Description:

Burns Robert 1759 - 1796 Robert Burns unsigned manuscript, quotations from Gibbons's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Black ink on two back to back pages of cream paper written entirely in the hand of Robert Burns. The unsigned manuscript consists of four quotations extracted from Edward Gibbons's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. A monogram appears in the lower left corner of each page. In very good to fine condition. A small strip of archival paper has been attached to one margin that has a slight tear. A few ink smears, water stains, and areas of minor discoloration do not impact the strong and bright script. Each page measures 6" x 7.75". Gibbons's history was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, thus enabling us to approximate the year of this undated manuscript.

"'But as Athanasius was continually engaged with the prejudices and passions of every order of men from the monk to the emperor, the knowledge of human nature was his first and most important science. He preserved a distinct and unbroken view of a science [scene] which was incessantly shifting; and never failed to improve those decisive moments which are irrevocably lost before they are perceived by a common eye. The archbishop of Alexandria was capable of distinguishing how far he might boldly command, and where he must dextrously insinuate; how long he might contend with power, and when he must withdraw from persecution; and while he directed the thunder of the church against heresy and rebellion, he could assume, in the bosom of his own party, the flexible and indulgent temper of a prudent leader.'

Gibbon's history &c. Vol 3d. page 358

'The sacred horn or trumpet of Tabenne was the well known signal which assembled several thousand robust and determined Monks, who, for the most had been peasants of the adjacent country.'

Ibid, page 384

'The generality of princes, if they were stripped of their purple, and cast naked on the world, would immediately sink to the lowest rank of society without a hope of emerging from their obscurity.'

Gibbon's History Vol. 4th p. 59

'Yet these wanton ravages (the ruin of Persian palaces) need not excite in our breasts any vehement emotions of pity, or resentment. A simple, naked stature, finished by the hand of a Grecian artist, is of more genuine value than all these rude and costly monuments of Barbaric labor: and, if we are more deeply affected by the ruin of a palace than by the conflagration of a cottage, our humanity must have formed a very erroneous estimate of human life.'

Ibid. Vol 4th p. 173"



Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a short-lived Scottish poet who greatly influenced the Romantic Movement. Burns's trilingual poetry explores Scottish identity, cultural traditions, class, organized religion, and gender. It is not known why Burns selected these passages from Volumes III and IV of Gibbons's history, but taken as a group, they suggest a philosophical interest in the fundamental questions of what constitutes good leadership, and the difference between rich and poor. Burns drew on the Bible, the Classics, and contemporary British literature as inspiration for his own work. It is more than possible that these quotes inspired Burns's future poems.

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