of physic. During the slow recovery of his patient, the physician
himself was attacked by the malady of love: he married his mistress,
renounced his country and religion, settled at Besancon, and became
the father of three sons; the eldest of whom, General Acton, is
conspicuous in Europe as the principal Minister of the king of the
Two Sicilies. By an uncle whom another stroke of fortune had
transplanted to Leghorn, he was educated in the naval service of the
Emperor; and his valour and conduct in the command of the Tuscan
frigates protected the retreat of the Spaniards from Algiers. On my
father's return to England he was chosen, in the general election of
1734, to serve in parliament for the borough of Petersfield; a
burgage tenure, of which my grandfather possessed a weighty share,
till he alienated (I know not why) such important property. In the
opposition to Sir Robert Walpole and the Pelhams, prejudice and
society connected his son with the Tories,--shall I say Jacobites?
or, as they were pleased to style themselves, the country gentlemen?
with them he gave many a vote; with them he drank many a bottle.
Without acquiring the fame of an orator or a statesman, he eagerly
joined in the great opposition, which, after a seven years' chase,
hunted down Sir Robert Walpole: and in the pursuit of an unpopular
minister, he gratified a private revenge against the oppressor of
his family in the South Sea persecution.

I was born at Putney, in the county of Surrey, April 27th, O. S., in
the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven; the first
child of the marriage of Edward Gibbon, esq., and of Judith Porten.
[Note: The union to which I owe my birth was a marriage of
inclination and esteem. Mr. James Porten, a merchant of London,
resided with his family at Putney, in a house adjoining to the
bridge and churchyard, where I have passed many happy hours of my