Memoirs of Edward Gibbon, Esq |
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Page 13
... expression ; not that I have any lingering sentiment for a man who , I think , merits none at all , ” — how keen is the resent- ' What fortune ? ' ' not above twenty ment unsheathed for a moment ! - " but my EDWARD GIBBON . 13.
... expression ; not that I have any lingering sentiment for a man who , I think , merits none at all , ” — how keen is the resent- ' What fortune ? ' ' not above twenty ment unsheathed for a moment ! - " but my EDWARD GIBBON . 13.
Page 58
... merits of the author . His last com- positions are darkly tinctured by the incomprehensible visions of Jacob Behinen ; and his discourse on the absolute unlawfulness of stage - entertainments is some- times quoted for a ridiculous ...
... merits of the author . His last com- positions are darkly tinctured by the incomprehensible visions of Jacob Behinen ; and his discourse on the absolute unlawfulness of stage - entertainments is some- times quoted for a ridiculous ...
Page 65
... merit of invention , since he has blended the English story of Robinson Crusoe with the Arabian romance of Hai Ebu Yokhdan , which he might have read in the Latin version of Pocock . In the Automathes I cannot praise either the depth of ...
... merit of invention , since he has blended the English story of Robinson Crusoe with the Arabian romance of Hai Ebu Yokhdan , which he might have read in the Latin version of Pocock . In the Automathes I cannot praise either the depth of ...
Page 69
... merit excepting that of likeness to the original . The verses of Pope accustomed my ear to the sound of poetic harmony : in the death of Hector , and the ship- wreck of Ulysses , I tasted the new emotions of terror and pity ; and ...
... merit excepting that of likeness to the original . The verses of Pope accustomed my ear to the sound of poetic harmony : in the death of Hector , and the ship- wreck of Ulysses , I tasted the new emotions of terror and pity ; and ...
Page 71
... merit ; and the mimic scene of a re- bellion has displayed , in their true colors , the ministers and patriots of the rising generation . Our seminaries of learning do not exactly correspond with the precept of a Spartan king , " that ...
... merit ; and the mimic scene of a re- bellion has displayed , in their true colors , the ministers and patriots of the rising generation . Our seminaries of learning do not exactly correspond with the precept of a Spartan king , " that ...
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acquaintance agreeable amusement ancient aunt Buriton bust character church Cicero College conversation curious Deyverdun EDWARD GIBBON elegant England English enjoyed equal Essay esteem excuse eyes father feel fortune France freedom French French language genius Genoa geography of Italy Gibbon Greek habits happy historian honor hope idle indulged John Gibbon Journal king labor ladies language Latin Lausanne learning less letters liberty literary lively London Lord North Lord Sheffield Mademoiselle Magdalen College manners merit militia mind months nature Necker ness never Oxford Paris passage Pavilliard perhaps persons perusal philosopher pleasure poet political Porten praise Prince provinces of France Putney residence Rolvenden Roman Rome sentiments society soon spirit style success Swiss Switzerland Tacitus taste temper tion Tory tutor Vaud volume Westminster School writings young youth
Popular passages
Page 174 - 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 33 - 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 11 - 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.
Page 59 - Call," is still read as a popular and powerful book of devotion. His precepts are rigid, but they are founded on the gospel ; 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 19 - The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise. Many experiments were made before I could hit the middle tone between a dull chronicle and a rhetorical declamation...
Page 194 - 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 ; nor was the general voice disturbed by the barking of any profane critic.
Page 92 - 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?
Page 75 - Continuation of Echard's Roman History," which is indeed executed with more skill and taste than the previous work. To me the reigns of the successors of Constantine were absolutely new; and I was immersed in the passage of the Goths over the Danube, when the summons of the dinner-bell reluctantly dragged me from my intellectual feast.
Page 48 - 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 11 - A rich banker of Paris, a citizen of Geneva, had the good fortune and good sense to discover and possess this inestimable treasure ; and in the capital of taste and luxury she resisted the temptations of wealth, as she had sustained the hardships of indigence. The genius of her husband has exalted him to the most conspicuous station in Europe.