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the grossest superstition. They believe in one almighty and invisible God; yet worship images as well in a human form as in those of inferior animals. They look upon these lesser deities as mediators between God and man; some of these idols are in the house, and some in cabins by themselves. Every fifth day is holy; on which the rich kill cows, sheep, and goats; and others, dogs, cats, and fowls, which they distribute among their poor neighbours.

The government of Benin is entirely absolute, and the king, like most of the negro princes, has a despotic power. He is venerated almost as a deity by his subjects, and is constantly attended by three grandees, through whose agency all affairs are transacted. He never appears in public except twice in the year, at the yam-feast andthe cowry-feast, and then human sacrifices are offered up. On these occasions he is surrounded with his wives and a great number of officers, who walk out in procession, and begin the feast by sacrificial oblations. This done, he bestows victuals and wine among the multitude, which is imitated by his officers. On those whom the king wishes to confer peculiar honor, he bestows a string of coral, equivalent to one of our orders of knighthood; but it is death afterwards to lose this badge, or even to quit it for an instant. One traveller mentions a case in which this ornament had been stolen: and in consequence, the original possessor, the thief, and three persons who had known the crime without disclosing it, were put to death. At the decease of the king a great number of his attendants are buried alive along with him; and the descriptions given by the older navigators of the massacres made on these occasions are as horrid as similar scenes in Ashantee described by Mr. Bowditch. The obsequies are followed by a splendid festival celebrated with every species of intoxication and debauchery. It is, however, to be regretted that we have no authentic description of this country more recent than those of Nyendael and Bosman; the last of which was written more than a century ago.

Great Benin, the capital of the kingdom, and residence of their kings, is seated in the interior, on an open plain, and is enclosed by a wide ditch. Its extent, according to some travellers, is truly immense; it is said to be eighteen miles in circumference; to have one street three miles long, and many others of nearly equal dimensions. There are markets in the town twice a day, where the natives sell cows, cotton, elephants' teeth, European merchandises, and other valuable commodities; separate quarters being allotted for each distinct species of traffic. The women attend the markets, till the ground, and manage their domestic concerns. The king's palace consists of a great number of square enclosures, presenting an irregular and confused heap of buildings, made of boards and clay, including houses for the royal person, his women, and officers, besides stables, magazines, repositories, &c. The buildings are covered with shingles, and the nearest springs are a furlong distant, which must be a serious inconvenience in so hot a climate. The king's family is, however, smaller than those of the neighbouring monarchs, the number of his

wives seldom exceeding six hundred. In the midst of the royal encloure is a wooden tower about seventy feet high, made like a chimney, and on the top is a brazen serpent, hanging with his head downwards: this is well made, and is the most curious thing in the town. There is a gallery of statues, but so wretchedly carved, that there is no knowing what they represent without being told: behind a curtain there are eleven brazen heads, with an elephant's tooth on each; these are the king's idols: his throne is made of ivory, on which he sits in a pavilion of Indian stuff. All the inhabitants of this town and country go under the denomination of the king's slaves; and some say, that none of them wear any habit till given them by the king; but this seems to be only a salvo to account for the great number of men and women that are daily seen naked in the streets; for if it be true, that the king of Benin can bring 100,000 fighting men into the field, his subjects must be very numerous; and it is scarcely probable he could bestow garments upon them all. The buildings of the town generally consist of huts, thatched with the leaves of the fan-palm (latania); and the town wall is composed of trunks of trees interwoven in the manher of a palisade. Jabu, west of the Formosa, is a place of considerable importance, and in rank, perhaps, next to the capital: blue and white cottons, manufactured here, are taken by the Portuguese for the use of their slaves in Brasil. Wari, an island at the mouth of the Rio de Escavo or Dos Forcados (slave's or hangman's river), formerly gave its name to an independent state. The Benin river in this kingdom has many arms, or sources; some of them so large that they deserve the name of rivers; it abounds with fish, which the inhabitants eat smoke-dried as well as fresh. The place of trade in this river is at Arebo, about 120 miles distant from its mouth; and to this place the ships may sail up. Those who take this voyage see the mouths of a great many rivers fall into the principal channel on the right and the left: but how far it ascends into the country is not known.

