From Harriet Grote's diary (1868): 'Mr. Grote [husband] said he had, in the course of the last few months, taken down Gibbon's work and read occasionally therein; and, he added, he had been penetrated with admiration of the exactitude and fidelity of the references [...] Grote had tested Gibbon's trustworthiness, on several points, by reference to ancient writers, and invariably found his statements correct and candid. Dr. William Smith said that he too had compared the references in Gibbon with the works cited, and that he was affected by the same feeling of respect and admiration [comments further on George Grote's enthusiasm for Gibbon].'