years from the first appearance of the work, Newton was eventually induced to publish, in 1713, a second edition of the Principia. The improvements effected by Bentley in the external appearance of the college were also considerable. Writing in 1710 to the bishop of Ely, he says:-'It has been often told me by persons of sense and candour, that when I left them, I might say of the College what Augustus said of Rome, Lateritium inveni, marmoreum reliqui. The College chapel, from a decayed, antiquated model, made one of the noblest in England; the College hall, from a dirty, sooty place, restored to its original beauty, and excelled by none in cleanliness and magnificence.' It is singular to note that Uffenbach, the German savant, who visited the university of the colleges. in the same year that Bentley wrote his letter, should have described the hall of Trinity as

Uffenbach's
impressions
of the libraries

very large, but ugly, smoky, and smelling so strong of bread and meat, that,' he says, 'it would be impossible for me to eat a morsel in it. The same keen-eyed traveller, in visiting the other colleges, could not but be struck by the indifference evinced for the higher interests of learning. At Caius College he found the manuscripts placed in 'a miserable garret under the roof,' and lying 'thick with dust' on the floor. At Magdalene all the books were ' entirely overgrown with mould.' At St. John's the collection of coins was lying covered with dust in ‘a poor drawer, unlocked, and left open.' At Trinity Hall, the library appeared to him very mean, consisting only of a few law books.' At Emmanuel, the books, though 'respectable in number,' stood 'in

entire confusion.' At Peterhouse, the manuscripts were buried in dust' and in the greatest disorder. At the University Library, a rare codex of Josephus being torn at the end,' the library-keeper obligingly presented him with a leaf! leaf! In the libraries of Trinity, St. John's, and Corpus Christi, on the other hand, Uffenbach found something that repaid him for his toil and even commanded his admiration.

Cotes, Whiston,

&c.

Notwithstanding, however, this too prevalent apathy, we find the reputation of the university at this period upheld by names which, in the reJoshua Barnes, spective provinces of science and learning, were inferior only to those of Newton and Bentley. Cotes, although carried off at the early age of thirty-four, lived long enough to leave behind him the impression of rare ability, and also some important contributions to mathematical knowledge. Whiston, notwithstanding the vagaries which characterised his Theory of the Earth (an attempt to harmonise the Bible and the Newtonian discoveries), discharged his duties as Lucasian professor with credit, even though appearing as the successor of Newton. Joshua Barnes, who filled the chair of Greek from 1695 to 1712, has, although exposed to Bentley's severest criticism, probably rather gained than lost ground in the estimation of scholars since his own day. Davies, the president of Queens' and the editor of Cicero,-Sike, who through Bentley's interest was appointed to the Regius professorship of Hebrew, and Wotton, a fellow of St. John's, a scholar gifted with a a marvellous memory and of varied attainments, were also of more than usual

eminence. Laughton, who in 1694 was appointed tutor of Clare Hall, materially contributed to the reputation of that society by the ability with which he enforced discipline, and by the success which attended his efforts to promote the study of the Newtonian philosophy. Covel, the octogenarian master of Christ's College, was equally distinguished by his acquirements as a linguist, his urbanity, and his knowledge of the world.

Controversy revived by Whiston.

Religious controversy, which at Cambridge would appear to have slumbered for a time, was revived in the reign of Queen Anne by the disputatious spirit of Whiston. He commenced as a champion of orthodoxy, denouncing the chief divines of the university as sceptics, and putting forth with overweening confidence the results of his own investigations in Church history. His conclusions, as unfolded in his Primitive Christianity Revived, seem to have landed him, in the first instance, in Arianism, but finally led him to join the General Baptists. His Arian tenets led to his banishment from the university in 1710, and his deprivation of his professorship. He was subsequently prosecuted for heresy in the Court of Arches, but pardoned after the accession of George I., although he persistently refused to retract any of the opinions which he had advanced; while the controversies which his writings had evoked long continued to agitate the university and wider circles beyond.

CHAPTER X.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

NEITHER Newton's later career nor that of Bentley can be held to have added to the estimation in which both are regarded by posterity.

Later years of
Newton and

Bentley.

The former, although hardly to be considered mentally unsound, was subject for some years to a melancholy which impaired his intellect, and his Observations on Daniel and the Apocalypse can scarcely be looked upon otherwise than as a misapplication of his powers. Bentley published in 1711 his illconsidered edition of Horace, abounding with unjustifiable emendations,' and in 1731 his almost ludicrous edition of Paradise Lost; while his overbearing conduct towards the other Heads and some of the officers of the university led to his arrest in his own Lodge (23rd September 1718), at the suit of Middleton, and to his deprivation of his degrees by the senate of the university. In 1720 an unsuccessful attempt was made, by an application to the King's Bench, to deprive him of his professorship. He was restored to his degrees after five years' and a half deprivation; but in 1729 articles were

preferred against him, as administrator of the college, by the Visitor, Dr. Greene, bishop of Ely. Although Bentley succeeded in frustrating the design of the bishop, new articles were preferred against him by Colbatch, a fellow of the college, whereby it was sought to bring about his removal from the mastership. A memorable struggle, extending over ten years, thereupon ensued; and it was not until Bishop Greene had died, at the age of fourscore, and Bentley was himself in his seventy-seventh year, that these proceedings were brought to a conclusion. Bentley contrived to throw his own legal expenses, amounting to £4000, entirely on the college, and the society became for a time considerably embarrassed in consequence. Although the coolness and consummate ability with which he fought the battle moved the admiration even of his antagonists, it was. impossible to deny that his administration was in some respects highly culpable. Under the pretext of liability to catch cold, he scarcely ever appeared in college chapel, where the attendants at length discontinued lighting the candles in his stall; and he appropriated without scruple the college funds to his personal use and advantage. His desire, indeed, to set himself above the laws was sufficiently shown in another capacity, for, as archdeacon of Ely, during the thirty-seven years that he held the office, he never once personally inspected the churches and parsonages of the diocese.

Among the smaller foundations, St. Catherine's, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, had gained considerably both in numbers and reputation owing