310 



BLACKHEATII-BLACKWOOD. 



of an act of parliament. There is a good supply 

 of water. A theatre was erected here in 1818, 

 and there are assembly-rooms, and a subscription 

 library. The manufacture of cotton is the princi- 

 pal business of the place. James Hurgrnve, who 

 made some important improvements on the spin- 

 ning machinery, was a carpenter of Blackburn. 

 The trade is facilitated by the Leeds and Liver- 

 pool canal, which passes near the town, affording 

 communication with an extensive line of inland 

 navigation, and with the river- Mersey, Dee, Ouse, 

 Trent, Humber, Severn, and Thames. Popula- 

 tion of the town in 1841, SO.il 1 .".!. 



The parish of Blackburn is fourteen miles long 

 by ten broad. It contains 71,711 inhabitants, and 

 comprises twenty-three townships, viz., the mar- 

 ket-town of Blackburn, and the townships of Bal- 

 derston, Billington, Great Harwood, Over Darwen, 

 Salisbury, Samlesbury, Tock-holes, Walton-le-dale, 

 Clayton-le-dale, Cuerdale, Lower Darwen, Dinkley, 

 Eccleshill, Little Harwood, Livesley, Mellor, Os- 

 Imldeston, Pleasington, Ramsgrave, Rishton, Wilp- 

 shire, and Witton. Under the reform act, Black- 

 burn returns two members to parliament. The num- 

 ber of electors is between six and seven hundred. 



BLACK HEATH; an elevated heath in the vi- 

 cinity of London, in the county of Kent, from va- 

 rious parts of which there are fine views of Green- 

 wich hospital, Greenwich park, the river Thames, 

 and London in the distance. On this heath and 

 its vicinity there are many handsome villas, and 

 residences of the nobility and gentry. Among 

 these are the villas of the princess Sophia, Lord 

 Lyttleton, the duke of Buccleugh, the earl of 

 Dartmouth, &c. The finest building on the heath 

 was the splendid mansion of Sir Gregory Page, 

 which was sold by auction to various purchasers, 

 and rased to the ground. Its site is now occupied 

 by a number of cottages. Here are two episcopal 

 chapels, the one in the parish of Lewisham, and 

 the other in an extra-parochial place called Kid- 

 brook. There are several schools here. From its 

 vicinity to London, Blackheath has been the scene 

 of some memorable transactions. In the reign of 

 Richard II., the insurgents under Wat Tyler as- 

 sembled here, as did Jack Cade and his followers in 

 1451. Foreign ambassadors have been met here 

 in great pomp, and the corporation of London re- 

 ceived Henry V. at this place on his return from 

 the battle of Agincourt. The Cornish rebels under 

 Lord Audley were met here, and vanquished by 

 Henry VII., in 1497. In the immediate vicinity 

 of the heath, towards Deptford, a cavern consist- 

 ing of several chambers has been discovered. Its 

 use has not been ascertained, but it is supposed to 

 have been intended as a retreat during the struggles 

 of the Danes and Saxons. 



BLACKWOOD, WILLIAM, an eminent book- 

 seller in Edinburgh, the projector, and for many 

 years the conductor, of the popular magazine which 

 bears his name, was born in Edinburgh, on the 20th 

 of November, 1776. Although his parents were 

 in a much humbler station of life than that which 

 he himself ultimately occupied, he received an ex- 

 cellent early education ; and it was his boyish de- 

 votion to literature which determined the choice of 

 his calling. In 1790, when he was fourteen years 

 of age, he entered on his apprenticeship with the 

 well-known house of Bell and Bradfute ; and, before 

 quitting their roof, largely stored his mind with 

 reading of all sorts, but especially Scottish history 

 nd antiquities. When he had been six years with 



-. Bell and Bradfute, he went to Glasgow to 

 be manager for Mr Mundell, then in extensive 

 business as a bookseller and university printer. Mr 

 Blackwood had the sole superintendence of the 

 bookselling department ; and he always spoke of 

 the time he spent in Glasgow as having been of the 

 greatest service to him in after-life. Being thrown 

 entirely on his own resources, he then formed those. 

 habits of decision and promptitude for which he was 

 subsequently so remarkable. He also corresponded 

 regularly with Mr Mundell and his friends :it home. 

 a usage from which he derived great benefit in 

 the formation of that style of letter-writing, 

 which, in the opinion of many competent judges, 

 has seldom been surpassed. Mr Mundell. however, 

 gave up business in Glasgow; and, at the expira- 

 tion of a year, Mr Blackwood returned to Messrs. 

 Bell and Bradfute. In 1799, he entered into part- 

 nership with a Mr Ross, which connection WHS, 

 however, dissolved in a few years. He then went 

 to London ; and, in the shop of Mr Cuthell, per- 

 fected himself in the knowledge of old books. 



In 1804, Mr. Blackwood returned to Edinburgh, 

 and commenced business on his own account, on 

 the South Bridge, as a dealer in old books, in the 

 knowledge of which he had by that time few equals. 

 He soon after became agent for Murray, Baldwin, 

 and Cadell, and also published on his own account ; 

 among other works " Grahame's Sabbath," " Kerr's 

 Voyages," the " Edinburgh Encyclopedia," &c. In 

 1812 appeared his famous catalogue, consisting of 

 upwards of fifteen thousand books in various lan- 

 guages, all classified. For many years Mr Black- 

 wood confined his attention principally to the clas- 

 sical and antiquarian branches of his trade, and was 

 regarded as one of the best-informed booksellers of 

 that class in the kingdom ; but on removing to the 

 New Town of Edinburgh, in 1816, he disposed of 

 his stock, and thenceforth applied himself, with 

 characteristic ardour, to general literature, and the 

 business of a popular publisher. 



In April 1817, he put forth the first number of 

 " Blackwood's Magazine," the most important fea- 

 ture of his professional career. He had long before 

 contemplated the possibility of once more raising 

 magazine literature to a rank not altogether un- 

 worthy of the great names which had been enlisted 

 in its service in a preceding age : it was no sudden 

 or fortuitous suggestion which prompted him to take 

 up the enterprise in which he was afterwards so 

 pre-eminently successful as to command many hon- 

 ourable imitators. From an early period of its 

 progress, his magazine engrossed a very large share 

 of his time; and though he scarcely ever wrote for 

 its pages himself, the general management and ar- 

 rangement of it, with the very extensive literary 

 correspondence which that involved, and the con- 

 stant superintendence of the press, would have been 

 more than enough to occupy entirely any man but 

 one of first-rate energies. No man ever conducted 

 business of all sorts in a more direct and manly 

 manner. His opinion was on all occasions distinctly 

 expressed ; his questions were ever explicit ; his 

 answers conclusive. His sincerity might sometimes 

 be considered rough : but no human being ever ac- 

 cused him either of flattering or of shuffling ; and 

 those men of letters who were in frequent com- 

 munication with him soon conceived a respect for 

 and confidence in him, which, save in a very few 

 instances, ripened into cordial regard and friendship. 

 The masculine steadiness and imperturbable resolu- 

 tion of his character were impressed on all his pro- 



