BEDCHAMBER, LORDS OF THK. 



BEDSTEAD. 



SOth at September, 1787, at the commencement of the French revolu- 

 tion, and was intended to enforce upon the parliament of Paris the 

 adoption of the obnoxious taxes, which had been previously proposed 

 by Caknne at the Assembly of Notable*. But when the Duke of 

 Orion* inquired of the king whether it wan to be considered a Hi tic 

 jtutift or a deliberative consultation, the king replied that it waa a 

 royal sitting. (' Thiers,' Tol. i.) The edict*, however, were recorded, 

 though there wan much opposition. 



BEDCHAMBER, LORDS OF THE, are officers of the royal house- 

 hold, under the groom of the stole. The number of lords is twelve, 

 who wait a week each in turn ; queens regnant are attended by a like 

 number of ladies of the bedchamber, under a mistress of the robes. 

 The groom of the stole does not take his turn of duty, but attends on 

 all atate occasions. There are thirteen grooms of the bedchamber who 

 wait likewise in turn. All the appointments are in the royal nomina- 

 tion, and salaries are provided for all of them. 



The title of lords of the bedchamber appears to have been adopted 

 after the accession of the House of Hanover. They are first mentioned 

 by that title in Chambriiayne's ' State of England,' for 1718. 



BEDE-HOUSE, a term used for an alms-house. Hence bede-man, 

 or bekl-man, a person who resides in a bede-house, or is supported from 

 the funds appropriated for this purpose. In the Court of Exchequer 

 in Scotland, this term is used to denote that class of paupers who enjoy 

 the royal bounty. 



BEDESMAN, or BEEDMAN, from bede, a prayer, and that from 

 the Anglo-Saxon bifc-an, to pray, was a common mode of signature in 

 the time of Henry VIII. at the end of letters; as of a prayer-man, or 

 one who prayed for another. Sir Thomas More, in writing to Cardinal 

 Wolsey, ordinarily styles himself "Your humble orator and most 

 bounden beedman, Thomas More." (See Ellis s ' Orig. Letters illustr. 

 of English Hist.' first ser. vol. i.) Margaret Bryan, the governess of 

 the Lady Elizabeth, writing to Lord Cromwell, signs herself in the 

 same manner, " Your dayly bedc-teaman." (Ibid, second ser. vol. ii.) 



" Great men of old," says Mr. Knight in his ' Pictorial Shakspere ' 

 illustrations of ' Two Gentlemen of Verona,' " did not wholly depend 

 upon the efficacy of the prayers for their welfare which proceeded 

 from the expectation or gratitude of their suitors. They had regularly 

 appointed bedesmen, who were paid to weary Heaven with their sup- 

 plications. It is to this practice that Shakspere alludes, in the speech 

 of Scroop to Richard II. : 



" Thy very bedesmen learn to bend their bowi 

 Of double fatal yew against thy Btate." 



Colleges of bedesmen were also founded ; and in Scotland the insti- 

 tution, in a modified way, continued, till a comparatively recent period. 

 Scott's Edie Ochiltree, in ' The Antiquary,' was one of the king's bedes- 

 men, who were expected " to pray for the royal welfare and that of the 

 -TV-. ' 



BEDLAM, a corruption of Bethlehem, the name of a religious house 

 in London, which, subsequently to the dissolution of monasteries, was 

 converted into an hospital for lunatics, but still retained its former 

 appellation. It was granted by Henry VIII., in 1547, with all its 

 revenues, to the mayor, commonalty, and citizens of London, from 

 which time only it became an hospital for the care of lunatics. In the 

 infant state of this charity no other provision was made for the unfor- 

 tunate patient*, besides confinement and medical relief; it was left for 

 the judicious benevolence of succeeding times to improve the good 

 work, and to supply the subsistence and care which has restored so 

 many distracted objects to their families and to society. There is no 

 account of donations received for this institution before the year 1632. 

 A New Hospital of Bethlehem, as it was then termed, was begun to be 

 built in April, 1675, upon a plot of ground near London Wall ; ami 

 this has since given way to a fitter building for its purpose, erected 

 in 1814, upon a distant, but more commodious spot, but since greatly 

 enlarged and improved. The Hospital of St. Mary Bethlem now 

 stands upon the other side of the Thames, in the parish of Lambeth. 



[LtTKATlC ASTLCM.] 



BEDLAM BEGGARS was the ancient name for such patients of 

 the Hospital of Bethlehem, after it became a lunatic asylum, as, being 

 partially cured, were allowed to go at large ; and also for impostors 

 who personated the character. Edgar, in ' King Lear,' act ii. scene iii. 

 when ntmmlrg the character of Poor Tom, says 



" The country gtrn me proof and precedent 

 Of btilam kfffan, who, with roaring voice*, 

 Strike In their numb'd and mortified bare trau 

 Plat, wooden prlclu, nailn, iprign of rosemary," &c. 



Aubrey, in his 'Remains of Gentilisme,' an unpublished work, pre 

 servad among the Law-down manuscripts in the British Museum 

 part iii. fol. 284 b., tells us, " Till the breaking out of the civil wars 

 Tom <>' Bedlams did travel about the country. They had been poo 

 distracted men, that had been put into Bedlam, where, recovering som 

 oberneM, they were licentiated to go a-begging ; t. c., they had on 

 their left arm an arm ilia, an iron ring for the arm, about four inches 

 long, as printed in some works. They could not get it off; they wore 

 about their necks a great horn of an ox in a string or bawdry (baldrick 

 which, when they came to a house, they did wind, and they -lid pu 

 the drink given to them into the horn, wherein they put a stopple 



inco the wars, I do not remember to have seen any one of them." 

