[1] The celebrated William Law had been for some time the private
tutor of this Edward Gibbon, who is supposed to have been the
original of the rather clever sketch of "Flatus" in the _Serious
Call_.
[2] _The Journal_ for 1755 records that during that year, besides
writing and translating a great deal in Latin and French, he had
read, amongst other works, Cicero's _Epistolae ad familiares_, his
_Brutus_, all his _Orations_, his dialogues _De amicitia_ and _De
seneciute_, Terence (twice), and Pliny's _Epistles_. In January 1756
he says: "I determined to read over the Latin authors in order, and
read this year Virgil, Sallust, Livy, Velleius Paterculus, Valerius
Maximus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Quintus Curtius, Justin, Florus,
Plautus, Terence and Lucretius. I also read and meditated Locke _Upon
the Understanding_." Again in January 1757 he writes: "I began to
study algebra under M. de Traytorrens, went through the elements of
algebra and geometry, and the three first books of the Marquis de
l'Hopital's _Conic Sections_. I also read Tibullus, Catullus,
Propertius, Horace (with Dacier's and Torrentius's notes), Virgil,
Ovid's _Epistles_, with Meziriac's commentary, the _Ars amandi_ and
the _Elegies_; likewise the _Augustus_ and _Tiberius_ of Suetonius,
and a Latin translation of Dion Cassius from the death of Julius
Caesar to the death of Augustus. I also continued my correspondence,
begun last year, with M. Allamand of Bex, and the Professor
Breitinger of Zurich, and opened a new one with the Professor Gesner
of Gottingen. N.B.--Last year and this I read St John's Gospel, with
part of Xenophon's _Cyropaedia_, the _Iliad_, and Herodotus; but,
upon the whole, I rather neglected my Greek."
[3] The affair, however, was not finally broken off till 1763. Mdlle
Curchod soon afterwards became the wife of Necker, the famous
financier; and Gibbon and the Neckers frequently afterwards met on
terms of mutual friendship and esteem.
[4] The _Essai_, in a good English translation, now appears in the
_Miscellaneous Works_. Villemain finds in it "peu de vues, nulle
originalite surtout, mais une grande passion litteraire, l'amour des
recherches savantes et du beau langage." Sainte-Beuve's criticism is
almost identical with Gibbon's own; but though he finds that "la
lecture en est assez difficile et parfois obscure, la liaison des
idees echappe souvent par trop de concision et par le desir qu'a eu
le jeune auteur d'y faire entrer, d'y condenser la plupart de ses
notes," he adds, "il y a, chemin faisant, des vues neuves et qui
sentent l'historien."
[5] Her letters to Walpole about Gibbon contain some interesting
remarks by this "aveugle clairvoyante," as Voltaire calls her; but
they belong to a later period (1777).
[6] For a very full list of publications in answer to Gibbon's attack
on Christianity reference may be made to the _Bibliographer's
Manual_, pp. 885-886 (1858). Of these the earliest were Watson's
_Apology_ (1776), Salisbury's _Strictures_ (1776) and Chelsum's
(anonymous) _Remarks_ (1776). In 1778 the _Few Remarks_ by a
Gentleman (Francis Eyre), the _Reply_ of Loftus, the _Letters_ of
Apthorpe and the _Examination_ of Davies appeared. Gibbon's
_Vindication_ (1779) called forth a _Reply_ by Davies (1779), and _A
Short Appeal to the Public_ by Francis Eyre (1779). Laughton's
polemical treatise was published in 1780, and those of Milner and
Taylor in 1781. Chelsum returned to the attack in 1785 (_A Reply to
Mr Gibbon's Vindication_), and Sir David Dalrymple (_An Inquiry into
the Secondary Causes_, &c.) made his first appearance in the
controversy in 1786, Travis's _Letters on_ I John v. 7 are dated
1784; and Spedalieri's _Confutazione dell' esame del Cristianismo
fatto da Gibbon_ was published at Rome (2 vols. 4to) in the same
year. It is impossible not to concur in almost every point with
Gibbon's own estimate of his numerous assailants. Their crude
productions, for the most part, were conspicuous rather for insolence
and abusiveness than for logic or learning. Those of Bishop Watson
and Lord Hailes were the best, but simply because they contented
themselves with a dispassionate exposition of the general argument in
favour of Christianity. The most foolish and discreditable was
certainly that of Davies; his unworthy attempt to depreciate the
great historian's learning, and his captious, cavilling, acrimonious
charges of petty inaccuracies and discreditable falsification gave
the object of his attack an easy triumph.
[7] In 1775 he writes to Holroyd: "I am still a mute; it is more
tremendous than I imagined; the great speakers fill me with despair;
the bad ones with terror."
[8] An anonymous pamphlet, entitled _Observations on the three last
volumes of the Roman History_, appeared in 1788; Disney's _Sermon,
with Strictures_, in 1790; and Whitaker's _Review_, in 1791. With
regard to the second of the above complaints, surprise will probably
be felt that it was not extended to portions of the text as well as
to the notes.
GIBBON, the collective title of the smaller man-like apes of the
Indo-Malay countries, all of which may be included in the single genus
_Hylobates_. Till recently these apes have been generally included in
the same family (_Simiidae_) with the chimpanzee, gorilla and
orang-utan, but they are now regarded by several naturalists as
representing a family by themselves--the _Hylobatidae_. One of the
distinctive features of this family is the presence of small naked
callosities on the buttocks; another being a difference in the number of
vertebrae and ribs as compared with those of the _Simiidae_. The extreme
length of the limbs and the absence of a tail are other features of
these small apes, which are thoroughly arboreal in their habits, and
make the woods resound with their unearthly cries at night. In agility
they are unsurpassed; in fact they are stated to be so swift in their
movements as to be able to capture birds on the wing with their paws.
When they descend to the ground--which they must often do in order to
obtain water--they frequently walk in the upright posture, either with
the hands crossed behind the neck, or with the knuckles resting on the
ground. Their usual food consists of leaves and fruits. Gibbons may be
divided into two groups, the one represented by the siamang, _Hylobates
(Symphalangus) syndactylus_, of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and the
other by a number of closely allied species. The union of the index and
middle fingers by means of a web extending as far as the terminal joints
is the distinctive feature of the siamang, which is the largest of the
group, and black in colour with a white frontal band. Black or puce-grey
is the prevailing colour in the second group, of which the hulock (_H.
hulock_) of Assam, _H. lar_ of Arakan and Pegu, _H. entelloides_ of
Tenasserim (fig.), and _H. agilis_ of Sumatra are well-known
representatives. A female of the Hainan gibbon (_H. hainanus_) in
confinement changed from uniform sooty-black (without the white frontal
band of the black phase of the hulock) to puce-grey; but it is probable
that this was only an individual, or at most a sexual, peculiarity. The
range of the genus extends from the southern bank of the Bramaputra in
Assam to southern China, the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra and Borneo.
(R. L.*)
[Illustration: The Tenasserim Gibbon (_Hylobates entelloides_).]
GIBBONS, GRINLING (1648-1721), English wood-carver, was born in 1648,
according to some authorities of Dutch parents at Rotterdam, and
according to others of English parents at London. By the former he is
said to have come to London after the great fire in 1666. He early
displayed great cleverness and ingenuity in his art, on the strength of
which he was recommended by Evelyn to Charles II., who employed him in
the execution both of statuary and of ornamental carving in wood. In the
early part of the 18th century he worked for Sir Christopher Wren. In
statuary one of his principal works is a life-size bronze statue in the
court of Whitehall, representing James II. in the dress of a Roman
emperor, and he also designed the base of the statue of Charles I. at
Charing Cross. It is, however, chiefly as a sculptor in wood that he is
famous. He was employed to execute the ornamental carving for the chapel
at Windsor, the foliage and festoons in the choir of St Paul's, the
baptismal fonts in St James's, and an immense quantity of ornamental
work at Burleigh, Chatsworth, and other aristocratic mansions. The
finest of all his productions in this style is believed to be the
ceiling which he devised for a room at Petworth. His subjects are
chiefly birds, flowers, foliage, fruit and lace, and many of his works,
for delicacy and elaboration of details, and truthfulness of imitation,
have never been surpassed. He, however, sometimes wasted his ingenuity
on trifling subjects; many of his flowers used to move on their stems
like their natural prototypes when shaken by a breeze. In 1714 Gibbons
was appointed master carver in wood to George I. He died at London on
the 3rd of August 1721.
