lege, in Cambridge, written by Richard Bentley, D. D. &c. with fome Remarks alfo upon the Preface pretended to be written and published, together with the Letter, by a Gentleman of the Temple." In his remarks on the preface, of which he fpeaks in terms not very polite or decent, he charges, though not in a direct manner, the Doctor of either writing it, or conniving at it, and at the publication. The pamphlet contains one hundred and eighty pages, but is not very remarkable for wit or ftrength of argument. Dr. Bentley had proved, that fince he was appointed mafter the income of the College was confiderably increased. Mr. Miller, however, complains in very loud terms, that the expences of the Lodge far exceeded thofe of his predeceffor. He then gives an account of the charges on the College books for the maintenance of each for three years. He, however, fays: "I cannot poffibly fet out the exact time of their refidence in each year, neither have I picked out thefe particular years, to make the difference appear fo fhameful on his fide. I defigned to have taken the three laft years, of one as well as of the other, throughout; but all the books the Fellows have in their cuftody will not enable me to do it any nearer. And though I hear he every where gives out that he has delivered up all that were in his cuftody, yet in fact he has not delivered relating to the offices above-mentioned, up one though the Bishop fent him his orders to do it. He acknowledged he had received the orders, and faid he would deliver them, but infifted that the feniors fhould all come to demand or infpect them in his lodge, and give their hands for the receipt of them, and fuch other formalities, which fhewed he only intended to bambouzle the feniors, but keeps the books yet in his cuftody. Neither can thofe now in the Fellows cuftody be fuppofed to have been culled in that manner; but with a defign to blind and confound what had been done formerly. However, thefe will ferve at prefent for a teft of what his modefty will affirm, and dares ftand." 411 men of the file and arguments of the This quotation may ferve as a speciwriter. which is certainly confiderable, in the writer. Why fhould the difference, annual expences of the two Masters be deemed fhameful by a man, who acknowledges that he does not know how inuch of the year each refided, it would bet difficult to determine. Nor can it at this diftance of time be eafily conthat he intended to keep the books, and jectured, how Mr. M. knew so well bambouzle the feniors. ing to the example of great orators, he He thus concludes: "But, accordhas referved the most fubftantial exception to the laft; which is, that the petition fpeaking of the College in general, and of fome particular members that were of it, fays, they fuffered by his injuftice, and we, who are alfo fufferers, are neceffitated to complain; which as he properly expreffes it, does fo inthat is faid, that they must begin anew. validate, caffate, null, and nonfuit all This is fuch another learned exception as his firft upon the endorsement. In common fenfe every thing that is faid of a College or any flux body, in reyesterday, muft without nonfenfe be ference to what is paft, though but in the third perfon: as what can be more proper, or true, than to say yefterday, and every day, for almost ten years before, the College, and feveral particular members, they were abufed by Dr. Bentley, of which we whofe were the particular members abufed, names are fubfcribed, fome of which and the reft fufferers by the abuse of the College in general, now complain? If there are more fuch learned men in the world, whofe learning only lies this way, they ought to begin all their learning anew, for they are not to be regarded; neither do they deferve an anfwer to fuch ftuff, till we, and the reft of the world, are as void of common fenfe as themselves. 66 of this petty-fogging divine, and who By this may be feen the abilities would have thought, but what a learn ed man, a Matter of a College, an Arch-deacon, and a Doctor in Divinity, fhould print, would have at least fome colour of truth and reafon in it? 3 G 2 I defy the greatest bock-worm in this In every page of the pamphlet, there appears a inoft inveterate hatred of Dr. Bentley, and a determination to stile all his actions unjuft. The proper exertions of the head of fo large a fociety, without which fubordination would foon be loft, are deemed tyranny, and the repairs of the lodge, to which all the feniors confented, is termed extravagance. This pamphlet was followed by feveral others, which were for the most part in the fame ftrain, and are now feldom to be found, except in the libraries of the curious. Dr. Bentley felt the juftice of his caufe, and the dignity of his character tco forcibly to attempt an answer. The Bishop of Ely, however, would not admit his plea of informality in the petition of the Fellows, and infifted on a reply. Bentley then began openly to expicfs his doubts, with refpect to his lordship's claim of exerting any authority over him, or the College. He prefented a petition to Queen Anne, to implore her protection, and to maintain her foie right of jurifdiction over the royal foundation and its mafter. The Queen referred the petition to the confideration of her Attorney and Solicitor *Befides the pamphlets already mentioned, the following appeared during this difpute: I. Sone Confiderations humbly oficred, in a Letter to John Lord bithop of Ely, on a Book, entituled The prefent State of Trinity College, by Dr. Bentley. By a Mafter of Arts and Fellow of the faid College. 