D 1 3 5 7 3 =: -Z*^::;/ 1^ 't '•■- "S ^ Ivy of r.dvrard ^^, University of California At Los Angeles The Library Form L I 5A76 . B fr^m %i iSi ^ .« '*■*■■ Ti V- i''»«^ A^&f' '.IBBON (Edward). Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esquire. With Memoirs of his Life and Writings, composed by himself. Illustrated from his Letters, with occasional Notes and Narrative. By John Lord Sheffield. Frontisj^iece. 2 vols. 4to, half morocco, sijrinkled edges. London, 1796 First Edition. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF E D TV A R D GIBBON, Efquire. WITH MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS, COMPOSED BT HIMSELF: ILLUSTRATED FROM HIS LETTERS, WITH OCCASIONAL NOTES AND NARRATIFH, By JOHN LORD SHEFFIELD. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PIRINTED TOP. A. 3TRAHAK, AND T. CADELL JUN. AND W. DAVIE5, (SUCCESSORS TO MR. CADELL,) IN THE STRAND. MDCCXCVI. 1) A '.\ 'i T' •••••• •• • • • THE melancholy duty of examining the Papers of my deceafed Friend devolved upon me at a time when I was depreffed by fevere afflidlions. In that ftate of mind, I hefitated to undertake the tafk of feleding and preparing his Manufcripts for the prefs. The warmth of my early and long attachment to Mr. Gibbon made me confcious of a partiality, which it was not proper to indulge, efpecially in revifmg many of his juvenile and unfinifhed compofitions. I had to guard, not only againft a fentiment like my own, which I found extcnfively diffufed, but alfo againft the eagernefs occafioned by a very general curiofity to fee in print every literary relick, however imperfed, of fo diftinguiflied a writer. Iking aware how difgracefully Authors of Eminence have been often treated, by an indifcreet pofthumous pub- lication of fragments and carelefs cffufions ; when- 1 had fekfted thofe Papers which to my felf appeared the fitteft for the public eye, I confulted fomc of our common A 2 ' friends, [ Iv ] friends, whom I knew to be equally anxious with myfelf for Mr. Gibbon's fame, and fully competent, from their judgment, to protedt it. Under fuch a fanftion it is, that, no longer fufpedling myfelf to view through too favourable a medium the compofitions of my Friend, I now venture to publifh them : and it may here be proper to give fome informa- tion to the Reader, refpeding the Contents of thefe Volumes. The moft important part confifts of Memoirs of Mr. Gibbon's Life and Writings, a work which he feems to have projected with peculiar folicitude and atten- tion, and of which he left Six different fketches, all in his own hand-writing. One of thefe fketches, the moft diffufe and circumftantial, fo far as it proceeds, ends at the time when he quitted Oxford. Another at the year 1764, when he travelled to Italy. A third, at his father's death, in 1770. A fourth, which he continued to a fhort time after his return to Lau- fanne in 1788, appears in the form of Annals, much lefs detailed than the others. The two remaining fketches are ftill more imperfed. It is difficult to difcover the order in which thefe feveral Pieces were written, but there is reafon to believe that the moft copious was the laft. From all thefe the following Memoirs have been carefully feled:ed, and put together. My [ V ] My hefitation in giving thefe Memoirs to the world arofe, principally, from the circumftance of Mr. Gibbon's appearing, in fome refped:, not to have been fatisfied with them, as he had fo frequently varied their form ; yet, notwithftanding this diffidence, the compofltions, though unfinifhed, are fo excellent, that they may juftly entitle my Friend to appear as his own biographer, rather than to have that tafk under- taken by any other perfon lefs qualified for it. This opinion has rendered me anxious to publifh the prefent Memoirs, without any unneceflary delay ; for I am perfuaded, that the Author of them cannot be made to appear in a truer light than he does in the following pages. In them, and in his different Letters, which I have added, will be found a complete pidiure of his talents, his difpofition, his fliudies, and his attain- ments. Thofe flight variations of charadler, which naturally arofe in the progrefs of his Life, will be unfolded in a feries of Letters, feledled from a Correfpondence between him and myfelf, which continued full thirty years, and ended with his death. It is to be lamented, that all the {ketches of the Me- moirs, except that compofed in the form of Annals, and which fcems rather defigned as heads for a future Work, 2 ceafe [ v3 ] ceafe about twenty years before Mr. Gibbon's death-, and confequently, that we have the leaft detailed ac- count of the nioft interefting part of his Life. His Cor- refpondence during that period will, in great meafurc, fupply the deficiency. It will be feparated from the Memoirs and placed in an Appendix, that thofei who are not diipofed to be pleafed with the repeti- tions, familiarities, and trivial circumftances of epifto'- lary writing, may not be embarrafled by it. By many, the Letters will be found a very interefting part of the prefent Publication. They will prove, how pleafant, friendly, and amiable Mr. Gibbon was in private life ; and if, in publifhing Letters fo flatter- ing to mylelf, I incur the imputation of vanity, I fhall meet the charge with a frank confeflion, that I am indeed highly vain of having enjoyed, for fo many years, the efteem, the confidence, and the affec- tion of a man, whofe focial qualities endeared him to the moft accomplifhed fociety, and whofe talents, great as they were, muft be acknowledged to have been fully equalled by the fincerity of his friendfhip. Whatever cenfure may be pointed againft the Editor, the Public will fet a due value on the Let- ters for their intrinfic merit. I muft, indeed, be blinded, either by vanity or affedlion, if they do not difplay the heart and mind of their Author, in 4 fuch [ vu ] fuch a manner as juftly to increafe t^ie number of his admirers. I have not been folicitous to garble or expunge paflages which, to fome, may appear trifling. Such paffages will often, in the opinion of the obferving Reader, mark the charader of the Writer, and the omiffion of them would materially take from the eafe and familiarity of authentic letters. Few men, I believe, have ever fo fully unveiled their own character, by a minute narrative of their fentiments and purfuits, as Mr. Gibbon will here be found to have done ; not with ftudy and labour — not with an affedled franknefs — but with a genuine confeiTion- of his little foibles and peculiarities, and a good-humoured and na- tural difplay of his own condudl and opinions. Mr. Gibbon began a Journal, a work diftinA from the iketches already mentioned, in the early part of his Life, with the following declaration : " I propofe from this day, Auguft 24th 1761, to keep an exa 1772. 454 34. Dr. Hurd to Mr. Gibbon. — On the Authenticity of the Book of Daniel, and a Fragment on the fame Subjeft. Aug. 29, 1772. 455 2<^. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroyd. - - 0£}. i^i '^TT^.. 465 2^. The Same to the Same. - ~ Dec. 11, 1772. 466 37. The Same to the Same. - _ « Dec. 1772. 467 38. The Same to the Same. — Eaft India Affairs. Jan. 12, 1773. 4^8 39. The Same to the Same. — Eaft India Affairs. M«. 31, 1775. 487 t^%. The Same to Mrs. Gibbon. - - 7^«. 3i> i77S- 488 ' ^(j. The Same to Mr.Holroyd. — American Affairs. i^^i'. 8, 1775. 489 So. The Same to the Same. — Parliamentary. - Feb. 2^, 177^. 490 61. Mr. Gibbon to Mrs. Gibbon. — Doubts whether he fliould fpeak in Parliament. - - - March 30, 1775. 491 ^2. The Same to the Same. - - - Af-rry 2, 1775. 49^ 63. The Same to Mr. Holroyd, — Account of his Hiftory. ^^g- I. 1775- 493 di^. The Same to Mrs. Gibbon. - - - Aug. 177 S- 494 e^. The fame to Mr. Holroyd.—'? o\\i\C7i\. - 0^.14,1775. 495 66. Mr. G. L. Scott to Mr. Gibbonx — On the firft Volume of his Hif- tory. - - - Dec. 29, 1775. 496 67. Mr.Gibbonto Mr.Holroyd.—'PoXwACzl. - Jan. iS, 1776. 497 e^. The Same to the Same. - - Jan. 2^,1776. 497 6g. The Same to the Same. - - Feb. c), 1776. 498 70. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Strahan. — On Mr. Gibbon's firft Volume. March 15, 1776. 498 b 2 Mr. XX CONTENTS. Letter ^ P^K^ Ti. Mr. Pergi'Jon to Mr. Gibbo'/r.— On the fam^ Subjeifc. March 19, 1776. 499 •72. Mf.-Hume to Mr. Strahan. — On the fame Subjeft. April %^ 1776. 500 73. Mr. Fergufun to Mr. Gibbon. — Account of Mr. Hume's Health, &c. - - - • Jpril i%y 1776. 501 74. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Rolroyd. — Madame Necker's Vifit to England. May 20, 1776. 503 75. 1'he Same to the Same. — American News, and Publication of the firft Volume. _ - - - 504 76. ^he Same to the Same. - - June 1^, "^-ll^- S°S 77. Dr. Campbell to Mr. Strahan. — On Mr. Gibbon's firft Volume. June 1^, ijy6. 506 78. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroyd. — Am.erican Affairs. Aug. 1776. 506 79. "The Same to the Same. _ _ _ 1776. 507 80. Mr. Wallace to Mr. Strahan. — On Mr. Gibbon's firft Volume. ^« 1776. 508 81. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroyd. — American Affairs ; Attacks upon the firft Volume. - - - - 1776. 509 82. Mr. Gibbon to Dr^lVatfon. — On Mr. Gibbon's firft Volume. Nov. 2, 1776, 510 83. Dr. JVatJon to Mr. Gibbon. — On the fame Subjeft. Nov. 4, 1776. 511 84. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroyd. — American Affairs. Nov."], 1776. 511 85. The Same to the 6'aw^.— Political. - Nov. 22, 1776. 51a 86. 'The Same to the Same. — American Affairs. Jan. 18, 1777. 512 87. The Same to the Same. - ~ - - 514 88. The Same to the Same. — American Affairs - '^711 • 514 S9. The Same to the Same. — La Fayette. - j^n7i2, 1777, 51 j 90. The Same to the Same. - - April i^^ "^111' 516 91. The Same to the Same. - - April i\, 1777. 516 92. The Same to the Same. - - April i"^, 1777, 5^7 93. y/.'f 5tfWf /tf /i)^ 5rt/«^.— Sets out for Paris. May (i., 1777. 517 1 Mr. CONTENT S. xxi Lett£R Page 94. Mr. Gil^hfi to Mr. Holroyd.— From Czhls. May], ITII- 5'?' Cji^. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Gibbcn. — With a Copy of his Hiftcry of America. . - - June 5, 1777. 518 ^6. Mr. Gibbon to Dr. Robert/en. — Hiftcry of America. 1777. 519 g-^. Dr. Robertjon to Mr.Gibbcn.-^lnAn^vjtv. - ^111- 5^1 98. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroyd. — Account of his Vifit to Paris, June 16, 1777. 523 99. The Same to the Same. — The fame Subjeft. Jug. 13, I777- 5~5 100. The Same to the Same. _ _ . J^ov. 1777. 528 loi. The Same to the Same. - - . Kov.i^, 1777- 5^8 102. The Same to the Same. — American Affairs. - Dec. 2, 1777- 5^9 103. The Same to the Same. - - Dec. 1777. 529 104. T",6^6'i7»z^/c/i'^5i2«z^.— Capture of Burgoyne's Army. D^r. 4, 1777. 530 105. The Same to the Same. - - Feb. 1%. 1778. 530 106. The Same to the Same. — American Affairs. Feb. 13. 1778. 531 107. The Same te the Same. — Departure of French Ambafiador. March 21, 177S. 532 10%. The Same to the Same. - - June \^, \']']Z. 533 xo^. The Same to the Same. - - ' July \, !-]■]%. 534- iio. The Same to the Same. - - July y, ly)^. 534 vii. The Same to the Same.— SpzmfhFrep&vationz. Sept. 25, iJJ^- S35 ill. The Same to the Same.— Antidpation. - Nov. ly-jZ. 535 112. The Same to the Same.— VTivsucBufrntk. - - 1778. 536 11^. Dr. Wat/on to Mr. Gibbon. - - J^w. 14, 1779. 537 115, Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroy J. — Sir Hugh Palifer. Feb. 6, 1779. 538 116. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Gibbon.— On his Vindication. March 10, 1779. 539 ii-j. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Holroyd. - - May -j , i-jy ^. 540 11%. The Same to the Same. - - - May jn-jg. 540 119. The Same to the Same.. . - - - I779' 54^ 120. The Same to the Same.— On being appointed Lord of Trade. July 1, 1779. 542 121. The S^meto Mrs. Gibbon. — ■Mentions the fccond and third Vols. oftheHiftory, - - Sept. 17, 177 g. 54J Mr. xxil CONTENTS. Letter P^8« 122. Mr.Cihbon to Mr. Holroyd. ^On his ElecTion for Coventry. Feb.'], 1780. 544 123. The Same to Mrs. GMon. -^ - March \o, \-]%Q. 545 1 24. The Same to Mrs, Gibbon. — Lord George Gordon. 7«w 6, 1780. 545 125. The Same to the Same. — Upon the Riots in 1780. June %, 1 780. 546 126. The Same to the Same. — The fame Subjeft, June \o, 1780. 547 ■127. The Same to the Same. — The fame Subjedb. June 27, 1780. 547 i^Z. The Same to Colonel Holroyd. - - July 2^, i-jio. 548 129. The Same to the Same. , - - - Nov. 2%, 1780. 549 130. The Same to Mrs. Gibbon. - - Dec. 21, 1780. 549 13 1. The Same to the Same. — With his fecond and third Volumes. Feb. 24, 178 1. 550 132. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Gibbon. — On his fecond and third Volumes. May 12, 1781. 550 122- Mr. Gibbon to Lady Sheffield. - - - 1781.552 134. Sir William Jones to Mr. Gibbon. - June 30, 178 1. 553 \2S. Lord Hardwicke to the Same. - - Sept. 20, i-jil. 555 136. Br. Robert/on to the Same. — With a Charadter of Hayley's Eflay onHiftory. - - - iVo-j. 6, 1781. 556 137. Mr. Gibbon to Mrs. Gibbon. — An Account of a Vifit to Mr. Hayley. Nov. 2, 178 1. 557 138. The Same to the Same. — Change inMiniftry; Charafter of Mr. Hayley's Poetry. - - ^/y 3, 1782. 558 I'lQ. The Same to Lord Sheffield. — New Adminiftration. 1782. 559 140. The Same to the 6'fi;«^.— Compares his Situation to that of a Dragoon. _ _ - Sept. 29, 1782. 560 141. The Same to the Same. — Political. - 0£f. i^, 1782. 561 142. The Same to the Same. - - - 1782. 562 143. The Same to the Same. - - - Jan. 17, 1783. s^3 144. The Same to Dr. Priejlley. — Upon receiving his Hiftory of the Corruptions of Chriftianity. - - Jan. 23, 1783. 564 iji^K^. Dr. Priejlley to Mr. Gibbon. —In Anivitr. - i^t-^. 3, 1783. 565 146. Mr. Gibbon to Dr. Priejlley. - - Feb. 6, 1783. 568 147. Dr. Priejlley to Mr. Gibbon. - - Feb. 10, 1783. 568 7 ^^^'■- CONTENTS. xxUi I-ETTEa P^ge xj^'i. Mr.Gibbon to Dr. Prieftlcy. - - . Feb. 12, iji^- 5^9 149. Dr. Prieflley to Mr. Gibbon. - - Feb. 25, 1783. 569 150. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Deyverdun. — Upon his Intention of quitting London and living at Laufanne. - May 10, 1783. 570 151. Mr. Deyverdun to Mr. Gibbo::. — in Answer. 7««(? 10, 1783. 575 152. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Deyverdun. — Upon the fame Subjefl-. Jane 24, 1783. 582 153. Air. Deyverdun to Mr. Gibbon. — In Anfwer. - - 5^9 iS^. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Deyverdun. - - Js/y i, 1783. 592 155. The Same to Lord SheJie/d.—V pon his Intention of quitting England. - - - >6' 'O, 1783. 593 156. The Same to Mr. Deyverdun. - - Ju^J 3^^ ^7^3- 595 J SJ. The Same to Lord Sheffield. - - y^a^. 18, 1783. 598 I {,%. The Same to the Same. _ - - ^z^^. 20, 1783. 599 I ^^. Mr. Deyverdun to Mr. Gibbon. - - Aug. 10, \~j%t^. 599 \(>o. Mr. Gibbon to Lord Sheffield. - - yf/^j-. 22, 1783. 601 161. The Same to Lady Sheffield. - - ^«^. 30, 1783. 602. 162. The Same to Lord Sheffield. - - Sept. S, ly^s. 603 162- The Same to Mr. Deyverdun.. - - .y^/)/. 9, 1783. 604- i6^. The Same to Lord Sheffield. - - Sept. 11, 1^23. 605 16 s- The Same to the Same. _ - - Sept. 12, iT^^. 606- x66. The Same to the Same. - - - Sept. 13, ly^s- 607 167. The Same to the Same. — From Dover and Boulogne. Sept. 17, 1783. 608 168. The Same to the Same.— Account of his Journey to Langres. Sept. 23, 1783. 609 169. The Same to //j^ 6'^w^.--His Arrival at Laufanne j Mention ef the Abbe Raynal. - - - ^^^^ 30, 1783. 610 170. The Same to Lady Sheffield.— Manner of pafTing his Time at Lauilmne. - - - - O/?. 28, 1783. 612 1.71. The Same to Lord Sheffield.— CompiLnhn of Lord Sheffield's Situation as aPolitician, with his at Laufanne. iVci;. 14, 1.783. 614 17a. The Same to the Same. — Political; India Bill, &c. Dec. 20, 1783. 617 Mr. xxiv CONTENTS. Letter ^S^ 173. Mr. Gibbon to Mrs. Porten. — Account of his Situation. Dec. 27, 1783. 6ao 174. The Same to Lord Sheffield..-^On the Difmiflion of the Coalition Adminiaration, &c. - - J^"- 24> 1784- 623 ^'j^. 'The Sainelo theSame.—VoXxtxcdX. - - F^/^. 2, 1784. 626 176. The Same to the Same.— \J^^on lofing his Seat for Coventry ; Exhortation to rehnquilh Parliament and Politics. May II, 1784. 625 177 The Same to Mrs. Gibbon.— Account of his Situation. May 28, 1784. 633 iji. The Same to Lord Sheffield. - - 7««f 19, 1784. 637 i-^,). The Same to the Same.— On ^\i<:u\tk. - O^S". 18, 1784. 637 180. TJ^e Same to Lady Sheffield. — Extraordinary Perfons at Laufanne, M. Necker, Prince Henry, &c. ; Account of his Situation. Oil. 22, 1784. 639 1 8 1. Tie Same to Lord Sheffield.— On Bufinefs; Necker on Finance. March 13, 1785. 646 182. The Same to the Same.— On the Report of Mr. Gibbon's Death ; Englilh at Laufanne. - - - Sept. 5, 1785. 650 183. The Same to the Same. — Some Account of his Studies. Jan. 17, 1786. 656 1 84. The Same to the Same. — Affefting Letter on Mrs. Porten's Death. May 10, 1786. 658 185. The Same to Sir Stanier Porten. — On the fame Subjeft. May 12, 1786. 661 ;86. The Same to Lord Sheffield. — Obfervations on Lord Sheffield's PubHcations, &c. - - - July 22, 1786. 662 1S7. The Same to Mr. Cadell. — On his three lafl Volumes. Dec. 16, 1786. ddc^ 188. The Same to Lord Sheffield. — On the fame Subjeft, the Com- mcr<:ial Treaty, and Caroline de Litchfield. Jan. 10, 1787. 667 189. The Same (0 Mr. Cadell. - - Feb. 24, ij^j. 671 1 90. The Same to Lord Sheffield. — On the Conclufion of his Hiftory. June 2, 1787. 67a Mr. CONTENTS. XXV Letter Page 191. Mr. G'lhhon to Lord Sheffield. - - July 11, 1787. 673 192. The Same to the 6'^;«(?.— Announcing his Arrival in London. Aug. 8, 1787. 675 193. ne Same to the Same - - ^ . 1787. 675 1^4. 'The Same to Lady Sheffield. - - Bee. 18, 1787. 676 195. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Gibbon. - - Feb. 27, 1788. 678 196. Mr. Gibbon to Lord Sheffield. - - June 21, 1788. 679 197. The Same to the Same. — On his Departure. - - 680 198. The Same to the Satne. — Haftings's Trial; Sheridan's Speech.,, June, 1788. 681 199. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Gibbon. — ^With Thanks for his three lad Volumes. - _ _ _ July 1,0, 1788. 681 aoo. Dr. A. Smith to Mr. Gibbon. — With Thanks for his three iafi: Volumes. - - - Dec. 10, 1788. 683 aoi. Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Cadell. — On the feveralDivifions of his Works. Feb. II, 1789. 683 ao2. The Same to Lady Porten. — On Sir Stanier Porten's Death. Junei-], 1789. 685 2.03. The Same to Mr. Cadell. — On a feventh. Volume of his Hiftory. Nov, 17, 1790. 686 204. The Same to the Same. - - - Ap7-il i-j, 1791. 688 205. The Same to Mrs. GibJ^on.,— French Affairs-. — Emigrants. May i8j 1791. 689 ao6. Dr. Robert/on to Mr. Gibbon. — Upon his Difquifition on India. Aug.i^, 1791. 691 ^07. Mr. Gibbon to Mrs. Gibbon. — On French Affairs, &c. Aug. 1, 1792. G^^ ao^. The Same to the Right Honourable Lady ***»*, at Florence. Nov.S), 1792. 695 209. The Same to the Same,'— On the Murder of the King of France. Aprils, 1793. 699 210. The Same to Lord ****.». - - Feb. i^t ^793- 702 VOL. I, ERRATA. Page 95^. line 29. for our readzn. 104. — ult. note, yir Letter, No. XI. read No. XIV. ^26. for No. XII. read No, XVII. 140. — penult, yir withdrew read dxQw. 141. — 7. after cflt^m put a full JIop. ib. —2S.for{l'j-j2) read (I'j'jo). 153. — ult. note,>rNa. LXVIII. LXIX. C. r^^y^(/ vaginal!.. 299. — 23. note, for mafculi read mufculi. 326. — 4 from the bottom, for raviflied read ravaged. 5IS' — J4. for a thoufand a year read a thoufand pounds*. 642. — 5. after had inferi the,. M E M O I RS O F MT LIFE AND WRITINGS. IN the fifty-fecond year of my age, after the completion of an arduous and fuccefsful work, I now propofe to employ fome moments of my leifure in reviewing the fimple tranfadions of a private and literary life. Truth, naked, unblufhing truth, the firft virtue of more ferious hiftory, muft be the fole recommendation of this perfonal narrative. The flyle fhall be fimple and familiar : but flyle is the image of charadler ; and the habits of corred writing may produce, without labour or defign, the appearance of art and ftudy. My own amufement is my motive, and will be my reward : and if thefe flieets are communicated to fome difcreet and indulgent friends, they will be fecreted from the public eye till the author fhall be removed beyond the reach of crhicifm or ridicule *. * This paflage is found in one only of the fix (ketches, and in that which feems to have been the firft written, and which was laid afide among loofe papers. Mr. Gibbon, in his communications with me on the fubjeft of his Memoirs, a fubjeft which he had never mentioned to any other perfon, expreffed a determination of publifliing them in his lifetime ; and never appears to have departed from that refolution, excepting \n one of his letters annexed, in which he intimates a doubt, though ratlier carelefsly, ■whether in his time, or at any time, they would meet the eye of the public— In a converfation, however, not long before his death, it was fuggefted to him, that, If he fliould make them a full image of his mind, he would not have nerves to publifli them In his lifetime, and therefore that they fliould be pofthumous;— He anfwered, rather eagerly, that he was determined to publifli them in Ms lifeihne. S. Vol. I. B A lively 2 MEMOIRSOF A lively defire of knowing and of recording our anceflors fo gene- rally prevails, that it muft depend on the influence of fome common principle in the minds of men. We feem to have lived in the per- fons of our forefathers ; it is the labour and reward of vanity to ex- tend the term of this ideal longevity. Our imagination is always adive to enlarge the narrow circle in whicTi Nature has confined us. Fifty or an hundred years may be allotted to an individual, but we Hep forwards beyond death with fuch hopes as religion and philo- fophy will fuggeft ; and we fill up the filent vacancy that precedes our birth, by aflbciating ourfelves to the authors of our exiftence. Our calmer judgment will rather tend to moderate, than to fupprels, the pride of an antient and worthy race. The fatyrift may laugh, the philofopher may preach ; but Reafon herfelf will refpe£t the pre- judices and habits, which have been confecrated by the experience of mankind. Wherever the diftindiion of birth is allowed to form a fuperior order in the ftate, education and example fhould always, and will often, produce among them a dignity of fentiment and propriety of conducl, which is guarded from dlflionour by their own and the public efteem. If we read of fome illuftrious line fo antient that it has no beginning, fo worthy th^t it ought to have no end, we fym- nathize in its various fortunes ; nor can we blame the generous en- thufiafm, or even the harmlefs vanity, of thofe who are allied to the honours of its name. For my own part, could I draw my pedi- gree from a general, a ftatefman, or a celebrated author, I fliould ftudy their lives with the diligence of filial love. In the inveftiga- tlon of paft events, our curiofity is ftlmulated by the immediate or indire£l reference to ourfelves ; but in the eftimate of honour wx Ihould learn to value the gifts of Nature above thofe of Fortune ; to efteem in our anceftors the qualities that beft promote the interefts of fociety ; and to pronounce the defcendant of a king lefs truly noble than the offspring of a man of genius, whofe writings will inftrudl or MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 3 or delight the lateft pofterity. The family of Confucius is, in my opinion, the moft iUuftrious in the world. After a painful afcent of eight or ten centuries, our barons and princes of Europe are loft in the darknefs of the middk ages ; but, in the vaft equality of the em- pire of China, the pofterity of Confucius have maintained, above two thoufand two hundred years, their peaceful honours and perpetual fucceffion. The chief of the family is ftill revered, by the fovereign and the people, as the lively image of the wifeft of mankind. The nobility of the Spencers has been illuftrated and enriched by the tro- phies of Marlborough ; but I exhort them to confider the Fairy ^iee?i as the moft precious jewel of their coronet. I have expofed my pri- vate feelings, as I fliall always do, without fcruple or referve. That thefe fentiments are juft, or at leaft natural, I am inclined to believe, fince I do not feel myfclf interefted in the caufe ; for I can derive from my anceftors neither glory nor fliame. Yet a fincere and fimple narrative of my own life may amufe fome of my leifure hours ; but it will fubjed me, and perhaps with juftice, to the imputation of vanity. I may judge, however, from the ex- perience both of paft and of the prefent times, that the public are always curious to know the men, who have left behind them any image of their minds : the moft fcanty accounts of fuch men are compiled with diligence, and perufed with eagernefs ; and the ftudent of every clafs may derive a leflbn, or an example, from the lives moft fimilar to his ov/n. My name may hereafter be placed among the thoufand articles of a Biographia Britannica ; and 1 muft be confcious, that no one is fo well qualified, as myfelf, to defcribe the feries of my thoughts and anions. The authority of my mafters, of the grave Thuanus, and the phllofophic Hume, might be fufficient to juftify ray defign; but it would not be difficult to produce a long lift of antients and moderns, who, in various forms, have exhibited their own portraits. Such portraits are often the moft interefting, and fometimes the only interefting parts of their writings ; and, if they B 3 ^c 4 M E M O I R S O F:. be fincere, we feldom complain of the minutenefs or prolixity of thefe perfonal memorials. The lives of the younger Pliny, of Pe- trarch, and of Erafmus, are expreffed in the epiftles, which they themfelves have given to the world. The ellays of Montagne and Sir William Temple bring us home to the houfes and bofoms of the- authors : we fniile without contempt at the headitrong paffions of Benevenuto Cellini, and the gay follies of Colley Gibber. The con- feffions of St. Auftin and RoulTeau difclofe the fecrets of the human heart : the commentaries of the learned Huet have furvived his evan- geUcal demonftration ; and the memoirs of Goldoni are more truly dramatic than his Italian comedies. The heretic and the churchman are ftrongly marked in the charafters and fortunes of Whifton and Bifhop Newton; and even the dullnefs of Michael de Marolles and Anthony Wood acquires fome value from the faithful reprefentation of men and manners. That I am equal or fuperior to fome of thefe, the efFedls of modefty or affedation cannot force me to dillemble. My family is originally derived from the county of Kent. The fouthern diftri£t, which borders on Suffex and the fea, was formerly overfpread with the great foreft Anderida, and even now retains the denomination of the Weald, or Woodland. In this diftridt, and in the hundred and parifh of Rolvenden, the Gibbons were poflefled of lands in the year one thoufand three hundred and twenty-fix ; and the elder branch of the family, without much increafe or diminution of property, ftlil adheres to its native foil. Fourteen years after the firfl appearance of his name, John Gibbon Is recorded as the Mar- morarius or architect of King Edward the Third : the ftrong and (lately caflle of Queenfoorough, which guarded the entrance of the Medway, was a monument of his fkill ; and the grant of an here- ditary toll on the paflage from Sandv/ich to Stonar, in the Ifle of Thanet, MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. j Thanet, is the reward of no vulgar artift. In the vlfitatlons of the heralds, the Gibbons are frequently mentioned : they held the rank of Efquire in an age, when that title was lefs promifcuoufly affumed : one of them, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was captain of the militia of Kent ; and a free fchool, in the neighbouring town of Be- nenden, proclaims the charity and opulence of its founder. But time, or their own obfcurity, has caft a veil of oblivion over the virtues and vices of my Kentifh anceftors ; their charadler or ftation confined them to the labours and pleafures of a rural life : nor is it in my power to follow the advice of the Poet, in an inquiry after a name — " Go ! fearch it there, where to be born, and die, " Of rich and poor makes all the hiftory." So recent is the inftitution of our parifli regifters. In the beginnino- of the feventeenth century, a younger branch of the Gibbons of Rol- venden migrated from the country to the city ; and from this branch I do not blufh to defcend. The law requires fome abilities; the church impofes fome reftraints ; and before our army and navy, our civil eftablilliments, and India empire, had opened fo many paths of fortune, the mercantile profeflion was more frequently chofen by youths of a liberal race and education, who afpired to create their own independence. Our moll refpedlable families have not dif- dained the counting-houfe, or even the ihop ; their names are in- rolled in the Livery and Companies of London ; and in England, as well as in the Italian commonwealths, heralds have been com- pelled to declare, that gentility is not degraded by the exercife of trade. The armorial enfigns which, in the tim.es of chivalry, adorned the crefl; and fliield of the foldier, are now become an empty decoi-ation,. which every man, who has money to build a carriage, m.ay paint ac- cording to his fancy on the pannels. My family arms are the lame which were borne by the Gibbons of Kent in an age, when the College of Heralds religioufly guarded the diflindions of blood and; name t ^ MEMOIRS OF name 4 a lion rampant gardant, between three fchallop-fhells Argent, on a field Azure *. I Ihould not however have been tempted to blazon my coat of arms, were it not connedled with a whimfical anecdote. — About the reign of James the Firft, the three harmlefs fchallop-fhells were changed by Edmund Gibbon efq. into three Ogrejfes^ or female cannibals, with a defign of ftlgmatizing three ladies, his kinfwomen, who had provoked him by an unjuft law-fuit. But this fingular mode of revenge, for which he obtained the fandtion of Sir William Seagar, king at arms, foon expired with its author ; and, on his own monument in the Temple church, the monfters vanilh, and the three fchallop-fliells refume their proper and heredi- tary place. Our alliances by marriage it is not difgraceful to mention. The chief honour of my anceftry is James Fiens, Baron Say and Scale, and Lord High Treafurer of England, in the reign of Henry the Sixth ; from whom by the Phelips, the Whetnalls, and the Cromers, I am lineally defcended in the eleventh degree. His difmiffion and imprifonment in the Tower were infufficient to appeafe the popular clamour ; and the Treafurer, with his fon-in-law Cromer," was be- headed (1450), after a mock trial by the Kentifli inlurgents. The black lift of his offences, as it is exhibited in Shakefpeare, difplays the ignorance and envy of a plebeian tyrant. Befides the vague reproaches of felling Maine and Normandy to the Dauphin, the Treafurer is fpecially accufed of luxury, for riding on a foot-cloth ;• and of treafon, for fpeaking French, the language of our enemies : " Thou haft moft traiteroufly corrupted the youth of the realm," fays Jack Cade to the unfortunate Lord, " in eredting a grammar-fchool ; " and whereas before our forefathers had no other books than the " fcore and the tally, thou haft caufed printing to be ufed ; and, * The father of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke married an heirefs of this family of Gibbon. The Chancellor's efcutcheon in the Temple Hall quarters the arms of Gibbon, as does alfo that, in Lincoln's Inn Hall, of Charles York, Chancellor in 1770. S. " contrary MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. -r " contrary to the king, his crown, and dignity, thou haft built a " paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face, that thou haft men " about thee, who ufually talk of a noun and a verb, and fuch abo- " minable words, as no chriftian ear can endure to hear." Our dra- matic poet is generally more attentive to chara- je£l, difmifled him with fome reludance, and a decent reward ; and bow the poor man ended his days I have never been able to learn. Mr. John Kirkby is the author of two fmall volumes ; the Life of Automathes (London, 1745), and an Englifh and Latin Grammar (London, I746)'; which, as a teftimony of gratitude, he dedicated (November 5th, 1 745) to my father. The books are before me r from them the pupil may judge the preceptor ; and, upon the whole, his judgment will not be unfavourable. The grammar is executed with accuracy and fliill, and I know not whether any better exifted at the time in our language : but the life of Automathes afpires to the honours of a philofophical fidion. It is the ftory of a youth, the fon of a fhipwrecked exile, who lives alone on a defert ifland from infancy to the age of manhood. A hind is his nurfe ; he inherits a cottage, with many ufeful and curious inftruments ; fome ideas re- main of the education of his two firfl years ; fome arts are bor- rowed from the beavers of a neighbouring lake ; fome truths are re- vealed in fupernatural vifions. With thefe helps, and his own in- duftry, Automathes becomes a felf-taught though fpeechlefs philofo- pher, who had inveftigated with fuccefs his own mind, the natural world, the abftrad fciences, and the great principles of morality and religion. The author is not entitled to the merit of invention, fince he has blended the Englifli ftory of Roblnfon Crufoe with the Ara- bian romance of Hai Ebn Yokhdan, which he might have read in the Latin verfion of Pocock. In the Automathes I cannot praife either the depth of thought or elegance of ftyle j but the book is not devoid of 22 MEMOIRS OF of entertainment or inftrudlon ; and among feveral intereftlng paf- fagcs, I would feledt the difcovcry of fire, which produces by acci- dental mifchief the difcovery of confcience. A man who had thought i'o much on the fubjeds of language and education was furely no or- dinary preceptor : my childifh years, and his hafty departure, pre- ' vented me from enjoying the full benefit of his leflbns ; but they en- larged my knowledge of arithmetic, and left me a clear impreffion of the Englifli and Latin rudiments. In my ninth year (January 1746), in a lucid interval of compa- rative health, my father adopted the convenient and cuftomary mode # of Englifli education ; and I was fent to Kingfton upon Thames, to a fchool of about feventy boys, which was kept by Dr. Wooddefon and his afliftants. Every time I have fmce paffed over Putney Com- mon, I have always noticed the fpot where my mother, as we drove along in the coach, admoniflied me that I was now going into the w'orld, and muft learn to think and a£t for myfelf. The exprelTion may appear ludicrous ; yet there is not, in the courfe of life, a more remarkable change than the removal of a child from the luxury and freedom of a wealthy houfe, to the frugal diet and ftrid fubordina- tion of a fchool ; from the tendernefs of parents, and the obfequiouf- nefs of fervants, to the rude familiarity of his equals, the infolent ty- ranny of his feniors, and the rod, perhaps, of a cruel and capricious pedagogue. Such hardfhips may fleel the mind and body againft the injuries of fortune ; but my timid referve was aftoniflied by the crowd and tumult of the fchool ; the want of ftrength and adivity difqualified me for the fports of the play-field ; nor have I forgotten how often in the year forty-fix I was reviled and bufFetted for the fins of my Tory anceftors. By the common methods of difcipline, at the expence of many tears and fome blood, I purchafed the knowledge of the Latin fyntax : and not long fmce I was pofTefled of the dirty volumes of Phaedrus and CorneUus Nepos, which I pain- fully conftrued and darkly underftood. The choice of thefe authors is MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 23 is not injudicious. The lives of Cornelius Nepos, the friend of At- ticus and Cicero, are compofed in the ftyle of the purefl: age : his fnnplicity is elegant, his brevity copious : he exhibits a feries of men and manners ; and with fuch illuftrations, as every pedant is not in- deed qualified to give, this claffic biographer may initiate a young ftudent in the hiftory of Greece and Rome. The ufe of fables or apologues has been approved in every age from antient India to mo- dern Europe. They convey in familiar images the truths of morality and prudence j and the moft ehildifh underftanding (I advert to the fcruples of Roufleau) will not fuppofe either that beafts do fpeak, or that men may lie. A fable reprefents the genuine charadlers of ani- mals ; and a fkilful mafter might extrad from Pliny and BufFon fome pleafmg lefTons of natural hiftory, a fcience well adapted to the tafte and capacity of children. The Latinity of Phxdrus is not exempt from an alloy of the filver age ; but his manner is concife, terfe, and fententious : the Thracian flave difcreetly breathes the fpirit of a free- man ; and when the text is found, the ftyle is perfpicuous. But his. fables, after a long oblivion, were firft publifhed by Peter Pithou, from a corrupt manufcript. The labours of fifty editors confefs the defeds of the copy, as well as the value of the original ; and the fchool-boy may have been whipt for mifapprehending a paflage which Bentley could not reftore, and which Burman could not explain. My ftudies were too frequently interrupted by ficknefs ; and after a real or nominal refidence at Kingfton-fchool of near two^^ears, T was finally recalled (December 1747) by my mother's death, which was occafioned, in her thirty-eighth year, by the confeqiiences of her laft labour. I was too young to feel the importance of my lofs ;, and the image of her perfon and converfation is faintly imprinted in my memory. The affedionate heart of my aunt, Catherine Porten, bewailed a fifter and a friend ; but my poor father was inconfolable,. and the tranfport of grief feemed to threaten his life or his reafon^ I. canr^' 24 M E M O I R S O V I can never forget the fcene of our firft interview, feme weeks after the fatal event ; the awful filence, the room hung with black, the mid-day tapers, his fighs and tears ; his praifes of my mother, a faint in heaven ; his folemn adjuration that I would cherifh her memory and imitate her virtues ; and the fervor with which he kiffed and blefled me as the fole furviving pledge of their loves. The ftorm of paflion infenfibly fubfided into calmer melancholy. At a convivial meeting of his friends, Mr. Gibbon might afteft or enjoy a gleam of cheerfulnefs ; but his plan of happinefs was for ever deftroyed : and after the lofs of his companion he was left alone in a world, of which the bufmefs and pleafures were to him irkfome or infipid. After feme unfuccefsful trials he renounced the tumult of London and the hofpitality of Putney, and buried himfelf in the rural or rather ruftic folitude of Buriton ; from which, during feveral years, he feldom emerged. As far back as I can remember, the houfe, near Putney-bridge and church-yard, of my maternal grandfather appears in the light of my proper and native home. It was there that I was allowed to fpend the greateft part of my time, in ficknefs or in health, during my fchool vacations and my parents' refidence in London, and finally after my mother's death. Three months after that event, in the fpring of 1748, the commercial ruin of her father, Mr. James Por- ten, was accomplifhed and declared. He fuddenly abfconded : but as his eftefts were not fold, nor the houfe evacuated, till the Chriftmas following, I enjoyed during the w^hole year the fociety of my aunt, without much confcloufnefs of her impending fate. I feel a melan- choly pleafure in repeating my obligations to that excellent woman, Mrs. Catherine Porten, the true mother of my mind as well as of my health. Her natural good fenfe was improved by the perufal of the beft books in the Englifh language ; and if her reafon was fome- times clouded by prejudice, her fentiments were never difguifed by hypocrify or affeilation. Her indulgent tendernefs, the franknefs of her MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 2 J her temper, and my innate rifing curiofity, foon removed all dlftancc between us : like friends of an equal age, we freely converfed on every topic, familiar or abftrufe ; and it v^ras her delight and reward to obferve the firft flioots of my young ideas. Pain and languor v/ere often foothed by the voice of inftrudion and amufemcnt ; and to her kind lelTons I afcribe my early and invincible love of read- ing, which I would not exchange for the treafures of India. 