BLAKE-BLANC.

equal force, he at once attacked him, and after a three days' running-fight, the Dutchman was fain to seek shelter in the shallow waters of Calais-where the greater draught of the English ships did not admit of their following-with a loss of 11 men-ofwar, and 30 of a fleet of merchantmen he had in convoy. The English lost only one ship. On the 3d and 4th of June, B. and his coadjutors, Deane and Monk, won another victory over Van Tromp but ill-health prevented B. from taking part in the engagement of the 29th July, which finally shattered the naval supremacy of Holland. In 1654, B. was appointed by Cromwell to command an English fleet in the Mediterranean, where he soon made the British flag respected by Dutch, Spanish, and French alike. The Dey of Tunis refused to do it reverence. B. attacked his capital, burned the Turkish fleet of nine ships which lay before it, accomplished a landing, and with a body of about 1000 men, annihilated an army of 3000 Turks. He next sailed to Algiers and Tripoli, landed, and set free all the English who

were detained as slaves.

He concluded alliances

With a

the town it contracts, and breaks into cascades with
sufficient fall to turn the machinery of several manu-
factories. B. is a thriving place, with cloth and
linen yarn mills, potteries, tanneries, vinegar-works,
forges, &c. It is very ancient, having been fre-
quented by the Romans. Pop. (1876) 4724.
BLANC, MONT. See MONT BLANC.

28th October 1813.

French Socialist and historian, was born at Madrid, BLANC, JEAN JOSEPH Louis, a celebrated college at Rhodez; in 1830, he went to Paris, and In 1820, he was placed in the became a clerk in an attorney's office for a short time; but in 1832 he was intrusted with the edu Cation of the son of M. Hallette, mechanist of Arras. Here he resided for two years, contributing largely, on literary and political subjects, to the Progrès du Pas-de-Calais. He afterwards went to Paris, where in 1838 he founded the Revue du Progrès Politique, he contributed to various political papers, and where Social et Littéraire, in which he laid down in a more quiet and leisurely way his Socialistic theory. highly favourable to England with Venice and In this he brought out his chief work on SocialTuscany. In 1657, he defeated the Spaniards at is, the Organisation du Travail, which, in 1840, Santa Cruz. This was perhaps one of the most for its author a wide, enthusiastic popularity among appeared in a separate form. The book obtained daring actions in B.'s memorable career. wind blowing right into the bay-which was very brilliancy of the writing, the symmetrical simplicity the French ouvriers, who were captivated by the strongly defended-B. dashed in, attacked and destroyed the Spanish galleons and shipping in the of the scheme, and the freshness of the views advo harbour, and, the wind fortunately changing; dualism-i. e., individual and competitive efforts in sailed out again with a loss of only one ship and labour-and advocates the absorption of the indi200 men. The Spanish loss in men and property vidual in a vast solidarity,' where each would was immense, and the terror the action inspired receive according to his needs, and contribute insured increased respect to the English flag. His B. next published (in health now failed; he returned to England, and according to his abilities.' died, as his ship entered the harbour of Plymouth, Française: Histoire de Dix Ans, 1830-1840, which 1841-1844) a historical work, entitled Révolution in the year 1657. Cromwell honoured his memory by a solemn funeral procession, and caused him to produced a deadly effect on the Orleans dynasty. be interred in Westminster Abbey. His skill and Louis Philippe afterwards declared that it acted courage were equailed only by his disinterested like a battering-ram against the bulwarks of loyalty patriotism, sterling honesty, and love of justice; he not only gained a decided superiority over England's mightiest naval opponent, but, by the bold tactics he introduced, infused that intrepidity and spirit of enterprise by which the British navy has ever since been distinguished.

B.

