1691. all quarters to further and assist his schemes. Sir CHAP. II. Edward Sherburn, an old cavalier, who had formerly translated the first book of Manilius, and written a commentary upon it, lent him some scarce editions, as well as a box containing collections relative to this poet, formerly belonging to Gaspar Gevartius, which he had some time before purchased at Antwerp 26. He obtained the collation of a Leipsic manuscript, made by John Feller. His friend Dr. Bernard lent him a manuscript of his own, and applied to Spanheim to procure a collation of one which had belonged to Isaac Vossius, and which, with the rest of his library, had gone to Leyden 27. But Bentley was "He forgets, I believe, when and where a certain critic of our times maintained that Ovid and Manilius were the only two poets that had wit among the ancients. "Tis just as if I should say, that Sir W. Temple and Dr. Bentley are the two best bred writers living; or, to put it in the doctor's more learned and polite way, that Nireus and Thersites were the two most formose men that repaired to the siege of Ilium." Boyle's Examination, p. 28. Bentley says in his Reply, "I am not at all concerned to justify this criticism, for I know not that ever I said so. But however, not to desert Manilius, for whom I have an esteem, I see no reason at all why he that said this should be ashamed of it. When the Examiner reads Manilius (for by his censure one would guess he yet had not) he will find in the best editions what Scaliger says of him: A most ingenious poet, a most elegant writer, that could manage an obscure and knotty subject with that clearness and smoothness of style; equal to Ovid in sweetness, and superior in majesty.' Thus we see one of the greatest scholars among all the moderns, and a very great poet himself, thought Manilius a very witty and just as that certain critic' did, has joined him with Ovid." one; Dissert. on Phal. p. 8. 26 Epist. ad Grævium, p. 2. Letter to Bernard, Mus. Crit. vol. ii. p. 556. Pref. to Dissert. on Phal. p. xliv. Before Bentley received Sir Edward's collection, he had collated an old Italian edition, without date of place or year, which is in the Arundel library, given to the Royal Society. This collation, as far as the middle of the second book, he entered in the margin of his copy of the Aldine Manilius; a book which was obligingly sent for my inspection by its possessor, the late Joseph Cradock, Esq. of Gumley Hall, Leicestershire. Bentley says at the beginning, "Collatus cum editione vetusta, et (ut opinor) omnium principe, in 4to. ex Bibliotheca Arundeliana:" but he adds in a later hand, "Sed postea habui duas vetustiores." 27 Letter to Bernard, Mus. Crit. vol. ii. p. 555. "I cannot express my CHAP. II. diverted from these occupations to establish a reputation in a different field. 1691. thankfulness to you, that you will so much engage yourself for me as to ask that favour of Mr. Spanheim. I could have wished you would have made use of Gronovius, who is used to such things; the other, they say, is a very high and proud sort of a blade." This extract is rather curious: Bentley, we shall soon find, had reason to alter his opinion both of Gronovius and of Spanheim. CHAPTER III. Hon. Robert Boyle-His lectureship-Bentley appointed first lecturer-Confutation of Atheism—Mr. Evelyn-The principles of Hobbes-Newton's discoveries—Bentley first makes them generally known-Consults Newton himself Bentley's style-Merits of the lectures-Bentley's first opponent-Bishop Kidder succeeds-Bentley made Prebendary of Worcester -Excites envy-His haughtiness of manner-Correspondence with Grævius-A tract of Rubenius-Grævius's edition of CallimachusBentley undertakes the Fragments—Joshua Barnes-Epistles of Euripides-Bentley's opinion of them-Barnes's behaviour. Boyle. THE Honourable Robert Boyle, youngest son of CHAP. III. Richard, first Earl of Cork, died on the 30th of 1692. December 1691. This personage, belonging to a Hon. Robert family remarkably prolific in talent, though his four brothers enjoyed separate peerages, has himself ennobled his name by honours still more splendid and durable. His works on natural and experimental philosophy, particularly on hydrostatics and pneumatics, and his own improvements of the air pump, have placed his name in a rank second only to that of Newton as a chemist, he takes the lead of all his contemporaries; and