1 fhould perhaps be aftonifhed, were it poflible to afcertain the date, at which a favourite tale was engraved, by frequent repetition, in my memory : the Cavern of the Winds ; the Palace of Felicity ; and the fatal moment, at the end of three months or centuries, when Prince Adolphus is overtaken by Time, who had worn out fo many pair of wings in the purfuit. Before I left Kingfton fchool I was well ac- quainted with Pope's Homer and the Arabian Nights Entertainments, two books which will always pleafe by the moving pidlure of human manners and fpecious miracles : nor was I then capable of difcerning that Pope's tranflation is a portrait endovvred with every merit, except- ing that of likenefs to the original. The verfes of Pope accuftomed my ear to the found of poetic harmony : in the death of Hedlor, and the fhipwreck of Ulyfles, I tailed the new emotions of terror and pity; and ferioudy difputed with my aunt on the vices and virtues of the heroes of the Trojan war. From Pope's Homer to Dryden's Virgil was an eafy tranfition ; but I know not how, from fome fault in the author the tranflator, or the reader, the pious iEneas did not fo forcibly feize on my imagination ; and I derived more pleafure from Ovid's Metamorphofes, efpecially in the fall of Phaeton, and the fpeeches of Ajax and Ulyfles. My grandfather's flight unlocked the door of a tolerable library ; and I turned over many Englifli pages of poetry and romance, of hifl:ory and travels. Where a title attracted my eye, without fear or awe I fnatched the volume from the fhelf ; and Mrs. Porten, who indulged herfelf in moral and religious fpeculations, was more prone to encourage than to check a curiofity above tlie VOL. I. j; ftrength 26 MEMOIRSOF ftrength of a boy. This year (1748), the twelfth of my age, I fliall note as the moft propitious to the growth of my intelledlual ftature. The relics of my grandfather's fortune afforded a bare annuity for his own maintenance ; and his daughtei-, my worthy aunt, who had already palTed her fortieth year, was left deflitute. Her noble fpirit ftorned a life of obligation and dependence ; and after revolving fe- veral fchemes, fhe preferred the humble induftry of keeping a board- ing-houf© for Weftminfter-fcbooi *, where flie laborioufly earned a competence for her old age. This fmgular opportunity of blending the advantages of private and public education decided my father. After the Chriflmas holidays in Januaiy 1749, I accompanied Mrs. Porten to her new houfe in College-flreet ; and was immediately en- tered in the fchool, of which Dr. John Nicoll was at that time head- mafter. At firfl I was alone : but my aunt's refolution was praifed ; her charadler was efteemed ; her friends were numerous and adlive : in the courfe of fome years fhe became the mother of forty or fifty boys, for the moft part of family and fortune ; and as her primitive habitation was too narrow, flie built and occupied a fpacious man- fion in Dean's Yard. I ihall always be ready to join in the commoa opinion, that our public fchools, which have produced fo many emi- nent charadlers, are the beft adapted to the genius and conftitution of the Englifh people. A boy of fpirit may acquire a previous and praftical experience of the world ; and his playfellows may be the future friends of his heart or his intereft. In a free intercourfe with his equals, the habits of truth, fortitude, and prudence will infenfibly be matured. Birth and riches are meafured by the ftandard of per- fonal merit ; and the mimic fcene of a rebellion has difplayed, ia their true colours, the minlfters and patriots of the rlfmg generation. Our feminaries of learning do not exadly correfpond wdth the * It is faid in the family, that fhe was principally induced to this undertaking by her afFeftion for her nephew, whofe weak conftitution recjuired her conftant and unre- mitted attention. S. precept MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. a; precept of a Spartan king, " that the cliild fliould be inflruded in the " arts, which will be ufeful to the man ;" fince a finifhed fcholar may- emerge from the head of Weflminfter or Eton, in total ignorance of the bufmefs and converfation of Englifh gentlemen in the latter end of the eighteenth century. But thefe fchools may afliime the merit of teaching all that they pretend to teach, the Latin and Greek lan- guages : they depofit in the hands of a difciple the keys of two valu- able chefts ; nor can he complain, if they are afterwards loft or ne-' gleded by his own fault. The neceffity of leading in equal ranks fo many unequal powers of capacity and application, will prolong to eight or ten years the juvenile ftudies, which might be difpatched in half that time by the fkilful mafter of a fnigle pupil. Yet even the repetition of exercife and difcipline contributes to fix in a vacant mind the verbal fcience of grammar and profody ; and the private or voluntary ftudent, who pofTefles the fenfe and fpirlt of the claffics, may offend, by a falfe quantity, the fcrupulous ear of a well-flogged critic. For myfelf, I muft be content with a very fmall fhare of the civil and literary fruits of a public fchool. In the fpace of two years ( 1 749, 1750), interrupted by danger and debility, I painfully climbed into the third form ; and my riper age was left to acquire the beauties of the Latin, and the rudiments of the Greek tongue. Inftead of auda- cioufly mingling in the fports, the quarrels, and the connedions of our little world, I was ftill cheriflied at home under the maternal wing of my aunt ; and my removal from Weftminfter long preceded the approach of manhood. The violence and variety of my complaints, which had excufed my frequent abfence from Weftniinfter-fchool, at length engaged Mrs. Porten, with the advice of phyficians, to condudt me to Bath s at the end of the Michaelmas vacation (1750) fhe quitted me with reludance, and I remained feverai months under the care of a trufty maid-fervant. A ftrange nervous affedion, which alternately con- tra<^ed my legs, and produced, without any vlfiblc fymptoms, the E 2 moft 28 MEMOIRSOF moft excruciating pain, was inefFedually oppofed by the various methods of bathing and pumping. From Bath I was tranfported to Winchefter, to the houfe of a phyfician ; and after the failure of his medical fkill, we had again recourfe to the virtues of the Bath waters. During the intervals of thefe fits, I moved with my father to Buriton and Putney ; and a fhort unfuccefsful trial was attempted to renew my attendance at Weftminfter-fchool. But my infirmities could not be reconciled with the hours and difcipline of a public feminary; and inftead of a domeftic tutor, who might have watched the favourable moments, and gently advanced the progrefs of my learning, my father was too eafily content with fuch occafional teachers, as the dif- ferent places of my refidence could fupply. I was never forced, and feldom was I perfuaded, to admit thefe leflbns : yet I read with a clergyman at Bath fome odes of Horace, and feveral epilbdes of Virgil, which gave me an imperfedl and tranfient enjoyment of the Latin poets. It might now be apprehended that I fhould continue for life an illiterate cripple : but, as I approached my fixteenth year, Nature difplayed in my favour her myfterious energies : my confti- tution was fortified and fixed ; and my diforders, inftead of growing with my growth and ftrengthening with my ftrength, moft wonder- fully vaniflied. I have never poflefled or abufed the infolence of health : but fince that time few perfons have been more exempt from real or imaginary ills ; and, till I am admoniftaed by' the gout, the reader will no more be troubled with the hiftory of my bodily com- plaints. My unexpedled recovery again encouraged the hope of my 'education ; and I was placed at Efher, in Surry, in the houfe of the Reverend Mr. Philip Francis, in a pleafant fpot, which promifed to unite the various benefits of air, exercife, and ftudy (January 1752). The tranflator of Horace might have taught me to relifti the Latin poets, had not my friends difcovered in a few v/eeks, that he preferred the pleafures of London, to the inftrudtion of his pupils. My father's j.erplexity at this time, rather than liis prudence, was urged to em- brace MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 29 brace a fingular and defperate meafure. Without preparation or de- lay he carried nie to Oxfo'ifd ; and I was matriculated in the univer- fity as a gentleman commoner of Magdalen college, before I had ac- complilhed the fifteenth year of my age (April 3, 1752). The curiofity, which had been implanted in my infant mind, was ftill alive and adlive ; but my reafon was not fufficiently informed to underftand the value, or to lament the lofs, of three precious years from my entrance at Weftminfter to my admiflion at Oxford. In- ftead of repining at my long and frequent confinement to the cham- ber or the couch, I fecretly rejoiced in thofe infirmities, which deli- vered me from the exercifes of the fchool, and the fociety of my equals. As often as I was tolerably exempt from danger and pain, reading, free defultory reading, was the employment and comfort of my folitary hours. At Weftminfler, my aunt fought only to amufe and indulge me ; in my ftations at Bath and Winchefter, at Buriton and Putney, a falfe compaffion relpedled my fufferings ; and I was allowed, without controul or advice, to gratify the wanderings of an unripe tafle. My indifcriminate appetite fubfided by degrees in the hijioric line : and fince philofophy has exploded all innate ideas and natural propenfities, I mud afcribe this choice to the ailidu- ous perufal of the Univerfixl Hiftory, as the o£lavo volumes fuccef- fively appeared. This unequal work, and a treatife of Hearne, the DtiBor hijioric tis^ refen'ed and introduced me to the Greek and Roman hiftorians, to as many at leaft as were acceffible to an Englifli reader. All that I could find were greedily devoured, from Littlebury's lame Herodotus, and Spelman's valuable Xenophon, to the pompous folios of Gordon's Tacitus, and a ragged Procopius of the beginning of the laft century. The cheap acquifition of fo much knowledge confirmed my dillike to the lludy of languages ; and I argued with Mrs. Porten, that, were I mailer of Greek and Latin, I muft inter- pret to myfelf in Englilh the thoughts of the original, and that fuch extemporary verfions muft be inferior to the elaborate tranflations of profefled. 30 MEMOIRS OF profefled fcholars ; a filly fophifm, which could not eafily be con- futed by a perfon ignorant of any othgf language than her own. From the ancient I leaped to the modern world : many crude lumps of Speed, Rapin, Mezeray, Davila, Machiavel, Father Paul, Bower, &c. I devoured like fo many novels ; and I fwallowed with the fame voracious appetite the defcriptions of India and China, of Mexico and Peru. My firft introdudion to the hiftoric fccncs, which have fnice en- o-ao-ed fo many years of my life, muft be afcribed to an accident. In the fummer of 1751, I accompanied my father on a vifit to Mr. Hoare's, in Wiltfhire ; but I was lefs delighted with the beauties of Stourhead, than with difcovering in the library a common book, the Continuation of Echard's Roman Hiftory, which is indeed exe- cuted with more fkill and tafte than the previous work. To me the reigns of the fuccellbrs of Conftantine were abfolutely new; and I was immerfed in the paffage of the Goths over the Da- nube, when the fummons of the dinner-bell reludantly dragged me from my intelledlual feaft. This tranfient glance ferved rather to irritate than to appeafe my curiofity ; and as foon as I returned to Bath I procured the fecond and third volumes of Howel's Hiftory of the World, which exhibit the Byzantine period on a larger fcale. Mahomet and his Saracens foon fixed my attention ; and fome inftincH: of criticifm directed me to the genuine fources. Simon Ockley, an original in every fenfe, firft opened my eyes ; and I was led from one book to another, till I had ranged round the circle of Oriental hiftory. Before I was fixteen, I had exhaufted all that could be learned in Englifli of the Arabs and Pcrfians, the Tartars and Turks ; and the fame ardour urged me to guefs at the French of D'Herbelot, and to conftrue the barbarous Latin of Pocock's Abulfaragius. Such vague and multifarious reading could not teach me to think, to write, or to aft ; and the only principle, that darted a ray of light into the indigefted chaos, was an early and rational application to the order of MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 31 of time and place. The maps of Cellarius and Wells imprinted in my mind the pidlure of ancient geography : from Stranchius I imbibed the elements of chronology: the Tables of Helvicus and Anderfon, the Annals of Ufher and Prideaux, diftinguilhcd the conneftion of events, and engraved the multitude of names and dat^s in a clear and indelible feries. But in the dilcuffion of the firft ages I overleaped the bounds of modefty and ufe. In my childifh balance I prefumed to weigh the fyftems of Scaliger and Petavius, of Marfham and New- ton, which I could feldom ftudy in the originals j and my fleep ha» been difturbed by the difficulty of reconciling the Septuagint with the Hebrew computation. I arrived at Oxfoi'd with a ftock of erudition,, that might have puzzled a dodor, and a degree of ignorance, of which a fchool-boy would have been afhamed. At the conclufion of this firft period of my life, I am tempted to enter a proteft againft the trite and lavifh praife of the happinefs of our boyifh years, which is echoed with fo much affe£tation in the world. That happinefs I have never known, that time I have never regretted ; and were my poor aunt ftill alive, fhe would bear tefti- mony to the early and conftant imiformity of my fentiments. It will Indeed be replied, that /am not a competent judge ; that pleafure is incompatible with pain ; that joy is excluded from ficknefs ; and that the felicity of a fchool-boy confifts in the perpetual motion of thoughtlefs and playful agility, in which I was never qualified to excel. My name, it is moft true, could never be enrolled among the fprightly race, the idle progeny of Eton or Weftminfter, *' Who foremoft may delight to cleave, ^' With pliant arm, the glafly wave, " Or urge the flying ball." The poet may gaily defcribe the fhort hours of recreation ; but he forgets the daily tedious labours of the fchool, which is approached each morning with anxious and reluctant fteps. 7 A tra- 32 MEMOIRS OF A traveller, who vifits Oxford or Cambridge, is furprlfed and edified by the apparent order and tranquillity that prevail in the feats of the Englifh mufes. In the moft celebrated univerfities of Holland, Ger- many, and Italy, the ftudents, who fwarm from different countries, are loofely difperfed in private lodgings at the houfes of the burghers : they drefs according to their fancy and fortune ; and in the intempe- rate quarrels of youth and wine, their /words, though lefs frequently than of old, are fometimes ftained with each other's blood. The ufe of arms is banifhed from our Englifh univerfities ; the uniform habit of the academics, the fquare cap, and black gown, is adapted to the civil and even clerical profeffion ; and from the do£tor in divinity to the under-graduate, the degrees of learning and age are externally diftinguifhed. Inftead of being fcattered in a town, the ftudents of Oxford and Cambridge are united in colleges ; their maintenance is provided at their own expence, or that • of the founders ; and the ftated hours of the hall and chapel reprefent the difcipline of a regu- lar, and, as it were, a religious community. The eyes of the travel- ler are attracted by the fize or beauty of the public edifices ; and the principal colleges appear to be fo many palaces, which a liberal nation has ere£ted and endowed for the habitation of fcience. My own introdu6tion to the univerfity of Oxford forms a new sera in my life ; and at the diftance of forty years I ftill remember my firft emotions of furprife and fatisfacStion. In my fifteenth year I felt myfelf fud- denly raifed from a boy to a man: the perfons, whom I refpe£ted as my iuperiors in age and academical rank, entertained me with every mark of attention and civility ; and my vanity was flattered by the velvet cap and filk gown, which diftinguifli a gentleman commoner from a plebeian ftudent. A decent allowance, more money than a fchool- boy had ever feen, was at my own difpofal ; and I might command, among the tradefmen of Oxford, an indefinite and dangerous lati- tude of credit. A key was delivered into my hands, which gave me the MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 3^ the free ufe of a numerous and learned library : my apartment con- fifted of three elegant and well-furniflied rooms in the new building, a ftately pile, of Magdalen College ; and the adjacent walks, had they been frequented by Plato's difciples, might have been compared to the Attic fhade on the banks of the Iliflus. Such was the fair profpecl of my entrance (April 3, 1752) into the univerfity of Oxford. A venerable prelate, whofe tafle and erudition muft refledl honour on the fociety in which they were formed, has drawn a very intereft- ing pidlure of his academical life. — " I was educated (fays Bifhop " Lowth) in the university of Oxford. T enjoyed all the ad- " vantages, both public and private, which that famous feat of learn- " ing fo largely affords. I fpent many years in that illuftrious fo~ " ciety, in a well-regulated courfe of ufeful difcipline and ftudies, and " in the agreeable and improving commerce of gentlemen and of " fcholars ; in a fociety where emulation without envy, ambition *' without jealoufy, contention without animofity, incited induftry, " and awakened genius ; where a liberal purfuit of knowledge, and " a genuine freedom of thought, was raifed, encouraged, and pufhed " forward by example, by commendation, and by authority, t ** breathed the fame atmofphere that the Hookers, the Chilling- " worths, and the Lockes had breathed before; whofe benevo- " lence and humanity were as extenfive as their vaft genius and " comprehenfive knowledge ; who always treated their adverfaries " xvith civility and refpedl ; who made candour, moderation, and " liberal judgment as much the rule and law as the fubjed of their " difcourfe. And do you reproach me with my education in this " place, and with my relation to this mod refpe£lable body, which " I Ihall always efteem my greateft advantage and my higheft ho- " nour ?" I tranfcribe with pleafure this eloquent paffage, without examining what benefits or what rev,'ards were derived by Hooker, or Chillingworth, or Locke, from their academical inftitution ; without vol.. I. F Inquiring, 34 M E M O I R S O F Inquiring, whether in this angry controverfy the fpirit of Lowth him- felf is purified from the intolerant zeal, which Warburton had afcribed to the genius of the place. It may indeed be obferved, that the at- mofphere of Oxford did not agree with Mr. Locke's conftitution, and that the philofopher juftly defpifed the academical bigots, who ex- pelled his perfon and condemned his principles. The expreffion of gratitude is a virtue and a pleafure : a liberal mind will delight to cherilh and celebrate the memory of its parents ; and the teachers of Icience are the parents of the mind. I applaud the filial piety, which it is impoffible for me to imitate ; fince I mud not confefs an imagi- nary debt, to affiime the merit of a juft or generous retribution. To the univerfity of Oxford /acknowledge no obligation; and fhe will as cheerfully renounce me for a fon, as I am willing to difclaim her for a mother. I fpent fourteen months at Magdalen College ; they proved the fourteen months the moft idle and unprofitable of my whole life : the reader will pronounce between the fchool and the fcholar ; but I cannot aifed: to believe that Nature had difqualified me for all literary purfuits. The fpeclous and ready excufe of my ten- der age, imperfedl preparation, and hafty departure, may doubtlefs be alleged ; nor do I willi to defraud fuch excufes of their proper weight. Yet in my fixteenth year I was not devoid of capacity or application ; even my childifh reading had difplayed an early though blind propenfity for books ; and the fliallow flood might have been taught to flow in a deep channel and a clear fl:ream. In the difci- pline of a well-conftituted academy, under the guidance of fkilful and vigilant profeflbrs, I fhould gradually have rifen from tranf- lations to originals, from the Latin to the Greek claflTics, from dead languages to living fcience : my hours would have been oc- cupied by ufeful and agreeable fhudies, the wanderings of fancy would have been reftrained, and I fhould have efcaped the tempta- tions of idlenefs, which finally precipitated my departure from Oxford. Perhaps MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 35 Perhaps In a feparate annotation I may coolly examine the fabu- lous and real antiquities of our fifter univerfities, a queftion which has kindled fuch fierce and foolifh difputes among their fanatic fons. In the mean while it will be acknowledged, that thefc venerable bodies are fufficiently old to partake of all the prejudices and infirmi- ties of age. The fchools of Oxford and Cambridge were founded in a dark age of falfe and barbarous fcience ; and they are ftill tainted with the vices of their origin. Their primitive difcipline was adapted to the education of priefts and monks ; and the government ftill re- mains in the hands of the clergy, an order of men whofe manners are remote from the prefent world, and whofe eyes are dazzled by the light of philofophy. The legal incorporation of thefe focieties by the charters of popes and kings had given them a monopoly of the public inftrudion ; and the fpirit of monopolifts is narrow, lazy, and oppreffive : their work is more coftly and lefs produdive than that of independent artifts ; and the new improvements fo eagerly grafped by the competition of freedom, are admitted with flow and fullen reludtance in thofe proud corporations, above the fear of a rival, and below the confeffion of an error. We may fcarcely hope that any reformation will be a voluntary ail ; and fo deeply are tliey rooted in law and prejudice, that even the omnipotence of par- liament would Ihrink from an inquiry into the ftate and abufes of the two univerfities. The ufe of academical degrees, as old as the thirteenth century, is vifibly borrowed from the mechanic corporations ; in which an ap- prentice, after ferving his time, obtains a teftimonlal of his Ikill, and a licence to pradlife his trade and myftery. It is not my defign to de- preciate thofe honours, which could never gratify or difappoint my ambition ; and I fliould applaud the inftitution, if the degrees of ba- chelor or licentiate were beftowed as the reward of manly and fuc- cefsful ftudy : if the name and rank of dodor or mailer were ftridly F 2 referved ^6 MEMOIRSOF referved for the profeflbrs of fcience, who have approved their title to the public efteem. la all the univerfities of Europe, excepting our own, the languages and fciences are diftrlbuted among a numerous lift of effedivc pror feflbrs : the ftudents, according to their tafte, their calling, and their diligence, apply themfelves to the proper matters ; and in the annual repetition of public and private ledures, thefe matters are afliduoufly employed. Our curiofity may inquire what number of profeflbrs has been inttituted at Oxford ? (for I fliall now confine niyfelf to my own univerfity ;) by whom are they appointed, and what may be the probable chances of merit or incapacity ? how many are ftationed to the three faculties, and how many are left for the liberal arts ? what is the form, and what the fubftance, of their lelTons ? But all thefe queftions are filenced by one fhort and fingular anfwer, " That in *' the univerfity of Oxford, the greater part of the public profeflbrs " have for thefe many years given up altogether even the pretence " of teaching." Incredible as the fad may appear, I mutt reft my belief on the pofitive and impartial evidence of a mafter of moral and political wifdom, who had himfelf refided at Oxford. Dr. Adam Smith aflTigns as the caufe of their indolence, that, inttead of being paid by voluntary contributions, which would urge them to increafe the number, and to deferve the gratitude of their pupils, the Oxford profeflbrs are fecure in the enjoyment of a fixed ttipend, without the neceflTity of labour, or the apprehenfion of controul. It has indeed been obferved, nor is the obferva.tion abfurd, that excepting in expe- rimental fciences, which demand a coftly apparatus and a dexterous hand the many valuable treatifes, that have been publifhed on every fubie(3; of learning, may now fuperfede the ancient mode of oral in- ftrudion. Were this principle true in its utmoft latitude, I fliould only infer that the oflices and falaries, which are become ufelefs, ought without delay to be abollflied. But there ftill remains a material difference MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 37" difference between a book and a profeflbi" ; the hour of the ledture inforces attendance ; attention is fixed by the prefence, the voice, and the occafional queftions of the teacher ; the mofi: idle will carry fomething away ; and the more diligent will compare the inftruc- tions, which they have heard in the fchool, with the volumes, which they perufe in their chamber. The advice of a fkilful profeffor will adapt a comfe of reading to every mind and every fituation ; his authority will difcover, admtDnifh, and at laft chaftife the negligence of his dilciples ; and his vigilant inquiries will afcertain the fteps of their literary progrefs. Whatever fcience he profefles he may il- luftrate in a feries of difcourfes, compofed in the leifure of his clofet, pronounced on public occafions, and finally delivered to the prefs. I obferve with pleafure, that in the univerfity of Oxford Dr. Lowth, with equal eloquence and erudition, has executed this tafk in his incomparable Prak&ioiis on the Poetry of the Hebrews. The college of St. Mary Magdalen was founded in the fifteenth century by Wainfleet bifliop of Winchefter ; and now confifts of a prefident, forty fellows, and a number of inferior ftudents. It is efteemed one of the largeft and moft wealthy of our acade- mical corporations, which may be compared to the Benedidline abbeys of catholic countries ; and I have loofely heard that the eftates belonging to Magdalen College, which are leafed by thofe indulgent landlords at fmall quit-rents and occafional fines, might be raifed, in the hands of private avarice, to an annual revenue of nearly thirty thoufand pounds. Our colleges are fuppofed to be fchools of fcience, as well as of education ; nor is it unreafonable to expedl that a body of literary men, devoted to a life of celibacy, exempt from the care of their own fubfiftence, and amply provided with books, fhould devote their leifure, to the profecution of fludy, and that fome effects of their ftudies fhould be manifefted to the world. The fhelves of their library groan under the weight of the Benedidtine folios, of the editions of the fathers, and the colledions 7 of a A i) '\ ?; 3S MEMOIRS OF of the middle ages, which have ifTued from the fingle abbey of St, Germain de Prez at Paris. A compofition of genius muft be the ofFspring of one mind ; but fuch works of induftry, as may be di- vided among many hands, and muft be continued during many years, are the pecuUar province of a laborious community. It I inquire into the manufactures of the monks of Magdalen, if I ex- tend tlie inquiry to the other colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, a filent blulh, or a fcornful frown, will be the only reply. The fel- lows or monks of my time were decent eafy men, who fupinely enjoyed the gifts of the founder: their days were filled by a feries of uniform employments ; the chapel and the hall, the cofFee-houfe and the common room, till they retired, weary and well fatisfied, to a long llumber. From the toil of reading, or thinking, or writing, they had abfolved their confcience ; and the firfl fhoots of learning and ingenuity withered on the ground, without yielding any fruits to the owners or the public. As a gentleman commoner, I was ad- mitted to the fociety of the fellows, and fondly expelled that fome queftlons of literature would be the amufing and inftrudlive topics of their difcourfe. Their converfation ftagnated in a round of college bufmefs, Tory politics, perfonal anecdotes, and private fcandal : their dull and deep potations excufed the brifk intemperance of youth ; and their conftitutional toafts were not expreffive of the moft lively loyalty for the houfe of Hanover. A general eled;ion was now ap- proaching : the great Oxfordfhire conteft already blazed with all the malevolence of party-zeal. Magdalen College was devoutly attached to the old intereft ! and the names of Wenman and Dafhwood were more frequently pronounced, than thofe of Cicero and Chryfoftom. The example of the fenior fellows could not infpire the under-gra- duates with a liberal fpirit or fludious emulation ; and I cannot de- fcribe, as I never knew, the difcipline of college. Some duties may pofTibly have been impofed on the poor fcholars, whofe am- bition afpired to the peaceful honours of a fellowfhip (afcribi quietis MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 39 qiiietis ordinibits Deorum) ; but no independent members were admitted below the rank of a gentleman commoner, and our velvet cap was the cap of liberty. A tradition prevailed that fome of our predeceffors had fpoken Latin declamations in the hall ; but of this ancient cuftom no veftige remained : the obvious methods of public exercifes and examinations were totally unknown ; and I have never heard that either the prefident or the fociety interfered in the private aconomy of the tutors and their pupils. The filence of the Oxford profefTors, which deprives the youth of public inftrudtion, is imperfectly fupplied by the tutors, as they are ftyled, of the feveral colleges. Inflead of confining themfelves to a fmgle fcience, which had fatisfied the ambition of Burman or Bernoulli, they teach, or promife to teach, either hiflory or ma- thematics, or ancient literature, or moral philofophy ; and as it is poffible that they may be defed;ive in all, it is highly probable that of fome they will be ignorant. They are paid, indeed, by private contributions ; but their appointment depends on the head of the houfe : their diligence is voluntary, and will confequently be languid^ while the pupils themfelves, or their parents, are not indulged in the liberty of choice or change. The firft tutor into whofe hands I was refigned appears to have been one of the bell of the tribe : Dr. Waldegrave was a learned and pious man, of a mild difpofition, ilridl morals, and abftemious life, who feldom mingled in the po- litics or the jollity of the college. But his knowledge of the world was confined to the univerfity ; his learning was of the laft, rather than of the prefent age ; his temper was indolent ; his faculties, which were not of the firft rate, had been relaxed by the climate, and he was fatisfied, like his fellows, with the flight and fuperficial dif- charge of an important truft. As foon as my tutor had founded the infufiiciency of his difciple in fchool-learning, he propofed that we ihould read every morning from ten to eleven the comedies of Te~ 2 rcncc 40 MEMOIRS OF rence. The fum of my improvement in the unlverfity of Oxford is confined to three or four Latin plays ; and even the fludy of an elegant claffic, which might have been illuftrated by a comparifon of ancient and modern theatres, was reduced to a dry and literal in- terpretation of the author's text. During the firft weeks I con- llantly attended thefe lefTons in my tutor's room ; but as they appeared equally devoid of profit and pleafure, I was once tempted to try the experiment of a formal apology. Thie apology was ac- cepted with a fmile. I repeated the offence with lefs ceremony ; the excufe was admitted with the fame indulgence : the flighteft motive of lazinefs or indifpofition, the moft trifling avocation at home or abroad, was allowed as a worthy impediment ; nor did my tutor appear confcious of my abfence or negle£l:. Had the hour of ledure been conftantly filled, a fmgle hour was a fmall portion of my academic leifure. No plan of ftudy was recommended for my ufe ; no exercifes were prefcribed for his infpedlion ; and, at the moft precious feafon of youth, whole days and weeks were fuffered to elapfe without labour or amufement, without advice or account. I fhould have liftened to the voice of reafon and of my tutor ; his mild behaviour had gained my confidence. I preferred his fociety to that of the younger ftudents ; and in our evening walks to the top of Heddington-hill, we freely converfed on a variety of fubjedts. Since the days of Pocock and Hyde, Oriental learning has always been the pride of Oxford, and I once exprefled an inclination to ftudy Arabic. His prudence difcouraged this childifh fancy ; but he negledted the fair occafion of direding the ardour of a curious mind. During my abfence in the Summer vacation, Dr. Walde- grave accepted a college living at Wafhington in Suflex, and on my return I no longer found him at Oxford. From that time I have loft fight of my firft tutor; but at the end of thirty years (1781) he was ftill alive ; and the practice of exercife and temperance had entitled him to a healthy old age. The MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. ^ The long recefs between the Trinity and Michaelmas terms empties the colleges of Oxford, as well as the courts of Weft- minfter. I fpent, at my father's houfe at Buriton in Hampfliire, the two months of Auguft and September. It is whimfical enough, that as foon as I left Magdalen College, my tafte for books began to revive ; but it was the fame blind and boyifh tafte for the purfuit of exotic hiftory. Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unfkilled in the arts of compofuion, I re- folved — to write a book. The title of this firft Eflay, /be Age of Sefojlris, was perhaps fuggefted by Voltaire's Age of Lewis XIV. which was new and popular ; but my fole obje£l was to inveftigate the probable date of the life and reign of the conqueror of Afia. I was then enamoured of Sir John Marlham's Canon Chronicus ; an elaborate work, of whofe merits and defeds I was not yet qualified to judge. According to his fpecious, though narrow plan, I fettled my hero about the time of Solomon, in the tenth century before the Chriftian sera. It was therefore incumbent on me, unlefs I would adopt Sir Ifaac Newton's fhorter chronology, to remove a formi- dable objection ; and my folution, for a youth of fifteen, is not de- void of ingenuity. In his verfion of the Sacred Books, Manetho the high prieft has identified Sethofis, or Sefoftris, with the elder brother of Danaus, who landed in Greece, according to the Parian Marble, fifteen hundred and ten years before Chrift. But in my fuppofition the high prieft is guilty of a voluntary error ; flattery is the prolific parent of falfehood. Manetho's Hiftory of Egypt is dedicated to Ptolemy Philadelphus, who derived a fabulous or ille- gitimate pedigree from the Macedonian kings of the race of Her- cules. Danaus is the anceftor of Hercules ; and after the failure of the elder branch, his defcendants, the Ptolemies, are the fole re- prefentatives of the royal family, and may claim by inheritance the kingdom which they hold by conqueft. Such were mv juvenile difcoveries ; at a riper age, I no longer prefume to conned: the VOL. I. G Greek, 42 MEMOIRS OF Greek, the Jewlfh, and the Egyptian antiquities, which are loft in a diftaat cloud. Nor is this the only inftancc, in which the belief and knowledge of the child are fupcrfedcd by the more rational ignorance of the man. During my ftay at Buriton, my inflmt- labour was diligently proiecuted, without much interruption from company or country diverfions ; and I already heard the mufic of public applaufe. The difcovery of my own weaknefs was the firft fymptom of tafte. On my return to Oxford, the Age of Sefoftris was wifely relinquifhed ; but the imperfed fheets remained twenty years at the bottom of a drawer, till, in a general clearance of papers, (November 1772,) they were committed to the flames. After the departure of Dr. Waldgrave, I was transferred, with his other pupils, to his academical heir, whofe literary charafter did not command the refpeil of the college. Dr. * * * * well remembered that he had a falary to receive, and only forgot that he had a duty to per- form. Inftead of guiding the ftudies, and watching over the behaviour of his difciple, I was never fummoned to attend even the ceremony of a lecture; and, excepting one voluntary vifit to his rooms, during the eight months of his titular office, the tutor and pupil lived in the fame college as ftrangers to each other. The want of experience, of advice, and of occupation, foon betrayed me into fome impro- prieties of condudl, ill-chofen company, late hours, and inconfider- ate expence. My growing debts might be fecret ; but my frequent abfence was vifible and fcandalous : and a tour to Bath, a vifit into Buckinghamfhire, and four excurfions to London in the fame winter, were coftly and dangerous frolics. They were, indeed, without a meaning, as without an excufe. The irkfomenefs of a cloiftered life repeatedly tempted me to wander ; but my chief pleafure was that of travelling ; and I was too young and bafhful to enjoy, like a Manly Oxonian in Town, the pleafures of London. Li all thefe excurfions I eloped from Oxford ; I returned to college ; in a few days I eloped again, as if I had been an independent ftranger in a hired MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 45 hired lodging, without once hearing the voice of admonition, with- out once feeling the hand of control. Yet my time was Ipft, my expences were multiplied, my behaviour abroad was unknown ; folly as well as vice fhould have awakened the attention of my I'uperiors, and my tender years would have juftitied a more than ordinary de- gree of reftraint and difcipline. It might at leaft be expedled, that an ecclefiaflical fchool fhould Inculcate the orthodox principles of religion. But our venerable mother had contrived to unite the oppolite extremes of bigotry and indifference : an heretic, or unbeliever, was a monrter in her eyes ; but fhe was always, or often, or fometimes, remifs in the fpiritua). education of her own children. According to the ftatutes of the univerfity, every ftudent, before he is matriculated, muft fubfcribe his aflent to the thirty-nine articles of the church of England, which are figned by more than read, and read by more than believe them. My infufficient age excufed me, however, from the immediate per- formance of this legal ceremony ; and the vice-chancellor directed me to return, as foon as I fhould have accomplifhed my fifteenth yearj recommending me, in the mean while, to the inftrudtion of my col- lege. My college forgot to inftru£t : I forgot to return, and was myfelf forgotten by the firft magiftrate of the univerfity. Without a fingle ledlure, either public or private, either chriftian or proteftant, without any academical fubfcription, without any epifcopal confirm- ation, I was left by the dim light of my catechifm to grope my way to the chapel and communion-table, where I was admitted, without a queftlon, how far, or by what means, I might be qualified to receive the facrament. S-ach almoft incredible negledl was produdtlve of the worft mifchiefs. From my childhood I had been fond of religious difputation : my poor aunt has been often puzzled by the myfl;eries which fhe flrove to believe ; nor had the elaftic fpring been totally broken by the weight of the atmofphere of Oxford. The blind acti- vity of idlenefs urged me to advance without armour into the dan- Cr 2 gerous 44 MEMOIRS OF o-erous mazes of controverfy ; and at the age of fixteen, I bewildered myfelf in the errors of the church of Rome. The progrefs of my converfion may tend to illuftrate, at leaft, the hiftory of my own mind. It was not long fmce Dr. Middleton's free inquiry had founded an alarm in the theological world : much ink and much gall had been fpilt in the defence of the primitive miracles; and the two dulleft of their champions were crowned with academic honours by the univerfity of Oxford. The name of Middleton was unpopular ; and his profcription very naturally led me to perufe his writings, and thofe of his antagonifts. His bold criticifm, which ap- proaches the precipice of infidelity, produced on my mind a fmgular effed ; and had 1 perfevered in the communion of Rome, I fhould now apply to my own fortune the predidion of the Sybil, Via prima falutis. Quod minime reris, Graia, pandetur ab urbe. The elegance of ftyle and freedom of argument were repelled by a fhield of prejudice. I ftill revered the charader, or rather the names, of the faints and fathers whom Dr. Middleton expofes ; nor could he deftroy my implicit belief, that the gift of miraculous powers was continued in the church, during the firft four or five centuries of chriftianity. But I was unable to refift the weight of hiftorical evi- dence, that within the fame period moft of the leading dodlrines of popery were already introduced in theory and pradice : nor was my conclufion abfurd, that miracles are the tell of truth, and that the church muft be orthodox and pure, which was fo often approved by the vifible interpofition of the Deity. The marvellous tales which are fo boldly attefted by the Bafils and Chryfoftoms, the Auftins and Jeroms, compelled me to embrace the fuperior merits of celibacy, the inftitution of the monaftic life, the ufe of the fign of the crofs, of holy oil, and even of images, the invocation of faints, the worfhip of relics, the rudiments of purgatory in prayers for the dead, and 3 the MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 45 the tremendous myftery of the facrifice of the body and blood of Chrift, which infenfibly fwelled into the prodigy of tranfubftantia- tion. In thefe difpofitions, and already more than half a convert, I formed an unlucky intimacy with a young gentleman of our college, whofe name I fliall fpare. With a charader lefs refolute, Mr. **** had imbibed the fame religious opinions ; and fome Popifh books, I know not through what channel, were conveyed into his poflefTion. I read, I applauded, I believed : the EnglilTi tranflations of two fa- mous works of BolTuet Bilhop of Meaux, the Expofition of the Ca- tholic Dodlrine, and the Hiftory of the Proteftant Variations,, at- chieved my converfion, and I furely fell by a noble hand *. I have fince examined the originals with a more difcerning eye, and fhall not hefitate to pronounce, that Bofliiet is indeed a mafter of all the weapons of controverfy. In the Expofition, a fpecious apology, the orator affumes, with confummate art, the tone of candour and fim- plicity ; and the ten-horned monfter is transformed, at his magic touch, into the milk-white hind, who mufi; be loved as foon as fhe is feen. In the Hiftory, a bold and well-aimed attack, he difplays, with a happy mixture of narrative and argument, the faults and follies, the changes and contradiilions of our firfl: reformers; whofe variations (as he dexteroufly contends) are the mark of hlfto- rical error, while the perpetual unity of the catholic church is the fign and teft of infallible truth. To my prefent feelings it feems in- crcdible that I ihould ever believe that I believed in tranfubftantia- tion. But my conqueror opprefled me with the facramental words, " Hoc eft coi-pus meum," and daftied againft each other the figura- tive half-meanings of the proteftant fe£ts : every objedion was re- folved into omnipotence ; and after repeating at St. Mary's the Atha- * Mr. Gibbon never talked with me on the fubjecft of his convcrrion to popery but once ; and then, he imputed his change to the works of Parfons the jefuit, who hved in the reign of Ehzabeth, and who, he faid, liad urged ail the bed arguments in favour of the Roman catholic religion. S. nafian 46 MEMOIRS OF nafian creed, I humbly acquiefced in the myftery of the real prefence. " To take up half on truft, and half to try, " Name it not faith, but bungling bigotry. " Both knave and fool, the merchant we may call, " To pay great fums, and to compound the fmall, " For who would break with Heaven, and would not break " for all ?" No fooner had I fettled my new religion than I refolved to profefs myfelf a catholic. Youth is fmcere and impetuous ; and a moment- ary glow of enthufiafm had raifed me above all temporal confider- ations *. By the keen proteftants, who would gladly retaliate the example of perfecution, a clamour is raifed of the increafe of popery : and they are always loud to declaim againft the toleration of priefts and jefuits, who pervert fo many of his majefty's fubjedls from their reli- gion and allegiance. On the prefent occafion, the fall of one or more of her fons direded this clamour againfl; the univerfity ; and it was confidently aflirmed that popifh miffionaries were fuffered, under va- rious difguifes, to introduce themfelves into the colleges of Oxford. But juftice obliges me to declare, that, as far as relates to myfelf, this affertion is falfe ; and that I never converfed with a prieft, or even with a papift, till my refolution from books was abfolutely fixed. In my laft excurfion to London, I addrefled myfelf to Mr. Lewis, a Roman catholic bookfeller in Ruflell-ftreet, Covent Garden, who recommended me to a prieft, of whofe name and order I am at prefent ignorant. In our firft interview he foon difcovered that per- fuafion was needlefs. After founding the motives and merits of my * He defcribed the letter to his father, announcing his converfion, as written with all the pomp, the dignity, and felf-fatisfaftion of a martyr. S. converfion, \ MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 47 converfion, he confented to admit me into tlie pale of the church ; and at his feet, on the eighth of June 1753, I folemnly, though pri- vately, abjured the errors of herefy. The fedudion of an Englifli youth of family and fortune was an adl of as much danger as glory; but he bravely overlooked the danger, of which I was not then fufTiciently informed. " Where a perfon is reconciled to the fee of Rome, or " procures others to be reconciled, the offence (fays Blackftone) " amounts to high treafon." And if the humanity of the age would prevent the execution of this fanguinary ftatute, there were other laws of a lefs odious caft, which condemned the priefl to perpetual imprifonment, and transferred the profelyte's eftate to his neareft re- lation. An elaborate controverfial epiftle, approved by my diredor, and addreffed to my father, announced and juftified the ftep which I had taken. My father was neither a bigot nor a philofopher ; but his afteftion deplored the lofs of an only fon ; and his good fenfe was aftonifhed at my ftrange departure from the religion of my country. In the firft fally of paiTion he divulged a fecret which prudence might have fupprefled, and the gates of Magdalen College were for ever fhut againft my return. Many years afterwards, when the name of Gib- bon was become as notorious as that of Middleton, it was induftri- cufly whifpered at Oxford, that the hiftorian had formerly " turned " papift,:" my chara£ter flood expofed to the reproach of inconflancy • and this invidious topic would have been handled without mercy by my opponents, could they have feparated my caufe from that of the univerfity. For my ov/n part, I am proud of an honefl facrifice of intereft to confcience. I can never blufh, if my tender mind was en- tangled in the fophiflry that feduced the acute and manly underfland- ings of Chillingworth and Bayle, who afterwards emerged from fuperftition to fcepticifm. While Charles the Firft governed England, and was himfelf go- verned by a catholic queen, it cannot be denied that the mifhonaries 7 of 48 MEMOIRS OF of Rome laboured with impunity and fuccefs in the court, the coun- try, and even the univerfities. One of the (heep, AVhom the grim wolf with privy paw- Daily devours apace, and nothing faid, is Mr. William Chillingworth, Mafter of Arts, and Fellow of Tri- nity College, Oxford ; who, at the ripe age of twenty-eight years, was perfuaded to elope from Oxford, to the Englifli feminary at Douay in Flanders. Some difputes with Fifher, a fubtle jefuit, might firft awaken him from the prejudices of education ; but he yielded to his own vidtorious argument, " that there muft be fomewhere an in- " fallible judge ; and that the church of Rome is the only chriftian " fociety which either does or can pretend to that character." After a fliort trial of a few months, Mr. Chillingworth was again tormented by religious fcruples : he returned home, refumed his ftudies, unra- velled his miftakes, and delivered his mind from the yoke of autho- rity and fuperftition. His new creed was built on the principle, that the Bible is our fole judge, and private reafon our fole interpreter : and he ably maintains this principle in the Religion of a Proteftant, a book which, after ftartling the dodlors of Oxford, is ftill efteemed the mofl folid defence of the Reformation. The learning, the virtue, the recent merits of the author, entitled him to fair preferment : but the flave had now broken his fetters; and the more he weighed, the lefs was he difpofed to fubfcribe to the thirty-nine articles of the church of England. In a private letter he declares, with all the energy of language, that he could not fubfcribe to them without fubfcribing to his own damnation; and that if ever he fhould depart from this immoveable refolution, he would allow his friends to think him a madman, or an atheift. As the letter is without a date, we cannot afcertain the num- ber of weeks or months that elapfed between this paflionate abhor- rence and the Salifbury Regifter, which is ftill extant. " Ego Gu- '* liehnus Chillingworth, , omnibus hifce articulis, et fin- " gulis MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 49 " gulls in lifdem contentis volens, et ex animo fubfcribo, et confenfum " meum lifdem prxbeo. 