Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/614

596 Fire Discourses, which, though neglected by the reading public, had many high merits, and gave the promise of more and of higher. Some time afterwards he rather unadvisedly published a sermon on “Hades,” which, distinguished by bold but ill-sustained speculation, and by brilliant but irregular imagination, brought him under the scrutiny-of his co-presbyters, and was ultimately withdrawn from circula- tion. Gilfillan next contributed a series of sketches of celebrated literary men to the Dunrfries Herald, then edited by Thomas Aird ; and these, along with several new ones formed his ﬁrst Gallery of Literary Portraits, a volume which appeared in 18-16, and had a wide circulation. It was quickly followed by a Second and a Third Gallery, until almost all our great men were delineated. In 1851 the Bards of the Bible appeared; and this has been his most successful work. His aim was that it should be “a poem on the Bible”; and it was far more rhapsodical than critical. Still the little criticism that was scattered through- out it was more than enough to keep it from soaring into poetry; and the poetry, when pure, was so fragmentary, that instead of making one poem, it consisted of many small pieces, though In these there were grand strokes and exquisite touches of description. His sketching powers were next exercised upon the “ Scottish Covenanters,” and Some of the heroes and episodes of the struggle received a glowing commemoration. At a later (late he published similar re- presentations of English Puritans and of Scotch Seceders, as champions of the rights of conscience. The most exten- sive publication with which Gilfillan was connected was Nichol's edition of the British Poets; and his ofﬁce was not only to secure the utmost accuracy in the text of each poet‘s works, but also to furnish both a biography and a critical estimate. This engagement, taking him again and leisurely through the studies in which he had most delighted, and with which he had been most conversant, stimulated him to ﬁnish the work on which he had resolved in youth, and to which he had long given the brightest moods of his most genial hours. Night, (1 Poem, came out in 1867, when he was ﬁfty-four years of age; but the work which had re- ceived his labour and his polishing during his best thirty years was far less successful than his most ephemeral productions. It was, indeed, an absolute failure. The theme was vast, vague, and unmanageable, even though the poem had extended to ninety, instead of nine books. Then, though his nature was largely and essentially poetic, Gilﬁllan had never given himself a training or even any practice in verse. Besides he had already, in his many prose volumes, made use of all his poetic ideas and illustrations. There was not a line in Night that had not often sounded forth in his essays with stronger and ﬁner melody. It was but a faint echo, and it had no music. His History of a. JIan, partly autobiographic and largely fabulous, was not written with his usual candour and geniality. Not less abundant and striking than his literature was his oratory ; and wherever he appeared as a preacher, or as a lecturer on some literary or secular theme, he drew large crowds that were invariably thrilled by his eloquence. There was no token either of physical or of mental exhaustion when he died suddenly of heart disease, in the summer of 1878. He had just ﬁnished a new life of Burns designed to accompany a new edition of the works of that poet.  GILGAL. Three towns of this name are mentioned in the Bible. The ﬁrst and most important was situated “in the east border of Jericho ” (Joshua iv. 19), on the border between Judah and Benjamin (Joshua xv. 7 Josephus places it 50 stadia from Jordan and 10 from Jericho (A 1tt-iq., v. 1, 4), but these measurements do not agree with the posi- tion of Jericho with respect to Jordan. Jerome (Onomas- tit-0n, s.v. Galgal) places Gilgal 2 Roman miles from Jericho, and speaks of it as a deserted place held in wonderful veneration (“ miro cultu ”) by the natives. This site, which in the Middle Ages appears to have been lost,——Gilgal being shown further north,—-has lately been recovered by a German traveller (Schokke), and ﬁxed by the English survey party. It is about 2 miles east of the site of Byzantine Jericho, and 1 mile from the modern Eriha. .\ fine tamarisk, traces of a church (which is mentioned in the 8th century), and a large l‘eSCI‘VuiI‘, now ﬁlled up with mud, remain. The place is called J iljﬁlieh, and its position north of the valley of Achor (\Vady lielt) and cast of Jericho agrees well with the Biblical indications above mentioned. A tradition connected with the fall of Jericho is attached to the site (see Tent Work in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 7). The second Gilgal, mentioned in Joshua xii. 23 in connexion with l)or, appears to have been situated in the maritime plain. JC‘I't one (Onomasticon, s.v. Gelgel) speaks of a town of the name 6 Roman miles north of Antipatris (Has el ’Ain). This is apparently the modern Kalkilia (vulgarly Galgilia), but about 3 miles north of Antipatris is a large village called Jiljﬁlieh, which is more probably the Biblical town. The third Gilgal (2 Kings iv. 38) was in the mountains (compare 2 Kings ii. 1—3) near Bethel. Jerome mentions this place also (Onomasticon, s.v. Galgala). It appears to be the present village of Jiljilia, about 7 English miles north of Beitin (Bethel).  GILGIT (Ghilghit, &c.), properly a secluded valley-state on a tributary of the Upper Indus, but also applied to the tributary river and the whole of its basin, which is one of great interest in many respects, though as yet but imperfectly known. Captain J. Biddulph has for some time. past been employed in Gilgit on the part of the Govermnent I of India, but no part of the information communicated by him has yet been made available. We shall describe the whole basin so far as materials allow. About 10 miles below the elbow formed by the Indus (74° 42' long., 35° 50' lat.) in suddenly changing its Course from a general direction north-west to a general direction south—west, in the vicinity of some of the highest mountains and vastest glaciers in the world, the Gilgit river enters it on the right bank, and with a general direction from the north-west. Thus the axis of the Gilgit valley is in fact a prolongation of that of the Indus valley in the direction maintained by the latter for some 300 miles above the elbow just mentioned. The length of the basin, so far as we know, on a line nearly west to east, is 120 miles ; and its greatest width from north to south is about 75. The south limit of the basin is formed by the lofty watershed which divides the west-to-east Gilgit basin from the meridional basins of the (Lower) Indus, the Swat, and the Panjkora. At its intersection with the Indus—Swat watershed this limit rises to a peak of 19,400 feet, and at its intersection with the Panjkora-Chitral watershed to peaks of 18,490 and 19,440 feet. The western limit of the basin is the lofty watershed dividing it from the Mastuj valley on the upper waters of the Chitral river. This limit runs from the inter- section last mentioned north-northeast and then north-east, till it joins the great mountain node in which the ranges of Hindu-Kush and the Muztagh (or Karakoram), according to our usual nomenclature, coalesce on the margin of the Pamir plateau. The northern limit of the basin is formed by the Muztagh itself, with peaks of 23,330 feet, 22,740 feet, 22,590 feet, 25,370 feet, 25,050 feet, and the basin is closed on the east by an offshoot of the antagh which, over the Indus elbow, forms that other great congeries of peaks and glaciers, of which the culminating point (Raki- pi’ishi) rises to 25,550 feet, whilst. seven others exceed 19,000 feet. South of the gorge through which the (lilgit waters force their way to the Indus this eastern barrier continues I with summits rising to 14,000 and 15,000 feet, and joins, the southern limit already described. This last-mentioned