surprised that men like Bentley and Hare should quarrel about
a book of ancient comedies, since they were both theological
dignitaries.

55

Horace was summoned by Bentley as before a judgment seat, the authority
of which he would have been the first to repudiate. The admiration which
a discriminating man acquires as a philologist is in proportion to the
rarity of the discrimination to be found in philologists. Bentley's
treatment of Horace has something of the schoolmaster about it It would
appear at first sight as if Horace himself were not the object of
discussion, but rather the various scribes and commentators who have
handed down the text: in reality, however, it is actually Horace who is
being dealt with. It is my firm conviction that to have written a single
line which is deemed worthy of being commented upon by scholars of a
later time, far outweighs the merits of the greatest critic. There is a
profound modesty about philologists. The improving of texts is an
entertaining piece of work for scholars, it is a kind of riddle-solving;
but it should not be looked upon as a very important task. It would be
an argument against antiquity if it should speak less clearly to us
because a million words stood in the way!

56

A school-teacher said to Bentley, "Sir, I will make your grandchild as
great a scholar as you are yourself." "How can you do that," replied
Bentley, "when I have forgotten more than you ever knew?"

57

Bentley's clever daughter Joanna once lamented to her father that he had
devoted his time and talents to the criticism of the works of others
instead of writing something original. Bentley remained silent for some
time as if he were turning the matter over in his mind. At last he said
that her remark was quite right; he himself felt that he might have
directed his gifts in some other channel. Earlier in life, nevertheless,
he had done something for the glory of God and the improvement of his
fellow-men (referring to his "Confutation of Atheism"), but afterwards
the genius of the pagans had attracted him, and, _despairing of
attaining their level in any other way_, he had mounted upon their
shoulders so that he might thus be able to look over their heads.

58

Bentley, says Wolf, both as man of letters and individual, was
misunderstood and persecuted during the greater part of his life, or
else praised maliciously.

Markland, towards the end of his life--as was the case with so many