Chapter 14

(H. Ro.; J. S. Bl.)

Gibbon’s literary art, the sustained excellence of his style, his piquant epigrams and his brilliant irony, would perhaps not secure for his work the immortality which it seems likely to enjoy, if it were not also marked by ecumenical grasp, extraordinary accuracy and striking acuteness of judgment. It is needless to say that in many points his statements and conclusions must now be corrected. He was never content with secondhand accounts when the primary sources were accessible; “I have always endeavoured,” he says, “to draw from the fountainhead; my curiosity, as well as a sense of duty, has always urged me to study the originals; and if they have sometimes eluded my search, I have carefully marked the secondary evidence on whose faith a passage or a fact were reduced to depend.” Since he wrote, new authorities have been discovered or rendered accessible; works in Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Armenian, Syriac, Arabic and other languages, which he was unable to consult, have been published. Again, many of the authorities which he used have been edited in superior texts. The relative weights of the sources have been more nicely determined by critical investigation. Archaeology has become a science. In the immense region which Gibbon surveyed there is hardly a section which has not been submitted to the microscopic examination of specialists.

But apart from the inevitable advances made in the course of a century during which historical research entered upon a new phase, the reader of Gibbon must be warned against one capital defect. In judging theDecline and Fallit should carefully be observed that it falls into two parts which are heterogeneous in the method of treatment. The first part, a little more than five-eighths of the work, supplies a veryfullhistory of 460 years (A.D.180-641); the second and smaller part is a summary history of about 800 years (A.D.641-1453) in which certain episodes are selected for fuller treatment and so made prominent. To the first part unstinted praise must be accorded; it may be said that, with the materials at the author’s disposition, it hardly admitted of improvement, except in trifling details. But the second, notwithstanding the brilliancy of the narrative and the masterly art in the grouping of events, suffers from a radical defect which renders it a misleading guide. The author designates the story of the later empire at Constantinople (after Heraclius) as “a uniform tale of weakness and misery,” a judgment which is entirely false; and in accordance with this doctrine, he makes the empire, which is his proper subject, merely a string for connecting great movements which affected it, such as the Saracen conquests, the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, the Turkish conquests. He failed to bring out the momentous fact that up to the 12th century the empire was the bulwark of Europe against the East, nor did he appreciate its importance in preserving the heritage of Greek civilization. He compressed into a single chapter the domestic history and policy of the emperors from the son of Heraclius to Isaac Angelus; and did no justice to the remarkable ability and the indefatigable industry shown in the service of the state by most of the sovereigns from Leo III. to Basil II. He did not penetrate into the deeper causes underlying the revolutions and palace intrigues. His eye rested only on superficial characteristics which have served to associate the name “Byzantine” with treachery, cruelty, bigotry and decadence. It was reserved for Finlay to depict, with greater knowledge and a juster perception, the lights and shades of Byzantine history. Thus the later part of theDecline and Fall, while the narrative of certain episodes will always be read with profit, does not convey a true idea of the history of the empire or of its significance in the history of Europe. It must be added that the pages on the Slavonic peoples and their relations to the empire are conspicuously insufficient; but it must be taken into account that it was not till many years after Gibbon’s death that Slavonic history began to receive due attention, in consequence of the rise of competent scholars among the Slavs themselves.

