points of this singular commerce, which embraces all Europe, and extends even to America. Large numbers of these clocks are sent to Spain and Portugal, from whence they go to South America. From the north of Germany, and from Havre, they are exported to the U. States. Of late, the clocks have been much improved, and the correctness of some of them, made of different woods, in order to counteract the influence of the weather, is surprising. Two passes of the Black Forest became particularly noted in the time of the French revolution-the Kniebis and the Hölle passes. The former, at the foot of the Murg, was taken in 1796 and 1797; the latter is famous for Moreau's skilful retreat through it in 1796.

BLACKFRIARS' BRIDGE; one of the six fine bridges of London, over the Thames, built between 1760 and 1768, after a design of Mr. Robert Mylne, at an expense of £152,840. There are 9 arches, the centre one being 100 feet wide. The whole length is 995 feet. Over each pier is a recess, supported by Ionic pillars. The bridge is situated at about an equal distance from those of Southwark and Waterloo. It commands a very fine view of St. Paul's cathedral, as well as of both sides of the river, including the tower, the monument, Somerset house, Westminster abbey, and about 30 churches. The constant bustle on this and the London bridge is enormous, and beyond any thing of the kind to be met with in other cities.

BLACK LEAD. (See Plumbago.) BLACK ROCK. (See Buffalo.) BLACK SEA; with the ancients, known by the name of Pontus Euxinus (q. v.); a sea which is situated between Europe and Asia, bounded on the west by Romania and Bulgaria, on the north by the Russian dominions, on the east by Mingrelia and Guriel, on the south by Natolia, being connected with the Mediterranean by the Bosphorus, and, by the Cimmerian Bosphorus, with the sea of Azoph (q. v.), which is, in fact, only a bay of the Black sea. The area of the Black sea and the sea of Azoph amounts to about 297,000 square miles. The water is not so clear as that of the Mediterranean, and, on account of the many large rivers which fall into it,-the Danube, Dniester, Dnieper, Don and Cuban,-being less salt, freezes more readily. The tempests on this sea are tremendous, as the land, which confines its agitated waters, gives to them a kind of whirling motion. In the winter, it is so boisterous, particular

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ly near the coast from the Danube to the Crimea, that it is scarcely navigable, even by the most experienced sailors. The chief current runs from the shallow sea of Azoph, from north to south, to the Thracian Bosphorus and the Hellespont. The Black sea contains no islands; there is one, however, in the Cimmerian Bosphorus. The fisheries in the sea of Azoph and the Black sea are not unimportant, various kinds of valuable fish, both large and small, being taken; among others, several species of sturgeon. Seines are used, in which 60,000 fishes are sometimes caught within six hours; but there are never many large ones among them. Caviare (q. v.) is also made on the coast, as well as fish-glue, fish-oil, and, from the spawn of the sea mullet, botargo; the latter, however, only in small quantity. The salt and smoked mackerel form an important article of the commerce of the Crimea. Raoul-Rochette has published, in Paris, 1822, a work on the remarkable Grecian antiquities on the northern shore of the Pontus, which has been corrected and completed by the Russian counsellor Peter von Köppen, Vienna, 1823. Quite recently, Mr. von Blaramberg, director of the museum established at Odessa and at Kertch, has discovered many interesting remains in this quarter. (See Crimea.)

BLACKGUARD. This name was originally given to the scullions and coal-carriers in great houses and palaces, who, in the journeys of the families to which they belonged, usually rode in the carts with the pots and kettles.

