blackader.) But it would seem he was prevented by death 
 from accomplishing this intention. A claim was advanced, at a 
 later period, by a spurious branch of the family, both to the title 
 and estate. This was in 1734, by one John Blackader, tailor, 
 burgess in Edinburgh ; but failing to prove his propinquity, he 
 was set aside, and sentenced to the pillory for perjury.— Acts 
 of Sederunt for 1737. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 19 
 
 mannan, who was matrimonially related to thi^ 
 family.* Adam Blackader of Blairhall married 
 Helen, daughter to Mr. Robert Pont, minister of 
 St. Cuthberts, Edinburgh, and one of the Lor 
 of Session.-f She was by Mr. Pout's first wif 
 Catherine Mastertone of Grange, and not bv the 
 daughter of Knox, the Scottish reformer, whom 
 he afterwards married ; and this eircumstan 
 may, perhaps, account for that disparity of a. 
 which has been thought to render a union impro- 
 bable l>etween him and any of Knox's family by 
 his second wife.J The only fruit of this DMUiage 
 wa> John, father to the minister of Troquet r 
 He married, in 1615, Barbara, daughter ot* the 
 Reverend William Strang, minister, first at Kirk- 
 liston, and afterwards at Irvine ; and in Decern- 
 ing the same year, the subject of this Memorial 
 was born.g The place of his birth is uncertain, 
 it b not known whether his family quitted pos- 
 
 * Doug. Baronage, p. 213. Peerage, vol. i, 513. 
 
 -^ He was the son of John Pont, or du Pont, an illustrious 
 Venetian, who was banished from his country for professing thr 
 reformed religion. He took refuge in France, and came 
 to Scotland in the train of Mary of (i t ueen to James V. 
 
 His father, Nicolas du Pont, was Grand Duke of Venice in 
 
 1 578, ttfng then in U h year Hist, of l\net. lib. 
 
 decad. vii. 1 - 
 
 * MH J I p. o\\K Note iii 
 
 :nily of IHackadcr. 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 session when they ceased to be proprietors of 
 Blairhall. 
 
 To some it may, perhaps, appear, that too 
 much space has been allotted to obscure discus- 
 sions of ancestry, which are dry at best, and can- 
 not interest the generality of readers. But me- 
 morials of this kind are not without their useful- 
 ness. They serve as a repository for local and 
 domestic incidents, which are beneath the dignity 
 of history : and though the events they record, 
 may not of themselves be of vast moment, if they 
 illustrate a single transaction, or convey more ac- 
 curate information on any subject imperfectly 
 known, they derive as much consequence as 
 should preserve them from oblivion. Besides, 
 some genealogical notice seemed a necessary in- 
 troduction to the biography of an individual who 
 had some claim to distinction as the representa- 
 tive of an ancient and once opulent house ; even 
 though these advantages were of no value to him, 
 and conferred no importance on the transactions 
 of his life* 
 
 Of Mr. Blackader's early history very little has 
 been recorded, at least in the documents I have 
 consulted. The memoirs, which he wrote him- 
 self, commence with his ordination, and he has 
 dropt no remarks there that can lead to a previ- 
 ous acquaintance with him. He mentions else- 
 where, that he studied at Glasgow under Princi- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 21 
 
 pal Strang, who was his uncle.* It is probable 
 his clerical, as well as literary studies, were con- 
 ducted under the auspices of his uncle, as he 
 filled the theological chair until 1640 ; previous 
 to which, divinity was always taught by the Prin- 
 cipal himself. In that year it was dismembered bv 
 order of the General Assembly, and erected into 
 a separate professorship. His talents and attain- 
 ments, whatever they were, seem to have gained 
 
 * He was son to the Reverend William Strang, mini>ter at 
 Irvine, where he was bom in 1584. He was called to the parish 
 of Errol, in Perthshire, in 1614. Here he was the instrument 
 of converting the Earl and his whole family from popery, uho 
 had been proselyted to that faith by one Hay, a learned Jesuit. 
 He was elected to Glasgow university in 1626, ( Vita J. Strang 
 by Baillie.) Several of Mr. Blackader's ancestors were benefac- 
 tors to that college. There was a mortification by one Thomas 
 Brown, chaplain and heir of Robert Forrester, of certain houses 
 in Glasgow, lying between the cathedral and the c »r found- 
 
 ing a chaplainry at the altar of St. Mungo, in the Laigh Kirk, 
 
 the saul of the said Robert Forrester, — of which Sir Patrick 
 Blackader and his heirs were appointed patrons, 1499, I Writs of 
 I viili/ of Tulliallan. MSS. Adi\ Lib.) When the college was 
 enlarged by Principal Strang, the lands and tenements belong 
 to this chaplainry were brought within the same ; and for better cor- 
 
 orating their right, the university requested the consent 
 then patron. Sir John of Tulliallan, knight baronet, proi: 
 
 ime should be recorded among the rest of their bene- 
 
 Mr. Blackader mentions, that when he was a student. 
 
 this name and title were inscribed at full length above the gate 
 
 of the DOOM where the Principal then dwtlt. WrtU of Family 
 
 of Blackader. 
 
£2 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 him no academical distinctions beyond his fellows, 
 and he has left no specimens that can enable us to 
 judge of his literature. But under so capable and 
 diligent a master he enjoyed the fairest opportuni- 
 ties ; and if we may form an opinion from the sys- 
 tem of study there prescribed, or from the minute 
 rigour with which the teachers of that seminary 
 discharged their duties, it required no inconsider- 
 able portion of gifts and erudition to perform 
 even the ordinary routine of the college. All 
 the prelections in divinity were dictated in Latin, 
 weekly theses were written, and verbal disputa- 
 tions transacted in the same language. These 
 exercises must have given them a tolerable fami- 
 liarity with the classics, while their religious im- 
 provement went hand in hand with their literary 
 progress. A knowledge of oriental literature was 
 superadded to the study of the Greek and Latin 
 authors. Dr. Strang is known to have been pro- 
 foundly conversant with eastern philology. Un- 
 der him, the Hebrew, Syriac, and other cognate 
 dialects, were cultivated with the highest suc- 
 cess, and Sion became the rival of Athens and 
 Rome. 
 
 Dr. Strang was equally attentive to the morals 
 as to the professional attainments of his scholars. 
 In his discipline and domestic regulations he kept 
 them under severe restraint ; and in this depart- 
 ment, the Principal was empowered to exercise 
 some peculiar and disagreeable duties. He had to 
 
REV. JOHN ELACKADLP.. 2 
 
 keep the unruly in proper submission to their seve- 
 ral regents. It was a perquisite of his office to admi- 
 nister the " belt of correction" with his own hand, 
 or see that each delinquent received his allotted 
 measure of castigation.* Dr. Strang had a week- 
 ly register of misdemeanours, of which he exact- 
 ed severe account. In the elementary classes, lie 
 took care that the philosophic youth were pro- 
 perly drilled. He had the whole continually 
 under his inspection, as they generally boarded 
 at the common table, and lodged within the pre- 
 cincts of the university, that they might contract 
 no depravity by mixing in the vices and tumult- 
 of the town. Around these tables were assembled 
 regents and bursars, sons of the nobility, and 
 young men of distinguished families. At their 
 head the Principal daily took his station, often 
 sacrificing his own comfort and convenience to the 
 benefit of the institution over which he presided. 
 In the art- of scholastic economy he surpassed all 
 his predecessors, greatly abridging the expen- 
 of the academy by his prudent management. He 
 sustained the high reputation for letters and phi- 
 losophy, which this Lyceum of the west had ac- 
 quired under Melville and Boyd. During his 
 prefecture, the college received various splendid 
 iditions, both to its buildings and revenues, afl 
 
 M-< nc\ Lite of Melville, vul. L tf*. 
 
24 MEMOIRS 01 
 
 he was instrumental in procuring several valuable 
 benefactions from the liberality of noblemen and 
 other patrons of learning. 
 
 At the time of Mr. Blackader's studies, pole- 
 mical divinity was in high repute. It was cus- 
 tomary to dispute theses, and argue controverted 
 doctrines, — a practice which gave the students 
 great fluency and accuracy of speech ; and it is, 
 perhaps, owing to those early habits, that when 
 driven to worship on the mountains, they de- 
 livered the oracles of truth with such effect, and 
 often with little premeditation. These exercises 
 occasioned them to unfold their intellectual trea- 
 sures, to call forth into activity, and make an 
 appropriate use of their knowledge. The hopes 
 of tjhe church, even under the yoke of prelacy, 
 were nurtured with the most jealous precautions 
 against unsound doctrine. They were taught to 
 defend, at all points, the Calvinistic tenets, — to 
 repel, with triumphant arguments, the conti- 
 nental heresies. In the field of controversy, the 
 young theologian was trained to wield his wea- 
 pons with skill and vigour. He had to enter 
 the lists, sometimes against Arminius and the 
 Belgian schismatics, or against Bellarmine, the 
 sturdy and far-famed champion of popery. At 
 these exhibitions, Principal Strang always gave 
 his attendance. He would frequently descend 
 into the arena, to take a leading share in the de- 
 bate, or renew the combat, by supporting the 
 
REV. JOHN BLA< KADEIt. L 2~) 
 
 orthodox opinion against a stronger adversary. 
 For this task he was particularly well qualified. 
 He had gained an early celebrity for logical ta- 
 lents, having signalized himself, while a student at 
 St. Andrew's, in. a public disputation held before 
 King James VI, when he visited that university 
 in 1617. He had, in his youth, a natural difii- 
 dence, which enhanced all his accomplishment* 
 and on the above occasion, the palm of victory 
 was awarded to him, in the royal presence, by 
 the unanimous voice of the spectators, at a le 
 whether most to admire his ingenuous modesty, 
 or his profound scholarship. 
 
 His diligence and abilities as a teacher, entitle 
 him to rank among the foremost in the annals of 
 his academy. It is known, however, that in di- 
 vinitv, he was held, by his contemporaries, to be 
 somewhat exceptionable. His errors were a mis- 
 fortune into which the soundest creeds will fall, 
 
 whenever the narrow judgment of individuals 
 t up as the exclush indard of truth. Tlu 
 relate to a question of difficult solution, and one 
 which, though settled as an ecclesiastical point, 
 
 has hitherto puzzled all philosophy. Afl they 
 are a little connected with the present subject, 
 
 thev cannot well be passed over in silence. 
 
 Trior to 1638, he filled his ollice with the bight 
 
 reputation* His private character and professional 
 
 diligence, were always above the reach of calum- 
 ny. The revolutionary tempest of that \c 
 
 B 
 
26 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 which shook the church and the schools, visited 
 him in the course of its progress. This clamour, 
 which arose chiefly from private malevolence, 
 was grounded on some unguarded expressions 
 in his Dictates, while attempting to reconcile the 
 origin of moral evil with the prescience and per- 
 fections of the Deity. Some captious divines, 
 by an overstrained interpretation, imagined they 
 had discovered a meaning inconsistent with their 
 ideas of the justice and mercy of God, and which 
 seemed to charge Him as the author of sin, in pre- 
 ordaining vicious actions. It is a subject full of 
 mysteries, which our deepest reason cannot fathom, 
 and which exceeds the grasp of finite minds. 
 
 This spark raised a mighty conflagration, 
 which could not be allayed but by the inter- 
 ference of the National Assembly. The ques- 
 tionable passage was canvassed by that venerable 
 body, and delivered over to a committee of the 
 most learned men within the nation, to be by 
 them pondered and revolved, conjunctly and se- 
 verally, for one full year, to ascertain, if possible, 
 whether any dogma was there propounded hos- 
 tile to sound Calvinism. Many abstruse collo- 
 quies were held on the point; but neither in their 
 individual nor corporate investigations, could any 
 sentiment be extracted materially repugnant to 
 the established creed. It was found, that in his 
 doctrines. Principal Strang adhered to the sys- 
 tem of Geneva: that he was a believer in the 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKAD1 
 
 synod of Dort ; and touching the British con- 
 fessions, and those of the reformed churclu 
 both ancient and modern, he was irreproachable. 
 The only offence with which he could be char' 
 able was, that in his lectures there were expn 
 sions about the divine foreknowledge and dt - 
 crees, which did not accord with the notion> of 
 Dr. Twiss and Samuel Rutherford.* The au- 
 thor did not mean to convey anv sentiment^ that 
 might criminate his orthodox v. He had treated 
 these points merely as scholastic subtleties, in 
 which he thought he might indulge his own par- 
 ticular, or differ from individuals without mak- 
 ing any doctrinal innovations, or renouncing ln> 
 allegiance to the true faith. The committee, 
 after some verbal elucidation from the Principal 
 himself, who agreed to remove the stone of 
 ambling, by qualifying his words with an ex- 
 planatory clause, were pleased to testify their en- 
 tire satisfaction. The question had p I tin- 
 iest of private judgment, and the ordeal of the 
 
 • Mr. Rutherford was a rigid C'alvinist and non-conform 
 HLs book, Excrcitationcs dc Gratia^ was thought to haw om- 
 pletely routed Arminianism, which had hi implanted from 
 
 England, and had become prevalent among the Scottish CpUk 
 pa]^. Ma llaillie sa\ -. M In one sermon he felled all the tour- 
 teen bishops, and houghed their ceremonies'' [L f>) W\ 
 the hierarchy became defunct, these doctrines WW expelled the 
 
 church with unspairing vengeance Jiiillh . LcttCl 10. S 
 
 sun's Hist Church of Scotland. 
 
28 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 four universities ; and from this crucible it was 
 carried back to be again weighed in the balance 
 of the sanctuary. The General Assembly hear- 
 ing the report of their deputation, did, accord- 
 ingly, by their decree of the 27th of August 1647, 
 pronounce a unanimous acquittal.* 
 
 At what time Mr. Blackader took his degree, 
 or terminated his studies, I have nowhere seen 
 mentioned ; but with the advantages he possessed, 
 we may conjecture, that when he quitted his un- 
 cle's tuition, he was not unprepared to contend 
 with his profession. He could not be deficient 
 in classical or biblical learning, and was in no 
 great danger of having contracted any material 
 flaw in his theology. Although episcopacy was 
 in its zenith, when he studied divinity, it is not 
 likely that he was ever tinctured with its senti- 
 ments, or, perhaps, even conformed to its cere- 
 monies. There was a national antipathy to these 
 which never could be conquered. The presby- 
 terian principles remained unextinguished, amidst 
 all the innovations made on its external forms. 
 No injunctions of the court or the prelates could 
 enforce a general compliance with the abhorred 
 rites, or divert the attachment of the people from 
 its ancient channel. The liturgy, which was at- 
 
 * Vita Johan. Strangii, prefixed to his book, Be Interpreta- 
 tione Scriptures, Strang is mentioned in Irving's Scott. Poets. 
 voL i, 145. Bower's Hist. Univ. Edin. vol. i, 224. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 29 
 
 tempted in 1637, met with the most violent and tu- 
 multuary opposition.* Expectants for the church 
 sometimes obtained presbvterial license in spite 
 of the bishops : several were licensed in Ireland ; 
 others refused parochial charges, rather than enter 
 by episcopal admission. -(- In Glasgow university, 
 there was both regents and students who testified 
 their aversion to the prelatic ritual, by withdraw- 
 ing from religious ordinances, because they could 
 not submit to the posture of kneeling, enjoined by 
 
 • The Liturgy got into extensive circulation ; — u one edition, 
 at least, was destroyed, being given out athort the shops of Edin- 
 burgh, to cover spice and tobacco," (BallUc, Letter 4b) The 
 antipathy to " that black book," manifested itself against all who 
 presumed to speak in its favour. M Mr. William Annan, on 
 1 Tim. ii, 2, spake for the defence of it, as well as any in the 
 isle of Britain could have done. At the outgoing of the efau 
 about thirty or forty of our hotirrtftt women, in one voice, bed 
 the bishop and magistrates, fell a railing, cur ind BOoldi 
 
 at him. All the day over, up and down the streets, where 
 went, he got threats of sundry, in words and looks. Hut at nine 
 o'clock, in the dark night, while he will needles>ly go to vi>it the 
 bishop, — some hundreds of enraged women, of all qualitn 
 about him, with neaves, staves, and peats, but no stones. T! 
 beat him sore; his cloak, ruff, and hat were rent; boi 
 upon his cries, and candles set out from many window-, 
 escaped all bloody wounds. To-morrow, poor M r. William was 
 conveyed, with the bailies and sundry ministers, to hi> hor>e, — 
 for many women were waiting to ailront him more. Always 
 hLs on-leaping, his horse unhappily fell above him in a bn] 
 
 mire, in presence of all the company." 1 (liuillic. I .'■) 
 
 f Baillie, Letters 7, 10. 
 
30 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the articles of Perth, to be observed at the ad- 
 ministration of the sacrament.* 
 
 Long, however, before Mr. Blackader entered 
 on his ministry, the church had undergone a com- 
 plete revolution, and was brought back to the 
 purity of the first reformation. Prelacy was a- 
 bolished, and all former enactments repealed, by 
 which it had been supported. The liturgy, ca- 
 nons, ordination, &c. were abrogated, and the 
 whole fabric of the hierarchy, which the policy of 
 two successive reigns had laboured to construct, 
 was demolished, and rased to the foundation. 
 Presbytery was remodelled according to its pure 
 and primitive form : its several judicatories were 
 constituted anew in their regular gradation of su- 
 preme and subordinate courts : it had obtained 
 the royal sanction as the national religion in the 
 Scottish parliament of 1641 ; and about ten years 
 afterwards, a similar ratification was given by 
 Charles II, who, when he was recalled from ex- 
 ile, made this the express terms of his accession 
 to the throne of his ancestors. 
 
 * Blair's Mem. Baillie, Letter 5. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADFR. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Mr. Blackaders ministry at T roquet 
 
 When Mr. Blackader had passed trials, and ol>- 
 tained the stamp of the church on his qualifica- 
 tions, he received a call, in 1652, to the parish of 
 Troqueer,* " one of the ten kirks in Gallow 
 attached to the presbytery of Dumfric IIi^ 
 
 connection with that part of the country was pro- 
 bably through some relations lie had then 1 1 1 - 
 wife, whom he married in 1646, was from the 
 town of Dumfries ; she was the daughter of Mr. 
 Homer Haning, a wealthy and respectable dm 
 chant. *f- About the time he was a licentiate, the 
 
 * Troqueer, or Troquire, was originally a catholic chapel. It 
 was called in ancient writing, the M T I ." i.\ ome- 
 
 quence of having been connected witli the mo: 
 Abbey, and the college of ironks at Lincluden, forming, in 
 whole, three catholic otablMmn : thin a few mile* of each 
 
 other. It comprehends the burgh of Maxwelton. Popul 
 census, 4,301. 
 
 ■f His father was Mr. Thomas Ilaning of Nether-firilit.-r.. ■ 
 Holy wood, and had possessed the Kmdfl of Overtoun. 00 the e>t 
 of Tulliollan WfUi of Fam'th/ <f lildckaj<r. 
 
52 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 fierce disputes between Resolutioners and Protest- 
 ers had begun to irritate and divide the church. 
 Vacancies were keenly contested, both parties 
 being eager to promote their own faction ; and 
 settlements were sometimes obstructed by violent 
 and unseemly tumults.* 
 
 But so acceptable were his probationary speci- 
 mens as a preacher, that his admission to Tro- 
 queer met not a single exception. His nomina- 
 tion was by the unanimous voice of the people. 
 Since the abolition of patronage in 1649, the call 
 of the parishioners had much influence in the 
 choice of their minister. Cromwell transferred 
 : to the congregation those rights which had been 
 exercised by patrons. To humour the people in 
 ecclesiastical matters, was perhaps less a principle 
 of his creed than a political expedient to establish 
 a reign of despotism. It was a manoeuvre to in- 
 gratiate his authority, to complete the slavery of 
 the nation, by conciliating their affection to his 
 yoke. But it never was a maxim of presbytery, 
 to vest the election of ministers exclusively in the 
 congregation. The church, even during the Pro- 
 tectorate, had always an aristocracy in the heritors 
 and elderhood, who exercised the elective pow- 
 ers. The people could recommend any particu- 
 lar candidate, or demand a hearing of him ; and 
 
 Burnet's Hist. vol. i, 55. Baillie, vol. ii, 371, 404. 
 
REV. JOHX ELACKADER. 
 
 it was requisite that a majority should acquit- 
 in his nomination, as their dissent, unless ground- 
 ed on causeless prejudices, was sufficient to bar 
 his induction ; but farther than this, their rigi 
 seem not to have extended.* 
 
 Mr. Blackader received ordination from the 
 presbytery of Dumfries, and was admitted to his 
 benefice June 7, 1653. The moderator, Mr. 
 Archibald of Dunscore, preached his inauguration 
 sermon from John i, 36, in which he took occa- 
 sion to lay before his audience a summary of 
 what he considered to be the aim and leading ol>- 
 ject of a faithful minister. That the first duty 
 of the pulpit was to preach the gospel, to make 
 the Christian atonement a prominent topic in all 
 its instruction As the herald of grace, it be- 
 came a divine ambassador to proclaim the doc- 
 trines of grace, to publish the free offers of salva- 
 tion, and make the example of Christ to be dl8- 
 tinctly recognised in his earthly representative : 
 without this he had mistaken his errand, and w 
 unworthy to bear the seal and commission of li 
 heavenly Master. At the >ame time, his plan 
 ought to comprehend all parts of scripture truth 
 that could influence men's practice, or amend 
 their lives. 
 
 Mr. Ulackader commenced his labours with a 
 
 • Directory for Elect. Min. Confess. Faith. 
 
34 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 resolution to enforce rigidly the discipline of the 
 church. His first exertions were directed to the 
 suppression of profaneness and immorality a- 
 mong the people. These he found to be u ge- 
 nerally ignorant, many scandalous in conversation, 
 and divers popishly inclined. r> In this work of 
 renovation, it was necessary to begin with the el- 
 dership, who had lapsed into the vices of the 
 times, and suffered all sessional discipline to fall 
 into decay. He behoved, therefore, to constitute 
 this judicatory anew, to retrench and reform its 
 component parts. The week after his admission 
 he summoned them, by advertisement, to meet 
 at Cargenbridge, a central situation; where being 
 legally convened, he hinted the propriety of a 
 more exemplary deportment among them, and 
 his intention to purge that court of all offensive 
 and superfluous members : this, he was aware, 
 would be an unpleasant task, and require deli- 
 cate management. As the greater part were 
 scandalous, it seemed an impolitic measure to en- 
 ter into a formal process of deposition, seeing a 
 majority would be against him, and could not 
 be prevailed on to give a vote of exclusion to 
 their own disgrace. He opened the business by 
 stating, that in his opinion twenty-f Air were too 
 many : that it occasioned greater negligence in 
 performing their duty, " by lippening one to an- 
 other;" and, therefore, he proposed that ten 
 might continue, and the remainder be liberated 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 35 
 
 from their office ; averring, at the same time, his 
 design to do nothing without their consent. This 
 overture was agreed to, and referred to the next 
 meeting. Meantime, he took the opportunity to 
 inquire minutely into their principles and conduct, 
 and to ascertain, " who were the most civil, and 
 best affected among them." Of this information 
 he availed himself at the following session. It 
 was moved, that the persons to be elected should 
 retire by pairs, and judgment as to their fitness 
 or demerits pronounced by the rest. No just 
 grounds of expulsion being found, as care had 
 been taken that the least objectionable should 
 withdraw first, the absentees were recalled, and o- 
 ther two subjected to a similar inquest.* This 
 expurgatory process was repeated until ten were 
 declared duly elected, and fourteen laid aside by 
 their own negative. To these elect elders, two 
 more were added ; and being all men of beseem- 
 ing gravity, and approved orthodoxy, they were 
 solemnly admitted to their office in due form and 
 place. 
 
 At that period, a birth in the eldership was 
 no sinecure. Their office required them to ex- 
 ercise the strictest inspection over the morals of 
 the parish ; to punish open trangressions with un- 
 sparing severity. All the grosser immorality 
 
 * Vid. Confess, of Faith. — Of privy censure. 
 
36 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 * 
 
 swearing, drunkenness, fighting, scolding, disobe- 
 dience to parents, absence from public worship, 
 came under their cognizance. Their duty ex- 
 tended to what w r e would call the levities and 
 amusements of life, dancing, dicing ; gaiety of 
 attire, &c. were rebukable offences. They were 
 authorized, on some occasions, to carry their ju- 
 risdiction into the bosoms of families and indivi- 
 duals ; to disarm private resentments, and arbi- 
 trate in cases of domestic variance.* If a fault 
 was too trivial for sessional or congregational re- 
 proof, they had to deal with the conscience of the 
 delinquent ; to lay his backslidings before him, 
 and continue him under admonition, till they could 
 extract satisfying evidence of his repentance. 
 
 These censorial powers of the elderhood have 
 mostly fallen into disuse. Though our morals 
 may not have rendered them less necessary, they 
 would be decried, in this polished age, as into- 
 lerable restraints, a pragmatical interference with 
 the natural rights of mankind. The world, we 
 imagine, would be disposed to condemn the unfa- 
 shionable discipline that w r ould inflict the penance 
 of sackcloth on our elegant accomplishments, or 
 mould our exterior into a ridiculous gravity, by 
 such rigorous accuracy of posture and apparel. 
 They would hardly relish the intrusion of having 
 
 * M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. ii, 13. 
 
EEV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 
 
 their privacy assailed by sessional exhortation 
 and they would probably smile at the extra' 
 gance of trying to bind irritable and unsocial 
 tempers by the constraints of a judicial sentem 
 But the ancient eldership were not men that 
 would sacrifice the interests of morality to any 
 ceremonious regard for personal feeling, or allow 
 their functions to be interrupted by punctilious 
 forms or refined scruple-. This rigour, though 
 occasionally productive of bad effects, and exact- 
 ing too much for human weakness, was. in the 
 main, a wholesome severity : and we may add, 
 that the church was actuated by no wish to make 
 her disciples the victims of a persecuting and in- 
 quisitorial court. It was solely from her zeal for 
 promoting their edification, and suppressing vi< 
 that she armed her judicatories with t& \tra- 
 ordinary powers. 
 
 Having organised the session to his mind, Mr. 
 
 Blackader's next anxiety was the state of his pa- 
 rishioners. As they had been little accustomed to 
 
 discipline, he resolved to acquaint them with its 
 end and use; and to lav the moral axe to the root 
 of the evil, lie commanded tht -ion records to 
 he produced, and all who were then under pro- 
 cess, or in arrears of scandal, to he cited anew. 
 This journal iras not extremely creditable to the 
 diligence of his predecessor, the Reverend Ilallurt 
 
 Gladstam It appeared, according to that d 
 
 morial of human infirmities* that he had confined 
 
38 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 his censures almost exclusively to fornication and 
 adultery. There had sprung up, in consequence, 
 a rank growth of profligacy and profaneness. 
 " Scandals did much abound, especially idle 
 swearing, excessive tippling in alehouses, mock- 
 ing at religion, foolish jesting, obscene expres- 
 sions, and promiscuous dancing, especially at 
 marriages. The people had become ignorant 
 for the most part, being dishaunters of public 
 worship, ane offence which had not been noted 
 formerly ; divers were popish and popishly inclin- 
 ed, particularly on the lands of Mabie." To 
 meet these exigences, he judged additional office- 
 bearers and extraordinary services to be neces- 
 sary. He appointed Doctors to expound scripture 
 to weak capacities, and reason with heretical per- 
 sons. He instituted weekly preachings, every 
 Tuesday, " except in the throng of seedtime and 
 harvest, * and gave regularly two sermons each 
 Sabbath. His Sabbath discourses were calculat- 
 ed chiefly for their instruction in the elementary 
 parts of religion, the depravity of man, his self- 
 insufficiency, redemption through the atonement, 
 Sec. His weekly exercises were addressed to con- 
 verts, for building them up in faith and newness 
 of life; and so popular did these become, that 
 not only his own congregation, " but several ho- 
 nest and godly persons from other parishes at- 
 tended them." 
 
 He ordered all that could read, to provide 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEK. 39 
 
 themselves with bibles; those who could not. vra 
 exhorted to go and hear the scriptures read in 
 the neighbouring families.* Such a* had not 
 the means to procure bibles, catechi>ins, and other 
 elementary books, were furnished with money to 
 buy them. Every half-year he catechised the 
 parish, and visited private families as often. In 
 these examinations, which he did not perform 
 " in a slight and overly manner," he studied not 
 merely the edification, but the temper and dispo- 
 sitions of the people. To cultivate a religious 
 intercourse in this way, appeared to him not less 
 useful, and no less essential, than to inculcate in- 
 structions from the pulpit. Stated discount 
 and dispensing of ordinances, he did not consider 
 as either exhausting the sacred office, or adequate 
 to the wants of the people ; and he who content- 
 ed himself with the mere ritual of his profession, 
 
 • The General Assembly had paid much attention to the 
 education of youth. It had directed schools to be established in 
 every parish in Scotland ; but owing to the unsettled state of the 
 government, they had not yet produced their intended effi 
 Instances of illiterate persons were not uncommon, — and much 
 was left for the zeal of the church to accomplish. So eager wis 
 the desire to peruse the sacred volume, that e\en old people were 
 content to undergo the drudgeries of scholarship, to get tl 
 hoary years initiated in the mysteries of their native alphabet. 
 Mention is made of sixty aged people, men and women, who 
 went to school, that they might be able to read the scripture* 
 with their own eyes. — K'uktou, 64 Bltfr 9 ! Mem. 
 
40 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 « 
 
 would never learn the hearts of his audience, nor 
 fulfil the ends of his ministry. 
 
 He formed a plan, with two of his brethren, 
 Mr. Welsh of Irongray, and Mr. Johnstone of 
 Lochrutton, of occasionally visiting each others 
 parishes. This he proposed to the presbytery as 
 a general overture, to which they did agree. 
 These united labours were attended with con- 
 siderable success. " Much real effect and fruit 
 followed them, both in the conversion of sinners 
 and the confirmation of believers ; so that many, 
 from these diets, tlated their spiritual birth.'" 
 This good work and brotherly assistance continu- 
 ed harmoniously for two years, when, " through 
 the envy of the common adversary," it met with 
 interruption. Several of the people, not content 
 with commending the zeal and good intentions of 
 these faithful stewards, began indiscreetly to cen- 
 sure others, who did not see the necessity, or were 
 not so clear about the propriety of such practices. 
 These indiscreet reflections " did stir up emula- 
 tion among some of the old ministers, who com- 
 plained to the presbytery of such innovations as 
 singular, and casting indirect reproofs on the rest 
 of the brethren." Finding this to be disagreeable, 
 and unwilling to offend, " these three forbear, lest 
 the extraordinariness of the practice should have 
 caused a breach or rent among them." They 
 continued, however, occasionally to preach at each 
 others kirks. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 41 
 
 In addition to the duties of preaching, visitin 
 and catechising, he instituted societies or meet- 
 ings for family prayer and Christian fellowship. 
 That he might incur no grudge, or excite y 
 lousies on this account, he previously made known 
 his resolution, and intimated publicly to the con- 
 gregation, u that he would sequestrate a day, ilk 
 fortnight, for communion and conference to- 
 gether anent their spiritual case, and for initiat- 
 ing them in the exercise of praver." At the 
 conferences, he chose to preside himself, thinking 
 his attendance necessary, at least " until they 
 should be bred to manage that duty aright, and 
 with that decorum and godly prudence which 
 the solemnity required." 
 
 These pious exertions had the happiest effect 
 on the morals of the parish. Scarcely two yean 
 had elapsed, when a visible reformation was ac- 
 complished in the suppre>sion of vice and dis> 
 mination of religious knowledge. Household 
 prayer, formerly little in use, became familiar 
 and easy, even to those who, by their own oonfi 
 sion, had been strangers to it. By these labours, 
 an accession of numbers w lined to the oontgn 
 gation, so that the church was unable to contain 
 them even with the addition of a la , alien 
 
 There were still several "suspect persons, who, 
 in contempt of all ordinances, di^haunted public 
 worshi] With " these poor ignorant obstinat. 
 he was in the habit of dealing privately, and pn - 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 vailed with some to attend. On professed ca- 
 tholics admonitions were lost ; and it became ne- 
 cessary to employ discipline. But the citations 
 of the session w r ere disregarded. He resolved, 
 therefore, to make a progress into the disaffected 
 regions, to visit that quarter where the papists 
 lived, which was on the estate of Mabie. He 
 trysted with three of his co-presbyters to hold a 
 visitation in that dark corner, the nursery of ig- 
 norance and popery. But it required some arti- 
 fice to collect an audience, or carry any pious re- 
 solve into execution, as the inhabitants had al- 
 ways been in the practice of shifting the diets, 
 and avoiding all conference with him, when ap- 
 prized of his design, either withdrawing from 
 their houses, or bolting the door against his ex- 
 hortations. On this occasion, he judged it best 
 to enter that heretical district by surprise, and 
 give no advertisement, farther, than by sending 
 two of the elders to announce his approach, and 
 desire them to stand their ground and be pre- 
 pared. By this stratagem, " the poor ignorant 
 bodies of the bounds" were assembled, and con- 
 strained to give their attention, while the mini- 
 sters, in rotation, handled and applied several ap- 
 propriate texts. 
 
 This expedition seems to have achieved no 
 memorable reformation among the papistical te- 
 nantry of Mabie. They continued hardened and 
 contumacious ; their faith was not to be shaken 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 4tf 
 
 by arguments or surprise. Mr. Blackader, " see- 
 ing his earnest dealings prevail nothing," report- 
 ed his ill success to the presbytery, craving further 
 advice. The presbytery, " unwilling to pass the 
 sad sentence of excommunication," appointed a 
 visitation of all its members to be held at Mabie, 
 " especially to deal with the Laird and Lady for 
 their reclaiming, as they were guilty of habitual 
 absence, and did cordially reset and harbour 
 priests and papists." But on the day of visita- 
 tion, they found the premises abandoned as usual, 
 though timeous warning had been given. The 
 only alternative left, was to execute against die fu- 
 gitives the highest censure of the kirk, by excluding 
 them from its privileges. The form of process re- 
 quired, that after three presbyterial citations, the 
 parties were to be cited from the pulpit ; and this 
 was to be done even in the absence of the delin- 
 quent. Then followed three public admonitions, 
 a presbytery intervening between each, to show 
 the church's clemency, and her earnestness to 
 have sinners reclaimed. Before closing the pro- 
 cess, prayers were to be offered up three several 
 Sabbaths, in which the congregation were exhort- 
 ed to join, imploring God to convince the obstinate 
 of their errors, and grant them repentance. Sen- 
 tence was then pronounced in a grave and so- 
 lemn tone, that they were shut out from the com- 
 munion of the faithful, and debarred from church 
 privileges. These formal and dilatory step-, 
 
44 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 threw an air of majesty and awe over the whole 
 procedure ; thus giving additional terrors to the 
 censure, in the eyes both of the party and the 
 people.* 
 
 After the second prayer, the Laird appeared, 
 and desired the proceedings might stop, promis- 
 ing conformity and attendance in future ; but the 
 Lady continued bigotted and irrefragable, and 
 was formally delivered over to Satan in the face 
 of the congregation. Nine others were excommu- 
 nicated at the same time, all tenants or cottars on 
 the estate of Mabie. The sermon preached on 
 the occasion was on Titus iii, 10, " An heretic af- 
 ter the second admonition reject? One of the nine 
 was so affected with the ceremony, that, in a fit 
 of momentary alarm, he recanted, declaring he 
 would not for all the parish have had the sen- 
 tence pronounced against him. But his religious 
 impressions evanished with his fears; and, in a 
 short time, he relapsed to his former idolatry. 
 The proceedings " anent the disobedient s in Ma- 
 bie," occupied the space of five or six years.-}- 
 
 The church, though rigorous in her discipline, 
 deserves credit for the impartiality of her punish- 
 ments. Her ancient tribunals spared none for the 
 eminence of their rank. As Christ, their head, 
 
 * Confession of Faith. Form of Process, chap. 8. 
 -\ Records of the Presbytery of Dumfries. 
 
REV. JOHN liLACKADER. 45 
 
 was no respecter of persons, the same conduct 1 
 came his vicegerents on earth. She allowed not 
 the great to conceal their wickedness, or avoid 
 the shame of public penance. Her officers reject- 
 ed all bribery, and would compound with no 
 vice. Neither ought we to censure harshly her 
 hostility to the conscience and opinions of non- 
 conformists. The fault was in the intolerance of 
 the age. It was the maxim of all religion^ to 
 punish dissent from the established church, as 
 disobedience to the laws of the land. Besides, her 
 highest sentence had only an external effect. It 
 could lay no interdict on the divine mercy and 
 forgiveness, nor bar the gates of salvation on ihof 
 who were excluded from her rite- Her sole ob- 
 ject was to defend the purity erf her worship, to 
 purge her communion from heresy and scandal. 
 Her severest ordinances were mingled with ten- 
 derness, and had only a temporal extent ; tin \ 
 did not, like the anathemas of Home, carry their 
 terrors beyond the grave, or consign their hope- 
 
 3 victims to everlasting punishment. 
 
 Another object of reform with Mr. Blackader, 
 was the parochial fund. This he wished to put 
 
 under better regulation, and particularly to have 
 
 it replenished from less exceptionable Boura 
 
 It had been eu>toinarv, with former BeSI kOOB, to 
 
 impose pecuniary fines on scandalous per so n s , 
 
 and appropriate these to the weekly ezpenditur 
 
 under the impression, that without this extraue- 
 
46 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ous supply, the ordinary contribution would be 
 insufficient ; and that having no secular magi- 
 strate, it behoved them to levy church dues.* 
 This was the practice he disapproved, and wish- 
 ed to abolish. He alleged, that being a spiritual 
 court, they were incompetent to inflict civil pu- 
 nishment ; and as to the disability of the weekly 
 collection, there needed be no apprehensions, 
 since he was persuaded that the coffers of the 
 session would be better imbursed by laying aside 
 all compulsory exactions, and referring fines to 
 the discretion of the culprit. He made it his 
 aim, in reprimanding convicted persons, always 
 to let a part of his address bear upon this object. 
 First, he endeavoured to open their minds to a 
 sense of their guilt, and humble them into pene- 
 tential sorrow ; then he concluded with an appeal 
 to their benevolent feelings, hinting the propriety 
 of some pecunial acknowledgment ; that though 
 
 * An act of parliament at Perth, 1645, empowered the church 
 to inflict " pecunial pains," to be employed in pious uses ; and 
 in 1647, the General Assembly recommend the diligent uplifting 
 of those pains, {Acts of Assem. Sess. 25.) In burghs, it was al- 
 most the invariable custom to have some of the elders chosen 
 from among the magistrates, — a circumstance which, connected 
 with the nature of the offences, and the punishments usually de- 
 creed against them by the legislature, led to that apparent con- 
 founding of the two jurisdictions, which strikes us as an anoma- 
 ly, and a contradiction to the principles of the presbyterian 
 church.— M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. ii, 11. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEH. 47 
 
 he had no warrant in the Directory to lay a tax 
 upon sin, he hoped they would not grudge a 
 small gratuity, in consideration that they had not 
 only offended God, but scandalized the congre- 
 gation, and " that whatever they were moved to 
 offer, might be given to the thesauror of the 
 poor^s money ." In this way he increased their 
 revenue, more by voluntary donations than by an 
 excise on scandal. He was of opinion, that alms 
 might be made sufficient to meet the demands of 
 pauperism ; that the cause of public charity need- 
 ed no legislative aid, but might safely be left to 
 the sympathies of human nature. 
 
 Visitation of the sick was a department of his 
 ministry on which he bestowed much attention. 
 At all times, day and night, his visits were ready 
 at the house of mourning. There he never 
 studied ease or convenience; to him no season 
 was an obstacle, and he viewed it as no intrusion, 
 though not formally asked. He blamed the tar- 
 dy humanity of friends, who defer clerical assist- 
 ance till earthly remedies have lost their power, 
 till medical arts prove unavailing, and recovery 
 become hopeless. Then, as a last resource, and 
 when every other refuge fails, they apply to the 
 consolations of religion. The man of God is im- 
 portuned to repair to the couch of affliction; to 
 support the dying man under the agonies of dis- 
 solution, as if his presence were a spell to all;»\ 
 the terrors of conscience; as if prayer could fit 
 
48 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 him for heaven by charm, or operate as a safe and 
 expeditious absolution before stepping into eter- 
 nity. It was lest this prevalent, but mistaken, 
 notion should render his visits fruitless, that he 
 chose rather to anticipate messages of invitation ; 
 convinced, that when taken in time, occasions of 
 distress may be made subservient to the best pur- 
 poses. Affliction he regarded as the natural sea- 
 son for instilling useful and permanent instruc- 
 tion. The mind retired within itself, and unso- 
 licited by external objects, is disposed to ponder 
 and examine. Never will a solemn lesson or a pious 
 reproof make a deeper impression, than when ad- 
 versity has rendered the heart soft and docile ; 
 when it has humbled the soul into serious thought 
 and spontaneous devotion. Advices, which in 
 health would be despised, in the day of sickness 
 will be imparted with happier effect, and be more 
 tenderly remembered. These scenes he improved 
 into arguments for inculcating practical godli- 
 ness ; he made them a text for many a forcible 
 and striking exhortation. 
 
 The proper discharge of this duty appeared to 
 him one of the most difficult and delicate parts of 
 his work. It required prudence to suit his ad- 
 dresses to the different tempers and circumstances 
 of men ; to speak home to their conscience with 
 freedom, but with discretion ; to warn the sinner 
 of his peril without exciting unnecessary alarm ; 
 to unfold the promises of divine grace, so as to 
 
REV. JOHN LLACKADEll. 49 
 
 leave no encouragement for presumptuous hopes, 
 or groundless security. Even when compelled to 
 assume the sternness of rebuke, he strove to avoid 
 harshness of expression ; to temper his centum 
 with kindness, that it might be Been to proceed 
 from concern rather than displeasure, and that 
 it might not inflict an additional pong on a soul 
 already chastened and bleeding. With the ob- 
 stinate and incorrigible, he studied Lesfl delicacv. 
 Though it was painful and disagreeable to per- 
 form the office of an accuser, yet he chose rather 
 to speak severe truths with reluctance, than leave 
 any to expire in hopeless and hardened inaeni 
 bilitw The attempt might be unpromising, per- 
 haps fruitless, but he had done his part ; and if 
 dinners preferred to venture on the hazard of 
 eternal perdition, they might depart, at least, 
 with confusion on their face and a witnes> in their 
 conscience. 
 
 Whenever he had reason to augur favourably 
 of any, from the tenor of their lives, or the sin- 
 ceritv of their contrition, lie rejoiced to fan the 
 spark of hope, to cherish and confirm the work 
 of grace. But even the mOBt a»urcd, he would 
 caution to examine more and more into the foun- 
 dation of their trust, that they might attain, if 
 possible, to greater certainty. With such as were 
 of a gloomy and apprehensive caM. (and there 
 are some, even good men, BO timid and KTUpu- 
 lous, that it* there tfl sin like a grain of niustard- 
 
 c 
 
50 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 seed, it will perplex and terrify them,) he used 
 every effort to rectify their distempered imagina- 
 tions, and restore them to a better opinion of their 
 case. He searched into the grounds of their dis- 
 quietudes, whether they were the effects of an in- 
 tense concern, or the superstitious fears of a me- 
 lancholy temperament. In such cases, artifice was 
 to be used to dispel their mistaken solicitude, 
 and divert the mind from feeding upon its own 
 disease. Sometimes he would draw^ arguments 
 from the placability of the divine nature, or the 
 all-sufficiency of a vicarious righteousness ; again, 
 by shewing that extravagant fears are criminal, 
 that brooding suspicions reflect on the character 
 of God, and imply distrust in his goodness or his 
 power. Soothed and animated by his discourse, 
 the labouring spirit would frequently burst from 
 underneath its cloud ; constitutional depressions 
 yielded their place to heavenly transports; the 
 soul, about to quit its prison, would long the 
 more to be disencumbered of its mortal fetters, 
 mounting towards heaven like the expiring flame, 
 whose lustre shines brighter when leaving the 
 grosser element that held it to the earth. To him 
 no spectacle was more gratifying than the con- 
 templation of a holy death-bed. He delighted 
 to behold the timorous Christian close his career 
 with a noble magnanimity, in a smile of depart- 
 ing glory ; to sit and watch the moment when 
 grace should triumph amidst the weakness of 
 
REV. JoHls BLAC 51 
 
 mortality, when faith should complete her victon 
 over all the doubts and the fears of nature. 
 
 In ordinary intercourse with bis people, Mr. 
 Blackader was more under reserve. He shunned 
 to cultivate much familiarity through secular 
 channels. Except in the way <^f* his offi< . . for 
 specific reasons, he seldom haunted their boua 
 His company was frequently requested at ft 
 marriages, baptisms, &c. ; but he judged it more" 
 becoming, in general, to decline, j 
 wlien inconvenient, " giving a discreet refusal." 
 If in some instances lie complied, it was with the 
 indirect design, " either to edify or restrain ex- 
 orbitances, so far as lie was able ;" to confine Ik 
 pitality within the bounds of temperana . nd 
 prevent >d humour from degenerating into 
 criminal levit lie wi , at th Be time, 
 
 by occasionallv participating in their mirth, to 
 teach them that chccrfulne» i^ not incompatib 
 with seriou ; that piety has n< ry 
 
 connection with an austere or I - ten. 
 
 As the spiritual interest 1 ii> flock was the end 
 to which he wished < avocation to be made 
 
 subordinate, lie let slip no opportunity of pn 
 motingthal object lie would adapt bis cotm 
 ion to the circumstances in which lie was placed, 
 
 or the passing even' and. like li 
 
 divine M r, make the DMMl trivial incident 
 teacli a permanent moral lesson, In s< :i> of 
 
52 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 unguarded familiarity, he found that reproof 
 could be conveyed with less harshness and of- 
 fence ; that a useful truth might occasionally be 
 introduced in the disguise of a careless remark. 
 In this way he endeavoured to extract improve- 
 ment from hours which are generally spent in 
 thoughtless dissipation. Occasions of mirth be- 
 came the vehicle of instruction, and innocent di- 
 version was made to accomplish the sublimer pur- 
 poses of the Christian ministry. Of this practice, 
 however, he found it unsuitable to make either a 
 frequent or promiscuous use, reckoning it incon- 
 sistent with that blamelessness of walk, and dig- 
 nity of conduct, which ought to characterize his 
 profession. 
 
 Such is an outline of Mr. Blackader's ministry 
 at Troqueer, during an incumbency of nine years. 
 He had established himself in the affections of 
 his people by a tender solicitude for their spiri- 
 tual welfare ; by a vigilant and impartial disci- 
 pline, he had wrought a salutary improvement on 
 their moral habits. 
 
 This period of the church has been stigmatised 
 as the reign of gloom and fanaticism, as having 
 soured the national manners, and infused into 
 the country a spirit of morose and sullen auste- 
 rity. Historians have described it as the suspen- 
 sion of all popular recreations and amusing spec- 
 tacles ; as the exile of good cheer and harmless 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADKR. 
 
 diversion.* But while thev hold up to ridicule 
 the foibles of the age, and give an ex ggerated 
 portrait of its leading features, they have been 
 sparing of their remarks on its lx?neficial effect 
 It was under this stern and illiberal economy, 
 that the blessings of religion and the benefits 
 learning were more extensively diffused, — that 
 people became sober and enlightened, — that mam 
 odious and pernicious vices decreased or disap- 
 peared. It was then that Scotland became emi- 
 nent for superior intelligence, — that >he earned 
 the character, bv which she is still proud t<> 
 be distinguished as a country of religious pi 
 santry, a nation without a mob. The labours of 
 the clergy, during the Interregnum, wrought a 
 salutarv and universal reform on the public mo- 
 rals. For this statement we have the testimony 
 
 • 
 
 of friends and foes.*f* Their instructions carried 
 
 • Laing. vol. iii. .310. Hume's IIi>t Commonwealth. 
 
 •f 4i They had brought the people to Mich a degree of know let I 
 that cottagers and servants would have prayed extempore: tiie\ hud 
 a comprehension of matters of religion, greater than I have seen a- 
 mong people of that ^ort any where." {Burnetii Jltt. vol. i, 1 .> 
 
 In the interval between the two kings religion I the 
 
 greatest steps it had made for many J j the ministry * 
 
 tablie purified, and the people strangely refined ; no let 
 person could live, no scandal could he concealed, in all Scotia: 
 SO Strict a correspondence there was betwixt mil, 
 gregatioi The only complaint of prophane people was, that 
 
 the government was so strict, they had not liberty e: 
 
54 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 light and civilization into parts of the kingdom 
 where no legal authority had been recognised, 
 and which had hitherto resisted all the means of 
 moral or civil improvement.* The spirit of re- 
 verence and devotion, which the nation had im- 
 bibed, operated as a more powerful check against 
 profane and licentious manners than judicial re- 
 straints or ecclesiastical penalties. This served 
 to counteract the headlong torrent, when the Re- 
 storation had set open the flood-gates of vice, and 
 almost driven, not only the clergy, but piety it- 
 self, into banishment. It was the salt which pre- 
 vented a total and incurable corruption amidst 
 the degeneracy of a profligate reign. The sullen 
 austerity, and ridiculous grimace of that age, 
 have passed away, or live only in the caricatures 
 
 I verily believe, there were more souls converted to Christ in that 
 short period of time, than in any season since the Reformation, 
 though of treeple its duration. At the king's return, every pa- 
 roche hade a minister, — every village hade a school, — every fa- 
 mily, almost, had a bible, — in most of the country, all the child- 
 ren of age could read. I have lived many years in a paroche 
 where I never heard ane oath ; and you might have ridde many 
 miles before you hade heard any. Also, you could not, for a 
 great part of the country, have lodged in a family where the 
 Lord was not worshipped, by reading, singing, and public prayer. 
 Nobody complained more of our church government, than our 
 taverners, whose ordinary lamentation was, their trade was broke, 
 people had become so sober." — Kirkton, 48, 55, 64, 65. 
 
 * Kirkton, nt supra. Hind Let Loose, 132. Cleland's Poems. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 
 
 of history ; but its salutary effects have- not va- 
 nished with its extravagances. It has left a mo- 
 ral impression on society, which still remain-. 
 These are the prominent and imperishable cha- 
 racters bv which it ought to be remembered. 
 
56 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Restoration — Abolition of Presbytery — Revival 
 of Episcopacy — Presbytery of Dumfries im- 
 jmsoned — Mr, Blackader expelled from Tro- 
 queer. 
 
 Never did the nation entertain more sanguine 
 hopes of any reign, nor the church indulge fonder 
 anticipations of liberty and tranquillity than at 
 the return of Charles II in 1660. This universal 
 prosperity events themselves seemed to favour 
 and prognosticate. An unexpected vicissitude of 
 fortune had restored the crown to its hereditary 
 master, after an exile of ten years, and at a 
 time when repossession seemed hopeless By this 
 unexpected and surprising revolution, Charles 
 was replaced on his throne without the aid of a 
 single ally, and when he was vainly imploring the 
 succour of foreign courts, who had refused to as- 
 sert his title, and would hardly supply his neces- 
 sities.* 
 
 * Burnet Hist. vol. i, 85. Kirkton, 57. Siecle de Louis 
 XIV, vol. i, chap. 6. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEB. 
 
 A political calm had succeeded to th .n- 
 ternal convulsions, which for twenty yean had 
 desolated and rent the nation. Both kingdoi 
 had become impatient of a republican dominion, 
 and were ready to embrace anv regular govern- 
 ment in preference to slavery and anarch v. Mi- 
 litary oppression had subdued the fierce spirit of 
 turbulence and faction. The people, after <>l>- 
 stinatelv contesting their rights with arbitrary 
 kings, had yielded, almost without resistance, n> 
 the yoke of an obscure citizen and a usurper. 
 Religious antipathies, softened by toleration or 
 mutual consent, had greatly subsided. The 
 schism of Resolutkmers and Protesters, the only 
 blemish in that spotless era of the Scottish church, 
 was nearlv healed, and synods had expressly a- 
 greed to bury all past dissensions in friendly ob- 
 livion.* The want of a sure and legitimate 
 foundation, on which law and religion might set- 
 tle, made all ranks desire to see the functions of 
 
 government run in their ancient channel. 
 
 The regret at the king's exile was become 
 deep and general ; Ins own wishes to return were 
 
 not more ardent and sincere than those of his 
 people.-f* And there were circumstances in his 
 
 • Kirkton, 6 
 
 f iw Th m of their loi > greats would 
 
 never cut their hair, — MOM *uuld never drink vine, — son* 
 
 c 
 
~8 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 history and situation which tended to recommend 
 him to their affections. He had been nurtured 
 from his youth in the bosom of adversity, doom- 
 ed to a life of wandering and peril, and con- 
 strained to seek bread and shelter from the hos- 
 pitality of strangers. The recollection of his 
 sufferings called up all those feelings and expres- 
 sions of commiseration, which naturally arise at 
 the thought of majesty in distress. Time seemed 
 to have effaced the memory of his past miscon- 
 duct. Whatever indignation his former frailties 
 and insincerity had occasioned, all was gener- 
 ously forgotten. Resentment had given way to 
 compassion ; his faults and infirmities were lost 
 or overlooked in the remembrance of his father's 
 fate and his ow T n misfortunes. Long absence had 
 invested his person with new charms, and his 
 character with fictitious virtues. His friends 
 announced him as an ensample of piety, a para- 
 xon of moral excellence ; and his credulous sub- 
 jects believed him a living exemplification of all 
 those abstract and ideal perfections which anti- 
 quity has combined to form its imaginary sage. 
 It was known that he used the liturgy abroad, 
 but this was excused as necessity more than 
 choice. He had the credit of being esteemed a 
 sincere presbyterian ; and to doubt of his being 
 
 would never wear linen, — till they might see the desire of their 
 eyes, the king." — Kirkton, 60. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADllK. 
 
 a covenanter would have been treason or blas- 
 phemy.* 
 
 At the Restoration, an exuberant tide of loyal- 
 ty and joy filled every breast. The nation, freed 
 from bondage and suspense, broke out into raj>- 
 turou^ exultation, which could scared v be I 
 strained within the bounds of decorum. Men 
 knew not how to express their delight, — and 
 there is tradition of some who expired in i 
 on the occasion. + It is amusing to contempla 
 what romantic and extravagant drama of felici- 
 ty were fostered in this heat and intoxication of 
 the public mind. The king's return was to con- 
 summate magnificent events, and even to work 
 miracle Men, in the flights of their imagina- 
 tions, expected to see all nature renovated at hi* 
 ap proach, — the earth and the ocean yield a more 
 abundant increase. The more sanguine votar. 
 of court favour began to calculate their golden 
 
 • Kirkton, 50 M So high did the king's character stand in 
 
 the opinion and idolatrous affections of the miserable people of 
 
 aland, that a man might more hlasphcii ' hrist, 
 
 than derogate, in the U rom the glory of bifl perfections. 
 
 There was a certain man had his tongue bored for saying the 
 Duke of York was a papist, which the priests at Ivondon would 
 not believe upon fa nation da\. The day he wen 
 
 mass, fourteen of them choised for their text, IVi! *?, 
 
 making him the corner-stone of the , tint religion." — / 
 
 132. 
 
 •f Hum* hap. 6 
 
GO MEMOIRS OF 
 
 expectations, and to reckon the harvest of their 
 fortune at hand.* The church herself did not 
 escape the infection of these enthusiastic reveries. 
 Some of the British divines, who pretended to su- 
 perior sagacity in expounding signs and times, an- 
 nounced this reign as the commencement of the 
 millenium, — the prophetical era whence the glo- 
 rious promises in the Apocalypse were to date 
 their accomplishment. They conceived Charles 
 to be the person prefigured, in the visions of 
 symbolical scripture, as the destroyer of the mys- 
 tic beast : that he was to inflict the last deadly 
 wound on the head of that enigmatical creature ; 
 and that, like another Constantine, he was to 
 confer splendid distinction on the church, and 
 protect her in the unmolested enjoyment of her 
 privileges.-)- 
 
 These learned commentators certainly deserve 
 more credit for their ingenuity, than their dis- 
 
 * This reign of peace and freedom, was typified by signs and 
 wonders, both animal and vegetable. Among other remarkables 
 it is mentioned, " That when the English subdued Scotland, 
 the swans which were in the Loch, on the north side of Linlith- 
 gow, left it, and took voluntary banishment on them ; but came 
 
 back on the king's return.' ' u Upon the citadel of Perth, 
 
 where the arms of the Commonwealth had been put up, a thistle 
 grew out of the wall, near the place, and quite overspread them, 
 together with the old Scots motto, Nemo mc imjpune lacessit." — 
 Wodrow, vol. i, 106. 
 
 + Kirkton, 60. 
 
BEY. JOHN* BLACKADER. 61 
 
 cernment ; and a short time made it appear how 
 widely they had erred in their chronological 
 reckoning. The sudden re verse in eeclesiastu 
 affairs, upset their fanciful calculation- of the 
 church's prosperity, and gave a convincing proof, 
 that, in their eccentric interpretations, thev had 
 failed to discover the true key of the apocalyptic 
 mysteries. And it is most likely they would 
 themselves become sensible that their predictions 
 
 were misapplied, when, like many of their bre- 
 thren, they were dispossessed of their pulpit 
 and forbidden to approach within twenty miles of 
 their parishes. These extravagances) however, 
 
 must be taken as the wild fancies of a few enthu- 
 siasts, rather than the sober expectations of the 
 lieges in general. 
 
 The Scottish church, though less chimerical 
 
 in her speculations, was not deficient in expn 
 sions of lovalty, and not without sanguine hop 
 in the stability and protection of her ancient 
 right At the kings return, she had the most 
 solemn pledges that her constitution should r 
 main inviolate. There was every security that 
 the sanction of religion, the defence of laws, and 
 the obligation of oaths and promises could pro- 
 vide. Charles, on a former occasion, had volun- 
 tarily subscribed, and sworn the covenant, he 
 
 preliminary condition on which he accepted the 
 crown of Scotland* These » ements, hoi 
 
 ever ditlicult or inconvenient to be observed. 
 
62 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 could not be broken but at the expense of per- 
 jury.* There were several parliaments, whose 
 acts stood yet unrepealed, by which presbyterian 
 government was established and confirmed ; espe- 
 cially two, viz. that at Edinburgh in 1641, whose 
 proceedings were approved of and ratified by the 
 late king ; and that held at Perth ten years after- 
 ward, in which Charles himself presided. In 
 both of these, the privileges of the church were 
 sanctioned by royal authority, and became a part 
 of the constitution of the kingdom. Scotland 
 had been unable to maintain his interest against 
 the arms of Cromwell ; but the misfortunes 
 which drove him from the throne, could never be 
 considered as rescinding parliamentary enact- 
 ments, or abolishing the sacred contract between 
 the crown and the people. During his exile, 
 
 * Hind Let Loose, Period vi. Living Char. Relat. Crook- 
 shank's Hist. Introd It was an attempt to extricate the king from 
 
 these engagements, that occasioned the loss of the public records of 
 Scotland. These had been carried up to London by Cromwell, as 
 a pawn upon this kingdom. They were now put up into fifty hogs- 
 heads, and ordered to be returned. But it was supposed that the 
 original covenant, signed by the king, and other declarations under 
 his hand, were among them, of which an ill use might be made : 
 they were searched accordingly, and so much time lost, that the 
 summer was spent before they could be shipped. The vessel, 
 belonging to Kirkaldy, was cast away, in a storm, near Berwick, 
 and the national records perished. — Burnefs Hist. vol. i, 110. 
 Wodrow, i, 18. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADl.li. 
 
 he had repeatedly expressed, in private coon 
 pondenee, his unalterable affection to presbyter 
 his resolution to maintain and promote its wor- 
 ship and discipline. Professions to the same ef- 
 fect were renewed in his declaration from Brut: 
 and afterwards in his letter to the presbytery of 
 Edinburgh.* From these treaties and verbal 
 protestations, the church looked forward with 
 confidence to the preservation of her rights, and 
 to years of undisturbed repose : and if the word 
 
 * This document, purporting to maintain the government of 
 the church as settled by law, was an artifice of Sharp's, and in- 
 tended as a blind to delude his countrymen. Sharp had been 
 employed by the presbyteriano, as their agent at court, to watch 
 over the inu of their church, and was maintained at tl. 
 
 expense ; but while pretending to negotiate in their favour, he 
 undermining their cause. This treachery gave him 
 such a character for dissimulation, that nothing could bring { 
 pie to have any tolerable thoughts of him. It is said, when he 
 went to T irnished with a letter from < iirn to 
 
 Hyde, declaring his real sentiment>, and recommending him as 
 a fit instrument fi pisoopacy 1 Cs Hut. vol. i. 
 
 The letter to the cler Edinburgh was of a piece with 
 
 his other deceits. Such conduct was shameful and discreditable 
 to both parties. If fraud in a clergyman is disgraceful, thi.s 
 mean equivocation in a king was equally dishonourable. As a 
 reward for this feat. Sharp u got 2<) chalder of victual to him* 
 
 ind the prOSUM of the arch-mitre of >t. Andrew 'v. The 
 letter was received with transports of joy, — printed and distribut- 
 ed <>\er all t ibyteriei in Scotland. Not content with eulo- 
 gizing it in their pulpits, they bought a silver bo\, in which it 
 was enshrined as a precious relict. — Kirkton, '• BumeCl 
 
 I fist. Vol. i. 1« 
 
64 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 I 
 
 of a prince is to be held honourable ; if human 
 laws are entitled to respect, or vows and appeals 
 to heaven to be reputed sacred, it must be consi- 
 dered a mockery of religion and of national jus- 
 tice, to violate, under pretext of necessity or in- 
 formality, so many constitutional securities, so 
 many solemn and federal stipulations. 
 
 The kinof s intentions with regard to the eccle- 
 siastical government of Scotland were not long 
 doubtful ; and scarcely had he breathed from 
 the compliments and rapturous caresses of his 
 subjects, when he began to put his designs in ex- 
 ecution. His letters and professions of attach- 
 ment were a mere expedient to lay asleep the 
 suspicions and apprehensions that had arisen on 
 j some alarming symptoms of alteration. Like his 
 1 predecessors, he could dissemble and equivocate, 
 and put in practice the insinuating arts of address 
 and hypocrisy. In his adversity, he flattered 
 and promised liberally ; but the temporary dis- 
 guise was dropped, and the services of his friends 
 forgotten, when securely seated on the throne. 
 His real purposes were unmasked without re- 
 serve, when artifice and ambiguity were no long- 
 er necessary. 
 
 It was the misfortune of the presbyterians to 
 have incurred the dislike of many leading cha- 
 racters in the nation. They hated the strictness 
 of their religion, as is natural to all profligates ; 
 and these antipathies were converted into rancor- 
 
REV. JOHN ItLACKADEtt. 65 
 
 ous prejudices against the sect. Charles bore 
 them a cordial aversion, which he could not con- 
 ceal. He felt mortified at the terms and peni- 
 tential collisions they had formerly f \acted from 
 him. Their discipline was too rigid for hi> raj 
 and licentious manners : their reproofs, sincerely 
 meant for his good, were all construed into hor- 
 rid insult, and rude disrespect for majesty.* It 
 was, as he confessed, a religion totally unlit lor a 
 court, that would punish men for illicit pleasures, 
 or refuse to kings the privilege of being both 
 amorous and devout."}" 
 
 It is probable, however, that, had he not been 
 instigated by the insidious counsels of his mini- 
 stry, he would not have impelled ecclesiastical 
 matters with such violence/ It was a subject 
 
 • The indignities offered to Charles by the covenanter*, du- 
 ring his stay among them, — the irksome and impertinent sermons 
 to which he wa pcllcd feo listen, from morn to nigh: 
 
 have been exposed with sufficient ridicule. {Hunn\ chap. 6 
 La'in^s Hist. Scot, vol. hi, chap. 8.) An anecdote i^ told | 
 some of his episcopal fr'nnds) of .Mr. Robert Mai: 
 Charles, who visited him at his own house. .Mr. lUair uas | 
 
 :er at St. Andrew's, and M famous for his familiar wa-. 
 When the king came in, he was sitting on a chair, being at I 
 time under a bodily infirmity, which both kept him from ri*i: 
 and excused it. When Mrs. lilair ran t.> :i a seat to 
 
 said. My heart, do n><t tn>nldt 
 y»urt£ MO*, and tiunj drazc in H lie lot. 
 
 of Gen. Asxtmb. at F.din. L690, — 1'amjdi. A I XL 
 
 f Burnet's Hut. vol. i, IS, 1' X Ibid. vol. i, \M. 
 
66 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 on which he had some disagreeable recollections, 
 not unmingled with apprehensions of danger. 
 He was, besides, totally indifferent about religion, 
 naturally indolent and averse to business, and a 
 complete devotee to every effeminate pleasure. 
 But he surrendered himself to the opinions of an 
 interested and mercenary cabal, whose sole object 
 was to gratify their bigotry or their avarice. He 
 credited, without proper inquiry, the false re- 
 ports of those who represented his Northern do- 
 minions as on the brink of revolt, ready to em- 
 brace the hierarchy with open arms. He allow- 
 ed his ear to be abused with these gross misstate- 
 ments, at a time when only one of all the synods 
 in Scotland had expressed any thing like episco- 
 pal sentiments.* It is to the intolerance of Cla- 
 rendon, the insatiable avarice of Middleton, 
 Sharp, and their coadjutors, that those rash and 
 pernicious measures must be mainly attributed, — 
 measures which disappointed the fairest hopes of 
 the nation, and alienated their hearts from the 
 government. 
 
