about 1 846. The mission of the Baptist Missionary Society was founded in 1817, originally as an outpost of the Serampur mission. It maintains an orphanage for the support and education of native children. With regard to the civil station, which is situated a short distance from
the town, Mr Sherring says,—
"The foreign residents of Benares live chiefly at Sikrol, an exten- ve suburb on the north-west side of the city. This station is divided by the Barna River, to the south of which the greater por tion of the military cantonments, and buildings connected therewith, are situated, and likewise the English church, Government college, medical hall, the old mint, the residence of the Maharaja of Benares, the missionaries of the Church of England and of the London and the Baptist Societies, the courts of the civil and sessions judge, the deputy -judge, and the judge of small causes. To the north of the river are the houses of the civil officers of Government, the courts of the commissioner of the division, and of the collector and other magistrates of the district ; several bungalows inhabited by deposed llajas and other natives ; the Wards Institution, for the residence of sons of native noblemen under special charge of Government, and while pursuing their studies at Queen s College; the beautiful public gardens, supported by subscription ; the swimming bath ; the jail, in which as many as 1700 prisoners are sometimes confined ; the lunatic asylum, with 110 patients ; the blind and leper asylum, with 130 inmates, founded in 1825 by Raja Kali Sankar Ghoshal ; and the cemetery. A hospital and four dispensaries v*v situated in various parts of the city, and afford gratuitous relief to numerous patients daily."
BENAVENTE, a decayed town of Spain, in the pro vince of Zamora, situated on a gentle eminence near the River Esla. It formerly gave title to the Pimentals, a powerful family of counts, which is now merged in that of the dukes of Osuna. The ancient castle still exists in a ruinous condition. Among the numerous churches, for which the town was once remarkable, are Santa Maria del Azogue, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, and San Juan del Mercado, which once belonged to the Knights-Templars, and still contains some very old sepul chral monuments. Silk-spinning is carried on by the inhabitants, who number 45 3G.
BENBOW, John, English admiral, the son of a Shropshire gentleman, was born at Shrewsbury about 1650. He went to sea when very young, and at the age of thirty became master of a merchantman. When trading to the Mediterranean in 1686, he beat off a Sallee pirate with such bravery that James II., who took a keen interest in ships and seamen, made him captain of a man-of-war. On the accession of William III. he was employed to protect English commerce in the Channel, a duty which he vigilantly discharged. After taking part with great intrepidity in the bombardment of St Malo (1693), and superintending the blockade of Dunkirk (1696), he sailed in 1698 for the West Indies, where he compelled the Spaniards to restore several English vessels which they had seized. On his return he was appointed vice-admiral, and was frequently consulted by the king. In 1701 he was sent again to the West Indies, a station declined by his seniors from fear of the French strength in these waters. In August 1702 his ship, the "Breda," gave chase off Santa Martha to a French squadron under Du Casse ; and although unsupported by his consorts, he kept up a running fight for five days with the most stubborn courage. While boarding the sternmost French vessel he received two severe wounds ; and shortly afterwards his right leg was shattered by a chain-shot, despite which he remained on the quarter deck till morning, when the flagrant disobedience of the captains under him, and the disabled condition of his ship, forced him reluctantly to abandon the chase. After his return to Jamaica, where his subordinates were tried by court-martial, he died of his wounds on November 4, 1702. He possessed inflexible resolution and great naval skill, and secured his high rank through his unaided merits. (Of. Yonge s Hist, of ^ British Navy, vol. i.; Campbell s British Admirals, vol. iii.)
BENCH, or Banc, has various legal significations.
Free-Bench signifies that estate in copyhold-lands which the wife, being espoused a virgin, has, after the decease of her husband, for her dower, dum sola et casta fuerit. according to the custom of the manor. W ith respect to this free-bench different manors have different customs.
Queen's Bench is one of the three superior courts of Common Law at Westminster, the others being the Common Pleas and the Exchequer. Although for many years these tribunals have possessed co-ordinate jurisdiction, there are a few cases in which each possesses exclusive authority, and in point of dignity precedence is given to the Court of Queen s Bench, the Lord Chief-Justice of which is also styled Lord Chief-Justice of England, and is the highest permanent judge of the Crown. All three courts trace their origin to the aida regia. The Court of Exchequer attended to the business of the revenue, the Common Pleas to private actions between citizens, and the Queen s Bench retained criminal cases and such other jurisdiction as had not been divided between the other two courts. By 11 Geo. IV. and 1 Will. IV. c. 70, 8, the Court of Exchequer Chamber was constituted as a court of appeal for errors in law in all three courts. Like the Court of Exchequer the Queen s Bench assumed, by means of an ingenious fiction, the jurisdiction in civil matters, which properly belonged to the Common Pleas. The functions peculiar to the Queen s Bench are its jurisdiction in criminal matters, and the general control it exercises over inferior magistrates and other public officers. Of late years the court has consisted of one Lord Chief- Justice and five puisne judges. Under the Judicature Act, 1873, the Court of Queen s Bench becomes the Queen s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice ; and appeals will in future be taken to the Court of Appeal instead of the Exchequer Chamber.
The Court of Common Pleas is sometimes called the Common Bench.
Sittings in Banc (in the courts of Common Law) are the sittings of the full court for the hearing of motions, special cases, etc., as opposed to the nisi prius sittings for trial of facts, where usually only a single judge presides.
BENCHERS, in the Inns of Court, the senior members of the society, who are invested with the government of the body to which they belong.
BENCOOLEN, the chief town of a Dutch residency in the S.W. of Sumatra. It is situated on the coast at the mouth of a river of the same name, in 3 50 S. lat. and 102 3 . E. long. The locality is low and swampy, and most of the houses are raised on bamboo piles. The bay is a mere open roadstead fringed with coral reefs, and landing- is difficult on account of the surf. A lighthouse has been recently erected by the Dutch authorities. At on? time there was a very extensive trade carried on with Bengal, the Coromandel coast, and Java, but it has greatly declined. The principal exports are pepper and camphor. The town, which was formerly 6 miles to the north, was removed to its present site in 1714. It is defended by a fort ; and possesses an old and a new government-house, a council chamber and treasury, a hospital, &c. The church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1833. Bencoolen was formerly the chief establishment possessed by the English East India Company in the island, and for a few years constituted a distinct presidency. In 1719 the settlers were expelled by the natives, but were soon per mitted to return. In 1760 all the English settlements on the coast of Sumatra were destroyed by a French fleet under Comte d Estaing. They were afterwards re-estab lished and secured to the British; but in 1825 they were finally ceded to the Netherlands in exchange for the Dutch settlements on the continent of India. Population of the district in 1871, 160 Europeans and 128,343 natives.
