from the most distinguished men of his time, conferred on him, in 1539, the hat of a cardinal. From that time, B. renounced the belles-lettres, and made the fathers and the Holy Scriptures his chief study. Of his former labors, he continued only the History of Venice. Two years later, Paul III bestowed the bishopric of Gubbio on him, and, soon after, the rich bishopric of Bergamo. He died, loaded with honors, 1547, in the 77th year of his age. B. united in his person, his character and conversation, all that is amiable. He was the restorer of a pure style, as well in Latin composition, in which Cicero, Virgil and Julius Cæsar were his constant models, as in the Italian, in which he chiefly imitated Petrarca. He was so rigorous with regard to purity of style, that he is said to have had 40 different partitions, through which his writings, as he polished them by degrees, successively passed; nor did he publish them till they had sustained these 40 examinations. A collection of all his works, which were frequently printed singly, appeared, in 1729, at Venice, in 4 folio vols. The most important of them are, History of Venice from 1487 to 1513, in 12 books, which he wrote both in Latin and Italian; Le Prose, dialogues, in which the rules of the Italian language are laid down; Gli Asolani, dialogues on the nature of love; Le Rime, a collection of beautiful sonnets and canzonets; his letters, both in Latin and Italian: De Virgilii Culice et Terentii Fabulis Liber; Carmina, which are ingenious and elegant, but more free than the author's profession would lead us to expect; besides several others.

BEN (Hebrew, son); a prepositive syllable, found in many Jewish names; as, Bendavid, Benasser, &c., which, with the Jews in Germany, has been changed into the German Sohn (son), e. g., Mendelssohn, Jacobssohn, &c. The origin of this manner of naming is to be found in the ancient custom of the Israelites' having no family names, which is still their usage in many countries.

BENARES; a town and district in the province of Allahabad, in Bengal. It has an area of 12,000 square miles, 10,000 of which are rich cultivated flats on each side of the Ganges. The heat, in summer, is excessive, but, in winter, fires are requisite. Garden-stuff, grain of different kinds, flax for oil (no linens are manufactured here), and sugar, are the principal objects of cultivation. The gross revenue, in 1813, amounted to 4,562,707

rupees (£570,338). Muslins, silks and gauzes, salt, indigo and opium are made in this district. The principal towns are Benares, Mirza-pur, Chunargarh and Ghazi-pur. The population exceeds 3,000,000, and the Hindoos are to the Mussulmans as 10 to 1 in the town, and as 20 to 1 in the villages. The rajah Chet Singh was expelled by Mr. Has tings in 1781.

Benares (in Sanscrit, Vara Nasi, from the two streams, Vara and Nasi) stands in lat. 25° 30′ N., and lon. 83° 1' E., on the high bank and northern side of the Ganges. The town rises like an amphitheatre. The height of the houses and narrowness of the streets give it all the usual inconveniences of an Asiatic town. Its inhabitants are more than 600,000, of whom 8000 are said to be Bramins; and, at the great Hindoo festivals, the concourse is immense; for Casi, or Cashi, the splendid, as the Indians commonly call it, is one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage in all India. To die at B. To die at B. is the greatest happiness for a Hindoo, because he is then sure of immediate admission into heaven. The number of pious founda tions and temples is exceedingly great. Several of the Hindoo princes have agents here to offer up sacrifices in their behalf. The principal temple is called Visweswar or Bisesar, and is dedicated to Siva, whose sacred relic it contains. Aurungzeb built a splendid mosque on the highest ground in the city, and on the ruins of a temple. At the end of the 17th century, an observatory was erected in this city, which still exists; and a college for the instruction of Hindoos in their own literature was established by the British government in 1801; but it has not yet done much for the revival of learning among the natives, owing to the pride of the Bramins. B. has long been the great mart for diamonds and other gems, brought principally from the Bundelcund. The merchants and bankers are numerous and wealthy. There are few English inhabitants, except the government officers and the members of the circuit court. Casi was ceded to the East India company by the nabob of Aud'h (Oude), in 1775, and, since 1781, has enjoyed uninterrupted tranquillity. The inhabitants are better informed than the natives of the country in general. The reader will find an interesting account of B. in bishop Heber's Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India, in 1824-26; London, 1828, Philadelphia, 1829, vol. 1.