 The parliamentary acts which subverted the 
 presbyterian religion cannot here be detailed at 
 large. The session that issued these extraordi- 
 nary decrees w r as of a character ill fitted to re- 
 commend the measures of any administration. 
 
 Aberdeen. — Burnet's Hist. vol. i ? 120. 
 
REV. JOIIX I 
 
 Men of spirit and integrity, of honest indepen- 
 dent principles, were carefully excluded at the 
 election.* The most servile and parasitica] 
 the clergy were appointed to preach up the divi- 
 nity of the kingly office, the duty of passive ol 
 dience, and the heinous sin of rebellion."}" T 
 members lived in a style of luxury and open li- 
 centiousness, more like a cabinet of epicures and 
 debauchees, than the grave representatives of 
 justice. Middleton, the commissioner, v&fl of a 
 furious and reckles> temper, better suited to the 
 camj) than the justiciary; and, a- i^ reported] 
 frequently appeared so drunk on the throne, that 
 it was nec ry to adjourn the house/ 
 
 Great caution was observed, in their enact- 
 ments, to give tyranny the colour of law, to mak 
 the beginnings of oppression smooth and indiscern- 
 
 ibli The snares of persecution were artfully 
 strewn with the flowers of rhetoric, and disguised 
 
 under the veil of ambiguous phlvaeolg In the 
 
 • Kirkton, 8S. Baillic, vol. ii, li' 
 
 -f- Mr. Robert Dou^ia>s preached at the opening of the par- 
 liament ; hut they soon discovered ** they hail not pitched H] 
 
 a fit tool." w * Their delight was in the northern turn-coat 
 
 some ot' whom were preferred to bishopricki •• ( I ChaL 
 
 a man als perverse al* profane, was promoted, l>< piscopecj 
 
 )B established, to Duml'iiece, one ot the best benefices u. H 
 land."— Kirk ton, - Wo& ■ ol. i, 21, 1 \ 
 
 X Burnet's Hist. 113, 120. Kirkton. Hi. 
 
68 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 oath of allegiance the king was vested indirectly, 
 both with a civil and ecclesiastical supremacy, 
 made undisputed master of the lives, properties, 
 and conscience of his subjects. This oath be- 
 came the shibboleth of state, the true test and 
 criterion of loyalty. It was imposed at the plea- 
 sure of the council ; and all who refused to swear 
 it, in its widest sense, were incapacitated from 
 public trust, or declared guilty of rebellion.* 
 The crown had been violently deprived of some 
 of its just prerogatives, which it was necessary to 
 restore ; but in clearing away improper restric- 
 tions, they stretched its power to absolute despo- 
 tism. 
 
 In abolishing the government of the church, 
 their proceedings were still more arbitrary and 
 unjustifiable. Its bulwarks and defences were 
 first attacked, and demolished. The covenant 
 was virtually repealed under the prohibition of 
 illegal bonds and conventions ; it was afterwards 
 expressly interdicted, and the taking of it made 
 a capital crime. The acts in favour of presby- 
 
 * None objected to take the oath, provided it were qualified 
 with the word civil supremacy. But no such explanation was 
 allowed. It was designed to raise scruples on this head, and lay 
 people under a dilemma : if they sware it absolutely, they were, 
 in consistency, bound to submit to bishops ; if they refused, 
 they were punishable for denying allegiance to the king — Bur- 
 net's Hist. vol. i, 146. Wodrow, voL i, 133. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 69 
 
 tery were so many, that it became irksome and 
 tedious to single them out, and rescind them in- 
 dividually. To abridge the labour of particular 
 repeals, a general rescissory act was proposed in 
 jest : and by this decree all laws passed siru 
 1633, establishing that religion, were cancelled at 
 one stroke : parliaments were annulled, and the 
 proceedings of the nation, for nearly thirty years, 
 indiscriminately condemned. This was decried 
 as an unwarrantable stretch of the commissioners 
 authority, a dangerous precedent, eversive of all 
 government, by empowering one parliament, on 
 any frivolous pretext, to revoke or invalidate an- 
 other. By this act the people could have no se- 
 curity in any constitution, and the prince could 
 be bound by no ties human or divine.* The ju- 
 dicatories of the church were next assailed, and 
 discharged to meet, under pain of unlawful con- 
 ventions, without order from the episcopal supe- 
 rior. Presbyteries were not allowed to present to 
 vacant benefices, and people were forbidden to 
 
 countenance or obey them. Deprived of every 
 
 legal support, and stripped of its judicial author- 
 ity, the church was laid in ruins, ami a new fa- 
 bric erected in its place. 
 
 As royaltj was made the fountain of ecclesias- 
 tical p)wer, the external government and policy of 
 
 • IiumctV Hi*. 117. Baillic. vol. li. Letter 2l>0. 
 
. 
 
 70 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the church were declared to belong to the crown, 
 as an inherent right. By virtue of this preroga- 
 tive, whatever his majesty might please to ordain, 
 in these matters, had all the force and effect of 
 law. He might introduce popery or prelacy, or 
 substitute the mosque and the synagogue in the 
 room of Christian temples, by his sole authority, 
 independent of the parliament.* The hierarchy 
 was, in consequence, re-established with ample 
 plenitude of jurisdiction. Bishops were restored 
 to the exercise of their functions, precedency, 
 power of ordination, inflicting of censures, &c. 
 They were also installed in their temporal digni- 
 ties, possessions, and all other emoluments. " To 
 bias the minds of youth," conformity was strictly 
 enjoined on all schools and universities, a policy 
 which was compared to that of the Apostate Ju- 
 lian, who thought to suppress the Christian reli- 
 gion, by poisoning the fountains of learning.-)- 
 
 From the forcible execution of these tyrannical 
 edicts originated all the subsequent discontents 
 and disorders in Scotland. The mad attempts to 
 press them, by repeated severities, drove a peace- 
 able and loyal country into open insurrection, and 
 ultimately converted the government into an or- 
 ganised system of oppression and cruelty. Framed 
 with an utter disregard for the maxims of jus- 
 
 Wodrow, vol. i, 95, 310. + Ibid. vol. i, 120. 
 
EEV. JOHN BLACKADER. 71 
 
 tice and sound policy, they can be explained on- 
 ly by the exorbitant passions that dictated them.* 
 The reins of legislation were committed, without 
 control, to the hands of profligate and unprin- 
 cipled men, who employed the forms of law to 
 sanction murder and extortion. Eager to raise 
 a fortune on the ruins of their country, the acqui- 
 sition of wealth and preferment was the only ob- 
 ject that occupied their serious attention or their 
 
 ber moment Their grand aim was to reap 
 the forfeitures of obnoxious families, or deck 
 themselves in the spoils of the attainted noblei 
 The episcopal revolution was thus aided and pro- 
 moted by the basest passions of human nature 
 and prelacy seems to have been brought in le 
 from motives of national policy, than to gratify 
 the avarice and ambition of a few intriguing 
 statesmen, -f- 
 
 These arbitrary measures cannot be justified 
 or defended even on the maxims then adopted by 
 
 • All the acts of i public nature were torn ail by the I^ord* 
 of the Articles a sort of committee, with extraordinary au- 
 thority, who formed all bills in private : and nothing could be 
 
 brought before the House, but what they pleased. B) tin 
 
 the bills we: le&ted to the parliament, where many of th> 
 :. without much reasoning, or upon one hasty readr 
 metimea five or six acts, ( »t' onsequenot, would 
 
 ted in an afternoon's sederunt Wtnlro-c, vol. i. it 
 
 Hist* vol. i. 1 1 
 -♦■ Kirkton. 139. Sir O. M'Kenxie'i Men 
 
72 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ecclesiastical politicians. Separation from the es- 
 tablished religion was held equivalent to civil 
 trangression, and punished as disobedience to the 
 state. Every institution cherished the belief of 
 its own exclusive divinity, and from this narrow 
 and illiberal spirit presbyterians themselves were 
 not exempted. But whatever might be their sen- 
 timents on the subject of toleration, which, though 
 partially recognised, was but very imperfectly 
 understood, they could not properly be viewed as 
 separatists or sectaries. At the Restoration, the 
 religion of Scotland was an independent esta- 
 blishment, and made a part of the constitution of 
 the kingdom. The liberties and privileges, se- 
 cured by the Reformation, were become the law 
 of the land, the birth-right of the people, and 
 could not be wrested from them without violat- 
 ing the first principles of government. 
 
 As little can be said of the wisdom as the jus- 
 tice of these measures : they were evidently a 
 rash departure from the obvious line of sound 
 policy. Perhaps Charles and his ministry did 
 not anticipate, in their full extent, the dismal 
 consequences which resulted, and must ever re- 
 sult, where the courts of law or the councils of 
 state are swayed by a venal and obsequious fac- 
 tion. But there were circumstances of which thev 
 could not be ignorant, and which ought to have 
 taught them more precaution. They knew the 
 ardour and enthusiasm of the Scottish character; 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 73 
 
 the extreme veneration in which thev held their 
 national religion ; the fierce and devoted courage 
 with which they had defended it : They knew 
 that the country entertained an inveterate and 
 unconquerable dislike to episcopacy ; that tin 
 feelings were not, as in England, the sudden 
 growth of an upstart and unnatural fanaticism, 
 but the sentiments of nearly the whole popula- 
 tion, originally embraced, and long maintained 
 by them at the point of the sword. Of this, 
 Charles had some tragical and experimental 
 proofs. It was in attempting to subdue th< 
 principles, that his father was brought to the 
 scaffold, and his dominions involved in all the 
 horrors of a civil war. He had felt the effects 
 of it in his own person, from which he had but 
 recently recovered, and which must hare been 
 fresh in his memory. But he Be< med incapable 
 of drawing instruction either from the terrors of 
 example, or the school of adversity. With a 
 
 kind of hereditary fatality, lie persisted to en- 
 force the laws of a sanguinary administration, 
 until an oppressed and indignant people were 
 provoked to seek relief, in arms, from their ac- 
 cumulated miseries ; until the government of 
 the country degenerated into a cruel despotism, 
 which ended in the extinction of the name and 
 dynasty of Stuart. 
 
 While these affairs were transacting, the na- 
 tion did not remain silent or indifferent specta- 
 
 i) 
 
74 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tors. There were individuals who made an ho- 
 nourable stand for their religion and liberties; 
 but solitary resistance was of little avail. Many, 
 however, had revolted from their allegiance to 
 the covenant, and become devoted royalists, of 
 which they gave unequivocal proof, — the conta- 
 gion of the court adhering both to their princi- 
 ples and their persons. The corruption of the 
 times began to affect the morals, and pervert the 
 taste of the public. Men ran from devotion to 
 riot and debauchery. Piety was enthusiasm, and 
 drunkenness a political virtue. Gravity had the 
 air of sedition, temperance was disloyal, and si- 
 lence was branded with the name of unnatural 
 insensibility. Non-resistance became a primitive 
 duty ; and the impeccability of kings was held 
 the first article in the state creed. The fear of 
 being thought too saintly, induced some to throw 
 off all profession of religion. Even men of bet- 
 ter principles, were sometimes drawn into the 
 vortex of fashionable levity, from a desire to 
 wipe off the censures and suspicions that attach- 
 ed to their political conduct.* Of those who 
 stood well affected to the church, some were for- 
 feited on treasonable pretences, or marked out 
 as the victims of avarice; others had abjured 
 her communion, and opposed her with all the 
 
 * Burnet's Hist. vol. i, 93. Kirkton, 65, 78. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 
 
 rancour natural to apostates. Not a few were 
 silenced and overawed by the peculiarity of their 
 situation. As the parliament was constituted 
 the sole judges of the conduct of the nation dur- 
 ing the turbulence of the late reign,* it was evi- 
 dent that all who dared to contradict their mea- 
 sures, would instantly be denounced guilty of 
 rebellion, and subjected to the treatment annex- 
 ed to state crimes. The greater part of the 
 country had been embroiled in the parliamentary 
 wars, and, by the law, stood chargeable with trea- 
 son and rebellion. England and Ireland had 
 the benefit of a general amnesty to obliterate 
 their past misconduct ; but this generous for- 
 giveness, this act of royal clemency, did not ex- 
 tend to the kingdom of Scotland. It was thought 
 expedient to hold the fear of punishment over 
 the heads of that devoted people, to terrifv them 
 into submission, by placing their lives, libertu 
 and estates, at the mercy of the crown, or rather 
 in the hands of legalized robbers, who had con- 
 trived to put off the king's indemnity, until their 
 
 hemes of plunder were matured, and iniquity 
 established by law. 
 
 The body of the presbyterians, however will- 
 ing to insert their independencei were laid under 
 
 restraints and disabilities, which put the legal 
 
 
 • Wodron, vol. i, 16. 
 
76 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 means of doing it entirely out of their power. 
 They were excluded, by oaths and declarations, 
 from exercising the privileges of citizens — there 
 was no competent or impartial tribunal to which 
 they could apply for redress — severe restrictions 
 were laid both on the press and the pulpit — they 
 were forbidden to speak, write, or print in their 
 own defence, lest they might stir up the people 
 to the dislike of the hinges supremacy, and the 
 government of the church by bishops.* All ac- 
 cess to the throne, by petition or remonstrance, 
 was peremptorily discharged. They could make 
 no appeal to the humanity of their sovereign : — 
 this sanctuary, the last hope and resource of cri- 
 minal wretchedness, was barred against them. In 
 this helpless predicament, they were left with no 
 control over their oppressors, and no remedy for 
 their own misfortunes. They were denied the 
 liberty of conveying their grievances and com- 
 plaints to the royal ear, — a freedom which ought 
 to be the birthright of the meanest subject, and 
 which is never suspended, except where dark and 
 sanguinary purposes are concerting, which can 
 endure neither interruption nor invostigation. 
 
 Of the inferior church judicatories, several 
 had met for the purpose of expressing their dis- 
 approbation ; but they were rudely dispersed, or 
 
 Wodrow, vol. i, 119. Naphthali, 96. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 77 
 
 dissolved by force, even before they had expired 
 in law. The presbytery of Edinburgh, the sy- 
 nods of Glasgow, Fife, Lothian, Gallowav, and 
 Dumfries, were in this manner interrupted. In- 
 order from the Commissioner.* Such of the cler- 
 gy as were most forward in asserting their right-, 
 were speedily removed by exile or imprisonment. 
 The martyrdom of Argyle and Guthrie were 
 held up, on purpose, as a beacon of terror, to 
 overawe the refractory. The want of the su- 
 preme ecclesiastical court, which had long been 
 abolished, rendered all their exertions disjointed 
 and ineffective. *f- Without this they could nei- 
 
 • April 18 — The synod of Dumfries, upon a motion made 
 byr Mr. Blackader, agreed upon a declaration of their adherence 
 to the doctrine and government of the church, and threatening 
 with deposition any minister that should comply with prelacy. 
 •• liut ere their paper could see the light, they were summarily dis- 
 solved by Queensberry and HartHeld, who, by report, were both 
 miserably drunk when they came in to their work." — Kirki 
 119. Wudrow, vol. i. ! 
 
 + The last General Assembly was held July 20, 1058. It 
 was dissolved by Lieutenant-f olonel Cottrell, (by order of Crom- 
 well,) " who beset the house with some rattes of musqiu 
 and a troop of horse. He entered the Assembly himself. — in- 
 quired, If they sat there by authority of the parliament of the 
 (xmmionwealth } — commanded than all to follow him, else he 
 would drag them out of the room. lie led them through the 
 whole streets, a mile out of the town, encompassing them u ith 
 foot companies of musquetecrs, and horsemen without, — all the 
 people gazing and mourning as at the saddest spectacle I ad 
 
78 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ther unite their sentiments, embody their collec- 
 tive strength, nor give their resolutions a legisla- 
 tive effect. These disadvantages, however, did 
 not prevent them from testifying their aversion 
 to own allegiance or yield canonical obedience 
 to the bishop. Episcopacy never had been po- 
 pular in Scotland, even when its power was li- 
 mited, and narrowly circumscribed. But the 
 case at present was materially altered for the 
 worse : it was evidently reared upon a different 
 foundation, and stretched its claim beyond all 
 former precedent. The prelates of James and 
 Charles I, were mere dwarfs and sucklings com- 
 pared with those of the Restoration. Formerly, 
 they officiated as pastors within their own con- 
 gregations; sometimes even as ruling elders in 
 the parochial session, and were subject, like other 
 members, to the jurisdiction of the church. They 
 were liable to be tried, censured, suspended, or 
 deposed, by authority of the General Assembly.* 
 The inferior courts were allowed to continue, 
 and were recognised by the laws of the land. 
 The whole body of the clergy were entitled to 
 
 ever seen. He prohibited them to meet any more above three 
 in number : And the day following, at eight o'clock, they were 
 commanded off the town, by sound of trumpet, under pain of 
 imprisonment," {Baillie^ Letter 193.) This court sat no more 
 till the Revolution, — a lapse of thirty-six years. 
 * M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. i, 151 ; ii, 12. 
 
BEV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 79 
 
 take a share in the administration, which served 
 as a check on their encroachments. Thev sat 
 perpetual moderators, and had the privilege of 
 exercising a veto ; but this negative could n« 
 reverse or nullify the proceedings of the court. 
 But now the ecclesiastical government was vot- 
 ed entirely in their hands. The prelate might 
 take the advice and assistance of the inferior 
 clergy ; but his choice was restricted to such a> 
 were of known loyalty and prudence. The at- 
 tendance of these humble auxiliaries, was reduced 
 to an empty pageant, and their opinion had no 
 judicial importance.* 
 
 The commencement of this reign has been 
 dwelt upon, perhaps, at greater length than w 
 consistent with the limits or importance of the 
 sequel. Its transactions are matter of histon , 
 and generally known. But as they formed the 
 ground-work of all the subsequent resistance and 
 disasters, — some acquaintance with which aj>- 
 peared n e c essar y to comprehend the subject, — 
 
 this digression may not be without its use to 
 those who are less familiar with that period, or 
 to whom the sources of original or better infor- 
 mation may be inaccessible. 
 
 A general alarm overspread the count ry, and 
 the pulpits began to inveigh against the ptoposi 
 
 Burnet's Hist. vol. i, 1 
 
80 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 innovations. In some parishes, congregational 
 fasts were appointed to be kept, if, happily, 
 they might avert, by supplication, those evils 
 which they had.no other means to prevent. The 
 throne of heaven was the only asylum to which 
 they could resort ; tears and prayers the only 
 arms they meant to employ. The tide of pro- 
 fligacy and despotism that threatened to over- 
 whelm the land, raised a universal concern, 
 " and brought many worthy gray hairs to the 
 grave with sorrow.*" Though they fell not by 
 the hands of men, they were martyrs in resolu- 
 tion, unable to survive, when they beheld Sion 
 defiled, and their eyes could look upon her no 
 longer with pleasure.* 
 
 The moment the rumour of these melancholy 
 encroachments reached the presbytery of Dum- 
 fries, Mr. Blackader was at his post, among the 
 foremost to stem the torrent, and, like a faithful 
 sentinel, to sound a warning from the high watch- 
 towers of Israel. In the synod, he had come 
 boldly forward to expose and repel the insidious 
 arts which were practised by the legislature to 
 defraud the church of her ancient liberties, and 
 inveigle her, by specious rhetoric, into a state of 
 degrading vassalage to usurped supremacy. He 
 had all along expressed his doubts of the flatter- 
 
 Wodrow, vol. i, 31, 112, 128. 
 
REV. JOHN' BLACKADER. 81 
 
 ing but equivocal tokens of royal favour. He 
 arrogated no pretensions to the gift of superna- 
 tural endowments ; but amidst sunshine and ft 
 renity, he thought he could descry, in enibrvo, 
 the germ of persecution and the war of faction?. 
 The tempest that threatened their tranquillity was 
 brooding in the ecclesiastical horizon ; and though 
 it might appear small and contemptible as the 
 cloud of the prophet, it was charged with the ele- 
 ments of destruction; and, like that storm v sym- 
 bol, it would gather and accumulate until the 
 heavens were robed in darkness, and the earth 
 saturated with blood. 
 
 As he judged it better to inspire his Hock with 
 right sentiments, than to put instruments of de- 
 fence into their hands, he resolved " to handle the 
 
 « 
 
 subject of church government in a familiar way, 
 specially as he found them ignorant ly deficient 
 in some of these points." Three Sabbath after- 
 noons in succession he devoted to the elucidation 
 
 of this topic, " in which he demonstrated from 
 scripture the unlawfulness of prelacv, and clear- 
 ed the divine right of presbytery as to its sub- 
 stance ; proving it to be the form nearest to the 
 apostolic ages, and the practice of the earlu 
 Christian In this exposition, he did not mean 
 to assert its absolute perfection, or vindicate as 
 sirred the corruptions that might creep in by the 
 
 negligence of its officers, but merely its superi- 
 ority as a system, and the only one built u)h>ii 
 
 D X 
 

 82 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the foundation of the prophets and apostles. It 
 was not, like the Jewish theocracy, so guarded at 
 all points by the directions of inspiration, that 
 nothing was left for human contingencies to alter 
 or suggest ; but it was more conformable than 
 any other to the primitive models, and the pre- 
 scriptions of the sacred writers. It alone had the 
 warrant of Christ, which gave it an irresistible 
 claim to supersede all other forms, and operated 
 to their total exclusion. 
 
 The last Sabbath on which he was occupied in 
 making these political commentaries, was the day 
 (May 4, 1662) that the new bishops were to be 
 consecrated at Edinburgh. Episcopal ordination 
 had nearly become extinct in Scotland ; old Syd- 
 serf of Galloway being the only one of the former 
 prelates that survived at the Restoration. But 
 by the canon, a single individual w T as incapable 
 of conferring the true apostolical stamp ; and be- 
 sides, the venerable Sydserf had been guilty of 
 some irregularities. He was poor, and made a 
 practice of ordaining such of the inferior clergy 
 in England as resorted to him, in order to sub- 
 sist on their fees, laying hands, indiscriminately, 
 on all who paid their dues, without requiring 
 oaths or subscription.* This vestal flame, which 
 had burned, without interruption, from Aaron to 
 
 • Burnet's Kis:. vol. i, 132. 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADER. 83 
 
 St. Peter, and was, through him, transmitted to 
 his successors in office, behoved to be rekindled at 
 a more hallowed altar. It became nee rv to 
 import, from a foreign shrine, that sanctitv which 
 presbytery had not to bestow ; which could be 
 communicated in no other way than by coming 
 in contact with those virtues that lodge onlv in 
 the palm of a bishop, and of which a mitred head 
 is the only medium of conveyance. As a quo- 
 rum of three was requisite to give efficacy to this 
 divine rite, Sharp, Fairfoul, Hamilton, and 
 Leighton repaired to London, where they were 
 invested with spiritual sovereignty, and solemnly 
 qualified to propagate their order in Scotland. 
 The consecration of the other prelates was ap- 
 pointed to take place at Holyroodhouse.* 
 
 The report of this intended ceremony having 
 arrived, Mr. Blackader turned the attention of 
 his audience more pointedly to the subject. In 
 the conclusion of the sermon, he entered his pro- 
 test before the whole congregation, addressing 
 them in the following words. — u Ye have ju>t 
 heard from the word of God, that this prclai \ 
 has no warrant therefrom, but i< contrair thereto 
 and that these three nations have abjured the 
 same in a solemn covenant with God. Yet we 
 
 • Kirkton, 137. Buinet'l ili>t. vol. i. 112 Wtxlrow. 
 101, 114. 
 
84 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 hear it is intended to bring in prelacy again, and 
 obtrude it upon this poor church, as they have 
 done already in England. We hear also that 
 the prelates are to be consecrate, as they call it, 
 this day in the Abbey Church at Edinburgh, by 
 some who went to England to get consecration 
 there : And, therefore, I, as a member and mi- 
 nister of the Church of Scotland, do solemnly de- 
 clare and enter my dissent in heaven against this 
 dreadful course of defection ; and do protest, that 
 I may be free of this grievous guilt, and of all 
 the sad consequences and disasters that may fol- 
 low the inbringing of prelacy upon this church ; 
 whereof I require you all, my present hearers, to 
 witness." 
 
 Whatever conviction arguments for the exclu- 
 sive orthodoxy of any particular mode of ecclesi- 
 astical government may carry to our minds, they 
 coincided entirely with the creed and prejudices 
 of our ancestors. The doctrine of a divine and 
 indefeasible right, now wisely exploded, was then 
 a settled point of belief ; and at an earlier period, 
 when frivolous opinions were often hoisted as the 
 signal of theological dispute, it was the source of 
 fierce and protracted controversy. In advancing 
 her claim to a celestial origin, presbytery was only 
 arrogating a distinction which every rival institu- 
 tion monopolized to itself. The polemics of each 
 sect had carefully explored the apostolic writings 
 and the archives of Christian antiquity, in quest 
 
REV. JOHN DLACKADEE. 85 
 
 of authentic ground on which they might build 
 their respective establishments. Timothy and Ti- 
 tus were alternately appealed to, and triumph- 
 antly produced as decisive vouchers, both bv 
 prelatists and presbyters. Jerusalem, Ephesus 
 and Crete were ransacked for examples, to ascer- 
 tain whether there was an episcopacy in the pri- 
 mitive church, or merely an association of pa>tors 
 of equal authority, and without any superior. 
 In this contest, the Scottish divines, with sour* 
 reason, claimed the victory. They shewed that 
 bishops and presbyters were originally identical 
 persons, or at least commutable terms : that the 
 writings of the fathers were an unsafe guide : 
 that an uninterrupted succession could not be 
 proved, since the rise of the hierarchy was enve- 
 loped in impenetrable mi>t. Many of its rift 
 and orders were not only unscriptural, but never 
 once mentioned in the earlier recordl <>i' ecclesi- 
 astical history. Most of it> official dignities and 
 vestments were but of apocryphal origin, and 
 known to be a forgery of the dark ages. Tip- 
 pets, caps, and cassocks were of Babylonish ex- 
 traction, the badges of Antichrist, and retained in 
 the service of the clnireh merely to gratify a ca- 
 pricious queen, who carried a feminine passion 
 for ornament even beyond the vanity of her 
 The prelacy of Charles II, however, had aban- 
 doned the arguments from scripture, and t! 
 Strong holds of antiquity. It KHlght no rule 
 
86 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 but the will of the prince ; no other warrant than 
 the Jus Carolinum ; and was set up not as be- 
 ing more conformable to the primitive examples, 
 but because it was alleged more friendly to mo- 
 narchy.* 
 
 Happily both parties have now resigned their 
 pretensions to exclusive divinity, and their belief 
 in the absolute necessity of any form to the at- 
 tainment of salvation. Unshackled by the stern 
 and narrow maxims of the seventeenth century, 
 presbytery has become more accommodating in 
 her concessions, and less ticklish about frivolous 
 niceties. She does not disclaim alliance with the 
 state as an unnatural or incompatible union, or 
 think her sublime pedigree in the least degraded by 
 this connection. The reading of the liturgy is in 
 no danger of renewing " the tumult of the stools," 
 and excites no ill-natured comparisons about ido- 
 latry or the Romish missal. We are willing to 
 admit, that though our brethren of the surplice 
 cannot specify exactly the text of scripture by 
 which they carve their pontifical apparel, there 
 may, in the main, be little " sacramental differ- 
 ence betwixt buttons and a sursingle," a Geneva 
 
 * Prelacy was always used in Scotland as an engine of des- 
 potism, and regarded by the court as the main pillar of the 
 throne, (Naphthali, pp. 107, 108.) It was a maxim of James I, 
 Give me but the making of bishops and judges, and I will make 
 law and gospel what I please. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 87 
 
 cloak, or a rochet and white sleeves. We firmly 
 believe, that bishops have not and never had 
 cloven feet, or possessed satanic enchantment 
 against the deadly metals; that they have shado\ 
 like other opaque bodies ;* that the " horns of the 
 mitre," so far as we know, may not have one fea- 
 ture of resemblance to the apocalyptic beast.-f 
 All we contend for is, that though the institution 
 may not altogether symbolize with the model laid 
 down in the New Testament, it approximat 
 nearer to it than any other ; that it has practical 
 advantages, which far outweigh the superior 
 wealth and splendour of its ancient rival ; that 
 it is quite compatible with a limited monarchy, 
 and has proved itself, by the experience of agi 
 a more useful and efficient system of religious 
 and moral instruction. 
 
 The parliament had ordained the 29th of Mav 
 to be observed as a religious anniver>ar\ , for 
 commemorating the king s birth, and " blessed 
 restauration." These events happening on the 
 me day, by design or accident, were marked a- 
 mong other pres; of future glory/ This act 
 
 • The belief that bishops were shadowless, and had diabol 
 
 \ is charged on presbyterians. — V'nl. Scotch Prcth* 1 
 
 ■f It was the exclamation of an honest clergyman, M Bulk, 
 
 busk, busk him as bonyly as ye can ; bring him in as fairly M 
 will : 1 him well enough ; we see the horns of his mure." 
 
 — Calilcricuvil, \\>. 
 X Kirkton, 61, 128. 
 
88 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 was the first that created general disturbance, 
 " and became the cause of many an honest man's 
 suffering." The presbytery of Dumfries gave it 
 a decided and unanimous refusal; in the first 
 place, because it was inconsistent with the rules 
 and usage of the church. The Reformation had 
 swept away, without distinction, those holidays 
 which catholic superstition had consecrated to 
 religious observances, and held to be of equal ob- 
 ligation with those of divine appointment. One 
 day only in seven was reserved as authorised by 
 scripture, and appropriated to the stated service 
 of the sanctuary. Their predecessors in office 
 had opposed similar innovations on their ritual. 
 The ministers of Edinburgh, in the year 1600, 
 refused to praise God for King James's deliver- 
 ance from the Gowrie conspiracy ; neither would 
 they intercede with heaven for his mother's life 
 before her execution at Fotheringay castle.* 
 Whatever might be their sympathies for her fate 
 as an injured and unfortunate .queen, they were 
 not aware of any meritorious services that claimed 
 the privilege of the liturgy, or the special bene- 
 dictions of the church ; nor could they imagine 
 that the prolongation of her existence was likely 
 to be very material in advancing the interests of 
 the reformed religion. At a later period the 
 
 • Hind Let Loose, Period iv. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 89 
 
 church had rejected the rubric, and a whole ca- 
 lendar of saints prepared by Charles I, from a 
 humble conviction that her devotions needed no 
 sucli extraneous excitements. Of these corrup- 
 tions she had been happily cleansed by an unex- 
 pected deliverance, and that achieved by a very 
 despicable instrument, the hand of a feeble wo- 
 man, but animated by more than a masculine fer- 
 vour.* Cromwell's injunctions met with no bet- 
 ter success. He was told, it was not a presby- 
 terian principle to receive directions for keeping 
 feasts and festivals from the hand of the civil 
 magistrate.*f- 
 
 With these examples before their eyes, the bre- 
 thren of Dumfries conceived they could not ac- 
 quiesce with the royal proclamation, or observe 
 the anniversary, in terms prescribed by the 
 statute. If they had refused to commemorate 
 Pasch and Yule, they could hardly think the 
 king's nativity deserving of higher respect) <>r 
 likely to impress a deeper veneration on the mind 
 of the worshipper ; and they viewed it as the 
 mockery of honour, to oiler an outward homage 
 when there was no corresponding sentiment of 
 reverence in the heart. The act was objection- 
 able on other grounds, since in the preamble their 
 
 • Hind Let Loose. Period v. Baillk-. letter 2. 
 + Whidock, .Men;. 
 
90 MEMOIBS OF 
 
 whole proceedings for twenty-three years were 
 denominated rebellion. ■ To admit this was to 
 condemn all they had done for their religious 
 liberties, to transfer to themselves all the blood 
 shed in the civil wars. 
 
 The determination of the presbytery reached 
 the Commissioner, who dispatched a military force 
 to Dumfries, with instructions to bring the whole 
 of that refractory court prisoners to Edinburgh. 
 A troop of fifty horse, under Captain Scott, ar- 
 rived on Saturday afternoon ; but found that se- 
 veral of the ministers had departed for Edinburgh , 
 to consult with their friends privately on this emer- 
 gency. Among these were the two ministers of 
 Dumfries, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Henderson. 
 In their absence, Mr. Blackader was requested, 
 by the magistrates, to supply the vacancy, and 
 had consented to preach. But on the arrival of 
 the military, the council judged it advisable to dis- 
 pense with his services, " fearing he might come 
 to hazard by his free speaking." He was not, 
 however, to be deterred by this friendly caution 
 from stating his sentiments boldly in his own 
 church. Expecting a visit from " the gentlemen 
 of the guard," he caused the gallery to be clear- 
 ed and kept empty for their accommodation. In 
 the choosing and handling of his subject, Hosea 
 ix, 10-12, he gave his congregation to understand 
 that he would not permit his free speech to be in- 
 timidated or restrained by the presence of such 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 91 
 
 unusal auditors. The remarks more especially 
 applicable to the occasion, he reserved to the con- 
 clusion of the discourse, wherein he adverted 
 pointedly to those abominations that were t! 
 causes of God's departure, and stated some of 
 the sad prognostics of this alienation, and de- 
 nounced the prophetical woes of the text against 
 the instruments of these fatal defectioi The 
 guard sat with composure, but there were great 
 apprehensions he would be seized between ser- 
 mons. He returned, however, to the manse un- 
 molested, and finished his afternoon's di scour- 
 which was delivered in the same style of intrepid 
 observation, without suffering the smallest inter- 
 ruption. The audience was calmly dismissed to 
 " the admiration of some, and the disappointment 
 of others more maliciously disposed." " The gen- 
 tlemen of the guard courteously saluted the mi- 
 nister,** shewing no symptoms of irritation, and of- 
 fering no violence to his person. To some who 
 urged greater severity, and would have had him 
 apprehended, they Confessed they did not think 
 his doctrine would warrant or justify such inter- 
 ference; they were convinced, they said, in their 
 own minds, u that he spake naething he had not 
 backed with scriptun 
 
 On Monday an order was sent round to all the 
 eh . Within the bounds, to present themselves 
 before the commander, and march next day his 
 prisoners to Edinburgh. This proving inooOM 
 
92 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 nient, Tuesday being the usual meeting of the 
 presbytery, " his Lordship" was graciously en- 
 treated to postpone their departure till Wednes- 
 day. When the business of the court was finish- 
 ed, the ministers, as their custom was, repaired to 
 the inn to dine. After dinner, four of the gentle- 
 men of the guard waited upon them in an adjoin- 
 ing apartment, to know their minds relative to 
 their intended journey. They were politely ask- 
 ed to join the brethren, and taste of the beverage, 
 which was the ordinary conclusion of their grav- 
 er discussions. This civil invitation was readily 
 accepted, and the business of their mission amica- 
 bly arranged. The captain, fearing a tumult, as 
 he had come upon an ungracious errand, request- 
 ed that they would privately leave the town by 
 ten o'clock next morning ; he and his men would 
 follow at a convenient distance. On the way, 
 they u carried very soberly, and behaved with a- 
 bundant discretion," giving the ministers liberty 
 to take lodgings where they pleased, sending on- 
 ly an escort of horsemen to conduct them back to 
 the party next morning. When within half a 
 mile of Edinburgh, the commander desired them 
 to ride in before him, and enter the city by them- 
 selves, as he was unwilling to be exposed to po- 
 pular clamour on their account, and felt asham- 
 ed of his commission, that obliged him to treat 
 them as prisoners. The ministers, though nothing 
 afraid to give their testimony all possible noto- 
 
REV. JOHX BLACXADEK. 
 
 riety, agreed to this proposal, promising to alight 
 and remain at his inn. 
 
 Middleton, apprized of their arrival, sent or- 
 ders, with permission to the prisoners to choo 
 their lodgings wherever it might be most con- 
 venient, — onlv to confine themselves strictly to 
 their chambers till called for. -Meantime, they 
 were joined by the rest of their co-presbyters, 
 who had previously gone to Edinburgh, and 
 with them deliberated as to the steps they should 
 take, that they might be able to render an un- 
 animous reason for their disobedience. Some 
 thought, " the foul narrative of the act. setting 
 it apart as a holiday to the Lord for ever, 11 was a 
 sufficient cause of rejection. Others, who had 
 taken the mind of the city clergy, were of opi- 
 nion, that the anniversary ought not to be ob- 
 served at all ; that it was not religiously binding 
 being of mere human appointment 
 times they appeared before the Ltitdfl of the 
 Article.-, and were interrogated, sometimes in a 
 body, sometimes two bv two. MiddletOO charged 
 
 them with obstinacy, and counteracting the sta- 
 tute; threatened to lav them in irons, or trans- 
 
 port them to his majesty's new plantations in 
 
 America. Hut their resolution was immovable. 
 
 They were offered free dismission, provided tin 
 would and subscribe to observe it nes 
 
 year; in which case, it was the pleasure tA their 
 
 Lordship- to pasfl them for that time, although 
 
94? MEMOIRS OF 
 
 their disobedience merited severer treatment. To 
 this proposal, they returned a decided negative. 
 The two ministers of Dumfries were remapded 
 to prison, — the rest confined to their several a- 
 partments, to ruminate a few days longer on the 
 proposition. 
 
 On Friday they were again subjected to the 
 interrogatories of the court, whether they would 
 engage, by subscription, which they unanimously 
 declined ; or pledge their word of honour, which 
 they also refused. It was then asked if they 
 would promise simply to preach. To this all, 
 with the exception of Mr. Blackader and Mr, 
 Archibald, were disposed to assent, knowing it 
 would be the day of their ordinary weekly ser- 
 mon. Under this cover, they imagined they 
 might shelter themselves from further trouble, 
 and make it appear they were acting in con- 
 formity to the statute, while they were merely 
 discharging a professional duty. This was but 
 a contemptible shift, hardly compatible with their 
 singleness of heart, or the bold unreserved inte- 
 grity of their character, and can be attributed on- 
 ly to their extreme aversion to give offence. 
 
 Various stratagems were resorted to by those 
 whose conscience stickled at compliance, but who 
 had not courage to avow their real sentiments. 
 Some thought to extricate themselves from this 
 dilemma, by imposing a meaning of their own 
 upon the words of the act, and explaining away 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADF.lt. 9o 
 
 its force by subtle and refined interpretation-, 
 alleging that mere human power could not con- 
 secrate or make a day holy. Others wished to 
 reduce it from a perpetual anniversary to a thanks- 
 giving. Many supposed, that by issuing from 
 their presbyteries a kind of second edition, they 
 could absolve it of all secular obligation, and pay 
 it due obeisance under a canonical dress. In tin- 
 way they imagined, both the peace and the su- 
 premacy of the church would be maintained, 
 since it enabled them at once to fulfil the law and 
 disregard the parliament. 
 
 The two refractory brethren from Dumfries, 
 though they shewed greater obstinacy, possessed 
 more honesty than others who were afflicted with 
 similar scruples. They were again committed to 
 durance, where they remained till the followii 
 Tuesday, not without apprehensions of more m - 
 rious consequences. Being once more produced 
 for examination, and asked if they had ret 
 " clearness of conscience ;" they replied, that no 
 severity could make them alter their opinion. 
 But the court had more lenity than they forbod- 
 ed. The Earl of Crawford, who wai present, in- 
 formed them, that it was the Lord Commi»ioner*s 
 pleasure to dismiss them without further ques- 
 tions, and they were at liberty to return to 
 
 their parishes ; a piece of intelligence at which 
 
 they were both pleased and surprised, the more 
 
 BO that they had eonie under no bond D tO 
 
96 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 preach. This favour, it seemed, was procured by 
 some of Mr. Blackaders friends, who were upon 
 the spot, and personally acquainted with Middle- 
 ton and Crawford. 
 
 When he returned to Troqueer, he found some 
 of his brethren repenting of their weakness and 
 shameful duplicity, and wishing that, like him, 
 they had preferred the dungeon. Even he and 
 his fellow prisoner were not without their com- 
 punctious visitings. Though they had manfully 
 resisted all acquiescence, they had not been suffi- 
 ciently explicit in stating their disapprobation. 
 — The permission of " lawful divertisements" in 
 their opinion, went to revive the book of sports, 
 to set wider the sluices of impiety, and convert a 
 Christian solemnity into a sacrifice of Bacchus. 
 
 Mr. Blackader, however, resolved to make a 
 prudent and discreet use of his exemption. Not 
 wishing to mortify such of his neighbours as had 
 not the like privilege, he took occasion, at the 
 time of the anniversary, to absent himself on 
 business. He had proposed a journey to Edin- 
 burgh, but was nearly surprised by a party of the 
 life-guards who were then ranging in Galloway, 
 and had seized five ministers in the presbytery of 
 Kirkcudbright.* They came to Troqueer with 
 orders to apprehend him ; but having notice of 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 138. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEIt. 9" 
 
 their approach, he took horse and fled. On his 
 return some days after, he had a rencontre with 
 the same troop, and narrowly escaped. He had 
 alighted at a small change-house on a solitary 
 moor near Garriston; but was luckily admonish- 
 ed of his danger by the noisy jollity within. The 
 soldiers were making merry over their cups, each 
 magnifying his own adventures, and entertainii 
 his comrades with boastful and boisterous narra- 
 tives. Afraid to proceed, as lie was ignorant in 
 what direction they were travelling, and might 
 be overtaken, he judged it wisest to remain; and 
 drawing his horse " into a little hollow at the 
 back of the yard^"" he held it there until thev had 
 finished their wassail. 
 
 By the act reviving patronage, (which n 
 abolished in 1649,) all ministers entered, since 
 
 that year, were required to be presented anewby 
 their respective patrons, and receive collation 
 from the bishop of the dioa bs. Whoever should 
 
 neglect to comply within four months, forfeited 
 all right to his manse and stipend : his church 
 
 was to be declared vacant ; and should patrons 
 
 refuse, the biBhop 9 Jure devoUstoj was empowered 
 to present Diocesan meetings wire appointed 
 
 to be held in October, to which all the cK 
 
 were summoned to repair to receive canonical ad- 
 mission to their benefio These, bs was tot 
 
 expected, were hut thinly attended, d 
 
 the largest See in Seo land, had only twenty-sewn. 
 
 l 
 
98 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and not one of these had entered since 1649. 
 The primate, Fairfoul, complained heavily of 
 this lukewarm and general backwardness, as a 
 piece of disrespect, which called for the interfer- 
 ence of the secular arm. 
 
 To enforce a more summary compliance, the 
 Commissioner, and a quorum of the council, made 
 a progress into the western and southern shires ; 
 and it was in this compulsory circuit, that the fa- 
 mous Glasgow act was passed, which desolated 
 above a third part of the church.* All incum- 
 bents, who had not episcopal institution, were or- 
 dered to remove, with their families, by the 1st 
 of November, beyond the bounds of their pres- 
 bytery, otherwise the military were authorised to 
 pull them out of their pulpits ; the people were 
 forbidden to own them as lawful pastors, fre- 
 quent their sermons, or pay them their current 
 stipend.-]- 
 
 This rigour, it was conjectured, would either 
 produce instant acquiescence, or provoke the 
 
 * The " ranting and feasting" he made in this progress are 
 described, Kirkton, 149. — " The magistrates gave him a four- 
 hours treat in the college fore-hall ; and it was at this entertain- 
 ment, called the drunken meeting of Glasgow, that the act was 
 passed, — all present being flustered with drink, save Sir James 
 Lockhart of Lee, who opposed it. At Air, in one of their mid- 
 night debauches, the devil's health was drunk at the town-cross." 
 — Wodrow, vol. i, 124. 
 
 f Wodrow, vol. i, 119-125. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEi: 99 
 
 more refractory and indiscreet to measures that 
 might afford a pretext for violent expulsion. 
 But the council had miscalculated the issue. 
 The presbyterian clergy disdained to oompromi 
 for their livings by sacrificing their conscience, and 
 hesitated not a moment about the alternative. To 
 yield obedience to the statute, was to acknowled. 
 themselves intruders and unlawful p< 
 to deny and annul the validity of presbyterial 
 ordination, and to admit an Erastian supremacy 
 in the crown, as they were required to i r the 
 oath of allegiance before getting presentation. 
 The resolution, generally adopted, was to con- 
 tinue peaceably in the discharge of their dutu 
 so long as the state should connive at their re- 
 fusal, to bear all patiently, and let n< liitv 
 provoke them to rash or intemperate actions that 
 might give offence.* 
 
 As the tenure of his office became now uncer- 
 tain, Mr. Ulackader thought himself called upon, 
 before quitting his charge, to warn them against 
 countenancing the ministry of those who would 
 be intruded into the church by the bishop, lie 
 discussed, at some length, the question on the 
 Iawfulnt8l of hearing the curates ; in whieh he 
 did not condemn the practice as illegal, when tli 
 could be recognised as the established teacher^, 
 
 • HuriK-t's Hist. vol. i. 1 
 
100 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and come in with the consent of the people : But, 
 in their present circumstances, he judged it im- 
 proper and inexpedient ; since these " hirelings" 
 were to be thrust in against their voice and in- 
 clination, inducted by a power which they dis- 
 owned, and held unqualified to grant such a com- 
 mission. Compliance in that case would be a con- 
 senting to their office and doctrine ; a justifying, 
 or, at least, an approving of the cruel extrusion 
 of honest and conscientious ministers; and an en- 
 tailing of spiritual bondage on themselves and 
 their posterity.* 
 
 On the last Sabbath of October, he preached 
 his farewell sermon. This was a day of anxious 
 expectation throughout the country, and made 
 an, impression on the minds of those who wit- 
 
 • nessed it never to be forgotten. Above three 
 hundred and fifty parish churches were shut up ; 
 a desolation which chiefly overspread the west 
 and the south, and converted the most religious 
 portion of the kingdom into a moral wilderness. 
 It was felt in the land like the breaking up of an 
 
 \ old and venerable economy, and mourned by the 
 people as a national bereavement. With indis- 
 cribable grief they beheld their pulpits silenced 
 and laid vacant ; their faithful pastors driven 
 
 * See this subject discussed in Shield's Hind Let Loose, and 
 Brown's Apologetical Relation. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 101 
 
 from their homes and their flocks, in the dead 
 winter, deprived of every support, and without 
 knowing where to find shelter or subsystem 
 save only in the goodness of providence. They 
 wept to think that the ark of God, and the glory 
 of the {.emple, were soon to depart ; that the 
 hedges and bulwarks of the church, the labour 
 of a hundred years, should, in one day, be ra-ed 
 to the earth. Already the enemy were insultii 
 over their fallen altars, breaking down the carved 
 work of the sanctuary with axes and hammers, 
 and setting up their ensigns in the midst for 
 signs of triumph. Sion, which had risen to a 
 glory that did even excel and darken the first n - 
 formation, was now trampled under the feet of 
 the destroyer, and all her beauty laid in the 
 dust. 
 
 The church of Troqueer stood (as it now does) 
 upon a gentle eminence on the banks off the Nith, 
 commanding an extensive view of the surround- 
 ing country, which, in the neighbourhood 
 Dumfries, presents a delightful variety of local 
 BCenery. On the morning of that memorable 
 Sabbath, Mr. Blackader had risen early tor pray- 
 er and private communion. He stepped forth 
 
 to contemplate the subject of the day, and spend 
 an hour in preparatory meditation. There was 
 
 a gloom and heaviness in the atmosphere, that 
 seemed to correspond with the general melancl 
 ly. A fog, or thick haze, that covered the m 
 
102 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of the earth as with a gray mantle, had retired 
 from the vale of Nith toward the mountains. 
 Behind this misty barrier, on the back ground, 
 Criffel reared its lonely summit, like a huge 
 island in an ocean of floating vapour. The river, 
 that winded by in lazy volumes, was swollen 
 With the rain which had fallen over night. As 
 he paced his little garden with slow and pensive 
 step, his contemplations were suddenly interrupt- 
 ed by the tolling of the morning bells, several of 
 which, in the adjacent parishes, were distinctly 
 audible from the uncommon stillness of the air. 
 These hallowed chimes, once the welcome sum- 
 mons to the house of prayer, now sounded like 
 the knell of their expiring liberties, reminding 
 him how many of his brethren w r ere, like himself, 
 preparing to bid their last adieu, amidst the tears 
 and blessings of their congregations.* At this 
 signal of retirement, he betook himself to the du- 
 ties of the closet, to hold nearer intercourse with 
 heaven, and fortify his soul for the solemn occa- 
 sion. 
 
 The people, at an early hour, had been strag- 
 
 * In the presbytery of Dumfries, which then contained nine- 
 teen members, only two conformed, viz. the ministers of Tinwaid 
 and Newabbey, ( Wodrow, vol. i, App. No. 37.) The parish of 
 (iarral, then attached to this presbytery, was disjoined in 1662, 
 and annexed to Kirkmichael. — Burgess* s Statist. Aec. Kirk- 
 michacL 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 1( 
 
 gling on the height, but kept aloof from the 
 church, unwilling to put their minister to hazard 
 by convening in multitudes, which had been dis- 
 charged as a breach of peace and good order. 
 Thev collected, by degrees, in small scattered 
 groups, about the church-yard, occupied in dark 
 conjectures, and waiting the minister's approach 
 with extreme anxietv. Mr. Blackader made bis 
 appearance with his wonted firmness and compo- 
 sure, with the same placid serenity of counte- 
 nance for which he was remarkable. The audi- 
 ence was not numerous, but every feature ap- 
 peared settled into a deep and earnest concern. 
 Most of them were dissolved in tears, and at ma- 
 ny parts of the discourse, there were loud and 
 involuntary bursts of sorrow. 
 
 Towards the middle of the sermon, an alarm 
 was given that a party of >oldicr> from Dumfries 
 were on their march to seise him, and had cm 
 
 ed the bridge. Upon this he closed hastily ; 
 
 pronounced the benediction, and retired to I 
 chamber. The military Burrounded the church- 
 
 yard : and as the people departed, thev took 
 down the names of all those who belonged to 
 Dumfries, or any of the other parishes, as the 
 law had affixed a penalty of twenty shilling 
 on every person absent from his own church* 
 
 They offered violence to none, and wenl aw. 
 
 without entering the manse, being assured thai 
 
 no strangers were there. When th 
 
104 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the minister assembled the remains of the con- 
 gregation in his own house, and finished the ser- 
 mon, " standing on the stair-head, both the up- 
 per and lower flat being crowded to the fuli." 
 
 The people seemed sorry to depart, lingering 
 in suspense about the doors, expressing their 
 concern for his safety, and their willingness to 
 shed their blood in his defence. Mr. Blackader 
 conjured them to have regard to the peace of the 
 country, and give no handle to their adversaries, 
 by any disturbance. " Go," said he, " and fend 
 for yourselves : the hour is come when the shep- 
 herd is smitten, and the flock shall be scattered. 
 Many are this day mourning the desolations of 
 Israel, and weeping, like the prophet, between 
 the porch and the altar. God^s heritage has be- 
 come the prey of the spoiler ; the mountain of 
 the house of the Lord as the high places of the 
 forest. When the faithful pastors are removed, 
 hirelings shall intrude, whom the Great Shepherd 
 never sent, w r ho will devour the flock, and tread 
 down the residue with their feet. As for me, I 
 have done my duty, and now there is no time to 
 evade. I recommend you to Him who is able to 
 keep you from falling, and am ready, through 
 grace, to be disposed of as the Lord pleases."* 
 
 * The departure of Mr. Welsh from Irongray is affecting, 
 and recorded by Mr. Blackader, who appears to have been an 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 1( 
 
 The last week of his incumbency at Tnxjueer, 
 Mr. Blackader employed in visiting and comfort- 
 ing his parishioners ; " his wife meantime dift- 
 plenishing the house, and preparing for their re- 
 moval."* He had determined in his own mind 
 to preach the following Sabbath, and not to quit 
 his pulpit till he should be torn out by fore 
 This was the more hazardous, u Middleton, who 
 had been on a circuit round the west, was th 
 at Xewabbey, in the neighbourhood. Hut he 
 listened to the advice of the more elderly and ex- 
 perienced, who rather inclined to obey the Glas- 
 gow act, alleging, that it did not interfere with 
 
 eye-witness. — u He was accused for having, in his sermon, a 
 ed the parliament a drunken parliament. An order was sent to 
 Maxwell of 31uns .ward-depute of Galloway, to apprehend 
 
 him who came on Sabbath night to his house at Irongray. 
 
 But as he was to preach on Monday at Holy wood communi* 
 he begged to stay ; which liberty, Maxwell (though a j 
 civilly granted. Motl all the parish was BOB U and 
 
 others about, with some ministers who waited to convoy him a 
 little on his way. There wa- -rowing and outcrying of the 
 
 poor multitude beside the water of C'luden, where lie WM to take 
 horse. It was with great difficulty he got from among tlu 
 who were almost distracted, and cryed most ruefully, with tear*. 
 But he being resolute, would not be detained; and after tuv 
 three of the ministers had knelt down and prayed, he got to horse, 
 the people still holding him. The nunisters and he rode quickly 
 through the water, to win from among them : — many, both men 
 and women, brak in on foot after him, and followed on the road 
 a good space, with bitter weeping and lamentation." — BUu 
 cider's Mem. MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
 I 1 
 
106 v MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the internal administration of the church, like the 
 act of collation and patronage, but only requir- 
 ed them to transport themselves from their pa- 
 rishes, — an external matter, in which they were 
 subject to the civil magistrate like other men. 
 Accordingly, leaving Troqueer on Saturday, he 
 rode to Caitloch in Glencairn, to seek a residence 
 beyond the bounds of presbytery. Next day, 
 the soldiers attacked the manse in quest of him, 
 and behaved with great insolence to his wife and 
 young family. One of his sons, then a child, 
 narrates, with much simplicity, what happened 
 on this occasion. — " A party of the king's life- 
 guard of horse, called Blew-benders, came from 
 Dumfries to Troqueer to search for and appre- 
 hend my father, but found him not, for what oc- 
 casion I know not ; whether he stayed beyond 
 the set day for transporting himself and nume- 
 rous family of small children ten miles from his 
 .parish church ; or because he was of the number 
 of those who refused to observe the 29th of May. 
 So soon as the above party entered the close, and 
 came into the house, with cursing, swearing, and 
 damming, we, that were the children, were fright- 
 ened out of our little wits, and ran up stairs, and 
 I among them ; who, when I heard them all 
 roaring in the room below, like so many breath- 
 ing devills, I had the childish curiosity to get 
 down upon my belly, and peep through a hole 
 in the floor above them, to see what for monsters 
 
REV. JOHX BLA( KADEH. U 
 
 of creatures thev were ; audit seems the rv 
 
 monsters indeed for cruelty ; for one of them 
 perceiving what I was doing, immediately drew 
 his sword, and thrust it up, with all hi> for* 
 where I was peeping, so that the mark of the 
 point was scarce an inch from the hole, though 
 no thanks to the murdering ruffian, who eloign- 
 ed to run it up through my i Immediately 
 after, we were forced to pack up, bag and bag- 
 gatch, and remove to Glencairn, ten miles from 
 Troqueer. We who were the children were put 
 into cadgers creels,* where one of us cried out 
 coming throw the Bridgend of Dumfries, * I'm 
 banislft, I'm banislft.' One h a ppened to ask, 
 1 Who has banislft ye, my bairn : he answered, 
 4 Byte-the-sheep has bani>h*t me.' f,- f' 
 
 * This homely conveyance supplied the place of more elegant 
 equipage. — k * Landaus, btJOIlches, and tilburies, there MN 
 none in those da.-." ( reell appear to fa Iar 
 
 occasions M When the messenger came to his bfl Air. 
 
 Dunbar, minister at Ayr) the second time, all that ."Mr. Gei 
 said was to his wife, to provide the creels again ; for the tor 
 time, the children being young, they behoved to carry them 
 away in creels upon horseback." — Li ■ M ' • ( hat 
 
 + .Sufferings of Mr. Wackader. MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
108 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mr. Blackader retires to Glencairn, and conti- 
 nues to preach — The Curates — Military op- 
 pressions in Nithsdale and Galloway — Sir 
 James Turner seized at Dumfries — Mr. 
 Blackader denounced — Withdraws to Edin- 
 burgh — Rising at Pentland. 
 
 Whatever sorrow was felt at the loss of their 
 venerable and beloved teachers, the people uni- 
 versally approved of their resolution ; they rejoi- 
 ced to see them give this public and unequivo- 
 cal testimony to the " good old cause ;" preferring, 
 with the Hebrew captives of old, to be thrown 
 into the furnace of fiery trial, rather than bow 
 the knee to the idols of the empire. It was not 
 unfrequent to see them, at once, regretting and 
 recommending their departure, shedding tears of 
 pity at their misfortunes ; yet applauding their 
 constancy and unconquerable integrity, and en- 
 couraging them to enter on their sufferings with 
 manliness and Christian resignation. 
 
 They had themselves no hesitation about the 
 alternative, when the question was fairly stated 
 to their own conscience. Had they been dispos- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 109 
 
 ed to continue at their post, or unfold a banner 
 of defiance, it was impossible, in their helpless 
 condition, to wage a successful warfare against 
 the swords of persecution. They did not deny 
 the power of the magistrate to expel or impri- 
 son, and to decline his lawful jurisdiction was to 
 incur the pains of rebellion. Resistance, which 
 at most could be protracted but a few Sabbaths, 
 was only allowing more time to replant their 
 churches ; and they had still hopes of being use- 
 ful, and supporting the interests of religion, by 
 private converse or occasional instructions. Their 
 lot, they confessed, was hard, but not unparallel- 
 ed, or without example. It was the fate of the 
 prophets and apostles before them, to be hunted 
 from city to city ; of martyrs and confessors in 
 the primitive times ; and more recently of their 
 brethren in England, two thousand of whom hath 
 in one day, relinquished their charge, sacrificing 
 their interest to their principles, and casting them- 
 selves upon the providence of God and the char- 
 it v of their friends They saw that by yeilding 
 their neck to the yoke of prelacy, they were mak- 
 ing a base surrender of their liberties, their laws, 
 and their conscience; tor it was through their ec- 
 clesiastical rights that an insidious blow was 
 Struck at their political freedom: they were re- 
 nouncing all those sacred privileges which their 
 ancestors bled to secure, and which the patriots 
 of every country have prized more than life it- 
 
110 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 self. Instead of leaving behind them an exam- 
 ple and a memorial to inspire after ages, they 
 would bring down indelible infamy on their own 
 names, and entail bondage on their posterity. 
 
 It was in the beginning of November 1662, 
 when Mr. Blackader removed his young family 
 to their new habitation in Glencairn. Here he 
 had relations whose roof afforded him a tempor- 
 ary shelter, and whose kindness, in some mea- 
 sure, alleviated the privation of his domestic 
 comforts. In this sequestered parish he hoped 
 to prolong his usefulness unnoticed and unmo- 
 lested. They were a people of blameless repu- 
 tation, " well bred in knowledge, and well affect- 
 ed to the public cause." He lived sometime 
 with " Lady Caitloch,"* who was his cousin, un- 
 til he was accommodated by a gentleman in the 
 
 * Ferguson of Caitloch was both a pious and a brave man. 
 In Middleton's parliament, he was fined a thousand pounds for 
 being concerned in the late war. Like many others, he was ba- 
 nished to the hills, and compelled to take arms in his own de- 
 fence. At the battle of Bothwell, he headed a party of the 
 Nithsdale and Galloway men. These were posted on the bridge to 
 defend the pass, and fought with abundant gallantry, ( Wodroic, 
 vol. ii, 66.) He was afterwards forfeited ; his house converted 
 into a garrison, and his lady reduced to the most extraordinary 
 hardships. She and her children were turned out when her hus- 
 band had fled, and wandered in the fields, without any habitation, 
 except occasionally the shelter of a barn. At length, she found 
 means to escape with them out of the kingdom, and died abroad. 
 — Ibid. 286. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. Ill 
 
 neighbourhood, with u an old stone house called 
 Ingliston.*' Here he continued a year, and there- 
 after removed to Barndennoch, the mansion- 
 house of the dowager Lady Craigdarroch. The 
 inclemencv of the season, and the various dis- 
 tractions with which thev had been harassed, 
 threw the whole family into a fever shortly af- 
 ter his removal from Troqueer ; two of whom 
 died, a daughter, and a servant, who were buried 
 in Glencairn church-yard- For the first three 
 months he discontinued to preach, except occa- 
 •nallv in churches which had not been displant- 
 ed. He officiated for Mr. Lidderdale at Tvn- 
 ron, and for other non-conforming ministers, 
 whom the Glasgow act did not reach, as their set- 
 tlement had taken place previous to 1649- Al- 
 though he did not, like some of his brethren,* im- 
 mediately commence field preaching, or private 
 lecturing: this wafl entirely from a dislike to fur- 
 nish any new matter of offence, and from no per- 
 suasion that forcible deposition denuded him of 
 
 • This practice became very general soon after the ejection. 
 :ipbell and Henderson of Dumfries. Archibald of Dunscore, 
 Irvine of Kirkmahoe, Paton of Tenv. ind many oth«. 
 
 tched in the fields. Welsh and Semple set the flfa mple. 
 
 :>egan the Sunday after they were expelled in CoimcL 
 wood, where they lodged a year. They wrought to each other's 
 hands ; for while the curates were pursuing the one in the coun- 
 try, the other was preaching in the woods.'' — Bl r*| Mi m. 
 . Adv. Lib. 
 
112 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 his clerical rights. Such as had not access to the 
 established pulpits, and were led to exercise their 
 profession in a less regular way, though they had 
 not his example, had his cordial approbation. 
 The secular arm might extend to their persons, 
 or their properties, but could never unminister 
 lawful pastors, or take from them an office which 
 they held immediately by divine commission. 
 This he considered as arrogating a power that 
 belonged to the church alone, usurping an un- 
 warrantable dominion over Christ's ordinances 
 and ambassadors. A mere paper proclamation, 
 or even an act of parliament, he held incompetent 
 to nullify the ceremony of ordination, or the 
 call of the people ; and, therefore, the hallowed 
 union between them and their flocks still subsist- 
 ed, though nominally dissolved. 
 
 Independent of these extrinsic arguments, Mr. 
 Blackader has stated other grounds on which he 
 thought the practice might be vindicated. There 
 was the urgency and obligation laid on them by 
 their official character. Ezek. iii, 17; Jer. xxvi, 2; 
 Acts xx, 24 ; 2 Tim. iv, 2, &c. There was the 
 necessity of immortal souls, and the guilt of leav- 
 ing men to continue in ignorance at the hazard 
 of eternal perdition. There was the conduct of 
 the disciples, under persecution, and of our Lord 
 himself, who when he saw the multitudes had 
 compassion on them. There were instances of 
 the Christian fathers, in the darker ages, who re- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 113 
 
 fused to be silenced by the edicts of the heathen 
 emperors : And, lastly, there were specific in- 
 junctions laid on ministers of the gospel not to 
 conceal or bury their gifts like the useless talent 
 in the parable ; but to let their light shine espe- 
 cially in that hour and power of darkness, when 
 the 6hepherds were smitten, and the sheep scat- 
 tered- Many acknowledged the weight and force 
 of these considerations, and were convinced, that 
 merely to look on as silent spectators was to be- 
 tray their cause by a criminal indifference. Some- 
 thing like a general correspondence was project- 
 ed between the exiled and the elder ministers for 
 supplying destitute congregations, in as orderly 
 and inoffensive a way as possible ; but the increas- 
 ing severities against turbulent and seditious 
 preachers, as they were styled, prevented this 
 attempt from being effectuated. 
 
 The custom of itinerary preaching soon be- 
 came general. Ministers were ready to lend 
 their assistance wherever it was craved. They 
 exhorted, baptized, and dispensed ordinances in 
 their own houses, or at places in the neighbour- 
 hood ; and that more out of commiseration for 
 the desolate and forlorn state of the country, than 
 from any studied contempt of authority, or any 
 
 design to evince the independence of the minis- 
 
 teriul office. Many parish churches in the south 
 and the west were totally vacant, and without 
 SennoOj others without attendants. In some 
 
114 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 places people had to travel twenty miles to hear 
 public worship ; in others it was altogether out of 
 reach, and the only substitute was the private ex- 
 ercises, or family devotions of the extruded clergy. 
 Many earnest applications were made to Mr. 
 Blackader from seven or eight of the adjacent 
 parishes. He confined himself at first to his own 
 house, giving private exhortations, sometimes 
 twice, often thrice a-day, to multitudes, who re- 
 sorted, in private, to seek those instructions 
 which the rigour of the laws had now converted 
 into a state crime. He revived associations for 
 Christian fellowship and godly conference, which 
 were hastening into disusage. His exertions, he 
 observes, were attended with greater success here 
 than formerly in his own congregation, not only 
 in keeping up the form of godliness, but in bring- 
 ing many to seriousness and personal religion, 
 who had been in danger from the contagion of 
 the times. Unable to accommodate, or supply 
 with spiritual food, the numerous crowds that 
 sought his habitation, he felt necessitated to re- 
 pair to the mountainous districts, " and preach- 
 ed frequently in the four parishes of the Glenkens 
 in Galloway ." But the difficulty of keeping ap- 
 pointments, or fixing convenient places of meet- 
 ing, obliged him to discontinue this practice. In 
 February 1662, he ventured back to his old pa- 
 rish, but found his place occupied by a curate. 
 He visited, catechised, and lectured privately, an 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 115 
 
 encroachment which the episcopal incumbent 
 threatened to resent. After this he returned no 
 more until many years and many toils had inter- 
 vened. 
 
