BIN 



400 



B I N 





has been established in the town. There is a charity school, 

 in which a few boys are clothed and educated. 



This town suffered a dreadful visitation of cholera in the 

 months of August and September, 1832, the particulars of 

 which have been impressively detailed in a pamphlet by its 

 minister, the Rev. William Leigh. It appears, that 3508 

 persons were affected by the disease, out of which number 

 742 perished in the course of six weeks. The public sym- 

 pathised with the inhabitants on this trying and afflicting 

 calamity, and no less a sum than 8536/. Ss. Id. was col- 

 lected in behalf of the poor surviving sufferers. A useful and 

 substantial building has been erected, called the ' Cholera 

 Orphan School,' in which 450 orphan children are educated, 

 part of whom, together with upwards of 100 widows, are still 

 receiving a weekly payment out of the fund. 



At Bradley, a hamlet in the township of Bilston, there is 

 a phenomenon which has attracted much attention. A 

 fire in the earth has now been burning for more than a 

 century, defying every attempt which has been made to 

 extinguish it. The inhabitants call it ' wild-fire.' It has 

 reduced several acres of land to a mere calx ; but this calx 

 furnishes a very excellent material for the repair of the roads, 

 and the workmen in collecting it often find large quantities 

 of excellent alum. The surface is sometimes covered for 

 the extent of many yards with sulphur, in such quantities 

 as to be easily gathered. We are informed that the wild-fire 

 at Bradley is now nearly extinguished, the combustible 

 matter being very much exhausted. (Shaw's History and 

 Antiquities of Staffordshire; Plot's Natural History of 

 Staffordshire ; Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xiii. ; 

 Boundary Reports ; Communication from Bilslon, &c.) 



BINCH, an old town in the province of Hainault in Bel- 

 gium, situated on the high road from Mons to Charleroi, about 

 ten miles east of Mons, and thirteen west of Charleroi. 



Hindi was built in 1110, and surrounded with walls. For 

 a long time the Counts of Hainault were accustomed to give 

 it as a dowry with their eldest daughters. In the war be- 

 tween Henry II. of France and Charles V. in 1554, it was 

 taken by the former and burnt, but was soon after rebuilt. 

 In 1578 it was twice taken, once by the Spaniards, and 

 afterwards by the French under the command of the Duke 

 of Alencon. It was afterwards retaken by the Spaniards, 

 and remained in their possession until 1668, when, under 

 the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it was given up to France. 

 Ten years later this town again came under the dominion 

 of Spain by the treaty of Nimeguen. 



Hindi, which is built on the summit and half way down 

 a hill, is remarkable for the picturesque spots which lie 

 about it. The town is still surrounded by walls, and con- 

 tains 760 houses, many of them of considerable elegance. 

 One principal street traverses it from one end to the other. 

 It contains a fine square ornamented with a fountain, a 

 church, a college established in 1 725 under the management 

 of the Augustines, seven elementary schools, and an hospital. 

 Previous to the burning of the town in 1554, it contained a 

 fine castle, which was the favourite residence of Maria, 

 Queen of Hungary, the sister of Charles V. The re- 

 mains of this building at present consist of a scarp Hanked 

 by towers, which has been converted into a terrace prome- 

 nade, offering very fine views : the rest of the site of the 

 castle is occupied by kitchen-gardens. 



Including the suburbs, La Roquette and Versailles, 

 Binch, in January, 1830, contained 887 houses, occupied by 

 1215 families, consisting of 4878 individuals, divided as 

 follows : 



Males. Females. 



Single . . . 1,376 1,503 

 Married . . 797 816 



Widows and widowers 121 205 



2,294 2,584 4,878 



The town contains several manufactories. The chief 

 branches of industry are connected with the leather trade, 

 comprehending tanning, currying, and shoe-making, in 

 which last 400 workmen are employed. On the 16th day of 

 each month a fair is held for the sale of horses and cattle : 

 there are besides three markets in each week on Monday, 

 Thursday, and Saturday. 



(Vander Maelin's Dictionnaire Geographique de la Pro- 

 vini-e df. Hainaut.) 



BINDRABUND, a large antient town on the west bank 

 of the river Jumna, about thirty-five miles N.N.W. from 

 the city of Agra, in 27 34' N. lat., and 77 34' E. long. 



