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BLAKELY. United States, graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1800, and in the same year entered the United States Xay. In 1813 he be- came commander of tlie IVnsp, a new sloop of war. and in his first cruise captured the English sloop Reindeer. On another cruise he captured several prizes, and defeated the Avon and the Atalanta. Late in 1814 the Wasp left on a cruise, but never returned to port, and was pre- sumably wrecked.

BLANC, LE, le blax ( Fr., the white ; see be- low I . A town in the Department of Indre, France, beautifully situsted on the Creuse, which divides the town into two parts, about 32 miles west-southwest of Chriteauroux (Map: France, Ho). It is known principally- for the beautiful Lake Blanc (3450 feet above sea-level), near which it is situated, so called from the reflection of the quartz lining its bottom. Le Blanc has cloth and linen yam mills, potteries, tanneries, vinegar-works, forges, etc., and utilizes the -sur- plus waters of the lake to furnish power f'rr its machinery. It is very ancient, and was frequent- ed by the Romans. Population, in 1896, 6764.

BLANC, iloxT. See MoxT Blanc.

BLANC, AuGUSTE Alexandre Phujcppe Ch.ri.es (1813-82). A French art-critic, bom at C'astres. He was head of the Department of Fine Arts in the Ministry of the Interior from 1848 to 1852, and again from 1871 to 1873. He became a member of the French Academy in 1876 and professor of iesthetics at the Collfege de France in 1878. He is chiefly kno^vn as the edi- tor of and contributor to the Histoire des pein- ires de toutes les ecoles, 14 vols. (1849-75), for which he wrote biographies of the artists of the Dutch and French schools. This work was also published in English. He also wrote L'CEuire complet de Rembrandt (1873); Grammaire des arts du dessin (1876), his most important work, and Grammaire des arts dccoratifs (1881), its sequel ; besides other works, and was editor of the Gnzette des Beaux- Arts.

BLANC, Jean Joseph Louis (1811-82). A French socialist and historian, born in Madrid, October 29, 1811. In 1820 he was placed in the college at Rhodez; in 1830 he went to Paris and became a clerk in an attorney's office for a short time, and in 1832 became private tutor at Arras. Here he resided for two years, contribut- ing largely, on literarj- and political subjects, to the Progris du Pas-de-Calais. He afterwards went to Paris, where he, contributed to various political papers, and where in 1839 he founded the Revue du Proqres, in which he first laid do«-n some of his socialistic theories. In this journal, too, he brought out his famous treatise on social- ism, the Organisation du travail, which in 1840 appeared in a reprint. The book obtained for its author general recognition as one of the ablest of Socialist writers, as well as wide popularity among the French ouvriers, who were captivated by the brilliancy of the writing, the apparent simplicity of the scheme, and the freshness of the views advocated. The book denounces the doctrine of individualism — i.e. individual and competitive efl"orts in labor — and advocates the absorption of the individual in a vast 'solidar- ity',' where "each would receive according to his needs, and contribute according to his abili- ties." Blanc next published (in 1841-44) a his- torical work, entitled Histoire de dix ana, 1830- 1)0, aimed with deadly effect against the Orleans djiiasty. Louis Philippe afterwards declared that "it acted like a battering-ram against the bul- warks of loyalty in France." It owed its suc- cess partly to the exposure it gave of the scan- dalous jobbery and immorality of the CroMi and its advisers, partly to that passionate ardor which changed the tranquillity of history- into the vehemence of a pampiilet, and its academic pomp of style. This was followed by the first volume of a Histoire de la revolution francaise, in which the author's aim was to describe, from his own point of view, not only the incidents Mi the first Revolution, but the social history of the Eighteenth Century. In the February revo- lution of 1848 Blanc played an important part. His popularity with the working classes led to his being appointed a member of the Provisional Government. He was placed by the Government at the head of the great commission for discuss- ing the problem of labor. At the same time, Marie, Minister of Public Works, began — but without Blanc's cooperation — to establish the so- called national workshops (ateliers nationaux) , which were to bring about the realization of the socialistic principle, but which only proved the hazardous and impracticable character of Blanc's doctrines. The national workshops led to an at- tempt on the part of the Socialists to dissolve the Xational Assembly by force and to institute a provisional government at the Hotel de Ville, May 15, 1848. Blanc's name was, in the minds of many, connected with this movement. A pro- posal was made to prosecute him, but it was negatived by the National Assembly. After the June insurrection, he was again accused and prosecuted for conspiracy, but he contrived to es- cape to London, where he resided until the fall of the Empire. During his exile he devoted himself to political and historical literature. In 1849 appeared his Appcl aux honnetes gens, and Catechisme des socialistes; in 1850, Pages d'his- toire de la revolution de fevrier, and in 1851, Plus de Girondins ; la repuhUque une et indivisi- ble. He acted also as correspondent for several Parisian journals, and a collection of his letters from London was published under the title Dix annees de I'histoire d'Angletcrre (10 vols., Paris, 1879-81). The work which has secured him the most enduring reputation is his History of the French Revolution, in 12 volumes, written during his residence in England. It is characterized by extensive and original research, which has fre- quently enabled the author to reverse the com- mon verdicts on historical personages, and to e.xplode many of the extravagant stories of the stormy period of which it treats. On the fall of the Empire in 1870. Blanc returned to France, and in 1871 he was elected to the National Assembly, in which he pursued a policy of con- sistent radicalism without returning to his for- mer Socialistic theories. He died at Cannes, December 6, 1882. Consult Fiaux, "Louis Blanc," in Portraits politiques contemporains, Vol. II. (Paris. 1883).

BLANC, blink, Lrnwio Gottfried (1781-1866). A German philologist and Dante scholar. He was born in Berlin, and after studying at the French Theological Seminary of his native city, was called to a pastorate at Halle, in 180C. In 1811 he was suspected of having taken part in a conspiracy against King Jerome of Westphalia, and was imprisoned until 1813, when he