different kinds for shipbuilding, in which the inhabitants are very expert. There are important mines both of iron and tin, the former being used in the island and the latter exported to the Netherlands. The quantity of tin obtained in 1871 was 49,850 picols, or 60,532 cwts. The chief im ports are rice, cotton goods, pottery, and cocoa-nuts. The population in 1871 amounted to 19,837, of whom only 59 were Europeans. The natives are of middle height and strongly built, and have expressive features. The island was formerly under the sultan of Palembang, by whom it was ceded to the English in 1812. As no mention was made of it in the treaty between the English and Dutch in 1814, the former at first refused to renounce their possession, and only recognized the Dutch claim in 1824. Till 1852 it was dependent on Banka, but at that date was raised to
a sub-residency.
See Tijdschrift v. Ncderl. Indie, vols. xii. and XT. ; Court s Relations of Brit. Gov. with the State of Palembang, 1821 ; Crooo kewit, Banka, Malakka, en Billiton, 1852; Veth, Woordcnlock ran Ncderl. Indie, 1869.
BILMA, or Kawar, a town in the heart of the African desert, and the capital of the wandering tribe called the Tibboos. The place is mean and poor, surrounded with a mud wall. In its vicinity are a number of lakes, the waters of which, on evaporation by the heat of the sun, yield a quantity of very pure and fine salt, which is the object of an extensive and important trade with the countries in Central Africa. The largest of these lakes is at Agram, situated about four miles to the westward. Near Bilma is a small circular spot, kept green by a fine spring, but immediately to the south begins the most dreary part of the African desert, over which the caravans travel for fifteen days without discovering the slightest trace of vegetable life. During Nachtigal s visit in 1870 the temperature during the day rarely sank below 113 Fahr.}}
BILSA, a town of Hindustan, in the territory of Gwalior or the possessions of Sindhia, situated on the Betwa River in lat. 23 30 N. and long. 77 50 E. It is enclosed with a stone wall, and defended by square towers and a ditch. The suburbs without the walls are not very extensive, but the streets are spacious, and contain some good houses. The town and the surrounding country are celebrated all over India for the excellent quality of the tobacco, which is bought up with great eagerness and exported. Population about 3000. Distance south from Gwalior, 190 miles.
BILSTON, formerly Bilsreton, a market-town of England, in the county of Stafford, 2? miles S.E. of Wolver- hampton, indebted for its importance to the iron trade, which it carries on in various departments. In the vicinity are very productive mines of coal and ironstone, as well as sand of the finest quality for casting, and grinding- stones for cutlers. Bilston contains numerous furnaces, forges, rolling and slitting mills for the preparation of iron, and a great variety of factories for japanned and painted goods, brass-work, bells, and similar articles. The town itself is very irregularly built ; but it has some handsome buildings, as St Leonard s and St Mary s chapels, and the Roman_ Catholic chapel. The population of township, which is under an improvements commission, and forms part of the parliamentary borough of Wolverhampton, was, in 1871, 24,188.
BINGEN, the ancient Bingium, a town of the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, in the province of Rhenish Hesse, 15 miles W. of Mentz. It is situated almost opposite Rudesheim. on the left bank of the Rhine, at the commence of the Nahe (or Nava), which is crossed near its mouth by an iron railway bridge resting on old Roman foundations. A considerable trade is carried on in wine, grain, and cattle ; and tobacco, starch, and leather are manufactured. A short way down the Rhine is the Bingerloch, a famous whirlpool, the dangers of which were almost removed by blastings undertaken by the Prussian Government in 1834 ; while about half-way between it and the town rises on a rock, in the middle of the stream, the tower of Bishop Hatto. On a height immediately to the south-east is the ruined castle of Klopp, originally founded by Drusus, and higher still on the Rochusberg the celebrated chapel of St Roch. Population in 1871, 5938.
BINGHAM, Joseph, a learned scholar and divine, was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire, in September 1668. He was educated at University College, Oxford, of which he was made fellow in 1689, and college tutor in 1691. A sermon preached by him from the university pulpit, St Mary s, on the meaning of the word " Person " in the Fathers, brought upon him a most unjust accusation of heresy. He was compelled to give up his fellowship and leave the university; but he was immediately presented by Dr John Radcliffe to the rectory of Headbournworthy, near Winchester. In this country retirement be began his laborious and valuable work entitled Origines Ecdesiasticce, or Antiquities of the Christian Church, the first volume of which appeared in 1708 and the tenth in 1722. Notwith standing his learning and merit, Bingham received no higher preferment than that of Headbournworthy till the year 1712, when he was collated to the rectory of Havant, near Portsmouth, by Sir Jonathan Trelawney, bishop of Win chester. Nearly all his little property was lost in the great South Sea bubble of 1720. He died August 17, 1723.
BINGLEY, a thriving market-town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Aire, 5i miles from Bradford, on the Midland Railway. The inhabitants are principally engaged in manufactures of worsted, cotton, paper, and iron. The town is well built, and has a neat church, a grammar school, and several charities. The population of the Local Board District, which includes a part of Micklethwaite, was 9062 in 1871.
was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1798, and died February 24, 1874. After spending seven years in the employment of a bookseller he entered the theological college of W r yrn- ondley, Herts, with the view of studying for the ministry. His first pastoral charge was that of the Congregational church at Newport, Isle of Wight, to which he was in ducted in 1824. Five years later in 1829 he accepted a call to the historic Weigh House chapel, London. Here he at once established what proved to be a lasting popu larity, and it was found necessary to build a much larger place of worship on Fish Street Hill, to which the congre gation removed in 1834. An address delivered on the occa sion of the laying of the foundation stone of the new building was afterwards published, with an appendix containing a strongly worded opinion as to the baneful influence of the Church of England, which naturally gave rise to much angry comment and a prolonged and bitter controversy. Throughout his whole career Binney was a vigorous and intelligent opponent of the state church principle, but those who inferred from one, perhaps unguarded, statement that he was a narrow-minded political dissenter did him injus tice. His liberality of view and breadth of ecclesiastical sympathy entitle him to rank on questions of Nonconformity among the most distinguished of the school of Richard Baxter. Accordingly, in his later years lie was not only recognized by general consent as the foremost name among all sections of English Nonconformists, but maintained friendly relations with many of the leading dignitaries of the Established Church. He continued in the active dis charge of the duties of the ministry, though latterly with the help of a colleague, until 1871, when he resigned. In 1845 he paid a visit to Canada and the United
States, and in 1857 he set out on a tour to the Australian