New-York tribune., 1882-03-05
STUDIES IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
EDWARD GIBBON.
ny CHARLES T. CoNGDoS.


shows himself to have possessed the true editorial
Indictment have not been socItous, he says
O. 10 rarhle or eXlnnCe passages which To some may
appear trihng. such passages VIII ol'eh j" '"o
opinion of the observing reader marx the ''aac'''
of the writer and the omission OF them Wo"iu ma
tcrially take from the ease and iainlail'y ol "u-
tbentc letters" IfMT. Sparks had edIted 'he 'or'c-
.non1cncc OF Washington according to the Samc
scpsib,c rulc he would have done something 10 save
tbe character OF our only hero from that super
bumau and mythical state which necessarily
,Veaken> n as n historical example. II the descend
mt Of Or Franklin who Carblcd tie most delight
ful of autohiouaphics could have reiraiued from
mcdlling only % mar it, We should have been saved
from much controversy and subsequent editorial
labor. II Tom Moore and John Murray the book
seller could have been equally honest we should
not have missed Byron'S Memoirs the loss OF which
IL is impossi bic to think OF without irritation.
lam not SURF that the miscellaneous writings OF
Cibbon do not give us a higher idea even than his
history Of his persistent and wonderful industry
Ills Iouraal shows him to have been constant ana
eager reader. shrinking from no research however
rccopdite which me- found necessary, and extend
inr his investigations into regions quite unknown to
The most learned Of his captous critics Inc
Memoirs which are unfortunately Incomplete are
1nll of nankness though by no means deficient in
dignity. @Tmth" he says, @naked unbluShing
u.
l. the sole recommendation Of this personal nara
tive" No one" he adds. s 50 well qualified as
myself To describe the series of my thoughts and
actions' TIM, is simple TRUTH and 1t Is to be re-
er,tted that more OF the worlds great men have
not recognized it.
Gihbon begins with true historical zest by tracing
lis ancestry back to the year 1876 We must pass
tins over TO note his birth at Puney IN the county
OF Surrey on the . lth of April q. :. in the year
fnn grc tl.f1
birth with pardonable comp'accncy " My Iot' ne
savs might have been that of slave, savage
cr peasant nor can / reflect without pleasure on
Tie bounty of nature, which east my hlrlh III u
free and civilized country. in of science and
philosophy. ia q family of honorable rank. ana
decently endowed with the gits OF fortune lie
had 6~c brothers and one sister. AL Sna'cheu
ovov I'm their infancy" He does not speak very
enthusiastically OF his mother. who was TOO fond
of her husband and Of the dissipation Of the world
10 care much for her children. The maternal Office
was suppIed by an aunt. Of those old maids
who do so much good with 20 little appreciation
1Ic was weak and ailing child, and the dear and
excellent woman a. he calls her. watched day and
night by his bedside. sometimes " IA trembling eH
pcctation that each hour would be his last Al
seven he was placed In the hands oil a domestic
tutor aud m his ninth year he was sent to school
nt Kingston upon Thames, OF the classical sort
He learned Latin at the expense of many tears
and some blood" But he read with great satisfac-
tion Popcs Homer and the Arabian Nights Enter
fninment, two books which vii, always please by
The moving picture OF human manners and >peclous
miracles Aftcrwarj he discovered PopcS trans
lation 10 he portrait, endowed with every merit
executing that Of likeness TO the original" lie liked
Virgil les than Homer. and received great pleas
ure from Ovid He mentions, 10y the way, that MS
aunt permitted him to read whatever he pleased
md that she INDUCED herself in moral and reug-
ious spcculations" aud encouraged rather than
checked his boyish curiosity. THIS Is Significant.
IcverSes of fortune sent this good aunt to Keeping
n boarding house for Westminster school. She put
her nepbew into the renowned seminary. but his
health did not permit him to study much. lie was
afflicted with " a strange nervous autcton Whlch
alternately contracted his legs and produced with
out any visible symptoms the most eNcruciatIne
pain lie had a dismal prospect before him of be-
coming an illiteratc cripple but a. he advanced
toward his sixteenth year mature displayed in
ii. favor her mvstcrious energies lie grew
better and though he never possessed nor aOuSeu
the insolcuce of health" few person, were more eN-
empt from real or imaginary ills. lie SAYS dis
tinctlv that his boyhood was not happy one.
When he was fifteen years old ne was sent 10 OA-
ford becoming a gentleman conmOner of Magdaen
Couege lie does not pretend t. have been nara
student but be was already very fond of historical
reading although il was Of a desultory sort. lie
fell into III chosen company, late hours and lncon-
eidcrate EXPENSE CuriouSly enough. he never
subscribed the thrty-nine articles When be en-
tered the university his insufficient age excused
him from thi, ceremony and he never heard any
thing more of the matter. lie became CathoHc
through the reading of Bo-Nuet and of Parsons, the
Jesuit and apparently because he was compelled 10
regard n "a, the only historical Church. lie wrote
10 HIS father describing his conversion, as he says
"with all the pomp, dignity and self-saiSiactloh OF
amartvr' He was baptized in London IN june
1883 10y priest whose name and order he lorgciS'
Mogdalen College. of course. when the secret was
diyulged, would and could have nothing more 10
do with him. and her gate, were shut in his face.
lie was sent 10 Lausanne to study himself under
Protestant auspices out of his new faith back to
the old one OF 10 none at all. He remained here
nearly five years an exile and prisoner acqulr-
inc nm excellent knowledge of the French Ian
cuage In 1901 he renounced the Church OF Rome,
and received the sacrament in the Protestant church
of Lausanne. lie suspended his religious IN
ouiries acquicscing with implicit belief in the
teuets and mysteries adopted 10y general consent OF
Catholics and Prote,ants." How studIous he cor
tinutd to be Is shown by the statement In his
Journal that IN the space OF eight months he
learned the principles OF drawing; made himself
master Of the French and Latin languages; read
CicerOs Ep,tlcs. his Brutus, all his Oratlons' MS
De Amicitia and De Senectute; Terence twice. and
Pliny's Epi3tles" lie also read much history IN
French bcsan TO study Greek, and mastered DE
Crousaz's Logic Alas! what boy studies in that
way now' Lord Macauay is our only example In
this age of such astonishing application aud ac-
oulrement Mathematics young Gtbbon tired hard
10 Ike but lie desistcd from them before his mlnd
was hardened by the habit of rigid demonstration
as destructive Of the finer feelings OF moral eVl'