2odleJulil 1638." But, alas ! the chan- cellor and prebendary of Sarum foon deviated from his own fubfcrip- tion : as he more deeply fcrutinized the article of the Trinity, neither fcripture nor the primitive fathers could long uphold his orthodox belief; and he could not but confefs, " that the dodlrine of Arius is *' either a truth, or at leaft no damnable herefy." From this middle region of the air, the defcent of his reafon would naturally reft on the firmer ground of the Socinians : and if we may credit a doubtful ftory, and the popular opinion, his anxious inquiries at laft fubfided in philofophic indifference. So confpicuous, however, were the can- dour of his nature and the innocence of his heart, that this appa- rent levity did not affe£l the reputation of Chillingworth. His fre- quent changes proceeded from too nice an inquifition into truth. His doubts grew out of himfelf ; he aflifted them with all the ftrength of his reafon : he was then too hard for himfelf; but finding as little quiet and repofe in thofe vidories, he quickly recovered, by a new appeal to his own judgment: fo that in all his failles and retreats, he was in fadt his own convert. Bayle was the fon of a Calvinift minifter in a remote province of France, at the foot of the Pyrenees. For the benefit of education, the proteftants were tempted to rifk their children in the catholic univerfities ; and in the twenty-fecond year of his age, young Bavle was feduced by the arts and arguments of the jefuits of Thouloufe. He remained about feventeen months (19th March 1669 — 19th Au- guft 1670) in their hands, a voluntary captive ; and a letter to his parents, which the new convert compofed or fubfcribed (15th April 1670), is darkly tinged with the fpirit of popery.- But Nature had defigned him to think as he pleafed, and to fpeak as he thought : his piety was offended by the exceffive worfhip of creatures ; and the ftudy of phyfics convinced him of the impoffibility of tranfubftantia- tion, which is abundantly refuted by the teftimony of our fenfes. VOL. I. M His ^o MEMOIRSOF His return to the communion of a falling fe£t was a bold and difin- terefted ftep, that expofed him to the rigour of the laws ; and a fpeedy flight to Geneva protected him from the refentmcnt of his fpiritual tyrants, unconfcious as they were of the full value of the prize, which they had loft. Had Bayle adhered to the catholic church, had he embraced the ecclefiaftical profeffion, the genius and favour of fuch a profelyte might have afpired to wealth and honours in his native country : but the hypocrite would have found lefs happinefs in the comforts of a benefice, or the dignity of a mitre, than he enjoyed at Rotterdam in a private ftate of exile, indigence, and freedom. With- out a country, or a patron, or a prejudice, he claimed the liberty and fubfifted by the labours of his pen ; the inequality of his voluminous works is explained and excufed by his alternately writing for him- felf, for the bookfellers, and for pofterity ; and if a fevere critic would reduce him to a fmgle folio, that relic, like the books of the Sybil, would become ftill more valuable. A calm and lofty fpedlator of the religious tempeft, the philofopher of Rotterdam condemned with equal firmnefs the perfecution of Lewis the Fourteenth, and the re- publican maxims of the Calvinifts ; their vain prophecies, and the in- tolerant bigotry which fometimes vexed his folitary retreat. In re- viewing the controverfies of the times, he turned againft each other the arguments of the difputants ; fucceflively wielding the arms of the catholics and proteftants, he proves that neither the way of authority, nor the way of examination can afford the multitude any teft of reli- gious truth; and dexteroufly concludes that cuftom and education muft be the fole grounds of popular belief. The ancient paradox of Plu- tarch, that atheifm is lefs pernicious than fuperftition, acquires a ten- fold vigor, when it is adorned with the colours of his wit, and pointed with the acutenefs of his logic. His critical dictionary is a vaft repo- fitory of fa£ts and opinions ; and he balances xhtfalfe religions in his fceptical fcales, till the oppofite quantities (if I may ufe the language of algebra) annihilate each other. The wonderful power which he fo MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 51 fo boldly exercifed, of aflembling doubts and obje(Slions, had tempted him jocofely to aflume the title of the ve(p£X7}yspBTtx. Zsug, the cloud- compelling Jove ; and in a converfation with the ingenious Abbe (afterwards Cardinal) de Polignac, he freely difclofed his univerfal Pyrrhonifm. " I am moft truly (faid Bayle) a proteftant ; for I " proteft indifferently againft all fyftems and all fedts." The academical refentment, which I may poffibly have provoked, will prudently fpare this plain narrative of my ftudies, or rather of my idlenefs ; and of the unfortunate event which {hortened the term of my refidence at Oxford. But it may be fuggefted, that my father was unlucky in the choice of a fociety, and the chance of a tutor. It will perhaps be afferted, that in the lapfe of forty years many im- provements have taken place in the college and in the univerfity. I am not unwilling to believe, that fome tutors might have been found more adive thanDr.Waldgrave, and lefs contemptible than Dr.*'***. About the fame time, and in the fame walk, a Bentham was flill treading in the footfleps of a Burton, whofe maxims he had adopted, and whofe life he had publifhed. The biographer iiideed preferred the fchool-logic to the new philofophy^ Burgurfdicius to Locke ; and the hero appears, in his own writings, a ftifF and conceited pedant. Yet even thefe men, according to the meafure of their capacity, might be diligent and ufeful ; and it is recorded of Burton, that he taught his pupils what he knew ; fome Latin, fome Greek, fome ethics and metaphyfics ; referring them to proper mafters for the lan- guages and fciences of which he was ignorant. At a more recent period, many fludents have been attradled by the merit and reputa- tion of Sir William Scott, then a tutor in Univerfity College, and now confpicuous in the profeffion of the civil law : my perfonal ac- quaintance with that gentleman has infpired me with a juft efteem for his abilities and knowledge; and I am aflured that his leftures on hif- tory would compofe, were they given to the public, a moft valuable treatife. Under the aufpices of the prefent Archbilhop of York, H 2 Dr. ^2 MEMOIRS OF Dr. Markham, himfelf an eminent fcholar, a more regular difcipline has been Introduced, as I am told, at Chrift Church*; a courfc of claffical and philofophical ftudies is propofed, and even purfued, in that numerous feminary : learning has been made a duty, a pleafure, and even a fafhion j and feveral young gentlemen do honour to the college in which they have been educated. According to the will of the donor, the profit of the fecond part of Lord Clarendon's Hiftory has been applied to the eftablilhment of a riding-fchool, that the polite exercifes might be taught, I know not with what fuccefs,. in the univerfity. The Vinerian profeflbrfliip is of far more ferious importance ; the laws of his country are the firft fcience of an Eng- * This was written on the information Mr. Gibbon had received, and the obferva- tion he had made, previous to his late refidence at Laufanne. During his laft vlfit to England, he had an opportunity of feeing at Sheffield- place fome young men of the college above alluded to -, he had great f;uisfa£lion in converfing with them, made many inquiries refpefting their courfe of ftudy, applauded the difcipline of Chrift Church and the liberal attention fliewn by the Dean, tothofe whofe only recommend- ation was their merit. Had Mr. Gibbon lived to revife this work, I am fure he would have mentioned the name of Dr. Jackfon with the higheft commendation. There are other colleges at Oxford, with whofe difcipline my friend was unacquainted, to which, without doubt, he would willingly have allowed their due praife, particularly Brazen Nofc and Oriel Colleges -, the former under the care of Dr. Cleaver, blfhop of Chefter, the latter under that of Dr. Eveleigh. It is ftill greatly to be wilhed that the general expence, or rather extravagance, of young men at our Englifli univerfities may be more eftedually rei'trained. The expence, in which they are permitted to indulge, is inconfiftent not only with a neceflary degree of ftudy, but with thofe habits of mo- rality which {liould be promoted, by all means poffible, at an early period of life. An academical education in England is at prefent an objeft of alarm and terror to every thinkinsi parent of moderate fortune. It is the apprehenfion of the expence, of the dlffipation, and other evil confequences, which arife from the want of proper reftraint at our own univerfities, that forces a number of our EnglHh youths to thofe of Scot- land and utterly excludes many from any fort of academical inftrudion. If a charge be true which 1 have heard infilled on, that the heads of our colleges in Oxford and Cambridge are vain of having under their care chiefly men of opulence, who may be fuppofed exempt from the neceffity of ceconomical controul, they are indeed highly cenfurable ; fmce the mlfchitf of allowing early habits of expence and diffipation is Teat, in various refpeils, even to thofe poflcfled of large property ; and the moft ferious tvil from this Indulgence muft happen to youths of humbler fortune, who certainly form the majority of ftudents both at Oxford and Cambridge^ S,. liftiman MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. ^3 Hfhman of rank and fortune, who is called to be a maglflrate, and may hope to be a legillator. This judicious inftitution was coldly entertained by the graver dodlors, who complained (I have heard the complaint) that it would take the young people from their books : but Mr. Viner's benefaction is not unprofitable, fince it has at lead produced the excellent commentaries of Sir William Blackftone. After carrying me to Putney, to the houfe of his friend Mr. Mallet *, by whofe philofophy I was rather fcandalized than reclaimed, it was neceflary for my father to form a new plan of education, and to de- vife fome method which, if poffible, might effect the cure of my fpiritual malady. After much debate it was determined, from the advice and perfonal experience of Mr. Eliot (now Lord Eliot) to fix me, during fome years, at Laufanne in Switzerland. Mr. Frey, a Swifs gentleman of Bafil, undertook the condud of the journey: we left London the lyth of June, eroded the fea from Dover to Calais, travelled poft through feveral provinces of France, by the dire(S road of St. Quentin, Rheims, Langres, and Befan9on, and arrived the 30th of June at Lauflinne, where I was immediately fettled under the roof and tuition of Mr, Pavilliard, a Calvinifl: minifter. The firft marks of my father's difpleafure rather aftonilhed than afFiitfted me : when he threatened to banifh, and dijbwn, and difm- herit a rebellious fon, I cherilhed a fecret hope that he would not be able or willing to etfed: his menaces ; and the pride of confcience encouraged me to fuftain the honourable and important part which I was now adting. My fpirits were raifed and kept alive by the rapid motion of my journey, the new and various fcenes of the Continent, and the civility of Mr. Frey, a man of fenfe, who was not ignorant of books or the world. But after he had refigned me into Pavilliard's hands, and I was fixed in my new habitation, I had leifure to con- * The author of a life of Bacon, which has been rated above its value ; of fome forgotten poems and plays ; and of the pathetic ballad of William and Margaret. 7 template ^4 MEMOIRS OF template the flrangc and melancholy profped: before me. My fnfl: complaint arofe from my ignorance of the language. In my child- hood I had once ftudied the French grammar, and I could imper- fedtly underftand the eafy profe of a fiimiliar fubjeft. But when I was thus fuddenly caft on a foreign land, I found myfelf deprived of the ufe of fpeech and of hearing ; and, during fome weeks, incapable not only of enjoying the pleafures of converfatlon, but even of afking or anfwering a queftion in the common intercourfe of life. To a home-bred Englifhman every objea:, every cuftom was ofFenfive ; but the native of any country might have been difgufted with the general afpedt of his lodging and entertainment. I had now ex- changed my elegant apartment in Magdalen College, for a narrow, o-loomy ftreet, the moft unfrequented of an unhandfome town, for an old inconvenient houfe, and for a fmall chamber ill-contrived and- ill-furnifhed, which, on the approach of Winter, inftead of a com- panionable fire, muft be warmed by the dull invifible heat of a flove. From a man I was again degraded to the dependance of a fchool-boy. Mr. Pavilliard managed my expences, which had been reduced to a diminutive ftate : I received a fmall monthly allowance for my pocket-money ; and helplefs and awkward as I have ever been, I no longer enjoyed the indifpenfable comfort of a fervant. My condition feemed as deftitute of hope, as it was devoid of plea- fure : I was feparated for an indefinite, which appeared an infinite term from my native country ; and I had loft all connedlion with my catholic friends. I have fince reflected with furprife, that as the Romifh clergy of every part of Europe maintain a clofe correfpond- ence with each other, they never attempted, by letters or meflages, to refcue me from the hands of the heretics, or at leaft to confirm my zeal and conftancy in the profefTion of the faith. Such was my firft introdudion to Laufanne ; a place where I fpent nearly five years with pleafure and profit, which I afterwards revifited without com- pulfion, and which I have finally fele£ted as the moft grateful retreat for the decline of my life. g^^ MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. ^s But It Is the peculiar felicity of youth that the mofl unpleafing ob- jcOiS and events feldom make a deep or lading impreflion ; it forgets the paft, enjoys the prefent, and anticipates the future. At the flexible age of fixteen I foon learned to endure, and gradually to adopt, the new forms of arbitrary manners : the real hardfliips of my fituation were alienated by time. Had I been fent abroad in a more fplendid ftyle, fuch as the fortune and bounty of my father might have fupplied, I might have returned home with the fame ftock of language and fcience, which our countrymen ufually import from the Continent. An exile and a priibner as I was, their example be- trayed me into fome irregularities of wine, of play, and of idle ex- curfions : but I foon felt the impoffibility of affociating with them on equal terms ; and after the departure of my firfl acquaintance, I held a cold and civil correfpondence with their fucceflbrs. This feclufion from Englifh fociety was attended with the moil folid benefits. In the Pays de Vaud^ the French language is ufed with lefs imperfection than in moft of the diftant provinces of France : in Pavilliard's fa- mily, neceffity compelled me to liften and to fpeak ; and if I was at firft difheartened by the apparent flownefs, in a few months I was aftonilhed by the rapidity of my progrefs. My pronunciation was formed by the conftant repetition of the fame founds ; the variety of words and idioms, the rules of grammar, and diftindtions of genders, were imprefled in my memory : eafe and freedom were obtained by practice ; correftnefs and elegance by labour ; and before I was re- called home, French, in which I fpontaneoufly thought, was more familiar than Englifh to my ear, my tongue, and my pen. The firft efFeft of this opening knowledge was the revival of my love of read- ing, which had been chilled at Oxford ; and I foon turned over, •without much choice, almoft all the French books in my tutor's li- brary. Even thefe amufements v/ere productive of real advantage : my tafte and judgment were now fomewhat riper. I was introduced to a new mode of ftyle and literature : by the comparifon of manners 2 and ^6 MEMOIRSOF and opinions, my views were enlarged, my prejudices were correded, and a copious voluntary abftra£l of the Hijloire de V Egl'tje et cle l' Em- pire^ by le Sueur, may be placed in a middle line between my childifli and my manly lludies. As loon as I was able to convert with the natives, I began to feel fome fatisfadlion in their company : my awk- ward timidity was polifhed and emboldened ; and I frequented, for the firft time, affemblies of men and women. The acquaintance of the Pavilliards prepared me by degrees for more elegant fociety. I was received with kindnefs and indulgence in the bed families of Laufanne ; and it was in one of thefe that I formed an intimate and lading connexion with Mr. Deyverdun, a young man of an amiable temper and excellent underftanding. In the arts of fencing and dancing, fmall indeed was my proficiency ; and fome months were idly wailed in the riding-fchool. My unfitnefs to bodily exercife reconciled me to a fedentary life, arid the horfe, the favourite of my countrymen, never contributed to the pleafures of my youth. My obligations to the leffons of Mr. Pavilliard, gratitude will not fuffer me to forget : he was endowed with a clear head and a warm heart ; his innate benevolence had affuaged the fpirit of the church ; he was rational, becaufe he was moderate : in the courfe of his ftudies he had acquired a jufl though fuperficial knowledge of moft branches of literature ; by long pradice, he was (killed in the arts of teaching ; and he laboured with affiduous patience to know the charader, gain the aflfedion, and open the mind of his Englifh pupil *. As foon as we * ExiracI of a Letter from M. Pavilliard to Edward Gibbon efq. A Laufanne, ce 25 Juillet 1753. Monfieur de Gibbon fe porte tres bien par la Grace de Dieu, et il me paroit qu'il ne fe trouve pas mal de notre Malfon ; j'al meme lieu de pcnfer qu'il prend de I'attache- ment pour moi, ce dont je fuis charme et que je travaiUerai a augmenter, parce qu'il aura plus de confiance en moi, dans ce que je me propofe de lui dire. Je n'ai point encore entrepris de lui parler fur ks matieres de religion, parce que je n'entens pas affez la langue Angloife pour foutenir une longue conveifation en cettc langue, MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 57 we began to underftand each other, he gently led me, from a blind and undiftinguiihing love of reading, into the path of inftrudion. I confented with plcafure that a portion of the morning-hours {hould be confecrated to a plan of modern hiftory and geography, and to the critical perufal of the French and Latin clafTics ; and at each ftep I felt myfelf invigorated by the habits of application and method. His prudence reprefled and diflembled fome youthful fallies ; and as foon as I was confirmed in the habits of induftry and temperance, he gave the reins into my own hands. His favourable report of my beha- viour and progrefs gradually obtained fome latitude of action and expence ; and he wiflaed to alleviate the hardihips of my lodging and entertainment. The principles of philofophy wei'e aflbciated with the examples of tafte ; and by a fmgular chance, the book, as well as the man, which contributed the moft efFedually to my education, has a ftronger claim on my gratitude than on my admiration. Mr. De Croufaz, the adverfary of Bayle and Pope, is not diftinguifhed by lively fancy or profound refle£lion ; and even in his own country, at the end of a few years, his name and writings are almofl obliterated. But his philofophy had been formed in the fchool of Locke, his di- langue, quoique je life les auteurs Anglois avec aflez de facilite ; et Monfieur de Gib- bon n'entend pas aflez de Fran9o:s, mais il y fait beaucoup de progres. Je fuis fort content de la politefle et de la douceur de caraftere de Monfieur votre Fils, et je me flatte que je pouvrai toujours vous parler de lui avec eloge ; il s'applique beaucoup a la lefture. From the Same to the Same. A Laufanne, ce 13 Aout 1753. Monfieur de Gibbon fe porte bien par la grace de Dieu ; je TaiiVie, et je me fuis extreme- ment attache a lui parce qu'il eft doux et tranquille. Pour ce que regard fes fenti- mens, quoique je ne lui aie encore rien dit la deffus, j'ai lieu d'efperer qu'il ouvrira les yeux a la verite. Je le penfe ainfi, parce qu'etaiit dans men cabinet il a choifi deux livresde controverfe i\vC\\ a pris dans fa chambrc et qu'il les lit. II m'a charge de vous oflVlr fes tres humble refpeds, et de vous demander la permiffion de le laifler monter au manege: cet exercife pourroit contrlbuer a donner de la force.a fon corps, c'eft I'ldec qu'il en a. VOL. I, 1 ""'^'^T 58 MEMOIRS OF A'lnity In that of Limborch and Le Clerc ; in a long and laborious life, feveral generations of pupils were taught to think, and even to write ; his leflbns refcued the academy of Laufanne from Calviniftic prejudice ; and he had the rare merit of diffufmg a more liberal fpirit among the clergy and people of the Pays de Vaud. His fyftem of logic, which in the Lift editions has fwelled to fix tedious and prolix volumes, may be praifed as a clear and methodical abridgment of the art of reafoning, from our fimple ideas to the moft complex opera- tions of the human underftanding. This fyftem I ftudied, and medi- tated, and abftradled, till I have obtained the free command of an univerfal inftrument, which I foon prefumed to exercife on my ca- tholic opinions. PavlUiard was not unmindful that his firft tafk, his moft important duty, was to reclaim me from the errors of popery. The intermixture of feds has rendered the Swifs clergy acute and learned on the topics of controverfy ; and I have fome of his letters in which he celebrates the dexterity of his attack, and my gradual conceflions, after a firm and well-managed defence *. I was willing, and I am now willing, to allow him a handfome fhare of the honour of my converfion : yet I muft obferve, that it was principally effeded by my private reflexions ; and I ftill remember my folitary tranfport at the difcovcry of a philofophical argument againft the dodlrine of tranfubftantiation : that the text of fcripture, which feems to inculcate the real prefence, is attefted only by a fingle fenfe — our fight ; while the real prefence itfelf is difproved by three of our fenfes — the fight, the touch, and the tafte. The various articles of the Romifti creed dif- appeared like a dream ; and after a full convidion, on Chriftmas-day 1 754, I received the facrament in the church of Laufanne. It was * M. Pavilliard has defcribed to me the aftonifhment with which he gazed on Mr. Gibbon (landing before him: a thin little figure, with a large head, difputing and urging, with the greateft ability, all the beft arguments that had ever been ufed in favour of popery. Mr. Gibbon many years ago became very fat and corpulentj but he had uncommonly fmall bones, and was very flight made. S. here MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 59 here that I fufpended my religious inquiries, acquicfcing with im- plicit belief in the tenets and myfteries, which are adopted by the ge- neral confent of catholics and proteftants *. Such, * Letter from Mr. Pavilliard to Edwaud Gibbon efq. Monfieur, June 26tli, 1754. J'efpere que vous pardonnerez mon long filence en faveiir des nouvelles que j'ai a vous apprendre. Si j'ai tant tarde, ce n'a ete iii par oubli, ni par negligence, majs jc croyois dc femaine en femaine pouvoir vous annoncer que Monfieur votre fiis avoit entierement renonce aux fauiles idees qu'il avoit embiaflees; mais il a fallu difputer le terrein pie a pie, et je n'ai pas trouve en lui un homme leger, et qui pafle rapide- ment d'un fentinient a un autre. Souvent apres avoir detruit toutes fes idecs fur un article de maniere qu'il n'avoit rien a repliquer, ce qu'il avouoit fans detour, il me difoit qu'il ne croioit pas, qu'il n'y eut rien a me repondre. La deflus je n'ai pas juge qu'il fallut le poufler a bout, et extorquer de lui un aveu que fon coeur defavoueroit j je lui donnois alors du terns pour reflechir ; tons mes livres etoient a fa difpofition ; je revenois a la charge quand il m'avouoit qu'il avoit etudie la matiere auffi bien qu'il I'avolt pu, et enfin j'etabliflbit une verite. Je me perfuadois, que quand j'aurois detruit les principales erreurs de I'eglife Ro- maine, je n'aurois qu'a faire voir que les autres font des confequences des premieres, et qu'elles ne peuvent fubfifter quand les fundamentales font renverfees ; mais, commc je I'ai dit, je me fuis trompe, il a fallu traitter chaque article dans fon entier. Par la grace de Dieu, je n'ai pas perdu mon terns, et aujourdhui, fi meme il conferve quelques reftes de fes pernicieufes erreurs, j'ofe dire qu'il n'eft plus membre de I'eglife Romaine • voici dans ou nous en fommes. J'ai renverfe I'infallibilite de I'eglife ; j'ai prouve que jamais St. Pierre n'a ete chef des apotres : que quand il I'auroit ete, le pape n'eft point fon fuccefleur; qu'il eft dou- teufe que St. Pierre a jamais ete a Rome, mais fuppofe qu'il y ait ete, il n'a pas ete eveque de cette ville : que la tranfubftantiation eft un invention humaine, et peu aneienne dans I'eglife ; que I'adoration de I'Eucharifte et le retranchcmcnt de la coupe font contraires a la parole de Dieu : qu'il y a des faints, mais que nous ne favons pas que ils font, et par confequent qu'on ne peut pas le prier ; que le refpeft et le culte qu'on rend aux reliques eft condamnable ; qu'il n'y a' point de purgatoire, et que la doctrine des indulgences eft faulTe : que la Careme et les jeunes du Vendredi et du Sa- ruedi font ridicules aujourdhui, et de la maniere que I'eglife Romaine lesprefcrit: que les imputations que Teglife de Rome nous fait de varier dans notre doflrine, et d'avoir pour reformateurs des perfonnes dont la conduite et les mosurs ont ete en fcandale, font entierement faufies. Vous comprenez bien, Monfieur, que ces articles font d'un longue difcuflion, qu'il a fallu du tems a Monfieur votre fils pour rnediter mes ralfons et pour y cherchcr des reponfes. Je lui al dcm.inde plufieurs fois, fi mes preuves et mes raifons lui paroif- I 2 foient 6o MEMOIRSOF Such, from my arrival at Laufanne, during the firft: eighteen or twenty months (July 1753 — March 1755), were my ufeful ftudies, the foundation of all my future improvements. But every man who rifes above the common level has received two educations : the firft from his teachers ; the fecond, more perfonal and important, from himfelf. He will not, like the fanatics of the laft age, define the moment of grace ; but he cannot forget the sera of his life, in which his mind has expanded to its proper form and dimehfions. My worthy tutor had the good fenfe and modefty to difcern how far he could be ufeful : as foon as he felt that I advanced beyond his fpeed and meafure, he wifely left me to my genius ; and the hours of leffou foient convainquantes ; il m'a toujours aflure qu'oui, de fa^on que j'ofe aflurer, aufTi comme je le lui a dit a lui meme, il y a peu de tems qu'il n'etoit plus catholique Re- main. Je me flatte, qu'apies avoir obtenu la vidtoire fur ces articles, je I'aurai fur le refte avec le fecours de Dieu. Tellement que je compte de vous marquer dans peu que cette- ouvrage eft fiai, je dois vous dire encore, que quoique j'ai trouve M' votre fils tres ferme dans fes idees, je I'ai trouve raifonnable, qu'il s'eft rendu a la lumiere, et qu'il n'eft pas, ce qu'on appelie, chicaneur. Par raport a I'article du jeune le Vendredi et Sa- medi, long tems apres que je vous eus ecrit qu'il n'avoit jamais marque qu'il voulut I'ob- ferver, environ le commencement du mois de Mars je m'aper9us un Vendredi qu'il ne mangeoit point de viande ; je lui parlai en particulier pour en favoir la raifon, craig- nant que ce ne fut par indifpofition ; il me repondit qu'il I'avoit fait a deffein, et qu'il avoit cru etre oblige de fe conformer a la pratique d'un eglife dont il etoit membre : nous parlames quelques tems furce fujet ; il m'afiura qu'il n'invifageoit cela que comme une pratique bonne a la verite, et qu'il devoit fuivre, quoiqu'il ne la crus pas fainte en elle meme, ni d'inflltution divine. Je ne crus pis devoir iufifter pour lors, ni le forcer a agir contre fes lumieres : j'ai traitte cette article qu'eft certainement un des moins importans, des moins fondes ; et cependant il m'a fallu un tems confiderable pour le detromper, et pour lui faire comprendre qu'il avoit tort de s'aflujjttir a la pra- tique d'un Eglife qu'il ne reconnoiirolt plus pour infaillible ; que fi meme cette pra- tique avoit eu quelque utilite dans fon inftitution, cependant elle n'en avoit aucune en elle meme, puis qu'elle ne contribuoit en rien a la purete des mceurs ; qu'ainfi il n'y avoit aucune raifon, ni dans I'inftitution de cette pratique, ni dans la pratique en elle meme, que I'autorisat a s'y foumettre : qu'aujourdhui ce n'etoit qu'une affaire d'interet, puis qu'avec de I'argent on cbtennoit des difpcnfes pour manger gras, &c, de manier que je I'ai ramene a la liberte Chretienne avec beaucoup de peine et feulement depuis quelques femaines. Je I'ai engage a vous ecrire, pour vous maiufefter les fentimens ou il eft, et I'ctat de fa fante, et je crois qu'il I'a fait, 7 were MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 6i were foon loft in the voluntary labour of the whole morning, and fometimes of the whole day. The defire of prolonging my time, gradually confirmed the falutary habit of early rifing ; to which I have always adhered, with fome regard to feafons and fituations : but it is happy for my eyes and my health, that my temperate ardour has never been feduced to trefpafs on the hours of the night. During the Lift three years of my refidence at Laufanne, I may aftlime the merit of ferious and folid application ; but I am tempted to diftinguifli the laft eight months of the year 1755, as the period of the moft extra- ordinary diligence and rapid progrefs *. In my French and Latin tranflations I adopted an excellent method, which, from my own fuc- cefs, I would recommend to the imitation of ftudents. I chofe fome clafTic writer, fuch as Cicero and Vertot, the moft approved for purity and elegance of ftyle. I tranflated, for inftance, an epiftle of Cicero into French ; and after throwing it afide, till the words and phrafes were obliterated from my memory, I re-tranflated my French into fuch Latin as I could find ; and then compared each fentence of my imperfect verfion, with the eafe, the grace, the propriety of the Roman orator. A fimilar experiment was made on feveral pages of the Revolutions of Vertot ; I turned them into Latin, returned them * Journal, December 1755.] — In finifliing this year, I muft remark how favour- able it was to my ftudies. In the fpace of eight months, from the beginning of April, I learnt the piinciples of drawing; made myfelf complete mafter of the French and I^atin languages, with which I was very fupcrficially acquainted before, and wrote and tranflated a great deal in both ; read Cicero's Epiftles ad Familiares, his Brutus, all his Orations, his Dialogues de Amicitia, and De Seneftute ; Terence, twice ; and Pliny's Epiftles. In French, Giannonc's Hiftory of Naples, and I'Abbe Bannier's Mythology, and M. de Boehat's Memoirs fur la Suifle, and wrote a very ample relation of my tour. I likewife began to ftudy Greek, and went through the Grammar. I begun to make very large colleclions of what I read. But what I efteem moft of all, from the perufal and meditation of De Croufaz's Logic, I not only underftood the principles of that fcience, but formed my mind to a habit of thinking and reafoning I had no idea of before. after 62 MEMOIRS OF ^ after a fufticient interval Into my own French, and again fcrut'inized the refemblancc or difTimihtude of the copy and the original. By degrees I was lefs afliamed, by degrees I was more fatisfied with my- felf; and I perfevered in the pradtice of thefe double tranflations, which filled feveral books, till I had acquired the knowledge of both idioms, and the command at leaft of a corred: ftyle. This ufeful exercife of writing was accompanied and fucceeded by the more pleafing occupation of reading the beft authors. The perufal of the Roman claffics was at once my exercife and reward. Dr. Middle- ton's Hiftory, which I then appreciated above its true value, natu- rally direded me to the writings of Cicero. The moft perfed edi- tions, that of Olivet, which may adorn the flielves of the rich, that of Ernefti, which fliould lie on the table of the learned, were not in my power. For the familiar epiftles I ufed the text and Englifh comment- ary of Biflaop Rofs : but my general edition was that of Verburgius, publiilied at Amfterdam in two large volumes in folio, with an in- different choice of various notes. I read, with application and plea- fure, all the epiftles, all the orations, and the moft important trea- tifes of rhetoric and philofophy ; and as I read, I applauded the ob- fervation of Quintillian, that every ftudent may judge of his own proficiency, by the fatisfadion which he receives from the Roman orator. I tafted the beauties of language, I breathed the fpirit of freedom, and I imbibed from his precepts and examples the public and private fenfe of a man. Cicero in Latin, and Xenophon in Greek, are indeed the two ancients whom I would firft propofe to a liberal fcholar ; not only for the merit of their ftyle and fentiments, but for the admirable leflbns, which may be applied almoft to every fituation of public and private life. Cicero's Epiftles may in parti- cular afford the models of every form of correfpondence, from the carelefs effufions of tendernefs and friendfhip, to the well-guarded declaration of difcreet and dignified refentment. After finifhing this great MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 63 great author, a library of eloquence and rcafon, I formed a more extenfive plan of reviewing the Latin claffics *, under the four divi- iions of, I. hiftorians, 2. poets, 3. orators, and 4. philofophers, in a chronological feries, from the days of Plautus and Salluft, to the decline of the language and empire of Rome : and this plan, in the laft twenty-feven months of my refidence at Laufanne (January 1756 — April 1758), I nearly accompliflied. Nor was this review, however rapid, either hafty or fuperficial. I indulged myfelf in a fecond and even a third perufal of Terence, Virgil, Horace, Tacitus, &c. and ftudied to imbibe the fenfe and fpirit mod congenial to my own. I never fuffered a difficult or corrupt paflage to efcape, till I had viewed it in every light of which it was fufceptible : though often difappointed, I always confulted the moil learned or ingenious com- mentators, Torrentius and Dacier on Horace, Catrou and Servius on Virgil, Lipfms on Tacitus, Meziriac on Ovid, &c.; and in the ardour of my inquiries, I embraced a large circle of hiftorical and critical erudition. My abftracts of each book were made in the French language : my obfervations often branched into particular eflays ; and I can ftill read, without contempt, a diflertation of eight folio pages on eight lines (287 — 294) of the fourth Georgia of Virgil. Mr. Deyverdun, my friend, whofe name will be frequently repeated, had joined with equal zeal, though not with equal perfeverance, in the fame undertaking. To him every thought, every compofition, was inftantly communicated ; vv'ith him I enjoyed the benefits of a free converfation on the topics of our common ftudies. But it is fcarcely poffible for a mind endowed with any adtive cu- riofity to be long converfant with the Latin claffics, without afpiring * Journal, January 1756.] — I determined to read over the Latin autliors in or- der ; and read this year, Virgil, Sallult, Livy, Vclleius Paterculus, Valerius Maximus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Quintus Curtius, Juftin, Florus, Plautus, Terence, and Lucretius. J alio read and meditated Locke upon the Uiiderftandjng, 2 to 64 MEMOIRSOF to know the Greek originals, whom they celebrate as their mafters, and of whom they fo warmly recommend the ftudy and imitation ; Vos exemplaria Graeca Nodurna verfate manu, verfate diurna. It was now that I regretted the early years which had been wafted in ficknefs or idlenefs, or mere idle reading ; that I con- demned the perverfe method of our fchoolmafters, who, by firft teaching the mother-language, might defcend with fo much eafe and perfpicuity to the origin and etymology of a derivative idiom. In the nineteenth year of my age I determined to fupply this defe£t ; and the lefTons of Pavilliard again contributed to fmooth the entrance of the way, the Greek alphabet, the grammar, and the pronunci- ation according to the French accent. At my earneft requeft we prefumed to open the Iliad ; and I had the pleafure of beholding, though darkly and through a glafs, the true image of Homer, whom I had long fmce admired in an Englifli drefs. After my tutor had left me to myfelf, I worked my way through about half the Iliad, and af- terwards interpreted alone a large portion of Xenophon and Hero- dotus. But my ardour, deftitute of aid and emulation, was gra- dually cooled, and, from the barren tafic of fearching words in a lexicon, I withdrew to the free and familiar converfation of Virgil and Tacitus. Yet in my refidence at Laufanne I had laid a folid foundation, which enabled me, in a more propitious feafon, to pro- fecute the ftudy of Grecian literature. From a blind idea of the ufefulnefs of fuch abftradl fcience, my father had been defirous, and even preffing, that I fliould devote fome time to the mathematics * ; nor could I refufe to comply with fo * ExtraSl of a Letter from M. Pavilliard to Edward Gibbon efq. Monfieur, January 12th, 1757; Vous avez fouhaitte que Monfieur votre fils s'appliquat a I'algebre -, le gout iqu'il a pour les belles lettres lui faifoit apprehendre que I'algebre ne nuiffit a fes etudes favorites; MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 65 fo reafonable a wifii. During two winters T attended the private lectures of Monfieur de Traytorrens, who explained the elements of algebra and geometry, as far as the conic fc£tions of the Marquis de I'Hopltal, and appeared fatisfied with my diligence and improve- ment *. But as my childilli propenfity for numbers and calculations vv^as favorites ; je lui ai perfuade qu'il ne fe faifoit pas une jufte idee de cette partie des ma- theniatiques ; I'obeiflance qu'il vous doit, jointe a tnes raifons, Tont determine a era faire un cours. Je ne croiois pas qu'avec cette repugnance il y fit de grand progres : je me fuis trompe : il fait bien tout ce qu'il fait; il ell exa£l a fes le90ns, il s'appliqiie a lire avant fa le(jon, et il repafle avec foin, de maniere qu'il avauce beaucoup, et plus que je ne me ferois attendu : il ell charme d'avoir commence, et je penfe qu'il fera un petit cours de geometrie, ce que en tout ne lui prendra que fept a huit mois. Pendant qu'il fait fes le9ons, il ne s'eft point relache fur fes autres etudes ; il avance beaucoup dans le Grec, et il a prefque lu la moiete de I'lliade d'Homere ; je lui fait regulierement des lemons fur cet auteur : il a auffi fini les Hiftoriens Latins ; il en eft a prefent aux Poetes ; et il a lu entierement Plaute et Terence, et bientot il aura fini Lucrece. Au refte, il ne lit pas ces auteurs a la legere, il veut s'eclaircir fur tout; de fa9on, qu'avec le genie qu'il a, I'excellente memoire et I'application, il ira loin dans les fciences. J'ai eu I'honneur de vous dire ci-devant, que malgre fes etudes il voioit compagnie; je puis vous le dire encore aujo.urdhui. From the Same to the Same. Monfieur, Jan. 14th, 1758. J'ai eu I'honneur de vous ecrire le 27 Jullkt et le 26 S*"^' pafies, et je vous ai rendu compte de la fante, des etudes, et de la conduite de Monfieur votre fils. Je n'ai rien a ajouter a tout ce que je vous en ai dit : il fe porte parfaitement bien par la grace dc Dieu : il continue a etudier avec application, et je puis vous alTurcr qu'il fait de progres confiderable dans les etudes, et il fe fait extremement eftimer par tons ceux qui le con- noifient, et j'efpere que quand il vous montrcra en detail ce qu'il fait, vous en ferez tres content. Les Belles Lettres que font fon etude favorite ne I'occupent pas entierement ; il continue les mathematiques, et fon profefleur m'afl'ure qu'il n'a jamais vu perfonne avancer autant que lui, ni avoir plus d'ardeur et d'application qu'il en a. Son genie lieureux et penetrant eft feconde par un memoire de plus heureufe, tellement qu'il n'oublie prefque rien de ce qu'il apprend. Je n'ai pas moins lieu d'etre content de fa conduite ; quoiqu'il etude beaucoup, il voit cependant compagnie, mais il ne voit que des perfonnes dont le commerce peut lui etre utile. * Journal, January 1757.] — I began to ftudy algebra under M. de Traytorrens, went through the elements of algebra and geometry, and the three firft books of Vol- I. K the 66 M E M O I R S O F was totally extlniS, I was content to receive the paflive impreflion of my Profeffor's lectures, without any adive exercife of my own powers. As foon as I underftood the principles, I relinquifhed for ever the purfuit of the mathematics ; nor can I lament that I defifted, before my mind was hardened by the habit of rigid demonftration, io deftrudlive of the finer feelings of moral evidence, which muft, however, determine the adions and opinions of our lives. I liftened with more pleafure to the proppfal of ftudying the law of nature and nations, which was taught in the academy of Laufanne by Mr. Vicat, a profeflbr of fome learning and reputation. But, inftead of attending his public or private courfe, I preferred in my clofet the leflbns of his mafters, and my own reafon. Without being difgufted by Grotius or PufFendorf, I fludied in their writings the duties of a man, the rights of a citizen, the theory of juftice (it is, alas ! a theory), and the laws of peace and war, which have had fome influ- ence on the practice of modern Europe. My fatigues were alleviated by the good fenfe of their commentator Barbeyrac. Locke's Treatife of Government inftrudted me in the knowledge of Whig principles, which are rather founded in reafon than experience ; but my delight was in the frequent perufal of Montefquieu, whofe energy of ftyle, and boldnefs of hypothefis, were powerful to awaken and ftimulate the genius of the age. The logic of De Croufaz had prepared me to the Marquis de I'Hopital's Conic Se£lions. I alfo read Tibullus, Catullus, Propertius, Horace (with Dacier's and Torrentius's notes), Virgil, Ovid's Epiftles, with Meziriac's Commentary, the Ars Amandi, and the Elegies ; likewife the Auguftus and Tiberius of Suetonius, and a Latin tranflation of Dion Caffius, from the death of Julius Cjefar to the death of Auguftus. I alfo continued my correfpondence beguu iaft year with M. Allemand of Bex, and the Profeflbr Breitinger of Zurich ; and opened a new one with the Profeflbr Gefner of Gottingen. N. B. Laft year and this, I read St. John's Gofpel, with part of Xenophon's Cy- ropcedia ; the Iliad, and Herodotus : but, upon the whole, I rather negleded my Greek. engage MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 67 engage with his mafter Locke, and his antagonift Bayle ; of whom the former may be ufed as a bridle, and the latter applied as a fpur, to the curiofity of a young philofopher. According to the nature of their refpedive works, the fchools of argument and objedion, I care- fully went through the Eifay on Human Underftanding, and occa- fionally confulted the mod interefting articles of the Philofophic Dic- tionary. In the infancy of my reafon I turned over, as an idle amufement, the moft ferious and important treatife : in its maturity, the moft trifling performance could exercife my tafte or judgment; and more than once I have been led by a novel into a deep and in- ftrudive train of thinking. But I cannot forbear to mention three particular books, fmce they may have remotely contributed to form the hiftorian of the Roman empire, i. From the Provincial Letters of Pafcal, which almoft every year I have perufed with new pleafure, I learned to manage the weapon of grave and temperate irony, even on fubjedls of ecclefiaftical folemnity. 