The natives are remarkably courteous and hospitable; they have the faults and the virtues of negroes; generally, they are benevolent and faithful; but irascible, vindictive, indolent, and thoughtless; the slaves of an inhuman and de. grading superstition. The females are said to be lively and handsome, fond of ornament, and to use great art in dressing their hair. The attachment of these people to their country is beyond all bounds: how must this heighten the wretchedness of those who are carried off in slave ships! The number of these unhappy victims, from Bani alone, before the abolition, amounted to nearly 20,000 annually; and it is to be feared that the French and Portuguese have renewed the traffic to a great extent since the conclusion of the continental war.

This state, like many other negro kingdoms, has at times acquired an extensive influence over the petty principalities in the neighbourhood. At present, the islands of Wari (Waree, Owheri, Owarre, or Awarri), and Bani (Bonny on the east, and Jabu on the west), are tributary to the sovereign of Benin.

Robertson's Notes on Africa, 297. Le Groing and Palisot de Beauvais in the Annales des Voyages. Smith's Voyage to Guinea.

BENINI (Vincent), a learned physician, born at Cologne, in 1713. He settled and practised at Padua, where he kept a printing press in his house, from whence he sent into the world several good editions of classical authors. He wrote in Latin, Notes on Celsus; in Italian, Observations upon the Poem of Alamanni, entitled Culture, and a Translation, of the Syphilis of Fracastorius. He died in 1764.

BEN'ISON, n. s. Benir to bless; benissant, Fr., blessing; benediction: not now used, untess ludicrously.

We have no such daughter; nor shall ever see That face of hers again; therefore, begone, Without our grace, our love, our benison. Shakspeare. Unmuffle, ye fair stairs, and thou, fair moon, That wont'st to love the traveller's benison.

Milton.

BENISUWEEF, a town of Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, in El Wostani, and the residence of a bey. It is adorned with many mosques, and has manufactories of carpets, woollens, and linens. Standing in lat. 29° 9' N., long. 30°. 32′ E.

BENLAWERS, a mountain of Scotland, in the county of Perth, supposed to be the third highest in the island of Britain. Height 4015 feet. BENLOMOND, a mountain of Scotland, in the county of Dumbarton, chiefly composed of granite, with immense masses of quartz. It rises from Lochlomond, a beautiful lake, to the height of 3240 feet above its level, and 3262 above the level of the sea. Its sides are covered with fine natural woods, and it gives rise to several rivers. BENMACDUIE, a mountain of Scotland, on the western confines of the county of Aberdeen, and the second highest mountain in the island of Britain. During one of the hottest days of September, Fahrenheit's thermometer was found to stand at 47 degrees on the summit. Height 4300 feet.

BENMORE, a mountain of Scotland, in the county of Perth, of a conical form. Height 3903

feet.

BENNAVENTA, or BENNAVENNA, an ancient town of Britain, on the Ausona Major, or the Antona of Tacitus: supposed to be Northampton on the Nen; but according to Camden, Weedon, a village six miles to the west of Northampton.

BENNET (Christopher), a physician of the sixteenth century, was a native of Raynton, in Somersetshire. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford; and published a treatise on consumptions, entitled, Theatri Tabidorum Vestibulum, &c.; also, Exercitationes Diagnosticæ, cum Historiis demonstrativis, quibus Alimentorum et Sanguinis vitia deleguntur in plerisque morbis, &c.

BENNET (Henry), earl of Arlington, was born of an ancient family in Middlesex. In the beginning of the civil war, he was appointed under secretary to George Lord Digby, and afterwards entering as a volunteer in the royal cause, received several wounds at Andover. He continued faithful to the royal interest in foreign parts, and was made secretary to the duke of York;

knighted by Charles II. at Bruges in 1658; and sent envoy to the court of Spain. Charles, upon his restoration, made him keeper of the privy purse, and principal secretary of state. He had always a peculiar dislike to the lord chancellor Hyde; who considered him as a concealed papist. In 1670 he was of the council, entitled the Cabal, and one of those who advised shutting up the exchequer. In 1672 he was made earl of Arlington and viscount Thetford, and soon after K. G. He was appointed in 1673 one of the three plenipotentiaries to Cologne, to mediate a peace between the emperor and the king of France. The House of Commons, the same year, drew up articles of impeachment against him; but in 1674 he was made chamberlain of the king's household. But his interest declined before his death, which took place in 1685. His letters to Sir William Temple were published after his death, and are much esteemed.

