The Life of Edward Gibbon: With Selections from His Correspondence and Illustrations |
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Page 3
... least natural , I am the more inclined to believe , as I am not myself interested in the cause ; for I can derive from my ancestors neither glory nor shame . Yet a sincere and simple narrative of my own life may amuse some of my leisure ...
... least natural , I am the more inclined to believe , as I am not myself interested in the cause ; for I can derive from my ancestors neither glory nor shame . Yet a sincere and simple narrative of my own life may amuse some of my leisure ...
Page 5
... least exempt from , the ordinary disquietudes and anxieties which harass the man of letters . Failure did not depress , nor suc- cess elevate him above the usual equable level of his mind . As a writer , he was , as near as possible , a ...
... least exempt from , the ordinary disquietudes and anxieties which harass the man of letters . Failure did not depress , nor suc- cess elevate him above the usual equable level of his mind . As a writer , he was , as near as possible , a ...
Page 13
... least to write for the public benefit ; and the slow balance of trade can be pleasing to those persons only to whom it is advantageous . The successful in- dustry of my grandfather raised him above the level of his im- mediate ancestors ...
... least to write for the public benefit ; and the slow balance of trade can be pleasing to those persons only to whom it is advantageous . The successful in- dustry of my grandfather raised him above the level of his im- mediate ancestors ...
Page 17
... least equal to the prelate . On the appearance of the Fable of the Bees , he drew his pen against the licentious doctrine that private vices are public benefits , and morality as well as religion must join in his applause . Mr. Law's ...
... least equal to the prelate . On the appearance of the Fable of the Bees , he drew his pen against the licentious doctrine that private vices are public benefits , and morality as well as religion must join in his applause . Mr. Law's ...
Page 20
... that she asked a single question , or said the least thing concerning it . To me she behaved with great cordiality , and in her way expressed a great regard . " i CHAPTER II . Mr. Gibbon's birth ; he is 20 MEMOIRS OF MY LIFE AND WRITINGS .
... that she asked a single question , or said the least thing concerning it . To me she behaved with great cordiality , and in her way expressed a great regard . " i CHAPTER II . Mr. Gibbon's birth ; he is 20 MEMOIRS OF MY LIFE AND WRITINGS .
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acquaintance Adieu admiration Æneid agreeable amusement ancient appears Archbishop of Arles assez avoit Beriton bien C'est Cæsar character Christianity church Cicero conversation criticism d'une deux Deyverdun Diodorus Siculus EDWARD GIBBON England English epistle Essay esteem été fait father favour feel fortune France French French language Geneva genius Greek happiness Herodotus historian History Holroyd homme honour hope ideas j'ai Journal labour Lady language Latin Lausanne learned letter literary Livy London Lord Sheffield Madame Magdalen College manners Memoirs ment militia mind months nature Necker never opinion Oxford Paris passage Pavilliard perhaps person philosopher pleasure Plutarch political Polybius Porten praise qu'il qu'on racter reason religion Roman Rome sentiments Severy Sheffield-Place society soon spirit style Suetonius Switzerland Tacitus taste tion tout Vaud Virgil Voltaire volume wish write
Popular passages
Page 190 - June, 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page in a summer-house in my garden. After laying down my pen, I took several turns in a berceau, or covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, the lake, and the mountains. The air was temperate, the sky was serene, the silver orb of the moon was reflected from the waters, and all nature was silent.
Page 204 - He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument.
Page 11 - It will be proved to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb and such abominable words as no Christian ear can endure to hear.
Page 94 - The discipline and evolutions of a modern battalion gave me a clearer notion of the phalanx and the legion ; and the captain of the Hampshire grenadiers (the reader may smile) has not been useless to the historian of the Roman empire.
Page 3 - ... latter, the Emperors of Germany and Kings of Spain, have threatened the liberty of the Old, and invaded the treasures of the New World. The successors of Charles the Fifth may disdain their brethren of England ; but the romance of Tom Jones, that exquisite picture of human manners, will outlive the palace of the Escurial and the imperial eagle of the house of Austria.
Page 67 - His declamation was fashioned to the pomp and cadence of the old stage ; and he expressed the enthusiasm of poetry, rather than the feelings of nature. My ardour, which soon became conspicuous, seldom failed of procuring me a ticket. The habits of pleasure fortified my taste for the French theatre, and that taste has perhaps abated my idolatry for the gigantic genius of Shakspeare, which is inculcated from our infancy as the first duty of an Englishman.
Page 196 - Well, if the use be mine, can it concern one, Whether the name belong to Pope or Vernon?
Page 68 - After a painful struggle I yielded to my fate: I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son; my wound was insensibly healed by time, absence, and the habits of a new life. My cure was accelerated by a faithful report of the tranquillity and cheerfulness of the lady herself, and my love subsided in friendship and esteem.
Page 115 - It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the bare-footed friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter', that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.
Page 40 - I was admitted to the society of the fellows, and fondly expected that some questions of literature would be the amusing and instructive topics of their discourse. Their conversation stagnated in a round of college business, Tory politics, personal anecdotes, and private scandal: their dull and deep potations excused the brisk intemperance of youth ; and their constitutional toasts were not expressive of the most lively loyalty for the house of Hanover.