The life of Edward Gibbon, esq., with selections from his correspondence, and illustrations

Introduction

The admirable manner in which Gibbon executed the sketch of his own Life, as well as the total deficiency of materials for a new Biography, altogether preclude the attempt to recompose the Life of the Author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The writer of a very able criticism on Gibbon's MiscellaneousWorks, in the QuarterlyReview, vol. xii. p. 375. (the late Dr. Whitaker, the Historian of Craven, and the Editor of Piers Ploughman's Vision and Creed), thus felicitously and justly characterises the Life of Gibbon: — "It is perhaps the best specimen of Autobiography in the English language. Descending from the lofty level of his History, and relaxing the stately march which he maintains throughout that work, into a more natural and easy pace, this enchanting writer, with an ease, spirit, and vigour peculiar to himself, conducts his readers through a ' sickly childhood, a neglected and desultory education, and a youth wasted in the unpromising and unscholar-like occupation of a militia officer, to the period when he resolutely applied the energies of his genius to a severe course of voluntary study, which in the space of a few years rendered him a a 3

VI INTRODUCTION.

consummate master of Roman antiquity, and lastly produced the history of the decline and fall of that mighty empire."

In republishing the Life of Gibbon, the Editor has taken the liberty of dividing it into chapters, in order that the longer notes, the extracts, and the journals, which distract the reader of the text, and break its agreeable flow, may be interposed at those intervals at which we may suppose the reader inclined to pause ; yet each extract may present itself at the proper period of the Life.

The Editor has inserted in their place, in these additions, such parts of Gibbon's correspondence as appeared most likely to interest the reader, and to throw light on the character of Gibbon ; with the few anecdotes which he has been able to glean from other quarters, and such observations as seemed calculated to illustrate the work. — M.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION. Vll

From Lord Sheffield's Advertisement to the First Edition of Gibbon's Miscellaneous TVorks.

The melancholy duty of examining the papers of my deceased Friend devolved upon me at a time when I was depressed by severe afflictions.

In that state of mind, I hesitated to undertake the task of selecting and preparing his manuscripts for the press. The warmth of my early and long attachment to Mr. Gibbon made me conscious of a partiality, which it was not proper to indulge, especially in revising many of his juvenile and unfinished compositions. I had to guard, not only against a sentiment like my own, which I found extensively diffused, but also against the eagerness occasioned by a very general curiosity to see in print every literary relic, however imperfect, of so distinguished a writer.

Being aware how disgracefully authors of eminence have been often treated, by an indiscreet posthumous publication of fragments and careless effusions ; when I had selected those Papers which to myself appeared the fittest for the public eye, I consulted some of our common friends, whom I knew to be equally anxious with myself for Mr. Gibbon's fame, and fully competent, from their judgment, to protect it.

Under such a sanction it is, that, no longer susa 4

Vlll ADVERTISEMENT TO

pecting myself to view through too favourable a medium the compositions of my Friend, I now venture to publish them : and it may here be proper to give some information to the reader respecting the contents of these volumes.

The most important part consists of Memoirs of Mr. Gibbon's Life and Writings, a work which he seems to have projected with peculiar solicitude and attention, and of which he left Six different sketches, all in his own hand-writing, One of the sketches, the most diffuse and circumstantial, so 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 March 1791, appears in the form of Annals, much less detailed than the others. The two remaining sketches are still more imperfect. But it is difficult to discover the order in which these several Pieces were written. From all of them the following Memoirs have been carefully selected, and put together.

My hesitation in giving these Memoirs to the world arose, principally, from the circumstance of Mr. Gibbon's seeming, in some respect, not to have been quite satisfied with them, as he had so frequently varied their form : yet, notwithstanding this diffidence, the compositions, though unfinished, are so excellent, that I think myself justified in permitting my Friend to appear as his own biographer, rather than to have that office

THE FIRST EDITION. IX

undertaken by any other person less qualified for it.

This opinion has rendered me anxious to publish the present Memoirs, without any unnecessary delay ; for I am persuaded, 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 picture of his talents, his disposition, his studies, and his attainments.