GIBBONS, JAMES (1834- ), American Roman Catholic cardinal and
archbishop, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on the 23rd of July 1834,
and was educated at St Charles College, Ellicott City, Maryland, and St
Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, where he finished his theological training
and was ordained priest on the 30th of June 1861. After a short time
spent on the missions of Baltimore, he was called to be secretary to
Archbishop Martin J. Spalding and assistant at the cathedral. When in
1866 the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore considered the matter of
new diocesan developments, he was selected to organize the new Vicariate
Apostolic of North Carolina; and was consecrated bishop in August 1868.
During the four successful years spent in North Carolina he wrote, for
the benefit of his mission work, _The Faith of our Fathers_, a brief
presentation of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, especially
intended to reach Protestants; the books passed through more than forty
editions in America and about seventy in England, and an answer was made
to it in _Faith of our Forefathers_ (1879), by Edward J. Stearns.
Gibbons was transferred to the see of Richmond, Virginia, in 1872, and
in 1877 was made coadjutor, with the right of succession, to the
Archbishop (James R. Bayley) of Baltimore. In October of the same year
he succeeded to the archbishopric. Pope Leo XIII. in 1883 selected him
to preside over the Third Plenary Council in Baltimore (1884), and on
the 30th of June 1886 created him a cardinal priest, with the title of
Santa Maria Trastevere. His simplicity of life, foresight and prudence
made him a power in the church. Thoroughly American, and a lover of the
people, he greatly altered the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church
toward the Knights of Labor and other labour organizations, and his
public utterances displayed the true instincts of a popular leader. He
contributed frequently to periodicals, but as an author is known
principally by his works on religious subjects, including _Our Christian
Heritage_ (1889) and _The Ambassador of Christ_ (1896). For many years
an ardent advocate of the establishment of a Catholic university, at the
Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884) he saw the realization of his
desires in the establishment of the Catholic University of America at
Washington, of which he became first chancellor and president of the
board of trustees.
GIBBONS, ORLANDO (1583-1625), English musical composer, was the most
illustrious of a family of musicians all more or less able. We know of
at least three generations, for Orlando's father, William Gibbons,
having been one of the waits of Cambridge, may be assumed to have
acquired some proficiency in the art. His three sons and at least one of
his grandsons inherited and further developed his talent. The eldest,
Edward, was made bachelor of music at Cambridge, and successively held
important musical appointments at the cathedrals of Bristol and Exeter;
Ellis, the second son, was organist of Salisbury cathedral, and is the
composer of two madrigals in the collection known as the _The Triumphs
of Oriana_. Orlando Gibbons, the youngest and by far the most celebrated
of the brothers, was born at Cambridge in 1583. Where and under whom he
studied is not known, but in his twenty-first year he was sufficiently
advanced and celebrated to receive the important post of organist of the
Chapel Royal. His first published composition "Fantasies in three parts,
composed for viols," appeared in 1610. It seems to have been the first
piece of music printed in England from engraved plates, or "cut in
copper, the like not heretofore extant." In 1622 he was created doctor
of music by the university of Oxford. For this occasion he composed an
anthem for eight parts, _O clap your Hands_, still extant. In the
following year he became organist of Westminster Abbey. Orlando Gibbons
died before the beginning of the civil war, or it may be supposed that,
like his eldest brother, he would have been a staunch royalist. In a
different sense, however, he died in the cause of his master; for having
been summoned to Canterbury to produce a composition written in
celebration of Charles's marriage, he there fell a victim to smallpox on
the 5th of June 1625.
For a full list of his compositions, see Grove's _Dictionary of
Music_. His portrait may be found in Hawkins's well-known _History_.
His vocal pieces, madrigals, motets, canons, &c., are admirable, and
prove him to have been a great master of pure polyphony. We have also
some specimens of his instrumental music, such as the six pieces for
the virginals published in _Parthenia_, a collection of instrumental
music produced by Gibbons in conjunction with Dr Bull and Byrd.
GIBBS, JOSIAH WILLARD (1839-1903), American mathematical physicist, the
fourth child and only son of Josiah Willard Gibbs (1790-1861), who was
professor of sacred literature in Yale Divinity School from 1824 till
his death, was born at New Haven on the 11th of February 1839. Entering
Yale College in 1854 he graduated in 1858, and continuing his studies
there was appointed tutor in 1863. He taught Latin in the first two
years, and natural philosophy in the third. He then went to Europe,
studying in Paris in 1866-1867, in Berlin in 1867 and in Heidelberg in
1868. Returning to New Haven in 1869, he was appointed professor of
mathematical physics in Yale College in 1871, and held that position
till his death, which occurred at New Haven on the 28th of April 1903.
His first contributions to mathematical physics were two papers
published in 1873 in the _Transactions_ of the Connecticut Academy on
"Graphical Methods in the Thermodynamics of Fluids," and "Method of
Geometrical Representation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Substances
by means of Surfaces." His next and most important publication was his
famous paper "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances" (in two
parts, 1876 and 1878), which, it has been said, founded a new department
of chemical science that is becoming comparable in importance to that
created by Lavoisier. This work was translated into German by W. Ostwald
(who styled its author the "founder of chemical energetics") in 1891 and
into French by H. le Chatelier in 1899. In 1881 and 1884 he printed some
notes on the elements of vector analysis for the use of his students;
these were never formally published, but they formed the basis of a
text-book on _Vector Analysis_ which was published by his pupil, E. B.
Wilson, in 1901. Between 1882 and 1889 a series of papers on certain
points in the electromagnetic theory of light and its relation to the
various elastic solid theories appeared in the _American Journal of
Science_, and his last work, _Elementary Principles in Statistical
Mechanics_, was issued in 1902. The name of Willard Gibbs, who was the
most distinguished American mathematical physicist of his day, is
especially associated with the "Phase Rule," of which some account will
be found in the article ENERGETICS. In 1901 the Copley medal of the
Royal Society of London was awarded him as being "the first to apply the
second law of thermodynamics to the exhaustive discussion of the
relation between chemical, electrical and thermal energy and capacity
for external work."
A biographical sketch will be found in his collected _Scientific
Papers_ (2 vols., 1906).
GIBBS, OLIVER WOLCOTT (1822-1908), American chemist, was born at New
York on the 21st of February 1822. His father, Colonel George Gibbs, was
an ardent mineralogist; the mineral gibbsite was named after him, and
his collection was finally bought by Yale College. Entering Columbia
College in 1837, Wolcott (the Oliver he dropped at an early date)
graduated in 1841, and, having assisted Robert Hare at Pennsylvania
University for several months, he next entered the College of Physicians
and Surgeons in New York, qualifying as a doctor of medicine in 1845.
Leaving America he studied in Germany with K. F. Rammelsberg, H. Rose
and J. von Liebig, and in Paris with A. Laurent, J. B. Dumas, and H. V.
Regnault, returning in 1848. In that year he became professor of
chemistry at the Free Academy, now the College of the City of New York,
and in 1863 he obtained the Rumford professorship in Harvard University,
a post retained until his retirement in 1887 as professor emeritus. He
died on the 9th of December 1908. Gibbs' researches were mainly in
analytical and inorganic chemistry, the cobaltammines, platinum metals
and complex acids being especially investigated. He was an excellent
teacher, and contributed many articles to scientific journals.
See the Memorial Lecture by F. W. Clarke in the _J.C.S._ (1909), p.
1299.
GIBEON, a town in Palestine whose inhabitants wrested a truce from
Joshua by a trick (Josh. ix., x.); where the champions of David fought
those of Ish-bosheth (2 Sam. ii. 12-32); where Joab murdered Amasa (ib.
xx. 8-10); and where Johanan went against Ishmael to avenge the murder
of Gedaliah (Jer. xli. 12). Here was an important high place (1 Kings
iii. 4) where for a time the tabernacle was deposited (2 Chron. i. 3).
The present name is _El-Jib_; this is a small village about 5 m. N.W. of
Jerusalem, standing on an isolated hill above a flat corn valley. The
village is famous for its springs, and the reputation seems ancient (cf.
2 Sam. ii. 13; Jer. xli. 12). The principal spring issues from under a
cliff on the south-east side of the hill, and the water runs to a
reservoir lower down. The sides of the hill are rocky, and remarkable
for the regular stratification of the limestone, which gives the hill at
a distance the appearance of being terraced. Scattered olive groves
surround the place. (R. A. S. M.)
GIBEONITES, the inhabitants of Gibeon, an Amorite or Hivite stronghold,
the modern El-Jib, 5 m. N.W. from Jerusalem. According to Joshua xviii.
25 it was one of the cities of Benjamin. When the Israelites, under
Joshua, invaded Canaan, the Gibeonites by a crafty ruse escaped the fate
of Jericho and Ai and secured protection from the invaders (Joshua ix.).