in his theological writings, he has so blended philosophy with religion as to exhibit to the world the true value of scientific pursuits. The merits of this extraordinary character, and the extent of his researches in most departments of human knowledge, are detailed by Bishop Burnet in a funeral sermon from this eulogy it appears, that Mr. Boyle had been in the habit of expending no less than a thousand pounds every year in works of charity and beneficence, particularly in the propagation of Christianity. Wishing that in his death he might promote CHAP. III. the same cause to which he had devoted his life, he 1692. bequeathed by his will a salary of fifty pounds a year, His lecture- to found a lectureship for the defence of religion ship. Feb. 13. Bentley ap lecturer. against infidels. The lecturer was to be annually chosen, and to deliver eight discourses in the year in one of the churches of the metropolis1. The care of this trust was bequeathed by Mr. Boyle to four of his particular friends, Dr. Thomas Tenison, then newly advanced to the bishoprick of Lincoln, Sir Henry Ashurst, Sir John Rotheram, and Mr. John Evelyn, the accomplished author of the Sylva. The trustees forthwith nominated Mr. Bentley as lecturer pointed first for the first year; an appointment which he owed principally to the high opinion entertained of him by Bishop Tenison 2. We can hardly conceive a greater compliment to the merits of a young man, only in deacon's orders, than the selection of him from the whole clerical profession, to be the first champion in such a cause, and that too upon an institution to which the celebrity of the founder was in itself sufficient to draw the eyes of the public. At several different periods of his life, he mentions this distinction, in such terms as show, that he considered it the greatest of the honours with which he was ever invested 3. The manner in which the lecturer discharged his office must have surpassed even the expectation of his Confutation patrons. The subject of his discourses was, 'a Confutation of Atheism.' It may be observed, that the doctrines of Spinoza and Hobbes had made consider of Atheism. 1 See the bequest in the Dedication prefixed to Bentley's Boyle's Lectures. 2 Evelyn's Mem. ii. p. 31. "We made choice of one Mr. Bentley, chaplain to the Bishop of Worcester." 3 In his letter to Grævius, May 15, 1694. Pref. to Dissert. on Phalaris, 1699, p. lxxxiv. Proposals for an Edition of the New Testament, in 1720. Reply to the Articles of Accusation brought against him before the Bishop of Ely, in 1733. 1692. able progress in that age among the higher classes of CHAP. III. society, and were particularly dangerous from the insidious way in which they undermined all belief in natural and revealed religion. Both these writers professed indeed to acknowledge the existence of a God; but by denying the Divine providence in the government of the world, and by representing the existence of the universe as the result of necessity, they conducted their disciples to the very depths of atheism. The metaphysical subtilty of their reasonings, the assumption of a calm and philosophical tone of inquiry, and the apparent novelty of their dogmas, combined to mislead the unwary. The positions of Hobbes had been ably combated by Cudworth in his 'Intellectual System,' and by Cumberland in his book 'De Legibus Naturæ:' but these works were not sufficiently popular to resist an evil, which had spread so far as to become seriously alarming. 6 In his first lecture, delivered at St. Martin's Church, March 7. Bentley exposes the folly of atheism, even with respect to the present life' and in those which follow, he successively confutes the atheists from a consideration of the faculties of the soul,' 'the structure of human bodies,' and 'the origin and frame of the world.' 6 The reader of these discourses is informed and delighted by the variety of knowledge which they contain, and their close and convincing train of reasoning. The success with which Bentley unmasks the tenets of the atheist, grapples with his arguments, and exposes his fallacies, has never been surpassed, and scarcely equalled, in the wars of controversy. He steadily follows up his antagonist, and never fails to dislodge him from his positions. Various as are the topics which come under discussion, he appears at home in all, and displays a familiarity with meta 1 |