This pompous narrative of matters fo level to the courfe of common life, may probably excite a fmile, which it was far from the intention of the author to produce; his evident object being to give dignity and importance to every occurrence in which he was concerned. Mr. Gibbon's own memoirs clofe, according to Lord Sheffield, foon after his return to Switzerland in 1788. They are, however, concluded by fome obfervations, which must have been written not long before his final departure from Laufanne, in the fpring of 1793: for they mention feveral occurrences fubfequent to 1788. Among thefe are the death of his friend Deyvurdun, which happened on the 4th of July, 1789; Mr. Burke's book on the French Revolution, which was published in 1790; and the effect of that event on the fociety of Lausanne, for two or three years, which must carry us on at leaft as far as 1792. He also efti mates his own life at the probability of fifteen years, which, fuppofing him to be then fifty-five (which he was in 1792) brings it to the period of feventy years; to which he might not object as a common eftimate of life, though it had happened to be employed once by King David. This may ferve at leaft to prove the conftant attention which he paid to the intended monument of his fame; and that when he was not enlarging it by additional events, he was employed in adorning it with general fentiments and reflections. He probably

would not have added much to the period that intervened before his arrival in England. The chafai, confidered as commencing from 1788, is fupplied by the noble editor chiefly from the letters of his friend, but occafionally by narrative; which, in the cafe of Mr. Gibbon's final illness, defcends to a very unneceffary, and even difgufting minutenefs.

The letters inferted to continue the Life, are fuccceded by an Appendix of Letters, on various fubjects; many of them are worthy of notice, as being addreffed to Mr. Gibbon by perfons of great eminence: but of his own letters, though fome are valuable, a confiderable part might undoubtedly have been omitted, without injury to the volume, as confifting, chiefly of excufes for tardinefs in correfpondence; which feems to have been a natural, or at least an habitual fault, of the author, and other very trivial matters. There is very great acutenefs difplayed in the two letters of M. Allamand, in which he fuccefsfully combats fome of Locke's arguments against the doctrine of innate ideas. The character of this able man is given afterwards in the extracts from Mr. Gibbon's Journal, vol. ii. p. 266. It is certainly to the honour of the hiftorian, that this correfpondence with Crevier, Allamand, Breitinger, and Gefner, entirely on literary fubjects,

took

took place when he was between the age of eighteen and

twenty-one.

From the early education of Mr. Gibbon at Laufanne, he acquired the facility and the habit of writing in French. Not only his Effay on the Study of Literature, and fome Letters, but even a great part of his private journal, is written in that language; and we have feen that there was a time when he could by no means write with equal elegance and propriety in his own. To have formed an English ftyle after that mult have been a laborious effort, the difficulty of which may account, in fome meafure, for the artificial ftructure, and frequent monotony of his periods. His French ftyle it would be very hazardous for an Englishman,, who had not a fimilar education, to attempt to characterize; it is certainly excellent for a foreigner, but, by the judgment of his fagacious friend Mr. Maty, not entirely free from blemishes, which would betray its origin to a Frenchman. In his letter prefixed to the «Effai fur l'Etude de la Littérature, he thus fpeaks on the fubject.

n'eft

"Rarement un étranger parvient-il à ecrire dans une langue qui pas la fienne, de maniere à n'être pas reconnu. Mais que faut il qu'il ne foit pas? Lucullus auroit pu fe paffer d'affecter des Latinifmes de peur d'être pris pour un Grec, et je ne crois pas que vous vous piquiez d'être moins facile à reconnoitre pour un Anglois, que Lucullus pour un Romain. Mais c'eft cela même qui, aux yeux d'un François, vous donnera un nouveau merite. Il remarquera un mot, un tour étranger a fa langue, et peut-être fouhaitera qu'il ne le fût pas. Ces traits faillans, ces figures hardies, ce facrifice de la règle au fentiment, et de la cadence à la force, lui caracterisement une nation originale, qui mérite d'être étudiée et qui gagne toujours a l'être. L'individu ne lui echappera pas, et il faura difcerner ce que vous devez à votre îfle, et ce que votre îfle vous doit." Vol. ii. p. 446..

Among the letters to the author, feveral from Dr. Robertfon, Mr. Fergufon, and others, bear very honourable teftimony to the merit of his hiftory. From his own letters we fhall felect that which gives the moft particular account of his fituation when retired at Laufanne. It is addrefled to Mrs. Gibbon, the fecond wife, and, at that time, the widow, of his father; with whom, to the end of her life, he maintained an. intercourse of the strictest friendship and attachment.