The most famous chapters of theDecline and Fallare the fifteenth and sixteenth, in which the historian traces the early progress of Christianity and the policy of the Roman government towards it. The flavour of these chapters is due to the irony which Gibbon has employed with consummate art and felicity. There was a practical motive for using this weapon. An attack on Christianity laid a writer open to prosecution and penalties under the statutes of the realm (9 and 10 William III. c. 22, still unrepealed). Gibbon’s stylistic artifice both averted the peril of prosecution and rendered the attack more telling. In hisAutobiographyhe alleges that he learned from theProvincial Lettersof Pascal “to manage the weapon of grave and temperate irony, even on subjects of ecclesiastical solemnity.” It is not easy, however, to perceive much resemblance between the method of Pascal and that of Gibbon, though in particular passages we may discover the influence which Gibbon acknowledges. For instance, the well-known description (in chap. xlvii.) of the preposition “in” occurring in a theological dogma as a “momentous particle which the memory rather than the understanding must retain” is taken directly from the first Provincial Letter. The main points in the general conclusions of these chapters have been borne out by subsequent research. The account of the causes of the expansion of Christianity is chiefly to be criticized for its omissions. There were a number of important contributory conditions (enumerated in Harnack’sMission und Ausbreitung des Christentums) which Gibbon did not take into account. He rightly insisted on the facilities of communication created by the Roman empire, but did not emphasize the diffusion of Judaism. And he did not realize the importance of the kinship between Christian doctrine and Hellenistic syncretism, which helped to promote the reception of Christianity. He was ignorant of another fact of great importance (which has only in recent years been fully appreciated through the researches of F. Cumont), the wide diffusion of the Mithraic religion and the close analogies between its doctrines and those of Christianity. In regard to the attitude of the Roman government towards the Christian religion, there are questions stillsub judice; but Gibbon had the merit of reducing the number of martyrs within probable limits.

Gibbon’s verdict on the history of the middle ages is contained in the famous sentence, “I have described the triumph of barbarism and religion.” It is important to understand clearly the criterion which he applied; it is frequently misapprehended. He was a son of the 18th century; he had studied with sympathy Locke and Montesquieu; no one appreciated more keenly than he did political liberty and the freedom of an Englishman. This is illustrated by his love of Switzerland, his intense interest in the fortunes of that country, his design of writing “The History of the Liberty of the Swiss”—a theme, he says “from which the dullest stranger would catch fire.” Such views and sentiments are incompatible with the idealization of a benevolent despotism. Yet in this matter Gibbon has been grossly misapprehended and misrepresented. For instance, Mirabeau wrote thus to Sir Samuel Romilly: “I have never been able to read the work of Mr Gibbon without being astounded that it should ever have been written in English; or without being tempted to turn to the author and say, ‘You an Englishman? No, indeed.’ That admiration for an empire of more than two hundred millions of men, where not one had the right to call himself free; that effeminate philosophy which has more praise for luxury and pleasures than for all the virtues; that style always elegant and never energetic, reveal at the most the elector of Hanover’s slave.” This criticism is based on a perverse misreading of the historian’s observations on the age of Trajan, Hadrian and the Antonines. He enlarges, as it was his business to do, on the tranquillity and prosperity of the empire in that period, but he does not fail to place his finger on the want of political liberty as a fatal defect. He points out that under this benevolent despotism, though men might be happy, their happiness was unstable, because it depended on the character of a single man; and the highest praise he can give to those virtuous princes is that they “deserved the honour of restoring the republic, had the Romans of their days been capable of a rational freedom.” The criterion by whichGibbon judged civilization and progress was the measure in which the happiness of men is secured, and of that happiness he considered political freedom an essential condition. He was essentially humane; and it is worthy of notice that he was in favour of the abolition of slavery, while humane men like his friend Lord Sheffield, Dr Johnson and Boswell were opposed to the anti-slavery movement.

