THE

COLUMBIAN CYCLOPEDIA.

BEN NEVIS, běn něv'is: highest mountain (4,406 ft.) in Great Britain, in Inverness, Scotland. It is difficult of ascent, with a precipice of 1,500 ft. on the n.e. side Granite and gneiss form the base, which above is composed of porphyry. A meteorological observatory was erected on the summit in 1883.

BENNINGSEN, ben'ing-sen, LEVIN AUG. THEOPHILUS, Count: 1745, Feb. 10-1826, Oct. 3; b. Brunswick: one of the most famous Russian generals. His father was an of ficer in the Brunswick Guards; and B. himself entered the Hanoverian service for a time; but having squandered the property left him, he joined the Russian army, 1773, and in the Turkish war soon attracted the notice of the empress Catherine, who employed him to carry out her designs against Poland. He was one of the leaders of the conspiracy against the emperor Paul (1801); though he is said not to have been present at the catastrophe, but to have prevented the empress Maria from rushing to her husband when she heard his cries. He fought with considerable success in the battle of Pultusk (1806), and held the chief command in the obstinate and murderous struggle at Eylau (1807). When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, B. commanded the Russian centre on the bloody field of Borodino, and gave his voice for fighting a second battle before the walls of Moscow. Before the French began their retreat, he gained a brilliant victory over Murat at Woronowa (Oct. 18). Differences with Kutusov, who would not adopt B.'s plan to prevent the French from crossing the Beresina, made him retire from the army; but after Kutusov's death, he took the command of the Russian army of reserve, which entered Saxony 1813, July, fought victoriously at the battle of Leipsic, and was created count by the emperor Alexander on the field. When Leipsic was taken, it was he that was commissioned by the allies to announce to the king of Saxony that he was a prisoner. Failing health made him retire from the Russian service, 1818, to his paternal estate in Hanover, where he died. His son, ALEX. LEVIN B., became a leading Hanoverian statesman.

BENNINGSEN, RUDOLF VON: German statesman: 1824, July 10; b. Lüneburg, Hanover. Не studied jurisprudence at Göttingen and Heidelberg

BENNINGTON-BENSON.

1842-45; entered the Hanoverian civil service 1846; became judge of the superior court at Göttingen 1854; but resigned 1856 to enter the Hanoverian chamber of deputies: there he became leader of the opposition. B. acted. an important part in the founding of the German empire; was pres. of the German house of delegates 1873-79; and refused re-election to the house 1883 to devote himself to the interests of the national liberal party in Hanover.

BENNINGTON, ben'ning-ton: cap. of Bennington co., Vermont, 55 m. s. by w. of Rutland, 35 m. n.e. of Albany, N. Y. It has four churches, newspapers, a graded school, a national bank, foundries, four knittingmills, and manufactories of machinery, woolen goods, and lumber. It contains also large manufactories of fine parian-ware and porcelain from materials that abound in its vicinity. There is an observatory on Mount Anthony near by. Pop. (1890) 3,971. Total pop. of township, 6,391. The Battle of B.' was fought 1777, Aug. 16, when Gen. Stark with the New Hampshire militia defeated a detachment of Burgoyne's army commanded by Col. Baum. Stark, pointing to the enemy, said to his soldiers that he would gain a victory over them, or Molly Stark should be a widow that night. The soldiers, fired by the same patriotic enthusiasm, adopted Molly Stark' as their watchword, and by their heroic valor made that one of the glorious days of the Revolution. The English lost 200 killed, 600 prisoners, and 1,000 stand of arms. The Americans lost 14 killed, and 42 wounded (see STARK, JOHN). -A monument to commemorate this victory was erected at B. 1891. It stands on a commanding eminence, 283 ft. above the Walloomsac river. It is an obelisk of native stone, faced with dolorite. From base to top of capstone its height is 301 ft. 10 in.; the base is 37 ft. 4 in. square. A lookout chamber 188 ft. above the foundation is reached by means of an iron staircase. The total cost of the monument was $100,000, of which sum congress contributed $40,000, Mass. $10,000, N. H. $7,500, Vt. $15,000 (and the site); the remainder by private subscription. BEN-NUT, and BEN-OIL: see under MORINGA.

