Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in Vols. IV, V, and VI, Quarto, Reviewed |
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Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: In Vols. Iv, V ... John Whitaker No preview available - 2019 |
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abfurdity Abulfeda afferted againſt alfo almoſt alſo Antioch Arabs becauſe befieged Bohemond chapter Chriftians circumſtances confequences Conftantine Conftantinople conquefts courſe crufaders decline and fall defcribe differtation digreffion emperour equally digreffional exiſtence faid falfe fame fays fecond feen ferves fhall fhews fhould fiege fingle firft firſt fome fpeaks fpirit ftantinople ftate ftill ftrange ftriking fubject fucceffes fuch fufficiently fuppofe fword Gibbon himſelf Greeks Heraclius Hift hiftorian hiſtory ibid inftance Italy itſelf Jerufalem laft laſt Latins Mahomet Mahometans Malmesbury Mecca miſtakes moft moſt moſt important muſt obfcure obferve paffage Perfia perfons pofition popes prefent promiſed purpoſe purſue reader reafon reduced refpectable reign religion Roman empire Rome Saracens ſee ſpeaks ſtate ſtill ſtroke ſuch Syria Tacitus Tancred temple thefe themſelves theſe thofe thoſe thouſand tion Turks underſtanding uſe Vandals Voltaire volume Weft weſtern whole William of Malmesbury
Popular passages
Page 25 - ... inscribe this work to a Statesman who, in a long, a stormy, and at length an unfortunate administration, had many political opponents, almost without a personal enemy ; who has retained, in his fall from power, many faithful and disinterested friends ; and who, under the pressure of severe infirmity, enjoys the lively vigour of his mind, and the felicity of his incomparable temper.
Page 89 - ... the salutations of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the angels, in their respective mansions. Beyond the seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was permitted to proceed ; he passed the veil of unity, approached within two bow-shots of the throne, and felt a cold that pierced him to the heart, when his shoulder was touched by the hand of God.
Page 144 - Mahometans, to extirpate by the sword all other religions, it is, by the law of self defence, lawful for men of every other religion, and for Christians among others, to make war upon Mahometans, simply as Mahometans, as men obliged by their own principles to make war upon Christians, and only lying in wait till opportunity shall promise them success.
Page 64 - The seeds of the faith, which had slowly arisen in the rocky and ungrateful soil of Judea, were transplanted, in full maturity, to the happier climes of the Gentiles; and the strangers of Rome or Asia, who never beheld the manhood, were the more readily disposed to embrace the divinity, of Christ.
Page 26 - When Int'reft calls off all her fneaking train, And all th' oblig'd defert, and all the vain ; She waits, or to the fcaffold, or the cell, When the laft ling'ring friend has bid farewell.
Page 100 - Yet these exceptions are temporary or local ; the body of the nation has escaped the yoke of the most powerful monarchies ; the arms of Sesostris and Cyrus, of Pompey and Trajan, could never achieve the conquest of Arabia...
Page 55 - gofpel, or the church, have at length impofed a pious ' fervitude on the minds of Chriftians, and condemn ' them to expect, without a murmur, the loft ftroke ' of difeafe or the executioner.
Page 106 - Madayn, which had resisted the battering-rams of the Romans, would not have yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But the flying Persians were overcome by the belief that the last day of their religion and empire was at hand ; the strongest posts were abandoned by treachery or cowardice ; and the king, with a part of his family and treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills.
Page 69 - During a happy period of more than fourscore years, the public administration was conducted by the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. It is the design of this and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of their empire ; ' and afterwards, from the death of Marcus Antoninus, to deduce the most important circumstances of its decline and fall : a revolution which will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth.
Page 26 - Fortune's cloud one truly great can fee, Nor fears to tell, that MORTIMER is he.