Cheyne thinks this story the attempt of a later age to explain the long
independence of Gibeon and the use of the Gibeonites as slaves in
Solomon's temple. An attempt on the part of Saul to exterminate the clan
is mentioned in 2 Sam. xxi., and this slaughter may possibly be
identified with the massacre at Nob recorded in 1 Sam. xxii. 17-19 (see
_Ency. Bib._ col. 1717). The place is also associated with the murders
of Asahel (2 Sam. ii. 12), Amasa (2 Sam. xx. 8) and Gedaliah (Jer. xli.
12), and with the wrathful intervention of Yahweh referred to by Isaiah
(xxviii. 21), which we may identify with the memorable victory of David
over the Philistines recorded in 2 Sam. v. 25 (reading Gibeon for Geba).
Gibeon was the seat of an old Canaanitish sanctuary afterwards used by
the Israelites; it was here that Solomon, immediately after his
coronation, went to consult the oracles and had the dream in which he
chose the gift of wisdom (1 Kings iii.).
GIBRALTAR, a British fortress and crown colony at the western entrance
to the Mediterranean. The whole territory is rather less than 3 m. in
length from north to south and varies in width from 1/4 to 3/4 m.
Gibraltar is called after Tariq (or Tarik) ben Zaid, its name being a
corruption of Jebel Tariq (Mount Tariq). Tariq invaded Andalusia in A.D.
711 with an army of 12,000 Arabs and Berbers, and in the last days of
July of that year destroyed the Gothic power in a three days' fight on
the banks of the river Guadalete near where Jerez de la Frontera now
stands. In order to secure his communications with Africa he ordered the
building of a strong castle upon the Rock, known to the Romans as Mons
Calpe. This work, begun in the year of the great battle, was completed
in 742. It covered a wide area, reaching from the shores of the bay to a
point half-way up the north-western slope of the rock; here the keep, a
massive square tower, still stands and is known as the Moorish castle.
The Rock itself is about 2-1/2 m. in length, and at its northern end
rises almost perpendicularly from the strip of flat sandy ground which
connects it with the Spanish mainland. At the north end, on the crest of
the Rock 1200 ft. above sea-level, is the Rock gun, famous in the great
siege. Some six furlongs to the south is the signal station (1255 ft.),
through which the names and messages of passing ships are cabled to all
parts of the world. Rather less than 3/4 m. south of the signal station
is O'Hara's Tower (1408 ft.), the highest point of the Rock. South of
O'Hara's Tower the ground falls steeply to Windmill Hill, a fairly even
surface about 1/8 of a sq. m. in area, and sloping from 400 to 300 ft.
above the sea-level. South of Windmill Hill are Europa Flats, a
wall-like cliff 200 ft. or more in height dividing them. Europa Flats,
sloping south, end in cliffs 50 ft. high, which at and around Europa
Point plunge straight down into deep water. Europa Point is the most
southern point of the Rock, and is distant 11-1/2 nautical miles from
the opposite African coast. On Europa Point is the lighthouse in 5 deg.
21' W. and 36 deg. 6' 30" N. On the Mediterranean side the Rock is
almost as steep and inaccessible as it is from the north. Below the
signal station, at the edge of the Mediterranean, lies Catalan Bay,
where there is a little village chiefly inhabited by fishermen and
others who make their living upon the waters; but Catalan Bay can only
be approached by land from the north or by a tunnel through the Rock
from the dockyard; from Catalan Bay to Europa Point the way is barred by
impassable cliffs. On the west side of the Rock the slopes are less
steep, especially as they near the sea, and on this side lie the town,
the Alameda or public gardens, the barracks and the dockyard.
[Illustration: Gibraltar.]
_Geology._--The rock of Gibraltar consists, for the most part, of pale
grey limestone of compact and sometimes crystalline structure,
generally stratified but in places apparently amorphous. Above the
limestone are found layers of dark grey-blue shales with intercalated
beds of grit, mudstone and limestone. Both limestone and shales are of
the Lower Jurassic age. Professors A. C. Ramsay and James Geikie
(_Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society_, London, August 1878)
found also in the superficial formations of the Rock various features
of interest to the students of Pleistocene geology, including massive
accumulations of limestone breccia or agglomerate, bone breccias,
deposits of calcareous sandstone, raised beaches and loose sands. The
oldest of these superficial formations is the limestone breccia of
Buena Vista, devoid of fossils and apparently formed under the stress
of hard frosts, indicating conditions of climate of great severity. To
account for frosts like these, it is suggested that the surface of the
Rock must have been raised to an elevation much greater than its
present height. In that case Europe and Africa would probably have
been connected by an isthmus across some part of the present site of
the Straits, and there would have been a wider area of low ground
round the base of the Rock. The low ground at this, and probably at a
later period, must have been clothed with a rich vegetation, necessary
for the support of a varied mammalian fauna, whose remains have been
found in the Genista caves. After this there would seem to have been a
subsidence to a depth of some 700 ft. below the existing level. This
would account for the ledges and platforms which have been formed by
erosion of the sea high above the present sea-level, and for the
deposits of calcareous sandstone containing sea shells of existing
Mediterranean species. The extent of some of these eroded ledges shows
that pauses of long duration intervened between the periods of
depression. The Rock seems after this to have been raised to a level
considerably above that at which it now stands; Europe and Africa
would then again have been united. At a later date still the Rock sank
once more to its present level.
Many caves, some of them of great extent, penetrate the interior of
the rock; the best known of these are the Genista and St Michael's
caves. St Michael's cave, about 1100 ft. above sea-level at its mouth,
slopes rapidly down and extends over 400 ft. into the Rock; its
extreme limits have not, however, been fully explored. It consists of
a series of five or more chambers of considerable extent, connected by
narrow and crooked passages. The outermost cave is 70 ft. in height
and 200 in length, with massive pillars of stalactite reaching from
roof to floor. The second cave was named the Victoria cave by its
discoverer Captain Brome; beyond these are three caves known as the
Leonora caves. "Nothing," writes Captain Brome, "can exceed the beauty
of the stalactites; they form clusters of every imaginable
shape--statuettes, pillars, foliages, figures," and he adds that
American visitors have admitted that even the Mammoth cave itself
could not rival these giant stalactites in picturesque beauty.
The mammalian remains of the Genista cave have been described by G.
Busk ("Quaternary Fauna of Gibraltar" in _Trans. of Zool. Soc._ vol.
x. p. 2, 1877). They were found to contain remains of a bear, probably
_Ursus fossilis_ of Goldfuss; of a hyena, _H. crocuta_ or _spelaea_;
of cats varying from a leopard to a wild cat in size; of a rhinoceros,
resembling in species remains found in the Thames valley; two forms of
ibex; the hare and rabbit. No trace has been found as yet of
_Rhinoceros tichorinus_, of _Ursus spelaeus_ or of the reindeer; and
of the elephant only a molar tooth of _Elephas antiquus_.
Further details may be found in the _Quarterly Journ. of Geol. Soc._
(James Smith of Jordanhill), vol. ii. and in vol. xxi. (_Fossil
Contents of the Genista Cave_, G. Busk and Hugh Falconer; reprinted in
_Palaeontological Memoirs_, H. Falconer, London, 1868).
_Flora._--The upper part of the Rock is in summer burnt up and brown,
but after the first autumn rains and during the winter, spring and
early summer, it abounds in wild flowers and shrubs. In the public and
other gardens on the lower ground, where there is a greater depth of
soil, the vegetation is luxuriant and is only limited by the supply of
water available for summer irrigation. Dr E. F. Kelaart (_Flora
Calpensis_, London, 1846) enumerates more than four hundred varieties
of plants and ferns indigenous to Gibraltar, and about fifty more
which have been introduced from abroad. Of the former a few are said
to be species peculiar to the Rock. The stone-pine and wild-olive are
perhaps the only trees found growing in a natural state. In the public
and private gardens and by the roadside may be seen the pepper tree,
the plane, the white poplar, the acacia, the bella-sombra (_Phytolacca
dioica_), the eucalyptus or blue gum tree, and palms of different
species; and, of fruit trees, the orange, lemon, fig, pomegranate,
loquat and almond. The aloe, flowering aloe and prickly pear are
common, and on the eastern side of the Rock the palmito or dwarf palm
(_Chamaerops humilis_) is abundant.