 'he ox-horn for holding their drink explains Edgar's speech (' Lear,' 



act iii. so. 6), " Poor Tom, thy horn is dry." 



BEDSTEAD. Bedsteads for domestic use, of whatever form, are 



most commonly made of wood, and of somewhat massive conrtm 

 ut the much smaller space occupied by light bedsteads of iron and 

 raas, their consequent superiority in favouring that free ventilation 



which is so important to health, and the great advantage which they 

 omega in not harbouring vermin, have led to their extensive intr- 

 luction of late years in the dormitories of barracks, hospitals, and 

 tlier public establishments ; while their elegant lightness, and the 

 acility with which they may be taken to pieces, packed in a small 



:ompass, and put together in a short time, recommend them strongly 

 or camp and travelling use, as well as, in many cases, for articles of 

 lousehold furniture. 



Another claw of bedsteads which claims notice, comprises those 

 ngenious contrivances which have been devised for the comfort of 

 nvalids, and to facilitate the necessary surgical operations upon 

 >atieuts with fractured limbs, or such as have wounds requiring 

 rcquent dressing and careful shielding from the injuries incidental to 



even the most careful removal.pf the body. By means of such iiiven- 

 ions several of which, having been proved by experience to be 

 fficient, have been rewarded by the Society of Arts the posit i- 

 , bed-ridden patient may be varied in many ways, with little or no 

 ixcrtion to himself, and the offices of the attendant and the surgeon 



may be performed with the greatest possible facility. Even these, 

 lowever, have failed in one important point ; for however perfect 

 heir mechanical arrangements may be, they cannot prevent the dis- 

 ressing consequences which arise from the unequal pressure of a 

 wdy reduced to a state of extreme debility upon a bed which, however 



soft, cannot supply a uniform support to every portion of its surface, 

 ^n many cases where the primary disease or injury has been insufficient 



to destroy life, mortification and death have ensued from this unequal 

 treasure, notwithstanding the utmost care and the use of air-cushions 

 md down-pillows to mitigate the evil. A painful case of this character 

 laving come under the notice of Dr. Arnott, led him to the invention 

 of the hydroitatie or water-bed. This consists of a trough lined with 

 thin sheets of metal, and partially filled with water, upon the surface 

 of which floats a sheet of waterproof India-rubber cloth, of sufficient 

 size to completely line the trough when empty, and secured to its 

 upper edge in such a way as to prevent the escape of the water 1 >y 

 capillary action. Upon this uheet is laid an ordinary soft feather-bed 

 or mattress, which, floating on the yielding surface of the water, 

 affords a support to the patient comparable only to that afforded by 

 the water of a bath. Every point of the uneven surface of the body 

 iiaving, as it were, its separate column of support, the pressure is so 

 equally distributed as to afford the patient comfortable rest, and 

 effectually to prevent the formation of sores upon the most prominent 

 points. The depth to which the body will sink in such a bed may be 

 regulated by the thickness and buoyancy of the mattress ; and any 

 unusual position may be obtained by placing light and bulky cushions 

 or folded blankets under such parto of the body as it may be desired 

 to elevate, just as the position of a body floating in water may be 

 affected by the use of buoys. The mass of water prevents the approach 

 of cold air from beneath, and also, by its non-conducting properties, 

 does not allow of the dispersion of heat downwards, so that, contrary 

 to what might, at first sight, be expected, the hydrostatic bed is a 

 warm one; but as the impermeability of the India-rubber cloth 

 impedes the escape of perspiration, care should be taken, when the 

 patient is unable to leave the bed daily, either to lay a waterproof cloth 

 above the mattress to receive the moisture which would, without it, 

 descend through the mattress, and becoming condensed on the floating 

 sheet below it, would render the bed damp and unwholesome ; to lay 

 a blanket, which should be frequently changed, to collect the per- 

 spiration which descends from the bed ; or to place a layer of small 

 pieces of cork, the interstices of which may afford a degree of ventilation 

 between the mattress and the floating sheet. The perfect adaptability 

 of the surface of such a bed to whatever may be laid upon it, allows 

 the dressing of wounds, the application of poultices, and the perform- 

 ance of other offices of the Kick chamber, without disturbing the 

 patient. This, like many other admirable contrivances, Dr. Arnott 

 presented freely for the use of the public without retaining any patent 

 right for himself. 



Dr. Ridge's invalid bedstead is an ingenious contrivance, by which a 

 person may be removed from bed with singular ease. There are, in 

 fact, two beds one upon another, the uppermost of which can be lifted 

 and removed by turning a handle. This upper bed, which in little 

 more than a ticking stretched over an iron frame-work, is hinged in 

 three, parts, so that it may be made to asuume any required position , 

 from that of a horizontal bed to that of an easy-chair ; so that it may 

 be said the invalid may be taken from his bed without ever leaving it. 

 The Great Exhibition of 1851 presented, among others, two bed- 

 steads which were types of two distinct classes. One was the Austrian 

 bedstead, admirable for the extreme beauty of itn can-ing. The other 

 was the " state bed " by Messrs. Faudel and Phillips, one of the most 

 elaborate specimens of modern needle- work ; .thirty noedle-wi>m> n 

 were employed ten months in embroidering it ; and the wool and nilk 

 threads employed were dyed in seven hundred different tint*. 



