<P> The influence of the clergy, in an age of superstition, might be usefully employed to assert the rights of mankind; but so intimate is the connection between the throne and the altar, that the banner of the church has very seldom been seen on the side of the people . </P> <P> (H) istory (...) is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind . </P> <P> If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery (of gunpowder) with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind . </P> <P> Gibbon provides the reader with a glimpse of his thought process with extensive notes along the body of the text, a precursor to the modern use of footnotes . Gibbon's footnotes are famous for their idiosyncratic and often humorous style, and have been called "Gibbon's table talk ." They provide an entertaining moral commentary on both ancient Rome and 18th - century Great Britain . This technique enabled Gibbon to compare ancient Rome to his own contemporary world . Gibbon's work advocates a rationalist and progressive view of history . </P>

Decline and fall of the roman empire word count