_Fauna._--The fauna of Gibraltar, from want of space, is necessarily
scanty. The Barbary apes, said to be the only wild monkeys in Europe,
are still to be found on the upper part of the Rock, but in very
reduced numbers; about the beginning of the 20th century four or five
only remained, which were said to be all females; a young male,
however, was brought from Africa. The last male of the original stock,
an old patriarch, who had died shortly before this, is believed to
have killed and, it is said, eaten all the young ones. A small variety
of pigeon breeds in the steep cliffs at the north end of the Rock. A
few red-legged partridges, some rabbits, two or three foxes and a
badger or two will complete the list.
_Climate._--The climate of Gibraltar is pleasant and healthy, mild in
winter, and only moderately hot in summer; but the heat, though not
excessive, is lasting. The three months of June, July and August are
almost always without rain, and it is not often that rain falls in the
months of May and September. The first autumn rains, however, which
sometimes begin in September, are usually heavy. From October to May the
climate is for the most part delightful, warm sunshine prevailing,
tempered by cool breezes; the spells of bad weather, although blustering
enough at times, are seldom of more than a few days' duration. The
thermometer in summer does not often reach 90 deg. F. in the shade; from
83 deg. to 85 deg. may be taken to be the average maximum for July and
August, and these are the hottest months of the year. The average yearly
rainfall is 34.4 in., and in fifty years from 1857 to 1906 the greatest
recorded rainfall was 59.35 in., and the smallest 16.75 in. The
water-supply for drinking and cooking purposes is almost wholly derived
from rain-water stored chiefly in underground tanks; there are very few
good wells. Many of the better class of houses have their own
rain-water tanks, and there are large tanks belonging to the naval and
military authorities. Large storage tanks have been constructed by the
sanitary commissioners with specially prepared collecting areas high up
the Rock. The collecting areas cover 16 acres, and the storage tanks
have a capacity of over six million gallons. The tanks are excavated in
the solid rock, whereby the water is kept in the dark and cool. A large
quantity of brackish water for flushing purposes and baths is pumped
from the sandy flats of the north front on the Spanish side of the Rock.
_The Town._--The modern town of Gibraltar is of comparatively recent
date, nearly all the older buildings having been destroyed during the
great siege (1779-1783). The town lies, with most of its buildings
crowded together, at the north-western corner of the Rock, and covers
only about one-ninth part of the whole area; only a small part of it is
on level ground, and those of its narrow streets and lanes which are at
right angles to the line wall, or sea front, are for the most part,
except at their western ends, little more than ramps or rough stairs
formed of rubble stones, contracting in places into stone steps.
The public buildings present few, if any, features of general interest.
The "Convent" rebuilt upon the remains of an old Franciscan monastery is
the official residence of the governor. The Anglican cathedral is a poor
imitation of Moorish architecture. The garrison library has excellent
reading rooms and a large number of volumes of miscellaneous interest.
The civil hospital is a well-planned and roomy modern building. The
courthouse and exchange buildings are suited to the needs of the town.
The antiquary may here and there find the remains of a Moorish bath
forming part of a stable, or fragments of a sculptured stone gateway
bearing the arms of Castile or of Aragon built into the wall of a modern
barrack. In a small disused graveyard, near Southport gate, lie buried a
number of those who fell at Trafalgar. To the south of the town are the
Alameda parade and gardens, a lunatic asylum, the dockyard, graving
docks and the naval and military hospitals.
_Population._--The inhabitants of Gibraltar are of mixed race; after the
capture of the town by the British nearly the whole of the former
Spanish population emigrated in a body and founded, 6 m. away, the
little town of San Roque. Most of the native inhabitants are of Italian
or Genoese descent; there are also a number of Maltese, and between two
and three thousand Jews. The Jews never intermarry with other races and
form a distinct society of their own. The language of the people is
Spanish, not very correctly spoken. English is learnt as a foreign
language and is rarely, if ever, spoken by the people in their own
homes. Gibraltar being primarily a fortress and naval base, every
effort, in view of war contingencies, is made by the authorities to
prevent the natural increase of the population. Sanitary and building
regulations, modelled upon English statutes designed with quite
different objects, are administered with some ingenuity and not a little
severity. In this way the house room available for the poorer classes is
steadily reduced. The poor are thus being gradually pushed across the
frontier into the neighbouring Spanish town of La Linea de la
Concepcion, itself a mere suburb of Gibraltar, whose population,
however, is nearly double that of the parent city. A large army of
workers come daily from "the Lines" into Gibraltar, returning at "first
evening gunfire" shortly after sunset, at which time the gates are
closed and locked for the night. Aliens are not allowed to reside in
Gibraltar without a special permit, which must be renewed at short
intervals. By an order in council, taking effect from November 1900, the
like disabilities were extended to British subjects not previously
resident.
The recorded births, marriages and deaths over a period of 23 years
are as follows:--
+----------------+-------+----------+-------+
| Yearly Average.|Births.|Marriages.|Deaths.|
+----------------+-------+----------+-------+
| 1883-1885 | 621 | 177 | 513 |
| 1886-1890 | 603 | 167 | 514 |
| 1891-1895 | 626 | 186 | 460 |
| 1896-1900 | 641 | 201 | 498 |
| 1901-1905 | 629 | 201 | 472 |
+----------------+-------+----------+-------+
The numbers of the population from causes which have been referred to
are almost stationary, showing a slight tendency to decrease. There
are no available statistics later than those of a census taken in
1901, from which it appeared that the population then numbered 27,460,
of whom the garrison and its families amounted to 6595, the civil
population, being British subjects, to 17,818, and aliens resident
under permits to 3047. The latter are chiefly working men and domestic
servants.
_Constitution._--Gibraltar is a crown colony. Of local government
properly so called there is none. There is a sanitary commission which
is vested with large powers of spending and with the control of
buildings and streets and other matters managed by local authorities in
England. Its members are appointed by the governor. An appeal from their
decisions, so far as they affect individuals, lies to the supreme court.
Apart from the garrison and civil officials there are comparatively few
members of the Anglican Church. The great majority of the people belong
to the Church of Rome. The Jews have four synagogues. The Protestant
dissenters have two places of worship, Presbyterian and Wesleyan.
Education is not compulsory for the civil population, but most of the
children, if not all, receive a fair education in private or private
aided schools. The number of the children on the rolls of the private
and private aided schools was in 1905: boys, 1504; girls, 1733; total
3237.
_Commerce._--Except in respect of alcoholic liquors and tobacco
Gibraltar has been a free port since the year 1705--a distinction due,
it is said, to the refusal of a sultan of Morocco to allow of
much-needed exports from Morocco to Gibraltar if full liberty of trade
were not granted to his subjects. During the great wars of the
beginning of the 19th century trade was most active in Gibraltar, and
some large fortunes were made; but trade on a large scale has almost
disappeared. At the point of contact of two continents, on the direct
line of ocean trade with the far East, in regular steam communication
with all the great ports of Europe and with North and South America,
Gibraltar, by its position, is fitted to be a trade centre of the
world, but the unrest and suspicion engendered in Morocco by the
intrigues and designs of the European powers, and excessive protective
duties and maladministration in Spain, have done much to extinguish
the trade of Gibraltar. There are, however, no trustworthy statistics
of imports and exports. Before the year 1898 wine, beer and spirits
were the only goods which paid duty. In that year a duty of 1d. per
lb. was for the first time put upon tobacco and produced L1444; the
duty was, however, in force only for a part of the year; in 1899 the
duty, at the same rate, produced L7703. In 1902 the duty on tobacco
was raised to 2d. per lb. and produced L29,311. In 1905 this duty
produced L24,575. The chief business of Gibraltar is the coaling of
passing steamers; this gives work to several thousand men. Goods are
also landed for re-export to Morocco, but the bulk of the Morocco
trade, much of which formerly came to Gibraltar, is now done by lines
of steamers trading to and from Morocco direct to British, German or
French ports. Nearly all the fresh meat consumed in Gibraltar comes
from Morocco, also large quantities of poultry and eggs. A fair amount
of retail business is done with the passengers of ocean steamers which
call on their way to and from the East and from North and South
America.
The steam-tonnage cleared annually since 1883 is shown in the
following table:--
+----------------+-----------+----------+-----------+
| Yearly Average.| British. | Foreign. | Total. |
+----------------+-----------+----------+-----------+
| 1883-1885 | 3,525,135 | 817,926 | 4,343,061 |
| 1886-1890 | 4,507,101 | 908,419 | 5,415,520 |
| 1891-1895 | 3,710,856 | 975,390 | 4,686,246 |
| 1896-1900 | 3,281,165 |1,063,367 | 4,344,532 |
| 1901-1905 | 2,810,849 |1,309,649 | 4,120,498 |
+----------------+-----------+----------+-----------+
The main sources of revenue are (i.) duties upon wine, spirits, malt
liquors and tobacco; (ii.) port and harbour dues; (iii.) tavern and
other licences; (iv.) post and telegraph; (v.) ground and other rents;
(vi.) stamps and miscellaneous. The returns before 1898 were made in
pesetas (5 = $1). In the following table these have been converted
into sterling at an average of exchange 30 = L1.
