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 Ado about Nothing_ (1600). BENEDICT [BELLEFONTAINE], the wealthiest farmer of Grand Pré, in Acadia, father of Evangeline ("the pride of the village"). He was a stalwart man of seventy, hale as an oak, but his hair was white as snow. Colonel Winslow in 1713 informed the villagers of Grand Pré that the French had formally ceded their village to the English, that George II. now confiscated all their lands, houses, and cattle, and that the people, amounting to nearly 2000, were to be "exiled into other lands without delay." The people assembled on the sea-shore; old Benedict Bellefontaine sat to rest himself, and fell dead in a fit. The old priest buried him in the sand, and the exiles left their village homes forever.--Longfellow, _Evangeline_ (1849).