At

BLACKLOCK, Thomas, a poet, remarkable for his literary attainments under the misfortune of a deprivation of sight, was born at Annan, in the county of Dumfries, in 1721. His parents, who were natives of Cumberland, although poor were industrious and well-informed. the age of six months, he lost his sight by the small-pox; and, as he grew up, his father, with exemplary industry and affection, endeavored to lessen his calamity by reading to him such books as instructed or entertained him, when he always appeared to be particularly pleased with the works of Spenser, Milton, Prior, Pope and Addison. Such was the kindness his peculiar situation and gentle temper excited, that he was seldom without some companion, who aided in his singular course of education, until he had even acquired some knowledge of the Latin tongue. At the age of 12, he began to versify, and his performances at length became the subject of discourse in his

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neighborhood. At the age of 20, he lost his father, on which he was invited by doctor Stephenson, a physician in Edinburgh, to visit that metropolis, in order to pursue his studies at the university. He soon became a proficient in Latin, as also in French, which he chiefly acquired by conversation with a French lady, the wife of provost Alexander. He also, in he course of nearly 10 years' study at the university, made a considerable progress in the sciences. In 1754, he published a second edition of his poems, which gained him the patronage of Mr. Spence, who published an account of his life, character and productions, which brought him into general notice; and a quarto edition of his poems being soon afterwards published by subscription, a considerable sum was thereby raised for his benefit. He now devoted himself to the study of theology, and, having passed through the usual course, was licensed, in 1759, by the presbytery of Dumfries. In 1762, he married the daughter of Mr. Johnson, surgeon, of Dumfries; a connexion which proved to him a source of comfort and felicity for the remainder of his life. He was soon after appointed minister of Kirkcudbright, on the presentation of the earl of Selkirk; but, being opposed by his parishioners, after two years' contention, he resigned his living, upon a moderate annuity, and retired to Edinburgh, where he adopted the plan of receiving a few students of the university as boarders, and of assisting them in their studies when desirable. In 1766, he was created D. D.; and, having now taken a respectable station among the literati of Scotland, he maintained it by various publications, until his death, July, 1791, at the age of 70. His private character, according to the testimony of Hume and others, was singularly amiable. Letters and conversation were his solace, to which he joined the practice of music. His poetry is easy, polished and harmonious; and he composed with considerable rapidity. The number of his images from visual objects will surprise those who are not aware of the uniform strain of imitation in common-place poetry. B. wrote, besides his poems, several prose works.

BLACKMORE, Sir Richard, a physician and poet of notoriety, if not of eminence, was the son of an attorney in the county of Wilts. In 1668, he entered the university of Oxford. There he remained 13 years, and, for some time afterwards, appears to have followed the profession of a schoolmaster. At length he turned

his attention to physic. In 1697, he had risen to so much eminence in his profession, as to be appointed physician to king William, who knighted him. The preceding year, he had made himself known, as a poet, by the publication of his heroic poem of Prince Arthur, which was soon followed by King Arthur; and, in 1700, he published a paraphrase of the book of Job, in folio; as also a poem entitled a Satire on Wit, being an attempt to retort on the wits by whom he had been very successfully assailed. By the strictness of his whiggish principles, he had incurred the resentment of the tory junto, composed of Swift, Pope, Arbuthnot and others; while something solemn in the complexion of his religion and morality, added to the real absurdity of starting epic after epic in quick succession, insured the raillery of all those to whom his gravity, perseverance and mediocrity afforded so much subject for ridicule. This worthy man and middling poet became the common butt of his day, and for almost two generations, for Pope took up the quarrel which Dryden began. The work which produced him the greatest reputation was the Creation, a poem in seven books, which went through several editions, and was greatly applauded, but is, generally speaking, very tamely elaborate. In 1721, B. published a New Version of the Psalms of David, which, although recommended by authority, has never been adopted. He died, at an advanced age, in 1729, leaving behind him the character of a pious, well-meaning and respectable man, of limited genius and little taste. Besides the epics already mentioned, he wrote Eliza, in 10 books; the Redeemer, in 6 books; King Alfred, in 12 books, &c. He also composed a History of the Conspiracy against King William III, and several medical and theological treatises, especially against the Arians, all of which have quietly reached oblivion. As a physician, he was a strenuous opposer of the new system of inoculation for the small-pox.