+---------------+--------+-------+------+-------+------+--------+--------+
|Yearly Average.| i. | ii. | iii. | iv. | v. | vi. | Total. |
+---------------+--------+-------+------+-------+------+--------+--------+
| 1886-1890 | 9,692 |17,070 | 5387 | 6,805 | 6485 | 2,873 | 48,312 |
| 1891-1895 | 9,250 |13,157 | 4275 | 7,833 | 6208 | 10,113 | 50,836 |
| 1896-1900 | 14,071 | 8,435 | 4136 |10,016 | 5924 | 14,460 | 57,042 |
| 1901-1905 | 35,900 | 6,028 | 3905 |12,091 | 6945 | 15,859 | 80,728 |
| Year 1905 | 36,554 | 5,872 | 4050 |16,551 | 7489 | 17,007 | 87,523 |
+---------------+--------+-------+------+-------+------+--------+--------+
The money, weights and measures in legal use are British. Before 1898
Spanish money only was in use. The great depreciation of the Spanish
currency during the war with the United States led in 1898 to the
reintroduction of British currency as the legal tender money of
Gibraltar. Notwithstanding this change the Spanish dollar still
remains in current use; much of the retail business of the town being
done with persons resident in Spain, the dollar fully holds its own.
_Harbour and Fortifications._--Great changes were made in the defences
of Gibraltar early in the 20th century. Guns of the newest types
replaced those of older patterns. The heavier pieces instead of being at
or near the sea-level, are now high up, many of them on the crest line
of the Rock; their lateral range and fire area has thereby been greatly
increased and their efficiency improved in combination with an elaborate
system of range finding.
With the completion of the new dockyard works the value of Gibraltar as
a naval base has greatly increased. It can now undertake all the
ordinary repairs and coaling of a large fleet. There is an enclosed
harbour in which a fleet can safely anchor secure from the attacks of
torpedo boats. A mole, at first intended for commercial purposes, closes
the north end of the new harbour. The Admiralty, however, soon found
that their needs had outgrown the first design and the so-called
Commercial Mole has been taken over for naval purposes, plans for a new
commercial mole being prepared. The funds for these extensive works were
provided by the Naval Works Loan Acts of 1895 and subsequent years.
The land space available for the purposes of dockyard extension being
very limited, a space of about 64 acres was reclaimed from the sea in
front of the Alameda and the road to Rosia; some of the land reclaimed
was as much as 40 ft. under water. The large quantity of material
required for this purpose was obtained by tunnelling the Rock from W. to
E. and from quarries above Catalan Bay village, to which access was
gained through the tunnel. The graving docks occupy the dug-out site of
the former New Mole Parade. There are three of these docks, 850, 550 and
450 ft. in length respectively. The largest dock is divisible by a
central caisson so that four ships can be docked at one time. The docks
are all 95 ft. wide at the entrance with 35-1/2 ft. of water over the
sills at low-water spring tides. The pumping machinery can empty the
largest dock, 105,000 tons of water, in five hours. There are two
workshops for the chief constructor's and chief engineer's departments,
each 407 ft. long and 322 broad. For the staff captain's department and
stores there are buildings with 250,000 ft. of floor space. At the north
end of the yard are the administrative offices, slipways for destroyers,
a slip for small craft, an ordnance wharf and a boat camber. The
reclaimed area is faced with a wharf wall of concrete blocks for an
unbroken length of 1600 ft. with 33 ft. of water alongside at low tide;
on this wharf are powerful shears and cranes.
The enclosed harbour covers 440 acres, 250 of which have a minimum depth
of 30 ft. at low water. It is closed on the S. and S.W. by the New Mole
(1400 ft.) and the New Mole extension (2700 ft.), together 4100 ft.; on
the W. by the Detached Mole (2720 ft.) and on the N. by the Commercial
Mole.
The New Mole, so called to distinguish it from the Old Mole and its
later extension the Devil's Tongue at the north end of the town, is said
to have been begun by the Spaniards in 1620. It was successfully
assaulted by landing parties from the British fleet under Sir George
Rooke at the capture of Gibraltar by the British in 1704. It was
extended at different times, and before the beginning of the new works
was 1400 ft. in length. The New Mole, with its latest extension, has a
width at top of 102 ft. It is formed of rubble stone floated into
position in barges. It has a continuous wharf wall on the harbour side
3500 ft. long, with water alongside 30 to 35 ft. deep. On the outer side
coal is stacked in sheds extending nearly the whole length of the mole.
The Detached Mole is a vertical wall formed of concrete blocks, each
block weighing 28 tons. These blocks were built together on the sloping
block system upon a rubble foundation of stone deposited by barges and
levelled by divers for the reception of the concrete blocks.
The Commercial Mole is now chiefly used by the navy as a convenient
wharf for destroyers. It encloses the harbour to the north and extends
westward from the end of the Devil's Tongue. At the end nearest the town
are large stores; there is also a small wharf on its outer side which is
used by the tenders of ocean steamers and by the small boats which ply
to Algeciras.
This mole is built of rubble, and at its western end it has an arm about
1600 ft. long running S. in the direction of the Detached Mole. Parallel
with and inside the western arm are five jetties. The jetties and
western arm have extensive coal sheds and are faced with a concrete
wharf wall of a total length of 7000 ft. with 20 to 30 ft. of water
alongside. The Devil's Tongue was an extension of the Old Mole,
constructed during the great siege 1779-1783 in order to bring a
flanking fire to bear upon part of the Spanish lines. It owes its name
to the success with which it played its destined part. (H. M.*)
_History._--Gibraltar was known to the Greek and Roman geographers as
Calpe or Alybe, the two names being probably corruptions of the same
local (perhaps Phoenician) word. The eminence on the African coast near
Ceuta which bears the modern English name of Apes' Hill was then
designated Abyla; and Calpe and Abyla, at least according to an ancient
and widely current interpretation, formed the renowned Pillars of
Hercules (_Herculis columnae_, [Greek: Hrakleous stelai]), which for
centuries were the limits of enterprise to the seafaring peoples of the
Mediterranean world. The military history of the Rock begins with its
capture and fortification by Tariq in 711. In 1309 it was retaken by
Alonzo Perez de Guzman for Ferdinand IV. of Castile and Leon, who, in
order to attract inhabitants to the spot, offered an asylum to thieves
and murderers, and promised to levy no taxes on the import or export of
goods. The attack of Ismail ben Ferez in 1315 (2nd siege) was
frustrated; but in 1333 Vasco Perez de Meyra, having allowed the
fortifications and garrison to decay, was obliged to capitulate to
Mahomet IV. (3rd siege) after a defence of five months. Alonzo's
attempts to recover possession (4th siege) were futile, though
pertinacious and heroic; but after his successful attack on Algeciras in
1344 he was encouraged to try his fortune again at Gibraltar. In 1349 he
invested the Rock, but the siege (5th siege) was brought to an untimely
close by his death in March 1350. The next or 6th siege resulted simply
in the transference of the position from the hands of the king of
Morocco to those of Yussef III. of Granada (1411), and the 7th,
undertaken by the Spanish count of Niebla, Enrique de Guzman, proved
fatal to the besieger and his forces (1435). In 1462, however, success
attended the efforts of Alonzo de Arcos (8th siege), and in August the
Rock passed once more under Christian sway. The duke of Medina Sidonia,
a powerful grandee who had assisted in its capture, was anxious to get
possession of the fortress, and though Henry IV. at first managed to
maintain the claims of the crown, the duke ultimately made good his
ambition by force of arms (9th siege), and in 1469 the king was
constrained to declare his son and his heirs perpetual governors of
Gibraltar. In 1479 Ferdinand and Isabella made the second duke marquess
of Gibraltar, and in 1492 the third duke, Don Juan, was reluctantly
allowed to retain the fortress. At length in 1502 it was formally
incorporated with the domains of the crown. Don Juan tried in 1506 to
recover possession, and added a 10th to the list of sieges. In 1540 the
garrison had to defend itself against a much more formidable attack
(11th siege)--the pirates of Algiers having determined to recover the
Rock for Mahomet and themselves. The conflict was severe, but resulted
in the repulse of the besiegers. After this the Spaniards made great
efforts to strengthen the place, and they succeeded so well that
throughout Europe Gibraltar was regarded as impregnable, the engineer
Daniel Speckle (1536-1589) being chiefly responsible for the design of
the fortifications.
