This index, a very original morsel of literary pleasantry, is at once a satirical character of the great critic, and what it professes to be. I preserve a specimen among the curiosities I am collecting. It is entitled—
“A Short Account of Dr. Bentley, by way of Index.
“Dr. Bentley’s true story proved false, by the testimonies of, &c., p. —
“His civil language, p. —
“His nice taste,
in wit, p. —
in style, p. —
in Greek, p. —
in Latin, p. —
in English, p. —
“His modesty and decency in contradicting great men”—a very long list of authors, concluding with ‘Everybody,’ p. —
“His familiar acquaintance with books he never saw,” p. —
And lastly, “his profound skill in criticism—from beginning to The End.”
Which thus terminates the volume.
Cicero ad Atticum, Lib. vii., Epist. xii.
No doubt this idea was the origin of that satirical Capriccio, which closed in a most fortunate pun—a literary caricature, where the doctor is represented in the hands of Phalaris’s attendants, who are putting him into the tyrant’s bull, while Bentley exclaims, “I had rather be roasted than Boyled.”
Sir Richard Blackmore, in his bold attempt at writing “A Satire against Wit,” in utter defiance of it, without any, however, conveys some opinions of the times. He there paints the great critic, “crowned with applause,” seated amidst “the spoils of ruined wits:”