BLACKSTONE, sir William, knight and LL. D., a celebrated English lawyer, and the most popular writer on the laws and constitution of his country, was born in London, in 1723. He was the third son of Mr. Charles Blackstone, a silk-mercer, but, being left an orphan, was brought up by his maternal uncle, Mr. Thomas Bigg, surgeon, from whose kindness he received an education, which the narrow circumstances of his father could scarcely have supplied. He was educated on the

foundation of the charter-house, whence, in 1738, he was removed to Pembroke college, Oxford. He was much distinguished, both at school and at the university, and at an early age compiled a work for his own use, entitled the Elements of Architecture, which has been much praised. Having chosen the profession of the law, he was in due time entered at the Middle Temple, and on this occasion published the admired verses, called the Lawyer's Farewell to his Muse, which appeared in Dodsley's Miscellany. In 1743, he was elected fellow of All Souls' college, Oxon., and, in 1746, was called to the bar, and commenced the practice of law. Being deficient in elocution, and not possessed of the popular talents of an advocate, his progress was slow. Having attended the courts of law at Westminster for seven years, without success, he determined to quit the practice of his profession, and retire to his fellowship at Oxford. The system of education in the English universities supplying no provision for teaching the laws and constitution of the country, B. undertook to remedy this defect, by a course of lectures on that important subject; and the manner in which he executed the task has conferred a lasting distinction on Oxford. His first course was delivered in 1753, and was repeated for a series of years with increasing effect and reputation. These lectures doubtless suggested to Mr. Viner the idea of founding, by his will, a liberal establishment in the university of Oxford for the study of the common law; and B. was, with great propriety, chosen the first Vinerian professor. His engagements at Oxford did not prevent his occasional practice as a provincial barrister, and, in 1754, being engaged as counsel in a contested election for the county of Oxford, he was led into considerations on the elective franchise, which produced his work entitled Considerations on Copyholds. In this treatise he denied the right of copyholders to vote as freeholders; which led to a declaratory act of parliament in establishment of that narrow doctrine. In 1759, he published a new edition of the Great Charter and Charter of the Forest, with a historical preface; and, during the same year, the reputation which he had obtained by his lectures induced him to resume his attendance at Westminster hall, when business and the honors of his profession soon crowded in upon him. In 1761, he was elected M. P. for Hindon, made king's counsel and solicitor-general to the queen.

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About this time, he also married, and, thereby losing his fellowship, was appointed principal of New Inn hall; which office, with the Vinerian professorship, he resigned the next year. In 1765, he also published the first volume of his Commentaries on the Laws of England; a work of greater merit than any which had yet appeared on the subject. In this celebrated production, the author does not confine himself to the humble duty of an expositor, but aspires to the higher character of a philosophical writer on jurisprudence; and, having been preceded by no authors in the same line, his manner of accomplishing his task is entitled to great praise. It must not, however, be regarded as a philosophical investigation into the grounds and merits of the English laws and constitution, so much as an elegant exposition and defence of an existing system. Whatever he found instituted, it was his purpose to support and eulogise; and consequently we are rather made acquainted with the "legal reasons" of what is established, than instructed in the general principles of national legislation. This mode of treating the subject may be, in some degree, useful, by conveying a due notion of the grounds on which government and usage have proceeded, but, of course, will do little to advance the mind of a nation, and often a great deal to nurture prejudices and impede amelioration. Notwithstanding some passages against standing armies, and in exposition of the progress of the influence of the crown, B. is uniformly the advocate of prerogative, and very confined in his notions of toleration. On the latter ground, he was involved, on the publication of his Commentaries, in a controversy with Priestley; and, some years afterwards, his political principles were assailed, with much acuteness, in a publication entitled a Fragment on Government, now known to be the work of Mr. Jeremy Bentham. In the debates which took place on the Middlesex election, in relation to the re-eligibility of an expelled member, he was led to language in parliament, against the tenor of which Mr. James Grenville, with great adroitness, quoted his own book, and he was also warmly attacked for the same inconsistency by Junius. The real merit and talents of B., backed by political tendencies, which are generally favorable to advancement, now made him an object of ministerial favor, and he was offered the post of solicitor-general, in 1770, and, de clining it, was made one of the justices of

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common pleas, which station he held until his death, in February, 1780, in his 57th year. The private character of B. was exceedingly mild, benevolent and amiable; and he was a most active and intelligent man of business, in which, indeed, he all his life delighted. He left in MS. two volumes of reports, which have been published since his death, and are deemed inadequate to his reputation.