Gibraltar was taken by the allied British and Dutch forces, after a
three days' siege, on the 24th of July 1704 (see SPANISH SUCCESSION, WAR
OF THE). The capture was made, as the war was being fought, in the
interests of Charles, archduke of Austria, but Sir George Rooke (q.v.),
the British admiral, on his own responsibility caused the British flag
to be hoisted, and took possession in name of Queen Anne, whose
government ratified the occupation. A great number of the inhabitants of
the town of Gibraltar abandoned their homes rather than recognize the
authority of the invaders. The Spaniards quickly assembled an army to
recapture the place, and a new siege opened in October 1704 by troops of
France and Spain under the marquess of Villadarias. The activity of the
British admiral, Sir John Leake, and of the military governor, Prince
George of Hesse-Darmstadt (who had commanded the land forces in July),
rendered the efforts of the besiegers useless. A notable incident of
this siege was the gallant attempt made by 500 chosen volunteers to
surprise the garrison (31st of October), an attempt which, at first
successful, in the end failed disastrously. Finally, in April 1705 the
French marshal de Tesse, who had replaced Villadarias, gave up the siege
and retired. During the next twenty years there were endless
negotiations for the peaceful surrender of the fortress, varied in 1720
by an abortive attempt at a _coup de main_, which was thwarted by the
resourcefulness of the governor of Minorca (Colonel Kane), who threw
reinforcements and supplies into Gibraltar at the critical moment. In
1726 the Spaniards again appealed to arms. But the count of las Torres,
who had the chief command, succeeded no better than his predecessors.
The place had been strengthened since 1705, and the defence of the
garrison under Brigadier Clayton, the lieutenant-governor, Brigadier
Kane of Minorca, and the governor, the earl of Portmore, who arrived
with reinforcements, was so effective that the armistice of the 12th of
June practically put a close to the siege, though two years elapsed
before the general pacification ensued.
Siege of Gibraltar (1779-1783).
Neither in the War of the Austrian Succession nor in that of 1762 did
Spain endeavour to besiege the rock, but the War of American
Independence gave her better opportunities, and the great siege of
1779-1783 is justly regarded as one of the most memorable sieges of
history. The governor, General Sir George Augustus Elliot (afterwards
Lord Heathfield), was informed from England on the 6th of July 1779 that
hostilities had begun. A short naval engagement in the straits took
place on the 11th, and General Elliot made every preparation for
resistance. It was not, however, until the month of August that the
Spaniards became threatening. The method of the besiegers appeared to be
starvation, but the interval between strained relations and war had been
well employed by the ships, and supplies were, for the time at any rate,
sufficient. While the Spanish siege batteries were being constructed the
fortress fired, and many useful artillery experiments were carried out
by the garrison at this time and subsequently throughout the siege. On
the 14th of November there took place a spirited naval action in which
the privateer "Buck," Captain Fagg, forced her way into harbour. This
was one of many such incidents, which usually arose from the attempts
made from time to time by vessels to introduce supplies from Tangier and
elsewhere. December 1779, indeed, was a month of privation for the
garrison, though of little actual fighting. In January 1780, on the
rumour of an approaching convoy, the price of foods "fell more than
two-thirds," and Admiral Sir George Rodney won a great victory over De
Langara and entered the harbour. Prince William Henry (afterwards King
William IV.) served on board the British fleet as a midshipman during
this expedition. Supplies and reinforcements were thrown into the
fortress by Rodney, and the whole affair was managed with the greatest
address both by the home government and the royal navy. "The garrison,"
in spite of the scurvy, "might now be considered in a perfect state of
defence," says Drinkwater.
On the 7th of June took place an attack by Spanish fireships, which were
successfully dealt with by the naval force in the bay under Captain
Lesley of H.M. frigate "Enterprise." Up to October the state of things
within the fortress was much what it had been after Rodney's success.
"The enemy's operations on the land side had been for many months so
unimportant as scarcely to merit our attention" (Drinkwater). Scurvy
was, however, prevalent (see Drinkwater, p. 121), and the supply
question had again become acute. Though the enemy's batteries did not
open fire, the siege works steadily progressed, in spite of the fire
from the fortress, and there were frequent small engagements at sea in
which the English were not always successful. Further, the expulsion,
with great harshness, of the English residents of Barbary territory put
an end to a service of supply and information which had been of the
greatest value to Elliot (January 1781). Three more months passed in
forced inaction, which the garrison, stinted as it was, endured calmly.
Then, on the 12th of April 1781, on the arrival of a British relieving
squadron under Admiral Darby, the whole of the Spanish batteries opened
fire. Stores were landed in the midst of a heavy bombardment, and much
damage was done both to the fortifications and military buildings and to
the town. At this time there was a good deal of indiscipline in the
garrison, with which General Elliot dealt severely. This was in the last
degree necessary, for the bombardment continued up to the 1st of June,
after which the rate of the enemy's fire decreased to 500 rounds per
day. By the 12th of July it had almost ceased. In September the firing
again became intense and the casualties increased, the working parties
suffering somewhat heavily. In October there was less expenditure of
ammunition, as both sides were now well covered, and in November the
governor secretly prepared a great counterstroke. The sortie made on the
night of the 26th-27th of November was brilliantly successful, and the
Spanish siege works were mostly destroyed. At the close of the year the
garrison was thus again in an excellent position.
Early in 1782 a new form of gun-carriage wheel, allowing of a large
angle of depression being given, was invented by an officer of the Royal
Artillery, and indeed throughout the siege many experiments (such as
would nowadays be carried out at a school of gunnery) were made with
guns, mountings, ammunition, methods of fire, &c., both in Gibraltar and
in the Spanish camp. The gun-carriage referred to enabled 93% of hits to
be obtained at 1400 yds. range. In April grates for heating shot were
constructed by order of the governor; these were destined to be famous.
At the same time it was reported that the duc de Crillon was now to
command the besiegers (French and Spaniards) with D'Arcon as his chief
engineer. The grand attack was now imminent, and preparations were made
to repel it (July 1782). The chief feature of the attack was to be, as
reported on the 26th of July, ten ships "fortified 6 or 7 ft. thick ...
with green timber bolted with iron, cork and raw hides; which were to
carry guns of heavy metal and be bombproof on the top with a descent for
the shells to slide off; that these vessels ... were to be moored within
half gunshot of the walls," &c. On the other side many of the now
existing rock galleries were made about this time. The count of Artois
and another French prince arrived in the French lines in August to
witness the culminating effort of the besiegers, and some polite
correspondence passed between Crillon and the governor (reprinted in
Drinkwater, p. 267). The garrison made a preliminary trial of the
red-hot shot on the 8th of September, and the success of the experiment
not only elated the garrison but was partly instrumental in causing
Crillon to hasten the main attack. After a preliminary bombardment the
famous battering ships took up their positions in broad daylight on the
13th and opened fire. The British solid shot seem to have failed
absolutely to penetrate the massive wooden armour on the sides and the
roofs of the battering ships, and about noon the ships had settled down
to their work and were shooting coolly and accurately. But between 1 and
2 P.M. the British artillerymen began to use the red-shot freely. All
day the artillery duel went on, the shore guns, though inferior in
number, steadily gaining the upper hand, and the battering ships were in
great distress by nightfall. The struggle continued in the dark, the
garrison now shooting rapidly and well, and one by one the ten ships
were set on fire. Before noon on the 14th the attack had come to an end
by the annihilation of the battering fleet, every ship having been blown
up or burnt to the water's edge. Upwards of 8300 rounds were expended by
the garrison though less than a hundred pieces were in action. The
enemy's bombardment was, however, resumed and partial engagements
continued up to the third naval relief of the fortress by Lord Howe, who
won a great victory at sea over the Spaniards. The long siege came to an
end on the 6th of February 1783, when the duc de Crillon informed Elliot
that the preliminaries of peace had been signed. On the 31st of March
the duke visited the fortress, and many courtesies passed between the
late enemies. Captain (afterwards Colonel) John Drinkwater (1762-1844),
the historian of the siege, first published his work in 1785. A new
edition of _A History of the Siege of Gibraltar_ was published in 1905.
The history of the four eventful years' siege is fully detailed also in
the Memoir, attached to Green's _Siege of Gibraltar_ (1784), of its
gallant defender Sir George Augustus Elliot, afterwards Lord Heathfield,
whose military skill and moral courage place him among the best soldiers
and noblest men of his time.
Since 1783 the history of Gibraltar has been comparatively uneventful.
