B L A 



of urfui mrlet, or badger. A variety of a white colour 

 found in New York i. alfo called in France ilaircau bhwc- 



Blaireau bimnt du C.ip dc Bonne Efp.-nmcf. Kolbe, 

 and after l.im Abbe d; la CaiUe, have defcribcd under this 

 title a little quadruped fuu:id in the interior of Africa, which 

 exhales a moll infupportable odour. Whether it be of the 

 badger kind in reality, or not, is uncertain. Sonnini be- 

 lieves it to be of the' civet kind, viwrra Ciipenfis ; and on 

 the contrary, Gmelin fuppofes it to be of the glutton kind, 

 perhaps a variety of urfus gulo. 



BLAIRIA, m Botany. Sec Verbena. 

 BLAISE, St., Order of, was founded in Armenia, 

 about the commencement of the twelfth century. The 

 habit of the knights of this order was a (Icy-bhie ; and 

 on the bread thereof was embroidered their badge, bemg a 

 crojs of gold. 



Blaisf. St. Bhiif and the Virpn Mary was an order ec- 

 chliallieal and military. The particular time of its infiitu- 

 tion is not abfolutcly afcertaincd ; but it is v.n- erfally agreed 

 that it took place foon after that of the Knights Templars. 

 The badce of the order wa:, a r.'d crofu on the centre of luhkb 

 ivas a m.'ddhion ■with the image of St. Bl.ife enamelled thereon. 

 W en th -• knights aflftmblcd in chapter, or fct out on any 

 military expedition, they wore on tli<-ir bicafl. the fame badge 

 embroidered on a white habit. 



Blaise, in Geography, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Upper Nlanic, and chief place of a canton, in 

 the d.ilricl of Chauraont, 12 miles N.N.W. of Chaumont. 



Alfo, a river of France, which vw ,^ into the Marne near 



Larz 'jour, in the department of the Marne. 



Blaise, or Bla?, St., a cape on the coaft of Weft Flo- 

 rida, in the gulf of Mexico. It is a promontory, wiiich fe- 

 parates tne bay of Apalaehe on the call from that of Penfa- 

 cola, forming a kind of (hepheid's crook. N. lat. 29^ 40'. 

 \V. long. 86". 



BLAISOIS, a province of France before the revolution, 

 bounded on the eali by Orleannois, on the fouth by Berry, 

 on the weft by Touraine, and on the north by Vendomois 

 and Dunois. The ccpital was Blois, which fee. 



BLAISON, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Mayne and Loire, and chief place of a canton, in the diftridl 

 of Angers ; 8 miles S.E. of Angers. 



BLAKE, Robert, in Bi'igraphy, a celebrated EngUlh 

 admiral, was a defcendant of an ancient family of the nan:ie 

 in the parifli of Spaxton and county of Somerfet, and born 

 at Bridgwater, in Auguft, 1589. Having received the ru- 

 diments of grammir learning at a free fchool in his native 

 town, he became a member of St. Alban'.s hall, Oxford, in 

 1615, and tranflatcd himlelf from thence to Wadham college, 

 where, in 1617, he took the degree of bachelor of arts. In 

 1 6 19, he loft a fellowftilp of Mcrton college, for which he 

 was a candidate, on account of hi.; low ftatiire ; fir Henry 

 Savile, the warden, paying particular refpecl to perfonal 

 conielinefs. Soon after the year 1C23, in which he wrote 

 a copy of verfes on the death of Mr. Camden, he left the 

 univerfity, where he had been noticed for his early rifing 

 and application to ftudy, and lived privately at Bridgwater. 

