LEVEN, Alexander Leslie, Earl of, one of the most distinguished soldiers of his time, was born about the close of the 16th century. He was descended from a younger son of the ancient Scottish family of Balquhain. His father was George Leslie of Balgonie, commander of the castle of Blair, and his mother was Anne, daughter of Stewart of Ballechin. At his first outset in life he acted as a volunteer in Lord Vere’s regiment in Holland, fighting with the Dutch against the encroachments of Spain, where he rose to the rank of captain. He then entered the service of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and became field-marshal. In 1628, when the town of Stralsund was besieged by Wallenstein, and reduced almost to the last extremity, the king of Sweden sent Leslie to take the command of the garrison, and he acted with such resolution that he obliged the count to raise the siege. For this service medals were struck in his honour. In 1630 he drove the imperialists out of the island of Rügen, and continued to serve with great distinction in the Swedish armies till the troubles in Scotland brought him home. In 1639 he was invited by the Covenanters to take the command of their army. One of his first exploits was to take the castle of Edinburgh by surprise, without the loss of a man. He commanded the Scottish army at Dunse Law in May of that year, and in 1640 he invaded England, and defeated a party of the king’s troops at Newburn, which gave him possession of Newcastle and other towns. At the treaty with the king at Ripon, Leslie was one of the commissioners of the parliament, and Charles was so well pleased with his behaviour that he created him Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven, by patent dated 1641....