BENAVIDES; an outlaw and pirate, who, for several years, proved the scourge of the southern parts of Chile. He was a native of Quirihue, in the province of Concepcion, and entered the patriot army as a common soldier at the commencement of the revolution. Having deserted to the Spaniards, and being made prisoner by the Chilians, at the battle of Membrilla, in 1814, he was to have been tried for desertion, but effected his escape. Being made prisoner again at the battle of Maypu, in 1818, he was sentenced to be shot, and was supposed to have been killed; but, although shockingly wounded, and left for dead, he recovered, and, having obtained a commission from the Spanish commander Sanchez, he commenced a war upon the southern frontier of Chile, never surpassed in savage cruelty. He laid waste the country with fire and sword, murdered his prisoners, and perpetrated the most horrid cruelties upon the unarmed peasants, including women and children, who chanced to fall into his power. Notwithstanding repeated engagements with the Chilian forces of the province of Concepcion, he sustained himself, for a long time, in this atrocious course. At length he undertook to establish a navy, and, for this purpose, piratically seized upon several English and American vessels, which unsuspectingly stopped for refreshment not far from the town of Arauco, the centre of his operations. So intolerable had the grievance become, that, in 1821, the Chilians fitted out an expedition against Arauco, and succeeded in breaking up the robber's strong hold. He attempted to escape to Peru in a launch, but, being captured, was condemned to death, and executed Feb. 23, 1822.-History of Rev. in Spanish America.

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BENBOW, John ; an English_naval character of distinguished merit; born in Shrewsbury, about 1650, and brought up to the sea in the merchant service; fought so desperately against a pirate from Sallee, in one of his trips to the Mediterranean, about the year 1686, as to beat her off, though greatly his superior in men and metal. For this gallant action, he was promoted at once, by James II, to the command of a ship of war. William III employed him in protecting the English trade in the channel, which he did with great effect. His valor and activity secured him the confidence of the nation, and he was soon promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and charged with the blockade of Dunkirk. But the squadron 5

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in that port, under the command of Du Bart, managed to slip out of port; nɔɔi could Benbow, though he sailed instantly in pursuit, overtake it. In 1701, he sailed to the West Indies with a small fleet, having accepted a command previously declined by several of his seniors, from the supposed superiority of the enemy's force in that quarter. In August of the following year, he fell in with th French fleet under Du Casse, and for five days maintained a running fight with them, when he at length succeeded in bringing the enemy's sternmost ship to close quarters. In the heat of the action, a chain-shot carried away one of his legs, and he was taken below; but the moment the dressing had been applied to the wound, he caused himself to be brought again on deck, and continued the action. At this critical instant, being most disgracefully abandoned by several of the captains under his command, who signed a paper expressing their opinion that "nothing more was to be done,” the whole fleet effected its escape. B., on his return to Jamaica, brought the delinquents to a court-martial, by which two of them were convicted of cowardice and disobedience of orders, and condemned to be shot; which sentence, on their arrival in England, was carried into execution at Plymouth. B., who suffered equally in mind and body from this disgraceful business, gradually sunk under his feelings, and expired at Jamaica, Nov. 4, 1702.

BENCOOLEN, or BENKAHULE; a seaport of Sumatra, on the S. W. coast; lon. 102° 11 E.; lat. 3° 50' S. The English settled here in 1685, and, in 1690, the East India company built a fort here, calling it fort York. A convenient river on its N. W. side brings the pepper out of the inland country; but there is great inconvenience in shipping it, by reason of a dangerous bar at the river's mouth. The place, which is almost two miles in compass, is known at sea by a high, slender mountain, which rises in the country, 20 miles beyond it, called the Sugar-Loaf. It is inhabited by a mixed population. The medium heat throughout the year from 81° to 82°. B. is the chief establishment of the East India company on the island of Sumatra. The settlement, latterly, is of but little importance. Pepper is the only produce of the adjacent country, which is mountainous and woody. The air is full of malignant vapors, and the mountains always covered with thick clouds, which burst in storms of thunder rain, &c.

