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few copies of it could tc obtaintd. Tliis was follow-ed, in 

 tlic feme year, by a work tntitled " Great is Diana of the 

 Eplicfiaiis, or the Original of Idolatry, together with the 

 politicrl inftitotions ot the Gentiles' SacriKces ;" which, 

 tlioufrh profelTedly written againft the impofitions of the 

 Heatlien pricRs, was thought to be aimed at the Chriftian 

 priellliood, and indireftiy ap;ain(l all revelation. The autlior 

 was now corfidered as the head of the Deillical fcdt, and he 

 is charged wiih having taken great jjains, by converfation 

 and currcfpondcnce, to propagate and defend his opinions. 

 In a letter to Dr. Sydenhan;, however, lie ncknov,kd^ed, 

 th.Tl in point of practice, Dcifm wasltfs fatisfacilory than the 

 C'hri'.lian fcheinc. The clamour occafioned by his former 

 publications made him fomewhat morecaiitious and reftrved; 

 and accordingly he ftudioiiHy concealed his being the author 

 ofatreatife, entitled " Rclipio Laici ;" publilhed in ;6S3, 

 and faid, by Dr. Lcland, in his Deitlical writers, vol. i. p. 37. 

 to be little more than a tranflation of Lord Herbert's work, 

 under the fame title ; and he alfo abandoned the defign 

 which he had formed of writing a life of Mahomet. From 

 this time he feems to have changed the objefts of his ftudy ; 

 for in 16S4 he publiflitd " Janua Scientiariim ; or an Intro- 

 duftion to Geography, Chronology, Government, Hiftory, 

 Philofophy, and all genteel forts of learning ;" Svc. which 

 was intended to adift young perfons at an early age in the 

 acquifition of principles of philofophy and fcience, without 

 purfuing the tedious couiTe that had been ufually prefcribed 

 to them in fchools. 



Mr. Blount was one of thofe who cordially concun-ed in 

 the revolution ; and in a letter addrefTed to W. Levefon 

 Gower concerning corporations, and inferted in the " Oracles 

 iif Reafon," he exprefles his wifh, that thofe connfeliors of 

 the late king, who had injured the independence of parlia- 

 irient, might be punilhed, juilly confiderlng the purity of 

 reprefentation as the efTence of a free conftitution. About 

 this time he wrote his treatife entitled " A Jufl Vindication 

 of Learning, and of the Liberty of the Prefs ;" which is 

 cfteemed one of his bell performances, and a fummary of all 

 the principal arguments that can be urged upon this topic. 

 In his zeal for the caufe of king William, lie wrote a pamphlet 

 in 1693, intended to prove the right of William and Mary 

 to the crown, on the ground of conquefl ; and in expla- 

 nation of this dtfign, fo diifonant, one would imagine, 

 with his principles, and no lefs obnoxious than ill-founded, 

 he declares that he wrote '* with an efpecial regard to fuch 

 as have hitherto refufed the oath, and yet allow of the title 

 ofconqueft, when confequentto a juil war." Ey this per- 

 formance he gave fuch offence, that, on a complaint being 

 brought before the houfe of commons againft this pamphlet, 

 entitled " William and queen Mary Conquerors," it was 

 ordered to be burnt by the hands of the common hangman ; 

 and in the fame cenlnre was involved a paftoral letter of bilhop 

 Burnet, in which the fame notion was advanced, probably 

 vv'ith the fame views. 



Mr. Blount, having loft his wife, became ardently en- 

 amoured of her fifter, a lady of great beauty and merit, who 

 fcemed difpofcd to return his aifeflion ; but as the ccclefuif- 

 tical laws oppofed their union, he drew up a cafe llrongly 

 argued, and referred it to certain divines, who of courfe 

 gave their opinions againil his wilhes. As the lady retufcd 

 to comply, after fuch a determination, Mr. Blount funk into 

 defpair, and at length fliot himftlf through the head. 



After this aft of phrenfy, he langnifhed for fome days, 

 receivinir no nourinimciit but from the hands of the objcft 

 of his aifedion, till at laft death releafcd him, Auguft 1693. 