8vo. II. The true State of Trinity College, in a Letter to a refiding Fellow of that Society: Wherein the trifling Impertinences, malicious Alpertions, and bold Falfhoods of Dr. Bentley are anfwered, in fuch a Manner as they deferve. Publifhed for the Information of the Students, Scholars, and Iellows of both Univertities. Lond. 1710. 8vo. III. A full View of Dr. Bentley's Letter to the Lord Bishop of Ely. In a Difcourfe to a Friend; wherein the whole Strain of that celebrated Piece, throughout, is fairly, familiarly, and largely confidered. By Thomas Blomer, M. A. Fellow of Trinity College, in Cambridge. Lond. 1710. Svc. IV. An humble and ferious Reprefentation of the prefent State of Trinity College, in a Letter to a noble Lord. Lond. 8vo. V. A true and impartial Account of the prefent Differences between the Matter and Fellows of Trinity College, in Cambridge, confidered, in a Letter to a Gentleman fome Time Member of that Society. Lond. 1711. 8vo. VI. The Rights of the Scholars of Trinity College afferted, and feveral Abufes detected, in a fecond Letter to the Rev. John Lord Bithop of Ely. By a Master of Arts, and Fellow of the faid College. 8vo. To th fe pamphlets, of which the names are recorded in the Biographia Britannica, and in the ingenious Mr. Gough's British Topography, Vol. I. p. 242, may be added VII. The Life of Richard Bentley, in Latin and English. A very fcurrilous and abfurd compo fition. VIII. An Anfwer to fome Objections that have been made to the Conduct of Dr. B. Together with a Dialogue between a Whig and a Tory concerning the prefent State of Trinity College. 1713. The Whig detends and the Tory condemns. This Pamphlet was published when it was fuppofed that the difpute would be finally fettled. There is fome little humour in the manner in which the Doctor is made to condeinn himielf, in his Antwers to fome Questions, which are propofd to him, in the former part of this pamphlet. There were probably fome other productions of the fame kind, published during the content, though they li d our relearches. Solicitor-general, with orders for them thoroughly to inveftigate the fubject of difpute. At the fame time, the Bifhop was informed that his proceedings muit ftop, till the royal pleafare was known, as the Queen had taken the affair under her own cognizance. After much deliberation, the Attorney and Solicitor-general reported to her Majefty, that it was their opinion, that the Mafter of Trinity College was fubject to the power of the Bishop. This fentence, however, did not prove fatisfactory to fome of the miniftry, and Mr. Secretary St. John, who was afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, waited on the Bishop of Ely, with a letter, which acquainted him, that the fubject of Dr. Bentley's petition, and the report of the Attorney and Solicitor-general, were then before her Majefty, who had ordered the matter to be taken into confideration by the Lord-keeper and her counfel. It added, likewife, that the Queen thought the bufinefs of the higheft importance, and, therefore, that the commanded her Secretary to inform his lordship, that it was her pleasure that he fhould proceed no farther in the bufinefs*. Dr. Bentley, forefeeing that a laxity of difcipline and ceflation of ftudies might probably be produced in his College by this delay, requested that the miniftry would permit him to take his trial. The choice of a vifitor he fubmitted wholly to her Majefty; but if fhe did not wifh to appoint one, he hoped that no objections would be raifed to his fubmitting falvo jure regio to the decifion of the Bithop. The Queen granted his requeft, and removed the inhibition, by fignifying to his lordship, that he was at liberty to proceed as far as the law would allow. The Bishop now declined the bufinefs, until he was compelled by the King's Bench, in Eafter term, 1714. Meffengers were fent to him from both parties to Ely, where he then refided, to intreat his prefence at the College, where he could foon have finally adjufled the bufinefs. He, however, fixed upon Ely-Houfe, for the place of decifion. 413 The trial lafted fix weeks, and a thoufand pounds was expended by the College. Three lawyers were employed, who difplayed great ingenuity at leaft in their harangues and replies. 