GIBBONS 



2491 



GIBSON 



GIBBONS, gib' urn, JAMES (1834- ), a 

 Roman Catholic churchman of wide scholar- 

 ship and influence, the first American to be 

 created a cardinal. He was born in Baltimore, 

 but began his education in Ireland, where he 

 remained until he was fourteen years of age. 

 Completing his studies at Saint Charles' Col- 

 lege, Maryland, and at Saint Mary's Seminary, 

 Baltimore, he was ordained a priest in 1861. 

 He began his work as assistant in the parish 

 of Saint Patrick's, Baltimore, was transferred 

 to Saint Bridget's, in Canton, a suburb of Bal- 

 timore, and later became secretary to Arch- 

 bishop Spalding. Through the offices of bishop 

 and vicar apostolic of North Carolina, bishop 

 of Richmond and coadjutor archbishop of 

 Baltimore, he rose to the rank of archbishop 

 of Baltimore, succeeding Archbishop Bailey in 

 that dignity in 1877. Nine years later he at- 



sion (see SUCCESSION WARS). The Rock of 

 Gibraltar rises abruptly from the water and 

 overlooks the narrow strait connecting the 

 Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. 

 The strait is from nine to thirteen miles wide; 

 all vessels passing through it come under the 

 muzzles of the huge guns of the fortress. The 

 rocky promontory on which the fortress stands 

 is connected with the mainland by a low sandy 

 isthmus one and a half miles long and three- 

 fourths of a mile wide. This strip forms a 

 "neutral zone" between Spain and Britain's 

 rock, and the approach is guarded by guns 

 and mines. Guns of the largest caliber and 

 newest design also protect the sea front, the 

 rock being inaccessible. 



Gibraltar seen from the sea appears to be a 

 dark, somber and forbidding mass of marble, 

 but hidden from sight from the strait are 

 beautiful, grassy, wooded glens where flowers 

 grow, and where partridges, woodcocks and 

 other game birds are found in large numbers. 

 Small Barbary apes inhabit the rocks and many 



GIBRALTAR, A STRONGHOLD OF GREAT BRITAIN 



tained the highest honor of his career his 

 appointment as cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. 

 In 1887, the year following, he visited Rome 

 and was formally inducted into membership 

 in the College of Cardinals (see CARDINAL). 



Cardinal Gibbons is known throughout 

 America as a man of broad enlightenment and 

 progressive ideals. He is the author of The 

 Faith oj Our Fathers, Our Christian Heritage 

 and The Ambassador of Christ. He was active 

 in the movement looking toward the establish- 

 ment of peace between the warring nations of 

 Europe in 1915. G.W.M. 



GIBRALTAR, jibral'tar, the strongest fort- 

 ress in the world, situated on a rocky peninsula 

 near the southernmost point of Spain. It is 

 called the "Key to the Mediterranean." With 

 a small town at the base of the rock it forms 

 a British colony, having been captured by 

 English and Dutch forces in 1704, and assigned 

 to Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, 

 at the close of the War of the Spanish Succes- 



are captured and kept by the soldiers of the 

 garrison. The approaches to the fortress are 

 strictly guarded, and there are many secret 

 passages and storehouses cut in the rock, their 

 positions being jealously guarded by officials. 

 The garrison usually numbers about 5,000 men. 



Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow channel be- 

 tween the "Pillars of Hercules," connecting 

 the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and separating Spain from the north- 

 ern coast of Africa. It is forty miles long and 

 varies in width from nine to thirteen miles. 

 There is practically no tide in the Mediter- 

 ranean, and it has been found that there is a 

 continuous under-current flowing westward 

 through the strait, carrying the surplus waters 

 of the landlocked sea into the ocean. See 

 HERCULES, PILLARS OF. 



Consult Field's Gibraltar; Lang's Gibraltar and 

 the West Indies. 



GIBSON, CHARLES DANA (1867- ), an 

 American illustrator and artist, famous for his 



