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Cotmeil from the Committee appointed in relation to 

 Blackfrian Bridge, pretexted 25/A April, 1833 ; Plant, 

 Elfrationi, and Section* of the Machinei and Centering 

 uted in erecting Blackjriart Bridge, drawn and engravrd 

 by R. Baldwin, Clerk of the /for*, 7 large folio plates, 

 London, 1766.) Two fine folio prints, showing the cen- 

 tering of the arches, executed under the superintendence of 

 Mr. Mylne, were published in 1 764 and 1 766, one engraved 

 by Hooker, the other by Piranesi. There is also an eleva- 

 tion of the bridge, published by Taylor, London. The ori- 

 ginal drawings for the bridge, and papers connected with iu 

 history, are in the possession of a private gentleman. 



BLACKHEATH, the name of a hundred in the lath 

 of Sutton-at-Hone, county of Kent. This hundred is called 

 in Domesday Book the hundred of Grenviz, or Greenwich, 

 but it did not long retain this denomination, for we find it 

 called by its present name in the 7th of Edward I., the 

 king being then lord of it. The hundred contains the fol- 

 lowing parishes : so much of Deptford as lies in Kent ; 

 Greenwich ; Charlton ; Woolwich ; Eltham ; Lee ; Lewis- 

 ham; and part of Chislehurst. The fine elevated heath 

 which gives name to the hundred adjoins to the south of 

 Greenwich, in which parish it chiefly lies, although it also 

 extends into those of Lewisham, Lee, and Charlton ; being 

 about one mile and a half in length from east to west, by 

 three-fourths of a mile in breadth from north to south. The 

 direct distance of its nearest part from St. Paul's, London, 

 is five miles S. E. There are several fine prospects from 

 different parts of this plain, which, together with its elevated 

 situation, has occasioned a great number of elegant villas 

 to be erected upon it. Its name of Blackheath is derived, 

 as some consider, from the appearance of the soil, or, as 

 others think, from its bleak situation. The last conjecture 

 of course assumes that black is a corruption of bleak. On 

 this heath is dug a kind of gravel, which is much in re- 

 quest for making garden-walks. The Roman road from 

 London to Dover is supposed to have crossed Blackheath 

 nearly in the same direction with the present road. Dr. 

 Plot says that its course appeared very plainly in his time ; 

 but the surface of the heath has been so much altered of.' 

 late years that little or no trace of such a road can now be 

 discovered. Many Roman antiquities have however been 

 found on the edge of the heath, particularly in that part 

 nearest to Greenwich ; and some tumuli or barrows of large 

 dimensions still exist. 



In the early part of the eleventh century the Danes 

 (whose fleet lay off Greenwich) appear to have remained 

 encamped for some time at Blackheath, whence they made 

 excursions into the interior of Kent, committing dreadful 

 ravages wherever they went. In one of these excursions 

 they spoiled the city of Canterbury, and carried away the 

 archbishop (Alphege), whom they detained for several 

 months in their camp, and in the end slew, on his refusing 

 to pay a large sum of money as a ransom. In 1831 Wat 

 Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball, remained for some time 

 encamped on the heath with their numerous adherents. 

 Jack Cade occupied the same position twice in 1450 ; and 

 in February the following year, the king was met on the 

 same spot by a large body of Cade's followers in their shirts, 

 who craved his pardon on their knees. The same king 

 (Henry VI.) in 14S2 encamped upon Blackheath while. 

 preparing to withstand the forces of the duke of York 

 (afterwards Edward IV.). In 149T the Cornish rebels, 

 headed by Lord Audley, pitched their tents on Blackheath, 

 where Henry VII. gave them battle, defeating them with 

 great slaughter, and taking prisoners their chiefs, who were 

 afterwards executed. 



Besides these melancholy occurrences many costly pa- 

 ints and joyous meetings have boon held upon Black- 

 ith, in consequence of its being customary for the lord 

 nayor and corporation of London, and sometimes even for 

 the king and court, to proceed so far in order to give the 

 meeting to illustrious foreigners from the continent, or to 

 other great or popular personages who had been absent. 

