BEN 



450 



BEN 



ing to the knowledge which it pleased God then to 

 give him, how, and in what manner, the divine bles- 

 sing conferred upon Abraham was to descend among 

 them. Upon these occasions, the patriarchs enjoyed 

 a divine illumination, which enabled them to look 

 hack into futurity ; and, under its influence, their 

 benediction was deemed a prophetic oracle, foretelling 

 events with the utmost certainty, and extending to 

 the remotest period of time. These blessings de- 

 scended to the eldest son of the family, and to his 

 latest posterity, unless forfeited by their bad beha- 

 viour. To him belonged the birthright, or right 

 of primogeniture, by which he could claim the par- 

 ticular blessing of his dying father; and to him, and 

 to his posterity, belonged the blessings of the cove- 

 nant which God made with Abraham, that from him 

 the promised Messiah should descend. Solemn bles- 

 sings were also pronounced, that is prayed for, by 

 the priests upon the people. " On this wise," says 

 Moses to Aaron, " ye shall bless the children of 

 Israel, saying unto them, the Lord bless thee, and 

 keep thee : the Lord make his face to shine upon 

 thee, and be gracious unto thee : the Lord lift his 

 countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." The 

 prophets also, and other inspired persons, frequently 

 blessed the servants and people of God, of which 

 many instances are to be found in the Psalms. 

 Among the Jews too, there was a ceremony which 

 they called the cup of blessing, and which was ob- 

 served in this manner. The master of the house 

 having asked a blessing, took a cup full of wine, 

 tasted it, and handed it to the person next to him, 

 who did the same till it had gone round the whole 

 company. This was called the blessing of the 

 wine. Next followed the blessing and breaking 

 of the bread, which was in the same manner distri- 

 buted among the guests. When the repast was end- 

 ed, he returned thanks in name of the whole com- 

 pany. In this cup of thanksgiving, they blessed 

 God for their present refreshment, for their deliver- 

 ance out of Egypt, for the covenant of circumci- 

 sion, and for the law given by Moses ; and prayed 

 that God would be merciful to his people Israel, that 

 lie would send the prophet Elijah, and that he would 

 make them worthy of the kingdom of the Messiah. 

 Under the name benediction, the Jews also include 

 presents sent by one friend to another, probably be- 

 cause accompanied- with blessings or good wishes. 

 Even their friendly salutations partook of the nature 

 of benediction. " God be gracious unto thee,my son," 

 were the words with which Joseph received Benja- 

 min. In any country of Europe, this would be con- 

 sidered as a benediction ; but in the East, it is used 



merely as a salutation, similar to those offers and as- Ecncvfntfc, 

 surances of friendship which we make, when we first 

 address or take leave of a friend. This accounts for 

 the reason why the scriptures so often call the salu- 

 tations, and farewells of the East, by the term bles- 

 sing. Various benedictions are still in use among the 

 Jews, the form and order of which are prescribed by 

 the Talmud. 



Among the Jews, as well as among Christians, 

 benedictions were conferred by the imposition of 

 hands, to which the latter afterwards added the sign 

 of the cross. Hence in the Romish church, benedic- 

 tion is used to denote the sign of the cross, as made 

 by a bishop, which is supposed to confer some grace 

 or blessing upon the people. The custom of recei- 

 ving benedictions, by bowing the head before the 

 bishop, is very ancient ; a mark of religious respect 

 to which even emperors deigned to submit. 



Benediction is also used for that religious ceremony, 

 by which a thing receives a sacred character and'use. 

 The spirit of superstition, in the church of Rome, 

 has multiplied these religious rites to an astonishing 

 degree, in order to strike the imagination, and cap- 

 tivate the minds of the multitude. In general they 

 are performed by aspersions of holy water, signs of 

 the cross, and prayers suitable to the nature of the 

 ceremony. Whoever wishes to see a particular ac 

 count of them, may consult the book of ecclesiasti- 

 cal ceremonies, published in the pontificate of Pope 

 Leo X 1 ., and father Martene's work on the rites and 

 discipline of the church. The Pope began all his bulls 

 with, Salutem et apostolicam benedictioncm. (a. f.) 



BENEVENTO, a city of Italy, in the kingdom 

 of Naples, and capital of the Principato Ultra, is 

 situated at the junction of the Sabato and Calore, at 

 the extremity of a hill which lies between these rivers. 

 This town is celebrated for containing several beau- 

 tiful remains of Roman sculpture and architecture. 

 The Porta Aurea, which forms one of the entrances 

 to the city, is an elegant monument of white marble, 

 of the Composite order, consisting of an arch whose 

 span is 20 palms, and height 35. It was built by 

 Trajan about the year of Christ 114, and commemo- 

 rates, on basso relievos, the battles of the Dacian 

 war. There is scarcely a wall in the upper town of 

 Benevento that is not composed of the precious ruina 

 of ancient tombs, altars, and pillars of entablatures. 

 The cathedral, built in the 6th century, has no claim 

 to particular notice. An Egyptian obelisk 'of red 

 granite, loaded with hieroglyphics, ornaments the 

 court of the cathedral. Population, 10,000. East 

 Long. 14 38', North Lat. 41 7'. See Swinburne's 

 Travels in the Two Sicilies, vol. ii. p. 336. (*-) 



Bengal. 



BENGAL. 



Bengal, the most eastern province of Hindostan, 

 i and one of the fifteen Sonba/is, into which that em- 

 pire was divided in the reign of Acbar, is situated 

 on each side of the river Ganges. It is bound- 

 ed on the north, by Asani, Bootan, and Bahar ; on 

 the S0iith, by Orissa, and the bay of Bengal ; on the 

 west, by Bahar, Berar, and Orissa ; and on the cast, 

 by a range of mountains, by which it is separated 

 from Gassay, Aracan, and the Birman dominions. 



Its greatest length, from east to west, is about 720 Bengal. 

 miles ; and its greatest breadth, from north to south, * v 

 about 300 ; extending from 21 30' to 26 40' N. . 

 Lat., and from 86 to 92 30' E. Long. " The 

 natural situation of Bengal is singularly happy with 

 respect to security from the attacks of foreign ene- 

 mies. On the north and east, it has no warlike 

 neighbours ; and has, moreover, a formidable barrier- 

 of mountains, rivers, or extensive waters, towards 



