B L E 



510 



B L E 



Henry of Manchester was actively engaged on the same 

 ubjcct. Indeed, these gentlemen appear to have unre- 

 servedly described to each other the progress of their ex- 

 periment*, and to them l*long the chief merit of introduc- 

 ing the new mode into the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and 

 into Lancashire. By the application of this method, ai 

 much bleaching i* a* well performed in a few hours, and 

 in a space of a hundred yard* square, as on the old process 

 would have occupied weeks of exposure upon a hundred 

 acres of land. 



Chlorine was first used in the state of simple solution in 

 water ; afterwards, in order to lessen its destructive action 

 when used in too concentrated a state, it was proposed to add 

 potash to it This compound however was not found to 

 answer the purpose ; hut in the year 1798, Mr. Tcnnant of 

 Glasgow took out a patent for a liquid compound of chlorine 

 and lime ; the patent however was set aside. The following 

 year he took out another for impregnating dry hydrate of 

 lime with chlorine gas ; this invention was not contested, 

 and the chloride of lime, generally known hy the name of 

 bleaching-powder, is now almost universally employed, espe- 

 cially in the bleaching of cotton : it is a compound which 

 answers the purpose with economy, celerity, and safety. 

 [See CALCIUM and its compounds.] 



The colouring mutter of cotton, flax, and hemp, is inso- 

 luble in water, and appears to be of a resinous nature : it is 

 partially dissolved by heated solutions of lime and potash, 

 or soda ; and by their use, and the application of a solution 

 of bleaching-powder and dilute sulphuric acid, the colouring 

 matter which is not dissolved is destroyed. Cotton is more 

 readily bleached than flax or hemp, and these more readily 

 than wool : indeed this lost-mentioned substance, as well as 

 silk, is generally bleached by the fumes of burning sulphur, 

 or sulphurous acid gas, after they have been properly 

 cleansed. Straw and feathers are also bleached by sul- 

 phurous acid gas. Wax is generally deprived of its colour 

 by mere exposure to air, light, and moisture. 



With respect to the theory of bleaching it may be ob- 

 served, that the action of lime and the alkalis, potash and 

 soda, appears to be that of mere solvents ; they probably 

 dissolve the colouring matter without effecting much 

 alteration in its properties. The actions of atmospheric air 

 and chlorine seem to be similar to each other, and very 

 different from that of lime and the alkalis : the oxygen of 

 the air aided by the action of light and moisture apparently 

 combines with and destroys the colouring matter ; and the 

 chlorine decomposing water, one portion of it forms muriatic 

 acid with its hydrogen, and another portion with its oxygen 

 probably gives rise to a compound of easy decomposition, the 

 nascent oxygen of which acting like that of the air, though 

 more powerfully, produces the same oxidizing effect upon 

 the colouring matter, but more perfectly, and in a much 

 shorter period. 



That water is necessary to the action of chlorine upon 

 vegetable colouring matter is shown by immersing dry 

 colouring matter in the dry gas, in which case no deco- 

 loration whatever is effected, but it ensues immediately 

 on the introduction of water. The bleaching of rags for 

 paper-making is effected by the agency of chlorine. Paper 

 also, when written on or printed, may be bleached by the 

 same means. 



There are some operations in which the removal of 

 colour is hardly referrible to the process of bleaching; 

 such for example is the decoloration of sugar, which derives 

 its colour, not from any natural cause, but the partial 

 decomposition effected by heat. This is removed by wli.it 

 is usually termed animal-charcoal or ivory-black : this 

 powerful decolorant is also used in gome chemical opera- 

 tions for the same purpose. [See CHARCOAL, ANIMAL ; 

 and SUGAR.] 



BLEAK. [See LK.VCISCUS.] 



1! I.KCHINGLEY, a parUh and town (formerly a markot- 

 town and borough) in the hundred of Tanridge, in the county 

 of Surrey, twenty miles S. of I^nndon. The parish compre- 

 hends 5250 acres. Hume was formerly comprised in it. hut 

 was made a distinct parish in the reign of Queen Amu-. 