BENNET (Thomas), D. D. an eminent divine, born at Salisbury in 1763, and educated at Cambridge. In 1700 he was made rector of St. James's, Colchester; afterwards he was lecturer of St. Olave's, Southwark, and morning preacher at St. Lawrence, Jewry; at last he was presented to the vicarage of St. Giles's, Cripplegate. He wrote, 1. An Answer to the Dissenters' Plea for Separation. 2. A Confutation of Popery. 3. A Discovery of Schism. 4. An answer to a book entitled Thomas against Bennet. 5. A Confutation of Quakerism. 6. A brief History of the joint Use of pre-conceived Forms of Prayer. 7. An Answer to Dr. Clarke's Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. 8. A Paraphrase, with Annotations, on the Book of Common Prayer. 9. An Hebrew Grammar, and other pieces. He died October 9th, 1728.

BENNET, an herb; the same with avens. BENNET, in botany. See CARYOPHYLLUS. BENNETT (Agnes Maria), a celebrated novelist, wrote Anna, or Memoirs of a Welsh Heiress4 vols. an impression of which was sold on the day of publication. Juvenile Indiscretions, 5 vols. ; Agnes de Courci, 4 vols.; Ellen, Countess of Castle Howell, 4 vols.; The Beggar Girl and her Benefactors, 5 vols. The last production of her pen was, Vicissitudes abroad, or the Ghost of my Father, 6 vols.; 2000 copies of which are said to have been disposed of the day it made its appearance. Most of her novels have been often re-printed, and some have been translated into French and German. She died at Brighton in

1805.

BENNEVIS, a mountain of Scotland, in the county of Dumbarton, the highest in the island of Great Britain. It rises 4370 feet above the level of the sea. A great portion of this mountain consists of porphyry, of different shades, and beautiful red granite. It also contains a vein of lead ore, richly impregnated with silver. On one side of the mountain there is an immense precipice. The summit is generally covered with snow.

BENNINGTON, a county of the State of Vermont, in North America, bounded North by Rutland, east by Windham, south by the State of Massachusetts, west by a due north and south line, which divides it from the State of New York.

It is thirty-four miles from north to south, and nineteen from east to west. The population is upwards of 17,000. Bennington and Manchester are the two principal towns. In the mountains are found large quantities of iron ore; and in the neighbourhood of Bennington, the capital, there is a fine marble quarry.

BENNINGTON, a post town of the county, and formerly the seat of government, is situated near the south side of the Hoosack river, and contains a population of about 3000, engaged in manufactures of cotton, wool, and paper. A battle was fought near this town in 1777, between brigadier-general Starke, at the head of 300 militia, and a detachment of general Burgoyne's army, in which, after a doubtful conflict, the Americans were victorious. The county courts are held alternately here and at Manchester. Bennington has also an academy and a weekly newspaper. It is thirty-seven miles north-east of Albany, 298 from Philadelphia, and 395 from Washington. BENOIT (Renatus), a doctor of the Sorbonne, and rector of St. Eustathius at Paris, in the sixteenth century. He was a secret favorer of the protestant religion; and, that his countrymen might be able to read the bible in their own tongue, he published at Paris the French translation, which had been made by the reformed ministers at Geneva. It was approved of by several doctors of the Sorbonne before it went to press, and Charles IX. had granted a privilege for printing it. Yet when it was published it was immediately condemned. He had been before this confessor to Mary queen of Scots during her stay in France, and attended her when she returned to Scotland. Some time before the death of Henry III., Dr. Benoit, or some of his friends with his assistance, published a book, entitled, Apologie Catholique, i. e. The Catholic Apology, in which it was showed, that the protestant religion, which Henry king of Navarre professed, was not a sufficient reason to deprive him of the crown of France. When Henry IV. was resolved to embrace the Catholic religion, he also assisted at the assembly in which that monarch abjured protestantism. The king promoted him to the bishopric of Troyes in Champagne, 1597, but he could never obtain the papal bull to be installed. However, he enjoyed the temporalities of that bishopric, till he resigned it. He died in

1608.

BENOIT (Elias), a French protestant divine, born at Paris in 1640. On the revocation of the edict of Nantes, he retired to Holland, and be came pastor of the church at Delft, where he died in 1728. He wrote a History of the Edict of Nantes, 5 vols. 4to, 1693, and several tracts of lesser note.

BENOWM, the capital of the Moorish kingdom of Ludamar, in central Africa. According to Mr. Park, who was detained here some time in captivity, it presents to the eye the appearance of a number of dirty looking huts, scattered irregularly over a large extent of ground, and resembling a camp rather than a town. Long. 7° 10′ W., lat. 15° 5' N.

