Gibbon, writing of his reconversion from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism in the year 1754, after allowing something to the conversation of his Swiss tutor, says:—
'I must observe that it was principally effected by my private reflections; and I still remember my solitary transport at the discovery of a philosophical argument against the doctrine of transubstantiation— that the text of scripture which seems to inculcate the real presence is attested only by a single sense— our sight; while the real presence itself is disproved by three of our senses—the sight, the touch, and the taste.' —Memoirs of Edward Gibbon, ed. 1827, i. 67.
Jean Pierre de Crousaz.
(Vol. v, p. 80.)
Gibbon, describing his education at Lausanne, says:—'The principles of philosophy were associated with the examples of taste; and by a singular chance the book as well as the man which contributed the most effectually to my education has a stronger claim on my gratitude than on my admiration. M. de Crousaz, the adversary of Bayle and Pope, is not distinguished by lively fancy or profound reflection; and even in his own country, at the end of a few years, his name and writings are almost obliterated. But his philosophy had been formed in the school of Locke, his divinity in that of Limborch and Le Clerc; in a long and laborious life several generations of pupils were taught to think and even to write; his lessons rescued the Academy of Lausanne from Calvinistic prejudice; and he had the rare merit of diffusing a more liberal spirit among the clergy and people of the Pays de Vaud.' —Memoirs of Edward Gibbon, ed. 1827, i. 66.
The new pavement in London.
(Vol. v, p. 84, n. 3.)
'By an Act passed in 1766, For the better cleansing, paving, and enlightning the City of London and Liberties thereof, &c., powers are granted in pursuance of which the great streets have been paved with whyn-quarry stone, or rock-stone, or stone of a flat surface.' —A Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain, ed. 1769, vol. ii, p. 121.
Boswell's Projected Works.
(Vol. v, p. 91, n. 2.)