BENSHIE, ben'she, or BANSHEE, băn'shë: in the folk-lore of the Irish and western Highlanders of Scotland, a female fairy who makes herself known by wailings and shrieks, premonitory of a death in the family over which she exercises a kind of guardianship. This notion is woven into many folk-tales of rare pathos and beauty. A guardian spirit of the same kind occurs frequently in the folk-lore of Brittany. The name is supposed to be formed from the Irish Celtic ben or bean, a woman; and sighe, a fairy.

BENSON, ben'sun, EDWARD WHITE, D.D.: Anglican archbishop: 1829, July 14-1896, Oct. 11; b. near Birmingham, England. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and in Trinity Coll., Cambridge; and graduated at his college 1852 as First Class in classical honors, and Senior Optime in the mathematical tripos. He was (185359) an asst. master at Rugby School, and was head-master

BENSON-BENT GRASS.

of Wellington Coll. 1859-72. On the restoration of the ancient see of Truro, B. was made its bp. 1877, and at once began the erection of a cathedral: the mere shell of the edifice cost $500,000, and most of the money was collected through his exertions. On the death of Abp. Tait, 1882, B. was appointed his successor in the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. Among his published writings are vols. of Sermons; The Cathedral, Its Necessary Place in the Life and Work of the Church; Christ and His Times.

BENSON, EGBERT, LL.D.: 1746, June 21-1833, Aug. 24; b. New York. He graduated 1876, at King's (now Columbia) College, studied law and rose in his profession, becoming first atty.-gen, of the state 1777. He was a member of the revolutionary committee of safety, a member of the first state legislature, and of the continental congress 1784-88. He was a judge of the supreme court of N. Y., 1794-1802, several times a member of congress, and first president of the N. Y., Hist. Society.

BENSON, EUGENE: artist: 1837

b. Hyde Park, N. Y. He was educated in New York, and became a pupil in the National Acad. of Design 1856, studying also in Paris, Venice, and Rome. He painted for a while in New York, in the same studio with W. J. Hennessy, but eventually settled in Rome, where he has remained, with occasional excursions into the East. Among his bestknown paintings are Strayed Maskers (1873); Interior of St. Mark's (1876); Bazaar at Cairo (1877); Fire Worshippers (1879); Mountain Torrent (1881); State Secret in Venice (1882); and Ariadne (1883). B. has written several art works.

BENSON, JOSEPH: English Methodist clergyman: 1748, Jan. 25-1821, Feb. 16. After receiving a secular education, he studied theol. intending to enter the priesthood of the Church of England. He became interested in Methodism, however, and joined that sect, at the time when Wesley's earnestness and fervor had made it most powerful and popular. B. succeeded Wesley as pres. of the confer ence of the church, and became editor of the Wesleyan Magazine. He was author of Life of John Fletcher and Commentary on the Holy Scriptures.

BENT, n. běnt [sce BEND]: curvature; the tension or strain of the mental powers; disposition towards something; inclination: ADJ. curved; inclined; prone to; determined; in bot., hanging down towards the ground. TOP OF ONE'S BENT, to the very utmost that his inclination and bias would permit, as he was fooled to the top of his bent'. BENT ON IT, resolutely resolved upon it.-SYN. of 'bent, n.': bias; inclination; turn; propensity; tendency; proneness; prepossession.

BENT, v. běnt: pt. and pp. of BEND, which see.

BENT GRASS, or BENT, bent [Ger. binse, reed or bent grass], (Agrostis): genus of grasses, distinguished by a loose panicle of small, one-flowered, laterally compressed spikelets; the glumes unequal, awnless, and longer than the paleæ, which are also unequal, and of which the inner

BENT GRASS.

