For what it's worth -- H. Trevor Colbourn's book _The Lamp of Experience_ include this quote as from Henry's speech in his frontispiece and makes no reference whatsoever to Gibbon. Peter Peter V. Bergstrom, PhD Independent Historian Computer & Historical Consultant 336-286-6854 [log in to unmask] - Comment / query: Edward Gibbon may in fact have said or written the "Lamp of experience" quotation that opens this Times of London article. But I would like to see a well-documented source. A quick Google search brings up any number of 'Gibbon once said' references of the sort common to urban legends. A quick and very limited check of a few readily searchable online Gibbon texts resulted in zilch, zip, nada. Jon Kukla www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/> ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html