BENDA, George, director of the chapel at Gotha, born at Jungbuntzlau, in Bohemia, 1721, received from Frederic II the place of the second violinist in the chapel at Berlin, but, in 1748, entered the service of the duke of Gotha, as chapelmaster, where he constantly cultivated his talents for composition, particularly of sacred music. His Ariadne, an opera, was received with enthusiastic applause in Germany, and afterwards in all Europe, being distinguished for originality, sweetness and ingenious execution. His compositions are numerous; but his Ariadne is his best work. He died in the neighborhood of Gotha, 1795. His absence of mind has given rise to many amusing anecdotes. His elder brother, Francis, was a distinguished violinist. Their father was a poor linen-weaver.

BENDER (in the Moldau language, Tigino); the chief city of a district in the Russian province Bessarabia, on the Dniester; lon. 24° 46′ E.; lat. 46° 51′ N.; population, 10,000. It is built in the shape of a crescent, is well fortified, has 12 mosques and 1 Armenian church. The streets are narrow and dark. Its commerce is important, and it carries on some branches of manufacture. Here resided Charles XII. (q. v.) In 1771, the Russians took the place, and killed most of the troops and citizens, amounting to nearly 30,000 persons. The peace of Cainardshi, in 1774, restored it to Turkey. In 1809, it was conquered by the Russians, but again restored to the Turks by the peace of Jassy. Since the peace of Bucharest, in 1812, it has belonged to Russia.

BENEDICT XIV (Prosper Lambertini), born at Bologna, in 1675, of a very respectable family, distinguished himself, in his youth, by a rapid progress in all the sciences. His favorite author was St. Thomas. He applied himself with success to the canon and civil law, and became advocate to the consistory at Rome. Afterwards, he was appointed promotor fidei, and wrote a valuable work on the Ceremonies used in Beatifications (Bologna, 1734, 4 vols. fol.) He was passionately fond of learning, of historical researches and monuments of art, and also associated with the distinguished men of his time; among others, with father Montfaucon, who said of him, "Benedict has two souls; one for science, and the other for society." He also made himself familiar with the best poetical works, whereby his mind became elevated and his style animated. Benedict XIII made him, in

1727, bishop of Ancona; in 1728, cardinal, and in 1732, archbishop of Bologna. In every station, he displayed great talents, and fulfilled his duties with the most conscientious zeal. He opposed fanaticism even at the risk of his own safety, defended the oppressed, and expressed himself with the greatest frankness to Clement XII, without losing his favor. When, after the death of Clement XII, in 1740, the election of a new pope in the conclave was retarded by the intrigues of cardinal Tencin, and the cardinals could not agree, Lambertini, with his usual good nature, said to them, "If you want a saint, take Gotti; if a politician, Aldobrandi; if a good old man, myself." These words, thrown out in a humorous manner, operated on the conclave like inspiration, and Lambertini, under the name of Benedict XIV, ascended the papal throne. His choice of the ministers and friends, whom he assembled around him, does the greatest honor to his judgment. The condition of the church, and of the Roman court, had not escaped his penetration. Since the reformation, princes no longer trembled at the thunders of the Vatican. The popes had renounced their pretensions to worldly authority, and Lambertini knew that respect for the papal authority could be maintained only by a wise moderation. He constantly regulated his measures by this principle, and thus succeeded, even in difficult circumstances, in satisfying, not only the Catholic, but even the Protestant princes. The sciences were a special object of his care. He established academies at Rome; promoted the prosperity of the academy at Bologna; caused a degree of the meridian to be measured; the obelisk to be erected in the Campus Martius; the church of St. Marcellino to be built after a plan projected by himself; the beautiful pictures in St. Peter's to be executed in mosaic; the best English and French works to be translated into Italian; and commanded a catalogue of the manuscripts contained in the Vatican library (the number of which he had enlarged to 3300) to be printed. His government of the papal states did equal honor to his wisdom. He enacted severe laws against usury, favored commercial liberty, and diminished the number of holydays. His piety was sincere, yet enlightened and forbearing. He strove to maintain purity of doctrine and of morals, giving, in his own character, the most praiseworthy example. He died, after a painful sickness, during which his

cheerfulness and vivacity never deserted him, May 3, 1758. The sole reproach brought against him by the Romans was, that he wrote too much, and governed too little. His works compose, in the Venice edition, 16 vols. fol. The most important of his works is that on the synods, in which we recognise the great canonist.