BENSERADE (Isaac de), an ingenious French poet of the sixteenth century, born at Lyons-la-Forêt, in Normandy, had the good

fortune to please the cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin. After the death of Richelieu, he got into favor with the duke de Brezé, whom he accompanied in most of his expeditions. When this nobleman died, he returned to court, where his poetry was highly esteemed. He wrote, 1. A Paraphrase upon Job. 2. Verses for Interludes. 3. Rondeaux upon Ovid. 4. Several Tragedies, A sonnet which he sent to a young lady with his Paraphrase on Job, being put in competition with the Urania of Voiture, caused him to be much spoken of as the head of a party against that celebrated author. Those who gave the preference to Benserade's performance, were styled the Jobists, and their antagonists the Uranists; and the dispute long divided the whole court and the wits. He withdrew at last from court, and retired to Gentilly. The bark of the trees of his garden there were full of inscriptions, which, Voltaire is of opinion, were the best of his productions. Benserade suffered at last so much from the stone, that he resolved to submit to the operation of cutting; but a surgeon, by way of precaution, letting him blood, pricked an artery, and instead of endeavouring to stop the effusion of blood ran off. There was but just time to call Commire, his friend and confessor, who came soon enough to see him die. This happened on the 19th of October, 1691, in the eighty-second year of his age.

BENSON (Dr. George), a learned dissenting clergyman, born at Great Salkeld, in Cumberland, in 1699. At eleven years of age he was able to read the Greek Testament. He afterwards studied at Dr. Dixon's academy at Whitehaven, from whence he removed to the university of Glasgow. In 1721 he was chosen pastor of a congregation of dissenters at Abingdon in Berkshire; in 1729 he received an invitation from a society of dissenters in Southwark, with whom he continued eleven years; and in 1740 was chosen by the congregation of Crutched Friars, colleague to the learned Dr. Lardner. The first fruit of his studies presented to the public was, A Defence of the reasonableness of Prayer. The light which Mr. Locke had thrown on the obscurest parts of St. Paul's epistles, by making him his own expositor, encouraged and determined Mr. Benson to attempt to illustrate the remaining epistles in the same manner. In 1731 he published A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistle to Philemon, as a specimen. This was well received, and the author encouraged to go on with his design. Mr. Benson proceeded with great diligence and reputation, to publish Paraphrases and Notes on the Epistles to the Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus; adding, Dissertations on several important Subjects, particularly on Inspiration. In 1735 he published his History of the first Planting of Christianity, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles, in 2 vols. 4to. He also wrote, The Reasonableness of the Christian Religion; The History of the Life of Jesus Christ; A Paraphrase and Notes on the seven Catholic Epistles; and several other works of high repute. Many of high rank in the church. of England, as Herring, Hoadly, Butler, Benson, Coneybeare, &c. showed him great marks of favor and regard. He pursued the same studies.

with great application and success till the time of his death, which happened in 1763.

BENTHAM (James), an English divine and historian, received the first part of his education at Ely, after which he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1771 he published the History and Antiquities of the Church of Ely, with plates, 4to; and was presented to the rectory of Northwold in 1774, but exchanged it for a prebend of Ely in 1779. In 1783 he obtained the rectory of Bow-Brickhill, and when the dean and chap ter of Ely resolved upon a general repair of the church, he was nominated clerk of the works. In his work on Ely Cathedral, was first brought forward the presumed origin of the pointed arch, the chief feature of the Gothic style, and that on which the whole seems to be formed. Bentham supposed this kind of arch might have been derived from the intersection of two semi-circular arches, such as are seen on the walls of buildings erected soon after the conquest. Other writers have since adopted this hypothesis, and Dr. Milner, in particular, has supported it with much learned ingenuity. But attempts have been rather unfairly made, to deprive Mr. Bentham of the credit of his suggestion. The writer of the article Gothic Architecture in Rees's Cyclopædia, also states, that the poet Gray drew up the architectural part of the History of Ely Cathedral.' This is successfully rebutted in the memoirs of Bentham, prefixed to the new edition of the History published in 1812, where it is shown, that the architectural essay in question, far from having been written by Gray, was actually drawn up before Bentham was acquainted with the poet, and was the occasion of their subsequent intercourse. Another extraordinary attack on the reputation of the Ely historian has been made by Cole, the Cambridge antiquary, who coarsely asserts it to have been written by his brother Edward Bentham, divinity professor at Oxford; for which statement there seems to be not the slightest foundation. Mr. Bentham died in 1794, aged eighty-six.