'The points of difpute in general, which were ftated in fifty articles, could have been fettled immediately by a reference to registers, and books of accounts. Their eloquence, therefore, was of little fervice, as they could not be intimately acquainted with the ftatutes of Trinity College. At length the trial ended, but the death of the Bishop prevented his giving judgement, juft when the whole kingdom were in expectation of the fentence. The quarrel was not immediately renewed before his fucceffor, and the affair refted for feveral years in this undetermined fituation. Dr. Bentley's time was of course much engaged by the active part which he was obliged to take in these difputes, and his mind muft have naturally been harraffed by continued fufpenfe. His claffical pursuits, however, were not remitted. In 1711 he publifhed his long expected edition of Horace, which he dedicated to Harley, Earl of Oxford, who was then minifter. The opinions of the learned with refpect to this edition are various. By fome it was extolled as the greatest work that had appeared fince the revival of letters, and by others it was ridiculed, and treated with contempt. If we may be allowed to give our fentiments on this fubject, for "Who shall decide when Doctors difagree," we must confefs, we think that Bentley has received too much praise for his corrections of Horace from one party, and has been too much condemned by the other. Some of his emendations difplay wonderful acumen, and critical perfpicuity, and fome of the paffages, which he has restored from the manufcript copies, fhould certainly be admitted in all future editions. But many of his remarks are more eminent for ingenuity than judgement. It fhould likewife be remembered, that in his own edi * This letter was dated June 18, 1711.-Biog. Britan. tion, tion, which was published at Cambridge in quarto, he did not incorporate the most daring of his corrections into the text, but inferted them in his notes, which he placed at the end of the volume, and that he always inferts at the bottom of the page the readings of former editors. The dedication to the Earl of Oxford was dated from Trinity College, on the 6th of the Ides of December, which was the birth-day of Horace. It is a lively, ingenious compofition. The former part of it contains an addrefs to Horace, with a comparifon between his Mecenas, in the court of Auguftus, and Harley, whom he ftiles the modern Mecenas. The latter part confifts of a fhort hiftory of the Earl's immediate ancestors. He thus concludes: "Amid your daily occupations, pay fome regard, I beseech you, to the prefent ftate of literature, which languifhes in thefe favage and licentious times, and can with difficulty fupport itself against the threatening deluge of barbarifm. If you wish that PATER ACADEMIARUM fhould be infcribed on your flatues; if you would juftify the words of your monarch, who pubTickly ftyled you the Patron of Literature, let learning attract your regard, and let ivy, interwoven with clive, twine about your temples. So may you and your family enjoy a long and uninterrupted courfe of health; and fo may that reputation, which you now boaft, defcend with you, at fome far diftant period, unfullied to the filent grave." Dr. Bentley originally intended to have dedicated his edition of Horace to the Earl of Halifax, who had been at Trinity College. But as the work was delayed until the year 1711, when the miniftry was changed, he determined to place it under the patronage of the Earl of Oxford. At the acceffion of King George the First, he was told that this dedication * would moft probably hurt his intereft. In reply, he faid, that he should share the fate of Hare, Gooch, and Sherlock. Thefe three, however, all became Bifhops, while Bentley died Mafter of Trinity College. In the preface, he informs us, that as the weighty cares which had devolved upon him, for fome years, by his fituation as matter of a College, had prevented a regular application to any ferious ftudy, he determined to devote a part of his leifure hours to the publication of fome entertaining author, left he fhould banish entirely his regard for the mufes, and his favourite purfuits. He fixed upon Horace, because he was an univerfal favourite. In his notes he tells us, that explanations of paffages, which related to the cuftoms or to the hiftory of the ancients, form no part of his defign. His intention was to correct errors, and reftore genuine readings, either by the authority of copies, or by conjecture. In his notes he availed himself of the printed editions, and of feveral manufcripts, the readings of which had efcaped the researches of former editors. The orthography, in his edition of Horace, appears affected +, becaufe it is unufual; but as it is the mode of spelling, which appears by medals and infcriptions to have