50 B L A 
painter excelled in hiflory and portraits. His touches are 
bold, agreeable, and eafy, liis drawing correct, his colour¬ 
ing excellent. 
BLANCH FIRMES,/! In ancient times the crown- 
rents were many times reserved in libris albis, or blanch- 
firms : in which cafe the buyer was holden de alba/efir¬ 
man, viz. his bale money or coin, worfe than (landard, 
was molten down in the Exchequer, and reduced to the 
‘finenefs of (landard filver ; or, indead thereof, lie paid 
to t lie king twelve pence in the pound byway of addition. 
Lowndes's EJfay upon Coins, p. 5. 
BLANCH'ING, in coinage, the operation performed 
on the planchets, or pieces of filver, to give them the re- 
quifite lullre and bri'ghtnels. - They alfo blanch pieces of 
plate, when they would have them continue white, or have 
only forrie parts of them-burnilhed. Blanching, as it is 
now praflifed, is performed by heating the pieces' on 
a kind of peel with a wood fire, in the manner'of a re ver¬ 
ba tory ; fo that the flame pafies over the peel. The pieces 
being fufficiently heated and cooled again, are put fuc- 
celfively to boil in two pans, which are of copper-: in thefe 
they put water, common fait, and tartar of Montpelier. 
When they have been drained of this water in a copper 
lleve, they throw land and frelh w-ater over them ; and, 
when dry, tney are well rubbed with foft towels. Blanch¬ 
ing alfo denotes the operation of covering iron plates with 
a thin coat or crud of tin. 
BLANCK'AMER, a town of Brabant: two miles fouth 
of Breda. 
BLANCK'ENBERG, a town of Germany, in the cir¬ 
cle of Upper Saxony, and county of Schwartzburg-Rudol- 
fladt: four miles fouth-weft of Rudolftadf. 
BLANC-MANGER, fi. [Fr. white food.] A prepa¬ 
ration of dilfolved ifinglafs, milk, fugar, cinnamon, &c. 
boiled into a thick confidence, and garnilhed for the table 
with blanched almonds. It is cooling and drengtheniitg. 
BLAND (Elizabeth), was remarkable both for her know¬ 
ledge of the Hebrew language, and for a peculiar fkilful- 
nels in writing it. She was born about the time of the re- 
doration, and was daughter and heir of Mr. Robert Either, 
of Long-acre. She was inftrufted in the Hebrew language 
by the lord Van Helmont, which (he underdood to fuch a 
degree of perfection, that (he taught it to her fon and 
daughter. Among the curioilties of the royal fociety is 
preferved, of her writing, a phvlaftery, in Hebrew, of 
which Dr. Grew has given adefeription in his Account of 
Rarities preferved at Grelham College, folio, London, 
1681. It was written by her at the requed of Mr. T-ho- 
relby, and (he gave it to that repolitory. By the two pe¬ 
digrees of the family, printed in Mr. Thoreiby’s Ducatus 
Leodienfis, (he was living in 1712; but the time of her 
death is not known. 
BLAND, adj. \_blandus, l- at.] Soft; mild; gentle: 
An even calm 
Perpetual reign’d, fave what the zephyrs bland 
Breath’d o’er the blue expanfe. Thomfon. 
BLAN'DA, anciently a Roman city, in the territory of 
Barcino, in Hifpania Citerior. Now B lanes. 
BLAND'FORD, or Blandford-Forum, a market 
town in Dorfetfhire, lituated in a champaign fruitful coun¬ 
try, in the flexure of the river Stour, which wadies it 
on the fouth and wed, and over which it has three bridges. 