 Adopting at an eaily period republican principles, and pre- 

 judiced againil the ecclefiaftical eftablifhmcnt, by the fcverity 

 with which Dr. Laud, then bifnop of Bath and WelLs, en- 

 forced uniformity in his diocefe, he inclined alfo to thofe 

 opinions that were deemed puritanical. Accordinglv the 

 puritan party prevailed in procuring his return as a member 

 for his native town, to the parliament of 1640, but for the 

 Long Parliament he loll his eleAion. Upon the breaking 

 out of the war between the king and parliament, he declared 

 for the latter, and entering into military fervice, was foon 

 8 



B L A 



appointed captain of dragoons. In this capacity he exhi- 

 bited proofs of his talents by an obftinate defence of Brilbjl 

 again!! the attack of p'ince Rupert, which he was at length 

 oblio-ed to furrender. In 1644 he was appointed governor 

 of Taunton, wiiieh he had fiirprifrd and taken poffcffion of 

 for the parliament, and which he defended with a fmall but 

 wcil-difciplined g-irrii'on, di:ring a vigorous fiege by the 

 king's forces, till he obtained relief. 1' or this fervice the 

 parliament voted Bl.ke, who was then colonel, 3 prefent of 

 500 pounds. After the nnirdcr of the king, which he is faid 

 to liavt difapproved, he cordially joined the republican party, 

 and was reckoned, iiext to Cromwell, the ablcft and moft 

 fucccfsful officer in the fervice of the parliament. Without 

 aflVe'^ing the charafter of a politician, he thought it his duty 

 to ferve^h's country to the utmoft of his power, and to exe- 

 cute any mcafures that were adopted by the party to which 

 he was attached, and by the exiiling government for this 

 piirpofe. Early in the year 1649, he was appointed, in con- 

 junttion with Col. Deane and Col. Popham, to the com.mand 

 of the fleet ; and his firft naval expedition was direfted, in 

 1649, againil prince Rupert and prince Maurice, to the har- 

 bour of Kingfale in Ireland ; where he blocked them up for 

 fome time, and whence he purfued them to Lilhon, whither 

 they had fled for the proteftion of the king of Portugal. 

 ^Var being declared on this account againil the Portuguefe, 

 Blake annoyed their trade, andtook feveral rich prizes; andhe 

 afterwardsproceeded, firft to Carthagena and then toMabga, 

 in purfuit of prince Rupert. At the latter place he burnt 

 and de-ftroved his whole fleet, two fliips excepted ; and in 

 the beginning of the year 1651, he returned with his fqua- 

 dron to Plymouth, where he received the thanks of the 

 paihament, and was appointed warden of the cinque ports. 

 Li the following year he was conftituted one of the admiiaU 

 and generals of the fleet, and employed in reducing the ifles 

 of Scilly and the ifland of Guernfey. Having accomplilhed 

 this fervice, he was elefted one of the council of ftate ; and 

 in 1652, promoted to the rank of fo!e admiral for nine 

 months, in the profpedl of a Dutch war. The States, jea- 

 lous of the naval power of England, determined to reduce 

 it by a very vigorous efi'ort. With this view they difpatchtd 

 Van Tromp with 45 fail of men of war into the Downs, 

 who was met by Blake with a much inferior force of 23 

 fhips, and, after a very fevere adlion, wlucli t jok place May 

 19th 1652, obliged to retreat. After feveral flrirmiflies 

 with the Dutch fliips, and the capture of many prizes, during 

 the progrefs of the fummer. Van Tromp appeared again in 

 the Downs, towards the clofe of the year, with 80 fliips, for 

 the purpofe of renewing his attack upon Blake. The 

 Englifh admiral, whofe force was much inferior, and who had 

 the difadvantage of an unfavourable wind, difdained however 

 to retreat, and engaged the enemy on the 29th of November. 

 Notwithltanding every poffible exertion, he loft fix fliips, and 

 was compelled to retreat into the Thames with his fliattered 

 fleet ; and Van Tromp was 1-ft in triumphant pofleffion of 

 tlie channel. Blake loft no fimc in repairing and recruiting 

 his fleet; and in February 1653, he fet fail in purfuit of liis 

 anta^onill. On the i8th day of the month the Engliih 

 admiral, with 80 fliips of war, came up off PortLind with 

 Van Tromp, who had 70, and a fleet of 300 merciiant-fliips 

 under his convoy. The engagement was fuch as feldom 

 occurs in the hiftory of naval combats ; it laftcd three days, 

 and on both fides equal valour was difplayed ; at length, 

 however, after a running fight up the channel, the Dutch 

 anchored fafely in the fands of Calais, having loll ji n.en of 

 war, 30 merchant-ftiips, and 1500 men who fell in the action, 

 whilll the Englifli loll only one fliip, but as many lives as 

 the enemy. In this action Blake was wounded in the thigh. 



At 



