G I B 



G I B 



the one hand ; on the other, the ftimulus of a handfoiiie in- 

 creafe of property. His acquaintance was large, but he 

 conipenfated the hours devoted to them by early rifing and 

 clofcapplicatioa. In 1774) he was, through the intereil of 

 Mr. Eliot, introduced to a feat in parhameiit, wliich he 

 occupied during eight years, and gave, fays he, many a 

 fdent vote in fupport of the rights, thougli not, perhaps, 

 the intereil of the mother country. Early in 1776 the full 

 volume of his " Hiftory'' made its appearance; its fuccefs 

 was very great, and far furpafied the moll fanguinc expec- 

 tations of the author: " The liril impreffion," fays he, 

 " was exhaufted in a few days; a fecund and a tliird edition 

 were fcarcely adequate to the demand, and the bookieller's 

 propiTty was twice invaded by the pirates of Dubhn.'' It 

 was received with general applaule, but the praifes of none 

 were fo keenly relilhed by Gibbon, as thole of tlie two 

 celebrated hiftorians, Hume and Robertfon, who, initead 

 of vic-iving his riling fame with jealonfy, promoted it with 

 liberal commendation. In the midll of his triumph, his two 

 chapters, concerning the growth and progrefs of Chrilli- 

 anity, raifed a ftorm againll him, wliich, as he had not 

 forefeen, he regai^ded with fonie alarm. He was attacked 

 on all fides, but as he profeffed to have written only as a 

 hiilorian, he declined entering the lifts as a controvedialill. 

 In one inllance his fidehty, as an hiilorian, was attacked ; 

 here he felt that he was called on for a " Vindication," in 

 which it was admitted that he fuccefsfully repelled the prin- 

 cipal charges, and returned them on his antagonill. It was 

 fuggelled, in the two chapters referred to, tliat the progrefs 

 of Chnilianity was peculiarly favoured by fecondary caufes, 

 and of courfe that its origin was not divine: though this 

 theory had not been deftitute of advocates among fincere 

 believers in the truth of the Chriftian fyllem, yet there is 

 little doubt that Gibbon was an unbeliever, and he wrote 

 in this part of his v/ork under the mafli of a friend. His 

 pretentions were unveiled by many e>;celient writers, wlio 

 ranked high in the eilabliined church, and by others who 

 were not in the church, but who were equally alive to the 

 fpread of fceptical principles, and aftive in oppofing their 

 propagation. After he had refumed his work, he was foli- 

 cited Ijy miniflers to write an anfwer to the manifefte of tlie 

 court of France, on its declaration of hoftilitics. On this 

 oecafion he pubhlhed his " Memoire Jullificatif ;'" it was 

 written in French, and much admired for its llyle and its 

 reafoning, and was delivered, as a ftate paper, to the courts 

 of Europe. For this fervice he was rewarded with the ap- 

 pointinent of one of the Lords of Trade, bv which a hand- 

 fome addition was made to his income, and little to his en- 

 gagements. In 1 78 1 the fecond and third volumes of his 

 Hidorv appeared, which fupported th.e reputation which 

 he had already acquired. Upon the diffolution of lord 

 North's ir.inillry, the board of Trade was abolilhed, as 

 occaficning only an ufelefs expence to the ftate. The defal- 

 cation in Mr. Gibbon's income no longer permitted him to 

 fupport the fame llyle of living in liis ov.-n country, and he 

 removed his rciidence to Laufanne: here, in an elegant re- 

 treat, he iinilhed his Hillory, in three other quarto volumes, 

 uhich were publifhcd in 1788. It was with real regret 

 that he difmiifed an occupation, which had given to many 

 years of his life that zell which an interellingobiedl of pur- 

 fuit can alone impart. He came to England to fupcrintend 

 the printing of his work, and then returned to Laulanne, to 

 fpend, as he hoped, the remainder of his days; but the 

 ftonns of the French revolution, which menaced the quiet 

 and happy regions of Switzerland, gradually loofened his 

 attachment to Laufanne, and he began to look towards 

 E'g'and for a refuge. He regarded the events that were 



taking place in France with the utmoft. abhorrenco, and l\e 

 either was, from habit, or had become fo from the occur- 

 rences of the times, a decided enemy to every fpccics of pub- 

 lic reform. He avowed .his alTent to Mr. Burke's creed, 

 wliich he had vindicated in iiis " Reflections:" •' I admire,'' 