"Edward Gibben, Efquire, to Mrs. Gibbon, Bath. Dear Madam,

Laufanne, May 28th, 1784 I begin, without preface or apology, as if I had received your letter by the laft poft. In my own defence I know not what to fay; but if I were difpofed to recriminate, I might obferve that you yourself are not perfectly free from the fin of lazinefs and procrastination. I

have often wondered why we are not fonder of letter-writing. We all delight to talk of ourselves; and it is only in letters, in writing to a friend, that we enjoy that converfation, not only without reproach or interruption, but with the highest propriety and mutual fatisfaction; fure that the perfon whom we addrefs feels an equal, or, at leaft, a ftrong and lively intereft in the confideration of the pleasing subject. On the fubject, therefore, of felf I will entertain a friend, to whom none of my thoughts or actions, none of my pains and pleasures, can ever be indifferent. When I firft cherished the defign of retiring to Laufanne, I was much more apprehenfive of wounding your tender attachment, than of offending Lord Sheffield's manly and vehement friendship. In the abolition of the Board of Trade the motives for my retreat became more urgent and forcible; I wifhed to break loofe, yet I delayed above a year before I could take my final refolution; and the letter in which I difclofed it to you coft me one of the most painful ftruggles of my life. As foon as I had conquered that difficulty, all meaner obftacles fell before me, and in a few weeks I found myfelf at Laufanne, aftonished at my firmnefs and my fuccefs. Perhaps you ftill blame or ftill lament the ftep which I have taken. If, on your own account, I can only fympathize with your feelings, the recollection of which often cofts me a figh; if, on mine, let me fairly state what I have efcaped in England, and what I have found at Laufanne. Recollect the tempefts of this winter; how many anxious days I fhould have paffed; how many noify, turbulent, hot, unwholefome nights; while my political exiflence, and that of my friends, was at ftake: yet thefe feeble efforts would have been unavailing; I fhould have loft my feat in parliament; and, after the extraordinary expence of another year, I must still have purfued the road of Switzerland, unlefs I had been tempted by fome felfifh patron, or by Lord S.'s afpiring fpirit, to incur a moft inconvenient expence for a new feat; and, once more, at the beginning of an oppofition, to engage in new scenes of bufinefs. As to the immediate profpect of any thing like a quiet and profitable retreat, I fhould not know where to look; my friends are no longer in power. With **** and his party I have no connection; and, were he difpofed to favour a man of letters, it is difficult to fay what he could give, or what I would accept; the reign of penfions and finecures is at an end; and, a commiflion in the Excife or Cuftoms, the fummit of my hopes, would give me an income at the expence of leifure and liberty. When I revolve thefe circumftances in my mind, my only regret, I repeat it again and again, is, that I did not embrace this falutary meature three, five, ten years ago. Thus much I thought it neceflary to fav, and fhall now thus difmifs this unpleafing part of the fubject. For my fituation here, health is the firit confideration; and, on that head, your tenderness had conceived fome degree of anxiety. I know not whether it has reached you that I had a hit of the gout the day after my arrival. The deed is true, but the caufe was accidental; care!efsly ftepping down a flight of ftairs, I fprained my ancle; and my ungenerous enemy inftantly took advantage of my weaknefs. But, fince my breaking that double chain, I have enjoyed a winter of the moft perfect health that I have, perhaps, ever known, without any mixture of the little flying incommo

