Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1868. Excerpt: ... PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. Thk great work of Gibbon is indispensable to the student of history. The literature of Europe offers no substitute for " The Decline and Fall of ihe Roman Empire." It has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful occupant, of the vast period which it comprehends. However some subjects, which it embraces, may have undergone more complete investigation, on the general view of the whole period, this history is the sole undisputed authority to which all defer, and from which few appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers. The inherent interest of the subject, the Wexh istlble'la"bo> employed upon it; the immense condensation of matter; the luminous arrangement; the' geferffl accuracy; the style, which however monotonous from its uniform stateliness, and sometimes weJiriV>'ri;'from'its elaborate art, is throughout vigorous, animated, often picturesque, always commands attention, always conveys its meaning with emphatic energy, describes with singular breadth and fidelity, and generalizes with unrivalled felicity cf expresbio'>; all these high qualifications have secured, and seem likely to secure, its permanent p.ace in historic literature. This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which he has cast the decay and ruin of th* ancient civilization, the formation and birth of the new order of things, will of itself, independent of the aborious execution of his immense plan, render " The Decline and Pall of the Roman Empire" an unapproachable subject to the future historian: * in the eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot: -- "The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion which has ever invaded and oppressed the world;.the fall of that immense empire, erected on the ruins of so many kingdo...