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352 favourably in all the faculties and enjoyments of a Christian community. Their special manufactures are traps of every size and species, and locks and keys.

Bilston, it is said, takes its name from its quarries of stone, famous for sharpening bills, and for the troughs, cisterns, &c., they produced. The iron trade won one of its decisive victories here. A power stronger than Woden was here brought first into action in the development of the mineral wealth of the district. It was at the Five Hole Furnaces at Bilston that Watt first applied steam to blow the blast furnace. One travelling through the district, and seeing no water streams more rapid than the canals, must wonder how iron ore was melted before the application of this self-generating power, for such it really is, as coal underlies all the furnaces and forges of the district. The population of the town has not kept pace with the increase of other manufacturing centres, as in 1832 one-twentieth part was swept away by the cholera, and one-fourth attacked by that fearful pestilence. The town now numbers about 26,000 inhabitants. Japanned ware, including trays, caddies, &c., is a prominent manufacture.

Tipton, once called Tibbington, is another compact nucleus in the nebulæ of the Black Country parishes. I fear that the fist of one brawny