d so much of his vast and miscellaneous reading. But
his references to classic Greek authors are relatively few and timid
compared with his grasp and mastery of the Latin. His judgments on
Greek authors are also, to say the least, singular. When he had
achieved the _Decline and Fall_, and was writing his Memoirs in the
last years of his life, the Greek writer whom he selects for especial
commendation is Xenophon. "Cicero in Latin and Xenophon in Greek are
indeed the two ancients whom I would first propose to a liberal
scholar, not only for the merit of their style and sentiments, but for
the admirable lessons which may be applied almost to every situation
of public and private life." Of the merit of Xenophon's sentiments,
most people would now admit that the less said the better. The warmth
of Gibbon's language with regard to Xenophon contrasts with the
coldness he shows with regard to Plato. "I involved myself," he says,
"in the philosophic maze of the writings of Plato, of which perhaps
the dramatic is more interesting than the argumentative part." That
Gibbon knew amply sufficient Greek for his purposes as an historian no
one doubts, but his honourable candour enables us to see that he was
never a Greek scholar in the proper sense of the word.

It would be greatly to misknow Gibbon to suppose that his studies at
Lausanne were restricted to the learned languages. He obtained
something more than an elementary knowledge of mathematics, mastered
De Crousaz' _Logic_ and Locke's _Essay_, and filled up his spare time
with that wide and discursive reading to which his boundless curiosity
was always pushing him. He was thoroughly happy and contented, and
never ceased throughout his life to congratulate himself on the
fortunate exile which had placed him at Lausanne. In one respect he
did not use his opportunities while in Switzerland. He never climbed a
mountain all the time he was there, though he lived to see in his
later life the first commencement of the Alpine fever. On the other
hand, as became a historian and man of sense, the social and political
aspects of the country engaged his attention, as well they might. He
enjoyed access to the best society of the place, and the impression he
made seems to have been as favourable as the one he received.

The influence of a foreign training is very marked in Gibbon,
affecting as it does his general cast of thought, and even his style.
It would be difficult to name any writer i