in the summer of 1781 the Roman Eagle (a proud title) accepted the invitation of the English Sparrow

In which, constructed for a happier doom,
No hasty marks of vain ambition lurk :
Thou may'st deride both Time's destructive sway,
And baser Envy's beauty-mangling dirk;
Thy gorgeous fabric, plann'd with wise delay,
Shall baffle foes more savage than the Turk;
As ages multiply, its fame shall rise,

And earth must perish ere its splendor dies.

A CARD OF INVITATION TO MR GIBBON
AT BRIGHTHELMSTONE, 1781.

An English sparrow, pert and free,
Who chirps beneath his native tree,
Hearing the Roman cagle's near,
And feeling more respect than fear,
Thus, with united love and awe,
Invites him to his shed of straw.

Tho' he is but a twittering sparrow,
The field he hops in rather narrow,
When nobler plumes attract his view
He ever pays them homage due;
He looks with reverential wonder
On him whose talons bear the thunder.
Nor could the jackdaws e'er inveigle
His voice to vilify the eagle;

Tho' issuing from the holy towers

In which they build their warmest bowers,
Their sovereign's haunt they slyly search,
In hopes to catch him on his perch,
(For Pindar says, beside his God
The thunder-bearing bird will nod;)
Then peeping round his still retreat,
They pick from underneath his feet
Some molted feather he lets fall,
And swear he cannot fly at all.-

Lord of the sky! whose pounce can tear
These croakers that infest the air,
Trust him, the sparrow loves to sing
The praise of thy imperial wing!

who chirped in the groves of Eartham, near Chi-
chester. As most of the former purchasers were
naturally desirous of completing their sets, the sale
of the quarto edition was quick and easy; and an
octavo size was printed, to satisfy at a cheaper rate
the public demand. The conclusion of my work was
generally read, and variously judged. The style has
been exposed to much academical criticism; a reli-
gious clamour was revived; and the reproach of
indecency has been loudly echoed by the rigid censors
of morals. I never could understand the clamour
that has been raised against the indecency of my
three last volumes. 1. An equal degree of freedom
in the former part, especially in the first volume, had
passed without reproach. 2. I am justified in paint-
ing the manners of the times; the vices of Theodora
form an essential feature in the reign and character
of Justinian; and the most naked tale in my history
is told by the Rev. Mr Joseph Warton, an instructor
of youth.
(Essay on the Genius and Writings of
Pope, p. 322-324.) 3. My English text is chaste,
and all licentious passages are left in the obscurity of
a learned language. "Le Latin dans ses mots brave
l'honnêteté," says the correct Boileau, in a country
and idiom more scrupulous than our own.
Yet, upon
the whole, the History of the Decline and Fall seems
to have struck root both at home and abroad, and
may perhaps a hundred years hence still continue
to be abused. I am less flattered by Mr Porson's
high encomium on the style and spirit of my History,
than I am satisfied with his honourable testimony to
my attention, diligence, and accuracy; those humble
virtues, which religious zeal had most audaciously

He thinks thou'lt deem him, on his word,
An honest though familiar bird;
And hopes thou soon wilt condescend
To look upon thy little friend;
That he may boast around his
A visit from the bird of Jove.

grove

denied. The sweetness of his praise is tempered by a reasonable mixture of acid.* As the book may not be common in England, I shall transcribe my own character from the "Bibliotheca Historica" of Meuselius,† a learned and laborious German. "Summis ævi nostri historicis Gibbonus sine dubio adnumerandus est. Inter capitolii ruinas stans, primum hujus operis scribendi consilium cepit. Florentissimos vitæ annos colligendo et laborando eidem impendit. Enatum inde monumentum ære perennius, licet passim appareant sinistrè dicta, minus perfecta, veritati non satis consentanea. Videmus quidem ubique fere studium scrutandi veritatemque scribendi maximum : tamen sine Tillemontio duce ubi scilicet hujus historia finitur sæpius noster titubat atque hallucinatur. Quod vel maxime fit, ubi de rebus ecclesiasticis vel de jurisprudentiâ Romanâ (tom. iv.) tradit, et in aliis locis. Attamen nævi hujus generis haud impediunt quo minus operis summam et oxovoμav præclarè dispositam, delectum rerum sapientissimum, argutum quoque interdum, dictionemque seu stylum historico æque ac philosopho dignissimum, et vix à quoque alio Anglo, Humio ac Robertsono haud exceptis (præreptum?), vehementer laudemus, atque sæculo nostro de hujusmodi historiâ gratulemur......