 It should have been mentioned, that the un- 
 popularity of the curates heightened the general 
 regret at the loss of the presbyterian ministers, 
 and aggravated, to an extreme degree, the na- 
 tional hatred at episcopacy. These men were 
 odious from the very name and nature of their 
 office, and they took no care to abate those pre- 
 judices by affable or exemplary manners. Though 
 nothing else had been objectionable, their worth- 
 less character and irregular habits would have 
 held them up to the just contempt and detesta- 
 tion of every sober mind. They are described, 
 even by the pen of a bishop, " as generally mean 
 and despicable in all respects, ignorant to a re- 
 proach, and many of them openly vicious. Those 
 of them who did rise above contempt or scandal, 
 were men of such violent tempers, that they were 
 reckoned a disgrace to their order and profes- 
 sion."* The inconsiderate and violent precipi- 
 tancy with which the church had been desolated, 
 left little time for choice or selection; and the 
 country could scarcely supply so rapid a demand 
 or produce a better commodity. Congregations 
 
 • Burnet's Hist. vol. i, 158. Kirkton, 180-191. 
 
116 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 were, in consequence, obliged to be planted with 
 a very inferior article. " They were busied," 
 says Wodrow, " all this winter and spring in 
 levying a crew of those curates that were to be 
 put to work in the Lord's vineyard. They were 
 mostly young men from the northern shires, 
 raw and without any great stock of reading or 
 gifts. They were brought west, in a year or 
 two, after having gone through their philosophy 
 in the college; and having nothing to subsist 
 upon, were greedily gaping after the vacant be- 
 nefices. They came into parishes with much the 
 same view a herd hath when he contracts to feed 
 cattle, — brought in over the belly of solemn oaths 
 and covenants, with perjury written on their 
 foreheads, where Holiness to the Lord should 
 have.been."* 
 
 These " unstudied and unbred" youths were 
 but despicable missionaries to persuade a nation 
 to alter their religion, and abandon the venerable 
 institutions of their fathers. They w r ere certainly 
 very incompetent instruments for accomplishing 
 such a vast and difficult undertaking. Their re- 
 ception corresponded accordingly to the esteem 
 in which they were held. Everywhere their en- 
 tertainment was harsh and cold, sometimes rude 
 and ludicrous. The disputatious and theological 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 157. Kirkton, 160. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 117 
 
 peasantry would assail their creed with stubborn 
 arguments, while " the laxer of the gentry" stag- 
 gered their moral virtues with strong drink. 
 Their conviviality led them at times to make ri- 
 diculous mistakes and unseemly exposures. In- 
 stances, it is reported, were sadly common of 
 seeing them reeling homewards on the public 
 road, or wallowing in their canonicals in the 
 mire.* Wherever they came they were regard- 
 ed as intruders, thrust in against people's inclina- 
 tions, and kept in their pulpits by military force. 
 In some places, " they were met with showers of 
 stones ; in others, they were welcomed with tears 
 and entreaties to be gone." To serve as an ex- 
 cuse for not attending their sermons, the church 
 bell was sometimes purposely deprived of its 
 tongue, that appendage being no longer regarded 
 as the summons to voluntary prayer, but rather 
 
 • tw Nisbet, curate of Kirkgunzeon, did usually fuddle himself 
 when he went to Dumfries ; and having divers times fallen off 
 his horse into a kennel, was dragged out like a beast, having 
 
 also * * * " u Chambers, curate of Dumfries, on 29th 
 
 -May, came to the market-place; and having sung a psalm, 
 danced about the bonefires, and got so drunk, that he could not 
 go to his own house." This vice was so common, t% that a fel- 
 low at Edinburgh, called Jack Bowls, when reproved for being 
 drunk in the morning, answered. That he could not get room to 
 drink in the afternoon, for the best alehouses were then tilled 
 with cura ■«•-." — ./ . to Scutch Prcsb. Eloqmnc . 
 
 For more examples, the curious in scandal may consult Kirk. 
 ton, lib. vi. 
 
118 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 adding to their miseries by reminding them of 
 their spiritual slavery. Its weekly admonitions 
 sounded in their ear as the voice of the oppressor 
 proclaiming his conquests, and insolently brag- 
 ging of his triumph. The doors of the church 
 were, in some places, built up or barricaded, that 
 the scripture might be literally fulfilled, and the 
 hireling made to climb in by the window, that 
 being considered a more appropriate admission. * 
 These irregularities, however, were the actions 
 of the ignorant and ill disposed, " the extrava- 
 gant practices of the rabble, and no way ap- 
 proven by the godly or judicious sort." Some 
 
 * Kirkton, 161. — The first contested settlement of a curate was 
 at Irongray, to which a Mr. Bernard Sanderson was appointed. 
 " A party, with some messengers, was sent to intimate, that the 
 said Mr. Bernard was to enter that kirk for their ordinar. Some 
 women of the parish (headed by one Margaret Smith) hearing 
 thereof, placed themselves in the kirk-yard, and furnished them- 
 selves with their ordinary weapons of stones, whereof they gather- 
 ed store ; and when the messengers and party of rascalls, with 
 swords and pistols, came, the women so maintained their ground, 
 defending themselves under the kirk-dyke, that after a hot skir- 
 mish, the curate, messengers, and party of soldiers, not presum- 
 ing to enter, did at length take themselves to retreat, with the 
 honourable blae marks they had got at that conflict. One of the 
 parishioners drew his sword, set his back to the kirk-door, and 
 said, M Let me see who will place a minister here this day." 
 The said Margaret was brought prisoner to Edinburgh, and ba- 
 nished to Barbadoes. But when before the managers, she told 
 her tale so innocently, that they saw not fit to execute the sen- 
 tence."— Black. Mem. MSS. Wodrow, vol. i, 177-179. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 119 
 
 were even superstitious enough to think, that an 
 affront offered to a curate was an atonement for 
 greater crimes. But whatever may be said of 
 these outrages, they were, at least, striking evi- 
 dences of popular dislike, and must have been 
 felt by the curates as no unequivocal tokens of 
 the respect and affection they were likely to be- 
 held in by their parishioners. To sober and re- 
 ligious men their doctrine was as offensive as 
 their character and manners were loathsome.* 
 
 * If we may judge from the specimens we have, their sermons 
 were not extremely pregnant with edification. Hamilton, curate 
 of Leith, commenced a discourse with the following exordium. 
 — M I shall not nibble at niceties, nor ingeminate prolixities ; 
 but, with the sword of brevity, shall cut the Gordian knot of ob- 
 scurity, and so proceed to give you the genuine purport of this 
 mellifluous and aromatical subject, calculated allenarly for the 
 
 meridian of that microcosm, man." Gladstones, curate of 
 
 Vetholm, demonstrated to his congregation how many myriads 
 
 of angels could stand on the point of a bee's sting One 
 
 Ross, curate of Tain, at a catechising, asked an old woman a 
 question, which she could not answer. Unwilling to disco 
 her ignorance, she whispered in his ear, I'll send you a stone of 
 cheese the morn. That is well said, replied he ; I wish all my 
 parishioners would say so A curate, in Caithness, had co- 
 pied a sermon from a printed book, and was getting it by heart, 
 when a puff of wind blew it into the sea. When he came to the 
 pulpit, he told the people they should be no losers by the acci- 
 dent, for he would read the sixth chapter of St. John to them, 
 
 which was worth two o't Another curate in the Highlands, 
 
 taking occasion to quote the Latin adage, kk Tempora mutantur," 
 
 . in his 6ermon, expressed himself thus — 
 
 Timpura mutantur tararantara rantara rccruv. 
 
 Am. to Scotch Prcsb. Eloq. 
 
120 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 They had subscribed to no standard ; were guid- 
 ed by no liturgy, and might teach what they 
 pleased.* The bishop was their only directofy, 
 and they had no other Confession of faith than 
 the acts of parliament. 
 
 The minds of the people, in consequence, were 
 leavened with new prejudices ; their former anti- 
 pathies were converted into inveterate and insur- 
 mountable disgust. The churches were abandon- 
 ed, or entered only by such as were compelled by 
 violence to do what was against their principles or 
 their conscience. In this extreme necessity, they 
 were driven to seek, at all hazards, their ordi- 
 nances and instructions from men whom they ve- 
 nerated for their unblemished reputation, and 
 still recognised as their lawful ministers. The 
 law permitted no other alternative ; " their cove- 
 nant was forsaken, their altars thrown down, and 
 their prophets slain with the sword." They were 
 
 * Bishop Burnet, when curate of Salton, in East Lothian, was, 
 it is said, the only person that made use of the liturgy in Scot- 
 land, {Burners Life,) It was, however, used publicly by seve- 
 ral others. {An Apol. for Cler. of Scotland, 1693.) By Principal 
 Monro, in the College of Edinburgh, {Presb. InquisiU against 
 Prof of Coll. Edin. 1691.) It was probably used by the curate 
 of Kilmarnock, {Account of Persecut. of Church in Scot. 1690,) 
 and of Mauchline, {Case of Afflicted Ep'is. Cler, in Scot. 1690,) 
 as the Primate of Glasgow was a keen stickler for the ceremo- 
 nies, {Wodroze, vol. i, 257.) In private families it was fre- 
 quently used. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADElt. 121 
 
 obliged to withdraw from places where the bread 
 of life had ceased to be administered, to wander 
 in search of that spiritual manna which no longer 
 fell around their tents : And if their secession 
 was a crime, or a breach of authority, they 
 charged it to the tyrannical conduct of the govern- 
 ment, which had laid so many physical and moral 
 impediments on the regular worship of God. 
 
 This desertion of the parochial clergy, called 
 down upon the head of the unhappy country the 
 severest vengeance. Instead of lenity or indul- 
 gence, the best expedient to mitigate or disarm 
 excited passions, new rigours were accumulated, 
 more tyrannical measures were adopted, which, 
 far from being a remedy, were calculated rather 
 to aggravate and prolong the disease. The ex- 
 ministers were forbidden, under pain of sedition, 
 to reside within twenty miles of their former pa- 
 rishes, within six miles of Edinburgh, or a ca- 
 thedral church, or within three miles of any burgh 
 in the kingdom.* It was strictly prohibited to 
 make charitable collections for their use, or con- 
 tribute in any wav to their support.-f- All pri- 
 vate meetings, for religious exercises, were dis- 
 charged, under the penalties of separation and 
 disobedience to ecclesiastical authority. A fine 
 
 of twenty shillings Scots was exacted, for each of- 
 
 • Wodrow, vol. i, 227. f Ibid. 105. 
 
 F 
 
122 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 fence, from every person absent from his parish 
 church. Heritors and masters of families were 
 commanded to see that their tenants, servants, 
 and cottars attended, otherwise to remove them 
 out of their houses and lands ; and to grant them 
 no new leases, unless they subscribed a bond for 
 conformity. The same injunctions were appli- 
 cable to magistrates and inhabitants of burghs ; 
 and neglecting to enforce the statute, landholders 
 and civic rulers became liable to imprisonment or 
 sequestration. For personal absence, heritors 
 forfeited a fourth part of their rents ; household- 
 ers and citizens a fourth of their substance; 
 and if merchants, the freedom of their corpora- 
 tions, and the privileges of trade. An army of 
 twenty-two thousand foot and two thousand horse 
 was raised ostensibly for protecting Christendom 
 against the Turks, (an expedition upon which a 
 similar levy might, at this moment, be most ho- 
 nourably employed ;) but in reality destined to 
 march on a crusade against their own country- 
 men.* They were dispersed in companies over 
 the more refractory districts, to uplift fines, and 
 enforce obedience to the laws. It was at the 
 head of these booted missionaries, that Dalzell 
 and Claverhouse, with their worthy compeers, 
 ran their career of outrage and atrocity, and 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 240. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 123 
 
 earned a bloody renown that will remain im- 
 perishable in the annals of their country. The 
 unfeeling rigour and wanton cruelty with which 
 they executed, or rather exceeded, the mandates 
 of a sanguinary Council, has cast a stain on their 
 memory, which will never be wiped away, al- 
 though the pen of history and the magic of fic- 
 tion have clothed them with the attributes of he- 
 roes, and spread a literary charm over the infamy 
 of their character. 
 
 A high commission court was instituted as 
 another auxiliary to the prelates, which assumed 
 the power both of the sword and the keys, exer- 
 cising a civil as well as a spiritual jurisdiction. 
 Their meetings were not limited to time or place : 
 their inquisitorial proceedings were restrained 
 by no power of law : their wretched victims were 
 despatched without either u accusation, evidence, 
 or defence." Both the municipal and military 
 authorities were under their control. Sheriff'-, 
 justices, magistrates, constables, ^ce. were made 
 the accomplices and purveyors of this omnipotent 
 court. The highest nobleman in the land was 
 amenable to its tribunal: the inoffensive peasantry 
 might be fined, incarcerated, or transported at 
 pleasure; and, by captious questions, the mo 
 unwary might be entangled and in visibly decoyed 
 within its man 
 
 The forces sent to the BOUth to quell the spirit 
 of insubordination in Nithsdalc and (ialloway, 
 
124 MEMOIRS Ol 
 
 where field preaching had their origin, and where 
 the first testimony was given for the free dispen- 
 sation of the gospel, were commanded by Sir 
 James Turner, a man naturally prepared, by the 
 ferocity of his temper, to stretch his commission 
 to its utmost extent, but stimulated to greater 
 severities by the constant use of strong liquors, 
 and the instigation of Hamilton, the diocesan of 
 of Galloway, who had imbibed the malice and 
 rancour common to all apostates. His instruc- 
 tions were to amerce for non-attendance at parish 
 churches ; to inform against seditious meetings, 
 and assist curates in getting possession of their 
 benefices, by expelling obstinate incumbents.* 
 
 Mr. Blackader mentions himself as a sufferer 
 under the cruelties and extortions practised in his 
 neighbourhood by Sir Jameses troops, during their 
 three memorable campaigns in Dumfries-shire, 
 before the rising at Pentland. Except a few par- 
 ticulars, which shall be subjoined, he has record- 
 ed nothing but what is already known. His re- 
 marks upon the subject may,how r ever,be extended 
 a little, so as to give some general idea of the hard- 
 ships to which the country was reduced by those 
 military oppressions. People were delivered over 
 to the hands of the soldiery, without mercy or 
 
 * Vid. Letter from a Gentleman in Galloway. "Wodrow, 
 A pp. No. 2 ; Book ii. 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADEK. l^O 
 
 redress. Thev were dragged to churches like * 
 Ions to the dungeon, and cruelly beaten if they rt - 
 sisted. Enormous and arbitrary penalties were im- 
 posed, from which neither indigence nor infirmity 
 could be exempted. The poor must beg or sell 
 their clothes to pay their fines. The widow and 
 the fatherless were robbed of their necessarv su 
 tence; " and when the children cried for bresu 
 it was snatched from their mouths, and given to 
 the soldiers' pleasure dogs."* When families were 
 unwilling to pay, the military were sent to live at 
 free quarters, until they should eat up the value 
 of the penalty; and frequently they continued 
 until thev had consumed their whole substance ; 
 cattle, grain, furniture, &c. were seized to defray 
 church arrears, or wantonly burnt and destroy- 
 ed. Applications for relief were everywhere 
 treated with equal disregard. If they complain- 
 ed to the council, they met with no answer; if to 
 the commanding officer, the petitioner was dis- 
 missed with additional abuse. A parish list w 
 usually drawn up by the curate, that the obnox- 
 ious might be more readily distinguished. After 
 sermon, this muster-roll was called from the pul- 
 pit, and absentees singled out for the weekly ex- 
 action. Many were arrested without either proof 
 or presumptive evidence, and fined on mere BU8- 
 
 • Xaphtali.— Sufferings in Galloway und Nithsd 
 
126 MEMOIES OP 
 
 picion. The process was brief, and conducted 
 without the formalities of a witness or a libel. 
 The clergyman was the accuser ; the soldier was 
 both the judge and the executioner of his own 
 sentence. It was in his power to demand a sum 
 exceeding that specified by law ; and, as a stimulus 
 to industry, the supernumerary part was allotted 
 to his own pocket. Whenever the performance 
 of his duty required him to travel, he could claim 
 " riding money," an expense chargeable on the 
 person who had been the cause of his journey. 
 
 Sabbath was the day on which these extrava- 
 gances were very often committed. The soldiers 
 sat drinking; and revelling; in the nearest alehouse 
 until public worship drew to a close. The last 
 psalm was the signal of attack : they sallied from 
 their cups, surrounded the church-yard, and 
 placed sentinels at the doors. The people were 
 made to pass out one by one, and interrogated, 
 whether they belonged to that congregation ? If 
 they answered in the negative, they were fined 
 upon the spot ; generally all the money they had 
 was taken from them. Those who had none or 
 too little, were plundered of their coats, hoods, 
 plaids, and bibles ; and the soldiers, laden with 
 their sacrilegious spoils, returned from the house 
 of God as from a field of battle or the pillage of 
 a stormed city. In churches, where a presbyte- 
 rian officiated, they were not to be obstructed by 
 doors or decency, but would rudely interrupt the 
 
EEV. JOHN BLACKADER. IS 
 
 divine service, entering in armed parties, wound- 
 ing and haling multitudes from devotion to im- 
 prisonment. After all this insolence and barba- 
 rity, to secure themselves from danger, they com- 
 pelled people to declare, by certificate, that they 
 had been kindly dealt with, and bind themseh 
 to make no complaints.* A general order w 
 issued for disarming the south and the w€>st, al- 
 though the country was yet in profound peace, 
 bearing all patiently, and betraying no symptoms 
 of mutiny or insurrection. But the effects of 
 these complicated rigours, like the policy of Pha- 
 roah, tended to multiply instead of suppressing 
 the existing discontents ; and it was found neoc 
 sary to discharge, by express proclamation, all 
 conventions for religious exercises, as seminaries, 
 of separation and rebellion. By this royal edict, 
 called the Scots Conventicle Act, Mr. Blackader 
 was denounced as a person guilty of dangerous 
 and unlawful practices, leavening the people with 
 disaffection, and alienating the hearts of the 
 lieges from his majesty's government. On the 
 25th of January 16()(j, letters of council weredi- 
 rected against him and about a dozen of his con- 
 federates, among whom were Welsh, Semple, 
 Arnot, and Peden, for presuming to preach, 
 pray, baptize, and perform other acts of the ini- 
 
 • U'odrow, vol. i, 1- 
 
128 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 nisterial function. It was charged to Mr. Black- 
 aders account, " that he had oft times convened 
 great numbers in the parish of Glencairn and 
 neighbouring parishes, sometimes to the number 
 of a thousand and upwards, and continues so to 
 do every Lord^s day : at which meetings he bap- 
 tizes the children of all disaffected persons."* 
 He was cited at the market-cross of Dumfries, 
 to appear in person at Edinburgh, under pain of 
 horning. This journey he thought it advisable 
 to decline, not that he meant to deny the fact, 
 but that he did not choose to surrender himself 
 to illegal violence, which had already crowded 
 the gaols with prisoners. He saw many of his 
 unhappy countrymen driven across the seas into 
 perpetual banishment ; some sold as slaves, and 
 others seeking refuge in a voluntary exile. Men 
 had begun, generally, to prefer the hazard and 
 danger of outlawry to the certainty of imprison- 
 ment, or perhaps worse treatment. His refusal 
 reached the ear of Lord Drumlanrig, who was 
 
 * Mr. Blackader was one of those suspected to be " havers 
 of Mr. George Buchanan his book De Jure Rcgni, and other 
 books, containing sundry offensive matters." Semple was char- 
 ged with holding disorderly meetings, especially two at Kilmar- 
 nock, M which were kept under cloud of night, with a great 
 deal of confusion." Peden's dittay was, that he rode up and 
 down the country, with sword and pistols, in gray clothes.— 
 Wodrow, vol. i, 235. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 129 
 
 one of the high commissioners for executing the 
 laws in support of the church. As many of the 
 reports were taken from informations given at 
 random, his Lordship, willing to have more au- 
 thentic proofs, wrote a friendly letter to Mr. 
 Blackader on the subject. — 
 
 " Assured Friend, 
 
 u Having heard that you keep conventicles 
 within my bounds, and being desirous to know 
 the truth thereof from yourself, I desire you to 
 come to Sanquhar against the — day of April, and 
 that for preventing further prejudice to yourself, 
 which is not desired by 
 
 u Your assured Friend, 
 
 " DRUMLAXRI( 
 
 ( )f Lord Drumlanrig's honour and friendship 
 he entertained not a doubt ; but there were cir- 
 cumstances which prevented him from complying 
 with his request ; and instead of repairing to 
 Sanquhar, he despatched a gentleman intimate 
 with both parties, to acquaint his Lordship with 
 the reasons of his conduct, viz. that no promise 
 of securitv could make him forbear, or deny the 
 lawfulness of field preaching : that as Lord Drum- 
 lanrig was a councillor, lie might think himself 
 necessitated to apprehend him, which would Ik- 
 Consistent with his office, though not with his 
 
 neroUS letter: that to extricate his Lordship 
 
 ■ o 
 
130 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 from this " disagreeable strait," was his apology 
 for not coming in person. He added, that as he 
 was so severely harassed by Sir James Turner, 
 he had resolved forthwith to depart the country. 
 This latter part of the communication rendered 
 all further interference unnecessary. Prepare 
 tions were accordingly made for removing his 
 family; but it was difficult to tell whither, as 
 every place was rendered alike oppressive and 
 insecure. Edinburgh seemed to offer the like- 
 liest opportunity for privacy and concealment, 
 although it was forbidden to reside in that or 
 any other town in the kingdom. Having secured 
 his books and papers, he set out with his wife, 
 leaving the children, three sons and a daughter, 
 under 4:he care of a nurse and a servant. 
 
 On this occasion, he met with one of those 
 " singular casts of providence" which he had fre- 
 quently to remark in the course of his life. The 
 very day of his departure, Turner had orders 
 from the bishop of Galloway to apprehend him. 
 His second son, then a boy of ten years old, gives 
 the following minute but artless narrative of what 
 passed. — " About this time, (the end of winter 
 1666,) Turner and a party of sodgers from Gal- 
 loway, came to search for my father, who had 
 gone to Edinburgh, to seek about where he might 
 live in safety. These rascally ruffians besett our 
 house round, about two oVlock in the morning ; 
 then gave the cry, ' Damn'd whigs, open the 
 
REV. JOHN BLACK ADEE. 1 '31 
 
 door.* Upon which we all got up, young and 
 old, excepting my sister, with the nurse and the 
 child at her breast, (now Colonel Blackader, de- 
 puty-governor of Stirling castle.) "When they 
 came in, the fire was gone out : they roared out 
 again, ' Light a candle immediately, and on with 
 a fire quickly, or els wel roast nurse and bairn 
 and all in the fire, and mak a bra bleeze/ When 
 the candle was lighted, they drew out their 
 swords, and went to the stools and chairs, and 
 clove them down, to mak the fire withal! ; and 
 they made me hold the candle to them, trembling 
 all along, and fearing every moment to be thrown 
 quick into the fire. Then they went to search 
 the house for my father, running their swords 
 down throw the beds and bed-cloths ; and among 
 the rest they came where my sister was, then a 
 child, and as yet fast a>leep, and with their 
 swords stabbed down throw the bed, where ^he 
 was lying, crving, c Come out, rebell dog. 1 They 
 made narrow search for him in all corners of the 
 house, ransacking presses, chests, and Mesh-stands. 
 Then they went and threw down all his books 
 from the press upon the floor, and caused poor 
 me hold the candle all this while, till they had 
 imined his books; and all they thought whig- 
 gish, as they termed it, and brave judges they 
 were ! they put into a great bone civel, and took 
 away, — (among which wire a number of written 
 rnions, and some printed pamphlets) Then 
 
132 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 thev ordered one of their fellow ruffians to climb 
 up to the hen-baalks, where the cocks and hens 
 were ; and as they came to one, threw about its 
 neck, and then down to the floor wi't ; and so on 
 till they had destroyed them all. Then they 
 went to the meat-ambry, and took out what was 
 there : then to the meal and beaf-barrels, and left 
 little or nothing there. All this I was an eye- 
 witness to, trembling and shivering all the while, 
 having nothing but my short shirt upon me. So 
 soon as I was relieved of my office, I begins to 
 think, if possible, of making my escape, rather 
 than to be burnt quick, as I thought, and they 
 threatened. I goes to the door, where there was 
 a sentry on every side, standing with their swords 
 drawn; for watches were set round to prevent 
 escape. I approached nearer and nearer, by 
 small degrees, making as if I were playing my- 
 self. At last, I gets out there, making still as if 
 I were playing, till I came to the gate of the 
 house; then, with all the little speed I had, 
 (looking behind me, now and then, to see if they 
 were pursuing after me,) I run the length of half 
 a mile in the dark night, naked to the shirt. I 
 got to a neighbouring toune, called the Brigend 
 of Menrrihyvie; where, thinking to creep into 
 some house to save my life, I found all the doors 
 shut, and the people sleeping. Upon which I 
 went to the cross of the toune, and got up to the 
 uppermost step of it ; and there I sat me down, 
 
REV. JOHK BLACKADEE. 133 
 
 and fell fast asleep till the morning. Between 
 five and six, a door opens, and an old woman 
 comes out ; and seeing a white thing upon the 
 cross, comes near it ; and when she found it 
 was a little boy, crves out, i Jesus, save us ! — 
 what art thou T With that I awaked, and an- 
 swered her, ( I'm Mr. Blackader's son/ — ' O my 
 puir bairn ! what brought thee here T — I an- 
 swers, < There's a hantle of fearfull men, with 
 red coats, has brunt all our house, my breether 
 and sister, and all the family.' — t O puir thing,' 
 (says she) ' come in and lye down in my warm 
 bed \ — which I did ; and it was the sweetest bed 
 that T ever met with." 
 
 After this his whole family was dispersed over 
 the countrv, and forced to lead a wandering and 
 homeless life, imploring shelter wherever charity 
 was brave enough to offer them protection.* 
 From the severe act against " Contributions,'* it 
 was hazardous and illegal to give them relief; 
 and many who had the inclination, wanted the 
 courage to do it, as they were thereby exposing 
 
 * M "We all behoved (says the writer of the above) to scatter : 
 one neighbour laird in the parish taking one child, and another, 
 another. I was sent to a place about a mile off, called the PecL 
 toune, who afterwards, likewise, were quite ruined, and all taken 
 from than, the poor mither begging but one lamb for meat to 
 the hairn>, hut could not get it. The meat they were not able 
 to eat, tin v destroyed ; threw down the butter kirns, and hashed 
 down tlie cheese with their iWOtdSj among the horses fat** 1 
 
134 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 themselves to ruinous fines, or corporal punish- 
 ment. Not only the means of subsistence, but 
 the channels of sympathy and benevolence were 
 attempted to be shut against them ; for the ty- 
 ranny of the laws went to proscribe the common 
 duties of humanity, to dissolve the ties of social 
 intercourse, and extirpate the kindliest feelings of 
 nature. Acts of piety and beneficence were pro- 
 nounced criminal, and visited as such with the 
 heaviest chastisements.* 
 
 Mr. Blackader procured a private lodging in 
 the Canongate,^ where he spent the remainder of 
 the winter, disabled from preaching, by fatigue 
 
 * " A remarkable instance of God's providence happened to 
 us in Glencaim. One evening in 1665, before my father fled to 
 Edinburgh for refuge, I was playing in the closs with the rest of 
 the children. Wee sees three gentlemen on horseback riding 
 into the closs ; which, when my mother saw, and perceiving 
 who they were, (Mr. Welsh, Mr. Semple, and another,) she 
 clasped her hands, and cried, ' Now, Lord help me, for I have 
 neither black nor white to give them ! ' — these were her very words. 
 They alighted, put the horses into the stable, and comes in to 
 my father, who made them very welcome. After they had put 
 off their great-coats, and were smoking a pipe, in comes a fellow 
 with a good fat wether sheep on his back, and calls for my mo- 
 ther — ' Mistress, her's a wether such a lady has sent you.' You 
 may be sure this was a welcome guest, and a surprising mercy. 
 They soon killed the fatted calf, and all supped plentifully. My 
 father and the strangers knew nothing of the matter all this 
 while, till they were at supper, when my mother broke out with 
 it."—JBlackad-er's Sufferings, MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
 •f In Bailie Campbell's land. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 135 
 
 and indisposition. He did not stir from his con- 
 cealment for some months, except venturing to 
 Glencairn to baptize Gordon of Earlstons daugh- 
 ter, a ceremony which none of his brethren would 
 undertake. At Whitsunday 1666, he took larger 
 apartments at the head of the Cowgate, near the 
 Grassmarket, where private meetings were held 
 all the summer, which were joined by seven or 
 eight of the Nithsdale and Galloway clergy. 
 These conventions were interrupted after the de- 
 feat at Pentland hills, which happened in Novem- 
 ber that year, when the presbyterians were again 
 subjected to redoubled cruelties and hardships. 
 Mr. Illackader agrees with others, in ascribing 
 this sudden rising to the effects of intolerable op- 
 pression, and relates the well-known accident 
 which led to that event. The inhuman cruelties 
 of Turner had overspread the country with ter- 
 ror, devastation, and despair. People were made 
 " to groan and wearv of their lives," immured 
 in prisons, or hunted like the beasts of the desert. 
 Multitudes, both of the gentry and peasantry, 
 were scattered to distant parts of the kingdom ; 
 numbers were lurking in concealment at home, 
 or made to lie, night and day, on the mountains. 
 They had, as yet, borne their increasing griev- 
 ances with silence, though not without indigna- 
 tion ; but their submission, far from abating their 
 miseries, or relaxing the coercion of the law>, had 
 encouraged their oppressors to greater insolence. 
 
136 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 They had manifested no spirit of rebellion : there 
 was no concerted plan among themselves, much 
 Jess any foreign correspondence, as has been al- 
 leged against them.* There were individuals, 
 " both willing and resolute to rid themselves of 
 these inhuman spoilers ; but they were dissuad- 
 ed by the preachers from running to hazardous 
 extremes, and commended to resort to prayer and 
 supplication, and let God be the avenger of their 
 wrongs." It was self defence and pity for the 
 injuries of their fellow- worshippers that made 
 them take the field with arms, " rather than stay 
 at home burdened daily with the calamities of o- 
 thers, and tortured with the fears of their own 
 approaching misery.^-j- Mr. Blackader has re- 
 corded " the scuffle at Dairy, in Galloway," — 
 the true origin of the Pentland insurrection ; and 
 also detailed some particulars relative to the seiz- 
 ure of Turner at Dumfries, which I shall tran- 
 scribe in his own words. 
 
 " On Monday, the 12th of November, it fell 
 out that (M 4 Lellan of) Barscob and other three, 
 who had been sometime under hiding, adventur- 
 ed to come down from the hills to a little town 
 called the Clachan of Dairy, where four of Tur- 
 ner's men were quartered. It was early in the 
 
 * Burnet's Hist. vol. i, 233. Wodrow, vol. 262. 
 ■f Declaration at Pentland. 
 
UEV. J01IX BLACK ADEli. 137 
 
 forenoon, for hunger, and lying in the cold rain, 
 had brought them from the mountains. They 
 came into an alehouse, and called for breakfast ; 
 and while taking it, there was a cry in the town, 
 that the four soldiers had bound an old man in 
 his own house, and were threatening to strip him 
 naked, and set him on a hot gridiron, because he 
 could not pay his church fines : which when 
 Barscob heard, they were necessitated to leave 
 their breakfast, and go to the house ; where find- 
 ing' the man bound, they called to the soldiers, 
 ' Why do you bind the old man?' They answered, 
 ' How dare you challenge/ Some of the company 
 offering to loose him, the soldiers tlrew on them 
 with their swords ; and one of Barscob's company 
 shot a pistol loaden with tobacco stopple, (as I 
 heard Bay,) which wounded one, entering about 
 his li^k, and made him fall. The soldiers violent- 
 ly assaulting, some others were wounded, and all 
 four surrendered themselves prisoners. This re- 
 port soon reached Balmaclellan, where a party 
 with a minister were at prayer, who fearing to be 
 involved, seized sixteen of Sir James's men that 
 were quartered in the neighbourhood. Having 
 once embarked, fear made them proceed, as Tur- 
 ner, they knew, would make terrible rcpri>als. 
 They re>olved to be beforehand with him, and 
 to surprise him and his garrison at Dumfrii 
 They sent private advertisement through the 
 untrv. that all who were ready should come in 
 
138 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 companies to Irongray kirk, on Wednesday 
 night, that they might enter Dumfries by day- 
 break. Ere they could muster the sun was up ; 
 and it was ten otlock before they got to Dum- 
 fries. They approached without giving the 
 least surprise. Turner and his men were so se- 
 cure, they had not even a watch or a sentinel at 
 the bridge that leads from Galloway to the town. 
 They were fifty horse, provided with cloaks gird- 
 ed over their shoulder for fighting, and about 
 two hundred foot. Marshalled in order, they 
 came to the Brigend of Dumfries, their com- 
 mander riding before. The horse marched into 
 the town, the foot stayed without. Corsack and 
 Robison, with other two, were to ride up quick- 
 ly to Turner's quarters, the rest of the party to 
 follow at a little distance. When the four 
 came to the foot of the stair, and foregainst the 
 window where Turner lodged, he was in bed; 
 but hearing a noise of horse, came running, on 
 the alarm, to the window in his night-gown. See- 
 ing Corsack, with others, he cries, 4 Quarters, gen- 
 tlemen ; for Christ's sake quarters, there shall be 
 rifc resistance.'' Whereupon Corsack, a meek 
 and generous gentleman, cryed to him, * If you 
 come down to us, and make no resistance, on the 
 word of a gentleman you shall have quarters.' 
 While they were speaking the commander* comes 
 
 • (4 
 
 He who was chief in the party, was one Andrew Gray, 
 
REV- JOHN BLACKADEE. 139 
 
 up, and seizing Turner, presented a pistol, or car- 
 bine, to have shot him ; but Corsack interfered 
 saying, ' You shall as soon kill me, for I have 
 given him quarters." So he forbare. 
 
 " A party was sent up to search his rooms, and 
 bring down his papers and trunks, which were 
 much emptied, having sent the money he had 
 exacted in oppression to Glasgow before, as I 
 heard say, in some loads. They brought him- 
 self down stairs in his night-gown, night-cap, 
 drawers, and socks, and set him on a little beast 
 bare-backed, with a halter on the beast's head, 
 and carried him towards the cross, (where, to 
 shew their loyalty, they drank the king's health.) 
 Parties were sent here and there to apprehend 
 the rest of the soldiers, one of whom only was 
 killed. Then they carried him through the town, 
 out at the Nether-port, and a space down the river, 
 to a green, by Nithside, over against the kirk of 
 Troqueer, lie being all along in a great panic, 
 expecting they were going to hang him up with 
 great solemnity. After a little consultation, they 
 return with him in the same posture to his quar- 
 
 -4 
 
 ane merchant fan Edinburgh, who immediately deserted tlu 
 88 did many more." Gray, it is said, being alarmed at a report 
 that the Earl of Annandale and Lord Drundanrig were coming 
 against him, absconded, taking all the money and baggage with 
 him, and leaving Sir James in charge of sixteen horsemen — 
 Kirldon. Note, ftf. 
 
140 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 
 ters, and bade him make ready to go with them. 
 They warned all the inhabitants to bring the 
 arms they had to the cross, and there they were 
 dealt out among the foot. In the afternoon, they 
 marched him and other prisoners to the kirk of 
 
 Glencairn. r> Turner remained in their hands, 
 
 and was conducted about with them, under an 
 escort of sixteen horsemen, as they were not master 
 of a single prison or garrison in all Scotland. On 
 the evening of the battle he made his escape, 
 " by making a covenant with his keepers, that if 
 they preserved his life at that time, he should 
 preserve theirs in case of the king's forces' vic- 
 tory :" a service which he afterwards attempted, 
 but could not accomplish.* 
 
 Mr. Blackader was in Edinburgh at that time; 
 
 * Law's Mem. 17. — Turner, it is said, made all the friend- 
 ship he could for Corsack's life, but could not obtain it. — M Be- 
 fore the execution began, the council put Neilson of Corsack 
 and Hugh M'Kail to torture in the boots, — a practice not used 
 in Scotland for forty years before, — under pretence of discover- 
 ing a plot or conspiracy." All they could expiscate was, " that 
 the oppressions of the country had driven the people into a tu- 
 mult. Corsack was cruelly tormented, and screight for pain in 
 terrible manner, so as to have moved a heart of stone. The 
 Earl of Rothes called frequently for the other toutch — thinking 
 he was not free enough, and commanded to drive the wedges 
 harder, the said Corsack replied, c That though there is not mercy 
 with man, yet there is mercy with God.' At which saying, 
 Rothes did bite his lip, and laugh ; and immediately did sentence 
 him to be hanged." — Wodroxi\ vol. i, 258. Kirkton, 250-25?. 
 
REV. JOHN BLA< KADEIt. 141 
 
 and it was his purpose, with several other gentle- 
 men, to have joined the insurgents. They had 
 prepared horses and accoutrements ; but it was 
 difficult to get out of town unnoticed. Sir An- 
 drew Ramsay, the provost, had put the city in a 
 posture of defence. Watches and sentinels were 
 at their post. Lord Kingston and the main- 
 guard lay in Bruntsfi eld-links. The ports were 
 kept shut, and none permitted to come in or out 
 without a pass. Cannons were planted at every 
 gate ; and no horses permitted to go beyond 
 tiie walls, except those that went morning and 
 evening to get intelligence. Mr. Blackader and 
 hi> friends, however, contrived to get their "fur- 
 niture conveyed secretly and by piece-meal to 
 the place where they had trysted to meet, about 
 two miles distant." Their horses were to be led 
 put unharnessed, under pretence of getting water. 
 But in the midst of their preparations) they got 
 information, that of three thousand who left La- 
 nark, scarcely nine hundred had reached the 
 village of Colinton, and these a handful t% of 
 irv. drenched, undisciplined creatures, more 
 like dving men than soldiers going to conquer." 
 Tt Midden and unexpected tidings completely 
 deranged their tactics; their resolutions failed. 
 
 and their valour subsided into astonishment at 
 the foolhardiness of the expedition.* Mr. Black- 
 
 • KirktoD observes, •• That their friends in Edinburgh stared 
 
142 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 . 
 
 ader lay concealed four or five weeks during th 
 murderous executions that followed the defeat at 
 Pentland : and when the alarm of the citizens 
 had somewhat abated, he began to extend his 
 humanity to his suffering countrymen in the 
 south, where persecution raged with the most 
 implacable fury. " He wrote to Dumfries and 
 Galloway, to advertise such as were chased and 
 compelled to hide all winter in mosses and fields, 
 to come privately to Edinburgh, where they 
 might find safer covert and means of relief ; for 
 many in that quarter were fled to the mountains 
 leading a vagrant life, under dissembled names 
 or lurking in coal-pits and solitary caves. He 
 and others gave them money and necessaries 
 some half-a-crown or ten groats, chiefly on Sa- 
 turday nights, to subsist on next week. Severals 
 also that escaped from prison, he kept under con- 
 cealment." 
 
 Public vengeance pursued the wretched wan- 
 derers with relentless atrocity. Many who had 
 escaped the sword of battle, were either murder- 
 ed * by the soldiers, who were invested with jus- 
 
 not, — all they did being only to fast and pray for them."— . 
 Ml. 
 
 * The inhuman cruelties practised by the military are al« 
 most incredible, Dalzell shot a son, because he would not dis- 
 cover where his father was hid. — A woman in Dairy was tortured 
 till she died, with fire matches placed betwixt her fingers, be- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 143 
 
 ticiary powers, and sent to hunt them over the 
 whole kingdom ; or taken oft' by indiscriminate 
 executions, — and made to exhibit to their ter- 
 rified relations a barbarous and revolting spec- 
 tacle. " It was a moving sight," says Burnet. 
 " to see ten of the prisoners hanged upon one 
 gibbet at Edinburgh : thirty -five more were sent 
 to the country, and hung up before their own 
 doors C 1 their heads and arms were ordered to be 
 cut off and fixed on posts, the gates of burghs, 
 and other public places, at Edinburgh, Lanark, 
 Hamilton, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, &c. At 
 Glasgow, the custom of beating drums began to 
 be practised when the prisoners were brought 
 to the scaffold, that their dying speeches might 
 not be heard by the spectators. Seven were sen- 
 tenced to death at Ayr ; but the public execu- 
 tioner fled ; and the person, who was prevailed 
 upon to be his substitute, was filled, by order of 
 the magistrates, " almost drunk with brandv, 
 
 CtUI was accessor)' to her husband's escape, (Burnet's Hist. 
 
 vol. i, 23^. ll'odrozo, vol. i, 2G4.)— In the environs of Dum- 
 fries, " they tied men, neck and heels, to a pole, and* turned 
 them, like a joint of meat, before a great fire/* — A poor old man 
 wa.s imprisoned in a close dungeon in Kilmarnock, which had no 
 rent Here he was tortured with the smoke of a coal fire. When 
 d, he was carried out by the soldiers to the o; 
 . in cruel derision, and allowed to recover. So soon as lie had 
 :ved, he was remanded to his dungeon, and continued under 
 this torture for -c\eral days. 
 
144 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 lest he should have fainted." These promiscu- 
 ous butcheries were continued even after the 
 king had discharged further bloodshed, com- 
 manding such of the prisoners as should promise 
 to obey to be set at liberty, and the incorrigible 
 to be transported. Sharp had a letter from the 
 king to this effect ; but, as is reported, kept it 
 back, and let the executions go on.* These 
 martyrs all died owning the king^s authority, and 
 disclaiming conspiracy or rebellion ; but none of 
 them would purchase their lives by conformity, 
 or submit to have their conscience shackled with 
 oaths and declarations. Though most of them 
 were unbred and illiterate men, they shewed 
 great magnanimity, and spoke with a sublime and 
 pathetic devotion, that drew tears from every 
 eye. When Gordon of Knockbreck and his bro- 
 ther were turned oft* the ladder, they clasped 
 each other in their arms, that they might endure 
 the pangs of death together. M'Kairs last 
 words are well known, and cannot be too often 
 transcribed. — " Farewell sun, moon, and stars ; 
 farewell world, and all its delights ; farewell kin- 
 dred and friends ; welcome eternity ; welcome an- 
 gels and saints ; welcome Saviour of the world, 
 and welcome God, the judge of ail. v -f- 
 
 * Burnet says it was the primate of Glasgow that kept up the 
 
 letter Hist. vol. i, 237. 
 
 •(■ Kirkton, 252. VTodrow, vol. i, 261. Naphtali. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEB. 14-5 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Milder administration — Mr. Blaekader itinerates 
 in the West — Holds Conventicle at Bcath-hil! — 
 At Borroxcstounness — Kinkel — St. Andrezc's, 
 $c. — Notices of Welsh, Riddel, Hume, §c. — 
 Conventicles in Fife. 
 
 The year 1667 introduced an unexpected change, 
 — and the mild administration of Tweedale and 
 Sir Robert Murray, considerably relaxed the 
 cruelties and servitude under which the country 
 had groaned. There was a more impartial dis- 
 tribution of justice ; the excesses of Turner,* 
 
 • A committee, of Lord Kenmure, Karl of Nithsdale, and 
 Laird of Craigdarroch, were appointed to investigate Turner's 
 M haill carriage in Dumfriesshire, and stewartry of Kirkcud- 
 bright." Among other illegal executions, he was found guiltv 
 of — Exacting for more soldiers than were present ; sometimes 
 for double the number, or more — Imposing lines, without cita- 
 tion, or hearing of partita — Fining for CSUtei tor which he had 
 
 warrant from parliament or council — Fining people who lived 
 orderly, and when their parish church was vacant — Fathers for 
 their children, though /oris ftir/ii/i(it<\ and living in other j 
 rishe*— Fining for whole years previous to his coming to that 
 
 G 
 
146 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Bannatyne, and Dalzell were restrained and in- 
 vestigated. The same persecuting spirit still 
 raged in the breasts of the ecclesiastics ; for 
 though the late massacres had calmed their 
 fears, they had not disarmed their resentment. 
 Their interest had declined at court, and the du- 
 plicity of Sharp had raised up strong opposition 
 in the council.* In the downfall of Clarendon, 
 they had lost the main pillar of their strength. 
 Lauderdale, who stood high in favour, and had 
 quarrelled with the prelatic faction, set himself to 
 thwart their measures ; and he had influence 
 enough to procure the disbanding of the army, a 
 bond of peace, and a general indemnity, though 
 it came late, and with large exception s.-f* The 
 attention of the government was also distracted 
 by foreign wars ; so that various circumstances 
 concurred to soften the rigour of persecution. 
 
 country, and without proportioning the sum to the fault — His 
 usual practice was not to admit complainers into his presence, 
 and allowing his servants to take money, and yet access denied, 
 &c. &c. When it is considered that these extortions were com- 
 mitted by one man only, independent of the severities of Dalzell, 
 Bannatyne, and others, and confined to a few parishes in the 
 stewartry of Kirkcudbright, the causes of an insurrection are 
 tolerably evident. Turner urged in his own defence, that he 
 had council's orders, and letters from Sharp, that warranted much 
 greater oppression— Wodrorr, vol. i, 283-285. Burnet's Hist. 
 vol. i, 246. 
 
 * Kirkton. 255. f Wodrow, vol. i, 271-277. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEB. 147 
 
 The ungovernable violence of the prelates, and 
 the dissensions of statesmen, thus became instru- 
 mental in calming the fury of the tempest ; and 
 while episcopacy continued under a cloud, field 
 preaching and private conventicles began to re- 
 vive. Restraints were no sooner removed, than 
 the people flocked with increased avidity to the 
 ministry of their exiled pastors. 
 
 In September 1668, a deputation from various 
 parishes in the west waited upon Mr. Blackader 
 in Edinburgh, inviting him to preach and dis- 
 pense ordinances, as their own ministers were too 
 well known to venture in public. In Dunlop, he 
 baptized forty-two children in one house ; and in 
 the manse of Newmills eleven. Similar duties 
 awaited him at Eaglesham, and various other 
 places; which ceremonies were always performed 
 at night, and usually continued till day-break. 
 Encouraged by the liberality of the new admini- 
 stration, he exercised his gifts pretty frequently 
 in and around Edinburgh for more than a vear. 
 In Januarv 1669, he received a second and more 
 impressive call to the west. He went to Fen- 
 wick Januarv 28, being the first that had preach- 
 ed publicly since lYntland, and was listened to 
 by numerous crowds. Importunate solicitations 
 were sent him from all the parishes in that d 
 tnct, " many assailing him at once, and each 
 with more moving arguments than hii neighbour." 
 He prolonged his stay, until by <; riding, night- 
 
148 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 watching, and sore labour/ 1 his health suffered 
 materially ; yet " the necessity of the work, and 
 the rueful cries of the people," made him for a 
 time forget his bodily pains. After his return, 
 he was confined sixteen weeks, and considered in 
 imminent danger. Money frequently was offer- 
 ed him for bearing accidental expenses : several 
 gentlemen contributed sums, and collections were 
 made on purpose ; but he uniformly declined re- 
 ceiving any donation, " lest the ministry might 
 incur the imputation of a covetous and mercena- 
 ry spirit ; or the enemy have occasion to reproach 
 their cause, as if money made them eager to 
 preach." 
 
 The physicians had recommended to him to 
 drink mineral waters ; and for nearly seven years 
 he went annually to Newmills, for the benefit 
 of the wells there. His stay was generally six 
 weeks ; during which time he made professional 
 excursions into the neighbourhood, visiting Kil- 
 bride, Fenwick, Evandale, Galston, Tarbolton, 
 &c. It was his custom, on his way thither, to 
 take a wide circuit, and preach wherever he found 
 a convenient stage. In June, on his first visit, 
 he went round by Borrowstounness, where he 
 established a congregation, and secured to them 
 the freedom of undisturbed worship, through the 
 interest of his relation, Major Hamilton, " who 
 was the Duke's bailie of regality, and lived at 
 Kinniel House." When at Glasgow, he was so- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 149 
 
 licitedby the Ladies Blantyre, Pollock, and Dun- 
 donald ; * and preached sometimes to an audi- 
 ence of two thousand, " people seeming to smell 
 him out in spite of all his caution." By over-ex- 
 ertion his health was impaired ; and preaching in 
 the sun brought on a defluxion of humour in his 
 eyes, a distemper which troubled him for some- 
 time. In Livingstone, he instituted, for the first 
 time, private communions, similar to those in 
 Glencairn and Troqueer ; and these spread over 
 fifteen or sixteen adjacent parishes. They were 
 held with great order and regularity, and tended 
 to keep up the languishing discipline and wor- 
 ship of the church, as well as to check prevailing 
 scandals. -f* From Galloway they had reached 
 
 * M At Dundonald, for all his caution, it could not be hid ; 
 for on the morrow, when he went forth to walk a little, he look- 
 ed about to the fields, and saw the people gathering together 
 from every airt, in great multitudes, — with which he was sur- 
 prised and astonished, and saw a necessity laid on him to make 
 for the work. The people convened and settled themselves in a 
 wood near the place, where there was a large green within the 
 wood, with some trees here and there, on which several of the 
 people got up ; so that some of them broke with the weight. 
 There were several persons of quality at that meeting in the 
 wood. The Lady Dundonald pressed him to come that night 
 to the palace at Paisley, where she dwelt. After dark, he rode 
 thither very privately, and was received in at the backdate of 
 the garden." — Bleu A. Mem* MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
 •f* M Upon a humiliation day in the moors of Livingstone, the 
 four ministers who were to preach, called aside several of the n 
 
150 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Linlithgow ; and were next promulgated in Fife, 
 the Merse, and other districts. 
 
 The same year, he passed over to Fife, and 
 staid a few days in Strathmiglo, intending to vi- 
 sit two of his old and intimate friends, then in 
 prison at Dundee, Sir James Stewart and Sir 
 John Cheisly. Contrary to his wishes, he was 
 detained by Lady Balcanquhal, to give sermon 
 in her own house, which w r as the only species of 
 preaching known as yet in that country. Unwil- 
 ling that his instructions should be circumscribed 
 or limited to the pious and well affected alone, 
 " he caused public advertisement to be made, 
 that all that were athirst might come without 
 money and without price." — " Let the world see 
 that you do not huddle up so profitable and ho- 
 nest a work, or keep it to yourselves : as for my 
 part, I am not ashamed to avow it in the face of 
 
 and most sagacious men of the bounds, and inquired at them 
 what was the most reprovable sins they observed as necessary to 
 be confessed unto God in these bounds, and whereof the people 
 were to be admonished, that they might the better know how to 
 carry on the following work of the day. The men, after a de- 
 liberate pause, answered, As to public scandals, and every kind 
 of profanity, they could not say much, for they had not heard of 
 any outbreaking of fornication, adultery, or drunkenness, scarce 
 these seven years past in that parish, or in several parishes about, 
 since the public preaching of the gospel had broke up among 
 them. But it was far otherwise when preaching ceased." — 
 Black, Mem, MSS, Adv. Lib, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 151 
 
 danger or of death : I came not to call the right- 
 eous but sinners to repentance." The multitude 
 was too numerous to be contained in the house, 
 though capable of accommodating above seven 
 hundred persons; and this occasioned the fi] 
 field meeting that had been in Fife * It proved 
 the harbinger of those celebrated conventich 
 which soon spread all around the east, took p< 
 session of the hills, and besieged the Primate in 
 his own capital. About this time, Mr. Blacka- 
 der assisted at several conventicles kept by John 
 Dickson and David Hume on the Lomonds, and 
 in the shire of Kinross. -f- 
 
 The government now began to take alarm at 
 
 Vnxious to know the effect this first essay had, on his 
 way back to Edinburgh, he met a funeral near the place, with 
 many landwart men at it. He said to one of his company, * I 
 
 ire you go back, and east yourself among the people, and ask 
 them a question I never asked before, — What they though: 
 yesterday's work ?' The honest man went ; and after he had 
 communed with several, returned, and told he found them sin_ 
 lurly arfec'v 1. >oine expressing themselves with tears that ti 
 never saw such a day, especially tho^e who had not been at such 
 work since the change. They said also, that while you k 
 
 *r preaching so quiet, we thought you were at some w. 
 tarn, I ou kept all so private; but now we see, and (. 
 
 forgive you that you did not acquaint us sooner. And they bc- 
 soi; *yingi Whenever you have the like again, let us km>*. 
 
 *hat we may have a ihftIC of it." — BUnk. Mem. MSS. A 
 Lift. 
 
 f Wodrow, vol. i. '{. 
 
152 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 these field meetings, which were daily multiply- 
 ing and increasing. They had lately tried to 
 compromise matters, but met with little success. 
 It was attempted to circumscribe the power and 
 jurisdiction of the bishops within their ancient li- 
 mits, a scheme which was rejected by the presby- 
 terians as a mere artifice to familiarize the name 
 of prelacy, which, once tolerated, would gradu- 
 ally recover its authority, to the ultimate extinc- 
 tion of their religion. The indulgence was re- 
 garded as a similar expedient, and had only a 
 partial or temporary effect. It was a fertile 
 source of dissension ; and though a respite to a 
 few, it turned out in the main a persecution to 
 the great body of the ministers. Those who ac- 
 cepted, incurred the odium of apostacy, and E- 
 rastian submission. All who refused, were stig- 
 matised by the government as " hot and fiery 
 teachers," disseminating sedition, and spurning 
 every offer of comprehension. Other measures 
 were adopted to disperse and restrain these re- 
 cusants. As a substitute for the standing army, 
 the parliament granted twenty-two thousand horse 
 and foot to be at the beck of the privy council ; 
 and these were quartered over the country, to 
 replenish, by force, the established churches, 
 which had nearly become vacant. Disorderly 
 preachings, clandestine baptisms, &c. were at- 
 tempted to be suppressed by new and more se- 
 vere assessments. Conventicles were discharged 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 153 
 
 under pain of fine or imprisonment, both for the 
 minister and the heritor within whose bounds 
 they were held; and the military were encouraged 
 by reward " to incarcerate their persons." These 
 rigours were no terror either to the preacher or 
 the congregation, but attended with mischievous 
 consequences. People took up arms to defend 
 themselves, and repel this hostile invasion of their 
 worship. 
 
 Among the first " armed conventicles,** as they 
 were called, was that kept by Mr. Blackader at 
 Beath-hill, above Dunfermline, on the 18th of June 
 1670. He went at the urgency of several gen- 
 tlemen there, and, particularly, of the laird of 
 Ford, whose representations of the ignorance and 
 profanity of that district made a deep impression 
 on his mind. He foresaw this would be a ha- 
 zardous embassy, and might peril both minister 
 and congregation, should he venture a meeting 
 " where there were so many ill affected noblemen, 
 and where the rude inhabitants had been little 
 accustomed to field preaching." But the hope of 
 being useful made him forget all personal dan- 
 ger, and overlook more remote consequences. 
 He imparted not his mind to any other until 
 Sunday preceding the appointment, when he WM 
 persuaded that " for the more solemnitv and tip- 
 stirring of a barbarous people," he ought to car- 
 ry ;i colleague to assist him on the occasion. He 
 ^jH)ke to Mr. John Dickson, who willingly con- 
 
 g2 
 
154 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sented ; charging him to keep it secret. But on 
 Thursday, Mr. Dickson letting fall some hints, 
 on his passage to Kirkaldy, news of it ran along 
 the coast to St. Andrew*^, and up both sides of 
 the Frith to Stirling. It was understood, but 
 without knowing exactly, that the place of ren- 
 dezvous was to be near Dunfermline. As this 
 meeting had greater celebrity, and more remark- 
 able consequences than any other at the time, 
 Mr. Blackader has left a minute and unvarnish- 
 ed narrative of all that passed, U and it was the 
 more enlarged on, being considered by the best 
 unbiassed discerners at home and abroad, one of 
 the most eminent public witnesses for the borne- 
 down work of reformation, and Christ's kingly 
 supremacy over the church." His description is 
 so simple and circumstantial, that it cannot well 
 be abridged. — 
 
 " On Saturday afternoon, people had begun 
 to assemble. Many lay on the hill all night — 
 some stayed about a constable^ house near the 
 middle of the hill — several others were lodged 
 near about, among whom was Barscob, with 
 nine or ten Galloway men. The minister (Mr. 
 Blackader) came privately from Edinburgh on 
 Saturday night, with a single gentleman in his 
 company. At Inverkeithing he slept all night 
 in his clothes, and got up very early, expecting 
 word where the place of meeting was to be, 
 whijch the other minister was to advertise him 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 155 
 
 of. However, he got no information, and so 
 set forward in uncertaintv. Near the hill he 
 met one sent by the minister, to conduct him to 
 a house hard by, where they resolved, with the 
 advice of the people, to go up the hill, for the 
 more security, and the better seeing about them. 
 When they came, they found the people gather- 
 ed and gathering, and lighting at the constable's 
 house, who seemed to make them welcome. — 
 While they were in the house, a gentleman was 
 espied coming to the constable's door, and talk- 
 ing friendly with him, who went away down the 
 hill. This gave occasion of new suspicion, and 
 to be more on their guard. However, they re- 
 ived to proceed to the work, and commit the 
 event to the Lord. When a fit place for the 
 meeting and setting up of the tent was provided, 
 (which the constable concurred in,) Mr. Dick- 
 n lectured and preached the forenoon of the 
 day. Mr. Blackader lay at the outside, within 
 hearing, having care to order matters, and see 
 how the watch was kept. 
 
 " In time of lecture, he perceived some fellow > 
 driving the people's horses down the brae, which 
 lie supposed was a design to carry them away. 
 He, rising quietly from his place, asked what 
 they meant? They answered, ' It was to drive 
 
 them to better gras-. However, he caused them 
 brin<£ thein all back a<rain within might — After 
 Mr. Dickson had lectured for a considerable 
 
156 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 space, he took to his discourse, and preached on 
 1 Cor. xv, 25, For he must reign till he hath 
 put all enemies under his feet. In time of ser- 
 mon, several ill-affected country people dropped 
 in among them ; which being observed by Mr. 
 Blackader, and those appointed to watch, he re- 
 solved to suffer all to come and hear, but intend- 
 ed to hinder the going away of any with as little 
 noise as might be. Among others, came two 
 youths, the curate^s sons, and about fourteen or 
 fifteen fellows at their back, who looked sturdily ; 
 but after they heard, they looked more soberly. 
 The two young men were heard to say, they 
 would go near tl\e tent, and walk about to the 
 backside of it, which some who were appointed to 
 watch seeing, followed quickly ; so they halted 
 in their way. The man that came to the con- 
 stabled house in the morning was seen at the 
 meeting, and kept a special eye upon. Essaying 
 to go away to his horse at the constable^, two 
 able men of the watch went after, and asked why 
 he went away : he answered, he was but going to 
 take a drink. They told him they would go with 
 him ; and desired him to haste, and not hinder 
 them from the rest of the preaching : so he came 
 back ; but he was intending to go and inform the 
 lieutenant of the militia, who was at the foot of 
 the hill, and gathering his men. However, the 
 sermon closed without disturbance about eleven 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEIt. 157 
 
 hours in the foreday, the work having begun 
 about eight. 
 
 " Mr. Blackader was to preach in the afternoon. 
 He retired, to be private for a little meditation. 
 Hearing a noise, he observed some bringing 
 back the curate's two sons with some violence, 
 which he seeing, rebuked them who were leading 
 them, and bade let them come back freely with- 
 out hurt, and he engaged for them they would 
 not go away. So they stayed quietly : and with- 
 in a quarter of an hour he returned and entered 
 the tent, after some preface, which was counte- 
 nanced with much influence, not only on pro- 
 fessed friends, but on those a\so who came with 
 ill intentions, that they stood as men astonished, 
 with great seeming gravity and attention, parti- 
 cularly the two young men. It was, indeed, a 
 composing and gaining discourse, holding forth 
 the great design of the gospel, to invite and 
 make welcome all sorts of sinners without excep- 
 tion. After prayer, he read for text, 1 Cor. ix, 
 16, For though I preach the gospel, I have 
 nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon 
 me: yea, WO€ is unto mc if I preach not the 
 gospel. After he had begun, a gentleman on 
 horseback came to the meeting, and some few 
 with him. He was the lieutenant of the militia 
 in that part of the country, who lighting, gave 
 hi< horse to hold, and came in among the people 
 on the minister's left hand, stood there a space, and 
 
158 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 heard peaceably. Then essaying to get to his 
 horse, some of the watch did greatly desire he would 
 stay till preaching was ended, telling him his a- 
 brupt departure would offend and alarm the people. 
 But he refusing to stay, began to threaten, draw- 
 ing his staff. They fearing he was going to bring 
 a party to trouble them, did grip and hold him 
 by force as he was putting his foot in the stirrup. 
 Upon this Barscob and another young man, who 
 were on the opposite side, seeing him drawing his 
 staff, (which they thought to be a sword,) pre- 
 sently ran, each with a bent pistol, crying out, 
 6 Rogue, are you drawing P 1 Though they raised 
 a little commotion on that side, yet the bulk of 
 the people were very composed. The minister, 
 seeing Barscob and the other so hastening to be 
 at him, fearing they should have killed him, did 
 immediately break off, to step aside for composing 
 the business, and desired the people to sit still 
 till he returned, for he was going to prevent mis- 
 chief. Some, not willing he should venture him- 
 self, laboured to hinder him. He thrust him- 
 self from them, and pressing forward, cried, ' I 
 charge and obtest you not to meddle with him, 
 or do him any hurt ;' which had such influence 
 on them, that they professed afterward they had 
 no more power to meddle with him. The lieu- 
 tenant, seeing it w r as like to draw to good earnest, 
 was exceeding afraid, and all the men he had. 
 But hearing the minister discharging the people 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 159 
 
 to hurt him, he thrust near to be at the minister, 
 who had cried, ' What is the matter, gentlemen?" 
 Whereon the lieutenant said, ' I cannot get leave, 
 sir, to stand on my own ground for thir men." 
 The minister said, ' Let me see, sir, who will 
 offer to wrong you ; they shall as soon wrong my- 
 self, for we came here to offer violence to no man, 
 but to preach the gospel of peace ; and, sir, if 
 you be pleased to stay in peace, you shall be as 
 welcome as any here ; but if you will not, you 
 may go ; we shall compel no man. 1 i But," said 
 he, i they have taken my horse from me. 1 Then 
 the minister called to restore him his horse, see- 
 ing he would not stay willingly. Thus he was 
 dismissed, without harm, at the minister's en- 
 treaty ; who judged it most convenient that the 
 gentlemen and others, to whom lie should report 
 it, might have more occasion of conviction, that 
 both ministers and people, who used such meet- 
 ings, were peaceable, not set on revenge, but 
 only endeavouring to keep up the free preaching 
 of the gospel in purity and power, in as harm- 
 Lett and inoffensive a way as was possible Some 
 of the company, indeed, would have compelled 
 and bound him to stav if lie had not been peace- 
 able. But they were convinced afterwards that 
 it was better to let him go in peace.* 
 
 WodfOW, who mcnti ms thia conventicle particularly. {yoL 
 
160 , MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " The whole time of this alarm on that quarter, 
 all the rest of the people sat still composedly, 
 which was observed more than ordinary in any 
 meeting, either before or after, (seeing such a 
 stir ;) as in many other things the mighty power 
 and hand of the Lord was to be seen in that day's 
 work, and the fruit that followed thereon. When 
 the lieutenant was gone, the rest, that dropped 
 in through the day with the curate's two sons, 
 stayed still, not offering to follow. After the 
 composing that stir, (which lasted above half an 
 hour,) the minister returned to the tent, and fol- 
 lowed out the rest of his work, preaching about 
 three quarters of an hour, with singular counte- 
 nance, especially after composing the tumult. 
 All the time there were several horse riding" 
 hither and thither on the foot of the hill in view- 
 of the people ; but none offered to come near, for 
 a terror had seized on them, as was heard after- 
 wards, and confessed bv some of themselves. 
 The minister, apprehending the people might be 
 alarmed 'with fear, that they could not hear with 
 composure, (though none did appear,) did, for 
 their cause, close sooner than he intended. — 
 Though the people professed afterwards, and 
 
 
 i, 323,) notices this incident of the lieutenant, but scarcely in the 
 same candid and honest terms as is done in this narrative, from 
 which he must have drawn his information. 
 
