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 BLANDRATA BLAXQUI 695 eavalry, but when six companies were enrolled became lieutenant colonel, with which rank he joined the main army in 1777. With the exception of a single term in the senate of Vir- ginia, he remained in military service to the end of the war, enjoying the high esteem and confidence of Washington, who frequently em- ployed him in responsible affairs. Upon the termination of the struggle he was elected a member of the general congress, which then sat at Philadelphia, and continued a member till 1783. He was elected a member of the convention of 1788 to ratify the federal con- stitution, and voted against that instrument, but was chosen as the first representative to congress under it. He left valuable memorials of the revolutionary period, which were pub- lished in 1840 under the title of "The Bland Papers." BLLXDRATA, Giorgio, an Italian Unitarian, born in the marquisate of Saluzzo, Piedmont, about 1515, died in Transylvania about 1590. He at first practised medicine in Pavia, but having embraced anti-Trinitarian doctrines was com- pelled to leave Italy, and became physician to the wife of King Sigismund Augustus of Po- land. Returning to Italy, he was thrown into prison, but escaped and took refuge at Geneva. Finding himself nearly as obnoxious to the Calvinists as to the Roman Catholics, he re- turned to Poland. There, although Calvin warned the people against him, he acquired great influence. Prince Radziwill sent him as plenipotentiary to the synod of Pincz6w in 1561. Two years after this he accepted an invitation to become physician to John Sigis- mund, prince of Transylvania. Here he made many converts, including the prince and court ; and at a diet held in 1571 at Maros-Vasarhely, Unitarianism was legally recognized as one of the religions of the land. After the death of John Sigismund he was physician to Stephen and Christopher Bathori, the rank of privy councillor being conferred upon him after Ste- phen's accession to the throne of Poland, in promoting which he was very active. Stephen was not favorable to his doctrines, and it is said that for the purpose of advancing his in- terests with the king he gave them up. At all events he succeeded in accumulating a large fortune, and his nephew strangled him in bed for the purpose of securing it. His collected works, in Latin, were published by Henke (Helmstadt, 1794). BLANGINI, Giuseppe Marco Maria Felice, an Ital- ian composer, born in Turin, Nov. 18, 1781, died in Paris in December, 1841. He displayed re- markable musical talent as a child, and his first compositions date from his 14th year. He went to Paris in 1799, and was for several years a successful composer of operas there. His fame, however, rests chiefly on his smaller pieces, which were received with much favor, espe- cially in Germany, where he officiated for some fane as chapelmaster at the court of the king of Westphalia. He returned to Paris in 1814, and received the honorary title of superinten- dent and composer of music to the king. His works include 17 operas. BLANKEXBUKG. I. A circle in the duchy of Brunswick, Germany ; area, 183 sq. m. ; pop. about 23,000. The southern part, bordering on the Hartz mountains, is covered with for- ests, and contains valuable iron mines and mar- ble quarries ; the northern part is fertile and well cultivated. Until the 12th century the district was known as the Hartingau ; and it was subject to the counts of Blankenburg till 1599, when it passed into the possession of Brunswick on the death of the last of the Blankenburg house. In 1690 it was ceded to Ludwig Rudolph of Wolfenbuttel, and in 1707 it was made a principality. After being an independent government till 1731, it again passed into the possession of Brunswick, and remained subject to that duchy. II. The prin- cipal town of the circle, situated among the Hartz mountains, 14 m. E. of the summit of the Brocken, on a small stream of the same name, and near the foot of a picturesque moun- tain called the Blankenstein ; pop. in 1871, 3,928. Near by is the palace of Luisenburg, which contains 270 apartments and a large collection of paintings ; and at the distance of 1J m. are the ruins of the castle of Regenstein or Reinstein, hewn in part from solid rock. In 1625 the town was besieged by Wallenstem. During the seven years' war the court of Brunswick had its residence here, the place preserving a neutrality which was respected by all parties. Regenstein was taken by the French in 1757, but retaken by the Prussians during the next year. Louis XVIII. resided at Blankenburg from 1796 to 1798, as the count de Lille. BLANKHOF, Jan Tennlsz, called JAN MAAT, a Dutch painter of marine pieces, born at Alk- maar in 1628, died in 1670. He was a pupil of Caesar van Everdingen, and also studied in Rome. His pictures generally represent Italian ports and the coasts of the Mediterranean, and several of his storm scenes possess much merit. BLAXJl I. I. Jerome Adolphe, a French polit- ical economist, born in Nice, Nov. 20, 1798, died in Paris, Jan. 28, 1854. His father, Jean Dominique, was a deputy to the national con- vention, one of the 73 members sent to prison on the fall of the Girondists (June 2, 1793), and afterward a member of the council of 500. The son was originally destined to the study of medi- cine, but having become acquainted with Jean Baptiste Say while pursuing his studies at Paris, he was induced to devote himself to political economy. He published a Resume of the history of commerce and industry (1826), and this was soon followed by a Precis element/lire cFecono- mie politique, and several minor publications. In 1830 he was chosen professor in the special school of commerce, where his lectures on the history of commerce and industrial civilization attracted unusual attention. When Say retired from his professorship in the conservatoire de*