Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/195

Rh an account of the MSS. that were consulted in that edition, I inserted these words collatas etiam curavi usque ad Epistolam 40 cum MS° in Bibliotheca Regia; cujus mihi copiam ulteriorem Bibliothecarius, pro singulari sua humanitate, negavit; which considering the usage I had had from him, was as soft a thing as I could well allow myself to say. The Epistles were no sooner published but Dr Bentley sent me a letter, wherein after expressing himself with great civility to me, he represented the matter of fact quite otherwise than I had heard it. I returned him immediately as civil an answer, to this effect: that Mr Bennet, whom I employed to wait on him in my name, gave me such an account of his reception, that I had reason to apprehend myself affronted, and since I could make no other excuse to my reader, for not collating the King's MS., but because 'twas denied me, I thought I could do no less than express some resentment of that denial; that I should be very much concerned, if Mr Bennet had dealt so ill with me as to mislead me in his accounts, and if that appeared, should be ready to take some opportunity of begging his pardon; and, as I remember, I expressed myself so that the Doctor might understand