UEV. JOHN BLACKADF.lt. 161 
 
 said they would rather lie had continued longer, 
 for they found none either wearied or afraid. 
 The minister that preached in the afternoon, (Mr. 
 Blackader,) with about sixteen or twenty of the 
 ablest men, went to the constable's house, where 
 they had prepared dinner, and would have him 
 and his company come in to dine ; but he calling 
 for a little drink and bread on horseback, the 
 rest also taking something without doors, and 
 missing the other minister, feared lest some of 
 the enemy, in dismissing, had apprehended him. 
 He, leaving the rest at the house, rode up the hill 
 again, with some others who were on horseback, 
 to seek him, for he said he would not go without 
 the other minister, but resolved to cause rescue 
 him if he had been taken ; and coming to the 
 place where the meeting had been, some of the 
 people told him the minister had taken horse, 
 with another gentleman, a little before the close ; 
 upon which he returned again to the company at 
 the house, who desired him to ride away, they 
 being on foot. He told them he would stay, and 
 also desired them to stay, till they should see all 
 the people go safe from the hill ; and when all 
 were pgac eably dismissed, he, with another on 
 horseback, rode to the (*)ueensferry. The rest 
 being able men, and on foot, were to follow. 
 When lie came thither, none of the boats would 
 SO OVCT at that time, the country about being ill 
 t, and in Mich a stir. It was not thought lithe 
 
162 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 should stay on that side of the water ; therefore, 
 he rode up three or four miles, expecting to get 
 boat at Limekilns. But that being gone over 
 with others at the meeting before, he rode for- 
 ward towards Kincairn, where they again essay- 
 ed at HagenVneuk ; but the boat being on the 
 other side, they were forced to ride on towards 
 Stirling. He came thither about nine at night ; 
 and after they had crossed the bridge, and rode 
 through some back lanes of the town, they came 
 at the port they should go out at. But it was 
 shut, only a wicket open, through which they led 
 their horses, and so escaped the alarm which arose 
 in the town a little after they were gone. They 
 rode that night about four miles to Torwood- 
 side, where they lighted at an honest man's house, 
 took a little refreshment for man and horse, till 
 break of day, and then rode for Edinburgh. 
 They went hard by the gate of the place of Cal- 
 lender, where the chancellor and other noblemen 
 were at the time, they not knowing till after- 
 wards. They rode also by the back of the town 
 of Lithgow, where many ill set people were. 
 About seven o'clock on Monday morning he 
 came to Edinburgh, where the noise was come 
 before ; therefore he retired to another chamber ; 
 and after taking breakfast, he lay down and slept 
 about six hours space, being much wearied, 
 having not cast off his clothes for two nights, 
 and ridden forty-eight miles from Sabbath about 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 163 
 
 twelve o'clock. The gentlemen, and the rest 
 whom he left on the hill, came over at the Ferry, 
 and returned to Edinburgh in safety that night.^ 
 Reports of this conventicle spread to the re- 
 motest corners of the land, and were even exag- 
 gerated beyond the truth. Friends were inspir- 
 ed by it with new hopes and encouragement. 
 In London, where religious meetings had been 
 discountenanced and assaulted, they revived, and 
 became more frequent than ever. Public thanks 
 were given in the Scots congregation at Rotter- 
 dam for this victory over usurped supremacv. 
 It was magnified into a triumphant vindication 
 of Chrises sovereignty, a notable testimony to the 
 freedom of his gospel against tyrannical and Eras- 
 tian encroachment <. The forenoon text was sup- 
 posed to have received, on the spot, an ample 
 and literal coniirmation ; but the accomplishment 
 of the prediction may be explained by the terror 
 of the militia without the aid of supernatural 
 causes. At home it created much debate and 
 contention. By the favourers of the indulgence it 
 was condemned as rash and inconsiderate. By 
 the court party it was branded with the oppro- 
 brium of rebellion, and a preconcerted design to 
 rise in arms.* This charge was, however, utter- 
 
 • This report was greedily seized upon, and magnified bj the 
 prelatists. M Many of then i, M says Burnet, »» came in their or- 
 
164 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ]y groundless, as there were not in the whol 
 company more than " twenty or thirty swords." 
 There could be no premeditated conspiracy, as 
 the place of meeting was uncertain, and they on- 
 ly took the hill for security, and not for attack. 
 They alleged, that " the hill of Beath had done 
 them much skaith, and would stop the second in- 
 dulgence, which was expected in a few days, at 
 the opening of Lauderdale's parliament." But 
 several who had bitterly inveighed against it 
 " were forced to change their tune," when they 
 witnessed its beneficial effects. " There was a 
 propagation and enlargement of free speaking in 
 that and several other shires in Scotland. After 
 a reign of darkness, the gospel emerged anew in 
 that barbarous country with tenfold radiance ; 
 and many who had been formerly enemies or 
 neuteralls, became followers and admirers of these 
 preachings." Great diligence was used to dis- 
 cover and punish all who had been present. The 
 two ministers were libelled before the council, 
 (August 11;) " but failing to answer the cita- 
 tion, they were denounced, and put to the king's 
 horn." Mr. Dickson retired to London, and Mr. 
 Blackader concealed himself for a time in Edin- 
 
 dinary arms. This was sent up to court, and represented as the 
 forerunner of rebellion. Lauderdale hearing of it, was almost 
 transported to fits of rage." — Hist, vol. i, 292. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. I60 
 
 burgh ; but his house being searched, bv the 
 guard, he was compelled to flee, and lurk in the 
 Merse ; but so soon as the tumult subsided, he re- 
 appeared, and preached at Mordington, and other 
 parishes.* This horrid insult, as it was called, 
 was expanded and improved by Sharp to height- 
 en the fury of the council. Some were fined in 
 five hundred merks, under bond of two thousand, 
 never to frequent conventicles more. Others 
 were imprisoned, because they refused to discover 
 the names of the ministers, and such as they 
 knew to be present. Ten were to be banished 
 to the plantations, and laid in irons, to abide 
 their sentence, in the tolbooth of Edinburgh and 
 Canongate gaol. One of them requested per- 
 mission to bid adieu to his wife and small fa- 
 milv. Lauderdale, who frequently on these ocea- 
 ns indulged his coarse humour in pitiful and 
 unfeeling jests, sternly replied, " You shall ne- 
 ver see your home more :" and added mockinglv, 
 " This will be a testimoJiy for the cause T+ 
 
 • Wodrow, vol. i, '322. 
 
 ■f In this, however, the noble secretary proved an untrue pro- 
 phet ; tor four of the IJorrowstounness men got at liberty 
 
 ■• which tell out by a singular cast of providence. The guard 
 that conducted them from the Canongate, brought them to the 
 outer council-h and left them there with the guard, who 
 
 waited on their neighbours from the high-town tolbooth ; and 
 
 thinking thcimelves exonered, they went their way, leaving 
 
166 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 The next three years of Mr. Blackader's life, 
 were spent in itinerant preaching, — sometimes 
 alone, sometimes in company with Welsh, Rid- 
 del, Cargil, and others. He has preserved a 
 sort of diary of the more eventful occurrences 
 that took place at these conventicles during that 
 period, which, though not of very great impor- 
 tance, tend to shew the rapid growth and popu- 
 larity of these meetings, and the inefficacy of the 
 means used to suppress them. 
 
 them there, expecting that the guard that waited on the prisoners 
 from the town-tolbooth would notice them. After they had got 
 their sentence, command was given to carry all the ten to their 
 respective prisons. Upon which, those who guarded the prison- 
 ers of the town, carried them to the tolbooth — the rest were left 
 without a guard. Notwithstanding, at the dismissing of the 
 council, and the throng of people, they went en, supposing 
 their guard to be following : — one of them, never knowing, went 
 the whole length, and entered the prison again. Other two went 
 the length of the cross, till a friend came and asked, * Whither 
 they were going V They said to their prison. He said, i Will 
 you prison yourselves, seeing there is none waiting to take you 
 to it V — which they perceiving, made their escape. The other 
 two went the length of the Nether-Bow ; then looking behind, 
 and seeing none guarding them, made their escape also. The 
 other five, and he who went back inadvertently to the Canongate 
 jail, obtained their liberty shortly after, through the interest of 
 Hary Macky, the chancellor's secretary. In this transaction, 
 the council rather outwitted themselves, as they lost both their 
 money and their revenge. Most of the prisoners had been a- 
 merced in a thousand merks ; but the sentence of banishment 
 did in law make their fines nulL" — Black. Mem. MSS. Adv. 
 Lib. 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADEE. 167 
 
 About a fortnight after Beath-hill, Mr. Welsh 
 kept a famed conventicle at Livingseat, in Wcst- 
 calder. Many of the hearers were severelv 
 fined. One Vernon, refusing to depone upon 
 oath what he knew of the persons present, or 
 discover the name of the minister, was committed 
 close prisoner, ordered to be laid in irons, and 
 fed on bread and water. Some persons of qua- 
 lity interfered for his liberation, which was re- 
 fused, until the fetters had corroded his legs, so 
 as to endanger his life. He was then let go, un- 
 der bail of five hundred merks to re-appear.* 
 
 In the spring of 1671, Mr. Blackader again 
 visited Borrowstounness and the neighbourhood. 
 He went to vist Lady Hilderstone ; and being 
 indisposed, intended to remain private. But on 
 Sabbath morning early, the house was surround- 
 ed with multitudes: numbers attended from Lin- 
 lithgow, — so noted for its hostility to covenants 
 and conveiitieh He did not wish to have more 
 present than the family, or as many as the room 
 would contain. But when " siiurimr the morn- 
 ing psalm, one of the people without came over 
 the garden-wall, and opened the great gate of 
 the close. Next they opened the inner gate, and 
 ipeedily the large hall was filled, — holding about 
 eight hundred people, besides the rooms beneath. 
 
 W'odrow, vol. i, 323. 
 
168 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and many standing in the close." 1 At this meet- 
 
 v CD 
 
 ing an accident happened " to a very honest 
 gentlewoman in Lithgow, — a rare thing, as few 
 met with such hurt, for all the hazard they oft 
 were in. Coming to the place, she fell off from 
 behind her husband, and broke her arm ; not- 
 withstanding, she came forward, and heard all 
 the forenoon composedly, without fainting, — 
 which was marked by her and others as a sin- 
 gular mercy ; and would have stayed afternoon 
 also, being so earnest to hear and see such a day 
 in that part of the country, — but the minister 
 desired her husband to take her home. She re- 
 covered very soon after. She was more troubled 
 to get it kept close, for enemies insulting, than 
 for her own hurt." 
 
 The provost of Linlithgow, to keep up the 
 loyalty of his burgh, punished this fanaticism of 
 his deluded townsmen with severe fines. Many 
 were summoned and apprehended the same after- 
 noon ; and some imprisoned that very night. All 
 cheerfully paid their penalties, — some three hun- 
 dred merks, some fifty pounds, some a hundred 
 pounds sterling. " The lady, and her son, the 
 young laird, were brought before the council : 
 she fined in four hundred merks, for suffering a 
 meeting in her house ; her son in as much, for 
 not discovering the name of the minister, although 
 they knew it beforehand." On this occasion, the 
 activity of the magistracy was stimulated and 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADER. 169 
 
 emboldened by the presence of the Earls of Lin- 
 lithgow and Kincardine, two of the lords of the 
 privy council, who happened to be at the pala^ 
 there, and " were brought into the council-room 
 for a terror.^ These noblemen had been on a 
 crusade to the west, " with six or seven of the 
 ablest and subtlest curates, essaying, with flattery 
 and insinuating speeches, to draw the people to 
 conformity. They offered money to the poorer 
 sort, but to no effect ; so they returned disap- 
 pointed of that poor senseless wyle, the like 
 whereof they never essayed, first nor last, but 
 only this once, — force and cruelty being their 
 ordinary arguments."* 
 
 But neither rigour nor bribery could withdraw 
 the well-affected from field conventicles. Meet- 
 ings became more frequent and more numerously 
 attended. The moors of Livingstone, Calder, 
 Bathgate, and Torphichen, wire places of great 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 334- Those 4 * Hectors," whom the coun- 
 cil sent to the west to bully down the presbyterian ministers, 
 were called, in mockery, the Bishops Evangelist*. ci The har- 
 vest they reapt was scorn and contempt. They could never ga- 
 ther a congregation, and never pretended to have made a prose- 
 ly: They would not serve the Lord tor nought ; for besides 
 the >tipend, every one of them had a liberal reward from the 
 council ; and Gilbert Unmet got money to buy soules, though I 
 never heard he either purchased one. or reckoned for the money," 
 {Kirkton\ 2!' I.) Burnet himself mention the expedition, but u: 
 ly keepfl bu thumb upon this M senseless wyle." — j oL i, 293. 
 
 B 
 
170 MEMOIRS 01 
 
 resort, although Lord Rosses regiment was quar- 
 tered in the west on purpose to suppress them. 
 Scarcely three weeks after the meeting at Hil- 
 derstone, Mr. Blackader preached in the same 
 neighbourhood, " at the Black Dub in Living- 
 stone. It was a moorish place, where they could 
 have no drink nor well of water, and nothing 
 except new beer, which n he could not make use 
 of. It happened to 6e the 29th of May, the usual 
 day of their rant. He left Edinburgh at four 
 o^clock in the morning, when the cannons of the 
 castle were shot as usual. He returned at ten in 
 the evening, when the cannons were shooting 
 again for the closing that day^s rant. The rea- 
 son why he went and came back the same day, 
 was his tender respect for the people, lest, by his 
 lodging among them, or in any of their houses, 
 they might be fined for " reset and converse" 
 
 u At another time, a meeting was convened 
 near the same place, where Mr. Hume preached. 
 It was on Sabbath, the day when the troopers were 
 more than ordinarily astir. The soldiers were 
 ranging the moors in search of them, and though 
 there was a very great multitude, they could not 
 discover where they were. Suspecting them to 
 be in some place among the mosses, they came 
 to the Knowes of Falo, drew up, and shot some 
 pistolls or carbines, on purpose to alarm them, 
 that they might discover themselves by flying, and 
 so be their prey. Notwithstanding of their shots^ 
 
REV. JOHN' BLACKADEi 171 
 
 — for they made conjecture of their design, — I 
 the minister's advice they sat all still, and so the 
 troopers returned without finding them." 
 
 The following year, a large conventicle * 
 kept at Bathgate by Mr. Riddell. " A party 
 of dragoons, commanded by one Lieutenant 
 Inglis, who kept garrison in Mid-calder, made 
 arch for them in the moors. The meeting had 
 notice of them, but hearing they were at a di>- 
 tance. and, as some reported, returning to their 
 quarters again, they were the more secure, and 
 continued their worship. But within a little th 
 appeared in sight, and that near, ere they knew. 
 Upon which, the most part got over a bog hard 
 by, where horse could not follow : But manv 
 -rood on the other ride, thinking themselves safe. 
 Meantime the dragoons came up and apprehend- 
 ed i on tlie spot, among others, Sandilands 
 Lady Hilderstone's brother. Then they ap- 
 proached to the side of the bog, and shot over 
 among the people, as they usually basely did, on 
 such occasions, to shoot bullets among such a 
 promiscuous multitude of men, women, and child- 
 ren, though they found them without arms. One 
 of their shot lighted on ane honest man, an heri- 
 tor in Bathgate parish, called John Davie, and 
 killed him dead on the spot They carried their 
 prisoners to the garrison at ('alder, with a gn 
 
 booty of cloaks, plaids, bibl md what 
 
 they could lav their hands on, spoiling the poor 
 
172 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 people as they had got the victory over a foreign 
 enemy : This was the ordinary practice ; how- 
 ever, the minister escaped among others." 
 
 " There was a meeting, by Mr. John Dick- 
 son, at Crail, where Prelate Sharp had been mi- 
 nister ; * a town where much ignorance, pro- 
 
 * Sharp was minister at Crail at the Restoration ; and after 
 deserting his principles, and betraying his friends, he was ad- 
 vanced to the Primacy. This treachery never could be forgotten 
 or forgiven, and was the subject of much periodical satire. The 
 following is a fragment of one of these pasquils. — 
 
 " When juggling Sharp his calling first began, 
 To cheat the church with hocus tricks, he ran 
 To Crail by sea ; a flock as he could wish ; 
 Them he did feed with wind — they him with fish ; 
 And was so transubstantiat therewith, as 
 He neither for good fish nor flesh could passe. 
 The change catholick then the church did feel, 
 His solid pairts turned souple lyke ane eele. 
 He own'd the Resolution quarrel, and 
 These churchmen for their champion made him stand. 
 
 Then, though too late, these bretherin saw the game 
 He play'd was for himself, and not for them. 
 They rais'd him up ; his masters must now bow, 
 With — Please your Lordship, is it satis now ? 
 Though wanting Grace, archbishop he must be, 
 With metropolitan supremacie. 
 But mark how piously he came to bruik it, 
 First he forsware the place, and then he took it. 
 This sharp divine can cut, dissolve, dispence 
 All sacred bonds, with vows and oaths ; yet hence 
 It cannot be demonstrat that this beast, 
 Though antechristian, is the Antechrist, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 1 73 
 
 fanity, and enmity to the work did abound. It 
 was kept at night within a house, and attended 
 by several respectable gentlemen. The militia of 
 the town, headed by one Lieutenant Hamilton, 
 came in a hostile manner, struck at the door, and 
 brake in with drawn swords, as they had pur- 
 posed to murder all within the house, who were 
 met in a harmless way, and in no case to defend 
 themselves. They seized the minister, Kinkel, 
 and his brother, with some others, and sent ad- 
 vertisement to a party of horse that lay at Pit- 
 tenweem. Meantime, they compounded in pri- 
 vate with the lieutenant, who liberate them. But 
 ere they could escape, the troopers came to the 
 town, and drew up on the street before the house. 
 But Kinkel, his brother, the minister, and the 
 rest made their exit by a back-door, through a 
 yard, where they had trysted their horse. When 
 
 For Holiness he laicks, nor doth appear 
 Seven-headed, but a double head to wear ; 
 With too, not ten horns ; yet he will alow 
 Himself the Romish braine, though not the brow. 
 And, to compleat his trumperie and our losse, 
 The church he sold for a St. Andrew's crosse. 
 Sharp anagramed is hurj>; and next, you knowe, 
 11 is no letter, — change the <i to o ; 
 Then rope remains. This casts his horoscope, — 
 Sharp must begin with mirth, and end with rope." 
 ****** 
 
 Wrdru-c MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
174 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the dragoons came into the house, and searched 
 and found none, they raged most against the 
 lieutenant, abusing him, that he had disturbed 
 them at midnight for nought, and yet he had let 
 the prisoners go. This lieutenant did, not long 
 after, make a miserable end, either by the deviFs 
 hands, or his own. This was the first meeting 
 that had been at Grail." 
 
 " On the 2d of January 1674, Mr. Blackader 
 was invited to Kinkel, where he had often been 
 before. There was convened a greater multitude 
 than ever. Not only the long gallery and two 
 chambers were full, but multitudes out of doors. 
 He lectured on Psalm ii, and preached from Jer.' 
 iii, 18. This was within a mile of St. Andrew's ; 
 and the prelate's wife, hearing of them, sent to 
 raise the militia of the town, who came forth with 
 muskets, lighted matches,* and pikes, in warlike 
 order, with one Lieutenant Doig, and a great 
 number of the rascality, above a hundred, with 
 many of the worst set scholars from the col- 
 lege, and some noblemen's sons. There were 
 twelve or fourteen of the best affected scholars 
 hearers at Kinkel. The militia came and drew 
 up before Kinkel gate, at some distance. The 
 minister was not interrupted till lecture was 
 closed and the psalm sung. The laird, his bro- 
 
 
 Gun -flints were not then in use. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEK. K 
 
 ther, and the minister's eldest son, stood without 
 the gate, and looked on. After the psalm, some 
 people called from the closs that there was ane 
 alarm, whereon the minister did desist; and the 
 men got to the gate at the laird's call, and stood 
 without along with him. 
 
 " Some rogues had win into the stable, and 
 had taken the laird's horse and some others, 
 which he seeing, drew a stroke with his cane at 
 the rogue who had the horse. Some of the ill 
 t scholars gripped the staff behind the laird's 
 back, pulling it out of his hand, which occasion- 
 ed him to fall to the ground. Air. Welsh being 
 there, and supposing (as was said) that the laird 
 had been killed or wounded, drew his sword and 
 ran at these rogues, who did run in to the party 
 of the militia : the laird's brother, meantime, 
 chasing others of them with His drawn sword. The 
 lieutenant and his men seeing them so resolute, 
 and .supposing there had been many such out of 
 his sight within, was much damped. Then the 
 
 laird called the men out before the gate, who had 
 only staffs, which they put on their shoulder, and 
 made B ihew of a good number of them; then 
 commanded them to retire in again, lest the mi- 
 litia should discover them to want arms, which 
 they did. The soldiers never approached nearer 
 the gate than where thev took up their ground 
 at first Tlie laird, with the other two, and four 
 more, only stood before the gate, with their backs 
 
176 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to it, looking for the militia, and expecting their 
 approach ; but they desired not to come nearer. 
 His lady went up to the lieutenant, and asked 
 why he came forth, in that hostile maimer, to 
 trouble their house on the Lord's day ? He said, 
 he had an order. She desiring to see it, he told 
 her he would shew it to the laird ; and he and 
 the sergeant went to the laird before the gate, 
 who called, as he approached, ' How is it, lieuten- 
 ant, that you come in this manner to disturb us 
 on the Sabbath day ?' He, being in much fear, 
 came near and delivered to the laird an order, 
 which had been subscribed by the chancellor 
 about a year before, by the prelate's procure- 
 ment, for apprehending the laird and his brother. 
 When the laird had read it, he says, 4 1 see you 
 have an old order from the chancellor to that 
 effect, which, I know, was extorted by the pre- 
 late ; but if you mind to execute it now, you 
 may, but you shall see the faces of men :' The 
 lieutenant, in great fear, cursing himself if he had 
 mind to execute it. After which, the lady caused 
 bring forth some ale for the lieutenant and the 
 rest ; but one of the militia, whose neighbour 
 was a little wounded, said he would drink none 
 of her drink, but would rather drink her heart's 
 blood ; (this is marked for what fell out after- 
 ward, as we shall hear.) After all this, the lieu- 
 tenant and the rest marched back to the town. 
 The laird caused set a watch on the battlements, 
 
KEV. JOHN BLACKADER. 177 
 
 to observe their motions. The people convened 
 again and heard the preaching, (the laird dis- 
 charging any to open the gates till he gave order,) 
 and the meeting closed in peace. 
 
 u Many of the scholars staid, and stood in the 
 closs, having climbed over the garden dyke, and 
 come in at the back gate. They were permitted 
 to hear, and did not offer anv disturbance. When 
 the militia came first up, many people who were 
 approaching seeing the stir without the gate, 
 turned back, fearing the alarm. Among the 
 was Lady Sophia Lindsay, and some company with 
 her, coming down the brae above the place. An 
 old man flying from the meeting, cried, ' Stay, 
 stay f they asked what the matter was; he cried, in 
 great fear, 4 A massacre, a great massacre yonder; 
 for I saw some of the best fall ere I came away, 
 and thev are stripping the women :' — which so af- 
 frighted them that they went back to a landwart 
 man's house, and sent a boy to see how matters 
 
 re. The boy wis admitted, but not allowed 
 to win out again till the preaching ended. This 
 made the lady conclude all was not well. When 
 he returned, after sermon, they asked what staid 
 him, he said he had been hearing a preaching 
 where all the folk were seeping, which vet a- 
 larnied them more, till he told them there was 
 DO trouble thi Then she and some of bcK 
 
 company came that night and stayed at Kinkel, 
 
 and made a goodjett to the minister of the piti- 
 
ITS MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ful alarm she had got. The minister advised the 
 laird to withdraw to safety, lest a party might at- 
 tack his house in the night, and he would go with 
 him ; but he refused, and said they would not 
 part with each other. A number of lusty young 
 men, who stayed till the end, offered to defend 
 the minister, if he would retire with them to the 
 moors ; but as the laird refused to go, he would 
 not, and stayed at his hazard. 
 
 " The militia did not return to St. Andrew's, as 
 was supposed ; they only went near to the town, 
 and derned under a brae by the sea-side, till the 
 lieutenant sent in to tell his bad success, and de- 
 sire the provost to cause beat drums, and raise 
 the town to help them to disperse the meeting. 
 It is said the provost (being in the kirk) asked, 
 who had given them orders to go out at first. 
 They answered, ' The prelate's wife. 1 Q Well/ said 
 he, c Have they begun a plea, and would they have 
 me to end it ? I'll send out no men at this time/* 
 Upon this news the militia stole, by night, into 
 the town, much ashamed. This was not known 
 then at Kinkel, where watches had been kept all 
 night on the battlements ; but the family slept in 
 peace and quietness. 
 
 " On the morrow, the laird, the minister, his 
 son, and a servant, went to Couper, and rode 
 through a part of St. Andre w^s, yet none there so 
 much as moved a tongue against them. Mr. 
 Blackader preached and baptized several children 
 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKAD1. 179 
 
 at Couper that night; and the next day before din- 
 ner, he returned to Kinkel. The following day a 
 meeting was appointed in St. Andrew's, close by 
 the prelate's house. This he censured as rash 
 and objectionable ; but considering it to be the 
 first, and the people being advertised, he went, 
 lest the curates should insult, if a meeting was 
 gathered and dismissed without sermon; but 
 none offered the least disturbance. " 
 
 " Sometime after this, Mr. Blaekader had an- 
 other meeting at Kinkel, where vast numbers 
 from St. Andrew's attended as hearers, and even 
 some of the militia. Sharp was that Sabbath-day 
 at home ; and hearing of it sent for the provost, 
 and commanded him to raise the military, and 
 dissipate them, and apprehend the minister. It 
 is said the provost answered, '■ My lord, the mi- 
 litia are gone there already to hear the preaching, 
 and we have none to send/ The prelate was 
 much damped, that even the militia wei ne to 
 hear, instead of being ready to scatter them. 
 That day, several of the ruder sort were observ- 
 ed to be moved, even to weepin Among the 
 the soldier formerly mentioned, who 
 had refused to drink from Lady Kinkel. He w 
 I specially marked to be moved, and wept beyond 
 all the ret! : so wonderfully did the Lord coun- 
 tenance the persecuted gospel, that bloody ene- 
 mies were overcome with conviction." 
 
 All the summer of that year, (1G74,) Mr. 
 
180 MEMOIllS OF 
 
 Welsh was perambulating Fife, and gathering 
 immense assemblies, sometimes eight or ten thou- 
 sand.* Mr. Blackader has recorded some in- 
 stances of the power and demonstration with which 
 his eloquence came home to the heart. " At one 
 time, after having removed all impediments that 
 might hinder sinners from embracing the terms 
 of salvation offered in the gospel, he said at the 
 conclusion, I must enter my protestation in my 
 Master's name against any here who will not 
 close with the offer, and give their consent. A 
 woman in the company cried out, c Hold your 
 hand, sir ; do it not, for I give my consent.** 
 
 " Again making a similar offer, (wherein the 
 Lord frequently assisted him to be singularly dex- 
 terous,) and clearing the gospel to be of such 
 large extent, that even witches were not excluded, 
 but that they might have the offer made them 
 for accepting, (though they had made paction 
 with Sathan,) one woman, not known before to 
 be such, was made to confess she was a witch, 
 and had covenanted herself to the devil. Mr. 
 Welsh met with her afterwards, and she still de- 
 clared she was a witch, and acknowledged her- 
 self not worthy to live. I know not what notice 
 was taken of her, but she continued seemingly 
 penitent.^-f- 
 
 * Kirkton, 344. Wodrow, vol. i, 367. 
 
 •J- The powerful effects of Mr. Blackader's own ministry, seem 
 
REV JOHN BLACKAD£R. 181 
 
 Among Mr. Welsh's conversions in Fife, was 
 the Countess of Crawford. She was daughter 
 
 to have been hardly less remarkable. — " I was once with my fa- 
 ther at a conventicle (as they call it) on the craig above Balcar- 
 ras, in Fife, where was a great confluence of people, and many 
 of distinction. His text was, Job xxiii, 3, " O that I knew 
 •where I might find him'." While he was setting forth the mi- 
 series of those who had lost God forever, and despaired ever to 
 find him in mercy, &c. a countryman, with a blew bonnet, stand- 
 ing hard by me, dropt down all of a sudden, and tumbled over 
 and over upon the ground. 31 y mother, who was sitting upon 
 the stones beside me, cries, ' Dear sirs, will ye take care of the 
 poor man, for he is sick ;' — but none durst come near him. Af- 
 ter he tumbled and wrestled about half a minute, he threw him- 
 self upon his back at full length, takes himself all in his arms, 
 and hugs himself; then lift up his eyes to heaven, (it seems they 
 had been shut all this time,) and cryed out, l O blessed be the 
 Lord that ever I did see this happy day !' With that he starts 
 quickly upon his feet, — his hair all hanging about his eyes, — his 
 bonnet lying under foot, and cryes, ' Let me till him, for the 
 Lord's sake ; let me till him,' — (meaning my father,) and came 
 near the tent. All this while, there was such a noise and dis- 
 turbance among the people, that my father was necessitat to de- 
 sist for a time, not knowing the matter, till he observed the poor 
 man pressing to be near him. Then he gave a sign to the peo- 
 ple to give way, and let him come forward ; which they did, till 
 he came to the very tent door, when my father began where he 
 had left off, — the poor man staring him all the while broad in 
 the face, and hearing every word as if he had been sucking it 
 out of the preacher's mouth. When all was over, and my fa- 
 ther going to a neighbour house, with some of the gentry, to 
 take a little refreshment, the poor man comes to the door, and 
 would needs be in. The people of the house told him he could 
 not have access as yet. Bat the man was importunate, and 
 cryes, 4 Dear sirs, hinder me not, for I maun speak with the 
 
182 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to the Earl of Annandale, and sister to the Duke 
 of Hamilton. This took place at Duraquhair, 
 near Cupar, and hard by her own house, " where 
 the power of God was manifested to the checking 
 of the conscience and awakening the hearts of 
 many. On that occasion there were about eight 
 thousand persons present, and the honourable la- 
 dy declared she was constrained to close with the 
 offer then made. The impression was lasting, 
 and evinced by much fruit of piety, which shone 
 forth in all her walk as a Christian, and dutiful 
 yoke-fellow to her lord, whom she benefited by her 
 conversation, and the report she made of that day. 
 Mr. Blackader had this information from herself, 
 who told him, with great majesty and seriousness, 
 in presence of her lord, who since has carried more 
 steadfastly in the path of righteousness and cause 
 of reformation, keeping at distance from all the 
 steps of defection. After the day of this lady^s 
 conversion, she could never be induced, by all 
 the insinuations and threats of her noble reJa- 
 
 minister;' which they acquainted my father with, who caused 
 all present to withdraw ; then called him into the room, where 
 he made a clear breast, confessing what for a notorious sinner he 
 had been all his life, — an enemy to every thing that was good, — 
 and, as I have heard my father afterwards say, he confessed one 
 sin that was capital. Such instances of the power and irresistible 
 grace of God, he used to say, rejoiced his heart, and did him 
 more good than twenty years stipend."— Blackader'' s Suffer ings y 
 MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEK. lfi 
 
 tions, t6 go back to the prelate's preachers, or 
 countenance any of their assemblies ; but fre- 
 quented all the persecuted meetings she could 
 win at. She lived and died endeavouring to 
 adorn her station and profession, by a conversa- 
 tion becoming the gospel." 
 
 Another of Mr. Welsh's meetings was at Falk- 
 land-wood, on a day when a number of the gen- 
 try were present. " The curate of Falkland 
 came forth, and some with him, in a boasting, 
 swaggering way, offering to debate with the mi- 
 nister after preaching. But if Mr. Welsh had 
 not, by his composed and calm words, restrained 
 the people, they would have debated the curate 
 at that which would have done his turn, before 
 he could have begun. This frolick attempt, Mr. 
 Welsh took with such meekness as became the 
 man of God. All this time, Lauderdale was at 
 Edinburgh, and Chancellor Rothes in Fife. On 
 the day of one of Mr. Welsh's meetings, he 1 
 at his own kirk at Leslie, where there was nobo- 
 dy bill his own family. Seeing the kirk empty, 
 he raged and .swore, and threatened to horse and 
 liter them ; but after he had blasted awhile, he 
 fell from his resolution, and staved at home/* 
 
 The nme Sabbath that Welsh preached at 
 
 Diiracjuhair, other three- conventicles WCTC met 
 within the county of Fife unknown to each other; 
 and it Wat calculated that above sixteen thousand 
 people were hearing field sermons all in one day. 
 
184? MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Mr. Robert Lockhart had one at Pathhead of 
 Kirkaldy ; Mr. Blackader another near Dun- 
 fermline, where three thousand attended ; and a 
 third on the Lomond hills by Mr. Wellwood, 
 " a young but grave and pious man. A party 
 of life-guards, commanded by Adam Masterton, 
 younger of Grange, came to the foot of the hill. 
 They essayed to ride up to them between ser- 
 mons ; but the people drew up on the face of the 
 brae. The soldiers shot bullets among them, 
 from pistolls or carbines, a volley of five or six 
 times ; but though the ball lighted among men, 
 women, and children, and went through some of 
 their hair, and brake upon stones beside them, 
 yet hurt none ; which was wonderfull. The sol- 
 diers, seeing the people stand their ground, and 
 not stir, were forced to retire. Some of their 
 horses being hurt with the stones that were cast 
 down the hill,* they made signal for the people 
 to capitulate or dismiss, — and had a conference to 
 that effect. They replied, they intended to stay 
 no longer than worship was ended ; but that they 
 would not leave the hill, until they had security 
 to get no harm ; which they did promise. Yet 
 when the bulk of the people were gone, the sol- 
 diers fell upon the hindermost, plundering and 
 stripping them, and apprehending about eighteen 
 prisoners." 
 
 • Wodrow, vol. i, 369. 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADER. 185 
 
 "It was affirmed by some women who staid at 
 home, that they clearly perceived like the form 
 of a tall man, of majestic stature, stand in the air, 
 in stately posture, with one leg, as it were, advan- 
 ced before the other, standing above the people 
 all the while of the soldiers shooting. The writ- 
 er hereof (Mr. Blackader) did send to ascertain 
 the truth of this vision, and got account of it in 
 writing, signed by four honest men. The wo- 
 men knew not of the soldiers onset at the time, 
 until the people came home."'* 
 
 u From Lomond hills the soldiers marched 
 straight to Duraquhair, intending to attack Mr. 
 Welsh ; but the people had got notice, and hur- 
 ried him away. A great body of them escorted 
 him as far as Largo, where they hired a boat. 
 
 • Many wonderful stories are told of atmospheric visions a- 
 bout this time. " There was seen at Kilbryd, near to Glasgow, 
 — an appearance of two armies, shooting of gunns, and fighting 
 on both sides ; the fyre and smock was seen, but without noise 
 and crak. Also, there was an apparition of a man clothed in 
 red, on a hill above Eastwood-moor, crying, 4 Woe, woe to the 
 land,' (Lav's Mem. 128.) Al>o, in Ireland appeared a vision 
 of men fighting in the air ; and thereafter a shower that turned 
 to lapered blood, 1 ' (Ibid. 17!).) This was an age of credulity; 
 and it is not more surpr^ing that these aerial miracles should 
 have been believed, than that the parliament of the same reign 
 should be ordained, c » to repair, once in the week, at least, to 
 Mussellburgh and Dalkeith, to try and judge such persons as are 
 ther, or therabouts, dilate of witchcraft," (Pari. Charles //, 
 1661.) 
 
186 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 He, with his wife and some others, landed safely 
 under night at Aberlady-bay, and got to his own 
 house in Edinburgh ; so he escaped their hands, 
 lurking and shifting before he went to Galloway.* 
 The prelates, ever careful to cast lying reproach- 
 es on the party, did raise a report that Mr. 
 Welsh had got vast sums of money in Fife : 
 some were so extravagant as to say, he got fortv- 
 thousand merks. This was known to be mali- 
 cious. Mr. Blackader inquired at Mr. Welsh 
 himself, who said he never made it a practice ; 
 and none did who tendered the credit of the gos- 
 pel. He had once accepted of a small gold coin, 
 as a token of friendship, from a gentleman." 
 
 This comparative tranquillity in which the 
 country had reposed, was termed the " Blinks ;* 
 and many thought the tempest had spent its fu- 
 ry, and given way to perpetual sunshine. They 
 fondly imagined, that the day of their calamity 
 was past, and the' captivity of Sion turned back, 
 like streams, in the south. It was, however, a 
 gloomy and portentous calm ; and the more ju- 
 dicious in their calculations, saw darkness gather- 
 ing before them, and warned their deluded coun- 
 trymen to prepare for clouds and storms. This 
 leniency, as has been already stated, did not pro- 
 ceed from any favourable change in the senti- 
 
 * Wodrow, 366. 
 
RE v sonS BLACXADE 187 
 
 ments of the government, or any want of rigor- 
 ous and bloody statutes. These had been issued 
 in abundance, (as will be shewn in the next chap- 
 ter ;) but the dissensions at home, and the com- 
 motions abroad, prevented them from being car- 
 ried into immediate execution. The Dutch war. 
 the negotiation of a Union, and the project of 
 establishing despotism and popery in England, 
 by French money and French arms, were topi 
 which then occupied the discussions of state, and 
 called the attention of the ministry, for a time, 
 away from ecclesiastical affairs in Scotland ; * — 
 and in this way the church in both kingdoms 
 obtained a temporary respite. The dread of 
 popular tumult at the disgraceful measures then 
 concerting, caused the suspension of all penal 
 laws for non-conformity in England, both against 
 papists and presbvterians. The latter were al- 
 lowed to have open meeting-houses, and their 
 chief preachers were hired to be silent, by a year- 
 ly pension of fiftv pounds. "f* The intolerable 
 arrogance of Lauderdale, had created a faction 
 among the Scottish nobility ; and this proved an 
 indirect license and encouragement to conventi- 
 cles which were tacitly connived at by both par- 
 
 • Hind Let Loote, L3& Burnet's Hkt vol. 1. W'oU- 
 
 row, vol. i. .W?. sir GtOCgl Mackenzie'* Mem. 219. 
 
 f Burnet's Hist. vol. i. :><»s 
 
188 MEMOlKb ov 
 
 ties, in order that each might implicate the other 
 in any disturbance they might occasion.* His 
 insolence was disgustful ; and since his marriage 
 with the Countess of Dysart, his rapacity and 
 profusion were unbounded. Swayed entirely by 
 her caprice, every office in Scotland became ve- 
 nal ; and, according to the humour, the presby- 
 terians were alternately persecuted and indulged. 
 The whole revenues of the kingdom were scarce- 
 ly adequate to support the luxurious magnifi- 
 cence in which he lived, even when aided bv 
 enormous church fines, and other illegal exac- 
 tions. The penalties of non-conformity, and the 
 money extorted for conventicles, were either en- 
 grossed by himself, or distributed among his mi- 
 nions and partisans.-^ 
 
 * Kirkton, 342. 
 
 •f Vid. Short account of Affairs from Scotland. Wodrow, 
 vol. i, App. to Book ii, No. 69. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 189 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Ntim severities against Conventicles — Commu- 
 nion at East-Xisbct — Conventicle at Lillics- 
 leqf- — At Divan, in Fife — Communion at Iron- 
 gray — Dissensions about Indulgence — Rising 
 in the West, and Battle of Botfrurll Bridge — 
 Prisoners shipwrecked at Orkney. 
 
 I or a series of years, a protracted contest was 
 carried on by the government against field preach- 
 ing, but with little success ; for they seemed to 
 multiply in proportion to the severities employed 
 to repress them. The progress of legislation be- 
 came gradually more violent ; and the barbarous 
 executioners of the law wete not only sanctioned 
 in their cruelties, but instigated to greater ex- 
 
 t)\ rewards and impunity. Lauderdale 
 parliament, which, from mercenary \icw>, was 
 prolonged above four . issued acts of new 
 
 and unprecedented rigour. His former modera- 
 tion and attachment to his countrv, were com- 
 pletely lost, in a devoted and abject servility to 
 
 the court. His violence inst the presbyterians 
 
 was inilarned by the IDC KDt outcries of the pre- 
 
190 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 lates, that the hierarchy was in danger. The 
 sovereign himself was possessed of a groundless 
 and mistaken apprehension, that they were a dis- 
 affected sect, who scorned his favours, and dis- 
 owned his authority. All the resources of art 
 and ingenuity were put in practice to bear them 
 down. The army, the council, and the justiciary, 
 were leagued against them. The regular forces 
 were augmented at home, and additional troops 
 were ready, if necessary, to be imported from the 
 shores of Ulster.* 
 
 As a more effectual expedient for rooting out 
 conventicles, garrisons were appointed to be plant- 
 ed in the districts where these religious meetings 
 were most frequent. Ten gentlemen and two 
 peers, the opponents to Lauderdale, were forci- 
 bly dispossessed of their houses, which were con- 
 verted into military stations, with arms and am- 
 munition. Each garrison was to be provided with 
 a company of foot and ten horse, to be furnished 
 with victual and necessary utensils, by provincial 
 assessments.*!- Heritors were commanded to bind 
 themselves for their tenants and domestics, and 
 magistrates for their citizens, that they should not 
 withdraw from churches, nor resort to field meet- 
 ings. Householders were made responsible for their 
 families, fathers for their children, and husbands 
 
 Wodrow, vol. i, 368. f Ibid. 390. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 191 
 
 for their wives. It was made sedition for the non- 
 indulged clergy to pray or expound scripture 
 any where but in their own family ; and thev 
 were punishable if more than four individuals 
 wort 1 present, not belonging to it. For a mi- 
 nister to preach in the fields, was death and con- 
 ation of goods; and double fines for the 
 bearers. Preaching in houses, if crowded with- 
 out at doors or windows, was to be reputed field 
 conventicles, and punished accordingly. A pre- 
 mium of five hundred merks was offered out of 
 the treasury to any that should apprehend and 
 ure the person of those who held or assembled 
 such unlawful conventions, with a full indem- 
 nity to the seizers, and their assistants, for any 
 slaughter thev might commit. Four hundred 
 pounds sterling was the price Bel upon the head 
 of the most celebrated field preachers, and othei 
 prere valued according to their notoriety.* Let- 
 ters of Intercommuning were issued against all 
 linquents, who refused to appear in council, and 
 Confess their guilt. " By these the absent wvn 
 
 outlawed; and whatever persons intercommuned 
 
 th them, either to fulfil the duties of relative 
 or to administer the common offices of humanity, 
 Were liable to the same punishment as if equally 
 involved in the same offence. In a single writ. 
 
 Wodn 
 
192 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 above ninety clergymen, gentlemen, and even 
 ladies of distinction, were interdicted from the 
 common intercourse of social life. All who re- 
 ceived them, or supplied them with sustenance, 
 intelligence, or relief; who conversed or held 
 communication with them, were made equally 
 criminal."* 
 
 To procure evidence of guilt, all persons were 
 required, under the highest penalties, to inform 
 against offenders, to swear upon oath whatever 
 they knew tending to criminate them, or lead tc 
 their discovery. Whoever should refuse, when 
 called upon, to depone according to their know- 
 ledge, were subject, at the council's pleasure, tc 
 fine, incarceration, or banishment to the American 
 plantations. The son was bound to witness a- 
 gainst the parent, the husband against the wife, 
 and every man became a spy and informer or 
 his neighbour. A justiciary power was lodged ir 
 the officers of the army, and the meanest sentine 
 had the license of an inquisitor.-f- 
 
 These despotical and sanguinary acts, struct 
 people's minds with terror and consternation. Ai 
 a moderate computation, seventeen hundred per- 
 sons, of either sex, and of every description anc 
 rank in life, in one year, were thus harassed anc 
 oppressed. Many of them voluntarily abandon- 
 
 * Laing, vol. iv, 77. -f Wodrow, vol. i, 329. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 193 
 
 ed their properties arid their homes, which were 
 surrendered to the plunder of an unbridled sol- 
 diery. Deprived of the refuge and protection of 
 laws, they took to hills and solitudes, or fled a 
 miserable remnant across the seas, preferring any 
 condition to that of pining in dungeons, or living 
 under the torture of perpetual apprehension. 
 Under these circumstances, it is not surprising 
 that they assumed a defensive attitude, or ac- 
 quired the fierce habits of a vagrant and un- 
 settled life. 
 
 As the consequences of surrender were too 
 well known, the intercommuned, when summon- 
 ed, uniformly declined to appear.* If they had 
 obeyed, it was only a melancholy alternative be- 
 tween death and ruin.-f* They began to disregard 
 a tyrannical council, which had adopted both the 
 cruelty and injustice of the inquisition. Thev 
 could not think those acts entitled to much re- 
 spect, which had their origin in reckless frenzy ; 
 whose avowed purpose was to exterminate their 
 name and their religion, and whose progress wa< 
 
 • Wodrow, vol. i, 437. 
 
 f " All who failed to compear, were denounced, and their 
 moveable escheats tell to the king. In one day, a paper was fixed 
 upon the parliament-house door, containing upwards of a hun- 
 dred persons, whose escheats were to be sold to any who would 
 purchase them. They had such a multitude on their hand, that 
 they knew not what to do with them." — Wodrov* vol. i, :^1. 
 
 I 
 

 194 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 marked at every step with innocent blood. They 
 saw themselves thrust beyond the pale of human 
 intercourse ; driven from cities and society, and 
 hunted, night and day, like a partridge on the 
 mountains. Their very presence was contagious ; 
 an infectious guilt adhered to their persons, and 
 tainted, with a sort of political leprosy, all who 
 touched or approached them. It was treason to 
 harbour or speak to them ; and some were exe- 
 cuted for no other offence. Judges and officers 
 were disposted for shewing them clemency, or 
 compassionating their sufferings.* The ministry 
 of the field preachers was proscribed, and exer- 
 cised under the pains of outlawry, and at the ha- 
 zard of their lives. 
 
 The natural effects of these rigours were such 
 as might easily have been anticipated. The re- 
 ligious ardour of the multitude grew in propor- 
 tion to the obstacles that opposed it. The in- 
 trepid and devoted champions of presbytery 
 waxed bolder and more fervent in the discharge 
 of their profession. They were not to be snared 
 into compliance by plausible accommodations; 
 and they scorned to be silenced either by military 
 force, or the terrors of the gibbet. Maddened 
 by oppression, they seized the fastnesses and na- 
 tural defences of the country, and boldly un- 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 531. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 19-5 
 
 furled the standard of religious liberty on their 
 native mountains. They retired with their flock- 
 to the wilderness and the solitary place, carrving 
 their ark along with them, there to worship God 
 in peace, according to the custom of their fa- 
 thers, and far apart from human habitation. 
 Necessity prompted the use of defensive armour, 
 and prudence taught them to select the most se- 
 questered and inaccessible retreats. For the 
 purposes of escape or concealment, they often 
 pitched their tents within the shelter of woods, — 
 in the neighbourhood of morasses, or in the deep 
 and silent glens embosomed within the green in- 
 closure of the mountains. Denied the privilege 
 of worshipping in temples made with hands, 
 they made the lonely hills their pulpits, their 
 sanctuary the high places of the field. They 
 sought the mist and the cloud to hide them 
 from the vigilance and fury of their pursuer- ; 
 and they have been known to choose the darkest 
 and most tempestuous nights, when the enemy 
 durst not venture to prowl abroad. To them 
 the terror of the elements was less appalling than 
 the cruelties of their inhuman oppressors, and 
 the wildest scenery in nature wore a more friend- 
 ly aspect than the face of man. 
 
 But the more the state multiplied outlaws, 
 the more did conventicles increase, both in Irv- 
 
 quency and numbers. In the west, for several 
 years, they were comparatively rare, a> it m 
 

 196 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 chiefly in that quarter that the indulged minis- 
 ters were settled ; but they overspread the south 
 and the east, from the borders of England to the 
 Murray Frith. In Nithsdale, Annandale, the 
 Merse, Tiviotdale, Lothian, Fife, Perth, and 
 Stirling, they abounded.* From their continual 
 exposure to danger, they began to adopt more 
 systematic measures for precaution and defence. 
 Sentinels were fixed on the hills, to prevent 
 surprise by timely alarm. The boldest and best 
 accoutred were posted during worship on the 
 frontiers of the congregation. At the conclusion 
 of the service, they were escorted to their quar- 
 ters by troops of horse ; and during the night, 
 | watch was kept by regular patrols. When at- 
 tacked, they repelled the assault ; sometimes beat 
 and dispersed the military. The hatred of both 
 parties was inflamed and exasperated to an in- 
 curable degree, so that the aspect of the country 
 looked more like an insurrection, to be quelled 
 by arms, than a religious schism. Bloody skir- 
 mishes sometimes ensued, in which acts of violence 
 were committed on either side ; and if the pres- 
 byterians were guilty occasionally of indiscretion, 
 it is not to be wondered at when their spirits 
 were heated and impelled to extremes by merci- 
 less oppression. 
 
 * Kirkton, 343. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 197 
 
 The concourse of hearers became immen- 
 when they could reckon with certainty on the 
 means of protection. Parish churches were 
 much deserted, and some stood vacant for many 
 years. Several curates abandoned their charge 
 to join the field preachers, and after a formal 
 recantation of their errors, were admitted as 
 brethren. It is not to be supposed that in an 
 assemblage of many thousands, every individual 
 was actuated solely by a pure and exclusive de- 
 votion. Some had acquired, from long habit, a 
 predilection for conventicles ; others frequented 
 them to shew their aversion at episcopacy. Cu- 
 riosity, the love of adventure^ or the desire of re- 
 taliation, might intermingle with their better 
 feelings. There were charms to attract a lively 
 imagination in the wild and stupendous scenery 
 of the places where they often met ; and, perhaps, 
 the bold and romantic might find a congenial 
 enterprise in braving the dangers of a Sabbath 
 journey. But, in general, they were attended 
 from an ardent and sincere wish to hear the 
 
 rd.s of eternal Vifc, and to have the libertv of 
 worshipping God according to the dictates of 
 their own conscience: and it is undeniable, that 
 they were accompanied with remarkable success, 
 and many extraordinary conversions, especially 
 at communions, which now (1677) began to Ik 
 celebrated in the open fields. 
 
 The communions which were principally noted 
 
198 MEMOIltS OF 
 
 at that time, and most numerously attended, were 
 four, viz. at Kirkcudbright, Irongray, Carrick, 
 and East-Nisbet, in the Merse. It was at the 
 latter of these that Mr. Blackader officiated as a 
 leading member ; his description of it is given 
 with a simple but graphic minuteness. 
 
 It should have been stated previously, that in 
 June 1674 he was outlawed, and a thousand 
 merks offered to any that should apprehend him. 
 Since that time he had either resided on the 
 borders as a fugitive, or lurked in disguise about 
 Edinburgh ; and when he ventured abroad to 
 preach, he always rode with a body guard of 
 horse attending him.* 
 
 " At the desire of several people in the Merse, 
 Mr. Blackader, and some other ministers, had re- 
 solved on a meeting in Tiviotdale, and day and 
 place was fixed for keeping a communion ; but 
 from apprehensions of danger, this resolution was 
 changed, as it was feared they might come to 
 imminent hazard. It was agreed to delay it a 
 fortnight ; and advertisement was sent to the 
 people not to assemble. The report of the first 
 appointment had spread throughout the country, 
 and many were prepared to resort thither from 
 distant and divers quarters. This change had 
 occasioned great uncertainty : some had taken 
 
 * Wodrow, voL i, 366. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 199 
 
 their journey to the Merse, willing to venture on 
 a disappointment, rather than miss so good an 
 occasion by sitting still. Mr. Blackader was de- 
 termined to go, seeing his stay would discourage 
 others ; and if kept back, they would blame him. 
 He told them it was not likely the meeting would 
 hold ; yet, lest any should take offence, he was 
 content to take his venture with them. On Fri- 
 day night he took horse, accompanied with a 
 small body of attendants, and was joined by Mr. 
 John Dickson at the port, who rode with him 
 eleven miles that night. Many people were on 
 the road, setting forward to be in time for sermon 
 on Saturday morning. Not a few be west of Edin- 
 burgh, hearing the report of the delay, remain- 
 ed at home, and others returned on the way. No- 
 body was certain, either from far or near, till 
 they reached the place ; where they would all 
 have been disappointed, if providence had not 
 ordered it better than human arrangement ; for 
 the earnest entreaties of the people had prevailed 
 with Mr. Welsh, in the same wav as Mr. Black- 
 ader, to venture at a hazard. And had it been 
 delayed a day or two longer, it would have been 
 utterly prevented, as the noise was spread, and 
 the troops would have been dispersed to stop 
 them. 
 
 " Meantime the communion elements had been 
 prepared, and the people in Tiviotdale adver- 
 tised. Mr. Welsh and Mr. Riddel had reached 
 
200 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the place on Saturday. When Mr. Blackader 
 arrived, he found a great assembly, and still 
 gathering from all airts ; which was a comfort- 
 able surprisal in this uncertainty ; whereat they 
 all marvelled, as a new proof of the divine wis- 
 dom, wherewith the true Head of the church did 
 order and arrange his solemn occasions. The 
 people from the east brought reports that caused 
 great alarm. It was rumoured that the Earl of 
 Hume, as ramp a youth as any in the country, 
 intended to assault the meeting with his men 
 and militia, and that parties of the regulars were 
 coming to assist him. He had profanely threat- 
 ened to make their horses drink the communion 
 wine, and trample the sacred elements under foot. 
 Most of the gentry there, and even the common- 
 alty, were ill set. 
 
 u Upon this we drew hastily together about 
 seven or eight score of horse on the Saturday, 
 equipped with such furniture as they had. Pic- 
 quets of twelve or sixteen men were appointed to 
 reconnoitre and ride towards the suspected parts. 
 Single horsemen were dispatched to greater dis- 
 tances, to view the country, and give warning in 
 case of attack. The remainder of the horse were 
 drawn round to be a defence at such distance as 
 they might hear sermon, and be ready to act if 
 need be. Every means was taken to compose 
 the multitude from needless alarm, and prevent, 
 in a harmless defensive way, any affront that 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEE. 201 
 
 might be offered to so solemn and sacred a work. 
 Though many, of their own accord, had provided 
 for their safety; and this was more necessary, when 
 they had to stay three days together, sojourning 
 by the lions' dens and the mountains of leopards ; 
 yet none had come armed with hostile intentions. 
 " We entered on the administration of the holy 
 ordinance, committing it and ourselves to the in- 
 visible protection of the Lord of Hosts, in who 
 name we were met together. Our trust was in 
 the arm of Jehovah, which was better than wea- 
 pons of war, or the strength of hills. If the God 
 of Jacob was our refuge, we knew that our can 
 would prosper ; — that in his favour there waa 
 more security than in all the defences of art or of 
 nature. The place where we convened was 
 every way commodious, and seemed to have been 
 formed on purpose. It waa a green and pleasant 
 haugh, fast by the water side.* On either hand 
 there was a spacious brae, in form of a half 
 round, covered with delightful pasture, and ris- 
 ing with a gentle slope to a goodly height. 
 Above us was the clear blue sky, for it was a 
 SWeet and calm Sabbath morning, promising to 
 be indeed one of the days of the Son of Man. 
 There was a solemnity in the place befitting the 
 occasion, and elevating the whole soul to a purr 
 
 • The Whitaddcr. 
 
 i 2 
 
202 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and holy frame. The communion tables were 
 spread on the green by the water, and around 
 them the people had arranged themselves in de- 
 cent order. But the far greater multitude sat 
 on the brae-face, which was crowded from top to 
 bottom, full as pleasant a sight as was ever seen 
 of that sort. Each day, at the congregation's 
 dismissing, the ministers, with their guards, and 
 as many of the people as could, retired to their 
 quarters in three several country towns, where 
 they might be provided with necessaries for man 
 and horse for payment. 
 
 " Several of the yeoman refused to take money 
 for their provisions, but cheerfully and abundant- 
 ly invited both ministers and gentlemen each day 
 at dismissing.* The horsemen drew up in a bo- 
 dy till the people left the place, and then march- 
 ed in goodly array behind at a little distance, un- 
 til all were safely lodged in their quarters ; divid- 
 ing themselves into three squadrons, one for each 
 town where were their respective lodgments. Each 
 party had its own commander. Watches were 
 regularly set in empty barns, and other out- 
 houses, where guards were placed during the 
 
 * Mr. Blackader's host, on this occasion, was one Turnbull, 
 u a good yeoman," who entertained both him and the principal 
 gentlemen all the time most hospitably, and without any recom- 
 pense— Black. Mem. MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 203 
 
 night. Scouts were sent to look about, and get 
 intelligence. In the morning, when the people 
 returned to the meeting, the horsemen accompa- 
 nied them : all the three parties met, a mile from 
 the spot, and marched in a full body to the con- 
 secrated ground. The congregation being all 
 fairly settled in their places, the guardsmen took 
 their several stations as formerly. 
 
 These accidental volunteers seemed to have 
 been the gift of providence, and they secured the 
 peace and quiet of the audience ; for from Satur- 
 day morning, when the work began, until Monday 
 afternoon, we suffered not the least affront or mo- 
 lestation from enemies, which appeared wonderful. 
 At first there was some apprehension ; but the 
 people sat undisturbed, and the whole was closed 
 in as orderly a way as it had been in the time of 
 Scotland's brightest noon. And, truly, the spec- 
 tacle of so many grave, composed, and devout 
 faces, must have struck the adversaries with awe, 
 and been more formidable than any outward abi- 
 lity of fierce looks and warlike arrav. We desir- 
 ed not the countenance of earthly kings ; there 
 was a spiritual and divine Majesty shining on the 
 work, and sensible evidence that the Great Mas- 
 ter of assemblies was promt in the midst. It 
 was, indeed, the doing of the Lord, who covered 
 us a table in the wilderness, in presence of our 
 foes, and reared a pillar of glory between us and 
 the enemy, like the fierv cloud of old, that >epar- 
 
^04 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ated between the camp of Israel and the Egyp- 
 tians, encouraging to the one, but dark and ter- 
 rible to the other. Though our vows were not 
 offered within the courts of God's house, they 
 wanted not sincerity of heart, which is better 
 than the reverence of sanctuaries. Amidst the 
 lonely mountains, we remembered the words of our 
 Lord, that true worship was not peculiar to Je- 
 rusalem or Samaria : that the beauty of holiness 
 consisted not in consecrated buildings, or mate- 
 rial temples. We remembered the ark of the Is- 
 raelites, which had sojourned for years in the 
 desert, with no dwelling-place but the tabernacles 
 of the plain. We thought of Abraham, and the 
 ancient patriarchs, who laid their victims on the 
 rocks for an altar, and burnt sweet incense under 
 the shade of the green tree. 
 
 " The ordinance of the last supper, that memo- 
 rial of his dying love till his second coming, was 
 signally countenanced, and backed with power 
 and refreshing influence from above. Blessed 
 be God, for he hath visited and comfirmed his 
 heritage when it was weary. In that day, Zion 
 put on the beauty of Sharon and Carmel; the 
 mountains broke forth into singing, and the de- 
 sert place was made to bud and blossom as the 
 rose. Few such days were seen in the desolate 
 Church of Scotland, and few will ever witness the 
 like. There was a rich and plentiful effusion of 
 the spirit shed abroad on many hearts. Their 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 205 
 
 souls, filled with heavenly transports, seemed to 
 breathe in a diviner element, and to burn up- 
 wards, as with the fire df a pure and holy devo- 
 tion. The ministers were visibly assisted to 
 speak home to the conscience of the hearers. It 
 seemed as if God had touched their lips with a 
 live coal from his altar, for they who witnessed 
 declared, they carried more like ambassadors 
 from the court of heaven, than men cast in earth- 
 ly mould. 
 
 " The tables were served by some gentlemen 
 and persons of the gravest deportment. None 
 were admitted without tokens, as usual, which 
 were distributed on the Saturday, but only to 
 such as were known to some of the ministers, or 
 persons of trust, to be free of public scandals. 
 All the regular forms were gone through : the 
 communicants entered at one end, and retired at 
 the other, — a way being kept clear to take their 
 
 its again on the hill-sick'. Mr. Welsh preach- 
 ed the action sermon, and served the first two ta- 
 bles B8 he was ordinarily put to do on such occa- 
 sions : the other four ministers, Mr. Blackader. 
 Mr. Dickson, Mr. Riddel, and Mr. liae, exhort- 
 ed the rest in their turn : the table service wafl 
 closed by Mr. Welsh, with solemn thanksgivin 
 and solemn it was, and sweet and edifying to see 
 the gravity and comj>osure of all piv-i Eitj as well 
 as all parts of the service. The communion was 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 peaceably concluded; all the people heartily offer- 
 ing up their gratitude, and singing with a joyful 
 noise to the Rock of their salvation. It was plea- 
 sant, as the night fell, to hear their melody swell- 
 ing in full unison along the hill, the whole con- 
 gregation joining with one accord, and praising 
 God with the voice of psalms. 
 
 " There were two long tables, and one short, 
 across the head, with seats on each side. About 
 a hundred sat at every table : there was sixteen 
 tables in all, so that about three thousand two 
 hundred communicated that day. 
 
 " The afternoon sermon was preached by Mr. 
 Dickson, from Gen. xxii, 14; and verily might 
 the name of the place be called Bethel, or Jehovah- 
 jirah, w r here the Lord's power and presence was 
 so signally manifested. After so thick and fear- 
 ful a darkness had overshadowed the land, the 
 light of his countenance had again shone through 
 the cloud with dazzling brightness, and many 
 there would remember the glory of that day. 
 Well might the faith of the good old patriarch 
 be contrasted with theirs on that occasion : they 
 had come on a journey of three days into the 
 wilderness to offer their sacrifice : they had come 
 in doubt and perplexity as to the issue ; but the 
 God of Jacob had been their ^refuge and their 
 strength, hiding them in his pavilion nTthe evil 
 day. The whole of this solemn service was clos- 
 
EEV. JOHN BLACKADF.R. 207 
 
 ed by Mr. Blackader on Monday afternoon, from 
 Is. liii, 10.* 
 
 " That same night, Mr. Blackader rode to the 
 laird of Ednanfs, who was a relation of his own, 
 to learn the Earl of Hume's motions, Ednam be- 
 ing an intimate acquaintance of Hume's. He 
 found the laird had just arrived, having been 
 with the Earl since Friday, when he had been 
 sent for, with others, for making agreement be- 
 tween the said Earl and his mother, which prov- 
 ed ineffectual ; but a stop was thus providential- 
 ly put to the furious Earl, so that he got not his 
 purposed threats executed, being too much vex- 
 ed and taken up about his own particular: but 
 
 • This appears to be the same sermon preached at Kilbride, 
 September 5, 1675, and is printed in Faithful Contending! 
 Displayed. In the conclusion, he thus addresses his audience. 
 — " I would again ask at you, what answer shall we take back 
 to our Master, that may be a satisfying report of you ? Shall 
 we take back this word, That now ye are content to take him 
 in all the terms that ever he offered himself unto you ? Shall 
 we tell him these good news, that here we have found out a will- 
 ing people, that is willing to follow him through the wilderneM, 
 and to bear his cross, and witness for him ? — and that ye will 
 adhere unto his truths closely, and follow the Lamb whitherso- 
 ever he gvtth ? Come away, poor man and woman, that is glad 
 to close the bargain : thou that hast been, as it were, putting 
 thy hand to the pen, and yet dare not seal it : He loves that 
 thou should set thy seal to it ; seal it with thy hearty consent ; 
 say, with Thomas, if thou canst say no more, My Lord and my 
 God." 
 
208 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 so it was ordained of God, who often maketh the 
 wrath of man to praise him. Before Mr. Black- 
 ader left that country, he assisted, the very next 
 Sabbath day, the celebrated David Williamson, 
 at a meeting at Haugh-head, in that vicinity.* 
 
 u Sometime before the communion at East-Nis- 
 bet, Mr. Blackader kept a very great conventicle 
 at Lilsly (Lilliesleaf ) moor in Forrestshire. They 
 had knowledge that the sheriff, and some of the 
 life-guards, were ranging Lilsly moors on the 
 fore-part of the day ; upon which the meeting 
 shifted their ground within Selkirkshire, think- 
 ing themselves safe, being out of his bounds. 
 Watches were set; and the forenoon's lecture 
 got over without disturbance. About the middle 
 of the afternoon preaching, alarm was given that 
 the sheriff and his party were hard at hand, rid- 
 ing fast ; whereupon he closed, giving the people 
 a word of composure against fear. The people 
 all stood firm in their places without moving. 
 Two horses w r ere brought for the minister, to fly 
 for his life ; but he refused to go, and would not 
 withdraw, seeing the people kept their ground, 
 and so dismissed the horses. The militia came 
 riding furiously at full gallop, and drew up on 
 the burn-brae, over against the people ; but see- 
 ing them stand firm, they seemed to be a little 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 524-. 
 
