UIBSON, RICHARD. 



GIL VICENTE. 



100 



the practice, it it trident thit it in ona which makes ft decided 

 approach to thp sonsuoua ; uid, except in the hood of an artist who 

 kuowi exactly how far to go and ha* auffioient judgment to >top there, 

 it may easily pass into tha voluptuous and meretricious. It is impos- 

 sible here of course to discuss such a matter with any chance of 

 arriving at a satisfactory conclusion ; but it was necessary to allude to 

 it, Gib-ou being the 6rst English, if indeed he be not the first eminent 

 modern sculptor l>y whom the practice was adopted or restored. 



From his first visit there in 1817 to the present time Mr. Gibson 

 bat resided at Rome. His visits to his native country have been very 

 few ; the first was made after an absence of twenty-eight years. But 

 in Rome bis studio is the resort of nil the patrons, the practitioners, 

 and the lovers of art ; and the great sculptor is always the kind and 

 judicious adviser of his young fellow-countrymen who now enter tile 

 great metropolis of art on the same errand as thet which nearly forty 

 years ago drew him thither. 



Mr. Gibson was elected A.R.A. in 1833, and R.A. in 1836. Always 

 a fitful contributor, since 1851 he has sent nothing to the annual 

 exhibitions of the Academy. England however possesses the larger 

 part of his works, some one or wore having found a place in almost 

 every gre it collection in the country. Liverpool is especially rich in 

 his works : he being regarded there with pride as a fellow-townsman. 

 Of English sculpture we have no national collection ; but ouo of 

 Mr. Gibsou'g poetic group', though not one of his best (' Hylas and 

 the Nymphs '), is in the Vernon Gallery. The beat substitute how- 

 ever for a collection of tho actual marbles Inn been provided in the 

 Cry.sUl Palace, Sydenham, where is a very fair selection of some 

 twenty casts from so many of his fine groups and statues. 



(Jfrmoir of Gibson, by Mrs. Jameson, in the Art Journal for Hay 

 1849, c.) 



GIBSON, RICHARD, a celebrated dwarf and painter, and page (of 

 the back-tnirs) to Charles I., was born in 1615. He was the pupil of 

 Francis Cleyn, and studied afterwards the works of Sir Peter Lely, 

 whom he imitated. Lely painted his portrait in 1658. Gibson was 

 only 3 feet 10 inches high, aud he married, in the presence of Charles 

 and his queen, Anne Shepherd, who was of exactly his own height. 

 Waller wrote some verses on the occasion. 



Gibson appears to have been an excellent painter, especially in 

 water-colours. There is a very good drawing by him of Charles I. 'a 

 queen at Hampton Court. A miniature painting by him of the 

 parable of the Lost Sheep was the cause of Abraham Vanderdoort'a 

 (keeper of the king's pictures) death; it belonged to Charles, who 

 priz d it very much, and he intrusted it to Vanderdoort, who put it 

 aw.iy with auch care that when the king asked him for it he could not 

 find it, and he banged himself in despair. It was found afterwards 

 by his executors, and restored to the king. Gibson was patronised 

 also by Philip, earl of Pembroke; and ho is faid to have painted 

 Cromwell several times. He taught painting to the queens llary and 

 Ann.-, daughters of James II. 



Gibson and his wife word painted several times : by Vandyck, by 

 Dobaon, and by Lely. Vandyck introduced his wife in the picture of 

 the Duchess of Richmond at Wilton. They had nine children, five of 

 whom lived to maturity, and attained the proper size. Gibson died in 

 1690, and his wife in 1709, aged eighty-nine. 



GIBSON, RIGHT HON. THOMAS MILNER, M.P., is the only 

 son of Major Gibson of the 87th regiment, and was born in 1807. 

 Having received his early education at the Charterhouse, he pro- 

 ceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1830 as 

 36th wrangler. He entered parliament, as member for Ipswich, in 

 1837, as a supporter of the late Sir Robert Peel, but in 1839 avowed 

 himself a convert to Liberal opinions, and, resigning his seat, devoted 

 himself to the cause of Free Trade in conjunction with the Anti- 

 Corn-Law League. The result was that in 1841 he was elected mem- 

 ber for Manchester. In 1846, when Sir Robert Peel had passed his 

 measures for the repeal of the Corn Laws, and Lord John Russell 

 came into office for the purpose of carrying those measures into effect, 

 Mr. Milner Gibson was sworn a member of the Privy Council, and 

 was appointed Vice-President of the Board of Trade. He resigned 

 that office however in 1848, feeling that he could better serve the 

 interests of his constituents as an independent member of the House 

 of Commons. He was an effective aupporter of the repeal of the 

 stamp on newspapers, which was at hut effected in June 1855. Of 

 late years be bos taken considerable interest in the question of a 

 national system of education. 



GIFFOUD, WILLIAM, a political writer and critic of no small 

 influence in his lifetime, was born at Ashburton, in Devonshire, in 

 April 17i7. He was descended of a family once of some name in the 

 county; but the indiscretion of his ancestors gradually wasted the 

 pr<i|H-rty, and the early death of both parents left him at the age of 

 thirteen penniless, homeless, and friendlcu. His godfather, on a claim 

 of debt, took possession of their scanty effects, clojig^d with the charge 

 of the orphan. From him Giflbrd received little kindness. Ho spent 

 some time as cabin-boy on board n little coasting- vessel : at the age ol 

 fifteen he was apprenticed to a shoemaker at Ashburton. . In spite of 

 a neglected education, his talents showed themselves in a strong thirst 

 for knowledge. Mathematics at first were his favourite study ; and 

 he relates that, in the want of paper, ho used to hammer scraps o] 