one is sometimes wanting, and the outer sometimes has and sometimes has not an awn; the seed free. For explanation of these terms, see GRASSES. The species are numerous, and aro found in almost all countries and climates. All are grasses of a slender and delicate appearance. Some are very useful as pasturegrasses and for hay, on account of their adaptation to certain kinds of soil, although none of them is regarded as very nutritious.The COMMON BENT GRASS (A. vulgaris) is known in this country as RED TOP (and in Penn., etc., as HERD'S GRASS), and is abundant in many parts of the continent of Europe and America. In the United States it is a valuable grass, both n. and s., not only flourishing in moist land, to which it is specially adapted, but also growing in thin and dry soils. If rather closely fed, it is a good grass for pastures; and in rich soils it yields a large quantity of hay which, if cut before the Bent Grass (Agrostis vul- seed is ripe, is of very fair quality. It is one of our most permanent grasses.-The WHITE BENT GRASS (A. alba), in some localities known as WHITETOP, resembles the species just described, but is not considered as valuable. On very moist and rich soils it often yields large crops. There are several varieties, but in all of them the ligule (the little membranous tongue at the junction of the blade of the leaf with its sheathing base) is elongated and acute, while in A. vulgaris it is very short, and appears as if cut off. A variety so little different as scarcely to deserve the name, but with somewhat broader leaves and more luxuriant habit of growth, was at one time much celebrated among British farmers under the name FIORIN GRASS, or Agrostis stolonifera. It was unduly lauded, and the consequent disappointment led to its being unduly disparaged. It is a useful grass in moist grounds, newly reclaimed bogs, or land liable to inundation. The first three or four joints of the culms lie flat on the damp soil, emitting roots in abundance, and it was formerly propagated by chopping these into pieces, and scattering them, but now generally by seed. Other U. S. species are A. elata, swamps, s.; Thin Grass (A. perennans), damp shade; Hair Grass (A. scabra), dry places, common. Herd's Grass is a name used in Britain for A. dispar' (?), but in this country applied to Timothy Grass, and s.to Red-top. 'A.dispar' is

garis).

BENTHAM.

said to be highly esteemed in France, particularly upon account of the great crop which it yields on deep sand, and on low, moist, calcareous soils.-BROWN BENT GRASS (A. canina) is native in N. America, and has alpine varieties; in Britain, it is abundant, and is valued for mixing with other grasses to form permanent pasture on poor wel peaty soils.-SILKY BENT GRASS (A. Spica venti) is a beauti. ful grass, with very slender branches to its ample panicle, which, as it waves in the wind, has a glossy and silky appearance. It is common in southern and central Europe; an annual grass, occasionally sown in spring to fill up blanks in grass-fields.

BENTY, a. abounding in bents; overgrown with bents; resembling bents.

BENTHAM, ben'tam or ben'tham, JEREMY: 1748, Feb. 15-1832, June; b. in Red Lion street, Houndsditch, London; eccentric but eminent writer on ethics and jurisprudence. He was son of a wealthy solicitor, and received his early education at Westminster School; and when little more than twelve years of age, he went to Queen's College, Oxford, where he took his Master's degree, 1766. Before entering the univ. he had, by his precocious tendencies to speculation, acquired the title of philosopher.' On graduating, his father, who expected his son to become lord chancellor, set him to the study of law at Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar, 1772. He never practiced in his profession, however, for which he had a strong distaste, which is paraded in many of his writings. Turning from the practice of law to its theory, he became the greatest critic of legislation and government in his day. His first publication, A Fragment on Government, 1776, was an acutely hypercritical examination of a passage in Blackstone's Commentaries, prompted, as he has himself explained, by a passion for improvement in those shapes in which the lot of mankind is meliorated by it.' The Fragment abounds in fine, original, and just observation; it contains the germs of most of his after-writings, and must be highly esteemed, if we look away from its disproportion to its subject and the writer's disregard of method. The Fragment procured him the acquaintance of Lord Lansdowne, in whose society at Bowood he afterwards passed perhaps the most agreeable hours of his life. It was in the Bowood society that he conceived an attachment to Miss Caroline Fox (Lord Holland's sister), who was still a young lady, when B., in the 54th year of his age, offered her his heart and hand, and was rejected with all respect.' In 1778, he published a pamphlet on The Hard Labor Bill, recommending an improvement in the mode of criminal punishment; which he followed in 1811 by A Theory of Punishments and Rewards. In these two works B. did more than any other writer of his time to rationalize the theory of punishments by consideration of their various kinds and effects, their true objects, and the conditions of their efficiency. He published in 1787 Letters on Usury; 1789, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation; 1802, Discourses on Civil and Penal Legislation; 1813, A