BLAKE, WILLIAM, a celebrated engraver and poet, was born in London, 1757. In 1789, he published Songs of Innocence and of Experience, shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul, with about 60 etchings, remarkable for their peculiar and original manner. The poems were equally singular, but many of them exhibited true pathos. Some marginal designs for Young's Night Thoughts, executed by B., were greatly admired by Flaxman. lived in the full belief that he held converse with the spirits of the departed great-among others, with those of Moses, Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Milton. He published numerous etchings, chiefly of religious and cognate subjects, among the best of which are his Illustrations of the Book of Job, and the illustrations of Blair's Grave. He died (August 12, 1828) in poverty and obscurity, with the conviction that he was a martyr to poetic art. Charles Lamb regarded him as one of the most extraordinary persons of the age;' and Mrs. Jameson, in her Sacred and Legendary Art, speaks of his conception of angels in the highest terms of praise. See Life of B., by Alex. Gilchrist (1863); William B., by Swinburne (1868); Portical Works, edited by W. M Rossetti (1874).

BLANC, LE, a town of France, in the department of the Indre, with a beautiful situation on the Creuse, which divides the town into two parts, about 32 miles west-south-west of Châteauroux. Above B., the river expands so as to form a lake, but at

|

cated. The book denounces the doctrine of indivi

in France. It owed its success partly to the exposure it gave of the scandalous jobbery and immorality of the crown and its advisers, partly to that passsionate ardour which changed the tranquillity of history into the vehemence of a pamphlet, and partly to its academic pomp of style. This was followed by the first volume of a Histoire de la Révolution Française, in which the author's aim is not only to describe, from his own point of view, the incidents of the first revolution, but the social history of the 18th c. On the breaking out of the February revolution of 1848, B. seemed likely to play an important part. His connection with the party of the Réforme journal, and his popularity with the working-classes, led to his being appointed a member of the Provisional Government. He was placed by Government at the head of the great commission for discussing the problem of labour. At the same time Marie, Minister of Public Works, began but without B.'s co-operation-to establish the so-called national workshops, which were to bring about the realisation of the Socialistic principle, but which only proved the hazardous and imprac ticable character of B.'s doctrines. The national workshops led to the arrest of the 15th May 1848, when B. nominally, if not actually, again played a prominent part. A proposal was made to Prosecute him, but it was negatived by the National accused, and prosecuted for conspiracy, but contrived Assembly. After the June insurrection, he was again to escape to London, where he spent many years. During his exile, he devoted himself to political and historical literature. In 1849 appeared his Appel aux Honnetes Gens, and Catéchisme des Socialistes; in 1850, Pages d'Histoire de la Révolution de Février; and in 1851, Plus de Girondins; la République Uno

BLANCH-BLANDRATA.

quarter of a pound of sugar, a quarter of an ounce of cinnamon, a little grated nutmeg, half of the peel of a lemon, and a bay-leaf, prepared as above. B. is also made of calf's-foot jelly and eggs, of arrow-root and milk, &c.; and the flavour is modified to taste.

et Indivisible; in 1857 Historical Revelations, and in 1866 Letters from England. His History of the French Revolution is characterized by extensive and original research, which has frequently enabled the author to reverse the common verdicts on historical personages, and to explode many of the BLANCO, CAPE, a remarkable headland on the extravagant stories of the stormy period of which it west coast of Africa, in lat. 20° 47' N., and long, 16° treats. In style, it is eloquent, bold, and dignified; 58' W., the extremity of a rocky ridge (called Jebeland if its sentiments do not always commend them- el-Bied, or White Mountain) which projects from the selves to the sober judgment of English readers, Sahara in a westerly direction, and then bending there can be but one opinion in regard to its candour, southward, forms a commodious harbour called the impartiality, and power. It consists of 12 vols., Great Bay. The bay and town of Arguin, which is was commenced in 1847 and completed in supposed to have been the limit of ancient navigation On the fall of the empire in 1870, B. re- in this direction, lie some miles to the southward. turned to France, and in 1871 was elected to the Southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande the National Assembly. He died December 6, 1882.

8vo. ; 1862.

BLANCH or BLENCH HOLDING is one of the ancient feudal tenures in the law of Scotland relating to land, the duty payable to the superior or lord being in general a trifling sum, as a penny Scots, or merely illusory, as a peppercorn, if asked only, although it may happen that the duty is of greater value. Anciently, inany estates in Scotland were held, both of the crown and other superiors, by this tenure; but it is now seldom adopted in the constitution of an original right of property. See CHARTER and TENURE.

