America now contains about six million of European blood and descent; and their numbers, at least in the North, are continually increasing. Whatever may the changes of their political situation, they must preserve the manners of Europe; and we may reflect with some pleasure, that the English language will probably be diffused over an immense and populous continent.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
QOTD
Edward Gibbon, from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (a coda to vol. 3), at 440 n.8 (1781):
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Great read! It's been my bedside reading for the past several years, as I only read a little here and there. But it's always interesting and thought-provoking.
Thanks for sharing; it's good to see other people reading solid material. I just wish more on the left would edumacate themselves similarly rigorously.
Interestingly enough, I learned from the foreword that Gibbon had some serious balls: he had a hydrocele. I developed a hydrocele my senior year of college. Softball-sized nuts are very inconvenient. But the "omfg" reactions from the ladies was well worth it.
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