EEV. JOHN' BLACKADER. 209 
 
 damped, and would speak nothing for a while. 
 At this moment, ane honest countryman cast a 
 gray cloak about Mr. Blackader, and put a broad 
 bonnet on his head ; so he stood in that disguise 
 among the people, unnoticed all the time of the 
 fray. The sheriff cried, ' I charge you to dis- 
 miss in the king's name :' the people answered re- 
 solutely from several quarters, ' We are all met 
 here in the name of the king of heaven, to hear 
 the gospel, and not for harm to any man." The 
 sheriff was more damped, seeing their confidence ; 
 he was the laird of Heriot. His own Bister was 
 present at the meeting ; and stepping forth, in a 
 fit of passion, took his horse by the bridle, clap- 
 ping her hands, and crying out, ' Fye on ye, 
 man ; fye on ye ; the vengeance of God will 
 overtake you, for marring so good a work f 
 whereat the sheriff stood like a man astonied.* 
 One of the soldiers comes riding in among the 
 people, and, laughing, said, < Gentlemen and 
 
 • u Sometimes the military powers were affronted, notwithstand- 
 ing all their might and violence : For a conventicle at Lilisleife 
 moore, being attackt by a party of dragoons, drew out a few to 
 oppose them ; and though but unarmed country people, they 
 made the dragoons not only to tremble, so that they could hardly 
 keep their arms in their hands, but likewise retreat in great dift- 
 order : for which the commander of the party was cashiered 
 the councill ; and indeed Bishop Sharpe was ane an;.' .n." — 
 
 Kirk tun. 
 
210 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 • 
 
 friends, we hope you will do us no harm.' This 
 was all a pretence : they had come to look for 
 the minister, and were edging nearer the tent ; 
 but they were ordered instantly to be gone, and 
 join their own associates, as more appropriate 
 companions. 
 
 " The people still refusing to dismiss, the she- 
 riff called out Bennet, laird of Chesters, and 
 Turnbull of Standhill, who were present in the 
 congregation, and with them he negotiated that 
 they would dismiss the meeting, otherwise he 
 must use force. Accordingly, at the entreaty of 
 Chesters they withdrew. This had more influ- 
 ence with them than all the sheriffs threaten- 
 ings. The minister, all this while keeping his 
 disguise, sat still till all the dragoons were gone, 
 and then took horse, with a company of seven or 
 eight gentlemen. About twelve at night, he 
 reached Lasswade, (being the hind harvest,) and 
 got to Edinburgh early in the dawning, about the 
 time of the opening of the ports. This was a re- 
 markable escape, as they had sought the minister 
 among the crowd during the scuffle, and passed 
 often by him without ever discovering him. The 
 reason of his riding all night, w r as to avoid dan- 
 ger ; for all the nobles and gentlemen from Edin- 
 burgh were to ride next day to the race at Caver- 
 ton-edge, when the roads to Tiviotdale would be 
 full of them." 
 
 In 1678, Mr. Blackader was again invited to 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 211 
 
 Fife, where an armed meeting was held at Divan. 
 " On Saturday he stayed at Inchdarnie's,* accom- 
 panied with his son Robert, Baillie Haddoway, 
 and Mr. Cleland. On Sabbath morning he was 
 escorted to Divan, eight miles off. When he 
 came, he observed a number of arms piled in or- 
 der on the ground, guns and fowling-pieces, about 
 the number of fifty ; which, when he saw, he ask- 
 ed, ' What meant all this preparation ? Trust 
 rather in Jehovah and the shield of omnipotence.' 
 They told him the reason, that Prelate Sharp 
 had ordered to draw a hundred and five men 
 out of the militia, to be a standing company, on 
 purpose to search for and apprehend ministers 
 who should venture within his bounds. This 
 and the like violence was the thing that soon 
 brought him to his end, and constrained peace- 
 able folk to come in arms, after long suffering 
 and provocation. 
 
 " About the middle of the communion, a cry 
 arose that the militia were advancing their whole 
 company. Hurley stept out presently, and drew 
 up a party of the left horse, such as he could 
 find, and went forth to view the militia, who were 
 within two miles of the pl&ce. Suspecting the 
 meeting might be in a posture of defence, they 
 
 • The mute of Inchdiirnie is related by Mr. BlackaiU-r. 
 ||t0 M'mlrow, vol. ii. 'Mi. 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 had halted on a brae-side until both sermons 
 should be ended, that they might make a prey 
 of the people dismissing. When all the congre- 
 gation were removed, except the minister's body- 
 guard, a new alarm came that the soldiers were 
 at hand. Upon this, Kinkel and Burley, with a 
 few horse, rode up the face of the hill, where the 
 militia had advanced with the hope of getting 
 plunder, and making prisoners of the hindermost. 
 Also the foot young men, who had their guns, 
 and were on their way homeward, did resolutely 
 return, and join the horse ; which altogether 
 made a party between thirty and forty. The 
 lads on foot were drawn up beside the cavalry, 
 such as they were. The military, with their of- 
 ficers, were marching fast up, expecting their 
 prey ; but halted when they perceived the par- 
 ty. Haddoway and Cleland rode down to have 
 spoken and asked their intentions ; but ere they 
 came near, the militia wheeled about for march- 
 ing off, if they might. The footmen came up 
 sweating, with their muskets, and were drawn 
 up on the flanks, making a tolerable troop. 
 
 But the militia, terrified at all this apparatus, 
 scarcely looking over their shoulder, fled to Cupar 
 in a dismal fear. The presbyterian horsemen 
 would gladly have had orders to break after them, 
 — which, if they had done^ 'tis said the prelatists 
 had resolved to throw down their arms, and sur- 
 render at mercy. But the minister did calmly 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEK. 213 
 
 dissuade them from it. ' My friends, your part 
 is chiefly to defend yourselves from hazard, and 
 not to pursue : your enemies have fled, — let their 
 flight sheath your weapons, and disarm your pa 
 sions. I may add, without offence, that men in 
 your case are more formidable to see at a dis- 
 tance, than to engage hand to hand. (And some 
 of them had experience of this, and remembered 
 the advice after Bothwell.) But since vou are 
 in a warlike and defensive posture, remain so; 
 at least, till your brethren be all dismissed. Con- 
 duct them through their enemies, and be their 
 safeguard until they get beyond their reach ; 
 but, except in case of violence, otter injury to 
 none." 
 
 " When the militia had entered Cupar, the 
 
 party rode off quietly. About nine guarded Mr. 
 
 Blackader to his quarters, which was at an inn in 
 
 the parish of Pltmog, (Portmoak.) On M<>nda\ 
 
 returned frith his friends to Edinburgh." 
 
 In Julv, same vear, Mr. Blackader held a 
 meeting near Culross, about a mile beyond Blair- 
 hall, the ancient residence of his ancestor-. Hi^ 
 Colleague, on this occasion, was Mr. Thomas For- 
 pester, who after the Revolution became pro- 
 fessor of divinity at St. Andrew*- He had been 
 
 curate of Alva, in the presbytery of Stirling; 
 
 but upon more mature research into the contro- 
 versies of church government, he came to enti 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tain scruples about the lawfulness of prelacy 
 and at length solemnly abjured it.* 
 
 " The next place at which Mr. Blackadei 
 was called to officiate, was at a communion ai 
 Irongray, in Dumfries-shire. On his way fron 
 Culross, .he was met by Kirk of Sundywell, ir 
 Dunscore parish, who had come from Gallowaj 
 and Nithsdale to invite him, in the name of th( 
 country, to assist at that solemnity, which Mr 
 Welsh had undertaken at the desire of the pea 
 pie. Mr. Blackader was rejoiced to hear thai 
 the well-affected of that country had resolved tc 
 countenance the gospel, and make this publk 
 avowal of their attachment, at the peril of al 
 they held dear on earth. As the communior 
 was fixed for next Sabbath, it admitted of nc 
 delay. On Thursday, about ten o'clock, he tool 
 his horse from Edinburgh, accompanied by hi* 
 wife and son Robert, who wished to see their re- 
 lations, and join on the occasion, — such a thing 
 being so rare to them. As they rode on then 
 way by Leadhills, towards Enterkin and Niths. 
 dale, they found the roads covered with people, 
 some on horse, others on foot. A company oi 
 eighty horse, whereof many were respectable 
 gentlemen from Clydesdale, and well appointed 
 with regular officers, had marched down Enter- 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 377. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 215 
 
 I 
 
 kin-path, in good order, a little before him. — 
 They were all reasonably well accoutred. He 
 entered into conversation with many groups of 
 people, and advised them all to behave with so- 
 briety and decorum. The party of Clydesdale 
 horse, when they were down the brae of Enter- 
 kin, which was a large mile, drew up, and fell 
 into rank at the foot of the path, and marched, 
 in good order, all along down Nithsdale, till they 
 came to Cluden-water, which was much swollen 
 by the rain. They rode through directlv to 
 Irongray parish, where they took up their quar- 
 ters, and kept outwatches and sentinels all night. 
 The men on foot came after, and took up their 
 lodgings where they could most conveniently, 
 and as near the horse as possible. Thev told 
 that the Earl of Queensberry was on his road to 
 Edinburgh, and had met several companies of 
 them. 
 
 " Mr. Blackader and his company took the rout 
 to (aitloch, where he stayed that night. Here 
 their number- were increased to a great OODCOUTSe 
 On Saturday morning, they marched from Cait- 
 loch to the CTOOfl of Meiklewoocl, a high place in 
 Nithsdale, about seven miles above Dumfries.* 
 This he understood was to be the rendezvous of 
 the congregation. Here they had a ootnmanding 
 
 • In the pamh of Holywood. 
 
216 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 view of the whole country, and could not be tak- 
 en by surprise. On the one hand, the hills of 
 Dalswinton, and all the higher ground of Kirk- 
 mahoe, lay within reach of the eye, as far as the 
 braes of Tinwald and Torthorwald. The range 
 of the Galloway hills lay on the west, all the 
 passes of which could be distinctly seen. No 
 sudden danger could surprise them from the 
 south, as the flat holms of the Nith were visible 
 for manv miles. 
 
 " When Mr. Blackader reached the place, he 
 found a large assembly had collected. He open- 
 ed the service from these words in the 1 Cor. xi, 
 24, Do this in remembrance of me. His two 
 chief points were, That the ceremony was not left 
 arbitrary to the church, but was under a peremp- 
 tory command from Christ himself. This re- 
 membrance was to be renewed from time to time, 
 as seasons would permit : and their divine Mas- 
 ter's command was still in force, though man had 
 inhibited and discharged them. Secondly, The 
 end of the institution, why it ought to be fre- 
 quently celebrated or administered, and what 
 was especially to be commemorated. Mr. Welsh 
 preached in the afternoon, and intimated the 
 communion to take place next day on a hill-side in 
 Irongray, about four miles distant, as it was 
 judged convenient, and more safe, to shift their 
 ground. He durst not mention the name of the 
 place particularly, lest enemjfes might get notice, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADtK. 217 
 
 and be before them ; but none failed to discover 
 it. 
 
 " On Sabbath morning early the congregation 
 sat down on the Whitehill in Irongray, about 
 three miles above Dumfries. The meeting was 
 very numerous, greater than at East-Nisbct. 
 being more gentlemen and strangers from far 
 and near. Mr. Arnot, late minister of Tongland, 
 lectured in the morning, and Mr. Welsh preach- 
 ed the action sermon, which was his ordinar. 
 The rest of the ministers exhorted, and took 
 their turn at the table service. The whole w. 
 closed in the evening without disturbance. It 
 was a cloudy and gloomy day, the sky lowering 
 and often threatening showers; but the heaw 
 clouds did not break, but retained their moisture, 
 
 it were to accommodate the woi k : For ere the 
 people got to their houses and quarters, there fell 
 a great rain, which that night waxed the waters, 
 and most of them had to pass through both the 
 Cairn and the Cluden. 
 
 " The Earl of Nithsdale, a papist, and Sir 
 
 Robert Dalzel] of Glenae, a great enemy to tin 
 
 meetings, had some of their ill-set domesticks 
 there, who waited on, and heard till the time -of 
 the afternoon sermon, and then slipt awa\ . At 
 the time of dismissing, there arosfe a cry and a- 
 
 larm that the dragoons were approaching, when 
 
 upon the Clydsdale men instantly took to horse, 
 and formed. The gentlemen of Galloway and 
 
 K 
 
218 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Nithsdale took no posture of defence at first, as 
 they did not intend it until they saw imminent 
 hazard. But seeing the motions of the Clyds- 
 dale men, they thought it necessary to do the like. 
 Gordon, the laird of Earlston, who had been 
 a captain in the former wars, now drew up a large 
 troop of Galloway horse. Another gentleman of 
 Nithsdale, who had also been a captain of horse, 
 mustered up a troop of cavalry from the holms 
 of Kirkmahoe,* and about the Nith. Four or 
 
 * The inhabitants of this parish were staunch to the cause, 
 for which they suffered grievous and protracted oppression ; first 
 by Turner, and, after Bothwell bridge, by Cornet Graham, 
 Grierson of Lag, Dalzell of Glenae, and others of inferior cele- 
 brity. From a paper giving an account of the sufferings of Kirk- 
 mahoe, I have extracted the following particulars. — They were 
 amerced for non-conformity to the amount of two thousand one 
 hundred and forty-two pounds. — For having children baptized at 
 field preachings, twenty-nine poor families paid five hundred and 
 sixty-one pounds. — One man, for not hearing the curate, paid 
 one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. — Robert Morrin, in Dal- 
 swinton, had a horse taken from him, worth twenty-seven pounds, 
 by a trooper, who had lost his pistols James Robson, in Quar- 
 rel wood, for being at Bothwell, lost his cow, the only property he 
 had. — The barony of Dun cow, for hearing Cameron and others 
 preach, and having children baptized by them, were fined in three 
 hundred and fifty-six pounds, and most of them imprisoned in 
 Dumfries.— One John Frissel, in Auchencairn, had offered some 
 refreshment to six men who were pursued, and had fled for safety 
 to his house, about twelve o'clock at night. A party of dragoons 
 came upon them, and seized one of the fugitives, James Glover 
 of Barshel, and carried him to prison, being severely wounded 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 219 
 
 five companies of foot, with their officers, were 
 ready equipped for action; and all this was done 
 
 and abused, where in a short time he died. The soldiers return- 
 ed, and spoiled Frissel of all he had ; they pulled down hi> 
 house, dragged himself, wife, and two daughters to prison ; one 
 of his daughters they banished to New Jersey. The master 
 
 the ground on which they lived was also fined and imprisoned 
 
 One John Nicolson, in Quarrelwood, being at Both well, and 
 taken, was carried, among other prisoners, to Greyfriar's Church- 
 yard, in Edinburgh, where he was let out, like many others, for 
 taking the bond. On his return, he was required to renew 
 promises ; but being convinced of his error, he refused, for 
 which he was harassed and pursued by the dragoons ; and when 
 they could not catch him, they seized all his effects, to the value 
 of three hundred and thirty -six pounds ; Cornet Graham refin- 
 ing to leave any thing to his wife and children to live upon. — 
 Many were fined merely upon suspicion of being at Bothwell ; 
 for the soldiers made all equally culpable whether they were 
 there or not. If they went, they were fined for rebellion ; it 
 they stayed peaceably at home, they were fined for not joining 
 
 the king's forces The curate of Kirkmahoe, one Wallace, used 
 
 to take large sums from his parishioners, promising not to di>- 
 ■ them to the troopers ; but afterwards betrayed them, and 
 got the fines imposed on their wives and families. He was 
 miserly, that he embezzled the poor's money, sold his library, 
 and even the pulpit bible ; u and would have gathered dung 
 from the high-road, and carried it, on his bare hand, to the 
 glebe." — Another engine of oppression, was the Ttst am\ Abjur- 
 ation ()ntli. The laird of Closeburn, who rode about fating 
 them on the country, " seized two young lasses in Dumvu. 
 and banished them to .Jamaica." — Five women, in Auchencairn. 
 were imprisoned for refusing the oaths ; two of whom escaped, 
 and two were sent to Carolina. Tradition says, these female re- 
 fugees, after >ome years, found their way back to their nap 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 in the twinkling of an eye, for the people were 
 willing and resolute. Videttes and single horse- 
 
 I village, — where they were ever after regarded as the divinities of 
 the place, and looked upon, by their fellow -cottagers, with a re- 
 spect bordering on adoration, — a reverence which was not a little 
 heightened by the profound and mysterious silence which the 
 exiles maintained. No importunity could induce them to make 
 any disclosure respecting their captivity and escape, or the far 
 country where they had been. 
 
 The garrison stationed at Dalswinton committed the most 
 violent and lawless depredations, carrying off cattle, furniture, 
 peat-stacks, and threatening death to all who should offer resist- 
 ance. Their profane jests, and ingenious blasphemies, were 
 very annoying to sober and religious people A company of 
 
 , them coming into a house, demanded supper of the best. Some 
 salted beef being presented, one of them swore, with an oath, 
 wt they had given him a piece of Lot's wife." — Another party 
 came into an alehouse, in the village of Kirkton, where the wo- 
 man " was boiling wort." Some of them said to the rest, they 
 would go into the caldron, to try how they could stand the tor- 
 ments of the wicked. They all agreed there should be lots cast ; 
 and when this was done, they made ready for the experiment. 
 The woman, in the meantime, begged permission to draw off 
 the wort, and civilly offered them the use of the caldron : — but 
 taking occasion to absent themselves, while the liquor was de- 
 canting, she contrived to remove both it and the vessel into an- 
 other house. — " Sometimes they would have taken to themselves 
 the names of devills and evil spirits, and took off their wigs, and 
 gapped and glowered at other, and lashed each other with their 
 whips : and one, in a mocking way, took brandy, and burnt it 
 on a plate, and gapped and glowered above the lowe, to see what 
 sort of a devill he would look," (Wodrotv, MSS. Adv. Lib.) — 
 From these extravagances of the military, probably has arisen 
 the belief that the persecutors, even while in the body, were en- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 221 
 
 men were despatched to various quarters, to keep 
 a good look out. The report brought in was, 
 that they had only heard a rumour of them be- 
 ing in the country, but could not inform them- 
 selves, if any were near at hand, or any stir in 
 that immediate neighbourhood. After remain- 
 ing in that defensive posture for three hours, 
 the body of the people dispersed to their quar- 
 ters, each accompanied with a guard of foot and 
 horse. In houses, barns, and empty places most 
 of them got accommodated, in a sort of way, with- 
 in a mile or two's distance. They had mostly 
 provided themselves both for board and lodging, 
 and the ministers were hospitably received at 
 houses. The night was rainy, but watches were 
 kept notwithstanding. As a point of prudence, 
 no intimation was given where the Monday's 
 meeting was to be kept ; this was not generally 
 known except to the minister-. The tent was 
 next clay erected on another hill-side near the 
 head of the parish, three or tour miles from the 
 place of the Sabbath meeting. The people seem- 
 ed nothing diminished in numbers on account of 
 the alarm, or the unpropitious *tate of the wi 
 ther. The hone and foot, as usual, drew round 
 
 dowed with satanic qualities — i penaemn -till cherished in the 
 
 cottages of Nithsdale, where it would be hereby to deny that 
 Lag's spittle was inflammatory, or that DeJxeH'l feel ITOold boil 
 water. 
 
222 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 about the congregation, the horse being outer- 
 most. Mr. Blackader closed this day from Heb. 
 xiii, 1, Let brotherly love continue ; and notwith- 
 standing the alarm, he continued three weeks 
 preaching up and down in that country." 
 
 u The very next Sabbath, he and Mr. Welsh 
 collected a great multitude on Dalscairth-hill, in 
 Troqueer, and the next at Glengaber, in Holy- 
 wood. After Mr. Blackader had gone to Edin- 
 burgh, Welsh kept another communion near 
 Kirkcudbright. At Edinburgh he had short 
 rest ; for he was immediately called to a meeting 
 four miles west of Lanark, where he had a nar- 
 row escape, and some of the people were taken 
 prisoners by the troopers stationed at Calder. 
 By riding here and at other places, in the rain 
 and cold, he contracted a severe and universal 
 rheumatism ; and yet the importunity of the 
 people allowed him no respite ; for at Glasgow he 
 was compelled to preach, being so unwell that he 
 could not walk or stand, but sat on a chair and 
 preached. On his way to the wells at Newmills, 
 he was taken so ill at Castlemilk, that he could 
 not be removed for fourteen days. For the con- 
 venience of physicians he returned to Glasgow ; 
 and for security was privately conveyed up aback 
 close to a friend's house, where he was confined 
 six weeks. Here some friends visited him pri- 
 vately ; but he was under constant terror of be- 
 ing apprehended, for he was well known to the 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 223 
 
 adversary. All the time he was here, in his 
 sickness, Donald Cargill had vast multitudes col- 
 lected about the west.'" 
 
 u At Glasgow he had a letter of invitation 
 from Mr. Welsh, who was in the west, and in- 
 tended a communion at Colmonel, in Airshire, 
 the last and largest of the kind that had ever 
 been in Scotland. This duty he was quite una- 
 ble to undertake : he was publicly prayed for on 
 the occasion, which was a great affliction to man v. 
 and omened ill. This communion was one of 
 the last and largest in Scotland. Many came in 
 their best furniture, and posture of defence, ex- 
 pecting violence, as the council had got notice of 
 it. There was a great many ministers officiating ; 
 but all the people dismissed in peace." 
 
 u Mr. Welsh was shortly after invited to Kil- 
 marnock ; but as they had an indulged minister 
 there he refused to go. Few of then went to 
 parishes, where the indulged were settled ; for 
 though they were against the indulgence, yet 
 they did not wish to shew their sentiments by 
 what looked more like a provoking bravado than 
 an edifying testimony. Besides, the people of 
 Kilmarnock were stiff, and would not alter the 
 place of meeting, and, therefore, he would not 
 t^ive in to their humour." 
 
 In September, when dissensions about the in- 
 dulgence had begun to run high, Mr. Hlackadcr 
 was able to remove to Edinburgh, and was tin 
 
^224 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 hearer of an overture from the ministers of Glas- 
 gow to their brethren in that city ; the purport 
 of which was, a recommendation " to avoid ex- 
 tremes, but continue preaching with as much 
 order, and as little clashing among themselves as 
 possible ; and to caution the young and hot men 
 on the evil consequences of their strifes and divi- 
 sions about the indulgence."" Matters, how- 
 ever, were too far gone to listen to this pacific 
 advice.* 
 
 Meetings were held at this time by many mi- 
 nisters, both indulged and non-indulged, who had 
 the union of the church much at heart, and wish- 
 ed to quench the flame which was threatening to 
 lay their cause in ashes. This lamentable schism 
 raged with great violence the summer preceding 
 Bothwell. A young generation of preachers had 
 risen up, of more fiery zeal and smaller compass 
 of knowledge ; and being under no judicial con- 
 trol, they ran into excesses in their discourses, 
 courting popularity, by loading, with uncharit- 
 able aspersions, all who differed from them, and 
 putting hard constructions on their actions. The 
 scheme of the indulgence was never relished by 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. i, 534. 
 
 Mr. Blackader did propose this overture to a meeting at Edin- 
 burgh ; but it was treated with contempt, and like pouring oil 
 on the flame ; some cried out, Divisive, divisive ; and others. 
 Come, let us unite. — Crookshank's Hist. 322. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 225 
 
 the people ; nor were those that complied with it 
 approved of by the field preachers, who had not, 
 however, renounced their fellowship, and might, 
 perhaps, have succeeded in healing this melan- 
 choly rent of the church. But time and perse- 
 cution had thinned the original stock of the mi- 
 nistry. Some were laid aside by age and infirmi- 
 ty ; others were exiled to rocks and islands, and 
 not a few languishing in miserable confinement. 
 
 " Such as were in the field, found it difficult, 
 amidst the jarring tempest of opinions, to give 
 an advice. The majority were of opinion, that 
 the times called more for meekness and patience 
 than any warlike enterprise; and that it was bet- 
 ter to continue under suffering, until they had 
 clearer revelation, than use carnal weapons of 
 their own ; for at this time there were several 
 sticklers in the west stirring up the people un- 
 derhand, amusing them with designs to rise in 
 arms, though there was no such joint resolution, 
 for any thing I know, either among gentry or 
 ministers, nor the most pious, solid, and grave 
 among the yeomen. The ringleader, Mr. Robert 
 Hamilton, held meetings in the country, and 
 
 also at Edinburgh, the summer before Bothwell- 
 
 bridge, for establishing a general correspondent- 
 
 but all this without acquainting the ministers] or 
 
 gentlemen who were in better capacity to manai 
 
 the busine The persons who held them were 
 
 not in ease to contrive Off conduct such an und^ 
 
 k t 
 
226 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 taking, and their conclusions would have little 
 influence on many." 
 
 Mr. Blackader was little abroad, from the time 
 of his sickness at Glasgow, until May 1679, 
 partly from his distemper, and partly from grief 
 at these unhappy dissensions. His eldest son, 
 William, newly returned from France, where he 
 had been prosecuting his medical studies, was 
 the means of saving his life, by performing an 
 operation for fistula. Fortunately this acceler- 
 ated his recovery, so far as to enable him to 
 escape the vigilance of the council, who, to avenge 
 an affront offered to one Johnston, their town-ma- 
 jor, had ordered peremptory banishment on all 
 ministers concealed within the burgh, as if they 
 had been accomplices in the insult. 
 
 The story of this assault, which occasioned 
 such hot pursuit, and on which the council be- 
 stowed the epithets of killing, murdering, 
 mortally wounding, &c. is related by Mr. 
 Blackader as follows.* — " One night a boy came, 
 and told Johnston there was a conventicle in a 
 certain close, for he was famously known for an ac- 
 tive agent of Satan to suppress preachings in the 
 city, and apprehend ministers, though sometimes 
 
 * This was a mere rhetorical flourish, as we shall meet with 
 the major three years after this, although the act describes him 
 as mortally wounded in several places of his body—Wodroic, 
 vol. ii, App. No. vi. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 2^27 
 
 he took money to overlook them. He (ever readv 
 for such mischief) presently took a party of the 
 town-guard, came and entered the house, where 
 he found some men met about business; who 
 seeing him enter so rudely with their weapons, 
 did challenge him why he came so briskly, find- 
 ing no conventicle there, (for it was a trick.) He 
 and they began to justle, (who were the aggres- 
 sors I cannot tell,) but he, with his men, were 
 the first provokers. Some of the gentlemen shot, 
 as is said, a tobacco stopple, or piece of broken 
 money, at one of his followers, a soldier from the 
 castle, who fell, and died within ten days after. 
 Another gripped the major himself, and cast him 
 down on the floor ; and they were so incensed, 
 that they offered to kill him. But he crying out 
 so ruefully to spare his life, and, as is said, he crv- 
 ed, ' For Christ's sake send me not to h-U, 1 and 
 ^\\ ore he would never trouble any of these meet- 
 ings again. Whether he was required to say this, 
 or said it in his fear, I cannot tell. Whereupon 
 they spared his life, and let him and his party go, 
 not without some blae strokes they had got. The 
 gentlemen then withdrew to their own quarters. 
 " The landlady of the house (Mrs. Crawford) 
 peering trouble, left it also, which was shortly 
 broken up, riffled, and made a prey of by order. 
 The wretched man, the major, being enraged, 
 forgetting the terror he was in, and all the vows 
 he had sworn to grow better, did first stir up the 
 
228 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 council to seize the house, break open the doors, 
 and plunder all. On the morrow, or third day af- 
 ter, a narrow and formidable search was made 
 throughout the town for strangers, and to find 
 out the persons who had offered such an affront 
 to their major, so useful a servant, not only to 
 the town of Edinburgh, but to the prelates and 
 their interest. Lithgow , s men, with the town con- 
 stables, were appointed to search. However none 
 of the persons present were found, neither could 
 it well be known, to this day, who they were. 
 
 But this search was not all ; for an act was 
 made by the council, That all ministers, dwell- 
 ing in Edinburgh, should be banished, with 
 their families, and ordered to remove within the 
 space of ten days, under the penalty of a hun- 
 dred pounds sterling for each family or person 
 that shall be thereafter found within the town or 
 suburbs. The magistrates were to cause their 
 constables to take up a list of the names and de- 
 signations of the haill persons, between sixteen 
 and sixty, that lodge in the city of Edinburgh, 
 each night ; the same to be given in, under pain 
 of a hundred merks for each persons name that 
 shall not be delivered up before ten o'clock at 
 night. This was one of the many violent blasts 
 of the council at the instigation of the prelates. 
 It was a severe thing to extrude all the mini- 
 sters, as though they had been advisers, actors, 
 or approvers of that deed. There is no doubt it 
 
EEV. JOHX BLACKADER. 229 
 
 was done by the prelates, in order to throw pub- 
 lic odium on them as men of such nefarious prin- 
 ciples and practice, though it is well known not 
 one minister was privy to it, or did approve of it. 
 
 " Notwithstanding this rigour, few ministers 
 went off the town, but retired to more private 
 houses, and hid themselves for a season. Mr. 
 Blackader and his wife concealed themselves in 
 the garret of an obscure house ; and in this com- 
 fortless retreat they lurked nearly a month, to 
 the utmost hazard of starvation. His children 
 were all dispersed to different friends" houses in 
 the town, and kept under hiding ; and when the 
 tumult had ceased, he removed to a different 
 lodging, and collected his family, where they 
 continued till May. At that time the house was 
 again searched on account of the murder of Pre- 
 late Sharp, which happened. on the third of that 
 month; but he escaped providentially, though in 
 the house all the while." 
 
 Mr. Blackader ventured to preach at Falo- 
 moor, in Livingstone, on the last Sabbath of Mav 
 1679, which happened to be the (lav before 
 Drumclog, though neither he nor the people 
 knew of it. His subject led him to speak of 
 
 defensive urns; but in handling it, it appears he 
 had by no means given satisfaction. Contrast- 
 ing their spiritual with their militarv prepara- 
 tions for these meetings, lie proceeded. — M When 
 you come forth with swords in your hands, to 
 
230 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 defend the worship of God, it is well; but what- 
 ever you endeavour with your hostile weapons, 
 I would have you trust little to them. If the 
 preparations and frame, spoken of in the text, 
 were added, every enterprise would look well- 
 favoured and promising of success ; every other 
 duty would speed the better. This would make 
 your endeavours more acceptable, and prosper 
 the weapons put into your hands. But so long 
 as this is awanting, I fear it be not well, nor need 
 we expect it in God^s ordinary providence ; I 
 will not say what he may do in his absolute so- 
 vereignty. I see a readiness to appear and de- 
 fend the cause by instruments of war, which is, 
 indeed, warrantable in its season; but oh! if this 
 qualification be not added, all else will little 
 avail." 
 
 " After sermon, some honest men came to 
 him as they used to do. They were on their 
 way westward, having heard the rumour of some 
 friends combining in arms. He perceived them 
 looking angry and discontented like. ' We fear, 
 sir, you have discouraged the people, by not put- 
 ting them more forward to appear in arms : they 
 needed a word of exhortation and upstirring, 
 and not to cool their ardour as you have done.'' 
 < I do not," 5 said he, ' condemn honest endeavours 
 to redress your wrongs: I should be the first, in 
 cases where there is clearness, to stand up and 
 defend the gospel ; but I fear forwardness with- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 231 
 
 out deliberation." After some further conference 
 
 • 
 
 they were brought to a better understanding. 
 
 " About this time, there were several people 
 more forward than godly, prudent, or charitable, 
 who upbraided ministers that they did not press 
 the people more, or preach so and so, according 
 to their mind ; but little did they consider, how 
 much ministers were difficulted to give advice 
 therein, perceiving the case so intricate, for want 
 of clearness; yet the few who stickled under- 
 hand, still continued to meddle, so that poor peo- 
 ple were put to great uncertainty, and knew not 
 how to behave : their consciences were tortured : 
 their hearts grieved ; and their spirits fretted. 
 But the council, still furious to suppress their 
 meetings, by sending forces from time to time to 
 dissipate them, and take prisoners, was the main 
 cause why they went forth in arms; otherwise 
 they would not, if their rulers had not, by their 
 violent persecution, provoked them to that neees- 
 Btjr." 
 
 The " Rising at Bothwell," although secretly 
 instigated by a few fiery zealots, was, no doubt, 
 the unavoidable result of the mad frenzy of the 
 administration. The policy of Lauderdale and 
 friends was to excite a revolt. They did not 
 conceal their purpose; bllt broadlv avowed their 
 design to render the presbyterians desperate, and 
 impel them to open insurrection. They wished 
 to create a necessity for keeping up a standing 
 
232 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 army, and to justify their own violence under 
 pretext of quelling a rebellion : And so much did 
 they reckon upon this, that they were already ex- 
 ulting, in gloomy rapture, at the idea, and divid- 
 ing in hope the confiscated estates of the rebels 
 among themselves.* 
 
 For sometime previous to Both well, the unpo- 
 pularity of the indulgence, and the indiscreet zeal 
 of the younger preachers, excited new discontents 
 in the west, which government had attempted to 
 allay by imposing the bond against religious se- 
 paration. By this deed, noblemen, barons, and 
 landholders were required to bind themselves for 
 the whole persons residing within their estates, 
 that they should not frequent conventicles, reset 
 or supply vagrant preachers, but use their utmost 
 endeavours to bring the contraveners to justice. 
 This was generally refused as unreasonable and 
 impracticable, since the subscribers must either 
 depopulate their lands, by expelling all whose re- 
 ligious principles they suspected, or incur certain 
 destruction by becoming surety for those whom 
 it was impossible to restrain ; and this responsi- 
 bility put it in the power of their tenants or mean- 
 est servant utterly to ruin them. 
 
 To enforce subscription, a new expedient had 
 been resorted to. An army of ten thousand men 
 
 * Burnet's Hist. vol. i, 418. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 23S 
 
 were invited from the mountains of the north, 
 consisting chiefly of barbarous Highlanders, fero- 
 cious in their manners, and trained to habits of 
 depredation.* This lawless and undisciplined 
 crew were let loose to live at free quarters, and 
 exact discretionary penalties from all who refused 
 to sign the bond. It may readily be imagined, to 
 what excesses a tumultuary rabble would go, na- 
 turally addicted to plunder, and without either 
 law or humanity to restrain them. They were 
 sent among men whom they had been taught to 
 consider as untractable rebels, and wild enthusi- 
 asts, who merited the worst treatment. Every 
 variety of insolence and exorbitance was practis- 
 ed : their rapacity made no distinction of age or 
 sex : those who subscribed, and those who refus- 
 ed, were equally the victims of indiscriminate 
 pillage. Threats and torture were employed to 
 extort a confession of hidden wealth. Every ar- 
 ticle they laid their hands on was appropriated 
 without reserve ; and as they had been nurtured 
 in indigence, and strangers to refinement, the 
 most trivial and common utensils appeared valu- 
 
 • They had no small store of ammunition with them, tour 
 tield-pieces, fttt numbers of spades, shovels, mattocks, $UB» M 
 they had been to attack fortifications. They had good ston 
 iron-shackles .md thumb-locks, to make their examinations and 
 triaK with. In this posture came they west, in a time ut j 
 found peace fVbdfCW, vol. i. lb?. 
 
234 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 able. The people were not only stripped of their 
 clothes and furniture, but deprived of the means 
 of defence ; all persons being required to surren- 
 der their horses and ordinary arms. In this con- 
 dition, and in a time of profound peace, the 
 country was ravaged like a conquered province ; 
 a sober and industrious peasantry were delivered 
 up to a horde of barbarians, to be robbed and 
 pillaged with impunity. u The voice of the na- 
 tion was raised against this enormous outrage ; 
 and after two months free quarter, the Highland- 
 ers were sent back to their hills, loaded with the 
 spoils and execrations of the west."* 
 
 .. 
 
 Hume's Hist. chap. lxvi. 
 
 When the Highlanders returned, one would have thought 
 they had been at the sacking of some besieged town. They car- 
 ried away a great many horses, and no small quantity of goods 
 out of merchants' shops ; whole webs of linen and woollen cloth, 
 silver plate, &c. You would have seen them with loads of bed- 
 clothes, carpets, wearing apparel, pots, pans, gridirons, shoes, 
 and other furniture, whereof they had pillaged the country. — 
 In a single county, (Air,) their depredations are under-rated 
 at £137,499," (Wodrow, vol. i, 493.) " It is most remark- 
 able," says the editor of Kirkton, " that not one Whig lost his 
 life in this invasion." This, even if it had been true, would not 
 have been at all remarkable. These crusaders had no enemy to 
 encounter, and met with no resistance. People took patiently 
 the spoiling of their goods. But the assertion is contradicted by 
 several instances of death ; besides torturing, cutting off fingers 
 and hands, and committing the most brutal vices, over which 
 modesty and decency must draw a veil. — Wodrowy vol. i, Book 
 ii, chap. 13, sect. 3 MSS. Account of High. Host, Adv. Lib. 
 
REV JOHX BLACKADKR. 235 
 
 These northern invaders were speedily repla- 
 ced by five thousand additional troops ; and for 
 their support eighteen hundred thousand pounds 
 were to be levied from the country, by monthly 
 assessments. The lawfulness of paying this cess 
 became matter of great debate to the presbyte- 
 rians. Many argued, that it was contributing to 
 bear down the freedom of the gospel, and aggra- 
 vating their grievances, by strengthening the 
 hands of their oppressors. 
 
 Affairs had been gradually hastening the pro- 
 gress of insurrection, but no severity had been able 
 to provoke the fugitives to seek redress by arms. 
 They came armed to conventicles, where retalia- 
 tions were sometimes made on the soldiers; but, if 
 unmolested, they committed no aggressions, and 
 after sermon dispersed in peace. They were aware 
 of the dark and insidious policy of their enemies ; 
 and this made them more careful to disappoint 
 their expectations by suffering patiently ; and 
 their forbearance must appear astonishing, consi- 
 dering the extent and duration of their sufferings. 
 It is more surprising that they should have borne 
 so long, than that after nineteen years of almost 
 unremitted misery, they should try to extricate 
 themselves from beneath the feet of their oppress 
 0T8, and >\\dke off the intolerable yoke under 
 which they had so patiently groaned. There 18 
 abundant evidence, that they took thifl Step with 
 reluctance, and not until tvrannv had reached tlu 
 
236 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 last climax of injustice and cruelty. They aver- 
 red, that their appearance in a warlike attitude 
 was merely defensive and involuntary, and not 
 assumed until they had lost all hope of redress by 
 gentler methods : that upon obtaining their re- 
 quest, which was only to worship God in their 
 own way, they were ready to throw down their 
 weapons, and submit to lawful authority.* They 
 were willing to lay their grievances calmly at the 
 foot of the throne ; but this was rendered impos- 
 sible ; for they were prohibited to approach the 
 capital, lest their cry should reach the ear of the 
 sovereign. It was dangerous if it had been per- 
 mitted, since, by the law, complaints were made 
 criminal, and expressions of discontent were con- 
 strued into sedition. Their hardships excited 
 neither pity nor compunction in the hearts of their 
 countrymen ; and they were forbidden to leave 
 the kingdom, or embrace the proffered kindness 
 of strangers. 
 
 Wherever they turned, they beheld objects 
 calculated to incite and exasperate their passions. 
 They could not go where their eyes did not en- 
 counter some revolting spectacle, some monument 
 of cruelty. They saw themselves driven from 
 the habitations of men, as enemies to human kind, 
 
 * Declaration of Oppressed Protestants in Arms in Scotland. 
 Wodrow, vol. ii, 59. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 287 
 
 — liable to be seized or shot at the pleasure of 
 the meanest sentinel, and without regard to law 
 or humanity- They saw their houses plundered 
 and tenantless, — their families flying from hill to 
 hill, enduring the extremities of hunger and cold; 
 — the mangled limbs of their relations exhibited 
 to public scorn, and stuck on poles and gates, — 
 the ghastly trophies of bloody foes. Those heads 
 and hands, which their enemies, in derision, had 
 fixed in the mock attitude of prayer, seemed, in 
 their eyes, to be pleading with heaven for retri- 
 bution, and crying for vengeance to expiate their 
 blood. They saw their own lives in continual 
 jeopardy, and knew not but every moment the 
 sassin might be at their door, — that every spot 
 of ground they trod might be their scaffold and 
 their sepulchre. 
 
 " These accumulated oppression-." says Mr. 
 Blackader, u filled people's minds with sorrow- 
 ful and perplexing thoughts. Many were at their 
 wits end, and knew not what to do, or where to 
 >, under so long continued, so often renewed, 
 and extreme pressure. They were fined, inter- 
 communed, denounced rebels, hunted like bea 
 of prey, and pursued even to death if they had 
 but a sword about them, until their lives wi 
 made bitter and a burden : riving from place to 
 
 place, sometimes singly, sometimes in parties, as 
 
 they might best fend for their lives : and this 
 makes it wonderful that the poor remnant m 
 
288 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Scotland did not do more for their own relief un- 
 der the blood-thirsty church-and-reformation-de- 
 stroying prelates. But they did submissively 
 bear all, until Mr. Robert Hamilton, and about 
 eighty men, did rashly, and without due consi- 
 deration, burn the acts of council at Rutherglen 
 about a month before Both well, on the king's an- 
 niversary ." This insult was exasperated by the 
 defeat of Claverhouse at Loudon-hill, three days 
 afterwards, by a conventicle of undisciplined pea- 
 santry. Both parties were impelled to desperate 
 extremes. The government was bent upon re- 
 venge: the presbyterians were inflamed by the 
 fiery and contracted sentiments of the unexperi- 
 enced preachers ; and many were innocently en- 
 tangled in the delusive projects of their leaders. 
 Such was the origin of the " Rising in the 
 West;" and from " these sad prognostics, the 
 spiritually sagacious easily foresaw and dreaded 
 its catastrophe." 
 
 At this time, Mr. Blackader was confined in 
 Edinburgh the whole month of June, by a severe 
 rheumatism. " He hindered none from appear- 
 ing in arms that were clear and in capacity to as- 
 sist, although he was much jumbled in his own 
 mind anent that particular, and used to say, both 
 before and after, he did not see a call for rising 
 so clear as he could like. Though he alwayes 
 reverenced the providence of the Rising, and ap- 
 proved honest designs ; yet his opinion was, that 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 239 
 
 the Lord called for a testimony by suffering ra- 
 ther than outward deliverance/" Of this affair, 
 he has given a tolerably full and interesting ac- 
 count, which agrees substantially with others giv- 
 en elsewhere, and might, therefore, have been 
 omitted, were it not doing something like injus- 
 tice to his memory, to pass by any event on which 
 he has chosen to express his sentiments. His el- 
 dest son, Dr. William Blackader, was present, 
 and took an active part in the affair.* 
 
 " The presbyterian forces drew together, sonic 
 of them more confusedly, and some more orderly, 
 in troops and companies, with such appointment 
 
 they had. Mr. Welsh was sent for, who, with 
 several gentlemen and others, came up from the 
 western parts a few days after, whereby their 
 number was much increased. Several that were 
 drawn together, and advancing toward the main 
 body, were suppressed ere they got, as in Tiviot- 
 dale. A party of them at a rendezvous, before 
 they got joined with the rest of the shire, (met at 
 another place,) were set upon by the Earl of 
 Dalhousie and broken, though he also made haste 
 and fled for fear, hearing the country was rising. 
 
 me gentlemen and others in Fife, who were 
 formerly lurking, essayed to draw together, be- 
 fore the rest of the shire were ready, and to 
 
 Iiu>g. Scoticana. 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 march toward the body in the west, intending to 
 cross the Forth above Stirling, because they 
 durst not venture over at the Queensferry. But 
 they were intercepted by a party of gentlemen 
 and others at Dumblaine, and were also broken, 
 some wounded and many taken prisoners ; among 
 whom were Kinkel, Robert Hamilton of Dal- 
 grum, (who was mutilate of a hand at that ren- 
 counter,) all which hindered the rising and com- 
 ing together of that shire. 
 
 " However, many resorted from all airts on 
 this side Tay unto the main body, and that with 
 great cheerfulness and singleness of heart, hear- 
 ing there was many together for vindication ol 
 and witnessing for the borne-down work of re- 
 formation, and thought it their duty to come 
 forth in haste, to assist their brethren in such an 
 exigence, with such furniture as they had, and 
 without any more deliberation or prevjous con- 
 sultation, but to testify their respect and willing- 
 ness to own the good cause. The prelatick par- 
 ty being greatly alarmed with such a rise, pro- 
 cured Dalzell to be brought in and made lieuten- 
 ant-general again, as he had been at Pentland, 
 and also a regiment of dragoons to be sent foi 
 from England, being diffident of their own forces 1 
 ability fo suppress that rising of their own op- 
 pressed countrymen. This was all the relief in- 
 tended for the afflicted, to suppress them by yet 
 more violence, and call for the help of strangers, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 241 
 
 who were ever readv enough to shed Scots 
 blood. 
 
 " The countrymen, after they were drawn to- 
 gether, stvled themselves the presbyterian party. 
 Few of the gentry did appear at this rise, more 
 than at Pentland. Yet several did, who were 
 men of as whole, though not as great estates as 
 many others who did not, and gentlemen both of 
 good judgment and resolution. I have heard 
 the number of the party reckoned by some six 
 thousand, bv others seven thousand, horse and 
 foot. It cannot be supposed they would be so 
 well provided for defence in so sudden sur- 
 prisal, as they might have been upon deliberation 
 or purpose for such an enterprise. However, 
 they wanted not swords ; some guns and pistolls. 
 as thev had beside them for the time. 
 
 " After they had got together, there was some 
 modelling of them into troops and foot compa- 
 nies: they had also some council of war; but were 
 not marshalled into regiments, nor had they cho- 
 sen colonels, majors, or other officers, as a form- 
 ed army should have had. I heard they were 
 resolute enough, especially the body of the peo- 
 ple, and the time they were together obeyed com- 
 mand ; likewise acquitted themselves well when 
 sent out on parties till the day they were broken. 
 Hut the saddest thing which fell out among 
 them, and that which proved most fatal, so to 
 speak, was the multiplied jealousies and mistakes 
 
 L 
 
242 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 one of another ; also differences, animosities, and 
 contentions mutually about that woeful subject 
 concerning the indulgence, and the indulged par- 
 ty. What influence the indulgence had on any 
 of them there, I cannot tell; but tremendous 
 were these hot contentions, alienations, mutual 
 upbraiding, &c. For ought I am informed, 
 there were mutual distempers, through passion, 
 on every side, and too peremptorie contradicting 
 one another ; and though there was much differ- 
 ing anent that proclamation, especially about 
 picking out that single article concerning the 
 king, and defending him, (who had declared so 
 manifestly that he would neither defend that 
 work of reformation, nor be defended by them in 
 defence thereof:) one difference, I say, was &- 
 bout picking out this article, only by itself, and 
 putting it in that short declaration. Yet was 
 that declaration proclaimed publicly at the cross 
 of Hamilton, wherein was held forth their griev- 
 ances for suppressing the free preaching of the 
 gospel, and oppressing the people for adhering 
 thereto; and that they intended no other thing by 
 their rise, but defence of their reformation rights, 
 according to their solemn vows in the national 
 covenants. 
 
 " At this time, the Duke of Monmouth was 
 made general of the king^s forces in Scotland, to 
 compose this rise, having (as I heard) an ample 
 commission to hear grievances, and redress them, 
 
REV. JOHN' BLACKADER. 243 
 
 as he found reason and necessity. But the pre- 
 latick party and council, when he came, pushed 
 him forward to fight and suppress them only by 
 violence, (which has ever been their policy,) with- 
 out any treating; accounting them rebels not wor- 
 thy to be treated with. 
 
 " They obtained also to get his commission 
 restricted and limited, (as to shewing any favour 
 or mitigation to presbylerians,) by what it was at 
 first. The armv under the duke's command 
 consulted of the former forces raised by the con- 
 vention of estates, with a declared intention to 
 suppress the preaching of the gospel by any non- 
 conform minister. These forces extended, in all, 
 to the number of four or five thousand horse, 
 foot and dragoon^ To these were added the 
 militia troops, and foot companies, called to- 
 gether from their respective shires; as also the 
 heritors, with their attendants, to join the army 
 under the duke, con>isting, in all, as I heard, a- 
 bout fifteen thousand, and these well appointed 
 for war with arms, cannons, ammunition, and all 
 warlike furniture. 
 
 M The duke's army camped on the north side 
 of the Clyde, about the parishes of Shotts and 
 (ainnethan. The countrvnien camped on the 
 south side, in the parishes of Hamilton, Hothwell, 
 he*; parties from both mutually skinnishin 
 with several advantages on the country men's side, 
 till Sabbath morning, June 22, twenty days at- 
 
244 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ter the first day of that rising. In the dawning 
 of that Sabbath, the duke, with his whole army, 
 approached to Bothwell-bridge, and there placed 
 his cannon. The bridge was well fortified with 
 a considerable party of foot, and some horse, on 
 the other side, (who had only one cannon or two 
 at most.) The rest of the country army w r ere 
 drawn up, as they might, on the moor beside the 
 bridge. The duke^s cannon played hard against 
 them, but with little hurt to the countrymen, 
 who kept the bridge, they laying about houses, 
 and having fortified the bridge as much as might 
 be. They also answered the duke^s men with 
 muskets and the cannon they had, resolutely de- 
 fending the bridge and their ground, with hard 
 debate, for the space of two or three hours, till 
 their ammunition was spent; and crying for more, 
 (as I heard,) they were not answered with sup- 
 ply ; what was the reason let them answer for it 
 who withheld it.* In the meantime, the presby- 
 terian army resolves to seek a parley or cessation 
 from the duke, and sent two of their number 
 expressly with that intention, a young gentlemen 
 and a minister, with a drummer before them, 
 to beat a parley. Their address was to this 
 purpose, viz. for hearing of what grievances they 
 
 * This deficiency of ammunition, it is said, was partly owing 
 to the treachery or mistake of a merchant in Hamilton, who had 
 sent a barrel of raisins instead of gun-powder. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 245 
 
 had to propose, and in the meantime a cessation 
 of arms. After beating a parley, they went a- 
 long the bridge, and got access to the duke, who 
 was inclining to give them a more favourable an- 
 swer. But several Scots noblemen did so stir 
 up and instigate the duke, that they dissuaded 
 him from hearkening, or granting them any ces- 
 sation, but presently to fall on with force, unk 
 they should cast down their arms, and render 
 themselves at mercy, within the space of half an 
 hour, or an hour at most. 
 
 " When these two had stayed about an hour 
 with the duke, they were dismissed ; and should 
 have had due time to go back and advise with 
 the rest ; but they were not well along the bridge 
 till the duke's cannon began to play as hard as 
 formerly. The two commissioners returned to 
 their own body, which was drawn up at distal* 
 from the bridge, as is said ; and calling together 
 such as they had to consult with, they related 
 the duke's answer, but had no time to deliberate. 
 It was thought this sending to parley did much 
 
 dishearten the people, who were before this very 
 solute to light. But then their jealousies, ani- 
 mosities, and contentions, also their want of com- 
 mon joint courage, and general officers to con- 
 duet them, and ral of their troops not coin- 
 pleated with inferior officers, a- also hearing of 
 the brisk answer of the duke, all mueh fainted, 
 and were destitute of counsel. It was resolved. 
 
246 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 as is said, by Robert Hamilton, that the party 
 should be called back from the bridge, and join 
 with the body, that the enemy might come over 
 and give them battle on the fair field. This is 
 said to be order, forsooth ! which whether well 
 resolved or not, I leave to the judgment of others 
 skilled in military affairs. However, that reso- 
 lute party was brought from the bridge, whether 
 they got to their body or not I am uncertain ; 
 but the bridge being deserted, the duke^s army 
 instantly marched hard over, the English dra- 
 goons or executioners being the foremost ; and as 
 they came over to the other side, they drew up 
 in battalia ; the which, with what I hinted at 
 above, did occasion such a consternation in the 
 army of the countrymen, that the generality of 
 their horse fled, some pretending to take up bet- 
 ter ground ; some one thing, some another ; hoAv- 
 ever it turned to a universal flight, first of the 
 horse, then of the foot. 
 
 " The duke^s army coming up with force and 
 violence, especially the English butchers, and 
 Claverhouse with his troops, did, indeed, make 
 barbarous execution among the poor foot, who 
 were in no case to defend themselves, but in dis- 
 order ; for after that manly defence and resist- 
 ance at the bridge, I heard of no more that day 
 but flying upon the countrymen's side ; and on 
 the other side, a miserable massacring and mur- 
 dering, especially of the poor footmen, whose 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 247 
 
 blood yet cryeth to the heavens for avengement. 
 It is to be marked, that before the parley then 
 was great courage and resolute forwardness a- 
 mong the country army, and a signal fear, even 
 like a consternation, among the duke's army, for 
 all their numbers and provisions for war : but 
 after quitting the bridge, it was observed that 
 there fell a great damp of fear and confusion 
 among the countrymen, and, on the other side, 
 a renewing of their confidence and resolution ; 
 though before, (as I heard,) their officer> had 
 enough ado to cause their men to set face over 
 the water, or keep them from running back. 
 
 " I have often heard that the gentleman who 
 did always take the chief command and conduct 
 on himself, to-wit, R. Hamilton, behaved not 
 worthily that day, shewing neither courage, con- 
 duct, nor resolution ; but, at best, as a man 
 damped or demented, and also among the fori - 
 most that fled. I heard also, that of all the 
 duke's army, the former modelled forces, vi, 
 the gentlemen of the life-guard, and Lithgow 
 regiment, carryed more humanelv to the fhers 
 than the bloody English ; the more barbarous 
 country militia, but especially Claverhouse and 
 his troop, were they who did the most cruel 
 execution.* But it pleased the Lord to order it 
 
 • I cannot refrain from presenting the reader *ith a charat 
 
248 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 so, that the duke caused sound a retreat to those 
 men who were pursuing, and within a little after 
 he perceived the countrymen fly. Yet though 
 the retreat was sounded, Claverhouse and the 
 English dragoons were so cruelly set for blood 
 
 of this far-famed and accomplished hcro^ which appeared some 
 months ago in a foreign journal. It is evidently done by a mas- 
 terly though anonymous pencil, and gives us a tolerable idea of 
 that personal symmetry and feminine beauty of features with 
 which the gallant viscount has been drawn in the paintings of 
 historical romance. — " Here I distinctly saw the features and 
 shape of this far-famed man. He was small of stature, and not 
 well formed — his arms were long in proportion to his legs — he 
 had a complexion unusually dark — his cheeks were lank, and 
 deeply furrowed — his eye-brows were drawn down, and gathered 
 into a kind of knot at their junction, and thrown up at their ex- 
 tremities ; they had, in short, the strong expression given by 
 our painters to those on the face of Judas Iscariot — his eyes 
 were hollow ; they had not the lustre of genius, nor the fire of 
 vivacity ; they were lighted up by that dark fire of wrath which 
 is kindled and fanned by an eternal anxiety, and consciousness 
 of criminal deeds — his irregular and large teeth were presented 
 through a smile, — very unusual on his set of features — his mouth 
 seemed to be unusually large, from the extremities being drawn 
 backward and downward, as if in the intense application to some- 
 thing cruel and disgusting — in short, his upper teeth projected 
 over his under lip ; and, on the whole, presented to my view the 
 mouth of the image of the Emperor Julian the Apostate," (Co- 
 pied from Christ. Inst, for Nov. 1822.) — This portrait sets the 
 original very distinctly before the eye of the imagination ; and, 
 if there be any truth in the observation that the face is an index 
 to the mind, it exhibits an exterior altogether befitting the dark 
 and sanguinary spirit that inhabited it. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 249 
 
 and murther that they could not be restrained, 
 till they were restrained by force of some parties 
 sent out by the duke on purpose ; and some of 
 them, as I heard, were knocked down by gentle- 
 men of the life-guard, who were grieved to Bee 
 the Englishmen delighting so much to shed their 
 countrymen's blood. 
 
 " The flyers were pursued on all hands for 
 three or four miles, or farther : much slaughter 
 was made, to the number of about four hundred, 
 and many sorely wounded, whereof several dyed 
 afterward. The old laird of Earlstone, coming 
 up from Galloway that day to the army, and ap- 
 proaching near, met the flyers, but would not be- 
 lieve their army was defeated, and came still for- 
 ward, till some English rencountered with him, 
 viz. one Major Main, who basely murdered him, 
 when he might have taken him prisoner,, 
 
 " After the retreat was Bounded, they fell on 
 taking prisoners, which were above twelve hun- 
 dred, on the place, who were all gathered to- 
 gether about a gallows that stood there,* and 
 
 pillows gave occasion tor many calumnious and un- 
 founded reports, — u That the lebcDi had set it up in the middle 
 
 of their cam}), and pr epar ed a cartfull of new ropes, in order to 
 hang up the king's soldiers, n fc& {Mt m oi fi qf Captain Crc'nh- 
 ton.) Thete random md slanderous surmises, the mere fahrica- 
 tion of enemies, have more recently been held up as matter of 
 extreme Credibility, if not of incontrovertible truth, (Arnot's 
 
250 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 kept in that place all night (and made to lye flat 
 on their faces on the ground) with a strong guard. 
 Some of our cruel Scotsmen I will not name, in- 
 stigate the duke to cut them all off after they 
 were prisoners, and to that effect caused ru- 
 mour a false alarm about midnight, as if there had 
 been a rallying of the country forces together 
 again, though there was no ground for it, but 
 to get a pretext for murdering all the prisoners, 
 which shews forth, by one instance among many, 
 the cruel inclination of the prelatick party, hard- 
 ened under all the days of the gospel, which 
 they most maliciously opposed, and constantly 
 set themselves to suppress. That night were 
 these prisoners delivered to Marr's regiment, some 
 of whose officers were very barbarous to them, 
 and would not suffer servant- women, who came 
 there to give them water to drink in their vehe- 
 ment drouth, and fainting under their sore 
 wounds, but despitefully broke the vessels, and 
 
 Hist. Edin. chap. iv. RusseVs Ace. of Sharp's Murder , Note 
 p. 470.) That the " editor of Kirkton" should believe such 
 opprobrious conjectures, will surprise nobody ; but they were 
 certainly beneath the notice of a professed historian. It is not 
 known that the ivhigs reared this gallows, much less what their 
 thoughts and intentions were. It might have been the gibbet of 
 a malefactor ; or, what is most probable, a former erection of 
 the military who had for years overrun that country, and need- 
 ed many of these structures for their ignominious and barbarous 
 exhibitions. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 251 
 
 cast out the water after it was brought, threaten- 
 ing and beating the poor women, who vet still 
 fetched more, and were at length tolerate by 
 some of their officers more humane." 
 
 Next day they Mere marched to Edinburgh half 
 naked and bare-foot, and, in this state of wretched- 
 ness, imprisoned in Greyfriar's church-yard. In 
 this open inclosure they remained nearly five 
 months, day and night, without shelter, and with 
 no other accommodation than the ground for their 
 repose. Their friends and relations were atten- 
 tive in supplying them with clothes, money, and 
 other necessaries; and, on this occasion, Mr. 
 Blaekader signalized himself by his active hu- 
 manitv. These benevolent services were often 
 intercepted by the avarice of their keepers, who 
 made a traffic of the miseries of their fellow-crea- 
 tures, permitting access to none without a re- 
 ward. The greater part of them were liberated 
 upon enacting themselves in a bond not to take 
 up arms without, or against his majesty's autho- 
 rity. About two bundled and fifty-seven, who 
 refuatd the bond, were ordered to be transported 
 to Barbadoes, and sold for slaves ; but the vessel 
 was wrecked in the Orkneys, where most of them 
 poriflhfidi The story of this tragical voyage is 
 given by Mr. Blackader, with which I shall con- 
 clude this chapter. 
 
 " The prisoners were all shipped in Leith 
 Roads (15th November) in an English captain's 
 
252 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 vessel, to be carried to America. He was a pro- 
 fane cruel wretch, and used them barbarously, 
 stowing them up between decks, where they 
 could not get up their heads except to sit or 
 lean, and robbing them of many things their 
 friends sent them for their relief. They never 
 were in such strait and pinch, particularly through 
 scorching drouth, as they were allowed little or 
 no drink, and pent up together, till many of them 
 fainted, and were almost suffocated. This was 
 in Leith Roads, besides what straits they would 
 readily endure in the custody of such a cruel 
 wretch. In this grievous plight, these captives 
 were carried away in much anguish of spirit, 
 pinched bodies, and disquieted conscience, (at least 
 those who had taken the bond.) They were 
 tossed at sea with great tempest of weather for 
 three weeks, till at last their ship cast anchor, to 
 ride awhile among the Orkney isles, till the storm 
 might calm. But after casting anchor, the ship 
 did drive with great violence upon a rugged 
 shore about the isles, and struck about ten at 
 night on a rock. The cruel captain saw the 
 hazard all were in, and that they might have 
 escaped, as some did ; yet, as I heard, he would 
 not open the hatches to let the poor prisoners 
 fend for themselves. He, with his seamen, made 
 their escape by a mast laid over between the ship 
 and the rock ashore. Some leapt on the rock. 
 The ship being strong, endured several strokes 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 253 
 
 ere she bilged. The captain, and all the rest of 
 the seamen, with about fifty prisoners, some of 
 whom had been above deck before, others had 
 broke out some other way, down to the den, and 
 so up again, so that they wan to land with their 
 life in ; one or two died ashore. While these 
 were thus escaping, the rest, who had all been 
 closed up between decks, crying most pitifully, 
 and working, as they could, to break forth of 
 their prison, but to little purpose; and all these, 
 near two hundred, with lamentable shrieks of 
 dying men, (as was related to the writer by one 
 who escaped,) did perish. The most part were 
 cast out on the shore dead, and after buried bv 
 the country people. 
 
 " It was found, by some who examined those 
 that escaped, that many of them had refused to 
 take the bond. Vet a few of those who had not 
 taken it were drowned ; albeit this is soberlv 
 marked, because these outward things fall much 
 alike to all. It was, however, a puzzling dis- 
 pensation like many others.^ 
 
 The reason why Mr. Blackader makes tin- 
 observation is, that lie had been consulted* bv 
 
 -hlc blinds came to Mr. Hlackadcr. ICfrimiilMl 
 the hard case of these poor men, ar.d dealt with him to pa 
 them to subscribe the bond ; tor some ministers not only advised 
 them to take it, but threatened that they would be guilty of their 
 own blood if they took it not. Whereupon most part engaged : 
 
254 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the prisoners, in Greyfriars, about the propriety 
 of taking the bond ; but thinking it unlawful, he 
 dissuaded them from it ; he seems, however, 
 half inclined to ascribe the preservation of those 
 who escaped to their refusal of that illegal 
 tender. 
 
 but crying out, even to those who advised them, ' If there be 
 any sin in it, let it be required at your hands.' But he being 
 fixed of the unlawfulness of it, told them, that he confessed their 
 case was hard, and did much pity them ; but neither durst nor 
 would advise them to take it, seeing he judged it a sin. ' Then,' 
 said the burgess, ' their blood will be required at your hand.* 
 To which he, in sobriety, replied, < That is a hard saying, espe- 
 cially having given you my reason why I cannot.' However, 
 this his refusing to advise them, was sweet peace to him after 
 that sad dispensation fell out of their being cast away," (Black- 
 adcr's Mezn. Adv. Lib.) Mr. Blackader wrote a short treatise 
 against this bond, which is among the Wodrow MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
BEV. JOHN BLACKADER. 255 
 
 CHAPTER ML 
 
 Indemnity and third Indulgence — Mr. Black- 
 ader still preaches in the Fields — His Voyage 
 to Holland — Returns, and visits Xithsdalt 
 and Annandale — Is apprehended and sent to 
 the Bass. 
 
 By the interest of the Duke of Monmouth, an 
 act of indemnity and a third indulgence were pro- 
 cured ; but Lauderdale, who drew the former, 
 had the address to convert it rather into an am- 
 nesty for himself and his friends than a protec- 
 tion for the unfortunate sufferers. By this act 
 of toleration, hou>e-conventicles were allowed ; 
 but it was still made capital to preach in fields. 
 
 and treason to bear arm-. Ministers might be 
 
 admitted to parishes upon their petitioning the 
 council, and giving security for their peaceable 
 behaviour, under bond of six thousand merk 
 This was, however, but a short-lived favour, and 
 it wafl ipeedily loaded with restriction-, that 
 amounted to a virtual repeal. Vmu were per- 
 mitted to preach at house-meetings without li- 
 ng from the council; and thoc were not to be 
 
256 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 held within a mile of any parish church, or twelve 
 miles of Edinburgh. No minister was to be set- 
 tled in his former parish, " lest the people, under 
 pretence of indissoluble relation, should totally 
 abandon their orthodox and orderly pastor set- 
 tled by law? They were also forbidden to ex- 
 ercise church discipline and other functions of 
 their office ; and punishable if they were found to 
 keep presbyteries or synods, " those nurseries of 
 schism and sedition? 
 
 This indulgence had a temporary effect in re- 
 lieving several fugitives and intercommuned per- 
 sons, and some ministers began to preach who 
 had remained silent since 1662. The field preach- 
 ers, who perceived a snare in every favour, were 
 not disposed to submit to such restraints, but to 
 exercise their ministry without the control of a 
 council, in or out of doors, as best suited their 
 hearers. 
 
