BENEFIT OF CLERGY BEXEVEXTO 521 tion of the ecclesiastical from the civil courts. In the reign of Stephen sole jurisdiction was given to the bishop over ecclesiastical persons and causes. This gave rise to a contest be- tween the spiritual and temporal courts. The claim of exclusive jurisdiction was not success- fully maintained, except in respect to ecclesias- tical causes, but the persons of the clergy were exempted from penalties for certain crimes in cases specifically provided for by common law or statute. The exemption was not allowed in high treason, nor in petit lar- ceny, nor any mere misdemeanor (by which was meant petty crimes less than felony), and was as a general rule allowable only in capital felonies, but not in all even of that class. The exemption was mainly founded on the statute 25 Edward III., by which it was provided that clerks convicted of treason or felonies touch- ing other persons than the king himself should have the privilege of holy church. By the common law, benefit of clergy was denied in three kinds of felony, viz. : lying in wait for one on the highway (inridiatio viarum), rav- aging a country (depopulatio agrorum), and burning of houses (combustio domorum) and in all these cases, even after the statute above mentioned, the privilege continued to be de- nied. It was enacted afterward, in various | statutes, that certain crimes should be without benefit of clergy, as murder, rape, burglary, larceny from the person, or from a dwelling house, any one being therein, and many other offences. As to the persons entitled to ben- efit of clergy, it was originally limited to such as had the habitus et tonsura clericalis, that is, the regular clergy ; but the claim being made in behalf of the retainers of ecclesiastics, and other laymen, who were not entitled to it, only such as could read were at last allowed the privilege. But in the reign of Henry VII. it was found that there were as many laymen as divines who had an exemption by this test, and a law was then passed making a distinction between lay scholars and such as were in or- ders. Lay scholars were not allowed to take the benefit of clergy but once, and upon being admitted to the privilege were burned in the hand, probably in order that they might not set up a claim to it again. The distinction was abolished in the reign of Henry VIII., but re- vived again by the statute 1 Edward VI. It was also enacted by this statute that peers having a place in parliament should have the benefit of peerage, equivalent to that of clergy, for the first offence, although they could not read, and without being burnt in the hand, for all offences then clergyable to commoners, and also for the crimes of house-breaking, high- way robbery, horse-stealing, and robbing of churches a significant indication of the state of morals and education among the highest no- bility in that era. In the duchess of Kingston's case, it was held that peeresses were entitled to the benefit of the statute. All these provisions required, as the condition of exemption, that the person claiming exemption should be able to read, so that those who could not read (ex- cept peers) were hanged. To remedy this un- equal severity, it was enacted by 5 Anne that the benefit of clergy should bo granted to all who were entitled to it without requiring them to read. Finally, by statutes 7 and 8 George IV., the benefit of clergy was entirely abolish- ed. In the United States this privilege has never been recognized as existing. There is, however, a statute (act of congress, April 30, 1790) in which it is provided that benefit of clergy shall not be allowed for any offences punishable by death. BEiVEKE, Friedrich Ednard, a German philoso- pher, born in Berlin, Feb. 17, 1798, disappear- ed March 1, 1854, his body being found more than two years afterward in a canal at Char- lottenburg. After serving as a volunteer in the campaign of 1815, he studied theology and philosophy. In 1820 he lectured in the uni- versity of Berlin as a private teacher, but the continuance of his lectures was forbidden in 1822, on account of his departure from the phil- osophical principles of Hegel. He then taught for a few years in Gottingen, but, upon return- ing to Berlin in 1827, he received permission to lecture in the university again, and was elect- ed extraordinary professor of philosophy after Hegel's death in 1831. In that capacity he labored with marked success till 1853, when he began to suffer severely from physical dis- orders. He taught that philosophy must be founded upon a strict and careful examination of the phenomena of consciousness. Among his principal works are : Erziehungs- uhd Unter- richtelehre (2 vols., Berlin, 1835-'6 ; 3d ed., by Dressier) ; Grundlinien des naturlichen Sys- tems der praktischen Philosophic (3 vols., 1837 -'41) ; System der Logik als Kunstlehre det Denkem (2 vols., 1842) ; Pragmatische Psy- chologic, oder Seelenlehre in der Anwendung auf das Leben (2 vols., 1850). BENEVENTE, a seaport town of Brazil, in the province of Espiritu Santo, at the mouth of a river of the same name, forming a good harbor, 47 m. S. of Victoria ; pop. of the town and its district about 4,000. The port is one of the most frequented in the province, and many ships are built there. Agriculture and the coasting trade are the chief occupations of the district. BENEVENTO. I. A province of Italy, traversed by the W. ridges of the Neapolitan Apeninnes and the river Galore ; area, 675 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 231,878. The former papal delegation of Benevento contained only an area of barely 100 sq. m. and a population of little over 20,- 000 ; but when it became a province of the king- dom of Italy it was considerably enlarged by the addition of territory formerly belonging to the Neapolitan kingdom. Benevento now com- prises three districts, one of its own name con- taining nearly half of the total population of the province, and those of Cerreto Sannita and Bar- tolommeo in Galdo. Cereals, fruits, wine, oil,
