93 
B L A 
the common law, and punifiiable by fine, iinprifonmenf, 
and pillory. And, by the (latute law, he that denies one 
of the per foils in theTrinity, or aliens there are more than 
one, or denies Chriftiunity to be true, for the firft offence 
is rendered incapable of any office ; for the fecond, ad¬ 
judged incapable of fueing, being executor or guardian, 
receiving any gift or legacy, and to be impriloned three 
years. And by 9 and 10 Will. III. c. 32. If any perfon 
havingbeen educated in, or having made profeffioaof, the 
Chriftian religion within this realm, fhall, by writing, 
printing, teaching, or advifed fpeaking, deny any one of 
the perfons in the Holy Trinity to be God, or lliall afTert 
or maintain that there are more gods than one, or fhall 
deny the Chriftian religion to be true, or the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures of the Old and New Teflament to be of divine au¬ 
thority ; and fhall upon indictment or information be 
thereof lawfully convicted upon the oath of two witnefles; 
fuch perfon fhall for the firft offence be incapable to have 
or enjoy any office or employment, ecclefiaftical, civil, or 
military, or profit by them ; and the offices, places, and 
employments, enjoyed by fuch perfons at their conviction, 
fhall be void: and, being a'fecond time convicted of any 
of the aforefaid crimes, fhall be difabled to fue, profecute, 
plead, or ufe, any aCtion or information in law or equity; 
or be guardian of any child, or executor or adminiftrator 
of any perfon, or capable of-any legacy or deed of gift, 
or to bear any office, civil or military, or benefice eccle- 
fiaftical, and fhall fuffer three years imprifonment from 
the time of fuch conviction, without bail. §. 1. No per¬ 
fon fhall be profecuted by virtue of this aCt for words 
fpoken, unlefs the information be given upon oath before 
feme juftice of the peace within four days, and the profe- 
cutionbe within three months after fuch information. 2. 
Perfons convicted of any the faid crimes fhall, for the firft 
offence, upon renouncing fuch offence, or erroneous opi¬ 
nions in the court were convicted, within four months 
after conviction, be difeharged from all penalties and dis¬ 
abilities incurred by fuch conviction. §. 3. 
BLAS'PHEMY againjl the Holy Ghost. Divines 
are not agreed with refpeCt to the nature of the crime 
thus denominated ( Mat. xii. v. 31.), and the grounds of the 
extreme guilt aferibed to it. Dr. Tillotfon maintains, that 
it confifted in malicioufly attributing the miraculous ope¬ 
rations which Chrift performed by the power of the Holy 
Ghoft to the devil. Dr. Whitby refers it to the difpen- 
fation of the Holy Ghoft, which commenced after our 
Lord’s refurreftion and afeenfion ; and thofe were guilty 
of the crime whoperlifted in their unbelief and blafphemed 
the Holy Ghoft, reprefenting him as an evil fpirit. The 
crime was unpardonable, becaufe it implied a wilful op- 
pofition to the laft and mod powerful evidence which God 
would vouchfafe to mankind, and precluded the poffibility 
of a recovery to faith and repentance. 
BLASS, f, A term coined by Helmont, by which he 
means the force of motion, and applies it to the ftars, the 
human body, See. 
BLAST, / [from blart. Sax. blafen , Ger. to blow.] 
A guft or puli' of wind : 
Welcome, then, 
Thou unfubftantial air, that I embrace ; 
The wretch that thou haft blown unto the word 
Owes nothing to thy blajls. Shakefpeare. 
The found made by blowing any inftrument of wind 
mufic : 
In peace there’s nothing fo becomes a man, 
As medeft ftillnefs and humility ; 
But, when the blajl of war blows in our ears, 
Then imitate the aCtion of the ty.ger. Shakefpeare. 
The ftroke of a malignant planet; the infection of any 
thing peftilential.—By the blajl of God they perifli. Job. 
To BLAST, v. a. To ftrike with fome hidden plague 
or calamity: 
Vol. HI. No. 118. 
