Puslapio vaizdai
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have their name. These feem not to breed with us; but appear in our rivers only at certain feafons, when there have been very violent N. winds. This fifh is feldom found fingle; fo that the fishermen rejoice at the taking one of them, expecting a large fhoal of them near.

BLEW-HOUSE, a village in Middlesex, W. of Endfield-Chase.

BLEYDON, a village in Somersetshire, near Up-hill.

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(1.) BLEYME. n.f. An inflammation in the foot of a horfe, between the fole and the bone. Farrier's Dist.

(2.) BLEYMES are of 3 forts; the first, bred in fpoiled wrinkled feet with narrow heels, are ufually feated in the inward or weakeft quarter; the ad infects the griftle, and must be extirpated, as in the cure of a quitter-bone: the 3d is occafioned by fmall ftones and gravel between the fioe and the fole.-For a cure, pare the foot, let out the matter, if any, and drefs the fore, like the prick of a nail.

BLIBOROUGH, a town in Lincolnshire, S. of

which may be of as eminent ufe in experimental philofophy, as the magnetic compafs is in navigation. The natural and ipontaneous direction of metallic emanations towards the W. being afcertained, it only remains to render them palpable, by the construction of an inftrument, which may be fubftituted in the place of the electrometrical twig, that goes vulgarly by the name of the divising rod. His analysis of the hot fprings of Bourbon-Lancy, to the fource of which, in the great mountains of Burgundy, he was led by the electrical fenfations of Bleton, fhows the great intelligence and fagacity of M. Thouvenel in operations of this nature. He found the origin of thefe famous hot fprings in the centre of an oblong rifing ground, full of coal, and commanded on 3 fides by a group of mountains, of which the greateft part was filled with the fame mineral. From a particular case, in which the electrical rays of the fubterraneous water and thofe of the adjacent coal cruffed each other, he deduces a very natural account of the errors which may fometimes, though rarely, mislead for a time the greateft adepts in Bletonifm, when they find themfelves in combined Spheres of electrical activity. Another observation, which feems confirmed by several facts, accounts farther for this fallibility: the obfervation is, that electrical rays, whether direct or collateral, iffuing from fubterranean focufes, feem to undergo, in certain cafes, a fort of refraction as they pafs from Che medium to another, or traverse bodies which differ with refpect to the property of tranfmitting this electricity. It follows from thefe obfervations, that when fuch privileged inveftigators of currents or minerals as Bieton are placed upon the electricai spheres of these bodies, they will indicate their fruation and their refpective depths, according to the impreffions they feel within themfelves, or the otions they obferve in the electrometrical inftruTents which they employ: and if they meet with and accidental caufes, or complications of ekened fpheres, which modify or alter thefe methods of trial, this will neceffarily occafion miftakes the refults of their operations which they may probably rectify; but which, at all events, it would be ujo to lay to their charge, or alledge as an Cetion against the reality of their talent.

BLETONIST, a perfon endued with powers fiziar to thofe of Mr Bleton. See laft article. BLETSOE, a village in Bedfordshire, on the Ofe, between Bedford and Odehill. It has a

fer, May 19.

ELETUS, [6,] in the ancient phyfic, a perfeviste fide, by reafon of fome internal inflam. mation, as a pleurify or peripneumony, turns back or livid-fpotted, chiefly after death.

7: BLEVE, or v. n. obf. [bleiben, Teut.] To
T BLEVIN, Sabide; to tarry. Chauc.
(1.) BLEW, adj. See BLUE.

BLEW. The preterite from blow.-The re fed into a strong tower, where, feeing no remedy, they defperately blew up themselves, with great part of the caftle, with gunpowder. Knolles. BLEWBERRY, a village in Berkshire, near Wallingford.

BLEW-CAP, an English name for a peculiar fpecies of fifh of the falmon kind, diftinguifhed by abroad blue fpot on the he, from whence they

VOL. IV. PART I.

Kirton.