BLANCHE-LYON, the title of one of the English pursuivants-at-arms. See PURSUIVANT.

shores are of a low sandy character, with a current tending south-west, and prevalent north-east trade-wind; northward from Cape B. to Cape Geer, the coast is rocky, with a moderate elevation. On account of the deficiency of good harbours, the prevalence of west winds, and other causes, the casualties to shipping are very numerous. The constancy of west wind on a coast almost wholly within the sphere of the trade-winds, is very remarkable, and is accounted for by the rarefaction of the air by the heat of the sands of the Sahara. The natives of the Canary Islands carry on a pretty lucrative fishery in the bay in boats of from 100 to 150 tons burden. Cape B., which is composed of mixed calcareous and silicious sandstone, was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1441.-Cape B. is also the name of several less important headlands in Spain, Greece, America, and the Philippines.

-a

It

BLANCHING is a process resorted to by gardeners, to prevent certain secretions which in ordinary circumstances take place in the leaves of plants, and to render them more pleasant and wholesome for food. The action of light is indispensable BLAND, a beverage which is or formerly was to the decomposition of carbonic acid by the leaves common drink among the inhabitants of the of plants, and, consequently, to the elaboration of Shetland Islands during the summer months. many of the substances from which they derive their is prepared from the whey or serum of churned Dr. peculiar qualities: the exclusion of light, therefore, milk, and is said to be an agreeable beverage. renders them white, or nearly so, and deprives them Edmondston, in his View of the Zetland Islands, of much of their natural coarseness and bitterness- describes B. as being, when twelve months old, as in the familiar examples of lettuce, celery, sea-perfectly good and transparent; its flavour then bearkale, &c. B. is accomplished in various ways, as by ing a strong resemblance to lemon-juice. drawing up earth to the plants, when the lower part of the leaf or leaf-stalk alone is to be blanched; tying the whole leaves together, by which the inner ones are blanched in a somewhat imperfect way, as is commonly done with lettuce; covering Blanching-pot. with boxes, pots, or the like, as the practice with sea-kale; causing the leaves to grow up through litter, &c. The figure represents a very convenient B.-pot, of French invention; it is made of earthenware, and perforated with many holes. B., although so simple and easy, is of great importance in the art of gardening, and the usefulness of many plants very much depends upon it. In cabbage, and some other cultivated plants whose leaves form themselves into compact heads, there is a natural B. or etiolation.

BLANC-MA'NGE, so called from its white appearance, is a jelly made of isinglass and milk. The following is the ordinary receipt for making it. Take a quart of sweet milk or cream, and put in it two ounces of the best icinglass, with the rind of a lemon, a blade of mace, and white sugar to taste. Put the whole in a saucepan, and let it boil a quarter of an hour; then mix with 6 bitter almonds and 24 sweet ones, beaten into a paste with a little water; strain through a piece of muslin; and having let the composition settle a little, pour into a mould, and turn it out when cold. Soyer gives one ounce of isinglass to a quart of milk, a

BLANDFORD-FO'RUM, or MARKET BLANDFORD, a town in Dorsetshire, on the right bank of the Stour, 16 miles north-east of Dorchester. It lies on a fine tract of pasture-land, famed for its multitude of cows. It suffered much in 1579, 1677, 1713, and 1731, from fire. It is built of brick, and is neat and regular. It was formerly famed for its manufactures of bandstrings and lace, the point-lace bringing £30 a yard. Shirt-buttons are made here. Pop. (1871) 4011.

BLANDRATA, GIORGIO, the founder of Unitarianism in Poland and Transylvania, was a native of Saluzzo, in Italy. He had established himself as a physician at Pavia, when he was compelled, on account of his heretical opinions, to fly to Geneva in 1556, where at first, and to avoid further molestation, he feigned to agree with Calvin. In 1558, he went to Poland, hoping to find there greater freedom of thought and speech; and in 1563 he betook himself to the court of John Sigismund, Prince of Transylvania, whose favorite physician he became. Here he exerted himself prudently but assiduously to spread his doctrines, and suc ceeded in forming a considerable party. In his old age, however, the heat of his proselytising zeal died out; and it is asserted that, to preserve his worldly interests, he even forsook the cause of the Unitarians, and favoured that of the Jesuits, who were in high esteem with the prince. was murdered in 1590 by his nephew, whom he had threatened to disinherit on account of his attachment to the Catholic Church. B.'s religious treatises are entirely destitute of importance.

