Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/172

BLACK LETTER. use, the Gothic or Black Letter was long retained for special purposes, such as the printing of Bibles, prayer-books, proclamations, and acts of Parliament. Characters similar to the Black Letter still continue to be used in Germany. but of late there has been a movement (based largely upon the damage to eyesight from reading the old character) in favor of a general adoption of the Roman letter. For specimens of all the types used in England in the Fifteenth Century, consult Duff, Early English Printing (London, 1896).

'''BLACK LILY. '''See.

BLACK LIST. A list of persons either (1) against whom the compiler would warn others, or (2) with whom he refuses to have business transactions, or (3) with whom he seeks to induce others not to have business relations. An example of the first class in England is the official list of defaulters on the Stock Exchange; in the United States, the list of those against whom unsatisfied judgments are standing, or who have given chattel mortgages on stock in trade, or whose credit is poor. These and similar lists are published by mercantile agencies and others, and are considered not only valuable to the business community, but perfectly fair and lawful. And yet printing a person's name in such a list may subject the publisher to an action for libel. In order to defend successfully such an action, the publisher must prove that the statement made in the list about the plaintiff was true, or else that it was a correct transcript of a public record, or a fair and accurate report of a judicial proceeding, or that it was made upon a privileged occasion. Such a statement is privileged when it is made in answer to questions by persons having a legitimate reason for asking them : as when A, to whom B has applied for credit, inquires about B's financial condition. An example of the second class of black lists is one kept by a railroad company of persons dismissed from its employment for incompetency, discourtesy to patrons, or other cause, in order that its agents may not rëengae them. The third class is illustrated by lists, kept by manufacturers or dealers forming an association or combination for the control of a particular line of business, of those who refuse to come into the association; or by lists kept by labor unions of non-union workmen or of those employing such workmen, with a view of terrorizing the work- men or of boycotting the employers. In some States the last-mentioned form of blacklisting constitutes a statutory crime. Consult the authorities referred to under the titles and
 * and Eddy, Law of Combinations (Chicago, 1901).

BLACKMAIL (black + mail, a small piece of money, rent, tribute, Fr. maille, OF. maaille, LLat. medalie, medal). A term which has three distinct significations in English law: (1) It was applied to rents received in work, grain, or baser money, as distinguished from rents received in silver or white money (mailles blanches). See. (2) It was applied to the tribute levied by freebooters, in the four northern counties of Northumberland. Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Durham. By 43 Eliz. ch. 13, sec. 1 (1601), it was made a felony without benefit of clergy to pay or receive this tribute, or black- mail, and similar legislation was enacted in Scot- land. The practice does not appear to have ceased until after the legislative union of Scotland and England. (3) At present it is applied both in England and the United States to the offense of attempting to extort money or property by threats of various kinds. These threats are usually to accuse a person of a crime, or to injure his person or property, or to defame him, or to impute to him some deformity or disgrace. As a rule, it is no defense that the person threatened with the accusation is guilty, nor that the attempt at extortion fails. The criminality of the offense consists in its tendency to induce a breach of the peace, and in some cases its tendency to pervert justice. By some statutes, only written threats made for the purposes of black-mail are punishable criminally. Consult the authorities referred to under.

BLACK MAN,. A name popularly used for the devil: more commonly. The Man in Black.

BLACK'MAR, (1854 — ). An American economist and educator; born at West Springfield. Pa. He was educated at the University of the Pacific (College Park, San José, Cal.), and at, Johns Hopkins, where he was an instructor in history in 1887-88, and fellow in history and politics 1888-89. From 1889 to 1899 he was professor of history and sociology at the University of Kansas, and was appointed to the chair of sociology and economics there in the latter year. In 1897 he organized the graduate school of the university, and was elected its dean. He was at one time prominent in the promotion throughout the West of the university extension movement, and has spoken and written extensively on topics of history, economics, and sociology. His publications include Spanish Colonization (1890) : Spanish Institutions in the Southwest (1891): History of Higher Education in Kansas (1900); and Charles Robinson, the Free-State Governor of Kansas (1900).

BLACK MONDAY. A name applied to any Monday marked by a memorable disaster. Two such days occurred within a short period of English history, and both, by a curious coincidence, were Easter Mondays. In 1351 there was a tremendous hailstorm", and many people perished from cold. Nine years later, when the army of Edward III. was lying before Paris, another severe storm cost the lives of a large number of men and horses. The impression of these calamities was so lasting that Shakespeare used the expression colloquially (Merchant of Venice, Act II., Scene.)).

BLACK MONKS. See.

BLACK'MORE, (c.1650-1729). One of the court physicians in the reigns of William III. and Anne. He is remembered as the most heavy and voluminous poetaster of his time. Besides numerous essays, Blackmore wrote at least six long epic poems: Prince Arthur, Eliza, 'Alfred, The Redeemer, Nature of Man, and The Creation. The last-named was pronounced by Addison to be "one of the most useful and noble productions in our English verse." It was also praised by .Johnson. But few modern readers are likely to agree with these judgments. Blackmore, who appears to have been a good and well-meaning man, was ridiculed without mercy by Pope and other wits of the time. His poems are really worthless. Consult: Johnson, "Blackmore," in Lives of the Poets (London,