 ThusIIi iiry IV., about the end of 1400,meton Blackheath, 

 in great state, the emperor of Constantinople, Michael 

 PtUBologus, who came to solicit his assistance against tho 

 Turkish sultan, Baja/et. II ,ii,.T proceeded the lord mavor 

 and aldermen of Ivwdun, with MO citizens attired in scarlet, 

 with red and while bonds, on Nov. nth, 1415, to meet thrir 

 victorious monarch on his return from France after tin- 

 battle of Agincourt, and from hence conducted him to the 

 metropolis with loud acclamations. Tho next year the 



geanu 

 heath. 



same parties proceeded ngtun lo Blackheath to meet tho 

 emperor Sigiamnnd, who came to mediate a peace between 

 France and England, and was escorted by the citizens to 

 Lambeth, where he was net by the king. In 1474 the 

 municipal authorities clothed in scarlet, and 500 citizens in 

 murrey gowns, met Edward IV. on Blackheath on his re- 

 turn from France. In the reign of Henry VIII. (1577) a 

 solemn embassy from France, consulting of the admiral of 

 France, the bishop of Paris, and others, with 1200 persons 

 in their train, were met hero by tho lord admiral of I 

 land, with a brilliant retinue of above 600 persons. In ih, 

 same year Cardinal Campejus arrived in England as 1. 

 from the pope, and was received with preat pomp and 

 mony by the duke of Norfolk and a great number of pre- 

 lates, knights, and gentlemen, who conducted him to a 

 magnificent tent of cloth of gold, where he put on his cardi- 

 nal's dress, edged with ermine, and rode on in much 

 to London. This procession was however greatly m\w 

 in splendour by that which, in January. 1540-1, attended 

 the meeting between Henry VIII. and Anne of (.". 

 which took place on the heath, where a magnificent tent 

 had been pitched for her reception. The king, who was at 

 Greenwich, proceeded through the park to meet her, and 

 afterwards conducted her to Greenwich, where they were 

 married. Besides the immediate retinues of the king and 

 princess, and nearly all the female nobility and other ladies, 

 there were present 1200 citizens and others clad in velvet, 

 with chains of gold. 



There are two episcopal chapels in Blackheath, one in the 

 parish of Lewisbam, and the other in the <-xtr;iparochial dis- 

 trict of Kidbrook. Adjoining to the heath on the t 

 Morden College, founded by Sir John Morden, aiTurkcy 

 merchant, for the support of decayed merchants, for whose 

 benefit, among all the benevolent establishments of London, 

 no provision had previously been made. Sir John creeled 

 the college in his own lifetime. It is a spacious brick struc- 

 ture, with two small wings, having corners and corniees () f 

 stone. The buildings form an inner quadrangle, surrounded 

 by a piazza : and there K a chapel adjoining, together with 

 a cemetery, for the members of the college. Over the front 

 are the statues of Sir John Morden and his lady, and the 

 hall contains their portraits, and that of Queen Anne. Sir 

 John died in 1708; but the foundation did not enjoy tho 

 full benefit of his bequest until the death of his lady in 

 1721. The property which produced about 1200/. per annum 

 several years since, now produces about 5000/. The govern- 

 ment of the institution is vested in seven trustees, proprie- 

 tors of India Stock, who nominate the pensioners, and ap- 

 point the treasurer and chaplain. The salary of both otli. ,-rs 

 is 50/. per annum, besides tho foundress' endowment lor 

 the chaplain, which at present yields him nearly 700/. a 

 year; and they have both apartments in the college, where 

 they as well as the pensioners must reside, except in case of 

 sickness; but no other persons may reside or lodge on the 

 premises. The pensioners, -who are about forty in number. 

 must be upwards of fifty years old. Each of them receives 

 5/. per month, and has a convenient apartment ; but they nil 

 take their meals together at a common table. Their ex- 

 penses in medicine, coals, candles, washing, and attend- 

 ance, are defrayed from the funds of the college. The 

 original endowment has been somewhat enlarged by addi- 

 tional benefactions. 



Blackheath has two proprietary schools for boys, and 

 there are several small schools supported by the resident 

 gentry. (Hasted's //wrory of Kent ; Ly sons' s Kic </ 

 London, &c.) 



BLACK JACK, a name by which zinc-blende is com- 

 monly known to the English miners. 



BLACK LEAD. [Sec. PLUMBAGO.] 



BLACKLOCK, THE REV. THOMAS, D.D., a divino 

 of the Established Church of Scotland, and a wrii. 

 poetry, was born at Annan, in 1721. Before he w. 

 months old he lost his sight, and it was partly to this mis- 

 fortune that he owed his future distinction. Being pre- 

 cluded from the usual enjoyments of youth, hcinibibt.il a 

 stronger love of learning, which his father, who was a 

 tradesman of an intelligent mind, took pains to gratify by 

 reading to his son the works of the best authors. His 

 fit her did not possess the means of giving his son a liberal 

 in, but notwithstanding this disadvantage his intel- 

 : progress was \ery rapid, and tho mental concentra- 

 tion which his loss of sight occasioned became habitual 

 to him. At an early age he acquired some knowledge of 