In the beginning of 1801 there were rumours of a Spanish and French
attack, but the Spanish ships were defeated off Algeciras in June by
Admiral Saumarez. Improvements in the fortifications, maintenance of
military discipline and legislation in regard to trade and smuggling,
are the principal matters of recent interest.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--To the works which have been already mentioned may be
added: I. L. de Ayala, _Historia de Gibraltar_ (Madrid, 1792); Jas.
Bell, translation of Ayala's history (London, 1845); F. Carter,
_Gibraltar to Malaga_ (London, 1777-1780); G. Cockburn, _Gibraltar,
Cadiz, &c._ (London, 1815); O. Debeaux and G. Dautez, _Synopsis de la
flore de Gibraltar_ (1889); E. D. Fenton, _Sorties from Gibraltar_,
(1872); H. M. Field, _Gibraltar_ (New York, 1888); J. Galt,
_Gibraltar, Sardinia, &c._ (London, 1813); J. Heriot, _Historical
Sketch of Gibraltar_ (London, 1792); R. Hort, _The Rock of Gibraltar_
(London, 1839); L. W. L. Irby, _Ornithology of the Straits_ (London,
1875); Thos. James, _History of the Herculean Straits_ (London, 1771);
J. H. Mann, _Gibraltar and its Sieges_ (London, 1870); Montero,
_Historia de Gibraltar_ (Cadiz, 1860); A. M. Monti, _Historia de
Gibraltar_ (Seville, 1851); J. Navarrete, _Las Llaves del Estrecho_
(Madrid, 1882); M. S. Pasley, _Wild Flowers of Gibraltar_ (Portsmouth,
1887); John Purdy, _Gibraltar and Mediterranean Sailing Directions_
(London, 1840); H. J. M. Rey, _Essai sur la topographie medicale de
Gibraltar_ (Paris, 1833); Captain Sayer, _History of Gibraltar_
(London, 1862); D. Sutherland, _Gibraltar to Constantinople_ (London,
1790); Walker, _A Year's Insect Hunting in Gibraltar_ (London, 1888).
(C. F. A.)
GIBSON, CHARLES DANA (1867- ), American artist and illustrator, was
born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, on the 14th of September 1867. After a
year's study at the schools of the Art Students' League, he began with
some modest little drawings for the humorous weekly _Life_. These he
followed up with more serious work, and soon made a place for himself as
the delineator of the American girl, at various occupations,
particularly those out of doors. These obtained an enormous vogue, being
afterwards published in book form, running through many editions. The
"Gibson Girl" stood for a type of healthy, vigorous, beautiful and
refined young womanhood. Some book illustrations followed, notably for
_The Prisoner of Zenda_. He was imitated by many of the younger
draughtsmen, copied by amateurs, and his popularity was shown in his
engagement by _Collier's Weekly_ to furnish weekly for a year a double
page, receiving for the fifty-two drawings the sum of $50,000, said to
have been the largest amount ever paid to an illustrator for such a
commission. These drawings covered various local themes and were highly
successful, being drawn with pen and ink with masterly facility and
great directness and economy of line. So popular was one series, "The
Adventures of Mr Pipp," that a successful play was modelled on it. In
1906, although besieged with commissions, Gibson withdrew from
illustrative work, determining to devote himself to portraiture in oil,
in which direction he had already made some successful experiments; but
in a few years he again returned to illustration.
GIBSON, EDMUND (1669-1748), English divine and jurist, was born at
Bampton in Westmorland in 1669. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at
Queen's College, Oxford, where in 1692 he published a valuable edition
of the _Saxon Chronicle_ with a Latin translation, indices and notes.
This was followed in 1693 by an annotated edition of the _De
institutione oratoria_ of Quintilian, and in 1695 by a translation in
two volumes folio of Camden's _Britannia_, "with additions and
improvements," in the preparation of which he had been largely assisted
by William Lloyd, John Smith and other English antiquaries. Shortly
after Thomas Tenison's elevation to the see of Canterbury in 1694 Gibson
was appointed chaplain and librarian to the archbishop, and in 1703 and
1710 respectively he became rector of Lambeth and archdeacon of Surrey.
In the discussions which arose during the reigns of William and Anne
relative to the rights and privileges of the Convocation, Gibson took a
very active part, and in a series of pamphlets warmly argued for the
right of the archbishop to continue or prorogue even the lower house of
that assembly. The controversy suggested to him the idea of those
researches which resulted in the famous _Codex juris ecclesiastici
Anglicani_, published in two volumes folio in 1713,--a work which
discusses more learnedly and comprehensively than any other the legal
rights and duties of the English clergy, and the constitution, canons
and articles of the English Church. In 1716 Gibson was presented to the
see of Lincoln, whence he was in 1720 translated to that of London,
where for twenty-five years he exercised an immense influence, being
regularly consulted by Sir Robert Walpole on all ecclesiastical affairs.
While a conservative in church politics, and declaredly opposed to
methodism, he was no persecutor, and indeed broke with Walpole on the
Quakers' Relief Bill of 1736. He exercised a vigilant oversight over the
morals of his diocese; and his fearless denunciation of the licentious
masquerades which were popular at court finally lost him the royal
favour. Among the literary efforts of his later years the principal were
a series of _Pastoral Letters_ in defence of the "gospel revelation,"
against "lukewarmness" and "enthusiasm," and on various topics of the
day; also the _Preservative against Popery_, in 3 vols. folio (1738), a
compilation of numerous controversial writings of eminent Anglican
divines, dating chiefly from the period of James II. Gibson died on the
6th of September 1748.
A second edition of the _Codex juris_, "revised and improved, with
large additions by the author," was published at Oxford in 1761.
Besides the works already mentioned, Gibson published a number of
_Sermons_, and other works of a religious and devotional kind. The
_Vita Thomae Bodleii_ with the _Historia Bibliothecae Bodleianae_ in
the _Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum_ (Oxford, 1697), and the
_Reliquiae Spelmannianae_ (Oxford, 1698), are also from his pen.
GIBSON, JOHN (1790-1866), English sculptor, was born near Conway in
1790, his father being a market gardener. To his mother, whom he
described as ruling his father and all the family, he owed, like many
other great men, the energy and determination which carried him over
every obstacle. When he was nine years old the family were on the point
of emigrating to America, but Mrs Gibson's determination stopped this
project on their arrival at Liverpool, and there John was sent to
school. The windows of the print shops of Liverpool riveted his
attention, and, having no means to purchase the commonest print, he
acquired the habit of committing to memory the outline of one figure
after another, drawing it on his return home. Thus early he formed the
system of observing, remembering and noting, sometimes even a month
later, scenes and momentary actions from nature. In this way he, by
degrees, transferred from the shop window to his paper at home the chief
figures from David's picture of Napoleon crossing the Alps, which, by
particular request, he copied in bright colours as a frontispiece to a
little schoolfellow's new prayer-book, for sixpence. At fourteen years
of age Gibson was apprenticed to a firm of cabinetmakers,--portrait and
miniature painters in Liverpool requiring a premium which his father
could not give. This employment so disgusted him that after a year
(being interesting and engaging then apparently as in after-life) he
persuaded his masters to change his indentures, and bind him to the
wood-carving with which their furniture was ornamented. This satisfied
him for another year, when an introduction to the foreman of some marble
works, and the sight of a small head of Bacchus, unsettled him again. He
had here caught a glimpse of his true vocation, and in his leisure hours
began to model with such success that his efforts found their way to the
notice of Mr Francis, the proprietor of the marble works. The
wood-carving now, in turn, became his aversion; and having in vain
entreated his masters to set him free, he instituted a strike. He was
every day duly at his post, but did no work. Threats, and even a blow,
moved him not. At length the offer of L70 from Francis for the
rebellious apprentice was accepted, and Gibson found himself at last
bound to a master for the art of sculpture. Francis paid the lad 6s. a
week, and received good prices for his works,--sundry early works by the
youthful sculptor, which exist in Liverpool and the neighbourhood, going
by the name of Francis to this day. It was while thus apprenticed that
Gibson attracted the notice of William Roscoe, the historian. For him
Gibson executed a basso rilievo in terra-cotta, now in the Liverpool
museum. Roscoe opened to the sculptor the treasures of his library at
Allerton, by which he became acquainted with the designs of the great
Italian masters.