He

BLANE-BLANQUI.

BLANE, SIR GILBERT, a distinguished physician, most countries to shake it off. The first specimen was born at Blanefield, Ayrshire, August 29, 1749. of blank verse in English is a translation of the He studied at Edinburgh University, and afterwards Second and Fourth books of Virgil's Eneid, by the became private physician to Lord Rodney, whom in Earl of Surrey, who was executed in 1547; but it that capacity he accompanied in 1780, when Rodney had been used by Italian and Spanish writers as assumed the command of the West Indian squadron. early as about the beginning of that century. In On one occasion, when all the officers were wounded, England, its adaptation to the drama was at once B.'s bravery was so conspicuous, that Lord Rodney felt, and in that department of poetry it soon immediately obtained for him the appointment of became and has continued dominant-if we except physician to the fleet. In 1785, he was elected the effort made by Dryden and others, after the physician to St. Thomas's Hospital, London, having Restoration, to return to rhymed plays; but in previously been appointed physician-extraordinary other kinds of poetry, it was not till the appearance to the Prince of Wales. In 1795, he was chosen head of Paradise Lost (1667) that it could be said to of the Navy Medical Board, and was greatly instru- have taken root; and even then the want of mental in introducing the use of lemon-juice, so rhymes was felt, as the poet expected it would be. effective in preventing scurvy, into every vessel in Many poets have since followed Milton's example; the navy; and in many other ways he was active and English narrative, didactic, and descriptive in promoting measures for the prevention or remedy poetry, is partly in B. V., partly in rhymed coupof diseases on board ship. In 1809, he was employed lets. It is chiefly in 'heroic' metre, as it is called to report on the cause of the unhealthiness of the-that is, in verses or lines of ten syllables-that Walcheren army, and the following year he was sent blank verse has found a firm footing. Some, in to inquire into the expediency of establishing a naval fact, would restrict the name blank verse to lines of arsenal and dockyard at Northfleet. In 1812, he ten syllables, not considering it applicable to such had a baronetcy conferred upon him, and in the same metres as those of Southey's Thalaba and Longyear the Prince Regent made him his physician in fellow's Hiawatha. Dramatic B. V. is characterised ordinary. When the Duke of Clarence ascended by the frequent occurrence of a supernumera:'y the throne as William IV. in 1830, he made B., then syllable at the end of the line: 81 years old, his first physician. B. died June 26, 1834. He published several valuable works, characterised by varied knowledge and originality of thought, the most popular and useful of which are, Observations on the Diseases of Seamen, a lecture on Muscular Motion, and Elements of Medical Logic.

BLA'NÉS, a town of Spain, in the province of Gerona, and 22 miles south of the city of that name, with a port on the Mediterranean. Pop. 5000.

BLANK BONDS were Scotch securities, in which the creditor's name was left blank and which passed by mere delivery, the bearer or holder being at liberty to insert his name in the blank space, and sue for payment. The intention originally was to save the expense of conveyances, and to facilitate the transmission of the obligation; but experience having proved that they were capable of being used for fraudulent purposes, these bonds were, by a Scottish act, passed in 1696, declared void. The act, however, excepts from its provisions the notes of trading companies, and indorsements of bills of exchange. See BOND, SECURITY.

BLANK CARTRIDGES. The distinction between blank and ball cartridges will be found noticed under CARTRIDGE.

To be or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis no bler in the mind to suffer. In Italian and Spanish, B. V. never became popu lar, and still less in French. The German language seems to admit every variety of blank metre

