14. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, the number of entries fell; this was attributed, and no doubt correctly, to the rise to office in College of those fellows appointed by mandatory letters from James II--he having filled every fellowship that became vacant during his reign. The history of the Society during the early years of the eighteenth century may be dismissed with the briefest notice, for college energies were largely occupied by domestic disputes, and the number of residents still further decreased: these misfortunes were mainly due to the scandals inseparably associated with the name of Bentley. Bentley held the mastership from 1700 to 1742: his critical work can hardly be over-praised, but his career here was marked by malversations and many dishonourable transactions. The only scholars of the time I need mention are Cotes and Robert Smith who were mathematicians of repute. The latter of these scholars, when master, did something to restore orderly government and discipline. 15. It was not until near the close of the century that the College recovered from the taint of Bentley's misrule, and scholarship again flourished within our walls: among the residents of the time was Porson, whose wit and conversation must have been delightful features of the High Table of his day--he lived in K 5, Great Court. Mathematics now afforded the chief avenue to distinction, but some acquaintance with classics and moral philosophy was also obligatory. This period is famous for the number of eminent judges educated in the College: the strict training in formal logic and geometry required for success in the mathematical tripos being especially favourable to legal work. Out of eleven such Trinity judges of the time the names of Tindal, Pollock, Maule, Lyndhurst, Wensleydale, and Cranworth are still remembered. Socially, manners were generally coarser than at any time during the previous century or than later; though the revival of religion under the influence of Simeon did something to ameliorate matters.