The superstition of the Hindus has invested Bindrabund 

 with a high degree of sanctity, in consequence of its having 

 been, according to their traditions, the residence of Krishna 

 during his youth. Several places are pointed out as the 

 scenes of various exploits of the god, and many pilgrims 

 annually find their way hither to wash away their sins in 

 some sacred pools. The antient Hindu name for the town 

 (Vrindavana) signifies a grove of tulsi trees. Such a grove 

 still exists, and from having been the favourite haunt of 

 Krishna, has now become the resort of numerous religious 

 mendicants, who waste their lives there in filth and in- 

 dolence. 



The town contains many temples, all of which are dedi- 

 cated to Krishna: the largest, distinguished from the rest 

 as the great cruciform pagoda, is remarkable for its size, 

 and the elaborate style of its architecture. (Hamilton's East 

 India Gazetteer.) 



BJND WEED. [See CONVOLVULUS.] 



BINGEN, a town picturesquely situated at the influx of 

 the Nahe into the Rhine, in that part of the grand-duchy 

 of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt), which is called ' the province 

 of the Rhine,' or Rhenish-Hesse : it is included in the 

 circle of Altzey, and lies between Mayence and Bacha- 

 rach in the Rheingau, at the entrance of the narrow vale 

 of the Rhine between Taunus and Hundsriick. The bridge 

 of stone leading across the Nahe into Bingen is generally 

 supposed to have been constructed by Drusus, the Roman 

 general, and the ruins of the old fort of Klopp upon an emi- 

 nence near tho town, stand upon the .site of the castle 

 known to have been built by the same 'commander. This 

 fort was destroyed by the French in 1039, with nearly the 

 whole of the town. The ' Bingerloch' that adjoins it is a 

 portion of the bed of the Rhine, which in former times was 

 an object of great dread to navigators, from the sunken 

 rocks that lay across it; there was then no other channel 

 for the passage of vessels but a very narrow one, through 

 which the pent-up waters were furiously whirled, with a 

 roar so loud as to be heard at several miles distance. The 

 rocks have of late years been removed by blasting, and the 

 passage of the Bingerloch is no longer accompanied with 

 any danger. On a little island not far from this spot stands 

 the Miiusethurm or Mauththurm, a tower or antient toll- 

 house, which is rapidly falling to decay. Bingen contains 

 about 500 houses and 4500 inhabitants, has a gymnasium 

 or public grammar-school, is the place of sale for the wines 

 produced in its vicinity, particularly on the Sdiarlachberg 

 (Mount-Scarlet), manufactures woollen-stuffs, &c., pos- 

 sesses a tannery, and carries on a brisk trallic upon the 

 Rhine. The average breadth of this river, between Bingen 

 and Coblenz, is 1GGU i'cet: its depth between Bingen and 

 Cauh, which lies opposite to Baciiarach, varies from six to 

 twenty feet ; and at Bingen its surface is at an elevation of 

 235 feet above the level of the sea. Its whole line from 

 Bingen towards Coblenz abounds in the most varied and 

 romantic scenery. Bingen is in 49 55' N. lat., and 7 49 

 E. long. 



BINGHAM, a parish and market-town in the wapen- 

 take of North Bingharn, Nottinghamshire, 1 08 miles N.N.W. 

 from London, and nine miles E. from Nottingham. The 

 situation of the town is rather low, in the fertile vale of 

 Belvoir ; but being surrounded with high grounds, all in a 

 state of rich cultivation, the views in the vicinity are 

 pleasant and extensive. From the foundations of buildings 

 being frequently discovered, from its giving name to the 

 hundred in which it stands, and from its religious establish- 

 ment and collegiate church, of a date nearly as old as the 

 Conquest, it seems that Bingham was formerly a much 

 more important place than at present. The market is held 

 on Thursday, and the fairs are on the 13th and 14th of 

 February, first Thursday in May, Thursday in Whitsun 

 week (the holiday fair), May 31st, and 8th and 9th of No- 

 vember. The principal are those in February, at Whitsun- 

 tide, and in November. 



Tha town, which consists chielly of two parallel streets, 

 is well paved ; the market-place is extensive, and has com- 

 modious shambles. The houses have been erected with 

 little attention to regularity ; they are generally neat, and 

 some of them handsome. The parish contained 372 houses 

 in 1831; the population was 1737 persons, of whom 906 

 were females. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a 

 strong and heavy building, consisting of a nave and two 

 side aisles, badly lighted, owing in a great measure to the 

 upper part of the nave having been lowered, when a consi- 



NO. 25G. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



VOL. IV. 3 O 