BLICCA, in ichthyology, a fpecies of cyprinus. Sce BALLERUS, N° 2, and CYPRINUS.

BLICEA, in ichthyology, 1. the name of a small fifh of the harengiform kind, caught in the German and other feas, and fuppofed by many to be the fame with our fprat. 2. It is alfo the name of a fresh-water fith of the malacoftumous, or leathermouthed kind, the fame with the more common kind of carcaffius. 3. It is alfo the name of an E. India fish, of the fhape and colour of the herring, but fomewhat broader and thinner. Its tail is forked; but its eyes and the end of its fout are extremely large. Thefe fith fwim in vaft fhoals, and are caught principally on the coaft of Malabar. They are well tafted, but have no taste of a herring. They take falt, which fearce any other of the Eaft India fish will do, and are therefore much valued, and fent into all the neighbouring parts of the country in pickle. The natives alfo, in manuring the lands whereon they fow their rice, use thefe fish, which are caught in prodigious plenty, inftead of dung.

BLICKLING, a village in Norfolkshire, near Alefham.

BLIDESLOW, or BLILESLOW, a village in Gloucefterfire, near Awre.

BLIEGG, in ichthyology, a name given by the Germans to the BLEAK.

(1.) * BLIGHT.n.f. [The etymology unknown.J 1. Mildew; according to Skinner; but it feems taken by moft writers, in a general fenfe, for any caufe of the failure of fruits.-I complained to the oldeft and beft gardeners, who often fell into the fame misfortune, and efteemed it fome blight of the fpring. Temple. 2. Any thing nipping, or blafting. When you come to the proof once, the first blight of froft fhall moft infallibly strip you of all your glory. L'Eftrange.

(2.) BLIGHT, in husbandry, a disease incident to plants, which affects them varioufly, the whole plant fometimes perifhing by it, and fometimes only the leaves and blofloms, which will be scorched and fhrivelled up, the reit remaining green and flourishing. Some have fuppofed that blights are

D

ufually

ufually produced by an eafterly wind, bringing vast quantities of infects eggs along with it, from fome diftant place; and that thefe, being lodged upon the furface of the leaves and flowers of fruit trees, cause them to fhrivel up and perish. To cure this diftemper, they advife the burning of wet litter on the windward fide of the plants, that the smoke thereof may be carried to them by the wind, which they fuppofe will ftifle and deftroy the infects, and thereby cure the diftemper. Others direct the ufe of tobacco duft, or to wash the trees with water wherein tobacco ftalks have been infufed for 12 hours; which they fay will deftroy thofe infects, and recover the plants. Pepper duft scattered over the bloffoms of fruit trees, &c. has been recommended as very ufeful in this cafe; and there are fome that advife the pulling off the leaves that are diftempered. The true caufe of blights feem to be continued dry easterly winds for feveral days together, without the intervention of showers, or any morning dew, by which the perfpiration in the tender bloffom is flopped; and if it fo happens that there is a long continuance of the fame weather, it equally affects the tender leaves, whereby their colour is changed, and they wither and decay. The beft remedy for this diftemper, is to wall and fprinkle gently over the tree, &c. from time to time with common water; and if the young fhoots feem to be much infected, let them be washed with a woollen cloth, fo as to clear them, if poffible, from this glutinous matter, that their refpiration and perfpiration may not be obstructed. This operation ought to be performed early in the day, that the moisture may be exhaled before the cold of the night comes on: nor fhould it be done when the fun fhines very hot. Another caufe of blights in fpring is fharp hoary frofts, which are often fucceeded by hot funfhine in the day time. Thefe are the moft fudden and certain deftroyers of the fruits that are known.

To BLIGHT. v. a. [from the noun.] 1. To corrupt with mildew.--This vapour bears up along with it any noxious mineral fteams; it then blafts vegetables, blights corn and fruit, and is fometimes injurious even to men. Woodward. 2. In general, to blaft; to hinder from fertility.-My country neighbours do not find it impofible to think of a lame horfe they have, or their blighted corn, till they have run over in their minds all beings. Locke.

