failed in his design, the disappointed champion bore a cruel
rancour to the Ancients, which he resolved to gratify by showing
all marks of his favour to the books of their adversaries, and
lodging them in the fairest apartments; when, at the same time,
whatever book had the boldness to own itself for an advocate of the
Ancients was buried alive in some obscure corner, and threatened,
upon the least displeasure, to be turned out of doors. Besides, it
so happened that about this time there was a strange confusion of
place among all the books in the library, for which several reasons
were assigned. Some imputed it to a great heap of learned dust,
which a perverse wind blew off from a shelf of Moderns into the
keeper's eyes. Others affirmed he had a humour to pick the worms
out of the schoolmen, and swallow them fresh 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 Virgil was hemmed in with Dryden on one side and
Wither 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