B L A 
Oh! Portias, is there not fome chofen curie. 
Some hidden thunder in the ftore of heaven, 
Red with uncommon wrath, to blajl the man 
Who owes his greatnefs to his country’s ruin 1 Addifon, 
To make to wither: 
To his green years your cenfures you would fuit, 
Nor blajl that bloftbm, but expect the fruit. Dryden . 
Tojnjure; to invalidate; to make infamous.—He thews 
himlelf weak, if lie will take my word when he thinks I 
deferve no credit ; or malicious, if he knows I deferve 
credit, and yet goes about to blajl it. Stilling fleet. —To 
cut off; to hinder from coming to maturity.—This com¬ 
merce Jeholhaphat king of Judea endeavoured to renew ; 
but his enterprize was blajled by the deftnnftioii of veffels 
in the harbour. Arbutknot.-~ To confound; to ftrike with 
terror : 
Trumpeters, 
With brazen din blajl you the city’s ears; 
Make mingle with your ratt’ling tabourines. Shakefpeare. 
For the caufes of blajls or blights , fee Blight. 
BLAST'ED, / Something (truck with a blaft. Among 
the Romans, places blafted with lightning were confecrated 
to Jupiter, under the name of bidentalia and putealia. It 
was alfo a ceremonial of religion to burn blafted bodies ia 
the fire. 
BLAST'ING, f. Among miners, a term for the tear¬ 
ing up rocks, which they find in their way, by gun¬ 
powder. The method is this : they make a long hole like 
the hollow of a large gun-barrel in the rock they would 
fplit; this they fill with gun-powder; then they firmly 
ftop up the mouth of the hole with clay, except a touch- 
hole, at which they leave a match to fire it. A final! 
quantity of powder does wonders in this way. 
BLAST'MENT, /. Blaft; fudden ftroke or infection. 
Not now in vfe : 
In the morn, and liquid dew of youth, 
Contagious blajlments are mod imminent. Shakefpeare. 
BLA'TANT, a'dj. [ blattant , Fix] Bellowing as a calf. 
-—You learn this language from the blatant beaft. Dryden . 
BI.AT'NA, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Pra- 
chalitz : twenty-five miles north of Prachalitz, and forty- 
four fouth-fouth-weft of Prague. 
BLATOBUL'GIUM, anciently a place of the Brigan¬ 
tines in Britain, having a camp of exploratores or fcouts 
near Solway Frith and promontory; now called Bulncfs . 
Camden. 
BLAT'TA,/. the Cockroach. A genus of infedts 
belonging to the order hemiptera, or fuch as have four 
femicruftaceous incumbent wings. The head of the blatta 
is inflected towards the breaft; the antennae, or feelers, arc 
hard like briftles ; the elytra and wings are plain, and re- 
femble parchment; the breaft is fmooth, roundifli, and is 
terminated by an edge or margin; the feet are fitted for run¬ 
ning ; and there are two fmall horns above the tail. This 
infect refembles the beetle ; and, like the cricket, fre¬ 
quents kitchens and bakehoufes. The appearance of this 
infect is ugly and deformed ; they feldom, however, pre- 
fent themfelves by day ; and though in our immediate 
vicinity, and of confiderable fize, they are but rarely feen. 
If furprifed in their haunts while it is light, they fpeedily 
efcape by running; their wings being unfit for flight, ex¬ 
cept in the males of fome fpecies who make aukward at¬ 
tempts at flying. The night is their feafon of a&iviry, 
when they iffue from their crevices in queft of crumbs of 
bread or dough. In this ifland the cockroach is probably 
always a domeftic animal: in warmer countries, however, 
there are different kinds which haunt the fields in great 
numbers. The larva: of all the different fpecies of blattae 
differs but little from the perfeft infect, excepting in the 
total want of the wings and elytra. In that ftate, meal is 
its common food ; and of that neceffary of life it is then 
extremely voracious. When meal is wanting, as muff 
B b liappca 