But left harsh care the lover's peace deftroy, And roughly blight the tender buds of joy, Let reafon teach.

Lyttelton.

BLIGHTED CORN. See SMUT. BLIKE, in ichthyology, a name given by fome to an anadromous fith, refembling our river chub, and called by Gefner capito anadromus; but better known by the name of ZARTA, or the ZERTE. BLILESLOW. See BLIDESLOW. BLIMHILL, a village in Staffordshire, W. of Penkridge.

To BLIN, . . obf. To cafe. Spenfer. (1.) BLIND. adj. blind, Sax.] 1. Without fight; wanting the fenfe of feeing; dark.-The blind man that governs his fteps by feeling, in defect of eyes, receives advertisements of things through a staff. Digby

Thofe other two equall'd with me in fate, So were I equall'd with them in renown! Blind Thamyris, and blind Mæonides; And Terefias, and Phineas, prophets old. Milt. 2. Intellectually dark; unable to judge; ignorant : with to before that which is unfeen.

3.

All authors to their own defects are blind; Hadft thou, but Janus like, a face behind, To fee the people, what fplay mouths they make; To mark their fingers pointed at thy back. Dryden.

Sometimes of.—

Bind of the future, and by rage misled, He pulls his crimes upon his people's head. Dryden. 4. Unfeen; out of the publick view; private: generally with fome tendency to fome contempt or cenfure.-To grievous and fcandalous inconve niencies they make themselves fubject, with whom any blind or fecret corner is judged a fit houfe of common prayer. Hooker. 5. Not eafily difcernible; hard to find; dark; obfcure; unseen.There be alfo blind fires under ftone, which flame not out; but oil being poured upon them, they flame out. Bacon.

Where elfe

Shall I inform my unacquainted fect

In the blind mazes of this tangl'd wood? Milt. How have we wander'd a long dismal night, Led through blind paths by each deluding light. Rofcommon.

Part creeping under ground, their journey blind,

And climbing from below, their fellows meet. Dryden.

So mariners mistake the promis'd guft, And, with full fails, on the blind rocks are loft.

Dryden. A postern door, yet unobferv'd and free, Join'd by the length of a blind gallery, To the king's clofet bed. Dryden. 6. Blind Veffels. [with chymifts.] Such as have no opening but on one fide.

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(2.) BLIND. n. f. 1. Something to hinder the fight.-Hardly any thing in our converfation is pure and genuine; civility cafts a blind over the duty, under fome customary words. L'Eftrange. 2. Something to mislead the eye or the underftanding.-Thefe difcourfes fet an oppofition between his commands and decrees; making the one a blind for the execution of the other. Decay of Piety.

(3.) BLIND, an epithet applied to a perfon or fenitive creature deprived of the ufe of his eyes; or, in other words, to one from whom light, colours, and all the glorious variety of the vifible creation, are intercepted by fome natural or accidental difeafe. Such is the literal acceptation of the term; but it is likewife ufed in a metaphorical fenfe, (fee § 1. def. 2.) and frequently implies, at the fame time, fome moral or ipiritual depravity in the foul thus blinded, which is either the efficient or continuing caufe of this internal malady. Yet, even in metaphor, the epithet is fometimes applied to a fpecies of ignorance, which nei ther involves the idea of real guilt nor of voluntary error. It is, however, our prefent intention to confider the word, not in its figurative, but in its