2. The Life of Julian, by the Abbe de la Bleterie, firft introduced me to the man and the times ; and I Ihould be glad to recover my firft eflay on the truth of the miracle which flopped the rebuilding of the Temple of Jeru- falem. 3. In Giannone's Civil Hiftory of Naples, I obferved with a critical eye the progrefs and abufe of facerdotal power, and the revolutions of Italy in the darker ages. This various reading, which I now conduced with difcretion, was digefted, according to the precept and model of Mr. Locke, into a large common-place book ; a practice, however, which I do not ftrenuoufly recom- mend. The action of the pen will doubtlcfs imprint an idea on the mind as well as on the paper : but I much queftion whether the benefits of this laborious method are adequate to the wafte of time ; and I muft agree with Dr. Johnfon, (Idler, No. 74.) *' that what is twice read, is commonly better remembered, than " what is tranfcribed." K 2 During 68 MEMOIRS OF During two years, if I forget fome boyifli excurfions of a day or a week, I was fixed at Laufanne j but at the end of the third fum- mer, my father confented that I fhould make the tour of Switzerland with Pavilliard : and our fhort abfence of one month (Septem- ber 2ift — Odtober 20th, 1755) was a reward and relaxation of my afliduous ftudics j". The fafhion of climbing the mountains and f From Edward Gibbon to Mrs. Porten. • ♦»#*##»•»»**»#*«*»•*♦* »•#»*»**=»•«**»•*•** Now for myfelf. As my father has given me leave to make a journey round Switzerland, we fet out to-morrow. Buy a map of Switzerland, it will coft you but a fliilling, and follow me. I go bylverdun, Neufchatel, Bienne or Biel, Soleurre or Solothurn, BaleorBafil, Bade, Zurich, Lucerne, and Bern. The voyage will be of about four weeks ; fo that / hope to find a letter from you luahing for me. As my father had given me leave to learn what I had a mind, I have learned to ride, and learn actually to dance and draw. Bcfides that, I often give ten or twelve hours a day to my ftudies. I find a great many agree- able people here ; fee them fometimes, and can fay upon the whole, without vanity, that though I am the Englifhman here who fpends the leaft money, I am he who is the moft generally liked. I told you that my father had promifed to fend me into France and Italy. I have thanked hirn for it ; but if he would follow my plan, he won't do it yet a while. I never liked young travellers ; they go too raw to make any great remarks, and they lofe a time which is (in my opinion) the moft precious part of a man's life. My fcheme would be, to fpend this winter at Laufanne : for though it is a very good place to acquire the air of good company and the French tongue, we have no good profeffors. To fpend (I fay) the winter at Laufanne ; go into England, to fee my friends a couple of months, and after that, finifti my ftudies, cither at Cambridge (for after what has pafled one cannot think of Oxford), or at an univerfity in Holland. If you liked the fcheme, could you not propofe it to my father by Metcalf orfomebody who has a certain credit over him ? I forgot to afk you whether, in cafe my father writes to tell me of his marriage, would you advife me to compliment my mother-in-law ? I think fo. My health is fo very regular, that I have nothing to fay about it. I have been the whole day writing you this letter ; the preparations for our voyage cave me a thoufand interruptions. Befides that, I was obliged to write in Englifli. This laft reafon will feem a paradox, but.Iaflure you the French is much more fa- miliar to me. I am, &c, T E. GlBBONv Lausanne, ■ ■>-■ 00 av Sept. 20, 1255. revievv'ing MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 6cj reviewing the Glacicrsy had not yet been introduced by foreign tra- vellers, who feek the fublime beauties of nature. But the political face of the country is not Icfs diverfified by the forms and fpirit of fo many various republics, from the jealous government of xhcfiw to the licentious freedom of the many. I contemplated with plea- fure the new profpe£ts of men and manners ; though my converfa- tion with the natives w^ould have been more free and inftrudive, had I poflefled the German, as well as the French language. We pafled through moll of the principal towns of Switzerland ; Neufchatel, Bienne, Soleurre, Aran, Baden, Zurich, Bafil, and Bern. In every place we vifited the churches, arfenals, libraries, and all the moft eminent perfons ; and after my return, I digefted my notes in fourteen or fifteen fheets of a French journal, which I difpatched to my father, as a proof that my time and his money had not been mif-fpent. Had I found this journal among his papers, I might be tempted to feledt fome paflfages ; but I will not tranfcribe the printed accounts, and it may be fufficient to notice a remarkable fpot, which left a deep and lafling impreffion on my memory. From Zurich ■we proceeded to the Benedidline Abbey of Einfidlen, more com- monly ftyled Our Lady of the Hermits. I was afloniflied by the profufe oftentation of riches in the pooreft corner of Europe ; amidll a favage fcene of woods and mountains, a palace appears to have been ereded by magic ; and it was erected by the potent magic of religion. A crowd of palmers and votaries was proftrate before the altar. The title and worfhip of the Mother of God provoked my Indignation ; and the lively naked image of fuperftition fuggefted to me, as in the flime place it had done to. Zulnglius, the moft prefling argument for the reformation of the church. About two years after this tour, I pafl'ed at Geneva a ufeful and agreeable month ; but this excurfion, and fome fhort vifits in the Pais de Vaud, did not materially interrupt my ftudious and fedentary life at Laufanne. yo MEMOIRS OF My tliirft of improvement, and the languid ftatc of fclence at Laufanne, loon prompted me to folicit a literary correfpondence with feveral men of learning, whom I had not an opportunity of perfonally confulting. i. In the perufal of Livy, (xxx. 44.) I had been flopped by a fentence in a fpeech of Hannibal, which cannot be reconciled by any torture with his charader or argument. The commentators diflemble, or confefs their perplexity. It occurred to me, that the change of a fmgle letter, by fubftituting otto inftead of odio^ might reftore a clear and confiftent fenfe ; but I wiflied to weigh my emendation in fcales lefs partial than my own. I ad- drefled myfelf to M. Crevier *, the fucceflbr of RoUin, and a pro- feffbr in the univerfity of Paris, who had publifhed a large and va- luable edition of Livy. His anfwer was fpeedy and polite ; he praifed my ingenuity, and adopted my conjedure. 2. I main- tained a Latin correfpondence, at flrft anonymous, and afterwards in my own name, with Profeflbr Breitinger f of Zurich, the learned editor of a Septuagint Bible. In our frequent letters we difcufled many queftions of antiquity, many paflages of the Latin claflics. I propofed my interpretations and amendments. His cenfures, for he did not fpare my boldnefs of conjedure, were fliarp and ftrong ; and I was encouraged by the confcioufnefs of my ftrength, when I could ftand in free debate againft a critic of fuch eminence and erudition. 3. I correfponded on fimilar topics with the cele- brated Profeflbr Matthew Gefner J, of the univerfity of Gottingen ; and he accepted, as courteoufly as the two former, the invitation of an unknown youth. But his abilities might poflibly be decayed ; his elaborate letters were feeble and prolix ; and when I aflced his proper diredtion, the vain old man covered half a flieet of paper with the foolifli enumeration of his titles and offices. 4. Thefe Profeflbrs of Paris, Zurich, and Gottingen, were flrangers, whom I prefumed to * See Appendix, Letters, N-^ I. f Ditto, N" IV. and V. \ Ditto, N" VI. VII. and VIIL addrefs MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 71 addrefs on the credit of their name ; but Mr. Allamand *, Minifter at Bex, was my perfonal friend, with whom I maintained a more free and interefting correfpondence. He was a mafter of language, of fcience, and, above all, of difpute ; and his acute and flexible logic could fupport, with equal addrefs, and perhaps with equal in- difference, the adverfe fides of every poflible queftion. His fpirit was adive, but his pen had been indolent. Mr. Allamand had ex- pofed himfelf to much fcandal and reproach, by an anonymous letter (1745) to the Proteftants of France; in which he labours to per- fuade them that public worfliip is the exclufive right and duty of the ftate, and that their numerous aflemblies of diflenters and rebels were not authorifed by the law or the gofpel. His ftyle is animated, his arguments fpecious ; and if the papift may feem to lurk under the mafk of a proteftant, the philofopher is concealed under the difguife of a papift. After fome trials in France and Holland, which were defeated by his fortune or his charadler, a genius that might have enlightened or deluded the world, was buried in a country living, unknown to fame, and difcontented with mankind. EJl facrificuhis in pago, et rtijlicos decipit. As often as private or ecclefiaftical bufmefs called him to Laufanne, I enjoyed the pleafure and benefit of his converfation, and we were mutually flattered by our attention to each other. Our correfpondence, in his abfence, chiefly turned on Locke's metaphyfics, which he attacked, and I defended ; the origin of ideas, the principles of evidence, and the do£lrine of liberty ; And found no end, in wandering mazes loft. By fencing with fo fkilful a mafter, I acquired fome dexterity in the ufe of my philofophic weapons ; but I was ftill the flave of edu- cation and prejudice. He had fome meafures to keep ; and I much * See Appendix, Letters, N" II. and III. 2 fufped 72 MEMOIRS or fi.ifpe£t that he never fhewed me the true colours of his fecret fcepticiftn. Before I was recalled from Switzerland, I had the fatisfadion of feeing the moft extraordinary man of the age ; a poet, an hiftorian, a philofopher, who has filled thirty quartos, of profe and verfe, with his various produdtlons, often excellent, and always entertaining. Need I add the name of Voltaire ? After forfeiting, by his own mifcondud, the friendfliip of the firft of kings, he retired, at the age of fixty, with a plentiful fortune, to a free and beautiful country, and refided two winters (1757 and 1758) in the town or neigh- bourhood of Laufanne. My defire of beholding Voltaire, whom I then rated above his real magnitude, was eafily gratified. He re- ceived me with civility as an Englifh youth ; but I cannot boafl: of any peculiar notice or diftindlon, Virgilium vid't tantum. The ode which he compofed on his firft arrival on the banks of the Leman Lake, Malfoti (T Arijlippe ! yardin d^ Epicure, iffc. had been imparted as a fecret to the gentleman by whom I was in- troduced. He allowed me to read it twice; I knew it by heart; and as my difcretion was not equal to my memoiy, the author was foon difpleafed by the circulation of a copy. In writing this trivial anecdote, I wifhed to obferve whether my memory was impaired, and I have the comfort of finding that every line of the poem is ftill engraved in frefh and indelible charadlers. The higheft grati- fication which 1 derived from Voltaire's refidence at Laufanne, was the uncommon circumftance of hearing a great poet declaim his own produdtlons on the ftage. He had formed a company of gentle- men and ladies, fome of whom were not deftitute of talents. A decent theatre was framed at Monrepos, a country-houfe at the end of a fuburb ; dreffes and fcenes were provided at the expence of the adors ; and the author direded the rehearfals with the zeal and at- tention of paternal love. In two fucceffive winters his tragedies of Zayre, Alzire, Zulime, and his fentimental comedy of the Enfant Prodigue, MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 73 Prodigue, were played at the theatre of Monrepos. Voltauc rc- prefented the charatflers beft adapted to his years, Lufignan, Al- varez, Benafliir, Euphemon. His declamation v^fas fafliioned to the pomp and cadence of the old ftage ; and he expreffed the enthufiafm of poetry, rather than the feelings of nature. My ardour, which foon became confpicuous, feldom failed of procuring mc a ticket. The habits of pleafure fortified my tafte for the French theatre, and that tafte has perhaps abated my idolatry for the gigantic genius of Shakefpeare, which is inculcated from our infancy as the firft duty of an Englifliman. The wit and philofophy of Voltaire, his tabic and theatre, refined, in a vifible degree, the manners of Laufanne ; and, however addided to ftudy, I enjoyed my fliare of the amufe- ments of fociety. After the reprefentation of Monrepos I fome- times fuppcd with the a£lors. I was now familiar in fome, and ac- quainted in many houfes ; and my evenings were generally devoted to cards and converfation, either in private parties or numerous affemblies. I hefitate, from the apprehenfion of ridicule, when I approach the delicate fubject of my early love. By this word I do not mean the polite attention, the gallantry, without hope or defign, which iias originated in the fpirit of chivalry, and is interwoven with the texture of French manners. I underftand by this paftion the union of defire, friendlliip, and tendernefs, which is inflamed by a fingle female, which prefers her to the reft: of her fex, and which feeks her pofteftion as the fupreme or the fole happinefs of our being. I need not blufli at recolleding the objed: of my choice ; and though my love was difappolnted of fuccefs, I am rather proud that I was once capable of feeling fuch a pure and exalted fentiment. The perfonal attradllons of Mademoifelle Sufan Curcliod were em- belliftied by the virtues and talents of the mind. Her fortune was humble, but her family v\^as refpedlable. Her mother, a native of France, had preferred her religion to her country. The profeflion VOL. I. L of 74 MEMOIRS OF of her father did not cxtinguiih the moderation and ph'ilofophy of his temper, and he lived content with a fmall falary and laborious duty. In the obfcure lot of mlnlfter of Crafly, In the mountains that feparate the Pays de Vaud from the county of Burgundy *. In the folitude of a fequeftered village he beflowed a liberal, and even learned, education on his only daughter. She furpafl'ed his hopes by her proficiency in the fciences and languages ; and in her fhort vifits to fome relations at Laufanne, the wit, the beauty, and erudition of Mademoifelle Curchod were the theme of univerfal ap- plaufe. The report of fuch a prodigy awakened my curiofity ; I faw and loved. I found her learned without pedantry, lively in converfation, pure in fentiment, and elegant in manners ; and the firft fudden emotion was fortified by the habits and knowledge of a more familiar acquaintance. She permitted me to make her two or three vifits at her father's houfe. I pafled fome happy days there, in the mountains of Burgundy, and her parents honourably encouraged the connedlion. In a calm retirement the gay vanity of * ExtraBs from the Journal. March 1757. I wrote fome critical obfervations upon Plautus. March 8th. I wrote a long dhTertation on fome lines of Virgil. June. I faw Mademoifelle Curchod — Omnia vindi amor, et nos cedamus amori. Auguft. I went to Crafly, and (laid two days. Sept.. 15th. I went to Geneva. 0£l. 15th, I came back to Laufanne, having paffed through Crafly. Nov. I ft. I went to vifit M. de Watteviile at Loin, and faw Mademoifelle Curchod in my way throigh Rolle. Nov. 17th. I went to CrafTy, and ftaid there fix day^. Jan. 1758. \\\ the three firil months of this year I read Ovid's Metamorphofes, finiflied the conic feftions with M. de Traytorrens, and went as far as the infinite feries ; I likewife read Sir Ifaac Newton's Chronology,. and wrote my critical obfervations upon it. Jan. 23d. I faw Alzire afted by the fociety at Monrepos. Voltaire afted Alvares^i D'Hermanches, Zamore ; de St. Cierge, Gufman j M. de Gentil, Monteze; and Madame Denys, Alzire. youth MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 75 youth no longer fluttered in her bolbm ; flie liftened to the voice- of truth and paflion, and I might prefume to hope that I had made fome impreflion on a virtuous heart. At Crafly and Laufanne I in- dulged my dream of fehcity : but on my return to England, I foon difcovered that my father would not hear of this ftrange alliance, and that without his confent I was myfelf dellitute and hclplefs. After a painful ftruggle I yielded to my fate ; I fighcd as a lover, I obeyed as a fon * ; my wound was infenfibly healed by time, ab- fence, and the habits of a new life. My cure v^fAS accelerated by a faithful report of the tranquillity and cheerfulnefs of the lady her- felf, and my love fubfided in friendihip and efteem. The minifter of Crafly foon afterwards died ; his fliipend died with him : his daur^hter retired to Geneva, where, by teaching young ladies, flae earned a hard fubfiflience for herfelf and her mother ; but in her lowefl: diftrefs flie maintained a fpotlefs reputation, and a dignified behaviour. A rich banker of Paris, a citizen of Geneva, had the good fortune and good fenfe to difcover and poflefs this ineftimable ti-eafure ; and in the capital of tafte and luxury flae refifl:ed the temptations of wealth, as flae had fufl:ained the hardflaips of indigence. The ge- nius of her huflaand has exalted him to the moft confpicuous ftation in Europe. In every change of profperity and difgrace he has re- clined on the bofom of a faithful friend ; and Mademoilelle Curchod is now the wife of M. Necker, the minifter, and perhaps the leo-i- flator, of the French monarchy. Whatfoever have been the fruits of my education, they mufl: be afcribed to the fortunate banifliment which placed me at Laufanne. I have fometimes applied to my own fate the verfes of Pindar, which remind an Olympic champion that his vidlory was the confequence * See Oeuvres de Rouffeau, torn, xxxiii. p. 88, 89. odavo edition. As sn author I (hall not appeal from the judgment, or tafle, or caprice of Jean Jaques : but tVat extraordinary man, whom I admire and pity, fliould have been Icfs precipitate in cun- demning the moral character and conduft of a ftranger. L 2 of 76 M E M O I R S O F of his exile ; and that at home, like a domeftic fowl, his days might have rolled away inadive or inglorious. , . . r,TOi Ksci re.cc, xev, 'EvOOfA.a,^lX.i OCT OiXBKJUf, Evyyovcd 7r«p' 'ecrjiK Kvucrlxi a^spcre iruT^xg *. Olymp. xil. If my childlfli revolt againfl the religion of my country had not ftripped me in time of my academic gown, the live important years, fo liberally improved in the ftudies and converfation of Laufanne, would have been fteeped in port and prejudice among the monks of Oxford. Had the fatigue of idlenefs compelled me to read, the path of learning would not have been enlightened by a ray of phi- lofophic freedom. I fhould have grown to manhood ignorant of the life and language of Europe, and my knowledge of the world would have been confined to an Englifh cloifter. But my religious error fixed me at Laufanne, in a ftate of banifhment and difgrace. The rigid courfe of difcipline and abftinence, to which I was con- demned, invigorated the conftitution of my mind and body ; poverty and pride eftranged me from my countrymen. One mifchief, how- ever, and in their eyes a ferious and irreparable mifchief, was de- rived from the fuccefs of my Swifs education : I had ceafed to be an Englifliman. At the flexible period of youth, from the age of fix- teen to twenty-one, my opinions, habits, and fentiments were caft * Thus, like the crefted bird of Mars, at home Engag'd in foul domeftic jars, And wafted with intefline wars, Inglorious had'ft thou fpent thy vig'rous bloom ; Had not fedition's civil broils Expell'd thee from thy native Crete, And driv'n thee with more glorious toils Til' Olympic crown in Pifa% plain to meet. Wejfs Pindar. in MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 77 in a foreign mould ; tlie faint and diftant remembrance of Eng- land was almoft obliterated ; my native language was grown lels familiar; and I fhould have cheerfully accepted the offer of a moderate independence on the terms of perpetual exile. By the good fenfe and temper of Pavilliard my yoke was infenfibly light- ened : he left me mafter of my time and acflions ; but he could neither change my lituation, nor increafe my allowance, and with the progrefs of my years and reafon I impatiently fighed for the moment of my deliverance. At length, in the Spring of the year one thoufand feven hundred and fifty-eight, my father fignified his permiffion and his pleafure that I lliould immediately return home. We were then in the midft of a war : the refentment of the French at our taking their lliips without a declaration, had rendered that polite nation fomewhat peevifh and difficult. They denied a pafTage to Englifh travellers, and the road through Germany was circuitous, toilfome, and perhaps in the neighbourhood of the armies, expofed to fome danger. In this perplexity, two Swifs officers of my ac- quaintance in the Dutch fervice, who were returning to their gar- rilbns, offered to condud me through France as one of their com- panions ; nor did we fufficiently ref^e£l that my borrowed name and regimentals might have been confidered, in cafe of a difcovery, in a very ferious light. I took my leave of Laufanne on the iith of April 1758, with a mixture of joy and regret, in the firm refolu- tion of revifiting, as a m.an, the perfons and places which had been fo dear to my youth. We travelled flowly, but plealantly, in a hired coach, over the hills of Franche-compte and the fertile pro- vince of Lorraine, and palled, without accident or inquiry, through feveral fortified towns of the French frontier : from thence we en- tered the wild Ardennes of the Auftrian dutchy of Luxemburg ; and after croffing the Meufe at Liege, we traverfed the heaths of Brabant, and reached, on the fifteenth day, our Dutch garrifon of Bois le Due. In our pafi"age through Nancy, my eye was gratified by the afped of a regular and beautiful city, the work of Staniflaus, who,. 78 , MEMOIRS OF ■who, after the ftorms of Polifli royalty, repofed in the love and gratitude of his new fubje£ts of Lorraine. In our halt at Maeftricht I vilited Mr. de Beaufort, a learned critic, who was known to me by his fpecious arguments againft the five firft centuries of the Roman Hiftory. After dropping my regimental companions, I ftepped afide to vifit Rotterdam and the Hague. I wiftied to have obfervcd a country, the monument of freedom and induftry ; but my days were numbered, and a longer delay would have been ungraceful. I haftened to embark at the Brill, landed the next day at Harwich, and proceeded to London, where my father awaited my arrival. The whole term of my firft abfence from England was four years ten months and fifteen days. In the prayers of the church our perfonal concerns are judicioufly reduced to the threefold diftin£lion of mind^ body, and ejlate. The fentiments of the mind excite and exercife our focial fympathy. The review of my moral and literary eharadter is the moft intereft- ing to myfelf and to the public ; and I may expatiate, without re- proach, on my private fludies ; fince they have produced the public writings, v/hich can alone entitle me to the efteem and friendfhip of my readers. The experience of the world inculcates a difcreet re- ferve on the fubjedl of our perfon and eftate, and we foon learn that a free difclofure of our riches or poverty would provoke the malice of envy, or encourage the infolence of contempt. The only perfon in England whom I was impatient to fee was my aunt Porten, the affeftionate guardian of my tender years. I haflened to her houfe in College-ftreet, Weftminfter ; and the even- ing was fpent in the eftufions of joy and confidence. It was not without fome awe and apprehenfion that I approached the prefence of my father. My infancy, to fpeak the truth, had been negledled at home ; the feverity of his look and language at our laft parting ftill dwelt on my memory ; nor could I form any notion of his cha- radter, or my probable reception. They were both more agreeable than I could exped. -The domeftic difcipline of our anceftors has been MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 79 been relaxed by the philofophy and foftnefs of tlie age ; and if my father remembered that he had trembled before a ftern parent, it was only to adopt with his own fon an oppofite mode of behaviour. He received ine as a man and a friend ; all conftraint was banilhed at our firft interview, and we ever afterwards continued on the fame terms of eafy and equal politenefs. He applauded the fuccefs of my education ; every word and adliion was expreflive of the moft cordial affeftion ; and our lives would have paffed without a cloud, if his oeconomy had been equal to his fortune, or if his fortune had been equal to his defires. During m.y abfence he had married his lecond wife, Mifs Dorothea Patton, who was introduced to me with the moft unfavourable prejudice. I confidered his fecond marriage as an a£t of difpleafure, and I was difpofed to hate the rival of my mother. But the injuftice was in my own fancy, and the imaginary monfter was an amiable and deferving woman. I could not be mif- taken in the firft view of her underftanding, her knowledge, and the elegant fpirit of her converfation : her polite welcome, and her afliduous care to ftiidy and gratify my wifhes, announced at leaft that the furface would be fmooth ; and my fiiipicions of art and falfehood were gradually difpelled by the full difcovery of her warm and exquifite fenfibility. After fome referve on my fide, our minds aflbciated in confidence and friendftiip ; and as Mrs. Gibbon had neither children nor the hopes of children, we more eafily adopted the tender names arid genuine charadlers of mother and of fon,. By the indulgence of thefe parents, I was left at liberty to confult my tafte or reafoii in the choice of place, of company, and of amufernents ; and my excurfions were bounded only by the limits of the iiland, and the meafure of my income. Some faint efforts w^ere made to procure me the employment of fecretary to a foreign embafly ; and I llftened to a fcheme v/hich would again have tranf- ported me to the continent. Mrs. Gibbon, with feeming wifdom, exhorted me to take chambers in the Teinple, and devote my leifure to the ftudy of the law. I cannot repent of having neglefted her advice 8o M E M O I R S O F advice. Fevr men, without the fpur of neceflity, have refolutlon to force then- way through the thorns and thickets of that gloomy labyrinth. Nature had not endowed me with the bold and ready eloquence which makes itfelf heard amidft the tumult of the bar ; and I fliould probably have been diverted from the labours of lite- rature, without acquiring the fame or fortune of a fuccefsful pleader. I had no need to call to my aid the regular duties of a pi-ofeffion ; every day, every hour, was agreeably filled ; nor have I known, like fo many of my countrymen, the tedloufnefs of an idle life. Of the two years (May 1758 — May 1760,) between my return to England and the embodying of the Hamplhire militia, I palled about nine months in London, and the remainder in the country. The metropolis affords many amufements, which are open to" all. It is itfelf an aftonilhing and perpetual Ipeftacle to the curious eye ; and each tafte, each fenfe may be gratified by the variety of objeds •which will occur in the long circuit of a morning walk. I affiduoufly frequented the theatres at a very propitious xra of the fl:age, when a conftellation of excellent adlors, both in tragedy and comedy, was eclipfcd by the meridian brightnefs of Garrick in the maturity of his judgment, and vigour of his performance. The plealures of a town-life are within the reach of every man who is regardlefs of his health, his money, and his company. By the contagion of ex- ample I was fometimes feduced ; but the better habits, which I had formed at Laufanne, induced me to feek a more elegant and rational fociety; and if my fearch was lefs eafy and fuccefsful than I might have hoped, I fliall at prefcnt impute the failure to the difadvantages of my fituatlon and charafter. Had the rank and fortune of my parents given them an annual eftablifhment in London, their own: houfe would have introduced me to a numerous and polite circle of acquaintance. But my father's tafle had always preferred the higheft and the loweft company, for which he was equally qualified ; and after a twelve years retirement, he was no longer in the memory of the .great with whom he had allbciated. I found myfclf a ftranger in 7 the MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 8i the midft of a vaft and unknown city; and at my entrance into life I was reduced to fome dull family parties, and fome fcattered con- nedions, which were not fuch as I fhould have chofen for myfelf. The moft ufeful friends of my father were the Mallets : they re- ceived me with civility and kindnefs at firfl on his account, and af- terw^ards on my own ; and (if I may ufe Lord Chefterfield's words) I was foon domejl'icated in their houfe. Mr. Mallet, a name among the Englifh poets, is praifed by an unforgiving enemy, for the eafe and elegance of his converfation, and his wife was not deftitute of wit or learning. By his affiftance I was introduced to lady Hervey, the mother of the prefent earl of Briftol. Her age and infirmities confined her at home ; her dinners were feledl ; in the evening her houfe was open to the heft company of both fexes and all nations ; nor was I difpleafed at her preference and affedation of the manners, the language, and the literature of France. But my progrefs in the Englifh world was in general left to my own efforts, and thofe efforts were languid and flow. I had not been endowed by art or nature with thofe happy gifts of confidence and addrefs, which unlock every door and every bofom ; nor would it be reafonable to com- plain of the juft confequences of my fickly childhood, foreign edu- cation, and referved temper. While coaches were rattling throuMi Bond-ftreet, I have paffed many a folitary evening in my lodging with my books. My (Indies were fometimes interrupted by a fi^-h, which I breathed towards Laufanne ; and on the approach of Spring I withdrew without reludance from the noify and extenfive fcene of crowds without company, and difTipation without pleafure. In each of the twenty-five years of my acquaintance with London (1758 — 1783) the profpedl gradually brightened; and this unfa- vourable pidure mofl properly belongs to the firft period after my return from Switzerland. VOL. I. M My 82 MEMOIRSOF My father's refidencc in Hampfliire, where I have pafTed many light, and fome heavy hours, was at Buriton, near Petersfield, one mile from the Portfmouth road, and at the eafy diftance of fifty- eight miles from London *. An old manfion, in a ftate of decay, had been converted into the fafhion and convenience of a modern houfe : and if ftrangers had nothing to fee, the inhabitants had little to defire. The fpot was not happily chofen, at the end of the vil- lage and the bottom of the hill : but the afped of the adjacent grounds was various and cheerful ; the downs commanded a noble profped, and the long hanging woods in fight of the houfe could not perhaps have been improved by art or expence. My father kept in his own hands the whole of the eftate, and even rented fome additional land ; and whatfoever might be the balance of profit and lofs, the farm fupplied him with amufement and plenty. The produce maintained a number of men and horfes, which were mul- tiplied by the intermixture of domeftic and rural fervants ; and in the intervals of labour the favourite team, a handfome fet of bays or greys, was harnefled to the coach. The ceconomy of the houfe was regulated by the tafte and prudence of Mrs. Gibbon. She prided herfelf in the elegance of her -occafional dinners ; and from the vmcleanly avarice of Madame Pavilliard, I was fuddenly tranf- ported to the daily neatnefs and luxury of an Englifh table. Our immediate neighbourhood was rare and ruftic ; but from the verge of our hills, as far as Chichefter and Goodwood, the weftern diftridt of Suflex was interfperfed with noble feats and hofpitable families, with whom we cultivated a friendly, and might have enjoyed a very fre- quent, intercourfe. As my flay at Buriton was always voluntary, I was received and difmifled with fmiles; but the comforts of my retire- ment did not depend on the ordinary pleafures of the country. My * The eflate and manor of Beriton, otherwife BarltOHj were confiderable, and were fold a few years ago to Lord Stawell. S. ' 2 father MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 83 father could never infpire me with his love and knowledge of farm- ing. I never handled a gun, I feldom mounted an horfe ; and my philofophic walks were foon terminated by a fliady bench, where I was long detained by the fedentary amufement of reading or me- ditation. At home I occupied a pleafant and fpacious apartment ; the library on the fame floor was foon confidered as my peculiar do- main ; and I might fay with truth, that I was never lefs alone than when by myfelf. My fole complaint, which I pioufly fupprefled, arofe from the kind reftraint impofed on the freedom of my time. By the habit of early rifmg I always fecured a facred portion of the day, and many fcattered moments were ftolen and employed by my ftudious induftry. But the family hours of breakfaft, of dinner, of tea, and of fupper, were regular and long : after breakfaft Mrs. Gibbon expe£ted my company in her drefling-room ; after tea my father claimed my converfation and the perufal of the newfpapers ; and in the midft of an interefting work I was often called down to receive the vifit of fome idle neighbours. Their dinners and vifits required. In due feafon, a fimilar return ; and I dreaded the period of the full moon, which was ufually referved for our more diftant excurfions. I could not refufe attending my father, in the fummer of 1759, to the races at Stockbridge, Reading, and Odiam, where he had entered a horfe for the hunter's plate j and I was not difpleafed with the fight of our Olympic games, the beauty of the fpot, the fleetnefs of the horfes, and the gay tumult of the numerous fpedators. As foon as the militia bufmefs was agi- tated, many days were tedioufly conlumed in meetings of deputy- lieutenants at Petersfield, Alton, and Winchefter. In the clofe of the fame year, 1759, Sir Simeon (then Mr.) Stewart attempted an unfuccefsful conteft for the county of Southamptoh, againft Mr. Legge, Chancellor of the Exchequer : a well-known conteft, in which Lord Bute's influence was firft exerted and cenfured. Our canvas at Portfmouth and Gofport lafted feveral days; but M 2 the 84 MEMOIRS OF the interruption of my fludies was compenfated In fome degree by the fpedtacle of Englifh manners, and the acquifition of fome prac- tical knowledge. If in a more domeftic or more dlflipated fcene my application was fomewhat relaxed, the love of knowledge was inflamed and gratified by the command of books ; and I compared the poverty of Laufanne with the plenty of London. My father's ftudy at Buriton was ftuffed with much trafh of the laft age, with much high church divinity and politics, which have long fmce gone to their proper place : yet it contained fome valuable editions of the clafhcs and the fathers, the choice, as it fliould feem, of Mr. Law ; and many Englifli publications of the times had been occafionally added. From this flender beginning I have gradually formed a numerous and feledt library, the foundation of my works, and the beft com- fort of my life, both at home and abroad. On the receipt of the jBrft quarter, a large fhare of my allowance was appropriated to my literary wants. I cannot forget the joy with which I exchanged a bank-note of twenty pounds for the twenty volumes of the Me- moirs of the Academy of Infcriptions ; nor would it have been eafy, by any other expenditure of the fame fum, to have procured fo large and lafting a fund of rational amufement. At a time when I moft affiduoufly frequented this fchool of antient literature, I thus ex- preflTed my opinion of a learned and various coUedion, which fmce the year 1759 has been doubled in magnitude, though not in merit — " Une de ces focietes, qui ont mieux immortalife Louis XIV. qu'un " ambition fouvent pernicieufe aux hommes, commen9oit deja ces " recherches qui reuniffent la juftefle de I'efprit, I'amenete & I'eru- " dition : ou Ton voit tant des decouvertes, et quelquefois, ce qui " ne cede qu'a peine aux decouvertes, une ignorance modefte et " favante" The review of my library muft be referved for the period of its maturity ; but in this place I may allow myfelf to ob- ferve, that I am not confcious of having ever bought a book from a motive MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 85 motive of oftentation, that every volume, before it was depofited on the fhelf, was either read or fufficiently examined, and that I foon adopted the tolerating maxim of the elder Pliny, " nullum efle " librum tam malum ut non ex aliqua parte prodeflet." I could not yet find leifure or courage to renew the purfuit of the Greek lan- guage, excepting by reading the leffbns of the Old and New Teftament every Sunday, when I attended the family to church. The feries of my Latin authors was lefs flrenuoufly completed ; but the acquifi- tion, by inheritance or purchafe, of the beft editions of Cicero, Quintilian, Livy, Tacitus, Ovid, &c. afforded a fair profpedl, which I feldom negleded. I perfevered in the ufeful method of abftracfVs and obfervations ; and a fmgle example may fuffice, of a note which had almofl fwelled into a work. The folution of a paffage of Livy (xxxviii. 38.) involved me in the dry and dark treatifes of Greaves, Arbuthnot, Hooper, Bernard, Elfenfchmidt, Gronovlus, La Barre, Freret, &c.; and in my French effay (chap. 20.) I ridiculoufly fend the reader to my own manufcript remarks on the weights, coins, and meafures of the ancients, which were abruptly terminated by the militia drum. As I am now entering on a more ample field of fociety and ftudy, I can only hope to avoid a vain and prolix garrulity, by over- looking the vulgar crowd of my acquaintance, and confining myfelf to fuch intimate friends among books and men, as are beft entitled to my notice by their own merit and reputation, or by the deep im- preflion which they have left on my mind. Yet I will embrace this occafion of recommending to the young ftudent a pradice, which about this time I myfelf adopted. After glancing my eye "over the defign and order of a new book, I fufpended the perufal till I had finifhed the taflc of felf-examination, till I had revolved, in a folitary walk, all that I knew or believed, or had thought on the fubjedt of the whole work, or of fome particular chapter : I was then quali- fied to difcern how much the author added to my original ftock ; and I w^as S6 MEMOIRSOF 1 was fometimes fatlsfied by the agreement; I was fometlmes armed by the oppofition, of our ideas. The favourite companions of my leifure were our Englifh writers fmce the Revohition : they breathe the fpirit of reafon and Uberty ; and they moft feafonably contributed to reftore the purity of my own language, which had been corrupted by the long ufe of a foreign idiom. By the judicious advice of Mr. Mallet, I was directed to the writings of Swift and Addifon ; wit and fimplicity are their common attributes : but the ftyle of Swift is fup- ported by manly original vigour ; that of Addifon is adorned by the female graces of elegance and mildnefs. The old reproach, that no Britiih altars had been raifed to the mufe of hiftory, was recently dif- proved by the firft performances of Robertfon and Hume, the hif- tories of Scotland and of the Stuarts. I will affume the prefumption of faying, that I was not unworthy to read them : nor will I difguife my different feelings in the repeated perufals. The perfect compofi- tion, the nervous language, the well-turned periods of Dr. Robert- fon, inflamed me to the ambitious hope that I might one day tread in his footfteps : the calm philofophy, the carelefs inimitable beauties of his friend and rival, often forced me to clofe the volume with a mixed fenfation of delight and defpair. The defign of my firft work, the EfTay on the Study of Literature, was fuggefted by a refinement of vanity, the defire of juftifying and praifing the objedt of a favourite purfuit. In France, to which my ideas were confined, the learning and language of Greece and Rome were negle£led by a philofophic age. The guardian of thofe ftudies, the Academy of Infcriptions, was degraded to the loweft rank among the three royal focieties of Paris : the new appellation of Erudits was contemptuoufly applied to the fucceflbrs of Lipfius and Cafau- bon ; and I was provoked to hear (fee M. d'Aiembert Difcours pre- liminaire a I'Encyclopedie) that the exercife of the memory, their fole merit, had been fuperfeded by the nobler faculties of the imagi- nation and the judgment. I was ambitious of proving by my own example. MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 87 example, as well as by my precepts, that all the faculties of the mind may be exerclfed and difplayed by the ftudy of ancient literature : I began to fele£t and adorn the various proofs and illuftrations which had offered themfelves in reading the clafTics ; and the firft pages or chapters of my eflay were compofed before my departure from Laufanne. The hurry of the journey, and of the fn-ft weeks of my Engli{h life, fufpended all thoughts of ferious application : but my object was ever before my eyes ; and no more than ten days, from the firft to the eleventh of July, were fuifered to elapfe after my fummer eftablifliment at Buriton. My effay was finiflied In about fix weeks ; and as foon as a fair copy had been tranfcribed by one of the French prifoners at Petersfield, I looked round for a critic and judge of my firft performance. A writer can feldom be content with the doubtful recompence of folitary approbation ; but a youth igno- rant of the world, and of himfelf, muft defire to weigh his talents in fome fcales lefs partial than his own : my condu£l was natural, my motive laudable, my choice of Dr. Maty judicious and fortunate. By defcent and education Dr. Maty, though born in Holland, might be confidered as a Frenchman ; but he was fixed in London by the pra£tice of phyfic, and an office in the Britifh Mufeum. His repu- tation was juftly founded on the eighteen voluntes of the Journal Brttanniqiie, which he had fupported, almoft alone, with perfeverance and fuccefs. This humble though ufeful labour, which had once been dignified by the genius of Bayle and the learning of Le Clerc, was not difgraced by the tafte, the knowledge, and the judgment of Maty ; he exiilbits a candid and pleafing view of the ftate of litera- ture in England during a period of fix years (January 1750 — De- cember 1755) ; and, far different from his angry fon, he handles the rod of critlclfm with the tendernefs and reludance of a parent. The author of the Jpiimal Britarm'iqiie fometlmes afpires to the character of a poet and phllofopher : his ftyle is pure' and elegant ; and in his virtues, or even in his defeats, he may be ranked as one of the laft difciples S8 MEMOIRS OF difciples of the fchool of Fontenelle. His anfwer to my firfl: letter was prompt and polite : after a careful examination he returned my manufcript, with fome animadverfion and much applaufe ; and when 1 vifited London in the enfuing winter, w^e difcuiTed the defign and execution in feveral free and familiar converfations. In a fhort ex- curfion to Buriton I reviewed my effay, according to his friendly ad- vice ; and after fuppreffing a third, adding a third, and altering a third, I confummated my firft labour by a fhort preface, which is dated February 3d, 1759. Yet I ftill Ihrunk from the prefs with the terrors of virgin modefty : the manufcript was fafely depoGted in my defk ; and as my attention was engaged by new objed:s, the delay might have been prolonged till I had fulfilled the precept of Horace, " nonumque prematur in annum." Father Sirmond, a learned jefuit, was ftill more rigid, fmce he advifed a young friend to expedl the mature age of fifty, before he gave himfelf or his writ- ings to the public (Olivet Hiftoire de 1' Academic Franfoife, tom. ii. p. 1 43.)' The counfel was fingular ; but it is ftill more fingular that it fliould have been approved by the example of the author. Sir- mond was himfelf fifty-five years of age when he publifhed (in 1614) his firft work, an edition of Sidonius Apollinaris, with many valu- able annotations : (fee his life, before the great edition of his works in five volumes folio, Paris, 1696, e Typographia Regia). Two years elapfed in filence : but in the fpring of 176 1 I yielded to the authority of a parent, and complied, like a pious fon, with the wifti of my own heart *. My private refolves were influenced by * Journal, March 8th, nS^O — I began my Effai fur I'Etude de la Litterature, and wrote the 23 firft chapters (excepting the following ones, 11, 12, 13. