BEN 



449 



BEN 



Bender, rous sorties. A new species of mine, called the globe 

 Ueuedk- f compression, invented by a French engineer, was 

 r ' nes ' tried on this occasion for the first time. It was charged 

 ' " v ~"*"' w ith 1 (i pounds of powder, and blew up at ten o'clock 

 at night with most tremendous effect. Amidst the ter- 

 ror and uproar which attended this fatal explosion, 

 the Russian soldiers began their assault. Having got 

 possession of all the out-works, they climbed the walls 

 in every quarter ; a furious contest ensued, and the 

 streets, and even the houses, were filled with the bodies 

 of the besiegers, and the brave inhabitants. Irritated at 

 the resistance of the garrison, the Russians set fire to 

 the town ; but they were still unable to subdue the fe- 

 rocious spirit of the Turks, which displayed itself even 

 amidst the ruins of their houses, and their walls. A cho- 

 sen band of 1500 cavalry, and 500 infantry, were cut to 

 pieces in attempting to force their way through the 

 besiegers. The Seraskier, who had retired to the ci- 

 tadel, did not surrender till every thing around him 

 was in flames. The number of prisoners, including 

 the inhabitants, amounted to 11,749, the remains of 

 a population of 30,000, the rest of whom perished 

 during the siege. Population 8200. East Long. 29 

 57', North Lat. il\ (h) 



BENDER Ab.ys.--i. See Gombroon*. 



BENDER Masmn, or Banjak Massijt. See 

 Banj.vr Massin. 



BENDER Rigk, Bbndarik, or Rik, is a 

 city of Persia, situated on an arm of the Persian Gulf, 

 in the province of Herman. It is surrounded with 

 walls, and is the capital of a petty state, which com- 

 prehends several other places in Kermesir. " The 

 Arabs of this principality," says Niebuhr, " are 

 chiefly addicted to a sea-faring life ; tiie Persians in- 

 habiting its back parts are husbandmen. The reign- 

 ing family of Bender- Rigk are of the Arabian tribe 

 of Beni-Saab, and are originally from Oman ; but 

 the grandfather of the present prince having become 

 a Shute, and married a Persian lady, this family are no 

 longer counted by the Arabs among their genuine no- 

 bility." The cruelties, and history of Mir Mahama, 

 which are not worthy of being recorded, will be 

 found in Niebuhr'e Trends, Sect, xxiii. chap. iv. 

 East Long. 51 17', North Lat. 29 30'. (q) 



BENEDICTINES, an order of monks, insti- 

 tuted A. D. 529, by Benedict of Nursia, from whom 

 they had their name. The object of the founder 

 was to establish an order which should be distinguish- 

 ed by the mildness of its discipline, aud the regulari- 

 ty of its members ; and which should afford greater 

 opportunities of piety, and of usefulness, than any of 

 the existing orders. His rule of discipline was not 

 ill calculated to produce these advantages, had not 

 the inherent defects of monachism counteracted its 

 operation, and defeated its salutary tendency. So 

 convinced was he of the efficacy of his plan, that 

 those who were admitted into the order were so- 

 lemnly bound to preserve its rules inviolate, and not to 

 alter them by any kind of modification. As the ex- 

 isting orders in the west had been degraded by ma- 

 liifold corruptions, the rule of Benedict soon came 

 into great celebrity. In France, Italy, England, 

 and Germany, it soon arrived at the highest pitch of 

 glory : the other orders continued to maintain a lan- 

 guishing existence, till about the ninth century, 



VOL III. PART III. 



when the Benedictine absorbed all the other religi- 

 ous societies, and held unrivalled the reigns of mo- 

 nastic empire. The monks considered the predo- 

 minating influence of their order, as an attestation 

 from heaven in favour of its sanctity and usefulness. 

 This was all fair ; but it was not thought suffi- 

 cient : and they must have their miracles to support 

 the credit of their order. In one sense, perhaps, 

 they were right j for the prevalence of any of the 

 monastic orders could only arise from the mira- 

 culous ignorance and stupidity which had overwhelm- 

 ed Europe. 



But this celebrated order had scarcely reached the 

 zenith of its glory, when it began to exhibit the 

 symptoms of decline. Wealth has truly been the 

 root of all evil, in all the monastic institutions. In 

 spite of the vows of poverty and mortification, which 

 the initiated had solemnly made, they began to think 

 that it was but reasonable to appropriate to their 

 own convenience, some of that superstitious wealth, 

 which the mistaken liberality of the public had con- 

 ferred, and as soon as this rule was adopted, the rule 

 of St Benedict was but little heard of. To use the 

 words of Mosheim, " they sunk into luxury, intem- 

 perance, and sloth, abandoned themselves to all sorts 

 of vices, extended their zeal and attention to worldly- 

 affairs, insinuated themselves into the cabinets of prin- 

 ces, took part in political cabals, made a vast aug- 

 mentation of superstitious rites and ceremonies in 

 their order, to blind the multitude, and supply the 

 place of their expiring virtue ; and, among other me- 

 ritorious enterprises, laboured most anxiously to 

 swell the arrogance, by enlarging the power and au- 

 thority of the Roman pontiff." Vol. ii. p. 118. 



In short, it appears that they fell from the high 

 rank which they had so long held in the estimation 

 of the world, by the same means which afterwards 

 hurled their patron, the Pope, from the seat of his 

 authority and power ; by presuming a little too 

 much on the indulgence and simplicity of mankind. 

 But whatever might be the cause of their decline, it 

 appears, that about the middle of the tenth century, 

 they stood in vehement need of reformation. This 

 regeneration was attempted with considerable success 

 by Odo, Abbot of Clugni, who, in endeavouring to 

 reform the order, in a great measure superseded it by 

 one of his own, and the order of Clugni soon be- 

 came almost as famous over Europe as had been 

 that of Benedict. 



We would refer such as wish for farther informa- 

 tion on this subject, to Milner's History of Win- 

 chester. () 



BENEDICTION, in a general sense, is the act 

 of blessing, or of praying to God for a divine bles- 

 sing ; but it is also used to signify praise, or a grate- 

 ful acknowledgment of blessings received. Hence 

 it has been applied to the act of saying grace 

 both before and after meals. Among the Jews, 

 benedictions were of various kinds. The original in- 

 stitution of them is to be found among the patri- 

 archs. From the time that God entered into cove- 

 nant with Abraham, and promised extraordinary 

 blessings to his posterity, it was customary for the 

 father of each family, 6ome time before he died, to 

 call together his children, and inform them, accortl- 

 3l 



