ble parentage was he,
By trade a Levite, though of low degree.

Part ii.

BENAI'AH (3 _syl_.), in _Absalom and Achitophel_, is meant for general
George Edward Sackville. As Benaiah, captain of David's guard, adhered
to Solomon against Adonijah, so general Sackville adhered to the duke
of York against the prince of Orange (1590-1652).

Nor can Benaiah's worth forgotten lie,
Of steady soul when public storms were high.

Dryden and Tate, part ii.

BENAS'KAR or BENNASKAR, a wealthy merchant and magician of
Delhi.--James Ridley, _Tales of the Genii_ ("History of Mahoud," tale
vii., 1751).

BENBOW (_Admiral_). In an engagement with the French near St. Martha
on the Spanish coast in 1701, admiral Benbow had his legs and thighs
shivered into splinters by chain-shot, but supported in a wooden frame
he remained on the quarter-deck till morning, when Du Casse sheered
off.

Similar acts of heroism are recorded of Almeyda, the Portuguese
governor of India, of Cynaegiros brother of the poet AEschylos, of
Jaafer the standard-bearer of "the prophet" in the battle of Muta, and
of some others.

_Benbow_, an idle, generous, free-and-easy sot, who spent a good
inheritance in dissipation, and ended life in the workhouse.

Benbow, a boon companion, long approved
By jovial sets, and (as he thought) beloved,
Was judged as one to joy and friendship prone,
And deemed injurious to himself alone.

Crabbe, _Borough_, xvi. (1810).

BEND-THE-BOW, an English archer at Dickson's cottage.--Sir W. Scott,
_Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).

BENEDICK, a wild, witty, and light-hearted young lord of Padua, who
vowed celibacy, but fell in love with Beatrice and married her. It
fell out thus: He went on a visit to Leonato, governor of Messina;
here he sees Beatrice, the governor's niece, as wild and witty as
himself, but he dislikes her, thinks her pert and forward, and
somewhat ill-mannered withal. However, he hears Claudio speaking to
Leonata about Beatrice, saying how deeply she loves Benedick, and
bewailing that so nice a girl should break her heart with unrequited
love. This conversation was a mere ruse, but Benedick believed it to
be true, and resolved to reward the love of Beatrice with love and
marriage. It so happened that Beatrice had been entrapped by a similar
conversation which she had overheard from her cousin Hero. The end
was they sincerely loved each other, and became man and
wife.--Shakespeare, _Much A