he

BENTHAM (Thomas), bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, was born at Sherburn in Yorkshire in year 1513, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. He took the degree of A. B. in 1543, und in 1556 was admitted perpetual fellow, and proceeded the year following, which was that of Edward VI's accession. He now threw off the mask of popery, which, during the reign of Henry VIII. he had worn with reluctance. When Mary came to the crown, being deprived of his fellowship, he prudently retired to Basil in Switzerland, where for some time he expounded the Scriptures to the English exiles; but being solicited by some Protestants in London, he returned to London before the death of the queen, and was appointed superintendent of a private congregation in the city. Immediately on the accession of Elizabeth, Bentham was preferred in the church, and in the second year of her reign was consecrated bishop of Litchfield and Coventry. He died at Eccleshal in Staffordshire, in 1578, aged sixty-five. He was particularly celebrated for his knowledge of the Hebrew language. His works are, 1. Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles; manuscript. 2.

A Sermon on Christ's Temptation; London 8vo. 3. Epistle to M. Parker; manuscript. 4. The Psalins, Ezekiel, and Daniel, translated into English in queen Elizabeth's Bible.

BENTHEIM, formerly a county of Westphalia, but now of the kingdom of Hanover, fortyfive miles long, and eighteen broad, containing about 25,000 inhabitants. It is a pleasant fertile country, abounding in fruitful fields and luxuriant meadows. The inhabitants, who are chiefly Protestants, are remarkably industrious, and trade in yarn, wool, linen, thread, cattle, and honey. Here are also some extensive woods, and several good stone quarries. The Veitch waters the whole district.

BENTHEIM, the capital of the above county, with a castle, stands on a hill about thirty miles north-west of Munster. This castle was formerly garrisoned by the troops of the bishop of Munster; but was taken by the French, after a heavy bombardment, in 1760. Being soon after re-taken by the allies, part of the works were blown up. It was taken again by the French in 1799, and retained till the peace. Here are two churches, one used by the Protestants, the other by Catholics.

BENTINCK (William), first earl of Portland, was born of a noble family in Holland. He came over to England in company with the prince of Orange, to whom he had endeared himself by a very remarkable instance of affection and fortitude. That prince having the small pox, his physician pronounced it necessary that he should have the warmth of a young person in bed with him; and Bentinck, though he never had the disorder, instantly offered himself for that hazardous service. He in this way caught the disease to such a degree as was considered very dangerous, but he recovered; and ever after his master had the most affectionate esteem for him. When the prince ascended the throne of England, he created Bentinck earl of Portland, and granted him the lordship of several lands in Denbighshire; but parliament being discontented at the grant, it was revoked, and the earl compensated elsewhere. He was employed in different high offices, both civil and military; and attended his master on his death bed. Bentinck died in 1709, and was interred in Westminster Abbey.

BENTINCK (William Henry Cavendish), third duke of Portland, was born in 1738, and educated at Oxford. He sat for some time in the house of commons, as member for Weobly, and was called to the upper house by the death of his father in 1762. In 1765 he became lord chamberlain during the Rockingham administration. In the American war he acted with the opposition, and in 1782 was appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland, but remained there only three months, in consequence of the breaking up of the administration. After the memorable coalition, which fell before the rising fortunes of Mr. Pitt, the duke acted with the whig opposition until 1792, when he was elected chancellor of Oxford, and soon after joined with Mr. Burke in his alarm at the French revolution. He was, in 1794, made secretary of state for the home department, which he held untii the resignation of Mr. Pitt in 1801, and was the

appointed president of the council, which he held until 1805. On the resignation of lord Grenville, in 1807, he was appointed first lord of the treasury, and was nominally prime minister; but the chief duties of administration devolved on Mr. Percival, the chancellor of the exchequer. He died of the stone in 1808, with the character of an upright and respectable, if not very able

statesman.

BENTINCK'S ARMS, two branches of an inlet of the North Pacific Ocean, discovered by Vancouver, on the west coast of North America: one to the north-east, the other to the south-east. Long. 233° to 233° 21′ E., lat. 52° 0′ to 52° 25' N.

BENTINCK'S ISLAND, an islandof New Holland, ten or eleven miles in length, near the bottom of the gulf of Carpentaria.

BENTIVOGLIO, a small town of Italy, in the papal territory, ten miles north-east of Bologna, with a castle. Long. 11° 34′ E., lat. 44° 47' N.

