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Page 224 : BLACKWELL — BLAIR

of lectures at Oxford on the law of England, was made professor of English law there Later he was made a king’s counsel, entered parliament, was appointed solicitor-general to the queen, was knighted, and finally appointed a justice of the court of common pleas. He published in four volumes his Oxford lectures, which form his celebrated Commentaries on the Law of England. He died in 1780.

Black′well, Elizabeth, the first woman who received a medical diploma in the United States, was born in England in 1821, and with her family emigrated in 1832 to the United States. She taught for some years at Cincinnati, helping to support a large family of brothers and sisters. After much difficulty she was admitted to the Medical School at Geneva, N. Y., from which she graduated with honors in 1849. She next visited Europe in furtherance of her studies, and was admitted into hospitals in Paris and in London. In 1851 she returned to the United States and began a successful practice in New York, where she has mostly resided. In 1859, with her sister, she opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. In 1869 she delivered a course of medical lectures in England. She has written several popular books on the laws of health, especially for girls, besides a volume entitled Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women (1905.) On all questions of social reform and the status of woman she has always taken an active part.

Black′well’s Island is in the East River and is part of New York city. It has an area of 120 acres. It is the seat of many of the penal institutions of the city. It has a lunatic asylum, an asylum for the blind, a workhouse, almshouse, penitentiary and several hospitals. On its north end is a stone lighthouse, with a fixed red light, which is fifty-four feet above the sea.

Blaine (blān), James Gillespie, an American statesman, was born at West Brownsville, Pa., Jan. 31, 1830. He graduated at Washington College in 1847, and then taught for two years in the Western Military Institution, Georgetown, Ky. After studying law and being admitted to the bar, he removed to Augusta, Me., where he took charge of the Kennebec Journal. When the Republican party was formed, he became prominent as a public speaker; was chairman of the state committee of that party; and served four years in the state legislature, being speaker of the house for two years. He edited the Portland Advertiser, and in 1862 entered Congress, where he soon showed himself an able and ready debater, and, on the death of Thaddeus Stevens, became leader of his party in the house. Prom 1869 to 1875 he was speaker, and in the latter year was chosen senator from Maine. During the short administration of President Garfield, Blaine was secretary of state, and, on the death of his chief, he retired to his home in Augusta, having first delivered an eulogy on Garfield before the two houses of Congress, He now began to prepare his Twenty Years of Congress, a review of American political history during 1861–81, and had issued the first volume when he was nominated for the presidency in 1884, but was defeated by Mr. Cleveland. The next few years were spent in literary work and in visiting Europe, and when Mr. Harrison became president, in March, 1889, Blaine again became secretary of state. Here he carried out the scheme of a Pan-American congress, which he had begun in his former short term, and was chosen chairman of the meeting. The policy of reciprocity with other American states, at his suggestion, became a feature of the McKinley tariff law. In June, 1892, Blaine resigned from the cabinet. He died at Washington, D. C., Jan. 28, 1893.

Blair, Hon. Andrew George, born in Frederickton, New Brunswick, in 1844. Called to the Bar in 1866. Entered New Brunswick Legislature in 1878. Leader of the Opposition in 1879. Remained in the Legislature until 1896. In 1883 defeated the Hannington Government and formed a new Government. His Government was sustained at four general elections. Member of the Inter-Provincial Conference held at Quebec, 1887. Elected to the House of Commons and joined the Laurier Administration in 1896 as Minister of Railways and Canals. Secured the extension of the Intercolonial Railway from Levis to Montreal in 1898. While he was Minister the St. Lawrence canals were deepened to 14 feet from the Great Lakes to the sea.

Blair, Francis Preston, journalist and politician, and founder and editor for a time of the Washington Globe, was born in Virginia in 1791, and died in Maryland, Oct. 18, 1876. He took an active part in politics before and after the War of the Rebellion, and on both the Democratic and the Republican side. In 1856 he was instrumental in organizing the republican party and in 1860 was one of the leaders who nominated Lincoln for the presidency. During the war he sought to bring about peace in the South. After Lincoln’s death he was, however, opposed to the Republican reconstruction policy, and returned to the Democratic camp.

Image: JAMES G. BLAINE

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