 To give a practical testimony against this un- 
 reasonable thraldom, Mr. Blackader ventured, 
 at much hazard, to officiate within the various 
 forbidden boundaries. " He preached at the 
 house of Sir James Stuart of Goodtrees, within 
 two miles of Edinburgh, and at Southfield, in 
 the parish of Cramond,* where about four thou- 
 
 * u A remarkable passage occurred at Cramond kirk, after 
 Bothwell-brig affair, when there was a greater libertie than we 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 257 
 
 sand were assembled, lawyers, advocates, burgess- 
 es, soldiers, and common beggars ; yet all gave 
 
 had enjoyed for many years, but lasted not long. The curate 
 of that parish happened to be absent-one Sunday when my father 
 had got a call to preach within that bounds. When the people 
 were gathering, some gentlemen came to my father, and said, 
 • Sir, our curate is not at home to-day, we think ye may e'en 
 come and preach in the kirk/ ' Well,' says he, 4 if you will 
 venture to hear me, I'll venture to preach ;' which they did. 
 The church was crowded up to the very roof, besides a multitude 
 in the church-yard striving to hear, but could not get near. — 
 There was, in the neighbour parish, a brother and sister, — he a 
 rude ignorant fallow, and went always to hear the curate ; she a 
 good sober girl, and frequented conventicles. That Sunday 
 morning they came both out of their father's house. The sister 
 says, upon the rode, c Jonny, will ye come and hear one of my 
 ministers this day ?' <■ Awa ! rebell dogs,' says he, * deel tak 
 them if I hear any of them. I'll go and hear mine own honest 
 minister.' She insists and urges him, but he will not hear of it. 
 At last, she sayes, l Will ye come and hear the minister to-da 
 and if he does not please, then I'll never bid ye all my dayes a- 
 
 gain V — but he gave her the same answer ' Go away ; the 
 
 deel tak them altogether: I'll hear none of them.' Well, t! 
 parts ; the sister to (ramond, the brother toward his own church. 
 15ut, it seems, before he came the length, he began to think with 
 himself, — * .Might not I have gone once and heard what th. 
 fallows had to say; I think I'll go yet.' With that he turns 
 about, and CUM to (ramond kirk, brisking forward, till he both 
 heard and saw the minister. About the middle of the sermon, 
 who does the ;^irl see but her brother, bursting and weeping, his 
 bonnet in his hand, wiping big eyes with it. Thit, DC '•as 
 
 a joyful sight to hi i §000 as sermon was over, .lonnv presses 
 
 throw the crowd to be at his sister, whom he had likewise seen. 
 <>u ! Jonny, what brought you here?' * Oh !' said he, * let 
 
258 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 reverend attention : they seemed to acquiesce, 
 who came to oppose. These meetings did raise 
 a great outcry ; but he did it chiefly with a de- 
 sign to shew that the gospel ought not to be li- 
 mited or confined to private houses. Next week 
 he was at Lord Torphichen , s. The kirk was 
 within hearing, where the curate was haranguing 
 to sixteen persons. Here he declared his judg- 
 ment against limited indulgences, bonds, and li- 
 cences from the magistrate. From thence he 
 went to Borrowstounness, where the meeting was 
 dispersed by the soldiers from Blackness, and he 
 himself nearly taken.'" It was here that his son 
 Adam was made prisoner, for attending his fa- 
 ther, as shall be noticed afterwards ; but upon a 
 testimonial from the magistrates of Edinburgh, 
 he was set free. After this, Mr. Blackader 
 preached at Kirkaldy, at Gala-water, and in Li- 
 vingstone, where they met under cloud of night, 
 and dismissed in peace before day-break. 
 
 " At this time many parishes petitioned for him, 
 offering abundant encouragement of yearly sti- 
 pend. His preaching at Torphichen was design- 
 ed as a hearing in reference to a call, though he 
 did not know of it. Lord and Lady Cranston 
 
 us go to our kirk, and pull down that faas loun out of the pul- 
 pit — (meaning the curate) — Through God's grace I shall never 
 hear one of them after this. Oh ! this was a wonderful man !* "— 
 Blackader } s Sufferings, MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 259 
 
 offered him Preston, in the Merse ; none of which 
 he would accept under existing restraints, though 
 all the wealth in the world were proffered him.'" 
 
 " About the end of May 1680, he resolved on 
 a voyage for Holland, his eldest son being to com- 
 mence doctor of medicine at Ley den. They had 
 cross winds on the passage for eleven days, and 
 were sore tossed, the ship having struck eighteen 
 times. They came up the Maes to Rotterdam 
 about sunrise. After placing his son at Leyden, 
 and visiting the Hague, Amsterdam, and some 
 other cities, he returned to Rotterdam, where he 
 stayed fifteen weeks, preaching every Sabbath. 
 Towards the end of September, he returned in a 
 vessel belonging to the Pans, (Prestonpans,) and 
 arrived in Edinburgh the same day Mr. John 
 Dickson was sent to the Bass." 
 
 In this short visit to the Continent, Mr. Black- 
 ader proved of material service in rectifying the 
 mistakes of his banished countrymen. The Scot- 
 tish ministers in Holland had entered keenly into 
 the debates, and imbibed the animosities of their 
 brethren at home. These heats had been fo- 
 mented and inflamed by the misrepresentation- 
 of both parties, and their consequent ignorance 
 Mpecting the true state of affairs in Scotland. 
 Mr. Blaekader is said to have been verv success- 
 ful in al laving these fierce contests, particularly 
 between Mr. M'Ward and Mr. Fleming, and in 
 bringing them to a better understanding 
 
260 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 In January 1681, he visited Troqueer, at the 
 request of his old parishioners. " He left Edin- 
 burgh on Thursday night, and came next day to 
 Caitloclfs, (himself being then in Holland,) whence 
 he sent to advertise the people of his coming. 
 Before he left Caitloch, which he did on Satur- 
 day night, he called for some young men of 
 Glencairn, of whom he was informed they were 
 like to be draw r n away to cast at all ministers, 
 (which had fallen out to be several professors'* 
 tentation, especially after Bothwell, though it be- 
 gan before,) and shewed himself as heartsome 
 with the young men as formerly he had done, 
 without mentioning any thing of the difference ; 
 only he told some of them where he was going 
 to preach to-morrow. They offered themselves 
 willingly to ride along with him ; so he came to 
 Dalscairth on Saturday within the night. He 
 preached at Dalscairth to a vast assembly, who 
 had gathered out of Annandale, Galloway, Niths- 
 dale, and almost the whole town of Dumfries. 
 The country people were glad of the opportunity, 
 as they had no public preachings since Bothwell. r 
 This was on account of the harassings and perse- 
 cutions of Claverhouse, who was ranging over 
 that district in search of fugitives and resetters, 
 who had been concerned in the late rebellion, 
 He had the gift of escheats and confiscations of 
 lands, goods, and moveables in Nithsdale, and 
 
BEV. JOHN BLACKADER. 261 
 
 these were every where prosecuted with the ut- 
 most severity.* 
 
 " There had been some report of worthy Mr. 
 Welsh's*}- removal come to the country, (though 
 not certain ;) but when the people saw r the mini- 
 ster entering with a mourning band about his hat, 
 they raised a heavy groan, and several cryed out of 
 sorrow for some time, which did also much affect 
 him, and did occasion a very moving discourse, (on 
 Jer. viii, 6,) be way of preface, putting them to 
 reflect on the great days of the gospel they had, 
 both of old, and also under the bypast persecu- 
 tion ; and that he had now taken home some of 
 his most eminent servants, who laboured more 
 abundantly than many, whom now their eyes 
 should see no more in this world; but withal] 
 told them, the living Fountain was still to the 
 fore, and pressed them to improve that well, es- 
 pecially now when all the stxeamfl were runni: 
 dry, and when the labourers that remained on 
 the field were few, like the grapes on the ouU 
 most boughs after the gleaning of the vintage. 
 
 After sermon, all the Irongray people came about 
 
 him to condole : he took them kindlv bv the 
 hand, one by one, and promised a visit to their 
 
 • Wodrow, vol. ii, KM. L58. 
 
 •y k4 Mr. Welsh died at London in peace, January 1691."- 
 Lav's Mem. \", 
 
262 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 parish ; but his heart being overcharged with 
 sorrow, he could offer them no comfort then.* 1 
 
 " Hearing of the jealousies which had been 
 propagated in the south by some of the more 
 violent brethren, particularly in Annandale,* 
 where the people were casting at all indulgences, 
 he resolved on a visit to that country. He took 
 with him the laird of Dalscairth ; and on Wed- 
 nesday they came to John Lotimer's house, a 
 miller at Cocket-hill, on the border, (about two 
 miles from Lochmaben.) They scarcely expect- 
 ed to be made welcome, such prejudice they had 
 conceived against all ministers except a few. 
 However, they rode to the door, and the minis- 
 ter calling for John, his wife came forth entreat- 
 ing them to alight, and she would bring John, 
 who was but at the kiln. The minister had 
 lodged in this house last time he preached in 
 Annandale,-{- and was acceptably entertained. 
 
 * Cameron, Cargill, and others, had made many proselytes in 
 the south, where they travelled, preaching down the indulgence, 
 and warning people ugainst its snares. Some of them, in their 
 sermons, called it " a weel busked jad," {Mr. Rob. Ham. Lett, 
 to the. Society, Dec. 7, 1684.) Cameron preached within the 
 barony of Duncow, in Kirkmahoe, and on the border of Annan- 
 dale, as above ; at both of which places, viz. at Quarrelwood 
 and Hightae, the descendants of his sect remain to this day. He 
 and his brother fell in the skirmish at Airdsmoss, gallantly fight- 
 ing back to back. 
 
 -f- Mr. Blackader and several others had taken shelter on the 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 263 
 
 They alighted, being well satisfied with the invi- 
 tation; and when John came in he did most heart- 
 ily embrace the minister, and pressed them well 
 to stay all night. John called his neighbours in 
 to the evening exercise, who came and heard with 
 as much seeming cheerfulness and attention as 
 they used to do. This delighted both the minis- 
 ter and Dalscairth, as they were disappointed of 
 their previous fears of not being acceptable. 
 The morrow being the day on which some mar- 
 tyrs at Edinburgh were to be executed, the mi- 
 nister told John that he would not ride abroad 
 till the time of the execution was over, for he 
 used either to keep alone on such occasions, or 
 with some in fellowship of prayer ; and, there- 
 tore, he requested John to call in his neighbours, 
 that they might spend the fore-day at least in hu- 
 
 lx>rders from the tempest of persecution, where they wrought a 
 wonderful and well-attested reformation. u Take notice, there- 
 fore, of the wondrous works of the Lord, and these his marvel- 
 lous doings ; even those in the wild places of Northumberland, 
 that was a land that one could scarcely ride through, without 
 being spoiled by thieves and robbers. Now, ■ theivish country 
 is become a civil country ; and a people of no understanding, are 
 made a ^jise and prudent people by the gospel," (///</< :kadcr % s 
 -. in I iit/iful Cimtt tidings.) Welsh for some time had u a 
 dweJ ling-house near Tweedskk ; and sometimes when Tweed 
 was strongly frozen, lie preacht in the midst of the river, that 
 either he might shun the offence of both nations, or that two 
 kingdoms might dispute his crime." — Kirkton* 372. 
 
264 MEMOIRS OF « 
 
 initiation. About sixteen assembled, and spent 
 the time in prayer and edifying converse till 
 twelve o'clock. 
 
 " Before parting, the minister expressed his 
 pleasure at seeing them embrace the preaching of 
 the gospel, after such sad defection had fallen out. 
 He besought them to continue, and offered to 
 send any preacher from Edinburgh, if they 
 would give, and send by his hands, a written in- 
 vitation to that effect. Some of them answered 
 they were desirous to have preaching ; but it was 
 a kittle time, wherein it was hard to know men, 
 for ministers, as well as others, had gone wrong, 
 and were all now become indulged, as they call- 
 ed them; and that they were determined to know 
 well whom they invited in that time of defection. 
 The minister, resolving to use all calmness with 
 them, and guard them from extremes, confessed 
 it had been a time of sad and general defection : 
 that too many of the ministers had not behaved 
 so steadfastly as they should have done ; for 
 which we ought to be humble, for as it is the sin 
 of many, it is a rebuke to us all, that none can 
 stand when left to themselves. Yet it was a 
 hard thing to cast at the ministry of all who were 
 not professed conformists, and conclude all equal- 
 ly guilty. Embracing the indulgence was a sad 
 step of declining ; too like compliance with the 
 supremacy, though they had not declared them- 
 selves for prelacy or conformists; they were, 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADER. 26-5 
 
 therefore, not to be rejected like the curates, who 
 professed subjection to supremacy. Though 
 they scrupled to hear the indulged, all were not 
 indulged ; and they ought not to entertain unrea- 
 sonable suspicions ; but if they had ought to ob- 
 ject to any ministers, they should bring it forth, 
 and have it cleared, true or false. They desired 
 John Lotimer to speak, as he knew their mind. 
 The minister insisted on John to speak freely, 
 as it was the best time to remove any deception, 
 or rectify any mistake, when those were present 
 who could give correct information. John hesi- 
 tated, and was disposed to dwell on generals ; 
 that there was more cause than ever to be warv 
 of ministers ; hinting indistinctly at some particu- 
 lars. The minister spoke of the impropriety of 
 indulging mere jealousies : that stories were easi- 
 ly propagated, and too readily believed in a time 
 of distemper. Upon this John fell silent. A wi- 
 dow woman said, ' John, will you speak out all 
 »ur mind, and be free with the minister/ John 
 said, c I can speak no more ; the minister has sa- 
 tisfied me in ought I have to say ; any of vou that 
 pl< may speak, if you have any thing further." 
 Mr. Blaekader desired them to speak freely, as 
 it should be heard without offence. Then ro 
 up a grave-looking man, and said, ' We find good 
 reason to su^j manv ministers of that indul- 
 j and to be free, sir, we have our suspicions 
 of yourself.' The minister smiling, observed) 
 
 M 
 
266 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 that few among the indulged would believe he 
 was a favourer of the indulgence : this was the 
 first time he had been so charged ; but though 
 he did not think it necessary to clear himself in 
 a matter so well known, yet lest their jealousies 
 should cause any to stumble, he should say in- 
 genuously, that indulgences have, first and last, 
 been the terror of his soul : that he had already 
 testified his dislike oftentimes, though he did re- 
 spect godly ministers who had accepted thereof. 
 But, said the man ' This is a great business, sir, 
 and we would be sure whom we invite; therefore, 
 we would have you here clear yourself before 
 God/ The minister thought he had said enough 
 to satisfy him without confirming oaths; ' But out 
 of condescension I now repeat it in the presence of 
 God, knowing I have to do with him, and not 
 with man.' Dalscairth grew angry, and said, 
 ? Friend, you are impertinent to put a minister to 
 swear ; you would do well to forbear the like of 
 that.** ' Let him alone,** said the minister, ' he 
 means w r ell, and I promised not to take offence.'' 
 It being past twelve, the meeting dismissed with 
 prayer. The minister suspected those honest 
 people were urged to these extremes by some 
 false calumniators, viz. two rude men, William 
 M'Niel, and Alexander Ross, enemies to all mini- 
 sters. John invited his friends and the minister 
 to stay on dinner. 
 
 " After dinner, John said to the minister, ' Sir, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 267 
 
 we must not part with you thus ; the morrow our 
 folk are to have a meeting, and we will send one 
 from it unto you, after we have sjx>ken among 
 
 ourselves." Next day there came a man to 
 
 speak with the minister, who said ' Have you 
 any errand with me. 1 ' Yes," 1 said he, ' I am sent 
 from the meeting at Cocket-hill, who bade me 
 tell you they have not clearness to invite any 
 minister to preach among them.'' To whom the 
 minister replied, c Nobody here was seeking in- 
 vitation from you, nor needed, for we have more 
 ado than we can well overtake elsewhere. But I 
 must tell you, friend, it is the saddest menage 
 you ever carried, or ever I heard brought to me. 
 Woe^s me for poor Annandale, who not long since 
 was so earnest to seek after the gospel ; and now 
 a message is sent in their name to tell they can 
 or will invite none ; but there are some who trou- 
 ble you, and will bear the blame :' so he bade 
 him farewel. 
 
 " He returned to Dumfries by Rockhall, and 
 on his way baptized a i>oor man's child by the 
 moss-side : a crowd of people had collected ; and 
 as they appeared to be poor ignorants, having 
 rarely ever heard that sort of preaching, he ac- 
 companied the ceremony with a short lecture/' 
 
 " On Friday he preached again in his old pa- 
 rish. He intended the meeting on DaLscairth- 
 hill, on a green among the trees ; but being a 
 windy day, the noise of the tree- would hinder 
 
268 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 them to hear, it was kept on a green near the 
 house. He went thence to visit his cousin, Lady 
 Howie, who dwelt behind the Fell, at the place 
 of Fairgairth, where he stayed two or three days. 
 
 On his way back to Edinburgh he preached 
 at Sundywell, in Dunscore. It was a time of 
 deep snow, but the people were too many to be 
 contained in a house. They set a chair for the 
 minister among the snow: the people pulled 
 bunches of heather, and sat on the moor-side. 
 In his sermon he exhorted them against paying 
 cess for the troops, and swearing oaths of disco- 
 very to their neighbours hurt. Before he left 
 that country he preached at the water of Urr, and 
 at Auchenchain : but hearing of his wife's illness, 
 he was necessitate to return, grieved at leaving 
 the work which had been so successful. Dalscairth 
 accompanied him, and they were obliged to take 
 the road at God's venture, the hills being loaded 
 with snow. They shunned the pass of Enterkin, 
 and went by Leadhills, as safest from harm ; yet 
 people seemed to waylay him, and flocked about 
 him to baptize their children. After this he re- 
 turned no more to the south." 
 
 The last of his public labours was in East- 
 Lothian, about ten days before he was appre- 
 hended. He preached on a hill over against the 
 Bass, and prayed for the prisoners.* He had 
 
 * This must have been either on Traprain Law or Whitekirk- 
 
REV JOHN RLACKADER. 269 
 
 an invitation to Tiviotdale the following Sabbath, 
 but was seized in his house at Edinburgh the 
 
 hill, as there is no other suitable elevation in that neighbour- 
 hood. A large conventicle was held on the hill above White- 
 kirk, in May 1678, which had an unlucky encounter with a 
 party from the Bass. The deputy-governor, Charles Maitland, 
 hearing of it, came upon them with forty soldi en , and about 
 twenty country people, whom they had forced along with them. 
 But the meeting agreed to stand their ground ; and, in case of 
 violent assault, they were resolved to defend themselves. The 
 soldiers came up, and commanded them to dismiss, in the king's 
 name. The people answered, They honoured the king, but 
 were resolved to hear the word of God ; at which one of the sol- 
 diers run his sword at a man near him, when a strong able coun- 
 tryman with a staff struck the soldier to the ground. While thus 
 engaged, the people surrounded the soldiers, disarmed them, and 
 sent them off, — one of them being shot. Five of the conventi- 
 clers, viz. George and James Learmont, Robert Hepburn in 
 East-Fenton, Temple and Brysson from Dunbar, Sheriff of 
 Knowes, and a number of others, were declared fugitives, and 
 put to the horn. James Learmont was condemned by a very 
 iniquitous sentence, and executed in the Grassmarket, although 
 it was proved that he had not arms at the meeting. All that 
 could be charged against him, on the evidence of James Man- 
 derson of North-Berwick, and other witnesses, was, That he had 
 ridden out to view the king's forces, and was heard to say, 4k They 
 are but few ; let there be no cowards here to-day ; and let such as 
 have arms, go to the fore-side," (Sec his Last Speech in Naphtali.) 
 Sir George M'Kenzie vindicates the execution of Learmont, 
 as guilty or accessory to the soldier's death, ( Vind. of lieign of 
 Charles //,)— with what truth, we may readily ascertain from 
 the following fact.— About nine years after the execution, a mi- 
 nister was called to see a dying man, who confessed, a few hours 
 before his death, that he was an accomplice in the soldier's mur- 
 der ; and that when he heard of Lcarmont's sentence, he had 
 
270 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 week previous.* The circumstances relating to 
 his seizure and examination are as follow. — 
 
 " On Tuesday morning, (April 5,) the party 
 came to his house before he arose. His daugh- 
 ter and servant were up, expecting the Borrow- 
 stounness carrier, who had promised to come that 
 day. About five or six o^clock one knocked soft- 
 ly at the hanging gate : she looked out through 
 a hole in the door, and spied a man with a grey 
 hat, and thought it had been the carrier, who 
 was there- the night before with a grey hat of 
 somebody's on his head. She opened the door ; 
 but it proved to be Johnston, the town-major, 
 with a party at his back, who came into the hall, 
 and asked ' If there were any strangers in the 
 house.'* She said, c No/ Yet he came to the 
 chamber where her father was lying, putting the 
 end of his staff to the side of the curtain, and 
 then went up stairs to the gallery where the mi- 
 nister used to stay, and found only his son lying 
 in the bed, and came down again to his chamber, 
 saying to the minister's wife, 6 Mistress, desire 
 your husband to rise.' He, looking forth out of 
 
 the most painful reflections, whether he should offer himself to 
 justice, as having killed the soldier in his own defence, and so 
 preserve the life of an innocent man, who was not concerned in 
 
 the act, nor even present at it Wodrow^ vol. i, 523. 
 
 * His biographer, in " Scots Worthies," says, " His last pub- 
 lic work was on a muir-side at New House, in Livingstone pa- 
 rish, March 28." 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEB. 271 
 
 the bed, said, c How now, major, is that you, I 
 am not surprised; but where is your order?* 
 The other said, * You are only to rise and come 
 down to a friend in the Canongate/ t Well," said 
 the minister, * if I were dressed I am ready.' 
 Meantime he spoke quietly to his men to wait on 
 the prisoner. But he himself stept forth and 
 went quickly to Dalzell in the Canongate. Up- 
 on which, and other presumptions, the minister 
 conjectured he had no order at the time, except 
 privately from Prelate Paterson, till after lie was 
 taken; for he did not take him out of his hou>e 
 till he returned. After he returned, the minister 
 calling for a drink, sought a blessing, and caus- 
 ed give them all a drink, and went forth ; his 
 wife being very sickly, yet behaved more quietly 
 than he could have believed. It was observable 
 that such a wicked person as the major was, who 
 used to swear and domineer in all such cm 
 did at that time carry most calmly, as all the 
 party did, not one menacing word being heard. 
 The major took him down the Cowgate, himself 
 on the one hand, and the minister's son Thomas 
 on the other, the party following, and brought 
 him to DalzelPs lodgings, near the foot of the 
 Canongate. The major went first, the minister 
 following, Dalzell himself opening the door. 
 The major told he had brought the prisoner ; 
 Dalzell bade him take him to the guard. The 
 minister stepping up stairs, said, w May I speak 
 
272 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 a little i 1 At which he rudely raged, 4 You, sir, 
 have spoken too much; I would hang you with 
 my own hands over that outshott.'* He knew 
 not yet who he was, nor what was laid to his 
 charge till afterward, as the minister perceived 
 by a strange alteration of his calmness to him 
 when he came to the court at twelve o^clock. 
 " The minister, finding him in such ill mood, 
 
 * Dalzell was then above eighty years of age ; most part of 
 his life had been spent in the profession of shedding blood. He 
 had served with the royalists under Charles I, and was afterwards 
 tutored to every excess of cruelty in the rugged wars of the north. 
 From fighting against Turks and Tartars, his propensity to 
 slaughter had become a sort of remorseless and brutal instinct. 
 The tout ensemble of this miraculous and invulnerable man, is 
 altogether singular. — u He never wore boots, nor above one 
 coat, which was close to his body, with close sleeves, like those 
 we call jockey coats. He never wore a peruke, nor did he shave 
 his beard since the murder of King Charles I. His head was 
 bald, which he covered only with a beaver hat, the brim of which 
 was not above three inches broad. His beard was white and 
 bushy, and reached down almost to his girdle. He usually 
 went to London once or twice a-year, to kiss the king's hand. 
 His unusual dress and figure, never failed to draw after him a 
 great crowd of boys, who constantly attended at his lodgings, 
 and followed him with huzzas as he went to or returned from 
 court. When the king walked in the park, and Dalzell in his 
 company, the same crowds would always be after him, shewing 
 their admiration of his beard and dress ; upon which his majesty 
 bid the devil take Dalzell, for bringing such a rabble of boys 
 together, to have their guts squeezed out, while they gaped at 
 his long beard and antic habit," &c.—Mem. of Captain John 
 Crcichton. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADF.R. 273 
 
 m 
 turned about, and came away with the major, 
 who put him not in the common guard, but deli- 
 vered him to Captain Murray, Philiphauglvs un- 
 cle, who kept him in his own chamber within the 
 Abbey. Some space after, the captain told the 
 prisoner he w T as to send him up to wait on the 
 committee at eleven. At eleven, he sent twelve 
 soldiers without their major ; and commanded 
 them to take him up the Cowgate, and the most 
 private way, to the council-house. The minister 
 said he was indifferent how publicly he sent him ; 
 he was not ashamed to go up the High Street, if 
 he pleased. The captain said, ' We need not 
 make a fraise of such a business. 1 The minister 
 thanked him for his tender concern. The twelve 
 conveyed him to the council-house, to a chamber 
 next where the committee sat : two soldiers were 
 left to wait on him till he was called. The com- 
 mittee rose at twelve without calling him ; only 
 a sub-committee came to a side-room, and sat 
 down, and called for the prisoner, who canu . 
 
 " His examinators were the Duke of Rothes, 
 chancellor; the king's advocate, Sir George 
 M'Kenzie ; General Dalzell, and Bishop Pater- 
 mh) of Edinburgh* 
 
 Chan. Are you a minister? 
 Ans. I am. 
 
 Chan. Where, and how long since? 
 Aiis. At Troqueer, in Galloway, since 1G53. 
 
 II 2 
 
274 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Chan. Did you excommunicate the king; or 
 was you at Torwood at that time ?* 
 
 Ans. I have not been at Torwood these four 
 years. 
 
 Chan. But what do you think of it ? do you 
 approve of it ? 
 
 Then perceiving that many such extraneous 
 questions, concerning his thoughts and judgments 
 of things, might be asked, and being resolved to 
 make a stand at first, he shunned declaring his 
 inward sentiments. 
 
 Ans. Though I be as free to answer to that 
 as well as to all the former ; yet I must tell you I 
 came here to give account of my judgment to no 
 man ; therefore, seeing this is an interrogating of 
 me about my thoughts, I humbly beg to be ex- 
 cused. Produce a libel, and 111 endeavour to 
 answer it as I can. 
 
 * The conventicle at Torwood was held by Cargill, in Sep- 
 tember 1680, at which he excommunicated the king, Duke of 
 York, and several officers of state. " This," says Wodrow, vol. 
 ii, 144, " was without any concert, and to the surprise of many, 
 and approven by none but his own followers, who were now set- 
 ting themselves up in distinction from the rest of presbyterians." 
 Mr. Blackader, therefore, could be under no reserve about the 
 matter, only he did not choose to be teased with impertinent and 
 ensnaring questions. It was the policy of the council, when ex- 
 ternal evidence failed, to expiscate treason by torture, or captious 
 interrogatories, and then execute their unwary victim for his pri- 
 vate opinions. 
 
REV JOHN BLACKADETt. 275 
 
 On this point he was repeatedly interrogated 
 by the chancellor and the advocate, but to no 
 purpose. 
 
 Chan. But do you approve of taking the king's 
 life, and condemning him in soul and body ? 
 
 Ans. No, I do not, and no good man will. 
 
 Chan. Sir, you have done yourself a favour in 
 saying so. But we hear you keep conventicle - 
 since the last indemnity ? 
 
 Ans. I need not ask what is meant by con- 
 venticles, seeing that term has been frequently 
 applied to our preaching, who are ministers of 
 the gospel, and under the strictest obligations to 
 exercise our ministrv, as we shall be answerable 
 at the great day. My lord, I have the honour 
 to be lawfully and duly called to the sacred 
 function, and am bound to exercise that offic 
 which I ever did and still do account niv duty. 
 abstracting from all indemnities whatever. 
 
 Chan. But you have preached in the fields 
 that is on moon and hill-sick & I shall not a>k 
 if you have preached ill bouses or not, though 
 there is not liberty even for that 
 
 Ans. I place no case of conscience, nor make 
 any difference betwixt preaching in houses or in 
 
 the fields, but a> may best serve the convenience 
 of the he a r e r s ; nor know I of any restriction 
 lying on me from the word of God, where I 
 have my commission, which reaches to house8 
 and fields, within and without door 
 
5276 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Chan. You know, and no doubt have seen, 
 the laws discharging such preaching. 
 
 Arts. My Lord, no doubt I have, and I am 
 sorry that there ever should have been laws and 
 acts made against preaching the gospel. 
 
 Chan. Not against the gospel, but against se- 
 dition and rebellion. 
 
 Ans. I preach no sedition or rebellion. 
 
 Then the lord advocate rose out of his place, 
 and came to the prisoner, and asked him, Why 
 he answered not more clearly to the chancellor 
 about the excommunication? and alleged he was 
 straitened. 
 
 Ans. lam nowayes straitened or confused about 
 that ; but I do, of purpose, shun to answer such 
 interrogatories as require me to give account of 
 my thoughts and judgment about persons or 
 practices, not knowing how many such questions 
 may be put, or what use may be made of them ; 
 and I am here only to answer for matters of fact 
 that concern myself. Then intending to speak 
 somewhat more, he craved liberty to be heard. 
 
 Chan. You have leave to speak, if you speak 
 not treason. 
 
 But immediately the chancellor rose and went 
 forth with the other two, (it being near one 
 o'clock, their dinner hour,) and they had no will 
 to be witness to what he was about to say, all 
 knowing him to be a bold undaunted man, that 
 would not spare to tell them of the truth. So 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 277 
 
 he was left alone with the soldiers, and had no 
 opportunity of speaking what he would gladly 
 have done ; neither knew he what further they 
 intended to do with him. After these interro- 
 gatories, the guard carried him back to the cap- 
 tain's chamber at Holy rood. 
 
 On the morning of the second day's examina- 
 tion, he sent his son Thomas, to tell Colonel 
 Blackader, a cousin of his, who went and inform- 
 ed General Dalzell better what he was, and his 
 relation to the house of Tulliallan, and to Co- 
 lonel Blackader, who had been DalzelFs comrade 
 in the wars.* After that, all the three were 
 calm to admiration in their speaking to him, the 
 >hort time he was before them. Dalzell wm 
 most calm, and far from the temper he was in 
 in the morning. 
 
 Chan. Have you not been in Fife sometime, 
 and kept conventicles there ? 
 
 * This Colonel Blackader was probably the same person men- 
 tioned as being with the Earl of Glencairn in his expedition to 
 the Highlands in 10' 53. Dalzell, and several chiefs of clans, 
 
 , ed as officers in that last attempt to preserve the independence 
 of Scotland, (Lord HaUet 1 Annalx, vol iii, 116. See an account 
 of this expedition in Gzvynn^s Mem.) His relation to the fami- 
 ly oi Tulliallan is uncertain, though his claim seems to h.. 
 been posterior to that of the minister. The younger son oi i>\r 
 John was alive in 1653 ; hut he must at that time have been a- 
 btoad, as he entered the Spanish service at the commencement 
 the civil war 
 
278 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Arts. No doubt, my Lord, I have been several 
 times in Fife. 
 
 Chan. I suppose I be little obliged to you in 
 Fife as I hear. 
 
 Arts. As I can put little obligation on a per- 
 son of such quality, so I know as little wherein 
 I have disobliged your Lordship. 
 
 Chan. Then there must be another minister of 
 your name. 
 
 Ans. To speak freely of my own name, I know 
 none of them so happy as to be a minister ex- 
 cept myself. 
 
 Gen. Dalzell. Mr. Blackader, what family are 
 you of, are you of the house of Tulliallan ? (The 
 General himself was allied to it.) 
 
 Ans. Yes, General, I am, and the nearest 
 alive to represent that family, although it is now 
 brought low and ruined. 
 
 Bish. Paterson. Are you Sir John's son ? 
 
 To this he gave no answer, declining him as a 
 spiritual lord, and sitting there in a civil capar- 
 city. 
 
 " The minister perceived, by these interroga- 
 tions, and several other ways, that they had been 
 misinformed, and took him for another, which 
 confirmed his conjecture, that it was only the pre- 
 late's malice who had contrived his taking, at -the 
 information or instigation of Curate Cairncross,* 
 
 * Cairncross was curate of Dumfries. In 1684, he was pro- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 279 
 
 and others of Nithsdale and Galloway, telling of 
 his being there last. This was the immediate 
 
 moted, for his services, to the see of Brechin ; and the same year 
 made archbishop of Glasgow. The curates were indefatigable 
 in detecting and harassing non -conformists, and practised the 
 basest deceptions to discover and ensnare them. They had train 
 ed spies ranging the country, feigning distress, and pretending to 
 be fugitives. These miscreants were taught to assume the mask 
 of piety, and speak the language of indignant sufferers, that they 
 might impose upon the unsuspecting wanderers ; and when they 
 had mingled with them until they became acquainted with their 
 haunts and lurking places, they went and informed the military, 
 who seized them unawares, or shot them on the spot. These in- 
 famous wretches have been known to commit robbery and mur- 
 der, in order to get the innocent peasantry fined. One of them, 
 that his story might beget credit and compassion, was imprison- 
 ed in Dumfries jail, and tried ; and after he had got a mock sen- 
 tence of death passed upon him, he was allowed to escape. 
 To extort money, the clergy had recourse to the most disgraceful 
 and villanous ac The curate of Tinwald used to accuse his 
 parishioners to the court ; and then would intercede for them, 
 under pretence of their indigence or inability. Having got the 
 tines reduced to a trifle, he paid the money out of his own pock- 
 et, and then claimed a right to the whole, — which he exacted to 
 the utmost, without mercy or distinction One Lawson of Iron- 
 gray, returning drunk from Dumfries, fell in upon the road with 
 DM other heroes of the bottle, when a combat ensued, in which 
 he was defeated. Next morning, he sent the bloody handker- 
 chief to Dumfries, declaring that the whigs had assaulted his 
 house, and almost murdered him. Five young men were seized 
 by the dragoons, and Lawson swore they were the persons, — 
 though his wife and family deponed that nobody had attacked 
 the house. The young men were fugitives, and had been dis- 
 covered hiding in a cave, and were entirely ignorant of the mat- 
 
280 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 cause of his seizure. At two o'clock on Wednes- 
 day, Captain Maitland, who was on the guard, 
 told the prisoner he was to carry him up to the 
 council at three, and desired him to be ready. 
 
 " When the duke went to the council, he (Mr. 
 Blackader) was ranked among three rank of 
 musketeers in Captain Maitland's company, who 
 marched him up the rear of the life-guard, who 
 attended the duke up streets. When he came 
 to the Parliament-close, the captain sent four sol- 
 
 ter. But though they attested their innocence, they were all 
 hanged on one tree,— a spectacle which the curate enjoyed from 
 his own window. It was a common practice to raise money, by 
 pretending assault and battery. — The heritors of Dunscore were 
 fined in five thousand merks for an alleged riot ; and the parish 
 of Glassford paid their minister one thousand pounds, although 
 his house was broken by common thieves. Sometimes, however, 
 all their stratagems failed. — One Jeffray, curate of Maybole, 
 complained that some of his parishioners had attempted his life, 
 by discharging a pistol at his breast ; but that the ball had pro- 
 videntially struck a book, which he carried betwixt his upper 
 coat and his doublet. In evidence of this, the volume was pro- 
 duced, and damages laid at one hundred pounds sterling. But 
 the whole turned out a ridiculous forgery, as it was found that 
 he had u contused the book," but forgot to make a hole in his 
 coat. — Another made a similar mistake, by asserting that a mis- 
 creant had wounded him through hat and wig ; but when these 
 documents were produced in court, they were found to be pierced 
 on opposite sides. — The curate of Parton appears to have been 
 fortified beyond the risk of assassination ; as it is said he wore 
 twenty-one fold of cloth round him all the year, and furs on his 
 head night and day.— Law's Mem. 63. KirJcton, 296. Wod- 
 row, vol. i, 432; ii, 444, 502, 513. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 281 
 
 diers to wait on the prisoner in an outer room, 
 till he should be called. There he sat from 
 three till five o'clock, when the council rose. He 
 was not called, which he marvelled at ; but sent 
 his son Thomas to inquire what word was con- 
 cerning him ; who answered, he believed he was 
 sentenced to the Bass. 
 
 " This was without any more hearing than 
 what has been related in the examination before 
 the three councillors. He was conveyed down 
 the street behind the duke and his guard, and 
 returned to the captain's chamber, where he was 
 kept all night ; the captain courteously suffering 
 him to get in a feather-bed, which he laid on the 
 floor, where he lay down with his clothes on, not 
 being yet quite certain whither he was to be sent 
 on the morrow, but he desired his son to have two 
 horses in waiting, one for each of them. That 
 night, some English ranters came into the cap- 
 tain's chamber, after the minister was laid down, 
 and drinking their wine, the captain said, 4 Mi- 
 nister, you'll take a drink, and drink the king's 
 health r' < No,' said he, ' I drink no such 
 health ; but judge it better to wish the king well 
 than to drink his health.'* So they forbore far- 
 
 • To drink the king's health, or say, God save the king, was 
 a touchstone of loyalty which every Ignorant and ruffian * 
 could employ. The refusal of honest people to redeem their 
 lives by this pledge, has often been stigmatised as a frantic - 
 
282 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ther. After the ranters went out, the captain 
 craved him pardon that they had disturbed him 
 of his rest. When the captain went in the morn- 
 ing to see the duke, he asked him how his pri- 
 soner carried: he answered, * He spoke little/ 
 ' He does well/ said the duke. He told also, 
 that he refused to drink the king's health, but 
 
 lusion, which ought to excite our derision, rather than pity. In 
 this way, their memories have been often covered with ignominy, 
 instead of renown ; and their crown of martyrdom stript of all its 
 glory. But if we take into consideration the downright integrity 
 of the sufferers, and the indefinite nature of the requirements, it 
 will vindicate them from the charge of obstinacy and disloyalty, 
 though not of resistance to tyranny. When a prisoner at the 
 bar asked the meaning of the words, God save the king, he was 
 told, They meant owning his person and government, and ap- 
 proving of all the laws and acts passed against presbyterians. 
 Many were willing to take the words in a personal sense ; but 
 this was not sufficient. Margaret Wilson, one of the women 
 drowned within sea-mark in Wigton-bay, exclaimed, at the im- 
 portunity of her friends, c God save him, for it is his salvation 
 I desire !' — and, upon these conditions, her life ought to have 
 been preserved, for she was guilty of no other crime. But this 
 did not satisfy the commanding officer, who would have her next 
 to swear the abjuration oath, which she deliberately refused. 
 " Upon this she was instantly thrust down again into the water, 
 where she died a virgin-martyr in her eighteenth year." They 
 who did comply with the forms, or take the oaths in their widest 
 sense, were afterwards required to swear that they had not re- 
 pented : if they did this, they were again required to swear they 
 would never repent. These oaths were imposed upon men, wo- 
 men, and children above six years of age.— Wodrow^ voL ii, 
 340, 512, 506. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 283 
 
 thought it better to wish him well. The duke- 
 said, * I commend him for it ; it is better. 1 A- 
 bout six next morning, three of the life-guards 
 came to carry him to the Bass. The party was 
 commanded by one Rollock. They carried dis- 
 creetly toward him, and gave his son leave to 
 ride along with him, and carry his father's cloak- 
 bag. 
 
 " When they reached the Fisher-row, they ob- 
 served a gathering of people, upon some occasion 
 or other, at the end of the town upon the green ; 
 which when the captain perceived he took the 
 alarm, apprehending it might be a design to res- 
 cue the prisoner. Upon this he came to the mi- 
 nister, and said, g If those people attempt to res- 
 cue you, you are a dead man ; for upon the first 
 attack I will shoot you through the head.' The 
 minister said he knew nothing about it, and did 
 not believe there was any such design. 
 
 " They came to Castleton, over against the 
 Bass, about three afternoon. The prisoner din- 
 ed the whole party there ; and after dinner, two 
 of them went over with him in a boat to the Bass, 
 where he was delivered to the governor about 
 five afternoon on Thursday April 7, 1681. This 
 fell out then, and not till then, after he had la- 
 boured in the work from 1662, (when like otlu 
 he waa cast out,) in many and divers places with- 
 in the land. he was ealled from time to time, 
 about the >pace of nineteen vcars, and that under 
 
284 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 continual persecution, manifold hardships and 
 hazards, till he accomplished the service and the 
 time appointed by his Master, until he fell into 
 their hands, where he continues a prisoner." 
 
BEV. JOHN* BLACKADER. 285 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Description of the Bass Isle — Treatment qft/u 
 Prisoners — Mr. Blaekadcr petitions for Li- 
 beration — His Death — Concluding Remark* 
 — Notices of his Family. 
 
 The Bass, a small island, or more properly a 
 hi^h insulated rock at the mouth of the Forth, 
 off the coast of East-Lothian, was, at this time, 
 the most celebrated state prison in Scotland. It 
 was a place of ancient notoriety, and appears, at 
 one time, to have been the object of royal am- 
 bition.* It was purchased by the king, in Oc- 
 tober 1671) at a price which was then thought 
 extravagant, from Sir Andrew Ramsay of Ab- 
 botshall, provost of Edinburgh, who, amidst 
 other unjust and rapacious acquisitions, had ob- 
 tained this island and the barony of Waughton. 
 near North-Berwick. + 
 
 " s.-c Appendix. 
 
 ■T " Sir Andrew Kamsay having, neither for a ju»t price, nor 
 by the t means, ^ot a title to a base intigmticant rock in the 
 
286 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Sir Andrew, from being a bankrupt merchant, 
 as was reported, was, through the interest of 
 Lauderdale, who found him a very useful and 
 convenient instrument for managing the city po- 
 litics, advanced to the provostry of the metro- 
 polis, an office which he filled eight times suc- 
 cessively. His violent and avaricious spirit re- 
 commended him as a fit person for the justiciary ; 
 and, by the influence of his patron, he was cre- 
 ated a Lord of Session, in return for seventeen 
 thousand pounds sterling extorted from the town 
 of Edinburgh.* 
 
 The Bass had formerly been used as a garri- 
 son, and was almost a complete fortification of 
 
 sea called the Bass, and to a publick debt, both belonging to the 
 Lord of Wachton ; my Lord Lauderdale, to gratify Sir An- 
 drew, moves the king, upon the pretence of this publick debt, 
 and that the Bass was a place of strength, like to a castle in the 
 moon, and of great importance, (the only nest of solon geese in 
 these parts,) to buy the rock from Sir Andrew, at the rate of four 
 thousand pounds sterling, and then obtains the command and 
 profits of it to be bestowed upon himself." — Scotland's Gricv- 
 ances, by reason of Duke of Lauderdale's Ministry. 
 
 * His father was Andrew Ramsay, a rector in the college of 
 Edinburgh, and minister of Greyfriar's church, from which he 
 was deposed by the General Assembly in 1649, for his episcopal 
 sentiments, and peculiar notions about the power of the civil ma- 
 gistrate, (Bower's Hist. Univ. of Edin.) — Sir Andrew him- 
 self was impeached by the Earl of Eglinton " for malversation 
 in his government of the citie, and afterward demitted his place 
 as Lord of Session and provost of Edinburgh."— Law's Mem. 55. 
 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 287 
 
 itself. Several additions and repairs were made; 
 it was furnished with twenty pieces of artillery, 
 and a company of twenty soldiers, besides officers 
 and governor. Lauderdale, by whose advice 
 it was bought, had the address to get himself 
 appointed captain of the Fort, with all emolu- 
 ments annexed to it, amounting to about a hun- 
 dred pounds sterling a-year. This perquisite it 
 is likely he had in his eye when he recommend- 
 ed the purchase ; for, at that time, his rapacity 
 was unbounded, and had reached a pitch of in- 
 famv almost incredible.* This fortress continu- 
 td till the Revolution, a period of seventeen years, 
 rammed with the unhappy victims of prelatic 
 HTUelty. Here they were doomed to pine in so- 
 itary wretchedness, exposed to the inclemency 
 rf seasons and elements, and often subjected to 
 jrme( rv privations by the capricious barba- 
 rity of their keeper It was a place every way 
 fitted for the purpose for which it was applied. 
 
 • He held in his own hand about half a score of appoint- 
 nents, some of them the most lucrative in ScoUand, {JVudru--. 
 ol. i, S44.) — The convention of royal burghs paid him an an- 
 ual pension for his countenance and protection. The corpora- 
 ion of Edinburgh gave him eleven thousand pounds sterling 
 >r procuring them a grant of certain duties upon wine and beer 
 »sumed within the city. They purchased from him the C ita- 
 el of Ixrith, which he had obtained by royal grant, and paid him 
 >r it six thousand pounds sterling, as they durst not incur his 
 
 tspleasure by coming short of his demands IrnuVt Hist, of 
 
 .. chap, iv, 126. 
 
288 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 both from its insular situation, and from the 
 peculiarity of its structure. Imagination can. 
 scarcely figure a spot where captivity could be 
 more dreary, or the means of escape less practi- 
 cable. Towards the east, the scene presents to 
 the eye nothing but, a boundless expanse of wa- 
 ters. On the north, the coast of Fife is visible 
 at the distance of sixteen miles. The southern 
 shore lies within two miles, on which, nearly op- 
 posite, stands Tantallon castle, once a strong- 
 hold of the Douglasses, now dismantled and in 
 ruins, but still retaining so much of its ancient 
 strength, as to give a tolerable idea of the power 
 and splendour of the feudal barons, 
 
 The island itself, except on one side, is lofty 
 and precipitous, rising, with a bold and majestic 
 sublimity, to the height of four hundred feet 
 above the level of the sea ; in some places per- 
 pendicularly, in others, impending with frightful 
 projection over the unfathomable abyss below. 
 The circumference, at the base, is said to be 
 nearly an English mile, but, from its conical 
 shape, the upper surface is much contracted ; it 
 is very unequal, and covered with a sear brown- 
 ish herbage, occasionally interspersed with rock. 
 This bleak sequestered isle, seems not to have 
 been destined for the habitation of human be- 
 ings, but for those winged tribes, whose element 
 is waves and storms, who shun the society of 
 man, and claim not his protection. Nature has 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEK. 289 
 
 instructed these tenants of the rocks to seize the 
 cliff and the promontory, — to choose these inac- 
 cessible retreats, where no enemy can approach, 
 and where they may lodge and breed their young 
 in safety. She appears to have given them un- 
 disputed possession of these formidable mansions, 
 and to have provided for their security, by rais- 
 ing barriers of defence that repel the most daring 
 adventurer. 
 
 Contemplated as a natural curiosity, the Bass 
 offers one of the most striking objects imagina- 
 ble. Its appearance cannot fail to arrest the eye 
 and excite the astonishment of the spectator, 
 when seen at a distance, rising in hoary grandeur 
 from the bosom of the deep. Imagination repre- 
 sents it as a huge bulwark founded on the waves ; 
 for it resembles more the work of art than of na- 
 ture ; or some magnificent ruin, with its battle- 
 ments and broken columns, standing far apart a- 
 midst the solitude of the waters. It has become 
 gray and weather- worn in the course of centuries; 
 but its whitish aspect is owing chiefly to the con- 
 stant deposition of sea-fowls, myriads of which 
 perch and breed on its craggy sides. The scene 
 of mingled and noisy confusion presented by 
 these busy multitudes, is highly picturesque 
 Birds of various species, and countless numbers, 
 are seen incessantly on the wing, wheeling round 
 the island in promiscuous revclrv, or sailing 
 through the air with majestic flight, eyeing the 
 
 N 
 
290 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 finny tribes that sport in the liquid element. 
 From their keenness of sight, they discern the 
 unconscious fry at an immense distance; and 
 folding their wings, they plunge headlong into 
 the sea, darting on their prey with unerring aim 
 and inconceivable rapidity. Naturalists remark, 
 that sea-fowls are the most destitute of the pow- 
 ers of melody, and the vocal concert which arises 
 from the wild confused scream of so many dis- 
 cordant notes, furnishes no very agreeable enter- 
 tainment. When settled on their airy perches, 
 the report of a musket will rouse swarms, that 
 for a moment seem to darken the air like a 
 cloud. 
 
 During the months of incubation, May and 
 June, the steep and shelving sides of the island 
 are wholly covered with hatching birds, ranged 
 one above another on the narrow ledges, as if a 
 rising forest were bristling thick on the face of the 
 rock. They are too intent upon their maternal 
 duties, to be scared away even by the near pre- 
 sence of the curious visitor. Parental affection 
 seems to have chained them to the rock, for vio- 
 lence will scarcely remove them from their nests. 
 
 When viewed from beneath, or in sailing 
 round, the appearance of the island is still more 
 terrific. In some places, the attrition of the waves 
 has worn its base into vast cavities, where the 
 wasteful ocean swills with incessant noise and 
 agitation; in others, it juts over with tremendous 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 291 
 
 sublimity; so that while surveying these hanging 
 precipices, the mind instinctively recoils at the 
 terror of being overwhelmed with the impending 
 ruin. Compared with these stupendous cliffs, the 
 boasted works of art must appear of puny di- 
 mensions ; the massive strength and magnificence 
 of feudal or gothic architecture dwindles into in- 
 significance. On a level with the surface of the 
 water, and immediately behind the east turret, 
 there is a cavern which perforates the rock from 
 side to side, running from east to west, but not 
 in a straight line, so that the centre is quite dark, 
 in which there is a deep pool. From the centre 
 the cove gradually widens towards botli aper- 
 tures. It is pervious at ebb-tide, and has some- 
 times been traversed by enterprising visitors. 
 The east mouth, which is highest, is rocky and 
 difficult of access : the opposite is gravelly, and 
 spacious enough to admit of two or three small 
 boats. In storms, the roar and tumult of the >ea, 
 bursting through this subterraneous passage, is 
 highly sublime. The depth of water around the 
 base is somewhere Ixtween thirty and forty fa- 
 thoms perpendicular, so that the entire height 
 the rock must be about six hundred feet 
 A description of the interior, and the difficulties 
 }f access, cannot be better given than in the words 
 if one of the prisoners. 
 
 " The lias a very high rock in the sea, 
 
 :wo miles distant from the nearest point of land ; 
 
292 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 covered it is with grass on the uppermost parts, 
 where is a garden, where herbs grow, with some 
 cherry trees that bear fruit. Below the garden 
 there is a chapel for divine service; but in regard 
 no minister was allowed for it, the ammunition 
 of the garrison was kept therein. Landing here 
 is very difficult and dangerous ; for if any storm 
 blow ye cannot enter, because of the swelling 
 waves which beat with a wonderful noise upon 
 the rock, and sometimes in such a violent man- 
 ner, that the broken waves, reverberating on the 
 rock with a mighty force, come up over the 
 walls of the garrison on the court before the pri- 
 soners 1 chambers, which is above twenty cubits 
 high : and with a full sea must you land ; or, 
 if it be ebb, you must either be cranned up, or 
 climb with hands and feet up some steps artifi- 
 cially cut in the rock, and must have help, be- 
 sides, of those who are on the top, who pull you 
 up by the hand ; nor is there any place of landing 
 but one about the whole rock. Here, on a fair 
 day and full sea, you may land without great ha- 
 zard ; but on every other side it is high and steep. 
 " On the south side, where the rock falls a 
 little level, you come first to the governor's 
 house, and from that, some steps higher, you as- 
 cend to a level court, where a house for prisoners 
 and soldiers is ; whence, by windings cut out of 
 the rock, there is a path leading you to the top, 
 whose height doth bear off all north, east, and 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 293 
 
 west storms, lying exposed only to the south. 
 On the higher parts, there is grass sufficient to 
 feed twenty or twenty-four sheep, who are there 
 very fat and good. In these upper parts, there 
 are sundry walks of some threescore foot length, 
 and some very solitary, where we sometimes en- 
 tertained ourselves. The accessible places are 
 defended by several walls, and cannon placed on 
 them. The rest of the rock is defended by na- 
 ture, by its huge height and steepness, being 
 some forty cubits high in the lowest places. 
 
 ** After changing many masters, it was at last 
 bought by the king, who repaired the old walls, and 
 built some new houses for prisoner The small 
 garrison is sufficient, if courageous, to defend it 
 against millions of men, and is only expugnable 
 by hunger. There is no fountain of water there- 
 in ; and they are only served with rain that falls 
 out of the clouds, and is preserved in some hol- 
 low caverns digged out of the rock.* Their 
 drink and provisions are carried from the shore 
 by a boat, which waits only on the garrison, and 
 hath a salarv of six pounds yearly, besides what 
 money they get of those persons that come either 
 to visit the prisoners, or are curious to see the gar* 
 
 • There was then, and is still, a t'resh water spring near the 
 top of the rock, flowing all the year : how the prisoners came to 
 be ignorant of this, or were deprived of its benefit, ib rather sur- 
 prising. 
 
294- MEMOIRS OF 
 
 rison. Here fowls of several sorts are to be found, 
 who build in the clefts of the rock : the most con- 
 siderable of which is the solan goose, whose 
 young, when well-fledged, are taken, and so yield 
 near one hundred pounds yearly, and might be 
 much more were they carefully improved.'"* 
 
 Such was the place selected by government as 
 a state-prison; and here many venerable and 
 worthy men languished in forgotten misery, en- 
 during more in this horrible exile than in the 
 protracted severities of twenty years persecution. 
 Some of them were broken down with the infir- 
 mities of age, or the fatigues of a life spent in 
 long toils and perpetual wanderings. Others, 
 whose constitutions had remained unbroken by 
 labour and want, sunk under topical diseases 
 peculiar to their situation, or induced by the 
 complicated rigours of their captivity. Most of 
 them appear to have been afflicted with a malady 
 brought on by unwholesome diet, or the cold 
 damp sea-breezes to which they were often ex- 
 posed both by day and night. Their victuals 
 were generally bad, and extravagantly dear, as 
 they were obliged to take them at whatever rate 
 the governor pleased. They had sometimes no 
 other food than dried fish, and that in very small 
 quantities. They were frequently reduced, as 
 was noticed above, to great extremities for w r ant 
 
 * Memoirs of Mr. James Fraser of Brae. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. ^95 
 
 of water. The rain they collected in crevices 
 was alwavs brackish from the constant dashing 
 of the spray. In winter and spring they pro- 
 cured a sort of drink by melting snow. The 
 they used to sprinkle with oatmeal, to remove 
 their corrupted and disagreeable flavour. The 
 only method they had for taking in their provi- 
 sions was by the help of a crane, an engine with 
 a wheel and a running cord, which stood on the 
 brink of the rock towards the land, nearly sixty 
 feet above high-water mark. In tempestuous 
 weather they were in danger of starvation ; and it 
 would appear were sometimes without food for 
 several days together. The swell and repulsion 
 of the waves, in storms, prevented all boats from 
 approaching them. When easterly winds prevail, 
 the turmoil of waters is grand beyond descrip- 
 tion ; the billows dashing and leaping against 
 the rock, — mounting up its sides to the height of 
 a hundred feet ; — then recoiling on themselves 
 and tumbling headlong through rugged groove 
 in white and broken cataracts. 
 
 The apartments of the prisoners appear to 
 have been constructed with little regard to the 
 health or accommodation of the unfortunate in- 
 mate They were necosarilv cold, from their 
 
 derated exposure, and must have been exceed- 
 ingly pernicious to valetudinary constitutions 
 
 from their defective ventilation. These domestic 
 
 inconveniences were but ill calculated to alleviate 
 
296 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the hardships to which they were occasionally 
 subjected from the accidents of wind and tide.* 
 
 The regulations of the prison were very strict, 
 and often made vexatious from arbitrary inflic- 
 tions. The exiles were forbidden to correspond, 
 or even to converse with their friends, without 
 permission from the governor. All the letters 
 they sent ashore, or received from their relations 
 and acquaintance, were opened and read. Such 
 persons as were desirous to speak with them, 
 were allowed access to that effect ; but, in these 
 cases,, their numbers were restricted not to ex- 
 ceed three in a day ; the governor, or some of 
 the garrison appointed by him, being always 
 present to overhear their discourse. Their ser- 
 vants were frequently dismissed without any 
 cause assigned, or prohibited from attending 
 them ; and they were, in consequence, compelled 
 to dress their own victuals, make their beds, and 
 do other menial offices. It was difficult to pro- 
 
 * u The Bass was a base, cold, unwholesome prison ; all 
 their rooms ordinarily full of smoke, like to suffocate and choke 
 them, so as my father and the other prisoners were necessitate 
 many a time to thrust head and shoulders out of the windows to 
 recover breath. They were obliged to drink the tupenny ale of 
 the governor's brewing, scarcely worth a halfpenny the pint ; 
 and several times were sorely put to it for want of victual, for 
 ten or twelve days together ; the boats not daring to venture to 
 them by reason of stormy weather."—- Blackader's Sufferings, 
 MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
REV. JOHN HLACKADER. 297 
 
 cure the attendance of any servants, particularly 
 of females, from the licensed brutality of the sol- 
 diers, some of whom were offered rewards by 
 their officers to debauch them, in order to as- 
 perse, with indirect slander, the character of die 
 prisoners. These, no doubt, may be called in- 
 stances of private abuse ; yet much of this harsh 
 treatment was in exact conformity with the or- 
 ders of council, as may be seen from the follow- 
 ing copy of instructions to the governor. — 
 
 " Edinburgh, Juhj 28, 1683. 
 
 u The lords of his majesty's privy council or- 
 dain the governor and deputy-governor of the 
 Bass, to observe the following instructions as to 
 the prisoners there or that shall come. 
 
 " 1st, That they allow no man-servants to the 
 prisoners, but only such women-servants as the 
 governor-depute shall appoint and allow. 
 
 " 2d, That the prisoners receive no letters or 
 papers, nor send any to any person whatsoniever, 
 but what shall b. D by the said governor. 
 
 " 3d, That the governor may allow two of 
 the prisoners, at the same time, to have the li- 
 berty of the inland above the walls betwixt sun- 
 rising and sun-setting; and these two are to be 
 Bhllt Up ID their chambers before Other two come 
 out, providing this liberty be not given to any 
 who are or >hall be ordered to be close prisoners. 
 
 k< \th, That there be two persons only per- 
 
 N 2 
 
298 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 mitted at one time to come from shore to see the 
 prisoners, and that there be always some officer 
 or soldier of the garrison present, to hear what 
 discourse shall pass betwixt them ; and if they 
 be suspected to have letters or papers for the 
 prisoners, that they be searched, and the said 
 letters or papers seized upon. These instructions 
 are to be observed till further orders.*"* 
 
 Severe as these restrictions were in themselves, 
 they were greatly aggravated by capricious and 
 unwarranted violence. The liberty of taking air 
 and exercise up the hill, was often wantonly de-" 
 nied, or obtained only by the intercession of 
 some particular friend.-f* The station generally 
 assigned the prisoners, seems to have been the 
 low flat rock beneath the outer w r all of the Fort : 
 they were huddled together on this bare ledge, 
 so rugged and uneven that they could scarcely 
 stand on their feet. Again, as the humour took 
 their keepers, they were all shut up in separate 
 chambers, and not allowed to see or speak to 
 each other ; and this was done even to those who 
 had been committed at large with the freedom 
 of the rock above the walls. Some without any of- 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. ii, 288. 
 
 -f " Lord M'Leod, coming home from his travels, went to see 
 the Bass, and procured from the governor liberty for Mr. Mac- 
 gilligen, so that at sometimes he was permitted to come out upon 
 the rock."— .Wodrow, vol. i, 427. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 299 
 
 fence, or upon any frivolous pretext, were con- 
 fined to dark and close dungeons within the for- 
 tification, where they saw not day-light, except 
 when the soldier opened the door of their drear v 
 keep, to bring them their daily pittance of meat 
 and drink. They were all discharged to preach 
 or exercise any part of their ministry ; but so 
 long as they had the privilege of religious con- 
 verse, and of worshipping God together, the 
 abridgement of other liberties was less severely 
 felt. The company and communion of their 
 fellow prisoners at stated hours, supported their 
 spirits under solitary confinement, and afforded 
 them that kind of melancholy joy, mingled with 
 pleasure and regret, which strangers feel who 
 meet in a far country, or captives in a foreign 
 land. But this consolation was either altogether 
 refused them, or made the occasion of mockery 
 and insult. They were often separated in their 
 devotions, and permitted neither fee worship nor 
 to eat together, a prohibition which both in- 
 cn 1 their expenses, and deprived them of 
 much comfort and edification. On Sabbaths, 
 when they did meet for religious purposes, the 
 Idk rfl would vex them with their profane and 
 blasphemous discourse, or keep back by fen 
 the better disposed, who would gladly have 
 joined them.* They took every opportunity i)f 
 
 • M While Alexander Peden was prisoner in the Bast, one 
 
300 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 shocking their feelings by oaths and impieties, 
 and would mix in their company for the most 
 malicious ends, endeavouring to decoy them into 
 seditious conversation, or entangle them in poli- 
 tical snares, by asking artful and insidious ques- 
 tions about public matters. 
 
 Sabbath morning, being about the public worship of God, a 
 young woman came to the chamber-door, mocking with loud 
 laughter. He said, c Poor thing, thou mockest and laughest 
 at the worship of God ; but ere long, God will write such a sud- 
 den surprising judgment on thee, that shall stay thy laughing ; 
 and thou shalt not escape it.' Very shortly thereafter, she was 
 walking upon the rock ; and there came a blast of wind, and 
 
 sweeped her into the sea, and she was lost." u Another day, 
 
 while Mr. Peden was walking upon the rock, some soldiers pass- 
 ing by him, one of them cried, c The devil take him.' He said, 
 6 Fy, fy, poor man, thou knowest not what thou art saying ; 
 but thou will repent that :' at which words the soldier stood a- 
 stonished, and went to the guard distracted, crying aloud for Mr. 
 Peden, saying, the devil would immediately take him away. 
 He came and spoke to him, and prayed for him. The next 
 morning, he came to him again, and found him in his right mind, 
 under deep convictions of great guilt. The guard being to change, 
 they desired him to go to his arms : he refused, and said, * I 
 will lift no arms against Jesus Christ his cause, nor persecute 
 his people : I have done that too long.' The governor threat- 
 ened him with death to-morrow at ten o'clock :, he confidently 
 said three times, * Though he should tear all his body to pieces, 
 he should never lift arms that way.' About three days after, 
 the governor put him out of the garrison, setting him ashore. 
 He, having a wife and children, took a house in East-Lothian, 
 where he became a singular Christian."— Walker 9 s Life of Pe- 
 den. Biog. Scoticana. 
 
HEV. JOHN BLACKADER. 301 
 
 Daring their captivity, these good men ap- 
 pear to have employed most of their time in 
 sacred duties, or the acquirement of useful know- 
 ledge. Some carried on occasional correspond- 
 ence with their friends ; others recorded the events 
 of their own lives ; or wrote treatises on religious 
 subjects, or made new attainments in biblical 
 literature.* Yet, in the midst of their solitary 
 hours, painful recollections did sometimes intrude. 
 They were divided from their families and their 
 flocks, with whom they used to keep solemn 
 fasts, and took sweet counsel together. It was 
 not now, as in the days of old, when they went 
 forth with the multitude that kept holy day, 
 and when the candle of the Lord shone upon 
 their tabernacle. The thoughts of Sion, deso- 
 late and forlorn, rushed on their minds, and 
 awakened those tender feelings of religious pa- 
 triotism, which thrilled in the breasts of the 
 Jewish exiles when they sat and wept by the 
 streams of Babylon. It was the subject of their 
 deepest and saddest regret, that while the sword 
 of persecution was sweeping through the land, 
 like the blast of the desert ; while there wen 
 
 • M Every day I read the scriptures. I studied Hebrew and 
 (ireek, and gained some knowledge in the Ori en tal languages. 
 I likewise read some divinity, and wrote a Treatise of Faith, with 
 some other miscellanies, and several letters to ( hri>tion friends 
 and relations." — Mem. of Mr. J. Frascr of Brae, 
 
302 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 few to lift up the fallen standard, or carry 
 Chrisfs banner on the mountains, so many va- 
 liant soldiers of the cross should be laid by in use- 
 less inactivity. These things occurring to their 
 thoughts, affected them with sorrow at the re- 
 membrance, and made peace a stranger to their 
 bosom : For though they were not with their 
 brethren to jeopard their lives in the high places 
 of the field, they were companions with them in 
 tribulation, and suffered, in spirit, with the com- 
 mon cause of religion. They pleaded with heaven 
 in secret, and in the solitude of prayer ; and if 
 the intercession of the righteous availeth much, 
 those earnest sighs, that were breathed in prisons 
 and on rocks, were not without their influence in 
 achieving that glorious triumph of the church, 
 which had already begun to dawn in the east. 
 
