BEN 



what they 3.?luaIIy did write, extend the province of crilicifin 

 beyond its jull limit", ; and vvhilll they afford fcopc for the 

 unwarrantable exercife of fancy or iudgment, they Ihonld 

 be very cautioiifly admitted. In this way doAor Bentlcy 

 is faid to have incurred the charge of temerity and pre- 

 fumpiion. The fon of Dr. Bentley, who was called after 

 his own name, was a pjentleman of acknowledged ingenuity, 

 tafte and learning, and known as the author of feveral publica- 

 tions, and particularly of a tragedy, entitled " Philodamus," 

 publithed by Duddey in 1767, and eiletmed by the late 

 eminent poet Mr. Gray, as one of the moil capital poems 

 in the Englifli language. His youngell daughter married 

 a grandfon of the learned Dr. Cumberland, bifliop of Peter- 

 borough, whoft famous book " De Legibus Naturx" Dr. 

 Bentley is faid to have corrected upon a vilk to his foii-in- 

 law, who was bifhop of Kilmore in Ireland. The fon of 

 this bifliop, Richard Cumberland, efq. is well known by his 

 ingenious writings, and efpecialiy by his julUy applauded 

 dramatic pieces. Biog. Brit. 



BENVORLICH, in Geography, a mountain of Scotland, 

 in the county of Perth ; 3300 feet high. See Grampian 

 Mountain. 



BENY, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Calvados, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrid. of 

 Caen, 2^ leagues N.N.W. of Caen. 



Benv, Le, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Calvados, and chief place of a canton, in tlie dillricl of 

 Vire, 7i leagues S. W. of Caen. 



Beny, a fmall town of Hungary, in the county of Zemp- 

 ling, leated on the river Bodrog, and noted for its excellent 

 wine, not inferior to Tokay. 



BENYOWSKY, Mauritius Augustus, Count de, 

 in Biography, magnate of the kingdoms of Hungary and 

 Poland, a fing\ilar adventurer, was born at Verbowa, in the 

 country of Nittria, in Hungary, in the year 1 74 1, and edu- 

 cated for military fervice, to which he devoted himfelf from 

 his youth. Being wronged in his paternal inheritance by 

 liis family, he feized by force the caftle which was his 

 father's relidence ; in confequence of which he was de- 

 prived of his whole property by a decree of the chancery at 

 Vienna, and was obliged to fly for refuge into Poland. Here 

 nc engaged, in 1767, in the confpiracy againlt. king Stani- 

 flaus, and in the courfe of this irregnlar fervice he was taken 

 prifoner, firft in 176S, and afterwards in 1769, by the Ruf- 

 fians, who treated him with feverity, becaule he had violated 

 his parole, and becaufe he was forming plans for the libera- 

 tion of himfelf and his companions. The Ruffians con- 

 veyed him to Cafan, where he was allowed to live at large, 

 under the notice of the gairifon, as a ihite-piifoner ; but 

 here his entcrprifiug diipofition recommended him to a party, 

 which was then forming a confpiracy againft the Ruffian 

 government, in the execution of which he was invited to 

 aflfociate. But the plot being difcovcred, he was exiled to 

 Siberia ; and after a tedious journey and voyage of twelve 

 months, during which the count made fome unfuccelsful 

 efforts for efcaping, he arrived on the 2d of December 1770, 

 at Kamtfchatlka, and was conduced to the town called 

 Bolioretzkoy Ollrog, or Bolcheretflv, where he and his com- 

 panions in exile were informed that they mull provide for 

 themielves, and v.'here they were furniflied for this purpofe 

 with the neceffary arms and implements. Diffatisfied with 

 this prefcribed mode of favatje life, the count loon began 

 to concert meaiures with his fellow-prifoners for their efcape ; 

 and in the mean lime, he improved his circumftanccs by 

 opening a fchool, in which he educated the ion and three 

 daughters of the governor, M. Nilow, or Nilloff, and by his 

 knowledge of the game of chefs, at which he played with 



Vol. IV. 



