Chapter Ben Jochanan' to Benshie, Benshee of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Ben Jochanan' to Benshie, Benshee

Ben Jochanan' in the satire of Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden and Tate, is meant for the Rev. Samuel Johnson, who suffered much persecution for his defence of the right of private judgment.

“A Jew [Englishman ] of humble parentage was he;
By trade a Levite [clergyman ], though of low degree.”
Part ii. 354, 355.

Ben trovato (Italian). Well found; a happy discovery or invention.

Benaiah (3 syl.), in the satire of Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden and Tate, is meant for George Edward Sackville, called General Sackville, a gentleman of family, and a zealous partisan of the Duke of York. Benaiah was captain in David's army, and was made by Solomon generalissimo. (1 Kings ii. 35.)

“Nor can Benaiah's worth forgotten lie,
Of steady soul when public storms were high;
Whose conduct, while the Moors fierce onsets made,
Secured at once our honour and our trade.'
Part ii. 819-20.

Benares (3 syl.). One of the “most holy” cities of the Hindus, reverenced by them as much as Mecca is by the Mohammedans.

Benbow (Admiral ), in an engagement with the French near St. Martha, on the Spanish coast, in 1701, had his legs and thighs shivered into splinters by a chain-shot, but, supported in a wooden frame, he remained on the quarter-deck till morning, when Du Casse bore away. Almeyda, the Portuguese governor of India, in his engagement with the united fleet of Cambay'a and Egypt, had his legs and thighs shattered in a similar manner; but, instead of retreating, had himself bound to the ship's mast, where he “waved his sword to cheer on the combatants,” till he died from loss of blood. (See Cynægiros, Jaafer, etc.)

“Whirled by the cannon's rage, in shivers torn,
His thighs far shattered o'er the waves are borne;
Bound to the mast the god-like hero stands,
Waves his proud sword and cheers his woeful bands;
Though winds and seas their wonted aid deny,
To yield he knows not, but he knows to die.”
Camoens: Lusiad, book x.

Benbow A sot, generous, free, idle, and always hanging about the ale-house. He inherited a good estate, spent it all, and ended life in the workhouse. The tale is in Crabbe's Borough.

“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.”
Letter xvi.

Bench The seat of a judge in the law courts; the office of judge.
   To be raised to the bench. To be made a judge.
   The King's [queen's] bench. The Supreme Court of Common Law; so called because at one time the sovereign presided in this court, and the court followed the sovereign when he moved from one place to another. Now a division of the High Court of Judicature.

Bench Bench of bishops. The whole body of English prelates, who sit together on a bench in the House of Lords.
   To be raised to the Episcopal bench. To be made a bishop.

Bench and Bar Judges and pleaders. The bench is the seat on which a judge sits. The bar of a court was formerly a wooden barrier, to separate the counsel from the audience. Now, silk gowns (q.v. ) sit nearer the judge, and their juniors behind them. (See Barristers. )

Benchers Senior members of the Inns of Court; so called from the bench on which they used to sit. They exercise the function of calling students to the bar, and have the right of expelling the obnoxious. (See Bar, page 94, col. 1.)

“He was made successively Barrister, Utter Barrister, Bencher, and Reader.”- Wood.

Bend meaning power, as Beyond my bend, i.e. my means or power. The allusion is to a bow or spring; if strained beyond its bending power, it breaks. (See Bent. )