The Life of Edward Gibbon, Esq: With Selections from His Correspondence, and Illustrations

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John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1839 - 455 pages
 

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Page 287 - 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 308 - He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument.
Page 182 - 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 16 - 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 62 - 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 149 - 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 297 - Well, if the use be mine, can it concern one, Whether the name belong to Pope or Vernon?
Page 109 - 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 285 - He seemed to feel, and even to envy, the happiness of my situation while I admired the powers of a superior man, as they are blended in his attractive character with the softness and simplicity of a child.
Page 75 - Variations,' achieved my conversion; and I surely fell by a noble hand. I have since examined the originals with a more discerning eye, and shall not hesitate to pronounce, that Bossuet is indeed a master of all the weapons of controversy. In the 'Exposition...

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