This Dick
was one of the men employed by Dr. Fell, the Dean of Ch. Ch., to
translate Wood's History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford
into Latin. The translation gave rise to a number of literary
quarrels. As Dean of Ch. Ch., Dr. Fell yielded to the besetting sin
of deans, and fancied himself the absolute master of the University,
if not something superior to mortal kind. An autocrat of this sort
had no scruples about changing Wood's copy whenever he differed from
Wood in political or religious opinion. Now Antony, as we said, had
eyes to discern the greatness of Hobbes, whom the Dean considered no
better than a Deist or an Atheist. The Dean therefore calmly altered
all that Wood had written of the Philosopher of Malmesbury, and so
maligned Hobbes that the old man, meeting the King in Pall Mall,
begged leave to reply in his own defence. Charles allowed the
dispute to go on, and Hobbes hit Fell rather hard. The Dean retorted
with the famous expression about irritabile illud et vanissimum
Malmesburiense animal. This controversy amused Oxford, but bred bad
feeling between Antony Wood and Dick Peers, the translator of his
work, and the tool of the Dean of Ch. Ch. Prideaux (Letters to John
Ellis; Camden Society, 1875) describes the battles in city taverns
between author and translator:
"I suppose that you have heard of the continuall feuds, and often
battles, between the author and the translator; they had a skirmish
at Sol Hardeing [keeper of a tavern in All Saints' parish], another
at the printeing house [the Sheldonian theatre], and several other
places.
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