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
