1863 he raised the 17th battalion of vohinteer in- fantry, and became its lieutenant-colonel. He was elected president of the " Cercle de Quebec " in 1871 ; president of the Levis and Kennebec rail- way in 1873 ; and in 1873 was appointed a member of the Catholic section of the council of public instruction for the province of Quebec. After the St. Albans raid in 1864 he was in command of a battalion on the frontier, and commanded the force on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, {Quebec district, during the Fenian raid in 1866, and again in 1870. He was elected to the provin- cial legislature, and chosen speaker, in which ca- pacity he officiated from the meeting of the first par- liament after the union in 1867 until the dissolution of the second parliament in 1875. He was mayor of the town of Levis for six years, and a representa- tive in the Canadian assembly from 1861 till 1874, when he resigned his seat in that body (in conse- quence of the operation of the act respecting dual representation) in order to remain in the Quebec assembly, to which he had been first elected in 1867 anil in which he continued until 1875, when he was defeated. On 23 Nov., 1875, he was re- turned for Bellechasse, which he represented until 1878, when he was re-elected for Levis. He was a liberal-conservative.
BLANCO, Núñez Vela, Spanish viceroy of
Peru in 1543, during the great troubles among
Gonzalo Pizarro, Vaca de Castro, Carvajal, and
others. The viceroy tried to leave the country
several times, and finally fell in one of the battles
fought by the insurgents against each other.
BLAND, Richard, statesman, b. in Virginia, 6
May, 1710; d. in Williainsburg, Va., 26 Oct., 1776.
He was educated at William and Mary college and
at the University of Edinburgh. In 1745 he was
elected to the house of burgesses and became one
of its most distinguished members. He opposed
the stamp act in 1764, and served on the commit-
tee to memorialize the king, lords, and commons.
In 1768 he was one of the committee appointed to
remonstrate with parliament on the subject of
taxation. After the dissolution of the house in
the following year he was among the first to
sign the non-importation agreement proposed
at the subsequent meeting held at Raleigh tavern.
In 1773 he was a member of the committee of cor-
respondence, and in 1774 a delegate to congress.
He was re-elected in 1775, but declined the honor
on account of his advanced age. He was a fine
classical scholar, and had acquired the name of
" Virginia Antiquary " on account of his familiar-
ity with every part connected with the settlement
and progress of the colony. Moreover, he was ac-
cepted as an authority on all questions touching
the rights and privileges of the colony. Mr. Bland
published " A Letter to the Clergy on the Two-
penny Act" (1760); and An Inquiry into the
Rights of the British Colonies " (1766), which was
"the first tract written on that subject. — Richard's
nephew, Theodoric, soldier, b. in Prince George
CO., Va., 28 Jan., 1742 ; d. in New York city, 1 June,
1790. In 1753 he was sent to England, and, after
preliminary studies at Wakefield, he pursued the
academic and subsequently the medical course at
the University of Edinburgh. After being admitted
to the practice of medicine in England, he returned
to this country about 1764. Dr. Bland was one of
the number who petitioned the house of burgesses
to enact a law forbidding any person to practise
medicine in the colony without a proper license.
He was among those who removed from Lord Dun-
more's palace the arms and ammunition which that
official had abstracted from the public arsenal, and
he afterward published a series of bitterly indig-
nant letters against the governor, under the pen-
name of " Cassius." He continued active in his
profession until the beginning of the revolutionary
war, when he at once sided with the colonists and
became captain of the first troop of Virginia cav-
alry. After the enrolment of six companies he
joined the main army in 1777 as lieutenant-colonel.
Later he became colonel, and throughout the war
signalized himself as a vigilant and efficient officer,
enjoying the esteem and confidence of Gen. Wash-
ington. He especially distinguished himself at
the battle of Brandywine, and was placed in com-
mand of the prisoners taken at Saratoga, who were
marched to Charlottesville, Va. In 1779 he had
command of the troops at the AlVjemarle barracks
in Virginia. He served during the war for one
term in the Virginia senate, and later was elected
to the continental congress, serving from 1780 till
1783. He was also a member of the Virginia con-
vention of 1788 on the adoption of the federal con-
stitution, and was among those opposed to adop-
tion. Then he became representative from Virginia
to the first congress, taking his seat 30 March,
1789. His death occurred during the sessions of
congress, and he was the first member whose de-
cease was announced in that body. He was buried
in Trinity churchyard. See the " Memoir of The-
odoric Biand," in " The Bland Papers," collected
by Charles Campbell (Petersburg, 1840).
BLAND, Richard Parks, congressman, b. near
Hartford, Ky., 19 Aug., 1835 ; d. in Lebanon, Mo.,
15 June, 1899. He was an orphan, and worked dur-
ing the summer months in order to obtain means
with which to attend school in the winter. When
he became of age he taught, and so was enabled to
follow his academic studies. Later he studied law,
was admitted to the bar, and practised his profes-
sion. In 1855 he removed to Missouri, and then
westward to California. Subsequently he settled
in Virginia City, Nevada, where he became inter-
ested in various mining operations, and also de-
voted his attention to law. In 1860 he became
treasurer of Carson co., Nevada, and continued in
that office until the organization of the state gov-
ernment. In 1865 he returned to Missouri and
settled in Rolla, entering into a law partnership
with his brother C. C. Bland. In 1869 he removed
to Lebanon, where he followed his profession. In
1873 he was elected to congress from Missouri as
a democrat, and he has since been regularly re-
elected. He became in 1875 chairman of the com-
mittee on mines and mining, and introduced in
the 44th congress the well-known " Bland Bill,"
which provided that the secretary of the treasury
shall purchase sufficient bullion to coin the mini-
mum amount of .$2,000,000 a month in silver dol-
lars of 4124 grains each, and that these dollars
shall be legal tender.
BLASCO, Núñez, one of the Spanish conquer-
ors of America, b. in 1490. After making explora-
tions along the coasts of Darien, he discovered
near the gulf of Urabe an isthmus (Panama) sepa-
rating the two oceans, and had four fortresses built
there. He defeated the Indian caciques and at-
tempted to become the sovereign of that portion of
America, but was soon overcome by Spanish troops
and executed by order of King Ferdinand.
BLASHFIELD, Edwin Howland, painter, b. in New York, 15 Dec, 1848. lie was prepared to enter Harvard at the Boston Latin school, but during his course of study there developed a taste for art so pronounced that it was decided to send him
abroad. He studied and painted for ten years in Paris, and then, in pursuit of his profession, made