BENTIVOGLIO (Guy), cardinal, born at Ferrara, in the year 1579. He studied at Padua ; and leaving the university, went to reside at Rome, where he became universally esteemed. He was sent nuncio to Flanders and France, and in both employments his behaviour was such as gave great satisfaction to Paul V. who made him a cardinal in 1621. Bentivoglio was at this time in France, and when he returned to Rome the king of France entrusted him with the management of the French affairs at that court. Pope Urban VII. had a high regard for him on account of his fidelity, disinterestedness, and consummate knowledge in business. He was much beloved by the people, and esteemed by the cardinals. He died 7th September, 1644. He left several works; the most remarkable of which are, A History of the Civil Wars of Flanders; An Account of Flanders, with Letters and Memoirs.

BENTLEY (Dr. Richard), an eminent critic and divine, was born at Oulton, in the parish of Rothwell, near Wakefield. His ancestors, possessed an estate, at Heptonstall, in the parish of Halifax. His mother taught him his accidence. To his grandfather Willis, who was left his guardian, he was in part indebted for his education; and, having gone through the grammar-school at Wakefield with singular reputation, he was admitted of St. John's College Cambridge, May 24, 1676; being then little more than fourteen. On the 22d of March, 1681-2, when only nineteen, he stood candidate for a fellowship, and would have been unanimously elected had he not been excluded by the statutes, on account of his being too young for priest's orders. Soon after, he became a school-master at Spalding. But he did not continue long in this situation. From a letter of his grandfather's, it appears, that he was with Dr. Stillingfleet at the deanery of St. Paul's, April 25, 1683. He had been recommended by his college to the dean as preceptor to his son; and Dr. Stillingfleet gave Mr. Bentley his choice whether he would carry his pupil to Cambridge or Oxford. He fixed upon the latter university on account of the Bodleian library, to the consulting of the MSS. of which he applied with the

closest attention. Being now of age he made over a small estate, which he derived from his family, to his eldest brother, and laid out the money he obtained for it in the purchase of books. In July 1683 he took the degree of A. M. at Cambridge. In 1692 Dr. Stillingfleet, being now bishop of Worcester, collated him to a prebend in that church, and made him his chaplain. That learned prelate, as well as Dr. Wm. Lloyd, then bishop of Litchfield, had seen many proofs of Bentley's extraordinary merit, and concurred in recommending him as a fit person to open the lectures upon Mr. Boyle's foundation, in defence of natural and revealed religion. This gave him a fine opportunity of establishing his fame, and he resolved to cmbrace it. Sir Isaac Newton's Principia had been published a few years, but it was little known and less understood. Mr. Bentley therefore spared no pains, in exhibiting to the public the profound demonstrations, which that excellent work furnishes in proof of a Deity; and applied to Sir Isaac himself for the solution of some difficulties, which had not fallen within the plan of his treatise. His lectures, therefore, highly raised his reputation as a preacher; notwithstanding a mistake, which laid him open to the raillery of Dr. Keill, viz. of proving the moon not to turn round her axis, because she always shows the same face to the earth. In 1693 he was made keeper of the royal library at St. James's. Next year arose the famous dispute between this celebrated critic and the honorable Mr. Boyle, respecting the epistles of Phalaris. The Dr. asserted them to be spurious, the production of some sophist, and altogether contemptible as a literary performance. The chief pieces which appeared in this noted controversy were, 1. Dr. Bentley's Dissertation upon the Epistles of Themistocles, Socrates, Euripides, Phalaris, and the Fables of sop, at the end of the second edition of Mr. Wotton's Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learning; but afterwards printed by Dr. Bentley entire, with great additions to his farther defence of it, in answer to Mr. Boyle. 2. Dr. Bentley's Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris, and the Fables of Æsop, examined by the honorable Charles Boyle, Esq.; a book more commonly known by the title of Boyle against Bentley. 3. Dr. Bentley's Answer to the above, commonly known by the name of Bentley against Boyle; a curious piece, interspersed with a great deal of true wit and humor. The victory was at the time adjudged to Mr. Boyle, and the ridicule of the wits exercised upon Dr. Bentley. Thus Dr. Garth :

So diamonds take a lustre from their foil, And to a Bentley 'tis we owe a Boyle. Some wits of Cambridge drew Bentley's picture in the hand of Phalaris's guards; whom they represented putting him into their master's bull; while a label proceeded from the Doctor's mouth with these words, I had rather be Roasted than Boyled.' But H. Walpole, speaking of Boyle's translation of the Epistles of Phalaris, says, 'This work occasioned the famous controversy with Dr. Bentley; who alone, and unworsted, sustained the attacks of the brightest

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