Those slight variations of character, which naturally arose in the progress of his life, will be unfolded in a series of letters, selected from a correspondence between him and myself, which continued full thirty years, and ended with his death.

It is to be lamented, that all the sketches of the Memoirs, except that composed in the form of annals, cease about twenty years before Mr. Gibbon's death ; and consequently, that we have the least detailed account of the most interesting part of his life. His Correspondence during that period will, in a great measure, supply the deficiency. It will be separated from the Memoirs and placed in an appendix, that those who are not disposed to be pleased with the repetitions, familiarities, and trivial circumstances of epistolary writing, may not be embarrassed by it. By many the letters will be found a very interesting part of the present publication. They will prove, how pleasant, friendly, and amiable Mr. Gibbon was in

ADVERTISEMENT TO private life; and if" in publishing letters so flattering to myself, I incur the imputation of vanity,

I shall meet the charge with a frank confession, that I am indeed highly vain of having enjoyed, for so many years, the esteem, the confidence, and the affection of a man, whose social qualities endeared him to the most accomplished society, and whose talents, great as they were, must be acknowledged to have been fully equalled by the sincerity of his friendship.

Whatever censure may be pointed against the Editor, the Public will set a clue value on the letters for their intrinsic merit. I must, indeed, be blinded, either by vanity or affection, if they do not display the heart and mind of their author, in such a manner as justly to increase the number of his admirers.

I have not been solicitous to garble or expunge passages which, to some, may appear trifling. Such passages will often, in the opinion of the observing reader, mark the character of the writer, and the omission of them would materially take from the ease and familiarity of authentic letters.

Few men, I believe, have ever so fully unveiled their own character, by a minute narrative of their sentiments and pursuits, as Mr. Gibbon will here be found to have done ; not with study and labour — not with an affected frankness —but with a genuine confession of his little foibles and peculiarities, and a good-humoured and natural display of his own conduct and opinions.

THE FIRST EDITION.

Mr. Gibbon began a journal, a work distinct from the sketches already mentioned, in the early part of his life, with the following declaration : —

" I propose from this day, August 24th, I76I, to keep an exact journal of my actions and studies, both to assist my memory, and to accustom me to set a due value on my time. I shall begin by setting down some few events of my past life, the dates of which I can remember."

This industrious project he pursued occasionally in French, with the minuteness, fidelity, and liberality of a mind resolved to watch over and improve itself.

The journal is continued under different titles, and is sometimes very concise, and sometimes singularly detailed. One part of it is entitled " My Journal," another " Ephemerides, or Journal of my Actions, Studies, and Opinions." The other parts are entitled, " Ephemerides, ou Journal de ma Vie, de mes Etudes, et de mes Sentimens." In this journal, among the most trivial circumstances, are mixed very interesting observations and dissertations on a satire of Juvenal, a passage of Homer, or of Longinus, or of any other author whose works he happened to read in the course of the day ; and he often passes from a remark on the most common event, to a critical disquisition of considerable learning, or an inquiry into some abstruse point of Philosophy.

It certainly was not his intention that this private and motley diary should be presented to the

Xll ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION.

Public; nor have I thought myself at liberty to present it, in the shape in which he left it. But when reduced to an account of his literary occupations) it forms so singular and so interesting a portrait of an indefatigable student, that I persuade myself it will be regarded as a valuable acquisition by the Literary World, and as an accession of tame to the memory of my Friend. With the extracts from Mr. Gibbon's journal will be printed, his dissertations, entitled " Extraits Raisonnes de mes Lectures :" and " Recueil de mes Observations, et Pieces detachees sur differens Sujets." Afew other passages from other parts of the journals, introduced in notes, will make a curious addition to the Memoirs.

It remains only to express a wish, that in discharging this latest office of affection, my regard to the memory of my Friend may appear, as I trust it will do, proportioned to the high satisfaction which I enjoyed for many years in possessing his entire confidence, and very partial attachment.

SHEFFIELD.