 leather smooth, and work his problem! on them with a blunt awL 



His master, finding his services worth nothing, used harsh means to 

 wean him from his literary tastes; and Clifford, hating his business, 

 sunk into a sort of savage melancholy. From this state he was with- 

 drawn by the active kindness of Mr. Cookesley, a surgeon of Ash- 

 jurtou, who, having become acquainted with his first rude attempts 

 at poetry, and with his sad story, conceived a strong regard for him, 

 and taxed bis own purse and interest so effectually as to raise the 

 means of freeing him from his indentures, placing him at school, and 

 lending him, after two well-spent years, to Exeter College, Oxford, 

 tie appears to have commenced residence about the age of twenty-two 

 or twenty-three. Not long after he sustained a most severe affliction 

 in the untimely death of Mr. Cookesley. But a more efficient and 

 equally sincere friend was soon raised up in the person of Earl 

 .Jrosvenor, who, in consequence of the casual perusal of a letter, 

 Became interested in Gilford's character and fortunes, gave him a 

 lome under his own roof, in or about the year 1782, and in great 

 measure entrusted to him the charge of his son, with whom, though 

 widely differing in politics, Gifford maintained through life on intimate. 

 and unvarying friendship. It appears that he did not remain long 

 enough at Oxford to take a degree. Here ends the romantic part of 



a history ; the rest of his lifa is simply the chronicle of his works. 



The Srat of these, in order of publication, was the ' Baviad," a 

 paraphrastic imitation of the First Satire of Persius, 1791, a strong 

 stern attack on what was called the Delia Cruscau style of poetry, 

 whicli for ite utter folly and emptiness deserved no quarter. A short 

 account of its rise is given in the preface to the ' Baviad,' which put 

 an end to this affectation. Less successful, though not less powerful 

 in execution, was the ' Maeviad," a similar satire directed against the 

 puerilities and extravagance of the modern drama. The peculiar 

 talent displayed in these two pieces indicated the author's fitness to 

 undertake a translation of Juvenal, a task which he hod commenced 

 even before his residence at Oxford, and had never altogether aban- 

 doned, though the untimely death of Mr. Cookesley, to whose care 

 the revision of these early efforts was entrusted, had caused it to be 

 laid aside for a time in disgust The translation of Juvenal was 

 publiahed in 1802, with a short autobiography prefixed, which Tor its 

 unaffected candour and manliness is worthy of all praise. The diction 

 and versification of the translation ore powerful and flowing ; and the 

 honest anger, the fearless crushing invective, the stinging sarcasm of 

 the Latin poet, are rendered in so congenial a spirit as to convey to 

 the English reader a satisfactory idea of the original. Some of his 

 minor pieces are tender and beautiful, and indicate that he might have 

 succeeded as a poet in a softer strain. He had paid much attention 

 to old English poetry, the fruit of which appeared in his editions of 

 Massinger, 4 vols. 8vo, 1805 ; Ben Jonson, 9 vols., 1816 ; Ford, 2 volx., 

 1827 ; and Shirley, 6 vols., 1833 ; the two last were posthumous. He 

 is said to have meditated an edition of Shakspere. 



In that time of strife, Mr. Gifford entered with his whole heart into 

 the views of the Antigallican party. He was a devoted admirer, and, 

 in later years, an intimate friend of Mr. Pitt. In 179S hia known 

 ability recommended him to the editor of the 'Antijacobin' [CANNING, 

 GEORGE], a connection which introduced him to the most brilliant 

 circles of political and literary men, such as Pitt, Canning, Lord Liver- 

 pool, the Marquis of Wellesley, Frere, George Ellis, and others. In 

 1809 he resumed the office of apolitical partisan upon a more extended 

 scale, as editor of the ' Quarterly Review." A great stock of know- 

 ledge, a powerful and ready pen, a strong talent unchecked by fear or 

 pity for satire, a full undoubting belief in his political creed, fitted 

 him admirably for his employment; and the success of the 'Review' 

 was most brilliant. His salary was at first 200J. ; it was gradually 

 increased to 9002. per annum. He was a thorough-going political 

 partisan, yet it is asserted that hia political partisanship was disin- 

 terested, and that he very rarely either asked or received a favour 

 from ministers. He was himself appointed first to the paymasterahip 

 of the Bond of Gentlemen Pensioners, and secondly to a commi.t.-ioin r- 

 ship of the lottery. He was generous in pecuniary matters, aud in 

 private life aud conversation is reported to have been unassuming and 

 courteous. He appears to have had tho power of feeling and inspiring 

 strong friendships. His gratitude to Mr. Cookesley was ardent, and 

 ended only with his life ; indeed he made one of that gentleman's 

 family the principal inheritor of his fortune. During the latter years 

 of his life he suffered greatly from asthma, aud withdrew from general 

 society. He gave up the editorship of the ' Quarterly Review ' two 

 years before his death, which took place on the 31st of December 1826, 

 at his house in James-street, Buckingham Gate. An interesting account 

 of his character aud manners, from the pen of a personal friend, 

 appeared soon after in the ' Literary Gazette.' From that and the auto- 

 biography prefixed to the Juvenal the facts of this account are taken. 

 GIL VICKXTE, surnamed the Plautus of Portugal, was born about 

 1485, of an old and distinguished family. Following the wish of his 

 parent* he studied law, which however ho soon abandoned for the 

 stage. Having access at court by right of birth, he supplied several 

 dramatic productions, adapted to different occasions, which were 

 represented at the solemnities of the court. His plays were enacted 

 at the court of King Emmanuel, and the first of them was performed 

 in 1504. They had great success, which increased during the reigu 

 of Emmanuel's successor, John III, who often played a part in them 

 himself. It appears that Gil Vicente acted himself in hia dramas, and 



