The Autobiographies of Edward Gibbon

Front Cover
J. Murray, 1896 - 435 pages
 

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 263 - 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 292 - Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school : and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, 40 thou hast built a paper-mill.
Page 263 - But my pride was soon humbled, and a sober melancholy was spread over my mind, by the idea that I had taken an everlasting leave of an old and agreeable companion, and that, whatsoever might be the future date of my History, the life of the historian must be short and precarious.
Page 232 - It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted 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 70 - That in the university of Oxford, the greater part of the public professors have for these many years given up altogether even the pretence of teaching.
Page 97 - Curchod were the theme of universal applause. The report of such a prodigy awakened my curiosity ; I saw and loved. I found her learned without pedantry, lively in conversation, pure in sentiment, and elegant in manners; and the first sudden emotion was fortified by the habits and knowledge of a more familiar acquaintance.
Page 33 - To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith, but bungling bigotry. Both knave and fool the merchant we may call, To pay great sums, and to compound the small: For who would break with Heaven, and would not break for all ? Rest then, my soul, from endless anguish freed,' Nor sciences thy guide, nor sense thy creed.
Page 15 - By quick instinctive motion, up I sprung, As thitherward endeavouring, and upright Stood on my feet : about me round I saw Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains...
Page 163 - But every man who rises above the common level has received two educations: the first from his teachers; the second, more personal and important, from himself.
Page 241 - History is the most popular species of writing, since it can adapt itself to the highest or the lowest capacity. I had chosen an illustrious subject ; Rome is familiar to the schoolboy and the statesman, and my narrative was deduced from the last period of Classical reading. I had likewise flattered myself that an age of light and liberty would receive, without scandal, an enquiry into the human causes of the progress and establishment of Christianity.

Bibliographic information