Sheffield-Place,

Contents

INTRODUCTION - - - Page 1

CHAPTER I. Account and Anecdotes of the Author's Family. — South Sea

Scheme, and the Bill of Pains and Penalties against the

Directors ; among whom was the Author's Grandfather. —

Character of Mr. William Law. - - - 13

Chap. II

Mr. Gibbon's Birth ; he is put under the care of Mr. Kirkby ;

some Account of Mr. Kirkby The Author is sent to

Dr. Wooddeson's School, whence he is removed on the Death of his Mother. — Affectionate Observations on his Aunt, Mrs. Catharine Porten. — Is entered at Westminster School ; is removed on account of ill health, and afterwards placed under the care of the Rev. Mr. Francis - - 33

Chap. III

Enters a Gentleman Commoner at Magdalen College, Oxford. — Remarks on that University. — Some Account of Magdalen College. — Character of Dr. Waldegrave, Mr. Gibbon's first Tutor. — The Author determines to write an History ; its Subject. — Solution of a Chronological Difficulty. — Mr. Gibbon is converted to the Roman Catholic Religion ; cites the Examples of Chillingworth and Bayle ; their Characters. — Mr. Gibbon obliged to leave Oxford. — Farther Remarks on the University - - -56

CONTENTS.

Chap. IV

The Author is removed to Lausanne, and placed under the care of M. Pavilliard. — Reflections on his Change of Situation. — Character of M. Pavilliard, and an Account of his manner of restoring Mr. Gibbon to the Protestant Church. — Mr. Gibbon received the Sacrament in the Church of Lausanne on Christmas-day, 1754. — The Author's Account of the Books he read, and of the Course of Study he pursued. — Makes the Tour of Switzerland ; forms a Correspondence with several Literary Characters ; is introduced to Voltaire, and sees him perform several Characters in his own Plays. — Remarks on his Acting. — Some Account

of Mademoiselle Curchod (afterwards Madame Necker)

Reflections on his Education at Lausanne. — He returns to

England .... Page S7

Chap. V

Mr. Gibbon's manner of spending his Time. — He publishes his first Work, Essai stir V Etude de la Litttrature. — Some Observations on the Plan, and the Character of the Performance. — Character of Dr. Maty. — The Author's manner of passing his Time in the Hampshire Militia, and Reflections upon it. — He resumes his Studies; determines to write upon some Historical Subject ; considers various Subjects, and makes Remarks upon them for that purpose - 1 26

Chap. VI

Mr. Gibbon sees Mallet's Elvira performed. — Character of that Play. — Passes some time at Paris, gives an Account of the Persons with whom he chiefly associated ; proceeds, through Dijon and Besancon, to Lausanne. — Characterises a Society there, called La Societe du Printems. — Becomes acquainted with Mr. Holroyd, now Lord Sheffold. — Remarks on their Meeting. — Some Account of Mr. Gibbon's Studies at Lausanne, preparatory to his Italian Journey. — He travels into Italy; his Feelings and Observations upon his Arrival at Rome — He returns to England - 170

CONTENTS.

Chap. VII

Mr. Gibbon's Reflections upon his Situation. — Some Account of his Friend M. Deyverdun. — He writes, and commudicates to his Friends, an Historical Essay upon the Liberty of the Swiss. — Their unfavourable Judgment. — Mr. Hume's Opinion. — Mr. Gibbon and M. Deyverdun engage in a Periodical Work, as a Continuation of Dr. Maty's Journal Britannique ; entitled, Memoires Litteraires de la Grand Bretagne. — Account of the Work. — Mr. Gibbon publishes his Observations on the Vlth iEneid of Virgil, in

opposition to Bishop Warburton's Hypothesis Mr. Heyne's

and Mr. Hayley's Opinions of that Essay. — Mr. Gibbon determines to write the History of the Decline and Fall. — His preparatory Studies. — Reflections on his domestic Circumstances; his Father's Death and Character. Page 211

Chap. VIII

Mr. Gibbon settles in London. — Begins his History of the Decline and Fall. — Becomes a Member of the House of Commons. — Characters of the principal Speakers. — Publishes his First Volume ; its Reception. — Mr. Hume's Opinion, in a Letter to the Author .... 237

Chap. IX

Mr. Gibbon makes a Second Visit to Paris. — His Dispute with the Abbe Mably. — He enumerates and characterises the Writers who wrote against his 15th and 16th Chapters. — — By the Desire of Ministry, he writes the Memoire Justificatif. — By the Interest of Lord Loughborough is appointed one of the Lords of Trade. — Publishes his Second and Third Volumes of his History ; their Reception. — Mentions Archdeacon Travis's Attack upon him, and commends Mr. Porson's Answer to the Archdeacon. — Notices also Bishop Newton's Censure. — Proceeds in his History - - - - - 249

CONTEN I B.