BENEDICT, St.; the founder of the first religious order in the West; born at Norcia, in Spoleto (in the present Ecclesiastical States), 480. In the 14th year of his age, he retired to a cavern situated in the desert of Subiaco, 40 miles from Rome, and, in 515, drew up a rule for his monks, which was first introduced into the monastery on Monte Cassino, in the neighborhood of Naples, founded by him (529) in a grove of Apollo, after the temple had been demolished. This gradually became the rule of all the Western monks. The abbots of Monte Cassino afterwards acquired episcopal jurisdiction, and a certain patriarchal authority over the whole order. B., with the intention of banishing idleness, prescribed, in addition to the work of God (as he called prayer and the reading of religious writings), the instruction of youth in reading, writing and ciphering, in the doctrines of Christianity, in manual labors (including mechanic arts of every kind), and in the management of the monastery. With regard to dress and food, the rule was severe, but not extravagant. B. caused a library to be founded, for which the aged and infirm brethren (ordo scriptorius) were obliged to copy manuscripts. By this means he contributed to preserve the literary remains of antiquity from ruin; for, though he had in view only the copying of religious writings, yet the practice was afterwards extended to classical works of every kind; and the learned world is indebted for the preservation of great literary treasures to the order of St. Benedict. (See Benedictines.)

BenedictbeurN; formerly an abbey, situated in the Bavarian circle of the Iser, about 40 miles distant from the city of Munich, on the descent of the mountains towards the Tyrol. The convent was founded as early as 740. In our days, it is only remarkable for the manufactory of optical instruments belonging to Reichenbach and Liebherr, who have furnished instruments to almost all the observatories of Europe.

BENEDICTINES. From the 6th to the 10th century, almost all monks, in the West, might be so called, because they followed

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the rule of St. Benedict of Norcia. (See this article, Monastery and Order.) The rules which, at that time, the monasteries, in Spain and France, received from their bishops, as well as the rule of the Irish St. Columba (born 560, died 615), were essentially the same as those of St. Benedict ; and, in the progress of his order, the monasteries in Spain and France, as well as those of the order of Columba, united themselves with it. Monte Cassino, the magnificent primitive monastery of the Benedictines, became the model of all others. At that time, the monasteries, having no common superiors, were under the immediate control of the bishops in their respective dioceses, and differed from one another in many qualifications of the primitive rule. Not even the color of their dress was the

same.

The disciples of Columba wore white garments, like the first Benedictine nuns, who originated in France, in the 6th century. After the unions which took place at a later period, all the members of this order wore black, as the founder is said to have done. The decline of monastic discipline, after the 8th century, occasioned the reforms of Benedict of Aniana, in France, the renewed inculcation of the old rule, and the adoption of new ordinances suited to the times, by the council of Aix-la-Chapelle (817), as well as the particular rules and fraternities of the celebrated monasteries in France, Germany and England, which, in those barbarous times, became seats of civilization; and, finally, the institution of the Cluniacs, a new branch of the Benedictines, which proceeded from the convent of Clugny, in Burgundy, founded in the year 910. The Benedictine monasteries, in the middle ages, were often asylums in which science took refuge, and found protection. In the place of the discordant and uncertain rules which had hitherto existed, the Cluniacs made fixed regulations concerning the hours of worship, the obedience, discipline and common government of all the monasteries belonging to their order, which were soon imitated in all Europe, In the 12th century, their order contained 2000 monasteries, whose luxury frequently called for reforms, and finally became the chief cause of their decline. The remains of the Cluniacs united themselves, in the 17th century, under the patronage of Richelieu, with the Benedictine fraternities of St. Vannes and St. Maurus, the latter of which, founded in 1618, had, in the beginning of the 18th century, 180 abbeys and priories in France, and ac quired, by means of its learned members,