B E N 



fome meichants, on bohalf of the Hcttman of the Coffackj, 

 who allowed him a certain proportion of the fums which he 

 won. Having gained the confidence of the governor and 

 the afftftions of Aphanafia, one of his daughter.^, he pro- 

 ctrcded in maturing and accomplifiiing his plan of liberation ; 

 but before its execution, the iecret was difcoverid, and the 

 force of the fettlement was employed in reducir.g the iiial- 

 contents. In the conflifl on this occafion, the governor 

 was killed ; but the exiles at laft fucceeded, fccured a vcffel, 

 and, accompanied by Aphanalia, who chofe to follow the 

 count, took their final leave of Kair.tfchatfl<a. Their whole 

 number, including the exiles, women, and the fnip's crew, 

 amounted to 96 perfons. After enduring many naval hard- 

 fhips at tea, the veffel arrived at Japan ; and on the 14th of 

 Auguft 177 1, he anchored on the ifland of Ufraay Ligon, 

 which he places in N. lat. 2y°, and which muff confcquently 

 lie between Japan and the ifland of Lekeio. This ifland, 

 according to his account, is abfolutely independent both of 

 China and Japan ; its inhabitants are mild, virtuous, and in 

 a high ftate of civilization ; and they are faid to have been 

 converted to Chrifl^ianity by a Portuguefe miffionary Jefuit, 

 Ignatio Sa'is, who arrrived in the ifland in 1749. Upon quit- 

 ting this ifland, whither he promifed to return, he failed for 

 Formofa, and arrived there on the 27th of Auguft; but meet- 

 ing with an oppofition on his landing, he made a great flaugh- 

 tcr among tlie natives. At length he opened, by means of a 

 Spaniard, who relided on the ifland, a more friendly inter- 

 courfe with the inhabitants of another canton, and aflifted 

 Huapo, their prince, in a war againft one of his neighbours. 

 After altay of about fixteen days on this ifland, he departed 

 and ileered for Macao, in the harbour of Canton, in China. 

 Here his female companion, Aphanafia Nilow, died. Dur- 

 ing his ftay in this place, he made fome attempts for pro- 

 curing leave to go to Canton ; but when thefe proved in- 

 effedlual, he determined to fail for Europe. Accordingly, 

 in his way thither, he arrived at the ifle of France, March 

 i6th 1772, and having touched at the ifle of Madagafcar, 

 he landed in France in July, and was well received by the 

 French rainiftry. 



Of the propofals made to the miniflers of France by this 

 adventurer, we have no documents ; but he feems to have 

 been regarded by them as a fit perfon to be employed in 

 eftabhrtiing a fettlement in the ifland of Madagafcar. With 

 this view they turniflied him witli a body of troops, in 1773 ; 

 and in his way thither he touched at the ifle ol France, in 

 order to folicit the co-operation of the chiefs of that ifland, 

 J.ealoufy, and the dread of a rival fettlement, prevented his 

 obtaining their concurrence ; and therefore, after fome de- 

 lay, he proceeded to Madagafcar, and landed there in 

 Februaiy, 1774; forming his fettlement at the bottom of 

 the bay of Antongill, at the mouth of the river Fingballe. 

 The count made little progrefs in accomplilhing the objedt 

 of his miffion, although he expended on account of the 

 French government a fum amounting to 50,000!. and 

 therefore, towards the end of the year 1776, commillioners 

 were deputed to examine the ftate of the fettlement, and to 

 convey the count to France. In the mean time, this entcr- 

 prifing adventurer had contrived to raife himftlf to confe- 

 quence in the ifland by a curious ftratagem. The Samba- 

 rives, conftituting one of the diftinft iiatior.s of Madagafcar, 

 had been formerly governed by a chief, whofe name was 

 Ramini ; and as he had left only one daughter, who had 

 been taken prifoner and fold to foreigners, his family was 

 fuppofed to be extinft. Of this circumftance the count 

 artfully availed himfelf ; and obtaining the tcftimony of an 

 old negroe woman whom he had brought with him from the 

 ifle of France, who declared that (he knew him to be the 

 Dd fos 



