BENBOW BENEDICT. 



495 



ers, 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 con- 

 demned to death, and executed Feb. 23, 1822. 



BENBOW, John ; an English naval character of dis- 

 tinguished merit; was born in Shrewsbury, about 

 1650, and brought up to the sea in the merchant ser- 

 vice. He 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 pro- 

 tecting the English trade in the channel, which lie 

 did with great effect. His valour and activity se- 

 cured him the confidence of the nation, and lie was 

 soon promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and 

 charged with the blockade of Dunkirk. But the 

 squadron in that port, under the command of Du 

 Bart, managed to slip out of port ; nor 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 superior- 

 ity of the enemy's force in that quarter. In August 

 of the following year, he fell in with the French fleet 

 under Du Casse, and for five days maintained a run- 

 ning fight with them, when he at length succeeded 

 in bringing the enemy's sternmost ship to close quar- 

 ters. 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 seve- 

 ral 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 con- 

 victed of cowardice and disobedience of orders, and 

 condemned to be shot; which sentence, on their 

 arrival in England, was carried into execution at Ply- 

 mouth. B., who suffered equally in mind and body 

 from this disgraceful business, gradually sank under 

 his feelings, and expired at Jamaica, Nov. 4, 1702. 



BEXCOOLEN, or BENKAHULE ; a seaport of Sumatra, 

 on the S. W. coast ; Ion. 102 11' E. ; lat. 3 5& 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, twenty miles beyond it, called the Sugar- 

 f'Mtf. It is inhabited by a mixed population. The 

 iiicilium heat throughout the year is from 81 to 82. 

 B. is the chief establishment of the East India com- 

 pany on the island of Sumatra. The settlement, lat- 

 terly, is of but little importance. Pepper is the only 

 produce of the adjacent country, which is mountain- 



ous and woody. The air is full of malignant vapours, 

 and the mountains always covered with thick clouds, 

 which burst in storms of thunder, rain, c. 



BEN-DA, 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 chapel-master, where he 

 constantly cultivated his talents for composition, par- 

 ticularly 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 neighbourhood 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 Bes- 

 sarabia, on the Dniester; Ion. 24 46' E.; lat. 46 51' 

 N. ; population, 10,000. It is built in the shape of 

 a crescent, is- well fortified, has twelve mosques and 

 one Armenian church. The streets are narrow and 

 dark. Its commerce is important, and it carries on 

 some branches of manufacture. Here resided Charles 

 XII. 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 con- 

 quered by the Russians, but again restored to the 

 Turks by the peace of Jassy. Since the peace ot 

 Bucharest, in 1812, it has belonged to Russia. 



BENEDICT XIV. (Prosper Lambertini), born at Bo 

 logna, in 1675, of a very respectable family, distin- 

 guished himself, in his youth, by a rapid progress in 

 all the sciences. His favourite 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 re- 

 searches, 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 ele- 

 vated and his style animated. Benedict XIII. made 

 him, in 1727, bishop of Ancona ; in 1728, cardinal 

 and in 1732, archbishop of Bologna. In every sta- 

 tion, he displayed great talents, and fulfilled his du- 

 ties with the most conscientious zeal. He opposed 

 fanaticism even at the risk of his own safety, defend- 

 ed the oppressed, and expressed himself with the 

 greatest frankness to Clement XII. without losing 

 his favour. 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 Bene- 

 dict XI P., ascended the papal throne. His choice of 

 the ministers and friends whom he assembled arouiid 

 him, does the greatest honour to his judgment. The 

 condition of the church, and of the Roman court, 

 had not escaped his penetration. Since the refor- 

 mation, princes no longer trembled at the thunders 

 of the Vatican. The popes had renounced their pre- 

 tensions to worldly authority, and Larnberlini knew 