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.) before I left Switzerland. July iith. I again took in hand my Effay ; and in about fix weeks finifhed it, from C. 23 — 55. (excepting 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. and note to C. 38.) befides a number of chapters from C. 55. to the end, which are now ftruck out. Feb. iith, 1759. I wrote the chapters of my Effay, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. the note to C. 38. aad the firft part of the preface. April 23d, MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 89 by the ftate of Europe. About this time the belligerent powers had made and accepted overtures of peace ; our Englilh plenipotentiaries were named to affifl at the Congrefs of Augfbourg, which never met : I wifhed to attend them as a gentleman or a fecretary ; and my father fondly believed that the proof of fome literary talents might introduce me to public notice, and fecond the recommendations of my friends. After a laft revifal I confulted with Mr. Mallet and Dr. Maty, who approved the defign and promoted the execution. Mr. Mallet, after hearing me read my manufcript, received it from my hands, and de- livered it into thofe of Becket, with whom he made an agreement in my name ; an eafy agreement : I required only a certain number of copies ; and, without transferring my property, I devolved on the bookfeller the charges and profits of the edition. Dr. Maty under- took, in my abfence, to corredt the fheets : he inferted, without my knowledge, an elegant and flattering epiftle to the author ; which is compofed, however, with fo much art, that, in cafe of a defeat, his favourable report might have been afcribed to the indulgence of a friend for the ralh attempt of a young Englijlj gentleman. The work was printed and publifhed, under the title of Eflai fur I'Etude de la Litterature, a Londres, chez T. Becket et P. A. de Honit, 1761, in a fmall volume in duodecimo : my dedication to my father, a April 23d, 1761. Being at length, by my father's advice, determined to publiflv my Eflay, I revifed It witli great care, made many alterations, (Iruck out a confider- able part, and wrote the chapters from 57 — 78, which I was obliged myfelf to copy out fair. Jvme loth, 1761. Finding th.e printing of my book proceeded but (lowly, I went up to town, where I found the wliole was finiflied. I gave Becket orders for the prefents : 20 for Laufanne ; copies for the Duke of Richmond, Marquis of Carnarvon, Lords Waldegrave, Litchfield, Bath, Granville, Bute, Shelbourn, Chefterfield, Hard- M'icke, Lady.Hcrvey, Sir Jofeph Yorke, Sir Matthew Featherftone, M. M. Mallet, Maty, Scott, Wray, Lord Egremont, M. de Bufly, Mademoifelle la Duchefle d'Aguil- lon, and M. le Comte de Cavlus :— great part of thefe were only mv father's or jSIallet's acquaintniice. VOL. I. N . proper 90 MEMOIRSOF proper and pious addrefs, was compofed the twenty-eighth of May. Dr. Maty's letter is dated the i6th of June ; and I received the firft copy (June 23d) at Alresford, two days before I marched with the Hampfliire militia. Some weeks afterwards, on the fame ground, I prefehted my book to the late Duke of York, who breakfafted in Colonel Pitt's tent. By my father's diredlion, and Mallet's advice, many literary gifts were diftributed to feveral eminent chara£ters in England and France ; two books were fent to the Count de Caylus, and the Duchefle d'Aiguillon, at Paris : I had referved twenty copies for my friends at Laufanne, as the firft fruits of my education, and .1 grateful token of my remembrance : and on all thefe perfons I levied an unavoidable tax of civility and compliment. It is not fur- prifing that a work, of which the ftyle and fentiments were fo totally foreio-n. fhould have been more fuccefsful abroad than at home. I was delighted by the copious extradts, the warm commendations, and the flattering predi<3:ions of the Journals of France and Holland ; and the next year (1762) a new edition (I believe at Geneva) ex- tended the fame, or at leaft the circulation, of the work. In England it was received with cold indifference, little read, and fpeedily for- gotten : la fmall impreffion was flowly difperfed ; the bookfeller mur- mured, and the author (had his feelings been more exquifite) might have wept over the blunders and baldnefs of the Englifh tranflation. The publication of my Hiftory fifteen years afterwards revived the memory of my firft performance, and the Effay was eagerly fought in the fhops. But I refufed the permiffion which Becket folicited of reprinting it : the public curiofity was imperfecftly fatisfied by a pirated copy of the bookfellers of Dublin ; and when a copy of the original edition has been dlfcovered in a fale, the primitive value of half-a-crown has rifen to the fanciful price of a guinea or thirty {hillings. I have expatiated on the petty circumftances and period of my iirft publication, a memorable sera in the life of a ftudent, when he ventures MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 91 ventures to reveal the meafure of his mind : his hopes and fears arc multiplied by the idea of felf-importance, and he believes for a while that the eyes of mankind are fixed on his perfon and performance. Whatever may be my prefent reputation, it no longer reds on the merit of this firft elTay ; and at the end of twenty-eight years I may appreciate my juvenile work with the impai'tiality, and almoft with the indiiference, of a flranger. In his anfwer to Lady Hervey, the Count de Caylus admires, or affefts to admire, " les livi-es fans " nombre que Mr. Gibbon a lus et tres bien lus *." But, alas ! my flock of erudition at that time was fcanty and fuperficial ; and if I allow myfelf the liberty of naming the Greek mafters, my genuine and perfonal acquaintance was confined to the Latin claffics. The moft ferious defedl of my Effay is a kind of obfcurity and abruptnefs which always fatigues, and may often elude, the attention of the reader. Inftead of a precife and proper definition of the title itfelf, the fenfe of the word Litterature is loofely and varioufly applied : a number of remarks and examples, hiftorical, critical, philofophical, are heaped on each other without method or connection ; and if we except fome introdudory pages, all the remaining chapters might indifferently be reverfed or tranfpofed. The obfcurity of many pafTages is often affefted, brev'is ejfc lahoro^ obfciirus Jio ; the defire of expreffing perhaps a common idea with fententious and oracular brevity : alas ! how fatal has been the imitation of Montefquieu ! But this obfcurity fometimes proceeds from a mixture of light and darknefs in the author's mind ; from a partial ray which ftrikes upon an angle, inftead of fpreading itfelf over the furfiice of an objedt. After this fair confeffion I fhall prefume to fay, that the EfTay does credit to a young writer of two and twenty years of age, who had read with tafte, who thinks with freedom, and who writes in a fo- reign language with fpirlt and elegance. The defence of the early Hiftory of Rome and the new Chronology of Sir Ifaac Newton * See Appendix, Letter, No. X. N 2 form 92 M E M O I R S O F form a fpeclous argument. The patriotic and political defign of the Georgics is happily conceived ; and any probable conjedlure, which tends to raife the dignity of the poet and the poem, deferves to be adopted, without a rigid fcrutiny. Some dawnings of a philofophic fpirit enlighten the general remarks on the ftudy of hiftory and of man. I am not difpleafed with the inquiry into the origin and na- ture of the gods of polytheifm, which might deferve the illuftra- tion of a riper judgment. Upon the whole, I may apply to the- firft labour of my pen the fpeech of a far fuperior artift, when he furveyed the firft produdlions of his pencil. After viewing fome portraits which he had painted in his youth, my friend Sir Jofhua Reynolds acknowledged to me, that he was rather humbled than flattered by the comparifon wath his prefent works ; and that after fo much time and ftudy, he had conceived his improvement to be much greater than he found it to have been. At Laufanne I compofed the firft chapters of my Eflay in French, the familiar language of my converfation and ftudies, in which it was eafier for me to write than in my mother-tongue. After my return to England I continued the fame praiflice, without any af- feftation, or defign of repudiating (as Dr. Bentley would fay) my vernacular idiom. But I fhould have efcaped fome Anti-gallican clamour, had I been content with the more natui-al character of an Englifh author. I fhould have been more confiftent had I rejected Mallet's advice, of prefixing an Englifh dedication to a French book j a confufion of tongues that feemed to accufe the ignorance of my patron. The ufe of a foreign dialedl might be excufed by the hope of being employed as a negociator, by the defire of being generally underftood on the continent ; but my true motive was doubtlefs the ambition of new and fingular fame, an Englifhman claiming a place among the writers of France.. The- Latin tongue had been confe- erated by the fervice of the church, it was refined by the imitation of the ancients y and in the fifteenth and fixtecnth, centuries thq fcholars of MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 93 of Europe enjoyed the advantage, which they have gradually re- figncd, of converfuig and wriiing in a common and learned idiom. As that idiom was no longer in any country the vulgar fpeech, they all ftood on a level with each other ; yet a citizen of old Rome might have fmiled at the beft Latlnity of the Germans and Britons ; and we may learn from the Ciceronianiis of Erafmus, how difficult it was found to (leer a middle eourfe between pedantry and barbarifm. The Romans themfelves had fometimes attempted a more perilous tafk, of writing in a living language, and appealing to the tafte and judgment of the natives. The vanity of Tully was doubly interefted in the Greek memoirs of his owm confulfhip ; and if he modeftly fuppofes that fome Latinifms might be deteded in his ftyle, he is confident of his own fkill in ihe art of Ifocrates and Ariftotle ; and he requefts his friend Atticus to difperfe the copies of his work at Athens, and in the other cities of Greece, (ad Atticmn^ i. 19. ii. i.) But it muft not be forgotten, that from infancy to manhood Cicero- and his contemporaries had read and declaimed, and compofcd with equal diligence in both languages ; and that he was not allowed to frequent a Latin fchool till he had imbibed the leflbns of the Greek grammarians and rhetoricians. In modern times, the language of France has been diffufed by the merit of her writers, the focial manners of the natives, the influence of the monarchy, and the exile of the proteftants. Several foreigners have feized the oppor- tunity of fpeaking to Europe in this common dlaledl, and Germany may plead the authority of Leibnitz and Frederic, of the firft of her philofophers, and tlie greateft of her kings. The juft pride and laudable prejudice of England has reftrained this communication of idioms ; and of all the nations on this fide of the Alps, my country- men are the leail pradifed, and leafl perfect in -the exercife of the French tongue. By Sir William Temple, and Lord Chefterfield. it was only ufed on occafions of civility and bufinefs, and their printed letters will not be quoted as models of compofition. Lord Bolingbroke may have: P4 M E M O I R S O F have publifhed in French a (ketch of his Refledions on Exile : but his reputation now repoles on the addrefs of Voltaire, " Dode ferrnones " utriufque lingu3e ;" and by his Englifli dedication to Queen Caro- line, and his Effay on Epic Poetry, it {hould feem that Voltaire himfelf wifhed to defcrve a return of the fame compliment. The exception of Count Hamilton cannot fairly be urged ; though an Irifhman by birth, he was educated in France from his childhood. Yet I am furprifed that a long refidence in England, and the habits of dor meftic converfation, did not afFed: the eafe and purity of his inimi- table ftyle ; and I regret the omiffion of his Englifh verfes, which raio-ht have afforded an amufing objed of comparifon. I might therefore affume the primus ego in ^riam^ ^c. ; but with what fuc- cefs I have explored this untrodderlf)ath muft be left to the decifion of my French readers. Dr. Maty, who might himfelf be queftioned as a foreigner, has fecured his retreat at my expence. " Je ne crois *' pas que vous vous piquiez d'etre moins facile a reconnoitre pour un «' Anglois que Luculluspour un Remain," My friends at Paris have been more indulgent, they received me as a countryman, or at leaft as a provincial ; but they were friends and Parlfians *. The defeds which Maty infmuates, " Ces traits faillans, ces figures hardies, ce *' facrifice de la regie au fentiment, et de la cadence a la force," are the faults of the youth, rather than of the ftranger : and after the long and laborious exercife of my own language, I am confcious that my French ftyle has been ripened and improved. I have already hinted, that the publication of my Eflay was de- layed till I had embraced the military profefTion. I fhall now amufe myfelf with the recolledion of an adive fcene, which bears no affinity to any other period of my ftudious and focial life. * The copious extra£ls which were given in the Journal Etratiger by Mr. Suard, a judicious critic, muft fatisfy both the author and the pubHc. I may here obferve, that I have never feen in any literary review a tolerable account of my Hiftory. The jiianufa£lure of journals, at leaft on the continent, is miferably debafed. In MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 95 In the outfet of a glorious war, the Englifli people had been de- fended by the aid of German mercenaries. A national militia has been the cry of every patriot fmce the Revolution ; and this meafure, both in parliament and in the field, was fupported by the country gentlemen or Tories, who infenfibly transferred their loyalty to the houfe of Hanover : in the language of Mr. Burke, they have changed the idol, but they have preferved the idolatry. In the adl of offer- ing our names and receiving our commiflions, as major and captain in the Hamplhire regiment, (June 12th, 1759,) we had not fup- pofed that we fliould be dragged away, my father from his farm, myfelf from my books, and condemned, during two years and a half, (May 10, 1760 — December 23, 1762,) to a wandering life of military fervitude. But a weekly or monthly exercife of thirty thoufand pro- vincials would have left them ufelefs and- ridiculous ; and after the pretence of an invafion had vanifhed, the popularity of Mr. Pitt gave a fandion to the illegal ftep of keeping them till the end of the war under arms, in conftant pay and duty, and at a diftance from their refpedive homes. When the King's order for our embodying came down, it was too late to retreat, and too foon to repent. The South battalion of the Hamplhire militia was a fmall independent corps of four hundred and feventy-fix, officers and men, commanded by- lieutenant-colonel Sir Thomas Worlley, who, after a prolix and paffionate contefl:, delivered us from the tyranny of the lord lieute- nant, the Duke of Bolton. My proper ftation, as firft captain, was at the head of my own, and afterwards of the grenadier, company ; but in the abfence, or even in the prefence, of the two field officers, I was entrufted by my friend and my father with the effedive labour of didating the orders, and exercifing the battalion. With the help of our original journal, I could write the hiftory of my bloodlefs and inglorious campaigns ; but as thefe events have loft much of their importance in my own eyes, they (hall be difpatched in a few words. From Wincheftcr, the firft place of affembly, (June 4, 1 760,) 2 we 9^. MEMOIRSOF we were removed, at our own requeft, for the benefit of a foreign -education. By the arbitrary, and often capricious, orders of the War-office, the battalion fuccelhvely marched to the pleafant and hofpitable Blandford (June 17); to Hilfea barracks, a feat of difeafe and difcord (September 1 ) ; to Cranbrook in the weald of Kent (December 11); to the fea-coaft of Dover (December 27) ; to Win- chefter camp (June 25, 1761) ; to the populous and diforderly town of Devizes (Odlober 23); to Salifbury (February 28, 1762) ; to our beloved Blandford a fecond time (March 9) ; and finally, to the fafhionable refort of Southampton (June 2) ; where the colours were fixed till our final diffolution (December 23). On the beach at Dover we had exercifed in fight of the Gallic fhores. But the moft fplendid and ufeful fcene of our life was a four months encampment on Winchefter Down, under the command of the Earl of Effing- ham. Our army confifted of the thirty-fourth regiment of foot and fix militia corps. The confcioufnefs of our defeats was ftimu- lated by friendly emulation. We improved our time and opportu- nities in morning and evening field-days ; and in the general re- views the South Hampfhire were rather a credit than a difgrace to the line. In our fubfequent quarters of the ©evizes and Blandford, we advanced with a quick ftep in our military ftudies ; the ballot of the enfuing fummer renewed our vigour and youth ; and had the militia fubfifted another year, we might have contefted the prize with the moft perfedl of our brethren. The lofs of fo many bufy and idle hours was not compenfi..tcd by any elegant pleafure ; and my temper was infenfibly foured by the fociety of our ruftic officers. In every ftate there exlfts, however, a balance of good and evil. The habits of a fedentary life were ufefully broken by the duties of an adive profeffion : in the health- ful exercife of the field I hunted with a battalion, inftead of a pack ;_ and at that time I was ready, at any hour of the day or night, to fly from quarters to London, from London to quarters, on the flighteft MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 97 illghteft call of private or regimental bufinefs. But my principal obligation to the militia, was the making me an Englilliman, and a Iblclier. After my foreign education, with my referved temper, I fhould long have continued a flranger in my native country, had I not been fhaken in this various fcene of new faces and new friends : had not experience forced me to feel the charadlers of our leading men, the ftate of parties, the forms of office, and the operation of our civil and military fyflem. In this peaceful fervice, I imbibed the rudiments of the language, and fcience of tactics, which opened a new field of fludy and obfervation. I diligently read, and meditated, the Memoircs Militaires of Quintus Icilius, (Mr. Guichardt,) the only writer who has united the merits of a profeflbr and a veteran. The difcipline and evolutions of a modern battalion gave me a clearer notion of the phalanx and the legion; and- the captain of the Hampfhire grenadiers (the reader may fmile) has not been ufe- lefs to the hiftorian of the Roman empire. A youth of any fpirit is fired even by the play of arms, and in the firfl: fallies of my enthufiafm I had ferioufly attempted to em- brace the regular profcflion of a foldier. But this military fever was cooled by the enjoyment of our mimic Bellona, who foon un- veiled to my eyes her naked deformity. How often did I figh for my proper ftation in fociety and letters. How often (a proud comparifon) did I repeat the complaint of Cicero in the command of a provincial army: " Clitellx bovi funt impofitx. Eft incredibile quam me " negotii tjedeat. Non habet fatis magnum campum ille tibi non " ignotus curfus animi ; et induftria^ mea; prazclara opera ceflat. " Lucem, Ubros, urbem, domum, vos defidero. Sed feram, ut " potero ; fit modo annuum. Si prorogatur, adtum eft *." Prom a fei^vice without danger I might indeed have retired without dif- grace ; but as often as I hinted a wifh of refigning, my fetters were rivetted by the friendly intreaties of the colonel, the parental authority of the major, and my own regard for the honour and * Epift. ad Atticum, lib. v. 15. VOL. I. o welfare 98 MEMOIRS OF Welfare of the battalion. When 1 felt that my perfonal efcape was impradicable, I bowed my neck to the yoke : my fervitude was protradted far beyond the annual patience of Cicero ; and it was not till after the preliminaiies of peace that I received my difcharge, from the ad: of government which difembodied the militia *. When * Journal, January nth, 1761.] — In thefe feven or eight months of a moft dif- agreeably active life, I have had no ftudies to fet down ; indeed, I hardly took a book in jny hand the whole time. The firll two months at Blandford, 1 might have done fome- thing ; but the novelty of the thing, of which for fome time I was fo fond as to think of going into the army, our field-days, our dinners abroad, and the drinking and late hours we got- into, prevented any ferious refleftions. From the day we marched from Blandford I had hardly a moment I could call my own, almofl continually in motion ; if I was fixed for a day, it was in the guard-room, a barrack, or an inn. Our difputes confumed the little time I had left. Every letter, every memorial relative to them fell to my fhare ; and .our evening conferences were ufed to hear all the morning hours ftrike. At laft I got to Dover, and Sir Thomas left us for two months. The charm was over, I was (Ick of fo hateful a fervice ; I was fettled in a comparatively quiet fitu- ation. Once more I began to tafte the pleafure of thinking. Recollefting fome thoughts I had formerly had in relation to the fyftem of Paganifm, which I intended to make ufe of in my Eflay, I refolved to read Tully de Natura Deo- lum, and finilhed it in about a month. I loft fome time before I could recover my habit of application. Oft. 23d.]— -Our firft delign was to march through Marlborough ; but finding on inquiry that it was a bad road, and a great way about, we refolved to pufh for the Devizes in one day, though nearly thirty miles. We accordingly arrived there about three o'clock irt the afternoon. Nov. ad.]— I have very little to fay for this and the following month. Nothing could be more uniform than the life I led there. The little civility of the neighbouring gentlemen gave us no opportunity of dining out ; the time of year did not tempt us to any excurfions round the country -, and at firft my indolence, and afterwards a violent cold, prevented my going over to Bath. I believe in the two months I never dined or lay from quarters. I can therefore only fet down what I did in the literary way. De- figning to recover my Greek, which I had fomewhat negle£ted, I fet myfelf to read Homer, and finillied the four firft books of the Iliad, with Pope's tranflation and notes j at the fame time, to underftand the geography of the Iliad, and particularly the cata- logue, I read the 8th, 9th, loth, 12th, 13th, and 14th books of Strabo, in Cafau- bon's Latin tranfiation : I likewife read Hume's Hlllory of England to the Reign of Henry the Seventh, juft publiflied, ingenious but fiiperfcial ; and the Journals des S^avant for Auguft, September, and Oftober 1761, with the Biblictheque des Sciences, &c. from July to October : Both thefe Journals fpeak very handfomely of my book. December MY LIFE AND WRITir^GS. 99 When I complain of the lofs of time, juftice to myfelf and to tlie militia muft throw the greateft part of that reproach on the lirll feven December 25th, 1761.] — When, upon finifliing the year, I take a review of what I have done, I am not diflatisfied with what I did in it, upon making proper allowances. On the one hand, I could begin nothing before the middle of January. The Deal duty loft me part of February ; although I was at Iiome part of March, and all April, yet ele£tioneering is no friend to the Mufes. May, indeed, though diflipated by our fea parties, was pretty quiet ; but June was abfolutely loft, upon the march, at Alton, and fettling ourfelves in camp. The four fucceeding months in camp allowed me little leifure, and lefs quiet. November and December were indeed as much my own as any time can be whilft I remain in the militia ; but ftill it is, at beft, not a life for a man of letters. However, in this tumultuous year, (befides fmaller things which I have fet down,) I read four books of Homer in Greek, fix of Strabo in Latin, Cicero de Natura Deorum, and the great philofophical and theological work of M. de Beau- fobre : I wrote in the fame time a long differtation on the fuccedion of Naples ; re- viewed, fitted for the prefs, and augmented above a fourth, my Eflai fur I'Etude de la Litterature. In the fix weeks I pafled at Beriton, as I never ftirred from it, every day was like the former. I had neither vifits, hunting, or walking. My only refources were my- felf, my books, and family converfations. — But to me thefe were great refources. April 24th, 1762.] — I waited upon Colonel Harvey in the morning, to get him to apply for me to be brigade major to Lord Effingham, as a poft I fliould be very fond of, and for which I am not unfit. Harvey received me with great good- nature and candour, told me he was both willing and able to ferve me ; that indeed he had already applied to Lord Effingham for *****^ one of his own officers, and though there would be more than one brigade major, he did not think he could pro- perly recommend two ; but that if I could get fomc other perfon to break the ice, he would fecond it, and believed he fhould fuccced r fhould that fail, as ***** vfas in bad circumltances, he believed he could make a compromife with him (this was my defire) to let me do the duty without pay. I went from him to the Mallets, who pro- mifed to get Sir Charles Howard to fpeak to Lord Effingham. Auguft 22d.] — I went with Ballard to the French church, where I heard a mod indifferent fcrmon preached by M. ******. A very bad ftyle, a worfe pronun- ciation and action, and a very great vacuity of ideas, compofed this excellent per- formance. Upon the whole, which is preferable, the philofophic method of the Englifh, or the rhetoric of the French preachers ? The firil (though lefs glorious) is certainly fafer for the preacher. It is difficult tor a man to make Jiimfeif ridiculous, who propofes only to deliver plain fenfe on a fubjeft he has thoroughly ftudicd. But ihe inftant he difcovers the leaft pretenfions towards the fublime, or the pathetic, there 02 • is 100 MEMOIRS OF feven or eight months, while I was obliged to learn as well as to teach. The dlffipation of Blandford, and the difputes of Portfmouth, confumed is no medium ; \vc mud either admire or laugh : and there are fo many various talents requlfite to form the chara£ler of an orator, that it is more than probable we ftiaU laugh. As to the advantage of the hearer, which ought to be the great confideration, the dilemma is much greater. Excepting in fome particular cafes, where we are blinded by popular prejudices, we are in general fo well acquainted with our duty, that it is almoft fuperfluous to convince us of it. It is the heart, and not the head, that holds out ; and it is certainly poffible, by a moving eloquence, to roufe the fleeping fentlmeuts of that heart, and incite it to a£ls of virtue. Unluckily it is not fo much acls, as liabits of virtue, we fliould have in view ; and the preacher who is inculcating, with the eloquence of a Bourdaloue, the neceffity of a virtuous life, will difmifs his affembly full of emotions, which a variety of other obje£ls, the coldnefs of our northern con- llitutions, and no immediate opportunity of exerting their good refolutions, will diflV- pate in a few moments. Augufl; 24th.] — The fame reafon that carried fo many people to the affembly to-night, was what kept me away ; I mean tlie dancing. 28th.] — To-day Sir Thomas came to us to dinner. The Spa has done him a great deal of good, for he looks another man. Pleafed to fee him, we kept bumperizing till after roll-calling ; Sir Thomas affuring us, every frefli bottle, how infinitely foberer he was grown. 29th.] — I felt the ufual confequences of Sir Thomas's company, and loft a morn- ing, becaufe I had lofh the day before. However, having finifiied Voltaire, I re- turned to Le Clerc (I mean for the amufement of my leifure hours) ; and laid afide for fome time his Bibliotkeque Univer-felle, to look into the Bibliitheque Choifie, which is by far the better work. September 23d.] — Colonel Wilkes, of the Buckinghamfhire militia, dined with us, and renewed the acquaintance Sir Thomas and myfelf had begun with him at Reading. T fcarcely ever met with a better companion ; he has inexhauftible fpirits, infinite wit and humour, and a great deal of knowledge. He told us himfelf, that in this time of public diffenfion he was refolved to make his fortune. Upon this principle he has con- nedled himfelf clofely with Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt, commenced a public adverfary to Lord Bute, whom he abufes weekly in the North Briton, and other political papers in which he is concerned. This proved a very debauched day : we drank a good deal both after dinner and fupper; and when at laft Wilkes had retired, Sir Thomas and fome others (of whom I was not one) broke into his room, and made him drink a bottle of claret in bed. Oftober 5th.] — The review, which lafted about three honrs, concluded, as ufual, with marching by Lord Effingham, by grand divifions. Upon the whole, con- fiderinsr MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. loi confumed the hours which were not employed in the field ; and amid the perpetual hurry of an inn, a barrack, or a guard-room, all literary fulering the camp had done both the Winchefler and the Gofport duties all the fummer, they behaved very well, and made a fine appearance. As they marched by, I had my ufual curiofity to count their files. The following is my field return : I think it a curiofity ; I am fare it is more exafl than is commonly made to a reviewing gcneraL Number of Files. ■Din- t Grenadiers, lo Battalion, 72 91 — iir T?/r » Grenadiers, i c # ^- ^Jf''' ^ Battalion. 80 ^ 95 o r-fn V Grenadiers, 20 7 S. Glojlcr, J Battalion, 84 5'°*^ ~ N.Glopr, \ Grenadiers, 13 ? 5^ _ ■^ ' I Battalion, 52 5 J f,. \ Grenadiers, 207 o Lancafnre, J Battalion, 88 $ '°^ " irr-t./L- V Grenadiers, 24 7 Wrltjhtre, J BattaJion, 120 1^44 - Total, 607 Number of Men, Eftablifliment. 273 — 560 285 — 480 312 — 600 '95 — 36® 324 — Soo 432 ■—" 800 1821 3600 N. B. The Gofport detachment from the Lancafliire confifted of two hundred and fifty men. The Buckinghamfhire took the Winchefler duty that day. So that this camp in England, fuppofed complete, witli only one detachment, had under arms, on the day of the grand review, little more than half their eftabliftiment. This amazing deficiency (though exemplified in every regiment I have feen) is an extraordinary military phoenomenon : what mud it be upon foreign fervice ? I doubt whether a nominal army of an hundred thoufand men often brings fifty into the field. Upon our return to Southampton in the evening, we found Sir Thomas Worfley. Oftober 2ifl:.] — One of thofe impulfes, which it is neither very eafy nor very neceflary to withftand, drew me from Longinus to a very different fubject, the Greek Calendar. Laft night, when in bed, I was thinking of a differtation of M. dela Nauze upon the Roman calendar, which I read laft year. Tliis led me to confider what was the Greek, and finding myfelf very ignorant of it, I determined to read a (hort, but very excellent abftradt of Mr. Dodwell's book de Cyclis, by the famous Dr. Halley. It is only twenty-five pages ; but as I meditated it thoroughly, and verified all the calculations, it was a very good morning's work. Oaober I02 MEMOIRS OF literary Ideas were baiiifhed from my mind. After this long fad, the longeft whicli I have ever known, I once more tafted at Dover the October 28th.] — I looked over a new Greek Lexicon which I have juft received from London. It is that of Robert Conflantine, Lugdun. 1637. It is a very large volume in folio, in two parts, comprifing in the whole 1785 pages. After the great Thtfaurus, this is efteemed the beft Greek Lexicon. It feems to be fo. Of a variety of words for which I looked, I always found an exa£l: definition ; the various fenfes well diflinguiftied, and properly fupported, by the beft authorities. However, I ftill prefer the radical method of Scapula to this alphabetical one. December nth.] — I have already given au idea of the Gofport duty ; I fliall only add a trait which charafterizes admirably our unthinking failors. At a time when they knew that they (hould infallibly be difcharged in a few weeks, numbers, who had con- fiderable wages due to them, were continually jumping over the walls, and rifquing the lofing of it for a few hours amufement at Porcfmouth. jMt]^ 1 "We found old Captain Meard at Alresford, with the fecond divifion of the fouiteenth. He and all his officers fupped with us, and made the evening rather a drunken one. j8th.] About the fame hour our two corps paraded to march off. They, an old corps of regulars, who had been two years quiet in Dover caftle. We, part of a voung body of militia, two-thirds of our men recruits, of four months ftanding, two of which they had pafled upon very difagreeable duty. Every advantage was on their lide, and yet our fuperiority, both as to appearance and difcipline, was fo ftriking, that the moft prejudiced regular could not have hefitated a moment. At the end of the town our two companies feparated ; my father's ftruck off for Petersfield, whilft I continued my rout to Alton ; into which place I marched my company about noon ; two years fix months and fifteen days after my firft leaving it. I gave the men fome beer at roll-calling, which they received with great cheerfulnefs and decency. I dined and lay at Hairifon's, where I was received with that old-fafliioried breeding, which is at once fo honourable and fo troublefome. 2Tci.l Our two companies were difembodied ; mine at Alton, and my father's at Beriton. Smith marched them over from Petersfield : they fired three vollies, lodged the major's colours, delivered up their arms, received their money, partook of a dinner at the major's expence, and then feparated with great cheerfulnefs and regularity. ■ Thus ended the militia ; I may fay ended, fince our annual affemblies in May are 10 very precarious, and can be of fo little ufe. However, our ferjeants and drums are ftill kept up, and quartered at the rendezvous of their companyj and the adjutant remains at Southampton in full pay. 2 As MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. J03 the pleafures of reading and thinking ; and the hungry appetite with which I opened a volume of Tully's philofophical works is ftill prefent to my memory. The laft review of my Effay before its pub- lication, had prompted me to inveftigate the nature of the gods ; my inquiries led me to the Hifloire Critique du Manicheifme of Beau~ As this was an extraordinary fcene of life, in which I was engaged above three years and a half from the date of my commifTion, and above tv/o years and a half from the time of our embodying, I cannot take my leave of it without fome few reflec- tions. When I engaged in it, I was totally ignorant of its nature and confequences. I offered, becaufe my father did, without ever imagining that we fhould be called out, till it was too late to retreat with honour. Indeed, I believe it happens through- out, that our moft important aflions have been often determined by chance, caprice, or fome very inadequate motive. After our embodying, many things contributed to make me fuppoit it with great impatience. Our continual difputes with the duke of Bolton ; our unfcttled way of life, which hardly allowed me books or leifure for ftudy •, and more than all, the difagreeable fociety in which I was forced to live. After mentioning my fufFerings, I muft fay fomething of what I found agreeable. Now it is over, I can make the feparation much better than I could at the time. i. The unfettled way of life'*itfelf had its advantages. The exeicife and change of air and of objefls amufed me, at the fame time that it fortified my health. 2. A new field of knowledge and amufement opened itfelf to me ; that of military aff^iirs, which, both in my ftudies and travels, will give me eyes for a new world of things, which before would have paffed unheeded. Indeed, in that refpeft I can hardly help wifliing our battalion had continued another year. We had got a fine fet of new men, all our difliculties v/ere over ; we were perfeftly well clothed and appointed ; and, from the progrefs our recruits had already made, we could promife ourfelves that we fhould be one of the beft militia corps by next fummer : a circumilance that would have been the more agreeable to me, as I am now eftabliflied the real adling major of the battalion. But what I value moft, is the knov/ledge it has given me of mankind in general, and of my own country in particular. The general fyftem of our government, the methods of our feveral offices, the departments and powers of their refpective officers, our pro- vincial and municipal adminiftration, the views of our feveral parties, the charadlers, connexions, and influence of our principal people, have been imprefled on my mind, not by vain theory, but by the indelible lefTons of aftion and experience. I have made a number of valuable acquaintance, and am myfelf much better known, than (with my referved charafter) I fliould have been in ten years, pafFmg regularly my fummers at Beriton, and my winters in London. So that the fum of all is, that I am glad the militia has been, and glad that it is no more. fobre, 104 MEMOIRS OF fobre, who difcufles many deep queftions of Pagan and Chrlftian -theology : and from this rich treafury of fa£ts and opinions, I de- duced my own confequences, beyond the holy circle of the author. After this recovery I never relapfed into indolence ; and my ex- ample might prove, that in the life mod averfe to ftudy, fome hours may be flolen, fome minutes may be fnatched. Amidft the tumult of Winchcfter camp I fometimes thought and read in my tent ; in the more fettled quarters of the Devizes, Blandford, and South- ampton, I always fecured a feparate lodging, and the neceffary books; and in the fummer of 1762, while the new militia was raifmg, I enjoyed at Beriton two or three months of literary repofe *. In forming a new plan of ftudy, I hefitated between the mathematics and the Greek language ; both of which I had negle£led fuice my return from Laufanne. I confulted a learned and friendly mathe- matician, Mr. George Scott, a pupil of de Moivre; and his map of a country which I have never explored, may perhaps be more ferviceable to others f . As foon as I had given the preference to Greek, the example of Scaliger and my own reafon determined me * Journal, May 8th, 1762.] — This was my birth-day, on which I entered into the twenty-fixth year of my age. This gave me occafion to look a little into myfclf, and confider impartially my good and bad qualities. It appeared to me, upon this inquiry, that my charadler was virtuous, incapable of a bafe adlion, and formed for generous ones ; but that it was proud, violent, and difagreeable in fociety. Thefe qualities I mud endeavour to cultivate, extirpate, or reftrain, according to their dif- ferent tendency. Wit I have none. My imagination is rather ftrong than pleafing. My memory both capacious and retentive. The fliining qualitfes of my underftanding are extenfivenefs and penetration ; but I want both quicknefs and exadlnefs. As to my fituation in life, though I may fometimes repine at it, it perhaps is the befl adapted to my character. I can command all the conveniencies of life, and I can command too that independence, (that firfl earthly bleffing,) which is hardly to be met with in a higher or lower fortune. When I talk of my fituation, I mufl exclude that temporary one, of being in the militia. Though I go through it with fpirit and ap- plication, it is both unfit for, and unworthy of me. •j- See Appendix, Letter, N' XI. excelltnt, from Mr. Scott to Mr. Gibbon. on MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 105 on the choice of Homer, the father of poetry, and the Bible of the ancients : but Scaliger ran through the lUad in one and twenty days ; a.nd I was not diffatisfied with my own dihgence for performing the fame labour in an equal number of weeks. After the firft difficulties were furmounted, the language of nature and harmony foon became eafy and familiar, and each day I failed upon the ocean with a briflcer gale and a more fleady courfe. 'Ev ccvsy^o; TTpriTiv f/srov irtov, xf/. MEMOIRS OF panions. I infenfibly plunged into the ocean of the Auguftan hlf- tory; and in the defcending feries I inveftigated, with my pen almoft always in my hand, the original records, both Greek and Latin, from Dion Caffius to Ammianus Marcellinus, from the reign of Trajan to the laft age of the Weftern Csefars. The fubfidiary rays of medals, and infcriptions of geography and chronology, were thrown on their proper obje£l:s ; and I applied the coUedions of Tillemont, whofe inimitable accuracy almoft affiimes the cha- rafter of genius, to fix and arrange within my reach the loofe and fcattered atoms of hiftorical information. Through the darknefs of the middle ages I explored my way in the Annals and Antiquities of Italy of the learned Muratori ; and diligently compared them with the parallel or tranfverfe lines of Sigonius and Maffei, Baronius and Pagi, till I almoft grafped the ruins of Rome in the fourteenth cen- tury, without fufpeding that this final chapter muft be attained by the labour of fix quartos and twenty years. Among the books which I purchafed, the Theodocian Code, with the commentary of James Godefroy, muft be gratefully remembered. I ufed it (and much I ufed it) as a work of hiftory, rather than of jurifprudence : but in every light it may be confidered as a full and capacious repofitory of the political ftate of the empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. As I believed, and as I ftill believe, that the propagation of the Gofpel, and the triumph of the church, are infeparably conne£ted with the decline of the Roman monarchy, I weighed the caufes iind effects of the revolution, and contrafted the narratives and apo- logies of the Chriftians themfelves, with the glances of candour or enmity which the Pagans have caft on the rifing fedts. The Jewiflx and Heathen teftimonies, as they are coUeded and illuftrated by Dr. Lardner, diredled, without fuperfeding, my fearch of the originals j and in an ample diflertation on the miraculous darknefs of the paffion, I privately withdrew my conclufions from the filence of an unbelieving age. I have affembled the preparatory ftudies, diredlly MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. Ht or indlredly relative to my hiftory ; but, in ftrid equity, they muft be fpread beyond this period of my life, over the two fummers {177 1 and 1772) that elapfgd between my father's death and my fettlement in London. 