Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/85

 and fasting; whereof some fell upon his spleen, and some climbed up into his head, to the great perturbation of both. And lastly, others maintained, that by walking much in the dark about the Library, he had quite lost the situation of it out of his head; and therefore in replacing his books he was apt to mistake, and clap Descartes next to Aristotle: poor Plato had got between Hobbes and the Seven Wise Masters: and Vergil was hemmed in, with Dryden on one side, and Withers on the other.

Meanwhile, those books that were advocates for the Moderns, chose out one from among them to make a progress through the whole Library, examine the number and strength of their party, and concert their affairs. This messenger performed all things very industriously, and brought back with him a list of their forces, in all fifty thousand, consisting chiefly of light-horse, heavy-armed foot, and mercenaries; whereof the foot were in general but sorrily armed and worse clad, their horses large, but extremely out of case and heart; however, some few by trading among the Ancients, had furnished themselves tolerably enough.

While things were in this ferment, discord grew