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BLANCHE OF CASTILE. and Eleanor, daughter of Henry II. of England. She was married ilay 23, liOO, according to treaty, to Louis, heir apjiarent to the Crown of France. After the death of her husband in 1226, she was regent during the minority of her son, Louis IX. (q.v.), and as such she had to struggle against almost continuous revolts, and succeeded in suppressing a formidable conspiracy of the nobles. She acquired Toulouse by treaty, and compelled the submission of the Duke of Brittany. Possessed of remarkable executive talent, she supervised personally all the depart- ments of government, not excepting the army. She married her son to Margaret of Provence in 12.34, and when she resigned her office two years later, she left France in a most flourishing condi- tion. From 1248 to 1252 Blanche again acted as regent while Louis was gone on a crusade. The common people of France rebelled against the heavy taxation necessitated by the large outlays of the King on his crusading expeditions; but she put them down with a strong hand ; and in spite of all these embarrassments successfully con- ducted the government of the realm. France lias seldom had so able a ruler, or one whose death was more universally lamented. She died in November, 1252. Consult: Petit-Dutaillis. Ktiide sur Ja vie et le regne de Louis VIII. (Paris, 1894) ; Berger, Eistoire de Blanche de Castille (Paris, 1895).

BLANCHE OF DEVAN. A character in Scott's poem. "The Lady of the Lake."

BLANCHET, blax'sha'. Joseph Goderick (lg-2y — I. A Canadian statesman. He was born at Saint Pierre, studied at the Quebec Seminary, and graduated at the College of Saint Anne as a physician. During the Saint Albans and Fenian raids of 1864 and 1866-70. he commanded a battalion of volunteer infantry. He was speaker of the Provincial Legislature for seven years, and mayor of the town of Levis. On account of the law" on dual representation, he resigned his seat in the Canadian Assembly, to which he had been elected in 1861. but retained his seat in the Quebec Assembly imtil his defeat in 1875. In politics he is a "Liberal Conservative.

BLANCH FEE, or BLANCH HOLDING (Fr. blanc, white; referring to the payment in white metal, that is, silver). One of the ancient feudal tenures in the land law of Scotland, the duty payable to the superior, or lord, being in general a trifling sum expressed in silver instead of gold, or merely illusory, as a peppercorn, "if asked only," although it may happen that the duty is of gi-eater value. Anciently, many estates in Scotland were held, both of the Crown and ether superiors, by this tenure, but it now seldom appears in the grant of an original right of property. See FErD.LISM; TENURE.

BLANCHING (Fr. blnnchir, to make white, from (//aiic, white; ci. Y.ti'^. hlaiik) . A process by which gardeners arrest the formation of chloro- phyll and certain secretions in plants by the exclusion of light, thus dojiriving the leaves of much of their color and bitterness and making them more palatable. Celery and sea-kale are familiar examples. Blanching is generally ef- fected by heaping earth or litter about the parts to be blanched, tying heavy paper about the plant, covering with bo.xes or pots perforated at the top, etc. See Culokophyll.

BLANCO, bliin'ko. Cape. See Cape Blanco. BLANCO. GuzmAn. See Guzman Blanco.

BLANCO, Jost Felix (1782-1872). A Venezuelan patriot, born at Car.leas. lie was ordained as a priest in 1801, but nevertheless took an active part in the movement for Vene- zuelan independence, and became chaplain in the Revolutionary Army. In 1818 his favorable report upon the possibilities of the campaign induced Bolivar to invade Xew Granada, in 1830 Blanco was made brigadier, and after the separation of Venezuela from Colombia, became, succe.ssively. Governor of ilaracaibo, Jlinister of War (1837), and Minister of Finance (1854). The fall of ilonagas forced him to retire, and lie returned to the Church. The best years of his life were spent in preparation of his work, in 16 volumes, Documentos para la historia de la vida publica del Libertador de Colombia, Peru, y Bolivia, published posthumously in CarScas in 1877.

BLAND, Edith Nesbit (1858 — ). An English poet. She was born in London, August 15, 1858. and educated in London and on the Continent. She married Hubert Bland in 1879. She has published a large body of beautiful verse and several delightful children's books and stories. Her poem on the Queen (1901) was by far the best occasioned by the death of Victoria. Among her publications are Lays and Legends (1st series, 1886; 2d series, 1892); Leares of Life (1888); A Pomander of Verse (1895); In Homespun (1890); Songs of Love and Empire (1897); Giim Tales (1893); The Story of the Treasure-Seekers (1899); Pussy and Doygy Tales (1899) ; The Book of Dragons (1900)."

BLAND, (1835-99). An American legislator, bom near Hartford. Ky. He emigrated to ilissouri, thence to California, and from California to Utah Territory, where in 1860 he was admitted to the bar. Having re- turned to Missouri, he there continued the prac- tice of law, and in 1872 was elected as a Demo- crat to the National House of Representatives, in which he served until 1895, and from 1897 until his death. As a Congressman he is best known for his connection with the free-silver movement. In the Forty-third Congress he stoutly opposed the bill for the demonetization of silver," afterwards styled by him 'the crime of '73.' He voted in "l874 for the bill, vetoed by President Cirant, for the increase of green- back circulation, and in 1878 introduced a bill which, as amended by the Senate and passed over the veto of President Hayes, provided for the coinage of not less than $2,"000.000 nor more than $4,000,000 worth of silver bullion a month, and continued in force until repealed by the passage of the Sherman Law in 1890. In 1893 he was chairman of the House committee on coinage, weights, and measures, and in 1896 was indorsed by the State of Missouri as Democratic candidate "for the Presidency, a'nd received 291 votes in the National Convention at Chicago. Consult V. V. Byars, .-In American Commoner: The Life and Times of It. Parks Bland (Colum- bia, Mo., 1900). See Bimetallism.

BLAND, TiiEODOKic (1742-90). An American patriot and author. He was bom in Prince George County, Va., was educated in medicine in Edinburgh, and practiced in Virginia. On the approach of the Revolution he took an active part