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such as Mabillon, Montfaucon, Marténe, merited distinction. To this family belong those new orders, established on the foundation, and observing the rule of St. Benedict, which have originated since the 11th century, and are distinguished from the proper Benedictines by their dress, names and particular regulations; e. g., the Camaldulians, the monks of Vallombrosa, the Sylvestrians, the Grandimontenses, the Carthusians, the Cœlestines, the Cistercians and Bernardines, the Trappists, and the monks of Fontevraud. (q. v.) The Benedictine monasteries never constituted one society, constitutionally regulated and governed under an aristocratical or monarchical form: on the contrary, a great many monasteries, which descended from the old Benedictines, were compelled, by the council of Trent, to unite themselves gradually into particular fraternities. Among these, the Benedictines of Monte Cassino, of Monte Vergine, and Monte Oliveto (who call themselves Olivetanians), in Italy and Sicily, where they have flourished uninterruptedly even to the present time; those of Valladolid and Montserrat, in Spain, where they are among the wealthiest orders; those of Hirschau and Fulda, together with Bursfeld, which have now ceased to exist, and that of Moelk, in Germany, deserve particular notice, on account of the extent of their possessions, the magnificence of their churches, and the mildness of their rules. To the fraternity of Moelk, which still exists, but accommodated to the spirit of the times (the government having ordered its revenues to be applied to the public service), the rest of the Benedictine convents in Austria are joined. Many of the nunneries of this order are reserved for the nobility, because the places in them are equal to the most lucrative benefices. The Benedictines in Sicily, who are, for the greater part, the younger sons of distinguished families, live under very lax rules. In Modena, they have settled again, and received a convent, with revenues for their support.

BENEDICTION signifies the act of conferring a blessing (q. v.).—Benedictio beatica; the blessing bestowed on the penitent sick. It is also called viaticum.— Benedictio sacerdotalis is the nuptial benediction pronounced by the priest on the occasion of a wedding.-To give the benediction, is an expression used with regard to the pope, the cardinals, bishops or papal nuncios, when they bestow a blessing, either in the church, or in the street, with the sign of the cross, on the

people, or some private person. The pope gives a solemn benediction three times every year; viz. on Maundy-Thursday, on Easter, and on Ascension-day.

BENEFIT OF CLERGY was a privilege of clergymen, which originated in a pious regard for the church, whereby the clergy of Roman Catholic countries were either partially or wholly exempted from the jurisdiction of the lay tribunals. It ex tended, in England, only to the case of felony; and, though it was intended to apply only to clerical felons or clerks, yet, as every one who could read was, by the laws of England, considered to be a clerk, when the rudiments of learning came to be diffused, almost every man in the community became entitled to this privilege. Peers were entitled to it, whether they could read or not; and by the statutes of 3 and 4 William and Mary, c. 9, and 4 and 5 William and Mary, c. 24, it was extended to women. In the earlier ages of the English Roman Catholic church, the clerk, on being convicted of felony, and claiming the benefit of clergy, was handed over to the ecclesiastical tribunal for a new trial or purgation, the pretty uniform result of which was his acquittal. This pretended trial or purgation gave rise to a great deal of abuse and perjury, so that, at length, the secular judges, instead of handing over the culprit to the ecclesiastics for purga tion, ordered him to be detained in prison until he should be pardoned by the king By the statute of 18 Elizabeth, c. 7, persons convicted of felony, and entitled to the benefit of clergy, were to be discharged from prison, being first branded in the thumb, if laymen, it being left to the dis cretion of the judge to detain them in prison not exceeding one year; and, by the statute of 5 Anne, c. 6, it was enacted, that it should no longer be requisite that a person should be able to read, in order to be entitled to the benefit of clergy, so that, from the passing of this act, a felon was no more liable to be hanged on account of defect of learning. The English statutes formerly made specific provisions, that, in particular cases, the culprit should not be entitled to benefit of clergy, but the statute of 7 and 8 George IV, c. 28, provides, that "benefit of clergy, with respect to persons convicted of felony, shall be abolished."-This privilege has been formally abolished in some of the United States, and allowed only in one or two cases in others, while, in others again, it does not appear to have been known at all. By the act of congress of April 30