been used in the time of Auguftus, and which is found in the most ancient copies of Horace, he feems rather to merit praife than cenfure, for attempting fuch a revival. To enter into a critical examination of his notes would far exceed our limits, and as the book is well known, the criticifm would appear rather oftentatious than neceflary. The following emendation we cannot help tranfcribing, for although Bentley thought it too bold a correction for him to admit into the text, we think it affords a happy fpecimen of critical fagacity: Ceffit Inque his, ut ad mea me facra referam, refpices ororem literariam; alium fane atrocitate licentiaque temporum, &c. + Velgus for Vulgus, Divom for Divum, and the plural accufatives in is, inftead of es, when the gen. plur. ended in ium. Compefcs, Inplus, are more defenfible, and deferve to be adopted. This fubject has been treated with great ingenuity by the elegant Scheller, in hrs Præcepta fili bene Ciceroniani; a work which is little known in this country, but merits an attentive peruíal from every icholar. Let it be remembered that the learned Heyne, o au has used the fame orthography in his Vigil So Bentley would read this paffage, in Muniant angues caput ejus, atque Dacier obferves, that the word ejus de- that thould not be admitted as a defence, for an expreffion fo mean and profaic. The alteration, moreover, may be defended by feveral fimilar paffages. Among his corrections, the change of Ille et nefafto tu pofuit die" into « Illum et nefafto," &c. is likewife very happy. He has explained innumerable paffages, which defied former editors, and drawn forth latent beauties in feveral verfes, by flight changes in the punctuation, equally judicious and acute. Dr. Hare gave the following character of Bentley's edition of Horace*: "When I confider how fmall a book Horace is, how much he has been the delight and admiration of the learned at all times; what pains the ablet critics have taken with him, and that if others have done nothing, it feems to be for no other reafon but that they thought there was nothing left for them; when I make thefe reflections, and confider on the other hand what one man has been able to do, after fo many great names, who had the ufe of no manufcripts but what feemed already to have been exhaufted, and wanted many of the beft, it is hard to fay, whether the pleasure or the admiration were the greater with which I read this incomparable work. A man muft have very little acquaintance with the ancients, or have no tafte for their writings, who can forbear greatly admiring, or being greatly pleafed with a performance, wherein exactnefs and perfpicuity, life, fpirit, beauty, and order are reftored to fo many places which were before corrupted, or mifplaced, or obfcured, for want of being rightly read, or truly understood: for want of an emendation of the text, or of knowing the hiftory or custom pointed at, or the paffages of the Greek poets, which Horace directly imitated, or the more fecret allufions, which he was above all the Latins happy in," In 1713, a new edition of Bentley's Horace was published by the Wetfteins, at Amfterdam. They procured a corrected copy from the Doctor, removed the notes from the endt, and placed them under the text, in which they interted all the additional corrections. They likewife added the verbal index of Horace, which Aveman had compiled with great labour; and the emendations of Bentley, and feveral important quotations incorpo rated into it by Ifaac Verburg, who was afterwards well known as the editor of Cicero. By thefe judicious improvements, the Dutch edition is rendered far fuperior to that published at Cambridge." It was the fate of Bentley to be conftantly baited by his enemies, who were more numerous than powerful. The firit literary character, perhaps, of this age remarked, that " Abufe was only the rebound of praife;" and, indeed, it is vain to cenfure thofe whom none commend. The merit of this great critic roufed the envy of the half learned, who gave full scope to their malignity. In 1712 came out "The Odes of Horace, in Latin and English; with a tranflation of Dr. Bentley's notes, to which are added notes upon notes; done in the Bentleian file and manner." A tranflation of the dedication, preface, epodes, and life of Horace by Suetonius, were afterwards published to complete this work, which appeared in. twenty-four parts, and forms two volumes. *In Dr. H.'s Clergyman's Thanks to Phileleutherus. 8vo. 1713. Το + The custom of placing notes at the end of a work has been adopted by feveral writers. But furely it is a cuitom "more honoured in the breach, than the obfervance." We oblerve, that our celebrated hutorian, Mr. Gibbon, has interted the notes and text in the fame page, in his latter volumes, though he placed them at the end of the f Printed for Lintot, in duodecimu. Some of the parts reached a fecond edition. |