2. In a free converfation with books and men, it would be endlefs to enumerate the names and charadtcrs of all who are introduced to our acquaintance ; but in this general ac- quaintance we may feledt the degrees of fiiendfhip and efteem, ac- cording to the wife maxim, Mtilttim legere potius quam miilta. I re- viewed, again and again, the immortal works of the French and Englifti, the Latin and Italian claflics. My Greek fludies (though lefs afliduous than I defigned) maintained and extended my know- ledge of that incomparable idiom. Homer and Xenophon were ftill my favourite authors ; and I had almofl prepared for the prefs an Eflay on the Cyropoedia, which, in my own judgment, is not un- happily laboured. After a certain age, the new publications of merit are the fole food of the many ; and the mofl auftere ftudent will be often tempted to break the line, for the fake of indulging his own curiofity, and of providing the topics of falhionable currency. A moi-e refpedable motive may be affigned for the third perufal of Blackftone's Commentaries, and a copious and critical abftrad of that Englifh work was my firft ferious produdtion in my native language^ 3. My literary leifure was much lefs complete and independent than it might appear to the eye of a ftranger. In the hurry of London I was deftitute of books ; in the folitude of Hampfliire I was not mafter of my time. My quiet was gradually difturbed by our do-^ meftic anxiety, and I fhould be afliamed of my unfeeling philofophy, had I found much time or tafte for fliidy in the laft fatal fummer (1772) of my father's decay and diflblution. The difembodying of the militia at the clofe of the war (1763) had reftored the Major (a new Cincinnatus) to a life of agriculture. His labours were ufeful, his pleafures innocent, his wifhes mode- rate J and my father famed to enjoy the ftate of happinefs which is celebrated 142 M E M O I R S O F celebrated by poets and phllofophers, as the moft agreeable to nature, and the leaft acceflible to fortune. Beatus ille, qui procul negotils (Ut prifca gens mortalium) Paterna rura bubus exercet fuls, Solutus omni foenore *. HoR. Epod. 11. "But the laft indlfpenfable condition, the freedom from debt, was wanting to my father's felicity ; and the vanities of his youth were feverely punlfhed by the follcitude and forrow of his declining age. The firft mortgage, on my return from Laufanne, (1758,) had af- forded him a partial and tranfient relief. The annual demand of intereft and allowance was a heavy dedudion from his income ; the militia was a fource of expence, the farm in his hands was not a profitable adventure, he was loaded with the cofts and damages of an obfolete law-fult ; and each year multiplied the number, and ex- haufted the patience, of his creditors. Under thefe painful circum- ftances, I confented to an additional mortgage, to the fale of Putney, and to every facrifice that could alleviate his diftrefs. But he was no longer capable of a rational effort, and his reludlant delays poft- poned not the evils themfelves, but the remedies of thofe evils (re- media tnalorum pot'ius quam mala djffercbat). The pangs of fhame, tendernefs, and felf-reproach, inceffantly preyed on his vitals ; his conftitutlon was broken ; he loft his ftrength and his fight ; the ra- pid progrefs of a dropfy admonlfhed him of his end, and he funk into the grave on the loth of November 1770, in the fixty-fourth year of his age. A family-tradition infinuates that Mr. William Law had drawn his pupil in the light and Inconftant character of * Like the firft mortals, bleft is he. From debts, and ufury, and bufinefs free, With his own team who ploughs the fail, Which grateful once confelVd his father's toil. Francis. 2 Flatuf, MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 143 Fldtus^ who is ever confident, and ever difappointed in the chace of happinefs. But thefe conllitutional failings were happily compen- fated by the virtues of the head and heart, by the warmeft fenti- ments of honour and humanity. His graceful perfon, polite ad- drefs, gentle manners, and unafieded cheerfulnefs, recommended him to the favour of every company j and in the change .-of times and opinions, his liberal fpirit had long fmce delivered him from the zeal and prejudice of a Tory education. I fubmitted to the order of Nature ; and my grief was foothed by the confcious fatisfadlion that I had difcharged all the duties of filial piety. As foon as I had paid the laft folemn duties to my father, and obtained, from time and reafon, a tolerable compofuie of mind, I began to form the plan of an independent life, moft adapted to my circumftances and inclination. Yet fo intricate was the net, my ef- forts were fo awkward and feeble, that nearly two years (November 1770 — 0£lober 1772) were fufFered to elapfe before I could difen- tangle myfelf from the management of the farm, and transfer my refidence from Beriton to a houfe In London. During this interval I continued to divide my year between town and the country ; but my new fituation was brightened by hope ; my flay in London was prolonged into the fummer ; and the uniformity of the fummer was occafionally broken by vifits and excurfions at a diffance from home. The gratification of my defires (they were not immoderate) has been feldom difappointed by the want of money or credit ; my pride was never infulted by the vifit of an importunate tradefman ; and my tranfient anxiety for the paft or future has been difpelled by the ftudious or focial occupation of the prefent hour. My confcience does not accufe me of any a£l of extravagance or injuffice, and the remnant of my eflate affords an ample and honourable provifion for my declining age. I fhall not expatiate on my oeconomical affairs, which cannot be inftrudive or amufing to the reader. It is a rule of prudence, as well as of politenefs, to referve fuch confidence for the 144 MEMOIRS OF the ear of a private friend, without cxpofing our fituation to the envy or pity of ftrangers j for envy is produdive of hatred, aud pity borders too nearly on contempt. Yet I may believe, and even afl'ert, that in circumftances more indigent or more virealthy, I fhould never have accomplifhed the taflc, or acquired the fame, of an his- torian ; that my fpirit vi^ould have been broken by poverty and con- tempt, and that my induflry might have been relaxed in the labour and luxury of a fuperfluous fortune. I had now attained the firft of earthly bleffings, independence : I was the abfolute maftcr of my hours and adtions : nor was I deceived in the hope that the eftabliihment of my library in town would allow me to divide the day between fludy and fociety. Each year the circle of my acquaintance, the number of my dead and living companions, was enlarged. To a lover of books, the (hops and fales of London prefent irrefiftible temptations ; and the manufacture of my hiftory required a various and growing ftock of materials. The militia, my travels, the Houfe of Commons, the fame of an author, contributed to multiply my connexions : I was chofen a member of the fafhion- able clubs; and, before I left England in 1783, there were few per- fons of any eminence in the literary or political world to whom I was a ftranger *. It would moft affuredly be in my power to amufe the reader with a gallery of portraits and a colle-«/ Chriftians, fuch as Mr. Locke, who believe and interpret the Scriptures, are, in his judgment, no bettes than profane infidels. % Aftrucde la Structure du Coeur, torn. i. "^I- 1<). Appendix, Letters CXIX—. cxxiv. tinized MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 155 tin'ized each feparate paflage of the two chapters with the dry mi- nutenefs of a fpeclal pleader ; and as he was always folicitous to make, he may have fucceeded fometimes in finding, a flaw. In his Annals of Scotland, he has Ihewn himfelf a diligent colledor and an accurate critic. I have praifed, and I ftill praife, the eloquent fermons which were preached in St. Mary's pulpit at Oxford by Dr. White. If he slC- faulted me with fome degree of illiberal acrimony, in fuch a place, and before fuch an audience, he was obliged to fpeak the language of the country. I fmiled at a palfage in one of his private letters to Mr. Badcock ; " The part where we encounter Gibbon mud be *' brilliant and ftriking." In a fermon preached before the univerfity of Cambridge, Dr. Ed- wards complimented a work, " which can only perifh with the *' language itfelf ;" and efteems the author a formidable enemy. He is, indeed, aftonifhed that more learning and ingenuity has not been fhewn in the defence of Ifrael; that the prelates and dignitaries of the church (alas, good man !) did not vie with each other, whofe- ftone fhould fmk the deepeft in the forehead of this Goiiah. " But the force of truth will oblige us to confefs, that in the at- *' tacks which have been levelled againfl; our fceptical hiftorian, we *' can difcover but flender traces of profound and exquifite erudition, *' of folid criticifm and accurate inveftigation ; but we are too fre- " quently difgufted by vague and inconclufive reafoning ; by unfea- *' fonable banter and fenfelefs wittlcifms ; by imbittered bigotry and *' enthufiaftic jargon ; by futile cavils and illiberal invedlives. Proud " and elated by the v^^eaknefs of his antagonifts, he condefcends not " to handle the fword of controverfy *." Let me frankly own that I was ftartled at the firft difcharge of ecclefiaftical ordnance ; but as foon as I found that this empty noife was mifchievous only in the intention, my fear -was converted into * Monthly Review, Oft. 1 790. X 2 indignation ; 1^5 MEMOIRS OF indignation ; and every feeling of indignation or curiofity has long fince fubfided in pure and placid indifference. The profecution of my hiftory was foon afterwards checked by another controverfy of a very different kind. At the requeft of the Lord Chancellor, and of Lord Weymouth, th^n Secretary of State, I vindicated, againft the French manifefto, the juftice of the Britifh arms. The whole correfpondence of Lord Stormont, our late am- baffador at Paris, was fubmitted to my infpeaion, and the Memo'ire Jujitficatif, which I compofed in French, was lirft approved by the Cabinet Minifters, and then delivered as a ftate paper to the courts of Europe. The ftyle and manner are praifed by Beaumarchais himfelf, who, in his private quarrel, attempted a reply; but he flatters me, by afcribing the memoir to Lord Stormont ; and the groffnefs of his inve£live betrays the lofs of temper and of wit ; he acknowledged *, that Ic Jlyle ne fcroit pas ferns grace, m la logique fans jnjlcjfe. Sec. if the fads were true which he undertakes to dif- prove. For thefe fads my credit is not pledged ; I fpoke as a lawyer from my brief, but the veracity of Beaumarchais may be eftimated from the affertion that France, by the treaty of Paris (1763), was limited to a certain number of fhips of war. On the application of the Duke of Choifeul, he was obliged to retrad this daring falfehood. Among the honourable connedlons which I had formed, I may juftly be proud of the friendfliip of Mr. Wedderburne, at that time Attorney General, who now illuftrates the title of Lord Lough- borough, and the office of Chief Juftice of the Common Pleas. By his ftrong recommendation, and the favourable difpofition of Lord North, I v/as appointed one of the Lords Commiffioners of Trade and Plantations ; and my private income was enlarged by a clear addition of between feven and eight hundred pounds a-year. The fancy of an hoftile orator may paint, in the ftrong colours of lidi- * Ocuvrcs de Beaumarchais, torn. ili. p. 299. 355. 7 cule, MY LIFE AND WRITINOS. 157 cule, " the perpetual virtual adjournment, and the unbroken fitting " vacation of the Board of Trade *." But it muft be allowed that our duty was not intolerably fevere, and that I enjoyed many days and weeks of repofe, without being called away from my library to the office. My acceptance of a place provoked fome of the leaders of oppofitioU) with whom I had lived in habits of intimacy ; and I was mofl unjuftly accufed of deferting a party, in which I had never inlifted f . The ,* I can never forget the delight with which that difFufive and ingenious orator, Mr. Burke, was heard by all fides of the houfe, and even by thofe whofe exiftence he profcrlbed. (See Mr. Burke's fpeech on the Bill of Reform, p. 72 — 80.) The Lords of Trade blufhed at their infignificancy, and Mr. Eden's appeal to the two thoufanJ five hundred volumes of our Reports, ferved only to excite a general laugh. I take this opportunity of certifying the corre£tnefs of Mr. Burke's printed fpeeches, which I have heard and read. f From Edward Gibbon efq. to efq. Dear Sir, 2d July 1779. Yefterday I received a very interefting communication from my friend, whofe kind and honourable behaviour towards me I muft always remember with the higheft gratitude. He informed me that, in confequence of -an arrangement, a place at the Board of Trade was referved for me, and that as foon as I fignified my acceptance of it, he was fatisfied no farther difficulties would arife. My anfwer to him was fincere and explicit. I told him that I was far from approving all thepaft meafures of the ad- miniftration, even fome of thofe in which I myfelf had filently concurred ; that I faw, with the reft of the world, many capital defefts in the chara£lers of fome of the pre- fent miniftcrs, and was forry that in fo alarming a fituatiou of public affairs, the country had not the afliftance of feveral able and honeft men who are now in oppo- fition. But that I had not formed with any of thofe perfons in oppofition any engage- ments or connexions which could lii the leait reftrain or afFe£l: my parliamentary con- du£l' ; that I could not difcover among them fuch fuperior advantages, either of mea- fures or of abilities, as could make me confider it as a duty to attach myfelf to their caufe ; and that I clearly underftood, from the public and private language of , one of their leaders, that in the adlual ftate of the country, he himfelf was ferioufly of opinion that oppofition could not tend to any good purpofe, and might be produdive of much mifchief ; that, for thofe reafons, I faw no objeftions which could prevent mc from accepting an office under the prefent government, and that I was ready to take a ftep which I found to be confident both with my intereft and nay honour. It 158 MEMOIRS OF The afpcd of the next felFion of parliament was flormy and pe- rilous ; county meetings, petitions, and committees of correfpond- ence, announced the public difcontent ; and inftead of voting with a triumphant majority, the friends of government were often ex- pofed to a flruggle, and fometimes to a defeat. The Houfe of Com- mons adopted Mr. Dunning's motion, '• That the influence of the *' Crowm had increafed, was increafmg, and ought to be dimi- " nifhed :" and Mr. Burke's bill of reform was framed with Ikilli introduced with eloquence, and fupportcd by numbers. Our late prefident, the American Secretary of State, very narrowly efcaped the fentence of profcription ; but the unfortunate Board of Trade was abolifhed in the committee by a fmall majority (207 to 199) of eight votes. The ftorm, however, blew over for a time ; a large defedion of country gentlemen eluded the fanguine hopes of the patriots : the Lords of Trade were revived ; adminiftratlon reco- vered their ftrength and fpirit ; and the flames of London, which were kindled by a mifchievous madman, admoniflied all thinking men of the danger of an appeal to the people. In the premature diflblution which followed this feflSon of parliament I loft my feat. Mr. Elliot was now deeply engaged in the meafures of oppofition, and the eledlors of Lefkeard * are commonly of the fame opinion as Mr. Elliot. It muft now be decided, whether I m:iy continue to live in England, or whether I inuft foon withdraw myfelf into a kind of philofophical exile in Switzerland. My father left his affairs in a flate of embarraffment, and even of diftrefs. My attempts to difpofe of a part of my landed property have hitherto been difappointed, end are not likely at pre fen t to be more fuccefsful : and my plan of expence, though moderate in itfelf, deferves the name of extravagance, fince it exceeds my real income. The ad- dition of the falary which is now ofiered will make my fituation perfectly eafy j but I hope you will do me the juftice to believe that my mind could not be fo, unlefs I were fatisfied of the reftitude of my own conduft. * The borough which Mr. Gibbon had reprefented in parliament. In MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 159 In this interval of my fenatorial life, I publifhed the fecond and third vokimes of the Decline and Fall. My ecclefiaftical hiftory ftill breathed the fame fpirit of freedom ; but proteftant zeal is more indifferent to the charafters and controverfies of the fourth and fifth centuries. My obftinate fdence had damped the ardour of the po- lemics. Dr. Watfon, the moft candid of my adverfaries, aflured me that he had no thoughts of renewing the attack, and my impartial balance of the Aartues and vices of Julian was generally praifed. This truce was interrupted only by fome animadverfions of the Ca- tholics of Italy, and by fome angry letters from Mr. Travis, who made me perfonally refponfible for condemning, with the heft cri- tics, the fpurious text of the three heavenly witnefTes. The piety or prudence of my Italian tranflator has provided aii antidote againft the poifon of his original. The 5th and 7th vo- lumes are armed with five letters from an anonymous divine to his friends, Foothead and Kirk, two Englilh ftudents at Rome ; and this meritorious fervice is commended by Monfignor Stonor, a prelate of the fame nation, who difcovers much venom in \X\t fluid and nervous ftyle of Gibbon. The critical eflay at the end of the third volume was furnilhed by the Abbate Nicola Spedalieri, whofe zeal has gra- dually fwelled to a more folid confutation in two quarto volumes. — Shall I be excufed for not having read them ? The brutal infoJence of Mr. Travis's challenge can only be excufed by the abfence of learning, judgment, and humanity; and to that ex- cufe he has the faireft or fouleft pretenfion. Compared with Arch- deacon Travis, Chelfum and Davies afilime the title of refpedable enemies. The bigotted advocate of popes and monks may be turned over even to the bigots of Oxford ; and the wretched Travis ftill fmarts under the lalh of the mercilefs Porfon. Iconfider Mr. Porfon's anfwer to Archdeacon Travis as the moft: acute and accurate piece of criticifm which has appeared fince the days of Bentley. His ftric- 2- tures i6o MEMOIRS OF tures.are founded in argument, enriched with learning, and enlivened with wit ; and his adverfary neither deferves nor finds any quarter at his hands. The evidence of the three heavenly witneflcs would now be rejedled in any court of juftice : but prejudice is blind, authority is deaf, and our vulgar bibles will ever be polluted by this fpurious text, '■'■ fcdet aternumque fcdebit^'' The more learned ecclefiaftics will indeed have the fecret fatisfadlion of reprobating in the clofet what they read in the church. I perceived, and without furprife, the coldnefs and even prejudice of the town ; nor could a whifper efcape my ear, that, in the judg- ment of many readers, my continuation was much inferior to the original attempts. An author who cannot afcend will always appear to fink ; envy was now prepared for my reception, and the zeal of my religious, was fortified by the motive of my political, enemies. Bifhop Newton, in writing his own life, was at full liberty to declare how much he himfelf and two eminent brethren were difgufted by Mr. G.'s prolixity, tedioufnefs, and afFeftation. But the old man fhould not have indulged his zeal in a falfe and feeble charge againft the hiftorian *, who had faithfully and even cautioufly rendered Dr. Burnet's * ExtraB from Mr. Gibbon'/ Common Place Book. Thomas Newton, Bifliop of Briftol and Dean of St. Paul's, was born at Litchfield on the 21ft of December 1703, O. S. (ifl January 1704, N. S.), and died the 14th of February 1782, in the 79th year of his age. A few days before his death he finiftied the memoirs of his own life, which have been prefixed to an edition of his pollhu- mous works, firft publlflied in quarto, and fince (1787) re-publifhed in fix volumes ofkavo. P. 173, 174. Some books were publifhed in 1781, which employed fome of the Bifhop's leifure hours, and during his illnefs. Mr. Gibbon's HijJory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire he read throughout, but it by no meir.s anfwered his expefta- tioM -, for he found it rather a prolix and tedious performance, his matter uninterefting, and his ftyle affe£ted ; his teftimonies not to be depended upon, and his frequent feoffs at religion offenfive to every fober mind. He had before been convidled of making faife quotations, which fliould have taught him more prudence and caution. But, without examining his authorities, there is one which muft neceflarily ftrike every man who MY LIl-E AND WRITINGS. i6i Burnet's meaning by the alternative of deep or rcpofc. That plillo- fbphic divine fuppoles, that, in the period between death and tlie relurre fion of the fpoil. There were many claimants more deferving and importunate than myfelf: the board of trade couldnot be reftored^; and, while the lift of places vms curtailed, the number of candidates was doubled. An eafy difmiffion to a fecure feat at the board of cuftoms or excife was promifed on the firft vacancy : but the chance was diftant and doubtful ; nor could I folicit with much ardour an ignoble fervitude, which would have robbed me of the moft vala- able of my ftudious hours : at the fame time the tumult of London, and the attendance on parliament, were grown more irkfome ; and, without fome additional income, I could not long or prudently main- tain the ftile of expence to which I was accuftomed. From my early acquaintance with Laufanne I had always cheriftied a fecret with, that the fchool of my youth might become the retreat of my declining age. A moderate fortune would fecure the bleifmgs 8 of MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. i6S' of eafe, lelfurc, and independence : the country, the people, the manners, the language, were congenial to my tafte ; and I might in- dulge the hope of pafling fome years in the domcftic fociety of a friend. After travelling with feveral Englifh *, Mr. Deyverdun was now fettled at home, in a pleafant habitation, the gift of his deceafed aunt : we had long been feparated, we had long been filent ; yet in my firfl: letter I expofed, with the moft perfedl confidence, my fitu- ation, my fentiments, and my defigns. His immediate anfwer was a warm and joyful acceptance : the picSture of our future life pro- voked my impatience ; and the terms of arrangement were fliort and" fimple, as he poflefTed the property, and I undertook the ex- pence of our common houfe f. Before I could break my Englifli chain, it was incumbent on me to ftruggle with the feelings of my heart, the indolence of my temper, and the opinion of the world, which unanimoufly condemned this voluntary baniiliment.. In the difpofal of my effed's, the library, a. facred depofit, was alone ex- cepted : as my poft-chaife moved over Weftminfter-bridge I bid a long firewsl to the " fumum et opes llrepitumq^ Rom^e." My jour- ney by the diredl road through France was not attended with any accident, and I arrived at Laufanne nearly twenty years after m.y fecorid departure. Within lefs than three months the coalition ftruck on fome hidden rocks: had I rem.ained on board, I fhould have perifhed in the general fhipwreck j:. Since my eftablifhment at Laufanne, more than feven^years have elapfed ; and if every day has not been equally foft and ferene, not a day, not a moment, has occurred in which I have repented of ray choice. During my abfence, a long portion of human life, many changes had happened : my elder acquaintance had left the ftage .; * Sir Richard Worfley, Lord Chefterfield, Broderick Lord Midleton, and Mr. Hume, brother to Sir Abraham. t See Appendix, Letters, No. CXXV. CXXVL CXXVIL CXXVIII. CXXIX. CXXX. I See Appendix, Letter, No.' GL, virgiiis f66 MEMOIRS OF virgins were ripened into matrons, and children were grown to the age of manhood. But the fame manners were tranfmitted from one generation to another : my friend alone was an ineftlmable treafure ; my name was not totally forgotten, and all were ambitious to wel- come the arrival of a ftranger and the return of a fellow-citizen. The firft winter was given to a general embrace, without any nice difcri- mination of perfons and charadters. After a more regular fettlement, a more accurate furvey, I difcovered three folid and permanent bene- fits of my new fituation. i. My perfonal freedom had been fome- what impaired by the Houfe of Commons and the Board of Trade ; but I was now delivered from the chain of duty and dependence, from the hopes and fears of political adventure : my fober mind was no longer intoxicated by the fumes of party, and I rejoiced in my efcape, as often as I read of the midnight debates which preceded the diflblution of parliament *. 2. My Englilh oeconomy had been that of a folitary bachelor, who might afford fome occafional dinners. In Switzerland I enjoyed at every meal, at every hour, the free and plea- fant converfation of the friend of my youth ; and my daily table was always provided for the reception of one or two extraordinary guefts. Our importance in fociety is lefs a politive than a relative weight : in London I was loft in the crowd ; I ranked with the firft families of Laufanne, and my ftyle of prudent expence enabled me to maintain a fair balance of reciprocal civilities. 3. Inftead of a fmall houfe between a ftreet and a ftable-yard, I began to occupy a fpacious and convenient manfion, connected on the north fide with the city, and open on the fouth to a beautiful and boundlefs horizon. A garden of four acres had been laid out by the tafte of Mr. Deyver- dun : from the garden a rich fcenery of meadows and vineyards de- fcends to the Leman Lake, and the profpeft far beyond the Lake is crowned by the ftupendous mountains of Savoy. My books and my acquaintance had been firft united in London ; but this happy pofi- * See Appendix, Letter, No, CXLVI. tion MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 167 tion of my library in town and country was finally referved for Laufimnc. Pofrefled of every comfort in this triple alliance, I could not be tempted to change my habitation with the changes of the feafons. My friends had been kindly apprehenfive that I fhould not be able to exift in a Swifs town at the foot of the Alps, after having fo long converfed with the firft men of the firft cities of the world. Such lofty connexions may attract the curious, and gratify the vain ; but I am too modeft, or too proud, to rate my own value by that of my aflb- ciates ; and whatfoever may be the fame of learning or genius, ex- perience has fliewn me that the cheaper qualifications of politenefs and good fenfe are of more ufeful currency in the commerce of life. By many, converfation is efteemed as a theatre or a fchool : but, after the morning has been occupied by the labours of the library, I wifh to unbend rather than to exercife my mind ; and in the interval between tea and fupper I am far from difdaining the innocent amufe- ment of a game at cards. Laufanne is peopled by a numerous gentry, whofe companionable idlenefs is feldom difturbed by the purfuits of avarice or ambition : the women, though confined to a domeftic education, are endowed for the moft part with more tafte and knowledge than their hufbands and brothers : but the decent freedom of both feses is equally" remote from the extremes of fim- plicity and refinement. I fliall add as a misfortune rather than a merit, that the fituation and beauty of the Pays de Vaud, the long habits of the Englifli, the medical reputation of Dr. Tiflbt, and the fafhion of viewing the mountains and Glaciers, have opened us on all fides to the incurfions of foreigners. The vifits of Mr. and Ma- dame Necker, of Prince Henry of Pruflia, and of Mr. Fox, may form fomc pleafing exceptions ; but, in general, Laufanne has appeared moft agreeable in my eyes, when we have been abandoned to cur ov/n fociety. I had frequently feen Mr. Necker, in the fummer of 1784, at a country houfe near Laufanne, where he compofed his 2. Treatife i68 MEMOIRS OF Treatife on the Admlniftration of the Finances. I have fince, In 0£lober 1790, vifited him in his prefent refidence, the caftle and barony of Copet, near Geneva. Of 'the merits and meafures of that llatefman various opinions may be entertained ; but all impartial men muft agree in their efteem of his integrity and patriotifm. In the month of Auguft 1 784, Prince Henry of PrufTia, in his way to Paris, palled three days at Laufanne. His military condudl has been pralfed by profeflional men ; his charadler has been vilified by the wit and malice of a daemon *; but I was flattei-ed by his affabi- lity, and entertained hy his converfation. In his tour of Switzerland (September 1788) Mr. Fox gave me two days of free and private fociety f. He feemed to feel, and even to envy, the happinefs of my fituation ; while I admired the powers of a fuperior man, as they are blended in his attradlve character with the foftnefs and fimpliclty of a child. Perhaps no human being Avas ever more perfedly exempt from the taint of malevolence, va- iiity, or falfehood. My tranfmigration from London to Laufanne could not be ef- fe£led without interrupting the courfe of my hiftorical labours. The hurry of my departure, the joy of my arrival, the delay of my tools, fufpended their progrefs ; and a full twelvemonth was loft before I could refume the thread of regular and daily induftry. A number of books moft requlfite and leaft common had been previoufly fele£led ; the academical library of Laufanne, which I could ufe as my own, contained at leaft the fathers and councils ; and I have de- rived fome occafional fuccour from the public colledions of Berne and Geneva. The fourth volume was foon terminated, by an ab- ftradt of the controverfies of the Incarnation, which the learned Dr. Prideaux was apprehenfive of expofing to profane eyes. It had been the original defign of the learned Dean Prideaux to write the * Memoire Secret de la Cour de Berlln- f See Letter in the Continuation, Odober i, 1788. hiftory MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 169 hlftory of the ruin of tlie Eaftern Church. In this work it would have been necefi'ary, not only to unravel all thofe controverfies which the Chriftians made about the hypoftatical union, but alfo to unfold all the niceties and fubtle notions which each fed: entertained concerning it. The pious hiftorian was apprehenfive of expofing that incomprehenfible myftery to the cavils and objeftions of unbe- lievers ; and he durft not, " feeing the nature of this book, venture " it abroad in fo wanton and lewd an age *." In the fifth and fixth volumes the revolutions of the empire and the world are moft rapid, various, and inftrudive ; and the Greek or Roman hiftorians are checked by the hoftile narratives of the bai- barians of the Eaft and the Weft f. It was not till after many defigns, and many trials, that I pre- ferred, as I ftlll prefer, the method of grouping my pidure by na- tions ; and the feeming negled of chronological order is furely com- penfated by the fuperior merits of intereft and perfpicuity. The ftyle of the firft volume is, in my opinion, fomewhat crude and ela- borate ; in the fecond and third it is ripened into eafe, corrednefs, and numbers ; but in the three laft I may have been feduced by the facility of my pen, and the conftant habit of fpeaking one lan- guage and writing another may have infufed fome mixture of Gallic idioms. Happily for my eyes, I have always clofed my ftudies with the day, and commonly with the morning ; and a long, but tem- perate, labour has been accomplifhed, without fatiguing either the mind or body ; but when I computed the remainder of my time and my tafk, it was apparent that, according to the feafon of publica- tion, the delay of a month would be produdive of that of a year. I was now ftraining for the goal, and in the laft winter many even- * See preface to the Life of Mahomet, p. lo, ii. f I have followed the judicious precept of the Abbe de Mably, (Maniere d'ecrire THilloire, p. no.) who advifes the hiftorian not to dwell too minutely on the decay of the eaftern empire -, but to confider the barbarian conquerors as a more worthy fubje£l of his narrative. " Fas eft et ab hofte doceri." VOL. r. z Ings lyo MEMOIRS OF Ines were borrowed from the focial pleafures of Laufanne. I could now wifli that a paufe, an interval, had been allowed for a ferious revifal. I have prefumed to mark the moment of conception : I fhall now comniemorate the hour of my final deliverance. It was on the day, or rather night, of the aytli of June 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the laft lines of the laft page, in a fummer-houfe in my garden. After laying down my pen, I took feveral turns in a berccan, or covered walk of acacias, which com- mands a profpedl of the country, the lake, and the mountains. The air was temperate, the fky was ferene, the filver orb of the moon was reflefted from the waters, and all nature was filent. I will not diifemble the firft emotions of joy on the 'recovery of my freedom, and, perhaps, the eftablilliment of my fame. But my pride was foon humbled, and a fober melancholy was fpread over my mind, by the idea that I had taken an evcrlafting leave of an old and agreeable companion, and that whatfoever might be the future date of my Hiftory, the life of the hiftorian muft be fhort and precarious. I will add two fadts, which have feldom occurred in the compofition of fix, or at leaft of five, quartos, i. My firft rough manufcript, without any intermediate copy, has been fent to the prefs. 2. Not a {heet has been feen by any human eyes, excepting thofe of the author and the printer : the faults and the merits are exclufively my own *. I cannot help recollefting a much more extraordinary fadt, which is affirmed of himfelf by Retif de la Bretorme, a voluminous and original writer of French novels. He laboured, and may ftill labour, * ExtraEl from Mr. GibbohV Common-place Bsah.. The IVth Volume of the Hiftory ^ of the Decline and Fall of the |-begun March ift, 1782— eivded June 1784. Romnn Empire, . _ J The Vth Volume, - - begun July 1784 — ended May i ft, 1786. The Vlth Volume, - - begunMay i3th, 1786— ended June 27th, 1787. Thefe three volumes were fent to prefs Auguft 15th, 1787, and the whole \a\- preffion was concluded April following. ia MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 171 in the humble ofBce of corredor to a printing-houie ; but this office enabled him to tranfport an entire volume from his mind to the prefs ; and his work was given to the public without ever having been written with a pen. After a quiet refidence of four years, during which I had never moved ten miles from Laufanne, it was not without fomc relud- ance and terror that I undertook, in a journey of two hundred leagues, to crofs the mountains and the fea. Yet this formidable adventure was atchieved without danger or fatigue ; and at the end of a fortnight I found myfelf in Lord Sheffield's houfe and library, fafe, happy, and at home. The charad:er of my friend (Mr. Hol- royd) had recommended him to a feat in parliament for Coventry, the command of a regiment of light dragoons, and an Trifh peerage. The fenfe and fpirit of his political writings have decided the public opinion on the great queftions of our commercial intereft with Ame- rica and Ireland *. The fale of his Obfcrvations on the American States was dlfFufive, their effedl beneficial ; the Navigation A£t, the palladium of Britain, was defended, and perhaps faved, by his pen ; and he proves, by the weight of fa«ft and argument, that the mother-country may fur- vive and flourifh after the lofs of America. My friend has never cultivated the arts of compofition ; but his materials are copious and correal, and he leaves on his paper the clear impreffion of an adive and vigorous mind. His " Obfervations on the Trade, Manufac- " tures, and prefent State of Ireland," were intended to guide the Induftry, to correct the prejudices, and to afluage the paffions of a country which feemed to forget that fhe couid be free and pio- fperous only by a friendly connexion with Great Britain. The con- cluding obfervations are written with fo much eafq and fpirit, that they may be read by thofe who are the leaft interefted in the fubject. • Obfervations on the Commerce of the American States, by John Lord ShclTicId, the tjth edition, London, 1784, in odlavo. Z 2 Tie 1^2 MEMOIRS OF He fell (in 1784) with the unpopular coalition ; but his merit has been acknowledged at the laft general eledion, 1 790, by the ho- nourable invitation and free choice of the city of Briftol. During the whole time of my refidence in England I was entertained at Sheffield-Place and in Downing-Street by his hofpitable kindnefs ; and the moft pleafant period was that which I pafled in the domeftic fociety of the family. In the larger circle of the metropolis I ob- ferved the country and the inhabitants with the knowledge, and without the prejudices, of an Englifhman ; but I rejoiced in the ap- parent increafe of wealth and profperity, which might be fairly divided between the fpirit of the nation and the wifdom of the mi- nifter. All party-refentment was now loft in oblivion : fmce I was no man's rival, no man was my enemy. I felt the dignity of inde- pendence, and as I a(ked no more, I was fatisfied with the general civilities of the world. The houfe in London which I frequented with moft pleafure and affiduity was that of Lord North. After the lofs of power and of fight, he was ftill happy in himfelf and his friends j and my public tribute of gratitude and efteem could no longer be fufpefted of any interefted motive. Before my departure from England, I was prefent at the auguft fpedacle of Mr. Haftings's trial in Weftminfter Hall. It is not my province to abfolve or con- demn the Governor of India ; but Mr. Sheridan's eloquence de- manded my applaufe ; nor could I hear without emotion the per- fonal compliment which he paid me in the prefence of the Britifli nation *. From this difplay of genius, which blazed four fucceflive days, I ftiall ftoop to a very mechanical circumftance. As I was waiting in the managers' box, I had the curiofity to inquire of the fhort- * He faid the fa£ls that made up the volume of narrative were unparalleled in atro- cioufnefs, and that nothing equal in criminality was to be traced, either in ancient ov modern hiilory, in tlie correft periods of Tacitus or the luminoua page of Gibbon, Morning Chronicle, June 14, 1788. hand MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. i-^^ hand writer, how many words a ready and rapid orator might pro- nounce in an hour ? From 7000 to 7500 was his anfwer. The me- dium of 7200 will afford 120 words in a minute, and two words in each fecond. But this computation will only apply to the Engliih language. As the publication of my three lafl volumes was the principal ob- jedl, fo it was the firft care of my Englifh journey. The previous arrangements with the bookfeller and the printer were fettled in my paflage through London, and the proofs, which I returned more corred, were tranfmitted every poft from the prefs to Sheffield-Place. The length of the operation, and the leifure of the country, allowed fome time to review my manufcripr. Several rare and ufeful books, the Affifes de Jerufalem, Ramufms de Bello C. P"", the Greek Ads of the Synod of Florence, the Statuta Urbis Romse, &c. were procured,, and introduced in their proper places the fupplements which they af- forded. The impreffion of the fourth volume had confumed three months. Our common intereft required that we fhould move with a quicker pace ; and Mr. Strahan fulfilled his engagement, which few printers could fuftain, of delivering every week three thoufand copies of nine flieets. The day of publication was, however, de- layed, that it might coincide with the fifty-firft anniverfary of my own birth-day ; the double feftlval was celebrated by a cheerful literary dinner at Mr. Cadell's houfe ; and I feemed to blufli while they read an elegant compliment from Mr. Hayley *, whofe poetical talents •OCCASIONAL STANZAS, by Mr. Hayley, read after the Dinner at Mr.CADELL'x, May 8, 1788; being the Day of the Publication of the Three Lafl Volumes of Mr. Gibbon'/ Hijlory, and his Birth-day, Genu of England, and bf Rome ! In mutual triumph here aflume The honors each may claim ! This focial fcene with fmlles furvey ! And confecrate the feftive day To Friendftiip and to Fame ! Enough, 174 MEMOIRS OF talents had more than once been employed in the praife of his friend. Before Mr. Hayley infcribed with my name his epiftles on hiftory, I was not acquainted with that amiable man and elegant poet. He Enough, by Defolation's tide, With anguitti, and indignant pride, Has Rome bewail'd her fate ; And mourn'd that Time, in Havoc's hour, Defac'd each monument, of power To fpeak her truly great: O'er maim'd Polybius, jufl and fage. O'er Livy's mutilated page. How deep was her regret ! Touch'd by this Q£een, in ruin grand. See ! Glory, by an Englifli hand, Now pays a mighty debt : Lo ! facred to the Roman Name, And rais'd, like Rome's immortal Fame, By Genius and by Toil, The fplcndid Work is crown'd to-day, ^ On which Oblivion ne'er fliall prey. Nor Envy make her fpoil ! England, exult ! and view not now With jealous glance each nation's brow. Where Hift'ry's palm has fpread ! In every path of liberal art. Thy Sons to prime diftin£lion flart, And no fuperior dread. Science for Thee a Newton rais'd ; For thy renown a Shakespeare blaz'd. Lord of the drama's fphere ! In different fields to equal praife See Hift'ry now thy GIBBON ralfe To fhine without a peer ! Eager to honor living worth, And blefs to-day the double birth, That proudeft joy may claim. Let aitlefs Truth this homage pay. And confecrate the feftive day To Friendfhip and to Fame I afterwards MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 175 afterwards thanked me In verfe for my fecond and third volumes f ; and in the fummer of 1781, the Roman Eagle ^ (a proud title) ac- cepted t SONNET u EDWARD GIBBON efq. On the Publication of his Second and Third Volumes, 178 1. WITH proud delight th' imperial founder gaz'd On the new beauty of his fecond Rome, When on his eager eye rich temples blaz'd. And his fair city vofe in youthful bloom r A pride more noble may thy heart aflume, O Gibbon ! gazing on thy growing work. In which, conRrufled for a happier doom, No hafty marks of vain ambition lurk: Thou may'ft deride both Time's deftrudive fway, And bafer Envy's beauty-mangling dirk ; Thy gorgeous fabric, plann'd with wife delay. Shall baffle foes more favage than the Turkj As ages multiply, its fame fhall rife. And earth mufl perifti ere its fplendor dies. Hayley'j Works, 8vo edit. vol. i. p. 162. % A Card o/" Invitation to Mr. GIBBON at Brighthelmjlone, 1781. AN Englifh fparrow, pert and free, Who chirps beneath his native tree. Hearing the Roman eagle's near, And feeling more refpeft than fear. Thus, with united love and awe. Invites him to his ftied of draw. Tho' he is but a twittering fparrow, The field he hops in rather narrow. When nobler plumes attradl his view He ever pays them homage due, He looks with reverential wonder On him, whofe talons bear the thunder , Nor could the Jackdaws e'er inveigle His voice to vilify the eagle, Tho' ifTuing from the holy tow'rs, In which they build their waifneft bow'rs, Their fovereign's haunt they flyly fearch, In hopes to catch him on his perch, (For Pindar fays, befide his God The thunder-bearing bird will nod,) Ji Then 176 MEMOIRS OF cepted the Invitation of the Englifli Sparrow, who chirped ia the groves of Eartham, near Chichcfler. As moft of the former pur- chafers were naturally defirous of completing their fets, the fale of the quarto edition was quick and eafy ; and an odtavo fize was printed, to fatisfy at a cheaper rate the public demand. The con- clufion of my work was generally read, and varioufly judged. The ftyle has been expofed to much academical criticifm ; a religious cla- mour was revived, and the reproach of indecency has been loudly echoed by the rigid cenfors of morals. I never could underftand the clamour that has been raifed againft the indecency of my three laft volumes, i. An equal degree of freedom in the former part, efpecially in the firft volume, had pafled without reproach. 2. I am juftified in painting the manners of the times ; the vices of Theodora form an eflential feature in the reign and charader of Juftinian. 3. My Englifh text is chafte, and all licentious paflages are left in the obfcurity of a learned language. Le Lathi datis fes rnots brave rhonnetete, fays the corred Boileau, in a country and idiom more fcrupulous than our own. Yet, upon the whole, the Hiftory of the Decline and Fall feems to have ftruck root, both at home and abroad, and may, perhaps, a hundred years hence ftill continue to Then, peeping round his ftiil retreat. They pick from underneath his feet Some molted feather he lets fall. And fwear he cannot fly at all. Lord of the Iky ! whofe pounce can tear Thefe croakers, that infeft the air, Truft him ! the fparrow loves to fmg The praife of thy imperial wing ! He thinks thou'lt deem him, on his v/ord, An honeft, though familiar bird ; And hopes thou foon wilt condefcend To look upon thy little friend ; That he may boaft around his grove A vifit from the bird of Jove, HayletV Works f vol. i, p. 189. be MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. . 