AUTHOR OF THE MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN BLACKADER. EDINBURGH: PUBLISHED BY H. S. BAYNES, W. BAYNES & SON, LONDON, M.DCCC.XXIV. 0960327-190 PREFACE. THE principal materials from which the following LIFE is compiled, are the Diary and Letters written by the Colonel himself during the Campaigns in which he was engaged. These manuscripts, it would appear, were committed to the hands of his widow, who was married to Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglas, Bart. After her death, they were thrown aside, as papers of no value, and lay neglected for many years. When the descendants of Sir James quitted the family residence near Stirling, a quantity of papers, supposed to be useless, were sold to a tobacconist in that town; and among these, his curiosity discovered, and rescued from destruction, the Diary and Letters referred to. The manuscripts thus, as it were, accidentally preserved, happily came into the possession of those who perceived their worth, and were anxious to make their usefulness more extensively known. Part of them were shewn to the Rev. John Newton, then (1799) Rector of St. Mary's, Lombard-street, London, who expressed his opinion that their publication might do good, and agreed to write a recommendatory preface With this view they were put into the hands of Mr. John Campbell, then resident in Edinburgh, now Minister of Kingsland Chapel, near London, and well known by his Missionary Travels in South Africa. Mr. Campbell transcribed many of the Letters and made several Extracts-a task of no small difficulty, from the smallness and faintness of the character in which they are written; but his various engagements hindered him from preparing them for the Press. He committed them to the care of Dr. Charles Stuart, of Dunearn, who, ever ready and zealous to promote the interests of religion, willingly undertook to superintend their publication. The volume made its appearance about twenty years ago, and was printed for the benefit of the Magdalene Asylum, Edinburgh, as originally intended by Mr. Campbell. It comprehended, however, only twelve years of the Diary, being, as appears, all that had come into the Editor's possession at the time of publishing. By his diligent inquiries among the Colonel's surviving friends and relatives, Dr. Stuart collected various particulars of his family and parentage, which he prefixed to the EXTRACTS; illustrating the whole with short historical notes and explanations. He likewise recovered twelve additional years of the Diary, which made the series complete from 1701 to 1725. For these he acknowledged himself indebted to the Colonel's grand-nephew and representative, the late John Blackader, Esq. Accomptant General of Excise. The whole of the original Manuscripts, comprising many unpublished Letters, and the remainder of the Diary from 1700 to 1728 inclusive, are in the hands |