 The soil in the upper part of the parish, in which the town 

 is situated, consists of chalk, stone, gravel, and sand ; tin- 

 lower district is of clay. The town itself stands near the 

 if the chalk-hills which run through the county. At 

 the time "f the Domesday Survey, the manor (called then; 

 Blachingelei) was in the i*>ssession of Richard de Tollbridge, 

 carl of Clare. It seems, from the way in which the mutter is 



there stated, that this earl united into one manor what had 

 formerly been three. Tho whole had been worth 13/. per an- 

 num in the time of the Confessor, afterwards St., and to 

 Richard was then worth 12/., bcsidei that 'his men ' I.. Id i > 

 the value of 73*. 4rf. It is probable that these ' men,' whose 

 names arc given, (Odin, I,i;m<;i, and I' ( I.T.I ],-.,. 

 above the rest of the inhabitants, and that li their 



descendants the burgesses were chosen to serve for this place 

 in parliament when the Commons came to be suimu 

 This event took place in the 23rd of Edward III., since 

 which date the town uninterruptedly sent incmbi-rs to the 

 House of Commons, until the Reform Bill came into < 

 tion, when the borough was disfranchised. The bnilifl' of 

 the manor was retuming-officer, until it was detenmi 

 a resolution of the House of Commons in the P-IL-II of 

 James I., that the bailiff had no concern in the election. 

 After that the place continued to present tin; singularity of 

 an election without a returning-officer, or rather without 

 any person having an exclusive right to the oflicc. \Vhen 

 provisions, &c. were taken for the king's house, this town 

 and Home were bound to furnish wood and coals, being on 

 the borders of the woody country ; but for many years pre- 

 viously to 1616 they had been excused from this obligation, 

 through the interest of the Earl of Nottingham, lord of the 

 manor. They had been so long excused that, when called 

 upon, the inhabitants were unwilling to execute the sen iee : 

 the matter was compromised by the Board of Green Cloth 

 giving up the arrears, which were 100 loads of wood, and 

 30 loads of coal, on their undertaking to perform the service 

 in future. A weekly market was formerly held here, but 

 has long been discontinued. Two annual fairs are still held, 

 on June 22nd and November 2nd ; to the latter (which, as 

 well as the elective franchise, was granted by Edward I.) 

 great numbers of horses, hogs, and lean cattle are brought 

 from Scotland and Wales. The number of houses amounted 

 to 208 in 1831, when the population was 1203, of whom 547 

 were females. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in 

 agriculture. 



A castle formerly existed at the western extremity of the 

 town, on the brow of a hill. A piece of wall was stiil stand- 

 ing in Aubrey's time (1673); but only the foundations can 

 now be discovered. It is not well known when or by whom 

 it was built ; probably by Richard de Tonbridge : init it is 

 certain that it belonged to his descendant, Gil!>crt do Clare, 

 earl of Gloucester. This noble joined the disaffected barons 

 in the reign of Henry III., and commanded a division of 

 their forces at the battle of Lewes, in 126-1. The king's 

 forces destroyed his castle at Blechingley, in revenge of the 

 active part he had taken in this contest. The anticnt 

 manor-house, called ' Blechinglev Place,' stood in Brewer- 

 street. Here resided Edward, duke of Buckingham, who 

 was beheaded by Henry VIII. Some of his conversations 

 here with his chancellor and Sir George Nevil were uivm 

 in evidence on his trial. It has long been pulled down, 

 with the exception of the porter's lodge, which has been 

 turned into a farm-house. 



The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a large and hand- 

 some old building, in the early English si\li> ol architecture. 

 It consists of a nave, with a south aisle nnd a double 

 chancel, and a north transept called Ham Chapel. The 

 nave is divided from the chancel by a pointed arch, and 

 from the south aisle by clustered pillars support ing lour 

 pointed arches : the two chancels are separated by two 

 similar arches. The south chancel is entirely occupied hy 

 a magnificent monument of the first Sir Robert Clayton 

 and his lady, with their whole-length figures in white marble. 

 Hiivinn been lord mayor of London, he is represented in 

 the insignia of that office. Ho was father of the city at his 

 death, and had been for thirty years one of its representa- 

 tives in parliament. He raised himself from a very low 

 condition of life, and died in 1707. Dryden has made him 

 figure rather uncnviably in his Absalom and Achitophel ; 

 but the justice of the satire is in this instance disputed. 

 The low square embattled tower contains cL'ht IH IK, and 

 was formerly surmounted by a lofty spire, which rose seventy 

 feet above tfie battlements ; it was supposed to contain 200 

 loads of oak timber, and was covered with shingles. It was 

 burnt down in Ifior,, and never since rebuilt. The church 

 affords accommodation for fiOO persons. The living is a 

 rectory in the diocese of Winchester, with n net income of 

 88 I /. Near the church there is a charity-school, founded in 

 Ifi33 by Thomas Evans. Cor the instruction of twenty poor 

 boys of the town. The founder endowed it with thirty acres. 



