BLACKHALL ROCKS, HARTLEPOOL IN THE DISTANCE-DURHAM.

Blackhall rocks, so named from their sombre and dismal-looking recesses, are situated about five miles north from Hartlepool. This singular and romantic cluster of rocks presents one of the most interesting objects for the tourist's contemplation, to be met with in the north of England. Some of the caverns penetrate to a great extent into the rocks, and recede far beyond the light of day; others are open, and supported by natural pillars. These have been formed by the force and ceaseless action of the waves, which have also separated enormous masses from the coast, washing some away, but leaving others standing like the vast towers of a cathedral: in some places the rock is perforated so as to resemble a finely-pointed arch gateway.

DARLINGTON, FROM THE ROAD TO YARM.

Darlington is a neat and thriving market town and parish, situated eighteen miles south from Durham. This place is of great antiquity, and is said to have derived its name from the lingering stream of the old Dur or Der river. Soon after the episcopal seat was settled at Durham, the town was given with much solemnity to that see. The present church at Darlington owes its origin to Bishop Pudsey; the expense attending its erection must have been immense, the stone of which it is built having been brought a distance of twelve miles, from the quarries of Cockfield fell. Notwithstanding the opulence of this religious foundation, and the extent of the parish, a very small portion only of its revenues were reserved, at the dissolution in the reign of Edward the Sixth, for the maintenance of the minister.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Cuthbert, is in the form of a cross, with a tower and spire rising from the centre. The tower contains a peal of six musical bells; and about the year 1822, a handsome organ was erected by subscription, to assist divine service. The church has frequently undergone repair, and is kept in good order, though the effect of the interior is injured by the disposition of the pews and galleries. It forms the principal ornament of the town, and stands at the south-west angle of the market place. The Grammar School was a chantry in the church, founded and amply endowed by Robert Marshall. The possessions belonging to it remained in the hands of the crown till the time of Elizabeth, when, through the intercession of Henry, Earl of Westmorland, and Bishop Pilkington, the queen was graciously pleased to grant, by her charter, dated the 15th of June, 1567, the foundation of a grammar school, endowing the same with the various possessions formerly belonging to Marshall's chantry.

The Town's House, an elegant structure situated in the market place, was erected in 1808, for the use of the inhabitants; and here all their public meetings are held, and the

town's business is transacted. Petty sessions, over which two or more magistrates preside, are also held here on alternate market days. The Shambles, erected in the year 1815, on the west side of the market place, is a neat building, and well supplied with butchers' meat. The Dispensary for the relief of the sick poor occupies a part of the Town's House, and was established in 1809. A weekly market is held in Darlington on Monday, which is plentifully supplied with the rich agricultural produce of the neighbouring district; and on alternate Mondays there is a large show of cattle; also, at the proper season, a show of sheep and wool, the most abundant in the north of England. Nine annual fairs take place in Darlington. A considerable portion of the inhabitants of Darlington are employed in the manufacture of linen, and in spinning worsted yarn. There are in the immediate neighbourhood of the town a number of water mills, employed in the grinding of corn, fulling and spinning the linen and worsted yarn; and one is used for grinding optical glasses.

A rail-way, or tram-road, passes from Stockton, by way of Darlington, to Witton Park, three miles east of Bishop Auckland.

At the distance of about three miles from Darlington, at Oxenhall, are cavities in the earth, denominated (how shall we mention it to ears polite?) Hell-kettles; to the origin of which are attached many fabulous conjectures. Three of the largest are about thirtyeight yards in diameter, and vary in their depth from seventeen to thirty-seven feet. The chronicles of Tinemouth Priory, and Brompton, inform us, "that A.D. 1179, upon Christmas-day, at Oxenhall, in the outskirts of Darlington, in the bishopric of Durham, the earth raised itself up to a great height in the form of a lofty tower, and remained all that day till evening, (as it were fixed and immoveable,) when it sunk down with such a horrid noise, that it terrified all the vicinity; when the earth absorbed it, and there formed a deep pit." Many conjectures, as to the real origin of these pits, have been formed, but nothing satisfactory has been determined respecting them. The properties ascribed to the water of these pits are similar to those acquired by water standing in hollows whence marl has been obtained, which tastes pungent, and curdles milk and soup.

Hurworth, a pleasant village three miles south of Darlington, is the birth-place of the celebrated mathematician, William Emerson, who was born in May or June, 1701. In his early years he was instructed by his father in the rudiments of education; his fondness for books, however, was by no means conspicuous, and he himself declares, that his attachment to the common amusements of childhood did not subside till he had arrived nearly at the age of twenty years. Subsequently, by the able assistance of masters at Newcastle and York, he pursued his studies with so much success, as to rank himself amongst the greatest mathematicians of this country. Emerson might, perhaps, be indebted for his celebrity, in a great measure, to the chagrin which he felt at the contemptuous treatment he met with from Dr. Johnson, rector of Henworth, whose niece he had married. He, on one occasion of dispute, told the Doctor that he would be revenged, and prove himself the better man of the two. Mr. Emerson had the usual attendant of great