The Auto-biography of Edward Gibbon, Esq: Illustrated from His Letters, with Occasional Notes and NarrativesTurner & Hayden, 1846 - 381 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 100
Page 2
... never mentioned to any other person , ex- pressed a determination of publishing them in his lifetime ; and never ap- pears to have departed from that resolution , excepting in one of his letters annexed , in which he intimates a doubt ...
... never mentioned to any other person , ex- pressed a determination of publishing them in his lifetime ; and never ap- pears to have departed from that resolution , excepting in one of his letters annexed , in which he intimates a doubt ...
Page 12
... never languid . An English text is perpetually interspersed with Latin sen- tences in prose and verse ; but in his own poetry he claims an exemption from the laws of prosedy . Amidst a profusion of geneological knowledge , my kinsman ...
... never languid . An English text is perpetually interspersed with Latin sen- tences in prose and verse ; but in his own poetry he claims an exemption from the laws of prosedy . Amidst a profusion of geneological knowledge , my kinsman ...
Page 13
... ; he sat at that board with Prior : but the merchant was better qualified for his station than the poet ; since Lord Bolingbroke has been heard to declare , that he had never conversed with ACCOUNT AND ANECDOTES OF HIS FAMILY . 13.
... ; he sat at that board with Prior : but the merchant was better qualified for his station than the poet ; since Lord Bolingbroke has been heard to declare , that he had never conversed with ACCOUNT AND ANECDOTES OF HIS FAMILY . 13.
Page 14
... never conversed with a man , who more clearly understood the commerce and finances of England . In the year 1716 he was elected one of the directors of the South Sea Company ; and his books ex- hibited the proof that , before his ...
... never conversed with a man , who more clearly understood the commerce and finances of England . In the year 1716 he was elected one of the directors of the South Sea Company ; and his books ex- hibited the proof that , before his ...
Page 26
... never forget the scene of our first interview , some weeks after the fatal event ; the awful silence , the room hung with black , the mid - day tapers , his sighs and tears ; his praises of my mother , a saint in heaven ; his solemn ...
... never forget the scene of our first interview , some weeks after the fatal event ; the awful silence , the room hung with black , the mid - day tapers , his sighs and tears ; his praises of my mother , a saint in heaven ; his solemn ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
acquaintance Adieu agreeable amusement Archbishop of Arles aunt Beriton Berne CHAP character church Cicero College Comte de Caylus connexion conversation Cornelius Nepos curiosity death Deyverdun EDWARD GIBBON England English enjoyed epistle equal essay esteem excuse eyes father favour feel fortune France French friendship Geneva genius Greek habits happiness honour hope indulged JOURNAL journey labour lady language Latin Lausanne learning letter London Lord Sheffield Madame Magdalen College ment merit militia mind months native Necker never opinion Oxford Paris passed Pavilliard perhaps persons perusal philosopher pleasure political Porten praise present provinces of France prudence Putney racter residence scene sentiments Severy Sheffield-place society soon spirit style summer Swiss Switzerland Tacitus taste tion Vaud volume weeks Westminster School winter wish write youth
Popular passages
Page 171 - that the influence of the Crown had increased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished', and Mr Burke's Bill of Reform was framed with skill, 162 introduced with eloquence, and supported by numbers.
Page 7 - 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, thou hast built a paper-mill.
Page 5 - Who builds a church to God, and not to Fame, Will never mark the marble with his name : Go, search it there, where to be born and die, Of rich and poor makes all the history ; Enough, that Virtue fill'd the space between ; Prov'd by the ends of being, to have been.
Page 66 - After a painful struggle I yielded to my fate : I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son 9 ; (8) my wound was insensibly healed by time, absence, and the habits of a new life.
Page 139 - Our solid and increasing establishments in America, where we need less dread the inundation of Barbarians, promise a superior stability and duration to the English language.
Page 186 - 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 133 - 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 158 - I am at a loss how to describe the success of the work, without betraying the vanity of the writer. The first impression was exhausted in a few days; a second and third edition were scarcely adequate to the demand ; and the bookseller's property was twice invaded by the pirates of Dublin. My book was on every table, and almost on every toilette ; the historian was crowned by the taste or fashion of the day j nor was the general voice disturbed by the barking of any profane critic.
Page 26 - My own introduction to the university of Oxford forms a new sera in my life ; and at the distance of forty years I still remember my first emotions of surprise and satisfaction. In my fifteenth year I felt myself suddenly raised from a boy to a man ; the persons whom I respected as my superiors in age and academical rank, entertained me with every mark of attention and civility ; and my vanity was flattered by the velvet cap and silk gown, which distinguish a gentleman commoner from a plebeian student.
Page 54 - As soon as I understood the principles, I relinquished for ever the pursuit of the mathematics ; nor can I lament that I desisted, before my mind was hardened by the habit of rigid demonstration, so destructive of the finer feelings of moral evidence, which must, however, determine the actions and opinions of our lives.