Dr. Hudson died, on Nov. 27, of dropsy. And at one o'clock on the
afternoon of the very next day, Joseph Bowles, M.A., of Oriel College,
was elected in his room.
The bitter terms in which Hearne frequently, in the course of his
_Diary_, condemns Hudson's management, or rather mismanagement, of the
Library, may be supposed to be owing in a considerable degree to
personal pique and quarrel[194]. But they meet with very singular and
abundant confirmation in the letter of Z. C. Uffenbach, quoted above (p.
130), when the writer expresses, in the following strong language, his
opinion of Hudson's neglect and incapacity, and of the general condition
of the Library under his management:--
'Perpende, quæso, mecum, vir eruditissime, quantus thesaurus ex
solius Bodleianæ Bibliothecæ codicibus elici possit, nisi
Proto-Bibliothecarii Hudson negligentia ac pertinacia obstaret. Is
enim muneri abunde satisfecisse, imo eximie ornasse Spartam videri
vult, dum tot annis unico scriptori, Thucydidem ejus puto, omni
Bibliothecæ cura plane abjecta, insudavit, cum hoc, quod supra dixi,
potius agendum fuisset. Nefandam hujus insignis Bibliothecæ sortem
(ignosce justæ indignationi) satis deplorare nequeo. Inculta plane
jacet, nemo ferme tanto thesauro uti, frui, gestit. Singulis sane
diebus per trium mensium spatium illam frequentavi, sed, ita me dii
ament, nunquam tot una vice homines in illa vidi quot numero sunt
Musæ, vel saltem artes liberales. De librorum studiosis loquor; nam
puerorum, muliercularum, rusticorum, hinc inde cursitantium,
voluminumque multitudinem per transennas spectantium mirantiumque,
cœtum excipio.... De Proto-bibliothecarii incuria jam dixi,
ejusque stupendam in historia literaria librariaque, inprimis extra
Insulam ultraque maria, ignorantiam taceo.'
Of Hearne, however, Uffenbach writes in the following different
strain:--
'Hîc scholaris, ut hîc loqui amant, esse solet, atque etiamnum est,
nomine Hearne, qui, præ reliquis, diligentiam suam non modo
scriptis, sed in novo etiam Bibliothecæ catalogo confitiendo, typis
proxime exscribendo, probavit; ast, quod dolendum, ad exemplum
prioris, qui satis jejunus, inconcinnus, erroribusque innumeris
scatens est.'
Hudson's successor, Bowles, had previously been his Assistant for some
years, and as, while Hearne was Under-keeper, he had come into sharp
collision with that irascible antiquary (see under 1715), his election
now was a matter of sore annoyance to the latter. Hearne dwells upon it
in his _Diary_ with great bitterness and at great length: 'Competitors
were Mr. Hall, of Queen's, and that pert conceited coxcomb Mr. Bowles
(who is not yet Regent Master) of Oriel College. Bowles carried it by a
great majority, having about 160 votes, and Mr. Hall about 77. I think
it the most scandalous election that I have yet heard of in Oxford.' Of
his supporters he speaks thus:--'Charlett and such rogues, who contrived
to bring in that most compleat coxcomb Bowles to be Head-Librarian, to
the immortal scandal of all that were concern'd in it[195].' And even,
when ten years later he records Bowles' death, he indulges, in
forgetfulness of charity to the departed, in the following strain: 'Of
this gentleman (a most vile, wicked wretch) frequent mention hath been
made in these Memoirs. He took the degree of M.A. Oct. 12, 1719. 'Tis
incredible what damage he did to the Bodl. Library, by putting it into
disorder and confusion, which before, by the great pains I had taken in
it (&c.), was the best regulated library in the world[196].' Bowles'
name never occurs in the _Diary_ without some opprobrious epithet being
attached to it, which may be accounted for partly from his having taken
the oaths of allegiance after declaring he would never do it (a
defection which Hearne never forgave in any one), but chiefly also from
his having personally excluded Hearne from the Library, when the latter
refused to resign his keys in 1715, by procuring new locks and keys,
which he kept in his own custody.
Three or four days after Bowles' election, Mr. Fletcher, the
Sub-librarian (disliking, no doubt, the appointment of his junior over
his head), resigned his office, to which Bowles appointed the well-known
antiquary, Francis Wise. Upon this appointment Hearne comments thus:
'Bowles put in Mr. Wise, A.M., of Trin. Coll. (a pretender to
antiquities), tho' he had promised it to one of Oriel Coll., that came
in fellow of Oriel when he did, and was very serviceable to him in
getting the Head Librarian's place; for which Bowles is strangely
scouted and despis'd at Oriel, as a breaker of his word, and a
whiffling, silly, unfaithfull, coxcomb.' It must be allowed that the
portrait of Bowles in the Library bears out in some degree Hearne's last
epithet, by giving him the appearance rather of a fine clerical
gentleman than of a student.
Baskett, the printer, presented to the Library a magnificent copy on
vellum of the 'Vinegar' Bible, printed by him in 1717. Only three copies
were so struck off; the second was placed in the King's Library, and the
third was sold to the Duke of Chandos, for five hundred guineas, at
whose sale, in 1747, Lord Foley purchased it for £72 9_s._
[194] In one passage, Hearne says that such was Hudson's self-esteem
that he reckoned himself equal to Erasmus or Sir Thomas More, while all
that was curious in his books was gained from Hearne himself or others.
(_MS. Diary_, vol. lviii. p. 158.)
[195] Vol. lxxxiv. pp. 59, 60.
[196] Vol. cxxii. p. 158.