Sir Richard, a physician, and voluminous writer of theological, poetical, and physical works. Having early declared in favour of the Revolution, King William, in 1687, chose him one of his physicians in ordinary, and conferred on him the honour of knighthood. On Queen Anne's accession, Sir Richard was also appointed one of her physicians, and continued so for some time. But Dryden and Pope treated the poetical performances of Blackmore with great contempt; and in a note to the mention made of him in the Dunciad, we are informed that his "indefatigable muse produced no less than six epic poems: Prince and King Arthur, in twenty books; Eliza, in ten; Alfred, in twelve; The Redeemer, in six; besides Job, in folio; the whole book of Psalms; The Creation, in seven books; the Nature of Man, in three books; and many more." But notwithstanding that Blackmore was greatly ridiculed by the wits, he is not without merit; and Addison, in the Spectator, has bestowed some liberal commendations on his poem on the Creation. It must be mentioned, too, in honour of Sir Richard, that he was a chaste writer, and a warm advocate for virtue, at a time when an almost universal degeneracy prevailed. He had been very free in his censures of the libertine writers of his age; and it was owing to some liberty he had taken of this kind, that he drew upon Blackness himself the resentment of Mr Dryden. He had likewise given offence to Mr Pope; for having been informed by Mr Curl that the "bard of Twickenham" was the author of a travesty of the first Psalm, he took occasion to reprehend him for it in his Essay on Polite Learning. Besides the works above mentioned, Sir Richard wrote some theological tracts, and several treatises on the plague, small-pox, consumptions, the spleen, gout, dropsy, and a variety of small poetical pieces. He died on the 9th of October 1729.