dities which, in my beft days, have fometimes difturbed the tranquillity of my English life. You are not ignorant of Dr. Tiffot's repu tation, and his merit is even above his reputation. He affures me, that, in his opinion, the moisture of England and Holland is moft pernicious; the dry pure air of Switzerland moft favourable to a gouty 'conftitution: that experience juftifies the theory; and that there are fewer martyrs of that diforder in this, than in any other country in Europe. This winter has every where been moft uncommonly fevere: and you feem in England to have had your full fhare of the general hardship: but, in this corner, furrounded by the Alps, it has rather been long than rigorous; and its duration ftole away our fpring, and left us no interval between furs and filks. We now enjoy the genial influence of the climate and the feafon; and no ftation was ever more calculated to enjoy them than Deyverdun's houfe and garden, which are now become my own. You will not expect that the pen should defcribe what the pencil would imperfectly delineate. A few circumftances may, however, be mentioned. My library is about the fame fize with that in Bentinck-ftreet, with this difference, however, that instead of looking on a paved court, twelve feet fquare, I command a boundless profpect of vale, mountain, and water, from my three windows. My apartment is completed by a fpacious light clofet, or ftore-room, with a bed-chamber and a dreffing-room. Deyverdun's habitation is pleafant and convenient, though less extensive: for our common ufe we have a very handfome, winter apartment of four rooms; and, on the ground-floor, two cool faloons for the fum. mer, with a fufficiency, or rather fuperfluity, of offices, &c. A terrace, one hundred yards long, extends beyond the front of the house, and leads to a clofe impenetrable shrubbery; and, from thence, the circuit of a long and various walk, carries me round a meadow and vineyard. The intervals afford abundant fupply of fruit, and every fort of vege tables; and, if you add, that this villa (which has been much ornamented by my friend) touches the best and most fociable part of the town, you will agree with me, that few perfons, either princes or philofophers, enjoy a more defirable refidence. Deyverdun, who is proud of his own works, often walks me round, pointing out, with acknowledgment and enthufiafm, the beauties that change with every ftep and with every variation of light. I fhare, or, at leaft, I fympathize, with his pleasure. He appears contented with my progrefs, and has already told feveral people, that he does not defpair of making me a gardener. Be that as may, you will be glad to hear that Ï am, by my own choice, infinitely more in motion, and in the open air, than I ever have been formerly; yet my perfect liberty and leifure leave me many ftudious hours; and, as the circle of our acquaintance retire into the country, I fhall be much lefs engaged in company and diverfion. I have ferioufly refumed the profecution of my Hiftory; each day and each month adds fomething to the completion of the great work. The progrefs is flow, the labour continual, and the end remote and uncertain; yet every day brings its amufement, as well as labour; and, though I dare not fix a term, even in my own fancy, I advance, with the pleafing reflection, that the bufinefs of publication (fhould I be detained here fo long) muft enforce my return

to

to England, and restore me to the best of mothers and friends. In the mean while, with health and competence, a full independence of mind and action, a delightful habitation, a true friend, and many pleafant acquaintances, you will allow, that I am rather an object of envy than of pity; and, if you were more converfant with the use of the French language, I would feriously propofe to you to repofe your felf with us in this fine country. My indirect intelligence (on which I fometimes depend with more implicit faith than on the kind diffimulation of your friendship) gives me reafon to hope that the laft winter has been more favourable to your health than the preceding one. Affure me of it yourself, honeftly and truly, and you will afford me one of the most lively pleafures." Vol. i. p. 633

A great part of the fecond volume of this publication is occupied by extracts from the journal kept by the author, of the books he read, and of the opinions he formed in reading them a very curious and fingular monument of literary industry carried to fuch minutenefs, as to note daily the number of lines or pages read in the progrefs through any work. This uncommon detail is continued very regularly from April, 1761, to July, 1764; that is, from the 24th to the 27th year of the author's age, and contains much ufeful matter. This plan was begun, according to the editor, as early as the year 1754; but, after 1764, it appears that he wrote his remarks in a lefs regular and connected manner, in common place books, in detached papers, and even on cards. The obfervations here publifhed, though they feem, by their very nature, to have been intended rather for private ufe than public infpection, will yet be found to contain fome paffages which amount almoft to a proof, that the idea of authorfhip was at all times fo inherent in Mr. Gibbon's mind, that he could not write even a journal for himfelf without a fort of reference to public opinion. When a man purfues a courfe of ftudy, or any thing referable folely to himself; after he has determined upon his plan, from what he conceives to be adequate reasons, he feldom takes the pains to ftate thofe reafons in writing to himself, there being little poffibility that he fhould in future queftion or forget his own motives for his private conduct. Yet the journalist before us finds it neceffary fometimes to give a reafon why he took up one book rather than another. This appears very remarkably in the following paffage on the fubject of Homer.

"I have at last finished the Iliad. As I undertook to improve my felf in the Greek language, which I had totally neglected for fome years paft, and to which I never applied myself with a proper attention, I must give a reafon why I begun with Homer, and that contrary to Le Clerc's advice. I had two. ft. As Homer is the most ancient Greek author (except perhaps Hefiod) who is now extant; and as he

Was