556 



HLACKWELL BLACK WOOD. 



king of Sweden happening soon after to bo taken 

 dangerously ill, Blackwell was permitted to prescrilw 

 for him, and had the gtxxl fortune to ctlect ;i cure. 

 He was consequently appointed our of tin- king's 

 physicians, and styled doctor, th<mh It dots not n'p- 

 pear that he ever took a degree in medicine. While 

 enjoying all this good fortune, he was not forgetful 

 of his wife, but sent her several sums of money, and 

 she was on the point of sailing to join him at Stock- 

 holm, when all his pro-pccK and life itself, were 

 overwhelmed at one blow. Heing n fervent admirer 

 of the principles of civil liberty, and accustomed to 

 all the freedom of speech which is so harmlessly per- 

 mitted in Britain, it is probable that he might not 

 very readily aceotmwxlatc himself to that prudence 

 of th e tongue which is demanded from the subjects 

 of an arbitrary monarchy. It is at least certain, that 

 he was apprehended on suspicion of being connected 

 with a plot, which had lieen formed by one count 

 Tessin, for overturning the constitution of the king- 

 dom, and altering the line of succession. Being put 

 to the torture, he is alleged to have confessed a con- 

 cern in this conspiracy. Every reader, however, will 

 acknowledge, Uiat confessions under the torture form 

 historical documents of a very questionable nature. 

 Being tried for his supposed offence before a royal 

 commission, he was sentenced to be broken alive on 

 the wheel, and put to the death of a traitor. In the 

 course of his trial, some imputations were thrown 

 upon his Britannic majesty, for which, in conjunction 

 with other circumstances, the British ambassador was 

 recalled from Stockholm. The unfortunate Black- 

 well was executed, July 29th, 1747, but not, it would 

 appear, with the tortures assigned by his sentence. 

 On the scaffold, he protested to the people his entire 

 innocence of the crimes laid to his charge, and, as 

 the best proof of what he stated, pointed out his utter 

 want of all motive for engaging in an attempt against 

 the government. He prayed with great devotion, 

 but happening to lay his head wrong upon the block, 

 he remarked good-humouredly, that, as this was his 

 first experiment, no wonder he required a little in- 

 struction. The date of Mrs Blackwell's death is not 

 ascertained. Her work was afterwards re-published 

 on the continent. 



BLACKWKLL, Thomas; a learned writer of the 

 eighteenth century, was brother of Alexander, notic- 

 ed above, and born at Aberdeen, August 4, 1701. 

 After receiving the rudiments of his education at the 

 grammar school of his native city, he entered his 

 academical course at the Marischal college, where he 

 took the degree of A. M., in 1718. A separate pro- 

 fessorship of Greek had not existed in this seminary 

 previous to 1700. Blackwell, having turned his at- 

 tention to Greek, was honoured, in 1723, when only 

 twenty-two years of age, with a crown appointment 

 to this chair. He entered upon the discharge of the 

 duties of his office with the utmost ardour. It per- 

 fectly suited his inclination and habits. He was an 

 enthusiastic admirer of the language and literature of 

 Greece, and the whole bent ofnis studies was exclu- 

 sively devoted to the cultivation of polite learning. 

 Dr Blackwell first appeared before the public, as an 

 author, in 1737. His Inquiry into the Life and Writ- 

 ings of Homer was published at London during the 

 course of that year, but without his name. A second 

 edition of the work appeared in 1746, and shortly 

 after, " Proofs of the Inquiry into Homer's Life and 

 Writings." These proofs chiefly consisted of a trans- 

 lation of the Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, and 

 French notes subjoined to the original work. The 

 Inquiry contains a great deal of research, as well as 

 a display of miscellaneous learning. In 1748, he 

 published anonymously, " Letters concerning Mytho- 

 logy." In the course of the same year, he was ad- 



vanced to be principal of his college. In 1750, he 

 opened a class for the instruct ion of the students Jn 

 ancient history, geography, and chronology. Pre- 

 lections on these branches of education, he thought 

 necessary to render more perfect the course at Ma- 

 rischal college. He, therefore, himself undertook 

 the task. The design of his opening this class evi- 

 dently was to pave the way for the introduction of a 

 new plan of teaching into Marischal college, which, 

 accordingly, he soon after accomplished. At the 

 commencement of the session, 1752, public notice was 

 given that " the principal, professors, and masters, 

 having long had under their consideration the present 

 method of academical education, the plan of which, 

 originally introduced by the scholastic divines in the 

 darkest times, is more calculated for disputes and 

 wrangling than to fit men for the duties of life, there- 

 fore have resolved to introduce a new order in teach- 

 ing 1 the sciences." The order which was then adopt- 

 ed, is what still continues in force in that university. 

 Three years afterwards, when the new plan had been 

 put to the trial for as many sessions, the faculty of 

 the college ordered an account of the plan of educa- 

 tion which was followed to be printed. This formed 

 a pamphlet of thirty-five pages. It concludes thus : 

 " They have already begun to experience the public 

 approbation by the increase of the number of their 

 students." So that he had the agreeable pleasure of 

 witnessing the success of the plan he had proposed. 

 In 175, ne took the degree of doctor of laws, and 

 in the subsequent year, was published, in quarto, the 

 first volume of " Memoirs of the Court of Augustus." 

 A second volume appeared in 1755, and a third, 

 which was posthumous, and left unfinished by the 

 author, was prepared for the press by John Mills, 

 Esq., and published in 1764. Dr Blackwell died, at 

 Edinburgh, upon the 6th of March, 1757. 



BLACKWOOD, Adam ; a learned writer of the six- 

 teenth century, was born at Dunfermline, in 1539. 

 Scotland, during his youth, was undergoing the ago- 

 nies of the reformation. He, therefore, found it no 

 proper sphere for his education ; and went to Paris, 

 where, by the liberality of his youthful sovereign, 

 queen Mary, then residing at the court of France, he 

 was enabled to complete his studies, and to go 

 through a course of civil law at the university of 

 Toulouse. Having now acquired some reputation 

 for learning and talent, he was patronized by James 

 Beaton, the expatriated archbishop of Glasgow, who 

 recommended him very warmly to queen Mary and 

 her husband, the dauphin, by whose influence he was 

 chosen a member of the parliament of Poitiers, and 

 afterward appointed to be professor of civil law at 

 that court. 



Poitiers was henceforth the constant residence of 

 Blackwood, and the scene of all his literary exertions. 

 His first work was one entitled, " De Vinculo Reli- 

 gionis et Imperii, Libri Duo," Paris, 1575, to which 

 a third book was added in 1612. His next work was 

 entitled, " Apologia pro Regibus," and professed to 

 be an answer to George Buchanan's work, " De Jure 

 Regni apud Scotos." He next published, in French, 

 an account of the death of his benefactress, queen 

 Mary, under the title, " Martyre de Maria Stuart, 

 Reyne d'Escosse," Antwerp, 8vo, 1588. At the end 

 of the volume, is a collection of poems in Latin, 

 French, and Italian, upon Mary and Elizabeth; in 

 which the former princess is praised for every excel- 

 lence, while her murderess is characterized by every 

 epithet expressive of indignation and hate. In 1598, 

 he published a manual of devotions under the title, 

 " Sanctarum precationum proemia," which he dedi- 

 cated to his venerable patron, the archbishop of Glas- 

 gow. The cause of his writing this book was, that 

 By reading much at night he had so weakened UU 