natural

tracted powers of perception can give them no

intelligence. All the various modes of delicate

proportion, all the beautiful varieties of light and

colours, exhibited in the works of nature and art,

are to them irretrievably loft. Dependent for e-

very thing, but mere exiftence, on the good of-

fices of others; obnoxious to injury from every

point, which they are neither capacitated to per-

ceive nor qualified to refift; they are, during the

prefent state of being, rather prifoners at large,

than citizens of nature. The fedentary life, to

which by privation of fight they are deftined,

relaxes their frame, and fubjects them to all the

difagreeable fenfations which arife from dejection

of fpirits. Hence the most feeble exertions create

laffitude and uneafinefs. Hence the native tone of

the nervous system, compatible with health and plea-

fure, being deftroyed by inactivity, exafperates and

embitters every difagreeable impreflion. Natural

evils, however, are fupportable; being either mild

in their attacks, or fhort in their duration: the mi-

feries inflicted by confcious and reflecting agents

alone deferve the name of evils. Thefe excruciate

the foul with ineffable poignancy, as expreftive of

indifference or malignity in thofe by whom fuch

bitter portions are cruelly adminiftered. The ne-

gligence or wantonnefs, therefore, with which the

blind are too frequently treated, is an enormity

which God alone has juftice or power to punish.

Thofe amongst them who have had fenfibility-

to feel, and capacity to exprefs, the effects of

their misfortunes, have defcribed them in a man-

ner capable of penetrating the mott callous heart.

Homer, who, in the perfon of Demodocus the

Phæatian bard, is faid to have defcribed his own

fituation, proceeds thus:

ODYS,

(4.) BLIND, ACCOUNT OF THE DISTRESSED
SITUATION OF THE. There is not perhaps any
feafe or faculty of the corporeal frame, which af-
funds to many fources of utility and entertainment
as the power of vition; nor is there any privation
which can be productive of difadvantages fo vari-
ous, and fo bitter, as the want of fight. By no
avenue of corporeal perception is knowledge in
her full extent, fo acceffible to the rational foul,
as by the glorious and delightful medium of light.
For this not only reveals external things in all their
beauties, and varieties, but enables the mind to give
body, form, and colour, to intellectual ideas; fe
that the whole material and intelligent creation lie
open, and the majeftic frame of nature is perceived
at a glance. To the blind, on the contrary, the vi-
fiole univerfe is totally annihilated; he has not e-
ve any diftinct idea of space, except that in which
be tards, or to which is extremities can reach.
Sound, indeed, gives him fome ideas of diftant ob-
jects; but these ideas are extremely obfcure and
indiftinct. They are obfcure, because they con-
fift alone of the objects whofe ofcillations vibrate
on bis ear, and do not neceffarily fuppofe any o-
ther bodies with which the intermediate space may
be occupied; they are indiftinct, because founds
tives are frequently ambiguous, and do not
formly indicate their real caufes. And though
by them the idea of diftance in general, or even
of fome particular diftances, may be obtained;
yet they never fill the mind with thofe vaft and
exalting ideas of extenfion, which are infpired by
ocular perception. For though a clap of thunder,
or an explotion of ordnance, may be diftinctly
heard after the found has traverfed an immenfe
tion of Ipace; yet, when the diftance is uncom-
only great, it ceafes to be indicated by found;
and therefore the ideas, acquired by auricular ex-
pement, of extenfion and interval, are extreme-
confufed and inadequate. The comprehensive
tarts its inftantaneous glance over extenfive
ale, lofty mountains, protracted rivers, illimit-
abic oceans. It views in an inftant, the mighty
space from earth to heaven, or from one star to
another. By the affiftance of telescopes, its pow- And in his tragedy of Sampfon Agoniftes, in the
er is aimoft infinitely extended, its objects prodigi-
eally multiplied, and the sphere of its obfervation perfon of his hero, he deplores the misfortune of
merfly enlarged. Thus the imagination, in- blindness with great pathos and energy.
ared to vast impreffions of diftance, can not only
recal them in their greateft extent, with as much
rapidity as they were at firft imbibed; but can
multiply them, and add one to another, till all parti-
cular boundaries and distances be lost in immenfity.
The blind are apprehenfive of danger in every
motion towards any place, from whence their con-

Τον περί Μεσ' επιλησε, διον δ' αγαθον τε, κακον τε
Οφθαλμων μεν αμέραι είδα δ' ηδείαν αοιδην.
Dear to the mufe, who gave his days to flow
With mighty bleffings mix'd with mighty woe,
In clouds and darkness quench'd his vifual ray,
Yet gave him power to raise the lofty lay. POPE.

