, to which, in 1778, he appended additions and
corrections. The concluding books, the ninth and tenth, did not appear
until 1796, when, three years after his death, they were issued by his
son. As a connected narrative of so great an event in the world's history
as the discovery of America, it stood quite alone. If, since that time,
far better and fuller histories have appeared, we should not withhold our
meed of praise from this excellent forerunner of them all. One great
defect of this and the preceding work was his want of knowledge of the
German and Spanish historians, and of the original papers then locked up
in the archives of Simancas; later access to which has given such great
value to the researches of Irving and Prescott and Sterling. Besides,
Robertson lacked the life-giving power which is the property of true
genius. His characters are automata gorgeously arrayed, but without
breath; his style is fluent and sometimes sparkling, but in all respects
he has been superseded, and his works remain only as curious
representatives of the age to the literary student. One other work remains
to be mentioned, and that is his _Historical Disquisition Concerning the
Knowledge which the Ancients had of India, and the Progress of Trade with
that Country Prior to the Discovery of the Passage to it by the Cape of
Good Hope_. This is chiefly of value as it indicates the interest felt in
England at the rise of the English Empire in India; but for real facts it
has no value at all.

GIBBON.--Last in order of time, though far superior as an historian to
Hume and Robertson, stands Edward Gibbon, the greatest historian England
has produced, whether we regard the dignity of his style--antithetic and
sonorous; the range of his subject--the history of a thousand years; the
astonishing fidelity of his research in every department which contains
historic materials; or the symmetry and completeness of his colossal work.

Like Hume, he has left us a sketch of his own life and labors, simple and
dispassionate, from which it appears that he was born in London on the
27th of April, 1737; and, being of a good family, he had every advantage
of education. Passing a short time at the University of Oxford, he stands
in a small minority of those who can find no good in their _Alma Mater_.
"To the University of Oxford," he says, "I acknowledge no obligation, and
she will as cheerfully renounce me for a son as I am willing to disclaim
her for a mo