law derived from the Norman Frencli, to denote a person in the enjoyment of an interest or estate held in trust by others. Beneficiary is thus strictly and technically used in the law of Scotland. As a term in the law of insurance, the beneficiary is the jiarty entitled to the bene- fit or proceeds of the policy. Patent rights and copyrights are sometimes denominated benefi- ciary privileges. See Trust.
BEN'EFIT OF CLER'GY (ME. Uenfet,
OF. bienfct, from Lat. hciic, well -}- factum-,
something done, a deed, act), or Privilegium
Clericale. The privilege, claimed by the Me-
<li;Tval Church for its clergy', of exemption from
the process of the secular courts wlien charged
with crime. The privilege was generally ac-
corded bj' the Christian nations of Europe, and
it operated to render the clergy amenable, espe-
cially in cases involving barliarous punishments,
only to the authority of the Church. The an-
cient usage was, says Blackstone, for the bishop
or ordinary, to demand his clerks to be tried
in the bishop's instead of the King's court."
This exemption, enjoyed by all persons in holy
orders, from the lay courts, was a privilege
higlily valued and stoutly defended by the clergy.
This sentiment was powerfully sup])orted by
the growing sense of the sanctity attaching to
the priestly office, and the result was the crea-
tion of a priestly caste owing allegiance pri-
marily to the Church and subject only to her
penalties.
In England the privilege was conceded in all cases of felony, except that of treason against the King; but not in cases of misdemeanor nor in civil litigations. Originally available only in the case of persons in holy orders, it was ex- tended in 1330, by a statute of Edward III., to all clerks, whether religious or secular, the last class comprehending all persons who could read. The gradual amelioration of the penal laws and the spread of education rendered the benefit of clergy more and more of an anachronism, and it was, by successive acts of Parliament, gradually shorn of its privileges, and finally, in 1827, abolished. It survives only in the statute for- bidding the judicial impeachment of archbishops or bishops for crime without the consent of the King, and in the exemption of the clergy from arrest while in the performance of the services of the Church.
The process whereby the benefit was claimed varied with the growing power of the ordinary tribunals. Originally the bishop was entitled to demand the person of the clerk immediately upon his apprehension, whereupon the jurisdiction of the secular authority ceased. Later the courts asserted the right to compel the presence of the accused, in order to inquire into the question of his guilt or innocence, as well as his right to the privilege; and finally the courts took full jurisdiction and proceeded against liim as in the case of an ordinary criminal, until a verdict was rendered, when be was allowed to plead his benefit in arrest of judgment. (See Arrest of JunoMENT.) The test of the prisoner's ability to read was thereupon made in open court, and if his claim was sustained, he was turned over to the bishop, or ordinary, to make his purga- tion. (See CoMruRCATioN.) The punishment of branding on the thumb, which the secular court was authorized to inflict before discharging the convicted clerk from its custody, was mitigated and finally abolished by statute of 19 Geo. III. (1779).
In the United States the right was recognized in a few early cases in the colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. It was expressly forbidden by an act of Congress passed April 30, 1790, in all cases of conviction of capital crime. The early iiistory of the practice in England is fully given in Pollock and Jlait- land. Histiirij of EiigltDli Laic (2d ed., Boston, 1899). For its later history, consult: Hale, His- tory of the Picas of the Crown; Blackstone, Commentaries on the Luio of England; and Stephen, History of the Criminal Law of Eng- land (London, 1883).
BEN'EFIT OF IN'VENTORY. A term of
the civil law denoting the privilege which the heir
obtains of being released from liability for the
debts and charges of his ancestor beyond the
value of the property of his succession, by caus-
ing an inventory of these effects within the time
and in the manner prescribed by law. It is
still employed in the practice of Louisiana. It
was formerly of importance also in Scotch law ;
but by the abolition of the annus deliberandi and
other liberal provisions of the statutes 10 and 11
Vict., c. 47, sees. 23 and 25, its value has been
minimized. See Heib; Inheritance; and In-
ventory.
BEN'EFIT SOCI'ETIES. Associations
formed by groups of persons to provide for a
cheap form of insurance, which secures to their
members, through regular dues or special assess-
ments, a provision for old age, funeral expenses,
death payments to widow and orphans, or sick
allowances. Societies exist with this beneficial
feature as their primary object ; but more often
it is added to the work of special associations
in order to make membership more attractive.
The associations formed by men in the same
business or profession, trade organizations, phil-
anthropic .societies, and churches frequently pro-
vide for such a fund. Certain trades-unions tend
to emphasize the benefit feature, sometimes pay-
ing out-of-work allowances. Women are per-
mitted to belong to some societies. Since the
success of all such societies depends upon intelli-
gent financial management, the funds have lieen
occasionally dissipated by ignorance, incompe-
tence, or fraud. In England, societies with bene-
ficial features are called 'friendly societies,' and
'benefit societies' are associations entered into
for the purpose of raising by periodical sub-
scriptions a fund to assist members in buying
land and erecting buildings upon it. The latter
societies have been very successful, and they
have raised large sums which have been invested
in bonds and mortgages. See Building and
Loan Associations ; Secret Associations ;
Friendly Society; I.xstitutional Church;
Pensions; Railway Brotherhoods; Trade-
Unions.
BENEKE, ba'ne-ke, Friedrich Eduard (1798-c.1856). A noted German psychologist. He was born in Berlin, February 17. 1798. He studied theology at Halle, and afterwards philosophy at Berlin. In 1820 he liegan lecturing at the latter university, but tv.'o years later his lectures were interdicted by the INIinister Altenstein, apparently because Beneke's philosophical views were