BLANQUI, JÉRÔME ADOLPHE, one of the first French economists, was born at Nice, 28th November 1798, and educated at the Lyceum of that city. In 1814, his family quitted Nice, and young B. went to complete his studies at Paris, where he became his attention to the study of political economy. In acquainted with J. B. Say, who induced him to turn 1825, by Say's recommendation, he was appointed Professor of History and of Industrial Economy in the Commercial School at Paris. On the death of Say, he was appointed Professor of Industrial Economy in the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, and was one of the editors of the Dictionnaire de In June 1838, he became a member of the Academy l'Industrie, Manufacturière, Commerciale, et Agricole. of Moral and Political Science. The Academy sent him to Corsica, to study the condition of that country, and in 1839, to Algiers for the same purpose. In 1841, he visited Turkey. In 1851, the Academy, which highly valued his abilities, requested him to furnish a complete account of London in its financial and other aspects. This task he executed to the satisfaction of the savans who employed him. He died at Paris on the 28th January 1854. B., as a national economist, was somewhat inclined to Socialism. Like his master, Say, he was in favour of free trade. In method, he is ingenious; in style, transparent; and even the dryest discussions become interesting, from his lively mode of treating them. His principal works are- - Voyage d'un Jeune, Français en Angleterre et en Ecosse (Paris, 1824); Résumé de l'Histoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie (Paris, 1826); Précis Elémentaire d'Economie Politique, précédé d'une Introduction Historique, et suivi d'une Biographie des Economistes, &c. (Paris, 1826); BLANK VERSE is verse without rhyme (q. v.), and, most important of all, the Histoire de l'Econoand depending upon metre (q. v.) alone. The clas-mie Politique en Europe, depuis les Anciens jusqu'd sical productions of the Greek and Roman poets-nos jours, suivie d'une, Bibliographie raisonnée des at least such of them as have come down to usPrincipaux Ouvrages d'Economic Politique. are composed on this principle; and accordingly, BLANQUI, LOUIS AUGUSTE, the brother of when the passion for imitating classical models set the economist, was born at Nice in 1805. He in, rhyme came to be looked upon as an invention made himself conspicuous chiefly by his rabid of Gothic barbarism, and attempts were made in advocacy of the most extreme political opinions.

BLA'NKENBURG, a town in the duchy of Brunswick, 37 miles south-south-east of the capital, is situated on the Harz Mountains, at an elevation of 732 feet above the sea. It is walled, has a gymnasium, and several charitable and educational institutions. Pop. 4500, who are chiefly engaged in mining; iron, marble, and dye-earths being plentiful in the surrounding districts. On the Blankenstein, a rocky height immediately adjoining the town, there is a palace belonging to the Duke of Brunswick; and on the lofty summit of the Regenstein, about half a mile distant, there are the remains of a large castle, with many chambers, hewn out of the rock by Henry the Fowler in 919. Louis XVIII. resided at B. as Comte de Lille, 1796-1798.

BLAPS-BLASPHEMY.

From an early age, he dabbled in conspiracy, and submitted to its penalties with the pride of a martyr. After the revolution of February, he formed the Central Republican Society, which menaced the very existence of the Provisional Government. He it was also who organised the revolutionary attentat of the 15th May, the aim of which was to overthrow the Constituent Assembly, although it has been alleged that he was driven to this step by the impatience and violence of his party, or, more properly, his club. At the head of an excited mass, he made his appearance before the national representatives, and with that melodramatic love of liberty which 'makes a French patriot fancy it to be his first and most sacred function to emancipate the world, demanded the resuscitation of the Polish nationality! His coadjutor, M. Huber, went a step further, and theatrically pronounced the dissolution of the assembly. B. was arrested, tried, and condemned to ten years' imprisonment in Belleisle. In 1861 he was sentenced to other four years' imprisonment. He appeared again as one of the most active of the Red Republicans in 1870-71, and once more became a prisoner. Died Jan. 1, 1881. BLAPS, a genus of insects, of the order Coleoptera, the type of a tribe called Blapsides, the species of which are numerous, all of a dark colour, destitute of wings, and having the elytra or wing-cases united together. They run slowly, however, in comparison with many kinds of beetles, and inhabit dark and damp situations, feeding chiefly on dead vegetable matter. They have the power of secreting and emitting a brownish, acrid, irritating fluid, of a peculiar and penetrating odour, with which they appear to be furnished for the purpose of selfdefence, and which some of them are capable of throwing to a distance of six or eight inches. Blaps

mortisaga is a common British species, of about an inch long, and of a shining black colour. It is sometimes called DARKLING BEETLE, and CHURCHYARD BEETLE, sometimes seems to share with the Cockroach (q. v.) the appellation of BLACK BEETLE. It is a frequent companion of the cockroach in pantries and cellars.-Blaps sulcata is cooked with Blaps mortisaga. butter, and eaten by Turkish women in Egypt, under the notion that it will make them fat, this being, in their estimation, one of the chief points of beauty.