Chap. X

Mr. Gibbon leaves London, and settles at Lausanne, in the House of his Friend M. Deyverdun ; his Reasons for doing so. — Reflections on his Change of Situation. — Short Characters of Prince Henry of Prussia and of Mr. Fox, both of whom he sees at Lausanne. — Proceeds in, and finishes his History. — Interesting Remarks on concluding it. — Pays a Visit to Lord Sheffield in England. — Remarks on Lord Sheffield's Writings ; publishes the Remainder of his History . returns to Lausanne ; his manner of employing his Time — The Death of M. Deyverdun. — Observations of the Author upon the French Revolution, the Government of Berne, and his own Situation. — The Memoires end. Page 282

Letters from Edward Gibbon, Esq. to the Right Hon. Lord Sheffield - - - - 313

Letters from Edward Gibbon, Esq. to Lord Sheffield and others - - 365

MEMOIRS

MY LIFE AND WRITINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

In the fifty-second year of my age, after the completion of an arduous and successful work, I now propose to employ some moments of my leisure in reviewing the simple transactions of a private and literary life. Truth, naked, unblushing truth, the first virtue of more serious history, must be the sole recommendation of this personal narrative. The style shall be simple and familiar : but style is the image of character ; and the habits of correct writing may produce, without labour or design, the appearance of art and study. My own amusement is my motive, and will be my reward : and if these sheets are communicated to some discreet and indulgent friends, they will be secreted from the public eye till the author shall be removed beyond the reach of criticism or ridicule. 1

1 This passage is found in one only of the six sketches, and in that which seems to have been the first written, and which was laid aside among loose papers. Mr. Gibbon, in his communications with me on

A lively desire of knowing and of recording our

ancestors so generally prevails, that it must depend on the influence of some common principle in the minds of men. We seem to have lived in the persons of our forefathers ; it is the labour and reward of vanity to extend the term of this ideal longevity. Our imagination is always active to enlarge the narrow circle in which Nature has confined us. Fifty or an hundred years may be allotted to an individual ; but we step forward beyond death with such hopes as religion and philosophy will suggest ; and we fill up the silent vacancy that precedes our birth, by associating ourselves to the authors of our existence. Our calmer judgment will rather tend to moderate, than to suppress, the the subject of his Memoirs, a subject which he had not mentioned to any other person, expressed a determination of publishing them in his lifetime ; and never appears to have departed from that resolution, excepting in one of his letters annexed, in which he intimates a doubt, though rather carelessly, whether in his time, or at any time, they would meet the eye of the public. — In a conversation, however, not long before his death, I suggested to him that, if he should make them a full image of his mind, he would not have nerves to publish them, and therefore that they should be posthumous ; — He answered, rather eagerly, that he was determined to publish them in his lifetime. — S.*

* The late Lord Sheffield, by elaborate hand. I may venture, a clause in his will, positively pro- however, to bear my testimony to hibited the publication of any more the meat judgment with which the out of the mass of (ribbon's papers late Lord Sheffield exercised his in the possession of his family, office of editor in this part of (Jib- By the kind favour of the present bon's works ; much has been re- Lord Sheffield 1 have been per- jected, in which the public would mittcd (of course with the distinct not have Pell the > 1 i l; 1 1 1 cv- 1 interest ; understanding that the will of his ami I found not above two or

father should be rigidly respected) three sentences which 1 should

to see these six sketches of the life, have wished to rescue from obli-

written in Gibbon's own clear and vion. — M.

