Yetitwastheunexpectedwhichoccurred；anditisinstructivetonotethat，evenattheperiodwhenthechampionsoftheolderthoughtweretoallappearanceimpregnablyintrenchedinEngland，awayhadbeenopenedintotheircitadel，andthatthemosteffectiveagentsinpreparingitwerereallytheverymenintheuniversitiesandcathedralchapterswhohadmostdistinguishedthemselvesbyuncompromisingandintolerantorthodoxy。
Arapidsurveyofthehistoryofgeneralliterarycriticismatthatepochwillrevealthisfactfully。DuringthelastdecadeoftheseventeenthcenturytherehadtakenplacethefamouscontroversyovertheLettersofPhalaris，inwhich，againstCharlesBoyleandhissupportersatOxford，waspittedRichardBentleyatCambridge，whoinsistedthattheletterswerespurious。Intheseriesofbattlesroyalwhichfollowed，althoughBoyle，aidedbyAtterbury，afterwardsonotedforhismingledecclesiasticalandpoliticalintrigues，hadgainedatemporarytriumphbywitandhumour，Bentley’sfinalattackhadprovedirresistible。Drawingfromthestoresofhiswonderfullywideandminuteknowledge，heshowedthattheletterscouldnothavebeenwritteninthetimeofPhalaris——provingthisbyanexhibitionoftheirstyle，whichcouldnotthenhavebeeninuse，oftheirreferencetoeventswhichhadnotthentakenplace，andofamassofconsiderationswhichnoonebutascholaralmostmiraculouslygiftedcouldhavemarshalledsofully。ThecontroversyhadattractedattentionnotonlyinEnglandbutthroughoutEurope。WithBentley’sreplyithadended。InspiteofpublicapplauseatAtterbury’swit，scholarsthroughouttheworldacknowledgedBentley’svictory：hewasrecognisedastheforemostclassicalscholarofhistime；themastershipofTrinity，whichheaccepted，andtheBristolbishopric，whichherejected，werehisformalreward。
Although，inhisnewpositionasheadofthegreatestcollegeinEngland，hewenttoextremelengthsontheorthodoxsideinbiblicaltheology，consentingeventosupportthedoctrinethattheHebrewpunctuationwasdivinelyinspired，thiswasasnothingcomparedwiththeinfluenceofthesystemofcriticismwhichheintroducedintoEnglishstudiesofclassicalliteratureinpreparingthewayfortheapplicationofasimilarsystemtoALL
literature，whethercalledsacredorprofane。
Uptothatperiodtherehadreallybeennoadequatecriticismofancientliterature。Whatevernamehadbeenattachedtoanyancientwritingwasusuallyacceptedasthenameoftheauthor：