 Such was the situation and employment of these 
 pious captives during the time of Mr. Black- 
 ader's imprisonment. In addition to his other 
 afflictions, he could not fail to be deeply grieved 
 at the reports which he heard, from time to time, 
 of the cruelties committed in the south, where 
 persecution raged with unprecedented violence. 
 That oppressed district was now converted into 
 one vast theatre of bloody tragedy. The short 
 indemnity after Bothwell, seemed only to have 
 whetted the appetite for revenge. It appeared 
 to be the study of every succeeding administra- 
 tion to surpass the excesses of the former. As if 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 303 
 
 the guilty were not sufficient to satiate the thirst 
 for blood, new laws and new crimes were invent- 
 ed to implicate the innocent. Punishments were 
 inflicted with the most indecent precipitation; 
 and even the mockery of trial, and the forms of 
 justice were dispensed with. Murders and mili- 
 tary executions were perpetrated without inquiry, 
 and without distinction of age or sex. The 
 defenceless unoffending peasantry were shot on 
 the highways, or at their daily occupations. Some- 
 times the husband or the son were barbarously 
 dragged to their own doors, to be shot in the 
 presence of their families. They were despatch- 
 ed in the midst of prayer, in the solitude of their 
 cottages, or in the shelter of glens and caves. 
 " The condition of the presbyterians was truly 
 deplorable, — wherever they were discovered, the 
 hue and cry was immediately raised. — They were 
 pursued by the military, and sought with more 
 insidious diligence by spies and informers ; — and, 
 upon some occasions, it appears that even the 
 gacity of dogs was employed to track their 
 footsteps, and explore their lurking retreats."* It 
 
 • Laing, vol. iv, 150, and Wodrow, vol. ii, pastinu — M Won- 
 derful were the preservations of the persecuted about this time. 
 The soldiers frequentfy got their clothes and clokes, and yet mis*. 
 ed themselves. They would have gone by the mouths of the 
 caves and dens in which they were lurking, and the dogs would 
 snook and smell about the stones under which they were lud, and 
 yet they remained undiscovered," (MWruu-, ut tup. 449.) V 
 
304 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 is painful, however, to contemplate longer this 
 dark and gloomy subject : the close of that san- 
 guinary reign is a period from which historians 
 have turned their eyes with horror. 
 
 After Mr. Blackader had continued above four 
 years in prison, his health, which had already 
 suffered severely from the fatigues of a laborious 
 profession, became so much impaired by the un- 
 genial air of the place, as to endanger his life. 
 His friends in Edinburgh, having laid before the 
 council an attested declaration of his indisposition, 
 gave in a petition, (June 20, 1685,) " craving 
 liberty for him to be brought to Edinburgh, 
 where he might have access to physicians and me- 
 dicines, (he being dangerously sick of complicat- 
 ed disorders,) and to die with his wife and child- 
 dren." The answer to this was as follows.— 
 
 haps the most extraordinary of these retreats, was that of Ma- 
 jor Learmont, in his own house, within three miles of La- 
 nark. u He had dug a vault under ground, and formed it for 
 his hiding. It had its entry in his own house, upon the side of 
 a wall, and closed up with a whole stone, so close that none 
 would have judged it but to have been a stone of the building. 
 It descended below the foundation of the house, and was in 
 length about forty yards ; and in the far-end, the other mouth of 
 it was clothed with faill (turf,) having a faill-dyke builded upon 
 it ; so that with ease, when he went out, he shutt out the faill, 
 and closed it again. Here he sheltered for the space of sixteen 
 years, taking himself to it at every alarm ; and many times hath 
 his house been searched by the soldiers. He was betrayed by 
 his own herdsman in March 1682."— Law*s Mem, 216. 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADEE. 305 
 
 u November 12. — The lords of his majesty's 
 privy council, having considered the petition and 
 testiflcate, do grant order and warrant to the de- 
 puty-governor and lieutenant of the isle of Bass, 
 to allow the prisoner liberty forth thereof; he 
 finding sufficient caution to be inserted in the 
 
 books of council, That within the space of 
 
 hours after he is set at liberty, he shall enter his 
 person prisoner in the tolbuith of Dunbar or 
 Haddington, as he shall choose, and there to re- 
 main, and not make his escape ; and that he shall 
 re-enter himself prisoner within the said isle of 
 
 Bass against the first Thursday of , being 
 
 the day thereof ; and there to remain till 
 
 further orders ; and that under the penalty of 
 five thousand merks, in case of failzie in any of 
 the aforesaid premises.** 
 
 This order, which was merely an alternative of 
 prisons, and not liberty to the prisoner, was com- 
 municated to Mr. Blackader. Finding his object 
 would be altogether defeated, he wrote back to 
 his friends, soliciting some further mitigation of 
 restrictions. 
 
 " This day (Monday) I received two letU 
 from you, dated November 20, about the buM- 
 
 ss of my liberty : That it is granted, I should 
 be transported to Dunbar or Haddington. When 
 with due deliberation and pains I have consider- 
 ed all, particularly what vou write, since I am 
 
 not prone of my dyientery, though my rheum** 
 
306 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tism be returning ; and finding what is granted 
 is not the thing I sought, which was necessary for 
 my case, viz. to be at Edinburgh, where I might 
 have access to physicians and medicines ; but 
 that I am exchanging one prison for another no 
 better, but rather with more inconveniences, and 
 the time being but short till I should return ; 
 and especially that I should find caution not to 
 escape, (which I take to be while I am prisoner 
 there,) being what is not a prisoner's part, but 
 the magistrate's and keeper's, and would be a bad 
 preparative to all prisoners ; neither have I ever 
 heard the like required of a prisoner. I say, 
 having weighed and laid all together, I am con- 
 strained rather to choose to take God's venture 
 in staying where I am, whether I live or die, 
 seeing I can have no liberty for relief in my pre- 
 sent distressed condition, but what would put me 
 rather in worse than better circumstances. There- 
 fore, unless you can obtain, either that I have li- 
 berty to be sick at my own house, where I may 
 have my wife and children to wait upon me ; or, 
 at least, if no better can be, that you get the or- 
 der for my imprisonment at Haddington reduced 
 to a confinement in a chamber, upon caution to 
 keep my confinement in the said town, no definite 
 time being mentioned, but during the council's 
 pleasure ; and to enter prison at the Bass when 
 required, I being able to travel : — If this cannot 
 be procured upon these or the like terms, you 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEIt. 3< 
 
 may desist from giving the council, yourself, or 
 other friends any further trouble about the mat- 
 ter. I hope it will be needless that I repeat it 
 again and again to you, that no order be extract- 
 ed for me, but what you or other trusty friends 
 see has no engagement on me or my cautioner to 
 lay any restraint upon my ministry, or the exer- 
 cise thereof, for that is absolutely out of my pow- 
 er, being only intrusted to follow my Lord and 
 Master's call and pleasure thereon, although I be 
 in little case, or like to be, to discharge any of 
 the duties thereof."* 
 
 Application was, accordingly, made a second 
 time to the council, that they would grant the 
 petitioner the indulgence of being attended in his 
 last moments by his own family, where alone he 
 could have that treatment and attention which his 
 situation required. Meanwhile his distemper, it 
 appears, had increased, and gave symptoms of fa- 
 tal termination ; which being again represented 
 to the council, " They (on the 3d December) ap- 
 point him to be Liberate immediately in regard of 
 his great danger, on bond of live thousand merks 
 to confine himself to the town of Edinburgh.*"' 
 But before this tardy order could be carried into 
 effect he had gained a more glorious liberty, and 
 WBB beyond the reach of further persecution. 
 
 * MS. Letter at the end of Blackader's Mem. Adv. Lib. 
 
308 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 He died on the Bass, having nearly completed 
 his seventieth year, and was buried in the church- 
 yard of North-Berwick, where a handsome tomb- 
 stone still marks the grave of the Martyr.* 
 
 Thus, after various and protracted hardships, 
 this venerable and worthy man fell a sacrifice, 
 like many others, in the cause of civil and reli- 
 gious independence ; refusing, with his dying 
 breath, to make a base and criminal surrender of 
 those sacred privileges which he had maintained 
 so long at the peril of his life. When or by 
 whom the tombs of the martyrs were erected is 
 very uncertain, and of little importance. They 
 are, in general, we believe, to be ascribed to the 
 benevolent operation of popular feeling, which 
 
 * The order for his liberation seems to have misled Wodrow 
 both as to the time and place of his death, (vol. ii, 174.) In 
 " Scots Worthies" it is said he died in the beginning of 1686 ; 
 and it is possible he might survive until January. His age on 
 the gravestone (that he was in his 63d year) is incorrect. It may 
 be a trifling circumstance to mention, that this Stone was repaired 
 and re-lettered in July 1821, from no u motives of superstitious 
 or fanciful devotion," but merely as a mark of posthumous re- 
 spect. The gentlemen at whose expense it was done, and who, 
 I trust, will have the indulgence to excuse the publicity of their 
 
 names, are the following Sir Hew Dalrymple Hamilton of 
 
 North-Berwick, Bart. ; Rev. Dr. Sibbald, Haddington ; Rev. 
 J. Wallace, Whitekirk; Rev. J. Smith, Aberlady; Rev. P. 
 Primrose, Prestonpans ; Rev. W. Ritchie, Athelstoneford ; Rev. 
 G. Greig, Tinwald ; Mr. W. H. Ritchie, Writer, Dunbar ; Mr. 
 Thomas Burns, Preacher, Grantsbraes ; Mr. Samuel Brown, 
 Merchant, Haddington ; Mr. J. Somerville, North-Berwick. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 309 
 
 from the moment the green sod was laid on their 
 graves, regarded the spot as hallowed and conse- 
 crated ground ; and seemed to have considered 
 these posthumous honours as justly due to the 
 ashes of the defenders of the national religion. 
 But they have a more imperishable monument in 
 that reverence with which they are still cherished 
 in the hearts of the Scottish peasantry. There 
 the memory of the fallen martyrs is embalmed, 
 and will never cease to be fresh and fragrant. 
 Their names and sufferings have acquired the nati- 
 mortality of tradition, and are " familiar as house- 
 hold words.*" Their deeds are engraven on the 
 recollections of the people ; and this remembrance 
 is perpetuated and renewed by the legendary 
 tales of the cottage fireside, or the gray stone that 
 stands u amidst the heath on the mountain.*" — 
 These will preserve their memory from extinc- 
 tion, when their type grows dim witli age, and 
 their dust crumbles into oblivion. 
 
 The same uncertainty, in general, envelopes 
 the authors of those " uncouth rhymes," with 
 whieh their " shapeless sculpture" baa been deck- 
 ed. They are evidently the composition of un- 
 refined and illiterate men ; vet many of them 
 
 have ;i simple and pathetic tenderness, Bometm 
 
 n a poetical elegant The insc ripti on on Mr. 
 Blackader'fl tomb is no mean specimen of the ele- 
 giac must It is written in a grave and solemn 
 ram, and has a kind of poetic effect on the ima- 
 
310 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 gination, from the sentiments being clothed in the 
 allusions and imagery of scripture. . As it has not 
 found its way into any of the repositories of mar- 
 tyrology that I have seen, and expresses concise- 
 ly some of the leading traits of his character, it 
 deserves to be inserted.* 
 
 Blest John, for Jesus' sake, in Patmos bound, 
 His prison Bethel, Patmos Pisgah found ; 
 So the bless'd John, on yonder rock confined,— 
 His body suffer'd, but no chains could bind 
 His heaven-aspiring soul ; while day by day 
 As from Mount Pisgah's top, he did survey 
 The promised land, and view'd the crown by faith 
 Laid up for those who faithful are till death. 
 Grace form'd him in the Christian Hero's mould- 
 Meek in his own concerns — in's Master's bold, ; 
 Passions to Reason chained, Prudence did lead- 
 Zeal warm'd his breast, and Reason cool'd his head. 
 Five years on the lone rock, yet sweet abode, 
 He Enoch-like enjoy'd and walk'd with God ; 
 Till, by long living on this heavenly food, 
 His soul by love grew up too great, too good 
 To be confined to jail, or flesh and blood. 
 Death broke his fetters off, then swift he fled 
 From sin and sorrow ; and, by angels led, 
 
 • The inscription appeared in Blackwood's Magazine for De- 
 cember 1821, along with some notes of Mr. Blackader, which I 
 communicated, and from which the author of the " Steam Boat" 
 extracted his tale of the " Covenanter.' ■ 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 311 
 
 Enter'd the mansions of eternal joy ; — 
 Blest soul , thy warfare's done, praise, love, enjoy. 
 His dust here rests till Jesus come again, — 
 Even so, blest Jesus, come— come, Lord — Amen. 
 
 We deem it unimportant and superfluous to 
 attempt any formal portraiture of his character. 
 It exhibits almost nothing that can distinguish 
 or separate it from the common group of suffer- 
 ers, who have signalized their names in the saint- 
 struggle. The features, therefore, are few, and 
 strongly marked, and cannot be mistaken. He 
 entertained the prejudices and antipathies pecu- 
 liar to his age, but seems to have avoided some 
 of its excesses. We find him at all times candid 
 and ingenuous, honest, conscientious, bold and 
 unreserved. Of his private habits and disposi- 
 tions, little can be known; yet if his actions an 
 allowed to be the expression of his principles, he 
 was endowed with many excellent and amiable 
 qualitic His temper appears to have been so- 
 cial and agreeable, not easily irritated by provo- 
 cation, and unsoured by the harshness of his 
 treatment With all the sterner virtues of the 
 times, he displays many of the gentler traits of 
 human nature. His heart wa> BOSOeptiUe, in a 
 high d< , of the humane and benevolent af- 
 
 fections ; and, in compassionating the miseries of 
 his oppressed countrymen, he seems almost to 
 
 have forgotten his own. a deep sense of reli- 
 
312 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 gion was ever present on his mind, and pervaded 
 the whole tenor of his life. This begot a pa- 
 tience and resigned contentment under his ad- 
 verse lot, which otherwise must have been into- 
 lerable. His trust in Divine goodness on no occa- 
 sion forsook him ; and we never find him employ- 
 ing the language of complaint, or blaming the dis- 
 pensations of providence as unkind or unwise. 
 He encountered the hazards and difficulties of his 
 profession with unshrinking fortitude. His cour- 
 age was undaunted and fearless of danger, yet 
 tempered by prudence and reflection. It was 
 not the obstinacy which springs from ill-nature, 
 or a spirit of stubborn resistance ; but that bold- 
 ness which is inspired by innocence, and the con- 
 sciousness of a good cause. 
 
 Of his literary attainments we have spoken 
 already. Of his sermons, no specimens exist, so 
 far as we know, that can be called genuine. 
 Those that have been preserved, have evidently 
 suffered much in the hands of the copyist, or the 
 original amanuensis. " There are several well- 
 vouched instances of the remarkable success of 
 his sermons, which were not so low and flat but 
 the pious learned might admire them ; nor so 
 learned, but the plainest capacity might under- 
 stand them."* His oratory, however, appears to 
 
 Scots Worthies. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADKR. 13 
 
 have been of a powerful and impressive kind, not- 
 withstanding he laboured under a defective ut- 
 terance.* 
 
 The praise of opposing the illegal and insidi- 
 ous encroachments of arbitrary power on tin 
 liberties of the church, he shares in common 
 with the great body of presbyterians. None 
 held their national privileges in greater venera- 
 tion, or defended them with more ardour and 
 perseverance. But his zeal, though warm and 
 enthusiastic, was never precipitate ; and his pro- 
 fessional conduct was consistent throughout He 
 
 sumed, at his outset, an attitude of resistance; 
 and that position he maintained to the last. It 
 was his determination to renounce every worldly 
 comfort, and even to sacrifice his life sooner than 
 betray his cause, by resorting .to crooked and di>- 
 honourable compliances. He preserved his con- 
 unshackled by oaths and bonds free from 
 the thraldom of degrading imposition- I Ii- sen- 
 timents, consequently, irere decidedly hostile to 
 all indulgences, which be considered as merely a 
 
 modification of supremacy, allowing the civil 
 
 magistrate to dictate in the internal government 
 
 of the church. Yet though firm in his own opi- 
 nions, he was liberal to his opponents, and would 
 not rashly i ire or condemn honest men, who 
 
 ce page 339. 
 
814 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 could conscientiously accept of these favours. 
 He even reprimanded the conduct of those who 
 preached up separation, or animadverted, with un- 
 christian severity, on the conduct of their indulg- 
 ed brethren.* He laboured much to assuage the 
 violence of popular discontent which that defec- 
 tion had unhappily occasioned ; and, amidst the 
 wranglings of debate, we find him uniformly re- 
 commending pacific measures. 
 
 If he was honest and determined in adhering 
 to what he believed to be the truth, he was not 
 less indefatigable in his exertions to promote it. 
 It was his meat and drink to do the will of Him 
 that sent him. He gained an early celebrity by 
 being among the first to erect the standard of 
 freedom in the fields : There was not a district 
 in the Lowlands of Scotland which he had not 
 visited; and it was only his ignorance of the 
 language that prevented him from penetrating 
 into the Highlands.^ In the picture which he 
 
 * Mr. Blackader carried on a correspondence with Mr. Mac- 
 Ward in Holland, concerning the indulgence ; and several of his 
 letters are among the Wodrow MSS. Advocates' Library. In 
 1673, he, with eight or ten others, met and drew up reasons 
 why they could not comply with it. Their paper was never pre- 
 sented ; but it may be seen in the u History of the Indulgence/' 
 — Wodrow, vol. i, 363. 
 
 + " I remember my father in Galloway was called one of the 
 three first Worthies; because he, with Mr. Welsh and Mr. 
 Semple, were among the first that did venture their lives to preach 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. S15 
 
 draws of a conventicle, we find something verj 
 different from the representations which have 
 often been given of these religious meetings, as 
 nurseries of sedition, rendezvous of rebellion. 
 and even receptacles of vices that cannot Ik 
 named. But they seem to have derived their 
 formidable qualities chiefly from the cowardice 
 of the military, whose imagination saw men in 
 shadows, and armed them with fictitious terro' 
 These alarming conventions appear, in realit 
 nothing but a harmless assemblage of peaceable 
 worshippers, with arms to repel aggressions 
 with minds and feelings wound to a high pitch 
 of devotional fervour, but devoid of all hostile 
 or treasonable purpose The attention of the 
 preacher and the audience was entirely occupied 
 with the solemnities of religion ; the one impart- 
 ing, the other receiving the consolations of dirine 
 truth, and the bread of eternal lif) Yet them 
 are the people who have been stigmatized 
 trumpeters of sedition, vagrant cabals of gloomy 
 and desperate rebels, met in contempt of law. 
 insulting the established authorities, and plot- 
 
 in the fields in (ialloway and Nithsdale. He was another inde- 
 fatigable Paul, travelling through most par -otland, exeept 
 among the wild Highlanders, whose case he sadly regretted; for 
 I heard him many a time say, he would be content to go a thou- 
 sand miles on foot to have had the Highland language." — Black- 
 adir's Suftrirtirs, MSS. Adv. Lib. 
 
316 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ting the subversion of all government and social 
 order. 
 
 These principles have often been imputed to 
 that body of men who stood up for the rights of 
 conscience, and the rescue of their national pri- 
 vileges from the iron grasp of tyranny. We are 
 aware, that the attacks recently made on the 
 character of the Covenanters excited much sensa- 
 tion in the public mind, and provoked discus- 
 sions which contributed to set that character in 
 a fairer light. They have suffered much from 
 ignorance, prejudice, and wilful misrepresenta- 
 tion ; from having their foibles exaggerated, and 
 their better qualities suppressed, or studiously 
 thrown into the shade. Their virtues have been 
 tarnished and debased, by being associated with 
 the worst principles and vilest passions in hu- 
 man nature. They were traduced by hireling 
 and slanderous writers in their own age, when 
 the means and opportunity of vindicating them- 
 selves were placed beyond their reach. These 
 calumnious assertions have been adopted even 
 by sober historians, who have given a distorted 
 caricature, instead of a faithful image of the times. 
 Fiction has assailed them with the weapons of 
 wit and ridicule, at the expense of disguising 
 truth and perverting facts. Actions have been 
 attributed to them which they never committed, 
 and which they would have abhorred ; the ex- 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADEB. f 3 1 7 
 
 travagances of a few have been malicious! v and 
 injuriously imputed to the whole. 
 
 The best corrective of these aspersions, if a 
 better knowlege of their history. The illusions 
 of fancy would dissolve and vanish, when ap- 
 proached under a just apprehension of their real 
 merits ; and their character would assume fairer 
 colours, and a natural proportion, if viewed 
 through an impartial medium. We are far from 
 wishing to hold them up as men of unsullied and 
 immaculate excellence; as exempt from the com- 
 mon weaknesses of humanity. Their reputation 
 is not without blemish; and their conduct was, 
 in many instances, rash and indefensible. Hut 
 we say it is unfair to contemplate them ex- 
 clusively through their faults and peculiari- 
 ties, while their redeeming attributes, and their 
 brighter qualities, are quenched and buried in 
 the sink of calumny. And we are persuaded, 
 that with all their exceptionable points, a nearer 
 
 acquaintance would greatly soften and reduce 
 
 even the Btemesl and har>hest of their featiin 
 Many of their errors wire those of the age in 
 which they lived. Much of their conduct, which 
 ignorance would be dig] I to cen>ure, will ad- 
 mit of a satisfactory explanation, from the CUT- 
 
 cumstances in which they were placed What 
 appear s stubbornness and obstinacy, sras only a 
 firm adherence to irhal they believed to be truth 
 
 and right. If their zeal sonietini eded tin 
 
318 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 bounds of discretion, we ought to make allow- 
 ance for the intensity of their feelings, the irri- 
 tation of their spirits, and the want of leisure for 
 cool and dispassionate reflection. Besides, a de- 
 gree of enthusiasm was necessary in their case. 
 It inspired them with a boldness and resolution, 
 which no man will ever assume who is merely 
 convinced of the justice of his claims. If they were 
 deficient in reverence or respect for their rulers, 
 to what is it to be attributed ? We know that 
 cruelty and oppression may create aversion, but 
 will never beget esteem. Even their excesses are 
 explicable, — many of them justifiable, from the 
 peculiarity of their situation; and maybe reckoned 
 the natural consequences of their treatment. 
 
 It is said they disowned the king, and denied 
 the government. These sentiments ought not to 
 be approved, and cannot be defended ; but they 
 afford no pretext to brand the body of the Co- 
 venanters as enemies to monarchy and civil su- 
 bordination. This was the crime of a few, (not 
 one in five hundred,) who after they had endured 
 oppression to the last extremity, and saw no 
 hopes of redress left, adopted that step as a 
 desperate resource. They ventured down from 
 the mountains, at the dead of night, to fix their 
 declarations on the church-doors, publishing their 
 grievances to the world in the language of des- 
 pair, and threatening vengeance on their perse- 
 cutors. They did not disown the king until 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 319 
 
 they were persuaded, that, by violating his oat! 
 and engagements, he had forfeited all claim to 
 their allegiance : And if they called Charles 
 Stuart a tyrant, it was not until they had son 
 reason to think him so."* The presbyterians, in ,j^Ja 
 general, had no factious design to overturn the 
 throne, or trample royalty contemptuously under 
 their feet ; they only wished to reduce its pre- 
 rogatives within safe and reasonable limit >. The 
 perienee of a century and a half has proven, 
 that there is nothing in the genius of presbytcrv 
 incompatible with monarchic principles ; and the 
 allegation, that the ancient leaders of our church 
 were republicans or democrats, needs no other 
 refutation than referring to the standards of the 
 church, to her Confessions and Apologies, and 
 11 to the Solemn League and Covenant itself. 
 They felt themselves compelled to take arm-, in 
 defence of their liberties, when these were un- 
 justly assailed and infringed ; but their opposi- 
 tion was not the random concurrence of fierj and 
 
 discontented spirits. They had considered the 
 
 grounds of their resistance, and justified the use 
 of defensive arms from the law of nature, and 
 from thi' precepts and examples of scripture. 
 
 In opposing prelacy, the Cor enanters were not 
 
 merely contending about a few abstract points in 
 
 religion, or a particular ecclesiastical sj stano : thej 
 
 wire struggling for the civil and political rights 
 of their country nst the inroads of despotical 
 
320 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and superstitious kings. They were the cham- 
 pions of a national cause ; and though they had 
 not the most refined notions of rational liberty, 
 they were the only persons that made a firm and 
 consistent stand in its defence. Their devoted 
 courage not only preserved the independence of 
 their religion, but proved a useful barrier to the 
 nation, when the bulwarks of liberty were fall- 
 ing prostrate before the march of a dark and 
 gloomy despotism. Their efforts have left a 
 noble monument to the world, what unshrinking 
 and persevering fortitude may accomplish. The 
 triumph of their cause affords an instructive 
 lesson on the futility of those legislative mea- 
 sures, that would subdue conscientious opinions 
 by force, or extinguish religious principles by 
 cruelty. When we reflect on these invaluable 
 privileges, on the freedom of conscience, and the 
 protection of laws, let us not forget the men by 
 whom they were secured. Barbarous nations ad- 
 mire the heroic deeds of their forefathers, though 
 they inherit no other benefit than the glory of 
 their achievements. And are not those entitled 
 to our gratitude, to whose patriotic zeal we are 
 indebted for so many blessings, civil and religious ? 
 If it is reckoned ungenerous and unmanly to tread 
 with insult on the ashes of a fallen adversary, 
 what are we to think of those who wantonly re- 
 vile the virtues of their ancestors, or load with 
 reproaches the memory of their benefactors ? 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 321 
 
 Having now drawn this Biography to a con- 
 clusion, I shall subjoin a few particulars relative 
 to Mr. Blackader's family. They are taken chiefly 
 from the materials already referred to; and from 
 their connexion with the subject, may form a 
 natural sequel to the preceding Memoir 
 
 Dr. William Blackader, his eldest son, was 
 born in 1647. He was sent to the Univer- 
 sity of Edinburgh in 1665, and went over to 
 Holland to graduate at Leyden in 1680. In 
 Holland, he appears to have formed an acquain- 
 tance with some of the illustrious refug and 
 other diplomatic characters, and to have been 
 much in their confidence. lie came over with 
 
 the Earl of Argyle in his unfortunate expedition 
 in 1685, and was taken prisoner in Orkney* 
 
 The story of that desperate enterprise is shortly 
 this. — Argyle, for refusing to take the test, or, ra- 
 ther, offering an explanation of the test, waA impri- 
 soned and tried in 1681. He contrived to escape 
 from the Castle of Edinburgh, disguised as the 
 page of his daughter-in-law, Lady Sophia Lind- 
 say, and go4 over to Holland. Sentence of at- 
 tainder and death were pronounced against him 
 
 in hi> absence, and a large reward offered for his 
 
 head MeaSUrefl were concerted 1>\ the exiles in 
 
 o 
 
322 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Holland for an attempt to rescue their country. 
 Monmouth was to land in England, with the 
 English refugees : Argyle was to make a descent 
 on the coast of Scotland. In three days they 
 were at Orkney ; but having missed the passage, 
 in a thick fog, they were forced to put in to get 
 pilots. Dr. Blackader and Mr. Spence were 
 sent ashore to get intelligence, where they were 
 discovered and apprehended. By the vigilance of 
 the government, and the treachery and obstinacy 
 of his followers, Argyle's plans were disconcerted. 
 Left with a single attendant, he was apprehended 
 near Paisley, while crossing the water of Cart on 
 foot. Though disguised as a peasant, with a 
 long beard, and without a sword, he was recog- 
 nised, carried to Edinburgh, and beheaded on his 
 former sentence, June 30, 1685.* 
 
 w Dr. Blackader was twice apprehended, and not 
 only narrowly escaped hanging, but torturing by 
 boots and thumbkins. The first time was in 85, 
 about May or June, when the Earl of Argyle 
 came with a handful of men with him from Hol- 
 land. When they came to Orkney, they sent him 
 and Mr. Spence, Argyle*s secretary, ashore, to 
 find the pulse of the people. They came to 
 Kirkwall, the chief town there ; but were soon ap- 
 prehended by instigation of the bishop, and both 
 made close prisoners: they lay there near a month, 
 
 * Wodrow, vol. ii, 529-546. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKAUKR. 323 
 
 till the privy council sent for them to Edinburgh. 
 My sister, Mrs. Young, went to meet him "twixt 
 Leith and Edinburgh, for we, who were his bro- 
 thers, durst not appear. So soon as she offered 
 to speak to him, though at some distance, the 
 rascally sodgers took up their muskuets and put 
 her away. 
 
 " I shall not trouble you with his examina- 
 tion and trial: they put him and Spenoe in 
 two separate close rooms in the tolbouth, dis- 
 charging any to speak with them, or to assist 
 them with pen, ink, or paper. I had come from 
 Swedland the winter before, and brought with 
 me a big white iron box, with a Becret opening 
 at the bottom, in which I put paper, pen, and 
 ink. This I took, and went up to a turnpike,* 
 just opposite to his chamber, and looked a long 
 whil< light to his window : at Length he came 
 and saw me: then I took out inv box, and shewed 
 
 him t\\ ret wlure the paper, \e. lay. The 
 
 next dav I Bent, with the maid, the open box full 
 of Ballad in the one hand, and a >houlder of 
 POaBtcd mutton in the Other, which he received, 
 
 and was never suspected by the keeper After 
 
 he had dined, he- takefl out the paper, and writ. 
 
 a letter to Mon>ieur 1 i, the great Pensioner of 
 
 Holland, with whom happily he had been ac- 
 quaint, and performed a cure upon him, when 
 
 A hpiral ^uiir, with *tq>h winding round the tunic axis. 
 
324 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 given over by his own physicians. This letter he 
 put into the same box, and sent home with the 
 maid, with strick orders to me to forward that 
 letter under cover to another, which I did; and 
 this box and letter, was the means of saving him 
 both from death and torture. So soon as Fagel 
 got the letter, he sent for King James* 5 envoy ex- 
 traordinary, and says to him, c What is this you 
 are doing, sir; I hear you have apprehended one 
 of our countrymen/* c Who is that T says the 
 envoy, ' It is one Dr. Blackader, a naturalized 
 Hollander : what do you meddling with one of 
 our subjects ? and I hear likewise, you are going 
 to put him to the torture. I advise you,' said 
 he, ' to write immediately to your master, King 
 James, to have a care what he does with that 
 gentleman, else the states of Holland will resent 
 it. 1 The envoy did so ; upon which King James 
 sent an express to the council here, ordering 
 them not to proceed further with Dr. Blackader 
 till further orders, which they observed: And at 
 last a remission came down in his favour, after 
 he had been above twelve months in prison ; and 
 then he went for Holland, where he stayed till 
 some weeks before the Prince of Orange came 
 from Holland. 
 
 " The Duke of Queensberry hearing he had 
 been at Bothwell-bridge before that, said to him, 
 * I profess, Doctor, your crimes make me tremble 
 to think upon them ; prepare yourself for the 
 
REV. JOHN' BLACKADEJL 32-5 
 
 boots; for if there be any marrow in your lx>n< 
 we shall see it before to-morrow's sun go down. 1 
 But, it seems, providence wonderfully restrained 
 them, till the above-mentioned order came down; 
 and providence likewayes ordered it, that the 
 chancellor, and Queensberry the high-treasurer, 
 were at variance; so that the chancellor sends for 
 my brother, examined him, and bid him be ingen- 
 uoi c To what purpose need I be ingenuous, 
 for Queensberry has sworn that I shall not live 
 six dayes. 1 ' Has he told you so? nyesthe 
 chancellor : fc then, by G — d, you shall not die 
 these six weekes vet." 
 
 u The second time was in the year 1688, in 
 the month of August, when he and Colonel ('In- 
 land wii\ sent for Scotland, my brother to Edin- 
 burgh, and the Colonel to the irest, it semis to 
 
 pave the wav lor the Prince of Orange's landing 
 afterwards in November. Sometime after their 
 
 arrival, my brother having gone up to the Castle, 
 
 which was the only imprudent action he w 
 
 known to haw done, to see one Captain M*Kay, 
 
 a patient of his, who had be -irk, appr 
 
 bended by the Duke of Gordon, then governor 
 
 of the Castle, who searched him narrowly tv 
 once in his own lodgings ; and when he returned 
 
 from the chancellor he searched him again at the 
 Castk gate, and sent a party to his chamber, and 
 
 ured all his papers. There was found on him 
 nie lines written in mystical characters, and 
 
326 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 reflecting on the Queen and the young pre- 
 tended Prince of Wales. There were likewaves 
 letters found upon him. I shall not trouble you 
 with his long triall, frequent examinations, and 
 more than a hundred questions from day to day 
 about King James*' ministers of state, the Queen, 
 the Young Pretender, the states of Holland, the 
 Prince of Orange, &c. After several examina- 
 tions by the chancellor himself, he was called be- 
 fore a committee of the council, about ten days af- 
 ter his apprehending, consisting of the chancel- 
 lor, the two archbishops, and my Lord Balcar- 
 ras, who is yet alive. The chancellor said to 
 him ' They had orders from the king to use all 
 severities imaginable to make him declare what 
 was couched in the letters found upon him, by 
 meddling so particularly with the king and go- 
 vernment.' He told them all the severities im- 
 aginable should not engage him to be more in- 
 genuous than he had been, or to tell untruths. 
 But the chancellor and they would never believe 
 him ; however, they put off and delayed to put 
 him to the torture, by the boots and thumbkins, 
 though often threatened. But though he escapt 
 torture, they still continued to vex and squeeze 
 him by their questions and enquiries, hurrying 
 him from the Castle to the council, and from the 
 council back to the Castle, till the rumour about the 
 Prince of Orange's designed invasion broke out. 
 Then, it seems, they did not think it safe to 
 
EEV. JOHN BLACKADER. 327 
 
 meddle further till they saw the event of that af- 
 fair. And after he was landed, and coming up 
 to London, they sent a council-macer to the Duke, 
 in the Ca>tle, with an order to set the prisoner 
 at liberty ; which he immediately and cheerfully 
 obeyed, haying had a kindness for my brother, 
 and ordered the whole gate to be opened to 
 him. 
 
 " No sooner was my brother at liberty, a com- 
 mittee of the then confused council, sitting in 
 Hugh Blair's, a vintner at the Pillars, rig 
 
 the Parliament Close, he sits down with some of 
 his comrades in another room, next to that where 
 the committee were met, and write- _ neral 
 petition in favour of all those yet in prison, to 
 them likewise at liberty, where I heard there 
 we&e some in Blackness, some ekewher* nd 
 called lor Sir William Paterson. the clerk, and 
 once his regent in Edinburgh coll * Sir \\ il- 
 
 Ham," Bays niv brother, c here's a petition which 
 you are to deliver to the commitu Sir Wil- 
 
 liam takes it, reads it, then shook his bead, and 
 
 Bays, ; H'aith, Doctor. I dare not give this in/ 
 (it seems there had Ik ome bold Strokes in it.) 
 4 Will you not niv brother ; ' then I char 
 
 \ou in the lYince of Orange his name, and 
 
 you shall answer to him, thai you give it in imme- 
 diately. 1 Sir William, knowing then how matte 
 wi * Then, Doctor, in eonscien< 
 
 Til yenture to _ it to the committee; 1 who 
 
328 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 scarce kept it half-an-hour, till Sir William came 
 out with it to the room, where my brother was, 
 with an answer upon the back of the petition, 
 signifying that all was granted. c Now,' says 
 my brother, 6 Sir William, I warrand youll be 
 expecting your fee/ (ordinarily five dollars.) c Not 
 one farthing, 1 says he ; ' and, besides, you must 
 sit down here with us, and call for a quart of 
 wine to the company ? Sir William, a generous 
 gentleman; consented to it, where they were very 
 merry, and drank the Prince of Orange his 
 health. 1 ' 
 
 After the Revolution, Dr. Blackader was made 
 physician to King William, and died, without 
 issue, about the year 1704. 
 
 Mr. Blackader^ second son, Adam, followed 
 the mercantile profession. He was eight or nine 
 years in Sweden ; and after his return, resided 
 in Edinburgh. When young, he seems to have 
 attended his father's preachings frequently, for 
 which he was several times imprisoned. The 
 late Mr. John Blackader, accomptant-general of 
 excise, was his grandson ; his grand-daughters are 
 at present resident in Edinburgh. The follow- 
 ing is the account he gives of himself. — 
 
 " In the month of November 1674, forty-six 
 of the inhabitants of Stirling were all denounced 
 to the horn, and proclaimed his majesties rebells, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 329 
 
 for refusing to take the black bond, (as it was 
 then called,) and for being at conventicles ; and 
 me, the poor apprentice, amongst the midst of 
 them. All the rest fled out of the toun in dis- 
 guise, — most of them in bonnets and Highland 
 plaids. I would have been for running too, but 
 my master discharged me to leave the >hop ; — 
 ' For,* said he, ' they will not have the confi- 
 dence to take up the like of you, a silly young 
 lad * However, a few daves thereafter, I was 
 gript by two messengers earlv in the morning, 
 who for haste would not suffer me to tie up my 
 stockings, or put about my eravat, but hurried 
 me away to Provost RussePs lodgings, — ■ vio- 
 lent persecutor and ignorant wretch. The first 
 word he spake to me, (putting on his breeches,) 
 ' Is not this bra 1 wark, sirr, that wi man be trou- 
 bled with the like of you ?" I answered, ■ You 
 have got a bra* prize, my Lord, that hafl ciacht 
 
 a poor prentic He answered, ■ Wi name help 
 it. -irr, ire must obey the king's lawec k King 
 
 lawes, my Lord !" Bays L ■ there is no such 1 
 under the sun;* (for I had heard, that, by the 
 bond, heritors were bound for their tenants, and 
 
 masters for their servants, and not servants for 
 themselves.) « No such lawes, sirr!" sivs our 
 sweel provostj — i you leed like a knave and trai- 
 
 tour, as you are. ., sirr, vou DOOM not here 
 
 to dispute the matt iw.iv with him, away With 
 
 him to the prison. 1 Then* secured mem 
 
3S0 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the tolbuith, within iron gates, where I lay about 
 five weeks, and was never merrier in all my life, 
 with ten or twelve more of my fellow-prisoners 
 for the same alleged crimes. 
 
 " While I was in prison, the Earl of Argyle's 
 two daughters-in-law, Lady Sophia and Lady 
 Henrietta, and Lady Jean his own daughter, 
 did me the honour, and came to see me ; where, 
 I remember, Lady Sophia stood up upon a 
 bench, and arraigned before her the provost of 
 Stirling ; then sentenced and condemned him to 
 be hanged for keeping me in prison : which high- 
 ly enraged the poor fool provost, though it was 
 but an harmless frolick. It seems he complain- 
 ed to the council of it, for which the good Earle 
 was like to be brought to much trouble about it. 
 
 " While I was in prison, the magistrates were 
 sending out, every other day, a number of the 
 rascaly sodgers, and a messenger along with them, 
 who went scouting about the toun, like their old 
 master the devil, seeking whom they could ap- 
 prehend. All they catched one night, was a 
 poor man about eighty years of age, who had 
 been sick for twenty years ; and going out to 
 buy a little meal for him and his wife, on the 
 road was apprehended, and brought in and made 
 one of my fellow-prisoners. When first I saw 
 him, I did really think he could scarcely live 
 till the morrow. We asked him if he was de- 
 nounced amongst the rest ? 4 I know not/ said 
 
KEV. JOHX BLACKADER. 331 
 
 he, ' but I got papers cast in at my door now 
 and then ; and when they got me, they bid me 
 subscribe a paper, I knew not what it meaned, 
 or what they were saying. But when they be- 
 gun to explain the bond to me, Yea, yea, quoth 
 I, by the strength of Christ I'll never do that. 1 
 — They took another young lad, and forced the 
 poor ignorant creature to hold up his hands, and 
 made him swear, by God, that he would never go 
 to a conventicle, or hear a presbyterian minis- 
 wt. while he lived. 
 
 " Well, I behoved to lye in prison till my 
 brother, Dr. Blackader, caused draw up a peti- 
 tion to the council ; upon which they ordered me 
 to be set at liberty, as being illegally imprisoned. 
 The Doctor comes to Starling, and presents the 
 order to the provost, who calls their town-coun- 
 cil. They agreed to refuse the order, though it 
 
 is subscribed by the chancellor; — the provost 
 panding his soul that I should never come out; 
 and the town-treasurer swore, that 1 should I 
 till I rotted: all this, I BUJ>] from the hatred 
 
 thev bora to inv father. Wheeeopoo my brother 
 sd back to Edinburgh CipiOSSj and gave ii. 
 BOIld petition, giving M account of their i 
 fusal. When the chancellor heard of it, lie call- 
 ed tin- provost | seii>ele88 HS> for his ptins, and 
 
 immediately tabooed out Lett 4 horning a- 
 tinst the provost and whole magistrates, to i 
 
 the prisoner at liberty within twenty-four hour 
 
332 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 under pain of making them all prisoners with 
 me. 
 
 u My brother posted out the second time, 
 taking along with him a messenger from Edin- 
 burgh, to execute the letters, and had provided 
 privately two or three rats of musqueteers of 
 Lithgow's regiment, to grip them all at the ex- 
 piry of the twenty-four hours. These letters 
 put them all in a rage ; being so affronted, that 
 they delayed it as long as they could, till pretty 
 late in the evening before the prefixed time, that 
 the provost sent one of his bailiffs, with the 
 town's clerk, to the prison, and calls for me. 
 The baily sayes, ' Adam, the lord provost is 
 pleased to grant you your liberty.'' I smiles in 
 his face, and sayes to him, ( I believe, sir baily, 
 its a forced putt ; but I'm in no haste, nor so 
 wearied of either my prison or honest fellow- 
 prisoners, ril even stay till I sup with my bre- 
 therin, and give them my foy before I go. 1 — 
 Upon which the baily was dirt-feared, least I 
 should have stayed all night till the expiry of 
 the time. He immediately took a sixpence out 
 of his pocket, and sayes to me, ' Well, Adam, 
 I take instruments in the clerk's hands, that you 
 are free to go whenever you will.' 
 
 " I was twice afterwards imprisoned, once in 
 Fife, another time in Blackness, where they told 
 me I was to be put into a dungeon full of pa- 
 docks and toads. This was for being at Boris- 
 
REV. JOHK BLACKADER. 33 
 
 tounness, where my father had been preaching, 
 and baptized twenty-six children. Thev made 
 my worthy old father climb hedges and dvki 
 from one yard to another, in a dark night, till 
 he got up the hill, where there was a barn, in 
 which he lay down all night. 
 
 " Another passage only I give you of myself, 
 when I came to Scotland from Stockholm, with 
 my young Sweds wife, about the end of 84. — 
 She was persuaded, by my means, to abandon 
 her Lutheran principles, and turn Calvinist. as 
 they term reformed protestanN. She did this 
 privately, in presence of the Holland's envoj 
 minister; yet it seems it got vent in the city 
 
 Then was I necessitate to take her to the Dutch 
 ambassador's lodging for protection of her lift 
 it being death, by act of parliament, in Swedland, 
 for a native Sued lo turn either papist or Cal- 
 vinist. 1 1 i> excellency was glad of the opportu- 
 nity, and said to me, he would protect her 
 ainsl all the powers of Swc-dland. She was 
 
 about his house for a month, till the account of 
 her turning was crushed by my friends a^ a ridi- 
 culous story* and our friendship made up again 
 
 with her mother, who was a bigotted Lutheran. 
 You must observe, that the Danes and Sweds 
 
 are more bigotted bv far than those in (ut- 
 inam . be 
 
 M Not long after our marriage, it began 
 take vent m, bv her not going to tlh 'a- 
 
334 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ment, — it being the constant custom there, that 
 every new-married couple goes to the sacrament 
 the first Sunday after marriage. Being chal- 
 lenged for this, I behoved, with all speed and 
 secrecy, to fly with her ; — two Sweds girls row- 
 ing us in a small boat, in a dark cold winter 
 night, from Stockholm-bridge down the river 
 thirty miles, among rocks, to a place they call 
 the DoDars, where, providentially, there was a 
 Scotch ship ready to sail. But the wind being 
 against us from Monday till Sunday, all which 
 time we durst not venture to lye aboard at night, 
 but went ashoar, and lay in the woods among 
 the Bours, (country bodies,) in constant fear, — 
 a party being sent to search for us. Upon Sa- 
 turday night we ventured to lye aboard ; and on 
 Sunday morning, about eight o^clock, a seaman 
 comes to the skipper, and tells him there was a 
 boat coming towards them. The skipper goes 
 on deck, and comes straight back to me, and 
 sayes, c Mr. Blackader, what is to be done ? — 
 here is a big boat, with men in her, coming up 
 to us.' ' Will we have time, 1 sayes I, ' to get 
 up and hide ourselves T ' No," says he, 6 they 
 are hard upon us.' ' Then," says 1, * let the 
 boy throw our clothes in old sail-cloths, and fold 
 the covering over our heads ? which was imme- 
 diately done, and the bed looked like one new 
 made up. By this time I hears the skipper hol- 
 low the boat, ' What's your business ?' t Is 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 335 
 
 there one Mvneheer Blackader aboard r' The 
 skipper answers, ' I know the gentleman very 
 well ; I was with him ashoar la>t night, and 
 drank his fov, for he told he was for Stralsund/ 
 c It's all one, 1 said they, ' we must search the 
 ship for him; 1 We hearing all this, you may be 
 sure every word went to our heart like daggers. 
 i Why not? 1 sayes the dapper; ; hand a ro; 
 there, and let the gentlemen come aboard.* A- 
 board they came, searched all above deck, the 
 fore-castle, cook-room, and then betwixt deck 
 and could fin 1 nothing; at last they came into 
 the cabin, looked first towards the skipper" > bed, 
 where the clothes were all shuffled down, — then 
 towards mine, where the jght) 
 
 a new-made-up bed, and never offered to touch 
 it, (a providence never to be forgotten by nie ;) 
 
 — then thev searched the bread-room, chea ad 
 
 all corners of the cabin. At last, when tlu \ 
 could find nothing, they made an apology to the 
 skipper for my seeming rudeness; but told him, 
 
 thev had orders for what thej did, and m 
 taking their leavi < N gi mle- 
 
 inen, since you ore come m> far, you shall not go 
 
 till vou take a dram of the bottle; Yi> a cold 
 morning: 1 — which when I heard, 1 could almost 
 
 ha i the skipper hanged, as we were neat 
 
 smothered for want of breath. They sat all 
 down round the cabin-table, on a chest ju>t at 
 the bed-side, where one did sit (a Scotsman) 
 
386 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 whose voice I knew ; he had been in Stockholm 
 since a boy, and turned Lutheran ; and you 
 know renegadoes are always the worst of men. 
 He was the first that spoke — c Monsieur Black- 
 ader,' says he, ' has been trading here for eight 
 or nine years, and has behaved himself very ho- 
 nestly and discreetly, like a gentleman; but now, 
 of late, he has perverted one of our young frowes, 
 and ruined her to all intents and purposes.' The 
 skipper said, ' It is no concern of mine, let the 
 gentleman answer for himself/ 
 
 " After the dram, they went all away ; and 
 they were scarcely out of sight, when the wind 
 turned fair for us. It being Sunday, the skip- 
 per sayes to me, (for he was a very strick pious 
 man,) c What is to be done T Sayes I, ' That's 
 an impertinent question ; you see it is a matter 
 of life and death.'* Then he orders his men to 
 weigh anchor ; and after being a month at sea 
 we landed at Dunbar in Scotland. 
 
 " So soon as the people of Dunbar observed 
 us cast anchor, we sees a boat coming to us, 
 where was the baily and town-clerk, who came 
 aboard, and asked the skipper if he had got any 
 passengers ? He answered he had none but a 
 young gentleman and his wife. ' We must see 
 them," say they. We were called up to the deck. 
 6 From where come you, sir ?' c From Stock- 
 holm in Swedland.' c What's your occupation ?' 
 * A merchant." c What's your name, sir ?' ' You 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADEE. 
 
 are very positive in your question^.' said I; ' mv 
 name is Blackader/ Then they were the more 
 inquisitive, thinking they had <^ot a prise. — 
 ' What ! are you any relation to Mr. Black 
 in the Bass there ' Yes, sir; I am not ashamed 
 to own my relation to him, — I'm a bob of hi 
 This was, it seems, crime enough. i Aha I 1 says 
 the baily, ' then, by my faith, yoifr right enough. 
 You must come both ashoar to prison, till von 
 give account of yourselves to the governmeii 
 
 ' Ou r -ayes I, ■ gentlemen, let me come ashoar 
 first and do a fault, before you punish me upon 
 Scotch ground." ' It's all on iyes he, * this 
 is the council's orders, to secure and examine all 
 stranger passengers/ 
 
 " Well, ashoar we comes, in order i to 
 
 prison. But good providence, that sever tailed 
 me, ordered it so, that one of them, Baily Faa, 
 who was intimately acquaint with mv fatlu 
 
 \e bail for mv appearing before the town-eoun- 
 
 cil when called, — which they took : and he kept 
 me in his house for a fortnight (The town 
 
 fullofsodg going abouJ the country like mad- 
 men.) 
 
 " We went from that to the 1> (which H 
 
 but seven miles oil',) where my Worthy father fl 
 
 ing prisoner, and had been there for som. 
 When We v going awav, (my father OOnvOtf- 
 
 in<j us to the gate,) the governor bid me halt a 
 little. — he had somewhat to say to me ere I went. 
 
 v 
 
338 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 6 What's the matter T saves I. < You must hold 
 up your hand, and swear.** ' Ou V sayes I, c who 
 empowered you to be a judge, and impose oaths?" 
 < I have my orders/ says he. My father (who 
 was a bold man) overhearing him, said, i I pro- 
 fess, governor, you are impertinent, sir, to trou- 
 ble the young man with any thing of that na- 
 ture.' To which the governor answered, ' I pro- 
 fess, Mr. Blackader, sir, I'll committ both you 
 and him close prisoners, if I hear any more of 
 your talk.' i Content/ sayes my father; and 
 then sayes to me, ' Come along with me, sir/ 
 I thought with myself, I beg your pardon, fa- 
 ther, — not so long as I can do better. Then I 
 began to argue the matter with the governor, by 
 telling him I was an utter stranger as to affairs 
 in Scotland, and knew nothing about what was 
 passing, — which calmed him a little. At last 
 he sayes, c Well, sir, I will not trouble you at 
 this time ; but, I assure you, I have such orders; 
 and that, perhaps, you will find ere you come 
 the length of Edinburgh, — for every sergeant 
 and corporal may stop and challenge any man 
 upon the road.' So I thanked him, and came 
 off, and went for Edinburgh." 
 
 Mr. Blackader's third son, Robert, studied 
 divinity at the University of Utrecht, and died 
 in Holland in 1689. The following letter was 
 written by his father, introducing him to Mr. 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 59 
 
 M'Ward, then minister of the Scots congrega- 
 tion at Rotterdam. — 
 
 •• Mr. Adamson to Mr. Long.* 
 
 " Edinburgh, November 20, 1680. 
 
 " Dear Brother, 
 
 u I have now sent Robert, after some di: 
 culty what to conclude, wherein as I have timed 
 to seek clearing of the Lord, >o I shall be finee 
 
 witli you as my most intimate. — Ujxm the one 
 hand, there were some things like to prevail with 
 me for the negative, as, First, He tells me he can- 
 not get himself determined towards the work of 
 the ministry. Secondly, I have some fear- as to 
 his utterance, which I fear the more, as it hath 
 been my own infirmity. Thirdly, I have dealt 
 with him, but could not prevail with him to 
 me an essav in write ujxm some text in KripttU 
 
 • It was a common practice with the intercommuned or exiled 
 presbyterians to disguise their name*, or their signature. This 
 was done from motives of prudence ; otherwise their commu- 
 nications, if detected, might lead to discovery or death. Mr, 
 31 -Ward was frequently addressed under the name of Mr. I/ong, 
 (MS. Letters, I h. Lib.) Mr. Blackader, besides the appella- 
 tion of Adamson, assumed sometimes the name of M John Mack," 
 — sometimes n. himself, " Yours, whom you knov 
 
 — or caused a different person to write his letters. In his 
 m< i the signatui Mr. Ad." whenever be lias 
 
 casion to speak of himself. 
 
340 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Lastly, I find him under such impressions of 
 the greatness of the ministerial work, that it is 
 a sort of terror to him to think of passing trial] s 
 in reference thereto. Yet, on the other hand, 
 I may say, First, That I cannot but judge he 
 is well-affected, and also sound in all the prin- 
 ciples of our Reformation, yea, and warmly con- 
 cerned as to every point now in debate. Second- 
 ly, I have found him sharper in his philosophy 
 than either of his other two brothers, who passed 
 their course with him, though all waited on suf- 
 ficiently. Thirdly, I Jiave found him giving 
 himself much to be acquainted with the scrip- 
 tures, and using the notes with good advantage. 
 Fourthly, 1 prevailed with him to give me an 
 essay upon that head, De Redemptione Univer- 
 sali ; whereon he wrote at some length, and gave 
 good proof both of understanding and reading. 
 Fifthly, All the wayes we have essayed, first or 
 last, to get him to any other employment, wee 
 have been strangely disappointed. Sixthly, I 
 find him have a delight in reading and adding 
 to his knowledge. Lastly, He is now willing 
 to comply with, our resolution, to prosecute his 
 studies at Utrecht, since he found that disap- 
 pointment of getting that place, upon which he 
 was not so brouden, but only as it was a diver- 
 tisement from the other. 
 
 I have been plain with you in this, that you may 
 Doth ponder and doe in it as the Lord shall direct, 
 
REV. JOHN BLACKADER. 41 
 
 in sending or not sending him to Utrecht, tho 
 I much incline he goe, till we see what the Lord 
 will make out of it. I must also tell you, thai 
 the way of maintaining him there, by beii 
 burdensome to others, and specially have the 
 greatest stresse ly on yourself, dotli much trouble 
 him, and also straitens me, if I might other- 
 wise doe : Hut if I knew vou would take any 
 other burden upon yourself Ixodes your in- 
 fluence, I would not send, for it would trouble 
 me much. If I had been in i I would ha 
 
 at his younger brother also, who hath a capa- 
 city to be a scholar, for the youth here are much 
 slighted; and also I know not how soon our 
 family may be Mattered ; but, for the time, I 
 have now entered him to tin >nd class with 
 
 Mr. Grav~> son. If I live, and be in capacity. 
 
 and if Mr. Gray send for his son to Utrecht, I 
 
 will much incline to send him with him. I find 
 Mr. William hath been nek of the refer, Bfl al 
 Mr. Cleland, for whom I am much afflicted, 
 because of the hazard I teai he is in, and now 
 fearing to hear of his death : I look on him as a 
 well-accomplished youth. If William arere at 
 
 home, I supjx>se he might have as I employ- 
 ment as any of the young physician* here; hut 
 there is a nece- he May there till w< farther 
 
 about us, though I know not, indeed, how he 
 
 shall be provided, if he get not some employment 
 
 or other in that place. 
 
342 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " P. S. You need not make known to Robert 
 my freedom with you anent him ; and I add no 
 more, but my earnest wishing to hear good news 
 of you, &c. 
 
 " Your, &c. 
 
 • " John Adamson." 
 
 Another son of Mr. Blackader's, Thomas, who 
 appears to have been a merchant, went abroad to 
 New England, shortly after his father's imprison- 
 ment, and died in Maryland. 
 
 He had two daughters, one of whom died, as 
 we have mentioned, in Glencairn. The other, 
 Elisabeth, was married, in 1687, to a Mr. Young, 
 writer in Edinburgh. Having fallen into diffi- 
 culties, he went to London with a design to im- 
 prove his fortune. While there, he wrote an ex- 
 cellent consolatory letter to his wife in Edin- 
 burgh, which has been often printed under the 
 title of " Faith Promoted, and Fears Prevented, 
 from a proper view of affliction as God's rod."" 
 She appears to have been both a pious and a 
 learned lady, and kept a register or diary of the 
 remarkable providences of her life for twenty-four 
 years. She died in 1732 : The descendants of 
 her family still survive. 
 
 His fifth and youngest son was John, after- 
 wards Colonel Blackader. He was born at Barn- 
 
REV. JOHX BLACKADER. 43 
 
 dennoch in 166^, and enured the arm ca- 
 
 det in 1689. The regiment to which he 
 tached was the 26th, or Cameronian, a nai 
 which it derived from tin ; who composed it. 
 At the Revolution, when King James 1 i< 
 disbanded, and new troops were to be levied, 
 
 tmeronians in one day, without beat of drum, 
 ok any expense, raised a company of eight hu 
 dred men. 
 
 Colonel Blackader served with distinguished 
 honour under the great Duke of Marlborough 
 in Queen Anne's wars, and ^ 
 battles of Donawert, Blenheim, Kamilln nd 
 most of the engagements of that celebrated can 
 paign. He was a member to the General A 
 bly in 1716; and died deputy-governor o: Stir- 
 ling Castle in 1729. He had the character < I 
 brave soldier and a devout Christian ; but a> his 
 
 Diary was puUiahed some time ago. ami his 
 
 Life re-published very lately, it is unnccc- 
 here to enter into any further detail. There art 
 two anecdotes, however, uhich require DO apo- 
 logy to be repeated. — 
 
 " Colonel Blackader unfortunate!] offence, 
 
 in convcrsition. to a brother ofiicer. which i»uc- 
 
 ed in hia -ending him a challenge In rain did 
 he attempt to justify himself, and to >hew hi 
 that the words he had used, on a \ i r\ trifling i 
 
 -ion, were not capable of the construction lie 
 put upon them: in vain did In- assure him, tli 
 
;J44 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 if he had given him just provocation, he was 
 ready to make any proper apology, or any con- 
 cession or reparation he had a right to demand. 
 In a paroxysm of rage, deaf to the voice of rea- 
 son, he rushed on Colonel Blackader sword in 
 hand. He kept retreating, and expostulating 
 for some time, till at length, finding it impossible 
 to move him, and perceiving his own life in dan- 
 ger, he was obliged to draw his sword in his own 
 defence, An unfortunate thrust from the Co- 
 lonel soon after put a period to his antagonist's 
 life. Happily the contest was seen from the 
 ramparts of the town where it took place, by 
 some soldiers, who bore witness to the necessity 
 under which he was laid to defend himself ; in 
 consequence of which, after a regular trial, he 
 was honourably acquitted. 
 
 u At another period of his military life, he is 
 said also to have received a challenge, which he 
 refused to accept. His adversary threatened, in 
 consequence of his refusal, to post him as a cow- 
 ard ; to which he is said to have replied coolly, 
 ' that he was not afraid of his reputation being 
 impaired by that.'* Having known, however, 
 that at this time an attempt was determined on 
 against the enemy, of a kind so very desperate 
 that the Duke of Marlborough hesitated to what 
 officer he should assign the command, and had 
 resolved to decide it by throwing the dice ; he 
 went to him, and offered to undertake the dutv. 
 
REV. JOHN RLACKADER. 45 
 
 His offer was accepted; and by the providence of 
 God he came off, with great loss of men, but 
 without any persona) injury, and with the com- 
 plete establishment of his character, not onl\ as 
 a brave man and an able officer, but also with 
 neral estimation as a consistent Christian. 7 ' 
 
 END OF THE MEMOIRS. 
 
 i, Q 
 
SERMON 
 
 BY .AIR. JOHN BLACK ADER 
 
 psalm cxxvi, 1, 2. 
 
 When the Lord turned again tlte captivity <>/ Zion, 
 
 rve were like them that dreamed. Then was our 
 mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with 
 singitiL 
 
 Sirs, Your common bye word if good, — It ii not 
 all lost that is in peril: A kirk may be rcfj tar 
 casten down, and yet not destroyed ; the people of 
 God may be led into a verv itTOtlg and LoOgSOl 
 
 captivity, yet they may be turned back ig 
 though the work may be cut oft", and out of sight, 
 yet he may make it to appear again. There mftj 
 
 ■ TW taken from a MS. .Election of Sermons 
 
 John Howie of Ixxrhgoin, and now in the possession of an indi- 
 vidual in the west country, by whom I have been favoured with 
 a perusal. It bears no date, but seems to have been preached 
 in the west probably about ]<<', \. It is needless to caution the 
 reader, that it was noted down in the field, and cannot be sup- 
 posed very M te to the original, though it may serve as a spe- 
 cinien. 
 
34cS SERMON. 
 
 be making mournful sighing and sorrowing for 
 Zion, and the desolation of the sanctuary of the 
 house of the Lord ; and they may be put to this 
 with it, To hang up their harps upon the willows, 
 while they sit down and weep by the river of Ba- 
 bylon : But yet there is also a time of joy and 
 gladness to the truly godly, as ye may see in these 
 words ; for they have had some days of sorrow and 
 affliction, and now they are beginning again to get 
 some days of joy and rejoicing. 
 
 Now, in the words we have read to you, ye have 
 five things observable. — 1st, Ye have a captivity 
 mentioned. 2d, Ye have captivity turning again. 
 3d, Ye have held out a song of joy that was put 
 in their mouth or heart. 4th, Ye have a prayer 
 made in faith, put up in hope and patient waiting 
 on Him, for the compleating of your deliverance : 
 so that the deliverance was not at this time com- 
 pleated^ but that something w r as to be done before 
 they were fully delivered : Therefore, says the 
 Psalmist, Turn again our captivity, Lord, as 
 streams of water in the south, 5th, Ye have a doc- 
 trine drawn from experience, — they reap the fruit 
 of joy, after the seed-time tears ; and, therefore, 
 sayes the Psalmist, They that sow in tears, shall 
 reap in joy : For, would they say, w T e went down 
 to Babel, and sowed our tears of sorrow, while sit- 
 ting there by the streams weeping, but now r w r ill 
 we return w r ith singing ; and so shall all they that 
 weep. And this will I tell you, that in such a mea- 
 sure as ye sow, so shall ye reap when the day turns ; 
 and this shall be all the loss ye shall have who sow 
 
SERMON. 41) 
 
 in sorrow, ye shall reap in joy ; and not only 
 but ye shall have double joy conforme to the .sor- 
 row : For he that goeth forth bearing his preciou> 
 seed to the field, shall doubtless return with i 
 joicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 
 
 Experience is drawn for the use and encoura.L 
 ment of those who are of the weaker capacity, ti. 
 they may understand the goodness of the Lord to 
 his people. We may, indeed, very well liken it u> 
 ■ man going forth to sow in Bed-tone ; tor when 
 he taketh out his corn, he knoweth not when he 
 shall reap, when he >hall receive again, or what he 
 shall live upon till the summer through. It may b 
 he hath not as much behind to fend him and all 
 his household till harvest come ; and yet though 
 he had no more, he will go out in hope that he 
 shall reap again : and when he hath done, he yet 
 lives in hope, expecting a harvest. Even Ml it is 
 here. The sorrowful and sad heart that goeth forth 
 in the spring-time of Zion'fl trouble and atniction, 
 and SOWetfa his precious seed of tear -teth 
 
 to himself a harvest of joy ; and no doubt the day 
 
 _. that Mich a soul shall return to Zion, 
 
 rfiea <>f gladness of heart. And t: 
 
 hope keep- the poor man'- feet from sliding in the 
 hour of temptation, — from being moved out of 
 God'l way in a day of the en r he kimwa 
 
 there \i a necessity of -owing in sorrow, it' he would 
 reap in joy ; and the day of tears though the day 
 of Zion'l calamity, is the Christian's seed-time; t 
 he shall receive double,— and if he sow much, he 
 shall reap the more. 
 
350 SERMON. 
 
 But it is very hard to be believed by the most 
 part ; for many in sowing their sorrow and tears in 
 the day of captivity, cannot won to get it believed 
 that they shall reap joy and gladness of heart. I 
 will not say, sirs, but many of you may never, or 
 will never live to see such a day ; but I am sure of 
 this, that whether ever or no ye see the return of 
 our captivity, they who have escaped of the Lord to 
 sow in this valley of tears, shall soon or syne see 
 better days. Besides, I nothing doubt but we shall 
 have a return of our captivity, though we do not 
 deserve it at the Lord's hand : — For here there is a 
 captivity and a return from it ; and, therefore, let 
 no one doubt but one time or other Zion's capti- 
 vity shall be turned back. 
 
 Now, what was it that was in captivity ? It was 
 Zion, the Church of God, the visible church on 
 earth. But from this captivity there was a deliver- 
 ance ; and, secondly, I would speak a word to the 
 way and method of the deliverance; or, rather, 
 what effect it had on all sorts of people. And, 
 
 1$/, That which we are to notice here, is the 
 manner and way of it, how they are delivered : 
 and that was as men dreaming. In such a way 
 were they delivered, that they could not tell whether 
 there was a delivering or no. When the Lord turn- 
 ed back our captivity, we were like them that dream- 
 ed : That is to say, they knew not whether, or how 
 it was done ; for ye know a man is not certain in 
 the knowledge or truth of his dreams, for he is but 
 passive, and wrought upon by an unknown influ- 
 ence. Even so were they, hearer ; it was surprising 
 
SERMON. ;1 
 
 to them, and they knew not what to make ol' it. 
 We may observe this truth from it, — That the 
 church's delivery, when it comes, may come 
 dark and intricate to your uptaking, and sound like 
 a delusion, that ye dar not think or call it a delive- 
 ry, till it be wrought. Even so was it with the 
 in the text, and so may it be with us. 
 