177 be abufed. I am lefs flattered by Mr. Porfon's high encomium on the ftyle and fpirit of my hiftory, than I am fatlsiied witli his ho- nourable teftimony to my attention, dihgence, and accuracy ; thofe humble virtues, which religious zeal had moft audacioufly denied. The fweetneis of his praife is tempered by a rcafonable mixture of acid *. As the book may not be common in England, I iliall tranfcribe my own chara(3:er from the Bibliotheca Hiftorica of Meu- felius "f, a learned and laborious German. " Summis sevi noftri ' hiftoricis Gibbonus fine dubio adnumcrandus eft. Inter capitolii ' ruinas ftans primum hujus operis fcribendi confilium cepit. FIo- ' rentifhmos vitai annos colligendo et laborando eidem impendit. ' Enatum inde monumentum sere perennius, licet pafhm appareant ' finiftre did:a, minus perfeda, veritati non fatis confentanea. Vi- ' demus quidem ubique fere ftudium fcrutandi veritatemque fcri- ' bendi maximum : tamen fine Tillemontio duce ubi fcilicet hujus ' hiftoria finitur fcepius nofter titubat atque hallucinatur. Quod vel ' maxime fit, ubi de rebus Ecclefiafticis vel de juris prudentia Romana ' (torn, iv.) tradit, et in aliis locis. Attamen nsevi hujus generis ' baud impediunt quo minus operis fummam et oiy.ovoy,iav prseclare ' difpofitam, deledtum rerum fapientiffimum, argutum quoque inter- '^ dum, didtionemque feu ftylum hiftorico azque ac philofopho dig- ' niffimum, et vix a quoque alio Anglo, Humio ac Robertfono baud ' exceptis '( prareptiimf ) vehementer laudemus, atque fsculo noftro ' de hujufmodi hiftoria gratulemur Gibbonus adveifarios cum ' in turn extra patriam nadus eft, quia propogationem religionis ' Chriftians, non, ut vulgo, fieri folet, aut more Theologorum, fed ' ut Hiftoricum et Phllofophum decet, expofuerat." The French, Italian, and German tranflations have been executed with various fuccefs ; but, inftead of patronizing, I ihould willingly * Sec Mspvcfnce, page 28. 32. f Vol. iv. part i. page 342. 344. VOL. I, A A fupprefs lyS M E M O I R S O F fupprefs fuch impcrfcd copies, which injure the charaQer, while they propagate the name of the author. Tiic ilrft volume had been feebly, though faithfully, traiiflated into French by M. Le Clerc de Septchenes, a young gentleman of H ftudious charadler and liberal fortune. After his deceafe the work was continued by two manu- fadurers of Paris, M. M. Defmuniers and Cantwell : but the former 15 now an adlive member in the national affembly, and the un- dertaking languifhes in the hands of his .affociate. The fuperior merit of the interpreter, or his language, inclines me to prefer the Ita- lian verfion : but I wifh that it were in my power to read the German^ •which is praifed by the beft judges. The Irifh pirates are at once my friends and my enemies. But I cannot be difpleafed with the two numerous and corredl impreiTions which have been publifhed for the ufe of the continent at Bafil in Switzerland *. The con- quefts of our language and literature are not confined to Europe alone, and a writer who fucceeds in London, is fpeedily 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 Englifhman, I announced my approaching return to the neigh- bourhood of the Lake of Laufanne. This lall trial confirmed my aflTurance that I had wifely chofen for my own happinefs ; nor did I once, in a year's vifit, entertain a wifh of fettling in my native country. Britain is tlie free and fortunate ifland ; but where is the fpot in which I could unite the comforts and beauties of my efta- blifhment at Laufanne ? The tumult of London aftonilhed my eyes and ears ; the amufements of public places were no longer adequate to the trouble ; the clubs and affemblies were filled with new faces and young men ; and our beft fociety, our long and late dinners, would * Of their fourteen oflavo volumes the two laft include the whole body of the notes. The public importunity had forced me to remove them from the end of tht volume to the bottom of the page } but I have often repented of my compliance. foon MY LIFE AND WRITINGS. 179 foon have been prejudicial to my health. Without any fliare in the political wheel, I mufl be idle and infignificant : yet the moft fplen- did temptations would not have enticed me to engage a fecond time in the fervitude of parliament or office. At Tunbridge, fome weeks after the publication of my Hiftory, I reluctantly quitted Lord and Lady Sheffield, and, with a young Swifs friend *, whom I had intro- duced to the Englifh world, I purfued the road of Dover and Lau- fanne. My habitation was embellifhed in my abfence, and the laft divifion of books, which followed my fteps, increaled my chofen library to the number of between fix and feven thoufand volumes. My feraglio was ample, my choice was free, my appetite was keen. After a full repaft on Homer and Ariftophanes, I involved myfelf la the philofophic maze of the writings of Plato, of which the dra- matic is, perhaps, more interefling than the argumentative part : but I ftepped afide into every path of inquiry which reading or re- fle C c 2 another 196 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON another fhred of parchment. Mrs. Gibbon's jointure is fecured on the Beriton eftate, and her legal confent is requifite for the fale. Again and again I muft repeat my hope that fhe is perteftly fatif- fled, and that the clofe of her life may not be embittered by fufpi- cion, or fear, or difcontent. What new fecurity does fhe prefer, — the funds, the mortgage, or your land ? At all events fhe muft be made eafy. I wrote to her again fome time ago, and begged that if fhe were too weak to write, flie would defire Mrs, Gould or Mrs. Holroyd to give me a line concerning her llate of health. To this no anfwer ; I am afraid fhe is difpleafed. Now for the difpofal of the money: I approve of the 8000 1, mortgage on Beriton ; and honour your prudence in not fhewing,. by the comparifon of the rent and intereft, how foalifh it is to pur- chafe land. ************.*** There is a chance of my drawing a confiderable fum into this coun- try, for an arrangement which you yourfelf muft approve, but which I have not time to explain at prefent. For the fake of dif- patching, by this evening's poft, an anfwer to your letter which ar- rived this morning, I confine myfelf to the tieedful, but in the courfe of a few days I will fend a m.ore familiar epiftle. Adieu.. Ever yours. Lausanne, July 14, 17891 Poor Deyverdun is no more : he expired Saturday the 4th inftant;. and in his unfortunate fituation, death could only be viewed by him- felf, and by his friends, in the light of a confummation devoutly to be wifhed. Since September he has had a dozen apopledllc ftrokes,, more or lefs violent ; in the intervals between them his ftrength gra- dually decayed ; every principle of life was exhaufted ; and had he continued to drag a miferable exiftence, he muft probably have fur- vived the lofs of his faculties. Of all misfortunes this was what he himfelf TO LORD SHEFFIELD. '97 himfelf moft apprehended : but his reafon was clear and cahn to the Jaft ; he beheld his approaching difTolution with the firmncfs of a phiiolbpher. I fancied that time and reflexion had prepared me for the event ; but the habits of three-and-thirty years frlcndfliip are not fo eafily broken. The firft days, and more efpecially the firft ni'^hts were indeed painful. Laft Wednefday and Saturday it would not have been in ray power to write. I muft now recoiled myfelf, fmce it is neceflary for nie not only to impart the news, but to aflc your opinion in a very ferious and doubtful queftion, which muft be de- cided without lofs of time. I fhall ftate the fads, but as I am on the fpot, and as new lights may occur, I do not promife Implicit obe- -dience. Had my poor friend died without a will, a female JirJ? coufin fettled fomewhere in the north of Germany, and whom I believe he had never feen, would have been his heir at law. In the next de- gree he had feveral coufins ; and one of thefe, an old companion, by name Mr. de TVlontagny, he has chofen for his heir. As this houfe and garden was the beft and cleareft part of poor Deyverdun'S forttme ; as there is a heavy duty or fine (what they call lods) on every change of property out of the legal defcent ; as Montagny has a fmall eftate and a large family, it was neceflary to make fome pro- vifion in his favour. The will therefore leaves me the option of en- joying this place during my life, on paying the fum of a ^o 1. ([ reckon in Engllfh money) at prefenr, and an annual rent of 30!.; or elfe, of purchafing the houfe and garden for a fum which, includino- the duty, will amount to 2500 1. If I value the rent of 30 1. at twelve years purchafe, I may acquire my enjoyment for life at about- the rate of 600 1.; and the remaining 1900 h will be the difference between that tenure and abfolute perpetual property. As you have never accufed me of too much zeal for the interefl: of pofterity, \q\\ will eafily guefs which fcale at firft preponderated. I deeply felt the advantage of acquiring, for the fraaller fum, every poffible enjoy- ment,. 198 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON ment, as long as I myfelf (hould be capable of enjoying : I rejedled, with fcorn, the idea of giving 1900I. for ideal pofthumous property; and I deemed it of little moment whofe name, after my death, fliould be infcribed on my houfe and garden at Laufanrie. How often did I repeat to myfelf the philofophical lines of Pope, which feem to determine the queftion : Pray Heaven, cries Swift, it laft as you go on ; I willi to God this houfe had been your own. Pity to build without or fon or wife : Why, you'll enjoy it only all your life. Well, if the ufe be mine, does it concern one, Whether the name belong to Pope or Vernon? In this ftat« of felf-fatisfa£tion I was not much difturbed by all my real or nominal friends, who exhort me to prefer the right of pur- chafe : among fuch friends, fome are carelefs and fome are ignorant ; and the judgment of thofe, who are able and willing to form an opi- nion, is often biafled by fome felfilli or focial affection, by fome vifible or invifible intereft. But my own reflections have gradually and forcibly driven me from my lirft propenfity ; and thefe reflec- tions I will now proceed to enumerate : 1. I can make this purchafe with eafe and prudence. As I have had the pleafure of not hearing from you very lately, I flatter myfelf that you advance on a carpet road, and that almoft by the receipt of this letter (July 31ft) the acres of Beriton will be tranfmuted into fixteen thoufand pounds : if the payment be not abfolutely com- pleted by that day, ***** will not fcruple, I fuppofe, depofiting the 2600 1. at Gofling's, to meet my draught. Should he hefitate, I can defire Barrel ta fell quaiitmn fiifficit of my fhort annuities. As foon as the new fettlement of my affairs is made, I Ihall be able, after deducting this fum, to fquare my expence to my income, &c. 2. On mature confideration, I am perhaps lefs felfilh and lefs phi- lofophical than I appear at firil fight : indeed, were I not fo, it would TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 199 would now be in my power to turn my fortune into life-annuities, and let the Devil take the hindmoft. I feel, (perhaps it is foollfh,) but I feel that this little paradife will pleafe me ftill more when it is abfolutely my own ; and that I fliall be encouraged in every im- provement of ufe or beauty, by the profped: that, after my departure, it will be enjoyed by fome perfon of my own choice. I fometimes reflect with pleafure that my writings will furvive me ; and that idea is at leaft as vain and chimerical. 3, The heir, Mr. de Montagny, is an old acquaintance. My fitua- tion of a life-holder is rather new and fingular in this country : the laws have not provided for many nice cafes which may arife between the landlord and tenant : fome I can forefee, others have been fug- gefted, many more I might feel when it would be too late. His right of property might plague and confine me ; he might forbid my lending to a friend, infped my condudl, check my improvements, call for fecurities, repairs, &c. But if I purchafe, I walk on my own terrace fierce and ered, the free mafter of one of the moft deli- cious fpots on the globe. Should I ever migrate homewards, (you ftare, but fuch an event is lefs improbable than I could have thought it two years ago,) this place would be difputed by ftrangers and natives. Weigh thefe reafons, and fend me without delay a rational ex- plicit opinion, to which I fhall pay fuch regard as the nature of cir- cumftances will allow. But, alas ! when all is determined, I ihall polTefs this houfe, by whatfoever tenure, without friendfhip or do- meftic fociety. I did not imagine, fix years ago, that a plan of life . fo congenial to my wifhes, would fo fpeedily vaniih. I cannot write upon any other fubjedl. Adieu, your's even Lausanne, Auguft 1789. After receiving and difpatching the power of attorney, laft Wed- nefday, I opened, with fome palpitation, the unexpedled mifTive 2 which 200 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON which arrived this morning. The perufal of tlie contents fpolled my breakfaft. They are difiigreeable in themfelves, alarming in their confequences, and peculiarly unpleafant at the prefent moijnent, •when 1 hoped to have formed and fecured the arrangements of my future life. I do not perfectly underftand what are thefe deeds which are fo inflexibly required ; the wills and marriage-fettlements I have fufficiently anfwered. But your arguments do not convince ***'*, and I have very little hope from the Lenborough fearch. What v/ill be the event ? If his objections are only the refult of legal fcrupulofity, furely they might be removed, and every chink might be filled, by a general bond of indemnity, in which I boldly afk you to join, as it will be a fubflantial important aft of friend- fhip, without any poffible rifk to yourfelf or your fuccefTors. Should he ftill remain obdurate, I muft believe what I already fufpedt, that **** repents of his purchafe, and wifhes to elude the conclufion. Our cafe would be then hopelefs, ibi omtiis cffufiis labor ^ and the eftate would be returned on our hands with the taint of a bad title. The refufal of mortgage does not pleafe me ; but furely our offer {hews fome confidence in the goodnefs of my title. If he will not ,take eight thoufand pounds at four per cent, we muft look out elfe- where ; new doubts and delays will arife, and I am perfuaded that you will not place an implicit confidence in any attorney. I know not as yet your opinion about my Laufanne purchafe. If you are againft it, the prefent pofitlon of affairs gives you great advantage, &c. &c. The Severys are all well ; an uncommon circumftance for the four perfons of the family at once. They are now at Mex, a country-houfe fix miles from hence, which I vifit to-morrow for two or three days. They olten come to town, and we Ihall contrive to pafs a part of the autumn together at Roile. I want to change the fcene ; and beautiful as the garden and profpedt muft appear to every eye, I feel that the ftate of my own mind cafts a gloom over them ; every fpot, every walk, every bench, recals the memory of I thole TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 201 thofe hours, of thofe converfations, which will return no more. But I tear myfelf from the fubjedl. I could not help writing to-day, though I do not find I have faid any thing very material. As you muft be confcious that you have agitated me, you will not poftpone any agreeable, or even decifive intelligence. I almoft hefitate, whe- ther I fhall run over to England, to confult with you on the fpot, and to fly from poor Deyverdun's fhade, which meets rne at every turn. I did not cxpedl to have felt his lofs fo iharply. But fix hun- dred miles ! Why are we fo far off? Once more. What is the difEculty of the title ? Will men of fenfe, in a fenfible country, never get rid of the tyranny of lawyers ? more oppreflive and ridiculous than even the old yoke of the clergy. Is not a term of feventy or eighty years, nearly twenty in my own perfon, fufficient to prove our legal pofleffion ? Will not the records of fines and recoveries atteft that /am free from any bar of entails and fettlements ? Confult fome fage of the lavv', whether their pre- fent demand be neceffary and legal. If your ground be firm, force them to execute the agreement or forfeit the depofit. But if, as I much fear, they have a right, and a wifh, to elude the confummation, would it not be better to releafe them at once, than to be hung up for five years, as in the cafe of Lovegrove, which coft me in the end four or five thoufand poimds ? You are bold, you are wife ; confult, refolve, aft. In my penultimate letter I dropped a flrange hint, that a migration homeward was not impoffible. I know not what to fay ; my mind is all afloat ; yet you will not reproach me vnth caprice or inconftancy. How many years did you damn my fcheme of retiring to Laufanne ! I executed that plan ; I found as much happincfs as is compatible with human nature, and during four years (1783 — 1787) I never breathed a figh of repentance. On my return from England the fcene was changed : I found only a faint femblance of Deyverdun, and that femblance was each day fading from mv fight, I have pafled an anxious year, but my VOL. I. D D anxiety 202 LETTERS FROiM MR, GIBBON anxiety is now at an end, and the profpcd: before me is a melan- choly Iblitude. I am Pcill deeply rooted in this country ; the pof- feflion of this paradife, the friendiliip of the Severys, a mode of fociety fuited to my tafte, and the enormous trouble and expcnce of a migration. Yet in England (when the prefent clouds are difpelled) I could form a very comfortable eftablifliment in London, or rather at Bath ; and I have a very noble country-feat at about ten miles from Eaft Grinftead in Suifex *. Tliat fpot is dearer to me than the reft of the three kingdoms ; and I have fometimes v/ondered how two meii, fo oppofite in their tempers and purfuits, fliould have im- bibed fo long and lively a propenfity for each other. Sir Stanier Porten is juft dead. He has left his widow with a moderate penfion, and two children, my neareft relations: the eldeft, Charlotte, is~ about Louifa's age, and alfo a mofl amiable fenfible young creature. I have conceived a romantic idea of educating and adopting lier ; as we defcend into the vale of years our infirmities require fome do- meftic female fociety : Charlotte would be the comfort of my age, and I could reward her care and tendernefs with a decent fortune. A thoufand difEculties oppofe the execution of the plan, which I have never opened but to you ; yet it would be lef; impradlicable in England than in Switzerland. Adieu. I am wounded j pour fome oil into my wounds : yet I am lefs unhappy fince I have thrown my mind upon paper. Are you not amazed at the French revolution ? They have the power, will they have the moderation, to eftabliili a good confti- tution ? Adieu, ever yours. Lausanne, Sept. 9, 17S9. Within an hour after the reception of your laft, I drew my pen for the purpofe of a reply, and my exordium ran in the following •words: " Ifind by experience, that it is much more rational, as well * Alluding to ShefBeld-Place. « as TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 26j " as eaiy, to anfwer a letter of real bufmefs by tlie return of the " pofl:." This important truth is again verified by my own ex- ample. After writing three pages I was called away by a very ra- tional motive, and the poft departed before I could return to the concluiion. A fecond delay was coloured by fome decent pretence- Three weeks have flipped away, and I now force myfelf on a tafk, which I fl^ould have difpatched without an effort on the firil fum- mons. My only excufe is, that I had little to write about Engliih bufinefs, and that I could write nothing delinitive about my Swifs affairs. And firfl, as Ariftotle fays of the firfl, 1. I was indeed in low fpirits when I fent what you fo juflly fllle my difmal letter ; but I do alfure you, that my own feelings con- tributed much more to fink me, than any events or terrors relative to the fale of Beriton. But I again hope and trufl, from your confo- latory epiffle, that, &c. &c. 2. My Swifs tranfi(5lion has fullered a great alteration. I fliall not become the proprietor of my houfe and garden at Laufanne, and I relinquiili the phantom with more regret than you could eafily imagine. But I have been determined by a difficulty, which at firfl appeared of little moment, but which has gradually fwelled to an alarming magnitude. There is a law in this country, as well as in fome provinces of France, which is ftyled le droit de retrait^ le retra'it Ugrmgerc, (Lord Loughborough muft have heard of it,) by whicli the relations of the deceafed are entitled to redeem a houfe or eflate at the price for which it has been foJd ; and as the fum fixed by poor Deyverdun is much below its known value, a crowd of compe- titors are beginning to flart. The befi: opinions (for they are di- vided) are in my favour, that I am not fubje£l to le droit de retrait, fince I take not as a purchafei% but as a legatee. But the words of the will are fomewhat ambiguous, the event of law is always uncer- tain, the adminiffration of jufticc at Bern (the lafl appeal) depends too much on favour and intrigue ; and it is very* doubtful whether I could revert to the life-holding, after having chofen and lofl the D D 2 property. 204 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON property. Thefe confideratious engaged me to open a negoclation with Mr. de Montagny, througli the medium of my friend the judge ; and as he moil ardently wifhes to keep the houfe, he confented, tliough with fome rehidance, to my propofals, Yefterday he figned a covenant in the moft regular and binding form, by which he allows my power of transferring my intereft, interprets in the moft ample fenfe my right of making alterations, and exprefsly renounces all claim, as landlord, of vifiting or infpedling the premifes. I have promifed to lend him twelve thoufand livres, (between feven and eight hundred pounds,) fecured on the houfe and land. The mort- gage is four times its value ; the intereft of four pounds /.fr^i?///. will be annually difcharged by the rent of thirty guineas. So that I am ' now tranquil on that fcore for the remainder of my days. I hope that time will gradually reconcile me to the place which I have in- habited with my poor friend ; for in fpite of the cream of London, I am ftill perfuaded that no other place is fo well adapted to my tafte and habits of ftudious and fecial life. Far from delighting in the whirl of a metropolis, my only com- plaint againft Laufanne is the great number of ftrangers, always of Englifli, and now of French, by whom we are infefted in fummer. Yet we have efcaped the damned great ones, the Count d'Artois, the Pollgnacs, &c. who flip by us to Turin. What a fcene is France ! While the affcmbly is voting abftradl propofitions, Paris is an inde- pendent republic ; the provinces have neither authority nor freedom, and poor Necker declares that credit is no more, and that the people refufe to pay taxes. Yet I think you muft be feduced by the abo- lition of tithes. If Eden goes to Paris you may have fome curious information. Give me fome account of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. Do they live with Lord North ? I hope they do. When will parlia- ment be difiblved ? Are you ftill Coyentry-mad ? I embrace my Lady, the fprightly Maria, and the fmiling Louifa. Alas! alas.t you v/lU never come to Switzerland. Adieu, ever yours. TO LORD SHEFTiELD. 205 Lausanne, Sept. 251!!, 17S9. Alas ! what perils do environ The man who meddles with cold iron. Alas ! what delays and difficulties do attend the man who meddles with legal and landed bufmefs ! Yet if it be only to difappoint your expe£tation, I am not fo very nervous at this new provoking ob- ftacle. I had totally forgotten the deed in queftion, which was con- trived in the laft year of my father's life, to tie his hands and regu- late the diforder of his affairs ; and whlcli might have been fo cafily cancelled by Sir Stanier, who had not the fmalleft interefl in it, either for himfelf or his family. The amicable fuit, which is now become neceffary, muft, I think, be fhort and unambiguous, yet I cannot help dreading the crotchets, that lurk under the chancellor's great wig ; and, at all events, I forefee feme additional delay and expence. The golden pill of the two thoufand eight hundred pounds has foothed my difcontent ; and if it be fafely lodged with the Gof- lings, I agree with you, in confidering it as an unequivocal pledge of a fair and willing purchafer. It is indeed chiefly in that light I now rejoice in fo large a depofit, which is no longer neceffary in its full extent. You are apprifed by my lad letter that I hive reduced myfelf to the life-enjoyment of the houfe and garden. And, in fpite of my feelings, I am every day more convinced that I have chofen the fafer fide. I believe my caufe to have been good, but it was doubtful. LaAV in this country is not fo expenfive as in England, but it is more troublefome ; I muft have gone to Bern, have follcited my judges in perfon ; a vile cuftom ! the event was uncertain; and during at leaft two years, I fliould have been in a ftate of fufpenfe and anxiety; till the conclufion of which it would have been madnefs to have attempted any alteration or improvement. According to my prefent arrangement I fhall want no more than eleven hundred pounds of the two thoufand, and I fuppofe you will direift 2o6 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON dired Gofling to lay out the remainder in India bonds, that it may not lie quite dead, while I am accountable to * * * * for the in- tereft. The elderly lady in a male habit, who informed me that Yorkfliire is a regifter county, is a certain judge, one Sir William Blackftone, Vvdiofe name you may poflibly have heard. After flating the danger of purchafers and creditors, with regard to the title of ^flates on which they lay out or lend their money, he thus con- tinues : " In Scotland every adt and event regarding the tranfmiffion " of property is regularly entered on record ; and fome of our own . " provincial divilions, particularly the extended county of York " and the populous county of Middlefex, have prevailed with the " leglflature to eredt fuch regifters in their refpective diftricts." (Blackftone's Commentaries, vol. ii. p. 343, edition of 1774, in quarto.) If I am millaken, it is in pretty good company ; but I fufpedl that we are all right, and that the regifter is conlined to one or two ridings. As we have, alas ! two or three months before us, I ihould hope that your prudent fagacity will difcovcr Ibme found land, in cafe you fliould not have time to arrange another mortgage. I now v/rite in a hurry, as I am jull fetting out for Rolle, where I fhall be fettled with cook and fervants in a pleafant apartment, till the middle of November. The Severys have a houfe there, where they pafs the autmiin. I am not forry to vary the fcene for a few weeks, and i wilh to be abfent while fome alterations are making in my houfe atLaufanne. I wiih the change of air-may be of fervice to Severy the father, but we do not at all like his prefent ftate of health. How completely, alas, how completely ! could I now lodge you : but your firm refolvc of making me a vlfit feems to have vanifhed like a dream. Next fummer you will not find five hundred pounds for a rational friendly expedition ; and fhould parliament be dif- folved, you will perhaps find five thoufand for . I cannot think of it with patience. Pray take ferious ftrenuous meafures for fending me a pipe of excellent Madeira in cafk, with fome dozens of TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 207 of Malmfey Madeira. It fliould be configned to MelTrs. Romberg Voitnrlers at Oftend, and I muft have timely notice of its march^ We have fo much to fay about France, that I fuppofe we fliall never fay any thing. That country is now in a ftate of diflokition. Adieu. Lausanne, December 15th, 1789. You have often reafon to accufe my ftrange filcnce and ncgle*^; in the mofl: important of my own aflairs ; for I will prefume to aflert, that in a bufmefs of yours of equal confequence, you {hould not find me cold or carelefs. But on the prefent occafion my filence is, perhaps, the higheft compliment I ever paid you. You remember the anfwer of Philip of Macedon : " Philip may fleep, while he " knows that Parmenio is awake." I expeded, and, to fay the truth, I wifhed that my Parmenio would have decided and adled, without expeding my dilatory anfwer, and in his decifion I fliould have acquiefced with implicit confidence. But fmce you will have my opinion, let us confider the prefent ftate of my affairs. In the tourfe of my life I have often known, and fometimes felt, the dif- ficulty of getting money, but I now find myfelf involved in a more lingular diflrefs, the difficulty of placing it, and if it continues much longer, I fhall almoft wifh for my land again. I perfeftly agree with you, that it is bad management to purchafe in the funds when they do not yield four pounds per cent. * * * # * * * * *• * * # * *.. Some of this money I can place fafely, by means of my banker here ; and I fhall poffefs, what I have nlways defired, a command of cafh, which I cannot abufe to my prejudice, fmce I have it in my power to fupply with my pen any extraordinary or fanciful in- dulgence of expence. And fo much, much indeed, for pecuniary matters. What would you have me fay of the afiairs of France ? We are too near, and too remote, to form an accurate judgment of that wonderful fcene. The abufes of the court and government 8- called io8 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON called aloud for reformation ; and it has happened, as it will always happen, that an innocent well-difpofed Prince has paid the forfeit of the fins of his predecefTors ; of the ambition of Lewis the Fourteenth, of the profufion of Lewis the Fifteenth. The French nation had a glorious opportunity, but they have abufed, and may lofe their ad- vantages. If they had been content with a liberal tranflation of our fyftem, if tliey had refpe£led the prerogatives of the crown, and the privileges of the nobles, they might have raifed a folid fabric on the only true foundation, the natural ariftocracy of a great country. How different is the profpedl ! Their King brought a captive to Paris, after his palace had been flained with the blood of his guards ; the nobles in exile ; the clergy plundered in a way which ftrikes at the root of all property ; the capital an independent republic ; the union of the provinces diffolved ; the flames of difcord kindled by the worfl: of men ; (in that light I confider Mirabeau ;) and the honefteft of the aflembly, a fet of vald vifionaries, (like our Dr. Price,) who gravely debate, and dream about the eftabliflrment of a pure and pexfeft democracy of five-and- twenty millions, the vir- tues of the golden age, and the primitive rights and equality of mankind, v/hich would lead, in fair reafoning, to an equal partition of lands and money. How many years mull elapfe before France can recover any vigour, or refume her ftation among the Powers of Europe ! AS yet, there is no fymptom of a great man, a Richlieu or a Cromwell, arifing, either to reftore the monarchy, or to lead the commonwealth. The weight of Paris, more deeply engaged in the funds than al/ the reft of the kingdom, will long delay a bank- ruptcy ; and if it fhould happen, it will be, both in the caufe and the effed, a meafure of weaknefs, rather than of ftrength. You fend me to Chamberry, to fee a Prince and an ArchbilTiop. Alas ! we have exiles enough here, with the Marfhal de Caftries and the Duke de Guignes at their head; and this inundation of ftrangers, which ufed to be confined to the fummer, will now ftagnate all the 6 winter. o> TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 209 winter. The only ones whom I have feen with pleafure are Mr. Mounier, the late prefxdent of the national afTembly, and the Count de Lally ; they have both dined with me. Mounier, who is a ferious dry politician, is returned to Daupliine. Lally is an ami- able man of the world, and a poet : he pafles the winter here. You know how much I prefer a quiet felcfl fociety to a crowd of names and titles, and that I always feek coaverfation with a view to amufement, rather than information. What happy countries are England and Switzerland, if they know and preferve their happinefs. I have a thoufand things to fay to my Lady, Maria, and Loulfa, but I can add only a Ihort poftfcript about the Madeira. Good Ma- deira is now become eflential to my health and reputation. May your hogfhead prove as good as the laft ; may it not be intercepted by the rebels or the Auftrians, What a fcene again in that country ! Happy England ! Happy Switzerland ! I again repeat, adieu. Lausanne, January 27th, 1790. Your two laft epiftles, of the 7th and i jcth inftant, were fomewhat delayed on the road ; they arrived within two days of each other, the laft this morning (the 27th); fo that I anfvver by the lirft, or^ at leaft by the fecond poft. Upon the whole, your French method, though fometimes more rapid, appears to me lefs fure and fteady than the old German highway, &c. &e. * * * *. ■*-** * ** * * *** But enough of this. A new and brighter profped; feems to be break- ing upon us, and few events of that kind have ever given me more pleafure than your fuccefsful negociation and * * * * '$ fatisfadlory anfwer. The agreement is, indeed, equally convenient for both parties : no time or expence will be v/afted in fcrutlnizing the title of, the eftate ; th.e intereft will be fecured by the claufe of five per cent., and T lament with you, that no larger fum than eight thoufand VOL. I. E,E pound§ 210 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON pounds can be placed on Benton, without afking (what might be fomewhat impudent) a collateral fecurity, &c. &c. * * * * * * * * * * * « * *. But I wifh^you to choofe and execute one or the other of thefe ar- rangemeiits with fage difcretion and ^bfolute power. I fhorten my letter, that I may difpatch it by this poft. I fee the time, and I fhall rejoice to fee it at the end of twenty years, when my cares will be at an end, and our friendly pages will be no longer fuUied with the repetition of dirty land and vile money ; when we may expatiate on the politics of the world and our perfonal fentiments. Without expeQing your anfwer of bufmefs, I mean to write foon in a purer flyle, and I wifti to lay open to my friend the flate of my mind, which (exclufive of all worldly concerns) is not perfectly at eafe. In the mean while, I muft add two or three fhort articles, i. I am aftoniflied at Elmfley's filence, and the immobility of your pidure. Mine fliould have departed long fmce, could I have found a fure opportunity, &c. &c. Adieu, yours. Lausanne, May 15th, 1790, Since the firft origin (ab cvo) of our connedtion and correfpond- ence, fo long an interval of filence has not intervened, as far as I remember, between us, &.c. &c. From my faience you conclude that the moral complaint, which I had infinuated in my laft, is either infignificant or fanciful. The con- clufion is rafn. But the complaint in queftion is of the nature of a flow lingering dlfeafe, which is not attended with any immediate danger. As I have not leifure to expatiate, take the idea in three words ; " Since " the lofs of poor Deyverdun, I am alone ; and even in Paradife, fo- *♦ litude is painful to a fecial mind. When I was a dozen years *' younger, I fcarcely felt the weight of a fingle exiftence amidft the " crowds of London, of parliament, of clubs ; but it will prefs more J " heavily TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 211 V " lieavily upon: mc in this tranquil land, in the decline of life, and " with the increafe of infirmities. Some expedient, even the moft ** defperate, muft be embraced, to fecure the domeftic fociety of a " male or female companion. But I am not in a hurry ; there is *',time for reflexion and advice." During this winter fuch finet feelings have been fufpended by the groffer evil of bodily pain. On the ninth of February I was feized by fuch a fit of the gout as I had never known, though I muft be thankful that its dire effedls have been confined to the feet and knees, without afcending to the more noble parts. With fome viciflitudes of better and worfe, I have groaned between two and three months ; the debility has furvived the pain, and though now eafy, I am carried about in my chair, without any power, and with a very dlftant chance, of fupporting myfelf, from. the extreme weaknefs and contradlion of the joints of my knees. Yet I am happy in a fkilful phyfician, and kind alfidu- ous friends : every e-vening, during more than three months, has been enlivened (excepting when I have been forced to refufe them) by fome cheerful vifits, and very often by a chofen party of both fexes. How different is fuch fociety from the folitary evenings which I have pafled in the tumult of London ! It is not worth while fighting about a fhadow, but fhould I ever return to England, Bath, not the metropolis, would be my laft retreat. Your portrait is at laft arrived in perfect condition, and now oc- cupies a confpicuous place over the chimney-glafs in my library. It is the obje<3: of general admiration ; good judges (the few) applaud the work ; the name of Reynolds opens the eyes and mouths of the many ; and were not I afraid of making you vain, I would inform you that the original is not allowed to be more than five-and-thirty. In fpite of private reluctance and public difcontent, I have honour- ably difmifled viyfelf*. I fliall arrive at Sir Jofhua's before the end of the month ; he will give me a look, and perhaps a touch ; and * His portrait. E E 2 VOU 212 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON you will be indebted to the prefident one guinea for the carriage. Do not be nervous, I am not rolled up ; had I been lb, you might have gazed on my charms four months ago. I want fome account of yourfelf, of my Lady, (Hi all we never diredly correfpond ?) of Louifa, and of Maria. How has the latter fince her launch fup- ported a quiet winter in Suflex ? I fo much rejoice in your divorce from that b Kitty Coventry, that I care not what marriage you contrad. A great city would fuit your dignity, and the duties which would kill me in the firft feflion, would fupply your adlivity with a conftant fund of amufement. But tread foftly and furely; the ice is deceitful, the w^ater is deep, and you may be foufed over head and ears before you are aware. Why did not you or Elmfley fend me the African pamphlet * by the poll ? it would not have coft much. You have fuch a knack of turning a nation, that I am afraid you will triumph (perhaps by the force of argument) over juftice and humanity. But do you not expetfl to work at Belze- bub's fugar plantations in the infernal regions, under the tender go- vernment of a negro-driver ? I fhould fuppofe both my Lady and Mifs Firth very angry with you. As to the bill for prints, which has been too long negleded, •why wiH you not exercife the power, which I have never revoked, over all my cafh at the Goflings ? The Severy family has pafled a very favourable M'inter ; the young man is impatient to hear from a family which he places above all others : yet he will generoully write next week, and fend you a drawing of the alterations in the houle. Do not raife your ideas; you know /am fatisfied with convenience in architecture, and fome elegance in furniture. I admire the cooi- nefs with which you afk me to epiftolize Reynell and Elmfley, as if a letter were fo eafy and pleafant a tafk ; it appears lefs fo to me every day. » Obfervatlons on the Projeil for abolifliing the Slave Trade, by Lord ShefEeId> Your TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 213 1790. VoUR indignation will melt into pity, when you hear that for feveral weeks part I have been again confined to my chamber and my chair. Yet I muft haften, generoufly haflen, to exculpate the gout, my old enemy, from the curfes which you already pour on his head. He is not the caufe of this diforder, although the confequences have been fomewhat funilar. I am fatisfied that this effort of nature has faved me from a very dangerous, perhaps a fatal, crifis ; and I liften to the flattering hope that it may tend to keep the gout at a more refpedlful diftance, &c. &c. &c. The whole flieet has been filled with dry felfifh bufinefs ; but I muft and will referve fome lines of the cover for a little friendly con- verfation. I pafled four days at the caftle of Copet with Necker ; and could have wifhed to have fliewn him, as a warning to any afplring youth poffefTed with the dxinon of ambition. With all the means of private happinefs in his power, he is the moft miferable of human: beings : the paft, the prefent, and the future are equally odious to him. When I fuggefted fome domeftic amufements of books, build- ing, &c. he anfwei'ed, with a deep tone of defpair, " Dans I'etat ou " je fuis, je ne puis fentir que le coup de vent qui m'a abbatu." How different from the carelcfs cheerfulnefs with which our poor friend Lord North fupported his fall ! Madame Necker maintains more external compofure, mens le D'table ii'y pcrd r'len. It is true that Necker wifhed to be carried into the clofet, like old Pitt, on the fhoulders of the people ; and that he has been ruined by the demo- cracy which he had raifed. I believe him to be an able financier, and know him to be an honeft man ; too honeft, perhaps, for a minifter. His rival Calonne has paffed through Laufanne, in his way from Turin ; and was foon followed by the Prince of Conde, with his fon and grandfon ; but I was too much indifpofed to fee them. They have, or have had, fome wild projeds of a counter-revolution : horfes have been bought, men levied : fuch foolilh attempts muft end 214 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON end in the ruin of the party. Burke's book is a moft admirable me- dicine againft the French difeafe, which has made too much progrefs even in this happy country. I admire his eloquence, I approve his politics, I adore his chivalry, and I can forgive even his fupcrftitlon. The primitive church, which I have treated with fome freedom, was itfelf at that time an innovation, and I was attached to the old Pagan eftabllfhment. The French fpread fo many lies about the fentiments of the Englifh nation, that I wifh the moft confiderable men of all parties and defcriptions would join in fome public aft, declaring themfelves fatisfied and refolved to fupport our prefent conftitution. Such fi. declaration would have a wonderful effeft in Europe ; and, were I thought worthy, I myfelf would be proud to fubfcribe it. I have a great mind lo fend you fomcthing of a fketch, fuch as all thinking men might adopt. I have intelligence of the approach of my Madeira. I accept witli equal pleafure the fecond pipe, now in the Torrid Zone. Send me fome pleafant details of your domeftic Hate, of Maria, &c. If my Lady thinks that my filence is a mark of indifference, my Lady is a goofe. I mr^ have you all at Laufanne next fummer. Lausanne, Auguft 7, 1790. I ANSWETi at once your two letters ; and I fhould probably have taken earlier notice of the firft, had I not been in daily expectation of the fecond. I muft begin on the fiibjedl of what really interefts me the moft, your glorious eledlion for Briftol. Moft fmcerely do I congratulate your exchange of a curfed expenfive jilt, who deferted you for a rich Jew, for an honourable connexion with a chafte and virtuous matron, who will probably be as conftant as fhe is dlfm- terefted. In the w^hole range of eleftion from Caithnefs to St. Ives, I much doubt whether there be a fmgle -choice fo truly honourable to the member and the conftituents. The fecond commercial city invites, from a diftant province, an independent gentleman, known only TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 215 only by his a(3;ive fpirit, and his writings on the fubje£l of trade ; and names him, without intrigue or expence, for her reprefentative : even the voice -of party is filenced, while fadlions ftrive which Ihall applaud the moft. You are now fare, for feven years to come, of never wanting food ; I mean bufmefs : what a crowd of fuitors or complainants will be- ficge your door ! what a load of letters and memorials will be heaped on your table ! 