ence of Evelyn he obtained a post
in the Board of Works, and his marvellous skill as a wood-carver won him
the patronage of Charles II., who employed him to furnish ornamental
carving for the Chapel of Windsor; much of his best work was done for the
nobility, and in many of their mansions his carving is yet extant in all
its grace and finish, the ceiling of a room at Petworth being considered
his masterpiece; he also did some notable work in bronze and marble
(1648-1721).

GIBBONS, ORLANDO, an eminent English musician, composer of many
exquisite anthems, madrigals, &c., born at Cambridge; in 1604 he obtained
the post of organist in the Chapel Royal, London, and two years later
received the degree of Mus. Bac. of Cambridge, while Oxford recognised
his rare merits in 1622 by creating him a Mus. Doc.; in the following
year he became organist of Westminster Abbey, and in 1625 was in official
attendance at Canterbury on the occasion of Charles I.'s marriage, but he
did not live to celebrate the ceremony, for which he wrote the music; he
is considered the last and greatest of the old Church musicians of
England (1583-1625).

GIBEON, a place on the northern slopes of a hill 6 or 7 m. S. of
Bethel, and the spot over which Joshua bade the sun stand still; its
inhabitants, for a trick they played on the invading Israelites, wore
condemned to serve them as "hewers of wood and drawers of water."

GIBRALTAR, a promontory of rock, in the S. of Spain, about 2 m.
square and over 1400 ft. in height, connected with the mainland by a spit
of sand, forming a strong fortress, with a town (25) of the name at the
foot of it on the W. side, and with the Strait of Gibraltar on the S.,
which at its narrowest is 15 m. broad; the rock above the town is a
network of batteries, mounted with heavy cannon, and the town itself is a
trade entrepot for N. Africa; the rock has been held as a stronghold by
the British since 1704.

GIBSON, JOHN, sculptor, born at Gyffin, near Conway, Wales, of
humble parentage; after serving an apprenticeship to a cabinet-maker in
Liverpool, he took to carving in wood and stone, and supported by Roscoe
became a pupil of Canova and afterwards of Thorwaldsen in Rome; here he
made his home and did his best work; mention may be made of "Theseus and
the Robber," "Amazon thrown from her horse," statues of George
Stephenson, Peel, and Queen Victoria; in 1836 he was elected a member of
the Royal Academy (1790-1866).