 The next thing is the effect this delivery had on 
 them and their enemies both. And, 
 
 1st, It had these effects upon them, that is, Heart- 
 enlargement, expressed and held out in laughter 
 and singing, — Our mouth was Jilted, &c. And. 
 then, as to enemies, it had this effect, that it con- 
 vinced them of this incontroverted truth, when 
 they said there was not a God to deliver out of 
 their hands. Now, their mouth is stopped, and 
 they are convinced that there is a God who can de- 
 liver out of their hand-. And whereas before 
 they were saying that the Lord his people \m 
 but fools, and that there was none to deliver; now 
 they are made to say that there is a God who saves 
 his people that tru-t in him. It Wll thi- way with 
 his peoplfl of old, and it is so with u> at this d 
 They arc Still atying there ia none to deliver. But, 
 an we would sincerely sow our t houhl \ 
 
 reap a harvest of joy, and have then to say. The Lord 
 
 hath done greai things for us, mkertqfme aregttuL 
 
 Now, I think I need not tell you of fin-, that 
 the kirk of God may be led to capti\ it) For 
 thifl people that was the only nearest and deareat 
 to him upon rarth, were led to captivity, and iniht 
 
 i threescore and ten year- down to Babylon. 
 
352 SERMON. 
 
 And who knows how long our time may be ? But 
 if you speir why they continued so long, I answer, 
 Because the Lord hath so appointed it. And it is 
 no new thing that ye are continuing this day so 
 sad ; and I would not have you to offend at God 
 for this, nor yet look on it as a strange thing, that 
 he should suffer a people near to him to go to cap- 
 tivity, and stay long there, till his time of delivery 
 come. 
 
 But I see another thing in the captivity of the 
 kirk of God. When the Lord has laid those who 
 are his people in captivity and bondage, and tried 
 them by affliction, as he did Joseph in prison ; they 
 are all to return back again ; for the church's cap- 
 tivity is not like an enemy's that never returns. 
 Though she go down to Babylon threescore and 
 ten years, a long time to her, her adversaries think 
 that she will never return ; but the Lord has a set 
 and an appointed time for her return, as well as 
 for her going into captivity: For the Lord, her 
 Redeemer, is mighty and strong to deliver and 
 bring her back again. Therefore, I say, seek on to 
 know the Lord, and follow him in the way of your 
 duty ; and if you will do so, I dare promise you, 
 in God's great name, an answer of all your prayers 
 to your joy and rejoicing. Make ye sure with God, 
 and then you may be sure that he will not devour 
 nor destroy the land : if ye cleave to him, and fol- 
 low him in the sincerity of your hearts, and put 
 your life in his hands in the way of believing, then 
 I am sure, and dare promise you, that he will not 
 break the everlasting covenant and contract be- 
 
SKBMOV. 
 
 tween him and us, but will own us as his church 
 and people ; and then I shall promise you, the 
 shall be a time when the church's captivity shall be 
 turned back again ; but we cannot tell you, nor no 
 man, when that shall be ; for the times and >easons 
 are not for us to know, but they are in hi- hand, 
 who should not be inquired alter, tor he doth in 
 heaven and earth what pleaseth him, and who m 
 say, What doest thou 9 Wait on him, and ye DC 
 not fear but \ e >hall be delivered out of thi 
 
 When the Lord turned hack the captivity >n y 
 
 ive were like men that dreamed : From which I 
 would have you to mark, that in the return of the 
 Lord's people, either from a foreign land, or from 
 great bondage and affliction in their own land, it 
 was to be in such a manner that men can hardly 
 get it believed to be a delivery even when it 
 come to pass : And thence we conclude, it' the Lord 
 follow his ordinary way, our delivery when it 
 comes, those who Bee it best -hall have to -a\ . In 
 that day they were like men dreaming, it shall I 
 so wonderful. They shall not be certain till tiled 
 liverance be wrought, any more than a man asleep 
 can tell the truth of hil dream till he awake \ .d, 
 therefore, I will tell you of two or three things that 
 are wonderful in the way of bringing hi- church 
 
 out of captivity that make- it like a dream. And, 
 J.\7, The delivery of lii^ chureh ifl wonderful as 
 to its time ; fof ordinarily he trjitl it in SUCfa a 
 time, and such a I that it i| in her DMSt h | 
 
 lesi : moat difficult condition, when the] ai 
 
 lea pacity to help the ves, and their enemie* 
 
354 SERMON. 
 
 in the greatest prosperity. Deut. xxxii, 36. His 
 time of delivering his people is when their power 
 is all gone, and they have no man to plead their 
 cause, or speak a good word for them. That is his 
 wonderful time. 
 
 2dly, The deliverance of his church is wonder- 
 ful, because it is in a time when they are not look- 
 ing for it ; that is the ordinary time of God's ap- 
 pearing to his church, when all men are saying, 
 Now we will never see more of the gospel, nor good 
 days, for the church of God will never be delivered 
 in our day. Then at such a time, the Lord usually 
 appears for the help of his people, Isa. ii, 43. When 
 thou contest down to deliver the people, then thou didst 
 terrible things that we looked not for : As if they 
 said, we were given over looking for thy appear- 
 ance ; and when our hope and expectation were 
 gone, then Thou earnest down, and didest terrible 
 things we looked not for. 
 
 3dly, This is wonderful in the way the Lord's 
 people shall be delivered, that it is not till after 
 they have used all means for their relief, and are 
 not the better but rather the worse. Ordinarily, 
 and never till they had been about the use of all 
 means, and were, by these means, all frustrated 
 and put farther from their point than they were ; 
 so that the more means they used, they were the 
 farther involved in bondage, till they were forced 
 to quit all their endeavours, and betake them- 
 selves to God only for relief: the Lord will not 
 be long then in appearing for our deliverance. I 
 do not say that people should not make use of 
 
9BSMON. S55 
 
 means, and follow their duty ; but it look*? not verv 
 like that our deliverance shall come by our hand-, 
 and I look not for it till we be brought with those 
 in 26th of Isaiah, 15th verse, crying out to God 
 for pain, while no deliverance is wrought And 
 what comes of it then when they are at thi- with 
 it ? Then He appears for their help, and gives 
 them a word of comfort, as ye see in the nt xt 
 after they have used all the menu they can, and 
 are none the better, but are like dead men. Vet 
 then, and not till then, Thy dead men shall lire to- 
 gether ; with my dead hod// shall the// i 
 fore awake, and ring ye that dwell in the dust, for 
 thy dew shall be as the dew of heaven. 8 i that in 
 respect of the means of our help being laid aside 
 and broken, and the hopelemiest of OUT ease -hall 
 make us, in that day of the Lord's delivery, as men 
 that dream. Hut, 
 
 Again, I will let you Bee three or tour thin 
 wherein the deliverance of hii chord out of cap- 
 tivity uses to be wonderful, and as a dream ; and 
 that is, A- lo the instruments (iod make- HI faf 
 her delivery. 
 
 lit, The instrument! are -ninetime- -o few, that 
 God make- use of that it is wonderful and astonish- 
 ing; so that men in this consideration are like nun 
 that dream, and know not what to make out of it. 
 \Y\u) would have thought that Jonathan and 1 
 armour-bearer would have lllbdued the Philistine- r 
 and yet, as ye see in 1 1| S:nn. wiw wheB JOB 
 than and his armour-bearer and a small numl 
 went forth to the battle against the Philistines, tin 
 
356 SERMON. 
 
 defeated and subdued the whole host,, and made 
 them all to rue their coming forth to battle ; and 
 so delivered Israel out of the hand of the Philis- 
 tines. 
 
 2dly } The deliverance of the church is wonder- 
 ful, on account of the despicableness of the instru- 
 ments he makes use of. When his people were in 
 Egypt in great bondage, he makes use of a very 
 despicable instrument, even a banished man, a con- 
 temned and despised man ; yet even that same man, 
 Moses, whom they hated, to whom they said, Who 
 made thee a prince and a judge over us ? did God 
 make a judge and a governor over them to bring 
 them out of the land of Egypt. And wonderful are 
 the ways of the Lord ; unsearchable is his wisdom, 
 and his ways past finding out : And wonderful is 
 he in the choosing out of his instruments. Some- 
 times he chooses one man, sometimes another, even 
 the most unlikely in working the church's delivery. 
 
 3e?/y, This delivery is wonderful as to the in- 
 struments of it, when they see the Lord carrying 
 on his work, not only by few and contemptible 
 means, but sometimes by the very enemies them- 
 selves. And is not this strange, and may make 
 men as if they were dreaming, when they see those 
 that led the church to Babylon bringing her back 
 again ? Ye see he makes the Philistines do this in 
 the second book of Samuel, after they had taken 
 the ark of God captive, and kept it seven months : 
 he makes them return it, and in better condition, 
 for they adorned the ark with five golden emerods 
 and five golden mice ; and they repaired it, and sent 
 
RMON. 8£ 
 
 it home, with more honour and glory than they 
 took it captive ; and blythe were they to do so. I fe 
 will even make enemies to favour his people, make 
 those who took them captive, and held them in 
 bondage, at last, when his time comes, cause th( 
 to let his people go with good will, and be helpful 
 to them. Ye know that word. When a man pleases 
 the Lord, he will make his very enemies to be at pea 
 tvith him. Ye see what a proclamation Cyrus m.-i 
 in the 1st of Ezra, 2d. 3d, and 4th verses, for every 
 man of the captivity of Judah to go up to Jennie 
 to build the house of the Lord, and to be helped 
 with silver and gold and heasti ; and in the 8th, 
 9th, &c. of Ezra, ye see what ■ dec Dm 
 
 king of Babylon, made for the perfecting of the 
 house of the Lord at Jerusalem, whose found 
 
 aid in Cyrus's time ; and to tak the km. 
 
 ocb and tribute for fipilISM to build with, and 
 
 all things they needed* rams, lambs, win 
 
 oil. \e. tor burnt-offerii accordii lit- 
 
 ment of the priests, to be given them daily with- 
 out sale ; and whosoever contradicted the deen 
 timber to be broken down from h and In- 
 
 to be hsnged thereon, and hil bdOSS made a dun 
 hill. Bo ft lee that Qod can make enemies his in- 
 strument-. When it pleases him he ean carry on f 
 work, and deliver his poor people out of captivity 
 either by friends or foe-. When our tune of de- 
 liverain come, he wil n find out ii^trumentS 
 
 and meS Pa for accomplishing it, and not till then. 
 But. 
 
 tikty, The wry method and way of 
 
358 SERMON. 
 
 and turning back the captivity of his church is won- 
 derful to men, that they know not what to make of 
 it till they see the work wrought. Was that not 
 surprising, when he bids Joshua go to the strong 
 city Jericho, and throw down the walls thereof? and 
 this behoved to be by a very despicable means, by 
 going about the walls of the city with rams horns 
 blowing ; and by that the strong walls of Jericho 
 fell down, and they enter in and destroy it : And 
 by these contemptible instruments the Lord wrought 
 this wonder. Likewayes in the 33d of 2 Chron. 
 after Manasseh had set up idolatry amidst the house 
 of the Lord, and had caused Judah and Jerusalem 
 to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had 
 casten out before them, he makes him repair that 
 work again, and to take away the strange gods and 
 idols out of the house of the Lord that he had caus- 
 ed to be set N up and worshipped ; and commanded 
 Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. O strange 
 and wonderful are the ways of the Lord, that men 
 know not how to account of them, so deep are they, 
 so wonderful and improbable-like to us, that we are 
 but like men dreaming. And is it not astonishing 
 that God should make use of those to raise up his 
 fallen glory, who have been, by all their wit and 
 power, making a destruction of the kirk, that he 
 should make them build what they had formerly 
 destroyed, and work the downright contrary to 
 what they intended, till they bring about the de- 
 liverance of his people? We need not stand to 
 give you reasons why he worketh so wonderfully, 
 so far beyond our thoughts and reckoning. It may 
 
RMOK. 
 
 rfice us, that he is God and not man ; and u 
 dare counsel him? But I may give you 01 
 two reasons for it. And, 
 
 I ?/, The Lord takes such instruments and m< 
 and makes use of them for the deliverance of ! 
 church, as may nonplus the wi-c-t, that he m 
 thereby stop their mouths and put them to siieiu 
 and from boasting; as sometimes mens having a 
 hand in the carrying on of their own deliveranc 
 or even the knowledge of the way of it, hath made 
 them vaunt themselvi And, therefore, he will 
 hide the instruments, manner, and time of OUT de- 
 liverance so from our eyes, as the wiaeol of 01 -hall 
 not guess, when, or by what means, or by whose 
 hands, he will turn back our captivity thi< day in 
 Britain. Hear this all ye great head- of wit in the 
 world: what say ye to it? is there any amount you 
 that can tell either how or when the Lord will turn 
 back our captivity this day in the Church o S 
 land? I drew there will not be >uch a wise in 
 found amongst you all as can tell the qu 
 But, perhaps ye may bo now and then gue- 
 bout it; and, to my thought, ye will be put t»» 
 guess again, and not guess right when all i> doi: 
 For I believe no man can tell what way, or b] 
 whom our delivery >hall come ; but when it (iocs 
 , it will be in Mich a manner, as shall Stop the 
 mouth and boa-ting of all wise he n the world, 
 
 that lie alone may have the glor\ 
 
 It may be then- an- -nine of you reflecting al- 
 ready. And very like in MUM di-pen-ation Off <»th< 
 
 •ne may reflect and say, an' -uch and mcfa athii 
 
360 SERMON. 
 
 had been done at such a time, our deliverance had 
 come ere now, for it will never come till such 
 things be done; and if that were done it would 
 come belyve. But, for myself, I may say before- 
 hand, that come when or by whom it will, there 
 shall none of you in that day have to say, That, in 
 truth, this is just the way I thought, and said, and 
 kend it would come about. No ; I believe none of 
 you shall have this to say : for the Lord will bring 
 back the captivity of Zion in such a manner of his 
 own as shall stop all our mouths, and thereby shall 
 he bring glory to himself alone : So that all of us 
 shall have it to say, that our delivery hath been like 
 a dream to us ; for we never would have thought 
 of the manner until we saw it come to pass. 
 
 2dly, He takes this way of it, for this reason, 
 that he may thereby make his own work the more 
 honourable and glorious in the eyes of all behold- 
 ers. He wilFhave it to come this way, that holiness 
 and majesty may be the clearer written on it ; that 
 all may read what a God he is, when they shall see 
 his work to be like himself, full of holiness and ma- 
 jesty. 
 
 3dly, He takes this way of returning the captivi- 
 ty of his people, that he may thereby manifest his 
 power the more to the enemy, and his love to his 
 poor people, in delivering them out of their hand : 
 for before this deliverance the enemy will say, God 
 has forsaken his people, and now he is not able to 
 deliver them. But in that day when he comes to 
 turn back our captivity, enemies shall be forced to 
 say and see that there is a God to deliver out of 
 
.KMON. i;i 
 
 their hands ; and that he hath had great lo\ 
 them. They shall know the truth of this, when 
 they are made to say, God hath done great things 
 for them. In that day of the church - deli\< 
 ance, His works shall proclaim and preach forth 
 his attributes : for I am in the mind, in that d 
 when God shall return our captivity, he >hall 
 bring it so wonderfully about, that both eoemi 
 and" friends shall have it to In truth, are I 
 
 ver would have thought to see it so carried on. 
 O! all ye that believe in Him, hope in him for i 
 mercy, for his word shall yet -tand good ; for 
 that is come and gone, his faithfulness will not fail. 
 And in that day of our deliverance, ye -hall see the 
 heavens declare his righteousness, and all 
 shall behold his glory, when he -hall come to take 
 
 ngeance on his eneinu r the blood of hi- ht- 
 
 vants : And in that day, w ho li\ e- to -ee it, -hall 
 ye say he is a right- >d, when he >hali appi 
 
 for the help of hi- people. 
 
 4//*/y, He takes this way of the delivering I 
 people, for th; -on, that all men may -ee ti 
 
 the foolishne* of God i- wiser than all the wisdom 
 of men He will have i: wonderful, that all 
 
 -hall have it to -ay of Him, as the queen of Sheba 
 said of Solomon, that they MM more of hi? loin, 
 
 power, and maje-ty tlian e\er they could have be- 
 lieved, had they not -een it with their own » 
 so that they shall be made to exclaim. This jj the 
 doing of the LunL mid it is t/uirn/lous in our tyt*. 
 Wei- ing it i- -o. that tfae return i 
 
 vity use* to be in God's ordma like a dream 
 
 u 
 
362 SERMON. 
 
 men, I shall give you but two words of use of this 
 doctrine ; and the first use I would give you, my 
 dear friends, is this,— 
 
 1st j That you would give over your guessing about 
 God's turning back our captivity, and pray, believe, 
 and wait for it in the way of duty ; but leave to his 
 holy sovereign will and pleasure the time, the way, 
 and manner, and the instruments he may employ in 
 bringing it to pass ; and in so doing ye will have 
 most peace : your guessing can be of no use : ye 
 may well provoke God to anger by it, but ye can 
 do no more ; for to whom of all your prophets can 
 you go that can tell the time, or by whom we shall 
 be delivered? None can tell how long our time 
 may be. We have done, and I fear yet shall do, as 
 men that have neither pith nor power, nor wisdom 
 to guide themselves by : For all the light and 
 knowledge of his word we have had, we are poor 
 ignorant souls; for we have guessed it would come 
 this way and that way, this year and that year, by 
 this person and that person, by this means and that 
 means ; and we have wished and desired that God 
 would take this way and that way of delivering his 
 people, and we are all alike far from it : and we 
 may, in all these things, and many more, be asham- 
 ed this day, for our limiting and bounding the Ho- 
 ly One of Israel to our own time and manner of 
 coming ; even as if he could not do his own work 
 without us. Therefore, I would exhort you to 
 leave all these things to his will and good pleasure. 
 Do not say that ye should do nothing for helping 
 forward of Zion's deliverance, but beware of limit- 
 
BKMOK. 
 
 ing God to your own times and seasons; but follow 
 your duty, and let God take his own wav ; and make 
 use of his own means and instrument! as he think- 
 fit, whether good or bad ; and that will be baft E 
 your peace, and for his glory. Therefore, it' 
 would be wise, follow your duty, and be ave pi 
 mising a good day to yourselves, in his name, and 
 let Him bring about your captivity when and in 
 what way he will. 
 
 Use 2d. — I shall give you this use of the doctrii 
 and that is: Since God will bring about the deli- 
 very of Zion in his own way and time, then dt>f 
 and away with your misbelieving doubts of the 
 Lord's returning back our captivity ; for he -hall 
 yet turn our captivity, but it shall be like a dream 
 to us : we shall be uncertain of it till it be wrought ; 
 but it shall be done; and what is it to us ? since he 
 does his own work, that may suffice Bfc Then 
 quit your misbelieving of God, and by faith put 
 confidence in his word, that he will turn back our 
 captivity : though it be not in your da\ . J el it >hall 
 be ; and ye are called to believe it, and al- 
 promising, in God's great name, a good day to 
 yoftrselvefl and the Church of Scotland; and n 
 ought in faith and patience to possess your SOU 
 and wait upon him till his time appointed i 
 and then we >hall have it ; but look not for it am 
 
 loonerj or doc you will be disappointed of your «. 
 
 pectation. 
 
 Use 3d. — A third use of the doctrine I will _ 
 you i- thii : Since ye have ground of hope th 
 
 God will return our captivity in his appointed tu: 
 
364 SERMON. 
 
 then study thankfulness to him in all your ways ; 
 and that ye may do so, take the bible, his own 
 word, along with you for every piece of your walk, 
 and in all your deportment as becomes the gospel of 
 Christ : And take the bible, and not any thing in 
 yourselves, for the ground of your hope, that ye may 
 rest on good ground ; and so much the more, with 
 confidence in God's word, expect to see a wondrous 
 work wrought in Britain and Ireland. Now do 
 not mistake me ; think not that I am bidding you 
 expect miracles : No ; for we are not to look that 
 God will work miracles now, (although he may as 
 well now, as long ago;) for he has ceased now from 
 miracles, and works now by means and second 
 causes. But we may look for some strange act, or 
 for some wonderful dispensation God will make 
 use of, in an ordinary way, for the deliverance of 
 his church, either as to the time or means, if not 
 both ; for the return of his people, shall be as when 
 a man dreameth : a strange work will it be, and a 
 wonder, but no miracle. 
 
 But there is a second thing I would observe, and 
 it is clear from the text ; and that is, The day of our 
 captivity's return, when it comes, shall bring with 
 it a sweet song of praise and thanks unto the Lord ; 
 for it shall loose our hardened and bound-up hearts, 
 and give us opened mouths, and a tongue to tell of 
 his wondrous works. And how glad shall the 
 hearts of his people be in that day when they shall 
 see the power and glory of God and his excellency, 
 all working together for their deliverance. It is 
 very remarkable in that 35th of Isaiah, 3d verse, 
 
SERMON. 65 
 
 and through the chapter ; Strengthen ye the weak 
 hands, and the feeble knees ; say ye to them that are 
 of a fearful spirit, be strong and fear n< old 
 
 your God will come with vengeance ; even God, with 
 recompense, will he come and save us. Ye may « 
 there, and ye will see what a song it will be that 
 day when such wonders shall be wrought, wl 
 the blind man shall see, and the lame shall leap as 
 an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall >ing. 
 When all these things come to pass, thfTfi cannot 
 be but a sweet song of praise sung to the Lord. 
 Well, sirs, since there be such a day comii 
 and such a promise, I would have you comfort 
 yourselves with the forethought of it in tl >ur 
 
 affliction, for though ye be now in bondagt j 
 there is a day when ye shall be let at libert; Up 
 then with your discouraged heart-, and believe in 
 God, and wait on him for a better day, and no 
 doubt ye shall have it. There are two thing! tl 
 may encourage you to bel and they a: <th 
 
 trysted together: — the bat if i n ward enlargemei 
 the second outward liberty. And may not that 
 encourage you to believe and wait on (rod- And 
 not only so, but I will tell you what the return 
 captivity will bring with it, and what we will then 
 get who have been patiently believing and waiting 
 on God, and that is, We -hall have much of G 
 
 iweet and refreshing pretence with that libi 
 
 which shall put away all remembram v i 
 complaints. So ere all be don< well 
 
 rewarded for your loss, who are the trew mourniii 
 sons and daughter- of /ion in the day of her rap- 
 
366 SERMON. 
 
 tivity. Your joy shall be greater than ever your 
 sorrows were. There is a mourning that the day 
 of your delivery shall bring with it, but another 
 kind than the mourning now ; for the return of the 
 captivity brings both sorrow and joy of heart. It 
 brings sorrow of heart when it comes ; Jer. 1, 4, 
 there it brings sorrow of heart : In their return to 
 Jerusalem, seeking the way to Zion with their faces 
 thitherward, weeping and motirning as they go. 
 That frame of mourning, and that spoken of in the 
 12th of Zech. is not yet come upon you. If it 
 were once come to that day, When he shall pour out 
 upon them the spirit of grace and supplication, then 
 shall ye look upon Him whom ye have pierced with 
 your sins, and mourn : Then shall every one of you 
 see his sin, and weep apart by yourselves ; every 
 family and their wives apart, like the mourning of 
 Haded-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon. The 
 whole land shall mourn : all ranks and degrees shall 
 mourn and weep for their own sins and the land's 
 sins. O, sirs, if I could but hear tell of that mourn- 
 ing up and down Scotland, and especially the west 
 of Scotland, I think it were easy for me to turn a 
 prophet among you : But so long as I see not a 
 sense of sin and heart-mourning for it, I can say 
 little or nothing. But, however, I will not disguise 
 the day of small things : And, besides, the Lord 
 may accomplish his own work as he pleaseth ; and 
 for me I will not limit him, but let you see his own 
 ordinary way of working deliverance to his people. 
 But I shall say no more to that at this time. I 
 thought to have spoken to the reasons of their sing- 
 
-ERMON. 
 
 ing, and to the causes why the people of 1 1 
 so sweetly in that day when the Lord brings 
 the captivity of Zion : But I stay not, save on 
 give you two or three reasons of it. 
 
 First cause of their sweet tonga is this, — h< 
 in that day his anger is turned away ; and. thai 
 fore, in that day shall they ?ing in NOgl of praise. 
 When the Lord turns away hi> anger, and put- 
 love in its place, then this -hall be the Cftlll 
 tweet song; and it shall be said in that day, A 
 this is our God, and we hare waited fur him, and //< 
 will save : this is the Lord, and ire will rtjoict 
 salvation. The consideration of thifl >hall be 
 ter of song to them in that day. 
 
 2dly, Another ground of their song is, — That in 
 that day they shall know him to be the II 
 the Answerer o/' prayer. When the] die return 
 
 of their prayer, then shall they ling, and >a\ . 
 thou, who art the hear prayer, to 'J'h, , .shall < 
 
 flr.s// The poor bodie th:it put up many a 
 
 prayer in the time of captivity and affliction, with 
 many tetfl and a broken heart, and ne\er could 
 tell what word of them, more than tin 
 lost and forgotten, shall then know that they art 
 not forgotten by Him, when in that day he iht 
 iwer tliem according to their desire, in | 
 down judgment on his tnemies, and mereie> »»n i 
 people. And then lhall the\ If us si 
 
 praitti to th< Lord, who hath heard and oam 
 ut/r tupplieation. 
 
 'Adly, Thil is a ground of their weet song — 1 
 
 Lord's indicating the innocency and ini 
 
3t>8 SERMON. 
 
 his people ; taking part with them against their 
 enemies, who so much reproached, and persecuted, 
 and oppressed them : For what say enemies of the 
 people of God ? That they are a rebellious, sedi- 
 tious, factious, giddy-headed party ; therefore must 
 they be taken and persecute, for they are rebells 
 and traitours to their king and country, walking 
 contrair to the scripture and the law ; are ill neigh- 
 bours, that nobody can live beside them: And 
 wherefore say they all this of the poor people of 
 God ? Even because the people of God are stead- 
 fast in their covenant made with uplifted hands to 
 God, and so are tender of their own conscience. 
 And they will not swear one day to be for God, 
 and another to deny him, at the pleasure of men ; 
 and because they will not thus swear and forswear, 
 and break the peace of their own conscience, and 
 turn God their enemy ; forsooth ! they must not only 
 reproach them, but sign and consign, hunt, banish, 
 imprison, head and hang till they get them master- 
 ed, and out of the land ; that they may get their 
 estates, and so lay field to field, that they may be 
 great in the midst of the earth, and get leave to serve 
 themselves, without reply or gainsaying of any. 
 
 But in that day, when the Lord shall vindi- 
 cate his people's integrity, and bring their right- 
 eousness forth as the light, and their judgment 
 as the noon-day ; then shall enemies see who has 
 been the greatest fanaticks, rebells, and traitours 
 to king and country, and who has been the best 
 subjects. Then shall enemies themselves know 
 and bear witness to the people of God who would 
 
SERMON 
 
 not break the vows of God and bonds uj>on their 
 consciences, for the pleasure of nun and their 
 interest. Go the world as it will, we have been the 
 best subjects. They shall confess this when 
 mies shall be the first to say, Behold how great and 
 admirable things God hath done for his people. 
 They shall be ashamed when his people m r joy 
 of heart; and they shall sigh, mourn, and pineawaj 
 with remorse and disgrace both before ( I m. 
 
 With a pale face and ill countenam ill they look 
 
 when God appears. They who have bet at and va- 
 
 liant in owning and sticking by the cause, and serious 
 before God in cleaving to religion, shall look up with 
 face unabashed, and have a blvthe countenance, and 
 have the best mansions in their Father- house; 
 while the necks of their enemie 1 be their toot- 
 
 stool. In all this God ^hall vindicate hi- truth and 
 the integrity of his people, and give them K» 
 heaviness of heart. It dull 
 for the poor oppressed peopl< d in 
 
 when he coi > fulfil the cxpectatit t thejuM, 
 
 that have long waited fof him ; when he shall disco- 
 
 r hinwlf to the nations, and make hi known 
 
 to the enemv, his love and mercy to hi«< peopl. 
 
 Well, what -hall I MfJ MOM Ef there be 
 
 now reproaches out upon lii^ I nil his 
 
 glory tmnplad upon to the and IQROi ir 
 
 hearts; then camiott you with thi>, that the d 
 
 uiing when the Lord shall wipe away all these re- 
 proaches, and vindicate his truth and his pt > in- 
 nocei Therefore, trew believers, Uiot 
 
 be sad, be not discouraged skogether, but up wkk 
 
 Q 
 
370 SERMON. 
 
 your spirits, trust in the Lord your God in the 
 faith of this, that your sorrow shall flee away and 
 be changed to joy. An* ye were truly mourners, 
 it were easy to comfort you in him ; but alace ! I 
 fear there is little sincere mourning among you. 
 If ye were suitably influenced with the sense of a 
 departed God it would be well with us, and probably 
 our joy might not be so far off as we expected. But 
 however it be, if there is any among you, that for 
 all these abominations of the times are lying in the 
 dust before God, weeping and lamenting for their 
 own and the lands sins, and whose eyes day and 
 night are trickling down without intermission for 
 the slain of Zion, and because the Comforter that 
 should relieve their soul is far away, and withdrawn 
 to his place ; let such, young or old, take comfort, 
 that to this day of tears shall succeed laughter and 
 singing. And thou poor man that complainest that 
 God hides himself that thou canst not see him, ex- 
 ercise faith and patience in the performance of his 
 promise, for thou shalt yet get a gladsome disco- 
 very ; and that joy no man shall take from thee : 
 sighing and sorrow shall flee away like a night 
 dream when one awaketh out of sleep. 
 
 I say no more at this time, but desire you to 
 remember the words of the text, and to live in faith 
 that the Lord will yet turn our captivity, and take 
 vengeance on his and our enemies. Follow him 
 in the way of duty ; and may the Lord give you 
 grace to exercise patience on the promises till he 
 come. And to him who can do it be glory and 
 praise for ever. Amen. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The fierce 1 
 
 I'pon the eastern coast of Lothian landi 
 
 r to that place where the cm-rock imnwOK, 
 . jzing Bass, looks o'er a fertile land. 
 
 // •-. 
 
 Maia ubi sheepifeda et Solangoos 
 
 / .. .... 
 
 / 
 
 Ihe etynioluL he BMi k rather MM . and hit beat 
 
 made the subject of some controversy among learned antiquaries : 
 and it sei et an undecided point, whether the north or the 
 
 south had the honour to give it a name. According u> Iliehop 
 fiibson, the annotator of Drummond, it was to called from 
 natural situation, — the name being merely the old DanUh word 
 litis, which signifies, kk Loca inter cautes angustiora." Chal- 
 mers, author of Caledonia, contends for an Icelandic origin, and 
 is wry witty on the supposed ignorance of tome of hit contem- 
 porary philologists, (< ( author 
 fiudmund, he says, that Bustc, in the Icelandic, tig: 
 maculum." and applies very well to the ki nature of • 
 This opinion hat been encountered by the learned Dr. 
 I Edinburgh, who inclines for a Teutonic derivation; //..-.'. 
 li'iiot. or Butt, in that language, meaning a fonr 
 fastigiiun ;" which is further supported by the Got) 
 
 the diminutive for a hill, ('halmrra, he observe*, has 
 given a mutilated definition of " Ilatae," * should have 
 
 been translated, u Pinnaculum a-tergo in tecuri Roman*;" 
 and how this applies to the nature of the thittg> or what retcm- 
 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 blance there may be between a rock in the sea and the knob on 
 the hinder part of a Roman axe, he does not presume to deter- 
 mine. His own derivation, whatever freedom he may have used 
 with the word, is certainly more applicable, whether Bast means 
 a summit, or vault, or cavern, both of which are descriptive of 
 the island, (Javiieson's Culdees, 188, 190. Illustrations to Sie- 
 ger.) 
 
 On the merits of these etymologies,— whether truth lies with 
 the glossarist or with the historian, we pretend not to decide, as 
 we are entirely ignorant of those primitive dialects referred to. 
 We cannot conceive, however, what imaginable similitude or 
 connection can subsist between this rock and bass,, a mat for the 
 feet, — an origin degrading, and quite inadmissible. Neither can 
 we allow Queen Mary's title to that honour, who, according to 
 the tradition of East-Lothian, called it so from the French Basse. 
 
 The most ancient inhabitants of this island, in all probability, 
 were the solan geese : Yet if legendary records are to be credit- 
 ed, it was used at a very early period as a monastic retreat, and 
 was long the seat of a venerable hermit. In those gloomy ages 
 of the church, when the essence of religion was made to consist 
 in solitude and abstinence, when caves and deserts were peopled 
 with a lazy set of mortals, who condemned themselves to unna- 
 tural restrictions,— this rock was selected for the purpose of de- 
 vout and voluntary seclusion, by St. Baldred, the apostle of the Lo- 
 thians, who flourished in the sixth century. That pious eremite, 
 it is said, inhabited a cell at Tyningham, on the neighbouring 
 coast, where he preached to the natives. A monastery was af- 
 terwards erected near the place, which was burnt by Anlaf, king 
 of Northumbria, in 941. Of the ancient church, (Whitekirk,) 
 two elegant arches of Saxon architecture still remain. 
 
 St. Baldred was the disciple of the famous Kentigern, or St. 
 Mungo, the reputed founder of the see of Glasgow. 
 
 According to the u Breviary of Aberdeen ," the oldest work 
 but one which issued from the Scottish press, {Slezer, Jamie- 
 iotCs IUust.) this " Suffragan of St. Kentigern," was very me- 
 morable in his own day for virtues and illustrious miracles. — 
 <c Being eminently devout, he renounced all worldly pomp ; and, 
 following the example of John the Divine, resided in solitary 
 
APPENDIX. 73 
 
 places, and betook himself to the islands of the sea. Among 
 these he had recourse to one called Bass, where he led a life, 
 without all question, strict and contemplative ; in v 
 many years, he held up to remembrance the most blessed Ke: 
 gern his instructor, in the constant contemplation of the san 
 ty of his conduct." Baldred possessed the gift of miracles, and 
 seems to have exercised his talents in a way which could not fail 
 to make him a valuable acquisition to a commercial people dwell- 
 ing on a rocky coast. u There was a great rock between I 
 said island (Bass) and the adjacent land, (Canty-bay,) which 
 mained fixed in the middle of the passage, unmoved by ^1 
 force of the waves, giving the greatest hindrance to navigati 
 and often causing shipwrecks. The blessed Baldred, moved I 
 piety, ordered himself to be placed on this same rock ; which, 
 being done, at his nod the rock was immediately lilted up, and, 
 like a ship driven by a favourable breeze, proceeded to the near- 
 est shore, and henceforth remained in the same place, as a me- 
 morial of this miracle. — and is to this day callt. I d*t 
 cobte, or cock -boat." 
 
 This rock stands on the shore ot Aldhame, and is said Mill u> 
 be agitable by the winds and waves. On the shore vning- 
 
 hai her eastward, is another rock, and a remarkable basin, 
 
 which goes by the name of St. Bete 
 
 ■er his death, which happened, accord: in 60< 
 
 the honour of po ssess ing his remains was contested by I 
 parish-churches which he bad (bonded, Udhaa 
 
 and l'reston. ( )i' the ubiquity ot' the saint's body on that 
 a wonderful stor Id M I Ia\ ing heard that their beloved pas- 
 
 tor had departed bail IHb, the inhabitant* of die three pa 
 
 nbled in three different troops at Aldhame, where he breathed 
 his la- rally begging his body. Bat as the)' could 
 
 amongst themselves, t h«. he ad\ acerta man, left 
 
 the body unburied ight, and all separately betook ihepiselrei 
 
 fee prayer, that God himself, by his grace, would be pleat ed to 
 
 :iify which of these d s was to have the corpse of the 
 
 saint. Morning being i ■ thing took place diat has not 
 
 SB had a parallel. The;. : all assembled as befor 
 
 their different troops, found three t <>diei perfectly alike, and all 
 
874 APPENDIX. 
 
 equipt with equal pomp for interment. Each of the companies 
 departed well pleased, carrying with them that corpuscle of the 
 saint which had fallen to their share, and each parish erected a 
 monument," (Jaznieson's Culdces, ut supra,) 
 
 This happily terminated the dispute between these parochial 
 churches. The statue of Baldred lay long in the church-yard of 
 Preston entirely neglected ; and as the saint did not seem inclin- 
 ed to work a second miracle in his own behalf, the late Baron 
 Hepburn, it is said, designed to have it built into the church- 
 wall. This pious resolve, however, was frustrated, as the statue 
 was broken by an irreverent mason ; for since the days of John 
 Knox, the people of this country have been wickedly addicted to 
 work mischief on stone. But his memory still " lives in water," 
 — for near the said church is a pure spring called St. Baldred's 
 Well ; and an eddy in the Tyne goes by the name of St. Bal- 
 dred's Whirl. So much for the devout anchorite of the Bass. 
 
 The earliest proprietors of this island, on record, were the fa- 
 mily of Lauder of that Ilk. They were long in possession of it, 
 and for that reason preferred to take their title from it, though 
 they had extensive property elsewhere. Robert Lauder obtain- 
 ed a charter for one-half of it from William de Lambert, bishop 
 of St. Andrew's, which was confirmed in 1316. He held by 
 charter, from James I, the lands of Balgone, Bass, and Edring- 
 ton. There was a Latin inscription in the family aisle in the 
 old church of North-Berwick, on one of its proprietors, — The 
 good Robert Lauder, the great lord of Congal- 
 ton and Bass, {Nisbefs Herald, vol. i, 344, 432.) Their 
 crest they assumed from it, which was quite characteristic, — a 
 solan goose sitting on a rock ; but the motto was rather a burlesque 
 on the original, M Sub umbra alarum tuarum.'" (Jamkson'** 
 Must, to Slezer.) 
 
 The name of this family appears among other pious bene- 
 factors to the church ; for in 1491, Agness Fawlaw, wife of Ro- 
 bert Lauder of Bass, granted an annuity of 15 merks for sup- 
 porting a chaplain at the Virgin Mary's altar in St. Andrew's 
 kirk at North-Berwick ; and this grant was confirmed by 
 James IV, {Caled, vol. ii.) 
 
 According to Grose, {Antiquities, vol. i, 80,) several of the 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Scottish kings were solicitous to purchase this bland, which I 
 family for a long time refused to sell. James VI told the laird 
 he would give him whatever he pleased to ask for it. which 
 
 he answered, M Your majesty must e'en resign it to mi I'll 
 
 have the auld craig back again. ttiiL A 
 
 Although near the coast of East-Lothian, it is said at one time 
 to have belonged to Fife, (Slezcr,) — perhaps, because like some 
 other religious houses in that quarter, it may have held of I 
 See of St. Andrew's. I am informed, that anciently it returned 
 a member to the Scottish parliament. There was a chapel upon 
 it. which seems to have been erected in time of popery, and alto 
 a rabbit-warren. (\ P rumfs Tour. S " . // / r *. 
 
 I.) 
 
 Alter passing from the family of Lauder, it changed several 
 masters, until it was purchased by government, as we have men- 
 tioned, and converted into a state prison, u in quam seditions 
 deportabant Scoti," {Gibton, X I ( J)rnmwumti.> The names 
 of those M seditious person^" I have endeavoured to collect. They 
 are mostly from Wodrow's history, as I tind he has copied them 
 pretty accurately from the r - of the privy council. xwae 
 
 may have escaped me. others probably have not been record 
 or sentenced in a body, as they sometimes are, without name or 
 destination being distinctly mentioned. 
 
 LI>T Of THE BAM PRISONBI 
 
 KiT.i. RoBSftT GlLLElPIX, preacher, for keeping a conven- 
 ticle at Falkland. (I! ....... 
 
 Ai.KXA.vm Pi ; inister at Glenluce, for bemg 
 
 l'entland. Imprisoned four year>. [Ibid, tit $. 
 vol. ii. (><>:*. ) 
 
 loTl. .1 Mm hi 1 i . a prea, for attcni| >< We 
 
 of Archbishop Sharp. ( / 
 
 I67& JOB* 0UG, i. mister of skirling, ir a conventicle »i 
 
 1. ..ith-mill>. (I'id. 90S 
 

 376 APPENDIX. 
 
 • 
 
 1675. Thomas Ross, minister of Kincardine, (Tain,) for con- 
 
 venticles. (Wodrow, vol. ii, 393.) 
 
 1676. Andrew Forrester, minister of St. Mungo, for con- 
 
 venticles. (Ibid. 425, 442.) 
 
 John M'Gilligen, minister at Fodderty, for conven- 
 
 ticles. Twice imprisoned, in 1676 and 1683. (Ibid. 
 427 ; vol. ii, 283.) 
 
 Willi am Bell, preacher, for conventicle near Pent- 
 
 land hills. Liberated 1679. (Ibid. 427; vol. ii, 98.) 
 
 Robert Dick, for convocating people to the above con- 
 
 venticle. (Ibid, ut sup.) 
 
 1677. James Fraser of Brae, for conventicles, corresponding 
 
 with Bass prisoners, &c. Liberated 1679. (Ibid. 
 441 ; vol. ii, 17T, 288.) 
 
 Robert Trail, son of Rev. Robert Trail, Edinburgh, 
 
 for house conventicles, and conversing with John 
 Weigh. (Ibid. 442.) 
 
 George Scott of Pitlochie, son of Sir J. Scott of 
 
 Scotstarvet, for frequenting conventicles — Liberated 
 in 1684. (Ibid. 443.) The council warranted him 
 to transport, from the jails of Edinburgh, Glasgow, 
 and Stirling, such prisoners as would volunteer for the 
 plantations. Many of these, with himself, died on the 
 voyage. (Ibid. vol. ii, 367, 481, 565.) 
 
 James Drummond, preacher, for house and field con- 
 
 venticles. (Ibid. 448.) 
 
 s 
 
 ■i Thomas Hogg, minister at Kilteam, — for conventicles. 
 Having contracted a severe dysentery on the Bass, he 
 petitioned the council for liberation, who were dis- 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 posed to receive it favourably : But Sharp opposed, 
 declaring the prisoner was in capacity to do more hurt 
 to their interest, sitting in his elbow-chair, than twenty 
 others could do by travelling through the country ; and 
 if the justice of God was pursuing him. the clemenc 
 the government should not inteqwse to hinder it ; an 
 there was a place in the Bass worse than another, he 
 should be put there. When Mr. Hogg heard his sen- 
 tence, he said it was as severe as if Satan himself had 
 penned it. He was carried, by h\> r. down to a low 
 
 nasty dungeon in the Bass, where, in a short tii: . 
 recovered. When speaking of the arch -prelate at: 
 wards, he never shewed any resentment, but used to 
 say merrih >mmend him fco me for a good p: 
 
 sician.'' ( \\ . i>, 443. 
 
 // gg*i M >>i.) 
 
 H>?7. Kohlkt I i 1, laird of Chester* onventicles, 
 
 and resetting John Welsh. (/' w.. li.j.) A: t:.:s time 
 the council grant all the prisoners li: ► walk above 
 
 the walls. pt James Mitchell. (Ih'ui. \\ 
 
 l'»7^. Patrick Avdi . minister i W'alston, (or prea^ 
 
 ing in his own house in Potter-n 
 
 lo'7!». .Jons Law. minister of Camps ral 
 
 pulpits, and presuming to ordain penwn 
 nistry. (Ibid. POL n, 1 k) 
 
 Wn.r.iAM \'iiicii, pre* being in the Pentla 
 
 rebellion. He conducted t I "f- 
 
 uitu, to Ijondon. After tlie Revolution, he was I 
 
 nUler m Dumfries. I. /'<<•'• 
 
 ROBBB1 K">^, preacher, app^ehfDdti! • 1. 
 
 I. ii, 11) 
 
 JAMI |M LT, preacher. (Iln. wl '•*/ 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 1679. Thomas Wilkie, preacher, apprehended by Claverhouse 
 at a conventicle at Galashiels. ( Wodrow, vol. ii, 4-0.) 
 
 Francis Irvine, minister of Kirkmahoe, for conven- 
 ticles about Dumfries, and forcibly invading the pul- 
 pit of Kirkmahoe. He fled to Holland in 1683, and, 
 at the Revolution, returned to his old parish. {Ibid. 
 40, 297.) We know not what this " stern presbyter" 
 would say of his degenerate successor, the Reverend 
 John Wightman, who is now conniving at the build- 
 ing of a most beautiful and splendid church, in lieu of 
 that plain and venerable parallelogram in which the 
 said Mr. Francis officiated, and which the staunch 
 men of Kirkmahoe bled to defend, — if we may judge 
 from the warlike and human reliques dug up about the„ 
 thresholds of the late premises. These axes, swords, 
 and skeletons belonged, no doubt, to the ci-devant war- 
 - riors of the Covenant, who perished in maintaining the 
 rights of their lawful pastor, and shed their blood even 
 " under the altar." It is wonderful how the Fine 
 Arts have succeeded here in cooling the zeal of their 
 unworthy posterity, who have permitted a Christian 
 temple to be ornamented by the kickshaws of an irre- 
 verent architecture. They have allowed crosses and 
 catholic trumpery to be foisted into their walls ; pin- 
 nacles fiid minarets to usurp the place of rybats and 
 skews ; and yet their piety has not interfered to stop 
 this crying abomination. So far has the glamour of 
 elegant masonry overpowered their deluded senses, that 
 they can perceive nothing but beauty and proportion 
 where their zealous fathers would have discerned the 
 horns of antichrist, and the emblems of idolatry. — 
 Even the sacred jealousies of Mary Lindsay, can look 
 on these irreligious innovations with an eye of recon- 
 ciliation. Out of delicacy to the feelings of a catholic 
 heritor, among the first promoters of this new church, 
 a superb Maltese cross surmounts the eastern gable, 
 and is called by the natives, " Beelzebub's hammer." 
 
AYFEND1X. 
 
 1679. George Young, a popish priest. (Wodro-x, vol. u. 21. 
 
 John Moss max, preacher, for conventicles. (/bid. 
 
 Archibald Mac leak, minister of Killean. for con- 
 
 venticles. {Ibid, ut sit]).) 
 
 James Forthie, for conventicles. (Ibid, ut 
 
 William Kyle, preacher, tor conventicles. (Ibid, ut 
 
 sup.) After the Revolution a minister in Galloway. 
 
 L690, Gilbert Kill, mi: at Ainu r preaching 
 
 in St files' kirk, and baptizing a child, although by 
 the consent of tlu opal incumbent. Having be- 
 
 come valetudinary, he was liberated OB 00D 
 leaving the kingdom, lie went abroad and studied 
 phytic, and on his return lived at Berwick. While 
 there, the Earl of Hume formed a design to catch h: 
 He wrote a counterfeit letter, in the name of a respt> 
 able gentleman, entreat:, g Dr. Rule to 000 
 house with such medicines as were pi a violent 
 
 cholic, and sent it by his own servant, disguised a» a 
 
 intry man. The letter was so pressing, that I 
 Doctor got ready immediately. But while mounting 
 his h :ie heart of the messenger was touc hed with 
 
 miio this base treachery, and h< 
 
 wliole affair : That the letter was a deo and that 
 
 Hume had a party oi horse ready to seize him thfl mc 
 i ent lie OEOOOOd the Scotti>h border, 
 lution, he I Principal of Edinburgh college, and 
 
 Dr. Qeetgi ( .unpbell, 1'rofeseor o: 
 and founder of tiie theological library, (formerly mil 
 ter ol Dumfries) An .. M »'t I 
 
 iblfl application and intimate friciuMup ol dsfM IWO 
 eat luminario. Their lodgings were at a Kfctl 
 tance iroin each other, with opposite windo* v 1 
 H a late at his studies, and Professor I an | 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 * 
 
 bell to rise early, so that his candle was often lighted 
 before the Principal's lucubrations were ended. The 
 one went by the name of the " Evening Star," the other 
 of the " Morning Star." When the news of the Prin- 
 cipal's death was brought to Dr. Campbell, he observed, 
 with much emotion, u That since the Evening Star had 
 gone down, the Morning Star would soon disappear." 
 ( Wodrow, vol. ii, 126-7. Calamy's Life of Baxter.) 
 
 1680. John Dickson, minister at Rutherglen, — he was im- 
 
 prisoned seven years, and returned to his old parish at 
 the Revolution. (Ibid. 127.) 
 
 — — Archibald Riddle, brother to Sir Walter Riddle, for 
 preaching in the fields. He was confined three years, 
 and went in Pitlochie's ship to New Jersey, where 
 he suffered incredible hardships. (Ibid. 128, 173, 567.) 
 
 1681. John Spbeul, apothecary in Glasgow. He was twice 
 
 tortured on suspicion of being concerned in the rising 
 at Bothwell. His leg was put into the boot, and at 
 every query the hangman gave five strokes : Dalzell 
 complained that he did not strike strongly enough on 
 the wedges ; upon which he offered him the mallet 
 himself, saying, he struck with all his might. He lay 
 six years in prison, and went by the name of Bass 
 John Spreul as long as he lived. (Ibid. 163-71.) 
 
 William Lin, writer in Edinburgh, for frequenting 
 
 conventicles. (Wodrow, vol. ii, 171.) 
 
 John Blackader. Imprisoned four years and eight 
 
 I months. (Ibid. 173.) 
 
 1682. Henry Erskixe, minister at Cornhill, Northumber- 
 
 land, was sentenced to the Bass, but was reprieved on 
 promising to leave the kingdom. (Ibid. 257.) His wife, 
 however, appears to have been a prisoner in the Bass, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 as I find that Ebenezer Erskine, father of i 
 sion, was bom here ; and hence he 
 which means, " A stone of help, or reinembrani/ 
 (Gazcit, of Scotland.) 
 
 1683. John Litiigow, minister at L . for conventicle*. 
 {Ibid. 259.) 
 
 Major Joseph Learmokt, confined for life, bd 
 
 nearly eighty years of age. | /hid. 26 J <ee paf 
 of the Memoirs. 
 
 Michael Potter, tutor to Laird of Dundass* fa- 
 
 mily, for preaching at conventicles. 
 
 John Phi lit. curate at Queensfer: 
 
 Duke of York was a bl< :an and a great tyrant ; 
 
 fined, besides, in two thousand pounds sterling. < / 
 
 Alkxandeu QOEDOS of Earlston. He was at Bot 
 
 well, and narrowly escaped by th< 
 
 tenants, who knowing Him a* he wai punmed through 
 
 Hamilton, made bin. dismount, dressed him in wome 
 
 clothes, and set him to rock ft 11 
 
 hended on his return from Holland, and liberated at the 
 
 Revolution. (J \ll. ScOtlW ,1 < .N 
 
 Lady iarkton. {J 
 
 14 JOHl 1 i a i ' '.mUter ngton. Ics. 
 
 baptizing children. \c. ( II' 
 
 Rali'H KocKHi, mi: Glasgow, for refusing the 
 
 bond. (M :r>t.) 
 
 SlB HUOH ( \>ni I essnock, for allowing con- 
 
 i ▼enticle* on his ground. {Ibid. .iHO— h 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 1684. Sir George Campbell, junior, of Cessnock, ( Wod- 
 
 rotV) vol. ii, 526.) 
 
 1685. James Urqlthart, minister at Kinloss, for conven- 
 
 ticles. (Ibid. 4-67.) 
 
 — Alexander Dunbar, minister from the north, for 
 
 conventicles. (Ibid, ut sup.) 
 
 Alexander Shiels, author of " Hind Let Loose," 
 
 &c. &c. He escaped from the Bass in women's clothes, 
 went on the Darien expedition, and died in Jamaica. 
 
 (Ibid. 494. Scots Worthies.) 
 
 - 
 
 James Futhy, chaplain to the Trinity Hospital, Edin- 
 burgh. (Ibid. 480.) 
 
 1684. John Knox, minister of North-Leith. While a pro- 
 bationer he was in the army, and chaplain in the castle 
 of Tantallon when it was besieged by Cromwell. He 
 conveyed Lord Angus, and some ladies, privately in a 
 boat to North-Berwick, and returned to the castle. 
 Though deserted by the lieutenant, and most of the 
 soldiers, he stood out for a time, and capitulated on 
 honourable conditions. He was a confidant of the ex- 
 iled monarch, and supplied him with money. See a 
 mendicant letter to him from his majesty. (Ibid. 352.) 
 
 31 r. Knox's being in the Bass is somewhat uncertain. There 
 are ten or twelve more who were probably prisoners there : But 
 as the names and the place are not distinctly specified, I omit 
 them. (See Wodrotv, vol. ii, 354, 412, 467.) 
 
 In 1688, upon the alarm of the Prince of Orange's landing, a 
 beacon was appointed to be fixed on the Bass, as also on St. Abb's 
 Head, North-Berwick Law, Garleton-hill, Arthur Seat, and the 
 Fife hills, to be kindled so soon as any number of vessels were 
 seen off the coast. (Wodrow, vol. ii, 645.) 
 
 Shortly after the Revolution, a small party of King James's 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 adherents, who had been taken in the Highlands, were confi. 
 in the Bass. By them the garrison was taken by surj aid 
 held out for several years, being the last place in the three king- 
 doms that surrendered. Of this bold coup dc main* the follow- 
 ing account is taken from a memorial sent to the government 
 
 In the beginning of June 1691, there were in the Bass four 
 prisoners, who had been taken at Cromdale by Sir Thomas I 
 vingstone, viz. Lieutenant Middleton, Lieutenant Halyburton. 
 Ensign Roy, and Ensign Dunbar. They observing it was the 
 custom, when a boat came with coal . to the garrison, for 
 
 all the soldiers, except two or three, to go down to unload at 
 the crane, which is without three gates of the Bass, an :iin 
 
 the fourth, took this opportunity to surprise the place upon • 
 loth of June. Of the garrison they retained only La Fosse t 
 sergeant. Swan the gunner, and one soldier; forcing the rev 
 retire in the coal-boat. La Fosse probably was debauched I 
 the prisoners. The next night, Crawford, younger, 1 ..-d- 
 
 millan, with his servant and two Irish seame: Brian 
 
 and one Newport, stole a long-boat which lay on the coast near 
 Dirleton, and put themselves into the Ba>s. Tl. 
 been taken at the water of Or, in the west, coining over wi 
 intelligence from King James, and had made tlu-ir MCI 
 the prison of Leith. 
 
 \ bed to the governor, as he was not oblige*: 
 
 ide on the Bass; but Wood, the lieutenant, was arrested at 
 Edinburgh for negligt I leaving the garrison exposed. N 
 
 day, a garrison was si <1 at Castlcion. on the ifa 
 
 to prevent provisions being carried to them, and hinder their 
 scape. A detachment was sent t .1 ingaton, * 
 
 three officers, to t: to attend the blockade 
 
 night there went out two boats, with tw. en each and an of- 
 
 ficer, which cruised all night round the Bass. In tl 
 there were sentinel* placed on the coast, to warn *hips and boat* 
 not to go near the Hans ; and if enemies, to prevent their land- 
 It was found, Ituu, mij>o»ible to pnveM »u; 
 without a fri ! none could be got at the time. Two large 
 boats of llnrrv to: re sent ; but from tli- 
 sea, and the insutfici' ricir tackling, thev *crc un. t 
 
384 APPENDIX. 
 
 ride near the island, so that this scheme was abandoned. When 
 the nights grew longer and darker, two boats were found incapa- 
 ble of guarding such an extent of open sea, so that they readily 
 got supply from the country. 
 
 As it was impossible to assault the Bass, an attempt was made 
 to cut off their boats, of which they had two, — one a small Nor- 
 way skiff, which was nightly drawn up by the crane ; the other, 
 the boat Ardmillan had brought, capable of carrying twenty 
 men. This they drew up on the flat rock without the gate, but 
 immediately under the cannon. On the 1 5th August, nine men 
 landed about midnight on this rock, and brought the boat off 
 without loss ; and in three days, the garrison made proposals to 
 capitulate. Some time before this, Ardmillan and Middleton 
 had got ashore unperceived near Tantallon, and had promised to 
 return in a fortnight with provisions. The time having expired, 
 the Bass, meanwhile, became desirous to surrender ; and Ensign 
 Dunbar came ashore for that purpose. But as they were con- 
 cluding the articles of surrender, Ardmillan and Middleton re- 
 turned in a large boat, with eight men and provisions ; and be- 
 ing favoured by the wind, they got in under the cannon of the 
 Bass before it was possible to intercept them. Ensign Dunbar 
 was detained prisoner. Five days after, the same boat, endea- 
 vouring to make her escape, was seized in the night-time. There 
 were in her four seamen, four women who had been in the Bass, 
 and the gunner and soldier who had been detained at first. 
 These were all sent prisoners to Edinburgh. 
 
 On 3d September, an indemnity was offered to the rebels in 
 the Bass. A sergeant and a drummer went, and were suffered 
 to land ; but immediately they were made prisoners, and the in- 
 demnity treated with contempt. A boat was sent to the back 
 of the island, where their cannon could not reach, to demand back 
 the men and the boat. The boat, they said, they had use for, 
 and could not part with ; but they might take in the men by 
 coming round to the south side. Next . day, a Danish galliot, 
 not knowing the Bass held out, coming in near the land, was 
 commanded by their cannon, and seized ; out of which they took 
 all the seamen's provisions, and then dismissed her. 
 
 The number in the Bass had increased to sixteen men, sufli- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ciently .provided for some months, and plenty of water from the 
 spring on the Bass. They had thirteen sheep and three bolls ot 
 meal ; Ardmillan and Middleton brought with them twelve bolls 
 of meal, two hundred weight biscuit, two barrels butter, one dit- 
 to pease, one ditto salt, one ditto vinegar, one hogshead bram: 
 four stone candles, besides what they took from the Danish gal- 
 liot, viz. two barrels beer, three dozen hard fish, half barrel beef. 
 They had abundance of coals. Of warlike stores they had four- 
 teen cannon, sixty muskets, ten barrels of powder, and plenty of 
 small and great shot. The surprising of the Bass was the con- 
 trivance of Charles Maitland, late deputy-governor. It wa> con- 
 certed in the Laird of Garleton's house, with Ardmillan and the 
 rest, who had lived some time in the village lelstaneford. 
 
 ^uised as strangers, in the habit of seamen, and disappeared next 
 day after the Bass was surprised. {Fled In r*M M - 
 
 During the winter, the troops were withdrawn from Castletoo ; 
 and a guard of twenty-five men left to watch their motions on the 
 Bass, and prevent them from plundering the coast. [| March 
 1 o"92, the admiralty sent orders to Captain Anthony Koope, com- 
 mander of the ship Sheerness, lying in Lcith Roads, am ip- 
 tain Orton of the London Merchant, to attack the Baas imn 
 diately, u and to do it what prejudice they could, by breaking 
 their crane and boats, dismounting their cannon, and ruining 
 what houses were upon it." This it was found impost! hit 
 do, as they were well provided with warlike stores. They had 
 doubled their quantity of powder, and had collected upwards 
 rive hundred cannon-balls shot in from the English ships. They 
 pillaged coals from the Isle of May, and from boats crossing the 
 Frith. They robbed sloops going from Dunbar to Leith with 
 wheat and barley, and extended their piracies as far as the 
 mouth of the Tay, having seized a boat in the harbour of Dun- 
 dee. (Bass Mi vs. Lib. Xorth-Bermick Horn 
 
 It could not be bombarded by land, as the shore was too dis- 
 tant ; and it was found the cannon from the ships could not be 
 directed with effect, by reason of its elevation. It was proposed 
 that a frigate and a long-boat should cruise constantly about the 
 Bass, to prevent relief, and starve them into a lurrendert And 
 that a proclamation should be issued, forbidding all ships to 
 
 B 
 
386 APPENDIX. 
 
 betwixt the Bass and the land, on pain of being declared lawful 
 prizes ; — and because foreign vessels could have no notice, a boat 
 was appointed to lie at Dunbar to advertise all ships and boats 
 coming from the east, to keep the open sea, under the foresaid 
 penalties. 
 
 The Lion, Captain Edward Burd, was appointed to cruise off 
 the Bass, together with a dogger of six guns, and a large boat 
 from Kirkaldy, commanded by Captain Boswell. Notwithstand- 
 ing all their vigilance, it was found impracticable to intercept re- 
 lief. Besides their friends in Scotland, they had frequent sup- 
 plies from France. In August 1693, a frigate of twelve guns 
 came up the Frith, and having fired a signal to the Bass, she 
 immediately came to anchor under their cannon. As none of the 
 cruisers were of equal force, she was permitted to unload without 
 disturbance. The following year a privateer, from Dunkirk, bring- 
 ing provisions, appeared off the coast, and had an encounter with 
 the Lion, in which the Frenchman was defeated, and compelled 
 to return. {Captain Burd's Despatches.') 
 
 Their supply being thus cut off, and several of the garrison 
 taken prisoners, Middleton, the captain, in April 1694, made 
 proposals to surrender. The articles were put into the hands 
 of Major Reid, who was commissioned to treat with the rebels ; 
 and upon being signed and ratified by the council, they were 
 ready to deliver up the garrison. The terms were : That the 
 garrison should have indemnity for their lives, liberties, and for- 
 tunes : That no person should be questioned for having supplied 
 or corresponded with them : That they have liberty to land 
 where they please, with their swords, boats* and baggage : That 
 such as chose to go to France, should have a vessel to transport 
 them ; and those who staid should have the protection of the go- 
 vernment : That they should have leave to sell their nets, anchors, 
 cables, &c. to their own advantage. The Bass, with the arms, 
 ammunition, &c.to be delivered up within twelve hours after sign- 
 ing the articles of capitulation. (Bass MSS. See these Articles 
 in full, Scots Mag. 1 781.) After the surrender, an order was given 
 (April 30, 1694) to the commander-in-chief, Major-general Li- 
 vingston, to demolish all the fortifications and buildings of the Bass, 
 and to remove the cannon and ammunition. This was finally 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 done in 1701, by order of King William. In 170G, it came, by 
 roval grant, into the possession of President Dalrymple. That 
 nobleman had requested leave to erect a light-house upon it. and 
 also to have the situation of hereditary governor, to which was 
 attached a salary of several thousand merks ; but, from motive* 
 of economy, his majesty made him a present of the island it- 
 for paying a 8 tl penny. (Cult don. vol. ii, 548.) Since that 
 time it has continued in a state of complete ruin, in the uni 
 
 ed possession of its primitive inhabitants the solan _ 
 Those birds pay it an annual visit, for the purpose of hatel 
 and rearing their young. They generally come about the 
 Februarv, and go away towards the end of Decea 
 motion ntirely directed by the migratory fishes on which t: 
 
 -t. Tl. by unerr. 
 
 when tin B the polar seas, approach our coasts. 
 
 Their return affords a w t signal to the fisherman to lau: 
 
 his bar tinue I him the plunder thoi 
 
 r.ot th. They 000 all at once: some 
 
 are despatch larbingers or scouts : the main body arrives in 
 
 seven] divisions. Their mode of hatching is well know The 
 
 r they produce only wed on its end, which I 
 
 bin vith t and rests upon it in that 
 
 n. Ii e they get their name •• m^ 
 
 Dr. J m k » solea," because they have only 
 
 one <.r. from 
 
 Thi e, and the quantity of fisho 
 
 le. TK in elav 
 
 neath their V ich they carry 
 
 ririL, TheM tlie young bin. n\\ 
 
 as with pinccr>. It ii nid the garrison were occasionally * 
 plied with IikhI "gorge ■ a 
 
 cur the BOM pCJI annual!;. 
 
 chutch of North-Berwick as part of the mi - stipend. 
 
 the iption .ir.d habits ot this remarkable MS l>r liar- 
 
 lualium; British Zoology; BeckwitrTs 1 
 
 b Bin! 
 
 Tlie old are quite unfit foe the H I only tlie 
 
 
388 APPENDIX. 
 
 young, and when well fledged, that are eaten. They are of a 
 rancid and fishy taste, and used to be considered as excellent 
 provocatives. Tourists have remarked, that this is the only sort 
 of provisions that has never varied in price. Pennant ( Tou r. 
 vol. i, 60) has given the following advertisement relating to this 
 article from the Edinburgh Advertiser 1768- — 
 
 " SOLAN GEESE. 
 
 u There is to be sold, by John Watson, junior, at his stand 
 at the Poultry, Edinburgh, all lawful days in the week, wind and 
 weather serving, good and fat solan geese. Any who have occa- 
 sion for the same, may have them at reasonable rates." 
 
 The Bass is now the property of Sir H. D. Hamilton, Bart. 
 Its surface contains about seven acres of pasture, which feeds a 
 score of sheep. This mutton is of superior quality, and has long 
 been celebrated in the annals of studious gluttony. There is no 
 vestige of the garden ; but some years ago, a few scattered flowers 
 existed ; and the older inhabitants about the place, remember to 
 have eaten apples from it. For the botany of the Bass, see 
 Walker's Essays on Natural History. 
 
 The cavern has often been traversed by the present keeper of 
 the Bass. This can only be done at ebb-tide, and with the help 
 of a torch, as a part of it is dark, and always knee-deep of wa- 
 ter. A boat can row in to a considerable distance ; after which 
 part of the bottom is rocky and part gravelly. The height in 
 some places is said to be above twenty feet ; the breadth twelve. 
 The roof and sides are polished by the waves, like the smoothest 
 marble. It is singular, that with all the accommodation of $team 
 boats and other conveyances, so few from this place have ever 
 visited the Bass, although it is within the compass of a summer 
 day's excursion. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 James Auchie, Printer, Edinburgh. 
 

 


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