Bibliography.—Of the original quarto edition ofThe Decline and Fall, vol. i. appeared, as has already been stated, in 1776, vols. ii. and iii. in 1781 and vols. iv.-vi. (inscribed to Lord North) in 1788. In later editions vol. i. was considerably altered by the author; the others hardly at all. The number of modern reprints has been very considerable. For many years the most important and valuable English edition was that of Milman (1839 and 1845), which was reissued with many critical additions by Dr W. Smith (8 vols. 8vo, 1854 and 1872). This has now been superseded by the edition, with copious notes, by Professor J. B. Bury (7 vols. 8vo, 1896-1900). The edition in Bohn’s British Classics (7 vols., 1853) deserves mention. See also the essay on Gibbon in Sir Spencer Walpole’sEssays and Biographies(1907). As a curiosity of literature Bowdler’s edition, “adapted to the use of families and young persons,” by the expurgation of “the indecent expressions and all allusions of an improper tendency” (5 vols. 8vo, 1825), may be noticed. The French translation of Le Clerc de Septchênes, continued by Démeunier, Boulard and Cantwell (1788-1795), has been frequently reprinted in France. It seems to be certain that the portion usually attributed to Septchênes was, in part at least, the work of his distinguished pupil, Louis XVI. A new edition of the complete translation, prefaced by a letter on Gibbon’s life and character, from the pen of Suard, and annotated by Guizot, appeared in 1812 (and again in 1828). There are at least two German translations ofThe Decline and Fall, one by Wenck, Schreiter and Beck (1805-1807), and a second by Johann C. Sporschil (1837, new ed. 1862). The Italian translation (alluded to by Gibbon himself) was, along with Spedalieri’sConfutazione, reprinted at Milan in 1823. There is a Russian translation by Neviedomski (7 parts, Moscow, 1883-1886), and an Hungarian version of cc. 1-38 by K. Hegyessy (Pest, 1868-1869). Gibbon’sMiscellaneous Works, with Memoirs of his Life and Writings, composed by himself; illustrated from his Letters, with occasional Notes and Narrative, published by Lord Sheffield in two volumes in 1796, has been often reprinted. The new edition in five volumes (1814) contained some previously unpublished matter, and in particular the fragment on the revolutions of Switzerland. A French translation of theMiscellaneous Worksby Marigné appeared at Paris in 1798. There is also a German translation (Leipzig, 1801). It may be added that a special translation of the chapter on Roman Law (Gibbon’s historische Übersicht des römischen Rechts) was published by Hugo at Göttingen in 1839, and has frequently been used as a text-book in German universities. This chapter has also appeared in Polish (Cracow, 1844) and Greek (Athens, 1840). The centenary of Gibbon’s death was celebrated in 1894 under the auspices of the Royal Historical Society:Proceedings of the Gibbon Commemoration, 1794-1894, by R. H. T. Ball (1895).

(J. B. B.)

1The 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 theSerious Call.2The Journalfor 1755 records that during that year, besides writing and translating a great deal in Latin and French, he had read, amongst other works, Cicero’sEpistolae ad familiares, hisBrutus, all hisOrations, his dialoguesDe amicitiaandDe seneciute, Terence (twice), and Pliny’sEpistles. 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 LockeUpon 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’Hôpital’sConic Sections. I also read Tibullus, Catullus, Propertius, Horace (with Dacier’s and Torrentius’s notes), Virgil, Ovid’sEpistles, with Meziriac’s commentary, theArs amandiand theElegies; likewise theAugustusandTiberiusof 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 Zürich, and opened a new one with the Professor Gesner of Göttingen. N.B.—Last year and this I read St John’s Gospel, with part of Xenophon’sCyropaedia, theIliad, and Herodotus; but, upon the whole, I rather neglected my Greek.”3The 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.4TheEssai, in a good English translation, now appears in theMiscellaneous Works. Villemain finds in it “peu de vues, nulle originalité surtout, mais une grande passion littéraire, 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 idées échappe souvent par trop de concision et par le désir 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.”5Her 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).6For a very full list of publications in answer to Gibbon’s attack on Christianity reference may be made to theBibliographer’s Manual, pp. 885-886 (1858). Of these the earliest were Watson’sApology(1776), Salisbury’sStrictures(1776) and Chelsum’s (anonymous)Remarks(1776). In 1778 theFew Remarksby a Gentleman (Francis Eyre), theReplyof Loftus, theLettersof Apthorpe and theExaminationof Davies appeared. Gibbon’sVindication(1779) called forth aReplyby Davies (1779), andA Short Appeal to the Publicby 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’sLetters onI John v. 7 are dated 1784; and Spedalieri’sConfutazione dell’ esame del Cristianismo fatto da Gibbonwas 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.7In 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.”8An anonymous pamphlet, entitledObservations on the three last volumes of the Roman History, appeared in 1788; Disney’sSermon, with Strictures, in 1790; and Whitaker’sReview, 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.