Our ancient Caledonian bard, Offian, who in his

old age participated the fame calamity, has alfo

in more than one paffage of his works, defcribed

his fituation in a manner equally delicate and pa-

thetic. And Milton complains, (Par. Loft, B. iii.)

“With the year

Seasons return; but not to me returns

Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn,

Or fight of vernal bloom, or summer's rofe,

Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;

But cloud inftead, and ever during dark,

Surround me, from the chearful ways of men

Cut off," &c.

-But chief of all,

O lofs of fight, of thee I moft complain!
Blind among enemies, O worse than chains,
Dungeon, or beggary, decrepid age.
Light, the prime work of God, to me's ex-
tinct,

And all her various objects of delight

D 2

Annull'd, which might in part my grief have eas'd,

Inferior to the vileft now become

Of man or worm. The vileft here excel me:
They creep, yet see.---

Ecarce half I feem to live, dead more than half
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noun,
Irrecoverably dark, total ecliple
Without all hope of day!

Since light fo neceffary is to life,

And almoft life itself, why was the fight
To fuch a tender ball as th' eye confin'd,
So obvious, and eafy to be quench'd?
And not, as feeling, through all parts diffus'd,
That he might look at will thro' ev'ry pore?
Then had I not been thus exil'd from light,
As in the land of darknefs, yet in light
To live a life half dead, a living death;
And buried; but yet more miferable!
Myfelf the fepulchre, a moving grave.

Thus dependent on every creature, and paffive to every accident, can we be furprised, to obferve moments when the blind are at variance with themfelves and every thing elfe around them? With the fame instincts of felf-prefervation, the fame irafcible paffions which are common to the fpecies, and exafperated by a fenfe of debility either for retaliation or defence; can the blind be really objects of refentment or contempt, even when they feem peevish or vindictive? This, however, is not always their character. Their behaviour is often highly expreffive, not only of refignation, but even of cheerfulness; and though they are often coldly, and even inhumanly, treated by men, yet they are rarely, if ever, forfaken of heaven. The common Parent of nature, whofe benignity is permanent as his exiftence, and boundless as his empire, has neither left his afflicted creatures without confolation nor resource. See $5.

(5.) BLIND, ADVANTAGES ENJOYED BY THE. The blind often derive advantages even from their lofs, however oppreffive and irretrievable; not indeed adequate to compenfate, but fufficient to alleviate their mifery. The attention of the foul, confined to thefe avenues of perception which the can command, is neither diffipated nor confounded, by the immenfe multiplicity, nor the rapid fucceffion of furrounding objects. Hence her contemplations are more uniformly fixed upon the revolutions of her own internal frame. Hence her perceptions of fuch external things, as are contiguous and obvious to her obfervation, become more exquifite. Hence even her inftruments of corporeal fenfation are more affiduoufly improved; fo that from them the derives fuch notices of approaching pleature, or impending dan ger, as entirely efcape the attention of thofe who depend for fecurity on the reports of their eyes. A blind man, when walking fwiftly, or running, is kindly checked by nature from rudely encountering fuch hard and extended object's as might hurt or bruife him. When he approaches bodies of this kind, he feels the atmosphere more fenfibly refift his progrefs; and in proportion as his motion is accelerated, or his diftance from the object diminished, the refiftance is increased. He diftinguishes the approach of his friend by the

