brave men from Jabesh-Gilead, on the opposite side of the Jordan (Stanley, Jewish Church, ii, 30 sq.). See Saul.
The ridge of Gilboa is bleak and bare (Wilson, Lands of Bible, ii, 85 ; Flirst derives from this fact the name of the mountain, q. d. have land, from pS^i ^^^6. Lex. s. v.). The soil is scanty, and the gray limestone rocks crop out in jagged cliff's and naked crowns, giv- ing the whole a look of painful barrenness. One would almost think, on looking at it, that David'e words were prophetic (Van de \ qXAq, NanxUive, ii, 3G9). The highest point of Gilboa is said to have an eleva- tion of about 2200 feet above the sea, and 1200 above the valley of Jezreel (Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 178). The range of Gilboa extends in length some ten miles from W. to E. The modern local name is Jebel Fukuah, and the highest point is crowned by a village and wely called Wezar (Porter, Hand-book, p. 353). — Kitto, s. v,
Gildas THE Wise, the first British historian, was born in the year 511 (according to Bede, 493), became scholar to Iltutus, abbot of Morgan, and was made afterwards abl)ot of Bangor. The time of his death is uncertain. The legendary accounts of him diff"er so much that Bale and Usher suppose there were two of the same name, while otliers doubt the existence of any such person. "In truth, as Mr. Stevenson ob- serves, in his introduction to the Latin text of Gildas de Excidio Britannuv. 'We are unable to speak with certainty as to the parentage of Gildas, liis country, or even his name, the period when he lived, or the works of which he was the author.' Mr. T. Wright attempts to show that Gildas is a fabulous y^erson, and his his- tory the forgery of 'some Anglo-Saxon or l\>reign priest of tlie 7th century' (^Biog. Brit. Lit. Anglo-Sax- on period, p. 115-134). But Stevenson, Lappanljerg, and others, while admitting the fabulous character of the common accounts, are inclined to believe that Gil- das really lived somewhere near the time usually' stated" {Engli.'ih Ci/clo]}. s. v.). The writings which pass under his name arc valuable for their antiquity, and as containing the only information we have of the times in which he urote ; although Gibbon describes him as " a monk who, in the profound ignorance of hu- man life, has presumed to exercise the office of histori- an, and .strangeh' disfigures the state of Britain at the time of its separation from the Koman empire." They are, (1) Liber Qiterulus de excidio Britannim, etc., a picture of the evils of the times and of the previous ages of British history : — (2) Castir/atio Ordin. Eccles. (Reproach on the Clergy), a sad account of abomina- tions and vices imputed to the clergy. They are given in Gale's Hist. Brit., etc., Scriptores xv (Oxon. 1G91, fol.), and in the Works of Gildas and Nonniiis, trans- lated by J. A. Giles (Lond. 1841, 8vo) ; also in Gale, Re- rum Avfjl. Script. Vcteres (1G84-87, 3 vols, fol.) ; but the best edition is that published in 1838 by the Historical Society, and edited by Jlr. Joseph Stsvenson. There arc three English translations of it : one by Habing- ton (Lond. 1038, 8vo): another, entitled a Bescr/ption of the State of Great Britain, written eleven hundred yenres since (London, 1052, 12mo) ; and a third by Dr. Giles, but based on that of Ilabington, and published in Bohn's Antiquarian Library (1848). See Wright, I.e.; Vo^if, British Researches; English Cyclopaedia; Clarke, Slice, of Sacred Literature, vol. i.
Gilder, William H., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Philadelphia Sept. 17, 1812, and was educated at the AVesleyan University. He entered the Philadelphia Conference in 18.33, and after three years' preaching was compelled by ill health to retire from active service. About 1840 he estab- lished at Philadelphia the Pearl and Reposito7-y, an in- dependent ^lethodist paper. For some years he was principal of the Female Institute at Bordentown, N.J. He afterwards became president of Flushing Female College, at St. Thomas's Hall, Flushing, L. I. While
GILEAD
866
GILEAD
at Bordentown he established the Literary Register, ■whicli he edited for several years. In 18G2 he became chaplain of tlie 40th New-York Eoginient, and shared in all its campaigns, following his charge into every battle. In 18G3 lie was taken with typhoid fever, which greath' impaired his strength. He returned to his post before he was in fit physical condition to do so, and, while attending to his duties in the regiment- al hospital, he contracted small-pox, of which he died at Culpepper, Va., April 13, 18G4. No chaplain in the army had a stronger hold upon the afitoL'tion and con- tidencc of the men than Mr. Gilder. Shortly before his death he said to his son, " I am in the hands of one whom I can trust; I feel that I am perfectlj'- safe;" and when he could no longer speak, he intimated by signs that all was well. — Minutes of Covferences, 18G!J, p. 81.
Gil'ead (Heb. Gilad', ^'S^'s generally with the article prefixed, when applied to the region or moun- tain ; properly a stony district, hence, according to Gen. xxxi, 41, heap or hill of testimony ; Sept. Va\a- ac), the name of several men, also of a region and mountain, and perhaps a cit}'. The name Gilead, as is usual in Palestine, describes the physical aspect of the country. It signifies "a hard, rocky region;" and it may be regarded as standing in contrast with Bashan, the other great trans-Jordanic province, which is, as the name implies, a " level, fertile tract." The state- ments in Gen. xxxi, 48, are not opposed to this et^-- mologj'. The old name of the district was ^vhi\ (Gil- ead), but, bj- a slight change in the pronunciation, the radical letters being retained, the meaning was made beautifully applicable to the "heap of stones" Jacob and Laban had built up — "and Laban said, this heap (pf) is a witness (1^') between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Gal-eecV (II-'^J, "the heap of witness"). Those acquainted with the modern Arabs and their literature will see how in- tensely such a play upon the word would be apprecia- ted by them. This Galeed could not have been far from Mahanaim, and was doubtless one of those round- ed eminences to the northward which overlook the broad plateau of Bashan (Gen. xxxi, 25; xxxii, 1, 2). See Galeed.