It dands on the great turnpike-road from London, and all 
parts of Hampfhire, &c. to Weymouth, Exeter, Plymouth, 
&c. to the land’s end. The principal fupport of the town 
and neighbouring villages is the manufacture of thread 
waidcoat and fliirt buttons, which employs many thou- 
fand women and children. The town has differed con- 
liderably by feveral great fires : Camden and Coke fpeak 
of one that happened prior to 1579; about 1677, a col¬ 
lection was made for Blandford on account of a fimilar 
one ; July 9, 1713, the lower part of Ead-flreet was con¬ 
firmed, fuppofed by fome malicious perfon; June 4, 1731, 
B L A 
the whole town, (excepting the lower part of Ead-flreet} 
was. deflroyed. It began at a foap-boiler’s ; and three 
fire-engines were burnt in attempting to extinguifli tire 
flames, A brilk north-wed wind carried the fire into dil- 
tant parts of the town, and a grocer’s (hop blew up, hav¬ 
ing a quantity of gunpowder in it, by which means the 
thatch was blown over the town, fo that, in the fpace of 
a quarter of an hour, near twenty houfes were on fire.; 
the wind, (hitting to the north-eafi and eafl, carried the 
flakes to every other part, and to the adjacent villages, 
Blandford St. Mary and Brianflone, and confumed all but 
three houfes. It is remarkable, that the houfes dedroyed 
by the fire in 1713, and rebuilt, were not burnt in the fire 
of 1731 ; yet, in the fpace of twenty years, the whole 
town was burnt, except a few out-houfes. The tire was 
fo violent and rapid, that very little property was dived ; 
above lixty families were down in the (mall-pox during 
this calamity, none of whom peri (lied in the flames, but 
were removed under hedges in the fields, gardens, and 
under the arches of the bridges, and only, one died ; a 
flrong and powerful argument for cool regimen. The lofs 
amounted 1085,7261. and upwards,'exclufive of infurances. 
Iii 1732, an act palled to rebuild the town with brick and 
tile, and determine all differences among the fufferers. 
The King gave ioool. the queen 200I. and the prince of 
Wales icol. to be diflributed by George Doddington, Efq. 
afterwards lord Melcombe. This town gave the title of 
marquis to John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, De¬ 
cember 14, 1702; which title dill belongs to the elded 
fon of that family. 
Blandford is Ailed a burgh in ancient records, but fent 
members to parliament only twice, viz. 33 Edward I. and 
22 Edward III. The antiquity of this borough appears 
from Doomfday-book, as well as from"feveral ftone-coffins 
that have been dug up, wherein were bones of an enor¬ 
mous lize, and the head of a fpear, known to have be¬ 
longed to the ancient Britons prior to the arrival of the 
Romans. The town is now governed by a bailiff and ten 
capital burgelfes or common council, who have power to 
purchafe and enjoy lands in fee, &c. to have a common 
leal, and a ferjeant at mace. The quarter-feflions for the 
county are held here once a year. Here are two free 
grammar-fchools well endowed. The church is an ele¬ 
gant modern flruflure, 120 feet long, built in 1739, an d 
cod 3200I. The tower is eighty-fix feet high, with a 
fpire of twenty-one feet. The market-day is on Saturday, 
which is fupplied with a great quantity of butcher’s meat, 
&c. The fairs are March 7, July 10, and November 8, 
for cattle, eheefe, and pedlary goods. Blandford is diflant 
from Weymouth twenty-four miles, from Dorchefler fix- 
teen, Poole fifteen, Salilbury twenty-three, and from Lon¬ 
don 105. 
At a ("mall difiance from the town was a remarkable oak- 
tree, called Damary Oak; in 1747 it meafured feventy- 
five feet high, the branches extended feventy-two feet, 
though many were torn off in a (form in 1703 ; the trunk 
was twelve feet in diameter at feventeen feet above the 
ground ; the circumference on the ground was fixty-eight 
feet, and its diameter twenty-three ; the cavity at bottom 
was fifteen feet wide and feventeen high, and wmuld con¬ 
tain near twenty men. In the civil war, and till after the 
refioration, an old man fold ale in it. After Blandford 
was burnt down, in 1731, a family lived in it. It was 
fold (landing for 14I. and rooted up, in 1755, for fuel. 
At Brianflone, one mile from Blandford, is the feat of 
Henry William Portman, Efq. whofe houfe and grounds 
afford a fine profpeft from the bridge ; and at Milton Ab¬ 
bas, feven miles, is the feat of lord Milton. 
BLANDI'LOQUENCE,_/i \_blandiloqunitia , Lat.] Fair 
and flattering fpeech ; courteous language; compliment. 
To BLAN'DISH, v. a. [ blandior , Lat.] To frnooth; 
to (often : 
Mufi’ring all her wiles, 
With blandi/k’d parleys, feminine a (faults, 
Tongue? 
