Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/818

 802 GIDDINGS GIDEON took him into their employment. Through one of the partners in this firm he was introduced to William Roscoe, the historian, who encour- aged him to pursue the career of a sculptor, and was instrumental in raising a fund in Liv- erpool to enable him to study in Italy. In 1817 he went to Rome, with letters from Flax- man to Canova, who received him as a pupil and gave him all the assistance in his power. In 1821 he produced his first important work, a group of " Mars and Cupid," now at Chats- worth. On the death of Canova in 1822, Gib- son studied for a short time with Thorwaldsen. In 1827 he sent his " Psyche and the Zephyrs " to the exhibition of the royal academy, of which he was elected an associate in 1833, and a mem- ber in 1836. Most of his works are portrait statues, and ideal pieces founded on classic models. Of the former, the best known are his statues of Queen Victoria in Buckingham palace, at Osborne, and in the new palace at Westminster, those of Huskisson in Liverpool, and of Sir Robert Peel and George Stephen- son. His ideal figures and bass reliefs are im- bued with the spirit of Greek art. Refinement of feeling, high poetical imagination, exceeding gracefulness of form and expression, and an almost unrivalled delicacy of execution char- acterize this class of his sculptures. He was the first of modern sculptors who had the dar- ing to introduce color into their works. In some of the subordinate details, the statue of the queen and the Aurora were slightly tinted, but the Venus, which attracted much attention at the international exhibition in 1862, showed the innovation carried to its furthest limit. This statue is entirely colored of a flesh tint, and the eyes, hair, and parts of the drapery counterfeit the resemblance to actual life as nearly as color can do it. Gibson also adhered to the practice of habiting his modern figures in classic costume. With the exception of a few short visits to England, he lived almost uninterruptedly in Rome. See "Life of John Gibson," edited by Lady Eastlake (1869). GIDDINGS, Joshua Reed, an American states- man, born at Athens, Pa., Oct. 6, 1795, died in Montreal, May 27, 1864. In his infancy his parents removed to Canandaigua, N. Y., where they remained till he was 10 years old, when they emigrated to Ashtabula co., Ohio, among the first settlers in that part of the Western Reserve. In 1812 he enlisted as a soldier, and was one of the expedition sent to the peninsula north of Sandusky bay, where, in two battles on one day with a superior force of Indians, it lost nearly one fifth of its number in killed and wounded. At the close of his term of service he commenced school teaching, and in 1817 began the study of the law, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1820. In 1826 he was chosen a representative to the state legislature, and in 1838 was elected to congress, where he became at once a prominent champion of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia and the territories under the jurisdiction of the national government. On Feb. 9, 1841, he delivered his first anti- slavery speech, upon the Indian war in Florida, which he contended was begun and carried on in the interest of slavery. In 1842 he brought before congress a series of resolutions in rela- tion to the slaves on the Creole, who had cap- tured that vessel on her passage from Virginia to New Orleans, and carried her into Nassau, where their right to freedom was recognized by the British authorities. His resolutions jus- tified the conduct of the slaves on the ground of their abstract right to freedom, and declared that they had violated no law of the United States, and that any attempt to reenslave them was unauthorized by the constitution and in- compatible with the national honor. The great excitement which they caused induced him to withdraw them, but he was nevertheless cen- sured by a congressional vote of 125 to 69, and resigned. He was reflected by a large majority, and resumed his seat after an absence of but six weeks. He was returned by successive reelec- tions until March 4, 1859, making his period of service 20 years, during which he continued upon every opportunity (acting in conjunc- tion with John Quincy Adams till his death) to advocate his views on slavery, while at- tending closely to the general business of legis- lation. He acted generally with the whig party till 1848, giving his hearty support to Gen. Harrison and Henry Clay, but refused on anti- slavery grounds to support Gen. Taylor. In the election of 1848 .he acted with the free-soil party. In 1850 he took a prominent part in opposing the enactment of the " compromise measures," especially the fugitive slave law. He was conspicuous also in the debates upon the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and in those upon the subsequent troubles in Kansas. On May 8, 1856, while addressing the house, he suddenly fell to the floor in a state of uncon- sciousness, from which he soon revived, though in a condition of great weakness. On Jan. 17, 1858, he fell again in the same way, and for some minutes was supposed to be dead. He slowly returned to consciousness, but was com- pelled for a time to be absent from his post. His disease was an affection of the nervous system operating upon the heart. In 1861 he was appointed consul general for the British North American provinces, a position which he held until his death. In 1843 Mr. Giddings wrote a series of political essays, signed " Paci- ficus," which attracted considerable attention. A volume of his speeches was published in 1853. He also wrote " The Exiles of Florida " (Columbus, 1858), and " The Rebellion, its Authors and Causes" (New York, 1864). GIDEON, surnamed Jernbbaal, the fifth judge in Israel, was the son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, and dwelt at Ophrah. His history is narrated in Judges vi.-ix. Israel had been for seven years humbled by the Midianites and Amalekites, when Gideon by a double miracle was roused to become their deliverer. When