INTRODUCTION. 3

pride of an ancient and worthy race. The satirist * may laugh, the philosopher may preach ; but Reason herself will respect the prejudices and habits, which have been consecrated by the experience of mankind. Few there are who can sincerely despise in others, an advantage of which they are secretly ambitious to partake. The knowledge of our own family from a remote period, will be always esteemed as an abstract pre-eminence, since it can never be promiscuously enjoyed ; but the longest series of peasants and mechanics would not afford much gratification to the pride of their descendant. We wish to discover our ancestors, but we wish to discover them, possessed of ample fortunes, adorned with honourable titles, and holding an eminent rank in the class of hereditary nobles, which has been maintained for the wisest and most beneficial purposes, in almost every climate of the globe, and in almost every modification of political society.

Wherever the distinction of birth is allowed to form a superior order in the state, education and example should always, and will often, produce among them a dignity of sentiment and propriety of conduct, which is guarded from dishonour by their own and the public esteem. If we read of some illustrious line so ancient that it has no beginning, so worthy that it ought to have no end, we sympathize in its various fortunes ; nor can we blame the generous enthusiasm, or even the harmless vanity, of those who are allied to the honours

* Gibbon probably alludes to the splendid eighth Satire of Juvenal. — M.

B 2 of its name. For my own part, could I draw my pedigree from a general, a statesman, or a celebrated author, I should study their lives with the diligence of filial love. In the investigation of past events, our curiosity is stimulated by the immediate or indirect reference to ourselves ; but in the estimate of honour we should learn to value the gifts of Nature above those of Fortune ; to esteem in our ancestors the qualities that best promote the interests of society ; and to pronounce the descendant of a king less truly noble than the offspring of a man of genius, whose writings will instruct or delight the latest posterity. The family of Confucius is, in my opinion, the most illustrious in the world. After a painful ascent of eight or ten centuries, our barons and princes of Europe are lost in the darkness of the middle ages ; but, in the vast equality of the empire of China, the posterity of Confucius (1) have maintained, above two thousand two hundred years, their peaceful honours and perpetual succession. The chief of the family is still revered, by the sovereign and the people, as the lively image of the wisest of mankind. The nobility of the Spencers has been illustrated and enriched by the trophies of Marlborough ; but I exhort them to consider the Fuinj Queen a as the most precious jewel of their coronet. Our immortal Fielding was of the younger branch of the Earls of Denbigh, who draw their origin from the Counts

Nor less praiseworthy are the ladies three,

The honour of thai noble familie,

Of which I meanest boast myself to be.

Spi ni i:u, Colin Clout, #c,

INTRODUCTION. 5

of Habsburg, the lineal descendants of Eltrico, in the seventh century, Duke of Alsace. Far different have been the fortunes of the English and German divisions of the family of Habsburg : the former, the knights and sheriffs of Leicestershire, have slowly risen to the dignity of a peerage ; the latter, the Emperors of Germany, and Kings of Spain, have threatened the liberty of the old, and invaded the treasures of the new world. The successors of Charles the Fifth may disdain their brethren of England j but the romance of Tom Jones, that exquisite picture of human manners, will outlive the palace of the Escurial, and the imperial eagle of the house of Austria.

That these sentiments are just, or at least natural, I am the more inclined to believe, as I am not myself interested in the cause ; for I can derive from my ancestors neither glory nor shame. Yet a sincere and simple narrative of my own life may amuse some of my leisure hours \ but it will subject me, and perhaps with justice, to the imputation of vanity. I may judge, however, from the experience both of past and of the present times, that the public are always curious to know the men, who have left behind them any image of their minds : the most scanty accounts of such men are compiled with diligence, and perused with eagerness; and the student of every class may derive a lesson, or an example, from the lives most similar to his own. My name may hereafter be placed among the thousand articles of a Biographia Britannica ; and I must be conscious, that no one is so well qualified, as myself, to describe the series of my thoughts and actions. The b 3

G MEMOIRS OF MY LIFE AND WRITINGS.