Gib

bonus adversarios cum in tum extra patriam nactus est, quia propagationem religionis Christianæ, non, ut vulgo fieri solet, aut more theologorum, sed ut historicum et philosophum decet, exposuerat."

The French, Italian, and German translations have been executed with various success; but, instead of patronising, I should willingly suppress such imperfect copies, which injure the character, while they propagate the name of the author. The first volume had been feebly, though faithfully, translated into French by M. Le Clerc de Septchenes, a young gen

See his preface, pp. 28. 32.
Vol. iv. part 1. pp. 342. 344.

:

tleman of a studious character and liberal fortune After his decease, the work was continued by two manufacturers of Paris, MM. Desmuniers and Cantwell but the former is now an active member of the national assembly, and the undertaking languishes in the hands of his associate. The superior merit of the interpreter, or his language, inclines me to prefer the Italian version: but I wish it were in my power to read the German, which is praised by the best judges. The Irish pirates are at once my friends and my enemies. But I cannot be displeased with the two numerous and correct impressions which have been published for the use of the Continent at Basil in Switzerland.* The conquests of our language and literature are not confined to Europe alone, and a writer who succeeds in London is speedily read on the banks of the Delaware and the Ganges.

In the preface of the fourth volume, while I gloried in the name of an Englishman, I announced my approaching return to the neighbourhood of the lake of Lausanne. This last trial confirmed my assurance that I had wisely chosen for my own happiness; nor did I once, in a year's visit, entertain a wish of settling in my native country. Britain is the free and fortunate island; but where is the spot in which I could unite the comforts and beauties of my establishment at Lausanne? The tumult of London astonished my eyes and ears; the amusements of public places were no longer adequate to the trouble; the clubs and assemblies were filled with new faces and young men; and our best society, our long and late dinners, would soon have been prejudicial to my health. Without any share in the political wheel, I

Of their fourteen octavo volumes the two last include the whole body of the notes. The public importunity had forced me to remove them from the end of the volume to the bottom of the page; but I have often repented of my compliance.

must be idle and insignificant: yet the most splendid temptations would not have enticed me to engage a second time in the servitude of parliament or office. At Tunbridge, some weeks after the publication of my History, I reluctantly quitted lord and lady Sheffield; and with a young Swiss friend," whom I had introduced to the English world, I pursued the road of Dover and Lausanne. My habitation was embellished in my absence, and the last division of hooks, which followed my steps, increased my chosen library to the number of between six and seven thousand volumes. My seraglio was ample, my choice was free, my appetite was keen. After a full repast on Homer and Aristophanes, I involved myself in the philosophic maze of the writings of Plato, of which the dramatic is perhaps more interesting than the argumentative part: but I stepped aside into every path of inquiry which reading or reflection accidentally opened.

Alas! the joy of my return, and my studious ardour, were soon damped by the melancholy state of my friend Mr Deyverdun. His health and spirits had long suffered a gradual decline; a succession of apoplectic fits announced his dissolution; and before he expired, those who loved him could not wish for the continuance of his life. The voice of reason might congratulate his deliverance, but the feelings of nature and friendship could be subdued only by time: his amiable character was still alive in my remembrance; each room, each walk, was imprinted with our common footsteps; and I should blush at my own philosophy, if a long interval of study had not preceded and followed the death of my friend. By his last will he left to me the option of purchasing his house and garden, or of possessing them during my life, on the payment either of a stipulated price, or of an easy retribution to his kinsman and heir. I should pro

• M. Wilhelm de Severy.