found of his fteps, by his manner of breathing, and almoft by every audible token which he can exhibit. Prepared for the dangers which he may encounter, from the furface of the ground upen which he walks, his ftep is habitually firm ard cautious. Hence he not only avoids thofe falls, which might be occafioned by its lefs formidable inequalities, but from its general bias he collects fome ideas, how far his fafety is immediately concerned; and though thefe conjectures may le fometimes fallacious, yet they are generally fo true, as to preferve him from fuch accidents as are not incurred by his own temerity. The rapid torrent and the deep cafcade not only warn him to keep a proper distance, but inform him in what direc tion he moves, and are a kind of audible synofures to regulate his courfe. In places to which he has been accuftomed, he as it were recognifes his latitude and longitude, from every breath of varied fragrance that tinges the gale, from every afcent or declivity in the road, from every natural or artificial found that ftrikes his ear; if thefe indications be ftationary, and confined to particular places. Regulated by thefe figns, the blind have not only been known to perform long journeys themfelves, but even to conduct others through dangerous paths at midnight, with the utmost fecurity and exactnefs. See § 11. It would be endlefs to recapitulate the various mechanical operations of which they are capable, by their nicety and accuracy of touch. In fome the tactile powers are faid to have been fo highly improved, as to perceive that texture and difpofition of coloured furfaces, by which fome rays of light are reflected and others abforbed, and in this manner to distinguifh colours. But the teftimonies for this fact itill appear too vague and general to deferve public credit. A perfon who loft the ufe of his fight at an early period of infancy, who in the vivacity or delicacy of his fenfations was not perhaps inferior to any one, and who had often heard of others in his fituation capable of diftinguifhing colours by touch, ftimulated, partly by curiofity to acquire a new train of ideas, if poffble, but ftill more by incredulity with refpect to the facts related, tried repeated experiments, by touching the furfaces of different bodies, and examining whether any fuch diverfities could be found in them, as might enable him to diftinguish colours; but no fuch diverfity could he ever afcertain. Sometimes, indeed, he imagined that ofjects which had no colour, or, in other words, fuch as were black, were fomewhat different and peculiar in their furfaces; but this experiment did not always hold. (See however § 13 & 14) That their acoustic perceptions are diftinct and accurate, we may fairly conclude from the rapidity with which they afcertain the acutenefs or gravi ty of different tones, and from their exact difcernment of the various modifications of found, and of fonorous objects, if the founds themfelves be in any degree fignificant of their caufes. From this accuracy of external fenfation, and from the afliduous and vigorous applications of a comprohenfive and attentive mind alone, we are able to account for the rapid and aftonishing progress which fome of them have made, not only in thofe departments of literature, which were most obvi

ous

ous to their fenfes, and acceffible to their under findings, but even in the most abstract sciences. What, for inftance, can be more remote from the conceptions of a blind man, than the abstract relations and properties of space and quantity? Yet the incomprehenfible attainments of Dr Saunderfon in all the branches of mathematics are now fully known and firmly believed by the whole litery world, both from the teftimony of his pups and the publication of his works. But fhould the fact be still deemed uncertain, it might be ve rified by a living prodigy of this kind, with which cur country is at prefent honoured; who, though bind from his infancy, by the affiduity of his ap. plication, and by the force of a genius to which thing is impenetrable, has not only made incredible advances in mechanical operations, in mufic, and in the languages; but is likewife profound ly skied in geometry, in algebra, in aftronomy, in chemistry, and in all the other branches of natural philofophy, as taught by Newton, and received by an admiring world, even aptics not excepted. Sce § 7.