BLACKSTONE CANAL leads from Providence, in the state of Rhode Island, to Worcester, in Massachusetts. It is 45 miles in length, and follows, in the greatest part of its course, the valley of the Blackstone or Pawtucket river, from which it is supplied with water. The fall from the summit, at Worcester, to tide-water at Providence, is 4516 feet. There are 48 locks, which are built of hammered stone, laid in water lime, each 80 feet long and 10 feet wide. The canal is 34 feet wide at the surface of the water, 18 feet at the bottom, and 4 feet deep. It was built by an incorporated company, under charters from the legislatures of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, at a cost of about $600,000. It was finished in the autumn of 1828.

Bladensburg; a post-town in Prince George's county, Maryland, on the eastern branch of the Potomac, 6 miles N. E. Washington; lon. 76° 57′ W.; lat. 38° 56′ N. It contains about 100 houses. A battle was fought here, Aug. 24, 1814, between the English and Americans, in which the latter were defeated. This success of the British led the way to the conquest and burning of Washington.

BLAIR, Hugh, a pulpit orator and author, a grandson of Robert B., who, under Charles I, boldly defended the rights of the Presbyterian church, was born at Edinburgh, in 1718, and prepared himself for the ministry in the university of that city. His teachers, struck by an essay on the Beautiful, encouraged his inclination for belles-lettres. He was made preacher of the high church of Edinburgh in 1758. The office was regarded as the highest dignity of the Presbyterian church of Scotland. About the same time, his literary reputation also commenced. In 1759, he began a course of public lectures on composition, which he delivered with so much reputation, that, in 1762, the King founded a professorship of rhetoric and belles-lettres, which was committed to his charge. We know his theory of rhetoric from his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Letters (1783, 4, 2 vols.), which have been translated into German. The

credit of Macpherson's Ossian was zealously supported by Blair, in a dissertation which gained him much reputation. His sermons were considered as models of English pulpit eloquence. Careful and scrupulous as he was in writing them, he only published the best. They are distinguished by a polished style, and a clear, easy and methodical exposition. The first volume of his sermons was not published until his 60th year (1777); the 10th edition was called for in the following year. He subsequently published another collection, which was also often reprinted. B. gave weight to his doctrines by his own example. He labored for the welfare of his church, and was always ready to give counsel and assistance. He was a kind father, an affectionate friend and husband, and, by his tranquil and contented temper, as well as by his simple and regular manner of living, enjoyed the highest degree of human happiness to a great age. He died in 1800.

BLAIR, John; an eminent chronologist and geographer, a native of Scotland, which country he quitted for London about the middle of the last century. Though he had received a good classical education at Edinburgh, he thought himself fortunate in obtaining the situation of usher in a school in Hedge lane, London. In 1754, the publication of a work in folio, entitled the Chronology and History of the World, from the Creation to A. D. 1753, gained him great reputation. In the composition of this book, he is said to have been materially assisted by his relation, doctor Hugh Blair. In it, he illustrates his subject by 56 tables, 4 of which are introductory, containing the centuries which precede the first Olympiad. He dedicated his work to the lord chancellor Hardwicke, and, in 1757, was appointed chaplain to the princess dowager of Wales, and mathematical tutor to the duke of York, whom he accompanied, in 1763, on a tour to the continent, having already received several ecclesiastical preferments. On his return to England, he published, in 1768, a new edition of his Chronological Tables, with 14 maps of ancient and modern geography annexed. He died June 24, 1782, of an attack of influenza. After his death were published his Course of Lectures on the Canon of the Old Testament, and a duodecimo volume, entitled the History of Geography.

BLAIR, Robert; a Scottish clergyman and poet, born at Edinburgh, in 1699. He is the author of the Grave, first

printed at London, in 1743. He died in 1746.

