The Memoirs of the Life of Edward Gibbon with Various Observations and Excursions |
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Page ix
... opinion he enter- tained of his ridiculous person , but of this kind of vanity there are few traces to be discovered in his autobiography . There is pride enough , unveiled consciousness of high desert , " a lofty and steady confidence ...
... opinion he enter- tained of his ridiculous person , but of this kind of vanity there are few traces to be discovered in his autobiography . There is pride enough , unveiled consciousness of high desert , " a lofty and steady confidence ...
Page x
... opinion of the world , nevertheless even then showed a curious and interesting character of his own . Of Gibbon it is absurdly beside the mark . For one reader who has read his Decline and Fall , there are at least a score who have read ...
... opinion of the world , nevertheless even then showed a curious and interesting character of his own . Of Gibbon it is absurdly beside the mark . For one reader who has read his Decline and Fall , there are at least a score who have read ...
Page xiii
... opinion , that when a man of rank appeared in the character of a candidate for literary fame , he deserved to have his merit handsomely allowed " . I might , therefore , perhaps have concealed my astonish- ment at his lordship's mistake ...
... opinion , that when a man of rank appeared in the character of a candidate for literary fame , he deserved to have his merit handsomely allowed " . I might , therefore , perhaps have concealed my astonish- ment at his lordship's mistake ...
Page xx
... opinion of his judgment . " A fortnight later she wrote : " I was quite happy that papa and he agreed in every material point relative to the memoirs , etc. They found much to lop off ; but much , very much , of a most interesting ...
... opinion of his judgment . " A fortnight later she wrote : " I was quite happy that papa and he agreed in every material point relative to the memoirs , etc. They found much to lop off ; but much , very much , of a most interesting ...
Page xxv
... opinion has rendered me anxious to publish the present memoirs without any unnecessary delay ; for I am persuaded that the author of them cannot be made to appear in a truer light than he does in the TO THE FIRST EDITION XXV.
... opinion has rendered me anxious to publish the present memoirs without any unnecessary delay ; for I am persuaded that the author of them cannot be made to appear in a truer light than he does in the TO THE FIRST EDITION XXV.
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Adam Smith Æneid amusement ancient Appendix Auto Bishop Boswell's Johnson Buriton Burke character Christian Church College conversation Corres criticism death Decline and Fall described Deyverdun edition Edward Gibbon England English Essay Euvres de Voltaire father fortune France French genius Gent Gibbon wrote Greek historian History Holroyd homme honour Horace Walpole Horace Walpole wrote Hume John King labour Lady language Latin Lausanne learned lively London Lord North Lord Sheffield Madame Necker Magdalen Magdalen College Memoirs militia mind Misc never Oxford Paris Parl parliament passage Pavilliard perhaps Petersfield philosopher Pitt pleasure praise published qu'il Read's Hist religion Roman Sainte-Beuve says Sheffield Place society spirit Strahan style Tacitus taste Thomas Hearne tion translation tutor University University of Oxford Vaud viii volume Walpole's Letters writing
Popular passages
Page 239 - If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.
Page 225 - I will not dissemble the first emotions of joy on the recovery of my freedom, and, perhaps, the establishment of my fame. 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 fate of my History, the life of the historian must be short and precarious.
Page 26 - My lot might have been that of a slave, a savage, or a peasant ; nor can I reflect without pleasure on the bounty of Nature, which cast my birth in a free and civilized country, in an age of science and philosophy, in a family of honourable rank, and decently endowed with the gifts of fortune.
Page vi - ... study, which I take to be my portion in- this life, joined with the strong propensity of nature, I might perhaps leave something so written to after-times, as they should not willingly let it die.
Page 167 - He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.
Page 58 - 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.
Page 107 - 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 23 - Call, is still read as a popular and powerful book of devotion. His precepts are rigid, but they are founded on the gospel l ; his satire is sharp, but it is drawn from the knowledge of human life ; and many of his portraits are not unworthy of the pen of La Bruyere. If he finds a spark of piety in his reader's mind, he will soon kindle it to a flame...
Page 225 - 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.
Page 202 - Had I believed that the majority of English readers were so fondly attached even to the name and shadow of Christianity ; had I foreseen that the pious, the timid, and the prudent, would feel, or affect to feel, with such exquisite sensibility ; I might, perhaps, have softened the two invidious chapters, which Would create many enemies, and conciliate few friends.