(6.) BLIND, A PHENOMENON RESPECTING THE, NOT ACCOUNTED FOR. When we ruminate on the numberless advantages derived from the ufe of fight, and its immenfe importance, in extending the human capacity, and improving every faculty of the mind, we might be tempted to doubt the reports concerning fuch perfons as, without the affiftance of light, have arrived at high degrees of eminence even in thofe fciences which appear abfolutely unattainable but by the interpofition of external mediums. It has, however, been de monftrated by the late ingenious Dr Reid, that blind men, by proper inftruction, are fufceptible of almost every idea, and every truth which can be impreffed on the mind by the mediation of light and colours, except the fenfations of light and colours themselves." (Inquiry into the Human Mind. vi. 1, 2.) Yet there is one phenomenon of this kind, which feems to have escaped the attention of that great philofopher, and for which no author has offered any tolerable reafon, though it certainly merits the attention of a philofopher. For though we should admit, that the blind can understand with great perfpicuity all the phenometa of light and colours; though it were allow ed, that on thefe fubjects they might extend their fpeculations beyond their inftructions, and inveftgate the mechanical principles of optics by the tre force of genius and application, from the data which they have already obtained; yet it will beccult, if not impoffible, to affign any reahy thefe objects fhould be more interefting to a bod man, than any other abftract truths whatever. It is poffible for the blind, by a retive memory, to tell, That the sky is an azure; that the fun, moon, and stars, are bright; that the refe is red, the lily white or yellow, and the tup variegated. By continually hearing thefe stantives and adjectives joined, he may be meatically taught to join them in the fame maner; but as he never had any fenfation of colour, borever accurately he may fpeak of coloured objets, his language muft be like that of a parrot; without meaning, and without ideas. Homer, Milton, and Offian, had been long acquainted with

the visible world, before they were surrounded with clouds and ever-during darkness. They might, therefore, ftill retain the pleafing impreffions of what they had feen. Their descriptions might be animated with all the rapture and enthufiafm, which originally fired their bofoms, when the grand or delightful objects which they delineated were immediately beheld. Nay, that enthufiafin might ftill be heightened by a bitter fenfe of their lofs, and by that regret which a fituation fo difmal might naturally inspire. Bɩt how fhall we account for the fame energy, the fame tranfport of defcription, exhibited by thofe on whofe minds vifible objects were either never impressed, or have been entirely obliterated? Yet, however unaccountable this fact may appear, it is no lefs extraordinary than true. See the Preface to Blacklock's Poems, written by G. G. Efq. and printed at Edinburgh in 1754; or the account cr his life and writings by the Rev. Mr Spence, prefixed to a 4to edition of his poems, published at London in 1756. A foreign author, a ftranger to the Dr, fays, "Blacklock will appear to pofteri→ ty a fabulous character: even now he is a prodi gy." See BLACKLOCK.

(7.) BLIND, ASTONISHING ACQUISITIONS MADE BY SOME OF THE. Dr Nicolas Bacon, a blind gentleman, defcended from the same family with the celebrated lord Verulam, was, in the city of Bruffels, with high approbation created LL. D. He was deprived of fight at 9 years of age by an arrow from a cross-bow whilft he was attempting to fhoot it. When he had recovered his health, which had fuffered by the shock, he pursued the same plan of education in which he had been engaged: and having heard that one Nicafius de Vourde, born blind, who lived towards the end of the 15th century, after having distinguifhed himself by his ftudies in the university of Louvain, took his degree as D. D. in that of Cologne, he refolved to make the fame attempt. But the public, curfed with prejudices for which the meaneft fenfitive nature might blufh, prejudices equally beneath the brutality and ignorance of the loweft animal inftinct, treated his intention with ridicule; even the profeffors themselves were not far from being of the fame fentiment; and they admitted him into their schools, rather from an impreflion that it might amufe him, than become of any ufe to him. He had the good for tune, however, contrary to their expectations, to obtain the first places among his condifciples. It was then faid, that fuch rapid advances might be made in the preliminary branches of his education; but would foon be effectually checked by ftudies of a more profound and abstracted nature. This, it feems, was repeated from fchool to fchool, through the whole climax of his pursuits; and when, in the courfe of academical learning, it became neceffary to ftudy poetry, it was the general voice that all was over, and at length he had reached his ne plus ultra. But here he likewife difappointed their prejudices, and taught them the immenfe difference between blindnefs of body and blindnefs of foul. After continuing his ftudies in learning and philofophy for two years more, he applied himself to law, took his degree in that fcience, commenced pleading counsellor

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