Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 04.djvu/224

 began to interest himself in the negro slaves of America, and established an evening school for slaves in Philadelphia, taught by himself with great success, besides contributing numerous articles to almanacs and newspapers on the evils and unlawfulness of slavery, he published in 1762 'An Account of that Part of Africa inhabited by the Negroes;' in 1767 'A Caution and Warning to Great Britain and her Colonies on the calamitous State of the enslaved Negroes;' and in 1771 'Some Account of Guinea, with an Enquiry into the Slave Trade.' These pamphlets were printed at his own expense, and circulated among persons of influence. Although they produced almost no immediate impression on the public mind, yet as it was through their perusal that Clarkson was successful in gaining the prize at Oxford for a Latin dissertation on slavery, and was led to take an interest in the abolition of the slave trade, their connection with the final result can, in part at least, be clearly traced. In harmony with his efforts on behalf of the negroes, Benezet was a strenuous defender of the rights of the aboriginal races in America. In 1766 he took an active part in founding the 'Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures,' and in 1784 he published 'Some Observations on the Situation, Disposition, and Character of the Indian Natives of the Continent.' As was to be expected from his quaker principles, he also made use of his pen to advocate the total abolition of war. On this subject he addressed a letter to King Frederick of Prussia, and in 1776 he published 'Thoughts on War,' which was followed in 1778 by 'Serious Reflections on the Times.' In 1780 he published in English and French 'A Short Account of the Religious Society of the Quakers,' giving the best succinct view of the principles as well as the discipline and economy of the society that had then appeared; and in 1782 he expounded some of the leading principles of the society in a small work on the 'Plainness and Innocent Simplicity of the Christian Religion.'

Benezet was a zealous advocate of temperance, and in 1778 published a small pamphlet against the use of spirituous liquors. Towards the close of his life he resolved, on account of his compassionate sentiments towards the lower creation, to discontinue the use of animal food. His private habits were remarkably simple, and his life was spent in the constant practice of charity and wise generosity. He died 3 May 1784.



BENFIELD, PAUL (d. 1810), Indian trader, has become notorious principally in consequence of the attack made upon him by Burke in his celebrated speech on the debts of the Nawáb of the Carnatic, in which Benfield was denounced as 'a criminal who long since ought to have fattened the region kites with his offal.' Benfield went out to India as a civil servant of the East India Company in 1764, and during the greater part of his residence in that country never drew a higher salary than two or three hundred rupees a month; yet he is reported to have amassed a fortune considerably exceeding half a million sterling. Shortly after his arrival at Madras he appears to have entered into partnership with a native Soukar, half trader, half banker, and to have made his money partly by trade, partly by loans at high rates of interest, and partly by contracts. He had very extensive money transactions with the Nawáb of the Carnatic, and he entered into and completed contracts with the government for the construction of fortifications for the town of Madras and for Fort St. George. One of the most important of his loans was made for the purpose of enabling the Nawáb, who, with the aid of the English, had recently invaded and conquered the Mahratta state of Tanjore, to satisfy certain claims held by the Dutch at Tranquebar upon a portion of the Tanjore Rajah's territories. The character of this transaction having been called in question, and Benfield having been charged with having aided and abetted the malcontents in the Madras council, he was ordered by the court of directors in 1777 to return to England. He accordingly resigned the company's service, and on reaching London in 1779 lost no time in demanding an investigation into his conduct. He made no attempt to conceal his loans to the Nawáb, stating that though they had been extensive, they had not been of a clandestine nature, and that they were well known to the governor, to the council, and, indeed, to the whole settlement. He alleged that 'by long and extensive dealings as a merchant he had gained credit at Fort St. George, and confidence with the natives of India, and with the moneyed people in particular, to an extent never before experienced by any European in that country.' He urged that by his loans he had prevented war, and had promoted 'the most essential interests of his honourable employers.' He was subsequently restored to the service and permitted to return to Madras: the court of directors resolving that there was nothing in the company's records that warranted 'a conclusion of his having acted wrongly on the occasion of the loan'