 fays he, " his eloquence, I approve his politics, I adore hi* 

 chivalry, and I can almoft excufe his rcvertHce for church 

 ellablilliments.'' Mr. Gibbon returned to England in 1793, 

 but after a fev.' months refidcnce his attention was forcibly 

 called to the progrefs of a difeafe, wliich had fubfifted in 4 

 fmall degree for thirty years, and wliich now terminated hi* 

 exiftence, Jan. 16, 1 794. He has characterized himfelf ia 

 the following words: " I am endowed with a chearful tem. 

 per, a moderate feniibility, and a natural difpofition to re- 

 pofe rather than activity ; fome mifchicvous appetites and 

 liabits have, periiaps, been corrected by philofophy or time. 

 The love of lludy fupplics each day, each hour, with a per- 

 petual fource of independent and rational pleafure.'' " He 

 was,'' fays his biograjihcr, " eafy in fociety, and fond of it; 

 he was beloved by his friends, and Iiad, in an eminent do-. 

 gree, the manners and habits of a gentleman. Early indul* 

 gence and habit had made the conveniences and elegances of 

 ciiltui-ed life elTential to his comfort, and he was not one; . 

 who could have been content with the cunfcioufnefs of men- 

 tal fupej-iority in an humble ftate. His great work, which 

 will long be a monument to his fame, is a performance of 

 vail and accurate refearch, and of enlarged and philofophical 

 thinking; it abounds in fplendid pafTages, and its llyle dif- 

 plays a tiioiough mallcry of the whole compafs of the Eng- 

 lifli language." After his death two quarto volumes of his 

 milcellaueous works were publiflied by lord Shcfiield, con- 

 taining, among other things, memoirs of Iiis life and writ- 

 ings, compofed by hinifelf ; to which the rei-d-r is referred 

 for more particulars relating to this cel'brated man. 



GIBBONS, Orl.vxdo, without exception, the bell com- 

 poler for the chureli during the leign of king Jamis I. 

 and though not blelt with longevity, vet, daring hie. 

 fhort hfe, he contributed .imply to the mullc of tiie church, 

 which lie enriched with numerous compofitions, that are 

 ftill frefii and in conftant ufe among the beil productions 

 y.ithin its pale. 



This excellent mufician, a native of Cambridge, was bro- 

 ther of Edward Gibbons, bachelor of Mulic, organiii of 

 Briftol, gentleman of the Chapel Rcy;J, and mailer of 

 Mathew Lock ; and of EUis Gibbons, author of two ma- 

 drigals in " the Triumphs of Oriana," who is lliled bv. 

 Ant. Wood, " the admirable organift of Saliftiury." In 

 1604, at the age of twenty-one, Orlando was ajipointed 

 organiii of the Chapel Royal, in the room of Arthur 

 Cock. In 1622, he was honoured at Oxford with a doc- 

 tor's degree in mufic, at the fame time as Iiis friend Dr. 

 Heyther, when both were countenanced and favoured with. 

 indulgencies in the univcrlity in confequence of letters from, 

 the learned Camden, who recommended tliem with friendly- 

 zeal to its notice. According to Ant. Wood, the acade- 

 mical exercife in fix or more parts, performed at this time 

 for Heyther's degree, was compofed by Orlando Gibbons, 

 " as one or more eminent mulicians then living h.^.d feveral 

 times told him. " So tYi^t ^rozun-^ailkmfn, as well as boys, 

 through idlenefs or ignorance, are fomctimes reduced to the 

 humiliating neceflity of having recourfe to the cLirity of 

 friends, before they can exhibit an exercife. 



A manufcript copy of the exercife performed for Dr. 

 Heyther's degree, is laid to have been found, figned witlL 

 the name of Orlando Gibbons. It is an anthem for eight, 

 voices, taken from the forty-fcventh pfalm ; and appears to. 

 be the very fame compottion as the qntheni of Orlanda 



Gibbons, 



