Beni, Paul

, professor of eloquence in the university of Padua, was a native a of Candia, where he was born in 1553, and whence he was brought in his infancy to Gubio in the duchy of Urbino. He was in the society of Jesuits for some time, but quitted them upon their refusing him permission to publish a commentary on the banquet of Plato. He was fond of critical controversy, and maintained a dispute with the academy della Crusca of Florence, publishing a treatise against their Italian dictionary, under the title of “Anti-Crusca.” He had likewise another contest with the same academy with respect to Tasso, whose defence he undertook, and published two pieces on this subject. In one of these he compares Tasso to Virgil, and Ariosto to Homer, in some particulars giving Tasso the preference to these two ancients: in the other he answers the critical censures which had been made against this author. He published also some discourses upon the Pastor Fido of Guajini. These pieces were in Italian; but he has left a greater number of works in Latin, among which are, 1. “Commentarii in 6 lib. priores Virgilii.” 2. “ | Commentarii in Aristotelis poeticarn et lib. Rhetor.” 3. “Cominentarii in Sullustium.” 4. “Platonis Poetica ex dialogis collecta.” 5. “Dispensatio de Baronii annalibus.” 6. “Disputatio de historia.” 7. “Disputatio de auxiliis.” 8. “Orationes 75.” 9. “Decades tres in Platonis Timeeum;” all collected in 5 vols. fol. Venice, 1622. He died the J 2t’i of February 1625. He was undoubtedly a man of extensive learning, but loquacious and prolix. ¹