Gibbon, Edward

a celebrated English historian, was B. at Putney in 1737; sent to Westminster School, but soon transferred to a private tutor; then to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church; and finally to Lausanne, where he renounced the Catholic faith, without embracing any other, and became a confirmed sceptic. On returning to England, he entered upon the duties of active life, but read much, and prepared himself for authorship. In 1763 he went to Italy; and while sitting amidst the ruins of the Capitol at Rome, he conceived the idea of writing the history of the decline and fall of that city. In the meantime, he joined M. Deyvurdun, a Swi scholar, in publishing a journal called Mémoires Littéraires de la Grand Bretagne, which met with no succe . In 1770 he began his celebrated history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; the 1st vol. of which, in 4to, appeared in 1776; the 2d and 3d in 1781; and the 3 concluding vols. in 1788. Previous to this undertaking, G. was chosen member of parliament for Liskeard; and when hostilities commenced between England and France, in 1778, he was employed to draw up the manifesto on that occasion, after which he was made Commi ioner of the Board of Trade, but lost his place on the change of administration in 1783. He then went to reside at Lausanne, where he remained till the French Revolution obliged him to return to England; and D. in 1794. G.'s great history abounds with proofs of immense learning, of a mind penetrating and sagacious, and of almost unrivalled talents for ridicule. No other proof of the substantial trustworthine of the "Decline and Fall" is needed than the fact, perhaps unparalleled, that, notwithstanding the very great advance made in historical studies and criticism during the present century, it still holds its place as the history of the period it embraces. Gib'-boom, n. ( Naut.) Same as JIB-BOOM, q. v. Gibbose', a. [Fr. gibbeuz; Lat. gibbosus, from gibbus, a hunch or hump; Gr. kuphos, bent; Heb. gab, convex.] Hump-backed; humped. IMG:content-0384.jpg:[graphic] -A term applied to a surface which presents one or more large elevations.