1 much queftion whether even you will not fome- times exclaim, Ohe ! jam fotis ejl I but that is your afiliir. Of the excurfion to Coventry I cannot decide, but I hear it is pretty gene- rally blamed : but, however, I love gratitude to an old friend ; and Ihall not be very angry if you damned them with a farewel to all eternity. But I cannot reprefs my indignation at the ufe of thofe foolifh, obfolete, odious words. Whig and Tory. In the American war they might have fome meaning ; and then your Lordihip was a Tory, although you fuppofed yourfelf a Whig : fince the coalition, all general principles have been confounded ; and if there ever was an oppofition to men, not meafures, it is the prefent. Luckily both the leaders are great men ; and, whatever happens, the country muft fall upon its legs. What a ftrange mift of peace and war feems to hang over the ocean! We can perceive nothing but fecrecy and vigor ; but thofe are excellent qualities to perceive in a minifler. From yourfelf and politics I now return to my private concerns, which I fliall methodically confider under the three great articles of mind, body, and eftate. I. I am not abfolutely difpleafed at your firing fo haftily at the hint, a tremendous hint, in my laft letter. But the danger is not fo ferlous or imminent as you feem to fufped ; and I give you my word, that, before I take the flighteft ftep which can bind me either in law, confcience, or honour, I will fliithfully communicate, and we will freely difcufs, the whole ftate of the bulinefs. But at pre- fent there is not any'thing to communicate or difcufs ; I do alTure you tha: 2i6 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON that I have not any particular objeft in view : I am not in love with any of the hysenas of Laufanne, though there are fome who keep their claws tolerably well pared. Sometimes, in a folitary mood, I have fancied myfelf married to one or another of thofe whofc fociety and converfatioii are the moft pleafmg to me ; but when I have painted in my fancy all the probable confequences of fuch an union, I have flarted from my dream, rejoiced in my efcape, and ejaculated a thankfgiving that I was ftill in poffeffion of my natural freedom. Yet 1 feel, and fhall continue to feel, that domeftic folitude, how- ever it may be alleviated by the world, by ftudy, and even by friend- fhip, is a comfortlefs ftate, which will grow more painful as I de- fcend in the vale of years. At prefent my lituation is very tolerable ; and if at dinner-time, or at my return home in the evening, I fome- times figh for a companion, there are many hours, and many occa- fions, in which I enjoy the fuperior bleffing of being fole mafter of my own houfe. But your plan, though lefs dangerous, is ftill more abfurd than mine : fuch a couple as you defcribe could not be found ; and, if found, would not anfwer my purpofe ; their rank and pofition would be awkward and ambiguous to myfelf and my acquaintance ; and the agreement of three perfons of three characters would be ftill more impradicable. My plan of Charlotte Porten is undoubtedly the moft defirable ; and fhe might either remain a fpinfter (the cafe is not without example), or marry fome Swifs of my choice, who would increafe and enliven our fociety; and both would have the ftrongeft motives for kind and dutiful behaviour. But the mother has been indiredly founded, and will not hear of fuch a propofal for fome years. On my fide, I would not take her, but as a piece of foft was which I could model to the language and manners of the country : I muft thei'efore be patient. Young Severy's letter, which may be now in your hands, and which, for thefe three or four laft pofts, has furnifhed my indolence with a new pretence for delay, has already informed you of, the; 2 means TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 217 means and clrcumftances of my refurredHon. Tedious indeed was my confinement, fince I was not able to move from my houfe or chair, from the ninth of February to the firft of July, very nearly five months. The firfl w^eeks were accompanied with more pain than I have ever known in the gout, with anxious days and fleeplefs nights; and when that pain fubfided, it left a weaknefs in my knees which feemed to have no end. My confinement was however foftened by books, by the poflelTion of every comfort and convenience, by a fuc- ceffion each evening of agreeable company, and by a flow of equal fpirits and general good health. During the laft weeks I defcended to the ground floor, poor Deyverdun's apartment, and confliruaed a chair like Merlin's, in which I could wheel myfelf in the houfe and on the terrace. My patience has been univerfally admired ; yet how many thoufands have pafled thofe five months lefs eafily than my- felf. I remember making a remark perfeftly fimple, and perfedlly true : " At prefent, (I faid to Madame de Severy,) I am not pofi- " tively miferable, and I may reafonably hope a daily or weekly im- " provement, till fooner or later in the fummer I fhall recover new " limbs, and new pleafures, which I do not now pofl'efs : have any *' of you fuch a profpedl ?" The predi£lion has been accompliihed, and I have arrived to my prefent condition of fl:rength, or rather of feeblenefs : I now can walk with tolerable eafe in my garden and fmooth places ; but on the rough pavement of the town I ufe, and perhaps fhall ufe, a fedan chair. The Pyrmont waters have per- formed wonders ; and my phyfician (not Tiflbt, but a very fenfible ■man) allows me to hope, that the term of the interval will be in proportion to that of the fit. Have you read in the Englifh papers, that the government of Berne is overturned, and that we are divided into three democratical leagues ? true as what I have read In the French papers, that the Englifh have cut oif Pitt's head, and abolifhed the Houfe of Lords. The people of this country are happy ; and in fpite of fome mif- voL. lo F i" creauts, 2i8 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON creants, and more foreign emiffarles, they arc fenfible of tlieir hap- pinefs. Finally — Inform my Lady, that I am indignant at a falfe and here- tical affertion in her laft letter to Severy, *' that friends at a diftancc " cannot love each other, if they do not write." I love her better than any woman in the world ; indeed I do ; and yet I do not write. And fhe herfelf — ^but I am calm. We have now nearly one hundred French exiles, fome of them worth being acquainted with ; par- ticularly a Count dc Schomberg, who is become almoft my friend ; he is a man. of the world, of letters, and of fufficient age, fince in 1753 he fucceeded to Marfhal Saxe's regiment of dragoons. As to the reft, I entertain them, and they flatter me : but I wifh we were reduced to our Laufanne fociety. Poor France ! the ftate is diffolved, the nation is mad ! Adieu. Lausanne, April 9, 179'. FrRST, of my health : it is now tolerably reftored, my legs are ftill weak, but the animal in general is in a found and lively condition ; and. we have great hopes from the fine weather and the Pyrmont waters.. I moft fmcerely wifhed for the prefence of Maria, to embellifii a ball which I gave the 29th of laft month to all the beft company, natives and foreigners, of Laufanne, with the aid of the Sevqrys, efpecially of the mother and fon,who diredted the oeconomy, and performed the ho- nours of ih.€ ft't'e. It opened about feven in the evening ; the afTembly of men and women was pleafed and pleafing, the mufic good, the illu- mination fplendid, the refrelhments profufe : at twelve, one hundred and thirty perfons fat down to a very good fupper : at two, Iftole away to bed, in a fnug corner ; and I was informed at breakfaft, that the remains of thp veteran and young troops, with Severy and his fifter at their head, had concluded the laft dance about a quarter before feven. This magnificent enrertainment has gained me great credit ; and the expence was more reafon^ble than you can eafily imagine. This TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 219 This was an extraordinary event, but I give frequent dinners ; ami In the fummer I have an aflembly every Sunday evening. What a wicked vs^retch ! fays my Lady. I cannot pity you for the accumulation of bufinefsjasyou ought not to pity wr?, if I complained of the tranquillity of Laufanne; wefufferor enjoy the effects of our own choice. Perhaps you will mutter fome- thing, of our not being born for ourfelves, of public fpirlt (I have for- merly read of fuch a thing), of private friendfhip, for which I give you full and ample credit, &c. But your parliamentary operations, at leaft, will probably expire iti the month of June ; and I fhall refufe to fign the Newhaven conveyance, unlefs I am fatisficd that you will execute the Laufanne vifit this fummer. On the 15th of June, fnp- pofe Lord, Lady, Maria, and maid, (poor Louifa!) in a poll: coach, with Elienne on horfeback, fet out from Downing-Street, or Sheffield- Place, crofs the channel from Brighton to Dieppe, vifit the National Aflembly, buy caps at Paris, examine the ruins of Verfailles, and arrive at Laufanne, without danger or fatigue, the fecond week in July; you will be lodged pleafantly and comfortably, and will not perhaps defpife my fituatioii. A couple of months will roll, alas ! too hallilv away : you will all be amufed by new fcenes, new people ; and whenever Maria and you, with Severy, mount on horfeback to vjfit the country, the glaciers, &c. my Lady and myfelf ihall form a veiy quiet tete-a-tete at home. In September, if you are tired, you may return by a dired or indireft way; but I only defire that you will not make the plan impradicable, by grafping at too much. In return, I promife you a vifit of three or four months in the autumn of ninety- two : you and my bookfellers are now my principal attradlons in England. You had fome right to growl at hearing of my fupple- ment in the papers : but Cadell's indifcretion was founded on a hint which I had thrown out in a letter, and which in all probability will never be executed. Yet I am not totally idle. Adieu. F F 2 220 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON Lausanne, May i8, 1791. I WRITE a fhort letter, on fmall paper, to inform you, that the va- rious deeds, which arrived fafe and in good condition, have this morning been fealed, figned, and delivered, in the prefence of re- fpe£table and well-known Englifli witnefles. To have read the afore- faid adts, would have been difficult ; to have underflood them, im- pradlicable. I therefore figned them with my eyes (hut, and in that Implicit confidence, which we freemen and Britons are humbly con- tent to yield to our lawyers and minifters. I hope however, mod ferioufly hope, that every thing has been carefully examined, and that I am not totally ruined. It is not without much impatience that I expedl an account of the payment and inveftment of the purchaie-money. It was my intention to have added a new edition of my will ; but I have an unexpeded call to go to Geneva to- morrow with the Severys, and muft defer that bufinefs a few days till after my return. On my return I may poffibly find a letter from you, and will write more fully in anfwer : my pofthumous work, contained in a fingle fheet, will not ruin you in portage. In the mean while let me defire you either never to talk of Laufanne, or to execute the journey this fummer ; after the difpatch of public and private bufinefs, there can be no real obftacle but in yourfelf. Pray do not go to war with Ruflia ; it is very foolifh. I am quite angry with Pitt. Adieu. Lausanne, May 31, 1791, At len'^th T fee a ray of funfhine breaking from a dark cloud. Your epiftle of the 13th arrived this morning, the 25th inftant, the day after my return from Geneva ; it has been communicated to Severy. Wenow believe that you intend a vifit to Laufanne this fummer, and we hope that you will execute that intention. If you are a man of honour, you fhall find me one j and, on the day of your TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 521 your arrival at Laufanne, I will ratify my engagement of vifiting the JBiitifli ifle before the end of the year 1792, excepting only the fair and foul exception of the gout. You rejoice me, by propofing the addition of dear Louifa ; it was not without a bitter pang that I threw her overboard, to lighten the veflel and fecure the voyage : I was fearful of the governefs, a fecond carriage, and a long train of difficulty and expence, which might have ended in blowing up the whole fcheme. But If you can bodkin the fweet creature into the coach, (he will find an eafy welcome at Laufanne. The firft arrange- ments which I muft make before your arrival, may be altered by your own tafle, on a furvey of the premifes, and you will all be com- modioufly and pleafantly lodged. You have heard a great deal of the beauty of my houfe, garden, and fituatlon ;. but fuch are their intrlnfic value, that, unlefs I am much deceived, they will bear the left even of exaggerated pralfe. From my knowledge of your Lord- fhlp, I have always entertained fome doubt how you would get through the foclety of a Laufanne winter : but I am fatisfied that,, exclufive of friendlhip, your fummer vifits to the banks of the Leman Lake will long be remembered as one of the moft agreeable periods of your life ; and that you will fcarcely regret the amufem^nt of a Sviflex Committee of Navigation In the dog days. You alk for de- tails : what details ? a map of France and a poft-book are eafy and infallible guides. If the ladles are not afraid of the ocean, you are not Ignorant of the palfage from Brighton to Dieppe : Paris will then be In your dlre£b road ; and even allowing you to look at the Pan- dxmonlum, the ruins of Verfallles, &c. a fortnight diligently em- ployed will clear you from Sheffield Place to Gibbon Caftle.. What can r fay more ? As little have I to fay on the fubjedt of my worldly matters^ j,vhlch feem now, Jupiter be pralfed, to be drawing towards a final conclu- fion ; fmce when people part with their money, they are Indeed ferlous. I do not perfe^ly underftand the ratio of the preclfe fum 2 which. 222 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON which you have poured into Gofling's refervoir, but fuppofe it wili be explained in a general account. You have been very dutiful in fending mc, what I have always defired, a cut Woodfall on a remarkable debate ; a debate, indeed, mofl: remarkable ! Poor ***** Is the moft eloquent and rational mad- man that I ever knew. I love ***'s feelings, but I deteft the poli- tical principles of the man, and of the party. Formerly, you detefted them more ftrongly during the American war, than myfelf. I am half afraid that you arc corrupted by your unfortunate connexions. Should you admire the National Aflembly, we fhall have many an altercation, for I am as high an ariftocrat as Burke himfelf ; and he has truly obferved, that it is impoflible to debate with temper on the fubje£t of that curfed revolution. In my laft excurfion to Geneva I frequently faw the "Neckers, who by this time are returned to their fummer refidence at Copet. He is much reftored in health and fpirits, efpecially fince the publication of his lafl book, which has probably reached England. Both parties, who agree in abufmg him, agree likewife that he is a man of virtue and genius ; but I much fear that the pureft intentions have been produftive of the moft baneful confequences. Our military men, I mean the French, are leaving us every day for the camp of the Princes at Worms, and fupporc what is called reprefentation. Their hopes are fanguine ; I will not anfwer for their being well grounded : it is certain^ how- ever, that the emperor had an interview the 19th inftant with the Count of Artois at Mantua ; and the ariftocrats talk in myfterious language of Spain, Sardlma, the Empire, four or five armies, &c. They will doubtlefs ftrike a blow this fummer : may it not recoil on their own heads ! Adieu. Embrace our female travellers. A fhort delay ! i TO LORD SHEFFIELD. 223 Lausanne, June 12, 1791. I NOW begin to fee you all in real motion, fwimming from Brighton to Dieppe, according to my fcheme, and afterwards tread- ing the dire£l road, which you cannot well avoid, to the turbulent capital of the late kingdom of France. I know not what more to fay, or what further inllrudions to fend ; they would indeed be ufe- lefs, as you are travelling through a country which has been fome- times vifited by Englifhmen ; only this let me fay, that in the midft of anarchy the roads were never more fecure than at prefent. As. you will wifh to aflift at the national aflembly, you will adfc pru- dently in obtaining from the French in London a good recommend-- ation to fome leading member; Cazales, for inftance, or the Abbe Maury. I foon expert from Elmflcy a cargo of books ; but you-: may bring me any new pamphlet of exquifite flavour, particularly, the laft works of John Lord Sheffield, which the dog has always negle(fled to fend. You will have time to write once more, and you muft endeavour, as nearly as poffible, to mark the day of your arrival. You may come either by Lyons and Geneva, by Dijon and les Rouffes, or by Dole and Pontarliere. The pofl will fail you on the edge of Switzerland, and muft be fupplied by hired horfes. I. wifh you to make your laft day's journey C3.fy^ fo as to dine upon the road, and arrive by tea-time. The pulfe of the counter-revo- lution beats high, but I cannot fend you any certain fads. Adieu. I want to /jcar my Lady abufing me for never writing, yf// the Se- verys are very impatient. Notwithftanding the high premium, Fdo not abfolutely wiHi you drowned. Befides all other cares, I muft marry and propagate, wiiich would give me a great, deal of trouble. . 224 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON. Lausanni^, July ill, 1791. In obedience to your orders I dii'e3: a flying fhot to Paris, though I have not any thing particular to add, excepting that our impatience is increafed in the inverfe ratio of time and fpace. Yet I almoft doubt whether you have pafled the lea. The news of the King of France's efcape muft have reached you before the 28 th, the day of your departure, and the profped: of ftrange unknown diforder may well have fufpended your firmeft refolves. The royal animal is again caught, and all may probably be quiet. I was juft going to exhort you to pafs through Bruflels and the confines of Germany ; a fair Iriflnifm, fince if you read this, you are already at Paris. The only reafonable advice which now remains, is to obtain, by means of Lord Gower, a fufficiency, or even fuperfluity, of forcible palTports, fuch as leave no room for cavil on a jealous frontier. The frequent intercourfe with Paris has proved that the beft and fhorteft road, inftead of Befaiiyon, is by Dijon, Dole, Les Roufies, and Nyon. Adieu. I warmly embrace the Ladies. It would he idle now to talk of bufmefs. [ ^25 i T T has appeared from the foregohig Letters, that a vifit from niyfelf and my family, to Mr. Gibbon at Laufanne, had been for fome time in agitation. This long-promifed excurfion took place in the month of June 1791, and occafioned a confiderable cefla- tion of our correfpondence. I landed at Dieppe immediately after the flight from, and return to, Paris of the unfortunate Lewis XVL During my flay in that capital, I had an opportunity of feeing the extraordinary ferment of men's minds, both in the national aflembly, in private focieties, and in my paflage through France to Laufanne, where I recalled to my memory the interefting fcenes I had wit- neffed, by frequent converfations with my deceafed friend. I might have wifhed to record his opinions on the fubje6l of the French re- volution, if he had not exprefled them fo well in the annexed Letters. He feemed to fuppofe, as fome of his Letters hint, that I had a ten- dency to the new French opinions. Never indeed, I can with truth aver, was fufpicion more uftfounded ; nor could it have been ad- mitted into Mr. Gibbon's mind, but that his extreme friendfhip for me, and his utter abhorrence of thefe notions, made him anxious and jealous, even to an excefs, that I fhould not entertain them. He was, however, foon undeceived ; he found that I was full as averfe to them as himfelf. I had from the firft exprelTed an opinion, that fuch a change as was aimed at in France, mufl: derange all the regular governments in Europe, hazard the internal quiet and dearefl: in- terefts of this country, and probably end in bringing on mankind a much greater portion of mifery, than the moft fanguine reformer VOL. I. e G had [ 226 ] had ever promifed to himfelf or others to produce of benefit, by the vifionary fchemes of Uberty and equality, with which the ignorant and vulgar were mifled and abufed. Mr. Gibbon at firft, like many others, feemed pleafed with the pro- fpeft of the reform of inveterate abufes ; but he very foon difcovered the mifchlef which was intended, the imbecility with which con- ceffions were made, and the ruin that muft arife, from the want of re- folution or condud, in the adminiftration of France. He lived to reprobate, in the ftrongeft terms poffible, the folly of the firll re- formers, and the fomething worfe than extravagance and ferocity of their fucceffors. He faw the wild and mifchievous tendency of thofe pretended reformers, which, while they profeffed nothing but amendment, really meant deftrudion to all fecial order; and fo flrongly was his opinion fixed, as to the danger of hafty innovation, that he became a warm and zealous advocate for CA'^ery fort of old eftablilhment, which he marked in various ways, fometimes rather ludlcroufly ; and I recoiled, in a circle where French affairs were the topic, and fome Portuguefe prefent, he, feemingly with feriouf- nefs, argued in favour of the inquifition at Lifbon, and faid he would not, at the prefent moment, give up even that old efla- blifhment. It may, perhaps, not be quite uninterefting to the readers of thefe Memoirs, to know, that I found Mr. Gibbon at Laufanne in pof- feflion of an excellent houfe ; the view from which, and from the terrace, was fo uncommonly beautiful, that even his own pen would with difficulty defcribe the fcene which it commanded. This profped comprehended every thing grand and magnificent, which could b» furnillied by the finefl mountains among the Alps, the rnofl extenfive view of the Lake of Geneva, with a beautifully varied and cul- tivated country, adorned by numerous villas, and pidurefque build- ings, intermixed with beautiful mafles of ftately trees. Here my friend received us with an hofpitality and kindnefs which I can never 1 forget. [ 227 3 forget. The beft apaitments of the houfe were appropriated to our ufe ; the choicefl fociety of the place was fought for, to enliven our vifit, and render every day of it cheerful and agreeable. It was impoflible for any man to be more efleemed and admired than Mr. Gibbon was at Laufanne. The preference he had given to that place, in adopting it for a refidence, rather than his own country, was felt and acknowledged by all the inhabitants ; and he may have been faid almoft to have given the law to a fet of as willing fubjeds as any man ever prefided oven In return for the deference fhewn to him, he mixed, without any afte£lation, in all the fociety, I mean all the beft fociety, that Laufanne afforded ; he could indeed command it, and was, perhaps, for that reafon the more partial to it ; for he often declared that he liked fociety more as a relaxation from ftudy, than as expe£l:ing to derive from it amufement or in- ftrudion ; that to books he looked for improvement, not to living perfons. But this I confidered partly as an anfwer to my expreffions of wonder, that a man who might choofe the moft various and moft generally improved fociety in the world, namely, in England, that he fhould prefer the very limited circle of Laufanne, which he never deferted, but for an occafional vifit to M. and Madan\e Necker. It muft not, however, be underftood, that in chufing Laufanne for his home, he was infenfible to the merits of a refidence in England : he was not in poffefTion of an income which correfponded with his notions of eafe and comfort in his own country. In Switzerland, his fortune was ample. To this confideration of fortune may be added another, which alfo had its weight ; from early youth Mr. Gibbon had contracted a partiality for foreign tafte and foreign habits of life, which made him lefs a ftranger abroad than he was, in fome refpeds, in his native country. This arofe, per- haps, from having been out of England from his fixteenth to his twenty-firft year; yet, when I came to Laufanne, I found him apparently without relifh for French fociety. During the G G 2 flay [ 228 ] ftay I made with him he renewed his intercourfe with the prin- cipal French who were at Laufanne ; of whom there happened to be a confiderable number, diftinguifhed for rank or talents ; many indeed refpedlable for both *. During my ftay in Switzerland I was not abl'ent from my friend's houfe, except during a fhort excurfion that we made together to Mr. Necker's at Copet, and a tour to Geneva, Chamouny, over the Col de Balme, to Martigny, St. Maurice, and round the Lake by Vevay to Laufanne. In the focial and fmgularly pleafant months that I paffed with Mr. Gibbon, he enjoyed his ufual cheerfulnefs, with good health. Since he left England, in 1788, he had had a fevere attack, mentioned in one of the foregoing letters, of an Eryfipelas, which at Lift fettled in one of his legs, and left fome- thing of a dropfical tendency ; for at this time I firft perceived a confiderable degree of fwelling about the ancle. In the beginning of October I left this delightful refidence ; and feme time after my return to England, our correfpondence recom- menced. * Marfhal de Caftrles and feveral branches of his family. Due de Guignes and daughters, Due and Ducheffe de Guiche, Madame de Grammont, Princefle d'Henin, Princefle de BoiMllon, Ducheffe de Biron, Prince de Salms, Comte de Schomberg, M. Lally Tolendal, M. de Mounicr, Madame d'Agueffeau and family, M.de MaU herbes, &c. &Cv [ 2-9 ] LETTERS FROM EDWARD GIBBON Efq. TO LORD SHEFFIELD, and Others. Edward Gibbon Efq, to the Hon. Mifs Holroyd* Lausanne, 9th Nov. 1791. /^UL LIVER is made to fay, in prefenting his interpreter, " My tongue is in the mouth of my friend." Allow me to fay, with proper expreffions and excufes, " My pen is in the hand of " my friend ;" and the aforefaid friend begs leave thus to continue *. I re'member to have read fomewhere in Roufleau, of a lover quit- ting very often his miftrefs, to have the pleafure of correfponding with her. Though not abfolutely your lover, I am very much your admirer, and fhould be extremely tempted to follow the fame example. The fpirit and reafon which prevail in your converfation, appear to great advantage in your letters. The three which I have * The remainder of the letter was dictated by Mr. Gibbon, and written by M. Wilh. de Severy. S. 6 received 203 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON received from Berne, Coblentz, and BrufTels have given me much real pleafure ; firft, as a proof that you are often thinking of me ; fecondly, as an evidence that you are capable of keeping a refolu- tion ; and thirdly, from their own intrinfic merit and entertainment. The ftyle, without any allowance for hafte or hurry, is perfedlly correal: ; the manner is neither too light, nor too grave ; the dimen- fions neither too long, nor too fhort : they are fuch, in a word, as I fhould like to receive from the daughter of my beft friend. I attend your lively journal, through bad roads, and worfe inns. Your de- fcription of men and manners conveys very fatisfaftory information; and I am particularly delighted with your remark concerning the irregular behaviour of the Rhine. But the Rhine, alas ! after fome temporary wanderings, will be content to flow in his old channel, while man — man is the greateft fool of the whole creation. I dire(^ this letter to Sheffield-Place, where I fuppofe you arrived in health and fafety. I congratulate my Lady on her quiet eftablifh- ment by her firefide ; and hope you will be able, after all your ex- curfions, to fiipport the climate and manners of Old England. Before this cpiflle reaches you, I hope to have received the two promifed letters from Dover and Sheffield-Place. If they fhould not meet with a proper return, you v^^ill pity and forgive me. I have not yet heard from Lord Sheffield, who feems to have devolved on his daughter, the tafk which fhe has fo glorioufly executed. I fliall pro- bably not write to him, till I have received his firft letter of bufmefs from England ; but with regard to my Lady, I have moft excellent intentions. I never could under ftand how two perfons of fuch fuperior merit, as Mifs Holroyd and Mifs Laufanne, could have fo little relifli for one another, as they appeared to have in tlie beginning ; and it was with great pleafure that I obferved the degrees of their growing inti- jnacy, and the mutual regret of their feparation. Whatever you may imagine, your friends at Laufanne have been thinking as fre- quently TO LORD SHEFFIELD, AND OTHERS. 231 quentiy of yourfelf and company, as you could pofTibly think of them ; and you will be very ungrateful, if you do not ferioufly re- folve to make them a fecond vifit, under fuch name and title as you may judge moft agreeable. None of the Severy family, except per- haps my fecretary, are inclined to forget you ; and I am continually afked for fome account of your health, motions, and amufements. Since your departure, no great events have occurred. I have made a fhort cxcurfion to Geneva and Copet, and found Mr. Necker in much better fjpirits than v^dien you faw him. They prefTed me to pafs fome weeks this winter in their houfe at Geneva ; and I may poffibly comply, at leaft, in part, with their invitation. The afpeifl of Laufanne is peaceful and placid; and you have no hopes of a revolution driving me out of this country. We hear nothing of the proceedings of the commifFion *, except by playing at cards every evening with Monfieur Fifcher, who often fpeaks of Lord Sheffield with efteeni and refpefto There is no appearance of Roflet and La Motte bein"- brought to a fpeedy trial, and they ftill remain in the caftle of Chillon, which (according to the geography of the National Aflem- bly) is wafhed by the fea. Our winter begins with great feverity • and we fhall not probably have many balls, which, as you may ima- gine, I lament much. Angletine does not confider two French words as a letter. Montrond fighs and blufhes whenever Louifa's name is mentioned : Philippine wifhes to couverfe with her on men * A commifl'.on, at the head of which was Monfieur Fifcher, one of the principal members of the government of Berne, a very a£live an;l intelligent man, who would have diftinguiflied himfelf .in the adminiftration of any country. This commiffion, which was accompanied by two or three thoufimd of the beft of the German militia of the Canton of Berne, was fent for the purpofe of examining into fome attempts to in- troduce the French revolutionary principles into the Pays de Vaud. Several pcrfons were feized ; the greater part were releafed ; the examination v/as fecret, but RolTet and La Rlotte were confined in the caftle of Chillon ; and being afterwards condemneJ, for corrcfpondence with the French, to a long imprifonment, were transferred to the caflle of Arbourg. S. and 232 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON and manners. The French ladies are fettled in town for the winter, and they form, with Mrs. Trevor, a very agreeable addition to our fociety. It is now enlivened by a vifit of the Chevalier dc Boufflers, one of the moft accomplifhed men in the ci devatit kingdom of France. As Mrs. Wood *, who has mifcarried, is about to leave us, I muft either cure or die ; and, upon the whole, I believe the former will be moft expedient. You will fee her in London, with dear Corea, next winter. My rival magnificently prefents me with an hogfhead of Madeira ; fo that in honour I could not fupplant him : yet I do aflure you, from my heart, that another departure is much more painful to me. The apartment below f is fhut up, and I know not when I fhall again vifit it with pleafure. Adieu. Believe me, one and all, moft afiedionately yours. Edward Gibbon Efq. to the Right Hon. Lord Shetfulld. Lausanne, December 28, 1791. A LAS ! alas ! the dxmon of procraftination has again poflefled me. Three months have nearly rolled away fmce your departure; and feven letters, five from the moft valuable Maria, and two from your- felf, have extorted from me only a fingle epiftle, which perhaps would never have been written, had I not ufed the permiffion of em- ploying my own tongue and the hand of a fecretaiy. Shall I tell you, that, for thefe laft fix weeks, the eve of every day has witnefled a jfirm refolution, and the day itfelf has furnifhed fome ingenious delay? This morning, for inftance, I determined to invade you as foon as the breakfaft things fhould be removed : they were removed ; but I had fomething to read, to write, to meditate, and there was time * Madame dc Silva. I The apartment principally inhabited during the refidence of my family at Lau- fanne. S. enough TO LORD SHEFFIELD, AND OTHERS. ,233 enough before me. Hour after hour has ftolen away, and I finally begin my letter at two o'clock, evidently too late for the poft, as I muft drefs, dine, go abroad, &c. A foundation, however,y7W/ be laid, which will flare mc in the face ; and next Saturday I Ihall probably be roufed by the awful refledlion that it is the laft day in the year. After realizing this fummer an event which I had long confidered as a dream of fancy, I know not whether I fhould rejoice or grieve at your vifit to Laufanne. While I pofleiTed the family, the fenti- ment of pleafure highly predominated ; when, juft as we had fub- fided in a regular, eafy, comfortable plan of "life, the lall trump founded, and, without fpeaking of the pang of feparation, you left me to one of the moft gloomy, folitary months of Odlober which I have ever paffed. For yourfelf and daughters, however, you have contrived to fnatch fome of the moft interefting fcenes of this world. Paris, at fuch a moment, Switzerland, and the Rhine, Scrafbiirg, Coblentz, have fuggefted a train of lively images and ufeful ideas, which will not be fpeedily erafed. The mind of the young damfel, more efpecially, will be enlarged and enlightened in every fenfe. In four months fhe has lived many years ; and fhe will much deceive and difpleafe me, if fhe does not review and methodize her journal, m fuch a manner as fhe is capable of performing, for the amufement of her particular friends. Another benefit which will redound from your recent view is, that every place, perfon, and objed:, about Laufanne, are now become familiar and interefting to you. In our future correfpondence (do I dare pronounce the word correfpond- ence ?) I can talk to you as freely of every circumftance as if it were adlually before your eyes. And fuft, of my own improve- ments. — All thofe venerable piles of ancient verdure which you aJ- viired have lieen eradicated in one fatal day. Your faithful fubfti- tutes, William de SeVery and Levade, have never ceafed to perfecute me, till I figned their death warrant. Their place is now fupplied ■VOL. J. H H by 234 _ LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON by a number of pifturefque naked pole", the fofter- fathers of as many twigs of Platanufles, which may aPbrd a grateful but diftant fliade to the foui'ider, or to his feris Ncpotibus. In the mean while 1 muft confefs that the ten-ace appears broader, and that I difcover a much larger quantity of fnow than I fliould othervvife do. The workmen admire your ingenious plan for cutting out a new bed- chamber and book-room ; but, on mature confideration, we all una- nimoufly prefer the old fcheme of adding a third room on the ter- race beyond tbe library, with two fpacious windows, and a fire-place between. It will be larger (28 feet by 21), and pleafanter, and warmer : the difference of expence wlU be mnch lefs confiderable than I imagined : the door of communication with the library will be artfully buried in the wainfcot ; and, unlefs it be opened by my own choice, may always remain a profound fecret. Such is the de- fign ; but, as it will not be executed before next fummer, you have time and liberty to flate your objedlions. I am much colder about the ftaircafe, but it may be finiflred, according to your idea, for thirty pounds ; and I feel they will perfuade me. Am I not a very rich man ? When thefe alterations are completed, few authors of fix volumes in quarto will be more agreeably lodged than myfelf. Laufanne is now full and lively ; all our native families are re- turned from the country ; and, pralfed be the Lord !" we are infefted with few foreigners, either French or Engliih. Even our demo- crats are more reafonable or more difcreet ; it is agreed, to wave the fubjedt of politics, and all feem happy and cordial. I have a grand dinner this week, a fupper of thirty or forty people on Twelfth-day, &c.; fome concerts have taken place, fome balls are talked of; and even Maria would allow (yet it is ungenerous to fliy even Maria) that the winter fcene at Laufanne is tolerably gay and adlive. I fay nothing of the Severys, as Angletine has epiftolized Maria laft poll. She has probably hinted that her brother meditates a fliort TO LORD SHEFFIELD, AND OTHERS. 235 fliort excurfion to Turin : that worthy fellow Trevor has given hiiu a prefling invitation to his own houfe. In the beginning of Febru- aiy I pi-opofe going to Geneva for three or four weeks. I fhall lodge and eat with the Neckers ; my mornings will be my own, and I Ihall fpend my evenings in the fociety of the place, where I have many acquaintance. This fliort abfence will agitate my ftagnant life, and reftore me with frefh appetite to my houfe, my library, and my friends. Before that time (the end of February) what events may happen, or be ready to happen ! The National Aflembly (compared to which the former was a fenate of heroes and demi-gods) feem re- folved to attack Germany avec quatre millions de hayonettes libres ; the army of the princes muft foon either fight, or (larve, or conquer. Will Sweden draw his fword ? will Ruflia draw her purfe ? an empty purfe ! All is darknefs and anarchy ; neither party is ftrong enough to oppofe a fettlement ; and I cannot fee a poffibility of an amicable arrangement, where there are no heads (in any fenfe of the word) who can anfwer for the multitude. Send me your ideas, and thofe of Lord Guildford, Lord Loughborough, Fox, &c. Before I conclude, a word of my vexatious affaii's. — Shall I never fail on the fmooth ftream of good fecurity and half-yearly intereft r will every body refufe my money ? I had already written to Dartel and Gofling to obey your commands, and was in hopes that you had already made large and falutary evacuations. During your ab- fence I never expedled much efFedt from the cold indifterence of agents ; but you are nov/ in England — you will be fpeedily in Lon- don : fet all your fetting-dogs to beat the field, hunt, enquire, why fliould you not advertife ? Yet I am almoft afliamed to complain of fome ftagnation of intereft, when I am witnefs to the natural and acquired philofophy of fo many French, who are reduced from riches, not to indigence, but to abfolutc v.ant and beggary. A Count Argout has juft left us, who poffellcd ten thoufand a-year in H H 2 the not take fome adive meafures to declare your found opinions, and fe- parate yourfelves from your rotten members ? If you allow them to perplex government, if you trifle with this folemn bufinefs, if you do not relift the fplrlt of innovation in the firft attempt, if yoa admit the fmalleft and moft fpecious change in our parliamentary fyftem, you are loft. You will be driven from one ftep to another ; from principles juft in theory, to confequences moft pernicious in- practice ; and your firft conceffions will be produdive of every fub- fequent mifehief, for which you will be anfwerable to your country and to pofterity. Do not fuffer yourfelves to be lulled into a falfe fecurity ; remember the proud fabric of the French monarchy. Not four years ago it ftood founded, as it might feera, on the rock of time, force, and opinion, fupported by the triple ariftocracy of the church, the nobility, and the parliaments. They are crumbled into daft J TO LORD SHEFFIELD, AND OTHERS. 243 dufl: ; they arc vaniflied from the earth. If this tremendous warnnig has no efle£t on the men of property in England ; if it does not open every eye, and raife every arm, you v^'ill deferve your fate. If I am too precipitate, enhghtcn ; if I am too defponding, en- courage me. -My pen has run into this argument ; for, as much a foreigner as you think me, on this momentous fubjedt, I feel myfelf an Eng- Ufhman. The pleafure of refiding at Sheffield-Place is, after all, the firft and the ultimate object of my vifit to my native country. But when or how will that vifit be eft'efted ? Clouds and whirlwinds, Auftrian Croats and Gallic cannibals, feem one very fide to impede my paflage. You feem to apprehend the perils or difficulties of the Gcrnian road, and French peace is more fanguinary than civilized war. I muft pafs through, perhaps, a thoufand republics or municipalities, which neither obey nor are obeyed. The ftridlnefs of paflports, and the popular ferment, are much increafed fince lafi: fummer : arifliocrate is in every mouth, lanterns hang in every fl:reet, and an hafly word, or a cafual refemblance, may be fatal. Yet, on the other hand, it is probable that many Englifli, men, women, and children, will traverfe the country without any accident before next September ; and I am fenfible that many things appear more formidable at a dis- tance than on a nearer approach. Without any abfolute determina^^ tion, we muft fee what the events of the next three or four months will produce. In the mean while, I fhali expedl with impatience your next letter : let it be fpeedy ; my anfwer fhall be prompt. You will be glad, or forry, to learn that my gloomy apprehenfions are much abated, and that my departure, whenever it takes place, will be an a(5t of choice, rather than of neceffity. I do not pretend to affirm, that fecret difcontent, dark fufpicion, private animofity, are very materially aflliaged ; but we have not experienced, nor do u'c now apprehend, any dangerous aQs of violence, which may I 1 2 compel 244 LETTERS FROM MR. GIBBON compel me to feek a refuge among the friendly Bears *, and to aban- don my library to the mercy of the democrats. The firmnefs and vigour of goA'^ernment have crufhed, at leaft for a time, the fpirit of in- novation ; and I do not believe that the body of the people, efpecially the peafants, are difpofed for a revolution. From France, praifed be the demon of anarchy ! the infurgents of the Pays de Vaud could not at prefent have much to hope ; and fliould the gardes nationales^ of which there is little appearance, attempt an incurfion, the country is armed and prepared, and they would be refifted with equal num- bers and fuperior dilcipline. The Gallic wolves that prowled round Geneva are drawn away, fome to the fouth and fome to the north, and the late events in Flanders feem to have diffufed a general con- tempt, as well as abhorrence, for the lawlefs favages, who fly before the enemy, hang their prifoners, and murder their officers. The brave and patient regiment of Erncft is expeded home every day, and as Berne will take them into prefent pay, that veteran and re- gular corps will add to the fecurity of our frontier. I rejoice that we have fo little to fay on the fubjed: of worldly affairs. * * * * This fummer we are threatened with an inundation, befides many namelefs Englilh and Irifli ; but I am anxious for the Duchefs of Devonfliire and the Lady Elizabeth Fofter, who are on their march. Lord Malmfbury, the audacieiix Harris, will inform you that he has feen me : hirn I would have confented to keep. One word more before we part ; call upon Mr. John Nicholls, bookfeller and printer, at Cicero's Head, Red-Lion-Paffage, Fleet- Street, and afiC him whether he did not, about the beginning of March, receive a very polite letter from Mr. Gibbon of Laufanne ? To v/hich, either as a man of bufmefs or a civil gentleman, he fhould have returned an anfwer. My application related to a domeftic article in the Gentleman's Magazine of Auguft 1788, * Berne. (p. 698,) TO LORD SHEFFIELD, AND OTHERS. 245 (p. 698,) which had lately fallen into my hands, and concerning which 1 rcquefted fome farther lights. Mrs. Mols delivered the letters * into my hands, but I doubt whether they will be of much fervice to me ; the work appears far more difficult in the execution than in the idea, and as I am now taking my leave for fome time of the library, I fliall not make much progrefs in the memoirs of P. P. till I am on Englifh ground. But is it indeed true, that I fliall eat any Suffex pheafants this autumn ? The event is in the book of Fate, and I cannot unroll the leaves of September and 0