Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/72

 rejoined. In this dispute the town highly resented to see a person of Sir William Temple's character and merits roughly used by the two reverend gentlemen aforesaid and without any manner of provocation. At length, there appearing no end of the quarrel, our author tells us that the in St James's Library, looking upon themselves as parties principally concerned, took up the controversy and came to a decisive battle: but the manuscript, by the injury of fortune or weather, being in several places imperfect, we cannot learn to which side the victory fell.

I must warn the reader to beware of applying to persons what is here meant only of books in the most literal sense. So, when Vergil is mentioned, we are not to understand the person of a famous poet called by that name, but only certain sheets of paper, bound up in leather, containing in print the works of the said poet, and so of the rest.