It must not be forgotten that his ecclesiastical history derives a great superiority of clearness and proportion by its interweaving with the general history of the times, and this fact of itself suffices to give Gibbon's picture a permanent value even beside the master works of German erudition which have been devoted exclusively to Church matters.

If we lay down Gibbon and take up Neander, for instance, we are conscious that with all the greater fulness of detail, engaging candour, and sympathetic insight of the great Berlin Professor, the general impression of the times is less distinct and lasting.

There is no specialism in Gibbon; his book is a broad sociological picture in which the whole age is portrayed.
To sum up.

In two memorable chapters Gibbon has allowed his prejudices to mar his work as an historian.

But two chapters out of seventy-one constitute a small proportion.