 Many of his private letters and fome fmall trafts were pub- 

 Llhed, together with a preface, by Gildon, in i<^yj, before 



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the author's death, in a work entitled "The Oracles of 

 Reafon;" which was afterwards re-printed, with fome ad- 

 ditional pieces, after his deceafe, in if^9j, in a collection of 

 " The Mifcelianeous Works of Charles Blount, cfq." by 

 the fame Mr. Gildon, who prefixed to it an account of 

 the life and death of the author. The learning of Mr. 

 Blount is unquellionable, and he feems to have poficfTed a 

 ftrong and ardent mind ; but his early dlflike of fuperllitioii 

 precipitated him into fome very confiderable errors, and 

 inclined him to believe all revealed religion to be prieficraft, 

 becaufe he perceived that fome priefls had converted religion 

 to their own fecular advantage. His fentiments on the fub- 

 jeft of religion were divulged in his v.'ritings without dif- 

 guife, and fufficiently warrant our referring him to the clafs 

 ofdeifts; but the charge of atheifm alleged againil him 

 by fome foreign divines, is certainly unfounded. See an ac- 

 count of Mr. Blount's writings by Dr. Leland, in the 

 fourth letter of his View of the Deiilical Writers, vol. i. By 

 this author we are informed that Mr. Gildon, who pub- 

 liflied the " Oracles of Reafon," and communicated them 

 to the world, was afterwai'ds, upon mature confideration, 

 convinced of his error, and in 1705 publifhed his retrafta- 

 tion in a book, entitled " The Deilt's Manual." The 

 greateft part of this book is intended to vindicate the doc- 

 trines of the exiftence and attributes of God, his providence 

 and government of the world, the immortality of the foul, 

 and a future ftate. And his avowed reafon was, becaufe 

 many of the deifts, with whom he was well acquainted, 

 did really deny thofe great principles, which he at the 

 foundation of all religion, or, at leaft, reprefented them as 

 doubtful and uncertain. And their not admitting natural 

 religion in its juil extent, formed fome of their principal 

 prejudices againil the Chrillian revelation. Biog. Brit. 



Blount, in Geography, a new county of the State of 

 Teneffee, in America. 



BLOUNTSVILLE, a town of America, in North Cf- 

 rolina, on the poft-road from Halifax to Plymouth, 49 mile* 

 from Ply.mouth, and 55 from Williauiftown. 



BLOW, in a general fenfe, denotes a llroke given either 

 with the hand, a weapon, or inilrnment. The effeft of a 

 blow is eilimated like the force of percufTion, and according- 

 ly it is exprcfled by the velocity of the body mtdtiplied by 

 its weight. 



In Fencing, blows differ from thrufts, as the former are 

 given by ihikiiig, the latter by puHiing. We fay to give, 

 to return, to parry a blo'u:. (See Parrying.) Blows on 

 the fword make a kind of purfuit, called beating. 



Blow, hlinel, i&us orbus or aecus, is that which does not 

 appear, or is not attended with effufion of blood ; in contra- 

 dillinftion from that followed by a wound, difcolouring, 

 tumor, or the like, called itius apertus or apparent, an open 

 blonv. 



In the ancient laws, wc find blows for remembrance, given 

 to make perfons remember fome traif^ttion, and enable them 

 to become better witnelTes of it in future times. 



Blow, mililary, alapa tnilitans, that given with the fword 

 on the neck or ihonlder of a candidate for knighthood, in 

 the ceremony of dubbing him. The cnllotn feems to have 

 taken its rife from the ancient ceremony of manumiffion. 



In giving the blow, the prince ufed this form : " ello 

 bonus miles ;" upon which the party role a complete knigli', 

 and qualified to bear arms in his own right. Sometimes a 

 double or even triple blow was given, called trina percvjfio. 



Blow, Dr. John, in Biography, born at North Colling, 

 ham, in Nottinghanihire, was one of the firtt fct of children 

 of the chapel royal after the rcftoration, that was brought 

 up under captain Cook. He likewife received inftrudions 



fron^ 