BLA'SIUS, a saint and martyr, was Bishop of Sebaste, in Cappadocia, when Licinius began a bloody persecution of the Christians. B. left the town, and concealed himself in an unknown chasm in the rocks, but his abode was discovered by Agricola, while out hunting. The saint was conveyed to Sebaste, and as he steadfastly refused to deny Christ, and worship the heathen gods, he was put to death (316 A. D.) with circumstances of the most horrid cruelty. At one period, his worship must have been widely diffused, judging from the extent of territory over which his relics were scattered. The wool combers claim him as their patron, for the singular reason that he was tortured, among other instruments, with a wool-comb. At Bradford, in Yorkshire, there is a septennial procession of that craft on his day. The practice of invoking St. B. in cases of sore throats, is said to have originated in the circumstance that, when young, he saved the only son of a rich widow from being choked by a fish-bone. It has been conjectured, however, that the wool

comb has probably been mistaken for a fish-bone, and that the story of the rich widow's only son is simply a myth elaborated in explanation of the circumstance. St. B.'s day is the 3d February.

BLA'SPHEMY is an offence against God and religion, by denying to the Almighty his being and providence; or by contumelious reproaches of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; also all profane scoffing at the Holy Scriptures, or exposing them to ridicule and contempt. Seditious words, moreover, in derogation of the established religion may be proved under a charge of blasphemy. These all are offences punishable at common law by fine and imprisonment, or other infamous corporal punishment; for Christianity is held to be part of the laws of England; and a blasphemous libel may be prosecuted as an offence at common law, and punished with fine and imprisonment. In Gathercole's case, tried at York in 1838, where the defendant, a clergyman of the Church of England, was prosecuted for a libel on a Roman Catholic nunnery, and in which he also made a violent attack on the tenets and the morality of the Roman Catholic Church, it was laid down by the judge who tried the case (the late Baron Alderson), that a person may, without being liable to prosecu tion for it, attack Judaism, or Mohammedanism, or even any sect of the Christian religion, save the established religion of the country; and the only reason why the latter is in a different situation from the others is, because it is the form established by law, and is therefore a part of the constitution of the country. But any general attack on Christianity is also the subject of criminal prosecution, because Christianity is the public religion of the country. Thus, as an offence against religion, B. may assume and creeds of the Established Church; or secondly, one of two forms: first, either as against the articles as against a dissenting community, in the libel against whom, a general attack on the Christian religion is involved. The B. must in some manner have been overtly and publicly declared, either by a speech on some public occasion, or by the act of publication in print.

The Scotch law regarding this offence is now The old severe Scotch acts, very much the same. one passed in 1661, and another in 1695, which provided capital punishment for offences of this description, were repealed by the 53 Geo. III. c. 160. The punishment is now arbitrary at common law; and by the 6 Geo. IV. c. 47, the punishment of B. is further restricted, and made the same as in England. It is also enacted by the second section of that act, that a person convicted of a second offence may be adjudged, at the discretion of the court, either to suffer the punishment of fine or imprisonment, or both, or to be banished the country; but the provision as to the punishment of banishment is repealed by 7 Will. IV. c. 5. The latest and most remarkable illustration of the Scotch law regarding this offence, is a case that was tried before the High Court of Justiciary in 1843. The prisoner, who defended himself, was accused, convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen mouths, for publishing profane, impious, and blasphemous books, containing a denial of the truth and authority of the Holy Scriptures and of the Christian religion; and devised, contrived, and intended to ridicule and bring into contempt the same. In the course of the trial, the prisoner endeavoured to justify his conduct by quotations from the Bible, which, he maintained, warranted the language of the blasphemous works in question. But the court would not allow such a line of defence, and the Lord Justice-clerk (the late Right Honourable John Hope), in charging the jury, pointed out that the indictment charged, that the wicked and felonious publication of such

BLAST FURNACE-BLASTING.