Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The Influence of Switzerland on the Life and Writings of Edward Gibbon Thesis How to cite: Norman, Brian (1999). The Influence of Switzerland on the Life and Writings of Edward Gibbon. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1998 Brian Norman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.00010226 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk UKieesrevcrsjb THE INFLUENCE OF SWITZERLAND ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF EDWARD GIBBON A THESIS OFFERED BY BRIAN NORMAN. BA(Hons.), MA(Oxon.) FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY HISTORY RE-SUBMITTED NOVEMBER 1998 oorre. of sufcmi^sosi;r% OQTtoP Q im eo; maecH ProQuest Number: C800359 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest C800359 Published by ProQuest LLO (2019). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 THE INFLUENCE OF SWITZERLAND ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF EDWARD GIBBON Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate, through close examination of Gibbon’s lesser writings, in addition to his well-known works, the importance of Switzerland in his life and thinking. The texts used for this study are his Journal de mon voyage, written at the age of eighteen in 1755, his Letter on the Government of Berne, which is established here as a composition of the 1750’s, his Essai sur VÉtude de la Littérature, the Journals which cover the years up to his tour of Italy in 1764, the topographical survey of classical Italy entitled Nomina, gentesque antiquae Italiae, and his Introduction à VHistoire Générale de la République des Suisses, with reference throughout to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the Memoirs and his Letters. It was in Lausanne that he completed his education, began his first published work, the Essai, and entered into a society which was close to the centre of “The Enlightenment”, enlivened as it was by the presence of Voltaire. Switzerland remained persistently in Gibbon’s thoughts after his return to England in 1758; its society caused him to reside in Lausanne eleven months while he prepared for his tour of Italy in 1763/4; and the origins and evolution of Switzerland continued to be his preferred subject for his historical writings until 1767. Later, Lausanne offered him the society and historical resources which he desired when completing the last three volumes of his major work. The main findings of this study establish Switzerland as a major influence on his feelings for liberty, independence and industry; the example of its communal assemblies and commitment to military preparedness formed an essential political reference in the historical judgements in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. As a result of his experience of Switzerland, Gibbon is more aware of the value of a free peasantry, and he applauds the benefits of industry and commerce to the community as a whole. THE INFLUENCE OF SWITZERLAND ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF EDWARD GIBBON CONTENTS Abbreviations 2 Introduction , 3 1 Gibbon’s First Stay in Lausanne 10 2 The Letter on the Government of Berne 29 3 The Liberty of the Swiss 45 4 The Essai sur VÉtude de la Littérature 60 5 The Importance of Gibbon’s Second Stay in Lausanne 82 6 Revival of the Swiss History Project 118 7 Gibbon’s Return to Switzerland ^ 149 8 The Influence of Switzerland on The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 165 9 The Influence of Switzerland on Gibbon’s Life and Character. 190 Conclusion 208 Bibliography 212 Map to illustrate Gibbon’s Itinerary in 1755 Facing page 14 ABBREVIATIONS Add. Mss. British Library Additional Manuscripts. Decline and Fall Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Edited by J. B. Bury in seven volumes, London, 1909-14. All references to the Decline and Fall are to this edition, unless otherwise stated. Bury’s numbering of Gibbon’s footnotes has been retained. Historic Studies Historic Studies in Vaud, Berne, and Savoy from Roman Times to Voltaire, Rousseau, and Gibbon, in two volumes by General Meredith Read, London, 1897. Journal A Gibbon*s Journal to January 28th, 1763. Edited by D. M. Low, London, 1929. Journal B Le Journal de Gibbon à Lausanne, 17 Août 1763 - 19 Avril 1764. Edited by Georges Bonnard, Lausanne, 1945. Keynes The Library of Edward Gibbon. A Catalogue edited and introduced by Geoffrey Keynes Kt. Second edition, St Paul’s Bibliographies, 1980. La Vie La Vie de Société dans le Pays de Vaud à la Fin du XVllIe Sièçl^^alomon et Catherine de Charrière de Sévery et leurs Amis, in two volumes by M. et Mme William de Sévery. Reprint of 1911 edition, Genève, 1978. Letters The Letters of Edward Gibbon. Edited by J. E. Norton in three volumes, London, 1956. Memoirs Edward Gibbon. Memoirs of My Life. Edited by Georges A. Bonnard, London, 1966. All references to the Memoirs are to this edition, unless otherwise stated. Miscellanea Miscellanea Gibboniana. Edited by G. R. de Beer, G. A. Bonnard and L. Junod, Lausanne, 1952. Misc. Works The Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon. Edited by John, Lord Sheffield in five volumes, second edition, London, 1814. 2 INTRODUCTION Diligence and accuracy are the only merits which an historical writer may ascribe to himself...! may therefore be allowed to say, that I have carefully examined all the original materials that could illustrate the subject which I had undertaken to treat.^ The purpose of this thesis is to show the importance of Switzerland on the life and thinking of Edward Gibbon. Though there have been several biographies and books on his writings since the standard biography of D . M . Low was published in 1937, none has concentrated exclusively on the Swiss dimension to his mind. Yet Gibbon spent perhaps his most impressionable years, from the age of sixteen to twenty-one, at Lausanne; he returned there at another impressionable period of his life, when on the Grand Tour, and was delayed there by his social ties and studies for eleven months at the age of twenty-six; and, finally, he retired there and regarded it as his permanent home for his last ten years. From 1753 to 1794, Gibbon thus spent over one third of his adult life at Lausanne, enabling him to see himself as a citizen of Europe and helping to establish his reputation as fu n des plus brillants représentants de cette élite de penseurs, d’artistes et d’écrivains qui, au X V IIIe siècle, contribuèrent à ressusciter l’unité culturelle de l ’Europe ...2 1. From Gibbon’s “Advertisement" to the first voiume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 2. The words of the Recteur of the University of Lausanne, Dominique Rivier, in the Préface to GibiDon et Rome à ia Lumière de l'Historiographie Moderne, Genève, 1977, p. 8, a coliection pf essays commemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of the publication of the first volume of The Decline and Fail of the Roman Empire. 3 Gibbon’s experience of Switzerland in the first instance was the result of his conversion to Roman Catholicism at the age o f fifteen, when his father decided to send his son to Lausanne to be reconverted to the Protestant faith and to complete his education. The choice of exile was the outcome of family consultation and the consequence was greater than could have been expected. Not only did Gibbon return to the Protestant fold but also he received an education which introduced him to the secular outlook of the European Enlightenment, personified in the presence of Voltaire on or close to the shores of Lake Geneva from 1754. Had Geneva, the more fashionable Protestant place of learning for a young Englishman to learn French, been chosen for Gibbon’s reformation, the results would inevitably have been different. The city of Calvin, the Protestant Rome, as Voltaire called it, was outside the Swiss Confederation in Gibbon’s time and was still a theocratic city state, confined by its ramparts, denied the pleasures of ■ theatrical performances and subject to periodic social unrest. For over a century, it had attracted visits from high-spirited aristocrats with extravagant tastes who were often in trouble with the city authorities. Lausanne, on the other hand, was also Protestant and French-speaking, but was surrounded by the fertile Pays de Vaud and was socially quiescent and more pleasure-loving under the aristocratic rule of German-speaking Berne. Lausanne was chosen by Gibbon’s father for reasons of economy and on the recommendation of a relative.3 He arranged for his son to be accompanied to Lausanne by a Swiss escort and to be placed under the care of Daniel Pavillard, a Protestant minister and teacher of Latin and ancient history at the Academy there.