the Agricultural association in 1881. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the legislature of On- tario in 1871, but was elected to the Dominion parliament for the city of Ottawa in 1882. He is president of the Ottawa Colonization railway, of the Ottawa and Gatineau Valley railway, and of the " Citizen " printing and publishing company. He wrote "The Chicago Fire" (1871): "The Fi- nancial Panic in the United States and its Causes " (1873) ; a prize poem for the O'Connell centennial, for which he was awarded a gold and silver medal (1875) ; and speeches in pamphlet-form, in which he advocates a protective tariff (1876-'8) ; and he edited the " Canadian Parliamentary Companion " (Ottawa, 1877-"82).
McKNIGHT, Alexander, Canadian educator,
b. in Ayrshire, Scotland, about 1828 ; d. 27 April,
1894. After taking a four years' course in the
University of Glasgow, he entered New college,
Edinburgh, and from 1845 till 1849 studied theol-
ogy. He was licensed to preach by the Free church
presbytery in 1850, and in January, 1855, was ap-
pointed, by the colonial committee of the church,
teacher of Hebrew at Halifax free college. In 1857
Mr. McKnight became pastor of St. James's church,
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and until 1868 acted as
minister and professor. In the same year he be-
came professor of exegeties in addition to Hebrew,
in 1871 the chair of systematic theology was given
to him. and in 1877 the degree of D. D. was con-
ferred upon him. In 1878, after the union of all
the Presbyterian churches in Canada, Dr. McKnight was appointed principal of the Presbyterian college of the maritime provinces at Halifax. He was moderator of the general assembly of the Presb'terian church in 1885-'6.
Mcknight, CUarles, surgeon, b. in Cranbury, N. J., 10 Oct., 1750; d. in New York, 10
Nov., 1791. His grandfather, a Presbyterian min-
ister, emigrated to this country in 1740 and settled
in New Jersey. His father was also a minister,
and by opposing the crown made enemies of the
Tories, who burned his church in Middletown
Point in 1777 and threw him in prison, where he
died in 1778. The son, after graduation at Prince-
ton in 1771, studied medicine with Dr. William
Shippen, entered the Revolutionary army, and be-
came senior surgeon of the Flying hospital of the
middle department on 11 April, 1777. At one
time he acted as the chief physician and surgeon-
general in command of the huts or hospital at the
cantonments on Hudson river near New Windsor.
After the close of the war he settled in New York
city, married the daughter of Gen. John Morin
Scott, and was eminent as a surgeon. From 1785
till his death he was professor of anatomy at Co-
lumbia. Dr. McKnight published various papers
on medical and surgical subjects.
McKNIGHT, George, poet, b. in Sterling, Ca-
yuga CO., N. Y., 14 March. 1840. He was graduated
at Genesee college. Lima, N. Y., in 1860, received
the degree of M. D. from Buffalo medical college
in 1864, and since that date has practised medicine
in Sterling. He is the author of " Firm Ground "
(Sterling, 1877). a collection of religious sonnets,
revised and reissued with the title " Life and
Faith " (New York, 1878).
Mcknight, Harvey Washington, clergy-
man, b. in McKnightstown, Adams co., Pa., 3
April, 1843. After seiwing in the civil war as
lieutenant of Pennsylvania volunteers and then as
adjutant of a militia regiment, he was graduated
at Pennsylvania college, Gettysburg, in 1865, and
at the theological seminary there in 1867. and in
the latter year was ordained to the ministry of
the Lutheran church, in which he has since con-
tinued. After holding pastorates at Newville, Pa.,
in 1867-'70. Easton, Pa., in 1872-'80, and Cincin-
nati, Ohio, in 1880-'4, he was elected in the last-
named year president of Peftnsvlvania college,
which post he now (1888) fills, "in 1880 he re-
ceived the degree of D. D. from Monmouth col-
lege, 111. He has published an historical address
at the semi-centennial of Pennsylvania college
(Gettysburg, 1882), and his inaugural address as
president of Pennsylvania college (1884).
McLACHLAN, Alexander, poet, b. in John-
stone, Scotland, 12 Aug., 1818; d. in Orangeville,
Ontario, 20 March, 1896. His father, a mechanic
and the author of verses, purchased land in Cana-
da in 1820. which he partially cleared, but returned
to Scotland and died there. The son aided in sup-
porting the family by working in a cotton-factory,
after which he became a tailor's apprentice, but
devoted his leisure to study. In 1841 he removed
to Canada, and in 1862 he was sent by the Cana-
dian government to Scotland to represent the ad-
vantages of emigration. In 1874 he again visited
Scotland and delivered lectures on Canadian life
and literary subjects. His aim had been to amelio-
rate the condition of the working classes, and ta
be an exponent of their desires and feelings. He
had also lectured in the United States and Cana-
da, and was the author of " Poems, chieflv in the
Scottish Dialect "(1855); "Lyrics" (1858); "The
Emigrant and other Poems " (1861) ; and " Poems-
and Songs " (Toronto, 1874). See " The Poets and
Poetry of Scotland," edited by Gen. James Grant
Wilson (2 vols., New York, 1876).
McLANAHAN, James Xavier, lawyer, b. near
Greencastle, Franklin co.. Pa., in 1809 ; d. in New
York city, 16 Dec, 1861. He was graduated at
Dickinson college, Carlisle, Pa., in 1826, studied
law, was admitted to the bar, and began to prac-
tise in Chambersburg, Pa. In 1841 he served in
the Pennsylvania legislature, and he was afterward
elected to congress as a Democrat, holding his
seat from 3 Dec. 1849, till 8 March, 1853. As
chairman of the judiciary committee he projected
several reforms that met with the concurrence of
the house and the nation.
McLANDBURGH, Florence, author, b. in
Chillicothe. Ohio, 22 April, 1850. In 1863 she re-
moved with her family to Chicago, where she has
since resided. She was educated by her brother-
John, a critic and essayist, and in 1868 began ta
write imaginative sketches and tales. Several
brilliant short stories that she contributed to pe-
riodicals gave her a reputation, and she afterward
published a collection of them in book-form, under
the title of " The Automaton Ear " (Chicago, 1876).
But impaired health subsequently compelled her
to abandon literary work, and she has spent sev-
eral years in travelling.
McLANE. Allan, soldier and jurist, b. 8 Aug., 1746; d. in Wilmington, Del., 22 May, 1829. He removed to Kent county, Del., in 1774, and took an early and active part in the American Revolution, He was a volunteer in the Great Bridge fight, near Norfolk, Va., in 1775, where the Virginia militia repelled an assault of 600 British and Tories with a loss of 55 to the enemy in killed and wounded, only one of the patriots being injured. Afterward he joined Rodney's Delaware regiment as lieutenant, sacrificing his valuable property in Philadelphia when that
city was occupied by the British. He fought gallantly at the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Princeton, Monmouth, and Yorktown, and retired from the army at the close of the war with the rank of colonel. In a personal combat with three Brit-