BLAKE, Robert, a celebrated British admiral, was the eldest son of a merchant in the Spanish trade, settled at Bridgewater, where B. was born, in 1599. After attending the grammar-school of his native place, he was sent to Wadham college, Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A. in 1617. On his return to Bridgewater, he lived for some time, in a private manner, on the fortune left him by his father, and was led by the gravity of his own disposition, and by his family connexions, to embrace the principles of the Puritans, by whose interest he was elected member for Bridgewater, in the parliament of 1640. This being soon dissolved, he lost his election for the next, and immediately sought to advance the cause, in a military capacity, in the war which then broke out between the king and parliament. He soon distinguished himself by his activity. In 1649, in the manner of those times, when military men often served on shipboard, he was sent to command the fleet, in conjunction with colonels Deane and Popham, and thus commenced the naval career which has given him so distinguished a place in British history. He immediately sailed to Kinsale in quest of prince Rupert, whom he attempted to block up in that port. The prince, contriving to get his fleet out, escaped to Lisbon, where B. followed him; and, being refused permission to attack him in the Tagus, by the king of Portugal, he took several rich prizes from the Portuguese (against whom the parliament declared war), and followed Rupert to Malaga, where, without asking permission of Spain, he attacked him, and nearly destroyed the whole of his fleet. On his return to England, he was made warden of the Cinque Ports, and soon after reduced the islands of Scilly and Guernsey. In 1659, on the prospect of a Dutch war, he was made sole admiral, and, on the 19th of May, was attacked in the Downs by van Tromp, with a fleet of 45 sail, the force of B. amounting only to 23. He, however, fought so bravely, that van Tromp was obliged to retreat. He then continued his cruise, took a number of Dutch merchantmen, and, after several partial actions, drove the enemy into their harbor, and returned to the Downs. May 29, he was again attacked by van Tromp, whose fleet was now increased to 80 sail. B., who could not bear the thought of a retreat, engaged this vast force with a very inferior number, and an unfavorable

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wind; but, after every possible exertion, was obliged to retreat into the Thames, on which van Tromp was so much elated, that he sailed through the channel with a broom at his mast head, to signify that he had swept the sea of British ships. In the February following, B., having with great diligence repaired his fleet, put to sea with 60 sail, and soon after met the Dutch admiral, who had 70 sail, and 300 merchantmen under convoy. During three days, a furious running fight up the channel was maintained with obstinate valor on both sides; the result of which was, the loss of 11 men-of-war and 30 merchant-ships by the Dutch, while that of the English was only one man-of-war. It was in April, this year, that Cromwell assumed the sovereignty, on which occasion, B. and his brother admirals issued a declaration, that, notwithstanding this change, they resolved to persist in faithfully performing their duty to the nation. "It is not for us (said B. to his officers) to mind state affairs, but to keep the foreigners from fooling us." June 3, he again engaged van Tromp with dubious success; but, renewing the action the. next day, he forced the Dutch to retire, with a considerable loss in ships and men, into their own harbors. On his return, he was received by Cromwell with great respect, and returned member in the new parliament for Bridgewater. Aware of his affection for a republican government, the protector was not displeased at having occasion to send him, with a strong fleet, to enforce a due respect to the English flag in the Mediterranean. He sailed first to Algiers, which submitted, and then demolished the castles of Goletta and Porto Ferino, at Tunis, because the dey refused to deliver up the English captives. A squadron of his ships also blocked up Cadiz, and intercepted a Spanish plate fleet. Being now very sick, he resolved to do one more service to his country before his death, and sailed, with 24 ships, to Santa Cruz, in Teneriffe; and, notwithstanding the strength of the place, burnt the ships of another Spanish plate fleet, which had taken shelter there, and, by a fortunate change of wind, came out without loss. His brother having failed in some part of duty during this service, he immediately removed him from his command. Finding his disorder making rapid progress, he then sailed for England, and, amidst his frequent inquiries for the sight of the English coast, expired while the fleet was entering Plymouth sound, August 27, 1657. His body was