1The 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 theSerious Call.

2The Journalfor 1755 records that during that year, besides writing and translating a great deal in Latin and French, he had read, amongst other works, Cicero’sEpistolae ad familiares, hisBrutus, all hisOrations, his dialoguesDe amicitiaandDe seneciute, Terence (twice), and Pliny’sEpistles. 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 LockeUpon 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’Hôpital’sConic Sections. I also read Tibullus, Catullus, Propertius, Horace (with Dacier’s and Torrentius’s notes), Virgil, Ovid’sEpistles, with Meziriac’s commentary, theArs amandiand theElegies; likewise theAugustusandTiberiusof 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 Zürich, and opened a new one with the Professor Gesner of Göttingen. N.B.—Last year and this I read St John’s Gospel, with part of Xenophon’sCyropaedia, theIliad, and Herodotus; but, upon the whole, I rather neglected my Greek.”

3The 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.

4TheEssai, in a good English translation, now appears in theMiscellaneous Works. Villemain finds in it “peu de vues, nulle originalité surtout, mais une grande passion littéraire, 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 idées échappe souvent par trop de concision et par le désir 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.”

5Her 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).

6For a very full list of publications in answer to Gibbon’s attack on Christianity reference may be made to theBibliographer’s Manual, pp. 885-886 (1858). Of these the earliest were Watson’sApology(1776), Salisbury’sStrictures(1776) and Chelsum’s (anonymous)Remarks(1776). In 1778 theFew Remarksby a Gentleman (Francis Eyre), theReplyof Loftus, theLettersof Apthorpe and theExaminationof Davies appeared. Gibbon’sVindication(1779) called forth aReplyby Davies (1779), andA Short Appeal to the Publicby 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’sLetters onI John v. 7 are dated 1784; and Spedalieri’sConfutazione dell’ esame del Cristianismo fatto da Gibbonwas 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.

7In 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.”

8An anonymous pamphlet, entitledObservations on the three last volumes of the Roman History, appeared in 1788; Disney’sSermon, with Strictures, in 1790; and Whitaker’sReview, 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 genusHylobates. 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—theHylobatidae. 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 theSimiidae. 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. larof Arakan and Pegu,H. entellöidesof Tenasserim (fig.), andH. agilisof 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.*)

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 prieston 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 inFaith 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, includingOur Christian Heritage(1889) andThe 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 theThe 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’sDictionary of Music. His portrait may be found in Hawkins’s well-knownHistory. 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 inParthenia, 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 theTransactionsof 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 onVector Analysiswhich 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 theAmerican 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 articleEnergetics. 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 collectedScientific 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 theJ.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 isEl-Jīb; 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-Jīb, 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 (seeEncy. 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 ¼ to ¾ m. Gibraltar is called after Tariq (or Tarik) ben Zaid, its name being a corruption of Jebel Tariq (Mount Tariq). Tariq invaded Andalusia inA.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 2½ 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 ¾ 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 about1⁄8of 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 11½ nautical miles from the opposite African coast. On Europa Point is the lighthouse in 5° 21′ W. and 36° 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.

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 some700 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” inTrans. of Zool. Soc.vol. x. p. 2, 1877). They were found to contain remains of a bear, probablyUrsus fossilisof Goldfuss; of a hyena,H. crocutaorspelaea; 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 ofRhinoceros tichorinus, ofUrsus spelaeusor of the reindeer; and of the elephant only a molar tooth ofElephas antiquus.Further details may be found in theQuarterly 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 inPalaeontological 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.

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” inTrans. of Zool. Soc.vol. x. p. 2, 1877). They were found to contain remains of a bear, probablyUrsus fossilisof Goldfuss; of a hyena,H. crocutaorspelaea; 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 ofRhinoceros tichorinus, ofUrsus spelaeusor of the reindeer; and of the elephant only a molar tooth ofElephas antiquus.

Further details may be found in theQuarterly 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 inPalaeontological 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° F. in the shade; from 83° to 85° 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.

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