authority of my masters, of the grave Tluianus (2) , and the philosophic Hume (8), might be sufficient

to justify my design ; but it would not be difficult to produce a long list of ancients and moderns, who, in various forms, have exhibited their own portraits. Such portraits are often the most interesting, and sometimes the only interesting parts of their writings ; and, if they be sincere, we seldom complain of the minuteness or prolixity of these personal memorials. The lives of the younger Pliny (4), of Petrarch (5), and of Erasmus (6), are expressed in the epistles, which they themselves have given to the world. The essays of Montaigne and Sir William Temple (7) bring us home to the houses and bosoms of the authors : we smile without contempt at the headstrong passions of Benvenuto Cellini (8), and the gay follies of Colley Cibber (9). The confessions of St. Austin (10) and Rousseau(l 1 ) disclose the secrets of the human heart : the commentaries of the learned Huet(12), have survived his evangelical demonstration ; and the memoirs of Goldoni(lo) are more truly dramatic than his Italian comedies. The heretic and the churchman are strongly marked in the characters and fortunes of Winston (14) and Bishop Newton (15) J and even the dulness of Michael de Marolles (16) and Anthony Wood (17) acquires some value from the faithful representation of men and manners. That I am equal or superior to some of these, the effects of modesty or affectation cannot force me to dissemble.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS.

No. 1. page 4.

In 1784, seventy-one generations of this family had successively enjoyed the respect and veneration of the empire. Confucius, according to the usual chronology, died 479. B. C, nine years before the birth of Socrates. — Biographie Universelle, art. Confucius.

No. 2. page 6.

Jac. August. Thuani, de Vita sua, Libri sex. It is printed in the seventh volume of Buckley's Thuanus. The life of Thuanus partakes of the " gravity," which distinguishes his great historical work. It condescends not to those minute and domestic details, or those lighter touches of character, which give its peculiar charm and value to autobiography. The public man still keeps his state, and does not admit us into the privacy of his heart and feelings. The Latin verses, which are inserted, though occasionally incorrect, are extremely spirited and vigorous j and there are incidents, particularly the mysterious and significant manner of the king (Henry III.) on his parting from him previous to the murder at Blois, which illustrate the larger History, to which the Life is an indispensable supplement.

No. 3. page 6.

The sketch of his own life by David Hume is singularly interesting, as the key to his opinions and even to his style. Hume seems to have been endowed with the most remarkable coolness of temperament both in body and mind. He glided through life without having experienced, except on one occasion, a profound emotion, or known the power of strong sensation. To this inborn calmness, or almost torpidity of his nature, may be traced both the amiable and philosophic serenity of his life and manners, and the sceptical tendency of his opinions. He was superior to, or at least exempt from, the ordinary disquietudes and anxieties which harass the man of letters. Failure did not depress, nor success elevate him above the usual equable level of his mind. As a writer, he was, as near as possible, a being of pure intellect. The disturbing forces of the imagination and the passions never for an instant interfered with the piercing sagacity of his judgments, or the microscopic precision of his investigations. He had just fancy enough to give an agreeable vividness to his style, and to elevate him, at times, into a master in historic painting. Like an unruffled sheet of water, his mind reflected every thing which passed over it with the most clear B 4 and exquisite distinctness. At the same time he was disqualified by this innate placidity for justly appreciating the force of those more violent emotions and loftier sentiments, which agitate mankind in gem-nil. He viewed human nature not as a man of " like passions," but as an inquiring metaphysician. Though with singular judgment he rarely intrudes the philosopher into the department of the historian, yet the same cast of mind, and even the same tone of language, prevail throughout his historical and philosophic writings.

Hume's philosophy seems to delight in the process of inquiry, without caring whether it arrives at any definite or satisfactory conclusion. Suspense of mind, on those points on which doubt and uncertainty work up more sensitive and high-strung minds to insanity, did not cause to him the slightest uneasiness. He reposed as peaceably upon his doubts, as the most ardent enthusiast upon his faith.

Even the approach of death did not affright his mind from its smooth propriety. He was content to await with incurious and unapprehensive patience the solution of the great mystery of all ; and in this singular man, incredulity, for once, almost rivalled the self-command of Christian resignation to the Divine will.