A cartoon of the Fall of the Angels marked this period,--now also in the
Liverpool museum. We must pass over his studies in anatomy, pursued
gratuitously by the kindness of a medical man, and his introductions to
families of refinement and culture in Liverpool. Roscoe was an excellent
guide to the young aspirant, pointing to the Greeks as the only examples
for a sculptor. Gibson here found his true vocation. A basso rilievo of
Psyche carried by the Zephyrs was the result. He sent it to the Royal
Academy, where Flaxman, recognizing its merits, gave it an excellent
place. Again he became unsettled. The ardent young breast panted for
"the great university of Art"--Rome; and the first step to the desired
goal was to London. Here he stood between the opposite advice and
influence of Flaxman and Chantrey--the one urging him to Rome as the
highest school of sculpture in the world, the other maintaining that
London could do as much for him. It is not difficult to guess which was
Gibson's choice. He arrived in Rome in October 1817, at a comparatively
late age for a first visit. There he immediately experienced the charm
and goodness of the true Italian character in the person of Canova, to
whom he had introductions,--the Venetian putting not only his experience
in art but his purse at the English student's service. Up to this time,
though his designs show a fire and power of imagination in which no
teaching is missed, Gibson had had no instruction, and had studied at no
Academy. In Rome he first became acquainted with rules and
technicalities, in which the merest tyro was before him. Canova
introduced him into the Academy supported by Austria, and, as is natural
with a mind like Gibson's, the first sense of his deficiencies in common
matters of practice was depressing to him. He saw Italian youths already
excelling, as they all do, in the drawing of the figure. But the tables
were soon turned. His first work in marble--a "Sleeping Shepherd"
modelled from a beautiful Italian boy--has qualities of the highest
order. Gibson was soon launched, and distinguished patrons, first sent
by Canova, made their way to his studio in the Via Fontanella. His aim,
from the first day that he felt the power of the antique, was purity of
character and beauty of form. He very seldom declined into the
prettiness of Canova, and if he did not often approach the masculine
strength which redeems the faults of Thorwaldsen, he more than once
surpassed him even in that quality. We allude specially to his "Hunter
and Dog," and to the grand promise of his "Theseus and Robber," which
take rank as the highest productions of modern sculpture. He was
essentially classic in feeling and aim, but here the habit of
observation we have mentioned enabled him to snatch a grace beyond the
reach of a mere imitator. His subjects were gleaned from the free
actions of the splendid Italian people noticed in his walks, and
afterwards baptized with such mythological names as best fitted them.
Thus a girl kissing a child, with a sudden wring of the figure, over her
shoulder, became a "Nymph and Cupid"; a woman helping her child with his
foot on her hand on to her lap, a "Bacchante and Faun"; his "Amazon
thrown from her Horse," one of his most original productions, was taken
from an accident he witnessed to a female rider in a circus; and the
"Hunter holding in his Dog" was also the result of a street scene. The
prominence he gave among his favourite subjects to the little god "of
soft tribulations" was no less owing to his facilities for observing
the all but naked Italian children, in the hot summers he spent in Rome.
In monumental and portrait statues for public places, necessarily
represented in postures of dignity and repose, Gibson was very happy.
His largest effort of this class--the group of Queen Victoria supported
by Justice and Clemency, in the Houses of Parliament--was his finest
work in the round. Of noble character also in execution and expression
of thought is the statue of Huskisson with the bared arm; and no less,
in effect of aristocratic ease and refinement, the seated figure of
Dudley North. But great as he was in the round, Gibson's chief
excellence lay in basso rilievo, and in this less-disputed sphere he
obtained his greatest triumphs. His thorough knowledge of the horse, and
his constant study of the Elgin marbles--casts of which are in
Rome--resulted in the two matchless bassi rilievi, the size of life,
which belong to Lord Fitzwilliam--the "Hours leading the Horses of the
Sun," and "Phaethon driving the Chariot of the Sun." Most of his
monumental works are also in basso rilievo. Some of these are of a truly
refined and pathetic character, such as the monument to the countess of
Leicester, that to his friend Mrs Huskisson in Chichester cathedral, and
that of the Bonomi children. Passion, either indulged or repressed, was
the natural impulse of his art: repressed as in the "Hours leading the
Horses of the Sun," and as in the "Hunter and Dog"; indulged as in the
meeting of Hero and Leander, a drawing executed before he left England.
Gibson was the first to introduce colour on his statues,--first, as a
mere border to the drapery of a portrait statue of the queen, and by
degrees extended to the entire flesh, as in his so-called "tinted"
Venus, and in the "Cupid tormenting the Soul," in the Holford
collection.
Gibson's individuality was too strongly marked to be affected by any
outward circumstances. In all worldly affairs and business of daily life
he was simple and guileless in the extreme; but he was resolute in
matters of principle, determined to walk straight at any cost of
personal advantage. Unlike most artists, he was neither nervous nor
irritable in temperament. It was said of him that he made the heathen
mythology his religion; and indeed in serenity of nature, feeling for
the beautiful, and a certain philosophy of mind, he may be accepted as a
type of what a pure-minded Greek pagan, in the zenith of Greek art, may
have been. Gibson was elected R.A. in 1836, and bequeathed all his
property and the contents of his studio to the Royal Academy, where his
marbles and casts are open to the public. He died at Rome on the 27th of
January 1866.
The letters between Gibson and Mrs Henry Sandbach, granddaughter of Mr
Roscoe, and a sketch of his life that lady induced him to write,
furnish the chief materials for his biography. See his _Life_, edited
by Lady Eastlake. (E. E.)
GIBSON, THOMAS MILNER (1806-1884), English politician, who came of a
good Suffolk family, was born in Trinidad, where his father, an officer
in the army, was serving. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and in
1837 was elected to parliament as Conservative member for Ipswich, but
resigned two years later, having adopted Liberal views, and became an
ardent supporter of the free-trade movement. As one of Cobden's chief
allies, he was elected for Manchester in 1841, and from 1846 to 1848 he
was vice-president of the board of trade in Lord John Russell's
ministry. Though defeated in Manchester in 1857, he found another seat
for Ashton-under-Lyne; and he sat in the cabinets from 1859 to 1866 as
president of the board of trade. He was the leading spirit in the
movement for the repeal of "taxes on knowledge," and his successful
efforts on behalf of journalism and advertising were recognized by a
public testimonial in 1862. He retired from political life in 1868, but
he and his wife, whose salon was a great Liberal centre, were for many
years very influential in society. Milner Gibson was a sportsman and a
typical man of the world, who enjoyed life and behaved liberally to
those connected with him.
GIBSON, WILLIAM HAMILTON (1850-1896), American illustrator, author and
naturalist, was born in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, on the 5th of October
1850. The failure and (in 1868) death of his father, a New York broker,
put an end to his studies in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and made
it necessary for him to earn his own living. From the life insurance
business, in Brooklyn, he soon turned to the study of natural history
and illustration,--he had sketched flowers and insects when he was only
eight years old, had long been interested in botany and entomology, and
had acquired great skill in making wax flowers,--and his first drawings,
of a technical character, were published in 1870. He rapidly became an
expert illustrator and a remarkably able wood-engraver, while he also
drew on stone with great success. He drew for _The American
Agriculturist_, _Hearth and Home_, and Appleton's _American
Cyclopaedia_; for _The Youth's Companion_ and _St Nicholas_; and then
for various Harper publications, especially _Harper's Monthly Magazine_,
where his illustrations first gained popularity. He died of apoplexy,
brought on by overwork, on the 16th of July 1896 at Washington,
Connecticut, where he had had a summer studio, and where in a great
boulder is inset a relief portrait of him by H. K. Bush-Brown. He was an
expert photographer, and his drawings had a nearly photographic and
almost microscopic accuracy of detail which slightly lessened their
artistic value, as a poetic and sometimes humorous quality somewhat
detracted from their scientific worth. Gibson was perfectly at home in
black-and-white, but rarely (and feebly) used colours. He was a popular
writer and lecturer on natural history; in his best-known lecture, on
"Cross-Fertilization," he used ingenious charts and models.
Gibson illustrated S. A. Drake's _In the Heart of the White
Mountains_, C. D. Warner's _New South_, and E. P. Roe's _Nature's
Serial Story_; and his own books, _The Complete American Trapper_
(1876; revised, 1880, as _Camp Life in the Woods); Pastoral Days: or,
Memories of a New England Year_ (1880); _Highways and Byways_ (1882);
_Happy Hunting Grounds_ (1886); _Strolls by Starlight and Sunshine_
(1891); _Sharp Eyes: a Rambler's Calendar_ (1891); _Our Edible
Mushrooms and Toadstools_ (1895); _Eye Spy: Afield with Nature among
Flowers and Animate Things_ (1897); and _My Studio Neighbours_ (1898).
See John C. Adams, _William Hamilton Gibson, Artist, Naturalist
Author_ (New York, 1901).