Fortunately we have the first-hand evidence of his autobiography, which is a surer guide than the lines written by untrustworthy disciples.
The laughter thus provoked extinguished the Predictions for three years, and in 1715 Partridge died in fact; but the episode left a permanent trace in classic literature, for when in 2709 Steele was to start the Tatler, it occurred to him that he could secure the public ear in no surer way than by adopting the name of Bickerstaff.
Though still the market of the nomads, the surer and cheaper sea route has almost destroyed the transit trade to which it once owed its wealth, and has even diminished the importance of the annual pilgrim caravan to Mecca.
But what he failed to give, Ewald supplied, and if more of De Wette's than of Ewald's work still stands to-day, that is but an illustration of the melancholy fact that in history negative criticism is surer than positive construction.
